random thoughts on a wednesday

something that is awesome is the snow! do you love the snow? Finn and Becky and i made a snowman family to represent us. it was cool until Finn and the neighbor kid took Becky's head off. now when ever Finn sees the snow outside he says, "make another Mose-man" which means snowman.

we should all make a concerted effort to pray for our loved ones when it snows that God will keep them safe as they drive!

i hope you have a great time at lifegroups this evening. let me know how things go!

Phil

Lifegroups...what do you think?

so after a bunch of prayer and conversations with your youth leaders i have decided to move to add one more small group night each month to youth. not only that but i we are going to make the small groups even smaller.

here's why... i believe that it is VERY important to connect with a small group of people to talk with, pray with, laugh and cry with. these people are the people to help you grow spiritually and talk about life with you!

i am interested in helping people who come to lifeline become disciples of Jesus and breaking things down like this seems to me like a way to help do that.

i would love to hear what you have to say about all of this. feel free to post your thoughts as honestly as you can and let's talk about this!

Phil

prayer week

Hey Everyone... this week at youth is prayer week. we will be looking at Jesus's teaching on Prayer in Matthew 6. we will be looking at the question, HOw do i pray, and talking about Praying with a Humble heart.

what are some of the things that you pray for regularly?

my top 5 memories of 2007...what are yours

1. going to Italy on a missions trip
- it was so crazy to be overseas serving God with Becky and Finn and such an AMAZing group of people. playing concerts with the rockout band, hanging out with some really cool Italian workers and kids, seeing how GOd was at work in me. kudos to team forli 07

2. baptizing some lifeline people at the lake
- i was so proud to see such a great group of people decide to follow Christ and get baptized. i am SO proud of all of you. God bless you!

3. camping in Oregon with Derek and Laura
- a great camping trip, i got to stop and train at TeamQuest fight club in Portland on the way! i armbarred some guys... beautiful beaches and walks and times talking around the fire and great food!

4. Camp Squeah...saturday night with Koenraad
- wow... just thinking about how God was working, and speaking to us and how people were responding is really great. it will remain a highlight in my years in youth ministry.

5. Hanging out with Penny Wild...Becky's BFF from England
loads of fun and eating good food!

Being Christmas - Lifeline Service Night

I gotta say "Being Christmas" was quite an adventure for me. i was wanting to have all of ouy youth go and visit some people. it didn't quite turn out that way. some people did go out and visit, but some stayed here at church and served in other ways... some people wrote cards, some cleaned, and some organized Fusion.

i think that it was a good experience if you had the right attitude going into it... i know that some didn't really want to do either. i can understand that myself, but it seemed that people who were excited to serve and do something for others did... and it seemed like God used them to really encourage people one way or another.

what was your experience like?

Belugas

yesterday we took Finn to the Vancouver Aquarium and saw some Belugas. it was pretty cool, except i would hate to swim around naked in a big see-through bathtub and let everyone look at me. i felt kind of like i was spying, so i went for a walk and let Finn and Becky Spy.

a quick thought...poker and anger

"My dear brothers take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

i was driving with my brother on a rainy day and we were trying to get somewhere quickly... the cars in front of me consistently cut me off and slowed right down causing me to break hard in the rain and putting us at risk. it seemed like it was happening all night. again, a car pulled out onto the lougheed highway right in front of us probably without looking, and i raised my hands in frustration... i refrained from saying what i was thinking and made a conscious effort to cool down trying to be a good example of Christ...

"i try not to get worked up when i am driving" i said to Mark. "yeah me too" he replied...

He told me that he was reading a book on how to act like a professional poker player which told him that if you get angry at things like traffic that you will be a bad poker player. instead you need to remain calm and cool taking everything in stride and moving on. the way you react on the road will be the way that you react in a high stress poker game.

how interesting, this month i am reading the book of james which tells me to be slow to get angry, my brother is reading a poker book which tells him the same thing. i guess that there is wisdom that goes across the board for something like the issue of anger... it goes to show that the words written in the BIble have something to say to you in every situation and circumstance in your life. my encouragement is to look hard at the book of James and to see what situations in your life you can learn something from this awesome book!

what do you think? what makes you REAlly angry, how do you respond? what does it look like to be be to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry?

Lifeline Costume Party

Psalm 139

so for the month of October, we have been reading together Psalm 139. i made a challenge to all youth and youth staff to read the same thing week to week through out the month, an di have been doing the same. i hope that as we go through the year, we can hold each other accountable in doing thing. i know that noone asked me if i read it.... maybe they will this month. either way i WAS reading this passage and meditating on it and memorizing it and here is some of what struck me from reading it... would you write in and let me know if you were reading along, and what struck you as you read Psalm 139.

