Archives for May, 2002
AC Busted
Air conditioner not working in room still. Am slowly melting…
Anyone see Ron McLean’s shot about Gary Bettman last night on Mike Bullard? Made me proud to be a Canadian.
Evangelism and Discipleship Notes
I messed up the Freedomize URL. It should be correct now. I said earlier today that Freedomize�s worship band was amazing. I understated what I said. They are even better than that. I hope they put out a worship CD. I would love to hear it. I wonder if much of their stuff was written by them. Speaking of worship CD�s, I need to ask Jared for Next Church�s worship CD. I would enjoy hearing it.
Brian is now talking about evangelism� He is sharing a story from his book, �More Ready Than You Realize� about the harpist. He just about put about 100 words on a PowerPoint slide.
- Behind harsh words are some real interesting questions
- People don�t respond to Christianese. We can�t talk like that. Part of the struggle is that people don�t follow our church language
- �Conservative� could become more offensive to people as liberals are to some other.
- Christianity is a failed religion. Apologetics need to more about apology. Enormous power in apologizing. See the example of Pope John Paul II
- Postmodernity is afraid of global destruction
- Problems of language � gay rights, we don�t talk about the same thing. Civil rights
- Problems with Christianity are also with our Christian subculture. Accepting Jesus means to accept modernity and become a worse person.
- Belong before they believe - George Hunter, Celtic Way of Evangelism
- Anam � Celtic for soul
Panel on evangelism was excellent
- What would happen if we spent 5 hour a week on our neighborhood? Transforming housing developments into communities.
Brian is talking on Discipleship
What if we traded in our idea of being Christians for the idea of apprentices of Jesus?
Thought bomb: To learn from example is to submit to authority. We learn what we can not even articulate.
Assimulation of knowledge can only be picked up by doing together.
What if the art of being a Christian has been lost and we only have the rule books to lecture on.
Dominant approach to apprenticship is �sin management� where we develop Christian vampires where we want Jesus for his blood and nothing else.
Matthew 28 � some doubted � our confidence goes up and down.
You study under a master so you can play like the master and eventually take on apprentices yourself.
Master and apprentices are the language of our story
Lord � not just about his deity but as the Master where he had apprentices and now they have apprentices.
Teaching the art of life.
�Of all peoples� � ethnos and ethos. Judaism was for Jews but Christ expanded it.
Notes from Brian McLaren
I will add to these notes over the next couple of days. The notes are shoddy but I will be working on them.
Freedomize worship band lead worship. One of the best worship bands I have ever heard. I wish Lakeview�s worship leaders would explore some new worship forms musically. There are some incredible ones out there, I wish they would think outside that box.
Brian sarted to speak and I will find the notes online and add them to my notes today.
1 Peter 3:15
-Negativity is a sign of decay
-Value of religion is assessed by value to non-adherants � thought bomb by Dallas Willard. (I am thinking that Dallas Willard need blogs. I would love to read their daily thoughts)
-Practical leads us to forgot thought changes
-We have the stories to address the changes we are facing
The Great Chain of Being
World was hierarchical as science was perceived to be. Life was comfortable in a hierarchical. Huge influence on Roman Catholic church
What if we treated First Nations cultures as if we treated Greek culture. Instead we ignore it or are biased against it.
Copernicus starts the renaissance where the sun moved to the center and it shattered the world views and even assaulted the church
Ecclesiastes 1:4:6
Luther called Galileo a fool.
Panel mentioned Leslie Newbiggin�s �Foolish to the Greek�, I need to buy this book. Another Panel member mentioned the domesticated God as being a blind spot of the church. Also mentioned command and control organizations as a problem. Jared Seibert (who has done an excellent job on the panel)mis talking about being a defender of the truth rather than seekers of the truth. Good thought. We need to keep up rather than defend. He also feels we have fostered a culture of avoidance where we think we can glorify God by avoiding things which was what Jesus modeled. Sunlight laundry detergent. �Go ahead: Get Dirty� I love it. Leaving the Christian ghetto behind.
Brian mentioned the short attention spans. They are going down a six lane highway and we are offering a narrow road. We aren�t stimulating them enough.
In a small group with Ron Bonar in talking about the transition from medieval to reformation. If Ron had been alive then, I don�t think the Reformation would have gathered much steam. He made the reformation popes look kind. It was a group learning exercise and was fun
Will blog more after our afternoon session. Also will post some pics
Some Wednesday thoughts
Had to be at the Saskatoon airport at 5 a.m. Didn�t manage to sleep on the flight and had a horrible inflight meal and we got into Toronto early. We are staying at the Regal Constellation and have a horrible hotel room. Dirty, hot, and worn. I talked to Elizabeth and Neil Nickel and they were less then complimentry. The only thing good about our room is that Dean�s is worse. This place is run down and dirty. Not nice. I don�t mind older hotels but dirty hotels frustrate me. This place is not recommended. I found out the Liberals are holding a convention here this week too. It seems fitting. (okay, that was a political shot but it doesn’t happen often so give me a little grace)
I joined Dean, and Kelly and we spent Wednesday in downtown Toronto. We walked for miles and miles and ended up at Wayne Gretzky�s restaurant just down from the Skydome. After supper we watched the Blue Jays lose to the Red Sox. A rather boring game but we had some amazing seats. The three of us just kind of vegged at the SkyDome. It was a great time.
A couple of thoughts from the game�
- The ushers were amazing boosters of the Jays and the Skydome. They sold the game and we really evangelists for baseball. Compare that to many ushers I have seen.
- Ricky Henderson (who was playing left field) came over and chatted in front of us with some fans who had a banner for him. He signed some autographs, posed for some pictures and was a really nice guy to the fans from what we saw. It was really cools
- I really liked the live fan segments. It would be cool to do that at Lakeview with some shots of PowerHour for use in the services. I need to talk to Jeb about it.
We also were confronted by a guy from Edmonton who felt that all people down east needed to be “beaten and put into a dumpster”
Kelly�s and mine hotel room is 90 degrees. Not a nice feeling to sleep in.
Brian McLaren is speaking at the Evanglical Fellowship of Canada event. Now evangelicals in Canada are much different than those in the States but it is a odd feeling conference. A lot of people recognized me from my website which is cool.
David Barbour is here. Dave is Lee Barbour�s brother and a really nice guy but I hate being at conferences with him. Dave runs triathalons for a hobby. There is always a time at a conference where I am talking to him and he mentions that he is going or coming back from a long workout. He ends up running 10 k or something. Meanwhile I end up feeling guilty for enjoying my bagel and coffee. Everytime I see him I realize I need to start working out again.
Elizabeth and Neil Nickel are here. Neil has many talents but he is the best driver I have ever seen. If Neil was driving those Suburbans in �Clear and Present Danger� when they were attacked by rockets in Columbia, he would have been able to escape without anyone spilling their coffee and probably not a scratch on the vans. He is that good.
My friend Randy McDonald is here. I played hockey with Randy at Aldersgate College. Within seconds of talking to Randy we generally start threatening each other physically. My favorite memory of Randy was the practice that the entire team went out and bought aluminum Easton sticks. I was the goalie and NO ONE could even hit the net. Kevin Bishop and I skated to center ice and Randy came over to yell at us to go back to the net. We started to bug him and he got mad which after that the pucks didn�t even stay in the rink then. Easiest practice I have ever had. We played soccer together too. One time Lorne Cornish and I were mixing it up with some people from the other team and I looked up and here came Randy sprinting down the field. Fastest I have ever seen him move. A brawl waiting to happen. All I know that if a brawl breaks out at this conference, Randy will be in the middle of it. Actually I would love to see that, a brawl at an EFC conference.
AOL on a 14.4 modem
Okay, my PC Card modem was acting flakey on me so I got out my not so trusty 14.4 Sportster modem. I am online via AOL and it is slower than you can imagine but I can e-mail and blog. My flight leaves Saskatoon at 6:00 a.m., so when all of you are sleeping at 4:30, I will be trying to figure out how my car works so I can drive to the airport. I’ll keep you posted.
Pet Hippo Seized From Man’s Yard
Officials were investigating Stehly for allegedly not having a permit to own a hippo. It said officials seized the animal in late January after a tip from a real estate agent showing a nearby home.
Just curious but can someone tell me with a straight face if there is a hippo permit?
Paul was the original Mafiaboy?
This came from Kent over at Fishrush. A little out of context but is the intro to the book “”LINKED: The New Science of Networks - How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What it Means for Science, Business and Everyday Life” Let’s hope the book is better than the theology he spouts in the intro..
Running out of time
I am off to Toronto tomorrow to take in Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian conference. Will blog about what I learned every evening. I am then there for the Free Methodist Church in Canada’s General Conference. Not looking forward to that nearly as much. General Conference is where denominations assure themselves that everything is alright and that moving some deck chairs around can and will save the Titanic. It will be good to see some friends though. I am giving a workshop on media in the church. The presentation is good and I hope it makes a small difference in people’s minds. Will let you know how it went.
