I would like to introduce you to Pastor Steve Grove’s sermon blog. Steve is a fellow EBC alum, and a fellow Nazarene and I had the privilege of going to college with his wife. Enjoy, there are some great sermons.
With rising gas prices and a truck that is making a slow march to car heaven, Chuck and I have decided to trade in gas bills and truck repairs for bus passes. We took one last road trip down to Georgia at the end of June, and effective July 1st we became HSR users.
In the nearly two weeks of using the bus we have learned several things:
1. Sunday bus service on the HSR is dreadful. We spend Sundays at church because of both morning and evening obligations (we run a Bible study Sunday nights for the young people) and tend not to leave until 9:30-10pm. We stood at the bus stop at Main and Ottawa for 45 minutes and when the bus came it was jam-packed beyond standing room only. Not only do the buses run less frequently, but they are very crowded.
2. HSR needs to run a bus along Garner/Rymal Road. To get to Redeemer, we take the Upper Paradise bus to the Glancaster loop and because it is summer, have to walk along Garner to the university. Granted in the fall there is a shuttle that runs from the loop to Redeemer, there needs to be a better system. My suggestion would be for HSR to run a bus along Garner from Upper James out to the Walmart Power Centre in Ancaster.
3. Hamilton is a great walking city. So many have complained that because of the one-way streets Hamilton is too car oriented. We have found that this is not the case. We have found that the core especially is quite conducive to walking. And living in the core means that there is something new to see every day.
4. Jackson Square has completely changed. Ten years ago if you were to ask me about Jackson Square, I would have said it is a ghost mall. But not anymore. With the services of City Hall temporarily taking residence in the Eaton Centre (now Hamilton City Centre) the foot traffic is amazing. Many of the storefronts in the mall are leased and open. And it’s not just Monday to Friday that it is bustling with people. Today we went down to see “Wall-E” and there were a ton of families at the mall! My suggestion is for City Hall to keep their services in the mall rather than renovating the eyesore that is City Hall.
5. Downtown needs a grocery store. True we have the Farmer’s Market (which I love) and true there is a little grocery store on James street (Adam’s Marketplace), what is needed is a full-fledged grocery store like a “Barn” or “Fortinos”.
6. These feet are made for walking. Walking is definitely better than going to the gym, though I am going to have to buy a better pair of sneakers.
As Christians we are called to care for the poor, the downtrodden and the marginalized. We are called to be charitable and compassionate. And many of us would say “Amen” to all of the above, not only agreeing with the thought, but affirming that we do that in our daily lives.
Well, a pastor in England decided to put his congregation to the test. Informing them that he would be late for Sunday’s service, he dressed up in dirty clothes, surrounded himself with empty beer bottles, and discarded syringes, and sat in front of the church as the people shuffled in for morning service. The result: Not a single person offered to help him. Not a single person gave him some money for food. Not a single person invited him into the church for service.
Then, the pastor revealed himself to the congregation.
He said: “Some were very embarrassed. Nobody was angry with me but they were shocked they had ignored me in the way they had.
I wonder what would happen if our pastors did that? What would your reaction be to a beggar on the steps of your church?
Chuck and I have just come back from a road trip down to Georgia to visit family. My favourite part of the driving was finding Christian radio stations. Here in southern Ontario our Christian radio pickings are very slim, and I’ve never been a fan of the “talk” radio. I like worship and Contemporary Christian music. So as we passed through each state, my job was to find the local Christian music station. Many times it was K-love, but in Ohio we tuned to Star 93.3.
The first song we heard shocked us! It was a song that I love, but has one line that bothers me. If it wasn’t for that one line, it would make a great worship song. And here it was, playing on Christian radio, and they changed the line!!!! Yahoo!
The song: Spirit in the Sky, redeemed by DC Talk. Instead of “never been a sinner, never sinned”, the line has been changed to “You know that I’m a sinner, we all sin”. So of course, I had to find it. I checked iTunes. No luck. It is on an album available on Amazon, but I don’t know if I want an entire album just for the one song. But yay! Now, if I only I can figure out some way for the praise team to do it as an offeratory at church. That would be so sweet.
-Amanda
P.S. Life has dealt us a couple of blows the last couple of months, hence the lack of blogging. Now that things are calming down, it shall resume. Chuck and I have been making progress on our research into sanctification and I am currently working on research in 2nd Samuel.
Wow, so after spending nearly a week in a place that only had dial-up, I could tell that I had internet news withdrawal. No news, no fark, no blogs!
The leadership blog over at Christianity Today has an awesome article “You Might Be Emergent If…”
I think the book needs to be added to my list of books to buy, and based on that list I’m only halfway emergent!
-Amanda MacInnis
I’ve rented a car to drive to Hanover this week. It’s soooo tiny!
I’ll let you know how it drives. Supposedly it is very eco-friendly and might one day make a good car for us if we stay in the city.
Gretta Vosper has been in Canadian news quite a bit lately, as she is promoting her new book, “With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe”. Over Easter weekend, the Globe and Mail did a story about how her church would be singing “Glorious Hope is Risen Today”, rather than “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” At Gretta’s site for the “Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity” there are several modified hymns listed. For example, instead of singing “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”, they offer the following modified hymn:
Sing Praise to All
Sing praise to all that has offered us life and sustains us—
All that has opened our hearts to the love borne within us:
Family and friends,
Beauty we see without end—
Gifts that our lives lay before us.Sing praise to all that has opened our minds to new vistas—
All that has called us to seek out new truths through the ages:
Vision and word,
Music that sought to be heard
These are the gifts that will mould us.Sing praise to minds that will fashion our bold new tomorrows—
Yesterday’s wisdom released from its dogma and credos.
Evermore free
To live out what we believe
Walking the path that Life hallows
(They also offer an alternative to “How Great Thou Art”)
Now I realize that most of the hymns in our hymnals are now under public domain, and so we are able to modify them freely. Some of them have been slightly modified depending on what hymn book it is in. Take for example, “Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King” a modernization of “Come, Thou Fount.” We played this in church a couple of weeks ago, and changed the last verse to match what was in our hymn book. Those who grew up with the Nazarene hymn book recognized the third verse, but those who grew up in different traditions, or those who had only recently come to know the song through the new modern adaptation, were a little thrown off. You can see the verses in the link above, and here is the third verse from the Nazarene hymnal:
O to Grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace, now like a fetter
Bind my yielded heart to Thee
Let me know Thee in Thy fullness
Guide me by Thy mighty hand
Till, transformed, in Thine own image
In Thy presence I shall stand.
So here’s the question. Is changing a few words to fit with our tradition the same as what Vosper is doing? How important is it that the songs we sing in Church be theologically sound? Are there examples of songs that we sing in church that we shouldn’t?
These are the questions that will be part of the discussion at our “Unbound” group next Sunday night. I will be posing these questions to the young people to help them start to wrestle out a theology of worship. As well, this Sunday is “Build your own ice cream sundaes!” Yum, yum!
-Amanda MacInnis
Frank Emanuel made an interesting comment on my post on “My Library”. He said, “It is worthwhile having at least one: intro to theology, ecclesiology, pneumatology and whatever good history you can get of your own movement(s).”
It got me thinking. There are so many Christians who do not grow up and stay in one particular denomination or tradition. I mean, I became a Christian in a Pentecostal Church, but took membership during my early Christian years in a Congregational Church, went to an Evangelical Missionary Bible College, married a Conservative Baptist, who works at a Reformed school and we now attend a Nazarene church.
What is my theological tradition? What is my movement? All of the above? Only Nazarene since that is where I am pursuing ordination? Could I go broader and just say Evangelical with a toe in post-Evangelicalism?
And if that is the case, then should I be reading up on all Evangelical history? Or, should I be reading up on Canadian church history?
The answer is, I think, that I should be reading up on all. Stanley Grenz took this type of approach in “Renewing the Center: Evangelical Theology in a Post-Theological Era.” In looking at the present and future of Evangelicalism, he looks back to three movements that are influential to the modern evangelical movement: The Reformation (Luther and Calvin), Revivalism and Methodism, and modern evangelicalism (after the rise of fundamentalism).
Of course, this means even more reading. I find the more I study and the more I read, the more non-specialized I want to be. Some of my peers are specializing, looking at a specific theologian, or theological movement, looking at a specific book of the Bible, or a specific method of hermeneutics etc. I find myself wanting to be a “jack of all trades”, (which means “master of none”). I want to be able to pull from different theological and historical traditions depending on what I’m currently studying. I do not want to limit myself.
So how do I do this? By staying in school forever! Do you think Chuck can afford for me to take two or three graduate degrees? How about one in Biblical studies, one in theology and one in history? I guess Chuck’s upcoming book is going to have to sell a million copies! 
-Amanda MacInnis
My family put my grandmother into long-term care this week. Baba is 88 years old and has always been very independent. Since Gido died in 1998 she has lived on her own in an apartment in a seniors’ building. She was floor representative on the building council, and was extremely active in euchre, knitting and other social events. Last September she had heart surgery to extend her quality of life, so that she could continue to be independent. She would still be independent if she hadn’t then had stomach surgery a mere two months later.
After spending several weeks in hospital, following the stomach surgery, the hospital discharged her on a Friday because they needed the bed. They did not see the note on her chart that said she should be discharged to respite care for rehabilitation. Instead they sent her home in a cab with no followup or discussion with the family. When we found out and went to see her, it was awful. She wasn’t eating, or taking her meds, and she was so frail she could barely move. On Christmas Eve we were able to get her into respite care, thanks to the efforts of an amazing Community Case Manager. Within two weeks, Baba was alert, stronger, eating properly and ready to be back on her own.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last. When she was discharged from respite care she weighed 113 lbs. In the six weeks following, she lost 7 lbs from lack of eating and mismanagement of meds. Her homecare workers called us often to say she was always sleeping. The Community Case Manager returned to do an assessment, and put her on the short list for Long Term Care. In Ontario there is a three year waiting list to get into long-term care, unless you are put on the short list which can be anywhere from one to three months.
We talked to Baba and told her that it was her time to be pampered. She should no longer have to worry about cooking and cleaning and laundry. She deserves to be taken care of, so that she can focus on doing the things that she enjoys. Being in her new place, her appetite has returned. She is eagerly eating everything put in front of her. Her meds are being taken properly. She is finally becoming the Baba that she used to be, spry, social and stubborn.
And then yesterday we got a call from Edmonton. Baba’s sister, 15 years younger, died suddenly Thursday night. While we probably are not able to go out for the funeral our thoughts are with our Alberta cousins.
I find myself reflecting on mortality, not so much mine individually, but more in terms of family. An entire generation of family is passing on, an entire generation that lived through two world wars, a depression and so much more. My Ukrainian heritage is dying just as I’m finally old enough to appreciate it. The stories, the experiences, the perspectives and the faith of an immigrant family who farmed rocks in Northern Alberta are quickly becoming a mere footnote.
As a Christian, I think about the legacy of faith. How do I prepare for the day when I too shall pass? How can I ensure that the experiences of faith that shape who I am will not become a mere footnote in the history of my hypothetical children and grandchildren. There has been much discussion coming from the Emerging Church of revisiting and embracing the faith of the Early Church Fathers, to engage with the voices of Christians who have lived through the centuries, and to remember that our faith is not just for our generation. I think we should not just look at the “big” names, the “heroes” of the faith, whose lives are big and impressive. Rather, we need to look at the “small” names, the unsung “heroes,” those whose lives were small, yet valuable. If Christianity is the “Story of Us,” then we need to embrace the idea that telling the story involves telling the story of our ancestors, of keeping alive their faith, so that each generation can add their voice to the choir of Christian heritage.
-Amanda MacInnis
“The shopping mall provides an apt metaphor for religion today. The idea of the mall is that no single store can satisfy all of one’s consumer’s need. By analogy, Americans by and large have decided that no single church or religion can be expected to satisfy all our spiritual needs…Americans come into the great religious mall and find there some large churches seeking to be full-service spiritual venues and also many smaller boutique religions that appeal only to a segment of the population, which seeks them out for very specific reasons…Like a shopper in a mall, the contemporary American comes into the marketplace of religions with certain needs and problems and goes looking for activities and programs that promise to satisfy the needs and solve the problems. Those that fail to deliver on their promises may be abandoned as quickly as we return broken tools or ill-fitting clothing.”
Samuel M. Powell, A Theology of Christian Spirituality. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005), 18-19.
