Leaving work...

After giving my six-weeks notice, I finally packed my stuff and left the office today. I was flooded with words of appreciation and encouragement as I leave behind this fantastic place I've worked the past four years. It's easy to leave something behind when you hate it anyways, but to pick up and leave something really good in hopes of something even more extraordinary is no easy task.

I'm going to miss the friendships and the actual work itself. It's still a bit of a surreal that I won't be seeing many of these faces again. I'm even missing the tedious parts of my job already. I'm very happy with the work that I've accomplished and the people I've connected with along the way. I've taken just about every chance to grow professionally and to point people towards a life beyond the visible. It's one of the few things that I've felt good about from start to finish.

I hope to finish this next leg of the race strong as well as I head back to school.

More immediately, I'm about to fly out to Vancouver, celebrate our anniversary in Whistler, explore Seattle, and really just get some time to rest and reflect. Life's been incredible, but I have no doubt the best is yet to come.

The latest at http://onelife.voxtropolis.com

Confessions...

I'm adding a new category to my vox called 'confessions'.

I think there's something liberating about confessing. Just as the scriptures call for us to confess our sins, and as Peter confessed that Christ was the Son of the living God, I believe that confession is something that is raw and profound.

I love writing and teaching and discussing, but there's something to be said about simple confessions. Maybe in doing so, we come one step closer to who we really are. Maybe in the midst of it, we discover the person God's always seen and still continues to embrace.

Here's one.

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." ~ Michelangelo.

I'm not sure what context Michelangelo said this, but it resonates with me deeply. I tend to make things look easy. I wish raw talent just naturally flowed from me, but anything worthwhile I've ever done, has usually been a result of a painstaking amount of work.

I often sleep less than most people, just to get done what regular people do in a normal day. My superman complex brushes off any effort as if it were nothing. Though seemingly humble, I've found what it really does, is set unrealistic standards for others, and devalues and belittles any effort they make.

and yet the Creator of the universe still embraces me.

latest entries at http://onelife.voxtropolis.com

Free Zooomr pro account...

VOXers - I posted a while back about Zooomr, a photos hosting site like flickr but considerably slickr... v2 of it just relaunched and right now bloggers can get a free pro account offering 2.5 GB of uploads per month!

Instructions are here. It just involves posting a single picture on your site like I just did below. See my zooomr site here. I'll be flooding it with many more pictures as they release their bulk uploading tool soon.

This is me in San Diego during one of many business trips. I'm going to miss all expenses paid business trips!

more at http://onelife.voxtropolis.com

What have we done...?

If you have ten minutes today, watch/listen to this photo essay on Chernobyl.

Feel free to share what it made you think or feel.

And so I handed in my resignation letter...

It's been four years since I graduated and began working at IBM and it's been 4 years since I've known that this is the summer I'll be leaving it all behind. Much praying and planning has went into this journey. I recently extended my thirty year plan into a sixty year plan… just in case I live that long.

I've never had a doubt that this is what God wanted me to do, though I've got to say, that a twinge of nervousness has crept up on my recently. With this next step I'll be leaving the common and familiar for the seldom and unfamiliar. I'll be trading a steady and solid income for unknown periods of debt. Most of all, I'll be giving up a job I love and daring to live a life of love.

One of my managers was relieved it wasn't due to any type of job dissatisfaction. "Well, I can't compete with God", he exclaimed. It turned out my other manager was on staff with Willow Creek earlier in his career. We ended up talking for a couple hours about life, discipline, and vision. It's interesting how as I've talked to others about this, what I'm hearing is that I'm "one of those people" who actually try to do something different; something they love in this life.

I've got a lot that I want to do in my life, but the truth is, after looking at my life from a sixty year perspective, I was starting to draw blanks on what else I might want to do. Most of us over estimate what we can do in a year, and drastically underestimate what we can do in ten or twenty years. The way I see it, with the pace of life as it is these days, we have the opportunity to live multiple life times, having different and worthwhile careers and passions during our time on earth. I know plenty of people who have things they want to do in life, but the reality is, they're just wish lists. Real dreams must be attempted.

