Update from Travis

Week Two

During this week, three days were spent at the NCEM Central Field Conference in Lumsden, SK. It was a good time to meet others that have spent their lives in Northern ministries and to learn from their experiences and wisdom. It was a blessing to see some of what NCEM is doing and how they are doing it. There was an emphasis on personal holiness and godliness that I really appreciated and inspired me to walk closer with my Lord. After I thanked the gentlemen who shared about holiness he said two very important words, “Apply it”. Holiness means nothing if it is not applied. Godliness is very important for mission work.

Another emphasis from the conference was shared by Florence Flett. She said that methods and programs are all secondary in trying to reach her people. Love is what mattered. Holding the door for someone or smiling and saying hello is what really count. This brings it all back to 1 Cor. 13:1-3; we can do anything but if we do not have love we will get nowhere.

After the conference I met a man in the mall here that was involved in traditional religion. He shared with me many things that I had not known about the historical Cree way of life and what certain things mean. He also said that all religions have the same God. I shared that I was interning as a missionary and he could see that I was not a local, (blond hair). However, he said that openness was the best policy for me to learn. Listening to people’s stories is a good policy; many are willing to share about their lives and what they are going through.

This week we also made it to Cormorant for the first time and I am learning about visitation culture and how they are conducted in the North. I may be going in again on Saturday. I have learned about the history of some who have ministered in Cormorant in the past. I really hope that I can get a Bible study going there. It is very overwhelming because I know very few people there and most people ask, “What is a guy like you doing here?” But God is faithful and He is opening doors to share about camp this summer in the school there and a connection with the recreation director. 

Pray that God would continue to open doors for connections in Cormorant and for getting a Bible study going. Pray also for health; many well known people from the area are sick with cancer and this is a strain on the people here. Pray also for the youth of Opaswayak Cree Nation, there were suicide attempts last week and there still is a suicide pact and people are concerned.

-Travis Harms

Update - Travis Harms

Travis Harms (a young adult from my church) is doing his internship in northern Manitoba this summer.  He is asking for people to pray for him.  Here is an update:

This is my first week in the Pas; on Tuesday I could hardly believe what I was doing in driving myself up to live somewhere I had never been to before with people I did not know and not really knowing all that specifically what I would be doing. This week has consisted of orientation to a new area and a different culture.

During this week I attended a lecture series by Bill Jackson from Thursday night to Sunday morning on the topic of native spirituality and attended the Wednesday night Bible study here at the Riverside Bible Church. I have been blessed to get to know many of the people that live here. Many people came out and I was able to meet some folks from Cormorant, the town I will be visiting during summer, and the regulars of the church.

I was bit by a dog on Thursday when we were doing door to door invitations to the Bill Jackson meetings in our neighborhood. One lady from the church commented to me about the spiritual battle that we are in and I was reminded to “put on the full armor of God”. Taking ground from the enemy will always result in kick back.

I have learned about the importance of building trust and building relationships. It can take a long time to build trust in a reserve. It can take years of community presence to build that trust. The Anderson’s have been serving here since the 1980’s and they have the trust of the people. Relational influence is closely linked to trust. I was able to have some good conversation with a local fellow that has earned the trust of people close to him and how that is lived out in this culture. Integrity is very important, if trust is ever broken it will likely never be recovered in these communities.

Time is required for trust to be built and most people here are not overly friendly or talkative as we would consider in a western culture. However, as Bill Jackson and Amanda have both said “the gospel transcends cultures”. Knowing the people is important but you can always share the gospel and it still is effective. This is good encouragement for me.

I have also learned some about the spiritual realm here. Many houses on Opaskwayak Cree Nation have eagles painted on the outside of their houses. The eagle is a sign of good fortune in this culture.

Next week we are going to the NCEM Central field conference in Lumsden, SK and preparing for Steeprock Bay Bible Camp registration. Pray for open doors in Cormorant and continued building relationships with those in the church and community. 

Introduction to Ephesians

The book of Ephesians emphasizes several things.  One is that as believers in Jesus we are united.  Regardless of our cultural, racial or economic background we are all brought together under Christ.  A second emphasis is that we are saved by grace.  We do not earn our salvation; it is a gift that God freely gives to his people.  Thirdly the book of Ephesians encourages us to live out our faith.  Paul is very practical (even giving advice on marriage and resisting the attacks of Satan).

Author: 

• Paul the apostle
• Paul had a radical conversation experience (Acts 9:1-19)
• Before following Jesus he persecuted the church
• After conversion became an apostle and missionary
• Paul wrote several books in the New Testament (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon)
• He was beheaded for his faith by emperor Nero
• Paul suffered many different things for following Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23-33)

Date of writing:
Paul wrote this letter from prison in Rome (around 62 AD)

Written to:  
Paul wrote this book to the church in Ephesus from prison.  Ephesus was a major city Asia Minor (what is now Turkey).  The city was the home of the temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis (one of the wonders of the ancient world).  The city of Ephesus was a place of trade and a center of paganism.  Paul ministered in Ephesus for a couple of years (Acts 19).

Key verses:
• Ephesians 1:3
• Ephesians 2:8-10
• Ephesians 3:20-21
• Ephesians 4:2
• Ephesians 5:21
• Ephesians 6:10-17

Biography
Eerdmans Handbook to the Bible, edited by David Alexander and Pat Alexander.  Lion Publishing, England, 1983.
Douglas, JD.  Who’s Who in Christian History, “James, Brother of Jesus” page 351-352.  Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Wheaton Illinois, 1992.
Beers Gilbert V.  The Victor Handbook of Bible Knowledge. Victor books, USA, 1981.

The book of James

My church is encouraging people to read and study the book of James through out the month of April.  This is a short introduction to the book:

The book of James

The book of James challenges us to live out our faith.  James emphasizes that we need to not simply listen to the bible we need to obey it.  This short book is filled with practical wisdom.  It covers a range of topics: from temptation to watching what we say, from favoritism to prayer, from making future plans to suffering.

Author: James

He was the half-brother to Jesus (Galatians 1:19)

James did not believe in Jesus at first (John 7:5; Mark 3:21)

He accepted Jesus as the Messiah after the resurrection

He is sometimes referred to as “James the Just”

James was key leader in the early church, especially in Jerusalem

He was a leader in the important Jerusalem council that is mentioned in Acts 15

When Paul traveled to Jerusalem to meet with the church leaders he sought out James (Galatians 1:19)

James was martyred in 61 AD in Jerusalem by stoning[1]

Date of writing: Unknown

We are not sure exactly when this book was written.  However it may actually be the first New Testament book to have been written.

