A MacGuffin is a term that was created by Alfred Hitchcock. It is essentially a device that moves the plot forward ~ it is the pull of the story. For example, part of the reason it took so long to produce a fourth Indiana Jones movie was that Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg couldn’t agree on a MacGuffin. Eventually they all settled on the Crystal Skull. (For better or worse!) Of course, the Crystal Skulls had little to do with the actual action and character development in the movie, but it was the MacGuffin that drove the plot. Continue Reading »
(originally published in WCD June 09 Newsletter…posted here for broader feedback)
If you are reading this article it is likely because you serve in a place of leadership: in a local church, in a town, in a city, in a neighbourhood, amidst a people, as part of an identifiable church within an identifiable community. Some years ago a certain group of people sat up and decided to plant; to establish the church where you now serve. They were busy people, with jobs, families and mortgages. They inconvenienced themselves, they sacrificed, they gave significantly and at a cost so that yet another gathering of people redeemed by Jesus Christ could shine his light and make disciples in yet another neighbourhood. Continue Reading »
Hey – here’s a little something I ran across that in under two minutes gives you an idea of what MetroMercy in Downtown Calgary is up to. For more info…. http://www.rockpointe.ca/content/view/782/341/
My church is white. By this I mean caucasian. Oh, we have a few faces of diversity – about 10 – and the very fact that I can narrow it down like this says about all there is to say.
In many respects I don’t lament this too much. My community is white also, therefore, my church reflects the community. It would be a bigger problem if my church didn’t look the neighborhood it was a part of. Continue Reading »
5:12 pm Jan. 01, 2010 | Posted by dl; filed under Missional
Today is January 1, 2010. For many, the last week has been a time of much eating, drinking, and spending. Some may even be ridden with guilt from the excessive consumption. And so, with wallets a little thinner and waistlines a little thicker, today may be approached with resolutions of doing a little better in 2010.
The church in Canada, for the most part, really is no different. Continue Reading »
What does Gospel in culture look like? Generally speaking, in Western Culture the gospel is related to the defeat of guilt via forgiveness. We speak in terms of having our slate wiped clean, being forgiven our sins and so on. Certainly there is ample biblical support for that perspective. Just look at the bed Tiger Woods has recently made for himself (pun intended). In Eastern Culture, however, the gospel is related to the defeat of shame via redemption. Continue Reading »
Jesus uses wine as a metaphor for the gospel in Luke 6. Why is it that one can only find perhaps a half dozen varieties of colas but literally thousands different kinds of wine? It is because the flavour and aroma of wine comes from its environment: the soil, wind, rain and so forth. When a vine is planted one cannot predict the specific nature of its fruit until it is produced. Likewise we cannot predict the specific expression of the gospel when planted until it produces fruit. Continue Reading »
4:17 pm Dec. 03, 2009 | Posted by dl; filed under Culture
Most recently, I was privileged to be part of a team to Niger that provided dental services in two villages. The United Nations recently ranked Niger as the worst place in the world to live (#182), according to it’s Human Development Index. That same Index ranked Canada as #4. For weeks before the trip, I kept asking the question: how do you prepare your mind, soul and body, to go from the #4 place in the world to live, all the way to #182, and then back to #4? The simple answer is, you don’t. Continue Reading »
