Merry Christmas

It's 10:44 pm Christmas eve. Abby and Emma are sound asleep in bed and Amy and I are getting everything ready for Christmas morning. I remember when I was a kid waking up on Christmas morning and just freaking out at the site of a Christmas tree surrounded by presents that 'Santa' had brought while I was asleep, we didn't even have a chimney.

Tonight I pulled a Clark W. Griswald and told my daughter that Santa had been spotted over Chicago and he would be in Seattle in 5 hours. Just then the thought came into my head of when do you actually tell your kids that Santa is just a big fat alcoholic who can only get work in the mall during the Christmas season. I also wondered if it is wrong, or to put it more clearly, how wrong is it to pretend to your kids that Santa is real. Maybe that is why there are so many messed up people in the world who are seeing psychiatrists, because their parents lied to them about Santa. I think I will tell her next year that Santa died in a horrible reindeer accident while flying over Northern Canada.

I hope that my family and yours have a great Christmas this year. I hope that we will remember what this season is all about, Jesus.

Yea, it worked.

Here are some pics of my trip to Chicago. Enjoy.

Jesus on a plate in the antique store.
















Ben and Rusty.
















Smile in the elevator











































The Groom












The dudes












Rusty took me to a Blackhawks game. Dream come true for me and the lame sized crowd that showed

One night in Chicago

I wanted to share some pics and memories of last weekend when I was in Indiana and Chicago with my good friends. Unfortunately blogger is not letting me upload pictures at this time. I have not had many problems with blogger, but this is enough to make me want to bail out and join another carrier, any suggestions? Until then, or until I can get my pictures to load here is a great youtube video that I found on my good friend Lars site. Heres hoping we see some pics of Chicago soon.

Christmas Vacation

Christmas is coming soon.

36 at the DMV

Today is me 36th birthday. I woke up at 1:30 this morning as Abby, our 17 month old was coughing and crying a bit. I picked her up and she threw up all over me. It is now 14 hours later and I smelled it again just in writing this. Anyway, it was a huge toss, filled with rice and something red. So now I am sitting at the DMV approx. 20 numbers away from mine. So far the B-day has been stellar. I am looking forward to tonight when Amy and I get to go out for a nice quiet dinner together, far away from throw-up and lines.

Off the topic of birthdays

Have you ever been away from your daily responsibilities for a while and when you get back you feel as though you will never catch up again? That is kinda how I feel after coming back from my friend Sams wedding. We had a great time, got plastered by a blizzard in Chicago and went to a Blackhawks game, but now I feel slammed. Maybe its cause I don't know how to rest, or maybe its cause its the holidays and I haven't got Amy anything, but whatever it is it sucks. Here's hoping you and me find peace and rest this Christmas season in the midst of chaos.

Later.

Ywam shooting update.

I am travelling to my good friend Sam 's wedding currently so I won't be doing a justice post tomorrow. I did want to take a moment and update you on what I know about the ywam shooting in Denver. I talked to my good friend mike today. Mike is from ywam vancouver and he attended the memorial service for Philip and tiffany in Denver yesterday. He said it was a hard and emotional service as friends and family of philip and tiffany. The guy who was shot in the neck is now in stable condition. He and tiffany were about to get engaged. Please pray for him and his hurt and loss. Please also continue to remember the family, friends and ywam Denver.
Thanks

YWAM Denver Shootings

Today a tragic thing happened at a YWAM base in Denver Colorado. At approx. 12:30 am a man came to one of the YWAM houses and asked if there was a place for him to stay. The people there told him that there was not and then he pulled out a gun and started shooting. Two people were killed, one is in intensive care and one is in good condition.

At 1st I wondered if they were going to get slammed with people saying that they are Christians yet didn't act like it because they didn't show hospitality. Then the more I though about it I praise God that they said no because if he opened fire while the house was awake and full of people I can't imagine what potentially could have happened if the house was asleep and he was in there. Please pray for the families of those hurt and murdered, for the YWAMers who are living there and for the apprehension of the murderer.

Below is a letter that we received an hour ago from Peter and Linda Waren, the base directors.

