The Noah movie...

I read in the paper this morning how Muslims and some Christians are upset about the making and showing of this new movie "Noah."  There are certain countries in the Middle East that will not allow this movie into their theaters; there are church leaders who are telling "their people" not to go and see it.  Often I wonder how the un-churched people view this; I wonder how the de-churched people look to these responses.  For un-churched people, I am sure it convinces them that these Christian people are as nuts as they believe them to be - after all; "It's just a movie!"  I am sure that for the de-churched that it is just one more reason not to re-connect with their lost faith.

Unfortunate as it is, these few people who believe that they are speaking out on behalf of Christians every where, aren't, and they wind up throwing all churches under the bus (so-to-speak).  As for me, I say; "Go and enjoy the movie - if you can."  I truly hope that people will embrace the idea that someone saw a bible story worthy enough for all people to view - even if it is their interpretation.  It is then my prayer that these people will then (at least) look up the story online (at Biblegateway for example) Gen 6:1 - 9:29 and read it for themselves (the link connects to Eugene Peterson's 'The Message' version of the flood story - it's easier to read and understand).  I hope that there are people who do go to church do this; it may be one of the few times that they open their bibles (sad to say).

Enjoy your movie... hope to see you there...

Ron

Starting Out on Your Faith Journey

I started a preaching series recently on where our journey's of faith begin. Doing this series has taken me back to my days when I began my journey (grade 11). I remember that it took me some time to get to the point where I was willing to accept that Jesus was a real person; it took longer to come to the point that this resurrection thing may have really happened (some how); it took me a bit longer to acknowledge that this Jesus resurrection thing had any meaning on my life. The reality is this; Guy Kember, my class mate and all-round-great-guy tried for a long time to "convince me and others" at the euchre table about Christianity with little to no success. But it wasn't until he said these words that started my thinking process; "Well, it doesn't matter what you think; Jesus is real and he died for you." It wasn't until the idea that this whole argument had to be approached this from a different angle (or maybe he realized this unknowingly), was he able to get me thinking about God and Jesus.

I remember going back home and secretly looking up anything I could on the historical aspect. If Jesus was real, then someone else must have written about him, too. My dad had quite a library at home and remember browsing the modest library of books and spotting one book in particular; The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ by Will Durant, Historian. Wow, someone else was writing about this Jesus Guy; he must have existed at some time. But the next question; who was he - really. And I think that is the story of Christianity that we need to return to; Who is this Jesus person? C.S. Lewis writes about this is his book "Mere Christianity." It's a great book.

I guess the whole point of this is the fact that it took me years before the saying (or that I could say); "The Bible says..." seriously. When we had discussion around the the euchre table, and Guy K. would say; "the bible says..." he might as well have quoted from a comic book - at least I would read those. This whole preaching series brought me back to some very basic fundamentals; Guy's journey was not mine; my journey is not someone else's journey. We come from very different perspectives on what we need. I think that once a Christian realizes the power of the Scriptures written over thousands of years, we want to ram it down people's throats - not realizing that we are doing more damage than good.

I want to end this with a common quote that most people know; "you don't feed a baby a T-bone steak"; you feed them something that THEY can swallow...

Many blessings to you on your journey...

Ron

I'm back...

It has been a long time since I wrote. We have a new person working in our office and I asked her to review our web pages to see how "friendly" we are, as well as identify any links that appear not to work. Well, it took her all of one second to comment about a link on the top of our web page that led to a blog that hasn't been updated in years (too many years). I've always wanted to get back to it but I kept forgetting the password since we renamed our web site. Bad excuse, I know. Anyway, here I am; I hope that I can do this weekly, now. Expressions of Hope in a Messy World. We need this. For many people in our congregation, the world is changing too fast and... in their opinion... not always for the better. They find that the world they live in is no longer to be recognized. Yet, the church is in a unique situation; it is the connection between a God who does not change (unconditional Love for us shown through Jesus's action on the cross) and a world that is in constant change. The church has to adapt;the church needs to be that connection. Bill Hybels keeps saying; "The local church is the hope of the world." And I believe that. The church has an important role to play. I have now been at St. Andrew's Nanaimo for six years; I have started my seventh year as of March 1st. The changes here over those years has been many. And there are more changes in the works. Just recently (since the summer of 2013), I have read and done a book study on "Who Stole My Church: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century" and it seems to have struck accord with a number of people. I under-estimated the kind of response that I would receive by "doing" this book study. It has been great. I recommend this book for everyone out there. We are now moving on to the next book; Deep and Wide; Creating Churches that Unchurch People Love to Attend. I am just curious where this is going to lead us. I really liked this book; I wonder if others will, too. Blessings for now...