SEVEN PROMISE KEEPERS CANADA
MEN / GOD / LIFE
Gearing Up KICKING OFF A BRAND NEW SEASON
TWENTY YEARS AND COUNTING CELEBRATING THE MINISTRY OF PROMISE KEEPERS CANADA
ADDICTED TO BUSY FINDING A RHYTHM OF LIFE THAT WORKS
SEP / OCT 2015 ISSUE 44 NEWSSTAND PRICE CDN $4.95
2 SEVEN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015
CONTENTS
16
COLUMNS 6 // PK Podium Milestones in the Making 8 // Lives Worth Leading Called to Lead 30 // Sports Scene Zach Johnson Modestly, Quietly Becoming One of World’s Best
FEATURES 16 FINDING COMFORT IN GOD’S GRACE For Nashville Predators forward Mike Fisher, faith isn’t something that comes half-heartedly—it’s a whole-life thing. Now a 16-year NHL veteran, Fisher is continuing to be an exemplary leader on and off the ice.
20 EVENTS, DISCIPLESHIP AT THE HEART OF PROMISE KEEPERS CANADA
20
From the stadium to the sanctuary—a lot can change in 20 years, and the same goes for Promise Keepers Canada. This issue, we celebrate two decades of lifechanging ministry by looking back on the roots of PKC, as well as what’s ahead.
32 // The Single Life Fall Kick Off 33 // Out of My Depth A Slave Driver Called Pettiness
DEPARTMENTS 10 // The Pulse Bits. Blips. Beats. Blurbs. 14 // Music Reviews Returns, Rebirths, and Remakes 34 // Power Play Toys. Tools. Technology.
26 BEYOND BUSY
26
Faith takes effort, and perhaps more to the point, time. But in the midst of our overly busy, 21st Century lifestyles, we’re often unable to come up with either—and we tell ourselves that this is normal. But maybe, just maybe, we’re called to something different . . .
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ON THE COVER
SEVEN is a Christian magazine for Canadian men that exists to help men lead more fulfilling lives and leave enduring legacies.
GEARING UP
For many, fall is a time of change. Out with the old, in with the new. Shake off the rust and gear up for what’s ahead. As we say goodbye to summer, we bring an assortment of stories that we hope inspires readers to forge ahead into a brand new season.
The name reflects the seven promises that form the basis of the Promise Keepers organization, which works with churches to minister to men across Canada. 1 // A promise keeper is committed to honouring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, and obedience to God’s Word in the power of the Spirit. 2 // A promise keeper is committed to pursuing Christ-centred friendships with a few other men, connecting regularly, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises. 3 // A promise keeper is committed to practicing biblical integrity: spiritually, morally, ethically and sexually. 4 // A promise keeper is committed to strengthening families and marriages through love, honour, protection, and biblical values. 5 // A promise keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honouring and praying for his pastor, and by actively giving his time and resources. 6 // A promise keeper is committed to reaching beyond racial, social, economic, generational, and denominational barriers to demonstrate that power of biblical unity. 7 // A promise keeper is committed to influencing the world by his fervent love for God while loving his neighbour, seeking justice for the poor and oppressed, and making disciples of Jesus Christ.
Publisher PROMISE KEEPERS CANADA
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
EDITORIAL
PROMISE KEEPERS CANADA
Editorial Director JEFF STEARNS
KIRK GILES
Questions and comments
Box 20099 RPO Brant Hills
Managing Editor ROB HORSLEY
Promise Keepers Canada
regarding editorial can be sent
Burlington, ON L7P 0A4
to rhorsley@promisekeepers.ca,
(905) 331-1830 info@promisekeepers.ca
ADVERTISING
JEFF STEARNS
or mailed to Promise Keepers
RICK VERKERK
Promise Keepers Canada
Canada at the address provided.
rick@promisekeepers.ca MATT BREIMER
1-888-901-9700
Postmaster, please send DESIGN
address changes to:
DEVON WAGENAAR
Box 20099 RPO Brant Hills,
ROB HORSLEY
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ISSN 1916-8403
Promise Keepers Canada
The PK Canada logo features a maple leaf, indicating our dedication to serve the men of Canada. An arrow breaks into the maple leaf symbolizing the impact we believe God wants to see Promise Keepers and men making in our nation. A special thank-you to all the pastors who continually encourage us to communicate God’s truth with grace and love.
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podcasts
It’s now easier than ever to listen to the latest messages from Promise Keepers Canada! With just a few clicks, you can listen wherever you are. Get exclusive access to interviews and inspiring messages with:
Max Lucado John and Sam Eldredge Gary Thomas The Skit Guys Donald Miller and many others! promisekeepers.ca/podcasts
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 5
PK PODIUM
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING TWENTY YEARS: LOOKING BACK, DREAMING AHEAD BY KIRK GILES
D
o you remember your first Promise Keepers event? I have heard that question and the testimonies that surround it probably hundreds of times in the 19 years that I’ve served on staff. For me, my first Promise Keepers event was actually a smaller seminar in Detroit. It was during this event that God began the journey of reconciliation in a strained relationship between my father and I. As I look back, it’s hard for me to believe that Promise Keepers Canada turns 20 years old this fall. There are so many stories that can be told from thousands of men about how God has used this ministry in their lives. In September, 1995, Promise Keepers Canada was officially inaugurated as the first international expansion of the ministry that was sweeping across the United States. Since that time, it is difficult to fully explain or comprehend all that God has done. There are countless stories of men becoming followers of Jesus, marriages and families restored, and men having a Godly impact in the world. On behalf of every man who has ever been impacted through this ministry, I want to say thank you. First, I want to thank God for His faithfulness, power, and provision. The fact that Promise Keepers Canada even exists in 2015 is a testament to what God has done. I know there have been many big mistakes made—mistakes that could have been catastrophic to the organization, but God has shown mercy to us time and time again. I also want to thank every man and woman who has been a part of the board of directors, advisory board, and staff of the ministry. The diversity of this group of people and how God brought them to us and has used their gifts and talents in the right seasons is a remarkable story of seeing the Body of Christ in action. This team has made incredible sacrifices and given wholeheartedly because they believe in the need for Godly men in our nation. On a personal level, I want to thank the men who preceded me as leader of the ministry. Bill Rutherford was the first President and helped launch the ministry in the mid 1990s. Ken McGeorge stepped into an interim role as national coordinator and helped the ministry navigate some very difficult waters. David Sweet helped to breathe fresh vision and perspective and led the ministry out of our darkest days to a place of having a strong foundation to build from. Ron Hannah led us to believe in blessing others as being more important than our own gain, and helped build structure from the foundations that were in place. Each of these men had a profound influence on my own life, walk with God, and leadership. Finally, as a team, we are grateful for every person who has ever stood with us to strengthen the men of this nation. Your prayers have been answered time and time again, your financial investment has encouraged us deeply, and your time as a volunteer has made a difference in many lives. After 20 years, I believe we are just scratching the surface. There is a need for men to be more than just good men—we need to see godly men. Together, and by the grace of God, there are greater days ahead in building godly men across Canada.
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KIRK GILES is the president of Promise Keepers Canada. However, his most important roles as a man are husband to Shannon and father to Carter, Joshua, Sydney and Samuel.
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LIVES WORTH LEADING
CALLED TO LEAD
A RE YOU UP TO THE TASK? BY COLIN MACARTNEY
T
he city reeled with more than 800 bustling saloons where alcohol and debauchery flowed together in a cacophony of non-stop bedlam. Yes, 800 bars in a small town of only 104,000 people! Chaos was the order of the day where over 50 per cent of all criminal offenses were related to drunkenness. Prostitution, corruption, extreme poverty, the wanton abuse of women and children and downright filth was present on every street corner. Sadly, most of the churches in the city did nothing. Many even banned the poor from their church services and programs. Finally, someone had had enough. William Holmes Howland rolled up his sleeves and got down to business. He spent time in the slums getting to know the poor, living amongst the stench of broken sanitation and extreme drunkenness. His heart broke for abused women and children. Howland, one of the richest men in the city, began to pour his financial, spiritual and physical resources in serving the destitute of the city. He helped create a hospital in the city, a school for boys, homes for unwed mothers, the aged and the homeless and even a Bible Seminary. In 1885 William Holmes Howland ran for mayor of the city of Toronto— and won. It was a close election, with the tipping point for his victory coming from the unwed mothers and widows he served who were allowed to vote for the very first time. After the election, Howland erected a large banner at city hall declaring;
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“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” // PSALM 127:1 The new mayor went right to work restricting liquor licenses while clamping down on illegal unlicensed drinking. He hired an inspector to build up a police vice squad to fight gambling and prostitution and to combat the abuse of women, children and even the cruelty of animals. Illegal drinking establishments were broken up, the number of saloons reduced, brothels were shut down and the abuse of children and women was drastically curtailed. It was during the Howland administration that this city, once was a cesspool of lawlessness, became known as “Toronto the Good.” I share this story because it’s a demonstration of what a Christian man, one thoroughly sold out to Christ, can do here in Canada. It also reveals to us our need as men to be leaders in the sphere of influence God has placed us. Every city in Canada, from coast to coast, needs men to take up the mantle of Christian leadership at home and in our neighbourhoods. In Psalm 78:70-72 we read something very important about leadership: “(God) chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful
hands he led them.” Like David, God has chosen every man to lead humbly with “integrity of heart and skilful hands.” This call for male leadership is desperately needed. We all know what happens when men do not lead—the high rates of suicide and drug abuse, increased drop-out rates and criminal activity etc. from children who have not had the presence of a strong male role model in their lives. In my ministry in government housing projects I have seen, first hand, the devastation of our society simply because men have not stepped up to the plate and led. More than 25 years ago, Dr. James Dobson was quoted as saying: “The western world stands at a great crossroads in its history. It is my opinion that our very survival as a people will depend upon the presence or absence of masculine leadership.” Will you step up to the plate? Will you lead? In the next editions of SEVEN, we will examine this topic of masculine leadership and share wisdom in leading well with “integrity of heart and skilful hands.” Lead on my brothers, humbly with “integrity of heart and skilful hands”
/ COLIN MACARTNEY is an ordained minister, speaker, and a bestselling author. He is also the founder of UrbanPromise Toronto and now leads Connect Ministries in Toronto where he, his wife Judith, and their two children reside. To learn more about Colin, go to www.connectministries.org.
THE PULSE
BITS / BLIPS / BEATS / BLURBS Keeping Pace
FROM THE EDITOR
BY ROB HORSLEY
EDITOR’S DESK / By the time you read this, summer will already be almost over. Boy, what a bummer. The end of summer is always sad, for obvious reasons. First and foremost, it means that we’re only a few months away from yet another winter season— and who wants to think about that? But secondly, and perhaps more revealingly, it reminds us of all we could’ve done—and didn’t. If you’re like me, you always wish you could’ve done more with the long days and warm weather, something more than just work all day. For those of you for whom this might be your first issue of SEVEN, I’m in the labour business. I serve proudly as managing editor of this great magazine before you, but for 40 (often closer to 50) hours a week, I’m just your average construction worker. And most of the time, that’s just fine. I love working outdoors and keeping in relatively good shape, I sleep well at night, and working hard is something I find deeply satisfying. (Keeping work-related emails to a minimum is a nice perk also.) But during the summer months, work is the last thing I feel like doing. Summer season is busy season on the jobsite. We try to make the most of the long daylight hours and good working conditions, so working overtime is fairly par for the course, more so than at other times of the year. And don’t get me wrong, the extra bucks are nice, especially when work slows
Perhaps it’s not taking on more stuff, but rather taking on better stuff.
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down as the temperature drops, but at the same time…wouldn’t it be nice to do a little less sometimes? For a lot of people, the start of fall always feels like the dawn of a new year, maybe even more so than January 1st. Perhaps it’s because of some residual effects of years spent in a classroom, maybe it’s some form of guilt making us feel bad for “taking it easy” all summer, even when we really haven’t been. The truth is, life never seems to slow down for a good number of us. There’s no slow season at any time of year, and any extra time we manage to save for ourselves usually gets plugged with some other commitment or activity (oftentimes good ones) to which we just can’t say “no.” The fact of the matter is, sometimes we’re really bad at resting well. So it might seem strange that the theme for this issue is one that focuses on “gearing up” for a new season. But as our features this month highlight, perhaps it’s not taking on more stuff, but rather taking on better stuff—finding a rhythm of life that works. Doing something that brings us genuinely closer to God, rather than just fills our schedule with stuff we think He might be interested in. As you enter into a new season of commitments, obligations, and activities both personal and professional, my encouragement to you would be: take a good look at what you’re doing. Being busy might not necessarily be the problem—but perhaps it might be worth your time to rest up. Enjoy these last few days of summer, friends. Make the most of them, even if it means doing a bit less. / RH
ODDS AND ENDS BULLET FOR ARMADILLO ‘OFF THE MARK’ LEESBURG, GA / Relations between husbands and mothers-in-law can be tricky at the best of times, never mind after a few bullets have been discharged. That was perhaps the case for Georgia resident Larry McElroy and his wife’s mother Carol Johnson, after a round of 9mm ammo intended for an armadillo reportedly “bounced off the animal, hit a fence, travelled through the back door of the mother-in-law’s mobile home and the recliner in which she was sitting, striking her in the back,” National Post reports, with files from the Associated Press. Fortunately, Johnson’s injuries were not severe, as she was reported to have been walking and talking afterwards. According to the original story, the practice trapping or killing armadillos is actually encouraged in the Leesburg area, as the species is considered a pest. The armadillo in question did not survive.
of ‘pee-proof’ paint. Armed with a special UV-coating, the material, when applied to any hard, flat surface, is apparently so liquid resistant that it will keep any peed-upon area perfectly clean, while at the same time reflecting the offending stream back in the direction of its enabler. The new initiative is modelled after a similar project in Hamburg, Germany, and comes in response to nearly 400 steamcleaning requests on various “pee-soaked walls” that the city has received since January of this year. “We are piloting it to see if we can discourage people from peeing at many of our hot spots,” public works director Mohammed says in a related story with SFGate. “Nobody wants to smell urine. We are trying different things to try to make San Francisco smell nice and look beautiful.” (Huffington Post)
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
(Associated Press, National Post)
SAN-FRAN IMPLEMENTS ‘PEE-PROOF’ PAINT FOR PUBLIC URINATORS SAN FRANCISCO, CA / Public peeing is a problem. And for those who’ve ever been unlucky enough to catch a whiff of someone’s newly marked territory (especially on a hot day), chances are you know that urinating in public, while occasionally relieving, is mostly pretty gross. But now, one city is ‘firing back’ at hard partiers and those prone to public peeing. According to the original report by The Huffington Post, a new measure from the city of San Francisco is seeking to keep the city’s public spaces cleaner through a new form
VARIOUS / The beasts of the wild are apparently as wild as ever, after a pair of run-ins left would-be selfie takers a bit worse for wear. The first comes from the San Diego area, where local man Todd Fassler, attempting to strike a pose alongside a dangerous rattlesnake, was left with a potentially deadly bite. Luckily for Fassler, he received medical treatment in the nick of time, and survived the incident. Not so lucky however was his bank account, which will no doubt be reeling for the considerable future after the rattler bite left him with medical expenses upwards of $153,000. According to the report from HuffPost, and as originally noted by a blog from The Washington Post, the largest expense by far on Fassler’s bill was for
SEPTEMBER MARCH / APRIL / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 11
pharmaceutical supplies, which totalled more than $83,000. While there’s a fairly clear way the whole ordeal might have been avoided, such gross expenses perhaps point to a less obvious problem within the American medical system. As Washington Post’s wonkblog explains: “There’s currently only one commercially available antivenin for treating venomous snakebites in the United States—CroFab, manufactured by U.K.-based BTG plc. And with a stable market of 7,000 to 8,000 snakebite victims per year and no competitors, business is pretty good.”
one person being injured by bison in such a manner, this isn’t even the first photo-related incident this year; a 16-year-old girl from Taiwan reportedly suffered “serious, but not life-threatening” injuries after being gored by another bison this past May. Additionally, a 62-year-old man from Australia was thrown into the air multiple times after getting within five feet of the animal for a photo. He also suffered serious by non-life threatening injuries. Just goes to show you: it’s not just the young ‘uns that are spending way too much time on their cameras and/or phones. (HuffPost)
If snakebites aren’t up your alley, you could always try a bison attack. While people of the prairies are likely well aware of the dangers of these beautiful creatures, perhaps not all folks venturing through Yellowstone National Park are quite so in-the-know, as another story from Huffington Post points out. A 43-year-old woman from Mississippi became the fifth (yes, fifth) person to be injured by a bison this year, after reportedly turning her back on the animal at a distance of only “six yards” to take a picture with her smartphone. The bison used its head to lift the woman into the air and toss her aside, the report states. The woman sustained only minor injuries. “The family said they read the warnings in both the park literature and the signage, but saw other people close to the bison, so they thought it would be OK,” says Colleen Rawlings, Old Faithful district ranger, in the National Park Service statement. “People need to recognize that Yellowstone wildlife is wild, even though they seem docile. This woman was lucky that her injuries were not more severe,” she adds. Yellowstone literature recommends that tourists stay at least 25 yards away from large animals such as bison, elk, and moose. They recommend even further distances for bears and wolves, but tourists have apparently disregarded those warnings as well from time to time. While it might not surprise you to hear of
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BAR OWNER TURNS NEGATIVE REVIEWS INTO AMAZING PROMO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / In a story that without-a-doubt proves there’s no such thing as bad publicity, one bar from Melbourne recently decided to turn some rotten reviews from the popular online restaurant ranking website Urbanspoon into one of the cleverest ad spots you’ve ever seen. “Over-rated.” “Very un-traditional.” “No empty seats.” “Guy behind the bar needs a shave.” “The beer was too cold.” While these tags might have been funny enough on their own, it was the punch line at the bottom of the promo that served as the real kicker: “Come and see why seven per cent of people don’t like us.” While no doubt a genius bit of marketing on the part of bar staff, the campaign actually highlights a deeper message of just how easy it can be for quality consensus to be overlooked in an age when minority opinions can be potentially devastating for businesses when shouted loudly from the cyberspace and read by many. After all, who writes a review with a place they have no problems with? (The Daily Mirror)
There’s more. You know that must be true, especially if you follow Jesus Christ. More than the ‘same old, same old.’ More than Sunday sermons. More than truck payments. Even more than sports! There’s more to this world and this life than the media will ever tell you, secondhand. Maybe you need to man up and find out for yourself—find out the truth of God’s mission, your place in it and, in doing so, find yourself. But where to begin?
Talk with us to find your fit in mission. We’re over 3,000 who demonstrate and proclaim the Gospel in more than 110 countries. We know there’s more.
Contact us @ 1 877 487 7777 info.ca@om.org www.om.org
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 13
MUSIC REVIEWS
BY STEVEN SUKKAU
MOBILE ORCHESTRA
POCKETFUL OF FAITH
SOUND OF THE SAINTS
OWL CITY (Republic Records)
TIM HUGHES (Integrity Music)
AUDIO ADRENALINE (First Company Management)
WATCHING ADAM Young AKA Owl City toiling on his laptop, arranging electronic beats and synth choruses is what I imagine watching Beethoven tinkering on piano and penciling in string movements would’ve been like. Seamlessly weaving real and artificial instruments and hopping genres from pop to alternative to R&B, Young burst into the mainstream with 2009’s gargantuan hit “Fireflies” from 2009’s Ocean Eyes. Since then he has gone on to collaborate with some of the biggest stars from Carly Rae Jepsen to Mark Hoppus to Hanson. While soulful and sweet, Young never injected faith into the lyrics of his infectious electronic popsymphonies until between albums a remix of the hymn “In Christ Alone” appeared online. Faith took centre stage in earnest in 2015’s Mobile Orchestra. The hymn-like track “My Everything” speaks of turning to God in sorrow and trouble, “Hallelujah, my Almighty God divine… This is all I know how to say, Hallelujah.” While not labelled as Christian music, Young explains in an interview with Christian Post he hopes to continue to be a bright light in the music industry, writing songs that God can use in any way He chooses.
A BATTERED old cassette was my first introduction to Tim Hughes. The tape, 2001’s Here I am to Worship, was worn from use and from flipping sides in my best friend’s car deck. While the worldwide worship staple and title track, “Here I am to Worship” received the widest play, the entire album was full of standout tracks. Each morning our commute to work was transformed into an atmosphere of worship. Pocketful of Faith, Tim Hughes fifth studio album, is filled with the same reverent modern hymns that rapidly turn your heart towards worship, just packed onto your phone instead of a cassette. Stand out tracks like “Here With Me” speak of an infectious desire for intimacy: “In every breath, every joy and tear, every passing hour, let me know You’re near.” Elsewhere, Hughes sings, “I look to heaven and cry to thee, be here with me.” I’ve always felt the heart of Hughes, and the heart of his music and worship stemmed from a track on his 2001 album, Never Lose the Wonder, he sings, “I will never lose the wonder of the blood you shed for me,” and 14 years later, the wonder has only deepened. If you have been feeling like God is distant, Hughes reminds us even a small amount of faith is enough. “Take this pocketful of faith, it is all I have today,” Hughes sings.
AUDIO ADRENALINE was once the biggest Christian band in the 90s, with hits like “Big House” and “Hands and Feet.” The band would go on to win two Grammy awards before disbanding in 2006 after singer Dave Stuart was forced to retire due to damaged vocal chords. Since then the band has found new life, first with lead singer Kevin Max of DC Talk, and now again with Adam Agee of Stellar Kart taking vocal duties in 2015. Together with Wavorly’s Dave Stovall, Jack Campbell and Brandon Bagby, former touring member of Plumb and Seventh Day Slumber, the quintet continues the legacy of Audio Adrenaline with a new album, Sound of the Saints. Agee’s punk-tinged voice and Bagby’s driving guitar adds to a sound more rooted in upbeat pop rock than the rock and roll sound longtime fans will remember. But that’s no reason to write the new Audio Adrenaline off. “We are excited to inspire a new generation of fans the way Audio Adrenaline inspired us,” Agee said after Sound of the Saints’ release. The new tracks still carry the message of Audio A, and the urgency to become the hands and feet of Christ, like Move. Agee sings, “Not a power on the earth can stand against you, every army up in heaven fighting with you.” Audio A always identified with the underdogs, and now they look to reconnect with old and new fans alike.
/ STEVEN SUKKAU works for Golden West Radio and resides in Winkler, Manitoba.
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Nashville Predators forward Mike Fisher says that while playing professional hockey might be his job, faith is his life.
