Pray and Fight for John Calvin.

There are certain things most of us expect to see in the roughly 75-85 years that we will spend in this earth. Some of us expect to fall in love and get married. Some foresee the birth of their child. But of all the things i could list, this would have to be one of the most deep and shocking.

On Jan 18 2015  in the evening I got to look into the eyes and pray over a young man that will likely be taken to a war torn country and brutally executed. His crime? Converting to Christianity, rebelling against terrorism and being openly gay. I believed that the rights and freedoms of my country would protect this man and make him an honorary citizen. I was wrong.

Canada how can you fail me like this? I thought i trusted you.

Here is what i ask.

Educate yourself, Share the story, and if you can, Donate and write your MP. And PRAY!

Thank-you.

The story. 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/john-calvin-says-he-will-be-killed-if-deported-to-west-bank-1.2917996

Here is how to find your MP.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseofCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

Donate. 
http://www.gofundme.com/jkg304

Church #32. Lendrum Mennonite Brethren Church.

Howdy friends! now i know what your thinking, i must have put on a cap and a 1800's dress and gone into the countryside. Ya, not me thanks. This place was pretty much in my neighborhood actually. Got the photo here...

I had zero idea what i was walking into as you can imagine. But what i discovered was a very nice building full of exceptionally friendly and accepting people. One of the first things i noticed was the cross they had at the front of the room.

Kind of a unique take on things. Certainly haven't seen one like it before. The pastor introduced herself to me right away, and made a point to say that there a lot of very artistically talented people in this church. If you take a look around this place you can see that to be very clear. It is pretty much impossible to miss them, everything from  the art, on the wall ( i personally feel a understanding with this piece. I really like it.)

 and this banner.

if any of you are wondering where this came from i found the bible quote for ya. It is referring to life in gods kingdom.

Isaiah 11:6
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

I personally know some vegetarian Christians that feel this to be an important message. They relate this, as helping bring forth gods kingdom buy helping create a world, where one creature, does not need to harm another to eat and survive.

I also noticed this weird light that stood over the podium.

 It was a building design choice that didn't go fully as planned and now they just spending days making jokes about it. The speaker today said that he was afraid that if we went over his allotted time that he would simply be "sucked up into it".

I am sure that more then one of you are wondering what people were dressed like, and my answer to that would be very modern and professional. I don't think i have seen so many women in suit jackets and slacks in one church service as i have seen here. And there was only a few men with full beards.
There was about 60 people, i would say average age would be around 55. which is slightly lower then most places i have been. Once again i stand in a church where i cant help but notice, that a lot of the seniors looks exceptionally happy and healthy for their age.

For the service i was invited by a lady to sit and meet with her friends who were all lovely Jr.seniors. One thing i really noticed about this church is people like to be INVOLVED! I know a lot of places  where they have to scrape for volunteers and people that will actively contribute. Not here, these church member do an amazing job of steeping up! Beside all of the art, there is a lot of musical contribution. Instead of having your one token lady walk up to play the piano, we had a whole list of people stand up from the pews to contribute in their own way. I think this has to one of the few worships i have been to where someone preformed on the violin. 

The service started and announcements were made, when it was time to greet everyone. The pastor announced that because of so many people having colds and flu that instead of shaking hands, that we should all try fist bumping! The entire congregation laughed and started awkwardly attempting to greet all the people around them. I turned around to greet a man in his 80's he looked at me and asked, "how hard do you do this?" as we carefully nudged fists.

After sitting down we continued with the worship thru song. I normally do my best to stretch my vocal cords, but the lady who had invited me to sit with her, we just just say that girl can SING. I am saying that when the vocal part started in the song, the intensity of her voice almost knocked me over. Just like BAM! Definitely gave me a run for my money.

I was informed early that today was not a regular church service, but mostly a report on the workings of their mission and charity groups abroad. The fellow their spoke a lot about the work the Mennonite Central Committee and their goings on in the middle east. There was an extensive amount of information covered, i could not even begin to recap it. But i will mention a few things that stood out.

 One thing that was of interest was their organizations partnership with a Muslim agency to sponsor and help bring over a small handful of Syrians refugees to Canada. Another being that when asking local leader in these conflict filled regions what can be done to help end the violence toward Christians. There was a very distinct and shocking answer.  They were told repeatedly was that the middle east need to build a "Relationship" with the Church. And more so , the church in North America. I know they say nothing is impossible with god, but man, I'm not sure about this one.

