When a gigantic oak tree falls in my backyard... does anybody hear?

Check THIS out...


A massive storm-bomb dropped on Brantford last night. And with it, dropped a 200 year old Oak Tree... right into our back yard. It's an unreal sight. This tree is filling 2 backyards and it's root system was pushed backwards, uprooting the fence of another neighbor.

Yet no houses were damaged. It fell in the only, exact, perfect place a 200 year old tree could fall in our neighborhood and not squash a house. It was pin point. This is what we see out of our kitchen window.

Yesterday at church, I preached about influencing families. You can download the Podcast and follow with the slide show at Freedom House's Blog. I talked about how easy it is to use your family and your family situations to make a connection to other families. Sounded logical.

Then a tree crashed into our house.

We were actually driving through town when it happened. When we arrived home, the entire neighborhood was standing outside of our house gawking at our yard. Krissy jumped out of the van and started shouting... "that's awesome!" Ha ha ha... have I mentioned how amazing my wife is?

We met easily 8-10 people we'd never met before who live around us... connected further with a family we've befriended from the kid's elementary school AND I discovered a guy who I went to elementary school with for 9 years... lives 3 doors down from me.

We layed in bed last night discussing what had happened. If it was a God thing or just a nature fluke. This tree was going to come down one day. It was inevitable. Where it fell... HAD to be a God thing. We weren't at home and the kids didn't get freaked by it... maybe a God thing? Meeting the neighbors on the day I preached about meeting neighbors... coincidence? God? Fate? Human nature?

Man I don't know. What I do know is that what I spoke about IS true. It's easy to meet people when you open your doors. Open your yard. Go outside more and start talking. My neighborhood is a bit of an oddity these days in the manner that people DO know each other. They knew each other's names and stories. I discovered that I didn't.

The 200 year old Oak Tree filling my backyard hopefully has opened a door to building relationship with the families in my neighborhood. And whether or not it was God who knocked down my tree, good things will come out of it. It's true with any situation you know. We get altogether too freaked out about our stuff. Trees, and yards, and insurance companies.

Moth and rust.

Everything we are, have and do... belongs to God. We're clay. He loves shaking things up. Knockin' down a few trees here and there to open new doors... showing us again what's real life... and what's not.

Living in the Brantford Ghetto?

What an interesting day of reaction yesterday was to, what truly is, an alarming stat to Brantfordians. #1 Dangerous city in Ontario.

Lucky that Brantford doesn't have those weapons of mass destruction Combines at Massy anymore... we'd just steal them and assault others with them. We can't be trusted.

Whew... dodged that bullet. (Joke... come on... laugh a bit)

From today's Brantford Expositor:

"The mayor, police officials and victims' advocates acknowledge Brantford has crime, some of it very serious, but they are wary of an overblown and inaccurate portrayal of the city as crime central.

The rankings are "a bit alarmist and a bit of a red herring," said Joanna Brant, executive director of the Sexual Assault Centre of Brant.

There is no doubt sexual violence is "a huge problem in our community," with the centre's crisis line receiving 150 calls every month, Brant says.

However, she suggests that the city's high ranking may have more to do with community outreach and services that encourage greater reporting of what is most often a hidden crime.

The rankings "will perk interest for a day, but I'm not sure it's done much to contribute" to making safer communities, Brant said.

The Maclean's rankings have rankled Mayor Mike Hancock."

"It's unfair to everyone in Brantford. I'm angry about it. I feel insulted," he said on Friday."

OK, I can buy this somewhat. But let's not try and spin it too hard here. Put the PR machine away for a minute. If you've lived here, you KNOW there are issues in Brantford that need attention.

It's true that we are not a dangerous city like these stats would lead you to believe... but McLeans Magazine didn't "cook" any numbers here. They had no vendetta again Brantford. In fact, most Torontonians think that the world falls off right about Burlington. No national media was focused on Brantford (the cover story of this article was that Toronto is safer than they thought)!

So let's take this as a wake up call. Let's keep working and step up the pace. When (many years ago), Brantford was named the worst Downtown in Canada, we got our act in gear and took action. Now, we're the 2nd worst Downtown in Canada (oh calm down, that was a joke too). It's really improved because of the work of many.

