Real Life is meeting people. I 'm glad to meet you!

2008-10-17T11:54:00.002-03:00

Slightly over 1 year later.....

I am still on Facebook :-)

I am at Douglas Avenue Christian Church, pottering away. Prayer is going well, God is doing things that surprise us (which really shouldn't surprise us) and people are looking to Him for life guidence.

All in all its good. ttyl

2007-08-22T21:30:00.000-03:00

Well I too have been sucked into the vastness known as FaceBook!

And for someone like me who has the occasional thing to say it works well. There isn't the pressure of a blog needing to be written (not, as you can plainly see, that I submit to that pressure normally) or vast reams of white space needing to be filled. You just do stuff when you get the urge.

So.. anyway... yeah,

there I am.

See you later

2007-04-05T16:21:00.000-03:00

The Tomb.

The sun rises slowly over the hills, two men, armored, lay as dead. A stone lays on its side. Birds flit from tree to tree with song and life. Sunlight strides inexorably forward warming the land. Small lives creep forward to bask, heal, rejoice.

The tomb is empty.

Footsteps clatter across the stone, women approach to mourn. Spices to leaven the dead, herbs and clothes. Gravel slides unheeded, clinking and scratching. Footsteps falter and hearts flutter. The sun crests the final hill, light streaming down to earth.

The tomb is empty.

Light bright as the sun, shining like lightening garbs the strangers, fear clutches as mortals gasp. A question from lips eternal fulfill a prophecy old. Why do you seek? Behold! He is Risen just as He said. The light of the sun warms the land.

The tomb is empty.

Tears flow as eyes confirm, a rocky ledge unburdened by death. Hope grows, hearts strain, joy sings to silence nature itself. The world must know, the brothers must hear, feet run towards home. Streams of sunlight caress the world.

The tomb is empty.

Women running to tell stop. Recognize feet that trod a thousand miles, legs that walked with strength, arms that held the weak , the face that smiles. All air rushes out, the world spins, He smiles. Golden, rich, strong, the sun rises above the world.

The tomb is empty.

The Tomb is Empty!!

The Light of the World has Returned!

2007-02-16T11:15:00.000-04:00

Well here it is almost 2 months after Christmas and I am able to blog again. It was all that I feared and dreaded. The greed, the anger, the anxiety. Sigh.... its good to be past that for the most part. But now I live with suffering, pain and frustration.

I broke my glasses yesterday!

Its not as bad for me as for some. I can still see and read (rather obviously) but everything is "just" out of focus so I get a headache because my eyes keep trying to bring everything into focus.

The up side is that now I will go make an eye appointment. Its been about 5 years since I had my prescription updated, so thats going to be better anyway.

So how have you been anyway? What have you been doing and how is everyone?

I am still with XSCargo, managing the store here in Halifax, but management and paperwork is really not my forte. I would love to be back in fulltime ministry or counselling somewhere, but I have to admit that its kind of neat that I meet so many people in the store that would like to discuss God. That has been a real blessing. Working with customers and staff has also been good for increasing my patience too :-)

And I absolutely must say that if you ever get the opportunity to work for Doug M. (he is my direct boss at Head Office) take it. He has been fantastic with me, very patient and helpful, also willing to give me a kick when I need it too.

Thanks Doug!

See ya

2006-11-26T01:05:00.000-04:00

Merry Month before Christmas!!!!

Now that I am ensconced in the Wonderful World of Retail again, I have remembered my ancient aversion to Christmas.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the thought of what it means, I love the idea of God submitting to the pains of birth so that He can eneter the world like one of us. The Faithfulness of Joseph and Mary, the wonder of those who came and witnessed Baby Jesus.... this is amazing, wonderful and awesome stuff.

But its not retail Christmas. Retail Christmas is the process by which we get you to buy more stuff than last year. Retail Christmas is merchandising the stock, rotating the displays, focusing the view and cycling the staff. Its people jostling, shoving, pushing to get the last widget in the pile, or the batteries for said widget.

My warehouse see's it all come and go. The truck drivers pull up and we unload truck after truck after truck after truck after... well you get the idea I think. Its a never ending process of stuff for money.

This is what I hate. The tension, the mobs, the tears, the anger, the grouches, the sneaks and thieves, those who prey on people who just want to make a child smile, but don't realize they are going about it the wrong way...

As I walk around my store, I get the feeling that I can see Jesus in the temple, the day that he drove out the moneychangers. I fear that my store is something that He would drive out. Because we encourage the greed and hatefulness and dissatisfaction in people. We tell them that they need the next best thing, that they want this and that. Get in line, pull out that credit card, spend spend spend!

I am sorry Lord. Take me somewhere else...

Geoff

2006-11-12T00:46:00.001-04:00

Well the store is open and we are doing well. That is the upside. The down side is that I am averaging about 15 hours a day at the store...and no, thats not an exaggeration.

I get there around 8:30 (we open at 10 am during the week) amd I leave at about 11:00 to 11:30 pm. So far the latest I have left was 2:30 am (which sees me get home at about 3 am).