The local people there don't seem to be overly surprised with the rise of ISIS. They are just used to waves of radical Islamist groups  flooding thru every so often. One very interesting quote that i believe was from an professor in Egypt, stated That Islam in the middle east constantly feels under attack by Christianity and globalization. Which taking a step back and looking at it i can kind of understand . But I also think it's silly. To think living in the global society makes you less of a good Muslim, is just down right ridiculous. If you come at it from a christian view that's like saying that we should all live like Hutterites and if we leave our farms and joining the rest of main stream society, that we are domed to immoral-ism and damnation. I personally believe that it is possible to very liberal and valid in ones faith. And to make my point let me introduce you to one of my favorite movies.
 I also suggest this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNZnZJIRL40
Its addicting, enjoy.

I must admit that one of the thing the spoke abut that really hit me was a  story about a young girl living in a refugee came who's family had to flee because of ISIS occupation. Her family was christian and knew that they would be killed if they did not leave. Her house was tagged with the famous "N" inscribed in Arabic.

This is the equivalent of making Jews wear stars in WWII. Except much worse. They will likely never return to their house, it is now inscribed on their outside wall that "this used to be a Christian house and now it is a ISIS house". They had picture of current state their house, and them mission worker asked them how they have them? And they replied, we asked our neighbor to take pictures and send them to us.Their neighbors are Sunni Muslims, who they have a very good relationship with. As this mission worker was told many times while he was there talking to locals, they say "We know how to get along."

When the offering was being given they said the prayer before and the pastor made a point of plainly saying "Thank-you for paying my salary".

There was a poem read today, which was a prayer saying thank you for the snow, and describing how it brings quite, beauty and tranquility to our world.

We had the children's time (there was around 8-10 kids today, more then most places)  and the talk today was on taking a moment to thank god for our friends and siblings, the people that we socialize, play with and support us.

After the service there was tea/coffee and "Sunday school"  which i was invited to. At first i declined because normally Sunday school is where they keep all the kids, but they clarified that there Sunday school  is where adults go after the service to share their thoughts and opinions on the message and  scripture that had been presented. Free thought is very much so encouraged here. And when it comes to opinions trust me when i say that some of these people really have their own opinions.

I was able to speak to the pastor latter and asked her how this church could possibly have any ties to the secluded plain dressing Mennonites that we often can identify, and she says that this church is just its completely is own thing and that their are many different types of Mennonites.

I noticed there was a lot of talk about member of this church going over seas to do hands on work. So i asked if the plain dressing Mennonites are known to do the same. She said generally no, but they do transfer financial support to the project of other Mennonite churches that do, including theirs. The last thing I pointed out was the Jewish starts i has seen in a few of the art pieces in the church. She said that they are just a bit of a small acknowledgement of the Jewish roots of our faith. It also should be precived as a act of goodwill considering that there can still sometime be bitterness between Jews and Christians.
I have decided that this church is like coffee. It gets you up in the morning and makes you feel all fuzzy and warm on the inside, and ready to face anything the world can throw at you. Even the -35 degree  windchill and a frozen  car windows.

Over all a great church, great experience. I would go back and visit any day. Peace be with you.

Church #31 Pleasantview United Church.

Well first let me say Happy Solstice! Our planet is officially tilting back towards the sun so it has to get brighter and warmer from here on out! ( the whole church applauded when the pastor announced it) . This is a little old church, looked like it could use a little TLC. However i didn't understand the full need of that until latter in the service.  There was roughly 35 people there, mostly seniors,with a few family with kids.
There was a choir of mostly seniors dressed in red and yellow, also with a hand-bell choir of your girls, that i found very enjoyable. We spoke  about the last of the Christmas candles. That candle is Love.

This a a very solom church service, there were prayer for families that might be feeling the pain of spending Christmas with out a loved one that has passed away in the last year. There was talk of the Christmas story. And how it is important to see the connection between the birth of David and the birth of Christ, indicating he is the savior. There was also mention of the fact that there is a instance of child abuse in the Christmas story that is often ignored. I actually had no idea what that was so afterwards i addressed my question to the pastor. Apperenly after King Herold hears that "the King of all Kings" has been born, he is afraid, afraid for his power and empire. So he orders all children under the age of 2 to be killed off. This is where it comes from.

