"In Ministry" has to be thrown in the garbage.

Ok.  I have been sitting on this possible blog for a very long time.  Part of the reason why I have not written it is because I just haven't had the time, but the other reason is because when I thought about approaching this subject it would have sounded really condemning instead of trying to better understand the perception of the term 'in ministry', so I waited until now.  I feel as though I will not be ranting...I hope.

'In ministry' has bothered me from the very first time I heard it.  The reason why is we hear a lot about how we are all called to be disciples, but then hear in church those who choose to go to Seminary, or be a Pastor are going 'into ministry', or 'feel called'.  We define those who are 'in ministry' and put them in a category much like we do engineers, or doctors, or teachers.  The reality though is as far as I read in the Bible, we are all 'in ministry'.  Jesus doesn't call the Disciples to make converts who will do other things than be in ministry, but He calls the Disciples to make Disciples.  See I think the term 'in ministry' should be used for all people who have devoted their lives to Christ, follow Him, and live it out in whatever context they are passionate about.

One of the great explanations and understandings of 'in ministry' is given by none other than Martin Luther (he was the leader of the Protestant Reformation).  He tells a simple story about a shoe repairman.  He asks the question, what would glorify God more: if the man stitched crosses in the shoes, or he made really good shoes?  Luther's answer is of course that the man make really good shoes!

Not everyone is called to be a missionary, or pastor, or theologian, or any other vocation deemed 'in ministry'.  Some are called to make really good shoes; some to be great teachers; some to be great doctors; some to be great pilots, or artists, or builders, or engineers, or ceo's.  It does not matter what we are called to do, but it matters who we are doing it for; it matters why we do it.  We all have the ability to be 'in ministry' if we are doing it because God has given us the gifts to do it; we do whatever that is to the best of our abilities and to the glorification of God himself.

I have a friend who is a physiotherapist.  He is one of the most exemplary men I have been privileged to get to know.  He runs his business from the platform of giving people the best care he can.  He has told me there are many ways to make lots of money in the business of physiotherapy, but is not taking any of them.  Why?  Money is not his end game.  He knows he has been given the skills and abilities to run a physiotherapy clinic.  So, he does this with integrity and to the glory of the One he serves, God.

I am convinced we cannot get stuck in the attitude that a select few people do the Lord's work.  If we are a follower of Christ we better being doing His work all the time.  It is not just for those who work in a church, it is for everyone.

Many of us like to put things in categories.  One of the categories is following Christ.  More often than not, 'doing the Lord's work' is left for Sunday's and whatever other days we attend church; it is confined to a building and location and to be frank, it is killing the fame and renown of Jesus Christ.  What we need today are people in every vocation doing the work of the Lord.  It's so simple.  It's so easy.

Why don't we do it?

I believe there to be two main answers to this question:

1. We don't want to allow God into our lives.
I might have raised some eyebrows with this sentence, but seriously look at it.  Why do we believe only an elect few can do God's work.  If we are with Jesus we have ALL been set apart, we have all been made holy.  If we have all been set apart then we are all commanded to bring the name of Jesus to every place.  If we leave it up to the Pastors, missionaries, and others to do the work it will never be done.  In fact this isn't even the main role of a Pastor or Missionary in my opinion.  Their roles are to help educate and be resources for people to go back into their contexts to bring the fame and renown of Jesus.

The truth is, we have categorized our lives so much God is only allowed in this aspect of my life.  In other words we tell God, "you stay there."  The only way to believe this is to allow God to take our entire being, everything we do, give it to Him, and allow Him to do what He wants.  What He wants more often than not are people willing to live lives of integrity for His glory in every vocation.

2. We don't want to give up what we have.
This is an incredibly hard thing to say and do.  When we have journeyed so far with the above attitude it's really hard to allow God into our places of work.  Some of us know if we do, there will have to be changes; we will have to make tough decisions; we will have to give up things; we will have to stand up for things.  All of these give us reason to not allow God into this area of our lives.  In short, we are not willing to submit, to yield to God.

It is incredibly sad because we have fallen prey to the belief that people doing the Lord's work are an elect few.  If this is the case then we can choose to do things with a little less integrity in our workplaces.  We can cheat corners and cheat people along the way.  We can do things for ourselves without considering those we work with.  This is the belief of a lot of people who operate in different workplaces who claim to follow Jesus.  What we don't understand is, in letting go of the control and making decisions based on who we are doing things for the outcome will be utter contentment, joy, understanding, and integrity.


