Some people think that worship is something we do at church when we sing. They define worship as the slow music and praise as the fast and upbeat music.

Being a musician, myself, I once thought that way also. I was reminded by Mr. Clint Brown, a well-known worship leader from the U.S. many years ago, when he said that praise and worship has nothing to do with the genre or tempo of a song. Worship IS what we DO! How we spend our time - are we cultivating our relationships with our spouse, children, relatives and friends? Are we good stewards of God’s resources? etc. In other words, worship is a LIFESTYLE.

Apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters, Romans 12:1-2 ”Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Also, we need to unlearn some of the false ideas or false beliefs we have acquired over the years on what real worship is. I believe God can speak to us through the songs we sing in our church services (which is phenomenal) and it touches the very core of our being – it’s amazing! I think it is important to understand WHY we are worshiping and WHO is the object of our worship. God can speak to us in so many ways. We must always ask God to give us good ears and good hearts to hear Him when He speaks. Every time we obey Him, we become the person God wants us to be.

But the more I know and love the Lord, the more I learn what true worship really is.

Preparing a set list of songs every week is one of my responsibilities at Liberty International Church. I pray that we will hear from God as we express our love and adoration to Him through our singing and playing our musical instruments.

Below are the songs for this Sunday (21.02.10) - take a listen and let me know your thoughts.

“YOUR GRACE IS ENOUGH”

“DESERT SONG”

“FIND ME AT THE CROSS”

“BEAUTIFUL”

Blessings!

Junn

This day is always a hard day for me - it is where I really know what it means to live in between the present and eternity.

A little over a decade now my little brother was killed in a workplace accident and while I think about him everyday - it seems that around this time of year my world kind of goes on pause while I remember. I remember my brother’s smile and his un-pretentcious laugh.  I remember his gentle way with people and his wise words that were well beyond that of an 18 year old.  I remember the big things about him but I also remember the silly details - that nobody but a sister would know.  Like the time he tried to grow his hair long but it only grew up.  Or the time we threw alphaghetti on the kitchen ceiling to try to spell words.  There are probably a million stories I could write about my brother but I think the thing I remember most of all was the friendship I had with him.  It wasn’t uncommon for us to stay up into the wee hours of the night  - discussing everything from Jesus to relationships, from music to sports.  There was really no subject off limits.

And while my life is rich and full of joy there are moments where I miss this friendship so much it hurts.  It’s weird that even after a decade I catch myself thinking about telling Dave something that has happened.  I used the believe the statement that “time will heal wounds” but now I know that it is categorically untrue.   It seems to me that as time goes on you learn to manage your wounds with a bit more grace and dignity - but the truth is the wound of losing someone perhaps never really heals.  I’m not saying  that because I lost someone I loved means that I am destined to a life of sorrow and depression - it just seems that the wound of losing someone gives me an ever-present longing for eternity.  It reminds me that this earth is not my home but that I am waiting for something beyond this world that is going to be beyond what I can imagine.  Some people would say that heaven is not a real place but I am convinced that God placed a longing for such a place in our hearts so that we would search for him and for 4015 days since my brother has passed away I have become more and more sure of this fact.

And so today, I remember because it is in remembering that I can hope for eternity.

jess

With Family Day already behind us - it’s time to start planning for the next big break from school - March Break!  So in an effort to prepare in advance I thought it might be helpful to offer some suggestions of how to keep the kids busy.  There are usually a lot of activities happening around the GTA and surrounding areas during the March Break so here are 10 things to consider for some family fun…

1.    Spring Fling at the Rogers Centre
2.    Sign the kids up for a Parks & Recreation camp experience
3.    Check out the your local movie listings - there’s bound to be something for the kids
4.    If you’ve never been in a castle before Casa Loma is a great option
5.    Consider a dinner theater show that the kids will love, Medieval Times is a good alternate too
6.    For the animal lovers - there are always special exhibits at the Toronto Zoo
7.    If classical music is the thing your child adores then Music & Truffles would be a good fit (this event does not fall over the March Break - but deserves an honorable mention!)
8.    Go for a round of skiing or snowboarding right in the city
9.    Habourfront always has something happening…
10.  You can always just spend time at home with the ones you LOVE!

Hope this can at least get you started with the planning for March Break.  If anyone out there knows of any other exciting things happening around the city be sure to share your comments here!  Don’t forget that we’d love to have your whole family join us for our Sunday morning Worship Experience over the March Break (or any other Sunday too!).  We have lots of exciting activities for the kids every Sunday - so check us out.

Nina

Woohoo! Hurray! It’s our first Gold!

Unless you’re a proud Canadian, this doesn’t mean much to you, however if you are proud to be a Canadian our first Gold medal at the Vancouver Olympic Games means a lot to us.  So a big congratulations to our first Gold medal winner Alex Bilodeau for the men’s moguls event at Cypress Mountain.

But what I really love about this gold medal achievement is the back story of the Bilodeau family.  When asked what the medal means to Alex he said “My brother has been an inspiration for me.  Growing up with a brother that’s handicapped, you learn so much.”

Bilodeau’s older brother Frederic has lived with cerebral palsy and has been Alex’s biggest fan over the years.

