the voodoo lounge

romania on my mind ... the trip home

2011-05-10T19:48:00.003-04:00

day six ...

woke up to a cell phone call at 1:00 am ... who’s calling me in bucharest? ignored it, because that’s just what i tend to do with phone calls.

when the real alarm went off at 6:40am, i awoke to a gorgeous, warm morning. i wish that i had brought running shorts with me, but i had to settle for tights and a tank.

today’s run took me out east, where i was intending to loop back south to the parliament buildings, run through the park that we’d explored last night and back north to the hotel. easier planned than done – and there were three important lessons that i learned:

1. in bucharest, it’s not the cars on the road you have to look out for – it’s the cars on the sidewalk (if you’ve ever been here, you’ll know what i mean).
2. mapping the route is the easy part – locating the road name signs is not.
3. even when stray dogs are surrounded by people, they will only chase the running ones.

as it was, i navigated down unintended side streets and was distracted on various occasions by police vehicles either travelling at high speed with sirens a-blazing or escorting what looked to be romanian dignitaries flanked by their equivalent of the secret service. add in that i ran straight past my hotel without noticing, and a 10km run turned into 12.71km.

after breakfast back at the hotel, doug escorted me to the bus stop, where the airport express had just arrived – barely enough time for goodbye. the bus trip itself was reasonably uneventful , although i did discover that at unidentified stops the officials responsible for verifying tickets will board the bus and randomly ask for valid transit passes. and even though my ticket was rejected by the magnetic scanning machine situated at each of the bus doors, apparently when it was checked by the official it passed muster.

check-in at the henri coanda airport was uneventful – thankfully. they actually have two airports in town. i’m not sure that i could have handled another “oh, you’re supposed to be at the other one”.

lunch at the terminal doesn’t offer too many options , so i managed to complete the trifecta. i have now eaten at pizza hut, mcdonald’s and burger king in romania.

highlights of the flights home?
a. seeing the swiss alps from the air
b. being patted down by munich airport security ... these guys take no chances
c. lufthansa flight attendant commenting on how much she loved my outfit
d. one hour delay for the flight from boston to Toronto (actually, i’m still waiting in logan international airport even now)

so, figuring that it'll be a late arrival back home after catching the simcoe county airport shuttle, i'm posting this before wrapping up the day. but i'm definitely bringing back great memories of bacau and bucharest to barrie.

(say that 10x fast)

[post script: i've now arrived back in toronto, but my luggage didn't make it. that's two for two on international flights where my bag has gone missing. last time it was our honeymoon.]

romania on my mind ... continued

2011-05-09T09:37:00.002-04:00

day five ...

ahh ... much better sleep last night. i woke up still tired, but did feel like i'd gotten a serious chunk of shut-eye. i set out for my 5 or so km run this morning, and did heed advice and headed into the city as opposed to away from it. still, no other runners, and people looking at me like i had two heads. could've been my lime green shoes.

doug had a late night in târgu ocna , but we made it for breakfast just after 8am. marian and his youngest daughter analise joined us, and all was great - until we went to settle the bill with the innkeeper. none of us had enough cash, neither my debit nor my credit card worked there. we scrambled until marian's church credit card cleared the transaction - but then we had to hit up an atm to make sure we were square with the church before hopping the train back to bucharest. residents in bacau (and even most of romania) do not have a lot of money, and the churches (at least protestant, non-state) are in the same boat. but all debts were paid, and we shared hugs with our friends before hitting the rail back into the big city.

train rides in romania still rank among the best train experiences i've had. even the trip back into bucharest ... for a while doug and i worked on trying to figure out our expenditures on this trip, all the while sitting across from an old romanian man who was occupied talking on alternating cell phones (he had two on him). after about two hours, he taps us me on the arm (having noticed that i was taking photos along the way) and pointed to a memorial-type structure in the distance and says, "that is a very important location for romanians because of the first world war".

ai yi yi ... i hope we didn't say anything inappropriate in english. he'd have understood every word.

as it turns out, the location was where the romanians took a stand against german forces in ww1. but more interesting than that was this 75 year old retired economist, who had travelled much of europe and india, and who spoke six different languages. he was filled with anecdotal and personal stories, and shared about his beliefs about living the christian life.

what a great guy.

arriving back at the golden tulip in bucharest, we settled into our rooms, only to be eager to go on the hunt for covrige - the now-beloved romanian soft pretzel. we walked down to see the romanian pariiliament buildings (it's enormous - probably viewable from space) and meandered back through a very pretty park, complete with an albino peacock.

dinner was at pizza mania, which was part out-of-the-way-family-run-restaurant and part international food chain. whatever it was, the penne alla diaviola hit the spot. and over supper we reflected on what was most meaningful/memorable to us on this trip: for doug, it will have been the serendipitous encounter with alexandr onthe train today; for me, it will have been encountering so many talented and passionate young adults who have been ostracized from their communities and countrypeople on account of their faith, who feel now that they must find their destinies in another country.

alright - bus schedule to the airport has been figured out. now it's time to wind down, prep for my final 10k intervals run tomorrow morning, and pack up to and bid adieu (somehow that doesn't sound quite right) to romania.

romania on my mind ... continued

2011-05-08T15:22:00.002-04:00

day four ...

hmm … don’t get it. another restless sleep in an extremely comfortable bed. doug also had an interrupted night of sleep in his room. not sure what’s up – might even be spiritual. all the same, we awoke eager to head to our respective church hosts to share a message to encourage and challenge them.

tried to order eggs and sausage for breakfast today – but since it’s a b&b style hotel, they didn’t have sausages available. so our hostess suggested “cabanos” for me. not knowing what that was, i said yes. well, doesn’t it turn out to be fancily-sliced hot dogs … odd, but i'll take it!

i was taken to trinity church in bacau to speak today, while doug travelled off to the pentecostal church in the city of roman. at trinity church, there were about 50 people in attendance, and the morning was filled with songs that i knew by tune but for which i struggled to pronounce the romanian lyrics. despite the language gap there was an undeniable sense of joy and hope in the air – a far cry from the first impressions that i developed of bacau before arriving here.

when asked to share the message, i began by describing how i’d lost my sense of direction during my run the previous evening. pastor marian almost choked before translating for me … apparently i went into territory that was far too dangerous for me. as he tells me, “you could have been robbed, or bitten by stray dogs”. he said that if he had known that that was the direction that i was headed in, he would have stopped me.

me? well, i knew that there was a reason that i perked up when the lyrics from “who am i?” played on my ipod … “whom shall i fear? whom shall i fear, when i am yours?”

the rest of the service went well, with even one of the songs selected by the worship team fitting in thematically with a key Bible verse that i'd used. funny how those things come together even when we don't plan for it.

pastor marian and his family graciously invited me to spend the afternoon with them. we visited the arena mall and had lunch at a restaurant there. again, i insisted on having some traditional romanian fare (while his kids ate pizza) – so i had “bulz ciobanesc”. nice dish.

the afternoon was spent at pastor marian’s home (about 15 min. outside of bacau city) having tea and cake, talking about the state of the church in canada, and watching humourous videos he'd used in church services. a very warm and hospitable family.

we returned to trinity church for the evening gathering - a much more informal time of music, some prayer, a brief reflection on the scriptures and open q&a time. about 17 people were in attendance, including two young adults who were not followers of jesus. i shared a reflection, and was asked many of the questions - including questions the highlighted the struggles of being a christian in romania vs. being a christian in canada.

post-service routine was very much like it is for us back home - a trip to mcdonald's. had my first big mac in years. (thanks ronald mcdonaldescu)

so one more sleep in bacau - maybe a sounder one. regardless, i'm surrounded by many more friends here now than when i first arrived.

2011-05-07T15:01:00.002-04:00

day three ...

really comfy bed, really fitful sleep. could have been the stray dogs barking outside, or the roosters crowing at an unnaturally early hour. decided to skip the run this morning.

excellent 'peasant omelette' here at the Pensiunea Scorillo followed by a ride with Pastor Marian to Trinity Pentecostal Church in Bacau. some 30 participants came for the conference, representing six different churches and several different denominations. i bet you that there was only three people over 40, and the majority were in their twenties. what a great demographic for church leadership.

i thought that it would be challenging to fill six hours of teaching time, but a few small group breakouts were included, and once you calculate translation time - budda bing budda boom! - you find that you actually run over time by the end of the day. there were great conversations and questions - and some touchy areas (ooh, that women in leadership issue!) - but all in all very encouraging and very satisfying for us all. i think that we were challenged to take seriously the post-modern world (be it western or eastern) as we reformulate how to communicate who Jesus is and what is the Gospel message.

dinner ended up being a repeat of lunch (but who's complaining?), as there was a good bit of food leftover. i got to indulge in what may be one of Romania's true national sports - table tennis - with Daniel, who has a ping pong ministry. the only reason that i ended up besting him in a game (unless he let me win) was that for the most part he was in a shirt, tie, had a security card and lanyard around his neck and was talking on his cell phone at the same time as he was pummeling topspin backhands.

arriving back at the hotel by 7:20pm, i decided to cram in that run that i skipped this morning. so i set out for a 14.9k run ... only i got lost.

in the rural Romanian countryside.

with stray dogs chasing me for at least a half a kilometre.

19.5km later, i found my way back to the hotel.

a shower and a skype chat with some of the ladies back home and i'm ready to chow down on the chocolate covered cookies that Daniel bought for me (the spoils of ping-pong victory, i guess). then it's off to bed, and a preaching morning at Trinity Church in Bacau.

romania on my mind

2011-05-06T14:40:00.002-04:00

day one ...

so my trip to Bacau, Romania started off great. jason mccoy offered me a ride to the airport – and on the way we had a fantastic conversation, covering everything from the (purported) assassination of osama bin-laden by an american tactical team to the recent canadian election results to alternative models of christian ministry and who might back them.

i should have known that things might get bumpy at the drop-off, when i removed my bags from Jason’s truck only to close the door and wondered what it was that i’d accidentally kicked along the ground. it was my passport.

then the air canada agent informed me that as of two days ago, they started flying out of the toronto island airport. my booked flight was one of them.

a service charge later, and i was didn’t have to find my way downtown to the island terminal.

the flights to and from montreal were uneventful and on-time. in frankfurt i met up with doug johns, and we took a commuter jet over to bucharest. man, i find sleeping on planes hard – so i was absolutely fried when we landed. but there was still a bus ride ahead, and a short walk to the hotel.

night #1 in bucharest was marked by a soft-pretzel (staple university student food there), a walkabout in the rain and dinner at pizza hut. if i noticed anything, its that cars park on the sidewalk. all over the sidewalk – so pedestrians really have to be quite fearless.

off to bed at 8:30 pm.

day two ...

after about a 10½ hour sleep, my wake-up call rang and i got up for a morning run. 5k through the streets of eastern europe on a gorgeous spring morning. pretty cool, unless you call being chased by a barking stray dog for part of the way not cool.

after breakfast and a quick facebook/gmail check-in (my eldest daughter messaged me to let me know she was glad that i’d made it, but that she was a bit confused by the fact that i was writing to her from ‘tomorrow’ – i thought that i’ve got to use that somehow in my conference talks ... communicating from the future), i managed to get some individual walkabout time in on friday morning, and i used it to stop in on a designated historical church (where i was ordered by an ornery elderly romanian woman to remove my hat), the national museum of art and some out-of-the-way pizza joints.

we had a scheduled 1:40pm train departure time to bacau but a 12:00 noon checkout time. so we headed over to the train station a bit early. enough time to be accosted by gypsies looking for money and prostitutes at the train station looking for sex (well, actually money).

the train ride produced its fair share of interesting sights (in no particular order):

horse drawn wagons all over the place

more stray dogs (some alive, some dead)

stray cows!

plenty of drainage ditches, river ‘valleys’, and aqueducts – all without any water

shanty towns strewn with litter (presumably inhabited by gypsies)

views of the carpathian escarpment

fields of canola

various peddlers of their wares boarding the train at each stop, dropping off goods for our perusal at our tables

we arrived at bacau train station and were greeted warmly by pastor marian paduret who is serving as host, guide and primary translator. he took us to our hotel (a wonderfully decorated and quaint family run b&b style place), and stayed for some supper with us. we chatted about plans for tomorrow - which apparently should include removal of my earrings for this audience. normally, i would take this under advisement and ignore it ... but given that i don't want to give anyone an extra reason to not bother listening to the western-world english speaker, i think that i'll oblige. :)

closing up shop at 10pm, in order to get a decent 16k run in at 5:30 am.

go east, young(ish) man

2011-02-21T14:56:00.002-05:00

so it wasn't more than 5 weeks ago that my friend doug johns contacted me to see if i'd be interested in helping with a lecture series that he's helping to coordinate for a bible school in romania. immediately my interest was piqued, partly for the opportunity to visit a region of the world that i'd never stepped foot upon before. the subject that he's/they've asked me to present on is communicating the gospel to 21st century culture. which leads me to ask ... what do i know about romanian culture?

needless to say i feel very much underqualified - and yet am willing to tackle the task undaunted. it wouldn't be the first time that i've gotten into something way over my head.

before they were famous, they were voices that needed to be heard

2010-07-23T14:41:00.002-04:00

i managed to watch a video on Bravo! about Toronto's Bohemian Embassy (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Behind-the-Bohemian-Embassy/128321293868685?v=info#!/pages/Behind-the-Bohemian-Embassy/128321293868685). what a great documentary. stories about people seeing the value in other people. stories about people pursuing a dream because it was worth chasing down. stories about people whose souls were reshaped and healed through music, poetry, drama and comedy.

stories like we want to write at The Republic.

watch what you (don't) write

2010-06-28T16:41:00.003-04:00

so after a weekend of speaking at two different venues, someone told me that even though we'd never met she was a reader of my blog posts [thanks da :)]. who knew? i figured that this was more or less just an opportunity for me to jot the occasional thought for internet posterity.

so i guess that i'd better make it more of a habit to put my thoughts out on cyberspace ... who knows who's paying attention.

a quick reflection from The Republic's last event, called Reverie: i had a great conversation with a woman who was walking off to a completely different appointment when she (her words) felt drawn in to our gathering. granted, we had the large pane glass sliding windows open at the coffee shop so that music could waft over the adjacent park, but still - and when she joined our company there, she felt almost moved to tears.

i couldn't have planned or orchestrated that. it was a divine moment for her. and without having to discuss faith or spiritual journeys or religion, she was ministered to by God.

that's what it means to present the Gospel without having to say a word.

we are the message.

what have we started ...?

2009-12-23T15:27:00.002-05:00

one of the guest at The Republic's last culture pub event spoke to me about how impacted he was by the gathering of artists and musicians in benefit of others. being a highly talented photographer himself with many connections within the musical community, he was inspired to enlist the help of the same venue which has hosted The Republic for a gathering of his own - which came to be known as Sleep Out Loud.

i managed to drop in to Sleep Out Loud with my oldest daughter, and it was a fantastic gathering. kudos to cody turner and his team for pulling off a stellar evening.

and now he's motivated to try to do it again ... and again ...

maybe this unleashing of creativity in an effort to change to world could catch on.

lessons in seeking

2009-11-15T17:41:00.002-05:00

our movement, The Republic, held a recent culture pub event on nov.6th. it was called Libero, and it was very much a gathering of people seeking freedom - freedom to express themselves creatively, freedom to relate to others in an environment that was engaging, freedom to live heroically.

once again, the culture pub experiment here in barrie has surprised me. even though i think i understand the trajectory theoretically, the reality of its outworking catches me off-guard. i'd no sooner posted bills advertising Libero when someone facebooked me with a message about her photography, saying that she'd noticed one of our posters and was interested to find out if we'd let her participate in an upcoming event.

so are we seeking out the artists, or have they been seeking for people like us all along?

could columbus have been wrong?

2009-08-07T09:24:00.004-04:00

maybe i'm a radical egalitarian - or maybe i just believe that hierarchical human structures can do as much damage as good. and that they don't necessarily have to be in place in order for an organization to 'succeed' or reach its goals. my a-type friends surely think that i reek of inefficiency and romanticism ... but i am still encouraged by stories like this one: https://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/how-to-design-a-flat-organization-matthew-e-may

this may be just the straw that broke the corporate camel's back

2009-05-04T09:19:00.001-04:00

guy kawasaki - if you don't know him, let me encourage you to look him up. i love the directions that this guy explores.

and for all of you who've ever thought about pursuing that crazy, 'normal-people-know-better-than-that' dream, you might want to read this: http://blogs.openforum.com/2009/05/03/how-to-escape-mundanity/

2009-04-24T14:36:00.001-04:00

i tawt i taw a puddy tat

2009-02-09T15:45:00.002-05:00

the friday session of the human event included some more reflections on leadership from eric bryant, on voxtropolis from eric sweiven, on accents and translation from alex mcmanus, and an impromptu presentation on missional leadership from the 7-day immersion participants. this is how we sent everyone off:

[looking at Romans 12] – the church tends to lead not with the soft skin and the sensitive touch, but tend to lead with what should be on the inside – the skeleton (a hard, concussive force) of Christ
the church often operates like a corporation … the only people who have anything to contribute are the ones who are paid, and the rest of us are stakeholders (judging those who get paid to ‘do the work’)
church leaders need to trust their people more – they won’t do it as well as we do, and may even do it differently
we often give up on people too easily
it’s important to create a climate where people have the freedom to not serve just because they feel obliged to
God is actively working to remove xenophobia from the earth
we are all immigrants with an incredible accent
being together in relationship is what facilitates comprehension – but we often look to take shortcuts in translation
the Gospel is never more true than when it is being translated
voxtropolis is a means to an end – the same end that the church is a means to: making the world human again

i hope that in sharing the thoughts of this week, you have experienced the invitation to participate in ushering in a brazenly hopeful new future. for more on the international mentoring network, please go to theimn.com, and for more on voxtropolis culture pubs, please visit myvox.org.

if you want to peer into the movement that i’m helping to provoke, please visit wearetherepublic.org. join the resistance – heroes are still wanted, and safe return is still doubtful.

the human event begins

2009-02-05T22:51:00.003-05:00

the fight for humanity begins again today. about 25 other would-be heroes descended on downtown Orlando to explore the possibilities of a more human future with us, including my friend Lorenzo from River's Edge Community Church in Montreal.

here are some extractions from presentations by Alex McManus, Brian Russell, Eric Sweiven and Mike Harris (as well as the group discussions that resulted):

the West is losing about 5000 Christians a day ... compared to China that is gaining about 16000 Christians each day
what kind of Christianity have we been promoting that atheists want to market the idea that people can "stop worrying and enjoy your life"?
in a centered set (see feb. 2 entry), we also have to be aware that Jesus is not a motionless centre
the human creature is the only one in the natural world who has the power to intentionally destroy the worlds of other
from the original betrayal (adam, eve, the garden of eden) there resulted a deep shift out of alignment with the Creator, the cosmos and with other creatures - so there is looming in our future a great re-connection
i'm not about making the heathen like me ... i'm about making the heathen in me human again
the call to repentance in the Scriptures doesn't say what to be repentent of
what would it be like for us to present a Gospel that people can access before opening up the Scriptures?

where does following Jesus take people?

2009-02-04T20:01:00.002-05:00

today ben (DeLand, Florida) joined our intrepid core of world-changers. we're getting ready for The Human Event tomorrow, when many others will descend on downtown Orlando to join us for the full-out conference.

as far as day three goes, we covered some ground on the the nature of restored human community, the church, and the culture pub movement. here are some of the thoughts that are still self-expanding:

the church exists in two structures: modality (a 1st commitment community - e.g. the local church) and sodality (a 2nd commitment community, which holds a more radical minimum standard - e.g. mission agencies, apostolic teams) ... but just about everyone wants to participate in the energy of a sodality ~ so why not construct the local manifestation of a Christ-following community as a sodality?
Jesus is a projection of the human future, should we choose to embrace Him
we will not reach the fulness of our individual human powers until we become fully human as a species - the whole must become healthy
"redemption and lift" - when the Gospel enters a community/culture, there is a measurable economic lift as it takes root
fallen humanity is like a broken or corrupted hyperlink - looking to human beings should point people to God and the Kingdom, but as a broken link we point to and create a dark yet potentially beautiful world
human history is the record of inhumanity
the concepts/precepts of the Gospel follow after the concrete activity of the vibrant human community
"zen evangelism" - it would be great to be able to convert people from apathy to passion
culture pubs help make a community human again by commissioning art
the culture pub promoter interprets what God is saying to the world through the world - s/he is listening to unredeemed prophets

i am maximus ... or am i?

2009-02-03T23:01:00.002-05:00

defining leadership is an incredibly easy task ... as long as you like multiple answers. you can find a different definition at every turn, and everybody feels that their definition pretty much captures the essence of 'true leadership'. with that in view, we dove in as well:

we each spent time reflecting on the leaders from films - ones that we admired, and others that we felt that resembled. here are some of the films mentioned: Chicken Run; Dave; Entertaining Angels; Saving Private Ryan; Blackhawk Down; Gladiator; and my own selection, 12 Angry Men.
there are two elemental leadership abilities: (1) the ability to harness human energy - examples of people who can create a group by their charisma or talent include Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte (not Dynamite ... although he's got some serious skillz), Adolf Hitler, and Josef Stalin; and (2) the ability to energize human community - these are people who create a culture where others can discover and exercise their leadership.
it is more important to understand the strengths of others than to understand your own
the key to working with other strong leaders who are not inclined to play with the team is to consistently bring them into the conversation - do not allow them to sit back until the zenith point, when their input can derail the work of the team
[StrengthsFinder] - BELIEF is at its core a momentum generator
[StrengthsFinder] - the genius of COMMAND is that it arises in crisis ("it is the horse that you need not ride" - Chip Anderson)
King David's skill as a sling-shotter was transferred from the sheep pen to the battlefield - what if we allowed/encouraged people to bring their talents 'from the field' into the church, instead of determining for them where they are capable of serving
social entrepreneurs are not fatalists - they see the future as open (plural options and uneven impact) rather than closed (singular and monolithic)

tomorrow ... what form will the human community of the future (have to) take?

why do i feel like these guys are serious about saving the world?

2009-02-02T19:34:00.002-05:00

i'm here in orlando, florida with the guys from the international mentoring network - alex (orlando, FL), eric (sacramento, CA), kevin (miami, FL), ryan (sheffield, UK), debbie (tampa, FL) and geoffrey (edinburgh, UK). this is going to be an intense but incredibly spirit-awakening time. i'm going to try to post some resonating thoughts each day as part of my 'session extractions', as this is going to be huge fuel for the work and trajectory of The Republic.

so here goes ... day one:

- if God is in a conversation with the world (not just the church, not just the religious, but with the entire world) ... what would it look like if we sought Him out wherever he was found?

- many of the pastors and leaders that the church needs are right here - they're just not 'saved' yet. what if we became talent scouts for God?

- most evangelicals argue for the authority of Scripture, and based on that move on to prove the resurrection of Jesus and the existence of God. that's backwards - the Bible exists because Jesus was raised from the dead.

- closed sets are people groups defined by a particular criteria. centered sets are people groups defined by individuated motion paths relative to the center (towards, or away?). many many churches can be described as closed sets - but is that going to promote the expansion of the kingdom?

- Q: in terms of your position in the universe, are you an orphan or adopted?

- the uniqueness of slavery in the west is its abolition (not out of some inherent character superiority, but the effect of the Gospel - it moves us toward a more human future)

- we can evaluate the quality of cultures not by comparing against each other, but against the Scriptures

- people can be wholehearted believers in God and attempt to obey the Scriptures but still not participate in creating the Kingdom come / human future

... more to follow tomorrow ...

pirates, heroes, and time travellers

2008-12-23T18:27:00.002-05:00

a place where creativity helps change the human condition for the better ... i love it.

and it involves pirates too!

it has begun

2008-12-15T20:25:00.003-05:00

i wanted to say thanks to any and all of you who made the effort to attend Ember.

to all of you who thought seriously about whether or not you could make it.

to those of you who invited someone to come. even if you knew that they wouldn't.

Ember was. that is a stand in and of itself.

ideas were shared. creativity was encouraged. dreams were nurtured.

and we all believe that there will be more.

please feel free to join us as we stand against the desecration of the human spirit.

The Republic on facebook
Ember event site (with photos)

Ember - the emergence of The Republic

2008-11-30T17:01:00.000-05:00

hey everybody,

just wanted to let you know that The Republic will be presenting it's first ever event, here in downtown Barrie, ON (Canada) ... it's called Ember, and will be at Casa Cappuccino (91 Dunlop St. E.) on Friday, Dec. 12th, 2008 from 7-9pm.

... featured musical talent will be local artist Bob Charters.

... we'll be showcasing the work of Illume Photography.

... the rescuing movement of To Write Love On Her Arms will be in focus.

if anyone is in the neighbourhood (or you know of someone who is), please pass the word out.

home of the dirty donut

2008-11-18T11:30:00.002-05:00

my friend and fellow provocateur in The Republic sent this along to me ... I'd seen it before, but man does it ever resonate still.

kilroy was here

2008-11-16T21:54:00.003-05:00

rob bell has a great quote in the book Jesus Wants To Save Christians -

"If our church was taken away - from our city, our neighborhood, our region - who would protest?

Only the people who are members?

Only those who are a part of it?

Only those who attend its services?

Single mothers?

Refugees?

Atheists?"

it's the dilemma behind that question that compels The Republic to be.

poems in the machine

2008-10-11T11:35:00.003-04:00

i happened to be doing some research as part of my job, and while trying to locate information on online quiz design i stumbled (consider how that happened as you will) on this poem by steve turner ... and i dig it.

If Jesus was born today
it would be in a downtown motel
marked by a helicopter's flashing bulb.
A traffic warden, working late,
would be the first upon the scene.
Later, at the expense of a TV network,
an eminent sociologist,
the host of a chat show
and a controversial author
would arrive with their good wishes
-the whole occasion to be filmed as part of the
'Is This The Son Of God?' one hour special.
Childhood would be a blur of photographs and speculation
dwindling by his late teens into
'Where Is He Now?' features in Sunday magazines.

If Jesus was thirty today
they wouldn't really care about the public ministry,
they'd be too busy investigating His finances
and trying to prove He had Church or Mafia connections.
The miracles would be explained by
an eminent and controversial magician,
His claims to be God's Son recognised as
excellent examples of Spoken English
and immediately incorporated into
the O-Level syllabus,
His sinless perfection considered by moral philosophers
as, OK, but a bit repressive.

If Jesus was thirty-one today
He'd be the fly in everyone's ointment-
the sort of controversial person who
stands no chance of eminence.
Communists would expel Him, capitalists
would exploit Him or have Him
smeared by people who know a thing or two about God.
Doctors would accuse Him of quackery,
soldiers would accuse Him of cowardice,
theologians would take Him aside and try
to persuade Him of His non-existence.

