Souljourn

Monday mashup

Here are a few random items:

1. I'm looking forward to reading this book.  

2. I'm not in favour of easing the new drinking and driving laws because of some economic impact.  

3. I like what Andy Stanley has to say (and I think if I said some of it I'd cause quite the stir).

4. I just look at a salad and can gain weight and this guy, unbelievable!

5. Just in case you're planning to high five someone this week...

 

Sunday round-up

Here are a few tweets and a blog post I've read this week:

Tweet from Rick Warren: Loved this bumper sticker: "If you love Jesus, tithe! Any fool can honk."

Tweet from Andy Stanley: Adversity introduces a man to himself. --Unknown

Tweet from Shawn Vandop: When we receive grace it's refreshing. When its required of us, its disturbing. When correctly applied, it solves everything

Tweet from Craig Groeschel: As parents, we're called to unleash single-minded, Christ-centered, biblically anchored, world changers.

10 Personal Growth questions from Perry Noble:

#1 – Am I reading my Bible for information or transformation?  (James 1:22-25)

#2 – Am I allowing people or circumstances to steal the joy that Jesus promised to me?  (John 10:10)

#3 – Is there anything in my life that God is consistently dealing with that I am trying to ignore?  (Ezekiel 14:1-5)

#4 – Who are the people in my life that God has placed around me for the purpose of me sharing Christ with them and/or inviting them to church?  (II Corinthians 5:16-21)

#5 – Is there anyone I need to apologize to?  (Ephesians 4:25:27)

#6 – Is there anyone I need to forgive? (Ephesians 4:32)

#7 – Is there a sin I need to confess to others and ask for help? (James 5:16)

#8 – Am I fully utilizing the gifts and abilities that God has blessed me with…or am I simply choosing to waste my life?  (I Peter 4:10)

#9 – Do I know more lines from the movies that I love than verse from the Bible that I read? (Psalm 119:11)

#10 – Is there anything going on in my life privately that, if it became public, would cause me and/or the body of Christ to be embarrassed? (I John 1:9, James 5:16)

Trying to find some rhythm

I took the summer off from blogging and it has proven much harder than I thought to get back into the swing of things.  In the past I have found I could definitely get into a bit of a rhythm and blogging seemed quite simple, but right now I am definitely out of my rhythm.  

There are so many things that I could blog and perhaps that is the problem, I'm paralyzed with options?

Don't worry though, (the very suggestion that someone might find themselves in a state of anxiety over my lack of blogging seems somewhat self aggrandizing) I am committed to finding my rhythm.  I love to tell the story of what God is doing in our church family and my life.  I really do feel like I am one of the most blessed of all men.  I have a gorgeous wife, three fantastic children, an incredible team of people that I get to serve alongside at the church, I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, a faith filled and passionate church family, I get to work with my Dad & Mom, the Denver Broncos are 5-0 (okay that last ones seems a little out of place but it is quite exciting)...In case you didn't notice yesterday was Thanksgiving and I did spend some time recalling things I have to be thankful for and YES, the list could go on for quite a bit longer.

I do hope that you took time to do the same (even those of you in the United States who aren't celebrating Thanksgiving for another month).  I think one of the hallmark qualities of our lives as Christians should be thankfulness.  It is definitely an area that I want to grow in.

Well, that's probably enough for now.  If all goes well I will be back here tomorrow...I hope you will to.

In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back!"

I am not dead.

I have not forgotten.

I've just been taking a blogging break for the summer.

You can look for a new post here on Monday morning (Sept 7th).

I'm looking forward to journeying with you in this coming year.

See you on Monday. (have a great weekend!)

Passed Away

Some blogs I follow are on life support. Another, after over two months of inactivity, has decided to pull the plug.  Farewell friend, you will be missed.

I hope the other blogs make it.  It would be a shame to see them go (but my hand is on the cord).