And this issue CAN and WILL change too. Brantford is a STRONG city with really good people in it. But here's what (in my opinion) needs to change in our thinking:

Those who are contributing to these "numbers" are more than "numbers in need of a cell"

They are Brantfordians too.
They count and matter.
Many need jobs.
Many need counseling.
Many need a friend.

And it's a issue that requires the action of more than just the Mayor, the police and the dude who changes the bulbs in the street lights on Market Street. It involves YOU and ME caring radically about each other enough to make personal sacrifices for the benefit and betterment of others.

GULP.

Really?


Yes.

I hated the way it felt yesterday seeing Facebook Status's springing up about Brantford being a crime capital. Listening to people speak poorly about a city that I've chosen to be my home. It will take sacrifice and commitment from a community to change things. It's OUR home. God loves Brantford and wants it to prosper.

"So in Jesus name, we pray for Mike Hancock, the police, the Brantford Expositor, the law makers, the churches, the social services, and guy who threatened to kill me on the street this summer. I pray health, wealth and wisdom to be close and tangible. Your Kingdom come... Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Trickle-Down Influence

If you've been in the church for enough years, you've likely heard Pastors say the same things over, and over, and over, and over. Like...

"Let's get together for lunch". Which really means...
"There's something wrong I have to address"

"You could get hit by a bus today". Which really means...
"Get saved Dummy"

"I'm not trying to lay a heavy on you."
Which really means... "I'm too old to use the latest slang"

Many times, Pastors with try to get you "involved in your community". I don't know about you, but the first thing that pops into my head is the coming suggestion of, "let's do a car wash", or "we'll pick up trash and sing hymns to the elderly!". But this is not the only way to serve your community. Check this story out in Luke 5: 27-32

27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

What I like about this story is that Jesus is "influencing the influencer". He may not have been a WELL LIKED member of the community, but people knew him. When Levi was impacted by the love of God... MANY others were too.

There is a theory of Economics called "Trickle Down Economics". The theory is that you take care of the companies, businesses and organizations at the top and they will (in theory) take care of those in need. This theory doesn't always work because we're dealing with selfish people in the Economic context.

When you're dealing with Jesus and the light of Salvation... it works different. When the leader changes, so do those who follow If the mayor got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit... what would happen? This is why you should pray for your community leaders. Serve those in authority. "Influence the Influencer's".

A youth devotion for "Portico" in Mississauga

Web 2.0... Community?

Wow... in a half a day playing with Facebook, I found about 20 old friends from high school. About 3 or 4 I used to dig graves with (no really), and have near more "friends" than I did in great failed "MySpace" experiment. It's truly fascinating to me, and vividly displays the new concept of Web 2.0

I had this MSN conversation about this concept with my brother this morning...

Rick says: it is really weird isn't it

Dave at Work says: like people i haven't spoken to since 1996 people are all over the world.

Dave at Work says: so interesting

Rick says: it really is

Dave at Work says: this is what they're calling internet 2.0 (where instead of the internet being a huge thing with unlimited resource... people are using it to connect with the smaller world... creating community)

Rick says: i had not heard that reference before - kinda cool it is

Dave at Work says: oh really... i'm just hearing about it now... but with things like facebook... youtube... people are using it to keep their world smaller instead of larger it's like poeple have dictated a new direction for a tool that they thought would be for something different in the desire for community

Dave at Work says: but the internet is a community with a certain disconnect that can (without actual relationship) can leave a very important part of a spirit untouched

I really do think it's amazing what can be done with the Web 2.0 concept. I found out one of my favorite friends from high school is a reporter at CFRB! Amazing!

But, just as with television... there IS a safe disconnect in the deceptive web world. It's stunning our new ability to be able to grow community with people that are at a physical distance... but it can also be a false front.

Web 2.0 can be addictive, and to some... consuming. It can seem that we are building relationship but without accountability, emotional connect, and genuine give and take... it can be incomplete.

Our lives were not created to master technology. Life was birthed to make an impact the world around us for GOOD. We are asked to function together as a body. A house of living stones. We really are responsible and accountable for each other in more ways than we realize and no technology will ever be able to take the place of genuine human touch... because God choose to use US to show HIS intense love for this earth and everything in it.

What are your experiences in the Web 2.0 world?