The Krow

Site Change

2005-09-06T23:02:00.000-05:00

Just a heads up... I've decided to leave the realms of Blogger and move onto my own server. The current address is http://www.dixonfamily.ca/paul/ but soon I will be registering my own domain name. So update your RSS feeds and stay tuned in for more info change once I come up with a domain name :)

Gomer the church

2005-09-03T08:35:00.000-05:00

I recall a while ago reading a bit about the book of Hosea. I've never intellectually engaged the book, but now 3 chapters in and I'm hooked. What a wonderful story of God's unconditional love and mercy for his people. Metaphorically I want to draw a line from Gomer to the church. As the church we lead ourselves astray from God and sleep with others. Ceremony, traditions, liturgy, music has all become the central focus of our worship... time and time again we turn from God and worship our means to the end.

Yet God still loves his church and wants a relationship with it despite our adulteress ways. Chapter 2:23 "I will show my love to the one I called not my loved one". To the church which has become unlovable even to God, he will show his love. God is calling the church back to a relationship with Him, not a relationship with pluraism, or tolerance, or idol worship... God wants to purify the church with his love... (gosh this is getting a little too much like a fundamentalist speach). Bottom line, God is calling the church back from it's adulteress ways and into a closer more loving relationship with Him. He has paid the price for us with his own blood.

I think alot of the new movement in the church such as emergent is an awakening of the church from it's sin and adultery with the world in a grassroot move toward the loving God we serve.

Liturgy

2005-09-02T06:13:00.000-05:00

I have began reading a new blog (surprise this seems to happen everyday I find a new one) by a fellow who's began a journey into the orthodox church. He's began to post in a beautiful and poetic way his expereinces. The most recent post was on liturgy and his encounter with it. I've cerainly flirted with the idea of liturgical churches in the past. And fell in love as I encountered God through the "drama" of liturgy. Of course as a rebelious person I struggle with the strict structure of church leadership but this seemed to be minor to me when I think through the beauty of how God spoke through the liturgy.

As I read the post I could still smell the sweet odour of burnt incense and candles that filled the church. I recall the wonder that struck me as I saw the beauty of the sanctuary. And for once I was really impressed with preaching. Short, sweet, life applicable... how nice. In a time when I was burnt out and disappointed with organized church this was heaven. Yet I don't understand how in the depth of my anarchy I found rest and beauty in the most structured institute.

Since my encounter many months ago now I've taken up reading the Anglican book of Alternative Services and fall in love time after time with the words. As well the beauty of the prayers in the Common book of Prayer.

The role of preaching

2005-08-30T11:24:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest converns I ponder on in regards to preaching is the role it's put in... frankly I look at how it seems to be considered the most important aspect of a service. Is this right? Although learning about God is important how does this fall into building each other up, or worship? Rarely would I consider it so. Most sermons I've heard over the years teach about God but never how to live in relationship with him... is this worship? I'm implying no.

I would suggest the most important part of church is to glorify God and worship him... now I don't think all "worship" as we see it in our churches (you know the band playign catchy new songs) is worship, it's a concert. When I suggest worship I mean true heart desired praise directed toward God. Secondary is to support and build up believers...

But it would appear in most cases the sermon (the pastor's monologue) is considered the most central part of a service, where we learn about God, but rarely interact with God. Why is this that in our churches today we have placed such central importance on the role of preaching in church? What if we attended a church service and there was no preaching... could we in our western form of Christianity survive? Would we complain because we didnt' hear the pastor's monologue? In reality what is the importance of preaching in a church?

Beer = brainpower?

2005-08-28T09:40:00.000-05:00

Check out this link... humourous yet... possibly true.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5254614-110732,00.html

Read these!

2005-08-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

We know by now that the actual church building has nothing to do with God's Eternal Purpose. The church service is a thing created by us and for us - God's Need is seldom, if ever, considered. If we recognize that the service, ministry, meeting, gathering, or building is not the end, but only a means to an End (which is Christ), then we do well. But when we attach spiritual, emotional, or even superstitious significance to a mere thing, or place, or day, or tradition, or way of doing things, then we will be spoiled through "traditions of men", and will not walk after Christ Himself.
Chip Brogden

I found this quote on a website in my surfing about church and thought it was worthy of posting. I'd love to see some comments on it. On this site are some great talks you can read in regards to church.

Crusades and "Festivals"

2005-08-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

I think I'm going straight to hell for this one. Last night I made the decision to attend a local crusade held by Fresh Fire Ministries. BUt my intention wasn't for healing as their posters offered, it was for the intent to *gasp* make fun of such an event. All my fears of a Christian religion all wrapped up together in a single location. I prayed to God that we haven't turned his loving relationship with us into such a carnival and that he's not pissed off.

All was fine until the band started mellowing out the tunes, and with that a mood was ushered in with lowering lights and the stage lights (the cost of all four could likely feed a small country in Africa for a year) stopped moving rapidly and lowered with a focus on the speaker. The speaker didn't offer a single lesson on Christianity, it turned out ot be a rhetorical talk that went no where except to manipulate everyone into thinking Alberta is a very wealthy province and God will poor out the blessing of more wealth on us, and that we should share our wealth with God so his work can be done (well we should share with God, but not in a manipulated way that feeds the bellys of such a speaker and ministry that sees fit to manipulate emotions). No where in this wealth talk did the speaker mention Jesus commands to help the poor, more so to help ourselves to more wealth. Friends this was fundamentalism at it's worst. I quivered as I heard a man speak to his young kids behind me trying to cox them to sing he told them "Jesus wants to hear you sing loud, and so do I." This was a statement that stunk like something Ned Flanders would say from the Simpsons.

The main "front man" of the ministry stepped up and I was expecting him to give a profound word or two... nope the band started playing a soft, quiet verion of the hallelujah chorus and the speaker called out various illnesses and offering blessings and a feeling of heat/fire over peoples bodies. He called out random illnesses telling folks they were cured. Then had some of the "healed" come on stage and give a "testimony" of what happened (my cynical mind says this was setup) and people came forward who believe they were healed (no don't get me wrong Jesus does heal us, I have been healed...). Then comes the weird laughing and the speaker "blessing" people and they fell to the ground.

I can not deny God works through these ministries, but I fear how immature peoples faith is that they fall for alot of this and think it's an expereince of God when realyl it's no more then a manipulated show using emotions. It felt as if we've turned Jesus into a money making psychic. This event seemed far to much like XYZ televangelist crusades. Why have we allowed ourselves to make a mockery of God and his blessings and healing for his people.

Chpt 33-40

2005-08-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

What sticks out in my reading of these chapters is the empahisis on listening. How important it is to listen to multiple voices, but not just sit and take in words, but to actively listen to all contributing to the dialogue. Certainly not shunning the "unbelievers" from the dialogue since they too have valuable contributions to make. The other points Doug brought up that stirred thoughts was to treat the Bible as a member of the dialogue... interesting thought that I can'd understand how it works out however there's definately something to it.

Final summary:

Over all the book has been a refreshing and fantastic enlightenment on preaching. More so it has opened up a great understanding and challenge to the church and how it interacts within the relationships. As a up and coming pastor (well once I stop being lazy and do something) this book will shape my ministry within churches and has shapped my views. Plus has given me confidence that we can effectively do church differently.

Chpt 20-32

2005-08-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

Well I found I was dimishing in ideas as I posted for each chapter and was getting bored of this process... in no way is this to suggest the book has taken a boring turn. Infact it has been super informative. I am really seeing how what Doug has written can revolutionize the church as a whole, not just in teaching times, but also in developing a community. Doug's ideas are surrounding a relational intent that can and will deepen a community of believers. He redefines the role of a pastor in ways beyond my thoughts. How he interacts with his church (Solomon's Porch) to develop sermon content, and works to connect with his congregation is outstanding. Doug has provided an example to the church as a who.e how to get past the westerize church and get into a deep relationship with our local church and with God. He has moved beyond the passive participant viewing a show and shown how church can be turned into a community that lives adn grows together in their faith walk.
"Churches should never be places where the practices of faith are allowed to become stagnant and predictable in the name of stability" pg 112.(chpt 12) this summarizes well what I've read through chpts 20-32 thus far. He emphasizes the priesthood of all believers... active participants in all aspects of church life including sermon development. Doug has worked to debunk the idea that pastors are the only educated folks in theology and Biblical understanding.

Doug challenges speaching with these words " One of the hurdles we need to get over to think about outcomes of our preaching is the idea that it's primarily an act of evangelism, which puts us in a place of seeking essentially the same outcome year after year; just in different people." pg 162

"speaching is failing to accomplish much of anything." pg 163

"The idea that church is a once-a-week event dismantles everything the gospel calls us to be about." pg 169

Doug has also offered some great insight on preparation and applying his ideas into a practical living, breathing church.

I'm excited to implement his suggestions and ideas in churches that I lead. Doug has spoken to the heart of how I feel church should be and offered hope that church should be different.

Canmore 2005

2005-08-26T07:16:00.000-05:00

Check out my flicker account and you'll be able to view my photos (well some of them since Flickr has an upload limit) from my mountain climbing expereince in Canmore Alberta

Chpt 19: Pastoral Authority

2005-08-24T19:42:00.000-05:00

This is a wonderful reclaim on what/who a pastor should be. One of the things that holds me back from being a pastor is the realization currently pastors are seen as so set apart that their walk with God should be perfect and with no available roomt o grow. The stress alone of this would crush me. The expectation that I am perfect because I'm a "man of the cloth". How can we expect people to live up to this? Spreaching I think is the biggest culprit of putting up in this placement. Being put on a platform, with expectation to expound profound words (apparently from God) that reflect the knowledge we have that should surpass all others.

The second problem with this is where is the room for servant leadership... if as a pastor we are to be first, to be higher then others what about Jesus telling us "the last shall be first and the first shall be last"? Have we forgotten this in the role of a pastor? A pastor is shown as a shepard as well... a shepard is among the sheep not above them.

In envisioning a future as a pastor I would far rather be on the same level as those I "lead" and walk with them, not carry them or be setup to be far above them.

Chpt 18: The POwer of Control

2005-08-24T19:27:00.000-05:00

What a powerful comparison of the military training ceremony vs church. Really in many ways it would seem church does not reflect and aspect of life as we know it and is a far different experience that truely only makes sense inside the church building. Preaching is one of these means of control within the setup environment. The environment we create inside church gatherings at the moment does impact attendants for some period of time, but once we leave and get with the day we forget about the expereince... what if... church was more like the world and we gave solid examples in conversation (not public speaking) how to live a life of faith out in the world... that would be novel.

Chpt 17: Truth

2005-08-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

Some great points in this chapter... but I'd like to focus on one. Chris' story and how the church handles it. I know far to many churches that would deny Chris from praying publicly because she's not straight and narrow. It's relieving to read of a church that accepts folks where they are at, accepts the full truth of the person and still allows them to participate regardless of background and life problems. This shows a very compassionate and understanding local church body... rare!

Chpt 16: Fear of Heresy

2005-08-24T11:49:00.000-05:00

A great re-itteration that a preacher needs to be put back inline sometimes... their theology is not always the most correct. Really it's best to have the participation of the congregation to enhance the possiblity heresy in the teachings are eliminated.

Chpt 15: Centralized Control

2005-08-24T05:58:00.000-05:00

"The attitude of 'listen to me because this is the most important thing you will here today' may create more centralized control, but it's not good for the good news." The only person that should have control is Jesus. I honestly admit that as I look toward pastoral ministry handing control over to others, especially in teaching is scary. It terrifies me yet I understand I am one person, on thought process... what gives me the right to assert my piece of hte pie is more important than other's peices? I dare say nothing. I am on voice in a group and others may have great perspectives to share.

I enjoyed the mention of distractions and how they are welcome in Solomon's Porch... fine examples of how God can use outside sources to prompt awareness of his will.

Chpt 14: Fear of Being Wrong

2005-08-24T05:21:00.000-05:00

I am baffled that some would consider sermons to be the most effective way God has communicated to the church in the past century. I know for myself and many peers it's proven to be the least effective communication from God. This is not to say some do not have life changing expereinces based on a sermon... but whats the percentage compared to those of use snoozing? It woudl almost seem to me we have limited in many ways how we allow God to speak to us. We've placed God in a "preaching box" and want him solely to speak to us and touch our lives through a person that is claimed to be trained in proper handling of God's word. Something seems fishy to me... is not God's word for the people? The masses? Did not God give the scriptures to all of us to read and learn? Can he not speak to us directly... seems like the 99 Theses that Martin Luther crafted needs to be reviewed by church leaders :)

It's sad really that we've placed God in a box (preaching) and asked for him to only speak to us in this form thereby limiting God's control of his body.

Chpt 13: Those for Whom this Conversation Will Seem Unnecessary

2005-08-24T05:04:00.000-05:00

I dare say I quake in my shoes as I read the excerpt from Dr. Lloyd-Jones' book "Preaching and Preachers". I think fury would be the best word to describe it. I'm not intolerant of other's opinions, simply I can not understand how someone can see preaching as the "be all and end all" of a pastoral role. To me it's actually the least important...

Chpt 12: Holding on to Speaching

2005-08-24T04:54:00.000-05:00

For those of you tuning in: I've been doing a series of posts as I review a wonderful book "Preaching Re-Imagined" by Doug Pagitt. The posts are carbon copies from the ones I've placed on the blog for this wonderful book.
_____________________________________

A question has been raised and answered that I have had in regards to Progressional Dialogue. "What about in larger churches?"
I love the quick thought of downsizing gatherings. Wonderful. THis has been another focus I've had, that large churches "shouldn't be". I can't discount the amount of work and stuff pumped into our era because of these megachurches, but no where in the Bible do we see them... "maybe we should reconsider the strucutres that put thousands of people in one room at the same time." (pg 108)

"Our churches should never be places where the practices of faith are allowed to become stagnant and predictable in the name of stability."

This is so true in "utopia church" however I see this has happened especially in the realm of speaching. God has created us in order that we may create.... well why did we stop creating? Did we come up with such a masterpiece (speaching) that anything else would be seen as crap? Why is it in a world that is constantly evolving the church has stopped evolving? Don't you find it sad that you can attend XYZ church any given sunday and predict the structure of service and that speaching will happen and when? Is stability and control that important to us that we can't see past us and look to God to guide our churches?

