Goth culture cares for Children

I just read an article that suggest that Kids who are self harmers may find 'safety and peer support' in the Goth sub culture. The suggestion being that kids who self harm may be more attracted to that grouping.
So "rather than posing a risk, it's also possible that by belonging to the goth subculture, young people are gaining valuable social and emotional support from their peers.”
The article suggests that the behaviour of self harm starts in the researched cases several years before they 'gothed out'. The gothing being an outward expression of inner turmoil and a sub culutre that provides support.
As a former Goth who has seen so much bad press written about the sub culutre and its emerging forms, it's kind of nice to see soemthing positive written. Certainly my experience (though not a self harmer) reflects that - the outward appearance being an expression of how i was feeling on the inside. When I was 16 I was asked by a tutor at the apprenticeship scheme why I always dressed in black, my reply in my depeest Andrew Eldritch voice; "becuase that's how I feel on the inside.."

I still wear black a lot though me reasoning is different, as the man in black himself said - Black is good for Church.

Goth link

Is Mark Driscoll a red neck

First thing I would like to say that I have a lot of respect for Mark Driscoll - mars hill church Seattle, but I think his red neck is starting to show.
Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori (a woman...) has been elected as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopalian church in the US. To which he responds:

What’s going on here? I’ll give you three scenarios to describe it.

First, there are varying degrees of "Christian" feminism and the more hardened variety is the battering ram on the church door that opens the way for homosexuality. What I mean is this: if we deny the basic Biblical tenets that we were made equal but distinct as male and female, with differing God-intended roles in the church and home, then homosexuality is the logical conclusion. This in part explains why the first woman bishop previously supported the election of the first openly gay bishop.

Second, the far-left wing of the Episcopalian Church is, like Judas, in the process of hanging itself. The worldwide Episcopalian communion is widely diverse, with most Anglicans rejecting hard feminism and homosexuality. Additionally, membership in the American Episcopal Church, as in other mainline Protestant groups, has been declining for years and has remained predominantly white. More than a quarter of the 2.3 million parishioners are sixty-five or older.

Third, those in the hardest position are the Bible-believing, theologically conservative Episcopalians who are stuck between a denomination that has betrayed them (but still owns their buildings and assets) and their conscience as bound by Scripture. I have some dear friends who are Jesus-loving, Bible-believing (and even charismatic) evangelical Episcopalian priests, and they have wept openly over the apparent lose-lose situation they find themselves. If/when these pastors and their churches secede from their denomination, the greater body of Christ needs to lovingly support them. This includes allowing them to use other churches’ buildings so they can continue to worship together as a church family.

Needles to say I don't agree with him, I think not only is he overlooking the place of female leadership in the early church, but he is also doing a huge diseverbice ot those who are bible believing, conservative and can see a place for women in leadership - Mark can i suggest some sun cream to calm down your redneck...

Superman Returns

The Bryan Singer made Superman movie has just been released. Whether ti is any good or not I can't say, but I suspect with Singer directing it then there will be some subversive messages about his faith.
In an email from Movie ministry.com i recieved this morning they have put out a study guide, the intro is as follows:
"Superman Returns explicitly asks the audience to consider if the world needs a savior. But more than that, if Superman is the Christ-figure (or at least Christian-figure) that many critics claim, then this film challenges Christians to face the consequences of abandoning, even temporarily, the mission the Father has entrusted to us."
I always find it interesting the way pop culture seems to go out of its way to illustrate and elaborate on many facets of the gospel message, but this has largely been on a personal individualistic level. If the synopsis that movie ministry.com is presenting is reflection of Singers work, then maybe pop culture is heading towards that much needed corporate level of responsibility.
As i observe what is happening with the Church in general it scares me how much we have forgotten the mission of the Father. The seed of mission which grew the Church has largely not reproduced the seeds of mission in the life of the Church... It is sad state of affairs, our world more than ever needs a saviour, but we won't find it in men dressed in funny costumes rather in the people who call themselves the Church when they realise the Church is not only the consequence of mission it is also the conductor of that ongoing mission.

