Normal Morning

This morning I watered our plants and fed our little heretics (goldfish named Arius and Pelagius). I'm under the impression that pelagius is actually a female fish and Arius has taken a liking to her. Otherwise their just pals, but I'm not sure what's going on with those two. Our little pepper is coming along, The pepper is turning red and growing, I wonder how long it'll be before we can pluck it an throw it on a frying pan with breakfast in an omlet. It's neat to have a pepper plant, I've never grown one before. On the negative side our Dwarf Schefellera seems to be wilting in the lower leaves. I was noticing that there were previous stems that had broken off that were below that so I'm not sure if it's a normal thing or not with a Schefellera. Well aside from my domestic adventures with the loca greenery the library was busy today. Everyone is either returning their books, paying there fines, or taking a ton of books out last minute for papers due this friday. I on the other hand have a five pager, a four pager, and to edit a two page item and that's it for me this week. I'm not very stressed for the amount of homework that I have but I have resevations about next semester.
I want to take the topics in philosophy class on CS Lewis, but I don't want to spend the money on all the books that Prof. X wants us to buy. I think since he's new here he doesn't realize that the majority of students can't afford to buy 8 books. The class is going to cost around 600 and on top of that it'll be like another massive amount for books. I do need an AS, but I'd rather take a philosophy then be bored with an intro level survey class like Psych to fill in. I'm in my fourth year so I feel like a 100 level class wouldn't be the most exciting. I want to get into this Issues in Contemporary Theology class, but I've been waitlisted since August and no one has decided to drop it yet. There's not enough 400 level theology and Bible being offered. I think if your a fourth year student you ought to have priority over Jrs. to get into those classes. For some reason Prairie doesn't work it that way though so I'm in my fourth year but I can't get into my required courses. Well, wait and see I guess.
~Christopher J.

Reading from Kierkegaard

Old age is the final change... Is that all of the story? Has all been heard that may be said about being a man, and mans temporal life? ...Yes, when late autumn comes, even the flower can speak the wisdom of the years and say with truthfulness, "All has its time, there is 'a time to be born and a time to die'; there is a time to jest lightheartedly in the spring breeze, and a time to break under the autumn storm; there is a time to burst forth into blossom, beside the running water, beloved by the stream and a time to whither and be forgotten." ..."Is there, then, nothing more to tell?" then it will answer you, "no, when the flower is dead, the story is over." ..."God made all things beautiful in his time; also he hath set eternity within man's heart" (Ecc 3:11) ...The wisdom of the years is confusing. Only the wisdom of eternity is edifying. P 35, 36

Soren Kierkegaard. trans. Douglas V. Steere. Purity of Heart. New York: Harper and Row. 1948

Heretical Goldfish

Well, we bought two goldfish yesterday, their technically called comets, but they look the same to me. We've decided to name them Arius and Pelagius. If you didn't know, we've named them after two major heresies of the first few hundred years of Christianity: Peligianism and Arianism. Pelagius taught that people were born free from sin and then later decided to sin. Arianism denied the divinity of Christ. I thing we should get some fighting fish called Alexander and Augustine :P
~Christopher J. 

Just War???

Today I read on this thing on the 'Wittenberg Door,' where some guy had posted an email recommending to Bush that he bring the USA to war against Iran in defense of Israel? it was completely retarded I thought. I can't believe that someone would use Christianity as an excuse to go to war. There was another group of people who did this about a thousand years ago: they were crusaders. I can't believe some people believe what they do and then turn around recommending war of all things. I am really embarressed of my Christian friends sometime. I'm fairly certian there is no theological justification for war, at least I haven't come across any.
~Christopher J.

Manual Labour

Well today I managed to pull off two hours wage for the work of one hour. Of course I had permission for this little bit of self-bonusing. I spent the better part of the morning that should be spent in bed moving these cabinets for the library with Mr. Wicks, Daniel and David. These cabinets weren't so bad, but by the time we got to the third one it was a bit of trouble. I bet it weighed about as much as me (170) and it was a real pain because we had to carry them down these random stairs that head into the steam tunnels from access in the library. Well anyway, my hands are all red and a little sore right now. They aren't as callosed as they were at the beginning of the school year so they aren't as tough as they were. I should probably get into rock climbing or something before my 170 ibs turns from muscle into fat.
It's days like this that I wonder if I'm in the wrong department, I love doing physical work way more then writing papers and stuff, but I can't handle the people I have to work with because they have no brains but they do have a lot of character. There are those who do manual labour with a lot of character, then there are those who don't with out a whole lot a of character but a lot of brain... there must be a middle ground somewhere.
~Christopher J. 

