Check it out and let me know what you think, whether by comment here, via email (iancameronmclaren@gmail.com), on facebook or on twitter.

Playoff Teams
East
1. Washington
2. Pittsburgh
3. Boston
4. New Jersey
5. Philadelphia
6. Buffalo
7. Ottawa
8. Tampa Bay

West
1. Vancouver
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. San Jose
5. Detroit
6. Colorado
7. Phoenix
8. St. Louis

Stanley Cup Finalists
Vancouver Canucks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Stanley Cup Champion
Pittsburgh Penguins

Art Ross
Alexander Ovechkin

Hart Trophy
Alexander Ovechkin

Note: The Caps will have great regular season success, but will once again flame out in the playoffs. Think of them as the Suns of the NHL.

Richard Trophy
Steven Stamkos

Vezina
Tuukka Rask

Norris
Drew Doughty

Calder
Jordon Eberle

Jack Adams
Davis Payne, St. Louis Blues –> my surprise team of the year.

Team with the #1 pick in the 2011 draft
Florida Panthers

There you have it. The official word on the 2010-2011 NHL season. Check back in June to see how off these picks are!

Allow me to expand.

Staub begins the book by very rightly pointing the reader back to the point of creation, a story that outlines the following reality: “You are not the accidental result of a random, purposeless process but, in fact, were created by a loving, personal God who had you in mind before the beginning of time.” The first few chapters serve to build on this reality, flushing out the creation story and what it means to be created in the image of a loving and relational God, and how we are to live in a way that reflects the intended order of creation. Staub than outlines the symptoms of the ‘disease’ that has caused us to lose sight of all this, a process of dehumanization that was caused not by the eating of the fruit in the garden, but by the fact that Adam and Eve did not trust and obey God [bang on with this point]. In short, things are not the way they are supposed to be, and we are meant to embark on a journey to recovering what it means to be fully human – in body, mind, spirit, creativity, relationships, and morality. The rest of the book serves to help the reader along in this process, outlining how God is continually pursuing us, how Jesus is the ‘great humanizer’, and the marks of what it means to be fully human.

Let me say that I very much enjoyed the first bits of the book, and believe that Staub’s outline of the creation story and the human condition thereafter; it’s accurate and quite well-written. But while he encourages the reader to seek after a holistic mode of living that embraces all that is good within us (engaging our minds, bodies and spirits in creative and meaningful ways), and while I don’t seen anything inherently wrong with that, I can’t get past the fact that the vision of full humanity that he outlines in the book seems to be counter to the words of Jesus, when he says the following: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

While Staub’s vision of full humanity seems to involve a continual progression towards personal, and in some respects, communal betterment, the way of Jesus seems to point downwards, a path that includes much sacrifice, suffering, and even death. Staub encourages us to become fully human and fully alive; Christ points us down a path that leads to the cross. I see some value in the kind of message that Staub is bringing forth, and I think there is some truth to what he is saying in regards to recovering a deeper sense of what we were created to be and do, but I have a hard time reconciling all of this with Jesus’ call to authentic discipleship.

On a more shallow level, there were two moments in this book that irked me, specifically Staub’s attempts to reference movies: he refers to Brad Pitt’s character in Fight Club and Tyler Darden (it’s Durden), and he refers to a movie starring Alex Baldwin, when we all know it’s Alec. Small things, I know, but it bugged me.

Basically, part of me resonated with this book as I was reminded of what it means to be created by a loving God, in his image, and for a purpose. I’m just not sure if Staub’s ‘program’ for the recovery of full humanity meshes very well with the Way of Jesus. This is a tension that exists all around us, and it’s up to each of us to continually work out what it means to follow Christ.

In short, it’s a good book, but I’m not prepared to go all the way with it.

Born: September 19th 2010, 12:11 a.m.

Weight: 8lb 14oz

Forgive me for not updating the blog in a little while, but it’s been a bit of a busy week.

Early last Sunday morning, Lauren and I welcomed our first child into the world, a beautiful baby boy named William Cameron.

We had been anticipating his arrival for a few days, as his actual due date was September 7th. We hoped that things would begin rolling along on their own, but had been told that if he had not arrived by the 17th, we would be going to the hospital to begin the induction process. Sure enough, after a week of wondering if that day was ‘the day’, we ended up going to the hospital last Friday evening and then again the next morning, knowing that the next time we came home, we would be bringing a baby boy with us.

I won’t go into all the details of the birth process, but I will say that after 16 hours in the hospital featuring various twists and turns throughout, we were able to meet our son shortly after midnight on Sunday morning. It was an incredible if not somewhat foggy moment, one wherein we both knew we were beginning to uncover new depths of love, both for each other and directed towards this [not so] little boy.

