The Hip

Tonight I went with a few friends to see The Tragically Hip. They are one of my favorite bands and to top it all off they are from Canada. They are one of those bands who can sell out a 30,000 seat venue in Canada, but then they come down to the USA and they play theaters. It is great for me as it is way more intimate and I don't have to sit one mile away.

They played this song tonight that took me back to 1994 when I was working with YWAM in L.A. I remember listening to that song on my discman while working in the rain. I remeber how cold it was, how wet it was, what I was thinking and exactly where I was. It was such a wierd and vivid memory. I love when that happens, although it is a bit scary as well. The power of music is strong.

So needless to say, I had a great evening with Amy, my friends and The Tragically Hip.

Sex Trafficking

I was looking at the IJM site today and saw a link to a video that CNN did on sex trafficking. They talk about Thailand and Cambodia being among the places where the most girls are trafficked. Both of those countries are near to my heart, especially Cambodia as I am taking a team of students from my home church in Winnipeg there next month. Please take a moment and watch this short 2 minute video and pray for protection and people to help stop this injustice.
Sex Trafficking

Slavery

Today, March 25, 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the abolishment of slave trade. Wikipedia defines slavery as "people deprived of personal freedom and compelled to perform labour or services. The term also refers to the status or condition of those persons, who are treated as the property of another person or household. Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation in return for their labour. As such, slavery is one form of unfree labour."

Even though the practice of slavery was abolished 200 years ago there are more slaves today than ever before. Free The Slaves states that there are 27 million slaves in the world today. Today we are fighting against a new kind of slavery. A write up from Free The Slaves and a book entitled Disposable People by Kevin Bales defines this new kind of slavery in the following way. "Three trends have contributed most to the rise of modern slavery. The first, a recent population explosion, has tripled the amount of people in the world, with most growth taking place in the developing world. The second, rapid social and economic changes, has displaced many to urban centers and their outskirts, where people are powerless and without job security. The third, government corruption around the world, allows slavery to go unpunished, even though it is illegal everywhere. In this way millions have become vulnerable to a resurgent form of slavery. This new slavery has two prime characteristics that differentiate it from the slavery of the past: slaves today are cheap and they are disposable.

In Old Slavery, also called chattel slavery, slaves were extremely expensive to purchase and often yielded low profits for their owners. Since there was always a shortage of potential slaves, and enormous costs associated with transporting them from one continent to another, those already enslaved were considered investments and held for generations. Their health was generally maintained (at rudimentary levels) and it was of enormous importance to assert ownership over this valuable ‘property’. Slave-owners took great pains to emphasize the ethnic differences between themselves and their investment.

New Slavery turns each of these characteristics on its head. An average slave in the American South in 1850 cost the equivalent of $40,000 in today’s money; today a slave costs an average of $90. In 1850 it was difficult to capture a slave and then transport them to the US. Today, millions of economically and socially vulnerable people around the world are potential slaves. This “supply” makes slaves today cheaper than they have ever been. Since they are so cheap, slaves are no longer a major investment worth maintaining. If slaves get sick, are injured, outlive their usefulness, or become troublesome to the slaveholder, they are dumped or killed. For most slave-holders, actually owning the slave is an inconvenience since they already exert total control over the individuals labor and profits. The slave-holder cares more about these high profits than whether the holder and slave are of different ethnic backgrounds; in new slavery, profit trumps skin color. Finally, new slavery is directly connected to the global economy. As in the past, most slaves are forced to work in agriculture, mining, and prostitution. From these sectors, their exploited labor flows into the global economy, and into our lives."

So much has been done, but there is still so much left to do. This seems like a task that we cannot even touch. I would say that it is a task that we have to touch. Do something. Read a book, write a letter, say a prayer, tell someone else, or go and be a part of ending modern day slavery. Here are a few resources to look at.

Stop The Traffik
The BBC
IJM
Amazing Grace

Breathe in suffering, breathe out compassion

Tonight a few friends and I gathered together to watch the documentary Scared Sacred. It follows a Canadian's journey to all the "ground zeros" of the world. He goes to Hiroshima, The Killing Fields, an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and New York City. He goes to all of these places where terrible things happened to innocent people and tries to find the sacred in the scared. It is a beautiful picture of healing, forgiveness and hope.

