Culture

I recently saw this add at a public transit stop that is supposedly going up across Canada. No one quite knows what it’s for.

Now this is creative… go obama…

Go to this site to check out this viral video on “The Story of Stuff“. It’s about 20 minutes long but communicates the key messages of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal with brilliant simplicity.

Below is one of my favorite segments of the video,

I’d love to hear what you are or or plan on doing about it all…

Some thoughts I jotted down while cross-boarder shopping and waiting in the dreaded cheesecake factory lines.

like rats in a cage
or mice in a maze
wherever the sales sign lead
I go where they say to go
joyfully letting this wallet bleed

what a steal
we beat the system, got a better deal
got something shiny, something new
by trading in the old
who knew it was actually my soul they stole

worthy cost savings,
or a life worth living,
I’m not sure, which one, we want more

here we are in line
at the cheesecake factory
waiting for this darn box to beep
watching others go in before us, patiently
filing in and eat and pay excessively

this is life, life in the mall,
they’re all busy buying stuff,
yet I too, am one of them
and i just can’t wait, till it’s my turn to go in.

Check out this speech delivered to the United Nations by twelve year old Severn Suzuki

Not the brightest of videos, but I love the opening lyrics…

When I was,
A young boy,
My father, took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, “Son when you grow up,
will you be the saviour of the broken,
the beaten and the damned?”

The latest TED talk I’ve watched on Greening the Ghetto. Let me know what you think if you ever get around to it.

Some reason I can’t embed it, see it here.

One early morning a decade ago, I heard on the radio that the first one hundred people to line up to purchase Radiohead’s OK Computer would be given a free ticket to their North American premiere at the Opera House.

I didn’t have a car at the time and ended up pulling a friend out of a test that morning to drive down and line up.  While I was dropped off so that he could find parking, I ran towards the line and was handed ticket number 100, the very last ticket.

We debated this for a while, and decided the only fair thing to do would be to scalp the ticket and split the cash.

We’ve regretted it ever since.

Anyhow, I just discovered that Radiohead delivered a blow to the recording industry today and is offering their latest album for sale directly from their own website, cutting out all the middle men.  On top of that, it’s pay whatever you want.  You could literally put a cent into the honesty box and walk away with the album legitimately.

Kudos to Radiohead for once again doing things a bit differently…

After watching the “Earthlings” documentary my wife and I have been taking stock of what we eat and how we live again.

I bought a Moby CD over ten years ago, that included the facts below in the liner notes. For some reason they actually mean something to me now.

FACTS THAT I’VE COLLECTED:
In the past 20 years approximately 1 million species have disappeared from the world’s tropical forests.
From 1960-1985 over 40% of the central american rainforests were destroyed to create grazing land for cattle.
The united states imports over 100,000 tons of beef from central america each year.
It takes 23 gallons of water to produce a pound of tomatoes.
It takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef.
One acre of land can produce 20,000 pounds of potatoes.
One acre of land can produce 165 pounds of beef.
The u.s. cattle industry produces 158 million tons of waste per year.
Livestock production is the #1 cause of water pollution in the u.s.
22 million acres of land have become unusable due to desertification.
85% of the topsoil loss in t he u.s. is the result of livestock production.
In the u.s. 33% of ALL raw material consumption is used solely in the production of meat, egg, and dairy products.
It takes 1 pound of grain to make 1 pound of bread.
It takes 20 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of beef.
75% of the grain sent to third world nations goes to livestock production.
The countries with the diets highest in animal products are also the countries with the highest rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc.
50 percent of men who eat meat regularly die of heart disease.
80% of usda chicken inspectors no longer eat chicken.
If the average commuter passenger load in the u.s. were increased by just 1 person per day we would save 33 million gallons of gas each day.
Americans spend over 1 billion hours stuck in traffic each year.
30% of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions come from cars.
Air is sold in mexico city for $1.15 a minute by sidewalk vendors.
What greenpeace spends in a year general motors spends in 4 hours.
million children under the age of 6 suffer from lead poisoning.
in europe 50% of the cars still use leaded gas.
2 million gallons of motor oil are dumped in american waterways each year.
over 8 million tons of oil are spilled in the world’s oceans every year.
5 billion gallons of water are flushed each day in the united states.
Sewage treatment facilities in the u.s. discharge 5.9 trillion gallons of sewage wastewater into coastal waters every year.
u.s. tuna fisherman are permitted to kill over 20,000 dolphins every year.
2 million sharks die in driftnets in the north pacific every year.
Only 1 in 10 baby chimpanzees survive the trip form the jungle to the zoo.
1 billion animals are killed each year in experiments.
17 million animals are trapped in the u.s. each year for fur.
Many traps are so painful that animals check through their own limbs to escape.
For every fur animal trapped two other animals (dogs, cats, deer, etc.) are trapped and killed.
In 1997 450,000 minks died on fur farms from heat exhaustion.
1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and enough energy to heat the average home for 6 months.
Enough wood and paper is thrown away each year in america to heat 1 billion houses for a year.
Six times more jobs are created by recycling as opposed to landfill operations.
The amount of money spent on trash disposal in american schools is equal to that spent on new textbooks.
Out of every $10 that americans spend on food, $1 pays for packaging.
65% of garbage in the u.s. is packaging.
50% of all trash thrown away could be recycled into new products.
500 new dumps are built each year in the united states.
Over 1 billion trees are used to make disposable diapers every year.
Americans throw away 20 billion disposable diapers each year.
Americans dump the equivalent of 21 million shopping bags full of food into landfills every year.
billion batteries are thrown away each year by americans.
over 700,000 tons of hazardous waste is produced in the u.s. every day.
americans throw away 10 million cigarette lighters every week.
500,000 people die of cigarette related diseases in the u.s. each year.
pesticides that are banned in the u.s. (such as ddt) are regularly sold to third world countries.
90% of all food borne pesticides are found in meat and dairy products.
10% of nursing mothers who were vegetarians had ddt in their breast milk.
90% of nursing mothers who were meat eaters had ddt in their breast milk.
In 1945, before widespread pesticide use, u.s. corn growers lost 3% of their crops to insects.
Last year they lost over 12%.
74 different kinds of pesticides have been found in drinking water.
Over 100 chemical contaminants have been found in the breast milk of nursing mothers in the u.s.
of the 34 chemicals most widely used on lawns, 25% are widely believed to cause birth defects, genetic mutation, and cancer.
Americans spend 6 billion dollars on their lawns each year.
25% of u.s. nuclear reactors would not be able to contain a core breach meltdown.
A 1985 study predicted a 45% chance of core breach meltdown in the u.s. before 2005.
In 1992, 430,000 people in the world died from cancers resulting from nuclear testing radiation.
More money is spent in the u.s. on nuclear weaponry in one year than was spent on housing from 1980-1992.
To date cleaning up storage facilities for nuclear debris has cost taxpayers 200 billion dollars.
In 1989 the u.s. military used 200 billion barrels of oil, enough to keep all american public transit systems running for 22 years. 1 ton of toxic waste is produced by the u.s. every minute. (Source)

