Sunday, March 28, 2010
On Loyalty and Defendors
Well, after an almost two year hiatus, I'm back. Has it REALLY been two years? Where does time go?
This weekend, three things happened that are somewhat unrelated, but spoke to me about unlikely heros, loyalty and sacrifice.
On Saturday night, I watched two movies - Defendor - (yes, with an "or") about a mentally challenged man, played by Woody Harrelson, who thinks he is a superhero and Hachiko - based on a true a story about a dog so attached to his master that he faithfully returns day after day for 9 years, to greet his master (even though the master has died). Talk about a tear jerker pretty much from the first scene! And then, I showed up at church today - Palm Sunday.
Our pastor preached the "Palm Sunday" message - the triumphal entry - heard it many times. But today, something was different. Maybe it was because I had watched these two movies the night before and I was already thinking about loyalty, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things because of love and being misunderstood for their actions...but today, I heard something new in the story.
One new message I heard today, was how much attitudes can change in a short period of time. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was adored. People laid down palm branches (hence Palm Sunday) and their cloaks - he received the royal welcome, the welcome of Kings. In less than a week, he would be ridiculed, outcast and sent to die on a cross - by these very same people!
A dog faithfully waits 9 YEARS for it's owner to return... a pretty remarkable display of loyalty. People are fickle, their loyalties are not often steadfast, but situational. You can pretty much hear the people of Jerusalem switch their loyalty away from Jesus once they realized what he was or was not going to do for them (what do you mean you didn't come here to give us back our land and throw out those Romans? What kinda King are you anyways?).
The other message that struck me was about the love someone must have to willingly go into harms way in order to "defend" the helpless from the evil doers. In Defendor, we can't help but applaud Woody Harrelson's super hero efforts as he takes on the "bad guys", but at the same time, it's hard to watch as he steps into the line of fire, again, and again, and again - only to be beaten up and inevitably it doesn't end well for him. But he does it willingly, because he's trying to make a difference and he's willing to sacrifice. The sad part was that for most of the time, the people in his city had no idea of the sacrifices he was making to help defend them, until it was too late.
Jesus came to make a difference and willingly make the ultimate sacrifice. A Defendor of us all. And on the first Palm Sunday, as the fanfare of his triumphal entry took place, they had no idea of the sacrifice that was to come just a few days later.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Does Denomination Matter?
There's something about lying face down on a massage table for 60 minutes that gives you a lot of opportunity to get to know your massage therapist! Last week, my massage therapist, a fellow Christian, and I got onto the whole topic of denomination. She was having an issue with her pastor around certain areas of doctrine, particularly important to her denomination. She had questions - but felt hesitant in raising them with the pastor, least she get labelled a heretic.
As we talked, it all sounded so dogmatic. And we both wondered - if we are Christians...does denomination REALLY matter?
So, at the risk of seriously irking those pastoral types out there who may read this...I don' t think denomination matters. And in a lot of cases, it's downright dangerous and divisive to cling to a denominationalist attitude. Let me explain...
We get so caught up into dividing things up based on our worldview. In my case, I've got my Gen-X, post-modern, north American, middle class glasses on when I look at an issue (including this one, BTW). And everybody else has their own glasses. Isn't that why we have a gazillion denominations anyways? It was those "Protestors" ...the heritage of all Protestants that resulted in factions "ad minutia". Look at the Catholics - they don't seem to have that problem. They've got an authoritarian structure and its (kinda) working for them!
The funny thing is, denomination seems to be a big deal for two groups of people - those who are multi-generational BLANK (fill in the denominational blank) or non-Christians. For these groups, I think it helps to categorize people - they think they know where you stand on certain issues. Right now, I attend a Baptist church, but I bet I could be equally content as an Anglican, Luthern, Episcopalian or even... Catholic. (OK, MAYBE not Catholic). :-)
I encouraged my therapist to talk with her pastor. I'm hoping they can work things out. If not, it may be yet another case of how the small stuff works to undermine the greater issue of Christian unity.
As we talked, it all sounded so dogmatic. And we both wondered - if we are Christians...does denomination REALLY matter?
So, at the risk of seriously irking those pastoral types out there who may read this...I don' t think denomination matters. And in a lot of cases, it's downright dangerous and divisive to cling to a denominationalist attitude. Let me explain...
We get so caught up into dividing things up based on our worldview. In my case, I've got my Gen-X, post-modern, north American, middle class glasses on when I look at an issue (including this one, BTW). And everybody else has their own glasses. Isn't that why we have a gazillion denominations anyways? It was those "Protestors" ...the heritage of all Protestants that resulted in factions "ad minutia". Look at the Catholics - they don't seem to have that problem. They've got an authoritarian structure and its (kinda) working for them!
