www.nathanweselake.com

Launch of Blog Ad Campaign.

Figured it was time to put some energy into advertising the blog.  It has been a year since I started it and the readership has plateaued.  However, the advertising budget is pretty slim and I knew I needed to figure out where to get the most visibility for the least amount of $$.  The solution presented itself in a timely manner courtesy of Dave and his ringette playing daughter Kara Anderson.  This season if you have the priviledge of watching the Portage Bunnies ringette team you will see the following.  It is called a "bum bumper" and it represents incredible bang for the buck.  Especially since Dave footed the bill.

 

The funniest comment so far "Is that where Nathan posts his old modelling pictures?"

 

Protege Shea's Deep Insight on Catalyst 2009

6 Individuals In A Van: Observations Discovered During a 91 Hour Trip

 

*Linda is the Sugar Beet Trivia Queen.

*Peter has a deep love for extremely large or oversized pumpkins

*Nathan developed his deep knowledge of the female species through a love of the Sweet Valley High Twins

*Lydia practiced self-control in its finest form by refraining from purchasing a Miley Cyrus lock/clock

*Nathan prefers one finger manicures from his Hebrew friend with a German accent

* Lydia’s dear Mother has a love for pigeons and Linda loves to kill pigeons for earrings

*If you hear, “Hot Donuts!” turn around and Dave Anderson will be right behind you…

Jesus is the Beer Guy Part #2.

Have gotten more feedback on the original post from last week than anything I have written in awhile.

Some liked it because they like sticking it to Christians who are more conservative than them.

Some didn't like it because they know first hand the incredible damage alcohol can wreak on lives.

Some pointed out that while John 2 is the first sign Jesus does to point us to the Father, there are others.

And there were more.  To you all I say, it would be great if you used the comment feature on the blog.  You all could have a great conversation with each other about the whole thing!  And to re-stimulate the conversation I shall post one of the many fine pics which come up when you put "Jesus" and "Beer" into google images. (I suspect it is fake).

But there was one comment which I would like to unpack.

Someone from the wedding read the post and asked me what I meant when I wrote "a bunch of people at this wedding were scared to death of God."

Put a lump in my throat because re-reading the post from the perspective of someone at the wedding made me wish I had elaborated more, and not lumped everyone into the same category.  I honestly didn't mean for that to come across as it might have.  

Here is what I meant:

1. I heard a few people make jokes at the door of the church about being struck by lightning.  The usual slip ups when someone drops an "f" bomb in the church and then makes a crack about God hating them.  I know they are jokes.  But the jokes come from somewhere.  There is some idea of what God is like which cause us to joke like that.

But if our idea of God was shaped by Jesus' actions in John 2 then jokes like that wouldn't make sense.  I was hoping people would rethink their idea of God. What Jesus does in this passage challenges common notions of what God is like. We'd expect God to:

- chastise them for drinking too much.

- chew out the host for not planning ahead.

But Jesus doesn't, he just turns gallons of water into gallons of wine.

2. There was nothing unique about the wedding, most rooms full of people are rooms full of people scared of God.  At least God seems to think we will be scared of Him.  This is why his most frequent message is "Do not be afraid."  Why would He say it so much if it is not the case? Our fear of God keeps both religious and not religious from getting to know and enjoy Him.  But we don't have to be scared.  He tells us not to.  He comes as a baby, makes his first "official" act to "bring the beer", and eventually dies for us.  These are the actions of someone who is on our side.

Hope that helps clears it up and thanks for asking the question.

(Incidentally, you type "Jesus" and "beer" into just plain old google and you get this)

Jesus is the Beer Guy.

In my hockey league, captains choose players each league in a draft at the beginning of the year.  This happened for 09/10 last Thursday.

The best players don't always go first.  There is a type of player who is drafted early whose skill level isn't that great.  He is the "BEER GUY".  This guy takes care of all he beer funds, supplies the cooler, and even brings food from time to time. Get a good Beer Guy and your set.  Everyone loves a good Beer Guy.  

Read John 2 and see if Jesus doesn't kind of seem like a Beer Guy?

At any rate, officiated at a wedding today where a good chunk of the people are scared to death of God.  Lightning striking them at the door of the church. Judgement, wrath, and wringing of arms up behind their backs until they smarten up.

I told them the story of John 2.  Told them to stop being so scared and think of Jesus as the Beer Guy.

360 Degrees of Grace.

Ran into a guy today during Soren's preschool orientation I have not seen for 12 years.  My last memory of him, and it is seared in my mind's eye, is of the look in his eyes when he watched me severely mistreat someone who was entirely defenseless simply because I was frustrated.  

It was one of the low moments in my life and one I am very ashamed of - and he saw it all.

I have thought of him off and on since my return to Portage.  Wondered if he has ever seen my name associated with Portage Alliance Church and rolled his eyes or thought to himself about my hypocrisy.  Wasn't even sure if he still lived here.  He does.

I apologized to him.  Told him I wasn't proud of what I did and told him I remembered the look in his eyes.  He immediately remembered the incident (sometimes 12 years isn't that long) and responded to my apology.

"You're only human, forgive yourself, and if it makes you feel any better - you were the responsible for me coming back to Christ."

Yeah - it makes me feel better.  I'm laughing through my tears.  

Holidays.

Back with a full tank and ready to go into fall.  Good thing tank is full because I am anticipating an awesome but busy fall.

