you're not 'too old'!

"Thunderstorm" painting by Grandma Moses (1948 - at 88 years).

• My friend Mel started running triathlons shortly before his 60th birthday.

• My cousin Len began studying Punjabi at 77 so he could talk to his neighbours.

• Lucille Broderson wrote her first poem at 60 and had her first poem published, in Poetry Magazine, at  73. At 95 she's still feisty, writing and publishing her prize-winning poems. Here she is reading poetry in her home city of Minneapolis Minnesota

• At 95 Nola Hill Ochs is one of the the oldest people ever to graduate from college. She graduated from Fort Hays State University in Hays Kansas  in 2007 after a career as a student that spanned 33 years (she first enrolled in a correspondence course in 1930). A CBS interview of her shows her with her granddaughter, who graduated with her.

Nola Ochs: "There's a great satisfaction in finishing what you start."

• Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson: September 1860 - December 1961) took up painting at 76, after her arthritis made it too painful to carry on stitching the embroidery pictures she loved to create. In 1938 art collector Louis Caldor discovered her work. An Encyclopedia of World Biography article about her talks about her meteoric rise to fame: Her first one-woman show was held in New York City in 1940 and immediately she became famous. Her second one-woman show, also in New York City, came two years later. By 1943 there was an overwhelming demand for her pictures, partially because her homespun, country scenes brought about wonderful feelings and memories for many people. (See more of her paintings here.)

"Quilting Bee" by Grandma Moses (1950 - at 90 years)

All that to say, whatever your age, don't give "I'm too old" as an excuse for not working to fulfill your dreams.

(Do you know of more seniors who have accomplished exceptional things? Please tell us about them in the comments)

fleuvog - shoe artist extraordinaire

Not being a shoe person (yes, I do wear shoes, but don't have a closet-full and am not particularly fond of collecting them) I had never heard of John Fleuvog until I read the latest edition of B. C. Christian News. If you are a shoe person, you probably know that Mr. Fleuvog is a shoe artist -- a shoe designer and entrepreneur whose footwear creations are worn by Madonna, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams.

A few other interesting things about John Fleuvog:

• He opened his business in Gastown (Vancouver) in 1970. It's still going strong.

• His website welcomes visitors with this little rap:

"Shoes to vie for, shoes to die for,
Go on, buy one, buy two, buy four!
Cool shoes, cool boots, drool shoes, fool boots,
Men's shoes, Women's shoes, zen shoes, swimmin' shoes,
Sexy shoes, flexy shoes, shoe spray to protec' ze shoes,
Funky shoes, funky boots, spunky shoes for hunky fruits,
Platform shoes to tower above 'em, platform boot
(we know you love 'em),
Crazy boots, crazy shoes, blacks, reds, greens, blues,
Women's boots and men's boots, too
and, babe, those sexy boots are YOU!
Fluevogers, man, they're everywhere -
they're over here, they're under there!
John Fluevog knows his flock is vast,
a truly original cast,
For Womens footwear, lo, they flock;
for Mens footwear, they're into hock."

....and it goes on

• He is an outspoken Christian.

• His shoes carry spiritual messages. His Angels shoes read "Resists alkali, water, acid, fatigue, Satan. Walk in peace." Another message is: "Miracles are the surprise of the soul."

His philosophy about this (from his website):

"Moses used tablets, Picasso used paints, God used Moses, Alex G Bell used the telephone and John Fluevog uses shoes. Great minds of the past have used a variety of mediums to communicate their messages – since the beginning of time (or at least John) John has been using the soles and foot socks of his shoes to communicate with the world."

Also at this page, click on the hubcap and you can read shoe messages from the past.

• A memorable quote of his comes from an interviewer he did with Glenn Boettger, for The Christian Entrepreneur (reported in the CC article).

CE: How do you integrate your business expertise with your Christian calling?

JF: I don't see a difference . . . I've listened to a few lectures about Christians in the marketplace, and I don't understand the fundamental idea of why you'd need to have a course on being a Christian in the marketplace. I just think it's a funny concept.

As Christians, we need to integrate our lives with our faith -- and we are called to do that. It isn't like, "Okay, now I'm a Christian entrepreneur and I need to behave in a Christian way -- so let me check and see what that is."

