Lasn likens life in what he calls America™ to life in a cult in which “we have been recruited into roles and behavior patterns we did not consciously choose.” Does the child who sits in front of a television set for three to four hours a day, shops at the mall with her parents, goes to school and recites the Pledge of Allegiance, plays computer games, listens to her president encouraging everyone to go out shopping in order to defeat terrorism, wears clothes from the Gap, and plays with the toys created out of the imagination of Disney and Hollywood, ever actually choose the American way of life? Did she go through a ritual of initiation beyond getting her first Barbie? Was there a moment of conversion in her life when the American dream became her dream? No. She imbibed this mono culture consumerist dream in the fast food she ate, the polluted air she breathed and the visual culture she inhabited. And so she was converted, made into a cult member, before she ever knew what was happening. Lasn points out that “dreams, by definition, are supposed to be unique and imaginative. Yet the bulk of the population is dreaming the same dream. It’s a dream of wealth, power, fame, plenty of sex and exciting recreational opportunities.” When a whole population dreams the same dream, empire is triumphant.*

*Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press, 2004), 171.

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” – C. S. Lewis.

“A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.” – C. S. Lewis.

More brilliant insight from Alister McGrath.

There is no doubt that the debate over how we generate and justify our beliefs is immensely important . . . . In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to the way in which people sustain their belief systems. The evidence is disturbing, especially for those who continue to believe in the Enlightenment vision of complete objectivity of judgment in all things. Yet there is growing evidence that belief systems – whether theistic or atheistic – are neither generated nor sustained in this way.
Cognitive psychological research has demonstrated repeatedly that people “tend to seek out, recall, and interpret evidence in a manner that sustains beliefs.” The interpretation of data is often deeply shaped by the beliefs of the researcher. These implicit beliefs are often so deeply held that they affect the way in which people process information and arrive at judgements. Both religious and anti-religious belief systems are often resistant to anything that threatens to undermine, challenge qualify, or disconfirm them. Deeply held assumptions often render these implicit theories “almost impervious to data.”
Some Christian and Islamic writers seem unwilling to examine their deeply held beliefs, presumably because they are afraid that this kind of thing is bad news for faith. Well, maybe it is – for intellectually deficient and half-baked ideas. But it doesn’t need to be like this. There are intellectually robust forms of faith – the kind of thing we find in writers such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, and C. S. Lewis. They weren’t afraid to think about their faith, and ask hard questions about its evidential basis, its internal consistency, or the adequacy of its theories.*

*Alister McGrath, Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007, p. 82, 83; with quotes from Richard E. Nisbett and Lee D. Ross, Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1980, p. 192, 169.

I am again reading and writing on the interactions of science and faith. I have been reading Alister McGrath’s book, Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. Maybe one day I will write a book about my own journey relative to science and faith. It is an important topic and one that has always been part of the human story.

We must continually reassess our faith in light of the science of the day. Augustine of Hippo (354 to 430) discussed this in his Commentary on Genesis more than fifteen hundred years ago.

In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines our position, we too fall with it. We should not battle for our own interpretation but for the teaching of Holy Scripture. We should not wish to conform the meaning of Holy Scripture to our interpretation, but our interpretation to the meaning of Holy Scripture.

God created a world too marvelous for us to fully comprehend. It should not surprise us that His ways of doing this are beyond our comprehension. Many words have been spoken, written, and argued regarding creation, science, design, evolution, and faith. Perhaps we must again hear the words of an ancient theologian and “not rush headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search of truth justly undermines our position, we too fall with it.”

We all need to have more laughter in our lives.

“When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.” – Thomas Szasz, “The Second Sin”

“The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.” – Rita Mae Brown.

“What can you say about a society that says that God is dead and Elvis is alive?” – Irv Kupcinet

“I have an existential map. It has ‘You are here’ written all over it.” – Steven Wright, US comedian and actor (1955 – ).

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” – Mark Twain, US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910).

On July 13-15, 2009 Church Planting Canada (http://www.churchplantingcanada.ca/) presented a Church Planter Summit for church planters in Alberta and British Columbia. A summit (sometimes called a boot-camp) is training for those who are in the process of planting a church or are about to plant a church. Ideally it fits in soon after a planter has been assessed and has a vision in mind for where they would like to plant a church.

Gord Fleming (Director of Church Planting for the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren) and Keith Shields (Lead Minister of LifeHouse Christian Church) were the primary facilitators and presenters to 20 planters representing 11 plants in various stages of development in Calgary, Edmonton, Chilliwack, Surrey, Langley, Sechelt, and Vancouver. These planters were from Mennonite Brethren, Evangelical Free, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Apostolic Churches of Pentecost, and Brethren fellowships.

Other presenters included Mark Anderson (Marineview Chapel), Jerry Conner (The Bridge Church), Cam Roxburgh (Southside Community Church, Forge Canada, Church Planting Canada), Bindu Sidhu (Lead Planter of The Life Centre in Abbotsford), Ray Woodard (National Advocate for Church Starting, Canadian National Baptist Convention) and John Caplin (John F Caplin Coaching and Consulting, Church Planting Canada).

This summit was designed to lead planters through a process whereby they walk away with a coachable strategy for planting their church. The planters came with their visions, their ideas, their models, the beginnings of core values and the summit helped them sharpen these into a coachable plan. Topics covered included “Counting the Cost,” “Core Values,” “Vision,” “Mission,” “Assembling a Prayer Team,” “Fund Raising,” “Transforming the Neighbourhood,” “Servant Leadership,” and “Guarding the Heart.” At the end, each planter made a presentation to the rest of the summit showing their strategy for planting a church in their target area.