Preaching: Throwing a Hand Grenade.... by Jonny Baker

2005-08-23T17:22:00.000-05:00

This chapter has been staring me in the face since I printed it a couple weeks ago. In taking a break for a moment from "Preaching Re-Imagined" I decided to pickup Jonny's essay. A few points to summarize that speak for themselves:

a) people are sick of three point sermons.... people aren't listening. People don't want to be preached at.

b) when it comes to preaching there is no right way... you don't always have to be right

c) Mike Riddell "The purpose of the sermon is to unleash the power of scripture in a way that leads to personal and coporate encounter with God."

d) It's very easy for people to come to worship to consume God. As leaders we get trapped in a provider-client relationship with the congregation. They sit and passivelt consume what is taught of provided for them

e) plenty of research shows that a talking head (preacher) is actually a very ineffective means of communication. People retain only a very small percentage of information communicated this way....

f) learn to think outside the box

g) use storytelling

h) one of the greek words for preaching is actually our equivalent of dialogue

i) preach for response but don't control it

j) don't have sermons every week. Preaching is not sacrosanct. It's one way of communicating. Do something different for a change.

k) introduce slam preaching.

well I love the idea of k) slam preaching. Poetry is a realm of literature I adore. The idea of a sermon being in poetic form and lasting only 3minutes is wonderful... Get to the point, straight there, tell it how it is, end off. Hmmmm slam preaching.... it rings sweetly in my ears. Especially since it seems preaching is a marathon now, 30 min, 60 min, 120 min.... gosh who passes out first the congregation or the pastor? :) Keep It Short (and) Simple.... a new acronym for k.i.s.s.

Chpt 11: Implication vs Application

2005-08-23T05:56:00.000-05:00

"The purpose of preaching isn't to make the Word of God easy; it's to help people delve into faith more fully, more deeply."

Profound! This hits the nail on the head. As a listener the last thing I want is God's Word for Dummies coming from the pulpit. A boiled down gospel with a touchy feely point at the end that I should try to apply to my life. This is why in the past I've blogged on the condesending nature of preaching to a post modern generation. Making the Word of God easy insults our intelligence and rarely changes our faith. Preaching should shake our roots, should challenge our faith, should make us want to reshape life to a life impaced by the Word of God. Preaching should make us want to join in, in being sold out 100% for Jesus, not impassive in our pews looking for the tid bit of information that may give us a further understanding about God.

"The good news is not informational."

Yet we have made it informational, we've taken the wind from it's sails and stopped it dead. I certainly cannot discount the impact of the "Four Spiritual Laws" used in evangelism, however it's informational. It worked for the era of science and information, but in today's world we want to know the story. We want to feel it, to expereince it. Far too often has preaching become an information lecture, much like what you get in a university classroom... rarely is the good news shown to be life changing anymore.

Chpt 10: Preaching to Strangers

2005-08-22T19:08:00.000-05:00

To be perfectly honest I'm not inspired at all by this chapter. But I do appreciate the story and the willingness of Doug to be realistic about how he's felt in the role of a preacher as he seeks to bring a message that is relevant when in many ways like it would not be to most in attendance.

Chpt 9: Preaching From a Stranger

2005-08-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh the unapproachable pastor. I can not possibly imagine how many churches I've been involved in where this is the case, easpecially large ones. While attending for a few sundays a large church (the young adult services had approx 1500 each service) the pastor openly admitted theres no chance of him knowing who we are as his congregation. So if we acknowledge him in public expect him to look at us as if we're strangers. But odd I too found that in small congregations of 100 or less many are still unknown. I became very disappointed with a new church plant that I attended when first moving to Edmonton (where I am now). 1 month in one of the pastors finally acknowledge we must be new and when I advised him we had attended for over a month he quickly changed topics to cover up his lack of connection with the congregation. I fully agree with Doug that it is hard to learn from a stranger. That it's a rather odd practice really, when teaching should be a conversation (even though it's rarely ever) and we engage a relationship on a deeper level with a stranger. Odd.

Chpt 8: Generic Messages

2005-08-22T15:02:00.000-05:00

Generic messages... well put! Certainly we get a fair share of this speaching. The assumption is made "one-size fits all" in speaching.... What I see as important to preach is in reality potentially important to a handful of people. How does a talk a pastor presents on stewardship (with hope to increase giving in the church) answer the needs of a "Jenell" (gotta read the story in the chapter to understand) or other broken people? DO we take time to listen to the congregation or jsut assume we know what they need to hear? I fear the later.

I dare not suggest a mass placement of bumper stickers on pew backs..."No Generic Messages" stick it solely on the lecturne.

-my apologies for this particular review, it makes far more sense if you read the chapter. So far this book is direct and to the point, no beating around the bush with Doug Pagitt in his writing. This is a must read for any pastor, and for those of us in the pews... we can sigh in relief that someone understands our case!

Chpt 7: A Low- Grade Fever

2005-08-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

It's amazing the excuses we make to "protect" speaching. Each of the four points mentioned in this chapter (The problem is... the people, the method, the preacher, or the content) show how our foolishness in continued "wise" use of speaching. The biggest issue is putting new wine in old wine skins.

Attempting to use new relevant content in an old style of delivery is shotting yourself in the foot. Relevant, new content needs relevant new ways to be delivered not speaching; or not completely speaching, a continous diet of speaching wears out fast, but mixing it up and adding other forms of delivery is key.

Simply put what an amazing chapter!

Chpt 6: My Wake Up Call

2005-08-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

I appreciate the honesty. Seeing the problem with using a persuasive form of speech to gain the expected result. This is how speaching seems to be, the pastor walks you through a series of emotional highs (joy, anger, guilt, etc) and then drops a large bomb.... boooom he/she has you right where they want you; captivated by the stories, thinking you actually matter to them. A point well stated in this chapter. It would seem a heresy as well a means of control using speaching to control human behavior and gain the results you want. It's sad that we can corrupt even public speaking into a way to control others. Smells of a facist intent to me. I too realized this control through speach as I began preaching and would start off with some statement so controversial that it would stir up the people and grab their attention in order to open their minds and hear me out. I too feel the guilt that Doug discusses in the chapter.

Life: An Update

2005-08-22T08:43:00.001-05:00

A Day Off?! Is that possible or allowed? Well apparently. I worked Canada Day and was given a day off in lieu of that... well finally I got it.. today! So many options to do... my original plan was bike into Edmonton's River Valley and rip up some trails now that I've pimped my ride out. mmmm trail riding. Then sit on a nice rock over looking the river and eat some lunch while hanging out with God...... *striking pencil across list of things to do* that gets ixnayed. Let's rewind to the weekend and why. Friday evening... 8pm... a fine discussion of going camping, but crap we need a tent. So off to MEC we go and find a wonderful new tent which suits our needs, the Tarn 2. MMMMMMM new tent smell! Me being me, I decided 2 nights camping was more fun. So the bright early time of 9pm rush home pack camping gear and food and head to Banff (well actually Lac des Arcs near Canmore). Arrive 330am and setup brand new tent... what a great tent, 2.5min and poof instant shelter how wonderful. So after a few hours sleep stretch my arms and prepare for... mountain climbing. Thats right I went mountain climbing. Not a uber advanced climb (phew cause otherwise I'd be still on the mountain now). But I did it, I climbed a slightly more difficult than beginner mountain while Jo basked in the warm mountain sun and dipped in a glacial lake. I swear I'm never climbing a mountain again (too much cardio for my liking I think I dropped 10lbs from so much work) but I accomplished it. More so I got to see some of God's amazing creations... including a live marmot (very cute). So sunday I wake up with swollen knees and quads so stiff I can barely move. Hence no biking today my body won't handle it. Instead I've got a stack of books to read and some good coffee. Plus once Spratt (our kitten) finally takes a nap I can get soem quiet time in with God. Not a biking day but still a good day planned.

Once I get photos developed I'll post them from the climb (some may be blurry since near the peak it was terribly windy but I did get some great shots of other peaks and Canmore while I was 900 meters in the clouds).

So a weekend fo mountain climbing, developing closer friendships with my co-workers (who we camped with) and seeing my best friend from high school in Calgary. And now a day off!!! what a great weekend. Tomorrow back to work.

Chpt 5: How I became a Speacher

2005-08-22T08:43:00.000-05:00

I must say Doug I'm shocked to read of someone who began with seeing speaching as a conversation, especially at such a young age. Thats awesome, I'm sure you and your friends we're an encouragement to the pastor. Your "story" shows and reminds me of a lesson learnt... churches/parishioners do not like when people do something different then the norm. Funny how the church seems to squish those that are in honest pursuit of learning and gaining a deeper knowledge of what the pastor teaches. More so I see in the discussion on how the church asked you to leave a fine example of how the church shuns difference instead of embracing it. It brought to my mind a battle I fought with a church over playing guitar... I was almost removed when I reminded an elder that the piano was not God's instrument but that it's roots were founded in a pub as well most beloved hymns have musical notation taken from old pub tunes... odd he didn't like that idea much... or the reminder that King David played stringed instruments in the "Lord's House". In regards to speaching... well certainly if we try a form different then the norm I think there would be a uprising murmur from the congregation if it's ok to do something different... or more so as a participant in the service to interupt the pastor inorder to clarify a point... egad how dare someone be so bold?!

Thanks for sharing your story! Much learnt and remembered from this great insight to the making of Pagitt: Speacher man :)

Chpt 4: The Roots of Speaching

2005-08-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

Recognizing "speaching" is not the way it always has been is important. THe emerging church has been labeled "ancient future faith" and to recapture this idea and put it in context of preaching and education of parishoners we need to look past 19th century, we need to look farther back in the ancients and see how it was done. 19th century history is recent times in comparison to 2000years of church history. I would even be bold enough to suggest looking at education within a synagoge. I believe we can see eras where the pastor was an active participant in various dialogues not just a public speaker.

The simile of speaching being synthetic is a great image. Recognizing it was done to serve a particular era of time and seeing a need to get back to a more natural form is important. The church should be like a body and growing, not stuck in a particular stage. In a world that is drawn to grassroots, to holistic approaches to life why is it we the church are stuck on feeding synthetics to the world?

Chpt 3: Peter and Cornelius

2005-08-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

"If only this could be the norm for today."

If only... despite which side of the fence you are on, pastor or participant your teaching was a two-way conversation where both adherants walk away with a change in faith. In speaching certainly the intent is only one person walks away changed, the listener not the presenter. However what if... what if the presenter came off the platform and gathered the congregation in a circle, all people equal and began to hash out with us theology, or more importantly an encounter with the living God (not the God of dusty books). The hope would be both the "presenter" and the congregation would walk away changed by each others throughts, and encounters with God. There is nothing to be lost, but much to be gained as a pastor if we open up the floor to conversation instead of holding onto the control and verbally spewing facts and stories all the while hoping folks will be impressed with our apparent superior knowledge of God and his ways.

Really... if only dialogue could be the norm.... mmmmmmmmmmmm a tasty thought.

This chapter shows through a dialogue how not only was the listener Cornelius changed, but also the presenter (Peter). By being willing to listen to and interact with Cornelius, Peter had his faith drastically challenged and changed. What a wonderful example of how as a pastor if we listen to our congregation, we too can be changed and grow in our faith.

Chpt 2: Understanding Progressional Dialogue

2005-08-19T08:12:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are being innundated with my mass amoutn of posting lately... welcome to my review chapter by chapter of Doug Pagitt's new book "Preaching Re-Imagined". If scan previous posts I've made, quickly you'll discover I'm very passionate about preaching in a post modern context. I've been blessed by receiving a pre-release copy of the book and am happily reviewing it, also this is my thoughts in working out what I'm learning. So on to my thoughts on chapter 2:

A nice short chapter and to the point. There needs to be a further expansion on the thoughts of how to use prog dialogue, however I'm assuming that is coming in later chapters. The idea of having others voice their ideas and opinions is great, as preachers we're not always 100% right, just because we're suppose to be more educated doesnt' mean we actually are. The stack of commentaries is there for us to have our thoughts manipulated by others... does this mean their more right? I don't believe they necessarily are more right. They are a reflection of the theology and understanding of God from which they grew up in... this is not to say we should not turn to great minds such as Matthew Henry or Jonathan Edwards, infact turn to them, read them, let their words play in your minds. However we should never assume we or they are the most right. In our congregations many have different ways of thinking and explaining things. I think opening up the floor for discussion will enhance and allow a greater understanding of the topic at hand during and gathering. Also sometimes for some learners hearing their thoughts vocalized helps them learn and work out details, also remember and to be changed by the message. Proggressional Dialogue...I'm down with it.

Speaching vs Preaching

2005-08-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

"Most preaching is done in such a way that it's hard to understand it as anything other than a speech that happens to have religious content."

Certainly! What more is the average sermon then philosophy and rheotic with religious connotations. Compare a sermon to a political speech, to a socialist proclaimation, to any form of public speaking used to persuade a certain view point... boiled down it is the samething... a speech. A sermon simply is used to underline a religious meaning and to persuade a religious opinion of the speaker. Now I cannot discount the idea that God speaks to us through this, however more often then not it is written from the perspective of one.. the preacher. I have preached, and I have also spoken publicly on various topics without religious connotations... and relfecting on this expereince it's the same delivery just a different message.

"People want to go to a church where they can hear a clear message that reassures them they made a good choice, that their theology is the right one. They go not to be disturbed and formed but to be comforted."

This is the problem I see with western church/theology. We attend church for affirmation of our current position instead of to be challenged and grow. I can definately agree that we seek comfort in church, we go with hopes that the sermon does not rock the boat. Whereas I for see a sermon as way to challenge and grow our faith. Faith is like a muscle we need to strain it to make it grow. With a hope fo being theologically correct we should hope to challenge and shake the boat to help our grow not to be stagnant.

As a pastor we need to be willing to shake things up instead of write/preach to comfort all the time. Preaching should be used as a tool to teach us and show us how to be more Christ like.

Preaching Beyond Speaching

2005-08-18T18:08:00.000-05:00

First.... I will post my comments here on my blog that I have placed on Doug Pagitt's blog for his new bookg Preaching Re-Imagined. I will attempt at best to interact with what interests me in each chapter and review the chapter a whole. The following is my notes for the introduction:

First off... THANKS DOUG for the copy. a few pages in and I'm already captivated by the flow and the insite into preaching. I'm stoked to dig deeper with you in the upcoming pages.

a) speaching... Doug truly I think you've addressed something I did not consider in my blgo rants on preaching. The passive university style speach... I can't think of a worst way to be bored in a pew as a person listening.

I agree that it goes against the grain, against creating relationships and a sense of community.