Needless to say this past week has been one of transition and learning, vigorously embracing both Will and precious moments of rest along the way. We did not have many visitors during the first few days, allowing both Mom and son ample time to rest. It’s been interesting to see many things that we had been told about becoming parents are indeed true, while at the same time joyously discovering all that can’t be known until it actually happens. Our hearts are full of love for Will, and we are so blessed, thankful and proud to call him our son.

We will try to post some thoughts about becoming parents along the way, but, in all honesty, blogging will take a bit of a backseat, pending a few book reviews. Here are a couple photos – for more, check our facebook pages.

Also, if you tweet, please follow twitter.com/eighthletter/

To the church in North America, from a fellow sojourner daily struggling to understand what it means to follow Jesus Christ our Lord in the 21st century.

A wise voice in our day has proclaimed the following:

The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heart-breaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – student, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ.
- Dallas Willard

Before I address that, let me begin by telling you about an experience I had recently. Sometime late last summer, my wife and I were driving back to Aberdeen after a lovely weekend in the fabled Lakes District of Northern England. After a meal at one of our favorite restaurants in the town of Stirling, we made a planned and highly anticipated detour into the Scottish Highlands. A major factor in our decision to spend a year in Scotland was to experience some family history, and what better way to do so than to visit the small village of Balquhidder, which, overlooked by the dramatic mountain terrain of the Braes of Balquhidder, and sitting at the head of Loch Voil, has been home to generations of McLaren’s dating back to the 9th century.

As my wife and I made our way down the windy roads leading us deeper into the hills, I began to sense that an important pilgrimage was taking shape. I took in the scenery – the lochs, the trees, the mountains and valleys – and felt as though I was created to enjoy such a place as this. If heaven really is a renewed earth [a topic for another letter altogether], then this was the space in which I longed to dwell. After a bit of a longer drive than we expected, we finally found our destination just a bit before sunset. The weather was cloudy, and a mist was in the air, adding a beautifully mysterious backdrop for what we were about to find.

The main feature of this village is the ruin of the Old Kirk, where, as we discovered, one can find the gravestones of many a McLaren, one of which features the actual McLaren Clan crest. As we toured around and took pictures of this ruined building, I came upon a sign on the side of the kirk, which read: “For generations of McLaren’s, their place of worship, and within whose walls their chiefs are buried.” In a year where I had been wrestling with what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century, it was an amazing experience to pause and stand in a place where my ancestors had gathered to hear from and worship God for hundreds of years before me.

Connecting with my family history in this way got me thinking about two things: 1) the biblical account of the beginning of human history, and 2) Martin Luther’s thoughts on what was right and what went wrong.

Having been introduced to the story of Genesis at a young age, like many of us were, I have always been pretty confident that I had a firm handle on the story recited to us in its early pages: God creates and it is good, and we humans come along and mess it all up. Recently, however, I have come to see that it might not be as straightforward as we might like it to be. In fact, it’s apparent that this Genesis story goes far deeper than a matter of command / non-compliance / punishment. Rather, as has been suggested elsewhere, the entire Old Testament must be read as the beginnings of a special partnership between God and humankind, the “record of the divine-human conversation, of how God spoke in ‘many and various ways’ and of how humans are called to respond in speaking to God and speaking of God.” (Christoph Schwobel) Human history is formed by a God who creates and speaks, with a view to working with His people to fulfill his loving purposes for creation within the present realities of life.

Which brings us to Luther. In Genesis 2:17, we read that God spoke a specific Word to Adam, prohibiting him from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For Luther, this Word acted as a call to trust in, worship and obey the God who had spoken; “it was God’s intention that this command should provide [humankind] with an opportunity for obedience and outward worship, and that the tree should be a sort of sign by which [humankind] would give evidence that he was obeying God.” To actively listen to this Word was a tangible expression of early discipleship whereby Adam, Eve, and their offspring would demonstrate that they had heard from God and would live accordingly. This tree, therefore, was a place where the divine-human conversation was to carry on steady and unbounded. This tree was, in effect, the first church: it was at its feet that humankind was to “yield to God the obedience [they] owed, give recognition to the Word and will of God, give thanks to God, and call upon God for aid against temptation.” Again, according to Luther, “this tree of the knowledge of good and evil … would have been the church where Adam, together with his descendants, would have gathered on the Sabbath day. And after refreshing themselves from the tree of life [they] would have praised God and lauded Him for the dominion over all the creatures on the earth which had been given to [humankind].” This tree, this first church, provided Adam, Eve, and all those who were to come after them, with the opportunity to be reminded of who God was, who they were in turn, and the responsibilities bestowed upon them as the recipients of His Word.

In Genesis 3, however, this beautiful picture of the church is brought to a halt by a crafty ruse, characterized by Luther in this way: “the chief temptation was to listen to another word and to depart from the one which God had previously spoken.” This is key in terms of understanding the nature of discipleship and what it means for us to be part of His Church in North America today. In this description of that which led to the inception of sin in the midst of God’s good creation, Luther is effectively saying that the point is not that Eve physically bit an apple or broke an explicit command, but rather that the first human beings failed to trust in and adhere to the word that God had spoken. As Luther puts it, “the source of all sin truly is unbelief and doubt and abandonment of the Word.” And as a result, humankind began a pattern of being absorbed into stories that are not intrinsically our own, stories that cause us to forget the Word that God has spoken and continues to speak, stories that de-emphasize and attempt to silence altogether our role as God’s partners in bringing about his loving and redemptive purposes for the world.

But thankfully, the story didn’t end with Adam and Eve’s fateful mistake, for throughout the centuries that would follow, God would indeed continue to speak, calling Abraham and his promised descendants to show the world what their God is like; they were to be deeply engaged in the present realities of the world, acting justly on behalf of the marginalized and oppressed as God had acted on their behalf in the past, and they were called to embody an alternative way of living lest they continue to listen to other words and in so doing be absorbed anew into stories that were not their own.

It’s the same invitation expressed by Jesus himself, the Word made flesh among us, who called all those that wish to follow him to repent and believe [a believing that is not passive and informative, but active and transformational], to embrace and embody his radical teachings, and to participate in his mission of good news to the poor and marginalized, and to those whose have been absorbed into stories that were not intended for them.

What, then, does all of this have to do with the Church in North America, and how does it relate to the call to discipleship quoted above? There are two things to note about Luther’s first Church that must be emphasized. The first is that while many of us continue to read the Genesis story as one wherein God gives humankind a clear prohibition and doles out a punishment in light of Adam and Eve’s non-compliance, the reality is that this tree is a great picture of the freedom that we have to continually meet together to worship and hear from He who has created and cares deeply about the world in which we live. Again, the apple is not the point, but rather that those who gathered around this tree failed to see it for what it was – it was not a place where God’s Word was to be reduced to a set of principles and prohibitions, set aside in the pursuit of power and prestige, but rather a place of worship, trust and obedience with a view to extending God’s grace and love out from its wide branches. To gather here was to hear from God, to worship Him and to learn afresh who He is and what he cares about.

Second, it’s important to note that while this tree took up physical space in the world, it was not cut down and crafted into four walls, a roof, an altar and some pews. Instead, this place was holy and communal, set apart yet wide open. It’s a picture of the reality that God’s people are not meant to be hidden, and cuts to the core of the distinction that must be made between what it means to go to church, and what it means to be the Church. To be a part of the Church is not to individualize faith, nor is it to retreat into a fixed address one day a week. Rather, we are to constitute a widespread community that on one hand gathers together to hear the Word that God has spoken and continues to speak, and, on the other, seeks to ensure and enable faithful, daily participation in God’s loving and redemptive practices in, to and for the world.

As I visited that old ruined church in Balquihidder, and as I considered that great need for authentic discipleship described above, it occurred to me that perhaps what the Church needs most is to get back to its literal roots – let us, therefore, gather together to hear from and worship God and, in turn, day in and day out, demonstrate to the world that a different way of living has been made possible, one that reaches back to the very beginnings of human history and continually reveals who God is and what He cares about.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you, wherever you may be.

Ian Cameron McLaren

Due to the fact that Lauren and I are expecting our son to arrive … well, really at any time, I don’t anticipate being able to sit down and pound out many posts anytime soon.

I can, however, direct you to the Eighth Letter Synchroblog, which is taking place from today through to the 18th of September.

Here are the pertinent details, as provided by the host of the synchroblog, Rachel Held Evans:

1. Write a letter to the North American Church, sharing what you believe is the most pressing message to Christians living in this culture.

2. Post the letter on your blog, linking to Eighth Letter (http://eighthletter.com) and the synchroblog (http://rachelheldevans.com/8th-letter-synch) Feel free to use the image above. If you tweet, share the link using the #8thletter hashtag.

3. Let Rachel know (via her blog) when your post is up and she’ll add a link to synchroblog main page. (You can simply leave a comment after that post or you can contact her directly; just be sure to include your name and a link.)

There are already several posts up, a few of which I have been able to check out. There’s some great stuff there, so be sure to take a look. And please take some time to write a letter of your own as well. I’m going to try to squeeze one in if time permits this week.

If you tweet, you can also keep track of the posts via twitter.com/eighthletter/

Have a good week, friends. And stay tuned for the baby news!

