Blogging is so Passe.

Hello. Or more like, "Hello?"

And "Goodbye."

To all the readers here, past and present (present being a liberal use of the word), thank-you. I have appreciated your comment, the dialogue we've shared, the learning from among friends, and new conversations with new friends. This summer I even had the privilege of meeting a few of the faceless names - which was really cool.

Anyhow, in the coming year I am dedicating my time to a few different writing projects
which require my ongoing attention. I am working on a short commentary on Romans which should be complete by summer 08, a book about Jesus that will be for sale at your local punk show merch table, and hopefully some newspaper columns that will be more exciting then Billy-Fundamentalist in the Religion column.

As a result, I'll be too busy for this blog.

Not to mention that I am praying for an Indian summer to extend the climbing season and praying that I will log a pile of first tracks this winter on my snowboard. Other then that, I'll be dating my wife, studying, preaching, and putting into practice my party theology.*

What I am trying to say is, "I'll be too busy for this blog."

Thanks guys.

*Party Theology is one of my top three favorite doctrines of all time; the other two being 'Propitiation' and 'Two Shall Become One.' But that is another story.

Tolerance: Part 2.1

Canadian culture has, since Trudeau in the 1960's, officially embraced a form* of tolerance that has given Canada its clear multi-cultural distinction from our great neighbors to the south. The question I have in mind as I think of the example of holiday tree's in public places (instead of Christmas trees) is this: At what point must you intolerate your own culture to tolerate another culture? I wonder how far this question reaches into the fabric of Canadian culture and, to be more specific, Canadian church culture. Something to think about anyways.

Tolerance: Part 2

The last place that I lost my keys was in a snowy parkinglot near Gravity Hill in Abbotsford, BC. The parkinglot, which was actually more icy then snowy, was at the base of a small snowy hill near the end of a mountain plateau with hundreds of rows of small green trees. These, in all of their natural glory, were about to become firewood, woodchips, and memories. Sadly, this was to be the fate of the u-cut holiday tree.

If you live in a condo, were ever termed as a metrosexual some years ago, have a closet full of shoes, enjoy poetry without rap music, enjoy rap music, think that a trip to the country involves two bus fares, or are an over-sensitive vegetarian then you will no doubt have never encountered a real holiday tree.

The holiday trees that you are used to come in a box, are stored in a larger box, and are far more environmentally harmful then cutting down the real thing. Plus they smell like coat hangers which, unless you have some weird holiday fetish, shouldn't get you in the mood at all.

But still, it is a holiday tree. A fake, yes, but nonetheless real.

Tolerance: Part 1.

Some years ago I wrote a paper on the topic of tolerance for a professor of philosophy with a couple of intents: a. to entertain him, b. to directly challenge him, and c. to finish as quickly as possible so I could go snowboarding. I succeeded on all three fronts, received a near perfect score, enjoyed some witty email banter back and forth, and was credited with introducing a new word to the discipline of philosophy.

That word was 'neo-tolerance.'

Now, normally I wouldn't brag about some academic accomplishment because really, when it comes right down to it, I haven't really had any academic accomplishment to speak of. I'm still over ten classes away from actually finishing Bible school, I quit swimming lessons, loathed piano lessons, and skipped out on my last hour of snowboard-instructor school to go shred the pow. However, I do think that it is very important that you know about the word 'neo-tolerance' and its inventor for the simple reason that over the last few weeks I have grown a beard. Yes, a beard.

Never trust a man with a beard.

At least this has been the motto swirling around in the back of my head for many years. And so, in a rather weak attempt to validate myself to you, I must tell you that, in fact, it was D.A. Carson who suggested the word 'neo-tolerance' and not a pressed for time snowboarder. This confession, I believe, should alleviate any mis-trust you may be harbouring as I grow my beard, eat granolla, and live in a van.

I do, however, completely understand if this is intolerable.

Young Adults Camp

Hello again.
Blogging has certainly become a thing of the past hasn't it? If you're still blogging - what the heck are you doing? Just kidding. Really, I'm kidding.

