Driscolls Confession

Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle (This should not be mistaken for Rob Bells Mars Hill) is one of those controversial figures within the church, known for his edgy trendy church, his sound doctrine but also at times his fowl mouth! I was amazed and very happy to read this transcript that I found on Makeesha's Blog. Let it be a lesson for all Christians, whether we are leaders in church or servants in communities of faith, that we need to learn to be humble, funnily enough, this lesson many times is learned the hard way, through Gods humbling of us! This is a transcript from one of Marks latest sermons, "The Rebels Guide to Joy in Humility":

"I believe that humility is the great omission and failure in my eleven years of preaching. I believe that this is my greatest oversight both in my example and in my instruction.

I therefore do not claim to be humble. I do not claim to have been humble. I am convicted of my pride, and I am a man who is by God’s grace pursuing humility. …

But I truly believe that were there one thing I could do over in the history of Mars Hill it would be in my attitude and in my actions and in my words to not only emphasize sound doctrine, encourage in strength and commitment and conviction but, to add in addition to that, humility as a virtue.

And so I’ll start by asking your forgiveness and sincerely acknowledging that this has been a great failure.

And I believe that it is showing up in our churchin the lives of men and women who have sound doctrine but not sound attitude. They may contend for good things but their motives are bad and their methods are bad and their tone is bad and their tactics are bad and their actions are bad because their attitudes are bad even though their objective is sometimes good. I see this in particular with the men. I see this with men young and old, men who have known Jesus for a long time and should know better, and men who are new to Jesus and are learning sometimes the hard way.

I will take some responsibility for this. Luke 6:40 says that when fully trained, disciples are like their teacher, and I am primary teaching pastor of this church and I can’t simply look at the pride in some of our people and say that I am in no way responsible or complicit.

I’m a guy who is pretty busted up over this personally and it really came to my attention last December just in time for Christmas. The critics really brought me a lot of kind gifts of opposition and hatred and animosity. Merry Christmas. And some of those most vocal and nasty critics were Christians – some of them prominent Christians. So I was getting ready to fire back (my usual tactics). They hit you, you hit them twice and then blog about your victory. Which I don’t have any verses for and don’t say it was a good idea. But it had been a pattern in my life until a man named C.J. Mahaney called.

I’d always considered humility to be cowardice and a compromise. In the name of
humility you give up biblical conviction and passion and the willingness to contend for the faith (Jude 3) and to fight false teaching. What he was describing was orthodoxy in belief and humility in attitude and that those two together are really what God desires. And so it got me thinking and studying and praying through pride and humility and repenting and learning and growing. So I would start by saying that I thank my dear friend C.J. Mahaney for his ongoing friendship and the kindness he has extended to me and the things I’ve been able to learn through his instruction.

Furthermore, I apologize and repent publicly to you, the church for whom I am responsible, for much pride in the history of my ministry that some of you have poorly imitated and for that I am deeply sorry. And thirdly, to say that I’m not a humble man but as result of study I’m a man who is acknowledging his pride and pursuing humility by God’s grace." –
Mark Driscoll, sermon on Philippians 2:1-11 (November 4, 2007), part 5 in The
Rebel's Guide to Joy in Humility (3:16-8:40)

Lord I pray that we would be humble, that we would follow the way of the Master. I pray that we would learn to be servants, giving glory to you always. Lord I pray that as we would read the scriptures we would be transformed, and that we would grow to know you more deeply. Lord let the words of Philippians 2:5-11 be a call on own our lives, that we would have the attitude of Christ Jesus, one of true humility, becoming servants to all that need you.

82%

I'm just bragging about the fact I got 82% in the last of my three essays for a Bureaucratic Power in Western Democracies - 1st class honours here I come!?

Websites that you should check out!

Church Rater : This site was originally started to take the micky out of the consumer nature of christians today. It rates some of the most influential christian churches today - This also led to the now popular book by the Barna Group (a christian research company run by the controversial figure George Barna). This page leads to interesting thoughts on how the church should posture, our consumer nature and where the heck we are going.

Swinging from the Vine: Makeesha is a member of an emerging community of faith, her thoughts are creative, fun, engaging and gracious. I enjoyed her recent series on the misrepresentations of postmoderns, christians engaging with postmodern culture and those of us engaged in post-modern ideas (even when we resist the conclusions of postmodernism and swim against its tides when we see the dangers, just like we had to swim against the dangers of modernism in the past!)

Emerging Grace: Emerging grace must be my favourite blog at the moment, she lives up to her name, is always thought provoking and engaging, and honest about her struggles with church culture being an authentic christian in the 21st century.

Nicknames...

This is kind of a fun post with some serious meaning to it. Since I have a rather long (and to some people unpronouncable) name, I have a series of nicknames that have been given to me over the years, most people will have nicknames given to them to explain something of their character, this is similar to me as well.So here are some of them:

Shaggy: This should be pretty easy to guess, it was given to me by my mate Richard because of the long locks of hair that I usually have and the shaggy look I have (especially when I have a beard particularly.

Ted: This nickname is another of Richards, this nickname has gone through numerous evolutions and change, it came from when me and tom and him were younger, I was a small shy boy, Richard was a chubbier boy than he is now and Tom was mischievous and was likely to get banned from youth group for his crimes or hung up upside down by one of the youth leader. My nickname started off as teddy bear as I was cute and cuddly (and as hard as I tried I was probably the one who got the worst out of the pillow fights at youth group)

Naughty... There is no comment on this nickname, the pain it could cause to individuals is too immense, lets just say it came from one of the Team America camps and was a joke that has lived on in the mythology of TYG and TnT much longer than originally planned (or much longer than I originally liked!)

Italian Stallion: I am an Italian stallion! (or in my dreams) another one of Richards nicknames for me - why have these all come from Richard?

Donkey: This comes from the Character donkey from Shrek, it was an affectionate name given to me by a close friend


These Nicknames are part of my history, part of my life experience, some of them I own, I hold to because they have strength and meaning, but others I don't hold onto strongly, but God has also given me lasting names, calls to follow him, names that express how he sees me. This is very similar to the bible. Jacob wrestles with God and gets renamed Israel, Saul from Tarsus has a meeting with God meets with God and he changes his name to Paul, Abram meets God and has his name changed to Abraham.

I hold onto the name my parents gave me - Nathanael - because of its significant, gift of God - It shows that I have ultimate worth, both in the eyes of my parents but also in the eyes of God, for me it is a call as well to be a gift to the world, a tool of redemption in the hands of God to show Christ to the world

There is another name that God has always put over me -David - a man after Gods own heart. My desire is to follow the heart of God, to share the message of salvation - of Gods love for this broken and desperate world and the hope that we find in the saving act of Jesus Christ on the cross, I want this to be my centre, a heart for this world showing the Goodness and righteousness and glory of God to all those who are lost - to all those who are desperate and in need of Gods saving love.

A Weekend of Discovery

This last weekend was one really busy weekend, it was a rollercoaster of learning, complaining growing and trying to find my place in the scheme of things. I got to say, it was brilliant. Great music, great food, and great fellowship, only thing that wasn’t great was the lack of sleep that I got over the weekend, which is causing me trouble at the moment.

