McLaren at Richview...

Just got back from listening to Brian McLaren at Richview Baptist Church. It was an interesting time. There were about 60 or so there by my guestimate, and at least a dozen or so were not "pro-emergent." Darryl Dash had a the auditorium at Richview set up quite nicely with tables and chairs in small groupings and (sorry Darryl!) the token Emergent candles! :-)
Brian spoke of his recent travels then fielded some questions. I don't want to address those directly, but will say that he is a very articulate speaker... the gift of the gab, as they say.
I was quite nervous going to this meeting since I am to present the paper on emergent on Monday morning! Sunday being a rather busy day for me, that didn't allow a lot of re-write time, but this meeting did nothing but confirm what I have written in my own mind.
I met Nathan Colquhoun (one of the very pleasant organizers of the Evolving Church conference held at Tyndale today). We hope to see each other again on Monday.
Challies, the Cowboy, the Ruminator, and Gym were all sitting nearby... I will be interested to read their comments in the next few days.
But, the real joy of this night is the thought of preaching Romans 12:2 tomorrow!!! What a joy to sit under the Word! I should get to bed!

Is God in Control of Sin and Evil?

BLOG and MABLOG

Douglas Wilson tackles this question succinctly. Obviously, it is not an entire treatise on the whole issue of theodicy, but it does point to some helpful Scriptures if you are thinking through this issue.

HT: Justin Taylor

Back in Blogville

Blogger was dead for me for the last couple of days - unable to post anything.

It gave me a little time to work on a new project... you will get to see it next week, Lord willing.

Just thought I would mention the fact that I am still alive! And hey, even Challies tanked for a while this week!

By the by, don't forget to join us on Monday for a great time of fellowship at this!

Emergent Weekend

I finished the first draft of my paper on Emergent last night. It was good to get it done and now have some time to refine it and think through the issues more fully. Writing is an excellent exercise - it forces you to hatch thoughts that have been incubating for a while. Some of them aren't nearly as amazing on paper as they seem in your brain! You also make some surprising discoveries along the way.


I invited Brian McLaren to join us on Monday once it dawned on me that the date change for SGPF/FRPS would coincide with his trip here to Toronto. Sadly, his flight is leaving Sunday night, so he won't be able to make it. It helped in writing the paper to think that Brian might be at its reading - there is always a temptation to overstate a case and misrepresent an author (it is quite easy to do actually). I think writing with the knowledge that this author might be there helped to keep things honest. (And no, I am not going to go back and change things now that I know he is not coming!)


Please do note the date change: Meeting is at 10AM on Monday, April 10, 2006. [There is NO meeting on April 17!]


Location: Thistletown Baptist Church, Kipling Avenue, Toronto, [@ 2534 Kipling Ave. (Just north of Finch Ave. and Kipling Ave.)

Cost: Quite free and all are welcome.

Here is a teaser from the paper:

One of the skills of an excellent physician is the ability to quickly and accurately diagnose the illness. If EC has one skill, it is certainly this (with several caveats). If EC is nothing else, it is a reaction to sham Christianity and false spirituality. The examples of this are numerous, especially in McLaren. So, he can easily draw attention to artificial and schmaltzy church music; inattentive hearers of the Word that leave their pews to go back to living like the world; inauthentic Christian communities that breed fake and even destructive relationships; the cocooning of Christians into non-evangelistic lumps of selfishness; the false assumption that “Christian” means white-collar, suburb-dwelling Republican; and a revolting contentedness with surface answers to life’s most genuine and difficult questions.

John Murray in Canada

John Murray in Canada - Cowboyology

Clint has a great post here. You can read the comments section for my connection to this!

WestJet Wins Best Corporate April Fool's Joke

WestJet Asks Guests to Assist in Realizing Fuel Efficiencies

WestJet announced today that it will be launching a new program where guests can assist the airline in realizing fuel efficiencies. “Our Blended Winglet Technology has allowed us to reap the benefits of improved fuel efficiency,” said Richard Bartrem, WestJet’s Director Brand and Communications. “Knowing this, we commissioned a number of studies to determine how this principle could be applied inside the aircraft with our guests. The results were conclusively positive; the combination of specific hand and arm positions of our guests has a direct impact on our fuel efficiency.”

“Beginning today, we ask that every guest aboard a WestJet aircraft assume the inflight winglet position upon takeoff,” says Bartrem. “This involves straightening the arms at a ninety-degree angle to the side of the body, holding the fingers together, and positioning the hand at a ninety-degree angle upward. For more information, visit westjet.com and click on the ‘Blended Winglets’ banner.” The airline is confident the increased roominess of their Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft will ensure all guests are able to fully participate in this cost-saving measure.

Emergent What?

The date for a paper I am presenting on The Emergent Church has been changed to Monday, April 10th. Same time and place (10AM at Thistletown Baptist).

It would be great to have a mixed crowd there - the discussion would be excellent.

I will mention this a couple of other times, but just wanted to note the date change.

I am aiming to make the paper an introduction of sorts, as well as tracing recent developments. Hopefully this will make the event helpful to the one who is completely ignorant of Emergent and the one who is following things closely.