Day 9 - all reved up

This...leads to this... Yes, it's an experienced machine. With the grass being new, and me not having a lawn to mow for the past 8 years, I thought it would be good to have someone that knew what it was doing. Any ideas for a name?

Day 8 - The real thing at last!

Hold on to yer seats, folks! I think we have the real thing starting to show. The previous two blades have obviously been imposters. Now this is something you can SEE and FEEL! You have to look really, really close (you can actually see grass in the picture below), but if you brush your hand just over the dirt you can feel the new blades! It is just on one section of the lawn, but it is the area that is the most sheltered with the most sun, so hopefully the others areas will be showing signs of germination soom...like maybe TOMORROW?

Day 7 - signs of life?

Another sign of life?

Day 6

Okay...now I know where they get the saying that "This is as exciting as watching grass grow..."

Day 5

Ah-ha! There has been a deer on my lawn...and a dog...and a kid with little rubber boots...

Day 4 - the first blade?

Things were looking pretty much the same today, but then I saw IT! Is this blade really the first grass to grace my dirt? Is this a biological over-achiever? Or is this just an imposter? A weed that has lurked in my dirt for a week before sprouting and decieving my inexperienced, naive grass growing mind? Only time will tell...

Day 3

Rainy day..but that's okay.

Day 2

Still no grass, but remain optimistic. Good day for growing. Rain in the morning, partly sunny for the afternoon. Went mower shopping, but decided that purchase wasn't urgent. Here is a close up. Mostly looks like ground-up recycled paper...

Day 1

No grass yet...but I went lawn-mower shopping! (Faith in action...)

Day Zero

Hydro-seeding! Oh joy! What bliss! Grass at last!!! (Faith is about unseen things hoped for...)

Day Zero minus 1

The dirt is ready! I'm gonna have a lawn!

Wheel Barrow Racing!

After living on the prairies and in Richmond, we thought a multi-level yard would be nice for a change. Hmmmm. About now, flat sounds really good.

Day Zero minus 1 week

It's a dirty job...but we want a lawn! See my head behind the big dirt pile? We had 55 cubit yards of dirt to move - that's 3 big dump truck loads. No wonder I'm tired...

Day Zero minus 13 months

Here's what we started with...

Facebook Dictionary

Here's an some helpful info I stumbled across for those of you feeling out of the loop regarding Facebook. Now you can know what everyone else is talking about without ever going near the 'crack cocain' of the internet...

FACEBOOK.COM (n) – a social utility Web site launched by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004. First open to Ivy League schools, then expanded to Boston universities and soon to thousands of colleges, businesses and regions worldwide. Anyone 13 and older can register for a free account with a valid e-mail address. The site allows users to create a personal profile and connect with friends, colleagues and classmates, as well as other people within their networks.

PROFILE (n) – 1. personal user page where you can upload a picture, photo albums, personal information and list interests, activities, favorite movies, books and music. Numerous privacy settings allow control over who can view the profile.2. An obligatory self-encapsulation, often done with wit and irreverence (and questionable accuracy).

NETWORK (n) – Facebook is not one big site; upon registering, you can choose to join networks depending on your location, school or employer. You can only view the profiles of people you add as friends or those with whom you share a network.Example: Brad is a member of the Los Angeles, Weinstein Company and University of Missouri networks.

NEWS FEED (n) – An automatic personal breaking news blog that appears on the home page. It lists any and all activity of friends on the site, with a few exceptions. The feature was met with outrage when introduced in September 2006, with more than 700,000 users joining the group “Students Against Facebook News Feed.” The creators quickly established more privacy settings so users could limit what showed up on the News Feed.

MINI-FEED (n) – The more specific version of the News Feed that appears on a profile and reports only on recent stories relevant to that person’s activity on Facebook. Stories can be deleted by the user.

TAGGING (v) – This is not a case of who’s “it.” It means to upload unlimited photographs into an album that appears on Facebook and then identify which people are present in the photographs. The tagged photos show up on their profile. It is possible to “untag” unwanted photos that will not appear on the profile but remain in the original album.

FRIENDING (v) – To add someone as a Facebook friend, allowing the person to see a version of your profile.

FACEBOOKING (v) – General activity when logged into Facebook, whether searching for people, checking updated profiles, leaving wall posts, etc.See also: procrastinating.

POKE (v) – The virtual tap on the shoulder to draw attention. A notification appears on the home page that someone has poked you. Universal definitions and connotations of “the poke” vary from the innocent to the explicit.

EVENTS (n) – Instead of sending invites via snail mail, let people know about upcoming parties, gatherings, promotions, charity events, elections, etc. Guests can RSVP and see who else is on the list. It’s inevitable that someday weddings will be announced via Facebook.FACEBOOK

PLATFORM (n) – 1. a new feature where users can develop templates to make customized additions to their profile. Examples: the “Where I’ve Been” application maps past, present and future travels. “The Office” application delivers the wisdom of Dwight and Michael. Users can also give people “Free Gifts” such as random icons of a cactus or birthday cake.2. Part of Facebook’s plan for world domination. Soon, everything will be found on Facebook, such as music, movies, stores, etc.

THE WALL (n) – A profile feature that lets others leave public comments. Often used for birthday wishes, inconsequential banter and brief notes. Debates rage on about whether it’s appropriate to carry on a full conversation on the wall.

MESSAGES (n) – A more informal version of e-mail that gives users a private way to send notes to friends.

GROUPS (n) – A collection of people who have similar interests or ideas, with various degrees of seriousness.Example: “I Support Hilary Clinton,”, “Red Sox Nation,” “You Know You’re From Nashua When . . .”

MARKETPLACE (n) – Classified section where users can buy and sell anything. The Facebook eBay.

STATUS (n) – Let people know what you’re doing right this second. Comparable to the AIM away message. However, it only appears in the present continuous grammatical tense.Example: “Eileen is writing a Facebook dictionary.”

– EILEEN HYNES

We're Back

You probably didn't even know we were gone. Heather, if you want to see all the pictures, you have to get on Facebook. Come on, I'll be your friend!

Fossilized Faith - Part 1

At ET Church we are in the middle of a summer sermon series called "You Asked For It!". As part of this series I was asked to tackled the issue of evolution. For some reason, a number of people have asked me for a copy of the manuscript for the talk I gave on July 22, 2007. I thought I could just post it here on my much neglected blog. It starts here, and then goes down through the next 3 posts (reverse blog fashion.)

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Did you see the headlines in the news last week? “Baby Mammoth Carcass found in Siberia”[1] It was found by a Russian reindeer breeder and hunter sticking out of the permafrost. It is about the size of a large dog, 110 lbs., and remarkably well preserved. It “looked as though it had recently died”. She is estimated to be 40,000 years old.

The question that this message evolved from is this: “Is it possible to reconcile the differences in historical dating in biblical and scientific timelines?”

If I correctly understand the intent of the question, the issue is this: science says the universe 15 billion years old, the is earth is 4.56 billion years old, and baby mammoths are 40,000 years old. The Bible says God created the heavens and the earth. Can you believe both?

I have to admit I was initially uncomfortable with tackling this subject. I’m not a scientist or a philosopher, and I don’t want to look like an idiot. Also, the scope of the issue is overwhelming. But I think this is a very important question because it can be huge sticking point for people in their faith journey! If you are interested in science, you may wonder if being a Christian means checking your brain at the door. Are the beliefs of Christianity and science compatable? Secondly, if you’ve been raise in the church, evolution and dinosaurs can be the first real crisis or challenge to your faith. You went to Sunday School when you were a kid and heard the cool story about Adam and Eve and then you got to high school or university and suddenly you are overwhelmed with plethora of scientific information taught by some really smart people that at best calls into question everything that you’ve been taught and at worst threatens to destroy the very foundation of your faith.

I. What exactly is the issue?

There are many origin stories in the world, but in our western culture there are 2 main ideas about how we got here: evolution and creation. The creation story is based on Bible and found in Genesis. Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Bible says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The creation story goes on to say that everything that exists was created by God in 6 days:
Day 1: light = vrs. 3-5
Day 2: sky = vrs. 6-8
Day 3: land / vegetation = vrs. 9-13
Day 4: sun / moon / stars = vrs. 14-19
Day 5: sea creatures / birds = vrs. 20-23
Day 6: animals / man = vrs. 24-30

The account concludes with this summary: Genesis 1:31-2:2 31“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

That is the creation story. If you believe this, you are a creationist. If you believe that this happened in space of seven 24-hour days, you are a literal creationist. If you believe that the dates and genealogies found in Genesis and rest of Bible indicate that all this happened about 6000 years ago, then you are a “young earth” creationist

The other idea how we got here, is a theory called evolution. This is a big complex theory that is difficult to adequately and accurately summarize, but I’ll try.

In this theory, the universe begins as a singularity. All the matter, energy, time, and space of the universe is squashed into a single point of infinite temperature and density. Then somewhere about 15 billion years ago, something unknown happened that caused an enormous explosion. The resulting fireball produced an expanding cloud of mostly hydrogen gas. This gas condensed into stars and galaxies, generations of which came and went, each exploding to eventually produce the elements heavier than helium.[2]

About 5 billion years ago our was sun formed by the gravitational collapse of a huge cloud of gas and dust. The leftover gas / dust formed the planets. The planet we now call Earth cooled and eventually something very unique happened. The elements formed complex amino acids and proteins that eventually formed a very simple single-cell creature. This creature is simple only when compared to the complex organisms in the world today, but actually it was very complex!

Then over billions of years, this single cell, through mutation and natural selection evolved into the vast array of plant and animal life that we see around us today[3]. You and I – homo sapiens –are part of that process.

If you believe what I have just stated, you are an evolutionist. Another term is “scientific naturalist”

Now I want to be as straight up as possible with this, so if I have misconstrued or misinterpreted or put any spin on this that in any way distorts what science says, I apologize. I am trying to be as objective as I know how, but I have to state my bias – I’m a creationist!

So we have these two big ideas how the world began: Creation and evolution. There are issues with each. Naturalist evolution denies the existence of God, which is a problem if you are a Christian. The creation story seems to contradict modern science.

When you look at these ideas at face value, it is obvious that if one is right, the other is wrong. But what if things are not so clear cut? What if it’s not an either / or proposition? What if there is some truth in both ideas? What if God created, but used evolution as the process, and Genesis account is an allegory or a metaphor? Well, that’s already been thought of. It’s called theistic evolution. What if Genesis is true, but the literal 6 day interpretation is wrong and there is room for thousands or millions or even billions of years to be tucked into the story some where? That is called progressive creationism.

So it was my job to try and sort all this out and “reconcile the differences in historical dating in biblical and scientific timelines” as our original question asks. Pastor Les kept asking me “So…have you got it figured out?”

[1] from Canada.com, accessed July 16, 2007
[2] Williams and Hartnett; Dismantling the Big Bang, p.115
[3] Strobel, The Case for Faith; p.127

Fossilized Faith - Part 2: Science is a Friend, Not the Enemy

As I have wrestled with these issues over the past few weeks, I have come up with some things I think we need to keep in mind as we wrestle with these ideas.

1. Science is a friend, not the enemy.

Christians have had a shaky relationship with science ever since Copernicus[1]. Copernicus was a Polish Priest by day and an astronomer by night. In early 1543 Copernicus, published a book with the shocking idea that the earth was not the center of the solar system.