I love retail, I love working with customers, but managing has its own unique set of problems and I have never had a staff this large before. Its daunting and I am getting pretty tired.

So keep us in prayer.

In related news....

Nathan is doing well in College, got his student loan (and thus gets to eat somewhat more regularly than when he was depending on us for eating money) and bought a new laptop. This is apparently God's will for him, in that he can now be studious in class (vis a vis the laptop) and slay malignant creatures of darkness (vis a vis the laptop and World of Warcraft) by night.

All in all a satisfying combination apparently. My wife is working diligently at her store as assistant manager, our daughter is striving to perfect her driving skills ( and I must confess is doing a non-bang up job (which in this case alone is a good thing)) andthe dog and cat have masticated various objects about the house.

Still looking for a fulltime ministry position....

So whats new with you?

2006-11-12T00:46:00.000-04:00

2006-09-24T00:38:00.000-03:00

Okay, so... as I type I am in room 211 of the Howard Johnson in London Ontario. This is not the room tha I sleep in, that one is 111. This room has a computer with high speed and the hotel is kindly letting me use it.

Now you may ask..."Why is Geoff in London Ontario?"

Go ahead, ask. I will wait.....

Thank you for asking :-) I am training with XS Cargo to be a manager for the new store that is opening in Halifax around Oct 26th.

XS Cargo is a store that sells things very inexpensively, and much of it is quite good quality. I am enjoying it so far, its like a lot of what I have already done, but just rearranged, different ways of doing things because its a different company of course.

Now a coupe of people have asked if this means that I won't be/am not a minister anymore.

Nope.

If I get an offer from a church and its something that God directs me towards then I will take it in a shot. However right now I think this is how the Lord would like me to pay bills.

And I get to swim in the pool at the hotel too :-)

Let me know what you think....

See ya

2006-09-13T16:10:00.000-03:00

Friends start posting blogs and the next thing you know you are feeling like you are in the Matrix! Lois Mitchell is with CBM (something to do with Baptist Ministries) as a Public Witness. She and Marilyn Smith (no relation to Agent Smith or at least so I assume) are presenting some thought provoking ideas that are designed to shift the focus of the church from inwards to outwards. They are following the theme of justice as God would see it looking at our world.

You can find them here. Go and be provoked :-)

See ya

2006-09-07T12:36:00.000-03:00

Lets see, Nathan is off to MCC, I have a new job with XSCargo (they are opening a store in Halifax and I will be the manager) and until it starts I am driving a Special Needs Bus.

Thats it for the nonce!

See ya

2006-08-30T23:57:00.000-03:00

Hey, just so you know I have shifted over from regular Blogger to the newer (and there for obviously) better Beta-Blogger .

How will that affect you?

How should I know?

But let me know if there are any problems and I pledge to pay vague attention to your problem and them promptly forget the whole thing.

See ya :-)

2006-08-30T23:18:00.000-03:00

Okay Okay Okay!!!

Every now and again something vastly cool happens and you say...WOW!!

This is a WOW!!! moment for me. A piece of history is for sale!

The S.S. Minnow is for sale!

Not the wreck that was on Gillian's Island beach, but the actual ship from the opening credits.

Growing up I had more than my share of T.V. and I had many shows that I loved to watch. But Gilligan's Island was a special one for me. I really identifed with Gilligan. We both made mistakes all the time, we both tried hard to please but often messed up through over-exhuberence, and we both were trapped on a deserted Island with two beautiful women and many chaparones. Well... okay maybe not that last one, but you get my drift (drift!!! Note the cool nautical reference). So now here is the original boat for sale.

Gosh. Its so cool that I could actually own that (if I had the $99,000) in real life. And yet, how sad it would be if I did.

If I owned it I would be ticked off at it quite a bit. Its a 46 year-old boat. And if you know anything about boats, then you know full well that a brand new boat costs money on a daily basis, so a 46 - year- old boat is going to be (as the saying goes) a hole in the water into which you throw money.

The thrill of the fantasy would be gone. It would be a real deck under my feet. I would have to get the hull scraped and cleaned regularly or do it myself. I would have to pay for fuel, repair the hull (its wood..trust me) service the equipment.

Fantasy doesn't hold up well in the light of day, or on a day to day actual living-type situation.

Maybe thats why I appreciate God so much. He isn't fantasy. He doesn't misrepresent Himself. Jesus has "been here and done that" as the saying goes (I like that phrase...as the saying goes...). Jesus knows what life is about from our perspective as well as from the perspective of the divine creator and sustainer of all. Day in and Day out, He is the same.

He doesn't change His mind, He doesn't look really great out in public and then fall apart in private.

God is cool for that very reason. He doesn't put on for others. He is God. He loves me, He knows when I have messed up big time and still loves me.

The S.S. Minnow would be a cool thing to see, to sail. But God is with me forever, and thats MUCH longer than a three hour tour (a three hour tour).

See ya

2006-08-24T21:37:00.000-03:00

Okay, admittedly 3 months is a long time between blogs...but not the longest. What has been happening?

