Well tonight I come to the bloggy not because my mind is reeling. I wanted to write about a guest preacher we had at freedomize (church) tonight. At first I thought I'd put something simple like "Todd Cantelon... Much Love". That expresses a lot of what I mean to get out but I feel that may be too exclusive. Only people that might have been there might understand or even have a remote idea of who Todd Cantelon is. That was more like a facebook status post. Here's a little more. Todd was 1 of 2 people responsible for the "church plant" that is Freedomize Toronto. Freedomize Toronto (ft) is the church I go to and love and call home. The term church plant is basically an equivalent to a business start up but in more churchy terms. Instead of starting a business, you're starting a church. Instead of getting customers, you want to get a congregation that will return every week and be part of a community. I can imagine it would be much easier to start a business than a church simply because of what's involved and what's at stake when dealing with a church. It's peoples beliefs, problems, outlooks on life, God, Jesus, their upbringing and so much more. If Todd didn't have a grand vision of ft from the beginning I wouldn't likely be going to church right now and my life wouldn't be nearly as fulfilling as it is. I could still be having my miserable Sundays before the drudgery of the week took me away on Monday.
Anyway today was about much more than just Todd being at ft. He was guest preaching. His sermon was super passionate and gave me (and many others as I found out) insight as to how ft started off, what it was like in a time before I was there etc. Todd speaks very um... loudly at times, sometimes his delivery is even Chris Rock-esque. I found myself laughing at moments when the delivery was so close and humorous in tone. The message comes from a great place though. The sermon mainly focussed on Jesus being living water and with that water we would never be thirsty again. Todd was also clear that this did not mean provision. In fact he drew a very hard line between the stars we idolize and their millions of dollars and rockstar lifestyle and a follower of Jesus. Which do you think he would have said the happier was?
All in all I enjoyed the sermon. It's dynamic, it's message, it's impact and the fact that I'll likely be thinking about it all week long. Like I said before. Todd Cantelon... Much Love.
I think the sermon came at an interesting time in my life though. Sometimes sermons at ft can ring that little bell at the top of the tower. Yknow the one with the giant mallet you have at carnivals. It makes a slide whistle sound as it goes up and makes a "DING DING DING" if the thingy goes all the way to the top. Yeah. That happens when the sermon is so on the money. This sermon wasn't in exact time like that but I feel like it might lay some groundwork for the week ahead.
Yesterday, Saturday night, I decided I might actually stay at home, get some work done and lay low for the night. I had a number of places to go but at the last moment I figured in light of the weeks events with my parents, I might make an effort to be around and stayed home. I could get some work done and hang out with the parents and chit chat. Unfortunately, the end result was I didn't get too much work done, I did read a bunch but I also talked very little with my parents. I was around them for the whole night for the most part but they spent most of the day being tired from their day out and focussing in on that damn tv box. I really wish sometimes we didn't have a tv at home. (Sometimes... shhh). For some reason the doing nothing for the night only served to make me feel lethargic. I had great sleep the night before and yet I was pretty exhausted and did nothing from 11pm onward. I slept for another long period last night and slept past my alarms today finding it almost impossible to wake up. I think I fell back asleep 3 or 4 times before shooting out of my bed fearing it would happen another time. Then today it took me nearly forever to leave the house. I had all intentions of getting into the city really early, working on a few things I need to get done and hanging out a little before church. I ended up having time only to get to church, chat for 5 or 10 and sit down. So crazy.
I've learned something from this. Over the past few months I've got my motivational patterns almost down to a science. I know full well that Saturday night is not a productive night unless I'm sitting next to someone I'm actually working with. Past 6pm on a Saturday I should be getting ready to get out of the house for part of the night because if I don't, I will probably go crazy. Sitting at home on a Saturday night often leaves me feeling like I'm stuck somehow in where I am in my life thus the lethargy kicking in. Right.. I've learned something! I've learned I should probably stick to things I know definitely work for me and stay away from certain things I know absolutely don't. Staying home on a Saturday night to get work done if I'm not super excited about it.. that would be on the definitely not list.
I feel that I should mention that I don't have a necessity to go out, spend the night on the town, spend money, be a baller etc. I think the need for me is to be social. If I had someone to spend time with and be social with here at home, a sister, a significant other, a parent that wasn't pooped from their day that would be awesome. I think when I leave the house on a Saturday night I'm really just seeking some social time, some time to chill out, chat and perhaps do something a little random. I could just as easily spend a night in with a friend or roommate if I had one, making pasta and checking out some movies but I don't have such a luxury right now. You may wonder why I feel the need to mention ALL THAT. Well I recently thought about it myself. I was asked a question regarding to my constant going out, constant adventures in the city. A friend commented that I'm always going out and I must have lots of friends. I don't know that that's really the case. It's just that I have a need to be social, to be close with my friends, to spend time with them and all that. Having solidly booked activities like band practice twice a week, rock climbing once a week and church on Sunday makes evenings already half occupied. I have to say that it makes scheduling interesting sometimes but I do like to be active in music and physical activity and spiritual activity. It almost ensures a well rounded week.
Anyway, I think this post has become like many of mine in the past little bit, too long, too late at night. I don't have too much more to post. Oh I'll mention one more thing.
On Friday, I walked from Leslieville, stopped in to see a friend at work, and walked all the way to the Toronto Outdoor Art Expo while taking pictures. I walked around the expo for 2 hours or so then headed back to my car parked in Leslieville (on food again). It was such a great day. Mind you, the walk took about 6 hours in total. I'll miss the opportunity to do things like that when I have a fulltime job.
It's bed time. Early morning wake up and work session.
Peace, love and rock,
J
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