Friday, April 30, 2010
Richard Dawkins on the idea of Jesus and the Christian God - "Petty and Small Minded"
I made this short edit from this longer video . I find Richard Dawkin's very eloquent description of Christian's God and Jesus to be fascinating, enlightening, and even beautiful. I am so inspired, in fact, that I intend to show this clip at church on Sunday to introduce my message. I'll be sharing from James 2:14-26. it's a difficult passage.
I'm sure that there are other examples of Richard Dawkin's understanding and opinions on Jesus. I intend to find them, because I'd like to hear more. Though I do not agree with Dawkin's conclusion that the idea of the death of Jesus is "Petty and Small-Minded", I do think that in some ways he's going the right direction. From the perspective he is sharing, I think it would be quite correct to call this story shocking and foolish, and even absurd.
Not all my thoughts on this are fully formed yet, but I'm enjoying digging deeper. I may post more later.
(I didn't make this video. I edited it from a larger clip for the purpose of commentary and criticism. I encourage anyone viewing it to also watch it in it's greater context here. From my best understanding, this does not violate the copyright rules of fair use.)
Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author. A very popular and well respected atheist speaker and advocate, he has written several notable books, including "The God Delusion" in 2006. He was formerly Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.
In October of 2008 he was hosted by an American religious foundation to debate a Christian apologist (debater for Christianity) in Oxford. In the debate Dawkins suggested that perhaps he could debate with someone who was making a case for a deistic god (a creator who made the world and then let it be), but that he would not even consider the idea of Yahweh (Christian's God), because he believes it is absurd.
Unfortunately, this Christian apologist later used Dawkin's statement in a creative and misleading way to suggest that Dawkin's was conceding to a belief in deism himself. Whether the apologist actually misunderstood, or was being intentionally deceptive, this was clearly not what Richard Dawkin's intented by this suggestion. This is seen clearly in the original video from which this clip came.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
On church and shiny people
James 2:1-4 (NIV)
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
So, in church this morning we discussed this scenario as described. First is the inherent humourous emphasis, as I don't imagine that churches were literally asking people in shabby clothes to sit by their feet (literally "under my footstool") rather than in a chair. I think James took the nature of discrimination seriously enough to hyperbolize to make his point. Secondly, the example is specific to social class, which obviously has special significance, but the first phrase can likely apply to other ways that we would prefer one group or perceived "type" of person over another.
In the original language, "fine clothes" literally means "shiny", while "shabby clothes" implies that the person is so dirty they probably have feces on them. This is a pretty extreme, and obvious, difference. So in the conersation this morning it was pointed out that we rarely have "smelly" people joining us for a service or gathering. For the most part, we're all very comfortable around one another. Though we'd probably like to think we're diverse, we're similar in a lot more ways than we're different. And we're small. The truth is that while we can each apply this verse personally, we're not having many opportunities as a community to be tested in the example the scripture gives.
Someone also pointed out that we don't have many "shiny" people among us either. I guess that would make us . . . dull people?
But seriously, if we're to apply James to our community, and if we're truly a church of Jesus people, we should be in closer proximity to the poor, the lonely, and the marginalized than we are.
So that's our next steps. We want to start intentionally moving our community out of our buildings and programs and into the heart of communities of need. Based on suggestions made within our group so far, it looks like one group may start visiting a prison together, another a hospital, perhaps palliative care, and/or we may start playing poker at a retirement home.
The idea I've been most excited about so far is that we may take the midweek meals we've been eating together outside somewhere. Someone suggested soup at a parking lot downtown, but I'm keen to maybe try weekly (or so) barbeques at the river bottom. This depends partly on the size of the river bottom crew this year, but if it works out, I think it would be awesome.
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
So, in church this morning we discussed this scenario as described. First is the inherent humourous emphasis, as I don't imagine that churches were literally asking people in shabby clothes to sit by their feet (literally "under my footstool") rather than in a chair. I think James took the nature of discrimination seriously enough to hyperbolize to make his point. Secondly, the example is specific to social class, which obviously has special significance, but the first phrase can likely apply to other ways that we would prefer one group or perceived "type" of person over another.
In the original language, "fine clothes" literally means "shiny", while "shabby clothes" implies that the person is so dirty they probably have feces on them. This is a pretty extreme, and obvious, difference. So in the conersation this morning it was pointed out that we rarely have "smelly" people joining us for a service or gathering. For the most part, we're all very comfortable around one another. Though we'd probably like to think we're diverse, we're similar in a lot more ways than we're different. And we're small. The truth is that while we can each apply this verse personally, we're not having many opportunities as a community to be tested in the example the scripture gives.
Someone also pointed out that we don't have many "shiny" people among us either. I guess that would make us . . . dull people?
But seriously, if we're to apply James to our community, and if we're truly a church of Jesus people, we should be in closer proximity to the poor, the lonely, and the marginalized than we are.
So that's our next steps. We want to start intentionally moving our community out of our buildings and programs and into the heart of communities of need. Based on suggestions made within our group so far, it looks like one group may start visiting a prison together, another a hospital, perhaps palliative care, and/or we may start playing poker at a retirement home.
The idea I've been most excited about so far is that we may take the midweek meals we've been eating together outside somewhere. Someone suggested soup at a parking lot downtown, but I'm keen to maybe try weekly (or so) barbeques at the river bottom. This depends partly on the size of the river bottom crew this year, but if it works out, I think it would be awesome.
