Buy Nothing Christmas

The Buy Nothing Christmas Site as a list of ideas of things you can get someone for Christmas. A bit late to be posting i know but some of the ideas are great!

Church Surf 8

It's funny how some churches that you visit just give you a vibe. And this church was a good vibe. The people in the church actually looked like they came from the surrounding suburbs, everything was done honestly and earnestly and people having a go seemed way more important that looking slick. Often I have heard people in a church say it would be nice to thank the people who work hard behind the scenes rather than just the preacher and worship leaders. Well this church did, the biggest thanks going to a guy who unstacked some chairs last week. Regardless of theology or the way they actually did church these people looked like honest people genuinely welcoming new people with an eagerness to see what we are like rather than a fear that we may be different... Well that was the vibe anyway. I will be back after Christmas.

Racism and Riots in a Xn Country

Part of me feels compelled to blog about the recent riots in Sydney and part of me feels like they are so awful I don’t want to dignify them with a response. One of my reflections after coming back from a trip to Europe (which I blogged about here) was that deep down Australia is a racist country and that really we never got over the white Australia policy.

It sickens me to my stomach when I hear things like…
“this multicultural experiment just isn’t working”
or “This is a Xn Country”
or “they don’t mix”

These three things all contradict each other.
If we are a multicultural country then we are not a Xn Country and we accept differences and that at time we won’t all mix together.
If we were a Xn Country surely we would "welcome the stranger" or even "love our enemies" (if indeed they were)
If people are not mixing there is a two way problem. At a party usually the hosts and the guests share some of the blame for this.

None the less the biggest problem, I think, is how our political leaders reinforce that
A) it is Muslim people who cause trouble, particularly terrorist type trouble. The reality is that terrorists who are also Muslim are almost always from Muslim countries where there extreme views are not welcome.
B) People are wanting to come to this country as refugees could be here to perform acts of terrorism. The reality is that most Muslim terrorists are in Muslim countries and wish to overthrow governments that are too liberal for there liking (such as Indonesia). 911 was an exception to the rule and the terrorists certainly did not come into the country by boat.

If only the news

My strongest memory of any reframe gathering was hearing A speaker was lamenting the lack of social action by Xns and the church particularly in the are of War, Refugees, Indigenous Issues and the environment. She illustrated this by reading headlines and stories that she wished she heard on the radio or saw in the paper.

So, it was kind of spooky to hear on the news as I woke up yesterday that a small group calling themselves Christians Against All Terrorism had been arrested today attempting to conduct a citizens' inspection of the Pine Gap facility and objecting to its role in the war in Iraq. They claimed it is a base for activity which is a vital part of an international terrorist network since terrorism is planned violence against civilians for political objectives..

See this article in the Australian for more detail, or have a look at the CAAT blog.

I'm still undecided as to wether I agree or disagree with their actions. I think compares favourably to my own apathy though.

Forgiveness

Lately, I have been reminded that it is a common belief amongst Xns (and American talk show hosts) that victims need to forgive their perpetrators in order to move on, regardless of wether the perpetrators are in any way remorseful for what they have done. This idea can apply to everything from the most minor (slightly hurt by a friend) to the most extreme (assault) .

I always thought that forgiveness was a two way transaction. Firstly, with the perpetrator repenting of what they had done and secondly with the victim offering forgiveness. To tell someone that they need to forgive someone in order to move on seems to me to be asking people to do something that I think not even God does, that is to forgive someone who has not repented.

I think this is not helpful for two reasons.
1) I don’t think you can truly forgive someone who doesn’t want it
2) It is patronising to the other person, as there is no negotiation as to exactly who did what wrong

What I think God does with humanity is not to forgive everyone but to offer forgiveness. God’s act of Grace is to get in to a position where God is able to forgive and to demonstrate that forgiveness is available.

Before anyone can forgive I think they must…
1) Be hurt and angry abut what has happened
2) Discover they are not to blame (in the case of an assault) or accept what is the appropriate level of blame (perhaps in the case of a divorce)
3) Get to a position where they are prepared to forgive and where they can live their life without the need for that person to either suffer or to repent.

This last stage is important. It is not in forgiving someone that we are able to move on from something. It is being able to move in which we are able to forgive someone. When we are able to move on (when we do not still wish they were suffering for what they have done or wish that person were appropriately remorseful) then that person has no hold of our life and therefore a truly new relationship can begin, a relationship that does not try to retrace the past, rather a relationship which acknowledges the past and ensures that the past cannot be replicated.

Daily Reflections via the web?

Richard Rohr and Re: Jesus both have some cool daily reflections. However, I'm not sure exactly how to use them... Getting up in the morning turning on the computer to have a spiritual reflection just feels a bit weird. I like the idea of freeing myself from technology whilst doing a reflection. I wonder if people felt this way about books once upon a time?

Van Nguyen - the lesson John wants us to learn

Today, I was disgusted to hear John Howard say that the message that should come out of Van Nguyen's was not an objection to the death penalty but rather don't mess with drugs.

I cannot believe that one person could be so insensitive. Not once have I heard anyone of any significance argue that drugs are not so bad, and that for this reason Van Nguyen should not receive the death sentence. All the arguments have been that a crime has been committed but this punishment is too harsh. What is more it is entirely consistent that our country should critique the practices of the government of Singapore. After all isn't this what we did with the government of Iraq?

But no, I fear that it is painfully obvious that the over riding issue is what is at economic stake for Australia. This is why invading Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan is not a problem, but criticising the policies of the US, China, Singapore or Burma is. Surely it is evil that we don't take any stance what so ever? Surely money is the root of all evil.

Exercise your music muscle

Anyone tried Virgins Exercise your music muscle wallpaper?

I've found 52 bands sort of...

alice in chains
beach boys
bee gees
black crowes
black Flag
blind melon
blur??
cake? (the wall paper cuts out this one)
cowboy junkies
crowded house
cypress hill
dinosaur Jnr
eagles
fifty cents
fish
garbage
gorillaz or the monkeys?
green day
guns and roses
hole
iron maiden
jewel?
kiss
korn?
led zeppelin
lemon heads
M n M??
matchbox 20
maddonna
manic street preachers
nine inch nails or stix
petshop boys (the wall paper cuts out this one)
queen
radio head
ratt
rolling stones
red hot chilli peppers?
scissor sisters
seal
sex pistols
smashing pumpkins
spoon?
television
the cars
the dead kennedy's
the doors
the eels
the police
the vines?
U2
white snake
yellow?

Battleground God

Hey this is cool. Battleground God. A series of philosophical questions to see if you're understanding of God is rational. I didn't do as well as I hoped. I suffered 1 direct hit and bit zero bullets, but was awarded the awarded the TPM medal of distinction, which I guess isn't so bad.

“It’s sending the wrong message”

Nothing seems to annoy me more than this statement. I often feel like it’s code for. “Look I know that what you are doing is obviously and demonstrably helping other people but I wish that they didn’t need your help in the first place”.

To me it’s bit like Pharisees saying we should rest on the Sabbath (a good thing) and because healing is work we therefore shouldn’t heal on the Sabbath either.

The term “it’s sending the wrong message” has been applied to needle exchanges and recently applied to agencies who are making condoms available to School Leavers. The thought is that by providing these things that “we” are sending the message “that “we” accept or even encourage these things.

Now I’m not the sort of person who thinks that taking drugs or having promiscuous sex are good things I just don’t think that giving people clean needles or condoms sends a message.

The two things underlying this statement that annoy me are.

1) As Xns we live in a democracy and we are not the majority of the population. And just because we disagree with something doesn’t mean that therefore the majority of people do.

2) Issues of personal freedoms (like taking drugs or having consensual casual sex) are different to issues of oppression (rape, murder, locking up refugees). This is a really important distinction. On the first, as Xns, we need to change peoples hearts not legislation, on the second we need to try and change both. We cannot change peoples hearts merely by introducing legislation to ban dispending condoms or clean needles. Often Xns will tell people all about the dangers of drugs or casual sex. Now both these activities can have dangers. The problem is that this is only half the truth. These activities can also be a lot of fun. People do these things because they find them enjoyable. And when Xn people say that drugs will only give you pain and that casual sex will only give you heart ache they are only telling half the truth. As soon as someone who hears this finds out from a friend that this is not their experience then they will dismiss everything that the Xn has said.

My thought is that God has promised us life to the full. The reality is that other ways of life may not be life to the full but may still be enjoyable. Eating chocolate cake only all day every day may be really bad for you but it is not going to stop doing it from being enjoyable. Our role is to let people know of the way of Christ the way of living life to the full not to tell them that any other way of living is evil and bad and to try and change legislation to ban it.

