Church #41. Jasper Place Baptist Church. Easter Sunday 2015.

All I have to say is, thank the Lord that this one went better then last year! Much better actually.

From past experiences I have discovered that on certain Christian holidays that people will drop their typical greetings for something more appropriate to the occasion. Today instead of saying "Good Morning", the greeting was " He is Risen!".

There were a few familiar things I recognized. The drape of white fabric laying on the cross, and an extensive decoration all around the room made with brightly coloured spring flowers. I am gonna be honest, the first half of the service was like having church in a kindergarten class. SO MANY KIDS!!! Thankfully they were smart enough to give the coloring pages to keep them busy until they were dismissed for their Sunday school.

The prayer requests this morning were definitely interesting. One of them Involved the announcement of  a new mandarin speaking church that is being built in the far north end of the city. It had become noticeable to the Chinese community in the city, that there is little to no options for mandarin speaking people to attend church in their language. Edmonton has many people of Chinese heritage but almost all of the well established ones are Cantonese speaking, especially that of the older generation. Therefore, three Chinese churches in the city are working together to make this new church happen. (Ps. They still don't have a pastor, so if you know a pastor that speaks mandarin, let them know!)

Another prayer of for something a bit more concerning to my heart. there was about 50-75 people in the room including the kids, and it was asked that we all say a prayer for the 4 men that have lost their jobs (now down to 3). Most of which I can only guess are fathers with young kids. Having a Dad that has lost his job seams somewhat meaningless to a child cause you are just so far in your own happy bubble, that you are just dam clueless to the world around you. However after that child grows up, and realizes the weight of the world and looks back on what what happened to their parent, lets just say it is just short of heart wrenching. Been there, done that unfortunately.

there was a very cool video clip shown.  The pastor was nice enough to share it with me for my bog, thanks again! :)

The singing and the worship was something to be desired. I am sure if I was still 7 years old I would have enjoyed it. But lets be real. Its me. The voices in the room were ether not willing or able to to put out for most of it, the singers on stage did not add much ( or maybe the mic were not working). The songs were poorly chosen from what must have been a children CD and awkward to sing along to. And all this was being lead by a lady that had a personality and voice that likely resembled my kindergarten teacher. If i could even remember my kindergarten teacher.... gag me with a spoon. 

The kids also went up to the church and did a little "song with actions" thing. The song had to do with telling the people that Christ is risen and he is alive. All along with some James Bond background music and some robotic dance moves. I know sometimes people put in the extra effort to make something cool and modern, and then there are times when you just get weird messed up stuff. 

Yep... this sums it up well I think. 

The actual sermon however was much different.
The pastor noted something that has been mentioned a lot lately. Easter is underrated too much. Especially by Christians.  I agree with his statement that it should be one of the most, if not the most important holiday we have. He made a very good point when he said out, that we will set aside our entire regular routine for an entire month, in preparation for Christmas. But we will maybe take a day to prep for Easter. 

"Somehow eggs and bunnies ended up in the mix, I don't know!"

I have been looking into traveling lately  and i read an article called "46 Reasons You Should Never Leave Amsterdam". And i noticed a quote that says "one of the best parts about Amsterdam is that it knows what it is."  I am happy to report this was also true of this church service. This pastor knew what he was dealing with. Easter Sunday service. Not only a religiously significant day, but also one of those days in which non-believers are forced and obligated to come to church by grandma. You know me. I tell it like it is. So as far as my impression goes, the pastor took this opportunity to make believers out of the critics, skeptics and agnostics. Good luck.

First he took some time to explain some of the significance of Christs actions. He point to the fact that Christ was the king that died for us. Which is not that big until you put it in perspective. Back in the day when the kingdom was in danger the king was the last person to risk his life. All of his people would go before him and risk death to protect the king. Because if the king dies in battle, instantly everything is lost. Check-mate and game over for everything. So the idea that Christ was a king that would go out to battle alone, and willingly die, to save the lives of all his subjects was just short of revolutionary. BEST KING EVER! 

Another subject was Christ army of angles. Apparently it is written in the bible somewhere that Christ had legions upon legions of angles ready at his command to same him from his suffering. He had every opportunity to get out of his humiliation, torture and slow and brutal death. But he took all of it for days on end because his only thought was that he needed to see this thru for all of us. 