I woke up early on Saturday to get a bit of study done and was then picked up at 9.30 and worked to 1.30 at the loft to get stuff set up for the Karel Van Helden concert that was being held there on the evening, I then went back to reading over notes on weber and NPM and other stuff to do with what is called “the bureaucratic paradox” (If everything in the last part of the sentence went over your head, that’s alright, its just theory, and theory never adds up to reality :->)

I then went back into town to enjoy the sounds of Karel Van Helden and the Waitings over a cold one. It was a brilliant concert and I had a good time listening to his acoustic rock. The concert was being recorded live so hopefully people who get it will get to hear me screaming out Yeah! And whatever else I said that I can’t remember now. Karel Van Helden is an excellent musician and a real perfectionist. His backing vocals were awesome, the percussion was strong and the double bass player did an excellent job. For someone who didn’t know any of the songs I really enjoyed myself and connected with the songs on personal levels. The journey through the evening was a challenge for me in a number of ways. Throughout the concert I was chilling out and just listening to the music praying and listening to Gods heart and where to go next. I’m still figuring out the logistics, the ground that I’m standing on. Its scary, but I know I have to push through, let God reveal his dreams, let God reveal my dreams to me so that I can glorify him fully. I then helped pack up the Karel Van Helden, I was a tired mess by the end of it, but I felt refreshed, renewed in my spirit – moving forward is hard work sometimes, but breaking through the envelope is the greatest moment

Sunday was another great day. I didn’t get much sleep on Saturday night, I was hyped up on pure adrenaline over a great day and ended up waking up early and actually getting to vineyard that morning. I was pretty dazed for the singing and spent it thinking and singing and kind of taking it in, knowing God was there in the presence moving through the room, shaping, changing, revealing himself. I ended up having a continued long conversation with Matt Mansell about Sanctuary Vineyard, what Gods doing in their group, and exciting me again and again to follow my passions.

I went home to lax out, I ended up playing a game of UPWORDS with my family. I ended up beating them by a pretty good margin and it was pretty fun.

I ended up meeting going out for a bbq that evening with the Capital Mosaic Crew. Wellington was just beautiful on Sunday evening, it reminded of how lucky I am to live in Wellington, it’s a place full of culture, politics, and humanity. My heart cry’s out for this city where I have been placed, a town that has shaped me, but also a town that I want to give back my talent, to shape this city in a way that will make it better, to see people passionate for the city, for the people of Wellington, to redeem the city, just as shown in the bible.

Back on track, I had an awesome evening out, the bbq was just awesome, the food was great, I havn’t tantalised by taste buds in this way for so long, conversation was great, I think I had another one of those glimpses of heaven I’ve talked about before. We then played Wii. Wii is so much fun, it takes a lot of energy to do but it is so involving, it doesn’t make you feel guilty for playing computer games because it’s a full workout, you just have to be careful that you don’t break anything.

So, the journey continues, discovering who I am, who God is, his dreams for humanity, his dreams for the whole of creation, what it means to live out the gospel in the here and now. I am excited, I am scared, I have seen the promised land, it is abundant, it is real, it is better than anything we have ever seen, will you join me, will you join us in finding meaning, finding intimacy, finding destiny? Will you fulfil the quest of the human heart, the quest for…
…God

Prayer for the day.

I'm too busy at the moment to write anything substantial or deep, so I'll let the theologian and writer and missionary st Paul speak for me instead. This is my prayer for myself, for you and the church in general, and that from that prayer we will show people a life that is different, a life that is changed, as we follow the example of the master, our rabbi, the Lord Jesus Christ

"Let the Message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father"

Colossians 3:16-17

Maslins Farm - Labour Weekend 2007

We were up at the Maslins Farm for the weekend, it was a really fun and relaxing period. Here are a few of the photos I took. I will put up some more when I have some time. But take them in. Do you not just love that wonderful rainbow?

Santuary Vineyard

I have put a link up for the Karori Vineyard Plant - Santuary Vineyard. There isn't anything on this at the moment but I thought I would let you know about this. Please pray for these guys as they are an awesome team with an awesome heart for Karori, the Church and spreading the gospel in Karori. I have had the pleasure of spending time listening to thier heart and playing a small tiny part in this plant and really want to see it grow into what God intends it to be.

Qoutes that have got me thinking!

These Quotes were part of a presentation by Paul Vink on being a christian "social entrepreneur"

"The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness meets the worlds deep hunger" - Frederick Buechner

This first quote gets me thinking as I'm still finding my calling, what gets me up in the morning, what gets me passionate, what makes me angry, excited, and fired up. I don't want to be scared and not use the talents that God has given me. I want to plant and sow into the lives of those around me in ways that are unique, creative and exciting.

"Though many of us are well intentioned we have invested our lives in consumerism. We have a love affair with "more" and we will never have enough. Consumerism is not simply a marketing strategy. It has become a demonic spiritual force among us, and the theological question facing us is whether the Gospel has the power to help withstand it" - Walter Brueggerman

I have to write a little more on consumerism sometime, but I'll let you take in this quote for the moment.

The end is near!...

For Honours that is.

This year has been extremely busy, I cannot totally recount everything that I've done, everything I've learned and everything that I've experienced. It has probrably been the most stressful stretching and revealing experience that I've ever gone through.

Things I've learned about myself so far this year!
- I get stressed when I don't need to, I can cope!
- I have a pretty good sense of time management.
- I have a passion for the church that I never knew I had before - this is seen in the fact that I get angry, upset, but then I get passionate excited and motivated all at the different moments.
- I have a passion to see people reach their potential
- I want to live the life less ordinary, stretch change and grow.
- That there is a love and passion for Christ and the church that permeates my conversations and experiences with people.
- I really enjoy spending time with non-Christians sharing my faith and my story with them in small ways.
-Christ is my centre.
- I'm really excited for the conversations emerging in Wellington around christian faith in the 21st century. Its awesome to see the growth, challenge, planting and reaping that is going on@

Things I've done this year.
-I have written approximately 35,000 words.
-I have learned a hell of a lot about Female suicide bombers, Chinese energy security, Bureaucratic power and the WTO and global civil society interactions with it.
-Been part of a church planting conversation.
-Been part of a community of faiths experiences in moving forward.
-Spewed out complaints I've had with where I'm at where I've been going, why I'm there and how the hell I'm supposed to move forward.
-Spent a whole lot of time talking, detoxing, and spreading the love. (sometimes all at the same time!)

Things I need prayer for!
-That I would be focused on my study in the next few weeks and that I would finish the race that has been this year strong.
-That I would find a job.
-That I would find that the tribe (aka faith community/church) that I'm hanging out with is the right thing or not (I'm pretty much convinced that it is but I want to be "certain")
-That God would not allow me become complacent in the place that I am.
-That my passion for Christ and his kingdom and the Gospel would become deeper and be expressed through the way I live speak and act.

More on the journey in a while, I'll try to write a story of whats been going on, where Gods leading me. Warning, it may take some time as I'm supposed to be studying for exams and doing other things!

