Church

Hockey strike retrospective

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Here are snatches of a piece I wrote April 6, 2005.  It’s probably overstated (that’s an understatement!).

Canada, revival and history..

The conversation at the table turned to the local hockey team and how well attended the games were. . . better attended than at any time in their history. With the professionals stuck in naval-gazing, worried about larger salaries and generally lacking any concern for the game itself. . . the amateurs were finding their place in the sun. And hockey (the real game) and ordinary people, were the beneficiaries.

The NHL season was finally cancelled in February of this year.

But who cared? We were tired of the wrangling, tired of the overgrown sports egos who cared only for the almighty dollar. This is the way institutions go – in the end, they forget the purpose for which they were founded, the passion for the game. They become focused on their own survival.

Sound familiar? Large churches all over the country require huge incomes to maintain their buildings and programs, while Lazarus lies at the door. We have always been quick to spend money on ourselves, slow to spend it on those Jesus cares about. Ministry has been about success, large budgets, well trained ministers and an impressive theatre.

But these paradigms aren’t playing so well anymore.

To follow the analogy – it’s all about the game (read “church”). What are we willing to give for the survival of the game? What are we really passionate about?

The game won’t survive because the professionals want it to survive.. it will survive when ordinary people grasp a vision for something larger and more transcendent. And the game will survive even when the coliseums are empty – in fact, the game will be stronger than ever.

If the church is to experience a true revival in Canada, it won’t happen because church leaders want it to happen. It won’t be generated by revival crusades and big name preachers. It won’t be helped by more books and seminars. It won’t have anything to do with large buildings.

Revival won’t come from the top down this time around, because then it will only last as long as charismatic leaders continue to hype it along. And then it wouldn’t be real revival anyway.

No, if Canada is going to experience revival it will come because we rediscover our love for God and His kingdom. It will come because we start to spend our money on the needs we see around us in real time. It will come because we cry out to the Lord with His compassion for His mercy on the world. It will come because we care more about His glory than our own success. It will come in spite of the professionals and the fallen institution because the Lord of History invests His authority in amateurs.

The SPLAT team

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All stages of spiritual growth have their potholes. 

I just want to be prepared for them before they appear! 

Maybe we need a Spiritual Pothole Loss Apprehension Team (SPLAT)!  They would go around making sure they inform us of upcoming potholes.  The team would have Prophets, Apostles, Leaders and Spiritual directors (PALS) to help us out.  Decision Enhancement Nobles Of Magnitudinally Immense Nobility And Totally Intense Organizational Nature (DENOMINATION) would oversee the project.

Anything else we need to add???

Contemplating Contemplation

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In the 1970’s Richard Foster’s Celebration Of Discipline was all the rage in Christian Education circles – especially at the undergraduate level. 

This book was a first for many evangelicals – an attempt to expose people to spiritual disciplines.  At the time, many critics called this type of approach a “works” salvation –  “Do all these things and you will come to know God.”  They saw the emphasis was on the doing – and not much on God’s part – his grace – in all this.  Too bad many of the critics did not read Foster’s book well.  For an even better explanation of the relation of spiritual disciplines to salvation by grace, a more recent tome called “The Spirit of the Disciplines” by Dallas Willard is open for examination.

Tucked in this text was an approach to prayer and spirituality that was “contemplative”.  I could picutre myself like the statue of the thinker, sitting with elbow on knee and head propped on our hand.  Totally engrossed in the thinking process, trying to call up something out of the nothingness in my head!

“You’re opening yourself to the devil!”  was the cry of the critics.  “If you empty yourselves, what fills the space.” 

A very valid criticism.  For years I have sought to fill my mind with the mind of Christ by reading scripture.  By seeking to understand the scriptures.  By asking others about the Scriptures.  By seeking for the Holy Spirit to interpret and apply the scriptures. 

Now, when I come to the question of contemplative prayer and spirituality, I do not fear an empty mind.  I fear more that I will have decided beforehand an answer to a pryaer request, or what God should be talking to me about.  I fear that I will become self-absorbed in prayer and not be open to a “still, small voice”.

Day Off

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Slow to rise!

Off to the back yard to pick up leaves.  Here, we compost and recycle as much as possible.  So in the bottom of the leaf bag is broccoli – a week past good – gently resting on left over lettuce leaves and marinated in a sweet perfume of decay.  My stomach is crying for . . .

An afternoon nap and then a phone call to invite people to a Sunday Thanksgiving dinner.  We’ll surround our table with around 10 people.  Sunday is also our anniversary.  29 years — and many more to come, God willing!

Life is good!