April Showers Bring...

New music! Well, not entirely new, but here's a few choice items that regularly grace our car's CD player with their jovial presence:

	Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell is back with Ain't Life Amazing, and Sir Kim rocks every bit as much now as he did with Max Webster and his earlier solo career. A great highway roll-down-your-windows and rock out treat!
	I've discovered that my favourite Bruce Springsteen albums are the ones that include the E Street Band. They help shape the sound, and Bruce's material is even better for it. Magic is just a great album -- catchy, thoughtful, and the opening track Radio Nowhere is my new anthem for the state of CCM and worship music alike.
	Todd Agnew's Better Questions is one of those rare Christian albums that I really like (a little jaded with ccm, to be honest). Todd is best known for penning Grace Like Rain, and here he travels adeptly through all kinds of musical styles, but his story-telling and refreshing lyrical transparency is what really got my attention.

Stay tuned -- I'm still working through my thoughts on the Kingdom of God in a charismissional paradigm, and I believe the Younger & the Elder are lurking about with some new conversations as well.

Truth Be Told

Regular blogging here since the beginning of 2008 has proven to be an elusive goal. By saying even that, I am probably engaging in what could properly be considered a textbook definition of the word "understatement".

"DANG straight," some may now be exclaiming, "you've practically been AWOL for four months -- you usually create more posts in a single month that all of 2008 -- and inquiring minds want to know: what's the deal with that?"

Well, it really boils down to this:

1. I was in Mexico for all of January and February, leading a DTS Outreach (but still managed the occasional post) 2. Our YWAM base has been going through some... interesting changes, so we've been chilling in the aftermath.

As further proof of God's sense of humour and comedic timing, things at our base were brought into the light on the day before Post-Charismatic? was published in the U.K., and our decision-point about our future in YWAM came the day after the book's release.

For perspective, it's important to know that YWAM is a very large and very doctrinally diverse organization. While there are commonly held values for every base in YWAM, there is also a great deal of latitude when it comes to doctrinal emphases and practices. And each YWAM base has a great deal of autonomy and freedom to develop in its own way, depending on the leadership team, and ultimately the base directors.

To make a long story short, the YWAM base that Wendy and I have been at for the past couple of years has chosen to emphasize the teachings of a local Dominionist church (link provided for the morbidly curious), which includes a heavy dose of hyper-Prosperity (Health & Wealth) teachings, and also the authoritarianism of "never question your leaders" (especially if they call themselves "Apostle").

In short, pretty much everything that I wrote against in my book. Hence the recognition of God's comedic sense of timing as all this was brought into the light.

To anticipate the questions that we have been asked by local friends and family:

• Wendy and I are doing just fine! For us, the "bringing it into the light" represented an answer to prayer in a big way. We had sensed something was afoot after returning from Mexico, and had been praying that God would make things really obvious so that we could see where things were going, and make decisions accordingly.
  
  
• Leaving a specific YWAM base is NOT synonymous with leaving YWAM.
  
  
• No, we don't know what God has for us next... yet.
  
  
• Yes, we have every confidence that if He could so clearly answer our prayers as to revealing what was brewing at our (now former) YWAM base, He will also be clear in leading us into what's next, and where, and when, and how.

"Why?" might not be one of those questions that we get an answer to, but we're okay with that. Sometimes, that's what "trust" looks like.

Post-Charismatic Officially Released

This coming Monday, I should have a small box with copies of Post-Charismatic showing up on my doorstep.

After all this time of editing and proofing, it seems very surreal to think "over in the United Kingdom, in faith I believe that a book I wrote has been published". What makes it surreal is that I haven't actually held a copy in my own hands, nor is it released in North America, although the day for both is approaching quickly as well. So, while I mentally understand that Post-Charismatic has been officially released, the geography involved makes it almost seem unreal.

Finding an online bookstore in the U.K. that carries the book helped with that strange sense of unreality. As soon as it's available in North America, I'll be sure to let y'all know!

Blurb from the back cover:

'Charismatic' is a loaded word. For some it's old-hat, for others it's unknown, and for still others it's dangerous. But for a growing number, it's a bad dream they want to forget.

Rob McAlpine writes for all these, but especially for the last category – those who embraced charismatic renewal with hope and excitement, only to be found picking themselves up off the floor after years of disappointment, disillusionment and even spiritual abuse.

Rob deals with facts before venturing an opinion. Carefully he steers us through the relevant history, looking in depth at the 'Latter Rain' movement, teaching on 'shepherding', and the prosperity 'gospel' that ultimately brought pain and disillusionment to so many. Then, aware that it's often easier to criticize than to construct, he explores possible ways forward to a more mature expression of spirituality and a shared life together as disciples of Christ today.