Superman Returns

The Bryan Singer made Superman movie has just been released. Whether ti is any good or not I can't say, but I suspect with Singer directing it then there will be some subversive messages about his faith.
In an email from Movie ministry.com i recieved this morning they have put out a study guide, the intro is as follows:
"Superman Returns explicitly asks the audience to consider if the world needs a savior. But more than that, if Superman is the Christ-figure (or at least Christian-figure) that many critics claim, then this film challenges Christians to face the consequences of abandoning, even temporarily, the mission the Father has entrusted to us."
I always find it interesting the way pop culture seems to go out of its way to illustrate and elaborate on many facets of the gospel message, but this has largely been on a personal individualistic level. If the synopsis that movie ministry.com is presenting is reflection of Singers work, then maybe pop culture is heading towards that much needed corporate level of responsibility.
As i observe what is happening with the Church in general it scares me how much we have forgotten the mission of the Father. The seed of mission which grew the Church has largely not reproduced the seeds of mission in the life of the Church... It is sad state of affairs, our world more than ever needs a saviour, but we won't find it in men dressed in funny costumes rather in the people who call themselves the Church when they realise the Church is not only the consequence of mission it is also the conductor of that ongoing mission.

Notes from Sunday message at Boarders Service

Human tendency to complicate God
Stand to reason really – how could God be simple to understand???

When you think about God you think big, all powerful stuff like that
And yet God choose to make himself known through Jesus

And how did Jesus say get to know me – get to know God?
He said I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father through me
No one can get to know God unless they do it through Jesus.
Know that doesn’t mean Jesus was some big guard dog –

And how do you get to know God then if Jesus is in the way
Simple by spending time with him – he didn’t say study philosophy, read big books or anything like that.

Get to know him and that is how you get to know God
SIMPLE AS THAT.

So what do we find out as we get to know him…?

Well that is simple too – because a lot of what Jesus talked about was
Loving God and loving your mates/neighbors people like that – it isn’t rocket science.
Now when I say love – it’s not always the sloppy stuff – where you go dopey eyed over your girl friend – or boyfriend – the word literally translates as – brotherly love – MATES we might say
There was a wise guy who wrote stacks and stacks of books about this Jesus guy – so many in fact that if you put them on a shelf it would take up 1.5 meters of shelf space – don’t ask me how many pages are in that.

Anyway wise as he was the only word of wisdom he could give when he died was this.

Jesus loves me this I know cause the bible tells me so…. Simple – so simple that it can be summed up in a nursery rhyme.

Love God, Love your Neighbour and that’s about it – everything else is a bonus


READING MATTHEW 22: 34-39

What theologian are you

Just took one of them stupid on line tests to see which theologian I am....My result.....KARL BARTH. Three years of theological college must have done something after all..


created with QuizFarm.com

Evolution or the Fall

I heard a message on Sunday about how the reason the world is in such a bad state is because of the prevalence of evolutionary thinking and how it has misplaced God and creation centred thinking. Funny I always thought the standard Christian reason for the world being in a mess was actualy due to the Fall, and the depravity of the human condition. In which case one would expect the world to be in a mess, but with the hope of redemption through the life, witness and death of Christ and the renewal of the human conditon that comes through the Christ event and the works of the Spirit.

College Boarders Service

Each term we run a boarders service at Nelson College.
This term we are theming around the Da Vinci code....
Using the theme to talk about the simple and some what secret message of Jesus - Love God and your neighbour. I say simple and secret because it seems that we often overcomplicate the whole thing in the name of Good Theology, when at it's heart the gospel message is love God, Love each other and everything else is a bonus.
I think the over complication is part of the reason why Brown's book is so popular - other than being reasonably good pulp fiction. The average person here's that God is the creator and sustainer of all things, but reveals himself in a guy whose major message was Love God, love your neighbour, and we look at that and say can it all be that simple....
Well it is that simple, unfortunatly the practical realites are such that simple things can be complicated - It isn't easy to love God, and it sure isn't easy to love my neighbour. Therefore we try to find another message - soemthing more obtainable and easier to complete. Or we reject the message completly....