Does anyone know blog/blogger CPR?

sick

Sorry that my blogging has been way off lately but I am currently 'under the weather' (what does that even mean?).

My head feels like it is in a vice, my chest feels like someone is sitting on it, and I have this constant cough that makes sleeping at night very difficult.

I went to the doctor today and after listening to my breathing with his stethoscope he said, 'you sound awful in there'.  

He said I am on the verge of bronchial pneumonia which means I get a prescription and 'should start feeling better in a couple days.'

I can't stand being sick.  It is such a colossal waste of time.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know why there haven't been very many posts lately.   There certainly has been lots to post about - our conference was amazing, God spoke clearly to our church family and Naomi and I and our weekend services were great.  

I hope to post some more tomorrow.

Thanks

Six degrees of separation - SUCCESS!!

Remember the six degrees of separation experiment we tried a few weeks ago?  I picked a random city in Canada where I did not know anyone, or know of anyone who knew anyone, to see if from the network of people reading this blog we could get in contact with someone from that specific city and have them email a picture of themselves with a local newspaper verifying their residence in the city.

I thought we could do it, and I also thought it would only take about a week.  Well it took longer than I thought but we did it!

The random city picked was Trois-Rivieres, Quebec and here is a picture of Myriam holding up the 375th anniversary commemorative publication for Trois-Rivieres.

As promised I will be sending a $5.00 Starbucks card to the first step (beyond me) and the final step (Myriam) for their help in this experiment. (As much as I hate to do it, I'm thinking that it might have to be a $5.00 certificate to Tim Hortons for Myriam as Starbucks is not nearly as popular back east, but I'll check first).

I think this was fun, and I think that next time we should be able to do it a little bit quicker, so next Thursday (January 8th) at 6:30 am I will be announcing the next city for "Six Degrees of Separation Round 2".  I'm thinking about expanding the experiment beyond our Canadian borders but I've got to think about that a bit more.  That would mean that you would all have to work a little bit harder, but if you're up for it, so am I.

Thank you everyone for playing.

See you next year!

Things are going to be pretty quiet around here for the next few days.  Our family is headed to Camp Homewood for their New Years Family Camp so I won't be updating this blog until January 1, 2009.

Here's my blog post from January 1, 2008 if you'd like to do a little 'blog reminiscing'.   

And here's the link for my blog post from January 5th about preparing for worship.  It is one of the funniest videos I think I saw all year.  I think you'll enjoy it.

See you next year!

Six degrees of separation update

Remember the experiment we started 10 days ago?  Based on the theory of 'six degrees of separation', which theorizes that everyone one earth is only six connections away from anyone else on earth.  I wanted to test this theory so I picked a random city in Quebec that I don't know anyone from -- Trois-Rivieres.  My hope was that through the connections I have with this blog -- that's you! -- that I would be able to get someone from Trois-Rivieres Quebec to take a picture of themselves with the local newspaper (for verification) and have them email it to me - scott@ngate.ca - so I could post it on my blog.

Well since we launched the experiment it has been pretty quiet.  I was actually wondering if it might not work and we'd have to throw in the towel.  BUT, I got news today that connections are being made and it looks like we might actually verify the theory.  I originally thought this would take us about a week, so we've missed that deadline, but we still might accomplish the mission.

I hope we can have this wrapped up before Christmas but we'll see.  And remember, there is a $5.00 Starbucks card for the person who starts the chain, and for the person who sends in their picture.

Join the experiment

Still looking for people to join our 'six degrees of separation' experiment.  You can read more about it here but basically we are trying to work through the networks of people we know to have someone in Trois-Rivieres get in contact with us. 

If the theory holds true, then someone who reads this blog should know someone, who knows someone...who lives in Trois-Rivieres.  Then we just want that individual to contact me - scott@ngate.ca - with a picture of themselves holding the local newspaper.

Don't rule yourself out.  It might be your network of connections that actually arrives in Trois-Rivieres.