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Its two days after Easter Sunday and I still have a ringing in my ears. Over and over I hear, "Hope is alive! Hope is alive!" With the sound, I can also see the enthusiastic faces of the choir giving their all in proclaiming those words. Easter Sunday 2011 was an experience. It was a "God moment" for me and 100's of others. People had encounters with the Lord. Some crossed the faith line. Some experienced a renewed hope. That's what happens when people use their SHAPE to serve God.  Some of the choir sang together for the first time.  They found their "sweet spot."  They ministered.  You can't help but know Sean and Jan are in their "sweet spot"…

Have you seen the movie "Soul Surfer?" I saw it (well most of it, some of it was blurred by tears).  It may not be in the theatres much longer, so carve out some time this weekend and get set to be inspired.    Its based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, who at the age of thirteen, on October 31, 2003, was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark while surfing off Kauai’s North Shore. The attack left Bethany with a severed left arm. She lost over 60% of her blood, and made it through several surgeries without infection. Miraculously, just one month after the attack, Bethany returned to the water to continue pursuing her goal to become a…

In his first ten years in the Major Leagues, Albert Pujols has never hit below .300, he has never hit fewer than 30 home runs and he has never knocked in fewer than 100 runs. No one in the history of Major League Baseball has ever done that in their first ten seasons - not Babe Ruth, not Joe DiMaggio, not Ted Williams. Pujols was largely overlooked as a high schooler in Kansas City, as he wasn't drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 MLB Draft. Two years later, he won the NL Rookie of the Year on the strength of a season that saw him hit .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs Pujols, a native of…

It all began with a simple statement. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16(NIV) Jesus made it very clear what our purpose is. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . . " (Matthew 28:19–20) For almost 2,000 years men and women have been undeterred in carrying out that commission while facing huge challenges - persecution, crucifixion, beheading, stoning, torture, imprisonment, cannibalism, or being burned at the stake.…

“Goodbye England's rose May you ever grow in our hearts You were the grace that placed itself Where lives were torn apart.” These were the words Elton John used to immortalize the late Princess Dianna. Dianna was known to have placed herself in the midst of causes such as AIDS or the removal of landmines, which graced the lives of people in need. I can think of no better descriptor of the spiritual gifts spoken of in the New Testament than "grace that places itself where lives are torn apart." Whenever a gift of the Holy Spirit is observed, its because someone's need is being met, supernaturally. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit (charism - "gift of…

My first class had me standing as straight as I possibly could stand while reaching my clasped hands as high into the air as was physically possible. At first I thought, “This is yoga? I can so do this.” Until I learned that THIS was the entire class. Nothing else. Just reaching up. Straight up, as in, straighter than a wall sorta straight. Just up. FOR ONE WHOLE HOUR!!! Up. And I should mention here that a. I am so not flexible and b. I am so not graceful – so you can imagine how quickly I was eating my, ‘yoga-is-a-piece-of-cake’ words, as my friend looked on in amusement smirking from ear to ear. Our instructor, taking cue from our/MY…

Ambition - Jesus never criticized the ambition of his disciples - he re-directed it. He told them, BE GREAT but don't strive, serve. Whoever serves the best wins. The way up is down. Descend into greatness. Find your SHAPE and make a difference. Phil. 2:6-8(The Message) "...he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.” There are upside down churches and then there are churches that turn the world upside down. North Pointe…

Jen Gray has found her “sweet spot” much to the delight of food lovers' “sweet tooths.” Jen, the Events Co-ordinator at North Pointe, is using her SHAPE to create one-of-a-kind, edible architecture. She was recently featured in the St Albert Gazette. Her love of creating ultimately helps her friends and clients celebrate important occasions in their lives. Jen decorated her first sheet cake in Grade 6. In Grade 9 she was raising money for a field-trip to Vancouver.  She baked two character cakes and put them in the teachers' staff room with business cards. The cakes were about $12 and she raised about $400, enough to pay for the trip. By the time she was 15, she challenged herself by…

Reflecting back on my past I sometimes wonder what would’ve become of my life if someone hadn’t reached out to me and shared Christ. I clearly wouldn’t have been a Music Pastor and my value system at the time would’ve caused me to make decisions that I wouldn’t choose today. Would I have gone to post secondary school? Would I have been working at a job I despised? Would I be married and have children? Would I have been a mess because of poor choices. Would I have blamed circumstance and problems in my life on others and been paralyzed in life by feeling sorry for myself. Would I have been aimless? Would I have been wondering about the meaning…