For almost five years now my wife and I have set course for moving to Ottawa (Canada’s national capital) in the summer of 2008.

It appears that after five years a city can really grow on you. It’s been tough having our heads in two places the last few years, and we’ve finally decided to change course and further lay foundations in the beautiful city of Toronto.

Let me tell you a bit about this city of mine

- Population > 5.1 million people - fifth largest city in North America
- Ranked by the United Nations as one of the best cities in the world to live in
- Richard Florida who wrote “Rise of the Creative Class” describes Toronto as being one of the most creative cities and is on set to be “a world leader in innovation and prosperity”
- Yet 550,000 people live below the poverty line
- The most diverse city in the world - Over 100 different ethnic communities
- Fast Company classifies Toronto as a Global Village - one of the ‘fastest’ 30 cities in the world
- 49% of the population have immigrated to Toronto in the past 10 years
- On track with a ten year plan to becoming a Global Cultural / Creative capital
- Over a thousand various festivals a year, with some of the largest in the world including Caribana, Pride week, and the international film festival
- and of course one of the Facebook capitals of the world

I took an assessment a few years back that diagnosed me with having ADD/ADHD, but who doesn’t these days?

I just stumbled on to this movie documenting the factors we all suspected (pharmaceutical industry, parents, teachers, media, etc) leading to the over-medicating of our children.

Goodness, my wife and I laughed at this till we were in tears. You must watch this.

The concept is so simple, the Japanese are totally brilliant.

Have you ever been out walking, noticed a dog, and stopped to play with it, and then realized you never once even looked at the owner in the eye? I did once, and when I looked back I saw look of disgust staring back at my blind eye.

A friend of mine came by a while back and jokingly asked if he could borrow Stellar… “Because chicks dig dudes with babies and dogs”

Lets break it down from a few angles.

Dude’s perspective. Why is it that we feel we need to accessorize ourselves for others to notice us? Could it be that somewhere down below I don’t think another human being would like me, just for me?

Chick’s perspective. Why is it that we have no problems giving direct and caring eye contact to babies and dogs? Could it be because we’ve been hurt by others in the past? Could it be because we know that dogs and babies won’t judge us? Or is it we who’ve judged, and ignored people because we see them as less than that? Less than God’s wonderfully divine creation. Less than the broken image of God longing to be restored. Less than beautiful?

Babies and dogs. When I look at my daughter, she is like neither of the above two. Stellar just is, the way she is. She doesn’t pretend or hold back feelings. She doesn’t judge and calculate whether you’re worth her time. The whole world fascinates her. She naively assumes the best of every person and that as another human being, you must care for her. Connecting and interacting with you, is her greatest joy.

Maybe this is why we’re drawn to babies and dogs. Though they may be raw and unrefined, we resonate with their authenticity. They just are the way they are.

And maybe if we were, the way we really were, we’d be more compelling, unique, and creative.

Imagine a community where people simply came as they are, flaws and all. Where they connected and interacted at the deepest levels of humanity. Where they actively helped one another become the unique person that God created them to be. That to me, is what the church ought to be.

A simple exercise we had in the class was to meaningfully finish the sentence -
“If you really knew me, you would know that…”

This is the closest photo I could find on the theme of today’s post. Ever seen The Neverending Story?

Innovation is a subset of creativity. It is about taking something that exists and transforming it into something new that is equally if not more extraordinary and beautiful.

If you know anything about religious culture, it often has an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. We’re the chosen few and the rest of the world is going to hell. Keep yourselves pure by staying away from the culture.

However over and over again in the Scriptures, it describes Jesus and the people of God engaging the culture. Though what they said and did at times were counter-cultural, they did it in a way that encountered-culture.

In Titus 1:12-13, Paul recites and approves the words of a pagan prophet. The book of Acts describes Paul in Athens quoting and affirming the Greek poets of the time. One would have to imagine that for Paul to do so, he must have been attentive to, studied, and reflected upon the people, the literature and art of his culture.

