the ME church.

If you haven't seen this one minute video on YouTube, it's definitely worth a look. You can see it by clicking the image above. Another version can be found here.

ME church. Where it's all about YOU. This video was made as a comical way of discouraging the idea of "shopping for churches." However, there are many aspects of this video that speak to the meaning of church. What is the purpose of church? Why do we go to church?

Church is not about any one person in particular. I think most Christians are aware of this. Numerous passages in Scripture speak about the various anatomical parts that make up a church and how each part is equally important to the health and functional ability of the church as a whole. Here's one for example:

Romans 12:3-8
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Even though we aware of this supposed unity within the body, many churches struggle today because of this Me Only or Me First attitude that has become so prominent. As a result, many people don't see the harm in skipping church or the youth group that they regularly attend.

ME: "I don't feel like attending Bible Study tonight. I won't be able to learn so it will be my loss. Right?"

There are several aspects of this statement that reflect a narcissistic mindset. What happens if no one feels like attending Bible Study? If Bible Study was meant for people to attend just to learn, then why do we regularly sit around a table? Why don't we have Bible Study in the sanctuary with the leader standing behind the pulpit? A successful Bible Study hinges on the contributions of the participants and not just the leader. How can you contribute if you're not present? Now it's no longer just your loss, but every person in the group loses your potential to contribute. Even the most random questions or remarks can spark a meaningful discussion. You never know. Is fellowship about you only?

ME: "I can never seem to wake up on time for church. I always end up missing the singing portion, but at least I'm there for the sermon."

It appears that the importance of punctuality is dwindling at an alarming rate. However, being late isn't my biggest concern. Tardiness happens. Sometimes it's inevitable. Most (if not all) of us have been late before so we are certainly in no position to judge the person who walks in 30 minutes late. Consistent lateness, however, in my mind, is inexcusable. Is it because we don't take church seriously? Do we take God seriously? Or is it simply because Sunday mornings are for ME and not for God? What does Sunday morning mean to you? If your presence during worship was not required, then why do we bother to worship as a group? We could all sing to God on our own time - at our own convenience. If a sermon was all that you came to church for, then why not stay at home and watch one online? Church is NOT for you to just come and receive. Rather than asking yourself what you got out of church today, why not ask yourself what you gave at church today? Chris Siliard puts it well in his sermon on servanthood: God has divine opportunities for you every time you come to church...Opportunities to encourage, greet, care for, pray for, or serve somebody.

Is Sunday about you only?

The author of Hebrews begs to differ.

Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The importance of church and fellowship was well-documented by the author of Hebrews. Living the life of a devout Christian is becoming more and more difficult. And as our daily walks with God become more and more challenging, fellowship, edification, and accountability are necessities to keep us grounded in our faith. This takes active participation by all members of the body.

the one who inspires.

Following the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 82nd Academy Awards, one word has really stuck out to me these past two months. The word that has been on my mind and on my heart is: inspiration.

Watching the heart-warming clip of Alexandre Bilodeau’s Olympic journey for the very first time was certainly one of the moments I remember most from this year’s Winter Games. The gold medal winner got his inspiration from his older brother, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age. Even though doctors told him that he’d lose his ability to walk before he reached his teens, Frederic Bilodeau continues to walk at the age of 28. That, my friends, is inspiring. And then you have characters like Jon Montgomery who openly encourages mothers across the nation to allow their children to pick up the sport of skeleton. Perhaps he will be the inspiration of future athletes. At the Academy Awards, as Sandra Bullock gripped the first golden statue of her career, she applauded fellow nominee Meryl Streep for being the actress she looked up to all these years. In the same hour, we witnessed for the very first time, a female winner for the category of best director. Kathryn Bigelow has now put into place the launching pad for up and coming female directors.

It seems like wherever you find accomplishment, there you will also find inspiration. Whether you’re an Olympic athlete, movie star, or simply a student, we always remember the person or people that helped us “get there.”

Who is your inspiration?

I’m quite sure that I’m not the only who has ever stood in front of the bathroom mirror with a toothbrush or comb and tried to recite my very own acceptance speech. I think that sometimes it’s a good idea to really take the time and recall the people in your life that have inspired you.

I think it’s a funny thing how a lot of individuals thank God in their acceptance speeches. In no way am I saying that I wouldn’t thank God. It just seems that whenever people thank God, it’s almost as if it was to satisfy some form of hidden religious agenda. Being the cynical person that I am, I will now choose not to judge. Instead, I will now get to the core of this post.

