The Wonder Years

moving

2007-08-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's over. I'll be easing my way back into the blogosphere at

http://cjlewis.wordpress.com

one more thing...

2007-06-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

A fire started in an abandoned building near the Simple Way in Philadelphia (home of Shane Claiborne) and spread to two Simple Way homes as well as 12 other homes in the neighborhood. Needless to say, this sucks.

You can watch the video below.

More importantly you can make a donation to these wonderful people so that they, along with their neighbors can start to re-build (literally) their lives. I was at The Simple Way a couple months ago and can confirm that they are great people doing wonderful kingdom things.

Please consider making a donation.

(I thought it'd be better to have this on my blog screen for two months than a post about me...)

what dreams may come

2007-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

When I was 19 my dream was to be married by the time I was 22, kids by 25, job, house, car, fence and dog- that's it. What I have found is that my dream is really just a facade located somewhere outside of real life. I have found that I really have none of those things (except car...) and yet I'm okay with that. That said, there are things that I'm not really okay with.

I'm not okay with floating through my degree.
I'm not okay with pretending that I am awesome.
I'm not okay with current realities.

More than those things, I'm just not okay with whatever it is that God wants with me- incidentally I have no idea what that is. I think I need to figure that out.

On the particularly long drive back to Philadelphia I thought that I would shut down this blog for a while, perhaps until the end of August. I think I need to spend less time worrying about what people think of me, of what I write, and who they perceive me to be and more time figuring life out, what I want, what God wants and how to move towards that.

And so, that's what I'm going to do.

Two things I want to leave up here until then:

Henri Nouwen says this,
God is a God of the present and reveals to those who are willing to listen carefully to the moment in which they live the steps they are to take toward the future."

Bob Dylan says this,
I am hanging in the balance of a perfect, finished plan,
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.

...living in the tension.

spelling bee champ

2007-06-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

I secretly wanted to be a spelling bee champion as a child. I don't think I had a firm grasp of 'the latin' to go very far and I don't think I was awkward enough to be a spelling bee champ (although some may contend that issue).

white trash

2007-06-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Sometime during 4th year Nathan, Darryl and I attended White Trash Night at what is known as 'the apartments across the street'- we did our best to dress for the occasion. Darryl's face is particularly enjoyable- so young, so innocent. I believe my hair was out of control then- no worries, I'm working on bringing (sexy) back.

a couple of things

2007-06-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

I went to the bank today to change a $50 CDN bill into American and behold- they do not carry Canadian funds. In fact they said that to get it changed I could have the bank send it away to a company that does that sort of thing for a charge of $17 USD. Now, the dollar is doing pretty well these days but if I did that, I believe that my $50 CDN would end up being something like $23 American.

I think I'll keep it until I get back to my home and native land.

I've been reading a number of different books in the last month- some of them aren't finished but plenty of them are well on their way- they include Rob Bell's Sex-God, Yunus' Banker to the Poor and its sequel The Poor Always Pay Back, Anne Lamotts Grace (eventually), Lauren Winners Real Sex and for school I've been reading Emergency Relief Operations, ed. Cahill and Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace- or War by Mary Anderson.

I have particularly enjoyed the last two...
Here is a taste:

We must learn to be quicker to detect and prepare for crises before they occur. The earlier we intervene, the more likely we are able to have a meaningful impact on the ground. Similarly, we must more consistently enter all crises situations with a clearly defined available exit strategy that guides all of our actions, even in the initial response, toward the ultimate stability and recovery of the affected country" - Emergency Relief Operations
- hello Iraq...

"Many people criticize international assistance, accurately citing examples of ways in which international aid has done harm rather than good. We note such examples, but we do not condemn aid for its failures. It is a moral and logical fallacy to conclude that because and can do harm, a decision not to give aid would do no harm. In reality, a decision to withhold aid from people in need would have unconscionable negative ramifications" - Do No Harm.

trampolines

2007-06-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

When I first started this blog over two years ago there was a high 'Jesus count' in the posts. I would write about passages and sermons and all of these things and what I was learning. I don't really write about those things anymore and I'm not really sure why. It may be because I have less a grasp on the 'authority' of Scripture- that is to say, strict, traditional interpretations of some things have gone by the wasteside for now as I've sort of tried to figure this whole thing out.

In Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell talks about theology as a brick wall and how people are afraid that if you pull one brick out the whole wall will come tumbling down. He suggests theology as a trampoline- where the springs have some give to them and will expand and condense depending on how much you jump, but you don't need to be afraid that they'll break.

I think that was me for a while, jumping up and down on that trampoline and seeing how much I could get those springs to move. I think I still am that person, mostly because I would never want to rest my entire theology on one interpretation with the fear that if that one thing changes it will all be over.

However, the reason I'm not sure about the trampoline right now is probably because of situations and questions that have been coming up about almost everything you can think of- especially those controversial topics. It seems as though living in the gray just doesn't seem like an option. It seems as though these situations call for a right or a wrong, complicated as it may be. If it's wrong then what do you do? If if is in fact right, but the brick used to say that it was wrong- well, how do you get over yourself?...and start jumping...

I think I need to get out of school and read read read (ironic... don't you think?)

In other news I went with Joe Berg to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals tonight. We went to TGI Fridays in the hopes that they'd have the big game on. What do you think was playing when we arrived? If you guessed women's softball you would be correct. We ended up going to Chilis and asking them to change the channel (as it wasn't playing there either)- they humbly obliged.

the list

2007-06-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Who is craig of craigslist?

Whoever he is, his list works well.

3:01pm:
Matt to Chris: we should get an air conditioner- I heard that Home Depot has them for $100.

Chris to Matt: okay, well let's check online
Matt: deal..oh, they're actually $300... hmmm..
Chris: let's try craigslist
Matt: aha...used air conditioner, great condition, $50.

(Matt calls)

3:30pm Matt picks up air conditioner

1:30am Chris and Matt hook up air conditioner and go to bed.

thanks Craig, you're the man.

defined by what you're not...

2007-05-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

About two years ago Steve and I were writing the business plan for Epiphaneia. I forget the exact words but somewhere in the introduction I had described Epiphaneia as ‘not a _______ and not about ______ (something or other). Steve said that we shouldn’t focus as much on what we’re not about as what we are about.

I drove back to Philadelphia today by myself. I kind of got slowed down at the border but made the trip in a shade under 7.5 hours- which included three different stops (one coffee, one lunch, one gas). Somewhere around hour four I started to think about that comment that Steve made- that we shouldn’t be defined by what we’re not about but instead what we are about.

Of course this can relate to all sorts of different scenarios but the one I attributed it to the most was the Christian life. The ‘world’ (if we want to call it that) knows what we’re not about- we (well, maybe I’ll say- evangelicalism) has drawn the lines pretty clearly in declaration that we are not about lots of things and of particular concern in the last ten to twenty years are abortion and gay marriage.

I think we need people to speak prophetically to governments if what they are doing is wrong. But what would happen if Christians became known for what they were for instead of what they are against? Of course I suppose that what one is opposed to and for exist in tension with one another.

Mulling this over.

I also think its easier to sustain something that you are for than against. Maybe some G8 Summit protesters will disagree with me on this one but I would find it hard to sustain a passion for being against something- because issues always change- there is always something trendy to be against. Would you rather be defined by being for one thing than against something? I think the former. As an example I would rather work actively for peace (a peacemaker...) than just against war. The real question I want to know is what am I for?

A few things that I have decided to be for:

sharing, community, peace, and love (wins).

micro machines...

2007-05-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Right now Microfinance is sexy. It’s happening all around the world as the way to provide the poor with access to credit so that they can generate some kind of business activity. It began in the 70’s with Accion and has gained a lot of momentum with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. If you don’t know about it- you should start to do some reading.

I’m taking a class on microfinance at the moment. The biggest thing that I’m learning which I previously did not consider is that microfinance is making some people very rich (and I don’t mean the borrowers). In fact some people (such as the founder of ebay) love the idea of microfinance but won’t get into it until they can get a 10-20% return off of their investment. In short- microfinance is becoming commercialized.

So good ideas, generosity and helping the poor come back to this: what’s in it for me? Ebay man would argue that if it can be profitable you’ll have more people wanting to invest in it- and so a greater number of ‘the poor’ will have access to credit and the rich will make even more money! win and win.

Great! Perfect. Wait… what?

Mulling over the ethics of this statement right now... thoughts?

You can read up on this yourself:

Millions for Millions

You too can be a Banker to the Poor

Hype and Hope: The Worrisome State of the Microcredit Movement

whirlwinds

2007-05-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning at 11am I'm leaving to go back to Philadelphia for the start of semester two. It is absolutely crazy to think how different the start of this semester is compared to the last....and crazy how much has changed in the last four months. I'm moderately excited to go back- this break went by too fast...

for those who were not big fans about that video where the little kid dropped an A-bomb (not an actual A-bomb)... my bad.

In other news,

I almost missed my flight to Winnipeg TWICE- on the way there and on the way back. Ha...I haven't told Ian and Lauren this yet but I was about to be bumped to a later flight until I mentioned that it was my birthday. Then the WestJet lady said to follow her and she started running through the airport (ala- Home Alone) and put me to the head of the pack at Security check... it was great.

Favorite highlights of the break include:

Nathan and Rachel Colquhouns wedding.
Lawn chairs at 3am
Jays game
Breakfast avec Steve
Lunch avec George
Thai food, movies, hockey and hang outs in Winnipeg
Angela Lynne Wallace
Midnight breakfast avec Jason
being home...
seeing such people as Silas, Chris, Scott and Keith...
Chop sticks
Julia's confirmation

hmmmm... it went by way too fast.

I'm hoping to get back to posting ala Jan/Feb 2007...hopefully I'll be inspired to throw some thoughts on here with some of my new classes.

the peg

2007-05-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I flew to Winnipeg to see Ian and Lauren for a few days. The trip wasn't looking like it was going to get off to a good start when Jay (who drove me to the airport) and I were still in traffic at 7:45am... with a flight at 8:20am.... but it turned out alright and I made it to the farthest possible boarding station with 3 minutes to spare.

The flight included an orange juice instead of the typical Canada Dry ginger ale- it was rather early.

Upon arriving the three of us took part in many activities which included a quick stop at a local university so Lauren could check out some books, a trip to Chapters, lunch and then- a matinee viewing (for only $2.00!) of Reign Over Me- which I can say without threat to my masculinity, contains two of the saddest scenes I've witnessed on the big screen in a while.

Then dinner at the Mclaren's was prepared specially by Lauren.... it was a birthday dinner... woot woot.

The day then finished off with some NHL playoff watching, The Office and Arrested Development.
----

I think we're headed into the city today for a storytelling festival and hit up some used book stores... what a weekend!

semester 1, check.

2007-05-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday at 7:30pm I sent in the final draft of my last paper of semester one. I suppose this means that 40% of my coursework is complete for the MA. That feels good. In some ways the semester felt like it took forever but I definitely learned more than in any other single semester that I can remember and I'm excited for Summer 1- which includes such classes as Microfinance and Relief and Mitigation for Disasters (that's not the official name...its much longer but I can't remember it).

I'm hanging out with Chris Harris tonight for the first time in possibly close to 1.5 years. I'm looking forward to that- and looking forward to the baseball game tomorrow night avec Angela.... AND I'm looking forward to hanging out with Ian and Lauren this weekend in Winnipeg.

woot woot for this week.

almost there.

2007-05-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

I just finished (minus some edits) my last assignment of the semester.

In the words of Will Ferrel, it was "a performance so scrumtrilescent, I can barely move"

seriously, i can barely move.

We're going to D.C. in the morning to visit the World Bank, USAID and International Justice Mission). It'll be good to talk to these people and see what they have to say for themselves...
Since I've been here I've gotten a pretty skewed opinion of WB and USAID, so maybe they'll say something to change my mind?

The assignment I just finished was a large paper on eschatology and the environment.
I learned a lot writing this thing. I also am developing a love for a book called, For the Common Good by Daly & Cobb.

I end the paper with a quote from that book...

Yet there is hope. On a hotter planet, with lost deltas and shrunken coastlines, under a more dangerous sun, with less arable land, more people, fewer species of living things, a legacy of poisonous wastes, and much beauty irrevocably lost, there will still be the possibility that our children’s children will learn at last to live as a community among communities. Perhaps they will learn also to forgive this generation its blind commitment to ever greater consumption

monsters = bad news

2007-04-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of procrastination I was looking at some blogs and discovered the following video. It reminded me of a puppet show that I put on for my aunt when I was about 5- except my aunt was more in shock about what I said than the mother in this video. The kids expression at the end is priceless...

bagel shop

2007-04-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Joe Berg and I are at the bagel shop working on a project that we are presenting on Wednesday. It's a project we've designed top to bottom that involves putting household water filtration systems in Lyari, Pakistan (a district of the 15 million person megacity of Karachi)

I realised I was ready for a break when I found the following quote hysterical. Joe mused that the project purpose (in our cover sheet) should read the following:

“we will work for the successful distribution of the Playstation 3 in the Lyari community with the purpose of increasing social well beings of the people. In addition we believe that video games are their best answer to increasing hand and eye coordination among students and encouraging them towards a life of software design and engineering, thus lifting them out of extreme poverty and allowing them to be able to compete with India in the global economy”

Oh Joe, don't you know that you should start with handing out Playstation 1's first, as a measure implementing appropriate technology before you move to Playstation 3....

friday and saturday

2007-04-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday night five of us decided to attend some kind of camp fire at Faiths house. Seriously, is there anything better than sitting around a campfire, outside of the city on a clear night? So after beating Dawn in a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (honestly, everyone knows that you go with Rock first), we piled into Dawn's car and began the 40 minute trek to this little house in the woods. The largest reason why I put this up here is to show the beard progress- this will be important for later.
Now, is it just me or are most campfires almost the same. They are great, but generally speaking whenever a group of 10-15 Christian young adults get together you can count on a number of characters being represented. One guaranteed character to be present is what I like to call "the loud guy"- you know who he is. He tells jokes that often make no sense- but he's expressive, so its still funny. The loud guy made an appearance at this gathering but unfortunately I didn't get any spy pics of him.

