Believe it or not I made it through

A couple of weeks ago (I think) I mentioned that if I could make it through that week then everything will get better! I was right! Last weekend was terrible, we were so busy that when I got to work on Monday it felt like I never left. It was actually nice to get caught in yesterday's and today's snow storm to slow things down a little. My work life is getting back to normal and homelife also pretty much back to normal(as normal as normal can be)! Saturday night I had a blast, I went out with some of the best people I know and we went to a comedy club! I was really tired and wasn't sure if I wanted to go. Man am I ever glad I decided to go because I had the best time I've had in years! I haven't laughed or had this much fun in I don't know how long! What a great night with some awesome friends!
This weekend has really put stuff into perspective and I have a new outlook on life. I just finished working on my sermon for Thursday and actually started working on the planning stages for next week's message with the youth.
So I would like to thank God for getting me through these last weeks and months, thank Roxanne for being so patient with me and thank my friends for the awesome night on Saturday, you guys Rock!

Talk at you later
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Small rant!

Last week I had the most expensive sandwich of my life! I went to this new restaurant in my building for 3 reasons 1: I wanted to try it, 2: it was in my building and 3: I'm lazy and it was in my building! I won't mention their name because I don't want to promote or bash this restaurant I'm just using it as an example. So back to my rich man sandwich, this restaurant promotes themselves as being "green" or "enviromentally friendly" by using "organic produce", "recycled materials" and "bio friendly energy" to power the restaurant (and by that they mean that they use sunlight for lighting the restaurant). I was proud of myself I'm getting a healthy sandwich and "helping" the environment. Well I get to the cash and the sandwich and a glass of tap water cost me over $10.00. ARE YOU KIDDING ME OVER $10.00 FOR A SANDWICH! I'm getting really frustrated with these companies that use catch phrases like environmentally friendly or eco-friendly or whatever friendly to a jack up the price! Why do I have to pay more to be environmentally friendly! Don't get fooled people some of these companies use these catch phrases just to raise prices to increase profit. They guilt us into a sense believing that we can make a difference and by paying more you're helping more and in some cases that's just a lie. It's marketing, really good marketing. If they trully believe that they want to help the environment these companies should sell the eco-friendly products at the same price as the regular non environmentally friendly products! But I'm not sure they want to cut into their profit margin to help the enviromnent or anyone else for that matter. If I had the choice to buy something that is good for the environment at the same price at the other brand I would easily make the right choice but why should I pay almost twice the price for the same thing that is enviromentally friendly made by the SAME company. Did you notice that a certain cleaning product company came out with "green line" of cleaning products however they still produce the non-green product and have those on sale while the eco stuff is twice the regular price!

Read the labels, be informed when making choices and don't get fooled by all the marketing out there! These companies pay millions of dollars a year in marketing to get our cash. Just be a wise shopper sometimes a green sticker is just a green sticker.

As for the sandwich it was good, but definitely not worth $11.00!

Talk at you later

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Small Stuff

Funny how you can read a book and say to yourself, " Wow that is so true, or I really wish I could do that" Well that just happened to me. I finally had a few minutes to myself and started reading some blogs that I haven't had a chance to read in a long time and it hit me! Look at you're own blog, Wow November 18th was my last post. My how time flies when you sweat the small stuff. I know what you're thinking how busy can he really be. Well for once pretty darn busy. I'm working 10 hour days at work coming home to 5 year old twin girls and trying to plan and restart the youth program at church. And if that isn't busy enough I had an elective that I had to complete at school with a 4 to 6 page essay due tomorrow. So it's been a little hectic lately. Everything should start settling down by the end of this week and I'm really looking forward to it.

So if you can say a little prayer to help me get through this week and into the weekend trust me I'm going to need it.

Talk at you later

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My personal thoughts

I promised myself and others when I started this blog that I would try to keep it upbeat and funny. Try not to get to serious with myself and keep things light. I made that promise so that if you are having a crappy day or if you need a pick me up I would hopefully be able to fulfill that need. Well today I want to do it differently, I want you to feel empowered, I want you to feel like you have something to live for and I want you to realize that life is precious. This is a blog that I read regularly, I'm talking Raisin Bran, Metamucil regular. I never miss and go on it every day. There are very few blogs that I visit regularly but this one I NEVER miss a day and you shouldn't either. So here it is: from Carrie's Bit

Just read it! Nuf Said

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A little about me!

I know I promised that I would tell you or reveal a little about me as the days, weeks months went along on this blog. Well today isn't going to be one of those days! Just kidding I wanted to give you some insight in what I'm doing and what I want to do. As you may or may not know I'm the assistant pastor at Bikers Church and I'm truly blessed to be leading/serving such a great bunch and to be honest with you I don't know if I could ever serve somewhere else. I would if I'm called to it but my preference would be to stay there.

Something else you might not know about me, I love sport related movies (mostly football) but any kind of sport movie ALWAYS peeks my interest. Some of my favorites include: Invincible, The Longest Yard, Remember the Titans, Facing the Giants, Gridiron Gang, Something for Joey, The Program, Any Given Sunday and the best football movie of all time Rudy. Don't get me wrong I don't discriminate with other sports, boxing movies are good I love all the Rocky movies, Ali with Will Smith was excellent. I even enjoy a good hockey movie like Slap Shot, Miracle and the best cheesiest hockey movie of all time Youngblood with Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and if you pay close attention you might notice Keanu Reeves in nets.

