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On Sunday we referred to some of the great April Fools Day hoaxes: Taco Bell's "purchase" and renaming of the Liberty Bell in 1996; the "Left-Handed Whooper" of 1998; Starbuck's “Plenta” and “Micra” sizes in 2010; 2012's Google's "Street Roo" in Australia and crushed cochineal bugs in Starbuck's Strawberry Frappuccinos. O wait. That last one isn't a hoax. It is true. Starbucks has gone all natural and replaced artificial colouring with all natural ingredients by using the residue from crushed cochineal bugs to add a pink hue to their Strawberry Fraps.  The move is bugging Vegans because the Fraps aren't Vegan anymore. Bugs from mainly Mexico and South America are dried out before they are ground and used in the…

Its always too soon to quit. When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out. Don't give up though the pace seems slow - You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the…

Submission holds! No, not the WWE kind. The raw truth is that submission is the glue that holds relationships together and in particular, marriage. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21) Mutual submission - the Church to Christ and Christ to the Church; a pastor to their congregation and the congregation to their pastor; a wife to her husband and a husband to his wife – is the single most binding factor in relationships. Submission is not subservience. Submission is about problem-solving and getting along; its God’s common sense for success in life. When we work submission, submission works. Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” The…

I first heard of Kony when I was in Uganda in 1988 leading a missions team from Montreal to Kampala. His use of the 10 Commandments and “holy oil” to protect himself and his child-soldiers against bullets was ironically, a Satanic strategy. On March 5th, 2012 a video released by 3 young professionals and their organization, “Invisible Children” went viral and absolutely exceeded their expectations of exposure. Many teens, young adults and young professionals from North Pointe saw and forwarded the video. Some have been inspired to take action. Invisible Children has come under intense scrutiny and criticism and have responded with humility and transparency. The following links are informative. http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679471/invisible-children-responds-to-the-kony-2012-viral-video-controversy?partner=homepage_newsletter Taking action – that has impressed me the…

I've developed it too. Linsanity. Even if you don't like basketball you've gotta love the story of Jeremy Lin. Graduate of Harvard...wanting to play in the NBA...cut twice in his young career by two different NBA teams...given a third chance by the NY Knicks in Dec. 2011...sat on the bench and played minimal minutes...until...February 4, 2012 when he was given a chance to start by the desperate coach of a losing team and scored 25 points in a win...and followed that with a 6-game win streak where he scored more points than any rookie in NBA history...which garnered international attention...and spread "Linsanity." The Knicks then signed him to a 6-figure deal, making him the first American player of Taiwanese descent…

"The MRI shows you have a brain tumor." When you are 27 years old, a wife and mother of two little girls under the age of 4, that kind of news is unimaginable. To think that 7 months later you would be standing a platform in front of a 1,000 people sharing your story of recovery and singing a song about how hardships can be the source of blessings, has God's fingerprints all over it. Hear Amber MacNeil's story and song by going to: http://www.northpointechurch.ca/video.shtml and clicking on the February 5th entry. Ephesians 1:3 says that we have been "blessed...with every spiritual blessing in Christ."  Those "blessings" include "mercy" and "healing" in hardships.   The chorus to the song Amber…

People from North Pointe are reading and reflecting  on portions of the Bible, everyday.  Cindy Glubish had these reflections from her readings on Feb. 17th. A female grizzly bear… -Can weigh somewhere between 290–440 lbs -Can reach 198cm/6.50 ft in length -Can clock between 48-60 km an hour in speed -Have paws that are 10-12 “ long -Have claws that can reach 6 “ in length -Have a keen sense of smell that is 100,000 times stronger than a human -Produce 1-4 young (commonly two) every other year -Are very protective of their offspring and will attack ferociously if they think she or her cubs are threatened. -Are considered by some experts to be the most aggressive bear -Are responsible…

Your beliefs play a determining role in how you view life.  Your mind uses your beliefs to create your personal view of the real world. Wherever you are, its your beliefs that have gotten you there. Children, have beliefs impressed on them that are quotable, but not necessarily livable. For instance... · "Chocolate milk comes from brown cows." · "If you swallow a seed, a plant will grow inside you." · "If you swallow chewing gum it will stay in your stomach for 7 years." · "Ice cream vans only play music when they've run out of ice cream." We can be attracted to a belief because of its sheer beauty. Some beliefs are attractive because they appear to unify…

Early Monday morning, January 9th, the top item on Google Trends hot searches was John 3 16. Why? Because Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Denver Broncos, passed for 316 yards in an overtime, NFL playoff upset of the Pittsburg Steelers,the day before. 316 is the number Tebow wrote on his eyeblack when he played in the NCAA. 3:16 is also the numbers on signs held up in football endzones across the nation for years. Tebow has been outspoken about "his Lord and Saviour" - the God who so loved the world, spoken of in John 3:16. Coincidental? Providential? If nothing else, its got to bring a smile to your face to think about how so many millions of people are…

I generally like Len Sweet’s writings. His prose is poetic, practical and probing. Sweet’s books are so rich you can open to any page and find a nugget of insight. Perhaps my expectations of “I Am a Follower” were too high which is why it left me feeling disappointed. Perusing the back page summary would have alerted me to his agenda. It suggests that Sweet will “take us on a journey from leadership cult to followership culture.” Sweet takes aim at what he calls the “corporate-obsessed-culture” of the Church. In so doing he endorses a definition of leadership that no leaders I know would ever model in deed or attitude. Leadership is “trying to get everyone else to do what…