Just recently there’s been a change in our student ministy at (clc) which means that I’m overseeing the students as we look for another leader. That said I had the opportunity to travel with them on a retreat this past weekend and we had a blast. I’ll try and upload some pictures soon.
I had a friend of mine speak…fellow blogger dom ruso. He leads the embasy, campus ministry at the University of Waterloo. I wanted to say that he was excellent. You know when you’re friends and you spend so much time together (and we do, we play music together and have been friends for a long time) you don’t always see every facet of who he/she may be. Dom displays a wonderful passion for scripture and the church and he got across to our students so well. I’m probably saying this more as a plug than anything else…but its fun to promote friends.
Our students had a blast, they responded so well to the sessions and interacted great with one another. The best moment had to be when we sang Happy Birthday to a young girl. Let me explain. This girl had left me a note at the front door of the church on Wednesday…with lipstick I might add…about wanting to come to retreat. Initially I thought it was from a stalker, but then we called the number on the paper and found out who it was. Her foster parent told me that it was her birthday on Saturday and that all she wanted to do was go away with the church. She also told me that her foster child had never asked for anything like that before and really wanted send her. This girl didn’t know that we knew it was her birthday…it was really special to see the surprised look on her face.
Students are great. My role with them over these next few weeks will bw above what I normally do at our church, but I love every minute of it. We’re praying for a new leader, but in the mean time, I’ll give them what I got.
I was privileged today to participate in an ‘ash wednesday’ service at st. timothy’s anglican church in Scarborough. I didn’t drive there from Ajax because I had time to kill. It was my former professor’s first service at his new appointment. Dr. John Stephenson led the service. It was also my first ‘ash wednesday’ service. (My dad would flip in his grave if he knew).
Here are some thoughts from J.S.’s reflections:
- The Greek word for Lent is ‘to lengthen’…to extend the light…
- Lent is a time of spiritual discipline…so we can reorder our lives in the ways of Christ…
- Don’t start Lent with ‘how bad I am’, instead start with the reminder that we are made in God’s image…not with punishment, but with repentance… (1 John 1:8-9)
- During Lent we should take a moral self inventory of who we are and then re-turn to God…
- And lastly…while sitting in his office, he said that during the season of lent we should also turn our attention to the poor and needy…think about how we can better serve our neighbour…
So, in these next 40 days, as you deny yourself of something (i.e. deserts, TV, MSN, etc.), remember to add something else…more prayer, reading and generosity!
BTW…I should also tell you that I tried to play a joke on the staff at my church by putting ashes on everyones desk…one problem…I burned the paper in a stair way/hall, not even thinking that it would cause some concern…no alarms went off, but I did get a lady running my way from the gym thinking there might be a fire…I disrupted her dancersize class…oh well, I guess added to her work out…after she found out it was only me she quickly returned to sweat to the oldies…!
Lent begins tomorrow…
Have you decided what you will give up for the next 40 days?
- The last 2 years I’ve given up deserts from Monday to Friday…this year it will be for the whole 40 days
- I’m also thinking of giving up Restaurant Bought Coffee (i.e. stopping at Tim’s just because you see it and think you need one) and/or TV shows…
Are you planning to spend some time reading and praying in preparation for Easter?
- I’ll be reading through N.T. Wright’s devotional ‘Reflecting Glory‘
Hope you do something as we lead up to the celebration of God’s love and grace for us through Jesus.
I was so happy that I actually tuned into the Grammy Awards on time last night. I new the Police was going to be playing, but I didn’t realize they would start the show. You can read more about the performance on Sting’s website. I also enjoyed seeing some other artists perform (i.e Johan Mayer), but for the most part the show isn’t that exciting. To see the Police reunite again was amazing - the simplicity of 3 guys on stage, tight, rocking, great music.
I hope they come to Toronto during their summer tour…and I hope I can afford it.
I got a chance to see Michael Frost (writer of Exiles and The Shaping of things to come) in Cobourg yesterday. Besides the great time I had with my brother who also attended, the day was quite refreshing. Michael seems to be very humble and sincere in his approach. He had lots to say about the churches intention to be missional. There were some great stories regarding his own experience of learning and leading.
Some of the things he touched on were…
- Mission is always based in community and should never be individually driven
- When moving towards a missional approach do all you can to stay connected to your local church…motivation should be people driven, not frustration driven
- We can’t rush God’s mission…it will unfold as we live life in Christ
- A leader’s life is watched…so live well (i.e. marriage, behaviour, service, commitments)
- Let Jesus be Jesus…don’t turn him into something we want, but follow him and preach him for who he was and is
- He also pushed NT Wright as someone to read…which is always a plus…
Pretty cool stuff. The reason he was in Cobourg was because the HUMANA conference in Miami was cancelled (I guess they figured the Super Bowl could mess things up)…so he came to Canada instead…only a 40 degree difference in temperature.
This conference was sponsored by NYFC (northumberland)!
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