Free Art Friday 30/12/11

Slowly widening the palette, I have been experimenting with adding a bit of yellow in order to mix some greens.  This image comes from a photo I took a few years ago while hiking the Britton Forest Trail north of Milton on what we used to call a "Worship with Creation" event:

Free Art Friday 23/12/11

I don't often post the work of other people here, especially just a link to the work of established artists but today I make an exception.  My friend Steve Davis, who plays with me in Before the Flood, brought this song out for our annual Christmas show and it has been stuck in my head ever since that first practice.  It has become my favourite Christmas song this year, maybe of all time.  It is quite amazing to find a non-traditional Christmas song, by a secular band, that actually has the Christmas story and isn't just cheesey.  This is a great song by one of my favourite bands of all time, pioneers of Americana music (amazing when you consider all but one were Canadian) and written by the guy who wrote such classic southern anthems as The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (again a Canadian - dear America, You are welcome.  Signed, Canada)...

Christmas Must Be Tonight by The Band

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

Karaoke at Costco?!?!?

I hate Karaoke.  There, I said it.  Please don't be insulted if you like Karaoke, it is just my personal, subjective feeling on the matter but I need to be clear about my biases up front.  In fact, when it come to Karaoke the only thing that is worse than really bad singers is pretty good singers who take it seriously.  In this situation, I find myself so overwhelmingly uncomfortable that I just don't know what to do.  Do I make eye contact?  Do I need to compliment  like I would compliment any good cheese?  I usually do my best to find the quickest way out of the moment.  On occasion the best way out of the moment has been to sing, leading to a few infamous Karaoke moments that are better left unmentioned (but they were pretty funny!)  No matter what your feelings about Karaoke might be, I hope that we can all agree that the scene my wife shared with me yesterday is just wrong.
Kimberley came home frazzled and tense.  Last minute shopping as we prepare to host Christmas dinner had left her completely spent.  This would be understandable on any given day as one tries to shop the week before Christmas.  It is especially true at Costco, as the huge warehouse is jammed with shoppers looking for everything from cranberries to car tires.  It was a zoo to be sure.  But this zoo was to be expected, so what made it so particularly scarring?  Karaoke.  Yes, Karaoke in Costco!  A huge, video Karaoke machine being demonstrated right in the middle of the store where ordinarily one might be sampling samosas.  Not only was it there, in the middle of the store, but it was loud...so loud it filled the entire warehouse with its obnoxious noise pollution.  Let's be honest, if you are at Costco a few days before Christmas, things are already not good.  You have to be a sadomasochist to want to be there any time within this last week.  Chances are if you are there you are already behind in your preparations, or worse, you thought you were done when all of a sudden in dawned on you that there was one, integral thing that you had forgotten.  All in all, it is a recipe for that Yuletide stress that could give even Gumbi a tension migraine.  In this scenario, how could anyone think that an overzealous Italian man screaming out a rendition of "My Way" would be a good thing?  It would not, and is not a good thing.  It is just asking for a tragic incident of shopper rage. 
No matter what your personal opinion about Karaoke might be, if you stop, close your eyes and try to imagine yourself in that Costco scene, I am sure that you will agree that in no possible way would it  be pleasant.  Karaoke at Costco is just wrong.  

Update Tuesday 20/12/11

"You know, not to put you on the spot or anything, but this (blanket) and the twenty bucks someone gave me the other day are the only two gifts I've been given in five years."

- Rick (a bottle collector from the beer store)

Outreach Update:

Some of our team on our way to Gore Park.

A small sampling of the hundreds of blankets we collected with the help of friends and family around the region.

They didn't last long here on the steps!

A few of our new friends.

Here is a heart and message my wife sewed on many of the blankets including the ones I handed out to my friends on Monday morning at the Beer Store.

Jim

Jim and Kim

The first blanket we handed out.

These are just a few shots from my friend Cheri that capture a bit of what we have been up to the last week.  There wasn't a whole lot of time for snapping shots between serving, sharing and praying but these show a bit.  

• They don't capture my spare room which was wall to wall blankets about 3ft deep.
• They don't capture all our friends spreading out to walk the downtown core in search of those in need.
• They don't cover the tears in John's eyes, coffee shaking in his twisted arthritic hand as he shared about his addicted son, nor the prayers from Louise standing next to his wheel chair hand gently on his shoulder.
• They don't capture the hours of preparation as Maria prepared sandwiches, Annabelle prepared cupcakes and Michael and Annabelle organized blanket drives.    
• They don't capture the time and energy invested by friends and family like you who continue to hold us in prayer, support our ministry and give generously so that events like this are made possible.

         For those you will just have to use your imagination...I can just say that they were pretty amazing things to behold. 

In total we served over 40 blankets, sandwiches and cupcakes, some coats and even some hats and mitts (off the hands and feet of our volunteers), and numerous cups of coffee.  We have also been able to supply a number of shelters with blankets and bedding for those that they will continue to serve as well as holding some back for our next event.   It was also moving for me to see the friends and family that I walk with interacting and serving our city neighbours with such love and compassion in the name of Jesus. 
From those of us at the Hamilton Fellowships, let me express our heartfelt thanks for those of you who continue to walk with us and let me wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  We pray that the Light that came into the world at this time so many years ago, might come into our hearts in a fresh way again this season, that we would seek to be a foretaste of the coming kingdom as we wait expectantly for the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus, his promised return. 

Free Art Friday 16/12/11

In preparation for our annual Christmas Party gig, here is a video of Before the Flood from last year's party featuring Kimberley McGibbon.  Merry Christmas...

Go Tell It On The Mountain

Update Part Two

As I mentioned yesterday, it has been quite a week around here.  There were so many exciting things to share that it would not fit into one update.  Yesterday, I focused on some amazing conversations that I had had the day before.  Let me share with you some of the other amazing things that happened the preceding week.
My eventful Monday morning came on the heels of a pretty amazing experience the night before as we had the opportunity to head back to Milton and visit our family at The Sanctuary Milton as they host a church Christmas dinner.  It was great to connect with friends and family, to sing together and to share fellowship over a meal.   The most amazing thing, however, was meeting so many new people.  There was at least four new families that we got to meet, and those were just the ones we met and even they were just the new families that were able to make it to the dinner.  Since our moving to Hamilton just six months ago God has brought a whole host of new faces to the Sanctuary Milton.  These really are exciting times and I can't wait to see what He is up to.
Working backward through the week, Saturday was also an astounding day.  That was the day that my wife and a neighbour hosted the first meeting of their Girls Bible Club for mothers and daughters.  This is a group that they hope to gather once a month during which they will study a different woman from the bible, share in fellowship and share a practical skill building activity (anything from art to community building).  It was exciting to see a mix of churched and unchurched families gathering, learning and having fun.  There was even talk from some of the unchurched attendees about friends that they would like to invite for the next one.  It was amazing to watch people relax, have fun, and build relationships all while learning life lessons from Mary the mother of Jesus.  We are praying for where this may lead.
Finally, I can not help but share our excitement about the many ways we are celebrating God's provision this week both personally as a family and as a church.   Personally, we have been hosting Korean students and helping to teach them English in order to help cover our costs.  When Betty left in December the program informed us they will not have any other new students for at least a year so we have been praying through what other opportunities we might find.  As it turns out, Betty had such a positive experience that she contacted a friend back in Korea who was considering coming to Canada to learn English and suggested that she consider coming to stay with us.  We are working out the details now for her to come in January. 
As a church, we have seen amazing God's blessing and provision through His church both materially and financially.  As you may know, we have been hosting a blanket and coat drive as we prepare to serve some of the needs of the less fortunate in our community.  The blanket and coats have started to come in and it has been overwhelming.  We have received so many donations that we think that we  will have enough for our initial delivery, but also have enough to support some of the shelters in the city.  This will be a key chance to help them but also to build relationships with them as we seek to continue serving the needs of the disadvantaged in the city.  We have also experienced an overwhelming response to our request last week and in a single day we had the entire cost of the coffee thermos donated.  Not only that, but there have been a few donations since then as people have anticipated our need for coffee and other supplies. 
Lastly, we have also been blessed by the kind generosity and kingdom minded agenda of established churches who have come along side of us to help us financially for 2012.   We are truly humbled and honoured to count you as supporters and partners and are extremely grateful for your sacrificial giving.  What seemed like a daunting gap to bridge as we put together a budget for 2012 is a little less daunting this morning.   It is as if God has been saying, "no need to worry I have got this."  We are not all the way there yet  and that keeps us humble, on our knees and dependant upon God, but we are confident that He who has provided thus far and has given us every indication that He is at work, will continue to provide as we move forward.
So, it has been quite a week.  We are pretty excited.  We are looking for the next few weeks, months and this next year to be quite a ride.  Thanks to all of you who continue to ride along with us.  We could not do it without you standing in the gap!

