Music

A while back my wife and I bought a couple of DVDs that are suppose to teach us how to dance. Dancing seems like such a fun thing to be able to do. Inspired by Swing Kids one of the DVDs is on how to sing dance. It looks so simple, easy and fun. So the other night we put it on and began to learn.
What did I learn? That it is not simple or easy - it might be fun once you can do it. That my feet do not move the way they are suppose to. That as a guy I am suppose to be the one leading. That I have no idea how to lead. That my wife can dance really well.
It was like there was a barrier between my brain and my body. My brain would tell my body to do a certain move. After a delay my body would begin moving the wrong way then jerk the right way. But now I would be a step behind so I would rush and then stumble. The whole time my brain would be yelling at my body "move this way. Not that way you idiot. Faster, no slower." And well all this is happening I am suppose to be listening to the music, the video instructions, lead my graceful wife and in some way connect deeply with her through dancing.
I think I need a lot more practice.

Money and Church Part II

One my friends sent this in reply to the post I did a while ago about money and the church (It was called Money). He had some really good insight. So I asked him if I could post what he wrote. Here it is...

About preaching about money, I would say both do and don't. As you say, how we use our money is of great importance - its use can be both good and produce good. The same could go for being sinful and producing sin. But you also mention that there are taboos surrounding preaching about money and the church. Whether those taboos are justified or not isn't really the issue. The fact is they're there. They're in the mindset of the leadership, as well as in the mindset of the congregation. Confronting that taboo, by preaching directly against it, could result in a backlash - either conscious or unconscious. I’m reminded of some of these TV evangelists who preach directly about giving money to the church. With thousands in attendance and millions watching, these fellows rake in millions and don’t necessarily use that money for good. Instead, some of these people have a dozen mansions around the world, helicopters and an entourage. Investigation has shown that some of these people do little good with that money for anybody but themselves. Less overt, I’m also reminded of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. It’s the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen. Although this could be controversial, I’d say that the display of opulence, though stunning, is also very ugly. Built in the 1800s, with parishioners’ money and the lives of a number of those who constructed it, what went into that building, in my view, was a gross misallocation of resources by the clergy, in a time when peoples’ lives were hard and backbreaking, luxury meant adequate weather, and death from disease, child birth, or injury was ever present. Should that church have been built as it was? I’d say no – especially not in the context of that time. But I’m sure the vast majority would fervently disagree with me. The point is that the taboo is there and if we at least keep that taboo in the back of our mind when discussing money, it will at least foster a little humility as to what we do with the money when it does come in and perhaps get us to think about how we can best put it to uses that are good. It would also address the perception that ‘the church is just about getting your money’. Regarding getting beaten for that preaching, I don’t think you have to worry about that. You’re preaching to the converted, as the saying goes.

The simple fact is money is an essential part of our lives, and as you mention, the gospel should penetrate into all aspects of our lives. I read in one of your other blogs about the question of community – that is how to we situate ourselves in giving importance to one community over another. With respect to money, anybody who is in the paid workforce spends the bulk of their time (apart from sleeping and maintaining oneself) working for money. The workplace itself is a community, in which one may wish to involve oneself. But we are also spending that time there for the purposes of making money. And when we spend that money we are entering into a relationship with the producer. We enter that community so to speak. So in effect we spend 4 to 14 hours a day for the potential to enter into the sphere of the economic community. As you mention, how we spend our money can be of great good or sin. I think it is detrimental to ourselves and to our neighbours around the world if we ignore the effects of what our money can do. If we buy, say, a widget from Mr. A, who greases the wheels of his machinery with the sweat of little children, we are in effect telling Mr. A that we condone his activities and that by giving him greater resources, we are asking him to continue – to continue sinful actions. I’d add that lesser degrees of exploitation also fall under this category, with say, workers who are underpaid. Then on the other hand, the converse it true; if we support Mr. B who treats his workers well and gives what is due to the workers, then we are applauding in a very concrete way (by spending money on that widget) to a relationship that is good, or at least produces the potential for good. In real life, it is difficult to know the inner workings of each company and what the relationship between workers and bosses are. But a little research here and there can go a long way in producing good around the world.