All this to say I love sports movies. Do you have a favorite sports movie or do you have a comment about any of the ones that I mentioned above. I would really love to hear from you.

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Another Day Another Experience

Today it feels like I spent the whole day putting out fires and dealing with personal issues. It seems that when people know what I do or at least what I'm studying to do it's an open ticket to say and ask anything. Usually I don't mind but sometimes when it hits too close to home or when it gets personal the time and place might be inappropriate. Don't get me wrong I love helping people, I love serving God and when I can do both at the same time everything feels right. So helping a co-worker just seems natural but as I said sometimes the time and place that is chosen can really make me feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I don't like to get into huge theological debates in public with people that don't want to hear both sides, or people that just want to debate to hear themselves talk. I don't like being put against the ropes and thrown blanket statements and asked to "defend" myself or "defend" all of Christianity and then the person walks away after the general statements were made. I don't mind having a conversation with someone where we can exchange ideas and opinions but blanket statements thrown out to embarrass and shame believers I don't have the time or patience to deal with that at work. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against the person, and I actually prayed for this person after the conversation was done I just don't like being blind sided and backed in a corner.

I find it funny (in a very sarcastic way) that I can't talk about religion at work, or share my belief but it is OK to be confronted by someone with non-religious beliefs and get asked to defend myself, my church, my beliefs and my God. It's OK to bash Christianity at work but it's frowned upon and prevented to tell anyone that I'm a Christ follower or an assistant pastor! Oh well what's a guy to do? You know what someone should do, show patience, understanding, compassion and love for the attacker because God is a mighty God and He can defend himself. What you have to do is be prepared to answer questions once the confrontation is done. You see as soon as the person left and everything calmed down I had 4 people come up to me and ask how I kept my cool and that they wanted to speak with me about personal problems and ask me if God can actually help them.

Thank you God for the opportunities, thank you for trusting me but mostly Thank you God for calling me to serve You.

My advice to you is listen for His voice, be willing to do what it takes and be ready when He calls you, because it can happen at any time.

Talk at you later

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Back in the swing of things

Wow what a great time and what a conference! The speakers were amazing and the youth that we took with us did an awesome job. They really impressed me and changed my attitude towards youth ministry. You see when I started this journey I said to myself there are only 2 areas that I would not work in and the first was youth! Well God has a sense of humor and He loves it when we say we won't do something because it's not in us. He will find a way to get you to see it His way eventually!

I know that youth ministry is hard and I know that it won't always be perfect but that's what will make it fun. And that's why this may be a perfect fit, I can be hard to get along with and trust me I'm far from perfect, VERY FAR from perfect. Maybe if I trust God and let go He might just guide me in the right direction. He tends to do that when you let Him.

So I'll keep you posted on my future plans and thoughts as I continue to contemplate some heavy questions.

Talk at you later

Marty

Resonate 08 day 2

Hey everybody getting close to the end of day 2 and the end of the conference. Really looking forward to coming home and being with my wife and kids I really missed them this weekend. Got a lot done covered a lot of topics and heard some great ideas. The youth that came with us seem to have had a good time (I hope) and will take something back that hopefully will help them with their leadership skills.

I'm really proud of the guys and girl that came with us they did an awesome job, kept an open mind and were willing to participate in everything we asked them to participate in.

Got to go for now will talk to you soon

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Resonate 08

Hey everybody I'm writing to you from the beautiful downtown Metropolis of Belleville. I'm at Resonate 08 it is an annual leadership conference for youth pastors and youth leaders. For those of you who don't know, I have decided to take on a more active role in taking care and trying to bring back our youth program. So I figured that if I'm going to this I'm going to do it right. I'm one of those people that if I commit to something I do it completely with 1oo% conviction or I don't do it all. It takes me time to agree or to commit but when I do I give it my all! So this conference was the first step in my transformation.
I have to admit I was a little sceptical and apprehensive at first. I didn't know what to expect or what I was getting into because this was my first youth conference ever. I have to admit that the first day was really fun. The speakers were good and the choices of topics were quite varied and very relevant. But you know what really got me, it was the passion and conviction of some of the youth that is here! Some of these young adults really have IT (reference to Craig Groeschel's book) while others are still struggling but are really open minded to change. I am learning more from watching the interactions between the different groups than I have in the different seminars and to me that's what's important. It doesn't have to be what 1 person says or what 1 course can do for you I personally think it is the whole experience and what you take from it and what God is telling you to do. Too many people come to the conferences and think they are SUPER SPIRITUAL because they attend ALL the speakers conferences but miss the oppurtunities to actually minister and LEARN. They tend to miss what God is telling them to do because they are too busy!
But I'll be honest with you the thing that I have appreciated the most in this whole weekend was the fact that not only was this my first time at a youth conference but it was also the first for a couple of the youth from our church! These 2 guys (which will remain nameless at their request) have been nothing but perfect gentlemen! They have been extremely polite and open to everything that was requested from them. They have gone to most of the presentations and stayed until the end and they have actually chosen to attend some of the meetings. They were like me very skeptical and reluctant at first. Don't get me wrong they're not at the same point as some of the guys and girls that are here but the fact that they are here is phenomenal! I have known 1 of them for years and the other for almost a year now but have never really made the effort to get to know them until now and for that I'm trully sorry. Parents of these 2 boys you should be really proud of them!!!!

