I OWN A FERRARI !!!!

The sound of a fast revving engine...that brilliant red paint, styling that cannot be ignored, ya you know what a Ferrari is.

And I now own one. Well, you see this story is somewhat true. If you were even remotely thinking that I purchased a Ferrari on a pastor's salaray...give your head a good shake! What I do own now though, is a brand spakin' new Acer Ferrari 4002 WLMi notebook. My old computer here at the church died earlier this year (transistors on the MOBO began to leak stuff--and corrode), and so began the journey of sharing our church's other laptop. Now with the addition of another staff memeber, sharing this laptop became an issue.

So along came the task at finding the perfect laptop. After much searching and comparing numerous products out there, I found "the ONE". So now here I am posting my very first blog entry off of my new Ferrari. She's a nice one that's for sure. I am extremly grateful to everyone at this church for understanding my needs, and blessing me with this fantastic laptop!

Here's some shots of it:

So, it's even supposed to have the Ferrari engine sound at startup, but when I turned mine on it didn't do it. I think the guys who set this up, turned it off...but I'm desitined to have it revv everytime it's powered on.

Time to get to work...if you can call it work when you've got such a sweet laptop. If you were wondering where you can pick up one of these machines, go check out Answers Computers in Walnut Grove. They have been hooking us up here at the church for a long time!

Vroom Vroom:

Ty

Brickianity

Maybe I should get back to work...but last night I finally started to read "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell, and I really wanted to post something that I read...

Rob begins his first chapter with the comparison of our faith like a brick wall vs. a trampoline. It's his out-of-the-box ideas like this that really capture my attention. Rob begins to explain how in his lifetime in ministry & life he has noticed that so many "Christians" are far too preocupied with blindly following doctrine instead of following Jesus. Does that comment rub you the wrong way? In no way does Rob seek to dismiss doctrine, or the blind adherance to it: rather he is searching for a better way of living out our faith than what he calls...brickianity.

Is our faith so serious, so compartmentalized, so fixed that if we were to find out one small detail about the doctrine that we beleive to be true--isn't, would that one brick that falls crumble our entire wall of doctrine/faith/worldview??? Or can we begin to understand the idea of repainting the Christian faith? The idea that God IS--and we are the ones who change. Not that the Christian Faith should conform to the patterns of this world--but the idea that we need to look at the springs--the very things that allow us to bounce on this trampoline of faith.

Rob goes on to say (describing someone who is all about defending his doctrine): Each of the core doctrines for him is like an individual brick that stacks on top of the others. If you pull one out, the whole wall starts to crumble. It appears quite strong and rigid, but if you begin to rethink or discuss even one brick, the whole thing is in danger.

... ... ...

God is bigger than any wall. God is bigger than any religion. God is bigger than any worldview. God is bigger than the Christian faith....one of the things that happens in a brickworld: you spend a lot of time talking about how right you are. Which of course leads to how wrong everybody else is. Which then leads to defending the wall. You rarely defend the things you love. You enjoy them and tell others about them and invite others to enjoy them with you.The problem with brickianity is that walls inevitably keep people out. Often it appears as though you have to agree with all of the bricks exactly as they are or you can't join. ("Velvet Elvis: pg. 027)

So this is the thought that is in my head now...and the reason why I should be working but yet I'm blogging away. Has my faith of 9 years been about defending a brick wall? Have I been a follower of brickianity when I should have been a follower of Jesus?

Are we asking the tough questions about why we believe what we believe?
Questions. Questions. Questions.

Rob goes on to write:
Central to the Christian experience is the art of questioning God. Not belligerent, arrogant questions that have no respect for our maker, but naked, honest, vulnerable, raw questions, arising out of the awe that comes from engaging the living God. (Velvet Elvis: pg. 031)

I'll leave it at that. I encourage you to join me on this journey. Or at least start thinking about whether or not your faith is more of a brick wall or a trampoline.

Long-live the King:

Ty

I'm Busy...

Yup...deal with it.

I might post something soon.

Stay tuned...

Ty

IIHF World Jr. Hockey Game!!!

Last night my Sr. Pastor took me and two other guys from the church to go see the Switzerland vs. Slovakia game at the Pacific Coliseum. This game wasn't for any medal (they were playing for 7th & 8th place respectively) but it still was a great game. It ended in a 3-3 tie, and since they weren't playing for anything besides the last 2 positions they didn't go into overtime--both the 7th & 8th teams still qualify for next years tourney. Oh, and yes that is my ticket....we had GREAT seats!

One of the best perks of that day was that we also scored VIP Hospitality tickets that got us into a VIP lounge before the game and during the 1st & 2nd intermissions... this meant free pop, chips, chicken wings, cookies etc... No need to pay 8 bucks for a hot dog!!! The VIP tickets were cool, but what really got me excited were the other tickets that we got to go see the Stanley Cup!!!

They had this huge "Fan Fest" that was going on in the Forum building where you could wear a Team Canada jersey and pose with cardboard cutouts of last years Gold Medal team. Click on the picture and see if you can spot me. The other life-like guy in the picture is Craig who was another one of the guys who came with us. In reflection I should have gotten a picture with me picking Sidney Crosby's nose or something...oh well...I'm sure some other kid probably did it!

So once we got our pictures taken it was off to go see the Stanyley Cup...WOO HOO. I was really pumped at this time. We got into the building and they actually had ALL of the major hockey trophies on display. I went and took some pictures of the Clarence Campbell bowl with the Canucks Team name on it for 81-82 & 93-94. And then came the time to get my picutre with the greatest sports trophey in the world...


I figured for not sticking my finger into Sidney's nose, I'd better at least pretend to kiss and hug thet Stanley Cup. This was for sure the highlight of my night. It was a bummer that I don't get to go see the Canada vs. Russia game...but there is no way in the world I'm gonna ever find tickets for that game.

Thanks for taking the time to read this fairly long-winded post, but I just had to let everyone know...

Peace,

Ty