The Heart Grows

It is frustrating. We are looking for a family as we try to find a local church to be a part of. We want a family that is active and doing something. Is there a family that has a pastor that wants to do what God wants. Is there a pastor who is honestly and earnestly searching to hear Jesus and do what He says? It seems like there are a lot of good ideas but not many God ideas. I walk into places and can tell they are not interested in things outside of themselves. They are simply interested in getting people to come to them and then they will do something. Words mean nothing compared to actions. We look around. What are they advertising on the walls? What is in the bulletin? What are they talking about and how? What is missing? We don't think our sites are set too high. A warm welcome is good but slotting us immediately into leading and helping is not good. I love Jesus already and feel this way. What about those who don't?

This Chronicle Herald news article about provincial underwater archaeology laws needs more play in the media and among those concerned about archaeology. This is another example of Maritime archaeology law lagging behind the rest of the world. This treasure trove license needs to be abolished. Only qualified archaeologists should be holding these permits. Turning over artifacts without any contextual research data does not cut it. This literally gives people license to destroy our history. Speak up!

Antony Gormley's Fourth Plinth art installation One and Other just finished. Google it to learn more. The great thing about this project is the debate it has sparked. What is art? Should we stop the high art and low art divisions? How do we work together? Can many people with different agendas create one work of art? I simply want to bring recognition to this great experiment and say "let's continue the discussion."

Your never think that your story is that interesting. Or the story of the land you have grown up in. It is too familiar and too close. It is so much a part of you that it is uninteresting. The story is no strange enough to be interesting. Its like running your hand along a smooth surface, we only notice the imperfections. If you run your hand over that surface for hours, days, years then your fingers go numb and you notice nothing. Look at things from a different view point. A different angle shows a new surface. Or travel to someplace very different for a few months. When you return, things will look different. All that to say that every story is interesting… eventually. I used to think that the Maritimes was supremely uninteresting. After having lived ‘away’ for several years I understood that our stories were beautiful and interesting because you don’t hear them from anywhere else. I lived in a dry land at the foot of the Rockies. I lived in the USA during the Bush years. I was dy...

Every group of Believers that get together is (a) church. Church is not a building. It is not an organization. It is not a name or a denomination. It is people! It is the fellowship of all believers, it is the Body of Christ with Jesus at the head. All of us other Christ following human beings are the bits and pieces of the Body. Every group of Christ followers that get together are the Church. When a bunch of hands get together or a bunch of feet of all ages, or different parts that get together on a sunday morning, wednesday night and/or Friday lunch. Whatever label you slap on “youht group” bible study “sunday morning worship” Bible Study, Addiction Overcomers. You are the Church… you are a church and have a responsibility for reaching out. If everyone at the same building is a church and they all belong to a certain larger church expression which belongs to global one church that loves and follows jesus of which He is the head. Reverse it and how small do you get? You get to the...

Check out a great blog on Church Health.

It seems that a lot of us 20 to 30 are in the same boat. We are looking for a church home. Many of us have moved and we are no longer find ourselves in the towns we grew up in. We have changed life circumstances. We may even have two home churches, one for each of us. For these and many other reasons, we are looking for a new home, a new family. We have pretty short but significant list that we are looking for right away; not crazy, loves Jesus, loves people, loves us, “unity on the big things, liberty in the small things, love in all things” to paraphrase the Moravians. I think it is okay to have a few homes. My parents home is home, my in-laws home is home, my home is home, my uncle’s home is home. Friends we lived with for a few years is home. Certain big cities are home. So why can’t it be the same with church? Why do local churches seem to get so jealous? Seriously, they are like a crazy girlfriend sometimes. I am not dating the church, the church is my family ;) Sure, I know ...

In a previous post, I brought up the concept of art being visionary. What can we do as people? What should we do? What should we not do? When should we say "just because we can doesn't mean we should?" I know that is from Jurassic Park but it is applicable. Art should show the terrible or beautiful scene of what would happen if we continue along a certain political, scientific, sociological, or belief path. Art can encourage and discourage and the what ifs are important to see and hear.  The artist should play the part of a PROPHET or SEER. The artist should be a futurist. We can see where people can be, we can speak hope into lives, we can see where things are now and the potential of the good that can become. We, the artists, can portray that good. If people don't have a vision of what they are trying to reach, then they die. They either give up and become complacent or they make an island full of dinosaurs that will only end badly.  Tell the story, paint the pictur...

