What's the point?

It has been a while, to say the least, so I decided to write a new post. Recently I enrolled in a course called "Measurement and Evaluation". It was the next in the series that I am taking towards my Trainer of Adults certificate. Tonight I have been working on my assignment for tomorrow, and I thought that it is about time that I sit down and share with you what I am about to share with the class tomorrow.

This is where the world of learning and development crosses paths with the teachings of Jesus.

I have been spending some time looking at how the learning and development aligns with the teachings of the Bible. Specifically, I have been looking at the purpose of being a Christian, and how God enables us to live out that purpose by obeying his commands.

One of the questions that took me a long time to answer is "How can you ensure that your learning and development program is successful?". That is a tough question to answer, however, over time I learned about the Kirkpatrick model. In the Kirkpatrick model, you can assess a learning and development program within four areas:

Level 1: Reaction - To what degree participants react favorably to the learning event.

Level 2: Learning - To what degree participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, and attitudes based on their participation in the learning event.

Level 3: Behaviours - To what degree participants apply what they learned during training when they are back on the job.

Level 4: Results - To what degree targeted outcomes occur, as a result of the learning event(s) and subsequent reinforcement.

Like any good CEO, Director, Manager, Team Lead, etc, I am specifically am interested is the results (Level 4).  What are to be the results of the church?  The best answer that I have heard on this question was answered by Dr. Don Kirkpatrick himself, the inventor of the Kirkpatrick model.  In a brief conversation with him, Dr. Kirkpatrick mentioned that the Great Commission can be looked at as the results.

Matthew 28:16-20:

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

But how do we reach those results?  That is where the behaviours come into play.  What are the behaviours that are required to obtain those results?  I think this is best answered in the Greatest Commandment, as follows:

Matthew 22:36-40:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So according to this scripture, loving God is #1, and loving your neighbour is a close #2.  What is love?  Let's take a look at the famour Love Chapter: 

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

As far as learning goes, there are so many topics that fall into here, but you'll notice that what is important should align with the behaviours to ensure that the results are obtained.

Lastly, the learning environment should be setup in such a way that ensures that the learners have the best opportunity to absorb the information.

Pretty neat, eh?  So what's the point?  To me, the point is the Greatest Commission, which is enabled by the Greatest Commandment, which refers directly back to the Love chapter - all of which Jesus provided the ultimate example of through His death on the cross for our sins.

Ethics and the Professional Role

This last semester I have been taking a class at Conestoga College, called Ethics and the Professional Role. I'm taking this as part of the Adult Learning program as I'm working towards an Ontario Certificate. When I first enrolled for the class, I couldn't think of how it would relate to my life. As the course went on however I realized how following the Bible allows for me to develop my own Code of Ethics. Tomorrow I will be going through and formally writing my personal Code of Ethics as an assignment. I have in the meanwhile thought about how the ethics taught within the Bible apply directly to my life. Most people in the class that I have talked to have never thought of a Personal Code of Ethics. When I look at my life, I realize how much of my own ethical standards have already been developed (and how far I am from achieiving said ethics). One of the first steps towards creating the ethics is determining who the stakeholders are: your spouse, your family, your friends, your parents, siblings, enemies, strangers, etc. Each time I think of one of these groups I think about how the Bible teaches me to act towards them. In a blanket statement, I am to love them all, using the definition of love that I have previously written about. Additionally, there are other passages that relate to each one. I can't think of where they are off hand, but tomorrow I'll be going through each one of these to see how I am to treat each of these takeholders. Some examples I can think of is "Honour your mother and father", "treat women who are younger than you as your own sister", "Treat women who are older than you as your own mother", "pray for your enemies", "Love your neighbour", etc. Anyway, it will be an interesting assignment and I believe I will learn a lot by going through it.

People. They're imperfect. But I'm learning to love them.

Over the lasr while I have been evaluating what I find important in life, and the answer keeps coming back to God #1 and people #2. During my conversations with some dear people to me I realized just how much this perspective has changed my life. During a tense conversation at work I was able to laugh at myself at how I was getting worked up about what I thought at the time was really important, but in view of the priorities wasn't important at all. After all, isn't the person that I'm talking to in any discussion the most important part of the conversation?

The same held true during a recent conversation I had over lunch the other day. We shared our weaknesses. And laughed at just how funny we as people can be when we lose sight of what is really important - loving God.

I'm more in love with God as ever and as a result it is causing me to love His imperfect people even more. Loving God and focusing on Him has also allowed me to be comfortable with myself - self-confidence is no longer important (thanks to love not being self-seeking) which is funny because that means that in the end I can live with confidence.

I guess in the end loving God allows me to love others even with their imperfections, and also aloows me to do the same with me.

Love, you're seriously messing me up!

I'm continually being amazed by this message of love that has been on my heart this last year. It came up again this morning in church.

The message related back to finances, and at the end of the message the question "what can we do with our finances" (or something to that degree) came up.

I started to think of the greatest and second greatest commandments and used he same definition for love. Then I asked myself, how can my finances reflect the greatest commandments?

Heres what happened. I started asking the question "How can my finances allow me to be patient with others, kind towards others, not envious of others, not proud towards others, not rude to others, etc".

Wow. I'm stunned again. While I don't have an answer for each one of those statements, others speak loudly. The same could be done with other resources such as time as well.

I have so much to learn about love!

Love in a college classroom

I am really excited for tomorrow.

Over this last week I have been attending a Facilitation Skills class at a local college. This is the first course that I have taken towards a "Trainer of Adults" program. I'm hoping to complete this program over the next few years.

As it is right now, I am a high school graduate and had never really entertained the thought of taking any post-secondary school until a colleague of mine had mentioned it. After I was given this idea I thought it would be wise for me to complete this program.

So here I am now, on the eve of my last full day of my first course.

Why am I so excited for tomorrow?

I am excited because tomorrow will be the first time (ever) that I will be talking about the teachings of Jesus - how He has asked His followers to love our neighbours. My final graded facilitation will be about the attributes of love - the love is patient, love is kind, does not boast, is not proud, etc.

As far as I know, there is only one other fellow Christian in this course (and maybe one other one based on some comments she made earlier, although I'm really not too sure where she is at). The rest are all regular people.

I am very curious as to how well a message of love will be received by the class. Will that message get rejected? Will it be accepted? Will anyone want to know more of what I have to say? Will any relationships extend past the classroom, and into every day life?

I can't wait to share this message with them!

Dream with me a little

It has been a busy month now that I am back to work. I feel a lot different now then I did before I left work. I think I've grown a lot spiritually over the last year, but mostly within the last three months. I realize now just how much I had pondered the things of God while I was off work.

So what's so different? I think it comes down to the way I'm looking at people. What I mean is that I think I've finally gotten past what is displayed on the outside. While this may be something a lot of you will think is easy, this for me is something I've struggled with all my life.

I never could get in with the popular groups in grade school, all the way through high school. I barely got in with the unpopular groups too. Even after becoming a Christian, I struggled with trying to fit in for the first while.

However, over time, God has been working on me. I'm even to the point now where I am pretty comfortable getting up and speaking in front of audiences. I'm pretty sure I like it, which I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't be comfortable with. Strange, I know.

And now I have this dream. Is it God inspired? Maybe, maybe not. I'd like to think it is. I picture myself operating an organization that helps Christians with their faith. But not necessarily a church. Maybe more like an evangelist or something. It's not too clear yet. I guess I've only taken the dream as far as running the odd Saturday seminar now and again, where Christians from the area could attend. I'd take everything I've learned about learning and development and apply it to this one day seminar. Over time I'd like to enable others to then take over the program, so I could build different seminars. All the while I'd have the chance to love all those who attend the program, and help them to love everyone hey come in contact with.

So that's the dream as it currently sits - which is a lot clearer than it was even 6 months ago.

In the meanwhile, I'll continue to work at my present dream job. I am truly loving the work that I am responsible for.

Try, try, and try again

It has been roughly a week and a half since I had written about food controlling my life. I thought it would be worthwhile to provide an update on how I'm attempting to overcome this battle.

While this might look like a weight loss challenge, it definitely isn't. Although I will admit I step on the scale probably too often - and then I have to remind myself why I'm being more careful with the foods I'm eating.

This also isn't a "look how much I lost", but more of "this is what I have experienced" and "this is why God is awesome" kind of a post.

For the first couple of days I struggled a lot. I went to the cupboards and fridge more times than I care to remember. Each time, however, I was able to resist the temptation by both remembering the consequences (excess food = self-seeking = sinning towards God) and secondly by praying for help. I was amazed at how much easier it was to walk away from the snack. I even thought to myself - perhaps this is what it means to deny yourself and take up your cross daily?

Now have I given in to temptation since those early days? Yessir, I have. Especially when company was over, or my wife wanted to order in. Back to my old habits I went. Why oh why do I continue to fail? I turn to God for forgiveness and try again. I have the belief that while I may always have a weakness to poor food choices, I can be sure that God will help me overcome - provided I seek Him in the process.

In short, I have a long way to go to overcome this sin, but as I persevere, I build character, which results in a hope that things will change, and all the while I grow closer to God.

Live like the Amish or use a Megaphone?

For the last little while I have been thinking a lot of how to approach the topic of Jesus with those I come into contact with. Am I to immediately jump to that topic, or simply, let my life be an example?

While I haven't reached a conclusion yet - mostly because I want to read more about this topic in the Bible first - I have started to gather my thoughts on the topic. As a Christian, I know I am to share the Gospel (Good News) through all the earth - and what good news it is! However, I also think about how Jesus talked to those around him about heavenly things.

The message to me seems pretty simple. God loves us. A lot. Sacrificed his own life for us - even though we should be considered his enemy. Says a lot about his character. In fact, the more I try to live in the "love is" and "love does not"'s I start to see how awesome my God really is.

So how do I share this with others?

As of this moment, I really believe that first and foremost I am to live this way myself. They will know us (Christians) by our love. But what does that mean? That's where I believe I am to live out the "love is patient / kind / not envious / not proud / not boastful / not rude / not self-seeking / not easily angered / keeps no record of wrong / not delight in evil / rejoices in the truth / always protects / trusts / hopes / perseveres / never fails" kind of love. I get this from the greatest and second greatest commandments. My current belief is that if I live this way, more people will be attracted to me, or maybe not so much me, but the Holy Spirit who I am allowing to work through me - which then allows for an open discussion about the things of God.

I can say for certain - I simply do not feel like I am the same person from even 3 months ago. I have a very long way to go to be sure, but, as I keep trying to love others the way God loves me the more I feel connected to God.

Do you have thoughts about how to approach the topic of Jesus to others? Are there versus that stick out in your mind when I mention this topic? I would love to hear them!

Oh food, why do you torment me so?

I like food. Actually I love food. Sort of. But not really.

The reality is I have a problem with food. Not only do I eat the wrong kinds, but I eat it too often, and I eat too much of it.

Last summer I started to realize, for the first time, that my problems with food is a sin. This sin has been a tough one to leave behind.

I believe that my problem with food is a sin because I'm treating food as a lower-case g god. God was also quite clear about putting other gods before him - so much so that it was the first of the ten commandments. By eating too much, too frequently of the wrong foods, I believe I am putting food before God. That's a problem.

As I had touched upon in a previous post, I also believe my problems with eating is also an issue with loving God, as this is an act of temporarily satisfying my own desires, which to me, is an exercise in being self-seeking.

In the past I have tried different programs to help with my problem - weight watchers, some weird tomato soup diets, and the like. Each time the motivation was the same - to look good, be healthy, and lose weight - which again could be considered self-seeking reasons to change my lifestyle.

Knowing this time around that my food problem is a sin and distancing myself from God, I have decided to do something about it. I believe that to help battle this sin, I will need to take up my cross daily - put away my selfish desires - and focus on God the entire time I feel like grabbing another calorie-laden snack.

Do I think I am going to fail this time around? Of course I do. I have every other time. The difference I believe between this time and others is that the motivation is to love God.

With God's help I can remove this sin from my life.

A Laundry Basket of Love

I often miss the obvious. My wife will leave a basket full of laundry in front of the staircase basically indicating to me that I am to carry these dirty clothes to the laundry room, and I will walk around, over, or even sometimes move the basket out of the way so that I can walk down the stairs, all the while leaving the basket behind.

I'm not doing this for any particular reason other than I'm not really paying attention to what my wife is saying. I have been married almost 8 years and this sort of thing still happens.

I've also been a Christian now for over 10 years, and yet I still miss the obvious in my spiritual life, too.

Tonight while with some really good Christian friends of mine the verse regarding "husbands, love your wives the way Christ loves the church" kept repeating itself in my head.

When I got home I looked up this passage and read the rest of Ephesians chapter 5 starting at verse 25. "He who loves his wife loves himself". I missed this before. I must have walked around this basket too.