While I can’t say that, in my reading of Outlive Your Life, many of my fears in regards to these kinds of books weren’t realized, I also can’t say that I wasn’t sometimes pleasantly surprised along the way. For what Lucado might lack in theological depth, he makes up in his ability to tell stories [my favorite of which, in this book, being his take on Ananias and Sapphira], and these stories root simple biblical truths into the fabric of the realities of every day life with a view to spurring the reader into action.

In Outlive Your Life, Lucado takes the reader through the book of Acts, examining the lives and work of the earliest followers of Jesus, and, in so doing, encourages us to consider what kind of impact could be made in the world if we were only to step out and do likewise. While the task of setting the world to rights seems like a daunting task, in light of the litany of deep-seated issues that we see playing out around every day, Lucado repeatedly argues that none of us can help everyone, but all of us can help someone. In taking the time to seek out ways to make a positive impact in the lives of our neighbors and in the world at large, we engage in very real acts of serve unto Christ himself, and, in Lucado’s words, who would want to miss a chance to do that?

Maybe I’m succeeding in my quest to become less cynical, and maybe I’m learning not to pick at everything I read in the name of theological snobbery, but I came away from a reading of this book feeling encouraged to get off my donkey and put into action that which I believe. And, in this case and in only light of the overarching call to all those who would seek to follow Jesus, maybe it’s not a bad thing that there are several volumes to this book, because it’s a message that all who have ears should hear. [Having said that, there are several similarly themed books that I would recommend way before this one.] Plus, the back cover tells us that 100% of the author’s royalties will be given to World Vision / other faith-based ministries of compassion [yes, a very vague statement that may or may not be comforting], so perhaps some good can come from simply reading the book.

There you have it – a somewhat ambiguous review based on my honest thoughts on a book that I probably definitely would not have purchased / read had I not received a free copy, but one that I am glad that I spent some time with.

*Note: This book was provided free of charge from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book review bloggers program.

The basic premise behind Jackson’s initial question is that there are certain things which, validly or not, many people do not feel comfortable bringing up within their faith communities. Whether it be a matter of personal doubt and questioning, struggles with addiction or depression, or issues revolving around sexuality, the Church has more often that not been a place of judgment and shame rather than acceptance and support. In posing this question and in writing this book, Jackson gets the ball rolling not only by sharing some of her own struggles, but also by giving the reader permission to share their own stories, encouraging them to engage in the practice of confession and begin down the road to healing and transformation.

Permission To Speak Freely is a quick read, and while the scriptural and theological insights found in its pages are not necessarily anything that you might not have read before, the beauty of this book is the juxtaposition of biblical truth and personal reflection. Jackson’s honesty is raw and refreshing, illuminating in a real way what God can do in and through us when we find the courage to express the deep secrets that we are so afraid to let go of. I particularly enjoyed the bits about the concept of the Church being a refuge, and the gift of going second.

This is an important, albeit short book that hopefully can inspire people to be genuine with others they trust in regards to their struggles, and also to be open to supporting others in their times of need.

*Note: This book was provided free of charge from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book review bloggers program. Review completed by Ian, Lauren’s husband.

Throughout our marriage, September certainly has been a time of change for Lauren and I. For example:

- In 2005, we got married in August, and September was spent settling into our new apartment in Toronto, and, of course, into married life. On top of that, Lauren went back to school for her final year and I began a new job with Christian Horizons.

- In 2006, we moved to Manitoba, where Lauren began studying at Providence Seminary. I spent a couple weeks looking for a job before finding work as an education assistant in a rural MB town.

- 2007 was the one September where we actually stayed in the same place. I, however, began another new position, requiring me to wake up @ 4:30 am every day.

- In 2008, we found ourselves packing up and heading off to Aberdeen. We spent that month once again getting settled into a new city and and a new apartment. Lauren began her job at the Hamilton School, and I began my work as a Master’s student.

- Last September found us leaving Aberdeen (a year ago today, actually) and setting out on a European adventure.

And September 2010 is no exception as, literally any day now, we will become parents. Over the past couple of weeks, this reality has begun to set in more and more, and as we see and feel our son moving around, we marvel at the fact that very soon we will be able to hold him in our arms.

While the many changes that we have experienced and adventures that we have embarked on have been challenging and amazing in their own ways, the fact that we will soon be responsible for this new life is both beautiful and overwhelming, and ultimately something that we are both looking forward to very much.

To those who are interested in hearing news of his safe arrival, we will try to get the word out as soon as we can.

To the church in North America, from a fellow sojourner daily struggling to understand what it means to follow Jesus Christ our Lord in the 21st century …

Just as a reminder, today is the deadline to submit for Eighth Letter, which is now just a month away. I just finished mine up, the first line of which is quoted above.

Get yours in ASAP if you haven’t already.

