Small Group Auditions, Resident Mentor

Yesterday the small group auditions happened. I tried out with a piece I wrote. The piece was called "Am I A Saint." My friend Mark accompanied me. I played the piano while Mark played guitar. It went as expected and I think I did well. At least I didn't screw up. But I heard that Brian has some people in mind that he wants in the group as far as music goes. I think that if you already have set in your mind who you want in the group is I guess wrong in a sense. I mean, they maybe talented musicians and all, but would they work good in this small group ministry team?

Rob, Mark, and myself were talking and Mark said that he heard that this small group was going to be acoustic. If I remember correctly, each year is acoustic. In 2004 when small group came to my church in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, they played acoustic. If you change it up and have electric guitar and even saxophone, then there wouldn't attitude of no I don't want acoustic. I mean you could even balance out acoustic with electric. A healthy balance of both is key.

The list of who made the cut will be posted this coming Thursday. I am hoping that I make the cut, but I don't, sure I will be bummed out about it and all, but I won't dwell on it. I mean, sure it will be a great opportunity and it will be an experience of a lifetime, also it will be something to remember for the rest of your life. Plus it will giving back to the churches that support CBC through the ministry of music, drama, and so forth. So in with that being said, I hope that I make it and I guess I will just pray about it and what happens, happens.

Now onto another subject at hand. I submitted my name to Paul Lessard via email about being a resident mentor for the 2007-2008 school year here at CBC. I didn't write a hugely long email because I felt it wasn't necessary. Some basic stuff I said was that I have been thinking about it and that I could mentor the CBC students just like this years are doing. I also put that it would be a great opportunity for me to be in that role of leadership and of mentorship. So I will see what happens. If I don't get in with being a resident mentor, then I will apply to a broadcasting school in Saskatoon to become a radio DJ.

I will leave you with this quote that I find relates to what have I have been talking about.

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life waiting for us."
-Joseph Campbell

Being Real... What Does That Mean?

Today in my spiritual formation group (SFG), we were talking about identity. Then the issue of being real came up. A big question was posed on what it means to be real. Now one person said that they have a problem with it. They think that it is away for them to have you conform to what they think is real.

Now I think that is a valid point. I mean, you encounter people in your life here at Covenant Bible College (CBC) and elsewhere that will try to get you to conform to what they think is the standard you should be living. But that is not necessarily a good thing because the way you live your life and the way they want you to live your life is too different things. I know that I have felt like this with my dad. I have felt that he has tried to impose such unrealistic standards on me that I thought I could never attain. But is conforming to what other people want being real to yourself?

I say no because you can could take what they say and examine it and see if what they say makes sense to you in your life. Then you could probably apply it in your life. I am not saying you should develop the "Avril Lavigne complex" and outright change who you are. You should stay true to who you are and who God created you to be. Sure you will never be perfect and if God would have made everyone perfect then life would be pretty boring. I feel that staying true to oneself is being real. You don't need to say I will totally change one hundred per cent just to appease someone. If everyone did that then the world would filled with nothing but fake and almost manufactured humans.

I am against being a conformist in the sense that you have to conform because it's what everyone else is doing. If I conform, it's because I want to. It's like me in my Christian faith, I want to conform and try to be more Godly because that is what we are called to do. It what we as Christians strive to do. Sure we don't always hit the mark, but at least we are not conforming because someone else said we should. I think if you are a Christian and don't want to conform and try to be Godly is not being real to yourself as a follower of Christ.

Maybe I have strayed to much off the topic, but in the end whether it because of your religion or whatever, make sure you are real on all fronts because you will be considered a fake ass phony. At least that is what I will see you as. But in all actuality, the issue of being real is very complex and may never be fully answered and that is something I am okay with because not every question is answerable.

Come back when you are 30, 32 at the most!
-Russell Peters on his Outsourced DVD

Happy New Years Mother Chuckers!

As the title says, Happy New Years. I didn't do much for New Years except play some games, sang karaoke, and ate food. But today I am going to my aunt and uncle's for supper. So I hope you all have a good one.

I will be taking the bus back to Strathmore and resuming school. I will be heading out on Saturday evening. But before then on Tuesday and Wednesday I have to go to the dentist. Fun, I know. So I will see you when I see.

"This is old fashioned, fat bastard food."
- Brad on Resturant Makeover

Christmas Shopping Is Done

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. I have to wrap one last gift. It is my dad's gift. I got him a Corner Gas travel mug. He likes Corner Gas, so I thought to get it for him. I still have to wrap it. I wrapped all my other presents I bought that need wrapping.

