Monday, February 22, 2010

My Weekend In Review

This weekend started off in a rather weird way on Friday night when I heard the doorbell ring after dinner. I opened the door only to find a guy with a ski mask and goggles and a sign that said "come with me". It turned out my "fake kidnapper" was commissioned by a group of friends who wanted me to come out to watch a movie and chose a rather interesting way to pass on the invitation! For someone who rarely gets surprised, I have to say they did a pretty good job getting me.

Saturday was a beautiful day weather wise so in the afternoon we grabbed our skates and headed out to the skating rink. The conditions were great and it was good to be back on skates again. We always had rinks in our yard growing up, so I pretty much grew up skating and sadly don't skate nearly often enough now that I'm older.

Sunday morning brought about a great service at my home church. Our pastor spoke on pursing excellence in our lives and I was challenged to be more mindful of where I'm investing my best. Is it towards my relationship with God? Sadly not always, but that's something I'm going to work on.

After church I went over to my grandfathers house to meet up with the rest of the family, which was followed by dinner at my brothers place. After dinner I went to a friends place to watch the Canadian men's team take on the USA in the Olympics. While Canada ultimately came out with a disappointing loss, it was a good effort and I enjoyed the game. Here's to hoping the team makes out better when they face off against Germany on Tuesday!

Saturday, February 06, 2010

The Best Question Ever & Fearless

Life's been good and I've been learning a lot lately.

At College and Career's we've been going through a series called "The Best Question Ever" by Andy Stanley and it's been quite eye-opening. Andy's best question is not "What is the right thing to do?" or "What is the moral thing to do", but "Based on my past history, my current situation and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do?". It's one of the most applicable series I've ever gone through and I highly recommend it for small group or personal study.

At the same time I'm also going through the book "Fearless" by Max Lucado with my best friend. We've been reading through it a chapter at a time, then taking time to discuss what we've read and go through the questions in the discussion guide that's at the back of the book. I believe we're only at chapter 4 and already the content has been worth the price of the book. Some of my favourite quotes so far:

"Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty, or cured a disease. Fear never pulled a family out of poverty or a country out of bigotry. Fear never saved a marriage or a business. Courage did that. Faith did that. People who refused to consult or cower to their timidities did that. But fear itself? Fear herds us into a prison and slams the door. Wouldn't it be great to walk out?"

"Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith and your fears will."

"Fear at it's center is perceived loss of control."

So what good books, DVD's or studies have you been into lately?