Dear friends of YWAM Denver,
Linda and I just returned from the hospital at 6am. Along with a number of
our staff and students we were awaiting news of our four staff who were
shot last night. It's with a heavy heart I need to tell you we just lost
two of them. Tiffany Johnson and Phil Crouse passed away in surgery in the
early hours of this morning, Sunday December 9th. They were wonderful
young YWAMers in their early twenties. Dan Griebenow is in critical but
stable condition with a bullet still lodged in his neck and Chuck Blanch
has two bullet wounds in his legs but will be fine.
Thanks for praying for us. Our whole community has been uprooted as the
base in Arvada has been declared a crime scene and no one can return to
their beds during the investigation. We've relocated everyone up to our
mountain campus, Eagle Rock, for however long this takes.
Please lift up the family and loved ones of those who were lost in prayer.
We're so grateful for the worldwide YWAM family that is reaching out to us
during this difficult time.
Your brother in Christ,
Peter

Read More

Theology

Last night our family put up the Christmas tree. I look forward to this time well before we actually do it, I think it is because I have great memories of putting the fake tree up in my house as a kid. So Emma, our 5 year old started talking and we were asking her about Christmas and she was explaining it to us. So, here is the true meaning of Christmas told by my little girl.

Evangelism

I read two interesting posts today on evangelism that I thought I would share. They are very interesting and a lot of good to be found in both.
David Fitch and Ryan Benhase

San Diego

So this weekend our family went to San Diego to visit our good friends Craig, Kay Charlotte, Ingvar and Jessie. It was an amazing time for our family. The reason we went was to talk about Mission Adventures international and how that is going to look. I will spare you all the details, but I do want to talk a little bit about friendship and hospitality. From the moment we got there we felt that they were happy to have us around. I learned once again this week what it means to serve. We were treated like royalty during out time there. We had great food, constant coffee and drinks, lots of good conversation and a trip to Seaworld. I just want to send a shout out to our dear friends with Mission Adventures in San Diego. We love you dearly, and you taught us many things this weekend about family, service, humility, transparency and friendship. Thanks.

Before I sign off I want to share one story illustrated by pictures. On the last day we went to La Jolla to walk on the beach and see the pelicans. While we were waiting for the girls to park Ingvar, Abby and I were hanging out watching to seagulls. Abby was eating a banana and a seagull took interest. He kept getting closer and closer and Abby was not backing down. Eventually, the little nasty bird grabbed the banana from Abby's hand and flocked off (flocked like a flock of birds, clever eh!) Abby was not happy, but we, and the rest of the people watching couldn't stop laughing. Here are the pics.

prayer of justice

God, the father of the forsaken, the help of the weak, the supplier of the needy; you teach us that love towards the race of man is the bond of perfectness, and the immigation of your blessed self. Open and touch our hearts that we may see and do, both for this world and that which is to come, the things that belong to our peace. Strengthen us in the work which we have undertaken; give us wisdom, perserverance, faith and zeal, and in your own time and according to your pleasure prosper the issue; for the love of your son Jesus Christ.

From eerdnans book of famous prayers, 1983.

Apple *&#@

I have been on hold with Apple Computer for the last 86 minutes. I have been trying to get a reimbursement for my AppleCare since the computer that it was on is now in the grave. I have been passed around to 3 different people and they are still trying to figure things out. The deal is that I talked to someone two weeks ago and they game me a case # and told me to write a letter requesting the reimbursement. I did this, and after not receiving anything for the last two weeks I decided to call. Basically they sent my reimbursement to someone else and are giving me the runaround. Currently, and for a while now I have nothing good to say about Apple. This does not mean that I recommend you buying a PC, I am just venting. For more venting check out Justin

A good Black Friday

Friday is usually the day I write about injustice, but I had such a good day with my girls I want to post about that. I feel privilaged to have a family that is close. I do feel that it is an injustice for kids to grow up without a healthy family, not that I am the greatest dad or husband, but I love my family and want to be a part of their lives as much as I am able.

