The Joshua House
a missional community of worship following Jesus...

Iraq, Afghanistan, Rawanda, Darfur, AIDS, cancer, malaria, starvation, poverty, terrorism, 9/11, Indonesian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, three children murdered in Merritt, Bisphenol-A in baby and water bottles, theft, adultery, molestation, rejection, loss, broken relationships, pride, selfishness, greed, suffering, death, the list goes on and on and on and on.  Why is the world so messed up?  Why are we so messed up?  Where is God in all this?  I’m sure there isn’t one person who hasn’t asked themselves these questions and wondered about it all.

Renowned new testament scholar and Bishop of Durham in the Church of England, N.T. Wright, recently wrote a book called Evil and the Justice of God where he tackles these very issues head on.  He reflects on the reality of evil in our world, how the world has tried to offer theories and solutions in both modernity and post modernity but how ultimately the answer may lie in a Galilean Jew who was crucified on a cross 2,000 years ago.

As a result of the book, N.T. Wright made a short DVD series entitled Evil that we as a church will be using at our Terra Nova group on Sunday nights after we finish our study in the book of Acts.  This looks to happen around the end of May or early June and will go over four Sunday nights.  So I would like to invite all of you to join us and to think and pray about others you would like to invite who might be looking for some answers to this very real question of evil and suffering in our world.

Interesting book coming out by Timothy Keller, pastor of a church in Manhattan, New York called Redeemer Presbyterian Church. The book is called The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.

Tim Keller is an interesting bloke because he’s sort of known as one of the pioneers of a more recent urban kind of Christianity (what Christianity should look like in the cities). Put another way, he’s up there with guys like Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, John Piper, N.T. Wright, etc.  I can’t believe I just put all those names together on the same line!

For some of you who might not know, these guys definitely don’t always agree with each other on everything but they are sort of part of an increasingly more popular group of leaders steering the way for Western evangelicalism in the 21st century.

I just finished listening to a really interesting sermon given by Tim Keller on “Exclusivity: how can there be just one true religion?” and wanted to pass it on to our community as I found it rather helpful. Have a listen and maybe pick up the book if your looking for more answers to questions like the one above.  The sermon is on the book’s website as it is one of the several issues the author raises and seeks to answer.

The book’s website above has other helpful links, resources and media too.

To listen to the sermon click here

To me, heaven is getting the kids to bed early without the kind of drama that would put Grey’s Anatomy to shame, making a big plate of nachos and sitting down to watch one of my favourite 80’s movies on TV like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Say Anything, Lost Boys or The Breakfast Club (if you want to know more about my quirky movie taste feel free to see my favourite movies list on my facebook).  Whether it’s Cancun Mexico in the winter, a bite of our favourite chocholate bar, or scoring that game winning goal, I’m sure if we thought about it we’d all have different ideas of what heaven means to us, right?    But what of the bible?  What does it mean when it uses that term, and subsequently how are we as Christians to apply this understanding to our real lives here, now and today?

Often the way we talk about heaven in church can be like the way we talk about RSP’s (which by the way are due at the end of this month).  Most of us have them, believe in them, and even put our hard earned money into them but ask someone to explain how this will save us money on our tax returns and you will likely get back a blank stare and the word, “uhhhh” being uttered.

I wanted to share with all of you a recent interesting article in Time magazine entitled “Christians Wrong About Heaven, says Bishop.”  It is an interview with a well-respected Anglican bishop, pastor and New Testament scholar N.T. Wright who actually seems to dare talk about the specifics of what the bible means when it speaks of heaven.  I found it very helpful and I hope you do as well.  

By the way, in the near future I am considering on using some of his new DVD resources in our church.  He’s got a great DVD on the Resurrection as well as another on Evil, both of which I believe are very timely and essential topics to learn about today as Christians.

For the article just click here

In the spirit of our discussion last Sunday night on Advent I would like to pass along an Advent video that the wife of a former teacher of mine created for this Christian season.  May it inspire us all to worship more the one who is worthy this Christmas!  Some of you might think I’m being a little early on this…but have you seen the stores lately?  Although traditional Western Advent doesn’t start until December, Celtic and Eastern Orthodox Advent start in the middle of November.  I don’t think you can start too early to begin meditating on and preparing spiritually for both the remembrance of the incarnation of Jesus and the expectation of his second coming (two major themes for this time of year).

For the video click here and then press the "play" symbol

Enjoy with a cup of eggnog! 