Since Jesus rose from his tomb his followers were feeling the heat. The empire was freaking out because there were rumors that this guy rose from the dead. But the only way to prove he is still dead is with his body. Body is currently missing from the tomb. Who are you gonna blame first? How about his 12 actually 11 disciples. Thanks a lot Judas. So Christ now in his risen state appears to the disciples and speaks to them. But Thomas is not in the room. So the disciples run to go tell him what happened. And in true Thomas style, he give them the old "I'll believe it when I see it!!!" He even went on to say that he will only believe them if Christ himself comes to him and allows him to put his finger thru the wound that priced a hole directly thru the center of his hand. 

Ps. They don't call this guy "Doubting Thomas" for nothing. 

Needless to say when Christ appeared to him 8 days latter and  was like; check out my hand, not to mention my side where the spear got me! Thomas was eating his words and apologizing profusely. 

He noted the fact that Christians are often mocked and criticized that they believe in fairy tails and nonsense. His argument is that Christ did very much so exist, not only in the bible but also in historical documents outside the bible. He references letters sent by a Turkish governor to Roam discussing Jesus. There was a Greek philosopher called Josephus who spoke of him. And the Jewish Talmud calls him a sorcerer. But the point is that he is in there. 

Despite the fact that I have many non-christian friends in my life, most of them agree with me that Christ was a real person and did exist. We don't agree on much else. But his existence is so well documented it is impossible to deny.  Even my friend that as recently given up on Christianity and become a raging agnostic has said to me; "Jesus did exist. I will give you that. To deny that, you pretty much have to be an idiot."

The most interesting thing that I learned this day was all around one word. "Finished". As some of you may know, In his last hour before death Christ's last words were "It is finished!" Which seams like a pretty obvious and final statement considering everything that has just happened to the guy. But there is something here us English speakers are missing. This part of the bible was originally written in Greek. In English we have three lingual tenses we use; past present, future. ex. ride, riding, ridden. The Greeks are a lot fancier then us. They have not 3 not 4 not 5 but EIGHT different tenses used in their language. The tense used on the word "Finished" is a perfect tense. Meaning that that word was acted in the now, but also carries on with eternal consequences. His blood washed clean all the people that are here now, are now past, and are yet to be born. Everyone is covered. Finished. Forever. 

"Believe and confess Jesus to be the savior and you are saved!" 

However by the end I was really starting to fell sorry for this pastor. He repeatedly said "I need you to believe!" But The sad part is that I even felt detracted from believing at this moment. In-fact I can say I have not believed so little in a long time. It was like watching baseball with the batter giving 110% to hit the ball and just missing it. Over and over and over. Just brutal. 

Not only that , I was actually kind of worried for him. There was this one guy in the crowd who I could tell was likely not a regular church goer, or believer in God. And it was clear to see he was pissed. You could just tell that everything the pastor was saying was just getting this guy more and more irked.  You could just see the look on this guys face and he looked like he wanted to go up there and punch out the pastor. Thankfully it did not come to that. 

Right after that the service ended and I was packing up. Then, a woman in her forty's who was in a seating area to my right, had suddenly moved to the front of the room wile I was not looking, I had examined this lady earlier. She appeared to have friends and family with her, she was wearing a wedding ring and dressed very nicely. I would maybe not have taken so much note of her if was not for her obvious medical condition.

I am no doctor but if I had to make a guess I would say this is Warts, but not just a few. Every free inch of her skin was almost covered in warts. Face, Hands, Arms just everything! This poor lady looked like she could have been painted into one of the pictures of Christ healing some one with some plaguing disease. I know what it is like to have warts. They are not fun. You also feel some what helpless to them, because there is little you can do to  fight them sometimes. But the worst part is they make you feel ugly. This is not an ugly that make-up and hair dye can fix. You feel ugly in you heart and soul. You know you have them growing on you, you know people are going to ask, and it feels impossible to get away. It can be brutal. I still have the scar from when they had to surgically remove mine. My left elbow has never been the same since. 

And yet now before me, at the front of the room, I see this lady, knelt down on the steps at the front of the alter with her head down. I did not get close enough to tell but I suspect that she was sobbing.  The rest of the room packed up and moved on, but she stayed there.  Another lady came and sat beside her to show support, and giver her comfort. This in my mind is an example of a person that needs God. That being said, we all need God. But this lady clearly needs him. Not for the purpose of handing out some miracle cure to fix her skin condition. I am sure that would be great, but that's not what I am taking about here. I don't know what she was praying for but I suspect it might be that she is seeking gods, love. The kind of love that can help her deal with all the weird looks she gets when she is out grocery shopping. The kind of love that can help her hold her head high,  and prevent her from feeling inferior to the other ladies sitting beside her on the buss. The kind of love that will make the people around her act with kindness and compassion. Or maybe she just wants to be able to wake up in the morning and feel beautiful knowing that regardless of her skin, that she is loved unconditionally.  God is good at that. 

 

Church #40. St. Joachim Cathloic Church. Palm Sunday 2015.

This is a church I have know about for a while. Even from the outside, I could tell that  it must have a beautiful interior. It was conveniently located off the LRT line, and does not require you to be there for 8 am. It is technically just out the front door of my friends apartment. So you may be asking, why I have not featured this church sooner? One reason. All the sermons that are done at this church, including the Sunday one, are entirely spoken in French.

No English.

I went to church and didn't understand a word.

But that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything.

It only took a few steps in, to realize my suspicions were right, this place is amazing!

I am sure it must be comparable to the churches in Europe to some degree. It was just phenomenal!
And of coarse me being the absent minded person I am, forgot that today was Palm Sunday.

So not only have I never been to a palm Sunday service, I have no idea what it means. So after I went home a Googled it.Thinking back on this, I do remember reading about this in the book of Mark when I was in bible study.I am not normally one to go for referencing wiki, but I think they give a fairly detailed and interesting explanation as to what happened to Christ on palm Sunday, and how it is now celebrated. Enjoy. 

Palm Sunday-What is it?

I can also tell you that I was not the only one there that did not speak french. That was apparent to me when I approached the basket of palm ferns that were take-by-donation. I could hear the little old ladies behind me asking each-other "What do we do?". I also noticed my share of people, that were also just kind of "going with it", and likely not understanding what was being said. 

Some of you are probably wondering why I would go to a church where my language is not spoken? There is a few reasons. 

#1. I wanted to get an understanding of what it might be like to be an invaded people having a new language and religion forced on them. I wanted to know what it is like to sit in a very strict and complex church service and not understand a word. Would one find any spiritual value in such a disconnected environment?

#2. I also wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are many people in this world that are forced to learn another language to know the salvation of Christ. There are thousands of dialects in the world but only a very small percentage of them have a bible in their language. Printers and translators have much more motivation to produce a bible in a language that 100,000 people speak vs, 5000. My old bible study leader, actually has a grandfather that has devoted his life to translating the bible into different languages. His ultimate goal is that all people, may one day be able read the word of God in their own tong. If you feel the need to support this cause, this is a link to at least one group that it working on it. 

Global Bible Translation Initiative

#3. Some of you my be surprised to know this, but the third and final reason I took this on was to get a better understanding of what it must have been like to be my mother when she was a child and going to church. And yes, you guessed right, my mother spent years in a church with services that were not in English. Sadly I think she understood just as much from them as I did on palm Sunday here.Not much at all.

 "Allez tout droit! Puis prennez à gauche!"

 I am so lost.... 

Any who...

So this place still had a few surprises. It was pretty full, but not to the brim, about 100-125 people by my count. Most people came dressed  for the event, many ladies in nice dresses and some old men in tuxedos. What took me by surprise was that a noticeable percentage of this churches attendants were African Canadian. Including the priest. Who was a large built man with a round face, and a jolly personality wearing decorated red and white robes. This man stood before the church and delivered a fantastic service in full francophone French.

The service began at the back of the church this time. The priest first blessed the remainder of the basket of palm leaves with holly water and said a verity of prayers. Then he and his clergymen walked in procession up the isle, splattering and blessing the crowd as they went. I enjoyed the experience despite the fact that it forces me to take off my glasses to remove the water drops. I find it to be very personal, to me that kind of experience makes me feel like I am blessed.

There were children at this service, counted roughly 18 heads, all very well done up in their Sunday best. And mostly of African Canadian ethnicity. It is apparent by the look on the Priest's face, that he is a man with a soft spot for children. But of coarse kids never really stop being kids. And as one can image, being 6 years old, being told to sit threw a catholic church service and being given a long pointy palm furn, swatting fights between siblings were inevitable. Thank God my mother didn't take me and my younger siblings to something like this when we were young.  Between the three of us it would have been pure mayhem!