We need to change our understanding of 'in ministry'.  In fact, we just need to chuck it in the garbage, along with the idea that the church is the only place where the Lord's work is done.  Jesus needs His followers everywhere, in every place, in every vocation.  He needs people to set an example of what a follower of Christ looks like.

I've heard it said that you can truly tell who a follower of Christ is by who they are from Monday to Saturday.  We all need to be 'in ministry'.  If you are a follower of Christ there is nothing else you can do.  When we make a commitment to follow Jesus it is an entire life commitment.

Shall we let go of the term 'in ministry'?


That's it.


Thoughts are always welcome!

Failure is a Great Reminder

Failure. Why are we so afraid of it?  I am a person who absolutely hates failure; I hate being told things aren't good enough; I fear it.  But this week I was reminded it is in fact one of the greatest reminders one could ask for (or not in some cases).

This week I made a MAJOR scheduling conflict, affecting 2 completely separate important events.  For those who don't know me, you may think, 'oh, well that happens', but for me, no.  I love being the person everyone can count on; I love being the person people call if something needs to get done; I relish being that reliable person.  This scheduling conflict had so many reminders built into it.  Let me explain a few you may be able to relate to as well:

1. We may be great, but God is greater.

I have a love/hate relationship with this concept.  I love being great, but the moment I think I am great I have a God-smack moment.  You know, the moment God smacks you across the face and says, 'Hello!'  I often laugh at these moments after the fact, realizing how crazy I am to think how awesome I am without putting it into the greater perspective of how awesome God is.  Maybe you have been God-smacked.  I am smacked on frequent occasions and every time, it's no fun at first, but refreshing in the end.

2. Failure is the way to learn and a way to remember we are not God

How easy would it be for all of us to never make mistakes: we would never have to worry about disappointing anyone, never worry about an exam or meeting, never forget anything, ever again.  This looks pretty good, but if this were the case, WE WOULD BE GOD!  As stated above, I hate failing, but at the end of the day I love what it does: it helps me learn.  Even if the only thing I learn is I am not God, the failure is worth it.  I am learning to love failure because it will always lead to better things.

3. We need help.

One of the things I have always struggled with are thoughts like, 'I have arrived', 'I know all', 'my way is the best way'.  Yes, I have and continue to struggle with this to the extent of not praying because I don't think I need God!  It's true, this is me.  After I have failed it's an incredible reminder I have NOT arrived, know all, or know best.  I in fact need help, not just from God, but others as well.  I would tend to bet if you were truly honest with yourself there are some of these thoughts in your head right now.  Failure is a good way of bringing us back to truth: we need help.

4. We need others.

My primary love language (see The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman) is words of affirmation.  More often than not after I have failed I go into isolation.  Why?  I don't feel myself to be worthy of people because of this failure, even if it is the most seemingly insignificant mistake.  If I didn't have others I would probably stay in that isolated state.  What I need is words of affirmation from others.  I can tell you the thing I wanted the most after this specific failure was for someone, anyone, to tell me I am still a great person.  In this case it was my lovely wife and mother who gave me these words, the two people I actually failed.


I am sure there are other reminders that come through each failure, but these are the one's I think are the most important.  If we fail, yes we should ask for forgiveness where needed, but we should remember at the very least there is a God who continues to accept us, no matter what the failure.  Jesus came to earth to die for us, so our failures would not be held against us.  Take each failure as a reminder of how much we need God because we NEED God, a lot.

Failure is becoming less a fear of mine.  It's becoming more of an expectation because I am not perfect, far from it.  Through each failure I am trying to learn, something, anything, even something so small, because if there is nothing for me to learn then I don't need God.  For me to believe that would be catastrophic, so I choose to believe, be reminded, and admit I need help.

I am always thankful for failure in the end.  Sometimes it's painful, but this is good.


That's it.


Thoughts are of course always welcome.

Acceptance or Judgement?

The need is clear in my mind for all of us.  We need to judge less.  I catch myself time and time again talking to my wife about someone for 5, 10, 15 minutes and at the end of it realize I have been judging that person the entire time; by something this person said, or did, or just who this person is.  Ridiculous, I know.

This got me thinking of why we are so judgmental.  To me its pretty simple: we get judged by everything we do on a regular basis.  Our work is judged by a boss or supervisor; we get judged by how well we cook by people telling us if it's good or not; we get judged by how we are dressed; we get judged by our speech, whether we are tactful or not.  It's no wonder why we judge others, we ourselves get judged all the time.

It is really tough to categorize judgment.  When is it needed?  When is it not?  How do we exercise it?

