Prezi for December 28th 2014

Prezi for December 24th 2014

2015: 5 Signs to Watch

Test Prezi Backgrounds for 2015 Sermon Series

Prezi for Sermon Sunday December 21st

Advent 2 Sermon Prezi

November 23rd 2014 - God's Priorities for Grandparents

Family Matters Video Week 6 - Shown Sunday Nov 9th

Slide 23 has to become my mantra.

Culture from Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix. 

Slide 23 has to become my mantra. 

Prezi for November 9th 2014

Prezi for November 2nd 2014

October 26th 2014 Prezi

Prezi for October 19th 2014

Prezi October 12th 2014

Prezi for October 5th 2014

Week 3 - @McMaster Loss 37-17 (Week 2 was a bye for the Ravens)

2014 Raven's Team Photo

Helping injured DLinemen off the field. 

#13 running a hook route in 1st quarter. 

The Raven's D

#13 on Special Teams... 2014 Year of Special Teams 

Gorgi dropping back to pass. 

#13's sister making gang signs at the game. The Falls always represents. 

Prezi for September 14th 2014

Fall 2014 Facebook Demographics for GAC FB page

2014 Panda Game Promo #2

Week 1 Game - Ravens at Waterloo Video ReCap

Week 1 Video Recap Ravens at Waterloo

Week 1 - Ravens at Waterloo

#13 blocking former St. Paul's (NF) DB

Prezi August 31st 2014 - Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

Israel in HD video

Prezi August 24th 2014 - Part 3 of Acts 7

Next Poem to Memorize

Here is the next poem i am going to try to memorize.

The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson. The language and meter will be the hardest by far, yet.

I FLED Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated,

Part 2 of Acts 7 - Prezi for Sunday August 17th 2014

Prezi for Sermon August 10th 2014

#Hamas watched as they assemble, hide and fire rocket from civilian area in #Gaza

3rd Temple and 5 signs of 2nd Coming

I'll get to back to this soon... a blog about Pastor Jake's 5 Signs of the 2nd Coming. But in the mean time watch the movie about fundraising for the plans for the 3rd Temple.

Prezi for Sunday July 27th 2014 - Acts 6

58 seconds poem about Gaza

Ashdod Bomb Shelter Version of Matisyahu's One Day

July 20th Prezi - Acts 5 Part 2

A personal relationship with Christ is "dangerous"? Say it ain't so Pope Francis.

I'll blog about this video and these pictures and the events surrounding them at a later date. 

For now watch the above and read the below. 

Read Brian's thoughts about his lunch here. 

Read an article from BC Catholic about the "Joint Declaration" that is going to be worked on by World Evangelical Alliance and The Holy See about what it means to "receive salvation personally". 

Prezi for June 29th - Acts 5 - 3 Truths on Giving from the Holy Spirit

Class #6 - Good Uses for Bad Ideas - Orthodoxy

Registration Page - 2015 Israel & Jordan Journey March 8-19 2015

QR Code for GAC Feedback Form

Prezi for Good Uses for Bad Ideas Part 5 - Sacramentalism

3 Fav "I Believe that We Will Win" World Cup Chants

Loving watching the World Cup Soccer, especially the heart-attack kids from America. It is only too cool their their nickname is The Outlaws.

The American team has the worst and best chants of this World Cup. They have their standard and annoying U-S-A chant. But they also have their "I Believe that We Will Win" chant which comes the Naval Academy in Anapolis, MD who started it in support of their American football team.

Here are the three best versions of the chant from YouTube:

Prezi June 22nd 2014 - Acts 4 Part 2 From Shaken to Shaking

Case for Steel Power Poles

MT @PowerStreamNews - Crews working w/ @MarkhamFire and @YRP to create a safe work zone and remove trapped vehicles. pic.twitter.com/uz6h0PsKdp
— AM640 (@am640) June 18, 2014

Prezi for Sunday June 15th 2014

Prezi for Week 4 in Good Uses for Bad Ideas - Arianism

Solar Flare Videos - My New Addiction

NASA publishes these amazing solar flare (Coronal Mass Ejection) videos from its IRIS satellite that monitors our Sun. So cool that the Telegraph backs them up with classical music.

Prezi for SAM presentation about The Temple Mount June 10th 2014

Prezi for Sunday June 8th 2014 - Acts 3

Prezi for Class #3 - Good Uses for Bad Ideas - Gnosticism

Pope Francis' 2014 Visit to Israel

@glengatecma Sermon and Worship Feedback Form

DRAFT Glengate Alliance Church Service Evaluation Forms

Prezi for Good Uses for Bad Ideas Course - Class #2

4am in the Morning Poem

FOUR IN THE MORNING

Wislawa Szymborska

The hour from night to day.
The hour from side to side.
The hour for those past thirty.

The hour swept clean to the crowing of cocks.
The hour when earth betrays us.
The hour when wind blows from extinguished stars.
The hour of and-what-if-nothing-remains-after-us.

The hollow hour.
Blank, empty.
The very pit of all other hours.

No one feels good at four in the morning.
If ants feel good at four in the morning
--three cheers for the ants. And let five o'clock come
if we're to go on living.

Translated by Magus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire

Latest Tesla Sizzler Video ... Includes Model X gull wing doors.

Prezi for Acts 2 Part 2 - Transforming Fire The Holy Spirit at work in the Book of Acts

Prezi for Good Uses of Bad Ideas Course - Class #1 Judaizers

Israel-Jordan Journey Information Night Thursday 7pm 6009 Valley Way Niagara Falls

Israel-Jordan Journey Information Night Thursday 7pm 6009 Valley Way Niagara Falls

Here is a short, un-narrated video of Petra, Jordan which we'll be visiting next March 8 to 19 2015.

Want to join our journey to Israel and Jordan? Contact Christian Journeys here.

Prezi for Acts 2 - Transforming Fire: The Holy Spirit at work in the Book of Acts

Fav Car Video of my Fav Car - Tesla Model S

JUMP Study May 7th 2014 - Introduction to 2 Timothy

Prezi for Sunday May 4th 2014

Good Friday @shiftworship animation

Easter Sunday 2014 Prezi - 4 impacts of the resurrection on the disciples

JUMP study April 16th 2014 - 1 Timothy 6 part A

Palm Sunday 2014 - Faces is the Crowd John 12:12-29

A great talk on giving talks by Carmine Gallo

Prezumé of Rev. Jacob Birch

Week 8 - Watchful Communion or "Huddle" type Prayers

Week 7 Prezi - Petitionary or "To Do List" Prayers

Week 7 - Change Your Prayers; Change Your World Starter Video

Prezi for the Continental Motel Service March 16th 2014 3pm

Prezi of the DRAFT 2025 Vision and Strategic Planning of GAC

40 Days of Hope and Action

40 Days of Faith and Hope in Action (Devotional Journey promotion video for Lent). from Alliance Compassion on Vimeo.

Download the Faith and Hope in Action brochure here.

3 Favourite Pics of the @CURavens 10th CIS Men's Basketball Championships

Prezi of the Sermon March 9th 2014

1 Timothy 3 JUMP Study Questions

Here are the questions from the JUMP study Wednesday March 5th 2014. 

New Vision and Strategic Plan Graphic

So here is the new vision and strategic plan graphic for Glengate Alliance Church.

You'll notice it contains my 1st crack at what i would also like to suggest as our new name.

What's your reaction? Thoughts? I'll be posting the "meat" of what i mean about the various sections on this blog as well over the next 2/3 weeks so stay tuned.

Jerusalem in 1896

This video is making the rounds of those looking to discredit Israel's claim to their ancient homeland.

I find it very fascinating on many levels.

On the current "political" level i would simply note that no where does the commentator say that any of the people are wearing Palestinian clothing or are from Palestine... he notes that there are Armenians, Turks, Arabs, etc,etc.

My point? Even the Arabs that lived in what is now called Palestine did not identify themselves as Palestinians until the 1960s... until then they were what they were... Turks, Saudis, Yemenis, Iraqis, Syrians, etc,etc living in the ancient land called Israel for commercial, familial or political reasons... but they were really from "somewhere" else.

Best #SB48 Commercial for my money... Radio Shack

The Commercial The Making of... Video

Change Your Prayers; Change Your World Week 3 Starter Video

Question for Week 3 is...

How has God answered a prayer in your life? Tell us the story of how God answered a prayer in your life in the affirmative. Thanks.

Change Your Prayers; Change Your World - Week 2

Please watch this 6 minute sermon starter video in advance of Sunday February 2nd 2014 and then use the comment section below to answer the question:

If the #1 problem related to prayer is "not enough time", what have you tried to make more time for prayer?

Thanks. 

What does the Fox say? It's never too cold to play on the ice of the Niagara River!

Wood-Fired Community Oven - Niagara This Week Front Page

Church Size Determined by Type of Vowels in Your Church Name

Interesting study from the University of Toronto which shows that the sounds your product's name or title makes on the tongue of your potential attendees or clients has a significance impact on their presuppositions about you.

In particular what seems to matter is whether your product name has a front or back vowel sound. Front and back referring to where in the mouth the tongue moves to make the sound in question. Here is a graphic showing some short and long vowel sounds and where they are formed in your mouth.

According to Sam Maglio, “Front sounds are matched with notions of sharpness, brightness and being small, while back sounds are associated with dullness, darkness and being large.”

Applied to church names then if you re-name and re-brand your church with a name dominated by "front sounds" you are likely to create a sense of an active, small engaging community. Pick a "back sound" name and your church will feel larger but perhaps not as friendly as you imagine. So here is my attempt to categorize church names into "front" and "back" sounding lists.

And please note I am only counting the first name of almost all these church names as invariably churches become known by only the 1st word in their name. For example "Glengate Alliance Church" simply becomes the brand name: "Glengate"

Front Church Names

Glengate Alliance Church
Liquid Church
Saddleback Community Church
Westburne Alliance Church

Back Church Names
Mars Hill Church
Branches Alliance Church
Bolton Alliance Church

Which is your church name?

