On The Move

Hello for the last time from 'Walking As Jesus Did'

For the past twoish years I have been using this blog to try and explore some of the intellectual questions that circle around Christianity and the church. I have loved doing that. However over the past year I have found my own passion shifting some, and my desire to blog on different topics grow.

After much reflection I have decided it is time to step away from this blog with it's very specific focus and move on to something new, and something exciting. I have decided to start blogging at;

www.modernmanofthecloth.com

Modern Man Of The Cloth is going to be about faith and family. It will be a place to find my sermons, and a spot that I hope will be fun. The only content that is there right now is the favorite posts from this site and my very, very short lived  family blog.

Never the less please consider going there and checking it out. My friend Laura from Mommy-Miracles has designed for my a very nice header and a few other pictures that will make there way places. I love to hear your feedback on the look of things so far.

Also you might be wondering about the contend on this blog that I didn't transfer over. My plan at the moment if to live this one on-line even though I will not update it. I have no idea how long blogger allows site that do not generate content stay active so if there is anything you want to grab off this site you have my permission to do so.

Thank you so much to everyone who have read, liked or commented on this blog. I hope to see you over at Modern Man Of The Cloth

I hope to see you there 

Introducing Asher

So I know it seems like I dropped off the map, after doing a nice run of weekly posts. But my attention has been elsewhere. I would like to introduce to you all Asher Kelvin, born March 6th 2013.

Many thanks to our good friend Latitia for taking this picture. 

If Only You Had Been Here

Saturday was Simeon’s 4th birthday. As he was opening presents I found many of the gifts he received to be somewhat familiar. He received Leonardo, the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a TV show I watched faithfully as a child resurrected for today’s child. Likewise he received a transformer named Wreckgar, a familiar albeit slightly modified version from the transformers I watched as a child. Another resurrected children’s toy. I will be honest since Meghan will rat me out anyway, I still watch transformers from time to time, I am a big fan of their most recent adaptations actually.

Born This Way

My children were both born bald. Our third (and final) child who should arrive in a few weeks will likely also be bald.

One day they will love me for posting photos of them on-line but here they are;

In The Middle Of The Lake At Night

One day a photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a large and devastating forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Once the arrangements were made he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, he saw that a plane was warming up near the runway. He head over the plane as quickly as he could, jumped in with equipment in hand and frantically yelled, "Let’s go! Let’s go!" 

Support from the Past

Yesterday I was sitting in my office reading a chapter of  'Five Seconds At A Time: How Leaders Can Make The Impossible Possible'. The book so far is interesting, it is about, 'When a tragic mountain-climbing accident left business professor Denis Shackel stranded on Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand, he turned to the leadership principles he’d been teaching for years to survive the longest night of his life.'

I am not here to talk about the book. To be truthful I am only on the second chapter, and I skimmed chapter two rather fast. Instead as I was 'reading' chapter two yesterday I found myself thinking about the past.

You Never Had A Friend Like Me

My favorite Disney movie is Aladdin. I like the story line, the music, the setting, and the characters. Jafar even is is my favorite Disney villain with Ursula the sea witch a very close second. There is something about his dark sinister voice that I have always liked.

God You're Doing What?

There is an on going conversation in my house right now. It takes different forms but it sounds a lot like this; 'Please pick up your X and Y'. Meaning please pick up your coat and hang it up. Or please pick up your boats and put them on the shoe rack. Or please pick up your dishes and put them in the dishwasher. I suspect anyone who is married with children finds that they have these same conversations.

A Fathers Desperate Plea

I was excited to see my son enjoy Christmas this year. At 3 and a half he is at a great age for it.

The lead up to Christmas was so exciting for him. We had an elf on the shelf, presents under the tree, an Advent calendar/truck that hid chocolates, candies, and even tiny toys. To top it all off we even had a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration with both family and church. He was excited.

The Wedding Party

Not long ago I was reading an article that gave a number of tips about getting the most out of your sermons. One of the tips was of course to blog pieces of your sermon. Since I have this blog that has been laying mostly fallow this seemed like a good idea. So today is my first attempt to shear down a sermon into a more appropriate blog length.

The sermon series that we at Sackville United Baptist Church began looking at on Sunday has to do with the Seven Signs of John. The first sign is the  miracle where Jesus turned water into wine found in John 2:1-11.

