Sharing at The Humber Embassy

On Monday evening, Feb 14, I had the privilege of joining Trevor Gingerich at The Embassy at Humber ( see posting September, 2010) to talk to their gathering. As I explained to the group, it was a lot easier to get there than the first time I went ( Oct 6, 2008) where I assumed that I would be able to find the meeting without problem just by arriving on campus and looking for its signs. Well, it was the Embassy's inaugural Monday meeting, Humber College was a whole lot bigger than I ever imagined, and the signs never materialized. Indeed, no one I asked had any idea whatsoever where I might find this meeting. When I finally stumbled across it, the meeting was over, things were being packed up, Trevor was gone and I chatted with a few students. This would be about a year before I started my present position – and it was my wedding anniversary, to boot. I had gone into serious relationship debt over a meeting I never actually got to see.. :P

Monday Night @ Embassy Humber

Back to the present. Humber is a big institution. The Embassy, through the commitment and effort of its students, has found considerable favour with the institution. They are able to meet in the commons area which allows them visibility and accessibility. At present, they are meeting right near the cafeterias and across the commons from where they met in the fall. It allows them to have a sense of relative privacy, while being open and easily accessible.


I took the opportunity to talk about “living for eternity now”. Specifically, I talked about what I have learned since 12/11, the day Dave died. Far from focusing on death, my questions revolve around:
 What does it mean to truly live the life we have been created and called to live?
How can we live meaningfully without a vision of The Bigger Picture?
What’s preventing us from Living “ All In and All Out” both of which Dave did in spades.

 Again, it was moving to see how his life and words had a way of focusing us all on what it really important. They point us to Jesus – who embodies all that is truly Real.


I must confess, though. In looking back, I realize that there was what I could only describe as a spiritual battle taking place before and after. I wasn’t as much aware of it when I was actually in the middle of it, but more so when I had a couple of days to think about it all. I take that part of the biblical cosmology seriously, with the proviso that it receives no more ( or less) than its proper due. Given all of that, I count it all privilege and joy.

It is really encouraging to see what God is doing in and through The Embassy.

Church In The Box

One of the privileges I have is working with the chaplain of Redeemer University College, Dr. Syd Hielema, as an adjunct chaplain. As he words it – he is a reformed guy with pentecostal leanings and I am a pentecostal guy with reformed leanings.

Actually, I was sort of a John the Baptist for him, forerunning as a part-time chaplain at Redeemer ,from 1997 to 2006, clearing the way for a full time chaplaincy position. Anyhoo...., he invited me to join him this year, a day per week – which helps augment my income and provides yet another avenue for me to pour into the emerging generation. This includes my own son, Jordan, who is actively involved in the life of the school. Working in both secular and Christian institutions, I recognize that there are challenges and opportunities in both, with considerable common ground.



One of the privileges of working at Redeemer is being able to work with the spiritual ‘keeners’, who see Redeemer as a means to the greater ends of being worldchangers. Like any school, students will vary in their reasons for being there, but there is a solid core of them who are there on a mission. Some of those students are involved in leading what is called “Church In The Box” ( CITB ) where, as I tell them, they are not a church but they are doing church. It is Church as a verb, if you will. Once per month around a thousand young people gather to worship, hear a speaker and be challenged in their faith.




Corey, Paul and Team...



The beauty of it is: the students pretty much do it all. They develop the themes, discuss and select the songs, lead the worship, do drama and creative arts, greet, pray, do prayer ministry, run the AV and lights, select the speaker and whatever else it takes to pull off the biggest production at Redeemer outside of convocation. They have a faculty advisor, Richard Wikkerink, and chaplaincy input and oversite, which has proven helpful for continuity and guidance.

Tag Team Scripture Reading

Anyway, last night was the February CITB, featuring a well loved professor of English at Redeemer, Dr. Deborah (Deb) Bowen. Deb, picking up the theme of “Sidekicks of The Faith” talked about a “ministry couple” namely, Aquila and Priscilla.   A & P were friends of the apostle Paul used strategically by God in the propagation of the gospel. In a humble, personal fashion she described current examples of key people who had modeled 'gospel partnerships' and who had made an impact on the life of both her and her husband, Dr. John Bowen.

Dr. Bowen Presents:

I love that worship team. The leader, Corey, has both skill and presence. I want to find out sometime what it is that made him into what he is. Yet the cool thing is that he does not dominate. Like a great quarterback, he distributes the ball. It’s a great combination. Anyway, kudos to the entire CITB team for another job well done.

Come Be The Fire....

We NEED to be There....

Sunago @ UVic

I had to write a 200 word piece for our updated Mission Canada publication, SUPPOSE that we will put out in the spring.  As you can imagine, it is difficult to stuff " a quart into a pint bottle", but here is what I submitted this morning, before the editors get their hands on it....... It came in just under the limit.


We  NEED  to be there.

• When their minds are opened to engage the broader world. When they lay down a foundation for the rest of their lives.

• When they ask big questions. …What really matters? How can we know? Why should we care?

• When their lives are in flux.. engaging questions about their future

• When they are looking for friendships, community, purpose, value, identity, meaning, a bigger picture.

• When faith is attacked, undermined or negated.

• When they dream big dreams… and make big choices.

• When, whether they realize it, they are looking for God

• When they have the potential of making a difference for eternity in the lives of hundreds of their peers

We ARE there….

Campus Mission Canada is on dozens of Canadian campuses, led by God to develop Spirit filled communities that challenge both the mind and the spirit.

......Communities that witness to the power of Christ in every corner of our broken world.

.....Ones that see the challenge and the potential of the university and recognize its critical role in shaping our culture.

We WILL BE there…

We are reaching onto new campuses each year. Join us. There is so much yet to be done!

Ian Rennie and Jamie Smith : Perspectives on pentecostalism

Back in the day, when I was at Regent College in Vancouver, I was privileged to study "History of Christianity" under Dr. Ian Rennie. Dr. Rennie was a brilliant and personable pastor/scholar with a deep commitment to the entire Church and to his Presbyterian heritage. He left Regent College and had moved to Ontario and had since become Dean of Tyndale Seminary in Toronto.

Dr. Ian Rennie

I say that to say this: He wrote a letter to a friend ,which was later published, that resonated with what I knew of the man. I provide the link below. Speaking as someone who had been birthed into the Kingdom by God's power and who struggled to integrate this with "the academy" I found his words both helpful and challenging.

Specifically, this article is about Pentecostalism...... by a Presbyterian.

Dr. Ian Rennie on Pentecostalism

Further, I would like to commend a book to you by James K.A. Smith ,   Associate Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College and (among his many hats) the executive director of the Society of Christian Philosophers. It is entitled “Thinking In Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy”. There are a variety of reasons I would recommend this to people on the inside and outside of the Pentecostal/charismatic stream of Christianity. For the record, while being a renowned neo-calvinist , Smith also defines himself as a small p “pentecostal” which means that, in light of the breadth of our movement,  he sees himself connected to this stream of spirituality without being having to be defined as such in any denominational manner.

From the introduction onward, I resonated with so many aspects of this book that I don’t know where to begin.  He not only provides a robust apologetic for pentecostal spirituality ( although that is not his goal) but the philosophical implications for working from pentecostal  presuppositions ( which he roundly affirms). In other words, he was determined to break fresh ground into areas where pentecostals have things to say that need to be heard by the broader Christian community. In fact, he makes a powerful case that the broader Christian community is empoverished by not bringing pentecostals to the table.

In doing so, he has described his book as a “Manifesto”. Indeed, this is but one volume of a series of pentecostal manifestos he plays a significant role in editing. It unsettles and clears the ground in order to open up new areas of dialogue. Towards this end, it succeeds admirably.

