Mexican Presidents’ MPA

I recently learned that three of the last four Mexican presidents have an MPA!

Five-Pin Bowling

For a time as a youngster, Saturday mornings were spent at the bowling alley.

Until yesterday, I didn’t realize that this was such a rare experience.

It’s not that bowling isn’t very popular – for indeed millions play on leagues or spend a lively night at the alley.

But I was unaware that the five-pin bowling I grew up with is only played in Canada.

Apparently, five-pin bowling was invented and first played at the Toronto Bowling Club in 1909.

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

New PM for Australia

Australians elected a new Prime Minister today. Kevin Rudd is a Christian (Anglican), and while I don’t agree with some of his conclusions, I think it is wonderful that a leader in the Western World is ready to grapple with the role of faith in public policy.

He wrote an article in The Monthly in October 2006 in which he argued “Christian teaching is sceptical about a state's demand for more and more power. The function of the church in all these areas of social, economic and security policy is to speak directly to the state: to give power to the powerless, voice to those who have none, and to point to the great silences in our national discourse where otherwise there are no natural advocates.”

He continues, “A Christian perspective on contemporary policy debates may not prevail. It must nonetheless be argued. And once heard, it must be weighed, together with other arguments from different philosophical traditions, in a fully contestable secular polity. A Christian perspective, informed by a social gospel or Christian socialist tradition, should not be rejected contemptuously by secular politicians as if these views are an unwelcome intrusion into the political sphere. If the churches are barred from participating in the great debates about the values that ultimately underpin our society, our economy and our polity, then we have reached a very strange place indeed.”

Indeed.

Source:
Kevin Rudd, “Faith in Politics” The Monthly. Oct. 2006. Nov. 17. Accessed 23 Nov. 2007. Available: ">http://www.themonthly.com.au/tm/?q=node/300>

Adam Watts

Somewhat familiar with High School Musical, I just learned that the man behind the lyrics of the cultural phenomenon (and the best-selling album last year) is a Christian.

His name is Adam Watts.

Also interesting; he helped to launch Jeremy Camp’s music career.

Cult of Victimhood

The cult of victimhood remains a powerful force in Canadian life.

This isn’t to say that there haven’t been some groups misaligned and treated poorly in the past. Yet, the odd nature of grievance groups is that many of the people purporting to be have been victimized were decidedly not walked upon.

Stephane Dion’s recent comments about his personal experiences with poverty is a case in point.

“We were the last in our neighbourhood to get a TV, the last to get a car,” he told the Toronto Star. “My parents had headaches about how to pay for the house.”

Apparently he was offended by a reporter’s suggestion that he had little first-hand experience with poverty, and felt it important to demonstrate his personal connection with the struggle.
Mr. Dion’s conception of poverty isn’t exactly orthodox: struggling to pay for the house? That’s a middle class issue, not one faced by the poor.

The columnist also wondered openly about his sincerity in framing himself as the poor kid.

Source:
Carol Goar, “No price tag on Dion poverty plan” The Toronto Star. 21 Nov. 2007. Accessed 22 Nov. 2007. Available: <>

New CD

I bought RyanDan’s new CD today.

It is stunning.

A Piper Prayer

Father, we confess that we are the children,
And You are the Father. We are the learners,
And You are the Teacher. We are sinful and fallible,
You are holy and all-wise.
Teach us to measure our thoughts
By Yours and not the other way around.
Humble us under Your mighty hand.
Forbid that we would get angry with You,
Or criticize You, or be disappointed with You.
Make us tremble at such insults.
Oh, how deep are Your riches and Your wisdom!
How unsearchable Your judgments!
How inscrutable Your ways!
We praise You!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

He recommends

Don’t let your prayers be an occasion for back-talking. Don’t criticize or get angry at God. Soon enough we will be finished with this brief life of perplexity. “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12). Be honest with God about your bewilderment. But put your hand on your mouth, if murmuring arises. Better to sit silently and wait for the explanation, than to say that one could not exist. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.” (Psalm 62:5).

Source:
John Piper, Life as a Vapor. Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah, 2004, p. 121.

Growing Together

During a pulpit committee meeting earlier this year, I suggested we pass by one of the potential candidates. It wasn’t because he wasn’t qualified – for indeed, he had an excellent resume. Rather, I was concerned of the impact on the current congregation he was serving if we took him away from them.

This comment was met with laughter, and the attitude of ‘So what if the other congregation is negatively impacted - we will benefit.’

How often many in the church forget that we are members of a universal (catholic) invisible church that transcends membership rolls. As someone who has moved often, I am perplexed why some make such a fuss over my departure. Sure, you may be losing a participant, I think to myself, but someone else will be gaining one. The body of Christ isn’t weakening, it’s just shifting.