I really like things simple.  I try hard to live a simple life, not complicated by unnecessary things.  So, here is my simple assessment of judgment.  It is really not our place in any way to judge people unless they themselves ask for it.  If we are going to judge ourselves that is our choice (I do believe we need a healthy view of ourselves), but we have no right to judge another person (outside of a work environment, but even here we tend to judge not performance, but the person, sad but true).

This world is too full of people giving their opinions on people who have no business giving an opinion at all.  We see a person like this or like that and we say out loud something critical that brings judgement on that person.

No where is this more prevalent than inside the church.  We give critiques on how loud music is, or how long the message is, or we don't like how this person acts and the list goes on and on.  More often than not we give our opinion of things and call it fact, but really it's just unnecessary judgement of a person.  I personally fell prey to this on Sunday morning this past week.  I won't get into the specifics,  but I judged heavily and gave my opinion on a matter as what would be best and who did it help?  No one.

The reality is we pass judgement on another person because it is easier to look at what someone else needs to change instead of what we need to change in our own lives; we judge because sometimes we are afraid if we had a healthy view of ourselves we wouldn't like what we see.  So, instead of investing in a healthy view of ourselves we just look at others and tell them the ways they ought to change; the things they need to improve upon.

Jesus tells us not to judge others because the standard we hold others to will be the standard we will be held to (see Matthew 7).  To me, that's sobering.  Not only is Jesus telling us not to judge, but He also does it (see John 4).

Maybe instead of judging others we should start accepting them as they are knowing we don't have things together either.  Maybe what is needed is not more fixing others, but more looking at ourselves and seeing we have this massive 2x4 log sticking out of our eye and we need to take care of that before we tell others what they need to fix.  Maybe this is Jesus' way of saying, you have no right to judge anyone because you will never be perfect enough to judge.  Maybe this is just another way of saying we don't think Jesus is enough, so we judge thinking we are helping Him (just ludicrous, but this is primarily what is at the heart of judgement).

We judge way too much.  We need to stop.  We are not helping others by telling them what they are doing wrong, we are just doing more damage.

We need not be afraid of looking at ourselves and getting healthy.  The more we start to get healthy ourselves I can guarantee the less we will judge.


Thoughts are of course always welcome.

The Church and Mental Illness

Over the last few years mental illness has become such a prevalent topic of conversation.  I recently finished reading Delight in Disorder by Tony Roberts; a post about his journey as a pastor in dealing with bipolar disorder.  It got me thinking about how the church is engaging with mental illness.

I think the common thought of mental illness is no Christian should have a mental illness.  Some Christians believe those with mental illnesses are demon possessed, aren't praying enough, or have sinned and this is the consequence of that particular sin.  In my opinion this is pure ignorance from those who think this.  I mean, really?  To say the least, this really frustrates me.

What frustrates me even more is there are leaders right now proclaiming this to be truth from the Bible.  Things like, depression is a sin, or those with other mental illnesses are living in sin are spoken, ostracizing those dealing with these illnesses from the one place they ought to be accepted and loved.  In the middle of the Last Supper, after Jesus washes his disciples feet and before Jesus' rebuke of Peter, we read this by Jesus:

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:34-35, New Living Translation).

Even if it were true that these illnesses were proof of sin (WHICH THEY ARE NOT!) followers of Christ are not to be identified by what they think sin is or not, but by their love.

As Scripture says in 1 Peter 4:8, "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins."  I love this because it doesn't say opinions, or ideas, or anything else covers sin, but just love.  Yet when it comes to mental illness and the Church, love seems to be missing.

Isn't it a shame the Church doesn't seem to be the place where those suffering from mental illnesses go to find love and acceptance?  That the Church is a place full of stigma and gossip when it comes to mental illness?  I believe it can be different.

Living in the city of Toronto I run into a fair amount of people who suffer from these illnesses.  Sometimes it's scary, I'm not going to lie.  There have been times I have been approached by a person and was scared, yet each time I remember love and acceptance is what I am called to give.  I love encountering people, giving them a warm smile and saying hi, no matter who they are, what they look like, or what they are struggling with.  But still, people think I am crazy and the sad part is most of these people say they are following Christ.

There are a lot of things the Church is spear-heading, but I think most of these things are not what we should be investing in!  Shouldn't we be investing and leading the charge in things like these?

Yes this is a little bit of a rant, I get that, but reading Tony Roberts' story got me thinking a lot.

What do you think?

Comments are always welcome.


That's it.