If Jesus was thirty-two today we'd have to
end it all. Heretic, fundamentalist, literalist,
puritan, pacifist, non-conformist, we'd take Him
away and quietly end the argument.
But the argument would rumble in the ground
at the end of three days and would break out
and walk around as though death was some bug,
saying 'I am the resurrection and the life...
No man cometh to the Father but by me'.
While the magicians researched new explanations
and the semanticists wondered exactly what
He meant by 'I' and 'No man' there would be those
who stand around amused, asking for something
called proof.

the other off-limits topic

2008-10-03T11:55:00.003-04:00

so i'm watching the vice-presidential candidates debate last night, interested at how the leadership race of the world's most influential nation is shaping up ... and without ever really having pre-chosen sides in any political campaign, i'd back the obama-biden ticket easily.

feel free to disagree.

oh, and while you're thinking about people who can impact the future of the planet ...

wins and losses

2008-09-29T13:16:00.004-04:00

a few random thoughts for today ...

losses:

our volleyball team ... the "beach bums" ... have not won a set yet, and can easily play well enough to be a contender ... frustrated yet hopeful.
tried to get the republic involved in providing free drinks for the barrie new music festival (newmusicfest.ca) or even colour-sorted m&m's for the band green rooms ... no dice. the organizer said that while appreciated, the effort would undermine the sponsor venues' potential beverage sales (drat - capitalism wins out again). still - be sure to check this out and support our local artists!
approached the local out-of-the-cold program with the idea of hosting free(!) bi-weekly coffeehouses at the shelter locations ... once again, organizers felt that it wasn't a practical contribution to their efforts. still - do what you can to help those who are going to struggle through a difficult and dangerous season ahead.

wins:

the bears! took on philly last night and held their ground ... i'm always proud to pull for the blue and orange.
the connexus small group that we're a part of is going to help sponsor me to go and be a part of the IMN 7-day immersion by helping to cover my flight and perhaps even accommodation costs! you guys rock and we love you.
i spoke briefly with my wife's hairdresser, who's interested in being part of the phoenix art project that the republic is planning for next easter. all that she knows is that it's going to be a guerilla art event, involving a shared canvas around the theme of 'resurrection'. how cool is that ...

i'm going to disney world! ... ok, not really - but close ....

2008-09-19T15:01:00.002-04:00

first off, i'm still giving pernell goodyear a run for his money as world's worst blogger ... but definitely check his stuff out. i'm so rooting for him.

secondly, this week i got word from my friend alex mcmanus that i've received a scholarship (ergo acceptance?) to be part of the 2009 international mentoring network 7-day immersion in orlando, florida. these guys are the pioneers of the culture pub movement, and i am super stoked to get to pray and plot with these would-be heroes. i'm still working on figuring out how to pull together the pennies to get me there, but i'm treating it as a non-negotiable. i believe that this is going to be absolutely integral to the republic gaining momentum.

in the meantime, here's the second part to the video interview with sir ken:

artsy-fartsy, eh?

2008-09-16T19:55:00.004-04:00

i came across this video on garr reynolds' blog. i'm persuaded that he's onto something in what he says about the model of education (and measurement of intelligence) being based on an outdated system. part of me also wonders if there isn't an element of that in how most of us in north america approach the faith institution that we know of as church. is it not in large part a specialized model of education (don't we call the community part for kids, 'sunday school')? and is there a kind of partitioning of leaders based on the scales of intelligence? are we even encouraging (by some of the existing, even trendy models of ministry) a high degree of conformity?

lots of questions, no presumed answers. but if sir ken can posit that perhaps education is killing creativity, could it be that certain approaches to church are more outdated than they think - and even squashing the human spirit?

the republic is on the move

2008-08-08T09:22:00.002-04:00

with the summer whipping by, and 2008 now more than halfway done, i've felt a little stalled out on this new service initiative that i've been working on. so i thought that i'd better go back to the instigator - the guy that really helped shake things up to the degree that i sensed that maybe my life direction was going to take a more daring and possibly heroic path - alex mcmanus.

so i gave alex a call yesterday, and we talked for about an hour.

and wouldn't you know that he'd give me more than enough to stoke up the fires and generate new ideas.

here are a few ideas that we shared:

it may be more helpful to get out of the mode of thinking about 'church planting', because most church planting strategies are essentially about launching the careers of the 'church planter' ... so i've been encouraged to adopt the language of an activist (or, as i prefer, 'provocateur')

the culture pub movement is not driven by the timeline of business, but by a sense of existential urgency ... the world is dying untouched by love, truth, beauty and community, and what are we doing about it?

raising money for a new initiative can creat a false sense of security ... rather than using $ to generate momentum, it's better to start with very little resources/overhead and use $ to preserve momentum

and here's one that i definitely want to use ... what if there was a gathering of not-Christian artists (e.g. painters) who came together to develop a collaborative work on Easter Sunday - and the only guidance that they are given is that they are to depict themes of resurrection, be it the phoenix, the Matrix, the story of the Christ - just some images rooted in literature or media. wouldn't it be awesome to simply have the community abuzz talking about resurrection on that day and not even be in church? this event will already be taking place in Orlando, Sacramento, and Sheffield (England) ... and i hope to add Barrie, Ontario to it to make it truly a global event.

and if you didn't catch it, the name of this movement/space/community is The Republic (web presence soon to be developed - wearetherepublic.org).

we are on the move ...

if you want to change the world ... and avoid bozos

2008-06-10T12:26:00.003-04:00

ok, so i'm breaking my own rules by not posting about 'the language of heroes' ... but let me tease you with this - at a meeting last week with some other ministry leaders and church planters, one dude (let's call him, oh, sean) reminded me that "language defines culture". so be very careful (and intentional) about what language you choose to use ...

today however i stopped to take a peek at this video - i literally was going to give it about 30-45 seconds max viewing time - and couldn't stop watching. if you have at all caught the vibe of what this blog has been about, i think you'll probably be glued to it too:

i think that i'll have to watch this repeatedly for the rest of my life.

the village well ... or the city gate?

2008-05-19T16:40:00.003-04:00

i haven't posted in a while, partly because i actually (for a relatively unemployed guy) feel quite swamped with activities and meetings. not a real good excuse - especially when you see (on facebook) that i've managed to catch a ninja mouse and several bionic mice recently ...

two conversations of particular note this past week - one took place as i caught up with an old friend from my hometown of orangeville (props to the o-town!). i met with shawn murdoch who's had his own dream of getting involved in some sort of ministry that might be hosted in a coffeeshop. shawn's got an awesome life story that's he's crafting, and he also shared an insight into the human condition which struck me as interesting. he said to me that his experience of life has taught him that everyone is looking for love, understanding and acceptance - and that in each of those exists the reality of forgiveness. i think that it's worth consideration - much like erwin's suggestion that humanity has a craving for meaning, intimacy and destiny.

conversation number two took place on the golf course yesterday - in near hypothermic conditions (who needs to fall into the lake when the lake is falling on you?) but on an amazing plot of land (bigwin island - thanks again kevin!). my friend ray was telling me about an article he'd read that talked about a sports bar that in the daytime often served as a 'real office' for virtual company employees. workers from various organizations who were used to otherwise working in isolation come together in one space to conduct their business and share ideas. it's an intriguing new approach to trying to build community ... read about the concept here.

coming next post - the language of heroes ...

artists understand artists

2008-04-30T10:38:00.002-04:00

yesterday i spent about an hour and half talking, laughing, consulting and visioning with janette vanderzaag of groundswell coffeehouse in alliston, on. the venue there is not unlike what i have envisioned for here in downtown barrie - a cultural hub, nurturing creativity and community. she's been paving a path there for about 3 years now, and was very gracious in sharing the practicalities and pitfalls that need attending to when trying to open up a business like that.

i walked away with several contact names, great insight into what makes a successful coffeehouse tick, and encouragement that this kind of ministry resonates with all sorts of people.

and she delivered a pretty mean cup of hot chocolate - rivalling my good friend marty's product.

anyway, business plan here we come! and do check out groundswell, if you happen to be swinging through alliston.

add me to the campbell soup

2008-04-15T14:14:00.002-04:00

i've been having many encouraging meetings with various people who seem to share some of the vision of the voodoo lounge (... on another note altogether, i was thinking about other possible names yesterday and wondered about "the soularium" - so i googled it, and found that it is in use by a number of bands and is also the designation for a supercool project put on by campus crusade - check it out here). just yesterday i happened to chat it up with someone at a funeral who worked with an old friend of mine at a local bakery ... and this friend is interested in seeing a coffeebar type venue open up here in barrie.

did i mention that he's a baker?

as in baking stuff?

yummy.

and today i had this incredibly energizing meeting with don campbell and matt campbell. this father/son dynamic duo shared with me their family's vision, nurtured over the last several years, of creating a venue for local musicians and music lovers that would become the foundation for a kingdom community. we shared dreams, and i think that we all felt that we were reading from the same page. man, it was inspiring to hear where their hearts are at, how they see that it's not about Christ-followers trying to make a dent but about reclaiming everything beautiful and creative and passion-filled about the world back for God.

i just love it when a plan comes together. cause believe me, that's what it's feeling like.

of chickens and eggs

2008-04-07T12:44:00.002-04:00

just a quick thought ... instead of planting a church and trying to build a community, i would love to plant a community and see a church emerge ...

a wild and woolly week

2008-04-05T10:51:00.004-04:00

well, the basement flooded again (which means the office that i finally moved back downstairs got moved upstairs again ...!), it was gus' 2nd birthday yesterday, and i got two very intriguing and separate phone calls that have bearing on the voodoo lounge.

the first call was from a colleague in ministry whose congregation is thinking of launching a satellite site. they are a fairly traditional worshipping community who are considering of starting a coffeehouse venue, but they need someone to provide leadership for it. i was told that if i was interested, it would provide the kind of partnership where my "hands won't be tied". plus they already have some money set aside which they could funnel toward this new venture.

the second call came from an acquaintance through my former church home, trinity community church. this man and his son have been dreaming for a little while about trying to get something rolling in the downtown sector of our city, which would be a venue for local musicians to showcase their talent. he'd heard through a mutual friend that i was very much interested in facilitating a lab for creatives, and so we may be sitting down to chat about sharing visions.

i wonder if maybe the legs are finally getting underneath this wild dream.

i'm tellin' y'all it's existential sabotage!

2008-03-24T21:10:00.003-04:00

so more than a couple of people have checked out the lounge blog here and wondered what 'existential sabotage' means ... is it a threat? am i a threat? or is it just a weak attempt at sounding somewhat intelligent?

yes, yes and yes.

i don't know if i made the phrase up or if i heard it somewhere before, but it runs along the lines of the mandate that some of us feel we have to 'comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable' ... emphasis on the latter. i believe that many of us become 'reactants' to life - rolling with what it gives us, waiting for the next situation that demands our attention or yanks us to one side. and we stop being the 'agents' in life - making deliberate and bold choices that not only determine our life's trajectory but also create a positive ripple effect that travels beyond us.

yes, yet another feeble attempt to sound like i have more than a few working brain cells.

but i think i know what i'm talking about.

too often we trade in our destinies for monotonies. and we end up living with a whole list of 'what could have beens'. when i think about what the Scriptures say, i often think of Paul saying that he's learned to be content in every situation.

it wasn't that he sought contentment, but that he was able to apply the discipline of knowing contentment instead of anxiety. still, he believed that his life could accomplish something great. so he tried to save the world.

existential sabotage is about challenging others in their life's journey. it's about shaking things up where they are not settling into letting time drift away. it's about picking up the hero's torch and running hard and fast into the future.

and i can see that i'm messing people up already ...

i wish i'd written this stuff

2008-03-05T17:27:00.003-05:00

i'm finally getting down to reading "organic community", and really digging it. joe myers is one smart writer imho. i'd love to see him speak some time.

and my good friend carey nieuwhof (whom i have had the great privilege of seeing speak on many occasions) pointed me to an article that resonates with the ethos of the voodoo lounge. check it out here.

the soul of the voodoo lounge

2008-03-03T15:38:00.003-05:00

i thought that it might be time to start discussing what it is that fuels the soul of this venture that i've named the voodoo lounge. the whole idea of this kingdom experiment is to try to cultivate something that is responsive to God's movement and presence in the world today ... and it begins with my admission that i don't know everything. hey, some days i wonder if i know anything at all ... but i am confident that if the voodoo lounge is an 'open source' initiative - that it is attentive to voice of Jesus speaking through the voices of others who are also desperately seeking after Him - that it will take on the kind of shape that will profoundly impact our community.

let's give credit where credit is due ... my taking-off point is the work of my friends at the mosaic alliance. i've had the privilege of conversing with them on a number of occasions and in a variety of settings. their approach to the Jesus-following community has resonated with me at the deepest levels - those places where you don't 'process' but where you 'feel' and 'just know'. but don't get me wrong ... believe you me, they're as smart as anything.

they describe 5 core values, and i want to share my thoughts on them one-by-one. each one is described in elemental terms, and the first platform is "wind" - mission is why the Church exists. for a while now, i've held to the belief that the Church is not an institution but a movement. easy for me to say, I know. what it means is that what holds it together and what propels is a commitment to follow ing Jesus.

following ... a verb.

it's as we focus on where Jesus is going, whom He is healing, where He is teaching, what He is resurrecting that we are His people. Jesus started this whole deal by calling people to follow Him. to tag along for the ride. to press forward together.

moving on mission is how the Kingdom of God takes shape in the world today. and i believe that that is what Jesus came proclaiming - the realities of God's presence in the here and now. if the church simply becomes an enclave for religious observers, it runs the very real risk of becoming an impotent assembly.