Got to go for now talk at you later

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Disposable society

Hey everybody, just wanted to share something. Did you ever notice how we don't fix stuff anymore? It seems like all we do is just buy new stuff. Now I don't know if it's because we want new toys or we are just trying to compete with Jones' or maybe it's because it costs just as much if not more to fix than to replace but we just don't fix stuff anymore. Does anyone know how to fix a TV anymore? The worst part in all this is it doesn't matter how much you spend for the stuff it will break within the year!!!!
This has been bugging me since last week and I really got a kick in the butt yesterday. I bought a brand new pair of Harley Davidson motorcycle boots last year. I paid over $200.00 for them so I figured they would last me at least 3 to 4 years! WRONG! After about 16 months the soul is falling apart. So instead of buying a new pair I went to a shoe repair guy to get a new soul put on. The dude wants to charge me over $70.00 for new souls. He tells me that the problem with shoes these days is that they are made poorly and the new souls would last me at least 5 to 6 years. I'm like cool that's a good deal however he then tells me that the leather will probably fall apart anyway! Nice guy just a really bad salesman. So back to square one! Do I buy new boots or new souls???
I also have a 32" Sony Trinitron that the tube is going on it. I love that TV but it keeps shutting itself off. I called a repair person that wants to charge me $175.00 just to look at it without even fixing it. I could buy a new tube TV for that price. So again I have a decision to make do I want to fix the thing that I love or just buy something new for a couple of years.
Let's get serious people, you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you want to reduce reuse and recycle let's force these companies to make stuff that last, let's fix the stuff we do have and let's find a way to be content with the stuff we own.
As for me I going to get new souls on my boots and fix my Trinitron to give it another chance and prevent it from ending up in a landfill somewhere!!!!!

Talk at you later

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Blogger Block!

Hey, how are you all doin? Me I'm good, very busy but good! Have you ever had this happen to you? You have so many things going on and you want to share it with everyone but when you want to let it out, nothing comes out!!!! I seem to be suffering from Blogger Block! For the last 3 to 5 days I have been logging on and looking at this blank box not knowing what to write. I tried several times but nothing seems to be coming! I seem to have lost my blogging self. Maybe I'm just too busy, maybe I've lost my focus or maybe It's just plain laziness, whatever it is as of today I am shaking it off committing and refocusing myself.

Does this ever happen to you? You focus on too many small things that the important ones seem to be left aside? I struggle with this regularly and would like some suggestions, comments or advice to help me.

Talk at you later

Marty

I'm still here

Hey everyone yes I'm still here and still alive! Actually probably more alive than ever, WOW this has been a busy week! I ran around all weekend getting stuff, buying stuff, delivering stuff I had stuff to do coming out of the ying yang!
We are adding a garage to our house and the framing started this weekend, we put up some walls, started the roof and started to get everything ready to get the concrete floor installed. We worked from 8am until about 4pm, then I had to go inside shower change and wait for Rob and Heather to come over because we had dinner plans. Last week the members from Bikers Church gave us a gift card for Baton Rouge and got us some hockey tickets to go see the Sens game at ScotiaBank Place. What an awesome night, excellent food, great company and excellent tickets! I feel so incredibly blessed to be working for such a great bunch of people. You could never ask for anyone better! I am so proud to call these people my family but this will be for another post! So we get to the game and go to our seats and we start walking down, and down and down 5 ROWS FROM ICE!!! I was so close to the ice I was expecting someone to come and tell me to move because I didn't belong there. What great tickets Thanks everyone! We finally got home went to bed. The next day was church, more construction, yard work, birthday party for my daughters' friend, birthday dinner with out friends and finally home in bed by 8:30.

I'm really looking forward to just sitting in my garage and enjoying it but until then we still have a roof to finish, doors to install, paving the driveway, cement floor, siding on the walls etc... I guess I'll be resting sometime in January 2011.

I'll keep you posted on the garage as things happen!

Talk at you later

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Another year another birthday

Good morning everyone, today is October 15th and it's my birthday! Now before you start saying how conceided or self-absorbed I am or that I'm only looking for people to wish me a happy birthday, let me explain to you why I love to celebrate my birthday.

You see 5 years ago my wife gave me the best birthday present ever, 5 years ago I became the happiest and most blessed man on earth, 5 years ago my whole world was turned upside down (most days for the better, some days well not so much), 5 years my twin daughters were born. For those of you who can't do the Math my twin girls were born on my birthday! This event is usually a very special event in anybody's life, having a kid born on your birthday but what makes it even more special for me was the fact that we, my wife and I, were not supposed to be able to have kids. After trying for 7 years we were told that we had a 1 in 50 million chance to have a kid if everything fell into place perfectly. So to have my twin daughters born happy and healthy on my birthday was the best gift EVER!!!!

So even though today is my birthday, the focus on the day has been and will always be on my daughters. They grow up so fast, it seems like only yesterday I was at home feeding every 2 hours, changing over 20 diapers a day a preparing 14 bottles of formula every day. Now at 5 they are my little ladies my little princesses, we can talk to each other, we can reason with each other (well most days), we can play together and most of all we can just hang out together and have fun. I love them to death and I am very fortunate to be able to share their day with them.

Happy Birthday Jessica and Tracey-Anne I hope you have the best day ever today. 5 years ago today was the best day of my life and it has only gotten better since then!