Step 3 in having a churchless faith

Step 3: Living out your faith - Connect, Grow and Serve

I have already described Connect Grow and Serve previously – you can look here for that. None the less I think it’s good to do these things on 3 levels…
1. solo (by yourself),
2. small (with a handful of friends)
3. group (with a larger group of people).

I don’t think that you need to do every single thing on these three levels but you do need to do each thing and you do need something on each level

Connect

One of the things that church can provide is a place to connect with God each week. A place and time where we consciously connect with God. Connecting with God doesn’t just happen automatically (or though it can do), so we need to set aside times and places to do so.

Examples include…

1. Solo
A. Meditating
B. Reading the Bible
C. Praying
2. Small
A. Go for a prayer walk with some friends
3. Large

Grow

Growing as Xn. Church can provide some great ways to do this, Bible studies, Sermons etc… But it is possible to do this outside of church.

Examples include…

1. Solo
A. Reading books – particularly authors who you don’t agree with or lots of Xns don’t agree with. Recently I read a Spong book and although I agreed with some of his conclusions his way of approaching scripture really frustrated me.
B. Reading blogs / websites
C. Listening to Podcasts
2. Small
A. Deliberate conversations with friends about spiritual issues
3. Large
A. Enrol in theological studies
B. E-Groups

Serve

It’s pretty easy to knock pretty much any church about how inwardly focused they are and that they should concentrate more on serving the community around them. Problem is once you leave, you realise how difficult it is to do by yourself. None the less it is worth doing.

Examples include…

1. Small
A. Adopt a grandpa/ma – there are plenty of older people who have no family or don’t get to have a family.
B. Write letters for Amnesty
C. Give money to a Charity
2. Small
3. Large
A. Be part of Xn para-church organisations

These lists are anything but exhaustive. Feel free to post further suggestions and I’ll update the list accordingly.

How rich are you?

The Global Rich List site will tell you just how rich you are compared to the rest of the world. This is similar to the My Foot Print site that will tell you how many worlds we'd need to have if everyone lived like you. Cool.

Top Sleeper Bands

With the overwhelming response* to my Top Sleeper Movies post here is a list of some of my favourite sleeper bands - the ones that don't get played much on the radio.

Top Sleeper Bands

• Fiona Apple (pretty famous really - start with the album "tidal")
• Augie March (australian alternate folk rock band)
• Claire Bowditch (australian alternate folk singer)
• John Coltrane (Jazz giant, if you ever wanted to get into jazz start with "A love supreme", or "A kind of blue" by Miles Davis with Coltrane on Sax)
• The Dirty Three (Violin, guitar and drums. Think quiet beautiful Nick Cave instrunmental only better - start with albums "horse stories" or "ocean songs"
• Nick Drake (60's folk singer - mention him to most musicians and you will look cool)
• Elbow (A little Radiohead a little Coldplay, but only a little lush atmospheric songs that just grow and grow on you)
• Jeff Lang (Australian Blues folk singer - admired by John Butler etc...)
• Love Outside Andromeda (Australian Rock - for PJ Harvey fans)
• Morphine (Sax, 2 string bass and drums - their own genre - imagine dirty jazz bar)
• Elliot Smith (English folk singer - features heavily on Good Will Hunting Soundtrack)
• Lucinda Williams (American country singer - admired by Kasey Chambers)

NB: overwhelming response means more than 1 response.

Step 2 in having a churchless faith

Step 2: Finding your anchors

The great thing about church is that it puts on lots of things and should be giving you what you need to maintain your faith.

1) Find Gurus: A guru (for this exercise) is just a wise Xn person. They don’t have to be someone you know personally so authors (books, blogs, podcasts etc…) historical figures can all be guru’s. In some sense gurus take place of pastors.

2) Find Rituals: This can be as simple as going for a prayer walk once a week, reading your bible every Friday afternoon or whatever. In some sense Rituals take place of going to church every week.

3) Find Fellow Travellers: Get together and talk with about faith and spirituality with other people in similar places to you.

4) Find Parachurch organisations: These can be great places to live out your faith, wether it’s feeding the homeless running kids camps or whatever your passion is. These are also great places to meet fellow travellers.

If there is any interest I'll expand on these in future posts...

Step 1 in having a churchless faith

Step 1: Work out what's Baby and What's Bathwater?

If you are reading this and thinking that a churchless faith is a possibility it means that you are aware that amongst all the churchy baggage there is something about Xy really worth hanging onto. The first step in having a churchless faith is to work out exactly what's churchy baggage and what's Xy or what's baby and what's bath water.

Two distinctions I found helpful are...
1) Christians are not just the people who go to church. There are lot's of other Xn people around and God certainly doesn't draw the who's in who's out line down who goes to church lines (See Matt 25 and pretty much most of Matt, Mark and Luke)

2) One person's (pastor or church) interpretation of the Bible is not the be all and end all. Different Xns interpret different bits of the Bible in different ways, this is because the Bible is not a set of rules but the story of God interacting with the world in specific times, places and contexts. And, exactly how that translates to our specific contexts is where things can get a bit murky. Secondly if your not sure about something no matter what that is that's okay. I'm sure the guy next to Jesus on the cross didn't have it al worked out when Jesus said "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Posts to come are...
Step 2 Finding your anchors
Step 3 Living out your faith

Help me interpret

Surely if someone has the gift of wearing a t-shirt in tongues http://www.holyghosttees.com/ they'll need to have someone who can interpret next to them. Man this is just weird!!!

U2 as you have never seen them before

U2 as you have never seen them before (1.7M)

Matt 25 the way many wish it had been written

Mat 25:34-36 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; (35) for I was hungry, you gave me food and while I was eating you told me that there was two ways to live. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink, and while I was drinking told me of the four spiritual laws. I was a stranger, you welcomed me into your home where you showed me the Jesus video, (36) I was naked and you gave me clothing covered in Christian slogans. I was sick and you took care of me whilst playing the latest hills song CD. I was in prison and you visited me and shared your testimony.'

We love others because that in and of itslef is a Christ like things to do, not as a tool to evangelise.You might like to add this as final verse. (37) Then the self righteous will answer him, “Damn straight we did!”

A Church Emerging ?

Okay so as well as the occasional church surf and long periods of starring at my theological naval I have also been meeting with friends interested in doing some kind of church.

Here is the dilemma...

We all live a long way apart and most are also involved in some kind of church / home group / inetntional community / something else.

We're thinking a monthly meal and quite reflection together to start. The quiet reflection may well be a reworking of the adult godly play idea I mention early in this earlier post.

I think I like this idea as I've been trying to work off my connect, grow and serve model and realising that I want to do these three things plus I'd like to do some or all of these things solo, in a small group and in a large group. At the moment I'm doing all three solo, and I feel I should write more about this perhaps to help any of the solo flyers out there who are trying to work out how they keep their faith alive without being connected to a church. The small and large group stuff is much harder, traditionally people find a large church with smal groups. However there are lots of Xn groups doing good serving stuff so it's not too hard to do some serving as part of a larger group, and finding a small group to meet with is something I have done before without being attached to a larger group, so that's possible but at the moment difficult.

Grr Arrgh I'm not sure if this is making things more compilicated or simple or even if this comes close to filling the "church" holes I have in life.

Church Surf 7

With no advertising on the outside of the church, no answer on the phone. I thought it might be time to check out the church nearest us. We rocked up 30minutes early and folks were generally pretty friendly.

After a super slick hour of worship music it was time for the music performance, we left before the music performance ended.

I guess there was a strange vibe about the place...
Perhaps the speaking in tounges between songs was a bit strange, maybe it was the fact everyone looked like they were dressed for a wedding (and the church was in a really low socioeconomic area), maybe it was because the school attached to the church used a syllabus not recognised by the education department which meant year 12's couldn't get a TEE like everyone else inthe state, maybe it was that if you had a coffee after church you'd have to buy it from the coffee shop franchise located on the grounds. Maybe (to quote the castle) it was "the vibe"

There are more of us than you think

Okay this is English but none the less i can't see why it wouldn't translate reasonably well to Australia.

In 1998 the stats were...

Regular church attenders 10% - Across the denominational spectrum, roughly 10 per cent of the population attend perhaps 5 ‑ 8 times in a two-month period.

Fringe attenders 10% - Roughly 10 per cent of the population may attend church 1-3 times in a two-month period.

Open de-churched 20% - Forty per cent of the population are 'de-churched'. At some point in their life they attended church. Of these, 20 per cent are the 'open de-churched'‑ people who have left church at some point, but are open to return if suitably contacted and invited.

