Together We Stand

For some time now I've been contemplating how social networking and collective intelligence can be and is being applied in a variety of life situations. My niece found this video and posted it on Facebook. I have also recently been listening to this book by Bill Kinnon.

Social networking occupies a measurable portion of my work and private life now. When it comes to interacting with my community of friends and family who are not in my immediate geographical area, or who I cannot see except infrequently due to time constraints and schedules, Facebook has become my preferred tool. I have been able to reestablish connections to friends and acquaintances from decades earlier in my life as well as know much more about people I am in ministry with but cannot be face to face with daily.

I have done ministry for some through social networking and had real life events begin in the crucible of the social network. I have observed how my children and their friends use social networking to communicate and add to their relationships, and how in some cases they are already either taking this powerful medium for granted or even disengaging from it because of the demands it can place on them. When disdain or rejection of a widely used technology appears one can assume it has become ubiquitous enough to be pushed back against.

What I'm observing now is that the generational divide between social media users and non-users is blurring faster and faster. My middle-ager, baby-boomer group is one of the fastest growing segments, but so is the generation just before ours. The drivers seem to be family issues and ease of communication.

While this type of networking is still called 'virtual', I am personally regarding it more and more as 'actual' - even as telephone conversations have been considered 'actual' communication instead of virtual for decades now. Texting, chatting, using video/audio communication like Skype, text communication like Twitter are all becoming considered to be 'actual' interactions and the 'virtual' label is losing its social meaning - now referring simply to the mechanism of the communication rather than imparting any judgment of the relative value of that interaction. Less and less is 'virtual' interaction being seen as less desirable, valid or useful as compared to accepted 'actual' interaction.

We are solving real problems through applying the power of collective intelligence and collaborative work connected over 'virtual' platforms (MySpace, Facebook, etc.). We are expanding, maintaining and continuing our personal networks through the same media. We are connecting and making community and these new technologies offer powerful tools for us to make positive differences for ourselves and others.

A church I heard about changed its policy making structure from a top-down executive model to a congregation engaging work group model. At one of the first meetings where they implemented this the people attending were broken up into work groups and given aspects of the issues being addressed to discuss and report on to the larger group. There was some resistance to the change, but one elderly member in her 80's simply stated, "This is the way we do things now."

And I think Scripture encourages us to use these various media to bless each other.

Social networking - this is the way we do things now (or it will be very, very soon.)

Shalom

When Everything Old Is New Again - It's Great!

I promised a word on Eric Clapton's & Steve Winwood's 2009 live collaboration "Live From Madison Square Garden". Recently Clapton has been going this route more than flying solo. Beginning - as far as my collection is concerned - with the stunning 2004 "Crossroads Guitar Festival" DVD, his triumphant live concert reunion with Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker as Cream in 2005 and then the utterly superb "Road to Escondito" CD with J.J. Cale in 2006, Clapton has been indulging himself in playing with whomever he wants whenever he wants. I say indulgence is very good in these cases. "Live From..." is no exception.

I was fortunate enough to see Winwood live in 2008 in Edmonton, AB as the lead act with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. What surprised me was what an accomplished guitarist he is. My previous experiences with 'the man, the myth, the legend' were firmly planted in his string of relatively successful albums in the '80's including "Arc of a Diver" (1980), "Talking Back to the Night" (1982) & "Back in the High Life" (1986). On those recordings Winwood performed primarily as a vocalist/keyboardist. In Edmonton he wowed me with his guitar prowess, but I can be forgiven as I was still largely ignorant of his earlier career, of course with the obvious exception of "Gimme Some Lovin'". The bits I did know about via television always had Winwood seated behind his ubiquitous Hammond B-3 organ. So be it - at least I'm still learning.

To say Winwood keeps up with Clapton on this superb double CD doesn't even come close. Opening with the wondrous trilogy of "Had to Cry Today", "Low Down" & "Them Changes" with nary a fulsome organ chord in any of them, Winwood goes chord for chord and note for note with his old friend. When the organ finally comes to the fore in "Presence of the Lord" we all understand why the Hammond instrument left the dusty confines of the local church to enter the smokey environs of the local club. And it just gets better and better as the album goes on.

Clapton is as smooth, relaxed and on target as I've ever heard him. Sliding from bluesy authority to incendiary riffing to meaty rhythm to chunky punctuation he is always in the groove. He makes space for the other players to contribute better than I've heard before, yet holds the spotlight - when he is called on to - with a deft touch that speaks volumes of how he has mastered his art and his demons. Assurance, accuracy, emotion, investment, connection, soul, truth - these are just a few of the descriptors that apply to his playing on these songs

Speaking of the 'other players', the contributions of Willie Weeks on bass, Chris Stainton on keyboards and Ian Thomas on drums are all more than up to the task of constructing the foundation that Clapton and Winwood stand on while they spin their magic. Showing the innovation that set them apart originally in Blind Faith comes across particularly well in their version of Buddy Holly's "Well All Right" - a treat worth the whole purchase price of the CD in my never-to-be-humble opinion. The new players become a part of that song as if they were there when their leaders first tangled with it in 1969. But in the case of this version, time and better recording techniques plus love and appreciation have done very good things for the music. Indeed that combination has infused the whole recording with something quite special.

The set is sprinkled with songs from both Clapton's & Winwood's solo careers plus most of their Blind Faith songs. It is a well crafted set list that shows all of the dimensions of this duo's musical prowess, highlighting clearly why we and so many others love what they do. The result transcends the past, their separate journeys and previous successes and re-frames the music within the new context of their amassed skill and experience. Their obvious respect for each other and the songs brings reverence and joy in equal parts to their playing and making this much, much more than it might have been in the hands of lesser artists.

As live albums go, this one is at the top of the heap from a production standpoint. I suspect this is so because the boys new this was going to be a one-off event and the decisions that needed to be made to ensure a sterling outcome were made early on and without flinching. The technical & production staff and crew deserve a big 'thank you' for helping to get it right.

So this stuff isn't "contemporary" by most standards, but it is timeless. In may ways it should humble current artists who strive to make music that is emotional and rooted in the long-standing forms of the blues/rock genre. There really is something to be said for the results of artists who practice their craft long and well. It just "keeps getting better all the time" (thanks Paul & John). Although it is a long set, it doesn't wear thin anywhere along the way and once on the iPod one is inclined to cue up both CDs in succession and just let 'er rip.

Most of us won't get to witness something like this magical set of concerts - the live moment being relegated to the affordability and exclusivity of owning an exotic automobile or luxury yacht. This is why it is such a miracle and blessing that microphones and other recording equipment exist. And why it is such a miracle that we can experience the next best thing to being there - maybe a better thing than being there because we can visit it time and time again. And as a final thought, very often projects like this can lead to a "wish I was there" nostalgia for times past. I think in this case, could we send a copy of this recording back to where it all began in '69, the folks there might wish they were here. Time and patience can result in wondrous things.

I think I'm gonna have to buy the DVD, too.

Shalom

He Plays a What?

"Unique" is a word often thrown around the music biz that stands in for phrases like "not commercial" or "we can't categorize it so we can't sell it" or most usually "doesn't play by our corporate rules so we hate it". As any of you who have been perusing this blog know, I often comment that the cognoscenti of the music world wouldn't know a good recording if they were struck across the noggin with it tied to a Fender Strat. But that happily doesn't stop good stuff from getting made. And so often it takes the hand of another artist to get it going - like in the case of this blog entry's featured artist.

In 1981 I had no idea who David Lindley was. As it turned out I heard his nitro-fueled version of "Mercury Blues" at a show in Edmonton during their summer exhibition - then called "Klondike Days", now called "Edmonton's Capital Ex". Although "Klondike Days" was a fairly ghastly name, the new name sounds like it's an ode to the ultimate ex-partner. Well living that far north does strange things to a body - but look at me, I lived there for 25 years so who am I to talk?

Self-serving digressions aside, I'm sad to say that I didn't see David and his band El Rayo-X live. The aforementioned song was the soundtrack to a synchronized water fountain and lightshow that preceded the main act - who may have been "Teen Angel and the Rockin' Rebels" - sort of Canada's answer to "Sha Na Na". They were, in my fuzzy recollection, quite good as a '50's/'60's cover band. But that David Lindley driven water fountain lightshow - that really stuck in my mind. I suspect the designer/developer of that little demonstration went on to be involved with the design of the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, or at least was one of the first to use the technology - the fountains and lights were wicked fast for their day. But it was the song that got to me.

My only previous experience with "Mercury Blues" was the California-slick and slightly swampy version done by Steve Miller on his equally excellent but nothing-at-all-like-Lindley album, "Fly Like An Eagle". That version had been firmly burned into my brain for at least 5 years, including a run in 1976/77 when I'm pretty sure I listened to the whole album once a day for at least 10 months. In 3 minutes and 33 seconds Lindley shredded my connection to the Miller version and I was hooked, never looking back. Sorry Steve - I still like the rest of "Eagle".

The very next day I had me a copy of "El Rayo-X" and the rest is future history. It turned out I had been hearing Lindley before - I just hadn't noticed. Thanks to Jackson Browne, whom Lindley had done session work for, and who co-produced the album, I was getting the pure source. It also turned out that Lindley was connected to another west coast wunderkind - Warren Zevon - who also was connected to Browne. I was listening to a lot of California produced stuff at the time, but David Lindley sounded like he had dropped in from another planet. By now, you've probably noticed the meandering style this post has taken - well that's just a metaphor for what David Lindley does with a tune.

I'm going to recommend two albums for you and I'll bet that the third one I'll mention is a keeper, too - although I don't have it - yet. The first I've already named above - the second is "Win This Record" (1982) - both originally released on the Warner/Reprise label. The third "El Rayo Live" will satisfy the completists reading this - and while those three don't encompass even a tenth of Lindley's recording career, they do represent the sum total of the El Rayo-X period. And it was a wonderful and all too short spasm of creativity the music biz couldn't categorize, control or contain.

To say that Lindley's arrangements of tunes - especially covers he did - were "different" would be like saying "Nickelback's" music is only slightly formulaic and predictable. But Lindley, for all his unique approach (how about a reggae version of "Bye Bye Love"?) is one of the most musical players I have ever heard. Some of my ab-so-lute-ly personal favs are "She Took Off My Romeos", "Twist and Shout", "Talk To The Lawyer", "Ram-A-Lamb-A-Man" & "Make It On Time". You'll need both albums to hear all of those. But in every case you will be confronted by a man and a band who know exactly what they are doing - even as you are trying to figure out just what it is.

Lindley plays pretty much anything with strings on it that can be plucked or strummed. The fact that he uses an electric steel guitar to create the power chords on "Mercury Blues" was a revelation when I finally saw Lindley and most of El Rayo-X (at least percussionist extraordinaire Ras Baboo was there) on the TV show "Later...With Jools Holland" hosted by the ex-Squeeze keyboardist.

And even though Robert Randolph - the newest proponent of a very un-traditional sounding approach to the standard and pedal steel guitar - never heard of Lindley or other 'secular' bands when he was growing up, I like to think that it was Lindley who was in the vanguard of breaking down some of the barriers that relegated certain instruments to certain genres of music and made Randolph's career an inevitability.

Anyway, you owe it to yourself to give Lindley a try. He takes a bit of listening to get full value from, but it's well worth it. Just start with the tunes that grab you and give the others a chance, and then you'll find yourself hearing those same sounds in other musicians' repertoires. And that brings us meanderingly to the point of why David Lindley matters - he made those sounds first, and then others followed him. And that is the best definition of "unique" I can think of. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Imitated, yes. Bettered, never!

Shalom

How Do You Feel?

Recently I have become increasingly aware of health care and its associated costs through the illnesses of people I am connected to through the internet and personally. Michael Spencer, my fav Christian blogger - who is a real Christian goshdarnit - has been struck with cancer and has lost his income and health care coverage and is in real jeopardy, financially as well as physically. Kaja Foglio of "Girl Genius" had knee surgery and as a self-employed artist/entrepreneur she and her husband Phil have had to face these issues. In a circumstantial quirk that beggars description the Foglio's colorist, Cheyenne Wright, was struck with a viral infection that affected his heart. Cheyenne is even further out on the seemingly non-existent health care limb than Spencer and the Foglios as he is a free-lance artist.

Their friend and fellow web cartoonist/entrepreneur/writer and neo-Renaissance guy Aaron Williams, creator of "Nodwick", "PS 238", "Full Frontal Nerdity" and the recently and sadly demised "Backward Compatible" comic strips as well as the highly excellent, more traditionally delivered "North 40", linked to an archived American NPR broadcast of "This American Life" from October of 2009 on the subject of health care and its attendant costs. If you want the rest of this post to make any sense you must listen to this program next. Thanks to the "majick of the internets", the rest of my scribblings will patiently await your return. Hoy, Technology!

As a Canadian, and "lucky" recipient of nationalized public health care, it may seem that I don't have a dog in this fight, but I've been spending a lot more time in hospitals and being concerned about health care lately. After my mother-in-law destroyed her right shoulder in a frightening tumble down her basement stairs in October of 2009 - yet another coincidence beggaring description when juxtaposed with the date of the NPR broadcast - and that in the middle of dealing with her husband's rapidly deteriorating condition due to Alzheimer's, we were forced to pay much closer attention to such things - at least north of the 49th parallel. More recently, due to experiencing my wife suffering with an undiagnosable ailment, I have realized that many of the pressures, mechanisms and infernal internal workings of health care delivery as outlined in the "This American Life" documentary are also part of "This Canadian Life". I live in the "True North, (not so) Strong and Free (for sure not free as in 'free lunch')".

Many of the situations described in the broadcast had an all too familiar feel to them, particularly how my wife and I evaluate medical decisions based on how information is shared with us by doctors, nurses, therapists, politicians, medical insurance providers and drug companies through advertising and the ubiquitous media. These multiple streams of information have created and sustained many of the same false beliefs and unproductive ideals we see demonstrated in the US health system. The real reality check being that neither a public nor private system - nor any hybrid of the two - will solve the basic issue of a demanding public that wants what it wants - now - costs be damned.

Solutions will hopefully come from more education and understanding of the forces driving health costs worldwide, and hopefully a sober re-evaluation of our expectations of the system alongside a maturing acceptance of our mortality. OK that last part is really unlikely, but it would help us gain a better perspective. But we cannot maintain "business as usual" in America or Canada for much longer, if at all. In the meantime, folks like Michael Spencer, Cheyenne Wright, the Foglios and many, many more will be at the mercy of the system and upheld only by the mercy of the community that supports them. That's the gracious, loving adaptation that has been made as a response to the inequities and shortcomings of the health system. People who care and are caring have stepped up to help these folks - meeting needs we expect government, industry and community to address, but have spectacularly failed to do. And we all shudder at how expensive mercy has become - and that it has become a commodity at all. As a leader of a faith community, all of this impacts deeply on my work and calling in ways I am struggling to understand and deal with.