Matthew 2:16-17
16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

We had our children's story of the day.  It was Called The Table Where Rich People Sit. And it outlines the life of a young girl and  her dislike of living very poorly in a cabin in the mountains. Despite her parents enjoyment of the lifestyle. Good book, i suggest checking it out. But it all comes down to the idea that sometimes we have people in our lives that see value differently as we do.

There was also continued talk on love, but also what indicates when love is missing. There was a verity of things listed, such as wars and killing but the one that stuck out to me was Insane asylums. I know that a lot of them are shutdown these days, but I had some slight knowledge of the workings of them because i have a old friend that used to have a job as a grounds keeper at one. Hi Ryan.

I knew from another family member that there was a very heavy stigma against people with mental illness especially back in the 60's. This fully came to light when Ryan was giving me a tour thru the grounds of his old work. It all seemed quite normal until suddenly we get to a small graveyard. I asked him what this was for. He said that back in the day, sometimes the mentally ill people would die and there families would not even want to acknowledge there existence, never mind their death. So the staff would have a small funeral  and bury them in the graveyard on the asylum grounds. I also noticed a mini excavator  and a grave dug up. Ryan explained to me that sometimes the family will start to feel guilty for what they have done  and occasionally they will disimtomb the body and rebury it with the rest of the family. I remember approx 50 tombstones.

Quote of the day
" the Church has never been judged for being poor, but it has been judged for acting poorly".

I wanted to talk to the pastor, but before i could do that the church was having a meeting about there budget. Lets just say it looks bad, There is nothing set in stone, but this church is in deep financial trouble, and likely doesn't have long to live.

Despite all of this doom and gloom i was able to find a few happy things. I must admit this really got my attention.

I'm not sure what your first thought is when you see this thing. It could be a 7 post candle holder or it could be a Menorah. I asked about it latter. And the pastor laughed. He said he never thought about it much but the do have this item sitting at the back of their church. I had to ask how this Jewish object ends up in a Christian church? He told me that it was given to the church in memory of a person that passed away and has just been there ever since.

And then there is this thing.

for the longest time growing up i swore that we were the only family that had this. As a child i understood that the only objects that were acceptable  to place on the top of the tree were ether a star or an angle. But we had weird wreath thing with a candle in it. And the crazy part is now, I kind of miss that funny looking tree topper. I guess that is growing up for ya.

Church # 30. St.John's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

So this was a more relaxed service then the last one. Fairly typical looking on  the inside, population of 30, mostly senior couples. This is the 3rd Sunday of advent, this being the Sunday of Joy. this is how it goes #1- Hope #2. Peace and #3. Joy.

 The Church leader Announced that we were being treated to a special gift today, a men's traveling Christmas Choir . In marched 18 men, all seniors in full tuxedos and deep red bow ties and cummerbunds.  The one exception was a slightly younger fellow ( approx 40)  who had  some what of a resemblance to Elton John.

They preformed 2-3 songs one of which i did not recognize at all. A short performance but well done. They all marched out including one senior fellow who hobbled out on crutches.
quote of the day;

"we ask the name of the one born in Bethlehem."

Today the topic focused on something that the pastor referred to as a "Uforia hang-over". He mentioned that we were approaching the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall in Germany. He spoke of how everyone was on such an extreme high  and so hopeful of this extremely bright social and economic future. But that didn't really happen all that fast. They were still a lot of standing and residual issues that needed to be taken care of, and that came as a bit of a hangover for the German people. Same thing with the Israelite s. In the year 500 BC the Jews returned to their holly city from their exile to Babylon. And they too had the same idea as the Germans that the future would just be sunshine and rainbows. But there were issues. Homes were in ruin, farms had become overgrown and abandoned  there was corruption in the social order. just a mess.
The pastor also spoke about the voice of hope. this voice speaks to the poor, the prisoners,  the mourners,  and for all of us. In short, Hope cures the hangover.

"we are imprisoned by our materialistic thinking".

"maybe a very sick person in the hospital is  more free then us because their only wish, will be to get better".

He also quoted footprints which is of cores one of my favorite non-biblical quotes. 

The Footprints Prayer
One night I had a dream...
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before us, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of my life, There was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, You would walk with me all the way; But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, There is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why in times when I needed you the most, you should leave me.
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child. I love you, and I would never, never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.

He also spoke of the mustard seed and how "Gods kingdom is always growing."

a few observations.

This place runs like clockwork, the service is not all that long, but everyone knows where the prayers are, what page  the songs are on, and in all honesty, i had a hard time keeping up. I think both me and the dude  behind me in the spider man shirt with the large beard, we were both a little lost.

I had the honor of sitting down and speaking with the pastor afterwards. He told me that he had originally come from Brazil and was the leader of a large church of young people.  So as you can imagine going from that to a English-german bilingual church with 30 very conservative seniors in Canada. He told me that there has been challenges since he has arrived. A lot of them are European immigrants. Many of which have a significant dislike towards people of colour, refugees, non-Christians, gay people and pretty much anyone that dose not fit into their circle. He had had some rough times but also progress in a very slow steady way.
ps. I found some really nice stain glass hiding around the corner.

Church #29. The Redeemed Christian Church of God Rhema Chapel.

So this would be Church # 3 of our Jesus Street series, aka the one street in Edmonton with churches literately back to back. Today i went kitty-corner from the last church to find The Redeemed Christian Church of God Rhema Chapel. Congratulations. Officially the church with the longest name that i have yet found.

I had my suspicions that this church was largely populated with African Canadians.  And i was correct. There was about 400 of them. Mostly Nigerians. I was 1 of 5 white people in the entire room. I didn't  stick out at all. LOL.

Needless to say the crowd was very warm and welcoming, i received smiles consistently  and only the odd look of confusion. When i entered the church for the first time is was definitely kind of startling. I knew the service started at 10  but i knew there was some kind of bible study before that. What i walked into was a  half filled room full of people debating a topic from the bible. Today's topic was spanking your kids. Needless to say this  was just a bit awkward and uncomfortable. Especially when one senior lady stood up and started passionately expressing her position that children should be spanked. However there were actually quite a few small children in the crowd and i could tell there was a few small ones that stared fussing and crying with hearing this woman speak.  AWKWARD.

The lady that was at the front of the room leading/moderating the discussion looked over the crowd and said. "Any Contradictions"? " Any Comments?".  It was very clear in this enviroment  that you are allowed to have your own opinion and discussion is encouraged.

One quote i heard off of that which i really enjoyed said "Do not blow off your children's questions".
The discussion ended and  the service started. Of the people in the room it was noticeable to tell that some of these people were new immigrants and others have been in Canada for some time or were born here. There were a far amount of people in the room with traditional African clothing and head wraps. I noticed that the style of dresses with modest fronts and  low backs  is common here.

The Sunday school group was substantial. Maybe 3 dozen kids? I can't be sure honestly. This church is also one where you are expected to bring your own bible.

The building was quite large,  and was sporting a roughly 15 person band. All well coordinated in matching black and yellow outfits. Including a fellow on saxophone. I think this might be the first sax if have seen in a church band. There was also a group off to the side in white outfits. I came to learn that there were actually part of a visiting group from Calgary. The fellow that led the group really got into the performance which had him kicking his feet into the air and swinging around the towel  he was using to wipe the sweat from his head.
The start of the service was led by a more senior lady in a tie-dye dress studded with sequins  and top it all off all with a fine British hat.

The way she spoke was definitely familiar with that feel of no-room-for-doubt kind of faith. She said such things as " Because master Jesus is here!" and "In the miiiggggghhhhttty name of Jesus! ".  Just a very passionate and high energy group. I heard "Some one shout Hallelujah !" More then once that day, and trust me, when they say that, EVERYONE shouts!

"Can i get a witness!?" I had always heard the term but never felt the full meaning of it up until now. They were asking the question if there are people in the room  that  feel the Lord is present in their lives and and has blessed them. They were just simply asking us to raise our hands if we felt that was true.

"Testify" Is another big one. This involved about 2 dozen people coming up to the front of the church and telling how the lord has blessed themselves and others in their lives. A lot of the people that went up mentioned god healing sick family members, and helping people get accepted into university or the immigration process. But by far the biggest one was peoples shear gratitude and  joy over getting a job. Trust me, i know the feeling.

Another good quote "It is a privilege that we make it thru the day".
Like a lot of services, sometime near the start they do a list of announcements. One of the major announcement said that "The men, The heads of the house." *i will save my rant on this for a latter time. "Will be taking a stand." Which is a short term intensive program for men (women are also welcome) with a goal of teaching these people how to better stand up for god.

They also announced plans to go out this Christmas and had out goodie bags with chocolate and mini Bibles at all the major buss stops in the city.