There are numerous people that we look up to, numerous people that we aspire to be. Maybe it’s a favourite actor or athlete, an accomplished family member, or a devoted Christian. But as Christians, I wonder how often we look to Christ as our inspiration – as someone who has paved the way for us to be successful. How often do we desire to be just like him? How often do we look at his life, the way he lived it, and truly have the desire to live just like he did – flawlessly, excellently, lovingly, sacrificially, humbly?

[Philippians 2:5-11]
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I believe that this passage provides a very accurate description of the life that Jesus lived. It also provides the necessary blueprints for us as Christians to follow in His footsteps. How many of us can truly “make ourselves nothing?” Perhaps this is a challenge that we should consider taking up.

Who are you inspiring?

I’m guessing that Frederic Bilodeau didn’t inspire his brother at one specific moment, but rather he inspired his brother throughout the course of his life. He inspires him every day. And that’s what inspiration is all about. It’s not about one flashy moment, but about consistency.

Matthew 5:14 remarks that “we are the light of the world.” As Christians, part of our role is to bring the light of Christ to the areas of darkness in this word. And this is not for us. We’re not seeking to bring glory to ourselves, but to Christ. When others look at us, what do they see? Do we, as Christians, live like we’re inspired by our Creator, by our King, by our Lord and Saviour? Or do they simply see Dan, the kinesiology student at Waterloo? As Christians, we have the ability to inspire the world. We have the ability to inspire a generation of young Christians. But this process cannot merely be accomplished within a moment of glory and fame. It cannot simply be remarked during some acceptance speech. We must live it. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week.

Focus your gaze heavenward. Seek Christ and you will find Him. And then live a life inspired by Jesus.

do you know? do they know?

I've heard this question asked over and over again in the past few months:

"Do you KNOW who He is?"

The first few times I heard this question, I completely dismissed the question. "Do you KNOW who He is?" In my head, this question seemed rather childish, rhetorical, and insignificant. Thus, I didn't really put much thought into it. Personally, I KNOW who He is. And for me, that was enough. I know that I'm saved. I know that one day I'll go to heaven.

As we often do, we tend to focus on our personal lives. But these past three weeks have really showed me that this question wasn't for me. Sure, it's always a good thing to re-evaluate your relationship with God. It's always a good thing to ask yourself whether or not you truly KNOW who He is. Two weeks ago at a soup kitchen downtown, I had a conversation with this one fellow. It was through this conversation that I realized that the aforementioned question was for Him.

The conversation was lengthy, but in short I simply asked him whether or not he went to church. He said yes. I asked him if he was a Christian. Affirmative. I asked him if he believed in Jesus. Once again his reply was yes. And then I asked him, "why?" And his answer was "because it's what I was thought." This response struck me and it's stuck with me to this date. Upon further conversing, I realized that this man claimed to be a follower simply because of his upbringing. He even confessed, "who knows what's true? we could all be wrong, but this is what I was taught, so this is what I believe." I'm sure he knows who Jesus is. The stories, the miracles, the teaching. He even claims to know. But does he really?

This episode reminded me of the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Ten virgins wait outside the groom's door. But the groom replies that he doesn't KNOW five of them. Thus the five aren't welcomed in. This story suggests that there are people, perhaps in our churches, in our schools, in our lives, that claim they know. But the truth is, knowledge isn't enough. James 2:19 states that even the devil believes in God. Truly KNOWING Jesus involves more than just head knowledge. When you truly KNOW God, you come into the light and you separate yourself from darkness.

This whole situation really caused me to think about the Christian community. It makes me wonder how many are out there that believe simply based on "what they were taught." These people also need to be reached.

urbana pt. iii - the incarnation

Incarnation
Pronunciation: \ˌin-(ˌ)kär-ˈnā-shən\
(1) : the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form
(2) : the union of divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ

So of all the things i could possibly talk about, why the incarnation? I mean, isn't this something that we're all familiar with already? The idea of Jesus coming down to earth in the form of a man, born to a virgin nonetheless, is something that is practically universally understood by believers and unbelievers alike. Though the message seems rather simple, there is a lot that we can learn from this.

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

First and foremost, this is a story of redemption. The incarnation did not occur for amusement or for some form of twisted pleasure - the incarnation occurred because we, his creation, were fallen. This is a story about a world that was designed for good, but damaged by evil; a planet ravaged by sin and on a one-way path towards eternal destruction. Yet this is a story of undeserved grace. This is a story about a Father willing to send his son to rescue a world that despised, denied, and disobeyed him. But it was the only way. It was the only way to restore the world for better. And now we live in victory. We have been reconciled back to God through the blood of Jesus.