Also check out a letter posted by Rachel Held Evans entitled “Let’s Build Bigger Banquet Tables” – excellent stuff.

Lauren and I have had a really busy August. It began with a move, and, four weeks later, we are now feeling pretty settled. We really love our new place, and feel [somewhat] ready to welcome our son into his first home. [It's hard to believe that the due date is only a couple of weeks away! Exciting.] Lauren had a clear vision for how she wanted to set things up, and it all looks pretty awesome. Hopefully we can get some photos up soon for all those interested.

Apart from that, August has been a month in which I have been working many hours, trying to bank some time to be off when the baby arrives. Yesterday was my first legit day off in almost 2 weeks. Actually, it was my first day off since our anniversary, which we celebrated in Stratford with a viewing of Peter Pan and a lovely meal. We also went to a family reunion for Lauren’s side, and had a nice date day in Elora. It’s really been a time of ‘nesting’ and enjoying some time as husband and wife before we become Mommy and Daddy.

Other notables:

- We have still really been enjoying Friday Night Lights. We are currently watching Season 3, and it really is one of the best TV shows I have ever watched. Period.

- Last night we went and saw The Switch, and both really enjoyed it. Seeing Jason Bateman interact with that kid really made me excited to be a Dad.

- I have a few books coming to me to review. First up is Permission to Speak Freely by Anne Jackson, Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado, and About You by Dick Staub.

- I downloaded the new Sufjan EP All Delighted People, and we are both loving it. We are also really enjoying new music by Caedmon’s Call and Thad Cockrell.

- I have been trying to get some good stuff up on twitter.com/eighthletter. Check that out if you’re the tweeting kind. Also check out the Eighth Letter website for details about the event, which is coming up pretty fast.

- To cap off the summer, I am going to my first Toronto FC match this Saturday evening. Very much looking forward to that, and to catch up with the fellas at the same time.

And that’s pretty much the story from Guelph. Maybe a couple posts to come on the next few days, and, of course, a ‘welcome, Baby McLaren’ post is soon to come!

In Christian theology, there is no intrinsic or visible superiority of humans over animals but for the Word of God spoken specifically to humankind, making human behavior towards the animal beholden to that Word.

Initially, humans and animals constitute a single group to whom plants have been given for food, but humans are given priority over animals in that they are invited first to the table. The original relationship is inherently a non-violent one as all living beings, under the original created order, are meant to eat plants. There is no basis for humans to harm animals, or vice versa. In fact, the naming process displays a special relatedness between humans and animals as Adam expresses an attentive consideration to the particularities of the animals before him. There exists, then, a special relationship between humans and animals, with humans being set apart as the creatures to whom God speaks directly.

Noah, however, is given permission to eat animals, but under certain conditions wherein he and his descendants are to be reminded that killing is always a serious matter. There is to be an understanding that the post-fall situation does not correspond with an original order, nor does it reflect a final one. The killing of animals is allowed in order to remind humankind of the seriousness of the state of sin and a promise of its reconciliation; it is to be seen as a concession that will end and is to be taken seriously as we consider that it is only in relation to our sin that permission is given to kill and eat animals.

The killing of animals is meant to be undertaken within a certain tone of sacrifice and worship, a reminder that we live in a world that does not correspond with the way that things are meant to be. Essentially, the killing of animals is meant to be an act that causes us to a) pause and consider why it is that this has been allowed by God, and b) point us backwards and forwards to the way that things are meant to be.

However, when we begin to kill mechanically as opposed to sacrificially, the divinely mandated human / animal relationship, even in this concessionary form, is lost. While permission has been granted for humans to eat meat, we are not meant to renounce fellowship with animals through a mechanized system of death. Exploitation occurs when when the attitude of worship, sacrifice and relatedness involved in this process is lost, putting us at odds with the Word that God has spoken and continues to speak on this matter.

So, what does this all mean in terms of food production and consumption today? Obviously this had huge implications in terms of everything from factory farming and fast food to purchasing meat from the grocery story and even hunting for sport. It seems to me that the best way to go about eating meat would be to raise our own chickens and cows and have to go about the business of killing them ourselves so that we would understand the seriousness of it all. This would heighten a sense of relatedness to the animal that quite simply does not exist the further we are removed from the process of food production. While this is not possible for most city dwellers, this at least has to inform the way that we shop for food and our propensity to support fast food chains. While vegetarianism is not to be seen as a universal rule in light of the concession made to Noah and the reality of Christian freedom, we must consider the pre-lapsarian and eschatological witness of plants being given to both humans and animals for food and reclaim the sense of worship and sacrifice that is meant to accompany the killing and eating of animals.

