2005 April | jordoncooper.com

Archives for April, 2005

Some new pictures on Flickr

I uploaded some new and old pictures from the archives to my Flickr account. If you are so inclined, you can check them out here or follow this link for a slideshow.

04/29/2005 | photography | No Comments

Preaching in denim

Jordon preaching in denim
Originally uploaded by lakelandchurch.

As I mentioned earlier, I preached in the unholy (rather, un-Nazarene) denim pants on Sunday. The pictures offers some more details if you click on it. Yeah, that appears to be a Pepsi on the pulpit as well. The topic was the Prodigal Son and the Pepsi and jeans fit into the sermon.

04/29/2005 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Congratulations

Leighton and Carol are engaged. Some troubles ahead as they do use competing blogging platforms Good luck to the happy couple!

04/29/2005 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Things To Come

AKMA writes about the next eighteen months in the Anglican Church in America and about the personal choices he will have to make.

Whatever happens, I’ll end up something of an inexplicable oddity to people around me, whether as a bereft catholic spirit among those who have become comfortably Protestant, or as a “reassessing” committed Anglican among ascendant “reasserters,” or as an Anglican heart in a Roman world. I’ll be testifying to the theological soundness of catholic allegiance (with its attendant frustrations and injuries) to sisters and brothers who value their vision of justice over a commitment to bearing with predominant, disagreeing sisters and brothers — or testifying to the theological soundness of an understanding of human sexuality that affirms the sanctity of particular relationships that the church to which I’ve pledged fidelity and obedience itself rejects.

Good thing I didn’t get into this racket for the sheer fun of it. For the time being, I’ll pray that we remember that the church has strayed into very swampy terrain before, that God will guide us out, through, past, and even within the swamp if we open our hearts to the Spirit, and that on the whole, I’m a relatively insignificant part of a salvific purpose much greater and wiser and more encompassing than I can imagine. .

My prayers go up for AKMA and thousands of people around the world faced with similar choicees.

04/29/2005 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Human Rights Watch - Darfur Drawn: The Conflict in Darfur Through Children’s Eyes

On mission along the border of Chad and Darfur, Human Rights Watch researchers gave children notebooks and crayons to keep them occupied while they spoke with the children’s parents. Without any instruction or guidance, the children drew scenes from their experiences of the war in Darfur: the attacks by the Janjaweed, the bombings by Sudanese government forces, the shootings, the burning of entire villages, and the flight to Chad.

04/29/2005 | Uncategorized | No Comments

It’s not about you

My good friend Scott is writing about his last Sunday at New Heights Church.

if you are reading this i’d like to remind you that church isn’t about you. it isn’t about your needs or your comfort or your musical tastes. sure you need to find a place where you can find a family but it’s hard for me to believe that jesus died on the cross so his kids could have the best sunday school in town.

A lot of people talk about being missional but Scott’s ministry has personified it. I am glad to call Scott a friend and mentor. I can’t wait to see what the future brings for Scott, Ben, and Nathan.

04/28/2005 | Uncategorized | No Comments

More Rwanda background

When I posted about the Clinton administrations response to Rwanda last night I wasn’t expecting much of a reaction. Of course I should have been thinking that anytime I question United States foreign policy, people get upset. It was not a failure of the United States as much as it was a failure of the west. Clinton officials point out it was a failure. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin calls it a “national disgrace”. Bush officials have called it a failure. Albright and Clinton had their reason (trying to save the UN) but in the end, a million people died before the United States decided to get involved. Below are a bunch of good links about Rwanda. Make up your own minds but I do think that the United Nations and the west failed humanity in not doing more. That includes Canada, the United States, Britain, and others who could have done more. Remember, it could have been stopped before it started but the UN would not allow itself to take sides so in the end, it watched one million people dying. Here is some reading on the genocide on Rwanda. Hopefully it conveys some of the complexity of the situation.

For me the most troubling part of the genocide was that it was Christians killing Christians. Students killing teachers, teachers killing students. Pastors killing their parishoners. Parishoners killing their pastors. An integrated society turns to killing their own neighbors and later we found out, their own families. If you want to do some more reading on it…

Shake Hands With the Devil by Gen Romeo Dallaire
The Problem from Hell :: America in the Age of Genocide :: Pullitzer Prize winning book by Samantha Power
Collapse :: Excellent book with a great chapter on Rwanda and how environmental collapse contributed to the genocide.

04/28/2005 | Uncategorized | 9 Comments

US chose to ignore Rwandan genocide

From the Guardian

President Bill Clinton’s administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994 but buried the information to justify its inaction, according to classified documents made available for the first time.

Senior officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because the president had already decided not to intervene.

Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president had been told of a planned “final solution to eliminate all Tutsis” before the slaughter reached its peak.

It took Hutu death squads three months from April 6 to murder an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and at each stage accurate, detailed reports were reaching Washington’s top policymakers.

The documents undermine claims by Mr Clinton and his senior officials that they did not fully appreciate the scale and speed of the killings.

“It’s powerful proof that they knew,” said Alison des Forges, a Human Rights Watch researcher and authority on the genocide.

The National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute based in Washington DC, went to court to obtain the material.

It discovered that the CIA’s national intelligence daily, a secret briefing circulated to Mr Clinton, the then vice-president, Al Gore, and hundreds of senior officials, included almost daily reports on Rwanda. One, dated April 23, said rebels would continue fighting to “stop the genocide, which … is spreading south”.

Three days later the state department’s intelligence briefing for former secretary of state Warren Christopher and other officials noted “genocide and partition” and reported declarations of a “final solution to eliminate all Tutsis”.

However, the administration did not publicly use the word genocide until May 25 and even then diluted its impact by saying “acts of genocide”.

Ms Des Forges said: “They feared this word would generate public opinion which would demand some sort of action and they didn’t want to act. It was a very pragmatic determination.”

The administration did not want to repeat the fiasco of US intervention in Somalia, where US troops became sucked into fighting. It also felt the US had no interests in Rwanda, a small central African country with no minerals or strategic value.

William Ferroggiaro, of the National Security Archive, said the system had worked. “Diplomats, intelligence agencies, defence and military officials - even aid workers - provided timely information up the chain,” he said.

“That the Clinton administration decided against intervention at any level was not for lack of knowledge of what was happening in Rwanda.”

Many analysts and historians fault Washington and other western capitals not just for failing to support the token force of overwhelmed UN peacekeepers but for failing to speak out more forcefully during the slaughter.

Some of the Hutu extremists orchestrating events might have heeded such warnings, they have suggested.

Mr Clinton has apologised for those failures but the declassified documents undermine his defence of ignorance. “The level of US intelligence is really amazing,” said Mr Ferroggiaro. “A vast array of information was available.”

I am reading former Secretary of State Madelaine Albrights autobiography right now and while I am (was?) a big fan of her, this is hard to read about any western power. They knew (Gen. Romeo Dellaire told anyone that would listen to him talk about it) but the United States did nothing to stop it. They aren’t alone in doing nothing. It is one of the great failures of foreign policy that seems to kep happening again and again and again. Now we see it starting to happen all over again in the Congo and Sudan and the world’s response always remains the same.

04/27/2005 | Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Saskatoon :: Smart people don’t live here.

According to a new study, Saskatoon is one of the leading Canadian cities in term of “brain drain”. Most of them are moving to Calgary. To celebrate this, Explore Saskatoon is having a contest for a slogan to celebrate Saskatoon’s lead in the brain drain category. You can leave your comments over there.

04/27/2005 | Saskatoon | No Comments

Contexless Links

Yahoo! My Web
Death of advertising?
Help Gothamist Get a Press Pass!
Blog slayer: Microsoft and the future of SixApart :: Could SixApart be the next Netscape? MSN Spaces is picking up momentum.
Avoiding the Argument Party
Discord over Jobs biography?
Designing from the outside in
Ralph Goodale uphappy that boss sold him out

04/27/2005 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Vacation in 4 more days

On Saturday morning Wendy, Mark, Leighton and I are headed to the booming megatropolis of Winnipeg. We are going because the United Church in Canada is having an event and Jonny Baker is going to be there. While it will be cool to meet Jonny, it will be nice to get away from Saskatoon and the SNOW that we had today and see a little of Winnipeg. I have only been to the Peg once before and I was with Jeb, Scott, and Karen for an emerging type of thing that Len Sweet was speaking at. It was a good time but this time is different. I am just hanging out and learning what Jonny has to say, arguing with Leighton politics, bowling with Mark, and goofing off with Wendy. Should be fun. Apparently we are going to check out the Forks and also make fun of downtown Winnipeg.

It will be nice to get away from it all and relax by the pool.

Just before we leave, Lee is going to California. Apparently EA Games is flying him down to take part in the launch of the next Battlefield 1942 because of his involvment in the gaming community. Lee plans to totally sell out and when he gets home, the house is his and Elway’s while we are gone. Sadly because of conflicting work schedules, we won’t see each other until next Friday and by then we can swap some stories of our trips.

