Nature's Belated April Fools Joke

Apparently mother nature didn't clue into the fact that April Fools Day was YESTERDAY!

This is what I woke up to this morning:













And now in the afternoon it looks like this:














Some joke eh?

-Ty

Facebook

Yup...I'm now on Facebook.

So when you get really bored, feel free to look me up. My contact email on Facebook is my hotmail address. Or you can click on my facebook link to your right.

See ya soon,

-Ty

EXCITING NEWS!!!

WE'RE GOING TO BE HAVING A BABY!!!!!
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Ha ha ha, April Fools!

-Ty

oh gosh...

anyone? help? how do I process this? is this the inevitable future of the contemporary christian music industry? If it is...I'm done.

some of you are already asking me how I stumbled across this? it was purely innocent I swear! I was just checking out YourMusicZone.com and this was the "featured artist."

my mind is trying to process this...and make a decision as to how to I feel. something in me really feels bad for this 14 year old guy in the band...that either his life is going to be forever tortured by high-school bullies--or on the flip side that he's an absolute stud! feel free to weigh in on this one!

other parts of me are wondering if this cookie-cutter, pre-processed, uber-generic music is beneficial for younger tweens? some will agree, some with dis-agree. all I know is that I find it hard to see where the "talent" lies in this. I use that term loosely...but sadly this is the case in much of today's contemporary christian music.

anyways...this is something totally random to post today. it's definitely not going to get the highest amount of comments either. oh well. sometimes things are just simply random.

-Ty

doxology

read slowly. pause between verses. soak it in.

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily course of duty run.
Cast off dull sloth, and joyful rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.

All praise to thee, who safe hast kept
and hast refreshed me while I slept!
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,
I may of endless life partake.

All praise to thee, my God, this night
for all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, oh keep me, King of Kings,
beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

words written by Thomas Ken (17th century Anglican priest). this is where we get our "doxology song". I just read this on Marko's blog and really let the power of these words soak in. I hope this blesses you this morning as much as it blessed me.

-Ty

Go Play Outside

Yesterday was great! Charity and I went down to Crescent Beach in White Rock for the afternoon. We walked along the beach, grabbed drinks at the Wired Monk, and then again walked back to our car.

It was so nice to see that bright shinny thing in the sky again. It's been too long!

So today there is no way that I am going to sit inside all day on my DAY OFF...so I'm now debating what to do. I might zip down to Redwoods and get myself back in shape driving some golf balls...but there is no way that I'm staying cooped up inside on a day like today!

So if you've got the chance...even if it's on your lunch break, go play outside!

-Ty

concert

I just got back from an awesome night of music over at the Wired Monk. As per usual Jeremy Pue did a great job. I was totally blown away by the addition of his friend Sylvia on the violin. As well a good friend of Jer's- Drew McKay -played a sweet set of tunes. If you missed the show you better have had a good excuse.

Thanks to Amelia for getting there early enough so I didn't have to stand the entire night! That place was definitely packed beyond fire code I am sure! It was sweet. Zach, if you are reading this--thanks for coming too man!

Anyways, time to get ready for bed.

-Ty

Downtown

Yesterday Charity and I headed to downtown Vancouver for the evening. Other than the rain it was a great time spent walking around Pacific Centre, Robson, Granville (the usual).

I wanted to drop into a store called Urban Outfitters that just opened up on Granville St. I'd been eyeing this shirt for a while (first saw it when I was in T.O. back in December)...and so we found it (needless to say with some sticker shock!) Yes, I did buy it...but just as an FYI this store ain't all that cheap...but it has really unique stuff in there! So save your pennies!

After walking around downtown with our umbrella's keeping us dry, we grabbed burgers at BK, and then got into our car to head down to see Andrew & Marie Haak and their baby boy Josiah for the first time!

It was so great to not have any commitments this week so we could do this! It's been on our to-do list for sometime, and we were so thrilled to spend a good chunk of time with the Haak's.

So that was my day yesterday. A nice day to spend with my wifey, and with great friends. Speaking of friends...

This Saturday night @ 7pm my buddy Jeremy Pue is playing a free show at the Wired Monk coffee shop in Walnut Grove. Do the right thing by going to see him...he's great!

