The Gideons

Do I have a story for you all.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was involved in the worship team at my home church, the Abbotsford Church of the Nazarene. Our Senior Pastor was away on a trip and in place of him, he invited the Gideon's to come and share with us (The Gideons are most widely known as 'the bible people' or for the bibles that are placed in almost every hotel/motel room across North America).

ANYWAYS.

When I first saw the guest speaker, I guess you could say I judged a book by its cover. The guest preacher was at least in his late 60's early 70's, with a proper pin-stripe black outfit, slicked hair and a shiny nametag, with a bible in hand. I immediately thought to myself 'uh-oh'. Now of course it is not in my place to judge, or to bring him down, because he is doing the Lord's work and I fully understand that. But here's the order of events which took place yesterday:

1) After the first set of music, he came up for a 10-min introduction, presenting to us who the Gideons are, what they do and....why you should join them if you are a professional businessman.

My problems with that:
He forced that fact that the GIDEON Bible was the one to use. Throw away your other copies and use the GIDEON version - it has and will save many people from a life of darkness. Why do no other versions meet their standards? I simply do not understand.

And..professional businessman? What about construction workers, janitors, tradesmen? He said and I quote "If you are a professional businessman, tell me one good reason why you cannot join the Gideons ministry?" hrmmm...I can think of lots of reasons.

Thirdly, women in leadership. Not once did he mention women as leaders in the church, single or married. I believe there is a definite place for that, but apparently, they are to be wives to the husband and that's it. Don't ask questions. I myself, was very offended by this, I cant even begin to imagine the way some of the women in our congregation felt.

HIS MESSAGE:

1) He began by telling the congregation that if they wanted to hear the theological exegesis of the Gideons, then tune in to his friend's radio station to gain a better understanding.

Cop-out much? I'm sorry, but I don't think you should be preaching to 200 people about your denominational beliefs, if you can't explain and backup your theology when questions come to surface.

2) He was speaking of seeking holiness, one of the main doctrines of the Nazarene church. But in doing so, we must strip away the old flesh and seek new.

Gnosticism? I believe the body God gave me, is the one he gave me, and for that I am thankful. He kept emphasizing the fact that in order to recieve God's grace and be a true follower, we must overcome our fleshly desires. God gave us the desires that we have, and they're good. God created sex and it is good. Its when we use those desires in the wrong way, when we take the glory away from God, then I believe that is a sin and yes we need to free ourselves from that - but to completely throw them out? I could be very wrong in my interpretation of what he was saying, but this is how it came across to me.

3) At one point in the sermon he shared a story of a child in the Middle-East who had accepted Christ as his Saviour. In his community, persecution of Christians were at a very-high rate and due to this, the child been brutally beaten and crucified by certain individuals. This was definitely tough to take in - but our friend at the Gideons addressed the 'evil-doers' as Muslims. "The Muslims did this, the Muslims." with a very low tone, basically downplaying the entire Muslim population .... so, the entire Muslim community is at fault for this boy's death? He went on to say that the Muslims were in direct opposition of what Christians are here to do and we must stand up and fight for freedom...are the Christians not at fault for anything wicked and wrong?....try the Crusades maybe? But - to classify the Muslim community as our direct enemies I feel was completely wrong. Each man has is own heart, no matter what religion he is involved in. If I wanted to commite a horrible crime or act, I could - would you blame the entire Christian community? I sure hope not. Even throughout the Crusades, there were Christians who did not want to be involved in the slaughtering of people who did not believe the same theology (take a look at some Anabaptist Theology). Again, this is another topic that I could of interpreted very wrong.

This has been a long rant. But, that's why I started the blog. If you find anything offensive or theologically poor please let me know. I'm a student learning and growing to be a child of God - but I do not want to be bringing down the kingdom by writing what I write. Again, let me know. Thank you.

Blessings,

Brad.

Slow Down.

Our lives rotate around time. The 24 hour clock. From hour to hour we pack our days with as much as we possibly can and take for granted the time that has been given to us.

