“I’m sitting in…

“I’m sitting in the shadow of the sacred and strolling through the splendor of the supernatural without the slightest sense of what surrounds me.”

Dr. Steve Stephens likes his alliteration. Maybe it’s because of his name, but what matters here is the use of antithetical verbs with its corresponding nouns. Here’s what I mean: “Sitting” and “strolling” are leisure themed verbs while the nouns, “shadow of the sacred” and “splendor of the supernatural” are fairly intense descriptions of God. Stevens fleshes out the reality that we live in the ordinary not realizing that God is right there. He states earlier that our faith is often godless, but the reality of God around us is astounding.  He wants us to see that almighty, all intimate God is here with us and we live as though he doesn’t exist. Powerful lesson for christians as well as everyone else.

 

Dreaming is a Necessity

I always loved dreaming about what to do in life. I am in a career path at the moment and lovin it, but I always love to envision myself in other places. I have dreamt of being a teacher and can place that within my career, but what about the extravagant?

Another dream I have had is acting. It didn’t matter whether it was the stage or film, but just the thrill of acting. Here’s why I say this: The Hobbit! I Just watched a bit of this video of behind the scenes. Just to be the “Craft Service Manager” would be cool! Making lattes for Frodo? Sounds great. Get the benefits of being in New Zealand with a low pressure job! Ok I admit, I would also love to be Frodo! Maybe I can be an on-set Spiritual Care Person for films?

Dreaming is a part of life. But then, how can I be content with life where I’m at when I dream of being somewhere else? Why am I here? Well, thanks for popping my dream bubble Brandon! The truth is this: I have desired to help people find true life in Christ my entire life, notwithstanding some bumps in the road. And being a pastor is how I have chosen to live it out. Dreaming can deter me when times are hard as a pastor. Of course grass is greener in another dream. Should that deter me from dreaming? No, because dreams can also do something else, something divine even.

We are created to dream. Our imagination sets us free from the constraints of our situation and can help us look into it from the outside. Thinking outside the box is difficult when we have to live in the box. So, we dream! Dreaming of being a Craft Service Manager for Peter Jackson and Frodo can turn into an Einstein moment in life. Though it hasn’t yet, I can still dream! Who knows, maybe God is the one giving us these dreams? Joseph was convinced that his dreams were from God (of course we know they were), despite the backlash from his brothers and godly father! Though he didn’t know how it would all work out, he still dreamt. Joseph kept that dream pocketed for years but he did keep it and it came about. We need look for moments where our dreams can be integrated into life. I think this will invigorate and re-imagine life. It will give us hope, passion and purpose like never before.

Dreaming is a Necessity! We need it in so many ways. It brings light, joy, fun, prophecy, direction. I could unpack any of the above. Without it, we miss out on re-invigorating life. God uses imagination for us to dream in this world. To dream of how to be all he has created us to be. Dreaming makes us human! So here’s what I say to that: Dream away humans and see what the Lord does!

 

Consistently In His Presence

Changes in life don’t just arrive. They either blow themselves in like a storm or plump themselves right in between the hours of our lives. Sometimes they are wanted and other times they are not. Then again, other times changes just are, neither wanted nor unwanted. Nonetheless, changes completely project themselves in our lives and in turn disrupt the pattern that has been set.

Here is my discovery. We christians attempt to place certain disciplines in our lives to help us find God, communicate with God and to generally set our minds and hearts on things above. We set a pattern a thriving in our lives and in those moments we find God and bam! we feel at peace and centred or however else you would like to say it. But, when changes a come, its disrupted and we get out of pattern. If the change lasts we can often adjust and move on. But sometimes, like a nest of ants, you just can’t get rid of it. They change nags and irritates and disrupts so much that the discipline hurts for a long time. Like prayer and reading of scripture.

How do we adjust when these major changes happen. I say this as I struggle I go through. I am on a reading plan right now. For ordination I have to read a different translation entirely and have set a course to do so. Recently, life has been disrupted by a series of events that has taken me significantly off course. Not only am I far behind on my reading plan, my silence before God to hear his voice is profoundly askew. My determination has failed me. And here I am.

What I need, A jumpstart. A jumpstart is a shout from God or from life that thrusts me into setting a pattern back up in my life. It forces me to find myself at God’s throne once again. It could be a crisis event, a simple whisper, or odd renewal of determination by me. Whatever it is, I need it. I need the Lord to break into my life to cause a jumpstart that I may consistently find myself in him.

Good ol’ Brother Lawrence is key in this concept. He understood that we must daily find God in the Mundane and everything of life. It is God we find peace and direction and we must be with him to find this. So let’s find it. Let’s strive to be quiet before God so God can show us himself in everything in life. My struggle is not my own. I am certain others have this as well. So, My prayer for us is this: Lord, show us yourself anew. Jumpstart us into consistency with you once again. Amen.

 

To Winnipeg and Back Again

Who knew we could serve God’s Kingdom right here in Canada? (The secret is I did). Last year we took a team to Winnipeg to serve the downtown with OM and City Church. Both of these are doing great work For God’s Kingdom. Feel free to click on their links. This year we took some youth again and again God woke us up to the world and His work in it. God gave us confidence in His Kingdom as he showed us how he works. We learned from different religions first hand and in their temples or places of worship. We were taught about sharing Jesus with the world in both the why and the how. We were given a chance to serve the community in events and prayer walks. We learned about cultures we never knew existed!

Now what? Did it really change us? Time will tell. Will be grab onto what we experienced and learned or will it be just a good memory. Does God’s Kingdom really matter to us?

One thing I learned: We have to be careful how internally focused we are as a church body. We need to be healthy Spiritual, but part of that comes when we stop looking internally and look to the world and the community around us. It’s ironic that to be selfless we normally look more to the self. The antidote to selfishness is to look outwards to others. Internal and external need to be help is sweet tension.

After this we realize that we do care for God’s Kingdom, we are just too internally focused to see His Kingdom at work. Here’s the Challenge: To not forget this. To take it up and to serve Vegreville. To share the amazing grace God gives. So this post is a reminder for me. It is a reminder to remember to serve and to help others serve God in whatever way. To share the good news Jesus has with whoever is in my life. Let’s do it. Let’s make disciples who reach out and are not intimidated by this luxurious world but saturated with God’s love for his creation!

 

Dying Denominations to a Thriving Community

I recently attended a class at Ambrose in Calgary and during the class on the History of the Christian and Missionary Alliance a comment was mentioned that I feel I need to expound upon. The comment was something to this extent: Denominations are changing. Loyalty to denominations are changing and so their identity must change as well.

These comments were made to sound like the idea of denominations are dying. Of course denominations are not a biblical idea, but I can see how they can model the idea of community. I have never been a denomination guy and have desired for the church to be one as God is one, but since being at Briercrest and joining the Christian and Missionary Alliance, my mind has changed.

At Briercrest I found the value of rich Christian community. Before, I was scared of the idea of a hanging around a bunch of guys all the time. I was always intimidated. Being in Eliason Manor (My dorm) showed me that guys can live in a rich community environment surrounded around Christ.

Denominations may be failing with their current model. Many denominations are shrinking. But, what if denominations reshaped their thinking and models to be more of a Christian community. This could look more like a fraternal union. But now I am starting to sound like AB Simpson. Of course it will look different than the beginnings of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, but have similar values.

Denominations look more like they surround around a central model or business smothered with doctrinal beliefs and practices. The denominational head determines laws, doctrine, programs, etc. Denominations being a community of believers looks different. It is a means of support in Christ. It looks like a place to go for prayer and healing rather than looked at as a boundary and chains within which we are slaves to. It can be modeled as an encouragement and discernment centre for local churches and to ignite passions that start ministries. Getting into the denomination will look less like something to “achieve” and more like something to desire to be apart of. A denomination as a community becomes a movement for Christ rather than business to produce Christians. A denomination as a community ignites passions to spread the Kingdom of God so that people can do nothing but want to be a part of Christ.

Of course community can be developed in many ways and should be locally within each local church and its respective community, but there is something to say about being intimately connected to a larger body. It is impossible to be a part of every body of believers in this world, so denominations can become a community in which you thrive in Christ and other denominations are other Christ communities working for the Kingdom.

If denominations in their current model or paradigm are dying then it may be time for a paradigm shift. Denomination as community for Christ sounds great to me. Thoughts?

 

To Post or Not to Post

When you look at my last post you may say, “Wow! That was a long time ago.” To those who continuously check my blog, I say sorry for that. But, let me explain this interesting journey I have been on.

I started reading a book called, The Imitations of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis and if you have ever read any of his material, he focuses a lot on humility. The second chapter hit me in regards to my blog. There was a statement, “If you wish to learn and appreciate something worth while, then love to be unknown and considered as nothing” (9). To put it in context, Kempis is talking of fighting pride and thinking more highly of others than yourself. At this point I asked myself, “Why am I writing my blog?” I have been aggressive in creating a nice looking blog and commenting on other people’s blogs so they would read mine, but to what end. My motives have been mixed.

On one hand I desired to reflect on culture and speak from a Christian world view and also post sermons and thoughts from sermons. But I had this conflicting motive that wanted to be known. I wanted to spread prove to the world I could write and had ideas that the world would love to hear. I desired fame. I feel weird even writing that out. Of course, in order to becomes a writer that may be necessary, but my heart was full of pride. I feel as though this has been a part of my life all along. I want to be known. In the end my life is one of anxiety and anxiousness. It is a life that is not content.

Identity. I am forgetting who I am. I am in Christ. He is who I am. Why do I need to be known. My purpose is not to be known, my purpose is in Christ and to make him known.

Kempis says, “All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself,” meaning I can sin at any moment. Who knows how long I can hold up before I relapse into sin? Into pride?

So this is why I have not written a post. I am working through motives. I probably will continue blogging regularly again. But I will probably sift through my motives each time I write. Until then, Blessings, Merry Christmas. May this season be one of Joy and Love in Christ. May you sense his Spirit, our Emmanuel.

 

Pastor Imprisoned by the Iranians

A Letter to His Flock from the Pastor Imprisoned by the Iranians.

As I have read this story I have found it no bigger than that, a story. He is far removed from me and I know nothing of this man. But it was in reading his letter that he became real to me. Yusef, a modern day Peter, Paul, whoever you want to say. He is a man that is full of grace and truth, refusing to deny his faith. As I write my emotions are full of not anger, nor sadness, but of encouragement.

In North America we do not face “fiery trials” as this man does. Ours are more subtle. Our biggest trial is most likely our apathy. But this man, and his family, face a trial that seems mystical and fantastical to us. He is about to die for his faith. I simply want to make a few observations:

1) His story is affecting Christianity and the world. Media has got a hold of this story and is running wild with it. Never before has he had a better platform.

2) In the midst of this platform and death, his words are full of God’s words. God’s words are infused into his very being. Here is one quote:

“O beloved ones, difficulties do not weaken mankind, but they reveal the true human nature.”

I can feel this statement. He is experiencing this firsthand. His letter is one the church needs to read, hear, and experience together. We need to come behind our brother in Christ and life him up in prayer. He still may be executed, but not in vain. His words are full of grace and truth more than any North American theologian could conjure up. For some reason pressure and persecution draws out christianity.

Think about a hard situation in your life. Most times we either react with God or against him. This pastor is reacting with and in God. This pastor knows his identity. My guess is this situation has helped him stabilize in that reality. He belongs to Christ. His purpose is Christ. His life is Christ. His story is Christ’s story. I am connected to him because of this. This is our Story.

Yusef, I pray God’s richest mercy upon you. May you find peace as you struggle for the gospel. May your work in the gospel change hearts and lives. May Iran and the world see Christ through you. May God strengthen you with His Spirit.

 

From Proving Christianity to Living Christianity

As I began to read Hearing the Call, a collection of Essays by Nicholas Wolterstorff, I came across a
paragraph that struck me as the description of the Christian life. Over the past 5 or so years, I have been going through a transformation. I have been going from pride to fall, from narrow to open, from arrogant to convicted, from teenage to adulthood in my Christian walk. The paragraph comes in story form as Wolterstorff depicts his life in light of grace that shaped his life. He is talking about Calvin College and it being grace in his life:

Here too nobody was offering evidences for the truth of Christianity, arguments for the inspiration of Scripture, proofsfor the resurrection of Jesus, best explanation accounts of Christian faith. the challenge set before us was to interpret the world, culture, and society in the light of Scripture — to describe how things look when seen in Christian perspective, to say how they appear when the light of the gospel is shed on them (Wolterstorff, Hearing the Call, 2011, 10).

My immaturity in the faith has been maturing by going through the journey described above. This journey was one from proving Christianity was the best way of life to actually living as a part of God’s kingdom. The former is not a bad place to start, but I have to admit, it is only a starting point. The point of proving Christianity as the best way of life is not as major of a contribution to the world as it is to oneself. We feel as though we need to stand up for God to prove he exists. This may be the task for some, but it is majorly for getting use to being a Christian. We have to prove to ourselves that Christianity is the best way.

Going from this way of Christianity to the latter way has given me life. It allows me to both rest in Christ, yet work vigour sly for his kingdom. At this point we can “embody Christ in culture” (Wolterstorff, 9). The former way we are fighting with the world as we would envision “aliens and strangers” to do (1 Peter 2:11). In the latter way we have a chance to form the world from within it. We live as a part of the world and yet shed the light of the gospel as we go. This is the true meaning of “whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17).

Now I go back to reading. I think I am going to like reading this guy’s thoughts.