Friday, December 18, 2009

The "Universal Office" of Believers

"Every believer is a prophet, a priest, and a king. We are all prophets (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:14ff). Every believer is to exhort (Heb 3:13), counsel (Rom. 15:14), evangelize (Acts 8:4), and teach (Col 3:16) with the word "dwelling richly" within. You must speak!

As a priest (1 Peter 2:9), you have access to the presence of God, as did the priests of old (Matt 27:51; Heb 4:14-16). You have the responsibility to offer spiritual sacrifices and deeds of mercy (Rom 12:1-2; Heb 13:12, 16). You must serve!

As a king (Rev 1:5-6), you have authority over the world (1 John 5:4), the flesh (Rom 6:14ff), and the Devil (Luke 10:19). We all have divine weapons to demolish strongholds and obstacles to the kingdom of Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5). You must take charge!

Nobody outranks an 'ordinary' Christian and every layperson has the responsibility to initiate, plan, guide and manage ministries of both word and deed. They must not be passive!"

(taken from pg 157 in Timothy Keller's Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road which cites RB Kuiper's "The Glorious Body of Christ")

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Home

The last few days in Sisley were a bit depressing. With most of our furniture moved/sold, it looked vaguely similar to the home we first moved into almost 2 years ago...


Sleeping on the floor isn't much fun =(

I’m really thankful to be back home in Calgary. My trips to and from Australia in 2009 have been rife with delays, missed flights and unexpected overnight stays in a hotel, a friend’s couch and the airport. Still haven’t experienced lost luggage, a plane crash or a DVT so I can be grateful for small mercies. I feel extremely lucky for the opportunity to fly home for Christmas each year to be with family and that’s something to keep in mind – delays or no delays.

This time around, I arrived at the airport at around 9:45am alongside my friend Jamesy. We decided to grab brekkie and, since I had a bit of time ‘til my 12:05pm departure, we decided to do so at the airport. We got to the check-in counter and discovered that my flight was going to be 12 hrs delayed. The 747-400 for my flight had just left Los Angeles on route to Brisbane and would not arrive for another 14 hrs or so. Apparently they had some sort of mechanical problems that needed to be fixed. I printed off my itinerary that morning but I didn’t check the flight status online (I think some passengers did check and it wasn’t updated).

It turned out okay though. I stuck with James, got to see a few guys in the arvo, and then made my way back to the airport in the evening. Finally left Brisbane at around 0035 on Dec 10th and arrived in Los Angeles at around 1930, Dec 10th after an uneventful flight. I watched the ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ and some really terrible war-related movie called ‘Hurt Box’. The rest of the time I slept. I had the aisle seat in a row of three and a girl named Devon (sp?) occupied the window seat. Luckily, the middle seat remained empty and we took advantage of the extra space. I made a bit of small talk with her, found out she was studying at JCU in Townsville on exchange from Northern Arizona University for a semester. She had managed to hit up New Zealand and even Indonesia/Bali and planned to return to Australia to see everything else in the future. I did not envy her travel situation as she had spent the last 60 hrs going from Indonesia to Sydney; then up to Townsville to grab the rest of her things; then down to Brisbane for the delayed flight to Los Angeles; and she still needed to grab a flight home to Phoenix. In hindsight, I should have told her not to hesitate to wake me up if she needed to get up at any point during the flight. I would wake up for meals, watch a movie and then fall right back to sleep. Each time I woke up she appeared to be busting to get to the toilet.

Thankfully, Qantas put many of us up at the Hilton for the evening which included meal vouchers. I was able to enjoy a nice sleep in a massive queen/king sized bed that sure beat sleeping on the floor during our last night at Sisley St.


I've caught up on HEAPS of sleep. I think that's what I've been doing mostly. Had a chance to play some floor hockey on Sunday which was awesome! I have a feeling this break is going to fly by really fast...

My dad in front of the Real Canadian Superstore. You can see my mom running off in the distance trying to get inside because it's -25ºC and she didn't want to stand there for a photo.

Regular Kraft Dinner that's not the microwavable kind...

Dad and bub getting ready to head out for an evening walk so that mom can get a bit of sleep

Emily is 3 weeks old.

Dad says that he misses sleep but they've decided that she's a keeper =)

Who's that strange looking fellow?!?

This is what driving on the right side of the road looks like for all those Aussies. So far, no incidents of driving on the wrong side...

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Monday, December 07, 2009

Blast from the Past

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery and today is a gift - that's why it's called the present." - unknown

So after a massive cleaning and moving job in Brisbane, what do I find myself doing back in Calgary? CLEANING! YAY! I arrived back home realized that I have no room in my closet or dresser for my suitcases of stuff.

Conclusion: I have way too much junk and I should start by
a) refraining from buying more stuff
b) getting rid of old stuff that I don't need or can't use anymore

I'm cleaning out some of my binders and came across some rather amusing self-quotes from my grade school days...

"I want to be an ophthalmologist (can't believe I got the spelling right...) because I enjoy science and medicine. I also am interested in surgery and the eye. I want to be an ophthalmologist because I have bad eyesight and I want to find a better treatment than laser eye surgery."

"Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God." - unknown

"People are like stained-glass windows
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out
But when the darkness sets in
Their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

"There are 3 kinds of people in this world - those who can count and those who can't." - unknown

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Friday, December 04, 2009

Wintertime!

Saw this weather warning for Calgary. Oh how I miss Calgary weather and the snow. Good times ahead.

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