God knows us deeply... God knows everything about us... he looks out for us... he is always completely aware of what is going on in our lives right from everything that we are up to day to day right from when we were in our mothers tummy!

it is okay to hate sin and to be angry about things that God hates... sin should make us sick to our stomaches to the point where we use strong words like HATE... we are so tolerant of anything these days.... we should hate sinful behavior and pray against it like David did.

even though God knows us deeply, and completely David asks God to look at him and to know his heart... even though we know God knows us we still open our lives up to him.

Rockout

So i want to hear what you guys have to say about RoCkoUt. i believe that we as a youth group need to be worshipping God together, but i want to do it in a way that is fun and relevant for you! i also want our worship times to be something that will be meaningful for middle schoolers who are passionately following Jesus, and for people who aren't sure what that even means.

for me Rockout is meant to be a time where we can tell God that we love Him, and we can show him we love him by dancing, jumping and being excited about HIm.

so yeah... i wanted to ask you about what you think

- what do you like about rockout?

- what do you dislike about rockout?

- what are your favorite songs that we sing?

- what are your thoughts in general?

Phil

Camp Squeah

this weekend we took about ghalf of our youth group to the lifeline fall retreat at camp squeah. i thought that rather than me telling you all about it. i would get the people who were there to blog their favorite squeah experiences for you to read about!

what i will say is that we had an AWESOME time!!

this is the chapel in the sky that we had our evening session on saturday at... it looks way different in the day time eh?

this is Korenraad... pronounced (koon - rad) he was our retreat speaker this year. Koen has mad skills as you can see here in our squeah dance off!

here are some of the RAD people who came on our retreat having a great time playing the awesome night games that the girl leaders planned!!!! so sweet!

this was one of the sweet crowdbreaker that we played during our first session planned by the guys leaders... it reaked like sardines after this one! so yeah...

if you were at Camp Squeah, make sure to leave some comments to tell your best fall retreat story, and to talk about what you learned or what God impressed on you during your time at SQUEAH.

Kraft Dinner Contest

so in lifeline we have been working to support the Women's Food Bank here at CHC by bringing boxes of KD for them. so far we have brought 131 boxes... as far as i know the high school group has 2. so let's try to double it before the high school group realizes what is going on and spends all their slurpee money buying KD to support the Womens Center Food Bank and blows us out of the water!

dont forget to bring your KD. if everyone brings even one box that will still be a lot of KD!

thanksgiving

this thanksgiving i had some AWESOME turkey... see when you get married one of the great benefits is getting two of every great meal like Christmas, Thanksgiving etc...

this thanksgiving i am thankful for a wonderful wife, and a great little gremlin (Finn). God has blessed me with an amzing little family and i wanted to let you know that i see it that way. my wife and son are a gift from God to me. i am thankful that God loves me so much that he gave me such a great gift! what are you thankful for?

(tear tear)

i wanted to share my favorite thanksgiving food and find out what yours is... for me i love Yams. there is nothing better on the thanksgiving table than Yams!

also i want to find out your turkey preferences... here are your choices...

a. white meat
b. brown meat
c. with cranberry sauce
d. without cranberry sauce
e. with gravy

knowing God's word

Wow! it has been a long time since my last post on the lifeline BLOG... but i am back at it now! you can expect a new post every couple of weeks i look forward to hearing what you have to say!

last night at youth we talked about knowing God's word and how God's word can guide us in the middle of a distracting life. remember how Cole couldn't tell what Taylor was trying to tell him with everyone yelling at him? but after she was able to write down the instructions he could find his way.

God's word is a guide to us through distracting circumstances and to give us an insight into what God wants for our lives... the Bible is God's word for our lives!

as a youth group we are going to start to read the same passage of scripture each month and keep each other accountable for that... for this month i want us to read Psalm 139... so there it is.

get back to me and let me know that you are reading this passage.. let me know what God is teaching you and saying to you through this!

happy reading...

Pastor Phil


Psalm 139 NIV
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

BLOG SLOWING DOWN FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS

Hey everyone,

the lifeline blog is going to slow down for the next few months. feel free to post comments on anything that is there, or onto this post to let me know how your summer is going.

there may be some sporadic blogging from here on, but as you can se it will not be as regular.

talk to you soon

Pastor Phil

no blog for a little while... the uprising

so this month has been called "the uprising" we have been talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means.

part 1 of the uprising was called "the funeral". at that event we experienced some of what Jesus went through in the time leading up to his death. it was a tough event to go to, and it wasn't actually that fun. i think it was good though.

in between part one and two of the uprising we ad a sunrise service to remember that Jesus rose from the dead. it was SO early. we all went out to the river and learned about what the ressurection actually means. it was a great time early in the morning.

after the sunrise service, we held a party to show that we are excited about the ressurection of Jesus. it was SO fun. we had 600+ balloons in nikkel hall, we had karaoke, and we played a vicious game of pull apart.

what were some of the things that affected you the most about the uprising?

what was your favorite part?

Hockey Tourney - Fusion 4 on 4

Here are some pictures of our recent Hockey Tourney that we had at Church during our dropin's

my family

i just thought that i would brag about how wonderful my family is.

my wife is so great, she challenges me to grow in so many ways. she helps me through tough times and she makes me laugh. we have fun together and that makes my life awesome.

finn is my son. he is getting very cheeky. he loves to stand at the back door and yell at the neighbor kids as they play hockey. sometimes he pretends like he is grumpy and he makes a scowling face, but when i scowl back at him a smile cracks through his tough exterior.

i know that you are a little ways off from marriage if you are in the middle school age bracket, but make sure you marry someone who loves God and who has real character... like Becky.

a very stretching experience

This weekend i had a very stretching experience. the Italy Missions Team went to a high ropes challenge course where we had the choice to complete challenges 30 feet or so off of the ground.

the idea was to pick a partner and help each other get across these cables, or a really high bridge, and the final challenge was to leap off of a telephone pole with a tiny platform on the top of it. it was unbelievable. i was so scared at times.

Becky (my wife) and Mandy S. were SO brave... they worked together through their fears to get across the challenges. they talked to each other, encouraged each other and held each other up as they crossed.

it was truely a very stretching experience for me, but i learned a lot of great lessons about friendship, fear, and courage. here are some pictures.

reflections of a non twin.

if i had a twin i think that i would probably fight with him alot. i think that it may be cool to have someone to be a friend who understood what it was like to be me.

if i had a twin and he ever got into trouble i would definitely be there to back him up and keep him in line... in fact i wish i had someone to keep me in line when i was getting into trouble when i was younger.

life is tougher for us non twins... we are kind of alone. i know that twins are NOT the same people. in fact they are quite different a lot of the time, but even though that is true, they do have someone to share alot of their experiences with.

if i had a twin, i would dress him like me and make him do all the stuff that i didn't feel like doing, and i would do al the fun stuff. we would never tell anyone that there were two of us. i would be fun guy, and he would be work guy.

if he ever got wise to my little scheme, i would duct tape him to a pole in my basement of the house that he worked so hard to pay for!!!! HA HA HA!! wait a second, what if he was a little tougher than me and he tied me to a pole... in fact he would probably be thinking the same thing as this... hmm...

CITYWIDE

so we had CITYWIDE last sunday night and it was so sweet. we were challenged to think of others and we heard about the story of the good Samaritan...(awesome and challenging story)

the Music was so incredibly loud but the band was amazing... it was funny because i was waiting for everyone to show up here at church, and it ended up being me and 8 girls (who are super cool)... i began to feel a little outnumbered so i called up Dawson Suderman, and like a good bro he came out to hang with me and the girls! we had a whole bus to ourselves! it was hilarious i guess the Velocity group didn't end up going so it was just us. we had an awesome time.

GET CONNECTED

So this month is called Get Connected and at lifeline last night we all went through different prayer stations to experience some interesting way of praying, or connecting with God.

i didn't get pictures of all the stations, but i did take pictures of some of this station. enjoy these pictures!

what was your favorite station? what did you learn about God or about yourself?

Phil

TALK stands for...

Tell God He is awesome
Ask for what ever you need
Love others as God loves you
Keep me safe...

has anyone been praying this prayer recently? have you found it helpful to think of the Lord's prayer in this way?

does anyone have cool stories about a time when they were praying for something and God answered their prayers? what about a time when you prayed for something and God didn't answer... was there a time when you experienced that?

Phil

our Father in Heaven hallowed is your name
your kingdom come your will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven
give us today our daily bread
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from the evil one

amen

Prayer Month - Get Connected

this month is prayer month... prayer is something that is REALLY hard to do! but this month, i want to put out a challenge that we pray more. i am not saying that we need to pray 12 hours a day, but that we pray a little more this month than we did last month.

here is what i am challenging us to do. it is simple, but it can be very dangerous. every morning when we wake up ask God this question...

"God, what do you want me to do today?"

start your day by turning your heart towards God and letting Him know that today is about what He wants and not what you want.

write in and let me know how it goes... what are some of the things that as you begin to pray this prayer that God shows you... what are some of the things that you pray about. what are some of your questions about prayer?

Phil

SLEEP DEPRIVATION OVERNIGHTER

here are some pics of the overnighter that we had this weekend.

it was a ton of fun. i know i only got 2 hours of sleep. let's just say am still recovering...

have you ever lost anything valuable to you?

i love my knife... a lot. i know i shouldn't, but i carry it around with me all the time. it cost a bunch of money and it is a really nice little pocket knife.

recently i lost my little knife. for the longest time i thought it was in my backpack, but when i went to check my back pack it was gone. i checked everywhere. every pair of jeans, every tool box, under every coach cushion but i just couldn't find my knife.

i was bummed.

in the bible, Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who has 100 sheep. 1 of his silly sheep out of the 100 decides to take a field trip and wanders off and gets lost. the shepherd is beside himself. he can't bear the thought of his sheep all by itself, lost and exposed to danger. the shepherd decides to leave the rest of his sheep to find the one who was lost.

God cares about people. when we aren't living for Him it is like we are lost... and GOd desparately wants us to come back to HIm. He goes out of His way to help us come back!

i was sitting downstairs one day when for some reason i put my hand in the chair i was sitting in and i found my knife!! i found it!! i was so happy!! i can't help but feel a little silly worrying so much about my knife when i think about how much God must want people who don't know HIm to be found.

anyways...

SNOW DAYS!!!!! GRRRRRR!!!!

ah yes... the loser cruiser. that is what i affectionately call my 1991 NISSAN AXXESS. this is a picture of the LC in some snow outside my church office.

yesterday we cancelled lifeline due to BEDLAM on the roads near the church. it is a pretty crazy story so i thought i would share it with you.

i was driving away from the church for lunch literally moments after i got off the phone to tell everyone that YES Lifeline would be meeting as usual.

as i was driving i saw two red lights swoop down just over the overpass on McCallum by the church. as i drove onto the bridge, i saw a helicopter that had landed between the freeway. cars were all stopping to jump out to help and everyone was slowing down to look at this random scene. it seemed that the pilot couldn't see anything because of the white out and was trying to find a big enough patch to land his helicopter. it turned out that he seemd to be okay. how often do you see a helicopter just kickin it on the freeway.

so i kept driving and a little farther down McCallum i saw about three fire trucks and a bunch of police cars and an ambulance attending the scene of a pretty bad accident. they were using the Jaws of Life to cut someone out of a car that was pretty badly smashed up. the Jaws of Life are these huge mechanical teeth that fireman use to cut open mangled cars to get people out. they are actually pretty cool. if it wasn't an accident i think it would be pretty cool to chew through a car with a huge pair of hydraulic scissors.

in the space of 45 minutes everything just went insane and so i decided to cancel lifeline to try to keep everyone off of the roads. thankfully my little loser cruiser took me everywhere i needed to go safely and without any incidents.

Back

thanks faithful bloggers for checking and posting. sorry about being away for a little while and not getting back to your comments.

i am back now and will be back at it with regular Blog Postings.

talk soon!!!!!

Phil

Country Christmas

so this year at lifeline we did something a little different for Christmas. we had a COUNTRY CHRISTMAS.

we all piled into a bus and some vans and headed out to a Farm in the Sumas flats.

when we were there we played some fun games, we worshipped with the ROCK OUT band, and talked about Christmas.

being in the barn with the UBER coldness and the smells and sounds of animals was perfect... i mean Christmas started in a barn... Jesus was born in a barn. CRAZY.

we had tons of fun. post a comment and tell us your favorite memory of COUNTRY CHRISTMAS and something cool that you learned!

Merry Christmas

RoCk OuT Psalm 62:2-5

"my soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and salvation"

it is AWESOME when we tell God that we love Him! it is fun and exciting to clap and dance to show how excited we are that God loves us and to say thank you in a way that is fun for us!

most important is that God sees our hearts and that our hearts are genuinely pointing towards Him! we can do that in everyday life as well as in worship! God wants us to give our whole hearts to Him, and why wouldn't we!

God is my rock and Salvation!!

Coming Soon "Dudes and Chicks Month!!!"