my experiences

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I’m Realizing How Dependent I Am

The other day, I realized how dependent I am on my glasses. I don’t have a prescription, and I don’t wear them all the time, but I can’t do without them.

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It started in my 40’s. I noticed after studying for a period of time that my eyes would get all blurry. I couldn’t focus on anything.

That’s when I got my eyes checked. The eye examiner said that I needed reading glasses and handed me a prescription.

I never filled it. Instead, I went to a drugstore and found a pair of readers with a mere +115 strength. They seemed to work fine.

Well, I’ve been doing that for the past 18 or so years, but now my glasses are +250 or +275 … I can’t tell for sure; the marking has rubbed off.

Over the years, I’ve realized I need to keep my glasses close by, even though I don’t need them all the time. You never know when someone will want you to look at a picture on their phone or I will need to read a label of some kind.

I remember times when we would rent videos and I would forget to bring my glasses. I’d say to my son, Mike, “read the description on the back for me, will ya?” I couldn’t see all the tiny print.

Now I keep a few pairs of glasses at home, and a pair on my person. But the other day, I forgot them.

I left them on my night table … something I almost never do.

I got to work, fired up my computer, and within a minute knew that I wasn’t going to be able to work without glasses.

Fortunately, I had a spare pair at work. Now the problem with always having your glasses with you is that you don’t pay attention to the spare pairs you’ve put in places you might need them.

It had been a few years since I needed to use that spare pair at work. And even at that, it was just once and then a year of so before that.

So I flipped on those glasses in my desk, and I could tell right away that they weren’t strong enough. So I searched around to see if I had another pair.

I did, but I think they were even older. I had to put one pair of glasses on and then stretch my arm out as far as I could to try to read the strength of the lenses printed on the arm of the other glasses. It read +125.

Well, that ship had sailed a long time ago. I’m double the fun and double the strength now.

I knew that if I continued to work with those glasses, I would have a hard time finding the door of my office in about 25 minutes.

So I took off to the nearest drugstore and bought a pair of beauties. I don’t really want to be seen in public with them on, but I was able to work all day without the feeling that I was watching an old 3D movie without the glasses.

Here’s the thing: Your Christian life should grow more dependent the longer you are a Christian – just like how I need my glasses more and more and at greater strengths. We should become more and more dependent on Christ in our daily life. Never think that you are set, now that you’re a Christian. You need more of Christ and in stronger doses.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you become more dependent on Christ? Leave your comments below.

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You Have More Connections Than You Know

I’ve met people who seem to have connections with everyone, but we’re all pretty connected. What I mean is we all know people who know others who we know.

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You don’t go too long before you bump into people you know, or who know someone you know. Every time Lily, my wife, goes shopping it seems she meets people she knows.

What is really amazing is finding you have a common connection with someone who lives on the other side of the country.

With travel being so easy and available, it’s hard not to find connections between people. Still,  it’s not like you can go up to someone who lives in California and say ‘I know a guy who lives in LA. Do you know him?”

We chuckle at that kind of thinking, but seriously, we can run into people in far away places and find that we have a connection …

On our trip to Mexico, I ran into high school friends at the airport. We live in different cities, been out of high school for 40 years, and have not consciously made contact or kept in touch over that time.

Yet there we were, flying on the same airline to the same destination, staying at the same resort for the same length of time. Wow, that was freaky!

Yet even more far out than that was a couple Lily and I met while waiting for a shuttle bus to take us from our resort to a nearby town to go shopping.

We were waiting for the shuttle when a couple came up to us and asked if we were going into Playa del Carmen. After we said yes, the husband asked where we were from.

I told him we were from Kingston, Ontario, and then to be polite to these total strangers, I asked where they were from.

Their reply was, “Edmonton, Alberta”, but then they corrected themselves by saying, “actually, we live in Sherwood Park”.

Since Lily and I had lived in Edmonton for eleven years, we told them we knew exactly where that was.

