Volleyball Frappuccino Blended Coffee, anyone?

If today was any indication of how the summer at St. Arbucks is going to look, then my leaving in just one week will be a blessing on several different levels.

Today, there was a grade nine girls' province-wide volleyball tournament at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus. We are, naturally, the closest Arbucks to said University. Imagine, if you will, hordes of volleyball-playing grade nine girls showing up -- in their entire teams -- to order copious amounts of frappuccinos.

Picture this happening with multiple teams.

Picture this happening after each and every game, not to neglect to mention that we were also on their way home as they drove back to the coast -- and in several cases, to the Island -- once the tourney was over.

The good news is that they were all very polite and cheerful, so we had fun as we went slightly mad making all their drinks for them. I will miss many of my co-workers after I leave next Sunday, but I won't miss "freakin' frappuccino freakin' frenzy"!

3 Sides of that "Vision Verse"

Depending on which translation you read, that oft-quoted verse in Proverbs can mean several different things related to "vision". A few thoughts:

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 19:18, King James Version)

No vision = death. That's a metaphor that makes a lot of sense, if you've seen people whose dreams have died. Dead churches are usually full (or half-full, or mostly-empty) with people of dead vision, and no desire for anything to change.

So, is it far-fetched to suggest that lacking vision will lead to a deadened spiritual vitality?

"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." (Proverbs 29:18, New International Version)

No revelation = no restraint. How does that fit?

A pastoral friend of mine once proposed that it's not unlike an athletic metaphor: people who are heading for competition in the Olympics "restrain" themselves from things that run counter to their "vision". For example, they'd avoid drugs, alcohol, staying up late playing X-Box, and junk food; they'd instead invest their time and adopt a lifestyle that would help them accomplish their vision.

So, is it far-fetched to suggest that lack of vision/revelation leads to a lack of focus on spiritual formation?

"If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves." (Proverbs 29:18, The Message)

No vision (seeing what God is doing) = gimped walk of faith.

If we have no idea (vision) of what God is calling us to do/say/be, will we inevitably end up with a lot of self-made, self-initiated, self-driven monuments to our own efforts? Will we find ourselves, as Bob Girard did in 1968, looking objectively at what we've been doing, and writing, as Bob did:

"It wasn't Acts. It was a testimony to the good things people can do – all by themselves." (Brethren Hang Loose, page 69)

So, is it far-fetched to suggest that having vision/dreams is non-negotiable?

I'm just sayin'...

The Plot Thickens...

I handed in my "two weeks' notice" to my manager at St. Arbucks yesterday. "What the Harry Reimer?" you're probably saying to yourself. "No more latte and cappuccino comments? No more banal comparisons to Tim Horton's? First Red Green goes off the air, and now Robby's quitting St. Arbucks?"

Well, jes' calm down thar, pardner, and lemme learn ya the story...

It may come as a shock to some that being fulltime at YWAM and three-quarter-time at St. Arbucks is somewhat less than ideal for a husband and father of three. Spending 70+ hours per week -- not counting YWAM homework -- and trying to keep our family somewhat connected to normalcy (as we define it) may sound like a dream to some (workaholics in need of repentence), but was beginning to wear on yours truly.

Wendy & I were discussing whether or not I should continue working at St. Arbucks last Thursday, and Wendy said, "If you think God wants you to quit, I'll support you in that decision."

Friday last week included a communion celebration at YWAM, and during the prayer time afterwards, Paul Martinson (Western Director for YWAM Canada) prophesied over me that while I had a reputation for living "on the edge", that perhaps God was calling me ever further out on that edge.

"Hmm," I thought to myself. "Could that refer to quitting St. Arbucks? Or maybe I just want it to refer to that."

I was hardly done pondering this, when our team leader pulled me aside, and looking somewhat nervous, quietly told me, "I don't know how you'll take this, but... for the past couple of days, I have felt that you should quit your job at Arbucks and just trust God to supply instead of depending on them."

Okay, even someone as slow as me could see the direction that God appeared to be steering me, so I wrote out a brief note for my manager and left it on her desk after my shift ended on Sunday. This afternoon (Monday), we received an envelope in the mail from a pastoral friend whom we had not heard from in some time. There was no note in the envelope. No quick message. No handwritten or typed greeting.

Just a cheque. Out of "nowhere".

Way cool. The adventure of being "on the edge" just got more interesting!

Dusting Off Dreams & Visions

Dreams and visions is a topic that comes up repeatedly here in Robbymac-world. I did some quick checking from the first few weeks after I started this blog, and discovered that even in this blog's infancy, the topic of dreams and the death of dreams was an early theme (Light the Fire Again and Blurred Vision). Unfortunately, Haloscan doesn't archive comments for very long, which is a shame because there were 40-50 insightful comments per post.

What DID come up repeatedly was that many people had given up on their dreams, or seen their dreams die in some way, and were trying to figure out what to do with that. For the majority, the decision (at that time) was to explain away their former dreams as immature or wishful thinking. The pain that they'd gone through as their dreams died was too much to consider going through again.

It was almost like an X-Files kind of moment: people wanted to believe that their dreams and hopes were from God, but lacking evidence, were losing hope and trying to make sense out of life -- if I may be permitted to use the dreaded "post" prefix -- post-dreams/vision.

(continue reading Dusting Off Dreams & Visions)

YWAM #3: Nature & Character of God

Last week's lectures were on the Nature and Character of God. Part of our weekly response to the teachings is our Journals, and one page is always dedicated to a creative interaction with the teaching. Click on the Anchor to see this week's entry.

In a DTS where I am surrounded by talented artists, musicians, dancers, poets, and painters, all I can say is: "Thank God for Photoshop!!"

Update

In a nutshell:

YWAM classes, activities, homework & commuting: 40-45 hours/week St. Arbucks: 27-30 hours/week Wendy's job: 15-20 hours/week Laundry, house upkeep, mowing lawn, time with family etc.: the rest of whatever time is left Sleep: Sleep?

A conversation that has happened a couple of times recently in the Resonate forum is that people are getting restless with "the conversation". Seems like more and more people are starting to feel like there's a lot of talk (which is good for sorting through ideas and discovering new ones) but not much that is inspiring faith or faith-in-action. Several blogging friends here in Canada have both privately (in email) or publicly (on their blogs) wondered if their "season of blogging" was perhaps coming to a close -- or at least signaling a possible change in direction.

The question that I'm wrestling with for this blog is whether or not (A) I really have the time available to do it justice, and (B) wondering if this blog has served its purpose and if I should move on. A Journeymate from the past, Karl Thienes, said something very insightful in a private email shortly after deciding to go on a "blogging sabbatical":

"I've always wanted to blog -- or not blog -- because I wanted to, not because the blog 'owned' me. I wanted to be able to leave it, when it was time, on my own terms."

Suffice it to say, I haven't made any concrete decisions just yet, but that's about where my thinking is at this point. Plus, after finishing the Post-Charismatic project, at times it feels like I've said all that I wanted to say, and perhaps that in itself is a signal to move on.

And now for something completely different...

Scot McKnight has a great piece on the breadth of what Jesus' death on the Cross bought for each of us. I'd heartily recommend Atonement Wars on Good Friday? as a great theological summation of the many facets of the jewel we call The Atonement.

Put on the Duct Tape of Mourning

Tonight was the end of an era in Canadian cultural history: The Red Green Show aired its final episode. Armbands of mourning should ideally be made from duct tape, "the handyman's secret weapon".
	I had the privilege, a year or so ago, of having lunch with Dave Smith, Red Green's son and one of the writers for the show. Dave is an awesome guy, extremely funny and a follower of Jesus. As we lament the closing of Possum Lodge, send up a prayer for Dave's interaction and influence on the rest of his family.

---

Another era ended recently with the farewell concert tour, after over 30 years of music, of Petra. While I have liked some albums and others not so much, I have always had a lot of respect for Petra's commitment (via the songwriting skills of lead guitarist and founding member Bob Hartman) to have solid and thoughtful lyrics which introduced many young people to their first "Scripture in music" experience. I've said it before on this blog, that I wish current bands (particularly worship bands) would invest more time in writing Scripture-based lyrics to their songs. Teaching theology through songwriting is hardly a new idea (Luther was but one of many who recognized this), but I would love to see more bands take this seriously now.

As our journey with YWAM continues, I have been listening to Petra's Farewell CD on my way to and from the base, and a song which I hadn't heard before has really stood out. Right Place seems to sum up in a lot of ways what our current life and journey looks like: a walk of faith.

Now's the time to call His name
He can do all things
When your self-reliance fails
You still have a prayer
You will have to trust His grace

When you abide, He will provide
Never shorthanded
When you will pray, He'll make a way
He won't leave you stranded

You're in the right place - trusting only Him
You're in the right place - kick back and just depend
You're in the right place - to see what He can do
You're in the right place - He will come through

YWAM Doodle-Notes

With a HT (hat tip) to Brother Maynard's post about house church doodle art, I decided to post part of the journal notes that YWAM has us complete each week.

These journals are helpful for us to distill a week's worth of teaching into something that we can talk about in our small group, and for someone whose handwriting is as pathetic as mine is, the creativity that YWAM encourages gives me an opportunity to be both imaginative and legible.

Click on the anchor to see one of my pages from the previous weeks' "Hearing the Voice of God" teaching. If nothing else, it's at least legible...

Porpoises & Penguins

	In recent weeks, I discovered a very creative website called The Porpoise Diving Life, which has as it's byline: "Reality for the Rest of Us or Picking Up Where Purpose-Driven Peters Out". The site's motif is based around porpoises and pods and other marine metaphors, and is fun to explore.

Bill Dahl is the visionary genius behind this site, and we've had some fun corresponding back and forth. Earlier this week, Bill invited me to participate in an interview for The Porpoise Diving Life, along with interviews with Charlie Wear (editor of Next Wave e-zine), John O'Keefe (the brains behind Ginkworld), Mike Brantley from New Zealand, and one of my favourite co-conspirators, Alan Hartung, editor of TheOoze.com. Bill decided (as only editors can do) to entitle my interview The Post-Man Cometh.

The Porpoise Diving Life has only been going for a few months, but a lot of people have been really positively impacted by it, and I'm honoured to be included, and am rooting for Bill Dahl and his Pod to bring some thoughtful and encouraging input to the conversation.

And now for something completely different...

Brother Maynard has long been a co-conspirator with this fugitive from the O/S police. I thought he'd appreciate the advance warning that the British government is after his accomplice. Perhaps this is the true reason behind Brother Maynard's secret online identity?