James 2:1-9 (New International Version)
Favoritism Forbidden
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ (NLT)
Believers in . . . (NIV)
Hold the Faith . . . (ESV)
This Faith: it’s a gift
Ephesians 2:6-9 (New International Version)
6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
We couldn’t earn it. We couldn’t work for it. We’re living in “the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Faith . . . in Jesus.
Philippians 2:5-8 (New International Version)
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Isaiah 53:1-5 (New International Version)
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
“Jesus of Nazareth”
Jesus was from a rural town (Nazareth) from an unrespected region (Galilee). The people had accents, and were seen as uneducated and backward, like a prejudice against people from the south today.
When Nathanael (future disciple) hears Jesus is from Nazareth:
John 1:46
"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.
Religious people responding to Jesus followers:
John 7:52
They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."
People’s response to the disciples’ first sermon, the first in scripture:
Acts 2:7 (NIV)
Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
Jesus: unremarkable, humble, poor, born in a stable, working class, from a disrespected regional group, dying as a criminal. That’s who we follow.
It is inconsistent and hypocritical for Christians, followers of Jesus, to make judgments or discriminate against anyone based on outward appearances and differences.
Christians believe that all benefits of our faith can come only as a gift based on God's love alone. Favouritism is against the very core of our faith.
James’ example:
2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Original Greek
Fine Clothes = shiny
Shabby Clothes = dirty ie. excrement
Their difference is outward and obvious.
(rhetorical question)
IF you discriminate, THEN you have become judges with evil thoughts (intentions).
What intentions would we have to favour one group over another? CONSIDER . . .
Somebody smelly. Or poor. Or Native (that’s a real, common prejudice, let’s call it out). Or disabled. Or loud. Or uncomfortable.
What group do you/we discriminate against? For what intention?
(Selfishness. Fear. Pride . . . )
To place some special value or distinction on one group of people over another is wrong. James calls it evil.
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
It’s easy to gloss over verse 5. Another rhetorical question.
God HEARS THE CRY OF THE OPPRESSED.
(listen to last week's message exploring the themes of James 1:27)
Exodus 2:23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.
Exodus 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
God calls himself “The God who brought you out of Egypt” dozens of times throughout the Old Testament - More often than any other name of title.
My friend wants me to make him a zine of “progressive” Bible verses. Starting with verses about God favouring justice for the poor and oppressed alone, and this zine would have to be at least twenty pages.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Exodus 22:22-24 Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
Don’t mess with the poor. Seriously. God cares about the poor.
When we judge the poor, the dispossessed, the marginalized, and treat them as valueless or not worth helping, we are going the exact opposite direction that God is, and we need to repent.
Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
When we move toward the poor and the lonely, we move where God is moving. We agree with the things that God does, and we follow his desires.
When we move toward the poor and the lonely, we move toward Jesus himself. You want to see Jesus? Look into the face of the man asking you for money downtown.
When you become a follower of Jesus, his spirit unites with ours. By serving “the least of these” we have the opportunity to minister to Jesus, through Jesus. This is the evidence of a follower of Jesus.
The longer you know Jesus, the more you should be loving, serving, and surrounded by marginalized who need justice. This is what a Christian looks like.
Why would we spend time with shiny, popular people who make fun of Jesus or faith rather than poor people who God desires justice for? Because we hope to receive their favour. We favour them hoping they’ll favour us. We want to be shiny, too.
Ephesians 2:6-9 (New International Version)
6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
If we’re trying to gain riches or favour from shiny people, we don’t truly believe we’ve received it from God. We’re not acting like God’s word is true. We’re not caring about the things God cares about. We’re putting this temporary favour ahead of God’s truth. We’re lawbreakers.
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Love your neighbour as yourself. Who is my neighbour?
Good Samaritan Parable
Luke 10:25-37
Samaritans – A hated race of people. Jesus chose a Samaritan because of the common racism against them. What if it were a Cree person? A Palestinian?
If there is a certain people group that you particularly dislike, or have difficulty being around, or are less likely to have compassion for, start seeking them out. As you begin serving them and loving them as God does, you will begin to see in their faces the true face of Jesus.
Favoritism Forbidden
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ (NLT)
Believers in . . . (NIV)
Hold the Faith . . . (ESV)
This Faith: it’s a gift
Ephesians 2:6-9 (New International Version)
6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
We couldn’t earn it. We couldn’t work for it. We’re living in “the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Faith . . . in Jesus.
Philippians 2:5-8 (New International Version)
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Isaiah 53:1-5 (New International Version)
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
“Jesus of Nazareth”
Jesus was from a rural town (Nazareth) from an unrespected region (Galilee). The people had accents, and were seen as uneducated and backward, like a prejudice against people from the south today.
When Nathanael (future disciple) hears Jesus is from Nazareth:
John 1:46
"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.
Religious people responding to Jesus followers:
John 7:52
They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."
People’s response to the disciples’ first sermon, the first in scripture:
Acts 2:7 (NIV)
Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
Jesus: unremarkable, humble, poor, born in a stable, working class, from a disrespected regional group, dying as a criminal. That’s who we follow.