I mentioned that I had been a pastor at Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, and that we have a sister church, Sherwood Park Alliance Church, in their area. … Beulah and Sherwood Park are both large churches so I figured even if they didn’t go to church they might have heard of one or both of these churches.

Their response was very interesting. Their children attended the school that was associated with Sherwood Park Alliance.

To that I responded, “Oh, I think I used to know the principal of that school; I played soccer in college with him,” and then uttered his name.

Their eyes got all big and they said they knew him very well.

So there we were at a resort near Playa del Carmen, Mexico, by chance meeting people who lived on the other side of Canada from us, and we both knew the same person.

How’s that for a connection?

Here’s the thing: In life there are many connections just waiting to be uncovered. Spiritually, God wants to reveal His connection to us through His Son, Jesus. Don’t be shy about uncovering or developing that connection with Christ Jesus.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has been your most amazing connection with someone? Leave your comment below.

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I Would Like To Blame Someone For The Weather

We like to blame people when the weather is not as we would like it to be. When it’s rainy, and someone has just flown in from somewhere, we say he has brought the bad weather with him.

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We don’t blame cloud formations or weather streams from the north. We blame people … like the weather man. We wouldn’t be satisfied if the weather man was 100 percent accurate while we were experiencing frosty weather.

We would look for someone else to blame.

So here’s my problem … I just got home from a week in Mexico, where the temperature was about 30 Celsius day and night … and I’ve come home to single digit degrees! People here can’t blame me for the cool weather, but I’m sure looking for someone to get all snarly with.

Every morning it’s been minus one when I’ve gotten up and it takes most of the morning to rise above 5 Celsius.

I had a real frozen awakening my first day back in the office. I’m sure it was colder in my office than it was outside! Unfortunately, since I had turned the furnace off before I left on vacation, I really don’t have anyone to blame for my office temperature other than myself.

I haven’t checked the extended forecast because down south it was the same temperature all day every day, and I got used to walking around in a bathing suit.

It was nice … my wife, Lily, never once asked me what the weather was like outside. At home, when she is getting ready for the day, she always asks what the temperature is. Right now the answer is the same every day: cold.

When we got back, I had a sun tan. Actually, I singed myself a little playing beach volleyball a couple of days. But a day or two back in the land of “We the North” and I’m as pale as I was before I left.

I thought I might have a head start on a summer tan, but now I’m afraid I will have to start all over again.

I just can’t figure out who I can blame for this cold weather. Blaming “global warming” doesn’t really do it for me; it’s not personal. I want someone to feel bad, or at least feel like they are on the hook for the weather I’m experiencing.

I would blame our western provinces since our weather usually comes from there. But they’ve been experiencing some nice temperatures; they’re out.

I’m really at a loss of who I’m going to blame. I might have to resort to the guy who does the weather on Channel 11. I don’t like his attitude in giving us the forecast. I don’t watch him much, but why would I? … He’s responsible for the rotten weather we’re experiencing.

Here’s the thing: We like to put the blame for our sin somewhere else. We might think someone else enticed us, or that the devil is to blame, or that our circumstances are at fault. When we do that, however, we fail to take the proper responsibility for our own sin. Don’t blame others; take a firm look at your own contribution to sin. Then you will be ready to fully confess it before God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you tend to blame for the sin in your life? Leave your comment below.

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Get Greater Understanding From A Different Perspective

When you see things from a different perspective it opens a whole new world of understanding.

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I went to a movie yesterday; it was based on the Easter story called, “Risen”. It wasn’t quite the typical presentation about Jesus’ death and resurrection.

This movie gave the angle of someone from the outside looking in on what happened. We were witnesses to how the Easter story unfolded from the eyes of a Roman officer.

It’s a different way to look at it. The Roman officer was charged with unravelling the mystery of the disappearance of Jesus’ body from the tomb.

I won’t spoil the movie for anyone who might want to see it, but it’s very well done. It’s a good story and basically follows the Biblical account, from a non-Biblical perspective … that means there are events in the movie that are impossible to know if they actually happened or not, but they give you something to think about.

It’s like a different camera angle of the same scene. … There was a movie called “Vantage Point” that was made that way.