I work in an adjunct capacity at Redeemer University College, where there is a strong Reformed foundation and emphasis. I very much appreciate its strength in its broad, all encompassing vision for redemption and education. I see much in their approach to academics to admire and appreciate. Yet, I can see the invaluable ( although often unrecognized ) contribution of pentecostal spirituality to the school. Indeed, the chaplain, Dr. Syd Hielema is very aware that the spiritual leadership provided by pentecostal students is all out of proportion to their numbers. I can see the impact of our movement in everything from the 24/7 prayer vigils to the "Hot Spot" worship events and calls to corporate fasting and respentance.  As the 'pentecostal guy' on staff, it is very apparent to me that everyone is impoverished if we are excluded or if we simply allow others to misunderstand or define us. This is exactly Smith’s point.

James K.A.Smith

While he may lose the reader at certain points ( he has a chapter on “a Pentecostal Contribution to a Philosophy of Language” that I guarantee will be slow reading ), he makes for fascinating reading. Let me just hint at one of his points:. When he describes characteristics of authentic pentecostal spirituality and worldview, he writes “ that is why I think Pentecost is really about radical openness to God – especially an openness to a God who exceeds our horizons of expectation and comes unexpectedly ( p. 34)“ . While he is not unaware of controversy, he is adamant that our thinking be freed up from the implicit Enlightenment naturalism that has rigidly controlled our theological categories, and that we allow for “openness and surprise”. Indeed!

Why do I include this: Well, because I really do believe that there is a Kingdom opportunity,here. There is an opportunity to learn from the broader body of Christ and an opportunity to share that which is valuable in our heritage without feeling we need to be apologetic for doing so. There can be a mutually beneficial "cross-pollination" that will benefit the body of Christ as we engage a culture in the midst of seismic flux. The fact is: it is already happening. However, I believe we need to be more intentional about it. We are of the greatest blessing to the Body of Christ when we are what God has called our movement to be....

As we begin a missional movement on our campuses, we want to draw from the wealth of our own spritual heritage, rather than downplay it for the sake of conformity. We need to be very careful not to throw the proverbial baby out with the proverbial bathwater......

 

Thoughts from Chapel Tuesday morning

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana,

I was in chapel this morning at HQ, where James Craig gave us an enlightening overview of a biblical theology of land, and how it applied to the history and legacy of his hometown of  Mississauga ( where our HQ is situated) as well as to the Mississauga Tribe who previously owned this land and had it wrested from by through force and deception.

The Mississaugas were a deeply spiritual people who actually converted en masse ( without exception) in the 1820’s to Christianity under the preaching of Peter Jones, a young convert of an English father and Mississauga mother, who would one day become their chief. The phenomena accompanying his preaching – the manifestations if you will – were remarkably similar to those of another move of the Spirit, in Mississauga, known as The Toronto Blessing ( with its epicentre in the controversial Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship). The incontestable fruit of this move of God in the life of the Mississaugas continues to this day.

Peter Jones  ( 1802 - 1856 )

Anyway, let me digress,  I have long considered myself post-denominational. Educated in interdenominational schools and working on what could be considered as the fringes as a church planter and campus guy, I have appreciated my denom but found my spiritual connections and identity well beyond its borders. However, I have to say that for all of its human and cultural warts, I am growing to appreciate the PAOC now more than ever. I love its diversity and the quality of the people I get to work with. I enjoy watching our leaders like Dave Wells, David Hazzard, Murray Cornelius and George Werner in action. As I tell people, “I work in 'the Vatican', and it is basically Dave, David, Murray and George in the corner offices”. Actually, I could name other names as well. They are good at what they do and leaders for the times.


That brings me to James Craig. I love the fact that he combines rigorous historical analysis, biblical theology and a deep hunger for the moving of the Holy Spirit. I love the fact that we have guys like that. I love the desire to connect the past with the present and the future – as does scripture. Last week, Murray Cornelius, our Overseas Missions Boss ( and fellow Regent College alumnus) challenged us to never lose sight of the Greater Hunger. The emerging generation has a righteous passion for Justice and social action. So it should. We are actively involved in such initiatives all around the world. However, as Murray rightly points out, we will lose our way if we ever replace feeding the “ greater hunger” with feeding the “lesser hunger”. It can never be a case of "either/or". In light of the scriptures and in light of  the history of missions, he was absolutely right.