Refresh Seminar links

For those of you who attended the Refresh seminar on using presentation software effectively here are some of the links that I referred to during the seminar.

Bible Maps

EasyWorship

MediaShout

Igniter Media (Video Clips)

Shift Worship Backgrounds

Don Pedro's

The first snowfall of the season was rewarded with a visit to Don Pedro's in Winnipeg's exchange district. We showed up without a reservation and only need to wait about 30 minutes before we were led to our table. The meal began with Sopa Azateca, served hot and reasonably spicy. This combined with the excellent live Spanish guitar playing created a warm and exciting start to the meal. We ordered one of their "Mexican Platter for Two". On it was a selection of several of their meals. The highlights of the meal were the Tacos al Carbon, the Drunken Shrimp, and the Deep Fried Ice cream. Unfortunately the rice in the California Burrito was left a bit on the crunchy side. Whether intentional or not, it didn't provide a great texture in the mouth. The staff were friendly, helpful and obviously well trained for service. The price for all this matched a meal at one of the main chain restaurants making this very affordable.

Most importantly was that I was able to spend the evening with my beautiful wife. Our date was part of decision to begin spending more time, just the two of us. Yes, we are dating again. It had been months since we had been on a date and it was high time. I'm actually a bit embarrassed that we hadn't spent that much time just hanging out together. Yet some things just need to be done.

Dragsters and the Start of a New School Year

The staging is just about finished. On Monday the lights go green and the new academic year is engaged. This past week the arrival of the Care Group Leaders and the Student Council has revved up the engines and we are now ready at the starting line. There will be a great deal of friction in the first few week as students, staff and faculty all get up to speed with all that happens at the college. Yet without the friction of new routines, new friends, new surroundings, there is no momentum. The direction of the dragster has already been set, there isn’t much more that can be done. What we pray is that we would not blow the engine or damage a tire.

The analogy of the dragster seems very appropriate and quite frankly there is a bit of fear as we don’t know the full outcome when the tree turns green.

Simple Church

I've been reading the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. It's an easy read - about twice as long as it should be - they could have made it much simpler - less story more fact, but such is the case for many "ministry" books. They do propose a very appeal thesis in that the most effective churches in discipling believers are ones that have the process clear and simple.

It seems like common sense, yet from my experience in the church, it is far from common. The book is a result of extensive research that was done. (Their definitions of growing and vibrant churches leaves some questions, but I digress.) To illustrate their thesis of simplicity of process they draw on the business models of companies like Apple, Papa John's and Google. Much is made of Google's simple main page especially compared to its rival Yahoo!. The authors claim that it would be too difficult for Yahoo to become as simple as Google.

Yet there is more to the comparison than just looking at the main page and how simple it is. The product that is offered must be of greater value. One of the things that simplicity should force is the need to have a quality product.

It's not good enough for churches to have a simple discipleship process that moves people along some well-intentioned path. The entire product - the purpose of the church must be of the best quality there is. I've seen many products that look just like an iPod. I've never experienced one that works as well. An inferior product that is simple just looks cheap.

Creating Community in the Worship Space

I'm reading Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps for a course on digital media that I'm teaching in the fall. In it he illustrates the way in which the medium communicates by illustrating the effect that lighting has in a place of worship. The effect of dimming all the lights except those on stage communicates the importance of freedom and individual worship. It focuses the attention to the drama on stage and away from those who are worshipping together. While he is careful not to condemn this lighting set-up, he is quick to point out that if a congregation values the community of believers, the medium in the gathering place of the people communicates the opposite.

It is easy to preach "community" in a darkened room. In it no one need reveal any of the anguish that comes as part of life; everyone can live santimonious, holy lives. If we want to "be real" within the body of Christ we need to reflect that in the spaces that we worship. And that needs to translate into more than just the lighting, but in the order of the service and in the layout of the space. But be warned - people are uncomfortable with true community and will flock to places where they can anonimously worship God in the freedom of their choosing.

Coffee Shop Talk

I'm on holidays this week and doing my best to get some things checked off the "honey-do" list while kicking it down a notch. So today finds me sitting in a small coffee shop in a rural village in south-eastern Manitoba. I'm struck by the different characters that fill the seats.

The rain has chased in a handful of elderly farmers; who, if they had their choice would rather be helping out in the field at this time of year. Instead they have retreated into the familiar surroundings of the coffee shop. Next to the farmers, a couple of trucker types are complaining about how the road weight restrictions are creating a headache for their gravel hauling business. In another corner sits a group of men who look like they are a part of a construction crew. They stay mainly to themselves, sipping coffee and talking in tones barely audible to the rest of the inhabitants. The only females in the room are the servers who have taken a break after serving the morning coffee crowd. They politely bow their heads before biting into their slices of toast. And then there is me sitting in a corner quietly observing and listening to the whole scene hurriedly typing my thoughts into my Blackberry.

A coffee shop seems like the perfect place to find people who know what it means to relax. The people in here seem to understand that there is a season for work and a season for rest. Perhaps it comes from their faith or perhaps from their understanding of the seasons. Maybe it is a bit both. In our desire to get the work of the Kingdom done we ought to understand that there are seasons to the work that we are engaged in. As one of my professors used to quip, "Timing is more important than time." How much untold damage is caused when we plow ahead without considering the timing of the work?

How do we then understand the timing of God?

Is More Better?

There seems to be the general assumption that more is better. What is astounding is that people still think that is the case in light of the recent economic circumstances. I would state that underneath this assumption is the sin of greed. We want what we do not have and keep on striving for more. Doctors will tell you that there is a threshold at which medications are effective. Too little and there is no change in the symptoms, too much and the result can be catastrophic. Yet when it comes to our churches and institutions we say that there is no sense of thinking in terms of thresholds and that more is obviously better.

I would even say that it is guilt that drives a lot of this pressure for more. Perhaps this is the push of 'more is better' and greed is the pull of the assumption. The guilt stems from our belief that what we must be the same for everyone. We need to provide for everyone and everyone needs what we have to offer. Our evangelism takes on this tone as well, seeking to recruit people to our 'brand' as opposed offering people the opportunity to discover Jesus Christ.

Threshold, I believe is something that we need to consider in all of our pursuits. When setting our household spending, I think we should change budgeting from a balance sheet proposal balancing our income with our spending, but rather that we determine thresholds that we allow ourselves and then trust God to provide for that amount. And the reality would be that we could do with a lot less meaning that our opportunity to give beyond those thresholds would be immense. This would also work in churches. That the local church would acknowledge that there is threshold capacity at which if exceeded there is a reduction in the ability to disciple and care for each other. And those thresholds would determine when people are sent from the congregation to spread the gospel elsewhere.

I would really like to explore the implications of threshold mentality when it comes many areas in life.

In my work at SBC - it is something that I'm currently working with in terms of recruitment. Do we set a threshold of students. We set minimum requirements with regards to academics, and spirituality yet do we entertain the thought of having a threshold of students, a band of students at which level we are able to manage?