What Are the Occupy Wall Street Protests About…

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This guy makes a good point about why the original Occupy Wall Street started and what the original people were protesting.

The fact that no one was prosecuted for the bank failures (in fact most bank CEOs got huge bonuses from the bailout money) and that both political parties are in the pockets of the banks and corporations (Ron Paul being one of the few exceptions) should frustrate Americans. There needs to be changes to the system (bring back Glass-Steagall so that a bank is a bank, not an investment engine?), but very little has changed, which again should frustrate Americans.

Since the protests started though they are looking much more left wing (socialist) in their leaning. They have been co-opted from their original intent and looks like the socialist uprisings we saw in the US in the early and mid 1940s. All we need is to see the unions start to strike and it could dramatically change the direction the government is taking in the US. (listen to this episode of the hardcore history show to hear more about “the Red Scare”).

Occupy Canada

Given that Canada has largely avoided the financial and banking crisis that is hitting the US though I am a bit confused about the Occupy Calgary protests that are happening today. Alberta has an unemployment rate of only 5.4% and plenty of opportunity.

Photo by freestylee

Inspiration from The Panyee Thailand Football Club (Panyee FC)

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It’s quite amazing what a little bit of ingenuity, passion and teamwork can accomplish…

I reckon that it’s hard to watch a story like that and not be inspired by what can be accomplished. There are a lot of lessons that can be taken from that video.

I wanted to actually have a look at a few of the YWAM Foundational Values through the eyes of watching that video:

  1. Be Visionary
  2. Championing Young People
  3. Function in Teams

 Be Visionary

The boys on that team didn’t just sit around and wait to be told what to do. They didn’t worry about how it could be done, they set out to do it and accomplished something pretty remarkable.

Championing Young People

There were no adults involved in the initial stages of the project, but when the time came for the team to head off to their first tournament they were “championed” along with the uniforms and with a cheer squad.

Function in Teams

Clearly none of it would have been possible if the kids didn’t act as a team. They had to pull together in the game and in the building of the soccer pitch. Without teamwork none of it would have been possible.

The video was produced by the TMB Bank in Thailand as part of their “Make The Difference” campaign.  It’s based on a true story that took place in the village of Koh Panyee, Thailand in 1986.

What is Agape Love?

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This Sunday the Brazilian pastor, Ps. Jamie Cisterna, of our churched shared on “The Four Loves”. The sermon was part of the “Community of Love: Learning Love” series that our South Calgary Community Church is going though this season. He spoke of four types of love, three natural and the final one not natural…

  • Storge – (storge) – Affection
  • Phileo / Philia / Fileo (philía) – Friendship
  • Eros (éros) – Passion
  • Agape (agapé, agápe) – True Sacrificial Love

The first three types of love, storge, phileo and eros as part of their definition were defined as natural, ambivalent, oscillating and ending. The fourth, and final type of love that we spoke about was a different and more powerful and endearing type of love…

Definition of Agape Love

  • not natural
  • a gift from God
  • a decission
  • a commitment
  • not ambivalent (can only cause what is right)
  • does not oscillate
  • never ends or fails
  • filters storge, philia and eros types of love
  • motives natural love

Paul defines Agape Love in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 as:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

We can also see how Christ shows us His Agape Love for us in John 13:1:

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Agape love is a gift from God and has the power to filter, motivate and control the other three types of love: storge, phileo and eros.

Agape Love is “true and sacrificial love” that can only come as a gift from God…

(you can listen to this sermon series here)

Using What You Know for Missions – Water Engineer

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While putting together the news for this week’s YWAM Podcast I came across another great example of someone using their skills and training for God’s Kingdom…

The first speaker on the video talks about how he went through a transformation about how he understands his skills and profession, and seeing how he can use that to bring glory to God in the nations. He has been able to work all over the world with the skills that he has with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), partnering with many different ministries.

According to the video millions of people die from a lack of clean water, and there are an estimated 2 billion people around the world who are lacking adequate water supplies and sanitation. Using the skills of a water engineer he would have learned about water supply, sanitation and hygiene. Clean water is a HUGE issue in developing nations, and the skills of a water engineer are invaluable in addressing these issues.

The video goes on to tell more about the project and being good stewards of the world that God created. I’m hoping to look a bit more into the project and what it’s about, but for the purpose of this article I really wanted to look again at how God is able to use a seemingly non-traditional skill set, learned outside of the mission environment, for His purposes.

The program that he is working with YWAM Salem Environment and Resource Stewardship (YWAM EARS), and you can find out more about it here.

Using What You Know for Missions – Mechanical Engineering

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In my previous article about Using What You Know For Missions I talked about how important it is for us to use what we already know in missions. It’s my belief that God wants to use our past experiences and skills for His glory and to expand His Kingdom here on Earth.

Normally when we think about God using people’s skills we think of the more “traditional” skills being used for missions. Some of the more practical skills that we think of people using are things like:

  • Medical / Healthcare
  • Construction
  • Teaching

What we don’t often think about are the “non-traditional skills” that God wants to use. Certainly the skills that I use in missions as a missions communicator would not be considered “traditional”.

The following video is a great example of someone using their skills as an engineer, another “non-traditional” skill set, in missions:

The project is called “Vision 10810” and is essentially a “Mobile Gospel Media Centre”. The thing that God spoke to this engineer when the engineer asked how God wanted him to use his skills was:

To design and build semi-trucks which can provide housing for a 12 person team, a full equipped stage to do evangelism and provide a place to store Bibles. These trucks would be more than just a stage. It would be a mission headquarters on wheels.

You can read more about the vision on the Vision 10810 web-site.

How about you?

Regardless of what skills, career or education you have, God wants to use them. They question is not does God want you, the question is, are you willing to let God use you?