Well lets see.

I finsihed my job with Halifax Regional CAP Association, I have been looking for other work(over 400 resumes served), did two weddings in New Brunswick (that was GREAT!!!) had discussions with a Church in Montana regarding employment, but I thought it would be too expensive to live there, our son graduated with honours from High School, our daughter has her learners permit, Our son thought he would go to Bible College, our son decided he would work for a year first, our son has decided to go to Bible College (again) :-)

I was offered 3 different jobs, one paid enough for me to live in a box as long as the rest of the family moved in with someone else, one sort of paid better but had the potential to make me a zombie (this may yet come to pass) and the last involves working with Investors but requires a move to New Brunswick again.

I just want to be a minister....sigh

Anyway, this week I have refreshed my training as a School Bus Driver (contrary to popular believe this doesn't involve firearms at all) initiated contact with another church, fixed a tap, a flourescent light fixture and a hose, submitted a student loan application (for our son) made suppers, bbq'd, caught up on several friends blogs and actually updated my own.

Now we are trying to get things ready for our son to go to College in a whole different province..snif. If you thought I had a hard time at Randy and Sara's wedding wait till I have to leave him at Maritime Christian College .

I am open to suggestions.

See ya!

2006-05-22T12:10:00.000-03:00

Okay , here is an experiment. Have you seen those freepay ads where they say that if you complete the terms you get a free ipod? Well I thought about it and decided I would like a free ipod, however I am personally opposed to giving out anyone elses email address to accomplish this. So what I thought I would try is this. I have it here on my blog.

http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=30260170

If you are interested in signing up for some stuff anyway (like the Columbia house DVD club, that kind of thing) and want to get your own ipod, then click on the link. Otherwise don't bother. This way if you want it, then you choose and I haven't given out anyones email address. Apparently I need 5 people to click and sign up for the program so that I can get my ipod.

So, if you want to, go for it. I signed up and I also signed up for the Columbia House DVD club. Thats me. Anyway, like I said , this is an experiment. I have wondered over the last few years when I have seen these if anyone actually got the ipod. Now we shall see!

So, how have you been?

See you later!

2006-05-16T12:10:00.000-03:00

So here we go again!

My contract is up the end of next month, and I have begun a new job search. To be honest this gets old pretty quickly. Remember when you were young, and looking for a job was fun? I always enjoyed it. I have never had trouble getting a job. I thihk its a God thing really. Something always comes along at just the right moment.

But I would like to find something to settle down with for a while. A Church in the U.S.A. has contacted me, but thats a pretty big change, and I am not certain if its what God (or we) wants yet. So I chew away at it every day. Look at the lists, contact businesses, chat people up (as some British friends say) and wait to see what happens.

What do you think? Have any leads for me? Let me know.

See ya!

2006-04-20T00:50:00.000-03:00

So April 19th 2006 was my son's 18th birthday. I am still figuring out how I feel about that. On the one hand I am very proud of my son. He has grown into a fine, dependable young man who has integrity. That is a fine thing. But, on the other hand, my little boy isn't a little boy anymore. I am not going to get all maudlin or anything thing about that (I do that in my head quite enough thank you) but it does take a bit of getting used to.

I had a manager years ago who was different from any other manager and he taught me some interesting things. He trained people so that they could move on to better things. He took in new workers and trained them to do the job the best they could. And when the District Manager would come along and want them to be Managers in other stores he was happy to send them off. Most managers I have known get ticked to train someone only to have them move on, but Peter said that that was the natural way of it. You couldn't expect someone to get good and then stay in a lower job.

Kids are like that too. We have them and grow them. They start out completely dependant on us for every little part of their life, then gradually they start to learn from us, then they figure somethings out on their own, and before you know it they are ready to move on to bigger things than being our kids.

Of course they will always be our kids, but still they have things to do and learn that are completely seperate from us. And that is a good thing. Its tough sometimes, but its good.

My son is always my son, but today is he more a man then he was yesterday.

2006-04-11T01:08:00.000-03:00

If you want to hear a sermon of mine from a year and a half or so ago, here is just such a one.

01 - Sermon 1 Aug 8.mp3 (Semon MP3)

File by Bigupload.com

And I must say, Bigupload.com is pretty cool too. Keep us in prayer folks.

See ya

2006-03-06T15:57:00.000-04:00

Well I have been internally debating how to do this post for a week or so now and I don't know if I am satisfied but we will see.

A couple of weeks ago the Dr. told me that I have diabetes. The good news is that I had gone to get my PSA count done and he had called me back into the for another appointment. For those of you not in the know, this is how they check to see if you have prostate cancer. When he called me back I thought I must have had a high count and that they would have to poke about more.

So when he said that I had diabetes I was actually relieved. Of course intelligence soon returned and I am not as happy with it as I was at the time. I must admit though that since changing my diet I feel much better than I did. (No "I told you so's" are permitted at this time.) I am more alert, I have more energy and am sleeping better. My memory is returning (I tended to forget things very easily and it seemed to be getting worse) and I am occasionally able to outwit my daughter again.

