e-zine for July 28, 2006
Spiritual Journey of Truth: A Progressive Christian Speaks Out

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth." Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path." For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

A Journey of Truth
By Ian Lawton

I became a Christian for the first time when I was 12. It was the night of a Billy Graham crusade, and the flurry of positive energy at the Randwick Racetrack overwhelmed me. A counsellor set me up with some daily Bible reading aides. Every night I read the notes, read the Bible passage and said some prayers. It lasted for 2 months, but it was good while it lasted.

Like anyone, at any age, I was looking for ways to make life more meaningful. At age 12, devotion to a "grandfatherly God" gave me a structure around which to express something deep within. It added meaning to my life. It might seem limiting to me now, but at the time it was just right.

When I became a Christian at age 18, it was different. This was the Dr. Phil "tell it like it is" God of morality, who convicted me of the meaningless of my ways. It happened at a Christian rock concert. I got all choked up about my insecurities and felt awful, but the next day was a different story. I was sitting at breakfast, feeling different, when my sister walked into the room and said "What happened to you? You seem different." I didn't know how she knew, but she was right. Again, my belief gave me a focus to express something profound, and once it was released so was I.

This was the first day of a golden period in my life. I came out of my shell, burst forth into a fuller potential, discovered a love for life. An evangelical church was what best captured this energy and gave it structure. So I threw myself into this evangelical church, and it set up my passion for church ministry. Again, the evangelical ideology seems limiting to me now, but was just right for then.

Over the next 8 years, my mind was active. I was reading Liberation Theology and hanging out with street people. It wasn't so much that this clashed with my evangelical ideology, it just broadened my consciousness. My imagination was captured by the God who championed the oppressed. I had a head of activist steam and many unanswered questions about the God of my youth.

At age 26, I became a post-theistic Christian. In this process, the grandfatherly God and the God of morality felt limiting to me. What had to this point filled my life with meaning, now just raised questions. Once I questioned the integrity of the interventionist God in the face of human suffering, the flood gates opened. One question led to another, questioning God led to questioning prayer, questioning miracles led to questioning Bible inerrancy. It felt like my faith was falling down all around me like a house of cards. Maybe in hindsight I would say it was more like a new foundation was being laid for a more expansive belief.

Various personal struggles left me feeling isolated from any understanding of God I had to that point held. Whether it was personal health issues or existential crises, the God of my youth seemed oddly silent. Do you know what I mean? How do you rationalize situations like the Middle East, where nations fight over land and a belief that their notion of God is supreme? For example, in the current crisis, Hezbollah means "Party of God" and Israel means "God has saved". So which God is being claimed, and for what self-serving purpose?

I could easily have walked away from Christianity at this point. So many people do walk away after making this quantum leap from God who is one thing to God who is all possibility. It's a quantum leap because once the particular and neatly defined God is transcended, life opens up. What seems a small step, opens up possibilities for living a life embraced by mystery and wonder. While life blossoms, the church often doesn't add much to this exploration of life.

I stayed in the church and was forced to find a way to maintain integrity while I sorted out my new beliefs. It was tough at times, but also exhilerating. The God beyond God, who is all and in all, was opened up to me and has never ceased to amaze me ever since. Spirit that is everything and that is in everything, life beyond life, are sufficient wonder to keep me excited on a moment to moment basis.

My sense is that people who take this type of journey hit a brick wall in the church. Having made the quantum leap, church becomes less relevant. The church of St Local Beach beckons louder on a Sunday morning, and it beckons with a call to life that resonates with the natural God.

The progressive challenge is to offer a church that is compelling to enquiring minds and hearts and has a sense of openness to life and the future. How does the Progressive church offer the equivalent of the daily Bible reading notes, without compromising the integrity of the universal mindset?

Progressive Christianity has an opportunity to offer the types of experiences that resonate with nature and life's evolution. It can offer practices in prayer that are so much more than praying to an external controlling God with a shopping list. It can offer practices that take us deeper within, to our own essence and potential. It can take us deeper into relationships, where we encounter the God between. This is the place of divine compassion. It can take us deep beyond ourselves and immerse us in an experience of God beyond God.

Progressive Christian practice can enhance our experience of life, love and mystery; within, between and beyond; responsibility, humility and wonder.

Now I become a Christian again every day in the sense that the Christian story can still surprise me, still holds meaning for me and is still the tradition of my upbringing. I can also explore a universal Christianity finding meaning in the types of ideals that are evident in all traditions. I can explore spiritual naturalism where nature and the present moment are sufficiently awe inspiring to keep me wondering at the miraculous interconnectedness of life.

Whether Christianity holds meaning for you or not, I urge you to become a human being again every day. Throw yourself fully into experiences, accept past beliefs for what they were and live with nothing to prove and nothing to fear.

Ian's Bio

Pop Culture Will Eat Itself
By Brad Vander Ark

The Commodification Of Air

On the surface, signing a contract with a major record label is a pretty good deal for the artist. The label fronts enough money to record an album, package it, distribute it, and, quite often, to tour in support of it. If the album is not a financial success, the artist is not required to reimburse the label. The problem, ironically, is when the album IS successful. Quite often, the artist ends up with very little, or nothing, to show for it.

Any idea how many albums an artist must sell in order to begin sharing in the profits with the label? I’m not sure, but I can assure you that 1 million units are not enough. In fact, when you add up worldwide album sales along with soundtrack and single sales, my former band sold over 3 million units. We are still millions of dollars from breaking even.

In the late 80’s, the Recording Industry Association of America (The RIAA) was thrown into a tizzy upon the arrival of the Digital Audio Tape (DAT), developed by Sony, and capable of making an exact digital copy of recorded material from compact discs. The RIAA lobbied Congress for several years, and finally convinced them to amend the Copyright Act to include digital media. This was known as the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. Never mind the fact that DAT tapes had not caught on at all with the general public by that time, and have since become obsolete. The record labels were satisfied with allowing people to record music from the radio, or copy compact discs, as long as they were not distributed to anyone else.

Fast forward to the present time, when anyone with a computer and an internet connection can download virtually any song directly to their iPod, be it a legal purchase or illegal “share”. The argument for protecting the recording of copyrighted material has essentially become a moot point. The question now is downloading and distributing. And so there have been laws established regarding the distribution of downloaded music via iPods or other mp3 units.

XM Satellite Radio has made available a new service to subscribers, which allows them to copy and save a limited number of songs on their new “Inno” receiver units, and listen to them at their own leisure. It is impossible, however, for the copies to be distributed to other units. How is this different than listening to your favorite radio station and recording songs onto a cassette tape, which is allowed under law? It would seem that there is less chance of copyright infringement when copying to a digital receiver than to a cassette or compact disc, since one would be much more likely to give away a CD or cassette, rather than the digital unit that they paid $400 for, plus a $20.00 monthly subscription contract fee. The RIAA, however, claims that XM is applying the Home Recording Act rules to a device that should be controlled in the same way that mp3 players are, and have filed a lawsuit against XM, seeking $150,000 for every song that has been copied by subscribers.

I believe that any rational adult can distinguish the difference between downloading songs that can be saved in multiple formats and given to others, and copying songs that can only be listened to on the unit to which they were copied. So, why is the RIAA so upset?

Record labels have no influence over what songs XM or Sirius (the other major satellite service) play or don’t play. Meanwhile, commercial radio playlists are made up of songs brought to the stations personally by label representatives. Usually, the station holds the cards, i.e., “We will play this single for you if the artist agrees to perform at our annual outdoor music festival”. Sound like payola, anyone?

In addition, no less than 73% of commercial rock radio stations in the United States are controlled by one company- Clear Channel Communications. When you consider that most station playlists consist of 30 songs, the job of the label gets that much tougher- the one arena that the RIAA controls barely allows them a foothold.

XM, meanwhile, broadcasts about 160,000 different songs per month. They are beholden to no one outside of their subscribers. What the average music fan sees as variety, the record industry sees as lost revenue- “How is the consumer going to find out about our twenty new album releases this week when they are not bombarded with the first singles released 13 times per day? And, worse yet, if they are somehow able to wade through hundreds of thousands of songs, and come across one of our artists, and like the song enough to copy it, will they then go out and buy the album?”

Unfortunately, the music business is too caught up in the business of music, and not the quality of the product. And the business is controlled by dinosaurs that still believe the only way to release a product worth listening to is one that took millions of dollars to produce. And not controlling the dissemination of the product is what is terrifying them.

The RIAA makes its money through radio airplay and sales. The artists, unless they are moving multiple millions of units, make their money through radio airplay, live performance, and sales from non-recorded merchandise. The vast majority of the artists that wrote those 160,000 songs played on XM would not lose a penny if you decided to copy one. In fact, I would dare go so far as to say that many would encourage it. It would affirm the work. And possibly cause you to buy a ticket to a performance, and maybe a t-shirt while you are there.

Brad's Bio

Resurrected: Behind the Music of The Verve Pipe

In 1996, The Verve Pipe released "Villains", their first album on the RCA Records Label. The CD went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. Then, the band seemingly disappeared...Until now.

Former bassist Brad Vander Ark presents "Resurrected", a documentary detailing the downfall of the band, his move to New York City, and on to the present, in which creative success is not measured simply by record sales and radio airplay.

The limited edition set features two DVDs, which include the film, deleted scenes, outtakes, and promotional trailer, all for just $25.00 (shipping included).

All proceeds from "Resurrected" serve as a fundraiser for C3/CCC. Check out the C3 Store for more information and to watch the trailer for the film.

Check out the C3 Store

Brian Vander Ark Live at C3/CCC

Brian Vander Ark, former lead singer of The Verve Pipe and acclaimed solo artist, joined us here at C3/CCC on July 16, 2006, performing 4 songs from his latest album, Angel, Put Your Face On.

Brian has an incredible ability of expressing his radiant human essence through his music and his performance. It was a true gift to all who were present. The gathering began with a special performance of Brian's brand new track "I Don't Want To Be A Bother" which could very well be the first pop hit with a progressive Christian edge. The gathering concluded with the passion, beauty, and depth of "The Heart That Keeps You." This incredibly moving song speaks to the inner passion and calling we are all here to recognize and give voice to.

We are so thrilled to be able to share with you a video of Brian's performance of "The Heart That Keeps You" through our website.

If you would like to purchase a DVD of the gathering featuring Brian's musical performance and an inspiring message by Ian please email allison@christ-community.net for more information.

The Center for Religion and Life Presents Margaret Wheatley

Christ Community Church and The Center for Religion and Life are honored to welcome world-renowned speaker and best-selling author Margaret Wheatley to West Michigan. Margaret Wheatley author of many books including, Leadership and the New Science, is president of The Berkana Institute, and an internationally acclaimed speaker and writer. She has been an organizational consultant and researcher since 1973 and a dedicated global citizen since her youth. Her first work was as a public school teacher and urban education administrator in New York, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea. She also has been Associate Professor of Management at the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, and Cambridge College, Massachusetts.

Wheatley draws on a variety of disciplines such as: science, history, literature, systems thinking, organizational behavior, social policy, cosmology and theology as she explores the way all great social movements have begun as simple conversations. During her time in West Michigan she will be speaking on “Turning To One Another: How Conversations Can Change The World.”

Check Out the Bulletin for this Sunday and the Bulletin Archive!

May the words of Margaret Wheatley used for this week's prayer inspire you:

We never know who we are
(This is strange isn’t it?)

Or what vows we made
or who we knew
or what we hoped for
or where we were
when the world’s dreams were seeded.

Until the day just one of us sighs a gentle longing
and we feel the change
one of us calls a name
and we all know to be there
one of us tells a dream
and we all breath life into it
one of us asks “why”
and we all know the answer
it is very strange.

We never know who we are.”

bulletin download here

^ top of page