March 31, 2004
questions that need answering
1. why would lawrence lessing release his book for free on the www?
2. why would lawrence lessing's publishers release his book on the www?
3. who feeds lawrence lessing's children?
made my day
the internet and blogging world has been a hard space for me the last month. this email was a positive to add to the negative.
Email today:
the Diocese has given us the go-ahead to begin a new alt.church community in Oxford - we are called mayBe - and much thanks to you for the inspiration to get us started.
great name. wierd to think that one can be "inspiration" in a birth on the other side of the world. puts a whole new spin on virtual sex!
March 30, 2004
resourcing life
A danger of Christianity, of church, of the emerging church, is that we focus all our energy on making church right.
While there is a lot to put right, ultimately we exist to resource people in their following of Jesus, and most of this happens outside church. So we need to provide models of integration.
This Sunday I launched "Resourcing work" prayers at Opawa. Our vision to encourage people to walk and grow with Jesus. One way we can do that is to pray for people in their work situations.
This week we rang up people at Opawa who worked in the health professions … nurses and radiographers. We asked them about their job … what they liked, what frustrated them, what we could pray for.
They brought a symbol of their work and so on Sunday X-rays and catheters and bandages sat at the front of the church. And we prayed ...
God
You are the healer
You heal through medicine and through miracle
You heal through people.
We thankyou for all those who work in the health field … nurses, radiographers and health professionals.
We thankyou for them, for their skills and dedication.
We thankyou for the things about their work they enjoy …. see people get better, chance to be with people, a chance to show they care, a chance to have relationships with a wide and diverse group of people.
We thankyou that all these are values close to your heart … people, caring, seeing health and wholeness.
God
we acknowledge the frustrations and challenges.
lack of funding, pressure that places on people, battle with short staffed rosters and not having time to be with people.
I think of the woman who anointed Jesus feet, and the words of Jesus, what you do for the least of them, you do for me.
God, for all health professionals this week,
May the God’s love shine through them as they tend the feet of others.
May they have patience with grumpy patients and heavy workloads
May they have a sense of serving you through their dedication and skills.
around table
i have been under a lot of pressure recently ... 2 new jobs .... phd ending ... trying to finish my manuscript for emergent ... new city ....
good friend and fellow-blogger paul was down for the weekend. i ducked out of church commitments and together we wandered the art gallery, browsed the book shops, roamed a few cafes, wined and dined, talked, caught up ...
.. it was a very important space and it is a very important friendship. To quote the dubmasters ...
making our own direction
we will never forget our connection
whenever you're down remember your crew
March 28, 2004
the preparation
preparations began today for the 2004 contemporary passion of Jesus .... removed half the church pews, hung a white frost cloth ceiling, laid down metres of black polythene plastic in preparation for 3 tonnes of sand to be laid in the church .....
It is amazing how changing the physical environment changes the feel of the space. The youth service tonite will be on cushions on a black polythene screen with Bill Viola visuals.
March 27, 2004
easter art
2004
CONTEMPORARY
PASSION OF JESUS
the 2004 CONTEMPORARY PASSION OF JESUS
a series of contemporary interactive art installations
that reinterpret the ancient Stations of the Cross
and the last hours of Jesus life
leading up to His death
7pm-11pm, Monday, 5 April to Thursday, 8 April
1pm-11 pm, Friday, 9 April and Saturday, 10 April
Opawa Baptist Church, cnr Wilsons Rd & Hastings St East
Worship amid the art, 10:30 am Good Friday, Easter Sunday
* stations explored, 9 pm nightly,
a guided discussion of the impact of the imagery
March 26, 2004
life
The passion. 12 hours of decision and death. Does the life count for much?
What are the implications if Jesus had just parachuted in for the day. Left his parachute in the Garden of Gethsemane and stepped into the Passion?
What is the effect on our salvation if Jesus had amnesia, had forgotten about his birth mother, lost his childhood memories, forgotten his 1st job?
What is the effect on our theology if Jesus is just a human who got "possessed" at baptism, as in The Last Temptation?
Does the life count for much?
March 25, 2004
mel and the atonement
A hallmark of evangelical christianity has been the Jesus who suffers, taking our sin, for the world. Mel's movie dines out large on this image. Lots of "splatta" theology. A good long look at 1 perspective, but in doing so, many other ways of viewing the cross are missed.
Jesus as the integrator of the planet
Jesus as the builder of the new community
Jesus as the non-violent freedom fighter of the Kingdom.
One of the gifts of our postmodern context will be some new insights on the atonement. I am looking forward to that.
March 24, 2004
the local
School just down the road from the church - must write to offer support.
THE PRESS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website
There is no key .. yet
Lots of you have asked for the key and some of you might wonder why you have not yet had a key cut.
Please relax. There is no key yet. Correction. There is a physical key, but my philosophy has not yet allowed me to turn the key. I am still not convinced a key is the right way to go.
Never resign in the middle of a row.
Never take strong action in the middle of a reaction
So I am bidding my time, letting the days tick and normality return and the questions ponder. Current questions include
1. Can I be bothered running two blogs?
2. There must be a better way to protect my stuff than locking some of it away?
3. If I am a “real” Kingdom person, surely I should be glad if my stuff is borrowed. Should I not offer two articles to everyone who cut and pastes one?
4. What is “author” anyway? Am I not a postmodenist who believes the author is dead and the only authority is communal?
5. A blog takes a lot of energy. How can I create “re-energising blogging processes?
6. What is the point of a blog anyway?
March 23, 2004
integrating our flashbacks
Jesus did not descend at 30 to do ministry and save the world. Jesus was born somewhere ... Jesus was 12 ... Jesus had a 1st job.
Birth, childhood, work, are essential to incarnation and faith.
So an integrated Christian faith must include us sifting, integrating, our birth, childhood, work.
March 21, 2004
needing visual help
the new church i pastor has ...
a) a paid staff team of 5
b) a board who provide accountability
c) a range of ministry leaders.
the new church i pastor has a signboard with ...
a) photos of the staff team at the top
b) photos of the board in the middle
c) photos of the ministry leaders below
the new church i pastor needs a signboard that shows ...
how the staff team, in accountable relationship with the board,
and in team with a range of ministry leaders and pastoral interns
sustain the ministry of everyone in the church in the world.
how do i visually re-present this, using photos, on a signboard?
March 20, 2004
a jest at floating language
the little boy emerged from the mud grinning.
soundbites were stuck to his ears and
video loops were scribed to his fingers
he was followed by a community of other grinning kids.
they had found life and were having a ball.
new games to live in
fresh expressions of church to narrate
some older kids pointed and laughed.
a Calvanist kid called the mud disgusting.
an evangelical kid though he recognised the Bible
a liberal kid spotted the outline of human experience
the theology police sauntered by
the black batons of barth and rahner
slapping against slick black leather thigh
"labels please
how would you describe your play
in non-modernist terms"
the little boy picked some mud from his ear
"i am not sure i am in the right place."
he grinned
"would you like to play" he asked.
and with twinkle in eye
returned to the mud
March 19, 2004
floating labels
in response to theology police ...
liberal ... evangelical
modernist terms to describe a
game played in a modernist field
... any takers for nancy murphy and beyond
foundationalism and a full
e~mmersion in a postmodern
pool where the old labels might well
wash away in the missiological
waters of incarnational
mission?
March 18, 2004
bruised but
A blog break = no abuse from nameless punters ... no emails to wade thru ... no complex and ethical decisions about what to blog and what not to blog ... no feeling like I am a baby in the matrix energy factory, with nameless people sucking me dry.
I have really enjoyed the break and have been very tempted to keep enjoying it. I found out one of the people who emailed on my stuff was a person I had helped in cyber and that was more bruising that finding out it had happened in the first place.
But then, a blog break = no meeting you ... no expansion of my world ... no interesting comments that open my mind ... less public processing of God in my life ...
OK, OK, so I will return ... I will need a few more days for the bruising to die away and to put in place some lessons learnt.
At this stage I am working on 2 blogs: a publishable blog and a conversational blog.
One, the publishable blog, you can take what you want and use it to power your matrix.
The other, the conversational blog, well, if you are willing to sign up to tread carefully, speak clearly and take nothing with you, then I can throw you the keys to the front door of the conversational space. I keep your "email" promise on file and if you flog my stuff, I throw away your keys, or worse throw you to the lawyers. Sort of like a private dinner party where we all work together to enhance the conversation. We give energy and in exchange we go away richer.
You get the keys by requesting so in my publishable blog, which remains pretty much its usual self, just a bit lighter at times cos the real oil is in the conversational space where I can trust ya.
What do you think?
test
just playing with some possibilities. you should not be able to access this download. if you can, PLEASE, let me know.
March 13, 2004
a break
i am taking a break from this blog in order to process some stuff. i set up this blog to be a conversational space. if, as maggi has commented, it is in reality a publishable space, then i am forced to rethink my energies.
i would love, in the kingdom, to be able to give all my work away. that was my dream in the creative commons license. but it appears i am required to be more careful. i am not sure i want a "careful" blog. appreciate your prayers.
March 12, 2004
the publishing week that was
Friday 5 March 3 pm :: I blog some brief thoughts about art and Mel.
Saturday and Sunday :: I work on an article on creativity and spirituality for Reality magazine. This is unpaid. This diverts time from my book. But I have been asked to do it and I am passionate about the topic. I send the article to reality late Sunday evening.
Tuesday 9 March 1:30 pm :: I got to see Mel’s passion.
Tuesday 9 March 2:00 pm :: Reality ring to discuss the creativity and spirituality article with Lynne. Lynne mentions I am at the Passion and Reality ask what I think.
Tuesday 9 March 5:00 pm :: I suggest Reality should do a feature edition on the movie.
Tuesday 9 March 10:00 pm :: I draft an initial 500 word letter to Mel. This is for my own benefit, as it helps me process my thoughts and extends my blog thinking.
Wednesday 10 March 1 pm :: Reality ring and ask for a 2000 word article on Mel. (This means they will shunt the article I have spent all weekend writing, to a June edition). I have been deeply disturbed by the Mel movie. I am aware that my feelings are out of step with much evangelical fervour surrounding the movie. I am concerned about how my thoughts might be perceived. Do I want to be cast as grumpy? Reality promise to edit me carefully. On this basis I say that if an article emerges, I will submit it.
Wednesday 10 March 5 pm :: The keyboard taps and I have some coherent thoughts. I am still very concerned about my thoughts. I am not sure I want to publish. I put my thoughts up on the blog, asking for feedback. In my mind this is a draft piece and I am, as my blog says “a work in process”.
Thursday 11 March 5 pm :: I have had 4 appreciative comments. Encouraged by this, I decide to submit the piece. I make some changes. I send the piece to Reality. Reality is primarily a print based medium, but they also publish work on their website. If Reality accept the piece, then I can take the draft piece down. I have a church AGM to run that evening, so I leave the office in a hurry.
Friday 12 March 9 am :: It has been a big Thursday evening and another night away from my family, so I drink a slow morning coffee with Lynne and Kayli.
Friday 12 March 11 am :: I arrive at the office to find messages on my home phone, work phone, cell phone and email from Reality.
By the time Reality have cleared their email, and received my piece, that Friday morning, they have already received two copies of my draft post, emailed to them, cut and pasted from my website. I am totally unaware of this. No one has told me they are cutting and pasting from my website and sending it on to other people. This is a draft piece of work. I am angry.
Technically my creative common license makes this OK, although it does cut across my statement on the blog that this was a piece in process, and my request for feedback.
Reality say they like the article and want to print it. They are, quite rightly, concerned that by the time their print based medium has printed my article, lots of people in New Zealand, might have read by piece by email. So I can either publish (unpaid) with them, or publish (unpaid) on my blog. However, since they will put my piece on their website, I can get the best of both worlds, just at a slower pace. I pull the draft piece of my blog.
Friday 12 March 3:00 pm :: I am now under internet pressure to put the piece back up on my blog.
I (think) I have learnt
1. The internet moves VERY fast.
2. Print based medium is under huge pressure from internet media.
3. That I cannot trust the internet, including other Christians. Anything I put up on my blog, can and will be, cut and pasted and sent without my knowledge.
4. That unless something changes in either writing medium or the way people use the internet, that my print writing and internet writing career are incompatible. I can no longer use my blog as a place to process work.
5. That this is sad, and I would love to find another way forward.
whats the internet point 3
I continue to ponder the ethics of the internet and the personal implications for me as a thinker and writer. I have been informed that my Open Letter to Mel was cut and pasted from this website and emailed to people around New Zealand, without my knowledge.
I struggle with this. I put the letter up. I asked for feedback. There were 2 comments and 2 emails, yet I find out via a friend that via email it is flying around the internet.
I think aloud. The blog is great for that. I want to be read. I am honoured that people would cut and paste it. But why, oh why, couldn't you pay me the courtesy of telling me. I feel quite exploited on this one.
Perhaps I am just too naive for this internet game.
March 10, 2004
open letter to mel gibson
Dear Mel
I went to your film today. I am a Christian and so want to be part of the Kingdom extended. I am a pastor and so have a certain interest in Jesus. I am a theologian, who did a Masters on the atonement in contemporary culture, and so have a certain professional interest in how Jesus death is portrayed.
So today I went to your film ...letter continues under headings of
my movie of disbelief
the framing
the framing of violence
the over-hyped
evangelism by art
I would love feedback;
PS I have taken the article down. Reality magazine want to print my Open Letter to Mel. Due to the legalities of print vs www, I have taken the letter of this website. The Reality issue is due out April 19, and at that time you can read it.
March 09, 2004
Leadership exercise
“Modern-day pastors work, whether we know it or not, out of a reservoir of received images of Christian leadership… long list of American leaders… Every time I enter a pulpit or a hospital room as a pastor, for good or ill, I bear memories of those who lived out this vocation before me. Knowledge of their sacrifices and achievements, their stumblings and mistakes, can help inspire and encourage me, correct and judge me in my ministerial work today.” - Willimon, Pastor.
So who are the ministry models that shaped you, for good or ill? How are they inspiring and encouraging you?
PS. This prompted excellent discussion and prayer at our Opawa team meeting today.
words, words, words
Bozone :: the substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Beelzebug :: Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Dopeler effect :: the tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
from Washington Post's Style Invitational 2003
March 08, 2004
Kiwi bloggers
Two new Kiwi bloggers who have survived the initial "post" and are now up and running regular. The other, the better, emergent kiwi is here. My friend Marion whom I am marrying in April, is here.
(No jokes about multiple partners please.)
book of the month: the heartbreaker
Confession. I love Susan Howatch. Her latest novel, The Heartbreaker, continues my affair of the heart. Sure it’s long. Sure it’s not a thriller. But I’d buy it because
1 - It’s fiction. And in the world of my imagination is where God most often sandbags me.
2 - It offers a superb contemporary contextualisation of Luke 15
3 - It offers some very interesting insights on sexuality, particularly the complexities around homosexuality. This book will satisfy neither liberal or fundamentalist, but it might make both more sensitive and less dogmatic.
4 - It offers a pastoral model of the “long haul”, in which God works deeply through sustained listening, committed Christian behaviours and the desire for sustained integrated lives.
If your world includes people or ministry, then reading Howatch will be time well spent.
March 06, 2004
the postmodern in 1 sentence
A story in response to Tim's comment: in three words (i.e., "Postmodernism is _____").
So it is 9 am on a Sunday morning late last year. Barely awake, barely functioning, I am doing a workshop, with Mark Pierson from Cityside. The prescribed title (NOT our choice) was "Postmodern communication." The prescribed audience is New Zealand Bapist Assembly.
In true postmodern style, Mark and I have prepared a deck of cards with a different topic on each card and an egg timer. An audience member will choose a card from the deck and we have "egg timer" time to answer. It will be participatory, interactive, audience-driven, random, chaotic, fast moving ... (not that I am defining the postmodern in 1 sentence).
Before we start a hand shoots up. I am not sure I am in right place. Can you define postmodernity for me in 1 sentence? This man might be looking for the right place, but suddenly I sense I am in the wrong place.
blog heaven
theyblinked
linked
(enigmatically
helpful)
i am on coops frontpage blog roll.
this blog can now retire happy. thanx for calling.
March 05, 2004
meeting mels Jesus
there's a lot of talk in cyberspace and cafe table about The Passion. I get an allergic rash at some of the way's evangelicals are responding. I mean, Mel puts millions into the movie and we respond with a few tacky tracts. Why can't we let art be art?
Yet having watched the art, the questions are raised. They hang there, waiting. I am pondering preaching on these questions.
meeting Mels Jesus
- Why the levels of violence?
- Who did kill Jesus?
- What about before and after the 12 hours?
Letting art be art, while reflecting theologically on the cafe table questions. What do you think about the approach? Am I scratching where people are itching?
a question
Do you ever wonder why some postmodernist writers (e.g. Jacques Derrida or Stanley Fish) use so many words? Is it
a) the only way to convince modernists
b) a deeply and deliberately ironic gesture
c) evidence of how deeply rooted modernity really is
d) a cheap shot criticism not worth pondering further?
March 04, 2004
praying for all risktakers today
Recognise that it is far easier to criticise than to create – therefore expect criticism.
life to a 7 year old
Are you Shannon's dad?
Yes.
Would you speak to her school class [of 7 year old's]? Would you tell them what you do for a job?
Uh .... sure.
Sitting in car 5 minutes later.
Next Friday. Hmmmm.
How on earth do I explain my pastoring, my teaching, my writing, my wwwing, to a group of 7 year olds?
Suggestions welcomed.
March 03, 2004
growing in ministry
How has your PhD affected your ministry? I was speaking to a group of ministers yesterday and this was the final question. I have continued to mull it over.
1. I am more aware of the complexity of our society and the mission task that is ours. We live in a very fragmented and diverse world and need to resist simplistic approaches to mission.
2. A greater awareness of the need for imagination as essential to church and ministry.
3. A deeper respect for a theology of creation. I am searching much more for life images in the Scriptures and in people's lives.
4. My study has given me a much deeper respect and love for the Spirit. I am seeking to be much more attentive to the work of the Spirit in the world, much more eager to fan what God is doing.
emerging church
My A-Z post on emerging church is on emerging church, (here to be precise) along with a whole lot of downunder stuff.
(warning - joke coming. It's quite neat to see such a nod to the colonies. Next month back to the centre of the universe, ay chaps! warning, truly this is just a flippant early morning remark)
March 02, 2004
stages of faith
when one's starting out on the spiritual journey and making a serious attempt to understand a complicated major religion, one needs certainties in order to find a patch of firm ground to stand on; the sophisticated approach can come later. I had reached the stage where I had dug myself in on a patch of firm ground but had so far been unable to work out how to move on.
:: Susan Howatch, The Heartbreaker.
downunder atop the oscars
New Zealand
world famous for its movie creativity
for more pictures and info see here.
