just my type?

last month, m and i participated in a church planter assessment — a powerful experience, in more ways than one. it's amazing how much the assessors were able to infer about us from a relatively short time together (less than 4 full days).

of course, they had a lot of information at their disposal: observing us in a variety of structured group activities, asking questions in a series of short interviews, hearing us talk both about the bible and our calling. one of the more entertaining tools was personality testing, and we were subjected to plenty of it. m was typed an enfp on the myers-briggs and a high i/s on the disc, and i was an entp and a high i/d. free versions of two of the tests are available online; if you're into this kind of thing, try them out (and share your results with us!):

• a test based on the myer-briggs temperament sorter (mbti)
• a test based on the disc

what does it all mean? check your results (or ours) here: mbti (look for the table on the right, marked "the sixteen types" and click on the appropriate link) and disc.

there are many ways to misuse such tests — notably, avoiding responsibility by hiding behind a temperament description (e.g. "i shouldn't have to make those phone calls because in introverted," or conversely, "i can't be alone and quiet before God because i'm an extrovert"). but i've found them helpful in a couple of ways. first, they can be a helpful starting place in sorting out what kind of person i am and how i work; who knows — some of the seeds of my calling might be found there! but they are also a good reminder that every person is different, and the people in my class, at work, or on my team are probably seeing and experiencing life differently than i am. remembering that can make it easier to bear with the differences and love people in the midst of them.

wind chill

it's currently -24C outside, with a wind chill equivalent of -39C. that makes this the coldest march 6 ever in montreal. there's nothing like making history — though i'm not all that inclined to go outside (i'll have to anyway).

believe it or not, the forecast for saturday is for +12C. i don't know if it'll actually get that warm, but it looks like we're in for some nasty potholes this spring…

travelog: italy

here is part of the e-mail i got from b, chronicling her trip:

on wednesday (feb 28), we arrived in milan and then drove for 2 hours to verona. we ate at our first auto grill (roadside restaurants that serve pasta and sandwiches and souvenirs). we arrived at our hotel in venice that evening and played spoons all night. it was lots of fun!

on thursday (mar 1), we went to venice, the 2nd most expensive city in the world. we rode on a gondola for 45 minutes, which was pretty cool. then, we played soccer in the piazza di san marco, near the basilica di san marco. i had delicious hot chocolate near the cafe where part of indiana jones and the last crusade was filmed. the weather was great! we visited a lace making school and a glass blowing place because venice is well known for its glass and lace products.

on friday (mar 2), we went to florence, which is known for leather and gold. prices are better here than in venice. i like eating paninis, which are really common here. i had some italian tarts, which are kind of addicting... we played soccer for 2 hours in the park next to the hotel. i scored 2 goals…. and i saw the david (michelangelo) today at lacademia and other things by michelangelo, rembrandt, and leonardo da vinci at luffizzi, the 2nd biggest art museum in the world (the louvre is the biggest). i climbed up the 460 plus steps of the duomo and saw the santa croce, where machiavelli, galileo, and michelangelo are buried. i also saw the david (copy) by donatello in the piazza di la signioria. we played soccer in that piazza, too, and the police got mad... so we stopped.

tomorrow, we will go to assisi and rome. we will stay in rome for 3 days and then come back home. over all, i am having an amazing time here!

all alone

i thought about entitling this post alone 'again, naturally' but i didn't think too many people would get the pop culture reference (quick, check google…) and besides, that's a bit dark. and i could have gone with home alone, which is at least accurate. but all alone has been the plaintive cry of our children for some time, whenever they end up having to do something alone — ride home on the bus, have an evening 'in' when everyone else is out running around, etc. — when they didn't expect to.

but this time, i'm the one who's all alone. b is on the trip of her young lifetime, traveling with through italy; hopefully, we'll have some good photos from that one. i just got an e-mail, and it sounds like she's really having a great time. m and n are out in southern california, trying to find warm weather and the beach. meanwhile, i'm in montreal wading through snow that's knee deep (there's another pop culture reference) and trying to figure out how i'm going to get my car out from under that huge pile of white stuff. i could've posted some incredible photos, but both digital cameras in our family are out traveling. you may cue the violins now.

seriously, i'm enjoying some quiet time around the house, getting things back in order and praying a lot. and that's good for my soul. my neck hurts like crazy right now, and i'm not sure why; my ability to turn my head is severely limited. maybe i ought to pray more about that…

the tomb of Jesus?

if you've been following the news at all, you have probably heard the story about the supposed discovery of the tomb of Jesus. it's been made into a movie by james cameron of titanic and true lies fame, and ironically, those two movie titles may do a better job of describing this project than its actual title (the lost tomb of Jesus). if it were true, it'd be an archaeological finding of, well, titanic proportions. biblical christianity rests firmly on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus; if that's not true, christianity is something very different than what it claims to be. but given the flimsy evidence and sloppy reasoning for the amazing claims cameron is making, i don't christians are the ones to be pitied in this case.

cameron's case has been savaged, both by scholars (also here) and in the media (and here). professor amos kloner, former jerusalem district archaeologist of the israel antiquities authority and the first archaeologist to examine the tomb back in 1980 recently concluded,

"the new evidence is not serious, and i do not accept that it is connected to the family of Jesus... they just want to get money for it."

during this time of the year (the lenten season, during which christians look forward to the celebration of Jesus' resurrection), 'revelations' that challenge the orthodox view of Jesus have become common; anthony sacramone even catalogued them in a recent article in first things, including the shocking revelation that Jesus was a space alien whose tomb is really in japan.

if it sounds like i'm having a bit of fun, i'll cop to that. but this is serious business. i heard a religion professor from one of the local universities on the radio recently, trying to explain away the tomb finding by saying that resurrection doesn't have to mean that Jesus actually, physically rose from the dead. if that were true, it would give christianity a certain invulnerability, as no one could ever find an evidential way to challenge it. but in 1 corinthians 15:1-19, the apostle paul makes it clear that the literal resurrection of Jesus is crucial to our faith and our future. his argument: if Jesus has not been raised, then our faith is in vain; we are still in our sins, and we are not headed for resurrection ourselves. we ought to be pitied. but paul's conclusion is that Jesus was in fact raised from the dead and is living today. that's a really amazing claim, certainly bigger than james cameron's. i've bet my life on it. what do you think?

for those interested in a brief, accessible look at academically viable evidence for Jesus' having risen from the dead, take a look at this.