-Ty

My Life

It's one of those times in my life where I am left without much to say. So many of my friends seem to be going through so much right now...Matt is moving to Spokane and possibly getting a new job, Andrew is a daddy... and here I am still doing what I'm doing, nothing really major to report.

So what have I been doing? This past weekend I went to Columbia Bible College (I'm not linking to them since they are the competition!) for their Youth Workers Conference. The guest speaker was Marv Penner, the man who mentored me and helped shape my passion for youth ministry. It truly was great to hear him speak, and much of what he said had deep affect on myself and my youth leaders who attended with me.

God really spoke through this weekend into my life and my youth leaders. We always need times of having someone pouring into our hearts...since much of our job is to pour ourselves into the lives of students. We all left feeling convicted, challenged, refreshed, empowered etc...

SPRING BREAK:

Well now it's spring break for my students. This means I won't be in the office much this week. My schedule is already filling up fast with coffee's, lunches, meetings. Geez. Youth Pastors don't get a break over Spring Break...that's for sure. I'm looking forward to my lunch with my buddy Matt Davies on Wednesday. He's been over in Maui with YWAM and is only back for a few days. I can't wait to hear his stories.

Charity and I are excited that we're finally able to get to see baby Josiah Haak on Thursday night. We've been wanting to get downtown to see him for a while now...so this is great!

And maybe...just maybe we'll get to have a date on Friday night. Our first Friday night in a long time that we can spend together without having paper due or tests on the horizon! It's really nice to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to Charity's schooling.

And then the first week of June we celebrate all of this with our Alaskan Cruise. Anyways, this post is more random than anything...so I'm gonna stop now.

-Ty

National Pi Day

I think this one falls under the subject "those random moments in youth ministry."

Today I got an email from one of my students- Chris, simple telling me "Happy Pi Day." Apparently this is actually a big deal...so off to the Google races I go to investigate this further.

Wikipedia even has a whole page devoted to this! Pi Day happens every year on March 14 at 1:59:26 p.m. Yup, the nerds of this world have united to create a simply head scratching holiday!

So, as I sit here sipping on an Irish Cream latte...thinking to myself "this post was a total waste of my time", I realize that no...it wasn't...the people who spend their days counting Pi to its infinite digits...those people are wasting their time!

UPDATE: I just had this site sent to me by Chris' dad...(turn your speakers up!)

So HAPPY PI DAY.

-Ty

What a Weekend!

The title says it all. This past weekend our youth ministry went up to Manning Park for our 2nd annual "Snow Jam Winter Retreat." There were 14 of us in total (9 students, 4 leaders, & my buddy Jeremy who was our guest speaker).

The whole weekend was just amazing. The weather totally cooperated, and we were able to enjoy a great day on the hill Saturday. The roads were clear both ways for driving, and of course...God showed up and did some amazing work this weekend. I'm reminded of why I love what I do on these weekends. Spending this much time doing life together is what makes youth ministry all worth while.

There will be tons of great memories from this weekend. Quoting lines such as "There ain't nothing skinny about momma" from "Open Season'', gradually clearing out all the families and small kids from the public pool once we arrived, a great day of skiing/snowboarding, and hearing great messages from Jeremy that challenged all of us in our faith journeys.

Today I slept in until 10:30am! Sleep is much needed after these weekends. Especially since we got the shaft from the "new" daylight savings time happening Sunday morning! UGH. Do you know what loosing an hour of sleep does to teenagers? NOT GOOD!

Anyways, as I reflect on this weekend all the stress that happened leading up to it--it has all washed away, and I now thank God for a great weekend of youth ministry.

-Ty

Letters From Leavers

I found this site (hyper-linked pic) today on Marko's blog and was quick to begin reading the stories from it. This site was created by two guys from Fuller Seminary doing some research for a class they're in.

This site contains letters from ordinary people who have since moved on from the church, and/or their Christian faith. The letters are heart-felt, and contain raw emotion.

I know that for many of us we may have things that we dislike about the current state of "our church" and/or "the church" and this site definitely allows for anonymous voices to share their thoughts. Take some time to read through these letters, and ponder what these people are saying.

