This is a response to the Intro of Irresistible Revolution. To understand where this is coming from a bit better I highly suggest you read the book, it is one of the best I ever read, and definately read my previous blog reviewing Irresistible Revolution.
What better place for a book to start than good news? Well in his introduction to Irresistible Revolution Shane Claiborne is all about the good news. In his introduction Shane proclaims that a new movement of "ordinary radicals" is sweeping North America, Westernized countries and the World.
At first glance you might not understand how this is good news. That is OK though because whoever you are, wherever you are this will probably unroll at some point as good news. Let me explain:
Ordinary Radicals is an important title/name/whatever to understand if you are going figure out why this is good news and join the movement. And trust me, you want to join the movement! So since this title/name/whatever has two parts why not break it down?
The first part is ordinary. Ordinary defines the people of this movement. If you are reading my blog you are probably an ordinary person. Hello my ordinary friend (or Mom, Dad or Pete). Now ordinary is not a derogatory term. In this case I believe it just cancels out superheroes and sub humans, or narrows us down to fallen men (and women). That we all are, fallen and imperfect, but good or ordinary none the less. Ordinary from the dictionary means "with no special or distinctive features". I love this because in my opinion that defines all of us without the goodness of God in our lives. I'll tell you humbly that without the work of God in my life the only characteristic I can come up with for myself is dead. Considering all the dead people in the past hundreds of years I don't think I or anyone else would stand out...
The second part is radical. I dropped the "S" but it will come back soon. Radical is the actions. One definition of radical on my Lappy's Dashboard dictionary is "relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something" and this definition is characterized by when radical is used as an expression of change. The actions of our Ordinary Radicals are going against the grain and changing things. Shining light on issues at new angles, providing new perspectives and having enough effect to cause change.
So far we have Ordinary Radical. The good news to everyone is the "S". Over the past dozen years there have been more and more Ordinary Radicals popping up. Where ten years ago an OrRad might find him or herself trapped between unbelieving activists and inactive believers now there are OrRads sparking up everywhere. Now we can connect and find strength in each other. And as the Bible says where one can cause ten to flee and two can cause a hundred to flee, but, three can cause ten thousand to flee. We are more than three and we are not alone. Change will come as long as we pursue it.
So if you are not one of these ordinary radicals and you are reading this you might be thoroughly confused. Thats OK I can understand why. I am going to try to quickly catch you up. Just a warning you might be offended. That is OK too, most Jewish people were offended by the prophets of their day. When someone is OK with things as they are change and the people pursuing it can be offensive. I am sorry.
So where did these OrRads come from? Well us OrRads come from a difficult place. In each of our lives the details will be very unique, but, the gist of it is that we come from a place of God instilled compassion. Whatever our story, whether through our own suffering or witnessing another's suffering we have realized the current ways are overlooking righteousness or justice in too many ways and we wish to pursue the foundations of God's Throne which are Righteousness and Justice (Ps 89:14).
So what are some examples of Righteousness and Justice being overlooked? I am glad you asked for there are many.
Hypocrisy in the Church - "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door, and deny him with their life style... That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Hypocrisy or as I might call it "fake righteousness" plagues North American and Western churches in so many ways. Whether it is blatant hypocrisy like our young adults known for arriving at University, drinking, sleeping around and experimenting in other ways before leaving the Christian walk altogether, our Youth who clique up in high school and are almost indistinguishable when placed next to other students from their classes or our adults who write single parents off as failures while they cheat on their own perfectly acceptable spouses jeopardizing their own marriage and family. There are many ways which we live which are in distinct opposition to how God guides and somehow some still remain oblivious to this fact.
Hollow Perfection - Have you ever seen one of those Christian TV personalities who are just too good to be true? The ones who pray and read their Bible going to bed and waking up, have perfect marriages, perfect families and are all still perfectly attractive (yes physically) by the world's standard? How absurd is this? No one has it all together and you are not helping anyone out by pretending that you do. Still millions of Christians put on nice (fake) sets of clothes and fake smiles to go to church and give fake smiles, fake hugs and have fake laughs with other people who are faking perfection. Everything is not OK!!! That is OK!!! This fake perfection is an attempt to look righteous on the outside when all God cares about is the inside. No one pleases God (or ordinary people) with Hollow Righteousness.