It is inconsistent and hypocritical for Christians, followers of Jesus, to make judgments or discriminate against anyone based on outward appearances and differences.
Christians believe that all benefits of our faith can come only as a gift based on God's love alone. Favouritism is against the very core of our faith.
James’ example:
2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Original Greek
Fine Clothes = shiny
Shabby Clothes = dirty ie. excrement
Their difference is outward and obvious.
(rhetorical question)
IF you discriminate, THEN you have become judges with evil thoughts (intentions).
What intentions would we have to favour one group over another? CONSIDER . . .
Somebody smelly. Or poor. Or Native (that’s a real, common prejudice, let’s call it out). Or disabled. Or loud. Or uncomfortable.
What group do you/we discriminate against? For what intention?
(Selfishness. Fear. Pride . . . )
To place some special value or distinction on one group of people over another is wrong. James calls it evil.
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
It’s easy to gloss over verse 5. Another rhetorical question.
God HEARS THE CRY OF THE OPPRESSED.
(listen to last week's message exploring the themes of James 1:27)
Exodus 2:23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.
Exodus 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
God calls himself “The God who brought you out of Egypt” dozens of times throughout the Old Testament - More often than any other name of title.
My friend wants me to make him a zine of “progressive” Bible verses. Starting with verses about God favouring justice for the poor and oppressed alone, and this zine would have to be at least twenty pages.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Exodus 22:22-24 Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
Don’t mess with the poor. Seriously. God cares about the poor.
When we judge the poor, the dispossessed, the marginalized, and treat them as valueless or not worth helping, we are going the exact opposite direction that God is, and we need to repent.
Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
When we move toward the poor and the lonely, we move where God is moving. We agree with the things that God does, and we follow his desires.
When we move toward the poor and the lonely, we move toward Jesus himself. You want to see Jesus? Look into the face of the man asking you for money downtown.
When you become a follower of Jesus, his spirit unites with ours. By serving “the least of these” we have the opportunity to minister to Jesus, through Jesus. This is the evidence of a follower of Jesus.
The longer you know Jesus, the more you should be loving, serving, and surrounded by marginalized who need justice. This is what a Christian looks like.
Why would we spend time with shiny, popular people who make fun of Jesus or faith rather than poor people who God desires justice for? Because we hope to receive their favour. We favour them hoping they’ll favour us. We want to be shiny, too.
Ephesians 2:6-9 (New International Version)
6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
If we’re trying to gain riches or favour from shiny people, we don’t truly believe we’ve received it from God. We’re not acting like God’s word is true. We’re not caring about the things God cares about. We’re putting this temporary favour ahead of God’s truth. We’re lawbreakers.
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Love your neighbour as yourself. Who is my neighbour?
Good Samaritan Parable
Luke 10:25-37
Samaritans – A hated race of people. Jesus chose a Samaritan because of the common racism against them. What if it were a Cree person? A Palestinian?
If there is a certain people group that you particularly dislike, or have difficulty being around, or are less likely to have compassion for, start seeking them out. As you begin serving them and loving them as God does, you will begin to see in their faces the true face of Jesus.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Since then . . .
A year since my dad died has given me a chance to start over. Being given the permission to grieve my dad, I discovered what grief was, and that I needed to grieve the pains and losses that I'd experienced before moving to Edmonton. I was given permission in the process of grief to shed the sadness and complication of the abuse and disappointment Kate and I had experienced in Lethbridge.
In the last year, I've finally stopped and reconsidered what it means for me to be a Christian in the world of social action and anarchist community. Without the opportunity to grieve, Kate and I may have been preparing for these twins somewhere in the suburbs with a white picket fence.
This year, I rediscovered Jesus. This hammer swinging, working class (carpenter) hick from Galilee (Galileans had an accent, and there was a common prejudice against them, like someone from Newfoundland or the South). He dared give hope to a poor people in exile, living in a land occupied by a militaristic empire. He encouraged resistance, and gave them dignity. He was born in poverty, and killed by his world's most brutal, oppressing, powerful nation. Before he died, he stood before the man with authority to kill him, and said "My Kingdom is not of this world". He did not claim to rebel against this unjust authority. He claimed authority over it, and this empire was rebelling against him. And then he came back from the grave. That's my King. That's my God.
The old Anarchist refrain is "No Gods - No Masters". It's statements like that which are the reason I suspect I cannot truly call myself an anarchist. Someone else can call me that if they want to. I'd like to think I'm an ally. There's probably as much or more disagreement within the anarchism than with me, anyway. I don't think agreeing on every point is what makes the anarchist community anarchist.
I've considered stencilling "One God - One Master" on the back of my jacket. Considered, and decided against it. But if I had, I'd have intended it in a similar way to the early Christians who said "Jesus is Lord". Many Christians today don't know that this phrase was a subversion of the common phrase "Ceasar is Lord". To the early Christians, to claim that they would reject the authority of the Roman empire for this uneducated criminal hick was highly political, and highly offensive.
In the last year, I've made peace with my radical politics and conservative theology. When I say conservative, I mean that I believe the Bible is true, and that Jesus is God. Because of my politics, and perhaps the way I dress or carry myself, people sometimes falsely assume that I'm a "liberal" or "moderate" Christian. Usually, I don't find the context of these assumptions warrants a correction, so I let it be. Besides, many of my close and dear friends may call themselves liberal Christians.
