Blog Entries

First Friday March 2010 - The Values Experiment: Everyone has a price.

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

It’s been said that everyone has a price. Great or small, this ‘price’ inherently slots us in categories, reveals our biases and ultimately exposes our values. For example, this Harvard lecture (video below) details the story of when automaker Ford is faced with the realization that it would be cost effective to pay off settlements to the injured or the families of fatally wounded customers than to recall defective automobiles. It sounds creepy, but we all make similar choices on a daily bas [...]

March 2010 Forecast – (GODISNOWHERE)

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Recently there has been a resurgence in popular media in what some call ‘The God Debate’. Most thinking falls into one of two categories: Either ‘God Is Now Here’ or ‘God Is Nowhere’. In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul is wading through the same waters and its from there that we’ll be taking our lead this next month. Our aim will be to exegete the anti-God vibe that exists in our culture not in an atta [...]

Handles Feb 2010 Roundup

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

If Scripture is a means of God’s self revelation, then understanding it (on its terms and not ours) is of primary importance. Grabbing it by the right handle (literal parts as literal, figurative as figurative, historical as historical etc.) not only bring life to the reader, but also protects the text from saying, and humanity from doing, things that were never meant to be said or done. Understanding that the Scriptures are being co-authored – that its God’s story told through human lives and m [...]

FORECAST - HANDLES

joe@thestory.ca — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

From whisper to print then back to whisper. Living and life giving, the Scriptures are a collection of images, a series of revealing finger prints that tell of the Divine Mystery. But this isn’t the kind of mystery that is to be solved, instead, it’s a mystery that permeates all, revealing and inviting humanity into God’s staggering care for the world.

Open to interpretation, but bound to community, the Bible transcends language and context to become an experience. Tragedy, comedy, f [...]

ROUND-UP - DISLOCATED

joe@thestory.ca — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Jeremiah 29:4-14 tells an old story that intersects with our present day story. Israel’s elite were in exile, God’s divine relocation program. We too can find ourselves in places of physical, emotional or spiritual exile. Dislocated from where we feel at home, removed (sometimes by choice, other times by force) from where we really want to be. Yet for whatever reason, God allows or sees fit for us to walk through these seasons of discomfort. Most often, its in these times that God gets our at [...]

Interview with Joe

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Joe was interview for a series that Royal View Church is doing in London.

January Forecast: “Dis-Located”

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Wrong place at the wrong time. It’s unavoidable, but most if not all, of us have been there at one time or another. Feelings of powerlessness, second-guessing and ‘what if’s’ dominate our minds as we cobble together a method of escape. Things are out of place. We’ve been Dis-Located, and it hurts. Israel knew this pain well. Better known as exile [...]

“Expecting” Forecast

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

When the teenage girl missed her period, all the world could do was wait.

Advent is the season of active waiting for Christ’s arrival. We intentionally relive and remind ourselves so as to not forget. We bare ourselves to the good news of the coming arrival permitting it re-order our lives and communities.

While there is an expectation for t [...]

"Rhythms" Round-Up

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Being in sync with God is less like stringently following a playbook of do’s and don’ts and more like humming that tune that’s stuck in your head and allowing it to put a directional spring in your step. That spring leads us in the direction of sacred rhythms…rhythms of grace, awareness, surrender and peace. Conversely, modern society cultivates and infects us with its violent rhythms…rhythms of production (you’re only as valuable as what you can do [...]

Forecast: “Rhythms”

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Life is a dance: An improvisational, unscripted work of art set to sound and tempo. When Creator and creation are in tune and step the display is magical. Love and hope, pain and grief are key changes taken in stride. All of life harmonizes in a ode to joy.

This is made possible only because art, at its best, is not measured by a score or a judge. Value cannot be attached because calculators don’t go that high. And even if they could, it wouldn’t matter, because that’s not the point.< [...]

Intersections Roundup

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The tension between doubt - hope - questions - faith is a very Christian one. Unfortunately, the latest breed of Christianity (in fear) has tried to snuff this tension out. Our inherited enlightenment sensibilities have no room for mystery, dialogue or pain, thus any talk about Heaven and Hell intersecting on planet earth makes for less than thoughtful conversation.

Our default (over the last hundr [...]

subPlot: Rita Silvestri

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Forecasting October 2009 - "Intersections"

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

In the words of a distressed George Costanza, from a now famous Seinfeld episode, "World's are colliding Jerry!" Who knew such a profound theological statement could come from a 90's sitcom?

Worlds are colliding - Heaven and Earth; Hell and Earth. Daily. Each realm leaves its mark on our planet, and as humans we become t [...]

Collected & Told Round Up

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

In September of 2009 we discussed what theStory is all about. Call them values, distinctives, or whatever, these are the broad strokes that both shape and empower our community.

Rooted: That God's story (the alternative story to the empire that we find ourselves in) takes root in us and we in turn root wherever we find ourselves.

Tabled: That we are assured a place at God's table and in turn our hope is to be referred to as Jesus was, ‘drinking and eating, a glutton and a drunkard, a [...]

Forecasting September 2009: "Collected & Told"

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

C.S. Lewis once said that what the church needs is not better arguments, but better metaphors. As we revisit and refresh our values this month, our aim will be to capture through image and metaphor a sense of purpose and direction that will not only frame our learning over the next twelve months, but also influence the trajectory of our community.

&nbs [...]

Summer 2009 Details

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We're doing things a little different this summer with theStory. For starters we aren't doing services every week. Instead we thought we would split some of our gatherings up on Sundays and spread you all out across the city in each other's homes.

See what home you are going to here.

We also have a big camping trip planned for everyone (families included). You can find all the details for that here.

The Summer Schedule is as follow.

JUNE

5-7 - Artwalk
14 [...]

Forgive and Forget Remember Round Up

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We concluded our series on the parables this month looking at the themes of forgiveness and grace. The crux of our exploration was remembering the grace and forgiveness extended to us by God, and in turn extending it freely to others.

It's been said that we need grace when we deserv [...]

subPlot: Troy Shantz

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Uncommon Cents Round-Up

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The conversation and thought that has arisen from our "Uncommon Cents" series has been encouraging. As we've wrestled with the scriptures it seems they've put us at odds with ourselves. Facing into what Jesus said about money, possessions, stewardship and taking care of the poor forces us towards honest [...]

Tabled - Good Friday Gathering 2009

nathancolquhoun@gmail.com — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Below you'll find some images and the original liturgy written for, and experienced at theStory this past Good Friday. Check it out, relive the moments, share it, take your place at the Table.

Download Tabled, Easter Friday Powerpoint | PPT
Download [...]