confirmation again

I have been doing some on going thinking and research on why this has lost it's value in our region.
Several things strike me:
Firstly it only seems to have value when coupled with relationships - a program is a tool for doing the class but it is the level of relationships that exist between the young people and the church that they are being asked to be confirmed into that seems to be the issue. Notice I say Church and not faith, because although many leave the Church at this time they do not always seem to loose their faith. When this is coupled with the confirmation being done by a bishop who probably has no relationship with the young person it seems to be quite odd. When Jesus said i am the way the truth and the light i am not convinced that he was jsut saying here is the truth take it, but rather come and follow me, spend time with me get to know me and you will see that I am the Truth.....
Second believers baptism seems to be a more meaningful option. In my time as a baptist pastor i think i did around 20 baptism's of teenagers who were making a confession of faith. More often that not it was accompanied by testimony not only to the gathered Christians but to none christian friends and relatives. One that particuarly struck me was a young girl who had by chance wondered into our church and liked what she heard and decided very quickly Jesus was what she was missing. Her baptism was very powerful. While I think we cam often mistake power for hype it strikes me that believers baptism seems to be more attractive and seems to help encourage a young person faith more than confirmation.
I still think confirmation has something to offer but maybe a reaffirmation and reenactment of baptism vows would offer more. Not only because it takes time and is therefore a more public celebratory event, but also because it is done normally by a person who is in relationship (hopefully) with the young person.

St Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

it all started with the Jews

A few weeks back i read Thoma Cahill's book on how the Irish saved Civilzation - inspired by this I have since read another two of his books, The Gift of the Jews i am enjoying at the moment.
Stand out quote
The Jews strated it all - and by 'it" I mean so many of the things we care about the underlying values that make all of us. Jew and gentile, believer and atheist. Without the Jews, we would see the world through different eyes, hear with different ears, even feel with different feelings."
I guess in reading some of Cahill's work it has struck me how much shapping past civilizatins have done. I am irish and bare the temperament of such. I am a pseudo greek that understand the world, life and the life after that in certain terms. I am an english commoner who knows the values of serving others. I am a Christian not by birth rite or even by whakapapa but by belief and an inherited history. I have so many things pulling me shapping me and forming me, i am glad of the gifts they have all given me, and cherish the life that i have as a result
I think when paul said that there is neither jew nor greek, male or female, we can often interpret it that our cultural baggage does not matter, maybe what he is saying that they bleed into each other - froming a new identity that is not the same as the old, but shapped by it.

The World's Fastest Indian

had part of the morning of this morning and took my wife to see the new Anthony Hopkins mivie - the Worlds Fastest Indian. for those outside of New Zealand who have no idea what the movie is - it's the true life story of what can only be called a good kiwi bloke Burt Munroe - an old ocdger who in 1967 broke the world speed record for a bike under 1000cc. It is a truly inspiring story.... probably more so because of his age when he did this - 65 plus. Burt being a good Kiwi bloke is an earthy type - pee's on his Lemon tree daily and lives in a shed - mows the lawn with a petrol can and makes his won high speed tyres by shaving the tread off an old one with his next door neighbours carving knife. Like the typical kiwi bloke his shed is his temple complete with a altar of offerings to the God of Speed. Spirituality is obviously painted as a huge part of his life, he has a philosophy of make do - any day spent above the ground (or alive) is a good day so make the most of it. His heart is warm and open, befriending widows, orphans and even a transexual for good measure. On his journey to his destiny he spreads a bit of Kiwi culture - the second hand piston ashtray, the Bob the builder we can fix it mentality - But most of all love. When he is finaly on the track on the salt flats - he heads of into the distance, one of his friends comments "Is he ever going to turn around?" The other friends response, "I don't think so I thijnk he is heading back to that strange planet he came from." Not only does he spread love and acceptance he also draws people together. You come out feeling that the world is a better place because Burt Munroe lived....

What struck me most in the portrayal - and i Suspect they tried to make it as close to the real Burt as possible was when he stood on the Salt Lake flats for the first time - it was like he had arrived in heaven - there was tear in his eye, and a sense of fulfilment.