I think the main difference between me and my liberal Christian friends is that my liberal Christian friends would criticize fundamentalists for taking the Bible too seriously. I believe that most of us Christians (especially in North America) don't take the Bible seriously enough.
I believe that this echoes a sharp criticism Jesus makes of the religious people in his day. In Matthew 23 Jesus calls out the religious leaders for requiring people to tithe of their mint, dill, and cummin, but they neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice mercy, and faithfulness. For this he called them "hypocrites", "whitewashed tombs", and "sons of hell". I want to live the weighty matters of my faith.
To justify a faith that wholly embraces empire, colonialism, waste, decadence, affluence, nationalism, and prejudice, it is necessary to pick and choose isolated scriptures from the Bible. But if we as Christians are to take the whole counsel of scripture into account, for many of us, the life change required would be shocking. We follow someone who was put to death. Much of the New Testament was written from prison. Jesus said that his followers would visit people in prison. Is this because a lot of us would be going to prison? Or is this because we'd be friends with people in prison? Are we either? When Christianity becomes very wealthy, or powerful, or violent, we've seriously lost the plot. The spirit of Jesus thrives in communities of justice, compassion, and resistance.
I think that it's very, very hard to be a Jesus follower in North America. Our privileged, isolated culture of independance has made it very difficult yo see where we can reflect the attitude of Jesus - one that puts others first even at great personal cost. We easily fall into a family friendly Sunday School lesson version of the Gospel that costs us very little. In truth, the grace of salvation is very costly. It cost Jesus his life.
I think that Christian life is so necessarily counter cultural that many of us Christians wouldn't recognize it if we saw it.
The cross means we've been set free. Free from sin. Free from sins' consequences. Free from being oppressed (see the resistance training in the Sermon on the Mount). Free from being oppressors. We couldn't do it without the Saviour. This is the offense of the Gospel.
And now we're FREE to be like Jesus. Radical, loving, truthful, just, and good. Don't settle for anything less.
And so, I've moved on. I've been able to forgive and love, but also reevaluate who I am, what I believe, and how it's manifested in my life. I'm only getting started.
I miss you, dad. Thanks for you.
In the last year, I've finally stopped and reconsidered what it means for me to be a Christian in the world of social action and anarchist community. Without the opportunity to grieve, Kate and I may have been preparing for these twins somewhere in the suburbs with a white picket fence.
This year, I rediscovered Jesus. This hammer swinging, working class (carpenter) hick from Galilee (Galileans had an accent, and there was a common prejudice against them, like someone from Newfoundland or the South). He dared give hope to a poor people in exile, living in a land occupied by a militaristic empire. He encouraged resistance, and gave them dignity. He was born in poverty, and killed by his world's most brutal, oppressing, powerful nation. Before he died, he stood before the man with authority to kill him, and said "My Kingdom is not of this world". He did not claim to rebel against this unjust authority. He claimed authority over it, and this empire was rebelling against him. And then he came back from the grave. That's my King. That's my God.
The old Anarchist refrain is "No Gods - No Masters". It's statements like that which are the reason I suspect I cannot truly call myself an anarchist. Someone else can call me that if they want to. I'd like to think I'm an ally. There's probably as much or more disagreement within the anarchism than with me, anyway. I don't think agreeing on every point is what makes the anarchist community anarchist.
I've considered stencilling "One God - One Master" on the back of my jacket. Considered, and decided against it. But if I had, I'd have intended it in a similar way to the early Christians who said "Jesus is Lord". Many Christians today don't know that this phrase was a subversion of the common phrase "Ceasar is Lord". To the early Christians, to claim that they would reject the authority of the Roman empire for this uneducated criminal hick was highly political, and highly offensive.
In the last year, I've made peace with my radical politics and conservative theology. When I say conservative, I mean that I believe the Bible is true, and that Jesus is God. Because of my politics, and perhaps the way I dress or carry myself, people sometimes falsely assume that I'm a "liberal" or "moderate" Christian. Usually, I don't find the context of these assumptions warrants a correction, so I let it be. Besides, many of my close and dear friends may call themselves liberal Christians.
I think the main difference between me and my liberal Christian friends is that my liberal Christian friends would criticize fundamentalists for taking the Bible too seriously. I believe that most of us Christians (especially in North America) don't take the Bible seriously enough.
I believe that this echoes a sharp criticism Jesus makes of the religious people in his day. In Matthew 23 Jesus calls out the religious leaders for requiring people to tithe of their mint, dill, and cummin, but they neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice mercy, and faithfulness. For this he called them "hypocrites", "whitewashed tombs", and "sons of hell". I want to live the weighty matters of my faith.
To justify a faith that wholly embraces empire, colonialism, waste, decadence, affluence, nationalism, and prejudice, it is necessary to pick and choose isolated scriptures from the Bible. But if we as Christians are to take the whole counsel of scripture into account, for many of us, the life change required would be shocking. We follow someone who was put to death. Much of the New Testament was written from prison. Jesus said that his followers would visit people in prison. Is this because a lot of us would be going to prison? Or is this because we'd be friends with people in prison? Are we either? When Christianity becomes very wealthy, or powerful, or violent, we've seriously lost the plot. The spirit of Jesus thrives in communities of justice, compassion, and resistance.
I think that it's very, very hard to be a Jesus follower in North America. Our privileged, isolated culture of independance has made it very difficult yo see where we can reflect the attitude of Jesus - one that puts others first even at great personal cost. We easily fall into a family friendly Sunday School lesson version of the Gospel that costs us very little. In truth, the grace of salvation is very costly. It cost Jesus his life.
I think that Christian life is so necessarily counter cultural that many of us Christians wouldn't recognize it if we saw it.
The cross means we've been set free. Free from sin. Free from sins' consequences. Free from being oppressed (see the resistance training in the Sermon on the Mount). Free from being oppressors. We couldn't do it without the Saviour. This is the offense of the Gospel.
And now we're FREE to be like Jesus. Radical, loving, truthful, just, and good. Don't settle for anything less.
And so, I've moved on. I've been able to forgive and love, but also reevaluate who I am, what I believe, and how it's manifested in my life. I'm only getting started.
I miss you, dad. Thanks for you.
part 4 Confessions . . . and thoughts . . . On the anniversary of my dad's death
In the last days of October 2008, six of us from across Canada had an interview with possibly the twelfth landlord we'd met in two months. The house had four bedrooms, and was just a block from Remedy Cafe. We were facing the unhappy prospect of another month homeless, and the memory of a dozen previous denials. We were nervous.
Two days after the interview, he told us we had the house. That night, he told us we didn't. The next morning, he apologized, and said we could move in on Halloween day.
We moved in and called ourselves "Monk Punks". We started sharing our home, our lives with each other, chores, and food. For the next months, we began the process of taking the dream of intentional family living and practically living it out. It was tough.
At the same time, we started trying to put our roots down in the Edmonton community. Kate and I especially new that we wanted to live our lives among the anarchists and other social activists. We through ourselves into meetings and collectives and actions as often as we could.
We began meeting as a church community on November 7. About twenty of us prayed together, ate together, shared communion, and talked about what could be. We continued to meet weekly from then on, and have been continuously learning how it is that we share church together.
In January, I began working at the L'Arche Day Program, assisting people with disabilities.
By March, we had been living together and having church community for four months, we'd all found work, Kate and I knew which activist groups we supported each week, and life had started to feel "normal". It was around this time, in the stability and routine that I hadn't experienced for well over a year by this pont, that the events that had transpired in Lethbridge really started to affect me. I was a few months away from being formally ordained, Kate and I were pastoring in a church, and I was coming back to re-examine the core of what I believed and how I practiced my faith.
During the month of March, I began seriously considering stepping back from it all, and just trying a "normal" life. I talked with Kate about just finding a house, pursuing regular careers, and pulling back from the social action scene.
-----
During the most normal and routine times in my life, I had made a habit of talking to my dad on the phone on a weekly basis. He loved talking on the phone, and our conversations would usually last over an hour. During the more busy or unstable times, like during moves or finals, sometimes our conversations would happen less often, maybe every three or four months.
In March last year, as my life was beginning to gain stability and routine, and as I was becoming free to be reflective and deal with my own pain, I remembered my dad, and that it had been since before our move that I'd last talked to him. During the garbage that we experienced in Lethbridge, I had hidden a lot of details from him, because I was so confused that I couldn't figure out the details myself.
I knew I wanted to talk to him, and tell him the whole story. I knew I wanted to reconnect to our weekly calls again. And I missed him. We called back and forthe during the Month of October until we finally got ahold of each other on March 30, his birthday. I told him the whole story as I've written it here. He listened and encouraged me. After I'd told him everything, and that I was soon to be ordained, he told me he was tired, and that we'd have to continue another time. I was disappointed that he hadn't talked about himself, and felt sad that I'd talked so much, but he assured me that it was okay. He said that he didn't have much to share. It was unusual for him to be done a conversation so soon (thirty minutes), and to go to bed so soon. We planned to talk again on April 8, in the evening.
That was the day that he went to the hospital. His kidneys had been failing and his heart was weak. He had a heart attack that night, and after seeing his sister, teasing the nurse, and eating an orange he died peacefully on the hospital bed.
These were the last stories I told my dad.
Two days after the interview, he told us we had the house. That night, he told us we didn't. The next morning, he apologized, and said we could move in on Halloween day.
We moved in and called ourselves "Monk Punks". We started sharing our home, our lives with each other, chores, and food. For the next months, we began the process of taking the dream of intentional family living and practically living it out. It was tough.
At the same time, we started trying to put our roots down in the Edmonton community. Kate and I especially new that we wanted to live our lives among the anarchists and other social activists. We through ourselves into meetings and collectives and actions as often as we could.
We began meeting as a church community on November 7. About twenty of us prayed together, ate together, shared communion, and talked about what could be. We continued to meet weekly from then on, and have been continuously learning how it is that we share church together.
In January, I began working at the L'Arche Day Program, assisting people with disabilities.
By March, we had been living together and having church community for four months, we'd all found work, Kate and I knew which activist groups we supported each week, and life had started to feel "normal". It was around this time, in the stability and routine that I hadn't experienced for well over a year by this pont, that the events that had transpired in Lethbridge really started to affect me. I was a few months away from being formally ordained, Kate and I were pastoring in a church, and I was coming back to re-examine the core of what I believed and how I practiced my faith.