As I watched the footage of Alex embracing his brother - it reminded me about my priorities in life. Somehow a victory seems so much sweeter when a person has their focus on the right things.  And it made me take a bit of inventory of my life - am I focused on the right things while I try to reach for gold?- or I am only consumed with winning?  Don’t get me wrong - I absolutely want to win in life - but I don’t want to win at the expense of the most important things in my life.  I want to win the right way.

So why not take a quick inventory of your life right now?  Here are a few things to check to help you re-align your gold medal performance.

1. What are you spending your money on?

2,  What are you spending your time on?

3,  Where are your relationships?  Are they healthy or suffering?

Just a few thoughts to help you go for the Gold!

Dave

In my previous blog, I’ve shared my thoughts on ‘Praise’ and I would like to talk about it a little bit more today. We learned that God commands us to praise Him. It’s not to say that God has insecurities - NOT at all! He is the Creator of all things - the Master of the universe! - “All the earth bows down and sings praise to His name.” (Psalm 66:4).  God is not like us - God is God - and we are not. And He knows us even before we were born.

First, we need to define what praise means - here’s what the dictionary tells us:

• Praise is to express approval or admiration of; commend; extol.
• To offer grateful homage to (God or a deity), as in words or song.

Something happens when we begin to praise God! I believe when we find the habit of praising God in all kinds of circumstances it helps us know that God is in control and we find His “Peace” in the midst of storms in life! Praise puts God in first place. It is always turning our attention from ourselves to God. We remember who God is and what He has done, instead of wallowing in the mire of self-absorption or having a pity party. It focuses our thoughts on His majesty and power and invites others to do the same. It is an act of will and a conscious decision to commend, approve and glorify Him. Therefore, praise is not based on our emotions or feelings. We don’t have to feel great to praise the Lord.

This attitude is quite evident in Psalm 42 where the psalmist laments that his life had hit rock bottom. But we learn in verse 11 that he put his hope in God and he chose to praise Him. Despite the many things in our lives that may seem to be wrong, praise should be our conscious choice because we know that God is the answer to our problems. As long as He is in charge, things will get better. Our intimate fellowship with Him makes this difference. We can focus on what is right - God and His goodness to us - no matter what else is wrong. Praise is a willing sacrifice! (Psalm 54:6). This sacrifice of praise won’t cost us any money, but it will cost us our self-centeredness and our natural tendency to dwell on whatever is wrong in our lives. Giving God a sacrifice of praise means that we choose to dwell on Him instead of ourselves.

Lastly, praise is an expression of faith. We praise God even when we do not see Him. Yet we do know that His Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit helps us to know who God is. We praise Him for his creation. So, again, I say make a habit to praise God no matter what you are going through today.

Praise the Lord at all times! (Psalm 34:1)

Junn

First of all, please forgive me for writing something so ‘in season’. I almost feel like a cliché Hallmark card! Looking back I did love this time of year in school. It was the only time that I really got into the festivities of Valentine’s Day. You would bring Valentine’s cards for all of your classmates and put them into the individual folders each student had handmade that were now neatly displayed on the wall in the classroom. I remember one year we collaged the front of our folders in art class. Everyone got into it! People brought in treats and everyone wore red, white or pink. No one was left out. Everyone was accepted.

As I got older love became a little more complicated than simple cards. I found that the same students that had given out little cards so freely were now being more selective with their affection. And the love that they had once shown, a friendly plutonic love, was now way more involved and dangerous.

I heard a speaker say once that is was, ‘everyone’s desire to be fully known, yet still fully loved’. For someone to know the ‘ins and outs’ about who we are, but instead of running off in terror of what they discovered, to still stand by our side. Today it seems like everyone is looking for someone to fill a void that someone else has left in his or her life. They settle for cheap imitations of love and give themselves away at any cost in order to receive any kind of attention that would give them a temporary ‘love high’. It’s like we’re in grade school again, going around with our little handmade folders and looking for someone, anyone, to care enough to fill it. And in filling it, we gauge our worth and value. It’s kind of an odd and unfair assessment, don’t you think?

Can I remind you that the truth is, until we have gauged our worth and value on who God says we are, we will just continue to go about this life as empty as we entered it? No one, nothing, can fulfill the deepest part of you like God can. God says in his word that He is, ‘acquainted with all of our ways’ (Psalms 139:3) yet He loved us so much He, ‘sent His one and only Son to die for us’ (John 3:16). The psalmist David said, ‘such knowledge is too great for me to grasp’. Yet God did everything to make sure you would know that you are so incredibly loved!

This Valentine’s Day as your celebrate love, whether through dinner out, or flowers or chocolates, or just spending time with the people you care about. Remember to go to God first to fill your folder. Let the love of those you care about be just be an overflow of a heart already filled.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Alex

So if you are reading this and you are not a Torontonian then you probably have never even heard of TTC chair and once mayoral candidate, Adam Giambrone - but if you live within a 200 kilometer radius of the city - more than likely you have heard his name along with WAY to many details of his personal life over the past 24 hours.

