Advent

This Christmas is kind of weird! Thanksgiving is so late that it lands on the first Sunday of Advent. It felt strange to preach at Grace Point today on a topic unrelated to the worship songs. The worship was great, but the songs were traditional Christmas songs, while the series was on dealing with conflict. Please don't get me wrong - there was nothing wrong with the service, and I am not suggesting that anything should change. It just felt strange for me to be singing Christmas carols while preparing to speak about living as a body.

In fact I gained some new appreciation for the old standard Christmas songs as stand alone worship songs. It was great to see the bedrock of unity within songs like "O Come All Ye Faithful" and the rapture of worshiping the Great Yahweh in "In Excelsis Deo". So, it was not a bad service, actually it was quite good, just strange.

Alone in the office!

Well, it truly is amazing how quiet and peaceful the office is when everyone is gone. Office closes at 3pm, and most people are on their way out or gone. So, why am I here? This happens to be the perfect time to work on my sermon for this week. Quiet reflection, no interruption, reading, study and listening to God is helped best without the constant tap on the door.

Sermon focus is on interpersonal conflict. Probably not the best sermon for me to be giving. My way of dealing withe interpersonal conflict is to use a bazooka! Well, I guess Wayne Corderio's message of preaching to yourself first is going to come in handy this week. So, time for me to start listening to how I need to grow.

Favorite Pizza!

Well, pizza, (pitsa as my best friend Pete would say) is just an awesome food. In our family it is a Sunday dinner standard. We discovered a great new topping: chicken, onion and cheese, whatever herbs you want and for me tobasco sauce.

My wife, Ingrid's, favorite topping is banana and bacon.

What's your favorite topping? Cheese does not qualify.

What type of base - for us thin crust, even better, homemade dough, homemade sauce and fresh toppings cooked to order. Now we're talking!

What's Next?

Well, talk about getting in the game late.

I read The Purple Cow sometime ago. In it I was introduced to sneezers, early adopters, late adopters and the rest (don't remember now). I always thought about myself as an early adopter. However, I think I really am a late adopter. I resist cell phone use, slow to adopt new ideas and thoughts, and one of the last to enter the blogging world.

So, where will this go...I have no idea. But I guess it will be open for thought. I plan to use this blog irregularly to just talk, share thoughts, say whatever is on my mind. Really just random thoughts on the page,with hopefully the occasional and rare insight.

It is quite an auspicious time - first black president in America, the ever shortening lifespan of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president. The demise of apartheid, the rise of terrorism, the beginnings of another Depression. What does the future hold for me, my children? Where will it all go and what will be the result? Who knows?

As I left work tonight I said to a colleague, "I think I need to trust God more". With impending cutbacks around the world in work, declining income, perilous future I am left with only hope in God as a resort. It sounds depressing and despairing, yet I think it is where God would have me, holding on to Him for dear life, asking Him what's next?