Calgary Church – Join a movement….

Apparently I missed a good fight, at least that's what the media would have me believe. In a country that contains apathetic people who identify primarily with their cultural background over nationalism, getting people to protest is one of the hardest gatherings to pull off.

This past Saturday one of the larger activist rallies connected to mark a day of anti-racism. They were eventually met by a bumbling group of clandestine Aryan Guard members and other hapless white supremacist.

I have two comments: 1) I can't believe we still deal with white supremacy in Canada, 2) I can't believe how poorly the media covered the event getting numerous facts very wrong. Continue reading »

I commented in this post about the correlation church attendance in our city and the downturn in the economy. I compared two hypothetical churches, one boasting an increase in attendance, the other mobilizing themselves to help the those hit hardest in their community (but not necessarily bent on their numbers).

I actually did hear the comments from some pastors who were talking about their growing church attendance since October, hence my response. I had to also ask the question: why? Continue reading »

Today marked the first leaders dialogue on things missional. I didn't have an 'agenda' for the conversation, rather, I was open to let the discussion take its own course.

We had a great time chatting with some pints over a couple of hours essentially conspiring ways to be catalysts in our communities to join God in his redemption plan.

Those who joined the conversation included:

• Shawn from North Ridge Church and New Church Calgary
• Lee from Calgary Social Dikai (Facebook group on social justice.)
• Rob from Bridge Talk and Cross the Bridge
• Rohadi from Calgary Church and Missional Church in Alberta (Facebook group)

Some additional thoughts we covered: Continue reading »

The title sums it up--the futility of lent. Many Christians participate in Lent--the season of 50 days prior to Easter. The very basic idea is you have an orgy of fun on Mardi Gras, get rid of all the meat in your house, then fast for 50 days by giving up something in an effort to experience some form of sacrifice akin to Christ on the cross.

I'm not entirely convinced we have the right idea. So in the effort of good nature and participation I decided to give up beer for Lent, but only to point out its futility (not of Lent, but of our perspective on it). You see I gave up beer, but drank more more gin in its place. Continue reading »

I had to update this because iMonk's post (the articles referred to in this post) were combined and placed on some of the most popular web sites online (including the Drudge Report). You can find the summation of his articles here, and of course the Canadian version I wrote at another web site here. Back to the original article.

-- For most evangelicals the return of Christ could happen at any moment. We don't know exactly when (well some think it's tied to the state of Israel, I don't,) but what we do know is that it's imminent. There is a growing sentiment that what's even more imminent is the collapse of the evangelical church (and related denominations in Calgary including Christian & Missionary Alliance, Associated Gospel Churches, non-denominations like Center Street, various Baptist churches, etc.) Continue reading »

A handful of Calgary Transit buses now sport supposedly 'witty' remarks attacking religion. The ads have been cropping up in major cities worldwide and now Calgary gets to enter the debate. The ads certainly spark discussion but what are they trying to accomplish?

Are atheists trying to point out the futility of religion with remarks such as: "there probably is no God so stop worrying and enjoy your life"?

I don't get it, although admittedly I'm on the 'inside' looking out. But since when is God the source of worry? Firstly, the vast majority of Canadians--something like over 90%--are in some way spiritual in nature. I suppose you can be atheist and spiritual, actually no, that would make you agnostic. Secondly, the notion of God and the community that exists on earth (many religions for that matter) tends to reduce worry not increase it. Continue reading »

It snowed yesterday in Calgary which was a bit weird. Not the face it snowed, but because I was out until mid-evening and the weather was calm. Shutting the blinds around 9PM to bare streets, then peaking through at 10:30, I was shocked to see 5 cms of snow blowing on my deck. In the morning I took a pic.

Being Sunday I got to thinking, "I wonder how many people skipped church on the account of a bit of snow?" I thought about it some more and then I decided to put down some ideas on how snow describes how most people 'do' church today. Continue reading »

We do (click).

There are two types of churches operating in our current economic climate. One boasts in their increase of weekly attendees, you know the ones, people scared pantless because they've lost 50% of their equity. The second remembers that in economic downturns the poor get poorer, and they opt to provide help to those in need and make a point to remind us about the remaining and emerging social injustices.

The first boasts new recruits, people they've re-attracted who used to attend church 'x' amount of years ago but dropped out because things got boring. The second continues to scrap and claw at the seemingly growing gap between rich and poor while mobilizing their own to attend to these causes.

Which community are you a part of? Continue reading »