Saturday, February 26, 2005
Book Review: The Christian Culture Survival Guide
I was expecting a bit of a slapstick look at the evangelical Christian subculture in this book and while it has its humorous points, it really tries too hard to be more of a serious guidebook for negotiating the odd, sometimes bizarre subculture of evangelicalism. Unfortunately, this is where the The Christian Culture Survival Guide breaks down. An amusing 'insider' look at the subculture would provide endless comedic fodder but author Matthew Paul Turner instead has chosen to include serious musings on what true a believer looks like as if he needed to justify the funny bits. That’s too bad because there are an endless number of books like that already. In the end, the author and the book end up becoming that which they are mocking. YY
Friday, February 25, 2005
Book Review: Transforming Bible Study
I picked up Bob Grahmann's book 'Transforming Bible Study' expecting to give it a quick skim before starting a small group Bible study on Romans. Little did I know I'd be reading it cover to cover. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is the best book on how to do Bible study that I've ever read. It is not a "how to lead a Bible study in three easy steps" kind of book; it really digs into how I as an individual do a study that can then be applied in a group setting using the same principles. As someone who's been leading Bible studies and in some form of leadership role for about 20 years, Grahmann's book has really made me rethink what it is that I call Bible study versus what is truly a transforming experience in God's Word. Highly recommended! YYYYY
Thursday, January 27, 2005
New For 2005: Book Reviews!
It only makes sense since I work in publishing that I would post my thoughts on some (not all) of the many books I read. So this year I'm going to put up as many mini-reviews I can. As with any review these are totally subjective but I hope it might give you an opportunity to have some insight into a book I've read instead of just a list of titles down the sidebar. Feel free to leave a comment if you agree or disagree with my assessment. Watch for the number of Y's out of 5 to know how much love I'm giving my latest read.
Speaking of comments...great news! You no longer need a Blogger account to leave a comment on one of my posts so comment away my friends!
Speaking of comments...great news! You no longer need a Blogger account to leave a comment on one of my posts so comment away my friends!
It's Been A Long Time, Been A Long Time...
Has it really been almost three months since my last post? When I first started this blog I was afraid I wouldn't have much to post because I wouldn't have much to say. As it turns out, I've had lots of things to post but no time to do it. Work has been all-consuming since the middle of November and will continue to be until at least mid-February. Even as I write this I've got another window open checking my work email that arrived overnight. So even though I haven't posted, here are just some of the things that are kicking around my brain for future postings:
1) What does it mean to be an evangelical and am I still one? Do I want to be?
2) It looks like a puppy is going to be in our near future if we can just make some decisions.
3) The pure joy of listening to your favourite music.
4) Some stuff I've learned.
Yikes! Now that I've told you I'm going to write about this stuff, I better do it. So watch for more consistent updates coming again soon. And check out the new look to my lists for what I'm reading, watching, and listening to.
1) What does it mean to be an evangelical and am I still one? Do I want to be?
2) It looks like a puppy is going to be in our near future if we can just make some decisions.
3) The pure joy of listening to your favourite music.
4) Some stuff I've learned.
Yikes! Now that I've told you I'm going to write about this stuff, I better do it. So watch for more consistent updates coming again soon. And check out the new look to my lists for what I'm reading, watching, and listening to.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Real Live Book Review
I just wanted to pass along that there is an interview with Gordon Atkinson of reallivepreacher.com as well as a book review at Christianity Today. As the review points out, there is a lot of profanity to wade through but if you can manage to do that, you will find a book both thought provoking and heart warming. Atkinson brings a raw edge to his faith that is rare but his doubts will only serve to strengthen the faith of his readers. Although the book may be an affront to those of us who have grown up as conservative Christians, it is refreshing to read such honest reflections with nary a trace of propaganda or proselytizing. Just read it (or the blog) and see if it doesn't touch a place somewhere deep inside.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Science on Saturday
I spent this past weekend awakening my inner scientist. On Saturday I went to the grand opening of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo (see photo below.) I know, not exactly how most people would want to spend a lazy Saturday morning, but this was truly an amazing opportunity to have a look inside what is likely to become one of the leading physics research labs in the world.
