Roundball or Puck?

The Raptors opened up the home portion of their NBA season with a big win in overtime tonight, and yet for some reason I could not get excited. Maybe it's because I grew up on hockey, and there was no basketball in Toronto when I was a kid. I played both sports in High School and College, but I can't get into NBA ball. Which do you prefer? Basketball or Hockey?

Theology On Tap

I was flipping through today's Barrie Advance when I stumbled on an article that caught my eye. It's about how one youth worker in Barrie is trying to curb the trend of people in their late teens and 20's leaving church and their faith at home when they move out on their own.
It's an issue that I can identify with. When I moved to Barrie it was hard to find a church with people my age in attendance. I grew up going to youth group and bible studies with friends, only to see them abandon their relationship with God once they were out on their own at university. Since then, I've had a soft-spot for those students in their late teens and early twenties. The people that graduate from youth and are left to fend for themselves. The people that go away to college and are bombarded with all sorts of different worldviews that challenge what they've been brought up to believe.
Well, "Theology On Tap" is an idea that the Catholic church has adopted and run with, and it's coming to Barrie. I'm really impressed. It's an out-of-the-box idea that I think could have great success. Imagine if all of us Jesus people took this kind of step and started thinking of doing "ministry" in a new way. What would this city look like in 5 years? 10 years?

High School Musical Money-Maker

High School Musical 3 was tops at the box office this past weekend, (can't say I'm surprised). Have you seen it? Do you want to see it? What did you think of it? Post your review here.

Number One Song?

So it just hit me that, in couple of weeks, Christmas promotions/talk/busyness is going to start, and that comes with having to come with trying to figure out the top 50 songs of the year. The last couple of years have been pretty easy when it came to the number one song of the year, but this time, feels a lot more challenging. Miley Cyrus was VERY popular, but number one song??? In short: NO. No, that just does not work for me. My gut feeling it will be going to Hawk Nelson - Friend Like That, but does that really sound like the number one song of 2008? Not so sure, tell me what do you think was the number one song of the year?

Junky

Not just in baseball...

When the word "Steroids" comes up, you generally do not think about the NFL. There has always been those strong rumors there 90% of NFL players were doing the funky Flintstone vitamins, but now we have the first two major get themselves in trouble. Duece McAllister (HB) and Will Smith (DE) of the New Orleans Saints have been reportedly busted for taking water pills. Is this just the beginning for the NFL or do you think the NFL is going to to do their best and not allow these stories to come out?

Junky

Source

Ancient Remedies Anyone?

I should have known this was coming. Last week I started to feel a little bit of scratchiness in my throat at the end of my show. Yesterday it had progressed to a full on sore throat. Today it has advanced to the point of swallowing razor blades. It's not a comfortable feeling. So I'm looking for your time-tested remedies for curing a sore throat. What works for you?

New Specs

I ordered myself new glasses today, and I'm super stoked. I know it seems kinda lame to be pumped over glasses I wish I didn't have to wear, but I'm so excited. Does the fact I'm looking forward to new glasses make me a loser?

Deadly Viper

Earlier tonight I had Mike Foster on the show. He is a unique dude. I'm a regular readr of his blog, and I have a lot of respect for what he is doing. If you get a chance, check out what he has to say and what he's been up to lately.
Watch out for the Deadly Viper!

YouTube Winner!

We have a winner in the YouTube Challenge! It's Jeff Sharp from Waubaushine. Check out his video.



You can see the rest of the entries on the Slam website

Shorts or Pants?

I was at the gym this week and noticed something peculiar.  Guys prefer shorts to pants.  Why?  The women all wore pants, and the men wore shorts.  Why is this?  Ideas?

What Are You Passionate About?

Can I start off by saying I love iTunes?  Seriously.  The podcast has changed my life.  Now I can follow some of the leaders I look up to, in a way I never thought possible.  Every week I download the latest from Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Mark Batterson and Craig Groeschel. 

 

Well today I was enjoying the first in Mark Batterson's "Wild Goose Chase" series, and (as per usual) he said something that hit me smack across the face.  You see this series is about living a life full of adventure.  Living a life led my the Holy Spirit (the wild goose).  In this podcast he asked a simple question: "What is your passion?"  The answer, I thought, was easy.  I'm passionate about the Dallas Stars, I'm passionate about warm weather, I'm passionate about my family, all those are my passions.  But that wasn't what he was asking.  He re-phrased the question this way: "What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table?  What makes you smile?"  WHOA!  That's a totally different question.

Sure I see people suffering around the world, and it makes me mad.  I hear about the sex trade in Asia and it upsets me.  The fact we have so much, and yet we crave more, while there are people in Africa that don't have access to clean drinking water, makes me cringe.  But that's not what upsets me the most.