The Real Reason I'm Behind

Well, if any of my professors are curious as to the real reason I have done little to know homework this reading break it's because Natalie and I have been out having fun. Thursday night my brother came over and yesterday morning he left so we were having fun trying to entertain him all weekend. Then that morning we took him to the airport we went to Banff with Jamie and his girlfriend. We we were joking that we were the chaperones for their little trip. We went to the Banff Hot Springs, and two National parks, which were quite lovely. I'm fairly certian that Natalie and I should move to the mountians or somewhere close where ever we end up living afer graduation this year. We went to a Greek Restraunt for lunch and then for dinner we went to the Olive Garden. Jamie paid for the Greek Restraunt, it was quite lovely. In the words of my wife 'that man is so nice, it kills me' :) Well I best be getting my homework done now before school comes to an end.
~Christopher J. 

Wedding Photos, hurray!

Well our wedding photo's came yesterday, I've seen them three times now. It's quite pleasing to see all these things we had never seen before, or noticed before. Such as my sister-in-law looking slightly disturbed on the far left... We're very happy to finally see our photo's there wasn't any decent photo's of all the groomsmen altogether, but when we did them with me and them individually it worked well. Well I need to get ready for work.
~Christopher J. 

A Sermon and Skating

Today we went to church and then we had some friends over after that. After they left we went skating and I almost took out a few kids, but it was ok because I didn't hit anyone, or knock over anyone, it was a good time. I always liked skating. I like to think that skating was how Natalie and I first got to know each other.
I can't quite remember the sermon today, but it had something to do with ministering to the kids in three hills. I heard something though that really frustrated me. This guy says, 'it's not a theological... it's practical,' it really annoys me when people think that theology and doctrine are impractical. It's really the most retarded thing. It's like saying that government is impractical, or that we should have anarchy opposed to rules or regulation. Why people even call themselves Christian, but call doctrine something of the past, or a modernist ideal that is irrelavant in a post-modern culture.
Anyway, this is my eye, cool huh? Natalie helped me take it.
~Christopher J. 

Spiritual Theology

Martin Luther emphasized a theology of the cross concerning general Christian disposition. In his day he had to deal with folks of today like Benny Hinn, who saw miracles as ways of somehow proving the truth. Today that is true also. Well I was reading this book by Simon Chan called Spiritual Theology, I just had to do the reading even though I was supposed to skip it and get ready for the next class. Chan summarizes the problem of sin nicely borrowing from the seven deadly sins, identifying it essentially as being the case of pride. I think this is very much true since one person in our class said that it comes from a distorted view of self. Naturally from this distorted view of self then flows, the sin is in the self-dilusion of our own importance. Well Chan sets this up very nicely and then summarizes concerning sin and humanity quoting Augustine he closes 'when anyone has realized that he himself is nothing, and from himself he has no help, the wepons within him are broken, the war is over.' I'm not setting up an epistemic arguement for Kiekegaard's 'leap-of-faith,' I'm trying to say that when I sin it's usually because my own view is distorted. All sin is ultimately selfish, and in ignorance it is a distorted view. I see myself in Chan's book wanting to hear a resounding 'amen' but it's difficult for me really to say that openly because no one finds glory in waving their own dirty laundry around. Chan points out that in various cultures we disquise pride with ideas of 'honor' and 'rights' but really Christianity is about grace, and laying down rights. This is ultimately the glory we should seek out as Christians, and the spiritual value we should find in the doctrine of the kenosis. I'm glad for Chan's book because he values Christian theology and sees its wider application for the Christian life.

Well, this morning I had sausages for breakfast, in addition I had hasbrowns and eggs, it was quite delightful really. I'm very full now though, since I've thoroughly gourged myself. I got my grade back for a presentation I did for my Intro to Youth Ministry Class, I couldn't believe that I got a perfect grade. I don't want to say that he's an 'easy grader' because I really don't know, but I'm quite proud of myself and I think I earned it. Now if only I could pull that off for my other classes I probably could go to school for cheap if I go on to get a Masters degree somewhere. This morning I threw on the old parka, it was cold last night when we went to pick up Jamie, and it was colder this morning walking to class, I'd say it was probably -15 or -10, but it was more then cold enough for me. Everyone loves to make fun of my parka, all I have to say is that I may look funny, but I'm warm.
~Christopher J. 

Eye-Ron

We got a new iron in the mail today, it was one of our wedding gifts from our aunt Cindy in Texas, Natalie bought it with a gift certificate that she got in the mail, I think it looks more like a speed boat or a race car then an iron. What do you think?

Defeat Or Join The Skeptic

Last night I shaved my gotee, I couldn't handle it. I'm just too much of a man to bear... I need a smooth face to counter all that testosterone output.... anyway.
So lately I've been doing quite a bit of reading for my TH 390 paper/research summary, and I'm really thinking it's difficult to come to a decent conclusion for at least a solid foundation for me to build my eschatology on. Even historically speaking everyone it seems has a different perspective, Papias was different then Justin Martyr, and they were only a generation apart from each other, and likely both knew the disciples or their contemporaries... so how on earth could they have a different eschatological view point. This book I'm reading hasn't really changed my own personal view of eschatology terribly, just made it even more complicated.
I also learned that only dispensationalists believe in the rapture. Last night Natalie and I were talking about the rapture and whether or not there would be one (as if anyconversation at 2 in the morning is coherent enough to even contemplate such a thing), and Natalie said she thought there would be a rapture, but as to whether or not it would happen during a tribulation or not she really hadn't resolved. I'm not terribly certian about the idea of a rapture personally, I don't want to believe it simply because that's the way my culture has conditioned me to read the bible. I really just want to believe what everyone else believes, but I have trouble reconciling the two views, (me and them). I don't agree with the dispensationalists that God has a distinct plan for Israel, I believe that the church is the new Israel. I don't agree with the post-millenialists that the world is getting better, and I don't agree with the amillenialists that the kingdom is already here among the Church because people are still suffering for Christ. I could be a historic-premillenialist, but I don't like just siding with my professor 'just because' it seems like the easiest and most logical conclusion. I want to reach the conclusion for myself.
The real problem is when someone rejects tradition and culture, they form a cult. If they just reject tradition, they ignore the foundations of the Christian faith like the creeds and councils. If they reject culture, they ignore contemporary application.
I think it might be easiest to settle for a post-modern view since it seems to have a sort of apathetic epistemologyl to begin with. I guess if we can't defeat the skeptic we might as well join him. I'm sure I'll come to my own view eventually, I'm just working on gaining a solid foundation for a good interpretive principal.
~Christopher J.

Monday sickness, and theological small talk with big words

I'm under the impression that the key to having a cool blog is lots of random photo's that really bear no actual meaning but make your site look cool. And since I just drank that amazing cup of coffee that I just made I thought why not throw a picture of it on the site, (of course I had the thought before I drank it).
So Natalie is sick right now. It's a new experience for me, I've never had to care for a sick woman before, but I hope she feels better soon because I really have no clue what I'm doing. But don't jump to any conclusions because she's not sick of me if that's what your thinking :P
Well today I met with my faculty advisor for the first time. It was pretty neat just to talk about the subject for my paper, which is the theology and praxis of millenial views. I really enjoy the one on one teaching/learning experience., to me it's a much more intentional and personal way of learning and so I look forward to doing it more often. I'm afraid that the subject of my paper really won't go too much farther beyond what we've already discussed however, but we'll have to wait and see how much further on I read. Do you think it would be inappropriate to have Kenny Chesney in my eschatology power point presentation? I think it would be kind of fun to have him there because he wrote this song 'How forever feels' and I couldn't resist, so right now I'm just gathering prelimminary info for my paper next semester and presentation stuff... blah blah blah, but I thought it could be kind of fun.
Well someone commented today on my attempt to grow a gotee saying that I look much older, well I don't know if that's true or not, but I probably should look older because I only look 19 with my normal clean shaven look. And I totally look older and married I think... Well I'm sure someone is laughing at me as they read this so I'm going to end this post here.
~Christopher J.

Son-Rise

This morning there was a lovely sunrise. It was beautiful. I didn't get up quite as early as I perfer, but that's alright. Last night two of our friends came over and ate our pumpkin pie. Two nights ago I baked it and I have trouble convincing people for what ever reason that I have the ability to bake. Well in anycase I do bake, and I make a mean pumpkin pie :P My mom gave me the recipie and I just followed it. Well I still have much in the way of homework to be doing so I best be getting on with it.
~Christopher J.