The Innkeepers Tale- My 2012 Christmas Eve Message

Tonight I would like to tell you a story. It is a story of a man that we don’t know much about, but one who is very familiar to us. He is the inn keeper of Bethlehem. We know him as the man shouting, ‘there is no room in the inn. But tonight I think we ought to try to get to know him a little better. So let’s get to know Larry the innkeeper.

Sermon Illustration- Plane over a fire

Assumptions can be quite dangerous. For example, the photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let’s go! Let’s go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. "Fly over the north side of the fire," yelled the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes." "Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I’m going to take pictures," cried the photographer. "I’m a photographer and photographers take pictures!" After a pause the pilot said, "You mean you’re not the instructor?"

The Moral Landscape

A few nights ago as I was driving home I listened to a discussion on Sam Harris' newest book, ' The Moral Landscape' on CBC radio one. This book came out in October 2010 so we have just hit the second anniversary of its publication which is probably why the CBC was running the interview again. The book is getting old and it got a lot of criticism by Christian and Non-Christian alike but since I am sure I wasn't the only person who caught the interview and the recent reply of the TED talk I thought I would write down the thoughts I had as I was listening.

Did Jesus Hear Wedding Bells?

In the Gospel of John Jesus debuted his miraculous abilities at a wedding in Cana. But that is not the wedding that people have been interested in of late. For the last few days people have been interested in the question, 'Was Jesus married?' This question has been brought to us by Harvard Divinity School Prof. Karen King. While far more learned people have already weighted in on this I thought I would toss in my two cents as well*.

Feeling Very Moved

We have just moved. Again. This move marks the forth move since my wife and I got married back in May of 2008. Yes that means four homes in a little more than four years.

Now it is not entirely our fault that we have moved so often. Life just kind of kept changing. School ended, children were born, jobs changed. The combination of these life events simply caused us to move.

New Guy On The Block

Well the time has come to finally dust this blog off again. The silence of this blog has come because a number of things caused me to ask; 'why am I writing this?' A few answers quickly flooded into my head;

Life After "The Jesus Shirt'

Well it has been rather interesting these past few days here in Nova Scotia. What began as a local school discipline decision over the appropriateness of a t-shirt ended as a international debate/discussion on the topics of freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

If you want to read the events in detail simply Google the phrase 'Jesus T-Shirt Nova Scotia' and you'll find plenty of information. If you'd rather stick to the Coles Notes (CliffsNotes for you American readers) allow me to bring you up to speed;

Project- Keeping The Faith

Faith is not easily. It is a deliberate choice, a daily choice, and at times a very difficult choice. There are a lot of forces that attempt to tug, tear and trash our faith. Some of these forces are intellectual, some are emotional, some are spiritual but none can be overcome alone. We need each other.

If you have been following this blog for any length of time you have likely started to get a sense of my story. You know where I have struggled and where I am still struggling. You also know the issues that make me passionate.

But at my very core I want to help people grow in their faith, I want to help people keep their faith. And I need your help.

Over the next few weeks and months I want to share as many stories of faith I can find. Because I believe as we share our stories of how we have chosen and continue to choose faith, 'iron will sharpen iron'. If we share our stories more people will be able to proclaim with Paul; 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.'

Now here comes the ask. I need people, and I need stories. If you are a person who would like to share your story I want to hear from you. Or if you know someone who's story needs to be told, I want to hear from you. Connect with me via the comments section in this blog, or track me down on Twitter or Facebook.

Let me be clear on one thing. Your story does not need to be an epic spiritual battle, a major health crisis, or a time of near insurmountable loss to count. Faith struggles can come on red hot, or they can burn quietly under there surface unnoticed by anyone except yourself. If you have a story of faith struggle that you want to share, I want to hear from you.

Let's help people keep the faith together!

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor Collection

For your convenience here is the Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor collection all in one handy dandy place.


Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor- The Story

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor- It's Not True

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor- Afraid of School

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor-Challenge and Response 1: The Presence of Evil

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor-Challenge and Response 2: Scientific Method

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor-The Professor's Concluding Remarks

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor -The Student's Concluding

Thanks For Reading!

Christian Student Vs. Atheist Professor -The Student's Concluding

I had intended for the concluding remarks to be one blog. However after I finished writing the about the Professor's concluding remarks two posts seemed to make more sense. So here we are to bring our discussion on the parable of the Christian Student vs. The Atheist Professor to a conclusion by looking at the student's concluding remarks;