Milan

Got back late Sunday evening from a great weekend in Milan with the family on the back of a work trip to this cracking city.

We had the greatest time, taking in the sights, walking, walking & walking! It's a beautiful place, and the people were very gracious, coping with my fumbling almost non-existant Italian. It's amazing how far you can get with a "Grazie" a smile & a pointed finger!

Post-Roots 07 mini round up V2

Firstly, Roots was - as ever - an incredible weekend of powerful teaching, worship, seminars, hooking up with friends old and new, and good good times. I, and a number of other Sally Bloggers realised we may have missed a trick by not being more pro-active in the days before Roots to make sure we hooked up. Thankfully a lot of us did, at least in passing manage to have some face to face meets, having only previously known each other as cyber-buddies:

One of these meetings was a good hours chin wag over a White Chocolate Mocha with top fellah, Chris Hinton of Council of War.More of that, and the story of master networker Headphonaught later!

Blogging's going to be scant for a few days as I head of to Milan for work/pleasure on Wednesday...hopefully shoud be able to fill in the gaps, and update my blogroll to include those I bumped into at Roots.

Off to Roots 07

We head north this evening to the typical English seaside resort of Southport for the UK Sally Army’s Roots conference.

Should be a goodie!

Sorry we won’t be hooking up with the Headphonaught & Littlelaughalot, but I’m sure we’re in for a cracking weekend all the same.

About Roots 07:

Having decided to send a motivational telegram to his officers, so the story goes, William Booth discovered that his budget would only run to one word. The word he chose was, 'OTHERS'. ROOTS 2007 is resending this message to the movement.


Returning to our roots, we will consider what it means for our lives and our churches to be defined by others. Through worship, prayer and teaching we hope to experience the sheer otherness of the creator God. In seminars and discussions we will become better equipped to serve the last, the least and the lost.


Looking forward to hearing some great teaching from Chick Yuill as ever, hearing what Steve Chalke has to say, and hooking up with all my buddies from around the SA world.

God on Mute

Having finally hacked my way slowly through Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy, I picked up Pete Greig's latest book, God On Mute.

I'm looking forward to possibly getting some reading time during the breaks at this year's Roots Conference.

Missiome's Blurred Edge

I've really been taken by the way Missiome talks about the occasional times his Church is

...effectively...closed down for the day and we're encouraged to 'get out there' and make relationships with our friends.

...hmmnn...something to think about.

Sometimes I wonder about the way my tribe approaches Sundays, often the busiest day of my week.

I've been made to think even harder when I read some of the teaching espoused at ROCKHARBOR.

Sabbath is a weekly day of rest in which we cease from our weekly tasks and pressures in order to rest and be refilled. In fact, the term Sabbath comes from the Hebrew term shabbat, which means “to cease or rest.” Exodus 20:11 states “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” God felt so strongly about the need for a weekly day of rest that He called all of Israel to observe a Sabbath rest once a week.

On the Sabbath, we’re called not only to cease from working, but also to empty ourselves of our need to accomplish, produce, and worry about our lives for one day so that we can be refreshed and refilled. It’s a day for us to stop working towards becoming and simply focus on being. One great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us – not by becoming passive and lazy, but by giving up our feeble attempts to control our own lives and simply resting in His provision.

Scott Reports on A Way of Life

Mighty blogger, pastor & caffeine junkie, Scott Hodge has some interesting things to report about Rob Bell's recent spot at Q.

Q describes itself as

...a gathering for leaders in the church to become informed and exposed to future-culture. It is a space where select leaders can create, dialogue, collaborate, innovate, serve and ideate around the important topics shaping the church’s future role in culture.

With a line up of speakers including Rob Bell of Mars Hill, Purpose Driven's Rick Warren, Kevin Kelly of WIRED, Don Miller of Blue Like Jazz fame & lots of other big hitters ,Q was a dead cert to be a hugely exciting conference, so it's worth checking out Scott's other posts on this significant event.

Visit the site for much more info.

Anyhow, I leave Scott's breakdown of Rob Bell's slot, which as a Salvationist has some interesting things to tell us about the Eucharist:

EU (Good)
CHARIS (Gift/Grace)
EUCHARIST

The Eucharist is usually thought of as a ritual in which we acknowledge and reflect on this good gift of God. It's seen as a "thing" you do... But what if the Eucharist were to become a whole way of life?

A leader's life is an endless process of constantly being broken and poured out.

The Eucharist is not just a ritual - it is a whole way of life.

A church is invited to be a Eucharist to its community - broken and poured out...

The church is the only organization that exists for the benefits of it's non-members.

Does the church exist for its own ego or as a good gift for the world?

Luke 22:18 - "Do this in remembrance of me."

What if Jesus was using this in a broader sense of saying, "Do this (what you see ME DOING) in remembrance of me?" ...an invitation to be a living eucharist for the world we live in.

Too often, we try to reproduce another church's Eucharist without being broken or poured out. The reason it worked there in the first place was because SOMEONE poured out. So we need to ask the question: What does it mean for me to be a Eucharist to these people (in our communities/culture) here and now?

A question they have been asking at Mars Hill: If our church was removed from our community, who would protest?

What does it mean to be a "good gift" to our community?

There is always a cost... If Eucharist is "pouring out" you must allow time to pour back in.

Where are you in the Eucharist rhythm?

Keep checking Scott's blog. It's consistantly challenging, interesting & engaging.

Thanks, once again, Scott!

Moleskine Drive

Now, I know how many of you guys are completely in love with all that is Moleskine.

Check out this weird little mashup at WIRED

Neneh & Andi

Frustrated at not being able to see the Chelsea/Liverpool game on terrestrial TV or Freeview, I was forced to do some channel surfing, and discovered a little funky gem of a food show, Neneh and Andi Dish It Up

Maybe they don't have the credentials of the mighty Jamie, but the food looked good, the soundtrack was rockin' and the ladeez were cool presenters.

Liked the kitchen set too, described on the site as Mexican-cum-Cuban-cum-West Indian.

What year are we in?

Hat tip to Yucan Chiu, who’s post directed me towards this staggering news piece from CNN.Read it & weep.

Living for most of my adult life in and around multicultural South London, working in a thoroughly diverse environment, and as a white guy married to a black woman, this article is a shock to the system. It’s really hard to compute.

Yucan Chiu founded Ethnos with his wife Yen-Yen in San Diego, CA, in 2003, as a Church reaching their community in all it’s ethnic diversity.

This is what they say they are all about.

Ethnos is a community aspiring to:
• Love our multicultural God and neighbor
• Grow into the likeness of Jesus
• Serve those in our community, especially those who are oppressed and hurting
• Witness to the person and work of Jesus, the Savior of all peoples

Thanks, Yucan, for bringing this to my attention, and thanks for the good work you seem to be doing there in your community.

Peace & Blessings

J

Supper Clubbers

I finally made my first Supper Club last night, and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, even if I struggled to keep up with the knowledge & speed of thought of the participants in the discussion.

TheRubicon rather grandly describes the Supper Club as

… an eclectic group of thinking individuals who are either active Salvation Army members or with some connection and/or history with the movement. “Contemplative activists”, might be a good description of the group.

I guess I struggle with that description of myself, but it was really good to meet together with each one of these guys, who were captivating company, and hugely welcoming. My brain got a work out in the process.

Good too, to spend some time with some folks I have the absolute highest regard, nay love, for; some folks who are deeply loved by other buddies of mine, some of the bloggers I read regularly (Gordon & Nick), and some(Tim & Lucy) who are about to get added to the johnnylaird blogroll.

Looking forward to sharing a journey with the Supper Clubbers!

My beauties!

I had the chance to spend some real quality time with my kids this weekend, as Janet was away for the w/end at a conference. Sometimes I just can't take on board how blessed I am to have these two wonderful bundles of joy to keep me on my toes. They are so full of life - such funny little characters, who make me break open into a wide smile if I as much as think of them.

Some words of Jesus, from the Gospel of Matthew, as per The Message:

"I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.

British Invasion

My good buddy, Lard, and his lovely family are heading Stateside.

You can read his breaking news post here:

Lloyd AKA Lard is a top geezer - a severely talented graphics, webby, arty kind of dude, who's heading to Florida later in the year to work with uber-hip mag, Relevant.

We'll miss you guys when you go, but who can resist Florida? You won't be needing those wellies!

Thoughts of a Student Midwife

Say "hi" to another Croydon Citadel blogger, at The Thoughts of a Student Midwife".

Ali is sister of Emergency Man, and sister-in-law to Anita.

Her blog is going to focus on her soon to be starting adventure as a Student Midwife.

...should be interesting.

VW Dreams

I’m lovin’ this little “idle away a few minutes” site, which is going some way to satisfy my current craving to buy a VW bus.

Truth is, it’s probably unlikely to happen, but there’s something really captivating about the notion of filling up a VW camper with Jan & the kids, a bunch of cool camping accessories and heading off into the sunset….even if it’s only a weekend at a time.

There have been days when we’ve taken a trip in the Touran, stopped to eat our sandwiches - still all tucked away inside the car – and it’s felt like the best place in the word. All because all four of us are squeezed into such a small intimate space.

The VW bus may happen, it may not….but one can dream

Traffic

Danielle Strickland(who’s becoming a favo(u)rite blogger of mine) at Armybarmy REMIX posts here about Human Trafficking and The Salvation Army.

Here’s what she says

Just thinking outloud. We MUST get busy. I'm tired of talking. The early Army used to arrange busts by 50 or so Salvationists in uniform rushing into a brothel, putting women in the middle of the crowd and escorting them to private homes to be cared for as long as needed. Are we ready?

Good to see the positive response in the Comments from TheCCat.

Sometimes there’s good stuff happening under the radar.

VT

...you have my prayers...

Macy

I love this quote from William H Macy, star of current US smash Wild Hogs

The Weekend Guardian's TV Guide supplement has a Q&A feature on the inside back cover. The questions are Song Titles, popular phrases etc. Here's Macy's "A" to the What Would Jesus Do? "Q":

...in this day and age of religious wackos taking over the world I do love quoting Jesus and reading some of the things he said in the Bible. Because it's so disarming, so simple, so true. It cannot be argued with. "Let he who is without sin..." Oh man.

Oh man, indeed, William.

Zumba!

My sister-in-law, Evelyn has just become a Zumba instructor.

She is one driven lady who I’m proud to call my sister!

You go, girl!

When I married Janet, I got a huge added bonus because I got a new family into the bargain. I’ve been completely embraced by them, and it’s just a joy to share life with them – even though we’re separated by the mighty Atlantic. In a few short years we’ve shared so many fantastic times - I’ve loved the experience of being an Uncle for the first time in my life – I have a brother & sister who I love & respect beyond measure – my world has expanded farther than I ever imagined.

I am blessed!

Thank you Jesus.

What a talent!

Sometimes I think my blog doesn't share enough about my life with my wife Jan, Mia & Noah - pics are few and far between, anecdotal stuff about daily life is limited, and there are no funky vids a la Ragamuffin Soul.

I guess I was struggling with material, so now I'm relieved to discover a source of cool pics. Here's Mia's pic of her little brother - one of the first set of pics taken on her Fisher Price digital camera.

What a talent!

Akram Khan

I was channel surfing last week – my short attention span means I’m a chronic remote tapper – when I had something of an aesthetic epiphany. I stumbled on to the Asian Arts program Desi DNA and saw a piece on Akram Khan, London-born Kathak performer & choreographer.

This guy is seriously talented, and I’m sure he’s a big noise in the world of dance (which I know next to nothing about).

Despite my ignorance, I was completely knocked out by his work.

The featured piece zero degrees displayed some incredible dance and vocal interplay where Kahn, and his collaborator on this , Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, mirrored each other's speech patterns, body language and movement with astonishing accuracy. Every pause, hand movement…breath was just locked in.

Incredible stuff.

Next time I hear of a show in London, Jan & I will have to try & make it.

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

re JIG

I figured it’s time to have a re-jig of the blogroll.

Here are the “innies”

jonestribe – I stumbled across this blog quite by accident, and really enjoyed the content. So, I continue to revisit it. You should too. Steve Jones describes himself as a

dad, husband, coach, trainer, speaker, church planting addict, new media geek, lifelong learner.

I promised to add Steve to my blogroll, so here goes

ARMYBARMY Remix – Danielle Strickland is a Salvation Army officer, an inspirational preacher, writer who specializes in mission and incarnation to conferences and youth and women. Her blog is thought provoking, and should be especially riveting and she and her husband Steve Court make the move from Canada to Australia.

And here are the “outies”

Brian Orme

He provides the Q&A in his final(if he’s really kicked the blogging habit) post:

Why did you decide to stop?
Great question. Really, it’s a number of things. But, most of all I want to delve into other creative projects and I feel my time is getting crunched. Not to mention that it’s hard for me to be a lite blogger. I’m either all in or, well, you get the picture.

Both Brian & one of my real favourites, Randy Bohlender
decided to call it quits on blogging. It’s a shame. They both were coming up with consistently good stuff, and Randy’s blog was a real winner in my eyes.

An acorn short of an oak tree – Darrin, my real life flesh & blood buddy, started blogging with some really insightful writing, but I figure his internet access is no more. Hopefully, he’ll hook up again eventually, and he’ll go straight back on the johnnylaird blogroll! Looks like his blog got seriously spammed as well.

Special Mention to Emergency Man Chris Parker – brother in-law of Mrsparker - at NoParking If he doesn’t start writing soon, he’s gonna be off the list! ;-) It's more NoBlogging than NoParking.

The boys

Last night I had a night out with “the boys”, which is a rare pleasure indeed now that I have my beautiful kids to demand my attention.

It was cool to be able to spend time laughing together, bouncing around the City, heading to our Brick Lane destination, Le Taj for some top Bangladeshi scran.

(Check out their site for a 360 degree tour of Le Taj)

We laughed hard, recalling our stories, which over time have become stretched & embellished way beyond the true events that spawned them. We feel into that rhythm of quickfire banter that we'd developed over the single years when we lived in and out of each others houses, where the big game on TV was the ultimate arbiter for deciding where we should be, and when time was stretched into an amorphous day-night-day time. They were good, good days - and so are the ones we are living in now.

Cheers geezers! You are the men!

NOOMA HEADZ

This is a goody for all you NOOMA Headz out there.

Daniel Decker has some great shots of the filming of the latest NOOMA vid here

It's only just hit me how big an undertaking the whole NOOMA deal is. This is not some guy with a hand held video cam.

Incidentally, looks like Daniel's blog is worth a visit once in a while.

Pocket Mummy

Check out this brand new blog from one of my good friends at Church.

Drop by and say "hello". Tell her I sent you!

FREEDOM DAY

Sunday 25th has been designated Freedom Day, and will be championed by the Stop the Traffik to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the slave trade and call for an end to modern day slavery.

As part of that day, my Church - Croydon Citadel Salvation Army - has made a block booking of 200 seats at the local cinema to watch the Amazing Grace movie.

With our youth campaigning in the town centre while our Band conducts an Open Air Service, shared lunch and an evening Cafe Church led by Major Nigel Bovey, editor of The War Cry it's gonna be a busy day.

If you're in the area, £10.00 gets you lunch and entry to the movie.

For more details of the fight against Human Trafficking in Croydon, check out Croydon Community Against Trafficking

614

..lovin' this post from the Heather at 614Network

Some tips for showing love in the community:

*smiling at people (who initially may not be smiling at you...)

*a simple nod of the head to a stranger in acknowledgement as you walk past one another

*a wave accompanied by a friendly hello to those sitting on a porch nearby

*introducing yourself first and then inviting them to share their name with you..."Hi, my name is Heather, good to meet you ma'am. What's your name?"

*Remembering the names of those neighbors you've met and the next time you see them, calling them by their name. "Hey Miss Sadie, good to see you. Remember me? We met last week. I'm Heather. How you' doin' today? Need a hand with anything?"

*Stopping to chat a minute on a front porch - if someone is calling to you in the street from their house (a Hey, hello or c'mon up here a minute) don't be be shy! Grab that opportunity to walk right up to them and enter into a conversation...this makes a 'front porch hello' the norm for your next visit, and before you know it, you'll be regularly doin' some "front porch settin' sippin on some sweet tea 'ike it ain't no thang"...

This is the begining anyway...it all flows out of that.

Sometime the simple things really make the most sense.

Thanks Heather!

“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places lost devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” (Isaiah 61:4)

Check out 614.

A Meditation for Lent

by the Rev. Roger Bowen

Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from criticism; feast on praise.
Fast from self-pity; feast on joy.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from jealousy; feast on love.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from selfishness; feast on service.
Fast from Fear; feast on faith.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from concern; feast on compassion from others.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude


HT to Danielle Strickland(again!) for pointing me in the direction of this Lent Meditation

Preach Brother

Hat tip to Danielle Strickland for sharing the great Bono acceptance speech from the NAACP.



Bono has recently been awarded the NAACP Chairman’s Award, bestowed in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service.

Bear

Gotta recommend a new(ish) show that had it's UK terrestial debut on Saturday.

Real life James Bond (without the licence to kill), Alpha poster boy and TV adventurer* Bear Grylls' new show is Born Survivor, which in it's first incarnation on Discovery was known as Man Vs. Wild.

There is a bunch of good stuff online including the production company's site.

Highly recommended.

*this summation of Bear doesn't even go half way to telling the story. If you don't know much about him, this inspirational guy deserves further investigation.

2 Randys in one day

The blogroll is expanding today.

First off, Randy Elrod has written a great piece on community on Rick Warren's Pastors.com site. Randy was kind enough to leave a comment on johnnylaird.blogspot.com, so I'm delighted to add him to my blogroll.


Similarly, Bobby Williams passed by after I'd commented on his post about the Just Stop and Think vid that had made an impact on me a few weeks ago.


Transition Pete makes the list because I've been checking his blog for ages now, but never got round to adding it to my 'roll. I like the way he describes his life "me moving though life -- purposefully, clumsily, and sometimes gracefully -- sharing random ideas, expressing thoughts that are bouncing around in my noggin’, and showin' off the bits and pieces that make up my life and faith… the things that matter to me -- life..." - I can relate to that, Pete. On top of that Pete has an elegant pics'n'all blogroll that led me to today's final new link, Dustin Bryson AKA Renegade Robot. Dustin also contributes to SpitBox along with superblogger, Carlos Whittaker.

I figure at least 80% of the value of my own blog is the links the other sites I've discovered, and invited anyone reading to go and visit. Check out these dudes: each of them have good things to say.

Peace & Blessings

J

So hip it hurts

Anyone who can work a cool Church,WIRED, Burning Man and a picture of a funky VW bus into one post has gotta be so hip it hurts, and OK by me!

Randy Bohlender is a consistently entertaining & inspiring blogger, and ALWAYS worth a read. it's not the first time I've name checked Randy on my blog, but his stuff is worth a second or even third mention.

(On top of all this he's a big noise at International House of Pancakes! ;-)).....or maybe I mean IHOP

Slaves in Croydon

VISIT www.theccat.com now to take action.

Nick's not passed away!

I'm so glad that Nick Hanover has started blogging again.

I was becoming seriously concerned that he'd popped his clogs or something, until I started seeing mentions of his social activities on Anita's blog , that weighty tome describing the whirwind domestic & social life of Lard's big sister! ;-)

Nick is a top Scottish fellah - a marathon running, sweet sounding singer of an East London Sally Army Pastor. As long as he keeps blogging, he's worth a read.

Good to have you back, Nick!

Confounding some expectations

Late to the party as ever, I've just discovered a great Flickr set of pics from a conference held in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.

There's something really emotive & descriptive about these images that somehow have touched a place in my heart, about 4 or 5 months after the event.

The conference was called "Aggressive Christianity", which I guess chimes with The Salvation Army's current grass roots exploration & revisiting of it's beginnings & orginal mission through initiatives like Roots, ArmyBarmy, JAC et al.

Just enjoy the pics!

J

Love Revolution

It's not the first time that I've pointed towards those good folks at Rockharbor, but I make no apologies. Some of the stuff on their site really resonates with me, so I'm happy to add to the previous post.

Check out this awesome piece:

"Jesus has been, and always will be, a threat to the established order of things. If we understand his birth as a revolution, then we may glimpse the revolution that his life will bring.
Instead of being born into a well established and powerful family, Jesus was born to a couple of teenagers who couldn’t even stay with their family in Bethlehem, most likely because of the scandal of her pregnancy before their official marriage.

This is how love invaded our planet. This is how the revolution began. It’s unlikely, even absurd. But the last thing it should be is boring or predictable or explainable. This should incite passionate joy or passionate distain. This is either the greatest thing to ever happen orthe most ridiculous idea ever suggested. That God should come among us as one of the “least of these.”

Not only did Jesus’ birth turn everything upside down; so did his life and what he taught. You must die to live. You must lose to gain. Weakness is strength. Joy exists in the midst of suffering. Power is restraint. Love those who persecute you. Pray for those who hate you. It is not the strong or the wealthy who will inherit the earth, but the meek. The kingdom of God won’t be given to the religious leaders, but to the spiritual idiots (the poor in spirit). Mourners, peacemakers, the merciful, and the persecuted can all find blessing in the kingdom of Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the most subversive man to have ever walked the earth.
This is revolution.

If you follow Jesus, you follow the most radical man who ever existed. He marches into the world with kindness, peace, and love, and offers people a whole new way of looking at the world and living within it. His is the most radical message you can preach or live. He turns everything upside down and calls us to do likewise. Jesus is not vitally committed to our comfort and safety; he is committed to the advancing of his kingdom revolution in the hearts of people everywhere.

In talking about what his kingdom is like, Jesus announced, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing. And forceful men take hold of it.” In other words, God is doing something so powerful and dangerous that only those who are willing to embrace it with forceful intensity may take hold of the movement of God’s kingdom. The revolution of Jesus isn’t for the faint of heart or the middle-of-the-road. It isn’t safe. It isn’t comfortable. It costs us a great deal to say yes. We take hold of the revolution by abandoning ourselves to Jesus and letting go of everything else.

Will we choose to follow a safe Jesus of suburbia – who exists to provide us with health, wealth, comfort, and happiness? Or will we press on to find the Jesus of Nazareth, the most dangerous and radical man to ever walk the face of the earth? We want the real thing. We don’t want to worship the counterfeits and settle for less than the revolution Jesus brings. We are moving beyond the unbiblical idea that the primary work of Jesus is giving us a ticket to heaven, and now understand that he is asking us for everything, to stand with him against all that is unloving and untrue in our world.

Together, we are pursuing this revolution of Jesus."


Hat tip to the SayConnect site for the image.

"Good Old Army"?

I usually really struggle when I see my denomination criticized in the media. It kinda hurts, and sometimes I want to yell "that's not the Sally Army I recognize or belong to!"

Recently on various blogs I’ve seen The Salvation Army described as “a very conservative fundie church”, “fundamentalist conservative organization” or “notoriously homophobic” …and it doesn’t seem to chime with those wonderful folks I spend so many of my waking hours with. Those people I grew up with and watched their love in action for years on end. It doesn’t seem to resonate with the diverse broad global Christian Church that we are. It’s hard to match some perceptions with my reality.

Having said all of that, we’re not beyond criticism – we do wrong things. Lots of them….and often! Let’s be humble – take the criticism on board when it’s justified – and be gracious in our response when it is not. Sometimes it’s good to be metaphorically hit square between the eyes, just to keep you alert and awake.

I chose this beautiful picture of a Salvationist, my sister in Christ, to illustrate this post because sometimes we can think we have it all down – we know the score, we’ve got it covered. If you think you know The Salvation Army….this slightly eccentric, uniform wearing bunch of do-gooders…..…this shiny shoes & short hair religious music machine….this huge corporate social agency seemingly rolling in Kroc cash…think again.

That ain’t the whole picture. We are not always what we seem – even to ourselves

God bless you my sister in Christ.

Mia's Four

Today my beautiful little girl turns four years old. I'm so grateful to God for the wonderful gift we've been given in our 2 kids Mia & Noah

Today we celebrate the day Mia came to earth to live with us, and bring so much happiness to our family.

Thank you Jesus!

I AM THE CHURCH

Those lovely folks at Vox Veniae have pointed me towards Joshua Longbrake's highly inspirational I AM THE CHURCH blog.

This is what they said:

"We stumbled onto this blog where people submitted their personal photos depicting themselves as the Church as opposed to buildings, institutions and organizations. We found the photo project to be beautiful and inspiring."

Gotta say "I AGREE!"

Thanks to Joshua for the pic

Roots 2007

I'm so pleased that Chick Yuill will once again be speaking at Roots

Chick & his wife Margaret are top folks - completely inspirational - and were the ones who married me....well, they conducted my wedding to Janet.

Chick recently enrolled me into a club (he is a founding member ;-)of men who had the brains to marry wives far better than they deserve!!!

I'm now card-carrying & fully signed up. I didn't even need to sit the entrance exam. Just got nodded in!

God bless them both!

Song for Africa

A good buddy of mine, Nik Pears (formerly of The Rattling) is the Director of the Social Entrepreneurs Project at AIDS Orphan Charity HOPEHIV.

Please do not miss the opportunity to support their work, by downloading the
single 'We Believe'; Song For Africa on iTunes.

If you would prefer to buy the CD single, including artwork etc, please visit Song for Africa

ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of this powerful song of hope, recorded by a massive 400 voice gospel choir,will go directly to support the work of HOPEHIV as they help rebuild young lives devastated by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

PLEASE SUPPORT this fantastic project and incredible charity.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY - if you don't have iTunes and want to hear a bit of the song,check out Song for Africa's MySpace

(By the way, I guess the artwork is from my blogging mate, and all round good Egg, Lard of Lard Designs & Lardmonkey fame)

Slightly Salvation Army?

WARNING: Sally Army Specific post on the way ;-) (with resonances for other Christian denominations!)

One of my e-mail buddies, Pernell Goodyear, who I'm yet to meet in the flesh has posted a some really interesting thoughts on people's impressions and experiences with church/denomination identification/branding?. Pernell is the main man at The Freeway in Hamilton, Ontario - a small, local church community and coffee house with definite roots in The Salvation Army.

The gist of the post is I guess "how much do we need to broadcast & display that we are part of The Salvation Army"*

*These are my words - not Pernell's.

The whole post is worth a read, as well as the responses.

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Here's a bit of mine:

One thing I do worry with about the SA's branding and the message it conveys is what the broader world - most particularly in North America – seems now to understand about our movement. From here, what I see is a huge imbalance which seems to have the general public seeing us as some kind of social service agency that has taken a lurch to the political right. The big corporate picture isn’t really reflective of what we are internationally. Recently I've been reading some secular blogs which have really saddened me and made me want to jump in and say "that's not the Sally Army I recognize or belong to!" Maybe we have to look at ourselves more closely, right some wrongs if they are there and find ways of graciously & lovingly reaching out to those who have such a low opinion of us. Maybe we can only really do that on the ground.

Pre Crime Time

Minority Report was a great movie, with one of the best near-future representations of it's time, including the cool touch screen sequence where David Beckham's new best friend, Tom Cruise deftly waves, gestures & air-taps thin air to control the data in front of him.

DJChung has a post where the fantasy meets reality. Check out the cool vid here. It's Pre Crime Time!



DJChung's blog is well worth checking out for a bunch of reasons: Here's the bio:Director of Digital Initiatives and Asian American Church Research at Leadership Network and Executive Director of L2 Foundation — developing leadership & legacy for Asian Americans

Just Stop and Think

Randy Bohlender's post about a short video he had discovered got me interested. Check out what Randy says:

In the film, entitled "Stop and Think", he carries his surfboard toward the beach and talks to the camera. He does not reference scripture by chapter and verse, although he paraphrases quite a bit. He talks about God's laws and how we all fall woefully short. He talks about God's pain upon seeing His Son mercilessly crucified. He talks about God looking to humanity searching for a bride for His Son. And Chan is getting the smackdown for it.

There are a host of bloggers who are frying him for his weak presentation of the gospel. They're accusing him of watering it down, not telling the whole story of propitiation and substitution. They're blasting him for neglecting to mention the exclusivity of the Gospel as opposed to other world religions.

I have never heard of Chan before this morning, but it was a quite moment in our house so I watched the whole film. I think it's ok.


This really intrigued me, so I just watched it, and waited for the big tipping point, perhaps where his theology would come crashing down - the scary diversion into uncomfortable territory that challenged my down the line beliefs - the veering off to a tangent that made me say "whooaa there!"...but it never seemed to come. That's unless I missed it?

I think I agree with Randy: Production is great - message pretty solid - appeal is broad but uncompromising. Seems fine to be.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Randy.

Check it out for yourself at Just Stop and Think

While you're at it you might want to check out the elegant Cornerstone Community Church site too, where Francis Chan - the guy who "stars" in the vid is the Pastor.

Cornerstone is Simi Valley, CA, USA

Peace & Blessings

J

Americanism

A very good non-blogging mate of mine has been browsing johnnylaird, and remains one of those folks who still don't get the appeal of blogging.

Only thing he didn't like was that I liberally use a lot of Americanisms in my writing. '”What a yankee-doodle-dandy and English Scottish bloke you are” he says

Re the American-isms – I had noticed that myself, and I’m not sure why it’s happening. My buddy(there I go again) is not the 1st person to comment on it, though. My only (albeit feeble) excuse is that I work with Nigerian, Italian, Indian, German, Swiss & French colleagues in the office, spend most of my time in dialog(gue) with Japanese & American suppliers, have just spent 10 days living with my American family, am married to an English girl of Jamaican/St Lucian descent who regularly drops into patois at home, work at the Church with a Leadership Team made up of a Welshman who’s last two positions were in the north of Scotland & Zimbabwe and a South African lady married to an Argentine. I read & comment mostly on American & Canadian blogs, get my daily news from CNN, watch UK TV channel, “Five US” on Freeview all the time (love CSI), live next door to a Palestinian, am still addicted to US mags like WIRED , Dwell & Fast Company and my new neighbo(u)r on the trombone bench in my Sally Army Band is Californian!

Go figure! ;-)

I'll be there for you...

Just wanted to share a pic of some of my friends & family..My family are my friends, and my friends are my family

EXILES

I've come pretty late to the party with this book, having gotten a heads up from Pernell way back in July 06.

On a recent visit to Salisbury Cathedral I managed to pick up a copy in a nearby Christian bookshop, so I've made a start on it, and it presents quite a challenging read.

There's plenty of good stuff on the web too, to give further background on author, Michael Frost, his community Small Boat Big Sea, and his ideas about the book.

Recommended

Challenging Rhymes

Sometimes you stumble across something that hits you right between the eyes. Let me share something I found, quite by accident, which has had this effect on me.

Big thanks to Oliva Munn for bringing this to my attention.

Check out the challenging rhymes here

The ‘following jesus’ manifesto

Hat tip to Transitionpete, and in turn to Spitbox via [rhymes with kerouac] for pointing me in the direction of these wise words:

Stop talking about Jesus. Just stop. If we loved the people around us half as much as we say we love Jesus the rest of this manifesto would be entirely redundant.

Live a secret life. Invest the time, effort and vulnerability necessary to delve deeply into the scripture and prayer. Spend long periods of time in stillness. There is no shortcut to this, there is no other way. Without a deep and secret life we soon find ourselves talking about Jesus instead of being like Jesus.

Stop pretending. I’m a Christian, and I suck. So do you. Let’s get that out of the way, shall we?

Give more than you get. There will always be more than enough.

Be present for those around you. Following Jesus has nothing to do with your work, your resume or your income. In fact, nothing that matters does.

Treasure broken-ness. Our broken places are sacred spaces in our heart. Honour them. Value them. In doing so you love the unlovely, publicly declaring the beauty of God’s image in everyone. Greet the broken with comfort and cool water.

Throw a party.

Know Jesus well enough to recognize him on the street. This is rather important, because he can always be found on the street - and he usually looks more like a pan-handler than a preacher.

Accept ingratitude and abuse as a fixed cost. Embrace them, and then go the extra mile.

If you follow Jesus, you will anger religious people. This is how you will know.

My life through magazines

For almost as long as I can remember, I’ve been an avid magazine reader, and have always had at least one favo(u)rite that I’ve been buying month in month out.

Right now, I’ve reduced myself down to just one, which I buy regularly. WIRED is the current mag of choice.

I’ve tried to think, and outline the list of mags that were part of that journey, so - from memory & as chronologically as I can remember– here goes:

LookIn
Custom Car
Guitar Player
Downbeat
Metropolitan Home
WIRED
Straight No Chaser
VIBE
Business 2.0
Fast Company
LEADERSHIP
Dwell
Grand Designs

...an hono(u)rable mention also has to go to Trailrunner. This is a great mag, but only represents something I aspire to, rather than something I do. My running is limited to the odd mile and a half stagger around Oxted.

Gordon's alive....alive....alive...

My own hiatus was nothing compared to Gordon's at UrbanArmy.

Thankfully he's back, and no doubt will continue to have a lot of good stuff to say.

Gordon was one of the fisrt blogs to really grab my attention, and I love the comprehensiveness (is that a word?) of his profile:

"the thoughts and theological reflections of an insignificant Salvation Army officer trying to show true hope, grace, love and freedom in a significant way. URBANarmy -is a story of Missio Dei driving an all-encompassing grace-centred mission. URBANarmy – is an open compilation of lessons learned from day to day ministry, dialogue and reading."

Sounds good to me

Now I just wanna see Nick start again!

Hiatus over

Most of the folks' blogs I read give good warning of some wonderful & meritous reason why they are gonna take a blog break, but I just ground to a halt over Christmas & New Year.

Fotunately Los gave me a little prod, which I'm extremely grateful for.

Looking forward to gearing up again, and sharing my thoughts..such as they are...with all of you.