Update Tuesday 13/12/11

Have you ever had one of those days?  You know the one in which nothing seems to go well, everything is a struggle and it leaves you questioning just what it is you are doing and why you are doing it?  Sometimes church planting provides those kind of days.  Yesterday, was definitely NOT one of those days.  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  Yesterday, was a great day, and it comes on the heels of a pretty amazing week as a whole, in which we saw God do some amazing things and we truly feel blessed.
Yesterday, I began my Monday morning, as has become my routine, by taking coffee and sandwiches to the beer store and meeting with the bottle collectors.  I got to connect with a few of the regulars and chat about life.  I also had the opportunity to connect with Steve.  I had met Steve once before, albeit briefly, when he shared that he had just recently been laid off and so he was collecting to make some extra money until other things come into place.  Yesterday, we had even longer to chat, and when it came out that I am a pastor of a new fellowship he began to open up.  He shared that he had been thinking about going to church, about his family situation, about the suicide of his teenage son a year and a half ago, and about many other things.  He spoke and I mostly listened.  I shared briefly about the hope that I believe Jesus brings into such brokenness.  I shared that I would love to talk further if he was interested, that he was always welcome to join us when we meet or that I would be more than willing to meet him where he is at any time.  He left me his contact info, and I left him mine with the intention of connecting again soon.  I intend to follow up in the next few days.
I was pretty excited about the privilege I had been given to hear from Steve as I made my way to the local bakery where I try to stop in for a coffee almost daily.  I have begun to meet some of the staff and some of the customers and I am on a first name basis with a few of them.  To be honest, however, the last few times I have been a bit discouraged.  There have not been that many good conversations and  I have been feeling like there has only been small talk and only when I initiate.  Yesterday, was much the same, until just as I was contemplating leaving, in walked John.  John is there everyday, and strangely, he is there almost every time I am there, even if it is at completely random intervals throughout the week.  I know John's name because everyone seems to know his name and I have tried making small talk on a few occasions.  Yesterday however, John came in and as he was getting his coffee he noticed me, came over and said hello.  I had noticed that he always has a crossword puzzle on the go and so have used this to make small talk on occasion.  Being a Monday we had the opportunity to chat about a specific Canadian themed puzzle in the Saturday Spec.  At the end of the conversation he was intentional about asking my name and introducing himself.  Although it may seem small, this was the kind of breakthrough that I have been praying for.   It seems like an actual relationship is beginning to form and one with a guy who knows so many of the people that are in and through this popular establishment.
As if those two conversations where not enough to cause some excitement from the day, I had another great phone call that left me quite excited.  My colleague Jim Danielson met a photographer in Milton while having some portraits done.  As they were talking, this gentlemen shared about how he felt his family was being called to move to Hamilton, that as a photographer he is interested in the arts community and that he and his wife had noticed some of the poverty and homelessness and were wondering if God might be calling them to be part of making a difference.  My good friend Jim was pretty excited to share about what we have going on and that we had just moved here from Milton as well, for some of the same reasons.  Yesterday, I finally connected with him personally by phone and chatted a bit.  We are arranging a time to get our families together soon.  As I heard him share his story and about preparing to come to Hamilton I could not help but be a bit excited.  It seems that we have similar hearts.  This may be a great addition to our fellowship and another set of eyes, ears and feet to reach into the communities of Hamilton.
I finished off last night by heading into Toronto with my family where we took the opportunity to go skating at the famous outdoor rink at Nathan Phillips Square just outside Toronto City Hall.  We also had the opportunity to see Betty our Korean student again.  Betty left our home in early December to head out to her next adventure.  We were sad to see her go, especially as it was few weeks earlier than we had expected and just at a time when she had been asking some great questions about Christianity and faith.  We were really hoping for an opportunity to walk with her just a little while longer.  So it was great to see her again, it was great to introduce her to the great Canadian sport of ice skating and it was even greater to hear that she continues to read a bit each day from the bibles we gave her, in English and Korean.  God is still at work!  There is a great connection between Betty and our family that continues even as she lives in Toronto.  She has been sharing that the program she is in now is not really what she expected and that the home she is in now is not all that great. We are actually praying through the possibility of getting her back to Hamilton so that we can work with her again.  We would have her back in our home in a minute, but she enjoyed being with us so much she wrote a friend in Korea and suggested that she contact us about coming, and so we have already made plans for her to come and stay in our spare room!  We, our family and Betty herself with her new developing faith,  continue to pray for a solution as we would love to connect with her again here in Hamilton.  It was a great end to a great day, and one that came at the end of a great week.
There are many other things I would love to share, but seeing as some of you are probably reading this at work I don't want to get you in trouble as this update has already been long enough.  I will simply have to write again tomorrow with some of the other blessings that we are giving thanks for.  Check back tomorrow afternoon for another quick post about the week. 