At most churches, people go from sitting to standing. Here you go directly between sitting to doing the Rumba. There is no in-between. When you are going up to the front of the church to drop your offering in one of the two laundry baskets at the front of the church, you Rumba. When you are taking your 6 month old baby up to the front of the church to be dedicated, you Rumba. When you are sneaking past the crowd to get to the washroom at the back of the church, you rumba (maybe a bit faster then normal) . You get the idea.

I don't mean to turn anyone off, but i think it is only fair to let you know that this place gets LOUD and HOT. Largely due to the fact that the place is packed and everyone is dancing and singing to a extensive live band.
They also took a moment to acknowledge that this month is pastor appreciation month.  And they brought their pastors up to the front, and took a moment to speak of their exceptional work and give them some kind of large packed gift.

Scripture of the day; Isaiah 38: 18-19
18 For the grave cannot praise you; death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise you, as I am doing today; parents tell their children about your faithfulness.

With this I find confusion and contradiction. I went to a Ukrainian Orthodox Bible Camp growing up and when we were taught was that after death you are still on a journey to reach gods kingdom and that it is possible to fall from grace even at that point, And that even in the after life gods kingdom you must constantly be praising god, or risk falling from grace. Even in death . So we had one night a week where we lit candles and did a special prayer focused on those that have passed on.

There was also talk about another part of scripture, one that speaks of emptiness. it was mentioned that the reward of good deeds feels empty with out God. This is something that i personally feel to be true, Thru reflection and past life experience. I know people say you can have good without god, but to me that feels like eating a tofu burger.  Your full, and you have all the nutrients you need, but your just missing that full feeling of satisfaction.

That's my thoughts anyhow.

The last part of the service that i saw ( because it was just going too long and i had to leave) was a group of babies being " dedicated to god".  That involved the whole family dancing to the front of the church and having another person that is not the parents hold the child, stand before the church, and give their blessing.
I know i was baptized as a baby, but i am sure that whatever prayer was said for me was nothing like  this. These people have great expectations of these kids. The prayers often include praying to god that these children will be great leaders and peace makers.  They will move nations, and have voices that all will hear. The biggest surprise comes at the end when the person holding the baby returns it to its parents and the final blessing they give is " your child will not die before you, you will not need to bury your child".  WOW.
Speaking of kids, i saw the "children's church" group walk by. I think the name is very appropriate considering there was likely 45 children and that is fairly comparable to a lot of actual churches i see.
i would have liked to stay to the end but my buss pass was expiring and i just needed air, i was just tired. Before i left they insisted that i take a croissant  and a can of pop they had waiting at the door.
Over all a fantastic time. If you are looking for a high energy church this is the place to be. I can understand that this might be a little to wild for some people to attend every Sunday, but it is worth checking out. And who know? It just might be the place you call home!

Church #28. Ansgar Danish Lutheran Church. Nov 9, 2014.

10:30 am Church time! So remember That Cree Catholic church I found? Well guess what? Just across the street was another church! and another and another. The whole block is packed with them! literately a whole street of churches. So i thought i would just go down the block. This is church #2 of what i will refer to as my "Jesus Street" series .

So as you can see this is a wee little church. It's cute and cozy. I like it. I checked on the web sight ahead of time because i knew that there was a possible chance that there would be certain services that would not be in English. Which was correct. But thankfully this particular Sunday was not going to be spoken in Danish, so i took up the opportunity and went.

There was a little singe on the doors entering the main area of the church which indicated that today's service was in English. (they also have one of these electric door bells that indicates when the door opens, kind of caught me off-gard.) I entered the main area to find one senior lady sitting there. I thought it just might be me and her, but there were others that joined us. There was a total of about 12 people today. that includes the lady playing piano and the pastor. The lady sitting beside me said that she expected today's group to be small because of the recent snowfall, and difficult driving conditions.

Everyone was real friendly here. I met the pastor right away. Definitely has the whole Danish accent going on, but still fully understandable while speaking English. He explained to me right off the bat that they like to do their service at this church the say way they would be done in Denmark. Needles to say i was interested.
The pastor changed into his robes. which were of a very unique fashion that i have never seen before. He explained to me that they were custom tailored for him and cost him a pretty penny. Sanzy Duds.

