ode to my USB

Oh USB,
Oh USB,
My life would be lonely without yee,
Not only could I not charge my Cell Phone,
or my MP3,
But my coffee would go cold,
without the warmth of you - my USB.

I love you USB
I love you USB,
My life is complete,
My Diary is Synched
Because of your love for me

Church and enviromental issues...

Had an interesting chat about enviromental issues yesterday. In an area like Nelson the church taking a position on enviromental issues is throught with danger, and so largely we remain silent - or even promote a position that may be counter to popular 'green' thinking. Take a recent issue of coal minning in Westport, with the desire to open up a new coal face meant the removal of an endangered colony of giant snails. I was asked to sign a petition to prevent this happening but refused on grounds to do so would put people's livelyhoods at risk (many of whom are part of the parish in Westport) and I believed and still do that the local mines willingness to remove and relocate the habitat was a win/win.
In our region we rely heavily on the enviroment for business and people's livelyhood, what is under the ground - eg coal, gold and what is above the ground, forestry, vineyards and what is in the sea... Being an enviromentalist then is not just about protest, but respect for other people's right to work also. While I would love to see the Church take a stand on many enviromental issues - and i think we have a responsibility - the issues are never so simple in a region like ours.

In saying that there is still much we could and should be doing, in the case of the westport snails (which i know sounds like a joke) I believe we should be encouraging the mine for there willingness to relocate. I believe we should also be doing some of the following..

• Undertake an environmental/energy audit
• Install heat conservation measures and change lighting to low-energy sources
• Promote sustainable transport, e.g. through provision of secure cycle-storage facilities and car sharing
• Make/purchase and install bird feeding stations in church grounds
• Establish a recycling programme for church consumables such as paper
• Initiate a policy at church of using washable crockery and cutlery and environmentally friendly cleaning products
• Switch to green electricity
• Establish a wildlife garden
• Establish and maintain an Environmental Notice Board
• Install a compost pit for waste flowers and other organic material
• Advertise or provide clear signage of church policy and why it has been initiated

Next year during the Easter Holidays we are planning a Youth Camp with a bit of a twist, as part of it we will be doing service projects, but a focus of them will be on how we can be better stewards in our congregational and community life.

Mission Shaped Church Seminar DVD available

In June, we hosted George Lings here in Nelson for a morning seminar on the Mission Shaped Church report - 2 years on.

I thought the seminar was great and gave me a lot to think about..

We recorded it and the Video's are available - they are in WMV format and if you would like a DVD with the three sessions on then just post a reply or email me at youth(at)nelsonanglican(dot)org(dot)nz.

We are asking for a small Koha (donation) to cover costs (P&P and the cost of the disk) for those who would like a copy.

Please feel free to pass the disks on - we want as many people as possible to get hold of this resource..

Youth Ministry Oversight Team

As part of my work I have a team that kind of holds me accountable... I had two new people join it today and we had our first meeting for me to fill them in on what is happening in the region. It was a great time, and i came away not only feeling inspired but hopeful of what can be achieved in this region for young people....

I'm Back..

After not being able to get into my blog site for nearly two weeks, i have been allowed back in. the blog shall resume

Baptism Cannonball!

This has got to be one of the funiest video's i have seen for a long time - must be a pastors kid...

Ted Haggard's appology.

I have just read Ted Haggards letter of appology to his church about his incident that is firing about in the media at the moment. Mark Driscoll calls it a letter of repentance but I don't think repentance in the biblical sense could and will come around so easily. And I don't think true repentance comes from a public exposure. It is sad to read, and I felt quite moved by it. Not that I feel any pity towards him but rather it puzzles me that these things so often happen, people step into leadership and attempt to hide their darkness, only to have it rear it's ugly head when they least expect it - in saying that according to reports he was involved with this other person at least once a month for 3 years - that does not strike me as a little indiscresion on the side. It saddens me because darkness is so much part of the majority of people's lives and the suppression of it seems to be an unwritten rule of what is expected in the church, when surely the right and biblical call is towards bringing it into the open. How can darkness exist when light is brought into a situation.
While I would not want to satnd in judegement over Haggard - (i have my own darkness that continualy needs the light of Christ), it annoys me that we do not learn from the downfall of people like Haggard. I said to someone this morning that for me i have two priorities when i start in a new role, good supervision and a good doctor, i have learnt the hard way that without these (and many other things) that I cannot minister - nor should I. If the only things I can offer people are words that have not cut me to the core, then I should probably not offer anything.
My prayers are with Haggards former Church and him and his family, I hope he deals with his issues and recognises that this side of eternity he may never be able to deal with the darkness inside of him, but the best he can hope for it to flood it with the light of Christ.

