This is a response to Christian Harvey’s article about the Omnibus Crime Bill that was recently passed in the House of Commons. Check out the article here.
What time do I have, really? What time do I have to think about things like politics and crime?
Sometimes I catch myself thinking these things, and wonder how such a bill might affect me, my work, and the people with and amongst whom I serve.
And yet if I stop to think about it, I know that many political decisions affect my community.
They might affect my neighbours here in East Vancouver. They might affect the lives of the young people and youth leaders I serve.
So If I were to stop and think about the omnibus crime bill. And if I were to respond to Christian’s post, I guess I might be stirred to some sort of action. Read more…
This is a response to Christian Harvey’s article about the Omnibus Crime Bill that was recently passed in the House of Commons. Check out the article here
Lots of people are talking about this issue! Thanks for this article Christian. It’s good to see it talked about from a faith perspective.
One of the scary things about this kind of legislation is that it is based on fear-mongering and, last time I checked, that kind of responding out of fear is not grounded in any kind of appropriate theology. People of faith do not act or make choices based on fear. To punish other people’s errors by excluding them has never been a gospel (or appropriate social) value. Yes, jail sentences are an appropriate response to some crimes. But not the ones that the legislation is proposing to resolve. Also, to make people fearful of jail as a way of stopping them from acting out sounds like a plan doomed to fail. Read more…
This is the first in a dialogue by all the members of the Youth Initiatives Team on the Omnibus Crime Bill that was recently passed in the House of Commons. We would love for you to join the conversation, so please let us know what you think.
I know most of us don’t have a lot of time for politics. We vote once every four years, if we are available that day, and just generally accept that stuff is messed up. But something is happening right now that is huge, and I really think that we can’t be quiet. It is the new ‘Tough on Crime’ bill that was recently passed in the House of Commons. This bill concerns me in a bucket load of ways:Read more…
My son just turned two years old, and he always wants to be helpful. He loves unloading the dishwasher (though it results in a lot of dropped dishes), sweeping (which is a hazard to everyone) and stirring (which results in food everywhere). The other day he decided he wanted to help me. He noticed that my book was not with me in the washroom, and through observation had come to the conclusion that I always have a book in the washroom, so he decided to bring it and give it to me. This is very considerate, except for the fact that I was in the shower. So while rinsing the shampoo out of my hair I hear “Here Daddy!” I tell him “just a second” so that I can get the soap out of my eyes, but I hear a weird sound; the water is hitting something. I look down and there is my son holding my book so I can take it, he doesn’t even notice the pages wilting under the water. He really had great intentions, he wanted to be helpful, but instead he ruined my book. Read more…
Rattling around in my brain last night were words from the second chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians:
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
And I wondered, sitting around the table with friends over a shared meal, what, if anything, this whole Kony campaign had to do with the way of Jesus. Read more…
Yesterday, almost as soon as I hit ‘publish’ on my previous post, I had the sense that I would need to write a follow-up. The thing is, I know that it’s really easy to rail against a group or an organisation, to write someone or something off. Maybe we don’t agree with their mandate, their approach. We all have biases. We all have different ways of understanding the world.
I know that I have mine. And as someone who serves with Word Made Flesh – a global movement dedicated to serving Jesus amongst the most vulnerable of the world’s poor – I have to take my share of responsibility for my role in both dialogue and response.
Yet, I am convinced that each of us is called by God to engage the world, to participate in it, and if we subscribe to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, there is something important about the way in which we treat those who have been pushed to the margins.
But it’s not about fixing people. We are not saviours, and we desperately need to get that through our heads. Read more…
Many of you have probably heard the hype by now. I’ve seen links to the cleverly marketed Kony 2012 video come through my feed from multiple unrelated sources. It’s come from men and women, young and old, and mostly white. If you haven’t yet seen it, my guess is that you’ll see it pretty soon.
I bring it up for a number of reasons – not least of which is because the issues raised by this video are intimately connected to our attitudes and approach to short-term missions.
Here’s why: Hype, a false sense of empowerment and simplistic answers can obscure the truth of the situation. Read more…
Recently over at The Community – the Anglican Church of Canada’s online forum for meeting and talk about life in the church – one of the members posted a question:
What are your thoughts on a young person’s spiritual growth as it relates to their age? Is there such a thing as ‘too young’ for confirmation?
In response, I agreed that these were important questions, questions that we’ve begun to address in some way on this blog here and here and here. I went on to say that my biggest concern, the thing that I’m often the most worried about, is the readiness or willingness of any given church community to guide and mentor young people. I’m often more worried about our accountability and role in the baptismal vows than the young person’s sense of preparedness. Read more…
Our friends over at Luther Seminary have posted a panel discussion on the confirmation process. Head on over to www.firstthird.org to watch the video.
You’ll also want to poke around their website to find all kinds of resources on faith formation in the first third of life, focusing on Formation, not just Information.
Be sure to share your thoughts with us right here!
What time do I have, really? What time do I have to think about things like politics and crime?
Yesterday, almost as soon as I hit ‘publish’ on my 
Many of you have probably heard the hype by now. I’ve seen links to the cleverly marketed Kony 2012 video come through my feed from multiple unrelated sources. It’s come from men and women, young and old, and mostly white. If you haven’t yet seen it, my guess is that you’ll see it pretty soon.
Our friends over at Luther Seminary have posted a panel discussion on the confirmation process. Head on over to 
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