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!

Peppermint Filled Piñatas: “Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love!” Audio Version

A couple of Christmases ago I picked up a copy* of Eric Bryant’s excellent Peppermint Filled Piñatas:

I read it twice over on that holiday, as I enjoyed padding around our family base for the period, deep in snowbound rural Pennsylvania – a world away from Eric’s home in LA, and the location of Mosaic, where he does life, family and faith together with a richly diverse community of Jesus followers.

The good news is the Audio version of Peppermint Filled Piñatas is now available.

I’m so glad the subtitle of the book is “Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love!”

I’m not comfortable with others simply “tolerating” my family, friends, and colleagues who have a different racial, cultural and social background to me. I want them to be embraced and loved!

Thanks, Eric, for this great little book…look forward to hearing the Audio version.

* For me, the highest recommendation of a book, is when I’ve passed it on to another, so my hard copy of Peppermint Filled Piñatas is currently with @MrsAjp

What a time to visit Scotland

Blogging buddy, and MOSAIC Pastor Eric Bryant is visiting Scotland next week.

Here's the schedule

If any of my Scots blogging buddies are able to make it, tell Eric I sent ya!

J

Diversity & Grace & Wisdom

For almost all of my life most of the social groupings I’ve found myself in – Church, school, work, friends, and family – have enjoyed a healthy degree of diversity. Sometimes it’s been immediately apparent, and other times it just takes a little bit of awareness to appreciate it.

It doesn’t take a very deep scratch under the surface of society in much of the Western world to get to a rich tapestry of ethnicities, cultural & social backgrounds….a mixed marriage here, time spent living in another culture there…we are all a kaleidoscopic mash up…and I like that! We are the richer for it.

Some time ago I wrote about the particular mix in my place of work, and if I were to list the nationalities today, it will have shifted again. It’s a dynamic organic thing, and I love it.

So, this excellent post from Eric Bryant goes some way to explaining some of the reasons why I find a tribe like the perfectly named Mosaic so captivating. This community of Jesus followers have dealt with this diversity with such grace and wisdom…it’s inspirational.

Eric’s closing point says it so well…

“Diversity reveals God’s heart. Our world is more and more diverse. In fact, people are more diverse themselves. Rather than just a mixture of European cultures, Americans are a blend of Latino, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and European – sometimes all in one person. The path to diversity begins with the mission of Jesus.
When we choose to reach out and love all of those around us, we will experience a glimpse of heaven on earth.”

Beautiful…

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:

Speak Human Please

I’ve got to say a big thanks to my friend Eric Bryant for pointing out this excellent post from Charles Lee, creator of the Idea Camp.

Charles in turn is quoting something from Erwin McManus when he was talking about the inability of many faith leaders to “speak human.”

Charles goes to pose some important questions for those who are involved in communities of faith, or in fact any tribe or people group:

• Would someone outside of our organization or business really understand our language and mission?
• Do you spend intentional time developing and choosing words that build bridges and creates access to those on the “outside”?
• Why do you use the words you do and who is it intended for? Think layers and context.

I’ve been asking myself similar questions in the context of my own tribe for a few years now, as I increasing struggle with our tendency to talk in riddles, acronyms and language that was birthed in Victorian times. We Salvationists are so prone to speak in the exclusive language of the insider.
It reminds me of a previous post where I was riffing on a similar theme.

Wise words from Mosaic

Some wise words I picked up from my buddy Eric on his blog:

They all bear repeating....

The “conqueror” is the more common strategy for leadership. The “explorer” excavates the talent of those already there. We need to become explorers.

If you keep looking for a new place to speak, you will never become a better communicator. We need to look for ways to have something important to say whenever and wherever we have the opportunity to speak (one-on-one conversations, team trainings, youth ministry, and so on).

If we don’t translate building community with us, then we won’t be able to do this in our teams. We need to move fast but never at the cost of creating community!

We think we have to tone down the Gospel to attract people to Jesus, but we actually need to elevate the understanding of the Gospel (to where Jesus intended) to offer life-transformation to those out there who are looking for meaning.

We need to initiate relationships and conversations with the people others see as invisible.

Not everything has to grow large, but we need to be honest about what we have and are doing and always be a place for outsider.

The more people feel you are speaking to a person, the larger the church can become. The more people feel you are speaking to a crowd then fewer people will want to come.

We need to ask the question: “How do I help the people around me become the people God wants them to be?” We are spiritual leaders, not just leaders.

HT to Keith and the guys at Core Magazine for the pic.

For more of the same, check out MOSAIC & Erwin McManus

Pax

J

Welsh Retreat

Well, we're back from a couple of weeks of holiday.

Week one, we chilled at home, and I wrestled with an IKEA wardrobe, which seemed to take the whole week to assemble! All the same, it was so good to get up when my body was telling me to do so, instead of when my Blackberry's alarm told me to. It was even better to hang out with Janet, Mia and Noah. I love to spend time with them, and this was the best opportunity to do this for quite some time.

Week two we travelled to West Wales to stay at the beautiful Cerrig Llwyddion in Camarthenshire. This was our chance to really chill and relax in the most wonderful peaceful environment. Check out the site if you are looking for a quiet friendly place for a family break, or a venue for a retreat. The Barn can take up to eight adults. Highly recommended!

The kids loved the easy going nature of the place, and being around the chickens, pigs, cats and Murphy the dog.

Even though it rained pretty much every day, we still mananged to hit the beaches along the Ceridigion coast every day. Mwnt became a favourite.

I didn’t manage to do as much reading as I had planned, but did manage to whizz through one of the Oxford University Press’ cute little Very Short Introductions series on “The Celts”, which was OK, if a little bit heavily skewed towards the Breton part of the equation, with only cursory mentions of the Scots. (hence my interest). As a series of books, though, I think they are worth exploring.

..caught up too with some excellent podcasts from Eric Bryant & Erwin McManus at Mosaic, and various bits from Mars Hill, particularly preaches from Steve Chalke & Phyllis Tickle …just quality stuff.

Thanks to Linda & Julie for making our stay so special. (and thanks for the pic to illustrate this post)

Little shuffle

…not really due for an overhaul, but I did want to make a few small tweaks in to the johnnylaird blogroll

• ABC Pastor goes in (I blogged about Lawrence Tom here)
• I’ve added Lard’s family site too
• Scott was posted about here, and makes the blogroll
• Ian’s In the Belly of the Big Fish blog and Pace Bene site go on
• Stuart Watson’s Speirer blog is an interesting one for Salvationists. It’s early days for this one, so I’m not sure what themes will be covered over time, but Stuart has posted on subjects that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately namely Duty and Sabbath. My guess is this one will be an interesting one to watch as later in the month, Stuart & his wife Marjory leave the UK to begin a new life in California. Stuart will be working as the Music Education Director and Marjory as the Creative Ministries Director for The Salvation Army on the US West Coast, based in LA.
• …been finding a few things on MOOT’s blog that have grabbed my attention, so it’s going on the ‘roll
• Matt Ingram – How could I possibly not? Matt’s Hawaiian adventure is going to be great to read about because it will bring back so many memories of that beautiful place

I also wanted to include some sites of various good people I hooked up with when I spent a day with Eric Bryant and the guys from the Mosaic Alliance UK, so in go the following:

• Keith Ayling
• Sam Radford of Mosaic Sheffield blogs at The Sixth Sense
• Not strictly a blog, but a funky little Church site from ICF London

RELEVANT makes the mags, partly because it’s so relevant, and also as a sign of my support for the mighty Lard

Lastly, I wanted to give a shout out to my blogging buddies Thomas and JB, who’ve just started a new podcast at Something Beautiful.Stop by if you can.

When I do one of these periodic jigs of my blogroll, I’m hoping whoever is reading this blog finds a few things that might interest them and that the various strands of my own little cyberworld might gently collide with each other and find some common ground.


(There's a lot of linkage to sort now, but I'll get to it!)

Smile!

I'm gonna nail my colo(u)rs to the mast.

I like Barack Obama!

Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

Sensational Salvationist Soul

Massive...massive...MASSIVE thanks to Eric Himes, who posted this incredible vid featuring Swedish Salvationist Samuel Ljungblahd, on the WARdrobe Facebook Group*.

(*Adding Salvo gear such as tunics, epaulettes, crests, shields, t-shirts, hoodies, jackets and hats to supplement your daily wardrobe)

Samuel’s dueting with Gospel legend, Kirk Franklin..or rather with one of Kirk’s singers Nikki Ross, and they just hit it completely out of the park! Awesome R&B tinged gospel.

Delighted, too, to see that Samuel gave the “Salvation Army salute” at the end of his amazing performance: a finger pointed heavenwards to indicate that what he did in performance...was actually an act of Worship to his God.

I was just noodling around in the FB group because I love the imaginative and creative way some folks are mashing up The Salvation Army uniform these days, recalling those early, rootsy days in our movement’s history when the uniform was perhaps an outward sign of the renegade, and less of the bowing to convention or internal culture, so Samuel rocking an old style “stand up” Salvation Army tunic with blue jeans got a mention.

Discovering Samuel Ljungblahd was an immense bonus.

Sartorially, the whole WARdrobe thing reminds me a little of Bill Booth Revial Machine in the 70s.

If you are a Salvationist, you might want to check the group out. I hope it makes you smile.

If you’re not a Sally – just enjoy Samuel’s Sensational Salvationist Soul

You Have To Check It Out!

Link Love

It’s time for another jig of the johnnylaird blogroll.

Some folks have very kindly added me to their blogroll, so it would be churlish not to reciprocate:

In comes….

Dan Rous
Mel Cooke
Vicki Adams
Victor Estrada
Yucan Chiu

Thanks guys!

Some have become blogs I read, on the basis of knowing the bloggers personally:

So, in comes….

• Craig’s blog was one of the first I started to read, but he had not been posting for quire a time. He’s started again, so he’s going on the blogroll.

• Jon-Mark used to play in the Sally Army Band with me, and is currently working as a sound engineer on cruise ships in the Med.

• Richard & Ann are married Salvation Army Officers (Pastors), running a Church in Romford, England.

One comes in on the basis of having a great blog, and the blogger being courteous enough to respond each & every time I post. Welcome Eric Bryant…an elder, speaker, and navigator overseeing the leadership team at the innovative Mosaic community in Los Angeles, CA.

On top of that I’ve added a few mags I read, which you might enjoy too… Dwell, Fast Company, Leadership & WIRED.

Check out the links – they’re invariably more interesting than the stuff I post here!

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.

Thanks Erwin!

Having devoured Erwin McManus’ fabulous book, The Barbarian Way a couple of years back it was so cool to go and hear Erwin speak at Kerith Community Church in Bracknell this weekend.

It was such a good day…inspirational on all kinds of levels.

Erwin is such a dynamic, engaging and challenging speaker; it’s hard not to be motivated by what he says. A special word too for the beautifully produced short films which acted as bookends to each session. Each was a poignant and thought provoking film which made you really think. Amazing stuff.

There was so much to compute…so much good stuff to take on board that I’ve not had time to put my thoughts down. I’m still processing it all. I’m kinda hoping there’s someone better and brighter than me who was there, who is going to commit their thoughts on the day to the blogosphere! Hopefully, though, as the days go on I can actually manage to get some of my response down on paper.

Most significantly I was glad that through all the teaching, Erwin constantly brought us back to Jesus.

Also, it was fascinating to hear something of the story of Erwin’s tribe - Mosaic in LA and the rich diversity of the community there. One phrase that jumped out to me

…”we like people who are not like us”.

I love it!

It was great too to hook up with Neil Nakamoto from Mosaic, one of I think eight guys who’ve been travelling with Erwin on this European trip. A kinder and more gracious guy you’ll struggle to find. Knowing that Neil, Eric Bryant and Adrian Kohler are on staff at Mosaic with Erwin must mean those guys alone make up part of a rocking team!

…wonderful too to finally meet Sam and Rachel Radford from Mosaic in Sheffield, all the guys from The Salvation Army in Histon and fellow Twitterer Ben Pocock

Anyhow…an awesome day...I bought my copy of another Erwin book, “Wide Awake” – looking forward to reading it.

Thanks, Erwin!

If you know nothing about Erwin or Mosaic, the stuff online is really worth checking out.