The Apostle Paul was an innovator.

He was able to look into the world around him. See the traces of God that was there. Re-frame it and translate it back to the culture in a way that allowed them to see the beauty and wonder of God in more rich and profound ways.

One of the assignments was to find a song on the radio (ie. not a ‘Christian” song), where you discover deep spiritual truths of God within… got any?

Continuing our Creativity & Spirituality series…

Seeing the Divine, takes time.

In Exodus, after wandering the dessert for forty-years, it describes Moses seeing something there he had not ever seen before. He encounters a bush that did not seem to ‘burn up’.

As Moses approaches he discovers God calling out to him from within the bush saying “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5)

How long had Moses walked through that piece of land, never realizing that it was holy?

Or the better question might be, how long had Moses been staring at that bush to realize that it was not burning up? That it wasn’t some minor forest fire, but that there was something mystical occurring?

In the book of Mark it describes a centurion standing in front of Jesus upon the cross, hearing him cry, and watching him die. After which he comes to the realization that “Surely this man was the son of God!” (Mark 15:39).

The same question applies. How long was the centurion gazing at the cross, before he realized that he was seeing God?

Could it be that God is closer than we think?

If only we took the time to really look?

The Scriptures describe this man named Jacob who after reflecting on a dream and discovers, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” (Genesis 28:17).

In our Creativity & Spirituality gatherings, one of our assignments was to take a digital photo or find a photo of something or somewhere we saw a glimpse God in someway. Here’s a collage of some of what came out of it.

Mine was the ‘tank man’ picture. I see God in the regular Joe that has the courage to stand against oppressive forces in the world.

With the semester wrapping up I’ve been completely swamped with papers and projects. I’ll continue the series on Creativity soon after.

For the mean time here are some sweet links.

- A great article with accompanying art on Google.

- Article on Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins returning to his spiritual roots.

- Thanks to Joeie & Weewian - What happens when a world class violinist with a $3.5 million violin plays for loose change in public

- Thanks to Yuling, a phenomenal letter of apology to Asian Americans by YS president Mark Oestreicher due to a publishing blunder

- and on the commercialization of Jesus a la Will Ferrell

What if the whole earth was actually filled with the glory of God?

What if all of creation is groaning and hoping for even more beauty yet to be revealed?

What if since the beginning of time all creation has been screaming out that there is more to life than the visible?

* You can read a bit more on this from a previous post at the vox bookclub.

So I found some old unwanted tiles underneath the deck of my friends’ home, left discarded by the previous owner.

I brought them to our creativity and spirituality class and had each student choose a tile. They were extremely grimy so they were each asked to go wash them off. As they cleaned the dirt off of the tiles they were instructed to imagine themselves as the tile being cleansed by the hands of God.

Some tables were put together with a large blue camping tarp laid over it. This again was to stimulate a fresh environment that was also conducive to creative messiness. Dollar store paint and brushes were laid out.

Somewhat inspired by Steve Taylor’s “The out of bounds church“, everyone was asked to silently reflect, imagine, and paint as I read from Genesis 1, while Moby’s track “God moving over the face of the waters” was playing. mp3 of shortened version of God moving over the face of the waters

This is what we created when we put sixteen tiles together…

Ever hear one of those messages that attempted to prove the existence of God with the fact that the Scriptures begin with “In the beginning God…” ?

Whether there’s a God or not aside, what I love about the Scriptures is the way it describes God.

Taking that entry point into Genesis further, it declares “In the beginning, God created…”

He created.

He doesn’t just sit there.

He doesn’t just think about stuff.

He doesn’t just hope.

He Creates.

He’s the Creator. A Creative being. Creating is core to what he does.

And then the Scriptures state that He created us, you and I, in his Image and Likeness.

What part of that don’t we understand?

Entering the room - I tried to create an environment that was different from any thing people were use to. Lights were shut off. Candles were scattered. Tables were covered with kraft paper from Montana’s Restaurant. Crayons were distributed for doodling. Music like U2’s “City of Blinding Lights” played.

I did this not because it was cool, or even for ambiance, but to help break people out of routines. Leading educators tell us that when people enter what is known as a ‘classroom’, after years of being a part of stale educational institutions our brains simply disengage as we sit down for more of the same old.

On a side note, in university during the rare moments I attended class, I fought desperately to stay awake. Quite honestly I had just about a hundred percent hit ratio of not making it to the end of the lecture conscious.

I would sit up at the front of the class hoping I would stay attentive fueled by the guilt of falling asleep directly in front of the professor. It didn’t work.

I would try to engage myself by furiously writing notes, just to keep my hands moving, only to wake up finding sentences that turned to gibberish as my pen slid down the page.

What I finally discover did work, was snacking on chips and high-sugared drinks, and even that failed to work at times. I recall loading up a hot dog with the works before class, and waking up discovering a trail of toppings running down my jacket with the hot dog in my lap!

How else might we create environments where people are creatively engaged?

Here’s an interesting link I just found on developing brain-compatible classrooms.

Over the next while the bulk of my writings will center around Spirituality & Creativity.

I just finished teaching a four-week series on the topic and I hope to offer readers a glimpse into it, while fleshing out more of the thoughts and experiences that arose.

Together (that means you), I hope to explore with you how Spirituality & Creativity relate, how they necessitate one another, as well as biblical foundations, and some practical expressions of our God-given creativity.

If we are created in the image and likeness of the Creator, then we too are creative beings. How is it that followers Jesus are more known for conformity and standardization than the revolutional and innovative ways of Christ?

I think there was something I was suppose to talk about at the conference, but I ended up simply sharing a bit about my life and doing an anything goes Q&A for the rest of the time.

When it comes to speaking to crowds, I don’t think on-the-fly talks that can be done over the long haul. The truth is you can only ride your personality and past thoughts and experiences for so long. Every great communicator spends time working at their craft.

Still, I absolutely love meeting people exactly where they are and thinking on my feet, rather than trying to recall what I had intended to say.

When young person asked me, what’s the deal with people getting possessed?

What a fantastic question I thought. I broadened the term possession and shared about how possession is when people are overtaken by something.

I shared of an old room mate who had no issues doing the 30 hour famine everyday because he was ‘possessed’ playing Warcraft (Sorry Brian). I shared about how I can be possessed for hours online shopping at times just trying to find a way to save a dollar . I shared of how so often, not only with youth, but adults find themselves being different people when they’re with different people.

People are possessed when they are not being the person that they were created to be.

Jesus came to free us from this and walk with us on a journey towards relentlessly becoming the person that God had always intended for us to be.

Many people have been commenting on my Faux-Hawk recently. To be quite honest, since I shaved my head, my hair just started growing back this way. I wake up, and there it is. I’ve never put any product in it. I didn’t even know what a faux-hawk was until people started pointing it out.

Well, here I was feeling pretty good about myself having hair other guys go to salons for, until I decided to look up the faux-hawk on wikipedia.

It states: In most punk circles this hairstyle is frowned upon and considered a form of “selling out”, mainly because it allows the wearer to blend in with mainstream society when not gelled up, something that cannot be done with a true mohawk.

Now I’m walking around like a wannabe and a sellout.
Next up the No-hawk and the Skullet…

I’m teaching a series of classes of classes this March on “Experiencing God through the Creative Journey“.

If anyone else has any ideas on creatively teaching creativity, whether it’s through biblical foundations, practical expressions, or corporate experiences that can be facilitated, I’d love to hear about them.

The current session titles are:

Creativity through the Creator God
Creativity through Creation - Community & Culture
Creativity through Creating CrossCultural Environments

I have way more ideas than I have time for already, but after the series is over, I’ll be posting my thoughts and what comes out of the experience, especially if we use any of your ideas!

I couldn’t care less about Valentine’s day, but I sure do care about my wife. This year I went all out and took her to Susur. Susur Lee has a number of accolades including top ten chef in the world, with the number one restaurant in Toronto, and one of the top fifty in the world. He was also on Iron Chef, and was supposedly robbed with a tie.

My wife and I are the type of people who go to McDonald’s with coupons, so this restaurant was totally out of our league. The menu’s are set every night for a flat rate, so you never know what you’re going to get. We went on the night of Toronto’s first snow storm and was a bit worried that we wouldn’t make it on time, as they charge full price for no-shows!

The experience was phenomenal. We thought the service was ridiculous as they would do things like adjust our utensils and the menu to perpendicular angles throughout the night. We had fourteen courses of delicacies dancing in our mouths (We each had seven different courses which we shared). I’m not a very refined kind of guy, so a lot of the flavors and textures were totally foreign to me.

I’m not even going to try to repeat the elaborate details of the menu, but here’s a quick recap of what we ate: Bison striploin, Venison (deer), Seared Foie Gras, Duck, black truffles, coffee marinated Ostrich, Shrimp, Asian hot pot, Sable, Roasted Lobster, and something with dry ice coming out of it! Oh and check out the two-tiered dessert in the pictures below! Click on them for larger images.

Not all the pictures turned out as we felt a bit embarrassed because we seemed like tourists in such a high-class atmosphere. Some people in there seemed like they were so rich this was just every day dinner! If you’re interested in going or finding out more, you can find other bloggers reviews here, here, and here.

Chef Susur was making his rounds at the tables, but we didn’t have time to hang out. We had dropped Stellar off with some friends and while we were stuffed to the brim, she sounded like she was getting hungry!

Overall, an excellent night.

Last night Yvz was watching something on tv, where they were interviewing kids in the ghetto.

The reporter asked one kid - “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

boy resonds - “become a CEO”

the reporter is a bit shocked and says - “become a CEO of what?”

the boy then says - “actually i have a dream…”

reporter - “oh and what’s you dream?”

the boy says - “…I want to be batman”

My wife was commenting on how the boy probably got the CEO-part from his parents; but what was in his heart, was batman.

Are you living your dream? or someone else’s?

For five years I’ve waited and asked the administration for a church planting course at Tyndale Seminary. It still hasn’t happened. Church planting courses are in our academic calendar, but they haven’t been offered supposedly due to a lack of interest. This semester I decided to enroll as a visiting student to Heritage Seminary for their church planting foundations course way out in Cambridge.

A couple thoughts from my first class specifically regarding demographics between the U.S. and Canada. (Because so often many people try to plant ‘American’ churches in a Canadian context, when in fact many of our values are diverging).

- The state of California alone has more people than all of Canada

- Statistically the values of the most liberal states (New England area) are still more conservative than Canada’s most conservative province (Alberta)

- Where postmodernism is a philosophical system embraced in the U.S., it is intrinsic to who Canadians are - we are almost exclusively postmodern

- Canada has quickly surpassed the UK in secularism

- “In the U.S. it’s legal to bear arms, in Canada it’s legal to bear breasts”

- Some additional generalizations for the U.S. - Risk-taking, money is everything, winner takes all, higher standard of living, and aspiration

- As compared to in Canada - Risk-averse, money is suspect, income redistribution, best quality of life, and accommodation

Much of this and many more stats are found in Michael Adams’ books, Sex in the snow, and Fire & Ice.