One of the nice parts of this is that it gave a lot of time for personal reflection and prayer. You got a lot more time to actually meditate and reflect vs trying to keep up with the service.

 There was another interesting character I noticed. There was a man likely in his 50's  and sitting in a back pew, all by his lonesome. Amongst all the well dressed attendants, this guy looked like he just cleaned the twigs out of his hair, and the wood chips off his jacket, and wondered into town for church. Or off the Game of Throne's film set.One or the other.  He was a thinner man with a rough thick salt and pepper beard, hair was the same way but grown long and tied back into a ponytail. His jacket was oil skin hide with edges of fluffy shapera sticking out where the thick slabs of leather were stitched together. He wore blue jeans and light colour pointed cowboy boots stained by the salt in the melting snow. I watched him sit there in his relaxed and attentive silence. I can only imagine that this must being back some kind of memories for him, maybe that of his childhood? despite not getting a full view of his face at any point in the service, you could tell this was special to him. I am sure that until the end of my days never fail to be amazed at the people that the Lord calls.

When I walked into church today I made the decision that I was not taking communion. Nope. Not after what happened at the last Catholic church. Also considering the fact that I am in an environment that doesn't speak my language, It was far to risky. Yet when the time came, I didn't really have an option. At this service every pew stood up and went up to the front, in an almost assembly line type fashion. When my pew stood up, I was closest to the isle. The train was moving and I was going with it, weather I liked it or not! I managed to receive my rice cracker and white wine without issue. I found Pino Grigio to be an interesting choice for the wine. Not what I expected.

Communion was not the only awkward close call I had. There was also that part of the service where you are supposed to get up and shake hands and greet everyone. People were talking to me in full blown french and I just did the nod and smile. That and there was a moment after the service when I was taking photos, and a little girl run up to me and ask me something in french, I just stood there for a moment, and then she ran off to ask someone else.
Speaking of photos.

While I was standing across the road, taking this picture on the front steps of my friends apartment building, I looked down and noticed something. 

Good old tulips. Never fail.
Have a  Blessed Palm Sunday Everyone!

Church #39. First Baptist Church.

Before we go any further, I need to say this. When I see any church with the word "First" in the name, this immediately comes to mind.

There was no wedding ceremony happening at the First Baptist Church today, but it was still very beautiful inside.

Love the banner epically, I had to spend some time looking at it before my mind could comprehend it. I was told it was originally designed by a famous artist, and took a very committed team of ladies to put it together. I really love the glow it puts on the glass sky scrapers. Because it reminds me of something that came up in the news a while back. See the link below!

"Mary in The Glass". Clearwater, Florida, USA.

Population of this church 100-ish? Mix of seniors and families.  And for the record there are kids here. Lots of them. When they called them for their separate Sunday school lesson, there was about 30 of them that left the room. Maybe I could not see fully being so far back, but it looked like there was few really "little ones". Everyone by my guess looks 5 years of age and older.

Bells rang and the service started, the choir poured the sound of worship over the church like an avalanche. Literately. I have never encountered a choir that starts their performance on the high balcony at the back of the church, and then progresses to the lower floor, and towards the front of the church. When the performance started it really took me back, I had to stop and think for a moment, after turning around in my pew did I see where all this sound was coming from.

And yet Another surprise! The regular pastor who was supposed to be leading the service had fallen seriously ill and was in hospital. We were told that he is now doing better and "might be eating Jello" at the moment, but we can't be sure. The pastor taking his place said the he had noted that  he was asked to sing "2 Lionel Richie Songs." But that was not going to happen. Amongst the announcements there was also a notice advertizing baptism preparation and ceremony for anyone who feels that they might be are ready. The pastor proclaimed that "There will be water in the tank!"  and that "we would love to get you in the tank!". It was also mentioned that Easter Sunday is a great day to be baptized!

I am going to admit to this right now. I got down very little note on this service just because I didn't want to get distracted and miss any of it. It was literately that good. If I had to put words to it I would describe it as, clear, comprehensive, relateable, honest, and with a slights sense of humor. I give it 5 church pews out of 5.  You guys rock!

