Friday Art - Bernie Soundtrack

I received an e-mail this week letting me know that my uncle Brad Fordham, long time stalwart of the Austin roots scene, could be heard on the soundtrack to the film Bernie.  He can also be seen playing bass and singing backup in the video for "Love Lifted Me" featuring Jack Black.  Watch it at the link below:
Love Lifted Me

Update Tues.

Almost missed Tues. as I have been driving all day with my son Liam. We have the privilege of participating in the Church Planting Emphasis Week at Liberty University in Virginia. We just finished some Cracker Barrel and are about to hit the sack early in order to be ready for program that starts tomorrow.
Check back next week for details about the week.

Theology in 140 Characters

There is no shortage of short, pithy profundities tweeted and retweeted these days. It is amazing to think about how much information is available in an almost instantaneous fashion. This week I read a tweet that made me pause and think about theology in 140 characters or less.
There was a tweet, or most likely a retweet, by someone, quoting someone else who made the a statement something to the effect of "Jesus never asked for people to worship Him but to follow Him and obey Him." The point, I think, was to suggest that we really worship by how we follow and obey. At first my response was to offer an Amen of agreement. If we consider Paul's words in Romans 12:1 to offer our bodies as living sacrifices...(as) our spiritual act of worship it would seem there is biblical support as well. But after further reflection I thought back to my nerdy language study days, Matthew 14 and Jesus walking on water. I was studying Jesus' words "it is I," tracing the phrase in Greek back through Isaiah in the Septuagent (a Greek translation of the Old Testament) and eventually back to God's revelation of His name to Moses in Exodus 3:14- "I AM WHO I AM." I truly believe Jesus' language was meant as a revelation, especially as we recognize that it is in conjunction with His direct control over the elements of creation-walking on water and calming the storm. Is there any doubt as to why the disciples would immediately "worship" Jesus and declare Him to be "God's Son." Surely these events were orchestrated by Jesus to provide a deeper understanding of who He was and to elicit such a response of prostration, reverence and homage-worship. Jesus did not ask for worship in so many words, but it is an underlying theme here. The problem with this understanding from scripture is that it is not easily simplified to a pithy 140 characters.
It is not that the above mentioned tweet was wrong, not in the least, it was just not full enough. Nor could I ever say anything against the individual who was quoted, having not been there when he spoke, I have no idea what he said in full, nor his full understanding of worship. We must be careful, however, when communicating in this medium that we not reduce theology to an anemic state. The concern is magnified when we consider our egos, and the temptation to tweet to be retweeted and be noticed.
When it comes to theology, I am just not sure that it can be reduced to 140 character or less.

Friday Art - Upcoming Gig

Mark your calendars because you don't want to miss the Nzule Exhibit hosted by Hamilton photographer George Qua-Enoo.  It will be an exhibit featuring work from a trip to Ghana, including photography, art, samples of food from Ghana as well as some special musical guests.  It will be held in Hamilton, at George's studio located at 270 Sherman Ave. N.  It runs Oct. 26 (8pm) and Oct. 27 (5pm). 
All proceeds will go towards supporting the needs of a local school in Ghana.

For more information visit the Facebook Event Page :  Nzule Exhibiton

I am really excited to announce that I will be performing at the exhibit, along with my brother for two sets at 5pm and 6pm on October 27th.  This will mark the first time that I have performed with my brother for a number of years and I am looking forward to the opportunity.  My brother Brandon is fresh off a number of very successful gigs, both solo and with the band Elastocitizens, at the Toronto International Film Festival in conjunction with the film Picture Day.  Since we last performed together he has also had successful runs in the Toronto productions of Mel Brook's The Producers (Carmen Ghia), and Andrew Lloyd Weber's Boys in the Photograph (Del).  He has also just finished recording a solo EP which should be released soon.  These, of course, are only some of the musical credits and don't include the acting ones (acting is actually his day job!).  Even with these recent credits I am sure that playing with his big brother, who taught him everything about music and being cool, will be a highlight of his resume.

Update Tuesday - Thanksgiving

This past weekend marked Canadian Thanksgiving.  Let me take a moment to thank all of you who have, and continue to support our ministry here in Hamilton in so many ways.   We are truly grateful for each one of you who faithfully supports and prays for us.
I am looking forward to spending some time with a few key folks in our Fellowship this week as we continue some strategic planning that was begun last week.  It will be fun to focus in on some discipleship ideas and some evangelism ideas that we hope to concentrate on for 2013.
We will also be starting to look at budgeting for 2013 in the near future and so if you think that you might be interested in financially supporting the ministry for 2013 then I would love to chat with you.  Send me an e-mail and we can go from there.      

Friday Art-New Painting

Here is the most recent painting I finished. This wall and door can be found in Hamilton on Walnut St. Just north of King.

Update Tuesday

Well, we had another great Love Loud event within the downtown core this past Sunday.  It was great to see so many of our people getting involved, to meet and serve so many of our neighbours and to see the positive response from those who were intrigued by what we were doing. 

The last few weeks have been pretty challenging for our family.  We continue to attempt to navigate a situation with our oldest son who is suffering from some psychological and neurological issues compounded by his PDD (which is a form of autism).  He continues to be in hospital (it has been almost a month now) which is not ideal, while everyone involved tries to find a program that will meet his particular needs.  There is a lot of uncertainly about the future at this point.  It has been a very emotionally draining time and, although the rest of the family have been real troopers, there is no denying that the ongoing uncertainty is taking a toll.  I would ask for your prayers for Kim and the kids as this ongoing situation continues, for Daniel and for all who are involved in his care.