I think the method of delivery is poor in the sense that preaching in a speach style is making the assumption that a sermon is "one size fits all",meaning that we all learn from a speach. I sure don't. Some of us need a more practical form of teaching. I find your sentence on pg 19 "if we look at how Christians continue to struggle with what it means to live in the way of Jesus, we soon realize that greating preaching isn't sufficient." well said Doug. I could not agree more when I put this quote in light of delivery of a sermon. You can preach with the authority and sound of a thousand men, but without practical learn it is nothing.

b) I love your suggestion that regular use of speaching is relational violence and is detrimental, essentially stepping backwards in trying ot move forwards to deepen community. I find with most churches seemingly focused centrally on the sunday speach it does harm to community, it's also a downer we get built up in celebration and worship of God then have to be disconnected and listen to a "lecture". Listening to the community instead of just the voice of one is the true step forward not just focusing on the rhetoric of one.

c) pg 27 "despite our speaching, churches know there is often too much influence in this practice of one-way communication, so they attempt to push people into small groups to compensate"

thanks Doug for this insite... I've often seen small groups as a means to create community since we ineffectively do it during a regular weekly gathering of the local church. If the local church was more centrally focused on community (discussion instead of lecture) then a depth would occur in the community and we would not need to seek band aids. Certainly I enjoy small groups that I have lead or attended, but I see them as band aids to patch the problem of a church not answering the need for community.

d) I enjoy your acknowledgment on pg 29 of how speaching is from the perspective of one person to whom it makes sense, but it doesn't essentially make sense to all listening.

e) "When communities are convinced they are better off with a unified understanding of God that si best articulated by trained presenters, we end up with people who cannot translate what they hear in church to the way they live their lives" PRECISELY!!!! this is the biggest rant I have about preaching as a speach... that it does not instruct us how to grow to be more Christ like (well not always but most of the time it lacks). Preaching should teach us what being Christ like is and how to work towards it in practical ways not a form of rhetoric that tells us about God andthe hsitory of his people, it should lead us to know God in a deeper more intimate way.

f) I agree with your point on speaching using the Bible to support presuppositions, rather then participate with scriptures. Far to often I see this in preaching... using the Bible out of context, twisting a meaning to support a "theology" being imposed on our minds by a presenter in effor to make it sound like truth. We are in essence adding to the Bible then, and using the word of God for oour own manipulations and purposes.

g) pg 35 "it's simply not legitimate to continue with the same practices but expect new outcomes."

insanity" repeat the same action and expecting a different result.

hmmmm is there a correlation between Doug's statment and the definition of insanity? I think so... repeating the same action (speaching) is insanity as a church because we do expect a new outcome, but for years a new outcome has not happened.

h) pg 43 "the history of heresy shows it's most often the abuse of power - not an openness of power - that creates environments ripe with heresy"

looking at the progressional dialog in consideration of this, i can agree that dialogue instead of speaching far better. Often when power is put in the hands of a few there is corruption and twisting of truth, whereas with multiple minds invovled it is lessened. Pastors/presenters are human just like the rest of us and are prone to wanting control and power (it's human nature). When given absolute power, heresy is more likely to rear it's ugly head. Thus teaching each other collectively is able to control the corruption as well works to build depth in community. One person cannot possibly know the absolute truth, we need to rely on others for the full picture.

Overall I think a great foundational understanding has been laid in this introduction. Moving from a speach to a dialogue has some great thought and idea. I think in this initial conversation Doug has began to answer some concerns, and raise even more questions about our current style of preaching and how it impacts the church.

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In his introduction Doug has worked in some terms he created "speaching" and "progressional dialogue". Essentially speaching: is the speach/lecture form of preaching and progressional dialogue is an interactive discussion from which we learn from each other. Doug walked through some wonderful concerns about speaching and how it creates a disconnect in community and essentially goes against what it means to be church in contract prog dia. seeks to build community through mutual learning and teaching.

Preaching Re-Imagined

2005-08-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

My haw has hit the floor... I'm not sure how so but a copy of Doug Pagitt's new book "Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon in Communities of Faith" has arrived via UPS... Some kind soul either bought it for me from my Amazon wish list, or as per a request for a copy direct to Doug one was sent so I can review it.. either way... as soon as I finish "Liquid Church" by Pete Ward (which I'm reading now) I'll be hoping into Doug's book and posting on it. I"m stoked, and super excited to jump in and read. Since I've taken a hiatis from writing on preaching I've felt a need to revisit the topic and have several books etc to read on preaching... but this is the mecca... the one I've been dying to read.

Update 17 aug 05: I realized that it couldn't have come from Amazon since it's not released yet.. THANK YOU DOUG!!!!!!!!!

Missional Pastors

2005-08-07T06:50:00.000-05:00

The Weary Pilgrim has written an excellent post on august 6 entitled "Church in Transition". It raised a thought in my mind about paid leadership vs. servants. I have spent a large amount of time holding back in doing ministry because I feel that I need to be backed by a church that hands me a salary inorder to reach people. But as pointed out by the article, Paul made tents for his livelyhood so that he could be a missionary. It is very interesting how there's been a transition from missionary minded pastors, to paid pastors.

I am begining to see the error in my thoughts... that in order to do God's ministry here on earth I need a pay cheque from a church with a fancy title. Really is this essential...no. This is how my mind has been formed to think. In reality I've spent years doing ministry in churches (mind you not fulltime) without recieving more then a thanks; yet the many blessings from God through taking leadership roles and teaching/equipping God's children has been more than I can count. In looking toward a "career" in ministry am I seeking treasures on earth(a paid church staff position) or and I seeking to gain treasures in heaven and please God?

For myself I see me seeking a pay cheque. I know I've been called to teach and disciple God's children. Mind you it would be nice to have a paid staff position so then I can concentrate more of God's work then another job, however there are many in the past who have ran churches but not been paid by the church, thousands of missionaries have worked hard to save so they can go touch the world with God's love, others have gone and sought work so they may be a presence of God's love in a community.

I'm not saying I think being paid by a church to be a pastor/missionary is bad; what I'm concerned with is how many others are held back in doing ministry like I am because they feel this is essential first. Where does the line get drawn between being a paid pastor and being a servant of God?

Escape or Join?

2005-08-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

Recently I've picked up a copy of "The Out of Bounds Church" by Steve Taylor. It's turning out to be a fantastic book thus far. While reading this I was struck by the following from page 50

"Terry Veling note that emerging communities 'expend much frustrated energy in trying to escape rather that engage that to which they belong. They see their suspicions, their critiques, their doubts leading them further and further away from tradition, rather than recognizing that their critical reading is part of the ongoing interpretation.' The irony is that this deconstructive energy cuts off our life-giving potential. The curse of post-evangelicalism is that it knows what it has come from, but seems less certain about what it will become. In words of Bono, it is east to get 'stuck in the moment.'"

What strikes me is the reality that in emerging cultures we spend more time fighting against from where we came, then looking toward where we are going. In emerging church circles I have expereinced there is more fight against the past traditions then redefining the future. This surely is a problem because all we end up doing is sitting and talking philosophy and theology of mission, or anti-evangelicalism, etc and going no where with the talks. I realized that as I reflected on my own writings, and those of others I've read... hardly an essayist offers a future just condemns that past.

So what then is the future? The future can be many things, but primarily it should be communities focused on being sold out for God and sharing his love with the world. Missional, relational communities. In order to expand the kingdom the conversation needs to end the mode of deconstruction and begin looking at the future and the praxis fo the emerging theology. As communities of faith we need to embrace the history we come from, and see how the traditions can be applied to our world today.

Corporate Pedophilia

2005-07-26T17:59:00.000-05:00

In my reading of "Branded: The buying and selling of teenagers" by Alissa Quart I read a term that was coined, "corporate pedophilia". This was used to discuss the use of marketing towards teens. One on context it orients towards "cool hunters" (people employed by businesses to hang out with teens, to befriend them and steal their fashionable ideas to market to other teens). These cool hunters create a faux friendship for the purpose of learning what's hip (solicitation of youth...pedophilia), as well to delve deep into the minds of youth to learn how to better solicit products to them (yet again pedophilia). It's terrible to think companies do this. But what several billions of $ are spent by youth each year I can see why companies target youth. I see it as them stealing away youth and reselling them, themselves. In many ways it's very perverted (not fully in a sexual sense).

This hidden marketing to teens even stretches into video games, such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater... companies buy a spot to have their logo imposed on a ramp or other objects and this brand recognition prompts teens to think that their brand is cool... thus increased sales.

My question is what right do we have to brainwash a persons mind into believing a particular brand is cool or not? Why do we allow companies to play with the minds of our youth and manipulate them?

We need to look to some other countries such as Sweden and the UK to see how to limit these marketing schemes to youth. We need ot free the minds of the youth to allow them to be youth again, nto push them into adulthood through marketing techniques.

Time Capsule

2005-07-23T08:29:00.000-05:00

I was watching a parade the other day for Edmonton's Klondike Days (or as I see it money grab days... but I won't rant on this just yet). And in the parade was a float the held a tiem capsule. My thoughts surrounding the time capsule:

In the future when historians look back on our society what will define us? Will they focus on terrorist attacks and fascist leadership or will it be on the materialism of western culture and the break down of family values and community. If they open the time capsule and look in will they find brand name items such as nike and gap, or mcdonalds and starbucks, or...

Will the find pictures of happy familes and of strong community events? THus as I see it will they find a false sense of what our era was marked by? I'd rather them see the truth of a time period however it saddens me to consider that our period of history may be marked as the time morality colapsed and we asked God to move to the sidelines so we can get on with our lives.

What I would rather them find is a society that repented of it immoral acts, and material desperation; one that began to seek God and push to the margins the other spiritualities that we currently are following. A time in history when man turned to God and said "we screwed up, we can't control ourselves let alone our world." A time where men and women stood up and began to speak out against corruption, against world hunger, against oppression. A time where God's love shines through all and in all. Where families rejoined and shared with other families, where communities valued. A time where hope was restored and we stopped trying to live as individuals and pulled together as a people group.

A Modern Sodom

2005-07-20T05:02:00.000-05:00

Here's a lil poem I penned yesterday.

Crime runs rampant,
Psuedo people with psuedo lives.
Lies are told like the legends of our forefathers.
All hope seems lost

O West have we failed?
What is civilized?
Is it our democratic regimes?
Or the facist leaders?

Man with man... or woman....or child
The stench of perversion fills the air.
No accountability at night where we lay our head.

Where O West have the morals gone?
Is anything immoral in your eyes?
Has playboy began to rule your life?
What boundries are left to cross?

West, precious in your own eyes,
yet a place where others dispise.
Do you not see Sodom staring back at you from the mirror,
as you gaze at yourself in vanity?

Starbuck, Snobbery, and Church Vocabulary

2005-07-18T05:28:00.000-05:00

I was reading this post over at Subversive Influence adn thought I should share it.... click the link.

http://www.subversiveinfluence.com/wordpress/?p=295

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Another thought from "The Terror of Consumerism"

Further suggestions toward consumerism are perking my mind to ponder. The most recent is discussing how the control of our governments has proven to become a form of facisim. Consider the following forteen points and think them over in relation to our north american governments.

The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
Free Inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org/fi/
Spring 2003; 5-11-03

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to (sic) media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed
to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

The Crime of Poverty?

2005-07-17T19:38:00.000-05:00

I began reading an essay by Jurgen Joachim Hesse entitled "The Terror of Consumerism." His introductory remarks suggest the idea that our culture views poverty as a crime and affluence as the "right way". Is it possible that we as a society have come to the point where we consider poverty criminal? Certainly in our materialistic ways we look down upon it. In my mind I've not seen it as criminal... but I suppose when I consider the actions and looks on the faces of the "well to do," they very well may. The only thing criminal I see is to not obey Jesus commands to help the poor. Certainly I live jsut above the "poverty line" yet in living a minimalistic lifestyle I far exceed a good standard of living. I'm just as guilty of crime when I look down at those on the street seeking their next meal (so I prefer to be nieve to think they are).

What is it when a society, an affluent society such as ours can consider poverty a crime (in a manner of speaking)? What of people like myself and many others that subject themselves to voluntary simplicity? Are we considered criminally poverish because we lack possessions?

Why is it in our culture we think that it's odd, weird, wrong, criminal to decide to live a lesser standard then others... or more importantly to take our eyes of the earthly treasures we can buy so they do not detract our attention from God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

7 “Two things I ask of you, LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown
you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

This has become my prayer recently as I seek to look past western "civilized" culture and seek God.

Interesting Articles

2005-07-17T05:21:00.000-05:00

As I always do when web surfing... stumble across some great articles on diverse topics. Here is a list of articles recently I've been read and am now pondering:

Emergent Apologetics
An American Gospel
From Methodology to Theology
Narrative Preaching
Narrative Theology and the Dogmatic use of the Bible

This is just a few good articles from my web readings this morning. Enjoy :) My book list I"m working through lately has alot to do with the social constructs of material wealth and it's affects on our society. With some focusing directly on youth and how branding and consumerism are driving them.

Coach Carter, evangelism, and a weekly update.

2005-07-17T04:22:00.000-05:00

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to watch Coach Carter. This is a must see. But not just for the movie. Coach Carter never gives up on a group of high school boys, he treats them with the upmost respect and is always pushing them to the next level to grow into men. I see God written all over this. God always sees the potential in us and desires for us to push to the next level of being Christ-like. Along the way their are challenges we face but he is there to back us up and help us if we fall. God wants us to be complete in our lives. So he gives us great opportunities to grow in many areas. Carter was the same way, when he discovered the basketball team was failing school he locked down the gym to give the guys a chance to develop into good students.

Such a great example from hollywood to show us a bit of God in real life. Speaking of real life... I'm still grumbling about work and how employees are treated however the job itself I love so I'm not going to push to hard to find new work unless something good comes up. Preferably pastoral work (which seems to be impossible to find). And in an attempt to get healthier..I've purchased a juicer... yesterday was grape/carrot/lime/spinach juice... I knwo sounds revolting but actually was wonderfully tasty. I was told by Jo (my wife) and a persona trainer at work I need to consume more veggies and start working on cleaning my diet up. I did so well years ago but getting into healthier eating seems harder... so I figured I'll juice my way into getting vitamins and nutrients I need.

I was seeking to learn more about evangelism and it's context in a postmodern world... well I believe I've found a mentor (well in this case a blog to read and learn from). Emerging Evangelism has been posting some great examples and info on evangelism in a postmodern world. Simple enough...conversation; being willing to discuss God in your life in open conversation. Not so simple in many ways if your shy about topics such as faith like I am.

This week I get to meet with the senior pastor of my church to begin discussing the process for me to work towards ordination as well to seek guidance as I press forward to be molded by God to take on pastoral roles. I've been shuffling my feet for far to long and need to start the nex stage in the run. I think I lost my endurance previously and now it's been a few years, I've learnt tons but am not near to where the finish line is yet. Time to pick up the pace instead of sitting down in the rest area and sipping far too much lemonade.

Emergent

2005-07-10T08:47:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been scratching your heads as to what this emergent stuff is I've wrote about many times in the past check the following video out from PBS. This should give you a great idea on Emergent. Watch the video and it should help clarify a bit.

I intend to blog more in the near future, but for now I'm doing far to much reading. Recently it has to do with catholic traditions, as well consumerism and it's affects on us as a society. I think somewhere in all this the church can offer answers to the noisy lives we lead. God can give us rest and peace amidst all the noise. However the church has become very consumer driven as well...

In some expressions of the emergent church there is an empahsis of getting back to the roots fo our faith, and taking away the noise or using it in a more effective manner. This is one reason I'm drawn to the emerging church discussion happening on many blogs and in many churches across the globe.

As for life updates:

a) I'm becoming less pleased with my job at the YMCA. I've learnt that some practices are shady, for example they will nto give proper job references just an indication you worked for them (this shots me in the foot since I was planning to stay long term to build stability and references in my resume)

b) apparently time off you get in lieu of working a holiday gets erased from the system if it is not used within 6weeks of the holiday and to attempt to gain that time back is very unlikely

c) though you may work lots of overtime (especially me since my dept is understaffed and poorly scheduled) it's practically impossible to take time off.

conclusion: start searching for new work.... pray that I can find a church in need of a youth pastor (this would be the best option for me) or an assosiate pastoral position. Pray that I can find a decent job quickly that will respect it's employees. I do like what I do with the YMCA but if employee treatment is of a lower standard then I have no interest in remaining there longterm.

otherwise life is peachy, yesterday began the street preformers fesival :), I finally decided on a design for our livingroom (only has taken me 3 months) - going with a kids playhouse motif. And next weekend off to Jasper National Park for some good camping with friends... yiiipppiieee mountains :) now I can try out my mountainboard on something more then a small rolling hill in a city park.

Weekly Update

2005-07-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

It would seem that mostly my updates comes on a weekly basis now, so that might be my aim for a while. Nothing new to report really. I'm anxiously awaiting Doug Pagitt's new book about preaching, so then I can consider what other emergent thinkers are seeing as a way to share the story of Christ in our era.

The church my wife and I are attending is proving to be a huge blessing. We've been praying for a place of deep community, with godo theology, and my hope - a place of alternative preaching... and it's proving well thus far. We've made some great connections already, the church prays far more then any church i've attended and preaching is awesome! So God is blessing us through this faith community. One thing to note is I find myself continually each sunday inspired to write poetry unlike I do other times when i want to write. Yesterday I penned these words:

Silently
Silently
Quiet as a slight breeze rustles leaves onan autum tree.
Tickling my inner ear,
Your voice O Lord
resonates in my heart, soul, and mind.
A gentle whisper,
golden silence.
Straining to hear your voice.
On a bent knee, low in your presence.
The whisper of your voices
soothes,
calms,
assures me of your love.

Praise be to God for his prompting me to write this down. Such verse I dare not say is mine, I see beauty in it, can not imagine I penned this... infact it was not me, it was God prompting me to move my hand.

In my readings I've jumped deep into Donald Miller's book "Searching for God knows what" and I find myself on a journey that takes faith past the religious formulae, past the charts, past the logic into a deeper relationship with a God who is alive. A God we can not put in our evangelical box and admire from an logical understanding. I find myself more in love with God because of this powerful book. Definately give it a read and grow.

Psychedelic Concrete

2005-06-27T12:10:00.000-05:00

Placed in front of me in church yesterday was a wonderful "tool"/"toy" magnetic poetry. How much fun it is, and a great tool to stretch your mind. The following is what I came up with.

Angry rhythm too surreal to scream,
in glorious harmony.
Imagine,
a sculpture - psychedelic concrete icon.
A metaphor of grace.
Stroke the masterpiece with elecric life,
observe the music and write the picture.

what struck me as odd as I started this poem was the imagery that came to mind. A Jersey barrier... you know those large cement road blocks. Great for skateboarding and biking on.. but more so I saw an image of beauty and a story from God. In this idea of a barrier I see us... our cold hearts, just like stone. It's an icon of us. But then in this vision of my poem God coloured the barrier into psychedelic colours of yellows, greens, and pinks. HE then prompted me that this is grace. That grace can turn a thing of coldness into something beautiful; that God's words harmoniously (is this a word?) errupt from us with life and rise up like the introduction of a song esculates to the climax. And the icon of cold become a masterpiece, an icon of God's grace.

The Younger Evangelicals post 2

2005-06-26T07:24:00.000-05:00

In my readings of this fine book I've come across some rather interesting quotes.

The following is an excerpt from pg 138

I once commented on this phenomena (commenting on church start ups by younger evangelicals) in a workship in Toronto. I said "I find that twenty-somethings are unwilling to become pastors of traditional churches where a handful of people resist change. They turn their backs on fairly good jobs in churches that won't change, so they can do tent-making ministries with a start-up church withinout the hassle of dealing with change resistors." After the workship a 25 year old male asked, "Do you know why we won't serve in those traditional churches that resist change?"
"No," I said, "I know that you won't, but I'm not sure I know why."
"We're surfers," he said, "We surf TV, we surf eating places, we surf everything. If you don't like this, go there. If you don't like there, go here. Our lives are full of choices. Our parents are fighters, we're not, we're survivors. So, rather than fight a battle that can't be won, we start our own thing. That's why we are attracted to start-up ministries."

How profound! I could not agree with the opinion of this fellow more. I consider my future in ministry and look at the churches we have today... of course I would rather start up a ministry then take on the hassles of a change reistant church. Not that I think I can do something bigger and better, but that I would rather not deal with the politics and problems of a church that appears to not want to move into the future and make changes to accomadate future generations. I've worked with churches that resist change even in what I would consider smaller things such as the use of guitars in worship. It's far to much effort and I think can divide a church to fight through these issues. So accept the beauty of what's established and go create what you see the future to be, elsewhere.

The other quote that struck me was on pg 139

"Imagination," writes the pastor, "is where God can meet you. It's the only place where you can be everywhere at one time, the only place where you have unlimited resources, power and potential." Imagination is fueled by an intimate relationship that "both your uniqueness and the unique contribution that God wants to make through you" is discovered and ignited.

A more personal post now

2005-06-24T04:59:00.000-05:00

I noted as I opened my journal this mornig (at the wee hours of 230am) that it's been days since I wrote. Which also indicates that it's been days since I've read scripture, and even updated this blog. Why is it that the very things I hold highest I rarely do, that I struggle with so much to become habit. I hold highly the value of daily reading scripture; it breathes life into my days. As well journaling my prayers and laments, as well praise to God; what a wonderful way I've found to connect with God. But regretfully I struggle in disciplining myself in doing these. Part of me feel guilt because I know this daily connection with God is important, the other part of me is not pleased with my inability to focus on some things (more so to discipline my life).

I'm sure others struggle with this too. Care to suggest some ideas how to start implementing these into my life more... how to get my mind to remember that these are important to me. Sometimes I see these as I do going to the gym... it takes a great deal of pushing mentally to get up there and workout, but once I'm in the process, a great sigh of "this is good" happens, and then once it's over i recall how unpainful (well some days it is) that the expereince is and with joy look forward to the next time I workout. My devotions are much like this, but worse, because often my mind blanks to this important activity in my day. I think some of it is I allow life to be to noisy to hear God's promptings to spend time with him.

Pray for me please that I develop a less noisy mind inorder to hear God prompt me to discipline in my devotions.

The Younger Evangelicals

2005-06-24T04:49:00.000-05:00

I've began to dive into The Younger Evangelicals by Robert Webber. Just 60 pages in I'm captivated by his gentle handling and explaination of the "post modern" mindset in relation to evangelical traditions. He's hit the nail directly on the head in his statements that as a younger evangelical I am seeking to paint with broader strokes. To get past the fundamental, converative, liberal, pragmatic, etc camps that seemed so important to paint in the 20th century evangelicalism. More so to get back to the basic questions such as "What does it mean to be a Christian?".

Webber is proving to have a clear understanding of younger evangelicals and how we seek to deconstruct and then reconstruct church and theology in our time because we see a need to reshape "church" in order to usher it into the upcoming era.

Certainly I personally resonate with this. My thoughts orient to how can I make Jesus and the gospel, as well the need for Christian community realivant to our culture, to our history in time. I crave to find a fresh understanding of theology, but more so the praxis of theology and how it looks in daily life. Then how can we express the praxis theology in a way that will grip the hearts of upcoming generations to see God and his infinite love for us.

Really as I begin in this book I already would recommend it highly to any church leader, both modernist and postmodernist alike. Robert Webber is proving to be a valuable guide to us as the postmodern era of the church is being ushered in.

Post 2 of the day: Books

2005-06-20T18:20:00.000-05:00

Well scrap the first two books on my reading list. Breaking through barriers appears to not catch my attention at all. It seems the author is over using scripture to push his point, and twisting to fit in place. As for The Bible That Jesus Read.. well the library only had large print edition, and it turns out this hurts my eyes ot try and read... gotta go find a regular print edition of it.

So onto "The Younger Evangelicals." *drum roll*

Graphic Designs

2005-06-20T13:26:00.000-05:00

A few posts ago I mentioned that I created a flickr account to "show off" my digital art. Well I strongly recommend checking out my most recent picture. I think it's a masterpiece!

Infrequent posts

2005-06-19T07:49:00.000-05:00

It looks like I've fallen victim to being lazy and not updating my blog recently. Mostly because this has not been a terribly exciting week. Nothing sparked me mentally really. With the exception of having found a church community finally. A wonderful small church plant that is very artistically oriented, worship is deep and powerful, and the speaking is A+. Plus it helps that in prayer with God he told me that this was the church he has prepared for me to learn from as I endeavour to observe and participate in church structures and community. So that's that... God says this is your new home, and it's done. Now to develop deep friendships and serve God through serving the church. And I'm sure my folks will be pleased... it's a baptist church so I'm going back to my roots.

IN other news, I've been raiding the library system lately far too often. The stack of books in my living room grows as I read through volumes of great stuff. Currently I'm reading "Challenging the Church Monster: from conflict to community" by Douglas J. Bixby. This is well worth a read if your church is struggling with a overgrown government, or if you feel that the time taken in committeess is wasting realy minsitry time to the community. Grab a copy... well worth the read!

Other titles on my stack are:

Breaking Through Barriers by Kyle Vander Broek
The Bible Jesus Read by Phillip Yancey (gotta love this guys writing!)
The Younger Evangelicals by Robert E. Webber
Releasing the Rivers Within by Dwight Edwards
Too Christian, Too Pagan by Dick Staub
Seizing Your Divine Moment by Erwin Raphael McManus
Living Your Strengths by Albert L. Wineman (and other authors)

This is my planned reading for the next couple weeks.... and yes I got these great titles in my library. I think possibly this is the best library I've ever been too. So I'll be deep in the mental realm as I soak up knowledge from these great authors. Plus I've taken up a new sport... mountainboarding. Much like snowboarding, minus the snow, and on a smaller board with wheels... ok so it's not much like snowboarding aside from the tricks and that your riding down mountains. Either way it's a blast...far to much fun. Plus for that freak look in the city... should see eads turn as you "skateboard" down streets on a mountainboard... something catches on lookers eyes to this long board with BIG wheels and brakes.... so provided weather is nice (which it never seems to be on my days off) I'm heading to the hills for some quite reading and some downhill fun!

Many blessings friends.

G8: Aid

2005-06-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

Well here's some good news comign from the G8 summit. I must admit
I'm rather skeptical about the distrobution of this aid pacakge, however I
am pleased to see a commitment by wealthier nations to help out others.
CTV.ca News Staff
Finance ministers from the world's wealthiest nations
have agreed to a historic accord cancelling at least $40 billion US worth of debt owed by poor, developing countries. Britain Treasury chief Gordon
Brown said 18 of those countries -- mostly in sub-Saharan Africa -- will
receive much-needed relief of 100 per cent of the debt they owe to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank.
At the meeting of G-8 finance ministers in London on Saturday, Brown
said that now was "not a time for timidity, but a time for boldness."
The total relief package could be worth more than $55 billion US,
although it needs approval first by the lending institutions. Brown added
that nine further countries are expected to have their debts written off in the next 12 to 18 months.
Ministers from Canada, the U.S., Britain, Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy and France agreed to the package during the two-day summit.
"A real milestone has been reached," U.S. Treasury
Secretary John Snow said. "President Bush's commitment to lift the
crushing debt burden on the world's poorest countries has been achieved. This is an achievement of historic proportions." The package agreed to Saturday was put forward by the U.S. and Britain following last week's talks in Washington between Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Finance Minister Ralph Goodale says Canada is prepared to assume its full fair share of the cost. Aid agencies said the deal would save the countries a total of $1.5 billion US a year in debt repayments that could be used for health care, education and infrastructure development.
"This is a great deal for people in many of the very poorest countries, it reflects well on (Britain's Treasury chief) Gordon Brown and (U.S. Treasury Secretary) John Snow and is a tribute to the growing global campaigns to beat poverty," said Jamie Drummond, executive director of DATA, the organization founded by U2 singer Bono.
The finance ministers are also discussing high oil prices, the huge American budget deficit and the sluggish European economy.

Flickr

2005-06-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for a flickr account. I'm using it as a way to share some of the digital art I have created or am in process of creating. Check it out..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15124209@N00/

Please leave comments, critique it :)

Blessings.

Money and Church Missions

2005-06-08T05:38:00.000-05:00

Brother Maynard at Subversive Influence has written a wonderful post discussing the dollars north american churches spend. Can you believe one trillion? All of it on ourselves for programs, materials, etc. In his post he discusses this inlight of mission statements. Observing that most churches include in their statement a discussion of making converts he boldly questions what effect we have had in accomplishing this, and if all this money is spent then was it worth it? Suppose using this money for the poor, the downcast, the hungry, anyone with less then what we have. Oh wow could the church ever make an impact on this world. One trillion dollars is alot of buying power... imagine if the churches were as Brother Maynard suggested to change mission statements to focus on feeding the hungry and praying for the sick... just imagine...

I am willing to boldly assert this would have far greater impact on our world then any other evangelistic effort we may put in place, any program, effort, etc. If the churches used this buying power to help, I mean actually help those in need and open their doors for prayer minsitry to the sick. We may have to open the gates wider as people come in and know God's love and thirst for more of God. In a broken world another quirky program, or method won't work... but showing God's love in a tangible way will.

Pride

2005-06-06T07:53:00.000-05:00

I thought it was interesting that in a sermon yesterday at church the speaker discussed pride. But he mentioned it in a differnt form. That our holding back, saying we can't, that we're not good enough, that we do not have the skills, etc is also pride. Typically we think of pride in a manner of being showy, or stubborn. Certainly not a false "humility".

I've not considered this to be pride before yet really it can be. Your focus is still yourself, it's still no wheres near focusing on God or his wants. Your so absorbed in your inabilities, centering all thoughts on you, taking control that God doesn't get a chance. The "catch phrase" of the sermon.... GET OVER YOURSELF! No seriously get over the fact that you think you can't so you focus so much on yourself that you take control instead of allowing God to. We need to remember that God can, no gift we have, no talent, no ability is not from us it's from God... and God can bless us with more, infact probabyl eh has but we're too self centered/prideful to see this that we believe we can't. I'm just as guilt of this as others. In God all things are possible... so let's start turning out "can'ts" to "yes God".

Waiting

2005-06-05T07:32:00.000-05:00

I wrote last about a man in ghana whome i recieved a prayer request from. He had mentioned to me about not having a Bible and wishing he could have one. Unfortunately I've not heard back from him yet. I'm still bothered by the realization some people in our world do not have access to God's word. Also that there is such poverty even a paper product (no disrespect meant toward the Bible) is not able to be purchased. After finishing Ronald Sider's book I have become more and more bothered by the state of people in our world and how simple in some respects it would be to help out. Things such as cutting out a few cups of coffee a week, buying things we need and not want, then using this extra money to help support missions to these places that need it far more then we do. A church I've been attending off and on is missiosn focused. The pastor collected $20 from 6 people during a sermon stating he had an amazing thing to prove with this money.

He was being sent to Africa for missions from the church as well India. Using the money he was able to buy and build a playground for a school in India, provide a youth with his dream, a basketball, and put a bike in the hands of a pastor which reduced his commute to seminary from a 6hours walk each way to a 4hours ride and with the extra time that pastor began to minister to a second village. What an amazing thing to happen from honestly very little. We who have much need to be charitable. Especially us Christians. God has called us to aid the poor. This is a command from God, not optional. I think we need to begin shaping up and helping out the poor (myself included).

I'm finishing up Greg Paul's book "God in the Alley" where he discusses the situations as a pastor of a missional church in Toronto that he encounters. His church is named Sanctuary. It does just that at times, provides sanctuary to people protecting them from the streets. Greg discusses the homelessness, prostitution and street life of several people he's encountered. It's sad, even in our affluent world many do not have lifes necessities.

Why has this happened? What as Christians can we do about it? How can we show God's love to these people that do not know love?

Bothered

2005-05-30T07:09:00.000-05:00

For almost a year now I've been working as a email mentor with TruthMedia offering prayer and support to many men throughout the world. Many struggle with family issues, addictions, and low self esteem. Sometimes a request will be made for prayer to for a stronger faith (praise God!), or for a deeper relationship. Many people seek God and see the need for him in their life. I pray that my words have helped, rarely do I recieve a reply. But I know God is working in our world.

The reason I mention what I am doing with TruthMedia is because today I responded to a prayer request from a man in Ghana. He was seeking prayer for a stronger faith, but also a Bible. A what?!!!! You mean that this man does not have a Bible? That's why I am disturbed. Here is a chap who knows God and obviously loves him dearly, but does not have a Bible so he can sit down and met with God through the word. Tears well up in my tearducts just thinking about this guy in Ghana. How can that be? I am deeply moved and want to get this guy a Bible. I knew that so many do not have access to scripture... but until you encouter a story first person and a plea directed to you it doesn't make an impact. My heart breaks for this man. I'm praying that I can get him a Bible, but more so that I feel compelled to get more Bibles into his village. To put the scripture in the hands of those who need it. I look at my book shelf and I have at least 10 Bibles (mind you various translations) and this man can not afford even one Bible.

Dear God,

Help me to get Your word into the hands of those who do not have it, especially this chap in Ghana.

Amen.

The Financial Blindness of North America

2005-05-29T07:34:00.000-05:00

Well I couldn't think of a more catchy title but there it is... maybe "Binge Spending of consumerism and how it could help the lower-income world." However it maybe.... I've began reading "Rich Christians In an Age of Hunger" by Ronald J. Snider. Barely a moment goes by that I'm able to pull away from this fascinating book. I've not been more aware of the amount of money in our materialistic western culture and how it's foolishly spent in selfish ways. Moreover how little of our wealth it would take to solve world hunger and health problems, especially in what Ronald labels as "low-income" countries. Simply terrible. The book has sparked my contemplation of the materialism of our world (yes sadly the christians are as invovled and the non-christians in the statistics).

One of the biggest industries in the westernized world right now is advertising. In 1995 $385 Billion was spent. To me that's a large chunk of change. Even to dip into that amount and use a quater of it, we would be able to solve basic health needs, provide clean water, and grain to many of the low income nations. But yet we sit idlely by watching ads all around us, that tell us we need to buy more to feel affluent, important, fullfilled. It's proposterous to consider the increased amount that we spend now 10 years later. When we consider the increased levels of tv viewing (statistically children view more tv then they spend time in school, and adults watch at least 5 hours a day), the billboards that plaster our roadways, radio ads, internet ads... thier in our face everywhere, we cannot avoid seeing an advertisment in a day (unless of course you live in the middle of the woods somewhere remote). My point is we pour billions of dollars into an industry that tells us we need to spend more on ourselves when there are children and families dieing because they can't afford to buy enough food to survive a day. I found the following quote quite informative and eye opening:

Perhaps the most demonic part of advertising is that is attempts to persuade us that material possessions will bring joy and fullfillment. That happiness is to be attained through limitless material aquisition is denied by every religion and philosophy known to man, but is preached incessantly by every American television set. pg 22.

Jesus spoke against materialism, he also said the poor are more blessed. We've been told as Christians that we should help the poor. "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord" (Proverbs 19:17). Yet we follow the religion of our tv set more then God on this one.... in our Christian circles we advertise the next greatest book, or movie, or cd that we must have to help us get closer to God (ever try long times in prayer.. it helps more). Christian advertising and marketing is increasing daily expoentially... let's wake up! I admit to buying my fair share of books and resources, however if I were to spend this money helping out the poor and disenfranchised of the world, if everyone were to do so then we could help solve world hunger, provide basic health needs, give education to those who have no access to it.

In considering the results of advertising and marketing Sider wrote

Affluence fails to satisfy our restless hearts. It also keeps us from sharing food and assistance with our more than on billion hungry neighbours. Will we affluent Christians have the generosity and faithfulness to refuse to conform to society's seductive advertising?

I think the question Sider leaves us with is important to consider... Christ told us to be in the world but not of the world, yet constantly we are of the world. We are consumers as much as anyone else is... let's begin to consider if we started using our resources in a more Christ centered manner how much of an impact we could have on the needs of the low income nations.

Slow Updates

2005-05-26T16:54:00.000-05:00

Well it's been hard to get back in the theological sattle lately since the move. Recently I finished a wonderful book called Faith Tango. It was about spiritual growth in marriage and redefining what it means. Very interesting text worth a read for all you married folks. Deals alot with importance of communication. Once I finish a few poetry books I'm reading and s book on blogging then I'm gonna hit some harder stuff such as Sniders "Rich Christian" book which should lead to some weightier posts and thoughts. I feel as if it's been shallow in my posts recently. My apologies.

I do rejoice in my new guitar. Insurance came through and I got to buy my baby yesterday. Now a proud owner of a Ibanez Masa sx72. Black cherry finish.. how beautiful. God is awesome to have allowed this to happen. I"m blessed.

For fun I clicked on a new quiz and it says I'm Cultural Creative.

Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is
something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

Routine Java

2005-05-19T17:06:00.000-05:00

Past the bed
around the door
careful not to stub toe
stumbling down the hallway
synapses not working
system needs spark

Open cover, and pour
grinds hit the ground,
crap a sandy beach on the floor
phew, some make it in
dripping water on counter
It's filled

Press button
glowing red, it's moments away
Open door insert hand
smack, ceramic hits the counter
Final gurgle, and pour
Sip, sigh
Tomorrow - repeat.

Preaching the Parable Style

2005-05-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

After having attended a church last evening where I was thoroughly put off by the method the sermon was delivered I began to ponder preaching again. The sermon last night was delivered in a manner that made me cringe, it included all (I mean all aspects) I have blogged about which I think are in error. A weak opening story with little attachment and introduction to the topic, a singular main point over emphasized and stretched with filler to last at least 20min. Add in the mix Bible verses quoted out of context with hope to make them fit to further persuade the audience to the point the sermon was making. Plus random ramblings of what would better be served as other sermon topics and should have been discarded in editing the sermon. I can not discount the topic as unimportant, it was a discussion of how valuable time is, how it's a gift from God and we should use it as wisely as possible to advance the kingdom.

I searched back through my readings and writing on a sermon as a narrative and look to revisit the parable. Effective small stories with many hidden gems to teach us about characteristics of God. Jesus was a master parable teller. He taught using this form and people ran to the gatherings to hear more of the parables. Indeed I think Jesus provided a great model to teach from. I would consider the parable as an effective preaching method for today's postmodern world. It tells us a story of someone(something we all love to hear), and within the story it teaches us valuable things. Plus the story is not to be explained, simply left inorder to be pondered by the hearer and extract meaning from it to be aplicable to their lives.

Would it not be interesting to hear a parable each sunday in place of a lengthy sermon? Also I was discussing with my wife this morning the idea of if I were to be a bible college professor how I would conduct a homelitics class... I pondered the idea of a weekly assignment to develop a strong Biblical parable and then for a midterm the students would make a compilation of their parables and deliver them to the class... almost a pseudo sermon on the mount. Part of my reason is to develop "sermons" beyond the modern evangelical traditional methods, as well as a messenger of the Good News we need to be godo writiers if we wish to teach others, thus narrative/parable would be a seemingly good way to develop writing skills.

Alternate uses of Coffee Brewers

2005-05-16T22:11:00.000-05:00

Ok so rarely do I post sillyness.... but I think this link covers it all for a while. Never before have I seen such genius and humour all rolled into one... if u click the link you'll learn how to brew beer in your coffee pot.... a list of ingredients and the full process...... quite funny really to consider someone was bored enough one day to find out if it works.

without further ado.... the link.

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/235coffee.html

Starbucks "Glen"/ Vision

2005-05-16T07:13:00.000-05:00

Sometimes advertising becomes so clever it's captivating, much like the Starbucks commercial "Glen" (click the watch this video button in the window that loads to see the video). This has a great depiction of a Glen who has grand visions of making it to the top, to be supervision. He is on fire, excited, ready to take on the corporation and climb the ladder. Glen aims to become supervisor. A man with vision for his life... I hope for him it does not die.

What is man without vision... hopeless. I look around in our churches and see hundreds of people, thousands within the city. I see people lost and sad because they've lost hope. Surely they have had visions, surely God has given them a calling... but something gets in the way of them and completing the vision. It could be fear, feelings of inadequacey, or any number of reasons; however this means the world is missing out. God has put us here for a purpose, he put us in this piece of history, in the family we have, in the region we live, and as gifted us in various areas for a reason... but often we lose sight of the reason, the vision for our lives.

I pray for you that you do not lose hope, that you do not give up the vision God has given you. I hope your mind can be plagued by the words of Survivor in the "Glen"commercial "It's a dream he will never let die." Let this commercial be a reminder to not give up, that with God's help we can accomplish the vision he has given us. Be willing to step out of the boat (your comfort zone) and walk on the water trusting God each step.

1 Year Ago

2005-05-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

A year ago today(well technically tomorrow) I got to marry a wonderful woman, one so full of love and supportive. I could never imagine what a blessing it is to have a strong Christian wife, I still am overwhelmed daily.

What a trip the past year has been, with all the crime we became victims of, with adjusting to being married, and learning how to love all over again. I've noticed that because of the stress of our expereinces in the past year I've become somewhat unloving and bitter, yet still my wife is there and loves me. Oh how I recall the days of dating of late nights up "talking" (well fine kissing) and sitting in coffee shops sharing about our vision for life, love for God, and how God can use our talents together. I miss that, I think many of the situations have changed us both, but I've changed, become hardened with bitterness toward the world.

I pray that God teaches me how to love my wife like I did, how to work past the bitterness, how to become the lover I was and wish to be again. I thank God daily for such a wonderful wife! I thank God that after a year we're still together, still in love and have become a strong team; having learnt the need to bond together in such times of trouble. Now as life has become better, I ask God to undue the bitterness, to tear it out of me, out of her and allow us to love as we did. As well to love the world and forgive those who made us victims. God be with them. I pray that our marriage over the next year is a learning process based on Colossians 3:18,19

" Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh to them."

I can only be amazed as I see a year go by so fast, so many events, and still I'm married. What a blessing from God a wife is, what joy and enrichment she brings to my life.

Podcast, VLog... or not?

2005-05-13T14:59:00.000-05:00

Well in my recent mental processes is bouncing the idea of podcasting of vloging. I've been doing some reseach into each of these, but am discovering that theres a fair bit of work involved to accomplish either. I think Vlog would be fun, but video quality would be based on using my cellphone camera until I can afford to buy a new digital camera. So that may cut out the vlog option. But we shall see.

For now I want to beat on my computer since it does not want to print a copy of a transcript request form for my wife so she can get transfer credits into her new school. Argh, to think at one point I wanted a career in computer repairs and networking... what was I thinking?!

In Him...

2005-05-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Colossians 1:17 "HE is before all things, and in Him all things hold together"

Such beautiful words as I reflect on the past couple months of life. Truly in Christ all things were held together, my sanity, my marriage, my credit, my truck, my friendships. Christ is before us, he has walked the path ahead of us; oh what safety I find in knowing Christ understands the bile of the world we live in. That Christ has endured it. Because of this he can hold it together for us.

I sit in awe staring at my screen as I consider how Christ has held my life together and brought me through it. James wrote that we shoudl "consider it pure joy ... whenever you face trials of many kinds." Surely there is wisdom in this, it is pure joy to now finally have life going well and to see the joy in the realization of how these trials have built my faith and made it stronger. How relying on Christ through all the crimes I've been victimized by and bad employment, as well education... that in relying on Christ through these trials to hold me together it produces such joy.

I have come to realize that life, all life, all occurences in life, all things we possess have no power to hold us back from receiving God's love through Christ.

Getting Back on Track

2005-05-05T18:40:00.000-05:00

So things are good, all moved in my wife's working fulltime (eerrr so the company says) in a bagel shop and I jsut got offered and accepted a fulltime position with the YMCA working mon-fri... how sweet. and to top it off a perfectly nice stranger gave me a guitar today. Not a great guitar but it plays... God has blessed us in so many ways. It's amazing to see how his love jsut keeps flowing and flowing.

Edmonton.. City of Champions

2005-04-28T12:42:00.000-05:00

Well you know the city has motivation when it's slogan is "City of Champions". So far so good, arrived 930am monday and had an apartment by 12. Moved in by 2. All is awesome. The past few days have been job hunting, some great leads, such as an interview with YMCA this morning, a coffee shop manager interview tomorrow, and several group homes hireing. It looking great.

I'm overwhelmed with how polite people are, and cars stop for pedestrians. Random people walking by on teh street greet you. And I can't get over the library system! How amazing, it even ahs a HUGE collection of Christian music. Wonderful selection of religious literature too... so I'm combing the shelves for great books. Right now in midst of one called "Daily Prayerwalks" great book.

Anyway off for now. Internet is hooked up wednesday so I can blog regularly again... for not on a Telus hotspot connection in Timothy's Coffee Shop. Many blessings to you all and thanks so much for the continued prayers.

wee update

2005-04-24T18:26:00.000-05:00

well from here could be a few days or so before I get online to do an update.
current location: Lloydminster, Alberta (border city cut in half by AB and Sask)
next move: on to Edmonton tomorrow bright an early with great hope to have an apt by tomorrow night. and then from there get a job that pays and look for one that pays better and could be more career oriented.

So with great hope, alot of trust in God we head out tomorrow.

currently listening to: Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams cd :) gotta love this disc!!!!!

my prayers for everyone as I lose contact for a brief time. Blessings, God be with you all. Once I get a job and can afford net I will be back online ready to update and get back into the theology groove in relation to emerging church. Until then God bless.

Roaring engine,
barely moving,
the shadow Ranger creeps up the hills
into the bright western sunset
clouds dance in the sky,
birds flitter to and fro joyfully
and I, not a care in the world
just me, my wife, the 2 cats and open road
With great aspirations of betterment.

Predestination

2005-04-22T05:13:00.000-05:00

Reading through Ephesians 1:3-14 this morning I’ve stumbled upon a new understanding of predestination. Now this is not to suggest it’s theologically correct, or has not been thought out before (I’m sure it has).

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” v3-6 TNIV

Looking at this passage it does not suggest to me anything to do with the freewill/predestination theology debates that are forever ongoing. What I do see is out of all creation, everything God made, all types of animals, plants, minerals, etc God chose us to be adopted into his family. What an amazing thought, God chose us. He did not choose cows, he did not choose snakes, he did not choose elephants, nor did he choose grass. God chose humans. He “predestined” us to share in his love and the spiritual blessings. It was God’s will (his desire) that made this possible.

Praise him for choosing us, praise him for creating us in his image. Praise God for predestining (likely not a real word) into his family before all creation was made.

The Future

2005-04-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

Life is going to become interesting. As it appears currently plans are in progress to head to Edmonton within a week. After assessing ideas of staying in the wilderness (for those of you who don't know I refer to the wilderness as my in-laws place which is a log home in the middle of nowhere, near the Whiteshell provinicial park in manitoba - very close to the ontario border. This is deep woods, country) we've realized how much we are tied to city life, that to be out here all summer would not be so fun. Nice for a visit but 4 months looks not so good. Plus I assessed the job offer to organize and computerize a small engine repair shop... I know what needs to be done, but don't have the skills to do so. Great job offer, would be impressive on a resume however not so good in the end if I can't do it well.

So off to Edmonton, truck full and a uhaul in tow with great hope for the future. It's a risk we're willing to take. I know there's plenty of work to go around and then some so jobs don't worry me, the 97% occupancy of apartments is a bit of a concern. But still as we plan to venture out I trust God. I know as we rest in God's hands he will proide what we need and see to it that we're safe.

God has been so loving, and comforting through his people. He sent a friend to visit for a few days, which helped alot. God shared words to us through this friend and gave us some new laughs. So things are looking up. Hopefull.... good.

Isaiah 43:18-21

2005-04-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

God reminds us of wonderful things are just the right times. I dwell on the past alot, lementing over problems and trials that have been faced, even though I know I should not. Lot's wife is a great example of this, God told Lot and his wife not to look back but she did and dealt with the concequences. Jesus also told the apostles to dust their feet off and not got back to certain cities.

This is a good reminder to me and others that we should not dwell in the past; the past is past. The future can hold bad times still but I feel God is doing something new, he is making preparations for my wife and I, and I can only get excited with great hope for the future. God is the provider. For now he is providing comfort and hope admist a desert time. Surely with his protection and love we will walk through these vallies of shadows and death, and we should not fear the evil that exists. Praise God for his amazing love and protection.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

2005-04-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Gosh it's nice how in the midst of troubles God can remind you that this is all momentary, that eternal glory far out weighs all the crap I've been dealing with. I had feared through all the troubles that my eyes falling off God's face and looking inwardly would occur. It has happened at times, but strenght in faith has given me a chance to reflect on God and remember he has protected me from harm, he has a way to make good of the current bad.. God does still love me. No matter what can happen they can't take my faith away. No human effort, no loss of earthly treasures, no other crime can turn my eyes from God. He is my rock, he is my peace, he is my comfort; especially in times like these. ALl I can do is fallt o my knees and praise Him for his protection and mercy.

On a positive note, I get to see a good friend soon before he takes up his new job in the united arab emirates; should be good to see an old friend. Plus if my wife and I decide to stay out in the "wilderness" where her parents live I've already been offered a fulltime job for the summer and she will likely be too so that can help us get back on our feet financially after such losses and to be able to move to a new city. But first we need time to pray and clear our heads. To refocus fully on God's amazing love.

I cling to the cross in times like these, I look in God's face and worship at the wonder of such amazing love.

Piecing Life Together

2005-04-11T06:31:00.000-05:00

I got sleep, if only a couple hours it was some. Today we pack, one roommate has moved out already, the other as well as my wife and I are moving tomorrow. We plan to take a "vacation" so we can let things sink in and the seek God for direction. Thankfully my in laws live out in the wilderness near a lake, great place to seek God in nature. Too bad I'm allergic to the trees though. Oh well. Right now in between packing we're discussing which cities look decent, and where my wife can go to finish her degree in theatre design.

It's amazing how life can change so quickly. That sometimes it's good other times bad and other times seems to be a long season of crappyness... I fear where we'd be without God in our lives. I think I would have killed myself by now or got back into drinking. Thankfully that won't happen though, God has freed me from that and given me the desire to carry on. Not slump into sin becase life hs e me dragged down. I thank God I'm alive and able to type this.

Just when it can't get worse....

2005-04-10T09:19:00.000-05:00

Another wonderful expereince living here in winnipeg(gee I love sarcasim)... the second time in two weeks... our house has been broken into. I suspect the same people as before but could be wrong. They did seem to be better at breaking in.. not so much damage to house this time. As it stands last night we had break in number 2. I was home and asleep through all of it (yes I'm a very heavy sleeper). I thank God each moment I was not harmed. I can't praise Him enough for protecting me.

I do ask for prayer as we discern what to do now. We've both decided we need to move from this city because it's proven very unsafe. But we're not sure where to go... pray that we can clear our minds as we seek God for answers.

What Christian Tradition are you?

2005-04-09T06:31:00.000-05:00

Fun little quiz... give it a shot here's my results

Rank

Item

Percent

1: Eastern Orthodox (100%)
2: Lutheran (95%)
3: Anabaptist (Mennonite/Quaker etc.) (89%)
4: Baptist (Reformed/Particular/Calvinistic) (86%)
5: Anglican/Episcopal/Church of England (83%)
6: Baptist (non-Calvinistic)/Plymouth Brethren/Fundamentalist (83%)
7: Pentecostal/Charismatic/Assemblies of God (82%)
8: Presbyterian/Reformed (80%)
9: Congregational/United Church of Christ (79%)
10: Methodist/Wesleyan/Nazarene (78%)
11: Roman Catholic (76%)
12: Seventh-Day Adventist (58%)
13: Church of Christ/Campbellite (43%)

Taste of things to come

2005-04-05T09:58:00.000-05:00

Wee update as I sit at my puter and ponder. Now that I've torn apart what I feel preaching isn't (see many previous posts) time to consider what it is. In reading Experiential Storytelling by Mark Miller I believe I've began to grasp onto a idea that suits my understanding of communication in todays culture. This method being storytelling. Enter the idea of a sermon being a narrative, a poem, or a story. I'm considering the idea that in the postmodern culture emerging (me being included) there is no longer a desire to have information spoonfeed. In sermons to not be told what to think, in schools the same. The modern world around us seems to dictate what to think, but in a postmodern mindset of discovery, and wanting to learn how to think I believe "storytelling" offers a greater connection to the gospel.

Great tales in were told verbally by bards centuries ago, tales of adventures and lifes trials; tales intended to teach. Growing up as kids we're told faboulous stories by Aesop's Fables and Mother Goose nursery rhymes, but hidden in these rich adventures of characters are truths to learn from. Our culture recently has been emersed in reality tv shows that show us the story of people's lives, for years women (and some men) have followed soap operas because they connect with the emotions and lessons learnt from the characters. We learn from watching others. We learn from the expereince.

Living in a technology era where our minds are flooded with images and expereinces, we crave more. We want to expereince life. In hearing stories we begin to interact with the characters in them. Expereinces like this are vital to learning and living. But yet sadly the expereince of a sermon is a reminder of a modern university classroom lecture... you know the kind where you sit and plan out the rest of your day, or ponder what you might eat for dinner, or dream about going home to beat the next level in a video game. Anything but focus on the message, because it doesn't grab you, there is no room to interact with it. The logical progression has bored us to the point we zone out from the message of the gospel.

So how can we begin to engage people with the message? Well I'm pondering ideas of how to convey a sermon as a story, or evangelism through telling our story (how Jesus has been real to us). I think the story is the key to reaching postmodernism and allowing them to expereince Christ and his love through our story and the stories in the Bible.

Certainly I don't have all the answers (or infact hardly any answers) regarding this, but this is the joys of an information age I can become informed and learn through expereince and from others expereinces. Enter with me into the narrative sermon...

if you have links with info oriented to this please pass them on, or know of good books that may help shape my learning. Thanks :)

Risky Teens

2005-04-05T07:26:00.000-05:00

A couple nights ago with work I had to go id a girl to confirm to police she was who we were looking for (a run away from the shelter I work for). I've never seen a more rundown apartment block before, nasty. But even worse as I drove along the streets near this place the amount of teenage prostitution was revolting, almost every corner had a girl on it selling herself. I'm not sure which bothers me more, that they're being robbed of their childhood by sex and drugs because it's how they were brought up, or knowing that men are lurking around waiting to get a chance to use these girls. Neither is good, it saddens me to consider this happens. Sometimes I want to cry for these girls because their to high to see reality and cry for themselves. Only God has the power to correct this problem, I wish I knew what I could do to help him. There needs to be a way to show these girls love and to have them begin a process to better life choices, and to protect them from predators.

How horrible to see a 14 yr old flaunting her body in hopes to make a few dollars to support a drug habit that began so she could bury within in her the hurt of an abusive childhood, or the alcholism and drug use of her parents that tore her apart, or worse the loss of a parent to suicide... drugs used to mask these problems to make her feel better; enter the pimp who offers cheap drugs to gain a cut of the profit from the girl selling herself. Now see a girl who is exploited, used for sex to make money.

Oh Lord the harvest truly is plenty in this situation, so many lost souls, so many looking for escape, a way out and yet hardly a worker. God touch hearts and lives, bring awareness to the how much it saddens you to see your children abused and used, then tossed aside like yesterdays wet newspaper. God please help them. Please.

Something else that disturbed me was the following newspaper article this morning:

Oral Sex Among US Teens Common And Acceptable
By Staff
Apr 5, 2005, 00:05

About 20 percent of teenagers in the US have had oral sex and consider the act to be significantly less risky to their health than sexual intercourse, a new study reports.

Researchers collected data from 580 ninth-grade boys and girls at two multi-ethnic California schools for their findings.

The study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics also found 14 percent of respondents had sexual intercourse.

"These findings suggest that adults should discuss more than one type of sexual practice when they counsel teens," said lead researcher Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a paediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco.

Halpern-Felsher was surprised to find that both sexes reported similar experiences and opinions about oral sex.

The study revealed that one third of the respondents intended to try oral sex within the next six months, with close to 25 percent indicating they were planning to have sexual intercourse during the same period.

The findings also showed that teens considered oral sex less of a threat to their values and beliefs.

One in seven respondents thought that the risk of STDs from oral sex was zero.

The average age of the study participants was 14, with girls making up 58 percent of respondents.

© Copyright 2004 by HalifaxLive.com

The article I think speaks for itself, but just for a moment consider the teens you know, yes even some of the "good church kids"...

Safety in Christ

2005-04-04T08:28:00.000-05:00

Ps 16:1-2

Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

I find in the wake of having my house broken into I've learnt that the only assurance in life is God. He provides safety regardless of how bad things may seem. No matter what happens to my physically or emotionally or mentally, God still keeps me safe. I need to daily learn to cling to him and remember this. To know deeply that in the rough waters of this world God is the anchor I need to be tied to. There is assurance from God in Ps 14:5 "God is present in the company of the righteous." So as I look back at all that has gone on in the short 9 months of living in Winnipeg... God is always present with me, whatever happens. He never leaves my side, even when I try to leave his. With confidence I can say that all the bad stuff that happens to us in this world is not because God is not present or does not love us, it's because the reality is evil does exist and anyone and everyone can be subjected to it (as unfortunate as it may seem).

PS:

I've not given up on working through the preaching deconstruction and reconstruction. Currently I'm reading "Experiential Storytelling" by Mark Miller. It's helping me reconstruct ideas and methods of preaching now that I feel I've thoroughly torn them apart. So in due time I'll blog on this once I have collected thoughts... maybe even enough to finally write an "essay" on it. I've thought of a book to be published but not sure I have enough words to accomplish this... however a compilation with others would work nicely :)

Great "ebook"

2005-04-01T07:20:00.000-06:00

In recent news my house was broken into and I lost alot of info. It's amazing how lost you feel when your guide is gone missing (all the bokmarks to websites). Hmmm here's where I could be cheesy and suggest it's like our lives without Jesus... he's our guide and how lost we are without him in our lives. Jesus the bookmark we need to click on everyday and soak in the information.

Life is getting back to normal, I'm being a typical guy making bad comment choices toward my wife, spring is making the front lawn mushy, and my roommates frolick about enjoying the sunshine. Plus the exam crunch time for my wife to settle in and study for. All the while I be lazing infront of my laptop surfing, and trying to remain mentally alert. I am in process of looking for a day job so please pray for this. Nights are definately a bad choice for me since I'm such amorning person. Having the night off last night, drifitng to sleep at 10pm and waking at 6am, how great. Now I'm soaking in the sun pouring through the living room morning and sipping my vanila rooibos tea (yummy).

My surfing this morning has brought me upon a ebook"We know more Than Our Pastors". This is not a rethoric suggesting pastors are useless or that we are more educated. More so it's a discussion of spiritual development through blogging and creation of the cyberchurch. Very interesting (I say this at only 10 pages of 47 read). I encourage a read of this fine document.

Something that is odd to me, how the current ill health of the Pope is gripping my heart. I find in my recent search to begin an understanding of Catholism I find an affinity to the Pope's words and wisdom over the years. Once I delve deeper into his writings, I suspect there will lay a strong spiritual guide. Sadly 26yrs of papacy may be coming to an end and this dear saint will be laid to rest and play in God's courts. I feel a touch of sadness over this.

This Evil World

2005-03-30T17:46:00.000-06:00

Well what can I say, sometimes we're all victims. Saturday I got to expereince the feelings of violation as my wife called and told me our house had been broken into. I assure you that it's not a great phone call to recieve. More so when you find out both computers are stolen and thus you've lost all your information and research from the past several years. I know I should have off system copies, which I did on a usb disk, but silly me left it in the laptop bag... gone. I've heard from others how violating it feels to be a victim of the present evil in this world... now I understand. I sympathize with those that have dealt with this before.

I always knew bad things could happen, but when it does it's devastating. I just thank God that I no one was home to be hurt. This is a good thing. In many ways the whole ordeal felt like a spiritual attack. I think this because it was all my valuable stuff stolen, but nothing of my wife's or roommates of value. Saturday morning I had advise my pastor I wanted to go ahead with the process of getting liscenced as a pastor and work toward ordination to follow God's calling. Previous to saturday life has been getting better, and spiritually things were up. But then saturday night hits and we become victims of evil... I felt targeted. In someways it could be just a random act but it sure feels like a spiritual attack.

On the plus side of it, my VISA card was happy enough to have room on it so I could replace one of my computers. And I've learn the support of my church, and the love it has to share. How wonderful it is to expereince God's love through others and know that in crisis God is love.

Blog Break

2005-03-25T04:19:00.000-06:00

Well it seems it's been a while since I've posted, looks like posting is becoming few and far between. HAs to do with being uninspired lately. I feel I've beat the horse dead concerning preaching and emerging church for now. Not that I'm uninterested still, I am highly interested in it however a break from it maybe a good brain release. Then take time to summarize and ponder over writings. In the mean time I will possibly blog on a more personal level, instead of philosophical. Possibly work more on some poetry I've been writing and post it as well.
My apologies for not being as fast posting, in due time I'll get day time work which will allow me to be fully rested so my mind can function at full hyper capacity... please pray for this for me :) Thanks.

Maybe some new perspectives are needed and I believe this excerpt from Shel Silverstein (great childrens poet) will help me begin to refocus.

Upside-down trees swingin' free.
Busses float and buildings dangle;
Now and then its nice to see
The world-from a different angle.

-Falling Up, Shel Silverstein 1996.

Evangelism?

2005-03-15T10:09:00.000-06:00

I spent the better part of a year walking a small group through some lessons evangelism methods and what is evangelism. In light of recent reading I've been doing, such as Mark Driscoll's Reformission, and Mathew Turner's The Coffeehouse Gospel, I feel a need to consider evangelism. I'm familiar with many techniques and tricks, such as campus crusade's use of survey's and the four spiritual laws, handing out tracts, and some concepts of relational evangelism. I consider this as I look to events later this afternoon when a friend from church and I are going to so some street preaching (another way to share the gospel). I'm confused as to if there is a "best" method, certainly I see one way does not suit all. But in the realm of the emergent conversations I do not understand what the idea of evangelism is. I'm sure through various readings that the modern methods of over simplifying the gospel, or using methods which I see as deceptive and trickery are not ok... but really what does emergent evangelism look like.

As i ponder this I believe in order to match method with the emergent theology relational is the best. Emergent is focused on a missional understanding of the church, and in a era when relationships and sharing one's story seems to becoming of interest... it would only seem logical in a postmodern/emergent/ whatever you wish to call it mindset that building relationships with non-Christians and being real about our story with them could be the best method. Be it over coffee, doing laudry in the local laundrymat, or grocery shopping, or what about inviting the nieghbours over to get to know them better and build relationships that way. In a world where people lile to hear reality and about authentic people then we should rise up and share ours. Certainly other forms of evangelism do hold importance and suit some, but again are they the "best" method, or is there a "best' method?

With a missional perspective, how do we reach the world through sharing the gospel of Christ?

Eugene Peterson on Institution

2005-03-07T12:43:00.000-06:00

Interesting thoughts from a recent interview with Eugene Peterson....

Eugene Peterson in Christianity Today:

But many Christians would look at this church and say it's dead, merely an institutional expression of the faith.
What other church is there besides institutional? There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. There's sin in the local bank. There's sin in the grocery stores. I really don't understand this naïve criticism of the institution. I really don't get it.

Frederick von Hugel said the institution of the church is like the bark on the tree. There's no life in the bark. It's dead wood. But it protects the life of the tree within. And the tree grows and grows and grows and grows. If you take the bark off, it's prone to disease, dehydration, death.

So, yes, the church is dead but it protects something alive. And when you try to have a church without bark, it doesn't last long. It disappears, gets sick, and it's prone to all kinds of disease, heresy, and narcissism.

In my writing, I hope to recover a sense of the reality of congregation-what it is. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit. Why are we always idealizing what the Holy Spirit doesn't idealize? There's no idealization of the church in the Bible-none. We've got two thousand years of history now. Why are we so dumb?

Since the Reformation, though, we've championed the idea that the church can be reformed.

Hasn't happened. I'm for always reforming, but to think that we can get a church that's reformed is just silliness.

I think the besetting sin of pastors, maybe especially evangelical pastors, is impatience. We have a goal. We have a mission. We're going to save the world. We're going to evangelize everybody, and we're going to do all this good stuff and fill our churches. This is wonderful. All the goals are right. But this is slow, slow work, this soul work, this bringing people into a life of obedience and love and joy before God.

And we get impatient and start taking shortcuts and use any means available. We talk about benefits. We manipulate people. We bully them. We use language that is just incredibly impersonal-bullying language, manipulative language.

Writers Block

2005-03-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

Well it' s been a dry spell lately, I've not been inspired much by anything to post. No profound thoughts relating to previous topics. I've began the process to compile previous posts, mainly concerning preaching and teaching into a possibly essay. In the mean time I hope to find some interesting stuff to post. I do ask for prayer as I struggle with still adjusting to getting enough sleep since I've taken a job that requires me workign till wee hours of the morning.

I do want to encourage everyone that's been reading the blog to spend time with God this week. Seek Him. Ps 46:10 "Be still and know that I am Lord." calm things down, learn how the discipline of slowing down. Reflect on the Lordship of God in your life. Seek God's face in all you do this week. Also I pray for anyone that does not walk daily knowing they are righteous, learn this, walk this, breathe this. Know in your heart you are righteous, God has made you sinless. Head knowledge is knowing that you became saved, but to truly accept it, is to recognize this in your heart, to know that God loves you so much, he made you righteous before Him.

I stress this because previously all things seemed very legalistic and much was lip service in my faith, but as a new friend opened up the wisdom in Ephesians to me about the armour of God and helped me understand that daily I need to walk knowing I am righteous and not let guilt of past sin hold me down I find freedom. A new freedom in God. Even more beautiful the knowledge that God is walking with me daily because I am righteous. Praise Him!

Bless you all who have been posting comments and reading my writings. I have become encouraged to have companions on this journey I travel.

Is what society sees Christians as the truth?

2005-02-26T14:01:00.000-06:00

In looking at how Christianity is viewed in western culture I begin to ponder, is the "mask" that is scene and assumed by our cultures the true face of Christianity in western cultures? Consider with me that in media we have huge stories of scandals in the church ranging from abuse of power to sexual exploitation and everything inbetween including political stances, oppression, hypocrisy, excommunication (just to name a few). In my expereince and that of authors I've read it seems our world views Christians as hipocritical people whom are deceptive in their activities and do not truly hold to a relationship with God. We are seen as people who twist God to suit our needs, not serve Him. Now I do recognize I am making huge generalizations.; however there's been far too many times I've discussed Christianity with non-christians and they are concerned with having to live less moral lives, check their brain at the door and become involved insomething far different then the original plan of God. They see anything but loving others and helping the downcast people. They believe put political agendas and control above loving others.
What they don't see is the inside part of faith, the spiritual life, the relationship with our Creator, the deepth of community in some Christian churches and the world impact of missions.

OR is the outward mask of Christianity truly what our faith system has become, a legalistic system only concerned with "moral values". I fear that maybe so. I fear we as Christians have delved far to beyond the spiritual relationship of our faith and become a seemingly gnostic/legalistic religion much like other world religions. Is this how we want our world to view us? I would hope not, I want them to know Christians by love and charity, by being agents of God's grace and mercy, and helping the poor at any cost. Jesus did not come to help us setup a system of moral values and rules, he came to abolish those laws and give us freedom, to connect us to the Father. I suggest we strip off the mask of a Christian legalist religion and put back on the robes of humility and show this world love not hatred and oppression. We need to repent to the world our our treason and heresy.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul; and LOVE your neighbour as yourself."

Wrestling with Scripture... part 1.5

2005-02-23T16:29:00.000-06:00

Earlier in the month I blogged about a verse I had encountered. The post is here: http://thekrow.blogspot.com/2005/02/wrestling-with-scripture.html#comments

Looking more into the nature of preaching I've considered recent sermons I've sat through, from justice and social issues, to life transitions, to a narrative retelling of passion week. Honing in on the first two I realized how preaching has been taught and evolved. Many sermon writers decide on a "theological" point they wish to impress upon the congregation and then find Bible verse (typically used and twisted out of context) to explain Biblically this new theological stand point. My mind ponders this and considers when Paul warned not to follow high sounding philosophies and messages because they will lead us away from God. Could the nature of today's preaching fall under what Paul warned against? I think it has potential to. To manipulate scripture for the purpose of getting a point across does as far as I can tell.

What else bothered me about preaching is a sermon this past sunday that was given by a guest pastor in my church. I strongly see he used scripture to twist and explain his viewpoint. Now the nature and structure of his sermon and it's delivery also bothered me. This pastor as he sat upon a stool could have been replaced by almost any other pastor(from his generation and seminary studies) and the sermon would sound the same, and be written (within reason) the same. It seems pastors in sermons have morphed into a borg like colony (seminary and western suburbanized christian religion) and come out of the mold sound, looking, and speaking the same. Let me clarify I do not think that the craft of a sermon shapes who a pastor is, it's one aspect of them. But in considering the nature of the sermon and how it has been taught to be delivered, I fear it has encrouched upon Paul's warnings to us. Preaching needs to get back to what Paul says in 1 Corthin. 1:17 "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." We need to get past the "eloquence" that we recieve now and have the power placed back in the gospel, not in the hands of sermons that twist and reduce it's power.

Unconditional Love... or is it?

2005-02-23T06:36:00.000-06:00

Looking at the nature of love, grace and mercy as the theology in the church teaches, I question how much as the body of Christ we truly represent them. Focusing on love I ponder, "Do I truly love unconditionally the people on my church?" I sadly admit, no. That my love is, although not how I intend it to be, based on conditions. Such as "I'll love you as long as you don't act to weird around me", or "I'll love you if you do this(insert action) for me....". We, the body of Christ emit this ideology. This conditional love falsely thinking we love unconditionally. If we truly loved unconditionally (both this internal and external to the body of Christ) then we truly would love.

Christ told us to Love our neighbour as ourself. Well judging from pep talks, mass marketing, and the amount that the church pats itself on the back, truly we "love" ourself... but we're selfish. Our programs (for the most part), our focus, our service is focused inwardly instead of to our neighbour. We think things such as why should we love the world, because it doesn't love us... thus putting conditions on out love. Being selfish with our love to the world as the body of Christ. If we truly loved the world we would be sharing the good news with everyone, and helping offer charity to those in need. Sometime in our charity efforts we put the condition on it that the reciever must attend our church gathering (not unconditional love), or we have the underlying intention of charity to convert (still not unconditional love). To give freely our resources, our lives, to the world and imitate Christ in showing love, we would be giving the world unconditional love. But again I fear as the body of Christ the unconditional love were are to offer to the world.... we aren't.

a new life emerging: The Rebellion Against Religion: New Christianities.

2005-02-18T10:50:00.000-06:00

a new life emerging: The Rebellion Against Religion: New Christianities.

Has all this conversation that is "emergent" gone on before but became so supressed by "mainline" churches that we do not know of
it's existance... judging from the quotes in the above link quite possible. Maybe diving into the "heresy" o four past might lead us into some well thought out theological points the emerging church is working on.

For the sake of those who don't like to follow links here's the article:
The Rebellion Against Religion: New Christianities.

Go ahead and rebel against the dominant religion in your cultue, Jesus did.

"There seems to be more and more Christians repelled by their own religion. There seems to be more and more who believe in Christ and wish there were some way of believing other than being religious, who precisely for the sake of Christ long to overcome religiosity. We have no way of knowing whether this is the onset of a disease or the beginning of a recovery, whether it is a curse or a blessing. We can only try to work out the logic and the music of our condition, in the hope that in doing so we may be of some help to the church and perhaps also those touched and puzzled by the church. For the task of the church is to make sense of the gospel, of the story of Jesus as the Christ."

"We hope, of course, that our thinking will provide more than an instructive error. No one can help seeing the world and the human story refracted by his or her own passions and anxieties. Thus the worldliness we experience in ourselves seems to us to offer an interpretation of the present situation of our civilization and particular task laid on those who would tell the gospel in that situation. Here is the origin of slogans about the world like "post-Christian," or "post-religious." Much of the sloganeering has been amateurish and some of it destructive."