The topic was on the last supper, and Christ doing the lowly task of washing his fellow disciples feet before dinner. They insisted that this task is far below his status as such a respected Rabi and nearly degrading in their view. Each disciple had a different reaction to him as he preformed this task, many objected to what he was doing. The speaker touched on a few of them. After he was done  Christ said "What I am doing right now you will not understand, but you will understand latter."I think god does a whole lot of this in our lives. Often it takes time for things to come full circle for us to realize what value, or lesson we were taught us in the past, and how God has used that to shape our future. The pastor also requested that a few volunteers come to the front of the church and stand bear-foot, as he taught his lesson and finished with prayer.  Personalty I find this very interesting. I have many people argue with me that there is no prof of solid fact in the bible and it is just a big story book with everything made up. But honestly the more I read it, the more I find these people hard to believe. The fineness of some of the detail, and not always nice detail, really surprises me sometimes. Some of such detail reflects the personalities, attitudes and  idiosyncrasies of each disciple.  I hope to study more on the individual personalities of each disciple latter and write on it. As a trained journalist, I don't feel this was made up.

One of my favorite quotes of the day has to be "our God is an Awkward God." Which as by today's sermon we can see is true, and noticeably prevalent in the rest of my bible readings. He gets his followers to do some really odd and uncomfortable things some days, but it all has purpose. If you don't believe me check this one out! ( Why did Isaiah the prophet preach naked?)  And if you know me, you know that I am terribly awkward. And somewhat socially inept. It makes my life rough some days, trust me. But I believe like Gods actions it all has purpose. In-fact it might be my greatest strength in this whole project. Most people could never emotionally or socially handle doing this project. Me I walk though this like Christ walks on water. I don't even need to ask questions, I just go. Not saying I am all that special or nothing. But I am sure this is all part of the plan. Another favorite quote of mine.

"We are cleansed and cleaned for beautiful work."
"All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our god." 
" You can not take a persons foot into your hands without getting really close to them!"

After the service I was able to ask about this "Tank" cause I had no idea where it was. It was actually right in-front of my nose the whole time. See where the hands are? There a tank in there!

Besides the two entrances, this tank also features a water heater control and  a "Fill Line", which was hand drawn in pen, on the inside of the tank.

And the orgaist, let me just say this guy must be a fan of old horror/drama  or maybe action films? because his playing definitely reflects it. If anyone in the future is directing  the next Batman movie and  needs an organist for the musical number, I recommend this guy.

 Over all great church! Just a truly enjoyable environment. So next time you drive by, I suggest you stop in!

Going to NYC!

  On June 1 2015, I will be embarking on a two month adventure at the Stony Point Center's 6th Annual Summer Institute. There I will be studying faith and interfaith interaction, practicing a self sustaining lifestyle, and taking action towards social justice with my group. It is truly an honor to be accepted for this mission, and it shows that my 7.5 hours of typing my application payed off. I am now on a mission to fund-raise to help cover the cost of my flights and medical insurance for the 7.5 weeks I will be studying in New York State. Anything and everything is appreciated. When I am finished I hope to use this experience as backing to further myself within my faith studies and journalism to even greater and more amazing accomplishments. Thank-you and God Bless!

If you wish to throw me a bone or two, just fallow the link below. 
http://www.gofundme.com/p0uvzs

But personally I am just hoping I survive the Subway ride!

Church #38. St. Benedict's Chaple.

Garth Brooks may have friends in low places, but I have churches in odd spaces. Let me tell ya what I'm rambling about ;)

So majority of you that live in our fine city of E-town have likely gone under this church at-least a few times. Yes I said under. For this church we need to go up. Way up.  

And by that I mean the 3rd floor of City Center Mall. So after you ride a few of these magical moving staircases, you will find this.

And if you look over your shoulder to the right you will find this.

Normally I would take photos of the inside, but I saw a notice indicating no cellphones. So I will do this old-school, and describe the inside in text. It is a single elongated room with an office in the back. Strangely enough, the front of the alter faces the narrow part of the room only allowing 2 rows of seating in front of the alter, while having many rows flanking the side of it. Maybe there is a reason for this? But I honestly have no idea why they set it up this way.

Besides the alter there was a large crucifix on the back wall, a podium for speaking, giant Bible,  candles, old style icon of Marry and Jesus as a baby and an image of the Shroud of Turin.

Its kind of a cool mystery behind it all. Take a read if you like.
http://www.historytoday.com/charles-freeman/origins-shroud-turin

back behind the alter on the left side of the wall was this box. It kind of struck me as  a remake of the ark of the convent but I knew that could not be it. It had a cross on the top of it, and the sides were decorated with images of what I am guessing are the 12 disciples?