Ignorance of Justice - I am not talking about Canadian justice, American justice, United Nations justice or any other kind of worldly justice. I am talking about God's justice. Justice where one Canadian soldiers life is worth one life of a Taliban insurgent, or Afghani civilian. Where restoring peace to war torn Africa is as important as restoring peace to an oil rich Middle East, where every child is valued equally no matter which race, nationality, gender or skill set. Justice on the whole isn't being pursued enough by a church which is more occupied with building its own wealth and infighting between denominations over petty theological differences that make NO difference to how God will judge us in the end. How idle are words wasted over proper communion techniques when they are all very different from the original communion and representative of the same symbolic action. Instead these words and the study and effort behind them could be freeing child sex slaves (yes such a thing exists), fighting for better health care instead of a better military, fighting for the reconstruction of a continent the West has raped through slavery and corruption for centuries and fighting for many other just causes.
Now that you know a little bit about some of the issues causing us OrRads to pop up you might be asking me what the good news is behind it. The good news for the OrRads is they are no longer alone, they are hopefully beginning to realize that. The good news for everyone else is that as this movement grows changes will come that are good. For one example maybe the Richest Nation in the world will begin providing all of its citizens with adequate Health Care as a result of a movement for such justices. For another it may mean that a team of rich Westerners might come and dig a well in their remote village providing them with clean accessible water. The funny thing is that team of "Rich Westerners" is probably working minimum wage or worse. This movement as it continues to grow will bring about positive changes to our culture and world. Get excited and join in.
Now before I close I must include this:
This isn't a power driven movement. You Bears and Bulls propelling Wall Street's greed shouldn't be afraid of us. One friend of this movement once described Shane and his friends as little people or roaches and pointed out that the current powers could stomp us out with their feet. Here is Shane's response:
"But there are many of us, and enough roaches can run an owner out of a house... We are a modest revolution of roaches that can run money changers out of temples and politicians out of office. Then we can invite them to join us in creating another world."
So there it is. The introduction to an Irresistible Revolution. Excited? I hope so!! A little scared and overwhelmed? Me too!! Confused?? Ask me to clarify, and if I am not good enough ask God.
Hope you enjoyed the response.
Chris
Tuesday 19 February 2008
Saturday 16 February 2008
Working with Children
Over the past few months I've had the wonderful privilege of living with a wonderful lady and her family who I've learned so much from. One thing she has reminded me of over and over
is the plight of the single mother. I know firsthand the plight of single mothers because my Mom was a single mother and she did a fantastic job with me and my brother. I'll never fully appreciate the sacrifices she made for us two boys.
Well I've taken to getting involved in some of the stuff Maureen does for single Moms. Among other things she runs a group who meet every so often. It started before Christmas and has run a few times since. When it started I went and helped with the kids, we had a pizza party and got some ideas for how they would like to spend their time while Moms were at the meetings. I had so much fun with the bunch.
Tonight again we got to hang out with the kids. It was a little different of a scenario but way kool none the less. Sam an amazing girl who helped out with the kids a few previous times was there again and the kids all opened up to having fun with us a lot quicker. Maureen and I hope to get a program started with these guys where we start exploring some of their feelings and emotions a little more to promote some positive conversation where good role models like Sam (and hopefully me) can encourage these kids to be going in the right direction. I am so excited to get to know these kids more. They are pulling at my heart constantly.
Anyway I just thought I should post this I dunno why but I had to. If anyone out there feels like they could help single Moms out or their kids chase that idea. It is a beautiful path, take it from me...
is the plight of the single mother. I know firsthand the plight of single mothers because my Mom was a single mother and she did a fantastic job with me and my brother. I'll never fully appreciate the sacrifices she made for us two boys.
Well I've taken to getting involved in some of the stuff Maureen does for single Moms. Among other things she runs a group who meet every so often. It started before Christmas and has run a few times since. When it started I went and helped with the kids, we had a pizza party and got some ideas for how they would like to spend their time while Moms were at the meetings. I had so much fun with the bunch.
Tonight again we got to hang out with the kids. It was a little different of a scenario but way kool none the less. Sam an amazing girl who helped out with the kids a few previous times was there again and the kids all opened up to having fun with us a lot quicker. Maureen and I hope to get a program started with these guys where we start exploring some of their feelings and emotions a little more to promote some positive conversation where good role models like Sam (and hopefully me) can encourage these kids to be going in the right direction. I am so excited to get to know these kids more. They are pulling at my heart constantly.
Anyway I just thought I should post this I dunno why but I had to. If anyone out there feels like they could help single Moms out or their kids chase that idea. It is a beautiful path, take it from me...
Thursday 14 February 2008
Book Review: Irresistible Revolution
Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
This book is a hit!! More than a hit. I've already started reading it a second time. I don't do that. EVER! I've tried and it sucked, but this, this is very different. The Irresistible Revolution talks about the Body of Christ (Church) and it's current course away from the "modern" expression of church and how Shane Claiborne and some of his friends are thriving on a path very different from ones taking left or right wing political agendas, from ones failing to recognize they are trapped in a materialistic world view far from the one Jesus and the early church would have embraced and far from a "greater good" agenda fueled by the myth of restorative violence and "Godly" wars.
In this book Shane describes the spiritual state of a growing number of people all over the world. These people are in situations where they feel alone standing between a crowd of unbelieving activists and inactive believers wondering where all the true Christians are at. This book is a bold declaration that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Many Christians around the world find or have found themselves at this place and are now finding each other on a daily basis. The expressions of following Jesus when these people come together are unique, beautiful and admittedly imperfect. Shane talks about the groups of people he met and grew with known as The Simple Way and how they've collectively begun to express themselves as part of the body of Christ.
This book will inspire those who feel alone to seek out other Christians who feel the same way and begin navigating what it means to truly follow Christ. For those already in that navigating what it means to follow Christ Shane gives advice through the stories he tells in this book and talks about his views on some key issues and his response to them.
This book encourages me to, as Gandhi said "become the change I want to see" and provides me with many bits of wisdom and guidance on the path to following Jesus better.
This book has so impacted me I hope you all will read it. Over the next few weeks I as I reread the book I am going to pull some highlights from each chapter and present them in continuing blogs. Keep checking back if you are interested.
This book is a hit!! More than a hit. I've already started reading it a second time. I don't do that. EVER! I've tried and it sucked, but this, this is very different. The Irresistible Revolution talks about the Body of Christ (Church) and it's current course away from the "modern" expression of church and how Shane Claiborne and some of his friends are thriving on a path very different from ones taking left or right wing political agendas, from ones failing to recognize they are trapped in a materialistic world view far from the one Jesus and the early church would have embraced and far from a "greater good" agenda fueled by the myth of restorative violence and "Godly" wars.
In this book Shane describes the spiritual state of a growing number of people all over the world. These people are in situations where they feel alone standing between a crowd of unbelieving activists and inactive believers wondering where all the true Christians are at. This book is a bold declaration that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Many Christians around the world find or have found themselves at this place and are now finding each other on a daily basis. The expressions of following Jesus when these people come together are unique, beautiful and admittedly imperfect. Shane talks about the groups of people he met and grew with known as The Simple Way and how they've collectively begun to express themselves as part of the body of Christ.
This book will inspire those who feel alone to seek out other Christians who feel the same way and begin navigating what it means to truly follow Christ. For those already in that navigating what it means to follow Christ Shane gives advice through the stories he tells in this book and talks about his views on some key issues and his response to them.
This book encourages me to, as Gandhi said "become the change I want to see" and provides me with many bits of wisdom and guidance on the path to following Jesus better.
This book has so impacted me I hope you all will read it. Over the next few weeks I as I reread the book I am going to pull some highlights from each chapter and present them in continuing blogs. Keep checking back if you are interested.
Saturday 9 February 2008
Robertor the Goalinator
Robertor the Goalinator
by Chris Clarke
This story was inspired by Strongbad and Trogdor two characters @ www.homestarrunner.com
Check the site out it is a classic that has earned lots off laughs from me. Hope you enjoy this random little story.
Robertor the Goalinator is Trogdor the Burninator's 2nd youngest nephew. While developing into his own form of utter majesty Robertor exudes many of the same excellences of his Uncle.