At the very least, I think this should reframe the practice of saying grace before a meal. Instead of an empty ‘rub a dub dub thanks for the grub’, I believe this is meant to be a time to pause and consider not only God’s provision of food on the table, but the reality of the hope that we have that all things will be made right.

*Note: Having read (most of) the book, I confess that this might seem like an empty, unrealistic talk, not really addressing the vast issue that is factory farming. At the end of the day, maybe the best answer would be to adopt a vegetarian diet. Having said that, maybe a book should be written called ‘Eating Vegetables’ wherein issues of how our produce is grown are addressed, and where one examines the health problems that have developed over the years due to the use of chemicals / hormones in our vegetables. It seems as though there are deep problems in regards all that we consume, and I’m left scratching my head where to even begin putting into practice a better way of eating anything. Any ideas? Maybe ‘Eating Animals’ offers some practical tips towards the end. Better tackle the last 50 pages …

I’ve listened to it several times, but don’t quite feel as though I am ready to write a full review just yet.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been able to track down the lyrics (the digital download does not include any sort of .pdf version of an album liner), or, unlike the material from other Caedmon’s albums, perhaps I just don’t feel super attached to these songs just yet.

What I am confident in saying at this point, however, is that this is some of the most beautiful, heartfelt and rich music that this band has ever created.

Track Listing:
01. Sometimes a Beggar
02. She
03. Family
04. Miss You
05. God’s Hometown
06. Come With Me
07. Streets of Gold
08. Time Inside Out
09. I Need a Builder
10. David Waits
11. Raising Up the Dead
12. Free

The clear highlights for me so far are definitely ‘Family’ and ‘Free’. The former provides this great picture of what it means to be a part of the Church: ‘with my family around me now / takes me to a new place / when my family surrounds me now / you see it on my face.‘ Excellent, catchy sound on this one. The latter is this beautiful reminder of the power of the grace of Christ, which sets us free and connects us one to another. I’m also a big fan of ‘Sometimes a Beggar’, ‘She’ and ‘Raising Up The Dead.’ Wait, who am I kidding – I’m a big fan of this whole album.

What I love about this album is that it’s created and produced entirely by members of the band. Instrumentally and vocally, it’s beautiful to listen to, and I enjoy the fact that the female vocalist – Danielle Young – gets a lot of play. She’s an underrated but essential element of Caedmon’s, and I always love the songs she brings to the table.

Again, I hope to be able to offer up a better review sometime before the official release, but in the meantime, I would highly recommend that you download it for yourself and take a listen.

The book of Revelation contains seven letters addressed to 1st century congregations struggling to find their identity. Nearly two thousand years later we are asking some of the world’s leading thinkers, people you’ve never heard of and, well…you: what is your message for the Church in North America?

The guys who put together this past April’s Kingdom Economy conference in Toronto are back at it. This October 1-2 in Toronto, make a plan to attend Eighth Letter, an event based on the premise quoted above.

Confirmed authors include Shane Claiborne, Andy Crouch, Len Sweet, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Ron Sider, Wendy Gritter, Tim Challies, Sarah Lance, Makoto Fujimura and Jason Hildebrand.

The first registration deadline is tonight at midnight, where you can order tickets for half off the event day price. Click here to get on that. If you are interested in submitting your own letter to the church in North America, you have until September 1st to do so, and can submit your entry here.

And if you are the tweeting type, you can access even information and links from those presenting and attending from twitter.com/eighthletter.

Have a good Sunday!

August 13th, 2005.

That was the day that Lauren and I got married, and while it kind of was, I’m not prepared to say that it was the happiest day of my life, because every day that I have the privilege of being Lauren’s husband is a blessing.

And it really didn’t take me very long to realize that I wanted to be her husband, either.

Lauren and I met while at Tyndale [I was in my third year, and she was in her first], and we began dating in the spring of ’03. And it was awesome. I loved spending time with her, and it was just so great to know that someone was there for me no matter what.

That summer, however, we ended up working in different places – I went to Camp Sebago in Maine for my fourth and final summer, and Lauren spent the summer working at a camp in New York. While it was very tough to be apart for the better part of four months, the situation was made worse by the fact that our only form of communication was good old fashioned letter writing, with maybe one phone call per week (if we could coordinate my schedule around the very brief window of time in which Lauren had phone access) and one 24 hour visit in August thrown in for good measure. These circumstances, however, were huge for the development of our relationship. We couldn’t simply rely on the warm fuzzies that came with new romance; we had to earnestly devote time each day to the dying art form of expressing ourselves through letters – no small feat, even early in the 21st century – and to lifting each other and our relationship up in prayer, trusting that God would sustain and mature it and us despite the miles between us.

