Archives for September, 2006
Tim Keller on Emergent
Darryl Dash lead me to this conversation with Tim Keller.
TK: If you define evangelicalism in a John Stott kind of way, the seeker movement is inside evangelicalism. The emergent church is moving away from orthodoxy. In places like Yale, there is a post-liberal emphasis on the text that shows a distinction from old liberalism. This emergent group is really much like this group. Emergent will never really grow as they will not plant churches or build colleges. They may produce some writers… but that is probably about all.
JT: Is emergent growing?
TK: It is producing pundits, but not community and institutions.
If Rev. Tim Keller is talking about Emergent Village as an organization is pretty correct. Emergent Village seeks to bring people together, including those in seminaries and churches to dialogue and learn about each other. If he is talking about the emerging church, he seems to be missing something and that would be hundreds of church plants across North America and Europe in a variety of expressions. What are those if not church plants? Emergent and groups like Resonate are not church planting organizations but work with church planters. They may not form seminaries (although how many movements form seminaries that are under a decade old) but they work with those in seminaries. As far as producing pundits, most of the authors that have written about this are pastors and church leaders, you know, the kind of people who are a part of and have formed communities of faith.
I should offer up this disclaimer and mention that I am a part of the Emergent Co-ordinating Group.
Technorati Tags : Tim+Keller, emergent
Contextless Links
- NORAD scrambles fighters to intercept Soviet bombers :: Long live the Cold War or something like that
- Tories to regulate industry :: While the government has been clear about its plans to introduce tough controls on smog-causing pollutants, it has attempted to negotiate a settlement with industry groups on the emission of such greenhouse gases as carbon dioxide, which many scientists believe is causing global warming. Calling the legislation a “national priority,” Ms. Ambrose signalled that the government has now lost patience with large emitters. Such large emitters include oil and gas companies, electricity generators and the automotive sector. The government is prepared to impose regulations unilaterally, Ms. Ambrose indicated.
- Kissinger is advising George W. Bush :: Long live the Cold War or something like that.
- Saskatoon’s Star Phoenix has a cool idea and that is one blog for all five mayoral candidates with posts from the candidates :: Saskatoon’s direction for the next three years will be determined Oct. 25, when voters choose a mayor from among Don Atchison, Mark Ewart Ron Kocsis, Jim Maddin, John Melenchuk, Lenore Swystun and Mark Dean Weinmeyer. The candidates, except for Melenchuk, have agreed to write a weekly web log for thestarphoenix.com. It will also appear in the newspaper every Friday during the campaign.
- Drama from the World Chess Championships
Resonate Audio :: Creativity
This week’s podcast from Resonate Audio is now online.
Our weekly podcast features Joe Manafo from theStory and Thinker Labs. Joe is speaking on creativity at the 2006 Cultivate Gathering.
Subscription information is over on the Resonate Audio website.
Technorati Tags : creativity, Resonate, emerging+church, podcast, audio, Joe+Manafo, Cultivate+Gathering
Getting ready to go
The last time I was to enter the United States, the day before I was to leave, I went to pack my Alberta birth certificate (Canadians only need a birth certificate and photo I.D. to cross the border) and I couldn’t find it. We frantically called U.S. Customs in Calgary and they said, show up there and they would make a determination there and it may take several hours. At 5 a.m. I was there and by 5:02 the Customs officer said, “Welcome to the United States but don’t leave this area as they would do another determination and they might not let me back in there” so I waited inside for 8 hours for my flight, met the Calgary Flames as they went to do battle in the Stanley Cup Finals and slept in a big leather chair. (here is a photo of their charter plane backing onto the run way)
This time I needed my birth certificate so I ordered a replacement from the Alberta government which while easy to do, is expensive. (before you leave a comment telling me that I need a passport, read this page because you don’t yet) While my 1974 issue was laminated, it is illegal to do that now and they give you a flimsy cover to protect it with that doesn’t do anything. I looked at some passport covers, money belts, ugly wallets you wear around your neck and oversized wallets. I was in McNally Robinson and they had Umbra Bungee wallets. Thin enough to carry in my pocket, solid enough not mangle anything. Not quite as easy as a laminated birth certificate but better than mangling another one.
The other news is that with this changing…
Effective September 26, passengers are permitted to bring in their carry-on luggage limited quantities of liquids, gels and aerosols in containers 90 ml/90g (3 oz) or less. These items must be placed in one clear, closed and re-sealable plastic bag no larger than one litre (one quart). There is a limit of one bag per person, which must be removed from carry-on luggage and placed separately in a screening bin at airport security.
