How Great Thou Art

Wednesday night saw the start of something new. How Great Thou Art, a final year project for 6 of us, and an alternative worship event for the rest of Leeds, took up the challenge of showing a God of ultimate proportions to the world. It was done through more than just song. Split into 3 sections the evening moved closer and closer to a revelation of God, which many wished had never drawn to a close. It was something new in the face of worship begging questions of how should we worship God? Is it more than singing soft rock songs? and Why have I never done this before?

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to try and explain why worship to God is not an isolated event in a day, but something that should be done continually, and consciously throughout our lives. The first stages being set out by this event I will share my reaction to it and first steps from that.



First the feedback:
Two main themes come from the people who attended, or who helped out. First was the venue and the other was the concept.

The venue, usually a place for drink and non-God-glorifying noise, became a place of worship; a church community from the North that made the evening take a different perspective. The floor space being used, not to cram in as many screaming fans as possible, but as a place for stations of various types of worship made all involved move around in a different way. Freedom to move, I think, helped come to terms with what was going on. As the band opened I felt 'You have a new freedom now.' What better way to open an evening knowing you have freedom to do what you like? The introductions from my video, and then Craig and Chris, put the whole evening into perspective, and, though it took a while for people to feel released, I could see, from the back, a real sense that they could worship God in this place. No holding back. For the Leeds Met students there I felt so thrilled for them; 'this is your university,' I thought, 'worship in this place, come alive, don't feel limited by your surroundings, God is so much bigger.' The evening unfolded and I knew that this venue should be used again because the reaction from everyone involved showed that the change of attitude towards this place was totally groundbreaking. Worshipping God through singing in your own university is only an aid to how we should worship God on our courses.

The concept was refreshing. This felt like a pilot over what was to come. God was moving, and is in Leeds, and the evening took a stance that said 'God is Great. Sing and worship, dance and draw, relax and mingle, here I am starting something new.' The band opening and closing the overrall event was like an easy way to draw people in. The majority of people there were used to a song and dance style worship - words on the screen and we follow the crowd. This is far from where we wanted to take it, and as the atmosphere relaxed, and people felt free to worship in their own way, through song, the second stage (that of worshipping God through the Arts) meant that the relaxation of starting with the comfortable and moving to the uncomfortable was taken in full stride and people began to get involved. There was no need for the stewards to make sure people were doing something, the delegates were finding people to enjoy the evening with and were naturally moving from section to section to section as the hour moved on. The atmosphere stayed, as well. In my experience, in the past, tries at this kind of thing have lost something in the transition, but this time was different. People were continuing their concentration on God the great artist and creator and the mood was only filled with excited people realising there was so much more to worship than singing soft rock songs (so that answers a question).

It's exciting, I'm excited, and the move forward in this movement, I cannot wait to see.

A new blog

I've decided to take a break from the 2 week daily updates about Canada - although at some point I will have to right about that final, crazy, over-tired day - and focus on this instead. This may become more of a rantings blog..I don't know.

In line with some inspiration I decided to start a new blog while over the pond in North America. It's an attempt at an application-based commentary of the entire Bible. It can be found at http://inexperienced-as-i-am.blogspot.com

The idea is fairly simple...using the gifts God has given me to build up others as opposed to keeping it all to myself. I'm not the wisest person on the planet, so comments and stuff would be appreciated, if it's good/bad, long/short, thin/fat, that kind of thing.

The updates will be irregular but frequent enough, so I would suggest finding an RSS reader like Google Reader for an easy way to know when it's been updated. You can also use most web-browsers now...Internet Explorer 7 has something for it...as does Firefox, and Safari.

Last day of 2 weeks

Tuesday was the last day to be spent in Canada. And I'd had 5 hours sleep. I think it was the best decisions I'd ever made. Rob and I had stayed up until 3 talking about all manner of things. We got up and headed slowly over the road to the Ventura's for some breakfast. It was sausage and scrambled eggs..and then cheesecake, waffles, pastries...you know an amalgamation between England and Canada for breakfast. Jesse asked me why we called sausages 'bangers'.

So breakfast was fun. Ramlin and Becca were playing waitress and poured coffee all morning, then we made plans to head downtown. It took longer than usual (I say usual, it took as long as usual because it was Ramlin) to set off to the mall (where the subway is) after James and Becca. I can't remember why, but I think there was a good reason. Ram, Rob and I travelled the subway into downtown for one last time and we headed for the Eaton Mall. James had bought a gift for Jesse: a miniature mini-van. BMW matchbox car. He really did miss his SUV. He said it was as bad, taking it back, as giving his daughter away. I'm not sure if he was joking. We got flowers for Judy, and a card which James got the only clean side to right on. Phooey. We went to a toy store and bought a short bus for Ramlin and Becca. It was a great reaction we got. I'm not going to explain the context.

