Sunday Broadside

A Weekly look at the top (and bottom) five in the world of culture, politics, and sports

Hits

1. American Idol fans finally voted Sanjaya off the show. I know that there were a bunch of young teenagers who probably voted for him because he was cute, but to be the center of web sites like votefortheworst.com or the subject of Howard Stern’s push to make Idol a “mockery” at seventeen years old is unhealthy. What a terrible thing to watch this kid ‘blossom’ from a shy, humble kid into something else entirely. I feel sorry for him, and I hope that no permanent damage has been done. At least the Idol fans got it right this week… For the record, I'd pay to see Melinda do a concert right now, but the real win was seeing Martina McBride. Is she single? Man, what a lady...

2. The Ottawa Senators polished off the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games, and dominated all but two or three periods the entire series. I honestly don’t recognize this team. As much as it pains me to say it, I’m sticking with my earlier predictions. Senators will make their first Cup appearance (since their re-entry into the NHL) and will lose in the Cup finals in six games.

3. The Toronto Raptors made their first appearance in the post-season in five years. And the last five years they have been truly brutal at times, the laughingstock of the league. Although they lost the opener to New Jersey, they deserve full credit for bringing excitement back to Toronto basketball fans. I've truly enjoyed watching them this year. Great job, guys! (They won't win the series though. Nets in five.)

4. Better do this now before the Raptors are out of the playoffs. A special mention to the coach, Jack Armstrong, the long time Raptor colour analyst who provides wonderful commentary for Raptor games and terrific insight on the Raptors network. Armstrong, who coached at Niagara University, also travels and gives talks to minor basketball organizations. He was a guest speaker for Welland Minor Basketball’s yearly awards banquet. My dad has been part of Welland Minor Basketball for over twenty five years, and he raved about 'The Coach'. Welland is a small town in Southern Ontario, and Armstrong provided the same warmth, humour and charm for them as he does for his work on the Raptors. Always great to find someone you admire on TV is actually consistent in real life. Thanks, Coach.

5. The world of politics, which actually felt quiet this week. (It wasn’t of course) That’s always a bonus, and it makes me think they’re actually working. Of course, it could be that I just tuned out. I did read that Harper’s government is doing good work on the Vancouver ports, injecting another 50 – 100 million dollars into upgrades. Martin did a good job on this file, and Harper is expanding it. If we want to compete internationally, this has to get done (especially in trade with China). What I like most about that is simply hearing that the government is working. Most of the time we don't give politicians credit for trying (and you will read some blasts in this column), but many of them are working hard. And so when we hear good things, we need to praise them. So for every one in gocvernment who is trying to make a difference, thank you. Your hard work is appreciated.

Misses

1. The Ottawa media, specifically the Ottawa Citizen, for posting that ridiculous picture of dejected Penguin players and looking for a caption. At some point, Ottawa fans and media need to show some class. Ottawa fans should be writing in and telling the Citizen to pull something like that. (Note: It was a die hard Senators fan who pointed this out to me. So I’ll leave the blame on the media for now. But Ottawa fans shouldn’t accept this stuff. Take the high road Ottawa fans.)

2. Women. Okay, I was going to make this 'women who talk out of both sides of their mouth when it comes to relationships', but I’m not sure it’s that specific. Here it is: women should be going after the feminists. For all the good they’ve done, they’ve really screwed the rest of you ladies. (and us men) In our culture, a woman says that she wants a nice guy, a sensitive man, someone tender and loving, blah blah blah. Right, except that’s a load of crap. She will always check to make sure her friend’s boyfriend is ‘nice’, but THEY aren’t interested in nice guys. They blow off guys that are nice, look twice at the jerk, and then will tell you that they’re attracted to ‘confidence’. Huh… This deserves more than a paragraph in the Sunday Broadside, but I’ve seen about six examples of this type of double talk this week. So, when a woman now tells me what she’s looking for, I no longer believe her. Seriously, how can I? This week I’m going to work on being a better ‘jerk’. I’ll keep you updated on how it affects the dating life…

3. Men who send obscene messages. This is happening far too often. Believe me, you'd be shocked. Okay, I understand that being a man can be a little tough (see above) but sending obscene messages by text or MSN to a woman you just met is brutal. At what point in the morning do you wake up and think a woman will be interested if you tell her every sexual thought and activity you’ve had over the last thirty minutes. Being confused doesn’t mean you have to become a jerk. You’re a disgrace to men everywhere, so stop it. Being male doesn’t make you a man. (And women, by looking at the jerks, you’re encouraging this behaviour)

4. Passive aggressive people who are resistant to change. Okay, this one is particular to church sub-culture, but it happens in every organization. I witnessed a couple examples of that this week, both in the church and the school. At times, the fear in both institutions is so heavy I feel like every one’s been chomping on the weed. Wow. Listen, just because you’ve never done it that way before doesn’t make it ‘wrong’. It just makes it different. Especially in the church. Why in the world do we grasp so tightly to these cultural idiosyncrasies like somehow they’re part of our faith? And for those of you paying attention, here’s your question for the week: Did Jesus have a beard? (If you answer yes, and don’t understand why I’m asking whether or not the Son of God had a beard, let me encourage you to think about it. I’ll post the reason behind the question next week.)

5. The amount of noise pollution and society’s continual need for sound. Have you noticed how loud our society has become? I was sitting on my balcony yesterday morning, trying to read, and instead of enjoying the quiet sounds of a warm spring morning, I was blasted by Arabian dance music from the first floor and Usher from above me. The people seemed oblivious to the fact that the entire block had to listen to their noise. How can we expect to grow if we don’t have solitude, and how can we find solitude if every one is so egocentric they have become oblivious to the people around them. Frustrating. No wonder we have become such a shallow culture. Sigh. Lord, give me patience.

An unexamined life is a life not worth living, it's true, but try not to get buried this week, and find the good. God loves you, even if your neighbours occasionally forget you exist. Have a nice week everyone.

-Steve

An Encounter With God

I don’t like religious people. I might as well admit that right now. It sounds strange coming from a former minister, a seminary student, and someone who will tell you in his first meeting that his whole life revolves around God. But through the years I’ve seen too much. I’ve seen church people hide behind their religion instead of facing their fears, I’ve seen people use religion as a bludgeon to enforce their will upon someone else, and I’ve seen religion sold and politicized so much that you wonder where God fits into the equation. And when you see all this, you start to wonder if God is real. If you can believe. You begin to wonder why you would even bother to identify yourself with a faith, with a Man, and with a God that some people claim to follow but whose lives reflect the very opposite of your own beliefs.

I left the ministry many years ago, and for a while, I left the church. I didn’t like what I was seeing or what I’d seen, but I still believed in Jesus. Still believed He was the One. Strange, isn’t it? And so, I stepped back into the church. I was no longer in ministry, but I began to feel comfortable again in the church setting. I found like minded people who were concerned about the poor, concerned about social issues. I found other Christians who didn’t believe that gay marriage and abortion were the only social issues of concern. These people believed that God had called us to a deeper life, a committed life, a kingdom model of living willing to balance between sin and social concerns. But somewhere in my heart there remained a blockage, and while Sunday morning was a time for church, I closed a part of myself when I was there. I didn’t realize just how much of myself I’d closed until this past Sunday, but then, no one anticipates an encounter with God...


12 Years Ago...

“What about the music? We can’t have an altar call and expect people to come forward unless the transition after my sermon is smooth.”

The speaker was a large man, a traveling evangelist we’d brought in to speak at our Sunday morning and evening services. His hair was cut into a neat crew cut, and he wore a white suit jacket over a red shirt. The tie was yellow.

“I’ve been preaching for a long time, brother. Gotta get the simple things right if we want the people to respond.”

I looked over at my senior pastor, a former missionary who’d spent twenty five years in South America. Now, on the verge of retirement, he’d come back to help our struggling congregation find its way. He’d hired me little more than a year ago to work with the youth, and given the small size of our congregation, fill in the other places as well.

“Do know what I’m saying, brother? I’m not sure a piano and organ are going to cut it.”

The evangelist spoke with a slow drawl, and in my enthusiasm about having a famous preacher come to our little church, I missed the grimace on my senior pastor’s face.

“I can hook up a worship CD on our sound system." I said, eager to please this renowned preacher. "Maybe you can lead one song accapella and just give me a sign from the pulpit.”

The preacher scratched his chin.

“I figure that should work.” He smiled suddenly, showing two rows of brilliant white teeth. “All right, boys. What say we take this one for the Lord!”

My senior pastor just nodded and went along with it. I noticed how quiet he’d become, but I assumed it was because of his excitement for the weekend.

That weekend, with everything in order, we had a full house both morning and night, and it was thrilling for me to be involved with this great evangelist. This is what it looks like when people get a chance to meet God, I thought.

I was twenty two years old, and an exciting life in ministry lay ahead for me. I didn't see the land mines in the road until I'd run over them at full speed. Years later, when I'd left the church, it was those very same memories that helped keep me away.


Although we should always strive for excellence in our services, what I’ve seen over the years is an increasing dependence on production values. On manipulation. I’ve seen Jesus sold as a product, I’ve seen preachers use emotionalism… use music and lighting to create the necessary mood… and guilt people into responding. Because of that, I am uncomfortable with most altar calls these days. (For those of you who have never seen one, an altar call occurs at the end of a service. When a preacher finishes his sermon, he will ask people to come down to the front of the church after a sermon as a response to the message. The idea is that it is a chance for people to pray and respond to whatever God has laid on their hearts. But many preachers use the size of the response as a measure of their influence. This is especially true in Pentecostal circles.) In truth, I am always looking for authenticity from the preacher. And because I’ve been behind the curtain, I want to make sure that the Wizard isn’t just some old man with a megaphone. But if we believe God to be truly supernatural, that He really loves and cares for us, than its inevitable that even the most cautious of us will encounter Him, despite all the crap.

2007... The Encounter

I was late. It’d been a long week, and I’d slept in, but at least I’d be in time to hear the sermon. I greeted a few people at the front of the church and slipped into a seat near the front just as worship was ending. Pastor Jason was up front, and when I realized he was introducing the speaker and not speaking himself, I sighed to myself and leaned back in my seat. One of the reasons I loved coming to church was that no matter what Jay talked about, it was always authentic.

The speaker was a young woman from England, wearing jeans and high heels, and in her language and mannerisms, all European. But from the moment she opened her mouth I could sense her authenticity. She was not an intellectual, and her humour seemed as much accidental as it was genuine. About twenty minutes into her sermon, and what a simple sermon it was, I felt my eyes begin to water. I looked around and inconspicuously wiped them, but they kept leaking.

This will sound strange to some of you who’ve never been to church, but I could sense the presence of something bigger engulf the church in a way that somehow filled me up inside. As if, suddenly, I’d both become bigger… and smaller. By the time she finished I was a mess, and when Jason gave the (thankfully) rare opportunity to come to the altar and pray, I bolted out of my seat. Mostly, I just didn’t want to sit around others while my face was dripping.

As I stood there praying, I sensed myself being taken back through time. To the times in my life when I’d first become a Christian. To the disappointments and heartaches ever since. I cried for about forty minutes. At one point the music had stopped, and I could hear people chatting around me. The lights were on. No manipulation here, which only produced even more tears. I could sense the comfort of God in such a profound manner. For one who had earned his degree at a Pentecostal school, and yet who had seen so much crap when it came to commercializing ‘feelings’ that I’d closed the door on responding with any emotion, it was a startling experience.
Three days have passed, and I am still trying to get my head around what has happened. What I do know is that I feel, more than I have in a long time, a burning sense of God’s purpose and vision for my life.

I don’t think that this type of experience can be replicated every week or sold as an event. God is not a vending machine, and someday we in the church are going to have to give an account for all the times we sold ‘The Presence’ like it was a cheap trinket. Maybe we need to stop worrying so much about setting things up so God "can move," and set our hearts in the right place. If God is God, than He doesn't need you and I to orchestrate or manipulate anything.

And I'm learning too. I'm learning that while being cautious is a good thing, being emotionally open to the Almighty is just as important. Faith in Christ is a relationship, and like any relationship, it can not exist on document and text alone. We are part of a story, an ages old narrative about a God and His people. A living, dynamic relationship that is ever changing, and ever the same, even as we grow in our understanding of just how much God loves us. My prayer this week is that all of you will encounter God as I did, and will be given a new vision for the great things He has in store for your life.

-Steve

The Men... Have Left the Building...

In case you thought I was the only one who has noticed a discrepancy in the church's tendency towards feminization, here's something for you. My dad sent me this article posted from the tiny Welland Tribune.

Sunday Broadside

A weekly look at the top (and bottom) five in Culture, Politics and Sports

Hits:

1. Nice work this week by Canada’s only NBA team (Winning five in a row). The Toronto Raptors are rapidly approaching securing home court in the first round of the playoffs. So many teams have the opportunity to control their own destiny, and blow it. (See Toronto Maple Leafs below)

2. The Ottawa Senators look to be rounding into form at the right time. This does not look at all like the team that lost four straight years to the Maple Leafs. Gritty, physical play with a lot of great work down low. Despite blowing a third period lead in Game Two to the Penguins, I still think this may be the year they get to the Finals. Unfortunately, I’ll have to listen to all the jabbering from their fans for the two months if they do. The Blue Jays have opened the season 6-3, but this team is still going nowhere. Same old story. Good bats, not enough pitching. But for now, nice start, guys.

3. Congratulations to Friday Night Lights for a great first season. (Wednesdays, 8pm, NBC) This show, about a high school football team and the small town it represents, is the best drama on television. And its best kept secret. Fortunately, it looks like NBC will renew it for next year despite the show's mediocre ratings. Drama is hard to do on television. That's why procedurals (Law & Order, Shark, CSI) and soaps (Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy) are so popular. It's hard to develop and maintain great storylines and authentic characters through the press of a tight schedule. Friday Night Lights did it every week. Early Emmy consideration should go to Connie Brisson and Kyle Chandler for their great work.

4. Facebook is the latest craze on the Internet, and while I was originally skeptical about it, I finally signed up this week. I now understand its popularity. It’s easier to navigate than MySpace, has greater controls for protecting yourself, and makes it easy to reconnect with old friends. In five days I’ve found a number of old buddies I went to school with back in the day. Somehow Facebook feels more like a community than MySpace… maybe it’s because we’re using our real names. At any rate, I’m loving it…

5. I finally finished The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate. This book is a wonderful achievement. Do you know who Henry Ward Beecher is? Neither did I. But in the 19th Century he was the first national, mega-church pastor who helped bring an end to slavery. He was a personal friend to Abraham Lincoln, as well as a litany of other famous figures (Mark Twain). In the end, he was brought down by his apparently numerous affairs. This book is a wonderful journey through a formative and tumultuous time. Politics. Sex. Religion. Slavery. Suffrage. We tend to think of the world in generational spurts. Applegate's book reminds us that human nature hasn't changed. On a personal level, I thoroughly enjoyed a look at the origins of the Evangelical Movement. This book is a must read for all aspiring pastors. It is a poignant reminder of what happens when our faith gets lost in commercialism and materialism.


Misses:

1. The Toronto Maple Leafs missed the playoffs again, and have no one to blame but themselves. They had a lot of injuries this year, but I’m still not sure what Ferguson is doing. They don’t look close to being a contender. Year after year their fans support them, and it's obvious that ownership does not care. That's what happens when the Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund runs one of the truly historic institutions in Canadian history. Almost makes me long for the whacky antics of Harold Ballard...

2. What’s wrong with Major League Baseball? Barry Bonds is 18 home runs away from the career record, one of the most important records in baseball, and they are going to try downplay his record?! This is just such a bald display of hypocrisy. Baseball turned a blind eye to steroids for years (since the 1980’s) because they wanted the home runs, and now they’re “stuck?” No they’re not. Bonds never tested positive, no matter what other evidence they apparently have. (I read Book of Shadows, seems pretty clear that Bonds did take steroids) He has never tested positive or even been suspended. Therefore, baseball owes him the respect he’s earned for surpassing a great record. Now a lot of people don’t like Bonds, but you can’t create a problem, and than ignore one of your players just because he takes advantage of it. You can't ignore Bonds simply because it's a bad “PR situation and a lot of sports writers don’t like the guy”. I hate to bring race into it, but I wonder if this would be happening if Mark McGwire (who’s white) was 18 home runs from the record. Just wodnering…

3. I finally stuck with American Idol this year. I’ve always loved watching the early shows, with some genuine moments of “gosh, I made it”, along with all the loonies who come out in the first few rounds. You know who I’m talking about. The ones who either don’t have any honest family members or friends to help them see the truth when it comes to their talent, or are simply too stupid to realize they can’t sing. Listen, some pieces of self-awareness should be easier than others. (Like being able to recognize whether or not you can actually sing) I especially liked that one great contestant who tearfully tried to explain to the judges that she would be the first American Idol winner who couldn’t sing at all…How surprising then, with seven people left, one of those ridiculous early contestants is still around. And Sanjaya, who can’t sing or seem to perceive that he’s a national joke, seems to be getting dumber each week. I’d feel sorry for the kid, but any grasp of humility seems to vanished in a puff of national attention as he’s merged into a No Lights, Big City robotron with hair. People keep telling me he’s young, but I work with teenagers. Most of them would have him for lunch. Watching him “evolve” is an absolute case study for how our culture breeds idiots… Go Melinda…

4. Stephane Dion is not a national leader. Well, I suppose that’s not a hot news flash if you’ve been following the federal Liberals at all these days. But his latest “move” at the top of the Liberal food chain has got the bloggers yapping. Okay, so let me see if I got this right. The national party leader of the Liberals, Canada’s predominantly governing party over the past 100 years, will not run a candidate against Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green party, in the next federal election. The same Green Party that has never won a seat in the House of Commons. Ever. Stephane Dion is the Prime Minister in waiting? Even Scott “beer and popcorn” Reid looked a little mystified trying to defend Dion on Mike Duffy Live this week. Wow… Here’s to hoping that Dion remains waiting for a long time, or at least until the Liberals replace him with a real alternative… or at the very least, someone who speaks intelligible English…

5. “Ottawa Senator Fans, Please Show Some Class.” That was the headline for a recent Ottawa Citizen article about Senator fans who are booing Sidney Crosby, the world’s best young hockey player every time he touches the puck during their opening round series. Why are they booing him? Because he’s good. And somehow, that's supposed to make sense? I was having this discussion with a friend of mine two days before the article came out. It had little effect on the populace however, as the Sens fans booed Crosby even louder in Game Two. They were still booing him when he scored the game winner in the third period. So, Sens fans, here’s what you accomplished today. Two things. You showed no class, and you gave the kid some juice to perform. Maybe you want to save your energy for the all night talk show after you fall out of the playoffs. Sometimes you reap what you sow...

Have a nice Sunday everyone…