Incoming !!!

The other day I was watching an episode of M*A*S*H* where B.J. Hunnicutt was pulling pranks.  There was one part where got discovered but got the person to yell "AIR RAID!!!!!" and Frank Burns ran out of his tent screaming like a girl and fell into a pit filled with water.

Well being an expectant father (any day/week now) at times feels similar.  Just like people in the middle of a war I walk around all day with that anxious feeling in my stomach telling me to be ready because any second now something could happen!  Plus everyone keeps warning me.  Saying things like "Your life is going change", "You're never going to sleep again", or "Your world is going to turn upside-down".  It's akin to people running up to me yelling "AIR RAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID!"

Now the important way this ISN'T like a war is the fact that it's GREAT thing and I can't wait.  Now anyone who knows me knows that I am probably one of the most laid back guys you'll ever meet.  Not much really gets under my skin.  Or at least not for very long.  But hearing people say stuff like this over & over again is disconcerning.

Kind of like our wedding day.  I was a little nervous but overall I was doing good.  That is, until I got to the hall.  People kept coming up to saying "Are you doing ok?", "Are you alright?".  After at least 20 people in what felt like 5 minutes asked me if I was ok I was starting to doubt myself and wonder "Am I ok?".  So when it came to get things underway and I was standing up at the front apparently I had that "deer in headlights" look in my eyes.  It wasn't until Christine was standing right beside, took my hand and whispered "Are you ok?" that I was calm once again.

That's why I'm not nervous about the craziness of labour or worried about having my world & sleep schedule thrown into chaos.  I know that through everything we will be doing it together and we'll be ok.

But in the meantime.........

INCOMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG *dives for cover*

If You Build It...

...well then it's built!

So those who know me know that I'm normally a bit of a procrastinator.  But in the past few months, in getting ready for the baby I've gotten much better at tackling projects.  The crib, dresser, shelf, & night stand all got brought up from the car quickly AND put together almost right away.  PLUS, I painted the nursery without being nagged... er... gently reminded by the wife.

Now I needed to buy a new computer cart because we needed a different setup.  You see the old computer desk was in what is now the nursery.  So we had to get rid of it.  When we got a refurbished computer a while ago I set it up on the counter of the breakfast nook attached to our kitchen.  Friends of ours keep their Mac in the same spot & it works great for them.

However, computer work areas accumulate stuff.  Add a huge tower and a printer and now we really don't have a breakfast nook at all.  The problem reached it's breaking point with the baby on the way.  We don't want wires hanging down and easy to grab by little hands.

But where to put it? We don't have room for a desk in our bedroom.  And doing wireless keyboards, mice, & monitor would awkward expensive and just be one more hassle when it doesn't work right (which you KNOW is going to happen.  Then genius struck: a computer cart!  Of course I can't find any decent ones locally.

To The Cloud !!!
Away I went on the internet searching high & low for a cart that will hold everything (tower, printer, monitor, keyboard, & mouse), be portable, compact, & NOT cost a fortune.  Eventually I found the Safco MUV adjustable height computer workstation.

Well it arrived today!  I unpacked it and put it together (90%) when I got home in about 1 hour.  All that's left is to put the shelves on the support beams.  They will only be secured by double-sided sticky foam .. things (kinda cheap) so I want to make sure the shelves are EXACTLY centre.  Which strikes me as odd.  The whole thing is VERY sturdy.  Then they go and cheap out on attaching 2 of the shelves?  What would it cost to add a couple more drill holes and some bolts?

Oh well, here is the online ad & the (mostly) finished product:

Why church?

A short time ago I asked my friends on Facebook "If you go to church, WHY do you go?".  Most people got it right.  You see church isn't about getting your spiritual time card stamped.  At least it shouldn't be about that.  It's about worshipping God and fellowshipping with other believers.

I call words like 'church', 'worship' & 'fellowship' Christianese because sometimes it seems like Christians speak a different language than the rest of the world.

Worship, when you break it down, means you are recognizing God's worth.  For Christians this can be done many ways: studying the Bible, prayer, singing songs of praise, acts of love or obedience.  It should be part of our everyday lives but especially important when we gather together.

Fellowship is simply what happens when a community of Christians gather together.  It's social interaction and the building of relationships.

A Church is not a building. A Church is a group of Christians who gather together for worship & fellowship.

Recently I've been reading this book called 'Crazy Love' by Francis Chan.  It's a great book that really tears away all the other junk we try to add on top of the Bible and reminds us that it is really about this crazy kind of love.

It has really got me to thinking about Sunday mornings.  The more I think about it the less I see Sunday mornings reflecting the reasons why we are SUPPOSED to gather as a church.

Here is a break-down of how your average Sunday morning goes:
- Get your seat
- Announcements
- Prayer and singing hymns/worship songs
- Bible reading
- Sermon
- More singing of hymns/worship songs
- Some sort of coffee/tea social time

I just find way too much focus is put on the sermon.  Preaching is good and it serves a purpose.  But most Sunday mornings are structured to make it seem like the main purpose of being there.

To be truthful, preaching is a very ineffective way of teaching.  It's usually 1-way communication with the preacher talking at/to people.  What about all those people who don't learn just by listening?  Many people need to write things down or read it to REALLY grasp it.  The biggest problem is that the people in the pews/chairs all have different levels of knowledge.  I call it the shotgun method.  Because you just spray a wide shot of knowledge and hope that some of it took effect.

Besides, this isn't the example we see set by Jesus or the Apostles of the early church.

Jesus taught in parables so as to conceal the message from those who don't REALLY believe.
Today preachers make their sermons simple so that it's easy for everyone to understand.

The Apostles would share the salvation offered by Jesus in a public place.
Today we share the same message to people who come to us on Sunday morning.

The early church gathered together daily to eat and live life together.
Today we meet 1 or 2 times a week and complain that it takes up too much of our time.

The early church was known for how they showed love.
Today we are know being judgemental hypocrites.

I think it's time to change.