The funny thing is, denomination seems to be a big deal for two groups of people - those who are multi-generational BLANK (fill in the denominational blank) or non-Christians. For these groups, I think it helps to categorize people - they think they know where you stand on certain issues. Right now, I attend a Baptist church, but I bet I could be equally content as an Anglican, Luthern, Episcopalian or even... Catholic. (OK, MAYBE not Catholic). :-)
I encouraged my therapist to talk with her pastor. I'm hoping they can work things out. If not, it may be yet another case of how the small stuff works to undermine the greater issue of Christian unity.
Christian and Gay?
Is it possible to be Christian and Gay? It's an interesting issue. I guess the party line is "no way" - it goes against what God commands. And, while this is true - so does all sin...and yet there seems to be some issues that are more acceptable than others. I like what this author had to say on the subject.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Over 1 Million Served - What to make of the Mega Church?
I just watched the movie Jesus Camp. That's worthy of a whole entire post on its own, and I'll get to that another day...but one thing that stood out for me is the whole issue of the Mega Church.
In general, churches throughout North America are struggling. Attendance is declining. Financial viability is shaky.
And then there is the mega church.
It stands in stark contrast to all of the above - huge arena like settings attracting masses of people with professionally turned out worship services and celebrity pastors with rock star like status. And it doesn't stop at Sunday worship - most mega churches also offer a full slate of social activities.
The attraction seems logical - get a professionally packaged Christian experience, on demand. So, what's wrong with that?
Well, it's kinda the Christian equivalent of ordering "the happy meal" at McDonalds. You can just show up and order. The friendly staff will be there to serve you, no worries that somebody may have to actually get involved in running a ministry - that's what we pay for - right? And if you don't show up, who's gonna notice? You think the pastor's gonna know who YOU are...he's got 1,000 people in the audience and a book signing to get to after the service...
Yeah, I'm a bit cynical on the whole mega church...but whadda YOU think?
In general, churches throughout North America are struggling. Attendance is declining. Financial viability is shaky.
And then there is the mega church.
It stands in stark contrast to all of the above - huge arena like settings attracting masses of people with professionally turned out worship services and celebrity pastors with rock star like status. And it doesn't stop at Sunday worship - most mega churches also offer a full slate of social activities.
The attraction seems logical - get a professionally packaged Christian experience, on demand. So, what's wrong with that?
Well, it's kinda the Christian equivalent of ordering "the happy meal" at McDonalds. You can just show up and order. The friendly staff will be there to serve you, no worries that somebody may have to actually get involved in running a ministry - that's what we pay for - right? And if you don't show up, who's gonna notice? You think the pastor's gonna know who YOU are...he's got 1,000 people in the audience and a book signing to get to after the service...
Yeah, I'm a bit cynical on the whole mega church...but whadda YOU think?
Monday, March 05, 2007
The importance of obedience
This Christmas, I got a wonderful gift - a little Maltese named Jake. He is 1.5 years old, super cute and extremely DISOBEDIENT.
Oh, its not entirely his fault. His owners didn't spend much time with him and he was raised in a garage, where he could do his business all over everything. Now that he's in our home, the rules are much more strict. He needs to learn how to be obedient so that he can co-exist well with us (and with the cat, but that's another story...)
But, the real value of obedience didn't sink in for me until this incident...
It was around 11pm and I remembered that I hadn't checked the mail yet. I opened the front door just a bit to look in the mailbox and before I knew it, this flash of white fur ran past me. Uh, oh. I called him. No use. He kept going - down the path, onto the sidewalk ands towards a busy street. In a panic, I grabbed my shoes and keys. I raced down the sidewalk, calling him the whole time. He keep on running - barking happily, oblivious to the danger of the road ahead. I could feel my heart pounding, I was pleading with him to stop, come, stay- anything!
Somehow, I got him home - but not before a women in a very large Ford pickup pulled in front of my house and said "Is that your little white dog? He ran out right in front of me and I almost hit him." We enrolled in obedience class a week later.
Obedience. Sometimes its for our own good.
I wonder how God feels about some of my behaviours - when I go racing down the metaphorical street, oblivious to the dangers lying ahead. Is he chasing after me, heart pounding, calling my name, hoping I'll stop, come, stay!
Sometimes being obedient to God is a real drag. It means going against my self-gratifying nature in favour of doing what God wants. It might mean spending my precious time or money doing work that God values instead of on hobbies or things that I want. And even if I get the actions right, I'm pretty sure its not just "going through the motions" obedience that God is after. I think its obedience of the heart. There have been plenty of times in my life when I physically show up for something, but my heart is feeling resentful the whole time - like I wish I didn't have to be here doing this - gripe and grumble! Time for an attitude adjustment - that is what I mean by obedience of the heart.
Yes, being obedient is tough work. For doggies and for humans.
Oh, its not entirely his fault. His owners didn't spend much time with him and he was raised in a garage, where he could do his business all over everything. Now that he's in our home, the rules are much more strict. He needs to learn how to be obedient so that he can co-exist well with us (and with the cat, but that's another story...)
But, the real value of obedience didn't sink in for me until this incident...
It was around 11pm and I remembered that I hadn't checked the mail yet. I opened the front door just a bit to look in the mailbox and before I knew it, this flash of white fur ran past me. Uh, oh. I called him. No use. He kept going - down the path, onto the sidewalk ands towards a busy street. In a panic, I grabbed my shoes and keys. I raced down the sidewalk, calling him the whole time. He keep on running - barking happily, oblivious to the danger of the road ahead. I could feel my heart pounding, I was pleading with him to stop, come, stay- anything!
Somehow, I got him home - but not before a women in a very large Ford pickup pulled in front of my house and said "Is that your little white dog? He ran out right in front of me and I almost hit him." We enrolled in obedience class a week later.
Obedience. Sometimes its for our own good.
I wonder how God feels about some of my behaviours - when I go racing down the metaphorical street, oblivious to the dangers lying ahead. Is he chasing after me, heart pounding, calling my name, hoping I'll stop, come, stay!
Sometimes being obedient to God is a real drag. It means going against my self-gratifying nature in favour of doing what God wants. It might mean spending my precious time or money doing work that God values instead of on hobbies or things that I want. And even if I get the actions right, I'm pretty sure its not just "going through the motions" obedience that God is after. I think its obedience of the heart. There have been plenty of times in my life when I physically show up for something, but my heart is feeling resentful the whole time - like I wish I didn't have to be here doing this - gripe and grumble! Time for an attitude adjustment - that is what I mean by obedience of the heart.
Yes, being obedient is tough work. For doggies and for humans.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
A time for healing
Our church has embarked on a journey of spiritual renewal called Refocusing. Its an established, intentional process that we are praying will renew our church and realign our focus with God's ministry through us.
This weekend, we held the first of 3 summits. It was incredible! First miracle - people showed up. The Refocus Leadership Team (of which I'm a part) wasn't sure how many people would willingly give up their Friday evening and Saturday morning to come and be part of the process. We thought they might be apathetic - or think that others will do the work.
Second miracle -people were honest - even about tough issues. One of the excercises involved creating a memory wall. We listed all the milestones, painful memories and history of the church since its beginning in the 1970s. It was insightful and at times very emotional. Our coach told us that the painful events represented broken relationships and that we needed to "own" our past before we could move forward.
Third miracle - there was unity and community. One of our challenges as a church has been a dividedness that has kept us apart - cliques have formed, there's a tendancy to gossip - all the nasty stuff that can happend in a group of people, but should have no place in the church. I think this summit moved us closer to true unity. By honestly interacting with each other, we started to tear down the obstacles to building community. Its an amazing start.
Yet, at the end of the day, it comes down to this...what will renewal of our church mean for my life? How am I personally going to change my priorities in order to bring them in line with God's?
Those are tough questions that I have been wrestling with. Its one thing to say "we need more youth ministries", but quite another to say "I'm going to give 2 hours a week so that I can help create and lead a youth ministry."
We did an excercise where we compare our actual values (that's ACTUAL values - not preferred values) to God's values. To be perfectly honest, I have a grand canyon sized gap between what I actually value, lived out by what I spend time doing and thinking about, and what God values. It ain't pretty - but its reality. Am I willing to change? How much? Yikes!
This weekend, we held the first of 3 summits. It was incredible! First miracle - people showed up. The Refocus Leadership Team (of which I'm a part) wasn't sure how many people would willingly give up their Friday evening and Saturday morning to come and be part of the process. We thought they might be apathetic - or think that others will do the work.
Second miracle -people were honest - even about tough issues. One of the excercises involved creating a memory wall. We listed all the milestones, painful memories and history of the church since its beginning in the 1970s. It was insightful and at times very emotional. Our coach told us that the painful events represented broken relationships and that we needed to "own" our past before we could move forward.