Knowing the definition of love from 1st Corinthians 13 is really helping me to understand what is being said here in that I should be patient with my wife, kind to her, not envious, not boastful towards her, not proud to her, not rude to her, not self seeking, not easily angered, not keeping record of her wrongs, not delighting in evil but rejoicing in the truth, always protecting her, always trusting her, always hoping for her, always perseveres with her, and never failing her.

It's really beautiful, isn't it? And after all, why shouldn't it be beautiful, since my wife is that way already?

Whining is not loving

It is the reason why I should be satisfied for not winning an argument with my wife about what I would like to do with my time, why I should be eating healthy, and why I should be happy to concede to do what God wants me to do rather than what I would prefer to do.

Love is... not self-seeking.

In my opinion, out of all the attributes about love found in 1st Corinthians 13 it is the most difficult one to live by. It gets me every time.

I found over the last year that when I argue with my wife I find that if I live by this love attribute then the argument quickly gives way. Any time I'm headed down the road of "I want..." I am running in opposition with "love is not self-seeking". In my mind, the only time the "I want" statement wins out over someone else's "I want" is when the other person is wanting something that God would not want. In this situation, the greatest commandment wins because we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength which will trump the second commandment of "love your neighbour as yourself".

Anytime I start eating too much food or the improper foods I believe I am also being self-seeking. This is a great struggle for me, as I seem to eat way too much of the wrong foods. Desiring bad food because it tastes good is in my mind self-seeking because I'm looking to satisfy my own desires. This is going to be an area I hope to address sooner rather than later.

I have found that inconveniencing myself for the sake of others (and especially God) is a great way for others (and God) to know that you love them, and when I do so, I believe I'm living out the first and second greatest commandments.

Believe it or not, I am actually a Canadian

You might not think I am a Canadian. I will be watching my first NHL hockey game of the 2010-2011 season tonight. Since the NHL lockout occurred several years ago I said to myself that I would give up watching hockey games "for a while". These days, I tune in to watch an NHL game only when it is the Stanley Cup finals, and only when it is an elimination game on the line. (Just for the record, I did the same for MLB baseball when they went on strike in '94, and didn't return to watching or listening to any games until the 2004 season).

While I was driving to a doctors appointment this morning, and thinking about the game I will be watching tonight as the Boston Bruins host the Vancouver Canucks, an image popped into my head. It was an image of no particular hockey player, but one of a toothless hockey player who has given it their all to have a chance to win sports most famous trophey.

I thought about the physical trauma that the hockey players endure throughout a season - lost teeth, broken bones, bruised bodies - as players throw their bodies at other plays and drop in front of a frozen hard piece of rubber that was launched like a bullet out of a gun from a defensemen's slapshot - just to have a chance at winning a trophy that upon winning, the players are only able to sign out for a day, and have their name engraved on the side.

After having this mental image, I was immediately reminded about how God wants us as Christians to live our lives - as living sacrifices. God wants us to give it our all - to endure hardships, to endure pain, to endure trauma - towards loving others.

After all, our prize is worth much more than a cup, isn't it?

I wish Jesus had children

My wife had a dentist appointment today, which meant that I would be the only parent home to watch our three children. Seeing as I will be going back to work in less than a month I have been cautious to not complain about being home alone to watch our children as soon my wife will be doing the same but full time.

It was during this time that my 2 month had his first bowel movement in about four days. And boy was there some movement. It moved outside the diaper, through his clothes, and onto his receiving blanket. At the same time, my two year old daughter also had her movement. While I was trying to clean up my newborn son, my four year old son turned off his ears and turned the basement upside down. Before I was done changing the first diaper, my four year old made his way upstairs and parked himself onto the toilet and joined in on the fun. Meanwhile, my daughter made her way to the main floor and started to turn that floor upside down.

Then the phone rang. My wife was coming home shortly. I needed to get everything cleaned up before she got home.

I was so frustrated and I lost my cool and half-yelled at my older two children for making a mess.

It was during the evening when I had my shower that I thought about all that happened. Then the thought crossed my mind - if Jesus had children, how would he have handled all this? I first thought of how Jesus let the children come to him, and how he was so kind to them. "But he was only with them for a little bit, not all day" I thought to myself. "It's kind of like when grandparents see your children for a little bit - that's easier when you can hand the children back to the parents," I reasoned to myself.

