Moving Day - See You at the New Blog!

The new address is blog.vineyardthoughtworks.org, see you all there!

This will be the last post on this blog. 

Frank Emanuel on behalf of the National ThoughtWorks Blog Writing Team. 

Getting Ready for the Transition

In a few days I will be posting a final message on this blog and moving everything over to a fancy new National blog. I've already set up the domain vineyardthoughtworks.org. The exciting thing is that we now have a national writing team. We'll still aim for a blog post each week, at least until the writers group grows. If you are interested in joining us fire me off an email - the more the merrier!

Thanks for staying tuned during our transition. I am excited about the broader opportunity to serve the whole Vineyard in Canada.

blessings,
Frank Emanuel for the National ThoughtWorks Team

I Haven't Gone Anywhere

Just a heads up, cause I know you've probably missed seeing weekly posts here. That will resume shortly.

In the meantime I wanted to let you know that I am recruiting a team of Vineyard folk who are interested in keeping the content flowing. This will correspond to a move from this blog being the Ontario regional blog to the National ThoughtWorks blog. So far I have a good representation from the East lined up and am working on some Ontario folk. If you are interested in being part of the team contact me so that I can share some of the details with you. As always, any one off contributions you wish to submit will be joyfully received.

On another note, I am wondering about how helpful it would be to have a closed forum for preachers and teachers to interact with Vineyard theologians for the purpose of offering constructive critique on sermons and messages? I think it would be mutually beneficial as theologians need to have that interface with what people are actually wrestling with in our movement and often working pastors do not have the same opportunity to research their sermons as they would like. I am thinking that messages and sermons could be given feedback post congregational delivery (so if you record your messages we'd have a place for you to submit that) or pre-delivery if you put it up on the forum a week or so before you were planning on sharing. I think it could also be a good and safe place for teachers and preachers to wrestle through theological implications with like-minded theologians.

This idea came from an email conversation with a pastor who joined the Society of Vineyard Scholars facebook page to ask for just such help. If there is enough interest in the Canadian context then I will pursue trying to develop something to meet this need, possibly as a project that taps into the theological wealth of the SVS as well as our own ThoughtWorks network. What I need to know is if this seems like a good allocation of our resources (time mainly) in providing theological mentoring for our churches in Canada? You tell me.

As always the ThoughtWorks team is here to help our congregations grow in faithfulness to God and to equip the saints for all that our great God desires for us to accomplish.

Frank Emanuel, Pastor Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa.

Theology and Worship

I would like to post a series of reflections on the intersection of theology with other aspects of our faith lives: worship, mission, service, discipleship, etc. You are invited to join in with a post or two of your own by sending an email to Frank Emanuel. As always, comments are most welcome.
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I have been thinking about worship a fair bit lately for two reasons. First I've been asked to write an article on emerging church worship for an academic journal. But, more importantly, we are about to launch a new Worship and Listening group at our church. We've done these groups in the past, the format is simple but often the experience is profound: we gather to sing our worship to God then we wait and see what God might have to say. Even when we do not get anything specific - this act of waiting is often quite significant.

When we wait, especially in silence, we are going against a culture that defines everything by utility, by doing and worse by accomplishing something. To wait on God like this, is to risk not hearing. Instead of focusing on doing it directs us to simply 'being'. God wants us to be still and know that God is God. The theology of this is one of recognizing that God is not something we do. Nor is God is something we accomplish. God is something other than that, and we can completely miss God in all our busyness.

To say this about utility is not meant to devalue doing, or even accomplishing things. The activist aspect of our culture is what is responsible for so many of the awesome advances we all enjoy. Even from a faith perspective, faith without works is indeed dead. However, the mistake of our culture is that the doing is what gets us closer to God, and worse the doing is sometimes mistaken for God. Is it any wonder that our culture is so full of tired, burned out people when we have placed doing above hearing?

How often have you been caught up in doing, doing, doing? How often do you miss God when you do not pause and listen for what God is actually saying. I know that I tend to miss God's affirmations of me when I get busy. No wonder I often get overwhelmed when I let the busyness of life take over. It is when I stop and turn my attention to that still small voice that I hear God say how much I am valued and loved regardless of anything I can do. I am convinced that in that recognition is the rest in which we find salvation - not the busyness of our works, even our most important works.

This reflection is just one aspect of the intersection of theology (what we think and say about God) and worship. As we head into this new year, I hope that you will think deeply on the theology of all that you do as a people of faith. But most of all, I hope this encourages you to stop, wait, and listen to what God is saying.

be blessed!
Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa

Merry Christmas!

May the Jesus whose birth we celebrate be found in all you do by all whom you meet this year.

Jesus, come and make yourself known to our world. Let your Kingdom come!

Wishing you a joyous new year full of Kingdom encounters, deepening faith, and overflowing joy.

Frank Emanuel on behalf of the National Vineyard Thoughtworks Team.

Apologies for the Hiatus

Unfortunately things have been a bit busy around here to keep up with any of the blogs I work on. I will be working hard over the next few weeks to get some content in the queue for the ThoughtWorks blog. As always I am awaiting content from Vineyards and friends of the Vineyard. Just send it on to me. This can be as simple as a pointer to something helpful on the web to an article which you have written. Together we can make this resource better and better.

In the meantime I trust that preparing for Christmas celebrations with your church families is going well. Personally, we have been using the advent candles and gospel readings to augment our own family celebration of the season. The kids love it and my youngest has jumped up to do readings. Just as important as it is to develop good traditions within our churches, it is also good as parents to do the same in our homes. We impoverish our family's faith life when we expect religious education to be someone else's job. I pray that you will all find special and memorable moments throughout this season of expectation and longing. May Christ be renewed in all our lives this Christmas season.

blessings,
Frank Emanuel for the National ThoughtWorks team!

What is in a Name?

I've been part of discussions recently about the term evangelical. As in who is this term appropriate for. But it gets me thinking about the various titles we use to describe ourselves today. In particular, what does it mean to be a Vineyard person?

Vineyard, as a label, shares a lot of similarities with evangelical. Hopefully everyone who would call themselves a Vineyard person in some way find a great attraction in what they have experienced of the values and practices of the Vineyard. But when you get to know this large family to which us Vineyard folk belong, well you realize that there are a lot of different aspects of these Vineyard values that people gravitate towards. In fact sometimes there are aspects of the Vineyard family that folks find not so attractive. If calling myself evangelical meant that I affirmed everything every evangelical did and stood for then I'd be in trouble (probably having narrowed the definition to one particular branch or manifestation of evangelical). Likewise, it isn't everything the Vineyard does that makes us go 'yay Vineyard'. Rather it is the overall ethos, the community and the family that grabs our hearts so strongly.

It is also the quality of people that Vineyard seems to attract. (At least for the most part.) Those dyed in the wool Vineyard folk, even when they have different ways of interpreting various Vineyard values, are in my opinion quality people. Passionate about what they believe in. Confident in God's character and activity. Committed to the whole Body of Christ. Good people. Maybe it is the fact that we value family so much, we realize that the bonds that hold us together deserve the willingness to hear each other fully and to not feel like being family means we all need to believe things exactly the same way. This is the strength of a movement based on values rather than a statement of faith. It is also what I believe will help the Vineyard carve out her place in the future as a family that faithfully proclaims the gospel of our great Savior. Evangelicals, at their core, have this same desire to proclaim the gospel - even though there is a wide variety of ways that gospel is understood (both in proclamation and enactment). It isn't the little things that are important, it is the commitment to being faithful to God that makes both groups dear to my heart.

Frank Emanuel - Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa.