During the month of March, I began seriously considering stepping back from it all, and just trying a "normal" life. I talked with Kate about just finding a house, pursuing regular careers, and pulling back from the social action scene.
-----
During the most normal and routine times in my life, I had made a habit of talking to my dad on the phone on a weekly basis. He loved talking on the phone, and our conversations would usually last over an hour. During the more busy or unstable times, like during moves or finals, sometimes our conversations would happen less often, maybe every three or four months.
In March last year, as my life was beginning to gain stability and routine, and as I was becoming free to be reflective and deal with my own pain, I remembered my dad, and that it had been since before our move that I'd last talked to him. During the garbage that we experienced in Lethbridge, I had hidden a lot of details from him, because I was so confused that I couldn't figure out the details myself.
I knew I wanted to talk to him, and tell him the whole story. I knew I wanted to reconnect to our weekly calls again. And I missed him. We called back and forthe during the Month of October until we finally got ahold of each other on March 30, his birthday. I told him the whole story as I've written it here. He listened and encouraged me. After I'd told him everything, and that I was soon to be ordained, he told me he was tired, and that we'd have to continue another time. I was disappointed that he hadn't talked about himself, and felt sad that I'd talked so much, but he assured me that it was okay. He said that he didn't have much to share. It was unusual for him to be done a conversation so soon (thirty minutes), and to go to bed so soon. We planned to talk again on April 8, in the evening.
That was the day that he went to the hospital. His kidneys had been failing and his heart was weak. He had a heart attack that night, and after seeing his sister, teasing the nurse, and eating an orange he died peacefully on the hospital bed.
These were the last stories I told my dad.
part 3 Confessions . . . and thoughts . . . On the anniversary of my dad's death
For four years Kate and I had expected to move to Edmonton - with support financial, practical, and moral from our community in Lethbridge - with solid plans and first steps - with a job - with a place to live - but in September of 2008, we arrived with none of what we thought would be necessary to begin. Besides this, we were hurt, confused, and broken by what we had left in Lethbridge. Our confidence, our vision, and even our view of God and the church were badly damaged.
What we did have was six friends who shared our vision for community in Edmonton. Four were ready to move in with us, including Joshua, who moved with us from Lethbridge, James from Peterborough, who we'd met by chance through the camp we volunteered at before our move, David, who lived in Edmonton and worked at the Hope Mission, and Bethany, also from Ontario, who we'd been introduced to through a mutual friend in Edmonton. The four of us, along with two other Edmonton friends began immediately to imagine and plan the next step.
Joshua, James, Kate and I had all moved to Edmonton without a place to live. We discovered quickly that six jobless, homeless young people are not most landlord's favourite ideas for tenants. Add the detail that we planned to have community events in our home, and we were in for a struggle. For two months the four of us lived in friend's guestrooms and on couches. Kate and I were taken in by two different families from a Brethren church in town that wanted to help us. We went back and forth between the two homes.
I remember identifying with a story of Abraham in Hebrews 11 that described Abraham moving to a place that he believed God would give him a home in, and living there as a stranger in tents. There is a feeling in not having a home that I had never experienced before or since. At the best of times, it was extremely humbling and somewhat scary, at the worst it was humiliating and wreaked havoc on our already badly damaged confidence. There was one night at the end of September where I went to bed, actually unsure of where my wife and I would sleep the next night. We were strangers.
In our meetings as a community, we encouraged the hope in one another. We prayed together, ate together, and shared communion. I remember sharing one message with the group from Hebrews 11 about Abraham. Joshua and James continued to willingly live without a permanent home, but we all continued to look forward to when a house would be a reality.
At the same time, Kate and I also gladly began reconnecting with friends we'd been making in the social action scene. In Edmonton, September means lots of preparation for the Anarchist Book Fair, and we were in like Flynn. Though most of the anarchist community weren't aware of how desperate our living situation was, we were very happy to begin our new Edmonton life getting to know them and sharing our life in that world. I remember how we'd been given an apartment to live in for an entire month in October, and sharing this exciting news at the bookfair that year. I'd be working the front desk, and if a stranger would ask me how I was doing, I'd be excitedly sharing how I actually had a home for at least the next four weeks. It was a great place to start.
What we did have was six friends who shared our vision for community in Edmonton. Four were ready to move in with us, including Joshua, who moved with us from Lethbridge, James from Peterborough, who we'd met by chance through the camp we volunteered at before our move, David, who lived in Edmonton and worked at the Hope Mission, and Bethany, also from Ontario, who we'd been introduced to through a mutual friend in Edmonton. The four of us, along with two other Edmonton friends began immediately to imagine and plan the next step.
Joshua, James, Kate and I had all moved to Edmonton without a place to live. We discovered quickly that six jobless, homeless young people are not most landlord's favourite ideas for tenants. Add the detail that we planned to have community events in our home, and we were in for a struggle. For two months the four of us lived in friend's guestrooms and on couches. Kate and I were taken in by two different families from a Brethren church in town that wanted to help us. We went back and forth between the two homes.
