Category Archives: Blog

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Finding Hope, Truth and Wisdom in the Ancient and Timeless Scriptures for our Rapidly Changing World.

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Many people believe that the Bible (Scripture) is out of date and irrelevant in our modern world; that the Bible’s antiquity makes it obsolete and useless in a technologically rich culture.  I would submit that the opposite is actually true; that in a world of rapid change, abundance of knowledge and unfiltered access to information, there is something inherently compelling about a sacred and ancient text that has been true and applicable for millennia past.  In our world of constant change and adaptation, having timeless truth is incredibly uniquely valuable and the biblical account of David and Bathsheba is a prime example of this in our culture.  Let me explain…

If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can link to the biblical account here in 2 Samuel 11.

In the Biblical narrative, we discover King David, king of a HUGE empire with massive power,
influence and access.  King David, by nature of his situation, can have whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.  In essence, all he has to do with the temptation before him is say “YES.”  The problem for people who have preached on or attempted to learn from this portion of scripture in the past is that we, until recently, have not been granted equal access as Kings.  However, with the rise of technology, specifically the internet (TV, websites, smart phones, iPads, etc.), we have been given equal power and the unfiltered access to content and situations that were once only available to kings or those in power.  In sum, we now, because of technology, have more in common with King David and his sexual temptation than ever before.

This story has immense and powerful implications and applications for our new world and the widespread nature of power, information, unfiltered content and accessibility.   The Bible is equally relevant in our world today!  It has more to say than many realize and it’s timeless truth and eternal message is worth sharing!

If you are interested, I preached on this passage a few months ago with this intro and communicated the similarities that David’s sin has with the temptation of the Internet for many people today.  You can listen or watch it on our Parkview Alliance Church website under the date: January 30, 2011.

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Letter to the Editor

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The following is a recent letter I wrote to the Editor in regards to an article featured in a recent magazine.  My comments in no way are disparaging to the organization the magazine represents.  In fact, it is an organization that I proudly support.  My motivation in writing the letter is to simply raise awareness of the language we can easily use without reflecting on the subtle message it can send.  Because I do not want to disparage the organization (an organization and fully support), I have withheld their name to kept their anonymity.  See my letter below:

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to draw your attention to your recent edition of **** Magazine that features the story of Emily and her mother.  In the story you use the phrase “who suffers from Down Syndrome” to refer to Emily.  As an active ****[member of this organization] and as a proud father of a son who happens to have Down Syndrome, this statement deeply troubles me.  Those who have Down Syndrome are not in suffering because of it.  Emily might have other challenges in her life (that may or may not be related to Down Syndrome) but having Down Syndrome is not something one “suffers” from, no more than one can suffer because of their gender, race or hair color.

I am sure, and am confident, that no disrespect was intended but it is the subte nature of the comment that is a commentary on the subconscious view we can have on those with Down Syndrome.  By using the term “suffer” it (although unintentionally) implies that Emily, or my son, is less than because of “who they are” and who have a medical condition that can be treated.  Emily and my son, have Down Syndrome which is just as much a gift as it is something that can create challenges.

I am not trying to belabour the point, nor do I assume there was any intended harm, I simply want to raise awareness of the terminology we use and the message(s) it may send.

Sincerely,

Bryce Ashlin-Mayo

*As a follow-up, the magazine emailed me to apologize for their error and the implications it unfortunately sent.

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Why is Hell such a HOT topic in Evangelicalism today?

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If you are an avid reader of Christian books, blogs or the twitter-verse these days, you have to admit that there has been huge serge on the topic of Hell within evangelical circles.  Rob Bell might have sparked this recent serge but Bell is not the founder of the evangelical Hell controversy or debate.   This debate is not even without precedent in recent evangelical history.  You only have to go back a few years to when John Stott announced his view of annihilation rather than eternal punishment.  The evangelical community was equally intensely reactive to Stott’s public admission.

The question I have been pondering lately is why the oddly emotionally charged reaction to the topic of Hell.  Why this emotional reaction to anyone who would question the commonly understood evangelical view of it (which I hold to by the way).  I think this is symptomatic of, among other things, a much larger issue.

I believe that the topic of Hell is so emotionally charged, partially, because it demonstrates our intimate and monopolous (I’m sure I made this word up) connection with Hell to our Soteriology (our view and understanding of salvation).  The Evangelical church has largely viewed salvation solely through the exclusive lens of saving us from eternal punish – Hell.  Therefore, anyone who would question Hell’s existence is, consequently, questioning everything salvation is about.

The problem is that Jesus saved us from more than just Hell.  Jesus came not simply to bring eternal life after death (John 3:16), but also an abundant (John 10:10), sacrificial (John 15:13), selflessly serving (Luke 10:25-37) life on this earth now.  We are saved from our selves and the selfishness that drives our world.  We are saved from a purposeless life to a life filled with eternal significance and purpose expressed today in my immediate circumstance.  Christ came not simply to save us from life apart from Him after we die, but also from life apart from him today on this earth.