Closed de-churched 20% - Twenty per cent of the population have attended church at some point in their life, but were damaged or disillusioned, and have no intention of returning.

Non-churched 40% - Forty per cent of the population nationally have never been to church, except perhaps for the funeral or wedding of a friend or relation.

So there you go - in the UK at least as many people who go to church are outside of the church but open to going back. The little summary says if "suitably contacted and invited" I doubt if that is all that is holding people back...

Source:
Philip Richter and Leslie Francis, Gone but not Forgotten (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1998). Taken from Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council, Mission-shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context (Church House Publishing, 2004) p 36.

Top Sleeper Movies movies

This post was of my favourite movies but that changes all the time, is way self indulgent and I don't think anyone cares anyway. Hence I've changed it to a list of some of my favourite Sleeper movies, the kind of movies you've never heard of but think might be good but your not really sure.

Top Sleeper Movies

• The Station Agent
  
• I Heart Huckabees
• Chasing Amy
• The Shipping News
• Roan Inish
  
• Fun
  
• Molokai
  
• Levity
• Whale Rider
• Saved
• Simple Men
• In my fathers Den
• Mall Boy
• Metrpolis (with Pink Floyd's "wish you were here" as a soundtrack)
• Pi
• Radiance
• So I married an axe murderer
• The Bank
• One Perfect Day
• The Wizard of Oz (with Pink Floyd's "darkk side of the moon" as a soundtrack)
• Thirteen
• Trust
• Noi the Albino

Conrad Gempf tells "Peter In the Court Yard"

Conrad Gempf does a great retelling of the Story of Peter denying Jesus 3 times in the court yard. Right click here and choose save a copy to down load it from http://www.emergent-uk.org/

Connect, Grow and Serve where do new Xns fit in?

Connect Grow and Serve is starting to work as a really nice way of framing things for me. This along with the concept of doing things Solo in Small groups and in Large groups. Basically my premise is that as Xn you need to Connect (with God) Grow (in faith & as a person) and Serve (others) and that this can be done solo and in small and large groups.

Basically I'm doing lot's of the solo variety at the moment and I'm keen to do more of the Small and Large group variety.

What is interesting (I think), in a recent conversation with a friend where we looking at setting up some kind of church service type thing and perhaps some sort of intergrated network of Xns, (that wasn't quite the intent of the original conversation) most people who don't identify as Xns connect with Serve and Connect type activities. Serving might be things like giving food for the hungry - I think they look at stuff like that and think "yer this is what the world should be doing more of, I want to hang out with people who want to do that kind of stuff" . People also connect with the Connect stuff things like a prayer work or a meditation, things without a prescribed theology.

The problem is that we tend to really major on Grow things where we teach people hey this is what we believe kind of stuff. We tend to start with this and then say now we'll connect with God or go and serve some people. So we might start by telling friends "hey why don't you do an Alpha course". Where as perhaps we could start by giving people a chance to connect with God or to serve others first and then secondly offer them some kind of theological understanding with which to frame those experiences.

Am I a "Liberal Evangelical"?

After years of feeling too Liberal to be an Evangelical and too Evangelical to be a Liberal. I've finally come up with a name for my particular brand of theology. In short Liberal basically describes how I understand the Bible and Evangelical describes how I read the Bible.

Unfortunately http://mb-soft.com/believe/text/libevang.htm proves I'm not the first to come up with the idea.

I agree with the 4 points outlined which are...

(1) The authority of Scripture is understood as residing not in the letter of the text (this would be bibliolatry) but in its dynamic revelation of God in Christ.
(2) Older and what is believed cruder penal theories of the atonement have sometimes been replaced by those stressing the redeeming love of God in Christ.
(3) Scientific theories such as evolution have been embraced and understood as being compatible with a Christian view of creation.
(4) Higher critical conclusions concerning the Bible (e.g., the dating of Daniel, the authorship of II Peter, the redaction of (Matthew) have been accepted.

In a generally practical sense the two things that hold my life in tension are Spirit and Scripture. I'll read something in the Bible pray about it and then see how that sits with me (listening to the spirit). If a face value reading of the scripture doesn't sit well then I will start to explore it thoroughly, as I have posted about with the women and homosexuality posts.

Similarly with every aspect of my life when I am confronted with something whether it be the idea of a needle exchange program or whatever I'll look at what the Bible says that could be relevant, pray about it and see how the two sit with me. Of course I also keep in the back of my mind that I could always be wrong about anything and therefore listen seriously to any contrary voices.

It annoys me when a fundamentalist evangelical says "it's in the Bible (at a face value reading) therefore X must be right". And equally I'm annoyed by the fundamentalist liberal who says "look I know the Bible says X but I think Y is the loving answer and God is love so therefore Y must be correct".

I tend to share lots of social and political ideas with liberals but a grounding in scripture that tends to be more evangelical.

Blog Spam

Argghh this is getting annoying. I hope blogspot works it's way around this. I'm getting spammed two or three times a day now. If there's no movement on the categories in Blogger front either, I'll be moving me thinks.

Live updating

This blog has a live feed the xml address is http://achurchlessfaith.blogspot.com/atom.xml You will need to use feedreader or something similar to get the feed. It will basically tell you when a new post is posted.

IR

A friend of mine worked for an entire work force (casual labour) that was brought in one by one told that their services were no longer needed and then offered their same job for less pay per hour and without penalty rates. All of the workforce took the offer because they all needed to work.

In a job I was in I was "let go" by having my hours slowly cut becasue I refused to look after a client who needed specific medical supervision. The person who replaced me had even less medical skills than I but was happy to do the supervision anyway.

These are in the soon to be dark days were employees have too much power, I hate to see what happens in the future...

As a foot note when the 38 hr week came in many said that it would decrease productivity because people weren't able to work longer. The opposite happened.

Meditation...

I've recently discovered silent prayer and meditating on a mantra. Thanks to the world community for Xn Meditation and the two podcasts on meditation. After a year of fumbling about with various forms connecting with God, I am now starting the day with 20 minutes of silent meditation and then 30 minutes reflecting on a passage from a gospel (Luke) the new testament (Romans) and the old testament (Jeremiah) and then some time in pray using the ACTS formula (Adoration - Hey God you're great, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication - asking God for stuff). Apart from needing to wake up at 6:00 (which can be tricky after the occasional day of work which ends at 1 am) the meditation is a great is working well as a way of centring myself before reflecting on the Bible.

Homosexuality the new leprosy

In a recent conversation where I was talking to someone about inviting non Christians to join in on something, they suddenly thought what if a gay person wanted to join in? For them that seemed to be a line they just couldn’t cross, a line worse for them than not calling themselves a Xn.

As much as everyone s going to talk about loving others the real question is can you be gay and Christian. I think yes and here’s why…

1. There are very few texts about homosexuality and they are not as strong as many think they are. The first is Sodom and Gomorrah and with just a quick flick with a Biblical concordance we can see that homosexuality has nothing to do with why it was destroyed. The second one is Leviticus. The part of the Bible written when the Jews were in exile a written to keep themselves separate from their captors, with lots of cleanliness laws (Leviticus 13:47-59 about mildew is one of my favourites) food laws and Sabbath laws and even a law about haircuts 19:27. I would guess you’d be lucky to find a strict fundamentalist Xn who follows even 75% of the laws in Leviticus, so to elevate one above all others that the text doesn’t elevate above all others is ridiculous. The third is Paul in Romans 1:25-26 where as a result of sin women "exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural" and men " were consumed with passion for one another". Now even though technically Paul doesn’t call these actions a sin (just a result of) I think that he thinks of them as wrong. Now Paul also thought women wearing hats in church was also wrong – a cultural issue akin to wearing fishnets and high heels to church. Now Paul is speaking to a culture who saw women as 2nd class humans (women were considered the property of a man) and a culture where sex with a younger male slaves (pederasty) was common place. It is importnat to note that lesbian activity is not mentioned. I think most likely that when Paul is talking unnatural he is talking about sex with male and female temple prostitutes. What I think Paul is doing is defending the value of a heterosexual relationship rather than dene grading a homosexual relationships per se (particularly as lesbian relationships do not get a mention anywhere). Akin in our culture perhaps to having a lover on the side.

2. Just because something doesn’t feel right or natural doesn’t make it wrong. Some people argue aside from what is written that it doesn’t feel right or isn’t natural, and as a heterosexual male I can understand that for me it doesn’t feel right either, mind you it doesn’t feel right or natural to eat desiccated coconut either but that doesn’t make it wrong. There seems to be research going into seeing if there is a gay gene or studies of animals were homosexuality appears. Now even if science (or who ever) does prove that homosexuality is not natural this is not important to me. If someone is born without the use of an arm or if they were blind, that in some way that doesn’t feel right either, it is not the way that we expect someone to be born. But we do not demand that they live as if they were not born that way? What is more God has not given us the power to heal the blind and the lame in a miraculous “hey your back to how we expected you to be kind of way” instead God has given us the power to treat people so that they don’t feel like they are any different to us. Maybe we could give all people who are different to us, in what ever way, that same courtesy.

Connect, Grow and Serve

Well the Blog has been slow but life has been fast. Connect, grow and serve has become my new mantra. As a Christian I want to connect with God, grow as a Xn (and as a human) and serve (love) others. The worship service I devised is getting close to fruition and I'm not sure that I want to go ahead with it. Very few people get the oppurtuinity to dream up a worship service after only being involved in a church a short while and then have them pretty enthusiastic to take it on, yet I'm feeling throughly nonchalant about the whole thing. My concern is the economics of time. I'm worried that the hours that I and others will spend in getting the thing together and my be better spent in other ways. I just feel that there must be easier ways to connect to God and easier ways to offer others a meaningful connection with God. There must be easier ways to grow and I am certian that there are easier ways to serve. I'm not sure if I can get to the end of my life and say I created a groovy worship service at the expense of catching up with a lonely pensioner friend or chasing up a homeless guy I met the other day. Grrr Aggh

Bono, he's not a theologian but...

In this interview Bono manages to articulate Xn faith in a way that few theologians can.

Where is this blog going?

I set this blog up a year ago as a "diary of my journey, trying to work out if I can and how I can be a Xn without being part of a regular Sunday morning or evening church. I know people who are part of home churches, alternative worship services, and more besides. Yet for me and many others I talk to there is something about these new ways of doing church that just doesn't seem to sit right." (quote from my first entry)

And things have deviated some what. I find my self in the throws of planning a church service which while putting a radical spin on a regular church and is perhaps the best way I could think of doing church at the moment. I'm starting to wonder do I actually want to go even if I have thopportunityty to make it as good as I want?

Really there are three things I want to be able to do.

1. Connect with God

2. Grow as a Xn / human

3. Love / serve others

Does it matter if I don't connect with a tradition - that is a prior way of doing things, or just learn from them

Does it matter if I don't "worship" with other Xns - instead growing with and serving others with them?

My greatest struggle is still "How do I introduce others to what I believe?" or, "How do I disciple someone outside of a church withopatronizingtronising?" At the moment I'd say something like "Go to an evangelical church when you are young get jaded with that then go to a liberal church for a whilewithouted wiithout. Now that you've learnt enough from both, go on by yourself."

Perhaps, I need to write a book "How to be a Xn without going to church".

Mmmm...

Creating a new worship service 2

Okay, so I'm currently trying to concoct a new kind of church service. My aim is to create a quite reflective worship space where people at differing stages of faith commitment can connect with God, where all are comfortable to explore (play with) spirituality.

Reflect is to be similar to Godly play in that worship will be about discovering God, rather than being told about God. "In most religious education children are told who God is. In 'Godly Play' children discover who God is." From http://www.godlyplay.org.uk/.

The Basic structure…
Meet and gather, chat say hello for 10 min
1) Move into the Sacred Space (with journal)
2) Light Candle and say opening prayer (based around Psalm for the day)
3) Watch a Presentation of the Reading(s) for the day (Done in some kind of intersesting way like cafe church flash presentations)
4) Reflect on the reading
5) Connect – using journal, stations (different art, prayer and other stations people go to) and wondering questions (projected on a screen) – ambient music in the background
6) Offer our thoughts, work (artwork or journal work) and money to God
7) Close – using prayer of St Francis
8) Move out of the space
Get together chat, have coffee, hear any announcements.

Any thoughts?

Why I don't miss church

A couple of nights a go I was speaking to a researcher from the National Church Life Survey when it dawned on me that I have never really been a regular church goer. I grew up going to youth group, went to a Xn group during uni and was involved with various Xn ministry things and worked as a church youth worker and a children and youth consultant all with out regularly going to a church. My whole spirituality grew up without church but it grew up with a way for me to connect with God. Once I had this I was pretty happy to keep rolling with it (so to speak) what I am unhappy with is a way to explain or even pass it onto others. Xy just doesn't seem to quite pass on by ozmoses. The desire to be Xn can do but exactly what this means and how to live it doesn't. Mmmm...

Women and Church

I can't beleive that it is the year 2005 and the other night I was having yet another conversation about women in church and why I think they should have equal authority / status in church, life or whatever. And that I didn't think this was a direct contradiction with the Bible. This is one issue that I thought I wouldn't have to be arguing about now. So below is a few thoughts I have on the 1 Timothy 2:11-14 passage (this being the passage which most strongly supposedly supports a man's right to have women make then dinner every night and only play with the kids in church).

----------------------------------------------------

1 Timothy 2:11-14.

The problem with this passage is that it doesn’t feel right. The Bible has a history of being very egalitarian, no one is better than anyone else. But we don’t want to dismiss what it says just because it doesn’t sit nicely with us.

This little essay is divided into 2 parts

The Bible before 1 Tim

a) Old testament
b) Gospels
c) Paul

The passage

a) So what does all the pre 1 Tim stuff mean
b) The history of the situation
c) The passage

The Bible before 1 Tim

A) Women in the Old testament

· For example: Esther (a woman) saved the nation of Israel (God’s people)
· Women were prophets. Nehemiah 6:14 and Ezekial 13:17-23 are examples of “bad” female prophets but it certainly doesn’t say that they were bad because thye were female or that a female prophet was wrong.
· Unlike the other cultures around them Israel had the same laws for men as it did for women. Israel only had different laws for free people as compared to slaves and they had the kindest laws about slaves.

B) Women in the gospels

· Jesus went against the culture of the time and went out of his way to treat women in the same way that he treated men. The twelve disciples were men to symbolically replace the twelve tribes of Isarael
· Women even make it into Jesus genealogy
· Women are frequently 'mentioned' in Luke-Acts infact Luke goes out of his way to make an almost equal mentions.

Luke…
· Elizabeth (1.5-25, 36, 39-60) [paired with Zechariah, her husband]
· Mary (1.26-56; 2.1-52) [paired with Zech, as parallel]
· Anna (2.36-38) [paired with Simeon]
· Herodias (3.19) [paired with husband Herod]
· Widow of Zarephath (4.25-26) [paired with Naaman]
· Peter's Mother-in-Law (4.38-39) [paired with Possessed Man]
· Widow of Nain's Son (7.11-17) [paired with Centurian's Servant]
· Those Born of Women (7.28) [no pairing]
· Sinful Woman (7.36-50) [paired with Simon the Pharisee]
· Women with Jesus (8.1-3) [paired with the Twelve]
· Jesus' Mother and Bros. (8.19-21) [no pairing]
· Jairus' Daughter and Woman with Hemorrhage (8.40-56) [Gerasene Demoniac?]
· Mary and Martha (10.38-42) [no pairing]
· Woman praises Jesus' mother (11.27-28) [no pairing]
· Queen of the South (11.31) [paired with Ninevites]
· Mother vs. Daughter (12.53) [paired with Father vs. Son]
· Crippled Woman (13.10-17) [paired with Many with Dropsy]
· The Leaven (13.20-21) [paired with Mustard Seed]
· Discipleship and Family (14.26) [paired with Father and Brothers]
· The Lost Coin (15.8-10) [paired with the Lost Sheep]
· The Divorce Saying (16.18) [no pairing]
· Lot's Wife (17.32) [paired with Lot]
· Women Grinding (17.35) [paired with men(?) sleeping]
· Widow and Judge (18.1-8) [paired with Pharisee and the Tax Collector]
· Leaving House, Wife, Etc. (18.29) [no pairing]
· Woman with 7 Husbands (20.27-40) [no pairing]
· Devouring Widows' Houses (20.47) [no pairing]
· Widow's Offering (21.1-4) [paired with Scribes, see 20.47]
· "Those with child" (21.23) [no pairing]
· Maid accuses Peter (22.56) [paired with Man Accuses Peter]
· Women who Wail (23.27-31) [no pairing]
· Women at Crucifixion (23.49) [paired with Other Acquaintances]
· Women Witnesses (24.1-11, 22-24) [paired with Two on Road to Emmaus]

Acts…

· 1.14: They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
· 2.18: Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
· 5.14: Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
· 8.3: Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
· 8.12: But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
· 9.2: and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
· 9.36: In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.
· 13.50: But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city.
· 16.13: 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
· 17.4: Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
· 17.12: Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
· 17.34: A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

Infact in Luke women are often portrayed as better than men.

