Hey everybody,
It has been over a month since my last post, so it’s about time for an update.
I have had a busy month, but a totally enjoyable one. At the end of October, we had a Halloween youth event. It was cool; I was an “identity crisis”, a last minute idea that worked. The beginning of November brought snow (only a little bit) for the first time this winter (the first time it actually stayed on the ground for more than an hour). I watched the CFL division semi-finals with some youth, and hung out with some friends later that night. We also had youth that weekend, and being the long weekend (7-11), it was a great weekend. On the Monday I went to Kevins surprise birthday, and then Tuesday I saw Madagascar 2 and went to the Flames-Leafs game. Madagascar 2 was funny, just as good as the first, and the Flames game was fun, as the Flames won and it was a good atmosphere.
Time continued to fly by, with something significant each day, and assignments due all the time. One of my best buds from Capernwray, Tyler, came up from Colorado to visit his girlfriend for the week. So on Wednesday I hung out with Brendan, Tyler, and Daralynne, it was so awesome to see them again. On the next weekend I went to the West final – Stamps vs. Lions. I got tickets off a guy on a flames message board the day of the game and took a friend. The atmosphere at the Stamps game was awesome, the fans were into it, it was sold out, it was just as good an atmosphere as the two grey cup games I’ve been to, and it was plus 10, which is great for November football. Stamps won of course and went on to win the Grey cup.
On Sunday the 16th there was a young adults lunch, which was good. I also saw the new bond movie that weekend (the 15th) with Shawn and Mike. Quantum of Solace was a great movie, not sure if it was as good as the first, but it was really good. On Monday I went and saw Wall-E with Carlton, Nathan, Matthias, Caleb and Justin in the cheap seats. It was better than I expected, I enjoyed it. I also went and saw Role models on Thursday with Shawn, Travis and Mike, it was a funny movie.
On Friday the 21st we had our small group night; it was a fun time of just hanging out. That Sunday was the Grey cup – Stamps vs. Allouettes. After spending much of Saturday watching pregame for it, I was totally pumped for the game and believed my Stamps would win. Our small group watched it at my house, and then had our study after the game. It was great to see the Stamps win, not the most entertaining game, but it was good nonetheless. GO STAMPS. Wednesday I had wings with the guys as usual and we went to Nicks after. Yesterday I hung out with Jake, Caleb and Matthias; we went for dinner then bowling.
I am still playing soccer on Tuesdays, which has been fun even though we are not that good. We
have our last game this Tuesday. School has been hectic, so many assignments, group meetings and some studying mixed in. I am glad the semester is almost over; I need to do really well on my Finance and Marketing finals so that I don’t have to take them over. Those two classes are way too heavy, I feel like they cram two classes into one. Finance is annoying because it feels like he expects us to learn the textbook then he can review the notes in class. He is still teaching us, but it feels like there is way more material to cover than he has time for, so he skims through it all too fast. Oh well, it’s almost over. One week of classes left. I had two presentations yesterday, they went well. I actually am starting to see the end of it, as there are only two assignments left.
Of course I have also been busy keeping up with friends and the youth and working. At work, they gave me my own office for a few weeks! I was pretty happy to get an office, even if I probably shouldn’t have one (I work 10 hours a week). I’ll take it. It sounds like Nexen is going to extend my contract until the end of April, which is good news.
Christmas is coming up in less than a month. I was talking to one of my friends the other day, we were agreeing that it is too much about gifts, though he takes it farther and just dreads Christmas. While I don’t enjoy the stress of figuring out what to get people, and what I want, the season is a good time. Christmas is a time to spend with family, a time to relax and enjoy life, a time to celebrate and to remember why we have this season. Jesus was the ultimate gift from God to us; he was even brought gifts from strangers when he was born. Anyways Christmas has become so much about consumerism. While it’s nice to receive something, sometimes we spend a ton of money on something the person won’t really use or may randomly buy for themselves before receiving. The problem I often find is: what do I want/need? With the ease of just going and getting something, if I want something, I often go buy it. If I know what I want in October, I don’t want to wait until December to get it if I don’t know if anyone is getting it for me. Maybe that sounds bad, but it’s true, for things that aren’t expensive. For things that are expensive, like a stereo, we may ask for it or do some research, but it’s not cheap to buy a bunch of people expensive things like that, and not everyone needs something like that. When I was a kid, I wanted things like Lego or a movie, if I wanted those things right now I would just go get one. On the expensive side, would I like a car for Christmas, sure, but that is way too expensive for a Christmas gift and I already have one. I guess that’s why it’s nice to surprise people, if you have an idea of what they would enjoy, then that is good. Not to say Christmas or gift giving is bad. It certainly is nice to give someone a something they wanted and see their face light up, or to receive something you never really thought of asking for, or that you wanted for a while but never went out and bought. It’s not about what you receive though, it’s being generous towards others, like God was to us, we didn’t have to do anything for him, he gave us Jesus and through him redemption, love and grace.
