On the Horizon...

Well it's been a busy week in the life of our church. We're right in the middle of our annual High Power Soccer Camp. Sorry for not posting any pictures, but I'm writting this from home since I'm not in the office much this week. I'm having to wake up at 6am every day (and for me that's WAY too early). Nevertheless it's been incredible to see God's hand at work in the life of this camp. Everything has worked out amazingly and it brings such a joy to me to see so many kids from our community experiencing Christ's love for the first time.

CHARITY'S BIRTHDAY!
This coming Friday, July 21st is Charity's 23rd birthday. Make sure you call her or send her an email. We're heading into Ladner for a birthday dinner with my family. I think we're heading to La Strada (which is a restaurant where I worked for 3 years.) I love you babe!

...SEATTLE
Charity and I are off this weekend to the "Emerald City" for a 3 day vacation. This is kind of a Birthday/ We just need to get away vacation. Looks like we're going to be blessed with some phenominal weather. Thanks God! We are really pumped to get away for a few days, and to explore this great city. We're going to get to do some really fun activities during the three days like; Seattle Mariners Game, Todai Sushi Buffet, Seattle Underground Tour, Pike Place Market, and we're going to Mars Hill Church on Sunday morning! I'm stoked to finally get to this awesome church. It's also the "Bite of Seattle" while we're down there, so it looks like we'll get to eat various west coast cuisine--and here's the best part--it's FREE!
We're staying downtown which is awesome since we can park the car when we arrive and walk everywhere during the weekend. Seattle also offers free public transit in their downtown core. This is such a great idea! So we'll definitely make use of it during the week. On our way home from the weekend we're going to stop off at the Seattle Premium Outlets. Now, could their be a vacation for me without shopping? If you said yes...you don't know me that well.

Once we get back it's laundry day on Tuesday, then time to wake up super freaking early on Wednesday morning to meet at the church to drive down to Creation Fest. Our yearly trek to the extremly hot summer music festival. This is always a highlight of my summer. Bring on the great bands, and especially the Youth Pastor VIP area. This place is air conditioned, and offers complimentary ice water, pop etc. for Youth Pastors & one guest. WOO HOO.

So that's gonna be my next 14 or so days. Don't expect much of a blog update until early August, since when Charity and I get back from Creation Fest it's our 2 year wedding anniversary. Isn't that crazy to think that it's been 2 years! I have to say they have been the best two years of my life. And every day I am so thankful to be married to such a wonderful woman! I love you sweety, and I'm so glad we get to spend this anniversary together and not driving in seperate cars! (I'll tell you the story behind that if you don't know--just ask nicely).

I'll throw a bunch of pics up when all this is said and done with. It's certainly going to be a fun next couple of weeks.

Peace:

Ty

Coke & Mentos

Now this has YOUTH MINISTRY written all over it! I've just recently caught on to the whole idea of inserting mentos into a 2L pop bottle and watching a HUGE eruption. Now I can remember back to my elementary school days using baking soda and vinegar to make my paper-mache volcano explode...but this is WAY cooler.

Check out this video!



And for those of you who just can't stop at one video...

Click here, and here, and here, and here (and that's just a few)

Needless to say I WILL be doing this in our church parking lot at sometime in the next few months! This is just too cool not to watch!

Have a great weekend...and if you're looking for something to do...

Ty

A "Sign" of the Times...

Matthew 5:14 talks about us Christians being the light of the world. That a city on a hill shinning brightly cannot be hidden. I know that some people have differing views on some parts of scripture...but recently I've been wondering if some churches/pastors have been taking this passage out of context...and a little TOO FAR!

This blog isn't going to go into huge theological depths...but rather what I want to draw to our attention is churches/pastors spending RIDICULOUS amounts of money to make "icons" that somehow are supposed to attract others because of their either a) immense size b) blinding glow c) obvious location.

Here's a few examples:

1) Statue of Liberation Through Christ (72 feet tall)

















Total Cost to Build: $260,000 USD
Location: World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church
To read more click here:

2) "Touchdown Jesus" (62 Feet Tall)












Total Cost to Build: $250,000 USD
Location: Solid Rock Church
To read more click here:

3) 198 Foot Cross


















Total Cost to Build: $1.1 Million USD
Location: Effingham, Illinois
To read more click here & here

These are just a few of the many Christian icons that are popping up accross America. Don't mis-read me here...I have nothing against American's and their faith in Christ. However I do have a bit of an issue spending butt-loads of cash on a giant cross/statue/jesus, when that money could very well be spent on translating bibles, supporting missionaries, feeding the poor, etc... I infact applaud my American brothers and sisters in Christ for being this blunt about their faith.