God Bless you Burt - wherever you maybe


One thing i really enjoyed about it was his take o

Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me? and circumcision

struck me yesterday when reading this line from Acts how formative it must have been in the Theology of Paul.
Firstly the speaking of his name, when an audible strange voice is heard elsewhere in the bible - a theophany, the persons name always seems to be said twice. It is God speaking, when Paul asks who it is - the reply - I am Jesus who you are persecuting. Now to all intents and purposes Saul wasn't perscuting Jesus rather his followers.
It must have really scrambled Pauls' eggs a bit - firstly - God Speaks, secondly God identifies himself as Jesus, thridly Jesus identifies the suffering that his followers are under as his own suffering.
So I guess as Paul reflected on this he must have somehow concluded that Jesus is God, and that the followers of Jesus - the Church are Jesus's body......

Amazing what lies behind a sentence that we so often just glance over.

In Nelson next year we are planning to run a joint initaive of an Alpha course aimed at intermediates, so i have been on the hunt for dramas to illustrate talks - i found this beauty on Jesus being fully human - it's about two kids who attend his circumcision - kind of screemish really but I loved the following line
WAYNE -- Well, let's see... CIRCUM is like circle, so it means around something. And CISION is like incision. It means to cut. So, circumcision must mean to cut around something.
GARTH -- Oh, I get it! They're giving the kid his first haircut!

The drama can be found on a really great site
http://www.fea.net/bobsnook email: bobsnook@fea.net


Two teenagers witness Jesus' circumcision
WAYNE -- (Enters, looks around, waves Garth in, whispers) There they are. (points at opposite exit)
GARTH -- (Enters, whispers) You're gonna get us into trouble, Wayne.
WAYNE -- (half whisper) It'll be a piece of cake, Garth.
GARTH -- But Gentiles are not allowed in this part of the temple, Wayne.
WAYNE -- Trust me, I know what I'm doing, Garth. If we just look like we belong here, nobody will say nothin'.
GARTH -- Wayne, all the men are wearing those little tiny hats. They're gonna kick us out if we're not wearing one of those little tiny hats.
WAYNE -- (looking both ways) They're called yamulkas, Garth.
GARTH -- How do you know?
WAYNE -- (returning to exit) I know all kinds of stuff. (exits) Here's a box a full of yamulkas! (reenters, wearing skull cap, offers cap to Garth) See, I told you, Garth. There's nothing to worry about.
GARTH -- (puts on cap, poses) How do I look in my new yamaka, Wayne?
WAYNE -- (laughs too loud) Like a dork. (chuckles, covers mouth, ducks slightly)
GARTH -- (whispers, ducks behind Wayne) Shshshsh. Somebody is coming.
MAN ---- (enters, crosses upstage, exits without noticing boys)
WAYNE -- (Stands tall, pulls up Garth, whispers) It's okay, just act natural. (aloud) So, I was saying to the rabbi, rabbi, I said...
GARTH -- I didn't know you knew a rabbi, Wayne.
WAYNE -- (pounds Garth's shoulder) You are such a dork, Garth.
GARTH -- You always hit me in the same shoulder. What did I do?
WAYNE -- (moves toward opposite exit) Okay, he's gone. Follow me.
GARTH -- (stays put, rubs shoulder) I still don't know what we're doing here, Wayne. And I don't think you know either.
WAYNE -- (returns to Garth) Yes, I do. We're here for the circumcision of the Christ child. (moves toward exit)
GARTH -- (stays put) Oh! The circumcision! Well, why didn't you say so? (pauses) Wayne?
WAYNE -- (eyeing offstage events, whispers) Yeah.
GARTH -- What's a circumcision?
WAYNE -- (returns to Garth) It's a thing they do eight days after he's born. (moves towards exit)
GARTH -- (stays put) Oh! (scratches head, pauses) Wayne?
WAYNE -- (whispers) Yeah.
GARTH -- What thing do they do?
WAYNE -- (returns to Garth) You know the Jewish ceremony. And one thing I'm sure about is that the circumcision of Jesus will undoubtedly make it into the Bible. And I want to be able to tell the guys back home that we saw it.
GARTH -- So, what is a circumcision, Wayne? I'm not gonna have to sing, am I? Because I don't sing so good.
WAYNE -- Naw, if they sing. You just move your mouth. Nobody will know.
GARTH -- What if everybody has to get up and read from the scroll, Wayne? I don't know how to read Hebrew.
WAYNE -- Don't worry, Garth. This ceremony is for a baby. He can't understand Hebrew either.
GARTH -- So, what do you suppose they do in there, Wayne?
WAYNE -- Well, let's see... CIRCUM is like circle, so it means around something. And CISION is like incision. It means to cut. So, circumcision must mean to cut around something.
GARTH -- Oh, I get it! They're giving the kid his first haircut!
WAYNE -- (moving to exit) Yeah, maybe. (whispers) Shshshsh. quiet. The ceremony has already started. Remember, just look like you belong here.
GARTH -- (moves toward exit, whispers) He's using a knife, Wayne, not a scissors. What kind of a haircut is that?
WAYNE -- (whispers) It's not the hair that they're gonna cut, Garth.
GARTH -- (whispers) You don't think they're going to cut his... (backs away from exit, holding stomach, turns) Oh, I think I'm going to be sick.
WAYNE -- (follows) Garth! You're supposed act natural. You're supposed to look like you belong here! Remember?
GARTH -- (exiting) I don't think I belong here, Wayne. (Vomits loudly from offstage)
WAYNE -- (backs toward ceremony, points over shoulder) Garth! Where are you going? The circumcision is....
GARTH -- (vomits loudly)
WAYNE -- (turning to ceremony) The big sissy. (backs away) Oh, man, they really are going to cut his... (holds stomach, covers mouth, runs to exit, vomits aloud)
GARTH -- (backs onstage, holding stomach) Well, at least we didn't have to sing. (looks over shoulder, exits again)
BOTH --- (vomit aloud)
©2005 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it.Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances.You may reproduce and distribute this script freely,but all copies must contain this copyright statement.http://www.fea.net/bobsnook email: bobsnook@fea.net
BACK

