RESCUE--Amazing Music!!!

AMAZING.

Simply amazing. Chances are you have never heard of these 4 guys from Portland Oregon, but I have to say you are really missing out.

Now before I go any further let me tell you what genre of music they are....A Capella. Yup, no instruments, just the sound of 4 incredible voices. Yet some of the most amazing music that I've heard in a long time.

Rescue is performing this weekend at Missions Fest, and our youth group had the privilege, and I mean it when I say privilege of hearing them perform. Simply awe-inspiring. Their vocal talents are unlike anything I've heard in a LONG time. These guys had totally captured the attention of every one of my students...as well as hundreds more that were there last night.

Ask any of the students who were there last night what their favorite part was and they'll say the Vocal Percussionist Demo. Brandon Bell, did a drum solo, beat boxed, and performed tons of more "sounds" I guess you could call them. The performance left us speechless. We were cheering like crazy at the end. It was phenomenal.

I highly recommended you check out their website & myspace.

And please click on "Vocal Percussion Demo" on both sites...they're both different, but each are simply amazing in their own right. They'll leave you just jaw-dropped at the end.

These guys have totally changed my outlook on A Capella music. Listen to as much as possible on their sites, and if you like 'em you can order their CD's off the main website.

Enjoy,

-Ty

How Cheap is Your iPod?

So how long did you have to save up to finally get your precious iPod?

A news report from Australia says that we Canadians pay actually the LEAST for our iPod's compared to other countries around the world.

They used a 2gb Nano as their test iPod, and on avg. Canadians pay $144.20 USD (test was done using US currency) compared with Brazil where they pay $327.71 USD for the same product!

So be grateful you don't live down in Brazil the next time you're looking to purchase an iPod.

Woot for Canada!

-Ty

Perturbed with Palm!

I pray this never happens to you.

I have been an avid Palm user for quite some time now. It began with the old school Palm IIIxe, then moved up in the world to the Palm Tungsten E, and now I am the owner of the amazing Palm T|X.

I have always been pleased with my Palm products...until now. SIX months after receiving my T|X from my wife & family for my B-day it ceased to turn on/off. The button was totally fried. So, I go to Palm's website, and find out that I have to pay to ship it back to them for service (even though it's still under warranty!). So $20 bucks later, I shipped it to Palm in Toronto on Jan. 3rd.

Their website states this:
"Exchange
Send in our original palmOne device at your own expense to a designated palmOne repair center; using the instructions sent to you in the order confirmation email. Once your device is received by palmOne repair center, a new or reconditioned palmOne device, at palmOne's sole discretion, will be sent to you within 7 business days.

So...after seeing online that my order should be sent back to me on Jan. 10th I was quite happy. NOPE. After a few days I check my Service Order...and find out it's delayed until Jan. 18th. So today...eager to see that my palm is coming back to me...I find out it's now delayed even further until Jan 23rd.

So today I call Palm. Not only do they not have a complaint department, all they are willing to do is note that I have called and they simply offer a formalized apology saying "I'm sorry, but there's nothing that we can do about this right now." Even though their website "states" maybe even could be interpreted as "guarantee's" that you'll receive either your palm repaired or a new one in 7 days...this means NOTHING.

So here I sit...without a $400 dollar PDA, that is somewhere in Toronto...and all I want is for it's speedy return to me. Some of you naysayers will tell me that I should just go back to the days of a pen and paper...but I will hear nothing of the sort.

So I pray that you never have this kind of problem with your Palm. They are great devices, and I've never had a problem until now...but man, this company SUCKS THE BIG ONE when it comes to customer service.

Still Waiting...

-Ty

drool

Yup...today Steve Jobs announced the release of the Apple iPhone. Oh man, you've got to get yourself over to the Apple Website and check this one out!!!

Looks like the storage availability of this will be 4gb or 8gb...so not the greatest if you're a die-hard iPod user who's currently has the 80gb version...but this thing is simply amazing. Touch screen everything... widescreen video capability... bluetooth headset... oh man! Well I guess this gives me 11 months to beg for this for next Christmas!

