needless to say i feel very much underqualified - and yet am willing to tackle the task undaunted. it wouldn't be the first time that i've gotten into something way over my head.
21 February 2011
go east, young(ish) man
so it wasn't more than 5 weeks ago that my friend doug johns contacted me to see if i'd be interested in helping with a lecture series that he's helping to coordinate for a bible school in romania. immediately my interest was piqued, partly for the opportunity to visit a region of the world that i'd never stepped foot upon before. the subject that he's/they've asked me to present on is communicating the gospel to 21st century culture. which leads me to ask ... what do i know about romanian culture?
23 July 2010
before they were famous, they were voices that needed to be heard
i managed to watch a video on Bravo! about Toronto's Bohemian Embassy (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Behind-the-Bohemian-Embassy/128321293868685?v=info#!/pages/Behind-the-Bohemian-Embassy/128321293868685). what a great documentary. stories about people seeing the value in other people. stories about people pursuing a dream because it was worth chasing down. stories about people whose souls were reshaped and healed through music, poetry, drama and comedy.
28 June 2010
watch what you (don't) write
so after a weekend of speaking at two different venues, someone told me that even though we'd never met she was a reader of my blog posts [thanks da :)]. who knew? i figured that this was more or less just an opportunity for me to jot the occasional thought for internet posterity.
so i guess that i'd better make it more of a habit to put my thoughts out on cyberspace ... who knows who's paying attention.
a quick reflection from The Republic's last event, called Reverie: i had a great conversation with a woman who was walking off to a completely different appointment when she (her words) felt drawn in to our gathering. granted, we had the large pane glass sliding windows open at the coffee shop so that music could waft over the adjacent park, but still - and when she joined our company there, she felt almost moved to tears.
i couldn't have planned or orchestrated that. it was a divine moment for her. and without having to discuss faith or spiritual journeys or religion, she was ministered to by God.
that's what it means to present the Gospel without having to say a word.
we are the message.
23 December 2009
what have we started ...?
one of the guest at The Republic's last culture pub event spoke to me about how impacted he was by the gathering of artists and musicians in benefit of others. being a highly talented photographer himself with many connections within the musical community, he was inspired to enlist the help of the same venue which has hosted The Republic for a gathering of his own - which came to be known as Sleep Out Loud.
i managed to drop in to Sleep Out Loud with my oldest daughter, and it was a fantastic gathering. kudos to cody turner and his team for pulling off a stellar evening.
and now he's motivated to try to do it again ... and again ...
maybe this unleashing of creativity in an effort to change to world could catch on.
15 November 2009
lessons in seeking
our movement, The Republic, held a recent culture pub event on nov.6th. it was called Libero, and it was very much a gathering of people seeking freedom - freedom to express themselves creatively, freedom to relate to others in an environment that was engaging, freedom to live heroically.
once again, the culture pub experiment here in barrie has surprised me. even though i think i understand the trajectory theoretically, the reality of its outworking catches me off-guard. i'd no sooner posted bills advertising Libero when someone facebooked me with a message about her photography, saying that she'd noticed one of our posters and was interested to find out if we'd let her participate in an upcoming event.
so are we seeking out the artists, or have they been seeking for people like us all along?
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