Another ASBO Jesus

Sad but so true!

My Wrestling with Worship

I've come to a point of wrestling with how I have seen worship, how I view Gods reality, I feel like it I'm shortchanging myself, or shortchanging God in how I've viewed what worship is.

Ok, so what do I essentially believe worship is, I believe it is honouring God with my life, acknowledging that he is that centre. I honour him and put God in the highest place in my life and in how I live. I want people to come into the throne room and see the whole train of his robe filling the room with Glory. I want people to know of the goodness of God, his righteousness and how he is just so amazing that I can not really describe him.

I also believe that Gods glory fills this present reality, but many times we cannot see it, that we fail to see his hand on creation, we fail to see his hand over our relationships with people, over life in general. We kind of steer away from this. Why?

I think its essentially that we have become very dualistic in our thinking, we separate the fact that God is in this present, the reality we inhabit right now, working and moving and challenging and changing us.

This comes from not having a wholistic view of Christianity. Many a times we limit "worship" to our Sunday morning songs at church. Do not get me wrong, I think songs are a form of communicating our relationship with God and thinking and mulling over what God has done for us, but we have to move from the worship session at church being about this. More problematic is that we can see the Sunday morning service as our spiritual "fix". A experiential drug, that frees us from the realities of the rest of the week. We live in the world, but feel like we become dirty by being in the world, the only way we can become clean is through our spiritual fix on Sunday morning. Our drug that gets us through the week. (This is a caricature I know, but it has some real impacts when you think about it.)

But worship is essentially our whole life, seeing the way we relate to people as being a spiritual activity, our work is a spiritual activity, me writing this is a spiritual activity. Many times we ignore that God is in our ordinary,day to day moments.

So why have I written this, why am I thinking this, where am I going with this.

I went along to a community of faith in the weekend where singing is not part of their worship, it might never be. But they want to see people come to know God and his reality. They have a heart for Wellington city and want to see it changed. This is really strange for a vineyard boy, a guy who has been brought up in a church that has led to loads and loads of new songs to the Lord. I know that we preach worship is all life but getting hold of this reality is really difficult sometimes and I've been struggling with it. I have essentially come to see singing as worship rather than seeing life as worship.

I am wrestling with this because it has again created a crisis in my thinking, what does worship look like, do I worship God in spirit and in truth, why has singing become so important to me, is it part of my cultural outlook rather than the reality I should live in?

What does it mean to say Jesus is Lord? What does it mean to see my whole life as worship, how does this look like moving forward? How do I become more wholistic in my faith experience?

More on this as time goes on!

My Apologies to the World!

This was on Mike Zooks blog today, I can so relate to this!

Again I am a broken person please forgive me!

We, the body of christ, are a broken people please forgive us!

Not my Dream! - Or Part 3 in a continuing series on Love and Movement

These are the edited lyrics to Switchfoots American Dream, I just needed to continue expressing how I'm feeling, about life, about moving forward into the dreams of the God, out of the lies, the lies of Disney Jesus, which hollows out the message of the gospel and replaces Jesus with a domesticated image, rather than the radical Lord I follow and serve and worship.

Jesus does not want us yoked to the idea that success, security and money will bring us happiness. The only thing that can bring us salvation is Jesus' saving love - shown by his death of the cross. I want to live and die for bigger things! I want to show people to Jesus, by the way I live, act, and engage with them. This is a continuing process, something that costs, but man is it the only way to live!

When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess
If you're time ain't be nothing for money
I start to feel really bad for you honey
Maybe honey put you're money where your mouth's been running
If you're time ain't be nothing but money

I want out of this machine
It doesn't feel like freedom

(chorus)
This ain't my dream
I want to live and die for bigger things
I'm tired of fighting for just me
This ain't my dream
When success is equated with excess
When we're fighting for the beamer, the lexus
As the heart and soul breathing the company goals
Where success is equated with excess

I want out of this machine
It doesn't feel like freedom

(chorus)
Cause baby's always talkin 'bout a ring
And talk has always been the cheapest thing
Is it true would you do what I want you to
If I show up with the right amount of bling?
Like a puppet on a monetary string
Maybe we've been caught singing....
But
.... That ain't my dream

(chorus)

If you are wondering where this is all going, stay tuned, wrestle with the words, as I too wrestle with them, and try to follow the ways of the Master.

This has been such a spiritually challenging, stretching, and revealing week!

Free Burma!

We have all seen the images and heard about what is occuring in Burma, its time to take a stand. The injustice that is occuring the has gone on long enough. The international community needs to show that the actions of the Burmese government are not desirable.

ASBO Jesus

Ok, I thought I would attempt to lighten the mood a little with the help of a couple of cartoons from the adventures of ASBO Jesus. ASBO stands for Antisocial Behavioural Order and is given to misbehaving teens in the U.K.








H.T Dan Kimball

Love is a Movement - Pt 2 - The Fear of Movement

Ages ago my friend Mike Brantley wrote a blog entitled "why do we run back to Egypt and whine so much". We leave the slavery of our society, or sin, of life and run towards Gods arms, then we feel like we are alone, we see that living a life following the will of God is a struggle. We want the comfort back in Egypt where we were fed, clothed and we seemed to be happy.

The problem with going back is what we lose, we lose our freedom to the shackles of consumerism, to the shackles of the worries of a life that is ordinary. Egypt is not really that good, its a place full of slavery!

But we continue looking back, we whine, and thirst for that which can only quench us temporarily.

Oh man I struggle as I write these words.

Look at the world we want so badly, we seem to continue wanting to go back to comfort, but what does the comfort provide for us. No comfort!

Look at what this longing for more has brought us!
High divorce rates
High Suicide rates
Large numbers of beatings and homicides around what is meant to be the best times of the year, Christmas
A Breakdown of community
selfishness, loneliness, and spiritual poverty.
High levels of consumer debt

The thing is I talk about these in reference to the world, but whats occurring in our church bodies us probably similar
- People struggling with long hours at work because of the level of debt they have. Not having time for families
- a longing for consumer goods to keep up with the Jones.
- credit debt
- High divorce rates among christian families
- Not enough parenting due to the fact that we have become obsessed with work and providing consumer goods to our kids, rather than spending time caring for them, giving them teaching and showing them who Christ is through relationships with neighbours, with fellow Christians and with them
- and when asked to change we say its too hard, too difficult, we can't change and we go forward, as broken individuals, not realising our need, that there is a way we can change. God holds the freedom to break free of our shackles, we have to be willing to trust him and push forward.

Being uncomfortable means making hard choices, means that we are going to give up that which we feel we hold dear, and taking hold of the only one that can give us freedom, Jesus Christ

We have to move past the idea of success being about what we have, the treasures we have built up, the kingdoms we create and move into the presence of God and asks what he treasures, what he wants us to put our efforts into.

For some it will be fine, they have their priorities sorted, but others are going to have to take costly decisions, refocusing their priorities on God, a God of freedom and love!