Cost for this wont be cheap either. Reports have the 4gb set at $499 & the 8gb @ $599 USD. And for all my Canadian friends who are Telus Mobility subscribers...looks like you'll be outta luck. Canada's "The Gazette" newspaper reports that Rogers Wireless will be the Canadian carrier for the iphone since they're the only Canadian wireless company that uses GSM.

Anyways, time to get back to reality.... If I spend much more time looking at this thing...I'm gonna short-circuit my laptop keyboard.

trying oh-so-hard not to covet:

Ty

UPCOMING CONCERTS !!!

Date: Monday Feb. 19th

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Croatian Cultural Centre (Vancouver)

Tickets are ON SALE NOW!




Date: Saturday Feb. 24th

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Chandos-Pattison Auditorium (Surrey)

Tickets are ON SALE NOW !






Date: Tuesday Apr. 17th

Time: 6:00pm

Location: Croatian Cultural Centre (Vancouver)

Tickets are ON SALE NOW !

God’s Timing is Everything...

Well Happy New Year. 2007 is here...and it started out a little differently that I had anticipated. Charity and I loved our time our in Alberta with her family at the reunion. She'll be the first to tell you that I ate moose meat. I'll be the first to tell you that I rode a snow-mobile for the first time. She'll be the first to tell you a played with puzzles. I'll be the first to tell you I went back-country snowboarding with a good friend of mine.

Either way you hear it we had a great time. What had to be the most amazing part of the whole trip was how God cleared the roads for us. We purchased Charity's parent's '98 Accord in Lethbridge and obviously needed to drive it back home to BC. Now, traveling Highway 1 in December usually means snow...lots of snow. Well, here's where God's timing is everything. There was NO SNOW on the roads the entire trip. We drove at or slightly above the speed limit the entire time. I didn't even know I was on Rogers Pass until we saw a sign saying "You are now leaving Rogers Pass". That's how clear the roads were. God's timing is everything.

However not all aspects of God's timing coincide with how we want his timing to work itself out. Charity and I were blessed with a Christmas Bonus from our church. WOW. That was never expected. However...they wanted to encourage us, and support us, and ultimately bless us. We began to make plans for this bonus. We were going to put the funds away to pay for part of our vacation we're hoping to take this summer. Perfect....! WELL... again God had other plans.

New Years Day morning we slept in, and then got ready to head to Ladner for a belated Christmas with my family. I went to load some of our presents into the car. As I looked closely at the cars I noticed something. On our Vibe, the passenger mirror was vandalized. The mirror itself lay on the sidewalk, while the housing for it was broken on the inside. Then I looked over to our Accord...and the entire passenger mirror housing was like someone sat on it. It was only being held on by the connecting wires!!!

So on January 2nd I took both cars into find out the damage total. Turns out our deductible is about the same as to just pay to fix them with cash. So...no insurance to cover the damage...but...God's timing is everything. The Christmas Bonus we received from the church was enough to cover the cost of fixing both mirrors. PRAISE GOD. So today I'm off to hopefully get one fixed--if not both.

Charity and I had plans for that money....good plans...fun plans....OUR plans... However, God knew of our upcoming misfortune, and had it all planned out. I learned a lot this Christmas, especially that God knows my needs...and as for my wants...God's timing is everything.

Blessings,

Ty

Back from T.O.

Well late last night I flew home from Toronto. I had such a great time out there. Here's a little recap of what all happened.

We flew into Toronto early on Thursday morning. We picked up our rental car at 7am and drove to Niagara Falls. What happens though when you get three guys together who are really tired...you make shirts that say "Viagara Falls." This probably is pretty stupid to you, but it sure made us laugh for hours.

Once we left Niagara we drove for what felt like hours through small towns (each of which had a Tim Hortons...which ONLY accept cash in Ontario!) Soon after driving for ever we connected onto the 401 highway which has a posted speed of 100km/h but I won't get into the details of how fast you need to go just in order to keep up with the flow of traffic.

