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I read a great post on one of my favourite blogs (Stuff Christians Like) this morning. Jon, the author of the blog works in advertising, so his post today was clearly a personal pet peeve. But he gives the following quote:

But it’s hard to shrug it off when I read things like this from the Harley Davidson brand handbook: “There are three essential elements to the Harley-Davidson experience, which riders feel for the first time they ride: the joy of individualism, the chance to be free, to make choices; the commitment to adventure, the opportunity to change, to discover new experiences and emotions; the reward of fulfillment, an intense, personal and consuming bond with the bike that means a richer fuller life.”

Want a fun game? Switch out Harley Davidson with the word “God” and it reads like a church mission statement. “A consuming bond with God that means a richer fuller life.”

I think he makes a powerful point. Christ followers have the greatest message to offer a world looking for hope, love, fulfillment, purpose and passion. And yet, our primary marketing tool: Christianity has done such a poor job of it, that we have turned off more people than we’ve connected with. 

Perhaps it’s time to rethink our marketing strategy. To show our society that you truly can be a follower of Jesus Christ AND actually be somewhat normal – at least as normal as the rest of culture!

What are you doing to market your faith? And before you flame me over using that term, read Jon’s post on the subject.

Well, Rogers announced today that they will be bringing the iPhone to Canada. The Mac forums & b

logs that I read are pretty excited about it. My guess is we will be seeing them in stores here sometime late summer or early fall. Everyone believes that a new iPhone will be announced the end of June, so we wont be seeing anything here before that time.

Now, I realize that some of you are thinking, “So what, it’s just a phone.” I’ve had my unlocke

d iPhone for two weeks now, and I am truly amazed with it. Yes, it’s a phone. But it’s more than that. Since getting my iPhone, I haven’t used my MacBook once. Why? Because I can sync my email, web browsing, etc. on my iPhone. When on wifi, the speed of my iPhone is equal to that of my MacBook (yes, I said equal)! 

In the U.S., the iPhone has transformed the mobile phone market. It will do the same when it finally shows up in Canada. Just watch.

If you want to read a few interesting articles about the Canadian launch of the iPhone, here’s a few:

Globe and Mail

iPhoneinCanada.ca

Simon Tonekham

As some of you have heard, our oldest daughter, Brittany, has been approved into a Student Exchange program. She will be going to Costa Rica for a year (actually, a full school year, which is really ten months). She received the approval just before church began on Thursday night. It really took me for a loop. I recovered, but am still going through a lot of emotions over the idea. 

I know what you’re thinking. Did you not work out the emotions during the application stage? No. I didn’t. You see, I always had an excuse. First, it was the cost. We certainly didn’t have the finances to pay for her to go to another country for an entire school year. So, Brit discovered that there was a scholarship fund. She applied. So then, I figured that there would be so many people who apply for the scholarship program that she wouldn’t be accepted. She was. And that’s where we are now at.

We figured she wouldn’t be leaving until the end of August. You know, school starts in September, and so that would give us the summer with her. Well, today we find out that might not be the case either. It now looks like she will be leaving the middle of July. JULY! My heart started racing again at the thought of her leaving so soon.

Oh, did I mention that she is only 15. You know, my baby girl? My little kid. My Bert. Gone for a year!!! To another country!!!

And yet, what an opportunity for her. When I put aside my personal feelings – my daddy feelings - and just think about the opportunity, I get very excited for her. This will change her life. She will experience things that I certainly never had the chance to experience. And who knows, what the Lord will do in her heart during this year.

Releasing our kids to experience life is never easy. As a pastor, I speak often about trusting God and this is one of those times when I am required to walk the talk. Do I trust God with my baby girl? I believe I do. 

I plan to write about the experience of getting ready for her to leave on this blog (from time to time). Perhaps it might help others who are coming close to the stage of letting their children begin to fly. 

I hesitated to write on this subject. After all, my wife and children are Mohawk. Heather was born and raised in Deseronto, where the latest standoffs are taking place. Her parents still live on the Tyendinaga reserve. I also have a very close friend who pastors a church in another town divided over a Native standoff. Since I haven’t asked his permission, I’ll keep his name and the community he is in anonymous. But it has been a very difficult few years for that community.

Here’s my struggle: I believe there is something to the land claims and frustrations of the First Nations people. The bottom line is, these claims are often based on legal treaties that were signed many, many years ago. Some argue that we shouldn’t be held accountable for the treaties signed by our forefathers. I think that’s ridiculous. Of course we should. They are legal documents that were ignored for far too many years. 

Imagine someone moving into your home while you were on holidays. When you come back, they announce to you that since you signed your mortgage 20 years ago, it was no longer valid. It doesn’t matter that the house is paid for, they are now living in it, and you’ll just have to find someplace else to live. What would you do? You would take them to court, show evidence of your claim on the house, and a judge would tell the squatter to leave your property immediately. 

I have no issue with First Nations people demanding that treaties be honoured. To me that’s just right.

The problem is, many of the claims being made by some within this community are not based on valid claims. They are unwilling to allow the courts to examine and determine if certain claims are legitimate or not. Instead, they simply – at times it seems, randomly – move into areas and take them over. To me, that doesn’t sit well.

In fact, all of the events surrounding the latest standoff in Deseronto seems to raise many questions. The Reserve’s own website has the following media release:

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory – The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council do not support or condone the blockages of public roads as appropriate measures to resolve the Culbertson Tract Land Claim. The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council believes the most appropriate way to resolve the land claim remains at the negotiation table.

“It is unfortunate that a group have taken actions into their own hands by blocking public roads in response to last week’s media announcement that a portion of the Culbertson Tract would soon be developed. We are informed that the developer has no building permits in place and the municipalities and county have no bylaws in place to permit development on the land. Therefore, the announcement seems to have been staged more as a media event to draw attention to the interests of individuals, said Chief R. Donald Maracle.

“The Culbertson Tract Claim should not be about protests, blockades or civil disputes between our people and our neighbours. It is about a lawful Crown treaty obligation owed to the Mohawk people to restore control of the Culbertson Tract Land to our community,” Chief Maracle added. “People need to remain calm and allow for peaceful negotiations to continue in a climate not hampered by protests and blockades. This will take time. Directing our energy and focus to negotiations with the Crown is more productive and responsible than sensationalized confrontation.”

I think the Chief worded it just right: “People need to remain calm and allow for peaceful negotiations …”

I also find it quite fascinating how the national media outlets view the blockade. Take a look at the cbc.ca article and compare it to the globeandmail.ca release. If you go to their main website, you’ll have to look hard and long to find mention of it on cbc.ca, while globeandmail.ca have it as a lead story. Interesting.

I’m a Christ follower. It is in part because of the treatment that First Nation people received at the hands of Christians that I prefer to label myself a Christ follower and not a Christian. As a Christ follower, I want to help be part of the solution to these issues. But at times, I’m at a loss of what to do. 

So I do the only thing I know to do. I pray. I pray for the First Nation people, the local, provincial and federal government, and for the police. That peace would ultimately be found in a situation that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

Ed Stetzer is a guru in church planting circles. He has written loads of books on the subject, and has been heavily involved in his denomination as a church planting leader. His research company, Lifeway, has just released an interesting study on church attendance – who is – and who is not – likely to attend church. 

One of the interesting paragraphs in the article says,”The 2008 study revealed that 25 percent of unchurched adults would use a church Website or an Internet search tool to find a congregation to visit,” he said. “For one out of four unchurched people, the first visit to your church may be on the Internet. Churches need a Website that favorably represents who they are and, more importantly, who Jesus Christ is.”

I think that’s encouraging for those of who have have embraced technology as part of the local church’s vision. I know that Bikers’ Church has benefitted greatly by having a strong web presence. This article encourages me to continue to develop new technology for use within the church structure.

Well … I feel much better now. Even after my post about all the gadgets I have, at least I haven’t bought this little set of wedding rings that I read about on Engadet’s website:

This wonderful set of rings will only cost you $150! Perhaps I’ll start suggesting them when I do pre-marriage counseling.

I’m reading an interesting book right now, I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt (see my side bar for a link to it). Good book.

I just finished the chapter by the same title as this post. Wow. It’s about identity. And it’s a wonderful reminder of who we are.

What do you say when someone asks you who you are. Do you give them your name? Do you give them your job title? Do you tell them you’re a dad or mom or child of someone? What do you say? Who do you think you are?

John, one of the disciples and the author of the Gospel of John, has an interesting way of defining himself. He says it over and over again. Whenever he mentions a certain disciple, he doesn’t use the guys name, he simply says, “The disciple whom Jesus loved” The cool thing is he was describing himself.

He understood, that above everything else he may be: a follower of Christ, a fisherman, a disciple, an apostle, etc., he was one whom Jesus loved. 

You and I can steal that title from John. It’s okay, he’s cool with it. You are the one Jesus loves. I am too. It’s not a bad identity to have.

Okay, so I found this on another blog … and it’s powerful. 

Trust me … watch it to the end … you’ll thank me.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4]

Okay, so I’m being bugged by some non-Senator fans about why I haven’t commented on the end of the season. My predictions were wrong. The team couldn’t do it.

Oh well. Remember folks, it’s only hockey. Life goes on. It doesn’t hurt that the day after the season ends, it’s 22 degrees Celsius here! Who worries about hockey on such a perfect riding day???

It is a season we will all hope to forget soon. There will be changes. Redden will not be back. Nor will Emery. Who knows who else has played their final game with the team? My guess is that they keep most of the core. Remember, it was just one year ago that they were playing in the Final. This team is simply not as bad as they played.

The Ottawa Sun has a few good articles in it. This one talks a lot about what went wrong. To be honest, I don’t listen or read much of the negativity. I just don’t have time to get caught up in a bunch of emotional people yelling for them to trade everyone – Spezza, Heately, etc. If some had their way, the only guys who would still have a job next season would be Alfie, Fisher and Volchenkov. 

Take a deep breath folks. The sun rose this morning. And, let’s be honest … we are still better than the Leafs. 

Did you know that the Ottawa Citizen has a columnist on staff who writes with a motorcycle focus? I had a good chat with her today over the phone. She’s doing an article about Bikers Church and the Info Day/Swap Meet this weekend.

She also has a blog. And it’s good. I think you should read it. Why? Because I think anytime someone in the Ottawa media blogs about motorcycling in Ottawa, we should support it. We need more of it.

So read it. Or else.

Oh, her name is Lynn. And here’s a link to her blog.