This really ticked the church off, both Catholic and Protestant! Even Martin Luther was upset about this. He said “Joshua commanded the Sun to stand stil, not the earth!”[2]

Fifty years later Galileo picked up this same thought and in 1663 got into even bigger trouble for it. He was told he would be excommunicated if he didn’t recant, and spent the last 8 years of his life under house arrest. In fact, it was just in 1993 that Pope John Paul II admitted that the Catholic church made a mistake when they condemned Galileo for believing and teaching that Copernicus was right![3].

So science and religion haven’t always gotten along. But the truth is that virtually every branch of modern science was pioneered by Christians who embraced a creationist world view[4]. In fact, their scientific studies were often inspired by their biblical faith. They believed that because the world was created by intelligent, purposeful designer, it would display evidence of that design. King Solomon, one of the earliest recorded scientists said in Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”

As I mentioned, Copernicus was a priest from Poland. Galileo saw nature and the Bible as “two books from God” He said “God is known by Nature in his works, and by doctrine in his revealed word.”[5]. Sir Isaac Newton was born the year that Galileo died and was possibly the greatest mathematician and physical scientist of all time. He discovered the law of gravity and invented calculus, but considered his writing on theology most important. He also looked like a rock star.

We could talk about other scientists like Micheal Faraday, James Maxwell, and Loui Pasteur, or we could talk about contemporary scientists like biochemist Michael Behe who has looked at what he calls the 'irreducible complexity of life' and says that the odds of this happening by chance as evolution says are so minuscule there has got to be a better explanation!

We live in an incredibly complex world. It doesn’t matter if you look with a telescope or microscope. Before invention of telescope, astronomer couldn’t count stars. but it was estimated that there were about 10,000 of them. With today’s telescopes we still cannot count the stars. There are too many – estimate 10 million billion billion (10 to the 25th power)[6], and they exist in billions if not trillions of galaxies.

If you just look in one small part of the universe, you will find a galaxy called the Milky Way. It has only 200 billion stars, though some say 400 billion and others up to a trillion. If you look in one far-flung spiral arm of the Milky Way, you find our solar system. If you look in that solor system you will find a planet that seems to be unique in the universe. It has life on it. It is called ‘Earth.’

As scientists have examine our galaxy and solar system, they have identified hundreds of characteristics that require exquisite fine-tuning for life to exist[7]. There are complex issues of quantum physics and astral physics. I would love to talke about these things, but I’m just not smart enough!

But lets talk about something we can get our head around - our closest star, the Sun, and just some of the issues involved with getting the earth the right temperature for us to live. As humans we live in a very limited temperature range. Last week we were cooking in the heat. This week we’ve been complaining that it is too cool. What is the difference? Only 20 degrees Celcius!

If the earth was any different distance from the sun, or if the earth didn’t rotate on it’s axis or orbit around the sun and the precise speed it does, or if the earth didn’t have an atmosphere that diffuses the sun’s energy and protects us from cosmic radiation, we would either bake or freeze and human life would cease to exist. I think the psalmist had it right when he sang in Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

But if you think physics is complicated, you should do some biology! Richard Dawkins, a British ethologist and leading evolutionary biologist from Oxford University puts it like this. The objects and phenomena that physics describes are simpler than a single cell in the human body, and you have one hundred trillion cells in your body. Many of them different from each other, but all are organized with intricate architecture and precision engineering to make your body work.[8]

Every cell in your body has a nucleus that contains a digitally coded database that has more information than all 30 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica put together. It is called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)[9]. DNA contains the unique information that determines what you look like, much of your personality, and how every cell in your body is to function throughout your life.

If the DNA segments in one of your cells were uncoiled, connected, and stretched out, it would be about seven feet long. If all the DNA in your body were placed end-to-end, it would stretch from here to Moon more than 500,000 times! Yet if one set of DNA (one cell’s worth) from every person who ever lived were placed in a pile, the final pile would weigh less than an aspirin!
Understanding DNA is just one small reason for believing we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps 139:14) The telescope and the microscope proclaim the greatness of God!

[1] Cindy Dyson: Father’s, Faith, and Fossils, New Man Magazine, July / August 1996, p.54
[2] http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit3/response.html
[3] Charles E. Hummel; Making Friends with Galileo, Christianity Today, January 11, 1993, p.14-15
[4] Williams and Hartnett, p.34
[5] Hummel, p.14
[6] Williams and Hartnett, p.247
[7] Scientists are Getting Warmer: An Interview with Dr. Hugh Ross, New Man Magazine, September / October 1999, p.32-36
[8] Phillip E. Johnson; Defeating Darwinism, p. 77
[9] http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/PartI3.html accessed July 19, 2007

Fossilized Faith - Part 3: Evolution is a Philosophy, Not Just a Science

2. Evolution is a philosophy, not just a science.

The second thing we need to keep in mind when we thing about these things is that while science is a friend, evolution is not just science, it is a philosophy. Evolution is the dominant creation story in our culture and is one of the most successful scientific theories ever taught[1]. The scientific case for evolution is considered closed and assumed as fact. If you dare to contradict or deny it, you are called a fool or fanatic, thanks to the powerful indoctrination of the “intellectual elite”[2] in the media, government, and education systems.

What we need to understand is that evolutionary theory is as much philosophy as it is science, a philosophy that is founded on certain basic assumptions. These assumptions are primary in shaping the interpretation of the scientific data. If you start with long-age evolutionary assumptions and look at the scientific data, you are going to draw long-age evolutionary conclusions.[3] If you start with biblical assumptions and look at the scientific data, what kind of conclusions will you draw?

The number one assumption of evolution is that there is no God. We got here without God and don’t need God. God is a creation of man.

Phillip Johnson, who wrote a great book called Darwin on Trial said in an article in Christianity Today: “The contemporary academic world takes for granted a philosophy called scientific naturalism. According to this philosophy, nature is “all there is,” which is to say the cosmos is a closed system of material causes and effects that can never be influenced by anything outside nature – like God – for instance.”[4]

So what happens when you believe this? What happens when you are a scientist and believe this? It means that no matter what the scientific evidence says, the answer cannot be God or the Bible…it has to be something else!

In my research this week I stumbled across an article by Ann Gibbons that illustrates this bias and also speaks to the issue of scientific and biblical timelines. Ann Gibbons is a correspondent for Science magazine, where she has specialized in writing about evolution and is the author of The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors.

In a recent article she tells an interesting story. In 1991, the Russian authorities exhumed a Siberian grave that was thought to contain the skeletons of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family. They had been shot by firing squad in 1918 during the Communist revolution. but two bodies were missing from the grave, so no one could be absolutely certain of identity of remains.

So in 1992 they did DNA testing.What they found in that DNA test “raised another puzzle that first troubled forensics experts and is now worrying evolutionists.” The mitochondrial DNA from the Nicholas II didn't quite match that of his living relatives. Forensic experts thought that most people carry only one type of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), but the tsar had two. His relatives had only one, so this fueled controversy over the authenticity of skeletons.

So to identify the body they decided to dig up the remains of his brother Georgij, Grand Duke of Russia. Tthey knew who he was, and where he was buried, so if the DNA matched the body thought to be the tsar, the mystery would be solved. So George was exhumed, and it was found that he had also inherited the same two sequences of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from their mother.

So hurray for history. We now know for certain where the bones of Nicholas are. But why is this a big deal to people like Ann Gibbons and other evolutionary scientists? Because they have used mitochondrial DNA to propose a date for the appearance of the first human by comparing human mitochondrial DNA to chimpanzee. This dating is based on how fast this DNA mutates or changes. Mitochondrial DNA was thought to mutate very slowly, so researchers calculated that the first woman, "mitochondrial Eve", (as they call her, tongue in cheek) lived 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.

But what the case of Nicholas II showed was that mtDNA mutates much faster than expected. Ann Gibbons concludes: “Using the new clock, [Eve] would be a mere 6000 years old.” In the very next sentence she says “No one thinks that's the case…”[5]

When does the Genesis account indicate that Eve was created? About 6000 years ago.

What most of us don’t understand and science refuses to admit is how slim the evidence for evolution really is. We keep hearing about the ‘missing link’. A more accurate summary would be they have a few links, but they are missing the chain!

The more research is done, instead of solving the problems, the more layers and layers of complexity are uncovered that create more and more complex problems that in turn demand more and more complex answers. But if you start with certain assumptions, you will draw certain conclusions – despite the scientific data!
[1] Strobel, p.124
[2] Johnson, p.22
[3] William and Hartnett, p.165-167
[4] Phillip E. Johnson; Shouting Heresy in the Tempole of Darwin, Christianity Today, October 24, 1994, p.22-26
[5] Calibrating the Mitochondrial Clock; Ann Gibbons accessed July 17, 2007,
http://0-www.sciencemag.org.library.vu.edu.au/cgi/content/full/279/5347/28

Fossilized Faith - Part 4: Stay focused on the core values of faith

3. Stay focused on the core values.

So what is the final thing I think we need to keep in mind when we think about this issue? We always need to keep our eyes on the the core values of our faith.

There are interesting questions out there, especially when you talk about time and dates. Is that little mammoth really 40,000 years old? When did dinosaurs roam the earth? What is the age of the universe and stars?

There are interesting hypothesis out there when it comes to dinosaurs and geology. Some creation scientists would argue that the earth is the way it is today due to three profound events: creation, the fall of man, and the great flood. They say that all geology and paleontology issues can be explained in that framework. In fact, Alex Williams and Dr. John Hartnett say “The only reason that people today want to insert billions of years into [the creation] narrative is because they erroneously believe that the scientific evidence demands it.”[1]

I was also fascinated to read some more about time and Einstien’s Theory of Relativity, and how it has been scientifically proven that time is not constant. Tim can speed up and slow down due to the influence of enormous gravity or velocity. Time in different parts of the universe can progress at different rates. All scientists accept this. It can help explain big bang, but it also offers increadible explanation for creationists trying to understand the age of universe. But the reality is that all these explanations are just hypothesis. Even scientists who are Christian are deeply divided on issues. Both sides accuse other of either sloppy theology or sloppy science.[2]

What are we going to do? Do we stick our head in the sand, ignore the issues, and hope the questions go away? I was talking with someone in the congregation earlier this week, and he said that when he was about eleven years old he asked his Sunday School Teacher “What happened to the dinosaurs” She replied “That’s not important!” But it is important to the person asking the question!

Don’t be afraid to ask the questions. Don’t be afraid to look for answers, explore issues, be curious! God gave you your brain for a reason, so go ahead and use it. There is a plethora of material available. Google “creation science” or “irreducible complexity” and you’ll get all kinds of stuff on all sides of the issue.

But in the end, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know…and that’s alright”, because there are just some things we are not going to know, and that’s alright, because these questions are not the core of what we believe. At best they are just interpretations, deductions, and opinions.

“Is it possible to reconcile the differences in historical dating in biblical and scientific timelines?” Very smart people disagree on the answer to that question. Some say yes, some say no!

But let me tell you one thing I do believe that will inform and influence and help me weigh all the evidence I look at: God exists, and God created. That is an essential, an ‘absolute’!

The first 4 words of the Bible say Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God…” And if you can believe that – and to be a Christian you must believe that because Hebrew 11:6 says ”And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” – then you won’t have any trouble with the 5th word of Gensis 1:1 – “created”.