Curtain Raiser

I have spent the morning meeting with a group of Baptist type people who are part of a Pre baptist assembly group called the curtain raiser. This groups is not made up of your Hillsong, or Willow Creek type Baptist, but wayfarers on the journey many of whom i feel a sense of kinship too. Last night I had the pleasure of preaching at their 'opening' service - that was fun, and deffinatly one of my shorter sermons - 5 minutes. Today i sat listening to and dialoguing with a Catholic priest from Golden Bay on the Lord of The Rings and Christian Faith and Biblical Scholarship and Parish Ministry, It was great very juicy and gave me a lot to wrestle with...


if anyone is interested in what I said last night the short script is below...

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...5th November 1605 –Thomas Bates, Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, John Wright, Thomas Percy, , Robert Catesby, Thomas Wintour, and of course Guy Fawkes - failed in their attempt to blow up the houses of Parliament and to kill James 1st of England.
The Conspirators were English Catholic’s who wanted a Catholic to be King of England and not an Anglican…
While political motivation was part of the story, religious oppression was also a motivating factor.

5th November 1881 – Some what closer to home, 1500 volunteers and members of the Armed Constabulary invaded The Village of Parihaka.
Why to cease the lands and break up the movement that was growing.
The soldiers were welcomed by the 2000 people of Parihaka, allowing them selves to be arrested without protest.
Amongst them was the Spiritual Leader Te Whiti – a revolutionary in his own right who introduced a form of peaceful protest over 50 years before Ghandi–

While both revolutions ended apparently with nothing changing,
We remember Te Whiti and Guy Fawkes not for there failure but for there attempts to overcome what they saw as unjust systems.
They are symbols to us of the need for change, they remind us that you cannot stifle people for ever, that when a person is oppressed something rises in them to resist and overcome.

In our first reading we have part of the story of the captivity of Isaiah’s people by the Babylonian army.
There situation is desperate, and all seems hopeless.
And yet God tells them to stand up and be strong – to free them selves from the rope.
As the Church not only are we called to stand by the oppressed who ever or wherever they may be, but we are also called to help them overcome in Jesus’ Name. To help people remove the rope that is around their necks…..
The 5th of November is a day for revolutions…

Now if the 5th of November is a day for revolution then the 6th must be a day for new beginnings, to recreate, to bring order to chaos,

The 6th November is a day for New Beginnings.
It’s kind of Ironic then that some of you should meet on a day of new beginnings,
As pre event to the Gathering that is themed I believe on New Beginnings,
In the place of the First Baptist Church in this land...

I am not sure whether it is good planning, the alignments of the Stars, or dare I say the Spirit of God, but I believe that after the chaos of the last 30 year in the life of the Church – with the arguments that surround, sexuality, post modernism, open theism, creationism, Zionism, and a 1000 other isms, now is probably a time for a new beginning.
That as the smoke of the funeral pyres of the old world lifts, that we will once again be drawn back to the words of Jesus
To listen again to what the Spirit is saying to the Church…

So my prayer for you is that as you meet that God will do a new thing in you, that on this day of new beginning that he will begin something new in you…

That in the words of Jesus that:
“That God’s love and kindness will shine upon us
Like the sun that rises in the sky
And to us who live in the dark shadow of death
This light will shine
To guide us into a life of peace.”

why don't you look where you're going??

I am supposed to be enjoying 3 days off at the moment after 3 very busy weeks. yesterday i went for my morning bike ride and was 2 km's from home when some stupid person knocked me off my bike, i have a very large bruise, a fat lip, a carcked rib and a fractured elbow. Thanks to the lady that hit me now i get the week off, and a lot of pain. needless to say i used some very colourful language, and i think i may have dented her car - with my head.
The irony is the the person who hit me is a student on the same course as my wife - they are doing a presentation together today on water safety and people with physical dissabilities - i sugested to Maureen that they change it to cycle safety...
while i can laugh about it now (though my rib hurts), i do wish people would watch for cyclists - we are tryinng to do our bit for our health and the enviroment, please don't kill us for it.....

Big ups to the other Paul Holmes too, enjoyed a good chat yesterday...