Then just as quickly I received my answer. I'm adopted. By Jesus. I'm his child. Not only that, but he has millions of adopted children - many who at times make a mess of things and stop listening to Him, just like me.

Wow. So that means that Jesus would have been patient, kind, not rude, not easily angered, and would have persevered, and wouldn't have failed.

All the things I wasn't. I wish I thought about all of this during the situation - it would have made for a much more pleasant morning for everyone.

Who is cotton eyed Joe anyway?

Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, cotton-eyed Joe? I'll admit, I really have no idea what those song lyrics mean, but when I tried to think of some witty intro to this post that was the first thing that popped into my mind. I really hope that song isn't about something offensive!

These last few weeks I have been introduced to several new terms such as apostolic succession and transubstantiation. After having some conversations with some friends, and spending several hours reading various websites (a lot of those hours on wikipedia), as well as reading various facebook conversations, I have come to one conclusion: I can no longer avoid the topic of church history.

You see, history was one of my least favourite subjects in school. It was something that was rarely discussed in my house when I was growing up. And to add to that, church history.

So now when all of these terms are being passed around, and I have never heard of them, despite attending church the last ten years of my life, I'm really starting to wonder about what happened between the time the period that the Bible covers to where the church is at today. What about all the denominations? What about the reformation? Who were the early church fathers, and what did they have to say?

I'm also curious about church denominations. Seeing that I had only stumbled upon a Pentecostal church, which is the only church I have chosen to attend (outside of a campus church which is where I initially attended, also by circumstance, considering I never went to post-secondary school), I think it is important for me to ensure I should be going to a Pentecostal church.

All this thinking lately has left me with an uncomfortable feeling - one where my stomach doesn't quite feel settled. I'm sure it's all of the "what if" type questions that I have been asking myself lately, because I know that at some point I'm going to draw some sort of conclusion - maybe I will come to the conclusion that I belong at a Pentecostal church after all, but then again, maybe not, at which point I'll need to find a new church to belong to.

In the end, I believe that this is a necessary step in growing my relationship with Jesus, as He is the one I love, and I want to be faithful to Him. I want to go where He wants me to be. I just need to figure out where that is.

As for cotton eyed Joe, I'll let someone else figure out what's up with that. I want to learn more about the church's history.

Spiders, Ants, Ticks and Fleas

My son seems to be scared of a lot of things. Some examples include Swiper from Dora the Explorer, some episodes of Curious George, some Veggietales episodes, just to name a few.

So when my four year old son informed me that he was scared of "Spiders, ants, fleas and ticks" I knew something had to be done about it. (Grandpa had told him about a spray can that he had - which is where that list of insects came from).

Little did I know that God was going to use my son's various fears to help me understand a portion of scripture. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been thinking about the portion in scripture that states "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it". Never entering the kingdom of God... pretty important verse if you ask me.

The part that I was wondering was how does a child receive the kingdom of God? That's where my son's story helped me to understand this more.

The other morning, my son went to use the restroom in our basement, but he stopped dead in his tracks the second he saw a spider in there. I tried telling him that the spider wouldn't hurt him, but he still wouldn't go in. I even disposed of the spider, but he was still frozen in fear.

Then I thought, why don't we pray together about it? Kneeling on the floor (as I was already kneeling from disposing of the spider) we had a nice short prayer - asking God to help us not be afraid. Just like that, my son was 100% comfortable with entering the restroom.

Ah... so that's how a child receives the kingdom of God... if you pray for something that is within God's will, it happens. No second thoughts about it - God will do what he says.

Thank you God, for helping me to understand.

Am I rich?

Lately it seems that some verses from the Bible are really starting to make me think. Really make me think. And kind of freak me out at the same time. Not in a panic, scream, and run around with my arms flailing kind of freak me out, but more of a "oh boy, I'd better pay attention and do what it says" kind of freak me out.

The first is "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God", and the second being, "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Can you see why there would be some cause for concern?

Take for instance the rich statement. Am I rich? I guess it depends on who I am compared to. If I am compared to any of my favourite players on the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, then no, definitely not. If I am compared to any major Hollywood actor, then the answer is still no. If I compare myself to those living in poverty within my community, well now you can start building a case to say yes. Compare me, as well as just about anyone else in North America, against most of the people within the world, and I can definitely be considered rich. And that makes the first quote from scripture relevant, which means I should pay attention. Am I rich? In God's eyes - likely.