Written to: Early Jewish Christians who were not residing in Jerusalem 

At first the early church consisted primarily of Jewish believers.  The church later expanded to include those who were not of Jewish origin. 

It is likely that this letter was written to be circulated among different congregations. 

Key verses:

            James 1:5

            James 1:22

            James 1:27

            James 2:17

            James 3:13

            James 4:17

            James 5:16

Biography

Douglas, JD.  Who’s Who in Christian History, “James, Brother of Jesus” page 351-352.  Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Wheaton Illinois, 1992.

The works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, translated by William Whiston, Hendrickson Publishers, Massachusetts, 1987.

“James the Just” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just

“Epistle of James” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_of_James

---

[1] The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, page 537-538

Rent a Mourner

Article from cbc.ca talks about a business that hires out actors to attend and mourn at your funeral.  Their website states:

Whether you need to introduce new faces, increase perceived popularity or simply increase numbers we are here to help

This is something that is common in some other cultures.  However this feels different.  I want to say wrong but that would not be the right word.
In other cultures it is an established cultural tradition.  Everyone knows who has been hired and what they are there for (often it is for loud wailing).  This seems like something totally different.
The website mentions to "increase perceived popularity".
Which leads me to ask a whole bunch of questions:

• Are we so desperate to appear popular that even in death we are still striving for people to believe that we are/were popular?
• What has happened to our community when we need to hire people to come to our funeral?  We have 1,000 face-book friends, but are not convinced that anyone them will actually show up to say fare-well once we have died.
• Why are we worried about what people think of us after we are dead?
• Funerals are already expensive  so why pay more to convince people that we are popular?  (Rather than giving the money to family or friends.)
• Who do we think we are kidding?  Do we really think that people are not going to know that we hired someone?  And once it is discovered what happens to our "perceived popularity"?

“In Search of a Unified Field Theory. A Look at Ecclesiastes”

Workshop by Pierre Gilbert

Written to the someone who believes that life under God is useless and meaningless.  The writer is a super-cynic, who shows that "life under the sun" (life without God) is meaningless.

We have two options:

1. "Life under the Sun" = incoherence, meaningless and absurd
2. "Life under God" = life and meaning

Interesting point of interest Ecclesiastes is a commentary on the curse (Genesis 3)

Some take away points:

• Don't be paralyzed by fear (11:1-6)
• Be joyful (11:7-10)
• Be faithful to God (12:1-7)

Song of Solomon

Pierre Gilbert - workshop
(Here are some highlights - I know I am missing some things that Pierre taught us)

Song of Solomon is a love poem - it is not a metaphor for Jesus and the church

Written to combat the predominate understanding of sexuality found within that culture

The surronding cultures' understanding of sexuality

• manipulation of the gods
• It was a way to induce the gods to bring fertility to the earth
• exploits women
• Women only true value is having children

What the Song teaches us

• Sexuality is a wonderful gift from God
• Sex is always within the context of loyalty (marriage)
• It is to be done with kindness and respect
• Women are not sex objects but are people to be treated with respect and dignity

Other points:

Sex has the power to do great good and great harm.  People's lives have been destroyed because of sex.

Choosing Wisdom

Sunday sermon by Pierre Gilbert

Basic things about wisdom (and the wisdom books in bible - Job, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes):

There are four levels of wisdom:

• A trade
• Intelligence, insight and/or shrewdness
• Common sense
• The understanding of the fundamental questions of life

The fourth level is the highest level.  And through out the bible it is linked to trusting/loving/seeking/following God. 

This is something that cannot be given or bought or stolen it can only be chosen.  

Wisdom is not simply for old people it is for everyone.  In fact the wisdom books target the youth.  They invite youth to choose wisdom (to choose God) which is really a choice for life instead of death.  

Epiphany

January 6 was Epiphany.  This is a day when we celebrate the coming of the wise men to worship Jesus and present their gifts to him (Matthew 2).
Ryan on Sunday called us to worship Jesus by bringing our gifts to him, like the wise men.  Ryan stated that we are all gifted, gifted in different ways, and that we should use these gifts to serve Jesus.

How will I use the gifts that God has given me to worship Jesus and serve others in this next year?

The rift-raft

On Sunday there was baptism in my church.  It was a beautiful thing.  It always is.  

But this time what stood out was the rift-raft.  Standing among all the people who were there on Sunday it was just so clear that we are all a bunch of rift-raft.  None of us has it together.  We come from different backgrounds, from the traditional Mennonites to the tattooed rebels.  The testimonies told stories about failure and messing up.  And how God reaches down and saves.

This is our story.  I am mess, but Jesus has reached out and rescued me.

Looking around the sanctuary I was convinced there is a God.  Because the transformed lives of the people getting baptized are not because of our greatness, in fact it seems to actually be in spite of us.  Jesus is doing something amazing.

Are we ready for Christmas?

Are we ready for God to break in?

Christmas is about the creator of universe, God almighty himself, breaking into humanity.  Yahweh becoming human.
Who was ready for Yahweh to come?
No one in Bethlehem.  They did not even care enough to make room for a woman about to give birth.
There were some who were ready.  The shepherds, the wise men, Simenon  Anna.  Even Herod (though he tried to kill Yahweh).
Where was everyone else?  The priests?
Yahweh faced rejection the moment he entered the world as a baby.
But he still entered into the muck of this world.

And the miracle is that Yahweh still breaks into this world, still enters into the muck.
Are we ready?

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."  

Revelation 3:20

Prayer affects God

Regarding prayer from Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy:

God's "response" to our prayers is not a charade.  He does not pretend that he is answering our prayer when he is only doing what he was going to do anyway.  Our requests really do make a difference in what God does or does not do.  The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a specter that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God.  It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best. (page 244)

prayer is a matter of coming to a person other than oneself and asking that they do something that one cannot do oneself.  It is coming to One who has repeatedly invaded human history and continues to do so.  It is intelligently working with him to accomplish ends that fulfill his purposes in creation and in fostering human life upon the earth for a short while.  (page 249)

Was Jesus fun?

Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, invites us to think about who Jesus is:

We should, to begin with, think that God leads a very interesting life, and that he is full of joy.  Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the universe.  The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy.  All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness.  (page 62)

We have commented several times on how the currently accepted image of Jesus all but makes it impossible to find him interesting and attractive, lovable.  The responses of common people to him throughout the pages of the gospel show how false that image is.  He was such an attractive person and such a powerful speaker that, from the human point of view, the leaders of the day killed him out of envy for his popularity (Matt. 27:18).  He was a master of humor and often used it to drive home the truths he imparted, as any good speaker does.  But few today would put him on their guest list for a party - if it were really going to be a party.  Jesus as we don't think of Jesus as intelligent, so we don't think of him as pleasant company, someone to enjoy being around.   (page 239)

Is Jesus smart?

Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, invites us to think about who Jesus is:

It is not possible to trust Jesus, or anyone else, in matters where we do not believe him to be competent.  We cannot pray for his help and rely on his collaboration in dealing with real-life matters we suspect might defeat his knowledge or abilities.
And can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart?  If he were divine, would he be dumb?  Or uninformed?  Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what we take him to be in all other respects and not be the best-informed and most intelligent person of all, the smartest person who ever lived?  (page 94)

Voice for the voiceless

My wife, Cindy, just got back from leading a team from our church to visit SEEDS of Hope's home for orphans in Zambia.  To hear of their stories see SEEDS of Hope blog and Cindy's blog.

Why did they go? 

A voice for the voiceless.  This team is now the voice for these kids who had no voice.  Most of the kids that our team held and played with would have been dead without SEEDS of Hope.  They would have had no future.  But someone saw them and spoke on their behalf.  These kids are no longer a statistic or a tragedy that happens far removed from us that we can easily ignore.  They are people.  We know their names.  We see their faces.  We hear part of their story.  We care for them.
And this is true even for us who have never gone, because our friends and family have gone and are speaking for these kids.

Seth Godin and Education

Education is important.  Something that should be constantly talked about, reviewed and improved upon.
I have a friend who just pulled one of their kids from the school system to home school because she believes that her kid is not being taught anything.
Another friend told me that in one of her kids classes they watch a couple of movies every week.  These are not educational movies but Disney movies.
Now my kids' schools are great.  I am impressed with most of the teachers in my community.  However I am wondering if that is the norm or are we just an exception 
The questions that I have are:
Why are bad systems tolerated in our society?  
Can we make great systems even better?  
Seth Godin has some interesting ideas about education and its future.

Zambia - SEEDS of Hope

On November 8 my wife, Cindy, leaves for Zambia.  She will be gone for two weeks.  She is leading a short term missions team from our church.
A couple of years ago our church asked a question at our annual meeting.  "There are 15 million orphans in Africa.  What is our response?  Do we have a responsibility to help and if so, what should that look like?"
Our answer was to partner with an organization called SEEDS of Hope.  They have a home in Zambia for children with or affected by AIDS.  It is our desire to be committed for the long haul, not just send some money once and move on.
This means relationship.  We want to have a relationship with the people and kids we are partnering with.
So we are sending teams of people to Africa.  To build these relationships, to learn, to grow, to help out wherever we can.
Please pray for the team.  Pray that they will be a blessing, they will be blessed, and that relationships will be strengthened.

Wrong direction?

Reading The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.  
Willard really challenges how we orientate our lives.

"Stand up for your rights" sounds so good.  How about "All I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten?"  And "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty?"  And so forth.  Such saying contain a tiny element of truth.  But if you try to actually plan your life using them you are immediately in deep, deep trouble.  They will head you 180 degrees in the wrong direction.  You might as well model your life on Bart Simpson or Seinfeld.  But try instead "Stand up for your responsibilities  or "I don't know what I need to know and must now devote my full attention and strength to finding out" (consider Prov. 3:7 or 4:7) or "Practice routinely purposeful kindnesses and intelligent acts of beauty."  (page 9-10)  

Flimsy walls

Ezekiel 13
The prophets are rebuked: "when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash".

What areas of my life am I "whitewashing"?

When do I minimize my sin?  Claiming that it is "not that big of deal" or "it is not really affecting anyone else" or "others are worse than me"...

When do I try and cover up for my brokenness?  Distract myself by pointing out the faults of others.  Work hard at maintaining my image.  Allow no one to come close and see what I am truly thinking or feeling.

Perhaps Jesus and I need to work on the foundations of my life a bit more.
Character development not just painting over flimsy walls.

Trespasses or Debts

The Lord's prayer:

"forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who trespass against us"
Or
"forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors"

Trespasses or debts.

To trespass means that we have violated the rights of another person.
The most common use of this term is to go on to someone's land without permission, to violate their private property.
To ask for forgiveness for our trespasses is to ask to be forgiven for the way that we have wronged others.  To forgive people for their trespasses is to forgive people for how they have violated our rights.
This is very important, extremely important.

To be in debt means that you owe someone something. 
We could be in debt to someone because we have been bad.  Throwing a brick through someone's window for example.
Of course we can also be in debt for a neutral reason.  I am in debt to the bank, not because I am bad but because they hold the mortgage to my house.
Or we can be in debt to someone because they are good.  When someone helps us we feel that we are in their debt.  Someone helps you move and you feel like you need to pay them back some how.  We become indebted to others because of their goodness.

"forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors"

Stop trying to pay God back for his goodness.  Just accept that he is good and he loves you.  
Bless and encourage people without expecting them to pay you back.  Just bless because you are filled with love.

** Interesting side note: I cannot find an English translation that has trespasses, they all say debts.  As far as I can tell trespasses comes for the book of common prayer put out by the Anglican Church.  I have no idea why it says trespass.

Does God speak?

Hearing God is sometimes difficult.

Why does God not speak more?

These are common feelings and questions.

However

In the book of Jeremiah (25:3-7, 35:14-15) God asks again and again

Why do people not listen to me?  

He speaks - persistently - but people do not listen.

The problem may not be that God is not speaking, it may be that I just do not want to really hear what he is saying.  

Thanksgiving

Being thankful changes how I approach the world.

I see more beauty
I have deeper sense of wonder and amazement
I am happier
I treat others with more respect
I pay attention to the details of my world
I am inspired by people

I guess being thankful helps me see God...

What are you thankful for?

Divorce

A topic we avoid, while at same time embrace.

We avoid because it is filled with pain.

We embrace because it has affected all of us.

On Sunday I preached on Matthew 19:1-12.  Jesus talks about divorce.

Here are a few things that I had in mind as I preached:

1. Grace.  There is grace and forgiveness.  The story just before this one is a story of forgiveness.  A man who owns too much to pay back is forgiven.  He then is to forgive those around him.  We are forgiven by God based on the cross, this includes those who have been divorced.  All of us need to extend the same grace that we have received.  
2. Hard hearts.  Jesus states that divorce (marriage breakdown) happens because of hard hearts.  Yes, there may be an innocent party in divorce (it takes two to make a marriage thrive).  But we need to realize that divorce is a result of sin.  Most of the time both individuals in a marriage breakdown have hard hearts.
3. All of us have hard hearts.  
4. Two shall become one.  The goal of marriage is greater than not getting divorced.  The purpose of marriage is to not suffer through life with some other person.  The goal is oneness.  To be one means that you stand together and face all of life together.  It is not about being roommates.  Divorce happens because we are not pursuing "oneness".  We do not want a spouse, we want cheerleader. 
5. Change.  To be married means that we need to change.  Marriage changes everything.  Our hearts have to be open to allowing the other person to change us.
6. Singleness.  Sometimes it is better to be single rather than being married.  Jesus holds up that a single life is blessed.  Married life is also blessed (in different ways).  

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur - or the Day of Atonement

Recently I have begun to explore the Jewish holidays.  I am actually a little surprised that I know so little about these festivals.
As a Christian:

• I read the Jewish scriptures
• I follow a Jewish Messiah
• A Jewish Messiah who would have observed all the festivals
• The New Testament was written by Jews

And yet I know almost nothing of the holidays that are mentioned in the scripture.  I have even been to Bible school, studied at seminary.  Yet even in these places little was ever mentioned about the Jewish festivals.  

So I am beginning to ask how much am I not seeing in the Bible because I do not have a grasp of the Jewish festivals.  

Now I should note I do not believe that as a Christian I am obligated to follow the festivals (just like I do not believe we need to strictly observe the Sabbath).  But on the other side it is not wrong to follow them.  So why not?  Or at least become aware of them.

Yom Kippur (which started Sept 25 in the evening) is the most holy day.  The major themes are repentance and atonement.  The people are called to repent for the wrongs that they have done to God and to others.  Actually they are to spend the days leading up to Yom Kippur getting things right with God and the people around them.  This day is then spent in prayer and fasting.  

Jesus made atonement for our sins.  Out of being forgiven by God we are to repent and forgive others.

Today would a good day to confess, make things right with others, and remember the wonder of God's mercy and grace found in the cross.

Young Adults

Young Adults are leaving the church.  It appears that as soon as young people get to decide on their own to come to church or not about 70% walk away.
Next week David Sawler, author of Goodbye Generation, is coming to Altona and will be doing a workshop Saturday morning.
Also there was a new report just released that looked at this issue from a Canadian perspective.  It is called "Hemorrhaging Faith" (you tell by the title this is not good news).
100 Huntley Street interviewed some people about this.  Take a look.

Give away your shoes

Amazing story!

Bus driver gives his shoes to a homeless man.

Matthew 18:1-14 - Going deeper

Sunday's message was on Matthew 18:1-14. 

A quick summary:

• How to be great in God's kingdom?  
• Become radically dependent upon God
• Become passionate (care for) the little ones (children).

Here are some things we should do as result of this passage:

• Practice hospitality
• Volunteer and serve (Sunday School possibly)
• Pray for children/youth/young believers

End of Summer

Summer is almost at an end.
Summer often disrupts my routine in life.  Not a bad thing - holidays, camping...
However now in fall I get a chance to re-think what routines am I going to keep doing, which ones should I drop, and which ones should I add.  Here are some of things I am thinking as of right now:

• A prayer time as I walk my dog (pray as you go)
• Continuing to read through the bible
• Learning French
• Learning drums
• Riding bike

Pacifism

I am (or at least close to being) a pacifist.
Interesting to see some reasons why C.S. Lewis was not a pacifist.  And interesting to see how Stanley Hauerwas responds to him.
Hauerwas responding to C.S Lewis.

I would like to read C.S. Lewis entire argument against pacifism.

Prison

Read about increase of violence in prisons due to overcrowding (CBC).
Pray for the chaplains (Dean and Brian are the chaplains at Stony Mountain), guards, wardens, and inmates.  Pray that the believers would walk closely with the Holy Spirit.

Religious traditions

Other people's religious traditions, for most of my life, fit into three categories: interesting and/or irrelevant and/or a hindrance to actual spiritual growth.

As I have grown older I discovered the value in other people's traditions.  Encountering God through other people's traditions has opened me up to a fuller understanding and appreciation of God.  

Right now one of the traditions I am exploring is from the Jesuit monks.  They run a website called "pray as you go".  I have been listening/praying as I have been walking my dog in the mornings.  

The Sabbath

Do Christians have to keep the Sabbath (specifically Saturday)?
No

Jesus (his life, death, resurrection and accession) is the pivotal moment in all of human history.  God became flesh, lived among us, died for us and was resurrected to new life.  Jesus is not simply a prophet or good teacher or wise person.  He is Yahweh become flesh.
This changes everything.  I do actually mean everything.  To go back to the way we related to God and others before Jesus is not a real option.  We need to remember that God actually becoming human is amazing and totally earth shattering.  The question is not, “do things change?” but “how and to what extent?”
So how does the Sabbath change as a result of Jesus?  (To claim that we have to obey the Sabbath simply because it is in the Old Testament fails to take Jesus into account.)

Now I am not advocating that we throw out the Old Testament.  The Old Testament is God’s word, it is inspired, it is an account of how Yahweh interacted and dwelt with humanity.  To understand Jesus, Yahweh, and the rest of the New Testament, we need to understand the Old Testament.  What I am advocating is that Jesus was Yahweh and his presence ushered in a new time period for humanity.  Things changed.  The Old Testament is read and understood in light of the New Testament.

So how do we know to what extent things changed?  We read and study the New Testament comparing it to the Old Testament.

So let’s talk about the Sabbath.

One of the most striking things I find is that after Jesus’ death and resurrection the Sabbath is hardly mentioned in the Bible.  It is just not an issue.  Now this is striking when you compare this to the writings of the Old Testament prophets.  The Sabbath was huge for the prophets, it was vitally important, it was the marker of faithfulness to God.  Sabbath is also huge in the life of Jesus.  There is constant dialogue about the Sabbath with Jesus and the Pharisees.  Suddenly after the resurrection the whole conversation about the Sabbath disappears.  It is impossible to imagine that suddenly at this point everyone finally figured out the Sabbath and got it right.  In fact if it was such a vital issue one would think that there would be even more written about it since the church was reaching out to Gentile people, Gentiles who would not have known or grown up with the Sabbath.  Or at least you would think there would continued conversation about Jesus’ teaching on the Sabbath.  But no, the Sabbath is hardly mentioned.

New Testament passages after the resurrection that specifically mention the Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:9 
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God

The context of this verse is actually not about the Sabbath at all but about God giving rest to his people.  So this is not really relevant to the discussion.

Colossians 2:16
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

The context of this verse:  Paul has just explained the significance of the cross of Jesus.  He has described how Jesus defeated “the powers and authorities”.  From understanding Jesus' victory on the cross Paul moves and says this verse.
Now some of have argued that “a Sabbath day” refers only to pagan holidays.  However I am not sure one could ever link “Sabbath day” to pagan holidays.
Some say that this does not refer to the normal Sabbath but to the special Sabbaths.  This is a possible interpretation, which would mean that this passage is not that relevant to this discussion.
Of course this passage can be understood as referring to a regular Sabbath day.  If this is the case then it becomes obvious that the Sabbath is not vital in the new covenant.

It is interesting to note that outside of the gospels these are the only two references that explicitly mention the Sabbath.

However there is another verse that is important.
Romans 14:5-6
One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.

Is this verse about the Sabbath?
One reason to say no is that within this context Paul talks about meat sacrificed to idols.  He talks about whether to eat or to not eat of these meats.  Since he is talking about food sacrificed to idols the reasoning goes then he must be talking about pagan holidays.  However there is a small problem with this understanding.  It is difficult to believe that Paul is saying that it is not a problem for a person to honour a pagan holiday, to think they are “sacred”.
Another interpretation is to say that this is once again referring to a special Sabbath, or a holy day.  This is a possible interpretation.
However I think this is talking about the regular Sabbath.  The entire context of the book of Romans is how do Gentile and Jewish believers get along and worship together.  One of those conflicts would have been the Sabbath.   Here Paul basically states that this is a non-issue.

Based on my understanding of the impact of Jesus becoming flesh and through my reading of the New Testament, I believe that as Christians we are not obligated to strictly observe the Sabbath on Saturday.

Love God

Love Jesus
This is what I am called to do.

It is surprising how quickly I get distracted from this.  Distracted by good things

• Love the bible
• Love reading and studying the bible
• Love teaching
• Love worshiping
• Love talking about God and Jesus
• Love going to church

All good things...but they are not the same as loving God.

Branding

I here a lot about the need to have a "brand".  Churches are encouraged to have a "brand".  People are encouraged to develop their own personal "brand".

Here is an interesting take on Brands

The reason brand conversations get so convoluted and end up feeling like wordsmithing exercises is because so often brands don’t stand for anything.  So instead of capturing what you stand for, or capturing how what you stand for needs to evolve or be sharpened, you instead end up pretending to stand for something and then writing pretty words around an idea that has no core and no truth.

Unfortunately, the branding team (and the firm they’ve hired) isn’t in a position to actually get the company to stand for something.

The next time someone suggests a branding exercise, a new logo, a snappier tagline, grab ten people in your company and ask each of them to tell you in simple, plain words: what do we stand for?

Instead of asking what's your "brand" can I just ask: "What do I stand for?  What do we as a church stand for?"

Gift of Worship

The Meaning of Marriage

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God, by Timothy and Kathy Keller

A good book.
The Kellers really nail the number one problem in marriage.  We are selfish.  We care more about ourselves then we do about spouses.

In Western culture today, you decide to get married because you feel an attraction to the other person.  You think he or she is wonderful.  But a year or two later - or, just as often, a month or two - three things usually happen.  First, you begin to find out how selfish this wonderful person is.  Second, you discover that the wonderful person has been going through a similar experience and he or she begins to tell you how selfish you are.  And third, though you acknowledge it in part, you conclude that your spouse's selfishness is more problematic than your own.  (page 64)

The solution that they offer is the gospel:

The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.  (page 48)

Out of this acceptance and love found in Jesus we are able to move to love our spouses through action, even if we don't feel like it, or we feel they don't deserve it.

In any relationship, there will be frightening spells in which your feelings of love seem to dry up. And when that happens you must remember that the essence of marriage is that it is a covenant, a commitment, a promise of future love.  So what do you do?  You do the acts of love, despite your lack of feeling.  You may not feel tender, sympathetic, and eager to please, but in your actions you must be tender, understanding, forgiving, and helpful.  And, if you do that, as time goes on you will not only get through the dry spells, but they will become less frequent and deep, and you will become more constant in your feelings.  This is what can happen if you decide to love.  (page 104)

If we all live like this, gaining our worth and significance from Yahweh and from there deciding to be loving to our spouses, then our marriages will be awesome!

Marriage Challenge

Here are some ideas of how to enhance your marriage:

• Go on a date
• Write love notes
• Buy flowers
• Make a special meal
• Help your spouse with something they normally do
• Tell your spouse 10 amazing things about them
• Read a book together
• Snuggle
• Watch a movie you both enjoy
• Kiss and hug - often
• Go for bike rides (or walks)
• Watch the sunset (or sunrise)
• Take a marriage course (our church will doing one in fall)
• Read a book about marriage (and do what it says)
• Forgive
• Have sex
• Look at the stars
• Dream together

Other ideas?

Play at your marriage

"Don't work at your marriages.  Play" - Leonard Sweet

Too often work is something that we try avoid.  We wait for the evenings, weekends and holidays.  Work is viewed as a burden and drudgery.  A boring thing we must suffer through.
We want to play.
Now playing at something does not mean that it is easy.  Consider playing sports.
It can be very difficult at times (watch the Olympics).  But we embrace the difficulty because of the joy of playing.  We push ourselves to get better and better out of our love for the sport.

When we play instead of working we actually become better.

At a cyclocross race (the best kind of bike racing) there are different categories, A race and B race (A being the better bikers).  Watching a race I noticed the B racers worked.  They worked hard, they were pushing themselves (sometimes to the point of throwing up).  There was blood, sweat and tears.
The A racers played.  They were showing off to the crowd, smiling.  Still pushing hard, and there were still blood, sweat and tears.  But they played...and they were a lot faster and better then the B racers.

If we stop working at our marriages (doing the minimum because we have too while just waiting to do something fun) and instead play at our marriages - embrace difficulty, bring blood, sweat and tears - because of the joy of being married, it will become more and more wondrous.

Marriage resources

Here is a list of marriage resources that we have in our library:

Books

• Love & Respect by Emerson Eggrich
• Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• Best Friends Best Lovers by Bob & Audrey Meisner
• The Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kendrick
• For Men Only by Jeff Feldhahn
• A Husband After God's Own Heart by Jim George
• For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn
• Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas
• What's It Like Being Married to Me? by Linda Dillow

DVD Series & Movies

• Love Respect
• Sacred Marriage
• Fireproof
• From Anger to Intimacy by Gary Smalley

What resources have you found helpful?

Greed

"greed which is idolatry" - Colossians 3:5

Money is not wrong in and of itself.  However we all know that greed is wrong, in fact it is idolatry.


When have we fallen into greed, worshiping money?

Timothy Keller in his book Counterfeit God notes that no one thinks that they are greedy. He states that he has had lots of people confess almost every sin to him.  But never greed - not one person.


How do know if we are worshiping the idol of greed?

Keller suggests "An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, "If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure."  (page xviii - Counterfeit Gods)

Peter Anderson gives this list of questions:

1. What one thing do you hope for in the future?
2. If you could change one thing about yourself right now, what would it be?
3. What have you sacrificed for, and what do you value most?
4. Who can you not forgive and why?
5. What do you do that makes you feel the most value?
6. What triggers depression in you?
7. Where do you turn for comfort?

The Demise of Guys

The Demise of Guys: Why Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It 
by Zimbardo, Philip; Duncan, Nikita .

The premise of the this book is that guys are failing at an alarming rate in society (specifically America).  The authors say,

"In fact, society — from politics to the media to the classroom to our very own families — is a major contributor to this demise because they are inhibiting guys’ intellectual, creative and social abilities right from the start"

They point out many ways society is contributing to this demise, however they specifically focus on pornography and excessive video gaming.  (A while back I posted Zimbardo's TED talk about this subject).
For the most part I do believe that they are on to something, both with the porn and video gaming.

What can we do about?
I really appreciated that fact that the authors did not try and give simple solutions.  But they also attempted to give some practical advice to different groups.  Two things stood out.  One is they said fathers need to be involved in a boys life (or at least some older males).  Second, (this is linked to the first) was that fathers need to

"Teach your son about sex. You may feel awkward about it — too bad for you. Your son’s future health depends on him developing balanced perspectives on sex now."

Good book to read (also t is short and it is cheap - a couple of the reasons TED books are awesome).

With

This sure makes me ask - am I wanting to live with God?


 

Best/worst Lent ever

I gave up complaining for Lent.
This is has been the best Lent ever.  Often in the past my Lent hasn't seemed to really "work".  What I mean is that I have not found myself thinking more about God or praying more.  Usually I make a couple adjustments in my life to avoid whatever I have given up and then carry on as normal.  However this year Lent has really assisted me in being more aware of God.  Giving up a thought pattern meant that I could not just adjust something to avoid what I gave up.  What I gave up was with me.  And therefore it was a constant reminder of God.
This constant reminder has also made this the worst Lent ever.  I did not realize what a complainer that I am.  When I say that this has been a constant reminder I am not really exaggerating.  Every day I have broken my Lent.  This Lent has helped me realize how much I need God, I need a savior, I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day.

Lent - complaining

We are now a week into Lent.
I really struggled this year in figuring about what to give up.  There were lots of ideas but nothing resonated with me.  I am positive that a large part of it was that I am lazy and self-centered and did not want to give up anything that I enjoy.  However another reason (excuse?) was that I wanted Lent to really draw me close to God.  Often during Lent instead of really making me more aware of God's presence I have just been aware of what I am giving up.  Which is a good sign of how self focused I actually am.
Anyway after thinking, praying, I read an article where a lady gave up worry.  That's interesting.  Then when I was praying I felt God telling me to give up complaining (of course this something that I should give up forever not just for Lent).
So for Lent this year I am giving up complaining - and just just out loud but also in my brain.

And in the past week what I have discovered is that I like to complain.

The meaning of Christmas

This is a short article I wrote for the Altona Echo's Christmas edition:


The meaning of Christmas
Pain.
I know, I know Christmas is all about good things and happy times.  You know food, family, parties, children’s programs…
But sometimes (often?) it feels broken.  Instead of being a time of celebrating that all is good in life, it is a time when one may realize that life stinks.  Family relationships are shattered, debt is piling up, and it is kind of lonely.
Merry Christmas!?
But this is what Christmas is actually all about.  Christmas is about pain, brokenness and loneliness.  We forget that there would be no Christmas if things weren’t messed up.  Christmas is a celebration, a remembrance, that God entered into this world as Jesus.  And Jesus came into our world not because we are so good and happy but because we are bruised and beat up.  Jesus is here to rescue and save those who are wounded and lost.
The good news of Christmas is that God has not abandoned us in brokenness.  He is with us.  He enters into the mess of our lives.  Christmas is God’s response to our brokenness.
The story of Jesus, according to Matthew, begins with the announcement of the birth of Jesus saying that he will be called “Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).  It then ends with Jesus declaring “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is understood in the light of the promise of God to be with us.
Christmas is a time for us to remember that God is with us, not that life is great but He is present.  And this is what allows us to say “merry Christmas!”

Men's Breakfast

On Saturday Jacob and Arlene Friesen shared at a men's breakfast.  They did a great job.  The theme was guy/girl relationships.  They encouraged us to work at answering some questions about the important women in our lives (wife, daughters...).
These questions were taken from Intimate Allies:

1. In what ways has your relationship with your spouse changed you (for the better)?  How has your spouse influenced you to reflect God's glory more clearly?
2. In what way is your spouse special?  How is she like no one else in your life?
3. Spend 15 minutes thinking about these questions: "What do I know and what don't I know about my spouse?  What intrigues me about my spouse?"
4. What are your spouse's potential, giftedness, burdens and passions?  Make a list for each of the four areas.
5. What is most beautiful and wonderful about your spouse?
6. What about your spouse makes you thankful?
7. How is your spouse like Christ?
8. How can you draw out her uniqueness, to live out God's glory in a way that no one else can?

Connecting with God?

When is the last time that someone asked you how you connect to God?

The other day I was in a meeting with pastors and church leaders and we were talking about renewal.  The leader of the discussion stated the obvious that renewal starts (and ends) with connecting with God.  He then asked each person to share how often they intentionally connect with God and what they do?  Seriously, we went around the circle and shared.  This is the first time I have ever been at meeting where this took place.
Now I should note that the leader did not do this in a judgmental sort of way but just invited people to honestly share.
A few things jumped in my head.

1. "Boy I am glad my time with God is going fairly well right now."  (Interesting how my initial response is worrying about looking weak and broken before others)
2. Why don't we ask this question more often?
3. The leader actually assumes that we are connecting with God.

Catacombs

Persecution.
Not something I truly understand or ever want to actually understand.
Something that many do understand.

There are many reasons why people are persecuted.  One of them being religion.  As followers of Jesus we are called to remember those who suffer simply because they are Christians.

"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." - Hebrews 13:3

On November 6 a drama is being performed, Catacombs.  This drama calls us to think about the reality of persecution.

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=274699909227142

The King Jesus Gospel

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited

Scot McKnight

Zondervan, 2011

Main points:

1. The Gospel is: “declaring the Story of Israel as resolved in the Story of Jesus.” (page 79)
2. The church has lost the gospel having focused primarily on the plan of salvation.
1. The plan of salvation asks, “how we can get saved?”
2. The gospel tells a story into which the plan of salvation fits

Scot does an excellent job of showing how the entire New Testament uses this definition of “gospel” (Paul, Peter, the writers of the gospels and even Jesus).  Based on this Scot calls us back to preaching the gospel not simply salvation.  He believes that our focus on salvation has led us to create a culture where the most important thing is to have made a one time decision to believe in Jesus and have our sins forgiven.  This is not wrong in and of itself, it just isn’t big enough.  We need to create a gospel culture, a culture where the most important thing is Jesus resolving the story of Israel by being declared lord and messiah through his death and resurrection.  We are called to line ourselves up with this story, to become part of this story. 

Scot suggests a few ways that we create a gospel culture.  First, “we have to become People of the Story” (page 153).  We need to know/learn the entire story told in the bible.  Second, “we need to immerse ourselves even more into the Story of Jesus” (page 153).  Third, “we need to see how the apostle’s writings take the Story of Israel and the Story of Jesus into the next generation and into a different culture, and how this generation led all the way to our generation” (page 155).  Fourth, “we need to counter the stories that bracket our story and that reframe our story” (page 157).  Here Scot talks about how we need to counter the powerful stories of our world like individualism, consumerism…

Fifth, “we need to embrace this story so that we are saved and can be transformed by the gospel story” (page 158).  

Halloween

This is a question my church received the other day.  Here is answer that the church has written but what do you think?

“What does the Bible say about Halloween and Christians celebrating it?  Including but not limited to, trick or treating, costume parties and the like.”

The Bible never mentions Halloween.  Therefore it does not specifically tell us how Christians should relate to this day.  This has resulted in Christians coming to different conclusions as they seek to take the Bible seriously.  There are two streams of thought regarding this issue: 1) Avoid Halloween.  2) Engage in Halloween with discernment.

Avoid Halloween
Some Christians have nothing to with Halloween because they are convinced that this day is a celebration of evil.  It appears that the origins of Halloween began with the Celtic celebration of Samhain.  This was a pagan festival in which, among other things, focused on warding off evil spirits and ghosts.  Even today there seems to be a certain fascination with darkness and evil that is part of Halloween.  The Bible does teach that we should not participate in evil.

Engagement in Halloween with discernment
Many Christians believe that we can engage in Halloween with discernment.  Halloween may have begun as a pagan festival but today, some 1500 years later, it is radically different.  While there is a fascination with evil, many of the things done on Halloween are not evil in and of themselves.  There is nothing wrong with dressing up, or giving out (getting) candy, throwing parities…  Christians who hold this view believe that we can redeem even parts of Halloween and bring God’s light into this dark time.  There is a level of discernment that needs to take place.  The Bible does teach us not to fear evil but overcome it with good.

Conclusion
We believe that this is a family decision, not something that the church decides.  Each family may choose differently.  Some may avoid Halloween completely, others may just hand out candy, while others may attend Halloween alternatives (South Park MB hosts one – Winkler Bible Camp used, not sure about this year), and still others may have parties and allow their kids to trick or treat.

Happy Thanksgiving

With it being Thanksgiving I am going to give a list of things that I am thankful for (in no particular order):

• The Holy Spirit's ongoing presence and guidance
• Cindy's amazing grace and love
• Ariel's passion and creativity
• Joelle's love and compassion for others (including animals)
• Seraya's ability to be herself and quick smile
• Those four women create so much joy in my life
• Family who put up with me
• Friends who share and encourage me
• Place to live
• Great food to eat
• Jesus' love for me
• Amazing place to work
• People who challenge me to grow and think about my life, faith
• Beautiful weather
• Bikes
• Books that make me think, smile
• Movies 
• And so much more

Why pray?

Interesting - the demise of guys?

I have often heard about the link between porn and guys not functioning well with the opposite sex. But what do you think about his stating that excessive video gaming is just as destructive?

What is your poverty level?

Broken from Jason Widney on Vimeo.

Why give up your Sunday morning? [4]

In these posts I have been examining the question, “Why should I give up my Sunday morning to attend church?”
So far I have just been discussing worship – a different experience and more than just about me

Worship is pledging allegiance to God.

God is the great King over all creation. He is sovereign, Lord of lords and King of kings. And we are invited to give him our allegiance.
When we worship God we are re-committing, re-surrendering our lives to him. We are entering the throne room of God and declaring that we are his.

The funny thing about pledging allegiance to a king or nation is that it is not something that you do privately. I have several friends who have recently become Canadian citizens. They go through a public ceremony in order to become a citizen. It is not something that is done behind closed doors with no one watching. In fact all of them are very excited and proud to become citizens of Canada. They invite their friends to this ceremony. They want to it to be as public as possible.
Now I know that becoming a citizen is a one time event and we are talking about a weekly experience. But we need to understand that pledging allegiance is public not private. Within our western world Christianity has become something that is suppose to be private. Something that we are suppose to do in our homes and not really bring into the public areas. But the very nature of worship demands that it have a public aspect to it. Please note I am not denying that we need to worship in private. It is just that an aspect of worship is pledging allegiance to God and that has public dimensions.

Another aspect of pledging allegiance to God is that we are also saying that we will not live for the things of this world. We commit ourselves to be under the rule of God, not under the rule of the world. We dedicate ourselves to pursuing God and his Kingdom, not the goals, dreams, hopes and aspirations of this world. I do not have the time/space to even begin to unpack how this might look in action. Let me just say the direction of our lives will (should) be different than those who don’t follow Jesus. The problem is that we are bombarded, enticed, invited to surrender ourselves to the world and its agenda daily.

For myself I find that I need to constantly and regularly re-commit myself to God and his Kingdom. I have to regularly declare to allegiance to God, otherwise I begin to drift and fall under the rule of the world instead of God.

For these reasons I need to publicly worship weekly.

Why give up your Sunday morning? [3]

I have been exploring the question:

“Why should I give up my Sunday morning to attend church?”

Worship is one answer.

It is a different experience worshiping with others as opposed to worshiping alone, as we saw in a previous post.

Continuing to explore worship:

Worship is about more than just me and Jesus.

We live in a very individualistic society. The ultimate goal is individual autonomy. “In modernity individuals insist on the right, individually and at any time, to do whatever they want or to do the same things as others are doing.” (Hiebert 168) So we talk about self-fulfillment, self-help…

Now I am not about rant about how this is a terrible thing (there are positive and negative aspects of this). All I ask is that we realize that this focus of our society shapes our theology.

One way it shapes our theology is that we believe that the goal of church is to help me personally, individually worship God. We come to the Sunday morning expecting to get some assistance in living out our own individual Christian life. We are there to worship God as an individual not as a community. So worship leaders invite us to close our eyes and imagine that we are alone with Jesus. Some don’t want to greet and shake people’s hands at the start of the service. Not because they are rude or anti-social, it is just that they have come as an individual to worship God.