In fact, I'd love to hear what my American readers have to say about these things...do you agree/disagree with building these massive icons?

As far as I know we Canadians have nothing that so obviously represents our faith. The only giant things we have are:

The Giant Nickel in Sudbury:












The Giant Hockey Sticks in Dawson Creek:











You can find out more about what LARGE roadsign attractions Canada has by clicking here:

This post is really about stirring up your thoughts/rants/opinions etc... Please feel free to leave any comments you wish, but do so in a repsectful manner. This post is more satire than anything (if you didn't catch on by now!)

It's the weekend...time to get out of here!

Peace:

Ty

Ya gotta check this out...ya hear!

Amazing video...imagine if all of our churches styled their worship like this! The rhymes are phat, and its kinda got a catchy beat! It was used at the '06 Purpose Driven Worship Conference...but now is online for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy.




(ht to Josh Treece)

Our Weekend Away

Well this update is long overdue. As stated in my previous post, Charity and I had the opportunity to spend this past weekend away at Harrison Hot Springs. You couldn't have asked for better weather with the avg. daily temperature being around 30-34 degrees celcius! Needless to say we both were able to acheive a bit of a tan. The scenery up there was spectacular. Neither of us had been to Harrison before so we were both thrilled with the view.We stayed at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa. This is the view from our HUGE suite that we were upgraded to. It had a bar, seating area, couch, and a queen sized bed. I apoplogize for not taking any pictures of it since it looked like it was straight out of the 70's. The curtains were greeny-yellow, the bar area had a cheezy glass mirror behind it, and many other 70's-ish characteristics. Nevertheless it was a huge room with an even bigger deck that we spent some time on reading our books.

After our time spent at Harrison we decided to start our trek back home. But before we traveled too far away from Harrison we stopped at a place called TugBoat Junction. It's a mini-golf place with some other fun stuff for little kids. The BEST part of this place was that there was no body else there! We had the entire 18 holes to ourselves! They also had these "misters" that sprayed a mist of water on you as you played! Charity really liked this...and ya can't aruge about getting lightly misted when its 35 degrees in the direct sun! I also got a hole-in-one! Looks like those golf lessons are really paying off!

We also got the chance to head to Minter Gardens before going home. I went here two summers ago for a wedding, but Charity had never been. This place is gorgeous, and the best part (sorry no pictures) was that they had their sprinklers going so Charity and I ran through them a bunch of times! We had a great walk and loved all the beautiful floral arrangements.

All in all this was a fantastic weekend. This was the first time that Charity and I had spent any time away--just the two of us--since our honeymoon. This was a great chance for both of us to unwind, and simply relax. We deffinately want to go back again this summer for a day trip. So that's the update. I hope you enjoyed the re-cap!

Peace:

Ty

Getaway

See ya later everyone...Charity and I are getting out of town this weekend! WOO-HOO! We figure that we deserve it. So we're taking some time, and heading out to Harrison Hot Springs. Neither of us have been there before so we're really excited. The weather forcast looks amazing for this weekend so we're hoping to come back nicely tanned. We're gonna spend a heck of a lot of time just relaxing on the beach, taking a dip in the lake, and reading some new books we bought this past weekend.

So we hope everyone enjoys their time doing whatever this weekend. Chances are we won't be thinking of you...but don't take that in a mean way! I'll write some more about the trip when we return, and hopefully have some of my own pictures to post on this blog rather than using these stock ones that I found online.

Ciao!

Tyler

Palm Tungsten E For Sale

update: IT IS SOLD...
I am selling my Palm Tungsten E PDA. It is currently listed on Buysell.com for $75 o.b.o but I wanted to put the word out there on my blog as well. If you are interested leave me a comment with a method of contacting you. This PDA comes with the original software CD, charger, & usb sync cable. Also it comes with a Palm Metal Case.This PDA has served me well and shows signs of everyday use. The PDA is in good working condition but I no longer need it since I've updraded to the Palm T/X. This is a cheap way to get into the PDA market.

***images displayed are not those of actual product being sold***

Talk to you soon,

Ty

Quarter of a Century

Well, the day has finally arrived. I am now officially OLD! I might not be as ugly as this guy, but when I woke up this morning, I swear I began to see gray hairs...well maybe not (if you know what colour my hair is right now!)

