all rights reserved.

I was in a pretty big church the other day for Sunday morning service. It was pretty normal I suppose- stand up sing, sit down pray, listen to sermon, go home and eat...nothing out of the ordinary.

As I was flipping through the bulletin during the sermon I came across a section entitled "Steps to Peace with God". It did a pretty good job of outlining redemptive history in 3 sentences or so (does anyone else think that is a problem?) which included God's plan for peace and life, our problem and separation from God and God's remedy- the cross. Of course, once one understands redemptive history in this brief context, the opportunity for response is given: Admit, Repent, Believe, Receive. (I'm surprised it wasn't an acronym- something as easy as ABC...)

Regardless, that is all okay and I don't disagree that all of those things are part of the Christian life, however then came the good old sinners prayer...

Now, I know this isn't in the Bible but just in case someone who read this didn't know what to do or say after reading this and was apparently being convicted by the Holy Spirit to respond, they had a prayer to say that would seal the deal. The legitimacy of the sinners prayer aside, the funniest part of this whole thing is that right underneath this prayer it said, "Used by permission of 'insert well known evangelical association here', All rights reserved".

All rights reserved?
All rights reserved!

This is part of the problem. Like a good Western company they sought to monopolize, patent and reserve the rights to a prayer--a conversation with the Almighty God! Can you imagine this conversation between clergy and a recent convert... "Thank you for praying this prayer, if you could please just send a letter of recognition to this association for allowing you to be part of the kingdom"

Of course this wouldn't be an issue if we didn't reduce the story of redemption and the kingdom life to a prayer. When did this happen? How did this happen?

Where is God?

What are we doing?

What has the gospel become?

Summer

Living in a house with no heat (maybe this Wednesday?) makes me miss the summer. A whole lot of fun in a short, short time. Thanks to Sarah Cross for these pics.


A romantic moment on the docks in Orillia with C. Ralph.


I knew we'd get in. D-D-D Donna you're the star of the show.



Just another night during pre-season.


Deb, Mutter and C. Ralph.

Normal, IL

I have a confession. Before I share though I must set the context. Today I was cleaning out my car which was littered with gas receipts, cd cases, baseball equipment and a couple of tool kits. However, as I always do before I begin to clean the car, I put on a cd. It just so happened that a perfect cd was already in the player and I began to labour away to "The Normals". My confession is this: I love The Normals. As far as I know I'm the only person alive (or in Canada)who owns this cd. The tragic part about this whole love affair is that the band broke up shortly after I purchased their first album. I did find out that the lead singer took Derek Webb's spot in Caedmon's Call so maybe I can live vicariously through them now. Oh and Normal isn't actually a place in Illinois but I guess they thought that their town was pretty average.

The Survivor.

I stand in the bloodfield shell shocked and guilty,
The sole survivor of what we all had coming.
And feelings are fiction as we watch our loved diving
And for some strange reson we just keep on marching.
The ice that drips from isolation has melted me to this.
In all of my power this is all I can offer,
And it's broken, it's broken, it's broken.
But somewhere the good king has been claiming His victory,
And it's offered, it's offered, it's offered to the survivor.

My greatest confession is that what I claim dearly
is the very thing that leaves me so scared.
I know peace lies in silence and prayer is its heartbeat
But I don't feel it beating in me.
What if I find in the quiet that all I am is the sum of my habits.
In all of my power this is all I can offer,
And it's broken, it's broken, it's broken.
But somewhere the good king has been claiming His victory
And it's offered, its' offerd, it's offered to me, to me.

And your answer to my questions is to be still and know
That I Am and I Am Love and I Am and I Am Love.
And right here the good king has been claiming His victory,
And it's offered, it's offered, it's offered,
It's given, it's given, it's given to the survivor.


Here's the only Normals concert that I've ever been apart of...(only because of this link).
http://www.creativesitesmedia.com/normals/ram/normals_best_i_can.ram

The Gateway.

I got a job as a relief worker at The Gateway a couple of weeks ago. It's a homeless shelter for men in downtown Toronto. To be honest, I was a little nervous going into the whole gig. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I really only knew that I wanted to work there because for some reason I think that Jesus would've probably hung out there. The first shift was, well...boring. It was a night shift in which pretty much nothing happened except for 'wake ups' (every half hour beginning at 4:30am) and breakfast in the morning (a great perk to this job is that I get fed). The next couple of shifts were pretty good though. In fact I've worked a total of four now and I originally thought that the 12 hour shifts would feel terribly long but so far they don't. I discussed this with one of the workers on Saturday and he described it as "it's like you live at home for a time and then just move here for the day and live". Really, that's what I do. I live there during the day and hang out with people. It is by far the greatest job I have ever had. I'm not just saying that because it sounds like I'm a slacker but it really is great to watch t.v. or play cards or chess with a guy my age who just got enough cash to move into his own place, or the guy from Winnipeg who has a wife and kids in the Philippines but needs to save enough money to pay back the government for dual citizenship issues. I also met Patrick, well I didn't really meet him. I was kind of scared to. He seemed a little rough around the edges at first but all of that went out the window when he almost overdosed on opium on Friday. I thought I was witnessing my first death but the ambulance got there pretty fast and I think he's okay. While that certainly wasn't a funny thing...a friend of Patricks (I assume) was just screaming the f-bomb at him for continuing to use. It was kind of funny. I also thought it was funny when his buddy was poking around his pockets looking for drugs so that the ambulance/police officers wouldn't bust him in the hospital. One of the workers asked him to get some gloves to do so-- I thought at first because it would be hygenic...I later realized it was because he didn't want him to get pricked by any needles.

I like The Gateway. The guys there are really nice and not the typical homeless men you might see outside union station (although some are...). Most of them want to work and have temp jobs but for whatever reason (drugs and alchohol addictions do come into play) can't get on their feet. I like these guys.

I think sometimes we're scared of poor people. Isn't that ridiculous? Isn't that the most ridiculous statement ever? But it's true. We don't know how to relate or how to talk to them (like they are different?). I think it's because we're trained to see poor people as invaluable...as people who don't contribute to society or the economy and therefore aren't important. Think about it. A person with a BMW vs. a homeless man with a shopping cart... whose more valuable? Who do we trust more?

I remember telling someone that I worked at a homeless shelter. They stopped and thought about it for a second and said, "you know a lot of them don't want to get jobs and want to be there"... I think that is the consensus of society. I also think that if that is our attitude... we've got a lot of reading and thinking to do.

The prophets say that God has a heart for the poor, the marginalized, the mistreated...those without a family. Isn't that a tremendous characteristic of God... to defend the orphan and widow, the alien and homeless?

Jesus says, "the poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me". At first you might read this passage and think that Jesus just wants some time with his peeps but I think there is a greater statement here. What if Jesus is saying that because you are my disciples you will be around the poor because that's where I live and they need to be loved.