Third miracle - there was unity and community. One of our challenges as a church has been a dividedness that has kept us apart - cliques have formed, there's a tendancy to gossip - all the nasty stuff that can happend in a group of people, but should have no place in the church. I think this summit moved us closer to true unity. By honestly interacting with each other, we started to tear down the obstacles to building community. Its an amazing start.
Yet, at the end of the day, it comes down to this...what will renewal of our church mean for my life? How am I personally going to change my priorities in order to bring them in line with God's?
Those are tough questions that I have been wrestling with. Its one thing to say "we need more youth ministries", but quite another to say "I'm going to give 2 hours a week so that I can help create and lead a youth ministry."
We did an excercise where we compare our actual values (that's ACTUAL values - not preferred values) to God's values. To be perfectly honest, I have a grand canyon sized gap between what I actually value, lived out by what I spend time doing and thinking about, and what God values. It ain't pretty - but its reality. Am I willing to change? How much? Yikes!
Maybe this is normal....
I'm going to start by not apologizing for the infrequency of my posts. Maybe its normal to only post once a month. With that out of the way...
My small group has been studying Genesis. Nothing like getting back to the basics. We had quite a discussion last week about Genesis 3 - the fall of mankind. One thing that has always bothered me (being a woman) is the whole blaming of Eve (or womankind) for the fall. To recap....
The sneaky serpent (for reasons not clearly spelled out, but largely attributable to Satan) engages Eve in a dialogue about the trees in the garden....did God REALLY say you cannot eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge...he just said that because he doesn't want you to be like him...(you get the picture). Eve (being naive and willful) decides that the fruits looks good, eats some and then gives some to Adam. And that spells the beginning of the end.
So here's the part that stood out for me - Adam was present during the whole exchange! The bible says she gave some to her husband "who was with her". He was there.
For some reason, I've always seen Adam as a bit of an innocent in the whole affair. The wife comes home with some fruit and he gets duped into eating it without examining its whereabouts. But no, the guy is actually ON THE SCENE during the whole serpent exchange. No wonder God questions him first.
I've read Genesis countless times, but this is the first time I saw those four little words - "who was with her". Its amazing how a small detail changes your whole perspective. The consequences of the fall remain the same, but Adam and Eve are equally culpable.
My small group has been studying Genesis. Nothing like getting back to the basics. We had quite a discussion last week about Genesis 3 - the fall of mankind. One thing that has always bothered me (being a woman) is the whole blaming of Eve (or womankind) for the fall. To recap....
The sneaky serpent (for reasons not clearly spelled out, but largely attributable to Satan) engages Eve in a dialogue about the trees in the garden....did God REALLY say you cannot eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge...he just said that because he doesn't want you to be like him...(you get the picture). Eve (being naive and willful) decides that the fruits looks good, eats some and then gives some to Adam. And that spells the beginning of the end.
So here's the part that stood out for me - Adam was present during the whole exchange! The bible says she gave some to her husband "who was with her". He was there.
For some reason, I've always seen Adam as a bit of an innocent in the whole affair. The wife comes home with some fruit and he gets duped into eating it without examining its whereabouts. But no, the guy is actually ON THE SCENE during the whole serpent exchange. No wonder God questions him first.
I've read Genesis countless times, but this is the first time I saw those four little words - "who was with her". Its amazing how a small detail changes your whole perspective. The consequences of the fall remain the same, but Adam and Eve are equally culpable.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Christmas Moments
It's been over a month since my last post and I have absolutely no excuses...expect for the holiday season. The amount of time spent preparing for the BIG day - decorating, shopping, cooking - it takes its toll on all other parts of life.
Interestingly, my three special Christmas Moments didn't even take place on December 25th!
The first was volunteering at the Edmonton Christmas Bureau the weekend prior to Christmas. This was a truly eye opening experience. Its easy for me to go about my days, work to home, home to work, running errands on the weekend etc and never really encounter people in poverty. The kind of poverty that makes Christmas gift giving a challenge - groceries or Christmas presents? Turkey or paying the rent? These are questions I have thankfully not had to personally consider, but there are people in this city who do face these questions and I met several hundred of them over the course of two days. It was an incredible blessing to be able to serve those in need. I was assigned to "Santa's Toyland" - the area where bags are filled with toys for children. I got a slip of paper with the names and ages of each child and my job was to fill their order. Each order was a mission to find the perfect toy from the bins of donated toys - to make it a special Christmas for that child. I imagined the children opening up their gifts on Christmas, hoping that they would love the toys I chosen for them.