"Nevertheless, the malaise all this sloganeering expresses is real enough. The time has come, however, for more than howls of anguish or of glee. The time has come to be serious. Those who believe that it is for the sake of the Jesus Christ—indeed for the sake of God who is revealed in Christ—that rebellion against religion is to be justified, if at all, must get on with the work of allowing the gospel to tell us what then we shall do and say, if we are not to be religious." If the this is radical, it is no more radical than Jesus himself or the message he proclaimed.

"The religious mimicry of our congregations, the rhetoric of our denominations, the theologies of our Sunday schools, the pseudo-divine personifications of our economic ideologies together with the bloody war-liturgies of their worship share one common feature: they all make one sick. And in exactly the same way that celluloid carnations and "lifetime" or artificial Christmas trees makes one sick. They are unmistakably phony."

With exception of a couple of sentences, the preceding paragraphs were written by Robert W. Jensen former professor Luther College and a Dean at Oxford. It was written in 1966 and published as A Religion Against Itself by John Knox Press in 1967. In light of much of the current conversation that is taking place within the church it is interesting to look back at one who risked heresy 40 years ago. Not heard of him? I rest my case. Of course that is nothing new with regards to the church. The church has been reforming since day one. Paul, Peter, and James had major struggles with what was "orthodox" and what was heresy.

posted by Rick at 1:39 PM

Barbarian for Christ

2005-02-16T12:30:00.000-06:00

I just finished The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. Great little book, fantastic idea. I had heard a sermon he preached in 2003 at the Willow Creek Leadership summit on this idea. The basis of the book is that as Christians we've become far to civilized which has suppressed our relationship with God. This book is a great call back to finding the barbarian within us and to be uncivilized for Christ. In my ongoing thoughts of church and school etc I thought this quote spoke wonders to my point of view.

"Later I would go to seminary and learn God doesn't speak like this anymore. Essentially I was told that God exchanged the mystical and miraculous for doctrine and ritual. What the Spirit once did, programs have now replaced, and even the Scriptures became proof that God had stopped speaking."

This statement was made briefly after Erwin described a wonderful incident where he was trying to prove God still loved a college mate of his. She (living in california) wanted snow. Erwin in his new faith told her it would within 24hrs. Well no sooner did he go back to his room and fall on his face in prayer... his roommate tells him it began snowing.

To disect the quote some:
Erwin captures what I fear the most about seminary and bible colleges, that they cause you to put God in a box based on all their teachings they train our minds to restrict the wonders of God. They tell us God doesn't speak like he use to. Now I'm not sure how others feel but to me this seems like heresy. God has done so many wonderful miracles and has spoke so much into my life and those around me I challenge anyone or any instituion that says he doesn't speak now.

Churches use to be guided by the Holy Spirit, communing with him and following his directions. But now our churches have lost the connection and replaced it with programs, with training to know about God, but rarely connecting us fully with God. The expereince of knowing God has been lost to the fill of our minds of facts about God and scripture. It seems to me that we have killed God... we talk about his and discect him much like the dead people and cultures we read in history books.

As a barbarian I want to strip away any potential that limits God's voice in my life, anything that attempts to shape my opinion of God to put him in a box. That's not God... he's wild, unpredictable, his son communed with some of the weirdest folk, God has used some very uncivilized people to do extrodinary things. I fear that my upbrining in churches and some materials I've read put God in a box and therefore have limited my relationship with God by driving my desire to know about God. I repent to God and apologize for trying to replace knowledge of him with the relationship that should exist. I repent and pray God can tear out the parts of my "civilized" mind that restrain his power in my life, and the ability to speak his love into others. I want to be as untamed for God as John was in the wilderness. John was a man that was not willing to be controlled by the civilized religion of Christianity, he was an untamable wildman that spoke the truth of God and got excited by the miracles of God. Those and many others miracles still happen today.

I look to my life, chronic back pain for years... prayer healed. The same is true for one of my pastors. It's only by miracle that I came through alcoholism cold turkey. It's a miracle that I survived a very bad car accident. It was a miracle I got into a hospital and operated on jsut in time before my apendix exploded. It was a miracle my brother and family are still alive after some car accidents they've been in. It's been God's voice in my life that has helped shape my passion and direction toward urban youth missions instead of my assumption that senior pastor was my call to ministry. God still speaks, these are a few small examples. I'm sure in this world today many others can tell of the amazing miracles of God in their lives and those around them. Surely I'd love to hear them.... but my point is God speaks, God still does wonderour acts... don't try to convince me that our relationship with his is civilized that God expects us for high tea daily to study facts about him... no he wants us pure and raw to serve him, and to be uncivilized for him. Praise God daily that we can work to shed this dulled down version of faith we've been lured into.

Night Time Workers

2005-02-12T02:43:00.000-06:00

I always heard of the numerous amount of teenage prositutes in my neighbourhood but had never seen them. Tonight on my way into work, in a 7 block stretch I saw 4 teens (under age of 18) working corners, and 2 others roaming to cars at stop lights. Immediately I wanted to cry out in rage that these innocent beings made by God are being robbed of their childhood. Thier innocence is taken away from them by adults with addictions not caring who it affects for them to get their next fix. My mind jumped from wanting to ball my eyes out in hurt for the girls, to stoping and paying for an hour of their time to take them for coffee and hear their story (try and show them not all men are sleezes and see how I could help get them off the streets). In my job I work with girls that have been teen prostitues and drugg addicts, but it didn't really affect me till I saw these damaged kids working the street corners near my home. How sad it is to see God's beauty abused so much. Something about it all still makes my eyes water as I consider these girls I saw tonight and the pain on their faces.
At this point I can only pray God protects them from danger such as bad disease, or to help them get off the streets. The big brother type personality in me wants to sweep them up, and take them all away to a safe place no matter what the risk to my life; as long as i can protect them. I'm deeply moved by this expereince. Please pray that I find a constructive way to cope with the heart ache.

Prayer

2005-02-09T16:10:00.000-06:00

Sometimes a prayer from a book of liturgy can speak beauty, can be more soothing to the soul, and instill more into the mind then any philosophical or theological blog post. A brief break from all things intellectual to let this prayer soothe your soul as it has mine.

O God, the source of all life, you have filled the earth with beauty. Open our eyes to see your gracious hand in all your works, that rejoicing in your whole creation we may learn to serve you with gladness, for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(taken from Book of Alternative Services. 1979. pg 57)

Meditate on these words as you enter Lent season, may this time be a second honeymoon with our groom, Christ, instead of a gloomy time of giving up something. Let the lent season open our eyes to Christ and rejoice with him. Renew your hearts before God and serve his children, serve the meek, the poor, the ones suffering from injustice. Serve God.

35For I was hungry
and you gave me something to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I
was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to
visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When
did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we
see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers
and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 5:35-40

Random Thoughts

2005-02-08T15:46:00.000-06:00

Random Thought 1:

I stumbled across a new blog (feed 31 on my newly established bloglines account ) and a coupel quotes caught my attention

1) An understanding of the church’s missional nature informing the practice of the church. This creates a de-emphasis of the “come to the Sunday service” model of church griwth, and re-emphasizes being God’s people 24x7x365. Specifically, this is a recognition that Tuesday evening’s grocery shopping trip can be a holy moment in the same league with the time reserved for healing prayer in Sunday’s church gathering.

2) An emphasis on the life of the individual in community, with an understanding that faith, theology and mission are best worked out in community.

I found these on Pat Loughery's blog in his discussion on "what is the emerging church". Thanks to Pat for valuable comments on emerging church. I agree 100% with them. I thinkt hey speak for themselves without me expounding upon them.

Random thought 2:

Looking back at my ventures in studing the church and forms fo worship etc. I seem to have taken what seemed like coal and stripped it down to what I uphold as a diamond. The beauty amidst the ugly traditional exterior. Having discounted various expressions of our faith all together, now I see embrace them based on the diamonds within the coal. For example I thought all things catholic where inherently not christian, but as I look into the valuable spirituality it teaches the christian world, i see so much of Christ within it it's very christian. I now consider a need to look back at the evangelical tradition I come from, the one I with resentment in my heart and bitter towards... whats the diamond amidst the coal of this westernized consumeristic suburban expression of church it has become? Truly I'm not sure but would love to hear of ideas.

Wrestling with Scripture

2005-02-05T20:38:00.000-06:00

I've been wrestling with the following verse in my mind for days:

1 Corthin. 1:17 "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to
preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence,
lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its
power."

I wonder if I'm off base as I apply it to some of my previous posts about preaching. My growing desire to hear preaching going back to the narrative story telling it once was instead of the point form sermon of expository preaching. My mind wanders and dances on the idea that preaching methods of the modern church took away the power of the cross of Christ. A few years ago I toyed with this idea, and now have been revisiting it. I feel a urge to tell the church at large to get back to scripture, and let the narritive speak to each of us as church gatherings or individuals, let us become part of the story instead of explaining (in many cases over explaining) a possible meaning of each passage.
Please comment, share your thoughts on preaching, more so on how this verse speaks to you in relation to my above comments and previous posts discussing preaching.

ragamuffin diva: Hush Song

2005-02-05T20:37:00.000-06:00

ragamuffin diva: Hush Song

A side track from emergent thought to hit a mildly contemplative bent I ran across this tasty writing by Raggamuffin Diva. This poem calms my heart, speaks stillness to my soul and reminds me to focus on God. May it do the same for you as you read it, as you taste the spiritual food it feeds your soul with.

Christianity.com - A Growing Hunger for Honesty and Authenticity

2005-02-05T16:22:00.000-06:00

Christianity.com - A Growing Hunger for Honesty and Authenticity

Great article that analysis whats happening in evangelical churches these days with "young evangelicals" now being refered to as emerging church.

Well written, good points are raised in this. I liked the discussion int he article on bringing back old hymns, the sacrements, and creeds... old liturgy that is being revitalized but with new understanding. It points to the mystery of Christ. A call to restore preaching to a level that allows it's listeners to derive their meaning and understanding, not have what they should gain from it laid out in sermon points. Kudos on a great article. Give it a read!

They Will Know Us By Our T-Shirts: Live Strong

2005-02-03T19:11:00.000-06:00

They Will Know Us By Our T-Shirts: Live Strong

This is a great post! I really liked this quote at the end of the post...

"The church is not meant to be a reflection of culture with a God twist. The church is meant to be a reflection of God in a world drowning in sin. We don’t offer that anymore. We sold the high ground in the name of “evangelism,” and it will kill us yet"

I think the church has gone to far into being a mirror of culture, not that I'm saying culture is overtly bad, but that the church working to be trendy in attempt to draw people to it is bad. The one thing as Christians we offer that should draw the world to us is God, true encounters with God infact. Not how well we do a sunday morning performance, or what use of media we have, or the "christian" products we make... the most important thing we can offer is a relationship with God.. .but we seem to fall short of this... lets pull out the dusty old lifesaver and toss it into the world... putting away the fancy new stuff and realize the original plain ole lifesaver did the trick.

Certainly we don't neeed to give God a new twist, or impose western ideologies on God.. let God be God not the product we have began selling.

Jim Wallis:God's Politics

2005-01-28T14:26:00.000-06:00

Hop over to Comedy central and listen to a great discussion by Jim Wallis on his new book, God's Poltics. Looks like I've got to pickup a copy to read. But please listen to the interview Jim has some great stuff to say.

Why don't we listen?

2005-01-28T13:57:00.000-06:00

I was over reading Subversive Influence and his post about stories. Something struck me about the post, it entertained a thought that has been bouncing in my head for years. I'm often quoted in refering to church fellowship (in most churches) as "A mile wide but only an inch deep." His dicussion on how church members or leaders do not seem to take interest in our stories fits well with the statement I make. It has been my expereince that in a church community (one that gathers on sundays) we are unaware of the full "make up" of those attending. Even more rare do we take the oppurtunity to ask them for a coffee sometime to get to know thier stories.

I look back over the past 5 years of my church life and can recall 3 times my story/testimony was asked, this was all in interviews for youth pastor jobs, not in everyday talk.
A story is unique to each person, and each one has its roller coaster rides. I firmly believe that to develop the communities of faith in our gatherings we want, we need to start asking people about their stories. We need to get to know our other church body members.
Church communities in general have a grandieous idea of community and think it's marvelous (mile wide) but when we look past the surface (inch deep) we see shallow relations. This is not to say that some churches do not ahve things together and have deep connections, or that a few within a church are not close, but overall there is a disconnect of deep relations.

My concern looking at this is how do we start fostering these relations to deepen in our gatherings? What is real communtiy? I think we have lost an understanding of real community. I would suggest a disciplining of ourselves to start asking others their stories. The few times I have done this, have been wonderful expereinces. To people like Subversive Influence... maybe if we that feel left out and want to tell our stories begin asking others, and start modeling (do unto others as you have them do unto you) we will begin to help create bonds, deep bonds, and tell our stories.

For those Emergent thinkers... am I not correct but this depth of community and sharing our life stories is a value in the emerging church? What is being done to model and address this to move the church together into deeper relations with each other?

Scared of our true colours?

2005-01-23T13:36:00.000-06:00

I started reading into a new book "The Emerging Church" by Dan Kimball and stumbled upon the following:

"If he (refering to Sky) attended the service his Christian friends went to and discovered that we took away the crosses and anything that looked religious and didn't open the Bible and had few times of prayer and singing, he would have felt Christians were either embarassed by or were trying to hide what they believed. To him, this would have been hypocritical and even a turn-off to church" (pg.26)

Could it be that in modern times we became embarassed as Christians. I think of times in mentioning my faith and I indeed have been shy of it, or downplayed the practices. I think this could be completely true for other Christians too. So what if we have a room (sanctuary) full of embarassed Christians? I dare shutter at the thought that we remove symbols, reduce worship to be more trendy and less worshipful, speed read the scriptures (if their read at all) and worst of all in my mind reduce the power of the gospel (you know those words Jesus said that makes people uneasy) inorder to not offend seekers and parishoners alike. I know I've attended churches like what I just described... I think Dan is correct in suggesting that to Sky it would be hypocritical.

Our Christian culture as a whole has painted itself into a protective castle so that we do not have to expose to the outside world what real spiritual Christians are. Those that do branch out to the world are much like what I described above (I know there are exceptions). The downfall to our practices in this manner is it makes Christianity look like most other religions, it disconnects us from God. And in a spiritually thirsty world we are not offering a satisfying drink. When we should be serving up "Jesus Ale"(seems to be an idea that would make many cringe) we are serving distilled water.

The church needs to examine it's current practices and respond to the "cry of the wild" in which we inhabit. It needs to start reintroducing the spirituality of our faith and not hold it back from seekers and non-believers. In trying to be relevant and sensitive to the world, maybe we should begin by asking are our practices relevant and sensitive to Jesus?