Late that evening we arrived in Blenheim, and were really excited about the up-coming wedding. The day turned out to be great for the wedding...no rain, not totally freezing, but sadly no snow. Everything went so smoothly for the wedding, and it was an awesome day.

The ceremony went amazing, and the reception was SOOO much fun. Corey and Erin looked amazing, and you could tell that this marriage was meant to be. I can't wait to see all the photo's of the Bridal Party...there's gonna be some great ones.

After the wedding was over, Tim, Jason, and I drove up to Toronto. Tim spent the day with us, and then flew home. Jason and I were able to connect with my dad's best friend and his wife who live just north of the city. We got to see so much of the city of Toronto, and as well connect with a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in over 10 years. We walked up and down Yonge Street, rode the Subway, ate in Little Italy with my friend Laura, shopped for ourselves, shopped for our wives because we shopped for ourselves, and got to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

This was something that I was totally looking forward to. It was so much fun to walk around and see tons of authentic hockey memorabilia. We walked into the "Grand Hall" which houses all the NHL trophy's, and then proceeded to walk into "the vault" which houses the original bowl donated by Lord Stanley that created what we now know as the Stanley Cup, as well as the first few original rings from the first few years of the cup's existence.

After this we grabbed a great lunch at the Irish Embassy Pub & Grill across the street. Mmm, that was an amazing lunch. After this we just walked around a bit more, and then took the subway back to where we were staying. We flew out late Tuesday night, and were certainly glad to fly home to our wives. It was a great trip...one that I will remember forever.

And...as if this one trip wasn't enough...tomorrow night Charity and I fly out to Lethbridge for over a week for her family reunion. So...time to un-pack, and re-pack some clothes.

Have a Merry Christmas, as I'm doubtful to be blogging much while I'm away for the reunion, since it's taking place at a camp in the Rocky Mountains over an hour outside of town. I'll write more (obviously) when I return.

Blessings,

Ty

Vote For Pedro...um...Rory

If you're any bit a Vancouver Canucks fan then you'll surely know about the MASSIVE campaign underway to get Rory Fitzpatrick, one of their lack-luster defencemen, to the 2007 NHL All-Star game in Dallas.

What started out more as a gag, has ended up creating a whirlwind of activity with All-Star voters. What's crazy about this whole campaign is the amount of votes that he is getting. As of Dec. 12th Rory is in six place for vote getters among defencemen.

And it's not just a few random fans (like pictured above) that are getting this publicity going. The "Vote for Rory" campaign has a website, and even a small promo-clip on You Tube.



One can only imagine if all this effort will be worth it. But hey, the way the Canucks are playing right now...this is actually kinda exciting! So do you civic duty and go vote...vote for Rory Fitzpatrick, and make Rory's mom proud! Go vote to get Rory into the 2007 NHL All-Star Game. If you want to hear what Rory thinks about this whole thing click here:

Here's a list of helpful links:

Official Website:

YouTube Promo Video:
Wikipedia Site:
NHL.com Vote Rankings:
VOTE HERE:

T.O.

Well expect my blog to be a little quiet this next week. Tomorrow night I fly out to Toronto with two other buddies for our friend's Corey & Erin's wedding.

I haven't been to the Toronto area since I was six years old. I have no clue if I'll remember anything or not. Either way the 3 of us are renting a car, going to see Niagara Falls, maybe catch a Raptors game on Sunday, and who knows what else. It's gonna be a great trip though...that's for sure.

My poor wifey won't be able to come, 'cause she's got final exams this week. Please visit her and bring her food. I love you!

Have a great week...I know mine will rock...

-Ty

Crucified Santa

Is it blasphemy or just a conversation piece? You decide.

If you've been paying attention to the news lately you'll surely have come across this new development that's currently sparking lots of controversy over on Vancouver Island.