Why is the past important? This is the question at the core of any advocacy or integrity argument. The response is nuanced and varied. So as an archaeologist I do fancy myself a storyteller. Context. Something we value in excavation. What is the context of a fact? You find one pottery sherd and it is like one brush stroke in a greater painting or one word in a larger story.What is the whole story? What is the context of the artifact, the context of the data collected, or the context in the stratigrahy of a multi-layered site.  Context. What is the context in the greater story of humanity? I do not live in a vaccum. There are people that have been here before me and people that will come along after me. Learning and discovering and respecting the greater story of the land I come from is important. We need to know where things fit and the details of the greater story of humanity. We human beings should want to know that story. We should want to know the streams of that story. The bigger...

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This invisible car project is great. First of all its a brilliant idea. As a SF geek I appreciate the whole desire of creating tech for invisibility. Pardon the pun but this piece gives great vision for invisibility. That is one of the things any work of art should do. Art should be visionary and give vision to the engineers and politicians and policy makers and business folks. The artist should be the dreamer. The artist is the thought pioneer that blazes the trail for the engineer to follow. That is what Sara Watson has done. She made a car invisible, not through slight of hand, or any trick, but through vision and hard work. You can't tell me that was easy. I just simply want to say kudos to you Sara. Well done.

What is church? Why bother going? What does that even mean to "go to church?" The question implies that we belong because we go to a location. Should we not belong because we are connected socially, emotionally, and spiritually to other Christ followers regardless of whether we meet in a location regularly? Now, don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely healthy and necessary to be part of a local group of Christ followers. It is the why and the how that we need to chew on for ourselves. I am advocating for gathering of believers not their abolishments. Without going into the content of an earlier blog (see archives), we are supposed to be part of the Body and if we ever say “we don’t need you” it is a symptom of deeper sickness. There are all kinds of church. Believers who meet in a cathedral, coffee shop, bar, hotel room, or living room all feel part of a church. Its not about three fast songs, two slow, offering, and a sermon. Or song 146 in hymnal followed by keeniling and pra...

It is amazing what is happening these days as technology and arts merge and fuel each other. How many of us geeks are also artists at heart? I think this is definitely a discussion we as artists need to have. Not only we artists but engineers and computer programmers, and all of us. It comes back to the fact that art is not created in a vacuum but by groups. Perhaps the artist creates a piece but the reality the artist is influenced by many and that includes the engineer. The cool thing is the possibilities this creates. So many more people can create music, or movies, or photos that actually get a chance to be seen by people. Technology has increased the ability to create and display and appreciate many forms of artistic expression. Those artists that are particularly steeped in technology portray hope or caution us if nothing changes. They are the prophets that actually let us see the future. Even sites like io9 consistently post articles that showcase the possibilities new technolog...

So I have been looking for a house to buy. I have even looked at some heritage homes. But man, that is a whole crazy kettle of fish. As I kept researching heritage properties in Atlantic Canada and the subsequent committees, guidelines, by-laws, and apparent etiquette of owning one of these homes, I realized that once again there was a glaring implicit statement here. Our only heritage and heritage of worth are structures that currently exist . Some may argue but I say the proof is in the pudding my friends. http://www.heritagefredericton.org/ http://www.truro.ca/truro-heritage-visitors-309.html http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/heritage.trust/ The heritage movement in Atlantic Canada apparently excludes any kind of First Nations contribution or any early european contribution that has the poor luck of not having any aboveground evidence. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying these organizations are not doing good work, they simply aren't going far enough. How do we change it? Changing...

In the next few blogs I’m going to explore a couple of theses. They are first, every group of believers that get together is “church.” Second is “missions is the mandate of every group of believers that gathers together. That is to say, that whatever group you call yourself, wether Bible Study, Youth Group, Prayer Group, or sunday School, an integral part of the vision of that gathering needs to be some type of outward mission focus. The bigger the group the bigger the project or the more groups together the greater the vision and greater the action. I understand that I tend to talk circularly. I make several points and tell stories all as I surround a main point getting ever closer until I reach that point. Straight lines are for chumps. There are a few Bible verses key in these thoughts: where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them (Matt 18:20); All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:...

Here are a few links that have helped me: OWL is a great writing resource . Split infinitves always confound me. Discipline yourself and write that novel using this daily guide . Great for fonts ! Amazing film company, those Focus Features guys. Finally for today is the IPL . Otherwise check out your local photography guild or writers' workshop. Also, look at the homepages of your fav authors. They often have lots of good advice and are willing to give people a hand.

"nothing of archaeological importance" What about the friggin' wall? or how about the bones they found ?

It has been my experience that the amateur historical buffs like old buildings, old architecture and basically anything above ground. I have no gripe against the amateur historian types. It is because of them I found a love of archaeology. There seems to simply be less passion about anything under the ground. I just don't understand that. How did we get to the point of the pretty buildings if not on the back of the first settlements? Can you truly appreciate something unconnected? The object or action or story is part of an even longer history. It should be connected linearly in that history. Its like this. I can appreciate the design of a gear but it is way cooler when it is part of an actual watch and i can see how it all works together Why does the archaeologist have to fight the developer? Have we not gotten past this? It is still going on in my hometown. What is worse is when the archaeologist gives up the integrity of the gatekeeper to become the developers' prostitute. ...

You can quote me :) "The only true failure is quitting." jolabreeze For some reason, our human society uses primarily quantitative measurement for success and not qualitative. Failure usually means that numbers are bad (low or high depending on what is bad). I think, in part, people do this because it is easier. Easier does not mean better it just means... less effort. Also, people do it because they believe it to be objective. We all know that objectivity is the voice of reason and god. Objectivity says that if two boys love the same girl then we should cut the girl in half so each boy can have a piece. (sure this is oversimplification but this blog is about success and failure and not about subjectivity and objectivity) I think we need to (at least begin to) redefine success and failure. How many artists have never had a showing but create beautiful pieces? How many authors have seen only rejection because their work cannot be marketed well not because it isn't well c...

I have been involved in archaeology around Atlantic Canada since 1993. Though I don't have anything beyond an undergrad I have logged a lot of field time and when I started, was the youngest crew chief in the region. I have worked in the lab, participated in four excavations, and a crap load of surveys. Lately I have been delving into the photographic recording of the archeaological process and artifacts. I have also started to figure out what it means to be an advocate for archeaology and the generations before us. "If you don't learn from the past, you are doomed to repeat it." Regardless of mistakes or successes, if we don't learn and grow then we will simply become stagnant.

I know this io9 article is about shelters for the apocalypse . But I think it is a beginning for shelters for homeless people here and now. Wouldn’t that be a great exhibit. A group of artists design personal shelters. Do two copies. Sell one to raise money. Give one away to a homeless person. Even do it as an instillation piece. No more cops giving a guy a hard time but now he is art and can live there. Okay, if you haven't read the article, go back and read it now. Or at least skim it. Ready? Lets continue. Sure, there are implications and complications. How does this solve the problem? How do we as artist make sure we are not simply using someone who has no home? These are the questions we need to wrestle with. We need to be torn and broken. I think that questing process makes us better artists. This quest is active. We don't get so bogged in the question that we become inactive. The thing is, this shelter art could be a start of something. Who knows where it would go? Isn...

When did “The Church” become like “Big Oil?” You know what I mean. We say things like, “I wish ‘The Church’ would get its act together and get on with the Jesus stuff,” and “‘the Church’ needs to feed the hungry and help the poor,” or “‘The Church’ is not doing what it is supposed to.” We have turned taken the term “the Church” and put it on the same level as “big oil.” Are they both big faceless corporations bent on keeping the status quo? In the eyes of we railers against the bs bastion, it is now “the Church,” the monolith that does nothing, the corporation of christian culture, the mega marketed st*rbucks Mega-Church. The Mega-Church sounds like a Power Rangers villain. Sure, everyone wants to slag the mega-church. How can a gathering of over a thousand people be church?How can it be community? How can you connect? Its not what the early church did. I’ve travelled a bit and have attended a prominent mega-church for a time. I am sure you know it. The pastor was relieved from duty ...

I have been on 6 short term missions trips; helped set up 6 more; have 10 to 20 friends that are either currently longterm in the field or have been (and I miss them all). Added together, the time overseas is more then a year. I live for it and would like to live in one of these countries. Right now, it is not what I am to do. I’m to stay in North America and encourage people to see, feel, act—to love. Today, I am thinking that short term is anything less then 2 years. To begin this blog, I want to first put a few things on the table: all believers are part of one Body (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12); believers are to love one another and that shows our true colours (John 13:35); there is a chain of mission that is important—there are people that send and people that go and we are all important (Romans 10: 14-17). Here it is, short term missions is about connection, vision, and experience (i think all of these are part of love). First, the short term effort needs to be connected into lon...

I am writing this blog for the purposes of encouraging and teaching. It is primarily aimed at Believers and Followers of Jesus. Let's face it, there will also be some ranting going on. I read a lot. I watch movies and TV. I would rather watch a good hard R film then ever watch High School Musical or any other POS that goes on the big screen that is more money then art. I like beer and pipe tobacco. I definitely love my brothers and sisters in the Body, but like all family, we do have difficulties. Above all I love Jesus and endeavour to follow Him and be in Him and do all things through Him. Fact 1. God is amazing and all powerful . He made the universe. Let's not argue about how He did it (over what appears to be Billions of years or in six days) we will simply say He did it. Fact 2. God is intimate and personal . The creator of the universe wants to spend time with us. Fact 3. Humans are finite and personal . People suck. People who love Jesus suck. We just happen to love Jes...

Re-reading the last few posts I realize they are on the heavy side of life and art. What can I say? I do have a strong sense of responsibility and an above average sense of global scope that is not tempered by too much cynicism. I think people can make a difference and affect change. I think that more people working together to affect change have exponentially more ability then the individual. I really admire guys like Chihuly who encourage teams of artists to work together to accomplish something. It is a rare thing to have artists working together. To work well, everyone needs to be humble. One of the few other places you see artist working together is on the movie set and sometimes on the TV lot. The horror stories form these places are when an actor goes all diva or a studio exec forces a vision based on money and not on truth, beauty, and art. Personally, I would always rather work as a team then as the lone ranger. It may not be easier but it is ultimately better.

There seems to be a stream of rationale through the artist community that art is for art sake, that destruction is as creative as creation, and that we may express anything as long as it can be draped in the creative. Too often, this feels like we, the artist, abdicating responsibility. Art should not be self-centered. The point is for the piece to be viewed and experienced by others. Could one say that self-centered art is not art because, by its nature, art is other-centered? No one walks through this life without responsibility. No one walks truly alone. We are not islands to ourselves but a community or at the very least a community of communities. There are more then 6 Billion of us on this blue marble hurtling through space. There are those who have no one to speak for them; women and children trafficked as slaves for drudgery and sexual exploitation; victims of genocide like the Karen people in Burma; the disenfranchised trapped on the streets of any major city in North America...

I have realized over the past few years that practice does make perfect... or at least you get better at it. Whether you write, take pictures, snowshoe, or pray, the more you do it the better you get. Also, if you do it every day, even for just a short while, you get better. Along with this, I realize that perfect scares people and makes people a little crazy. I think in art and life it is more important to be honest then perfect. People appreciate honesty way more then perfection. Perfection seems to stop people from doing anything. It was an epiphany for me when it hit that starting something new will always be messy and that is okay. An honest mess is better then trying to attain and sustain perfection.  So to pull the two together. If you want to get better at something then try to do a little of it every day and don't be concerned with how good it looks up front. Practice honestly and you will get better as a by-product if nothing else. I went almost five years without taking ...

This is my first foray into blogging. I am not sure what this will become. It is an experiment in purposed writing and creativity. What does it mean to be an artist? A writer? A designer? A filmmaker? A teacher? A learner? A pilgrim? A pioneer? How do values and belief and personal spirituality inform what you create? And go.  Now. Start.