I remember one letter in particular where I expressed to Lauren that I could not imagine my life without her; even then, I sensed that she was a source of love, goodness and grace that I had never experienced before in any sort relationship outside of Jesus, and that this was something to hold onto. Perhaps this was a bit of a bold statement so early in a relationship, but it was true, and it’s a sentiment that has become increasingly more prevalent through the months and years since.

Our five years together have brought more change and adventure than I could have ever imagined; we have gone from Toronto to Otterburne to Aberdeen and now to Guelph, and just recently moved into our fifth apartment in five years. And now that we are reasonably settled, we are about to embark on perhaps the biggest adventure yet – parenthood.

And to be quite honest, I can’t think of anyone that I would rather travel through the ups and downs of life with than my wife.

Lauren is the best person I know, highlighted by the fact that she chooses to love me even when I’m at my worst. She is beautiful, smart, hilarious, kind and generous, and that’s only scratching the surface.

And, after five years, it’s exciting to know that we too are only beginning to scratch the surface of what God has planned for us.

Happy anniversary, Lauren. I love you with all my heart.

In the meantime, I thought I would a) ask out loud why I keep links on my blogroll that haven’t been updated in months [win wink nudge nudge], and b) point out that I have added a couple more to the bottom, most notably a new tumblr account created by Derek Webb.

In one recent post, Webb addresses some controversy surrounding the forthcoming release of the new Caedmon’s Call album Raising Up The Dead, which I am currently listening to, loving, and plan on reviewing very soon. Apparently some people are upset that this album will be released primarily in digital form, and there are some who are surmising that this will be the band’s final recording.

Here’s part of what Webb has to say on the matter:

let me start by saying that i love this record. the band honored me with their trust in letting me produce it, and i believe it to be among the band’s best records (if not their best). and the reason is because i consider this the first real caedmon’s call record. this is the first time you’re hearing songs and stories not just from one or two members of the band speaking on all of their behalf, but from nearly every member of the band. danielle young (singer) single handedly wrote half of the record. todd bragg (drummer) wrote a song, cliff young (singer/guitar player) wrote a few songs, jeff miller (bass player) wrote a few songs, and sandra mccracken and i wrote some as well. but the point is that none of these folks had written songs for caedmon’s before. on raising up the dead (and maybe for the first time on record) you’re getting a real sense of who this band is.

secondly, i love this record because it’s completely unfettered with outside consideration and influence about radio/retail/etc. the band’s focus here was to make the best record possible, wanting to primarily impress the fans who have supported them for these almost two decades. the band has admittedly made well-intentioned creative mistakes over the years, caring more about these various means of promotion more than the fans that it ultimately hoped those things would connect them to.

but those days are over. this is a band reborn, with a new creative energy and sense of camaraderie that i haven’t seen since the days of 40 acres, but without the trappings of the arrogance and short-sightedness of youth. it’s a rare and special thing for a band to come back around to such a moment after making music together for so long. and raising up the dead is the documentation of this moment.

He goes on to say that he’s as proud of this album as anything he’s ever done, and after several listens, I can attest to the fact that it is indeed some of the band’s finest work. I would encourage everyone – from devoted fans to those unfamiliar with the band – to hop on over to their website and order this album. You won’t regret it.

And now I’m off to watch ‘Public Enemies’. Hope it’s good.

It’s a rare thing for me to stop reading a book part-way through. I began a new one last week, but just couldn’t get into it; felt more like a winter read, so maybe I’ll come back to it once the snow arrives. The bit that I did read, however, offered up the following brief passage that really stuck with me. A bit of context by way of introduction: the main character is an author who had success with his first novel but whose follow-up effort was panned, so he decides to take a break from writing. During that period, he and his wife have a child, and this is what he had to say about becoming a father.

Beholding him, astounded as he’d never been before, Henry decided that his son would become his pen and by force of being a good, loving father he would write a beautiful life story with him. If Theo was the only pen Henry ever yielded again, so be it.

The due date for our son is about a month away now. We have been reading books and attending classes meant to prepare us for the responsibilities that come with being new parents; we’re aware of the various tasks and late nights that will soon be upon us, and know that life will never be the same once he arrives. But it’s the reality described above that really gets me.

That we are about to be charged with the opportunity to help write the story of this beautiful new life is something that truly reflects the fear and wonder that we read of in the Psalms in regards to this amazing gift.

I had the opportunity to attend a Joyce Meyer event at the ACC the other night, and one thing that she said that impacted me is that the decisions that we make affect our children; with every word and action, we affect them is positive or negative ways, shaping who they will become in the future. That’s not to say that we will have direct control over our son, that we can manipulate development in order that he becomes who we want them to be; nor is it to say that any negative thing he is exposed to will scar him for life. This is simply to acknowledge that our decisions matter; what I do and say can and will shape the way my son sees the world around him, and will directly contribute to the kind of man he becomes in the future.

