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Weekend A La Carte (2/19)
- 02/19/11
- 13
February is weird. Yesterday as I drove home from the office it was twelve degrees above freezing; my son was playing outside without a coat on. Overnight we had 100 km winds. Today it’s five degrees below and snowing a bit. Tomorrow we’re supposed to get 4 or 5 inches of snow. A bit of everything, I guess.
High School Wrestler Defaults - This story has been making the rounds. “After a standout season in which he went 35-4, Joel Northrup had every reason to dream of winning an Iowa wrestling championship this year, but he gave it all up before his first state tournament match Thursday. Northrup, a home-schooled sophomore who competes for Linn-Mar High School, said his religious beliefs wouldn’t allow him to wrestle Cassy Herkelman, a pony-tailed freshman from Cedar Falls who is one of the first two girls to qualify for the tournament in its 85-year history.”
Long Term Exposure - Shaun Groves pens some interesting thoughts about the potentially harmful long term effects of Christian worship music. Food for thought.
Become an Online Influencer - This article from Mashable shares some interesting ideas about how to become an online influencer.
Jesus Died for Me - This is a neat video.
Canada’s the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don’t need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you’re broke because of medical bills. My bodyguard’s baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby’s premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home. —Justin Bieber (What’s amazing about this quote is that anyone actually cares what the kid thinks)
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (13)
Does anyone even have to say it? That there’s no reason that anyone close to Justin Bieber has to be broke because of medical bills?
With respect to Bieber…way too many YOUNG people are attracted to what this kid thinks. And unfortunately, he actually believes (apparently) that medical care is FREE in Canada. Even though he is only 17 years of age, his degree of naievete is startling. Makes you wonder if anyone has ever explained to him why he does not keep all the money he makes. At this rate, he may be destined to be just one more stunningly ignorant child star who stumbles through adulthood. One can only hope he experiences a better outcome than so many of his ilk who have gone ahead of him. His handlers really owe him an education in addition to bookings and appearances.
What do you think about Bieber’s pro-life comments? I can’t help but be a little encouraged by someone so prominent saying that an abortion is killing a baby. He may be just a kid but that seems like such a self evident truth that we shouldn’t dismiss it because of his age. And he obviously has a lot of influence with teenage girls, for better or worse.
Concerning the weather, last week in Oklahoma, we were at -20 F and then 4 days later were at 80 F. Nothing like a good 100 degree change in the weather to mess with you.
I’m from Iowa, and there’s a guy from my high school who wrestles the same weight class as Northrup. He actually did wrestle Northrup, and he lost. If he hadn’t lost to the guy who beat Northrup, he would have wrestled Herkelman. I don’t think Northrup chose not to wrestle Herkelman because he was afraid of losing to a girl, as I’ve heard people say. I commend Northrup for sticking to his convictions.
Going to state in wrestling here in Iowa is a Big Deal because there are so many good wrestling programs and good wrestlers. I also commend Herkelman and Black for making it to state.
What amazes me most about the wrestler is the amount of backlash he is taking. at 24 I am saddened to see how far the respect for women has fallen even in my short time on this earth.
I also liked the article from Shaun Groves. Tim, what are your thoughts on Christian contemporary music?
whoa! Just watched the video. It is really good. I live really close to Denton but I’ll be enjoying my honeymoon that weekend! haha
The problem is that too many Canadians are just like Bieber and think they do not have to pay the doctor without giving a moments thought to the reason their taxes are so high is because they are merely paying the doctor through a different method - one of the highest taxation rates in the world.
Actually our taxation rates are far from the highest in the world. Personal taxation is only slightly higher than the US and corporate tax is actually lower. PLUS we don’t have to pay huge insurance premiums, which we would because we are self-employed. I’ll assert that in Canada we get more bang for our buck AND better health care for it - as shown in our higher life expectancies and the better general health of our population.Incidentally, we had a premature baby 10 years ago and I am so grateful that how we were going to pay for 10 weeks of hospital bills did not add to our grief during that time. The cost would have been $10,000 a day.
Having lived in both the US and Canada, I can attest to the fact that taxes (particularly when you add up all of the hidden fees, etc.) are not all that different between the two countries.
Also, medical care is excellent in both countries.
The biggest difference that I saw was the fact that my family got great medical care at very low rates because of my job benefits, while people we knew who had jobs with fewer benefits ended up with major debt due to some very minor medical issues.
Besides, yes, we are taxed in Canada for the privilege, but the money paid by employers in the US to HMOs and the like comes from somewhere… and it certainly doesn’t end up in your paycheck.
Both countries do well. And both countries could improve. But either way, those of us in the rich West should stop our complaining about our own more than adequate health systems until those in the developing world are as fortunate as we are.
I am a Canadian and I have been looking at the pros and cons about the medical systems in both the US and Canada and I have found that the truth about which system is best is not as black and white as some would have us believe.I once talked to an American doctor who moved to Canada mainly because medical costs in the USA made it so that many could not even afford to have it. He told me that his own grandmother could not afford to have it.
Canada’s system is not perfect either, because often times of waiting for an operation are much longer than waiting times in the US and one Canadian politician actually chose to have his operation in the US simply because he didn’t want to wait for an operation.In recent years, the option of a fast operation has been introduced for those who can afford it. There are Canadians however who are speaking out against this two tear system, saying it isn’t fair to those who can’t afford it.
I would also like to mention that a former pastor of mine went down to Texas to get his doctorate and he had to pay over 600 dollars per month for medical insurance for his wife and family. The fact that neither his wife nor he was able to get a work permit in the US made it extremely hard to make ends meet, so he was forced to get his doctorate in two years rather than the normal time it would take.I have found that when talking to both Canadians and Americans about health care systems that many people wear their emotions on their sleeves; this includes Christians from both sides of the border. I am afraid that some rather unflattering things have been said on this and other issues concerning not only this issue but others.It is for that reason that when talking to people about this issue, that I usually keep my opinions to myself, lest I receive a tongue lashing; either from an offended Canadian who thinks I am an American wanabe, or an American who thinks I am anti-American.
Wait..wha? 12F is a “heat wave” your kid runs around outside in as if it was Spring before 5 below and snow? That’s a ‘bit of everything?’ To us in the Pacific Northwest that’s just brutal record cold followed by even more brutal record cold. Are you sure it’s not just that Canadians are weird? :)
Brad
I assume he meant 12 C(right Tim?). That’s pretty warm - I wish it was 12 here! (Currently 4, but no snow so I can’t really complain!!)
And interesting music article. I didn’t grow up in the “contemporary Christian” environment(we grew up in my family singing hymns in our nighttime devotions!), but I do think the issues he was mentioning is indicting much of the “Christian” world and is symptomatic of “Christianity Lite”. Far be it from us to treat worship so lightly!
And speaking of music, I just recently discovered an absolutely amazing album put out - Enfield Hymn Sessions, Resolved V. 1. Very very God-glorifying and majestic music. Been greatly encouraged by these songs lately and I think that despite the many failings of modern day “Christianity”, God still blesses us with people who put out such amazing and God-centered worship music.