Today was a great Black Friday. Emma, Sam and I headed downtown on the Metro Bus with our friends Gordon and his girl Grace to see the parade. After the parade we met up with some other friends and went out for crumpets. I have never had crumpets before, but man, they are delicious.
After that Ben, Jaya, Emma and I went to see the ginger bread houses. We waited in line for about 30 minutes, but it was fun and they were tasty looking. Then Emma and I went and got some pizza for lunch and headed over to the Westlake Center carousal. From there we walked around a bit and took a picture of the Buy More Stuff people. Then we took the bus home to get mom and Abby.

A half hour after we got home Amy, Emma, Abby and l hopped back on the bus back to downtown for the lighting of the Christmas tree. They also blew off some fireworks directly over our heads so we were covered in sparkler dust. After that we met up with Mel and Jaya down at Pacific place and watched the snow show (they blow bubbles all over the lobby and it looks like snow, pretty cool). Finally, we got back on the bus and went home for dinner. After dinner we cuddled up in bed and watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Good day to be sure. Hope yours was good as well.

Good Night.

Beauty

The other day I received an email from my good friend Ben. We are talking as a base about what our vision is, and where we are going. Here is an excerpt from his email.

"The word is beauty. Not in the classical aesthetic sense only, but in a new way. Here are some examples of beauty, I think:

Bicycles (especially track bikes and tall bikes!)
Well-made espresso
Birth
Justice for the poor
Life-giving, challenging friendships
Art, in all it’s personalities...

Of course, not everyone thinks a placenta is beautiful, and not everyone likes ambient electronic music, but that’s the point. It’s long hallway, with a million doors cracked open.

Do you know what I mean? What if part of our “mission” is to bring/recognize/incubate beauty, in our city and our world. The discoveries that students make about their families, and about themselves, these are beauty. The first time an American kid sees what India looks like, the wells we dig... I could go on and on.

I want us to build beauty in this city, and everywhere we go. I want to make good art, build bikes, craft coffee, and hear people."

This is beautiful. I have been thinking of this since I received Ben's email Sunday. This has to be the way to live so that we can draw people to Jesus. Jesus is not a God of religion and law, He is a creator of all things beautiful. As a kid I used to have to hide the music that I liked from my parents because it was seen as bad, even though musically it was amazing. The music that I did keep on my shelf was called "Christian Rock" which was not very good, but it was allowed. In this I am saying that beauty does not just come from the Christian, it is in all of us, and it is from God.

One of the things I appreciate from the church that I attend now is that they do everything with beauty and professionalism. When they were starting they didn't have a worship band because no one in the church was good musically, so they found other way's to worship without music, I respect this. I pray that we as followers of the beautiful Jesus can live lives of beauty that draws others to Him.

Here are some things that I find beautiful:
The cross
My little girls laughter
Rain
Silence
Culture
Friends

I pray that we can live out lives out of beauty. That we would see beauty in the people and things around us and that we would project beauty on to them.

Bangladesh

The other day Bangladesh was rocked by a cyclone. So far the death toll is over 1,500. Please pray for the families who have lost loved ones, children who have lost parents, the relief workers and the people who have lost homes, crops, and business.

Read more on the BBC

Water

-More than 1 billion people in the world are in need of clean water.
-More than 2.2 million people die each year from preventable diseases caused by contaminated water.
-More than one in six people on the planet don't have access to clean water
-In Africa half the population has no access to clean water, that's 360 million people.

This is a problem. This morning when I was making coffee I decided to use purified water out of the Brita filter instead of the tap. I actually had a choice to use purified water or purified water. This is s problem. I want to talk about two groups of people who are doing something about this.

Ethos Water provides consumers with the opportunity to donate to clean water projects in the developing world by buying a bottle of water. For each bottle of water purchased in the U.S. $.05 is donated to the Ethos water fund. The mission of Ethos water is "to help children around the world to get clean water and to raise awareness of the world water crisis." Since 2002 Ethos water has committed over $4.2 million in grants to it's beneficiaries. You can find Ethos water at Starbucks coffee companies. Make sure that you don't buy coffee there, just water. Not that I have any ethical problem with Starbucks, it's just that there coffee sucks. You can read more about ethos here.