Fun fact! Did you know that the Ark of the convent is describes so well in the told testament that it actually comes with full construction specifications? Like down to the Cubit! The wide spread availability of this information has inspired a few to take theses detailed measurements, and bring this historical artifact back to life! 

I imagine what kind of a conversation piece this would be at the next patio BBQ?  The possibilities are endless!

The demographics of the room were interesting. Only about a dozen older ladies in the room when I showed up, plus a family or two. But looking around at the end of the service, I could see the population had doubled. A surprisingly large Filipino population attends this church.One thing that took me  back was how quite this church was. I showed up 10 min early and you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was dead silent praying. some had rosaries, others were kneeling. I looked down in-front of me and discovered that even though the room is populated with single chairs, each individual chair has its own built in kneeling bench. So I thought, might as well join them. I was only one of two people that sat in the squished 2 rows in-front of the alter.

You know how sometimes you will see something and it will jog your memory about something else? I saw this one lady praying, She was wearing a large crucifix, with her arms crossed over her chest, bible in hand, eyes closed in serious prayer. And what did that remind me off you may ask? PRETZELS!!!!

No it was not because I was hungry. There is actually a point to this. I cant remember where but I was reading somewhere, and it explained that the reason pretzels are shaped the way they are. Apparently they are supposed to look like "praying arms". Back in the days of old Europe, crossing your hands over your chest was the most common manner used while praying. Pretzels were used as treats that were given to good children.

The priest came up to start the service. I was kind of surprised when he started speaking. I could hear we he hand a mic on. I thought it to be a unnecessary tool considering the room was small enough that one would likely have the ability to project their voice to fill such a condensed space. It ended up that this priest has a very soft and somewhat mumbly voice and definitely needed the assistance of the sound system.

I am gonna be honest with ya. I could not hear half of what this guy said. But I will do my best. The topic was forgiveness. And one of the points being that we need to recognize that we have done something wrong before we can fix it.  There was a scripture reading.

Matthew 18:21-35New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[b] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
There was a point to this I'm sure. But I could not understand the guy.
The topic of they day was a heavy hitter. Abortion. Yep, that can of worms. He opened it.
With surprising grace I may add.

He briefly mentioned the story of a man that was responsible for opening an extensive network of abortion clinics across the USA. One day this man was preforming an abortion and then came to the realization that the fetus that he was removing was still alive. After witnessing that moment his life was forever changed in spirit and in mind. Another story he mentioned was a speech given by a young woman at an event. this young lady stood up on stage and said that she prays for her father every day, and that she has never met him in life. She told the crowd that this man raped her mother and she has never met him.

I know the current pope stands on the idea that the church should be a "sanctuary for life". And I would be all with him, it was not for the fact that it is a pie-in-the-sky ideal.

I used to take a very hard stance on the pro-life argument. But after sitting down with some of my friends that know people that have had abortions, and told their stories, I have had somewhat of a change of heart. Some of the stories have made me think these women were justified in their actions. Some I will still never agree with. With all this influence I have taken much time to think, and  I have come to the conclusion that I am pro-aviod-getting-to-that-point. We can do a lot to lower the rate of abortion, without taking way women's right to choice. When we reduce domestic violence, rape, underage marriage, lack of support for teen mothers, social stigma, poverty, lack of sex education  and access to contraception options, and negative vibes around adoption. When we deal with all that, the WANT for abortion radically decreases and therefor so do the rates. That where I stand anyhow.

"We want to be better."
"We have made mistakes."

 At some point after this the priest sees me with my note pad and asks, "Are you doing a report?" I said sort of and I would be happy to tell him more after the service was over. He said he wait for me after the service. He continued. then the time came to receive communion. This one involved holy water and rice crackers. The pretest approached the gold box at the back wall of the alter. briefly knelt before the gold box, opened it to reveal it contained a large decorative cup full of  rice crackers for communion. he stepped off the alter platform, stage left. While the congregation lined up to receive the "Body of Christ``. I did the same. But as I approached him he pulled away, refused to offer me the communion piece, and told me he would talk to me latter and walked to the other side of the room.

For lack of words on how I felt about this, allow me to relay this too you visually.

I am really not sure how long I stood in the middle of the room with my mouth hanging open in disbelief and shock.I remember some of the church members who saw this giving this look like "WHAT??!!??" I don't think they could understand it ether. eventually I sat back down.

