[h]i miss brown

i've talked a lot about mara, but i don't like eating toothpaste, so this is a tribute to the very little i know of fil [read: miss brown] or at least how i think when i read her blog. trust me, this will be the only time i do this.

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here is a list of things that are lovely to me:

one - fancy pencil sharpeners
two - free hot chocolate
three - ummm.... moshing
four - kleenex and neelix are only an ike apart
five - lists

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m and w are standing around doing nothing. d just got inspired to look at art.

w: can i help you with anything?

d: no. i just saw it and decided to come in.

w: thank you.

...

m: you look like you're thinking.

...

d: thanks for the lookaround.

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ps - i don't make hurtful metallic-threaded underwear and i don't own a goat antelope.

the janitor was singing indian-sounding songs in the bathroom i was using. i'll have to visit india sometime when i have a wife so that there will be a credible witness to my eating of exotic foods. i know someone visiting india. he shouldn't try the foods. his wife isn't there to witness.

in other news, i'm enjoying having a beard-ish thing. growing facial hair is like doing something with your appearance and not doing something with your appearance at the same time. and its fun.

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opinions are immunity to being told you're wrong
paper, rock, and sissors, they all have their pros and cons
and all of us we will endure like we always have
but you just can't be to sure how long this will last

-the only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one, relient k

Abnormally Tagged

After reading all these posts on other people's blogs saying "I got tagged," I have finally been tagged myself, but in a round about way. Mara cheated and tagged everyone who read her post on February 3rd. Oh well. All is fair in love and blogs, as it were. Here I go:

Four jobs I've had:

1. Tutor with French for the Future and the Newfoundland Government
2. Camp Counsellor at Scotian Glen, Pine Lake, and Mountainview
3. Youth Service Corps Member for the Salvation Army
4. Work Term Student with Lotek Wireless and Jacobs Engineering

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
2. Peter Pan
3. The Newsies
4. Mary Poppins

Four places I've lived:

1. St. John's, Newfoundland (for a few months)
2. Paradise, Newfoundland
3. Pictou County, Nova Scotia (for one month)
4. Calgary, Alberta (for one month so far)

Four t.v. shows I love:

1. Star Trek (any version)
2. The Waltons
3. Get Smart
4. Bucky O' Hare

Four places I've vacationed:

1. Florida, USA
2. California, USA
3. Nassau, Bahamas (for a few hours)
4. St. Pierre, France

Four of my favourite dishes:

1. Fettucini Alfredo (thanks to General Penner)
2. Turkey Fritters (my dad's specialty)
3. Beaver Tails (the pastry, not the meat)
4. Lobster

Four sites I visit daily:

1. Hotmail
2. Squirrel Mail
3. Homestar Runner
4. Reverend Fun

Four places I'd rather be right now:

1. Jerusalem, Israel
2. London, United Kingdom
3. Paris, France
4. Rome, Italy

Four bloggers I am tagging:

1. Jen Rowsell
2. Lesley Cunningham
3. Deborah Barrow
4. Jenn Slous

Since the only confirmed readers of my blog so far are Mara and Amanda, I really don't know whether these four people will ever find out that I tagged them. But such is the life of a blogger.

Survivor Bible Study

A lot of my thoughts over the past few weeks have originated or been developed at a Bible study I have been attending. Wow. That was really a thought in the middle of a conversation. Let me back track.

Back in Newfoundland, I was very busy with university last semester, and I therefore neglected my former Bible study with my youth group at the St. John's Temple. When I moved to Calgary in January, I knew that I would have evenings and weekends mostly free. Now that I would have ample time, I hoped to find a Bible study to attend. Thankfully, there were many options. All of the extended family members with whom I am currently staying took part of small groups at Glenmore Temple. Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Kerry attend one about leadership. My cousin Lindsay attends one on Sundays while my cousin Ashley attends one on Mondays. As if that were not enough, Lindsay's fiancé, Michael, leads a Bible study as well (him being the youth pastor at Glenmore and all). These Bible studies all consisted of people I knew and enjoyed being with. The only problem with these Bible studies was that they had all already started, and I would therefore be missing the first portion of the study.

One day on the way home from work, I seemed to recognize someone at the train station. I suddenly realized that this was Peter, my program director from my Pine Lake days. I quickly ran up to him as my train arrived and fortunately, we were taking the same train. We talked for a while, he told me that he got married to a girl named Amanda since we had last seen each other, and I told him about my work term in Calgary. It was wonderful to see another old friend. Before my stop came, I remembered that I had heard that Peter was leading a Bible study. I asked him about it, and he said that it was starting that night! At this, I got pretty excited. Unfortunately, I had already made plans with Ashley that night, but when I got home, Ashley was too busy with school work, so I went to the Bible Study. Alicia and Courtney (two sisters I also worked with at Pine Lake), and their dad were kind enough to offer me a ride, and I was off to the races.

The Bible study has been going really well. It consists of an hour of watching Survivor (which I have never before seen), and an hour of studying Acts. It has been great to make some new friends there, meet Peter's new wife, and explore some theological concepts.

And so, I return to my initial statement. Because of the Survivor Bible Study, I have been asking a lot of questions about the differences between Biblical times and today; of the Holy Spirit, the church, and individual Christians. Why do we not see the Holy Spirit manifesting itself as tongues of fire as happened at the Pentecost? Why has the structure of the church changed so much from the template of the early church that grew so rapidly? How could the apostles so confidently heal the lame beggar at the temple gates, and why do we not practice radical healing today?

As a side note, I try to stay away from the word 'conclude' when talking about answers to questions. I have only concluded about what is core to my existance - that God is Good, that He created me, that I sinned, that He died in my place, and that by grace through faith, I will now live with Him for eternity. This is what I have concluded. Everything else, I only believe, and all of my beliefs (as opposed to my conclusions) can be changed. Some things I believe strongly, but all of my beliefs are up for my personal questioning.

Having made the distinction between conclusions and beliefs, I believe that the answer to my questions is adaptability. The Holy Spirit works as He knows will be in the best interests of the Kingdom; in a society where the supernatural is viewed as being indicative of power and truth, the Holy Spirit seems to appear in physical forms and in other spectacular ways. In a society showy instant healings are viewed as hoaxes used to scam money, it is unlikely that this is the best route for the communication of the gospel.

This concept is rather new to me, and has been greatly helped along in my mind by Valerie (my youth pastor back home), Peter, Mara, and a book I have been reading called, "Community in Mission: A Salvationist Ecclesiology". The book is a little dry, but it explains why the Salvation Army is what is and does what it does - some of which I have never learned before and really feel should be common knowledge among Salvationists.

So that's my story for today; my third post. I think I'm going to start alternating between these serious posts and silly web games - we'll see.

My First Blog Game

I was inspired today by reading Mara's post from October 25th, 2005. She wrote:

"go to google, type in "[your first name] needs" and search. oh, put your first name in there, not [your first name]. the latter doesn't yield very interesting stuff. list your top ten results."

I followed her advice and this is what I came up with (with some necessary editing):

David needs to become more tolerant.
I can see someone telling me this - but I'm not all for tolerance in the strictest sense.

David needs dusting often.
I don't think I'm that lazy.

David needs no introduction.
Thank you.

David needs your prayers.
I always appreciate your prayers.

David needs help.
I get by with a little help from my friends.

David needs to roar with pride.
I think I'll leave the roaring and the pride to the lions.

David needs to learn to shave.
Timothy would heartily agree.

David needs much better than this.
No way! God blesses me far beyond what I deserve.

David needs a student.
Interesting thought. I'm a student myself.

David needs to work hard and practice and go to tournaments.
I wonder what I'm supposed to be working hard and practicing in order to go to tournaments.

And finally, just because you did, Mara, here's my "good measure" one:

David needs 500 signatures to get on the ballot.
I sure hope I don't get 500 comments on this post. I'd get 1000 e-mails in my inbox!

That was fun. Feel free to do the same on your blog - just be sure to tell me about it.

Thus, my second post is... posted. Maybe next time I'll write something that makes sense.

The Last Drops of the Thundershower

You may be wondering why I started this blog. Am I jumping on the bandwagon, as Valerie so eloquently put it? Although the phrase probably applies, my reasoning is closer to Leslie's; I was reading so many wonderful thoughts in the blogs my friends have written that I wanted to leave comments telling them how much they had blessed me or made me think. Also, I wanted to hear what other people think about the things I think about. Please feel free to comment with your opinions. That's the main reason I'm starting this blog - to find out what other people think.

You may also be wondering about the title I have chosen - Into the Silent Planet. Firstly, this is a fail-safe on my part. I don't know how much I will use this blog, so silence seemed like a safe title. If I rarely blog, than you can't say I didn't warn you. Also, Out of the Silent Planet is the name of a book by CS Lewis, my favorite author. I haven't read it yet, but I plan on delving into it. You may think that a pitiful reason to change the title from "Out of" to "Into". Perhaps I have some ingenious philosophical reason for changing the words. Perhaps the title "Out of the Silent Planet" was already taken. You will never know.

The main reason for the title of my blog is that silence is the subject that God has most been teaching me about lately. It seems that God's been impressing this on Deborah's heart too, by the look of her blog. Waiting on God in silence and contenting yourself in His... it's much harder than I had thought. I've heard about the value of resting in His presence, but I'm slow in finding the value myself. I believe it's an important part of His character, though, and so I'm think it's best to make it important in my prayer life as well.

If you have not read the book "Red Moon Rising," I would highly recommend it. Although its readership is not specific to any denomination, I find that it is especially encouraging and convicting for Salvationists. It has become my favorite book, and I don't switch favorites easily. This book started my thinking about silence.

To conclude my blog (or begin it), I would like to thank you for finding my thoughts worthy of consideration. I look forward to reading yours.