John for Mayer

Well, last night Matt Dyck and I made the grueling trip up to Edmonton to watch Johnny Mayer perform in all his glory. My synopsis of the event is that he was about the third best performance I have seen. The guy owns the guitar and has a pretty talented bunch of musicians with him. The best song of the night was gravity, not by any means my favorite song by him, but included a 5 or 6 minute tangent of insane improvisation and goodness, a la Dave Matthews. I thought Johnny should do that more often, and that is my only complaint. If you get the chance, I highly recommend the show. Here are some pics!

I'd Save the World, but Friends is on...

First off, I won't take all the credit for this post, as meaningless or nonsensical as it may turn out to be. It springs from a conversation I had a day or so ago with Ron the homeless guy down in Kensington. We (and by we I mean mostly Ron) were talking about the state of apathy that we as north americans often find ourselves in. Ron (who felt everyone was guilty of it - don't worry, I defended you non apathetic activists!) thought that, especially in Calgary, where "times are good" we lack conviction about things that our souls might really value. Why is it that we want to turn a blind eye to the less fortunate? Why is it we don't go out of our way to help people? Why do I not care about the government and where the money I give it goes? Why is it that when Gord Mills, a guy who's passionate about raising awareness about the Darfur/Sudan genocide, writes an article on his blog about what we can do about the situation, he gets no comments, no pats on the back, no "rally the troops" kind of replies? Why do funny "feel good" blog posts get people reading? Why do we show up to our hospital demolitions and school closings with popcorn instead of picket signs?

Ron seems to think it's because we are distracted. Work, TV, Flames fever, Family, friends, what have you - it all leaves no room for conviction. If I get excited about something, the logical end to my passion is action, and I don't want to have to act, because that involves time and energy - both of which I can't spare a drop. Notice how much TVshows have taken off in the last few years. Funny that we actually can't wait for things to distract us now. We line up for it!

Oh dear.

Whats the answer? I dunno, but I think that we need to get excited about stuff more often. If your a Christian and reading this, you probably believe that God's wired you to be passionate about certain things. Pursue that. Don't waste time doing it either. Yeah, it will involve time, energy, and might not always turn you on, but lots of times the road to getting crap accomplished isn't going to. All I know is that if we leave everything up to Jack Bauer, we might end up disappointed.

As an aside, I went biking today and took some pics. Hope you likeee.

This could be random

I think I might be narcoleptic. On my way around today, in the car, at work, I had to fight the urge to just fall asleep. Sorry to anyone who actually is narcoleptic out there, but i've heard the condition can present itself at anytime - the ol' eyes just roll back and you're done for a few minutes; maybe an hour. That was me today, except I had a little more self control. I was actually so head tired that I drove home with one eye closed so that at least half of me could get some rest.
Here's the serious bit. I got to thinking, as I woke up from a much needed, lengthy nap, about how I had planned to do so much today. Then, as I got in the shower, I thought about how much I have planned to do this week, where I will be on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, yes- even Friday (the John Mayer concert, BTW). I thought about what I have to do this month, how much planning I have to do, yes- I even thought about the things I have to do in the next year.
I got zapped.
God does that to me sometimes. Wake up, buddy, you're a moron! (except He's waay nicer than that)... 3 verses from James 4 jumped into my head like a Calgary Flame into a penalty box (we'll talk about that later):
You should know better than to say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!"
What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.
You should say, "If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things."

It is good to plan; I think it's foolish not to. But when I become consumed with scheduling and worrying about what gets done and what doesn't; or with what I can fit into my day, I've lost the point. I've made time an idol. Like money, I just need more and I could do it all. Then I'd be happy, right? What I need is to live by the Spirit, accepting that my plans aren't always going to be what pans out; sometimes I just need a nap...

Alright, about the Flames quickly. I never lost hope. I didn't jump off the bandwagon. But, two things. Firstly, last night the fans were WEAK. Get on your feet and cheer during second overtime of the biggest game of the year. Weak. It felt like a regular season game in there. Worse, an exhibition game. Give me your tickets and I'll cheer if your not going to. The problem is the lower bowl tickets are about 400 bucks each so only oil moguls and their wives who don't want to be there can afford to go anymore. Secondly, honestly boys. The numbers game is against you when you get outshot 893 to 14. Kiprusoff is good, but he's no machine. I think next year they'll be better after Amonte, Hamrlik, Friesen, Playfair, and possibly Phaneuf are gone...Go sens go.

Spring Fever, Baby

Hey hey...

Well, spring is starting to poke it's sweet heeed out finally, and we all know what that means. Frisbee in the park, camping, biking, and general not wearing winter clothing. Last year I remember appreciating this time of year alot more than usual. It's quintessential redemption - we come out of the cold dark, and enjoy the warm sun. That was cheezy. Anyways, I got to wondering if people who have it hot all year round really miss out on the whole spring joy. I guess they also miss out on seasonal depression, and all in all, i'd rather see palm trees than snow - but i'm trying to be positive here. Anyways, all this to say I've been out riding my 'hog' quite a bit in the last month, and by that I mean my mountain bike. Gord Mills and I went on a little jaunt tonight (pics).

