This is a poster for the Edmonton Temple Street Team that I found on Jason Guy's Blog at http://realguy556.blogspot.com. 
It's pretty cool. Pretty easy to do if you can get the right people.
Have a look and check out Edmonton Temple's Site and Jason's Blog.
They're both pretty cool
Grace,
Des 
I've tried posting this once. 
Unfortunately, it didn't work as I had planned.
I just wanted to share these pictures because it's where I grew up. This is right in front of my parents home in Newfoundland.
THIS was acutally Christmas Day 2004. I know it's had to believe, with the lack of snow and all.
But it's true.
The water is a part o Trinity Bay, which is a part of the Atlantic Ocean.
A very cold part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Anyway, that's it. It's small and quaint.
And it's home.
Grace,
Des
Ok, so it's no baby. But I've started growing some plants again. 
I used to grow a lot of plants. This is my first attempt to get back at it. It's much harder when you're in an apartment building.
But . . . I'll make it work.
This, by the way, is Basil.
Grace,
Des
I really like playing my bass.
No . . . I mean REALLY. I really like playing it.
I don't do it enough.
But I did it tonight.
Grace,
Des
This is a continuation of the last post . . . please see the anonymous comment from "Another Angle" just below.
Firstly, let me say that I don't speak for The Salvation Army. I don't have much information on their beliefs. There is a Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine, which I don't, at the moment, have a copy of. You can find it online at THIS LINK. That will have the most detailed official info about the 11 Salvation Army doctrines.
Now, as for the issue of predestination . . .
I don't think Lorne was insinuating that our days are already planned out for us and as much as we want to act independant, everything goes just according to plan. In terms of human "plans," I don't think there is much that goes according to God's "plan."
Personally, I believe in complete free will. I choose to act in such a way that I determine to be best. God, for sake of this discussion, simply observes . . . I guess in a way, grades us.
Just today I was reading about the Rich Young Ruler . . . basically a rich man that asks Jesus what he has to do to get eternal life. It's found in Matthew 19.
Jesus response is two-fold . . . his response to getting eternal life is simply to follow the commandments. Now, there is more to consider . . . this man is a Jew, and Jesus has not yet been crucified (i.e. This man couldn't claim Jesus sacrifice to get eternal life, because it hadn't happened yet). Either way . . . it was a simple "To get this, do this." Response.
When the man questions further, Jesus says something very interesting . . .
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
There is obviously more beyond simply receiving eternal life. It seems to me that you can do enough to "just get by" or, for the truly motivated, there is more that we can do to further serve God. I hate to use the grading analogy . . . but there it is.
So . . . back to Lorne's comments. I think Lorne's thinking was more along the lines of "if you want to be perfect" than anything else. If you will, as a pastor, he had my eternal best interests in mind.
Hopefully this makes sense. It does to me, but obviously I can get inside my own head. There's also much more to this than one passage of scripture as well, but I think it makes the point fairly well.
Grace,
Des
I posted a comment on a friends blog a few days ago, and thought that I would share it here too. When I started at university I had to move away from from home. Not far . . . just about a one hour drive. In any case, it involved a move and, therefore, new friends, new church, new environment, etc.
After just a couple of weeks, one of the churches I had been attending had a welcome dinner for college students following one of the services. Major Lorne Pritchett was the Corps Officer at the time and we got chatting sometime during the meal.
He gave me a piece of advice that has not left me since. I've moved, in some degree, several times since that first year of universtity. But he told me:
"You're not in [university] to go to school. You're here because God has something for you to do in here, and university is just the way that He's arranged to have you here."I've never forgotten that. It has been at the forefront of my mind with every move, with every change really, that my life has experience since then. It's good advice.
I'm becoming discouraged.
I am a Salvationist and I am becoming discouraged.
Our army is becoming fragmented and we're taking to a kind of guerilla warfare. Every soldier has their own agenda. We don't have a unified front. We don't use the same ammo. We don't even share a common target. You shoot at me, I shoot at you: some shots hit the enemy, some shots hit ourselves. And it's doing us in.
I live in the present. I respect the past, and plan for the future, but I live in the present.
I've read blog posts, I've heard rants. I've been told that I should be shouting Jesus' Gospel from the rooftops in a annoying but supposedly effective style of evangelism. I've been told that, "What this corps needs is a Junior Band!" I've heard primitives call out traditional. I've heard traditionals rant against the NEOs. I've heard how we should be friends to all mankind and how we should not be friends with all of mankind.