The honest truth is that not every day is like yesterday, not every week like this past week.  We know that there will be some of those days yet to come.  That is why it is important to stop, remember, reflect, give thanks and share these days when they do come as they are what will sustain us through the other not so great days.  We also truly appreciate all of you with whom we can share.  It is always comforting to know that we are not alone but have those praying with us in tough times and rejoicing with us in the celebrations.

Free Art Friday 09/12/11

The Advent season is upon us so an Advent song seems appropriate.  Here is one I wrote a number of years ago that is from my first album.  It can be found at my web site by just following the link below:

Waiting

To hear more free music you can visit www.jasonmcgibbonproject.com and follow the Free Albums tab to the left.

Update Tuesday 6/12/11

With lights dimmed and gathered around the glow of a single candle we gathered to contemplate hope.  This group, in age from 6 to 67- child, youth, adult and senior, shared about the hope and expectation of a people thousands of years ago as they awaited their Messiah.  We spoke of our hope and expectation as we await Jesus' second coming when His kingdom will be established in its fullness.  And I pray for our little group that this year, as Christmas approaches, that we might have a fuller understanding and a fresh experience of Jesus as he breaks into our lives afresh and we are renewed.  Tonight, we will gather again, in much the same way, as we think about peace.  We will  celebrate the peace with God, the reconciliation made possible through Jesus, the future peace that is reality when we live in a world without sin, and the peace that we can show the world here and now as we live out His example and teachings in the power of the Holy Spirit alive and at work within us. 
This is the Advent Season, and my prayer is that all of us might have the opportunity amidst the business and chaos that can be Christmas, to experience Jesus afresh.  May we celebrate this awesome reality that our God came near, a tiny baby that would change the direction of history for the universe.  I am keenly aware that this season, much like that first Christmas, is a busy chaotic and hectic time and without intentionality we may miss the wonder.  There seems no room for Jesus in the Inn, but let us  quiet our hearts, let us hear the angel voices, let us hurry off to the manger, let us celebrate the King.

Please keep us in prayer this Christmas season as we continue a number of outreaches.
-Our fellowship is planning a carol sing and fellowship time with hot chocolate to reach out to our immediate neighbours.
-I continue to meet with a group of low income gentlemen at the Beer Store (which houses the recycling depot) each Monday where we chat over a cup of coffee and whatever food donations I have been able to find.
-We will be doing a food, coffee and blanket distribution to the homeless on Dec. 18th.

As things progress, we find ourselves distributing a lot of coffee/hot drinks at almost every event or gathering that we have.  We have been thinking about and looking for a larger and more insulated coffee dispenser.   I was downtown on the weekend, with some time to kill and I wandered into a kitchen supply store.  While I was there, in the back corner of the shop I almost stumbled over the exact kind of coffee urn that we had been contemplating.  They had one used model for a very reasonable price.  We don't have the funds for such a purpose at this time but if this is something that you would be interested in making a donation towards I would love to hear from you.  We need to raise just under $200.

Thanks again for all the continued support!

Free Art Friday 01/12/11

Here is the latest (and maybe last) installment of my Inukshuk series.

Inukshuk 4