You see Trogdor's sister moved to Canada from Cali because she heard there were more buffalo's too eat. While she was there she was wooed by BlackFoot the mightiest aboriginal dragon of them all. Of course everyone knows how BlackFoot got his name. His Mom coughed fire on his feet a few moments after he was born... Good thing for the snow in Canada eh??? Yeah so Robertor comes from a high level of Dragon Breeding. Must be why he is such an amazing goalie. Or maybe its cuz he burns the puck into ash before it can go in so it never ever fully passes the goal line. Whatever.... Among Robertor's standout attributes are the way he always burns his goal stick to charcoal black and how he still hasn't ditched the habit of chewing the knobbed end like a pencil. He broke the top last week but still manages. The stick seems to be mostly decoration anyway...........
Robertor was actually recently potty trained... Before last week every once in a while during a game he would leave a large pile of usually purple sewage in the crease... This was no good because the steaming hot lumps would melt the ice and make skating more difficult... The opposing team also had trouble maintaining consciousness in his zone...
One feature that sets Robertor apart from the other more normal goalies is his lack of teeth. All the other goalies seem to have full mouth racks and no major scars on their "baby faces" because of their goal masks. Due to Robertor's awkwardly shaped head there are no masks that seem to fit him. When asked about this apparant conundrum Robertor shrugs it off and refers to the other goalies as chickens or drumsticks.
The femalion dragons all seem to flock to Robertor's side. From his styling look with the crispy black shag to his rugged lack of teeth; Robertor has turned into somewhat of a celebrity.
Last season had a highly eventful finish for Robertor and his Dranucks. Due to some awesome leadership from their tireless captain, some slick plays by the better than most twins and most importantly an unending streak of brilliant play from Robertor the Dranucks conquered the hockey world winning the Larry's Mug... The most eventful moment came in the dressing room celebration when Robertor was trying to sip from the trophy. Incredibly the sparks in Robertor's throat set the wine ablaze causing him to sneeze effectively melting the large silver trophy to a large silver puddle on the floor. In a happy ending to this story Robertor spent the off season with a silversmith controlling his flame throwing capabilities and the mug was restored to its previous luster.
Robertor's career is on a hall of fame path, only time will tell if he'll be the first non humanoid to enter the great hall...
by Chris Clarke
This story was inspired by Strongbad and Trogdor two characters @ www.homestarrunner.comCheck the site out it is a classic that has earned lots off laughs from me. Hope you enjoy this random little story.
Robertor the Goalinator is Trogdor the Burninator's 2nd youngest nephew. While developing into his own form of utter majesty Robertor exudes many of the same excellences of his Uncle.
You see Trogdor's sister moved to Canada from Cali because she heard there were more buffalo's too eat. While she was there she was wooed by BlackFoot the mightiest aboriginal dragon of them all. Of course everyone knows how BlackFoot got his name. His Mom coughed fire on his feet a few moments after he was born... Good thing for the snow in Canada eh??? Yeah so Robertor comes from a high level of Dragon Breeding. Must be why he is such an amazing goalie. Or maybe its cuz he burns the puck into ash before it can go in so it never ever fully passes the goal line. Whatever.... Among Robertor's standout attributes are the way he always burns his goal stick to charcoal black and how he still hasn't ditched the habit of chewing the knobbed end like a pencil. He broke the top last week but still manages. The stick seems to be mostly decoration anyway...........
Robertor was actually recently potty trained... Before last week every once in a while during a game he would leave a large pile of usually purple sewage in the crease... This was no good because the steaming hot lumps would melt the ice and make skating more difficult... The opposing team also had trouble maintaining consciousness in his zone...
One feature that sets Robertor apart from the other more normal goalies is his lack of teeth. All the other goalies seem to have full mouth racks and no major scars on their "baby faces" because of their goal masks. Due to Robertor's awkwardly shaped head there are no masks that seem to fit him. When asked about this apparant conundrum Robertor shrugs it off and refers to the other goalies as chickens or drumsticks.
The femalion dragons all seem to flock to Robertor's side. From his styling look with the crispy black shag to his rugged lack of teeth; Robertor has turned into somewhat of a celebrity.
Last season had a highly eventful finish for Robertor and his Dranucks. Due to some awesome leadership from their tireless captain, some slick plays by the better than most twins and most importantly an unending streak of brilliant play from Robertor the Dranucks conquered the hockey world winning the Larry's Mug... The most eventful moment came in the dressing room celebration when Robertor was trying to sip from the trophy. Incredibly the sparks in Robertor's throat set the wine ablaze causing him to sneeze effectively melting the large silver trophy to a large silver puddle on the floor. In a happy ending to this story Robertor spent the off season with a silversmith controlling his flame throwing capabilities and the mug was restored to its previous luster.
Robertor's career is on a hall of fame path, only time will tell if he'll be the first non humanoid to enter the great hall...
Wednesday 6 February 2008
God designed Super Bowl XLII
I first wrote this the night of the Super Bowl as a Facebook note. Since I sort of want to switch to using this as my blog tho I decided to bring it here. Enjoy and please give me some feedback.
God had his hand all over tonight's Super Bowl contest. - And no, I'm not saying that he sent angels to help the Giants subdue a perfect Patriots team (Although the Manning pocket escape and the catch of the ages by Tyree looked very Supernatural to me). I highly doubt that. God's hands were all over this Super Bowl in very different ways. This Super Bowl had God's hands all over it because of its beautiful imperfection.
Think of it sports fans. Why do we enjoy sports? There are a number of reasons I believe we enjoy sports, but tonight I'm gonna talk about chance. Anyone who witnessed Super Bowl 42 witnessed what we call an upset. When a seemingly lesser team defeats a highly favored powerhouse. This was no small upset either. I would venture out to say that this was "The Perfect Upset".
For those of you uninformed tonight's match up featured the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Two very different Super Bowl representatives. You see the Pats have won every game so far this year, broken dozens of long standing NFL records and they are the first team to win the first 18 games of a football season.
The Giants on the other hand barely made the football playoffs with 10 wins and 6 losses on the regular season.
The Patriots have the league MVP 2 time super bowl MVP, 3 time winner QB vs the Giants often maligned, young and previously without a playoff win Kid Brother of the Leagues other franchise QB. Brady vs mini Manning...
This is where perfect imperfection comes in. In a 'perfect' world the most skilled, best coached, most proven team would win every time. The Patriots were all these things and more. Still I and many millions of viewers across North America and the world stopped to watch a game fate had predetermined and was set to just be the crowning moment of the Greatest Football team ever amassed. Why? Because anything can happen. And Tonight anything did happen.
Tonight David beat Goliath, the Giants (ironically) took the Super Bowl as David against the far superior foe.
Upsets are an imperfection. A flaw in the system. But as we sports fans know, they are a beautiful flaw. Sports is not the only place this beautiful flaw occurs though. As a matter of fact lately I've begun to notice flaws are a necessary component of Beauty. Take for example the beautiful story of Hosea the prophet who is told by God to marry and love a prostitute. God's intent was for Hosea's unconditional love for his very imperfect wife to reflect to us his unconditional love for us. If Hosea was asked to marry a beautiful ideal woman who never screwed up how amazing would this story be? It wouldn't be amazing or beautiful.
God's design for Earth is sometimes controversial. Recently I've been moving toward an opinion that right now here on Earth we have almost everything we need to have paradise. Yes there are Wars and Injustices (trust me I know about more than I would like sometimes) that plague Earth and greed and corruption as well. Along with these things there is also love, joy, compassion, generosity and those who would seek justice. How valuable are love, joy, compassion, generosity and those who would seek justice tho in a perfect culture though? They are a given most would assume. So they would no longer stand out. For example if there had been a million Ghandi's in India would Ghandi ever have stood out to be the amazing figure he is today? NO. Beauty needs flaws. Love needs failures because love that overcomes nothing becomes redundant and assumed. We need imperfection and so does God. In our relationship with him if we were all perfect what would he gain. All responses would be assumed.
So that is how God's hands were all over the Super Bowl. He created this 'beautiful mess', this 'perfect imperfection' and tonight reminded me and us all of it with this "Perfect Upset".