The service started with church bells ringing via audio recording ( i guess they were short a bell tower) that went on for a few minutes. I noticed that this service was done with the congregation sitting down to sing and standing to listen to the scripture reading of the day (thankfully it was short). Normally people stand to sing and sit for scripture. So we were just operating in reverse today.

the scripture reading today referred to Jesus being questioned on a certain political situation. But that question was a double edge sward. The problem was that regardless of which side he took on the issue it would turn him into someones political enemy. So to save the situation he diverted the conversation to a similar situation that happened early that had no political attachments. A tower collapsed  and killed 18 people. when the people asked if these 18 people were more sinful then others? Did they deserve it more then the next person? Jesus answered no. There is no solid connection between how much of a "good Christian" a person is and  how often they encounter tragedy or bad luck. there may appear to be a lose one at times, but nothing solid.

There was also a reading that told about a fig tree. Now i grew up around fruit trees. and i know that ypu almost never get anything the first year, the second year there might be something, and by the thrid you normaly have moderate production. well this farmer had a fig tree, big healthy tree, and it was on its third year. The land owner came out to check the gardens and discoved this great tree that despite 3 years in the garden, had produced nothing. He told the farmer it was a waste of space and to cut it down. That he could use all that space and resorces to put in new plants that would use bear much fruit and be very productive. (if any of you have been laid off from a job because you were not learning fast enought/or being the most productive you know this feeling all too well). But the farmer said that he would take the tree and give it extra care, and pleaded with the owner to give it one more year to bear fruit. The owner agreed and the tree was given another chance. The pastor conculded buy explainging that when we are failing to bear fruit, God dose not simply chop us down, he gives us another year. And that in my mind is a clear example that our god is one of love and mercy.

Communion as definitely done different at this church ( but i the back of my memory i think i may have encountered something similar). we all went up to the front of the church to kneel on this raised red velvet bar and rest our arms on a little 2 foot fence that had been put up, the pastor stood behind the fence and we all knelled in front of it. He gave us the body of the lord. aka.rice crackers. After that we received the blood of the lord, but instead of having little pre-filled cups or all of us drinking out of one, we each had our own min silver cups where he individual poured us each a 1.5 ounce serving.

Buy the way, the wine was a sweat port, that was brought in from Europe with a full body and fruity after-tones. I give it 4 out of 5. Yes i am a smart ass. Moving on.

After we had received the two pieces of communion he passed us over wit this hands raised just above our heads and declared us forgiven of our sins.

After the service was done the question then becomes,why on gods green earth does this church have a model boat hanging from the ceiling? The answer from the pastor was that no one honestly knows where the tradition started but every danish church has one. He thinks it is obviously related to the danish lifestyle where  a large majority of the population worked on the seas.  It my also have to do with the fact that the danish word that describes the part of the church were everyone sits together is the same word for "ship" . It signifies that we are all together on a journey moving forward and the Lord is our captain as he directs the ship. And that when the ship faces stormy seas we call all pull together to get thru it. I have mentioned in past times that sometimes the church ceilings resemble a flipped over boat. That is where this comes from.
 

there was also this written just above the door for people to see as they leave.

Apparently is translates out to "Carry Each-others Burdens".  to remind people to be loving and supportive to their fellow man as they go out into the world.

I was asked if I was willing to come back and present my findings at the end of my 100 church mission.  I would like to say this place would make me very happy to come back to drop in for a visit. Its like a ginger bread house in their...there  may be icing sugar on the outside but there is definitely hot chocolate inside. This is a very cozy little church full of love and warmth.

Till next week, keep warm everyone!

Church # 27. Christ City. Aug 17, 2014.

This week we go big! Really Big! Mega size!!!! I was actually a friend that suggested this church to me. I didn’t even know it existed. I couldn’t even get to consider it was nearly out of city limits. But that is what generous friends with cars are for. 

We agreed that we didn’t feel ambitious enough to get up for the morning service so we oppted for the 6pm one. We got there early, and I had read on the website that there was some other pre-service ritual that would be going on that was optional. I had no idea what it was thou.  So this is what the outside looks like. 

And the other area…

There were two greeters at the doors as we come in. you could tell this place was very new. Very modern sleek design all done in white and grey. I expected we would just head right to the main theater and sit and wait, but it wasn’t opened yet.  We were directed do the hall to a large side room with open doors and found it full of people praying. Matt entered immediately fallowed by me; however his girlfriend Sara didn’t feel comfortable entering the room and stayed outside. This room had people expressing their form of prayer in all different manners.  Some were kneeling down with their heads on chairs; some people were pacing the length of the room back and forth with hands held open. Some prayed allowed, some in silence, some were singing. One guy had his fists clichéd raised in the air shouting his worship to the sky.  I needed to be very sneaky but I was able to manage some photos. 

