I'm not sure why this image stirs me...

Whatever you think of Joyce Meyer (one of our top 50's in my previous post), she helped rally 40,000 people across India to pray and reflect on Christ.

I'm a minority myself, attending an ethnic church, yet something wierd inside of me still thinks 'wow, they worship our Lord too'...

I absolutely believe the Scriptures when it talks about every tongue, and tribe, and nation, worshiping God... I just don't think i've come even close to experiencing the full richness and beauty of it all. I wonder when that day will come...

Christ, the white, skinny, model...

I think I'll be dual posting here and there between blogger and voxtropolis until I can migrate my archives and things get tweaked over there.

A few articles i've stumbled upon recently.

Article from the American Spectator thinks that 2006 might be the worst year for Jesus since 33 A.D. with reports that he was a stoner and the release of the Da Vinci Code movie.

In Italy, someone's taking Jesus to court. He's being charged with impersonation!

The above photo of the Lord's supper by fashion designer Marithe Francois Girbaud was banned
by Milan. I'm not sure why people were so offended. Can't skinny white models come to Jesus as well? Sometimes we think Jesus only came for the outcast, the lame, and the poor. He also came for the popular, the socially beautiful, and the rich (ie. Matthew the tax collector).

and to go a bit further... if the world was nothing but a bunch of skinny white models (to sterotype, I know every individual is much more than that),

wouldn't Jesus, as the God who reaches down to live and die amongst us, also have come as a skinny, white, model?

I'm moving to Voxtropolis...

I'm part of the Voxtropolis (City of voices) beta community that Alex McManus and company have put together... i'll be transitioning my reflections there in the coming months as the kinks get worked out.

As for now, here are the latest pics from my amazing little faith community.

Pouring sunlight on the streets...

Check out the size of those onion rings.

This Christmas I wrote my beautiful wife a little song. It's partially about how I have to drag her out of bed every morning (literally by the feet as she hangs onto the pillows).

I'll even disclose myself further and share the mp3 i just made of it. One-shot, unedited, with the only strumming pattern i know. Guess which popular song of 2005 i got most of the tune from...






Hey princess, wake up,
I know how it feels good in the dark.
You hide yourself, but there’s so much light locked in that heart

I pull you out, so you can shine,
I lift you up, for the world to see.
You have no idea how lovely you can be...

You don’t have to be the best
It’s okay if you’re a mess
Just share your soul with me
We’ll spend our days, pouring sunlight on the streets

I know, it gets hard,
Being daylight, in the dark,
But don’t you cover up now, your beauty’s breaking through...

And when nothing works out right
And darkness clouds your way
I’ll lift you back up high
We’ll spend our days, pouring sunlight on the streets

mp3 temporarily available for here.

Small groups...

Just a few things to chew on from my class...

We typically have or aim for having a paid pastoral staff member for every 150 people. With a solid small group model that can be stretched to 500 people for every paid staff member... The Mormon's with over 10 million members have a total of 12 paid staff.

Small groups don't just happen. Behind the scenes of every thriving small group is a leader working very hard.

If you're going to teach people how to love, you better teach them how to grieve as well.

I'm re-launching our small group this year. I'm hoping to add more structure to facilitate additional chaos as we deepen and expand our realm of impact.

Our irreducible minimum's that we'll be focusing on this year are Christ, Community, and Cause.

Can't wait to see how things unfold.

Palm Treo 700 Now Available
Coke to launch coffee-infused Coke Blak
Piper raises Google price target to $600
Christians in China persevere despite religious restrictions
Former stripper takes God's word to world of porn
The Essential Audio Tools for Your Ministry from 9marks.org

Great things ahead...

Just got back from the annual trip to Ottawa, and what looks like quite the blogging hiatus.

Thanks to those who've continued checking in.

Before I started working and before I got married, 2006 had been marked in my mind as the year I retire from the workforce, return to school full-time, and we have ourselves a child.

Some think I'm jumping into a life of debt. I think it's just going to be another step in this beatiful adventure through life with my wife.

I finished Anne Rice's 'Christ our Lord' novel (actually i borrowed the audiobook from the library). It was risky and brilliant. I've never experienced a more vivid and rich picture of the Jewish culture during Jesus' day. Though slow at times, parts of it just left me in awe of God who walked the earth. You can find a more full review here or on amazon.

I'll be at Tyndale the rest of the week taking 'building a church through small groups'.

Have a great 2006. It's up to you.