In true Nelson college boarders service tradtion we are playing the Mary J Blige version of the U2 song One... Showing some comedy skits about the da vinci code, having a 3 part message and of course hymns...

The hymn thing has caused some debate, The college wants some singing as part of the service (tradition) the few christians that attend (probably 15 -20 out of 200 plus kids)want up beat youth worship stuff, I think they are of the opinion that if we can get these non Christians into worhsip then they will be converted.
My take on it is that we are doing this service for NON Christians - in fact this is the only christian input that many of these guys will ever get.
Our goal then is not to give the Christian kids a chance to worship but to try and instil aspects of the Gospel story that they can remeber and maybe they will interact with either in their time at college or later in life. In general the average punter who attends is not going to interact in worship (many don't even know what it is or why you would do it anyway). So for me I will always try to do three things, capture their (1)attention, (2)entertain, and (3)inform.

(1) We try to capture their attention through the different media we use in conveying a message. Jesus used stories events from their world - and we attempt to do the same from their world, movies, music, events... (last week there was a streaker at the Boys college rugby game, we have been asked not to mention that... I thought it was a great opportunity to talk about purity...) Last year I played a clip from the movie HELLBOY, to show why Jesus needed to die - becuase without outside help we may want to do the right thing, but we are unable due to our sinful nature - Hellboy being a demon who wants to be good. From the show of hands i asked for it seems hardly any of the Christian kids had seen it - I wonder Why... But I think in the context it made a lot of sense to the non christians. I think the way we mix it up playing the likes of Good Charlotte or Foo Fighters next to more traditional stuff helps keep them awake.
(2) at the same time these snippets, music etc entertains...
(3) Informing is hugely important too which is one of the reasons we use hymns,
firstly I think it captures and honours some of the college traditions and hence informs them of whose shoulders they are standing on. I also want to honour the college story as well as the chrisitan story. Hymns also reflect some of what those who have never set foot in a church before expect church to be - and in all honesty inform these people of what they can expect if they enter a church - which will tend to be for weddings or funerals.
Hymns are also a lot easier to sing than some of the youth worship stuff that is around. You simply belt them out rah rah rah style, no harmonies - there drunken pub song like tunes, or rugby ground chants....
Lyricaly they make more sense (we are careful what we use)many of the modern stuff is either about loving Jesus (to a non christian hormonal teenager that just sounds gay) or subversive - "well it sounds like I'm singing about my girlfriend but it's really Jesus". And if they make more sense they may tell them something about God too.

All quiet on the blobby front...

This week has been insane and hence no bloging, my daughter has had Chicken pox's my wife finishing her first semester of study with exams, and i have been tryinng (without much success) to try and hold things together. Needless to say i am looking forward to the weekend. Thought that will be busy too...

Echoes...

I love the way that when you read or see soemthing echoes of soemthing else come through... I have just been reading John 21 for prep for a sermon at the weekend and just the way the location of events evokes such memories blows me away. Once upon a time i would simply breeze over such apparently trivial details as locations, but I have learnt to svour them in the gospel story. Becuase normaly it is not by chance they have been recorded.
In John 21 the location is the sea of Tiberias, location for the feeding of the 5000 in John 6.
I see it in the text and immedialtly think I've been hear this is familiar, I know this place, it feels like home....
I wonder how it made the disciples feel, certainly they were probably on the hunt for soemthing familiar after what they ahd gone through.
And in the middle of this familiar place God is with us...

A very late pentecost sermon

I’ll be quite honest one of the most difficult subjects I ever find to talk about in the Church is the Holy Spirit.