In that movie a president was shot and the movie took you through six different sight views of the shooting. Each angle provided a little more information because they could see something from that view that they could not have seen from one of the other vantage points.

In my sermon yesterday, I made reference to this same principle. I said if you have trouble forgiving someone who has hurt you, look at all the sin you have committed against God and put it on a scale opposite to the hurt you experienced. I’m sure that hurt will pale in comparison; yet God has provided forgiveness to us in Christ Jesus.

A different perspective gives you new information to help you understand and make better decisions and judgements.

When a hockey team snaps their nine game winning streak, some people wonder what’s gone wrong. From a fan’s vantage point there’s a problem with the team.

But from the team’s perspective, they know they’re in first place and are, therefore, rolling out all four lines against a team that is trying to gain a higher place in the standings and are sending out their top line every second shift.

That’s what made the movie I saw yesterday refreshing. It wasn’t just a re-tell of the same story. It was the same story from a different vantage point.

Unfortunately, this movie has a limited run in theatres; it may not even be there in the two weeks before Easter.

I would recommend the movie to anyone. But go to the movie knowing the Biblical account of the resurrection. First read the last chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Then you will be ready to see the Easter message from a different vantage point. It will get you thinking.

Here’s the thing: Many people make up their minds based on something they’ve heard, or an experience they’ve had. That’s okay to do when the issue is where to go on vacation or what restaurant to eat in. But when it comes to your life and future, you need to look at all the angles. God loves you; check out how He has shown His love to you. Read the Easter story, see the movie “Risen” if you can, and make a decision based on a greater perspective.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What keeps you from seeking a greater perspective? Leave your comment below.

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Don’t Get Caught Up In The Moment

Have you ever been caught up in the moment, so much that you didn’t think of doing something that could improve that moment?

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… That sentence sounded a bit like a riddle that will leave you hypnotized. Let me try to explain.

The other day I was driving to work and my car was very cold. I was shivering and thinking about how cold I was almost all the way to work before I turned on the heat to warm things up.

I’ve had my present car for over six years now, so I know the car’s ways and quirks. One of the things I know about my car is how long it takes to warm up when it is cold.

I need to travel 4 kilometres before the heater really kicks in and starts to blow warm air into the cabin of my little Accent.

Up until that point, turning the heater fan on is pretty much counter productive. I’m cold already from the temperature outside; I don’t need to add to my coldness with a frosty breeze in my face.

So what I do is leave the fan on low or completely off until I drive four kilometres, and the heat starts to kick in.

I take the same route to work each day so I don’t have to look at the odometer to check if I’ve gone the necessary distance. I know when I pass a certain spot on the route that I can turn on the heat and actually get some.

The other day, however, as I was driving to work, I couldn’t get over how cold it was. We’ve had such a mild winter, I figured it should be pretty much over, and higher temperatures should be on the way.

I know the various groundhogs in Punxsutawney, Wiarton, and Shubenacadie had mixed responses when they emerged from their holes. But we should get the benefit of the doubt – two of the three didn’t see their shadows … that means early spring!

… I’m not sure you can trust the judgement of a groundhog anyway. I was just trying to get to work quickly so I could get out of the cold.

It was then that I realized that I’d passed my heat point several kilometres back. I was less than a kilometre from work when I remembered to crank up the heat.

It barely took the edge off by the time I pulled into my parking spot.

I was kicking myself for shivering all that way when I could have had the heat on and gotten warm instead.

My present situation of being cold had captured my attention and kept me from taking a small action that could have changed my circumstance.

Here’s the thing: When we are dealing with something that discourages, saddens, or frustrates us, we can concentrate on our state to the point where we don’t take any action to change our situation. There may be nothing in our power we can do to remove or change our present circumstance, but if we fail to take our situation to God, we miss out on an opportunity to find relief. Don’t be so into your moment that you fail to call on the Lord who can help you. He’s right there all the time.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What caught your focus so that you failed to do something that could have changed your situation? Leave your comment below.

