Listening and Let it Be

I recently has a unique listening experience with my son Liam. We were working on a music project together and trying to pick out a song to use as a demo. We were considering using Let it Be by the Beatles and so we were listening together. As is usual, I was a bit carried away and so was working right up to the time we were supposed to be leaving for dinner at a friends. Just as we were about to head out the door Liam says "you know what my favourite part of the song is, the part where the guy says 'stop talking'." I told him that there was no such part and asked him what he was talking about. He told us that he could definitely hear someone say something. We looked at him like he was crazy, but to give him the benefit of the doubt ( while still thinking he was crazy) I told him to quickly go and grab his iPod. We hooked it up in the car and while we were driving to our friends for dinner we were blaring Let it Be. The first verse and chorus went by and I was still arguing that there was nothing and that he was hearing things...and then the second verse came. Sure enough, in the second verse, under the lyric "parted" there is a voice picked up by one of the mics which says something. I can't hear it clearly enough to say what the voice actually says although the phrasing could certainly fit "stop talking".
It got me thinking about listening. I was amazed at what Liam was able to detect (and a bit freaked out about how loud he must have been listening to his music!) in a song I have heard many times before but never noticed. As a musician there are so many ways in which listening, hearing differently from others, and paying closer attention to sounds is important. What I have been thinking about, however, is listening in general, the kind of listening that we can all aim to do when it comes to listening to each other.
When it comes to relationships and personal interactions I think there is a lot more listening that we can be aiming to do. I know that if I were to listen as much as I am tempted to talk I could probably learn a lot more, understand much more clearly and better respond to people. There is a passage in James that teaches that "everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1:19) There is much wisdom in this statement. How many misunderstandings could be avoided, how many conflicts averted if we were to listen more closely? When it comes to listening to others we can listen to the words they speak as well as how they speak them, so that we might begin to hear their heart. What might it be like if we were to take our listening to a whole new level? What might our churches be like, our communities and our families if we aimed to really listen to one another?
I still have not been able to find out about what was said in that second verse of Let it Be so if you happen to know, or come across something let me know.

Where Was I Last Week?

Last week was the first week (the first I can remember anyway) that I missed posting a blog in almost 3 years. I do, however, have a good excuse! Last week I was attending the CNBC convention, which is our denomination's annual convention. I had the privilege of helping to organize a Taste the World event where we helped delegates from around the country get a unique experience of the ethnic diversity of the GTA. Some of our local churches prepared food representing the diversity within their congregations and served the almost 300 people who came to celebrate. Our Milton worship team also had the honour of leading worship for the opening night session and I even got to lead an e-quip session on bringing small group principles to a worship team experience. Even better than those opportunities to contribute, however, was all that I got to come away with from attending all the worship opportunities, the session and the great speakers each night. It is always great to meet with people from around the country and to hear all that God is doing even within a small denomination like ours is in Canada. As well as all the opportunities for inspiration and celebration there are also great opportunities to be challenged. I think that these periodic challenges are good and are needed by each of us as we seek to live out God's call in our life.
On one evening our speaker spoke from Matthew 28:18-20,

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Our speaker challenged us with a realization that he had come to in his life and ministry. He was sharing about the process which led him to the conclusion that he needed not to be making disciples, but "disciple makers," those who are willing to take what they learn as disciples, to share Jesus with others and then walk with them as they learn to be disciples. I was encouraged and challenged by what our speaker was asking of us. Secondly, I found myself asking how is it that the church has gotten to a place where we need to bring in a new term such as "disciple maker" when in reality that is part of what it means to be a disciple in the first place. A disciple is someone who follows the life and teaching of Jesus. If Jesus said to go and make disciples and we are not, then we are not really being disciples! Even in the passage above there is the idea of "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" which would include this task of going and making disciples. And so I have been challenged.
On our last night together, we took time to specifically look a missions. We were again challenged to consider what God may be asking to do in and through us. If we consider that famous verse in Acts 1:8, in which Jesus tells his disciples that they will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth then we recognize that being on mission can begin next door or lead us around the world. So my challenge to you is this:
Where and how is God calling you to be a disciple maker, to be someone on mission with Him and how will you respond? When we look at this God that we serve and all He is doing we should be inspired. When we consider the need around the world for workers to be sent to the harvest field so that people have the opportunity to hear and respond to Jesus we should be challenged. The job is great enough for all of us to be involved, there are no excuses, and there are no sidelines in this task. We don't need cheerleaders or play by play commentators but everyone to get involved. So how might God be moving in your heart? An oversees missionary or on mission to your neighbour or co-worker? A small group leader or a church planter?
Even though I am in "ministry" let me assure you that my wife and I are asking these questions of ourselves. I expect that there is still room for us to be challenged.
So how about you?

