How quickly things change

I had the privilege of returning to Winnipeg Centre Vineyard this past Sunday; the last time I was there was at the building dedication weekend in 2003, because I wanted to stop by and cheer them on as they pursued their vision for the poor in the North End (well, and David Ruis was back in town for the celebration, and it's always a treat to hang with the Dave...).

This past Sunday, two friends of mine from Regina were in town (see post from June 8, 2004: "Mysterious Ways" for the back story), and had been asked by Nathan to share their stories with the whole congregation in leiu of a sermon -- very cool time to hear them speak. Jason Parks called me the night before to ask me to bring my Stratocaster to play lead guitar with the worship team; THAT was a whole lot of fun!

(By using the word "fun" in describing my involvement in a worship team, please don't assume that I'm not also very cognizant of the fact that I'm helping to lead a whole congegation to worship their Creator. It's just that it's fun, as well!)

I always enjoy an opportunity to visit different churches and see/hear what God is up to these days -- what was kinda bizarre is that I only recognized about 20% of the congegation at the Vineyard, and we've only been gone for two and a half years. Wow.

Still, it was a treat to visit again, to watch several of the women descend on Wendy to pray over her and encourage her, to see my two friends from Regina share their stories, and to take part in the worship team once again. Ya gotta like this big gianormous thing called "the Body"!