Bikes are awesome. They get you from point A to point B, you get in shape, you don't pay money for the fuel, and the only by- product is your own beautiful sweat. How good is that. Ride your bikes, my friends.

P.S - Get into the new Hillsong album "All of the above"...The song Hosanna will blow your mind.

a,b,c,(darianism), it's as easy as 1,2,3...

Howdy.

Have you gotten onto dictionary.com yet? Because yesterday's word was abecedarian (AY- BEE-CEE-DAIR-EE-UHN). It refers to someone who is learning the alphabet (as in: Jon was an abecedarian last week) or, if you please, it can mean rudimentary, or elementary (as in: reading Jon's blog is such an abecedarian thing to do). As you can tell, I'm so impressed with this word that i've nominated it for word of the year. If I hear no opposition to that move, i'll assume everyone agrees.

Not really in the mood for writing too much tonight, I worked a late one and i'm tired. Right now I'm thinking about which celebrity I would most enjoy seeing a comment from on my blog. Its between Bono and John Mayer. Jarome Iginla was up there to, but I already know him. So was Stephen Harper, and he does read my blog, but never posts for fear of accidentally making a left-wing comment. Bono would be nice because I feel like he has alot to say. I saw an interview Bill Hybels did with him a little while ago about the Church. It was amazing actually. He's a modern day O.T prophet in my mind; he's got the platform and decides to use it to communicate messages (often to the church) that are uncomfortable. We need guys like that.

John Mayer would be cool because I think the guy is intelligent. His lyrics are smart, and besides, he shreds on the guitar, and I want anyone who can shred to comment on this blog. Well, thats all for now. Bono, John - at your leisure.

P.S - FYI John, I will not allow Jessica to comment on this blog. Thanks.

(I like brackets)

I've discovered a trend in the titles of my posts. My way of getting out of that habit is to make fun of myself for it...

Anyhow, as of about two months ago I started taking every monday off to work for my church, SEMA community, as the worship coordinator. It's been stretching to be in charge of something, to get people exctied about the things God has excited you about...Nonetheless, mondays have become quite the blessing for me, time to just sit and 'be', time to plan and pray, and get away from the busyness of juggling work and other responsibilities, and the tendency I have to create worries and problems for myself. This morning I talked with my pastor friend about joy, celebration and the responsibility that comes with being a recipient of salvation. 30% of Canadians, according to a recent study, would opt out of meeting someone new if they knew that that person was a 'born again christian'. 18% would opt out of that meeting if they knew that person was muslim. We talked about how and why, the message or believers themselves have lost the attractiveness; why people would rather take a step away from us than a step towards when they realize who we are. Granted, you could argue that the natural response to the gospel is polarization; people either reject it or embrace it, and those who reject it make up the statistics. Here's the thing, though - there is nothing unattractive about the heart of the gospel. There is joy, life, and life beyond the grave in it. Sure it's not easy, and not attractive in that sense, but at the core it is something beautiful, life changing and life giving. Here's the question then. Have we forgotten how to live and 'wear' that joy in our lives? Have we managed to miss the celebration of life that comes through knowing Jesus and expecting life beyond the grave? Especially during Easter, it's really hit me, that Jesus beat out death on the cross. I'm pretty sure thats worth celebrating. It's not our job to attract people to Jesus, it's His. But if we are a people who walk in light of what he's done (and i'm not just talking about being 'happy' all the time); people will be attracted. Ever found yourself wanting to hang around with people who 'have it'? Think about that.

On a side note, my girlfriend Dayna and I celebrated our one year dating anniversary on Saturday... for those of you who don't know her, I put a pic up to prove that she actually does exist. She's the bomb.

Jonny

I love the Flames (when they win)

I'm sure it's been thought a million times. "If only more people were healed, more 'red seas' were parted, and more dead people came alive because of miracles, believing in God would be so much easier." I know i've thought it quite a bit. Last night at church the message was about the 'bandwagoner's faith'. How, often when things are going good (i.e we are really 'experiencing' the presence of God in our lives), we unashamedly jump on the Jesus bandwagon and look ahead to a decisive victory. When hard times come, or our experience becomes less felt and more decided, we can fall off the bandwagon because we become unsure of it all. Funny that my pastor used Calgary Flames fans as a parallel - lovin' it when the wins are coming in, pessimistic as anything after one loss...

Anyways, this led me into a few conversations today, one of them about signs and miracles. See, i'm not sure I would have more faith if I saw miracles everyday. The disciples saw them, and they busted as soon as they realized Jesus might not be restoring Israel in a blaze of catapults and arrows (or whatever they used in those days). The people of Jerusalem saw them (Luke 19:37), but same result. And what about me...I've seen them before, and they have increased my faith for a time, but I fail to keep asking or believing that they can happen.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I think about some of the seasoned vets of the faith I know...These men and women have been through the tough times and the times when believing is easy. Faith, it seems, becomes this childlike choice to believe anyways, a learned way to rejoice in both the mundane and the supernatural. That is what this Flames fan wants.