TREVOR'S WRITING

So I got up yesterday morning and stepped out into the cold. I thought to myself, "boy, it's really cold out here today." I hop in the car and drive to church. My route takes me past the Royal Canadian Mint where they have a screen that shows videos and the time and temperature. I glance at the screen just as the temperature flashes onto the screen. The screen tells me that it is -572 degrees celsius in Winnipeg...I began to be very thankful that my car had started.

This title is a paraphrase of the great theologian and social commentator, former basketball player Chris Webber (I can't remember the exact line but this is pretty close), in the pre-game show of an NBA game today. So true Chris! We often remember (and we should) the stellar contributions to society that people like Martin Luther King have given us.  However, it is so true that a man like Martin Luther King Jr. only exists because of the "significance" of other people, the people that he rightly recognizes in his own immortal "dream" speech: I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of  you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the  veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redem

I was thinking back a bit on my life...there are many things that I regret, many things I wish would change.  I think about deep things, really crucial things to the survival of my family and my own well-being.  Things like, growing a beard, or driving fast, or watching football, or eating more than I should.   You see I used to grow a beard more or less by accident.  I never shaved more than once a week, and I can pretty much grow a beard in that amount of time.  So, sometimes I would shave, and sometimes I would trim.  Now I shave probably on average about 2-3 times per week, and try to appear somewhat put together on occasion.  I used to drive fast and win any race I was having at any cost (sometimes the cost was quite high).  The other day I was driving next to Nicky and I pulled out to pass her, got to 10 over the speed limit and slowed down because I was worried I might get a ticket.  I feel a bit Granny about that. I used to watch NFL Football on TV no matter what else was going

I have seen a disturbance in the holy water. People come to the altar to worship, but who are they worshipping. I heard a story recently from another youth pastor (thanks Jon). There was a young boy who decided to become a Christian, and give his life to Jesus. He was very excited to tell people and one of the first he wanted to tell was the worship pastor. He walked up to him and excitedly said, "I gave my life to you today!" The pastor was a little taken aback, "do you mean you gave your life to Jesus today?" "Yeah, that's what I said, I gave my life to you." The worship pastor was a little confused and asked, "son, do you think I am Jesus?" "Well, you are aren't you?" the boy said, "I mean...we sing to you every Sunday." This is a somewhat humorous (although disturbing) misunderstanding. But, I think I have seen this type of confused worship in many ways. Churches grow because people like the preaching, or because t

Nicky was asking Owen (our 3 year old) a bunch of questions.  He kept answering, "I don know, I don know, I don know."  Finally Nicky said, "well, what DO you know?" Owen's answer was well rounded and thought out... "I know...nothing is impossible with God, I know...how to talk, I know...how to fart." Apparently he knows three very important things.

Our Sr. Pastor mentioned in his sermon a while back that Jesus was 33 when he died.  I guess it struck a real cord with me because I am still thinking about it, I guess the fact that I am 34 has something to do with it.  I wonder at the things he accomplished, things that have had some staying power ( 2.1 Billion people claim to be his follower).   This has stirred me to reflect on my life, what have I accomplished in my 34 years? As I think about that I realize that the things that I pursue as "great things" are not very much like what Jesus considered to be great.  Jesus didn't start any programs, he only spoke to crowds that gathered around him naturally (he didn't do any advertising).  Jesus wasn't a dynamic personality, people were drawn to him because of who he was, not because he was a great leader, or a powerful person.  The only group he formed was a group that just kind of wandered around with him seemingly aimlessly.  He avoided crowds, had a quiet per

Mac's are cool, PC's are not.  People who own them are also cooler than those who do not.  You can usually tell who is an owner of a Mac before you even ask them.  They probably meet at least 4 of the following 7 criteria: dress a little more on the granola side of things drink organic coffee drive a diesel jetta and may even run it on veggie oil (or a prius, or perhaps ride a vespa) they probably are involved in some sort of social justice cause politically, they lean to the left they are vegetarian very interested in a wide variety of little known musicians I probably fit one of the above criteria, and I don't really think of myself as a "cool" person.  However I did decide to purchase a MacBook.  I am very excited to be typing this post on my new laptop right now. I recently noticed that this series of ads has little to do with the product itself.  Really what these commercials are trying to communicate is, "Mac is cool, PC is not."  This is an attitu