Cut off

I amazes me how much we people in the 21st century live in isolation of the world until we are cut off from it. We take so much for granted and then when it is gone we loose our sense of identity. Just reading a book on How The Irish Saved Western Civilization, many things have strcuk me, firstly the way in which the Roman Empire failed to see it world falling aprat around it, and yet when you look at the big picture the loss of values when it moved from senate to empire it seems obvious that it was crumbling, but those involved could not see it. Second thing that stuck me was the connection between the poatoe famine and the loss of a native tongue - my ancestors have suffered for years as a result of that. A loss of language can only result in a loss of culture as to adopt another language is to adopt the deep undergirding values of the culutre that speaks that language. Today my wife and I find oursleves in a simialr situation of loss, we have just left a church and are in the no man's land of many people in NZ at the moment - tryinng to maintain a faith but not being part of a church. Our hope is to move into another church family but getting established takes time. Normaly when we have left a church it has been a result of geographical moving - this time it is soemwhat different we have not physcialy moved house but feel unable to stay involved with the Church we have tried to be a part of.
So why do we feel cut off. Firstly my wife feels it because Church is her Whanau, when she became a Christian at age 14 she saw that it was either the Church or the Marai - and since she wanted to follow Jesus she choose the church, But here undergirding values and culture while adoptin soem of the newness of Church culture still kept some of its old values - Therefore Church became her Whanau - so she is grieving.
As for me well for the past 10 years of my life i have been following a dream of sorts - alogn time ago i felt God was calling me to pastoral ministry, to pastor a church, so i have been on that journey learning what i can, serving where i am able. Now it feels like i have gotten lost along the way, and that it will never happen. Needles to say it feels a bit like a kick in the guts, where did we go wrong.. I am blowed if I know - but I too feel cut off. Church has beena huge part of both our lives - to be Churchless is a sacry prospect - but at the same time we are both reluctant to jump back in until we feel some sense of healing.
Last night i came across a familair passage in Job 19:25-
For I know my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he
will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God.

I am of to work for a rest

This weekend I have....
painted half the house
cut back all our trees - and we have a lot of trees
ripped up carpet from our lounge and destappled the floor
and sat through the New Zealand idol finals show - go Nik....
well i had to spend soem time with the kids......
i am off back to work for a rest

Baptism.... Confirmation....