I think what makes me cry or pound my fist on the table the most is when Christians get in the way of others experiencing God.  When someone is turned off of God because we try to make them adhere to a set of rules as a pre-requisite to a God experience.  When they are so turned off by their experience with church, that they give up on God.  That makes me upset.  What makes me smile is when I hear of people like Pernell Goodyear (The Freeway) that are thinking outside the box to reach their communities.

So I toss this question your way: "What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table?  What makes you smile?"

The Most Wonderful Time Of Year

The NHL season kicked off for real tonight. (I know they played some games in Eurpoe last week) My Dallas Stars don't get after it until tomorrow against Columbus, but I'm excited. The Leafs even scored a big win against the defending champs. Well, in downtown Toronto they did something very creative to kick off the new season. They played hockey on the side of the Toronto Life Square! My lovely wife managed to sneak out of her office at lunch time and document it. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea.

T-Minus One Week

In one week we'll be electing our next Prime Minister. Who it'll be is anyone's guess. It's kinda funny because I find myself more interested in the election south of the border than our own. In fact, I think I know more about John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama and Joe Biden than I do of any of our candidates. But no matter which side of the border you're on, you're going to have to make a choice. In the past Christians have been told to vote for a certain party based solely on 2 issues: Abortion and Same-Sex Marriage. But there seems to be a bit of a shift going on. No longer are people listening to the Falwells and Dobson's of the Christian sub-culture. People are starting to think for themselves and looking at the candidates stance on other issues as well. (Issues like the poor, war, etc) Last week George Stroumboulopoulos (I had to look up the spelling) had Tony Campolo on The Hour to talk politics. It was REALLY good. If you have 10 minutes to spare you need to watch it. He's got some really good things to say.
Watch it here.

Trip To The North Pole

This past weekend Crystal and I travelled Hwy 69 to it's northern-most tip to pay my sister a visit. She's attending Laurentian University, studying Forensic Sciences and is in her 1st year. Now I'd never been to Greater Sudbury before, but Crystal lived there for a year or two and had some fond memories. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I was kind of disappointed. Sudbury was a bit of a dive. Downtown was all boarded up, the roads had all sorts of potholes (I thought Barrie was bad) and the overall vibe was one of neglect. Lots of run down houses, closed businesses and the ones that were still open were pretty seedy. Now with all that said, the area around the university was pretty nice, and the east end had some big box stores and that area was nicer as well. Overall, I'd give it a pretty low grade. We did make it to the big nickel though! I could almost touch it if I jumped.

It was nice to my sister again though. See what life is like for her living 5 hours north of "home." She seems to be enjoying it, so I'm happy for her. Not sure if I'd want to make the move north though.

Way Up North

Tomorrow Crystal and I are headed WAY up north to visit my sister at Laurentian University. In SUDBURY! I have never been north of Huntsville. Sudbury is Nothern Ontario dude... They have permafrost! Now I'm told Sudbury is actually very nice, but they had snow today. We're 3 days into October and they had snow! Guess I'll have to dress warm. I'll take some pictures and document it for you.

Free Money!

I'm addicted to Twitter. There I said it. It's out in the open and I'm feeling much better. Well a friend of mine (Chris Vacher) posted a link that caught my eye. Squidoo is giving away $80,000 to charity. Serious! And you get to pick which charity gets your $2. Sweet huh? So what are you waiting for... GO VOTE!

Get Y'er Oil Ready

I was reading Matthew 25 today, and it hit me like I was reading it for the first time. Yeah it's about the second coming, but it took a different path today.

I always thought it was kind of unfair how the 5 bridesmaids who didn't have enough oil got shut out of the party. I mean, it's not like they broke any of the 10 commandments, they were just a little bit irresponsible. But maybe Jesus was driving home a point. (Ya think?) Maybe he was saying that there is stuff you need to take care of before the groom comes. Maybe God has you here for a reason, and you need to get down to business now. Maybe he's given you a dream, and instead of sitting around and talking about it you need to take steps to see it comes to fruition. Take action. Perhaps the 5 foolish bridesmaids were sitting around (like girls tend to do) gushing about how excited they were to see the groom, how great the party was going to be and they forgot to stock up on oil?

Maybe the parable hit me like this because of where I find myself in life. I want to see people who have given up on church and given up on Christianity have an experience with God. I talk about it a lot, I dream about it a lot, I pray about it a lot, but I haven't really done anything to try and make it happen. Maybe I don't know how. Maybe I'm scared. But I feel like God is pushing me to take some steps to make it happen.

I'm sure one of you scholarly folks will correct me on it if I'm wrong.