Bitter or Better

Last year, in October, Megan and I took a trip down to Myrtle Beach.  Along the way we made a few stops in New York, Philadelphia, Virginia Beach and we drove through the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It was incredible.  While we were in New York we decided to do everything we had not done yet in the city (For those who know what we did during our 2010 trip you know there wasn't much left).  The things on the list: NYU, experience Washington Square Park, and of course the Staten Island Ferry to wave at The Statue of Liberty.

It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and it was pretty warm.  We waited to board the Staten Island Ferry to wave at the Statue of Liberty and take some great pictures of the scenery.  For those who have never taken this ferry, it is free.  It takes you to Staten Island, you have to get off, then re-board to journey back to Manhattan.  On the journey back to Manhattan I decided to sit down on a bench at the back of the ferry.  Megan was enjoying taking more photos.  As she was doing this I noticed a person beside me.  He was an older gentleman and was alone.  He said something to me and before anyone could blink Gary and I were in a great conversation.

The conversation lasted the entirety of the trip back to Manhattan.  I can't recall all of what we talked about, but there is something I found out through the conversation.  Gary was from Australia (yes, the accent was AWESOME!).  A number of years ago he and his wife had taken a trip to New York and did many things together.  This time, he was alone.  Gary's wife had died in the past year.  He was in great spirits about it though.  He told me about his friend who told him something profound just after his wife had died.  The friend said, "Gary, you can either be bitter or better, you choose."  Gary then promptly told me he was going to be better!

After a bit more conversation he told me he was on this trip in memory of his wife; he was doing all the things he and his wife did on their previous trip.  Just before we docked he told me how much he enjoyed Jersey Boys and how he was going to see them that night.  When we docked he got up, said goodbye and was on his way.  I wanted to continue to talk, but he had things to do!

I love it, "Gary, you can either be bitter or better, you choose."  This thought has stuck with me since that moment on the ferry.  In life I am going to go through so many experiences, all of which are going to shape who I become - even the seemingly mundane ones.  After every experience I now ask myself, "bitter or better?"  I have to admit, sometimes I choose bitter.  Heck, it's easier!  It's harder to move on from certain experiences sometimes, but once it's done it's great.

I will never forget that ferry ride.  Gary is forever in my life.  I know I will probably never see Gary again, but I thank you Gary, for giving me such great advice simply by sharing your story with me.*

Obviously there is more to write about when it comes to Gary, but this is the biggest point.

Honestly, what do you choose more often: bitter or better?

Think about it.


Thoughts are always welcome.

*For more on the power of story visit storylineblog.com.  Also for a great book on the power of story pick up A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.

Sin:Death, Death:Life

I always seem to be drawn to creation. I don't know what it is, or how it happens, but it does. Maybe it's because I always wonder what things would have been like if Adam and Eve had obeyed God in the beginning; what would things be like if that were the case? How would we treat each other and the rest of creation?

I love the account of creation. Things were perfect; nothing was wrong; everything was good, really good. God looked at everything He had created and was finished; there was nothing left to create.

From that time until now we have been given so many things from God and each time we disobey we say to God, 'You are not enough'. What a sad statement, but a true one. All of sin can be summed up in that statement: 'You are not enough'. Why is God not enough? Why aren't we satisfied with what God has given and continues to give us? Why do we always want more of something else thinking there will be life in it?

The reason is actually found in the beginning. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, that sin brought death to humanity. So in everything else other than God death will be the only thing found. Every time we disobey God and go against His great design we are choosing death.

Throughout history God gave his laws, prophets, and silence to direct us toward obedience to Him, but every time we choose the opposite, death. We choose this because our natural direction is towards this. One small example of this is one of the first words children learn when they are beginning to speak, 'no'. I mean sometimes it is really good to say no, but the natural tendency is to say no to obedience. We are naturally trending towards disobedience instead of obedience to God. But, let's remember the original design and creation: God created us in such a way, it was perfect. Our natural trend was not towards disobedience, but actually obedience. Adam and Eve chose disobedience and from then on disobedience has been our trend; death has been our trend.

Sin:Death.

Enter Jesus. The astounding part of Jesus is of course his victory over death, but also the life He lived. See, from the beginning of creation till the time of Jesus there had never been a person to fully obey God in every way; not a single person had ever been perfect, not even close to it. When Jesus came along He transformed everyone's concept because He was like no one to ever come: Everyone's trend was towards death and disobedience, but Jesus' trend was and is towards life and obedience. In fact, he is life and obedience. He is perfection; He is everything Adam was created to be; He is everything you and I were created to be.