Russell Moore wrote a fascinating article on how Christians can learn from ants. He wrote,

“I wonder how much of the deadness and silliness in our churches has less to do with a laziness that refuses to toss aside individual glory for the unity of the church, a laziness that refuses to set aside one's preferences to discern the mind of Christ. I wonder if we really get that we are all individually tiny components of a vast, multinational organism, one that spans the globe and the centuries?”

Amen to that!

Source:
Russell Moore, “An Anthill on Which to Die: What a Colony of Insects Could Teach Us About the Church” 18 Nov. 2007. Accessed 19 Nov. 2007. Available: http://www.henryinstitute.org/commentary_read.php?cid=412

Weber

I had an interesting conversation with three classmates today. It was sparked by a question I posed to a sociology student (this was intentional). I wondered if she had studied Max Weber. Not surprisingly, (Weber is considered to be the father of the discipline) she had. I asked her about his views on the Protestant Work Ethic.

And that got the ball rolling.

I was surprised by their uniform responses regarding religion. All said that religion was the root of most of the world’s problems, past and present. Religion, as one said, is a tool used by the powerful to control people.

I have heard this mantra before.

I pointed out that those acting in the name of religion may not in fact be acting very faithfully. I also reminded them that ‘religion’ has been a fantastic force for good in health, education etc..which was met by bemused surprise.

It appears the poisonous errors being touted in the recent rash of atheistic polemics is growing in influence – not necessarily the specific arguments (which my classmates could not provide) – but the general sense that religion is bad.

Fascinating.

Quote of the Day

“The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out”—Voltaire

Remembrance Day

They died so that we might be free.

Lest we forget.

The Pope on the State

The state is not itself the source of truth and morality. It cannot produce truth from its own self by means of an ideology based on people or race or class or some other entity The state itself must receive from outside itself the essential measure of knowledge and truth with regard to that which is good.

The Church remains something outside the state, for only thus can both Church and State be what they are meant to be. Like the state, the Church too must remain in its own proper place within its boundaries. The Church must exert itself with all vigour so that in it then may shine forth the moral truth that it offers to the state and that ought to become evident to the citizens of the state.

Source:
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Values in a Time of Upheaval. New York: The CrossRoad Publishing Company, 2005, pp. 68-69.

Love of God

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure –

The saints' and angel's song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made;

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above Would drain the oceans dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

- the last stanza from a hymn

Sloppy Beatitudes

A speaker on Sunday talked about international development work he was involved in. His enthusiasm and passion were unmistakable (so, moved was he by one of his stories, that he started to sob) and I thank the Lord that He has conformed this man’s will to be sensitive to the needs of the world’s poor.

Yet, his theology was, regrettably sloppy.

He preached (although I think ‘inserted Scripture passages as part of his discourse on development’ is a more accurate description of his talk) on the Beatitudes, focusing primarily on verse 6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”
He wandered dangerously into works-salvation in his talk. I don’t think he meant to. He briefly expressed his belief in the doctrine of justification. But his message was clear; those who help the poor are those who will be rewarded with heaven.

This is inaccurate, of course.

Plus, the verse he referenced over and over has nothing to do with the poor. Rather, this verse points out that those who seek God’s righteousness receive what they desire, while those who are confident of their own righteousness do not.

Peace in War

Yesterday’s responsive Psalm reading was Psalm 76. Following the responsive reading, the pastor prayed. He referred to the Psalm and said that the text was about God’s ability to end war and promote world-wide peace.

Well, not exactly.

Rather, this psalm is a celebration of God’s victory over Israel’s enemies. Indeed, He used violence to bring about His plan.

The pastor was prompted to suggest this is an example of peace-building because of “There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.” (v. 3)

But this verse actually refers to God crushing His enemy with force.

Tracking Time

There are 25 hours today, as clocks were set an hour back.

Standardized time is relatively new. It is well known that Sir Sandford Fleming invented Universal Standard Time, which was adopted worldwide in 1885. Through standard time, the Earth was divided into 24 time zones, each an hour from the next and all a fixed number of hours from the time in Greenwich England (0 degrees longitude).

What is less well known about Mr. Fleming is his Christian faith. A free book I took outside the Fleming library yesterday only mentions in passing that he attended church. Yet, his faith permeated his worldview. Mr. Fleming was a Presbyterian, very much interested in matters of faith. He wrote, for example, on Aug 20, 1898 to the convener of the General Assembly’s Committee on Worship about the nature of corporate worship.

Several biographies have been written on Mr. Fleming, but I suspect that many give little attention to his faith. (I intend on reading them in the near future!). This is unfortunate, as the lack of a comprehensive look at his Presbyterian faith speaks more about the authors, than the man himself.