[May 20, 2011]
On Thursday May 19th, BCF held its annual Arts Night.
This was an opportunity to showcase the God-given talents of the students, and to encourage them in using them.
The program was planned by Rhonda Kirkpatrick – the music teacher and member at Hope Fellowship Church in Courtice (her husband Alan has spoken at Crossroads before) – with great contributions from the staff and students.
The evening was well-planned and delivered, with each presentation following promptly after the other. Continue reading ‘Arts @ BCF’ »

[May 15, 2011]
Every year we give people an opportunity to pledge their support for the coming year.
We present a draft budget and ministry vision, and ask everyone to prayerfully consider how much they are able to commit in support of that vision.
For the last few Sundays we have been reviewing our vision, and being reminded that the Lord calls each one of us to be actively involved in His mission somewhere.
For some that means Crossroads, and for others that will be elsewhere. Continue reading ‘Pledge Sunday’ »

[May 10, 2011]
Crossroads belongs to a fellowship of churches called the Christian Reformed Church (CRC).
As part of this organizational structure, we belong to a regional group of CRC churches (called ‘Classis’) that extends from Ajax to Kingston, and north to Lindsay and Peterborough.
At it’s May 10 meeting, the Classis approved a request from Crossroads Church for a mission grant that totals $30,000 for the next 5 years. Continue reading ‘Grant Approved’ »

[May 4, 2011]
Every Sunday our sound team sets up our audio equipment for our worship services.
They have done an amazing job, especially lately as the equipment has started to show its age.
We are working with the school to upgrade our equipment and theirs, each sharing the cost of the equipment we would normally use. Continue reading ‘Improving Our Sound System’ »

[April 28, 2011]
On Easter Sunday we were able to witness the baptism of Lisa and her son Andrew.
They came to Crossroads through the invitation of Lisa’s friend Michelle.
They have been a part of our community since January 2011. Continue reading ‘The splash of God’s love’ »

Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”

April 20, 2011

Dear Friends, It has been far too long, and for this I apologize. I will do my best to make up for lost time.

In March, Urban Promise put on a march break camp, combining all three different Camp’s Children programs (Camp Hope, Camp Freedom, and Camp Victory). I was in charge of planning and helping run an hour of games each day, for just under 100 at risk kids. I must say this was indeed a harrowing experience, and I learned a lot about myself from the experience. Thanks to the very qualified staff of Urban Promise it turned out quite alright. I had the opportunity to work with the 5/6 year old boys, and we came in 4th place for most group points (each group were given points based upon behaviour). The 1st place team at the end of the week was allowed to pick 3 leaders that they wished to see pie’d (whip cream in a pie dish) in the face. Second place got to pick 2, and third place got to picked one. The first place team was full of 7/8 girls from my camp, and out of all the leaders from my camp, they picked me. I am still not sure if I should see this as a good thing or a bad thing, but I like to think they picked me because they like me the best. It was a good week. We taught about King David, and through that we taught a lot of valuable lessons about Jesus. A video was made about the week, and it turned out really well. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this email. (watch specifically at 1:54 to see me chase after 2 of my boys as they try and steal fallen goliaths sword in the middle of the skit) Continue reading ‘Update From Nathan’ »

I received an email recently with wisdom from Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft). There is something so relevant and true about what he writes, and yet how many of us seem to forget it? How many younger people are going into life with an illusion about what life will be for them, and unprepared for reality. What do you think?

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about eleven things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: They called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

First there was the Partridge Family, then the Jacksons, the Osmonds, even the Bradies.
Now it’s the Sennema Family!
My brother has always been, well uniquely exceptional.
And now those qualities extend to his whole family.
This is fun, and well done! Enjoy!!

Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”

February 2, 2011
Hello Everyone,

As you probably know, I found out I had shingles last Saturday. As such I have been sentenced to go home for a week or more of relaxation and recovery. However I think I’ll manage. The hardest part of Shingles is knowing that right now, as I am writing this, the kids are showing up at Camp Freedom and I cannot be there. On the Brightside, kids tend to like you more if you have been gone for a while, so hopefully that will be the case. Continue reading ‘update from Nathan’ »