Now how should the church approach the issue of money? If I was over stepping by bounds in the above, I’d be on my face if I were to continue. But if I didn’t fall off my bike continually while I was learning the skill, I’d have never learned. So I would say preach at the issue of giving money to the church less directly and approach it more broadly. A question like ‘how does a Christian spend their money’, or ‘how can a Christian do good with their money’ or such like questions I think would be useful. Then, to bring the question back to the more specific question of giving money to the church, simply be honest with the congregation of what you are doing. As I’ve mentioned, I’m not sure of what goes on in the weekly service or other church related events – so all of what I’ve written may be redundant, you may already be open with what the church is doing and with what the needs of the church are. But I think simply stating what the church is doing and/or what you would like to do (given the funds) would be reason enough for people to look within themselves and to make the decision on their own, with the knowledge of what is going on, to give.

Richard Dawkins

The other day I watched this interview (Richard Dawkins) on The Hour. Richard Dawkins raises some interesting comments about Christianity, actually about all religion. At times I agreed with him. There are times when as Christians we have been asked to set aside our brains and just take things by "faith". One time I can remember in my life when this happened. I wanted to go to a museum. I had a thing for dinosaurs a kid and I was in a city that had this great dinosaur museum so I asked if we could go. I was told "no, because we don't talk about dinosaurs." Dinosaurs were used to prove evolution and therefore I was told to ignore the facts. And it is this attitude that Richard Dawkins gets so upset about (I also get upset about it).
This interview also made me ask a couple of questions - which I am now asking you.
What is faith?
And can we live without faith?

Education and creativity

Cindy found this interesting video. What do think? How does this apply to our Christian Education?

Money

People hate it when the church talks about money. One of the main objections that I hear about church is that the church is just about getting your money. The feeling that I get is that the church should deal with spiritual matters and not talk about money. Money, how people spend it and if they give, are personal convictions and the church should not really get involved.
Many churches agree with this (at least in practice). They will not preach about money. When the offering is taken they will offer an apology about taking it.
Personally I have bought into this whole concept as well. I feel uncomfortable when I have to talk about money. I would never bring up the conversation of giving with my friends. Money is just an issue that is taboo.
In a couple of weeks I am going to be preaching on Acts 16:16-34. This passage does not really address money specifically but something happens which caused me to take note. Paul is preaching in Philippi and everything is going fine until his actions cause someone to loose money. As a result of this action he is beaten and thrown in prison. The gospel is tolerated until it starts to affect money. People were not upset about what Paul was preaching they were upset because they might loose money. Really they are saying "preach what you like but don't do anything that will affect our money." That sort of sounds like today.
However within the bible the gospel is view holistically. If the gospel is true then it should impact all of lives, including our money. Money was a great idol in biblical times and it still is. The gospel challenges all idols. This means that as a church we need to challenge how people spend and use their money. Money is not evil, making lots of money is not evil. How use and spend the money can be of great good or sin.
So what do you think? How should the church deal with the issue of money?

The New Testament and the People of God

NT Wright is one of my favorite writers. Right now I am reading his book The New Testament and the People of God. It is really good - though it gets very technical. If you are interested in reading a book by Wright I would highly, highly recommend Simply Christian.
Back to The New Testament and the People of God. At one point Wright begins talking about the authority of the bible. To explain the authority of the bible he gives the illustration of play that has four acts written but has lost the fifth act. Now the first four acts are amazing - great plot and characterization. So the play should be done. In order to get the fifth act the actors will be invited to make it up. In order to make it up they will have immerse themselves in the first four acts. When the fifth act is then acted out it needs to be consistent with the first four acts. It has bring the play to a conclusion. Now people could argue whether the actors where right in how they acted based on the authority of the first four acts. Were they faithful to what was written? The one thing they could not do is keep re-acting the first four acts, they would have to do something new.
Wright says that this is way that the bible is authoritative. We are called to be the actors in act 5. In order to do it right we have to immerse ourselves in the first four acts (creation, fall, Israel, Jesus). Not just doing what they did, but living in a way that is faithful to what happened in the past.
Very interesting. What do you think?

election

Manitoba has called for an election. This will be the first Manitoba provincial election that I will vote in. So I decided to make an informed choice I should discover some things about the different parties. So I went to their web pages. And what have I discovered?
Liberal party has a web page which is not very useful. It just has some rants.
PC party has nothing to say. Well actually all they have to say is that NDP is related to Satan. Nothing about what they are going to do.
NDP party has a little bit to say. However most of that is expressed in how evil the PCs are.
What would I like to see on a web page? A statement of vision, some core values, some practical steps on how they would work out the vision and core values. I do not enjoy hearing/reading about how the other parties will destroy our province. Generating fear really bugs me. And I would appreciate facts - no name calling.
One thing I found really funny is the both PC and NDP claim that the soccer field is their idea and the other is just getting on board to gain some votes. Not sure exactly who to believe.
So I am not sure who I am going to vote for. Seeing as I have no idea what any of the parties stand for. I believe voting is important. And I am hoping to make an informed vote.

Theology of play

I am reading this book called The Rest of God, by Mark Buchanan. The last chapter I read talked about a theology of play. Mark states that the sabbath (which is what the whole book is about) needs to be about playing and having fun. He mentioned how in some traditions the Sabbath was about doing nothing - a person was not allowed to work or play. I can totally remember being at my relatives house one Sabbath and it was awful. We were not allowed to be noisy or play or doing anything. We had sit a listen to Christian programs on the radio (not that these were bad). As I thought about this I think I have come to the conclusion that this is part of the reason for most of life I have been anti-sabbath. If the Sabbath means that we can do nothing than I wanted nothing to do with it. I felt like the Sabbath robbed life instead of giving it. Now Buchanan talks about playing. This sounds like fun. It sounds life giving. When you play you just do it for fun you are not playing to be useful or productive or to check things off a list...you just play.
So let me encourage you to take a day to just play - waste time just having fun.

Second Hand Pants

Do not hold on to me

One of the things that struck me this Easter was the fact that I cannot hold on to my picture of God. I have to constantly allow God to be god even if that means he is different than I believe him to be or even want him to be.
On Sunday 8 people gave their testimonies about how God had worked in their life. Most of them recounted how they had a picture of God that was wrong. And through experiences, others, reading the bible their view began to change with the result that their life began to change.
Also when reading the stories of the resurrection I got the idea that disciples had to let go of Jesus as they knew him. They had to allow him to be greater than they had imagined. Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension changed everything for them, including their ideas of who Jesus was.
I came to realize that I am very arrogant to believe that I have full understanding of who God is. I have come to the conclusion that I really do not know a whole lot - I just think I do.

Community

We all live in community. In fact we live in multiple communities. Our communities are formed from our church, family, school, work, hobbies, friends, etc. We move from community to community as we live out our week. Which one of these communities is primary in our lives? Which one should be? At times we engage in double talk. First we say that the church should be the primary community. Then we tell people that family should be. And don’t forget to make and maintain friendships and to build good relationships at work. So where do we stand? Where should we stand? There are scholars and theologians that could be found to defend and promote anyone of these communities. But perhaps figuring out what is our primary community is not that important.

Perhaps we need a different view of community and specifically of our church community. Why does our church exist? The church exists to glorify God by extending the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not solely extended by increasing our church programs or by making sure that our organization is growing or even by making sure that everyone is so involved in church activities that they do not have time to do anything else. It is extended by us bringing Jesus into our communities. These communities are made up from our families, work, sports, friends, etc. So since the church exists to extend the Kingdom of Jesus and the Kingdom is extended in other communities the church therefore exists to bless these other communities.

This means that the church needs to equip people to live in their different communities and not to just live in the church community. The church needs to be giving and blessing the communities instead of taking away from them. The church needs to help people to be better people in their communities not just better people in the church.

Really it is a call for the church die for the world…just like Jesus died for the world.

God's work

Irreligiosa sollicitudo pro Deo - this wonderful expression means "a blasphemous anxiety to do God's work for him."
This is the anxiety that causes us to be frantic and panicked. We are frazzled and hassled because the work is not done. And for some reason we are not able to get it done. This anxiety does not allow us to rest or to be still before God because their is something else that needs to be done.
Mark Buchanan states that we should still rest. Not because the work is finished but because God is God. Our rest states that we cannot do the work. It declares that the work is not really ours anyways. It is God's work. And he invites us to partner with him in doing it but he also tells us to rest. The world is not resting on our shoulders. God is able to do more with and threw us if we spend times being still before him.
This is not an excuse to be lazy. It is a call to allow God to be God. And for us to stop trying to do his work.

Curling

Yesterday my church went curling together. We rented the rink, curled all afternoon and then some stayed for supper (another group went to the church for a hymn sing). It was tons of fun. I never realized that curling could be so much fun to play (it looks really boring on TV). My daughters really enjoyed playing. My oldest told me that she would like to join a team some day.
The best part though was playing with different people from our church. It was an excellent way to mix and visit with people. A huge thanks needs to be given to the people who organized this event. I certainly hope it happens again next year.

Guidance

I was sitting on a beach in Oregon wondering what I was going to do with my life. Where was I going? What was I suppose to be doing? Who was suppose to marry? What school should I go to? Should I go to school? Where should I work? Live? I sat and struggled with the questions of life. I was never visited by any angels, or heard voices from heaven to give me guidance. But in many years since I have been guided by Yahweh as I take each step.
We are all on a journey. We all need guidance. Last week I hear two really good messages on guidance.
Nathan from our church: God's guidance in my life
Rob Bell from Mars Hill: Leaving control for faith (They also do the sermons on a podcast)

Check them out and let me know what you think.

And if you are a part of our church I would love to know how your fasting is going.

Wierd world

Fact: Ice is colder than boiling water.
Apparently this fact is not always true. A group of scientists have made ice that is hotter than boiling water (check it out). I just hate it when science destroys my hard facts. The world is making perfect sense. And then someone comes along and messes with my perception of reality. In school I was given the idea that the world makes sense. However science now gives me a picture of a world that is strange and bizarre. A picture of a world that I cannot really fit into my brain. I am personally becoming more and more convinced that we really do not have a clue what is going on we just think we do. Sure we can manipulate a few different things but that is not really understanding it.

PLANET EARTH, THE FUTURE

CBC is going to be airing an interesting show tonight. The show is called Plant Earth, The Future. What really triggered my interest was in the description it said: "How can conservation fit into a world driven by economics and development? At what point does eco-tourism cross the boundary of real benefit to the wildlife? Looks at the role of religion in promoting a moral and ethical approach to our world."
That last line really got me interested. I do believe that our faith in God should promote good stewardship of the earth. I am wondering how they are going to approach this issue. Should be interesting. Hopefully I remember to watch it.

I missed it. It was on CBC News world which I do not have. :(

Going Slow

Have you ever experienced a time when the whole world seems to suddenly get in line? When it feels like God has reached down and is ordering things to drive one message into your head? Well that is sort of how I am feeling right now. And the message is "Go Slow."
First, we have chosen to read a book called The Rest of God. It is all about the Sabbath and slowing down. Second, a good friend of mine gave me the book The Contemplative Pastor. In the first chapter Eugene (the writer) states that he wants to be less busy. Third, a friend stopped into my office today and told me about the "go slow club". It was a club a four year old started because he felt that life was too busy. So he would just go slow. Fourth, I was checking out a magazine called Geez (looks really interesting) and found a website called De-motorize your soul (check this site out). It states " Relax a bit, and join the spirited slow-down."
So I think God might be whispering (possibly yelling) for me to slow down.

Van Morrison

Last night my friend Frank and I went to the Van Morrison concert. It was totally awesome. I would have to say that it was the best concert that I have ever been to. It was better than Pink Floyd, Ziggy Marely, Midnight Oil, Tragically Hip (who I saw three times), Third Day, Crash Test Dummies, Elvis Costello (he was awful), U2 (who happen to be my favorite band), or any other group that I have seen. It was also totally different from any concert that I have ever seen.
Every concert (with exception of some blue grass concerts I went to with my Dad) I had ever been to had been a show. A show that rehearsed and programed. It did not matter if the group was a large name or just some local group. Pink Floyd I am sure was programed down to the second. And one Christian group when I saw them the third time I could say their jokes along with them. Van Morrison was just about the music. There was no light show, no smoke, no jokes, just really good music. And you could tell as they played that nothing was programed. They at appeared to decide to do certain songs while on stage. And during the songs Van Morrison would point to different members of the band to indicate that they should do a solo at that point. It was amazing. They were so very, very talented.
The other thing that made Van Morrison different from other groups is that he really highlighted his band. When he was not singing or doing a sax solo he would move to the back of the stage to allow the other musicians to have the spot light. Often I have seen other rock stars love to be worshipped.
There was also no warm up act. His band came on and did two numbers without him. Then he joined them and played for 90 minutes. Van Morrison then walked off to the side (the band stayed where they were) and then came back on to do two closing numbers.
Can you tell that I really liked the concert.

JD Miner

My Dad is in a band called Jd Miner. And they totally rock. You need to check out their website jdminer.com. At their website you get the opportunity to buy their CD - it is really good.

How Shall We Worship?

I have begun reading a book called How Shall we Worship? by Marva Dawn. It looks like a really interesting book. I have just read the introduction but Marva is already asking some good questions about worship and the church. Here are a couple of the questions that you might want to struggle with. I would love to hear what you think.
Does our worship enable us to be ready to die for the sake of God's glory?
Why do so many who say they are "spiritual" want nothing to do with our churches' worship?
Are we really encountering God?