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Is Technology Making You Irrelevant? 

I’m a little concerned with where technology is leading us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all “teched” up to the hilt in my world, but I don’t know how long I can keep going.

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I’m not concerned that computers stop being more and more useful; it’s that I don’t like the changes I have to keep making.

Software has to continually be kept up with or we appear to be old fashioned.

I experienced that the other day. People looked at me like I was from the dark ages because I didn’t have a certain app on my phone.

I was making arrangements to pay a guy for hockey, and he said, “Just send the money via etransfer.”

I replied that I didn’t really do that kind of thing … that’s when the looks started flashing around the room.

It seemed like I was the only one who didn’t use this form of money transfer.

My son just smiled and shook his head. He didn’t say it but I knew he was thinking, “Man, my dad is an old guy”.

He did ask, “Don’t you have the banking app?”, to which I responded, “What’s the banking app?” At that point I could tell his thoughts were, “It’s useless. He’s too old to understand this stuff.”

I know, in that moment, Mike was contemplating the next 20 years of helping me, holding my hand as the computer age passes me by.

I’ve watched that movie before! … only I was the one who had to hold my dad’s hand as he struggled to do some of the simple things on a computer.

I guess it happens to us all eventually. But I’m a computer guy and I don’t feel like I’m out of touch with what’s going on in the computer world.

I just don’t think I need to jump down every rabbit hole that technology is taking us on.

There are areas that I’m quite happy to leave alone, and leave for others to use. One of those areas has to do with my money and transactions.

There is something in me that likes to be the one who takes MY money out of MY bank account. I don’t like it when someone else – either the bank or a merchant – takes my money out of my account for me.

Now I’ll have to get used to etransfer or the computer age will pass me by.

I just don’t like where computers are leading us. I shouldn’t be considered out of touch or too old to figure it out because I don’t use a certain method of payment.

At the end of our conversation, Mike said he would do the transfer. That sounded perfect to me because the money would be coming out of his bank account!

I told him, “That works for me. I’ll just subtract that amount from the tab you’ve got going with me.”

Here’s the thing: Most of us want to remain relevant in this world. As you consider staying relevant spiritually, remember that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. You can always reach Him in the same way; He’s always reachable by prayer.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what area do you fear becoming irrelevant? Leave your comment below.

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Live vs. Prerecorded

From time to time I repost articles previous written. This was originally posted on October 30, 2012

This week I attended a conference on leadership.  It was the annual Global Leadership Summit that Willow Creek Church puts on.

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Years ago if you were to attend this conference you had to travel to Chicago to be there in person.  Then they made it easier for people by having simulcast sites all over North America so you could still attend the conference “live”, in your home town, or at least close to where you lived.

I’ve done both in the past, and though being there live is kind of special and you get the real feel of the conference, I have become pretty comfortable watching the speaker on a screen.

What helped was realizing that even when I was in Chicago, because the auditorium was so big, I found myself watching the screens there.  You could see the speakers better that way.  So being somewhere else watching a screen wasn’t a difficult adjustment – at least you knew it was happening in present time.

Now this conference has taken things to a new level.  Not only do you not have to be in Chicago for the conference, but now you don’t even have to attend when the conference is taking place.

I attended this week, but the conference actually took place and was recorded in the middle of August.  This week, Bill Hybels (the host speaker) was probably speaking some other message, somewhere on the other side of the world, while we were taking in the conference like it was happening live.

The host sites do a good job, though, of keeping it fresh, and “live-like”.  We had a live band to lead us in some songs and a live host, who lead us to the all important refreshments at break times.

But we were also encouraged to respond to things like it was happening live.  For instance, at the end of a message, the audience in Chicago (back in August) all clapped.  We were encouraged to do the same, but our clapping was pretty feeble, since we were only clapping to a screen.

At the very end of the conference, Bill Hybels challenged everyone to pray and give our all to making the local church the hope of the world.  He asked us to pray a set prayer for the next 30 days, and if we agreed to do it, to sign the card the prayer was on … and to do it in the presence of a witness.