· Mary illustrates faith; Zechariah demonstrates unbelief (Lk 1.26-56; 2.1-52)
· The sinful woman illustrates being forgiven and loving; Simon the Pharisee is the opposite (Lk 7.36-50)
· The Crippled Woman is cast against her Objectors in Luke 13.10-17.
· The Widow is righteous, over against the Unjust Judge in 18.1-8.

Luke consistently points out the leadership contributions of women in his writings.

· In Luke 1-2, he has three women prophesy: Anna, Elizabeth, Mary.
· We have already seen the passages in the Gospels where the women are portrayed as 'traveling disciples' (e.g. 8.1-4).
· He records the resurrection of Tabitha, a woman praised for her good works (9.36-42)
· Mary, mother of John Mark, hosts a church at her house (12.12-17)
· Lydia is the first convert in Macedonia, and Paul establishes his base of operations in her home (16.11-15)
· Priscilla, along with her husband, disciples the prominent Apollos (18.26)
· Luke points out that Philip has four daughters who were prophets (21.9).

Luke was probably influence by Joel 2 (Acts 2) 'sons and daughters' prophecying and Isiah 40 - 66 in particular 43:6-7, 49:22, and 60:4.

In Matthew we see women used to portray attitudes of true discipleship in contrast to Jesus’ male disciples.

· In chapter 9, we have a "Pairing": the story of the Woman with the Hemorrhage juxtaposed to that of the Raising of Jairus' Daughter. Jairus is the socially-acceptable ruler, approaching publicly. The Woman is a social outcast, due to her long-standing disease, and approaches privately. But notice that they BOTH receive the desired healing, but ONLY the woman is commended publicly by Jesus, and ONLY the woman's inner thought patterns are revealed to the reader. Jesus' public commendation establishes her as a role model alongside other examples of active faith (e.g. 8.10; 9.2).
· The story of the Canaanite woman--a social and cultic 'outsider'--is also set up as a foil. This foreign woman calls Jesus "Son of David"--an acknowledgment of His messianic authority. But, Chouinard points out: Such an insight in the context of Matthew 15 is clearly intended as a foil against which are heightened the "blindness of Israel's leaders" (15:14, 24; see 2:1-4), and the lack of perception among the disciples (15:16ff). (WS:EWEC:440)
· In the all-important Passion Narratives, women again play a decisive role in modeling the elements of true discipleship.
· The woman who anoints Jesus for His coming burial (26.6-13), is contrasted with the disciples: "While the disciples struggle with the reality of Jesus' imminent passion, this women is portrayed as understanding the necessity of the passion and responding accordingly." (WS:EWEC:441).
· In the final scenes of the story, women assume a role that should have been played by the disciples. They were present at the Cross (27.55, vs. The fled-disciples), present at the burial (27.61), and the first to learn of the resurrection (28.1-7).
· Women were Prophets (Acts 21.8-9):

C) Women and Paul

· Paul considered Priscilla, the wife of Aquilla a "fellow-worker" (Rom 16.3)
· They were persecuted equally. (Acts 8.3)
· Lydia who was the patron for the church at Philippi (Acts 16:14-15, 40), and Priskilla who with her husband was a significant figure in Corinth and Ephesus (Acts 18:2-3, 26). The author made it a point to note women of substance. The same pattern is present in the Pauls letters. Paul called Phoebe a "benefactor" of the church in Cenchreae (Rom. 16:2). Apphia presided with two others as leaders of a house church in Colossae (Philem. 2). Nympha in Laodicea, Lydia in Thyatira, and Phoebe at Cenchreae supervised the congregations that met in their homes (Col. 4:15; Acts 16:15; Rom. 16:1)"
· Although the NIV doesn’t think so but many translations think Junia(s) in Romans 16:7 is a female aposrle. It wasn’t until the 1200’s that people thought this must be wrong
· Women were Deacons: In Rom 16.1-2, the female Phoebe is called by the MASCULINE form of 'deacon'--strongly suggesting that it is the technical term of the office of deacon.

Clement of Alexandria wrote about women deacons The Council of Chalcedon specified that "henceforth a deaconess must be at least forty and unmarried" (ROC:108)

Pliny the Younger, in his correspondence to Trajan, reported that he had tortured two young Christian women "who were called deacons" (Epistle 10.96.8).

Origen argued on the basis of Rom 16 that the EXISTING institution of women deacons should be continued. (commentary on Romans).

· Women were Paul's "co-workers" (synergos) and "hard-workers" (kopion)

They assisted in composing letters (Rom 16:22; I Thess 1:1), carried apostolic messages to local churches (1 Cor 4.17; 16:10-11), sought to encourage the believers on Paul's behalf (1 Thess 3:2), reported to Paul the status of congregations under his care (1 Thess 3:6) and even occasionally hosted house churches (1 Cor 16:19)...In view of this wide range of ministry, it would be ludicrous to deny that Paul's coworkers possessed authority in the churches (1 Cor 16:17-18)...a role which included the task of admonition (1 Thess 5:12)...Paul spoke readily of women, as well as men, as his coworkers.

These semi-titles are used of: Euodia (Phil 4.3) Syntyche (Phil 4.3) Priscilla (Rom 16.3) Mary (Rom 16.6) Tryphena (Rom 16.12) Tryphosa (Rom 16.12) Persis (Rom 16.12)

In fact there is not a single title of leadership mentioned in the NT that is not ascribed to a female sometime within the first 3 centuries of the Church's life--as evidenced by literary and/or archeological data.
The Passage

a) So what does the history mean

Now really this doesn’t prove that Paul is wrong or that what he said was in a particular cultural context. What it does prove is that what Paul has said seems to go against the grain of the rest of the Bible. The rest of the Bible seems to be on the cutting edge of equal rights. The Jews treated women better than other cultures around them. Jesus talked to women and treated them very differently to his contemporaries. Rabbi Judah once prayed "Blessed be Thou for not having made me a Gentile, a woman, or an ignoramus." Paul said, in Galations, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Paul instructed husband sand wives to submit to one another when other cultures particularly the Jewish culture of the time were saying wives obey your husbands.

What this does mean is that Timothy on a first reading certainly seems to go against the grain of the rest of the Bible and against what you would expect Paul to say.

b) The historical setting (very important): -

· Ephesus was legended to have been founded by the Amazons in the 12-13 centuries BC (ISBE, s.v. "Ephesus"), and maintained one of the strongest goddess worship centers in history (WS:ISNW:47-54). This was worship of the Great Mother or maternal principle, who allegedly gave birth to both humans and the gods.
· "From the earliest times in Anatolia, female religious officials known as 'old women' kept alive the ancient myths." (WS:ISNW:64).
· Ancient writers attest that distorted stories, including perversions of the Adam and Eve saga, were already circulating in the first century of the common era. Recent scholarship suggests that Gnostic-like myths opposed to traditional biblical values may have been afloat in Alexandria as early as the second or first century before Christ. Philo, who died in CE 45, utilizes the very theme which was to draw rebuttal by Paul; namely, mythologizing Eve as the one who brings knowledge and meaningful life to Adam" (WS:ISNW:65)
· The cult of Artemis, the main revenue-generator and "claim to fame" for the city, was particularly woman-centered and immoral (ZPEB, s.v. "Ephesus"):
When the son of Codrus, last king of Athens, founded the city, he placed his colonists near the shrine of an ancient Anatolian goddess whom the Greeks, following the religious syncretism common in the ancient worlds, called after their own goddess Artemis. This was perhaps in the 10th, 11th, or 12th cent. B.C., so uncertain are dates in this borderland of legend and history. The cult thus recognized was that of a nature-goddess, associated with carnal fertility rituals, orgiastic rites, and religious prostitution.
· The success of Paul's ministry at Ephesus would no doubt have included some of the priestesses of Artemis (cf. the story of the burning of incantation scrolls by cult practitioners in Acts 19.19). Mickelsen (cited in WS: WIC: 126) shows how these might be in view in a number of the textual situations:

In Ephesus with its huge temple to the goddess Artemis were hundreds of sacred priestesses who probably also served as sacred prostitutes. There were also hundreds of hetaerae, the most educated of Greek women who were the regular companions and often the extramarital sexual partners of upper-class Greek men. Possibly some of these women had been converted and were wearing their suggestive and expensive clothing to church. Since hetaerae were often respected teachers of men in Greece (many are named in Greek literature), they would be more likely to become teachers after they became part of the church.

