Pastor John Van Sloten

I just got my first official report on sales for  The Day Metallica Came to Church…  and it was disappointing.  It’s not the lack of potential revenue for New Hope Church that bothers me (although I was hoping for some kind of rationale to allow me to spend time on a second book).  And I don’t think it’s a problem with my pride (although who can really be honest about their own ego).  What bothers me most is that the idea isn’t catching on the way I hoped and dreamed it might.  And maybe it’s too soon to make any calls in that regard.  I understand that.  But still disappointment lingers.  I know that God’s timing is not our timing.  And I still believe with all my heart, that the idea of co-illumination is an important one.  And I realize that I am an impatient man.  So then I’ll wait… and try not to catastrophize.   It’s still a good idea, what’s happening on the ground at New Hope is real, God has all kinds of ways of affirming the work of his hands, you may still write another book John… so just relax and trust. 

This morning, immediately after I read the sales report email, my son Edward’s cab arrived – to pick him up for his day program.  As a  Sikh taxi driver stood waiting at the end of our walkway, an elderly woman walked by him on the sidewalk.  I can still see them both… and feel the truth in what I saw.  Often I wonder who those cab drivers are.  You hear stories about how experienced and well educated  immigrants end up driving taxis… is this guy one of them… making the hard employment choice for the sake of his children’s future?  And the older woman, well I recognized her!  She’s Coleen, the one who delivered flyers in our neighbourhood for years. I wrote about her once, about her dignity, strength and work ethic.  Seeing those two hard working people together I remembered again the privilege I have to do what I do.  And how truly good things are.  And how ‘just right’ the job I’ve been given is.  I’ll keep working at it!

Now finished, ready to download for free – http://ow.ly/2WwOr

For the past few months I’ve been working on a study guide for the book; a companion booklet with questions for every chapter, and an exercise for application of the core idea of that chapter.  (I say that “I” have been working on it, but really a friend/teacher/fellow New Hoper named Zaak did most of the work – drafting questions based on his experience in a small group that went through the book, chapter by chapter, earlier this year. )   Full disclosure aside, I’m wondering if this kind of a thing would be of value to book readers.  Do people still do this kind of thing?  Let me know.   And if you have any better ideas…    Here are the first round of questions we’ve developed for chapter one…

Chapter 1 – The Day Metallica Came to Church

1. How would growing up in a Christian church impact your openness to the idea of God speaking through a band like Metallica?  If you didn’t go to church would you see things differently?
2. In your experience, have you ever been surprised by a seemingly spiritual truth that came from outside the church? Describe that experience. Did that truth encounter draw you closer to God?
3. Do you feel wary about looking for God in unconventional places? How do you know when it’s the right or wrong thing to do?
4. If the truths about justice, denouncing hypocrisy and forgiveness found in Metallica’s lyrics are already in the Bible, why bother recognizing them in the band’s songs, especially given the fact that many people would object to the band’s overall lifestyle.
5. Can you think of reasons why God would choose to speak to people through means other than the Bible or the church?
6. Theologian John Calvin wrote, “If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole fountain of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God.” What motivates us to “despise wherever it shall appear,” or “reject” something as being unworthy of bearing God’s truth?
7. What process brought the author to the point where he was able to recognize God’s voice in Metallica? Do you think the same thing could happen in the realm of online gaming, the import/export business, slasher movies, or tattoo parlours?
8. Why would a church embracing the messages of Metallica’s songs draw so much attention?

A news story on the book made the Globe & Mail, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal, METRO, and more this morning. Fun stuff. Here’s the article as it was found in the Metro – http://ow.ly/2BJGB

Pretty exciting. I’ve got a couple of media interviews set up. Hopefully the one I did with CNN’s Belief blog will run this week. I have no idea how all of this is going to play out… and at least for now, I feel very comfortable with that.

It feels like the calm before the storm right now.  The book will be officially released on August 10th and right now I’m interacting with several people from my publisher, the marketing person they’ve hired, a PR company, and a social media marketing firm.   Already I’ve broken one of my cardinal rules, and made myself available while on holiday in July (for half of my holiday anyway!)  And when I get back I’m not sure what to expect…  August is usually a month where I preach an old (but renewed in fantastically listenable ways) sermon series and have a lot of extra time to prep for the year ahead.   Not sure if things are going to play out that way this summer.  Both exciting and concerning.

Monday, a member of our church community connects me to Leonard Sweet (big time author) saying he’s really interested in reading my book (he’s got a book on the same topic coming out in August as well).  I send Sweet a digital copy and two days later I get this wonderful endorsement.  Tuesday, I need to write an article on finding God in the Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey team, and on a hunch, send an email to Globe and Mail sports writer Roy MacGregor, asking if he’d help me research/write my sermon.  He says yes, and then three hours later, after a bit of back and forth emailing, I have my article done.  I want to craft it into an editorial and see if the Globe or maybe the Vancouver Sun will run it.  Thursday I sent an email to a US Christian college dean in response to an article he’d written, offerning to send him a copy of my book (his article expressed a need that I thought the thesis of the book might address).   I felt a bit goofy sending the email to tell you the truth – not everyone needs to read my book!   This morning he got back to me, saying he’d just gotten out of a chapel at his school where a biology professor said the exact same thing I’d written in my email.  An hour later he sent me a second note saying that he’d read the first two chapters and felt a lot of the same things I’d written about through the life of HIS son with Down syndrome.   I lost it when I read his note.  What a week.

There was a point on my ride back along hwy #8 where the conditions were perfect. I was cycling full tilt at the exact speed of a Chinook tailwind- 50ish km/h. There were no cars around and I could hear the wind whistling through the dried grass in the ditch…

There was something about the speed alignment that made the moment magical. And I must have been in it for 3 or 4 km. It felt great, and I imagined it as analogous to my life. Right now things are just hard work. I need to bear down and finish the final two chapters of this book while continuing to work hard at my day job at the church.

Life right now feels like the 25 kilometers of head wind I endured on the way out this morning – averaging 11km/h. But I’ve learned how to respond in times like this. Head down, slow down, stay within yourself and keep peddling.

I’m very excited to finish this book. I keep getting the sense that God is all over it. In creating the story in the first place. And even in it’s re-writing. Thursday night I fell asleep thinking a chapter was going to be removed from the book. I woke up Friday and told Fran that I thought that needed to happen. She told me to wait on feedback from the publisher. I checked my email an hour later and my editors strongly suggested the removal of that chapter. It was like the blow was being softened. God nudged and pre-convinced me.

I can hardly wait to see where this thing goes.

“It’s a sacred thing that’s happening; the crisis is opening people’s minds.” (Brazillian Prime Minister Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, at the G20 meeting yesterday). I just came back from a dual purpose trip to the States…

First I met with my publisher. That went well. We decided to rewrite a few chapters and work the book even more… “we want a home run” my editor said. I’m daunted and excited about putting the work in to make that happen. We need to have all the writing done by Christmas, book printed by March, then sent out for critique/pre-marketing, and then formal release in the fall.

Second I attended a denominational/church board meeting. I heard the word crisis many times. What’s hit the world has hit the church. And this is a huge time of opportunity. What the Brazilian PM said about the sacredness of this time I’ve been hearing all week. And its not just words. Church agencies that used to operate quite independently are now leaning into one another, holding each other. People seem to be open to new and radical ideas. Crisis is the mother of invention.

This morning I woke up with the distinct sense that now is a great time for the book to be released. There is a huge openness to new ideas in the church, and in the world. The thought of this makes me very excited.

Well, it took me 19 days to rewrite/edit the book. I have never worked more intensely than I have over these two and a half weeks. Not physically – I barely moved – but mentally I pushed myself hard. It’s been both exhausting and exhilarating…

And now this phase is done. I had to call home just to share the news with someone I loved. Now the tougher part. I have to try and read my own book. How do you do that when you’re so close to the text? I don’t even know if it’s possible. I’m going away with Fran for the weekend. Maybe that will help.

Well, it’s almost been a week of writing. And things have gone spectacularly well. I’ve re-written four chapters so far; better progress than expected. The surroundings here at Kingsfold are very inspiring, and I’ve even gotten two bike rides and a whole bunch of photography in. A typical day…

…begins with me waking up at 5:30 am, this morning I awoke with the first line of the next chapter fully articulated in my mind. Barely able to open my eyes, I knew exactly what to say; how great is that. After dressing I headed over to the kitchen to brew a coffee, then I walked over to a building called the Greenhouse – great chairs with a mountain view – and as I’m making my way over all I can hear are birds singing, and the water from the Ghost River flowing in the valley below. When I get to the Greenhouse I make a small fire in the pot bellied stove, plug in my laptop, and usually listen to a song or two. Yesterday, it was a Mendelssohn tune that sang about finding God’s strength by lifting your eyes to the mountains. As this beautiful aria is playing out, I’m watching the sun rise on a few of those mountains. Needless to say, it gets the creative juices flowing.
Then I write until breakfast at 8:00 am, and then work again until 12:30, then take a break for a few hours before slipping some more time in. It’s quite draining but very fulfilling. I can’t believe I get to do this.