Photo courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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FEATURE
FINDING COMFORT IN GOD’S GRACE FOR MIKE FISHER, HOCKEY’S A JOB—BUT FAITH IS LIFE BY SCOTT TAYLOR
M
ike Fisher’s relationship with God isn’t something new. In fact, the former nominee (2006) for the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the National Hockey League, hasn’t spent very much time in his life away from the Gospel. To be fair, Fisher comes by his faith quite honestly. His father, David, was the chaplain for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club. In the off-season, Mike still tries to spend time working at Hockey Ministries International hockey camps in Peterborough, Kingston and Ottawa. God isn’t a passing fad for Fisher. God is life. “I grew up in a Christian family in Peterborough, Ontario.” Fisher says. “Both my parents were raised in Christian homes, which was great. They instilled in all the kids in the family that God came first. They showed us what it was like to have a relationship with Christ. “I accepted Christ at six-years-ofage, and just tried to play hockey and
balance that. I had some struggles in my later teenage years. I’d moved away from home for hockey and struggled a little bit being on my own and finding out who I was and trying to mix that with my faith and make it real. I learned a lot of lessons and made some mistakes along the way. “I was probably about 22 when I recommitted myself,” he continued. “I got off the fence and went all in. I got serious about my faith. That’s when I experienced God’s love and His forgiveness and His true grace. I needed to get back to my faith on my own, not just because it was what I grew up in. I needed it to be something real for me and that’s what it became.” Mike Fisher is an NHL survivor. Now 35, he has played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League. For the past five, he’s been a member of the Nashville Predators and despite what could be described as “an advanced age” for a National Hockey League player, he scored 19 goals and had 39 points in 59 games in 2014-15.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 17
“HOPEFULLY I CAN BE A LIGHT IN THE HOCKEY WORLD AND PROMOTE FAITH AS SOMETHING THAT’S REAL.”
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Originally selected by the Ottawa Senators in the second round (44th overall) of the 1998 NHL entry draft, Fisher was a mainstay with the Sens for 11 seasons. His best year came with Ottawa in 2009-10 when he scored 25 goals and had 53 points. But then, he met a girl—and everything changed. When the opportunity came for a trade to Nashville, it was exactly the situation that Fisher wanted. As we say, “God moves in mysterious ways.” “The girl” in this case just so happened to be country music superstar Carrie Underwood. Fisher met her backstage at one of her concerts in 2008. They were married on December 20, 2009, when he was still a fan favourite in Ottawa. From the time he met Underwood, it was no secret that Fisher wanted to play in Nashville. When your wife works in Nashville and you work in Ottawa, it’s not an easy arrangement. Still, he didn’t go out of his way to be traded. He let faith take over. Not surprisingly, on February 10, 2011, Fisher became a member of the Predators. His situation is now so perfect, that he just signed a two-year $8.8 million contract extension ($4.8 million in 201516 and $4 million in 2016-17). “When we dated and then when we were first married, it was just a week here and a weekend there when we were able to get together,” he admitted. “That became our normal life and we got used to it. “We’d talk on the phone and we’d Skype and with Skype, we were able to do Bible studies together and pray together. Early on in our relationship, it was really good because we were dating and getting to know each other really well. Once I got to Nashville, I was able to see a lot of her, especially when she’s not out on tour. But hey, it’s tough to go a month and not see each other, which we’ve done, but when you do see each other, there’s nothing better. It’s awesome.” Admittedly, it wasn’t easy for Fisher to leave Ottawa. In fact, because fans
Photo courtesy of the Nashville Predators
are fans, many weren’t happy that he was dumping the Senators for ‘another woman.’ “You’re always going to face a little bit of criticism from time to time,” he said with a smile. “But I was so blessed in Ottawa for so many years. The fans were great to me there. I was also blessed to have some good friends and family nearby, so I just focused on all those good things and how fortunate I was. “I think it had a lot to do with putting things in perspective and I know that God had his hand in all of that,” he continued. “He allowed me to be drafted close to home and then the trade happened. Remember, I didn’t ask for the trade or want to leave, but it was probably the best thing that could ever happen because of Carrie and I. Just to see God’s hand in that was incredible. “And remember I was being criticized because we’d lost 11 in a row right before I got traded and things were already a little
ON EVERY ONE OF HIS STICKS, FISHER WRITES: “BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION AND FAITHFUL IN PRAYER.” / ROMANS 12:12
Fisher, seen here with his wife, country recording artist Carrie Underwood.
dicey in Ottawa. I didn’t know what was going to happen. After the trade was completed, my mom told me that a day before I got traded, she thought, ‘Well maybe the season isn’t going so well for Mike so he can get traded to Nashville and be with Carrie.’ She called it. She knew that’s what the Lord had in mind. It was really a blessing. We can doubt the Lord when we go through tough times, but you have to know that He’s always got your best interests at heart.” On every one of his sticks, Fisher writes: “By joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12. In 2012, he was awarded the NHL Foundation Player Award, presented to the player who applies the core values of hockey—commitment, perseverance and teamwork—to enrich the lives of people in his community. He’s a leader both on and off the ice.
But while professional hockey is his job, his faith is his life. In fact, wife Carrie was once quoted as saying that Mike helped her “grow in her faith.” “We’re both doing this thing together,” he said. “We make sure we’re encouraging each other and praying together and growing spiritually. That’s such an important thing. The closer we feel to God, the closer we feel to each other.” In August of 2011, Christian author Kim Washburn collaborated with Fisher to produce a biography of the hockey star for kids called Defender of Faith: The Mike Fisher Story. Fisher was pleased with how the book came together and what it teaches young people. “I think part of it is about the way I play,” he once told Chad Bonham of beliefnet. “I know the title is a playon-words, but I consider myself a pretty hard-working guy and I like to play hard, play physical and play well defensively too. It’s partly about my style and obviously I have spoken about my faith and that’s really a part of who I am and I’ve never shied away from sharing that. God’s given me this talent and ability and this platform. He deserves all the credit. Hopefully I can be a light in the hockey world and promote faith as something that’s real.” As wonderful as it sounds, it’s not always easy to be superstar couple Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood. Recently, the tabloids/Internet bloggers had a long drawn out race to see which one could call the “divorce” fast enough. There were more FisherUnderwood divorce rumours than anyone could have imagined. Funny,
but the divorce never happened. In fact, breaking up was never an issue. His former coach, Barry Trotz (now the Washington Capitals head coach), once said, “It’s not easy for Mike, especially in Nashville. Everywhere you, you’re wife is on a billboard or a poster. She’s all over the media in Nashville. The guy needs a little faith.” It certainly can’t be easy, but the fact is, Fisher is proud of his wife’s success and he’s also proud that he can be a bit of a role model for his teammates, showing them the importance of faith in marriage. “I’ve been able to be an example for those guys that aren’t even married yet by showing them God’s way and how to do the right things,” he once told the Ottawa Citizen. “I’ve gone through all that. I’ve been on the wrong side of it and done it the wrong way and yet, fortunately with my wife, we did it the right way and God has really blessed that. That’s allowed me to help some other guys along the way. It’s all part of being a leader. That’s what I try to do.” Mike Fisher once said, “I find true comfort in God’s grace, knowing that I fall short in many ways, but He’s always there for me through the good times and bad—no matter what.” Leader, defender, husband, athlete, you can call Mike Fisher a lot of things. Most importantly, however, he’s a man who does whatever he can to find “comfort in God’s grace.” And it works.
/ SCOTT TAYLOR is a Winnipeg-based sportswriter and broadcaster.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 19
P I H S E L P I C S I D , S T F A O N E N T V A E E HE AR C S R E H P T E T E A K E S I M O R P BER T BY RO
W HI T
E
20 SEVEN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015
A D A
FEATURE
S ’ N E M , G R E N T O A R L T S S R G A N E I Y N Y N T U N R E L W L I T T S Y R MINIST
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 21
President Kirk Giles with his sons, Carter and Joshua, at a Promise Keepers Canada event in 2012.