I attended a lecture by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Steven Weinberg of the University of Texas on “Cosmology and the Origins of the Universe.” As a Christian, I knew that this would be a loaded topic. I fully expected to have issues with what Dr. Weinberg had to say, but I didn’t expect the verbal attack on my faith that I experienced.
Let me begin by stating that I have not done a lot of technical research into the origins of the universe. I have a passing interest in cosmology but that is where it ends. I don’t accept that the universe is 16.2 billion years old as Dr. Weinberg states, nor do I accept the concept of a 6,000-year-old earth that I have heard from some creation scientists. If you were to press me on it, I suppose I would fall somewhere in between the two extremes, but then again, the Nobel folks haven’t exactly been knocking on the door asking for my opinion! The Biblical account of God creating the earth in 6 days is good enough for me. Whether those days were 24 hours or 24 million years makes no difference. My faith doesn’t rest in cosmology or in mere intellectual arguments. As Donald Miller says in Blue Like Jazz, “Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don’t believe in God and they can prove He doesn’t exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove he does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it’s about who is smarter, and honestly I don’t care.”
Dr. Weinberg’s presentation was fascinating and I managed to keep up with most of what he had to say, even if I didn’t necessarily agree. And while I am not qualified to critique the good doctor’s science, he certainly didn’t use any restraint in critiquing religion and issues of faith in general. To conclude his lecture he called for a world of more scientific heroes and fewer religious prophets because “it is because of religious prophets…the Bible…the Koran…that this world has become the dangerous place that it is.” Of course, this met with a vigorous round of applause from the audience. When asked during the Q&A period after the lecture “where does God fit into Cosmology?” by what appeared to be a Muslim student (sorry for my ‘racial profiling’) Weinberg promptly replied, “That sir, is a hypothesis I choose not to accept.” While he admitted that science doesn’t really know much about the “inflation” period prior to the Big Bang, he took the opportunity to launch several more verbal shots at those who would hold to a religious world view to even more vigorous applause.
Now, I am not completely oblivious to this sort of intellectual assault, and while I hesitate to call it persecution when I am aware that Christians all over the world are being tortured and murdered for their faith, I most definitely felt very vulnerable sitting in the auditorium not applauding Weinberg’s attacks on religion. I felt no bitterness or anger toward the man, just a deep sense of sadness.
For no matter what your background or training, whether a Nobel Prize winning cosmologist or a bookseller with a Bachelor of Religious Education, we all have an epistemology – a world view – that triumphs over and determines our choices in life. Dr. Weinberg’s theories may be grounded in hard science, but his world view spoke louder than any of his charts and diagrams on Saturday.
P.S. For an interesting article on the battle to teach Intelligent Design in the classroom in the United States, check out Wired magazine’s October edition.
I attended a lecture by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Steven Weinberg of the University of Texas on “Cosmology and the Origins of the Universe.” As a Christian, I knew that this would be a loaded topic. I fully expected to have issues with what Dr. Weinberg had to say, but I didn’t expect the verbal attack on my faith that I experienced.
Let me begin by stating that I have not done a lot of technical research into the origins of the universe. I have a passing interest in cosmology but that is where it ends. I don’t accept that the universe is 16.2 billion years old as Dr. Weinberg states, nor do I accept the concept of a 6,000-year-old earth that I have heard from some creation scientists. If you were to press me on it, I suppose I would fall somewhere in between the two extremes, but then again, the Nobel folks haven’t exactly been knocking on the door asking for my opinion! The Biblical account of God creating the earth in 6 days is good enough for me. Whether those days were 24 hours or 24 million years makes no difference. My faith doesn’t rest in cosmology or in mere intellectual arguments. As Donald Miller says in Blue Like Jazz, “Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don’t believe in God and they can prove He doesn’t exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove he does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it’s about who is smarter, and honestly I don’t care.”