My initial reaction was to question whether or not I should have some of the possessions that I have... such as my house. Does God want me to have the house I'm currently living in? I'm still not sure, to be honest. The only reason I could think of why he would want me to have my house is because the house will go up in value over time, making the house a worthy investment, which would be better than sticking my money in a hole someplace where it will lose value. Not a strong case, but its still something.

Another point of view that I have on this matter is how I view money. Take for instance the money that I receive after putting time in at my place of employment. If I call that money "my money", or "money that I have earned", then it is considered my possession, which would make me rich. If, on the other hand, I consider this money to be money that God has trusted in me, then to me that is a different story.

Here's an analogy of how I believe God would want me to view money. Let's say I manage a bank. Let's also say that God has opened up an account with my bank. From time to time, God deposits money into His account at the bank that I manage. Let's also say that God has allowed me to control the finances to His account. So now when He has deposited the money, I am free to move the money around to wherever I see fit. Now, if I keep spending that money for my own purposes, then that would be considered stealing - an act worthy of God not contributing funds to the account.

If, however, I spend His money wisely and for His purposes (on items he would approve of), then there is the possibility he would invest even more finances into the account, because He can trust me with His finances.

This would imply that from time to time, God would call me up to let me know that He wants to spend His money on a special cause, in which case, I'd better do so, for risk of losing His account.

Under this scenario, I can no longer make any claims in what money I own, because it would all be God's. Does that make me rich?

I say no - just blessed to be able to make the decisions with someone else's money.

What do you think?

(On the next posting I'll talk more about the second verse that I quoted).

Why I Love Jesus +a few +meme

I don't normally feel any pressure to respond to chain letters - no matter what said consequences will occur to me. In this situation, I was simply tagged to a posting about the topic "5 reasons why you love Jesus". No pressure, no threats, no anything. Justgged to a posting and that is all.

Given that:

- I had already been thinking about this topic because I read my friends post on the subject;
- it is about Jesus, and my love for Him;
- a good friend of mine tagged me;

I decided to overthrow my previous decision to not respond to a chain letter, and instead write this post. The one caveat is that I won't be tagging 5 people as had originally been requested.

TOP 5 REASONS WHY I LOVE JESUS

While this list may change over time, the current list would look like this:

1. Jesus cared enough about me to create an individual experience to allow me to believe in Him.

In my previous entry titled First things first..., I described how Jesus allowed for a very specific way for me to encounter Him. There are also other details left out of that story, all of which made for a very individual experience. Had this not been the case, I don't think my 21 year old heart and mind would have been willing to learn more about Jesus. Billboard messages, tracts, tv commercials, a guy wearing a sandwich board, etc, wouldn't have been enough to pierce my hardened heart and mind.

2. Jesus loves everyone.

This is the one thing that amazes me. He loves everyone equally, regardless of gender, age, nationality, race, religion, physical attributes, intelligence, health, political views, sexual orientation, lifestyle, history, finances, career, criminal records, etc. No matter what the person thinks about Jesus (believes he is God, isn't God, is a fictional character, whatever), Jesus will still love that person.

3. Jesus walked the talk.

Jesus came to earth in a lowly stable, with earthly parents who were both under the curse of sin, as a helpless babe. He experienced all the same emotions as me. He felt pain - emotional pain, when His Father had forsaken Him at the cross, and physical pain - from dehydration, flogging, being nailed to the bark of a tree, and wearing a crown made with thorns. He felt rejection, when Peter denied Him, and when his friends would not keep watch with him in the garden. He lived a life on this earth he helped to create.

4. Jesus is always available.

From January 1 to December 31, 24 hours a day, Jesus is willing to listen to me and be there for me. If I have never talked to him before, or that I talked to Him just a couple of minutes ago - Jesus is ready and willing to listen to me talk.

5. Jesus is all I need.

No one gets to the Father but through Jesus. Jesus overcame death so that I could spend eternity with Him. I do not require any special talents or own any material possessions. Jesus was the role model that can teach me how to live my life. I can look to Jesus on the cross in the similar manner that the Israelites looked to the bronze asp and be saved.

Thank you, Jesus, for being all these things.

Can you spare some change?

My children love the McDonald's playland, so today my wife and I decided to pack the children into the mini-van and head on over to McDonald's over the lunch hour.

We started off with me watching the children while Heidi ordered our lunches, so that our children could be busy playing while the food was being ordered and prepared.

