My First Blogaversary

I was reading a couple of my favourite blogs today (lIfE iN EfFecT and (e)mergent Voyageurs) and they are celebrating their 1 year blogaversaries this week. So I thought of checking when my blogaversary was and to my surprize - it's TODAY!!!

Thursday, June 09, 2005
My First Post
Just testing this out to see how it all looks and how it works.

Mind you, I didn't really do anything with it until 4 months later. Partly because I just wasn't sure what I wanted to put on it, but mostly because I wasn't sure how much information I wanted to share (or should share) with the world (literally the whole world). And then that got me thinking - how much would the world want to know about me.

So once I got up the courage - I haven't looked back. Although it would be nice to have more feedback in the form of comments - I'm quite happy with how things are going.

Thanks everyone for sharing in my growing over the past year.

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blog, blogging, anniversary

Reality TV

It's time for most of the reality tv shows to start.

IDOL - Just finished watching American Idol and now Canadian Idol is underway. I like the Canadian show better - 4 judges, varied talent, better critic - uniquely Canadian. I've watched every Canadian Idol season, but with American Idol it's been every other season.

So You Think You Can Dance - It's a great filler on boring nights and the judges are always fun to watch and listen too.

Big Brother - Season 7 will be starting soon. I can't say that I've watched every season fully through, some I didn't even bother to watch at all. I think this season will be interesting; it's All-Star time. CBS is having the audience vote on which former players they want to compete in the house.

Rock Star: Supernova - Well it was such a hit last year with INXS, so now a brand new band is looking for a singer. Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe), Jason Newsted (Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses), plus the singer we pick will make up the band. Then they will be releasing an original album. I liked it last year, so I'll probably be watching it again. Tommy Lee should make it fun to watch.

What reality tv do you like to watch?

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Reality TV, Canadian Idol, American Idol, Rock Star, Supernova, Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance

Time To Butt Out Ontario

Landmark legislation protects health of Ontarians — Canadian Cancer Society congratulates Ontario government for Smoke-Free Ontario Act

Well, it's finally here - a promise Dalton McGuinty has kept. ;-)

No smoking in any public, enclosed area. I'm happy that smoking is being reduced. I just wish there was a quicker way to ban smoking all together. I know it's been legal so long and it will take a very long time to get everyone to see how bad it really is.

Just wanted to mark the day!

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Ontario, Smoking, Dalton McGuinty

Weakness Christianity

As I was reading Nathan Colquhoun's blog - Based on a True Story, he mentions this essay "Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt: The rare beauty of Weakness Christianity" by Greg Johnson, St. Louis Center for Christian Study.

I must say that I, too, have felt Quiet Time Guilt; almost since my first day of my Christian journey. The past few months, I have given myself the freedom to not do force myself not to do it if I don't want to. And I've been feeling pretty good. I don't think I'm defying God, I actually find myself praying more. Maybe not reading my Bible as much as people might think I should, but I'm definately connecting with God.

Here's a quote from the article that I thought was good:

There are two religions calling themselves evangelical Christianity today: Strength Christianity and Weakness Christianity. Strength Christianity is that religion which places both feet squarely on the Bible and proclaims, “I am strong. I sought the Lord. I’m a believer. I’ve turned away from sin. I read my Bible and pray every single day. I’m for God!” Weakness Christianity, by contrast, places both knees squarely on the Bible and says, “I am weak, but the Lord has sought me. I believe, but help now my unbelief. I fail and am broken by my continued sinfulness. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me favor, for apart from you I can do nothing.”

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Christianity, Nathan Colquhoun, Greg Johnson

Waiting

I'm so frustrated. It feels like I've been waiting for years. I do the normal waiting - at the doctor's office, in a restaurant, in many lines, but this waiting is different. It feels different; it's inner; it's hard to describe. Sometimes I just want to scream, but know that somehow that won't help.

I'm really just waiting on God. I'm very much a do-er when it comes to God and I like it. I think I'm pretty good at it too. I like to do things and have something to show for it. But right now, I really am not doing anything. Maybe it's more like I'm not doing anything "church" related.

