Staying!

As expected we are not moving this year. Going into year 6 in Elliot Lake.

Should I stay or should I go...

No, I'm not talking about the Clash! Tomorrow morning (Friday) we will receive our annual phone call to find out whether we move or stay here in July. We're 99% sure we are staying (Hallelujah!), but stranger things have happened in the Army!

Take a couple of websites, idle hands and too much time...

The two websites are Dubya Speak and George Says. For the record, the above is a real quote (no idea what he means)! As well as George Says there is also the Says It site.

Harper takes a leaf out of Bush's book

I try not to get too political these days, but a couple of the things that Stephen Harper's Conservatives have decided in the last couple of days have caused me to get political here.

First of all today (from CBC News): "Reporters were not allowed into the military airbase at Trenton, Ont., to cover the Tuesday evening arrival of the remains of four soldiers who died in a weekend bombing. Harper said the policy has been implemented to respect the privacy of the families. "

Am I being paranoid, or does this look a little bit too much like GWB banning press coverage of the return to the States of the bodies of American GIs?

According to CBC News at least one bereaved military family believes the government has made a mistake. Maureen Burrowes, who is a cousin of Cpl. Randy Payne (one of the Canadian soldiers killed at the weekend), said the government is depriving her of her chance to be part of Tuesday night's ceremony. "I honestly believed I would see my cousin's return on CBC as I could not be present today," she wrote in an e-mail. "I really feel that our current government has made a very bad decision and voters will remember this in the next election. The timing is absolutely horrendous and I would love to know how to get this reversed."

Secondly, Harper is is also attracting criticism for reversing the previous Liberal government's practice of lowering the flag on Parliament Hill's Peace Tower to mark military deaths. The Conservatives say they are returning to the traditional protocol of honouring fallen soldiers by lowering the Peace Tower flag only on Remembrance Day.

Rick Mercer has a great take on this story here.

ASD haiku

Ouch!@#%!

Emily had a friend for a sleepover last night, so I cooked some pancakes and bacon for breakfast this morning. I like crispy bacon, so that's what I made. As I started eating mine I thought that it seemed very crunchy, too crunchy. I discovered the really crunchy part was actually part of one of my back teeth that had decided to break up!

I left a message with my dentist, but I know he is out of town until this evening. It might be Monday before I am able to get anything done. Oh well, I'll just anesthetize myself with lots of coffee until then.

What's Your Theological Worldview?

Found this quiz over at Chris's blog. The results pretty much accurately describe where I'm at. Try it and see what your worldview is.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Emergent/Postmodern 71% Neo orthodox 57% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Reformed Evangelical 43% Modern Liberal 39% Classical Liberal 39% Roman Catholic 32% Fundamentalist 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

All the best for the future, Pat

Well, it wasn't really that much of a surprise, but it is still pretty sad. With the play-offs about to start and no more hockey this year in Toronto, the Leafs fired Pat Quinn today. I guess that they needed a fall guy for the way the season ended too soon this year. It's the man on the right, John Ferguson Jr., in the picture above who should've been fired. Hopefully he'll be gone soon as well.

Quinn came in at a time when the Leafs were mediocre, to say the least, and turned them around. This is the first year the Leafs have missed the play-offs since he arrived in '98. Maybe it is time for a change, but some of the players need to take a hard look at their commitment during parts of the season past and see that they have to shoulder a lot of the blame as well.

Richard Peddie, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, gave Ferguson a vote of confidence, saying, "John's our top hockey guy." Time will tell. If Ferguson stays then I hope that is true.

It seems that lots of people want to see Paul Maurice promoted from the Marlies to the head coaching position. That might be a good move. He did take the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002, losing in 5 games to Detroit.

All the best for the future, Pat. I'm sure you won't be out of a job for too long.

Happy Easter!

For John...

Click the picture and enjoy!

A couple of days late...

Monday (10 April) was my 40th birthday. Here are a few events, births and deaths from history for that day:

Events:
1912 - The RMS Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and last voyage.
1919 - Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
1970 - Paul McCartney announces that The Beatles have broken up.
1973 - A British Vanguard turboprop crashes during a snowstorm at Basel, Switzerland killing 104.
1998 - The Belfast Agreement is signed.

Births:
1829 - William Booth, English founder of the Salvation Army (d. 1912)
1847 - Joseph Pulitzer, American journalist and publisher (d. 1911)
1915 - Harry Morgan, American actor
1936 - John Madden, American football coach and broadcaster
1950 - Ken Griffey, Sr., baseball player
1988 - Haley Joel Osment, American actor

Deaths:
1585 - Pope Gregory XIII (b. 1502)
1931 - Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet and painter (b. 1883)
1966 - Evelyn Waugh, English writer (b. 1903)
2000 - Peter Jones, English comedian and scriptwriter (b. 1920)
2000 - Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)

Before anyone asks, I wasn't named after William Booth, with whom I share my birthday, even though I've been in The Salvation Army since birth.

In a previous post I mentioned that M.A.S.H. is one of my favourite TV shows. Can anybody spot the connections to that show in the above list?

In 1966 (the year I was born) 10 April was Easter Day.

Quote...

(Rob Bell - quoted in Relevant, March/April, 2006)

Palm Sunday

So, yesterday was Palm Sunday. I was out of town, so was not able to go to our church. Instead I went to a fairly large church in South-Western Ontario. I like Palm Sunday and was looking forward to a worship service with this as the focus. Boy, was I disappointed!

The church I visited was having a promotion Sunday for their Christian School, which is a large part of the ministries in their church. Although we were welcomed to a worship service, the only thing being worshipped was the school. There was one thing that the congregation was asked to participate in. Any guesses? Yes, it was the offering (by the way, this wasn't a Salvation Army church). We were reminded of the spelling of 'thousand', because such a school of excellence doesn't come cheaply.

What we were treated to was basically a school concert. This is not a bad thing. Some of the items were excellent, but don't call something worship when in reality it is nothing like it. I came away feeling cheated. I wanted to worship, but the opportunity was not there (just as well I'm not 'The Mystery Worshipper'). We were also treated to a very slick 'infomercial' about the benefits of sending your kids to their school. The principal said just make an appointment and she'll provide the coffee. By just looking at the place I'm figuring that the price of a cup of coffee is the least you would have to worry about! We were also reminded of the new extensin being built. They want their students to have the best facilities and opportunities. There was a reminder that this wouldn't come cheaply (the correct spelling is t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d).

Palm Sunday only comes around once a year. Even though it was the school promotion day in this location they could have used the students in proclaiming the message of Palm Sunday. At least it would teach them of the importance of this day, and actually prove that they did want to give them a good Christian education. So, I guess that in this particular location it was left to the rocks to cry out (see Luke 19:28-44), because this church was certainly silent on it.

K Car

by Relient K

April Showers?

Well, this kinda sucks...

Surprise, surprise!

I turn 40 on 10 April. I'm not big on parties and surprises, but there are some in our church who are, which is fine.

This Thursday I go away for a few days to Detroit for an 'Acquire the Fire' event at Ford Field. I won't be back until late Sunday, so I figured I'd get away without any surprises at church. Well...surprise, surprise! After the service today I went downstairs to the fellowship hall for my usual post-worship coffee and was greeted by a rousing 'Happy Birthday to You!' I really was not expecting it, but it was fine. There were speeches, cards, a delicious double layered orange/chocolate cake and a Salvation Army teddy bear.

I was going to blame Pamela, but she actually had nothing to do with it. It's nice to be appreciated and loved by those we minister to.