Anyhow, Candace and I are now back in the great frozen nation of Canada and, though we are not freezing, we are being drowned and depressed by the rain and gloomy skies. The one perk of the constant rain is that all of the climbing is wet and unclimbable which, while normally being a bad thing, has freed up some time to do some sermon writing. If you are somewhere in southwestern BC, twenty-something, and have a higher then average pain tolerance I should recommend that you register and attend the Nanoose Bay Young Adults Camp June 29 - July 1. The high pain tolerance most likely has to do with the fact that I am speaking and may have some allusion to camp food.* At any rate, it should be a fun few days as young adults from around the region gather together to worship Jesus, study the Bible, and created some shared memories.

If you want to get to the camp the directions are easy: register, get three friends to register so your car is full, stop at the gas station, fuel up, get a bag of Doritos, drive, share some food and laughter, make a wrong turn and a mental note to bring a map next time, take some pictures, bring a sleeping bag, and then edit your pics so that everyone thinks it was the time of your life. See you there!

*In actual fact, camp food is usually pretty good and Nanoose may be no different...but there is always that off chance that it will be off. If you are twenty-something, however, the quality of food simply doesn't matter - what really matters is that it is food three times a day that you didn't cook or have to clean up after. That, and it's not noodle packages mixed with tuna.

On the Road Again...

I meant to post some photo's of our trip here today for our family and friends...but...for some reason I haven't been able to upload the images today. Sorry. Stay posted and I'll see what I can do...
We miss you.
-Jer

Pastoring Too Hard

There is something very sad about pastoring too hard. Life can fall apart.

Candace and I are constantly broken by the friends and partners in ministry that we know who come flying down a steep hill of pastoring too hard and, when they go to negotiate the corner at the bottom of the hill, the brake pads blow right off the car and they plunge over the cliff into a burning wreck. It wrecks them. It wrecks us. It wrecks Jesus’ church.

Earlier today as I was doing some study and listening to one of my currently favorite bands, The Arcade Fire, I was absolutely broken by a song about the life of pastors. I do not know the spiritual state of the band but I am pretty sure you are not going to find it at your local Christian book store. They do, however, have some very moving songs. Here are some lyrics from the song “Intervention”:

“Working for the church while your families dies…

…Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home…

…Who is going to re-set the bone when you’re walking with you’re heart in a sling…

…Working for the church while my family dies…

…Your little sister is going to lose her mind…

…Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home…

…Working for the church while your life falls apart…

…Singing Hallelujah when you’re failing at home…

…Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home…”

What a strong call to the pastor! As I have been praying for our pastors in BC today I couldn’t help but to really feel the title of this song: Intervention. The opening line of this song simply states: The King has taken back the thrown. To my friends and colleagues who pastor – please remember that Jesus said that it is his church that he is building – it is Jesus’ church. I feel a great burden for each of us today as I pray and think of you.

Grace and Peace,

-Jeremy and Candace.

Happy Boulders

Candace warming up at the Happy Boulders in Bishop, CA. Where is your happy place?

It Snowed Last Night

Candace and I are now one week into our sabbatical and living in a gravel pit in northern California at 4500 feet. Literally - a gravel pit. It is a strange and dusty little place with plenty of rocks, squatters, and a cat the keeps relieving itself near our tent. It is perfect.
It helps me feel God everytime I leave.

Anyways, we are alive and only slightly malnourished.
Go Canucks!
-Jer

Social Intelligence

Best-selling author Daniel Goleman's newest book Social Intelligence has, so far, been absolutely brilliant! I started reading this book this morning and have only just picked my way through the prologue and first couple of chapters. I may be jumping the gun a wee bit, however, I already would like to recommend this book to every leader, pastor, or person whose job it is to relate well with other people.
The premise of this book is simple: We are wired to connect. From this thesis Goleman goes on to open up the science of relationships (social neuroscience) with convincing research, interesting stories, and easy to understand writing to show us how relational intelligence impacts every area of life. You may be very surprised by some of the findings!
Daniel Goleman has also authored the best-selling Emotional Intelligence and recommended Primal Leadership.