"Rob McAlpine writes with a positive and constructive voice. He shows us that the answer to misuse or excess concerning the Holy Spirit is not 'no use' but right use. For burned-out and hurt former charismatics, Post-Charismatic? leads the way forward toward a mature and sane re-engagement with the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Post-charismatic is not post-Holy Spirit, it is a call for post-weirdness."

Todd Hunter
National Director - Alpha USA
Former National Director Vineyard Churches USA

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These next few months should be interesting!

One Last Time

Okay, I hear you saying, enough with the ancient concert videos. You're in your 40's. Your hairline has betrayed you. Get over it. Ah, but I just can't resist. Just one more, okay? You can't tell in the video, but my guitar strap sports these three buttons on it -- each shows the logo of various youth ministries I had led in different cities across Canada, before returning to my musical roots in the mid-90's.

Video Notes: That white puff of smoke at the very end, coupled with the loud electric shorting-out sound that obliterates even the drummer... was the sight, sound, and smell of my amplifier head experiencing its last throes as it fused itself solid in a white-flamed meltdown, never to rise again. Heck of a way to get a new paperweight. But at least I wasn't electrocuted in the process.

At Long Last!!

Regular blogging has been somewhat sporadic here recently, and for that I truly apologize. We've been very busy since returning from Mexico, and there's been a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes that we couldn't talk about. But now, we have reached a point where we can make this exciting announcement:

Brother Maynard and his incredible family, along with the Clan McAlpine, will be joining forces once again, neither in Winnipeg nor Kelowna, but (insert drum roll here) -- Medicine Hat, Alberta!

Bro. Maynard and I have been talking and dreaming for months about the possibility of planting a missional community, and the timing seems right, and the location also seems to be a diamond in the rough.

Medicine Hat is a small city of just under 60,000 people about 3 hours southeast of Calgary. It has a surprisingly active arts community for a city its size - Medicine Hat Folk Club and the Medicine Hat JazzFest are two of their music festivals, and they also have a one-act play festival annually in June and a musical theatre each November.

This was critical in our selection of locations, as was a good relationship with the local churches. So far, St. Barnabas Anglican has offered space if we need it, and we have been welcomed to become involved in the drama program at River Park Church (EMCC). Both understand our missional aims and that we are not intending to become part of their communities, but to plant a missional community of our own. We're still looking to connect with some of the other churches in the area before we launch.

The community will be in a neo-monastic vein centered around a missional order. Since the cost of housing in Alberta is quite significant, we are initially looking for a large home that could house two or three families living communally in an older/established neighbourhood. It remains to be seen if we'll stick with that since it's such a big adjustment for all of us, but it's a good way for us to be able to focus all of our resources as we start out. Each of us will be working part-time and giving ourselves to missional endeavours the rest of the time.

We are excited to be able to announce that we've found a couple of investors who will be funding our setup of a coffee house, which has some significant startup costs; their investment should cover the startup and first year until it becomes self-sustaining.

St. Barnabas has offered space if we can't find anything right away, but we'll probably want to secure a lease someplace and get it going there rather than having to move it later. This is a big deal for us, because the investors understand what we're about and are putting up the money at very lenient terms... no interest for five years, and partly forgivable if it flops! I can't disclose who the investors are of course, but this is obviously pretty huge.

At the moment we're hoping to find two more couples who would be able to pitch in with us at the outset, and are planning to be established there five months from today, on September 1st. After living in larger cities for so long, it's going to be a delight to settle into the slower pace of a small-ish city and make our homes there.

If you are interested in exploring this adventure with us (hint, hint, Grace), feel free to email me or Brother Maynard. We'd love to dream with you!

Update: After Noon...

What Matters Most

Blast from (my) Past

Yep, that's me on the far right, with my trusty five-string bass. I know it really looks like I'm having some kind of cyclical convulsions, but actually, I believed I was dancing. My daughter Jo, who is a Dance Major in university, has her own opinion on the subject.

But I'm having fun. And there are times when I really miss those days, even though it's been less than four years since this video was taken. Good times, good times!

Review: The End of Religion

"Bruxy Cavey is a dynamic and creative thinker. He understands the ways in which the radical and liberating message of Jesus addresses the matrix of postmodern society and the deeper needs of its citizens..." -- (Dr. James Beverley, professor of Christian thought & ethics, Tyndale College & Seminary)

Reading Dr. Beverley's praise on the inside cover of this new book by Bruxy Cavey, The End of Religion, brought back a few memories.

Like taking a Philosophy of Religion class with Dr. Beverley, when I was a student at Toronto's Tyndale Seminary, back in the day when Miami Vice was still current. And, in that class, getting to know a guy with the improbable name of Bruxy Cavey.

Bruxy initially joined my friend Al and I in our little corner of exile because we were the only other people at the Seminary with crazy hairstyles and piercings of any kind. And we quickly found Bruxy to be a deep thinker, with a great sense of humour (rare combination in seminary, sometimes!), and a gift at communicating complex things in "normal-speak" (also rare in seminary).

So, it was a treat to read a book by somebody that I know. And also a treat to see that Bruxy -- the church-planting leader of The Meeting House -- continues to be a thinker with a sense of humour, and also a gifted communicator. I'm putting this book on my "loan to as many friends as will read it" short-list.

If I had to try and limit myself to just one short, pithy phrase, I would describe it as a brilliant piece of Christological apologetics. Yes, the title seems to indicate something else, but Bruxy's theme throughout this writing is that Jesus' teachings and example is actually anti-religion, and that we must leave our attempts at creating a religion in Jesus' name behind if we truly want to follow Him.

One of my favourite metaphors in the book is this: "Picture a thirsty person holding a cup of water. Now picture that person licking the outside of the cup in an attempt to quench his thirst. That is a picture of religion... They were licking the cup."

A few other gems:

• "At the same time, Jesus never taught that people could experience true spirituality simply by stopping those same religious rituals. Please understand -- and this is important -- becoming a religion drop-out does not by itself make you more spiritual... (Jesus) didn't just want people to stop licking the cup -- he wanted them to drink!"
  
  
• "So when someone says to me, 'I'm spiritual but not religious', I imagine Jesus sighing with relief."
  
  
• "This is, by the way, why I strongly believe in sticking closely to what the Bible teachings -- not to be an oppressive legalist, but to avoid oppressive legalism. Remember that in Christian circles, legalism is usually the result of human tradition being added to the Bible and passed off as Scriptural teaching."
  
  
• "So offering forgiveness to sinners directly was, in a way, both a creative and destructive gesture. Creative for the human spirit; destructive for the religious system. At the same moment he was building people up, Jesus was also tearing religion down."

Bruxy also takes an honest look at some of the biggest stumbling blocks many people have about Christianity: the Crusades, the Inquisition, witch hunts, etc., as well as contrasting what he calls "the subversive spirituality of Jesus" with Islam, Buddism, and even the Jehovah's Witnesses that he enjoys conversing with.

The End of Religion is immensely readable -- Bruxy is an excellent communicator and it shows in his writing as well. It's theologically and pragmatically deep, but not a dry and heavy read.

Who would I recommend this book to? Well, just about anyone, follower of Jesus or open-minded explorer. It's a very needed book because it takes some deep theological truths about the Person and work of Jesus, and places them into our current context in a way that is refreshing, accessible, and -- if you take Bruxy's challenge to stop licking the cup and take a good, long drink of the contents -- a healthy challenge to our ingrained tendencies to make religious systems that often end up occluding the Reality of Whom we are supposed to be following/imitating.

Highly recommended.

Folk Wisdom

Yoda has always been my favourite little green figure, and if the Pope can arbitrarily move St. Patrick's Day, I figure I can invoke a blessing from something other than a leprechaun.

Brother Maynard is fond of saying this. He's usually referring to immutable forces like death, taxes, weird ecclesial patterns and traditions, and why the Toronto Maple Leafs will never win the Stanley Cup ever again.

Good advice that is never taken seriously by people who should, quite frankly, know better. Especially those who are clever enough to discern that when I say "tribble", I really mean "self-proclaimed apostolic wanna-be".

Postmodern deliverance ministry re-imagined. Supplies are limited. Operators are standing by...

Keepin' Busy

So far, the beginning of 2008 has been very busy, to say the least. New leadership team at our YWAM base, got recruited to staff the next CDTS (starting in just one week), and just finished the final -- yes, really and truly the final -- proofs for the publishing of Post-Charismatic, which will be out in the UK in a month or so, with an early summer release date for North America.

And of course, the first two months were spent leading an outreach with a bunch of DTS students in Mexico. It was a lot of work, and a lot of fun. And I saw each of the students -- each in his or her own way -- grow during that time; you never get tired of seeing people stretched out of their comfort zones and discovering that God can and does work through each of them.
I'll be writing more on the Kingdom of God in the coming days and weeks, as well as catching up on some book reviews. But for now, enjoy the video -- in so many ways, it barely scratches the surface of a two-month journey, but hopefully it earns me a wee bit of grace for the lack of regular blogging since New Year's...

Enjoy!