For my American friends here’s one of our infamous Molson Beer “I am Canadian” commercials.

For my Canadian friends, who are oblivious to American politics for the most part, check out this awesome speech by Senator Barack Obama who’s in the running to be America’s first black president (though I’ve got my bets on Hillary).

What do you think?

See the last three posts if you’re still catching up. Some people say ‘preaching is dead’. I often think so as well, but I still believe our post-Christian culture opens new opportunities for the ‘preacher’ today.

Postmodernity blurs the lines between everything - fact and fiction, on and offline, news and entertainment. Although there are inherent dangers to this blurring of boundaries, in many ways this cultural milieu provides the opportunity for us to preach a more holistic message. God’s story and the human story do not need to be separate. Faith and everyday life no longer need to be compartmentalized. The good news of the kingdom of God can be preached as a reality that can permeate every aspect of humanity.

Another new reality for our preaching today is the opportunity to call people to change immediately. Gone are the days where everyone requires all the empirical evidence upfront and then weighs out all the pros and cons. People today often only process information that they can apply immediately. Preaching to a postmodern world is conducive to action-oriented life transformation. Just as in the Scriptures James speaks strongly of acting on what we learn, when postmodern preaching offers people clear life applications, people have an opportunity to move towards faith, even if incrementally.

One of the most unique opportunities of our postmodern times is for preachers and followers of Jesus themselves. Being a post-Christian era, this offers us a unique time of humility, revisiting our roots and faith, re-placing our trust to where it belongs, and re-aligning ourselves back to becoming the church that Jesus had in mind when He was on the cross. As we do this, preachers have a rare opportunity to shake the culture again. Postmodern culture does not expect anything relevant to be coming out of the church. But when they are encountered by a church that is re-aligned with God and the voice of God is heard in a way that connects, it will be shockingly relevant, because that which is eternal is always relevant.

Spirituality is at an all-time high today, and religion is disdained more than ever. When we reveal to the postmodern world that Christ was very much the same way, this will immediately resonate. Though postmoderns want spiritual values without constraints, if we preach the radical values of Christ, they will form their own boundaries. Though postmoderns distrust institutions, if we preach that Christ did not come to establish a religion but a movement of followers that will change the world, the church will be seen differently. Though postmoderns stress personal fulfillment, if we preach that following Jesus brings people closer to the person they were always created to be, it can bring people to craving this deeper place of fulfillment. As Graham Johnston says, “Hope in Christ addresses the restlessness and arbitrary existence of the postmodern world�

The role of preaching in a postmodern world is just as crucial as ever. Although the challenges have changed since the modern era, the greatest needs of a human soul remain the same. Biblical and relevant preaching can transcend all of the negative stereotypes of postmodernity. Preaching is able to ask what no one dares to ask, dialog even deeper into the human heart, and proclaim a story that all are invited to participate in. Preaching is able to reveal to people what God is doing; in the life of the preacher, the world around them, and even in their own humanity. Preaching is able to integrate God with all the disconnected realities people live in today, calling them to change, while surprising them about the goodness of God. Preachers must learn to see the invisible and hear the inaudible, that the heart of the postmodern world is ‘preaching’ for us to preach Christ centered messages clearly to them.

Some excellent thoughts coming from the discussion in the last two posts (1 and 2) on preaching. I’m going to continue discussing preaching as valuable in postmodern contexts where we still have an audience. However, I believe this must not be reduced to the transfer of information, which it often is. If it does not lead to transformation it is a waste of all of our time. I’ve been guilty of this when I’ve spoken in the past.

Preaching through questions

I see preaching as a genre of communication of which there are many methods. It does not have to assume only the traditional role of an expert communicator pounding truth into their listeners. With postmodernity no longer subscribing to authority figures having all the right information, a more helpful form of preaching may be one where instead we “raise the right questions�. Although this may seem like a counter-intuitive way of delivering truth, if the gospel is in fact true, if we continue encouraging people to ask the right questions and seeking, the person of truth is where they will ultimately land. This process of discovery facilitates learning and more convicting answers for the postmodern audience.

A preaching dialogue?

Although the form of preaching can seem like a monologue, effective postmodern preaching cuts through the superficiality of the postmodern conversations and can actually launch a dialogue at the deepest levels. When a postmodern preacher can properly exegete the culture that it is communicating in, through the monologue one can actually draw out things that the listener dares not ask out loud. By being aware of the internal conversations of the audience, a preacher can have a very effective dialogue through the preaching monologue. This cultivates a sense of safety and understanding for the preacher. Taking this one step further, the conversation when effectively facilitated can become a trialogue where both the preacher and the listener together interact with what God maybe saying through the Scriptures, the Spirit, or even Creation itself.

Storytelling

Another form in which preaching can take shape is through storytelling. The language of the postmodern culture is image rich and desperately lacking a coherent storyline. God’s story is “an intranarrative� connecting all people can be very appealing. Although a single grand story may appear exclusive, what if we invited people to universal story that can incorporate their own story? Are there ways in the preaching moment where we can allow people to immediately begin participating jointly in the greatest developing story ever told?

I still believe in preaching, but there are its share of challenges.