I find talking about it is like trying to nail jelly to the wall
You can do it, but it is hard work and tends to make a mess
But more importantly, Jelly is meant to be eaten not nailed to a wall.
And the Holy Spirit is not something that should be nailed down either – nor should it be confined to words. So if this message comes across as shallow as trying to describe a great masters painting to a blind man, you can understand why

In the Acts reading the disciples are sitting in an upstairs room on the day of Pentecost – A Jewish harvest festival, what they were doing we don’t know, they may have been watching TV, or more likely having some type of Church thing.
When the Holy Spirit bursts in and generally messes with their little meeting. Nothing in their lives will be the same again… What happens next in their lives is like they have gone through an extreme makeover because the Holy Spirit – the breadth of God, transforms everything and everyone it touches.
Wizard of OZ – one of my favourite stories – Dorothy’s world is changed by the coming of a Tornado – she is whisked away in a dream. When she awakes back in Kansas– the world that was black and white is now filled with colour. It is not that the world has changed – But Dorothy has… She has changed…. And all because of a mighty wind…

It isn’t an accident that the image given to describe what the Holy Spirit is doing is like a wind, because wind shares many characteristics of the Holy Spirit. It can be gentle but it can arise from what seem like nowhere and turn the whole world upside down.

When the Holy Spirit blows through your life – you can expect change too. Paul talks a lot about these changes in the letters that he wrote in the NT.
These changes he compares to fruit on a tree. The Holy Spirit produces in us the fruit of the Spirit - love; joy; peace; patience; kindness; goodness; faithfulness; gentleness; self-control.
As the autumn wind blows Gail force outside our windows, blowing of the old leaves it allows new growth to come through – And that is how the Holy Spirit works in us. Removing the old selfish characteristics and allowing a new self to grow through. Dorothy would not have changed unless the wind had gotten hold of her, the disciples would never have established the Church without the Spirit, and the same is true for us…
God’s desire for us it to become Christ like –that where the word Christian comes from – little Christ. To tell the world about how much God loves it.
It won’t happen without the Holy Spirit blowing through our lives – sometimes as a gentle breeze easing us along, but also like a roaring hurricane – transforming our very character.

It can’t be harnessed to power wind turbines or bottled to make a refreshing air freshener – the Spirit blows where and when it wants to. Sometimes all we can do is hang on and enjoy the ride

To understand the Holy Spirit in words is like wearing a pair of gum boots on the beach and then trying to explain to someone what the sand feels like between your toes.
You have to take your shoes of – to understand the Holy Spirit you need to take your shoes off.

What is missional?

I realised a few days ago in conversation I use a few terms that mean nothing to many church people, or see yesterdays post have a different meaning...
So What is Missional?
It is a belief that all of Christ's followers are called to be 'missionaries' - sharing their faith in and across cultures(see great commission - Matthew 28). Based on an assumption and belief that God is at work in the church and it's people (Acts)and the world by his spirit (see Creation story -Genesis 1). It is also a belief that the Christian faith is therefore active and nor a passive faith, where we should be seeking the finger prints of God on this world and proclaming God's story, in action, in word, in politics, in how we understand family. And finaly i understand it as a description of the relationships that exist across cultures where we seek to understand and inspire other through the offering of our insights.
Across the stream of those who would see themseleves as missional are a wide variety of people denominationaly and theologicaly.
For me i view my self as relatively conservative in my theology, though liberal culturaly. Strangely enough What that means is that I don't agree with people who insist the wearing garments, and swinging incense is the only way to do church. But I do believe Jesus is the only way to God, the ressurection and with a risk of offending some involved in the emerging missional movement - Judgement as a neccesary aspect of Grace.
in my email today came through a link from an international emerging church group that I am quite excited about Amahoro .
From their site
Amahoro means peace. It is a word of Bantu origin used widely across Africa. It has special meaning in places like Rwanda, Burundi, and Congo, where violence and genocide have inflicted such pain and suffering. When people from various tribes embrace, shake hands or kiss, and say "amahoro," they are expressing a deep hope for a better future.
Amahoro is a precious word in places where Christianity in the modern colonial era spread a message of grace and forgiveness for life after death, but did not integrate that proclamation with the profound Biblical message of justice, peace, and reconciliation in this life on earth.
By choosing an African word to name this emerging global network, we are expressing our shared commitment to seek to understand, live, and communicate the good news of Jesus Christ in an integrated, holistic way. We are affirming our belief that people who follow Jesus have a special bond with the poor, and with those who suffer from injustice and poverty and disease. We are communicating our commitment to a global conversation, friendship, and partnership among Christian leaders and emerging churches in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.