For those who don't know we are in the midst of Holy Week. A week to remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the events leading up to the crucifixion, and the crucifixion on Friday. The only thing is we remember Easter not just because Christ died, but because He has  risen! He defeated death and has brought us new life.

It is truly amazing: Adam:Death, Death:Life. Adam's sin brought death to humanity because of disobedience, but Jesus' death brought life because of His perfect obedience (See Romans 5:12-21).

Christ's Death:Life

Are we choosing life:Jesus:Obedience?

Are we choosing death:Adam:Disobedience?

Do we demonstrate we have new life through Jesus?

Does this new life impact our decisions? Where we live? What we eat? What we say? What we buy? How we treat others? How we treat ourselves?

Are we choosing life, or are we choosing to death?

These are tough honest questions to go through because they will reveal what we are actually living for.

What will you choose Adam:Death or Christ's Death:Life?

Thoughts are always welcomed.

Our Need for God

This week I had the privilege of writing a paper for one of my classes this semester in Seminary.  I wrote on my need for God.  I thought you (whomever you are) would be interested in this.  Here are my thoughts:

Understanding my need for God starts with looking at the life of Jesus.  It is ludicrous to say Jesus did not understand His need for God the Father.  All anyone has to do is look at the life of Jesus and will plainly see Jesus demonstrated a need for His Father: “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.  Later Simon and the others went out to find him.  When they found him, they said, ‘Everyone is looking for you’” (Mark 1:35-37, New Living Translation).  This was not an uncommon practice of Jesus.  In Matthew 14:23, after Jesus had performed the miracle of feeding five thousand men and their families, he drew off to be alone.  Again in Luke 6:12, Luke talks about soon after a day of healing and teaching to the Pharisees he was up all night on a mountain praying.  There are countless other passages of Scripture demonstrating how Jesus needed God the Father.  It would be absolutely asinine to believe we as humans do not need God if Jesus Himself demonstrated He did.  

Let us remember Jesus was God in the flesh; He did not need anything, but chose to demonstrate to us how we ought to live.  If we say, by the way we live, we need other things and not God we do not even understand the core of our neediness.  As Bradley P. Holt says in Thirsty for God, “Jesus lived out an intimate relation to God, modelling prayer and obedience to his own followers but also inviting them to share in the oneness he experienced with the father” (p. 24).  Understanding my need for God begins when I soberly look at the life of Jesus and do as He did.  The biggest thing I was challenged with over the last four months has been to do just this.  Yes, it is a massive undertaking, but to be challenged by anything less is not what it means to follow Jesus and know my need for God.  Looking at the life of Jesus there are a lot of things we all need to introduce into our lives, but the most challenging ones for me have been the ideas of solitude and accepting other people.

Solitude is an interesting discipline.  For people who do not know what it is it seems to be boring.  An honest reflection of myself would show I too saw solitude as boring for most of my life.  The idea of being by myself for long periods of time without really accomplishing anything was something I could not comprehend.  After reflecting, studying, and listening to others, what I thought was solitude could not have been farther from the truth.  In fact, solitude is not about accomplishing things, but ceasing to accomplish because the focus is not on doing, but being.  I love to be needed; I love accomplishing things; I love to be the person to solve the problem.  In solitude all of this fades away: my love to be needed becomes knowing what I need; my love for accomplishing things becomes knowing things have been accomplished; my love of being the person to solve the problem becomes knowing there is nothing to be solved.  Being is the ability to rest knowing Jesus has done it all; we do not have to do anything for significance, but rest knowing in Jesus we have our significance.

The concept of being has taken a lot of time to develop because it means I have to sit with myself and find significance not in what I can do, but in Jesus.  I have always had a hard time with this.  The world is a place which tells us we can be certain people if we just do, or have, or want whatever it is the world is offering us.  The ability to rest knowing our significance does not lie in what we do, or have, or want takes a lot of discipline. It means taking time away from those things and spending time with the One, God, where our significance does lie through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  As Dallas Willard says in The Spirit of the Disciplines, 

"Solitude frees us, actually.  This above all explains its primacy and priority among the disciplines.  The normal course of day-to-day human interactions locks us into patters of feeling, thought, and action that are geared to a world set against God.  Nothing but solitude can allow the development of a freedom from the ingrained behaviors that hinder our integration into God’s order" (p.161).

I cannot say I truly understand solitude, but in being challenged to put it into practice in my life I can definitely see the rhythm of God more than I could before.  It is this easy concept we hardly ever practice: the more time we give to God the more He is going to show the way we ought to live.  I do not want to say life becomes easier because it depends on how we look at life, but incorporating solitude into my life has been a place where I feel most accepted, loved, and cherished, areas which I struggle to demonstrate to others.