This is not all wrong, please hear me say that.

But the goal of Sunday morning is not simply to equip us to live out our own individual Christianity, in other words to be able to worship alone. Worship is about more than just me and Jesus.

God desires for a community to worship him. Yes, he wants individuals to worship him. But the overarching thrust of the Bible is the formation of a community that worships him.

In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded to come together a few times a year and worship as community. Notice the command is not just stay at home and worship (though that was also important) it is to worship as a community. In the New Testament almost all of Paul’s writings (those are the books from Romans to Philemon) one of the major thrusts is Jews and Gentiles worshipping together. This is vital to Paul. It is not that they worship alone but that they worship together.

True worship draws a community together. If our worship does not draw and form a community of faith we need to ask are we really worshipping the God of the Bible?

Sunday morning accomplishes God’s will by simply worshipping as a community.

Why give up your Sunday morning?

Why should we give our Sunday morning’s to attend church?

Worship

Worship is part of our gathering every single Sunday morning. So obviously this is an answer. But do we really need to worship with others?

Before we answer that we need to define worship. I won’t spend a long time on defining worship right now. But a functional definition is “being in active awe of God.”

Can we worship alone if this is the definition? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Of course we can. And we should. Most of our problems would probably cease to exist (including church problems) if we spent more time personally in worship. Allow me to suggest a couple of books to help in this journey: Practicing the Presence, Letters of a modern mystic, Present Perfect

So do we need to worship with others then? Yes.

Why?

It is a different experience

Worshiping alone and worshipping with others affects us differently.

We know that when we do something as a group it does something different to us then when we do it alone. For example I really enjoy U2’s music. But there is a difference between listening to a CD and attending their concert. I love listening to their CDs. I also love standing with 50,000 people watching U2 live. The concert is better (personal opinion). I say this even though when I saw them I was cold, tired, hungry, had stood in line for an entire day, was squished, paid too much money, had drunk people near me acting like drunk people and the music quality wasn’t even as good as my CDs. But it was an experience. An experience that I will never get by myself. Or consider sports. Why is it so much fun to be at a sporting event? Or if you watch it on TV it is better with some friends? Even people who are not into sports get into sports if they are with others.

It is the same with worship. Yes, worship alone but it is radically different worshiping with others.

It is amazing:

To be near someone who is the midst of a battle with caner, who knows they may lose this battle, and worship with them. Their worship strengthens me. And possibly my worship strengthens them.

Or to be in a crowd that raises their voice in unison to the glory of God.

Or to kneel as a community in awe of God.

Or to pray with and for others.

Or taking communion with people I do know and people I do not know. But we are together as one family because of Jesus.

These are a few of the experiences that I can never have alone. Experiences that I need, often.

Do we really need to worship with others just because it gives us a different experience? Yes. That is if you want to experience to fullness of God, and the full wonder of worshipping him.

Launch 2012

Launch 2012

Two reports. Reports that conflict. Two different stories about the same thing. The church.

One tells a tragic story. The church is in decline. People seem to walking away from the church in greater and greater numbers. Churches are closing their doors because there is no one left.

The other story is fantastic, almost unbelievably so. The church is rapidly exploding. Thousands, no tens of thousands of people are coming to Christ. Churches are multiplying at an amazing rate. In fact there some who would suggest that the church has never grown so quickly.

Both of these reports are true. The first is the story of the western church (including Canada and USA). The second is the story of the church in the rest of the world (including countries that are actively killing Christians).

We live the first story. Oh, some of churches may be growing, though many are actually declining. But we are not seeing thousands of people coming to Jesus, not even hundreds. The majority of church growth comes not from converts but from other churches. In fact many of us know too many who walked away from the church. Most of us are not part of a church that has successfully planted another church in the last 10 years.

Why does God not move in our churches the way he is moving around the world?

There is a group in southern Manitoba that have gathered together to pray, learn, and discern where God is leading us. We believe that God wants to reach the world. We believe that God is able to. And we want to be part of God’s mission.

The other night we gathered in a back yard for the first time. There were about 30 people there from the different churches in the region. We ate together (because after all we are Mennonites). Had an action plan presented. And prayed together in the rain.

This is our tentative plan:

Prayer

• We need God. Prayer is absolutely important
• 10:2b virus - This comes from Luke 10:2. Jesus calls his disciples to pray that the God would send workers into the harvest field. So we will commit to doing that. A simple way to do this is to set our cell phone's alarm for 10:02. When it goes off pray that God will send out workers.
• Prayer meetings - We will meet in local areas to pray together

Meet together

• A group will meet monthly to pray, learn and discern
• Right now it seems that this group will meet for about one year
• There will be no meetings in summer - so the next one will be in September

Learn

• During the summer we will read the Gospels and Acts
• At September's meeting we will discuss what we have learned
• At some point during the year we will be reading Organic Church and Missional Handbook.
• Attend "The Church Planting Congress" which is happening in Winnipeg this November
• Additional resources: There is No Time, this is put out by Advant and explains their model of "short-cycle church planting" and an issue of Mission Frontiers magazine which is dedicated to church planting

Action

• The group is called “launch 2012”. The reason is we are praying and hoping to launch a church plant in 2012.

There are a couple of ways you can become part of this:

1) If you are in the area join us – by attending, praying for this group…

2) Start something like this in your area, church

Why give up your Sunday morning?

This question has caused some good conversation. Some people have told me that it was actually difficult to answer (which they found a bit worrisome). But there were several reasons give to me on why we should come to church. Here are some of them:

Community

• We need others. The Christian life cannot be lived alone. Once we are out of relationship with other believers it seems to inevitable that we will begin to lose our passion
• Sunday morning is a scheduled time when we come together as a community. This allows us a place to connect, pray for each other...

Worship

• We are able to worship alone - in fact we should be worshiping alone. However there is something special, unique about worshiping God in a community of faith.

Teaching

• This is a time when learn. We should be learning on our own but sometimes we just need to learn with others.
• Our weeks sometimes fill up and our time with God gets pushed aside - Sunday morning is a time to refocus, recharge.

Doing stuff together

• Sunday morning creates a place where we can pool our resources together to do something together
• Sunday morning is a time when we can hear about what God is doing in the world through us (also it is a time to just hear what God is doing in the world.)

Why give up your Sunday morning?

Why should someone give up their Sunday morning in order to come to church?

I would guess that least 95% of churches in the world today ask people to gather together weekly to sing and hear a sermon.

I know that not all of them meet on a Sunday morning. The day or time is not what I am really concerned about, just the reasons why we should come together weekly.