Where the church has in many ways led western culture for most of the past millennia, during the past fifty years, the culture has leaped forward, lapping around the church; leaving it in the dust. Today the church is seen as the remnants of an archaic institution. The church did such a good job adapting to modern culture, with its rationalism, hierarchy, and structures that it has become irrelevant to the postmodern culture today.

In the modern preacher’s mind the surrounding culture is in complete and utter chaos. Today’s preacher often makes the tragic mistake of trying to answer questions that no one’s asking. This is a prime example of how broken the lines of communication are between the church and the culture. People no longer understand what the church is babbling, and the church has no idea how to communicate to a relative, subjective, pluralistic, and amoral society. All of these factors are no excuse for relinquish our mandate to preach the gospel.

Although it may seem like an uphill battle, in the mind of a missionary, this is a unique opportunity in history. Most of the emerging literature today attempts to expand the definition of what it means to ‘preach the gospel’, but if your gifting is to preach, then the church needs you to be the very best preacher that you can be. Preachers must take upon the mindset of missionaries in a foreign land where the culture we are engaging happens to be postmodern.

I still believe there is a place for biblical and relevant preaching in North America today and going forward… isn’t there?

Flipping through an issue of the Futurist, i stumbled across this revolutional concept for closing the wealth gap (ie. how in the United States 1% of the population holds more wealth than the entire bottom 90% combined).

In an article by Sam Pizzigati (www.toomuchonline.org) he proposes a ten times rule for a moving maximum wage. In this approach, the income ceiling is tied to the income floor. The wealthy could increase their incomes even with a maximum wage in place. To realize this increase however, the wealthy need only to convince Congress to raise the minimum wage, because the higher the minimum, the higher the maximum. By advocating for the nation’s poorest workers, the wealthy would have advocated for themselves.

There is some innovative income tax guidelines along with Pizzigati’s propsoal, but that’s the gist of it.

Of course, this still doesn’t completely deal with the root issues of greed in the human heart, but at least it would be a step towards helping people see that they are a part of everyone else in this global community.

I find this principle applies in many realms; spiritually, organizational, environmentally, etc.

Can you imagine a future when people embrace the reality that the richness of their own journey in life was dependent upon the last, the lost, and the least that surround us?

Here’s my latest round of sweet-links.

Video by youthwork.co.uk did an excellent video interview with Rob Bell, asking tough questions on how the church really started, emergent labels, and not becoming Ted Haggard. Hosted by premier.tv here.

Also here’s a link to the entire Mastering the Art of Living series by Rob Bell. I’m not sure how long this one will be around for. I listened through it back in 2004 I believe and thought it was absolutely phenomenal.

Mac Tablet? I’ve been waiting for this, now if only I had the money.

Someone’s daughter got a bit excited playing her nintedo Wii, check out what happened.

Article on Thom Wolf describing seminaries as being counterproductive.

A good listing of helpful church planting links

Seedstories - Appears to be a good hub /forum for church planters as well

Sketch - If you’re in Toronto, check it out. I just visited yesterday. They do some extraordinary creative arts work with at-risk youth.

Mosaic Alliance has a preview of their members only site for free currently.

** This one just in.  Monkey’s kissing on you tube.  You’ve gotta love this one!

This page will no longer be updated. For the latest Rob Bell and Mars Hill resources and links please see my new site at SolarCrash.

Alright. To follow up the Mosaic Movement Resources as promised, here’s some articles, audio’s and video’s for you Rob Bell fans. I’ve been downloading all of their sermons since back in 2002, but again, to be on the safe side, all links here are just what’s currently available on the web.

For those of you who aren’t up to speed on Rob and Mars Hill, I’d say their the Mac of the megachurch world. clean and simple. Rob Bell’s an excellent communicator who does his homework, especially with contextualizing ancient Jewish culture. Their church is legend for exploding by word of mouth as Bell preached through Leviticus the first year.

Nooma video’s have been the latest craze. People thought I was being silly for spending money on them a few years back. You can borrow them from me if you’re in the area.

I’ll try to keep this resource page up to date, let me know if there’s anything worthwhile that I’m missing. Feel free to share this link on your sites/blogs.

This page will no longer be updated. For the latest Rob Bell and Mars Hill resources and links please see my new site at SolarCrash.

ARTICLES

Article on Volunteerism at Mars Hill
Ben Witherington reviews one of Rob Bell’s talk
Notes from Sex God Q&A
Excellent resources thanks to aspiringindie
- 50 pages of notes from the “Isn’t She Beautiful” pastor’s conference
- Blog entry and 9 pages of notes on the Sex God tour
- Rob Bell’s recommended reading list

Stats from the Calling all Peacemakers sermon series
Excellent notes from Isn’t She Beautiful 2007 here.
Interview with Christianity Magazine UK Feb ‘07
Great wikipedia biography
Reviews on the Everything is Spiritual tour here, here, and here
Beliefnet interviews Rob Bell
Article on Christianity Today on mhbcmi
Preaching.org review of using Nooma

AUDIO

Last twelve messages at mhbcmi are always here.
Additional archived messages
Beautifully Angry Beautifully Angry mp3 by Rob Bell from EmergingConversation
Rob Bell at Mosaiek Church - Flames of Heaven Flames of Heaven
Rob Bell at Mosaiek Church - Barefoot and breathing Barefoot and breathing
Healthy Grieving Healthy Grieving2005 by Rob Bell
Catalyst interview Catalyst Interview with Rob Bell
Between the trees Between the trees by Rob Bell
Sheep and goats and you and me Sheeps and goats and you and me
Rob Bell interview on episode ten of x3church.com podcast
Jesus Wept Jesus wept
Audio Review of Velvet Elvis
Interview Interview with Rob Bell
Another interview interview with Rob Bell
Communicating Christ in Contemporary Culture Part 1, 2, and 3 1, 2, 3
Suffering: Having nothing and having everything Having nothing and having everything mp3
Transforming History Transforming History - Rob Bell at Rock Harbour. Notes here.
Also here’s a link to the entire Mastering the Art of Living series by Rob Bell. I’m not sure how long this one will be around for. I listened through it back in 2004 I believe and thought it was absolutely phenomenal.