Freedom is not found in things, in material wealth or goods. The stuff we have can actually lead us further into spiritual poverty and hold us back from the plans that God has for us. The resources that God has given are Gods, not ours! We need to keep on coming back, critiquing ourselves, looking forward to where God wants us to be, rather than looking back at what seemed so good, but actually enslaved us. Moving forward is going to be costly, and its something that I wrestling through with fear and trembling!

Love is a Movement....

A day in L.A.
And millions of faces
Looking for a movement
'Cause everything's stuck
And everything's frozen

And everyone's broken
And nobody moves



And everyone's scared
That the motion will never come
This is the incompletion
Stuck in a line

Love is a movement
Love is a revolution
This is redemption



We don't have to slow back down
The stars are alive

They dance to the music
Of the deepest emotion
And all of the world
Is singing in time
As the heavens are caving in
Mysterious ways
Why God gave His life
To put motion inside my soul
It's bigger than cold religion
It's bigger than life

Chorus
We're starting now (x3)
We don't have to slow back down
This is a revolution (x2

I'm not going to write much on this, because I'm stressing over university work at the moment (My last essay Is causing me such pain that I don't know what to do!)

This song gets me, Jesus was not a man who sat in steely chambers, like an academic debating the meaning of Life, he was out there changing the world, one deed, one sentence at a time.

But he also chose a group of men and women to join him, to learn off him, he created a movement that was to change the world, that is changing to world.

As has been said, there is only one hope for humanity, and that is those people who follow Christ, the Church. It is the last and only hope for humanity.

We are to be a movement of love and grace, sharing the redemptive love of Jesus with the world.

But I'm going back to one thing here, we are a movement, an organism of men and women, working together to bring the kingdom in organic natural ways.

We an an organism, a body of people working together. In this we do have very important parts - ministerial parts that are needed if we are to be a healthy community.

We need pastors - Pastors are Shepard's, they care for the flock, they are there encouraging those within the body
We need teachers - teachers care for the word of God deeply, they carry it in there heart and want to teach it to people
We need prophets - prophets put God at the centre, they have a heart for seeing Gods righteousness and Justice done on this earth. They do not fear treading on toes for seeing the heart of God done, they have strong sense for justice to be done on earth, and will call people to action.
We need apostles - Apostles are innovators, they lead the way forward for new expressions of community, of ministry, they are willing to move the body forward if encouraged and allowed to flourish. Those that are in this category are usually artists, business entrepreneurs etc, they create forward movement in the body
and we need evangelists - Evangelists are recruiters, they love people, they seem to have an uncanny job of bringing the message of salvation into many things. They just love hanging out with people on their own turf and sharing into their lives and pushing them forward. They find new and creative ways to share Christ (If you want to meet a great evangelist friend of mine you should meet Andrew Watson, the characteristics of an evangelist just flows from him constantly!)

OK, so This has kinda just come spurting out, what am I saying, where am I going with this weird blurb on where I'm at with life, church, etc.

God has created a movement, not an institution, we are to move forward as communities, creating something New and fresh. It has Christ at its centre, it cannot go forward without Christ at the centre, if it attempts to it will turn into a chaotic mush! We need to recover who Jesus is, reading the stories of the Gospel. Jesus was always on the road, the most dangerous place of all in the time that he lived, sharing into the lives of people. To move forward and create momentum we may in fact have to drop the superfluous (our buildings, our structures, etc) so that we can again become a movement centred on Christ and building his kingdom. We need to focus away from all that holds us back, the comfortable pews of church and moving forward into movement that reaches the lost, the lonely, the poor, the brokenhearted. I am struggling with what this means for me, like many others, but I myself have to find movement, find where God will lead me, to become uncomfortable, to become stretched to the extremes of my limits, so that I can live an authentic, real life as a Jesus follower

Aslan is on the Move

In the story of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susanne go into the world of Narnia. Narnia is not the way it should be, the country of Narnia has faced winter for hundreds of years, but they have never had Christmas, all because the country is under the power of the evil white witch. Unknown to them, these four little kids are part of the prophesised return of the lion. Word is in the trees that something is afoot in Narnia, something that the land has been aching for years for, the return of Aslan, to end the reign of the evil white witch. The animals, the wind, the trees are aching for the return of their master, to bring order to Narnia, to restore it to its glory. There is hope, Aslan is on the move!

Why do I tell this story, why am I recounting my favourite childhood story? There is a sense in me, and others that I know that God is on the move! He is waking a new generation of disciples willing to bring about something new, something fresh, something that we have not seen before. The land of New Zealand, and the world is yearning for restoration, people are crying out for God, for healing, for restoration, God is on the move, setting the captives free, bringing sight to the blind, revealing himself to the poor. He is on the move, are we ready to join!

I was extremely excited to see Matt Mansell lay out his vision for the Vineyard plant that is going ahead in Karori. Matt and the team have a real passion to reveal Christ to this community and to bring people into Gods story for the world. I have had the joy of travelling along with them for part of the journey and seen how God is planting seeds in these talented, spirit filled individuals. I am watching and waiting to see the bear that awakens. I am looking forward to seeing how God shapes and creates this community, and what impact it has on Karori and the world. What an exciting time to be in!

God is wanting to restore the lives of those who live in Karori, he wants to show people that in him there is restoration, freedom from sin, freedom to live a new life, to become all that God wants us to be. God wants us to confront the empire, the wicked witch of the world, and free the land from the grasp of sin and death and from the devil. God wants us to shine out truth and bring people back in to the hands of their creator.

Lord I pray for your church, that you will awaken its potential, that it will see that it is the Greatest hope for humanity, that you are here moving in the world, changing people, bring people back to you. Let your church be a light, let your church be a refreshing to the world, awaken your followers, awaken the sleeping bear!

Lord I pray for Matt Mansell and the passion that you have given him, fan the flames of his passions and give him the tools and the people to build your church in Karori.

Things that have caught my attention this week

There have been a number of posts or articles that have caught my eye in my reading this week. Again this blog is to cover the fact that I have failed to do any substantial writing this week, but show people that I am alive, well, and are thinking over some things.

Boston Globe has a great piece on the state of education in the west. As time is going on it seems that our universities seem to be becoming more and more focused on "bum-on-seats" educational policy, rather than providing an education. Education in my mind is to teach people to be good citizens, to teach people about how to think critically about the world around them and to engage in the world that they live in and bring about positive outcomes for society. Rather than just providing commerce graduates (I know, I'm a intellectual who will not get off his soap box, but hey, we need some of them) with insufficient pieces of paper, who cannot think for themselves and can't engage with the world in any way other than in theory. Why am I writing on this, I think this has some good lessons for the church. The church needs to come back to understanding the mission that it was put here on the earth for, that is being Christ to the world around it, incarnating into the world. It wasn't sent here to be an institution, It was sent here to be a counter cultural community of followers, showing people Gods will, challenging people to grow and change and become part of Gods plan for the world.

Ryan of Tall Monastic Guy has written a blog asking the question of whether the Church can learn about cultural relevance from Kanye West. I think he provides a good overview, I think Ryan stretches it a bit too far, but there is one good point. We need to be empowering the innovators within our churches. These individuals are those such as our entrepreneurs, artists, film-makers, graphic-designers. These guys have big dreams, they are the life of the next generation of churches. God is creative, we are creative too! We were made in his image so we could create, build and design the kingdom of God. We need to give these individuals the resources to create and design a church of the future, or even just ethical businesses, art houses, cafes, pubs, tattoo parlours etc, where they can reveal Christ in ways that are relevant to the audience that surrounds them.

