Archive - 2010

A Community of Deal Seekers

December 26, 2010 in Culture with 2 Comments

This morning I woke up at 2:53 am to go to Old Navy to get a free Flip UltraHD Video camera! All I had to do was to show up early (the store opened at 4 am), spend $25, and then I would get the camera for free! Regular price on amazon.ca is $159.00, but on sale for $99.00. Check out the camera by clicking on the image.

The catch? There were only limited quantities.

So right after I woke up in the morning, I went with my father in law (he’s visiting for the Christmas season) and drove off to Old Navy. To my surprise, there were already tons of people there. So I quickly parked and rushed into line. It was quite exhilarating as others were also parking and rushing to line up as well!

Just as I got into the line, people started shouting to my father in law and I, “You’re number 28 and you’re number 29!” I thought it was a bit odd that they were numbering us, so when I asked why that mattered, they told me that there were only 30 cameras available for the first 30 customers!

WHOA!! Just as they said that, probably 3-5 people lined up behind us. Continue Reading…

Advent in the 21st Century

December 23, 2010 in Concepts with 0 Comments

Check out this awesome video depicting what the advent would look like in the 21st century.

Merry Christmas!

A Paradox? Are you going to rest during the Christmas Season?

December 14, 2010 in Community Life, Faith with 0 Comments

Work, work, work, eat, eat, eat, shop, shop, shop, work, work work.

If you have no idea what I’m referring to above then you probably aren’t that familiar with the typical North American holiday season…especially Thanksgiving in the States and Christmas in Canada.

Let me flesh it out for some of you:

  • Christmas in Canada: We work, then eat turkey (or some other big feast), then we shop on Boxing Day, and then we go back to work.
  • Thanksgiving in the States: We work, then eat turkey (or some other big feast), then we shop on Black Friday, and then we go back to work.

So many of us look forward to the holiday season, yet squander the time off with so many “things” to do, that we go back to work only slightly refreshed…if even.

When we look at the creation story, we learn the idea of rhythms. Continue Reading…

Growing through Community over the Christmas Holidays

December 1, 2010 in Ministry with 0 Comments

We all tend to spend our holidays in different ways. Some of us spend it with our families, others alone. Some with big Turkey feasts and others with mac and cheese or bbq chicken from the grocery store. However, the one thing that stays constant throughout the holiday season is our need for community.

Although this may be a pretty funny picture of me sitting all alone, and not being a part of the party, this is how a lot of people feel throughout the Christmas holidays. In fact, for some of your small group members, your group may really be the only family they have in town.

So here is a brief list of suggestions for your group to continue to grow through community over the holidays. Feel free to consider one, two, none, or all of them.

Continue Reading…

Book Review: Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

November 30, 2010 in Books with 0 Comments

In a day where Christianity seems to look a bit different everywhere we look, Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola challenge us to focus on the essentials – namely, Jesus Christ. Their book, Jesus Manifesto, is designed to help us realize that “Christianity is Christ – nothing more, nothing less” (23). This book does a great job at repackaging different tenets that are crucial to what it means to be Christian. For example, they take a look at the old adage, “What would Jesus do?” and challenge it by saying that it does not properly represent what it means to be Christian. Instead, they say that we should be asking, “What is Christ doing through me…through us? And how is He doing it?” (68). They also challenge the popular view that many have regarding the kingdom of God. Instead of viewing the kingdom of God as something that we can usher or bring in, as if we were imperialistic, they propose that “the kingdom is a presence that we enter, a gem-like gift that we receive and treasure, a new creation that engulfs and embraces us” (110). Consequently, this book is more of a devotional than it is a theological textbook. In either case, it’s a great read that refocuses our attention on Jesus the Christ.

 

Booksneeze.com provided me with a complementary copy of this book for review.

Our Lives In Numbers (Guest Post)

November 9, 2010 in Concepts with 0 Comments

My wife just wrote an incredible post that gives a glimpse into our lives. With her permission, I thought I’d put it here :)

Oh la! Feels like I haven’t blogged in ages! Our family was blessed with an opportunity to go to Banff on a district-wide prayer conference. It was a wonderful time of relaxing, enjoying nature, and meeting new people. Also, our family needed this time together.

I was talking to someone I had met about our recent journeys of what had brought us to Edmonton. She insisted that I needed to write down things in order to remember everything that God has brought us through. Thus, I started to compile a little list in my head of things I wanted to remember. I ended up realizing that it had to do a lot with numbers. So, here are a few snapshots of some numbers that hold a lot more significance than we realize.

Our Lives In Numbers:

2 – the number of times we have sold almost everything we own in order to follow God’s calling/leading. It really wasn’t easy at all!  I have learned that stuff is exactly what it is  – “stuff.” It doesn’t define who you are or what you will become if you don’t allow it to. If you hold on too tight to your “stuff,” you will soon find out that it is actually holding tight on to you.

3 – the number of months we have lived in Edmonton; a place to finally call “home.”

- is also the number of weeks we had to leave Korea. That meant selling all of our stuff, getting rid of our lease (which we had signed for a year and if we didn’t find someone to take it over, we would have had to continue paying rent or risk loosing our $10 000 deposit), packing all our remains and saying our goodbyes. In a sense, we lost what we thought was “home,” only to later realize that “home” is where our family is and ultimately in Heaven.

Continue Reading…

Ze Frank’s Web Playroom

November 8, 2010 in Concepts with 0 Comments

I came across this fascinating TED talk about technology and social networking. If you have 20 minutes to spare, it’s pretty interesting.

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