There are many things about diabetes that I am not happy about. The change in diet for example. I LOVE food. I particularly love the foods that I now must limit. Sigh...

Such is life. I now eat MUCH smaller portions than I had been. I am watching the substance of my food as well. Every morning I stick my finger and watch the numbers. All in all it could be a lot worse. So far I am able to keep the blood sugar at a reasonable level through diet, so I am not yet required to take Insulin or one of the other meds that can make up the requirements for continued existance on this plane.

Which of course brings me to God. Now some people might wonder how I can continue to believe in a merciful and loving God when I have been "smote" with such an unreasonable disease. And Some might have said that as well when I first discovered that I had Lupus. So here I am now with both and still praising God. As my buddy Ben would say "Whats with that?"

Here is the thing. Lupus and diabetes are inconvenient, but they both share a common factor. They really only kill you when you don't take care of yourself. Lupus gets you when you get too much sun. Diabetes gets you when you don't take care of your food intake. So the responsibility is mine.

God has given me a precious opportunity to show people His Glory and His Grace! Sure I have two icky-type conditions, but I have eternal life with God through Jesus Christ. Its like getting a splinter on the day you are going to Disney World. Yeah, bummer, a splinter. But hey DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!! Come on, there is no comparison at all. Everybody here abouts is going to die. Some of us are going to die sooner and some later. Some will die in bed and some from bizarre accidents involving elephants and laxatives!

The point here is that to assume all is lost for me is ridiculous, God gives me each day, and waits to see what I will do with it. I choose to share with people that God is awesome and loving and that He is looking to give you what you need for a great life, both here and after.

God loves you

See ya!

2006-02-12T18:07:00.000-04:00

Right, so here is the good news;

I have a job!!!! I am now the IT Development Coordinator for the local Canada Access Program. I will be working with a team to assist small businesses and entrepenuers in accessing resources to computerize their businesses.

Its a bit weird because its really the type of job that one of my other family members would get and I would be congratulating them about. But its pretty cool over all. Its a 5 month contract to boldly coordinate where no one has coordinated before :-) ( I used that phrase earlier today and I still like it)

The bad news is that I won't be driving a school bus anymore now, and that is really quite sad. I very much enjoyed the job and particularly working with the kids. All of them were fun, but the kids on the Special Needs Bus "S3" were wonderful. And here to you are the songs Spider-man, Cruelle Deville and Ghostbusters!

I will see you again.

2006-01-11T23:12:00.000-04:00

Okay this one is simplicity itself.

We have an election on the 23rd.

If you are legally eligable, get out and vote.

See ya

Geoff

2005-12-30T09:16:00.000-04:00

Ah Christmas...it heralds so much. The Birth of Jesus, the glorius time of hope and joy, great food, great time with friends, snowball fights, sleeping in..... ahhh!

Now having said that I fully recognise that Christmas and New Years can be a devasting time for many as well. People who have lost someone feel the absence, families that have sundered, and those who just cannot deal with the whole holiday-overwhelming bustle.

I guess thats what I want to talk with you about.

We all know people who deal with (or don't) depression centered around this time of year. And its often easy to forget that they are there in the hustle and bustle. They can easily fade into the background, washed out by all the people who are excited or socially active. That is something that we must be careful about. If we care, we need to make time for the ones who struggle.

What do we do with them though? I am not saying that you must "rescue" them. You don't have to cure them, and to be honest in many cases you couldn't. But what you can do is be there with them. Depression is a terrible load of weight, and somedays its a real help just to have someone sit there with them. Reminding them that they aren't alone.

One of the hallmarks of depression is an incredible and often insurmountable feeling of seperation from those around you. This isn't something that can be shrugged off. You wouldn't say to someone with two broken legs "Hey, just walk it off" but many people will say "Just get over it" to someone suffering from depression.

You may note that I haven't talked about people with bi-polar disorder as opposed to seasonal depression or situational depression or traumatic stress disorder related depression. Thats because there is, practically speaking, no difference. Remember I said that you aren't expected to solve their problems or cure them. Just be there with them.

It can be tough. Sitting with someone who is "dragging you down" or has trouble making conversation when you could be out with happy people or people who are excited and bouncy and festive can be very difficult and exhausting. But if you care for this person, if you want to help them then its something that you can do.

We all need to care, to help. Jesus came because we all need help. He spent 33-ish years wandering about trying to get us in a better position to accept a great offer, and He suffered immensely for it. All I am asking you do do is spend a little time this year with someone who will appreciate it.

Reach out and touch someone who needs it.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

see ya

2005-12-03T17:48:00.000-04:00

IN response to some who read my previous blog the answer is no. I am not going to stop being a minister. This seems like a good time to explain what a minister really is. A minister is someone who serves God and cares for other people. There is not mention of pay in that description. You don't have to be paid to be a minister, you don't even have to be assosiated with just one congregation.