Dr. Weinberg’s presentation was fascinating and I managed to keep up with most of what he had to say, even if I didn’t necessarily agree. And while I am not qualified to critique the good doctor’s science, he certainly didn’t use any restraint in critiquing religion and issues of faith in general. To conclude his lecture he called for a world of more scientific heroes and fewer religious prophets because “it is because of religious prophets…the Bible…the Koran…that this world has become the dangerous place that it is.” Of course, this met with a vigorous round of applause from the audience. When asked during the Q&A period after the lecture “where does God fit into Cosmology?” by what appeared to be a Muslim student (sorry for my ‘racial profiling’) Weinberg promptly replied, “That sir, is a hypothesis I choose not to accept.” While he admitted that science doesn’t really know much about the “inflation” period prior to the Big Bang, he took the opportunity to launch several more verbal shots at those who would hold to a religious world view to even more vigorous applause.
Now, I am not completely oblivious to this sort of intellectual assault, and while I hesitate to call it persecution when I am aware that Christians all over the world are being tortured and murdered for their faith, I most definitely felt very vulnerable sitting in the auditorium not applauding Weinberg’s attacks on religion. I felt no bitterness or anger toward the man, just a deep sense of sadness.
For no matter what your background or training, whether a Nobel Prize winning cosmologist or a bookseller with a Bachelor of Religious Education, we all have an epistemology – a world view – that triumphs over and determines our choices in life. Dr. Weinberg’s theories may be grounded in hard science, but his world view spoke louder than any of his charts and diagrams on Saturday.
P.S. For an interesting article on the battle to teach Intelligent Design in the classroom in the United States, check out Wired magazine’s October edition.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
If I Won The Lottery
Have you ever played the “what if I won the lottery” game? You know the one…if I won a million (or more) dollars, what would I do with it? Most people have played either out loud or in the confines of their own head. R and I play probably a couple of times a year. I’m not exactly sure why, since neither one of us has purchased a lottery ticket in our lives, but its fun to think "what if" anyway. The thing is, when you play out loud, your use of the cash is usually far more altruistic in comparison to the in-your-head version:
Out loud: “If I won the lottery I’d pay off the mortgage, buy my parents a house, invest some, and give the rest away to charity."
In-the-head: “If I won the lottery I’d stop by Future Shop the day I picked up the cheque and buy a widescreen high def TV, a surround sound home theatre system, a new computer, an iPod (the real kind, not the wussy 4gig mini version). Then I’d stop by a car dealership and buy a second vehicle. After that I’d…”
You get the picture. When I think of the in-the-head version of the game I recognize the depth of my endless consumerism. Even if I won a million bucks (or two or ten) and could buy everything on my want list, there would still be more stuff to buy…there really is no end to it. Of course, this is the basis for our entire economic system. You are producer, I am consumer. You make cool things that I “need” and I give you the money you need. It’s a great little system until something happens to blow it all away. This leads to the real reason I’m having this conversation – Haiti.
Even through Florida has been hammered by hurricanes over the past six weeks, for the most part, there is still a sense of hope; a feeling of “we’ve lost almost everything but we’re safe and we can get through this.” While I commend the folks in Florida, the residents of Haiti have no government infrastructure to assist them, no benevolent businesses to truck in fresh water and food, no family in other parts of the country to take them in for a few weeks until the insurance company figures everything out. These people have literally nothing. No food, no water, no home, no hope.
Watching the absolute despair in Haiti since Tropical Storm Jeanne passed through has really caused me to consider my own wealth (middle-class by North American status, but ridiculously wealthy in comparison to the rest of the world - check out the Global Rich List to find out where you rank in the world), what I could do if I had the funds to do it, and would I do something if I did have the funds?
