Christ is Risen!

In the letters Paul wrote, there are fifty-three references to the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is the even that sets and keeps in motion the entire gospel enterprise. Most of these resurrection texts assert either the centrality of Jesus' resurrection or the certainty of our final resurrection from the dead, or both. But six of these resurrection citations explicitly identify our present and ongoing spiritual formation with Jesus' resurrection (see Romans 6:4; 8:11; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10; Colossians 2:12; 3:1). In other words, this is not a future resurrection but a present resurrection -- which is what we're interested in right now.

Clearly, Paul's witness is that resurrection is not only a doctrinal/historical truth to be believed about Jesus, and not only a doctrinal/eschatological truth to be believed about our final destiny, but also the focus for our spiritual formation -- formation-by-resurrection.

From Eugene Peterson's Living the Resurrection, p. 102

Afternoon Walk

Today was beautiful here and so this afternoon some friends and I went walking down in Indian Battle Park. It was filled with people and dogs doing the same thing. Here are some of the sights.

The Seeker Sensitive Pastor

Check out this hilarious video on the seeker sensitive pastor. Real Live Preacher has it on his blog too. This is how I've always pictured RLP :-)

Happy Birthday A. J. Jacobs

According to the blurb he wrote about himself at the beginning of The Know-it-all, A.J.Jacobs is 40 today. This is the same A.J.Jacobs who wrote The Year of Living Biblically. I enjoyed that book so much I went out on Sunday (I gave up buying books for Lent - but Sundays aren't part of Lent - and Lent ends at Claresholm so it was okay to pick up a few things this week in Calgary too) and bought this earlier book. I remembered looking at it on the shelf while looking for Alan Jacobs bio of C.S.Lewis (this Jacobs is another really good writer - maybe it is something in the name). I thought it looked like fun then but didn't pick it up. I'm glad I did now because I'm enjoying it a lot. Jacobs decided to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica and the book starts at A and goes from there. I'm up to G and I'm learning a lot and laughing a lot.
In The Year of Living Biblically A.J. writes that he checks the Amazon ranking of his book all the time. Maybe he googles himself too. If he does maybe he will find this post. In case he does, let me say:
Happy Birthday A.J.!

IVCF doing some good stuff at the U of L

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the Gay and Lesbian Integrity Association, and the Nursing Students group are working together to support the Spring For Life project at the University of Lethbridge. What a great way to support the Lethbridge HIV Connection, an organization doing great work locally to end HIV and support those living with it. This is the notice from the U of L site:

SPRING FOR LIFE 2008!

During the first week of spring, Canadians can help end AIDS by simply buying a bouquet of beautiful gerbera daisies for $5. The Spring for Life program kicks off on Tuesday, March 18 in malls, subway stations and office towers in eight Canadian cities. More than 60,000 bright and beautiful gerbera daisies will be sold to support both the CURE and the CARE sides of the fight: HIV/AIDS research and support services across the country.

Spring for Life is an annual national HIV/AIDS awareness and fundraising campaign headed by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR). This campaign galvanizes people to end AIDS in Charlottetown, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Moncton, Truro and Sydney as well as Lethbridge. Spring for Life aims to raise $60,000 nationally through the flower sales. In Lethbridge, all funds raised benefit Lethbridge HIV Connection Society.

Lethbridge HIV Connection Society, in conjunction with IVCF, GALIA and the Nursing Students' Association, will sell gerbera daisies at these locations:

March 18
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
U of L Sports and Wellness Centre and Atrium

March 19
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
U of L Sports and Wellness Centre and Atrium

You can also PRE-ORDER bouquets (before March 13th) by filling out the order form (http://www.lethbridgehiv.com/pdf/springforlife-orderform08.pdf) and faxing it to the LHC office. This is a great opportunity to extend staff/ client appreciation or just to liven up the office! We will deliver for orders of 10 or more bunches.

Please support our local sponsors:

-DIMNIK AND ASSOCIATES LAW OFFICE
-UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE STUDENTS' UNION

*CATWALK salon^spa *Dr. William Shields *GALA/LA *Runner's Soul *Stafford Pharmacy & Home Healthcare *The Ugly Mug Coffeehouse *Two Guys and a Pizza Place*

Visit www.springforlife.ca for more information about the sponsors, partners and the campaign.

Franciscan Four Fold Blessing

A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people. May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done. And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore. AMEN.

From All Saints Parish

Laughing the morning away

This morning was our monthly board meeting and we laughed a lot, even while discussing some serious business. I love that. I left the meeting with a grin on my face.

I'm a firm believer in laughter being good for the soul. And there is a comic over at Joe's blog that cracked me up. You have to know churchy kinds of things to get it. If you don't know Shine Jesus Shine just think the 90s version of Kum Ba Ya. Check it out here. And then check out this joke over at Letters from Kamp Krusty. I howled but when I tried it on my board they didn't. Oh well.

Still Crazy After all these Days

So little has changed...things are really nuts here. But now I have only one major project left before the end of term. Of course there is lots happening in the parish with Easter. But most of my big projects are done!!!!!

Interesting conversation tonight in theology reading group about the resurrection and last night at Unchurch about sacrifice. This afternoon I gave a lecture at the university about Christian views of friendship and family - lots of fun unpacking Augustine and Aquinas. So lots of stuff whipping around my brain these days.
And the Sunday School has started raising money for their lenten project to buy animals through Plan Canada. We're off to a good start after serving lunch to the parish this Sunday.

On another note we've begun to plan a celebration for this summer for my folks' 50th anniversary. Look at how young they were: