Generosity

I warned you. I am extending Autumn well into winter.

The annual giving statistics for Canada were released this week and for the ninth year in a row, our community has ranked #1 in giving. In fact we are triple the national average! There is probably a good explanation for this 'feather in our hat'. We are, on average, a wealthy community and most of us can afford to give. But what I think is the biggest factor is the that we are a christian community. By that, I mean that we have a very high ratio of churches and above average church attendance. Christians, who are following the Biblical mandate will give 10% of their income without question. Not all do, but you can imagine that even if a small percentage of them do, it will boost the averages.

This begs an important question. If this giving is in large part as a result of Biblical principles, another principle from the same Bible must be considered. The words in the 'Good Book' are clear that when we give, it will be given back, running over and in great abundance. The question then is: Do we give because we are wealthy, or are we wealthy because we give? Not that getting should influence our giving, but something for those who are 'cheaping out' to consider.   

Safety Rules

We live in an age where safety rules. Yesterday was a good case study. The young pastor in church was just starting his prayer when the fire alarms went off. He had the presence of mind to say "amen" and after that was not quite sure what to do. To every one's credit, calmness pervaded the 800 person worship centre as we watched and waited for the inevitable assurance that it was a false alarm. Moments into the uncomfortableness, another pastor came on stage with a plastic sheathed 'fire alarm protocol' document and was about to read it out to us when the music pastor came on stage, and with a sheepish explanation and a fist full of long gray wires, informed us all that it was his birthday and between services his band gave him some cupcakes with sparklers ablazing. This apparently had set off the smoke detectors and hence the alarm. Everyone gave a relieved sigh and chuckle and the preaching pastor resumed his prayer and subsequently his sermon. At the end of the sermon, the music pastor came back on stage for one more song and after the song, informed us all that the Sunday School had been evacuated and indeed, next time the alarm went 'off', we were all to calmly evacuate the building.

I thought about this later. What actually happened, was a calm, rational and intelligent response to a fire alarm in a large building that had around 1200 people in it, in all of its rooms and corners. Had there been an actual fire, somebody would have seen it and informed the ushers or the pastor and we would have, at that time, used the myriad of exits around the building to calmly exit. The fire doors in the center and both sides of the building automatically close and lock so the Sunday School department would have had no choice but to exit to the sides and rear and the worshippers would have had to exit to the sides and to the front.
But, safety rules. Because we are all assumed to be ignorant sheep, we must all exit at the first sign of trouble, false alarm or not. There is no room for interpretation in this rule, as the fire Marshall apparently informed the pastors when the fire truck arrived, with sirens blazing. I know there are two sides to this, but I side with an intelligent response as opposed to a knee jerk reaction. We have been taught to follow so many rules these days that there is no room left for questioning why the rule is there and what its purpose is. Most of these rules are put in place 1. because there is a bureaucracy there to do so, or 2. we need to be protected from our ignorant selves, or 3. there are some stupid people that need protecting but you cannot discriminate against stupid people so you make a rule to cover everybody and thus cover the stupid ones.
I guess I am a rebel because I have no patience for stupid rules. I know I am not the only one because yesterday morning there was not a single person in church who jumped up and ran out of the building. They sat there like me and used their God given intelligence.

What Did the Priest Say?

Abby Monastery in Mission

I have raised the topic of the 'Emerging Church' with many people and I get a lot of blank stares. At best, they will say that they have heard the expression but admit that they do not know what it is . If one is not a Christian, and does not attend church, then it does not have any meaning or significance and is not an issue. For those of us who are Christians and do attend church, it is an issue of major significance and will sooner or later influence our thinking and our way of understanding the gospel, if it has not already.

I certainly do not claim to be an expert on this topic but it is of enough concern to me that I have been prompted to look into it. In my previous post, I made reference to the conversation I had on this topic as a result of a CD that was loaned to me. The Catholic monk (on the CD) was describing the emerging church and indeed promoting it. There is too much information to cover in a simple blog post, but it seems to be evident that two of the pillars of the new face of Christianity are universalism and ecumenism. For the uninitiated, universalism is the idea that all religions are true, valid, and lead the seeker to God. Ecumenism is the movement to amalgamate all denominations into one unified body, in particular, protestant and Catholic. The objective of promoting these two pillars of faith is to create a heaven on earth for all, through our accomplishments as a united front.

This movement is gaining momentum and is fraught with dangers. It is cloaked in well meaning sentiments and the familiar language of 'Christian speak' and its effects are being felt world wide. My personal belief is that there will be few Christians who will not succumb to its subtle apostasy because of its lofty ideals and because of the powerful and influential people it has drawn into its leadership.