I am still reading that book “the story we find ourselves in. I haven’t read it as much as I would like to but I am almost through it. The book has been quite enjoyable, after Jesus the author goes on to talk about community and the church. Then he discusses heaven and time and that sort of thing. He paints a picture of Gods judgement of us. Judgement means having things accurately appraised by God, to be in God’s presence means to be fully seen and known as who we really are. Judgement doesn’t mean condemnation; it means perfect assessment by God. We can’t avoid it. You can imagine God saying to someone – Well done! You have lived well! You helped the story advance toward my creative dreams. You fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed in the lonely, visited the prisoners, and shared your bread with the poor. Wherever you went, you contributed love and peace, generosity and truth, courage and sacrifice, self-control and justice, faithfulness and kindness. You enriched the story, enhanced its beauty and drama and nobility. You have become someone good and beautiful and true. Your unique creative contributions will never be forgotten, and even the smallest act of kindness will be eternally celebrated, rewarded. After naming and forgiving your many faults, and failures, I see so much substance to your character, so much to cherish, so much of value, and it will now be set free, given a new beginning in my new creation. You have an eternal place in my story! You have been harvested from this creation, and now you will enter into the joy of the new creation!
Our story doesn’t end; it opens into another story, a new beginning, a resurrection, not a reincarnation. On the other hand, this is the story he gives if we don’t do so well.
God might say, sadly, your contributions have been neutral or negative. You have added more pain and selfishness, more dishonesty and coldness, more greed and disharmony and clutter into the story. I tried in every way possible to get through to you, but you wouldn’t respond to my grace. Even if I forgive and forget all bad things you have done, is there enough of your character left for you to continue existing in my creation and would you even like living with me in the story you have avoided, minimized, resisted, or subverted all your life what have you become you’ve made money and enjoyed luxuries and seemed like a great success to some of you fellow characters as you pursued your own dreams and desired, but in terms of my dreams and desires, you had your chance to become a good and unforgettable character in my story, and you wasted it. You’ve squandered the time and space you were given. I fell regret about what you could have been, what you could have done, what you could have become, but didn’t. I wish you had given me more to work with, but you haven’t. Your story has been a tragedy of waste and missed opportunities. (McLaren)
The obvious question is what happens to the second person. Maybe we shouldn’t focus on that. We should focus on the first person, what we (or at least I) want to be.
Another story is told of how God is like a parent letting a kid go but is also at the other end and the kid is running to him, God is where we are from and where we are going to, and we influence how long it takes to get back to him.
Anyways there you have it, a little peek at the book.
Not sure what else to say here. Christmas plans are to go to Utah to visit my mom and step-dad and ski for a week. I am looking forward to it. Exam week starts the 8th and I will be done on the 16th.
That was a super long post!
Thanks for reading as usual
Adam
ref:
McLaren, Brian, pg 233. The Story We Find Ourselves in. 2003.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Thursday, 23 October 2008
October: bookenit, midterms, sports and other things.
hey everybody,
so midterm week is almost over, only 1 exam left! I had HROD last friday, FNCE monday, OPMA tuesday, MKTG wednesday and i have MGIS tomorrow night. I'll be glad to be done the midterms, but the semester keeps on rolling, a group meeting tomorrow and 2 assignments due next week.
