Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2016 http://colleagueslist.blogspot.ca/

Friday, 7 December 2018

Colleagues List, December 9th, 2018

Vol. XIV No. 22

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

 
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:
wholst@telus.net

This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally - waholst@telus.net

*****

Dear Friends:

Welcome to the latest issue of Colleagues List.

This week I introduce the title "The Great Spiritual Migration"
by Brian McLaren whose work has not appeared here before,
but who is well-known in many progressive theological circles
in North America.

We have chosen this book as our Winter Monday Night Study
at St. David's, Calgary. Hopefully, you find my introduction,
below, helpful.

I hope you find at least some of the items in this issue to be
of interest.

Advent blessings!

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice -

THE GREAT SPIRITUAL MIGRATION
How the World's Largest Religion is
Seeking a Better Way to be Christian
by Brian D. McLaren

Crown/Penguin/Random House Publishing
2017. 274 pages. Paperback. $17.75 CAD
ISBN #978--60142-792-2.

Publisher's Promo:


The Christian story, from Genesis until now, is fundamentally
about people on the move - outgrowing old, broken religious
systems and embracing new, more redemptive ways of life.
It’s time to move again.

Brian McLaren, a leading voice in contemporary religion,
argues that - notwithstanding the dire headlines about the
demise of faith and drop in church attendance - Christian
faith is not dying. Rather, it is embarking on a once-in-an-
era spiritual shift.

For millions, the journey has already begun.

Drawing from his work as global activist, pastor, and
public theologian, McLaren challenges readers to stop
worrying, waiting, and indulging in nostalgia, and instead,
to embrace the powerful new understandings that are
reshaping the church. In "The Great Spiritual Migration"
he explores three profound shifts that define the change:

Spiritually, growing numbers of Christians are moving
away from defining themselves by lists of beliefs and
toward a way of life defined by love. Theologically,
believers are increasingly rejecting the image of God
as a violent Supreme Being and embracing the image
of God as the renewing Spirit at work in our world for
the common good

Missionally, the faithful are identifying less with organized
religion and more with organizing religion - spiritual activists
dedicated to healing the planet, building peace, overcoming
poverty and injustice, and collaborating with other faiths to
ensure a better future for all of us.

With his trademark brilliance and compassion, McLaren
invites readers to seize the moment and set out on the
most significant spiritual pilgrimage of our time: to help
Christianity become more Christian.

*****


Author's Words:

 
I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian tradition. If we would have had a motto it might have been "we shall not be moved"... but by my teenage years, it was clear that I simply didn't fit into that box.... I developed as an Evangelical Christian. It was a big step into more freedom. I became a church planter and pastor, and felt very much at home. I had already come a long way...

I found myself perched on the progressive margin of  Evangelicalism and began writing books on what I considered themes that were dear to Evangelicals, but quickly learned that there were many zealous gatekeepers who were eager to purge anyone to their theological or cultural left and my location in Evangelicalism grew more tenuous. 

Over time, I concluded that I could no longer fit into a static faith - neither fundamentalist, Evangelical or liberal. For me it is not a matter of "where I stand" but where I'm headed.

Christian faith, for me, is no longer a static location but a great spiritual journey. And that changes everything.

As I see it, religion is at its best when it leads us forward, when it guides us in our spiritual growth as individuals and in our cultural evolution as a species.  Unfortunately, religion often becomes more of a cage than a guide, holding us back rather than summoning us onward.

In times of rapid and ambiguous change, a regressive turn in religion is understandable, but it is even more tragic when a culture needs wise spiritual guidance the most, all it gets from religious leaders is anxious condemnation and critique. Today, we see this regressive pull in many sectors of Christianity, as well as sectors of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and other religions too.

In that light, its no surprize that people by the millions are moving away from traditional religions entirely, often into secularism. But from this evolving spiritual transition, voices of change, hope, imagination and new beginnings are emerging.

We are being invited into a great spiritual migration as hopeful pilgrims moving forward in the journey of faith.

This book is an invitation to get involved, to come along, to help create a better future for our faith and for our world.

(Studying the phenomenon of the migration of birds has been a good model for me to employ in my thinking and writing. So, I want to share some of the insights I have learned from bird migratory behaviour.)

I hope you will find in these pages even better reasons for hope, along with an invitation to re-engage, to join in this epic migratory practice, this transforming quest, this great spiritual migration toward a better way of being Christian, and a better way of being human.

- words and resulting interpretation from the Preface

--


Author's Bio:

Brian D. McLaren is a Christian thinker, author, and activist.
A former pastor with a background in literature, McLaren is
the author of over a dozen books, an Auburn Senior Fellow,
and boardchair of Convergence (convergenceus.org).

McLaren's Wikipedia Bio:
https://tinyurl.com/ybuu8jfa
 

--

My Thoughts:

I suspect that for most people in modern society, religion and faith are more associated with returning to basics, fundamentals and accepted beliefs than as a means of venturing into an unknown future with confidence and trust. For McLaren, however, his experience and his own personal psychology have transformed him from viewing religion as a foundation for life to faith as an inspiration for living into the future.