Salvation is more than an eternal life insurance policy.  Salvation is more than a transaction where we purchase an eternal piece of heavenly real estate.  Instead, salvation is also about living with God at the center of your life here on earth, it’s about self-sacrifice, about loving your neighbour when it might cost dearly, it’s about loving others in and through difficult situations and it’s about the hope of doing so for all eternity.

I think the topic of Hell can be a convenient distraction from the difficult call of salvation that says we are called to live a different and very difficult life on this earth now: A life of purpose, justice, compassion and truth.  We would rather the salvation message void of dying to self and prefer one with a exclusive focus on avoiding hell!  Ironically, the Hell focused salvation message is an easier one to give rather one what also talks about Jesus’ call to “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him” (Matthew 16:24).

In sum, the reason I think the debate about Hell has become so emotionally charged is, partially, because by questioning hell, people have questioned the sole purpose that many of our Soteriologies are based on.

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Living Beyond Yourself

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Originally published in the Vermilion Standard, here is my recent article: “Living Beyond Yourself.”

I have been fascinated with the recent public Charlie Sheen meltdown. The TV star whose self-inflated perception and worldview has, sadly, caused his own self-destruction. Charlie’s destructive spiral is the acute example of what we all struggle with and what is so prevalent and widespread in our society. In other words, we are all guilty, in some way, of drinking the proverbial Charlie Sheen self-importance Kool-Aid.

We, as a society, have a weird and addictive obsession with self. People, en masse, want to be famous, desire attention, obsess about what everyone else thinks of them, etc. Think for a moment of the many popular movies that are written around the fantastical idea that the world and everything/everyone we know, is all about us (The Matrix, Inception, Truman Show, etc. to name a few). Interestingly, the problem of “self” is not new but a part of our broken nature as human beings to desire to be the center of our own universes.

The fact is, the world doesn’t revolve around you, me or anyone else on this planet and the result of living this way, is horribly destructive. When we view ourselves as the center of our universe, we begin to see others not as human beings and equals but as pawns, tools, and objects to meet our own ends or pleasure.

The truth of our existence is that the universe doesn’t revolve around you, me or anyone else on this planet and this truth is actually something to celebrate, not mourn. The universe wasn’t created for your purposes and pleasure. Humanity doesn’t exist for its own selfish benefit but, along with all of creation, exists purely for the Glory of God. Accordingly, our lives should be seen as revolving around God and who He is. In fact, this is the command Jesus gave to sum up all the commands in the Bible: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbour as yourself. Our purpose, therefore, is about God and living beyond yourself.

Consequently, we need to realign our orbits. We are not, nor ever will be, the center of the universe – God, and God alone, is. We will never find meaning, purpose, or satisfaction without aligning ourselves around God.

What would it mean to live beyond yourself? To orbit your life around God and His purposes? What would it mean to serve others, not in order to gain God’s approval or merit (that would be selfish again), but simply out of your love for God and desire to love others as God commands?

What would it mean for you to live beyond yourself?

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The Treatment: Part 1 – Moving from Indoctrination to Education

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There is little question that there is a problem evident in the Christian Education arm of the evangelical church in North America.  As I stated in an earlier post, there are probably many of reasons for this predicament and, thus, the solution is multifaceted.  To that end, I want to tackle a few of these reasons in several sequential posts (they will come more regularly now that I am fully back from vacation).

I want to begin this series of posts by addressing the fact that part of the problem is that we have looked at Christian Education more as Indoctrination. 
Let me explain… 
I define “indoctrination” as simply teaching people what to believe rather than education, which I assert is teaching why we believe in something.  Education, while teaching one’s view, also endeavors to accurately and truthfully understand the other side of the issue.  The motivation for indoctrination is, on the surface, a good one: we want to protect our people, our kids and our youth from being led astray.   Therefore, we focus on what they should believe rather than helping them fully understand the issue and owning their belief for themselves.  In summary, indoctrination is simply loaning one’s belief rather than allowing someone to own it for him or herself through education.
Anecdotally, I have seen this play out with many young people who have gone to university after attending 18 years of church programs.  When they attend university, they are faced with the complexity of an argument or a belief that they were unaware existed.  Because they had never been taught the essential skills of discernment and critical reflection, they are left afloat with no paddle to navigate themselves through these waters and often end up confused and lost.  Specially, I have seen this play out with the evolution debate with many young people unaware of the complexity of the discussion.  If they have never been taught the tools to figure this out for themselves, they end up confused or even worse, willing to give up on their faith.
I, obviously, get the complexity of education rather than indoctrination.  It is more difficult to do, it is messier and you may, as the teacher, end up in a discussion beyond your pay-grade.  That being said, we have to be training people how to theologically reflect on issues that are not as simple as some make them out to be. 
I admit I have probably been guilty of simplifying complex issues, sadly to the detriment of my students/parishioners but the challenge still remains.  I believe it is our goal to create disciples who have the tools to learn on their own and critically think for themselves.  This is a difficult task but we are living in the alternative and I, for one, am not satisfied with the results!