no, he did not lead us in another singing of the canadian national anthem... =)... this time, to make a point about the troubles / hurts that are happening in the world today, he recited (and subsequently starting rapping) the lyrics to the song "where is the love?" by the black eyed peas. this totally cracked up the whole congregation and one of the guys sitting by me was practically rolling on the ground... if you actually listen to or read the lyrics, they are pretty insightful and relate very well to his point... unfortunately, we were just laughing so hard that i think he lost the crowd...
anyway, i always have pretty mixed feelings whenever harding preaches. he is often a topic of our conversation afterwards. he is bold, brash and direct. he is not always very tactful. yet he always stands by his faith and conviction--i do admire him for that. a lot of us agree that he always challenges people with things that they don't want to hear, pushes the envelope and strikes chords that may offend. however after some thought and consideration and letting his words set in, it's often hard to disagree with anything he actually says...
still, there are times where i wish he displayed a little more tact in the way he expressed his views on various topics. no, it does not mean compromising one's faith to be politically correct. but i think we can be a little more sensitive, especially to those who may be attending the church for the first time. as a community church, i believe that we're expected to reach out to all people from different backgrounds, ethinicity, age, and lifestyles. sometimes, i think harding's preaching style can come across as heartless and unforgiving, condemning people for their past sins...
perhaps this is something that's too ambitious... i realize that it is definitely difficult to be a christian in today's world... scripture teaches you to believe in one thing, but the laws of the country say otherwise...
and so i digress...
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