“As the evolution continued we began to see ourselves as a discipleship ministry, where men could come, grow, and live as disciples of Jesus.” he “Ultimate Fight Weapon” session of Promise Keepers Canada’s 2012 Mississauga conference focused on prayer for pastors, the nation, and young men. As Rick Verkerk, PK Canada’s National Manager of Events and Field Ministry, led the session he called four young men to the stage, which included current president Kirk Giles’ two oldest sons. “I wasn’t expecting it. I had the chance
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to be able to pray over not only my own boys but all the young men in the arena. That for me was a huge highlight of the weekend,” recalls Giles who started working for the men’s ministry in the spring of 1996—as an administrative assistant for the Eastern Canada manager, who happened to be his father Jim Giles. The moment also symbolizes PK Canada’s key areas of focus: a public expression of thousands of men across the country to be a man after God’s own heart and a personal path of becoming mature disciples of Jesus Christ. Both of which fulfill PK Canada’s mission “to ignite and equip men to have a Godly impact.” Promise Keepers has its roots in the burgeoning men’s movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Books like mainstream bestseller Iron John by Robert Bly had men looking for meaning, while Christian authors like Pat Morley provided the answers in books like Man in the Mirror. In 1990 University of Colorado head football coach Bill McCartney and a friend talked about holding stadium events where men would be inspired to live a godly life. In July 1991, the first PK stadium event was held in Boulder, Colorado. Canadians attracted to the message began piling into cars, vans and buses to attend stadium events in Seattle, Buffalo and Pontiac, Michigan. They brought back books, tapes and, most importantly, a vision to see the Promise Keepers ministry planted in Canada. “There were a number of Canadian guys who wanted to see the ministry started but didn’t know there were other guys who wanted to see it start,” says Giles of the efforts of men like Tom Iwama (Surrey, B.C. and the first board chair), Randy Collins (London) and Roger Poirier (St. Catherine’s). “Nobody will be able to understand how much passion, prayer and energy—spiritually, emotionally and physically—these men put into seeing things launched in Canada.” The Canadian branch took root when the PK US representative for international
Copps Coloseum 2001.
PARTNERS, INFLUENCES AND INFLUENCERS Promise Keepers Canada has partnered with, influenced or been influenced by a number of men during the past two decades. Here are a few examples taken from the pages of SEVEN magazine:
>
FROM A VAN OF 15 TO TWO FULL BUSES
From left to right: Brian Warren (host of 100 Huntley
To get groups of men to Promise Keepers Canada’s annual Mississauga conference, Guelph’s Bobby Clark started with one van filled with 15 guys. Seven years later, Clark coordinated two buses filled with 112 guys—from 20 churches, three recovery groups and “a bunch of” at-risk street youth. Clark also booked hotel rooms, reserved space at local buffet restaurant, hosted a Friday night after-conference worship at the hotel and coordinated the Saturday pizza and sub lunch. “I know when I look back on a Sunday or Monday, I see how God knit all this together,” says Clark. “I feel blessed I’ve got these men in my life.”
Street & PK Canada Board Member), Bill Rutherford (first President of PK Canada), Ken McGeorge (PK
(January/February 2010)
Canada Board Member). A taping of 100 Huntley Street on the inaugural day of PK Canada ministry in 1995.
expansion began to connect the dots. An inauguration service was held at Queensway Cathedral in Toronto in 1995 with Phil Rutherford from Calgary at the helm of a ministry based in Langley, B.C. In 1997 the office was moved to the Crossroads Television System complex in Burlington and it went through a number of leadership and leadership model changes. Initially PK Canada replicated the American model of large-scale events, with the arenas replacing stadia. In 1996, the first drew 13,000 to Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum. That model soon proved ineffective with less than half, 6,000, attending the following year. “We didn’t have a good business model, were significantly in debt and had no revenues coming in to help us out of debt,” says Giles. In 1998, David Sweet was brought in as president. Through his efforts, the sinking ministry was bailed out and a new business model put in place. Sweet left in 2003, for a career in politics followed by Ron Hannah (2003 to 2009) and Giles (2009 to present).
HELPING MEN BE “REAL DADS” High school counsellor Brad Young started Real Dads (www.realdads.ca) to encourage men to “be as much like our Heavenly Father as we can be.” Young says God “put it on (his) heart to make a website.” After months of resistance, and a lack of experience in website design, he was challenged by a message at a Promise Keepers Conference. “(It) spoke about listening to God and following what He tells you,” recalls Young. “That was kind of the straw. I sat down during March break that year, started clicking on the computer and spit out this website.” (March/April 2010)
A YEAR LATER COURAGEOUS STILL SCRATCHES WHERE MEN ITCH When Sherwood Pictures announced its fourth film would focus on fatherhood and spiritual leadership, Promise Keepers Canada wanted in on the action. Initial partnership inquiries went nowhere until Crossroads Christian Communications CEO Don Simmonds connected with Promise Keepers Canada president Kirk Giles. “Our prayer as ministry from day one was that men wouldn’t just watch the movie and say ‘that was a good movie,’” said Giles a year after Courageous hit movie screens. “We wanted to see men who were so profoundly impacted, that their children, their wives and the people around them would look back after a year and say ‘wow he’s a different man and God’s been really, actively been shaping this man as a father and a husband’ and movie played a real big part in that.” (July/August 2012)
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 23
Live event, 2008. Photo courtesy of Promise Keepers Canada
FROM CASSETTES TO PODCASTS In the nine years Jeff Stearns has coordinated Promise Keepers Canada resources, the ministry has expanded from cassettes to podcasts, from physical to online and app-based resources. When Stearns joined the ministry, after four and a half years as marketing director for a website, he became responsible for Promise Keepers Canada’s Wise Choices package: the Men of Integrity devotional, New Man magazine and a cassette featuring a message by a Promise Keepers conference speaker. Wise Choices was eventually renamed PK@Home which now includes both physical and digital resources available through mail, e-mail, the Internet and as a smart phone app. Cassette tapes, which became CDs, are now available as digital podcasts. After New Man folded, ChristianWeek, an interdenominational publication based in Winnipeg, started publishing SEVEN magazine for Promise Keepers Canada in June 2008. That arrangement ended in January and the first in-house published edition of SEVEN was distributed this past March. “There’s been a huge explosion,” says Stearns, the National Marketing and Resource Manager for Promise Keepers Canada. “We’ve gone from 12,000 guys getting resources physically to up to 150,000 views or readings of the different content in different formats.” Stearns also takes care of the resources made available to men at Promise Keepers Canada conferences. While the books and authors may differ from year to year, Stearns says attendees are inclined to buy three kinds of books. “What it means to be a godly man, marriage books that don’t look like romance books and parenting books.” Also mindful that about 25 per cent of conference attendees are in their teens or 20s, resources for young men are being developed. The latest, thisismetv.com, is an online video magazine with episodes featuring hip hop artist Manafest and legal graffiti artist Jeff Goring.
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Along with the leadership, the ministry itself was changing. “We pulled back on a whole bunch of things,” says Giles. “It was like starting from scratch: from multiple conferences to one in Toronto in a church.” By 2000, PK Canada has “morphed from being a conference ministry to being a ministry that happened to conferences. “As the evolution continued we began to see ourselves as a discipleship ministry, where men could come, grow, and live as disciples of Jesus,” says Giles.” From the start PK Canada encouraged discipleship. At first, this was shown as men built or restored relationships with their wives, sons, fathers or others. Giles note this was one of the reasons he became involved with the ministry, first as a volunteer, and then as an employee. “God used Promise Keepers to reconcile a broken relationship between my dad and I,” recalls Giles who was serving as a pastor and newly married with his wife expecting their first son. “I remember the commitment the ministry had to the church and supporting pastors. It profoundly and personally impacted me. I wanted to give back to the organization.” Now, through initiatives like Blueprint, PK Canada works with local churches and church leaders to build a framework for effective discipleship. Workshops on anger, what it means to be a godly man, friend, father and husband, among others, help men work through some of the key issues in their lives. Giles’ life is an example of what PK Canada wants to replicate in men, ministries and churches across the country. “There are so many things in my life that have been deeply shaped by this ministry than I don’t know where I’d be without them. The biggest is: how much Jesus actually cares about every area of my life and how it looks to follow Him in every area of my life. “I can’t put God in a box off to the side. I have to love God in every relationship,
A key moment in the ministry of Promise Keepers Canada came when leadership deemed it best to forgo large stadium events in favour of smaller, church-centric gatherings.