If you visit some of the links above you'll find PayPal links for some of these folks. If you're feeling OK you might send them a few bucks to tide them over. After that, you might want to get control of your own health care understanding, process and start engaging with the system in your local area. Do some work while you're up to it - while you feel healthy. It's a lot easier than having to deal with it from flat on your back in a hospital bed. But more than anything it seems we all need a network of people who care for us and will care for us when we and the system can't (or won't). No amount of money will ever purchase care that is as good as what is given freely in love. That is why I am so involved in the community God is creating through Jesus. Real hope and security lies there.

Find His community - it's the best medicine.

Shalom

The Perfect Album

In 1994 Mary Chapin Carpenter released "Stones in the Road" the follow-up to her highly successful pop/country crossover album "Come On, Come On". It is much to my chagrin that I only just ordered my CD copy of this remarkable recording this week, having spent the last 16 years content to listen to my pirated cassette tape recording of the original CD. (Please forgive me Mary!)

This 13 song tour de force extends beyond 45 minutes by two songs - I know because I had to put them on the "B" side of the tape along with some Eagles tunes from their "Hell Freezes Over" CD, also released in '94 (and yes, I DO own the CD of that album so calm down Glenn!). I cherry picked the tunes from the Eagles CD, but I couldn't from Carpenter's recording because they were - and still are - all exceptional songs.

"Stones in the Road" is one of those rare "perfect storms" of music recording were the songwriting, musicianship, recording and production all are as near perfect as God allows in this world. It remains among the very few albums I would absolutely have to take on my desert island exile and it would, I am sure, be listened to in its entirety on every occasion even under those circumstances - even if my stash of albums was quite meager.

The music and lyrics on this album are so mature, so assured, so honest and so believable that I suspect younger listeners will not be able to fully appreciate them. Some experiences are complex and nuanced and cannot be fully enjoyed until personal experience and maturity makes it possible to access the deeper truths they contain. For instance, before I was a father I could watch TV-borne pleas for aide on behalf of disadvantaged children feeling little emotional impact - this is not so anymore. "Stones in the Road" is that kind of album - like a truly fine wine or accomplished painting or sculpture - the depth to which it can be appreciated is directly proportional to the depth of the person experiencing it. And then miraculously, it takes you to deeper levels of experience and understanding as you resonate with its honesty and truth.

Carpenter infuses her songs with brevity - "the soul of wit" - honesty and delivers each song with a fluidity and grace few artists can muster. Her dusty alto is perfectly suited to the folk/country/rock arrangements and instrumentation. Each song - with the possible exception of "John Doe # 24", which is more like a jazz/tone poem - has a strong melody and, in the majority of cases, a captivating musical hook. It simply must be said that this album is one of the strongest ones I have ever heard in 40+ years of listening when considered from a purely musical perspective. Every tune is "right" and is played and recorded "right". It seems impossible to imagine anyone covering any of these tunes without owing much to the original.

She covers the gamut from loves lost ("House of Cards"), to coming of age in historically significant times ("Stones in the Road") and facing the adult ennui that ensues, to the humor and anticipation of new romance ("Shut Up and Kiss Me"), to spiritual and relational healing ("Jubilee") - all without ever succumbing to being the slightest bit maudlin or overweening. If there is anything that is to be called disarming about this set of songs, it is in the way Carpenter opens herself up and allows us in with such easy grace that we might find ourselves overwhelmed by the immersive intimacy she creates.

If you are mature enough to engage this music - and well read enough as it does require knowledge of mid to late 20th century North American history and culture to be fully appreciated - then dive in and immerse yourself in the experience. It is truly a blessing that this album is still available, as it was popular but not in the extreme sense.

My wife and I listened to it in full last Monday at the end of an extended music session wherein I had covered playing a lot of songs by artists whom we have listened to and appreciated over the years as well as some newer stuff too. After the last song on "Stones in the Road" it was time to end our session and as I commented to Susie I said, "I don't know if we own a more perfect album than that one. I can't believe we still don't have it on CD." She agreed and it was understood that this gross oversight was to be corrected immediately.

In the song "Why Walk When You Can Fly" Carpenter writes:

In this world there's a whole lot of trouble, baby
In this world there's a whole lot of pain
In this world there's a whole lot of trouble
But a whole lot of ground to gain
Why take when you could be giving, why watch as the world goes by
It's a hard enough life to be living, why walk when you can fly

When the Amazon order gets here we're gonna hook up the iPod in our car and fly away.

Shalom

Music & Faith

As a person of faith I constantly find wonder in the world because I see the hand of God in action everywhere. For whatever reason I was created to be particularly sensitive to music - and I know I'm not the only one. My appreciation of music has undergone several times of rediscovery as I have been able to integrate personal experience, emotional understanding and a widening perspective into my experience of enjoying music.

Perhaps this whole process is becoming more poignant as I develop difficulty in hearing. Time and some audio abuse seems to have worked its harsh consequence upon my sense of hearing. I strongly suspect that I will outlive my ability to hear properly - but there are no hearing aides in my ears yet. And while that is not yet the case, I have decided to keep on listening.

Music reviews were a staple of my earlier pursuit of this life long love. Finding a reviewer whose taste and sensibilities complimented my own while still being able to introduce me to new musical experiences was a discovery that I would savour. Radio DJs were also useful before playlists were corporately programmed - designed to meet content requirements (thanks sooooo much CRTC) and reach advertising demographic groups (NONE of which I belong to!). These days corporate media hustling, narrowcasting and the proliferation of musical genres, which most folks seem to strictly confine their listening within, have pretty much killed most of the good reviewers.

I am convinced that a good recording can - when the artist honestly pursues the truth - bring us an appreciation of the divine and the human and the place they intersect. It is no coincidence that the Psalms (songs of the Bible) are among the most quoted ancient Scriptures in the New Testament. I find I cannot memorize more than a few lines of prose - the post-modern equivalent being reciting movie catch phrases - from important sections of Scripture, speeches or books & writings. But I can easily commit to memory a large catalog of songs, poems and music. Ideas wrapped in music have a staying power beyond the mere spoken word.

So I'm going to spend a number of posts reviewing the very best recordings I have ever experienced. Some will seem quite old - what the HECK IS old anyway? - some will be newer. All will, I hope, hold the common thread of having the air of truth about them, even if they make the list because they are essentially just great fun as opposed to being deep and transcendent musings on the human condition.

I hope to cover a wide range of genres, but I won't cover everything because there are some music categories that I just don't - and probably never will - appreciate. So be it. I am biased, as we all are. I hope my bias is a useful bias. Anyway, I'm not too worried - Perez Hilton I'm not, THANK GOD - so my little scribblings will not in all likelihood do much damage or cause much of a groundswell. Never the less - enjoy!

Shalom

Owl City - Ocean Eyes

Adam Young had insomnia while working for a Coca-Cola warehouse. Coincidence?!? We think not! However, this affliction turned into a creative stream of self-produced music videos that Adam recorded in his parent's basement in their home in Owatonna, Minnesota. He uploaded them to his MySpace page, building a steadily growing fan base and allowing him to self-produce and release his music. Creative therapy for his insomnia, indeed!

The practical outflow of this was that he was 'discovered' by Universal Music and released his third CD, Ocean Eyes - his first major label release - last year and saw his tune "Fireflies" climb to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in the UK charts as well.

As I have said before, I'm not a great fan of electronica/dance but there is an engaging and infectious quality to Adam's music that I believe is universally appealing. Then there is the fact that the CD is currently on sale at HMV for a mere $9.99 and you have an irresistible musical antidote to the winter blahs.

The reality of pop music like this is that it often has a short shelf life, but Adam has something real and substantial happening here and I think this CD might yield a couple tunes that will climb into my medium rotation. The real potential lies in the fact that Adam is so young and has so much more time to develop as an artist. The mind boggles at the possibility. I'm not given much to predictions, but this man has possibly a very bright future in scoring movies. A Grammy might be hard to achieve, but an Oscar may definitely be in the future for Adam Young one day.

As long as he can still dream and realize those dreams into his unique musical vision - insomnia notwithstanding.

If you haven't heard/seen "Fireflies" then here you go:

"Fireflies"

Shalom

PS

Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood created a live concert CD/DVD package of their 2008 collaboration concert series in Madison Square Gardens. It's on my "to buy" list and will be the subject of my next review.

A Cup of Water

Michael Spencer has been a clarion clear voice in the post-evangelical wasteland for some time now. In addition to posting blog articles that have been elevated by the Drudge Report and caused comment on mainstream media (dubious though that accolade may be) he has also moderated the most civil, engaged and thought provoking conversations in North American Christianity to date on his blogsite.

His blog output is prodigious, he creates a regular podcast, teaches (his "real" job) and preaches. I am in awe - and I am also blessed by his boundless energy, thoughtful application and unwaivering love for Christ - and His church.

Michael has a new book on publishing pre-release on Amazon.ca and I agree with Bill Kinnon in that it will be both very good and very important. Ordering it would be a great source of encouragement to Michael and wouldn't hurt y'all one little bit either.

Michael has recently been diagnosed with cancer and his job at a small, private high school has ended for now along with his limited medical coverage. As he is a citizen of "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" he has no medical coverage in a country where band-aides distributed by HMOs cost, on average, $19,000 plus tax. If you have a few spare bucks you can send him some here. That link's gonna take you straight to PayPal.

He's a brother. The least you could do is pray for him.

Shalom

Re-Membering

I belong to an evangelical baptist church that belongs to a group that has a 100+ year history in North America. OK, I pastor said church (we ain't 100 yet, but we will be 50 in 4 years).

In a recent update from our national leadership it was revealed that "membership" issues will be discussed at our next national conference. I know that local churches have been debating this for some time now. Doctrine is difficult to change.

Here's my position:

I'm a Christian - specifically a Protestant, and I'm a convinced baptist. I am in favour of adult believer's baptism by full immersion in water as the best way to follow scriptural instruction.

However, I know several folks who were not "immersed" although they were baptized (my wife is one) who are as devout and authentic as you can find in the faith. I was baptized by my United Church Minister parents (yup, both of them) as an infant.

As a teenager I sinned my weaselly little butt off - and I did a fair amount of that as an adult, too. When I realized - really realized who Jesus is and what baptism meant I, and my wife, were convicted and convinced about our need to willing be obedient in baptism. No problem. We were baptized by immersion but we understood that we were already "in". What was needed was an act of obedience and worship that would stand against our former disobedient witness and mark for ourselves and others our new direction. We needed it.

But I know folks who haven't strayed as we did since they openly confessed Jesus as Savior. As a note: all churches that practice infant baptism also require that young adults (or older ones if it takes longer) make a full public confession in keeping with Scripture. "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9. Martin Luther would have called that act "receiving your baptism properly". And some of these folks need no new "marker" as we did. Their lives have already been a better testimony that ours, even if we live another hundred years.

So I believe that anyone and everyone who follows Christ will have to be obedient to the command to be baptized. But I am becoming more convinced that the method and mode can be understood and accepted in a wider vein.

I still will teach, preach and recommend believer's adult immersion baptism, but I recognize all who belong to Jesus and are my brothers and sisters. Now to help my conference, association and local church recognize the same thing and find a gracious way to deal with it. Pray for us.

Shalom

Join the Conspiracy

Conspiracy from "conspire" from the Latin - "to breathe together".

This is an important audiobook: A Networked Conspiracy: Social Networks, the Church and the Power of Collective Intelligence

Open up your mind, listen and join the conspiracy.

Bill Kinnon is the author.

Shalom

Haiti

All of my life Haiti has been the poorest of nations in the western hemisphere. It has struggled continuously and endured the dismissive and reproachful attitudes of her neighbours in North, Central and South America. Haiti has always been a disaster waiting to happen.

Only relatively recently (in the 1980s) did we intervene, when the stench of the atrocities perpetrated by "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier became too much of an offense to our righteous sensibilities. Then, when the military committed a coup and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was exiled to Africa, we did little. The fate of Haiti once again fell into internal disarray and our relationship with them was relegated to the bureaucratic morass of international diplomacy. And the country languished without proper government, institutions, social services or effective international support.

Haiti as a nation was/is the "homeless street person" of the Western Hemisphere. We all continued to go about our daily business, averting our eyes whenever our pursuits led us to pass by them. We watched Haiti's sister nation, the Dominican Republic, raise itself up from its own poverty and comforted ourselves with the thought that "a rising tide lifts all ships". But we believed lies and would not look at the truth. Denial is the strongest of human sins.

On January 11th, 2010, our "homeless person" fellow nation was on fire as we went to work in the morning. Our neglect and indifference over the decades resulted in establishing circumstances that compounded the difficulties of attempting to help Haiti. Our shock and dismay is now mingled with our shame and regret as we trip over one another to rush to aid the wounded and dying - cursing the circumstances that hinder our benevolence. Circumstances that we could have changed if we had chosen to be engaged with Haiti rather than ignore her.

In "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens the ghost of Jacob Marley retorts strongly to Ebenezer Scrooge when the miser offers an excuse for their mutual disinterest in human affairs and benevolent causes. Scrooge says, "It's only that you were a good man of business." "Business!" cries Marley in reply. "Mankind was my business! Their common welfare was my business!"

I read Dickens' brilliant words every year - and every year I am personally convicted by those lines and compelled to reassess my own engagement with those who have less than I. While I am aware that many, many people and organizations exist to do good and caring works - many already in Haiti before the earthquake - I am also aware that many, many, many injustices lie unattended because political, social, economic and spiritual leadership fails.

In the light of events in Haiti we are - at least I am - sickened by our recent (and not so recent) history that testifies how we will go to extraordinary lengths to address issues in foreign lands, especially when - at least from the perspective of our corporate and political leaders - there are compelling economic reasons to do so. We will send our sons and daughters to die - and they will go willingly - when the stakes seem most likely to threaten our luxurious lives. But we will not sacrifice even a small portion of our opulent lifestyles to lift another people up so they can be stronger, safer and have greater dignity if there seems to be no immediate benefit for us. At least not until they are on fire.

Haiti is a hard lesson. I pray fervently that we, who are blessed beyond what words of any language can adequately describe, might learn this lesson well. That addressing the needs of others is always in our best interests, for when we do so we help ourselves - so intimate is our connection to one another on this tiny planet that we share. And that we might come to realize that when we do offer comfort to others we act in love that touches the very face of all we hold most sacred and good.

In speaking of charity, benevolence and simple care Jesus of Nazareth said, "Whenever you do this to the least of my brothers, you do this to me."

Shalom

NASCAR Life

NASCAR definitions that sound like life lessons:

Understeer - hitting the wall with the front of the car.

Oversteer - hitting the wall with the back of the car.

Push - description of a car that won't turn in smoothly.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - official band of NASCAR events - also the only band ever who failed to be able to buy a vowel on Wheel of Fortune.

Hitting the wall - the result of over driving a car that "pushes", or - trying too hard.

Spin - missing the wall entirely when pushing the car. Also something much worse than it sounds. Also (ironically) to go for a leisurely drive.
Eg. "Experienced NASCAR drivers would all like to take Danica Patrick for a "spin"."

The pits - a place to stop to refuel, change tires, adjust the car's setup or (ironically) the place you find yourself after "hitting the wall".

Racing under caution - doing what you do while it is more dangerous than normal to do - no passing allowed. Also a very good time to visit the pits voluntarily.

Trading paint - bumping other cars to get a better position. Almost all paint swaps are considered unfair by at least one participant.

Penalty - something inexplicable that affects the standings.

Danica Patrick - the ONLY NASCAR driver worth watching/interviewing/photographing.

Crash - the primary reason 30 to 50 thousand fans will attend a NASCAR event is to see at least one. Ironically, to hopefully be involved in one is also the reason 30 to 50 percent of all NASCAR drivers enter any given race.

Sponsor - persons and corporations who pay to have their names and corporate logos painted on the cars - also a NASCAR slang term that means "has more money than brains".

Rookie driver - someone in immanent danger of experiencing a crash.

Bill France - God, on Sunday afternoon AFTER church is done.

Richard Petty - The Holy Spirit of NASCAR. Possibly also a member of the Osmond clan (dental records need to be checked).

Budweiser - sponsor and lubricant, but not a lubricant manufacturing sponsor. Also the official fuel of all NASCAR fans.

Corner - the place the crashes happen.

Straightaway - the place you prepare for the crash.

Talented driver - a driver who mostly causes other drivers to crash.

Lubricant - see "Budweiser" also "sponsor".

Wrench - Verb: (1) to violently pull, twist or sever or (2) to repair a car. Noun: a mechanic. NASCAR mechanics perform #2 while Canadian Tire mechanics mostly perform #1.

Experienced driver - multiple crash survivor.

Pace car - the one car on the track that really doesn't belong there and wouldn't be if it wasn't for the sponsors.

Standings - mathematical mysteries.

Color commentary - unintelligible utterances or homespun advice delivered exclusively in a West Virginian drawl.

Cockpit - the place to find a rookie driver when he is experiencing a crash, a talented driver when he is causing a crash and an experienced driver when he is avoiding a crash.

Checkered flag - end of the race - start of the sales pitch.
Eg. "The KINKOS/OUTBACKSTEAKHOUSE/SNAPONTOOLS/WONDERBRA/CHEVYMALIBU was running perfectly today thanks to our PENNZOIL/GOODYEAR/MONROESHOCKS/MASTERCARD pit crew. I want to thank God (Bill France) and my Savior Jesus for letting us run so well today and I hope y'all will come out to watch us at the BUDWEISER/HOOTERS/STARBUCKS/WAL-MART 500 next week at the FORDCUSTOMRACING Speedway in East Podunk, Nebraska. God (Bill France) Bless America and all our Armed Forces Everywhere! GO ARMY!"

Failure, Forgiveness and the Future

This past week Flatlanders were focused on the fate of former Rider GM Eric Tillman. Mr. Tillman failed morally, and this ended his work with our beloved football team. It's a team that has known this kind of failure before - from players mostly. They are much more expendable than management - with the exception of coaches, who often are changed as frequently as defensive linemen change their lucky socks - which is to say at least annually. Losing Mr. Tillman has seemed to hurt people more and shaken hope and optimism deeper than any of the player dismissals I've witnessed in the last 7+ years.

The recent feelings in Flatland regarding this are, I think, rooted in the sense of disappointment created because Mr. Tillman was supposed to be part of a change in the organization's policies and culture that was intended to deal with these very issues. Rightly recognizing the very public nature of sport and the lives of those involved in it - even those charged with the off-field tasks necessary to operate a professional franchise - the Rider organization drafted a new policy on these matters, and Eric Tillman was a proponent of having that policy adopted by the Riders. Now he is - most sadly and ironically - the first one it had to be applied to.

I think such a policy is an important thing for any organization - not just in this day and age, but in any day and age. Personal character always influences professional behavior. Our recent history is littered with examples in every area of endeavor - finance, politics, manufacturing, religion, entertainment. We have always known that this matters. Now with an insatiable 24-hour-a-day-365-days-a-year media industry that craves grist for its mill, there is no life that is immune from scrutiny and, because of the internet, no issue that can escape public opinion and reaction.

And there is no place for forgiveness and restoration. All is retribution and hard, cold justice - or justice denied - depending upon your perspective. Few organizations give thought to the path of repentance, recompense and restoration, even though many organizations recognize the significant investment that lies in employees - even employees who fail. A broken machine might be repaired or restored if the investment seems fiscally sound, but people are more expendable it seems.

But would the public accept the repentant, forgiven and restored person? Would they allow time and space for healing and change or would they demand their same voyeuristic position they enjoy during the accusation and conviction stages. My guess is that they would clamor for this right, and little healing or change of any true consequence could come in such a bubble. Reality TV shows notwithstanding, there is an overwhelming list of failures who have shown change and progress in the eye of media scrutiny only to end up wrecked in life's ditch for the same reasons they were so fascinating to watch in the first place.

True character needs to be developed out of the public eye. If the only time you can behave is when someone is watching you then you need to be in prison.

Will Mr. Tillman repent and offer restitution? Will he seek forgiveness and reconciliation? Will he find redemption and restoration? We shall see, but it remains that these possibilities will happen - if they happen - elsewhere. And the benefits of those efforts, hard won, will be enjoyed elsewhere as well.

Shalom

Fine Print

I read Post Secret every Sunday morning.

This morning this postcard got my attention.

It's pretty personal because we just faced this same situation, but as the recipients of the work this person does. And it's personal because God does not say, "Thou shalt not kill." His Word says, "You shall not murder."

I've done a little work on this and I can say that the Hebrew word used in this passage is best translated as "murder" rather than "kill". I won't go into getting too technical here, but I will say that this is one of my favorite reasons for suggesting that it is well past the time we retired the King James Version of the Bible.

To put it simply, every copy of the Scriptures not in the original languages is a translation and that in itself poses some difficulties because of the limits of human language. We always think of our native language as being up to any communication task we may put it to, but we all need a little bit more humility in this, I think. After all, it is an accommodation of the highest order that God Almighty should acquiesce to allowing something as pitifully limited as human language to attempt to encompass His Truth - especially a language as pitifully limited and downright weird as English. As Dave Kellett of Sheldon puts it on a t-shirt I am definitely going to buy, "The English Language - carefully cobbled together by three blind dudes with a German dictionary."

But I digress - one of the few things I do well.

Elsewhere on God's word it says there is "a time to kill". If "killing" is utterly forbidden by God then it would be beyond strange how Jesus dealt with at least one soldier who came to Him for help. He never berated him for his vocation. He did not deny him. In the end He asked His Father to forgive the soldiers who crucified Him.

Sometimes killing is necessary. Sometimes it is a mercy. But we must be very cautious because it is so very, very easy to do. When it comes to pets and the time has come for them to be "put down" in love rather than suffer - it is "a time to kill". When it comes to the thousands upon thousands of animals destroyed by humane societies and animal control agencies all over North America - let alone the rest of the world - because they are abandoned, neglected, the offspring of animals left by their "owners" to breed indiscriminately or otherwise uncared for - it is a sin that offends the nostrils of God. But the executioner doesn't bear the guilt of it. We all do because we allow our selfish lifestyle to create such a problem.

I get a bit intense over this both because of the recent pain of taking responsibility for our own pets and because when I was around 10 years old I spent a week in hospital for a post-tonsillectomy infection and there was a 6-year-old boy in the bed next to me whose face was a horrific road map of stitches because he had been mauled by a pack or roving dogs in our northern Alberta town.

What we do and allow is bad enough without adding to the angst of those who must clean up after us by handling the "fine print" of God's Word and Truth poorly.

I'm a bit frustrated because I can't figure out how to send a message to Frank Warren at Post Secret to let this poor person - who does this thankless and unfortunately necessary work for us - know that their soul is most definitely NOT in jeopardy. So I'll console myself with my little rant on my little blog and pray that someone who is actually thinking will speak the words of encouragement this person needs to hear.

"Thank you for showing mercy and grace every day in your work and for being willing to do what must be done because so many of us are unwilling to live lovingly and responsibly. Your reward will be far greater than any of us can imagine."

Shalom

We're # 2 - We Try Harder!

It's the 2nd of January in the second decade of the third millennium since Christ shook the pillars of Heaven & Earth by audaciously embracing the human condition.

No resolutions - just plans to embrace our changing human condition and to interact with it in increasingly hopeful ways.

We moved Steven to Moose Jaw yesterday for the last time. In 4 months he'll graduate and burn his "school furniture". I hope he keeps one or two pieces. Susie and I have a stack of purloined N.A.D.P. (Northern Alberta Dairy Pool) plastic milk crates that once stood as the foundation to the bed we loved on and slept in. These tough plastic boxes that proclaim their allegiance to their owner - "Property of N.A.D.P" - with enduring words embossed on their sides, have moved our meager sticks and stones from Jasper, to Edmonton (and around that Town) to Saskatchewan and our current Flatland Home. They predate our vows, our children, our current careers and remind us of our humble beginnings.

Occasionally I ruminate on how our illegal possession of these items will be dealt with in ultimate terms.

"Now Brian," the Lord rumbled, "about those milk crates."

"Doh!"

But we can't recompense their owners - the N.A.D.P. is long gone, either defunct or absorbed by another corporate entity - so we're stuck with them and their dubious provenance. I console myself with the thought that their rightful owners never made the type of deep, emotional investment in them that we (or most likely only I) have. My practical wife might blush at the pixels I've squandered on such mundane items, but so often it is the mundane, the utterly pedestrian, the commonplace that marks and holds the connection we have to the historical and the profound.

You can't say Stonehenge is just a bunch of rocks - even if that is just what it is.

So why did I use a title that was the corporate slogan of Avis Car Rentals in the '70s? Because, the two days of 2010 have served to remind me that we are not first, or primary, or most favored. We are average, second string, among the masses. But we TRY!

We are all growing, learning and reaching forward towards a future that will likely turn out to be something quite other than we imagine - and we are so like so many others who do the same. And within that trying is the genius and glory of being human and living.

From humble beginnings including a bed laid upon purloined milk crates to a home that has raised three young men and launched them into the world with their own meager beginnings to tell their own stories of struggle and strife, triumph and truth, we are standing on the cusp of the next chapter in the "great adventure". It ain't on the front pages or burnin' up the blogsphere - but it's a ride we are enjoying.

Hang on! When you try harder you sometimes go faster!

Shalom

2009 Music Highlights

As you all know music is one of my great passions. 2009 offered up a plethora of awesome musical experiences and here are a few - some you can share and some were of the "you had to be there" variety.

In the "live - you had to be there" category, I have to place worship at Balgonie Baptist Church (BBC) in the #1 spot. We are blessed with an over abundance of talented people and I can honestly say that not a month goes by without my being awed on at least one Sunday morning by what our worship people offer up. My highlights this year were experiencing a new level of musical expression develop between Luke Ashton and Jared Schroeder. On at least two occasions they created near "pin-drop" moments with mesmerizing offerings. We also had the blessing of Marina Dovell joining our regular soloists - Brenda Kramer, Denise Lindenbach and Daphne Morris by providing several wonderful special music numbers And I was able to get involved too, as a percussionist - including my first live hand drum performances using an excellent djembe the Schroeders picked up for a song during their visit to Jamaica.

All of our worship leaders & musicians did wonderfully all year. Our Christmas cantata - directed by Denise Lindenbach - was great and we had everyone from kids on up offer us musical worship, encouragement and joy in 2009. 2010 is only going to be better I am sure!

Concert-wise we backed off a bit this year, despite being tempted by Aerosmith (who didn't make it to Regina ultimately because of Steven Tyler's antics and misfortunes) and ZZ Top (whom I love, but who I also don't trust live after the really poor show we saw them do in the 80's). Chantal Kreviazuk was very good, but we really went to see Dala who were beyond superb as they opened for her. Unfortunately they were allotted a short amount of time and we still have not seen them with a band - so we have yet to hear live what the CD's promise so tantalizingly - maybe in 2010.

So here is my top new music choices for 2009 in no particular order:

The North Mississippi Allstars - "Do It Like We Used To Do" (2009) - double live CD & DVD combo - Songs of the South Records - SOTS-009. I stumbled across these boys through following John Hiatt's work. Jim Dickinson produced John's last two CDs. Jim is the father of Luther (guitars) & Cody (drums) who along with Chris Chew (bass) make up the core of this band. These guys are the most exciting southern/blues/rock players I've heard in ages! "Do It Like We Used To Do" is an excellent way to get to know them, especially the loose and quirky documentary on the DVD that chronicles the musical lives and growth of Luther & Cody. The best song that encapsulates what these boys do is "Po Black Maddie/Skinny Woman" a 12+ minute marathon in which they cover musical styles that range from The Fabulous Thunderbirds to Stevie Ray Vaughan to The Allman Brothers to Lynyrd Skynyrd. If you like any of those folks try the Allstars. You'll LOVE 'em! But forget HMV - they are totally clueless - so order it online from Amazon.ca.

Dala - "Everybody is Somebody" (2009) - Campus Music/Lenz Entertainment - 0001. I am really running out of superlatives for both the songwriting abilities of Sheila Carabine & Amanda Walther and their musical talent as players & singers. This is their fourth CD of original music (they also participated in a charity Neil Young tribute CD called "Borrowed Tunes II"). This is their strongest showing yet - and that's saying something. I recently tweaked my system to coax better sound from it and this CD is now in my "let me play something to impress you" list. Try it and again, don't take your $ to HMV - you'll only encourage 'em. Google 'Dala girls' instead and follow the links or go to the ever-reliable Amazon.ca.

Ian Hunter - "Man Overboard" (2009) - New West Records - NW6167. Ian Hunter made his bones as the permanently "hidden behind huge sunglasses" frontman for the British R&B-influenced glam-rock group Mott the Hoople. When no less than David Bowie wrote "All the Young Dudes" for them in 1972 (I was 12! Sheesh!) they climbed to the top of the charts and got some attention on this side of the Atlantic as well. Despite their fame coming from a song penned by someone outside of the band, they developed a catalog of strong tunes - the majority of which were written by Hunter. Hunter has continued his career since, regularly putting out albums but staying out of the mainstream (where I like to be listening). He is to my mind as strong a songwriter as Warren Zevon, John Hiatt, Randy Newman, Mark Knopfler or Bruce Springsteen. Lyrically, "Man Overboard" is filled with Hunter's trademark quirkiness, humor & deft emotional truth. Musically, it has some of the best hooks I've heard all year - listen to "River of Tears", "Flowers" or "Arms and Legs". If you don't have any Hunter on your CD shelf this is a great one to start with.

