A beautiful view of Christmas and its significance

An excerpt from Brian McLaren's a Generous Orthodoxy :

"If the Evangelical Jesus saves by dying, the Pentecostal Jesus by sending his Spirit, and the Catholic Jesus by rising from death, the Eastern Orthodox Jesus saves simply by being born, by showing up, by coming among us. In Jesus' birth, these Christians believe two wonderful things happen. First, God takes the human life of Jesus into God's own eternal life, and in so doing, Jesus' people (the Jews), species (the human race), and history (the history of our planet and our whole universe) enter into--are taken up into--God's own life. God's life, love, joy, and power are so great that all our death, hate, pain, and failures are erradicated, swallowed up, cancelled, extinguished, and overcome by bing taken up into God. In this way Jesus will ultimately bring blessing to the whole world, to all of creation.

Second, as humanity (and all creation) enters into God through Jesus, God also enters Jesus' people, species and history. And by entering all creation through Jesus, God's heart is forever bound to it in solidarity, faithfulness, loyalty, and commitment. God will never give up until all creation is healed of its diseases, cured of its addictions, retrained from its foolishness, relcaimed from its lost state. Jesus saves by coming, by being born. It's no wonder that, for the Eastern Orthodox, Christmas is celebrated with such profound joy and rich, sustained intensity. It's the celebration of God's saving (rescuing) of the world--that God has entered creation through Jesus (incarnation is the theological term for God's embodiment in Jesus) and creation has been taken up into God so that all will be well. This is surely Good News!"

Not that I am Eastern Orthodox in practice, but I particularly enjoy the intensity of the truth and profoundness of God becoming man.

The picture is of my niece Maddison.

My wife is home!

YEAH! Kari has returned from a 10 day trip to her Mom in Powell River and friends and family in Nanaimo and Victoria. She had an excellent time but is glad to be home and I'm glad to have her back here.

Her belly is considerably bigger too, since last I saw her. Boy that child grows quickly!

Man I love my wife. And nothing brings that truth home more than getting my wife back after a prolonged abscence. I have met some people who have spent copious time away from their respective spouses. How they manage is beyond me. Though abscence happens from time to time, I have also heard of couples that INTENTIONALLY live apart for the majority of their married lives. Why continue to be married? Doesn't make much sense to me. Marriage, to me, is a sacred union that should be nutured as much and as well as possible.

Manitoulin Island

Did you know:


Manitoulin Island, in lake Huron, has the greatest number of degrees repeated of lakes within islands (that I know of)? There is a lake on an island on a lake on Manitoulin island which is in Lake Huron. A lake on an island in a lake on an island in a lake.

Prayer and interpretation

I have been in some thought and consideration on the essence of prayer and am intrigued by what Matthew again, has written here. I would enjoy your comments.

"I remember being part of a movement in the late 90s that believed that if enough people prayed fervently and continuously, there would be a great revival in the Church, and lots of people would get saved.I think that there may be something to this principle. When the Church humbles herself to pray, God does hear, and turn, and heal the land.But there are a few problems with the revivalist prayer model. First, there is no model. Second, its success depends solely on the amount of time people spend fervently asking God to do things, specifically to send revival. Thirdly, it has no format for intercessors to structure their prayer time. Fourth, it fails to take into account the fact that the church has never stopped praying. Fifth, it fails to take into account the fact that it is not only the living who are praying, but also all those who have died in Christ.So, what if a few evangelicals start to meet under a haystack and pray 24-7? This is the Tipping Point for Christendom?Do the math. Try and estimate how many Christians have died over the past 2000 years. Then, consider that all these saints now pray ceaselessly before the throne of God. Think millions of saints, billions of prayers. Then, think of the thousands of Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican monks that pray around the clock in monasteries around the world. Then, think of the corporate prayers that happen every day at the Catholic Mass worldwide. Then, think of the prayers that millions of Orthodox Christians pray every morning and evening. Then, think of the few thousand Moravian-style 'prayer warriors' out there today, praying in their shared spaces, fanning their own evangelical fervor (which isn't a bad thing!).Now, more prayer never hurts, and I am happy whenever anyone displays sincere passion about God. But let's be honest. The Moravian, 24-7 (see the link on my sidebar) and House of Prayer movements represent mainly cultural shifts in the evangelical landscape. I think there are some really interesting things happening in the 24-7 Prayer Rooms. I really get excited when I hear about young people, especially skinheads and punks, becoming excited about prayer, and finding authentic, creative expression for their faith in God.But seriously. God isn't going to suddenly change America or Europe into Bible belts simply because a few thousand more people start 'REALLY praying'.

Prayer occurs on groggy mornings and exhausted evenings. Those who hope in the Lord, they often hope alone, or hungry, or while running for their lives. They may hope while half-asleep, grumpy, doubtful and despondent. Hoping is not the sensation that all shall be well. It is the act of waiting at the door for the savior to knock"

So then, what is prayer? How have you discovered communing with the Almighty God and Creater of the Universe to be? Have you discovered a mode that benefits you in your relationship with Chirst?

I remember someone once scolding me for praying a very short (and according to them) irreverent prayer before a meal. But in truth, my thoughts were extremely sincere and had little to do with the way in which they were delivered. I was thankful and I shared my thanks. I was not rude. But the mode I used was not what was expected and they thought I was in errency as to God's will and desire!! Over a little prayer. But that is what we do, isn't it. Call our interpretation of God's Word God's sovereign will for mankind. And in such terms we have made war and killings and extortion and a host of other things a top on our priority list as Christians.

Heros

Hero. What is a hero? Last night I watched the movie, Flags of our Fathers which asked that question. Is there really someone called a hero? Or what defines a hero? Are they only a made up ideal of another human being to give the greater populace hope in a nation ... or a notion?

I'm not sure. I know that I have 'hero's' in my life. But let me define the word hero, in this instance. These are people who extraordinarily have made/are making a great difference in my life and are people I look up to and consider a privilege and honour to know. I have listed a few here that you might know them. Because they, among many others, are great people to me. They are ordinary people who believe extraordinary things and have helped make me who I am today:

Kari Larson (my beautiful wife):

Brian Hamp (friend; mentor; Director of Youth Unlimited, Comox Valley):

Paul Bergmann (friend; One time youth pastor of VPRAC):








Paul Kostamo (friend; one time roommate):

Tim Kostamo (friend; one time roommate):

Scott Neufeld (cousin and friend):

Chris Massey (friend; one time roommate):

Jerry Loeb (friend; skipper):

Graham Blackburn (friend; one time roommate):





Dan Krestinski (Mentor; friend; Late Director of Camp Homewood):

Jack Duckworth (UVic Campus worker IVCF; friend; mentor):

Christopher Wickham (friend; Director of Pioneer Pacific Camp):

Pat Wiens (good friend; Pastor of Nazarene church in Hope):

Dad: