The following is a video that I made with my daughter over the Christmas holidays. I made a Star Wars movie with my son Nathanial a while ago and it was time to do a Barbie movie with my daughter Sydney. Anyway…here it is, enjoy!
Update, break and early resolutions
Now that finals are over I wanted to give a brief update on life and then break till after Christmas with a plan for a New Years resolution of daily blog postings of sorts. First the update:
- Finished the fall semester and think I did well.
- I am looking forward to taking a couple weeks off until I have to begin the pre-work for classes in January.
- I found out recently that I am going to Vancouver in March as Taylor’s representative for the 2008 Canadian Theological Students Conference. This should be more than interesting, given the topic and speakers.
- We are going on a family road trip to Saskatchewan in February as I am taking one more class at Briercrest. Laurie and the kids are going to come with me this time and visit friends in Regina.
- Christmas shopping is almost done – the craziness is almost over.
- I am very proud of my kids at their Christmas concerts – they were awesome.
In terms of my New Years blogging resolution, I think I am actually going to try and post a question a day with some of my thoughts about it. I get the sense that we don’t ask enough good questions about things and want to grow in that area. I think it will be easy enough to do each day…watch for it beginning January 1st.
Have a great Christmas season.
The Post-Semester Reading Update
I thought this picture would give you a quick update on my reading over the last couple months. Because of the amount of reading I’m doing, I do not have time to blog about the specific books I have read. Therefore, this picture will have to suffice. The crazy reading schedule isn’t over yet as my books for next semester have already begun to arrive in the mail. The new stack is at least as big as the stack in the picture.
Kiva – Loans that change lives
I recently became aware of this great non-profit organization (Kiva.org) that matches people in need from around the world with micro-loans from people who can afford to loan as little as $25US. It is a great organization with a unique model.
I would encourage you to check it out and consider loaning someone some much needed funds to better their life. It is fun, easy and unlike many organizations, the people in need get 100% of the money you loan them.
Does Motivation Matter?
I have noticed a trend in churches and Church growth material recently. There seems to be a growing theory or hypothesis that unchurched people are attracted to churches who reach out in the community, feed the poor, care for others, get involved in issues of justice, etc. I don’t disagree with this hypothesis at all and, in fact, think it is quite accurate. However, it is the result of this assessment that bothers me.
There have been a rash of churches who are getting involved in the community, helping the poor, and engaging the needs of our culture because of the belief that it will grow their church. I am not arguing that churches shouldn’t be involved in these virtuous activities but want to ask the question: “Does our motivation matter?” In other words, is it right to get involved in the community and engage the needs of others out of the motivation to the grow the church?
I am not against feeding the poor, being involved in areas of injustice or meeting the needs of the community we are called to serve (I fully support them and argue we don’t do enough), but shouldn’t we do them simply because they are good and because we are called to do them? I would argue that even if they didn’t produce an evangelistic response or if the church didn’t grow, we are still called to participate in them. This is part of what the Church is called to be and what the Church is called to do. What would happen if your church would decrease in size if it cared for the poor or issues of justice? Would it still do it with the same passion and fervency?
Does our motivation matter? I think so. If we become the Church we are called to be, people will be attracted to it, but we need to be the Church simply because we are called to be the Church that radically loves people and shows it through everything it does, regardless of the results.