This leads us to an on-going problem in many congregations. There are many in the pews (or chairs) and only one or two behind the pulpit. That really isn't the way God intended it. Timothy's purpose was to train up the Christians to do the work of the Gospel. Thats what ministers really should be doing.

If your minister is doing all the visiting, the teaching, the preaching, the baptisms, the funerals and weddings, the youth and calling on visitors then both you and your minister are failing the Lord.

Imagine 1 or 2 people doing the work and 200 watching. Wouldn't more get done if the 200 were doing it too? Wouldn't the 200 learn more about the Lord if they were doing what He did? Don't athletes become stronger and more skilled by practising and playing the sports they work at? Christians do too!

People often tell me I am the only minister they know who tries to work himself out of a job. But its a foundational truth of Christianity that the people are to become better Christians by doing the work of the Lord.

Do

Its a tough word. Its an action word. it means to go through the activity so designated. Do the homework, do the dishes, do the yardwork. These things cannot be accomplished by sitting and watching. One has to get up and get into it.

SO...I will always be a minister. I will do the work of the Lord that He sets before me.

What about you?

See ya

2005-11-26T15:33:00.000-04:00

3 Months, 11 days. Okay Okay, I know, I have left this for a while, but stuff happens doen't it, you get busy and let things slide.

Where are we now and what am I up to. Ummm well lets see, I have been working at the church, although that is coming to and end Dec 31st as my contract runs out. I have been driving a school bus as well and that is a blast! The kids have been great and its very enjoyable, alas it will not sustain us therefore I have begun the great job search.

This is the hard part. I mean I have to go to someone and say let me do stuff for you and you pay me. Its a weird world in that respect.

So now I am looking and trying to redefine my work parameters. Thats just means that I am looking for a secular job for the first time in 12 years. Thats pretty weird too.

Let me know what you think.
ttyl

2005-08-06T16:45:00.000-03:00

Hmmm...its been a while since last we met. And here is why. WE MOVED!!!!

We (well we and the mortgage company) actually own a house!

This is so surreal.

We found this house and 20 min after looking at it we "made an offer" which, apparently, they couldn't refuse because they said yes :-) So to make a long story short we are moved in. The longer story involves tears and prayer and angst and agony, but the shorter version is easier to type :-)

So here we are, and here are a couple of lessons learned...

1) Trust God, He may not be early, but He is never late!

2) Count the cost, this is not just a nifty keeno biblical saying, its true! Figure out what it will cost BEFORE you get into it, and also make lists of what you will need to do.

3) Play lots of ABBA.

4) Lift with your knees, not your back.

5) Even in the middle of moving a piano, listen to God, He might have a better way.

So there you are, a few lessons learned and a home made happy by the Lord and my family. God is awesome in that He does what we need when we need it, not just what we want.

And a HUGE thanks to George McDaniels, our realtor and piano mover, if you are in the Halifax area I highly reccommend him .

See ya

2005-07-19T00:41:00.000-03:00

Did you ever hear the old joke "Some days I wake up grumpy, some days I just let him sleep in." ? Well lately that could easily apply to me. I have been grumpy. One reason for this is that the sun is out, and has been now for three days. "What???" you may ask. "What is he thinking, how can you be grumpy with sunshine?"

Well I have lupus and that messes the whole summer up.

In case you don't know, Lupus is an auto-immune disorder in which special antibodies (which some genius named lupus antibodies) react to Ultraviolet Light B and attack the host rather than an infection. Now mind you I have the milder form of it, called Discoid Lupus. The more serious form of Lupus is called Systemic Lupus, and it attacks your internal organs. My form attacks my skin.

"Ah.." you say, "that can't be too bad." "Only the skin you say?"

Well yes, although I should like to point out that your skin is the largest organ you have. And it can develop into Systemic Lupus if not cared for.

Now what is my problem, just this. Sunlight hurts. If sunlight falls on my skin it hurts like a mild sunburn. It hurts my eyes. If I am out very long I get sick. Its not normal or natural and its ticking me off.

Imagine a hot summer day, now imagine putting on a jacket, hat and gloves. No I am not Micheal J. I just don't want to get sick.

Sigh....

So, here is the thing. Did you know that sin causes the same reaction in the presence of God? Its true. The Bible tells us that God is a Holy and just God, and that sin is abhorent to Him. And in His presence we become concious of our sin, and it disturbs us and won't let us be comfortable. In fact its a lot like Lupus. You see, if I take my medicine the Lupus is under control. Then I avoid situations that cause it to flare up and my life is a lot happier. But if the Sin isn't cared for and taken care of it can turn into a much more serious condition called Eternal Punishment.

If Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, then He cleans up the sin that you have accumulated and you feel better. And He will help you to avoid the situations in which sin flares up in your life. No more pain from the sin, and the Sonlight makes you feel better all around.

Okay so maybe I am not as grumpy as I was a while ago. Its good to remember that there are more inportant things in life, and that they can be ours for free.

See ya

2005-07-11T22:58:00.000-03:00

I have seen a plethora of movies so far this summer and I have noted some things. Firstly its not a good idea to try to live on a budget if you want to go to the theatre. We went to see Batman Begins, and we watched it on the IMAX screen in Halifax. Wow! My head was buzzing when we came out of the theatre, my eyes took some time to come back to reality.

I have also seen the last of the Star Wars movies, and most recently the Fantastic Four. Am I wasting my time with this frivilous entertainment, well yeah a bit. But its fun. And there is learnable stuff here.

Not vast reams of deep stuff I admit, but good stuff none the less. The Star Wars movie showed what happens when pride interferes with repentance, Batman Begins showed that justice must be tempered with grace and compassion, and finally the Fantastic Four asked the question "What if we have been given these gifts for a higher purpose?"

These are the things of life. These are the things that you and I have to deal with on a daily basis. How do we back away from issues of pride to say we are sorry or that we were wrong. How do we confess our wrongs to others? When we know people have done wrong how can we judge without love, or forgive. And finally what do we do with what we have been given? What do we use our talents for? What if....what if God has given us our abilities to be used for something more that self gratification or self service?

Well my friend, the answer is this. We learn from God. He has all the answers, we just need to read the book.

See ya.

2005-06-09T16:03:00.000-03:00

I watched a plane fly over head last night and thought it was cool...

I realised that I am excited to be living next to a city. We used to live on a small island in the Bay of Fundy, where there were approx 900 people. We had to drive an hour do do grocery shopping or even get cardboard boxes when we moved. We traveled to the mainland by ferry, there was usually a wait to get on the ferry, and often one or more (there were two) would break down, slowing up travel plans even more.

Now we live next to Halifax. We are hooked up to high-speed internet, we have restaurants and stores and medical centers nearby. We have several shopping malls, specialty food stores, hobby shops and tons and tons of reasons to spend spend spend!

It hit me last night while I was watching the jet fly overhead. This is cool. All this stuff is handy to us, we can see a movie, eat out and then fly to Toronto or London England if we want - all in the same night! We could go to a wireless cafe, we could stroll on the water front or visit a museum. There is all this stuff to do and its amazing. I see all the people racing about doing it all. Scampering hither and yon people seeking fulfillment from every neat and nifty thing around them. Kids go to two or three sports a month, their parents driving them. The kids take martial arts, dance, drawing, painting, and music. They have kid committees and kid boards... there is no end to the activities that are possible around here.

And this gets me thinking.

If this is how cool it is here and now, how much cooler is it going to be in Heaven? I mean my gosh, talk about being close to whats important :-)

And you know what?

I won't need to drive an hour to get boxes for that move :-)

See ya

2005-06-06T10:27:00.000-03:00

Shazam!

I love saying that :-) Its important to do things that you love. Yesterday I got to preach again. I haven't really done that (well once a couple of months ago) in the last 7 months. I left a preaching position at a different church to come to the Family Minister position here at Hammonds Plains. What , you may ask, is a Family Minister?
A Family Minister is someone who works with Families and children. I am responsible for the "Sunday School" program, the youth programs in general, and over all the Fellowship and Discipling programs. But I don't get to preach unless Jerry, the Senior Minister, is away.

I miss it. I had been preaching for about 12 years when I came to this job, and that is roughly 1248 sermons comprised of 18720 hours of preperation. I really didn't think that I would miss that at all. But I do. Its good to preach, its good to give a straight forward message to people that addresses some need that we share.

Over the years I have had good sermons and poor ones. That is inevitable. I have had people say that something in the sermon what just what they needed to hear, and other who said I wasted their time. Such is life.

Here is the thing. If you have figured out what God has gifted you to do, then go do it. Don't sit around moaning and groaning about not being sure, or it doesn't pay enough. Get out and do it. Maybe God has gifted you with the ability to make really cool kites, or knit, or maybe make awesome pancakes. Great! Awesome! Get out there and do your thing for God.

If you aren't sure what God has gifted you with, ask your self these questions.

1) What do I love to do?
2) If I had no financial worries, how would I spend my time when I wasn't on a vacation?
3) When I am on vacation, what do I go to check out in other places?

A friend of mine is a Lobster fisherman. He does it cause he loves it. If he were worth a million dollars he would still do it. When he and his family went to Cuba on vacation one year, he went down to the local fishing guy hangout and helped knit trap-heads for lobster traps. He loves it and God has gifted him with an ability to serve others through lobster fishing.

What are your answers to the questions?

Get out there and do it!

See ya

Geoff

2005-06-02T09:04:00.000-03:00

I am a games kind of a guy. My dream job would be to be a paid beta tester for almost any of the companies that produce computer games. Westwood would be awesome, or LucasArts...they have great games. I could sink into that lovely world never to emerge except for more Coke and chips. The thing is that unlike real life, games almost always show you the consequence of your action right then and there. You don't have to wait for years to see the fruition of bad or good choices...well except for the old Quest games (Space Quest etc) where if you didn't pick up the rock atthe start of the game then you were messed over at the end. In real life you don't see what comes of decisions for a while, if at all. You say something to a person and they are offended by it but don't tell you, they just tell other people, and thus you are affected. You pick a degree program that ultimately ends with asking if people want fries with that, but you didn't see that 4 or 6 years earlier.

With a game the manual tells you how to do things and how to make right choices in the game. The manual explains how things work, and importantly, how to save you game so that you can start over when you make too serious a mistake.

In real life there is a manual as well. We call it the Bible. It tells you how things work in life, how to make good choices and avoid bad ones, and it tells you how to save you life, and how to restore things when you make too serious a mistake.

Its been pretty useful for me, and I still get time for Coke and chips :-)

See ya

Geoff

2005-05-30T13:11:00.000-03:00

Fine Fine Fine... Grant says I need a new blog post, so here it is!

Kids are growing up way too fast these days, and I don't mean it in a physical way. There seems to be some weird expectation that kids have to be little adults. I sort of understand the idea of getting a young kid a cell phone. You can keep a better eye on them that way. There there is far too much emphasis on kids dressing like their semi-pornographic idols from music videos. I am repeatedly astonished by the number of parents who apparently agree to their children dressing in incredibly revealing clothes. I know that I probably sound like everyones parents now, but hey, did you ever stop to think that they might be right?

Think about it

See ya

Geoff

2005-05-23T09:03:00.000-03:00

Wow!

We went to the Maritime Christian Youth Conference this past weekend, and it was great! The downside to it was that there were too many people there. And the only reason that was a downside was that most of the guys had to sleep on the floor in the gym.

Now I don't know about you, but sharing a gym floor with 50 or so guys is not my idea of a great time. Especially when many of them snore. A buddy of mine was there and we set up our bedrolls beside each other. Had a good chat, calmed our guys down, then went to sleep.

Well at least he went to sleep. And snored.

We made two very important discoveries this weekend. 1 is that my friend has sleep apnea ( http://www.cpapman.com/disorder.htm ) which means that he snores TERRIBLY and also that he stops breathing while he is a sleep. That is pretty scary.

The second discovery was that people who are near people who have sleep apnea may never get to sleep.

He is my friend....but I could have cheerfully done him in by 4 am. Of course to be fair, he could have done me in because I kept poking him to stop the snoring.

I think I finally understand my wife poking me all these years.

Anyway, the rest on the conference was great, the kids had a good time, saw old friends and made some new ones, and best of all God was glorified!

See ya

Geoff

2005-05-19T10:35:00.000-03:00

For those of you who know me well, you will be shocked by what I say next.....

Curse You Coca-Cola!!!

Last night my wife and I watched LOST. Its just about the only show I make an effort to watch. We had a bag of chips to share and I had purchased a 2 litre bottle of Lime Coke as well.

The show starts at 9 and runs 1 hour. In that time I drank approx 1 litre of Coke. Thus I have been awake since 7 am yesterday morning....sigh.

Now here is the thing. I know its not really Coke's fault, I know that I am the one that poured it into the glass and then drank it. Its very easy to blame someone or something else for our problems. I need to stop doing that.

Well... at least I will sleep well tonight.

See ya later

Geoff

2005-05-16T12:10:00.000-03:00

Today I am my dog's hero.

Its garbage day here, and so our garbage cans were by the side of the road. They had already been picked clean by the garbage collectors and their dissicated corpses were rolling in the chill wind.

Jack (the beagle in question) was put out on his tether, and discovered this macabre scene. Thereupon he set up a racket, baying with all his might to alert us (and the entire neighbourhood) of the fate consigned upon our poor garbage cans. This was the scene as I came out to investigate:

Jack was crouched almost at the end of the line, barking furiously, and baying occasionally at the garbage can remains. The wind was blowing one of the cans back and forth, and when it would edge towards Jack, his bark would change to a bay and he would edge back towards the house until the can in question rolled back a bit.

I brought Jack into the house. He immediately lept to the window as I went out, and moved the garbage cans to their accustomed places.

When I came into the house Jack greeted me with honour and praise, rejoicing in the restoration of all things.

Today, I am my dogs hero :-)

See ya later

Geoff

2005-05-15T15:14:00.000-03:00

Same day, not too much later. Did you ever wonder if beagles really know that when they give you that sad-eye'd look that it has an emotional effect? My beagle seems to do it on purpose. He also wanted out (he was bored)(its true...beagles get bored) and my wife did'nt want to get up and let him out so she said no. He looked at her a minute or two and then deciding that she was serious, he walked over to my desk, took a pen, went to the door and lay down with it. Here is the thing....

He pretended to chew it so that she would come over. When my wife got to him it was obvious that he hadn't chewed the pen (he also knows that he gets in trouble for that) and he hopped to his feet and looked eagerly at the door.

He got to go out.

See ya later

Geoff

2005-05-15T14:52:00.000-03:00

Two days in a row. I personally am astounded and astonished. Today being Sunday we went to corporate worship. That just means church. But it bugs me to say church because then everybody pictures what they think church is . And ours isn't like that. Hammonds Plains Christian Church is a recent start up. There really aren't a lot of rules to starting a church except worship God. So we do.

