Have you ever wondered why there have been more comic-book superhero movies showing up in the theatres than almost anything else? Are there any superheroes left to be wooed into the movies? Maybe Aquaman, or my favourite, the Flaming Carrot (yes there really is a Flaming Carrot).

“The Dark Knight” and “Ironman” were the biggest blockbusters of this past summer and the Hulk seems to have redeemed himself as well—despite his unwillingness to practice anger management. Batman, alone, has made a billion dollars since its release. Obviously superhero movies are made because they make money, but why are superhero movies watched?

Part of the attraction, I think, is simply that our society is afraid. Our culture has become a culture of fear. Fear seems to be everywhere. Listen to the news and you’ll find fear behind every story. Fear of the unknown. Fear of terrorism. Fear of global warming. Fear of job security. Fear of a failing economy. In a nutshell, we feel out of control and that scares us.

So, we want a hero that can rescue us. We want happy endings. We want to know someone is still fighting the bad guys. We want to know that, no matter how dangerous or how big the threat is, someone can still restore order. And, since no one really feels that way in real life, we go to the movies.

It has become increasingly difficult to be unaffected by the culture of fear. It surrounds us. We feel ill at ease. We worry too much. We think too much. We speculate too much and our imaginations repeatedly focus on a long list of ‘what ifs’.

Ten or fifteen years ago, we hardly ever heard of anxiety or panic disorders, but now these conditions are common, if not epidemic. I want you to think about this seriously for a moment—have you experienced some sense of fear, anxiety, or worry recently? I was afraid you’d say that!
As Christians, what do we do with all this fear? When the world seems so chaotic, dark, and dangerous what do we do?

One of my all-time favourite passages in the Old Testament is found in Isaiah 6. Isaiah writes about his commissioning as a prophet: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

King Uzziah had reigned in Israel for fifty years. By all accounts, his rule brought stability and a time of tremendous prosperity and growth. For as long as anyone could remember life had been good, but now the king was dead. For the first time in fifty year massive change was on everyone’s mind. What was going to happen? Could they weather this storm? Was life, as they knew it, over?

As you read on in Isaiah 6, the vision of God only seems to bring more anxiety to Isaiah (v. 5), but ultimately nothing can be further from the truth. Isaiah’s vision of God seated on His throne in the Temple may have shaken him to the core, but it also put everything else into perspective. King Uzziah may have died but the Eternal King was alive and well. On the one hand, life was completely different, but on the other hand nothing had changed—because God was still on His throne.

Paul, speaking of Jesus, reminds us that: “… by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17)

Is your life ruled by fear? Do your worries worry you? Is “panic” your middle name? Do bully’s kick sand in your face and steal your girl? Forget the superheroes and focus on the One who has already defeated the biggest villain of all. If Jesus is the one who is holds all things together, don’t you think He can hold you together as well?

Things can get a bit scary, that’s expected and it’s what having faith is all about, but God remains on His throne. Why not turn off the news and tune in to a clearer vision of God? Make the only secure investment there is—invest yourself in the unshakeable, unchanging, eternal plans of God.

This past summer we had a group of thirty high school kids and sponsors from LifeSpring Christian Church in Cincinnati stay with us at Keele. They came to Toronto looking for a multicultural experience and a chance to help us serve the community.

It was a wild and busy week. Many of our youth, including my kids, bonded with the Cincinnati group - so much so that they camped out with them for most of the week and lamented their leaving. It was encouraging to see the friendships and fellowship flow. It was also great to have the group help our youth with a door-to-door food drive for the local food bank. The food drive was a big success and it helped to stock the shelves of the food bank at a time when their supplies were critically low.
On the multicultural front, one of the highlights of the week was a visit to the new Hindu BAPS Swaminarayan Temple. To say the structure was impressive, inside and out, is an understatement. I’ve never seen this level of craftsmanship before—period! There are no metal supports or concrete in the complex. In fact, there is not even one nail in this enormous structure. It is made entirely of interlocking stone based on the old school temple building ways perfected in India centuries ago. Each stone was hand-carved in India and then shipped to Toronto where the entire structure was then assembled and finished by volunteers. It took 5 years and untold man-hours, not to mention $40,000,000 to complete. As you can see from the accompanying photo, the work continues even now.

Equally impressive to me were our young tour guides. I would say they were 13-15 years-old, and like any kids you’d run across in Toronto, maybe a bit better behaved, but you know what I mean, they were Canadians through and through. Yet they were also tour guides for the temple and part of the religious community represented by the temple. Their skill in explaining their culture and religion was impressive. Their style was simple, friendly, and matter of fact. It was strange, and quite frankly disturbing to hear them talk so casually about worshipping idols. At the same time, their sincerity was obvious and worthy of respect.

I particularly liked the part of the tour in which they talked about some of the Indian symbols that were carved into the various pillars throughout the temple. They explained, for example, the significance of the elephant. The elephant is powerful, but also a vegetarian, thus it stands for power in the context of non-violence. My favourite symbol was that of the lotus flower. The lotus flower grows in swamps and thus it is an image of purity and beauty growing in the midst of decay. So, the lotus is a symbol that reminds us that it is our duty to have a beautiful life in a world that is often decaying and corrupt. I realize this is a Hindu symbol but, man it preaches!

Toward the end of the tour, our guide talked about how each stone was placed and cleaned and polished by volunteers. The entire community built this impressive structure together. He showed pictures of mothers, fathers, and children, washing and tending the stonework. I couldn’t help but imagine the sense of community, belonging, and identity this sacrifice of time and effort brought to the congregation at this temple. It was a powerful testimony and reminder to me about what’s possible when people get together, work together, sacrifice together and focus together on a united dream. When that happens the results are always impressive.

I walked away from the temple with mixed feelings. There was much to admire, but much, as a follower of Christ, that disturbed me as well.

The thought that I keep coming back to, though, is simply this: What if the Church were as serious about sacrificing, serving, participating in, and uniting over the common goal of building the Kingdom of God as this group of believers were in building a Hindu temple? What if we took the same pride and care in building something that would last beyond our years. What if we were about leaving a legacy that would inspire those who come after us? What if we were just as clear in communicating in natural, simple, effective ways, the importance of our relationship with Christ? What if we all saw ourselves as a lotus of beauty in a world of decay? What could we accomplish together, with all hands polishing and cleaning? What if we were more serious about allowing God to build us into His temple? Now that is a dream worth pursuing!

“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:20-21, NLT)

I never thought I would say this but I’m getting old. I have squeaks and pops emanating from my knees. I make old man noises sometimes when I get up in the morning. I have hair where there wasn’t any before and no hair where their used to be. I don’t listen to music as loud as I used to, or maybe it is just that I can’t hear it anymore!

It is funny, though, because I’m not always conscious of my long walk into the abyss of old age. Most of the time, I feel and think and consider myself pretty much the same person I was when I was in my late-teens and early twenties. I feel hip. I am a ‘with it’ kind of guy. I may not be as up on the music of today as I once was but that’s only because today’s music isn’t any good. It has nothing to do with my ability to keep current–it’s all about taste! I can prove this to you because I have an MP3 player, so there! I am just as plugged in and unaware of the people around me as the next guy. Not only that, but I have a Facebook account, a blog, and I even podcast my sermons. I’m so cutting edge that I have to change my blades regularly!

To be honest with you, it’s only when I look in the mirror that I am most aware of the passage of time. Thankfully my eyesight is going as well, so I don’t see my face with the same kind of detail that I once did. I consider this God’s grace at work.

Now you might think that I am lamenting my launch into upper-middle-age, but I’m not. I am rather enjoying it. I feel like I have a better handle on things. I feel like I have one foot in today’s culture and one foot in the past and you know what? I like it. I like being able to look back and have some life-experience under my belt. I also like looking forward and being part of today. I like knowing that I may not be up on every new thing, but neither am I living in the past, or longing for the good-old-days. I try, as best as I can, to live for today.

I’ve been downtown a few times lately. As the image that accompanies this article illustrates, one of the things that I love about taking pictures downtown is the blending of old with new. You have the classic with the cutting-edge, the timeless with the timely. I believe the blending of these two elements work to create a stronger aesthetic overall. The power and presence of the older buildings becomes clearer when they stand alongside the new. In the same way, you can better appreciate the minimal, clean, vision of the new, when it is contrasted against the ornate of the old.

I think the same is true for the health and growth of the Church. We need to keep one foot in the past. The traditions, the richness, and the foundation of the unchangeable Gospel are essential. We need to know that we are connected to all that has happened before. We aren’t disconnected. We didn’t just come out of nowhere. We are part of the flow of God’s working. We are built on the foundation of those who came before us. The more we know and learn from our past, the greater will be our overall understanding of who we are and what we have been called to do. At the same time, we need to understand today. We need to work at becoming all things to all people, so that, by all means, some might be saved (1 Cor. 9:22). We have to find relevant, effective ways to connect with our present culture because we all have the job of being entry points to heaven in the here and now. We are shaped by our past and connected to our future, but we are expected to live out both as we represent Christ today. Our greatest witness comes from combing the old and new, who knew?