I'm leaving this career, and taking the next step towards my dream of unleashing hope in others because I must. My heart demands it. And anything less would be a violation of who I'm called to be.

See the primary blog at http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for comments and other entries.

Links of the week...

- One voxer ponders the increasing evil in the world...

- If you haven't heard already Buffet's giving away his billions

- Guy Kawasaki's keynote speech on the Art of the the Start

- Download google and youtube videos with this

- inbreaking - Social bookmarking for the emerging church... do we really need a seperate service for this?

- Some sad statistics on Pastors

- PastorHacks - Productivity tips particularly for those in ministry

- 20 reasons why you should plant a church

- Clips of Mark Driscoll and Tim Keller on the coming DesiringGod conference

- ELI - Emerging Leadership Initiative for church planters. I'm usually assessed as a prime candidate for church planting but didn't fair as great on ELI's. Supposedly I don't have enough experience doing actual church planting. odd.

- The Evolution of Dance - both brilliant and hilarious

- Google Picasa Web Albums. I've mentioned this one before, but I hope enough people get on this that they really invest in creating more features. Here's my current album.

- And finally. Tabblo. I thought this was kind of neat, as it gives you slick templates for storytelling through pictures. Below's an example of one of mine

Will took the plunged and joined me in the monk look for the summer. ... See my Tabblo

Being Superman...

Quotes from the upcoming Superman Returns movie.

Jor-El to Kal-El (Superman's father to his son):

"Even though you've been raised as a human being you're not one of them. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all - their capacity for good - I have sent them you… my only son."

Superman to Lois Lane:

"You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior… but every day I hear people crying for one"

Many articles and articles have already been written about the comparisons of Christ with Superman, but what about the followers of Christ and Superman?

In the Scriptures they mistook John the Baptist for Christ, anyone ever mistaken you for Superman?

What would it look like if followers of Christ, though different from those around them, were the leading examples of what it meant to be fully human? to be the very best of humanity?

How might we impact and influence others if we saw the greatness, and the beauty, the hope, and the good within them?

Where would you be today if you were living as a person sent to bring light into the darkest crevices of humanity?

What would happen if you heard the inaudible cries for a savior from the people around you?

When people saw the extraordinary life John the baptist was living and calling others to, he was able to point them to One even greater than himself.

What would happen if we became heroes in our towns and cities, and before people began calling us super men and women, we could point them towards the greatest Hero to ever walk the earth?

See the primary blog at http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for other entries and comments

Church planting and kingdom advancing network...

I plan on launching a Church Planting and Kingdom Advancing network (I need a shorter cooler name) on campus at Tyndale this Fall term. See the post that brought this about here.

Knowing next to no one, as I begin my first year full-time there as a student, I'm trying to make things 'legit' with student council, and hope to find a way to draw out those that might be interested in something like this.

i'm currently imagining the gatherings to be provide and be driven by...

Networking - Awakening and connecting with like-minded and like-hearted people.

Equipping - through Students, practitioners, professors? Material from Acts29, IMN, or others?

Resourcing - Tools, books, sites, experiences, networks

Visional Environment - A place to pray, dream, innovate, create, cultivate, and inspire one another.

One of the first experiences I hope to connect this group with is via a road trip to the IMN (International Mentoring Network) Regional conference in Montreal in september.

Here's what's happening for it:

- Strengths assessment and training

- Steps for guiding people through life transformation

- Voxtropolis–new paradigms for mission and ministry in our cyber-electronic world

- guidance for leaders of the church in a 21st century post Christian west

- access to new networks and relationships

- multi-sensory experience

What do you all think? I'm going to need lots of help with this and hope many can get involved. Anyone interested?

See the primary blog at http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for other entries and comments

Toastmasters...

Is anyone else part of this cult?

I just joined recently. I've been wanting to go for years, but the constant clapping and procedures always scared me off. I finally mustered the courage to become a part of this odd little community that we have on site at work, and delivered my first speech there yesterday.