It's been a good day so far...my In-Laws hooked me up with a sweet sushi plate set, and I look forward to getting to use that! Jason @ Wired Monk hooked me up with my Birthday Coffee this morning--thanks jay! Charity and I are going out to The Keg tonight for dinner...and I hear it's Lobster Fest there right now...mmm! Then we're off to see a movie (not sure which one yet.)

For some of you who were following my Fat Pastor weight loss challenge...it's been exactly that. A bit more of a challenge then I realized. I'm sad to say I didn't accomplish my 25lbs lost by 25 years old...though I did loose around 10 lbs. It's not the greatest, but I'm still pressing on. I gotta fit into that speedo by the time summer hits!

Well that's about it for this guy. Time to actually get to work. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of my life over these past 25 years. You know who you are, and I couldn't have done it without you. I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends...and most importantly...the most amazing wife! I love you sweety!

Have a great day,

Ty

P.S. To all of my students who now want me to teach them how to drive since I'm 25--FORGET IT! Don't you think I want to live to see my 26th birthday?

Be in Prayer...

For those who read my blog, I would ask for your prayers at this time. A friend a fellow Pastor, Bob Dobson, was involved in a serious car accident Monday evening. Bob has survived the crash with a severly shattered ankle, and a broken femur. Sadly, Bob's wife and mother have both passed away as a result of their injuries. The rest of the passengers in the vehicle survived with only minor injuries.

This happened while the family was on vacation near Portland, Oregon. There are many news channel's picking this up. Pastor Bob is one of the pastors at Cloverdale Baptist Church--a sister church of mine. This has got to be a huge shock to the congregation as it certainly has been to all of us in the Langley/Surrey area.

For a local Portland news channel's story please click here:

Thanks for your prayers,

Ty

just thought I would pass this on

I reveal no sources...but for any of my readers here in the Walnut Grove/Langley area, this next bit of information might be quite exciting to read:

"Thunderbird Village development at the Hwy #1 & 200th Street Interchange has concluded deals with the following retailers:"

Bosley' Pet Food
Boston Pizza
East Side Mario's
IGA
Rogers Wireless
Shoppers Drug Mart
VanCity Credit Union
Crystal Vision & Hearing
Booster Juice
Salon Montage
Pat Anderson Agencies

Some of those places I could really care less about...and some of them like Boston Pizza we've known that it'll be in full operation sometime this summer/fall...but East Side Mario's & Booster Juice! WOO HOO! That's fantastic. Hooray for living in Walnut Grove now! Finally we aren't forced to drive into downtown Langley for all the good stuff.

Well I just thought that I would pass this information on to all of you faithful readers...all of the like 3-4 of you!

Blessings,

Ty

just an update

Yup, it's been a while since I've posted last--I apologize. Nothing blog-worthy has really been happening in these past few weeks. However, this next week is gonna be one CRAZY week for me!

Even though it's gonna be a crazy week, I am deffinately looking forward to many parts of it. One in perticular is going paintballing tommorow with our Youth Group. We've got over 20 students coming so it's going to be a great afternoon! Close up pictures of my soon-to-be welts will be posted soon!

Next week (Mon. June 5th-7th) I am away at our annual Pastors Retreat in Salmon Arm at Sunnybrae Bible Camp. I enjoyed my time there last year, even though it rained the entire time (only to clear up on the drive home!) I'll get the chance to hit the links on Tuesday, so I look forward to getting another game of golf under my belt for this year. They also rent hottubs for us...so I think I'll be spending every evening there!

Upon my return it's right back into the swing of things...since we have our Year-End BBQ & Praise Party on Friday June 9th here at 6pm. Please pray for good weather! Ya hear me Lord! We need some sun for this one! So far the weather forcast is good...

Lots of stuff on the horizon...especially the big "Quarter Century B-Day" on the 16th. So there's plenty to keep me busy. I hope this mini-recap has been enjoyable.

Back to work now...

Ty

10 Things I Hate About Commandements

Yes, it's another video. Maybe I'm a bit obsessed lately, but you have to admit they're pretty freaking cool.



*Disclaimer* One F*bomb is dropped at the end.

Enjoy,

Ty

thanks marko for this one!

Driving in Surrey!

My dad sent me this video taken from a traffic camera at the intersection of Scott Rd. & 72nd Ave. in Surrey, BC.

