Pastor John Van Sloten

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?

We had a big book release party yesterday at church.  There are so many people at New Hope who are really into this idea.  Best part of the day was the sense of community we all felt… and the cake!

The marketing rationale re: endorsements makes sense to me – use the “biggest names” first, most often, and especially on the back cover of the book.  I get it, but sometimes the most insightful or true comments never get heard.   To me, this is one of the best the book has garnered;

“Terrific!  This remarkable book is full of savvy analysis of popular culture, but its center is a bright, bold vision of a God who is speaking to us everywhere, every day, through every sense.  Van Sloten’s cry of the heart is just this: in God’s name, pay attention!” 

Rev. Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Ph.D., President and Charles W. Colson Professor of Theology,  Calvin Theological Seminary

Neal was the only one to articulate the cry of my heart.

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

Here’s a link to a CNN belief blog piece on the book. First big national story… and a good piece.    http://on.cnn.com/ddbTzZ

Just did a second interview (in three days) with CJAY92. I can’t believe how accomodating and excited they are about the book. It blows me away actually… I walk in there and for a second it felt like a church meeting, Forbes, Redd Dawg and Steve ‘the Grunt’ all happy to see me, along with the Rum guys pitching their product for  international rum day, and Tony Spoletini handing out Spolumbo’s breakfast sandwiches to us all.   Everyone got a free book and we gave a few away to listeners as well.   Here’s the link to the interview; http://bit.ly/9b3syp

Here’s a link to a live interview I had with Gerry Forbes on CJAY92 this morning (early!). This is the station that brought the Metallica sermon to Metallica’s attention years ago… a DJ spoke with Lars Ulrich, and then Lars sent a Warner Music camera crew to film the service. CJAY wants me back on Monday to talk more about the book and hand out some free copies.   http://bit.ly/ahcMdT

And here’s a link to a Calgary Sun story on the book (also from this morning)… a bit skeptical, but hey, don’t they say that all advertising in good advertizing?  Some of the “quotes” are a bit of a stretch too… the risk in someone else writing your story.    http://bit.ly/cb09xs

Exciting day.  New Hope’s mass order of 364 books arrived at the office this morning.  Amazon.com is now selling (and they are now allowing a sneak peak into the book).  And I’m doing an interview with CBC radio in half an hour and then the CJAY 92 interview tomorrow at 8:10 am.  Lots of buzz happening right now.

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.