Speaking of Mark Knopfler he released "Get Lucky" and I bought the "Deluxe Edition" - Vertigo Records/Universal Music - 0252708671 which contains a DVD with several musical portions and a very interesting (if you are an electronics gear nerd like I am) tour of British Grove Studios which Mark designed and built with help from his long-time American producer Chuck Ainlay. I was fascinated by the details of the studio (as an example Mark has the 24 channel recording/mixing console that Paul McCartney used to record "Band on the Run"). It's not a name-dropping, self-congratulatory video by any means - in fact Mark and Chuck are so laid back it's a wonder they ever get anything done - but it's a nice addition and a real "peak behind the scenes". One word of caution though - my copy was incorrectly formatted so it wouldn't play in my Sony DVD players. I had a devil of a time getting customer support from Universal but eventually they sent me a replacement so if you order it you should get one that works. If not let me know - I saved the contact info - just in case.

Now to the music - Mark is mining his Celtic side again (Yay!) which shows strongly on "Border Reiver" & "Piper to the End". "Cleaning My Gun" is a solid bluesy number and the rest fall neatly into Mark's growing catalog. While this CD doesn't quite measure up to the high water mark of 2004's "Shangri-La" it is, never the less, a very strong collection, superbly recorded and wonderfully played by Mark's incredible band - comprised of Guy Fletcher, Danny Cummings, Richard Bennett, Matt Rollings, John McCusker & Glenn Worf - who may be the best collection of players anywhere, anyway, anytime! I say "get it" and you might "Get Lucky", too!

I just can't stop listening to Metric - "Fantasies" (2009) - Metric Productions Inc. / Last Gang Records - Q2 00871. From the funky and overblown riff in "Stadium Love" to the addictive hook and confident swagger of "Gimme Sympathy" to the hypnotic, sinewy rhythm of "Twilight Galaxy" to the raw power and propulsion in "Satellite Mind" all hanging deliciously on Emily Haines' luxurious vocals this CD has legs that won't quit! While I have to note a minor language warning, I can say that the words chosen aren't gratuitous or flagrantly used. Add to the fact that this band is Canadian and world class to boot and how can you go wrong? Only if you buy it from HMV! So don't! Remember - make a big enough order on Amazon.ca and the shipping is free.

When Johnny Cash gave his daughter Rosanne the list of 11 songs that appear on her new CD - Rosanne Cash - "The List" - Manhattan Records - 509996 96576 2 7 - he wasn't suggesting she record them - only that she need to know them to gain, as Rosanne said later in an interview, "my musical education". Her education seems to have attained the highest level imaginable with this collection of superb songs made even more wonderful by Cash's stunning performance and the production and arrangements provided by her new husband John Leventhal. As previously with ex-husband Rodney Crowell, Rosanne seems to do her best work with the one or ones she loves around her. My favs on this disc are her versions of "500 Miles", "The Long Black Veil", "Miss the Mississippi and You" & "Girl From the North Country". You might have different ones, but that's OK because every single song on this disc is worthy of loving because they were passed from father to daughter in love and from daughter to us in that same spirit.

Christmas allowed me the means and excuse to obtain "The Beatles" - The Stereo Box Set (2009) - EMI. All I can say is WOW!!. 220+ songs! The vast majority of them written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney and recorded in just 7 short years between 1963 and 1969. When you are faced with the sheer volume and brilliant quality of their songwriting output all at once it is truly amazing. The set is lovingly remastered into stereo when that was the best choice although some tunes are presented in mono. The individual CDs are packaged with the original artwork and liner notes plus included productions notes - often from fifth Beatle, producer George Martin. Each CD contains a mini documentary about the making of each album, filled with studio out takes and comments from John, Paul, George, Ringo & Martin. The sound is excellent and the inclusion of all of the singles including German renditions of - "She Loves You" & "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" are an absolute treat! I got mine on sale at Costco which has it at the lowest price I've seen anywhere. After the $25 'instant rebate' they have on it currently each CD will cost you less than $10 per disc - less than downloading. If you are a pop/rock music fan of any level you owe it to yourself to get this into your collection.

As you have no doubt noticed, I'm no fan of HMV. It's not just them - I'm down on all corporate record stores as of 2009. I do urge you to support independent shops and specialty stores, but for the most part the chain stores have lost it badly and HMV is only a few years (if not months) away from serious financial trouble. How do I know? Look at their product mix. They have added books, games and who knows what else. At the end of days with Kelly's Stereo Mart/ House of Stein they were selling gas barbecues! These are classic signs of a retailer who has lost their clientele and their corporate direction. My advice? Get really familiar with shopping for your music online. Find websites or publications that can help you find the music you want to listen to - radio is still some help here. Support LIVE music and musicians by attending concerts and buying their CDs - especially if they are marketing directly. And keep listening! There is GREAT music out there once you get past the corporate dreck being foisted on us.

Have a Happy 2010 and ROCK ON!

B

Can We (Should We) Come?

The iMonk has a thought-provoking post up today. Read it, please. I'll wait.

Thanks.

Now - I'm pretty comfortable in church these days. I should be, it's my workplace. But I'm always going to be comfortable in church and in church community - except when stuff happens that excludes or hurts people. And it does happen - all too often.

I think it all has to do with our expectations and forcing others to accept those expectations as rules of conduct rather than seeking community and grace as we learn about each other. What I mean is if I have a certain expectation of what kind of behavior is acceptable, or what king of person is acceptable in our worship services and in our community then I set up barriers that hurt and separate.

The examples the iMonk talks about in his post are probably pretty familiar ones - or at least they have been referenced in pop culture enough that most of us recognize them. What can be ironic is when those same unfair prejudices get turned inward. I know of a pastor's wife who has young children. She keeps them in the service because the church they serve doesn't have a nursery and also because no one complains - even if the kids can be a bit noisy and disruptive sometimes. But this summer a supposed "christian" couple who visited the church chastised her for how her children "spoiled" their worship experience.

How hard must we (I) work to shed this "welcoming for some, but not for all" characterization of the Christian church? How much will it take for us to reach out across these barriers to those who are curious, or searching or feeling rejected? A lot more than this little blog I'm guessing - but it's a start.

The truth is that everyone who is seriously dealing with spiritual issues and their relationship with God will come under the feeling of conviction about their lifestyle and personal choices. I don't need to add to that burden. Note - it's not inappropriate guilt I'm talking about here, it's about those moments when each of us truly realize we are wrong on some attitude or behavior. That is always going to be part of seeking truth and finding it. God is truth - and sometimes the truth hurts. But in that process, no one needs the added stress of being scrutinized and judged unfairly.

The Christian church has a poor track record in this area I admit. But not every church has this problem. Indeed, most churches have members with much more humility, grace and care than you might guess. Surprise! Some of us have been listening and contemplating how Jesus treats people. And it's rubbing off.

Christmas is one of those times when lots of folks will go to a church when normally they wouldn't. The Nativity story is compelling, or maybe it's just that your niece is in the church play. Whatever the reason, you should come. And maybe you should give the place - and more importantly the people there - a chance to show what love can do.

I find it funny that God invented the "taste test". And I find it very humbling that he lets me be one of the folks manning the free samples booth.

This year, if you try one of our "free samples" why not come back for more. They're all free samples.

