GraceWorks.ca

If you use Skype and want a Canadian phone number SkypeInCanada might be an option for you.

No 306 numbers though.

My friend Mike Murdoch shared this little video with a short reflection on the dumb things things Christians do.  I’m pretty sure this is Morning Star.

There was just something about the song that I liked. I couldn’t quite place it. As I shared it with Carol, and watched the subsequent recoiling in horror, the whole thing caught a thread in my mind. It sounded very Pink Floydish. Then the lyrics "beg, borrow and steal" came to me and I googled those lyrics and I found it.

It might not be relevant but Eclipse is usually combined with a song called Brain Damage which is found right before it in Pink Floyd’s fantastic Album, the Dark Side of the Moon.

The Wiki Gnomes wrote this

"The Dark Side of the Moon was an immediate success, topping the Billboard 200 for one week. It subsequently remained in the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. With an estimated 45 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. It has twice been remastered and re-released, and has been covered by several other acts. It spawned two singles, "Money" and "Us and Them". In addition to its commercial success, The Dark Side of the Moon is one of Pink Floyd’s most popular albums among fans and critics, and is frequently ranked as one of the greatest rock albums of all time.”

On Dec 22nd 1998 I first registered TheHeresy.com.  Back in those days I was largely dechurched exploring what it truly meant to be a Christian.  I discovered the gospel of grace which seemed so different from the performance based Christianity that had me in its grasp.  So different it seemed like might be considered heresy to those caught in performance based Christianity.  I shared my new discoveries with many of my friends.  One of them was the owner of the local Christian bookstore.  As I would walk in to his store he would greet me with “how goes the heresy these days.”  “TheHeresy” became synonymous with true life in Christ, thus the domain name.  Some people have assumed I’ve been edgy for its own sake.  That really isn’t the case, but I never much cared if the name of the blog was something of an obstacle.

For the last few years that has slowly changed.  I spent some time searching domain names this morning.  I considered

Tebay.ca
LeightonTebay.ca
NeoAnabaptist.ca
NewAnabaptist.ca
LT.organicchurch.ca
LT.SeedLife.ca
GraceWorks.ca
GraceAndPeace.ca

I finally decided on GraceWorks.ca.  It continues in the same vein that inspired the original name and it is a nice little play on words.  Theheresy.com will still work for years but it will just redirect to the new name.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie lays it on the line to a group of 200 mayors.  His message is very similar to that of Canadian Finance minister Paul Martin in 1995 and Roy Romanow, premier of my home province in 1991.

It is time to face facts and make some tough decisions.

I’m in Prince Albert, a stones throw away from Randall’s old church.  The Lutheran’s are hosting the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s annual conference.  It has been fun but P.A. just isn’t the same without Randall.

These Mennonites like to laugh a lot.  I’ve met a few old friends and been spending lots of time catching up.  Author Allan Kreider led a great session this afternoon. 

It has been fun chatting it up.

That is all.

I haven’t read A New Kind of Christianity but I’m guessing I might find myself among his critics.  I can see where people are concerned but I’m not sure why some people seem to be taking his adventuresome theology so personally.  I found my first post where I started to sense personal disconnect with Brian McLaren.  7 years ago McLaren was floating ideas like progress being the fall of human kind and the bible being one story or perhaps a library of stories we find ourselves in. 

We all have our stories.  While driving home from work with a friend we reflected on a meeting we were in together.  In this meeting we shared some sober thoughts about the church.  My friend is more traditional than I am but I connect with his desire to return to substance.  At the heart of things I think we have very similar values.  As he shared he talked about how we all reflect our stories. In such meetings I try very hard not to come across as the “house church” guy even when other people in room echo thoughts I had years ago.  Undoubtedly my opinions are shaped by my larger story and I don’t know how much I can step outside that.

Brian McLaren’s life story is different from mine.  I didn’t grow up surrounded by the peculiar brand of fundamentalism found in the United States.  Nor have I endured the kinds of unfair criticism that he has.  Undoubtedly it has a polarizing impact.  If I were hounded by a tangibly angry group of people with a particular idealogy it would make it that much harder for me to hear what they say.  McLaren’s educational background is in English, not theology.  Is it a stretch to see how he might see the bible as a library of stories?  McLaren reflects his story just as well reflect ours.

In dialogue McLaren exudes an irenic conciliatory tone.  This seems inconsistent with his penchant for planting improvised explosive theological devices (ietd) and then expressing concern about how the way people react leaves little room for dialogue.  I think some people overreact though.  I’ve created an entire website dedicated to refuting the claims of one author who teaches a particularly obnoxious theology and I never engaged in some of the tactics some bloggers have used against McLaren.

McLaren is just a man that writes books.  Books that put forth ideals and positions that colour outside the lines of the traditional interpretations of orthodox Christianity.  He has been doing this for a long time.  It isn’t hard to see the trajectory here.  Why are people so much more upset now than before? In this latest book he poked his finger in the eye of the religious establishment.  That, even more than bad theology, seems to get people upset with him.  Frank Viola did the same thing and received the same reaction. 

I believe McLaren is overreacting to the absurdities and excesses of American evangelical life.  In doing so he has swung away from an understanding of God that has empowered and enabled me to have a life giving relationship with God.  If I ever do read his book it will be with a discerning eye but I imagine I would find good things to reflect on.  In the past McLaren’s critique has been worthwhile. 

I’m reading this great little book on decentralized networks and principles.  It is probably the best book on house church networking even though it isn’t about church anything.

Evangelical denominations are facing problems.  There is a dearth of new leaders, young adults are disconnected from the church, membership is in slow decline, biblical and theological illiteracy is rampant, ministries are pulling back.  How does one address this?  The average church member cares very little about their denomination and many couldn’t tell you why one is different from another.  Many church leaders view the folks in head office as the cheerleaders for one vapid fad after another.  There is passive animosity between academics, denominational staff, church and other ministry leaders.  The small churches are in tension with the big churches.  The denomination is frustrated with the big churches who feel they don’t need anyone.  Church leadership is fragmented.

All these leaders are in the same boat that is sinking just a little bit each year.  The small churches close down and the refugees hide the decline of their bigger and healthier cousins.  Periodically denominational ministries consolidate boards and programs due to budget constraints.  Boards and committees that used to be full of capable people become desperate just to find warm bodies to full chairs.  What used to be a coherent movement is now fragmented and disconnected.

Some are attentive to the big picture.  Many of those who raising the alarm are in ministries that feel the decline more sharply than others.   Even among these folks it is easy to ignore the big problems.  It is so much easier to focus on the immediate local concern than it is to face the bigger issues.  Huge problems are paralyzing.  What can one lone ministry do to a fix problems that require in-depth cooperation from the disparate communities and leaders that make up an increasingly fragmented denomination?  That mountain looks just a little to big to climb.

It is easy to find people to talk about it.  Lots of people have opinions and pet theories.  It is much harder to find any group that will risk substantive change.