Lovely Winter

This morning after Natalie and I had showered and when we got out we were cold, brrr... we slept with the window open which would explain why I was cold all night. (plus she had all the blankets). we awoke to look outside and see what you can quite plainily see with your own eyes... snow. Well actually, despite the fact that I am Canadian and have spent three winters here already, this one coming will be my fourth, I still love the snow. It may look a little dim but it's actually quite lovely. I do appreciate the beauty in the snow. It's something that the majority of the population of the world will never experience. It should also be noted that I grew up on the west coast where it almost never snows. Here, obviously the story is a little bit different, but I think I'm developing a love for the Prairies, it may have something to do with my wife's influence on me though... she is from Kansas after all, she's a great motivator :)

~Christopher J.

Beautiful Summer

This is the view from our apartment, as you can see the weather is lovely outside, there is no snow and it's basically summertime. I believe I took this photo in the middle of September. Unfortunately Alberta weather doesn't last.
~Christopher J.

First Two Years of Youth Ministry-Courtesy of Doug Fields

What I have composed is a 12 point summary of Doug Fields' book 'your first two years in youth ministry.' I don't know anything really about the guy, but he seems like he's a got a pretty good sense of humor and a good head on his shoulders. I really appreciated reading through his book for a class that I'm taking which is a survey of youth ministry. I felt it was a very tastefully written text which really speaks to the heart of youth ministry. The difficulty with this summary which I have written for a class is that I'm graded on my presentation of what I've learned and not exclusively what I've learned... period. This is only fair though because when you think about it information that you posess is only as valuable so long as you also possess the ability to communicate and have others share in that information. Anyways, I hope the information on my blogg is valuable as I have shared if for you:)

1. "Keep an Affirmation Pile." Doug recommends to starting youth pastors to keep a record of all the affirmations which you recieve from others because without affirmation it will be difficult to believe that you have really found you calling in life in youth ministry. I really believe this is true, a friend of mine who convinced me to come to Bible college and study theology is no longer a youth pastor, though he was when I knew him. I think (because I really don't know), that he left his position because he didn't have any affirmation in what he was doing. He was involved for about three years and now he's an electricians apprentice in Alberta trying to pay off his student loans.
Pg 57

2. "God is much more concerned about your being then your doing." AMEN. I really believe that is true. It's important to keep things in perspective. God is concerned about me in addition to the people that I'm serving. I need to take care of myself. I think it is entirely important to remember the presupposition of Jesus when he commands us 'love your neighbor as yourself,' the presupposition is of course, that we love ourselves too, if we're suffering and unconcerned about our own spritual lives, our ministries will suffer.
Pg 66

3. "Go Public." This is basically the same point stated differently, 'find someone to keep you accountable.' You won't get far on your own and so go public with others and have them keep you accountable, (though probably not having someone in your youth group would be more advisable).
Pg 74

4. "God doesn't need you to be a spiritual giant to lead." We need to keep our motivations for spiritual pursuit in check. We should realize that our maturity and development, though is important, isn't critical in the lives of the students you minister too. I had always thought differently... at least until I thought about it reading this book. Doug points out that "the Holy Spirit isn't limited by our efforts" (Fields 73).
Pg 77

5. "Remember the big picture, be sure to put people before your program." I can see this possibly being an issue in my ministry in the future where ever it goes, so I wrote it down. I'm a competative person, and as I read further along I need to be relational when asked about my ministry focus. This isn't to say that I shouldn't have a strategy or a particular focus, but that I ought to make it a priority to be relational a people focused primarily, second to that should be my 'strategy/plan.' Remember my students are people and not numbers.
Pg 85

6. 1 thess 2.8 "We were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our lives as well." Doug makes a point to say here that ministry requires a certian veracity. That is to say 'Be real.' don't tell the kids everything that's wrong with you, or make your youth room your own rectory or anything like that. Just be honest in sharing some of your concerns and be willing to let kids into your life.
Pg 93

7. "You are an influence, not the influence." I think family is a critical dimensions of a teenagers life, and it's important to keep into perspective the background that your kids come out of. I know that will think that I'm busy, I usually buy into the lie that I am the only one who's busy at Prairie, but certianly there are others who are. It's likely true that when I get into youth ministry chances are that I'll one day I'll forget that parents are busy and stressed and that I am no the only one in their child's life.
Pg 105