Halfway There is a group of friends who decided to get together and do something about the water crisis in Africa. Half the population of Africa lacks access to clean water, that's 360 million people or another way to put it is 360,000,000 people. My friends decided that they should put there talents together and raise some money to dig wells. What they did was to make shirts and sell them. Here is how it works. You buy a t-shirt for $15 and 100% of the money goes into the ground to dig wells in Africa. How does that work? Well the people you buy the shirts from have already payed the tax, the shipping and the cost of the shirt. Another thing you could do is to buy 48 shirts for $196.00. This cost covers all the expenses and in turn you sell the shirts for $15-$20 each and all the money goes to wells. To learn more about this go to Halfway There.

Do something, do anything.

Daddy Day

Thursday is the day that I stay home with the girls so that Amy can get out and do the work she needs to do, it also gives her a break as the primary care giver, during the day, of the girls. I love that my job allows me the flexibility to work from home. I do not take it for granted one bit, although some times, just from growing up in this culture I feel that since I am the man that I need to be always going off to work and Amy, being the woman needs to always be at home with the girls. This idea is wrong and frankly lame. I am not a man because I go to work, I am a man because I have a penis, that's all it takes.

Anyway, so this morning I woke up and got the girls breakfast, which is the usual, and I just finished the laundry. Abby is walking around with Emma's panties on the outside of her pants, way to go dad. I love that I know and am connected with my girls. I understand that most men don't get to have as much time with there kids as I do, and that makes me sad as I know they would love it. As a home group we are going through this book about marriage with kids. For the most part I can't relate as it is talking about dads who don't know what to do when left alone with their kids. I guess this is the norm in our culture.

I pray that I can take advantage of this time that I am given and decided to take. I know it would be easy to just put on a movie for the girls and go about my day, but I might as well not be here if that is the case. Today, I plan on giving Abby a nap, doing a little work on school and MA and going for a walk. My friend Brian may be coming over also, which is great as it will show him that dudes can hang out with there kids during the day as well as girls.

So, to all you stay at home dads out there cheers.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend my friend Colin from Winnipeg came to visit. It was a good time and we saw a lot of the city. Colin arrived on Saturday and we spent the day walking around down town. One of our stops was at the public library, I love this building. For one, it just looks cool from the outside and inside. For two, they have the coolest kids area of any library I have ever been to. Colin is an architect so it was great for him to see this bizzarly built building from what sounds like an equally bizzar architect.

On Sunday we went to the worship service at Mars Hill and spent the day hanging out once again. Sunday evening we went to the Moore theater and heard Rob Bell talk on his "The God's Aren't Angry" tour. It was a great night as I saw a lot of friends there, some of which I see daily and others who I have not seen in years.
Yesterday we went for a drive to get some good coffee at Cafe Fiore where my friend Rachel works. From there we went to the Ballard Locks and watched a huge barge go throught being towed by a tiny little tug boat. Then we went and ate the worlds largest burrito at Gorditos. The four of us actually split it and still had leftovers.

Finally, to end the weekend off just right we scalped tickets into the Monday night football game between the Seahawks and the 49ers. We got in for $20 and watched a slaughter as the Seahawks destroy the 49ers 24-0. Thanks Colin for coming, and thanks to my family for being so flexible with all our running around.

I feel like this weekend I was able to give of my time and my energy. I want to continue to live this way. To live in such a way that others feel that they are important and that it is a blessing for me to spend time with them as much as it is them spending time with me. I want to give of my time and energy to others.

Displaced

Each Friday I want to post on a different Justice issue and spotlight some people who are doing work in that particular area. I want to start by focussing on Darfur and Chad and the displaced people there. A displaced person is a person who is forced to leave their home country because of war, persecution, or natural disaster; a refugee. Since 2003 more than 200,000 Sudanese have been killed and an estimated 2.2 million driven from there homes. Most of the displaced have made their way to camps within Darfur or into the neighboring country of Chad.

