Scott’s tips for “Keeping a pulse on culture”

I’ve been reading Scott Hodge’s blog probably as long as any other. It’s a regular stop off for me, for all kinds of reasons. First off, Scott’s a funny guy, who often posts stuff that makes me laugh. Secondly, he periodically comes up with a little gem that will set my mind thinking about the things of faith, mission or ministry; and finally I like to listen in to his radar about other good stuff that is going on around the web.

One of Scott’s recent posts is a response to an e-mail he received asking questions about how people in ministry keep up with “culture”.

1. Here’s the question…

I’m in the process of reading through tons of blogs, which incidentally, is how I happened on yours. I’m a 45-year-old white guy who is the “minister of music” at a 50-year-old church. Our church is in the beginnings of what is going to be a painful change in terms of trying to become more “relevant.” My question for you is how do I “catch up” culturally on a personal level? I have a 19-year-old son who has done a pretty good job of keeping me from fossilizing (I have a Facebook, do Twitter, and I’m about to be blogging myself) but I was wondering if there are some books you could suggest, some activities to engage in, or some other magical pill that would aid me in the process. Any thoughts you can give me would be most appreciated

The hugely interesting 11-point response is well thought through and is full of points of reference that are worth exploring. It set off a train of thought in my own mind.

2. Here’s the post called “Keeping a pulse on culture”

3. ….and here’s my ramble, which I left as a response…

“Great post, Scott! Really interesting stuff. The thing I’ve been rolling around in my head, though, is so much of the stuff you mention is such familiar territory to me - kinda my lingua franca, if you will: stuff that stimulates me, excites me, encourages me and forms the basis of much of my thought about BEING Church…. BUT, if I transplant it to my local Church situation, does it get lost in translation for those who I spend my waking days with, off of the cyber-grid I spend so much of my existence hooked in to?

Am I an early adopter because I read the blogs and the mags…and the books, or am I inhabiting a world that is foreign those folks I serve & minister with and to?

This is not in any way meant as a criticism of your post, but rather I’m just rolling out a little bit of self analysis it has stimulated.

I’m going to answer my own questions to a degree, with the upbeat conclusion that all this stuff DOES help me, because – at least in my own little world – people are sharing the stuff, networking, breaking down denominational and cultural barriers, learning from each other’s experiences…the list goes on….”

Any thoughts of your own, people?

Thanks to Scott for the pic

Good question, Jason

I’m glad Jason Clark , Pastor at Vineyard Church Sutton, coordinator for Emergent UK , and all round good fellah - asked the question

“Where have all the UK bloggers gone?”,

and in the process managed - through the responses provide – to hook me up with a bunch of interesting UK blogs, most of which have some kind of emerging vibe.

Check out the responses to Jason’s question:

I was particularly interested to discover the Ian Adams’ wonderfully-named In the Belly of the Big Fish blog and Pace Bene website - a neat little bit of synchronicity which took me back to the site where Ian is the founding Pastor – mayBe in Oxford. A year or two back, I used to bounce over to the mayBe site very regularly, having become captivated by their creative, authentic and elemental community’s web presence.

Thanks for the pic, Jason!

It's that man again!

At the risk of having so many blog posts about Michael Frost that I could be branded some kind of weird fanboy, I’ve posted a YouTube ad for Mike’s visit to England later in the year.

Mike, you’re gonna have to stop writing books that have such a big impact on me, mate!

Red Rock

I’m a sucker for the coffee shop/Church initiative double whammy. (FRWY, Q Café, Sutton Sally Army are other examples of these Third Places)

The Highway Community’s Red Rock Coffee looks like it would be well worth a visit if you are ever in the Mountain View CA area.

I like what The Highway say in response to the question “Why does a Church own a Café?”

The church has long asked people to come through its doors to experience what we have to offer, whether it’s teaching, music, counseling, help, food, community, or support. It’s a good idea, in theory, and one that the church has operated on for the last two centuries or so.

However, in the work culture of the Silicon Valley, it grows more and more difficult to serve our community as we’re increasingly over-busy, over-networked, and over-loaded with information.

Even before the inception of Highway, we had long dreamed of a public place where ideas, lives, music, art, food, dialogue, and relationships could collide in an open, community setting. Since the café has turned into the postmodern intersection of public life, it seemed the perfect environment to evolve into ‘the place.’

Red Rock is our attempt at a new expression of Christ’s challenge to spread his love and message to the world. As a non-profit we hope to live out the example of service through our business, and by giving back to the community that sustains us.

BTW, if you need really good video resources for Church, you really should check their Highway Video site too. It’s amongst the best stuff available.

The Elders

Having quoted heroic chuckling Church man, Desmond Tutu in a previous post, I’ve been prompted to reacquaint myself with the work of The Elders, the group of seminal global statesmen and women brought together as part of an initiative envisioned by Peter Gabriel to act as elders to our global village – guiding & supporting us through the major challenges the world faces today.

This is not new news, but I’m glad to revisit it again, and would urge you to check it out if you’re not already familiar with it.

The pic is borrowed from the quite beautiful Elders site…Thank you

Made from girders!

Thanks, Thomas, for letting me know about the new Irn Bru ad!

Makes you proud to be Scottish!

Go!

HT to Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch’s “Shaping of things to come” for introducing me to this little poem:

Go to the people
Live with them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build with what they have
But with the best leaders,
When the work is done,
The task accomplished
The people will say 'We have done this ourselves!'

-Lao Tsu (700 BC)

Scott of The Rock

…wanted to give a little shout out to Scott Harris who contacted me this week via Facebook.

Check out his blog and the site of The Rock, where Scott is lead Pastor.

He’s a friendly guy – go say “hello”, and tell him Johnny sent you!

Thanks to The Rock family for the pic

Identity

Watching the Rangers game this week – and perhaps most especially the fans* – made me wonder about identity, and how mixed up and muddy it can get. Quite reasonably, an English buddy of mine asked why the resolutely Scottish Rangers supporters waved the Union Jack. Now, you’d imagine that a reasonable simple question deserves a reasonable simple answer, but it’s WAY more complicated than that, and I’m not even sure I can explain it correctly.

Firstly, there’s the red, white and blue which the kits & flags share; then there’s the supposed loyalty to “the union”, which with Scottish Parliament and a SNP first minister is as fragile now as it has ever been. On top of that, what is the Britishness that such loyalty is directed towards? Is it the amazing rainbow-hued multi-ethnic society that I’m glad to experience every day in London, or something else that existed in the past but has long been consigned to history?

The waters are further muddied, because those supporters are likely to whistle raucously with the rest of the Tartan Army in protest at the playing of the British National Anthem, “God Save The Queen” for the England team on the now rare occasions when Scotland and England meet on the football field.

Also, in Scotland there’s in a growing interest in and affinity for all things celtic, not to be confused with Rangers’ bitter rivals Celtic!

No wonder it’s confusing.

For me – and I say this as someone who’s loyalty as an armchair supporter has been with Rangers since I was old enough to utter the word – I do struggle a little with seeing the Union Jack waved. Having moved to England from Scotland in mid 70s, and being of a generation when the flag was hi-jacked by the far right when my sympathies were more in line with Rock Against Racism and the upbeat joy of 2-Tone it still creates a kind of uncomfortable feeling when I see it flown.

• I’m hugely proud to be a Scot (with an English accent)
• I baulk at describing myself as “British”
• I’m probably a Londoner as much as anything else
• I feel like a Celt, not an Anglo
• I’m still a Rangers supporter, but I renounce bigotry
• I’ve never met an Irishman I haven’t gotten on with famously
• My family is a glorious mix of the celtic, anglo and Caribbean, but when Scotland are playing there’s only one team for us
• I agree with those eminent theologians at Hard Rock, and would wish to Love All, Serve All
• Ultimately, my identity is bound up in my saviour Jesus

There’s a quote attributed to Desmond Tutu that I’m finding increasing resonance with:

Jesus said, 'If I be lifted up I will draw all, all, all, all, all. Black, white, yellow, rich, poor, clever, not so clever, beautiful, not so beautiful. It's one of the most radical things. All, all, all, all, all, all, all, all. All belong. Gay, lesbian, so-called straight. All, all are meant to be held in this incredible embrace that will not let us go. All.

*If you’re reading this outside of the UK you may not realize that somewhere around 100,000 football (soccer) fans effectively invaded the city of Manchester to support their team in a major European soccer final.

attempting abandonment

Interested to read Lucy's latest blog post.

Lucy is going to go authetically incarnational in the heart of London. It will be really interesting to read how the adventure goes right from the off.

Good on you for taking the brave step. Lucy! (and big thanks for the pic to illustrate this post)

Peace & blessings

J

Roots - thoughts

OK – just a few thoughts – not definitive, not comprehensive, not particularly well written….just a few scribbles…..

If Roots & The Salvation Army are familiar territory for whoever might be reading this, my ramblings should make some kind of sense. If, on the other hand, you’re reading this without that background, hopefully there will be a few things that might be interesting and useful.

As always, Roots was a great weekend – everything I hoped for – and more.

More challenging – scarily so – confronting poverty up-front & square between the eyes is never comfortable, especially when you live in relative comfort & wealth.

More life changing – again scarily so. Hearing some of the things we heard over the weekend, my guess would be that many of us will have to confront big questions about our own personal circumstances and situations.


Speakers

We had some really excellent speakers with us, notably the Simple Way’s Shane Claiborne, who was on top form. Radical, authentic, engaging and soaked in Scripture, Shane is a guy who clearly takes the teaching of Jesus wholly seriously. His powerful story telling certainly had me checking myself.

In the smaller seminar venues, Shane always impressed me because in each of the Q&A sessions every answer he gave came with Biblical back-up…every time, as if it was as natural as breathing for him. This was really telling during the late night debate session on pacifism. For me he scored high, simply because it was hard to argue with clear teaching from Scripture….certainly made me think hard.

Jeff Lucas was very good in the AM Bible Studies as usual. His humo(u)r and passion as evident as ever. Somehow, listening to Jeff in that first slot of the day that is really uplifting. He did look sickeningly tanned though! He’s clearly been somewhere a lot more exotic than Southport on a wet weekend!

Nims Obunge of the Peace Alliance spoke too, and was on fire! Anyone who can utter “religion sucks!” in what was essentially a Salvation Army meeting and get away with it deserves a round of applause! I’m glad our tribe is slowly coming to terms with the difference between religious legalism and real authentic faith. Nims’ exploration of the Biblical premise for peace was on the nail.
So good to hear Chick in one of the late night sessions…and sorry to have missed my good buddy, Duncan.

Resources

As I usually do I spent a good amount of time in the Resources tent and picked up a raft of books to work through over the next few weeks.

· Chick Yuill – A Terrible Beauty
· Tony Jones – The Sacred Way
· Shane Claiborne - Jesus for President
· NT Wright – Surprised by Hope

I’ve already devoured Chick Yuill’s A Terrible Beauty in much the same way as I did last year’s Others. There’s something really captivating about reading an author who you actually know…someone who is part of your life, part of your journey. As Russ Rook says in his forward to the book, it’s like reading the book, having watched the movie… A Terrible Beauty is authentic, personal and occasionally raw exploration of the central mystery and mixture of agony and ecstasy which is most sharply focused in the Crucifixion. Chick's writing is heartfelt and real - highly recommended.

This week’s reading as I commute to the office on the train has been Jesus for President, and I’ll get to the others books in due course. Man, I love to read.

Bloggers

Good to see fellow bloggers Chris, Dan, Matt, Mel, mrsparker, Heather and Kevin.
Richard
Ann

(Hope I didn’t miss anybody)

Wish you’d been there Thomas – thanks for the txts, Twitters & Facebook stuff!

Rootsy

Thankfully, much of what God has done through Roots is now happening effectively at a local level in The Salvation Army, so the need for the big event could be questionable. Now it has been announced that there will be a break from the event in 2009

Much as I love Roots as an event in itself, for the reasons I outlined in this & previous posts, I am kind of pleased that the guys at the hub of all this made the decision. I’m sure it was a tough call, and a heck of a lot of prayer was involved -– but much of what was once thought to be cutting edge and radical has moved into the mainstream of our tribe’s activity in the UK. Maybe the time is coming when we need to be pushed even further.

Because of next year’s gap, I guess I’ve been made to look backwards a little, to try and get a better understanding of the things God has blessed through the amazing initiative that is Roots, which had birthed so much that is good about The Salvation Army in the early 21st Century

I’m glad that Roots has broadened the world view of Salvationists….opened our doors to outstanding speakers who have enriched our view of mission – Tony & Bart Campolo, Steve Chalke, Jeff Lucas, Tim Costello….amongst many many others

…helped move mission back to the forefront of the thinking of many Salvationists

…encouraged a wider participation in social action amongst UK Salvationist

…challenged people to radical incarnational living

…just freed us up a little to be a little less buttoned up, a little less reserved and a lot more like we were birthed to be

…made us face up to what authentic Salvationism means

Big big thanks to those early Roots pioneers – I’m not sure precisely who they all were, but Phil Wall and Russ Rook have to be in there – and I know there are others.

If you know more about the early days of Roots, I’d like to know more.

Roots 08 is here!

…later today Janet, the kids & I start the trek north to attend the Roots conference in Southport.

I’m really looking forward to it - as ever.

It’s a weekend to get re-energize, to listen even more closely to what God is saying to the Church, our movement and us as individuals, to meet up with friends I just don’t see enough of, to re-connect with inspirational people who have impacted me in ways they don’t even know, to laugh, to hang out with my wife, to make new friends, to hear Shane Claiborne…..to go public!

What a weekend!

I’ve just had a really interesting and inspiring long weekend, which has left me feeling energized and buzzed

Friday night, I headed over to New Addington to walk around the area and pray late into the night with a group of people who are trying to discern what it is God wants to do with the ministry of The Salvation Army in that area. It was so good to share with friends in a few hours of deep impassioned prayer, really calling out to God for his guidance. One of the most encouraging parts for me was the participation of leaders – and prospective leaders – of Salvation Army Churches across the whole spread of the Croydon conurbation – from our own centrally positioned Croydon Citadel, to Forestdale and New Addington themselves. We’re really blessed with what we have, and I’m excited about the possibility of sharing some of our resources and working more closely than ever on Kingdom stuff. On top of that, those people who regularly at that small Salvation Army centre were inspirational in themselves.

Sunday evening was slightly different as I led Café Church at The Salvation Army, Croydon Citadel. We focused on a little phrase I picked out of Acts 13 in The Message…

Friends, do you have anything you want to say? A word of encouragement, perhaps?

and also took some time to consider again the benefits of small groups for our Church Community.

On Monday, I had taken a day off to travel up to City Church Preston to meet with Eric Bryant, who was joined with his colleague Adrian Koehler from hugely innovative community of Jesus followers at Mosaic in California for a meeting of the Mosaic Alliance in the UK. We shared time learning some of the stories of Mosaic, talked at length about mission, relationship, authenticity, transition and reaching the unchurched. Having read Eric’s awesome little book, Peppermint Filled Pinatas, (if you haven’t read it, you really should!) as well as communicated via blog and Facebook, it was very cool to chat in the flesh. It’s such a small small world these days.

Eric is one of the good guys. Great to finally catch up, bud!

Also, the day presented an excellent opportunity to meet and talk to others in the UK who are connected in some shape or form with the Mosaic Alliance – cool people one and all.

…looking forward to keeping the dialog going once I hunt down everyone’s e-mail address.

Good too, to hook up with Keith Ayling on relatively new - and excellent - publication Core Magazine, which I was hugely impressed with, and will be championing wherever I go.

What a weekend!

Next weekend, ROOTS!

Fifty Days of Prayer

If you are a pray-er, you might want to consider giving your prayer support to one of The Salvation Army’s NEOs (New Expression of Church) in Leeds, England.

Check out the Fifty Days of Prayer blog

CSW

It was great last night to have the visit of Stuart Windsor of Christian Solidarity Worldwide to our Church at The Salvation Army in Croydon.

Stuart left us with a humbling reminder of our brothers & sisters around the world who are being persecuted - today - because of their Christian faith.

Check out the site for further information.

...easy as 123...

I’ve been glad this week - by the power of the mighty internet – to hook up with Laurence Tom AKA abcpastor.

As I was checking on what bloggers were saying about the Fermi Project’s Q convention, I found Laurence’s blog, and just got drawn in – it’s an aesthetically pleasing site with lots of interesting things to say about Church, mission & general life stuff.

It’s been good to talk, LT! (BIG THANKS to you, for the pic.)

Definitely worth checking out folks!

Minty

…looking forward to hooking up Peppermint Filled Pinatas author , Eric Bryant at Mosaic Alliance’s UK event at the end of the month, way up in Preston.

Should be an interesting day.

Sally Army Flash Mob

I stumbled across this blog post at A Minor Technicality, which piqued my interest:

Check the vid out…



…and the accompanying comment…

I have no idea why, but the Salvation Army brass band turned up, played a few tunes on the green (positioning themselves quite symmetrically, I must point out), then vanished. It was close to a military exercise in guerilla band playing.

I couldn’t resist offering my own comment to add to the dialog:

"On one level this is hilarious. Your bemused comment shows that the Sally’s attempt to communicate with the people who live in their community through music has spectacularly failed to hit the spot!

On the other hand, there’s a sadness about the fact that their sincere efforts are so culturally at odds with regular people’s lives that they soldier on (excuse the pun) regardless of how big the disconnect is…”

Any thoughts?

Exilio

Having read through Michael Frost’s EXILES: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture last year, and re-visited again a few times this, it’s been really good to start a little bit of a dialog with Mike (thanks to the wonderful web), who’s proved to be a very gracious bloke indeed.

I’m glad to have received in the mail a copy of EXILIO - the newly developed small group resource based on EXILES – from Mike and Pete Horsley at Forge in Australia.

First off, in terms of presentation the material is excellent – aesthetically pleasing Facilitator’s Manual & accompanying Ignition Bible Study (12 week study on the book of Acts), well packaged DVD all bound together in “box-set” packaging which is attractive & practical.

Even more significantly the content itself is really good stuff – Scripturally sound and presented in an engaging & inspiring way by Michael, it explores in depth the themes of missional living outlined in Mike’s EXILES book, which has been having a huge impact in Christian communities in the West for a couple of years now. He uses an exilic metaphor for those “who wish to live expansive, confident Christian lives in this world without having to abandon themselves to the values of contemporary society”. While EXILIO understands and acknowledges that that today the West is no longer a primarily Christian society, it does not see that reality in defeatist terms, but rather informs & equips in a way that makes this scenario a huge adventurous challenge, with parallels in Old Testament exiles, and the accounts of the Early Church in the New Testament.

This study resource, though, is not simply an academic exercise (it’s important to know that although Frost lectures in a seminary, he has also been intimately involved in planting/leading a Jesus following community smallboatbigsea in the Manly district of Sydney, Australia – he’s a practitioner), and I think it demands quite a lot from the participants. Understand, though, that I say this not as a criticism, but rather as a commendation. As Mike says in the opening Orientation portion of the DVD, “the stakes are high”, and I find it hard to imagine a participating group not being extremely challenged - even changed – if they were to follow the recommendations of this course in terms of the material studied, the “big ideas” grappled with and the real tangible action to participate in. EXILIO is strong stuff.

On top of that, if you are deeply entrenched in Church culture, prepare to be shaken out of it. There are areas that might catch you unawares.

Cleary I haven’t really unpacked the core teaching contained in the course, so check out the site here (which I think is still under development) to learn more about EXILIO, or even read the book anyhow. It’s a great read – hugely stimulating. I’ve become convinced that it is a significant piece that anyone interested in the mission of the Church in the 21st can find helpful.

At some point soon - when I can assemble a group with the guts to handle it – I’ll try and run EXILIO.

Time for a spring clean!

It doesn’t seem like long since the last jig, or shuffle of the blog roll, but spring is in the air, so it’s time for a spring clean!

First – the outies:

• Ali – slips away quietly..

• Anita - I’m so tempted! Get blogging again, girl! You stay in by the skin of your
teeth, and the likely threat of physical violence if I remove you!

• Jon-Mark – no posts since November, so I think J-M’s run out of steam on the blogging front.

• Not that Stratford goes back even further, so Nick’s gonna get swept!

• Randy Elrod. Good blog – I just don’t find myself going back that often these days.

All of the above have been good value, and will go straight back on the ‘roll if and when they start blogging again. Why not pay them a visit, leave an encouraging comment, and see if it stirs them back to life.

Next – the innies:

• Grumpy Old Git goes straight in on account of him being a top fellah who I’ve known from way back who’s battling cancer like a good ‘un! Powerful stuff.

• The Forgotten Ways because Alan Hirsch has either been author or co-author on my two favo(u)rite reads of 2008, so far: The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things to Come. (with my new buddy Michael Frost). Top missional stuff.

• Out on a limb….because I’ve been meaning to show this communitas from the Big Easy them some link love for ages now.


Likewise – bounce over to the innies, see what you think – leave a comment, and tell ‘em Johnny sent you.

Finally, the tweaks!

• Eric Bryant moves slightly – almost inperceptibly - to Eric Bryant

• Chris Council of War shifts to the infinitely more post modern Coffee’n’Cake

• Vicki Adams is now at Bounces & Cartwheels

….and I think that’s it.

…apart from the addition of Worldchanging and Trailrunner to the mags:

Oxted update

HT to the guys at Oxted & Limpsfield Residents Group, who's site has alerted me to the fact that the news about potential over-development of green field land in Oxted made the BBC website today.

After having heard about this initially last week, on Sunday afternoon I took a run - more like a stagger really - across one of the beautiful fields in question, and it really would be criminal if it were to be built over.

Oxted Green Field Development?

I haven’t had time to check my facts, so I’m only expressing a gut reaction, but I had a slip of paper arrive through my door last night advising me, and other local residents of some worrying news about possible building developments by Village Developments plc on green field sites in our beautiful little semi-rural home town of Oxted.

Knowing the sites in question, they are exactly the kinds of spaces that people who choose to live in the town value….precisely because they are green, and offer us some space! The notion that they would be built upon is quite upsetting to say the least.

I’ll be watching out on this site for any further news.

Check it out if you have a local interest.

...on that cross as Jesus died

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

HT to Matt Stone at Journeys In Between for the African Jesus image

Brian McLaren: UK Visit June 08

Hat tip to Jason Clarke, who has altered me to the visit of Brian McLaren to the UK in June at the RUN conference .

Jason will also be speaking at some of the seminars.

Gotta check my diary, but it's definitely very interesting.

Peace & blessings

J

3rd in a row

This Sunday was the 3rd Sunday in a row I’ve not attended my home Church at The Salvation Army in Croydon…which at this time of year is something of a record.

On each of the last 3 Sundays I’ve been in a different place:

Sunday # 1:

This was a planned weekend off. Although we had initially planned to travel somewhere away from home for that Sunday, we ended up staying at the house and chillin’. The beauty of it all, was that our next door neighbor(u)rs came ‘round on the off chance, so we were able (unusually for a Sunday morning) invite them in for a coffee and a chat around the kitchen table for about an hour….and it was just bliss. We were so glad to not be rushing around, and have the time available just to be with our good friends.

Sunday # 2:

See this post

Sunday # 3:
Noah had been unwell, so I stayed behind to look after him, while Janet went to Church with Mia.

Hooking myself up with a coupla cups of strong coffee, I managed to catch an episode of Faithworks’ Intelligent Church DVD and a NOOMA vid, in preparation for our Home Group, which I bounced over to after Jan returned home, and we swapped baby-sitting duties. As ever, the Home Group was a really relaxed, encouraging time, when we could eat, pray, study Scripture, and consider how we can apply it to our day-to-day lives.

Increasing, I’m becoming aware of the value of really observing the Shabbat or Sabbath.

It’s quite a time since I posted here, on the subject, but the quote from Southern California Church, Rockharbor’s site bears repeating:

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.

The Passion

This Easter, the BBC are screening an interpretation of The Passion.

The Beeb's recent track record on this kind of thing has been pretty good of late, so I'll be watching with interest.

The Forgotten Ways

Those lovely folks at Amazon were kind enough to send me a copy of Alan Hirsch’s The Forgotten Ways + reactivating the missional church, so I’m looking forward to getting on and reading it. Alan’s buddy and writing partner Michael Frost’s work has featured heavily on johnnylaird lately, as Michael’s book EXILES has had a profound – and even unsettling - effect on the way I look at being/doing Church. It’s always a good sign when a book is so good you want to share it with someone else, so I’ve passed my copy of EXILES over to my buddy in Sheffield.

If The Forgotten Ways hits the spot like EXILES, it will be a good read.

I’d also ordered Alan & Michael’s collaborative effort - The Shaping of Things to Come - at the same time as The Forgotten Ways, so that should be pitching up shortly.

For more on Alan Hirch and The Forgotten Ways check out the new(ish) blog

Sheffield

At the weekend, Jan the kids and I shared a great weekend with some good friends in Sheffield. It was fantastic just to hang out in their beautiful home with their wonderful family and just ….chill. Thanks for your hospitality, guys!

On top of that, we were able to bounce around some thoughts about mission, Kingdom, community and what is means to be Church.

Also, it was interesting to hear about St Thomas Church Sheffield, and the way things are done there.

Check our their site to get a perspective, and the vid’s worth a watch to see how they are connecting with the student population in the city.

J

Grumpy Old Git

A really good friend of mine from back in the day when we were kids sitting next to each other in the Sally Army Band in Bedford, England is really pretty unwell at the moment.

If you are a pray-er, check out his blog, and learn more about his story.

Like many of you out there, Andy is a major Mac head

Thanks, Andy, for your cool pic.

Richard Rogers

I’ve been occasionally enjoying Alan Yentob’s current IMAGINE series of documentaries on the BBC lately, and last night’s show on architectural superstar Richard Rogers was a real highlight for me. I’m not sure why buildings and created environments get me so pumped, but I’ve always enjoyed looking at them and learning something of the vision that brought them into being, and this Mr Rogers is a king in this area.

If nothing else, it was worth watching for the spectacular views from his house in Tuscany.

There is a list of incredible and significant projects as long as your arm, but a couple of my favo(u)rites are the National Assembly of Wales and Madrid’s Barajas Airport. If you check out some of the links, to see that RR and his colleagues at the various firms he has been involved with for about 50 years, you’ll see that very many of the iconic buildings of the 2nd ½ of the 20th Century and into the 21st have the Rogers stamp all over them.

…must try and catch the Richard Rogers event at The Design Museum later in the year.

Gordon

Back in October, I posted about the journey my Church is on, and talked about some of the new Mission Team that was coming together.

One member of that team is Gordon, who tells the story of his involvement with The Salvation Army in Iraq, as part of an Iraq special currently on The Salvation Army's international site.

It's a challenging and humbling read

Hobbits

Mia and Noah warming up for their Hobbit auditions!

Croydon Citadel Salvation Army Band: Handel's Messiah

Just using my blog to promote an upcoming concert at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of The Salvation Army Band that I play in:

I'm going to quote a letter that is being sent to all interested parties.

You might be interested to check it out:

Handel's Messiah with a ‘touch of brass’!

The Messiah, although very well known, is rarely performed with Brass accompaniment. Yet Croydon Citadel Band had the wonderful privilege of doing so with the Dudley Birder Chorale in Wisconsin, USA in May 2005. As part of their 125th Anniversary celebrations this year the Band will be performing this great work again in collaboration with Wimbledon Choral Society and the Croydon Philharmonic Choir at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon on Easter Saturday 22nd March

Attending this special performance will surely be remembered as a unique experience .

There can hardly be a better way of commencing an Easter Week End than by hearing once again that magnificent music and those wonderful promises

Typical Sunday?

How typical is a Sunday when you find yourself physically embracing a devout Muslim man in the street at the end of a Salvation Army Open Air Service, or walking the streets of Croydon in the pitch black with another Salvationist trying to sort a means of transport for a man worse the wear for drink who wanted to get to another part of London; or listening enraptured to true life stories of dear friends which took in brushes with the Gestapo, a re-opening of ministry and mission in Russia, the beauty of Norway, or gathering with a small huddle of friends in the kitchen at a place of worship long after most people had left, and sharing a special few minutes focusing in on the reality of what it is we are called to do?

That was my Sunday.

la famille Kinsley

Design dude, top buddy, brother of Mrs Parker RELEVANT’s king of web and new dad (again), Lloyd Kinsley has set up a new site that’s worth a look to get the low down on la famille Kinsley.

Go visit!

Croydon Overhaul

The town where I go to Church is in the process of a major overhaul over the next few years, which will radically alter the whole area – there are a number of significant developments affecting residential, retail, office and leisure spaces in a way that will cause demographic and societal shifts that will change the face of Croydon, in one or another. It looks like more and more people will be living in the centre of the urban space.

Check out this list of development hyper-activity:

The Exchange Croydon
Ruskin Square
Croydon Gateway
New South Quarter

On top of all this are superstar architect Will Alsop's proposals for Croydon. You can check the site, but it's one of those over the top Flash heavy sites that take some patience to navigate. You might have neither the time or the inclination to find it!

It’s making me wonder how these changes will affect the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army in Croydon? Something for us to watch closely.

Roots 2008: The last Roots ever?

Salvation Army-centric post coming!

I got this enigmatic e-mail in my In Box this week, so I wanted to share it, just to do my bit to encourage folks to go along to Roots later in the year:

Subject: The last ROOTS ever?


With the countdown to ROOTS '08 well and truly begun and the team busy preparing for what we hope will be the best event yet, people keep coming up to me and asking whether it's going to be the last.

Before I answer that question, let me tell you where we are. With over a decade of ROOTS events past, we know that Salvationists are more passionate than ever to see their corps renewed and their communities transformed by the gospel. To this end, ROOTS needs to do more than ever before to envision, encourage and equip our The Salvation Army for ministry and mission. In 2007 we commissioned a review to explore how we might do this

In answer to the question, far from the end of the ROOTS movement, ROOTS 2008 will mark a new beginning. From this moment on we want to push and propel, prime and prepare tens of thousands of Salvationists to deepen their faith and widen their impact.

All this begins with ROOTS 2008, Going Public. This life changing weekend will feature world renowned bible teacher Jeff Lucas, Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way community and the inspirational Nims Obunge, leader of the Peace Alliance.

An event for all the family ROOTS 2008 is jam packed with great worship, artists, celebrations, seminars, childrens and youth work. Culminating with our Sunday afternoon 'Going Public Open Air Festival' ROOTS 2008 will equip you and your corps to go public with the gospel.

For more info, visit our web site www.rootsonline.org/uk and you will see all the exciting programmes we have planned.

With our online booking discount now is the time to book and pay less to come to ROOTS. My top tip is to book your accommodation now while there is the best range of options available for your family.

ROOTS is Going Public, I look forward to seeing you in Southport.

Russell Rook
Event Leader

Today's blogroll re-jig has been brought to you by the letter J

A re-jig of the johnnylaird blogroll is due, and by happy accident three of the new additions are Jason, Jake and Jonathan.

Each of the 3 listed guys are friends of friends, and all have interesting things to say about life, faith, community and all kinds of other good stuff. They are definitely worth checking out, and if you do, tell them I sent ya!

I've also been returning to Backyard Missionary a lot lately, whichI discovered quite by accident, when blogsearching smallboatbigsea. This is edgy and challenging stuff - pulling no punches, I guess in the way you would expect from a blog coming out of Oz. Anyhow, Backyard Missionary goes on the 'roll.

...hope anyone reading this, who bounces over to these guys finds their blogs as stimulating as I do.

Wes Little: Bill Booth Revival Machine

In November, my buddy Matt blogged very movingly about the news he had just received, saying his Dad, Wes, had about 2 years left to live – the specialists' estimation based on Wes’ cancer diagnosis.

In early January ‘08 – less than 2 months later, Wes passed away, or as we say in The Salvation Army, was Promoted to Glory.

Wes was a wonderfully kind Christian man…funny, and generous.

By way of tribute, an album recorded by Bill Booth Revival Machine – the rock band Wes played in in the 70s - is now available for download here. Check it out.

BBRM were a great little band, and I’m old enough to remember going to their last ever gig (I believe)

Thanks, Wes.

Michael Frost coming to UK

Some random Googling led me to discover that Michael Frost, author of one of my most challenging reads of 2007, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture, is coming to the UK in Oct '08 for a speaking tour.

I haven't checked my diary yet, but if I'm free I'll try and make the London date.

I've posted about Mike here and here before.

Bank as “Third Place”

Gotta give a shout out to Fast Company for alerting me to US West Coast regional bank, Umpqua, who seem to have built a lot of their business on the strength of very innovative marketing. (I guess amongst a bunch of other good stuff – it can’t all be the environment & the pretty graphics!)

Check out the Umpqua Innovation Lab. It’s like Star Trek!

Umpqua appear to have jumped enthusiastically into the Third Place idea, which also drives businesses like Starbucks and the whole slew of coffeehouses – small and large – that populate the street corners of much of the Western world. It reminds me again how important community is to people, and how ministries like The Freeway and Q Café really get that concept.

We are wired to be together – share life, spend time….and just hang out.

HT to South Waterfront , Portland, Oregon for the pic

Grand

There aren't many TV shows that will grab my attention so much that I'll make a point of sitting down and watching beginning to end, but there's something about Grand Designs that I really love.

Tonight a new series started it was one of those classics where everything looked like it was going to fail almost from the off, but the final end product was a triumph.

Catch it if you can...

In the corner

I’m starting to really appreciate the value of new(ish) tools that allow me to keep in touch with friends and family who live outside of the UK.

At the weekend, we went to the 6th birthday party of one of my daughter Mia’s best friends, and for most of the time we were there, the PC in the corner was hooked up to Skype so our buddies Lard & Becks, Taff and Nicky (each couple have recently moved to the States – PA and FLA)could “join in” the party.

Gotta keep in touch one way or the other! We miss you guys.

Condiment Czar

I’ve always been a big fan of a nice sauce, and towards the end of last year I rediscovered one of the joys of my youth, namely a Sunday Roast – chicken usually – accompanied by a generous helping of HP Sauce, that peculiarly British condiment that can bring any meal to life. Although some would consider it almost vulgar to add such a thing to the traditional Sunday Roast, for me it adds a whole new dimension.

Although HP is imperious, I’m also partial to mustards from the Maille stable, (check out the site!) as well as the wonderful Hollandaise Sauce for Eggs Benedict.

My love of a good condiment prompted my brother-in-law to dub me the Condiment Czar, a title I am delighted to accept!

Walk On

My new blogging buddy, Jonathan Blundell was prompted by my comments against this post to ask some questions about the Walking Fellowship* at Croydon Citadel Salvation Army.

Jonathan asked

(…is the Walking Fellowship)

….Just "walk around the park" or is it more of a specific prayer walk. Is this something typical of other SA's or something your group is doing?

I had replied

The Walking Fellowship walk together in the countryside, and the individuals hang out & talk with other people from the Church who may not always get the chance to spend any good quality time with. Usually they will end up at someone's house after about an hour to an hour an a half walking. They drink coffee, eat cake, share some Scripture & prayer.

There's no particular prayer walking with this group, but we have others who do.

….but forgot to respond to Jonathan’s question about whether it was a typical SA initiative.

In response to that, no – it’s not especially typical.(but then again what is?) I guess the thing about The Salvation Army - in the UK and globally – is no longer a homogenous one-size-fits all denomination in terms of method, but rather it is a very diverse Church, where all kinds of different expressions of service & ministry sit along side each other.

The Salvation Army is ALOVE
The Salvation Army is The Freeway
The Salvation Army is Roots
The Salvation Army is Revolution Hawaii
The Salvation Army is 614 Network
The Salvation Army is The Singing Company
The Salvation Army is 2Love


(As an aside, I had always felt a bit strange about the work “fellowship”…it always seemed so “Churchy”, and had all but disappeared from regular folks’ language. I guess maybe Lord of the Rings may have reclaimed it a little, and brought it back into common parlance… )

It’s always good to meet and eat!

I’m looking forward to this weekend when we kick off our Home Group for 2008.

We’re going to use a NOOMA DVD each month, to hang some thoughts on, and I’m going to investigate Steve Chalke’s Intelligent Church DVD as another resource. I thought the book was great, so hopefully we can get some useful stuff from the vid.

No doubt, we’ll get hit with a few surprising curveballs as the year progresses, but we will start to work with a couple of other books as we journey together: Brian McLaren’s “The Secret Message of Jesus”, and NT Wright’s “Simply Christian”

Danielle's Spiritual Inventory for the religious...

I've lifted this straight from Danielle Strickland's excellent ArmyBarmy Remix blog.

Danielle had mentioned that she knew of some people who use a few spiritual inventory questions to keep themselves in check. In what she describes as "the spirit of authentic discipleship" Danielle proposes some questions for consideration:

Are you friends with someone who is not a Christian?

Do you have friends in low places?

Are you aware today that there is nothing you can do to save yourself from sin? And how have you tried to produce your own righteousness?

Have you embraced a culture that is totally different from your own? If so, how?

Do you forgive freely?

Have you lavished resources on hospitality and fun recently? How did you feel?

Is there ‘dirt’ under your fingernails? Have you done something that required ‘work’?

Have you given something precious away –freely and without regret?

Have you gone swimming at the beach and rolled in the sand?

How often do you read a good secular book?
Have you ever sat in a bar and conversed with the occupants?
Do you protect the reputation of colleagues when they are criticized?
Do you own a hiphop CD?

and many more... the key is trying to live a Kingdom life - not just a religious one. The difference?

life that grows - not diminishes

life that is full - not empty

life that is abandoned - not restricted

life that is alive - not dead

This certainly challenged me...

Mele Kalikimaka!

When Jan and I got married in December 2001, we were fortunate enough to honeymoon in Maui, which gave us the awesome chance to spend Christmas in Hawaii.

As an added bonus for about 3 of the following years, we had family living there, so we visited as often as time and the Bank Manager would allow, so we had a couple of Hawaiian Christmases.

Clearly, we fell in love with the place, and there’s barely a day goes by when we don’t make some kind of reference to it in Casa Laird.

One of the huge hi-lights we always enjoyed was a visit to New Hope, the Church our family attended. The guys at New Hope always make Christmas so special, and their Christmas productions were just a joy!

Get a feel for the way they do things on their site.

Mahalo, New Hope, and Mele Kalikimaka!

Thanks for the wonderful memories.

Communitas New Orleans

Isn’t the web a wonderful thing?


A few clicks – a comment here and there – a polite acknowledgement, and a budding relationship forms.


Thanks, Mike, for passing by, and if anyone else is reading, check out Communitas New Orleans’ site.

Heavy Frost

I have to say a huge "thanks" to fellow Salvationist blogger Craig Gaudion, who tipped me off about this staggeringly powerful and challenging preach from Morling College professor, Pastor of smallboatbigsea, and writer of (amongst other things) EXILES:Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture, Michael Frost.

The vid is a couple of mammoth 45 minute slots - 2 preaches from one conference.. but if you can make the time they are well worth hearing....whatever your perspective on life, or wherever you are in your faith journey.

Highly recommended.

Rob Bell In TIME

Good to see Rob Bell getting some props in TIME Magazine:

Read the piece here:

HT to the Headphonaught for the gratuitous “me and my buddy” pic with Rob.

Chick on TV

Chick Yuill is getting some air time on the BBC this weekend:

• He is a guest on BBC Radio 2 ‘Good Morning Sunday’ show with Aled Jones – where he will share a thought for the day and take part in discussions between 7.30am-8am.

• On the same day he also guests on BBC1 TV ‘Christmas Voices’ with Soprano Lesley Garrett 10am-11am. He’s not singing(which is a great shame! – but will be discussing topical issues including alcohol.

Check it out if you are able!

Hope08 is an initiative supporting the work of Churches in the UK, by facilitating intensified, united, focused prayer and driving a year of activities, communicating the Gospel through words and actions, creating a lasting legacy of both physical and spiritual change in the lives of communities and individuals.


Supporting Local Churches
across the UK in their commitment to serve and witness to their communities


Encouraging Collaboration
between churches and agencies in reaching out to their communities


Resourcing and Training
local churches to develop their ability to engage with their communities on a long term basis


Impacting Individuals and Communities
with the Gospel through words and actions during 2008.

Chick is Chair of the Hope in Greater Manchester core group. He brings a wealth of experience from 35-years in ministry, including 7-years as head of The Salvation Army in the North West.

His role is to support and encourage churches and ministries across Greater Manchester to work together, discern God's will, and plan and prepare for the amazing opportunities offered by Hope 2008.

Britain

A random response of mine to a portion of Lard’s debut Relevant Podcast has started a train of thought that might be worth exploring.

The podcast, which was introducing Lloyd as a new staff member at Relevant, included quite a lot of banter about Britain and Britishness. It was all very light hearted and funny, but did seem to indicate a bit of a blind spot about what the US-based podcast hosts understood about the UK. One of the guys said most of what he knew about Britain was based on TV reruns of Mr Bean.

I gently suggested that Lloyd was going to have to educate his American colleagues (dontcha just love ‘em?)about what constitutes British culture….beyond Mr Bean. It did make me think, though. What is British culture…I mean what is it, really?

Ruby Murray?
Match of the Day on the telly?

Who knows?

….and is London a country all of it’s own, with it’s own culture, which is distinct from the rest of the UK?

Top fellah, Phil Hoyle offered the following comment:

I mean, living in London, the culture is largely multi-culture. Is that an acceptable summation?
In generic terms, I guess the pub would have to feature. Tea, of course. Roast dinners? Fish and Chips? Reality TV? Binge Drinking? Cynicism? Sarcasm? Irony? Love of the underdog?

What’s your take on it?

Badger!

So cool to hear my good buddy Lloyd Kinsley's first podcast for Relevant.

Check it out here.