Please note that unsealed, open, coloured or opaque plastic bags of any size with liquids, gels or aerosols in containers of any size will not be permitted through pre-boarding security screening in carry-on baggage. Similarly, liquids, gels or aerosols in containers larger than 90ml/90g (3 oz) will not be permitted through security screening as carry-on.
The limited liquid, gel and aerosol carry-on rules apply at Canadian and U.S. airports, but not those of the U.K. Regulations vary from country to country and travelers are advised to consult local authorities for other destinations.
I can bring my toothepaste into the United States again. What a great country we live in!
Technorati Tags : travel, USA, Alberta, Umbra
Warren Kinsella blasts Jan Wong
Which brings us to the present, and to another friend, who has toiled at the Globe and many other newspapers, and has won many awards for his work. “What she wrote was a bloody disgrace,” he said, over burgers last week. “She rarely has by-lines, and she doesn’t even come into the newsroom any more. Why does the Globe keep her around?”
Why, indeed.
In fairness to Jan Wong, this much can be said: If the Globe and Mail didn’t keep her on the payroll, who else would write the thoughtless and stupid stuff?
When it comes to being thoughtless and stupid, after all, Jan Wong wins all the awards.
Some eyecandy on a Wednesday for you
Technorati Tags : New+Birth
Blogger vs. Wordpress
Last night I wanted to get a quick weblog put together for Exiles. My ISP is Dreamhost and they offer a great one click install for WordPress, Joomla and a bunch of other software. The install they offer with WordPress comes with about 20 themes and a bunch of plugins and sure enough, I clicked one button and I was good to go.
I fooled around with it for a while but I realized that what I really wanted was something that was easily customizable and easy to integrate with a static website. To do that with WordPress was going to take more time than I wanted it to put into the site. I was going to do this with either MT or WordPress but after spending 20 minutes with Dreamweaver and Blogger, I was done the template. Until Blogger is out of Beta, it won’t have tags or some other features but for now, it does the job that it needed to do quickly and there is something to be said for that. While I have been a user of Blogger for years, another great example of using Blogger for a church website can be found at the Freeway Cohort’s weblog in Hamilton.
Technorati Tags : Blogger, Wordpress, Movable+Type
Church names
- We are not launching in the near future. This is one of the first steps in a long journey. Our only asset is that domain name a spiral notebook, some BIC Gel Pens (the best pens I have ever used) and some yellow highlighters from Staples. Well under $20. We don’t have denominational funding, computers, or a venue. Just a dream so far. If things go well this afternoon, we may have a wiki and a message board but those are free. Wendy and I sat around last night and designed a quick website for it but even that used all free tools.
- We don’t even have a strategy or a vision statement! (the sacred cows of church planting) Actually I think that strategies are over rated and often people try to sell them as visions. We have a lot of conversations and some values that are coming together but that is it. Like I said, it will come together in time.
- Some of you suggested geographic names. Here is why I don’t like them in this situation. We are nowhere close to finding a location or a home yet and we haven’t even settled on a neighborhood in Saskatoon. In Canada, there isn’t a lot of money tossed at church plants unless are in one of the few wealthier denominations. I talked to one denominational leader outside of my own and they are just assuming now that church plants are going to struggle with a location until they get to a certain side or are targetted at a suburban neighborhood with money. I live in Mayfair so if we took Mayfair Community Church or Mayfair Free Methodist Church, we would have to change it everytime we moved. As far as Saskatoon regional names, you have no idea how many ministries sprout up with the name, River, Bridge, or Harvest in them and are gone a month later. Those names are way overused both commercially and by non-profits.
- Why Church of the Exiles? It is hard to explain but it alludes to having another home, another origin, and destination we are hoping to reach one day. When I posted the name online yesterday, several friends IM’d me and all made reference to Stanley Hauerwas‘ book, Resident Aliens and some of his other writings. Of course using the name Resident Aliens in a church name would bring out the X-Files convention going crowd and I am not sure I can handle that.
- I am sure I will hate the name later. Just like four other church planters I talked to this week who all said, “I hate our church name right now”. That was rivalled by a couple of established church leaders who said, “I hate our church name too”.
- We needed to name it something. It was getting to hard to write, “So next week when we get together and talk about that thing that we are doing but we don’t know what to call it”. Like many things, it may change in the future but for now, that is where it is at.
Technorati Tags : Saskatoon, church, Church+of+the+Exiles
New project
I was speaking at the Saskatoon Free Methodist Church on Sunday and as I was being introduced, it was mentioned that I was part of a team of people planting a new church in Saskatoon so I guess the secret is out. We have been meeting all over Saskatoon, mostly in coffee shops, trying to decide what God wants us to do here. That stuff will come out in time.