Christ chose to dwell among us. He left his throne in heaven, he set aside all the glory and honor that was attributed to him. He left an area of comfort and instead made himself small, humble, and vulnerable. In the same way, we ought to get off these thrones of comfort that we've built for ourselves. We cannot continue to live as Christians expecting everything to come to us. The great commission doesn't say "wait for the nations to come to you and then..." In the same way that God came to us, we must go to others. God also sent his son knowing the response that the world was going to have. Jesus did not come to be admired, respected, loved by the world. There were obviously those who followed and loved him, but seriously...the man was crucified. But he came regardless. In the same way, we must go regardless of the response we receive. We seek not to please others, but we seek only to please God.

Christ was a reflection of God. Through him, the glory of God was revealed to humanity. In John 3, it speaks about light coming into the world. Light came down to earth to conquer a world of darkness. His light, however, is not accepted by everyone. There are those who choose to remain in darkness. But when we choose to step into the light, salvation comes. We give Christ the irresistible right to rule over our lives. As children of light, we are a reflection of the true, original source of light. And as we are made aware through the sermon on the mount, a light is useless when it is hidden underneath a bowl. Light, however, was made to be mounted high so that it's purpose can be maximized. Light stands out from darkness. Light is separated from darkness. In the same way, we are separated from the world.

We are bearers of good news. When good things happen to us, we share it! When we've seen a good movie or when we hear of a good sale, we share it! Why don't we keep it to ourselves? The answer is clear - whenever something good happens, we are even more joyful when we share it! It's as if we were programmed to share good news.

Therefore we must go! We must follow this example that has been given to us. As Jesus was sent to us, we must be sent out to others.

My challenge to you is simple. Are you living a life that is too comfortable? If so, are you willing to step out into the world and make yourself vulnerable? Are you practicing a life of evangelism that is too focused on results? Do you often find yourself worrying about the response you will receive from others? If so, are you willing to deny your pride and your ego, and instead focus on the mission that was assigned to you from above?

urbana pt. i

hey guys, so in a few hours i will be off to catch my flight to st. louis, missouri. HAH! who am i kidding? (probably no one). in a few hours, i will most likely be standing outside in the cold getting ready to board the bus in hopes of eventually ending up in St. Louis 12+ hours later. in other words "God, help me!"

So for those of you at home, wishing us well in our endeavor, i should be giving daily updates on what's going on at urbana...as well as some pictures hopefully. so definitely check back here to see what we're up to. we will certainly need some guidance from above as the conditions on the road appear to be rather unfavorable. but by the grace of God, hopefully it'll be smooth sailing.

Check ya later!

2012.

No this is NOT a movie review:


The movie 2012 is nearing the end of its theater run and in short, the movie's about how the world is gonna go kabloom a mere two years from now. according to "sources" this is the year that they mayan's predicted the end of the world and apparently a few other religious groups also have evidence suggesting a similar timeline. In no way am i agreeing with this prophecy, but in light of this movie, it got be thinking about the end of the world and the role that each of us have leading up to that day.

The end of the world might not include earthquakes, tsunamis, and the USS Enterprise crashing into the statue of liberty, but it's supposed to be pretty epic. However, this blog isn't gonna be about the nooks and crannies of Armageddon.

In 1 Thessalonians, it says "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." Similarly in Matthew 25, it says "keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour."

That being said, there are many theories about when the world is gonna end. The bible gives a few hints. The mayans seem to have figured it out. But the truth is that nobody really knows when it's actually gonna happen. There's no warning. There's no countdown. At any given moment, the world we know and everything in it will come to an end.

So okay, on judgment day, we all die...yay! Let's have an 'end-of-the-world' party! But here's the thing. No one said you're gonna live to see judgment day. Heck, no one's guaranteed to live past the age of 10 or 20 or whatever.

So Dan, what's your point?

The point is that there are lots and lots of people out there that have no idea what kind of path they're on. Family, friends, classmates, co-workers, neighbours. People you know. People you're close to. They have no idea that they're current life leads to an eternity of pain and suffering. And the problem is that, as Christians, we don't really treat this like an urgency. Every single one of our lives hangs by the thinnest of threads, ready to give way at any moment. It's so easy to get frustrated, to get angry with God when someone close to us passes away. But the truth is that all of us deserve to die. We take every subsequent breath only because God allows us to. If all us simultaneously collapsed, none of us would have the right to complain. We were given 21 years (or however old you are) of life for free. It's like a criminal being allowed to leave prison for 21 years and then finally being returned to prison. He doesn't have any right to complain. He's returning to the place he belongs.

So back on track. Let's imagine for a second that God decided to take your life away tonight. Yup that's right. Tonight. So you meet God face to face for the first time and He asks you, "[insert name here], i've done all these things for you over the years. What have you done for me?" So you begin to give an account of the numerous occasions you led your fellows brothers and sisters in Christ into corporate worship, your consistent devotion to the local soup kitchen, your unconditional attendance at weekly prayer meetings, your persistent dedication to nightly devotions...and the list goes on. Then the Lord asks, "I gave you the great commission. It says to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. How'd you do with that?"

Sure, you can go ahead and build yourself a nice-looking Christian resume. In no way am I implying that good deeds and works are unimportant. Rather, I am emphasizing the importance of the great commission. The final instructions given to us. Our to-do list. Our mission. This isn't something we're supposed to do on the side, not a part-time job. It's not something that comes after the thrills, excitements, and personal fulfillments of this life.

"But spreading the gospel is hard. It gets awkward when I talk to my friends."

The gospel isn't called the Good News for no reason. It's GOOD! It's the greatest gift you've ever received and you've got an unlimited supply to share with the world. I'm not trying to say that sharing the gospel is an easy thing. I've tried and it isn't a walk in the park. You'll get turned away. You'll get shut down. But at the end of the day, you've got to ask yourself what it's worth. An awkward moment is stopping you from potentially saving the soul of your best friends?

So take advantage of every moment. Seize every opportunity. Because we don't know how many of those will come our way. And you don't necessarily have to grab a loudspeaker and run around shouting Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Rather live a life that's reflective of the One in whom you put your faith. Others will be able to see it and they're going to want what you have. That's when you'll be able to share.

But hey! We're all in this together. So let's make an effort to consistently remind each other just how important this is.

For those of you writing exams, good luck!

unknown?

hello world.

As a "first post" I figured that it would probably be a good idea to describe the meaning behind the title for my blog. I hope that this will be the first of many posts to come and i hope that i will be disciplined enough to consistently update this as much as i can.

So what does the slogan "the unknown" have to do with anything? And no, it's not just some cool, catchy line that i picked up somewhere at some random location that i was once at during one phase of my lifetime. If you don't know this already, i am a huge music person. As much as i enjoy the raw talent of an extraordinary musician, i'm also a huge advocate of purposeful lyrics. So when i first heard the song unknown by lifehouse, i was really impacted by the refrain of the song. It says "faith makes everybody scared, but it's the unknown, the don't-know that keeps me hanging on." If you've got me on facebook, you may have noticed that the aforementioned line is currently nesting under "favourite quotes." The quote has actually been there since my high school days. So it's pretty much been stuck to me for quite a while.

So back on track now. Why does this line mean so much to me?

Have you guys ever been so sure of something? like an unshakable belief that the outcome idealized in your head would be realized. There are a lot of situations in life in which you place your utmost confidence. We're confident that...hrrmm...this is actually harder than i thought. I was gonna say that we're generally pretty confident that the sun will rise. But truth be told, there is the possibility that we're gonna wake up at 8 am tomorrow morning and it'll be dark as night. And that's exactly my point. What could we possibly be certain about? I mean if the Kansas City Chiefs could beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, then all of a sudden we start to realize that anything is possible. Like seriously, 99% of the sporting world thought that the Steelers would win and now the same 99% are dead wrong.

This is the kind of world we live in - a world filled with uncertainties, voids, and unknowns. But through all of this, one thing remains the same. One constant. The beginning and the end. That is our Father in heaven. That is where we place our utmost confidence. Confidence that the one who started his good work will carry it on into completion until the day His son returns [Philippians 1:6]. Confidence that the one who made the universe holds every single one of His children in His hand. Confidence that no matter how bleak the situation or how lost we may be, we have hope that we will be carried through the storm. And the world has a lot of trouble acknowledging that. They have difficulty surrendering their lives to an entity that is unknown to them - to a being that is invisible to them. Perhaps they prefer to rely on something that they believe to be more concrete. But like i said, there is only one constant. And as followers, it is during our toughest times that we are able to hang on because we have faith in the one on whom we cling so dearly - that He is unwavering; the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and even on Monday mornings.

So hopefully this is the first of many posts to come. I sincerely hope that you'll be able to take something away from this and i hope that you'll let me know if there's something that you don't quite agree about.