Dan Kimball pastor of Vintage Faith Church has written a post on Exchanging Religion for the Mission of God. The prayer of his church is
"Asking God to transform us into a worshiping-community-of-missional-theologians". This is what I'm desiring too as a Christian, to be following Christ - as a worshiping, missional theologian. Not as a man who follows his own will, being arrogant, believing he has it all right, but a man desiring the will of God, and following his call for his life.

Mosaic has started an exciting (well in my view) series on community. I have not been able to listen to any of the sermons yet, but believe that this will be an encouraging (and challenging) take on church community. I love mosaic's vision, the church in L.A. has members from over 50 different ethnic groups, focuses its energies on creativity, evangelism, worship, etc. It really tries to reveal Christ in an authentic and real way. Church community is not about being a consumer (service often becomes people demanding the church to serve us!). Many times our communities of faith take on a culture where all is done to make people within the community comfortable (usually Christians and the one or two who accidentally walked in the door), but comfort may be the wrong thing, comfort excludes those who are outside the culture of the group, we have to drive to mix this up, change our culture, desiring diversity (e.g, desiring to break out of a group which usually is white middle class, and increasingly female to a community which is a melting pot of cultures, talents and desires- this will prove to be chaotic and very uncomfortable!)

On the last point, I read in the listener about organizations and the need for them to become more diverse. Those organizations moving forward these days are mainly network based computer companies. They are not driven by the old model of hierarchical bureaucracy. These organizations are much more flexible and able to innovate at a faster rate. This might be a good thing for churches to take account of!

Map of the Internet

I saw this on Joshua's Mac a couple of nights ago when I was laxing out. I had to put it on my blog. I have some issues with it. It doesn't show Bebo on it, which is one of the top 3 social networking sites in New Zealand, and it doesn't show the unseen web (academic journals etc) this should be displaced as a reef underwater somewhere on the screen. Anyway i thought it was quite cool, it will be interesting to see what shape it takes in five years time!

Beauty

This came from the Mosaic sermon "Beauty." This video is a metaphor for what Martin Luther called "the Great exchange, where Jesus took all the crap that we have done, and took it onto himself in the process of his death on the cross. The result was that we were given new life, we are given salvation. Hope you enjoy

Becoming a Missional Christian

I wrote this post at the beginning of the year. Please forgive some of the repitition. It was written when I was processing through some stuff, this is actually not really that finished, but I want to share it with you because I was actually quite suprised to see how far this has played out in the way God is shaping me, it sums up how I'm attempting to live my life now as a christian sent out to the lost, sent to be a light, an example of something different, something fresh, something new! I will write further on contextualised faith, missional christianity, missional church and the missional God that we follow when I have some more time, but let this settle with you. Sorry about the intensity of this blog, again, it was written at a time of deep proccessing for me.

I have come to believe that a very important aspect of Christianity is that we are to be missional. A fact of Christianity is that it is a missional faith, we are called by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ to show people who God is, to show Jesus who Jesus is, and share with them the Truth of the Gospel. The last words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew commanded Christians to spread the gospel throughout the world. Jesus said “Go to people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. (Matt 28:19-20) Mission is to be a focus of Christians in the way they live and act, we are to fulfil Jesus’ commission. We are to tell people the Gospel through our words and deeds, just like Jesus did. We are here to bring about Gods redemptive plan on this earth. Not here to twiddle our fingers or debate how good our navels look. Jesus said that he was here on the earth to “tell the good news to the poor … …. to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers.” (Luke 4:18 paraphrase) Throughout Jesus’ time on earth he did this and showed people that the way to salvation was not through trusting in our own actions, because frankly our good actions are like s%$%*y nappies when compared to Gods Holiness.(Isaiah 64:6) Salvation cannot be earned, it is given in act on unmerited favour to those who have faith in Christ (read Romans 3) as a result of the saving act of Jesus Christ on the cross.

So as Christians we are called to preach this truth, that God came to earth as the man Jesus Christ, lived a human life, died on a cross and then rose again and ascended into heaven, that the life that no man had ever lived and ever will live. Showing us that salvation is only through God, through having faith in God and his saving grace. But how do we do this practically through our lives. How do we centre our lives around these truths and preaching them in word and deed.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and it scares me a lot, When I look at New Zealand I do not see a quarter acre, pavalova paradise, I see men and women crying out for something more, they live caught in addictions, making the wrong choices, getting drunk, living in unhealthy relationships, all of these are images of a broken nation, a nation which is not Gods Own.

So how are we to reach out and change New Zealand for the better, how are we going to change the world for the better?

I have come recently to discover that the way we need to do mission goes like this

First we need to figure out who Jesus really is, we need to figure out how he did mission, how it permeated his whole life. Read Mark, you do not find a guy who sits at his computer all day or reading books all day, he is out there, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, saving people from hell all the time, taking on the religious hypocrites of the age and kicking their butts. Read Luke, find out about how Jesus relates to people – he met them at their need. Man, he even used a drunken jewish wedding to show who he was to the people around him.
.
What I’m saying is that we need to know who Jesus really was, this is not based on our view of Jesus, in your preconceptions Jesus may be a hippy in a dress, but was he really that? Read, wrestle with what you find in the Gospels. I am coming to realise that Jesus is not a comfortable teacher that I follow. He was a radical, no-nonsense man, his words divided families and continues to divide families, it isn’t all roses. He wants us to be righteously-angry radicals willing to challenge the systems of injustice in our world. He doesn’t want us to act all high and mighty, he wants us to put all our trust in God, he wants us to do his will throughout the world and change this world for God.

Good Christology (In Laymans terms – how we view Christ’s and his saving actions) will lead to good missiology. As Christians we a called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. This means that we follow the example of our teacher. Our way of living should be incarnational. This will be a change from being evangelistic (I’m stealing these terms from Michael Frosts book Exiles) We are called to be in relationship with non-Christians on a equal footing. We are called to be Christ to our non-Christian friends. An example of truth and life to those who are non-christians. This means eating with non-christians, going out to pubs with non Christians, spending good quality time with non-christians, feeding them with the truth through our actions. It means we will have to stand up for what is truth when we are with them as well.

We are called to be different from the world, but what does this really mean. In contemporary Christian culture it has meant putting up walls, closing us up. We have not been allowed to form relationship with non-christians, and become separatist in our actions toward non-christians. This is not what Jesus has called us to do. He has called us to be ambassadors of the kingdom, going out into the cultures, subcultures etc and bringing the truth of the Gospel. We are not to be closed in, but reaching out with this truth, by living out the gospel.

So how are we to be examples of Christ in the world?

What does a culturally Relevant Church look like in Wellington?

What Churches in Wellington are doing mission well? What can we learn from them about doing mission in Wellington?

What is the culture of Wellington telling us about the concerns of the citizens of Wellington?