I joined the worship with my friend beside me well dressed in a nice shit, his skinny jeans and a pair of red Doc Martians. I never took the time to ask Matt what his spiritual beliefs were. But it was him that asked me to come explore this church with him and here he stands beside me in this room full of very intense worship with his hands raised.  

Some part of me is always kind of surprised when I find spiritual people in the metal/punk/alternative world. The overall environment is very anti-religion so a person of faith in that environment often has to stay very quite. 

One clear example of this that I remember comes from my bible study days at Grant MacEwan. We generally had our standard group of 8-10 people that would come but we would get visitors some days. One night, in drops one guy I would never expect. And no it was not Jesus.

It was an old friend I knew from the heavy metal scene back in my home town that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Not too much had chanced with him, he was just as tattooed, priced and a metal as ever. This guy walks in with his bible and sits down and has this immediate expression of relief and comfort. He started talking enthusiastically as if he hadn’t seen another Christian he could talk to in a very long time, and immediately pulled out his I phone and showed us his “Read the Whole Bible in a Year app” and yes, there is an app for that. He was working as security at a major music venue at the time well staffed with a lot of other metal heads. Only his closest friends knew that he was actually a very strict Christian (who only allowed himself one glass of wine a day). But those few people he did tell about his faith would back him up 100% and would not let other people give him shit for it. I respect those guys, life is made so much better with good friends.  

 I digress back to Christ City. 

When the worship in the side room was done, we re-grouped and headed into the main auditorium. It was HUGE!!!!!

I knew the band was set up for a stage, but it look the lights going down  to the point where I could not see my not book and the fog machines going off for me to realize this was going to be quite the show. Then the 7 piece rock band kicked in and it was show time! I took a moment for me to stop and realize I was in a church because it felt almost exactly like a concert at Rexal. 

There were many interesting sights I spotted. That of which included; a Goth-lady with long white hair and a back bowler hat holding a little boy, people jogging on the spot during the song “Run for You” and a 70 year old man in a full suit jumping up and down, a dude in his Edmonton Eskimos jersey  and many other happenings. 

There was a line in one of the songs that said. “Let the whole earth sing in the freedom we know.” I like that. 

There were around 200 people. Full family mix this time. Including a surprising amount of young men that actually don’t appear to be drug there by their girlfriends but have actually intentionally gone together as a group of guys and came to church. This is something I have not seen before. 

After the singing worship was finished the offering was taken right away with church volunteers using flowerpots to serve as a collection bowl. There was a separate kid’s cub that was mentioned, I’m guessing some kind of a Sunday school program. There was also mention of “corporate prayer” and “the corporate body worshiping god”. I have never seen this term before. From what I concluded it simply means a group of people worshiping god instead of just private individual worship. Not saying the both are not just as effective and important, but group worship definitely has some degree of enrichment that comes with having others pray with you. 

The topic of the service today’s was “getting closer to god”, in which they examined a verity of passage that encourage us to continuously strive to become  the most holy, loving and spiritual people that we can become. Here are some quotes from that. 

“God has no issues with personal boundaries.”

“My burden is light”

“You can always get closer to god”

“Jesus satisfied the prophecy.”

“We cannot fall back to the old ways of the Israelite”

“God’s Grace goes beyond all sin no matter how deep”

“When you seek me you will find me”

“God does not play hide and seek, that is a man’s game.”

“You cannot hide from god but you can miss him.”

“Seeing god is a passionate activity”

“Draw near to god and he will draw near to you”

“The serpent convinced them that their lives would be better without god and it would be better to serve themselves.”

“I am your shield” 

Contrary to the stereotype of mega churches we were at no time encourage to buy anything but in fact we were actually given free stuff!  If you come to the front desk and say you are new you can get a welcome gift bag which includes a water bottle, trident layer gum, and info about the church. Did I mention they make their own coffee? 

Over all a cool experience. I really feel that is one of these churches that is out to celebrate their salvation and “spread the good news”. I personally love to see that in a church. One finally shout-out to my cool friends that came along for the ride, this article would not be possible without you!