My Peculiar Aristocratic Title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: His Eminence the Very Lord Kevin the Dulcet of Gallop Hophill Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

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Sermon: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Today, I’m supposed to preach about Christian unity. To be honest, I haven’t a clue where to begin. I haven’t had a whole of confidence over the whole Christian unity thing over the last little while. To me, it too often seems to be one sided. Only voice speaks, only one interpretation of the gospel is expressed. It seemed that there was only one way to “do” Christian Unity.

But it wasn’t always that way.

When I was in Halifax and was Conference Dean, I was invited to go to all sorts of inter-church, inter-faith, and ecumenical gatherings as the token Lutheran. Some gatherings were wonderful. I had the opportunity to connect with some brilliant, compassionate, and wise church leaders, folks who shepherded me as I took on a greater leadership role within my faith community.

Other gatherings were not so great. From one group of church leaders, I was made fun of for believing certain core doctrines, or scorned for not having the same pastoral priorities as them. And the message was clear: if I wanted to partner with them, if we to do common mission activities, then I and my denomination had better shape up.

Maybe the...(whole thing here)

Another Funeral

Had another funeral today. There are some funerals that are tragic beyond measure, other times you can’t tell if we should grieve the loss or celebrate the life. Today’s was one of those. M was one of our many 90-something-year-0lds who eyes still flicker with wisdom and strength, even while their bodies are starting to shut down.

One thing you could say about M is that she was a survivor. I don’t know how many times she wrestled death to ground and won. Since I’ve been here in Lethbridge, we thought we’d lost her more than a few times and each time she bounced back. She wasn’t going gently into that good night. If death was going to take her, it would have to be while she was sleeping.

I think she gripped on to life with both hands because she worked so hard for everything she had and wasn’t going to let it be taken away from her.

She died the way we all hope to. She went to sleep and didn’t wake up the next morning. So, maybe it wasn’t death sneaking up, taking her while she wasn’t looking. Maybe her death was God’s final gift to her, after having to work so hard for everything she had. God let her just slip away. Gently. She closed her eyes in death and opened them again in the presence of God, where there is no more pain, no more tears, and no more sorrow.

Maybe that’s the message that God has for each of us, that faith is a gift. That God wants to be a sanctuary for us, a resting place for life’s long journey. That our calloused hands and muddy boots may make us strong, God’s gentle hand of salvation reaches out to us, and guides us home.

That is certainly true for M. May it be true for us as well.

Peregrinations of a Pop Culture Princess

Erin Phillips, chaplain here at both the U of L, and Lethbridge Community College has started a blog! Check it out. Here's a snapshot:

In Praise of Theology

Growing up we spent our summers with the Isaac family and Phil Isaac, or Uncle Phil as my sister and I called him, spent hours teaching us to appreciate the natural realm. He would teach us how to identify plants, and interpret tracks. He taught us how to recognize developing weather patterns and how to make clam chowder from the clams we discovered at our favourite beach. When a spring storm pealed back a layer of limestone rock Uncle Phil identified the various fossils in the rock and told us that we were the first eyes to see these creatures as they had no eyes. For a kid who had grown up on stories of people living off the land Uncle Phil was the perfect adult. He was also the Associate Dean of Science at the University of Manitoba and a plant physiologist. When I went to university I wanted to be like him, combining the academic study of nature with the naturalist’s love of the outdoors.

Then I discovered theology. In my first year at the University of Winnipeg I took Introduction to the Bible with Carl Ridd. I still remember the paper I wrote on the Abrahamic covenant for Carl’s class. It was due at the beginning of December and I handed it in at the beginning of March. For months I had been immersed in a hundred years of interpretation of the book of Genesis. I had learned about source criticism and textual manuscripts and Biblical archaeology. It was fascinating to follow debates about how to interpret a particular verse and to see them in the bigger context of debates over how to approach Genesis. Needless to say, my science courses suffered and the following year I returned to university as a religious studies major.

In my second year I took “Western Thought in the Making: Christian Bases” from Ken Hamilton. My first paper was on...(read the whole thing here)

Book Review: A Heretic's Guide to Eternity

After finishing the book I kept asking myself the age old questions: at what point do we incarnate Christianity's host culture, and at what point do we challenge it to retain Christian distinctiveness?

My book review is here.

Sermon: Epiphany 2 - Year C

I know some folks don’t like this story because they’re suspicious of the miracle part of Jesus’ ministry. They say it’s a fanciful diversion from the weightier issues of justice and compassion. Plus, they can’t wrap their scientific heads around things that can’t be explained rationally.

Others don’t like this story because they’re so cautious and restrained. If Jesus can change water into wine, what else can Jesus do? If Jesus is still doing what the bible says he did, then what does that mean for my comfortable, cautious existence? Might Jesus ask us to look more broadly at what God wants us to do as a church family?

I don’t know about you, but that’s what scares me about this passage. What scares me is that God thinks I can do more than I think I can do. God thinks I’m more gifted that I believe I really am. God thinks that we, as God’s people, can be more faithful, compassionate, and loving, that we believe is possible. God thinks we are limited only by God’s power...(read the whole thing here)

A Hopeful New Year

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling really hopeful about the New Year. In December I was felt weighed down by something, but am not entirely sure what it was. One member of the church suggested it was grief. After all, last year at that time I had three funerals. Two of which were of well-loved members. Those things take a toll.

But when I woke up on January 1, the heaviness was gone. I started planning for this coming year and began to feel optimistic about my life, the church, the world – everything.

I’m not sure if it’s wishful thinking, or a sharpened realization of what God is doing in the world, but I feel like 2007 is going to be a watershed year in my life.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

How Lutheran Are You?