I think that there is a lot to learn from this (especially those of us currently in church leadership). With an ever increasing group of 20 & 30 somethings leaving the church, this may come as a timely wake-up-call for leaders to recognize the problems, and to move towards way of healing the pain. We really need to pray that God would allow these letter writers to find healthy churches to belong to...but most importantly to re-discover Jesus.

I'm very interested to see how this site develops. I know I'll be in prayer for these writers, and I encourage you to do likewise.

-Ty

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

Many of you may remember a simplified version of this song growing up...and many of you may be already humming it to yourself. When you begin to really meditate on the lyrics it's quite a hope-filled song.

It seems like God has placed this song on my heart today as I hear stories from many of my close friends who are going through various trials. Many of these trials are heart-wrenching to hear about...themes of confusion, hopelessness, pain, desperation, un-rest...etc. All I wish is that God would answer your prayers...wrap his arms of love around you...and carry you through this.



What a Great Song!!!

-Ty

Soaked at Switchfoot

yup. I left the Croatian Cultural Centre around 11pm last night absolutely drenched in sweat (some my own...much more from others).

Last night marked the start date of Switchfoot's Canadian tour. It's been a while since these guys have done a full out Canadian tour and I know many of my friends are eager to see them in the city nearest to them. Last night's show was simply spectacular.

They kicked off the show with Oh Gravity and the music didn't stop for another 2 hours. Being general admission I was able to squeeze myself all the way to the front basically. You could call it "front row" but there were really no "rows". Gasping for air and dying for water I staked my claim on my one square foot of floor space that would be my home for the show.

Half way through the show Switchfoot played "Life & Love & Why" as their requested song that was voted on by fans prior to the show. Great to hear that song again! The whole set list is somewhat of a blur to me otherwise I'd post it for you. But they did not dissapoint with many great favorites like "Dare you to Move" We Were Meant to Live". For their encore, Tim came out with only his acoustic and played "24" followed by the band joining them and rocking out to "We are One Tonight."

Sorry, but I didn't bring my camera this time, 'cause I just wanted to enjoy the evening and not have to worry about an expensive camera wrapped around my wrist. So take my word for it, this was a great evening. You missed out if you were thinking of going.

P.S. Andrew...you missed a good one, but obviously God saw more important things for you to be doing (eg.) spending time with your new baby boy! Next time man...you and me we'll hit up a show together!

Rock On!

-Ty

I LOVE MY WIFE !!!

mmm. heart cookies!

Well today is Valentine's Day. The day when every male is frantically purchasing roses from a road side vendor to bring home to his loved one.

Charity and I on the other hand are getting to go downtown to the Hyatt Regency Hotel Ballroom for a Black Tie Formal Dinner Gala Evening.

The Reason: My dad is being inaugurated as the President of Skal. So tonight Charity and I are getting all dressed up fancy-like and meeting my parents, brother & sister-in-law, and others down there for dinner, drinks, and dancing. It's not often that we get the chance to dress up in our fancy clothes and go for a nice evening...so we're really excited.

I hope all of you who have a special someone are planning something nice tonight. And for all you hopeless males out there...Wal-Mart is open late for your convenience!

Happy V-Day!

-Ty

on the inter-web

yup, my church has finally gotten itself a website! WOOT. (that's for you Todd).

www.nwlb.ca

After years of using this really old, outdated, virtually useless website (if you can call it a website), www.nwlb.2ya.com (click and go to it...and please laugh...laugh until you cry), we now have one that we can be far more proud of.

This website launched yesterday at our church's AGM...and I'm grateful that this church can communicate in a language congruent with 21st century culture. I believe it's useless to operate a website unless you USE IT to communicate to your community and culture. So with the launch will come more changes, updates, additions, expansions, and I'm sure a wide variety of both positive and negative feedback.

So for all my nerd friends out there...let me know your thoughts on the site. Realize that I'm not the webmaster...and I don't have God-like capabilities to just go and change things instantly. (even though that'd be a cool ability to possess). I want to know if you're looking at this website for the first time, which is the true case for most people, then tell me your feedback on:
1) what you like
2) what you dis-like
3) found easy to navigate through?
4) found cumbersome/awkward?
5) colours?
6) graphics?
7) anything else...