This book is devoted to helping people move beyond a fear of flying. In that regard, it is unique, and an important reason why I believe it is an important title to be reading and studying at this point in our history.

One of the great gifts I inherited from my church background was that of "living by faith" and not, ultimately, by tradition. Unfortunately, some of my best teachers about living by faith were unable to help me when I, like McLaren, needed them most. 

The real world is a scary place for many people, and while religious faith is often applauded, it does not have a good track record when the chips are down. That may be the reason so many today, including our youth, consider much of what passes for faith in our time as hypocrisy. I believe many of us stand under judgement at this point. We lack integrity and our words do not align with our behaviour.
 
I know that has been true in my life. I have failed some who needed to share a living faith with me. But I was too committed to defending the past than to walking faithfully with them into an unknown future.

A book like The Great Spiritual Migration can be a wakeup call and a prod to deeper spiritual questing and growth simply because its faith focus is on the future, not the past.

This does not mean that we accept everything McLaren has to say without question. I believe he very much wants us to test his assumptions as well as our own.

As with many of the books we have studied at our church over the years, this one is presented as a challenge to past thinking, and an invitation to venture in new spiritual ways. It is not meant to be a blueprint for correct behaviour.

We would be wise to study a book like this with others. It is also valuable to follow the spiritual biography of its author and  to bring our own personal experience to bear on what he has to say.

---


Promotionals:

"Anything written by Brian McLaren is always
filled with insight, courage, and creative theology,
refining the meaning of orthodoxy in our time.
Read this and surely enjoy it, for it will assure
you that you are not crazy makingin what you
are seeing and suffering today."

- Richard Rohr

"With the wisdom of a seasoned teacher and the
compassion of a dear friend, Brian McLaren once
again pastors the reader through some of the most
pressing and important questions of our time.

The Great Spiritual Migration puts into words what
so many people of faith are experiencing, and in a
way that is at once accessible and profound,
challenging and deeply comforting. You will reach
the final page feeling inspired, understood, and a
little less alone. McLaren's writing has long been a
gift to the Church, and to the world. This may be
his most important work yet."

- Rachel Held Evans

“A refreshingly honest, totally committed, enriching
and profound analysis of the Spiritual Moment that
is changing all our lives. If you are concerned - and
at the same time excited - by what is going in
churches these days, read this book. Both hope
and a path to it await you here.

- Joan Chittister

  
_____

Buy the book from Amazon.ca:
https://tinyurl.com/y9zadmjx

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Advent Theme:

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog,
December 1st, 2018

"Raise Your Heads"
 
https://tinyurl.com/y9h8vfnk

--

Ed Schroeder,
St. Louis, MO.

Crossings Film Series
December, 2018

"Ed Speaks Live"
 
https://tinyurl.com/ybjzdnx7

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
December 5th, 2018

"Permission to Let Go"
  
https://tinyurl.com/yb5pghd4

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
December 3rd, 2018

"A Different Kind of Bucket List"
  
https://tinyurl.com/ya5x6o86

*****

NET NOTES

THE MAGIC OF THE NORTH
Happiness Survey of
Northern Countries

TV Ontario
November 28th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybxsjmqh

--

A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE W. BUSH
An Inescapable Contrast

By Jim Wallis, Sojourners
December 5th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybb7rfe6

--

JOHN ALLEN CHAU'S  EVANGELICAL ERRORS
No Respect for the People He Wanted to Convert

Sightings,
December 6th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybw8xptz

--

"SILENT NIGHT' TURNS 200 THIS YEAR
Is it the Greatest Christmas Song Ever?

America Magazine,
December 6th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybpoatpv

--

THOUSANDS ON WAY TO USA
HAVE DIED OR GONE MISSING
Victims of Trafficking or Violence

La Croix International
December 6th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y7z2nwy8

--

JAMES CONE MEMOIR OF A PIONEER
IN BLACK AMERICAN THEOLOGY
He Brought Liberation Theology to America

National Catholic Reporter,
December 5th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y79vgfgt

--

CANADIAN  GOVERNMENT CHANGING
ITS SUMMER JOBS POLICY
Some Still Not Impressed, However

Catholic Register, Toronto
December 6th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybzhn8sz

--

CANADIANS, LED BY MILLENNIALS, SHOW
A BROAD TOLERANCE FOR RELIGION
Openness to Other Faiths Evident in the Young

Religion News Service,
December 6th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yagzk7vl

--

FILM PROFILES SIKH-CANADIAN BOXER
IN FIGHT FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
He Stood Up for Faith Principles and Won

Religion News Service,
December 5th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yd746d6a

--

FAITH GROUPS IN TIJUANA RISE UP
TO SUPPORT MIGRANT CARAVAN
Central Americans Stopped at US Border

Religion News Service,
December 4th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y8jsj4hs

--

CHRISTIANS FROM GERMANY, ENGLAND
PAY TRIBUTE AT UK WWI MEMORIAL
Many Germans, Austrians Buried in UK

La Croix International
December 5th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybe93fx7

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

Stories make us more alive, more human,
more courageous, more loving.