I work with the kids and families. Thats why they call me the Family Minister I guess :-) We have the "Construction Zone for the kids pre-school to grade 4 and a class for the older kids too. This takes place after the main service starts. When I arrived I was both startled and impressed at the level of teaching that the children were recieving. One of the nice things about a new church is that people don't know what you aren't supposed to be able to do, so they go ahead and do it anyway. The grade 3 and 4 class was doing a comparison through the synoptic gospels of the torments of Jesus prior to the cruxifixion. The teacher sat and quietly worked while the kids did the research.

This place is SO cool!

Anyway see ya later!

Geoff

2005-05-14T18:51:00.000-03:00

It has been a year and a half since I last posted something here. In fact I had forgotten about it entirely until I found an old link to it. Much has happened in that year and a half. We moved to a different province, I have a different job and we are now (trumpet music) in the process of buying a house!

Fear and trembling have become a part of my daily existace. The truth of the matter is that I am a financial coward. I have done some very dangerous things in my life, I have faced down armed attackers, I have fought fires (from inside the fire) in forests and homes. I have worked to rescucitate the dead and have intervened in suicide attempts. But nothing so far has caused me fear and anxiety as the idea of buying a house.

More on this later. Its good to be back.

See ya!

2003-09-17T14:56:00.000-03:00

Google News

Interestingly, I like the Google News Site. Its quick and easy and has a wide arrangements of sources. But I miss the days when I didn't know what was going on in the world. There was a time when I had no idea what was going on in the Middle East, or Europe, I didn't know what the trouble was south of the border, and I had NO economic notions about anything.

Those were good days.

News is so depressing now. Hurricanes about to hit, people shot, marriages crumbling. I really look forward to Heaven.

I don't know exactly what it will be like, but I do know that it will be better than this!

See ya

2003-09-04T23:57:00.000-03:00

INSIDE OUT! with Jerry Meyer

Maybe one of the neater things about the web is that we meet so many people who live absolutely anywhere (hence the overall title of the Blog) and do anything. Over the years I have met a bunch of different types who have become very close. Jerry meyers (aka PapaJ) is one such person. He is a Christian, he is musical, and he gets my jokes! What more could you ask for.

Okay, he could also own major shares in Coca Cola and give them to me, but hey you can't have everything...

Papaj is also a former volunteer firefighter ( as I currantly am) and we connected on tons of different levels. He has been wrestling with health problems for years, but then he was faced with stuff (health problems) with his wife Pat. You have to read his stuff to understand I guess.

Anyway, he is cool, and I respect him immensely.

see ya

2003-09-03T23:08:00.000-03:00

My Webpage

I used to have a snazzy (there is a word you don't see very often) webpage. I had all kinds of stuff on it about my family and my hobbies and stuff. I had flickering torches when they were still cool and I had music that never ended. In fact it was the theme music to "Get Smart".

I would update it every now and again, when my kids had birthdays or if I wanted to change a description or add links or whatever. Then I let it sit for a long time. About a year I guess, maybe longer, I had gotten bored with it. I just didn't really care about it. After all, its not like I got anything out of it except for a few friends that I made. (Which I suppose really justified the whole exercise in primitive html.) So anyway, after quite a while of not touching it I tossed everything on it and replaced all the deeply interesting facts about me playing Frisbee Golf with a couple of neat cartoons.

Now the cartoons just update themselves and I can come and go as I please. Its really very satisfying in a way.

I guess thats kind of my life. I am not terribly interested in telling lots of people all about me, I am more interested in passing along fun and useful things. I guess thats kind of why I am a Minister. Its not about me, its about Jesus.

See ya.

2003-09-02T23:29:00.000-03:00

Peggie's Place!

I will never win a lottery! I was on a friends web page today (Peggie) and I hit the magic 7,000,000 spot. I got the counter thingee to roll over and because of this I am very excited. ( I really do have a life, I just think its really cool) Peggie has this great webpage and I like going there anyway. We both love Jesus, and lots of Italian food :-) There are actually a bunch of us that email regularly (The Pot o' Pastors) and Grant and I were both going to her site to see what the counter was. I won. Thats why I say I will never win a lottery. But thats okay actually. I don't really mind. I have something better.

Oh yeah. Grants website is Grant's Graceland

See ya

2003-09-02T14:15:00.000-03:00

I talked to a friend today, he reminded me about Jeff Healey. Thats not a big thing except that I was glad to remember him. I used to listen to his show on CBC Radio, and I always liked the tone of his voice. He would play great blues songs, and occasionally he would play something himself. It was a warm and comfy thing I guess. You need to remember people that have affected you, but there is so much stuff coming at us everyday that I just don't seem to remember until something or someone reminds me. Its like walking into a Cow's Ice cream shop and remembering that I love Chocolate mint chip ice cream. Its a happy thing. Its like sometimes when I am really bummed out cause I have messed something up. I get all worked up about it and then my wife reminds me that Jesus forgives us anyway, not just when we get everything right, but when we are seriously screwed up too. Jesus is a happy person to remember too.

see ya