Going National

I'm pretty excited about the next little while for ThoughtWorks and the Vineyard in Canada. We have been doing a lot of hard work finding ways to get the tools you need into your hands. In terms of our core curriculum we now have associated Intensives that we can arrange for your local congregation. In fact each region has a bit of budget to help get these things off the ground. As always our passion is to equip your saints for all God has in store for us! More as this unfolds.

Another change that is coming soon is a new domain name (www.vineyardthoughtworks.org) has been purchased and we will be moving our website (hopefully in a spiffy new format) and this blog there. My hope is that we will have a completely integrated (and easily updated) web presence. As many of you know this blog was meant to be a pilot project, serving the region of Ontario. Rather than setting up regional ThoughtWorks blogs, we will be migrating this one to serve as the National ThoughtWorks Blog! That will give me more access to content providers. We'll definitely still feature what is happening in the various regions, but now everybody will get to enjoy this resource.

 Looking forward to serving you,
 Frank Emanuel for the National ThoughtWorks Team.

Right Beliefs are not Enough

In her excellent article, "Attending to the Gaps between Belief and Practices," Amy Plantinga Pauw makes a brilliant observation about Jonah. She notes that in spite of Jonah's exemplary beliefs about God, Jonah struggled terribly with his actions, that is how he put those beliefs into action. I've observed two things that this really helped me understand. First that we evangelicals are sometimes fanatical about getting the details of our beliefs just right. And second, that God rarely waits for us to have our beliefs perfect before acting with and through us. I'd like to explore this a wee bit in today's article.

The way that I've often expressed this obsession with right beliefs is as the evangelical quest for certainty. It is the age old quest really - how do I know that I'm really one of the saved? Different generations have answered this question differently- for instance the Protestant work ethic comes from the Calvinist notion that you know your are one of the "elect" if God is blessing you and that is no where more evident than in financial blessings. Leaving aside the difficulty that this posed for the poor in Switzerland, the result was an idea that working hard, earning lots demonstrated that one was "right" with God. We might laugh at that notion, but it has effected the fabric of our culture in ways we are often sadly oblivious too. I would claim that in our generation, marked by theologies of modern apologetics, we have turned the mark of being saved into one of having the "right" beliefs.

"Right" beliefs, sometimes called orthodoxy, is about what we believe about God, the world, humanity and the relationships between these three. The thing that frustrates me most is that the people I encounter who are the most obsessed with championing a particular version of these beliefs are also most often those least interested in acting out the practical and ethical implications of their beliefs. I've even had people try to "correct" my beliefs while I was about the business of demonstrating God's love through my actions. This is why I've often found the post-modern incredulity towards dogma to be helpful. Not that beliefs are not critically important - beliefs will always shape (and be shaped by) our actions. But when we make Christianity merely a religion of beliefs we completely miss the point of what God wants to do - and it just might be to preach an effective campaign of grace to our "enemies".

And then there is the case of those who just do, often with incredible results, yet often from a set of beliefs that leaves us shaking our heads. Gary Best has commented in the past that the Word of Faith people often see more healings despite their theology. Why is that? I know some would want to vilify the healings that happen amongst the more actively charismatic. But isn't that just a way of justifying our own inaction? The reality is that they see more because they ask more often. God isn't nearly as hung up about orthodoxy as we are. That doesn't mean God loves our ignorance - but God looks deeper than we do, God sees hearts. Personally, as someone who has come from the more actively Charismatic background, I have seen some of this shift in my own life and ministry. Really what we did in the past was a lot like shooting a shotgun. We saw lots of healings and other cool stuff simply because we would pray at the drop of a hat. We saw lots of unanswered prayers too, but often we would find ways of justifying those (sometimes to the emotional detriment of those we "ministered" to). Bottom line is that we had faith, but we also had beliefs, some of which were quite destructive to the lives of those who followed us. I had a friend even take his own life over the notions of holiness promoted in those groups! This is not trivial stuff.