I am sicker today than I have been for months. I can’t talk and just ache all over. It takes the joy out of travelling.
Wendy blogged a little bit about the film installation on our street on her blog.
The Church-Internet (dis)connection
Andrew Careaga pens these thought in Next-Wave. Alan Creech fires off some thought from Search Party in Next-Wave too. Makes me wish I had been there.
Toronto at Carolina Game Recap Facing elimination, they played with more emotion and got a stellar effort from Joseph, who tied Clint Benedict for second place on the all-time playoff shutout list.
Clint Benedict is second all time playoff shutout list? Clint Benedict never won anything! Update: I was thinking of Clint Malarchuk. Clint Benedict was an all-time great goaltender. I stand corrected. He was actually the first goaltender to flop to his knees and battle like Dominic Hasek does.
I am sick
Sore throat and ear ache. I feel like I am seven again. I hope I am feeling better for tomorrow morning. Preaching with a sore throat is hard. I can swallow but I have to think about it. I am afraid I am going to drool while on stage.
I am also hoping I am feeling better for tomorrow evening. There is a film festival in Saskatoon that is using the street in front of my house to show the film on. I bought some low light film and will post some pics if they turn out. We are having a little party while it is going on.
An interview with Eugene Peterson in the Christian Century.
Past condems future
Horton said the idea of combining the two churches was discussed, but he doesn’t think it will happen. “They’re just two different congregations that are proud of each of their churches and their history,” he said.
This is kind of a disapointing article. Two United Methodist churches would rather let their history divide them than come together and do something for the Lord. The whole article is about saving the churches, not making a difference. Sadly this story is repeated across thousands of cities and towns across North America. Erwin McManus has a great line in his book where he says something like, “we are going to impact this city for Jesus or close”, sadly, these two churches are proposing the opposite.
Enviromental Responsibility
Last year I decided to be a better steward of the enviroment. I think it is something that Christians don’t take seriously enough. I tried out some new organic solutions, started to compost, left some lawn clippings down to save moisture loss (which is important since it is a drought here) and a lot of that stuff. I still use some chemicals but not nearly as much and we aren’t throughing out nearly as much stuff. It has been kind of cool.
My lawn looks HORRIBLE this spring. We had a really weird winter here and the winterkill on my grass has been enourmous. Not a lot I can do about it now. It is too cold to replant some seed although it is coming along slowly. I really enjoy landscaping so everytime I walk out front, a part of me wants to cry. For all of the right stuff we did last year, it still looks bad.
The cool thing is that the hedge that we planted last year is looking great. I hate straight hedges. We needed a divider to break up the patio from the rest of the yard so I planted an S shaped hedge in the backyard. It has grown amazingly well. We planted a circlular hedge with the last 16 tonyastors we could find last summer (I won’t pay $12 a shrub) but it needed thickening out so we added another 17 to it this year. In a month of so the “postmodern hedge” (as our friends have called it - it is non-linear) should be looking better. Our home is 50 years old and nothing was really done to the lawn for all of these years. It is coming along now. I am just thankful no one ever decided to plant a careganas The following was posted about a research station in Saskatoon getting rid of the shrub. Getting the building site organized was one thing; the caraganas were another. Thick caragana windbreak hedges had been planted in the early days of the Forest Nursery Station. About 45m apart, they ran north and south, the length of the plot area. There were some Siberian elms, lilacs and maples also. The PFRA estimated that it would cost $3.25 a metre to remove them… …Attempts were made to burn them in the fall but they seemed to thrive on that. They were eventually beaten by the front-end loader. After being tipped over, root and all, they were piled, allowed to dry, and then burned; the leftover roots were taken to the dump. Our neighbor down the street has been doing battle for two years with his. Not a lot of fun.
AKMA on real time blogging
I have to agree with AKMA’s assesment of real time blogging. I really enjoyed Doc Searls real time blogging and I wished that there had been some real time blogging from Search Party (I don’t think they had WiFi there).
Our Cabin Weblog- Recently listened to music
- David Gray – Be Mine October 19, 2008
- David Gray – December October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Knowhere October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Real Love October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Last Boat To America October 19, 2008
- Recently additions to my library
- Messy Faith: Daring to Live by Grace by A. J. Gregory October 28, 2008
- Rediscovering Church: The Story and Vision of Willow Creek Community Church by Lynne Hybels October 26, 2008
- The Teeth of the Tiger, A Novel by Tom Clancy October 26, 2008
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell October 26, 2008
- The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy October 26, 2008
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