Some interesting entertainment

2 weeks ago the youth did a video. Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-uyRwiFcBA

The Duracell of Mission

This Sunday we will be looking at Pentecost. What’s cool is that it is actually Pentecost Sunday. See, I wish I had really planned it that way. We’re looking at Acts in our current series “Awakening up” and well with Mothers day sneaking in (I mean I had T’s gift and day events planned for months but…) well and the May long it messed up my schedule (yes you can stop the snickering, I “mostly” have one). So I added a message about the ascension last week, which happened to be Ascensions Sunday. (If I had been raised in a high church I would have this entire church calendar down, rather it was my non-church going neighbor that told me of it.) So surprise surprise!! Without knowing it we are following a bit of the church calendar Ascension Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. I feel that maybe I already had my lesson on the Holy Spirit through all this.
Anyway, this week is about being powered for mission. What’s cool is Pentecost follows the pattern throughout scripture where when man encounters a brush with God, when sacred space is made known and experienced, it is followed by mission. Form Isaiah to those touched by Jesus to Paul we see peoples natural response to an experience with God is transformation and mission. We naturally have to do and tell!! The Day of Pentecost though signifies a reworking of the world structures where God is now constantly dwelling within his people, which in fact should lead to a constant and continuous life of transformation and mission. I mean God did something new in the world on the day of Pentecost, it is the fulfillment of “God will reside with man,” “I will write the law on their hearts,” “I will be their God and they will be my people”. No longer will God seem to dwell in temples of stone, but there will be a union between us! So, where is the constant, the daily transformation and mission? Well.., I don’t think God has changed anything or moved anywhere. So I guess that leaves…well… Oh ya!
Faith and passion for God doesn’t come from just “wanting” in the cognitive Max Headroom like oh I am getting old). It’s not this Hellenistic idea of faith pistisa “knowledge about”, but the Hebrew emunah “active trust” or “faithfulness”. It’s not the “I meant too…” or “I wish I could…” both of which I am the king of, but passion comes from wanting with our heart that involves sacrifice and commitment (“Christ’s Passion” isn’t Dan Browns ideas on Jesus’ valentines cards to Mary M, no it was something quite different). Daily experiences with God resulting in transformation and mission it comes from the willingness to engage with Him, to open your life up to more sacred space. It involves discipline and commitment, but it is a discipline and commitment to live, to create a Rhythm of Life, a pattern of sustaining and growing as you would with eating, breathing, sleeping. Discipline that becomes you, in order to live. What would our lives look like if we wanted the Holy Spirits power bad enough we were willing to change our lifestyle in order to make room for it? Practice the Disciplines, set up a Rhythm of life (a rhythm for life)! With Him, listen more, breath more, act more, love more. Daily live the Pentecost!

Equipping for the Star Trek Convention

I need to say congrats to my buddy Nick for Gadjiating Saturday from the “Hill” in Cochrane. He now joins the ranks of hundreds others who are wandering around wondering what to do with our acute ability to understand Biblical Hebrew. (Impressing people at parties cuz it sounds like Klingon, Putting it on a piece of Art, or clearing your throat are great suggestions). There has been a lot of discussion as of late in regards to the future of Christian education and seminaries, which I think is under continual change. One of the current criticisms is that it does a great job of preparing a person for church life, and not much else. And to a great extent I would have to agree. In my experience there was this preparation for being able to navigate leading all of the standard church activities. This is good especially when we see the Sunday service as the bottom line in church activities…except that is not. I know it is so hard to get our minds off of it being the base line of everything, I mean what is the second question asked after someone says they attend a particular church?... How many attend…? I do it too! It’s hard to break, a missional church however sees community transformation as the bottom line. “Ya but we have no control over that…” Well…I guess your right to some extent but, and I know it kind of sucks, but the reality is if people are failing all around us we are failing. I know there is personal responsibility etc, but we need to take our mission a little more seriously and take responsibility for the people we have been put in our circles of influence as a gift from God. Anyway, back to the original discussion, to be fair I know a lot of post graduate schools are rethinking things and I think a lot has changed even since I went (I feel like I’m 100 “back in my day”). And I am grateful for my grad studies because they truly equipped me to read and think critically, they gave me the skills to be a continual learner as well as a lot of deeper insight into a variety of fields, right now I can’t imagine myself not having that experience, but preparing me for community transformation… I don’t necessarily see a lot of it in my education. So when I bring that forward into BCCC how are we equipping people, are we helping people succeed in mission? Now hear me I think studying the Word is vital and continually learning is so important… (I know I just contradicted myself, so much for the critical thinking), but I think we are heavy on theory and abstract based education and light on the down and dirty experiential learning, lets not just talk about feeding the poor lets go do it. I love what Melissa is doing with the youth right now. She continually has Bible teaching times etc., but every month there is a lesson in service not out of a book, but in action. The kingdom of God is not lived out by having an abundance of information, (servant burry and protect that talent!) but by living it out (invest it).