Best Books of 2006

Well 2006 has been a good year for books. I felt i have learned a lot this year from many amazing author. I thougth i'd share a couple of the highlights.

The Call to Conversion: Jim Wallis
Repenting of Religion: Gregory Boyd
Through Painted Desserts: Donald Miller
The Post-evangleical: Dave Tomlinson
Why Men are the Way they are: Warren Farrel
The Secret Message of Jesus: Brian McLaren
Are Women Human: Dorothy Sayers
The Beauty Myth: Naomi Wolf
Meeting Jesus again for the First Time: Marcus Borg
The Search to Belong: Joseph Meyers
The Younger Evangelicals: Robert Webber
The Prophetic Imagination: Walter Bruggemann
The Jesus Creed: Scot McKnight
Practicing Passion: Kenda Creasy Dean
Exclusion & Embrace: Miroslav Volf
Velvet Elvis: Rob Bell
The Great Giveaway: David Fitch
Evangelical Theology-An Introduction: Karl Barth
Tortured Wonders: Rodney Clapp
The Irresistible Revolution: Shane Caliborne

Where do you sit on the Evangometer?

Well you might be wonder what a 'Evangometer' is..and asking why is Chris making up words. Actually, I found the word in an article 'An evangelical body, broken for you . . . into six convenient types' by Anna Bowen found in the recent issue of Geez Magazine(http://www.geezmagazine.org/issue4/anevangelicalbody.html). An 'evangometer' is tells how evangelical you are. This is an interesting point as in the last couple years the word evangelical has become harder to define.

I feel Bowen does a good job. I have a couple of interesting points. Under Liberal Evangelicals she puts Rick Warren, C.S. Lewis, and Bono. Wow that is quite a contrast of people..first off don't think anyone has called Warren a liberal before, but i have realized he has been critized by the religious right for his involvement in Africa with a AIDS pandemic. The other interesting point is that both Bono and Lewis are really controversial. Bono some think is a universalist, and Lewis..is one of those people that evangelicals revere..but as Brian McLaren pointed out in his brillant book 'A New Kind of Christain' that people sometimes don't want to hear it in a sermon.

The other interesting point is the 'emergent evangelical' first off..i am impressed that Bowen put the emergetn type relevtively high on the evangometer. But i have no idea what the Vintage Church is. I feel i am fairly fluent in emergent lingo..and have yet to come across this term. But all in all i feel that Bowen assess the group fairly.

But, my main criticsm for Bowen is to do with Christian Leftists. I think the people she lumps into this group is a bit rash. I feel the distinction she makes between the Christian Leftist and the Social Justice Folks. I guess my main disagreement is with her putting Jim Wallis and John Shelby Spong in the same group. Personally, i feel Wallis is a modern-day Prophet. I don't know what distinguishes him from the socail justice folk. So yeah..just a brief summary of the article..if you get a chance to pick up Geez, it is definately worth it...espeically if you feel uncomfortable in the conservative church...probably feel...i have found a home. Hope you enjoy...

Are we getting ready.....

So recently I have been thinking how hard it is to practice or participate in Advent. I was in Best Buy today and got this overwhelming sense that the emphasis on Gifts creates a world in which the real reason for Christmas is subverted. Currently I am preparing a small 'talk' for the College and Career Christmas Banquet and am having a hard way concentrating on what to say. While in the line today....any idea of waiting, which is what advent is for...is lost..can a christian practice or participate in advent with all the emphasis on buying, hurry, etc. Just wondering...if anyone has some thoughts on this...please share...

Do you hear it....

Recently i had a chance to attend something called 'Hearing the Silence' at providence college. It was an event that was put on by St. Benedict Table. The event is based that "at the heart of Christian worship lies silence, and in that stillness we, like the prophet Elijah before us, learn to attend to the power of the still, small voice."

I think i have been drawn to silence and stillness more and more over the last couples years. I find the power that lies with in silence penetrates my soul. The space created by silence I believe is a place where God can speak to us. In Rob Bell' Nooma video 'Noise' ..he identifies with this silence. "Does my schedule , my time, my life look like that of a person who wants to hear God's voice." I think this is a dilemma. We live in a world that tells us we need to be busy doing things...while Jesus constantly took time to be still before God. Do the actions of Jesus lead us towards reorienting our Life around our savior...and listening to our creator?

Is there a trend in our world that emphasises doing over being. Like our worth is found in what we do not who we are? One of the most profound times in my life is when i was still before God...not knowing where my life was going..almost feeling like i was aimlessly wandering...as i walked a long the white cliffs in Dover..not talking..not thinking..just being...I heard God' voice. God spoke in a way..that penetrated my soul...so deeply that all i can do was cry. Be in the presence of God. Knowing that was enough. I think in my life i struggle with that...idea..having to do stuff..fill my life with stuff..to gain 'worth' in God's eyes...but i am constantly reminded that this is not the case.

Just want to close with what the essence of this time is...and actually what i feel every time i go to St. Benedict's...i feel they create space...to commune with the Holy God....
The quiet, contemplative singing of Biblical texts
is a kind of centering prayer.
Often the text of a song will be sung repetitively in order to let
the words sink into out minds and then out hearts

We are freed in this kind of worship
to still our hearts and appreciate the presence of
the living God in the midst of His people.
We gather to enjoy the presence of
the Blessed Trinity
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The incense is an outward and visible sign of the
prayers of God's people ascending
to His heavenly throne.
Icons are used in the eastern Christian tradition
as windows which point beyond themselves
to the transcendence of the Holy Trinity.

Let God speak to your hearts this day.

Hauerwas - part two

Well figured I'd conclude my thoughts on Hauerwas.

I think this is typical Hauerwas humor: A couple years back the world was confronted by a great illness. But, the medical profession found a cure..and the TV was flooded with ads about the relief we could all have from this dire medical epidemic...baldness. Now when did being bald become a medical problem? It so odd how physical limitations require cures. We have an entire industry of 'medicine' to heal physical 'illnesses' : We have surgeries for breast enhancement...aging is an illness. It seems that people are afraid of getting old..or maybe more accurately our bodies aging. The interesting thing that Hauerwas notes is that we come to the medical profession to heal these diseases that they have no real cure.

Hauerwas thinks that due to the way we view the medical industry, people have lost a vital skill: how to die. We do everything in order that we don't die....or maybe more percisely die when we choose...take for example Dr. Kevorkian. People went to him for permission to die. We are the ones who can determine our time of death. Hauerwas doesn't really blame Kevorkian for this..merely giving people what they want. Not that Hauerwas think Kevorkian was a good person...he says.."if i wasn't a pacifist i go and kill him".

Hauerwas believes that the modern story..has created a culture where we have nothing in common...we share no goods in common..so we can't say what it means to die well..we don't really know each other. To add to the problem..a stages of death was created. The stages consist of denial, anger, bargaining, grief,/apathy, and acceptance...the problem is that this process has become so normative that the medical profession almost keeps people alive to go through the process...Hauerwas disagree with this...he believes if we live a crappy life we deserves a crappy death(i guess just part Hauerwas humor..or maybe honesty).

Hauerwas believes a hope in an after life is foreign to the history of Christianity. It like the modern age has this notion of 'rights' to life. But, life is a gift from God. But, Christians have a hope that distinguishes us from the world. While the modern story of having no story is not adequate. We have a story given to us by God...to hope in the after life..is wrong..we hope in God. It the same reason why Christian need to be non-violent..its not that Christians are anti-war..but that we can't imagine anything else for this world that is so violent.

Hauerwas believes that part of being a christian almost requires us to die early, because of all the things required of Christians. Christians have fears a coward never knows of..The main difference between Christians and others with the modern story is that we don't know our story till God tells us...death doesn't determine our story..God does.

The christian life points to the grace and goodness of God. Christians are joyfully dependant on a community..we don't want to be autonomous. The Devil wants us to stare at death...Jesus wants us to look to him. To die in a christian understanding is not abandonment..its is presence with one another..not avoidance. For Hauerwas dieing is a Christian privelge..they are part of us..friends do not give us hope..they are our hope. Death is never to be done in isolation..but with loved ones..God gave us Christ. Our hope is real ..we die looking to Christ.

In the Q&A afterwards...Hauerwas mentioned his contentment for fertility clinics. I think this was classic Hauerwas...calling fertility clinics..pagan..since it is all about our genes keeping 'US' alive....thinking that we are so bent on keeping our genes..while there are so many kids in the world looking for a home..but we need our child to be our own flesh and blood. Hauerwas believes this idea is perverse....What do you guys think about that? Hauerwas was so irate at the thought..you could tell he just wanted to curse, which by the way is when i believe Hauerwas is at his best. Not sure what you think of Hauerwas..but i think every time i read or hear his stuff..i feel like i am wiser...and can face the problems of living this life with a better understanding of what it means to be 'Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony.'

Do yourself a favor....

Hey fellow winnipegers....

So this week I had a great opportunity to go to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. I must admit this is my first time attending, which is a sad statement considering I have been living in Winnipeg for the last 10 plus years. Well this week i went to the see "Rodin: A magnificent Obsession." I must I was taken back by Rodin. Some of his sculptures are quiet haunting. I have long found that a face can express things without saying a word.

I just found the whole experience ..fulfilling. I am a believer that God is present in beauty. It is my duty as a believer in God to experience art. There are a couple 'faces' at the exhibit that are rooted in the human experience. You see Rodin..sculpted a couple french men that made a deal with the British that if they would come and rescue their village...in return they would basically be in service to the British. The expression on their faces ...gave me a sensation that i could experience everything they were...the stubborn, pride, anguish. Some of these faces still are in my mind..thinking on things we do for the betterment of humanity.

Well that is just a glimpse of the many works of Rodin...i guess i am writing this...so if any of you winnipeggers need something to fill your time..spend 10 bucks and check it out...it is definitely worth your time and money.

Thank You, Stan. - Part 1

Well, Stanley Hauerwas was in Winnipeg last night. To give you a glimpse of the scene..the church was packed by 6:20, which meant there was a lot of interest in what Hauerwas had to say, which is hopeful. I must say i did expect something else...i mean when ever i read his books...i imagine i big man, or at least hefty. But he is the opposite. He is a small balding man with a Texas accent.

I think this surprise just added to the night. He started with a poetic reading that expressed a world that wished to escape suffering. That people in this time had an eagerness to avoid pain if at all possible. The interesting part is that this was a speech given by Pope Leo the Thirteen. I would say this is still the case today, we avoid suffering....interesting how in the last 100 years not much has changed on that regard.

The opening remarks turned into a questioning on how we want to die. Many people responded by stating some form of 'sudden death', which probably would be the consensus in the world. We desire to go quickly.

Hauerwas stated that in the medieval times it was always the priest before the physician, which seems to have reversed. That the reason of death was to have time to reconcile with the world. However, the sudden death world we live seems to point to the opposite..we no longer have time to be with our love ones and get right with God and others.

Sudden death is not a christian practice says hauerwas....where is the hope in that? If Christian are people of hope...how does our way of dying depict what is central to our lives.

He pointed out the difference between secular and divinity schools( divinity students are only there because they have failed in another line of work). That typically at med. school one has a specifics set out that one needs to know( you can't become a doctor if you fail at certain disciplines..that's just common sense). But at divinity school we let people go around..if you aren't into christology this year you can take something else. The view this gives is that its ok to have incompetent priests but not doctors. Stating that this points north America in a form of practical atheism...that if it is more important for our doctors to be trained than priests. I think that maybe sheds light on the state of the church in North America.

I think this point is important to notice. I have had many discussions with friends about people they allow to go through seminary. In one instance there was a friend of our who had major issues with telling the truth..and even after confronting him on this it seemed that he continued to lie. But, at no point did anyone in the seminary confront him on this or tell him he would not be allowed to go on. I just question the integrity of that. Maybe what is more hilarious is that the counselling program in the seminary kicks people out of the program if they don't feel the person can cut it...or might do people harm. Wonder why that is not the case for other program?

Medical professionals were always there for care..but hauerwas believes we have actually given them the authority of cure...if that is not practical atheism i don't know what is....i think part one will stop here...i hope to make this a 3 part series..hope this give some insight into what hauerwas is getting at..feel free to question me or hauerwas...

Belonging....

So today i started reading "The search to belong: Rethinking intimacy, community, and small groups", by Joseph Myers. It was very eye opening and truthful. I think over the last couple years i have thought about where i feel i belong. I think my experience working on the cruise ship maybe makes my understanding of belonging different than most. Since, I would have to say the group of people i felt more open about life, and felt heard was with those group of amazing people, most women, that you feel like you've known each other for ages. The last time i saw my good friend Kari, she said this is not good bye its till next time. In my life i have experienced very few people who could say that without it sound true and honest.

I find our world has created a need for belonging since modernity believed that the individual was the most important entity in life. This lie has been exposed over the last couple of years. Now we come to a point where everyone feels along and searches for this place where we can be heard and feel at home. Myers notes his life changed while hearing Brian McLaren and Len Sweet propose the idea that postmodern people wish to "belong before they believe." Now to some people that sounds heretical. How can we have them in our fellowship if they don't believe in certain doctrines. While there are doctrines that are important to the church..the simple fact is that is not how people experience God. It is by encountering God in people. Rob Bell says that to be a a kingdom of priest as is stated in Exodus 19 is to display the divine…so to show people God. So like the people are to show to God…the action of the people show people who God is like.

I guess that is a bit off topic but i think in this age words are nice, but the real work happens when we show them stuff..when people feel like we want to be here...where without coersion they come willing. Myers says "A church of small groups? Sounds like forced relational hell to me." This idea that since the people are in the church your gonna naturally have something in common with them and feel heard.

I think the last little while I've realized that I don't have a sense of belonging in my home church. A church where i have attended for over 10 years now..and am currently interning at. I have great friends there, people who i love dearly that have a great effect on my life. But, someone i don't think i feel heard. Maybe what intensifies this feeling is that there is a 'out of the box' anglican church i have been attending the last 3-4 weeks. I have no real relationship there, but i have a sense of belonging. St. Benidicts Table...speaks and embodies what is beautiful about church. Sometimes i wonder if it is worth it to get up sunday morning and go through the motions. At St. Benidicts Table..i feel inspired , challenged, and honestly at times during song, the message , or a part of liturgy i am on the verge of tears. I feel I belong I feel accepted. I think this is odd...or maybe reveals a misunderstanding within the church of what it means to belong to a community. Well this has went on longer than i thought..just some random thoughts.

Now i just want to conclude by saying that my home church is not that bad. I think I am in a place where many evangelicals who identify themselves more with the emergent movement than with their own traditions. I think that is mainly due to this modern/post-modern shift that is taking place in culture..what happens when one is stuck in a church that has fully heartedly accepted a modern understanding of life...and for some reason you have grown into a person who thinks completely post-modern. It like your in a world that doesn't understand you and thus...if north americians desire to belong that is near impossible. So my church is great lots of friends that i love and respect dearly meet God among the wall at my church..the only problem is that i don't. I guess it's like Tony Jones, National Coordinator of Emergent Village , recently shared in his an emergent village email...i have been told from many people in the last couple years that "Emergent saved my life."...not sure if i would say saved my life..but i would say the life that the modern church was attempting to suck out of me has been restored..it has given me passion and vision for life. To put it but it in basic words..I have a place to belong.

The Ambiguity of Life/Faith.....

In the last little i have been reading my friend Joey's blog and a reoccurring theme is talks with people stemming from a reformed theology background. The onc thing that i notice is how it seems to be an understanding of certainty is at the focus of faith. However, somehow certainty and faith seem to contradict one another. It seems that this idea that one can not believe in something without absolute certainty. I find a tendency for people not allowing for a hint of doubt in people faith system, but this week one of my profs said that the opposite of faith is not doubt but sight.

Along that line, I was reading "Faith Shaping" by Stephen Jones where he points out that ambiguity is something that adults take for granted in life since it is assumed. However, this ambiguity of life seems to be missing in certain sectors of Christianity...they attempt to avoid this question of ambiguity. Jones states "Biblical faith is an address to life's inherent ambiguities, not a diversion from them." Faith needs to be given room to explore this ambiguity and lack of neatness in life. I pray that these people who i have never meet may meet a God of mystery. And meet the God, Job encounters...that will not be put into a system but welcomes our passion for understanding life. Just want to close with another Jones quote, "If we can affirm that the ambiguity of life is universal, and if we choose to affirm that life is God's gift, then in some way we must reconcile faith in such a way that it addresses rather than avoids the ambiguity."

Let's Welcome Stan...

So I feel it is my duty to inform all you people living close to Winnipeg that we have a great chance to meet a real theologian. On November 6th at 7pm at St. Margaret's Anglican Church, Stanley Hauerwas will be giving a lecture titled 'Why Most North American are Afraid to Die." In the last years i have been encourage by his honesty. When i was an Resident Assistant at Providence College i read "Resident Aliens" which really helped me along in understanding the church. So if you do have Monday free please attend i promise you won't be disappointed. As for me i am still trying to figure out how to attend as i have Monday evening class and a paper due ..but i am still holding out that i might be able to make it...if not and any of you attend please fill me in on the details of Stan's lecture...

The $ 1.6 Million Christian Concert...

So we had the Franklin Graham thing this weekend..it went by fairly well..still think it is a waste of money. I think if we evaluate it as an evangelistic outreach..it was clearly an utter failure. For the simple reasons that about 85-90% of the audience was clearly christian. So if the purpose of spending all this money was to reach out to people clearly the festival failed. While that maybe more apart of the people in Winnipeg. Also in a class today one of the guys mentioned something that is very true...that truth without love..doesn't hold truth. This was in a response to how Graham communicated the message..he made some remarks that people would call 'bold' or frankly sounding hateful at times. I guess the whole conference doesn't really have a overall ring of sharing the love, which Graham stresses in his speech before calling people murders. but i do hope that people who did respond to the 'alter call' can meet christian that can love them..and bring them up in a loving community....

Well it's finally here...

Well this weekend the Franklin Graham Festival comes to Winnipeg. I think I have mixed emotions about the weekend. I think great things can/are happening through the organization..my only fear is that churches see the festival as the ones doing all the work, that the wok is done after the they leave..people have said the sinner's prayer and are going to heaven...i find this the huge downfall of conferences such as these. As well often that is the message given to people, say these words and life is good no more commitments. I was talking with a deacon at my church yesterday and she asked what the church can do to make people have a 'deeper' faith..and i was responded well there first experience with the gospel they were told basically just say this pray...so its hard now to go back and tell them well actually its a life long thing. Gorden T. Smith in "Beginning Well", does an excellent job in exploring christian conversion and authentic transformation. This book has helped me refine what it means to live the christian life. I know the Grahams and others have always said that they only have one message, but what happens when this message creates a culture where people don't have a great knowledge of the Bible, i think we need to reevaluate what the message we are sending while I think the Grahams do great work, but I just find that there words create a Christians who view the sinners prayers as the end...not the beginning.

A different mood...

This past week...i had one of those strange experiences one that illuminates something special. This week my baptist church had communion, we do it every 4 weeks. I think the odd thing was the mood sort of depressing. As we took the wine and the bread, everyone was told to look inside themselves and remember what Jesus did for them. I think it was odd that basically everyone was told to feel ashamed and grateful for what Jesus had done. I think this is odd or maybe it is a result of a misunderstanding of a word. Often times remembering is seen as looking in our individual self and feel repetitive.

While, i don't think that in itself is wrong, but it turns communion about us, not about Jesus or what Jesus is inviting us to. I feel the root of the baptist form of communion springs from the most problematic nature of Paul’s Eucharist discourse in 1 Corinthians is the Greek word anamnesis. While anamnesis in verse 25 renders “remembrance”, the true meaning behind the word is lost due to the difference behind the English and Jewish meaning of the word. In the twentieth century, “remembering is a solitary expierence involving mental recalling. However, for ancient Jews and early Christians remembrance was a corporate act in which the event remembering through ritual repetition. To remember was to do something, not to think about something.” This fundamental difference gives insight into the ‘do’ nature of Jesus and the early Christians. Modern Christians enjoy the discussion and contemplation too much. Therefore missing out in the Eucharist involvement in of a person’s entire being. So an over individualizing of what taking part of the communion means for the early church distorts the fullness of communion.

In the past year, i have been at odds with the typical protestant version of communion. But, i feel that this past week, this idea of be depressed/ feel bad about yourself during communion should be more celebratory, not you feeling bad, should we be happy that we have part in this life with Jesus and what the blood and the wine transforms us not to think but to act. But, later that Sunday I went to a unique kindof Anglican church, St. Benidicts Table(http://www.stbenedictstable.ca/">http://www.stbenedictstable.ca/). I think i've been desiring to go to St. Benedicts for the last six months, so i was really anticipating going. I would say it is everything i had hoped it would be particulary the communion element of the service. I got a sense that I was celebrating with people not condeming people.  I wonder what the different messages about communion/eucharist is the wine and the bread a call to repentence or celebration. I question if people in the early church would have meet daily to condem and remember there sins or rather celebrate the life Jesus gives us through the blood and the wine...just some thoughts...a rant that i am sure will continue over my life. But, I feel that to feel sad during communion is at odds with the message i see in the Gospel and New Testament.

A Strange Holiday...

So sometimes I hear a thought that rejuvenates a thought that you feel needs to repeated due to its significance. So I was listening to Democracy Now! the other day and much of the discussion revolved around a group of people who are protesting Columbus Day. I found the conversation intriguing on how when certain people in society get idolized that it permeates a thought into society that goes unknown since it so linked to national pride. I believe this is the case of Columbus. Why do we celebrate his day, i guess the standard answer would be since he discovered America, right? Well I guess that's how it is told in History..but is that really what happened and what about this man should be idolized. Well, first off Columbus was a slave trader not exactly a trait we should want to emulate, also by putting Columbus on such a Peddlestool in elementary school it gives off an impression that his action were fine. So the actions of Columbus which can't be seen as anything other than genocide and rape.

I don't think Columbus really liberated the land from the demonized/ barbaric Native people, but was more based out of greed and wanting to oppress a people who were the rightful owners of the great country. I think the lie that is at the root of this story is that all progress is good. It seems that the action of Columbus and the people who 'liberated' this paradise we live in from the evils of Native people. The idea of progress seems to tell us that since Columbus and the 'enlightened' European knew what was best for America. Naturally since they knew what was best for the people, even if that meant killing off the people who were living there peacefully before that is fine. Since, it is all in the name of progress. I guess when we see the history like that, we recognize...i hope, that maybe its not something to be celebrated rather requires repentance. That my status as a European and that i am blessed in my culture is due to people being killed.... it strikes me deep that this status I have is because of the blood of others...needs to be used to restore my brothers and sisters to a rightful status along side me. And all I can really say or ask them is for forgiveness. As we American and Canadians celebrate our holidays, Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, may we realize the atrocities that were committed to our fellow humans. Something we need to deal with and not neglect but a reality of anyone who would have status in this country because of the oppression of other......

Is Seperation Inevitable....

So this week in my 'Career Youth Leadership' class ..one of the topics was different kind of models for youth ministry. One of the models was created by Mark Senter, who believes that the focus of youth ministry is to create a new church that will eventually separate from the church. I thought this idea was interesting. Obviously this idea won't fly with most people, but one of my class mates suggested this type of separation is already in the church, due to the nature of small groups. But, on a larger degree it is what is happening in the modern/postmodern shift. If the goal of the church is to meet with God, is a separation not necessary? People experience God different, neither one is better..but our culture/context is different. I thought that was interesting that it might be necessary for a split so the church doesn't have this constant battle over who is right. Because, I don't really believe one way is right..but to make the postmodern people function in a modern church or vise versa is counterproductive and will lead to many leaving the church. But part of me believes that many in the evangelical world have sold out to modernist view to see this, but i am thankful for 'The Great Giveaway' by David Finch who is does an excellent job in showing this assimilation to modernist ideas.

Are you a PoMo Hater?

Sometimes I wonder why post modernity riles so many people up. I guess for the most part people love it or hate it..maybe thats due to a elementary view of what it stands for. I think I've read my fair share of post modern philosophy and still only grasp little parts of what they believe and the influence they are having on western culture. I think it is mostly in the church that people are against this shift. I always think its funny that so many in the church want to fight this change in worldviews. I think Chuck Smith Jr says it best, "Some Christians are deathly afraid of the new world and stand at every gate to prevent its entrance. But you might as well stand in front of a tidal wave with your arms spread wide. Besides, the new era is not coming; it's here." So my pastor basically went on a 'PoMo hater' rant this sunday, he did warn us before hand that he was gonna go on a rant. Not sure what the he expected to get out of it....I wonder if christian leaders did the same thing during other cultural shifts? Did pastor rant about the downfall of reason as something to be ignored during the enlightenment...or during the rise of modernity? I believe we need to look at culture with open eyes...and be a critic of culture not simple ignore it...or worse try and fight the shifts that take place...

So what's the message?

So one of the main thrusts in my church and thus my internship is the Franklin Graham festival that is coming to Winnipeg in October. So ever Tuesday the high school/junior highs go to 'Christian Life and Witness Classes'. They are basically prep for the festival. I think for quite some time I have been turned off of Franklin Graham, it began a couple years back in my 'Evangelism' class at college. We watched a video of Graham' alter call at one of this festivals, I think the consensus that the class came to was that we were not comfortable with his approach. Now maybe that is because of the generation gap between him and myself. I have found myself at odds with pastors or ministers that are more than twenty years older than me i think in this period there has been a significant ideological shift.
But back to the question at hand, something really perturbed me about a video that they showed a couple weeks back. The idea behind the video was that people needed forgiveness from God for various of things. One of the things that the video focused on was that people need forgiveness for their loneliness. I think we need forgiveness for a lot of things..but loneliness is not one of them. I think people who feel alone need God's love...to feel his presence not to be told that they need to ask for forgiveness. This is especially the case for youth. I feel it is almost part of adolescents to feel alone or wanting friends or someone to turn to. I just fear that there were teens at the class who saw loneliness as a sin. I feel this like a lot what the festival is saying is creating an improper view of God, which is having a huge effect on teens. Not sure if you guys agree with me on my view of loneliness, if you do or don't I'd love to get some more insight on this.

Are we God's friend?

Recently I heard this sermon by Steve Carter. Steve is the junior high director at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids. It really hit a cord with me. It deals with Cyrus, who God anoints to rebuild the temple and restore Jerusalem. The funny thing about this is that Cyrus doesn't even recognize God. So how does that all work that God anoints, which in Hebrew mean messiah. So this sortof one of those things that throwing traditional Christianity for a loop. So God call Cyrus, a pagan king his anointed. I think the question that this begs is why Cyrus? Why did God turn to a pagan king, someone who clearly doesn't belive that Yahweh exists. Couldn't God have found someone I don't know more 'Christian' or 'Jewish' or someone who actually worships God to do his work? I think something that fails people in north America is that we believe that anointing is reserved for the 'called'. But not for the everyday person, definitely not for a pagan king.
But, I think more importantly is that it shows that God can use anyone. God's anointed is not just for the pastors or those 'called' to ministry but for Christian all over. By being a follower of God you are anointed, we are all messiahed. God calls us all his anointed, but I think the question is do we believe it? Do we believe God has anointed all of us to be his friend in this world? I think it is something we have to choose, God is doing things in this world, but do we want to get involved. I think what Cyrus shows is that it takes action, God is calling people to join him. But if Christians don't' join God in what he is doing what happens? Does God wait on Christian to come around? Um, well the story of Cyrus says no, God will use whoever will join him. God needs friends in this world.
So the question is are we willing to be God's friend? If not God's work in this world will still get done, its just a matter if we will be apart of what God is doing in this world....

Why we do what we do....

So in this past week, I had a class where we talked about our times in high school and the events in youth that really influenced us. The funny thing about it is that all the events were 'fun' events. None of them really had this deep theological basis. I think that is revealing, not that youth ministry is in place to entertain or be the activities coordinator for church kids but I do believe that it does play a purpose. Recently, I ran across this quote that rung really true in why we have fun events, there is a greater purpose to youth ministry. "When youth ministry draws its primary energy from special events, cool leaders, and high-voltage youth gathering more than from the long tradition of practices through which youth identify with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we communicate a version of faith that has no analogy in the adult church--or in real life, for that matter.' I think often ministry become overly focused on the highs of energy that is merely a fun event not an event where we see Jesus in our leaders or the reason why we do things. I think that in putting an emphasis on these events is at the root why many teens leave the church after high school, we are no longer the only game in town. They can be entertained through over means. I think a shift needs to take place inorder that youth group is not a holding pen for teens, but a stepping stone to becoming more involved in the church, if it is not seen within the paradigm of discipleship it is bound to fail, due to its temporal nature. I guess that is why a big picture is necessary when ministry focuses on proper behavior or niceness, it is not creating a Christian idenity but a middle class identity, which allows the teens to leave when this idenity is fulfilled. What do are actions in ministry communicate to youth?

Poker.....Anyone?

This is an article I wrote last summer though I never did anything with it. It is about my church and the college and carear group that I love and sometimes frusterates me....

It’s funny how we become so accustomed to people or things in our lives. Over the past couple years I have been working on a cruise ship, so my relationship with many of the people in the college and career had become distant at best. I think I had forgotten how good it was to talk with Christian on a regular basis. This really hit me really hard at a retreat I was on with the C+C this past fall. I was walking around with a bunch of the regulars, when we started talking about one of our friends who had been killed over the summer in a car accident.

As I listened everyone shared about the pain that they experienced because of the passing of their friend. I took a second and realized that the people I was surrounded by were full of love and shared the pain of our friend’s death with her family and husband. It had been sometime since I had been around people who embraced community so well.

To begin with my church is not the most vibrant, especially the C+C. Just under two years ago our current youth pastor, due to other commitments, decided not to have a C+C Sunday school. But a couple of women at the church persisted and persuaded him to let them take over this responsibility. The result has been an amazing strengthening of the group, where many beautiful friendships have blossomed.

In spite of this growth and bonding that has occurred the group sadly enough is only a glorified social gathering. So I guess maybe I was not expecting the authenticity that I was met with as we come together for our gathering at the lake. In spite of the lack of deepness of the group and the bible studies always playing second fiddle to a poker game, I always come away thinking that I am the lucky one to be exposed to this real authentic community.

This past year I was a resident assistant at a Christian college. During our training week we were told in a nutshell that we were to go out and build community. While we definitely did that, it pales in comparison to the community that the C+C group has, which always brings a smile to my face.

The smile is wide across my face, ear to ear. I guess I just take joy out of learning things in an unconventional way and that what has happened to me this year. After being told of things that were meant to help me along the way to connect with the new guys in dorm. But the truth was I had a living example of an authentic example of community at my home church.

Who would of thought that the way to start an authentic community of believers was to get everyone hooked on poker and simply go through the hardship of life together.

Are we HIS Dust.

Recently, I have have become quite a big fan of Rob Bell. Those of you who don't know him, he is a pastor of a large church in Michigan. Its one of those success stories, the church started by Bell preaching out of Leviticus. That in itself is extrodinary. One of the new things that the church has started is a video series called Nooma. I am somewhat addicted to these videos...I find them very compelling and watch them over again.

Last week, I watched one of the nooma videos called "Dust". I think this is one of the stronger videos. It is about how we are meant to be Jesus' dust, referring that the disciples would of followed Jesus around day after day, therefore be full of the dust from his footsteps, also implying that we as his disciples should follow in his actions.

I don't want to simply regurgate Bell, but to say that the significance behind Jesus choosing these disciples to be his twelve. They were all people who religious people would have disregarded as not being good enough to be called any Rabbi's disciples, since that was a vocation reserved for those who understood the Torah the best. I think that is one of the strongn points of Jesus and Christianity that it is for everyone, not only the elite, rather God invites us all to participate in.

This fact is awe inspiring. Thinking that the creator of the world would leave his actions in this world in the hands of people like us. If Jesus is our Rabbi as would have been understood in his original context, we are to learn to do what the Rabbi does, not only in knowledge but in action. Jesus is calling us to do as he does, he actually believes we can do what he did.

However, more often I feel we are don't honestly believe this. We are more like Peter who does not have enough faith in himself to walk on water. It is not that Peter does not have faith in Jesus rather he does not have faith in himself that he can do as Jesus does. But that is what a disciple is all about being called by a Rabbi who believes we are capable of doing what the Rabbi does.

It shows that first and for most God believes in our potential to be followers of Jesus in this world. God first believes in us, before we believe in him. I find that the idea of discipleship is sorely lost in the church, maybe this is due to a minimal requirement that seems to dominate the church. But to be true disciples means that we believe that Jesus called us since he believed we can do what he did.

I think this is encouraging and maybe even a bit scary that God has that much faith in us. That he gave the movement that Jesus started and gave over to his followers after his death and resurrection, and basically told us to run with it, people who would have been seen as has beens. But maybe that is a way God turns the social order of the world upside down to take those of us who have been written off by the world, and does great things through us inspite of any weakness.....

A need for change...

One of the things over the past couple years that I have really evaluated in my life, is how masculinity is expressed and some of the negative and positives that traditional masculinity has had on the cultural definition of male friend. This morning I was reading Scot McKnight blog(http://www.jesuscreed.org/) ....I read his book "The Jesus Creed", earlier this summer it was one of those books that you just don't want to put down...Very compelling and accessible for everyone, I would highly recommend it. But back to the topic at hand, this morning McKnight was reviewing a book on friendship and quoted Joseph Epstein's book, Friendship: An Expose, "Men see themselves as more logical, women as subtler, men as having a surer view of the larger picture, women more neatly concentrated on life’s details. Men drive straight ahead, women are more interested in the view out the rearview and side mirrors, not to mention thsunrooff.”
“The primary difference between men and women perhaps has to do waggressionsion.”
If something remotely like these sorts of things really does distinguish men and women, then his “boys will be boys” chapter moves into what male friendships are like.
Male bonding occurs around similar successes in the world. Athletes like athletes of the same caliber etc..
Men, Epstein seems to think, prefer men because it allows them to be coarse and crude: “Only with men can one banter, use raillery, be heavily-handedly ironic, screw off, and be boyishly, stupidly, manlyy manly.”
But what distinguishes male friendship, according to Epstein, is reticence.
“Reticence is of the essence in masculine friendship, long has been, and probably ought to continue to be.”
By “reticence” Epstein is speaking of the hesitation of males to“share feelings” and such things make male frienships strong... I emfatically disagree with Epstein particularly in that this type of male friendship needs to continue, William Pollack in his extrodinary book 'Real Boys' reveal the lie that stPollockom what Pollack calls the boy code, which has creates an atomsphere in which boy and men are taught how to behave. This type of socialization is not helpful for many males since it give them a narrow definition of what it means to be a male in this world. To be a male for so long meant to be a form of hyper-masculinity, which has shown to be a strong link to partner violence.

While reticence is a new word to me the idea is fairly familar. This is simply an idea that the traditional way of socializing boys into men that typically see violence as the only way to express their feeling. This has a negitive effect for men as well as soceity in general. I sense that reticence is no longer the strong force it once was. I believe there is a movement of men that sees the negitve side of hyper-maculine. Reticence only paralyzes men into a thinking that allows men to be their own worst emenmy.

Why go to church?

So this past year, I had a lot of good conversations with my close friend Joey about Church. At times Joey and I, both have laid our frustration about feeling numb when we go to church, but then we'd read something that restores passion. If church was like that....Both Joey and myself seemed to sense that life would be different a lot of times, church seems that activity that ones does. Church has lost a real significance in peoples lives. However, in our reading Joey and I get these glimpses that shows, what we both deeply believe. That church is where we go to meet with God and still has a significance for our lives. Maybe that is what keeps Joey and I going. Today I read another one of those glimpses. It is just a quote I read today, simply but I found it profound, a glimpse in the reason why church has meant so much to people in the past.
"If you can't go to church and, for at least a moment, be given transcendence; if you can't go to church and pass brief from this life into the next then I can't see why anyone should go. Just a brief moment of transcendence can cause you to come out of church a changed person. "

I think meeting with God is something that people long for. But it is interesting how people desire this meeting with the transcendence, but the place one meet that need is not in the church. A coworker of my said this week in the radio show that she runs at the university, that spirituality is an important element in her choosing songs, but not that she wants them to be religious. That comment is common in today's culture. How religious people are negative, but someone who is spiritual is to be revered. It sortof like a person saying I like Jesus, but not Christianity. Shane Claiborne, in his amazing book 'The Irresistible Revolution", describes this dilemma that he faced during his college days. That following Jesus sometime means giving up on what the church deems appropriate. I feel I identify with that statement, some of the view of the church come in contradictions with Jesus.

These contradictions have drawn me to the 'emergent movement'. In this past two years, the emergent movement has been a refuge of mine. Giving me hope in the midst of despair knowing that I will never leave the church, but at times wondering how much longer I can stay. This past year, authors in the friendship of the emergent movement have shown me why I still go to church, and why I believe the church is still powerful. The have given me hope, a hope that I cling onto with all my might, knowing that it is not I that keeps me there, rather God whose grip is firm on my life. While I don't know where the emergent movement will lead me, in reading Doug Pagitt 're-imagined church' this question no longer needs to be answered. We could live comfortably in the way things are or move towards God, and risk criticism, but be more faithful to our understanding of the role of the Church in our lives.

The Dynamic Duo

I am not sure how many of you have a nightly ritual? Well I have to admit that I have one, it happens Monday to Thursday at 10 pm. My nightly ritual is the political satire of the daily show and the Colbert report. Maybe it's the sarcasm or the poking fun at other "professional" news channels, but I always get a kick at what latest news story they decide to spotlight. Normally it is to show the ridiculous stories that the media decided to spotlight. But, I think the main reason is that especially in the case of Jon Stewart is that he can talk to politics. I think in this age where I feel more people adistrustfuling CNN and other major networks for selective reporting people are turning to independent sources or maybe just a source that honestly shows the ridiculous nature of the Bush administration. I have a sense that this dynam duo will have a great influence on the societies perception of political figures and the policies of the USA. Sortof holding the administration accountable to a public that won't accept any bull shit. With Stewart and Colbert, I think this generation is in good hands to reestablish a political minded generation that talks about the administrations in a critical mind and a rhetorical humor, as Stephen Colbert often states "Ok Ok ...but you Support our troops, right?"

Pro - Israel....

Recently I was at a church and the pastor talked about Israel, in a sense that it is almost beyond account. That since Israel is God's chosen people that there action are beyond accountability. I struggle with this idea. Especially when you read all the evil that Israel commits, and as a Christian I am to give blind allegiance. The pastor gave his view of Israel that anytime we speak of Israel we need to understand that God is always on there side in their vicious attacks. In this latest war with Lebanon, I saw a state that showed the deaths total had a 7:1 ratio. Israel has killed 7 times as many as their counterparts, and this over two soldiers. It almost seems like Israel actions is justification of wrath, that I doubt if it is God's will. The pastor went on to say that anyone who has ever supported Israel has been critiqued, which is because everyone in the world is against Israel due to being God's chosen people. I wonder if modern day Israel has really any connection with the Israel in the Bible. Modern day Israel seems to be a military state. I wonder if the reason people who join Israel get critiqued is because Israel' action are unjust? I also wonder if Jesus changed everything. What role does Israel play for the modern day church. I read this book Paul among the Postliberals, the author proposes I think that Israel is off limits, they can do no wrong. I was a bit confused by this whether Jesus did not change Israel' status in the Christian story? If anyone has any ideas about this please let me know...Any help would be greatly appreciated....

My Love

I guess this is a good way to start a blog, with the most important person in my life. This is a picture of me and my girlfriend Trisha. We meet at Providence College, the funny thing about our story is that without the internet we may have never gotten together, but thanks to email and messenger, we are madly in love. Even though she is in Korea right now, we grow closer each day.