Local artist and Metchosin resident Jimmy Wright has erected this crucified Santa on his front lawn. Obviously many parents of young children are pleading with him to take the display down. As a follower of Jesus this image impacts me in a variety of ways:

1) Yes, Santa is far too glorified during Christmas. And consumerism is far too rampant.

2) Parents are angry because their sons/daughters are upset that Santa is apparently dead on a cross...rather than getting ready to bring them lots of toys & goodies on his sleigh.

3) If children are upset because Santa's dead and not going to bring them lots of toys & stuff , then HOLY COW DO WE HAVE THE WRONG MEANING OF WHAT CHRISTMAS IS...

4) My Saviour died on a cross for the forgiveness of my sins. This wasn't a laughing matter, and is something that I hold in high reverence. This display does somewhat poke fun at that horrific event.

I've watched the news on this twice last night, and in some ways I do support what Jimmy Wright is doing. Santa should NOT be the central focus of Christmas. And it is really sad to see that kids are so visibly upset because they don't think they'll be getting lots of presents now that Santa is dead...this just goes to show that our North American culture has totally warped the true meaning of Christmas. Our spending habits need really take a 180...and start giving to those who have nothing this Christmas.

There are so many great organizations that could benefit from us even spending 10-20% less this Christmas and channeling those funds to people who will make a tangible impact in someone else's life. Organizations like Union Gospel Mission, The Langley Food Bank, Compassion Canada, and many others.

Related News Articles:

1) CNews Canada

2) Metro News UK

I put out a challenge to our students in our youth ministry this month. Decide on a percentage (at least 10%...can be more) and what you would normally get for Christmas....cash, gifts, & use that equivalent in monetary means and do something meaningful with it. I challenge all of you to do likewise.

I pray that this Christmas that you take those moments to really reflect on that miracle that is Christ's coming to earth, to be our Emmanuel (God With Us).

I'll leave you with these great words, written by Charles Wesley in his famous Christmas Carol "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"

Christ, by highest heav'n adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the Virgin's womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th'incarnate Deity,
Please as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King."

Blessings,

Ty

Baptismal Cannonball

heck yes...give it up for this jr. high kid who had the guts to do a cannonball into the baptismal tank. man, i totally wish i had thought of that.


I'm still laughing at this one...

(ht to marko)

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Yup...you've heard that one before. I know I've cringed at it's somewhat cornyness, but I recently stumbled across a HILARIOUS video clip that I think drives home the truth of that statement.

Many of you remember the Reebok commercials feature Terry Tate as "The Office Linebacker" Here it is for you to refresh your memory...



Well now SermonSpice.com has come out with a few funny spin off's of this great clip. The first one is titled "Evangelism Linebacker" and can be viewed HERE.

And now just in time for Christmas SermonSpice.com has put out the "Christmas Linebacker" clip. Check it out HERE.

This will certainly make you think twice before blowing off the true "Reason for the Season."

Merry X-mas,

Ty

The Beauty of Winter

I was out yesterday with one of my students. Chris took this shot yesterday morning at a park near his house. I simply love this shot...and was thrilled to get a copy of it yesterday afternoon when we connected for coffee.

These last few days have been spectacular. This snow fall is certainly one to remember. Charity and I found ourselves right in the middle of the huge snowfall Saturday night when we drove into Ladner for my parent's annual Christmas party. One poor lady at 7-11 (where we stopped for some hot chocolate) was having a nervous breakdown into the phone saying "it's a white-out...I'm not going to be able to drive." I think she had a prior negative experience driving in the snow to be that worked up. We made it safely home that night...praise God.

Sadly, Charity and I never got to have our annual "first snow-fall winter walk." Every year we've been able to walk up to Starbucks and grab a coffee/hot chocolate on the first snowfall. This year we couldn't because we were in Ladner. Oh well...bring on the next dump of snow! Charity had her class canceled on Monday and we were able to decorate our house for Christmas! The tree is up...and we're realizing that we're running out of room in our basement suite! A 7.5 foot tree sure takes up a lot of regularly used space.

