Thankful Thursday

Each week my goal is to post some of the things that I'm thankful for...

1. My family - We have a lot of fun together, this week has included an adventure to Halls Harbour.

2. Summer staff. Jen and Alicia are doing a great job, I love watching them be stretched as they are leading.

3. A new Bible study idea. Read more here.

4. Memories of friends; though I wish we were camping this weekend at Fundy.

5. Gordon Korman books. I've been reading and re-reading them since I was a kid. This week Caleb read his first - This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall. I'm currently reading A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

John 1 | Dwelling

John 1:14 - the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us...

From the ESV Study Bible Notes: Dwelt among us means more literally 'pitched his tent' [Greek skenoo], an allusion to God's dwelling among the Israelites in the tabernacle [Exodus 25].  In the past, God had manifested his presence to his people in the tabernacle [a tent] and in the temple.  Now God takes up residence among his people in the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.  Thus, the coming of Christ fulfills the OT symbolism or God's dwelling with man...

Bible Study Idea

I have a desire to know and understand the Bible. However, a desire is not enough. I need a plan. To start at the beginning and read to the end is a plan. I've tried that and accomplished a good deal of it. To open the Bible each morning to a random page and stick my finger in for a place to start reading is also a plan... not a good plan, but a plan.

Enter here a new plan: This summer I had the priviledge of speaking at Camp Peniel - on the best Christian camps in Atlantic Canada in my opinion. While I was there I told 4 stories from scripture, led 2 Bible studies, and led 5 staff devotion times. As I prepared for the 4 stories I fell in love with a new [well new to me] way of studying the Bible.

The four stories were all about Peter and his growing understanding / relationship with Jesus. As is often true in the 4 gospels, several of the stories occurred in more than 1 gospel. So, to prepare I read the story in each gospel and took note of the differences [different people / writers observe different things when they experience and record events]. I was studying the Bible from my ESV Study Bible and so I also read all the notes for the passages, took note of what they said, and followed all the references to other sections of the Bible. Wow - I learned a lot, and what I learned enhanced my understanding of the passages I was readying. I felt better prepared to tell the stories to the children.

So; starting today I am going to study the Bible in a new way [to me]. Looking at the 4 gospels chronologically is often called a Gospel Harmony. Having looked online for a list, I'm going to follow the GH list on Wikipedia. Having purchased the ESV Study Bible I now have access to all the study notes online as well. So my plan, is to read the gospels chronologically, reading all the notes and following all the references. I think this is a great way to dive into the story of Jesus deeper. Today I begin with John 1:1-18.

If you want to join me, here are the links:

Wikipedia: Gospel Harmony
English Standard Version online

Thankful Thursday

Perhaps a few minutes late, but that's alright.

1. Vacation. This is the last week of 4 weeks straight of vacation. I'm tired still, but its been a great family time!

2. Camp Peniel. We've been at camp all week. Caleb and Katie have been campers in cabins, I've been speaking, and its been fantastic!

3. Story Telling. I love to be the Bible story teller for events. I enjoy it on Sundays, and I've had a blast telling God's story to the kids here this week.

4. Summer Staff. I have 2 amazing women working with me this summer. Without them vacation would have been difficult.

5. My family. Its been a great 4 weeks with family. Lots of memories.

6. God provision. God always provides what I need. I've been learning to trust him more with that.

Thankful Thursday

A couple of my friends [Liz & Jen] post on their blogs every Thursday a list of things that they are thankful for that week. I think this is a great idea - both to remind blog readers to think about what they are thankful for, and as a spiritual discipline to remind myself. So, here goes:

This week I am thankful for:

1. Vacation - I may not feel as physically rested as I might want [I do have 5 children after all], but I do feel spiritually and emotionally rested.

2. Extended family - we've had lots of family time during vacation so far.

3. My family - I love spending time with my wife and our 5 children!

4. Being accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program at Acadia Divinity.

5. A new Mac Book Pro [and all the people who helped me have the courage to switch to Mac]

6. Great summer photos with our Fuji XP10.

7. Great books! I'm reading Parenting Beyond Your Capacity and loving it!

8. Family Mentors - We are meeting for the first time tonight with a couple who we look up to a lot, who are fantastic parents. We have asked this couple to mentor us as a couple and especially as parents. Looking forward to seeing where God leads us.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

Socialnomics, Marshal McLuhan & Deuteronomy 6

"It's no longer about building out the existing database. Instead, you could be in communication with fans and consumers on someone else's database. [Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc." Yet many companies fail to grasp this new concept..." [Socialnomics, pg. 48]

Over the past few years I've become fascinated with technology. Anyone who knows me, knows this truth. Many people may believe that I have a technology addiction [after all who else actually reads news about Google each day, or who else has bought and read The Google Story - a biography of the company?]

In reality, my fascination is less about being addicted to the consumption of technology [though there may be truth here, I won't deny it]. More to reality, my interest has to do with the impact of the mediums of technology on society... in other words, what is the affect of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, mobile phones [see the Pew report on Teens and Mobile Phones], etc. on who we are and how we share life together? In his book, Flickering Pixels [an application of the teaching of Marshall McLuhan] to faith / church], Shane Hipps explains that the impact of the form of media / technology may actually [is most certainly] more than even its content. In other words, the content of the text message you just read [or the 100 before it] has changed your life less than the fact that you can actually send and receive them.

Enter into this fascination the concept of Socialnomics - the idea that our economy has changed as a result of social media.  I just finished the book Socialnomics today.  Essentially Erik Qualman's study in the book Socialnomics is a study of how the world has / is being reshaped by social media.  This book [and the video] have added fuel to my fascination.  Where does this take me?  For now, I have a few questions for those of us who serve in children / youth ministry and I am thinking through some questions we should all be anticipating as our future in ministry.

Some questions for now:

• How does social media alter the effectiveness of our current strategies for communicating the content of the gospel?
• How has social media changed how people want to communicate with and be a part of the church community?
• Do those of us who serve as leaders [paid or volunteer] ever have time off in a social media world any longer?

Some questions for later:

• Today's generation of young adults can [for the most part] no longer remember life without the Internet.  Given that the children growing up in our children's ministry will not be able to remember life before social media, how will that affect how we minister to them?
• Taking Marshal McLuhan's ideas to heart - knowing that the medium of media often [always?] communicates even more boldly than its content - what will be the future mediums of Gospel communication and how does that affect the message of the Gospel?
• Social media certainly creates a world where almost all aspects of life are lived in the public sphere.  how will that affect the way that that Christian faith is lived out and passed from one generation to the next?
• What do the words of Deuteronomy 6 look like when their principles are transferred to a social media world?

Reading 2.0

I follow a lot of blogs and other types of web sites.  I read a lot of books... I claim to read even more [skimming so that I can read more and more].  However, despite all its "advantages," I'm not sure how I feel about this:


[If you can't see the video, click here]

Sunday's Coming

This video comes from North Point Media, the media division of North Point Church [Andy Stanley].  At first it made me laugh, but as I think more about it... interesting.


"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Children's Ministry Milestone on Easter Sunday

This past weekend, on Easter Sunday, in Sprouts and the Orchard at New Minas Baptist Church, there were 107 children in attendance! Never before have we had 100 or more children in attendance on a Sunday morning.

This is an important milestone for our children's ministry, but more importantly this means that we are reaching more and more families, and this Sunday especially, we were able to present Jesus' Resurrection to more children! Praise God!

Easter Children's Choir

On Easter Sunday morning we had two morning services at New Minas Baptist Church and during both some of our children sang as a part of a choir.  Here's a video of them: