For Everyone Who Has Ever Missed A Deadline...

The Ladder Project - shaping the future

This monday, the ladder project will be holding our final speakers series event.

We will be workshopping two proposals with Paul Vink, a researcher and implementer of development projects. We are hoping that we can crystalise some of the ideas that we have been working on for the last few months and have a real passionate and creative time together.

If you have a passion for changing humanity and a passion for the world around you and want to be inspired about how to change the world, please join us at 8pm at Ramsey House, 8 Kelburn Parade.

Lets get the creative juices flowing, and lets make a difference in this world.

Be the change...

The Ladder Project - Rubber Hits the Road

We met Shirwin from the Phillipines on friday night, and he told some of his story about living in the slums of the Manilla region.

As many of you will know, the Manilla region was hit by a number of Tropical cyclones in the last few weeks. Read some of Shirwins story below.

Sherwin enjoyed his time with the group.

Just to let you know some updates with his situation, that night on Friday as we were heading home he received news that Labas Bakod (the slum he lives in) was set for demolition the next day (Saturday) and people will not be allowed back. He was shell shocked, he so wasn't himself that night and the next morning. He contacted his friend in the council to confirm the news. So 4 days on since the news, the situation at present is that the friend has managed to prevent demolition by force, people in LB will be relocated to an area 2.5hrs away (Laguna) from Metro Manila (which is not ideal for Sherwin and his sibilings who are still studying).

People have till Tuesday (13th) to register to obtain a spot in Laguna, where housing will be a skeleton structure and I suppose people will have to find material to complete it.

Registering in time would mean that people will be allowed to take down their house (or rather what's left of it) where they can use the existing materials to complete the skeleton structure at the relocation. Those who do not register will have their houses demolished for them. Sherwin has told his family to register for a spot in Laguna, but will explore alternatives to continue living in Marikina (for the sake of work and siblings who are at school).

Sherwin's much better now (since receiving the news on Friday night). Last night he was laughing and joking while having dinner with his hosts and myself. Very much himself (well, at least it's the Sherwin I know). God has been encouraging him lots especially yesterday. We hold on to the promise that God works for the good of those who love Him.

Just keep praying for Sherwin as he needs wisdom and strength.

We continue to search for hope, to be the hope, to be the change in the world that people need.

Where am I at?

As another week winds to a close, what a ride, what an adventure, questions providing no answers, answers providing more questions. Learning to live, figuring out how to become, venturing forward in the hope of new horizons, wondering what is around the corner, and enjoying the adventure.

Capital Mosaic

Capital Mosaic is making an important step this week. We are moving into a new venue, New Crossways. Mosaic is now around 30 adults strong and continues to grow its relationships with those around us. This week have been a struggle for a number in the community, and as we go through our personal struggles, we realise that this step is essential to the growth of Mosaic, character wise, faith wise, numerically wise. We continue to play to our strengths and grow.

The Ladder Project

The ladder project is a joy to be part of, it provides many challenges. We have found our stride and are working on fueling the fires for the next steps. This is a real venture into the unknown. We have come with fresh eyes, learned alot and grown in passion. Our group of journeyers has doubled in size and we are figuring out that many can bring new strengths.

Its great to be journeying on a road where you can make signicant change. I think thats a life worth living. A life that Jesus wants us all to find. Do not beleive its easy, but it is good.

Love = Acceptance but can I accept Love?

Love, what is it, so intangible, unexplainable, unknown.

Love is to be known truly, and to be accepted when you are known for your deepest darkest secrets, your highs and your lows, your dreams and your nightmares. Love accepts you and provides true equal opportunity.

Love will sacrifice its time, resources, its all so, you will come to know it truly.

Love transforms a dry parched land, broken and eroded by the passing harsh seasons into a beautful abundant garden with the lushest fruits every know.

If to be love it to be known fully, to be accepted in the knowedge that it knows you, do I have the courage to allow this love to engulf me to transform me into something new, and to journey in the reality of this idea. That I am chosen, no matter what I have done.

Only when we accept love, can we truly know true love, but during this journey, we can pass on the idea of true unbreakable love to those around us who need to know the power of love. As we do this we journey into accepting true love.

The happendedness of the Christ Event

All the world religions have been developed through history in a continuing tradition of rational argument. No religion exists apart from such a historical tradition. And all religions appeal to the authority of great teachers in the past. Nevertheless the distiction is real. The truths which Buddhism teaches would (as Buddhists understand them) be true whether or not Gautama had discovered and promulgated them. But the whole of Christian teaching would fall to the ground if it were the case that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus were not events in real history but stories told to illustrate truths which are a valid apart from these happening....

... The issue is this: Is this relationship with God seperate from your involvement in the ongoing life of the world, your family, your neighbourhood, your nation in the family of nations. Or is your relationship with God necessary bound up with your acceptance of the part God assigns for you in his purpose for his world? If the latter is the case, then your relationship with God cannot be seperated from those acts in which God has revealed and effected his purpose for for the world. Your devotion to God will be expressed in and through your involvement with history as you are now part of it. You will understand your own life as part of a story which is not a story made up by you, not just the story of your decisions and actions, but the story which is being enacted under God's creative and providential control in the events of contemporary history.

Lesslie Newbigan - The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society

Loving Like Jesus Loved

I know this feels kind of cliche, but this is where I am at at the moment, hopefully the thoughts may lead to action...

Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken ' - Rich Mullins

Unrelenting love

I could sense very deeply that God wanted a relationship with Laura. Ultimately, I beleive that God wants a relationship with every human being, but with Laura I could feel Gods urgency. Laura, however wanted little to do with it. She never brought up the idea of God, so I didn't either. - Donald Millar - Blue Like Jazz.

I read these words today with a strong sense of conviction. Lying on the ground, soaking in the sun, these words went off like a bomb in my soul. It shocked me to my very core again. God is unrelentently seeking relationship with us. God is seeking to know you, to dance in the dance of life with you once again.

You and I are broken, we seek to live good lives, but our fear, of lack of conviction holds. We seek to be great, but when we look back at the successes they often feel hollow. But, there is a greater plan.

God has been recklessly seeking out humanity. He came into human history 2000 years ago, as a man, Jesus Christ. Lived amongst us, us broken eikons, eating, living, serving, joking, caring, being with Humainity. He showed what it means to be truly human, to be truly love through and through. He would do anything to show that what we thought was living the good life was really not the good life but was just a bad imitation, a scribble compared to the great movie in vivid colours that we were meant to live in. He showed that we are to love and serve everyone, no matter thier convictions, no matter thier past actions. He showed that God loves everyone, no matter thier convictions, no matter thier action and wants to know them know matter what the cost.

Jesus showed that God loves all, and is passionately wanting to know you by going through severe beating, being spat on, becoming the most despised, and slowing aspixiating on a Cross so that you may come to know him and live a life of joy, grace, peace, wholeness.

God loves you, what are you going to do about it? God loves you, what am I going to do about it?

Posts with the Most

My good mate Benn has a great post on how to live a life in search of God given dreams and aspirations that you should read and my mate Justin has a great poem posted on his blog. Both these guys are much better writers and thinkers then me.

The Journey up the Ladder

I recently heard my mate Justin speak about the process of learning, and how it is as important as the destination of our journey. He talked about how we often we fail to go after something because of our lack of character and our inability to man up.

We also forget the joy of the journey, and to fail to stop in the moment and take in what we are to learn from this occassion.

At the moment, me and a group of other four mates are on a journey of discovery. We have a lofty goal. We want to find the best wheel at tackling poverty. The last few months have been a journey first of all is problem definition. We have had to define poverty, and at the moment we are defining just where we should help and what we should do. We have gone up some of the rungs and can see a larger horizon, the climb is still far, but it is teaching us a lot.

Then there is our speaker series, where we have had to figure out the best ways to promote and get people along to the events we are holding. We have made mistakes on the way, the most memorable was that we did not organise a sign up sheet so we could communicate with those who wanted to be connected with us.

The journey is long, but as we go along, we are learning more about each other, growing in community and in passion for what we are doing. I can not wait to see what we do, whatever it is.

Twitter

I have finally given in and set up a twitter. This is because I naturally say what I think in short sharp bursts and I have lost the ability to write in long boring prose.

Anyway my twitter is http://twitter.com/Nathanael_Baker and the R.S.S feed is http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/70362211.rss. I have put a feed up on the blog so you can follow my wise and unwise thoughts online.

Lauryn Hill on The Gospel and her Journey

One of the little gems in my music collection is the Lauryn Hill MTV Unpluged. The album is basically the story of her struggle with fame and the music industry and her discovery of herself and God.

Listen to this interlude...

District 9 Preview

I went to the preview screening of district 9 tonight. This is Peter Jackson's latest production, done alongside rookie director Neill Bloomkamp. This film is the brainchild of Neill Bloomkamp, who was given the chance to direct the film alongside Jackson after thier joint Halo film project failed to receive major backing.

The premise of the film is that a alien spaceship entered the earths athmosphere 28 years ago at Johanasberg. These aliens have become refugees in a slum called district 9 and most if not all humans see these refugees as unwelcome guests.

The film is set both as documentary and home video and is very intense. This is created through the use of handy cam and fast camera changes.

Stand out role goes to the actor Shartlo Copley, who had never acted in a major role.

This film is likely to become a major cult classic in the next few years but may not gain the same major popular appeal as other films by Jackson. The film also highlights Jacksons courage and ability to back other budding directors and fund projects which are high risk.

Coincidentally, Peter Jackson made an appearance at the beginning of the film to thank those who had come and seen the premier. Awesome to see him take the time to come and thank the fans and supporters of his work!