After going to the largest book store in the world, and Sam's record store (apparently the largest record store in the world or something) we headed back to the subway. We took some funny pictures, read a page of unfunny comics and left Becca on the train so she could get home and sleep. We walked all the way through Yorkdale back to Ramlin's car, Rob got shotgun and we were home in no time.

We came back and Ramlin washed up for us. We packed the final bits and pieces and headed over the road to say goodbye-son. Becca was on the sofa looking ill. She was normally in that position, but not normally ill. Humm... It was emotional in it's own special way, Ramlin headed for school (slightly late because she couldn't get enough of us English folk), and Judy nearly made the mistake of thinking we were making our own way there. Becca saved the day though, so it was all dandy.

It felt different leaving Canada from leaving Leeds. Saying goodbye to my family in Leeds was easy, because I knew I was coming back, but the people I met and got to know so well in Toronto I wouldn't definitely see for a long while. Jacob had been left in our house and hadn't been seen since, Ramlin was at school, Becca was ill, Jesse at work, Pud doing something, Jay back in Colorado working, and I was coming home.

The airport was fun, Rob & I had 'over sized luggage' which made us feel special, and we found the Hardy family. We sat outside a coffee shop, drank coffee, spent change, and waited. There was going to be a surprise. I went across to a shop and bought a bag full of gum, and some chocolate bars with crazy names. Oh Henry, Sweet Marie, Sidekick, Mr. Big...crazy. When I came back a newly wed couple were waiting for me. Mark & Beth had wanted to see us off as a surprise to their parents. It was great to see them again. They'd had an awesome time, and so had I.

On the plane Rob & I made friends with a flight attendant called Marylin, and we didn't watch the Russel Crowe film because it looked brown and rubbish. I acquired a free (worth $2) special K breakfast. Not Ketamin the Kellogg's cereal.

The rest of the flight is for another blog.

Day 13

Some say 13 is unlucky. In a way it was...

Mom & Dad Hardy took us (that is their daughter, Laura and her fiancé Brett, Rob, James and I) to Barry. A small lake town North of Toronto. It was cold. Flipping cold. the lake had frozen over, some trucks had already driven on it to put some fishing huts out, and the car said -15. That means it was at least 20 below with wind chill. Flipping cold. There was some snow throwing, crawling through 3 feet of snow, drinking hot apple cider, and then back in the car (with Italian Job on the DVD player - Mr. Hardy had traded his 5-seater car for a 7-seater all-mod-cons SUV. Which was nice). We drove further North to the snow-tubing place and threw ourselves down hills at 80 kmph. What fun. We went down twice because there were kids all over the place (school trip they called it...short bus kids if you ask me). That meant we decided to get food for a while. We ate cardboard and melted plastic (nachos) went back to the chutes and the kids were gone. That was almost great but then the attendants ruined claiming 4 grown men attached throwing themselves down icy hills meant were going "too fast". Huh! We raced in twos and ones from then on. Pete Hardy even had a go at the end. He seemed to enjoy it...pity it was closing as we were getting into it.

We started to drive home and hit straight into a snow storm. A blizzard of monstrous proportions. We went from blocked street to blocked street looking for a way back to Toronto. Visibility was a luxury, as was movement for a while. One road we ended up on was blocked by a truck on one side, a taxi on the other, a head-on collision further down (explored by PC Brett and Rob the... tall guy, who came back looking frozen, with it being 30 below now and all), and to top all that off, as it was clearing a bus had veered into a ditch. We (I say we I mean Pete who was driving I was just watching the episode unfold, when you're in a car that does 300 yards in two hours you kind of zone out if you in the back seat) decided to turn around find another route. We ended up on Yonge street (James pronounced it 'Yonj' but it's pronounced 'Young') which is the longest road in the world. The irony was that we had the most impatient man (Brett) in the world, stuck in a traffic jam on the longest road in the world. Record breaker I say.

We finally found a stopping point (Kelsey's) where Ramlin came to rescue us. She led us through the roads like a pro and after some treacherous driving we got home. The party Mrs. Hardy had done the shopping for was off, so we had Pepsi, Root Beer, and other Beer sitting in our apartment when all we wanted to do was sleep. It was an adventure. We got back sat around for 5 minutes then we all went to bed. Ram had passed-out on the couch next to James, and her burger was getting cold on the side. When in Rome...

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Becca came round for breakfast, which was nice. We reminised over the night before...glossing over some of the details. Matt rang again to tell us that they were still in Sneaky Dee's at half 10 the night before, but they weren't making as much noise as I would have liked, so we missed them. A plan was set, by Rob, to go see Ramlin at work (who had been in her pyjamas at 10.50 and at 11 at work - amazing) at about 3, get to the open-air ice skating at about 4 and church at 6. It almost worked. Becca was even ready.

