| Robotic Blogmancing |

It's been awhile since I wrote anything in a free-fall style, so tonight is that night.

It's the night before I preach again, and I'm pretty excited. There is always a sense of nervousness, and perhaps a restlessness as I ponder anew just what it is I do. Preaching and teaching are my favourite things to do. And even as I recall a Bill Hybel's article on recharging your batteries, I'm reminded of how we feel recharged and renewed when we work within our particular giftings. For me that is preaching and teaching.

One of the great benefits of having my heart and head in the word looking for connections and ascertaining just what the Spirit is saying, is that I get to learn so much. I get the message first-hand and the congregation gets it second-hand. It's been "used" by my heart first. Tomorrow I'm really hoping to challenge the congregation with a sermon on two parables in Matthew 13. I'm really excited about the way in which these sermons work together. There is first an emphasis on submitting to the authority of the word in our lives. Then there is an emphasis on going forth with that word. Then the second parable speaks about how to live as people of God among the world.

My courses at Tyndale keep challenging me on the notion of this "Clash of Civilizations"; the main thought being east vs. west or Christianity vs. Islam. So you might say this is wearing on my heart a bit, and I'm excited to touch on this idea tomorrow morning. What does it mean to live as wheat among the tares? (Matthew 13:24ff)

Thanks for reading.