The service was nearing the end. And he once again was standing at the later and asked me what I was doing exactly. I figured the guy really wanted to know so I stood up and in my best Television trained voice I explained the room, who I was, what I do, how I do it and what my goal is. He voice was very quite and mumbled but I am sure he said something to the extent of the fact that he really wished that I had asked him before coming in and taking notes. I think he might have said he wanted to talk to me after. He asked me if I had a business card. I said I did and when I got it out he asked me to hand it to a senior Filipino lady seated next to me. He closed the service and the lady that I gave my card too walked it to the office and put it down like it was some kind of toxic substance.

Eventually after removing some of his robes the priest came out to speak to me. He once again reiterated that he really wished that I would have asked him before doing this, and that if I do this again and ask him first he will allow it. He said that me sitting at the front of the church with a note pad is very unnatural... hold on.... let me put on my goggles.

There we go... much better. I was feeling normal there for a moment. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

After all this I had to ask him why he refused me communion. In a baffled manner he immediately asked me "Are you Catholic???!!!???" and I said yes. And if you know me, you know that's what my paperwork says, but that is the extent of it. He also stated that he didn't feel comfortable in offering me communion  and he did not know who I was. He was a nice old fellow and did his bet to make it clear that he didn't mean to offend me.

I hate to tell you Bro, but I am 100% offended.

This is the first church out of 38 in which I have been refused communion. This is not the first one to notice me scratching down my notes, but this has defiantly been the most negative reaction I have received from being noticed.
And no I refuse to let the church leader know ahead of time, for it may give them the opportunity to change some things they may regularly say, giving an inaccurate impression of the beliefs or practices of that church.
And no I will not fully research the exact deals of the rules and practices of each church before going. Takes the fun and entrainment out of it. I also believe that it gives an inaccurate measure of how these churches will react to a person that is new and wonders off the street knowing nothing and speaking God's love.
And yes I know Catholics have their rules. But the way I see it, rules were meant to be broken. Jesus was a Rabi that was constantly in trouble with the local religious authorities for challenging the social, cultural, and political standards. He faced execution, I might face grumpy people with keyboards. My danger is a hill of beans in comparison to what Christ suffered.

On a completely unrelated note, if you are of the crafty and rude-mouthed persuasion I suggest this
http://www.subversivecrossstitch.com/

Personally, I cant help but feel this one to be my favorite.

Thows out a line*

Hopping for a better catch next week.

Bob.....bob....bob.....bob...bob.....*

Church #37 Celebration Church.

When it comes to getting to church, some walk, some drive, some hobble and some wheel. But this church picks you up (if you know which buss stops to stand at.)

It was kind of a small crowd on the buss, but I was not too surprised considering we were just coming off of reading week. We squiggle our way through the university area, down Whyte ave, and then headed south.

 I had seen the location of this church in passing, but it is not in an area I frequent. In-fact it is pretty well back  and out of the way of most residential area. Its pretty much located in an industrial area. That was rough. Not the ride, not the church. The tough part was riding through the industrial area seeing all the small business with boarded up windows. In my mere 24 years on this earth I have not yet seen/remembered what a bad depression looks like. I have heard the horror stories, some say the bust we are going through is minor and that things will pick up in the spring. People also thought WWII was only going to last  6 months when it dragged on for 7 years. So I take it all with a grain of salt.

I had some kind of idea of what this church would be like. Modern, large, majority of young people. all of which was correct. But it a way it was also kind of disappointing. You know that felling when an AMAZING  movie comes out and your a supper big fan? And then a few years ,they come up with the sequel and everyone is totally stoked for it??? Then you go to see it and you just walk out feeling like "meh, it was ok...." That's what it felt like when i start comparing this church to Christ City. The simple fact is that they just did it better. Christ City was Bigger, louder, more lights, more smoke machines, more enthusiastic pastor and church members. In all fairness Celebration church you do have a book store and a better selection of baked goods at your coffee bar. But that's it really.

I sat to the far right side of the front this time. I could not help but notice this one tall skinny young guy with a thick beard (aprox 21) in a red plaid shirt, sneakers, ball cap, typical university guy. This guy literally stood closer to the stage then anyone else. palms forward, but he kept them down by his sides. You can tell by the looking at this guy that his heart is seeking god, and he is willing to do what he needs get closer. Even if it means looking a bit odd by literally being the only one to stand out from the crowd. Kudos to you sir!

