That's my King!

That's My King! from Albert Martin on Vimeo.

HT to The FRWY for introducing me to this video

The Church is not the building

I’ve just discovered a piece on the handsome new building at The Salvation Army in Chelmsford, Essex UK

Having skimmed the text, and looked at the impressive images I’m still wrestling with my feelings, both about the perceptions of the writer, and the appropriateness of such a grand building for a movement such as ours. When I’ve had more time to gather my thoughts, I might post again.

One thing I am convinced about, though, is that the Church is not the building

Anyone got any thoughts?

Pic Credits: : Keith Collie

Heroes wanted: the HUMAN EVENT

HEROES WANTED FOR A QUEST TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE…SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL

I’m struggling to decide whether I can really make this, the HUMAN EVENT or not later in the year, as it’s so very close to the ½ Marathon I – somewhat stupidly – agreed to run in.

However, I’m hoping I can find a way to make it work for a number of reasons:

• It would be great to hook up with some creative and innovative Jesus followers who have a heart for mission

• It’s a chance to hook up with Sam & Rachel of Mosaic Sheffield once again

• …an opportunity to meet Geoffrey Baines for the first time

• I want to find out if Alex is as inspirational as Erwin! ;-)

• I’d like to know more about the International Mentoring Network

• Revisit Sheffield. My last weekend there was a good one

If the idea of a

“UNIQUE CONVERSATION about the future of humanity and the role of the church in the 21st century”

sounds interesting, you might want to check it out too.

Cuz

Proud of my kids' cousins.

What a great lookin' bunch!

BUILT on immigration, invasion, inclusion and adaption

Ever since the news broke that the BNP had secured two seats in the recent European parliament elections, I’ve been really troubled and have been wrestling with what would be a suitable & gracious response.

Anyhow, I think I’ve found that response in the form of this wonderful post on Tom Attah’s blog “Curry and a bit of Motown”. Clearly it’s written from the perspective of a Black English man, which is something I not (as a white Scot with an English accent), but I did find a lot in this post that resonated with me.

When the vote was announced I couldn’t adequately express my initial anger and dismay, so since then I’ve tried in my own mind to understand what it is that has allowed some sectors of the community to become so disenfranchised and fearful that they would be willing to align themselves - by virtue of their cast votes – with such an extreme party. I have to confess, I’ve largely failed to understand.

As I’ve gone about my business, travelled on the train, spent time with family, friends and colleagues here in London I’ve found myself thinking deeply about what a terrifying prospect it would be if a party like the BNP held power. They seem to be yearning for a mythical time of so-called racial purity that has never really existed. History tells us that this amazing island where we live has - for many centuries - been defined by the lives of those coming and going.

For me the notion that there is a pure indigenous British people is wholly erroneous, or at least long gone. I’ve taken more notice than usual of background and ethnicity of the people I know and I see around me to try and get some kind of a feel of who would be considered “indigenous”, and it doesn’t take long to figure out that we are deeply reliant on each other – we’re connected on many levels, and there’s no going back….thankfully.

Tom asks

“How do we take a message of understanding and inclusion…to people who have forgotten it or never been taught that they belong in the world, not on an island?

For me, as a follower of Jesus – someone who strives to live by the maxim Love God, Love Others - there are few better responses than this from Desmond Tutu that I’ve used on this blog before:

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.

Chris Moyles enthuses!

If you’re reading this from anywhere other than the UK , you probably have no idea who Chris Moyles is, but it’s excellent to hear him enthusing on his show about a TV service he found on a recent Sunday AM.

Chris is kind of a big noise on the radio here in the UK, so it makes a change to hear someone being genuinely positive about the impression left after seeing a Kingsgate Community Church service on TV

Top effort, Chris!

Salvador: Dance Like David

Salvador at New Hope,Oahu,Hawaii.

Dance Like David

Fabulous!

Imagine Chick

I was interested to read that Chick Yuill has joined the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity as the Regional Church Life Consultant in the North West of England for the Imagine Project, which seeks to

“cultivate open, authentic, learning and praying communities that are focussed on making 'whole-life disciples' who live and share the gospel wherever they relate to people.

Sounds good to me!

There are more details here

I’ve not had a massive amount of contact with the LICC, expect for their involvement with a Michael Frost event I attended last year, but everything I’ve seen has impressed me.

Definitely worth checking out

Mooziq

When I created my blogger profile years ago, I listed my favo(u)rite music, as you do.

I thought I’d revisit it today, just to see if there were any changes I would make if I redid the list today.

Here are the people who float my musical boat:


• Aaron Neville
• Ben Harper
• Bill Frisell
• Brooklyn Tabernacle Gospel Choir
• Johnny Cash
• Iz (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)
• Jack Johnson
• Jaco Pastorius
• Joni Mitchell
• k d lang
• Lester Bowie
• Leonard Bernstein
• Massive Attack
• Marvin Gay
• David Bowie
• Me'Shell NdegéOcello
• Miles Davis
• Nicole C Mullen
• Ry Cooder
• Salvador
• Santana
• Steve Turre
• Stevie Wonder
• Talvin Singh
• U2
• William Orbit

Am I missing some of your faves you want to recommend? …because it’s a snapshot, there are even some of my own favo(u)rites missing!

Any of the above sending you reaching for the dial?

Hallelujah

There's no finer female voice in the world...sends shivers down the spine.

The one and only

kd Lang

CCAT

.. appalled by Human Trafficking?
… based in Croydon?
….want to help?
…..check it out

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…

Abject stupidity

It’s a very fine line between sheer bravery and abject stupidity and I’m tending towards the latter at the moment, having being persuaded to take part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon here in London in October.

Those who know me best know that I’m not at all athletic, not especially disciplined when it comes to active pursuits, hardly in the best shape of my life, just plain old and occasionally have a tendency to be all mouth and no trousers! (I hope that translates well for anyone reading this from outside of the UK)

What tipped the scales for me was the chance to do something practical to show my support for my old buddy Andy who is battling hard with the Big C and the inspiration of fitter, stronger, younger mates like Stu who’ve done the same.

Check out Andy’s initial response to the news – complete with Anglo Saxon language - to the news here.

Andy’s blog - Grumpy Old Git - is a gritty and authentic reminder of the complete life change a person goes through when they and their loved ones are hit by this terrible disease. Anyhow, Andy’s a fighter and is taking it full on with a vengeance, so don’t his expect the blog posts to be all sweetness and light!

So, the time will come before too long when I start badgering you for money.

Now I know that’s a big ask at this point in time, and I also realise that Social Networking has made it easier and easier for more and more people to ask you for money, but you’re going to have to bear with me as I make my own particular pitch for your cash.

So, to share a little bit of an e-mail conversation I had with Andy…

• Did my longest run* in months yesterday! Felt fine….very very slow, though.

• Bought my copy of Runners World as per your recommendation!

• Printed off a Training schedule

• Watched bits of the London 10k on telly..

• It’s going well!

…I may have peaked! ;-)

* Which for me probably means about 3 miles at a guess?

Stay tuned and go here!

Salvation Army guerrilla marketing

Like many Salvationists, I sometimes struggle when we involve marketing folks with our mission.

There’s always the danger that the public perception of The Salvation Army as a huge global social service agency outshadows our primary calling as a people who are followers of Jesus

However, I can’t argue with the creativity of this latest campaign from Portland, Maine.

Check it out here


HT to SavationArmyDonate and Via Marketing for the image

Beautiful place...

..loving the piece on the beautiful home of El Salvadorian architech José Roberto Paredes in the May edition of the wondrous Dwell magazine

Check the article for more pics

HT to Dwell for the images

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.

Culture

Those of us who read Scripture often assume this passage from Romans talks about the “culture” outside of our faith community…our ekklesia…our Corps. I wonder how much it can also be applied to the very culture of our tribe.

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking... The Message

• This son of the regiment is becoming increasingly troubled by our excessive use of Christianese and the tendency to retreat into our Salvationist culture bubble.

• This CSM is finding it hard to cope with our love of the acronym…IHQ, THQ, DHQ, ISB, YPSM….and occasionally toys with the idea that some of those letters represent anachronism as much as acronym. Why do we have to talk in riddles?

• This uniform wearing Salvationist is struggling with the weekly donning of the blue serge..

I don’t have a problem with being visually identified with The Salvation Army. In fact, I’m glad to be so, but I’m not a great fan of the particular FORM of uniform we’ve worn since the early ‘70s or thereabouts.

I’m no longer convinced that the uniform in it’s present form is broadly recognized by society at large....

Many folks seem not to be able to distinguish it – particularly when we are wearing white shirts- from any number of similar uniforms. Security staff, Airline or Parking attendants etc.

White shirts aren’t always that slimming!

I find serge heavy & uncomfortable

Sundays are the only day of the week I have to wear a tie

Somehow our buttoned-down starched uniforms don’t speak to me of this radical Army of Salvation

I’m a big fan of The Salvation Army’s Red Shield logo, and would rather see that employed more readily as part of our uniform


Yet…..I am a Salvationist…probably to the core…inspired by the words of William Booth when he said “I’ll Fight”…but first, and most importantly I’m trying hard to be a follower of The Way of Jesus.
Love God, Love Others

Mucky Paws

Hat tip to Stewart Cutler for pointing me in the direction of elegant little Abbotsford Parish Church site, and in particular Mucky Paws, described by their Rev Roddy Hamilton as “A collection of contemporary liturgies and creative moments from the last month in Abbotsford.”

There’s a simple beauty which seems to come out through everything done at Abbotsford. Check the Photo Albums for a glimpse of that beauty.

If you want some wonderful original liturgies, just bounce Roddy Hamilton an e-mail through the site, and he’ll kindly oblige

One of the liturgies I received is just beautiful:

The Jesus we miss

When we’ve finished with the theological discussion and the denominational differences
may we discover you, O Jesus, laughing at our debates
When we’ve repeated all our creeds and affirmed all our doctrines
may we discover you, O Jesus, looking for hand to feed the hungry
When we’ve preach all the sermons and established all our church credentials
may we discover you, O Jesus, drinking tea with the left-outs
healing saviour
and human friend
prince of peace
and heavenly rebel
wisdom to the wise
and comforter to the lost
Lord of glory
and companion on the road
We come to meet you
the Jesus we miss
who explains all of heaven
in the squeezing of our hand

rgh
30th January 2009
Epiphany 4B
Jesus, everyday, seeing

Qnoomaharvestf 09

Are you going to Qnoomaharvestf 09?

Its a kind of diginetworkingworshipyonlinecommunity held in Bognor..we all wear dark framed glasses & whisper talk in ancient Hebrew

Why Bognor?

It’s what Jesus would do...and at qnoomaharvestf we are big on WWJD (and curries)...also it’s hard to say Bognor without smiling

How much will it cost?

£1500.early bird £1700+free spectacles+qnoomaf tee..retweet for place in prize draw..free coffee all week for emergent churches!


When asked if Macs were compulsory, Qnoomaharvestf founder and chief cultural maven @darrinreeves said

..Macs are so qnoomaharvestf '08. '09 we are living Celtic tradition, writing on animal hides whilst listening to the wind...

Here's a man who clearly knows what he's talking about!

Jason’s thoughts on Movements

I love this fabulous post - The Thing About Movements - from Jason Salamun’s excellent LIVE FREE blog.

From where I sit – as a Salvationist – it’s a timely reminder, and so good that I wanted to share it here:

If you want to kill a movement.

Institutionalize it.

Make it the norm.

Get people comfortable.

Movements are like kites, they need a wind to rise against.

Movements tell a different story than what is being told.

Movements require an antagonist.

If you look at movements in history, this is a common thread.

Jesus sparked a movement of love against the backdrop of a fallen world.

America was a movement of freedom against the backdrop of a monarchy.

Rescue Missions are a movement of generosity against the backdrop of poverty.

But.

If you want to ignite a movement.

Don’t just find an enemy.

Find a cause.

A rallying cry.

A better story.

Fix your eyes on it.

Advance in that direction.

And don’t stop.

When you encounter some wind.

Grin.

Because it’s not just resistance.

It’s traction.

And you’re on your way to becoming a genuine movement.

Just make sure you’re moving in the right direction.

Thanks Jason!

Jason is founding Pastor at Project Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. Read his blog – it’s much better than mine!

HT to Karen Yee Lim at SayConnect for the pic It speaks to me of life and energy, and I'm always glad to see a Salvationist in uniform who doesn't look like a security guard! ;-)