Tattoo You

Tattoos are not addictive. I only have two.

My new one was designed by my friend Gideon Courtney and inked by Andrew Batten at Lucky Devil.

Tattoos are permanent.

People tell me "when you get older, your tattoo will look all blurry and saggy". Well, maybe if I got it when I was 20, but I'm older now for crying out loud! It won't have time to get blurry. And it won't get saggy if I stay in shape.

After I get age marks, and lose my hair, and get short and get ugly, I'm pretty sure a tattoo will be the least of my worries.

"But you may not care about it in a few years". Well, this tattoo is the Tree Of Life and inside are the initials of my wife (JB), daughter (CJM) and son (BJB). I'll still care about all three for a long time.

Besides, it makes me look tough at the gym. Hahaha!

Do you think I should have gotten a larger tattoo to fill the large space? (Joking!)

Next, I'm thinking of getting Matthew 7:21. You know the verse? "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven." I want the whole verse. I love that verse. It's a warning verse. I'm getting it on my left ribcage. It'll hurt like hell.

No, tattoos are not addictive. Hahaha!

Mom Died

Mom died yesterday. She passed away after four weeks in hospital at RVH. A year ago she told me "I know who my Lord and Saviour is". I guess that's why I feel peace about losing my Mom. 93 years is along time. (Norma Baird)

I took this photo of Mom and Dad about a year ago. They both look so happy and comfortable.

Cell Law - It's Dumb

The new cell phone law became effective on Monday. It's now a $500 fine if you talk on the phone while you drive. People are madly buying a blue tooth or other device. Personally, I use an earphone plugged into my cell. No one can tell the difference.

There are a bunch of other things, that I think are worse than talking on the phone and driving,

I've made a list - The Top 10 things to do while you drive instead of talking on the cell phone

10 Browse thru your cd collection and change the cd.
9 Talk to the passenger.
8 Eat a donut and drink a coke.
7 Change the radio station back to LIFE 100.3.
6 Pick your teeth in the mirror. Or pick your nose if you need to.
5 Yell at your kids in the back seat.
4 Change the air conditioning, the heater, the back window defroster and the fan
3 Put on your make-up. But only if you're female.
2 Turn on the seat heater.
1 Roll the windows down so your dog can stick his head out.

All of these things are just as dangerous as talking on the phone while you drive. If you think a cell phone is distracting, wouldn't anything on my top 10 list also be distracting? I wonder if the ministry of legalism (?!) will outlaw any of these?

It's not a free country.

Door-To-Door

Two days in Calgary.

Hanging out with radio and artists. And my friend Ryan who works in secular radio.

At dinner, Ryan told me about the street evangelism he's involved in. Well, not involved. It actually is what makes Ryan tick. He isn't afraid to go to downtown Calgary, unload some Bibles and preach on the street.

And, he told me about door-to-door evangelism. I said, "You mean like knocking on someone's front door and talking about God?" "Ya man".

I said, "do you ever get people slammin' the door and saying, "no leave me alone". "Ya." He says he gets to share with about one in ten people he approaches.

Door to door. Wow! I guess Ryan is more bold about his faith than me.

Ryan and I headed off to Thursday night Bible Study, hosted by four young couples. Ryan parked the car on the street in the residential neighbourhood somewhere in northern Calgary. I noticed we were early for Bible study by a few minutes, and with the extra time...well I couldn't resist. I challenged him to "do it". (Door to door) He popped open his trunk which was loaded with Bibles and tracts and other evangelism stuff. He grabbed a pen and made a note of some opening questions and then - we did it.

We visited three homes. I wondered how the homeowners felt, seeing two strangers at their door, after dark, and me wearing a long, black jacket. I probably looked like Dylan Klebold. I wouldn't have opened the door!

The first two homeowners "didn't have time" for us. The third house was owned by a Christian so that visitation ended nicely. Well, at least we didn't get punched out.

Hmmm. I've considered myself to be an evangelist, or at least have an evangelist's heart. I'm not afraid to bring up "Jesus" in a conversation with non-church people, but going door-to-door is way beyond my comfort zone.

Ryan stretched me.

Then we went to Bible Study.

Cowtown

Calgary. It's GMA week. (Gospel Music Association)

Me and Steve Jones are hanging out with other radio people from SHINE-FM in Calgary and Edmonton for seminars and artist showcases. In the seminars we shared 75 ideas in 75 minutes of cool things we've done to make our stations buzz. It's a great list and we all have it.

Over lunch it was fun seeing old friends like Stephanie Israelson - our Karaoke Superstar winner in Season 3. She's since moved to New Brunswick so we haven't spoken much recently. She had lunch with us and we whined together about the stale bread and powdery lasagna.

New artist Chris Bray hung out as well and I'm really happy that our friendship is growing. He's a good performer and he understands about marketing his music and networking with other industry people. We connect well. His producer Andy Horrocks is always fun to hang out, mostly because he has great, crazy stories about recording sessions.

The highlight of the day was the performance of To Tell, featuring Zach Havens. Zach is my new discovery from London, introduced to me through Dale Elliott at GRACE-FM radio. Zach's songwriting is a pop-like, hit-based, Rocket Summer soundalike, which is unique because most rock performers don't rely on piano as the lead instrument.

I bailed on sticky lasagna to watch Zach showcase before judges in a private room. The pressure was on for him to muster up excitement for the one song on which he was being judged. He explained his vision for To Tell and the boys in the band. Then....BLAM! The music started. "Closer To You" kicked in - powerfully. It's hard to put into words what energy looks like but Zach has it, pounding the keyboard, groovin' and movin', laying down hooks and musical accents that feel soooo good I could barely stay in my seat. Then - it was over.

A good day at GMA.

And a better night at Bible Study. Just ask Ryan!

Last Ride?

I think I rode my last bike ride of the season.

October has been pitiful. Less than 100km over three rides. A bit embarrassing. I'll blame it on the weather. And we all know what a crappy summer it was.

I think the worst part is finding the time. If the forecast is good, I'll aim to get out of the radio station by 2pm, which seldom happens and before I know it, it's nearly 4 o'clock before I click in my shoes. Still, even with the cool temperature it was a good ride. Triple layers of shirts and a toque kept me warm.

Most of my rides this year were solo. Janice joined me on some shorter rides to Shanty Bay or around the Bay to Minet's Point. Janice rides a European work-bike; I'm on a Fuji Pro road bike.

Last year was a record year for me in terms of mileage. I didn't have a goal this year so clocking in at 3,604 is still good. "Any day with a bike ride is better than a day without." Pass it on!

I guess I can look forward to the stationary bike at the gym. Ya. Swell.

Really Big Church

Yesterday I had lunch with Greg Neuman. He pastors "big church" in Barrie.

I like spending time with him because he's a visionary thinker. He thinks outside the church. And his thoughts turn into actions.

I wouldn't want to misquote Greg so I'll do it as best as I can - "God is big, so go big or go home." That applies to everything he does, all the time.

Yesterday he told me about this downtown ministry he and his big church team did in the summer. It was a one hour presentation for street people who probably wouldn't go near a church. There was rockin' worship music and a salvation message which resulted in 35 salvations. Wow! Greg hopes to make it a permanent weekly event and situate it in the heart of the nightclub district because "those are our people."

He told me about another project he's involved with in Rwanda where his team wants to minister, farm and provide solar panels.

He told me about the ongoing prayer that happens once a month inside city hall council chambers where anyone is invited to join for prayer.

Greg rallies his people together and plants the vision. He empowers them to carry it out. And most of all - he cares.

Greg, you inspire me.