Change Your Prayers; Change Your World - Week 1

Watch this video introduction to the sermon for January 26th 2014 at Glengate Alliance Church 10am 6009 Valley Way in Niagara Falls.

The video challenges you to respond by answering the question: How do your prayers need to change?

Do they need to be longer? shorter? have a deeper theology? Do you just need to start praying... period? Here are 6 ways to answer this question:

1.Use the comment section here on this blog.
2.Use the comment section in Youtube under this video.
3.Tweet your comment in 140 characters or less to @jacobbirch8
4.Email your answer to pastor@glengatealliance.ca
5.Download and use the YouVersion app on your phone to comment in the Glengate Alliance Church group
6. Just talk to Pastor Jake personally or on the phone 905 354 9073 about what needs to change in your prayer life.

Thanks for your openness and willingness to share. All answers will be considered for use in the sermon on January 26th 2014.

Here is the preliminary results of the YouVersion poll about this topic this week...

PM Harper's Visit to Israel

Some great pics from Prime Minister Harper's visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.

For more pics visit this page and for some videos taken while he was tour in Israel see below. 

Guarding your Valleys and Fighting Your Giants OR A Tale of 2 Vales - Part 1

In November when bus #9 was standing on top of Mount Carmel our tour guide Ari - who had been an officer in the IDF Armoured Corps - said something that really made an impact on me, in the context of looking down at the Jezreel Valley spread below us. He said, "Battles fought for the mountains are won in the valleys." Here is the view we had: 

Pray for Syria

These are pictures of what is purportedly the same street in Homs, Syria before and after the war.

Pray for Syria. Please.

Lazarus, Van Gogh and John 11

So in my sermon prep over the last week i was taken with Vincent VanGogh's painting "The Raising of Lazarus".

Some of the many features that critics and expositors talk about this painting and its connection to John 11 are: 

• The look of horror/astonishment/fear/shock on Martha's face (4 days of rot changing before her eyes)
• The red beard of Lazarus (possible self portrait of VanGogh) 
• The absence of a visible Jesus
• The fact that VanGogh painted this and his other "biblical" paintings while recovering from his dementia in the Saint Paul Asylum in Saint Remy France. 

As a pastor what i find most intriguing is VanGogh's painting of Jesus in-absentia - in other words NOT including him in his version of these events. Especially compared with the etching that Rembrandt did of this same subject which we know was brought to VanGogh and partially inspired his version of this same scene from John 11. Rembrandt's "Raising of Lazarus" is here for comparison...

JUMP - 1 Timothy - Following, Learning and Leading at a Christian

Michael Bay "Bombs" at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Director of Armagedon, the Transfomer's franchise and my favourite of his movies The Rock does the sensible thing in many ways... when you have nothing to say about something and what you are being paid to say is not properly displayed on the teleprompter... just get off the stage.

The Selfie Pope and Evangelical's Search for Significance

So Pope Francis was awarded Time Magazine's award Person of the Year for 2013. 

In the words of Time, this award is given to the person that, "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year."

As disciples of John Maxwell, evangelicals are especially attuned to the idea of "leadership is influence". So when told that the Pope is the person that influenced the world the most in the last year, I along with most of those in my tribe should sit up and taken notice.

What can we - as evangelical's - learn from the influence this religious leader's ministry is obviously garnering for himself and Catholicism specifically and perhaps Christianity in general? 

What is "The Gospel"?

What is the "good news" that Jesus came proclaiming, showing, defending and dying for?

I have grown increasingly - over the last 15 years - uneasy with the composition of "the good news" that i have learned and promoted myself that solely concerns me, God and our relationship. I clear presentation of this understanding of the gospel in contained in this blog post from Ligonier Ministries R.C. Sproul.

Why i am uncomfortable with that presentation of the "good news"?

The BBC's take on the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark decisions about prostitution

I listen to the BBC news every day, twice a day. I find that hearing about the world and North America from an "outsider's" perspective is very helpful. Here is a thoughtful summary of the opinions and issues surrounding the impending changes to the prostitution laws in Canada from the BBC. It was tweated out by Defend Dignity Canada.

The most powerful paragraph for me is this one:

According to Tara Klage, in the Guelph Mercury, those who compare sex work to other kinds of jobs are making a fundamental mistake, however.

"Sex is not the same as unclogging a toilet," she writes. "Because of the vulnerabilities of the people who get sucked into it, the world's oldest profession requires a level of scrutiny and vastly more public involvement across a spectrum of services, from law enforcement to social welfare supports. Legalization is not the answer, if for no other reason than because no man anywhere at any time should ever be permitted to view a woman - any woman regardless of choices, background or personal circumstances - as a collection of apertures available for rent."

A New Blog to Follow

What do all these items below have in common? 

These were all items confiscated in the month of December by the Transportation Safety Authority (TSA)... those sometimes annoying often very bored looking airport security people. My favourite is the pink stun gun made to look like a cell phone. The TSA Blog is a new destination for me but one - as an infrequent traveller - that i find at the same time hilarious and beyond scary.