Feeling at Home

When I was a kid growing up in Saskatchewan, I did not have a church home. I attended the Lutheran church for their Daily Vacation Bible School program, but during the rest of the time, if I ever went, it was to the United Church. I had few friends who attended church and I only remember it as something we occasionally did on a Sunday. The Catholic church was in sight of our home and was the best attended in our Ukrainian community, but I do not remember ever stepping inside. When we visited grandparents, we got to my parents roots and would attend their home town Mennonite churches. Being scattered like that, in my church experience, deprived me of the great experience of having a church home. I first felt that when, at age 16, we moved to BC and started attending the Olivet Mennonite Church on Langdon Street. The people there were very friendly and I not only fit in right away, but became involved. Five years later, I left for Ocean Falls (see Ocean Falls in the 'Labels') and there attended both the Anglican and the United, but only very sporadically, with two or three old ladies and the priest (Anglican) and the pastor (United). The United Church pastor bragged that he could prepare 6 months of sermons without opening his Bible and I knew at that point that I did not belong there.
Back home, with my new family, we searched for a church home but it was not until 1986 when we first started attending Northview Community Church that we finally felt we were home. Today, many years later, we still love our church and have stood by her through many highlights and many struggles. It is home, where we are nourished, where we worship, where we fellowship, and where we serve. We look forward to our times spent there and never try to 'duck out' of church like in the old days. I cannot imagine life without being part of Northview and the many friends we have made there over the years.

Foreknowledge

Church attendance is not what it used to be. Not only in numbers, but in frequency and in reasons for going. We are very regular and I am not saying that to put a feather in our hats. I am questioning why we do that.
Why this introspection? Recently a decision was made in our church to refrain from announcing ahead of time who next week's preacher would be. We have many good preachers, but our Lead Pastor is a real gem and is very popular because of his communication skills, his Biblical knowledge, and his ability to teach, inform and at the same time challenge his listeners and at times make them very uncomfortable, but in a good way. As a result, attendance has gone up on the Sundays he is preaching. There are some people quite put out by this, but I disagree with them for a number of reasons.
How does it make the other preachers feel when very few 'show up' on their Sunday behind the pulpit? And why do people go to church in the first place? If it is only to hear a sermon by their favourite preacher, they are missing the boat. So I examined why we go to Church regularly and why it does not matter who preaches, but when our favourite shows up, it is a bonus.
As Christians, we like to get together with other Christians. Not just our friends and pew-mates, but others of similar disposition and world view.
We like to and need to worship. This happens regardless of who the preacher or who the worship leader is. God meets us every time if we have expectant hearts.
We support our church. We are not fair weather friends of our church. We support and boost our church all the time, not just when it fancies us.
We are involved. We have a duty as members of Christ's body to serve and we do. This often requires regular attendance. These are some of our favourite times spent at Church.
We love going. It is our Sunday morning thing like a coffee at Starbucks is for some people. We miss it very much when we are indisposed or on holidays and can't wait to get back. There is just something missing if we miss.
So, we do not need to know who is preaching next Sunday. We will be there regardless.

Another Coffee Season is Over

A number of years ago, Lis and I volunteered for kitchen duty in our church. At that time, we had a little 50's style diner with booths, bar stools and the front end of a '57 Chevy coming out the wall above the counter. Very cool. It was called Checker's Diner due to the checkered tile on the floor. It was a place you could come to have a cup of coffee, a goodie and some good conversation. We outgrew it in a few years and converted the church gym to a facility called Center Court where we hold banquets and other food related meetings. Every Saturday night before the early service, there is a meal served for $3. Every Sunday morning between the early and late service, we serve a continental breakfast by donation only. It is these Sunday mornings where we have taken a leadership role and assembled a great team of volunteers. Today was the last time we did this for the year because we take a break for the summer months. We have a great team and as a result, have a great time. We make and serve up to 300 cups of coffee and tea, 5 gallons of punch for the kids, countless bagels, scones, hot bowls of oatmeal, Cinnamon buns, and various kinds of toast. And then we clean up. Having a big commercial kitchen is a great help but it more about the people. We will be back for another year in the fall.
PS Now that I have taught my new apprentice, Bill, how to make the coffee, in 60 cup batches, we are finally getting compliments on the coffee. :-)

Fresh

It was confirmed tonight that our new lead pastor is Jeff Bucknam. After a two year search, the leader of the flock was found right in the stable among the rest of the sheep. But he is not an ordinary sheep. His gifts have been apparent to us all for quite some time now and by an overwhelming majority, he was affirmed as our new leader. It is a lesson of life that we often do not have to go far afield to find a treasure.

Deterioration of Autumn

There are times when we see only what we want to see. We separate the nice words, the pretty pictures, the most vibrant coulours, and tend to ignore everything else, even though it is part of the whole picture. But this makes the picture incomplete as is the above photo. I isolated the best of the Autumn colours and left the rest black and white. Nice to look at but somehow incomplete and not real. As a Christian, I see this happening in the church. New, exciting, different, and revolutionary concepts, all to make the message relevant, attractive and contemporary. But beware the black and white elements, although not as evident and attractive, still need to be seen, to complete the picture.

Country Church

Those who travel Highway #3 have seen this church many times. To drive off the main road and get a closs-up photo seems like it might be trespassing so I resorted to a telphoto lens. The church I attend is a bit larger than this one, but God's light shines on it just the same