VIDEO

These videos below are all from Willow, links courtesy of Yuling

The Nazarite Vow
Between the Trees
We’re over here
Jesus and Domitian
A Day of Atonement
Covered in the Dust of the Rabbi

Full videos from the Nooma series (I’m surprised it lasted this long, looks like some of the videos have been removed. Feel free to let me know if you find alternative links).

Rain
Flame
Sunday
Noise
Kickball
Luggage
Dust
Bullhorn
Lump
Rhythm
Matthew
Rich
Breathe
Clip from the Everything is Spiritual Tour
Clip from Sex God tour in Michigan
Video not of Rob Bell, but one of the “Way of the Master” guys in response to the Bullhorn Nooma.
Video by youthwork.co.uk did an excellent video interview with Rob Bell, asking tough questions on how the church really started, emergent labels, and not becoming Ted Haggard. Hosted by premier.tv here.

MISCELLANEOUS

Mars Hill bible Church
Nooma clips and study guides - You can by the DVD’s here
Isn’t she beautiful - seminar for leaders celebrating the local church January 2007
Velvet Elvis - First book
Sex God - Second book
Calling All Peacemakers European Tour
Rob’s new tour on “Sex God” with a pdf of the 1st chapter! Thanks Lacey

This page will no longer be updated. For the latest Rob Bell and Mars Hill resources and links please see my new site at SolarCrash.

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Friday night Jake, Isabelle and I roamed the downtown core of Toronto for our youth-at-risk class.

We checked out some drop-in centers (Sketch, The Gateway, Seaton House, Sanctuary), Gay bars (Woody’s, Sailor’s, Churchmouse & Firkin), Other hang outs like Bovine Sex Club, Allan Gardens, The Falls, Hooker-Harveys, Boys town, and other nooks and crannies.

These are some pics I found off the web of a few of the places we checked out. I would’ve brought my own camera but didn’t want to look like a tourist.

From Graffiti Alley (Some good sets here and here)

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I’ve been anti-brand name for most of my life, especially when it comes to clothing. I’ve always felt that brands were just another way of outsourcing our creativity.

We spend those extra dollars in exchange for some sense of assurance, that at least someone out there says it’s okay, normal, legit, fits-in, acceptable, etc.

I’ve begun my own clothing line. It’s called “LON-GERIE”, get it? The tag line is:

“FASHION THAT BRINGS OUT BEAUTY IN OTHERS”

Here’s two from the ‘portfolio’.

I’m not sure how long my iron-on will last. Here’s two interesting companies that beat me to it and can help create clothing with a personal touch.

Mondonation
Zazzle

May every one of us find ways to creatively contribute rather than conform.

It always saddens me when I see Christians in a docile, defensive position; just trying to hold on to what they’ve got, while they ride out the storm. I think this is especially true of Halloween tonight. Probably more than any other night, Christians across North America are turning their lights out and hunkering down inside. All the while, darkness literally covers our cities.

There’s an awesome quote from Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is that good men do nothing”

Evil people do not wait around and ask for permission. Evil can be compelling and magnetic, and it moves forward with every inclination.

And the truth is that hunkered down, inward-focused, well-meaning, passive neutrality, will never overcome evil.

There’s a couple of ‘girly shows’ that I’ve had a craving for recently.

Here it goes… Dawson’s creek and Party of Five.

I missed the last few seasons of Dawson’s Creek and the early seasons of Party of Five. If anyone has them on DVD it’d go a long way in quenching this gnawing temptation.

I really don’t know why I’m drawn to them… not enough tragedy and drama in my own life? I really don’t know… someone help me.

Inspired by a recent article in Relevant Magazine by Flowerdust, I’ve decided to post up this note I wrote after an unexpected and profound experience at an event several years ago.

“Looking back, I was too consumed to comprehend all that was happening as we laid hands and prayed that Sunday night. Although I did not even know all the names of the brothers that night, as we cried out there was a unity in our humility and worship before God, unlike anything I had experienced before.What made the conference different this year was that God didn’t just speak to each of us individually, but that we left knowing we had experienced God together. I praise God for His Spirit breaking through this weekend, and I commend all the men who came on stage to take a stand for purity. God has brought such conviction to my heart on this issue over the years, I feel the need to reiterate and add to a few thoughts.

I have no doubt that the sins revealed that night are just a small sampling of what plagues our entire generation. Extending from sexually immoral relationships, to pornography, to masturbation, to lustful thoughts, people are being held in bondage especially to these sins. We are bombarded daily with images from the media and have allowed Satan to gain a foothold. These sins are poisoning the body of Christ and Christians, including leaders are dropping like flies. Though we are often found busy struggling with God’s will in our lives, one thing we know for certain – God desires that we “be holy” (1 Peter 1:15), (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). We need to adopt God’s standard of purity in our lives (see Ephesians 5:3, 1 Corinthians 6:18).

After what was shared, I pray that we don’t carry on as if it never happened. As uncomfortable as it may seem, we need to press on in our conversations, and hold each other accountable. We give Satan power when we refrain from sharing and fight our battles alone. Too often have I heard of, and have known, the vicious cycle of coming clean with God, sinning in secret, and finally crawling back to God feeling even more guilty. Accountability and the prayers of our community is the only effective way of breaking the cycle (James 5:16).

I pray that this spirit of authenticity and vision for purity spreads throughout our churches. I ask that you take a stand in your fellowship, or gather up a small group, or even just share with a friend, let’s just not sit on what God has revealed. We only close our hands to God’s grace when we hide our sins.

One word of caution with all the declarations of purity that have been made. Self-imposed rules and disciplines will not work. I’ve been humbled and have come to realize over the last while, that I can’t change myself, and only God can change me. There’s something in the heart that needs fixing and it is a God thing. Don’t let your personal quest for purity take the place of your relationship with God. Or else it becomes a form of lust in itself. We need to continue seeking the Blesser and not simply His blessings of purity. I pray we all become so consumed with Christ that there no longer remains any room in our lives for sin.

Some brothers have shared with me their fears of how people may view them following confession. If we are to truly become a community of Christ, we also need to pray for understanding, particularly with the sisters. Sisters, we need your support and prayers as well.”

Here’s another article by Sally Morgenthaler, who does some of the emerging worship stuff. She talks about her husband’s struggle as a pastor and the extremes it went to. Very disturbing, yet more disturbing because none of us are really that far from it.

Quotes from the upcoming Superman Returns movie.

Jor-El to Kal-El (Superman’s father to his son):

“Even though you’ve been raised as a human being you’re not one of them. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all - their capacity for good - I have sent them you… my only son.”

Superman to Lois Lane:

“You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior… but every day I hear people crying for one”

Many articles and articles have already been written about the comparisons of Christ with Superman, but what about the followers of Christ and Superman?

In the Scriptures they mistook John the Baptist for Christ, anyone ever mistaken you for Superman?

What would it look like if followers of Christ, though different from those around them, were the leading examples of what it meant to be fully human? to be the very best of humanity?

How might we impact and influence others if we saw the greatness, and the beauty, the hope, and the good within them?

Where would you be today if you were living as a person sent to bring light into the darkest crevices of humanity?

What would happen if you heard the inaudible cries for a savior from the people around you?

When people saw the extraordinary life John the baptist was living and calling others to, he was able to point them to One even greater than himself.

What would happen if we became heroes in our towns and cities, and before people began calling us super men and women, we could point them towards the greatest Hero to ever walk the earth?

We still don’t know if it’s a boy or girl yet, but here are few preliminary names. And yes, i’m serious about them, but I can’t say Yvz’s approved of all of them… yet.

For a boy…

Optimus Prime. Hear me out on this one. Leader of the Autobots. Brought hope to humanity, even though he was not like them. Defender of good. Always at the frontline of battles. Empowered others. Rallied the troops.Experienced pain, death, and resurrection.
Maximus - from Gladiator
Freeman - I love Morgan, and it’s a great word combo
Luther - for both Lex, and the Martin’s out there.
Crash - Great film, forward moving, and unafraid.

For a girl…

Hunter - Imagine guys saying, dude, stay away from her, her names hunter!
Stellar - as in stars and spectacular
Sashimi - I was thinking of some type of sushi theme because it’s both raw and refined.
Liv(e) - short, sweet, and a constant reminder of what to do when she wakes up.
Ashling/Asher - I was thinking of something that starts with A, since she’ll likely be a december baby, and might be at the end of the line for a lot of things, this might even things out. I like something starting with Ash, but Yvz thinks it sounds too much like ‘ass’.

For middle names, I’m really leaning towards these two…

Ruach - Hebrew meaning spirit, breath, wind, courage… for a boy.
Ecclesia - Greek for sent out, or called out, as in called out from darkness to light… for a girl.

What do you think?

I just finished my last paper for the term, and it looks like there’s no appropriate classes I can take in the summer, so I’ve got a couple months of living and working like a normal person.

I’ve gotten back on reading. Currently going through “The divine conspiracy“, “The secret message Jesus“, and I just picked up ‘The world is flat” from the library.

A couple early quotes from it.

“Those who get caught in the past and resist change will be forced deeper into commoditization. Those who create value through leadership, relationships and creativity will transform the industry, as well as strengthen relationships with their existing clients.”

In a conversation with a leader of an outsourcing firm in India: “We are in the middle of a big technological change, and when you live in a society that is at the cutting edge of that change [like America], it is hard to predict. It’s easy to predict for someone living in India. In ten years we are going to be doing a lot of the stuff that is being done in America today. We can predict our future. But we are behind you. You are defining the future.”

A lot of this sounds like the usual globalization talk, and sometimes I think there is a perception that this is how things will always be. That developed nations, like America, will constantly lead and innovate while ‘helping’ other nations through outsourcing while they race ahead. What I believe, and hope Friedman gets to in the book, is that this won’t always be the case. If it’s true that every soul longs to create, express, dream, and innovate, then in a ‘flattening’ world, there could come a time, i hope, where every nation leads and innovates, and no person is reduced to a commodity. Sadly, I think the thought of this frightens some people, corporations, and countries.

Speaking of corporations, I know I’m late on this, but I finally watched “The corporation” with Yvz last night. It really is a must-watch.

Right this moment, we’re raping the earth, and one another, and we barely feel a thing.

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