Oh, Canada

Well, the end to another weekend. I really need to not work on Saturdays so I can actually get some rest. This one wasn't so bad, though, as I only put in about five hours and was home at a decent time. Even so, it is a complete interruption of my weekend. I should have the next three off, though, which will be nice.

A while back we had an idea to find some land and develop it into a multi-plex housing unit. Our plans included a common kitchen area (industrial size, with wonderful appliances) while maintaining separate living quarters of about 1600 s/f for individual family units. We met with friends to discuss the reality of the situation, including buying land, developing actual building plans, how we would get the money (interest free loans from various sources, maybe), and why in the world we would even consider doing such a thing. The plan did not work out, however, and we eventually disbanded in favor of people finding houses on the market in our neighborhood. This has been more of a reality, as we have seen friends move closer, and others continue to look to move closer to the neighborhood. It has been encouraging, as we continue to work toward being a church that impacts the community in which we find ourselves. We found other reasons to live in such a way: environmentally friendly living, communal garden, and built in community (although we realistically knew that it wouldn't be without personal problems and issues). All this to say we are still interested, still looking for a way to live in a way that we feel God leading us. Any thoughts on this?

One of the more recent ideas is to start a business. A couple of buddies of mine and I were kicking around the idea of learning the trade of screen printing, as one of us is an artist and we all like t-shirts that are not exactly normal. A while later we attending the birthday of a friend we shall call "the bearded one," when it became apparent to us that this kindly gentlemen had a confectionery skill that we had not before realized. His interest in cakes and desserts piqued an interest in starting a bakery. But what is a bakery without bread? So another friend, who, I have heard, makes killer cinnamon rolls and has tried his hand in making bread is interested, too. So we have interest. And I love coffee. So I have been ordering my coffee from a fair trade, organically certified, shade grown place in Washington called www.groundsforchange.com . So with that, I looked and saw that they sell wholesale to independent coffee houses at a discounted rate. Then I had dreams about it all. Then I asked the others if they had been thinking about it. The answer is yes. But I am not sure where to go from here. I would love to do it, but is this the place? Do we have enough moxie to get up and run this thing? Four Guys Bakery and Coffee House? Are we savvy enough to get this done? How do we invest? What do we invest in? How much do we finance? Who is our clientele? Am I crazy for even thinking this way? How would this allow us to enhance our ministry? Too many questions, not enough easy answers.

Can we live in grace? Recently there has been an outpouring of dissent within the evangelical realm. Some of this I can just turn away from and go about my day, knowing that in a practical way we can mostly just get along. But recently there have been some folks who are seemingly intent on degrading my MA alma mater, calling out the school president as well as my advisor/teacher/friend, Dr. John Franke. If he is not a familiar name, he is at the forefront of the postmodern theological movement and has written a few books regarding such things. He was good friends with Stanley Grenz and since his passing away a couple of years back, Franke has taken the torch as the fore bearer of the postmodern turn. Many evangelicals find his thoughts on non-foundational ism and the role and interaction of Scripture/tradition/culture to be a threatening position. Some don't even call him evangelical because of some of his stances, which I am not too sure actually hurts his feelings. I sat under Franke for two years, learning a lot, being stretched, and finally hearing something that resonated within my own heart. I spent a year researching and working out thoughts on developing a Native American theology that was encouraged greatly by Franke and some other staff at Biblical. But now there are those who feel that he and others don't fit within the cultural milieu that has been the platform of past years at Biblical Seminary. And with this thought comes the call to report all the wrongs of Biblical and the teaching that goes on there. I find it less than gracious. I am disappointed. I find the particular stance of Biblical and more specifically of Dr. Franke to be a breath of fresh air in the church, one that is able to have conversation with people such as myself, who have been floating along in the realm of Christianity without really taking hold of things that were offered until I was able to stretch and find my voice as a Christian, to work out what it means for me to be a Christian in this world. More of Christianity began to make sense. In that sense, I cannot help but to take the criticism personally, even though I am removed from most of it now. It makes me sad, though, to hear of our lack of grace as brothers and sisters in Christ. Sad, but not surprising.

It's not all bad news, though, as Ottawa finally remembered that they were playing hockey and took it to the Ducks. I was cheering loudly in my basement, as my boys watched hockey with me. Juancho remarked to me, "me gusta hockey." That made me smile. As soon as he saw the nets he said "Goal!" recognizing and equating it with soccer. Funny kids. I still don't believe that they can pull off the series, as the Ducks look good, but I am still cheering for Canada, if for nothing else than to hear 18,000 Canadians sing their national anthem, as opposed to a poor, overly dramatic rendition by an over-rated American star. Oh, Canada, indeed.

Okay, I need to go. I am sleepy. Keep on rockin'.