I want to make this site something that our church can be proud of, and use as a clear communication tool for the gospel to our community around us and to our current church people too.

-Ty

sick

UPDATE:

I went to the doctor's yesterday and was told that I have Strep Throat! So painful that I can barely eat & drink anything because it hurts so bad to swallow. So I'm on some anti-biotics, and hopefully this will clear up soon...'cause for some reason I have this HUGE craving right now for some real authentic enchiladas. Don't ask why...but they sound so good right now, and there's no way that I could eat them with my throat the way it is.

So yeah...I'm even home sick from church this morning. First time EVER in the 2 1/2 years of being at NWLB. So Charity is there sticking up for me and receiving pity from everyone! Yup, hopefully I can be back at work on Tuesday... 'cause I'm starting to get really behind.

mmm....enchiladas,

-Ty


Ugh. I rarely get sick...in fact the last time I can remember ironically was just over a year ago at this same time.

Stupid Flu...or whatever is trying to take control of my body. Charity and I were supposed to go on a date tonight...that's not going to happen now.

GOOD NEWS:
In a pleasant turn for good...my Palm FINALLY came back yesterday. YEAH. It's been one month without it...and man did that suck.

Well, I can barely stare at this monitor as I type this, so I'm going to lay down.

Wanting to be healthy again,

-Ty

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

campus fire recap

well it's been a pretty intense weekend hanging out with fellow your workers and student leaders. this was an amazing conference, something that really came at the right time for me. God found me this weekend, and really touched my heart. thank you to all the people at CanadaFire...Darian, may God continue to work through you all the days of your life.

the work of CanadaFire has a really special place in my heart...something that I've seen hatch from a small dream back in high school to this amazing network of students who earnestly seek God's presence in their high schools and university/college campuses accross Canada. how cool is it that God gave us wireless high-speed internet so that we can "feed" signals all accross Canada and get trained by leaders in other cities...all from the comfort of even your living room!

Even cooler was what we found out this weekend...for all those who have heard of Youth Specialties...and their National Youth Workers Conventions...guess who's getting one in Canada? Yup...those who live in the beautiful province of BC. Mark your calenders for Nov. 29th-Dec. 3rd 2007. More info. on this I'm sure will be coming soon on the CanadaFire website. I hope I'm allowed to even write this...the fact that it was printed on the back of our pamphlets makes me assume so...please forgive me if I wasn't!

so much to condense into this posting. i was so grateful to take 4 amazing students to this confernce with me. they are awesome, and i pray that God does an incredible work in their hearts too. if you guys are reading this..."WHAT NOW?" you know what I mean.

well it's been way too many late nights, and early mornings...so I'm going to bed. Hooray for church in the morning!

blessings,

ty

busy weekend(s)

I'm taking 4 students to campusfire this weekend. I'm totally stoked for this, and I know that it's going to make an impact in the lives of these students, and likewise in my life too. Many of the speakers are friends/acquaintences of mine...so I look forward to re-connecting with them also.

I must say I'm looking forward to hearing from Mark Yaconelli who recently release his book "Contemplative Youth Ministry." I picked it up and have slowly begun reading it. Hopefully this weekend will give me a far greater insight into his passion for writting such a book. Also, Starfield is going to be playing a concert during the weekend. I love these guys, and any opportunity to hear them play is sweet. It's going to be some early mornings, and late nights at this thing, so I'll try to throw some thougths up here about the weekend when it's all said and done.

and if one weekend of craziness wasn't enough...next weekend is our Annual Fall Retreat at Camp Qwanoes...YIPEE!!!!!

Peace:

Ty

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. For those of you in America, you'll get yours...just wait another month.

I am very excited today because Charity flies back home! HOORAY! She arrives back into Abbotsford just after noon. I pray that all of you take time today to truly realize how blessed we are, and how thankful to God we need to be for all that we have.