God is raising up a new crop of labourers who are willing to plant churches and bring the Kingdom of God to our country. Many of these planters and potential planters will continue to educate themselves and prepare for planting churches. We too need to continually educate ourselves and pray that God might give us the abilities to reach this nation for Christ. This fall we have an opportunity to participate in a national event focussed solely on renovating our country with the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Plan now to take in Renov8, the national congress on church planting presented by Church Planting Canada. It will be held in Calgary on November 17-20, 2009 (http://www.thecongress.ca/). Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that we might see many new churches planted.

“Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which can be pointed out by your finger.” Cicero Roman author, orator, & politician 106 BC – 43 BC.

I recently came upon this blog post at “The Forgotten Ways Blog.” You can read the whole post here: http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/2008/12/07/the-bible-and-communitas/

The part that caught my attention was his further explanation of communitas and liminality, concepts he develops in the book The Forgotten Ways and also addresses in his blog. A short definition of communitas is “the belonging which develops while being on a difficult mission with a community of friends.” A short definition of liminality is “working from the margins as opposed to working from within the power structures.”

This claim that communitas and liminality are normative for God’s people recently stirred up a bit of a storm in a recent speaking tour. Some people in the audience responded with real vehemence when Michael Frost and I proposed this way of understanding of Christian community. This negative response forced a deep reflection on the validity of these ideas but after much searching I have to say that I have not fundamentally changed my mind. On the contrary, this clash in conceptions in relation to the purpose of the church has forced me to conclude that for many of our critics, Christian community has become little more than a quiet and reflective soul-space (as in Alt Worship circles) or a spiritual buzz (as in Charismatic circles) for people trying to recuperate from an overly busy, consumerist, lifestyle. But is this really what the church is meant to be on about? Is this our grand purpose, to be a sort of refuge for recovering work addicts and experience junkies? A sort of spiritual hospital? I believe that the reason for the strong response in our critics is that they actually did ‘get the message’ about missional church but didn’t like it because, in this case, it called them out of a religion of quiet moments in quiet places and into liminality and engagement.

Lord, help us to take on the difficult missions into which You call us knowing that You are our strength and salvation.

Recently I had a great visit with Claudia Launhardt and her husband Nasser. They are doing some great work in the Downtown East Side (DTES) of Vancouver. In 2001 they purchased the Ivanhoe Hotel, a low income single room occupancy (SRO) building in the DTES. They are people of faith who have a great story to tell. It is evident that God is at work through them.

When the Launhardts bought the 125-room hotel, it was receiving up to 600 police visits a month. They worked hard to redeem it from its infamous reputation as the ‘devil’s playground.’ They renovated extensively, replacing the roof, the elevator, and the heater. With the help of TWU [Trinity Western University] students, they also painted and recarpeted to make the place more appealing for residents. “We want people to feel at home here and take pride in where they live,” Launhardt says.

Soon, the new owners found residents were as eager as they were to eliminate crack dealers and violent criminals from the hotel roster. “People came to us and said, ‘Don’t rent a room to this guy, he’s dealing drugs,'” Launhardt says. Slowly, with prayer and prudent management, the hotel was purged of its undesirable tenants.*

Today, the Ivanhoe requires no government subsidies and pays for itself as it cares for some of the most vulnerable of Vancouver’s residents. It is great to see people of faith making a difference. We need more brave followers of Jesus who will help transform the lives of the people of the DTES.

*”Room at the inn for Vancouver’s poor,” by Louise Rousseau, CanadianChristianity.com, reprinted from Trinity Western magazine, http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/031204room

Today I am wrestling with what it means to be benevolent. Allow me to tell you of things I have seen. I have spent time in the Down Town East Side (DTES) of Vancouver. I have talked to people on the streets. I have seen the destructive power of addiction. I have seen how sick, addicted, mentally ill persons are exploited by pimps, drug dealers, gang members, and slum lords. I have seen “harm-reduction” that leads to safe-injection sites, attempts to decriminalize prostitution, soup kitchens, free hot-dogs on the streets, homeless shelters, and police services handing out free beauty supplies to exploited women.

I have seen many community service organizations and Christian ministries working in the DTES trying to make a difference. I have seen many people who have given their lives and much money, time and effort to making life better for people in the DTES. I have seen lobby groups that block the demolition of buildings to prevent the “hard to house” from being put out on the streets but allow the slum lords to continue to charge for rooms that are not fit for the mice that also live in the rooms. I have heard social agencies referred to as “poverty pimps” because the directors of these agencies earn a living as they serve the poor and perpetuate a system of government funding with little to show for it. I have seen many volunteers who are tired and calloused from years of serving with little hope of change and little appreciation from those they serve.

The positive stories of change and renewal of dignity are few. I must look for ways to bring the light of justice and God’s Kingdom to these dark places. I must look for ways to truly do good to people without perpetuating injustices and without encouraging the bad choices that lead people to need benevolence.

In his novel, The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill speaks of the slave trade in Africa and those who tried to put an end to it by setting up a colony of former slaves in Sierra Leone. One of the characters has this to say about the efforts of well-intentioned Christian philanthropists.

“There is no profit in benevolence,” Armstrong said. “None. The colony in Freetown is child’s play, financed by the deep pockets of rich abolitionists who don’t know a thing about Africa.”

The DTES has certainly seen its share of people with deep pockets and no understanding of Vancouver. And yet, this does not negate the fact that lives have been saved and good has been done.

Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” Today, I am wrestling with how I can be “openhanded toward my brothers and toward the poor and needy in this land.”