One of the things that he repeatedly said was that we need to "breath in suffering and breath out compassion." This is a hard yet beautiful way to see life. To many times we encounter horrible things and we just let them pass over us and then we move on with our lives. When I went to Cambodia last year and heard and saw what happened during the reign of the Khmer Rouge it was overwhelming. Even thought it was so overwhelming I had the potential to just turn around and move on with my life, or to stop, breath in their suffering and in some way breath out compassion for these people.

The same thing can happen right here at home. We hear of people being treated unjustly, we see a lonely elderly person, we encounter homeless people on the street and the tendency is to just give a sigh and move on. What would it look like if we were to stop and breath in their suffering and breath out compassion? Would we start to look at life differently? Would we start to look at our responsibility on this earth differently? Would we be more prone to act in situations that move us? I think so. This is how I am starting to live my life and already I am seeing a difference. There is a sign on a church billboard by my house that says' will the world be a better place because you lived? I hope so.

Dominique

One of the things that I care deeply about is injustice. It is something that I have cared about for some time now, and probably have posted on before. Injustice, if you were to describe it is when someone of power takes advantage of people who don't hold as much power. This could be manifested in the injustice of human trafficking, bonded labor, unfair wages, sex trafficking, or spousal abuse. I have always wondered how I can be involved in bringing some sort of justice into these areas, but have never figured out how, until recently.

The organization that I work with in Seattle (YWAM) is very involved in the city, specifically urban ministry. For the last few years I have been involved in volunteering at different organizations, such as the homeless men’s shelter, a street feeding program and the homeless women and children’s center. I usually only help out when we are running schools or have teams in. I drive the teams down town mostly to be a representative of YWAM. I have never really enjoyed doing this kind of urban ministry. To me it seemed impersonal and I had no passion for it. This sounds bad, but it gets better and most of you reading this probably feel the same way.

This fall I brought a team of students down to the homeless women and children’s center every Wednesday evening. Something started happening inside of me the more I went. I started to see the shelter as meeting an area of injustice. The injustice was kids growing up without a father figure in their lives. Just 4 years ago my dad left my mom and started a new life away from our family. Although I was 32 years old at the time I felt the loss of my dad. Our relationship changed when he left. Our conversations became more shallow, and when they were deep it was because we were talking about the situation of him leaving. I haven’t gone to my dad for years now just to get advice, ask for money or for encouragement because of the way this has affected me. I want to get there though.

Back to my point. The reason that I have continued to go to the women and children’s center even after the school finished is because my reasons for going came out of a belief system that I have. I believe that kids should have a father and mother figure in their lives. I am not against single parents, I couldn't imagine how hard it must be to raise a child by yourself and I also don't know the situation of all single parent families. Sometimes it is healthier for a child to have only one parent if the other one is or was being abusive. I am trying to cover my bases here so as not to offend, hopefully you get where I am coming from.

I see me going to the shelter for 2 hours every Wednesday evening as an outward manifestation of what I am passionate about in my life, injustice. I want to be there for children like Dominique (pictured above), Braxton, Zoe and Ricardo as a healthy male figure they can talk to, play with, hug and wrestle. It is a small thing, but it is something.

What are you passionate about? What moves you? What do you want to see happen in the lives of others? What are you doing about it? I have said this before, and I am saying it again now, DO SOMETHING.

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' -Matthew 25:34-39

CBC Radio 3

If you're like me you are sick of the radio and hearing the same music over and over and over and over again. During this season of Lent I have been intentionally not listening to the radio, with the exception of the news and it has been great. It has pushed me to pray more, to think more and to engage more with the people in the car with me. The other think it has done is relieve me of listening to crappy music.

For a while now I have been downloading the weekly podcast of CBC Radio 3, an independant Canadian music podcast. It is so new and refreshing to hear this music. There is a part of me that thinks I like it just because I am from Canada and it is in my blood, but the other day I was talking to my friend Scott Bothell at dodgball and he loves it too. In fact, as I am writing this I am listening to a band from Edmonton called Shout Out Out Out Out and loving it. Another band that I have been enjoying is Mother Mother.

Each week CBC Radio 3 plays 60 minutes of new music. Not so much new to Canada, but to us outside of Canada. They play all sorts of music from rock, dance, techno, hip hop and country.

Anyway, just a bit of newness for those of you who are looking. I hope you go and check it out and I hope you enjoy new and creative Canadian music.

St. Particks Day

Yesterday was St. Patricks day. A day held by many as the day to get drunk and find any trace of Irish in their blood or family line that they can to justify getting drunk. For us at the Cunningham house it was a day to connect with some friends and cook some good old fasioned Irish food and drink. I was born in Belfast so I feel that I am somewhat authentic.

We had our friends Sean and Heather over as well as Gordon and his daughter Grace. I made some Irish potatoe bread, sausage rolls and Guinness beef stew. We also had some Guinness, which I hear is good for you.

The thing about St. Patricks day that most people don't know is that it is in honor of Patrick of Ireland. He is a real person, but he did not, contrary to popular belief, drive the snakes out of Ireland. Patrick was from Scotland and was a slave in Ireland. He escaped his slave owner and went home where he met and fell in love with Jesus. Feeling a draw and calling back to the people who enslaved him, he went back to Ireland to share with the Irish the message of the cross. He is credited with bringing the gospel to the Irish people. I am greafull for this man, who considered all loss for the sake of Jesus Christ. Below is the prayer of St. Patrick, it is a beautiful prayer.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through the belief in the three ness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension, through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.
I arise today Through the strength of the love of Cherubim, In obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In prayers of patriarchs, In predictions of prophets, In preaching of apostles, In faith of confessors, In innocence of holy virgins, In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today Through the strength of heaven: Light of sun, Radiance of moon, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of wind, Depth of sea,
Stability of earth, Firmness of rock.
I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me From snares of devils, From temptations of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness, Of the Creator of Creation.

World On Fire

Hockey Night In Canada

On Thursday evening the New York Islanders were playing the New York Rangers in a hockey game. Now most of you are probably not into hockey, but this story is unbelievable. Ryan Hollweg from the Rangers gave a sweet, and legal check to Chris Simon of the Islanders. Apparently Chris Simon decided that he needed to get back at Ryan so he skated over to him and basically close lined him with his stick across the face.

For this incident Chris recieved the stiffest fine and suspension in NHL history. He is suspended for the rest of the season, minimum 25 games and a maximum of 43, without pay. Based on Simon's $1 million US salary, the suspension will cost him a minimum of $80,213.90. The money forfeited goes to the NHL players' emergency assistance fund. It is sad to me that this Canadian grew up dreaming of playing hockey in the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup. It is just stupid to throw that away for revenge. Hitting is a part of the game. These guy's grew up getting hit and pushed around on the ice, it is what they do. It just makes me sick how someone can throw that all away with a revengeful stick to the face.

How many times do I do this? In writing a critisism of Chris Simon it has made me think of the times that I have turned away from all that I have lived for with Christ. I grew up in the church. I have heard all my life about sin and that Jesus came to take away our sin and give us new life in Him. St. Paul in the bible tells us that when we are in Christ the old has gone and the new has come. I know this stuff, but so often I get up after being knocked down and take my so called stick to Jesus face. Oh what a sinfull man I am. When I go against everything that I have given my life to it doesn't cost me $80,000, but it does, in some situations make Jesus look bad. Who am I to do that! Anyway, I pray that I would all the more live my life out of love, charity and justice so that I can show the true love and character of Christ through it.

Free writing

I am in Montana at the Mission Adventures theme gathering and wanted to share some stuff that is going on. So far it is going well. We took some time to connect and here from God this morning and it was encouraging what He had to say. One of the things that we did to free up our imaginations was to write for 5 minutes about anything that came to mind. Here is my 5 minutes of free writing.

Stressed! Things were fine or so I thought, then someone else realized my mistake. I wish it wasn't Lent then I could swear. Maybe it's good that it is Lent. Maybe I shouldn't be swearing. Why do I swear sometimes anyway? I think that it is funny I guess. Now I don't use the big swear words, like the bad ones, the ones you can say just by raising a finger, but I say words that would make someone blush. I don't like sin, but I do like to make people laugh. So, when Lent is over will I return to my colorfull shock value language or will my heart be changed?

I guess this shows what is in my heart. I want more of God. This is why I am taking this time of Lent to look at my heart and look at the things in my life that are not really glorifying to Him. I want to live holy, but I don't want to live under the law, I want to live under Christ. I am continually being renewed, thanks be to God.

Romans 7:23-25 (The Message)

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Leaving town again.

Tomorrow my family and I are headed out of town to Montana. Amy and I are participating in the anual Mission Adventures theme meetings. I am excited about this as it is a great time of getting together with friends and seeking God (however that looks to you) about what the theme of Mission Adventures is going to be for 2008. There is approx. 7000 youth who participate in the Mission Adventures progam in over 30 different locations world wide.

I love being a part of this as I have seen thousands of lives changed as a result of the Mission Adventures program. What is Mission Adventures? Well here is a link to it for you. I love being apart of something bigger than myself. If you have the opportunity to do or be involved in something, anything that is bigger than you I encourage you to go for it as it will change your life.

The dodgeball picture is just there cause we play dodgeball on Monday nights and the YWAM drama I was going to post is to cheesy and defeats the purpose of this post.

Where are the friends?

The other day I was in line at the customer service desk at QFC (a grocery store out here) and there were two people in front of me. The person directly in front of me was a 50+ year old lady and the person in front of her, who was at the front of the line was probably in her mid 60's. The lady at the front of the line was waiting as the agent was paying some bills for her and she turned to the lady behind her and asked if she could tell her something.

She proceeded to tell her, a total stranger by the way, that a few day's earlier she had just lost her sister, who was her best friend. She was crying and as far as I could tell had no one to talk to about her sisters death. She told her that she did not even want to leave the house, but that if she didn't then the bills would not get paid and she could be kicked out. This whole time her voice was cracking with the emotion and grief that she had in her heart.

As I stood there I asked myself a couple of things that I wanted to scream out loud. Where is this lady's family, or friends, or community? Why doesn't she have anyone to talk to besides a total stranger in line at a grocery store? What could I do? I have been thinking about this lady for the last two day's now. To be honest, I haven't prayed for her since, but have just held it to myself. It broke my heart. Now I don't know the whole story, but, I see this as an injustice. James told us in his book that true religion is to look after orphans and widows in their distress. I am not sure if this lady was an orphan or widow, but she was alone and it seemed like no one was looking after her.

Jesus, please care for this women. Please comfort her and bring people around her. Jesus, she needs you, she needs others.

Emmas Dance Party

So tonight we had Emmas dance party. It was fun. We made punch, veggies and dip, got princess cups and plates, and blew up a bunch of pink balloons and yellow streamers. Her friends Corrie, Drea, Zach and Malachi came over and from 7-8 they danced the night away. There were only a few incedents that were out of control, but nothing to serious. Abby even woke up from her sleep and was happy to dance around the living room with her sister and friends. I just wanted to give you the i-pod play list for your enjoyment.




Daniel Bedingfield- Wrap My Words Around You
David Crowder- Revolutionary Love
Ben Parsons
Def Leppard- Rock Rock Till You Drop
The Dixie Chicks- Goodbye Earl
Gomez- See The World
GRN- Welcome To The Jungle
Jack Johnson- Upside Down
Joan Jett- I Love Rock N Roll
Johnny Cash- Get Rythm
Madonna- Hung Up
Men At Work- I Come From A Land Down Under
Nena Hagens- 99 Luft Balloons
The Soggy Bottom Boy's- I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow
System Of A Down- Radio Video
Delirious- The Happy Song
U2- Vertigo

There you have it. Now make it your own favorite play list and dance away. I know it is kinda scattered, but it was good.