Ramlin was sprightly, which was surprising if you'd seen her the night before, and we got to the ice-skating on time. Matt & Oli were in the Timmy's opposite, the same one J had realised he hadn't been ripped off.

We (Rob, Becca & I) skated in circles for a while, then we watched a positively stereotypical frenchman skate in circles for a while, then we joined James & Matt (Oli had gone) in Timmy's for some tea. We made our way to church (affter walking the wrong way up & down Yonge) and finally arrived.

After the worship, notices & coffee break the preach began. Half-way through I couldn't take it anymore, and went to relieve myself in the men's room. Rob had also vacated the 2nd floor YMCA function room and we okayed Cribbage. Afterwards James summed up the service very well. "I thought it was going to be an evening without Ram(b)lin."


We headed home, ate steak, cheesecake, wedding cake, SALAD,

Jacob arrived and ate pasta. Ramlin (who had joined us earlier) and Becca left about 11 & the four lads watched an hour or so of Arrested Development. We slept.

Re-post

Apparently my post for Saturday didn't do it justice. A much better version has been written since.

I forgot about Esteban. How unfortunate.

The Eleventh err...day

James was rudely awoken by grandpa Fergy (ex-mayor of Toronto) inviting us for a nice deli lunch. Then again by his mother. Then again by Kramer. The morning consisted mostly of a fried breakfast. James made some excellent eggs (from scratch thanks to a visit to Steve) with bacon and we then moved across the road to Jesse's place.

Fergy came over about 2, 2.30 and took us to Katz's Deli. He was a picture, with a slogan 'Feeling Droopy? Try our Soupy.' And the boss came out to pay his respects to Mayor & co. Becca got changed (again) and we went tobogganing via Wal-Mart. We tried the first hill with a toboggan sponsored in part by Trogdor & Germany. Rob constructed a brilliant contraption involving a tyre & sine busted vinyl disks. Ther were fast. Bruised now.

We regrouped at the flat when Matt Medd rand to say they were going to eat at Sneaky Dee's. With everyone present (Ramlin, Becca, Rob, James and I) we made a plan to get there for half 9. After the subway & some walking we arrived at the bar at half 10. Thanks to Ramlin.

We couldn't see our English friends so Becca suggested the Green Room, and 9 pitchers and many toasts to "regret!" "shoplifting!" and "naked aunts!" the five of us made our way home, by a taxi, funded by James who, once we got back, cracked open another beer & then got lost in the laundry room. "It was terrifying."

The next morning I was a little worse for wear & nearly knocked myself backwards when I sneezed. It was a goodnight all in all.

Day X

What was the highlight of yesterday? Mostly hanging at the Ventura's. The morning consisted of channel flicking, then Judy made us lunch (soup & bagels) which was very good, but I kept hitting my head when I got up from the table on the light fitting above. It's still not funny. Becca kept wanting to join us so reheated and reheated soup in the microwave because it kept getting cold. It's still in there now. The Storm just started. Bang. Like some kind of avalanche from the sky. Right before Becca needed to be at work...

Jesse gave me, Rob, James & Becca a lift to the mall, she had to work, we had to 'hang out at the mall'. We walked around until we found a good store. The one we ended up in was...HMV. It was quite good, but they still didn't have what I wanted. I didn't know what I wanted but they didn't have it. Rob & I found something special, which we split the cost and, even now, we're finding more and more special things about it. It's every single Monty Python episode on DVD. It's pretty awesome. We're yet to show it to the native Canadians but it's...special. (Along with a band name we found there.)

We went to see Becca at Sears. There was a live action watchable infomercial being presented and the woman was completely enthusiastic. A guy heckled her which she never recovered from, and she only sold one set of knives (that's what she was selling...knives). But we did manage to get a photo with her. That makes it worth it.

There was a dead baby store as well.

We got back and I did some washing up. We were invited to eat at the Ventura's. The Hardy's were late for the family meal. They were late so Jesse suggested they were, perhaps, fooling around. Thanks Jesse.

We went to the movies after dinner; we went to see Bridge to Terabithia. It's quite good, but the music makes it sound epice compared to the images which make it look ok. Not a great mix, but it started to fit during the end credits. We made Becca walk home, and Rob had give her a piggy back at one point, because she had what some would call 'silly shoes' on.

Jesse now has a wig for his hair, courtesy of Rob.

Day Nine...

Today (as in yesterday) was quite relaxing. The morning was spent mostly sitting in front of the Ventura's TV. Jesse spent the morning returning Tuxedos and the like. Becca and Ramlin were wandering around the house, Becca because it's her house, Ramlin...I don't quite know why. She had crashed at Becca's because it 4 o clock before anyone thought about bed the previous day. She said she was going to leave in the morning, but 11 o clock, she was still here, her Honda hanging around in the drive. More about Honda's later.