Photo by Joel Belizario, courtesy of Promise Keepers Canada
“I can’t put God in a box off to the side. I have to love God in every relationship, in every responsibility I have in life.” in every responsibility I have in life.” Giles now marks PK Canada’s effectiveness by “impact moments”—the number of times the ministry has been able to affect a man’s walk with Christ. “We have more of those in these past 12 months than we’ve ever had in the ministry. Our reach and connectedness is more consistent and stronger,” he says. But he knows it’s not enough. “One of the real trends in Canada is that fewer men are attending church… and this begs the question: ‘how do you reach men outside of the church?’” He says a focus of the next five to 20 years will be strengthening men outside of the local church element, with the goal of getting men connected with the church for discipleship. “One area we’ve started to look at is
the workplace. God has been working with Christian business leaders so see their business is about more than just the bottom line. We have an opportunity to come alongside business leaders to help them reach the men who work for them,” says Giles. “By God’s grace, in the next 20 years, we’ll have relationships in every region of Canada to facilitate and support the discipleship of men in every corner of our country.”
“By God’s grace, in the next 20 years, we’ll have relationships in every region of Canada to facilitate and support the discipleship of men in every corner of our country.”
/ ROBERT WHITE is an Ontario-based freelance journalist who has been writing about men’s ministries since the mid 1980s. He also blogs about the intersection of faith, the arts and Canadian culture at www.rdaleleslie.wordpress.com.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 25
FEATURE
26 SEVEN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015
BEYOND BUSY TAKING STOCK OF OUR TIME AND EFFORTS BY GAVIN JENSEN
THE LAUNDRY LIST I was up early on a Thursday morning to think through and jot down some of my expanding “to do” list. My wife and children were still in bed. I spoke to myself in a quiet whisper: “Okay... I have an afternoon meeting with Jenn today, and one this evening with Brett. I should finish up my sermon notes for the weekend this morning. And I had better do some work with the team that’s helping put together the workshop for next month—there’s still a lot to do. I’ll call these people, email those people...I need to go over July’s financial documents and have a chat with the new bookkeeper too. Which reminds me, I have to get over to the bank today... Also, the garden needs weeding badly, and, come to think of it, my eaves are growing weeds too—I should probably get those cleaned out while I’m out there. And cut the grass. Liz and I were going to try to get started on that bathroom reno too....
And I said I’d restain the deck. But I also promised the kids we could go to the beach soon—summer is almost over. And, oh yeah... I have to figure out how I’m going to cook that 50lbs frozen hog sitting in the cooler in my kitchen for my brother’s bachelor party tomorrow....”
DISCIPLESHIP: NOT FOR PART-TIMERS Everyone, on any given day, has their own unique list of those things they need and want to do. We rush from one project, or appointment, or errand to the next. Our jobs, home lives, and relationships all come with obligations and expectations, all place a demand upon the resources of our time and energy. We lead busy lives, sometimes even frantic lives, stuffed to the edges with “to dos.” By way of response, pastors, teachers, and spiritual leaders preach sermons and write books on how the modern man or woman might
fit God into their hectic schedules of work, recreation, and family obligations. Scan the shelves of your local Christian book store and find the books with titles along the lines of “101 Inspiring Bible Verses for Busy Moms” or “One Minute Devotions for Busy Men.” They’re there in multitude, offering the promise of some real piety without the costly expense of attention and time being taken away from our other priorities. The problem is, however, that authentic Christianity is not something that can be reduced to a few brief moments of religiosity scattered throughout our weekly schedule. Christian faith isn’t something that can be sprinkled into the rest of life, added in as an accoutrement once we’ve attended to our other obligations, responsibilities, and interests. While “balance” may be the watchword of our contemporary society which likes to dote on a
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 27
certain brand of “healthy living,” it is not a part of the language of scripture used to describe those who would be disciples of Jesus, because life lived with and in Christ isn’t just one component of our life to which we must be attentive—it is our life.
WORK HARD, REST WELL The New Testament—both through Jesus’ own words in the Gospels and in the epistles—teaches that those who follow Christ are to let their “yes” mean “yes” and their “no” mean “no.” We’ve mistakenly assumed that we are able to get away with saying “yes” to Jesus, but actually meaning “yes, but...” or “yes, whenever I can
downtime don’t need to be altogether done away with and replaced with extra church services, though they likely need to be reassessed for how truly restful they are. Recovering a holy, sane rhythm to our lives—the type within which we were created to live—is imperative for us busy men (and women) of 21st Century North America.
A LIFESTYLE THAT WORKS The recovery of a holy rhythm will require some honest, earnest, and prayerful evaluation of our lives. Firstly, how busy are we really? While many malign their hectic schedules, busyness is functionally a virtue of
To be busy makes us feel important; it feeds our frail egos. And so, even when we’re not pressed on time, we continue to articulate how full our “to do” list is. squeeze you into my schedule— maybe some time between work, the trip to the cottage, and the kids’ soccer tournament.” Certainly, we don’t need to abolish any and everything from our lives that doesn’t look upon first glance like overtly religious activity. Work isn’t a great evil; we don’t need to jettison it from our lives in order to make room for Christian faith. In fact, work is good and part of the created order of things (that is, it didn’t just appear after “the fall”). It’s also the normal way we receive much of the daily provision given by God. Rest, likewise, was part of the created order of things as God instituted Sabbath at the beginning of history and time as a gift to creation. Our moments of vacation or
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our contemporary, utilitarian society. To be busy makes us feel important; it feeds our frail egos. And so, even when we’re not pressed on time, we continue to articulate how full our “to do” list is. Some recent studies indicate that the average Canadian dedicates 30 hours a week to watching television, not to mention the time given to casual web-browsing. It’s quite a thing that our society has managed to cultivate a culture filled with both ardent workaholics and dozy couch potatoes! It’s worth taking real stock of where our minutes and hours are being consumed. Secondly, it’s not just how busy we are, but why we are busy with those particular things that needs to be sincerely evaluated. For the people of God, their lives are no longer to
be self-focused, obsessing over their own comforts, desires, and will, but, rather, about doing the will of the Father, imitating the self-emptying love of Jesus Christ, and serving others in the strength of the Spirit. How much of our day-to-day agenda is dedicated to our own gain, our own comfort? To feeding our own egos? The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6, “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.” Busyness, really, is not an inherently problematic or negative thing. Indeed, there is plenty with which to keep busy when we hold the good of others in highest regard.
A HEAVY COST Of course, we won’t just need to reevaluate our lives; we will, almost certainly, need to reconfigure them as well. That might mean making some difficult choices—changes that will come at a cost, changes that will impact our work life, our recreational and leisure life, our home life and mean that our lives will no longer be able to look like those of our neighbours. But that’s what it takes to let our “yes” to the call to discipleship and Christian faith be a sincere, if provisional, “yes.” St. Paul penned a warning to his friends in Ephesus that is no less pertinent for us busy modern people: “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”
/ GAVIN JENSEN is a husband, father, pastor/church planter, and professional wrestling fanatic who lives in Winnipeg.