You are 96% Lutheran! This is most certainly true.

Nicely done! Martin would be proud of you! You may or may not have room for growth in understanding Lutheran terminology and culture. Good thing Salvation is by Grace and not by merit. We can add nothing to what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. But it never hurts to learn a little more about the church on earth. Thanks for taking the quiz!

How Lutheran Are You?
Create a Quiz

Thanks to Tom and his paltry 87%.

The first concert I ever went to

Here's a total nostalgia trip my brother found. Bowie was the same age I am now when he played this concert. Today he's turning sixty. Boy, I feel old....

CCM?

Dan Kimball says he can’t listen to most Christian music. If by “Christian music” he means “contemporary Christian music” then I must confess I’m a compatriot.

Most CCM makes me gag. Part of it is because I’m a music snob. I prefer Haydn to Hillsong. Rachmaninov to Matt Redman.

Also, Kimball hits on something here:

…all the different Christian pop songs seem to basically have the same lyrics over and over and over again. Mostly about Jesus dying on the cross. I fully and absolutely believe the substitutionary atonement is at the heart of the gospel. But the Bible is filled with so many things, not just all verses on the atonement. I wish there were more lyrics in songs that sang about other things about Jesus and the Kingdom and following Him.

While I DON’T believe that the substitutionary atonement is the heart of the gospel (substitutionary atonement is just ONE way of talking about how Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us salvation, but that’s a whole other shrimp to boil). Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God arriving among them, not his own death and resurrection as good news. That was Paul.

Also, like Kimball, I find the lyrics waaaaayyy too shallow. I know some folks are going to jump on the “some people need a simple message to understand the gospel” truck. But there’s a difference between being simple and simplistic. These love songs to Jesus leave out the cost of following him.

Where I find God in music, it’s usually in folks like Arvo Part, Canadian composer Christos Hatzis, and many other little known composers who work their fingers to the bone to create an experience of their faith that honours the depth of our tradition.

That’s just where I am.

UPDATE: The Wittenburg Door makes my point for me:

For many years, one of the most popular party games in the U.S. has been Mad Libs, a fast-paced exercise where participants must insert common words into a series of pre-set phrases. Have you ever wished there was a Christian version of Mad Libs for your next religious get together? Now there is! Here's a sample:

How many songs can you write?

O (Title) of my (Noun)
(Title), when I (Verb) your (Noun)
Something in my (Body Part) just (Verb)
And I can't (Verb) anymore
When I'm in the (Noun)
I know your (Body Part/Noun) (Verb) me
And I know I'm gonna (Blank) (Title) (Period of Time)

(Title), You're so (Adjective)
(Title), You're so (Adjective)
(Title), You're more (Adjective) than anything I've ever (Verb) before
And I'm gonna (Verb) You (Period of Time)
I'm gonna (Verb) You (Period of Time)
Because you're (Adjective), you're so (Adjective)
I wish I had the words to say

That I'm (Reaction) by Your (Divine Attribute)
I'm (Reaction) by Your (Divine Attribute)
I can't (Verb) that You would (Verb) for (Title)
And even if the (Noun) can't (Verb)
And I can't (Verb) Your (Body Part)
I'll still (Verb) You with all my (Body Part/Noun) for (Period of Time)
(Verb) with all my (Body Part/Noun) for (Period of Time)....

Verbs

see, hear, feel, touch, taste, realize, acknowledge, praise, comfort, run, hold, forgive, live, accept, die, shout, sing, dance, tell, bleed, cry, call, stand, believe, trust, say, take, abandon, forsake, wash, live, dwell, find, rejoice, proclaim, walk, clothe, smile, tremble

Body Parts

hands, feet, face, eyes, heart, spirit, lips, ears, wounds, tongue

Nouns

wind, nails, cross, hill, mountain, valley, stream, sea, river, lightning, tree, stone, grass, bird, field, child, shelter, throne, angels, world, storm, thunder, tears, temple, sake, might, power, above, deaf, dumb, shadow, presence, sins, grief

Titles

I, You, Your, His, Lord, God, we, Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, Lamb, Lion, King, Shepherd, Keeper, Alpha, Omega, Beginning, End

Period of Time

always, now, forever, tonight, tomorrow, yesterday, never, thousand

Adjectives

amazing, wonderful, bigger, mighty, righteous, holy, clean, powerful, loving, merciful, full of grace, kind, caring, good, worthy, just, incredible, small, weak, alone, tired, angry, peaceful

via Scott.

Last Day of Christmas - a prayer

As Christmas comes to a close, I offer this prayer:

O God of all creation, we thank you for this night. The stars call to the northern lights, and the winter moon whispers to the snow-filled clouds. All the world is hushed awaiting the birth of peace and joy and salvation. As the great white bear traverses arctic expanses, cross the interstellar reaches to touch all that lives; as the blue jay calls from frost covered branch, call out your message of liberation and of deep community; as the beluga spouts warm breath into the perishing cold of winter night, breathe your Spirit into this place and these hearts, that Christ might be glorified in our worship and in our lives. Amen.

Thanks to Alan C for emailing this to me.

Spectator Sport or Voyeurism?

I watched the Saddam execution video yesterday on YouTube. Then I had a shower.

Other than my utter moral repugnance toward capital punishment, the fact that the execution was on the internet and people were discussing it as if it were just another home movie crossed the line from mishandled justice to rank voyeurism.

And I stand as guilty as anyone. No one forced me to click on it. No one glued me to a chair and forced my eyelids open a la Clockwork Orange.

It was my morbid fascination with death.

But given the fact that most people I know have seen the video, I know I’m not alone.

Death is now a spectator sport.

Sad.