whatever you do.

I was hit with the biggest of contradictions today. For all the wonderful initiatives being carried out to promote a sustainable future for North America there is still a large chunk of the population that really hasn’t paid attention. And most of us who are trying to live lives that are in some way ecologically-minded often find ourselves making the occasional decision that goes against our larger goals. I’m certainly not one to judge anyone at all. My consumptions habits range from decent and moderate to excessive and wasteful, all in one afternoon.

But today I was really struck by a disparity. I was sitting, eating lunch in a local diner (not a chain) and reading Tom Sine’s book The New Conspirators (a very important book, fully recommended). I was in the chapter talking about ways to live sustainably and locally when I over heard a conversation at the next table.

Just as I was beginning to pledge allegiance to the colour green I heard a couple of ladies discussing their plans for a shopping trip to Buffalo, NY – roughly 3 hours from our present location. Cross border shopping is very common in Ontario, especially with the American dollar in the state it is in. So the women were discussing the best route to take to hit all all the great bargains. The one thing they were really keen on was the thing that really struck me… A foaming coconut soap from some big American box store. Now, once again, I am not judging these people at all, I am equally guilty. If anything their conversation opened up to thinking honestly about my own addictions to all things exotic and trendy, such as certain European crafted beers and spirits. Just think about it, traveling three hours by car, to Buffalo – to another country – to get soap scented with milk from the tropical coconut; the ingredients for which probably came from 3 or 4 different countries, almost all of them tropical.

Is the pressure we place on our natural world and infrastructure really worth saving a few dollars on coconut soap?

Tags: green, environment, local, dollar, consumption, habit, border, tom sine, new conspirators

This dirty laundry needs some airing out.

This week Out of Ur blog hosted a bit of a discussion between reviewer Chad Hall and authors Mark Driscoll and Tony Jones. Chad reviewed the books of both men and then posted responses from Mark and Tony.

The whole concept was bad from the beginning. Pit two authors and their books against each other to see which one is more like Jesus. Baptize one at the expense of the other. Call one humble and the other Egotistical. Label them as insignificant or impotent or trendy. It’s a replay of a tired and aging Right and Left (aka, Right and Wrong) political drama that doesn’t really exist unless we need it to. There is no matchup between emergents and new reformers unless you want there to be one. And I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone would want such a fight, although I too am weak and am easily persuaded to believe in these lines.

Predictably, the match-up lured out the proponents of both factions, myself included. Folks rallied behind their superstar and accused the other of lacking humility and Christ-like-ness. Trenches were dug even deeper and viewpoints were caustically hurled through the virtual air.

I really appreciated the responses by the Tony and Mark. Yes, even Mark. (I don’t say that to say that Mark is less capable of graciousness, but to expose my own bias). Dare I say that Jesus just might have gained the upper hand here. Tony was true to his character as he brazenly defended his friends in the Emergent sphere while not personally attacking Chad. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Tony and I was struck by his clear desire to build relationships but not with sugary words or the right Christian idioms. There was much grace in his biting responses.

I also really appreciated the response by Mark. He was gracious and humble even as he tried to convince us that Chad labeling him as humble was a mistake. Folks are trying to claim that Mark is “turning over a new leaf” as of late with a less caustic attitude. And maybe he is. I hope so. And I hope that as such a thing emerges that those of us who have been offended by Mark in the past (with good reason) will be able to forgive. Such forgiveness will always move us in a good direction. I say that in a small voice because I am far from being one who has been hurt most by his words. I’m not calling on anyone to make any such move of forgiveness, but hoping that it can be a future reality.

I may not agree with Mark’s theology as much as I agree with Tony’s, but I will always agree with grace. Following Jesus is ultimately about giving off a fruity aroma and not about falling in line with a doctrinal team.

Tags: christianity, jesus, jones, driscoll, emergent, emerging, reform

Brant is a genius. If you haven’t read his thoughts, go there first and then come back.

I want to take his connection one step further. Brant says, “If you view this as the typical eco-sermon, you didn’t really watch the movie.” His interpretation of Wall-E as being about sexuality, companionship and procreation from a pro-life perspective is absolutely on point. But I wonder if there is another connection here that we are intended to draw, and one that I believe we NEED to draw.

For some reason, in our society we are largely told that one side of the debate cares about protecting the earth while the other side of the debate cares about protecting life; and somehow we are supposed to believe that these are incompatible. The fear is something along the lines of - if you affirm the other side’s position then you are compromising your own.

Wall-E gives us another landscape all together. Care for the earth is a Pro-Life position.

And, hug.

——————————————————-

Oh, one other thing. I think the film also speaks about the stuff we are made of. We need to be creative. Our first directive is to care for God’s creation. Similar to  Jesus stating that if we fail to worship the rocks will cry out … if we fail to take care of the earth the robots will cry out? or something. When the opportunity to recapture that creative, garden tending impulse arrives the ship captain will overcome any obstacle to make sure we take hold of it.

And, hug, again.

Tags: wall-e, movie, pro-life, earth, eco, politics, religion, creation, jesus

Canada Day Rawdon St. Block Party 2008, originally uploaded by senor diecast.

I’m very much an amateur photographeur, but I do dig a few of the shots I was able to get away with last night. Maybe someday someone will buy me one of those big fancy cameras that grant instant photographic skill (or just photographic snobbishness).

Canada Day Rawdon St. Block Party 2008, originally uploaded by senor diecast.

I love my church.

Every year we block off a section of the street in front of the church (legally) and throw a block party on the Canada Day weekend. This year there were easily over a couple hundred people from the church and neighborhood filling the street where we had a barbecue, great conversation, a wee bit of frisbee, a multitude of sparklers for the kids, and a great fireworks display. We never advertise ahead of time – just block off the street, fire up the grill and welcome anyone who might happen by.

Rawdon Street Baptist Church has been a light in this corner of the city for a long, long time. Sometime soon I’m going to write out a bit of our history here for you. It’s never been that large of a family and it may never be, but it is far from anemic. I hope this little missional family continues to infect its neighborhood with the Kingdom of God for a long time to come.

An extended quote from the truly prophetic (think call for repentance, not fortune telling) book by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw:

Today the logic goes something like this: “Calling a ruler ‘Son of God’ is out of style. No one really does that nowadays. We can support a president while also worshiping Jesus as the Son of God.” But how is this possible? For one says that we must love our enemies, and the other says we must kill them; one promotes the economics of competition, while the other admonishes the forgiveness of debts. To which do we pledge allegiance? Surely, one of them must have the wrong idea of how to move history. Can a servant serve two masters? To say that we must kill our enemies and join the popular project to “rid the world of evil” is to call Jesus unrealistic. And that is possibly desirable for many; surely his ideas do not resonate with any common wisdom. But can you call Jesus the Son of God and say, “He just doesn’t understand the world today”? How ironic is it to see a bumper sticker that says “Jesus is the answer” next to a bumper sticker supporting the war in Iraq, as if to say “Jesus is the answer – but not in the real world.” Remember, Jesus’ followers were burned alive, beheaded, or fed to lions. They knew evil and the “real world.” They would meet it face to face. If there was anyone who tried to deal with evildoers and terrorists, it was certainly first-century Christians.

When the church takes affairs of the state more seriously than they do Jesus, Pax Romana becomes its gospel and the president becomes the Son of God. After all, what is the point in calling anything God if it does not also hold sway in every part of one’s life – especially one’s politics? (Haw/Claiborne, p.166)

Instead of worshiping flags and rulers and constitutions let’s start putting our hand over our heart in salute when we ask for forgiveness or when we say “thank you” to the provider (think sunshine, not Costco) for our daily bread. Maybe the act of saluting our creator will stop us in our tracks when we start to worship any other master.

Tags: politics, jesus, shane claiborne, chris haw, jesus for president, books, iraq, war

(Where does that phrase come from?)

Also, I’ve been thinking and have decided to head somewhere else. I’ve got to figure it out the details still, but I’ll let you know as we get closer.

Are you brimming with anticipation? No? Well, I don’t really care, because I am!

I am the unofficial webmaster for our church community. Last year I had set up a nice fancy wordpress site based on Adam Walker Cleaveland’s Cleaker theme, but I managed to utterly destroy it. I’ve finally gotten around to rebuilding from the ground up. I don’t excel at troubleshooting, so I chose to gut the whole thing (including the database) and begin fresh. Kind of like God did with the flood, with Noah being the spared index file.

Here is the new site. Fresh and simple, it is missing some essential info relating to what we actually do and when, but otherwise it is alive and kicking.

Tags: webdesign, wordpress, rawdon street

I was digging through a few recent Zunior Sampler Albums and found this gem. Hailing from Toronto (not actually living near a coast, their band name comes from a Paul Simon song), The Coast have just recently released their first full length album, Expatriate, and as Exclaim.ca says, “If they keep creating records like this, the Coast definitely won’t be expatriated any time soon.”

Here is a clip from a recent live performance on MTV. (please ignore the generic VJ-ness at the beginning)

You can hear more clips on their album page at Zunior. This is the place I would recommend for purchasing as well. Zunior does a great job of promoting lesser-known and independant artists and they sell their MP3 for generally cheaper prices than iTunes. You an also purchase very high quality FLAC files for about a dollar more than an lower quality purchase from Apple.

Tags: the coast, zunior, music, itunes, toronto, paul simon

We’ve all heard politicians saying that America is the world’s greatest hope. While that is certainly not anything close to truth I have also heard some Christians saying the same thing about the Church. But is it?

Tags: America, hope, church, obama