The people who remain in Sudan stay in camps for internationally displaced people. These camps are maintained by groups such as Unicef. It is very dangerous in these camps as people are abused, beaten, raped or killed, predominantly women. More than 12,000 relief workers deliver food, water and medical care to those in these camps.

When I think of displaced people I think of Jesus. Jesus was driven from His home when Herod wanted to kill Him. He also say's that "the Son of man has no where to lay His head." I believe that the displaced and the refugee are very close to Jesus heart. He is near to them in these camps. He feels their pain and understands as He was also there. He goes to them in the form of other people and organizations like World Relief and others.

Jesus, please be near to the refugee and the displaced tonight. Keep them safe and put your joy in their hearts.

Information Taken from Need Magazine

Guest Posting

I have not posted in a couple of day's on this site, but I have posted. My good friend Lars has not been posting for the last few day's due to a writers strike in Hollywood. Lars has decided not to write until the strike is over as one of his friends is a writer and he is standing with him in this. Anyway, if you would like to read my last post you can go to his site. It is a good way for me to connect you with him as well as he has a lot of great things to say.

Tomorrow, and every Friday I will be posting on justice issues and spotlighting people and organizations who are working in these areas. I am very excited about it, I hope you will tune in.

Thanks

Phil

Jamie Arpin-Ricci

I just want to paste a post from my friend Jamie in Winnipeg. It is a great post, as are all of his. I would encourage you to check him out.

But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:12,13 (NASB)

Growing up, when I heard this Scripture, I often found myself confused. I understood the basic premise- that Jesus did not surround Himself with the religious elite, but came to seek and to save the lost. However, it was clear to me that Jesus held His strongest words or reproof for those who were part of the established religious community. They were exploiting their power and position, compromising to the powers of the surrounding culture and play-acting their reighteousness for show. Would this not make them, in a very reall sense, "sick" as well?

Over time it became clear to me that while they were indeed "sick", they had in their means and understanding the "cure", but ignored it. When Jesus referred to the "sick", He was referring to those who were on the outside. While many of the people Jesus focused on were victims of systems of injustice (the poor, orphans, widows, etc.), they were also sinners who were responsible for their sins. And yet Jesus did not approach these sinners with reproof but with mercy, compassion and love. Clearly, from the religious leaders he wanted them to practice the same way of life, not primarily concerned with their adherence to the letter of the law. In the end, Jesus addressed those leaders only as much as was necessary (often at their initiation), spending most of His time and energy with those He was called to.

Despite this seemingly clear and simple lesson, we find it very difficult to practice it ourselves. Sadly, so much of our time, energy and resources are invested in challenging failed models of faith that we see all around us. While prophetic voices are needed to call the Church on our very really failings and compromises, we are called primarily to be incarnational agents of mercy and compassion to those on the margins. Our corrective efforts must be first and foremost within ourselves and our own communities, allowing our lives to be a living rebuke to those who fail to follow Christ's way.

In our passion to see the Church challenged and changed, have we blinded ourselves from our primary responsibility? Have we allowed ourselves to be distracted from our missional vocation as the Body Christ with an excessive effort at "self-improvement'?

Writing

Good morning to you. I realize that I have not been writing or posting a lot lately. There has been a lot that has been going on in my life over the last week and a half or so, both good and bad. It has been a very difficult time for me. I am slowly learning again to continue to put Jesus first in all situations. He is God and my circumstances are not. What a revelation eh!

I have spent some time with some good friends this past week, both in person and over the phone trying to figure some stuff out and I appreciate your insight and guidance. I woke up today after reading a chapter from
Mark Scandrette's book Soul Graffiti and spent about 15 minutes in silence, just being with Jesus. I have tried to do this lately, but with kids I have justified sleeping in. Today I got myself up, thank you daylight savings time. As I was sitting there I felt Jesus speaking to me about starting new. The verse I read was Galatians 2:20 where Paul talks about being co-crucified with Christ. It is not our lives we live, but His. I want to walk and be Christ to the people in my life. My wife, my children, my friends and family. After reading I went and shaved for the 1st time since July and will try, with Gods gracious help to serve and be Christ today to the people he has placed in my life. Pray for me.

