Converge magazine // 8 by Converge Media

the simpsons: Spiritual assault? // a single girl's field notes // summer movie report card

convergemagazine.com

New

stewardship Should your work

match your gifts?

WAYS TO DISCOVER YOUR CALLING

Does microfinance

hurt or help?

Fall 2012 Higher Ed Guide

Canadian Publications Mail Products Sales Agreement #40038603

Catholic Conversations

$3.50 CDN

SEP-OCT 2012 | Issue 8

Why you're looking for the

wrong person to marry Joseph Vincent on how YouTube changed the game

CHURCH SHOPPING

Consumer culture and the mission of God

TO STAND WHERE JESUS STOOD, TO SEE WHAT HE SAW, YOU’LL FEEL HIS MIRACLES COME ALIVE INSIDE YOU. When you come to the site where Jesus met Peter and started his Galilee ministry, your mind leaps back across the centuries and you feel the Bible come alive as never before. Experience the wonder of the Holy Land in person. You’ll never be the same.

For best deals please go to: http: //www.goisrael.com/bestdeals Spirit of the Holy Land

Capernaum Synagogue, Galilee

Training for Full Time Christian Service Regardless of Occupation! Leadership Through Servanthood by Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Indwelling, Resurrection Life. Practical Bible Teaching Genesis to Revelation: Christ Revealed in the Written Word.

Capernwray URL

Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Life! TheTis island - BriTish ColumBia - Canada

What's inside: 7

REFLECTIONS

CATHOLIC CONVERSATIONS

10 THINGS WE MISS ABOUT THE WAY CHURCH WAS

FIELD NOTES VOL.2 Being alone vs being alone with someone

THE SIMPSONS

WHY YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE WRONG PERSON TO MARRY

CANADA'S FIRST CHRISTIAN LAW SCHOOL

FALL EDUCATION GUIDE

HOW THE CHURCH FAILS MEN

CHURCH SHOPPING

TO LOAN OR NOT TO LOAN

JOSEPH VINCENT: A CHAT WITH YOUTUBE'S DARLING

Has America's most beloved family damaged us?

A closer look at microfinance

REVIEWS

LAST WORD

CHURCH SHOPPING

Are

you searching for the right things?

Find your future school with our Christian higher education guide

WHY YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE WRONG PERSON TO MARRY

48 TO LOAN OR NOT TO LOAN

converge 08 | Sep-Oct 2012 Christian Info Society #300 - 291 East 2nd Ave Vancouver B.C. V5T 1B8 604.558.1982 1.888.899.3777

contributors We love our contributors! Here are a few of many that helped make issue 8 possible and pretty awesome.

editor

Shara Lee shara@convergemagazine.com

Ashley Chapman is

a White Rock, BC writer and editor who works with FH (Food for the Hungry) Canada. She blogs about postuniversity, pre-family, belowground, and NGO-working life at ashleychapman.ca.

copy editors

Chelsea Batten, Ashley Chapman, Patricia Lim designer

Carmen Bright carmen@convergemagazine.com accounting

Cameron Heal accounting@convergemagazine.com sales & operations

Jeremy Mills jeremy@convergemagazine.com contributors

Jason Burtt, Clayton Imoo, Cam Smith, Craig Ketchum, Sam McLoughlin, Tim Chan, Winnie Lui, Jeff Wong, Jeremy Postal, Matt Kim, Royce Sin, Ryan Wong cover photo

Geoff Heith Opinions expressed in CONVERGE magazine are not necessarily those of the staff or board of Christian Info Society

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 year (6 issues) Canada: $12 US: $12 International: Please inquire. BULK DISCOUNTS We offer special bulk discounted rates to churches, schools, and other non-profits. Call 604-558-1982 or toll-free at 1-888-899-3777 or email subscribe@convergemagazine.com TO SUBSCRIBE subscribe@convergemagazine.com TO SUBMIT letters@convergemagazine.com GENERAL INQUIRIES info@convergemagazine.com TO ADVERTISE jeremy@convergemagazine.com DROP US A LINE! letters@convergemagazine.com www.facebook.com/convergemag @CONVERGE_mag

Sam McLoughlin

is a recent Regent College grad, pop-culture addict, writer and word-class ninja. . . well, three out of four, anyway. Check out his new book on keeping the faith as a 20-something The Default Life on Amazon or YouTube, or by heading to www.thedefaultlife.com.

Tim Chan is always thinking. Thinking about his beautiful wife Olive and his cute daughter Alena. Thinking about how to build community, how to help people grow, and how life can be lived meaningfully. Thinking about how God gives us the freedom to be ourselves and live fully. Tim lives in Vancouver, BC and writes about marriage and parenting at timandolive.com. Tim is also on Twitter @timtchan.

Geoff Heith is a Vancouver photo taker and video maker. He loves his pregnant wife and his 2 year old, almost potty trained, son. He's also a paper cut survivor!

Clayton Imoo has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries. Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, speaking to youth and adults, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks. Find him at www. claytonimoo.com and follow him on Twitter @claytonimoo convergemagazine.com

4 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

editor's letter

Reflect

roducing this issue was a challenge. We did have a little more time to work on this one, but as any creative will tell you, the best ideas always arrive at the eleventh hour. It didn’t help that we had one of the most beautiful summers here in Vancouver. When the weather is nice out, it is difficult to be keep yourself on task indoors, in front of the computer. Procrastination aside, the other thing that slowed us down was the move to a new office. In preparation, we had to get rid of a lot of junk. It’s amazing what you collect during the course of a year! There were books to give away, CDs to listen to, magazines galore, and enough scrap paper to fill our printer for months. Getting rid of excess stuff was cathartic. I was able to clear out a lot of what I no longer needed, and carefully file away the items that still held a lot of value. I also had to sell some furniture. For example, I got rid of a massive birchcoloured corner desk that just didn’t fit our new space. In some ways, this process was sort of like making a magazine. You start with a lot of ideas (usually too many to fit into a single issue), and slowly start to cross off those that are no longer relevant. You file away those that would be better suited for the future. You finally expand on the ideas that work. For this issue, we really went after the best. The writers you’ll hear from in the following pages are not only talented, but passionate about their chosen topics. First there’s Jason Burtt, who wrote the cover story about church shopping. His article really touches on an important

refresh

message for the body: are we living our lives the way Christ intended? Do we choose churches based on what fulfills our own desires instead of His? Accompanying his words are beautiful pictures taken by an amazing photographer named Geoff Heith. This guy has the ability to capture the most beautiful images — ones that draw your eyes in, enticing you to read the accompanying story. Also in this issue is an article by Chelsea Batten about men in the church. Although we have run many articles in the past about manhood, never before have they been written from the perspective of a female. You won’t want to miss out on the ideas she has for the church about raising better men. Of course, there’s a lot more in this issue, and my hope is that you’ll find an idea, an article, or a photo to connect with. We spent a lot of time and effort to bring you something of value, so now it’s up to you to flip the page.

We've packed, and we've relocated for a third time now. Never forgetting where we come from, we pause and reflect, refreshing our views (literally!) and seeing where these new directions lead us.

convergemagazine.com

“I’M A CHRISTIAN, SO HOW COME I FEEL SO LOST?” YOU CAN PROVIDE ANSWERS THAT MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE Train online today to lead others through The Truth Project – a DVD-based study for small groups, from Focus on the Family

FIND OUT MORE AT TRUTHPROJECT.CA/ENGAGE

THE TRUTH PROJECT ANSWERS QUESTIONS SUCH AS: / AM I JUST A PRODUCT OF EVOLUTION? / DO I HAVE A PURPOSE? / HOW DO I DETERMINE RIGHT FROM WRONG? / WHAT DOES SCIENCE REVEAL ABOUT GOD? / WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “KNOW” GOD?

Also from the creators of The Truth Project:

Answers for teens and young adults

Find the TrueU® DVD series at

6 | CONVERGE. sep -oct 2012 Shop.focusonthefamily.ca/trueu

Flickr photo by miss.libertine

reflections

james

"the

1:3

testing of your faith produces patience."

was March in the tiny community of Esperanza on the west side of Vancouver Island. There, a group of friends and I were chopping wood when a hailstorm descended upon us with intrepid force, stinging our skin through our jackets. We took cover until the storm subsided, then returned to our task: splitting enough wood to stock every woodshed in the community. Our workdays were streamlined: four hours of labour in the morning, break for lunch, and then more work until dinnertime. Chopping was arduous but simple, as there was only one way to do it: hit the round in the right spot over and over again until it gave. Many victories are possible through perseverance, and great harvests take time and work. Seeing results is encouraging, but we are often tempted to live expecting instant gratification. We rejoice over answers to heartfelt prayer and a return from seed we’ve sown. When we don’t see results, faith is tested, sometimes in the company of great frustration. Faith is confident expectation. It involves waiting for something promised. Patience allows the fruit of peace to grow. Jesus declared we would receive the things we ask for in

prayer (Matthew 21:22). When Daniel prayed, his answer was sent immediately with an angel, but was delayed by warfare in the heavens (Daniel 10:12). We have to believe our prayers make a difference. God ardently desires for us to pray: “Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Christ championed the virtue of perseverance in prayer. Yes, sometimes our motivations are misguided, praying our will be done over God’s. At other times, we have not seen the wood split because we need to hit it a few more times. That’s one way to cultivate perseverance. God may be emphasizing work he wants to do in us to prepare the work he will do through us afterward. Though our prayers may be for the transformation of our situation, our prayers are simultaneously transforming us. It is impossible for us to pray and for absolutely nothing to happen. Though we are desperate to arrive at our destination, God is more concerned about what happens to our hearts along the way. Entrust God with your heart, and persevere; even though the rewards may come slowly, in the end, they will be bigger and better than we could ever dream of.

—Craig Ketchum

convergemagazine.com

Words: on the Search for Your Calling

hat do you want to be when you grow up, Jason?" I pointed to the planets hanging from the classroom ceiling and shouted, “Astronaut!” Twenty years later, I’m still shooting for the moon, but I’m definitely not flying in zero gravity. From childhood I was taught to associate “growing up” with an occupational title: fireman, nurse, hockey player, teacher, etc. As I grew, I learned that when adults meet one another, they probe for identity by asking, "So, what do you do for work?" A person’s job may speak to their values, but it’s a mistake to minimize a person’s identity to what they do for work. Similarly, when we consider our calling, we are tempted to equate it with occupation. Yet occupation is only part of a much bigger picture. Three helpful ways to define calling in the Christian context are as follows: 1) a general call to follow Christ; 2) a specific call, or vocation, that is unique to each individual's mission and service in the world and that sometimes entails an occupation; and 3) an immediate call to carry out duties or tasks at any given moment.1 When we talk about calling, all three aspects are interweaved, but the foundation for calling comes from what it means to be a conscientious Christian – that is, bringing grace and peace to our communities. Here are five words to help you launch into a discussion of your calling.

Satisfaction

Jason J. Burtt is the Pastor of Youth and Family Ministry at West Vancouver Baptist Church.

If you’re singing the Rolling Stones’ famous hit song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” it might be time to change the tune. St. Augustine once wrote, “You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you."2 When I was a child in Sunday school, my teacher taught me about Jesus’ love and the great satisfaction found in knowing him. I learned He chose me, made me in His image, knit me in my mother's womb, and says to me, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Genesis 1:26; Jeremiah 31:3; Psalm 139:13-14). God’s Word became the primary call, and his plan and purpose the driving force of my life (Romans 8:28-29). Everyone has a role to play in the body of Christ; it brings us

great joy and satisfaction to know that God has fit our lives into His sovereign plan. Our requests for clarity and direction in our callings must be founded upon an unwavering trust in God’s love for us. We will find ourselves tossed to and fro like waves of the sea if we doubt (James 1:6), but the Spirit gives us confidence His plans will succeed. Congruence Personal and corporate congruence are important clues to determine calling. Personal congruence exists when a person is aware of his or her unique personality, desires, and abilities. 3 Secondly, corporate congruence emphasizes the need for each part to fit rightly within the body of Christ. Can people see what you are doing and support you? Does your goal

Gordon T. Smith, Courage and Calling: Embracing Your God-Given Potential (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 1999), 10. Saint Augustine, The Confessions, trans. by Maria Boulding (New York: Vintage Books, 1997), 3. 3 Smith, Courage and Calling, 33-55. 4 John Macmurray, Persons in Relations (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1961), 211. 5 Gordon T. Smith, The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit 1

8 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

make sense to those closest to you? Is it in line with your skill set? More often than not, God uses our immediate community to confirm or deny our motives, goals, and agendas. Note: This community should consist of life-giving people, not pessimists! Most of our friends can tell us where we are gifted and where they see us getting the most out of life. Finally, although we must make the effort to “know ourselves,” we are called to live altruistically as one part of a greater whole. As the philosopher John Macmurray puts it, “We need one another to be ourselves.”4 Humility The disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 18:1-4, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus responds, “Truly I say to you, unless you are

converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” In light of this and the big picture of God's grace, we find ourselves in need of child-like faith, wonder, and reliance. When I was a little boy, faith seemed to come easy, and yet the older I get, the more I question everything. Humility is the posture of children, but also of servants—and our best example is Jesus (Philippians 2:1-11). Humility allows us to learn new things, challenge long-held personal beliefs and motives, listen well to others, and most importantly, serve our neighbours. We must ask ourselves, “Is this thing I’m doing out of love for myself, or others?” Selfishness tends to plug our ears from hearing God’s voice, but a posture of

(Downers Grove: IVP, 2003), 36. 6 Marva Dawn, The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church and the World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 36. 7 J. Hudson Taylor, A Retrospect (Public Domain), 8. 8 Saint Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (Toronto: Random House, 2000), 55 §169.

attentiveness and humility will help us keep in step with the Spirit and open our ears to the Saviour’s call (Galatians 5). 5

WELL BEING

A person is said to be healthy when mind, body, soul, and spirit are all experiencing good rest, exercise, and fulfillment. If any one of these areas is weak, exhausted, or worse—suffers a meltdown—then our entire lives are affected. As a child, I had boundless energy; today, I wish I had that limitless supply. One way we can keep ourselves healthy is to seek renewal through Sabbath-keeping. The Sabbath is widely understood to be a day of rest from work, but there is much more to the Sabbath than taking a day off. Most Christians celebrate Sabbath on Sunday by going to church, taking the Lord’s Supper, and communing with family and friends. But even in the routine we can forget to rest. God created the cosmos in six days, and rested on the seventh. Adam and Eve’s first day on the job was a day of rest! They didn’t just get down to business, but spent some time resting with God—the God who made them, the God who loved them, the God who is in control. It is then through the refreshing joy of Sabbath that we truly trust the sovereignty of God, and through His strength we can work the next six days.6 Sabbath reminds us that calling is not primarily about work, but is rather about trusting the One who made the cosmos.

MIDAFTERNOON STRETCH Studies have said time and time again that sitting all day can, wait for it . . . kill you. This is why we highly encourage you to leave your space and do some simple stretches. Not only will it give you a legit excuse for a break, it will also get the blood flowing to your head again, and thwart any immediate desk-death risks. squat n' lift Difficulty: Start with feet shoulder width apart. Bend down as if to sit, keeping your arms out for balance. As you come back up, lift your right leg to the side. Repeat and alternate legs.