We then had our lunch, followed by some more play time. All in all it was a wonderful start to the afternoon.

When it was time to go, my eldest son decided to make a run for it, and if you've ever seen him, you'll know just how quickly he can accelerate. I was at the furthest point from an exit, and from my vantage point, I can see my son navigating his way through the crowd at full tilt.

He managed to get to the vestibule where you go to exit the store (and head out into the parking lot) when I finally caught up to him. I was just about to verbally discipline him, when out of nowhere, I get stopped and asked the question that I'm sure every adult experiences at least once in their lifetime - "Can you spare some change?".

The question appeared to be legitimate as far as appearances go - he wore some tattered clothes (minus the newer looking running shoes, which happened to be the first thing I saw as I was kneeling, about to talk to my son at the time), and the wheels started turning in my head.

"Did I have any spare change?" was he question running through my head - and with both hands occupied - one holding my sprinter child and the other carrying our new born son in a car seat - I had to think instead of reaching into my pockets. I thought back, and remembered that when I ordered my wife's peach pie, and my apple pie, that we each had for dessert, that I indeed used every last penny of change to place the order. "Perfect - what are the odds?" I exclaimed as I handed over every last penny that was in my pocket.

I looked this stranger in the eye and said, "Sorry, I don't have any change. I just spent the last of what I had".

The man took a step further, encroaching on my personal space, and snapped back with "Why does everyone think of change? What about bills?". He was visibly upset and was using a less the pleasant tone. I automatically responded with "...but you had asked for change?". It was then that I realized that this man may have been suffering from some sort of mental issues (although there is no way for me to know for sure, obviously) which could have accounted for the strange response. This was based upon how he started incoherently started mumbling to himself, and through his mannerisms.

I did have a $10 bill sitting in my pocket the whole time.

As I was about to think "do I hand over the 10 dollars or not" my wife exited the restaurant ans as immediately confronted by this man with the same question. She responded a simple but practical (and polite) "no, sorry" and with daughter in one hand, and a diaper bag in another stepped around the man and proceeded to the vehicle.

We then left for home.

Since that time, I have been thinking about this situation and trying to figure out what the best approach would have been given the circumstances, as I'm sure I didn't handle the situation the way God would have wanted me to, so the best I can do now is to prepare for the next situation.

I think, so far, and I will be thinking about this more, would have been for me to take the man into the McDonalds and purchase his meal. That would have been kind, not self-seeking, patient, and not easily angered - all of which are attributes of love, and all of which God has called us Christians to be like.

I'm wondering though - how have you handled this situation in the past, or what suggestions would you have for someone in this situation?

The church is like... a healthy lawn (part 2)

Further to my previous post, The church is like... a healthy lawn?, I have continued thinking of this analogy - specifically about how the church can be attractive to others.

About a week ago, at the height of the yellow dandelion season, I purposely drove by a house where the lawn was completely covered with this notorious weed. I remember seeing this house in previous years and seem to be drawn to this ugly sight. As usual, the lawn was completely covered by this yellow pest. I noticed something different this year however. Next to this unkempt lawn was a nicely groomed, healthy and green lawn, standing in stark contrast to its neighbour.

This got me thinking - how attractive the church must be when it is healthy and free from weeds.

The church is like... a healthy lawn?

They grow without effort, are colourful, and flourish in the harshest of environments, and they drive me nuts. Weeds. My nearly four year old son knows that a dandelion is a weed, yet he still likes to pick them and tell me that he has "a flower for mommy". I cringe, and force myself to realize that this is supposed to be cute, but in reality, I can't help but think that I don't want the seeds getting into my lawn.

Last week, while reading the parable in Matthew chapter 13, I was reminded that Jesus talked about how the weeds were mixed in with the wheat, and that if the weeds were to be removed it would also remove the wheat. This piece of scripture was talking about the judgment day, where the followers of Christ would be separated from the non-believers.

The next day after reading this parable I had found myself uprooting the various weeds from my lawn, and I thought to myself, I don't let the weeds grow with the grass - is there still a way that I could relate this story to my weed-removing adventure?

Last night while having a great discussion with a friend of mine I came across the analogy. The best way to prevent weeds in a lawn is to have a healthy lawn. When the lawn isn't healthy, then the weeds will take over.

I wonder if the same can be said of a church - if a church isn't healthy, do the weeds start coming in?