What are the Cultural Idols of Wellington? What are the Cultural Idols of New
Zealand?

We need men and women, godly, Christ centred men and women who will cry out “Give me New Zealand, or i’ll die”

The New Zealand Sopranos

This was a clip from last monday nights episode of facelift. Sit back and enjoy!

Learning to Breathe

My Brother has just bought a number of Switchfoot CDs, one of them being Learning to breath. The title track has been a really powerful song in my life over the last few days, I love the lyrics to this song, it explains so much of my journey with my Lord and saviour.

"Learning To Breathe"

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way that I'm

Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way that I say I love You
This is the way that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way


First Verse, the goodness of God gets me up in the morning. The saving act of Jesus on the cross has changed my life, revealed to me that there is hope for this world, hope for me as a messed up confused out of control man. I rely on the goodness of God to get me through the hard times (particularly this period of university, where I’m becoming increasingly stressed as deadlines loom and I cannot get myself to work.)

The chorus – this just sums up my journey, it’s a life of learning, a life of growing. I am learning to breath in the goodness of God, to take in his encourage, his words of love, to realize that this is all his and that he wants me to be part of his plan for the world. I am stumbling, growing, realizing that there is much more to this world and to God than meets the eyes. I desire to know the Lord deeper than I have before and worship him in spirit and in truth, with my whole life.

Third Verse – The Pain I feel when I look inside and realize how much crap there is in my life. I have to come back again and again and realize that I am in need, that I am a leper, a man deformed and in need of the touch of Christ to cleanse my life of all that is unclean and make me into something new, something different, something fresh, that when people see me they see someone changed, someone who has experienced the power of God

The Bridge: This is my cry, that I would be a tool in the hands of God, that my life would be given up to serving God, that I would say that God is my all, that I am here to serve him only, and that I would give all my moments to worship him.

Anyway, this song is really cool, would like to hear your thoughts on it!

Work, Life, Faith - Its all about discipleship!

I found this on the Vanguard Church Blog today, I think it sums up my view on discipleship at the moment. We need to get past the idea that ministry is just for the church, located in the church, for Christians. Our lives are mission, we are a missional people, sent by a missional God, commissioned by a missional saviour (Mathew 28:18-20).

"Every Christian is in "full-time ministry," no matter what they are doing, no matter what it says on their business card, no matter if they punch a time clock or are on salary, no matter if they are doing technical work or people work, no matter if they are paid or a volunteer, no matter if they work for their boss or for their family as a housekeeper. Every line of work, no matter what it is, is full-time ministry. Because every line of work needs to be transformed into a calling from God to fulfill the cultural mandate of Genesis 1 & 2. Our first command from God is to create culture - 'to fill the earth and subdue it, to work it and take care of it'"

Seriously we have to get past this dualism in our thinking, every moment is sacred, every moment is also secular, we are to use it for the glory of God. Jesus is Lord over every moment of your life, are you living it that way, or do you think when you go to work, university, school, the pub, the cafe down the street that God takes a back seat, this is wrong, this is pagan thinking and not of God. We need to acknowledge and live in the knowledge that Jesus is Lord over every moment and every second.

Anyway, off my rant, the vanguard church blogger makes a point by stating that churches should have a commissioning service for all in the church. I think this is a good idea, making people realise that they are living out a missional lifestyle for all to see, for all to taste, so that all will know the saving power of God.

Jesus is Lord, remember that!

Switchfoot are Coming to Parachute Festival 08!!!

Switchfoot

Oh man this is so great, I'm so excited about this! I am so going to go to parachute next year (Thats if I can afford it!) Switchfoot played in Auckland Last Night and said that they were coming to parachute 08 which will be from the 25-28th of January next year. I have not read any reviews of these guys concerts or sets, but they should be really really astounding. I have been wanting to see them for a number of years and do not want to miss this concert.

Mathew 8:24-27 Faith, Church, Life, etc, etc - or attempting to follow Jesus

This is a study I'm planning on doing in a few days, I was going to leave putting this up until I had done the study, but its in my heart to put this up on my blog now at this point in time. I may come back and edit it later. I want to apologise if any of this blog comes across harsh or condemning. That is not my intention. I'm struggling with the material in this blog myself, because I'm human. I just want to share this because its something close to my heart. I will will be the first person to say that putting Gods will first and following Jesus' call is hard (especially when you are struggling with what that means for your life). It is challenging and costly and indeed the most frightening thing you can do with your life. But it is the most rewarding, most meaningful and most exciting experience that anyone can have.

Mathew 8:24-27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose,, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash.”

The first thing that came to my mind as I read this passage with fresh eyes was the radical nature of this parable. Jesus’ claims here seem to me to be very radical. Most rabbis yoked only there disciples to their teachings, but he is saying that his teaching is the truth, that the people should follow him, follow his teachings – essentially put his trust in him. These claims are huge, he is claiming that if you build your life on him, his teachings, when life gets tough, God will be there strengthening you and bringing you through the hard times.

This comes down to the heart of faith, the heart of having a faith in Jesus, his teachings and the saving act, that he is there, guiding us through, that he is there listening to our cries, that we are to follow his will with our life.

I have been reading a book recently called the Forgotten Ways, its forcing me to wrestle with these issues once again. Early on it sets the scene for the rest of the book, it asks the question, how did the church grow from 25,000 Christians in AD 100 to 20 million in AD 310. These churches were against the wall at this time, Christianity at this time was an illegal religion, the church went through numerous persecutions during this period, so if you became a Christian, the likelihood was you would not live a normal human lifespan at that time. It also had other things going against it, it was ill resourced, having only a roughly formed canon at the time, they did not have professional leadership, church buildings or the range of books on church planting, leadership, Christian growth, etc, etc. But they had a profound faith in the LORD Jesus Christ, they confessed with their mouths and proclaimed with their lives that Jesus was their LORD and saviour.

So what do I think that these verses are talking about, I think the fundamental thing that Jesus is trying to get to is the heart of discipleship and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. When we read the gospels we see the response of the disciples to Jesus. He called them personally by name and told him to follow him. The amazing response of these men was that they dropped their nets and followed. What did this mean for them, it meant that they were dropping their jobs. Like our culture, occupation carried certain social meanings to it, dropping their Jobs meant that they were dropping their security, their identity as people, the place in society and became disciples, a group of men and women who followed, learning and practising what their rabbi, our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ taught them. Jesus exorcised Demons, they jumped in and exorcised Demons, Jesus healed the sick, they practiced at this, Jesus cared for the needy, they did this, Jesus called for them to live holy, changed lives, they attempted to model their lives around this. It went to the point that when Jesus walked on the water, Peter wanted to do the same thing, because he wanted to model his teacher. We too are called to follow the ways of Jesus, who is our Rabbi, but also our LORD and saviour.

