It's the Easter season and Christians are left with an important question: what makes resurrection—this defeat of death--foundational to our faith?
1 Corinthians 15:12
I am willing to argue that without resurrection we have nothing. If there was on central tenant to uphold resurrection would be it and everything could literally fade away. You can even eliminate the cross because if resurrection fails the cross is pointless.
Without there is no hope not just for Christianity, but the entirety of humanity. Here's why. Continue reading »
Much like the last installment on spirituality this one took a bit longer to put together because personally I found myself watching some significant issues of relationship unravel.
When Sydney Crosby scored THE gold medal game winning goal (from a Jarome Iginla pass no less) the entire country went beserk.
What does this have to do with relationships? 80% of the country was jumping up and down together; perhaps one of the top 10 defining moments in Canadian culture. However, it was what happened before the game that was interesting. Continue reading »
Today is Lent, it marks the start of a 40 day countdown to Easter (not including the Sundays). Some Christian traditions pay more attention to this day than other. Some closely follow a traditional calendar of celebration.
Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans tend to follow seasons and celebrations more closely than their low church brothers and sisters, including the ever popular evangelicals. In fact, what you observe is the churches who try the hardest to be relevant to society around them, tend to ignore church seasons and festivals unless they are major ones like Easter and Christmas. Continue reading »
I wrote about the first two which were: the urge for justice, and then the appreciation of beauty and culture. This edition will explore the issue of spirituality.
Admittedly, I took the hiatus from completing this series because I myself couldn't articulate coherently the aspects of spirituality. Sure, I could do it theologically, and I could even go on about my experience, but I felt there was something missing from my explanation that would be necessary.
Much more has been written on spirituality than what's included in this article, but even now sometimes 'spirituality' exceeds definition. And that's just the thing with spirituality: you know there's something there but you can't quite put your finger on it. Continue reading »
There was a time when you could build a church building, throw out a few flyers, and swing open your doors to waiting patrons congregants and poof--you had a church.
This 'cathedral' model of church also implicitly and explicitly carries a certain baggage that I don't find very congruent to how churches operated in the first two centuries.
For example, you sit and face the front and quietly listen to what's being propagated to you, thus there is limited participation. It also establishes an 'us them' mentality: you are the congregation, you are over in the pews; we are the clergy, we stand by the altar. Your job is to stay and pay, our job is to pray and preach. Continue reading »
January 6th was Epiphany. Most people don't have any connection to the day but the answer to some of life's biggest questions are rooted in what it commemorates. That sounds pretty significant so why don't more people know about it? Well firstly, it's a part of the church calendar, so not your typical Hallmark event. Secondly, if you don't follow any liturgical traditions then you've probably overlooked Epiphany.
This wasn't the case in the early church where two major feasts were commemorated. The first was obviously Easter. The second wasn't Christmas--it was Epiphany. Continue reading »
December marks a change in the Christian calender from ordinary time to Advent--a time of expectations and waiting. It's a moment where we can remind ourselves of the good news of Christ's arrival into the world, and a time to permit this announcement to re-order our lives and communities.
...On one hand while there is an expectation for the culmination of biblical prophesies and promises, at the same time there’s a raw humanity to it all: a teenage girl is expecting – morning sickness, cramps, unreasonable cravings. Her much older fiancee is trying to figure out ways to get rid of her and save face. Within all of this mess an expectation emerges that points to a renewed hope for the world. As Mary and Joseph sneak into Bethlehem under the stars, there Jesus smuggles himself into humanity...
On the other hand Advent gives us a reason to stop and wait, pushing away the stress of the holiday season to recapture the images of the first nativity scene.
So why is Advent important and what does it have to do with hope? Continue reading »
I was reading a blog post from a Canadian in BC on his observations regarding the close of modernity in our Canadian culture. He was lamenting about a young local church leader who was caught in clutches of 'the old-system' thus making his voice all the more meaningless in an ever changing culture around him, of course unbeknown to him (the leader).
Whether it be issues of doctrine or theology, or just some assumptions on the 'way things should be', there appears to be a growing disconnect between church culture and regular culture. Should there be a divide? Is it necessary to maintain a degree of mutual exclusivity with church culture in order to preserve belief/faith? Are there a better ways than the current, "convince someone they're sinners and lead them to Jesus," mentality? Is there more to faith than the same fluffy or boring sermon coupled with bad music or a lifeless liturgical tradition? Or are there other ways to approach faith so it translates into a contemporary vernacular?
To break it down without the big words: I'm curious to know if the way church is 'done' today must necessarily remain contentious and backwards to a growing majority of people who are not a part of one.
December marks a change in the Christian calender from ordinary time to Advent--a time of expectations and waiting. It's a moment where we can remind ourselves of the good news of Christ's arrival into the world, and a time to permit this announcement to re-order our lives and communities.