Colossians 1:16-17 puts it like this, and for me this is good enough: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

[1] Williams and Hartnett, p.227-228
[2] Dyson, p.54

Gone facebooking...

Okay, if my blog thing isn't happening so regularily, blame Facebook. I know was dissing it a month ago, but it's making more sense. And I've connected with a ton of people I haven't talked to or heard from for years. YEARS, I say. The end result is that I'm starting to feel very old, and don't have much time left to blog...

10 Ways to Get Out of the Gay Life, If You Want Out

Here's a great story Dallas put me on to:

Prominent Afro-American gay publisher turns to Jesus

Charlene Cothran, a prominent black lesbian in the forefront of the fight for equal rights for gays and lesbians, and publisher of a successful magazine geared to black homosexuals was not looking to change anything in her life. Her entire life and all her earthly successes were firmly entrenched in the homosexual community. But, due to the inspiration of a pastor who counselled Cothran to use her gifts for Christ, Cothran has left her homosexual life and is making it her mission to offer help to other homosexuals who want to do the same.

In a front page article in her own VENUS magazine entitled 'Redeemed! 10 Ways to Get Out of the Gay Life, If You Want Out', Cothran unabashedly explained the reasons behind her conversion and the peace that her decision has brought to her. VENUS magazine has a circulation total of over 38,000 predominantly black homosexuals across the United States.

Cothran says that her conversion story has been received, predictably, with mixed emotions in the homosexual community. "I completely understand many of the responses, as angry as they were. A year ago, I would have responded the exact same way."

Thought for the Day

"All the troubles of man come from his not knowing how to sit still."

Blaise Pascal, French philosopher (1623-1662).

I'm not a political junkie, but...

I'm not a political junkie, but I must admit one of my political heros is Tony Blair. Even though I probably lean more toward the political right, Blair has always hit me as an honest, principled, down to earth kind of person. I have aways appreciated his communication style and his governments accomplishments have been amazing. One thing that has been kept buried are his deep conservative religious beliefs. The Globe and Mail had a fascinating article on him that is worth reading.

It was fun to see him portrayed by Michael Shean in The Queen. If you haven't seen it, you can catch his resignation speach here. He is a master communicator worth watching and learning from. (I guess that's the preacher in me surfacing...)

Ouch! I got gas...

I bought a Corolla because I wanted some economical transportation. But then fuel hit 122.9 / liter.

$1.22.9!!! Per liter.

I went to fill the tank and it cost me $50.01.

$50.01!!!

And I didn't even try to squeeze it full. I couldn't. I was nauseous.

Facebook fanatics please fill me in

I finally got my face on Facebook. But after a couple of weeks of being on Facebook I have to admit I just don't get it. I do value my friends who have hooked up with me in cyber-space...deeply! But people spend hours doing this? And I thought blogging (and the endless reading of blogs) could get ridiculous.

Maybe I'm just old or really out of touch with reality. Oh, I know it is about community and social networking and that it's growing by 100,000 members a week with 2,000,000 members world-wide (500,000 of them in Toronto alone, making it the center of the Facebook Universe...).

But thanks to Yoni Goldstein, I finally understand what Facebook is all about:

"The following is a list of the things you can do on Facebook: You can (a) post pictures of yourself, (b) find long lost friends whom you never really cared about anyways (that's why they became long lost in the first place), (c) post messages to your Facebook friends on their Facebook sites (important communiques like "Happy Birthday" or "that party last night rocked!"). You can also (d) cyber-bully the trusty nerds at school or (e) slander all the people you dislike."

That's just about what I had gathered through my brief Facebook career. Now just in case Yoni is misinformed, please let me in on the big secret, because on my own I don't think I'm going to figure it out. Maybe I'm just not post-modern enough. Or maybe I have a life. :)

PS: Yoni also says that Ontario has banned government employees from accessing the Facebook website from government computers (along with YouTube, gambling, and porn). Something about productivity issues...hmmm...I better get back to work...

New wine, or just old wine with a new name?

Just got back from District Conference, and along with all the great leadership moments with John (the corn feeds the cows and the cows feed the corn), it's always a good scene for connecting with good friends having some great conversations about life and ministry (thanks Stewart!).

And it stirred up some of my thinking about the contemporary church and culture.

I recently stumbled on something Alan Roxburgh wrote that articulates some of my nagging concerns with my own understanding of the issues, as well as the perspective a lot of pastors in our PAOC fellowship seem to express when I talk to them. He stated that while there is a lot of interest in church transformation, which is an indication of crisis and opportunity for churches, too often we as leaders still opt for techniques and programs that are simply baptized with missional language. We don’t understand the depth of culture change that is required with church systems.

Does the church need change? Not just change our language or swap the existing program or try the latest technique, but change the very culture of the church, the paradigm we have of ourselves and our mission?

Yup.

How?

You can catch the full thought by Alan Roxburgh here.

Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

This is too weird not to post. Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Glad I'm not moving to Paris...

Having an interest in things urban and having lived in downtown Vancouver, I have to admit I find the following statistics fascinating, especially from a western Canadian perspective. You can read the whole story here.

TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE DOWNTOWN MARKETS
- Paris $1051/sq.ft.
- Moscow $688/sq.ft
- Seoul $630/sq.ft
- Vancouver $577/sq.ft
- London, U.K. $532/sq.ft
- Calgary $500/sq.ft
- Athens $375/sq.ft
- New York City $375/sq.ft
- Tokyo, $325/sq.ft
- Edmonton $322/sq.ft

St. John's and Quebec City had the lowest and second-lowest per-square-foot downtown prices of all 31 cities surveyed, at $55 and $93 respectively. The two lowest per-square-foot prices for international cities were Istanbul, Turkey and Sydney, Australia, at $94 and $105 respectively.