So before the rain comes (which we know it will) enjoy this amazing snow. Make a snow-angel, make some yellow snow, go for a walk...whatever you do enjoy the amazing scenery around you.
Blessings,

-Ty

winter showed up

well...if any of you live in the lower mainland...and especially in the fraser valley, you were certainly woken up this morning due to a very loud hail storm!

i have no clue when this thing happened during the course of the night...but it was white on my deck and grass this morning. i also loved driving the 5 minutes to work and already having to deal with moronic drivers who think a bit of hail means they now have to drive 20-30 km p/h.

anyways...if there's hail on the ground here that can only mean one thing. the local mountains are open for business. as of today, all 3 north shore mountains are open. this can mean only 1 thing. i really really really need to hit the slopes more often this winter. time to dust off the snowboard...north shore here i come baby.

Walkin' in a winter wonderland:

-Ty

scheduling time for relationships

anyone else here guilty of this?
guilty?
"excuse me" you may be asking.
why would I feel guilty of wanting to spend time with my friends?

perhaps this is just something that I'm feeling, but lately I've realized that I so often have to "schedule" time...sometimes months in advance...to connect with my friends. personally, this makes me kinda sick to my stomach. is this just the cultural norm, and something that I need to suck up? am I an idealist who simply wishes things were different, yet deep down inside knows it'll never be that way?

or maybe...
just maybe...
we're living our lives totally wrong?

don't get me wrong, I love my palm T/X, and so many times that thing has saved my butt from forgetting important meetings, appointments etc...but sometimes when I look at that thing it reminds me that so much of my life is nailed down, planned, commited to, required. Again, perhaps its the ADD is me that wishes things to be different. I digress.

this whole idea of living in community, spending time with those you care for, always seems to sprout up this time of year. today is the american thanksgiving...a time for families to re-unite and share their lives with one another. next month is christmas...again a time when people stop what they're doing to spend time with one another. but does this time with one another always have to be because of a national holdiay?

maybe Acts 2:44-46 sheds some light onto what I'm talking about. a vivid portait of the early believers actively participating in each other's lives. breaking bread together (modern equivalent of this would be eating dinner?) why did this happen. vs. 47 says they did this to "praise God". what a beautiful picture of what deep, authentic, committed relationships should look like. and isn't this a central focus of the gospel message? Christ came and lived among the people. Christ innitiated indredibly deep relationships--with all sorts of people. maybe for you...this is a reality. and you do have these friendships that happen on a somewhat regular basis. but for me...and I feel for many of us...this is sadly not the case. I do have meaningful friendships...don't get me wrong. and I love the relationship I have with my wife. but still I see a need for us a the body of Christ to be more like a body...less like random scattered apendages.

these thoughts are still in their infancy. so bear with me as I continue to wrestle with them. I hope that you and your relationships think deeply about this. do you have to schedule time with those who mean the most to you? if so...then maybe we need to reschedule the rest of our lives!

-Ty

fog

This picture best represents what me head feels like right now. Let me rewind to give you the full picture...

On friday we had our 3rd annual "Ultimate All-Nighter". This meant that from 7pm-7am we went Swimming, to Flip City, had a worship concert, went skating, and watched Nacho Libre & Over the Hedge.

What happens after you stay up for 24 hrs (since I had gotten up at 7am on Friday to drive Charity to work, and then prep things for this big event...) is that your body gets REALLY REALLY confused. I went to bed Saturday at 8am. Woke up at 3pm. Went to bed again at midnight. I saw a total of 2 1/2 hrs of daylight on Saturday...how depressing.

Well now after screwing up my body clock my head feels like its stuck in a San Francisco fog. Hopefully the fog will start to clear in the next couple of days...because I don't get sick that often...and I'm a bit of a grump when I am sick.