1. 3 PAC Protege's start this Thursday.

- Shea Fust, Scott M., and Aaron Beauchamp are full time interns (35+ hours a week) at PAC until end of April.  This is probably the most exciting thing going this fall for me (and there is plenty exciting).

Shortly after these three had their applications accepted I came across this from Neil Cole in "Organic Leadership".

"The reality is that the impact of a conference speaker is shallow compared to that of the one who pours his or her life into a few people in a mentoring relationship." (48-49)

Not like I am speaking at conferences every weekend (or at all.) But nonetheless, this is pretty affirming, and when I compare the impact of Jake Enns, Ray Willms, Jerry Orthner, and Greg Langman on my life vs. the dozens of conference speakers I have heard who I have been amazed by - I have to agree with Cole.  Excited for the staff at PAC to be able to each play their part as we mentor and learn from Shea, Scot, and Aaron.

2. Addition of a Saturday Night Service.

This happens in October.  Actually wont affect me that much (will be speaking twice a weekend but I am excited about that - you put in a ton of time for you half hour of sermonizing and it is nice to be able to do it twice).  Praying this additional service is something God blesses.  I feel like He is leading us to do it.

3. Captain of my Hockey Team.

In lesser leagues this means you have to collect the money and pay the ref and call around to make sure you have enough guys.  In the BIG 4 league it means you have the honor and challenge of DRAFTING YOUR TEAM.  60 guys to be drafted by 4 captains.  Do you aim for chemistry, speed, locker room camaraderie, the guy who brings the best food, or playmaking ability.  It is a reputation maker or breaker and the pressure is on.

4. Starting Two New Blogs.

Got the bright idea during the holidays that this blog was covering too wide a group of topics.  Those who cared about bike racing didn't care about hockey trades didn't care about PAC didn't care about ecclesiology didn't care about my occasional weird little paragraphs about nothing.  Traffic reflected this inconsistency and I know some people just gave up.

So here is the deal:

This blog (www.nathanweselake.com) will be about PAC and other serious or at least half serious ministry related topics.  It will also be the blog for those who for some voyeuristic reason are interested in hearing about my foibles.

A second blog www.puckpastor.com will be about hockey, particularly fantasy hockey advice and analysis.  I have recruited a couple other guys to contribute. For the last few years, I have traded emails with these guys which have sometimes had me on the floor laughing and I thought we should put them online and see who else enjoys them.  Going to take some time to build up the site but keep checking in and commenting if you are in to hockey.

And finally, a third blog www.nathanweselake.com/gonerchurch/ is going to be the story of a fledgling church start up unfolding day by day. I have recruited someone else to write it because I could never be so cynical.  I will eventually register gonerchurch.com (Dave Ramsey will let me next month and since being introduced to him a year ago we have given away nearly twice as much in 2009 as 2008, kept tithing, been able to go on a nice holiday, pay off nearly 10k in debt, and set aside some decent savings even as Tamara took a job which dropped her salary 1/4, I am inclined to keep obeying him - new Dave Ramsey course starts this Sept at PAC and YOU SHOULD GO) and you can have a direct link.

5. PAC UNIVERSITY.

For almost exactly a year, we have been certain we needed something at PAC which intentionally helps PAC'ers move beyond the relying on the Sunday AM service/show as the primary means they use to become disciples.  Sunday AM alone doesn't work (and neither will Saturday PM).  For that matter, PAC U, wont work by itself either.  But it will help new Christians learn to read their Bibles, old Christians dive deeper into them, and it will help us all learn to pray better.

Plus if you say "PAC U" it sounds like someone with a strong german accent cursing you out.

Nice to be back, hope you all come BACK!

Portage Online Links To Bike Giveaway.

Local news covered the story here.

This is their YouTube footage.  I'll get ours from Peter in the next few days. 

Take a look at one of the neatest things I have been a part of.  Like Caslor kept saying, there is something about a kid on a bike in the summer.

Books Bikes Bagels Giveaway TODAY!

Excited because at approximately 4pm, 20 kids from a disadvantaged neighbourhood will be receiving free bikes, helmets, locks, and t-shirts today.

For the last 6 weeks, Lydia, Caslor, Peter, and myself have facilitated the program under the guise it was all about bike safety, self esteem, and respect. What I am saying is the kids don't have a clue they get to keep the bikes.

Thanks go to:

Austin Credit Union

Sport Manitoba

Two Tired Boys Bike Shop

Screen Door 

Rona

North Memorial School

For supplying the funds and deals to make this possible.  I will try to post pics later.

I KICKED A GOOSE AND I LIKED IT.

Riding along the Crescent Lake path.  Stupid thing wouldn't get out of my way.  

Thought I would wave my foot in a threatening manner in its vicinity.  Ended up punting it about 3 feet.  I hope he tells his friends.

Books Bikes and Bagels...

The setting:

Lydia, Peter, Mike Caslor, and I are running an afterschool program at North Memorial School called books, bikes, and bagels.

The conversation:

Three grade four girls say: "Lydia, do you have a boyfriend?"

Lydia: "No."

Grade four girl: "What about Nathan?"

Lydia: "He is married, but we are friends."

Grade four girl: "What about Mike?"

Lydia: "He is married, but we are friends."

Grade four girl: "Do you have a cat?"

This is the sort of thing Peter will get bugged about for weeks...