Some children were dedicated to the lord today.  Many of them were babies, but one little girl was about 6, she stood there with what appeared to be her single mother. The pastor explained in order to dedicate these children to god we much teach them in our example. Apparently it also says in the bible that god promises that if we train our children to walk in the ways of Christ that they will continue to make quality life decisions  through their lives. A group prayer was said for them.

As for this statement, I cant really be sure. I have a good friend  back in high school that grew up in a extremely Christian home schooled family, and the other children in the family are righteous godly people and my friend is that one kid that is just a mess.  My mother assures me that because he was raised in a christian family that we will eventually move back towards it, and get evened out again. I honestly hope that happens before he is dead or brain damaged. Toker buddy I miss you and I am praying for you! Some days I just wish we could rewind to the days of jamming in my parents basement and stealing beer out of the fridge!

"Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our suffering that we fail to see the works of god before our eyes."

 The reading today was from Luke 5-12. Today Jesus is healing a Leper.

On a further note I think some of your might like to know WTF is Leprosy???

Let me put it this way, unless you have a strong stomach don't look at Google images. It ain't pretty. This old world disease that like to pretty much eat away the body. Its bad, Just real BAD.

The thing that surprises me most however after reading about it is how non-contagious it generally is. Cause the Israelite's treated this disease like the end of the world! If you happen to know much about the laws of the Israelite's, you know how they delt with sick people. They kept an eye on them and if they were developing leprosy type symptoms and not getting better they would kick them out of the village and force them to live in the country side and beg along the roads. They could only ever some back on the chance that they would get better. Not a humane choice by any means, but they probably thought it was the best move they could make before modern medicine.

So Jesus is on the road and he encounters a man with Leprosy. This mans faith is interesting. He has heard of Christ, he knows what he does. So he asks him not "Can you heal me?" but instead he says "Will you heal me?" The point is that he is not questioning Jesus ability, but instead he is speaking towards god asking for healing and grace on his body and soul. Not only that, he comes from a condition that no one rarely shows love or compassion to him. Even the laws of the Israelite's (the so called Gods People.) have condemned him to suffer for the rest of his days, in seclusion and death. If you don't feel Fucked at that point, there is nothing that could get you down, honesty! The point is that he feels the need to ask if he is worthy of this grace. The nice part is that the bible makes it clear, in the fact that we are all loved and worthy of grace. Jesus heals the Leper.

"Sickness and disease were never part of creation"
"On what day did God create cancer?"
"These are things that came after the fall of man!".
"God acts as a healer in both the new testament and the old testament".
"Healing is both a gift and a ministry in the new testament"
"We have been given authority over the demonic realm."
"It is part of Gods nature to extend grace and mercy."
"You need to remove this idea that God not just some of your sins but ALL of your sins!"

A lot of the conditions that Jesus healed had very heavy stigma around them. Society at that time didn't see the people with these conditions not as having a bacterial infection with no cure. They saw them as people that had been punished by God, had been born unclean, were festering visual symbols of sin and should simply be avoided at all costs. And the crazy part is that this thinking is not restricted to the holly land in the time of Christ.

This still is very much an issue today. Notably in India. The crazy part is, this view of blind people and lepers as being "condemned and punished by god" is still very much believed by some groups of people in rural India. Untouchables. Look it up.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit

As for the building, well, it is pretty snazzy.

Book shop

You can also give your offering pre-service via debit.

Snack bar.

I would have liked to have time to stick around, but the buss was literately leaving 4 minutes after the service. So if I wanted to get home I needed to get a move on! I noticed this on the way in. Barbwire topped fence around the building.

 I don't know the area but it must have some kind of troubles? What would resort a church to having this? I got back on the buss.On the ride home I saw more singes of economic distress. normally church end on a high note for me. Not today. And with the announcement of WEM being announced as targeted  by not-actually-Muslim extremists, the future feels bleak. The radio station that was playing was Shine FM. Some of you that have accidentally found this on your dial, it is that one odd christian music station we have. I'm not a fan. I will try to listen to it on occasion, but i often just turn it off. I am yet to find a lot of worship music I like. But there is one album I can not get enough of. It is kind of ironic that it is made by a band called  BAD RELIGION, and it is their Christmas album to boot, but you will hear me listening to this in August.

Ps. Money from purchasing the album goes towards a organization committed to helping people that have been raped by Catholic priests.

But over all a good church. and just in cases you have any questions, you are always welcome here.

And roll credits....
That's a wrap!