Lot's of stuff coming up here in the next few weeks. We're setting up our house for Christmas this coming weekend...and that means that Corey & Erin's wedding is only a few weeks away. That means...Corey's bachelor party is coming up soon! WOOT. He's gonna pay... and we're gonna laugh and laugh and laugh...

Two Big Trips on the Horizon:

1) Ontario: Dec. 13th-19th for Corey & Erin's wedding, and some guy time in Toronto with Jason after the wedding. We're leaving our wives at home...and having some fun.

2) Alberta: Dec. 21st-30th: Charity's family is having a family reunion in Alberta. One whole week of figuring out all these people's names that I barely know! WOO HOO.

Time to drink some tea:

-Ty

Viva Italia!

Oh man, is this going to be a tasty weekend.

So tonight Charity and I received an invitation to attend the Test Kitchen for The Old Spaghetti Factory that's almost open next to our church. mmm! So we get to go...and eat their food as they prepare their kitchen and serving staff. I've got a Jr. Youth event tonight at 6:30pm so I can only be there for an hour...but who cares! It's time to eat some yummy Italian food.


So if things couldn't get any tastier. On Sunday from 1-5 pm Charity and I are also invted to attend the "Test Kitchen" for East Side Mario's that's opening up across from our church. WOO HOO. So for 4 hours we get to sample all their creative dishes...make our own pizza's, and a whole lot more yummy-ness. So I might be putting on a few pounds this weekend, but it's all for a very-very good cause.

To top things off...on Sunday night we're getting together with some of our young-married friends for a dinner at one couple's new house in Abbotsford. So this is gonna be one heck of a tasty weekend. Sorry that I can't invite anyone...but you can't aruge with God's calling to place me at this church surrounded by new restaurants...(immense levels of sarcasm).

Have a great weekend everyone,

-Ty

Artist Showcase: A Sheep at the Wheel

This is the first music video put out by my buddies in A Sheep at the Wheel. Check it out and give them some good feedback on YouTube & on their website.



For more A Sheep at the Wheel info:

MySpace

Website

Rock On:

-Ty

Free Derek Webb Album

Not much time to post...but this is great. You can get the whole Derek Webb album "Mockingbird" for FREE. Yup...nada, zip, zilch, nothing, free! Just follow the directions.

Click here:

Mine's downloading as I type this. Woo hoo for free tunes.

I gotta run:

-Ty

Our Halloween Date

Yesterday, Charity and I got to spend the day to ourselves...and decided to have a little Halloween date. It wasn't an huge theme date...as I've done in the past...but we did kinda keep the events somewhat similar to a Halloween-ish experience.

To start we went to Science World to check out Body Worlds 3. This was something that Charity and I had wanted to go to since it's rare to ever have this exhibition come to a city near you. It was a really amazing experience to see the human body so close up. The display of human organs, tissue, nerves etc...was something that Charity found totally fascinating. This was any biology keener's dream-come-true.

The price is a little steep for this ($25/adult & $21/student) but it's something that many of us will only get to experience once in our lifetime. It's deffinately something worth making a trip down to Science World to see. It takes just over an hour to see the entire exhibit. You can purchase the audio tour component for an extra $5 dollars...which might make it more interesting...but I don't think it's entirely necessary.

After this we headed down to W. 4th Ave. to go for dinner at Hells Kitchen. This is NOT the same restaurant as the show that was on TV a little while back...but it was great food none-the-less. Really the reason we chose this restaurant...aside from it's name & that it was Halloween...was that we had an Entertainment coupon that we wanted to use up! If you ever get to go I would reccomend the Yam Fries...a very yummy twist on the usual. After our meal, we ordered a couply of Pizza's to go...since Tuesday's are 2-for-1. They smelt yummy on the car ride home, and I'm going to be eating some for lunch today...drool.

It was a fun date...something we both deffinately looked forward to. I'm off later this afternoon to go purchase a bunch of 1/2 price halloween candy from WalMart & SuperStore. T'is the best time to get the stuff...and save it for future youth events...

Boo:

-Ty