AIDS, Famine, and Me

Showed Bono's interview with Bill Hybels at Tehillah last Monday. Powerful stuff. He is a very articulate guy. His passion is the fight against global poverty, the AIDS pandemic, and the 3rd world debt crisis. No small potatoes. You can catch Bono's address to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington last year here. I knew he was buddies with Paul Martin and had been at a bunch of Liberal Party of Canada stuff, but the Prayer Breakfast thing was really my first exposure to Bono the activist, or more accurately, Bono the Preacher. He blew me away. His interview with Hybles is just as riveting, and has some great concert footage. If you get a chance to watch it, it's worth the time. (And people used to argue about whether Bono or U2 could really be thought of as 'saved'. God deliver us...)

Bottom line: Doing nothing is unacceptable. Every day 8000 people die from AIDS. Everyday 11,000 more get infected. By 2015, over 115 million will have died, and there will be 35 million orphans. Doing nothing is unacceptable. Check out Matthew 25:31-46.

So today the girls are doing the World Vision 30 Hour Famine. They are doing something. And between them they've raised over $750. I'm proud. But that can't be where it ends.

Thrilling News from Paul and Wanda

Here is some wild news from our friends Paul and Wanda! God is good, and thier lives have changed! Check it out here.

Fire Pit Officially Inaugurated

We had our first fire in our fire pit the other night. It was fantastic. Clear and warm, with stars shining and frog croaking from the wetlands below. It was like camping - only better: we were only steps away from a bathroom and our own beds! It may not seem like it, but after years of city living, this is a big deal.
We are looking forward to many more evenings like this. Call it our contribution to global warming.

Crazy like a...moose?

Having grown up in "moose country", I just had to post this...

Moose Logging Story.

We had been trying to keep this under wraps as we knew this would happen once folks found out that with some effort you can train moose to harness. Once this picture got out, it's been E-mailed around like crazy but no one has bothered to fill in the rest of the story so before any rampant rumors get going, I better write down what I know. I folks want to extrapolate on that, then Lord only knows where this picture and story will end up.

The man in the picture is Jacques Leroux who lives up near Escourt Station and has always had work horses, first for actual work and then for show at Maine's' many summer fairs.

I think he had two matched pairs, one Clydesdales and the other Belgiums. He would turn them out to pasture each morning and then work them in the afternoon dragging the sled around the fields.

Three springs ago, he noticed a female moose coming to the pasture and helping herself of the hay and what grain the work horses didn't pick up off the ground. Jacques said he could get within 10 feet of the moose before it would turn and move off.

Two springs ago, the moose foaled(?) at the edge of the work horse pasture and upon getting to it's feet had not only the mother in attendance but the four horses. The young moose grew up around the horses and each afternoon when Mr. Leroux took the teams for their daily exercise the yearling moose would trail along the entire route next to the near horse.

At some point, the yearling got so accustomed to Mr. Leroux that, after he had brushed each horse after a workout, he started brushing down the moose. The moose tolerated this quite well so Mr. Leroux started draping harness parts over the yearling to see how he would tolerate these objects. The yearling was soon harness broken and now came the question of what could you do with a harness broke moose.

As you may or may not know, a great deal of Maine is being bought up by folks "from away" and some of them understand principles of forest management. Well, the folks buying small parcels of land up in the area of the Allagash have it in their mind that they don't want big skidders and processors and forwarders on their small wood lots. Enter Mr. Leroux with his teams of horses.

Every morning when Mr. Leroux loaded the teams into the horse trailer to go off to the days job, the yearling moose got quite riled up and one day loaded himself right into the trailer with the horses. At the job site, Jacques unloaded the horses and as the moose stayed right with them, he would take the Clydesdales and his brother Gaston would take the Belgians and off into the woods they would go with the moose trailing behind. They would put the harness on the moose in case they encountered someone who they could kid with the explanation that the moose was a spare in case something happened to one of the horses. The work required them to skid cut, limbed and topped stems to the landing where the stems could be loaded onto a truck for the pulp mill.

All morning long the two brothers brought out twitch after twitch of stems with the moose following the Belgian team for the most part. At lunch break Jacques had the bright idea of putting trace chains and a whiffle tree on the moose's harness and all afternoon the moose went back and forth following the Belgians in and out of the woods dragging his whiffletree along the ground. As there were no stumps in the skid trail, the whiffle tree never hung up on anything and that first day in harness went great. So next day, they hitched on first a small stem and the moose brought it out just fine following the Belgians.

Mr. Leroux told me they were up to four small stems now and the moose was doing just great. He cautioned however that there were a few problems with using a bull moose. Come June, when the new antlers start, the new bone is "in velvet" and must itch like crazy as the moose stops every once in a while and rubs his rack against just about anything to appease the itch. Once, before the brothers learned to tie him of by himself while they had lunch, moose was rubbing his antlers against the hame on the Clydesdale called Jack and got it wedged there for a bit. Jacques said he wished he had a camera as it looked like moose was trying to push Jack over.

The other problem is the rutting season. The brothers learned quickly to leave moose in the barn as he was constantly on red alert in the woods during this time. The brothers are also considering trying this with two females to make a matched pair which would become an instant hit at the Maine Fairs. The trouble with the bulls is their racks. They would be constantly rubbing and hitting each other and yes they would have to be gelded as I just couldn't imagine getting the two bulls anywhere near each other, let alone in harness.

So now that this picture is going all over the place, the surprise has been let out of the proverbial bag. The Lerouxs want to continue the work of trying to get a pair of females in harness but they may have to end up breeding moose to do this and that's where they will run into trouble with the State of Maine IF & W. I'm sure they don't like the idea of the brothers "keeping" wild animals.

Thought you should know the rest of the story. If any of you doubt this please contact Tom Whitworth in Ashland , Maine. I think he said was a second cousin to the Lerouxs and has seen this anomaly many times.

Upgrade to Church 3.0?

Which version of church are you running?

Church 1.0 - Traditional: Sunday is Sacred
Church 2.0 - Contemporary: Sunday is Central
Church 3.0 - Emerging: Sunday is Secondary

- thought from Kenton C. Anderson, homeletics guru at ACTS, Langley, BC

Maryn's Christmas Letter

December 06

Hey everyone,

We can all agree that 2006 has been a busy year. For me, moving to Nanaimo and summer vacation has most definitely been the highlights of this year. Before I talk about that though, let’s start from the beginning.

On January 21st, Daleena celebrated her 14th birthday. Although she can’t drive until she is 16, she is already talking about getting a car. She is in grade 9 French Immersion and doing well. She is enjoying doing candy striping at the Nanaimo Hospital every Wednesday. The nurses give her jobs to do like helping a patient with their meal, or getting someone a glass of water. Daleena loves to shop, bake, and babysit.

In May Mom turned the big 4-0. We had a blast throwing her a big party to celebrate, and her three sisters from Alberta came and surprised her with a visit. She is currently taking courses at Malaspina University College to become a Community Health Nurse. Also, a couple days each week she works at a clinic downtown. She is really enjoying her new job.

Now this is the part when summer vacation starts and when we move. I got to go to a summer camp with some of my friends and Daleena volunteered at a kid’s camp dishwashing and being a co-counselor. We packed like crazy when we got back from camp and then we loaded all the boxes into the elevator, down the hallway and into the moving truck. It just barely fit! On July 28th we moved into our big new house. I unpacked most of my boxes that day, but the few that I didn’t unpack are still sitting in my closet.

The next day was my 13th birthday. My best friends surprised me and came out for the weekend. I think my Dad is still trying to get used to the fact that he has 2 teenagers in his house! I am in grade 8 French Immersion, and although this year I was not able to join the school team due to 6:30am practices, I love playing volleyball. I also like to swim and I hope to take some life guard courses in 2007. I would like to complete them over the next few years.

In September it was Dad’s turn to celebrate. Daleena made a delicious cake and we invited some of our new neighbors over. He is the Associate Pastor at Evangelistic Tabernacle Family Church and is just finishing up the big production of the year, the Singing Christmas Tree. He is the conductor of the choir and the producer of the Tree. I think he will be happy when Christmas is over, because he has been listening to Christmas music since June! You can check out his blog at http://siggyurbanite.blogspot.com/ if you’re bored.

Now it is December and Christmas is almost here! We are very excited to be celebrating Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Siggelkow and Uncle Dallas and his family. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Love,

The Siggelkow’s

I Survived the Tree of '06

Well, I started listening to Christmas music in June, and last night we wrapped up this year's production with the world's largest tinsel fight. It's hard to beleive that after so many months of planning and hours and hours of works it is really over. But the reviews have been very positive, and I'm happy to say that I'm very pleased how it all came together.
A couple of thoughts. First, I had a lot of fun. Yes, it was a ridiculous amount of work, and at times I felt like I needed to reintroduce myself to my family, but over all, it was a hoot, especially the performance. There is nothing quite like a live production and a live audience to keep things interesting. I have to admit that for the most part it was a very enjoyable experience.
The other thing I have to mention is that I had a fantastic team to work with. It is incredible how many talented and commited people it takes to pull this thing off. I was blown away by the dedication and passion people have for this thing, which when you think about it, is really wierd. A singing Christmas tree? Who's idea was this anyway? But it is a tradition that is alive and well in Nanaimo, and already people are talking about 'next year'. That's a little hard for me to get my head around, especially after being at the church 'til 1:23 AM doing 'take down'. Ah, the Ways of the Tree...

Tree Time

Tree takes shape

Well, the tree is going up. Puts a whole new spin on setting up the Christmas tree. As you may have noticed, its an artificial one. Maybe next year we can go with a real tree. They do grow them big enough out here.Notice our new stage extension...

Back stage isn't so pretty...

Winter Wonderland

We are currently enjoying our three days of winter. It is a fridged -3 degrees!!! Schools are close, Tehillah is cancelled, everyone is hunkered down for the extreme weather. Don't you wish you were here?

A Fall Morning on the Island

Christmas Carols for the Disturbed

It's almost crunch time for the Singing Christmas Tree, and I think all of us involved are showing signs of being 'disturbed'. Here's a list of some of the music we've been working on...

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Lion's Won...yawn...

I suppose I should be more excited about the Lion's winning their 5th Championship, but I can't get past the fact that the 94th Grey Cup may have been one of the most boring football games I have ever watched. And I even missed mosted of the first half, which by all accounts was the dullest part of the game. The best part of the whole afternoon was when they broke the trophey during the post-game celebration!

I guess when it comes down to it, I'm more of a fan of the CFL than any individual team. I would have been happier if the Lion's would have lost a thriller than for them to loose a sleeper.

And it's just not that 'big game' that was flat. This has been a dull season in the CFL. Few tight games, fewer big plays, and not a whole lot of flash and sizzle. This is something that needs to be addressed, or I might have to start watching (gasp!) the NFL. Bring back the wild, sand-lot football - PLEASE!!! Even the Toronto Star agrees with me that the Grey Cup is not the only thing broken!

We Can Drink Again!

Here's the scoop from the city web site www.Nanaimo.ca
Boil Water Advisory Lifted (except for Duke Point Industrial Park) The Boil Water Advisory for Nanaimo Watershed has been lifted (as of 4:30 PM today, Sunday, November 19) with the exception of the Duke Point Industrial Area which includes the Duke Point Ferry Terminal. The VIHA has indicated that water samples have returned to acceptable turbidity levels. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and cooperation during this time.