Jesus was all about power and transformation, not impotence. and i'm not sure that He cared much for assemblies ... but He sure did have a lot of people mobbing Him - as He went.

if the voodoo lounge is at all going to be connected with the Church, it will be a place of intersection for heroes and revolutionaries. people who believe that the world has a future, and that God is desiring to map that future with us. we will gather, but only because in gathering we will find the common strength and desire to catapult each other out.

my hope is that even people who never step foot into the voodoo lounge will know the life-changing impact of those who have been sent out from it.

it's not Wagner, you know

2008-02-27T13:38:00.003-05:00

this month, i've been invited to be the communicator at Trinity Community Church in Oro (where i'd been on staff for 3 1/2 years). it's a real privilege to be able to share with this community of Jesus followers again, and especially to cover the Easter season. honestly, when i initially said 'yes' to speaking, i didn't realize that i'd agreed to the month encompassing Easter ... neither did i have the foresight to check whether or not it was a 5-Sunday month ... oh well. no worries.

i'm going to try to deliver a message series called "oh, the humanity!". you probably know that phrase from the coverage of the hindenburg disaster. we're going to use it as a leaping-off point to look at the worst of human behaviour in the bible ... and how even those incidents became the putty with which God has been able to sculpt something beautiful and lasting.

if you can join us (and that's not intended to be an enticement to leave behind your own communities of faith and worship), i'd love for you to be in on the conversation.

fighter

2008-02-13T15:44:00.003-05:00

i just got back from sunnybrook health sciences centre visiting my friend cindy. she was in a horrific car accident when she collided with a school bus. after undergoing numerous surgeries, she is now out of intensive care and slowly recuperating.

she seems to be in really good spirits, and deeply concerned about the welfare of others - including her children and close friends. can you believe that she actually mustered up the energy to grill me about how the voodoo lounge initiative is progressing??!

anyway, she tells me that she plans to be out of the hospital and at home in a week.

don't laugh - she's a fighter. if anyone can do it, she can.

let's get physical

2008-02-05T11:37:00.000-05:00

some of you know that I've gotten involved in my first community theatre production ... and having a blast with it. it's called "Boeing Boeing", and it's being presented by the South Simcoe Theatre in Cookstown, ON. we're driving towards opening night this thursday, and tonight is our first dress rehearsal with an audience ... yikes!

it's been a real steep learning curve for me. from memorizing plenty of dialogue to memorizing stage blocking to ensuring that cues come quickly and accurately, i've definitely found myself stretched and, on numerous occasions, quite underequipped.

another real challenge for me with this play has been the fact that my character ("Robert") is required to kiss two of the other female characters. that's awkward enough when you consider that i've only ever kissed two other girls other than my wife (all of them before I was married, I might add!), but add to that that both of the actors that I kiss are younger (one much younger) than I am ... well!

but here's the real revelation for me: it's astonishing to me that I can kiss these women, both of whom are incredibly beautiful and talented, and feel nothing. no romantic feelings, no animal magnetism, no improper thoughts. nothing.

i wondered at first if there was something wrong with me ... and then i started to feel sad. not for me or for them (well, maybe sad for them because they have to endure kissing me), but honestly sad for any and everyone who engages in relationships and physical intimacy where there is no emotion or commitment. i imagine that that must be the tragedy of sex without love, of desire without devotion. it may seem appealing from a distance, but there's an emptiness that resides within.

i'm grateful for the talents of my co-actors (thanks Kristen and Ashley!) who make our kissing encounters work in the context of the performance. i just hope that there aren't that many people who are trying to play those scenes out on the stage of life.

greetings from holiday limbo

2007-12-30T16:05:00.000-05:00

just a quick hello and belated merry christmas / early happy new year to everyone! i hope that you've been able to pause in the middle of the mania that is the christmas holidays to reflect on the wonder of the incarnation. let it seep into your mind and soul ... that the infinite entered the frailty of infancy, and that the uniquely sacred became the commonly mundane. and all for the sake of hopeless humanity.

it's enough to make you cry ... or sing.

catch you all in '08.

the voodoo world tour

2007-12-16T19:07:00.000-05:00

well, this is as big as it could get folks ... 3 venues, 3 different weeks. i'm not sure exactly why, but every now and again I get asked when and where I'll be speaking next. so for the dangerously curious, the gluttons for punishment and those who won't be persuaded otherwise, here's where you can find me over the upcoming weeks:

Dec 24 @ 7 pm - Trinity Community Church (Oro)
Dec 30 @ 10:30 am - Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church (Orangeville)
Jan 6 @ 10:30 am - Living Faith Community Presbyterian Church (Baxter)

as far as the new ministry launch plans go, i'm going to try to schedule a coffee gathering for any and everyone who's interested in tracking with the voodoo lounge (it's funky, it wasn't my idea, and i don't have a better name for it yet) once the Christmas rush is over. if you'd like to be part of the underground, please leave me a note with your email address.

as my friend alex would say ... heroes wanted. safe return doubtful.

rick's cafe americain

2007-12-09T12:07:00.000-05:00

i just watched casablanca again last night. classic actors, classic lines, classic tunes. i was captivated by it this time not because of the love story-line, but by the notion that a nightclub could set the stage for a movement of resistance. an underground swell of truth-speakers and freedom-fighters. from my seat it wasn't just the front for these rebel heroes, it was the conduit. a place where ideas are born and ideals are supported.

i'd like to help give birth to something like that here. i may not be rick or sam or even victor, but it'd be a privilege just to be in the company of would-be heroes.

the need for speed

2007-11-25T15:25:00.000-05:00

i'm really starting to like James Gleick. i'm well into his book Faster and for a work that's almost 10 years old, he seems to have legitimately penetrated into the dna of western culture and identified our insatiable appetite for speed. last night during a saturday evening tub-soak, i was absorbing his thoughts on how we have even come to measure intelligence according to the speed dial. quick-wit and quick-thinking must be evidence of higher intellect, right? those people who deal in the realm of psychometrics (studying the speed of thought) sometimes have their discipline labeled in these kind of simplistic terms. and yet many psychologists would agree with their Yale colleague Robert J. Steinberg, who says "If anything, the essence of intelligence would seem to be in knowing when to think and act quickly, and knowing when to think and act slowly."

what do you think, my a-type friends?

or how does this hit you (from the chapter, "Decomposition Takes Time":

"Biology fights back (or is it technology?). Pauses manage to reinsert themselves into the flow of our faster, multitasking mental lives. Your Web browser is connecting to a distant site, while a voice in the telephone handset at your ear has just said, 'An operator will be with you shortly,' and you realize three minutes later that you have entered a sort of trance; the operator is not with you, and your Web browser has found nothing. Shortly the computer will announce, 'The operation has timed out.' Yes. Catatonia. It's the Sabbath."

i love this guy.

cultivate learnings of freeway for make benefit glorious lounge of voodoo

2007-11-20T15:34:00.000-05:00

not intended to be as funny as Borat, but hopefully just as insightful and meaningful ... (really!)

here are some of my scribble notes from last Saturday's "Cultivate Gathering" hosted by Resonate and The Freeway Cafe:
- - - - -
M I S S I O N A L   I M A G I N A T I O N
Joe Manafo – Missional Imagination & Creativity
- our experiences are a fusion of images, sound, music, lights, structures
- forming a ministry is like pulling together various images to fashion/decipher a story
- mind-mapping is a process that allows messages to emerge

Krista Jefferson
- reflect on one of the core values of Frwy – beauty – and took a tour of the Beasley neighbourhood to look at the poverty but still identify places and images of beauty
- “I don’t want to photograph someone’s wedding more than once”