I’m going to be honest and questioning in this next section, about myself and the way I see things, a couple of years ago I went through quite a challenging period in my faith journey. It was a really difficult time, as it made me essentially question who I was as a Christian, as a follower of God and following Christ. The essential questions that came up for me was “am I really a follower of Jesus?”, “where do I find my identity as a person?” These questions were hard, particularly for a person who believed they were following Christ fully with his life, but began to realise there were major shortcomings in how I saw people, how I saw Jesus, how I looked at the bible, how I saw myself. It was a deeply humbling experience, an experience that in many ways has not ended completely. I had to find where I found my Identity, was it in my Status, my theology, the church I attended, my university education, the people I hung out with or was it in my faith in my LORD and saviour, Jesus Christ. When all these things seemed to fall to the wayside in importance, the thing that stood through all of this is my faith in my LORD and saviour. I have realised more and more that it is this that has gotten me through hard times in my life, the relationship I have with my LORD and saviour.

So what is it that you put your trust in, where do you find your meaning. What does God think of it? Is your meaning, your personal worth found in Christ or is it found in your career, your family, your theology, your church, your denomination, if all that was stripped back what would be left, stripping that all back, where would you gain your identity?

Again I want to say that I am wrestling with these issues right at the moment, what does it mean to be a disciple of Christ, what does faith mean, what does it mean to those who interact with me on day to day basis, and I’m continuously coming back to the feet of God and repenting. I know there are areas in my life I have not sorted out – sins and personality traits that I do not think are all that Christ like at all. There are areas in my life that need to be sorted out that I probably do not even know about and I need people in my life that can show those to me and even give me a good prod in the right direction, if you know what I mean.

I believe that this is the question we need to ask ourselves both individually and as a church, the people of God. Where do we find our identity? In a sense I have just answered it, we are the people of God, saved by Christ; set apart and called to change Karori, Wellington and the World. I can say these words, but are we living this out, accepting this. Do we live as disciples of our LORD Jesus Christ, modelling our lives around him– or do we live similarly to the world? When we take away the building, the lights, the songs, the church activities, its there something distinct, something deep, something so beautiful that people are attracted to it, are we reflecting Christ to the world, or are we just another social club?

Blogs of the Week

I have not had the time to write a substantial blog of my own this week, due to the creeping amount of work that lies around my study that should get done, but there have been a number of posts from Friend's, mates, and blogs that I read often.

Mike Brantley, worker, planter and missionary with Communitas New Orleans has blogged on cultural captivity here and also given a confession of his own cultural captivity. These two blogs have a major impact on me as I am wrestling with what it means to be a christian in the culture that I live in and what it means for me as a person who will be going out into the workforce.

More on cultural captivity; Mike Zook, a mate of Mike Brantley's has written a blog on consumerism and that fact we are so caught up in it. He raises some interesting questions on how we do church in the western world and argues that it comes back to the fact that we have modelled our churches around consumer based models. Instead of following a Jewish discipleship model, where all are involved, growing, being challenged and being shaped. Instead 95% of people within western churches are passive.

On the cost of discipleship and church planting, Reid S. Monaghan, a church planter has written about what it means to be a disciple following the call of God on his life, dropping all and moving to New Jersey. For many people this is a crazy, crazy thing to do, most of us follow our career go with the flow and live in a way that doesn't shake up cultural values and norms. But following Gods call, Gods cry for us can be radical, shaking up those around us and challenging them. This can be very uncomfortable, considering one of the most important western values is comfort!

Finally, vineyard interactive pastor and Friend Matt Mansell has written a blog on one of his favourite worship songs, The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails. This continues on his discussion on the sacred vs the secular and seeing past the dualism that we have created within western Christianity.

Anyway, hope all is going well for all of you, and I hope you get some challenge out of these Ideas as much as I did.

Black Gold

I saw this Documentary at Karori Baptist Church last night at thier night church. It was a really challenging movie to watch. Look out for fair trade as it is the way to go. The income that African nations get from trade is five times the amount they get from Aid. It is neccessary for these countries farmers to get a reasonable price for thier coffee - this can only be done if the consumer in western nations buy fair trade products showing multinational corperations that there is a need for ethical product. If you want any more information on this movie and fair trade coffee head to www.blackgoldmovie.com

My Personality

Though I'm not one for boxes, this describes some of my personality and who I am as a person. Its funny on the other Myers Brigs test I came out as a judging, but on this one I came out as perceiving (explains the fact that when I go supermarket shopping I don't take a list and I go don't do shopping in an orderly fashion!)

Anberlin - <*fin>

This song just gets me every time I listen to it. Read the words, they are so hard-hitting and challenging, they are stirring me constantly to change the way I view those around me.

Rob Bell in his book Velvet Elvis writes "Heaven is fill of people who God Loves, Hell is full of people that God loves" (paraphrase) - How do we view those people that are are around us, do we view them as evil, sinful people, or misguided people that God loves and wants to communicate with, form relationship with and spend an eternity with. God sent his son Jesus not to condemn the world, but to save the world. We were all lost causes but because of Gods love Jesus came to the world to save us .


Anberlin <*Fin>
Feels like I'm miles from here in other towns
With lesser names where lonely ghost doesn't tell
Merry old William exactly what they want to hear
You remember the house that we drew
Told you and the devil to both just leave me alone
If this is salvation I can show you the trembling
You'll just have to trust me
I'm scared
I am the patron saint of lost causes
Aren't we all to you just near lost causes
Are we all to you just lost?
Tell me you're left behind
Something you'll mean everything right before you die
But if you gain the world
You've already lost four little souls from your life
Widows and orphans are hard to find
Their home is in daddy who's saving you random tonight
Where's your drink?
And would hurry and kill you
Sympathy's better than having to tell you the truth
That you are the patron saint of lost causes
All you are to them is now a lost cause
All you are to them is now causes
Billy, don't you understand?
Timothy stood as long as he could
You made his faith disappear
More like a magician
And less like a man of the cloth
We're not questioning God
Just those he chose to carry on his cause
We'll grow better, you'll see
Just all of us, the lost causes
Aren't we all to you just lost causes?
Aren't we all to you lost?
Lost causes
Aren't we all to you
Is all we are, is all we are
What we are is all we are

Choir:
They just saved all of the lost, like you
They just saved all of the lost, like you
They just saved all of the lost, like you
He just saved all of the lost, like you
They just saved all of the lost, like you
(Lost causes, we are is all we are)
They just saved all of the lost, like you
(To you, lost causes)
They just saved all of the lost, like you
They just saved all of the lost, like you
They just saved all of the lost, like you
He just saved

Jesus said "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." (E.S.V)

What does this mean to our Friends and our neighbours, who needs the love of Christ shared into their life - how do we do this? God wants us to incarnate into the world around us. To be wholly holy prayerful worshipful people. People who live differently and show Christ is ways that are relavant to the world around us. What does this mean for you? What needs to change in your own life?

Heroes of Faith

Matt Mansell has talked about those who have left spiritual legacies for us in his blog just recently. I have a real desire when I have some time to write a series on Heroes of Faith. I think theres a biblical precedent for this. In hebrews this is set out very nicely in hebrews 11 and 12. The writer of hebrews tells to story of past heroes, echoing what they did and how they were compelled for action, then he goes on to say that we have the same challenge in our lives, to be heroes of faith to those around us. To disciple and bring people onto the journey of life.

