Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Journeying in Faith

New book out - Journeying in Faith - by Kiwi researcher / author Alan Jamieson (author of A Churchless Faith)

"...The journey of faith is not easy, particularly for those who find themselves inextricably drawn beyond the confines of established religion towards the unknown horizons of Christian belief.

Journeying in Faith is a provocative and moving book exploring the kind of faith that is built up by many church leavers in the dark and lonely places of faith, and how that faith can be nurtured and developed..."

Poetry, Daydreaming and Beaches

"To read poetry is essentially to daydream..."

- Gaston Bachelard

Off to some beaches in Australia for a few days...bye

Transformational Development

I really appreciated Mark Barkaway's post on Transformational Development. It's an important subject that in my mind is just as important message for churches to hear as it is for youth and community projects...

"...For me, such a position lacks all integrity and authenticity in community work. You cannot build a relationship with people when you have an agenda, even if you pretend you don’t. It doesn’t work. I’ve been in too many churches before where this approach is adopted, encouraged and promoted – it’s partly where the crude phrase ‘friendship evangelism’ comes from. It’s a complete anomaly..."

"....I think it’s disappointing that at this period of history, having learnt so much from overseas missionaries and their aggressive approaches towards conversion, evangelism and obliterating local cultures that we still have people involved in community work in the UK who act as ‘Vampire Christians’ (a good Dallas Willard phrase – Christians who are only interested in the blood of Jesus) or Christians involved in their communities in order to see their churches increase. It just leaves me feeling dirty, needing to scrub the manipulation away from me..."

Thanks Barky, it resonated in all kinds of ways...and isn't Myers' book great...

Walking the Edges

Walking the Edges: Living in the Presence of God is a book by David Adam. Mark Forman, a good friend of mine sent me a photocopy of the back cover of Adam's book. "Walking the Edges." Its description inspired me - It echoed something of my dreams and hopes. I want to live life fully, abundantly, alive, aware of God, and relating to God (whom I see in Jesus), God who is present in the everyday 'stuff' of my life . The description says something about my Jesus following life. The promo for the book highlights that this life of mine is a journey to, and within the "borderlands", the margins between church and culture. It's a creative place, reached through a willingness, again, as the promo says, to extend ourselves (myself) in adventurous living for the sake of love.

"Here on the edges of the unknown [and the known], God the great Other is ever to be found." Each time I / we open our eyes to beauty, to wonder, to mystery, our lives are renewed."

"Every time we fail to reach out beyond the solid and the comfortable, we kill the life that is in us. Though the outcome of various events in our lives may be unknown, God continually calls us from death to life, promising and abiding presence and a glorious future..."

Synopsis

"This work explores what it means to be a saint, to always be walking on the edges - geographically, physically and spiritually. Saints give us an idea of what we could be if we had the courage and faith to move out of our comfort zones and truly begin to live in the presence of God. The author calls on us to take this path, painful as it may be, since it is the only way open to the Christian serious about growing in faith..."

This is how I want my Jesus-following life to be lived. This talks about the kind of persons I want to live my Jesus-following and serving life amongst. Living in the company of passion, adventure, of loving God and neighbour, and of serious and excited growing in faith

Conversion- When?

Thinking of conversion. A useful reminder from Brian Draper, via Si Johnston. Thanks Si.

"...Many people, like Saul of Tarsus, can remember the time and place they began following Christ. For them, the flash of light is blindingly real; the scales really do fall from their eyes. Others have a more gradual realisation; after Peter left his fishing nets, he experienced several defining moments (and even after declaring “You are the Christ”, denied him three times). Still others shape their faith through profound moments of doubt; we remember Thomas at Easter, who, not unreasonably, needed to see before he believed that a dead man could walk. All three followed Christ, but their experiences varied greatly..."

Finding God in Godzone

An interesting article by Kevin Ward in SPANZ - April 2004 - Finding God in Godzone.

"...This shift is on the one hand tremendously exciting for the future of religion but on the other presents some real challenges for traditional forms of religion, such as ours..."

A summary article of research developed in more detail elsewhere by Kevin. Linked via Rosemary Neave

Canoes and Leadership

I like this leadership from Rosemary Neave's site - a Maori proverb followed by a reflection by Rosemary.

Ki ngä whakaeke haumi Join those who can join sections of a canoe

"...Some canoes consist of two or three sections, whose joining required considerable skill. This proverb serves as a metaphor that one should seek leaders who are able to weld diverse groups into a successful combination..."

Testing

Typepad has some new features. Just testing one of them, being able to insert a file - in this case my notes (which I refer too, but read little of, so it's never comes out just as it is written) for Sunday's sermon - drawing heavily on Darren Rowse and Steve Taylor. Reminds me again that there is nothing new under the sun...and also the value and strength of a diversely gifted and experienced network of friends on a journey together...

Download acts_8_verses_26_to_40_mission_the_unhindered_gospel.doc

Hey Douglas Coupland!

My good friend Brian Jackson kindly gave me a 'hard copy' of a Brian Draper interview with author / culture commentator Douglas Coupland in the Sept. 26th. 2003 edition of the CHURCH TIMES (UK publication)...that enabled me to track down an online copy which I found this morning...

Novelist who's telling us a Mystery: "For a decade, Douglas Coupland has been trying to bring together the spirit of our age and the Holy Spirit. On the publication of his most overtly Christian novel yet, he talked to Brian Draper..."

"...Those with ears to hear have listened harder to his [Coupland's] yearning for hope and redemption beyond our sometimes impersonal and hypocritical institutions and hierarchies. He has certainly touched a powerful nerve for many Christians who are trying to straddle the twin cultures of a church stuck on pause and a world stuck on fast-forward..."

"..‘Every cell in our body explodes with truth… We’ll be adults who smash the tired, exhausted system. We’ll crawl and chew and dig our way into a radical new world. We will change our minds and souls from stone and plastic into linen and gold – that’s what I believe’..."

You can read the whole interview here There's also another interview here - The Man who Invented Generation X - another interview by Brian Draper.

If Lion's Clubs can, why can't Church? And Should It?

An interesting article in yesterday's NZ Herald newspaper - Service clubs seek young members
By AINSLEY THOMSON and PHILIP ENGLISH

What if this next statement was true of churches?

"Lions is determined to increase its membership so it can continue to provide the community services New Zealanders have come to rely on."

Now that’s about being "proximate" and "present" in our 'world'; abour serving!

"Lions Clubs are revamping their image to attract younger members. Email-only clubs, university clubs, clubs based on marae and in workplaces are some of the new concepts being launched to attract a new generation of altruistic members."

"The change was taking place so young people could join clubs with people their own age and that fitted their lifestyle"

"A person of 22 might not want to join a club with a whole lot of grey-haired old people. So we have changed so they can join."

"The average age of Lions members is more than 50 and membership is slowly dwindling."

Sounds all to true of church statistics here in NZ today! But is it just a 'simple' matter of revamping ones image? Is that part of it? Or are the challenges much deeper?