COMFORT FOOD

Flexibility Are you willing to go where God sends? The cost of following Jesus may be in the form of less remuneration, unfavourable living conditions, risk, and even persecution. St. Paul writes, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Hudson Taylor once wrote, “It seemed to me highly probable that the work to which I was thus called might cost my life . . .” 7 You might be called to a new city or a foreign land, and be forced to start life afresh with new people and new expectations. If we truly are the clay, and God the potter, then we’ll be soft and pliable in His hands, no matter the cost. All trials can lead to hope if we are led by the Spirit and remain flexible and obedient (Romans 5:3). As we can see, our "line of work" is only one part of our overall calling. Whatever our calling, it will give God glory and be life-giving to us. In all our duties and tasks we work at everything as if we’re working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23). In the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola: “In every good choice, as far as depends on us, our intention must be simple. I must consider only the end for which I am created, that is, for the praise of God our Lord and for the salvation of my soul.” 8

IN SEASON: Pumpkin & butternut squash These gourds go much farther than harvest decor. They're low-fat and rich in fibre, potassium, and vitamin A.

•Heat the butter and oil in a stockpot

Winter Squash Soup

Flickr photos by boo_licious

Flickr photos by rocket ship

Health

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon good olive oil 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions) 1 (15 - ounce) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut in chunks 3 cups homemade chicken stock or canned broth 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 cup half - and - half Creme fraiche, grated Gruyere.

•Add the onions, and cook over medium - low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. •Add the pumpkin puree, butternut squash, chicken stock, salt, and pepper. •Cover and simmer over medium - low heat for about 20 minutes, until the butternut squash is very tender. •Process the mixture through the medium blade of a food mill. Return to the pot, add the half - and - half, and heat slowly. If the soup needs more flavour, add another teaspoon of salt. Serve hot with garnishes, if desired. convergemagazine.com

create

Q&A with David Vandas of

WeMakeStuff

creativity comes in all forms! A little peEk for who to see:

A collective for creativity, commerce, & Christ. What is WeMakeStuff? We Make Stuff is a book showcasing 100 artists and innovators from Western Canada. The artists being selected in this book are known for their pursuit of creative excellence and their acknowledgement of transparency before Jesus Christ. Each artist gets two pages to showcase what creatively matters to them, and to comment on the process of creativity, problems in the world, injustices, and all manner of tensions: with the church, with commerce, with being a professional artist.

Why did you decide to make a book? About three years ago, I really started to hone in on what it was going to be. A physical book in a time when everything you put on the internet is so passé after one week. There was a heart to start documenting and archiving what is happening creatively in the body of Christ, and that includes people who don’t go to church anymore — “lone wolves and bitter sheep,” I like to call them.

Can you talk about the idea behind it? The idea was to create a safe platform of dialogue with this demographic. Ultimately, with creatives who really want to pursue excellence, they start to not have a safe community inside the church or outside the church to wrestle with concepts, ideas, and convictions they have. A lot of them just start to get bitter, and shut down certain areas of their lives that are vitally important to who they were made to be, simply because it hasn’t been affirmed in the church or outside of the church. So the point of WeMakeStuff is to create a safe platform for artists to be amongst peers.

10 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

What will you see when you open a page? When someone opens the book, the common thread that you’ll find is, simply put, the creative process. “Creativity,” “Commerce” and “Christ” — three words that are not usually put together. The artists are wrestling with how to put them together. As an editor, I’m pursuing what that holistically looks like.

Stephen Duff Building a $4.5 million Tall-Ship for S.A.L.T.S.

Who is in WeMakeStuff? A large group of artists in the book are wrestling with their place in the body, and some find it easier in life by not participating with the institution of church. Or some feel the conviction to engage even though they’re kind of not acknowledged for the skill that large companies are paying them big money for. It’s not that they need the approval, but when you’re treated as cute for something you spill blood and tears for . . . when you don’t go to sleep at night 'cause you’re fighting to give birth to the next creative thing, and that creative thing can impact very greatly the very community the church is trying to help . . . it’s frustrating. David Vandas is a video/film director and the editor of WeMakeStuff, a book that will showcase the creative process of 100 artists. To find out more or to pre-order the book, visit WeMakeStuff.ca

For more information or To pre-order the book

Tara Teng

Miss World Canada Creative fighting for human trafficking

Jessica Bell

Chef specializing in sustainable farming and cooking

Steve Frost Writer www.Brokenwing.ca

MetroMercy

church profile

www.rockpointe.ca 6pm - Sundays Amsterdam Rhino 607 11 Ave SW Calgary, AB

10 Ave SW

Rob Brown

11 Ave SW

5 St SW

MetroMercy: Holy space in an unusual place

lead pastor:

6 St SW

Church on the rocks

An interview with Pastor Rob Brown

How was the church founded?

behind the church name: • Calgary is a burgeoning metropolis (hence the “metro”) and continues to grow rapidly in the midst of an unpredictable economic climate. Though not an old city, it has fast become an important centre with international acclaim. “Mercy” is an expression of our hearts to ensure that everybody knows our identity is set in stone — we will remember the poor and the broken-hearted among us. There are times when we simply call ourselves “MetroMercy” and drop the church reference so we get a chance to show people who we are, rather than carry pre-determined assumptions regarding church.

What is your church's mission statement or purpose? • We are a mission. Mirroring the work of our international workers overseas, we seek to build a relentlessly honest and caring community as well as to share the love of Christ in us with words and deeds. All have an important place in the Kingdom, and our desire is to follow Jesus wherever He takes us and whatever it looks like, and to help others know and follow Him.

When was your church established & where? • We were established November 2009 in downtown Calgary in a bar called the Amsterdam Rhino. When we started, our community consisted of 15 people. Today we have on average 50 people who attend each week.

Describe the demographic / community • We are a community that reflects downtown Calgary. There are people from all corners of the world. There are youth, seniors, healthy people, sick people, rich people, poor people, homeless people . . . it's hard to narrow it down. Our church community has grown around themes of discontentment with conventional church, personal brokenness, and a search for family.

Why was there a need for your church? • MetroMercy started because there wasn't a church in the area. The churches in other areas of downtown were not connecting with young people and those that lived in the area. We wanted to blaze the trail.

12 | CONVERGE.

sep -oct 2012

• RockPointe decided to plant a church downtown. We looked but couldn't find a place to meet. All the normal places you would look for, like convention centers and meeting rooms in condo buildings didn’t feel right to us. One day I was driving and saw the door open to the Amsterdam Rhino, I thought I had nothing to lose and walked right up to the manager and said, "My name is Rob, I'm starting a church, and would like to use this space for our Sunday services.” The manager told me I was crazy, and I left him my card. The owner called me before I got back to the office, and said, "This is Don from the Amsterdam Rhino. What's your position on women and gays?" We talked about how we're all human and how we love everybody. He then agreed to meet and discuss this further. We discussed the ideas I had for what the church would look like and how it would connect with the neighbourhood. He gave me the keys on the spot and said it was all ours on Sundays. We've been there the past three years, and our relationship with the owner and staff has grown into a ground-breaking partnership. Recently they invited our church to host an event during their regular business hours. Basically they invited us to build a church service around their customers — we're calling it “the church on the rocks”.

PROVIDENCE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

What makes your church unique? • We meet in a popular bar, the Amsterdam Rhino. The people that attend MetroMercy are very real people with very real issues and we turn to one another and to Christ to find healing and community throughout our issues. We’re very informal and casual, but we focus on building deeper relationships.

Christ-Centred University Education

ing and host an annual event called Traffic Jam. Many of our congregation have devoted their careers to social work since joining our community.

At Providence we believe that university education is about more than knowledge. Bring your faith to class and experience the difference of a Christ-centred university education. n n n n n n

What are some of your unique evangelism methods? • Partnerships. Why duplicate what is already being done well? There are numerous opportunities all around us in Calgary to connect meaningfully and consistently with people. At MetroMercy we have no building to maintain, and limit administration as much as possible through community-driven decentralized planning, social media, partnerships, and collaborative communication. We host ESL conversation classes in the basement of an old United Church. Once a month we run a small community branch of a homeless shelter with Inn From the Cold, a local non-profit. We pioneered an open format for personal social interaction between volunteers and guests at the Mustard Seed, a local homeless shelter. We joined the movement against human traffick-

Distinctly Christian Inter-Denominational International Student Body Outstanding Faculty Excellence in Performing Arts Competitive Varsity Athletics

Choose from among 19 majors and earn your Bachelor of Arts degree. Where is your church going and what are your plans for the future? • We're still becoming what God is building in us. Our only plan for the future is to follow Jesus in courageous obedience. Our plans are not conventional in the sense that we don’t focus on the numbers — MetroMercy is never going to become a big, famous church; we’ll always be a strong community that is there for one another and our neighbours, and if we grow too big we don’t want to sacrifice that. We want the simple life of following Jesus. Simple isn't easy, it's much, much harder, but it's the way we want to live.

AcAdemic entrAnce ScholArShipS Apply now and you may be eligible to receive an automatic $2,000 entrance scholarship.

have a unique church? Want your church featured in Converge? Email us at: info@convergemagazine.com To Learn More Visit

ProvidenceUC.ca

convergemagazine.com

| 13

These people rock vancouver We LOVE YOU tees:

Community sarah Shandl

Founder

Kelly Konno, dancer who has worked with Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson Martina Sorbara of electro pop band Dragonette Katie Herzig, singer songwriter Andrew Allen, musician most recently with the single “Loving You Tonight” Jamie Delaine, Vancouver wedding photographer

Vancouver,

WE LOVE YOU

me the opportunity to find ties to people and use the project to connect with other organizations around town.” Not only has she connected with organizations, she has made new friends through the t-shirt company’s Great Adventure Club. This past summer, Shandl took a group of people paddle boarding; And we wear our hearts on our sleeves for you! they’ve also been snowboarding at Cypress and done indoor skydiving in Richmond. Shandl is able to host these activities thanks By Shara Lee to sponsors she’s gained through Vancouver, We Love You. Shandl is also a Christian, and has a refreshing outlook on miny day, Sarah Shandl works for the John Donelly Group, istry. “I read a book called Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. organizing events, concerts, and music festivals. But in One of the stories she shares in it was, 'If I gave you a sweater, and her spare time, she runs a t-shirt company called Vancouver, I saw you wear that sweater all the time and it had coffee stains on We Love You. it and showed up in all these pictures, and you wore it to the beach “I was just joking around with some friends and we and got sand all over it, I would know that you loved that gift that thought, why not make a shirt that people wear, that they can I gave you.' It’s kind of the same thing — this life that we’ve been take photos with around the city, to show off their love and given is a gift God’s given us,” Shandl says. pride for Vancouver?” “I have a lot of non- Christian friends and they all know what I Ten per cent of every sale goes towards Covenant House, a believe, and have questions to ask from time to time, and come to local non-profit that works with homeless youth in the city. me for advice because they see that there’s a balance in my life that For Shandl, it was important that the t-shirts also gave back they don’t have,” she says. It’s in those moments that she explains to the community. to them that her beliefs are what keep her centered. “It’s kind of my She says she came up with the idea after an extended pefaith coming out without being super obvious about it.” riod of absence from home. So far over 700 t-shirts have been sold many to people that “Over the last couple of years I’ve traveled all across Candon’t even live in Vancouver. Although Shandl’s ada and the States . . . you don’t really know what original idea for the shirts was that they would you have or appreciate what you have until you don’t be worn around favourite spots in the city, soon have it anymore. We live in the most amazing city Order your shirt people are taking them abroad. “We’ve gotten ever, especially on a sunny day. This is the best place today! photos of people wearing them in Greece, China, on the entire earth,” she says. and Japan. Two people sent me photos last week The t-shirts might be the main product but from Disneyland,” Shandl says. “It’s really cool Shandl says this venture has also been one that has to see people take it and be proud of Vancouver helped her make some important connections. “I’m when they’re traveling overseas. People come up very much a connector and networker, so it’s given to them and say, ‘Oh I love Vancouver,’”

14 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

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| 15

catholic conversations

F.A.Q

An Introduction:

GETTING TO KNOW CLAYTON IMOO

Clay blogs about family, faith and the Vancouver Canucks at www. claytonimoo.com Follow him on Twitter @claytonimoo

didn’t grow up religious; I’m not sure I even believed in God. My mother and father, Chinese and Japanese respectively, were not religious people and I guess I followed their lead. The closest my dad got to church was when his family was shipped from Steveston to Greenwood during World War II, and he was put into a boarding school run by Catholic nuns. Although they didn’t practice a religion, both of my parents had extremely high morals and they did their best to instill proper values into both my brother Jason and me. They preached honesty, love, forgiveness, understanding, and compassion. Little did I know it was in preparation for my young adult years. I came into the Catholic Church in April 1993 and have been involved with youth ministry ever since. Currently, I am in my tenth year as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. We assist churches in their youth and young adult ministry through training,

16 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

Each issue, Clayton Imoo of the Archdiocese of Vancouver will take a look at a few questions about Catholicism. If you have a question you’d like answered, write Clay at clay@ claytonimoo.com

support, and events. As a 20-year veteran of ministry, I’ve been blessed to encounter many amazing people, both young and old. Quite simply, I love God, I love the Church, and I’m constantly blown away by what people, especially young people, can accomplish in the name of Jesus. But although I eat, sleep, and breathe the Catholic faith now, I did not always subscribe to the religion. Today I am married to a lovely woman named Gail. We were high school sweethearts and she was the one who introduced me to Jesus Christ back in the early 1990s. I started attending Mass with Gail and her family mostly for the free Chinese meal that was served afterwards. Thankfully Gail patiently taught me a few prayers while I tried my best to behave during Mass. But the more I went to church, the more I connected to something deeper. I simply loved the way I felt when I was at Mass and when I was praying with Gail and her family. I saw the joy of Christ in her along with her sincere desire to serve and to love. It just felt right. I wasn’t always in full-time ministry. I failed my CA exams and bounced around the worlds of accounting, human resources, and financial planning, all while serving part-time in youth ministry. Throughout this time, God was a constant, and working with young people seemed like a natural fit. Eventually I gave up trying to make it in the corporate world and obtained my current position with the Archdiocese.

Q: Why do Catholics have a Pope? The role of the Pope, as successor to St. Peter, is to lead the faithful on earth and to pass on the faith to the Church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said to Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.” Thus, it was Christ’s intent to pass on the authority to guide the Church in his name to Peter and the apostles. Since then, the authority has been passed down through the centuries. This is called “apostolic succession.”

The current pontiff is Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger) and he is the 265th Pope. Prior to Benedict was Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła) who reigned from 1978 until his death in 2005.

Learn to See Differently

Q: Do Catholics pray to Saints and worship statues?

As Catholics, we ask the saints in heaven to pray for us and with us, and we pray with them — but we do not pray to them. Just as we may ask a loved one or friend to pray for us and with us, so it is with the saints. There are many different patron saints that we can call upon for specific prayers. Lose something valuable? Ask St. Anthony of Padua for help. Have a bad dog bite? St. Vitus to the rescue. Want to sell your house? Then St. Joseph’s your guy.

As for statues, Catholics use them (along with paintings) as a way to recall whoever or whatever is being depicted. Much like we are aided by photographs or videos to help us remember loved ones or certain memories, we can recall saints by looking at images of them. Like many people, I have pictures of my family prominently displayed in my office. These pictures help me think of my loved ones, but I certainly wouldn’t say that I worship them. There isn’t any idolatry in these situations.

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Would I even be a Christian if I hadn't met Gail? It’s hard to say, as very few of my friends from high school and university are Christians. I'd like to think that God would have eventually led me to faith. But who knows what church or denomination that would have been? I love so much of what the Catholic Church has to offer: the combination of both Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition; the belief that the Catholic Church is the one true Church founded 2,000 years ago by Jesus Christ Himself; the fact that I can go to Mass anywhere in the world and know what to expect. Yes, I’m aware there are differences between Catholics and Protestants—some big and some not so big. I’m excited to explore them with you. Most of all, I’m excited to see where we have common ground: most importantly in our belief as Christians that God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, as the saviour for the human race. I look forward to conversing with many of you in the future.