- Madeleine L'Engle

--

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day
is the rest we take between two deep breaths.

- Etty Hillesum

--

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are
Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and
Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

- Saint Augustine

--

The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish,
and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative
to the consciousness and perception of the dominant
culture around us.

- Walter Brueggeman

--

Human nature is like a stable inhabited by the ox of
passion and the ass of prejudice; animals which take
up a lot of room and which I suppose most of us are
feeding on the quiet. And it is there between them,
pushing them out, that Christ must be born and in
their very manger he must be laid – and they will be
the firs tto fall on their knees before him. Sometimes
Christians seem far nearer to those animals than to
Christ inhis simple poverty, self-abandoned to God.

- Evelyn Underhill

--

Celebrating Advent means learning how to wait.…
Not all can wait – certainly not those who are satisfied,
contented, and feel that they live in the best of all possible
worlds! Those who learn to wait are uneasy about their
way of life, but yet have seen a vision of greatness in
the world of the future and are patiently expecting its
fulfillment. The celebration of Advent is possible only
to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves
to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to
something greater to come. For these, it is enough
to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself
comes down to us, God in the child in the manager.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

--

When have Christians been promised physical security?
In the early church it is evident that they did not even expect
it! Their security, their true life, was rooted in God; and neither
the daily insecurities of the decaying Roman Empire, nor the
organized persecution which followed later, could affect their
basic confidence. In my judgement, the description which
Christ gave of the days that were to come before his return
is more accurately reproduced in this fear-ridden age than
 ever before in human history.…When God decides that the
human experiment has gone on long enough, yes, even in
the midst of what appears to us confusion and incompleteness,
Christ will come again. This is what the New Testament teaches.


This is the message of Advent. It is for us to be alert, vigilant
and industrious, so that his coming will not be a terror but an
overwhelming joy.

 - J. B. Phillips
 
 
*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Michelle Obama

We should always have three friends in our lives - one who
walks ahead who we look up to and follow; one who walks
beside us, who is with us every step of our journey; and
then, one who we reach back for and bring along after
we've cleared the way. 
 

(end)

***** 

For those interested:

ACTS ADVENT-CHRISTMAS BOOK SALE

Sundays, November 25th and December 2nd, 2018

Come to the book table in the church lobby...
Before or after the service, Sunday mornings...
We have many books to choose from...
Make your choices and pay in advance...
Your books should arrive the following week...
This system keeps your costs down...
A complete set of sale books is donated to our church library.

As of Sunday, December 2nd, 32 books were sold.

***
 
ST. DAVID'S ACTS MONDAY NIGHT FALL BOOK STUDY

A Ten Week Series September 17th - November 26th, 2018
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

"THE BOOK OF JOY"
  Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Authors: Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu

Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $25.00
 
Registration and Book Sale began Sunday, August 26th
45 copies of the book were available for sale.
All are now sold. Total on-site registrations: 42
(plus 3 on-line participants). Grand Total: 45

Hardcover edition - https://tinyurl.com/yd849r6g
 
Here are the summary power-point notes and videos
from all sessions: https://tinyurl.com/ycz5wf72

This course is now completed.
 
--

Some stats:

Autumn, 2018 Program -
 
Total class registrations: 42
Total books sold: 50

This class experienced our highest registrations, ever!

***

ST. DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR, 2019
East Europe and Russia were chosen as our destinations!


This will be our fifth Spiritual Travelers Tour, with a
group emerging from St. David's but very open to others.
 
The Tour is entitled: "From Vienna to Moscow"

We plan a twenty-day tour that combines a focus
on spirituality, culture and the relationship between
religion and politics. The tour will run from April 26th
through May 16th, 2019.

https://tinyurl.com/y834742f

A beautiful brochure with trip cost, itinerary, and
many helpful travel hints has been published.


https://tinyurl.com/y7j55gym

Our trip sale has just reached an important milestone
as 38 persons have registered, helping us to surpass our
optimal goal of 30 passengers (all have earned early bird
registration benefits). A waiting list has been set up to
continue receiving applicants to replace any drop-outs
from the core group of passengers.

Our Canadian tour company is Rostad Tours, Calgary.
Contact Rostad Tours: http://www.rostad.com/

Phone 1-800-361-8687 or 403-238-4090.

Follow these notices for weekly updates.

***


ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY
 
Our theme this autumn: Hebrew Wisdom Literature -
 
"A Study of Proverbs and the Song of Solomon"

We held sessions on the Book of Job and the Psalms also.-
 
Thirteen Sessions - September 20th-November 29th, 2018

Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room
and meeting 10:00 - 11:00 AM.

No charge

Study resource -

"The DK Complete Bible Handbook"
  Edited by John Bowker


http://tinyurl.com/odxlv7q

This course is now completed.


*****
 




































 























 

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