Something is brewing

Tonight after supper the doorbell rang. I went to answer it and there was a drunk man standing there. He proceeded to tell me that he needed a light for his cigarette. We talked for a bit, then I called in to the house for Holly to get our BBQ lighter. I didn't feel it was wise to invite him in. Holly got the lighter and as he smoked we had a chat about his life, where he is at. He showed me bruises on his arms and shoulders where he was beaten with a bat the night before. We probably talked about 20 minutes or more. Finally he mentioned that he was hungry and also needed a light for his friends back at home. I grabbed him some food and a lighter, and he staggered away.
As he was talking, I was having my own conversation in my head. "Why God did he come to this house? Why not my neighbors house? Coincidence? I am not a large believer in coincidence. I started having a huge desire to go and sit in the Barry Hotel (Probably the city's dirtiest/scariest bars in Saskatoon and a mere 2 blocks from my house) and hang out with the people there. As I was praying one evening I felt impressed in my heart to go to the Barry during the day for coffee. I believe that God wants to speak to me there.
When I was in the Vineyard I used to do crazy things like that all of the time. Kelly and I would go into the Barry and give people donuts and coffee on Saturday mornings. Man the faith that I had back then was inspiring. I seldom questioned God, I would hear and do. Now I am a "Yabut man" God speaks and I respond.."ya but what about this, Ya but what about that. Funny how hurts in your life shut down your faith.
Anyway it is interesting how things are happening. I'm not looking for it. There seems to be a renewing passion for social justice and mercy. I dont even know what the heart of God is regarding social justice. Sure you hear talk about it but really what is it? Mercy has been dorment in my life for a very long time. I am not sure what God is doing but it sure is good. If I go to the Barry tonight I will blog about it tomorrow.

a dream come true

I wanted to share something that I think is very cool. I am in a housing co-op through Quint Developement Coorporation. To qualify I needed to apply, then the application went to a selection committee which approved our application. I have been in my house for four years now and next year I recieve the title on my house.
Back when I first moved into Riversdale (an inner city community), I went to Prince Albert to listen to John Mcknight who is a world renowned speaker on community developmment. One of the things that he said was to plug into a community association in order to make yourself known and to build relationship with the ones who can make change happen. I went to my communities AGM and someone there nominated me to be on the board. Six months into it someone who was a Quint representative for the community association stepped down and there was a vacanccy for the Quint rep. So I volunteered to be that person. My job was to communicate between Quint and Riversdale. With that I joined the Quint Developement board of directors. I have been on it for three years now, and just this past year (last Monday in fact) I was asked if I would chair the selection committee. I am very excited about this as I get to look over housing applications and help decide who gets approved. I think it is ironic that I was the one applying four years ago, now I am the one who will be assisting in the selections.
Just a plug for NHOP (Neighborhood Home Ownership Program)
If you are a family who makes under $30,000 you may qualify to be a home owner.
- The Saskatchewan government and city of Saskatoon provide funding for a 30 % or more downpayment on your home.
- The downpayment on the house is forgiven after five years in the co-op. Once the title is in your name the equity gets put into your house.
It is a great program. I would recommend it to anyone. Plus the community that God has built here is amazing. People ask me how I like living in the heart of the inner city. I smile back at them and tell them that I absolutely love it, and I really do. It would take a lot of convincing for me to want to leave my block. I have never lived in a neighborhood with so much freindliness.

some interesting facts on income levels

Neighbourhood	Average Income	Percent Income under $20K
Source: City of Saskatoon Neighbourhood Profiles 7th Edition - December 2003
City of Saskatoon	$62, 451	16.09%
Core Neighbourhoods	$32, 475	40.76%
Caswell	$40, 217	12.00%
King George	$33,690	22.00%
Pleasant Hill	$26,753	26.00%
Riversdale	$29,272	22.00%
Westmount	$32,444	20.00%

The gate

I wanted to point out a part of Cultivating a life for God that I though was really neat, it caused me to think.

....Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. Most people have a gate at home. It dawned on me one day that a gate is not an offensive weapon. Notice that there is no two week cooling off period before one can purchase a gate. Police don't pack loaded gates. Terrorist's don't hold victims "at gate point" We don't send weapons inspectors overseas to discover "gates of mass destruction." Dog's don't run loose with little signs around their neck that reads "Beware of gate."
Gates are not a threat; theyt are defensive, and the gates Jesus was talking about aren't pearly ones--they're the gates of hell. The church is to be on the offense, not defence. The church has been held hostage at gate point for far too long. It is time we stop being intimidated by a gate.

Cultivating a life for God

I came across a great review of a book that I just read. I am going to copy his post here as it serves as a great review.