I actually wish now I had joined this years ago. People tell me i'm a natural (i think raw and unrefined is more like it), but the practice really does help.

Here's the toastmaster's interational link - it's a fairly huge global organzation.

While i'm at it, here's a few other hot links.

Audio's from the consumption of faith and faith in consumption conference

Google Video of a crazy face plant

Audio's from the latest Acts29 church planting regional sessions

Dynamic Church planting international

Allelon - Center for missional leadership

givemeaning.com dedicated to fundraising and philanthropy

Article comparing Rob Bell as the next Billy Graham

Article on how 'God' is the new drug of choice for rebellious youth

yelō awakening the human spirit

lulu.com enabling you to self-publish

From the reform and resurge conference - audio message on how jacked up punks will change the world.

http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for the latest entries / comments.

Baby names...

We still don't know if it's a boy or girl yet, but here are few preliminary names. And yes, i'm serious about them, but I can't say Yvonne's approved of all of them... yet.

For a boy...

Optimus Prime. Hear me out on this one. Leader of the Autobots. Brought hope to humanity, even though he was not like them. Defender of good. Always at the frontline of battles. Empowered others. Rallied the troops.Experienced pain, death, and resurrection.

Maximus - from Gladiator

Freeman - I love Morgan, and it's a great word combo

Luther - for both Lex, and the Martin's out there.

Crash - Great film, forward moving, and unafraid.

For a girl...

Hunter - Imagine guys saying, dude, stay away from her, her names hunter!

Stellar - as in stars and spectacular

Sashimi - I was thinking of some type of sushi theme because it's both raw and refined.

Liv(e) - short, sweet, and a constant reminder of what to do when she wakes up.

Ashling/Asher - I was thinking of something that starts with A, since she'll likely be a december baby, and might be at the end of the line for a lot of things, this might even things out. I like something starting with Ash, but Yvonne thinks it sounds too much like 'ass'.

For middle names, I'm really leaning towards these two...

Ruach - Hebrew meaning spirit, breath, wind, courage... for a boy.

Ecclesia - Greek for sent out, or called out, as in called out from darkness to light... for a girl.

What do you think?

http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for the latest entries / comments.

I didn't know we could do that...

"I didn't know we could do that..." That's what I'm hearing as I bring up church planting to people.

When I've asked fellow students in my seminary what they plan on doing with their lives and dreams, there seems to be this linear answer of 'well, i'm going to be a youth pastor, then an associate pastor, and then if things work out, i'd like to be a senior pastor one day'. It sounds like a great plan, and nothing wrong with that, but could there be more?

I went to Canada's National Church planting congress last year and was the only person from my seminary there (the largest in Canada). I attended a breakout session and what I heard from leaders at all levels repeated asking was - where are all the young, catalytic, entrepreneurial, leaders of the next generation?

I'm convinced that the structures and processes that have been built for raising leaders by previous generations are only producing people who think within those systems (And I'm sure this applies to more than just the realm of 'spiritual' leadership). Many of these frameworks are shrinking our hearts, leaving little room for the extraordinary possibilities that we are all capable of and must bring about.

I've decided that as I make my transition from work back to full-time school this september, I'll be launching a new Church Planting & Kingdom Advancing Network on campus. More on this soon. Thoughts?

http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for the latest entries / comments.

I'm pregnant...

Well, i'm not, but my wife sure is pregnant. At first we were hesitant on telling anyone, since all the books and friends seemed to advise to wait at least three months. But we thought about it some more, and felt that keeping it to ourselves would have been more motivated by fear, and all the "what if's", rather than faith, hope, and love.

If anything did happen we'd want our community's prayers and support throughout the process. I can not explain how excited I am!

Here's our little one at 5cm's (The black is liquid, the round circle on the right is his/her big head, and the body's laying across to left). The process of life is so freaking phenomenal.

http://onelife.voxtropolis.com for the latest entries / comments.