I've been blogging lately on the right rights of passage that are used that i think have soemthing to say about how we do missiology. when my foreftahers seperated themselves out from the Anglican Church they did so over the issue of infant baptism. In christendom - it meant that every one was baptized, and so had very little to say about conversion and the work of Christ. I satnd by my forefathers in that decission - it was an act of reformission, reforming the acts and sacraments for the church for the task of mission.
Today society has changed - christendom is not a concept that many understand and the need to seperate the 'in' from the 'out' is not as much of a need. but people still look to the Anglican and Catholic church to baptise infants, while this may help wiht getting kids into a better school. i suspect it is also a deeper yearning for connection - that somehow it just seems right. Given that this one of the rare opportunities when people not involved in the life of the Church come knocking on the churches dooe, i think there is a need to make the most of it, not just on the part of the pastor but the whole church too. It is a tremendous opportunity to proclaim good news.
At the moment i am doing some research on the rite of confirmation - this is as i understand it the time when the young person confirms the promises that the parents made on behalf of the child in infant baptism. But it seems to have becoem known as a gradaution right for many young people from the life of the Church. I think it has soem amazing possibilites but it does need to be reformed to undertake a process fo refromission.
When I was at a catholic school i went through this process - i think if a little more time and effort and expalnation had been put into it then i would not have seen it as a graduation ceremony for leaving the Church.
The down play of confirmation has been furher added to by according to one vicar i have spoken with through the dropping of it as a requirment for holding a lay office in the Church. While i don't think it should be the golden carrot to crank up enthusiasm - it needs to be considered as a neccesary aspect of adolescent development, a right of passage and the confirming of the work of God in a young persons life....
i tis an

i often feel as though i get misunderstood

One of the issues I have always had is wih being misunderstood, I am quite a thick set guy who loves rugby - but i also cry at soppy movies.... go figure.
when I first moved into ministry training the assumption was made that becuase it did not tuck my shirt in, had blood shot eyes permanantly, used to be a welder and i carried my books around in a beer add bag that i was an alcoholic ??? it was far from the truth - i don't even drink, and i had a small sone that I was upto on average twice a night.
Anyway here is a bit of an insight into me - please read it respectfully - it is actualy an excerpt from an email converstaion i have just had
by the way when people say i cannot spell - they are right in that assumption.....

-When I moved into youth ministry after graduating Carey it was not because I felt it was the only position I could get – I was willing to wait for the right call, I choose to go to xxxxxx to gain some more experience – which I did, but also because mission in a New Zealand context was at the forefront of what I considered to be important in my calling, at the time I could only see that being worked out among young people, to quote Tom Sine, “When you see a wave of God’s Spirit moving – Surf it…” That is what I saw happening with the changes in the cultural climate. It happens with young people but it filters down into mainstream society - as it appears to be happening now.
The work among young people I think is an excellent first base for wider church ministry.
I also have demonstrated the ability to grow a church, if you were to chat with XXXXXXX about the growth in the ministry at xxxxx and question him on this I think you would find that the majority of the growth over the last 7 years has come through the youth ministry, this is a ministry that continued to grow after me leaving – and I know there are not many senior pastors who could say that.
I think it happened because I was:
Firstly open to the work of the Spirit and to where He was moving – that for me is an essential factor in ministry – when I say I am a hand in the pocket charismatic it refers only to my approach to worship (singing), and not my work.
Secondly I was able to see the mission possibilities before us (the establishment of a uni student/young adult’s ministry was something that had not happened for a long time in the Church).
Thirdly I put time and energy into learning the skills necessary, setting the direction of the ministry, and bringing people on board with what God was doing – the wave of the Spirit was apparent – but you have to work at surfing you can’t just hop on a wave and expect to surf it.
Fourthly I developed a team of young people who were willing not only to serve but to be used by God also. In my mind the task of leadership is to lead in such away that you can develop others and allow them to lead. I think one of the goals of this approach is that it allows you to then move on and develop other areas- almost an apostolic function. While at xxxxx I knew I had done a good job of that and that the only way to subsequently allow the young people to develop was to step out of their way and begin building another aspect of the ministry. I did approach the eldership with a proposal that I gradually move my responsibility to include the 25 plus age group, while still overseeing the function of the youth ministry. They said no they did not feel it was the right move and that the youth ministry would suffer. But I might point out that it is exactly the shift that has occurred with there new appointments.
Fifthly I was able to bring a whole host of approaches to how I did ministry to develop a bunch of safe, middle class Christians into people who would take a risk for Jesus. I know that many of our larger churches want pastors who can do that – well if I can do it with ‘spoilt’ (not my words but the words that were used in my interview) teenagers I can do that with anyone.


