Glen Abbey Golf Club

Well as stories does this is a good one. My dad was a member of Glen Abbey before it went public, years ago. I remeber going there while he golfed when I was a kid. As I recall they had a pool. We swam as kids and dad golfed. Totally old school country club. I never played it. I think they filled the pool in. I also think it is a totally different course then when he played, re-designed by Jack Nichlaus.

Yesterday for the first time in my life I played the course. Really fun. Even better we (FTC Canada - Feed The Children) were invited by PeopleNet Canada to be the beneficiaries of some fundraising that went on there and it was a great success. Thanks Peoplenet!!

First time out this year, so I hit some good shots and more bad ones. By the second nine I was getting some pars, although it was Texas scramble, so I did not really score.

Regardless a great day, hopefully many more like that this summer.

Great Wooden Trio

I really like these guys, and they are friends. The percussionist Greg Woods has done the drums on my pending new release.

The Stewardship Dance

It has been a year since I left being a "professional Pastor" at a church. I am now an attender at a church. It is an interesting transition which is not complete.

North America (Canada) is a strange and critical place, and implementing the vision Jesus set before us in the great commission is complicated. Jesus never required a building or programs (it would seem) to implement His vision through his work. Of course, he did use the infrastructure in place quite a lot, so he did not seem to reject the notion that the places were useful.

The ongoing conversation (and one that I think needs to continue) is whether or not it is wise to spend millions of dollars on buildings, land, sound equipment etc., when the money could be spent to feed the poor in Canada and around the world.

Here is where the disconnect is for me. Remembering I work daily to feed children in Canada and around the world. Our mission as Christians is primarily to teach and live the teachings of Jesus. Literally, creating atmospheres and opportunities for more people to just hear about Jesus and what he taught. An outcome from living what he taught should be both extravagant worship of Jesus and God (think of the women who poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet with His approval) AND taking care of the poor (think Jesus asking in heaven why we did not give water and food to those in need).

So for me the answer is an ongoing tension. To build a building that can communicate in the vernacular of our time musically and through teaching makes sense, even if it costs some money. What doesn't make sense is the Pastor or people in the congregation living high on the hog. That too, of course, is a sliding scale worthy of much debate, but at some point we must sacrifice things to live more simply and give more away.

Like I said, ongoing tension, but sometimes the tension can be created because the vision is not being viewed holistically.

Tony Campolo

I had the opportunity to go away for a day and hear Tony Campolo speak. It was a smaller group and the event was hosted by Leader Impact Group, an organization that was started (I believe) in Ontario by Paul Hendersen of "the goal heard round the world" fame. It originally started under another name, but has since merged and grown etc.

It was a timely set of talks and the discussion with the friend I went with was also very helpful. I personally struggle with the concept of living a life of significance. I also struggle with the degree to which music plays a part in the influence and impact that I have.

In the end there were a couple of themes that I am still dwelling on.

1. As some form of a leader, what am I doing to influence my sphere intentionally and positively ?
2. Am I doing anything to care for those outside of my sphere?
3. He also affirmed that prioritizing family at this stage of life is healthy and precedented. Jesus did not start his ministry until he was about 30. Life expectancy back then was 41. Why did he wait so long to do that? His father died, and he had to take care of his family until his siblings could take over. The he hit it hard.

No doubt, Jesus was doing things towards his mission on earth increasingly as he headed for his "time". His reluctance to really launch was seen in the story where he turned water into wine. At that point he said to his mom that His time had not yet come.

Part of life is balancing pushing forward in personal growth and maintaining and managing current realities well. Never easy or simple, always interesting.

The Miscellaneous

So the big push in on to finish the new CD. It seems pretty inevitable that it will be late, but it is coming along. I have purchased Logic Studio for the end push and I am already enjoying the increased professional quality of the software.

Another thing that has been interesting has been several projects that I have done since last September. They have all greatly increased my chops and confidence in producing. The Christmas single, I wrote the theme song for the Alliance Assembly I am leading at in July, and I did a jingle for a friend as more of a joke than anything, and I also did a fun single for my daughter. Perhaps they could be considered distractions, but I have really enjoyed the process.

It is now time to focus on the final push. There may even be a way some of you can help. I will let you know.

The Church

I have had several occasions to discuss the nature of the church lately. For me I have begun to use some terminology to help me understand and discuss it better. I have started to deliniate between the institutional church and the group of Christians who collectively make up the church.

Both are Biblical. The Bible does teach that we need to gather, practice our gifts, encourage, teach and take care of each other. Sometimes, though, I think that when we do that in community, in other words, in a more relational way, through friendships from made through the institutional church but practiced away from the institutional church, we end up achieving what we believe the institutional church should do mechanically. Pretty tough row to hoe, to create an institution capable of functioning organically.

Some may look at my life and say the the institutional church has let me down, or vice versa. I think of it completely differently. I have connected in community with several other Christians who have spoken into my life consistently for years. Most of the time, some of them go to the institutional church I am attending, but more often then not, the majority are influences that transcend the many geographical moves that have taken our family to different homes and churches.

Maybe we need to do a disappearing act in terms of what the institutional church is trying to do. Maybe it needs to be a gathering place and entry point to what Jesus teaches, and the community and relational stuff, which I think is the meat of what Jesus teaches in terms of actually becoming better people, can flow from that.

Speaking on church music at the Nova conference in Toronto

So I am speaking at the Nova conference this Friday. The topic I am dealing with is how to take a church from traditional to contemporary music without blowing it up. It is a challenging topic not simply because of style issues and preferences, but because there is so much organizational baggage we are carrying today as the church. We have been so homogeneous in our tactical approach to relevancy that it has stifled the artists in our midst from participating and taking us somewhere culturally. It should be an interesting and hopefully somewhat interactive talk.