God is not impressed...

I was running outside the other day and just soaking up the beauty and creation around me (See my recent post on our 'God soaked world' on the bookclub vox). I came across this incredibly stunning bird and quickly took this picture! Actually, not really, but I sure wish I did. This one was grabbed off of flickr at this dude's site.

My bird was just perched by the side of the road doing a whole lot of nothing. The first thing that came to my mind, besides all its sleek and bright colors, was how that bird better be doing something more than just sitting there and looking pretty. I found myself hoping it knew just how distinct and attractive it was, and how it ought to be doing something spectactular amongst its fellow birds.

Then God spoke into my heart and reminded me that while He loves and embraces me as I am, He is not impressed by my 'colors'. My natural gifts and talents don't blow Him away. After all, He is the One who placed them in me in the first place.

However, what is astounding and marvelous, is when we use, however much or little we have, for the purposes of expanding good, inspiring others, and ultimately serving humanity and honoring God. That's what God applauses, and that's what I'm starting to become more and more impressed by when I look at those around me.

My wife...

She has the most incredible smile.
She makes me melt inside.
She fills her prayers with my name.
She's a creative force, reflecting beauty she can't explain.

She's tasted life she can't get enough of.
She's experienced things she can't help but share.
She's unable to separate what she does and what she believes.
She presses in to bring out the person I was created to be.

She can squeal and squirm at the slightest of discomfort.
She can do battle with darkness and not even flinch.
She can be fragile and broken and easily hurt.
She can make beauty from ashes and life from dirt.

She loves to run, run away, run free, run back to me.
She loves to laugh, at herself, at me, at the simplest things.
She makes me smile and laugh like no one else does.
She warms my soul and makes me more than whole.

She's secretly shy, summoning strength each day to give herself others.
She defends me and celebrates me when I'm not looking.
She takes on my struggles as if they were her own.
She takes on my passions as if they were her own.

and what I can't get over, is that, she gives herself to me, as if she were always mine.

Update: I think there's a chance she might even start occasionally blogging, check out her crazy pic and vox here.

Life...

... has been absolutely wonderful.

I've been reading again, growing, connecting with people, reflecting, imagining, dreaming and scheming, experimenting, sharing, and enjoying every moment.

I just started messing around with this gmail skin as a firefox extension that allows you to integrate google portal stuff like calendar, flickr, news, etc.

Up next, a post on my incredibly marvelous wife, yvz.

The world is flat and invisible children...

I just finished my last paper for the term, and it looks like there's no appropriate classes I can take in the summer, so I've got a couple months of living and working like a normal person.

I've gotten back on reading. Currently going through "The divine conspiracy", "The secret message Jesus", and I just picked up 'The world is flat" from the library.

A couple early quotes from it.

"Those who get caught in the past and resist change will be forced deeper into commoditization. Those who create value through leadership, relationships and creativity will transform the industry, as well as strengthen relationships with their existing clients."

In a conversation with a leader of an outsourcing firm in India: "We are in the middle of a big technological change, and when you live in a society that is at the cutting edge of that change [like America], it is hard to predict. It's easy to predict for someone living in India. In ten years we are going to be doing a lot of the stuff that is being done in America today. We can predict our future. But we are behind you. You are defining the future."

A lot of this sounds like the usual globalization talk, and sometimes I think there is a perception that this is how things will always be. That developed nations, like America, will constantly lead and innovate while 'helping' other nations through outsourcing while they race ahead. What I believe, and hope Friedman gets to in the book, is that this won't always be the case. If it's true that every soul longs to create, express, dream, and innovate, then in a 'flattening' world, there could come a time, i hope, where every nation leads and innovates, and no person is reduced to a commodity. Sadly, I think the thought of this frightens some people, corporations, and countries.

Speaking of corporations, I know I'm late on this, but I finally watched "The corporation" with Yvonne last night. It really is a must-watch.

Right this moment, we're raping the earth, and one another, and we barely feel a thing.