As I mentioned before, i finished up a book called "A new Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren. one of my friends from Capernwray suggested (on a comment on facebook) that I get another one of his books, "A Generous Orthodoxy". I went to Chapters to buy some new books and use a gift certificate from about 7 years ago (they accepted it). I couldnt find that book, but bought another of his books called "the story we find ourselves in" and another book by Rob Bell, "Velvet Elvis".
In "The story we find ourselves in" the author looks at the history of the world from a slightly different perspective from the bible, but at essentially the same story. the 1st part is creation. talking about how God created us and everything around us, so that the creation creates more, for example: God created us, we create ideas, societies, inventions, stories, new people etc. another thing the character in the story stresses is how we often look at genesis as a textbook, but he believes in genesis as the ancient nomads huddled around a fire listening to the story would have believed it, with its poems and story that forms us inwardly.
he second part of the story is Chaos. God gave us the riegns, and he wanted it to be a real world, where real things happen and can go wrong. one example he gave was that in the story of Cain and Abel, Abel had gone beyond his ancestors, from hunter gatherer to pastoralist, a herder of sheep or animals. its a step up because you have more freedom to wander. cain brought plant crops to God, he had moved farther to a sophisticated agriculturist. he gained more independance from God because he had control over the crops. when you settle down you accumulate things, then you want to protect them from others who will steal. if someone trespasses, you have to do something...and of course cain killed abel in a field.... interesting perspective. basically the idea is that as people became more independant, they developed social structures and as they got farther from God, they found it harder to get along and a flood of chaos and destruction happens.
in both parts of the story, it is still happening, we still create and there is always some form of crisis or chaos.
the 3rd part is "calling". as in, God has called us to be a blessing. we are not here for our own agenda, a national agenda or an economic agenda, but for God's agenda, part of God's ongoing creation in the world.
the 4th part is conversation. in most of the old testament, God gives us a calling, then the people drifted, eventually going to the wrong side, then repenting and coming back to God. the focus is Gods faithfulness and patience through all that happens. in the book, converstation is summed up through priests, prophets, poets and philosophers. one quote ill throw in "sometimes, i think the bible is more of a question book than answer book; it raises questions that bring people together for conversation about life's most important issues."
so whats next? Christ
the need for Christ comes from the crisis part of the story, we make all these choices and the world gets more messed up. if God lets things go, like Cain and Abel, than you have to question Gods justice and love for everyone, but if he intervenes and punishes us, then we are finished, so God sends Jesus. basically you would write alot about Jesus, and trying to see the whole picture is like trying to see the whole sky from inside a hospital, looking through a bunch of little windows. there are different aspects of why Jesus came (the author suggests 6, but I'll let you read the book if your really interested).
anyways, another part of the book talks about following Jesus. paraphrasing here. Christianity started as a middle eastern religion, the word 'guru' is close to the word for 'master' in Jewish. thats where we get the name 'lord'. master was often a name given to a rabbi, master doesnt mean master in reference to a slave, but master in a sense of beign the master of ...martial arts, or a master craftsman or violin master. a violin master can take some wood and wire and horsehair and create music more beautiful than anyone else can play. that would mean that noone else could take the materials of life - skin, bone, blood, space, time, words, deeds, eating, sleeping, waking etc and elicit a beautiful song of truth and goodness, as jesus did. the disciples realized that out fo the self seeking of the collaborators, the judgemental pharisees, isolationist essenes, and violent zealots, Jesus way was higher, more brilliant. when you think about it, who today is studying the teachings of herod or ceasar. lets say you are a disciple, you start following him, but you dont really know what his plan is, he's not affiliated with any partys or groups, but hes doing these crazy signs and wonders. then he gets hung on the cross, killed by the people the disciples thought he would defeat. the bad guys win, its tragic. but then he is ressurected, the best sign of them all. showing us that no matter what hte worst people do, how bad things get, dont be afraid cuz God is going to triumph. God's revolution can be resisted, but never defeated.
wow ok so i wrote alot there, but the author has some pretty cool perspectives, anyways, this is a blog so ill move on and finish this up.