Love Papa

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. I'll be honest with you this holiday never really meant that much to me in the past. It was just a long weekend right before my birthday and I used that as an excuse to go out partying and drinking. However now Thanksgiving has a deep significance for me. It really is a time to reflect and be thankful for everything we have, both as individuals and as Canadians.
This year and every year I'm very grateful for the people at Bikers Church. They have and continue to encourage me, support me and sometimes challenge me to be a better person. I am accountable to each and every one of them and I am very proud to be part of such an awesome family. I am thankful for my parents who have been married for over 40 years and have been a terrific example of how to do the "couple thing". But most of all I am thankful to God for my family. My wife and kids mean are my inspiration, my strength, my "raison d'etre". I am who I am today because of God and my family. He has given me the strength and the desire and they make sure that I follow the right path.

So to them and to all that read this blog I thank you and wish the happiest Thanksgiving ever and to my American friends I wish you a happy Columbus day.

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Technology

So I was eating breakfast and an older couple beside me started talking to each other about what's in the paper. I overheard their conversation, OK I listened in on their conversation and they were commenting on technology today. He was complaining about all the stuff available out there and that all he wanted was a colour TV. Nothing fancy, no HD, no stereo and nothing flat! Just a plain TV with a tube like the kind he had for over 25 years. I couldn't help it anymore I started talking to them about all the stuff he was complaining about and he said things were moving way too fast now. He said he had to change his stereo system last month and now he has nothing to play his vinyl records in all three speeds, 33, 45 and 78. And now he has to replace his 25 year old TV. He has never owned a Beta or VHS and will never own a DVD player, he still has a rotary wall phone that works very well thank you, without call display, call waiting, call forwarding and best of all without voice mail instead he has an answering machine!!!! I just tought to myself that I would love to visit this couple's house. Then he said "don't get me wrong, I'm not against technology just the speed of coming out with new stuff that sometimes isn't as good as the old stuff. I buy a new car every 5 years cash, I have a brand new high efficiency furnace and a brand new energy smart central A/C unit. All my appliances are space and energy saver appliances. It's the luxury items that I have trouble with. $3000.00 TVs that come with only a 1 year waranty, stereo systems that are replaced because they can't be fixed, cell phones that are out of date the minute you leave the store and don't get me started on computers!!!"

He's right you know we don't fix things anymore we dispose and replace. We recycle plastic bottles, plastic bags, cans, paper etc... but we throw out computers and monitors every 2 to 3 years, we buy mp3 and iPods every year and get rid of the "old" stuff because the new software doesn't match anymore. We buy stuff at 20x times the price and it last 1/8th of the time that the older unit lasted. Don't get me wrong I'm a gadget junky and would love to own everything that comes out but I can't afford it so I buy used stuff from people that have buy the new stuff. I figure I'm about 2 years behind the norm. Technology does have it's good points though. I had surgery this summer and was out of the hospital in 3 hours and back to work in 1 week. I have a some friends battling cancer that would probably not be around today if it wasn't for technology, we can do more, touch more lives around the world in 5 minutes than we could in 3 weeks.

So I ask you are we addicted/consumed by technology or are we just not satisfied with the stuff we already have.

Talk at you later

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Higher Standards

OK so here is something I've been battling with for a little while! This is the main reason why I have a lot of trouble when people call me Pastor Marty. There are other reasons why I have trouble with titles like: we don't usually use them at Bikers Church, people tend to see you as the position and not the person, there seems to be a change of attitude when you're around, when you use a title MY attitude can change when it SHOULDN'T, I don't feel like I'm ready and sometimes I don't feel like I deserve the title but most of all, and this is the kicker, I sometimes wonder if I'm being judged with a higher standard! Can I as a person make the same mistakes and be forgiven more easily than I as an assistant pastor. Since I am still an assistant pastor do people forgive me more easily than someone who is a Pastor like Rob, Jason or Barry? In other words if I made a mistake would I be judged more or less harshly if I were an assistant pastor and would I be judged more or less harshly if were a Senior or Lead Pastor.

Let me give you an example, if I make a promise to someone as Marty and I don't follow up for whatever reason (forgot, got caught up in something else etc...) would people judge me more or less than if I made the same promise as assistant pastor or Pastor Marty. Take the same example and use Rob, Pastor Jason or Pastor B. would they be judged more harshly by their members than if they made the same mistake in a non-christian setting? Now please get this straight I'm not talking leading people astray from biblical teachings because the Bible is very clear when it comes to Pastors or elders leading people astray, I'm just talking day to day "people, regular Joe" stuff. Stuff like disciplining my kids, bumping my toes on the corner of the bed and yelling out certain words in anger or pain, cutting someone off on Highway 417 or even worst getting cut off on the 417 and the non-christian thoughts that could come out of my mouth! How harshly would I be judged if someone from BC heard me, compared to someone from work. Is it better to be human or does a title prevent you from doing that?

So I ask you, what standards do you set for your Pastor, assistant pastor or leadership team? Do you set the same standards for yourself? Are we all truly created equal or are some judged by a higher standard than others because of position and title?

Just wondering

Talk at you later

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What an awesome weekend

What an awesome weekend, the weather, the riding, meeting friends and family and doing new things! If you haven't been out for a fall ride in the country yet I strongly encourage you to do it! The leaves are at the peak of perfection, the weather is crisp but not cold (OK so -1 was a little cold on the bike this morning!) and although I hate to admit it the days are getting shorter and shorter. So get out there and go for a ride!

This weekend was the annual Bikers Church Fall Colour Run and we had another amazing day of riding and of course eating. But we also did something special this year we raised some money for a local biker that went down this summer and lost part of his leg. He is a great guy that used to come out to BC and when we found out that he got hurt we all rallied together and decided to help him out. We had over 60 bikes come out and participate in the over 300km ride. And when we were done we went back to BC where a BBQ and warm coffee was waiting for us as we pulled in.

I just wanted to thank the organizers, the road captains, the cooks, the coffee people and everyone that volunteered to make this day such a great success. Without any of you this wouldn't have been possible.

Talk at you later

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One of those days

Today has been one of those days! You know those days you wake up and know something, heck everything is going to go wrong! It started with my daughters waking up in a miserable mood yes both of them! Question do women start PMS at the age of 4? I digress, than getting ready for work I put on my full gear to jump on the bike. As I slip on my brand new back pack the strap breaks! So I jimmy something so that it can hold together. I get to work and realize I forget my access pass my lunch and my cell phone! At least I made it to work. I start my day by heading to Starbucks and realize I forgot my Starbucks card in the car, did I mention I'm on the bike. So I'm forced to make a decision either put a $2.00 cup of coffee on interac or get more stuff to at least cover the service charge. So I pick up a $7. 00 breakfast sandwich to go with my coffee. At lunch I decide that I have to go home to get my forgotten stuff. As I pull into the driveway the bike slips on loose gravel, clay and mud and I end up dropping the bike. I pick it up quickly to assess the damage, cracked fairing, bent break pedal, bent handle bars, busted turn signal, road rash on the elbow and twisted ankle! Did I forget to mention that I was on a borrowed bike! That's it I'm staying home for the rest of the day!

I'm going to give up on Friday and look forward to Saturday! I'm going to bed where it's safe.

Talk at you later!

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Another day another month

October 1st today! Wow where has the summer gone? Seems like only yesterday I was getting the bike ready for the summer. With all the rain we had this year it feels like we only had 1 day of summer. But looking back on the summer that never was, or so it seems, I accomplished a lot this year. Even with all the rain I still managed to put over 15,000 kms on 3 bikes (3 because mine was out of commission several times this year thanks Rox and Scott for the loaners). So as I sit back and think about all the things accomplished I find myself smiling and thinking maybe this was the summer that was after all.

Some of the things that I wanted to accomplish this year were:

1. More mileage than last year. 10,000 last year over 15,000 this year and still some time to go, not bad.
2. Start a French Bikers Church. We managed to temporarily secure a location and started with 4 monthly services on Wednesdays working on updating the website and made connections with other French Pastors.
4. Go out and connecting with new people to promote both French and English Bikers Church. At one point I was out almost every night either on the market at the show and shine or the Tim's in Rockland.
5. Get Roxanne to ride more this year. After a slow start to her season and the fact that I had her bike for almost 3 weeks at the beginning of the summer August and September have been really great riding months for her.
6. Read more books. I read more books this year than I have since and including High School.
7. Spend more quality time with family and friends. Nothing says quality time and closeness like two rainy weeks in a tent trailer when on holidays.

And last but definitely not least!

8. Get more hands on experience doing ministry. What an awesome summer for me this year when it comes to ministry, I preached in 5 different churches, prepared and preached over 6 times and every time a different message, got to know some new people, volunteered at 3 different churches and helped at our own events! As much as I am proud of these things what I'm most proud of is the fact that we had excellent BC representation at EVERY one of those events. I got a feel of what it's like to be part of a real team, no wait that's not strong enough, a real family of people who want to give and serve.

So looking at this list I now realize that sometimes we can be blinded by negativity when it comes to weather, finances or lack of time but if you actually sit down and think positively and change your outlook you can come up with a list of great things you did. Don't focus on the rainy days focus on the fun you had with your kids going to Cosmic Adventure, don't focus on the electrical storms and power outages this year, focus on the stories read by flashlight or the candle light evenings with your spouse. Change your thinking and your outlook and I'm sure you will find a lot of great things from last summer.

Oh and by the way riding season isn't over we still have another 2 months of riding left.

Talk at you later

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Friends!

Have you ever sat down and thought about your friends, both past and present! I don't know why but I was sitting on the weekend just thinking about some old friends. Some I still talk to, some I know where they are but haven't had the chance or made the effort to contact but some are gone without a trace. And those are the friends I was thinking of this weekend. The guys and girls that I grew up with, the friends that shared some very important experiences basically the friends that shaped my life and made me what I am today.

I got an email from a daily mailing list that I get and it was about "How to get past regrets". It really struck a chord because I was thinking about all the bad stuff I did in my past life and how I must have hurt some of those friends. Wishing I didn't do this or that, wishing for a better life and better decisions when I was young and it hit me! The choices that I made and the things I did are what they are and I can never change that. However if I take what I did in the past and build towards bettering myself for the future than everything I did can be used as a measuring stick to say "Yeah I was there but now I'm here and this is where I prefer to be!"

I really miss some of those old friends and who knows maybe with Facebook or other social internet sites I may reconnect with some of them but until then I'm extremely greatful and fortunate to have some awesome friends at Bikers Church.

Talk at you later

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Expectations

So what comes to mind?