As stated above, I have a hard time accepting others as they are.  In looking at the life of Jesus I see a man who saw, cherished, loved, and accepted people as they were, no strings attached.  This is most vividly demonstrated in John 4.  Jesus is found to be interacting with a Samaritan woman by a well in the middle of the day.  I will not be able to get into all the details of the story, but will say this, Jesus knew who this woman was; He knew why she had to come in the middle of the day, in the heat; He knew she was a Samaritan (John 4:1-26).  The incredible part of this story is the woman’s reaction to Jesus not just telling her He was the Messiah, but telling her all she had done.  Jesus was not there to condemn the woman, but to give her life.  There is something miraculous when we accept others; no matter what a person is going through or their circumstance, to know they are accepted as they are brings life.

One of the reasons I believe it is hard for me to accept other people is because I have a hard to accepting who I am.  I lived most of my life allowing others to tell me who I am and living the way I thought they would like me best.  In looking at John 4 I realize Jesus knows everything about me - past, present, and future - and yet still accepts me and wants to give me life.  Life is found in accepting who we are before God, but life is also given when we accept others as they are.

In the entire life of Jesus we see a man who knew who He was before God the Father and was able to demonstrate it by how He lived.  The most challenging part of solitude and acceptance for me is, I come to God as I am.  I do not come with what I have done, the great thoughts I have, or the knowledge I have, but I come as I am.  The best part of this is God accepts me.  Something so simple, but yet so real has been challenging for me: to accept the simplicity of acceptance before God in solitude.

Thoughts are always welcome.

That's it.

Who inspires you?

I love inspiring others, but I only love inspiring because others have inspired me. It is this beautiful pattern in life we must always follow. One of the people who has inspired me over the last year is none other than my beautiful wife.

Let me set the scene for you: Megan worked downtown Toronto for an investment firm. She was being paid very well and increasing in salary on a fairly steady basis. Everything seemed to be going incredibly well except for one thing, Megan hated what she did. She found no  joy in her work and was completely unsatisfied with what she was doing. So she did the unthinkable, she quit. Everyone around us couldn't believe it. Constantly we heard, 'how are you going to survive?' 'Why would you quit, we all don't like our jobs, it's just a part of life.' 'What are you going to do about money?' The list of questions goes on and on, but Megan was concerned about one thing her health as a person. Why would a person stay in such an unhealthy place just for money and security?

There were a few other reasons as to why she quit: stress, career change, and many more. The main reason above all was she wanted to get healthy and do what she loved and wants to do. She simply said to me, "why can't I do what I love?" What a great inspirational question!

From here she started looking for a job she would love to do. It was really difficult. For 4 months of solid searching and investigating she didn't find much. For some this would dampen their spirits, but not Megan. She just asked the question again, "what do I love?" The answer was yoga. She decided to apply for the teacher training program at Octopus Garden in September, got in, and then graduated by December. What she realized in the process was she understood what she loves to do: help people to be restored to full health and yoga is a way of doing that.

After graduating the New Year began and things were again tough, but Megan stuck to the question "what do I love to do?" She believed teaching yoga and still trying to find a place to work part-time at a place she cares about was a priority. In February an organization gave her a call and asked her to interview for a position. Needless to say she got it and it is the exact place she wanted for a part-time job. She is a receptionist for a Pyschotherapy clinic being inspired by therapists around her and helping bring people to greater health. Amazing.

At this point still wondering why things weren't beginning with her Yoga teaching she kept working hard at it. This Friday she begins a multi session class with more than 4 people wanting her to teach them yoga. Also she has secured her first private student starting in the next couple of weeks.

It is incredible to see Megan now doing what she loves to do. From the beginning she dared to leave comfort and security to find joy. She decided to follow God through it all knowing He would honour her desire for doing what she loved instead of the easy things. She took a risk, dreamed big, and that dream became a reality.

Months after wondering what she would do after quitting her job downtown she is a certified yoga teacher holding a multiple week class, secured her first private student, working at a place she cares about and loves, working on an application to an MDiv in Counselling, and is doing it all with the joy of being a mother in August. All of this because she dared to ask the question, "what do I love to do?"

I am so inspired and proud to be her partner in this journey. She is my inspiration right now and you can understand why. God has blessed me with an incredible woman and for that I am grateful.

Thanks for inspiring me Megan. Keep dreaming and never settle for comfort and security.

This brings up the question, what do you love? Are you doing that? What steps do you need to take to make it a reality?

That's it! Thoughts are of course welcomed.

Character

Being in downtown Toronto I don't have to use my car much throughout each month. In fact this past month I only went through 1 1/3 tanks of gas in total, but that's besides the point. I have noticed something because I haven't been driving as much:

#1 - I am less stressed

#2 - I am more aware of the way others drive and my attitude while driving

For the longest time I have always wondered why people drive the way they do and react in the car the way they do. Why do people scream at another person when they know the person can't hear them? Why do people speed right up to the bumper of the person in front just to not let a person merge into the lane? Why do people speed? Or why do people go the exact amount over the speed limit, so they don't get caught, but still speed?

Maybe I am making this too simple, but I think the answer to these questions is character. I believe the character of a person is shown when either no one is looking, or when a person is doing things we don't have to think about doing.

One specific story demonstrates this perfectly:

I was walking to work on Friday of this week (yes I have the privilege of living in the community of which I am a pastor. It is absolutely wonderful and I deem necessary to have an impact). I was almost at my church when I heard this car engine revving quite high and then screech to a hault. The driver then took off, squealing his tires and going VERY fast down a residential street. As he was passing by I motioned to him to slow down as there are kids all around. He promptly gave me the finger, the middle one, not so nice.

Character is such a hard thing to comprehend, but it means a person is upright in standing, does not have double standards, is the same person when they are in private and public settings, and follows Christ above all, as well as many other things.

My driving changed a couple of years ago now. I thought I was invincible and couldn't get caught with anything. I would go between 130-140km/h on the highways and drive fairly wrecklessly in the city. My beautiful wife tried to talk with me about it, but I wouldn't listen, so she did what she knows how to do best, she prayed. Literally a month later I was pulled over for doing a rolling stop. 3 demerit points and a $120 ticket later I realized where my character was at. How can, I as a leader and person, tell others to obey Christ when I can't even obey the laws in which God has set in place through the authority he has set in place. My life has changed since. Megan loves driving with me now because I am not reckless and am more at peace because I have nothing to fear being caught for.

I say all this to get us all to think about not our driving, but our character. What is it we say when driving? Do we curse another person? Aren't we supposed to bless others? Do we blame a person's driving on their race? Isn't that just racism, or showing prejudice? Do we speed thinking we will never get caught? Aren't we supposed to obey all authority unless it goes against the law of God?

Driving can really show us how our hearts are and whether we are truly who we say we are.

Think about it and let me know what you think. I would love to hear all of your thoughts.

That's it!

Joy of Simplicity

Let me set the scene: I was walking home from work just a couple days ago and I noticed this young girl riding her bike.  Her dad was not far behind and it seemed like the bike was brand new and being taken for a test drive.  I couldn't help but notice this HUGE smile on this young girl's face; she was beaming.  A new bike, taking it for a ride, dad not far behind to make sure all is good, could it get any better?

This little girl's smile made me think of how many times I simply smile throughout each day; not because I am happy, but because of something deeper inside me.  I have to admit, it is not as much as I would like it to be.  Usually my concern for other things takes over my consciousness and I don't have the capacity to think about joy, or anything that brings me joy.  Seeing the smile on this little girl's face struck me as something very real.

There is another example of this joy: Everybody Loves Raymond - Season 1.  Ally is sitting at the dining room table staring off into space just smiling.  Ray and Deborah chat for a bit trying to figure out how she can be so happy and full of joy.  It comes to Ray asking his daughter, "What are you thinking about?" she replies, "Candy".  CANDY!  There is something so simple yet beautiful about this.

I have found as each year passes my life tends to become just a little more complicated.  Maybe it is a new profile at work, or having to look after more things because of buying a house; buying an extra car, or having a child.  Whatever it may be if I/we don't think about what we are doing life just gets more complicated whether we like it or not.  Isn't there something wrong with that?  Don't we remember the joy we had when we were a kid?  The ability to allow the simplest of things to satisfy us?

Just one more example of joy: My mom has this Tupperware drawer in her house.  Whenever any child comes over there are toys, games, books, puzzles, and many more things that either the parents brought or my mom has in the house, BUT at the end of the visit, no matter who the child is, my mom opens that secret drawer and the child has the greatest time of life, not with toys, WITH TUPPERWARE.

I find, not only do we complicate our lives year after year, but as we complicate our lives we lose the joy of simplicity.  More often than not I find the people who have less, or choose to have less find much more joy in life than people who have lots of, well, stuff.