The struggle we all have is how to connect beliefs to practice. Jonah's flight mirrors our own flight from what we know to be the implications of our beliefs (as in what our beliefs call us to do). If we really believe that God breaks into the world with real manifestations of the Kingdom - then why do we not pray at the drop of a hat? But, like Jonah, we run away afraid as much that it might happen (and we won't know how to deal with it) as that it might not happen. Perhaps this is exactly why Jonah's story is so endearing to us - it is after all the ubiquitous sunday school story. Perhaps it is because God knows this is the very dynamic we are called to struggle with. We are meant to keep both belief open to God, but grounded in what we already believe about God (look at what Jonah believed about God and God's character). We are meant to act both on what we believe and to act before we sort out all of what we believe. Jonah reminds us that God is patient yet relentless. Two sides of the same coin, so to speak. We are called to be strongly rooted in what we believe, but relentless in our quest for the truth (even when it changes our beliefs!) and we are equally called to be relentless about doing the works of God yet patient and expectant that God will shape and grow our beliefs as we act them out.

In the Vineyard we have tradition of trying to balance head and heart. For me, this is another way of expressing the tension I have described above. Heart is about what we do and head is indicative of what we know. Both aspects feed and spur on the other. A balance of head and heart means that one is open to the other, and vice versa. Hopefully this short message encourages you in your quest for the radical middle, to struggle with the living of the beliefs God is growing and maturing in our lives.

Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa

Theological Debates:How Do We Handle Differences?

As you survey the world of Evangelicalism today, you will find a vast array of different theological and philosophical views. In fact if you take a look at our own movement, the Vineyard, you will see the same diversity. The thing is, theology matters. But not every theological debate is of equal worth. I wanted to look at four key points to keep in mind when dealing with issues of diversity, a bit of a priority checklist.

1) Differences Matter

The reason a person, or group, resonates so deeply with a theological or philosophical view is that it means something to them. In fact we know these particular beliefs go deep when we see, or experience in ourselves, the instant need to defend the belief. The reason is that beliefs, at a theological and philosophical level, are often tied to our understanding of ourselves and our relationship to the things that matter - God, family, church, community, etc. Knowing that differences matter does not mean that all differences are helpful, but it does mean we need to respect differing views as being important to those who hold them and understand why there is often resistance to alternate views.

2) People Matter More

Following on this, I think it is important that as a church movement our priority is pastoral not dogmatic. By that I mean that it is about people, loving people, providing space for people to encounter and fall more in love with God, equipping people - it is about the people. So while it seems logical that we should guard the dogmatic core, by which I mean the central theological understandings on which our movement is built, we need to recognize that if dogma gets in the way of fulfilling our calling to people - then we have a problem. Again, it is very important that we not lose our foundational theologies. In fact I am often concerned with the lack of understanding our churches have about the Kingdom teachings that so animated John Wimber. But the bottom line is that without people, the ones God so loved, it doesn't matter if your theology is top notch - you will only be a clanging gong.

3) The Main and the Plain

John Wimber often called us back to the main and the plain of the gospel. The Kingdom teachings and other foundational theologies are great. The experiential spirituality that engenders an expectation of God's Kingdom manifestation is awesome. But all that is meant to serve the church, to equip her and prepare her to partner with God in proclaiming the good news to all the world. We must never lose sight of the main and the plain.

4) There is Always Room to Grow

And finally we need to be prepared to have God (often through others) blow our grids! To open up our minds to new possibilities. To challenge even the very things we thought were fundamental to our faith. After all this is God's show, not ours. So our stance before difference should always be twofold: First we are confident in the God who holds our lives, our real trust lies there not in our theologies. And second, we should always be prepared to be changed by others, always open to the idea that they might have a different view of things that can be helpful, even crucial. In other words, we need always be prepared to grow. One day we will know completely, as we are already completely known, but this is not that day. That does not mean we stand on shaky ground or lose everything if we discover a central flaw in our understanding - what it means is that God cares enough to grace us with growth.

Let us rest in God, because in God's perfect love there is no fear.

Frank Emanuel - Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa.

Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy your family, enjoy your friends, enjoy your life - and most of all enjoy the One who makes all of that possible.

Blessings from Thoughtworks Ontario.

Sporadic Posting Schedule

A bit of warning that posts might be a bit slow for a few weeks while I mark the first crop of papers from my large class. I'm always looking for articles to post, especially those of relevance to Ontario Vineyards.

In the meanwhile - don't forget to vote Ontario! Your vote is important, it is one way you demonstrate good citizenship. Pray and vote is always a great strategy.

 Have a great Thanksgiving!

 Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa.

Book of Note: The History of Christian Thought

Over the last few weeks I've been lecturing on key thinkers throughout the history of Christianity in my Introduction to Theology course. It is a real whirlwind tour from the earliest days of the Church to the Second World War. My course is primarily on Contemporary (post-WWII) theologies so this quick survey allows the students to see how we get so many approaches to Christian theology. It is the ground out of which all contemporary theology has grown - both in appreciation of and reaction to what has already been done. To my delight a colleague at the school mentioned a book that had been used in a previous iteration of this course (this is my first time teaching it): Jonathan Hill's The History of Christian Thought. Jonathan covers quite a bit more ground than I am able to in a few lectures - but his focus is the same. He briefly, but substantially, documents key thinkers and events throughout the history of the Christian Church. Beginning with the influence of Greek philosophy and the work of Justin Martyr (where I started as well) he weaves a historical trail all the way to Postmodernity and important theological voices like Moltmann, Pannenberg and Rahner. While he is a bit light on the North American context there is a small section on Pentecostalism. He even includes a small glossary at the end of this 340 page book!

I heard about the book a few days before my own class was about to leave the Scholastic period and run headfirst into the Reformation. I sat down that night with the book starting from Luther (a bit less than half way) and just ate it up. I was done early the next morning (and yes I did sleep a full 7 hours!). Hill's style is not to get tied down in the technical and to balance the thought he is tracking with details about the lives of the individuals he highlights. I wish I had known of this book before, it would have made for an excellent textbook choice for my students! I think this book is a must for any church library or anyone just wanting to understand the twists and turns that Christian theology has taken as it tries to understand faith in an ever changing culture.

Do yourself a favour and let Hill guide you through the History of Christian Thought.

Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard

Following Christ as the Heart of Theology

I've been teaching an Introduction to Theology course at Saint Paul University. I have almost forty students joining me on a journey through the history of Christian thought. It is amazing when you look at all the shifts and turns, conflicts and breakthroughs that mark the 2000+ years of Christianity. One thing is consistent throughout - other than the constancy of God's love that is - that is that God's people are able to find a relevant and profound voice of Christian faith in every shift of culture. It is not done through naive constancy, assuming Christianity never changes (only God has guaranteed to never change). Nor is it best found in our ever multiplying convictions to have found THE authentic (in our age this often means we believe it is historically authentic) expression of Christianity. It happens often in spite of our needless justifications. It happens because at the heart of every expression of Christianity is a desire to be faithful followers of Christ.

When we follow Christ we gain the courage (which I believe comes to us through the Holy Spirit) to seek understanding of what our faith means to our world today.

This is no small thing. It is how we partner with God in the project of declaring Good News to all of creation. It also should hearten us that God is never surprised by the changes in culture, nor is God ever afraid. Rather God finds amazing ways to accomplish God's redemptive purposes throughout all the earth - and God invites us to share in this work. When we follow Christ we participate with God in all that God is up to in the earth today. How exciting is that!

My hope for my class is that I will be able to convey some of the excitement I feel for deliberate theology. My hope for you all is that you will take the task of theology to heart and commit yourself to doing theology well - wherever God has placed you to be Good News. With courage, follow Christ into culture my friends, and be prepared to marvel at all God wants to do.

Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa

Thoughtworks Assignments

With every Thoughtworks course we have provided an assignment. These assignments are meant to help you anchor the ideas you have learned through each course. Some are very practical, getting you to act on what you have learned. All include a short written piece. I wanted to say a few words about the written assignments.

First these assignments are meant to be the starting point of conversations between you and a mentor. It could be your pastor or another local Thoughtworks representative. Their role is not to correct or critique, but to foster a continuation of the faith seeking understanding mandate of our program. Often when we are reading these assignments we can see the questions that the student has made and maybe get a sense of ones they haven't. Your mentor can encourage you both in what you have explored and in what you can explore next. Learning to think theologically is not about settling the answers for a set of problems, but of exploring the gift of faith that has the potential to throw mountains into the sea! Which I think is meant for us to not limit faith, or stop trying to understand how our faith can lead us into deeper understandings of all God wants to do in our world.

Second is that these assignments are not meant to be academic papers. No one is going to assign you a letter grade or criticize your writing ability. It is meant to help you articulate what it is you were engaging with during the course or readings. It is really just a starting point to continue the journey of growth that these courses open up to each of us. Our passion at Thoughtworks is to make equipping resources that will be both accessible and practical for everyone in our congregations.

I hope that you will give one of our programs a try.

Frank Emanuel, Ontario Thoughtworks Representative, Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa.

Community - It's a Value

Recently my wife and I have been chatting about community. Specifically what it is we are wanting from the communities we participate in. This summer our church, Freedom Vineyard, decided not run any small groups - a tough decision but it has been really worthwhile having a break and a chance to reflect on the last ten years. During those years there are things we've done well and things we've not done well. Important stuff to reflect on, hard as it was to step back in order to do that. One of the ideas I keep coming back to is that of community. Community to me is a place where it is not just one or two people doing everything, but a group of people who together shape and enact what it means to them to be the Church. Sure I love the worship aspect, and even teaching on a regular basis - but without a strong community those things can too easily become a burden to the few. I'm convinced that running church like that is not sustainable in the long run, the burnout I was feeling at the start of the summer was testimony to this being true.

I'm about to invite folks to gather and pray about what God might want to do with Freedom Vineyard this fall. While I am confident that God has no end of great plans for each of us individually - I am open to the idea that this might not be enough to run another small group just yet. Actually in the past many of our groups literally formed themselves as people gained a vision for what God was inviting them into as a community. We've had some really amazing groups over the years and I am sure we will have more in the future. But most of all I want to participate in communities that are gathered around God's purposes, especially in participating in God's redemptive work of grace throughout the world. That's the stuff that gets me excited!

Part of what sparked the conversation was meeting up with a couple who had been part of one of our early Freedom Vineyard communities. A really great couple who had moved over from England after being part of the Vineyard there. This weekend I could sense in them the same longing for community that I saw in myself. It renews in me a sense of what is possible from the Church, that is fostering communities with Kingdom purpose. It also restores in me a determination to not settle for less than community that follows God's invitation to Kingdom works. When I call for our people to gather and pray I will ask them what is God calling them listening for the common threads that might knit together another community and small group.

My prayer at this time is for God, in God's time, to draw the right people together to create community in which me and my family can thrive. A community that will allow us to become all that God wants us to be. After all that is the mission that has been at the heart of Freedom Vineyard since the beginning - helping you become all you can be in Christ.

What kind of community are you longing for?

* The images are from Freedom Vineyard gatherings. The first is a conference we put on back in 2004. The second is from a wedding for a couple who have been long time members of Freedom. Many of the face have changed over the years, when I reflect back there are so many amazing people we've had the privilege of walking with. My hope is that there will continue to be many more.

New Thread Proposal

I want to start a new thread about heroes to your faith. Who are the people who have radically shaped your faith in God? I'm sure you can come up with one or two who have really meant the world to you. Well we need to hear these stories. We need to remind each other of the profound impact we have on each other - sometimes without really knowing it. Here is the deal, if someone comes to mind then send me an email church(a)freedomvineyard.com. Tell me a bit about who this person is, how you encountered them (they can even be people you have never met in the flesh), and describe the impact they have had on your faith. I'd like to post about one a month. There is nothing like spurring each other on towards love and the good work of the Kingdom.