Albert was at work, but he needed to return the rental car. It took hum 3 and a half hours to get it there and back which meant his sneaking out of the garage (where he works) didn't go unnoticed. He worked late.

Jesse, Rob, Becca, Judy & I set off for the church to return the rented stuff from Chair-man Mills in the middle of a snow storm. Jesse put on Casino Royale in the car because he was pretty confident it would take a while. A snow storm that had started about 1, didn't stop until 4 and cause over 2 feet of snow to build up all over Toronto. Downtown was in mayhem. I had a feeling as we got closer to the center our masculine skills (that's Jesse, Rob & Me) would be asked for, and I wasn't wrong. A street car could get past a badly party Honda so we had to slide it, in the snow, over to the side of the road. Favour number one. There weren't any more but I'll start numbering them from yesterday seeing as it was the first of March.

After piling stuff into the car we (Jesse, Rob & I) headed over to Chair-man Mills. It was an adventure I'm telling you. We set off at 4, got to Yonge (which is the street that splits the city in two) about 8, and we were constantly on the phone with Louis, who said he'd hang around after 6 (when they were suppose to get there) until 9...and then 11. Funny.

On our way Jesse was getting cranky, so he sent me out to get some sausages. I went to a corner stall and bought three awesome spicy sausages. They were very good. The guy on the stand had been there since 5 in the morning, and that didn't alter his attitude; he was smiling away like some kind of crazy. It took about 5-10 minutes for the sausages to cook, and the car had moved 5-10 feet. Great.

In higher spirits, and after hitting the clearer roads, higher speeds we finally got to Mills about half 9. Rob & I finished watch James Bond on the way home, and it was all really bonding time with Jesse.

We shoveled snow for a while, we watched friends, we told everyone about our mini (8 hour) adventure in heavy snow.

I ate some toast and went to bed.

Another perfect day.

Orange Wedding Day

Wedding day. We got up bright and early and left in a ridiculously over sized car (Escalade) to go to Steve's (not the toilet) for breakfast. We all had big fry ups, except for J who had forgotten we were going for breakfast, had a bowl of cereal before we left, and still managed to acquire various elements to make the meal up to the rest of ours.

Then we went to the liqueur store (LCBO) for some...liqueur. Rob and J bought a bottle of JD. This will feature later. We journeyed home in the same over sized monstrosity then hung around the apartment for a while. Cribbage...blackjack...

I arrived at the church to set up about 1. (I was doing sound for the day) But there was not much to do so Albert, Rob, J and I went to Second cup for some coffee. I had a very bad tasting Irish Coffee which went down nicely...into the bin.

We got back and the band had begun to arrive. John & Drew were practicing and there was some equipment around but no desk yet so that made for some problems. Jacob arrived with his significant other and we chatted. We played some 'Crazy 8's' which was a little crazy, I met some other crazy Andrew and the desk still wasn't here. By half 4 (the desk was supposed to arrive about 3) I was beginning to get hungry so went to a random pizza style place where my English accent got me nowhere and I had to literally point straight at the menu. It was so traumatic I don't remember what I ate.

I got back the desk still wasn't there...then it was. Only a couple of hours late. Maybe they thought with me being English I was on a different time zone so wouldn't notice...but that's just rude. After setting up, sound checking etc. I decided it was about time for a bit of socialising. Meh.

The wedding ceremony itself was incredible. Mark was crying as Beth came nearer and nearer..he said it was overwhelming but I'm not so sure...The personal vows, the worship, the attitude in entering into such an institution. It was very good. Pete Hardy made an excellent address from Ephesians... Bringing together the model of Christ and the Church & Husband & Wife, and the from Hebrew 12 to finish it off. It was done well.

I became in charge of music, which was fine but because I was pressing play on playlists I had to turn down multiple requests for some songs that I would have preferred not to hear anyways. Oh well.

Dancing...food...dancing...dessert...dancing...speeches...dancing. leave...everyone else leaves...we clear up...get out the church...and head to Mick E Finn's..cutting cake...dancing...couple. A bar. Ramlin was awesome and drove us everywhere (I say everywhere...there then home), and after some good beer drinking moments - including hearing a story about a girl who's antics made someone behind the bar think she'd had a sex change - we set off back to the ranch. On the way home the radio played 'I've had the time of my life' and we all shouted along. A perfect end to a perfect day.

We got home about 2.45 (Finn's shut at 2) then I tried making some tea. At which point (conveniently) Ram & Becca invited themselves in for some tea...coincidentally...and pasta. Leftover pasta. But we couldn't find it so we just had to eat donuts instead. Ram kept starting levels on Mario then by 4 they had gone. Finally sleep...only by that time Rob had conveniently fallen asleep on a chair and was snoring like a crazy man.

Mark and Beth, now markandbethany made it a day for everyone, not just them, and that was just great.