Paul, of course, had lectured in a Greek secular school for two years there (Acts 19.9), and if the pattern was anything like that in Athens (Acts 17.34), educated women were probably there and were converted under his teaching.

· The earliest strands of proto-gnostic and proto-mystery religions we know of had the characteristics of the false teaching in the Pastorals: nonsense syllables, ritual immorality, belief that the woman (variously Eve or other primal female figures) was the source of /origination of the man, belief that this primal Woman was NOT deceived but rather 'enlightened' by the Serpent--and subsequently 'enlightened' the deceived male; obsession with spiritual genealogies, and prohibition against marriage and childbirth.

c) The Passage.

I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument; also that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. (Women not to dress like sacred priestess prostitutes) Let a woman learn in silence (not talking is probably a better translation: Quite fair to say that all students who will eventually teach should learn in silence see: Historical setting point 2) with full submission. (Not really an issue… as we should submit to teach other and especially a student submitting to a teacher. This would be quite a reversal for women who are used to doing the teaching) I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. (OK, the greek word here for authority is authentein and this is the only time it is used in the New Testament and there is still some debate over what it means. If Paul wanted to read it as regular word for Authority he would have used exousia or exousiazo. Ussually is translated as "domineer" or "usurp authority." Thus this is directed against women who have abused the proper exercise of authority in the church an authority which is not denied by Paul elsewhere to women, but certainly not one that can bed taken by usurpation or domination of the male leaders and teachers in the church at Ephesus. It looks like some kind of false teaching is going on here where women are saying they are superior to men. Most likely trying to combine Christianity with the cult of Artemis. Plus it is mainly Timothy a man who is going to be doing the teaching. Also: Paul doesn’t use the men only teaching rule in Col 3:16) For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (Most likely a rebuttal against the distorted belief that via the serpent Eve gave the mother of all things gave Adam knowledge. I suspect particularly sexual knowledge which would tie in with the whole priestess /sacred prostitute thing. It was often thought that the apple represented sex. Probably because this is what it was in the Babylonian creation myth that Genesis plagerises) Yet she will be saved through childbearing, (Saved through childbearing? Sounds weird but I think what Paul is saying is that the role Eve had in bringing about the saviour of the world was through having children as promised by God in Genesis. Hence the woman (eve) was saved through having children that started a family line that ended in Jesus) provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

Spend less, work less, play more.

Ahh, just got back from the WA Tear conference. And loved the seminar on living simply. Which i will endevour to do more. I have always tracked my spending and now I will start tracking my time so that I acctually spend it where I want. The first thing I will stop doing is watching as much TV as I do. Infact the plan is to watch nothing, and as there is no TV show I really love right now. It seems a good time to start. And this also solves the dilema about wether to buy a bigger TV or not. I couldn't read the subtitles from the lounge.

Creating a new worship service

Okay, so doing the traditional church thing has some pros but will eventually become very frustrating. But I may now have the chance to propose a Sunday night experience / service of sorts. The plan is to create something that is half way between Godly Play and my D.I.Y church entry of sometime ago.

The aim is to create a quite reflective worship space where people with differing levels of faith commitment can connect with God, where all are equal and comfortable to explore spirituality.

I want it to be similar to Godly play in that worship will be about discovering God, rather than being told about God. "In most religious education children are told who God is. In 'Godly Play' children discover who God is." From www.godlyplay.org.uk

More details to follow (when I work them out)

Podcasting

Mmm, I used to hate always missing my favourite radio programs, and streaming them is okay but it’s annoying having to be listening to them at my computer. This way I can walk or drive and listen.

My fav podcasts are…

Sunday Night Safran: religion, politics and hoochies
John Safran and his guests (including regular Father Bob) talk an amusing mix of religion and politics. We've taken the program, and edited the music out to a 60-70min program. Updated weekly.
Subscribe to this podcast: http://triplej.net.au/safran/podcast/safran.xml
The Religion Report
Your guide to religious affairs: analysis of the events shaping the world of religion and the religious events that shape our world.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Wednesdays at 10.30am.
Anticipated File size: 14MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/relrpt.xml

The Spirit of Things
An adventure in religion and spirituality, exploring contemporary values and beliefs as expressed through ritual, art, music, and sacred texts.
podcast: Entire program, weekly, updating Sundays at 8.30pm.
Anticipated File size: 23MB
podcast url: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/spirit.xml

Holiday = no blog

Well I have just come back from three weeks in Rome, London and Paris and no I didn't keep the blog updated as I went because I didn't want to look back on my life and say I didn't see the Sistine chapel but I did keep my blog up to date.

Things I learnt about Australia whilst over seas...
1) We drive very big cars and live in very big houses
2) Perth has needs a bigger better rail system
3) We don't now how to drink moderately - Beer is cheaper than soft drink
4) We need to insist on Fair Trade food - If Starbucks in London can do it anyone can.
5) Australia has not got over the white Australia Policy. Whilst London media were in shock that there own citizens could have done the bombing and wether their countries invasion of Iraq could be related, the first Australian paper I read was all about the danger and moral decay that migrants and refugees will cause Australia.
6) Only Australia knows that Australia is involved in the Iraq war. Everyone else thinks it's just Brittan, USA and Spain.

Anyway enough ranting...

Music Meme

Si from diversionary sent me these questions...

Total volume of music files on my computer:
Somewhere around 30GB

The last CD I bought was:
Jimi Hendrix: First Rays of the new rising sun (not an original album release but rather the bits he was working on when he died - this is some of my favorite jimi stuff

Song playing right now:
I'm sitting in silence because Nyree is still asleep. But the last thing I listened to was an old (68) Cream bootleg. These guys were good.

Five songs I listen to a lot/mean a lot to me:
Rolling Stones: Gimmie Shelter - I grew up in the 80s which meant I spent a lot of time listening to music from the 60s. I first heard this on an early Stones greatest hits which I bought at my mums recommendation - and something about it just hit me it was just such a big jump from some of their early stuff.

Nick Cave: The Ship Song - I saw the clip for this just once on video hits, it was amazing Nick at a piano with children in white playing around him. (alas my friends convinced me to buy Bon Jovi's slippery when wet rather than the Nick Cave Album)

Nirvana: Smells like teen spirit - I was on holiday in Umina when I first heard this and for years I divided my CD collection between pre Nirvana and Post Nirvana.

You am I playing a cover of the Who's Young Man's Blues at the Crowded House Farewell - I love this song from "Live at Leeds" but to see You am I do such an immaculate version was amazing. At the end the guy next to me (traveled all the way from the UK to be there) had his jaw on the flaw and said to me "who the fuck are these guys?" - They were the band of the night ;)

The Vines: In the Jungle - I first heard this on a dodgy cassette tape when I friend said hey I know some guys who would like to play support for your band. I thought it sounded really good, although we played better than them on the night. The band were poor so I gave them there tape back. I bet it would sell for a lot now. The next time I heard the song was when they played support for You Am I. Craig Nicholls remembered me. Then a month or so later I heard them on Triple J being announced as NME's best thing since Nirvana. I wonder if Craig still remembers me?

This list is not definitive

Five people to whom I am passing the baton:
Sorry I don't do chain mail things

Nuclear Power - Green Power

Speaking of least worst options. I have been convinced by James Lovelock's idea that we need to start using Nuclear Power. Basically the idea is that Green power is the best but Nuclear power is bad but Fossil fuels are even worse and since as a society we are not ready to go completely green, becsue the technology is not good enough yet to meet our escalating power demands and we are not ready to cut down on our power use enough to survive purely on Green Energy.

I suggest we push to...
2020 No use of fossil fuels, all replaced by nuclear
2021 - 2070 Each change the percentage of Nuclear power to Green energy until in 2070 we are using no green energy. Duringt this time we let people know how they are going - setting targets for households and industry alike.

For those in Western Australia watch out for signing up to "Green Energy" as western power has 2 types of green energy.

1. Earth Friendly which they heavily advertise and you can apply for on the net. Earth Friendly energy still uses fossil fuels but western power pledge to plant a few trees to make up for it.
2. Natural Power which I haven't seen mentioned in their advertising, you have to ask for a paper application form (which I did a over a week ago and it still hasn't arrived). Natural power uses natural energy sources such as wind and solar.

They both cost about the same.

Needle Exchange Programs

Luke 14:1-5 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. (2) Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. (3) And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, "Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?" (4) But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. (5) Then he said to them, "If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?"

Okay here's the logic
1. It's a common thought that working on the Sabbath is bad
2. But your child or even your Ox dying is even worse
3. So we choose the least worst option which is work to save the lives of the child or even animal.
Okay here's some more Jesus
1. It's a common thought that giving a drug addict a needle is bad
2. But someone dying from blood bourne virus after having shared a dirty needle is even worse.
3. So we choose the least worst option which is give the druaddictct a clean needle to save their life.

So why is it that Christian organisations condemn Needle and syring exchangene programs (NSEPs)?

Surely arguments like...
"Giving people clean needles only encourages them to keep using" could be applied to Jesus' example, ie: "Rescuing people from a well only encourages them to jump down them".

I have no Idea why Xns would be against NSEPs

Church Surf 6

Well it's been a while since I've posted about a church surf but I have been surfing. Most recently a few times at an Anglican Church. I'm enjoying it not because it's where I'm at but a where I feel I've come from and for that reason it feels like an solid island I can come back to whilst I am off swimming in the great ocean of church expression.

Christians don't have fun

So, I'm at a wedding where I don't know anyone apart from my wife, but it becomes obvious that the reception is divided into two halfs Christians and non-Christians. The Xns looked like they were attending a funeral, the non Xns (whom I got to sit with :) ) looked like they were attending a celebration. What is worse is that everyone who I sat with knew that the people who weren't smiling and happy were all Xn.

My Conjecture: Xns have lost the art of having fun.

I know I'm guilty of this... Resolution to do at least one really fun thing every day.

Me and God - like a Jazz Band

My relationship with God is like the relationship in a Jazz band where, I am the improvising soloist and God is the rhythm section. If I, the soloist, ignore what the God, rhythm section, is doing I am not going to sound good. By the same token the rhythm section does not dictate what my solo will sound like either. No matter how badly I play there is nothing the rhythm section can do to fix it. If I play exactly what the rhythm section is playing it will sound bland at best. What will sound best is when I am in tune to what the rhythm section is doing and I am able to freely and creatively expressing myself. As a soloist in a Jazz band there is no requirement of obedience, and there is more than just the freedom of playing alone. There is more than freedom there is harmony. The freedom of synergistically creating a sound with the rest of the band that is more beautiful than the individuals by themselves. So too I think is our relationship with God. The usual power paradigm of obedience or freedom, need to be replaced with paradigm of disunity or harmony.

What Wouldn't Jesus do?

How's this for a funky t-shirt?

from Busted Tees

The Da Vinci Code...

Radio Nationals the spirit of things had an excellent radio program on the Da Vinci Code. Which you can read or listen to. A really good scholarly analysis of what's fact and what's fiction if you or a friend aren't sure.

Leaves you thinking maybe Dan Brown isn't a "Harvard Scholar" maybe he's just a "pop-schlockmeister looking for a quick buck" (page 224 of the Davinci code)

Emerging Missional Church... Does it really mean anything?

Emerging Missional Church (EMC) is a title that gets banded about a lot at the moment but what does EMC actually mean?

1) Emerging just describes the current state of the movement in five years time it could be the emerged MC or perhaps the shrinking MC. So really the term emerging does not really tell us anything about how a EMC type Xn is different form any other Xn.
2) Church is just a collection of Xns and most and again does not really tell us anything about how a EMC type Xn is different form any other Xn.
3) Missional, now missional really depends on what a particular Xn believes is the mission of the church or of Xns.

Now that there is talk that the EMC is about to emerge I can see a bumpy ride ahead and we can learn a lot from the early church who many EMC type people take as the ultimate model for doing church. The EMC covers a huge range of different Christians doing very different things with very different beliefs. I have met hundreds of people that would either put themselves or be put by others into the EMC category, all of whom are very different and half of whom would meet together to do "church".

My guess is the thing that happens if and when the EMC emerges is that it will split.

The Wisdom of Arni

"Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million." Arnold Schwarzenegger

A New Analogy for Atonement?

Okay in the last post I suggested Substitution as a pretty crappy analogy for Jesus death and resurrection. Not only because as far as analogies go it is pretty flawed but because it can also romanticise suffering. Often I have heard Xns talking about what it must be like to live in a country where Xy is actively persecuted and almost secretly wishing they were there, as it would make them feel better about being Xn.

Firstly I think forgiveness is different from being saved from sin. God already forgives in the Old Testament and there I can’t see why with much mercy God would not continue to do this. Perhaps, however we are saved from sin or more specifically a sinful way of living because Jesus shows a new way of living. Of which Jesus death is crucial because it shows us that it is possible to live a life of love that is not oppressive where a just life of love is rewarded with eternal life.

The original Matrix film tries to work in the whole death and resurrection thing into it’s narrative when during the final battle Neo dies and then after a 3 seconds rises to life. Perhaps a better death and resurrection an analogy maybe the eat the red pill or the blue pill scene. It is here that Neo leaves his world (dies to it) and later he is resurrected when he returns to the Matrix.

Neo sees his world in a new reality and lives accordingly. We don't have to conform to the sinful ways of this world because we see a new reality we live a life free from sin.

It's time to Substitute Substitution

1) Most Xns believe that Jesus took our punishment by dying on the cross for us.
2) Most Xns believe that God is a loving God.
3) Most Xns would argue that we should lock up and throw away the key for any father who would kill their own son as a way of settling a score with an independent third party who was unable to pay up.
4) Most non Xns just don't get the whole God is a loving God but kills the innocent Jesus instead of us thing.

Let's face it the whole substitution analogy is actually a really bad way to explain how Jesus death bring us back into relationship with God. It's time for a new analogy.

Any ideas?

Skating for Jesus

I got to stand next to a stall today that in part was spruiking about some guys who were "Skating for Jesus" and it just didn't sit right with me. And this is not the first time it hasn't. I smiled in the movie Saved when Patrick, who had been on an evangelism mission skating for Jesus, confessed that he didn't really do much saving of souls he was really just there for the skating. It's not the "hey we Xns can be cool too" that bothers although that is kind of irksome. It's the elevating of a lowly secular activity to something worthy by saying that we're doing it for Jesus. Where as the reality is “skating for Jesus” is like “lying on the beach enjoying the sunset for Jesus”. The only reason you would have to add the "for Jesus" to anything is that deep down you believe that that activity in and of itself is not a worthwhile pursuit and that's what bugs me.

Things Jesus lived without: (3) the car

Surely this is the great scourge of our modern age. My problem with the car is this 1) They cost heaps to buy 2) They cost heaps to run 3) They cost heaps to repair 4) They cost heaps to the environment At the moment my job necessitates me having a car. It would take over three hours to get there by public transport and it takes me just over 20 minutes by car.

I use a car so I can... get to work, visit friends (I have no friends in walking distance and the nearest bus is half hour walk) and go shopping (nearest shops near bus).

Any ideas on how I could cut out at least one car in my life (my wife and I have two) would be greatly appreciated.

What do you do when you stop?

It's 1pm and it feels a little be late to rock up to work today. After working a 13 hour day yesterday I don't really care. I'm feeling very much on the bottom of the food chain at the moment working a job where I have to be available out of hours because that's when my customers are available. Yet if I ever want anything done it has to be done in strictly office hours. I spent 2 hours putting some little thing back on my stupid car. Mechanics is not really my forte but paying a mechanic a weeks worth of wages to do it is even less my forte. So now I have the ignition barrel fixed, the automatic choke go on thing fixed (hopefully) and now once the solenoids on the battery is fixed it might all work, and perhaps even long enough to sell the stupid thing.

Any way I'm a bit over the whole work consume die thing. Now that I am calling this a day off I can't really think of anything to do. Everything is just thoroughly uninspiring… playing music, fixing up crap around the house or cleaning stuff that really doesn’t need cleaning that badly. So what do you do when you stop doing all the other meaningless crap? Particularly at 1:08pm on a Tuesday afternoon?

Time for a good lie down

How the other fifth live...

The average annual household income of the bottom 20 percent of Australian households is about $12,000. That's just $230 per week.

The dying / living church

I was reading www.signposts.org.au blog and came across this most elequent comment to a thread “Unity Expressed How?”.

The dying church mate is the one who does not breathe the Spirit. The dying church is the one who doesn’t hear the call of God to be the compassion of Christ, the icon of God’s grace in the community.

The dying church can be a fundamentalist church (of which there are both ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’) that spend their days living under legalistic code that they
think is a biblical faith. But, alas has been corrupted by the modernist worldview.

The dying church lives in fear of being corrupted by the sin of others for fear it will affect their own limited view of salvation.

The dying church is like the person who Chesterton referred to as “dead at 25 years old, buried at 75 years old”. The church of modernity is dead, we are just waiting for it to be buried.

The living church is a church that understands that the Gospel is one of hope. The good news that the Kingdom of God is here and that fear has no place.

The living church has discovered that we are blessed by God to be a blessing to all (regardless of what they believe or how they live). We are blessed to bless all of creation. We are sent (apostolic) to carry on with the mission of Christ to bring reconciliation, redemption, and renewal.

The living church knows that the ‘Word of God’ is Jesus Christ - not a book. That to follow Christ means dying to oneself for the sake of the world… not for the sake of if you are going to heaven of not. That discipleship is not about keeping oneself pure or ritual clean. But discipleship is about risking the way of Jesus and touching the person with leprosy and loving the people who have been cast out from the temple because the a considered unclean or have ’sold out’ to the Romans.

The living church knows that to follow the way of Christ is to risk being crucified. A living church knows that it is alive by the grace of God. It knows that without the breath of God it would be no better than the dry bones in the valley, or the
dead at the bottom of the dead marshes. It is God that gives life. Not a persons belief of a doctrinal statement. What separates us from the love of God? Nothing, and thank God that we all walk by the grace of God.

John Shepard: Satan Incarnate or just a very naughty boy?

Well John Shepard’s (JS) Good Friday Address has got lots of people talking. But is he Satan incarnate, just a naughty boy or does he have some good points? Well I’m not going to agree with everything that JS has to say but I think he has got some good things to say.

Okay firstly, so it’s all out in the open I believe Jesus death and resurrection is what achieves atonement (at-one-ment) with God.

Secondly, some history, in the 12th Century a dude called Anselmian basically came up with the Substitution theory. Which is what most modern day evangelicals think is atonement. That is… We have huge debt to pay to God, nothing we do is good enough for God. Jesus substitutes in for us by dying, which is good enough for good and we get forgiven. A classic illustration of this is Matthias Media’s 2 ways to live (if you ever wondered how a non Xn reads 2 ways to live click here)

Now the problem is that when we read scripture having heard or grown up with substitution is we straight away read just substitution (a metaphor) not atonement when we read Christ died for us.

Now this is similar to using the metaphor of a father to describe God. God is not a father, but the father metaphor can be helpful to illustrate some aspects of God. But all metaphors have their limit.

Similarly atonement is not just substitution. It is a metaphor that has limits, some of the most obvious being that God is completely without mercy before Jesus which, if we read the Old Testament, simply isn’t true, and secondly that substitution really sets up Jesus and God at odds with each other. Hence you have people thinking the Old testament God is full of hate but the New Testament God is full of love (after being pacified by Jesus).

Now I don’t think any Xn would want people to view God like this. So the challenge is really to come up with some new metaphors.

JS was also said some stuff about repentance. I think many evangelicals have had a fixation particularly with the sinners prayer. Which for many people has been like a gateway into a relationship with God, and there is nothing wrong with that. For me it wasn’t at about 10 years of age I made a commitment to God I got a bible for Christmas, started going by myself to Sunday school and praying to God. However, I discovered a year later (aged 11) that although I had done all these things I hadn’t prayed the sinners prayer. So I did and it felt really weird because although I hadn’t verbalised it I had already lived it. It’s a bit like asking someone who has come to church for the first time “Do you know you need God in your life?” Of course they do that’s why there at church! JS uses the prodigal son to illustrate this. There is no neat order of saying repentance and then receiving acceptance. It’s messy like a true relationship. Both son and father are running towards each other both, I would imagine, wondering “has my son come back for more money or back to be with the family?” “Is my dad running to tell me go away and don’t come near me or to welcome me back?” Both these questions answered in a simple embrace.

Mmm, maybe instead of asking “would you like to pray the sinners prayer?” we could ask “would you like to give God a big hug?”

So do I think John Shepard theologically right or wrong?
Well I don’t know and I’m going to let God decide that.
Do I agree with everything John Shepard says?
No
Is there lots to learn from what John Shepard says?
Yes
Is slagging him off via the letters to the editor page a good thing to do?
No

What would you do if church was closed?

I stumbled upon this article on small ritual where this question was asked...

"If all forms of church were closed down for ten years, what would you do to maintain and express your faith?"

This is a great question for all Christians to ask particularly Christians of the evangelical missional emerging church varirty. I think often the drive for doing unorthodox or emerging church has been from a "how do we get more people to become Xns at this time in this culture" mind set, and not so much from a "How do I be a Xn at this time in this culture?" mind set. Which, is a much larger question that encompasses the first question anyway and has a stronger connection with the question.

Secondly I think it's worth asking... "Are you doing those things now and if not what would happen if you did and you stopped participating in all forms of Church?"

26 Statistics on Global Poverty everyone should know

1) Half the world -- nearly three billion people -- live on less than two dollars a day.
2) The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined.
3) Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
4) Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen.
5) 51 percent of the world's 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations.
6) The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation.
7) The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money.
8) 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the worlds goods.
9) The top fifth of the world's people in the richest countries enjoy 82% of the expanding export trade and 68% of foreign direct investment -- the bottom fifth, barely more than 1%.
10) In 1960, the 20% of the world's people in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% -- in 1997, 74 times as much.
11) An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance between the richest and poorest countries was about:
3 to 1 in 1820
11 to 1 in 1913
35 to 1 in 1950
44 to 1 in 1973
72 to 1 in 1992
12) “The lives of 1.7 million children will be needlessly lost this year [2000] because world governments have failed to reduce poverty levels”
13) The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants.
14) A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world's poorest 2.5 billion people.
15) “The 48 poorest countries account for less than 0.4 per cent of global exports.”
16) “The combined wealth of the world's 200 richest people hit $1 trillion in 1999; the combined incomes of the 582 million people living in the 43 least developed countries is $146 billion.”
17) “Of all human rights failures today, those in economic and social areas affect by far the larger number and are the most widespread across the world's nations and large numbers of people.”
18) “Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific.”
19) “7 Million children die each year as a result of the debt crisis. 8525038 children have died since the start of the year 2000 [as of March 24, 2001].”
20) For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20 years [of the current form of globalization, from 1980 - 2000] have shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two decades [1960 - 1980]. For each indicator, countries were divided into five roughly equal groups, according to what level the countries had achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the findings:
Growth: The fall in economic growth rates was most pronounced and across the board for all groups or countries.
Life Expectancy: Progress in life expectancy was also reduced for 4 out of the 5 groups of countries, with the exception of the highest group (life expectancy 69-76 years).
Infant and Child Mortality: Progress in reducing infant mortality was also considerably slower during the period of globalization (1980-1998) than over the previous two decades.
Education and literacy: Progress in education also slowed during the period of globalization.
21) “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.”
22) The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people. “The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.”
23) The world's 497 billionaires in 2001 registered a combined wealth of $1.54 trillion, well over the combined gross national products of all the nations of sub-Saharan Africa ($929.3 billion) or those of the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($1.34 trillion). It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest half of humanity.
24) A mere 12 percent of the world's population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.
25) Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
Global priorities in spending in 1998
Global Priority
$U.S. Billions
Basic education for everyone in the world 6
Cosmetics in the United States 8
Water and sanitation for everyone in the world 9
Ice cream in Europe 11
Reproductive health for all women in the world 12
Perfumes in Europe and the United States 12
Basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world 13
Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17
Business entertainment in Japan 35
Cigarettes in Europe 50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105
Narcotics drugs in the world 400
Military spending in the world 780
26) Number of children in the world 2.2 billion
Number in poverty 1 billion (every second child)
Shelter, safe water and health
For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
Children out of education worldwide 121 million
Survival for children Worldwide,
10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation
Health of children Worldwide,
2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized
15 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to the total children population in Germany or United Kingdom)

For more info and sources see http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp

Fair Trade Coffee (in WA) & Fair Wear clothes - simple guides

Oxfam now have a guide to who is selling it retail and at coffee shops.
And Fair wear have a guide to buying clothes made in Australia.

You are the poetry of God

"You are the poetry of God"

I read this on a wall today. I think I shall put this on a T-shirt. I don't own any Xn slogan t-shirts.

Incarnation @#%& !

Incarnation in four easy steps...

1) Move into a community
2) Become a part of that community
3) Be Christ like in that community
4) See what happens and work out what to do next

So what happens if you move into a "community" on the outer fringes of suburbia where the one thing that everyone has in common is that that place is not where they would ideally like to live.

Like many people I live right next to a freeway (and soon next to a railway) and the big selling point of the suburb was that it is only however many minutes away from where ever you really want to be. There are no shops near by, the park (big open grassy bit) is always empty. The closest thing we have to a communal hang out is the set of lights at the end of our suburb as you turn on to the freeway.

Any one with any thoughts?