A friend of mine from church, Eric Horner, is a filmmaker, and one of his latest projects has been making short inspirational films. He has people say a few things about who are they are, what they like, and so on, and then films them doing an activity they enjoy. Most recently he created some for two young girls in our church, and when he had finished, he approached me about composing and recording some music for the films. I thought it would be a good challenge, and so I took him up on the offer.

This past Sunday afternoon we spent a few hours at the church recording the music. For our first try, I think it turned out pretty well. The church is not equipped with state of the art recording equipment, but we were able to lay down a few tracks with the various instruments and then Eric was able to mix what we recorded. For the first film we used piano, drums, a synth, and a bass guitar. The second uses a guitar, djembe, and some human instrumentation in the form of whistling and clapping.

I'm pretty impressed with the finished product. Eric is very, very good at what he does, and I'm grateful for the opportunity he gave me to write some music. And it was a lot of fun recording it all. So, without further ado, here are the films.

UPDATE:Eric also filmed us as we were recording one of the songs. Here's the video of our little recording session.

Craig Ferguson, of late night TV fame, offers his opinion on why everything sucks:

Ferguson is usually very funny, but I've found that when he engages in cultural analysis like this, he is often quite perceptive as well. Here he picks up on something I have increasingly come to realize, that adolescence is a social construct. And marketers in this culture have not only recognized that, but seized onto it and been at the forefront of propagating the idea that we ought to prolong our youth. We no longer prize 'experience and wisdom', as Ferguson points out.

After you're done laughing, discuss: is the glorification of 'youth and stupidity' a real problem in our culture? How should the church address this issue?

(HT: Mathias Rosenlund)

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I had the privilege of studying under Mike Goheen when I did my undergraduate studies at Redeemer University College. It is not an exaggeration to say that he played one of the significant rolls in the formation of my thought on the Church and mission. Here he neatly sums up the story of redemptive history and talks about how the Church often sees this story in fragmented bits instead of holistically.

Thanks to Steve Bishop and Joe Torres for pointing me to this.

Nicky Gumbel, the vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton in London and perhaps best known for developing the Alpha Course, sat down with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair back in July to ask him a number of questions. Some of them focused on Blair's faith and the intersection of that faith with his political work. Though Blair in these videos is not as articulate as he usually is in public, it's still an interesting interview. Part 1 is embedded here, and you can click through to navigate to parts 2-9.

Any thoughts? I find his answers a little on the ambiguous side, but notwithstanding, I'm impressed that such a prominent figure is willing to sit down and talk about the intersection of faith and public life.
(HT: Jon Swales)

I stumbled across this video tonight, and it was fitting since I've been thinking some about Christians working as police officers. Let me know what you think. I might be blogging more on the subject in the coming weeks.

I've really been enjoying this guy's music as of late.

To the best of my knowledge, I heard Richard Pratt mention this once in a lecture I had on my iPod, though I can't say for sure. At any rate, I'm sure you are all familiar with this opening scene from the 1994 movie, The Lion King. The whole song and accompanying video paint what is supposed to be a beautiful picture of the earth and the creatures of the earth in their natural state.

But this is exactly the problem. That entire "circle of life" that is the subject of this song is not something to be glorified and lauded as natural. Instead, it should be understood as a terrible thing. It is one of the most awful and vivid pictures of how sin has distorted the creation. This is the reason why the prophet Isaiah looks forward to the day when "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb" (Isaiah 11:6-9). How can we sit and watch one animal devour another on the Discovery Channel and believe that this is the way it was meant to be?

Weigh in. What do you think?

There are a number of great cities in Canada, and the city of Montréal is perhaps one of the most unique. I have not spent a great deal of time there, but the few times I have been I have really enjoyed it. If you are ever planning to visit Canada, be sure that one of the places you visit is Montréal. The video to your left here is a short two-minute clip, uniquely made, giving you a short taste of the city.

Montréal is quite possibly the most culturally-unique city in Canada. Its location and history have created a culture with multiple influences. There is an old joke in Québec that says, "We could have had French culture, British government and American know-how... but what we've really got is American culture, French government and British know-how!" Some have gone so far as to call Montréal "Amerope," as it is shaped by a very distinct blend of American and European culture.

Aside from making this an interesting city to visit, it creates a distinct challenge for church planting efforts in one of the least-churched cities in North America. The Redeemer Urban Church Planting Center has been putting out an e-newsletter for a few years now, and back in 2004 they featured one of the church planting efforts in Montréal. Here's what they had to say about the unique challenges in that city:

So, what makes Montréal unique? Well, first of all, Montréal is bilingual, boasting the second largest French-speaking population in the world. Culturally, it reflects the American life and attitudes. In addition to being geographically located in North America, Montréalers and Americans share an increasing consumer mentality where choice is imperative. Montréalers also value the ease and spontaneity commonly associated with Americans.

But Montréal is more influenced by European intellectual and social values than other Canadian cities. Like Europeans, Montréalers are less forthcoming than Americans and see a difference between 'friends' and 'acquaintances.' They are a bit more clannish and more cautious about allowing people into their lives. Typically, for church planters, this means that it takes longer for people to really open up and become a 'friend.'

In addition to these differences is Montréal's particular spiritual history. In the past, it has been heavily influenced by Roman Catholicism, which today is widely rejected and viewed as being authoritarian, intellectually confining and too ritualistic. French existentialism has also influenced the thinking of those leading the social values of Montréal. But today, this philosophy too is increasingly questioned. The gate-keepers are beginning to understand that they need consensus and community in order to build a society. Similar to the trend in Europe, Montréal is moving toward a softer humanism where unity, cooperation and community are paramount. All these things make Montréal a uniquely diverse challenge for those living the Gospel in Montréal.

On the Square, the online blog of First Things, featured a very interesting article on this changing cultural climate in Québec a few weeks ago written by Paul Allen, professor of theology at Concordia University in Montréal. Allen noted that upcoming generations are disillusioned by the cultural values and expressions of earlier generations and are looking for something more. He concluded by saying, "what we hear is a lament for culture, a dissent, a reflection on Québec’s roots, a felt desire for something solid, permanent, and life-giving."

That blows the door wide open for the Church to enter through. Church planting efforts will most certainly be a great challenge here, but when a culture is in flux as it seems to be in Montréal and in Québec, it creates a unique opportunity for the Church to renew its presence in the city to play a major role in transforming that culture. Would it be a challenge you would consider taking up?