Katherine Siebert
- “conviction” may be just that intuitive sense that something isn’t quite right
- “experimentation” – acting on conviction, even if it means stepping out into uncertainty
– started edeva, a blog for artists and artisans to discover (being the beautiful gift and unwrapping yourself to the world)
- “taking the leap” – moved to Dominican Republic … maybe for a time, maybe forever
- “confirmation”
- “evolution”

M I S S I O N A L   T H E O L O G Y
Tim Bailey
- there is a difference between our new images and the process of reimagining - how do we help people reimagine?

reimagine :: the concept of ‘fellowship’
- how do we facilitate authenticity? Scripture talks about ‘putting off’ (e.g. falsehood) … you don’t become authentic, you are already authentic – you can only choose to mess that up
>> we give up and dump off things – e.g. my privacy, my protection/protectiveness
>> we try to become the kind of person that doesn’t require you to exercise grace, which is counter to the message of the Gospel

reimagine :: ‘freedom’
- it’s getting rid of my own bondage – getting away from my selfishness, not moving towards more of what I want
- love will drive you to the people that you think least deserve it … love is inherently missional
- grace = being addicted to forgiving

reimagine :: ‘worship’
- if worship is about sacrifice, it leads us to give up my whole being for His creation
- if it’s about being filled as opposed to being emptied (Phil 2), then we have missed the point

reimagine :: ‘truth’
- if it’s seen as downloading information through to conclusion, it finalizes and resides with us
- truth is a person – and we are growing into the truth (there are things even 15-20 years ago that we believed to be incontrovertible truths which today we laugh at and can’t believe we ever held them so firmly)

David Fitch
- ‘missional orders’ – much of church planting has been based on the premise of Christendom … there used to be an established structure/church organization, and someone was paid to extend the franchise
>> missional order is about surviving – knowing we’ll get banged up, and finding ways to make ends meet
>> not about repackaging church for disgruntled Christians
>> we’ll have to take on disciplines of resistance … we’re told that a venture is not worthwhile if it’s not making money
>> old order of Christianity is about having power – now it’s decentralized, governed by mutual submission
>> not about organizing a system at an excellent level, but living a way of life together

M I S S I O N A L   P R A C T I C E
Dan Sheffield
- missio Dei – the restoration of shalom throught the expanding influence of the Kingdom of God on earth
- church’s ministry is incarnational, not attractional
- what does shalom look like in a culturally-diverse community?
> the meeting of different cultures can bring a richness of values to all, including the dominant culture
> multicultural accepts a duality of interaction: positive adjustment is necessary for all (not ghettoism – segregation of cultures)
> cultural self-assurance empowers minorities to interact with other cultures
- as Christians we are all moving from loyalty to our own cultural values, to an adjusted worldview
- we have loyalty to Christ and are seeking to incarnate him as “counter-“ in our own cultural contexts, but we also seek to interact with, be enriched by, and adjust to believers of other cultures
- the multicultural congregation empowers all cultural voices to participate in setting goals and making decisions
- - - - - - -

aj and i had a grand ol' time at the cafe. i think that between free coffees, multiple trips to the bathroom, and exploring half of the one-way streets in hamilton, we felt God's call to missional ministry really amplified through the reflections and networking that took place.

and call it rebelliousness, unbelievable self-assurance or all-out stupidity ... for all that i heard people say "but don't do" or "you shouldn't try", i felt even more compelled to try to navigate those avenues that seemed to frustrate everyone else.

dream big or go home, i guess.

uncomfortable grace

2007-11-14T15:03:00.000-05:00

the funny thing about grace is that it really is undeserved. last year i remember struggling through this issue with a good friend of mine, who was blessed with a great show of kindness from a group of friends and strangers. he seemed to be in real anguish over receiving this gift, because he felt deep down that he and his family didn't deserve to be blessed in that kind of way - or at least that there might have been others who deserved that type of a gift even more.

isn't that funny in a strange kind of way? that people would be inclined to turn away an act of grace on the basis of who deserves what?

let me clearly say that this is not to criticize my friend's actions or attitude. i do remember being struck by the irony of the conversation/situation. little did i realize that not even a year later i would be entangled in the same contradictory line of questioning.

some of you may know that i walked away from a staff position with an incredible church ministry (check it out - www.connexuscommunity.com) in order to pursue a dream of instigating a whole other format/brand of ministry. where that left me was without any employment and us with a whole lotta bills still to pay.

but there we were, out trusting that following God out on the road is the very best place that we could be. and believing that maybe God has a vested interest in not seeing us go completely bankrupt.

well, this past weekend we received a really generous - i mean really generous (especially if you knew the backstory of the givers) - gift from some friends. our first instinct was to say - you guessed it - "we don't deserve this!".

grace can make us feel quite uncomfortable.

but we have decided to receive this gift, and not try to give it back. instead we have resolved that to be gracious in accepting the gift means that we must become people who in turn look for ways to extend grace to others. pay it forward. make sure that what comes around, goes around.

so just a warning to look out - grace may be coming (to a theatre?) near you.

open season

2007-11-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

every now and again, i want to share some thoughts that will hopefully provoke some soul-reflection and culture-engagement. if you know me at all, you'll know that i enjoy a good argument ("oh i'm sorry, but this is abuse ...") - which doesn't mean that i like to get into emotionally charged conflict, but rather a solid no-holds barred evaluation of ideas and practices. if an idea, no matter how uncouth or unorthodox it may be, might be worth some consideration, i say let's give it the time of day. in the end we may all agree that it is a silly or bad idea, but there may be intrinsic value in trying to figure out 'why' or looking at what light it might shed on our own tightly held beliefs.

so just to get things rolling, here's a discussion that i participated in online with some other ministry provocateurs ... what is the goal of a Christian ministry? i've been in the church circles that promote that it's all about the 'decision' to give one's life to Jesus. so is that it? an exercise of the will that gives mental assent to a proposition about who Jesus was and what was accomplished by his death on the cross? does that define a Christian?

what if being a Christian is not so much about a set of assumed beliefs as it is about the trajectory of our life choices that fashion us more into the likeness of Jesus?

what if true Christianity is more about the kingdom transformations that we are effecting here and now than about the security of an (attractive) eternal destination point?

and what if the attempt to put the definition of "Christian" into a category is a violation of the essence of Christianity itself?

this, i believe, is truly a wrestling match worthy of pay-per-view.

a sign of things to come ...

2007-11-10T11:22:00.000-05:00

hey everybody,

thanks for checking this out. i wanted to give anyone and everyone an opportunity to track with the emergence of this new ministry format that i feel God is expressing through me. i really don't know what it looks like yet, but i definitely have a sense of what it will feel like.

next saturday my buddy aj and i are going to participate in an event called the 'cultivate gathering'. it's hosted by the leaders of the freeway in hamilton, ontario, and i'm anticipating that it will be a critical launch moment for this new work that i believe God is instigating here in barrie.

if you feel that the ground is ready to shake beneath our feet ... please stay tuned ...