I'm involved in a church plant and you'd think there'd be lots of stuff to do, but I've got nothing. At my previous church, I created the sermon powerpoints, did (and still do) the bulletin, ran the Nursery, organized social and outreach events, and helped hubby with the music (he was Music team leader). I shouldn't say I do nothing at the new church, I am an extra adult body in the Sunday School (no planning or preperation just need to show up and sit with the kids). Mind you I really enjoy the kids, but I am never in the church service.

I guess my biggest thing is that I feel like I'm just waiting to see where God wants me. Maybe it's because I don't know - I'm a person who likes to know things. I wonder if this is how David felt when King Saul was chasing him. David had the promise that he would be King, but had to wait before it came to pass.

I need to learn how to just be. Wait and see.

Needed to get this little rant off my chest. Thanks for listening.

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waiting, Church

Interesting Thought

Pernell Goodyear wrote this on his blog:

"Christianity began in Palestine as a relationship, moved to Greece and became an idea, went to Rome and became an institution, then came to North America and became an enterprise."

I like it. I think it helps explain Christianity's transition. Which one is the best expression of Christianity? I'm inclined to go back to the beginning and work at relationships. Maybe it's circular and will start back at relationships then move to idea again, etc. Any thoughts?

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Christianity, Pernell Goodyear

Mom's Pay Day

Salary.com consulted US mothers and has come with a paycheck for a mother's work. At Home Mom's would be bring home on average $131, 121.00 a year while Working Mom's would bring home their regular pay as well as an additional $85,876.00 for "mom work". You can read more here What is Mom's Job Worth?.

Here's the breakdown of an At Home Mom job description:

Housekeeper - 22.1 hours/week - $10,980

Day Care Center Teacher - 15.7 h/w - $10,817

Cook - 13.6 h/w - $10,862

Computer Operator 9.1 h/w - $7,151

Laundry Machine Operator - 6.7 h/w - $3,133

Janitor - 6.3 h/w - $3,713

Facilities manager - 5.8 h/w - $11,508

Van Driver - 4.2 h/w - $3,334

CEO - 4.2 h/w - $35,971

Psychologist - 3.9 h/w - $7,176

A total of 91.6 hours - that's 51.6 hours of overtime on a regular 40 hour week. Giving a total pay check worth - $134,121

Wow that's great!! Dreaming of someday! (wink)

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pay, Stay-at-home Moms

Canadian Census Day

It's a very interesting time. Every household must submit a census form and if you don't there are consequences. First a person will come to your door to remind you and then after that if you have not submitted you could be thrown in jail. I guess that's one way of making you do it. I'll be filling out the new online form today!

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Canada, census

Sex for Food

I just read this CBC News: Aid workers giving girls food for sex in Liberia: report and am totally disgusted.

How could they do this?!!!!? I'm really hoping that this report is over-exaggerated, but even if it is - just one case is one too many.

Is this something that will always happen? Aren't there any descent people in the world?

Very frustrated and a tad angry.

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Liberia, United Nations, Save the Children, Sex

How To Grow A Church - Part 2

In Living Color Originally uploaded by eye2eye.

To continue my comments (How to Grow a Church - Part 1) regarding 10 musts the church should focus on (Structuring to grow, not plateau) written by Rick Warren (famous Christian author and pastor of Saddleback Church).

Here are the last 5:

6. You must offer multiple services.

Obviously, to expand the structure, you will have to multiply, and to multiply, you have to offer multiple worship services. Why? Because more hooks in the water mean you can catch more fish.

At what point should you add a new service? I would say when you can have at least 75-100 people in that service. If you’re trying to reach new people, you have to have a large enough crowd so that the new people who just walked in don’t feel like everybody’s looking at them.

I'm not sure how to take this. Is 75-100 people too small to start another service? I think it might be, unless maybe if you've been at 75-100 for a year or two. I think multiple services are okay, but I also think that if you are going to do mulitple services why not start a new church. Or maybe we can think of each service as it's own church. Hmm.

7. You must create affinity groups to enhance community.

The more affinity groups you have, the more ways you have to connect with people. You want to avoid your church becoming a single-cell amoeba, so deliberately structure your church so it won’t become one big group that doesn’t reach out to other people.