I remember identifying with a story of Abraham in Hebrews 11 that described Abraham moving to a place that he believed God would give him a home in, and living there as a stranger in tents. There is a feeling in not having a home that I had never experienced before or since. At the best of times, it was extremely humbling and somewhat scary, at the worst it was humiliating and wreaked havoc on our already badly damaged confidence. There was one night at the end of September where I went to bed, actually unsure of where my wife and I would sleep the next night. We were strangers.
In our meetings as a community, we encouraged the hope in one another. We prayed together, ate together, and shared communion. I remember sharing one message with the group from Hebrews 11 about Abraham. Joshua and James continued to willingly live without a permanent home, but we all continued to look forward to when a house would be a reality.
At the same time, Kate and I also gladly began reconnecting with friends we'd been making in the social action scene. In Edmonton, September means lots of preparation for the Anarchist Book Fair, and we were in like Flynn. Though most of the anarchist community weren't aware of how desperate our living situation was, we were very happy to begin our new Edmonton life getting to know them and sharing our life in that world. I remember how we'd been given an apartment to live in for an entire month in October, and sharing this exciting news at the bookfair that year. I'd be working the front desk, and if a stranger would ask me how I was doing, I'd be excitedly sharing how I actually had a home for at least the next four weeks. It was a great place to start.
part 2 Confessions . . . and thoughts . . . On the anniversary of my dad's death
Around the same time we were seeing the success of the after school program we began in Lethbridge, as well as the excitement of new possibilities in Edmonton, things in Lethbridge had begun changing in ways that would end up very seriously rocking our life, our relationships, and our faith.
I had been involved in helping establish the creative, young, and free church we attended in Lethbridge. The pastor had been a mentor and close personal friend of mine for over ten years. The church had graciously risked their facility and reputation for the mercy based program we'd begun and run for two years. The pastor along with the church had been supporting Kate and I to move to Edmonton since 2004. It was a church willing to serve, to live differently, to take a risk for the sake of love.
We didn't recognize the changes as they first began to happen. Basically, as we were pulling away, the church was undergoing a major shift in philosophy toward a far more traditional, conservative, fundamentalist core. As it did so, support of the after school program, and the team organizing it quickly diminished. So too did the support for Kate and myself moving to Edmonton.
Only as we were beginning to realize these changes and their potential consequences, the pastor of the church, our biggest personal support, took a sabbatical (an extended vacation). The sabbatical was to last six months. We were to move away from Lethbridge in six months. He had been the pastor since the church began, so his understanding of our position in moving to Edmonton to establish a church community was unmatched. Though he never stopped supporting us personally, his influence in the church, and his ability to support us in that community was gone.
While on sabbatical, the church asked him to step down as pastor because of major differences between his original vision for the church's direction, and the new core beliefs and values that were beginning to represent the church as it was.
Soon after this, the church asked the organizers of the after school program to stop, and disallowed the use of the building. Soon after this, Kate and I were told that we would no longer be supported as a church plant, or sent with blessing to move to Edmonton.
Within a week, Kate and I, along with our friend Joshua were graciously given the opportunity to be "released" from the church, to go and do as we pleased in Edmonton. They continued to support Kate and I financially every month, no strings attached. It was very strained, but all three of us wanted to leave the best we possibly could. In the spirit of reconciliation and redemption, we wanted to trust our relationship to the church and the direction of the church to God
As we were released, we also chose to release this community. We left every opportunity for future forgiveness to be possible. This was probably one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
One week later we moved away from Lethbridge. We were now ready to enter Edmonton without the support of a church or pastor, no home, no job, just enough income to buy ourselves groceries modestly each month, with our faith and doctrine turned upside down and inside out, and our hearts broken.
We took two months off (ha) at Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp, and moved to Edmonton in September of 2008.
---
Since our move to Edmonton, Kate and Joshua and I have remained in contact with our former church in Lethbridge. As we were broken and hurt, in many more ways than I've shared, so have they been since that time. We've also seen healing in that community, and evidence of growth as they've picked up pieces. Our relationship with them is healing, and their understanding of us and support of us is returning. We continue to bless them as they seek truth, love, and freedom in Jesus.
I had been involved in helping establish the creative, young, and free church we attended in Lethbridge. The pastor had been a mentor and close personal friend of mine for over ten years. The church had graciously risked their facility and reputation for the mercy based program we'd begun and run for two years. The pastor along with the church had been supporting Kate and I to move to Edmonton since 2004. It was a church willing to serve, to live differently, to take a risk for the sake of love.
We didn't recognize the changes as they first began to happen. Basically, as we were pulling away, the church was undergoing a major shift in philosophy toward a far more traditional, conservative, fundamentalist core. As it did so, support of the after school program, and the team organizing it quickly diminished. So too did the support for Kate and myself moving to Edmonton.
Only as we were beginning to realize these changes and their potential consequences, the pastor of the church, our biggest personal support, took a sabbatical (an extended vacation). The sabbatical was to last six months. We were to move away from Lethbridge in six months. He had been the pastor since the church began, so his understanding of our position in moving to Edmonton to establish a church community was unmatched. Though he never stopped supporting us personally, his influence in the church, and his ability to support us in that community was gone.
While on sabbatical, the church asked him to step down as pastor because of major differences between his original vision for the church's direction, and the new core beliefs and values that were beginning to represent the church as it was.
Soon after this, the church asked the organizers of the after school program to stop, and disallowed the use of the building. Soon after this, Kate and I were told that we would no longer be supported as a church plant, or sent with blessing to move to Edmonton.