I hope your time spent with family and friends has been enjoyable. Charity and I are off to Ladner tonight for our Turkey dinner with my family. mmmm. It's gonna be a great night.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Ty

All By Myself

Yup, this morning Charity left me. Well, maybe I should clarify... she flew to Lethbridge this morning to be at her sister's wedding this Saturday. But...that does mean that I'm bacherloring it this weekend...

so...

Here's to microwave dinners, watching hockey games with the volume up REALLY loud, and whatever mischeif I get myself into.

It's not like I'm gonna be bored outta my mind. I've got youth ministry stuff to be doing every day until she gets back. But, this really is the first time in our 2 years of marriage that she's left me to travel somewhere. It's a very weird feeling. Just a random factoid for my readers out there. 5 years ago TODAY Charity and I started dating. That means we've been together for 1/5 of my entire life! Crazy eh? We would probably celebrate...but instead she up and leaves me!

On the upside of things...while Charity's in Lethbridge she's picking up our new Canon SD600 digital camera! WOOT for no PST in Alberta. We're saving almost $30 bucks! What bugs me is that she gets to use it before I do. Either way I'm looking forward to testing this thing out in the weeks to come!


And just 'cause I think it's really cool...I found these AMAZING T-Shirts at LarkNews.com that are sooo perfect for any of my Youth Pastor friends out there. I think these are MUST HAVES! They have other text options as well for Pastors, Associate Pastors, and even Church Parking Attendant! These are just too hillarious. So pick yours up today!

Well I think that's enough to throw up onto this thing for one day. Enjoy your weekends, and babe, if you're reading this...I love you lots...and please come home soon. Who else is gonna cook my meals for me? I'm gonna wither away here without your amazing cooking.

I'm Out:

Ty

BOOK REVIEW

I've never posted a book review on here before, so after reading this entire book yesterday in one sitting while sipping on an extra hot-non fat-no whip-white chocloate mocha I figured I would post my thoughts about it.

If you've never heard of Joel Kilpatrick before, chances are you aren't a frequent visitor to his site: LarkNews.com. This online news site is 100% satire, and also 100% hillarious. Poking fun at many quirks and habits of evangelicals. Check it out to get a better understanding of where this book is coming from.

Immediately from opening the first page I was laughing. Though, it's awkward when you're sitting in a Starbucks and all of a sudden you find yourself chuckling to yourself. I maybe got a few confused looks, but otherwise people just let me be.

*DISCLAIMER*
In no way, is Kilpatrick trying to undermine, or strip evangelicalism of all its relevance and importance. Rather, Kilpatrick is--through the use of satire--trying to open our eyes to how odd evangeliscals look to a non-believer...when most of the time, we Christians think everyone else out there is "wierd".

Kilpatrick uses the chapters to formulate a "game plan" for anyone who may not be evangelical to follow simple methods of talk, dress, attitude that would allow them to "fit in" into any evangelical work space, church service, small group Bible study etc... Throughout the book Kilpatrick inserts various old news clippings from LarkNews.com. They offer a hillarious departure from the flow of the book...and would be great to use for various ice breakers for a youth event. My ultimate favourite is found on page 33. I'm not going to say what it is, you'll just have to go borrow/buy the book to find out.

All in all, this book doesn't require much deep thought. It's really meant as just a simple, light-hearted read when you've just got a few hours to kill. I read the whole thing cover to cover in just under 2 hours. I don't know if it's really worth paying the $15-20 bucks, but if you want to borrow it from me...I'd love to lend it out.

Maybe I'll do this again...

Ty

My Bro's Wedding

I didn't take my digital camera to the wedding, but Charity's mom took a few shots, but sadly none really turned out well that involved Terry & Alisha. So instead you get to see Terry (driver), Me (shotgun), Andrew (behind me) & Nate (behind Terry) posing infront of Alisha's mom's Hummer H2. Being the Best Man you get shotty priviledges...very sweet. It was a fun way to ride to the ceremony...and of course we made a stop at 7-11 before getting to the church.

If you want to see more pictures from the wedding you can go to the photographers website by clicking here:

Enjoy,

Tyler

Getting Married...

No...not me.

Tommorow my brother is going to get married to his high-school sweetheart. This is a really exciting time, and I'll make sure to post more about this when I'm home in a couple of days. As well, I'll try to get a good shot of Terry on his Bachelor Party that we threw this past Saturday.