Value of Study

I'm sitting in a coffee shop preparing next semester's courses. What a privilege to pour through various books and articles as I tease out the nuances of the subjects I'm going to teach (Introduction to Theology and Christian Spirituality at a local university). The reasons I have to read are immensely practical - that is they all are for a goal I have in mind. So I can quickly tell if an article or chapter is going to be helpful or not. That is primarily what turns a task that could be an odious chore (I can spend upwards of 14 hours on a 3 hour lecture!) into a task of joy.

When we set out to study we know we are undertaking a noble task. But when we fail to connect the texts we are reading to the things we are trying to do the resulting disconnection can sap the life right out of the process. I wonder if this isn't the reason why study is not as valued as it should be for many Christians. If you find yourself dreading the very idea of studying then consider these tips, they might be just what you need to pull open that book you have been avoiding. I hope that they can help foster an atmosphere of diligent study so that we will all be approved workers of God's Word, the Word that transforms everything!

1) Know when to stop. No one should feel forced to finish a text - that will just discourage you from continuing to read and learn. If you are not connecting with a book you have two viable options. A) you can drop it. Seriously, the book might be great for another time and it might have helped out oodles of your friends, but if it isn't connecting now then it is not going to give life. B) skim to see if what you hoped for isn't just waiting beyond the next paragraph, chapter or section. Study does not mean reading every word - it means understanding what you need to understand from a text. If you are a student understanding what is going on in a text is way more important than having read every single word. Find the stuff that gives life and sometimes it will draw you back to how the author got there - if not take the best and forget the rest.

2) Read while it gives life - ponder lots. That means go for quality over quantity. You would be much better off if, when you read something that seems to resonate deep within, you stopped and pondered why and how this bit of text is resonating with you. Take it to prayer, some of my best conversations with God spring out of such times. The object is not to learn a bunch of stuff - but for us, as pastors and leaders, to be transformed by God so that we can better serve God's purposes in this world. Sometimes a single idea can completely overturn our whole outlook on life!

3) Don't be afraid of dead ends. Sometimes we get caught in the trap that everything we do must have some sort of 'fruitful' conclusion.* Pruning is fruitful - it makes way for better fruit to come and strengthens the whole vine. One of my favourite theologians, Jurgen Moltmann, will sometimes explore ideas until they fail. When an idea fails it can fall off and makes way for new ideas to grow and produce the fruit of wisdom that God is hoping to produce in our lives.

I hope these tips encourage you to study on your terms. To not let unreasonable expectations rob you of the joy of study (nor of its benefits). That you will be able to chase down what God is really saying to you as you study - even if that word is "this idea needs to be pruned." The Bible exhorts us to get wisdom at any cost - I hope and trust that your study will bring you great wisdom and that all you do for Christ will richly benefit from that wisdom.

Be blessed as you study!

Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa.

* I suggest reading Schaeffer's Addicted to Modernity for some keen insights into the problems with utilitarian thinking among evangelicals. It's a great read.

Book of Note: How We Decide

Jonah Lehrer is a contemporary thinker who is worth keeping an eye on. Not only has he written two excellent and accessible books, also he often posts provocative and interesting articles at his Wired blog (he's the science writer for Wired magazine). I was really happy to get a copy of his latest book, How We Decide, last Christmas. I wanted to dive right into it, but leisure reading usually only happens in the summer. So Jonah came on vacation with me.

One of the big influences on this book is Damasio's Descarte's Error. I have that book and the genius of Lehrer is to take the writings of neurologists, other scientists and even philosophers and make them accessible to a general audience. He even makes the insights of such people relevant to the lives we are living now. How We Decide is actually about how we decide. Lehrer tells the anecdote about wasting an afternoon trying to decide what kind of cheerios to buy - I can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by choice. What Lehrer discovers is that we decide with our emotional brains more so than our rational brains. In fact studies show that folks who sustain damage to their emotion centers are actually unable to make good decisions - you often cannot reason your way to a decision like you think you can. So much for idolizing Mr. Spock from Star Trek! This does not rule out the role of reason, but it does mean we delude ourselves when we think rational thought this is the most important part of making choices.

One of the immediate applications for this is in terms of our understanding of what is certainty. If Lehrer is right, then certainty usually indicates an emotional commitment to an idea or ideology. The idea or ideology might be good - but the emotional commitment prevents our rational interaction with those ideas. This is why ideologies are so hard to change. Challenge a preacher's favourite doctrine if you want to see what this means. Our first response to having our certain ideas challenged is to defend (and then justify) our certainty in them. Sometimes we can fight that urge down long enough to have a conversation but the presence of this urge should flag to us an emotional commitment not a rational conclusion.

I am not saying that certainty is a bad thing (although if we are certain of something wrong it could well be) but that strength of commitment does not establish truth. For me the upshot is that with a little less defense of certainty we can maybe focus instead on living out our commitments to see what ones really hold us and bring us (and others) freedom, health, wholeness, hope, and joy. Recognizing how certainty functions can also allow us to hold the less important aspects of our beliefs a little looser so that we can find better patterns of cooperation with other evangelicals to do the things that are really important to God and the world God loves. At the very least Lehrer will invite us to have this conversation about certainty with a better understanding of how our minds actually work.

I really enjoyed this book, I think that you will too.

Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard

Blogs that get you Thinking

Last time in this series I promised some blogs about doing-the-stuff. I would actually love to have a lot of links to blogs that talk about a variety of ministries that will encourage us. However, this time I'm focusing on the "doing" of going into all the world. I want to highlight the blog of a missionary family that is about to launch out on the adventure and the blog of a missions organization started by a friend of mine. Let me introduce you to some folks who are doing-the-stuff as missionaries!

Last Pastors' gathering (Ontario Vineyard Leaders Retreat in Bancroft) I met the Snells. This adventurous couple from the Cambridge Vineyard are heading to Brazil with their kids. They will be serving the Xingu mission in Marabá. A place they have already been to, helping build a church facility, and has captured their hearts. Phil and Jen met at a primate reserve in Africa (how cool is that?) so adventure is definitely in their blood. Why not consider supporting them as they launch out in obedience to God?

The other family I want to point you to are veterans to missions as well as taking kids with them into their mission field. Al and Joanne, along with a growing family, landed in Thailand as missionaries with YWAM (last time I counted they had seven kids and I think Joanne is expecting). Since landing in Thailand, they've started and run a mission called Compasio. The Compasio blog is here. I've known Al Brown for many years now - he and Shane Jolley ran an interdenominational youth worship ministry called Ottawa Youth Alive (OYA). I used to help out a lot with sound and even played guitar for events a few times. Then all of us ended up settling into careers and "normal" life. Al ran a successful IT company until he had the realization that if he didn't go into the mission field now he might never do it. So he sold the business and headed off to YWAM. Through YWAM Al and Joanne went to Thailand with a passion to rescue young girls sold into the sex trade. As years went on that ministry grew into Compasio which, amongst other things, has a tremendous impact on the refugees that come to Thailand for refuge often only to face abuse. Keeping tabs on the Compasio blog will ensure that your heart will not grow hard to the countless at risk people that Jesus died for. Al and Joanne are home for a year and I'm sure they would love to come share with your congregation - I try to get Al out to Freedom to speak whenever he is back in Canada, it is always worth it.

Keep those hearts tender and your ears open - who knows whom God will call you to be good news to!

Frank Emanuel - Freedom Vineyard, Ottawa

PS. I am running out of blogs that I want to pass along - please send me your suggestions so I can keep this series running. Thanks.