Wading through all of the interpretations and thoughts and orders and regulations is not unlike taking a dip in the middle of the Everglades on a nice sunny afternoon. It sure is refreshing in the moment, but then you get eaten by a 'gator . . .
What strikes me as interesting is that while all of this "discussion" goes on - though it often does not have that much civility - the other 90% are going about our business, carrying on our civilian and our military duties. I've never fought in a "human" war, but I bet it would be hard to do if there were 8 different commands at any given time - some from military leaders, some from a militant uprising from within the corps, some from the veteran soldiers, some from the rookies.
soldiers, be strong and courageous. Continue to advance, as you have been, into enemy territory (middle class neighbourhoods, shopping centers, Africa, urban America, Waynesville, London's East Side, London's West Side, Buckinham Palace, etc). This infighting will not last forever.
There is a place for the front-line soldiers. Their valiance and sacrifice cannot be topped. There is a place for the administrator. Their careful planning and budgeting can determine the outcome of the war. There is a place for support staff. Tanks need Fuel and Ammo. There is a place for covert ops. We may never know how much is done out of the bright lights. Yes, there is even a place for the military bandsman. Doesn't Bush even have his own band? The President's Own?
Being a soldier, engaged in a battle, means more than you may think.
Grace,
Des
According to Mental Floss Magazine, the United Nations Economic Commission estimated in 2003 that sales of vacuum-cleaning robots wouldn't reach 400,000 units until 2006. Well, it turns out that the iRobot Roomba vacuum had announced that it sold it's one millionth unit just over a year later in 2004.
Now, that begs one very important question.
What on Earth is the United Nations doing discussing robot vacuum cleaner sales?
SURELY, there are more important things to be discussing at THAT level of global leadership. The last time I checked millions of people were dying of preventable causes all around the world. The lsast time I checked millions of tons of food COULD be distributed to starving families in some of the poorest countries. There are still wars. There are still horrific disasters.
And the UN is discussing vacuum cleaners?
That really does suck.
Grace,
Des
Kristy has been very excited about posting pictures of Caden Robert Stock - the newest Stock. He is a cutie. See him at Kristy's Blog.
Grace,
Des
So, tonight at the coffee house in Waynesville, Chuck and I performed. I didn't even know he could sing. But he can. And he writes. He gave me a couple of his old notebooks that he's written poetry and stuff in.
It's pretty amazing. After he started singing, I grabbed my bass and we rocked it old school.
In a way.
In a completely different way, we didn't rock anything. But it was definitely fun.
We played pool too. 3 Games. I beat him LEGIT in one of them. He MAY have let me - I don't think I'll ever know.
Anywho . . . it was fun.
And it keeps getting fun-er.
Chuck is a much better writer than I. He beats me at pool and he writes better than I do. Hmmmmm.
Grace,
Des
Well, as you can see, I've been working hard to redesign how my blog looks. I think this is my favorite so far. This is what I do when I can't sleep.
Anywho, I'll have to get to working putting a link to everyone's blog back up - and a few of the other things that I've had going on over there . . . but that will come.
Right now, I think it may be time for bed.
Grace,
Des
So Kristy and I were at MacDonald's the other day, and we saw this fantastic sticker on the bumper of a truck. I just wonder what people think when they see something like this.
Grace,
Des
I Should point out for the record that I was being sarcastic when describing this bumper-sticker. I certainly don't see it as an effective evangelism tool, and that it IS pious and judgemental. Sarcasm often doesn't come across well in blog posts!
The two pool buddies. This is my good new friend Chuck. He "schools" me every week in pool, but it's some of the best fun EVER. I'll let you know when I finally beat him.
Curling is quickly becoming the most-watched sport, in Italy, from the Olympics. I, being a canuck, am quite familiar with curling, and it's rules. It's actually quite an interesting sport . . . it really is like "chess" on ice . . . so does that make is cooler?
Sorry.
Anyway, the gold medal game - coming up in just an hour - is a big deal in Newfoundland. The "Skip" (i.e. Captain) of the team is a 25 year-old newfie, and he is set to be the first Canadian to win a gold in curling at the olympics. Big news if you're a Canadian that likes curling. Probably not, otherwise.
In anycase, I've been trying to keep up-to-date with the Canadians progress, whilst living in a country other than Canada (so, we don't get a lot of coverage, naturally).
I came across this story today from CBC.ca. It talks about how the young newfie captain recruited a 50 year-old past national champion to be a member of their team. Russ Howard was a team captain of another team in another province for years - won plenty of national championships. Gushue knew that he needed Howard's mind. He needed a man twice his age, with triple the years of curling experience to come in an help him.
