Tag Archive: UBC

Prayer of the People, 26 May 2019

May 27, 2019 1 Comment

Heavenly Father,

We set our hearts and our minds on You. You are seated in Your throne room, yet your majesty and glory fills the whole earth. We come without pretensions for our own righteousness. Instead we come with gratitude for the righteousness of Jesus in whom our lives have been hidden.  You are our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption. Thank you for this grace!

We sit with you and are fed.
We walk with you and have company.
We stand with you and have victory.

Thank you for this grace. In our weakness you are strong. You have forgiven our sins and have fortified us through many temptations. You have been our help and truly it is by your help that we have come this far.

These weeks we are celebrating with graduates of UBC.  We celebrate what is completed, and we look forward to a future with you. As these dear ones take next steps please remind them to set their hearts on things above even while they navigate all of the practical pieces of finding work, of moving, and of navigating change.  Remind us of Your glory in the midst of change and uncertainty. You are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

We seek to live as Jesus did, so we are not unaffected or unmoved by the ways powers and principalities animate the institutions of our world. O how the nations rage! But your Kingdom will prevail even as North Korea tests their missiles, and as tensions rise in Europe’s elections, and as Iran stretches its arms, and India abounds with voices of hate and suspicion that find a place in online streams to turn people against their neighbours.

Compel us again through the tremendous and surprising grace of the Gospel to love our neighbours and our enemies and to plead with you for the salvation of all who would turn to Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is by His grace that turn our hearts and minds to you and that we pray —

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

Prayer, Society

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It’s Yours

April 16, 2019 0 Comments

upon 

a ridge of land

assumed

they lay your cross 

and stretch 

your body

suspended 

creation surveys your majesty mocked and crowned

nails pinning peace in a longing embrace for

fleshy wrecks and a 

city of broken 

promises

your heart 

flows

while violence 

beats

wisdom’s rage

and power’s aspirations

two kingdoms 

crash at

your feet

and we long 

to speak

a better word

than

Abel

University of British Columbia, Point Grey Campus (Vancouver)
“We would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather
is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) People.”

Poetry

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Jump Start Your Spiritual Plan

August 8, 2017 0 Comments

 

Our good spiritual life habits are most vulnerable when we have a big change in our schedule and location.

Why is that?

Habits have triggers. Your good habits are always in danger of losing their triggers when you change your schedule and your space. Before you got to university you may have had the good fortune of a person who helped you get your spiritual disciplines going. But now you are going to move and they are not going to be right there checking in on you. In fact all the usual triggers that you may have depending on are probably going to be displaced. You are the most responsible person for your own relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Soon you will be arriving at UBC if you aren’t here already. So think about it. Let’s jump start your spiritual plan!

 

What’s going to be beside your bed? 

Bible  – a Bible with a cover and pages. I know… so old school!
Journal
Pen

 

Why not your computer and phone?

We have all given in to the competition for our attention! We are so distractible. Help yourself out; don’t include a screen in your initial move toward the spiritual disciplines.

 

Reset every night.

Before you go to bed, reset all the items required for your Morning Meet Up with God.

 

Get an alarm clock. 

I know the phone is convenient. But it comes with liabilities! It will mess with your sleep hygiene. And it will interrupt your most important conversation of the day: your conversation with God! You like tens of thousands of other people check messages, the news, and all the random pictures available — before you get the most important word into your life.

 

Have a plan so you are:

Ready to read a section of Scripture.
Ready to keep a record what is said.
Ready to lift up prayer requests to God.

 

Find a Partner.

So before you get to UBC for the Fall term, why don’t you reach out to fellow follower of Jesus and ask them to partner with you in this habit. Pray for each other specifically asking the Holy Spirit to meet you both and keep it fresh! Together make a plan to text or WeChat each other with a simple spiritual discipline “check in.”  After you have complete your Morning Meet UP with God check in with your friend. A simple, “I met up with God today” will do. If you are really ambitions, check in with each other once a week with a verse or prayer from your week.

Your life with Jesus is the most valuable relationship you are going to have in University. Its worth planning ahead.

 

So if you are already in University and have been keeping the habit of Meeting Up with Jesus daily, what has been helpful for you? And if you are just getting ready, What’s your plan?

 

 

Filed Under: Jump Start, Spiritual Plan, UBC, Origin Church, Born for More, Discipleship

Discipleship

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100 Days After Graduation

May 21, 2015 0 Comments

Go ahead put a mark on your calendar. What do you hope will be true 100 days after graduation from college or university?

And now I must say “Congratulations!“ Because of my work, I get really excited about the graduates at UBC! You have joined a small and elite segment of the world. If the world population was 100 people, only you only and six other people would have a college education! You have had a wonderful opportunity to learn, make some friends, and build up some identity capital. You are truly blessed!

100 days. That’s a summer break. But this year you may want to be doing something else at the end of it. Unless you are pursuing more education, the pathway is not laid out for you any more.  Maybe you anticipated this ambiguous reality. Maybe you didn’t.

Anyway, look ahead. Mark 100 days on the calendar. Answer the question: What do I hope is true at the end of the next 100 days?

This little exercise isn’t meant to create fear and dread. But it is meant to help you examine your expectations. This self-leadership exercise will help you get a reality check and then reverse engineer your activities for the next 100 days.

For some, having an extended and carefree holiday may be in the cards.

For others though, your desires may require more diligent work.

Perhaps you are having trouble coming up with an answer to the question. Talk it out with someone; not someone who is going to tell you what to do. But instead talk it out with someone who is going to ask questions and then listen for what’s on your mind and in your heart.

100 Days.

Graduation

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