And that is when any sense of it being live fell apart for me.  He said “If you don’t have someone who will witness you signing your prayer card, I will be up here at the front and would be happy to witness it for you.”  I looked, and I hung around at the front for a moment; Bill wasn’t there.  He was in Chicago, or Zimbabwe, or some place else.

Here’s the thing:  I’m good at pretending something is live when it has really been recorded.  For the most part, I don’t miss the live action.  God, however, is live all the time, 24/7.  When I want to respond or need a response, with God I’m never left hanging around, waiting for someone who’s not there to show up.  I never want to take for granted how much better my live God is.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How often do you take advantage of God being live, 24/7? Leave your comment below.

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There Are Too Many Voices In My Head

Sometimes when you tell people your problems, they make stuff up. They don’t have a better solution to your predicament, but they come across as experts anyway.

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Even when you tell them what remedy you’re trying, they disagree and give you a fix that you don’t want to have to resort to.

People do this all the time.

Recently I got a new pair of skates (you can read that post here). They are awesome skates but there is one issue that I was having with them.

They were rubbing and causing about a 2 1/2” long rug burn on each ankle.

It wasn’t too bad the first time it happened, but then I played hockey a couple of days later before the rug burns had healed. That time it kind of opened the wounds up and made them a mess.

If you know anything about rug burns, they take a long time to heal – longer than a straight cut. So the next time I played, the scabs quickly opened up and it was very sore to play at first until I got used to it.

I knew I needed to do something or they would never get better … well, at least until after the season.

My solution was bandaids that were long and padded. I found some at the drugstore that were four inches long. I hoped that covering and cushioning my ankles would stop the disaster they had become.

I figured all I had to do was get the skin healed up. The skin would get tougher so that this situation wouldn’t happen again.

The next time I played I tried out my bandaids. Surprise, surprise – they worked like a charm!

There was a little blood but it was minimal.

This is when all the experts came to my rescue. As I was taking off the bandaids, the guys in the dressing room turned into Dr. Bob or something.

They all had solutions. My ankles still looked pretty messy so they didn’t think my solution would work.

The “back of a pack of matches” physicians had to give me their second, third, and fourth opinions. “Wear socks”, one said. Another one said, “Cut the foot part off a sock and just wear the ankle portion”.

Others agreed with the diagnosis and said there was no other way. “You have to put something over your ankles.”

I disagreed but smiled and said, “We will see.” They all trashed my solution.

Well, I’ve been doing the bandaid thing for a month now. I’ve stopped wearing one on my right ankle and it’s crazy – like magic, the skin has toughened up and I have no more issues!

The other ankle is almost ready to go. The next skate I’ll take the bandaid off and give it a shot.

Maybe Dr. Silcock does know best after all. … I’m sure glad I didn’t cut up socks and wear them like sweat bands around my ankles!

Here’s the thing: Other people will be the loudest voices in your life and it will be easy to listen to them. They are well-meaning voices and they may even have good ideas for you to follow. But the best voice to listen to is the still, small voice of God. It might be hard to hear God’s voice over all the other voices, but if you listen closely you will hear Him and He will give you the best advice hands down!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you hear God’s voice over other voices? Leave your comment below.

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Get Things Done With The Right Tools

It is amazing how simple something seems with the right “know-how” and the right tools. It’s inspiring to see, to the point that you think you can do the same thing.

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Maybe that is why they have warning messages on some commercials, “Don’t try this at home”.

When you see someone with some skill using the right tools to do something or perform some task, it looks so effortless that it makes you think, “Just give me a try; I could do that too.”

Not so fast! I’ve been in this movie before and it’s not as easy as it looks.

Let me explain … Recently I was having trouble with my car. It was running rather rough, as if it was not firing on all cylinders.

I knew something wasn’t right, not only by the way the car was sounding and feeling but by the light on the dashboard that read, “check engine”.

I couldn’t get it to my mechanic because it was around Christmas, but I was a little concerned that the car could stop working at any time.

