What's in a Name?

This story made our small town paper. Dad trades son's name for free gas. A radio station in Orlando Florida offered $100.00 worth of free gas for the listener with the most interesting item to trade. David Partin offered the right to name his unborn son for the free gas. Radio hosts Richard Dixon and J. Willoughby took Partin's deal. In exchange for a tank or two of free gas the new baby will be named "Dixon and Willoughby."

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. I'm sure they will call him whatever they want, but his official name will be the above! Did he do it for free gas, to get a laugh, to get attention? Did he stop to think for even a second what impact it could have on his son? I'm inclined to call daddy some name!

What grace to have a heavenly Father who gave names of significance and promise when He chose to do the naming.

Dave

Choose to Live

Thanks to everyone who shared your thoughts on how you might prefer to die.  You pretty much covered the thoughts I’ve had, except my daughter-in law's response about dying laughing.  I don't think I'd want to be the one who told the joke that caused you to laugh yourself to death!  I think the first response for most people would be to die peacefully in their sleep at a good old age.  But like some of you, the more I think about that, the less I'm convinced that's the best way to go.  I've thought about what it might be like to give your life for Christ or die to protect your family or give up your life to save someone else.  I've often wondered if I could or would.  Often times those are spur-of-the-moment decisions, not something you have much time to think about.  Am I that kind of person right now that I'd do that without hesitation?  I don't even know how to answer that.  

I started a sermon series today based on Erwin McManus' book, Seizing Your Divine Moment.  The book is based on a story in the life of Jonathan in 1Samuel 14:1-23 and talks about living every moment to the fullest, watching for where God is working and being willing to risk to follow Him there.  Today's introductory message was called Choose To Live.  I think that might be the key to how we see ourselves dying.  One of the passages I touched on was Luke 9:23-24.

23"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

Jesus says if we really want to live life as He offers it we must die to self.  We must be willing to give it all up to follow Him.  By trying to protect our lives and our comforts and security we will end up losing what life is meant to be.  But when we willingly turn our lives over to Jesus we will begin to experience abundant(overflowing, adventurous) life.  

So, am I going to be more concerned about dying comfortably or choosing to live life to the full now?  I plan to explore these thoughts more in a couple more posts and perhaps give summaries of where the sermon series is heading.

Also just wanted to leave you with a couple "famous last words" that I found interesting, even humorous(if death is humorous).  They really don't have much to do with what is written above but they caught my attention.

William Somerset Maugham:
British author, died in 1965
"Dying is a very dull and dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it"

Gen. John Sedgewick:
Union commander in the American Civil War, shot at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in 1864 while looking over a parapet at the enemy lines
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..."

Dave

P.S.  For those of you who tend to "lurk" on here, thanks for reading, but I'd also love to hear from you- give it a try.  It's that little "comments" button at the bottom.  You might like it!

 

How to Die?

This may not be something you want to think about.  It may be a waste of time thinking about since we likely won't get a choice, but I'm asking you to anyway.  If you could choose the manner of your death, what would it be?

This question came to my attention simply through trying to find some get-to-know-you-better questions for our small group to discuss.  But then some other things came to my attention through various sources that made this question stick in my mind.  I'll share more of my thoughts later.  For now, indulge me.  How would you choose to die if you had a choice.  Give me a simple sentence answer or get philosophical; whatever you like. 

Dave

Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat

I found this story on John K's blog. You can read his comments here. As I read through the actual news story I have to agree with him. But what bothered me much more than the stupidity were some of the comments on the news story. Here is one example of the line of reasoning several took:



"Just a reminder for all those who complain, this is Britain, a Christian country and puppies are considered cute and loveable!" - Nigel, Somerset, 1/7/2008 5:48



Is Britian a Christian country? No more than Canada is! When we deceive ourselves into thinking this way we feel no need to care about the thousands in Britian and Canada who are dying without Christ. Instead, our issues become protecting our Christian rights and standing up for cute puppies. Rather than protecting puppies, prayer in schools or government, etc., we need to get more concerned and better at sharing our Saviour.



Dave

Best One Yet!

We had a great conference at the BGC Celebration in Winnipeg the end of last week. It was designed to be more relational and more relaxed and it was. I don't know who was responsible for the creative idea of having lunch and the annual meeting on a two hour riverboat cruise, but it was super. I had to laugh to myself that this had to be the best attended annual meeting ever and yet also the shortest! I also thought the evening concerts were a nice touch. I was able to go home feeling refreshed instead of overloaded.

As I expected, the preaching and worship were top-notch. The messages were very simple but powerful. God was speaking, at least to me.

My only suggestion for improvement would be concerning the seminars. Either they didn't start on time or they just weren't long enough to deal with the material. And as I commented in an earlier post, while the information was good, I found the application to be weak or not very helpful. It seems it is extremely difficult to put together a great seminar. Or maybe my expectations are too high.

I still struggled with using the fellowship times well. It was good to connect with people I've gotten to know previously and I did visit with a few new people, but it was still awkward for me. Again, I emphasize that this is my weakness, not anyone else's fault.

As far as the guilt aspect of some conferences I attended, our conference head, Jamey McDonald, took the heat off right from the beginning. On the first morning he announced something like "We have our schedule and agenda and things we need to accomplish, but if that does not work for you and you have other things that you need to get done, you should feel the freedom to do what you have to do." Gutsy! I don't seem to have the faith in people to give them that kind of freedom, but I certainly did appreciate it. I think there is another side of this however. Seeing how most of the people there were delegates from their churches and most likely had their expenses paid for by their churches I hope they felt some responsibility to their churches. And by the looks of it, I think most did.

All in all, it was the best BGC conference I've ever attended and if we can keep going in this direction I won't hesitate to encourage people to attend.

Dave

Off to Conference

This is mostly to let you know that I won't be posting for a few days as we are off to our Baptist General Conference Celebration in Winnipeg. But while I'm at it I may as well give you my impression of these kind of conferences and seminars.

I realize that it is important to get together, and necessary to discuss important issues, encourage each other and do the business of the denomination. But there's probably more I don't like about them than I do like.

Let's do the positives first. The worship and preachers are first rate. I really do enjoy listening to and participating in worship and preaching that I didn't have to prepare. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy those aspects of pastoring, but sometimes I need to take in as well as give out. They also give a change of scenery and a change of duties and they say a change is as good as a rest. Whoever planned this year's conference worked hard to be creative. It looks like one day's lunch and the annual meeting are being held on a river boat. That's a nice change. As well, concerts are being planned for the two evenings. That also sounds like a nice break as long as we aren't too tired out to enjoy it. But that's about it for the positives.

The main thing I don't like about these large gatherings is that I'm not good in a large crowd of people. I go from being the big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a very big pond. I don't think it's so much about pride and feeling important as it is in trying to determine where I fit. I'm not great at mixing in or butting in on conversations or making small talk with people I don't know. I feel a little lost at these things. Also, I appreciate the idea of seminars and I enjoy learning, but out of dozens of seminars I've attended, only a handful have been worthwhile in my opinion. More often than not, I take home more guilt than anything else from such seminars. So big bucks are paid out for what often amounts to an uncomfortable waste of time for me. How's that for negative?

So now you can pray for my attitude, my growth in these areas, and God's presence and blessing as we meet together. I'm praying that God will be glorified, individuals encouraged and refreshed, and that the BGC as a whole will benefit from this time together.

Dave

Happy Canada Day!

It's Canada Day!  Patti and I went to the local parade this morning.  It was nice to be out, chat with a few people and see some of the hard work that went into the floats.  I think I get more out of parades when I'm with my grandchildren or other young children.  It looks much more spectacular when you try to see it through their eyes.

Anyway I was thinking about how thankful I am to be a Canadian and live in this great country.  So here are a few things I'm thankful for about Canada.

1.  The freedom of speech and religion we have to practice our faith without fear.  I know the support or even the tolerance is not what it was, but we still have the freedom.

2.  Four seasons.  As much as I complain about the cold, I love snow and the crisp air of winter, the newness of Spring with a thousand different shades of green, the warmth and thunderstorms of summer, and the colours of Fall.  I even love the leaves falling from the trees.  I just can't picture a tree that never loses all its leaves.

3.  The vastness of this country.  Lakes, rocks, prairies, mountains, wildlife, cities, forests, oceans...  It takes days to drive across this country and around every turn is something unique and beautiful.

4.  Access to everything we could possibly need or want.  We are amazingly rich compared to most of the world.

5.  The people: friendly, innovative, kind, hearty, generous...

I am thankful for the privilege to have lived in a few different areas of Canada and experience the differences and the likenesses.  "God keep our land glorious and free, O Canada we stand on guard for thee."

Your turn!  Take a moment to share at least one or two things you are thankful for in this country of Canada.  It's good for the patriotism and the soul!

Dave