Tags: Wendy Cooper

04/27/2005 | Saskatoon | 1 Comment

Sixth Place in Canada

I came across Wayne Chu’s honours project on the internet. According to it, jordoncooper.com is ranked 6th on the list of Top 100 ‘blogs on Canadian Politics. The top 10 Canadian Poli-Blogs were:

1. Warren Kinsella
2. CalgaryGrit
3. Monte Solberg, Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat
4. Peace, order and good government, eh?
5. Blogs Canada
6. jordoncooper.com
7. Revolutionary Moderation
8. My Blahg
9. Sean Incognito
10. Living in a Society

Hilarious considering that I am not a political blog at all. Congratulations to two of my favorite blogs in Warren Kinsella and CalgaryGrit. Two of the best blogs in Canada period. Something is wrong when Paul Wells and Andrew Coyne don’t make the list while I do. Time to rethink the data but until a correction is made, I’ll run around shouting, “I’m number six, I’m number six!”

04/25/2005 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Contextless Links

Absolutely, Power Corrupts :: Moneyball’s Michael Lewis the NYT about two single hitting baseball players trying to make it in baseball during the era of the long ball.
A fake picture is worth 1000 words… :: What do they all have in common?
Penguins going through airport security in Denver
Canada PM Says Will Not Form Coalition with NDP :: And the Progressive Conservatives would never form a coalition with the Canadian Alliance.
it’s a whole new internet
Kerry supporters barred from international telecom meeting by Bush Administration
Maybe the high price of oil isn’t such a bad thing
New writers for The Simpsons are producing some better episodes according to this article :: I don’t know if I agree. While the show hasn’t jumped the shark, it isn’t as funny as it used to be.

04/25/2005 | Contextless Links, politics, sports | No Comments

Linea on Women in Leadership

Here is a part of her excellent post

Unlike most ancient religions, Jesus encouraged and allowed women to follow him. He encouraged even disreputable women to interact with him. Mark 15:40,41 and Luke 8:1-3 speak of the women who were disciples of Jesus and helped to finance his ministry. Mary was encouraged and commended for her desire to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn rather than busy herself with the household chores that were expected of her by her sister.(Luke 10:38-42) There are numerous other examples of the involvement of women.

I guess the controversy arises mostly out of the Pauline letters. I believe, as LT has shown, that Paul addresses specific problems that had arisen in the various churches. The papers I refer to above also address these passages and certainly helped clarify them for me.

Determining God’s will in this area is important to me. I suspect that a sensitivity to where others are in their understanding of faith and a desire to comply with the will of God as revealed in scripture, keeps some women from choosing to explore the possibility of a calling to teach, prophesy and preach the Word. It is a shame that the women who display many attributes desirable in a servant leader would deny their calls to be proclaimers of the gospel, because of harsh and dogmatic opinions of others in the body of believers. In fact I think we rarely encourage young women to even consider that God may be calling them to ministry. We encourage them to music and children’s ministries but rarely to consider that God may want to use them to instruct others.

I also believe that God still speaks to us through his Holy Spirit. What is the cost to his church of causing a woman to turn a deaf ear to a call due to fear of criticism, or worse yet, due to a fear of displeasing the very God who called her. Something is very distorted in the body when a part designed to function in one way has to pretend to not have that function. Like asking a mouth to somehow function instead as arm.

This is not arguing on the basis that men and women are equal and therefore the same. This is not claiming equality as a right. This doesn’t even have anything really to do with the emerging church because my denomination is not defined as an emerging church as such. This is allowing God’s gifts to be used by men and women alike.

Men and women are going to approach things from different viewpoints and work out different and unique leadership styles. As women are encouraged to serve in leadership I believe we will see the various gifts God has bestowed on us demonstrated in a variety of expressions all working together to build up the body of Christ.

04/25/2005 | Uncategorized | No Comments

jonnybaker: morph 2005 in winnipeg

Jonny Baker is coming to Winnipeg to a conference of the United Church in Canada called Morph. In his words…

i think there may be an informal get together of people involved in alt worship/emerging church on the sunday afternoon and evening if anyone is around (it was due to be monday but has had to be shifted due to flight times)

Wendy, LT, and I will be in the ‘Peg this weekend. Should be a fun time. If you can make it, e-mail me at jordoncooper AT gmail.com or leave a note in the comments below.

Tags: Wendy Cooper

04/25/2005 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment