Well, it's been several weeks since Franklin Graham (Billy's boy) came through town. He carries on the ministry of his father by holding "festivals" (not crusades, please) in various cities. The festival here in Winnipeg was composed of four sessions: two regular sessions (Friday and Sunday evenings), a session for kids Saturday morning and a session for youth Saturday night. The regular session was composed primarily of what, in church circles, is known as contemporary praise and worship music for nearly two hours, followed by a 20 minute sermon by Franklin and the signature altar call. The apparent purpose of the festival is to provide Christians with an excuse to invite their non-believing friends to an evangelistic event. The following are some of my thoughts on the festival.
First off, in the run up to the festival, there were some parts of Winnipeg's Christian community that were not keen to have Mr. Graham come to town because of his support for the US invasion of Iraq and his comments regarding Muslims following 9/11. In Winnipeg's Mennonite community, which is traditionally a "peace church", many were uncomfortable with such open support for violence. Many, in fact, felt that Mr. Graham's stance was in direct contrast to the Gospel, so were unsure whether he was the best person to be presenting the Gospel. Like Franklin Graham, Mennonites wish to present the Gospel to the world (ie: evangelize). This provided for interesting discussion. How much in common do we (Mennonites) need to have in common with someone in order to collaborate with them? In the end, the Mennonite conferences in Winnipeg ended up supporting the festival, though I believe they did write Franklin informing him of their concerns.
Second, in the context of evangelism, is a "festival" like this an effective method of introducing people to Jesus? A number of people in the Christian community felt that events such as this were not worth their price tag (1.4 million big ones in this case). There was some sense that people don't respond to such crusade-type events as they did in the past, thus the money may be better spent on other things. I attended the Sunday evening session here in Winnipeg out of curiosity. One of the speakers asked how many had been to at least one other session over the weekend and a considerable number of people responded. More than likely, most of these were Christians, and I doubt that they brought friends to each the sessions they attended. Thus, the festival was, to some degree at least, an event for Christians by Christians rather than an outreach event.
Thirdly, and most disturbing to me as a Christian, was Franklin's sermon. He characterized Christianity primarily as an "escape route" from God's judgement. While I believe that judgement, in some sense, is certainly a part of the Christian message, for this to be the way the message of Jesus was characterized I thought was unfair. In the Bible, the Gospel is rarely presented as something to "scare" people into the kingdom. The escape route characterization creates a Christianity where saving one's bacon is the primary motivator, rather than love of God and others. This is not, generally, how the Gospel was characterized by Jesus and the authors of the New Testament. In addition, such a message all but ignores the "earthly" component of the gospel message. In my opinion, Graham's characterization of the Gospel was very incomplete at best, and inaccurate at worst.
I'd love to hear some comments, especially from those un-believers among you.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
I Got It At Value Village
I’m sure you’ve heard it before. A friend of yours is wearing an article of clothing which you haven’t seen before. You comment on how nice it is, and the reply: “I got it at Value Village.” What is it that compels your friend to tell you the location of his/her apparel purchase? Do you normally care where your friends buy their clothes?
The IGIAVV response went forth from my lips the other day. I was told I was wearing nice shirt. I promptly replied “I got it at Value Village.” Two things: first off, I don’t usually get comments regarding my clothes, which probably means one of two things - my clothes are either ugly or bland. I prefer to think the later is more accurate, since I trust my wife to let me know if I’m leaving the house wearing something which would look much better on the inside of an incinerator. Three cheers for mediocrity. Secondly, and back to the topic at hand, when I do get comments regarding my clothes, my response doesn’t usually include the location of my purchase. My thinking is that since I’m rarely interested in where other people got their clothes, they’re probably not interested in where I got mine. So why would I decide to share it in this instance? What is it about a purchase at Value Village that compels one to share that bit of knowledge with others?
Thus far, I’ve thought of at least two possible reasons for this phenomenon. The first is that purchasers are enthused that they have bought products they like at bargain prices. But why not just state the price you paid, rather than name the store? If you had bought the item on sale at a store in the mall, a likely response would be “Thanks, I got it for only $15.” or “Thanks, I got it for half price.” The name of the store would only come upon further inquiry. In the case of a Value Village purchase (or any second hand purchase for that matter), the name of the store, or the fact that you got it second hand, almost always comes up. Why the difference? Is the location (Value Village) simply a substitute for saying you got a good deal on the item, or is there something else?
In some cases I think there’s motivation other than sharing the excitement of a bargain. I hereby propose that in some circles, buying second hand is a status thing. I think this is especially prevalent in the more lefty type circles. The underlying assumptions which provide the perceived status boost likely vary with social group. The anti-capitalist types attain the higher status by purchasing their clothes at Value Village instead of Walmart (ie: by stickin’ it to the Man). The enviro types climb the social ladder (which is made from recycled materials) because they’re re-using, instead of purchasing new (ie: by stickin’ it to Gap). As one who has some sympathy for both groups, I can say with some confidence that I’ve seen such things in operation. In all likelihood, I’ve used IGIAVV in hopes that some status might come my way. I need all the help I can get since the look of my clothes won’t do it for me.
The IGIAVV response went forth from my lips the other day. I was told I was wearing nice shirt. I promptly replied “I got it at Value Village.” Two things: first off, I don’t usually get comments regarding my clothes, which probably means one of two things - my clothes are either ugly or bland. I prefer to think the later is more accurate, since I trust my wife to let me know if I’m leaving the house wearing something which would look much better on the inside of an incinerator. Three cheers for mediocrity. Secondly, and back to the topic at hand, when I do get comments regarding my clothes, my response doesn’t usually include the location of my purchase. My thinking is that since I’m rarely interested in where other people got their clothes, they’re probably not interested in where I got mine. So why would I decide to share it in this instance? What is it about a purchase at Value Village that compels one to share that bit of knowledge with others?
Thus far, I’ve thought of at least two possible reasons for this phenomenon. The first is that purchasers are enthused that they have bought products they like at bargain prices. But why not just state the price you paid, rather than name the store? If you had bought the item on sale at a store in the mall, a likely response would be “Thanks, I got it for only $15.” or “Thanks, I got it for half price.” The name of the store would only come upon further inquiry. In the case of a Value Village purchase (or any second hand purchase for that matter), the name of the store, or the fact that you got it second hand, almost always comes up. Why the difference? Is the location (Value Village) simply a substitute for saying you got a good deal on the item, or is there something else?
In some cases I think there’s motivation other than sharing the excitement of a bargain. I hereby propose that in some circles, buying second hand is a status thing. I think this is especially prevalent in the more lefty type circles. The underlying assumptions which provide the perceived status boost likely vary with social group. The anti-capitalist types attain the higher status by purchasing their clothes at Value Village instead of Walmart (ie: by stickin’ it to the Man). The enviro types climb the social ladder (which is made from recycled materials) because they’re re-using, instead of purchasing new (ie: by stickin’ it to Gap). As one who has some sympathy for both groups, I can say with some confidence that I’ve seen such things in operation. In all likelihood, I’ve used IGIAVV in hopes that some status might come my way. I need all the help I can get since the look of my clothes won’t do it for me.
Monday, August 14, 2006
The Politics of Pregnancy
I am currently undergoing the experience of 'expecting' for the first time. With this comes the joy of navigating the pitfalls of pregnancy politics. What I mean by pregnancy politics has nothing to do with liberals, conservatives, or communists, nor does it relate to the foreign policy or the national economy. Rather, I use the term in reference to the careful provision and timing of releasing information about the pregnancy and the multiple factors that must be taken into consideration in this task to avoid undue relational hardship. If this doesn't make sense to you, either A) you haven't had a baby, B) it's a crappy explanation, or C) both of the above. Perhaps an example will lend some concreteness to the discussion.
The first piece of information that has to be shared with people is that you are expecting a baby. How far into the pregnancy you are when you share this is not a big deal in terms of bothering most people. A more sizeable decision with far-reaching implications is in what order people will be told. For example, do your parents find out first, or one of your siblings, or a friend, or coworkers? Which side of the family gets told first? Do you tell people in person, over the phone, by email? Or do you just wait for the grapevine to do its thing? Stay in school kids, degrees in media relations or international diplomacy would likely be helpful in this situation, and may help you to avoid responses such as "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" or "I'm the last one to know, aren't I? I'm always the last one to know! I was the last to know about your engagement, too!" (These response are real life examples). And this is just part one of the problem! Who do you tell first that you're in labour and going to the hospital? Who do you call first after the birth?
May I suggest to those of you who have had several children that there is a market for pregnancy consultants with at least three children of experience. While I await the advice that is sure to come, since everybody seems to have so much to share when you're expecting, I'll start sending apologies to people, but who first?
The first piece of information that has to be shared with people is that you are expecting a baby. How far into the pregnancy you are when you share this is not a big deal in terms of bothering most people. A more sizeable decision with far-reaching implications is in what order people will be told. For example, do your parents find out first, or one of your siblings, or a friend, or coworkers? Which side of the family gets told first? Do you tell people in person, over the phone, by email? Or do you just wait for the grapevine to do its thing? Stay in school kids, degrees in media relations or international diplomacy would likely be helpful in this situation, and may help you to avoid responses such as "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" or "I'm the last one to know, aren't I? I'm always the last one to know! I was the last to know about your engagement, too!" (These response are real life examples). And this is just part one of the problem! Who do you tell first that you're in labour and going to the hospital? Who do you call first after the birth?
May I suggest to those of you who have had several children that there is a market for pregnancy consultants with at least three children of experience. While I await the advice that is sure to come, since everybody seems to have so much to share when you're expecting, I'll start sending apologies to people, but who first?
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Addendum to Primary Post
I have become one of the masses to offer up my world for public scrutiny. Like most blogs, this one will likely amount to nothing and languish in complete obscurity until google (trademark sign) decides to delete it. In attempting this business of blogging, I feel somewhat trendy, nerdy, and lame. Trendy in that it gets a lot of press; nerdy in that I have my own page; lame in that ... I'm not sure, it just seems to have a sense of lameness about it. Perhaps because my purpose is not to disseminate important facts about war in the middle east or the latest news about the royal family. Actually it'd be really lame if I wanted to spend my time talking about the Queen. Even lamer if I actually had the latest news about the Queen and felt the need to share it with you. I don't really have a purpose with this whole blog thing. However, I'll attempt it and see how it goes. Cheers.
Primary Post
Greetings, and welcome to my blog. This is a new experience for me. Of late blogging has seemed attractive to me, hence this blog has come into being. This is unlikely to take the form of a diary as my previous attempts at diary-ing (careful with verbal use of that word) have not fared well. This will more likely be a place where my thoughts and opinions (the worth of which I'll leave up to you) on a variety of topics will be posted. Cheers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)