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

So I was sitting in my car parked on the side of the road after a long day of inspections and this song comes on the radio…helped to put some things in perspective.” />

 

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

The Imam & the Pastor
This Sunday we will be taking a break from our study in the book of Acts to watch a movie.  No, not the Matrix or Lord of the Rings, although both would be well worth watching.  No, this Sunday we will be engaging a documentary that is being shown in communities across the GVRD.  As seen below there is a showing this Thursday at The Richmond Hospital.  In a time where the world is being rocked by ungodly forms extremism and fundamentalism of all kinds by people of various beliefs, this documentary gives us a look at what an alternate path of peace and cooperation might look like.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9)

As followers of Jesus, how can we promote peace without selling out on what we believe?   

Here’s a little write up on the documentary:
“The Imam and the Pastor’ depicts the reconciliation between Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, and the peace-making initiatives which have flowed from it. The film, narrated by Rageh Omaar, traces their remarkable story. It depicts the dynamics of personal forgiveness, and highlights some of the difficulties that arise in Christian-Muslim partnership and how they can be tackled.”  

For more info and to view the trailer go "here"

I would invite you all, if you are available, to attend the speaking engagement being held at Richmond City Hall, where both pastor James and Imam Muhammad themselves will be on hand to share their story.

Can there be truth in John Lennon’s famous words, “…all we are saying, is give peace a chance?”

Invite your friends, all are welcome!

Terra Nova Group
Date: Sunday, January 12th
Place: Co-op Common Room
Time:  5:30-7:15pm

“Blessed are the peacemakers”

Community in Prayer
Please call or e-mail us at thejoshuahouse@shaw.ca with any prayer requests you would like to have the church community praying for!

Upcoming Events
The Imam and the Pastor – A documentary from the heart of Nigeria…
“From vengeance and killing to healing and friendship…”
“A moving story of grass-roots peace-building that gives hope to humanity”
Date: Thursday, January 10th
Time: 7pm
Where: Ralph Fisher Auditorium (in The Richmond General Hospital)

Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye Speaking – The two men featured in the movie above
Date: Friday, January 18th
Time: 6:30pm
Where: Richmond City Hall

Missions Fest 2008
“For Such a Time as This -
Destined to Make a Difference”
January 25–27, 2008
Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre
website

Scary Movies and the Christian
Around Halloween I had some good conversations with different friends on the whole watching horror movies issue.  In the days surrounding Halloween, as I channel surfed my TV by repeatedly pressing my already severely indented “channel-up” button (from the several quadrillions of times I have pressed it over the years), I couldn’t help but come across scary movie after scary movie being served up on my already over-priced, non-digital cable package.  I know I’m not alone on this.  Now I do have to admit that over the years I personally have enjoyed many a scary movie, everything from Jaws, Halloween and The Thing (the 80’s one with Kurt Russell) back when I was a teenager right through to more contemporary tales like Wes Craven’s Scream series, M. Knight Shyamalan’s The Village and a recent rental I got called Disturbia.

But as a Christian who should always be discerning about what aspects of the world around me I let into my heart and mind what should I think about all these scary movies that make their way into our TV’s, movie rental stores and theaters?

That being said I would like to pass on another good article on this issue that again relates to our recent discussions as a church on our value of discerning, missional cultural engagement.  This one again is by Pastor Harleman of Mars Hill Church (pastor of film and theology) and looks more closely at the issue of the horror, gore and fear movie genre and the Christian life.

For the article click here

As a disclaimer I would like to say that there are actually some movies that I choose not to watch because I think they will be more harmful than helpful to my life as a Christian.  I should also say this can often include really bad romantic comedies, etc.  This is something that I have chosen to do because I, like Mars Hill and other culturally engaging churches, understand that movies are the modern preaching pulpits of our day.  So the question is, how are we both discerning and engaging with this most important culture-forming media of our time in Jesus’ name (Colossians 3:17)?

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!

First let me say thanks to my fellow church planter Nick from Tapestry church in Calgary (part of our incarnational church network - The IIB Network) for passing this on.  It seems like we are both on a similar quest for the holy grail of figuring out how to be a missional church of Jesus followers in modern day Canadian suburbia.  Not as easy as you think!  The gospel both affirms and contradicts many values and lifestyles found in your average suburban community.  So where do we begin?

Here is a take on Ten Ways to be the People of God in Suburbia by Chris Smith.  Clearly not a comprehensive list but perhaps a decent place to start.

For those of us who are trying to figure out what to do with this whole Halloween thing as Christians, I want to offer a pretty good article on the whole thing that explains my current take on it.

Have a read and let us know what you think.

For the article, click "here" 

I love coffee, as many of you probably know, and so I am often found drifting into coffee shops for my occasional caffeine fix.  There is one coffee shop near my house that Glenda and I sometimes go to with Ethan and Taia on our walks to the park or the supermarket.  It amazes me how often I see parents in there with their children just trying to get their coffee only to find that getting your stroller through that shop is like trying to put on a pair of jeans you wore when you were in high school.  Could these coffee shops be any smaller?  The odd time Ethan gets a little excited and gets in the way of the hip yuppie trying to put some cane sugar in his half-caff, espresso macchiato or perhaps he gets a cold stare from an independent older lady for interrupting her quiet time with her O (Oprah) magazine.  All in all, it can be a pretty trying experience just wanting to get some decent coffee while out for a stroll with your kids.  The other day a friend of mine showed me a new coffee shop down on Commercial Drive where their church community occasionally meets.  It is a family friendly coffee shop with wide isles, big tables and a toy/play area.  How cool is that?

Overall, I have to say, trying to start a new church where basically half our congregation is children under the age of four has been challenging to say the least.  I think even the whole issue of raising children in general in our culture is one that many people often struggle with.  Although our city has made some great strides in trying to make itself more kid and family friendly, there continues to be at times a quiet undertone out there that crying, screaming children just aren’t that welcome in certain circles.  How are things different in our churches?  How do we really view children?  Are they really a blessing or are we often times tempted to see them more as a pain, getting in the way of what we would rather be doing?

“But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16)

“Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all–he is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48)

Pray that we would truly see children as Jesus sees them, as a treasure from the Lord and as a taste of His Kingdom.