Anyway I was wondering if anyone has some good sources on a number of individuals

Martin Luther King
Martin Luther
Dietrich Bonnhoffer
Moses
Joshua
Paul
Peter
Jesus (I have many sources here but anything else is always a pleasure)
St Francis of Assissi
St Augustine of Hippo
John Calvin
Mother Terressa

If anyone else can think of any others they think would be good that would be awesome. And if you have any good sources that you know of please tell me.

Slavery Still Exists!

One of my mates Sym was talking me about the issue of slavery in contemporary society. One area I suggested where slavery still existed was in consumerism. Many in the west are enslaved to the idea that the more we have, the more status we hold, or the more happy we are. The problem is with this is that it is a lie. The more we have doesn't mean we are more happy - in fact we are driving ourselves further and further into debt. If you look at New Zealand, we have some of the highest levels of consumer debt in the developed world, we collect more and more stuff to "keep up with the Jones." The other issue with consumerism is that it is causing/creating further enslavement around the world, particularly of poor people in developing nations.


Some stats on slavery - from Trade Aid New Zealand
1999 - It was estimated that 20 Million people were bonded into labour. The tasks of these people include brick-making, carpet weaving, domestic labour, stone quarrying, sex work industries, foot ball stitching, rubber plantations, factory work.

700,000 t0 2 million women and children are estimated by the U.S government to be trafficked across borders each year. Jobs include farming, camel jockeys, domestic labour, fishing, mail-order brides, market stall labour, restaurant labour, and the sex industry.

More than 80 Million children worldwide aged under 14 are estimated by the ILO to work in conditions hazardous to their health. Work includes domestic labour, drug trafficking, fireworks manufacturing, fishing, brick-making, carpet weaving, sex work, stone quarrying, soldiers, cocoa (where does that chocolate your eating really coming from - it makes you think!)

Anyway these are just a few examples check here for more stats on slavery and injustice, it will shock you!

There is something we can do about this.

1. There is a petition to the government to end slavery run by Trade Aid
2. You can buy fair trade products. These can be found at trade aid, in wellington there is a fair trade coffee shop call peoples coffee in Newtown that you can buy fair trade coffee from. If you got to Vic university, restoration coffee ( the coffee shop down nearest to the weir house and the cable car) sells fair trade coffee.

More on this later when I have more time, and can get some further research done!

Dreams... for Nathanael, for christians and for the church... and for the world...

I want a people with dreams, dreams beyond belief, radical out of the box dreams, dreams that set the world on fire, dreams of justice, dreams of joy, dreams of peace, dreams of salvation.


The Lord Is Wild and Untamaeble. Don’t put him in a box! He wants men and women with a passion, a creative vision for the world, a vision that brings out his character, challenging people, growing people, setting people free to live the way I intended. Its creative and fresh, a beautiful artwork, made of people, Its organic, responsive, dynamic and fiery. It will set the nation on fire, it will set the world on fire, nothing like this has been seen before, nothing like this has gone before.

God is calling for a wholly, holy passionate creative people doing Gods work, creating Gods work, being Gods work

We are a physical expression of incarnate Christ to a broken imprisoned world.

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God is calling us to be creative like kids again, to create things, to bring them to the father, to be willing to paint with our fingers, to be willing to paint with our hands something beautiful, something fresh, something that challenges perceptions, a painting of love to those around us. God wants us to hone our creativity, whether its in art, buisiness, science, music, when we go after our passions the fire that burns within us, we are worshiping our Lord and saviour.


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One person can change the world.
One person can have a dream and set the world on fire
God does not want us to lock our dreams or passions away, he wants a radical church, a radical people that will listen to the crys of those around it, challenge the empires of the world. A church that listens challenges and grows a passionate beast that cannot be stopped, a passionate untameable community of faith, firing up those around it, remaking the world, recreating the world.

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“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God
He existed before anything, was created and is supreme over all creation for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things that we can see
And the things we can’t see
Such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world
Everything was created through him and for him
He existed before everything else
And holds all creative together
Christ is also the head of the Church
Which is his body.
He is the beginning,
Supreme over all who rise from the dead
So he is first in everything
For God in all his fullness
Was pleased to live in Christ
And through him God reconciled everything to himself
He made peace with everything on heaven and earth
By means of Christs blood on the cross.


Christ in an affront to this world, he has called us to go against evil, injustice, violence of the world, not to sit in pews, Christ has called us to take on this worlds kingdoms and rulers – to preach against selfishness, consumerism, violence, idolatry, paganism, slavery and bondage – we are called to be shining lights to this world, we are called to bring deliverance to our neighbours, our cry is to go out into the world and proclaim the love of Christ to all.

Stir in us a holy discontent for our communities, for our friends and for our loved ones.
“Don’t put your light under a bushel” – don’t hold my love in the church – go forth into the world, multiply and be prosperous

Generous Living

These come from some scribbled notes I was writing at cell group last night - the passage we were looking at was Mathew 6: 1-6



"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.



Again in this section think its important to note the situation Jesus is commenting on - Jesus is critiquing the "hypocrites". I've written about this earlier, Hypocrites literally means those who act. These people put on the act of Holiness so that they can look good in public.



In the case of giving this was usually done very publically, there would be a box where people would put their money and the amount you gave would be a sign of your "Holiness" or your social status within the religious community.



But does this mean that we are not to give? I think the answer to that is an astounding NO! Generosity has been an essential part of the christian gospel throughout the last 2000 years. Hospitality in particular has been an essential virtue of the christian church - particularly because of the long distances people travelled from place to place - itinerant preachers such as Paul needed places to stay on their long journeys.

Going further Generosity was a defining aspect of the christian church through the first 200 years. The christian movement grew because it cared for the needy, healed the sick and proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ wherever it went, generosity and generous living were essential.

Looking through church history, renewals of the church have occurred because of the humble generous living of Christians. The Franciscan order are testament to this. Francis of Assisi was from a well to do family, but after a run in with his father after selling some of his cloth to give to the needy he decided he would break from the world and the system of the world at that time and "follow naked, the naked Christ." Francis went about to create a new movement for the Kingdom of God. The movement was important because it was radically different from how those around Francis were acting. Historian C.H Lawrence describes the thirteenth-century church as an institution in crisis, which had no response to a changing world. In this period there was a newly arising secular culture, the friars of Francis were a fresh new way of seeing the world and challenging the emerging secular society. Francis' order challenged the institutionalised christian - which was a large concrete structure that had been acquiring wealth for itself - not for the formation of Gods kingdom. Francis entered this situation as a passionate young man - and as a result led to others following him - with the creation of the Order of Friars Minor and the poor Clare's. These communities of faith were able to be a source of hope to a desperate society

So enough with my tangent. Why does Jesus want to give money in private? Does Jesus want to give in private

Luke 21:1-4
He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

The context of these verses is that Jesus is criticising the hypocrites. The poor widow gives all her money. In her giving she is sincere, becuase she gives every cent to God.

God wants us to be givers - generous givers - not because we will gain praise from human sources but because we want to serve God and see his kingdom established on earth.

Mathew 5:16
"In the same way let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly father"