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Q: Why do Catholics believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist (Mass)? Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is literally (i.e., not symbolically) present in the Holy Eucharist—body, blood, soul, and divinity. This is rooted in scripture in John 6:48-56. Holy Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments, which are outward signs of God’s inward grace. How this actually happens at Mass is a true mystery, but we are still to have faith in this invisible reality.

Sources:

The Eucharist has both “substance” and “accidents.” During the Mass, the substance of the bread and wine turn into the body and blood of Christ. But the accidents don’t change, and thus remain the bread and wine in shape, smell, taste, feel, and colour. When Catholics receive Jesus at Mass, he nourishes us physically and more importantly spiritually.

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Hymns of the past are often grounded in strong theology and leave you less excited and more at peace than the emotion driven worship songs we so often sing today. Weighty songs like 'Be Thou My Vision', 'All to Thee', and my personal favourite 'All Creatures of our God and King' leave you feeling like you're standing on the rock from Psalm 40:2. Going hand in hand with hymns are the hymnals that we used to reach for. The ones I remember were small and burgundy. . . oh, and there were blue ones as well. Using these song books ushers in a communal atmosphere to worshipping in song.

Piggy backing off hymns and hymnals we must mention the therapeutic nature of reading songs and sermon notes from actual paper and not from a big bright screen. Sure you can do cooler things with PowerPoint, but the simplicity of paper in hand is a wholesome experience.

There's nothing like rock hard wooden pews to get you feeling the Spirit move, right? But in all seriousness, having everyone sit together on one piece of wood breeds a feeling of oneness.

Pre-marketing - Before slogans, hip names, and savvy marketing ploys to fill pews, churches simply existed and weren't as concerned with attracting a niche group of people, but rather any and all who were seeking. In this day of mass messaging and manipulation, it would be nice to go back in time.

Carpooling - How about picking up those newcomers and neighbours (or even those out of the way) who would otherwise have to take the bus. A little act of service can bless your heart before you even enter the house of God.

Things we miss

about the way

church used to be

The use of Thee & thine in liturgy, prayer, or the scripture reading feels sacred and reserved for God alone; why not try reading from the KJV next service?

And speaking of the KJV, what ever happened to bringing an actual bible to church? There's something about holding 'the Word' in your hands and flipping those oh so thin (yet surprisingly strong) pages while searching the infinite wisdom within.

By Al Mills

Now some of these things still do exist in churches today, especially in mainline denominations, but the trend towards modern structures and technology driven services has left some evangelicals missing (if they ever experienced it) the way church used to be.

18 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

It's nice to feel comfortable wearing your camo shorts and flip flops to church, but what happened to the idea of Sunday best â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when your grandfather put on his suit and tie and grandma smelt like a flower shop? Pressure to impress is never a good thing, but adding a bit of taste to your digs (at least sometimes) shows a measure of respect for the Church. These days, having a relevant church with cool people can seem like the highest goal of a young pastor. And boy, it's easy to snub those who aren't charismatic and looking fresh, isn't it? You know the straight-laced Goody Two-Shoes who toe the line while the rest of us take joy in our freedom to sin. It could be argued that the days before hipster mania had something to offer us all.

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LIFE It wasn't until last week that I finally felt whole again. The occasion was brought on by a guy who had been hitting on me intermittently for nearly a yea r, encouraged by a mut ua l f r iend who appa rently thought I'd be the perfect transition out of this guy's imminent breakup with his current girlfriend. The breakup which hadn't quite happened yet. After all, why cut a girl loose before you've got a new one waiting? Jobs are easier to get when you already have one; the same principle evidently applies to relationships. I haven’t yet had the careless disregard for another’s feelings that’s needed to try this out in my own relationships. And I don't appreciate having it tried on me. This guy, having finally ended

I went home feeling like a Thanksgiving turkey — dressed up fancy, with all my insides scraped out. things with his former girlfriend, was now telling me in clear terms what his messages over the past year had suggested. So I told him, in equally clear terms, to go do something anatomically impossible to himself. For those who might wonder, there have been plenty of men that I would have willingly strutted Illustration by Carmen Bright suggestively in front of, in the same way these two guys did to me. Well, maybe not plenty, but what I lacked in number I made up for in intensity. And I've asked God why he couldn't make these certain guys that I liked, like me back, using the same arguments that matchmaking friends use on me. Everyone needs someone — would I be so bad for them to be with? It's better to be with someone than alone — couldn't God help them see all that? It's easy to think, as a good Christian girl, that God owes you a good Christian guy to keep you company. That good Christian guys owe it to you to like you. But then you meet a good Christian guy, and, for whatever reason, you're not feeling it. Maybe because he's good, but not exceptional. Or because his weirdness isn't your brand. Or because he's not the guy you're not over yet. And maybe you're not those things, either, to the guys who you wish would see that they could do a lot worse, and aren't likely to do a lot better, than you. Follow Chelsea On the Fourth of July, I was standing outside watching fire- Batten on her works, and up drove my friends with the guy from the poker party journey to finding of many months ago. Looking at him, I thought of what it might the one, where she be like to apply the job principle to relationships. Would it be so will encounter a bad? Wouldn't it be better to be alone with somebody, than alone few bumps along by myself? the road. I'm not saying (anymore) that it's God's fault that I'm alone. Being alone is a choice. But the concept of being with someone is These are the quite different than the reality of being with any given person. If stories of those I'm choosing to be alone, rather than with someone I don't really bumps. care for, then I need to be content with my choice. Maybe one day someone, out of his own free choice, will decide to risk not being alone with me. I wouldn't want anything less from him. I think that means I can't do anything less, myself.

Is it better to be alone with somebody than be alone by yourself? FIELD NOTES VOL.2:

Accompanied lonEliness I

n the blinding blur of summer engagements and weddings (and the resulting sunset-hued photos circulating on Facebook), I sometimes forget how much it sucks to be alone. Well, not so much forget as grow numb. As the summer wanes, the congratulatory smile freezes on my face, and all I want is to be alone in a dark room with an early Ryan Adams release. Some time ago, my friends invited me to their Saturday night poker party. Coincidentally, their single guy friend was there, taking everybody's money and generally being the man of the hour. I've learned to smell a set-up pretty quickly. Depressed out of my mind, I stayed long enough to kill a half-pint of beer and learn the game by losing it. I went home feeling like a Thanksgiving turkey — dressed up fancy, with all my insides scraped out.

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| 21

CHURCH

have we gotten it all wrong? Before the throne of judgement. . . What did I forget? By Jeff Wong and Winnie Lui

Flickr photo by AdamRozanas

magine being enrolled in an academic course. On the first day of class, the professor hands out a syllabus and openly tells you what is required to do well in the course, including exactly what will be tested during the final exam. To do well, would you not fulfill the exact requirements the professor asks? Interestingly, Jesus does a very similar thing. He tells His followers plainly what is required of them at the Final Judgement. But how many of His followers will have missed some of the important details? In Matthew 25: 31-46, Jesus paints a picture of the scene in heaven on Judgement Day, as He sits on the throne and the nations are gathered before Him. Here, Christ determines each person’s entry into eternal life or eternal punishment. Who will pass? Today in our culture, the life of a very “good” Christian might look like this: Attending worship services, regular Bible reading and quiet times with the Lord, fellowshipping with Christian friends and going to Christian meetings and conferences. Imagine, at Final Judgement, the devout modern Christian appears before the throne, "Lord! See, I've attended 2,678 worship services, 592 bible studies and 33 conferences. I was a good person. I worshipped you passionately. I did my devotions every day, in fact, I only missed 50!"

my This is a m !

progr

Most of us only give our time and resources on occasion, when it’s convenient, mainly to our friends and family...

How will the Lord respond? Jesus foreshadows His response in verses 41-43: “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.” Shockingly, Christ asks nothing about our worship service attendance record, devotional life, belief in His existence, or even our personal purity. These things and others are important — their significance and necessity are affirmed in other parts of scripture. But here, in the parable of the throne room and during the deciding interview before Christ, His requirements are only a few specific things, each related to loving Him by tangibly and practically loving others. How did Christians and churches miss this important detail? Most of us only give our time and resources on occasion, when it’s convenient, mainly to our friends and family, and possibly a stingy amount to the odd charitable project that give us warm feelings from a distance. What He’s looking for is your life responsively and regularly meeting inconvenient needs, with timely generosity towards society’s most vulnerable and to those likely unable to repay you — the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.

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22 | CONVERGE.

sep -oct 2012

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Questions to Wrestle With or Discuss: 1. Salvation is by grace and by faith, but how does that sync with our obedience to Christ’s requirements as outlined in Matthew 25:31-46? 2. Jesus is not specific about how much we need to love the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned. What do you think the minimum requirements might be to “pass,” and how much could you do to do well? 3. What do you do if your church does not live out this teaching, and does not devote any significant time, energy, planning, or budget to it?

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4. What can you do right now to practice this teaching? How can you involve others with you? 5. How can you lead or positively influence your family, friends, and church to regularly and ambitiously live out this teaching (whether they are Christians or not)? 6. Who are friends and acquaintances that are already living out aspects of this teaching? Consider joining them or learning from them. 7. What would your Facebook page and Twitter account look like if you were living this teaching out and sharing updates and photos about it?

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| 23

CULTURE

Homer Simpson: Ultimate Arbiter of Human Worth? Has America's most beloved family damaged us? By Sam McLoughlin

It’s humbling to think that no matter how hard I try, I will never affect the world nearly as much as Matt Groening. It’s a true sign of our age that you can affect things more by a queer sense of humor than politics or scientific research. Truly, we are experiencing the “death of the West,” and the birth of something much more childish. If you were reared in the last 30 years, like me, you are probably semi-addicted to watching America’s funniest family, The Simpsons. You can’t avoid them, and you can’t ignore them. Resistance is futile. Groening’s trademarked brand of satire has influenced and infiltrated nearly every corner of television for over twenty years. Our favourite cartoon family has achieved a sort of timelessness; not only because they’ve managed to maintain their lofty place in pop-culture through the years, but also because they literally don’t exist in time. Their world does not age. After 20 years, Homer is still fat, stupid, and drunk. Marge is still boring. Lisa is still socially challenged. Bart is still an insubordinate ne’er-do-well destined to become a stoner burnout — although, since time repeats itself like a prehistoric calendar, he never does. Nothing ever really changes in Springfield, and yet somehow, The Simpsons is the longest running, most formidable series on television. The Simpsons is a satire, meaning that it aims to expose elements of our own lives — usually the bits we choose not to dwell on, like our drinking habits, hygiene, or failures as parents and citizens — in warped hyperbole. It’s comforting to those of

24 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

Illustration by Carmen Bright

us that never quite plumbed the depths of our potential, those of us still languishing in life’s bush league, to watch a family infinitely more embarrassing than ours. It resonates with us because we, like Homer and Marge, are basically disappointed in life. We aren’t living the dream. We settle for watching other people live our dreams for us, onscreen. We’re stuck in middle class suburbia with a couple of kids before we know it, working dead end jobs, drinking too much, and growing fat, and old, and bored. Here, we are relieved for a few moments from the concerns imposed by our own failures and embarrassments, and are free to laugh at someone else’s. The Simpsons have maintained relevance due to its gloriously cruel, on-point depiction of the American middle class. But I believe there is a deeper, grander bit of commentary they provide that has gone largely unnoticed: The Simpsons doesn’t tell a real story. They don’t exist within the framework of a grand narrative. And as we spend our evenings watching them, neither do we. Like this family, most of us aren’t aware of a history that informs our present and drives us towards the future. We aren’t on a great journey. We aren’t building a new civilization. Except for occasional insights provided by the odd flashback, we are pretty clueless as to where we came from, and what we’re doing here. But we are here, and that’s all that matters. Instead of looking for that larger story, we make like our cartoon role models and find meaning in the dross of the everyday. That is why The Simpsons is still the iconic symbol of low-culture pop art for the masses, and a portrait of our identity. Without progression, there’s no real story. Springfield is like suburban . . . purgatory. Colourful, eccentric, irrepressible, resolute . . . purgatory. And the worst part is that while watching The Simpsons, somehow, I’m OK with this. You can find The Simpsons playing at least twice a day on Comedy Central, along with its more vulgar satirical brethren, Family Guy and South Park. Together, they have cornered the market on the most popular mode of expression amongst young people: sarcasm. Millennials like myself are bred into complacency by a culture brimming with wealth, technology, and information, but deficient in wisdom. We need to distance ourselves from our parents somehow. What better way than making fun of their outdated religions and traditions? We don’t see why these beliefs are important, because society seems to be

trucking along pretty good thanks to science, technology, and capitalism. Still, we know that life seems to be broken somehow, and our disappointment leads to bitterness. We grow up, and our parents get divorced. We learn that people kill each other because of religion. We notice that most people are trying to take advantage of us. Cynicism is a natural reaction to disillusionment, and we are nothing if not disillusioned. Hence the sarcasm. I sometimes wonder what impact these heavy doses of sarcasm have upon our collective psyche. Sincere belief is dwindling perilously close to extinction as we shield our vulnerabilities with indifference and irony. Nobody my age really believes in anything anymore, because it’s not cool. It’s not cool to hold sincere beliefs. As we learned in high school, it’s cool to ridicule the virgin Christian or Wal-Mart shoppers, with a vengeance. It’s cool to stand out from the crowd, and be “in” on the joke. It’s cool to be rebellious, and not believe something just because other people do. Television goes along with this, even directing it. Somehow, as

We are not in on the joke. We are the joke. David Foster Wallace commented, TV has managed “brilliantly to ensure — even in commercials that television gets paid to run — that ultimately it’s TV, and not any specific product or service, that will be regarded by [us] as the ultimate arbiter of human worth. An oracle, to be consulted a lot.” TV shows like The Simpsons are effective at making us feel cool — like we’re in on the joke, part of the group that “get’s it.” They congratulate us for not falling for the illusions of religion or other institutions that offer meaning. TV thus commandeers our loyalty, programs our schedules, and bends our lives to its corporate-driven will by manipulating by our desire to be included. In order to maintain this feeling of inclusion, we must return again and again. We must keep watching. TV has become the keeper of “cool” — and thus, has become our authority: our religion. Like religion, TV offers stories and language that inform our lives. We’ve become disciples of TV’s nearly religious commitment to sarcasm, facilitated by cartoon priests named Bart and Stewie and Cartman, indifferent and cynical towards traditional standards of truth and meaning. But irony is not “a part of this complete breakfast.” A diet of constant irreverence is not healthy. After a while, as Wallace also said, “Irony, irreverence, and rebellion come to be not

liberating but enfeebling . . . It’s not a rhetorical mode that wears well. As Hyde puts it, ‘Irony has only emergency use. Carried over time, it is the voice of the trapped who have come to enjoy their cage.’ This is because irony, entertaining as it is, serves an almost exclusively negative function. It’s critical and destructive, a ground-clearing . . . singularly unuseful when it comes to constructing anything to replace the hypocrisies it debunks.” This is how I often feel after wasting an evening with Family Guy or The Simpsons: like I’ve been tyrannized by irony. Like I need a few episodes of The Brady Bunch or Little House on the Prairie just to recalibrate my perception of reality. A little sarcasm keeps us humble. A lot, and our words become sapped of meaning, our lives drained of purpose. Too much, and we become like Comic Book Guy — a parody of ourselves. The very force we use to free us from the “hypocrisy of sincerity” forms a cage that renders sincere belief impossible and earnest expression a foreign tongue. Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? The Simpsons raised a generation that cannot properly speak, feel, or function. We are not in on the joke. We are the joke. Deprived of sincerity, unable to communicate except in selfaware double-speak, endlessly chasing the effervescent “new” and “popular” — unable to truly live, because we’re afraid of failing, of looking “un-cool.” Truly, our stories have failed us. The Simpsons don’t inspire us: they offer Get the book just enough amusement to keep us coming back. Screenplay expert Robert McKee argues that the stereotypical stories we ingest so frequently suffer “a poverty of both content and form.” So it has become with our lives: to quote Douglas Coupland, “We are all, This essay is an together, collectively, experiencing a excerpt from The crisis of faith. Except ours isn't in God, Default Life, a but in life, in meaning; in ourselves. book about life as We are having a crisis of faith in a 20-something why we should care about anything by Regent College whatsoever.” alum Sam Without real, captivating stories McLoughlin, a to inspire us, as William Butler Yeats writer and popwarned, “things fall apart; the centre culture junkie cannot hold.” from Vancouver. The Simpsons and their countless deSearch for it on rivates may amuse for a while, but as YouTube and our most trusted culture guides, where Amazon for more do they leave us? Bored, lonely, and disinfo, or sign up satisfied — in desperate need of somefor his email list thing better, but hopelessly unaware of at TheDefaultLife. where to look beyond our screens. com to get a free chapter.

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LIFE

Why you’re looking for the Wrong Person to Marry Your soulmate is not who you imagined By Tim Chan

Throughout your marriage you will find yourself not in full agreement with your spouse. Little tiffs, annoying favours, and little irks will happen — don't worry, its normal! But what should you do?

fter spending the last decade surrounded by people in their 20s I’ve discovered the topic that occupies the majority of their thoughts is relationships. They think about how to find the right person to marry and they wonder whether the person they are dating is their soul mate. Where did the notion of a soul mate come from anyway? I went to Google to find the answer. Apparently, Plato came up with the idea (way back when the earth was flat). He introduced it in The Symposium, where one of his characters tells the story of how humans originally had four hands and four feet, and a single head with two faces. But the god Zeus feared the might and strength of these humans and split them in half, leaving them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half or “soul mate” to complete them. When I overhear discussions of how to find a soul mate, a frequent theme that comes up is compatibility. Does the person have the same values and outlook on life as I do? Does he or she have the same interests and hobbies as me? Does the person make me happy and make me feel good about myself? Are we headed in the same direction and want the same things in life? Do I like his or her friends and family? The list of questions goes on. Well, I have a bit of news for you: If you are looking for a soul mate to complete you, you are looking for the wrong person to marry. If you are looking for someone who will be compatible with you, you are focusing on the wrong quality. “But doesn’t God want to bless me and make me happy?” you might object. Yes, God does want to bless you and fulfill you. And if you do get married, then God can use your marriage to bless you and make you happy. But God never intended for your spouse to complete you or be the ultimate source of your happiness. Actually, God’s plan is that your spouse will cause you trouble and at times make you unhappy. Mark Gungor, pastor and author of Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage writes, “God wants to kill you. Not the physical you, but the selfish you. Jesus taught us that if we don’t die to our selfish nature, we will never be able to experience all the blessings that God wants

26 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

Unlock the secrets to life, love, and marriage:

Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage Mark Gungor

Is your journey taking you where you need to go? Why wait? Ultimately you will be faced with this reoccurring choice: do you put your needs first, or do you put your spouse's needs first?

to bestow on us. Well, if there was ever which surprised me, because I thought I an institution designed to kill the selfish was a pretty kind and considerate guy to you, it’s marriage. In fact, it is virtually begin with. But really, it was very natural impossible to succeed at marriage if you to think about myself first. Through my don’t learn how to let the selfish part of marriage with Olive I am slowly thinking a little less about my needs and more you die.” God’s plan is to help us become less about hers. That night, I did get out of bed to turn self-centered and more selfless. In marriage, you have daily opportunities to off the hallway light. It was a small win in learn and practice putting your spouse’s my journey towards selflessness. Here’s the beautiful thing about marneeds above your own. It doesn’t come riage: it shapes you to become a better naturally. Olive and I have been married for four person: a person less consumed with your years. Early on in our marriage I learned own happiness and more able to rejoice a lesson on the difficulty of being self- in making others happy. So when you are looking for someone less. There was one night when we had just gotten settled into bed, all cozy un- to marry, don’t look for someone that will der our comforter. I was just about to fall make you happy. Look for someone that asleep and drift into dreamland when I you can make happy. heard Olive’s voice in the darkness: “Tim? I think the hallway light is still on. We Here’s the beautiful thing about marriage: should turn it off.” it shapes you to become a better person: We? I thought to myself. It’s so confusing a person less consumed with your own when she uses the happiness and more able to rejoice in word “we” when she actually means “you” making others happy. – especially late at night. And if she noticed the light, why couldn’t she get up and turn it off? Right then, I knew I had a choice. I could either put my needs first and pretend to be asleep, or I could put my wife’s needs first and drag myself out of bed to turn off the darn hallway light. Being in relationship with Olive has made me realize how self-centered I can be,

be change.

Rocky Mountain College Calgary, Alberta • 1.877.YOUnRMC www.rockymountaincollege.ca

convergemagazine.com

| 27

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educatIon feature

Provost W. Robert Wood, PhD, and Associate Provost Kevin Sawatsky, JD, holding the proposal for the TWU School of Law. [Photo provided by Trinity Western University]

School of Law

We’re asking, ‘Where are the needs?’” In Canada, a law student may article for a year after graduating, learning skills such as interviewing or negotiating. Canadian law schools typically focus on theoretical and analytical skills. Buckingham wants to incorporate skills training for practicing law in smaller communities where a practitioner doesn’t have the support of a larger legal community. In a recent Macleans report, Canada was found to have the lowest number of law schools per capita of any Commonwealth country. In 2007, the U.K. had 75 law schools for a population of nearly 61 million, while Australia had 28 law schools and 21 million people. Canada has one lawyer or notary for every 421 people. In the U.S., it’s one lawyer for every 265 people. The TWU School of Law proposal comes at a perfect time, Buckingham suggests. “Judges have been noticing a lot more unrepresented litigants in court. They are uncomfortable with it because it slows down the legal process; the average person doesn’t know what is relevant to their case.” The problem lies in affordability, she emphasizes: “There is legal aid for people on welfare. The rich can afford it. However, it’s the middle class that cannot afford legal services. They are prohibitively expensive. The Supreme Justice is urging the legal community to find solutions.” The curriculum will contain a practicum component, with internship possibilities with an MP, a law firm, organizations like International Justice Mission or Union Gospel Mission. The idea, Raymond says, is for the school to “specialize in Charity law and Social Justice and Entrepreneurial law”.

Seeks to Serve Building Canada's first Christian law school By Craig Ketchum

rinity Western University, Canada’s largest Christian university, is seeking approval to open its own law school, hoping to obtain the go-ahead from the provincial government and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada within the next year. Professors Janet Epp-Buckingham and Kevin Sawatsky have been involved in developing the proposal for five years, however the vision is two decades old. A three-year Juris Doctor program is envisioned to take its first cohort of 60 students in September 2015. TWU president Dr. Jonathan Raymond says, “The TWU School of Law will focus on a core curriculum for lawyers in small firms and in small communities. We will encourage students to understand being a lawyer as a service profession.” The proposal is part of TWU’s vision for leaders in the marketplace. “It’s built on the vision for professional services. It feels like another step in that direction. It’s a big step”, remarks Buckingham. The proposal comes at a time where two other universities are also developing new law programs. This would be the fourth law school in BC, which concerns some. Steven Scott, professor emeritus at McGill University, cautions that the shortage of articling work in Ontario and the US is yielding unemployed and embittered law graduates. Buckingham has a different perspective. She cites an uneven regional distribution of lawyers as the real problem, rather than an actual shortage of work: “There are too many lawyers in big communities. Small communities are under-served. In other provinces there are too few lawyers. Everything depends on what kind of legal services — and to whom — you are providing.

“When people have legal problems they need to trust their lawyer. We want to have graduates that will be trustworthy, excellent, competent, with integrity.” —Janet Epp-Buckingham “We want to redefine success from not just the corner office in the big firm to meeting needs wherever they exist,” says TWU on its website. Prospective TWU law student Ted Lewis shared his hopes that, “the TWU Law Program will produce lawyers with not only an excellent practical education in law, but also with a strong sense of moral integrity . . . This program will stand out for its emphasis on law, not only as an excellent discipline in itself or as the means to achieve a personal career goal, but as an expression of important philosophical and theological concepts.” Epp-Buckingham adds, “When people have legal problems they need to trust their lawyer. We want to have graduates that will be trustworthy, excellent, competent, with integrity.”

Live the Theatre! acadia divinity college

acts seminaries

Wolfville, N.S. • Seminary • Student Body: 220 Avg Tuition: $6,133 • Financial aid: Yes • acadiadiv.ca

Langley, B.C. • Seminary • Student Body: N/A Avg Tuition: $7,600 • Financial aid: Yes • acts.twu.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 10:1 HOT HANGOUT: Student Lounge ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: We are an evangelical

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 14:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Collegium ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: ACTS is a unique partnership

theological seminary offering degrees from one of Canada's most acclaimed universities. Our students enjoy all campus facilities and extra-curricular programs as well as the close relationships and spiritual formation available through the intimate ADC community.

of five seminaries developing Christian leaders for both vocational and lay ministry. We create a dynamic, integrated learning environment where students can learn, grow, and explore theological traditions and spiritual experiences.

SCHOOL MOTTO:

Equipping Christian Leaders

bethany college Hepburn, Sask. • College • Student Body: 140 Avg Tuition: $6,400 • Financial aid: Yes • bethany.sk.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 10:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Cafe ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: •Discipleship — Individual mentorship of all students by faculty and staff. •Community — Live in dorm, study God’s word & learn in community. •Transformation — Through experience and service learning. SCHOOL MOTTO: Nurturing Disciples and Training Leaders to Serve

SCHOOL MOTTO: Essential Training for Christian Service

briercrest college & seminary Caronport, Sask. • College & Seminary • Student Body: 862 Avg Tuition: $8,000 • Financial aid: Yes • briercrest.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 22:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Point ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Briercrest is a learning

community challenging students to live out their faith and change their world. Earn your degree at a school that offers Outstanding Christian Education. SCHOOL MOTTO: Outstanding Christian Education

our graduates get work rosebudschoolofthearts.com 403-677-2350

For a complete list of programs & degrees offered, please visit www.convergemagazine.com/high-ed

canadian mennonite university

capernwray harbour bible centre

capernwray quebec bible center

Winnipeg, Man. • University • Student Body: 600 Avg Tuition: $6,150 • Financial aid: Yes • cmu.ca

Thetis Island, B.C. • Ministry School • Student Body: 120 Avg Tuition: $10,900 • Financial aid: N/A • capernwray.ca

Chertsey, Que. • Bible School • Student Body: 30 Avg Tuition: $10,400 (incl R&B) • Financial aid: N/A • cqbc.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 12:1 HOT HANGOUT: Blaurock Café ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Come study at CMU where

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 4:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Pump House ATHLETICS: Intramural Sports THE PITCH: Capernwray is a one year,

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 3:1 HOT HANGOUT: Student Lounge ATHLETICS: Outdoor Activities THE PITCH: CQBC offers an intensive

faith plays a role in our academic excellence, along with faculty mentorship, emphasis on experiential learning, and a strong sense of community.

in depth, practical Bible School program; training in the Christian life. Discover & know Jesus Christ as Life! Community & stunning island living.

discipleship opportunity and a unique Quebec cultural experience as you deepen your relationship with Christ through classes, serving and living together.

SCHOOL MOTTO: Learn to See Differently

SCHOOL MOTTO:

SCHOOL MOTTO: Declaring Christ as Life!

Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Life!

christ college

concordia lutheran seminary

dordt college

Surrey, B.C. • College • Student Body: 100 Avg Tuition: $4,500 • Financial aid: Yes • christcollege.ca

Edmonton, Alta. • Seminary • Student Body: 24 Avg Tuition: $7,100 • Financial aid: Yes • learngrowserve.ca

Sioux Center, Iowa • College • Student Body: 1,400 Avg Tuition: $25,520 USD • Financial aid: Yes • dordt.edu

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 5:1 HOT HANGOUT: N/A ATHLETICS: Intramurals THE PITCH: •Intimate — Small class sizes and low student-instructor ratio. •Location — In Metro Vancouver near mountains, ocean & more. •Price — Among the lowest tuition in Canada, every student subsidized.

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 5:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Foosball Room ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: CLS is a small confessional

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 HOT HANGOUT: 55th Avenue ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Dordt College provides a

Lutheran community that forms servants for Jesus' sake.

welcoming, dynamic, collaborative Christian education that challenges, engages, and encourages students who seek Christ-centered renewal in all areas of life.

formerly christ of the nations bible college

SCHOOL MOTTO:

For Life & Ministry

SCHOOL MOTTO: Servants for Jesus' Sake

SCHOOL MOTTO: Soli Deo Gloria

emmanuel bible college Kitchener, Ont. • College • Student Body: 200 Avg Tuition: $9,344 • Financial aid: Yes • emmanuelbiblecollege.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 9:1 HOT HANGOUT: Sherk Lounge & Wildcat Cafe ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: Emmanuel is an accredited

undergraduate, degree-granting institution that focuses on ministry professions. Bringing together Bible/Theology, general studies, professional courses and hands-on experience, a degree from Emmanuel gets you ready to run. SCHOOL MOTTO: Preparing women and men to think, live, serve and lead in the Church and in the world

institute for christian studies Toronto, Ont. • Graduate School • Student Body: 40 Avg Tuition: $7,650 • Financial aid: Yes • icscanada.edu

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 6:1 HOT HANGOUT: Kensington Market,

Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Art Gallery of Ontario ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: ICS offers interdisciplinary graduate education in philosophy from a Reformational perspective. Seminarstyle courses create a participatory, rigorous, and engaged learning environment. SCHOOL MOTTO: A tradition of inquiry, a spirit of engagement

eston college

heritage college & seminary

horizon college & seminary

Eston, Sask. • College • Student Body: 60 Avg Tuition: $6,100 • Financial aid: Yes • estoncollege.ca

Cambridge, Ont. • College & Seminary • Student Body: 250 Avg Tuition: $15,154 (incl R&B) • Financial aid: Yes • discoverheritage.ca

Saskatoon, Sask. • College & Seminary • Student Body: 60 Avg Tuition: $5,890 (w/o fees) • Financial aid: Yes • horizon.edu

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 8:1 HOT HANGOUT: Student Lounge ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Come be discipled in the Word

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 11:1 HOT HANGOUT: Student Lounge ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Heritage is committed to

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 HOT HANGOUT: Starbucks, Tim Hortons,

of God and empowered by His Spirit! We are passionate about prophecy, social justice, healing, missions, and Christ’s kingdom.

equipping men and women for effective leadership and empowered lives that impact the world for Christ. We offer biblically based education through accredited undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Student Life Centre, Community Kitchen ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: Horizon is an intimate Christian community with all the benefits of city life; we are committed to help students grow academically, socially and spiritually.

SCHOOL MOTTO: Equipping men and women for life and ministry

SCHOOL MOTTO: Preparing leaders for Christian life and ministry

the king's university college

mcmaster divinity college

pacific life bible college

Edmonton, Alta • University College • Student Body: 670 Avg Tuition: $9,920 • Financial aid: Yes • kingsu.ca

Hamilton, Ont. • Seminary • Student Body: 260 Avg Tuition: $5,980 • Financial aid: Yes • mcmasterdivinity.ca

Surrey, B.C. • College • Student Body: 170 Avg Tuition: $4,650 • Financial aid: Yes • pacificlife.edu

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 9:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Student Activity Centre ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: A King’s university education

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 13:1 HOT HANGOUT: The courtyard ATHLETICS: Intramurals though

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 5:1 HOT HANGOUT: Clements Coffee Bar ATHLETICS: Intramurals THE PITCH: •Instructors who are practitioners and

SCHOOL MOTTO: To Know the Scriptures and the Power of God

McMaster University

means you’ll graduate with a nationally recognized degree from an institution known for excellent professors, personalized instruction and an amazing community.

THE PITCH: McMaster Divinity College

SCHOOL MOTTO: The Little University with Big Degrees

SCHOOL MOTTO: Knowing…Being…Doing…

is an evangelical seminary seeking to develop men and women for effective Christian leadership in the Church, academy and society.

mentors in ministry. •Hands-on training emphasizing character formation. •Subsidized tuition rates helping students graduate debt-free and ministry ready. SCHOOL MOTTO: Training Leaders To Make A World of Difference convergemagazine.com

| 33

Education feature

the new stewardship By Chelsea Batten

hen I was in high school, my dad and I walked up to the hill that overlooks our neighborhood. From this hill, on a clear day, you can see across the homogeneous suburbs to the distant ocean. That's where he told me that his childhood dream was to be a sportscaster. It was a stunning thing to hear, both because it's so far removed his current job, and because it makes so much sense. My dad is an encyclopedia of sports knowledge. It's his proven method of vetting salesmen, new hires, and his daughters' prospective boyfriends. He also has a laconic delivery of speech, invested with dry wit and understated earnestness. My dad would have made a terrific sportscaster. Instead, he got a degree in structural engineering, and he's worked for the same firm for almost 30 years. I asked him why he chose that field. Because he was good at math, he said, and he needed a career that would be a reliable source of income for the family he wanted to raise. The family was what my dad chose as his calling. Four grown kids later, he can call himself successful at it. Regarding his nine to five job, his view has always been that if it was supposed to be fun, it wouldn't be called "work." My dad undertook early to train me in the same work ethic. Since I was sixteen, I've been getting up early, staying late when asked, going the extra mile for its own sake. But I wouldn't say I've always carried this out cheerfully. Most jobs I've held, I haven't done with anything close to all my heart. Does that mean that my efforts didn't count “as unto the Lord?” The much-lauded Protestant work ethic is based on a tenacious faith that God will provide for us (whatever that means) if we do our work heartily. It's often posited as being opposed to the professional wisdom of pop psychology, the filler of every greeting card you received for college graduation. Follow your dreams! Do what makes you happy! Live your life! Kevin DeYoung's 2009 novel Just Do Something counseled the young unestablished to stop dithering over God's will for their life, and pull the trigger. However, Christians as well as the unbelieving world tend toward scrupulously aiming at the broadest target. Though the Bible clearly teaches that God created people with specific gifts, ordained for performing good works, the church tends to confine stewardship of those gifts to use within church business. I wonder if that's truly biblical, or simply the result of a cultural work ethic that thinks it risky, even selfish, to look for anything beyond stability and financial security in a career. The listing economy of the last several years has, however, made a wash of most jobs' financial security. At this point in time, it's no more a risk to do what you love than to do what you can tolerate — you can just as easily make no money at one as at the other. And according to recent statistics, many of the recently fired have found surprising success doing something they love. Their standard of living may change, but their values system changes with it. The fulfillment of spending eight hours a day on work they love renders compensatory consumerism unnecessary.

Illustration by Matthew Kim

Certainly, if circumstances or other priorities make it impossible to find work that matches your gifts, it's better to use your gifts in church than not at all. But real stewardship would, I believe, involve faithful creativity in constructing a career around the unique catalogue of interests and talents God gives to each person. Of the servants in Matthew 25:14-30, the man with two minas wasn't criticized for bringing back less than the man with five. Only the man given one mina, who proved his low view of the master by choosing safety over faithfulness, was condemned. Anything worth having requires a little more faith. I wonder sometimes how my life would now look if I'd chosen a different major in college, if I'd pursued a “stable” career, if I only indulged my creative tendencies on the weekends. In fact, this is what I did for several years. But now the memory of those years is fuzzy. In contrast, the joy and the angst of my present career is sometimes all too keen. The difference between life as a writer, and life as anything else, is that I don't have to put aside my “artistic temperament” for eight hours a day. Instead, I get to live in it. That's why I must ask God to live in it with me. I'd hate to be here alone.

CAPERNWRAY QUEBEC Bible Centre

Declaring Christ As Life Chertsey I Quebec I Canada 1.877.882.1361

cqbc.ca

peace river bible institute

providence university college

Sexsmith, Alta. • College • Student Body: 110 Avg Tuition: $6,100 • Financial aid: Yes • prbi.edu

Otterburne, Man. • University/College • Student Body: 300 Avg Tuition: $7,600 • Financial aid: Yes • providenceuc.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 HOT HANGOUT: Student Lounge ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: PRBI teaches you to live life

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 14:1 HOT HANGOUT: Reimer Student Life Centre ATHLETICS: THE PITCH:

•Christ-Centred University Education from a biblical perspective, developing •Automatic Academic Entrance character within a caring community that enables and empowers you to make a Scholarships (up to $2,000 Based upon HS Grades) difference in your world. •Participate in Varsity Sports and SCHOOL MOTTO: Performing Arts Training believers to become disciple•Evangelical and Interdenominational makers who impact their world for Jesus SCHOOL MOTTO: Christ. Christ-Centred University Education – Bring Your Faith to Class

redeemer university college Hamilton, Ont. • University • Student Body: 950 Avg Tuition: $14,290 • Financial aid: Yes • redeemer.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 HOT HANGOUT: Commons ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Redeemer is a Christian

university community that will help you incorporate your faith as you prepare for graduate studies, ministry, or a rewarding career. SCHOOL MOTTO: Discover All Things in Him

rocky mountain college

rosebud school of the arts

the seattle school of theology & psychology

Calgary, Alta. • College • Student Body: 150 Avg Tuition: $9,500 • Financial aid: Yes • rockymountaincollege.ca

Rosebud, Alta. • College • Student Body: 30 Avg Tuition: $6,900 (w/o fees) • Financial aid: Yes • rosebudschoolofthearts.com

Seattle, WA • Seminary • Student Body: 350 Avg Tuition: $12,100 usd • Financial aid: Yes • theseattleschool.edu

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 13:1 HOT HANGOUT: The Pygmy Giraffe Cafe ATHLETICS: Intramurals THE PITCH: Rocky Mountain College

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 2:1 HOT HANGOUT: Thorny Rose Café ATHLETICS: Dance and Theatre THE PITCH: Prepare for a career in the

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 15:1 HOT HANGOUT: Pike Place Market ATHLETICS: N/A THE PITCH: The Seattle School of Theology

disciples students, creating Biblically minded leaders, artists and scholars who desire to "be change" in their world.

theatre by training with professional artists and working on and off stage in a vibrant artistic community.

& Psychology is training therapists, pastors, artists, and leaders in shaping the church and culture of the future.

SCHOOL MOTTO:

Be change

SCHOOL MOTTO: Live the Theatre!

SCHOOL MOTTO: Study at the Intersection of text, soul, and culture

trinity western university

vanguard college

Langley, B.C. • University • Student Body: 2,816 Avg Tuition: $20,758 • Financial aid: Yes • twu.ca

wycliffe college

Edmonton, Alta. • College • Student Body: 180 Avg Tuition: $ 6,567 • Financial aid: Yes • vanguardcollege.com

Toronto, Ont. • Seminary • Student Body: 270 Avg Tuition: $5,400 • Financial aid: Yes • wycliffecollege.ca

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 16:1 HOT HANGOUT: Douglas Centre's lower cafe ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: It’s an education that will challenge, shape, and transform you and how you view the world. It’s not an easy degree – you’ll wrestle with life’s more difficult questions – but you’ll guided by faculty and staff who are passionate about equipping students with both competence and character so that others can experience Christ’s truth, compassion, reconciliation and hope.

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 11:1 HOT HANGOUT: Lan's Asian Grill ATHLETICS: THE PITCH: Practical: Biblical foundation

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 10:1 HOT HANGOUT: Soward Reading Room ATHLETICS: Available on UT campus THE PITCH: Wycliffe, at the University

with ministry specific experience. Spiritual: Vibrant worship, dynamic teaching, loving community. Academic: Certificates/Degrees in five programs designed for discipleship and growth.

of Toronto, is an evangelical Anglican college, training students of diverse denominational backgrounds for leadership in Christian ministries, ordained and lay.

SCHOOL MOTTO: Developing Innovative Spirit-Filled Leaders

SCHOOL MOTTO: Verbum Domini Manet

SCHOOL MOTTO: Walk in Truth – Lead with Courage

For a complete list of programs & degrees offered, please visit www.convergemagazine.com/high-ed

Consistent top tier ranking by Princeton Review, Forbes.com, and U.S. News & World Report

Find your place in God’s world Sioux Center, Iowa www.dordt.edu

kingsu.ca

HAVE FAITH IN YOUR DEGREE By choosing King’s, you can look forward to excellent professors, personalized instruction and a nationally recognized degree. Enjoy learning in an authentic, Christian community that will challenge your perceptions of the world, and your place in it.

. BACHELOR OF EDUCATION . BACHELOR OF ARTS . BACHELOR OF SCIENCE . BACHELOR OF MUSIC . BACHELOR OF COMMERCE THE LITTLE UNIVERSITY WITH BIG DEGREES

Stud Service How the church makes it hard to be a man By Chelsea Batten

The worship of safety emasculates greatness. — Max Lucado

s much as I think it sucks to be a woman in the evangelical church, I often think it would suck worse to be a man. They are expected to carry more responsibility, evince more wisdom and act with more maturity than women, while engaged in a uniquely visceral struggle with the sin that bears the greatest taboo.

Moreover, I'm told that the fear of failure is one of the greatest undermining influences for men. So it's kind of incredible to consider that most of the resources aimed toward male godliness are couched in the language of telling them how far they fall short. If I were a man, I'd have checked out long ago. It's not surprising that many have. Of those quality men I've met in the church — and there are plenty — I can't call to mind any who owed their

38 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

confidence or maturity to the church's nurture in particular. Usually it was the gift of a good father, or taught through the experience of hard times. Nonetheless, I like to daydream about a world where the evangelical church is known for the manliness of the men it produces. Part of it is a desire to see the church grow, both inwardly and outwardly. Any place is both more credible and more attractive when it's populated by confident, self-possessed men. But it's also a selfish desire that I share with 50 million other women living in a culture of slacker romance, and disproportionately represented in gender by a ratio of 3:1. So I like to think of myself as part of a lobby for helping the church develop men with confidence, direction, and mastery. I'm thinking sort of an evangelical James Bond — the

kind of man women want to be with, and other men want to be like. Is that possible? I mean, is that the kind of man God is after?

In the world of church resources for men, writer and pastor Douglas Wilson stands out for his frank, guiltfree approach to the issues that plague masculine maturity. One man described him to me this way: "He's thoroughly biblical, he doesn't camp on the taboos, he's always pushing toward this full spectrum enjoyment of who you are in Christ . . . and being a man." I asked Mr. Wilson if he didn't feel the evangelical church was a little heavy on the feminine influence. He says it was a trend that started in the 12th century with French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux,

to get a deranged version of the same thing. A woman wants a man to lead. To provide for her. Protect her." And, he adds, to stand up to her when she tries to usurp his leadership. "If he just curls up in a little ball, she won the argument," says Wilson, "but she didn't want to win the argument. She doesn't want to lead him into leadership. She wants him to lead because he wants to, because he has a backbone." But to see this kind of leadership take place, two things have to happen. One is that women and the church at large have to stop asking men to follow the godliness model that is appropriate to women. "Women know one kind of godliness, and men know another — it's an apples and oranges kind of thing." The other thing that has to happen is that men need to be allowed a more liberal learning curve, as they face their fear of failure and begin to practice leading. A man, says Wilson, "needs to lead more than he needs to lead perfectly." And women and churches need this, as well.

whose teaching brought the Bible's feminine imagery of the corporate church to an individual model. Before St. Bernard, men could exist in the church like sailors on a ship, staunchly masculine members of a corporate entity characterized as feminine. Afterwards, men were obliged in their private devotions to drum up the feelings of a bride awaiting her groom. The problem was compounded during New England's industrial revolution, which coincided with the disbanding of the last congregational church in America. This confluence of circumstances saw a lot of women and a lot of pastors with nothing to do. "What happened," says Mr. Wilson, "was [former] pastors started to write sappy novels, that were purchased and read by pious women. The basic plot structure was a handsome ne'er-do-well guy out misbehaving, and over the course of the novel he is brought to heel by the converting influence of the woman." In other words, the Christian fiction of that time put women in the role of the Holy Spirit. It left an enduring impression that women are the spiritual force of good, which continues today. This, after all, is the framework for every Judd Apatow movie. It's a model consistently followed by celebrity marriages. "You can't change the way people are," says Wilson. "If you try, you're going

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Since the feminized influence on godliness dates from so far back in history, that may be why the church's self-styled revivalists of masculinity draw their models from even more primitive sources. But if a man can't get down with their specific social mores (beer and MMA, yes; Star Wars bed sheets, no) or their drill sergeant teaching methods, what is he to conclude? That he’s not a good Christian? That he's not a good man? A friend of mine, who refers facetiously (I think) to himself as “the Clark Griswold of dads, the Don Juan of monogamists, and the Johnny Cash of Christians,” informs me that a man's biggest fear is, indeed, failure. Especially, he says, failure in front of a woman. So it's easy to imagine the crippling prospect for a man learning how to lead in a context dominated (1.56:1) by women. Especially since, in the vast majority of Western churches,

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the leadership place he's trying to fill is currently being held very competently by a woman. Behavioral psychologists often note that success begets success. This is why perhaps it's so much easier to be a woman in the church. The setting is flush with resources that tell a woman she is already loved, already beautiful, already worthy in God's eyes, that there's no deficit she must make up before she can have what (they tell me) she most desires — true love. By contrast, while the “tough love” neo-Calvinists are good at whipping

with the sense that he is starting from a place of security and success. There must be some grounds in the Bible for this. Or else godliness really is weighted toward women.

The more men I asked, the more I heard it confirmed that the main factors in a man's confidence are pride and purpose in his work, and the ability to attract women. What the church can offer, that the world cannot, is freedom from these factors — not in the sense of denying

But I would assert here that it does a woman no favours to into shape the recently converted, they do little for the man who was raised in the church to a mature sensitivity to sin. In fact, their bluster is one of the most likely things to deepen the ratio of church attendance. Why go to church to feel like more of a failure? I can't believe it's right for there to be nothing to positively nurture a man's craving for respect. To dissipate his selfsabotaging urgency to deserve respect

marry a guy whose main reason for asking her is to satiate his lust.

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them, but in not being shamebound if they aren't present. The church has been faithful to teach that the real mark of success and meaning in a man's work is the sincerity of his effort before the Lord. It's no argument against a man finding a job that brings him personal satisfaction. But it's a guarantee of dignity, regardless of the status his job confers. It's a way to transcend the confidence a man derives from professional success. However, it appears that no such method exists of transcending sexual confidence, or the shame a man feels without it. In fact, many of the men (of all ages) that spoke with me about this topic said that the church has made them feel embarrassed at best, and guilty at worst, for having a sex drive at all. Until, of course, they are married. Marriage is the only excuse for being interested in sex, and the church is very quick to counsel young men in particular to marry as soon as they can. This is, presumably, in order to cut off sexual sin at the pass. But this approach typically results in skewing men's sexuality, and that can take years to unwind. One extreme was characterized to me this way, by a man who just welcomed his second grandchild: "Suddenly, you get married and you're in a hotel room with this woman, and you're like 'What the heck am I doing here?' You're 25 years old, and all of a sudden there's this expectation [that] you just shed all this guilt trip laid on you for the last fifteen years?" The other extreme is the change my girl friends and I bemoan, that comes over good Christian boys after they get married. Two weeks of honeymoon change them from "bros in Christ" who break into cold sweats every time their hand bumps a girl's knee, into John

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Legend. (Proverbs 30:23 applies as much to men as it does to women, apparently.) Mr. Wilson himself tends to advise young men in the throes of sex ua l f r ustration to marr y a s soon a s practicable. Besides diverting a man's temptation, he says, it's also advantageous to the woman to get a husband early "while he can still be trained." But I would assert here that it does a woman no favours to marry a guy whose main reason for asking her is to satiate his lust. It's uncomfortably similar to a vestal virgin sacrifice, tossing her to the lions of an immature man's sexual appetite. Equally distasteful, to me at least, is the prospect of “training” a grown man. There can't be many women who get married in the hope of being a mother before they get to be a wife. I'm not saying that marriage based on sexual fulfillment wouldn't be fun, at first. But sex-eclipsing complications — usually in the form of children, or lack thereof — eventually uncover a man's inadequacies. Suddenly, his confidence is shaken by the suspicion of failure; only now he has a lot of responsibilities and dependents and no youth left to excuse his incompetence. One friend of mine, who continues into his 30s to wait for marriage (in the literal and the rhetorical sense), tells

I like to think of myself as part of a lobby for helping the church develop men with confidence, direction, and mastery. I'm thinking sort of an evangelical James Bond

me he's seen the sex-driven marriage fail repeatedly among church friends, sometimes with disastrous results. For himself, he says, “ I didn't wait as many

years as I have to marry somebody just because I'm getting uncomfortable with the fact that I'm a 32-year-old single.” Far from suppressing his sexuality, he uses the sometimes painful awareness of it as an occasion for developing a herculean degree of self-mastery. Not surprisingly, this attribute often makes him more desirable to women . . . which naturally increases his confidence, and compensates for sometimes, “feeling like a complete square in a world that views it as physically unhealthy not to be sexually adventurous. “One thing that helps me is that Christ lived his entire life without sinning in this area,” he tells me. “By that standard, what I've sacrificed is actually very small. And that's the only thing that can kind of pull me out of the pit of despair sometimes.” I can't help returning again to James Bond — the impervious self-possession, the ability to leave fast cars and exotic women as easily as he could take them, the unshakable commitment to accomplishing his mission. In biblical terms, what is this but power over sin? I could spend a lot of time daydreaming about how things would change, if the church put its mind toward training men in the ability to lead themselves. But maybe it's better not to. Lust isn't only an issue for men.

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shopping for the right church

Consumer Culture and the Mission of God

photos by geoff heith

Is your church hip enough? Most of us want our church to fit like a nice pair of jeans, but there are so many brands to choose from. Jason Burtt explores the difficulty of finding the right church in the twenty-first century.

parish closest to your home. Now with highways and subways, he church had shaggy green carpet, and a musty smell the options are endless. So how do you determine the right to boot, but that didn’t seem to bother the worshippers. place to attend church? Some people choose a church based on That Sunday morning, as my family passed through theological categories, even within the same denomination, the glass doors of the old brick building, we were greeted by but most church-seekers are more inclined to choose based on smiles and gospel choruses. The foyer bustled with people visceral forces. Some settle on a church because of the quality coming and going between services — each making their way of its music and preaching. Other seekers attend a church from the engraved wooden pews to their cars outside, but not because of developing friendships or proximity to home. And without hugging a friend and sharing a story or two. still others just follow the latest fad. We heard various accents as we were ushered to our seats. Given the complexity of finding the right church, it only The congregation synchronized their tapping feet with the makes sense to consult the Bible, since it has a lot to say retro beats. The music, led by an African American woman, about the gathering of God’s people. In this way, we will be was accompanied by horns, drums, keys, and a choir. “Whose equipped to critique a few dangerous traps in contemporary report will you believe!?” she sang in call. We responded in church-hunting that have resulted from consumer culture. shouts of praise: “We shall believe the report of the Lord!” “His report says I am healed, His report says I am filled, His report says I am free, His report says, victory!” Tweets and Tabloids After upcoming events were announced and offering plates were passed around, the pastor approached the pulpit The old adage in stock trading is “buy the rumour, sell to preach a sermon. But before he opened his Bible, he said, the fact.” In other words, optimistic rumours lead to heavy “Despite what has recently transpired in this church, the Lord buying, and hard facts (usually not-so-impressive facts) is with us, and we are stronger than ever.” I soon learned lead to major sell-offs. Sometimes our churches face similar that he had been promoted from youth pastor to lead pastor treatment. The masses tend to flock to trending churches, hip overnight. A few weeks prior to our arrival, the former lead worship bands, and charismatic preachers. Vibrant people pastor was asked to resign for having an affair. The youth group crumbled in the wake, hat if we stopped asking who is the preacher but for the most part, the congregation held or what s the worship music like and started strong. Despite the news, everyone in my family confirmed that we were called by God asking how can be the church and help others in to be a part of this new church community. Since we were new to the area, we had been my church be the church looking for a church to call home. Some churches we visited were extravagant and r oss astings modern, others archaic and empty. Some were vibrant and friendly, and still others lacked any sign of Christ’s love in the lives of follow and re-tweet every move. its members. Yet this urban church, warts and all, was where This sounds like great news we felt the call of God to serve and belong. for the Christian movement, Today, with several styles available within each church but what happens when there tradition, how do you find the right one? There’s the deep is bad news? The same people church, the emerging church, the modern church, the missional quickly “un-follow,” sell out, church, the seeker-sensitive church, the high church, the low and move on. It’s the age we live church, and the community church. Before automobiles were in — where being current on all invented, it was easy to pick a church; you simply attended the

' '

—D .R

44 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

the gossip and news is as important as the news itself. Bad news in a church can bring about a fire sale of membership, abandoning the church to dust and mice. What they fail to recognize is that bad news can also force a congregation to come together in greater unity. Unity in Christ is the greatest weapon against gossip and hype. Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians that we have all been called into one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. In Corinthians, he reminds us that we all have a contribution to make to the body of Christ. God calls us to a community, and furthermore to a new family. Jesus rhetorically asks, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” and answers, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” No matter the news — whether good or bad — God calls us to stick together (Ephesians 4:3). Some people leave one church to go to another because a member hurt them somehow, but that is the very moment God calls us to forgive. It’s much easier to find another church than to be a peacemaker and look for solutions. We will not be so quick to abandon ship at the sound of bad news if we view the church as a family from which we cannot easily divorce ourselves.

The Demand for Entertainment The act of choosing a church based on the style or quality of music and preaching comes dangerously close to a market decision, where the products on the stage or in the pulpit are scrutinized for value to the consumer. Our capitalist societies are inextricably linked to market values — supply and demand — and in this church-hunting context, these forces are all-too-easily transferred. Consumerism in North America is not declining, despite the recession. Instead, consumers have simply chosen to be more or less frugal. Those who apply this conceptual framework to their hunt for churches are not unlike bargain

shoppers. When their desires are not met, they hop between churches until they feel just right. Churches are reduced to what they produce for the consumer. Consumers gladly pay, or add money to the offering plate, when they are satisfied or entertained. When dissatisfied, they may withhold their giving and leave begrudgingly. Jesus tells his disciples, “I don’t come to be served, but to serve.” We must therefore shift our view from egocentric to exocentric; that is, from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. In our selfishness we desire personal entertainment and fulfillment, which together drive our consumerist culture. Entertainment isn’t bad in itself, but it should not be the driving force of our decision-making. God calls us to reach out and make a difference in the lives of our neighbours, and to look out for their best interests before our own. “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple . . .” (Matthew 10:42). The interesting thing about the allusion to giving a cup of cold water is that it is something we would so readily take for ourselves. Jesus asks us to think of others as greater than ourselves. Therefore, church-going isn’t just about what we can get, but about what we can give. Since Christ has graciously given us life, we are now participants in giving joy and life to the world.

Cutting Costs With gas prices reaching all-time highs, it’s understandable that people want to drive their vehicles less and take public transit more. A person will likely choose a job closer to home to avoid a long commute. Some families will even forgo their yearly road-trip vacation to save on the cost of transportation. Furthermore, time itself is becoming an increasingly precious commodity, and less time on the road (or at work) means more time doing what we love. Many Christians decide where to attend church based upon the same reasoning. Recently, a churchgoer was overheard mentioning she chose a particular Sunday morning gathering because the service lasts only one hour; it fit nicely into her scheduled day off. While we make everyday decisions based on priorities and opportunity costs, is it right to choose our church using the same decision-making process? Here we have a problem of worldview. When we view ourselves as children of God, who has a limitless supply of everything we need, then decisions based first and foremost on cost come up short on faith. It is one thing to be a good steward of time and money, but

For further Reading: Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission David J. Bosch

The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission Christopher Wright

Missional God, Missional Church: Hope for Re-evangelizing the West Ross Hastings

Discovering Truth in a Changing World Lesslie Newbigin

another thing entirely to use it as a basis for choosing which church to attend. If God is calling us to a particular church, we must trust he will provide the means for us to serve there. The Apostle Paul writes, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8). Cost itself is a genuine factor in the Christian life — it’s costly with regard to time and money, family and friends, and personal wants and desires (Luke 14:25-33). When we let the gas gauge or long-winded preacher determine where we attend church, we are faced with the danger of ignoring God’s input altogether. The church with the shaggy green carpet was not the closest church to my home, and it needed a fresh coat of paint, but God called us there. Our commute to church and the cost of getting there are incidental, compared to the leading of the Spirit. We must remember that where the Lord leads us, he also provides for us. My own pastor once said that we convergemagazine.com

| 45

minister to a rootless, transient, and dare I say fickle society. It is true that today, many people refuse to be tied down to anything. However, commitment makes all the difference in lasting relationships. Friendships take time to build. Healthy marriages sweeten with age. If we think of ourselves as trees, and our commitments like roots, it is easy to see why staying in one place for a while is the key to significant growth. We might not always find ourselves in the most popular churches, but that’s okay, since God is more concerned with our commitment to Him. Lesslie Newbigin writes in Discovering Truth in a Changing World that the church’s mission is not to win a popularity contest. The church’s mission is rooted in ancient history; it has outlasted 2000 years of totalitarian regimes, mighty empires, and philosophical systems. Newbigin adds, “Within twenty years the things that today seem to occupy the whole horizon of public thinking will become half-remembered

everyone in between — with both age-specific and cross-generational ministries. One of the many benefits of having the older generation in the local church is their wisdom and experience. Most of them have passed through dark valleys and experienced God’s repeated love and faithfulness. When we are plugged in to a specific community of believers, we allow ourselves to be known. Our gifts are developed as part of the local church’s mission, and we find a safe place to be mentored by elders. If we leave every time things get ugly, we’ll never know the victories God wants to bring us. King David cried, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.” Many of us try to circumvent life’s difficulties when God wants us to steadfastly endure. For this reason, it is important we allow God to lead us to the family of believers that will help us along our faith journey, rather than looking for the most comfortable, entertaining, or convenient church. Consequently, our question ought to be “Where is God calling me to be and to serve?” rather than “Which church should I choose to attend?” My family looked forward to the church with the shaggy green carpet every Sunday morning. Despite its imperfections, we “…We confess never thought to leave it, that we often and by choice we shared that space with our new worship not your faith family. I was only in junior high school then, true self but who but my faith found strong roots. My dad and I served we wish you to breakfast to the homeless on Sunday mornings, be . We too often and I attended my youth ask you to bless pastor’s program on missionary evangelism. what we do rather I regularly confessed my sins to my brothers in than seeking to Christ, and found comfort do what you bless. in our growth together. The mission of God to reveal and redeem Forgive us for himself was realized in seeking concessions that urban church, where saints and sinners met when we should be with his grace. Churches will never be perfect until seeking guidance… the coming of Christ, because people are not yet help us to meet made perfect. Our calling to the mission of God is to you here, that we be the church, both inside might bow before and outside of its cracking brick walls. your unspeakable

prayer : phantoms, mere ephemera, of a past age. But the church will still be there . . . The church is a sign and an instrument — a foretaste of the kingdom of God.” 1 The church cannot be separated from its universal calling to be God’s mission to the world. Every confessing local church is privileged to be sent by the Triune God to fulfil His mission of revelation to every tribe and nation. “Mission is not something the church does; mission is the essence of the church . . . ” said Dr. Ross Hastings in a 2008 course at Regent College called Christian Thought and Culture. (His forthcoming book on the subject, Missional God, Missional Church: Hope for Re-evangelizing the West, is anticipated Fall 2012). I emailed Dr. Hastings for his thoughts about the influence of consumerism on today’s churchgoer. I asked, “Instead of choosing a church based on commute or trend, should we not ask the Lord, ‘Where are you calling me to serve?’ as part of the overall mission of God?” He promptly fired back an email with the following response. “The greatest challenge we face is actually wrapped up in our language — we speak about going to church when we are the church . . . We also employ a consumerist mindset which we have uncritically imbibed from our prevailing mall culture, and we apply it to church. What if we stopped asking 'who is the preacher?' or 'what's the worship music like?' and started asking

46 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

'how can I be the church and help others in my church be the church?'” Dr. Hastings pointed out that our personal identity and the corporate identity of the church are related. “We don't exist as the church for ourselves. If we understand the missional identity of the church we will understand our own missional identity as persons and as contributors to the life of the church, and then as agents of mission, in its broadest scope to the world. I honestly believe that one major cure for consumerism in the church is to make the Lord's Supper the centre of the church. Then we'd stop coming to consume church or the pastor, and we'd start coming to church to meet Jesus and consume him, and be consumed by him!” A beautiful aspect of the Lord’s Supper is the way it unites all believers together in Christ. Our churches are meant to be intergenerational — full of children, the elderly, and

majesty.”

1 Lesslie Newbigin, Discovering Truth in a Changing World (London: Alpha International, 2003), 97, 99.

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CONVERGE

to loan

or not to loan? Author: Ashley Chapman Photos by FH Canada - Kristin Kawa Brooks

Why one non-profit worker thinks microcredit can hurt development

Sufiya was a poor villager in Bangladesh. She received a small loan to buy some chickens to start an egg business. The chickens flourished, the eggs were the talk of the town, and soon her loan was paid back with enough extra income to buy a goat to sell milk as well. Take that, poverty! Sadly, a more realistic picture of this familiar story is that Sufiya's chickens did well the first week, but then caught a bacterial disease she didn't know how to treat. With five dead chickens and zero insurance, Sufiya remains in poverty; only now with a debt that will continue to grow until itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paid in full.

A Shouting Match

was horrified the first time I heard someone critique microcredit. Ever since Muhammad Yunus started the Grameen Bank to bring business capital to the world’s poor, these small-scale loans have been considered the silver bullet for ending poverty. But three decades and two Nobel prizes later, the honeymoon phase is wearing off.

Business 101  To begin with the basics, we’re not all entrepreneurs. In North America, there’s a fifty per cent chance that a new business will fail before the five-year mark — that is with the benefit of literacy, job training, insurance, market research, and thousands of books and blogs about how to succeed in business. But too often we assume that all the materially poor need to succeed is a bit of seed money.   Thankfully, several microfinance institutions and organizations don’t offer loans in isolation. They provide literacy classes, leadership training, skills development, and financial coaching. This is absolutely vital to an effective poverty-reduction strategy. But I still find myself questioning the wisdom of a credit-based model, and I’m not the only one.

Insider Opinion Turns  After 15 years as one of the biggest contributors to microcredit institutions, Norwegian aid agency NORAD decided to pull financial support from all new microcredit operations in Bangladesh (home of Yunus and Grameen Bank).  Last year, Yunus was controversially removed as head of the microcredit empire under suspicion of misappropriating funds. New industry studies claim that microfinance has had no measurable impact and independent journalists are starting to detail the tragic consequences of microcredit’s flipside: a web of debt.   Just as someone might use one credit card to pay off another, some desperate borrowers are forced to take new loans to pay off old ones. This may be a better option than giving up the family home or cow to pay the debt. But as loans pile up — and without the option or knowledge of bankruptcy or deferment — journalists report that suicide is sometimes chosen as the only escape.  Still, it’s hard to know who to trust in an insider debate this polarized. We’ll never know how many suicides were prevented through microcredit’s successes.

50 | CONVERGE.

sep -oct 2012

Late last year I saw just how controversial this issue has become. I travelled to Vancouver with two aid workers who used the car ride to reflect on their involvement with a microloan program that has since — for the better, they said — shut down.   The three of us were going to the Canadian screening of The Micro Debt, an award-winning 2010 documentary by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann. The film travels from Bangladesh to India to Mexico, sharing the stories of microcredit borrowers who say their lives were ruined by loans. It’s widely believed that allegations from the film cost Yunus his job.  As the shocking tour de force ended and the lights came back on, I never would have guessed that the real drama was just beginning. Heinemann took the stage and shared about the making of the movie, then announced that he would take questions.  An international development master’s student asked about the microcredit website Kiva, which was not implicated in his coverage. A second student asked about the empowerment of women, who are the primary beneficiaries of the loans. Then the Bangladeshi man seated directly behind me stood to identify himself as an associate of Yunus from the upper echelons of the Grameen Bank.

We’re not all entrepreneurs. In North America, there’s a fifty per cent chance that a new business will fail before the five-year mark That’s when things got heated. He proceeded to call out the filmmaker for his outright lies. He then produced a large stack of documents that included a letter from one of the experts in the film who claimed he was misrepresented. Everyone went home that night with a small, stapled stack of counterarguments he had prepared.  And like the film, they also seemed legitimate.

Back to Basics: Debt vs. Savings  The more I dug into their politicized arguments, the more I realized they couldn’t be my deciding factor. I might never know whom to trust in the midst of scathing allegations and

Learn more: There are many resources and a wide variety of opinions on microfinance and economic development. Here are some good places to start.

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…And Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert of The Chalmers Center (whenhelpinghurts.org) Corbett and Fikkert have written the seminal book for Christians in development. With humility and candor, they combine theory, theology and their years of experience to provide a model for how we can help those in poverty without unintentionally making things worse.

conflicting testimonies. I had to go back to the initial arguments that caused me to rethink my years of casual microcredit acceptance. At the core, it’s an issue of debt versus savings. When you don’t have security, it’s never wise to take a loan. And therefore, it’s questionable to encourage someone without security to accept a loan. We may hear glowing repayment rates of 97 or 98 per cent for microfinance institutions, but of course the bank will always get their money back; that’s what loan officers are for. What’s lost along the way is seldom documented.   In a best-case scenario a loan would be given to cover any gaps once a borrower has already saved a substantial amount toward their project. That way the bulk of the profit stays within their growing operation and remains in circulation in their community.   With outside microfinance institutions, the loan plus interest is returned outside the community instead of entering the local economy. More loans are then needed to advance a business to the next level, but again, that capital leaves the community once it’s served its purpose.

Skin in the Game  Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance by David Roodman or

“David Roodman’s Microfinance Open Book Blog”

Roodman’s work is endorsed by both fans and critics of Muhammad Yunus – and even Yunus himself! He was interviewed in Tom Heinemann’s film The Micro Debt, but didn’t entirely agree with how he was portrayed. Roodman’s writing is sharp and analytical, and makes for an interesting and accessible read. One of his blog posts even caused Kiva to change their game!

A few months ago I met with Laura Hunter, a Savings and Credit Association Specialist with Food the Hungry (FH) in Washington, DC, who regularly

works overseas. If I ever had concerns that my opinion of microcredit was denying people the capital they needed to survive, Hunter eased my fears. “It’s a pretty big assumption to think that all the poor are lacking is capital,” she explains.  Hunter is involved with a movement known in the field as one of the cheapest, most sustainable development activities. She helps train leaders for grassroots community savings groups that are growing like crazy in parts of Asia and Africa. Loan sharks abound in impoverished areas, and microfinance institutions are always extending their reach, but there are few options for residents who want to save securely. Without the easily available option to "bank" money, any extra is just as likely to be spent on drinking or gambling as it is on school fees or preventative medications.  “Savings isn’t sexy," says Hunter. "It’s a discipline.”  Savings groups provide a way for people with irregular incomes to smooth their spending throughout the year with deposits as small as seven to fourteen cents per week. It's an exercise in budgeting a small income — an important discipline for members to develop as they train together in literacy, numeracy, legal rights, and business skills.   With 10 to 30 members each, the savings groups set their own constitution and elect their own leadership. They

independently decide what amount will be contributed weekly or bi-weekly, and they also establish rules for group members borrowing from the communal pot once it reaches a certain amount. They set their own interest rates, and soon their own savings are being used to start businesses. As each loan is paid back with interest, their balance grows.   At the end of each year, members cash out, and usually find that their savings have multiplied substantially. For the 117 FH groups in one Mozambique community, that meant a total of $239,406 in a year. This in an area where the average income is less than $2 a day. In Bangladesh, where savings groups offer education and opportunity for traditionally oppressed women, 1,094 groups have saved $670,000.

Beliefs Matter  These numbers make me uncomfortable because they raise all sorts of hidden assumptions I'd rather not confront. They mess with my deeply-rooted idea of poverty that says materially poor people aren't capable of such things.  For some reason I’m surprised when I hear of remote locations with some organic form of a "Rosca” — a fund where community members contribute part of their monthly income and the combined amount goes to a different family each month. I still find it hard to believe when I read reports of community savings groups drafting their constitution to include a social security and development fund to cover emergencies and community projects.    As important as it is that my beliefs are changing, it's not half as powerful as the change that happens when someone struggling with hopelessness realizes their God-given potential. But it’s this potential and confidence that can be killed when outside funds are offered.   In an example from Cambodia, savings groups were offered matching funds for when they reached the $300 mark as an incentive for their progress. Instead, these groups' savings each stayed around the $300 mark, while groups without the incentive far surpassed that amount. It’s a classic case of good intentions having dangerous effects. The Chalmers Center is a key player in savings group training and biblically-based sustainable development. In July it published an article on the interested in impact of community savings groups in Rwanda, supporting community describing how the groups are multiplying as more savings groups? people see the results. It describes how groups comprised of genocide victims are reaching out to These organizations are known for emphasizing savings in their families of jailed perpetrators, helping them start financial plans for when their relatives return.   development work. The article covers financial improvements, but it's more about the intangible change. It quotes FH Canada an elderly savings group member — Esperance Look for “Women of Action” and — who was overheard talking to the mayor at a “Community Savings Groups” city celebration.  "I am in a savings group!" she fhcanada.org/women exclaims. "I am a millionaire! I have my own account book. I have bought my own goat, and I HOPE International have 4,000 francs [$6.54] in my account.”   Look for “Self Help Groups” She may not be a millionaire, but the 72-yearhope-international.com old finally feels stable and secure. Could this have been made possible with an outside microloan? CARE Canada Most likely, yes. And that's reason enough for me Look for “Village Savings and not to be so hard on microcredit. But the fact is Loans Associations” that she accomplished this transformation from care.ca her own savings and the savings of others in her community. Now that's a model of self-sufficiency and accomplishment I can really get behind.

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A chat with YouTube's prince charming,

V I N C E N T By Shara Lee Photos by Royce Sin & Ryan Wong

I'm

lounging in a plush leather seat in the lobby of a moderately swanky apartment building turned hotel. As I wait for Joseph Vincent to arrive, I look over my notes for the interview. Don’t have much written; but as it turns out, I have plenty of time to write things down. The YouTube singer songwriter is running an hour late because he was in the hotel gym, working out. From the bit of research I did prior to the interview — scouring YouTube videos and reading little interviews — Joseph is a charming young fellow, and it’s not hard to see why the ladies love him. He has that winning smile, and eyes that just sort of twinkle if you look for too long. Even from still photos you can tell he’s a genuinely nice guy, so despite the fact that he is making me and my team of photographers and videographers wait just because he is pumping that iron (it’s not like he was saving a three legged kitten from a tree) doesn’t faze me at all. Finally, his manager Tom comes down to say that we can go up to his suite. The elevator ride up is fast and we barely have time to make chit chat. Tom knocks on the door to make sure Joseph is “decent” (reminding me that he had just gotten out of the post-gym shower). We enter, and Joseph saunters out of the bedroom with that familiar smile. I feel like I know him already from spending all morning glued to his videos. We do quick introductions and share a bit of friendly banter before the actual interview begins. Joseph tells me that lately he’s been having a lot of weird dreams in which he goes back to high school. Tom complains of fatigue after enduring a rigorous flying schedule for his tour. After minutes of pleasantry, I bring focus to the cacophony of voices in the room. “Shall we start?” I open with a pretty obvious question. “Since you were just at the gym, can you tell us your workout routine?” “Just run on the treadmill, lift some weights, do different muscle groups on different days, and just try and balance it cause I eat really bad. I work out so I can eat really bad,” he says. Okay that was really awkward, I think to myself — why am I asking a Youtube star what his workout routine is? Luckily, Joseph goes on without any prompting. He’s turning out to be what I like to call a talker — in other words, a good interview subject. The reason he eats so poorly is because he’s always on tour. “It’s terrible. I mean, it’s awesome 'cause me and Tom get to travel all around the world. And every time we get somewhere, people are like 'oh, we got to take you to this pizza joint, this amazing food place' and we can’t turn it down. I mean you never know if we’re gonna be there again so. That’s why I try to work out a lot.” Good to know. On to more personal questions.

54 | CONVERGE.

sep -oct 2012

...

e was born Joseph Vincent Encarnacion, but goes by the name Joseph Vincent because it's easier to pronounce. Joseph describes his parents as “typical Asian,” always demanding straight A’s. My mom was “amazing . . . ly-strict,” he says with a chuckle. “My mom was the strict one, my dad was actually more supportive. He kind of babied me a bit. My mom was a hard ass. But she loved me, and she does support me now.” As for siblings, Joseph has a younger brother who just finished his third year at UCLA. “I love him. We’re really close,” he remarks affectionately. He says he was a goofy kid growing

I’m still le ar ning t od a y. I ’ m no t t h e b e s t guitar ist at all . Bu t I lik e to pr ide m yself i n the songw r iting

up, never taking himself too seriously, and was more into sports than music. His mother would put him in little talent competitions here and there; being Filipino, his family had a love for karaoke. “We did have a karaoke machine. We had the whole setup. The DVDs all lined up filling the entire living room,” Joseph recalls. But it wasn’t until he was gifted a guitar by his parents that he started to take music more seriously. Joseph saw the guitar as a challenge. He began to teach himself simple chords first, and slowly worked up to covering whole songs. “I’m still learning today. I’m not the best guitarist at all. But I like to pride myself in the songwriting, the melodies and the way you sing things. That’s what I’ve been really honing in on.” From then on, music was a constant in his life. “I would jump around from sport to sport. I was kind of fickle-minded as a kid, but the way I felt about music never changed. And I was always listening to different types of genres, and I liked to pull what I liked from each song and each genre, and I liked to mesh

it into my own. So I guess that’s the creative side in me that kind of came out.” After high school, Joseph wanted to go straight into the music biz, but his mother had other ideas. “She made sure that I got my education. We made a deal.” Joseph went to University of California Irvine. He majored in Public Health Policy, which he found a way to tie together with his love of music. Joseph began playing benefit concerts for several causes, and raised awareness for causes including hepatitis and heart disease. As he gained experience, his father noticed he was getting really good and insisted he put his songs on Youtube. “My dad’s like, ‘You need to put your stuff on [YouTube].’ I don’t know why my dad’s so tech savvy. He finds out about websites before they’re cool. My dad’s the original hipster. He’ll be like, ‘I told you Ray Bans are cool, now you’re wearing them?’ He knows everything, I should really have listened to him earlier on,” Joseph says animatedly. convergemagazine.com

| 55

M y da d’s the or igina l hipster. He’l l be lik e, ‘I tol d you R ay Bans are cool, now you’r e wear ing them?’ His love for his family is evident in the way he speaks and it is because of them that he stays so grounded. He is who he is because his parents raised him Catholic. I ask him how faith plays a role in his everyday life. “It’s just my relationship with God . . . He’s helped me through many difficult times,” says Joseph. “We always do a prayer before every show. We try to bring in everyone who wants to be, but it’s always me and Tom.” More than that , Joseph finds purpose through his faith. “ [God] gave me this gift to share with other people; that’s my duty here. That’s what makes it real . . . I have the ability to affect thousands of people.” He says that he takes seriously the job he does. When he puts on a show or puts up a video, his goal is to make the audience leave happy. “I feel that I have the responsibility to make everyone more light-hearted, more positive thinking, 'cause that way they’ll just be more positive in their own communities. I think that’s how that works.”

...

n YouTube, Joseph quickly became a sensation, getting millions of views on his covers. This got the attention of TV personality Ellen Degeneres, who has made it her mission to feature emerging internet talents on her show. It started with a message on Youtube from one of Ellen’s producers. “I didn’t believe it, 'cause she had this random user name and there was no picture on the icon. She was like ‘Oh, I’m a producer from the Ellen Degeneres show. And we would like to talk to you. Here is our number; give us a call.’ I didn’t believe it.” He decided to give her a call, anyway. Only four days later, he was on the show. “I didn’t expect that to happen so early on, and people always ask me, ‘Do you think you made it? You were on national TV?’ I

honestly think it’s the start,” Joseph says. “That’s what made me, that moment I realized that I could actually do this for a living. Before that, it was just a hobby that I did on the side while I was studying.” Joseph describes the experience as surreal. “I went out and everything was just so colourful and clear, and I didn’t believe she was right in front of me — I hugged her and everything. It really blew my mind. You can actually see the first time I was on, I really didn’t say much; I was just staring in awe. I was just focusing on not messing up when I was playing the song.” Not only did Joseph get to perform on the Ellen show; a little while after his first visit, he was asked to return again. After a soulful performance of Mike Posner’s “Cooler than Me,” Ellen surprised him with a $10,000 cheque.

In fact, stepping out from the masses of internet sensations is next on his to-do list. “I want to be taken more seriously, much more as an artist, as opposed to just a YouTube artist. Take the YouTube out of there,” he tells me. ...

e have a little time to burn before his next engagement, so after the interview we head down to a coffee shop. We’re soon chatting up like old friends, and it turns out he’s game to answer a bunch of silly questions from the crew and I. We probe him on things we think his fans would like to

Support your artists!

...

Get popular hits like S.A.D. and Bumblebee on iTunes!

ouTube has no doubt changed the game for people with unique skill sets, but it has especially helped out aspiring musicians. “Social media today is completely changing the industry as a whole. Back in the day, everyone wanted to get signed. Nowadays, you can cut out the middleman. I can go directly through YouTube, directly through iTunes, and go directly [to] my fans,” says Joseph. “That’s why the big corporations are kind of freaking out — they don’t know what the formula is. It’s just all going awry 'cause of technology. You can have the same quality of videos you see on MTV on YouTube. I think YouTube is the new MTV. People don’t go through channels to find new music, they go through the internet.” Although YouTube as a platform has been a blessing for Joseph, he does note that it is becoming more and more saturated. “People are finding out the Justin Bieber story, Ellen’s bringing up all these YouTube people. It got more competitive.” Despite all this, Joseph isn’t worried.

to a few girl friends of mine, as well as to some younger female cousins. When I log into Facebook Monday morning, I’m immediately greeted by the all–too-familiar red notification. My 16-year-old cousin has written on my wall, “Thanks for the tickets, Joseph Vincent was brilliant!” I have to ask my 28-year-old girl friend if she actually made it to the show. I sincerely hope she has not wasted my tickets! “I did,” she tells me. “The crowd was young, I felt so out of place . . . There was one point where he burped on stage, then laughed about it.” Needless to say, she was a bit put off. It’s clear Joseph’s personality resonates with a younger, mostly female demographic. To be honest, I hadn’t paid very much to his videos before this interview. Maybe because I was scared it would feel too much like watching a Mickey Mouse Club tribute show. But after spending a solid afternoon with Youtube’s darling, I feel that in fact, he does have something special. He is terribly charming. Frankly, I’m just as sold as the gaggles of sixteenyear-old fangirls out there.

know. We find out that no, he doesn’t have a girlfriend, but he does have a special girl who is “a really good friend”. I ask him to describe his ideal girl. Ladies, the following is a direct quote from Joseph Vincent: “She has to be cute, she has to have a sense of humour, the same sense of humour, that’s the number one thing, and if you can’t have a conversation with them it really kills it.”