My second special moment was attending a local AA meeting. I'm not an Alcholic, but I went in support of a family member. I was a little intimated at first and not at all sure what to expect, but during that meeting I experienced some of the most honest, uncensored and heartfelt sharing that I have ever encountered in my life. I remember thinking that the church could learn something from Alcoholics Annonymous! There were no masks here - nobody trying to protect their reputation or cover up anything. These are people who had completely come to the end of themselves. There were many discussions about spirituality - not always Christian - but real recognition of a higher power...of God. Each persons story was incredibly moving, sad but hopeful - a realization that life needs to be lived day by day. I learned so much in my short time with them.
My third special Christmas moment was on Dec 24th. My mother-in-law - who has not been to church in over 30 years...came to church with us - TWICE - in one day. We had a regular Sunday morning service and then a candlelight Christmas Eve service that night. And my sister in law and brother in law - who are not Christian or particularly religious - also attended the candlelight service. It was really amazing to have the family together, celebrating Jesus birth the night before Christmas.
The irony is that I spent so much time trying to create the perfect Christmas - gifts, decorations, food etc - and while all that was nice, it wasn't even close to being as meaningful as these three precious moments.
Interestingly, my three special Christmas Moments didn't even take place on December 25th!
The first was volunteering at the Edmonton Christmas Bureau the weekend prior to Christmas. This was a truly eye opening experience. Its easy for me to go about my days, work to home, home to work, running errands on the weekend etc and never really encounter people in poverty. The kind of poverty that makes Christmas gift giving a challenge - groceries or Christmas presents? Turkey or paying the rent? These are questions I have thankfully not had to personally consider, but there are people in this city who do face these questions and I met several hundred of them over the course of two days. It was an incredible blessing to be able to serve those in need. I was assigned to "Santa's Toyland" - the area where bags are filled with toys for children. I got a slip of paper with the names and ages of each child and my job was to fill their order. Each order was a mission to find the perfect toy from the bins of donated toys - to make it a special Christmas for that child. I imagined the children opening up their gifts on Christmas, hoping that they would love the toys I chosen for them.
My second special moment was attending a local AA meeting. I'm not an Alcholic, but I went in support of a family member. I was a little intimated at first and not at all sure what to expect, but during that meeting I experienced some of the most honest, uncensored and heartfelt sharing that I have ever encountered in my life. I remember thinking that the church could learn something from Alcoholics Annonymous! There were no masks here - nobody trying to protect their reputation or cover up anything. These are people who had completely come to the end of themselves. There were many discussions about spirituality - not always Christian - but real recognition of a higher power...of God. Each persons story was incredibly moving, sad but hopeful - a realization that life needs to be lived day by day. I learned so much in my short time with them.
My third special Christmas moment was on Dec 24th. My mother-in-law - who has not been to church in over 30 years...came to church with us - TWICE - in one day. We had a regular Sunday morning service and then a candlelight Christmas Eve service that night. And my sister in law and brother in law - who are not Christian or particularly religious - also attended the candlelight service. It was really amazing to have the family together, celebrating Jesus birth the night before Christmas.
The irony is that I spent so much time trying to create the perfect Christmas - gifts, decorations, food etc - and while all that was nice, it wasn't even close to being as meaningful as these three precious moments.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
You Must Increase, I Must Decrease...Lord
I've had this song stuck in my head for about a week now and I thought that if I blog about it...it might go away. Its You Must Increase by Matt Redman....
I will lift you high...and bow down low
How high can you be?
How low can I go?
You must increase, I must decrease Lord.
I'll bow down and you will be adored.
I feel challenged as I think about this song and type out the words...because I don't want to decrease! I know its good for me to decrease and let God increase and I want to WANT to be the type of person that willingly lets God take over. Its like Mark 9:15-29 - the father of a boy who is posessed by a demon goes to Jesus to ask for help. Jesus says to him "Everything is possible for him who believes." The man responds "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." I do want to decrease, but help me overcome my desire to not want to decrease.
I will lift you high...and bow down low
How high can you be?
How low can I go?
You must increase, I must decrease Lord.
I'll bow down and you will be adored.
I feel challenged as I think about this song and type out the words...because I don't want to decrease! I know its good for me to decrease and let God increase and I want to WANT to be the type of person that willingly lets God take over. Its like Mark 9:15-29 - the father of a boy who is posessed by a demon goes to Jesus to ask for help. Jesus says to him "Everything is possible for him who believes." The man responds "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." I do want to decrease, but help me overcome my desire to not want to decrease.
