What's Goin' On! Updates...

Check out the latest under green resources, including an article on "High Efficiency Worship". James Kingsley's small(er) blog is gaining momentum and an interesting place to stay updated on what other churches are doing [speaking of which - Rodway, if you are reading this, what's the name of that RC church that won an environmental award...James would definitely be interested].



A new feature in the Daily...let me know what you guys think...but I just saw Stranger than Fiction and couldn't help seeing parallels to the Christian faith. Check out the post. It would be great to get some discussion/thoughts on that one. Do we want this type of thing on the Daily? Comments!! Post 'em!!

As always, post things we can pray about as a community under Community Life & Prayer posting for the week. Something to pray through as the Canadian church is the recent report: "The Rich and the Rest of Us". [click title to read article from The Star]

We have also begun a new section in the Urban Monks blog: "Our Stories". Check it out.

What's Goin' On | February 26

Last night was the final evening in our series of "Reconstructing the Call", although we will be having a commissioning gathering on March 11th to send us out as God's called people (information about this here). Our focus was "God's Call IN Your life" and we wanted it to be a practical evening. How do we listen to God and know His will? We often hear about the "5 Steps to Knowing God's Will", but is that really biblical? We're not so sure. Check out the stations from last night here. Post comments on how God spoke to you last night on that post. Last night's images are also up here.
Continuing reflections for Lent: Week two Earthkeeping Exercises | Other resources
Read what some people have given up for Lent (below the post): here. Lyndzie - did you have some chocolate on your Sabbath? Becki - cheese?
Community prayer post for the week - please post thoughts/requests/praises/God's working in your life.
A TIP for navigating the blogs: There are five blogs and on the right sidebar of each is a "label cloud" - this is an easy way to find a post that relates to any of the labels in the blog (for example, click on "goin' on" in the label cloud and you will get all of these posts in one page!).

Reconstructing God's Call | COMMISSIONING!

We've spent several weeks learning about what it means to have God's call upon our lives. We've seen our primary call to follow Jesus, our call to community, Sabbath, creation, ministry. And how God has a call ON our lives.

So, knowing that God calls us in all of these ways, we would like to commission everyone at TILT in their lives as a whole and in the specific things that we all do. We are planning on doing this on March 11 (CHANGE: March 25th).

To prepare for this gathering, check out the post on Commissioning. Read through the linked summary in the post and pray through where you feel God has placed you vocationally. We will be using this model to commission everyone. Obviously, we all don't fit neatly into one box - good! You can obviously be working in more than one 'vocation'.

What's Goin' On...February 23

A few things to make note of...

• A new addition to TILT Art - poetry! Nick Cox has a couple of poems up. Read them under TILT art.
• Rob Bell (you know the guy from the NOOMA films) has a new book coming out in a month, called Sex God. I think the title is more provocative than anything. Read the first chapter here - pretty powerful stuff about our humanity.
• This Sunday we are doing stations. We'll be journeying through how God calls us in the details of our lives.
  

Reflections for Lent

Lent is a season where we focus on Christ's journey to the Cross. Some of us choose to 'fast' from something in our life - food, TV, excessive work. Some of us 'fast' by implementing a new discipline into our lives.

But the value is not in the fasting itself, but rather in that it re-focuses us on our journey with Christ. So, we've provided a couple of specific reflections for the Lent season. Feel free to post comments there throughout the next 40 days as God speaks to you.

Oh Hungry? | Lent season

Are you fasting in any sense for the Lenten season? Not really sure what it's all about? It is just giving up chocolate to lose a couple of pounds? Or a lot more? Read about Lent in the Daily.

Spring Garden will have a labyrinth set-up for much of the Lent season. Check the calendar or above link to the Daily for times.

What's Goin' On!

As always, keeping you up-to-date and with-it... Tonight was focused on "God's Call ON your life". Listen to Bill's teaching. Check out the latest art. Let us know how we can pray for one another or what's happening in your life in community prayer this week. (Although it didn't appear to be so at TILT tonight, we promise it was a PowerPoint issue and not a website issue. It really is easy to post a comment!) Last night, we used the ancient practice of the [finger] labyrinth.
There are also a couple new links under Green Resources in the daily.

Called to Creation | Some Resources

Stewardship of God's creation seems to be a hot topic these days and so there are lots of resources. Check out the latest post under the daily.

Earthkeeping | Spring Garden Church Series

The whole community of Spring Garden is beginning a series about climate change, the environment, and God's heart for His creation. You can read more info here. There will be three Sunday afternoon sessions taking place at the church - February 18, March 4, March 25 - from 12:00 - 3:00 pm. Details are in the linked file (or click on the picture). The dates are also included in the TILT calendar!

Also, read about an interesting couple under the daily

Desert Fathers in The Daily

Gene's reading from the stories of the Desert Fathers is now under The Daily. Check it out! You can also view/download an explanation of the practice of reading their stories aloud during a common meal in monasteries. Monasteries continue to do this to this day!

What's goin' on

	Although Gene was sick, we have posted a sermon on the same topic under TILT teaching. Simon's image is poster per usual under TILT Art. Please, post to Community Prayer so we can pray for one another! (Click 'Community Prayer' on sidebar at right)
Scott Moore | From TILT Set-ups

Called to Creation | Teaching Sampler

Gene will be teaching this week on our call to creation. After God's addressing us as humans, this is the first call to something we received. The environment is in the news daily now and is becoming the number one political issue in Canada. What is our role in creation as Christians, as humans? How does God's call to us influence our daily decisions - dealing with waste, driving our cars, etc.? Is this just a craze?

Greg's Music is Online!!

Check out Greg's music under TILT art. An awesome way to learn Greg's music and use it for worshipping through music throughout the week. Put your comments under the post to let us know what you think. What do you think of Greg's new song from Sunday Night - Called? (Excuse the rough recording...it was all of our first time going through the song [other than Greg of course]).

Teaching from Last Night | Called to Ministry

Monica's teaching is now posted at TILT Teaching. The video from last night is also up under TILT Art. Check 'em out! Comment on them!

What's Goin' On | February 5

Reconstructing the Call continues at TILT. Last night we saw a homegrown video (to be posted later today) and Monica spoke to us (audio also to be posted later when I'm home!). The Divine Offices, Once-A-Day and Community Prayer is posted under "Urban Monks". Post your comments in Community Prayer - thoughts, what's happening in your life, prayer needs...

Film for Social Change

The National Film Board has just re-kindled an interesting initiative formerly known as "Challenge for Change". Check out http://www.nfb.ca/filmmakerinresidence/. St. Michael's Hospital has a "film-maker in residence" who is creating videos about inner city health. These are eye-opening videos that present an opportunity for us to become involved in the needs of those in the inner city. Check it out! Let us know what you think in the comments...

Called to Ministry: Video

Just a little sampling of the innards and makings of the video for TILT this week. It will feature a star-studded cast including Laura Adams, Rodway Daniels, Geoff "Big G" Moore, among others.

CBC Town Hall: Growing Up Without Men

I was listening to the CBC today and heard some interesting comments stemming from a town hall Grant Lawrence conducted on "Growing Up Without Men". Single parent families are increasingly prevalent and present a major need for support and love in our communities. Check out what people were saying on CBC's website.

Called to Ministry: Teaching Teaser

Holy iPod user or hip pastor? Either way, we'll be talking about being 'called to ministry' on Sunday evening. The Super Bowl can wait on this...There will be a homegrown video and Monica will be speaking. Is ministry just for professionals? What is ministry anyway? How can I be called to ministry when I'm working my job 40+ hours/week?