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SPORTS SCENE
ZACH JOHNSON MODESTLY, QUIETLY BECOMING ONE OF WORLD’S BEST
‘NORMAL GUY FROM IOWA’ ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY BY SCOTT TAYLOR
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t never ceases to amaze me how the international media starts feeling uncomfortable when a professional athlete like Zach Johnson gives his public testimony. You can actually hear the groans. “Oh yeah,” they say, “Here it comes, the ‘I owe it all to God’ speech.” It amazes me simply because it’s as if they were never really paying attention in the first place. When Zach Johnson wins a golf tournament, and especially one as important as the
sports and in golf specifically.” That’s where the news media generally left his comments. I guess, because they are often uncomfortable with what he said next... “I just remained patient,” he said. “I had some scripture going around in my head. I have to thank my friends, thank the Lord, my wife Emily. I’m just in awe right now.” Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t call that evangelistic. It seems like a simple response from a fellow who
they both, coincidentally, were taking out the trash. Kim, originally from Fernandina Beach, FL, was raised as a member of the First Baptist Church in Orlando. It didn’t take long for Zach to join his wife’s family church and they were married at First Baptist in 2003. “Because I met Kim, I discovered what it meant to live for Christ,” he said. “It was honestly something I wanted to do. The facts were there and I could sense the Holy Spirit at work. Early in the winter of 2002, I gave my life to the Lord. “Funny, but before I became one, I always thought being a Christian would be boring. In reality, it’s been the complete opposite.” Zach, now 39, and Kim have been married for a dozen years and are the proud parents of three children: sons, Will and Wyatt, and daughter, Abby Jane. Home is now St. Simons, Georgia. She was on the 18th green when Zach won the Open Championship and became what the Scots call, “the champion golfer,” and it wasn’t surprising. She seldom misses the final round of a tournament with all three kids at her side. A Tour player since 1998, Johnson has won 12 events and two Majors. Jack Nicklaus he isn’t, but a future
“I felt that regardless of what happened today, my responsibility was to glorify God and hopefully I did.” British Open, you can pretty much guarantee he’ll give praise. It’s who he is. This isn’t some phony ‘Praise be the Lord,’ TV schtick. This is simply a servant of God doing what he does. In mid-July Johnson became one of the few players in the game to add a British Open championship at St. Andrews to a victory at the Masters (2007). After winning a fourhole Monday playoff in Scotland and then collecting the iconic Claret Jug, Johnson fought to hold back tears of joy. “I’m grateful, I’m humbled, I’m thankful, I’m honoured,” Johnson said. “This is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in
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calls himself “just a normal guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.” Granted, he’s a normal guy from Cedar Rapids who has a green jacket and a Claret Jug, but when it comes to being what one might call “a legendary player,” or a “player in the media spotlight,” Johnson is closer to your neighborhood insurance executive than he is Tiger Woods. Or even Phil Mickelson for that matter. Johnson is the son of a chiropractor who took up golf in Cedar Rapids at age 10. He was raised a Catholic, but really didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about his spirituality until he met a young woman named Kim Barclay one morning in Orlando when
Zach Johnson and the Claret Jug
Hall of Famer? Well, after winning the Masters and the Open, he pretty much has a World Golf Hall of Fame spot locked up. Although frankly, you’d never know it. A devoted husband and father, the church remains an important part of his life. He’s quiet and humble and exactly what Christ asks us to be. Of course, what he’s learned in church certainly played a major role in his life and his victory at St. Andrews. “I was reading bits of scripture to myself, things like Psalms 24:7 which reads, ‘Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in,’” he told reporters on the 18th green. “I’ve been reading them all week. I thank God for the talent he’s given me and I take those gifts very seriously. “I felt that regardless of what happened today, my responsibility was to glorify God and hopefully I did.” Despite the fact, the big international media didn’t really want to help, Johnson has every right to say: “Mission accomplished.”
/ SCOTT TAYLOR is a Winnipeg-based sportswriter and broadcaster. Photo courtesy PGA Tour
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 31
THE SINGLE LIFE
FALL KICK OFF
KEEPING FOCUSED IN LIFE’S BUSY SEASONS BY PAUL H. BOGE
F
all is filled with new starts. The NHL season kicks off. Football gets into high gear. When we were younger we headed off to our next year in grade school. Our parents registered us for soccer, music lessons, and other activities. And that meant routine. Goodbye free-for-all summer, and hello alarm clocks and responsibilities. Fast-forward to today and sometimes the months can begin to run together. For singles without
There seemed to be so much time to do things back then. Now, unless we deliberately plan to do something, we rarely find the free time to squeeze it in. The busyness of life can crowd out the need to spend time with God. So what to do? Let’s start by asking ourselves why spending time with God is important. What should our motive be? Is it the benefit of blessings to should drive us? Or should it be
Yet they all share in common their desire to place God as the priority in their lives. children there is no mad rush of kids in the house getting ready for school to signal the start of the new normal. August becomes September, which then becomes October. It challenges us to ask ourselves the question—have we planned to spend time with God as we head into the fall season? When we were kids the summer seemed to last forever. A week when we were seven years old seemed to go on forever. Now, you blink and you wonder where the month went.
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to avoid guilt? What if it is deeper than both of those? What did the Bible mean when it says, “But Jesus Himself would often slip into the wilderness to pray?” (Luke 5:16) The best part of any relationship is when two people spend time together because there is a connectedness. We are designed to be with God. We are engineered to be in His presence. And if we respond to God’s initiative to spend time with Him, to live in His presence, we will find that being with God is not just something we
should do, it is something we will desire to do. One of the dangers we face in the western world is that so much competes for our attention. There are a lot of fun and good things available to us, and each person needs to be convinced in their own heart about how to spend their time and how to connect with God. Yet sometimes, growing as a Christian means giving up the good, to achieve the great. We need to evaluate all we do and ask what is contributing to our walk with Christ. As we study the Bible we see that followers of God came from many different backgrounds. Yet they all share in common their desire to place God as the priority in their lives. There is incredible joy in simply making time for Christ. Not with crowding our overcrowded schedules with more things. But in being willing release ourselves into God’s hands to accomplish His will. The Bible says the secret of the LORD is for those that fear Him. He’s waiting for you. He loves you. He’s given you an invitation to join Him. It’s your move.
/ PAUL H. BOGE is single and lives in Winnipeg. He is an author, filmmaker and works as an engineer.
OUT OF MY DEPTH
A SLAVE DRIVER CALLED PETTINESS
CHURCHES: WE HAVE BETTER WORK TO DO BY MARK BUCHANAN
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othing is as hard to suppress,” Jewish philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “as the will to be a slave to one’s own pettiness.” Ah, yes. Yes, and ouch. I wake daily to this battle, this fight to silence my inner voice of pettiness. Left to myself, I boast, I whine, I complain, I scorn, I judge. My inner child is a naysayer and tantrumthrower. Most of it is just noise in my head, but some of it spills from my lips. I resolve to be better, to think noble and lofty thoughts, but I can lapse into small-mindedness with hardly a demur. I mask it with coy phrases: “I know I’m not perfect, but….” The “but” constitutes an account of someone else’s imperfections, glaring and outlandish (the way I tell it), against which my flaws seem almost like virtues (the way I tell it). Maybe the most glaring symptom of my pettiness is my heart’s captivity to trifles. I can fret over the smallest things—a chip in the windshield, a delay in my plane schedule, a mistake in my food order—and be oblivious to things that actually matter—the horrors suffered by Christians at the hands of ISIS, the plight of many First Nations people, the struggle of the homeless. I commit many crimes of apathy. I don’t know what the Apostle Paul’s thorn in his side was, but I know one of mine: the will to be a slave to my own pettiness. Sometimes my wife, who’s the least petty person I know, looks askance at all this. “Honey…” she says.