I went to the Stamps-Bombers game on saturday with a bunch of people from my church and youth group, it was a good time, (even tho the game wasnt close) and we got to meet some players and hear thier stories afterwards, also Burris signed my Burris jersey. also went to the flames-Avalanche game last week with my buddy Mac, that was fun. anyways, ive been hanging out with friends, working on projects, watching sports and hanging out with the youth. also on of my best buds from Capers is coming to Calgary in November for a few weeks, so thats pretty awesome. also found out from school when my final exams are, my last exam is December 15th. yay. also already got invited to a turkey dinner on boxing day, way cool.
Ive been putting pictures in a contest on facebook and its been cool to see the talent all the people have in the group and trying to find good pics for the themes.
so thats about it for this post
thanks for reading,
Adam
so midterm week is almost over, only 1 exam left! I had HROD last friday, FNCE monday, OPMA tuesday, MKTG wednesday and i have MGIS tomorrow night. I'll be glad to be done the midterms, but the semester keeps on rolling, a group meeting tomorrow and 2 assignments due next week.
As I mentioned before, i finished up a book called "A new Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren. one of my friends from Capernwray suggested (on a comment on facebook) that I get another one of his books, "A Generous Orthodoxy". I went to Chapters to buy some new books and use a gift certificate from about 7 years ago (they accepted it). I couldnt find that book, but bought another of his books called "the story we find ourselves in" and another book by Rob Bell, "Velvet Elvis".
In "The story we find ourselves in" the author looks at the history of the world from a slightly different perspective from the bible, but at essentially the same story. the 1st part is creation. talking about how God created us and everything around us, so that the creation creates more, for example: God created us, we create ideas, societies, inventions, stories, new people etc. another thing the character in the story stresses is how we often look at genesis as a textbook, but he believes in genesis as the ancient nomads huddled around a fire listening to the story would have believed it, with its poems and story that forms us inwardly.
he second part of the story is Chaos. God gave us the riegns, and he wanted it to be a real world, where real things happen and can go wrong. one example he gave was that in the story of Cain and Abel, Abel had gone beyond his ancestors, from hunter gatherer to pastoralist, a herder of sheep or animals. its a step up because you have more freedom to wander. cain brought plant crops to God, he had moved farther to a sophisticated agriculturist. he gained more independance from God because he had control over the crops. when you settle down you accumulate things, then you want to protect them from others who will steal. if someone trespasses, you have to do something...and of course cain killed abel in a field.... interesting perspective. basically the idea is that as people became more independant, they developed social structures and as they got farther from God, they found it harder to get along and a flood of chaos and destruction happens.
in both parts of the story, it is still happening, we still create and there is always some form of crisis or chaos.
the 3rd part is "calling". as in, God has called us to be a blessing. we are not here for our own agenda, a national agenda or an economic agenda, but for God's agenda, part of God's ongoing creation in the world.
the 4th part is conversation. in most of the old testament, God gives us a calling, then the people drifted, eventually going to the wrong side, then repenting and coming back to God. the focus is Gods faithfulness and patience through all that happens. in the book, converstation is summed up through priests, prophets, poets and philosophers. one quote ill throw in "sometimes, i think the bible is more of a question book than answer book; it raises questions that bring people together for conversation about life's most important issues."
so whats next? Christ
the need for Christ comes from the crisis part of the story, we make all these choices and the world gets more messed up. if God lets things go, like Cain and Abel, than you have to question Gods justice and love for everyone, but if he intervenes and punishes us, then we are finished, so God sends Jesus. basically you would write alot about Jesus, and trying to see the whole picture is like trying to see the whole sky from inside a hospital, looking through a bunch of little windows. there are different aspects of why Jesus came (the author suggests 6, but I'll let you read the book if your really interested).