I for one am completely guilty of this. I'm always attempting to fill my days, hour-to-hour so I can feel content and at the end of the day tell myself "you've accomplished something today". But in all honesty, we accomplish things when we relax as well. When we take time to ponder, think, reflect, relax etc. we are doing a healthy thing for our bodies and minds.

I wrote a new song a few days ago, I titled it 'Slow Down', if you want to hear it check out my myspace (www.myspace.com/bradsteevesmusic)

Here's the lyrics:

This life is way to fast
Leaving me out to dry
I’ve looked at the clock a million times
And yet it never slows down

The world around me rotates so willingly
And I wish time would freeze
So they could stop to see
The things they’ve been missing
So reluctantly

Slow down and take your time
There’s no need to rush and fly
Were only here for a short time
So slow down and don’t lose your mind

Maybe I need to take it from you
You seem to know the secret
You ignore the finest lies
All the dirty lies that fill our minds

I’m the next in line near the exit sign
I need to escape this mindless place
I hope, that I can do just as you’ve done
So easily

(Words & Music by Brad Steeves, Copyright (c) 2007. All Rights Reserved.)

Really, the song speaks of getting out of this mentality the world preaches to us. How we always need to have it together and be on the go. Some people in our lives may be experiencing this journey and can speak volumes to us about it, hence the 2nd verse.

So. Throughout your minutes, hours and days....slow down....take time to just be thankful, take a deep breath and enjoy life - don't let the lies of our society overcome you.

On that note, I need to do homework.

Jacob and Lily

Quick note. The 'time' titles are done, I am now sick of them myself and it's only been one day. So, enough of that nonsense.

I was at an awesome concert on campus earlier tonight headlined by Jacob & Lily, a 2-person duo from Winnepeg who are on a cross-Canada tour currently. I was definitely taken back by their talent and feel for the music - you could definitely tell that they were feeling the music, which makes it that much more enjoyable, and to an extent, emotional.

If you wanna check out their stuff hit up: http://www.myspace.com/jacobandlily

I love concerts.

Day 1: 6:45pm

I think I'll keep on doing the title thing until it gets old. It might be already, but I don't think so.

So you'll all have to either a) deal. or b) leave the blog!....but I really want you all to stay, so I guess your only option is A.

Today at Columbia we had our monthly communion service in Chapel. Our chapel team was set to lead worship and I had the awesome oppurtunity to serve communion to my fellow students. It was definitely an honor - however - you do get tired of constantly repeating "This is Christ's body broken for you..." again, a complete honor in all respects. I thought our chapel team preformed well considering the one practice we had, I'm confident in the abilities of our team so I really had no problems with it + all I had to really do was play some backup rhythm and shadow vocals, which made my job a whole lot easier. All in all a great service this morning, just a chance to be silent and focus on rememberance - which we so often forget to do. Our chapel team (Chapel Team A) get one more shot on that chapel this year which I am looking forward to.

I cannot even begin to FATHOM that we are in February. 2007 is already flying by - it's not even scary anymore, it's just ridiculous. But, unfortunately we cannot slow down time and we can't enjoy days like Jack Bauer does (suure...) so were just forced to make the most we can of each day i guess. ANYWHO. enough of this random talk. peace out all.

Headin to a concert on-campus, should be good. Laters.

Day 1: 12:34am...

By the time your reading this your probably thinking "oh my, what a freak" I do it to get your attention!!! I want people to think I'm a dork, hence the blog url and title. Ok fine, I admit, I am a massive fan (and dork) and just had to create a blog with some 24 elements. No self-control here...

Anyways!

I have been putting off blogging for a while now and would love to be able to share with you all of my thoughts (which are worth 2 cents) daily. It's good to have a place to clear your mind and share your joys, frustrations and struggles. I look forward to it.

I trust you are all doing well, now, let us blog.

Tomorrow though, I should probably hit the hay considering I gotta be up in less than 8 hours!

Blessings.