“
“Well,” I say, “If this is all you have to complain about me, you’re luckiest woman on earth.” Then that look of infinite pity: “Honey, if that was all I had to complain about you, I would be lucky the luckiest woman on earth.” Yes, and ouch. Sometimes entire churches become enslaved to their own pettiness. It becomes their governing principle. Their ethos. The results aren’t so much disastrous as ridiculous: the church starts making decisions and embracing practices that are blatantly self-serving, and they stop being the fragrance and presence of Christ. Which, come to think of it, is a disaster. A pastor friend of mine told me about an argument that erupted in his church. The issue? The “right” way to load toilet paper on a dispenser—over, or under? It was dividing the church. The board resolved the matter by installing two roles in each stall, one for each preference. I’m not kidding. Most churches don’t descend quite to this level of silliness. Actually, often it’s worse: their pettiness is, not silly, but vicious. Most of us know at least one church deeply damaged, maybe even split, because of squabbling and gossiping over some matter that should never have risen to the level of discussion. Someone should have had the wisdom and courage to dismiss the issue before it ever saw light of day. “Avoid godless chatter,” The Apostle Paul wrote Pastor Timothy, “because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly” (2 Tim
2:16). Or his advice to Pastor Titus: “…avoid foolish controversies... and arguments and quarrels… because these are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9). Simply, those of us called to be ambassadors of reconciliation should not squander a single breath on trivialities. We have better work to do. Near the end of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he addresses two women, Euodia and Synthyche, whose friendship had turned bitter. He pleads with them to resolve it, and for others in the church to help (Philippians 4:2-3). That actual incident adds poignancy to what Paul says earlier in the letter: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16; my emphasis.) So much depends on our not being slaves to our own pettiness. Heschel may be right, that nothing is as hard to suppress. But for the sake of the gospel, nothing is as urgent. We have better work to do.
/ MARK BUCHANAN is an associate professor of pastoral theology at Ambrose Seminary in Calgary. He previously served as the senior pastor of New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan, B.C.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 SEVEN 33
POWER PLAY
TOYS / TOOLS / TECHNOLOGY OUR SMELLIEST EDITION EVER . . . BY SANDY MCMURRAY
Powerwall is a new home battery made by Tesla, the company best known for its luxury electric cars.
34 SEVEN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015
POWERWALL
// teslamotors.com/powerwall
Powerwall charges from solar panels and from your local utility so you always have electricity available, even during a power outage. Power companies often charge more for electricity during peak hours when demand is high. Powerwall can store electricity overnight when rates are low to provide power in the evenings when rates are high. If you have solar panels, Powerwall can also charge during daylight hours to reduce your dependence on the local utility. Tesla plans to offer a variety of batteries for homes, businesses, and utilities. For now, Powerwall is available in 10kWh or 7kWh versions. Both can connect with solar or grid and both can provide backup power. The 10kWh Powerwall is optimized to provide backup when the grid goes down, providing power for your home when you need it most. Powerwall’s lithium ion battery is completely automated and requires no maintenance. Tesla’s selling price to installers is US$3,500 for 10kWh and US$3,000 for 7kWh. Consumers will pay more to cover the cost of installation.
MITI LOG STOVE
// sportesoutdoortools.com
Designed in Quebec and made in Canada, MITI is a tough and simple tool for cooking over an open fire. Here’s how it works: take four pieces of wood and stand them on end. Place MITI on top. Insert steel rods and drive into the ground. Light your fire and cook. MITI is great for camping and hiking. It weighs less than a portable stove and requires no propane. All you need is some dry wood and you’re ready to cook.
LIGHTER MULTI-TOOL
// coleman.com
The Coleman multi-tool lighter is another space-saver for campers. It looks more like a grenade than a Swiss Army knife, but inside you will find a similar set of useful tools: a knife, a can opener, a small saw, a file, and a wind-proof lighter.
POWER BACON
// baconsalt.com
Has anyone ever told you that you smell like a pig? With Power Bacon deodorant, you can smile and politely say, “Thanks for the compliment!” The makers of Bacon Salt are at it again, with another new product that tests the limits of their slogan, “Everything is better with bacon.” Your natural manly musk might be attractive to the fairer sex, but Power Bacon promises to attract everyone —“friends, acquaintances, beautiful strangers, dogs, bears, swamp alligators, lions and even pigs.” Do not hike in the woods without a firearm while wearing Power Bacon. You’ve been warned.
BURNT RUBBER COLOGNE
// essenceofracing.com
Close your eyes and imagine yourself at a NASCAR event. Listen to the roar of the engines. Feel the wind in your face. Smell the heat, the gasoline fumes, the asphalt, the subtle notes of burnt rubber. If you’ve ever wanted to bottle that up and take it home, you’re in luck. Sunoco, the official fuel of NASCAR, IndyCar, and the National Hot Rod Association, has created Burnt Rubber, a scent for men and women who want to smell like a racetrack. Production is limited, so you may have trouble finding this new scent in stores. Fortunately, it’s cheap and easy to make a similar scent in the comfort of your own garage. Just stay away from open flame.
GRILLTIMER WATCH
// littlegriddle.com
Are you still using a smart phone as a timer when you cook? Get with it man! Wearable tech is where it’s at. GrillTimer by Little Griddle is a wristwatch and recipe timer for people who love to grill, cook & BBQ outside. The patent pending “Grill Bezel” contains a rotating mechanism that works like a diver’s watch; you turn the dial to the recipe you want then start the timer. As you cook you just glance at the watch face occasionally to make sure you’re on track to flip or remove your food before it burns. Grill time will vary, of course, depending on the cut of the meat and the temperature of the grill. Gradient lines on the Grill Bezel give you a general guideline, so you can easily tell the difference between steak tartare and steak well done. The GrillTimer wristwatch sells for about $50.
AIR FILTER UNDERWEAR
// myshreddies.com
The name might be familiar to Canadians, but these Shreddies have nothing in common with the popular breakfast cereal. Except, I guess, that bran might be involved. But I digress… Shreddies is a flatulence filtering undergarment that turns silent but deadly into just silent. It’s underwear with an activated carbon lining called Zorflex that traps and neutralizes the odours. This magical cloth is reactivated when you wash it. They’re a bit thicker than normal underwear but otherwise look about the same. The makers of Shreddies promise that Zorflex will remain effective “for the life of the garment”, which they estimate to be 2-3 years. I suspect they have not surveyed men to find out how long we keep our underwear.
36 SEVEN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015
HAMMOCK HOT TUB
// hydrohammock.com
What is the ultimate tool for outdoor relaxation? Some say hot tub. Others say hammock. I say, why not both? Take a hammock, fill it with water, then heat to a comfortable bath temperature. That’s the idea behind the Hydro Hammock. Once you see it, the genius of this idea is obvious. Why didn’t I think of it first? As of this writing, the first generation of Hydro Hammock is in pre-production. There are two styles: Single Layer (lighter, more compact) and Double Layer (thicker, with an insulation pad to hold the heat longer). Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to see what I can do about combining a reclining chair with a barbecue restaurant.
HANDWRITTEN NOTES
// hellobond.com
How long has it been since you wrote a letter by hand? In these days of texting and typing, the only time most of us actually write is when we sign a cheque or a greeting card. Bond is a service for people who want to send beautiful hand-written notes without actually putting pen to paper. You type the message, then choose the font. Bond’s hand-writing robots turn your words into lovely cursive writing. Bond’s service is also available to companies that want to give their correspondence a personal touch. If you’re a busy executive with more money than time, you can teach the robots to write exactly like you, so that all of your Bond notes use your unique handwriting. Someday, if robots rise up against humanity, we might get a lovely card in the mail announcing the date of the attack.
/ SANDY MCMURRAY writes about games, toys, and gadgets at funspot.ca.
Bond is a service for people who want to send beautiful handwritten notes without actually putting pen to paper.
NEXT ISSUE
BRINGING
sexy BACK
It’s been a few years since our last “sex issue” and times have certainly changed. As cultural attitudes continue to evolve, we discuss the elephant in the room: same-sex marriage. Can there truly be compassion without compromise? Plus, a look at the ongoing challenges of sex addiction recovery, how to respond when leaders fall, as well as a few helpful tips for turning up the heat in your marriage. Don’t miss it!
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