anyways, another part of the book talks about following Jesus. paraphrasing here. Christianity started as a middle eastern religion, the word 'guru' is close to the word for 'master' in Jewish. thats where we get the name 'lord'. master was often a name given to a rabbi, master doesnt mean master in reference to a slave, but master in a sense of beign the master of ...martial arts, or a master craftsman or violin master. a violin master can take some wood and wire and horsehair and create music more beautiful than anyone else can play. that would mean that noone else could take the materials of life - skin, bone, blood, space, time, words, deeds, eating, sleeping, waking etc and elicit a beautiful song of truth and goodness, as jesus did. the disciples realized that out fo the self seeking of the collaborators, the judgemental pharisees, isolationist essenes, and violent zealots, Jesus way was higher, more brilliant. when you think about it, who today is studying the teachings of herod or ceasar. lets say you are a disciple, you start following him, but you dont really know what his plan is, he's not affiliated with any partys or groups, but hes doing these crazy signs and wonders. then he gets hung on the cross, killed by the people the disciples thought he would defeat. the bad guys win, its tragic. but then he is ressurected, the best sign of them all. showing us that no matter what hte worst people do, how bad things get, dont be afraid cuz God is going to triumph. God's revolution can be resisted, but never defeated.
wow ok so i wrote alot there, but the author has some pretty cool perspectives, anyways, this is a blog so ill move on and finish this up.
I went to the Stamps-Bombers game on saturday with a bunch of people from my church and youth group, it was a good time, (even tho the game wasnt close) and we got to meet some players and hear thier stories afterwards, also Burris signed my Burris jersey. also went to the flames-Avalanche game last week with my buddy Mac, that was fun. anyways, ive been hanging out with friends, working on projects, watching sports and hanging out with the youth. also on of my best buds from Capers is coming to Calgary in November for a few weeks, so thats pretty awesome. also found out from school when my final exams are, my last exam is December 15th. yay. also already got invited to a turkey dinner on boxing day, way cool.
Ive been putting pictures in a contest on facebook and its been cool to see the talent all the people have in the group and trying to find good pics for the themes.
so thats about it for this post
thanks for reading,
Adam
Monday, 6 October 2008
Fall is here
Hey everybody,
With the Leaves turning yellow and falling, the temperature dropping from highs of 25 last week to highs of 10-15 this week, its definitly fall here in Calgary. luckily the snow hasnt fallen yet and its still sunny all day it seems, not a bad start to fall actually. another sign of fall hockey starting up, times getting busier (youth, school, soccer etc) and the turkeys at the supermarkets. hmm turkey. thanksgiving is now less than a week away, a time when we are thankful for all that we have been blessed with. I am thinking as I write this, but for people who don't believe in God, when you are thankful for something (like being born in a safe enviroment, free from the worries in third world countries, for example) who are you thanking? i mean, you're probably glad, but if there isnt God, your just lucky or something...anyways i digress. I am thankful that God has blessed me with the people in my life and everything I have (or have access to) including my health, and the experiences I have been able to have so far in life, and probably more I can't think of.
a little update on me. Ive been busy the last few weeks, going to youth events and 4c, doing wingnights with the guys, playing poker with friends, doing homework and a saturday morning quiz (really!?!) watching football and hockey with friends, listening to music, working... you get the idea. last week I had my first soccer game with my team in the Calgary sport and social club indoor soccer league, it was lots of fun. I realized how out of shape I am, but I did manage to score a goal and we won 3-2. fun times.
I bought a new mp3 last weekend, out of necessity, kind of (like when you want something and get used to having it, when it goes away, it almost becomes a need). After going to see a movie (Get Smart, funny movie) with Caleb and Matthias, I was at home and couldnt find my Mp3 player anywhere, I bought it in November last year (oddly enough, out of necessity after the previous one fell out of a pocket, needing some music for the 4 hour plane ride to Toronto for the Grey cup). anyways that mp3 lasted really well, making it to Australia, being dropped several times (benefits of a flash mp3, harder to break!) and some more drops back home. anyways this one must have fallen out of my pocket, the next morning (a friday) i looked everywhere and retraced my steps, no luck. went to school, came home, no music, which was actually fine. some good thinking/reading time on the train, and some prayer time as i walked home. that night I went to youth, we had a good time. saturday morning i did some research and decided to buy a new one. I ended up going for a Microsoft Zune, 8gb. it has a touch pad (better functionality than a scroll wheel, imo) and its own program, like itunes. its pretty sweet, ive been enjoying it. hopefully this one lasts me a little longer.
also I have updated my Sports blog, link on the right.
a few pics for ya from September
thanks for reading,
Adam
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