In a way I had been pulling for Giambrone - he was young and seemed smart - even his cheesy you tube video that poked fun at politicians was a breath of fresh air.  And so it sort of came as a surprise that this school-boy looking politician would this morning admit to deceiving the media about having affairs with multiple women.  In his statement to the media he said this - “This searing experience has taught me, I hope permanently, that a public career with integrity cannot survive deceit in your private life,”

The truth is - I don’t know Adam Giambrone - so I’m hardly qualified to make any judgement about his life but what this scandal does remind  me is that the cost of leadership is high. There are rarely second chances when it comes to keeping people’s trust.  It’s true that God is always willing to forgive us when we make mistakes - but being a leader is not a right it’s a privilege that is earned and validated by people following us.

The thought that has been reverberating in my mind is that if I am going to lead to my full potential then I have to make sure that my internal life matches matches my external life.  And while this is easy to write about it is always harder to live out.  If I am going to lead for the next couple of decades of my life - I have to do daily check-ins with myself - checking my motives, my speech, and my actions.

You know it’s easy to judge someone like Adam Giambrone - to wonder how someone in such a public office could live with such a lack of integrity.  But I am hoping that this scandal would not just be water cooler gossip but a wake-up call to leaders everywhere that what happens in our lives when no one is watching is as important as our public leadership.

jess

With another year behind us it’s time to celebrate!  Each year the staff at Liberty takes some time out to let our Volunteers know how much they are appreciated.  It goes without saying that with only 7 staff members it would be impossible to do what God has called each one of us to do without the dedicated volunteers that make it happen week after week.  Our team is looking forward to throwing a party for our volunteers that have spent many hours over the past year tirelessly giving of themselves to serve others!

To have over 70% of our church members actively involved in a ministry exemplifies the sense of community that Liberty is all about.  The passion that each one of our volunteers serves with is an absolute amazing testimony of how through Christ people from every different walk of life can truly come together for His glory.

When was the last time you volunteered?  Not the kind of volunteering that is done out of guilt, or because you owe someone a favour.  Volunteering is really about giving - doing something to benefit someone else, with no expectations of anything in return.  When those are the reasons behind why you volunteer, you feel blessed.  So if you haven’t volunteered (for the right reasons) lately, find somewhere to get connected and make the most of the experience.  If you’re interested in volunteering at Liberty we’d love to have you on our team, so click here to sign-up now.

Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough sometimes, but I’ll say it again “Thank You” to every volunteer out there that is doing their part to make a difference!

Nina

When it comes to athletics the SuperBowl is probably one of North America’s all time greatest sports events. This past Sunday Feb 7, 2010 Miami Florida hosted Superbowl XLIV between the New Orlean’s Saints (NFC Champions) and the Indianapolis Colts (AFC Champions).  The final score of the game was New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17.

Now what I really wanted to comment on was what happened in between the game during the half time show.  The Who are an English rock band from the 60’s that wrote a top ten album in the 1978 entitled Who Are You?

Here’s a Youtube clip, if you’re interested.

This song was performed during their half time show which got me thinking.

Who are you?  Who am I?  What is life all about?  Ever have those thoughts?

Now I’ve got to be honest as a pastor I’ve struggled through these questions in my younger years of life.   Truth is I continue to find deeper meaning as I pursue my relationship with Christ. But I want to remind you that this question doesn’t have to haunt you any longer as it did once for me.  You can find the answer to this and similar questions of life as you seek Christ for yourself.

A couple of really good books to read on your own that may help you with these questions are:

More Than A Carpenter, by Josh McDowell

Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel

So just in case you were asking the question, Who are You? as the rock band The WHO still is asking, I hope you’ll begin searching for some of those answers as you pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Any other questions?  Let us know.

Dave

Today was our first official mom and tot morning at the new church location and I have to say that I am feeling so blessed to have our own building.  You know sometimes you don’t realize how much you have missed something until you lose it and then get it back again.  For almost three years we have been meeting in various locations - and throughout the week we have been meeting in co-operative housing projects throughout the city - and although it was great for us to really be an incarnate part of our community - it also had limitations.  We were running out of space in each room and setting up equipment just to do something informal seemed like a lot of work.

When we first sold our church building I told myself that even if we never bought another building that we could still be a church - because it wasn’t about the building but the people who make up the community.  And I still passionately believe this - when God’s people come together - it’s the Spirit of God that ties them together - no building can ever do that.  I’ve been to lots of churches that have beautiful buildings - but no sense of unity and no sense of purpose.  I’ve been to churches with lots of room to grow and no new people ever walking through the front doors.  I am well aware that a building isn’t anything but a tool that must be used with purpose.

That being said - a building can be an amazing tool to see God’s kingdom come to earth.  This week we got a call from someone who wanted to donate 1000 pairs of skates - a huge need in our community.  A month ago we would have had to pass on this opportunity because we would have had nowhere to put the skates while we get an outreach organized.  But today we (I use the word “we” very lightly here)  were able to pick up 1000 pairs…amazing.

I was sitting with another mom today who looked at me and said, “I just feel like I am home.”  And in some ways that’s how I feel.  Kind of like someone who threw a boomerang into the wind - only to get it back again.

Jessica