We have been tossing around names for this thing which is easier said than done. The obvious ones to pass on are anything with an X in it, the Bridge, the Journey, the Quest, the Quest for a Journey over a Bridge, anything that belonged to Solomon (Solomon’s Bathroom or Solomon’s Bed were rejected) and anything that crosses Apple Computer’s legal department. A friend of mine is a part of the Church of Guinness which is a great name and I mention it only because I found out yesterday that Guinness has a 9000 year lease at 45 pounds a year which may be the greatest real estate deal ever for a non-NFL stadium.
We had been tossing around the name Church of the Exiles with www.exileschurch.org as a domain name. Some hate it and some like it. The exiles metaphor has been a big one for us and was articulated by Michael Frost in his book, Exiles. Of course after I registered the domain name I started to question if it was…
- too negative
- too elitist
- a prosecution complex.
Please leave your thoughts in the comments or e-mail me. We would love to hear your feedback.
P.S. If Church of Guinness is the best name I have heard for a gathering, St. James-Bond United Church is the second best. A merger between a St. James Presbyterian and Bond Street Methodist in Toronto. My question is, who would be in charge of the church, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, [updated] George Lazenby , Ian Flemming, or Pierce Brosnan. Although I think we could all agree that Miss Moneypenny would be the church secretary and Q the maintenance guy.
Technorati Tags : church+of+the+exiles, Saskatoon
New website for Third Space in Peterborough
You may want to check out Third Space’s new website, just in time for their big move.
Technorati Tags : Third+Space, website
Contextless Links
- 10 Web 2.0 losers :: Some big names here. Six Apart, Flock, Odeo
- How Odeo messed up
- Raiders of the Lost Vault :: I love the fact that the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina is questioning the ethics of the man whom the art gallery is named for. :: A new exhibition at Regina’s MacKenzie Art Gallery takes a look at the man who inspired the gallery and reveals a pattern of collecting that would never withstand scrutiny by today’s standards.
- Sask Party MLA Ben Heppner passes away after a long struggle with cancer :: Saskatchewan politics lost a true gentleman today.
- Do newspapers have a future?
Notre Dame wins!
Sorry to any Michigan State fans out there but you blew a big game to Notre Dame. Nothing like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.Michigan State jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and looked like it might continue its recent good fortune against the Irish, which included a 44-41 overtime victory in South Bend last year after which a few Spartan players planted a school flag near midfield.
The Spartans led this one 31-14 at halftime and looked as if they should be preparing for another postgame celebration.
“When we went into halftime we said if we don’t play 30 minutes of complete football we have no chance.” Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said.
I don’t mind losing to Michigan but losing to Michigan State is hard as it is only a mediocre program most years (yeah that was a shot).
In local football news, the #2 nationally ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team beat the University of British Columbia 35-33 at Griffiths Stadium (I know, it is a sad stadium considering that the Huskies are probably the premiere football program in Canada)
At Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon the University of Saskatchewan Huskies found themselves in a dog fight that they didn’t want to be a part of. With the score tied at 17 headed to the fourth quarter, both teams would explode offensively creating one of the most dramatic finishes fans of the Huskies had witnessed in a long time. UBC thought they had stole a victory on the road after they scored with just 50 seconds left in the game to go up 33-28. That lead would be short lived as the Huskies marched 80 yards in just 44 seconds setting up a two yard touchdown catch by Dan Houle that put the Dogs up 35-33 with just six seconds left.
Technorati Tags : football, Notre+Dame, Huskies
Contextless Links
- Podcasts from the Clinton Global Initiative will be online soon but you can subscribe now.
- The best and worst paying jobs :: Casino workers are among the lowest paid workers? That explains why people are flocking for Las Vegas for casino jobs…
- U.S. Army stretched to the limit :: “I think, arguably, it’s the worst readiness condition the U.S. Army has faced since the end of Vietnam,” says NBC military analyst and retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey :: This is probably just interesting to me but I was listening to Meet the Press and one of the guests said that the reason that the United States Army won’t increase troop strength in Iraq is that it can’t increase it. He named the amount of regiments that were ready to be deployed and it wasn’t a long list.
- Transcript of September 18th speech that Al Gore gave to NYU Law School. More on it from the New York Times.
My favorite Family Guy scene of all time
Apple is just as evil as everyone else?
Apple has issued a cease and desist to Podcast Ready, claiming that the terms “Podcast Ready” and “myPodder ” infringe on Apple’s trademarks, and that they cause confusion among consumers. Wired notes that Apple has been cracking down on use of the word “pod” by lots of different people.
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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