Of course, my immediate thought went back to worship. How many of us have said, we need that 60 year old saint to help us direct our worship? How many of us actively seek out the advice one of the elders of our gatherings in directing worship?
The article goes on to describe the relationship between the young newf and the old national champion. There are often discussions, nay, even arguments (OK, so they don't use "nay") among them but Howard says, "The team is united."
Another statement from the article is, "Gushue (the newfie, sorry, I should have said that earlier) used to make mental mistakes. Howard has eliminated that from the equation."
Two generations, coming together, united for a common goal. I wonder if it would work?
Grace.
Des
For 2 weeks now I've been schooled in the art of playing pool.
Chuck is a great older guy that has stopped by the Coffee Shop in Waynesville for the past couple of weeks. He has amazing stories of how he and his friends used to hustle people in pool halls. In his words, he did it for a living.
He has had throat cancer, he has asthma, he has had a daughter pass away, he lived the life of a pool shark. Chuck is an interesting friend. He's teaching me lots of things about pool that I never thought I would ever know. He's teaching me how to make sure the tip of my pool cue is in the best shape to hold chalk.
He also says that now he likes to talk with kids about angles (the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection), and about numbers (7=God's Number, 3=Trinity, 1=One way to heaven, etc, etc).
I hope he keeps coming back.
I have a lot left to learn.
Grace,
Des
P.S. I posted some pics of the coffee house after LAST week, and just noticed that, for whatever reason, they stayed "unposted" as a draft. They are up now - if thy're not on this page somewhere, click on the February 2006 link on the right side.
Check out the video from our back door. It's the first real snow that we've had, and it's the most snow that we've seen since we moved here.
Since moving to the US, I have become (and am still becoming) an all-out football fan. I think it started because my first real year (i.e. full football season) here, the Carolina Panthers went to the super-bowl. Every sunday, I would sit and watch the Panthers play, mostly because there was never much else on.
Now I even have a jersey. It's a Julius Peppers black Panthers jersey. He is an awesome defensive end - playing in the pro-bowl this week. Just an incredible athlete.
What's even more incredible is that he had a pro-bowl season while having his hand and wrist bound up in a cast. Week in and week out he played with broken bones in his body. And he's a monster too . . . one of the most intimidating DEs out there. He just wanted to get in that game. Fact is, he'd get paid either way - he could have sat on the sidelines and complained about not being able to play, but didn't. When he COULD have sat back, he stayed in, because the goal of the team was more important than his comfort.
I guess the same is true of many athletes - footballers play after receiving Corisone shots in there muscles, just to take away the pain long enough to play the game.
I'm tired of people (and myself) opting for the bench instead of playing the game. We do it all the time. OOOOOOH, you hurt my feelings . . . wah wah boo hoo. Come on - we're built stronger than that. Don't we believe in the goal enough to really fight for it?
Or do we even know what the goal is?
Grace
Des
There are many Christians that would make the most devout of us run wildly, limbs flailing, from the most inviting church. I just read so much and hear so much and it's so discouraging. We all fight with one another, and yet we want others to join the family. When Jesus gave us the "Keys to the Kingdom" but giving us authority to "bind and loose," I've gotta believe that He knew exactly what he was doing . . . but boy does it make for an interesting "body" with which to work.
On the other hand, tonight I met an old, possibly drunk, man named "Chuck." Apparently, he hides his whisky in the bushes when he comes in the church building. I played two games of pool against him and . . . well . . . he schooled me. He said that he went into a bar one time with 15 cents and came out with 800 bucks. He even showed me some trick shots that I will never be able to duplicate in a million years of trying.
I liked him a lot.
I liked him because he knew he was good but pretended like he wasn't . . . but not in that condescending kind of way. And he smelled of some kind of ethanol.
Myself, I, too often, try to be a know-it-all. For some reason, I think I have all the answers . . . . but more and more, I realize I do not.
Anywho . . . I know this isn't making a whole lot of sense to a whole lot of people.
Grace,
Des
How is this for a new iPod? I found these online today. Apple has been developing some new touch sensitive technologies lately, and this is what some people think will come of it. There are some big announcements planned for April (Apple's 30th Anniversary) and it could be that these full-screen video iPods could be released then. Pretty sweet.
Meet the Neighbours. Kristy and I went for a walk and took some pics of the neighbours. Does that make us peeping toms? Anywho, see them at http://desmerizingpics.blogspot.com.
Grace.