Within a week, Kate and I, along with our friend Joshua were graciously given the opportunity to be "released" from the church, to go and do as we pleased in Edmonton. They continued to support Kate and I financially every month, no strings attached. It was very strained, but all three of us wanted to leave the best we possibly could. In the spirit of reconciliation and redemption, we wanted to trust our relationship to the church and the direction of the church to God
As we were released, we also chose to release this community. We left every opportunity for future forgiveness to be possible. This was probably one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
One week later we moved away from Lethbridge. We were now ready to enter Edmonton without the support of a church or pastor, no home, no job, just enough income to buy ourselves groceries modestly each month, with our faith and doctrine turned upside down and inside out, and our hearts broken.
We took two months off (ha) at Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp, and moved to Edmonton in September of 2008.
---
Since our move to Edmonton, Kate and Joshua and I have remained in contact with our former church in Lethbridge. As we were broken and hurt, in many more ways than I've shared, so have they been since that time. We've also seen healing in that community, and evidence of growth as they've picked up pieces. Our relationship with them is healing, and their understanding of us and support of us is returning. We continue to bless them as they seek truth, love, and freedom in Jesus.
part 1 Confessions . . . and thoughts . . . On the anniversary of my dad's death
In September of 2008 I moved to Edmonton with Kate. Some of our Edmonton friends might be surprised to realize it was so recently. We'd been visiting Edmonton so frequently by the time that we moved, that many assumed we'd been living here for years.
We'd intended to make this move since the Summer of 2004 in Lethbridge, Alberta. We'd planned to get married, start a youth drop in and mentorship program at our church, and then move to Edmonton to plant a church. Once established in Edmonton, we'd start a family.
We spent three years getting the high school program in Lethbridge started. By 2007, we regularly had one hundred awesome misfit teenagers and young adults hanging out, enjoying punk rock shows, and being loved. There was a collective of twelve ready to keep it going.
We loved those kids. Really. They spat and swore and were violent and . . . worse. They were everything we believed that Jesus' friends were probably like. We were together at shows, parties, dinners, weddings, and funerals. Our faith was coming alive like we'd never experienced. And we began to enter their world, and the world of the punk bands that played at the event.
A couple of years in, we looked down at our black leather oots, and realized we'd started to kind of "blend in". We liked it.
This is around the time we started visiting Edmonton. We had no money (volunteering to start a youth drop in doesn't pay much), but we were excited to discover the arts and activism scene in the capital city. We stuck our thumbs out on the highway, and headed North. In 2007/2008, we spent more time on friend's floors in Edmonton than we did in our own hometown. We almost always hitchhiked.
One of my earliest memories was showing up at the Anarchist Bookfair in 2007. I was so nervous. I'd been reading Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Tolstoy, and liked them, but had never met a real anarchist. Not knowing what to expect, I stuttered as I told strangers who'd later become friends that I was a Pastor, and wanted to plant a church in Edmonton. Hardly judgmental, most of the crew were warm, engaging, and kind. The biggest impressions were made by Samano from Calgary, Pete with the gigantic smile and thick dreds, Jeff passed out tired in the hallway, and Monika who drove us home. When I got in Monika's car, I wasn't sure if I should wear my seatbelt, i mean, assuming she was an anarchist.
I remember being asked if I was a Quaker or a Mennonite by one of the vendors. Nice.
We'd intended to make this move since the Summer of 2004 in Lethbridge, Alberta. We'd planned to get married, start a youth drop in and mentorship program at our church, and then move to Edmonton to plant a church. Once established in Edmonton, we'd start a family.
We spent three years getting the high school program in Lethbridge started. By 2007, we regularly had one hundred awesome misfit teenagers and young adults hanging out, enjoying punk rock shows, and being loved. There was a collective of twelve ready to keep it going.
We loved those kids. Really. They spat and swore and were violent and . . . worse. They were everything we believed that Jesus' friends were probably like. We were together at shows, parties, dinners, weddings, and funerals. Our faith was coming alive like we'd never experienced. And we began to enter their world, and the world of the punk bands that played at the event.
A couple of years in, we looked down at our black leather oots, and realized we'd started to kind of "blend in". We liked it.
This is around the time we started visiting Edmonton. We had no money (volunteering to start a youth drop in doesn't pay much), but we were excited to discover the arts and activism scene in the capital city. We stuck our thumbs out on the highway, and headed North. In 2007/2008, we spent more time on friend's floors in Edmonton than we did in our own hometown. We almost always hitchhiked.
One of my earliest memories was showing up at the Anarchist Bookfair in 2007. I was so nervous. I'd been reading Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Tolstoy, and liked them, but had never met a real anarchist. Not knowing what to expect, I stuttered as I told strangers who'd later become friends that I was a Pastor, and wanted to plant a church in Edmonton. Hardly judgmental, most of the crew were warm, engaging, and kind. The biggest impressions were made by Samano from Calgary, Pete with the gigantic smile and thick dreds, Jeff passed out tired in the hallway, and Monika who drove us home. When I got in Monika's car, I wasn't sure if I should wear my seatbelt, i mean, assuming she was an anarchist.
I remember being asked if I was a Quaker or a Mennonite by one of the vendors. Nice.
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