After a 9 month hiatus, I've decided to take up the blog again. My absence was to focus on two other web-connectors that I use from time to time: Facebook and Xanga. The first is relatively new (triggered by Brian Collica's move to San Diego) and I will continue to use Facebook to connect with our college students and ex-members of the church who have moved away.
Xanga was a good means of connecting with my own children at college, and I'll discontinue that now, since Matthew connects with me often enough anyway, and Simon has stopped using Xanga too. I'll still read Xanga accounts that I subscribe to though. Thanks to Charlotte and Charity for getting me into Xanga.

It's all about communication. I'm learning that certain relationships require some communication, while others require a whole lot. The greater the trust, the less need for communication in a friendship. As trust is growing, the greater the need for clear, balanced, nuanced, and often repeated communication. As the church is growing, I have found it more and more important to communicate well,, and to build trust with hope and grace and mercy leading the way. So I hope this blog will help me to express clearly the important things we ought to be talking about. That will including, movies, alcohol, entire sanctification and what it looks like in practice, Weslyan discipleship methods, outreach theology, what it 'feels' like to follow Christ, why God is and sometimes also isn't interested in our personal agendas, and a dozen other things that are important, real, and practical aspects of following Jesus every day.

A conversation is a two-way process. Blogs are one-sided. So if you're reading this, then e-mail me anything. No, better still, pick up the phone and call me on my cell phone: 604 548 5287. Let's build each other up in love.

Your servant-leader in the body of Christ,

Pastor Eddy

thanks to Cindy for this Alphabet of Worship:

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To "thank" is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
Xalting God most high
Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

Duct Tape or a Nail

A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.

St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. when you reach 100 points, you get in."

"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."

"That's wonderful," says St.Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says.

"Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."

"Terrific!" says St.Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!!"

"I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."

"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!?!!

"Exasperated, the man cries. "At this rate the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God."
"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"

We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and duct tape. God did it with a
nail.

(Thanks to Corey Johnson for this and his daily devotional. To sign uip - just email Corey at yeroc @ usadatanet.net (but take out the spaces in the email address).

This is a true story, from the Orange County Sheriff's office.

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!" The four men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad.

The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried.

And then it dawned on her why. A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down.

She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station. The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun.

No charges were filed.

If you're going to have a Senior Moment, make it a memorable one! (Thanks to Ginnie Young for this one.)

Greg Vance died on Saturday morning. He was 42, fit and healthy. The Lord took him in an instant. He just stopped living. He was a good friend.

Greg worked for me in the software business for a year or two, and left to move on to a more promising opportunity. A nominal church-goer, I remember how he ended his exit interview: "Working for you has shown me what it is to see real Christian values in action". I was obvious deeply complimented - and surprised.

He and I kept in touch over the subsequent couple of years, occaisonally meeting for lunch. He and his wife started going to church, got themselves saved, and were seeing God do great things in their marriage and family. Linda and I looked after their kids for a weekend so they could go to a Christian Leadership conference together. I rejoiced at Greg's salvation - of course - and his growth in Christ

My point here is not to stroke my ego - but this: That every word, every action has a consequence. Eternal consequences. Today my little world was jarred by news of his death, and God's kingdom work moves on another day.

Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Yours alone. Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in You, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Yourself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Your Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from You.

— Puritan Prayer

To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is so they would know when they found one.

" An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American."