I’d like to think, with apologies to the Barenaked Ladies, that if I had a million dollars I wouldn’t buy you a house, or a K-car, or even a green dress. No, I would hope if I had a million dollars I would buy myself the first plane ticket to Haiti and try to do something, anything, to relieve some of the suffering; to bring some help and some hope.
For possibly the first time in my life I think I have come to understand in a tangible way that wealth is not a bad thing in and of itself. Great wealth can bring great good. Even the Bill Gates’ and Charles Bronfman’s among us have no reason to be ashamed of their great wealth in and of itself; it is after all, the love of money that is the root of all evil. That being said, those of us who are wealthy, be it by world standards or by North American standards, have a responsibility to care for those who can’t care for themselves. I’d love to be able to fly down to Haiti and help people one by one, but I can’t because I’m not North American wealthy. What I can do is dig into my own funds, the cash I’ve been setting aside to buy a new computer or whatever, and spend it on someone somewhere who really needs it. Care for the poor and the widows Jesus said. Sounds easy, until I realize that caring for the poor means the shiny new iMac I’ve been eyeing will have to wait. And when it comes to me and my stuff, I don’t like waiting.
Out loud: “If I won the lottery I’d pay off the mortgage, buy my parents a house, invest some, and give the rest away to charity."
In-the-head: “If I won the lottery I’d stop by Future Shop the day I picked up the cheque and buy a widescreen high def TV, a surround sound home theatre system, a new computer, an iPod (the real kind, not the wussy 4gig mini version). Then I’d stop by a car dealership and buy a second vehicle. After that I’d…”
You get the picture. When I think of the in-the-head version of the game I recognize the depth of my endless consumerism. Even if I won a million bucks (or two or ten) and could buy everything on my want list, there would still be more stuff to buy…there really is no end to it. Of course, this is the basis for our entire economic system. You are producer, I am consumer. You make cool things that I “need” and I give you the money you need. It’s a great little system until something happens to blow it all away. This leads to the real reason I’m having this conversation – Haiti.
Even through Florida has been hammered by hurricanes over the past six weeks, for the most part, there is still a sense of hope; a feeling of “we’ve lost almost everything but we’re safe and we can get through this.” While I commend the folks in Florida, the residents of Haiti have no government infrastructure to assist them, no benevolent businesses to truck in fresh water and food, no family in other parts of the country to take them in for a few weeks until the insurance company figures everything out. These people have literally nothing. No food, no water, no home, no hope.
Watching the absolute despair in Haiti since Tropical Storm Jeanne passed through has really caused me to consider my own wealth (middle-class by North American status, but ridiculously wealthy in comparison to the rest of the world - check out the Global Rich List to find out where you rank in the world), what I could do if I had the funds to do it, and would I do something if I did have the funds?
I’d like to think, with apologies to the Barenaked Ladies, that if I had a million dollars I wouldn’t buy you a house, or a K-car, or even a green dress. No, I would hope if I had a million dollars I would buy myself the first plane ticket to Haiti and try to do something, anything, to relieve some of the suffering; to bring some help and some hope.
For possibly the first time in my life I think I have come to understand in a tangible way that wealth is not a bad thing in and of itself. Great wealth can bring great good. Even the Bill Gates’ and Charles Bronfman’s among us have no reason to be ashamed of their great wealth in and of itself; it is after all, the love of money that is the root of all evil. That being said, those of us who are wealthy, be it by world standards or by North American standards, have a responsibility to care for those who can’t care for themselves. I’d love to be able to fly down to Haiti and help people one by one, but I can’t because I’m not North American wealthy. What I can do is dig into my own funds, the cash I’ve been setting aside to buy a new computer or whatever, and spend it on someone somewhere who really needs it. Care for the poor and the widows Jesus said. Sounds easy, until I realize that caring for the poor means the shiny new iMac I’ve been eyeing will have to wait. And when it comes to me and my stuff, I don’t like waiting.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
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