A pretty loaded question isn't it?

Thoughts, comments, replies! I'm very interested in your opinions! I have no expectations just curious!

Thanks
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The Upside Down Life

So we started a new series last week at Bikers Church called The Upside Down Life and with the Cirque du Soleil in town I was really looking forward to this series. Man was I ever disappointed, not at all what I was expecting! Instead of talking about jumps and trapeze artists we are talking about leading an abundant life but without the circus tricks! What a ripoff.

Actually this is going to be an awesome series and I encourage you to listen to the podcast on our website at:
http://www.bikerschurch.com/

What does it mean lead an Upside Down Life here are the 5 key points:

1. If you want to be first, you must choose to be last.
2. If you want to receive, you must learn how to give.
3. If you want to be strong, you must become weak.
4. If you want to be free, you must submit as a slave.
5. If you want to truly live, you must truly die.

See what I'm saying, not at all what you were expecting is it? It's completely the opposite of what we are used to. In a society of me me me or a society where we compare ourselves to the next person by how much they have vs. what we have, it's really a different way of thinking, acting and living!

You may think it's impossible to do but if you think about it even the smallest act of kindness can touch every one of those categories. It's not only the big things that count it's all the little things that can make a huge difference. Mother Teresa used to say that it's not the great things that you do but the little things you do with greatness! How awesome is that!

So keep your eyes open for opportunities to do little things for people, it's not that hard if you take little bites at a time. You can't help everyone all of the time but you can help someone some of the time.

Talk at you later

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Look outside and enjoy

Well the days are getting shorter and colder. Trust me it's going to get worst before it gets better. However take the time today and this week to look outside, go for a walk at lunch, heck just eat lunch outside. The cold weather might be coming but it's not here today so make the best of it.

Talk at you later

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Canser sucks!

Yes I realize that I spelled that wrong but if you haven't read Carrie's blog you probably don't know what I'm talking about so I strongly encourage you to do that right now here actually I'm telling you to visit her site:
http://cbelair.wordpress.com/

Go ahead it's OK I'll wait!

So you're back now you know exactly what I'm talking about! CANSER SUCKS!!!! However the people affected by it, both patient and their friends and family, are some of the bravest, strongest and nicest people I know. You can't walk by more than 2 people before you meet someone that has been affected by this terrible disease either directly or indirectly and that's what sucks about it.

So let's stand together and beat this thing! Let's stand with those who are suffering, let's stand with the survivors and their families, let's stand with the families and friends of those who lost the battle and let's stand for those who can't anymore! Let's just stand up against this bully that has ruined so many lives!

Carrie I love you babe and I'll do whatever it takes to stand with you, beside you and for you when you will be too weak. If anyone can beat this piece of trash monster it's you! Keep up the fight you have a huge family that will help and support you.

So come on people let's stand together and make canser history!

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A great day

So I've been really going negating my posting duties lately! Everyone who blogs tends to go on hiatus for a while, however most people do that after several months but for me it lasted 1 week and then "life" got too busy all of a sudden, or so I thought!

I was going to write or comment about the conference that I went to on Saturday, or comment on the service that I went to on Sunday or the concert/show I went to on Sunday night! I had so many choices that I was actually stuck on what to talk about that is until about 1 hour ago! Everything changed! My views, my opinions, my meaningless rants and selfishness has been pushed aside to make room for others.

Rob (the Bikers Church pastor for those of you who don't know) started a new sermon series this week at Bikers Church called the upside down life. I think this is going to be a great series because like everybody else at church I struggle with some of these. OK most of these! You see I love to help people, I love serving and I love being there for friends and family members (brothers and sisters) of our church, but when it comes to being there for my immediate family I seem to fall short! WAY SHORT! Don't get me wrong I would do anything for my family that's not the problem, the problem is assuming that they know this! It's easy to say well she knows that I love her or my daughters will understand if I'm not there AGAIN, or I don't have time to call my parents but they know I love them so that's just good enough. TRUST ME IT'S NOT! MAKE THE TIME AND LET THEM KNOW!

Can I tell you a story? If you said no then stop reading, for the rest of you here goes. For those who said no this is your last chance stop reading now!

Like the title of the blog says I'm an assistant pastor and since the beginning I have been working out of my own home and that just isn't working out very well. So the church that we are partnering with offered a room to use as an office and today was my first day here at the office. I got more work done today than I did all summer it's totally awesome Thanks guys! However it's funny how God works. I'm sure He has a sense of humor and He loves to show me things in the funniest ways! This office is connected to a church that has multiple ministries in the city and one of them is a drop in soup kitchen from Monday to Thursday! Today I met one of the volunteers let's call him John, 1. to protect his identity and 2. because I'm really bad with names and I forgot it! I went to the washroom and got lost, now before you say anything this place is a labyrinth, and ended up in the kitchen downstairs and that's when I met John. We started talking just having a conversation and being very polite. I started asking him about, well him, and he told me that he has been volunteering there for over 10 years. He has been coming out EVERYDAY for the last 10 years! Rain or shine he comes out and cooks dinner, serves and cleans up day in, day out FAITHFULLY! I thought that was amazing, here I am complaining at how busy I am having to make time for others, when all John does is make time for others. I was going to end the story here but it just got better! Funny! God I get it! As I'm writing the door bell rings, it's John, he locked himself out, and got lost walking around the building!!! I asked him how he got lost working there for so long??? Turns out John is 75% blind!!!! And that's when God spoke to me and said "How do you like them apples!"