I hope you can appreciate then that me leaving xxxxxx was not an easy move – I love the Church and the people there – and I hope to go back there some time, but the youth ministry had hit a point of growth where there were too many leaders, and I saw needs in the life of the Church that the eldership did not see at the time. I guess I saw the wave coming a little bit earlier than the eldership and xxxx, but I respect and honour them in the decision they made to wait. The art of surfing is about timing and maybe if I had moved across in my role at xxxxxxx it would have been a little too early. I do wish them well in their new appointment and am happy to see what is now happening, they are a great church with a great future.

There is often an assumption that youth pastors are guitar playing maniacs, with very poor theology. I certainly do not and never have fitted into that role, I am first and foremost a pastor with a heart for nurture and care of those that God presents before me, secondly I believe that the Gospel if it is to be proclaimed must cross cultural boundaries –without being lost or cheapened in the process, For me to work with young people was as much about cross cultural mission as pastoral ministry. The same can be said of how I would approach ministry to older people, single parent families, the average Kiwi, and the many immigrants that are part of NZ life, a pastoral heart is required but the tools of cross cultural communication are also needed.

reformission

As the church engages with the world around us it has beceome clear that histroy has given us a lot of tools at our disposal. I said in an earlier post how i consider infant baptism to be a mission opportunity - especaily among post christian society. On friday i was asked about my thoughts on confiramtion - in particular why i felt confiramtion was not happening in the same way it once had. I suspect it has become disconnected from the christian life and possibly cheapened by the emergence of alpha, i also think that many clergy fail to see the relevance and importance of it and are so swamped by the tyranny of the urgent in ministry that they do not have the time and the inclanation to put any work into a worthwhile confiramtion program. But as with Infant baptism i think this again is about mission- and an opportunity to not only recognise the journey of adolescence but develop the young person also. What is more i think those who are baptised as infants have made a commitment to this confirmation - i suspect then it could be an opportunity to remind the young perosn and there families about God's love for them, who knows if it si done correctly it may even help draw people closer to God.
We have many of the tools available to do mission in this climate - but we need to be aware that we may need to reform them, reshape tham and allow the Spirit of God to bearther life into them once more - it is not jsut about mission thne but reformission.

can you believe people read this

life is odd, when i began blogging a couple of months back i thought it would be just a private journal for me.... but people actualy read it. i will carry on with the blogging but i was surprised that people read it too.
went to church yesterday for the first time in a few weeks - had a wonderful sermon on veggie tales, and the rumour weed, it moved me i laughed i cried - actualy my daucghter insisted that i sit with her in the kids church - although i am sure that the real sermon was equaly as stimulating, though it may not have had the same gag quality.
Favourite line
talking carrot to the rumour weed - "wow a weed that talks..."
Rumour Weed, "So what I'm a talking weed you're a talking carrot.."

went swimming this morning as i normaly do on Mondays - the pool stereo was playing INXS - brings back good memories and despite the artificialnes of the TV series Rockstar INXS i am realy looking forward to hearing there new stuff with JD Fortune

Snow patrol

i am in post spring camp blob mode - blasting my ear drums out with snow patrol, when my 8 year old son walks in wals over to the stereo and turns it off - i though i was the parent.....
back to reality

post spring camp

well what can i say - camp is over for another year, i think i am getting too old for this.... Never thought i would say that. highlights???? well it was great to see soem kids stepping up to the mark - taking the faith challanges we set before them. Unfortunatly we had a very big spread of young people - some ready to step up for God, others so anti God it is unbelievable. I flet on Sunday night as though we had really missed the mark. With such a big range it is impossible to hit the mark - because it does not exist - as such. I was spread too thin - some on the leaders were quite rude and abusive, and all in all i don't think i want to run another spring camp...
i will see how i feel about this in a few weeks