I'm really exited about getting the chance to give the homily during the wedding ceremony and as well the blessing at the conclusion. And of course...I'm looking forward to giving the toast to the groom (being the Best-Man and all).

Praise God for providing this glorious sunshine!

Enjoy your weekends...

Ty

Constance

I've debated putting this video up on my blog for a while now. But the reality is, sometimes things just need to be put out there...raw...and real...and let them speak for themselves. I have been an fan of xxxchurch.com and all the work they do, and found this video on their site a few days back.

So I put this video out there...and await your comments/feedback.

Just a warning...though It's pretty clear that Mr J. is a believer (listen to "Waters Edge" on his Myspace page), this video is still for a bit more mature audience. There is not nudity, or any explicit images...but this video deals with a subject that many of us candy-coat and glaze over.



Links:

Mr. J.'s Myspace page

The YouTube Link

Grace & Peace:

Ty

Mexico Missions Trip 2006

What a trip! There aren't many words that I can use to describe how amazing this experience was. God showed up in amazing ways throughout this trip, and wow was I encouraged to see this group do incredible Kingdom work. There were so many highlights from this trip, its difficult to summarize everything before this blog entry becomes more like a mini-novel.

After travelling for over 24 straight hours in 15 passenger vans we arrived at Six Flags L.A. WOW, this was totally an amazing amusement park. Sorry Playland...but YOU SUCK! Most of our team went on at least 8-1o roller coasters during our day there. After that experience (and no one puked!) we headed to a church near compton to sleep. The next day we headed out for Mexico...more importantly...Tijuana!Nothing says Tijuana like Nacho-Libre wrestling masks! Those things were everywhere! This picture is of a girl from the other church that was travelling with us! After we purchased all of our tacky Mexican Souveniers...and after many of the students probably paid WAY MORE than they should have, we headed down to Vincente Guerrero, Mexico--our home for the next week.On our way down to the IDT base we were greated by a GIANT Jesus on the hillside. This statue was somewhere near Ensenada. After arriving at the IDT base we were warned about all the "creatures" that we would be seeing around the base. Scorpions, Black Widow Spiders, and Brown Recluse Spiders that when they bite you give you the flesh eatings disease. Neadless to say this freaked that crap out of almost all of the students! Many could barely sleep that first night.
Over the couse of the next 4 days we spent our mornings and afternoons building a house for the family that we connected with, and as well playing soccer & running a VBS. The house turned out amazing, and the family loved it. The look on the mom's face when I handed her the keys to her brand new house was truly something I will never forget. This family was so excited to see their new bunk-beds, table, chairs, clothing, shoes, house-hold products etc... The most amazing part of the house dedication was when the mom prayed for us in Spanish! None of us really knows what she said...but it was the most heartfelt prayer I have ever heard. These kids were so cute...and every one of them touched our lives in in-expressible ways. Many of us were crying the day we had to say goodbye. I deffinitely had tears rolling down my face.After our last day at the job site, we headed off to a Oaxacan (pronounced: Wah-hah-can) Market to purchase some more things like poncho's necklaces, braceletes etc...Then after that we went off ot the beach for a time of relaxing, swimming in the ocean, boogie-boarding & skimboarding. I tried skimboarding for the first time...and needless to say I sucked! Oh well, it was a fun experience.After that day the next morning we packed up the vans & trailers at 4:30am, and began the 36 hour drive back home to Langley. The best part of the drive home was stopping at In-N-Out Burger. I have longed to eat at this fast-food place. I bought the T-shirt and I will wear it proudly!
After In-N-Out it was straight home from there. I hope I never have to sleep in 15 passenger vans for a very long time. If you want to hear more about this trip and you live in the Langley area, come to my church on Sunday Sept. 17th @ 10am to hear all about it. We're going to have a "Mexican Fiesta Service" to share all the stories of how God worked in the lives of these students. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us while we were down there. Your prayers were greatly appreciated. Not one part of this trip could have happened without the grace, love, and blessings overflowing from Jesus Christ.

Until we do this again...

Ty