The video wont load properly so click here to link to my YouTube site.

Makes me think twice about driving in Surrey...

Peace:

Ty

King of the Church...um..Hill

You have to watch this! A great social commentary regarding the ever increasingly popular Mega-Church, courtesy of Fox's King of the Hill!




Click here to visit the You-Tube site for this video...

thoughts, comments, rants, ramblings?

Ty

20 somethings...

I have one question for those who find themselves in the chunk of their lives known in our culture as 20-somethings…


1) what role do we play in the body of Christ?


…I certainly don’t know all the answers, but I am curious what others out there think, feel, yearn for, crave etc…where is it that we fit in? …how can we tangibly contribute? …what do we have to say?


journey with me on this one:

Ty

Jesus Returns...

Just an fyi... looks like the return of Jesus is coming 10 days before my 25th B-day. Dang! I was really looking forwad to reaching the quarter century mark!

This billboard was apparently put up near the Holland Tunnel in New Jersey. Not many links online yet...I could only find this one: I just love the fact that Jesus is gonna come back in a space ship! So remember boys & girls...

LOOK RELIGIOUS!!!

Peace:

Ty

A week in Cow-Town

This past week Charity and I flew out to Alberta to spend some time with her family. We arrived into Calgary last Friday night and then drove to Peters' Drive In. If you ever go to Calgary this is a MUST! We snacked on Milkshakes & Onion rings at like 10:30pm...mmm! We then drove to Lethbridge where I was able to connect with some good friends who are in the trenches of youth ministry alongside me. It was a great time to share what God has been doing in my life, and in the church...

Monday my friend JiMi and I headed up to Calgary for the day. We spent some time in IKEA, walking throuh Chinook Mall, and then headed to my hotel. Thanks to my brother's fiance who works for Delta...I got a sweet room overlooking the Bow River. The hotel is also right next to Calgary's China Town...and since my buddy JiMi is chinese he took me to this amazing Chinese Restaurant where we gorged on some greasy, yet very delicious food.

The reason I was in Calgary was for a SonLife Youth Ministry Training Seminar. It was a small group of people (4) who signed up for this...so it allowed us to have some really deep conversations. The whole seminar was really relaxed and casual. Our facilitator was an awesome guy, and I really appreciated his layed-back style.
I was able to take some walks around downtown Calgary to see the sites...and I was quite impressed. Downtown Calgary is quite similar to downtown Vancouver. I walked to a place called Eau-Claire Market which reminded me of Granville Island. It was a good week...but it's great to be back home in BC.

Peace:

Ty

Happy 1st Birthday Blog

Yup, today is my blog's 1st birthday. Wow, I can't beleive I've wasted an entire year blogging on this site. Now to sit back an imagine what this past year could have been like without me spending insane amounts of time posting comments, stories, rants etc...

Thanks to all of you who have frequented my site. It's all beacuse of you that I do this...well that and it's another excuse for me to make people listen to me! Let's be honest now!

*On another totally different note...tommorow Charity and I fly out to Lethbridge. She'll be spending the entire week out there, while I will be heading back up to Calgary on Tuesday April 24th for a 3 day Youth Ministry Conference. I'll be sure to post something while I am away. I hope that my brother's fiance was able to upgrade my hotel room so that I get free Wi-Fi. *FINGERS CROSSED* Have a great week...

Blessings,

Ty

GREAT WASTE OF TIME!

For all of you who have fallen in love with websites like despair.com now you have the opportunity to create your very own! I could create these things for hours! Take the time to really get your creative juices flowing for this...

Click here:

Enjoy,

Ty

What were those Amish thinking?

picture taken from pomomusings blog

Seriously? I know that there are some pretty bad town names out there...many of which are right here in Canada: Uren, Piapot, Lower-Sackville, Crotch Lake, Dildo...but you have to giggle when you look at that sign. And to think that this is located right smack-dab in the middle of Amish Country!!! For a more detailed explanation of why this town is called Intercourse please click here:

Many of you are probably thinking "you have way too much time on your hands" to be looking up this stuff...but I would argue. The guy who wrote the song about Intercourse, Pensylviania has WAY more time on his hands. To listen to the song follow these directions:

1) Click here:
2) Scroll down the page
3) The song is 4th from the top in the blue "Silly Con Queso" section.

Anyways, that's my entry for today. Yup, it's one of those days where I just don't feel like posting something serious. I hope you had a good laugh.

Peace:

Ty