Thanks.

Let it speak for itself

This was posted by my good friend P. Wade

Blessed and Overwhelmed

Today I feel blessed and overwhelmed. I will start from last night, the beginning. I took yesterday afternoon off as it was sunny in Seattle and went with my family to the zoo. After supper I went out to a local establishment to study and get my work done that I didn't do in the afternoon. My good friend met me there and we were going to study together. We were only there for 15 minutes or so when my friend reached for his drink and it spilled all over the table and all in my computer. The computer shut down immediately and has not came alive since, 24 hours later.

As you could imagine this caused an awkward silence and deafening wonder between my friend and I. There was not much to talk about after this, we both were thinking about the disaster we just witnessed, not the spilling of micro brew, but the computer drowning. Anyway, the time came for us to talk about the worst possible situation. What if we needed to replace the computer? My friend did the noble thing and said that he would pay for it, just as if I had spilled the drink on his computer I would pay for it. It is amazing how quickly beauty can turn into pain

So, this morning I took Justice (computer) into the apple store and got the estimate. It was going to cost $1350 to get her back to normal. I was sick by it, but what could I do. I was not sick because my computer was broke, or because a drink was spilled, but I was sick because someone had to sacrifice and lose out as a result. Here is where my #1 strength empathy comes in. After I dropped off the computer Amy and I went to a store on the way out of the mall to buy some presents for family. I told her that the present she picked out would go great in my mom and dads house. We both looked at each other and I just stood there and started to cry. My parents have been separated for four years now. I couldn't believe my words. Amy just looked at me and said "I never realized how emotional you are Phil."

So now I am done another day. I still feel horrible for what happened with my friend and the computer, but it is feeling bad for him, not for me. I am grateful to you my friend for being cool with this. Thank you for making it easy on both of us and for being a responsible, and true bro. In light of these last 24 hours I have felt, through my small, minuscule loss a heart for those in San Diego who have lost homes, memories, family and more as a result of the fire. I pray God give them comfort.

Thanks for listening.

Phil

Winnipeg in the 80's

So I am taking a short break from my studying to make a quick post. I am sitting in the Library listening to 80's rock, poison to be specific on the i-pod and I had a flashback to 1988. I was living in Winnipeg in grade 11 at the time. In my flashback I was getting off the metro bus, in the winter to go to my after school job. I worked across the street from the CN railroad station sweeping floors at an electronics warehouse. It was so weird, I was just transported there so clearly. I ended up getting fired from the job as I was a lazy a#@ and didn't do a very good job sweeping. I have attached a picture of what I can remember the bus and the day looked like, as well as what I looked like back in the day with my friend Jeff. I am thankfull we grow up.

Anyway, back to studying.

Bloglines

So I just finished adding all my blogs to Bloglines. I have a lot of blogs in my bookmarks. I don't even read them all, I just have them there and open them all up in tabs once in a while. I want to be better at keeping up with my friends and I also want to have my hand on the pulse of what is going on in the world more. I hope that this little tool helps me do that as each time a new post comes up bloglines will show it. It should keep me on top of things more. Hers hopin.

Phil

Seattle

So I woke up this morning to a dark, gloomy, rainy Seattle morn. It was beautiful. Some people hate waking up and it being dark and cold, but me, well I find it rather contemplative. I put on some music and puttered around the house making my coffee and feeding Abby breakfast. It wasn't long before I felt myself in this place of worship, where I was overwhealmed by the grace and love of Jesus, for me and for the world. It is weird, and I can't explain it, but I do know that this morning, in the cold and rain of Seattle I felt Jesus and am thankfull for Him and for who He is and what He means to me.

Happy Thanksgiving (Canadian)

Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. On Sunday we had a bunch of people, mostly Canadians and their spouses or soon to be over to celebrate. We ate till we swore we would eat no more, then an hour later we were eating again. It was a great night and the food ruled, thanks to P.Wade. Yesterday Emma and I carved a pumpkin. I found out real fast that I don't have pumpkin carving skillz.