This sounds good, but I think there is more to it than that. You have to do a lot of research and evaluate the church and see what groups would be appropriate - what works for one church may not work for another. I think this is where many churches fall short because they try to copy what is working in another church without seeing where their people are at.

8. You must intentionally break through attendance barriers with big days.

Crowds attract crowds! People like to be around crowds. When you have big, special days -- maybe Easter, maybe a Friend Day -- there’s something about seeing an extra 100 people (or an extra 1,000) that expands your congregation’s vision. They see what the church can be, and they see what it can look like. These special days help the church to see itself as bigger and growing and vibrant.

I love celebrations! And I think this is a great idea, even if they don't always attract big crowds. Getting together to celebrate is always a good thing.

9. You must add surplus seating space and parking.

When it comes to building a facility, most churches build too little and too soon. And then the shoe begins to tell the foot how big it can get! You want to build as big as you can, which means having more than enough seating and more than enough parking. Sometimes that means you’ll have to wait to build until you can build big enough. We didn’t build at Saddleback for years because we knew we wouldn’t be able to build big enough -- we were growing so fast. So don’t limit yourself by building too early.

I think adding multiple services would be a first step before building to see if you've saturated the area. I think you also shouldn't have too much more seating but determining that is the tricky quesiton. Although I don't think you could have too much parking. You can always use the extra parking for basketball and other cool stuff. You will really need to evaluate your own individual church situation to see what is viable. Maybe you should be thinking about a new church rather than growing yours bigger.

10. You must continually evaluate your progress.

Take a regular and honest look at what is going on in your church (and where your church is going). If you try to study everything you’ll end up with the paralysis of analysis, so decide to track three or four significant numbers, such as attendance or small groups.

Then compare the numbers of where you are now with where you’ve come from and where you want to be. Don’t compare yourself with a church down the road. Frankly, that won’t help evaluate the health of your own church.

Finally, decide on a standard for measuring the health of your church and shoot for it. The process is constant; you may hit the mark you’ve set today, but tomorrow is a new day. Continually evaluate your progress and make the necessary adjustments to grow healthy while growing larger.

Can't argue with evaluating. Don't just choose to evaluate the numbers though - look at how the church is effecting people. Are they moving forward on their spiritual journey? Are the people in the church speaking positively or negatively about the church and the people in it? Looking at numbers isn't bad, but it needs to be tempered with the spiritual. Don't forget to include God in the process.


There you have it - my thoughts. What are yours? Feel free to share.

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Church, Christianity

How to Grow a Church - Part 1

I recently stumbled upon this article (Structuring to Grow, Not Plateau) from Baptist Press by Rick Warren (famous Christian author and pastor of Saddleback Church). In it he shares 10 musts the church should focus on in order to grow.

Although the article is a couple of years old, I'm wondering if there can be anything learned from it.

Here are the first 5 musts:

1. You must develop an unshakable conviction about growth.

First and foremost, you need to settle on the idea that God wants His church to grow. And He doesn’t want it to stop growing!

You don’t ever need to apologize for wanting your church to grow. God wants His church to grow; it’s His will and His command. The reason churches must grow is because people are going to hell without Jesus Christ. As long as there is one person within driving distance of your church who does not know Jesus Christ, you must keep growing.

Can't argue much with that one. I, too, believe that God wants His church to grow. I think God will use many different ways to grow His church and many different styles of churches (mega, small, house, contempory, traditional, mainstream, etc).

2. You must change the primary role of the pastor from minister to leader.

You can grow a church to 300 with pastoral skills or ministry skills, but growing beyond 300 will require leadership skills. As a leader, you must learn to communicate your vision in very personal and practical ways. You also must learn to motivate your church through your messages, and understand that it’s easier to motivate a group than it is to motivate individuals.

A leader also equips others for ministry. Otherwise, you’ll burn out and the church won’t grow. An expanding ministry also demands you learn how to raise money. Those who write the agenda must underwrite the agenda, and you must learn to manage your time. Effective leaders know where their time goes.

Not too sure on this one. I think a pastor should remain a pastor. I don't think the leading of the church should be done by one main person. I think a good, well-rounded group of representatives from the congregation can lead the church.

3. You must organize around the gifts of your people.

The team God gives you will show you how to structure. Organizing around the gifts of your people will allow the church to focus on ministry, not maintenance. A gifts-based ministry encourages teamwork. It also makes better use of the talent around you (and why do you think God brought this talent into your church?).

Building your structure on the gifts and talents within the church promotes creativity and allows for spontaneous growth. Ministries bubble up, rather than waiting on a board meeting to dissect every possibility. And decision-making becomes more efficient while the structure grows more stable.

I so agree that a church should organize around the gifts and talents of the people in it. How else do the people feel part of the church if they don't get to use their gifts. I, also think that the church should also assist in the developing of gifts.

4. You must budget according to your purposes and priorities.

Obviously the budget of the church shows the priorities and the direction of the church. I’d suggest you take the budget items and ask of each item, “Which purpose does this fit under?” This will help your people visualize what you’re trying to do, and what you’re doing with God’s money.

I think this is a very good thing to do. Always make sure the budget aligns with the vision and direction of the church.

5. You must add staff on purpose.

Build your staff by first adding generalists and then specialists. First, you want to add people who can do lots of things because you’re only going to have one. Then as you go down the road, you can add more and more specialists.

When do you want to add staff? As soon as you can ... immediately, if at all possible. You want to build as many volunteers as quickly as you can and also add staff as quickly as you can. Anytime you add a staff member, that’s a faith step and allows the church to grow to the next level.

I think this one is really hard for me. I lean more towards lay leadership and developing lay leadership and volunteers than having lots of paid people. I'm not sure that adding staff is a faith step - asking someone to commit without pay (volunteer) is a tad more of a risk that we need to rely on God for.

Just some of my thoughts on this - I'll comment on the last 5 musts a little later. (How To Grow A Church - Part 2)

Feel free to share your thoughts too.

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Church, Christianity

Blast From the Past!

realhoser's Hangout: Church at New Location Starting This Week!

Recently, on my hubby's MSN space blog, he got an awesome comment! I just had to share what a great guy he is!

Hey Jeff,

Ok this is a little off topic but I have some things I need to get off my chest. I have tried over the last 8 years to get in touch with you with not a lot of luck. Seeing how I can't get in touch with you I will post this and hopefully you'll get it.

All I've ever really wan't to say to you is thank you! You have no idea what a profound influence you had on me when I was young. Sure I was a bit loopy and somewhat out of control but somehow you saw past that and considered me as a friend. Without your influence I may never have been a man of faith, but not just that I may have not have survived my teens. I will always remember your acts of kindness towards me.

I just wanted you to know that people really do care about you and how your doing. I think your space here is terrific. Keep your head up, live hard, laugh hard, and thank God for Hoser's like you!

||||||
(¤¿¤) Frank
O

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realhoser, Life

Ontario Court Ruling

Toronto, Canada (AP) -A seven year old boy was at the center of a Toronto courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with the child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

LOL - Poor Leafs

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Weight Watchers & Christianity

I've been thinking about Church a lot lately and stumbled upon this article.
How to Lose Weight and Gain a Congregation - Christianity.ca

At first I thought it amusing and now the more I've thought about it the more I'm beginning to agree with it.

Weight Watchers members feel accountable to themselves and their group. If you lose weight the entire group celebrates. If you have a bad week you share your downfalls in a supportive atmosphere. If you attain your weight loss goal there is a chance for the successful dieter to tell the whole group how their goal was achieved.

What if churches made times in their worship for public confession, personal victories and individual testimonials? Sanctuaries would be packed.

Sharing each others troubles, caring for each others needs, and just being there would be awesome to find in a church - not just in small groups but during the service time. I think making church real for today is very important.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

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Christianity, Weight Watchers

Sunset

sunset02
Originally uploaded by elf_friend777.

I just so love this picture. I don't remember if I took it or if hubby did, but that doesn't matter because it's just soooo beautiful!!!!

We took the kids down to Florida for March Break this year and this is a sunset on the Gulf of Mexico, Braedenton Beach.