I think turbidity has become one of my favorite words...

Water Woes Update

Well, the rain has stopped. For now. Another big storm on it's way for the weekend. We are currently under a boil water advisory because the city water plant got overrun with all the silt in the river. But that is the least of my worries.

After my last post, my neighbor to be Chris, who is building the new house beside us came over to say that he had been informed by the City that neighbors below us had complained about all the water that was running off of our property on to ours. Oh O. As it turns out, property owners are responsible for the water that drains from their property. Oops. Sorry. Didn't know.

So what do you do with all that water? I had visions of going and big buying a wet vac and getting out in the yard and then...well... I guess that wasn't going to work, was it?

As it turns out, the city also informed us that we actually have storm drains at the back of our property. The idea is that we were to build a swail to direct the runoff into the drain and keep the it from going all the way down the hill.

Well, I've never seen any storm drain down our hill, just a couple of man-holes and a clean-out access. But Chris had a map and a metal detector, and sure enough we found one on his property and then we dug up half our back yard and found ours. It had been buried under about a foot of dirt long before we bought the place. Never knew it was there. Would have never found it either, if Chris hadn't given me a hand.

But I'm glad we found it. It only makes sense that the developer would have put one there. I just wish that I would have known about it before we had our basic landscaping done. Now we'll have to get the big digger back in and reshape the lower portion of our lot so that the runoff gets swallowed by our newly discovered drain.

Weather you like it or not

Just in case you're curious, here's a real time weather update for Nanaimo courtesy of the Weather Network.
How 'bout Edmonton?
Vegreville?
Calgary?

No, we haven't floated away...yet...

November can be a miserable month on the coast. We get these intense tropical storms that blow in from Hawaii bring LOTS of rain and wind. We're supposed to get about 100mm or precipitation today, with 80km gusts. Let's just say it's not a great day for yard work. Unless that's your job, like the guys building the house next door.

Speaking of the yard, as most of you know, we a firmly rooted on the side of a steep hill. At least that is my fervent hope on days like this. Our landscaping is unfinished, so there isn't much slowing down the muddy brown rivers the rain has caused to cascade from our property down to our neighbors below. This morning one of our lower level friends (this is meant in a purely geographical sense) was up on the back bank of his property cleverly digging a trench to divert the water away from his yard. Unfortunately he has directed all the water into his neighbor's place. I think those folks should think about building an ark. Or a water park. Oh well, they don't have a basement to flood. And they won't have to fertilize their lawn either...it's kind of like the Nile River flooding it's delta and depositing all the rich nutrients onto the land. At least that's what I was taught in grade 5.

Anyway, enough babbling. Just thought I should post something for all of you who claim to faithfully read my blog. (Yes, Heather, I mean you...)

Changing it up

After 2 years I thought it was about time I changed the look. Any complaints?

Hearing Impaired?

I was reading the other day in Genesis 2 where Satan says to Eve, "Did God really say...?"

It's a question that continues to haunt humans. I don't think I've ever had Satan ask me that, but I have asked it myself. There have been times when I know I have heard a clear 'word from the Lord', but down the road, life cuts in and you begin to wonder if you really heard. "Did God really say...?"

I was sharing our story today with someone today. He really isn't in relationship with me and hasn't journyed with us. He wanted to know why we lived in downtown Vancouver, and then knowing that we are now on the Island said something to the effect of "Well, I guess that didn't work, did it." What I heard was, "Well, I guess you failed."

I didn't take my friends comments personally, but I do wish I had a better explanation for what has transpired in our lives over that past few years. I have tried to understand it, make peace with it, but I still have many questions. In quite moments it makes me wonder "Did God really say...?"

People don't always get 'the message' from God right - that includes me. It would be easier if God dropped a brick from heaven with a note. But that's not the way it seems to happen. I believe he leads us, gives us direction, but that sometimes we read into the story things he wasn't intending. Call it jumping to spiritual conclusions. So then when things don't turn out the way WE expect, we begin to wonder "Did God really say...?" In the mean time, maybe God's saying, "Yes you heard me, but you didn't understand what I was saying..."

Here's what I know for sure. God loves me and my family and doesn't play games with our lives. God does speak to me in a personal way. I am trying to serve him the best I can. Downtown Vancouver was a fantastic experience. Nanaimo is a special place and we are glad to be here. And I choose to walk and live by faith...

Good Question, Paul...

My buddy Paul has an interesting take on what it may take for us as Christians to spend time with people who don't know Jesus. It sparked a really interesting conversation. Check out the blog - click here - , and don't miss the comments...

Happy Hubbub

Well, new neighborhoods are an intersting learning curve. Take last night for instance - most neighbors really decked out thier houses in creepy spiderwebs, bats, and yellow police tape that said DANGER. Then starting about 6 PM we had over 125 kids come knocking on the door dressed up like Mr. Incredible and other assorted superheros and grusome characters. Even most of the accompanying adults were in costume - most of them pretty ridiculous! It was a zoo - literally. I even had to run out for more candy, but the stores were all sold out.

Then our girls got dragged out by some of thier school friends that showed up at the door. I thought they were getting kind of old for that kind of stuff, but when in Rome, do as the Romans. It was a great opportunity to build some relationships with some of thier school chums that live around here. And it's a good thing too becuase when we ran out of candy, we ended up giving away most of the loot they had hauled in! Call it healthy recycling.

So next year...we'll be more prepared. Expect a crowd. Welcome the neighborhood. Chat with the adults. Have fun. Cheer the fireworks. Redeem the night. Be missional in our own querky way.

Janelle & Eli's Wedding

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow