Toronto Raptors Toronto's only winning franchise?

It's official... the Toronto Raptors are Toronto's only winning franchise right now. They start the playoffs and look good going in! What about the Leafs? Well... we won't go there...

The Argos? Likewise. The TFC? Ditto. Jays? time will tell... The Raptors were strong from the start of the season and kept it that way! I'm behind these guys! The only Canadian team in the NBA! Go Raps! 

Hopefully next year with cleaning house in the management level the Leafs can do something right!

Now I do want to say, I'm not a flip flop fan, look at how much I still love the Leafs despite this past year! Any Toronto team I have been a fan of, and I support them. 

Game on! The red and black is nice, I miss the former purple too, but oh well, not a big deal.

SuperBLOG!

Okay, no secret, I'm a fan of the superhero genre - comics, games, movies. I have my favourites like Superman, Batman, Hulk, Zauriel, and more...

Now here's the thing... these are great relaxers, but no substitute for God and the bible. One day we will as believers have bodies that these superheroes will be jealous of! Look at Jesus' body which is what we will be modeled after: Ability to fly (in Revelation this is implied too as to the height of the walls in New Jerusalem), walk through walls, never get sick, never die, and who knows what else? It's exciting stuff! 

Comics are cool, but God is way cooler! There are Christian based comics too like the 20th anniversary of Archangels the comic series this May from Patrick Scott...

So is it okay to be a comics guy and a Christian? Yes... as long as you don't let it consume you. Let GOD be the consuming fire in our lives!

Easter is here!

Yes, Easter is here, and here is something I put together a couple of years ago, still hard hitting. The music is from the soundtrack of music inspired from the Passion of the Christ movie, the song New Again by Brad Paisley and Sarah Evans. The scenes are from The Nativity Story, The Passion of the Christ, and the Gospel of John movies

Enjoy, and Happy Easter!

Palm Sunday

So yes tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus rode in on a colt, the foal of a donkey and everyone cheered him as their KING! What an exciting moment that must have been!

For some this was the moment when they thought Jesus was ushering in His Kingdom and defeat the Romans. I have seen portrayals of Judas where he imagined this event turning into Jesus conquering the Roman threat and then when it didn't happen he went nuts and went to the religious leaders trying to force it to happen, unfortunately we all know how it turned out. He betrayed Jesus and the rest is history.

But let's look at that moment of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. He entered through the East Gate, the Golden Gate, to fulfill scripture, and this was the first time Jesus took public applause for him to be the Messiah. The religious leaders trying to tell Him to silence his followers is funny. His response? Luke 10:40, "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Could you picture it if they had kept quiet? Imagine the stones around Jesus crying out in praise of Him? Wow. Good thing the disciples shouted out! Imagine how that would have changed the story!

Tomorrow is a great day to celebrate! Enjoy!

Are you ready?

So Thursday night I spoke to our youth about being ready fr Christ's return, it was part of a talk about Annihilationalism - that those who don't believe will simply just stop existing someday as part of the "eternal punishment" from God. I told them no, there is a place called hell, it is a place of pain and fire and as the Bible says the smoke rise from it forever. To wrap things up I showed this video... 

Needless to say it impacted the youth. We asked around if they were ready if Jesus should come back before even our meeting ended. Some interesting responses, some said yes, others weren't sure. We stressed to them they should make sure! Hoping some of them went home that night and put their full faith in Christ, but time will tell. The question now is - are YOU ready? Yes, you who are reading this. Are you ready?

Leonard Nimoy, secret Star Trek symbol origins, and God

As a Trek fan, it was sad to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy aka Mr. Spock - the original. Who would think that this man was very religious? 

He was a Jewish man who grew up in Russia and never gave up on God. He was beaten for being Jewish at times but never gave in. As we take time to celebrate the life of this man, his dedication to what he believed, in Judaism, I stop to think of how dedicated Christians are - or should be. There are stories of Christians being persecuted around the world, the most recent of course being the 21 men beheaded from Egypt by ISIS. We see examples of this and even of little Leonard Nimoy who wouldn't abandon his faith despite being persecuted. Are we that strong here in North America? If someone started beating us because of the name of Jesus, would we stand strong? If someone came into our church service and pointed a gun at us to renounce our Lord or die, would we? What if they threatened our families in front of us? Tough right? This will come our way one day, the Bible says that. We need to be ready.

So once again, farewell to the original Mr. Spock, he lived long, and he prospered. By the way, did you know the Vulcan "Live long and prosper" symbol...

...it's actually a Jewish symbol? Watch Leonard Nimoy explain it in this video... 

Being on a supply list...

So I am once again on the Supply List for the school board after someone else got the job I had been holding for 5 months. Stinks yes I know. I keep applying to positions when they come up in the board, with Honda, with... you get the point. I am on supply for LIFE 100.3 as well so you may hear me more again as time goes by. We'll see. In the meantime this day to day uncertainty is a test of faith. You are literally living by the grace of God day by day. Literally trusting in Him to provide work day by day. It's humbling to be like this every day after you once had full time work, then see the position reduced to part time from the board level, then see it go to someone else. In times like this I search God out more, lean on Him more. What else can I do right? Some training yes, but still, it's all in His hands.

I put this here to encourage anyone in a similar situation, that God is our only hope in all circumstances. Am I stretched right now? You bet. God's working on me for sure. 

God bless.