I mentioned my car woes to the guy who cuts my hair. … That may seem kind of odd when you read this, but my hairstylist knows cars, fixes cars, races cars, and can get anything for cars.

He’s a car guy.

I’ve been going to him to get my hair cut for about 17 years. Last year he got me a deal on winter tires.

When I mentioned my recent car problems, he said it was easy, that he had a scanner and could figure out what was wrong.

We arranged to meet; he brought his engine scanner and plugged it in. In about thirty seconds he told me one of my cylinders wasn’t firing. I needed a new coil.

He quickly called a guy and asked about the part. In the span of about two minutes we were off to the store to get the parts.

I then took my car to his place because he had everything we needed to fix it there. I watched as he went to work. There was no hesitation, no manuals, no computer YouTube video he was following.

He knew the right sized bolt head, and had the tool needed to get the spark plug out of the hole.

In about twenty short minutes he had replaced the coil and four spark plugs. I was on my way, the car sounded great again and the blasted engine light was off.

As I drove home my first thoughts were, “I think I could do that.” And what I meant was, “I think I could do that just like my hairstylist.”

And then I paused. I don’t have the tools he had; I don’t have the know-how to be sure of what I am doing. I would need the manual, or a YouTube video to follow. I know in the end, it would have taken me a couple of hours and several calls for help regarding various issues that I would have.

At least I saw how easy the job can be, with a little “know-how” and the right tools.

Here’s the thing: Your walk with Christ needs the right tools and a little “know-how”. Acquire the right tools, which includes people, books, the Bible, courses seminars, small groups, the list could go on.  Then gain the right “know how” from your experiences with God, trusting him for things, serving him, following his leading. That ensure that at the end of your life, the Lord will say well done.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What looks easy in your faith walk with the right tools and know-how? Leave your comment below.

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Up Early Christmas Morning … Again!

Well, this year I’ve come full circle. I thought it would take longer for it to happen, like maybe not until I was 80 or 85.

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But no, it’s happened already.

In life we start out needing help for pretty much everything and, at the end, we also need more and more help.

They say seniors and teens have lots in common. They both can’t hear – one group because of head phones, the other because, well … they just can’t hear.

They both have no filters on what they say; they say exactly what they’re thinking.

You don’t like their music and they sure won’t tolerate yours.

Each thinks the other doesn’t know anything.They both don’t remember what you said to them five minutes ago.

And they’re both really dangerous behind the wheel of a car!

I’m not saying these things are observable right now in my life, but there is one thing.

When I was a kid I used to get up real early on Christmas morning. It was understandable; I was excited about the presents and all.

Then I went through the stage where I slept in on Christmas morning because I was tired and not that excited about what was under the tree.

But this year, in this way, I’ve reverted back to my childhood. I was up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning.

That’s right, 5:55 in the morning and I was climbing out of bed!

The difference this year was I passed by the treasures in the living room and headed straight downstairs.

I spent time alone doing my devotions and then I worked on my sermon.

We had determined the night before that we would get things rolling at our house at about 10 am so I figured I would have a few hours of productivity first.

By the time people were stirring and visions of sugar plums were starting to fade, I had a couple of hours of work completed on my sermon.

I had tried to work ahead, but I just hadn’t been able to finish my sermon before Christmas Eve for the Sunday after Christmas.

With only a couple of days in between, it meant writing on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. I didn’t want to miss out on time with my family so I thought, “I have an opportunity here to use unused, discarded time to get things done.”

I had just put the final strokes on my message when I heard some footsteps from above. For a second I thought it  was old Saint Nick making his yearly visit but then I realized it was only my wife heading into the kitchen.

As the house came alive and everyone gathered for some breakfast, I emerged from the basement, sermon complete, ready to enjoy Christmas morning with my family with no pressure hanging over my head.

But just like the young, about mid afternoon I was ready for a nap.

Here’s the thing: Often we think those early hours are time to sleep, and not good for anything. But those early quiet hours can be the most special time we can have with God.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Paul

Question: What have you seen come full circle in your life? Leave your comment below.