So one of our four core values at The Joshua House is what we call “missional journey.”  It means several things but specifically one of the things it means is how we want to be a church that has a more radical engagement with culture, specifically postmodern culture, for the sake of the gospel.  Many of you know that I have a real bone to pick with this and will continue to sound like a broken record until I convince as many of you as possible for its need.  Fortunately I don’t have to make the case on my own feeble insights alone but can let scripture speak for me instead.  Two Sundays ago as part of our walk through Acts we looked at Acts 10 and had a great discussion on the whole issue of the clean vs. unclean things in our culture and even in our churches?  I sent out a Mark Driscoll (http://www.marshillchurch.org) video related to the issue and thought that would be that, until I started reading Acts 11 for this Sunday and saw the whole issue being brought up all over again.

So as I reminisced about my own conversion experience(s) I found myself asking a question:  Would I have become a Christian if the gospel hadn’t been communicated to me in a culturally relevant way?  And that is the question I leave with you here.  Note – As a Christian who believes in predestination and the sovereignty of God (because the scriptures seem to say so) I do believe I would have become a Christian regardless, but who knows when, maybe not until I was ninety years old (I hope I live that long), dying on my death bed.  And that I believe, would have been a tragedy.  So here’s my question and my rant:

Would I have become a Christian at Camp Qwanoes (a Christian camp on Vancouver Island) when I was thirteen if:

• They sang nothing but hymns on an old pipe organ instead of having a band with electric guitars and congo drums singing rock ballad worship songs by Michael W. Smith, Rich Mullins and Keith Green?  (By the way, the point here is not so much the hymns as the pipe organ…many hymns are pretty cool if done well)

• They had counselors that thought most Hollywood movies were of the devil, guitars and drums were demon possessed and skateboarding was what lost heathens did, instead of counselors who liked movies that I liked such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws and Rambo, were musicians in rock bands and taught me how to do ollies on my Powell Peralta skateboard?

• They held the camp inside a big, square, pastel painted building with bare, white walls and fluorescent lighting instead of in the wild forests of B.C., situated along an oceanside beach, full of cool rustic cabins, eating dinner with the setting sun on a deck overlooking an inlet and then later sharing and singing songs around a huge bon fire outside under the majestic star-lit night sky?

• They played games like “guess which bible translation is evil,” “what’s your favorite Gaither song” or “pin the cross on the sinner” instead of games like capture the flag, surf the soapy slip and slide, how many people can we fit into a Mazda hatchback and midnight pillow fights in the field?

I know I take some liberties and make some major exaggerations but if that’s what cultural relevancy looked like for me as a teenager in the late 80’s at a Christian camp what should it look like today in 2007 in an increasingly postmodern world for adults/families in our churches?

I wanted to share a helpful interview with Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  He touches on the whole issue of clean vs. unclean in Christian/Church life today.  You’ll remember in our discussion on Sunday night on Acts 10 how I mentioned him in regards to this issue.  We certainly have a lot of unlearning and learning to do as God’s people today.

To view the 5 min. video just click here 

Living in a Co-op can really have its interesting moments.  Let’s say I’m chatting with someone I haven’t spoken with or seen for a long time.  It’s good to catch up and listen to how the other person is doing and all the changes that have occurred.  Almost always the conversation is pretty upbeat and we are both tempted to oversell how good things are actually going.  But that’s ok, there often isn’t time in these conversations to admit how things really are.  Somewhere along the line the question, “so where are you living these days?” comes up.  Now perhaps it shouldn’t really matter, but the reality is I can answer this question in one of two ways.  I can simply say I live in an area of northwest Richmond called Terra Nova.  For anyone who knows Richmond this will immediately conjure up images of the Fraser River meeting the ocean, strolling on the dyke with the scenic coastal mountains in the background, gated townhouse communities, people walking their little dogs that wear little dog reflective jackets that are nicer than mine, million dollar homes which you’d think were abandoned if you didn’t see people come out maybe once a year to either wash their Mercedes Benz or prune their prize-winning rose bushes. Many would probably also mention the Starbucks we have on the main corner which I think would win the skinniest Starbucks in the world award.  