So now I'm blogging again, I read the chapters that had to be read, I watched most of the Dreamweaver videos, sent an email to my wife, drew a picture for my daughters and sent an email to my parents telling them that I love them and appreciate everything they do for me/us.

Make the time for the important people in your life, show and tell family and friends that you love them don't assume they know because they may not know! It's not too late!

Talk at you later!

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When do you know?

I just had a conversation with a co-worker and she told me that after 17 years it's time to put her cat down. She is extremely sad about it because she loves her cat very much, but BECAUSE she loves her cat, and the cat is suffering, she knows it's time. I have also had to make that decision when it came to our dog so I know how difficult it can be but like my coworker we seemed to know that it was time. When do you kwow when it's time, what or who gives you the strength and courage to make that decision.
A couple of weeks ago our pastor shared with us his story on when he lost his daughter and that he had to make the decision to let go. Everytime he tells the story I cry like a little baby because there is a point when he says to the doctor that it's time to let go! And that's when I feel the knife going through my heart.

So I ask you when do you know when it's time to let go? Where does the strength and courage come from to make that decision? And did you ever notice how we forget how strong we were at that time? Even after it's done we say to ourselves I could never go through that ever again and yet another situation arises and we are forced to make the decision and for some reason we can!

Let me know what you think

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Happy 15th Anniversary City Church

Wow 15 years of service in the community, 15 years of loving their neighbors, 15 years of helping people! What an accomplishment, what commitment, what a great church! I'll be honest with you I didn't know about City Church until we did a church crash last summer. That's when I had the pleasure of going to my first service. We had a couple of guys share their testimony and Rob did a service. They were very friendly and very welcoming. But that was then and this is now! Can a church really keep up that kind of positive attitude, can still be this welcoming? Well let me tell you the answer is yes.
But this is different I started attending the services at City Church for almost a month now because our Pastor was asked to act as interim pastor until they find someone to replace Eric their founding pastor. I'll be honest with you I just started coming out to support Rob. I wasn't really interested in attending another church. I'm happy with Bikers' Church, I love the people, I love our relaxed atmosphere and I love the way we do church. But I figured I'd give it a chance, again my main goal was to support Rob because that's what brothers do, we support each other. So I walked with an open mind and ready to learn. Well I was blown away with the service and how wonderful the people are. I was also blown away with how Rob adapted to his new/old style of preaching. Now I hate to admit it but I go to City Church because I love coming to City Church. Don't get me wrong I'm not changing churches, I'm not quitting Bikers Church and I'm not going to pack it all up and switch. I just enjoy coming because the people are so friendly, the service is very upbeat, they are always to help the people of their community and because I can just go to church at a place where I have no responsibilities. I go just to listen watch and learn no expectations!
So today was their 15th anniversary celebration! What a great day, what a great time to celebrate what they have done to sit back and think of the good old days, a time to just pat yourself on the back and congratulate each other. You'd think that's what they would do but as usual they didn't. They chose to celebrate the future, to quickly remember what they did but to really focus on the future and how they will continue to help those in their community and that's what makes them special. That's what keeps the people coming back and that's what the church should be about.
So City Church congrats for 15 great years and I look forward to blogging in another 15 years. You guys are awesome keep up the great work, you are making a difference in people's lives!

Talk at you later

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Habits some good some bad

The good thing about blogging is you can get to know someone without getting to know them. You're probably thinking twice in the same day doesn't guy have anything to do during the day? I have a lot to do I just don't feel like doing it right now and besides I just experienced the coolest thing in the world and I thought you might want to hear about it!



I'm a creature of habit, I hate to admit it but in most aspects of my life I hate change! So for me the usual is synonymous for comfortable. I wake up every morning at 5:00am sharp! I get out of bed walk to the living room and fall asleep on the couch until 5:30! Don't ask me why I do that, I just do. I have a second alarm clock that goes off at 5:30 to really wake me up. I turn on the TV watch The Weather Network and Sporstnet Connected to get a sense of both weather and scores. I then take a shower for about 15 to 30 minutes, depending if I have to shave my head or not, get out of the shower and realize now that I'm running 30 minutes late! The good habit I get up early, the bad habit I go back to sleep, the good habit I set a second alarm clock the bad habit I wake up and turn on the TV! You see what is happening here, as much as I try to develop good habits they are quickly matched with bad habits.



However I think some habits are good and that some good can come from habits whether good or bad. Let me give you an example that happened today and this is the reason for the 2nd post. Every morning I leave with coffee, either I finish it before getting here or drink it when I get to me desk. Either way I'm done by 8:30am so as a result of this habit my body has developed the habit of needing to get rid of said liquid at the exact same time everyday 9:35am on the button. People have started to set their watches to my liquid body clock! Well for some reason the cleaning lady in my building has the same schedule to clean the men's bathroom so everyday at 9:35 we usually meet face to face in the men's bathroom. This started about 3 weeks ago and let me tell you the first time it happened she scared the hell out of me! Now remember I have a full bladder terror is not good! I almost didn't make it! So for about 3 weeks now we do the same Tango, I walk in see her there we both say sorry I walk out and let her do what she has to do she walks out smiles and says have a nice day in Spanish. Same dance everyday at 9:35 for 2 weeks that's until last Thursday and Friday, no Maria. I was off Monday so Tuesday comes and there she was my little Maria, for some odd reason I was happy to see her in the men's bathroom again. When she walked out I asked her how and where she was. She smiled and with a very thick Spanish accent told me she went home for 5 days. I asked her where is home and she told me El Salvatore. I told her what a small world it was and spoke to her about Bikers Church and Scott and Melissa and then she started to cry! You see turns out Maria had 3 sons and 2 of them were killed in El Salvador by the MS13 and that's why she is here she wanted to save her third and last son! She thanked God for me, for the people at BC but mostly for people like Scott and Melissa that are trying to make a difference. What an awesome morning I'm still shaking, what a small world, what an awesome God!