Des
I woke up this morning, as I usually do. After making a B-Line to the coffee maker, I sat down to watch the Today show. When I turned on the television, I saw these notes flashing up on the bottom of the screen - kinda like breaking news screens. It took a little while for my eyes and/or my brain to focus in on what they said, but I finally realized that they were school closings! Which had to mean snow . . . . I ran to the window and threw up the sash. The first snow since we've been in the mountains!
We were doing a devotion yesterday with at the teen center in Asheville. It talked about being ready for Jesus' return. In response to the question, "What is this scripture saying?", one of the girls said, "It's like you have to get right and do good."
I thought that said it all. Get right and do good. Kids DO understand all of these things. That sums it up doesn't it.
Grace.
Pictures from Kathy's shower have been posted. Check them out at http://desmerizingpics.blogspot.com.
Here are a few scenes from the Coffee Shop that Kristy and I work with on Friday nights. It's in Wayesville, NC. These were taken last night before people started showing up. It really is very cool and it's going to be fun as this thing really starts to take off! AND . . . there's espresso!
I have to slip into my tech-geek mode for a little while. Some of you will say, "I didn't know there WAS any other mode, Des." Thanks. Well there is - not that you'll see it now.
I've been waiting for a long time to hear about Google Calendar. Supposedly, Google has been working on this online calendar thing that will likely be a partner to gmail. People in the tech world are talking about calling it gCal - it's on ongoing thing. I've never seen a screenshot or anything so I don't know for sure that it even exists. But, if you go to http://calendar.google.com, it brings you to the google home page. So, that's where some of the speculation comes from.
Anywho, I was reading today that there is another similar program set to be released on Sunday, February 5. It's called 30 boxes. It looks really cool from what I can find. I've just really been wanting a way to organize my time - something that I can ALWAYS access. I like my palm pilot but I hate the PC software that comes with it.
This might be what I'm looking for.
If you're interested in knowing more tech news, I always read/listen to:
I'm not a fan of the Kanye. He's one of those guys that just seem like all he really cares about is the publicity. I've really just got no time for the guy. 
So, now I see this image. It's on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine this month. I'm really not sure how I feel about it. I don't easily get offended. And I'm not about to sit down and write Kanye or Rolling Stone . . . .
But I think I may be a little annoyed by this.
I haven't read the article, so I think I'll reserve judgement until I get done with that.
What on earth could he be saying?
Grace,
Desmond
Tired of high gas prices . . . . me too.
I'm sure times are tough . . . oh, except for the fact hat Exxon-Mobil just reported THE highest quarterly profit of any publicly traded company ever. $10.7 BILLION in just 3 months.
What do you do?
Des
Well, in response to Annie's request (see comments from a couple of posts ago), this is our glorious view! The story is that the leasing guy from our apartment complex told us that we would have a wonderful view from our 3rd floor apartment. What he didn't tell us was that he had no concept of what the word view really means.
Ah, what do you do? We're just grateful that we have a home.
And a hill behind our balcony.
Grace,
Des
I mentioned a while back that I have been listening to Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis" book on my iPod. It's amazing. I highly suggest getting your hands on a copy. He goes through a lot of interesting points - everything from explaining some Jewish traditions that we need to understand to fully understand Jesus and His interactions with Jews of His day to taking about Christianity surviving Christian Cable Television.
One of the things he gets talking about is that Jesus wants Christians to bless EVERYONE. Not just Christians, but people who aren't believers, those who do violent evil acts, etc, etc. He refrences Abraham and how essentially God's plan that we know through Jesus was evident in the experience of Abraham as well.
God wants to bless the world through his people. The church is to be focused outward, not inward.
Now . . . where does the title of this post come from? Well, he talks about how it does no good for Christians to picket, and criticize, and complain against the "world." He says, "Why blame the darkness for being dark?" Instead he proposes that we SHOULD be asking, "Why isn't the light as bright as it should be?"
I guess I just identify with this thought. It really makes sense in my heart.
Grace,
Des
Kristy and I have moved into our new place. It's been very busy - there are some pictures below. It's actually really nice. Much bigger than what we had, and it's only three years old, so it's pretty modern. I think we're going to have a 'reading' corner in our bed room because there is sort of a window thing . . . we may also get a desk fountain. You know - for ambience.
I haven't had much time for anything except moving and unpacking lately. And our DSL isn't working - so thank goodness for unsecured wireless networks.
I'll write more when I have time to think!
Grace.
Some early shots of our new place. I've been down - i.e. without internet - for a few days, but hopefully, my DSL will be working tomorrow. Here's hoping. Our kitchen is our very favorite part!
Thanks to Janet, Jason, Major Pete Costas for helping us out of our old place, and Tilden and Stephanie for doing double duty - moving us out and in!
Des