Anyone who is a fan of sports should also be a fan of our God. The fact he loves us unconditionally in my mind another example of a "Perfect Upset".
(K guys this note was written entirely after 1 am. I got inspired and had to share it. My thots may be a little scattered and slimy so please do take it easy on it. I'll edit a little tomorrow maybe)
Chris Clarke
God had his hand all over tonight's Super Bowl contest. - And no, I'm not saying that he sent angels to help the Giants subdue a perfect Patriots team (Although the Manning pocket escape and the catch of the ages by Tyree looked very Supernatural to me). I highly doubt that. God's hands were all over this Super Bowl in very different ways. This Super Bowl had God's hands all over it because of its beautiful imperfection.
Think of it sports fans. Why do we enjoy sports? There are a number of reasons I believe we enjoy sports, but tonight I'm gonna talk about chance. Anyone who witnessed Super Bowl 42 witnessed what we call an upset. When a seemingly lesser team defeats a highly favored powerhouse. This was no small upset either. I would venture out to say that this was "The Perfect Upset".
For those of you uninformed tonight's match up featured the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Two very different Super Bowl representatives. You see the Pats have won every game so far this year, broken dozens of long standing NFL records and they are the first team to win the first 18 games of a football season.
The Giants on the other hand barely made the football playoffs with 10 wins and 6 losses on the regular season.
The Patriots have the league MVP 2 time super bowl MVP, 3 time winner QB vs the Giants often maligned, young and previously without a playoff win Kid Brother of the Leagues other franchise QB. Brady vs mini Manning...
This is where perfect imperfection comes in. In a 'perfect' world the most skilled, best coached, most proven team would win every time. The Patriots were all these things and more. Still I and many millions of viewers across North America and the world stopped to watch a game fate had predetermined and was set to just be the crowning moment of the Greatest Football team ever amassed. Why? Because anything can happen. And Tonight anything did happen.
Tonight David beat Goliath, the Giants (ironically) took the Super Bowl as David against the far superior foe.
Upsets are an imperfection. A flaw in the system. But as we sports fans know, they are a beautiful flaw. Sports is not the only place this beautiful flaw occurs though. As a matter of fact lately I've begun to notice flaws are a necessary component of Beauty. Take for example the beautiful story of Hosea the prophet who is told by God to marry and love a prostitute. God's intent was for Hosea's unconditional love for his very imperfect wife to reflect to us his unconditional love for us. If Hosea was asked to marry a beautiful ideal woman who never screwed up how amazing would this story be? It wouldn't be amazing or beautiful.
God's design for Earth is sometimes controversial. Recently I've been moving toward an opinion that right now here on Earth we have almost everything we need to have paradise. Yes there are Wars and Injustices (trust me I know about more than I would like sometimes) that plague Earth and greed and corruption as well. Along with these things there is also love, joy, compassion, generosity and those who would seek justice. How valuable are love, joy, compassion, generosity and those who would seek justice tho in a perfect culture though? They are a given most would assume. So they would no longer stand out. For example if there had been a million Ghandi's in India would Ghandi ever have stood out to be the amazing figure he is today? NO. Beauty needs flaws. Love needs failures because love that overcomes nothing becomes redundant and assumed. We need imperfection and so does God. In our relationship with him if we were all perfect what would he gain. All responses would be assumed.
So that is how God's hands were all over the Super Bowl. He created this 'beautiful mess', this 'perfect imperfection' and tonight reminded me and us all of it with this "Perfect Upset".
Anyone who is a fan of sports should also be a fan of our God. The fact he loves us unconditionally in my mind another example of a "Perfect Upset".
(K guys this note was written entirely after 1 am. I got inspired and had to share it. My thots may be a little scattered and slimy so please do take it easy on it. I'll edit a little tomorrow maybe)
Chris Clarke
Surprising to what I say in this note I went to look for a picture to insert and this pic is in an article entitled "Supernatural' catch by Tyree a play for the ages" at http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=3229468
This pic belongs to espn and I do not take credit for it. I hope they recognize its relevance and don't mind my non profitable use of it...
This pic belongs to espn and I do not take credit for it. I hope they recognize its relevance and don't mind my non profitable use of it...
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