Of course you can and should come. It would be our honor to be with you, share with you and serve you.

Shalom

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics

I've blogged about my concerns regarding climate change before. Now a recent incident involving the Climate Research Unit located at the University of East Anglia has revealed to the world that the data and methodology used by that institution to create reports intended inform policymakers was corrupt, spurious and deeply flawed - as were the conclusions in those reports.

I was tipped to this by John Gormely on his radio show today where he was interviewing Kate McMillan, author of the weblog "Small Dead Animals". Kate has done a superb job of gathering the most useful links in this emerging story under the ongoing title - "The Sound of All Hell Breaking Loose". If you care at all about the Earth and our economic and political future you need to read up on this - and then remember it at the next election, and the one after that, and the one after that.

The real tragedy in all of this will be the huge damage done to the scientific community in general. If it results in a "cry wolf" response from the public world-wide (as I suspect it will) then I can safely predict humanity will fall victim to a true catastrophe soon - even though we will likely be warned about it. We just won't believe the messenger.

The image linked to this post is not the property of the author and is used without permission with purely illustrative intent and with no intent to defraud or injure the original owner.

The Fat Shall Never Lead Us

This article caused my own personal, deeply painful and utterly mind-numbing angst to rise up in yet another attempt to strangle my spirit.

Here's the 'skinny' on how this affects me. I am 'morbidly obese'. I'm somewhere around 120 lbs overweight. I have a reason. I'm hypothyroid. I have lost around 25 lbs in 2009 and I'm working on losing more, but it is exceptionally difficult for me (check out symptom # 3). And in the mean time I keep running into this attitude in the 'christian culture' - "Obesity is a spiritual/moral issue and evidence of (choose one or more):

1. Lack of Faith
2. Lack of Moral Consistency
3. Evidence of Sin (particularly 'Gluttony')
4. Evidence of a Lack of Qualification for Spiritual Leadership

On the opposite side of this are the common 'christian' axioms - "God Loves You Just as You Are"; "God Uses People Who Don't Measure Up by Worldly Standards"; "It's Not About Who You Are But Where Your Faith Lies"; "Don't Judge" and so on.

This drives me crazy!

Oh, it hurts, too.

I was at a Willow Creek Leadership Summit around 2000 and Bill Hybels was interviewing Chuck Colson. At the time Chuck was getting on in years and the conversation turned to personal health. Chuck mentioned a new piece of exercise hardware he had just purchased and the two of them were sharing a moment when their guards came down and one of them said something to the effect that you couldn't really be an effective Christian leader if you were overweight. Suddenly Hybel's brain cut in and he realized that they had crossed a line. They backtracked but the damage was done for me. From that moment on, I noticed that everyone on the platform at Willow Creek (and at the church in Calgary where we were watching the satellite feed) were all skinny, good-looking folks. I have nothing against skinny, good-looking folks - but where was I represented in that conference as a Christian leader?

As if to add insult to injury, at that time the only really well-known North American Christian leader of ample proportions was Jerry Falwell. You can insert your own cynical comment here. And if you look around at the lineup on any Christian summit/conference/shindig poster all you will see is skinny, good looking guys and gals. If you go to the websites of any major evangelical, protestant church much more often than not the senior pastor will be a well-proportioned white guy.

Now I freely admit there is a good point about doing what we can to live healthy and be fit. It's a good thing. Our bodies are gifts. We should care for them. And I freely admit that I abused my body in my life. But the actual shape I'm in shouldn't be used as a measure of my love and commitment to Christ or as a measure of my fitness to serve Him.

I love Christ.

I've answered His call on my life (after I developed hypothyroidism). I've spent nearly 15 years really working this out in my life. And I believe in a Kingdom that welcomes in the marginalized and sinful. But we still keep on following human biases in how we perceive each other. And lately, it's felt like the next thing that going to move from immoral to illegal is obesity.

And I'm a fat deer caught in the headlights of opinion and judgment.

So for the time being I console myself with the thought that all of the disciples couldn't have been perfect physical specimens. I imagine that at least one of them - who up until he met Jesus was spending most of his time collecting money in a booth others came to, was making a way above average income and probably enjoyed a richer diet than the rest - looked like me.

What would it do to your ideas about Christianity if the first Gospel was written by a fat guy?

Hey Saint Matthew! Word Brother!

(Not so much)
Shalom
(this morning. Sorry.)

Pro Deo et Veritate

This is the motto of my school - Taylor Seminary. It means "For God and Truth". I am an unashamed disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to be obedient to God my Father through the power of The Holy Spirit living in me as the mark of Jesus Christ my Savior, Redeemer and Friend - who is the Lord of my life. I am a sinner - saved by grace. And I want everyone to know Jesus as I do - even better than I do.

But......

I believe it is difficult - if not nearly impossible - for others to believe in the One I testify about unless my witness is true.

There is a video making the rounds on facebook and other places. It tells a powerful story of a confrontation of faith between a student and a professor in a major American university. It's a great story, but it has problems.

Now I'm not trying to point fingers here - and please forgive me if it seems so - but so many of my friends are passing this around that I can't keep up with it and I have concerns. I wrote to one friend and we discussed it privately but now I want to open it up to others. So, here's the link to the video in question, just in case you haven't seen it -

"This Should Keep Us All Thinking"

And here is my response to it.

Dearest Friends,

I want to start by saying that I love you as Christian brothers and sisters and I never want to do anything to dampen your spirit or your passion for Christ and your desire to be His disciples and witnesses. I really enjoy following how you are living this out and facebook is a great way to do this.

I really liked the story about the student & the professor that I've seen circulating on facebook - it's a great story, but I have one problem with it. It's not verifiable, and it probably isn't really true. If you follow this link -

Truth or Fiction - Athiest USC Prof Encounters God Through a Piece of Chalk

You can read it for yourself.

Like you, I want people to know Jesus, to think about Him, to consider Him and to be compelled by love to get to know Him, but Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" and I think if we are going to witness to Him our witness should always be the truth. I think this is important, because if someone who doesn't trust Jesus or who has big doubts about Jesus and Christians sees that video and then checks it out they might decide that Christians lie, and that Jesus is a lie, too.

Anyway, I'd be really interested in your take on this, and your ideas about how videos like this one could be made that come from real, true and verifiable stories. I know that God is doing things every day just like what this video describes so I don't think we need to make up stories. We need to find and share the true ones.

Anyway, I know you didn't make up this story - but if you send it to someone or post it on your home page you are endorsing it and vouching for its truth, so you might want to think carefully about doing that with this or any other story you can't fully verify. I think the wise thing is to either use your own story, or one that you absolutely know is true and can testify wholeheartedly to.

Now in the spirit of that suggestion I'll share a true story of healing I witnessed two weeks ago. I don't have the permission of the person involved, so I'll refrain from using his name here but you can email or text me and I'll give it to you privately.

Susie and I attended the NAB Pastors and Spouses' Conference in Banff this November as we do almost every year. One of the themes that emerged was "healing". On Sunday morining, November 8th, we were in worship, sharing prayer requests and praise items with one another. One of our leaders, whom we have gotten to know over the years, told us about how arthritis had robbed him of the joy of raising his hands in worship. He could only raise them as far as his shoulders, and he had suffered this restriction for 10 years. Then he raised his arms over his head and made the "touchdown" sign, actually touching his biceps to his ears. He was weeping with joy. He had been healed the previous evening during prayer.

That's the truth of what Jesus can do - how He can heal, set people free and answer prayer.

Stay in His Love and Will, and keep witnessing.

Shalom