LAN games - the ice breaker for men

Over the past 4 years, I have participated the forming of the LAN game on Sunday nights at our pastor's house. What started with only 3 guys has grown to a regular time of bonding for 12 guys (peaked at 16). What I found that it was a great way to meet guys who other wise you would have never spoken to.

I believe that men have this inability to connect with other men right away whereas women seem to be best friends after an initial meeting. Men need something to break that ice. Often times, that is games - any type of competitive event. Sports, board games, video games, a challenge or some sort of job that requires team work and/or competition.

On the other hand, women have told me that even though ladies can hit it off right away, it is usually based on more superficial topics and you really need to take initiative to have deeper and more meaningful conversations. True, but at least you have it easier in the context to take that initiative to go deeper.

Anyways, what are some other ways do you find that men can connect? are there things outside of competition and games?

Profile pic

Trying profile pic again

House Hunting

Ah, house hunting. I never thought I would think about buying a house so soon. But then again, it was always at the back of my mind. Deb and I went for the first time to visit a real estate agent yesterday and we looked at some houses. We have been praying for a long time over this and God led us to this really neat house on Springvale (Fairmount) that fits our budget.

So friends and family, please join us as we pray to see if God will provide this house for us! Then we can finally invite the people we have been putting off to invite because we will now have room! All you outoftowners will now have a place to stay.

So what do you think? (Yeah, I know, the outside looks kinda plain, but wait until you see the inside... and I guess that will happen if we get the house). If you live in Halifax, where do you want to live if you could choose where to live? I gotta admit, house hunting is kind of fun...

Scrabble!

So Deb and I are pretty big Scrabble fans after our friends Ian and Rebecca hooked us into playing with them a few years ago. Above is a shot of our most recent game where Deb beat me pretty good. In one turn, she got 105 points! Crazy...

Pictures of my team!

I wanted to post this long ago, (hence the older time stamp, but yet I put this post up after the Scrabble one...)

Here is a pic of my co-workers on campus at Halifax! I think this is my favourite one so far!


Here is a couple of shots of us at the universities!

Apple Picking in the Valley

One of the truly great things to do in Nova Scotia is apple picking during the Fall season. What a wonderful time of the year! All you can eat apples while you pick big, juicy and crisp apples to be made into apple pies later on! My wife, Deborah, makes the best apple pies in the world and I can't wait to go again! Being from Calgary, I noticed that Fall has its own attraction as a season and is fast becoming one of my favorite times of the year. The air is clean and refreshing and the colours are magnificant. If you haven't been in this part of the world yet, you are missing out!

Intelligent Design Debate

This past month, we hosted two debates on Intelligent Design. The question is, "Does the universe show intelligent design?" We had Dr. Peter March, a philosophy professor who debated that there is no intelligent design in the world and Kirk Durston, a Ph D. candidate in Biophyics (Guelph) who say there is intelligent design. It was a great time as 380 people came out to the two debates and heard arguments from both sides.

What I learned from the debate is that ID proponents are positioning themselves as a science theory that has roots in other sciences like forensics and SETI. All it wants to achieve is to come up with a method to detect design in nature. It does not make a case for God or a creator, but its findings has implications in the religous spheres.

The debate was very science driven as Durston proposed a method to detect science. March responded by talkning about the philosophical implications, i.e. that even though ID may detect design, it does prove that there is a creator or God.

This topic will continue to be a hot topic. What are you thoughts?

Convictions vs. Persuasions vs. Opinions

I have been studying for seminary the past few weeks and really enjoying one particular book - What Is Christianity all About? By Alan Scholes. In it, Scholes writes about the difference between convictions, persuasions and opinions of the Christian faith.

"Convictions are central beliefs, crucial to salvation, over which we would be willing to denounce someone in serious disagreement and (if there is no repentance) eventually divide fellowship. Persuasions are beliefs about which we are personally certain but which are not crucial to salvation. We must accept believers with differing persuasions as members in good standing of God's family, even when we are certain they are wrong on these points. Opinions are beliefs about subjects on which either (1) we have a preference but acknowledge that others also may be right in holding a different view, or (2) we do not have any confidence that we yet know the truth about the matter." Scholes, p.21,22

There are many subjects within the Christian faith that are debated between denominations and sects and I believe that having these categories will help with understanding in discussing views. What do you think are convictions, persuasions and opinions of the Christian faith?

Joshua's Personal Space in Cyberspace

Welcome to my personal blog on the Internet. Come back soon as I learn more about blogs and how to make this site interesting for you!