Ever catch yourself saying, "ah, life was just simpler back then".  I'm only 27 and I say this!  Well the reality is if we are saying this, over the course of the last number of years we have chosen to complicate our lives instead of to keep them simple.  If our lives are not simple, we have chosen to complicate it.  Yes, it is indeed that simple.

So, let me as this question: do you have joy in your life?  I know I have some joy, but seeing this little girl ride her bike with the biggest smile on her face brought something I haven't seen in a while.  Where are our child like lives gone?  Do we think it is immature to be a child?  Why does Jesus tell us that unless we become like a child we will never enter the Kingdom (Matthew 18:3)?  I think it's because when we are children things are so simple, not complicated; we accept and experience the joy of simplicity.

Think about it, do you experience joy in your life?  I was reminded of how much more joy I can experience in my life by just living life simply: riding a bike, or just simply thinking about candy.

Go ride a bike.
Day dream about candy.

DO IT! Find the joy of simplicity.

"Thanks"

What does it mean to be thankful?
Why is it we tend to complain more than being thankful?
Is it we actually don't know what it means?

I remember during my trip to Japan in the summer of 2012 being completely and utterly stunned by the people being so nice.  I mean they always said thank-you, they always welcomed me whenever I would walk into a store (mind you it got annoying by the end of the trip), and they were always more than willing to help.  One thing I did notice though was it was so ingrained in their culture; it just seemed so natural for them to be thankful.

In being from Canada and then traveling to other places I have noticed this country is a POLITE culture.  Just go for a walk in a mall on a Saturday and count the amount of times you hear "excuse me" or "sorry"; believe me you will be stunned because it will be A LOT.  Although Canada is a polite culture it seems as though, without fail, when winter comes, out come the complainers as well: "Why is it so cold?", "Why does it have to snow so much?", "When will there be more sunshine?"  This tends to be what I hear when the "dreaded winter" comes.  This year especially I have gotten quite annoyed of people saying how terrible the weather is when it is simply cold.  If it is so terrible than move to a different country!  Well my mind says that, but I simple say nothing in response.

Of course this got me thinking about what it means to be truly thankful for what we have.  Here is what I have discovered: I we have fallen into the trap of only being thankful when things go our way and we get what we want.  Case and point, Canadian winter.  Why is it most people don't like it?  It's not what they want.  I mean no one will actually admit to this, but deep down I think it's the reason.

When we get what we want it is easy to be thankful, but when we don't it seems to be so hard.  Why?  The answer to this question I don't actually know for everyone.  The answer for me is, because I take things for granted; the moment I start taking things for granted the less and less thankful I get.  I think this is how Paul the apostle was able to "be thankful in all circumstances" (1 Thess. 5:18).

So I'll ask the question: why is it so hard to be thankful at all times?

I think the answer to this simple question leads to another one: how do we become thankful at all times?  The answer to this question leads us to a more intimate relationship with Jesus.  The answer to this question leads to a discussion of the heart and helps us understand what it means to be thankful.

What do you think?

The Journey Begins

One of the greatest things we can do is journey with others as we pursue a more intimate relationship with Christ.  A great perk of being a Student Ministry Pastor is being able to journey with students as a vocation.

This year as a student ministry we are going to intentionally do this year together.  We are going to go through the joys together, through the pain together; we will laugh and cry together; we will challenge each other; we will grow together.  So here we go...

The month we are engaging in the topic of Grace.  What does grace actually mean?  Does it mean what we think it means?  In researching and studying the topic of Grace I came face to face with the late great Dietrich Boenhoeffer.  He had a lot to say about grace and categorized the topic of grace in to two different things - cheap grace, and costly grace.  The cheap grace we get and it is the grace most of us operate within.  But, costly grace takes lost of work, lots of humility, and lots of change.

Cheap grace is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; we punch our ticket to Heaven, thank God, and keep living the way we always have.  Some may say that is not true acceptance, but nonetheless, it is cheap grace. Costly grace is something different.  It is yes acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, but it changes us.  When we truly accept the grace Jesus Christ has given us we can't help BUT change.  This change costs something.  Maybe it is our pride, or reputation; maybe it is our family; maybe it is those we thought were our closest friends.  At the end of the day True Grace costs something.

So, here we are, embarking on a journey of True Grace or as Boenhoeffer says, Costly Grace.

How are we accepting grace in our lives?  Are we saying on a regular basis, "I need God" or are we simply living as if we have it together?

The journey begins.  Let's be open and honest with our lives more than ever before.  Unless we are honest with our lives, there is no room for change.

Let me know your thoughts.