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Oct 21
0

THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT: CHRIS HADFIELD

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Col. Chris Hadfield is out of this world. To be correct – WAS – out of this world. He’s made two flights on the Space Shuttle, and commanded the International Space Station but it was Hadfield’s zero-gravity rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity and his breathtaking photographs that earned him superstar status. How great is it that eight hundred grade six students heard tales from outer and inner space from a real live Rocket Man at North Pointe. Commander Coach In his pre-talk walk-through, the Commander quickly let it be known that he’s detail guy. Audio, and video techs, and even a school board representative were coached on his precise expectations. Behind the scenes he graciously posed for pictures in…

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Oct 16
1

5 WAYS TO ENCOURAGE ANYONE

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I am a child of encouragement. And who I am is a result of a chorus of encouraging voices. Voices When perseverance waned, someone told me, “You are the most courageous leader I know.” When discouragement increased, another said, “Anything worth doing is always hard. Keep going.” “I believe in you.” “Stick with it.” “We need you.” A Way Forward That was 2003. Over the course of fifteen years land was purchased, a facility was built, a congregation relocated, our debt was paid off, a dream was realized, and the Kingdom of God expanded through North Pointe. I give what I received – encouragement. 5 Ways To Encourage Anyone 1. Someone needs to hear your voice or read something you’ve…

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Oct 12
4

ALBERTA’S CANNABIS REALITY: IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID

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In a province where billionaires made it big gambling on petroleum, Aurora Cannabis is betting on a new kind of oil in Alberta. Recreational cannabis sales go legal in the land of the maple leaf on October 17th and Aurora has the munchies for market share. Recreational? Aurora isn’t blowing smoke in boasting a market cap of about $4.3 billion. It will be on the forefront of a new technology to extract cannabis oil at an industrial scale. Along with a second site in Medicine Hat, the company is set to produce 200,000 kilos of marijuana per year. The Budweiser of weed – that’s Aurora’s aspirations as the leading provider of marijuana in the world. Are we about to smell…

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Oct 12
0

BUILDING BRIDGES: KHALED, SALEEMA AND ZAHRA

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How are you at building bridges? Khaled and Saleema have moved in next door. Aisha is your new office mate. Ashraf and Zahra own the convenience store around the corner. They’ve come to Canada from societies where they’ve never heard the truth about Jesus. You can build walls. Or you can build bridges. Walls And Bridges Fear builds walls. Love builds bridges. The more you understand about people you don’t know the less you fear. The more we know about each other the more we understand we are like each other. Understanding is like finding the right key to a locked door. 3 Shared Longings When we recognize our shared longings we are more willing to engage sensitively with someone…

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Oct 09
3

CHRISTINE CAINE’S STORY

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The smile on Christine Caine’s face is as striking as the shock she felt when she uncovered the secret her parents kept from her. Christine’s desperate search for her roots turned up a birth certificate. Her mother’s name was listed as “Panagiota.” Her father’s name was listed as “Unknown” – one word with seven letters numbed her. Her own name was recorded as “Unnamed.” She was simply “birth number 2508 in 1966.” Could anything be worse than being abandoned by those who conceived and bore you? The Pain and Shame of Sexual Abuse Christine was sexually abused by several men from the time she was 3 until she turned 15. She tried to tell somebody that could have intervened, but…

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Oct 07
1

37 REVOLUTIONARY THOUGHTS FROM A DIGITAL APOSTATE

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All healing begins with gratitude. That’s a fine thought for a Thanksgiving Monday or any day for that matter. Jeff Einstein has a lot of similar thoughts. And he’s on a mission to to confront arrogance and dogma and put God first so you can last. Digital Apostate In the early 80’s Einstein was a bona fide media pioneer – referred to by The New York Times as “the Mick Jagger of the digital world.” Early in the 21st century, however, and well before the rise of social media, Youtube and smartphones, Einstein morphed from digital media pioneer to Digital Apostate. He asserted that addiction to all things media and all things digital had already emerged as the default social condition, adversely affecting…

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Oct 06
1

THANKSGIVING NOTES

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On Thanksgiving Sunday people were asked to record what they are thankful for. The following is a sample of those expressions. Thankful For… PHIL G. – “I am thankful My God is a healer. I am able to be here to celebrate my granddaughters dedication and to see their parents following God.” MARY – “I am thankful for my country of Canada, our forefathers who built this country on godly values. From those values we still have a free country.” JULIE F. – “God sent his son Jesus to pardon my sins and the world’s sins. For 100,000,000 blessings in my life. Because everyday my relationship with God grows.” SHARON – “I am a nurse and I am thankful that…

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Oct 03
4

THE ONE ABOUT CHIPS, GOD AND SATISFACTION

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I’ve never met a potato chip I didn’t like. Actually, I’ve never met a potato chip that didn’t call my name from the grocery store shelves. Pringles. Old Dutch. Doritos. Sun Chips. Ruffles. Lays. Mark Messier was right about Lays — I can’t eat just one. Once I got the chips home I am forced to eat each and every one of its salty companions. Can you say, “carbohydrate addiction?” Chips And More It turns out there are foods that can actually increase your hunger when you consume them. It seems to me that this phenomenon symbolizes much of the human condition. We drink liquids that dehydrate us. We eat foods that make us hungrier. We buy objects that require…

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Sep 26
2

WHEN WOMEN LET GO

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Letting go. What a conundrum. Risk How do I go about letting go of something that is enmeshed in my identity? Something that is so entrenched in my psyche that if I let it go I might also lose me? Sheila Walsh asked a capacity crowd of women at North Pointe on September 24th to take a risk. “It’s time to have an unedited conversation with God.” Let go of what troubles you the most. She told her sisters that where your scars are, there is your authority. God has met you in those painful moments and walked you through. Your suffering has a shelf life. God is bigger than the broken pieces in your life. God understands your frailty…

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Sep 19
3

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE PRAY

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Does prayer work? Can two or more people gathering together to talk to a God who cannot be seen make a difference in any way? And how could you prove that prayer did create the difference? Couldn’t answered prayer be mere coincidences? Prayer and Life What I know is that when I pray coincidences occur. Things that I ask for appear. Solutions that I am searching for show up – not always in the way that I ask – often better than what I asked for. And I know that prayer changes me because sometimes what I pray for does not come to pass. Then I face a choice that changes me – berate God or believe God. The One…

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