Everytime I look at the picture I don't think about the great time we had on our vacation, but I'm always reminded of God. I'm having trouble putting into words what feelings this picture emotes for me. I can see beauty yet so much more, much deeper. A brillant love. Love of creation, love of me.

What do you see?

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sunset, Florida, Beach

Evolving Church Conference

On Saturday, hubby and I attended the Evolving Church Conference put on by Epiphaniea and we loved it! Props to the guys who put it on!!!

The Conference had 3 main speakers - Chris Seay, Donald Miller, and Brian McLaren and then many workshops. I attended Jared Siebert's workshop about the Disconnected Church and Bradon Douglas' workshop about Leadership.

Before I go any further about it I have to thank my friend, Nancy, who watched the kids for us all day (overnight Friday till 9 pm Saturday). She is amazing!!!

Okay back to the Conference - Here are the 2 main things I got out the conference was reassurance and affirmation. Reassurance that I'm not alone and not totally crazy. Affirmation in the things I want to do. There are not many in my circle of "church" friends who are trying to think of new ways of being relevant in the current culture so this was a huge boost for me.

Some other things I brought back with me (besides 3 books - which I will have to talk about later) were:

Live in the tension (holding on to God's hand and my neighbour's hand). Not sure how to do that but am just going to try to "be" in the moment.

Hospitality is NOT coffee and finger sandwiches. It IS all about ENGAGEMENT (engaging the the lives of others).

reminded that Christianity is NOT a religion; it's a relationship

Brains are hardwired for story. Tell how YOUR story intersects with GOD'S.

Brian McLaren asked us to think about this: "Do we have a church that has a mission or a mission that has a church?" I'm still thinking. Maybe it's a bit of both or neither. What is the purpose of church? (Sounds like another blog entry. ;-) lol)

It was just such a great time. And I've got so much to think about and do. Once again thanks to the guys who put it on.

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emerging church, Brian McLaren, Chris Seay, Donald Miller, epiphaniea

Christian convert freed in Kabul

CBC News: Christian convert freed in Kabul

I have been following this story for some time now and have found it rather fascinating.

Rahman, who converted to Christianity 16 years ago, aroused great anger in Afghanistan, where rejecting Islam by converting to another religion is deemed a capital offence by religious authorities, no matter what the courts do.

Rahman was charged with apostasy during a recent custody battle over his children.

After 16 years, they decided to charge him and most likely because of his wanting custody of his children. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he will even get to see his children for a long, long time.

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Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman, Christianity, Islam

Peacemakers in the way?

This question was asked on CTV Toronto's News at Noon in light of the Christian Peacemaker Teams that was recently released by the military and I was very intrigued by the result.

"Are Christian Peacemakers in the way in Iraq?"

Most people have said YES they are in the way. A reason they gave were that troops had to go rescue you them. They also said that they were non-essential, referring to them as missionaries who are going in to Iraq to convert the Muslim people to Christianity.

A bit about Christian Peacemaker Teams

CPT's slogan on their website says: "committed to reducing violence by getting in the way"

"CPT embraces the vision of unarmed intervention waged by committed peacemakers ready to risk injury and death in bold attempts to transform lethal conflict through the nonviolent power of God’s truth and love."

"A strategy developed thoughtfully over the years has taught us that:

trained, skilled, international teams can work effectively to support local efforts toward nonviolent peacemaking;

"getting in the way" of injustice through direct nonviolent intervention, public witness and reporting to the larger world community can make a difference;

peace team work engages congregations, meetings and support groups at home to play a key advocacy role with policy makers."

I see the CPTs as helping the military, by helping the civilians with peaceful, non-violent protest rather than violent protests with the risk of injury and/or death.

I don't see them as missionaries preaching, but as people who are living the way of Jesus.

Just some of my thoughts.

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Christian Peacemaker Teams, Christianity, Iraq war

Left Behind Video game

Culture: 'Left Behind' Videogames - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

This gave me a good laugh. I'm still in shock that it's real. Just what Christians want - "violence on the same level as Grand Theft Auto". Unbelievable.

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Video Games, Left Behind, Christian,

Updating Template

A quick note about the graphic:

Please bear with me - I can't seem to find a background pic I like, but I wanted to change the hearts, so here's what I've got so far.

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Templates