8. In line with the previous statement it's important to consider the impact on the family. I need to keep in mind things like costs when I'm planning events and remember some parents have a few kids to pay for so keeping costs down is important, espically for parents with 4 or 5 kids, cheap is the way to go. remember family holidays and try not to schedual events close to holidays, again I wrote this down because I'm prone to forgetting that I'm not the only one who's busy.
Pg 108

9. With conflict it is easy to sidestep and not want to hurt another persons feelings. The Bible calls us to be a light and to speak truth into difficult situations. I have a way of avoiding conflict and not wanting to address it for this reason. But the fact is that the Bible doesn't call us to be nice but to be honest. The truth may hurt but it's effect will be far less painful in eternity.
Pg 130

10. "If your busy, chances are that your pastor is busier." I thought this was valuable information so I wrote it down. I did have the impression that my pastor whoever it would be that I would be working with would be a sort of mentor to be, but obviously, as Doug clarified, that's doubtful. He mentioned that you don't want to be a drain on your pastor, but your want to be a breath of fresh air, realizing that he's just as busy or busier more then likely.
Pg 159

11. "With a Team You Don't Bottle Neck Growth." That's basically a fact, it's not that it's a secret or something I didn't realize, but I think it's such a valuable point that I wrote it down. If your one man you can only take soo many people soo far. Doug made a good point earlier in the book with his 5-3-1 principal of ministry, and you can't take all your leaders on as number one with a youth group of 50 people or more, you need to balance out and utilize your leaders, otherwise you'll burn out, bottle neck, or your head will explode due to pressure.
Pg 173

12. "With a team your ministry skills will increase." Yeah, same deal, common knowledge, but it's a fact jack. I mean how you can you minister without a team, and if you can't minister within your team how can you hope to do it outside your team? aside from that, Doug highlites the fact that you can learn from other members within your team, always be open to learn from others in your team, 'as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.'
Pg 177


Feilds, Doug. Your First Two Years of Youth Ministry.
Grand Rapids, Mi: Zondervan Publishing Company. 2002.

~Christopher J.

Water

I took this a while ago and I thought is was artsy enough to post only I didn't have a legitamate place to post it. My dad gave us a digital camera for our wedding the day we got married so we thousands of photo's of our wedding and honeymoon now. But we don't have any posted of us at school yet... Well that's all. Canadian Thanksgiving was lovely yesterday. I baked a pie and Natalie did the turkey. Katie made the vegetables and Jeanetted I think did the ceaser salad. We'll be eating left overs for a while now, it's a good thing for our neighbor friend Jamie, he has a microwave :)
~Christopher J. 

What is Christopher Theology???

So what is Christopher theology you might ask? Well, I'm taking my que from Richard Horndern who notes that while mainstream contemporary theology which is found common within the 'white-middle-class-male-view", the liberation theologies say that there needs to be particularisms with theology. It's sort of post-modern you might say, but I am a particularism to which theology must be applied and worked out. I am not a feminist, a calvinist... well maybe, not sure about that one. I'm not a post, pre, or mid millenialist, nor am I an a millenialist, but I guess if things change in the near future I may have to change my mind about this. Liberation theology caters to individuals and particularisms. James cone wrote that to be of a particular group exluding individuals within the doing of theology leaves a tainted view of the world that is never really reconciled unless someone steps outside themselves and becomes someone else (extremely loose paraphrase). If this is really true we can only find God within the commonalities of particularist theology which caters to the oppressed, the very idea that theology may be done by middle to upper class white males is in itself unchristian and counter productive to the action of theology, and thus, what you have is essentially a culmination of myself and my pre-theoredical grid and a record of my life and how I have consequently interacted with the world as a result. What James Cone was really getting at is that while I am within a particular class, and race, and background, my praxis of theology is specific to me, and it would be wrong for me to 'inflict' my praxis upon say a ukranian-swiss refugee living in Canada, and that to gain a most universal theology of God, we must then reconcile with others to account for the discrepincies and disagreements within particularist theologies. But my blog is more narcissicist because I'm writing it without really reading anyone elses, and according to James Cone you'll benefit more from reading my blog then I would. So if you can understand me. Best of luck.
Christopher J.