...

’m not able to attend Joseph’s Vancouver concert the following day, so I give promo tickets away

It’s okay to ask questions How else can you be sure?

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I wa n t t o be ta k en mor e s e r io u s l y, m u c h m o r e a s a n a r t i s t, as opposed to just a Y o u T u b e a r t i s t. Ta k e t he You T ube out of ther e

Designed for ages 16 and up F R O M T H E C R E AT O R S O F F O C U S O N T H E FA M I LY ’ S

HAVE YOU SEEN? By Cam Smith

SUMMER MOVIE REPORT CARD Easily the most thrilling aspect of any given summer movie season is the feverish anticipation, where the mind reels at the majestic cinematic wizardry waiting just around the corner. The reality, alas, usually proves a little more mundane with some good, some bad and, if we’re lucky, one extraordinary piece of entertainment that enters into the popular consciousness. So how, then, did 2012’s offerings stack up? To answer this question we’ve assembled a Summer Movie Report Card that breaks down this year’s key titles into the five trend categories that proved most prominent at the multiplex. Now let’s take a gander at the summer that was, shall we?

Flights of Fantasy

Franchise Revivals

Magic, enchanted creatures and supernatural forces go hand-in-hand with the sunny months as dreamy movie fans and families flock to the theatre in search of escape. Pixar, one of our few reliable filmmaking institutions — minus Cars 2, obviously — charmed again this year with their first CGI-animated fairy tale Brave. Perhaps inconsequential when measured against the company’s rich back-catalogue, the picture was nonetheless a lively, heartfelt alternative to the joylessly dour Snow White and the Huntsman, an opulent and wondrously designed, but dramatically inert, action-oriented take on the classic fable. Infinitely worse, however, was Tim Burton’s gothic fantasy soap opera Dark Shadows, which was as bloodless as star vampire Johnny Depp’s many victims.

In our current franchise-driven movie era, no studio worth its salt wants to kiss goodbye once-lucrative brand names when the prospect of further profit still glimmers. Heavy hitters Sony and 20th Century Fox attempted to breathe new life into two of their dusty, longdormant top titles with lofty budgets and regrettably mixed results. The former’s Men in Black III, a time-tripping reunion of alien-busting G-men Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, compensated for its shoddy construction with sheer movie star charisma and light-hearted silliness (not to mention a scene-stealing Josh Brolin). Similarly, Fox’s expansive Alien prequel, Prometheus managed to wow audiences, thanks to Ridley Scott’s sumptuous, nightmarish visuals, despite a screenplay that raised more plot and logic holes than intriguing big-picture questions. Neither was a complete failure, although it’s dubious how successful they were in their mission to re-spark interest in further adventures.

GRADE

C+

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58 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

Odd Concept Comedies

Questionable Adaptations

Superhero Spectacle

Profane, alcoholic teddy bears? Costco-crashing alien reptiles? Dimwitted North African dictators? A love-struck runaway boy scout? 2012’s batch of comic confections showed no shortage of crazy promise, yet only one managed to exploit its premise to its fullest potential and offer something remarkable, touching and — yes — hilarious. That film was Wes Anderson’s 1960s-set indie hit Moonrise Kingdom, which stuffed a very game all-star cast into a sweet, funny tale of young romance and innocence lost. One of the best of the year thus far, this sparkling gem easily picked up the slack left by sporadically amusing outlandish laughers Ted and The Dictator and throwaway junk like The Watch.

Since the Pirates of the Caribbean ride unexpectedly spawned a billion dollar box-office juggernaut, studios have been ever more willing to roll the dice on risky intellectual properties. This summer, Hollywood likely (fingers crossed!) learned a serious lesson about the limited drawing power of their more crass commercial gambles, with Peter Berg’s cynical, exhaustingly dumb non-performer Battleship and the punishingly monotonous film version of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter stinking up half-empty multiplexes. Only guilty pleasure — and safer bet, creatively speaking — Rock of Ages, adapted from the campy off-Broadway jukebox musical, managed to come close to hitting the right notes, and even then by just a gel-streaked, cheesescented hair.

Continuing the unstoppable trend that began, oh, a decade ago with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, summertime was once again dominated by courageous costume-clad crusaders. While Marvel’s infectious pop symphony The Avengers kicked off the season in sensational style (Hulk-smashing previous box-office records to puny dust), July saw visionary director Christopher Nolan finally conquer the superhero threequel curse and triumphantly end his wonderful Batman trilogy with the weighty, rousing The Dark Knight Rises. Both films exemplified the best qualities we can hope for from our blockbusters: grand ambition, grippingly multi-faceted heroes and villains, witty dialogue, and effects that trigger those delirious “awe” sensors in the brain. Their victories would have locked top marks in this category had it not been for Sony’s not-so-Amazing Spider-Man reboot, which was hopelessly outclassed by its far more confident and consistent competition.

GRADE

A-

Final Summer Verdict: GRADE

GRADE

D+

B-

A mostly inoffensive and forgettable season with a modest handful of fantastic efforts rising above the hyper-expensive misfires. Better luck in 2013, Hollywood!

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convergemagazine.com

| 59

HAVE YOU SEEN?

FALL TV PREVIEW When the leaves start warming up to harvest hues, and the re-runs slowly fade from the tube, it marks the return of something pop-culture crawlers have been deprived of for months: Good television.

The Walking Dead

There have been some promising trailers as well as the new season of familiar, gripping, and or hilarious shows. Here is a little something something we'd like to see, and what you should put on your to-watch list. Remember: Don't you neglect school! Please watch responsibly.

Everybody’s favourite zombie drama is back in October. At the end of last season, Rick and his gang left the safety of Herschel’s farm. Andrea was separated from the group and almost overrun by walkers. Luckily, a mysterious hooded woman (Michonne), stepped out to save Andrea by killing the attacking zombie with a deadly katana knife. Previews of season three have hinted that the remaining survivors will take refuge in a prison.

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The Mindy Project Actress and comedienne Mindy Kaling created and stars in this offbeat comedy about a single woman who wishes her life would play out like a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, her love life is a bit of a mess. The series follows her attempts to find Mr. Right while juggling her blossoming career as an OBGYN.

Revenge

Revolution

Emily Thorne/ Amanda Clarke is back as the young, revenge-seeking millionaire. Last season, Emily made it her mission to ruin the lives of the many who betrayed her father. In season two, she’ll likely be looking for answers to some questions. Is her mother still alive? How will she protect her sister Charlotte? Revenge definitely has the cliffhanger appeal of a guilty pleasure soap opera.

What would happened if civilization underwent a world-wide blackout? Planes dropping like rocks, lights never to be turned on again, cars forever marking the roads like grave stones? J.J. Abrams brings to the TV table a post-apocolyptic world, challenging our tech-driven society, and looking to impress where previous shows (Alkatraz, Terra Nova) have failed. So what will come out of the darkness?

HAVE YOU READ?

Missional God, Missional Church InterVarsity Press Ross Hastings

With the reality of broad-scale secularization and the attendant cloud of insignificance hanging over the church, is there any hope for the re-evangelization of the West? In this comprehensive theology of mission, Ross Hastings (associate professor of pastoral theology at Regent College) directs the fretful gaze of the church to the trinitarian commission of John 20. In that chapter, we find Jesus granting peace to his disciples by breathing his Spirit on them. He formed them into his community of shalom. Leaving their locked room, these "sent ones" went out to participate in God's own mission to the world.

Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into your Comfortable Life

Hastings also tackles the dual challenges of isolation from and accommodation to the surrounding culture. Building on the works of David Bosch, Lesslie Newbigin, Christopher Wright and Darrell Guder, the author corrects numerous dichotomies that hinder the church. In the power of the Spirit, the gathered church is spiritually transformed, and also scattered as it proclaims God's forgiveness and freedom. This comprehensive theology of mission opens possibilities for renewal of faithful effort as we join in Christ's mission to the world.

By means of touching anecdotes, Goins instructs us how to pursue life’s work without regrets and practice radical sacrifice and selfless service. Goins proves that we can find purpose in the midst of pain and discover fulfillment in the least likely of places.

Moody Press Jeff Goins Author and popular blogger Jeff Goins shares his own experience of struggling as a missionary and 20-something, who understands the call to live radically while burdened by the responsibilities of everyday life. Wrecked is a manifesto for those of this generation dissatisfied with the ordinary, who want to make a difference.

Vanguard students will engage in ministry while learning throughout the year. Our urban setting provides a great variety of practical ministry opportunities to work with each student’s specific program focus. Serving in local and global ministries with guided practicums and ministry trips, our students graduate with experience, equipped to enter church, para-church or marketplace ministry.

This Ordinary Adventure InterVarsity Press Christine Jeske & Adam Jeske Christine and Adam Jeske traveled the planet, doing missions and community development work in China, Latin America and Africa. When they returned back home to the land of shopping malls and manicured lawns, they wondered what had become of the amazing days spent helping others. In This Ordinary Adventure, the couple mine their experience, from riding motorcycles in Africa to dicing celery in Wisconsin, in search of a God who is always present and who charges every moment with potential. Read this book and you'll no doubt see parallels in your own life as you follow this God-filled roller-coaster ride.

HAVE YOU HEARD? By Craig Ketchum

Aesop Rock Skelethon July 10, 2012

Band of Horses Mirage Rock September 18, 2012

Evolving from his early raw DIY melody-driven tunes, Ben Bridwell has brought Band of Horses into quintessential American rock territory with its third and fourth studio albums, which have echoes of Bryan Adams and Neil Youngstyle vintage rock. This fourth album is, in their words, a “follow-up to 2010's Grammynominated Infinite Arms”. A far cry from their first album Everything All The Time, the band’s altered line-up is partly responsible; despite painful moments, the metamorphosis has triggered positive creative outcomes. Overseeing this album is notable veteran producer Glyn Johns (The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin). Band of Horses paces on.

62 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

In interviews he reveals a careful and introspective eloquence about the conceptual framework of his album. But rapper Aesop Rock (Matthias Bavitz) is just as apt to let verbiage fire on overdrive like an over-stimulated James Joyce narrating a pillow fight. Each song is replete. Skelethon chronicles a rough period in Bavitz’s life, themed, in his words, by the “death of friends, house plants, and relationships.” It’s characteristically dark, and can get a little intense. But it also recounts experiences from his life that bring rootedness and meaning. Even the quirky “Fryerstarter” converts trips to Bob’s Donuts into religious experiences that provided Bavitz with a taste of New York as he settled in California. If you can withstand the unceasing wordiness and appreciate a unique and headier rap style, Skelethon may be worth digging out.

Beach House Bloom May 15, 2012

JJ Heller Deeper October 11, 2011

The Choir Loudest Sound Ever May 15 2012

Beach House’s captivating synth cocktail sits well in the eardrums. Lush, without being overpowering or overdone, it’s equally appropriate for a drive, the quieter side of a house party, or perhaps a summery romp in a field. Everything about Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally’s tone and look is reminiscent of ’80s dream pop, conveying yearnings for simplicity and yet the constancy of turbulent emotion. Legrand’s vocals and Scally’s guitar seem to concoct something perhaps intended to soothe heartbreak.

Deeper, JJ Heller’s eighth album, possesses raw power seemingly effortlessly. It’s upbeat and substantial, speaking to motherhood, marriage, friendship, fear, and faith. These songs are fruit of the heart.

This album stands out from this year’s plethora of urban pop-folk. The echoes of ’90s grunge à la Collective Soul and The Cure are unmistakable (true music veterans, The Choir put its first album out in 1985), but the album is imaginative, blending old with new. The three final tracks are simply stunning, ending appropriately with feature vocals from Leigh Nash, a fellow blurrer of the line between sacred and secular.

An acoustic guitar-driven collection with a touch of symphony, the instrumentation is delicate and diverse, ranging from roots-rock to soulful pop. Heller’s vocals are matched harmoniously with her husband Dave’s various instruments on the album. The album is beautifully produced and resonates richly.

Band to watch: The Digital Age With the conclusion of the David Crowder Band, no time was lost as four band members formed The Digital Age, referencing the way that digital forces are changing the way we relate and create and possess. Their website thedigitalagemusic. com is already well established with merchandise, social media power, and a ready fan base. The Digital Age has been recording high-quality studio takes of their compositions, releasing both videos and an album titled Rehearsals available on

iTunes and Amazon, and opening it for remix submissions. Employing scintillating threepart harmonies, the band embraces a range of styles from old-time gospel-blues hymns (“Never Grow Old”) to contemporary alt-rock epics (“All The Poor And Powerless”). The band describes themselves saying, “[We] believe that the Church is beautiful, diverse, creative, and alive, and that these qualities should be reflected in the music the Church creates.”

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l ast word

The highway was ending, and we had a decision to make: right towards Colorado, or left towards home?

We’d been living in a van, traversing Utah’s southern deserts after a trip through Orange County and time spent in an old gravel quarry high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Every time we hit the road towards some place new, we’d blast Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam”: “Where I lay my head is home   And the earth becomes my throne I adapt to the unknown   Under wandering stars I've grown   By myself but not alone” We’d taken to the road to explore the country, to rock climb, to discover adventure and ourselves along the way. We’d been traveling with other vagabond rock climbers, who, like us, had left their normal lives behind for the promises of the open road. Our tribe of gypsy rock climbers was a fluid community of comers and goers. Around the nightly campfires, usually littered with Colt 45 and guitars, we’d swap stories about home, where we had come from, and where we were headed before money ran out and real life kicked back in. William Least Heat-Moon, author of Blue Highways, says that, “The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself.” It’s a place of searching and of discovery — a place with no ending. My attraction to the road, it seems, simply mirrors the ongoing journey I feel internally most of the time. If you’re like me, the best moments of a road trip are found in the anticipation rather than in the actual arrival. In life, and on the road, the process matters more than the actual destination. And that process is always filled with crossroads. The crossroads come in every shape and every form. They’re real-life moments influenced by our past, impacting every future decision.

Unfortunately, navigating life’s crossroads doesn’t come with a map, directions, or a tried-and-true formula. Life changes, landscapes shift, and new journeys unveil their paths. For some, it’s the journey that has become home. And I think I’m ok with that. The small mountain town I live in now (Whistler) is filled with travelers and adventurers who’ve come to embrace the crossroads. Crossroads can give us time and space for reflection, restoration, and for an awakening in our souls. They give us pause, a chance to stop and breathe, to view the surroundings and remember where we’ve been and what we hope for. Crossroads always give us a chance at something new: an opportunity for new life, new beginnings, and new hope. No, they’re not always easy, and the paths might be laden with trials, but at every crossroad my hope is made new. At every crossroad I remember the God in whom I’ve put my trust, whose steps I aspire to walk in, and who has lovingly walked in front, beside, and behind me all the while. It’s here in the crossroads I notice that I keep bumping into God — and, I bet if you learn to look closer, you’ll notice Him too. Flickr photo by Gabriella Corrado

We were at a crossroads.

- Jeremy Postal 64 | CONVERGE. sep-oct 2012

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sep -oct 2012

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