No matter who you are, we are all called to integrate our faith. And the cool thing about our society and the century we're in right now is that a small person can have influence. Basically, an entrepreneur, for me, means having influence

(Read the entire Canadian Christianity article about John Fleuvog)

On his website you'll find pages women's shoes, men's shoes, enviro shoes, vegan shoes, speciality shoes, replacement parts, shoe families and much much more.

But I'd better stop browsing because if I don't, I just might become a shoe person. Already I find myself lusting after some Bellevues ("Keep pushing west and beyond your imagination") or  Adrians which bear the message:

Don't you just love it!

goodbye pastor don

Today we say goodbye to a wonderful man of God. Don Cantelon, former pastor of CLA and father of our current pastor Brent Cantelon, passed away November 15th.

Although I didn't know him well, the little I had to do with him showed he was a man of hard work, vision and humor. A few years ago shortly after his book The Day I Burned The Hotel Down came out, I invited him to speak at our Fraser Valley Writer's Group meeting (and had the privilege of introducing him). He shared with us some of the experiences he related in the book. He did actually set a hotel on fire when he was a kid. The book is full of stories about pastoring, and holding tent and camp meetings all around Canada. It's a telling window into the life of a Canadian Pentecostal minister. (Earlier this year, he celebrated 60 years of ministry.)

He wrote a second book - Out of the Closet of Depression. He speaks of his experience with depression in the Canadian Christianity column "Moving through depression, back to the pulpit."

I will miss the sight of him, frail at the end, but still faithfully at the altar each Sunday, praying with any comers.

Pastor Don, you will be missed.

steve bell concert

Steve Bell concert Oct. 17 at Peace Portal Alliance Church, Surrey, BC.
(Pianist extraordinaire Mike Janzen, guitar player and vocalist Jon Buller [some of his songs resemble the music of Chris Rice], Roy Salmond [talk about a music multi-tasker; throughout the evening he played several guitars, accordion, ukelele, percussion thingys and sang too], and Steve Bell.)

We attended the excellent Steve Bell concert last night. What fun!

The YouTube is characteristic of Bell's music - acoustic, feel-good, upbeat (usually) ballads.



He is currently promo-ing his new CD Devotion which has a slightly different feel to it. For one thing he's written none of the songs. Most are by his friend Gord Johnson, songs Steve describes on the album notes as "elegant worship songs." They were written for the Anglican church community of St. Benedict's Table in Winnipeg (where Steve attends).

Steve gave us a sampling last night. Liturgical, simple and catchy yet luminous, they are a wonderful contribution to the body of modern Christian music. Especially beautiful is "The Lorica" a rootsy adaptation of St. Patrick's Prayer (by Gayle Salmond).

We were invited to sing along with many of the songs. The fact that we were able to do so never having heard the tunes and lyrics before is testimony to how accessible they are.

Want a taste? Bell is offering a free mp3 download of "Praise the Father" from the new CD on his website.

There are more concerts happening in the area and around the country with new Signpost artist Kerri Woelke providing another listenable segment of the evening. So if you're free, hie yourself hither and get a ticket. You'll not be sorry.


You can hear more of Steve's music at
Steve Bell's MySpace
Steve Bell's FaceBook

news about Ray Boltz

The man who wrote this song:



has reportedly had a key change.

tenting with Canada's first lady

Julie Smyth of the National Post writes:

Gaining access to the inner sanctum of the Prime Minister's residence takes persistence, impeccable connections, or, in my case, extreme klutziness in the pursuit of a noble goal.

That is how I ended up in the family kitchen of 24 Sussex this week after running into a pole during a training walk for a charitable fundraiser with Laureen Harper, who kindly rushed me inside to tend to my (self-inflicted) wounds.

We hurried past the Prime Minister -- only just back from a state visit to Europe and catching up with daughter Rachel over dinner -- to get ice to apply to the expanding goose egg at the side of my eye.

As Mrs. Harper and I raced back outside to catch the RCMP van that would take us to the rest of our walking team, young Rachel asked her Dad, "How do you run into a pole?"

Read the rest of "Pitching a tent with Mrs. Harper" - an article that shows the endearingly human side of Canada's first lady, Laureen Harper.

Here's another piece on the Alberta farmgirl whose address is 24 Sussex Drive.

good listening

Our pastor (Brent Cantelon) began a series on the Holy Spirit last Sunday morning (May 18th). First message: "Something New in the Holy Spirit."

Also last Sunday night Mike Pilavachi from England -- former pastor to Matt Redman and Tim Hughes, now working with Soul Survivor -- spoke on "The Gift of Prophecy - Hearing God Speak."

tragedy hits Christian singer's family

From the Steven Curtis Chapman web site:

MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME

NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.

How unthinkable (especially since the person driving the vehicle was one of their teenage sons). This family needs our prayers.

They have set up a blog In Memory of Maria with a YouTube video celebrating little Maria.

goodbye Dottie Rambo

Gospel singer, songwriter Dottie Rambo was killed in a bus accident in Missouri Sunday morning. This prolific songwriter was renowned for such Gospel classics as "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need," "We Shall Behold Him” and “I Go to the Rock.”

A bit more about her life (from a news bulletin distributed by Strang Communications - Charisma Mag):

Born in Kentucky, Rambo began writing songs at age 8 and launched a full-time music career at age 12. Married to Buck Rambo at age 16, she toured widely with her husband and their daughter, Reba, as The Rambos for several decades.

Through the course of her career, the Dove and Grammy Award winner wrote more than 2,500 published songs...

(Check out this list of songs written by her.)

This 74-year-old singer was making a comeback after the difficult '90s which included a divorce from Buck Rambo, two ruptured disks and many back surgeries. Her '08 summer schedule was full. She was also going to release a new CD this summer.

On her MySpace page you can hear her sing one of my favorites: "I Shall Behold Him." Just think - she has now done what she has dreamed of for so long.

modern Rip Van-Winkle

Imagine waking up after being in a coma for 19 years. That's what happened to 65-year-old Polish man Jan Grzebski. He awoke to a new world where his children were married, he had 11 grandchildren, and his country was now a democracy.

His wife Gertrude is the real hero in this story. She turned him every hour of every day for those 19 years so that he wouldn't get bed-sores. Kind of puts a new light on the expression "It's always too soon to quit" -- or any other maxim about perseverance, for that matter.

my blog-break week

Hi! I’m back from my little blog hiatus. It was a good week. I spent time reading in the Gospels pondering the words of Jesus, especially what He said about the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ve determined to live by the laws of that kingdom more and more – and have been thinking what changes that might mean in various departments of my life.


On Wednesday winter scored again. After a big dump of snow, the weather turned cold. Thursday was gorgeous and sunny. But instead of our routine of snow-and-melt, this time the white stuff is hanging around as we sit under an Arctic air mass (where is global warming when you need it?).


Thursday we went to the memorial service of an old friend. Actually he was the dad of some dear friends of my youth. What an amazing man! He was among the core of Wycliffe translators that came to Lima, Peru with Dr. William Cameron Townsend in 1945. I remember him telling stories at missionary conferences when I was a kid. Even then I loved to listen to him.

His passion for souls lasted into his old age. At the memorial reception someone told the story of what happened when he went for a walk around Mill Lake in Abbotsford not long ago (at 88-89 years). He noticed some teens skateboarding and wondered how he could engage them in conversation. So he called them over to where he was sitting, showed them pictures of his grandkids, talked to them about their interests etc. then gently steered the conversation toward spiritual things.

Today we go to YVR to say goodbye to my nephew Chris, his beautiful wife Jane and their kids Kenny, Albert, Isaiah, and Andrew. They are going to Jinja, Uganda under Equip (some more spiritual giants in the making?). They will work with several organizations who look after orphans. Their job is to help in the practical end of things with agriculture, water purification etc. God bless you guys!

make an exception

and watch The National on CBC television tonight. The buzz is that they will highlight Ratanak - a non-profit foundation, and Place of Rescue - an AIDS shelter and orphange near Phnom Penh run by Marie Ens (a Canadian and Christian and Missionary Alliance Missionary). She has been called, by some, Cambodia's Mother Theresa. It should be inspiring!

(The National airs 10:00 - 11:00 p.m. local time on CBC television. It can also be viewed on Real Player. Click on the "Watch the National Online" link this page (video updated 11:30 p.m. ET).