From Adam Feldman's blog

Book #6: Cultivating a Life for God: Multiplying Disciples Through Life Transformation Groups
Author: Neil Cole
Genre: Christian Practice
Rating (1-5): 4.3
Review:

This book reads just the way I want a non-fiction book to read: succinct/concise (only 122 pages!), purposed (I knew exactly what Cole was wanting to say to his audience) and inspiring (I am planning to try some of the principles he lays out). At the outset of my review of Cultivating a Life for God, I recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in discovering Jesus Christ, learning from Him and living for Him.

The book is about simply this: to make more and better disciples (1). Cole is not content with methods of "discipleship" or "evangelism" that do not pursue the goal of an integrated Christian spirituality. This book is an offering of one method that he stumbled upon (thank you, Cole, for your transparency) and continual practices to ensure his personal growth and the growth of those who are part of his congregation. That practice of making more and better disciples is simple: life transformation groups (LTG).

LTG discipleship is so profoundly simple that Cole requires seven chapters to build up to the moment when he introduces the concept over a mere 8 pages. His reasoning is that the reader must understand and agree with essential foundational concepts before running out and starting LTGs. Nonetheless, the LTG is a simple concept. From chapter 8: "The LTG accountability consists of three essential disciplines for personal spiritual growth--a steady diet of Scripture, confession of sin and prayer for others who need Christ" (63).

What I like most about the concept of the LTG is that it is simple and rapidly reproducible. LTGs focus on immersion in God's Word, rather than in expensive Bible study materials; dependence upon prayer, rather than upon personalities of leaders; and action, rather than merely talking about evangelism and sanctification. There are potential drawbacks to the LTG concept, but Cole spends an entire chapter addressing these drawbacks, offering a quasi-FAQ approach to troubleshooting them.

I took this survey online

apparently I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

A responce to Anonymous

I felt as though I should comment on this as another post.

Anonymous said...
Some food for thought:

Matthew 7:21-23
Matthew 25:1-13
Revelation 2:4-5
Revelation 3:5

Were these passages written to Christians or unbelievers?

One thing that I see in these passages are the intimacty that God requires of us.

Matthew 7:21-23 say's "'I never knew you"
Matthew 25:1-13 say's "I don't know you"
Revvelation 2:4-5 say's "You have forsaken your first love"
Revelation 3:5 say's "He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white"

These passages tell me that works are not enough to get us into the Kingdom of God. I believe that God is talking to unbelievers. He is saying that unless your know me intimately, you dont know me at all. We only have to look at Genesis to see what God requires or better yet desires.

Genesis 4:1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have gotten a man from the LORD."

Genesis 4:17
And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

Genesis 4:25
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son and called his name Seth. "For God," said she, "hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."

Jesus said you never knew me. This is the same word used to describe the most intimate thing between husband and wife. God is requiring the very same intimacy with him. When a man and woman come together in intimacy, it is the greatest expression of love shared between them. This is what God desires.
If he is speaking that message out, it only makes sense that he is talking to the unbeliever. With that said he also could have been telling those following him about the level of intimacy he desired to have with them.

Can Christians lose their salvation?

I came across this article on the CRI web site. I found it very interesting.

That's an important question. Can I be sure that I'm really saved?

Most Christians have probably had moments of doubt about their salvation. After all, we've all entertained thoughts and have committed acts that we knew were displeasing to God. We've all experienced that sense of remorse and sometimes questioned the reality of our salvation afterwards. Backsliding can no doubt cause such feelings to arise, and should hopefully move us to repentance (1 John 1:9).

However, when it comes to the issue of eternal security, the Bible makes it absolutely clear that those who have been saved will never be lost. Jesus emphatically pointed this out in the Gospel of John when, in reference to believers, He said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand..." (John 10:28). In this passage, Christ explicitly declared that no one who has received eternal life will ever lose it.

Furthermore, in such passages as 2 Corinthians 1:22, and Ephesians 1:13, the apostle Paul indicated that the Holy Spirit acts as the very seal of God's ownership of the believer; He serves as the guarantee of our inheritance to come - namely, eternal life (John 5:24; 1 John 5:13). In describing our inheritance the apostle Peter used some very powerful words - words like "imperishable," "undefiled," and "unfading" (1 Pet. 1:5). With these words He underscored the everlasting assurance believers have with respect to God's gift of salvation.

Now I know what you're asking: "What about the Christians who have completely abandoned their faith?" Well, judging by what we're told in Scripture we can only conclude that they were never saved from the start. You see, while "once saved, always saved" is true from God's perspective, man only looks at the outward appearance and thus cannot always accurately assess who is really saved in the first place. The question therefore is not whether someone lost their salvation, but whether they had ever had it at all. As Romans chapter eight says, "there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v. 38-29). He is the very source of our salvation.

And remember, eternal life that comes to the believer through faith in Christ is not life for two weeks, two months, or even two years; eternal life is everlasting life. It begins at the moment of conversion and stretches on through the eons of time.

The rapture