As the narrator of this book alludes to, the best thing that a father can do is to always act out of goodness and love for his child and for others, striving to write a beautiful story for and with him or her. To do so is to acknowledge that our child is a gift from God – the One who is the author and creator of all things and therefore the true holder of ultimate control – and to act as a good steward of that gift through how I act around and interact with him on a daily basis.

It all begins in approximately one month; may I do all that I can to ensure that the story of my son’s life is a good one.

The main character is a college professor, and this topic is presented within the context of a lecture she delivers to her class. She explains that in the pre-enlightenment days, the verb ‘to believe’ was understood only in relation to a person as the direct object. Therefore, any discussion of faith was a matter of believing in God as known only in the person of Jesus. After the enlightenment, ‘to believe’ was stretched out to cover statements about someone or something. Faith was transformed into a belief in claims, biblical statements [or interpretations thereof], dogmas and doctrine; it became about believing the right things. The challenge posed in the book is to return to the notion that believing is not about giving mental assent to a set of statements, but rather that it is a matter of faithfulness to and trust in God as known through the risen Christ.

Think about it. If I tell my wife that I believe in her, I am not saying that I believe various facts about her; I am saying, among other things, that I trust her and that I will stand by her side no matter what.

HUGE difference, right?

It’s the same with Jesus.

To say that you believe in him is so much more than to believe in various statements about him and what he came to Earth to accomplish.

Instead, it is to become his disciples, to learn from him what it means to bring the kingdom into the present, what it means to love one’s neighbor, and to demonstrate to the world that God is deeply concerned with and involved in the present realities of day-to-day life.

Shane Hipps comments on the dangers of relying on belief in statements well in his book Flickering Pixels:

We acquire the bland taste of a domesticated god who resides somewhere in our head. But our head is not home for the divine. The head helps us understand the divine from a safe distance. This is a powerful and valuable enterprise to be sure, byut there is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God.

To believe in Jesus not simply a matter of head knowledge; it is also a matter of the heart, a deep relationship with a living and personal God.

Belief, therefore, is not passive and informative; it is active and transformational.

That’s the sort of belief that I can believe in.

If ever I have been inspired to further limit accumulation of stuff, nothing has challenged me more than my current reading of The Story of Stuff. This book – based on a 20 minute video created by the author, Annie Leonard – outlines social and environmental impact of the process of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal of stuff, and also challenges the reader to write a new story through how we, both individually and corporately, can make positive strides in the midst of this destructive cycle.

It would take too long to point out every strong point that this book has to offer, but needless to say, I have been challenged not only to think about the amount of stuff that we accumulate, but also to make wise choices in regards to the stuff that we do buy in terms of where it’s made and the materials used to make it. I have also come to see how important it is to be aware of the certain tricks of the trade that are pulled on consumers in order to have us purchase more regularly, ie: planned obsolescence. For example, I am a big fan of Apple products, and we have made great use of our MacBook / iPods over the past few years. Many people see their products as so great and revolutionary; but if this is the case, why is the iPod that Lauren bought me only four years ago now seen as a dinosaur in light of the several new models that have been released since? We are so quick to jump on what’s new and hot without using the things we do have to the full extent of their usefulness, and without considering the toll taken on the world around us in regards to what it takes to produce the new and dump the not-so-old.

I am by no means a model consumer, but it is so important to think through these issues and to increase our awareness in terms of the story of the items that we use on a daily basis. As Leonard asserts several times in the book, it’s not a matter of saying all consumption is bad; it’s about being aware of the cycle and making a concerted effort to temper its negative effects.

This book is pretty much a must-read – although, in the spirit of its content, I would suggest getting it from the library.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the movie, it didn’t seem like a stretch to think that the story of a high school football team and the people of the town in which they play could be made into a TV show. The question in my mind was whether it could be done well. And after having made our way through the entire 1st season, I would have to say without hesitation that this is one of the best shows on television, period.

FNL is so incredibly well-written, and the beauty of this ‘sports’ show is that you become captivated primarily by the individual characters and their off-field lives; their success and failure on the field becomes an extension of what we witness in their daily realities, adding important context to what they are able to achieve as a team. The heart of the show resides with Coach Taylor and his family; Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton (playing the coach and his wife) add an amazing picture of what it means to be a loving married couple / parents who always put the needs of others above their own. I’m also personally a big fan of Tim Riggins and Matt Saracen – the town of Dillon is full of great characters to both love and despise, sometimes both at the same time.

Considering that this show is the perfect blend of good TV and sports, I honestly can’t believe it took me this long to tune in. But I’m glad that I did, and I’m thankful that the show survived a few cancellation scares to offer up a few more seasons to watch.

Looking forward to diving into Season 2!