So Scott and Melissa if you ever feel discouraged and don't know if you should continue remember Maria and her son and we she said to me: "if it wasn't for people like you she wouldn't have ANY children!" You guys will make a difference you just never know who you will touch, as for me and Maria I look forward to our next meeting same time Monday morning at 9:35, I'll keep you all posted



Talk at you later



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Passion vs. Calling

Well now that I'm blogging I find it hard to pick and choose what I want to talk about but I figure this is a good subject to start with.



Webster defines passion like this:

a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.



And calling:

a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence.



The definitions are pretty close when you look at it quickly but the important difference is found at the end of the second definition: "accompanied by conviction of divine influence."



I know a lot of people that have a passion for something, sports, bikes, their jobs, other people whatever the case may be, but I have rarely found people that have a Calling for something. However when you do find someone, you know it! You can feel it through them when you're around, you can almost feel jealous of that Calling. When it comes to callings most people always think of very big names, like Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King Jr. and that's just off the top of my head, or you can even think of famous people like Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen etc... But I encourage you to look around, look at the people around you, people you know friends, family and I can garantee you will find somebody close to you that definately have this Calling.



I have been blessed this week to have come accross 2 people with this Calling and for that I'm extremely grateful. The first was Tuesday, it was my first night of my final year of Bible school and to my surprise the teacher for this term is actually the Dean of the school. This man has been in ministry for over 30 years and I had never had the priviledge of hearing him speak. What a shame because it was the best class I have ever been in. So for the next 6 weeks I have the honor of taking a class with Pastor Barry Boucher. The man has a Calling! He is an amazing teacher and speaker! I sat in that class for over 2 hours and I was disappointed when the class was over and trust me that's amazing because I have always hated going to school!



The second was last night! We had our usual service last night at Bikers Church. It was a question and answer night and when I speak to different pastors they all have the same answer "ooooh I hate having a Q&A service because you never know what will be asked", I personally love those nights BECAUSE you never know what will be asked. Anyways after doing the Intro I sit down expecting the usual questions, I'm getting ready to take notes because I'm still being mentored, still training and learning. Rob comes to the front and asks before we start he wants to share something with the congregation, something he feels is on his heart and it must come out and he starts to speak! That 10 to 15 minutes of sharing was the best speach, sermon, teaching (whatever you want to call it) that I have ever heard! I really hope that this part was recorded and that it is made available to everyone on the podcast because it was TOTALLY AWESOME!!! I had not heard that much fire and conviction in a while. I was just sitting there in complete and total awe. I was, and am still today, proud and honored because I'm doing my mentoring classes with Rob. Wow if I can be half the speaker that he is I would probably be considered one of the best in Ottawa, that's how good he is! The room was completely silent, eyes and mouths were wide open just in awe at what he was saying and how the message was being delivered. What a great night, I felt like I used to when I first started coming out over 5 years ago.



A lot of you might be thinking it's just the experience of being pastors for so long and that's why they are good at what they do, well I completely disagree. I have heard people speaking in church circles with years of experience and not even come close to what I witnessed this week. This is more than passion THIS is what I think is the true definition of a Calling! These two Pastors ARE called to do what they do, not because they can speak in front of a crowd but because they say what God wants them to say. These 2 men are what the Church leaders should be!



Pastor Barry thank you for the awesome class on Tuesday and believe it or not I'm really looking forward to the class and the semester!



Rob the service last night was the best I have heard in years probably one the best message I have ever heard. Thank you for taking the time to mentor and train me. I feel totally blessed to have such an opportunity and I hope that someday I have the chance to show my gratitude for all your efforts and teachings! After last night's service I realize how much I still have to learn.



I encourage you to check out last night's podcast at:http://www.bikerschurch.com/index_en.html

Enjoy, talk at you later

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Well it finally happened

Well it finally happened, I'm officially Blogging! I never thought I would actually be doing this, well here it goes. This should be fun.

Let me start by saying I'm not very computer literate. WOW that feels better I'm really happy I got that off my chest. Actually I'm borderline computer retarded! I can do the basic stuff like turn it on see if it works, if not I call my 4 year old daughters and ask for help. So when I was asked if I would ever start blogging my first thought was not on your life. But after friendly persuasion by ALL my so-called friends I'm finally here.

I hope and pray that this will be a fun journey and that you enjoy reading my thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears and whatever is going on in my head at the time. We will laugh, cry, share some moments but mostly I want us to share some thoughts and comments. I want to hear from all of you out there going through whatever you're going and I want your honest opinions on stuff, go ahead I'm a big boy I can take it.

So this is it! I'm officially blogging! If I would have known it was this easy I probably still wouldn't have done it years ago.

Enjoy, talk at you later

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