Now I can leave it there and let people think I must be doing pretty well for myself for living in such a swank neighbourhood or I could share a little more by adding that I also happen to live in a Co-op.  I always add the part about living in a Co-op as well.  This has at times ended that part of the conversation because people in middle-upper class suburbia will often attach a stigma to Co-op housing by lumping it in with other forms of social housing.  I’m already used to this because people generally don’t know what to do when I tell them I’m a pastor either.  Sometimes, when our church gets missions teams up from the American south and I explain where we live and where we are doing church before they come, they think I’m talking about “the projects.”  But even many Canadians have many misconceptions about what Cooperative housing is as well.  So let me briefly explain:  Simply put, it is a community of people who have entered into a limited partnership with the government to create more affordable housing for those who need it and to bring together people of various income levels to live together in an intentionally cooperating community.  We have Ph.D’s, lawyers, pastors, single mothers, mechanics, construction workers and social workers all living in the same complex together.  Most pay a market rent which tends to be at most 90% of the rent prices in the neighbourhood and those who can’t afford that, around 1/3rd of the residents, also get further rent subsidies from the government.  Glenda and I thank God for this place because not only has it allowed us to stay in Richmond near our family in a time of incredulous real estate prices but it has also allowed us to live out our dream of creating intentional Christian community within an existing community here at the Co-op.  

Now I bring this all up because I have to be honest in saying that at times I am tempted to leave the part of our living in a Co-op out of such a conversation.  And my question is, why?  I think you’ll agree with me when I say it’s because we live in a world where most people are tempted to play favourites.  We tend to stick with those who are most like us and if someone doesn’t fit our particular sphere of culture, economic status, etc. we might not be as inclined to build a relationship with them.  This is a real problem today, as it was in the time of the New Testament.  On Sunday in Acts 10 we saw how God taught Peter (a Jew) that He doesn’t play favourites and was just as willing to give His Spirit to Gentile (non-Jewish) converts to Jesus as he was to Jewish converts to Jesus.  This was absolutely revolutionary to Peter who like all Jews was taught not to associate, or even eat a meal with Gentiles.  

Is this not still just as revolutionary today?

So my question for you is do you play favourites?  Or do you, like God, invite people of all ethnicities, socio economic levels, cultures, sub-cultures, age groups, religions, etc. into your life? 

God certainly doesn’t play favourites and neither should His people!

Some question from our discussion on Acts 7 last Sunday night:

1. v.40-42 - What do these verses tell us about the nature of man and worship?  Why does man often prefer self-made gods to the one true God?  What are some contemporary examples of this?
2. Why is Stephen retelling the story of the Jews to the very Jewish authorities who already know it?  Why not just set the record straight about himself and what Jesus really said?
3. How do people today miss the forest for the trees when it comes to God?  How about Christians sometimes?
4. v.51 - What did Stephen mean when he told those of the Sanhedrin that their hearts and ears were uncircumcised?  (see v.53)
5. Does Stephen’s reaction to their anger inspire you?  Scare you?  Why?
   

Life is so full of do, do, do!  As the human race we certainly take the "race" portion quite seriously as we are often racing about in all directions to get things done.  Like my 80’s hero Ferris Bueller says, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don’t stop and take a look around every once in a while you just might miss it."  Pretty wise words from a fictional teenager.

That is why this Sunday at The Joshua House we will be looking at the question why?  Why do we do what we do?  And more specifically, "Why church?"

Come out and join the learning and discussion! 

Here are the questions we looked at last night during our learning/discussion time as we entered into Acts 6:

1. (v.1) Up until now in Acts, Luke has generally been using the term "believers" to denote those who are Christians, now he begins to use the word "disciples".  Why the change?  What dimension is now being added by using this word in addition to "believers"?
2. (v.1-6) Even the early church, that we generally hold up as being our "hero" in regards to church life, had a weakness for discrimination.  What are some examples of this kind of discrimination found in churches today in Vancouver?  By acknowledging this tendency how can we help prevent this from occuring at The Joshua House (TJH)?
3. (v.3) Why does "waiting on tables" require the need to be filled with the Spirit and wisdom?  What are some examples of "waiting on tables" (physical/social) ministries today?  How about in TJH?
4. (v.7) When it says, "the word of God" what does it mean by the "word"?  How does this "word" spread today?  How has it been spread through you recently?
5. (v.14) What’s true and what’s false about this statement (see Luke 21:6 & John 2:19)?  How is this same fear exhibited by these "Freedmen" still sometimes seen today amongst Christians?
6. (v.15) What does a person who’s "filled with the Spirit" look like today?  See 2 Cor.3:18.

Post your responses if you like!