However, I did get a spy pick of 'guitar guy'. I know you're with me on this one. It's practically a prerequisite that some guy (typically 25 years old and single) brings his guitar and starts with some EMO song and then, just so the girls really like him,- switches to some worship song he wrote while doing his devotions the other week. Classic.
Now, the following character only appears at various times. It's hard to find a solid 'beard guy' at most of these gatherings. To my delight we happened to have one last night. I did feel a little shame around him about my current beard status but was able to admire his beard from a distance. It did not help the situation when Faith (pictured far right) said 'hey 'beard man's name' my friend Chris likes your beard"... ya, that's not awkward. All in all, it was a good campfire.

Today was the greatest temperature day of all time. For such occasion I spent most of the afternoon inside watching the Raps lose Game 1 (no worries there- sidenote: ESPN's female commentator is the SINGLE WORST ANALYST IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS- (this is not because she is a woman, rather because she doesn't know anything about basketball). Later on I took a walk to the forest near the residence for the first time in almost three weeks and shot some pics...

____ hope and love

2007-04-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning Matt and I awoke to find this sign posted just outside our door. At some point during the weekend someone had the idea to write EVERYTHING in the world that had to get done onto large sheets of paper- (this is the opposite of setting small goals- remember my pep talk!). Anyway, Matt and I received our own sheet from the Toothfairy or some magical character in a pink dress...

You'll notice that most of the things have been checked off. The unchecked boxes are so for two reasons:
1) I forgot to call the Toothfairy witty.

2) I didn't realise that item #4 was meant for me or Matt to tell two specific girls that are not currently at the seminary (and may in fact be in Florida and Toronto) that we are staggered by their beauty and unassuming grace...until just now... Oh Toothfairy, you are so witty. (hmmm... I think that means item #8 is also complete?)

ps- the toothfairies name is not mentioned but may be discerned through the clue which is present in the title of this post.

one class down...

2007-04-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

It's 7:10pm on Tuesday evening and things are chilling out around here. The weekend was fairly ridiculous in terms of writings and such but it appears that the worst of it may be over. I still have no interviews for a project that is based on getting interviews but I've got at least 10 days to track some down...

Today marked the official completion of the class Biblical Faith and Economics. We still have one more class next Tuesday but my work was finished today when I handed in a paper and presented on Confessions of an Economic Hitman. C'est tout.

The professor is Dr. John Stapleford. He may be the greatest Christian economist that I know (never mind the amount of Christian economists that I know). He also may believe too heavily in the market to fix the world but I am not a Christian economist- so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

Without fail Dr. Stapleford says something negative about Canada at least once per week. I take this as a compliment. After all, he never makes fun of Israel or Nigeria. It is the equivalent of a young boy making fun of the girl he likes just so she'll pay some attention to him. I believe that he secretly wants to be a Canadian for the following reasons:

1) hybrid cars are more popular in Canada (I realise that is conjecture)
2) he could spell things with an 's' more than with a 'z'- see 'realise' above.
3) he could partake in protesting seal hunting.
4) he wouldn't need MediCare or whatever its called.
5) he looks sort of British and could be found watching such shows as Coronation Street and no one would even think that he is American.

In other news... I'd like to ask you to help me clarify something.

If you think back to your childhood (or even present day...Paul Randall!), how do you pronounce 'Mario' of the Super Mario Brothers.

Is it: mArio OR maRio?

If you are Italian I would especially appreciate your input- Uncle Frank?

It is possible that a Canadian used one of these pronunciations today and 11 people said 'what did you just say?

paper time!

2007-04-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day for paper writing. In preparation for today I read an article by Douglas Moo called Nature in the New Creation: New Testament Eschatology and the Environment. This is one of the most enjoyable articles I've read in a long time. I highly recommend taking some time to read it.

Here's a taste..

"It must be said that the conviction that this world is destined for renewal rather than destruction, as I have argued in this paper, does provide a more substantial basis for a Christian environmental ethic. NT eschatology is not intended to foster Christian passivity but to encourage God's people actively and vigorously to align their values and behavior with what it is that God is planning to do. When we recognize that God plans to restore his creation, we should be motivated to 'work for the renewal of God's creation and for justice within God's creation.' Just as, then, believers should be working to bring as many human beings as possible within the scope of God's reconciling act, so they should be working to bring th created world as close to that perfect restoration for which God has destined it. The 'not yet' of a restored creation demands an 'already' ethical commitment to that creation now among God's people."

and...

"Central to new covenant ethics is the command that we love our neighbors. The harsh realities of the ecological crisis we now face force us to ask seriously whether we can truly love others without caring for the environment in which they live. At the heart of th modern discipline of ecology is the realization that everything is connected to everything else. The same point applies to Christian ethics. My own desire to maintain a luxurious western lifestyle by keeping energy prices low forces power plants to avoid the expense of installing mechanism effectively to clean their emissions and thus lead to suffering and even death for asthma sufferers. But our Christian obligation extends, of course, to all people"

playoff beards

2007-04-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

The NHL playoffs started a couple of days ago which inevitably means two things: 1) games will go into double, triple or even quadruple overtime before a team wins and 2) 60% of the players on each team will grow playoff beards. According to ancient proverbs the growing of a playoff beard increases the chances of winning... or something like that.

While I am officially not in the NHL playoffs I have decided also to grow a playoff beard for many of the same reasons. It will increase my chances of doing well in school...or something like that.

Playoff beards mean that its crunch time and you have to pull out all the stops. To me, all the stops include writing...and writing... and then sleeping followed by writing.

In other news...

I had a tube of toothpaste that I thought was empty two weeks ago. Since that time I have continued to use it two, sometimes three times a day and it has yet to run dry. I believe this to be the equivalent of the widows jar of oil in 2 Kings 4. However, I believe my faith may actually be running out...

Also- I found this great little bagel shop where I go to study. I have also become addicted to diet coke.

And I'm writing a paper on the environment and eschatology. I don't think there's anything there but we'll see.

(ps... jokes about that last statement)

the shelter- 2

2007-04-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

My reading for a class this week had to do with women in/and development, gender and development etc. Here is a quote from a book called Gender, Development and Globalization

“‘Helping poor people’- an expression often found in the literature and in the attitudes of those involved with development work- should not be the goal. Instead of ‘helping,’ the objective should be to do away with poverty by enabling the poor to find their own solutions and by recognizing their right to be fully integrated in the collective processes of human development. This is particularly applicable to women; their economic, social, and political rights must be recognized and their voices heard without patriarchal constraints to gender equality”

I found this quote particularly applicable to the situation of the shelter shutting down. While we should do all we can to 'help' the shelter- it is precisely because the workers at the shelter are attempting to enable its guests. We are not talking about hand outs. It is not necessarily about feeding people (although that is important!). Shelters allow particularly broken people time to heal and become enabled in a safe place. This is especially important for women (and often young women) who, when left without safe alternatives are likely to simply perpetuate their state of brokenness.

So, if you think that any of what I just said might be true... you can add your voice to that statement by doing something great.

Click here and write a short email to one of the contact people to say that cities need safe places for wounded people to heal.

shelters

2007-04-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

There's a woman's shelter in Oshawa that is closing due to lack of government funding.

A couple friends of mine put together an entire website dedicated to providing a means for people (me and you) to speak on behalf of this shelter. Here is what I'm asking you to do- simply go to the website, find one or two of the email addresses there and send off an email saying that you are not pleased with this situation and ask them to consider helping the shelter out.

Three minutes of your time could have a huge affect!

Click here

dynamite is not the solution to this problem.

2007-04-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

If this is a real video... I would actually like to meet the person who decided this was a good idea.
I imagine the logic went something like this (said in my best southern accent (even though it apparently happened in Oregon..))

Person 1: "hey y'all, there's a big ole whale on that there beach"
Person 2: "what cha think we oughtta do 'bout it?"
Person 1: "shucks... gots me..."
Person 2: "well, we could blow er up...?"
Person 1: "hmmm... that there sounds like a good idear"

Stan the Man and his fake news

2007-04-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Stan the Man is pictured to the right. He is the older one, in case you were confused. I have a graduate assistantship with him- which so far has meant stimulating work on the internet for hours on end as we prepare all of the materials for classes that are going to be delivered overseas.

I believe in this picture he's saying something about the need to have copyrights on all of our materials, while I am thinking about how much I don't care...

just kidding...

Seriously though Stan is good for two things (well, more than two... but for this post we'll keep it simple).
1) he has an incredible variety of music- today included some Tennessee backwoods country folk & the soundtrack from Gladiator... (in between I snuck some Damien Rice in there...)

2) It is not uncommon for him to print out interesting articles for me to read. What follows is one of those articles...

** disclaimer: this article could be fake news as well but its probably not...**

The truth about fake news. Believe it.

By Robert Love

Just before his famous confrontation with Tucker Carlson on CNN ’s Crossfire two years ago, Jon Stewart was introduced as “the most trusted name in fake news.” No argument there. Stewart, as everyone knows, is the host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that has been running since 1996 and has spun off the equally funny and successful Colbert Report. Together these shows are broadcast (back to back) more than twenty-three times a week, “from Comedy Central’s World News Headquarters in New York,” thus transforming a modest side-street studio on Manhattan’s West Side into the undisputed locus of fake news.

The trope itself sounds so modern, so hip, so Gawkerish when attached to the likes of Stewart or Stephen Colbert, or dropped from the lips of the ex-Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” anchor Tina Fey, who declared as she departed SNL, “I’m out of the fake news business.” For the rest of us, we’re knee deep in the fake stuff and sinking fast. It comes at us from every quarter of the media—old and new—not just as satire but disguised as the real thing, secretly paid for by folks who want to remain in the shadows. And though much of it is clever, it’s not all funny.

Fake news arrives on doorsteps around the world every day, paid for by You, Time magazine Person of the Year, a.k.a. Joe and Jane Citizen, in one way or another. Take for instance, the U.S. government’s 2005 initiative to plant “positive news” in Iraqi newspapers, part of a $300 million U.S. effort to sway public opinion about the war. And remember Armstrong Williams, the conservative columnist who was hired on the down low to act as a $240,000 sock puppet for the president’s No Child Left Behind program? Williams’s readers had no idea he was a paid propagandist until the Justice Department started looking into allegations of fraud in his billing practices.

Fake news has had its lush innings. The Bush administration has worked hand-in-glove with big business to make sure of it. Together, they’ve credentialed fringe scientists and fake experts and sent them in to muddy scientific debates on global warming, stem cell research, evolution, and other matters. And as if that weren’t enough, the Department of Health and Human Services got caught producing a series of deceptive video news releases— VNRs in p.r.-industry parlance—touting the administration’s Medicare plan. The segments, paid political announcements really, ended with a fake journalist signing off like a real one—“In Washington, I’m Karen Ryan reporting,” and they ran on local news shows all over the country without disclosure. All of this fakery taken together, it may be fair to say that the nation’s capital has been giving Comedy Central a run for its money as the real home of fake news.

But let’s dispense with the satire, whose intentions are as plain as Colbert’s arched eyebrow. And let’s step around the notion of fake news as wrong news: The 1948 presidential election blunder DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN, for instance, or even the New York Post’s howler from the 2004 campaign, DEM PICKS GEPHARDT AS VP CANDIDATE. Those are honest mistakes, set loose by overweening editors perhaps, but never with the intention to deceive. That wasn’t always the case, as we shall see. In the early days of American journalism, newspapers trafficked in intentional, entertaining hoaxes, a somewhat puzzling period in our history. In modern times, hoaxes have migrated from the mainstream papers to the tabloid outriders like the old National Enquirer, the new Globe, and the hoaxiest of them all, The Weekly World News, purveyor of the “Bat Boy” cover stories.

The mainstream press covers itself with the mantle of authority now. Six of ten Americans polled in 2005 trusted “the media” to report the news “fully, fairly and accurately,” a slight decline from the high-water mark of seven-in-ten during the Woodward-and-Bernstein seventies. What’s more, in a veracity dogfight between the press and the government, Americans say they trust the media by a margin of nearly two to one.

But here’s a question: Can we continue to trust ourselves? Are we prepared for the global, 24-7 fake news cage match that will dominate journalism in the twenty-first century?

To continue reading click here

why i hate my roommate

2007-03-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Today began at 4:55am. I haven't seen this hour in, well...I can't even remember. However today was special because my roommate (who I will now call 'the roommate') needed a ride to the airport so he can visit a girl in Florida. Boys.. er..men- do the craziest things for girls.

The way there was pretty good- hardly any traffic and fairly straightforward. It took about 20 minutes.

At 5:30am I waved goodbye to the roommate and hopped back on the highway, moving closer to my bed with every passing moment.

Until...

(at this point in the story I must preface it with what I like to refer to as 'the man sense of direction'. I didn't exactly know how to get back but I trusted my God-given ability to navigate through forests, deserts and highways to reach my destination. Man sense of direction is also known as 'pride'. I've never actually tried to use this ability before 6am... I found out that it doesn't work too well early in the mornings).

ahem...

Until...

I found myself in New Jersey.

Oops!

So in my confusion I had taken a wrong turn and was halfway into Camden before I was able to find an off ramp and turn around. This proved to be a disaster. In the early morning darkness I pulled a u-turn back towards the highway- all clear.

After going about 50 feet down this road I saw a wave of traffic coming towards me (remember..it was early). As it turns out I had made a u turn onto a one way street, thus I was proceeding into oncoming traffic.

(cue my mother gasping)

So... I pulled over as far as I could and was relieved when only 3 cars honked (thanks folks...like I don't know I made a mistake).

So, I pulled another U-turn and was headed in the right direction- found the highway and went back to Pennsylvania and back to the toll highway. Apparently if you live in Pennsylvania you don't have to pay it but if you're coming from New Jersey you do.

Now, at this point it gets fuzzy because it was surreal.

I approach the tolls and realise that like a good student I don't have any cash... "debit" I think... "credit at least.."... "someone must be able to process this, it must happen all the time...plus it's only $3.00"

5:48am I approach the booth
5:49am Chris: "Hi there, I took the wrong exit and ended up in New Jersey and all I have is debit or credit"
Apathetic toll booth man: "you need cash"
Chris: "really, you can't take any cards...anywhere here?"
ATBM: "nope"

at this point he pulls out a pad of paper and walks behind my car to write down the license plate. "crap"...i thought.

ATBM: "where are you headed"
*a glimmer of hope*
Chris: "city line in wynnewood- do you know how to get there from here"
ATBM: "ya, but you can't go there"
Chris thinks in his mind 'is it closed? construction?... a parade???'
Chris says "really, why not?"
ATBM: "because you didn't pay the toll"
Chris laughs out loud.
Chris says "what?"
ATBM: "you need to pull over to the right side of the road and wait for the police"
Chris says "WHAT!...are you serious?"
ATBM: "yep, you need to pull over there and wait for them to show up"
Chris says "for three dollars?"
ATBM: "yep"

Chris thinks- 'now I won't get to go back to sleep...'

5:50am- I pull over to the right side of the road and wait for the police. I wonder what they are going to do? Empty my pockets? Fine me? Take me to jail?...

5:54am- I decide to find a way out of this thing.
5:55am- I found $1.35 USD in my car and $0.15 CDN or what I like to call $1.50 (hoping that ATBM wouldn't notice the currency problem).

5:57am- I walk up to the back of this ATBM's toll booth and knock.

He opens the door.

ATBM: "yes?"
Chris: "I found $1.50 in my car...does that help the situation"
ATBM: "nope, you need a $3.00"
Chris: "seriously, there must be something we can work out here..."
ATBM: "ya... you can find me $1.50 or else it'll come off my paycheque"

(I can not repeat the thoughts that were going through my head at this point)

Chris: "what are the police going to do?"
ATBM: "they are going to escort you back to New Jersey so you can find a bank"

Chris thinks *I'm starting to understanding why people think the United States is so screwed up???"
Chris: "escort me back to New Jersey over $1.50?"
ATBM: "yep..."
Chris: "can I sell you something for $1.50.. a cd... a pair of gloves??"
ATBM: "nope..."
Chris "but if I find $1.50 I can leave..right?"
ATBM: "yep"

I'd never panhandled until this morning.

I approached the first car I could and in a polite Canadian accent asked a lady driving a blue SUV if she could spare $1.50 for the alien in a strange land.

LDABSUV: "oh sure! We've all been there before"
Chris: "thank you so much"

I approach apathetic toll booth man and knock on his booth door...

ATBM: "you back again???"
As I hold out the extra money: "ya and here's your $3.00"
ATBM: "alright..."
Chris: "so I can leave now right?"
ATBM: "yep, you can go"
Chris: "and the police??? are they going to send me a ticket or something"
ATBM: "nope"

6:12am
depart the toll booths.
6:34am
arrive at the Seminary
6:49am
sleeping....

The moral of the story is that I hate my roommate.

the end.

ps- I don't really hate him but for a brief period I may have.

the videos

2007-03-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest surprises we had for the conference were the following videos. I'm pretty sure I used the words, 'I have something to tell you about the conference but you can't tell anyone' about 10 times. I also remember freaking out at school when Nate sent me the raw footage of Rob Bell's video. Crazy.

evolving church wrap up...

2007-03-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

The conference went better than any of us could have ever dreamed...

On February 17th we had exactly 56 registrations and we began to sweat a little...a pray a little more...

By 9am on the day of the conference we had registered 760+ people... we are overwhelmed by this.

I think there are a lot of reasons why justice is so huge right now. One reason is that we're seeing a generation of rich kids who grew up in the suburbs realise that there's more to life than the acquisition of stuff. The main reason is probably a shift that we're seeing in the church towards loving our neighbor (local and global) as much or more than we love ourselves, all the while wrestling with what are God's dreams for the world- things like fighting for the poor and oppressed are being found here. Its happening, and its awesome...

Lots to say but here are my highlights...

Steve, Nate and Darryl. I love them and can't imagine having anyone I love working with more.

Our volunteers- unbelievable examples and so helpful- they make the conference happen.

Jim Wallis telling me back stage that the reason he came is that Brian Mclaren asked him too! Thank you Brian!

The 60 year old Catholic couple who said to me "what is Epiphaneia and how can we get involved?"

Seeing so many friends there who are wrestling with the concept of the Church as they've known it but finding encouragement with the words of the speakers- its not hopeless!

The kind words from Jay Locke and George...

In Jim Wallis' Q & A he got "what do we do with people who are convinced that the world is just too bad and beyond repair and what's the point since Jesus is coming back soon anyway?" Jim Wallis "first, that's just bad eschatology"

I got a chance to first go into the main session at 9am and saw this huge room seemingly full- that was an overwhelming first impression.

The offers we got to be involved with other organizations... (don't worry, we're not selling out...)

Lots more but for now you can read about other peoples experiences here:

Darryl Dash
David Fitch
and of course...
Nathan Colquhoun

Until next year....

the hour

2007-03-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I thought Tony Campolo was an icon of the old school, a spitter (when he talks) and oh so predictable. I suppose he's still fairly predictable with George Stroumboulopoulos on the Hour but its a solid interview...

Tony on The Hour

Favorite line:

"that's why they don't like Jesus- because he sounds like a hippie.."
- thank you George, you just made my day...

count down...

2007-03-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Nathan posted today what's happening with Epiphaneia.

It's going to be 72 hours of craziness- but we're in good shape. We figured out there are 37 things to do between now and Saturday morning-- a manageable number between four friends- however we've been talking about tithing and what the kingdom is... and that hasn't be conducive to getting work done.

Steve just said 'the Bible is God'....chew on that... he also found out that I just quoted him on my blog and said 'don't you misquote me on that', something about John 1

okay folks see you soon

This Saturday.

sunday night movies

2007-03-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here is what I do on Sunday nights...
some of the footage is pretty dark...opps.

on the way to the store...

2007-03-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

I found myself behind the car in the picture below today. By a sheer act of providence I happened to have my camera with me.

My initial assumption is that the owner of this vehicle may not be a republican...

ravines and basketball teams

2007-03-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

There is a ravine with hiking paths and such only a five minute walk away from where I live. When you're in the middle of the ravine you can barely tell that you're in the city, which is nice sometimes. Yesterday I took a book down there, parked myself on a fallen tree beside a stream and spent an hour reading in 15 degree (Celcius) weather. It was fairly peaceful until a large "bark!...." (or 'woof'!...however you want to say it..) came from behind me. I took a look back and saw a little dog on the leash of what appeared to be a nice lady. We engaged in small talk... the conclusion of which occurred as she looked around and as she was obviously was enjoying the weather said, "too bad that all hell's going to break loose in 12 hours"...

I assumed she wasn't talking about the apocalypse... although her statement has been partly prophetic.

Today I was sent home from work because of freezing rain/ snow- which has continued all day and even as I type continues outside my window. At 5:30pm I was going to drive over to the grocery store and grab a large pizza that is on sale on weekends for fairly cheap. The grocery store is a 3-5 minute drive away- maybe less... As I was about to grab the keys for the car my roommate informs me that someone just came from that grocery store and it took them an hour to get back....an hour!

Needless to say I didn't get that pizza...instead I looked through the refrigerator and ended up having 2 pieces of chicken and a porkchop for dinner.... and a glass of water (with ice- cubes, not crushed).

In other news, Villanova lost in the opening round of NCAA tournament. I was really hoping they'd do well so that I could see what happens in university towns when their teams win during March Madness... well, maybe next year (wait, probably not...)

rockstars

2007-03-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to UPENN to see a rockstar.

Well, in the world of International Development- William Easterly is a rockstar.

I have to read his book The White Man's Burden for two weeks from now- so his talk will hopefully provide a foundation to that reading... and will probably also help me to better understand why foreign aid is more harmful than helpful. Plus, for one hour of my life I get to pretend that I go to an Ivy League school. I'd better bring my camera...wait, ivy league students wouldn't bring their cameras... I'll bring my pipe instead...

jerry and james...bad news fellas...

2007-03-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here goes...

Jerry Falwell recently said that global warming is essentially an idea that the devil is using to keep Christians focused on other things besides the gay marriage debate, abortion...and it apparently keeps us from evangelising... (yikes!) James Dobson is also promoting the belief that global warming shouldn't be a political priority for Christians.

Yaaaaaa......... sorry fellas- you're off the mark on this one. For what its worth, I hereby declare that those two are no longer allowed to speak on behalf of me and the greater Christian community. In fact, I'd like to declare a moratorium on Focus on the Family and Moral Majority until we review their theology and/ or the amount of funding they stand to lose when more potential donors realise the environment is a worthy cause and that their organizations are evidently ill-equipped to speak on behalf of the environment.

Here is the thing fellas-- it's not global warming that I'm really concerned about. I mean, its not like I haven't seen the stats that tell me that the polar ice caps will melt ala Al Gore... and its not like I don't think that an increase in tropical storms and the shifting of ocean currents are a good thing- I don't. However, like I said- global warming isn't my concern- or rather it is, but by default.

The reason is this- environment care is a matter of Christian responsibility. In fact fellas, if we looked through some of that Book you have there we'd see that Land is an essential part of God's gift to his people... and stewardship of that land- well, it goes without saying. Now at this point I'm sure you (or some of your friends? where is Tim anyway?) might want to get into new covenant arguments, new Jerusalem sort of stuff and the infamous end times forecasts,-- instead lets just agree that land should be cared for, here and now.

That isn't to say that we should forget about morality and embrace the new Sodom and Gomorrah (why did that city get trashed again?...lets look that up...Ezekiel 16:49...which represents another problem of your misfocussed attention...) but we can't just sit back and drive our SUV's past those polluting factories who dump excess chemicals into your Colorado/Virginia rivers... or can we? Should we...is that what you're saying?! Do we really want entire lakes to disappear (thank you oil sands) and for the ecosystem to get all messed up and on top of that to see an increase in cancer rates all because 'the man' wants to make as much money as he can while he can?... you have got to be kidding me....

Stewardship is a moral issue.

why democracy is an illusion.

2007-03-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

In some of my recent readings I've had this sneaking suspicion that the world is a whole lot more messed up than I might have given it credit for. I know that it's bad- but is it really that bad? Yes, the answer is yes...

As far as I can tell democracy is an illusion. I've really just been exposed to American politics in this respect so I'll be painting with quite a large brush.

Nonetheless, I think that contrary to popular belief, large corporations and not governments- run the world. I believe this based on three examples.

1. Omar Torrijos- a Panamanian leader who negotiated the successful re-acquisiton of the Panama Canal from the Americans under Jimmy Carter's presidency- this happened in 1977. Then, Reagan takes over the White House and tries to get the Canal back. Torrijos is not having this. When Torrijos starts to talk about developing and expanding this waterway with rumors of Korea getting many of the billion dollar contracts...(which would go to American MNCs under different circumstances) Torrijos is killed in a plane crash in 1981. that's odd...

2. Jaime Roldos- president of Ecuador, fought for the rights of his people and the expulsion of MNCs from his country unless they started to give Ecuador their dues. Some might have called him a socialist. I call him a hero. Roldos was killed in a plane crash in 1981. hmmm...what is going on here?

3. Halliburton, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin and Harken are examples of corporations where either Presidents or Vice-Presidents have played a significant role (board members, CEO etc). This isn't bad in itself until you consider that such companies have a lot at stake in say... oil rich nations (Halliburton, Harken) or stand to make a lot of money from producing weapons (Lockheed Martin)...for, like...a war... or getting the contracts for the rebuilding (Bechtel) of say...Iraq.

Okay okay...the conspiracy theory is just pouring out now.

Conclusion: The purpose of democracy is to give the appearance of power with the people. In reality, large corporations, simply because of their worth and ability to influence the economy are able to pressure the government into making decisions that will keep them (MNCs) rich -even if this means taking out a socialist here and there to do it...

The 21st century will be all about corporatocracy.

This is bad, bad, bad news for developing countries.

The oil talk has me wondering about Stephen Harper and the oil sands... do Canadians really know what is going on there...ahhhhh...this is another post.... Maybe if we decimate the oil sands there's a smaller chance that America will want to set up shop here anytime soon. Okay, enough conspiracy theory....

and spring break comes to an end....

2007-03-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday night which means that spring break will be coming to an end very shortly. In honour of the last 9 days sans school work I have decided to compile a highlight list of sorts. In no particular order....

The movies I was able to watch, including: Flags of Our Fathers (meh), Babel (very good), 300 (good) and Jesus Camp (...number of times I cringed while groaning 'ooohhhhh' during this movie: 203)

The one book I read- Confessions of an Economic Hitman.

The Evolving Church: Restoring Justice things that were accomplished... we are miles ahead of last year in terms of organization.

Lunch with George.

Hangouts with the fellas from 493.

The Raptors game with JayLo.

Those two times I was able to hang out with Keith.

Being in Smithville

Coffee, lattes and Mexican food.

Okay, hitting the road soon- determined to finish 'The World is Flat' on audio cd during the trip down...

two introductions in one day.

2007-03-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I went out for lunch with Keith Brooks to a classy establishment on Yonge St. called Goldenstar(I'm not sure it's as classy as you might be imagining). As we walk in we both recall the last time either of us had been there- about four years ago with Kie. Anyway, it was a good time.

Now, this post really has nothing to do with that restaurant but is mostly about Keith. Keith is a former roommate, one who abandoned me in my time of need for cheap rent and the endless prospects of dance-dance revolution.

Keith has begun blogging (again) as he gently reminded me in an email I received just yesterday "Thanks for not linking to my blog on your site...prickface".

Thus is our relationship...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

You'll see his link to the right... If he maintains his blog he should be good for some solid reading material.

Aaron Espe

2007-03-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

I don't know that I've ever used a post to straight up promote an artist. However I have to...I must share this music. I was first introduced to the music of singer/songwriter Aaron Espe about two months ago by my grad school roommate (who incidentally knows Aaron). He mentioned that this guy used to play with The Fray before they got big and due to various circumstances stopped playing with them. (I don't really know the story...it could just be a rumour). Anyway, I would say his debut release 'My Whole Life' might just be my favorite cd of the last three years... check out some of the songs here.

"Hearing his music is like the experience of not realizing how thirsty you are until you start drinking....There's no doubt that this is some of the most gorgeous male folk you'll hear." -- CD Baby, Largest Distributor for Independent Music

Now THAT is an endorsement.

Global Citizenship Conference

2007-03-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

My friend Silas is running a conference with a team at Laurier University. Check out their website . Props to Nathan for the web design.

Keynote speakers include the one and only Stephen Lewis.

american friends...

2007-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that Canada is a nice place to live. Sorry about the American ranking...it must be fixed!-- just like your elections....opps...did i say that!?

Democracy is an illusion- thats my new motto.

Seriously though, when are Jim and Pam going to hook up? I've seen some of the third season (although I did miss a few episodes...) so I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened yet...although I did give a standing ovation to the last episode of Season 2.

Back to the democracy thing...I've been doing some thinking and it might just be an illusion. I'm a skeptical person to begin with, so if you throw in some conspiracy theories, mixed with some facts-- suddenly I'm ready to grow a large beard, buy a motorcycle and visit the impoverished people of Latin America - like my good friend Che... (I say 'good friend' but we've never actually met...I believe he was executed some time before I was born...)

There might be more to come on this.

the past 24

2007-03-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

I like Toronto.

I've been rocking the T-Dot for about 24 hours now and it feels good. I spent last night at the Raptors game with Jay (they lost in a lackluster effort) but it was good times nonetheless. I also made a decision on my favorite Raptor: Jorge Garbojosa.
Reasons I like him:
1) he has a beard.
2) he is from Spain.
3) he plays tough.
4) he has a beard.

Last night I also watched Jesus Camp- I think this is more of a conversation than a blog post right now. I think Jason might be writing something up as we speak about it...and I believe Nathan wrote about it a while ago. Weird.

I'm 100 pages into Confessions of an Economic Hitman- wow. wow. wow. Does this stuff really happen? It's a novel based on the authors life, so its going by fast but some of his allegations- if they are true are absolutely outrageous. Here's the premise...

"We (economic hitmen) are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, our banks...If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money- and another country is added to our global empire"

Currently we (the fellas) are half way through Flags of Our Fathers- I wanted to rent Letters from Iwo Jima but got the American side of the story since the movie of choice wasn't available. So far I've realised that the days of watching thousands of people being blown up and maimed are behind me, hence the blog posting in the middle of a movie.

arrived.

2007-03-01T22:27:00.000-08:00

What the heck is going on in Southern Ontario...?

First gas is expensive (filled up in Buffalo) AND there's some kind of natural disaster happening...

Oh well, natural disasters can't stop me from 'making a margarita in my mouth..it's SPRING BREAK!"

(sorry to use the same joke in two straight posts... opps...)

Introducing...

2007-02-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

It has finally happened. The one and only Jason Locke has begun to blog. Despite his brief blog life I am giving him an automatic link in faith that he will produce a copious amount of wisdom. Check him out (his blog..that is). I stole this picture from Ian because I like it. I will give Ian two links in one blog for this picture. Or is it worth three?

Today was good for many reasons, the greatest of which is that it represents the last night in Philly for nearly a fortnight... In the words of Kitty from Arrested Development "Spring Break!!"

Things that I am looking forward to in coming days (in no particular order).

1) Waking up in Canada.
2) Visiting the Toronto friends...
3) Sleeping.
4) Reading for fun.
5) Getting the conference stuff sorted out.
6) Being in Smithville for more than 18 hours at once.
7) Going downtown Toronto.
8) Catching up on my movie watching/ enjoying other mindless activities.

Things that I am not looking forward to
1) putting gas in my car in Canada.

on the Maple Leafs

2007-02-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

I forgot that today was the trade deadline in the NHL until I was reading a newspaper and saw that it was in fact today. I subsequently saw that that the Leafs made the worse deal in the world (again). This may not mean much to a lot of you but I have to say this... Yanic Perreault (whose contract is up at the end of the year) for Brenden Bell (a promising rookie d- who admittedly is buried on their depth chart but should be a solid 4-6 some day) AND a second rounder is an absolutely brutal deal. Okay, so Brenden Bell maybe- but a 2nd rounder too? In the words of the immortal Chuck Swirsky "Are you kidding me?"

I hearby declare that I am boycotting the Maple Leafs for 3 years as management continues to make these ridiculous moves, or until the GM is relieved of his duties. I will now whole heartedly turn my NHL allegiance to the team of choice, a team with a future- the Pittsburgh Penguins...(the bandwagon is here...all aboard!).

Of course, since you can't simply change your mind on matters of the heart, I will probably still be inclined to see how my friends in the blue and white are doing- and who knows, maybe they'll make the playoffs...in which case, I will suspend my boycott until further notice.

palmer...a guided tour...

2007-02-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

ps...the soundtrack is unbelievable...

rabbit trails

2007-02-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

I received an email from Ian this morning asking if I had been checking Andrew Osenga's blog. I hadn't checked it recently but shortly thereafter I did. He has some wonderful posts about being a Christian but not playing 'christian' music and how difficult he has found it to find his own niche.

One of his posts...

"Hear me now: I am not ashamed to believe in Jesus. I am ashamed of Pat Robertson hijacking my faith for his crazy political agenda. I am ashamed of a President who confuses good vs. evil with “they have oil and I want it”. I am ashamed of Jerry Falwell and Benny Hinn. I called Bruce Wilkinson, author of The Prayer of Jabez, a liar and a crook to his face. I would do it again today. Because he, like these other guys, is taking what I believe and twisting it for money and for power and, in their headline-grabbing foolishness, making the truly faithful and honest believers look like idiots."

As I was skimming through the comments from his post I noticed that Shaun Groves posted. Shaun was probably the best concert that happened at Tyndale- funny, challenging, important stuff. Anyway, in response to Andrew's post he says this.

"Many from that more conservative crowd show up at a concert or read my blog and have their suppositions challenged, sometimes subtly and sometimes not so much. Pro-war folks have actually converted to pacifism, with no real debate - just music and conversation and reading the blog for a couple years. Politicos have realized that the poor and hungry and orphaned were never given to the governments of this world but to the Church and have started putting their lives behind mercy showing as a result. I’ve seen folks I don’t agree with change. And, thankfully, they’ve changed me too."

What's in bold is really why I wanted to put this up here. This is what I am working through in terms of vocation- to work with governments to change political systems of oppression or to forgo that altogether and just be/work with the poor? Or are they one and the same?

Bluth Company vs Dunder Mifflin?

2007-02-22T20:48:00.000-08:00

In June of 2005 I was introduced to Arrested Development and it quickly became what I wouldn't hesitate to call "the best show ever made". For the next year and a half I collected all three seasons and watched them over and over and over- they are pure comic genius.

Since my love affair with this show began I had always heard the whispers, the voices quietly suggesting that I should watch The Office- that it might be even better than my beloved. "never" I thought.

I have started to watch The Office- and it too is pretty much comic genius.

So now I have a dilemma. In a debate of best comedic shows of all time would I abandon Tobias, Gob and George Michael in favor of these paper producing office workers?, or remain true to my roots and maintain that AD is the funniest of all time?

I'm at a loss... I'm not sure if I'm ready to make that decision.

proximity to Canada

2007-02-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

We read the Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer last week for one of the classes. One of Bonhoeffer's issues is that the Church has bought into 'cheap grace'- meaning that the Christians he knew weren't transformed or suffering or giving anything up for Christ... but went on with life with a little Jesus on the side- grace that was cheap.

The professor who teaches this class is old, sometimes cranky but always funny. Yesterday Canada was the butt of a lot of jokes, with Nathan, Rachel, Shannon and I (all Canadians) taking some zingers. The best joke of the day occurred when the professor randomly drew the following graph on the white board:
This of course means that the closer you get to Canada the cheaper the grace gets.

Zing!

I also got into a bit of an argument over the fact that most Canadians don't support seal hunting. He countered by saying that most people in Europe didn't support the Nazis...I didn't think that was a fair comparison.

moving back to the left...or the middle.

2007-02-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

In thinking about this whole MNC thing and how it's not ideal but it does help some people (or I think it may). I was also thinking about jobs and how important they are and basically thought that this is why Muhammad Yunus just won the Nobel Peace Prize for mircofinance.

Essentially it uses structures in capitalism but puts them in the hands of the people- which as far as I can tell is the best of both worlds. It gives them access to credit, which means that hard work and creativity can translate into a transition out of poverty. It also means alternative jobs and that people don't have to work at MNCs- which, if it develops enough, will drive up the wages of those who do work there.

Well, I'm hoping to track down some 'water-ice' tonight with Nate and Rachel. This is a drink I had 6 years ago when I was here- it was fantastic but I haven't seen it anywhere else since. Here's hoping.

MNC's (or why I hated Wal Mart)

2007-02-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Multi National Corporations have been a pet peeve of mine for a while now. Whenever I go to Smithville my mom has upon occasion said "I'm going to Wal-mart, do you need anything?" Since I have trouble controlling my facial expressions I relay to her that I disapprove of her consumer habits. Now she doesn't ask anymore... big box I say, is the devil.

I thought this to be true of most MNC's- setting up shop, driving out mom and pop businesses, and being able to undersell everyone because of their notoriously cheap labor and exploitation in developing countries. The MNC's proliferation of globalization and their lack of ethics, paying nationals 10 bucks a week.. their logos everywhere...yuck...humbug I thought.

Now I don't know what to think and here is why:
Let's begin with an example: Nike goes to Bangladesh and sets up a factory, pays the workers $2 a day, works them for 12 hours a day 6 days a week. The labor is unskilled (since making shoes is apparently not all that hard to do) and the labor pool is vast since the economy isn't exactly booming. If Nike moves in and hires 200 of these people- we have 200 new jobs in the economy- 200 people are able to work and provide for their families (more than before). Now besides the fact that according to my standards they don't make enough to see a movie with one weeks pay- they are making more than before.

Let's pretend Nike got a conscious and decided that they would move back to New York and start a plant there- what we would have is 200 people from Bangladesh who are suddenly jobless. What you would also have is shoes that cost you $300 instead of $100 because it costs Nike more to produce them. (ps, I don't buy nikes except for that time I needed them for volleyball-- it was an emergency and they were cheaper than the alternatives!!!) If an MNC didn't get their product made so cheaply... then it wouldn't be sold so cheaply which would directly affect those on the poverty line in developed countries who aren't able to purchase basic necessities as easily.

Back to the point- I don't hate Walmart anymore. I think they might be scummy but if you said to someone in Bangladesh "I'm rallying people to boycott Walmart so that they won't buy the product you make for such little pay"... they would look at you and say "you're doing what? I won't have a job if you do that..."(although they probably wouldn't say it in English..).

All of this comes from thinking about a book I read this weekend called Naked Economics- which was the best book I've read about economics (the total number of books I've read on the topic doesn't matter...). The author probably explains it better on his chapter on trade and globalization- here's a taste:

Of a Thai laborer:
"She is paid $2 a day for a nine hour shift, six days a week. On several occasions, needles have gone through her hands, and managers have bandaged her up so that she could go back to work".
"How terrible," we murmured sympathetically.
Mongkol looked up, puzzled. "It's good pay," he said. "I hope she can keep that job. There's all this talk about factories closing now, and she said there are rumors that her factory might close. I hope that doesn't happen. I don't know what she would do then."

"The implicit message of the antiglobalization protests is that we in the developed world somehow know what is best for people in poor countries- where they ought to work and even what kind of restaurants they ought to eat in"

"In 1993, child workers in Bangladesh were found to be producing clothing for Wal-mart and Senator Tom Harkin proposed legislation banning imports from countries employing underage workers. The direct result was that Bangladeshi textile factories stopped employing children. But did children go back to school? Did they return to happy homes? Not according to Oxfam, which found that the displaced child workers ended up in even worse jobs, or on the streets- and that a significant number were forced into prostitution"

"Sweatshops do not cause low wages in poor countries; rather they pay low wages because those countries offer workers so few other alternatives"

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

What a messy world. I'm hearing that part of the answer to this ordeal could be neo-liberalism (I didn't know what that was until 2 days ago...)....but I'll save that for another post.

So, will I personally shop at Walmart?...probably not. Will I protest Walmart...probably not.
So mother, feel free to pick me up that bookshelf at your favorite MNC for when I come home.

shoot...it's Sunday night...

2007-02-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

It seems as though most weekends are fairly typical around here. In the days before grad school the weekends were times of freedom and adventure- never knowing what a typical Friday night or Saturday might hold. These days are too predictable. This isn't a complaint...

Most Fridays involve working at the Valley Forge campus. I'm doing some web stuff for Eastern (which essentially means uploading all the materials onto their server for overseas education-- ...its fairly mindless...which means a day at the computer listening to music, scanning and editing pdfs...a nice break).

Either Friday night or Saturday night involves some kind of excursion, but generally not both nights. This weekend I chose to stay in on Friday and go out on Saturday. It's possible that a group of us may have gone and seen a movie with Drew Barrymore in it- I can neither confirm nor deny this. I may have mentioned to someone I went with "we can never tell anyone we went to see this movie". Again, I can neither confirm nor deny this.

Sundays look like this: Church--its good- I like those people, mostly because they are really nice and there isn't the slightest hint of the suburbs or the sense that trendiness is important. After church its back to the books for the rest of the day, or until I'm done all my work up until Tuesday-- so far this hasn't happened, but I've been close a couple times. Today it also involved a nap and figuring out how to make/ edit videos...

This week is going to be fantastic for the following reasons:
1) Nathan and Rachel are coming for a visit. Fantastic!
2) The Leafs are in town this Saturday... I may venture down to the Wachovia Center and try and catch the game with a guy named Joe who says to me at least once a week: "how's the hoockey in Canada eh?" (I threw in an extra 'o' because that's how he says it- when he's trying to make fun of Canadians).
3) In exactly one week it will be four days until Spring break. This should prove to be the equivalent of the full manifestation of the kingdom of God coming to earth- although I don't want to get my hopes up too much.

493...the legend continues

2007-02-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

In honour (american readers, notice the 'u'...it's here to stay) of the arrival of the weekend I have decided to take a little break from reading and do something that I meant to do about 6 weeks ago but couldn't for various reasons (the largest being that I left my camera in Canada...).

Without further adieu, here are the men of 493 Cummer Ave. I wasn't good friends with any of the following before I moved in. Now, I love those guys. I would die for you fellows. (well, probably not Jason Penney, but that's besides the point). Regrettably I have no pictures of Ian Bastian- probably because I didn't see him for the last 1.25 years of living in the house...

Chris Clements moved in with us in late August of 2006. I worked with him on student leadership at Tyndale and we were always very cordial with one another. Then we lived together and quickly became a tag team who make light of other people living in the house. Actually we mostly spoke of Paul and Jay's friendship and marveled at how they were always having a conversation about something- no matter what time of day. My favourite part about living with Chris was our 15-30 minute chats most nights at around 11:30pm. There are many memorable chats- possibly the greatest occurring at the dinner table and involving prayer... sort of. I also appreciated Chris' music collection- this picture shows him either rocking out to phish or soaking in the spirit, i can't remember which time this was. Chris once said to me "Jesus didn't care about rule keeping, he cared about people keeping".. and also "beer and women are great, but not as great as a mystic relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ"- so true.

Paul Randall is one of the originals. Not only is he original because he was one of the first ones to live in the house but he's an original character and we love him. Here he is explaining to Ashlee Mackneer (aka: Ashlee Heather) probably something to do with one of the following a) the fact that Toronto was recently awarded a professional soccer team, b) Transformers the movie is coming out soon, c) that learning the Latin language involves much study or d) that Nintendo Wii is unfortunately unavailable at any store in Ontario, although if he pre-orders two there is a possibility that he'll be able to make a handsome profit on e-bay, as long as he gets it before Christmas. Paul's inquisitive nature is unprecedented- and he's probably one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. And this one time he asked out this great girl.. and even though she turned him down-he asked her out- and for that- we salute you. It was kind of like a 'Sandlot' moment... when Squints hooks up with that lifegaurd-- we know Paul will eventually hook up with the lifegaurd and be rich like Squints-
ps. Paul is even cooler than Squints, if that's possible.

This is Jason Penney. At the beginning of the post I said I wouldn't die for him. I would however take a bullet in my shoulder for him. What did I like about Jason Penney? Well, he was neat and he had clothes that I borrowed and he made sure we stayed relatively clean. He also likes to chat, so he was good for conversations, offering advice or simply someone to vent with. And he plays an excellent pirate, is a good guitar player and singer... and most importantly he owns silly putty. I think there was some tension in the house between us at points but probably because we have a similar type of personality ...but we got over that...he is someone who knows the secrets of Epiphaneia..as he once said 'Epiphaneia is you sitting around in your pajamas with your laptop, eating cereal and running this business' --shhhhh..don't tell... (ps, if you're a corporate sponsor and reading this, I completely deny his accusation).

This is Jason Locke. When I was a frosh Jay Locke was too cool for me, or I was too cool for him (as our argument goes) but, thanks to the Big Guy we have become wonderful friends. There aren't that many people in the world that I have more respect for than this man. Favourite times spent with Jason Locke include: 1am trips for breakfast at the 24 hour diner, our rescue mission through Buffalo after their October snow storm and the trip to Minneapolis/Winnipeg, playing poker and RISK (even though I despised you during RISK), bass guitar lessons, and your encouragements... one day we will own a city block together and use it to change the world.

In absentia are Chris Volpe, Jon Beckwith, and Michael Penny who all lived with us for a time.

So that's it. The house is different now. Pat Sutherland has moved in and Ian and I moved out, so I'm sure there's a different feel to the house. Looking back, for that time of my life I don't think there is any combination of people in the world that I would have rather lived with.

staying up late...

2007-02-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

It's 1:50am and I can't remember the last time I stayed awake this long to finish an assignment that was due the next day. I realize that it probably wasn't that long ago, but it feels like it was. As I was walking down to the computer lab to print this paper off I thought about the time when I was a frosh at Tyndale, preparing for the History of Christianity mid-term with Gord Heath. This is a top 10 Tyndale moment for me. Essentially three friends and I decided to study together on the night before the test. One of us had the great idea of renting the video series- The History of Christianity from the library. "Think of all the extra facts we'll have!" was the rationale. The idea was presented to the group and three of us fell for it while the fourth said "I don't know guys, I think I'll just look at the notes from class".
"Sucker", we thought.

I distinctly remember looking at Nathan Betts at 3am, after finishing the 2nd of 4 videos. His face showed an expression of helplessness... simultaneously we said to each other "we're screwed...".

As it turns out, we were.

Staying up late to study is bad news.

I think the guy who studied the notes got an 'A'.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

2007-02-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

It is Sunday night. I'm listening to Andrew Osenga 's Souvenir's & Postcards album and loving every second of it. Yesterday was a huge study day so that we could all go over to this one girl's house from our program- her name is Faith.

I wanted to blog about the book mentioned in the title but I honestly didn't finish it (opps..) so I'm not sure that I'm qualified. However I did read 3/4 of it before class on Thursday and particularly enjoyed the first half of the book.

For a bio on the author (which actually may be of interest)- click here.

As a background, the author talks about the oppressed and the oppressor (from his 1940's Brazilian perspective) and how there's some of each in everyone...that when the oppressed escape their situation they only know how to be an oppressor because its all they've known. The solution to this is educate the oppressed using oppressed-led dialogical methods that help them become fully human...as it were.

Here's a taste:

"Solidarity requires that one enter into the situation of those with whom one is solidary; it is a radical posture...true solidarity with the oppressed means fighting at their side to transform the objective reality which has made these 'beings for another'".

"To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet to do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce"

"The oppressors do not perceive their monopoly on having more as a privilege which dehumanizes others and themselves. They can not see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have".

"Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence"

"The truth is, however, that the oppressed are not 'marginals,' are not people living 'outside' society. They have always been 'inside'- inside the structure which made them 'beings for others.' The solution is not to 'integrate' them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so they can become 'beings for themselves'".

St. Pattys Day

2007-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today was Patty Griffin day in Philadelphia-- or so we have been calling it for about a week. It involved two episodes- one was watching her on Letterman last night. The other was going to see her with about 8 other people from school today for free at this place called World Cafe Live.

She is good.

Chris Clements would have liked the drummer- even though you can't see him in the pictures.

ps- she said that her grandmother was from New Brunswick, which according to my calculations would make her, in part- Canadian.
pps- she is also from Bangor, Maine- props to anyone who is able to guess the movie that I associate with this city.

Back in Action

2007-02-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

I've been back in the old U.S. of A. since Sunday and it definitely feels different this time around- more familiar... a better grasp of things. I got lost on the way back- because I was trying to take this picture while I was driving:

While you might not be able to tell from this picture- the shot I was trying to get is one that says 'Stroudsburg' PA- I could be wrong but I think this is the city where my friend #12 Mike M. spent much of his youth...

That picture cost me 45 minutes but it was well worth it as I went through this crazy little town called "JimThorpe"...

Here are three reasons (among many) why I like Canada:

1) The Weather

2) Even though I love living in the city, it's nice to come home to this every once in a while...

3) My nephew and niece live there...

today

2007-02-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

The majority of today was spent with Steve, Nathan and Darryl-- getting cheese put on our pasta at East Sides (some more than others), visiting The Meeting House and dreaming about what's going to happen on March 24th. Things seem to be coming together nicely.

This was a good day.

No state troopers on the way home last night...I did however make it in just under 8 hours which I was pretty happy about....as opposed to the 10 hours it took using an alternative route on the way down...

who is poor?

2007-01-30T20:05:00.000-08:00

To contrast our view of development that we were exposed to with the Road to Hell (see post below), we had to read two books for today- Walking with the Poor and The Soul of Development. The former argues that transformational development (ie. transformation as physical, social and spiritual) is the best route to developing a nation. The second book was a case study about the correlation between evangelicalism and the more developed in Guatemala-- the author finds that the more nationals are committed to either evangelicalism or orthodox Catholicism, the more likely they are to experience some kind of economic stability. This is because they are more likely to give up alcohol, leave the fiesta system (which keeps people from acquiring wealth (an entire post on this system is brewing!!!) and other various factors.

Okay, so reading was fun...but today it led to discussion in class...

Walking with the Poor argues that poverty is the marring of identity and distorted sense of vocation and as such- anyone who experiences this distorted identity is truly poverty stricken. Since I've been thinking about poverty in this sense for a while-- I asked this question: aren't most people poverty stricken then??? This question was preceded in my mind with a question about liberation theology (which says that God has a preferential love for any person who is subjected to any system (political or social) that is oppressive and keeps them from freedom-- it also says that these systems should be destroyed- ie. stick it to the man!...except they aren't joking). It was also preceded by a question that simply asks-- who are the poor? are they people who don't have stuff?

So essentially I was wondering if-- when the prophets talk about the poor or when Jesus talks about the poor if he speaks in terms of 'marring of identity and distorted sense of vocation' or in terms of a people who are oppressed because of social/political systems that keep them from certain freedoms or opportunities (ie. poor are poor because they lack the freedom to choose differently). Or are they people who don't have stuff?

Okay, so that was long.

But seriously... what does it mean to be poor? I think the answer might be complicated... but that seems like a cop-out and I am not in the mood for copping out. If you have any thoughts I'd like to hear them...

In other news...the road trip home starts in 17 hours... and with 7 hours of sleep in there...its only 10 more! I've got a book on audio cd and some patty griffin to keep me company... hopefully I can avoid the state troopers this time and stick it to the man! (and that is a joke)

name change

2007-01-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

After nearly two years of Chris.Jackson.Lewis as the title of this blog I have decided that most people who read this might already know my name...and so I changed it to The Wonder Years- mostly because I always had a crush on Winnie- but also...that Fred Savage... didn't everyone want to be his friend? His Dad was kind of rough but caring, his sister was a hippie, he fought with his brother nonstop, his Mom always loving and then there was Paul-- we all have a Paul like that in our lives..don't we?

Besides the title of the show I just think it's a fitting title...the wonder years...

discoveries

2007-01-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Things that I have discovered since being here:

Living in the United States is almost like living in Canada except for the following things that I've noticed:

1) driving is ridiculous- anyone and everyone pushes the limits....yellow lights are treated like green lights and the first 5 seconds of red lights are yellows...

1a) I've seen someone pulled over by the coppers at least once a day...sometimes twice.

2) the gas stations make you pay first...this is annoying.

3) the pizza is generally better.

4) the location of all signs and stop lights make no sense- (a problem Jay and I encountered on our Minneapolis to Winnipeg trip).

5) not everyone owns a gun.... but my roommate does own one for hunting purposes... not for 'git off ma land' purposes.

More things I have discovered:
6) the musical stylings of: Patty Griffin, Aaron Espe and Josh Radin...all excellent additions to anyones collection.

7) that international development is more complicated than I ever imagined...

8) Americans think I know everything about curling.

On the Road to Hell...

2007-01-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

The very first book I read as part of the program here is called "The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity". I know from the title that you might be expecting some kind of feel good story, however this book was, in every sense of the word- sobering. It is 300 pages of the money driven industry disguised as 'foreign aid' which, as Maren argues is really a billion dollar industry used to strengthen Western footholds in other countries to extend their reaches of power. It describes NGOs (non government organizations) in like manner and paints a shocking picture of mis-managed funds, child sponsorship scandals and UN apathy. I think that if I ever am in the position where a young 20 something comes to me and says 'I want to change the world through NGOs and the UN-- I'll say, that's great son...but first, why don't you read this book..."

After reading Maren's book it is tempting to throw the baby out with the bath water and say "well, if the governments are corrupt, the NGOs and specifically USAID and the UN are more interested in million dollar contracts than helping people... then should we actually be trying to help people? aren't we doing more harm then good?

His argument is an interesting one and goes something like this: Foreign aid (food for example) does not help to develop a people in crisis. Instead what he found (specifically in Somalia in the 80's and 90's) was that
1) refugees had no desire to move from the camp and begin to 'farm' or whatever it is that NGOs try to teach them to do to regain some kind of stability because, after all, why work when you get fed for free. (related to this is the fact that foreign suppliers (read: USA) supply specific kinds of foods and, over time- try to acclimate the culture to American food, so that they'll buy from them when/if the foreign aid is gone)

2) The number of refugees is always exaggerated by NGOs because it will mean more dollars, bigger contracts and longer work... it also means more food is shipped than necessary--
which leads to 3...

3) Foreign Aid is power to local militia because since there is so much extra food, the corrupt government (Somalia, 80's - 90's) gives it to the the makeshift military who end up making a bundle off of it by selling it on the black market. In this way the corrupt government keep the corrupt military on their side because they are getting rich off the deal. They then use the money to buy weapons...as Maren says “It's like a mini arms race fueled with food.”

However.... this means that the extra food ends up being sold for dirt cheap which drives down the prices that honest farmers can get for their crops-- they go bankrupt-- so even if someone tried to earn a living by farming, they couldn't because food is so cheap.

There are some good quotes...here's some favorites:

"Chris and hundreds of others, he had realized that charity and development work are political, that doing relief and development work in the context of oppression is counterproductive. Any real commitment to development requires political action, speaking out against the powers that keep populations from developing themselves” 88

“It wasn't just the former state-owned farms that were being snapped up by Siyaad's inner circle. Traditional farmers were forced out of business by low prices and were either driven off their land or forced to sell it cheaply. In essence, the West's surplus grains were subsidizing the production of bananas and other crops that did not compete with Western agricultural interests” 170.

“There was something poetic about the way he and others stole from the UN and NGOs, used the money to build houses, and then rented those same houses back to the UN and NGOs.” 176.

“Somalia had become addicted to aid, its political system so accustomed to ingesting large amounts of foreign cash, that, like any redundant junkie, it had reached a point where withdrawing the aid would do more damage to the system than keeping it flowing” 180.

“The real beneficiaries of the aid program were, and are, the American equivalent of Siyaad Barre's inner circle. They are a small group of men with connections and money and influence. They are America's merchants of grain” 197.

There's also some interesting chapters on Save the Childrens child sponsorship scandal and the ways in which the media creates wars... fascinating stuff...

.

students

2007-01-18T14:24:00.001-08:00

If you can find yourself an American address to ship books to.... www.half.com is gold!

GOLD.

I haven't totaled everything yet but a ballpark guess would be that I saved probably between $300-$400 thanks to this site.

I get to read this...

2007-01-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

Among other readings the homework for "Biblical Faith and Economics" includes two chapters from Ron Sider's "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger"... for homework.... woot woot.

“Is creating wealth bad? No. The Bible says exactly the opposite. Is God engaged in class warfare? Not at all. Scripture never says that God loves the poor more than the rich. But it does regularly assert that God lifts up the poor and disadvantaged. And it frequently teaches that God casts down the wealthy and powerful in two specific situations: 1) when they become wealthy by oppressing the poor; or 2) when they fail to share with the needy” 53.

“God's Word teaches a very hard, disturbing truth. Those who neglect the poor and oppressed are really not God's people at all- no matter how frequently they practice their religious rituals nor how orthodox are their creeds and confessions” 59.

“In evangelical circles today it is much easier to insist on an orthodox Christology than to insist that God has a special concern for the poor. We have allowed our theology to be shaped by the economic preferences of our materialistic contemporaries than by Scripture. And that is to fall into theological liberalism. We are not nearly as orthodox as we claim to be.” 65.

Incidentally Ron Sider sat behind me in church the other day.... and he's a keynote at the conference

thoughts about being here.

2007-01-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

The previous post was a poem by Wendell Berry who is an American author that I've been meaning to get into for quite some time. I was glancing at some books that my new roommate has and there it was- a collection of poems by the big W.B.

Essentially things are different here. I wouldn't say they are bad or that my experience has been negative in the least but it's obviously not familiar and familiarity has been my life for almost 6 years. Everyone is pretty nice at the seminary I'm staying at but I wouldn't say that I've necessarily 'connected' with anyone just yet, in that way where you just know you can make a joke (eg. paul eats cereal loudly and it drives me nuts!) or when you can be unconscious of the amount of
noise your making or the manner in which you prepare your dinner, or the amount of time you take to shower...or the way you drive with strangers in the car or the music you're listening to... right now it's so 'tip-toey' all the time. From past experiences I'm guessing this will probably take about 2-3 weeks to change for the better but time moves slowly when there's not much going on.

There are a couple redeeming factors to all of this though. The first is that I'm excited about the classes I get to take- they are: Applied Research and Evaluation (which I'm more nervous about than excited), Research and Issues in International Development, Economic Development for Developing Countries and Biblical Faith and Economics. It's a bit heavy on the economics front but the assignments I've seen from the syllabi sound interesting (ie. evaluate the developing methods of the documentary 'born into brothels' or 'discuss the relationship of economics and the kingdom of God') So, I am excited to start classes on Tuesday.

The other factor of goodness that I'm holding to is that I'm convinced that there's something divine about being here. Leading up to the big move I became suddenly aware of how much I loved my life in Toronto- how much I loved my friends, my job...even the city of Toronto. I became increasingly sad at the prospect of moving because it meant leaving all of these things behind. I was sharing all of this with a trusted friend when he suggested something that I think will shape my time here. The thought..epiphany as I experienced it...was something like- God has given me so much, much more than I ever dreamed of or imagined for myself- and its like God might be saying that for a time it's going to be gone... I'll be removed from the familiarity, the friendships, the family, the networks, the jobs... and that it's going to be just me and God and we're going to figure this out together- apart from all of the influences of home and the busyness that comes with being there. That in this year away I'm going to slow things down in a sense and figure out who I am and where I'm supposed to be and all that jazz.

"In having known fully the
goodness of that, it will be
good also to melt."

So, in short- it sucks to be away but I'm content to be here.

Wendell Berry

2007-01-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

How exactly good it is
to know myself
in the solitude of winter,

my body containing its own
warmth, divided from all
by the cold; and to go

separate and sure
among the trees cleanly
divided, thinking of you

perfect too in your solitude
your life withdrawn into
your own keeping

-to be clear, poised
in perfect self suspension
toward you, as though frozen.

And having known fully the
goodness of that, it will be
good also to melt.

arrived.

2007-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

It's Friday night and we just finished a long, long day of orientation at the building in Valley Forge, where most of our classes are going to be held. It's been a bit of a whirlwind week that began with the departure from 493 Cummer Ave. to the digs back in Smithville where I spent most of my time running around buying the necessities or finishing up some paperwork- or running around with the kiddies. Then came Thursday morning at 7:30am- time to go to Philadelphia.

I arrived at the Seminary where I'm staying at about 6:00pm- so the drive was a little longer than I expected but I did have to stop for about 30 minutes at the border- and I got pulled over by a state trooper for speeding (yikes!!!!), so that took some time...and is going to cost some money...

Last night was roommate introduction time (a good guy named Matt originally from Wisconsin), room set up, a viewing of the latest episode of "The Office" and just enough time to catch sports centre (athankyou Paul Randall for access to the sling box) and off to bed.

More thoughts to come about this whole experience but for tonight...c'est tout!

the time has come

2007-01-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

After cramming way too many things into the last three days, the time has just about arrived to place a couple more things in the car and head out. I've got some posts brewing about this whole adventure so far but it looks like they'll have to hibernate for a few more days.

the last day

2007-01-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, so that video wasn't all that easy and on some computers you can barely see the picture-- so I've got some work to do.

I'm currently 1/3 of the way through my official last day at The Gateway. I love this place. I especially love Tyler Thrasher who I get to work with today. He is quite possibly the best gateway supervisor I've ever known.

well that was easy...sort of.

2007-01-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

I was just messing around and recorded Jay learning the cello- this is him after 30 minutes of practice (in his life).

2007

2007-01-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, my goal for the rest of my life (or until I accomplish it) is to figure out how to make videos with my digital camera and post them on my blog. I think this will be better than just pictures of the trip. Let's call it- a documentary. How exciting.

book list

2006-12-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

The book list of 2006 consisted of...(in chronological order).

The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian Mclaren. I thought this book was alright. I found that the secret wasn't all that secretive. 7 out of 10.

Managing Non-Profit Organizations by Peter Drucker. For the kind of book it was I thought it had some great insights about leading volunteers, fundraising and other non-profit kind of things. A 7 out of 10.

Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne- Good book- recommend it to anyone. It's very easy to read and is full of Shane's experience as political and social activist. It also describes the new monastic community he started with some friends called The Simple Way. 8 out of 10.

blue like jazz by Donald Miller- This was probably the 6th time I read this book. Love it. 9.5 out of 10

The Last Word and the word after that by Brian Mclaren. I held off on reading the last book of the New Kind of Christian Trilogy because I needed some time to digest the first two, which I really liked. The theme of the third installment of Dan Poole and Neo's story is the formers understanding of Hell and his journey to reach some conclusions on the matter. As always, Neo pointed out some things I didn't know but... also, as always, left me a little confused, which I suppose is his point. Good book though. 8 out of 10.

Completely Pro Life by Ronald Sider. This book discusses a consistent ethic of human life as it relates to abortion, the poor and nuclear arms. It was written in the early 80's so the argument about abortion and nuclear arms was a bit dated (ie. references to wade vs. roe and the big bad soviet empire), but the part about the poor was real good. 7 out of 10

eleanor rigby by Douglas Coupland. I really liked Life after God a couple years ago and finally read another Coupland. The basic premise is a 36 year old single woman discovers she has a 21 year old son who is terminally ill and who comes to live with her. The description sounds sappy but its actually a fairly entertaining book essentially dealing with the main characters sense of loneliness. 7.5 out of 10

To own a Dragon by Donald Miller. I would say I liked this book 3rd best out of the four that I've read (followed by BLJ and Through Painted Deserts). It was interesting, light hearted and at some points laugh out loud funny. Don's a great writer but he'll be hard pressed to ever exceed Blue Like Jazz. 7.5 out of 10

Blankets by Craig Thompson. Buy this book. That's it, no description -it is simply a book that if you ever get the chance you should buy it. The coming of age story of a boy who is raised in the christian subculture and then leaves the faith. 9.5 out of 10.

I might be missing some but that's all I can think of. A fairly light year but after reviewing a few syllabi for this coming school year-- 2007's book list is going to be ridiculous. yikes.

the house.

2006-12-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

I realized that I don't really like being alone. By alone I mean- in Toronto at my house with no one around for days on end. I thought I would like this a little bit but I'm not a big fan. I wish Paul Randall was here. Jay and Jay are at Urbana and Chris Clements is at a dinner party for the rest of my life (it would seem). The good news is that I got some work done at Wesley Chapel, watched a couple movies and even picked up a digital camera (I'm a little behind...) so that I can document my year in the south.

To combat the emptiness of this house I invited a couple of the youth over for some serious video gaming. It'll be good to hang out with them for a couple hours.

So far I like facebook.

the book of faces

2006-12-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

For a long time now I've tried to be against things that are trendy. I suspect this has something to do with my pride and/or stubbornness- although I'm not sure in which ways. Par example, I refused to watch the t.v. show '24' for the simple reason that everyone was watching it. After three years I cracked, watched one episode which was swiftly followed by the entire season...and then two other seasons.

The same will be said of Facebook. After about a year of 'facebook this' and 'facebook that', I decided that I would join. Now, just so you don't think I'm a slave to trends I would like to clarify that IF I was staying in Toronto and in relative contact with friends there, then I doubt that I would join. However, in light of the impending move to school-- I think it might be a good way to stay in touch.

So, facebook away.

Haggard

2006-11-04T17:33:00.000-08:00

sex scandal in the evangelical church.

I came across this interview with Tony Campolo about the scandal. I loved what he had to say and was especially impressed with the way he ended the interview.

thank God for...

2006-11-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

Wesley Chapel doesn't have a Senior Pastor...ah crap...
You can find more of these videos here.

al r hounsell

2006-11-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

I've known Al r Hounsell since 2001 and the days of Leading Edge. We've seen a lot in our time together at Tyndale, including a number of councils, one 6th floor apt. and some genuine good times. Al recently started his own blog- boring so far, but I'm sure it will pick up in light of his new theological positions. Here's to you Alan:

the weekend.

2006-10-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

I took the kiddies to Acquire the Fire this past weekend. I forgot that I hated it.

Opps.

It wasn't all bad though, the kids had a good time and Skillet was amazing.

Today I got my oil changed at Mr. Lube- it was the single greatest oil changing experience of my life. All I had to do was sit in the car while the staff provided me with complimentary newspapers and beverages. I imagine this is the male version of a trip to the spa.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

2006-10-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

The blog title was the name of a play I was in for Gr. 12 Drama back in the day. The line that was repeated constantly throughout the drama was "Good neighbors make good fences and good fences make good neighbors". I was reminded of this today when I read that the US is building a 1000 km fence to keep illegal immigrants out of their country. In the play the neighbors end up becoming suspicious of one another (what are they hiding over there?, why can't I see what's going on?) and the morale is that good neighbors don't have fences.

You can read about the fence here.

I wonder if we'll reach the point where the US needs to put up a fence to keep out Canadians? I also wonder if there's a better solution than a 1000km fence?- such as helping Mexico become a place where a person is able to make a living and actually wants to live there...

Red is the new White

2006-10-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

About a year ago we saw the emergence of those white bracelets that were all about making poverty history. Now, apparently red is the new white.

The new red campaign. hmmmmmmm....
Summary: With Bono and Oprah as the spokespeople, large corporations have agreed to give a portion of their sales to developing countries going to the Global Fund to eliminate AIDS in Africa. Example- 1 $200 ipod is worthy of a $10 donation from Apple to the fund.

I appreciate the thought, the percentage of money and the effort. However I think it is a fairly sad commentary on the western world that we need to be motivated by ipods and designer jeans in order to give money to the poorest of the poor.

IF I was going to buy an ipod, I probably would buy a red one. However, since I didn't plan on buying an ipod, I'm still not going to spend the $200 just because $10 goes towards life saving drugs. If I really cared I would donate straight to the cause without the thought of a reward or what I can get out of this deal.

There are probably going to be a lot of people (errr- middle-upper class white people) who do get involved and pat themselves on the back for splurging for that extra ipod all in the name of humanitarianism.

That is weird.

Really weird.

Humanitarianism.
Buying an ipod.
Humanitarianism.
$100 jeans.
Weird.

The really strange thing is that it probably will be a successful campaign- when simply telling someone that people are ACTUALLY DYEING wouldn't be much of a motivator.

Ian has some thoughts on the matter here.

If you don't need that ipod, Mike Todd has something you could try--donating straight to foundation of the world's leading AIDS activist, the Stephen Lewis Foundation with nothing but a receipt to show for it.

The Trip

2006-10-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

Oct. 13, 5:15am
I wake up when my dad comes into the room and says that I'm late. Jay and I were supposed to fly to Minneapolis but had a late start as we were supposed to leave the house about 30 minutes earlier-- not a good start to the day.

5:34am.
A quick stop at Tim Horton's (despite our being late, we've always got time..) for a medium dd and we're off again.

5:45am
Driving along the QEW, everything is fine.

5:46am
White out conditions.

5:51am
We see our first car stuck in the snow trying to depart the highway. A quick survey of the scene tells us that this guy is going to need some help, and with not a lot of people around... 1st car pushed out of the snow.

5:58am
Turn on the radio for this little tidbit "Buffalo is experiencing an unprecedented storm in the history of weather" - no jokes, that's a direct quote. (3 hours later we hear this little nugget "If you have an emergency you'd like to share on the air give us a call"-- ya, if I'm in an emergency, the first thing (or last thing) on my list of to-do's is to call talk-radio.)

After that it was pretty crazy- we decided to press on to the Buffalo airport, despite the fact that we knew our flight was delayed- this was an adventure! After an hour and half of waiting for the Peace Bridge to open we finally crossed the border into the war zone that was Buffalo-- massive trees down everywhere, deserted highways, no power- it was crazy. Anyway, we spent the morning pushing cars out on route to the airport, which we arrived at around 10:45am, to find out that our flight had been pushed back to 7:30am, the next morning.

That was the first day of operation: visit Ian and Lauren (with a quick stop at a wedding in Minneapolis). It was a great 36 hour with the Mclarens-- full of poker, Arrested Development and my first ever trip to the Olive Garden.

grocery list?

2006-10-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything of real substance in quite a while, as Fulford would say, it's mostly been "the grocery list". I don't think I intended for this blog to become that (listing the events of the day...) it just sort of happened. However, someone did say something that struck me in church yesterday. We had a guest speaker in at Wesley Chapel named Raif. He's short, Egyptian and loves to laugh. He is also an evangelist, which made for a pretty good Sunday morning on Warden Ave. His sermon was essentially on the Good Samaritan and while I don't remember all of his points, I do recall one tidbit that jumped out at me.

I have always understood Jesus' story as one where we are called to emulate the Samaritan, who unlike the priests and the Levite, actually helped out the wounded man. I figured this involves things like taking care of people who are in need, loving the unloved, crossing the road and going to the hurting people. This I believe is still an important part of the passage. What Raif said that stuck out to me was that he, Raif, was the man on the side of the road, and that I was too, and that in our broken, beat up state- Jesus crossed over to my side of the road, brought me to a near by inn and paid for my recovery.

Anway, just thought that was an interesting twist to the story.

Going away to a pastor's retreat this week with the Free Methodist Church. Who would have thought that 3/4 of Epiphaneia would be going on a pastor's retreat together?.. that is strange, but I gotta say, I'm looking forward to some serious poker and interesting dialogue.

format

2006-09-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

I wasn't digging the black anymore-- it was a little too 2005...

Highlight of the day: a trip to Blockbuster with Mike Albano where he rented Lost, season 2. He mentioned that he's putting together a 24 marathon for season 3 sometime in the near future.... I'm not sure I could handle that much Jack Bauer in a day but I'd give it a shot.

Also, it's a terrible feeling to arrive at a meeting that you find out was yesterday...opps- gotta find that dayplanner asap.

in class

2006-09-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm in class. I hadn't pictured this scenario four months ago, but here I am, sitting in the chapel at Tyndale on a Monday night, listening to a new psychology prof. talk about fetal development. What could be better? I'm not a student (t.a.ing...), but being in this class is actually kind of fun.

Here's a sample 'story' from a frosh--- classic frosh, keeping the stereotypes up...

(about a mothers strange cravings during pregnancy).

frosh: "My mom craved Vic's when she was pregnant with my brother"
class: "vic's?'
frosh: "ya, like that Vic's Vapour rub stuff, my dad says she ate it like ice cream"
class: 'ewww'.
frosh: 'yo check this out the cool thing is that my brother's never had a cold a day in his life...'

classic.

nostalgia

2006-08-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

It's September 1st, which means a renewed commitment to my blog. There's a chance that I'll have my own dot com before I move, but for now blogspot will have to do. What's happening? Well, most recently I watched the Tyndale videos that Ernie put together a couple years back. I'm just starting to realise how great those times were. I suppose it caused a sense of nostalgia, which I think is amplified by the fact that I'm not starting school in a week for the first time since kindergarten- strange feeling.

In other news, Ian and Lauren are moving to Manitoba. This move (in less than 24 hours now) is a sad one for me, even though its good for them- three years aren't really that long though- Lord knows the last three have gone by pretty quick.

for Cathy

2006-06-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if it's spelled with a 'C' or a 'K' (I'll go with C), but the last two times I have seen Cathy Mclaren, one of the first things she says to me is "you need to update your blog".

And so, for you Mrs. Mclaren- the blog is officially updated. It was nice visiting with you and Jim today- Pickelbarrel tomorrow- I'll see you bright and early!

A couple thoughts for tonight-
1) Ashley and I went to see Nacho Libre and, to be honest I had that whole Napoleon Dynamite first time feeling after I left. That is to say, after watching N.D. the first time I didn't laugh once through the whole thing, however I did watch it many, many times after that and it got progressively more funny- until about the 13th time, then I think it peaked. This movie had received a lot of hype, so I had high expectations- and it probably would have been more funny if some people in the audience weren't having falling out of their seats in laughter at some parts that really weren't funny- but, at least I got to see midgets wrestling, and that was well worth the price of admission (no offense to little people- I'm a fan of "little people, big world", sort of).

2) This week is crazy for drafts, with the NHL draft yesterday and the NBA coming up on Wednesday. I'm very excited to see what develops with the Raptors, however it's the Leafs who are making some noise. I was pretty happy with their pick and the trade for Raycroft but it seems that multiple sources are reporting that the Leafs are in serious discussions for Pronger. Now, as I Leafs fan I do tend to think that all players in the NHL could eventually end up on the Leafs and the media would have me think that every free agent will sign here this summer etc., but Pronger as a Leaf? holy smokes. For the record I don't think this is going to happen- my hunch is he'll go to Ottawa. Stinkin Sens.

C'est tout.

American up here...

2006-05-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Steve and Nathan and I went out for lunch to talk about the conference and where we see this whole thing going next year. In response to something I said Nathan tapped me on the front of my head and said "That's because you've got American up here". This moment was probably the most outraged I've been in a long, long time. It was borderline sin. Well, okay... sin.

Lately I've been thinking about Americana and what it would be like to live there and subsequently what exactly do I think about their culture and specifically-war, because really, most of what I know about the States revolves around war. I have the opportunity to study there next year, so I figured I should really start thinking about these things, in order to avoid blindly becoming a card carrying Republican (or Democrat for that matter), if I end up going.

I think there are a ton of issues to think through here, but my initial sentiment is that I'm a pretty big pacifist. I can't really see a scenario that justifies blowing the hell (they are fighting evil...right?) out of another country- even something like 9/11. Recently I have seen two documentaries that attempt to show the other side of the war coin in America- Loose Change which is about the shadiness of the 9/11 events, and Why We Fight, which shows the war in Iraq as the result of a tradition of lies, increased Imperialism and the rise of the military industrial complex (priorities which are set to benefit corporations as opposed to what benefits the country- ie. contracts given to weapons producing corporations). Why we fight has a number of interviews with people from Iraq, who say that they supported the U.S. until they started bombing them- their neighborhoods- their parks- and until the vast majority of the people wounded or killed in this war were civilians.

I have also been reading a book by Shane Claiborne called Irresistable Revolution. He has some very interesting stories about interning with Mother Theresa and fighting policitians for the rights of homeless people in Philadelphia. He also talks about a trip to Iraq- I found it particularly interestingl- He says "essentially I went to Iraq because I belive in a God of scandalous grace. I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much he died for them, teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for".

Maybe I only think this way because I was raised in Canada and we're the peacekeepers. Or maybe what I'm really trying to understand is what are the politics, ethics and practices of a people whose citizenship is more about a kingdom than a country.

"dunner" aka: firetruck

2006-04-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've posted a picture of these two online yet... welcome to my blog Benjamin and Katrina... nephew and niece..

- they don't look like the blueberry girl from wonka in real life...not sure what is going on with this computer..

Favorite lines from Benjamin include: dunner (a firetruck..), lion, no, and unca Ciss...

Thursday night was my last class ever at Tyndale UC with only 1 exam to complete the undergrad. The last class was a bit of a doozy, with a group presentation that went off the tracks for a solid 7 minutes, (complete with references to the problems with the Emerging Church of all things!) only to slowly return and make an alright recovery. I realized that I have a problem laughing during awkward situations, although I was aware of that before. I don't think that I have stopped to think about what life after Tyndale will feel like, or to reflect on what has happened in the last five years but I've got some time to do some soul searching.

My thesis is finished, marked and handed back. I did okay for blasting that thing out in 3.5 weeks...although it did have some weak points, which Professor Evans was sure to drive home during my defense...thanks dawg..really appreciate that.

Hanging out with Cam tonight for the first time since Christmas, my guess is that the hockey game and a pub will be invovled.

my personal...

2006-04-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

The idea of church, its value and function, its life and processes, are formed within us as we learn about and experience it. Everything that I understood church to be was the result of being raised in one. I think this may be true of a lot of what we might call "the younger evangelicals" (book still on my shelf... summers coming!), who grew up in the albatross that is the evangelical church. Now, I must admit that I did not have a particularly negative experience in my 'home' church. In fact, I still have a lot of family friends there and speak with the youth pastor on a regular basis. The trouble was not with my church but more so with my understanding of it, which at some point contributed to my very elitist, personal church.

I was an idiot.

To be quite honest, I really had no time for churches from other denominations, let alone the Catholic church- dear goodness-we should drop off some tracts. I suppose I had no concept of church history, the universal body of Christ or the notion that my church might ever be (gulp) wrong. I'm not saying that it is, or was, only that I didn't understand the church as a group of people whose messy lives are connected in this thing called salvation, and that its not, and probably never will be a perfect community.

All of this to say, I think that the idea of personal church is what has caused so much anger when people dissect and critique the Emergent Church because it is different than what we have come to know as 'the church'. We think that if there is another way to 'do' or 'be' church, that our way is wrong and thus the Emergent Church is an attack on our 80 year old traditional church. We think that we have to defend our church and our church practice, that we must go on the offensive to prove that EC is wrong and thus be validated in our own experience of church. After all, if our church isn't wrong, our church doesn't need to change.

I don't think that right or wrong is the question I'm asking. I was speaking with Craig Carter the other day and he made this statement, "I'm more concerned about why 450 people are showing up on Saturday than whether Mclaren's understanding of the atonement is orthodox". Regardless of right or wrong, why is this happening?

I don't expect many answers soon, its probably hard to pinpoint and involves a lot of, shall we say...conversations. Nonetheless, I'm happy that its happening and am more excited about the future of the church than ever before.

the day after

2006-04-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

An entire 13 months of planning all came to a head yesterday- and I honestly need to say that I was overwhelmed by how good God is- demonstrated so many times throughout that period, and especially yesterday. Overwhelmed.
Nathan has summed up a few of his highlights, so I'll try not to duplicate too many...but here's a list of my favorite things about yesterday, beginning with...
* The guy sitting on the green couch while Don Miller is being introduced: Chris to Don: "Do you know that guy?" Don to Chris "No. I thought you knew him." Chris to Don "Ah crap".
* The craziness that was 7:30am-9:30am.
* Chris Seay might be one of my new favorite people- I didn't get to sit in on his sessions for too long, but from speaking with him over the couple of days he was around- wow.--- warm, friendly, congruent.
* Our volunteers were absolutely AMAZING- I'm not sure I have words to describe how good they were yesterday- and how God used them to bless people- seriously- outstanding. Thanks Alicia, Siobahan, Dirks, Jardin, Sarah, T-Pot, Nathan, John, Naomi, Rachel, Christina, Joy Beth, Danielle, Sharon, Michelle, Dan, Katie, Fulford and Ashley!
* The random people I met who were so encouraging.
* I wasn't in the first worship time, but I was in the second and I was overwhelmed by presence of the Spirit in that room- never experienced anything like it at Tyndale before. Jay, Big D, Katie and Dave K.- thank you so much.
* Having my arm nearly ripped off by our President as he created a moment that I will never forget- and yet its a blur even now- it happened so fast, but his words will stay with me for a long time.
* The atmosphere, the joy in people, their graciousness.
* An email from George and a phone call from Pernell after the conference.
* The crazy things- such as not knowing where Mclaren or Miller were for the first hour...or losing a large amount of money, only to find it in the garbage- athankyou Lord.
* Encouraging words from our new friends, Don, Tom & George.
* Chris Ricci and his team.- so much preparation- and so well done. To me, IT does well when you don't notice them (ie. not looking back to see why the sound guy has screwed up...)- as long as I've worked with Chris Ricci, I have never looked back- so professional, hard working- and wants it to be as good as we do... thanks Chris.
Finally...
* The boys and all of our MSN meetings, restaurant meetings, the speaker phone, forums, the bp, the emails,- the hours and hours... something good has begun, and I love that its with each of you. Single tear.

Anyway, those are some things off the top of my head. I might post some more later- maybe some pics to go with it. You can find tons of extra stuff at the website- and please, if you were there- take advantage of the forums and try and flush out and wrestle with all that you took in.

four weeks and counting

2006-03-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

The time has almost come.

I think the travesty of my time at Tyndale will be that I didn't take advantage of an environment of learning. Somewhere around year 3 I learned how to do well without really learning anything (so I may have learned one thing...). This, I think is what Garber talks about in the Fabric of Faithfulness when he says that students "'getting all A's but flunking life' is a possibility lurking around the corner of everyone's life.."

One of the things that I am most looking forward to after graduating is learning.
Although my thesis has been great and I have learned a ton of interesting things-- mostly that the authors of Scripture had some serious literary talent, that the history has a message, and that understanding life through personal wants/desires was part of the lowest point in Israel's history-- so how much of it should be part of my life?

The rough copy of the thesis has been handed back- one week until the final copy is due.
The Boys Next Door clinched a playoff spot.
OCCAA volleyball championship- I announced my official retirement in an emotional press conference - Canon 25 didn't show up.
OCCAA basketball championship- M. Mackneer, Kyle and BIG BOY!- three peat baby! I would like to thank Nathan for some serious heckling- I feel like together we accounted for at least +7 tyndale points and -8 Redeemer points...
The conference is SOLD OUT! holy smokes.
Going to the Leaf/Sabres game with Ashley and the Boadways on Thursday....I'm nervous...its in Buffalo.
I saw Dave Arnold last weekend- woah- its been too long between visits.
Elections are coming-- should be very interesting-- no..I have decided not to run.
Spring Banquet with Bodner is coming up- Mar. 31
Concert....Robbie Seay Band, Chris Seay, Ginny Owens, Waterdeep, and...an artist named Rob Pepper-- April 7th at Tyndale.
Oh..I friggin love my housemates-- and I realize that's a fairly girly thing to say but what can you do?...maybe the most fun I've had in a long time! Paul, can I have a cookie?...two?
Ah yes, the biggest decision of my life is coming... the fork in the road, which way to go? I applied to Eastern's Graduate School in Pennsylvania (is that how you spell it?) to do an M.A. in International Development... so Lord... ?

four weeks and counting.

the NBA

2006-02-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

If you've followed the NBA in the last 5-10 years or so...this article is hilarious-- especially Babcock's 'comments'.

the week so far

2006-02-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

We knew this was coming. You never want to say it out loud (unless you're Harry Neale or Bob Cole) but Team Canada was terrible. Terrible you say? Maybe its not that they were terrible as much as we weren't 2002. That was an epic time in my life and produced many moments that I will never forget. Where was the Sakic Supreme this time around? Where was the pass between the legs, the dazzling stickhandling Theo Fleury, the "the whole world wants us to fail, but we'll be there"--remember that?

Death where is thy sting? Ovechkin- that's where.

I like him, except when he plays for Russia- that kid is good. Maybe the best player in the world right now.

We looked lost the whole tournament and today wasn't a surprise based on how we've played. Hindsight is a beautiful thing and we could argue about who would've made the big difference. But, we look forward to you 2010 and revenge on home ice. We look forward to you our Captain, J. Iginla (strangely ineffective this tournament) playing along side the likes of a battletested Staal, Spezza and Crosby, Nash, Phneuf... with Luongo in net- fresh off a Stanely Cup victory with the Leafs.

Well, it's hump day and the thesis is a lot further than it was on Sunday night...13/60 or 47 to go! Is that glass half full or what!

reading week

2006-02-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

It's you and me thesis, let's do this.

emerging churches

2006-02-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Andrew Jones said this way better than I ever could.

"I have been listening to the latest wave of criticism against the emerging-missional church in USA and I don't know if i am more angry with the critics for getting it so wrong, or angry at emerging church practitioners for either not communicating the heart of what we (the global emerging-missional church) are doing . . or not knowing it in the first place.

The emerging church, if i listen to the more extreme critics, is just about changing the style of church to attract people and keeping them happy, of accepting any wind of doctrine without critique, of finding the coolest hippest trends and adopting them in a sunday service. Of being postmodern to attract postmoderns. Of careless adoption of any ancient practice regardless of its origin or affect, of finding identity in protest against the Modern, Enlightenment or Constantinian models of church. What the heck is that? What does that have to do with the emerging church? If there are one or two new emerging churches who have lost the plot, or never saw it clearly to begin with, and are now giving the other hundreds of emerging churches a bad name, they should be lovingly confronted with the better way of Jesus. Do it yourself before other traditions do it for you. A little yeast impacts the whole lump....

Read the rest here.

k[no]w Emergent!?

2006-02-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

As some of you may already know, I’m organising a conference with a couple goods friend called The Evolving Church. We invited Brian Mclaren, Donald Miller and Chris Seay to come because their writing has struck a chord with us and we feel like they are saying things that we needed to hear. We think this is a good thing.

What I have found in the last couple months of planning this thing is that a) people think this is an Emergent conference and b) there are some people who think Brian Mclaren and company are the anti-Christ. First, I’d like to clarify some things about this conference. We are in no way pushing the Emergent ‘agenda’ (whatever that may be), but are really concerned about the Church and feel that there are a lot of people our age who may be thinking the same thing. Our experience inside church was not necessarily detrimental to our understanding of the Church, but we think that Church, especially in North America, has not been in operating in the manner which God has called it to.

Yes, Brian and Chris are forefront in the Emergent movement but this isn’t a conference to discuss Emergent, its to discuss how we, as the Church in Canada can take on the vocational attributes that we may be lacking. It is not a ‘local church’ bashing conference, but a chance to understand where we can go from here.

It’s sort of my running joke with Fulster that Emergent has left itself undefined, contributing to the overall stigma that it is simply pushing a post-modern agenda. Ie: what do they believe? "we don’t know, they just won’t say…" While I will admit that Mclaren has been more publicly inquisitive than affirming in regards to issues of doctrine, Emergent has defined itself here at Emergent Village

Some people may not agree with this or other Emergent ideas, or the things that some people who associate themselves with this movement write, (Sweet, Pagitt etc.) but that doesn’t disqualify them from speaking about the state of the Church in the 21st century, does it?

I have come across some blogs that spend way too much time dissecting every sentence of these people as their act of service. I have found that every time I read these blogs it leaves me disappointed, not because I’m pro Emergent but because it is often done with a mean spirit, using absolute propositions and leaving no room for dialogue. It has been my experience that these statements only lead to putting people on the defense, which only further a separation between the two sides and certainly isn't edifying. Emergent may be wrong about a number of things…its true! But saying ‘you are wrong and I’m right and that’s that’ is only widening the denominational divide among believers. It’s like I have to take sides between Emergent and non-Emergent. To think this way is to miss one of the points of the movement, which is to recognize that denominations have destroyed us and if we could only talk about our differences with open minds and a heart that is seeking to be faithful to God, then we’d be much more effective as ambassadors of Christ.

In other news, I dropped C.S. Lewis and picked up Managing Non-Profit Organisations. I like it. Our floor hockey record: 2- 0- 1, but that may change soon as our goalie will be away for most of the rest of our games, so I may be strapping on the pads—seems like a fitting end to a my last season (Lord willing!).

tagged

2006-02-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

I don't normally respond to these kind of things but since Nathan Colquhoun has requested it, I will defy his (usually correct) instincts and reply. I was tagged...

Four Jobs I've had:
Blockbuster "rewind boy"
Selling Snowboards @ Skiis and Biikes (why two i's in bikes.. ? not sure either)
Relief Worker @ The Gateway
Maintenance @ Fair Havens

Four Movies I could watch over and over:
Braveheart
Home Alone
Magnolia
Back to the Future

Four Places I've lived:
Smithville
Toronto
Huntsville
Beaverton

Four T.V. Shows I love:
Arrested Development
Wonder Years
The West Wing
Seinfeld

Four Vacations Spots I've been to:
northern Ontario..
Peru...not exactly a vacation though..
Boston...
Philadelphia

Four Favorite Dishes
spaghetti
chili
pizza
rolaids!

Four Sites I visit often:
www.yahoo.com
www.theglobeandmail.com
www.epconference.net
www.thestar.com

Four Places I'd rather be right now:
Smithville
Beaverton
anywhere with AJ
Blue Mountain

Four Bloggers I'm tagging
http://www.puritas.blogspot.com
http:eemc.blogsome.com
http://www.thebrooks.blogspot.com
http://thesilverstrian.blogspot.com

the election.

2006-01-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

For anyone who wants to know what Stephen Harper is really up to...these may be the funniest commericals I have ever seen- no jokes. Yum Yum is my favorite, but this one is good too!

Jack

2006-01-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

1143 times. That is the amount of times that someone has asked me if my middle name started with an "S". Imagine if it did? Two C.S.Lewis' in the world- no way! Unfortunately, or otherwise my middle name does not begin with an S. The only reason I bring this up is because I chose a class specifically devoted to the writings of C.S.Lewis as my very last class at Tyndale- the last one! Where does the time go...

I think over the next little while much of what makes in onto this blog is going to be devoted to sharing what this 20th century literary artist has to say. I begin with a quote from book one of Mere Christianity,

"The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There is not one of them which will not make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide. You might think love of humanity in general was safe, but it is not. If you leave out justice you will find yourself breaking agreements and faking evidence in trials 'for the sake of humanity,' and become in the end a cruel and treacherous man."

Absolutism... it's destructive. Thinking that I am right, that I have all the answers to the most pertinent questions is destructive. Now, there are things that I believe to be absolutely true and I don't think that Lewis was essentially arguing for an absolute principle. But in the context of the church...here is exactly what I wrestle with: who is right, who is wrong and does it really, honestly, truly matter? At the moment, I'm not convinced that it does. Of course, if someone started baptizing in a church with pig's blood while wearing little to no clothing...my 'not caring' would probably go out the window and I'd look for some sort of standard by which to function as the body of Christ. The bible you say? I just need to talk to Nathan Colquhoun about this...

Jokes. Really, he's a great guy who's asking some questions too.

In other news, I'm also going to be giving a thesis report every now and again. So far in terms of page numbers I'm 0/70, but that's not terrible...it could be worse, right? I could not have a topic... well, let's not get into that.

surprise additions

2006-01-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Beth Veale has been added to the list of conference workshop leaders. Don't know who Beth Veale is? She is a principle at a gradeschool in Toronto, and in the words of Darryl Silvestri, "she's money baby, money". Also, Jarod Siebert has been added as a workshop leader- I believe he was part of a church plant a while ago called Next Church in Kingston. Now he works for the Mennonite denomination as a church advisor. Everything is coming together...and REGISTRATION IS OPEN!