O Canada!

"God keep our land..." Amen to that.
Happy Canada Day (belated I know, I was out celebrating).

A Moment

Well, yesterday I had one of those parenting moments of which that my wife often accuses me. I was working on my computer and deep in thought when one of my boys came and asked if he and his brother could go and do something. I remember thinking that it sounded fine and so I said "sure." Soon after, however, I was back to work, deep in thought and absolutely forgot about what and where the boys had asked about. What I had also forgotten is that I had an early afternoon appointment and so needed the boys to be home at a certain time for lunch before I left. So as the lunch hour approached I took my youngest daughter with me and I headed to the creek just down the street, which is most often where the boys go, hoping to be able to see them and call them for lunch. As I walked down the path beside the creek in the heat of the afternoon with my youngest daughter skipping just ahead of me I had a moment (a different moment then the one earlier mentioned...a better moment.) It was a moment of awe and inspiration, of praise and worship. I looked toward this tiny creek, right in the middle of suburbia with streets and houses encroaching on either side and I was amazed at the nature that I saw. Even in this small fragment of wilderness there was an amazing amount of diversity. There was a lush, thick density to the vegetation that I could not even see through, a collage made of a vast array of green tones highlighted by numerous splashes of vibrant colours. The sounds and sightings of birds were beyond numbering and the life within that little swatch of land was astounding. It was dense, vibrant and untamed. And although untamed, it was not chaotic. There is an interconnectedness and an interdependency in creation that is just incredible. And that was my moment. A moment of wonder as I encountered this unexpected experience of the untamed power and beauty of creation. What an amazingly complex and creative God we worship!
And yes, I found the boys eventually. They had headed to the creek but then were following the great blue heron from pond to pond. We connected at the street corner, both on our way back home.

Splice

At the end of the film Splice I was the first one out of my seat and heading to exit the theater. I was heading down the dark hallway toward the exit door light as the ominous sounds from the film soundtrack still hung in the air. As I walked through the theater door there was a moment of overlap where two completely different experiences bled together. With one foot in the dark theater and the dark mysterious music still ringing, the other foot was in the well lit hallway where the chorus to the Traveling Willbury's tune "End of the Line" (perhaps the most upbeat, bouncy, happy go lucky sounding song there is) played through the hallway speakers. While reflecting in the washroom (the reason I was the first to exit the theatre) I recognized that this weird moment of conflicting realities sort of summed up my experience with Splice.
Last week I mentioned that my brother was in Splice and that I saw no reason that everyone would not go right out and see it. I now see a reason...it was creepy...intensely creepy. If that bothers you then you probably do not want to experience this film because it does creep really, really well and the experience won't leave you anytime soon. And here is where I find that overlap of realities I was speaking about. On the one hand it was pretty cool to see my brother on the big screen and I was exited. On the other hand it was one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen and it really haunted me. So there they were, two conflicting experiences, being excited and absolutely weirded out at the same time.
I knew the premise of the film in which two brilliant young scientist make some decisions to cross ethical lines (and laws) to do genetic experimentation. That was certainly the foundation of the film's plot. What I was not expecting was the way the film investigated not only these scientific ethical questions, but a whole gamut of ethical and moral decisions that the two characters would make and the consequences of those decisions. It investigated scientific questions of ethical boundaries in experimentation but also questions of blurring objectivity, personal attachment and psychological baggage as the relationship between the female scientist and her creation develops. There are also investigations into moral failures in particular infidelity and...incest (is it incest when one has such relations with something one has created in a laboratory?) It was these investigations that I found to be the most creepy and haunting (and overly graphic in my opinion). It was an intense experience to say the least.
Here is where I have the biggest dilemma. It may sound like I didn't appreciate the film but the honest truth is that I am conflicted. It made me extremely uncomfortable, but is that a bad thing? After all, that is what it was supposed to do. It was exploring some interesting questions and trying to provoke thought and dialogue. If it was not so creepy, would it have done it's job? If I had walked away unaffected would it have sounded any kind of warning to me to truly consider my thoughts and actions? I do think that some scenes where more graphic than they needed to be to get me to think (and they are still turning my stomach) but I am still conflicted about what I think.
I had another thought after the film that I am not conflicted about. There is one very emotionally charged scene during which the two scientist are lamenting, grieving and reflecting over the sum total of their actions that had brought them to such a terrible place. He comments that they had changed the rules, that they had crossed a line and that they had crossed the line between right and wrong. After thinking about it, I came to realize how significant it is to have something on which to base ethical and moral decisions. The characters in the movie had no particular source of guidance that they trusted or where invested in on which they based their decisions. What started as one decision to break an ethical scientific law with which they did not agree then revealed a whole assortment of other decisions and issues, and led to a number of new ones that the characters then had to face without any particular guideline to help them keep their bearing. For me, I have come to recognize scripture as one such guide. It functions as a plum line if you will or a compass on which to rely on when making life decisions and has proven to be a trustworthy guide. Of course, it presupposes the existence of God and that He has revealed much about himself and His expectation through the scripture. It also presupposes that He is the creator of the universe and thus is in a place to offer such guidance and that He has our best in mind and at heart and so will lead us to what is best. But having come to such conclusions, I then have a source upon which to lean and seek guidance even in times that are unclear, uncertain and trying. I don't mean to give a simple Sunday school answer to life (which is always either Jesus of the Bible). I don't mean to say that we will not have to wrestle with, dig through and work to properly interpret scripture. But as we engage with the Word of God in such a way, and as His Spirit opens our eyes and hearts to what scripture has for us, then there is hope for such guidance.
So there are some reflections that I have managed between bouts of being creeped out!

Little Brother on the Big Screen

Ok, not so much of a devotional thought this week as a shameless plug. This week a new movie was released called Splice that stars Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody. Third billing in the film goes to my little brother Brandon McGibbon. The film seems to be doing well and is getting great reviews so I see no reason that you should not go out and see it! (alright shameless plug over). I hope to see it early next week. The film revolves around questions of ethical and legal boundaries of DNA experimentation (and by questions I mean a crazy half human winged creature that turns deadly) so maybe there will be some thoughts for my blog next week.

Have you shared your faith lately?

Yesterday I was working a shift in a logistics warehouse, unloading hundreds of boxes of Chinese candy from a 53' trailer when all of a sudden the guy next to me asks, "If you had two buttons, one saying earth and one saying humanity, and you had to choose to save just one, what would you push." He quickly added "and none of this religious hope stuff"(he knows I am a pastor). I paused and was thinking as he continued to talk and share thoughts etc. Part of me was going to just let it go but another part of me was thinking about the verse that says "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have."(1 Peter 3:15) It was a bit weird because he specifically asked me not to share about hope but none the less I still felt like this is one of those opportunities I should not just let go. As I was listening to him however, I came to recognize that what he thought I would mean by hope was some sort of warm and fuzzy notion about humanities goodness or something. I listened as he expressed disillusionment with humanity, all the mistakes that are made and just what evil humans are capable of. It is here that I actually got to explain what I thought, what my faith teaches me, and Christianity recognizes and addresses many of his observations. I shared about sin and the human condition, about God having a plan and that Jesus came and died not just to turn a blind eye to evil but to bear the consequences for sin. Grace comes in the fact that he bore the punishment for us and that those who put their faith in Him are covered by his self sacrificial actions. I also shared that hope was based not on a warm and fuzzy feeling but that there is a time in the future when Jesus will return, that there will be a judgment day and evil will be dealt with once and for all and that there will be a new earth in which all the effects of sin will no longer exist (and I may have done so in an even more coherent manner than the summary I just gave!)
Anyway, the whole thing has reminded me to always be prepared. We never know how or when an opportunity may arise. So how about you, are you prepared? Here are some things you may want to think about so that you are prepared if an opportunity arises:

1) How you came to faith - your testimony. Sharing your own story may be a great way to start in a non-threatening way.
2) A story about what God has done in your life lately.
3) Gospel particulars - do you know and can you articulate the gospel message? Try studying 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 to get you started.

Those are just a few suggestions to get you started as you seek to always be prepared. I would love it if you would share any other suggestions you have.