We also watched "Invisible Children". I'm completely distrubed by it. Though I am amazed at the type of resiliance and hope these children have with the conditions they live in... especially when I compare them to the punk kids I've come across.

Something in these kids, that I'd like to believe is the image of God in every human being, allows them to still experience glimpses of joy while longing for better days. For them, not being murdered, raped, or abducted is cause of celebration. What does it take to make you celebrate?

Caleb...

Our small group just had it's first baby. Chris & Sharon just gave birth to Caleb. what a great name...

Caleb was one of the spies who explored the Promise Land, but because the Israelites didn't listen to his advice, they ended up wandering aimlessly for fourty years inthe desert. In Joshua 14, Caleb is an octogenarian. He says, "Here I am today, eight-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out: I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then." And then you can hear forty-five years of pent-up conviction in his voice. "Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day." Caleb doesn't want Joshua to simply settle on a piece of property and retire. He's still passionate anand willing to fight even in his old age. He wants the hill country - the land of giants.

Here's a picture of the family. Below it seems like a favorite on my flickr site, of Sharon comparing her belly with my dad's.

From the tomb...

On the front page of the Toronto Star newspaper today was an essay by James Loney. He was abducted in Iraq by Islamic militants and held hostage for three months and shares his life-altering experience. Full article here.

I felt the below excerpt was deeply profound:

I am learning many things from my captivity, and have a universe of things to be grateful for. Among them is a new and deep appreciation for the women and men who wear the uniform of military service. I likely would not be writing this today if it were not for them. Thus, I am confronted with a great paradox. I, the Christian pacifist peacemaker, am alive, am free because of the very institutions I believe are contrary to Christian teaching.

Christ teaches us to love our enemies, do good to those who harm us, pray for those who persecute us. He calls us to accept suffering before we inflict injury. He calls us to pick up the cross and to lay down the sword.

We will most certainly fail in this call. I did. And I'll fail again. This does not change Christ's teaching that violence itself is the tomb, violence is the dead-end. Peace won through the barrel of a gun might be a victory but it is not peace. Our captors had guns and they ruled over us. Our rescuers had bigger guns and ruled over the captors. We were freed, but the rule of the gun stayed. The stone across the tomb of violence has not been rolled away.

I'm learning that there are many kinds of prisons and many kinds of tombs. Prisons of the mind, the heart, the body. Tombs of despair, fear, confusion. Tombs within tombs and prisons within prisons.

There are no easy answers. We must all find our way through a broken world, struggling with the paradox of call and failure. My captivity and rescue have helped me to catch a glimpse of how powerful the force of resurrection is. Christ, that tomb-busting suffering servant Son of God, seeks us wherever we are, reaches for us in whatever darkness we inhabit.

May we reach for each other with that same persistence. The tomb is not the final word.

Google calendar...

I've been waiting forever for this. finally just got in the beta.

try logging in with you gmail at www.google.com/cl2

there's a couple bugs still and not all features are enabled yet, but just an update on how much I love this already, here's a screenshot of my current month.

What I love are the calendar overlays so I can click off certain calendar types, ie when I don't feel like looking at work stuff. I made a calendar for tasks / so it's like a to-do list of the day as well that I can turn on/off. I'd love to hear how other people are using it and what mash ups come out of this.

Hot Stuff...

Head down in another paper again... but here's some hot stuff I've stumbled upon while constructively avoiding school work.

Mosaic's began video podcasting!

Windows will run on Mac's now.

Zooomr - Like flickr but seems even slickr.

Criswell Theological Review is now available. Articles from both Mclaren and Driscoll on the emerging church.

"Under the overpass" - dude who voluntarily went homeless for five months and wrote a book about it.

Mary J. Blige and U2 team up to remake "one", see the video here.

Join us at the Vox Book Club as we've just started reading Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.

And finally, another home made burger shot. It seems like every time people have come over the last while I've cooked these up. My wife loves'em. They just keep getting bigger. The burgers patty alone weight in at about a 1.5lb's.