Now all I have to do is finish my reading for school. I am almost caught up in my Bible reading. I just have to read to Psalm 122. I also need to catch up in my reading for church history class.

I'll Be Home For Christmas...

...You can count on me. That's right, I will be home. I am taking the bus and it is a 17 hour ride. I will be going from Strathmore to Calgary to Alsask to Saskatoon and then to my final destination of Prince Albert. It will good to get some time to refresh our minds and our bodies. I can't believe half the year is over. I can only imagine what the next half of the year holds. But to those I won't be able to see I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. To those I will see, I will see you soon.

Shalom,
Mr. C.C.

"Peace, love, and rock n' roll"
-Mark A.R. Jensen

It's Been Going

You might wonder what the blog title is all about. There is nothing to siginifcant about the title other than the fact that it's been busy the last few days.

On Saturday I was supposed to see my dad (he was with a friend), but he was tired from the auto auction in Calgary, so he came on Sunday and we went to breakfast at the Station. That was the first time I have ever been to Station for breakfast ever. It was pretty good and the way the Station is built is really cool. It has a lot of things to do with trains and whatnot. A lot of history of Strathmore in the pictures and such in the Station. It was good to see my dad if only for a short time. Then he gave me some money before he left. I should mention that he bought a car and a truck.

On Monday the school went to Operation Christmas Child. Basically we were helping get boxes packed, look through the shoeboxes to see if needed to be thrown out, and whanot. Some boxes had to go to the hospital because they were not full enough or the boxes had to be fixed and whatnot. There was other jobs as well. But I did box inspections, I also at one point took the inspected boxes that passed through and put on the the table in age group and gender so they could be put into boxes and packed, and finally I packed the cardboard boxes. J-Rad and I were filling box after box. There were a lot of 5-9 age group of shoeboxes. I don't know why that is. We there all day and by the end of the day we packed a ton of boxes (not literally of course). But there was still so many boxes to be packed and whatnot. Like my friend Rob said, he said that we did a lot of boxes, but when you look back behind you, it's like we haven't even put a dent in them. But to know that we helping with Operation Christmas Child was rewarding. It makes want to go home that much more and see my family. Even though I can't stand Billy Graham, I think that Operation Christmas Child is worthy project. Everyone deserves a Christmas.

Today, Wednesday, we have been practicing and getting everything ready for the Christmas production. There is puppets, drama, choir, and stuff like that. We will be doing this all day. Puppets and drama and the mens small choir group was rehersing in the morning. Then choir is in the afternoon. We will be doing a full dress rehersal this afternoon with puppets, drama, and choir. I think my group has our puppet performance down. It should be good.

That's what has been going on with me as of late. Talk you later.

Keep on rocking in the free world!
-Neil Diamond

The Way People Pray

I have harbored these feelings for some weeks now and a few people like my friend Mark knows how I feel. To be safe I will not be using any names.

Now at the beginning of the year it was fine that people were saying in their prayers: "Thanks for bringing this person here," "thanks for this day," "thanks for this amazing group of people," "just continue to work in their life," yada, yada, yada.

Now it's becoming overkill. We have been here just over two months and I feel like it's getting to be a bit redundant. Sure at the beginning of the school year it was great to pray like that, but now it's like I want to tell them to shut their cakeholes. That might be a bad way of saying it. I am not against prayer and don't think I am by this blog post. It's just that they are so repetitive about the prayers they do pray. Can't they pray anything original. I just don't feel it's worth praying if they keep regurgitating the same freaking prayers all the freaking time.

Why don't they pray something that has more meaning? Sure these overkilled prayers had meaning at the beginning of the school year. But as you get to know people, I am sure there will things you can find that they need prayer for. Sure, you might not know all people well enough to do that which is fine. But when you do pray for something that is more person then just general.

Praying is what you should do if you are a Christian. But don't be redundant in your prayers. That is what I am finding here a CBC right now. Over the last few years I started taking the intiative to pray and that intiative has only increased here at CBC. But when I hear someone start the praying and pray the usual things then I feel like actually saying something. I will just listen what other people say in their prayers.

I like I said earlier in this post, I feel like telling people to shut their cakeholes because of the prayers they say that have been prayed before. Hopefully by the middle of this year they are not praying these same prayers because it will be serious and I mean SERIOUS overkill.

If you know what this is like then feel free to leave some comments.