sustain:if:able kiwi

stories of failure

She pulled me aside in Adelaide and thanked me for my input. Then she looked me in the eye and said “You should tell a story of when you failed.” When people like that open their mouths – older, female, straight to the point – I listen. I listen very, very carefully, for this is real feedback. When people get that honest, I feel like time has stopped and I am standing on holy ground.

So I did. The next time I spoke I told a story of failure. It was to a crowd of 300 and it was impossible in a group that size to tell if the story was helpful.

Then this, from Cheryl’s blog:
stu from solace and i keep talking about setting up a website that tells the story of the things we do that don’t work… of the hiccups along the way, the failures, mysterious stuff ups. they far outnumber the things that go smoothly.

So tell me, oh beloved listeners. Do publicly told stories of failure help? How and why and in what circumstances?

so how do lectionary readings work?

Today Opawa church is meeting. Part of the agenda includes some long term building plans. Another part includes voting on 2 new Board members. Both will make excellent leaders. Both are new to the church and under the age of 30.

It can be a risk, in a long established church, going through change, to bring the names of new and young leaders, and the Board have agonised over this.

So this morning, I open my Bible to the Lectionary reading for today. The readings are placed in our church newsletter and we invite all the church to read with us. The reading is 1 Samuel 16, the annointing of David. Look at verse 11: “There is still the youngest.”

Which made me laugh. Here we are considering new, and young, leaders. We have chosen a date some months ago, quite arbitarily. And now we have a Bible text that instructs the annointing of new, and young leadership. It is almost manipulative to read this Bible text, yet it is the Lectionary reading for the day.

How on earth does that work? How on earth can the Scriptures speak so clearly to our life as a church?

Update: Congratulations to Lucy Taylor and Lawrence Wood, who were voted on as new Board members last nite. I honour them and their families for being willing to take a risk and place their leadership development in the hands of Opawa church members.

guiding boy racers or How Would Jesus Drive

Following yet another high profile road death over the weekend here in New Zealand, and yet another “boy racer” headline, I got to wondering: If you were doing a Bible study for boy racers, what Bible stories might be a helpful guide?

And HWJD? Not What Would Jesus Do, but How Would Jesus Drive? What would your print on the HWJD bracelet that you could give to a young male when they got their license? Here’s my first draft:
1. drive as if your father in heaven owned the car
2. drive as if your mother Mary was sitting beside you
3. drive as if your kid brother James was in the car seat
4. drive as if the Spirit was always clocking your km’s.

What about you? Does the Bible have any resources that might shape the way young people drive?

are house churches biblical? part 1

I have always understood the following mantra: that the early church met in houses. So should we? But I was reading through Acts recently and I am beginning to question the mantra. I am wondering whether the choice to meet in houses might actually not be quite so simple. Hence my blog title. It’s slightly tongue in cheek, but I do want to work my way through the book of Acts, looking at where the early church did meet.

Acts 1:9 – outdoors-church, meeting outdoors in a public space. This included teaching and discussion. (Same again in Acts 2:14ff).

Acts 1:13 – Hired space. The disciples meet in an Upper Room. Probably the room used for the Last Supper. Perhaps part of a house. Perhaps a room to rent, like we have today in our local hotels.

Acts 2:46 – Religious buildings. They meet daily in the temple. We often think of early church as separate from Judaism, but that was certainly not the case in early Acts. They were still using a religious building, paid for already. They were still part of priestly (paid) leadership. So any move toward a house church was on the back of existing church buildings and existing paid leadership.

Next post in this series will be about Acts 3-5.

film reviews: blood diamond and miss potter

Here are two recent film reviews I have written. The first is reviewing Blood Diamond, in which I conclude by pondering Danny (Leonardo Di Caprio) as a type of Christ figure.

The second is reviewing Miss Potter, in which I attempt a creative re-writing of The Tale of Miss Potter: “Once upon a time there was an author, and her name was Miss Potter. She lived with her mother in a home in London, underneath the shadow of overly protective parents. As a young woman, she was told one morning, “You may go into tea parties and (be chaperoned) down the lane with eligible young bachelors, but don’t go into the garden that is commercial book publishing.”

My other film reviews over the years have included;

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pentecost festival

Next weekend (May 25, 26) is Pentecost, which, along with Easter and Christmas, are The Big 3 in the life of the church. So here at Opawa we’ve got a Festival happening.

Friday we kick off with a family film and quiz show; then on Saturday evening we’ve got a NZ musical concert, with Shooting Stars, Sunburn and Amy Hay. Doors open at 7 pm and there’s a $10 cover charge. Just a chance to enjoy the gifts of God and the community of God.

During the Saturday, it’s Pentecost teaching; mixing head and hand.

9:30 am Bible + art + interaction:
Topic: Who is God as the Son ascends,
catching the human body into God
followed by hands on workshops including Kiz musical or art or videomaking. Considering for example: What visual images would you use to portray humans at Pentecost?

1:30 pm Bible + art + interaction:
Topic: Who are humans, as the Spirit drops down, like fire,
to enliven the body of God; by action, in communion, through community

followed by hands on workshops including adult musical or model airplane making or videomaking. Considering for example: How would you make and paint a model airplane to reflect what God is doing in the world at Pentecost?

This is the 3rd year we’ve done it. Every year registrations are slow and people at Opawa seem disinterested in the Pentecost teaching and the mixing of head and hand. I struggle to understand why people don’t get into it more. I just love the idea of doing something hands on, with others, playing, creating, coffeeing together.

Do we not advertise properly? Is the Sunday teaching considered enough? Are people too busy? Is the head to hand challenge too out there? Is the topic of the Spirit a bit too scarey?

what it does it mean to be a Pentecostal?

Admit failure: that’s according to Acts 1:16ff, where Peter starts his sermon by naming Judas as one of the apostles and a sharer in ministry. No triumphalism. No ignoring leadership failure. The church of Pentecost publicly admits failure.

Inclusive, including women, in ministry: that’s according to Acts 1:14, where women and Mary the mother of Jesus are named. Their inclusion would have stood out to a 2nd century reader, as an indication that the church at Pentecost was a breaker of boundaries and a welcomer of all. According to Harvey Cox, Fire from heaven, the mark of the Spirit at Anzusa Street was not tongues, but the fact that many nations worshipped together. Again, an inclusive Spirit at work.

Bottom up leadership: that’s according to Acts 1:21ff, where new leaders are chosen from the ranks of those persons whom the prayerful community chooses to lead.

Know many Pentecostal churches around today that sound like the early church of Acts?

emerging church course in a local church

A friend rang, wondering how he, a rural worker, could engage with my emerging church course that I teach here at BCNZ. I put some information about the course and how it might work in a local church, together for him. Then I thought it might interest some other blog readers, so here it is.

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what ascension day means for my faith

Today is Ascension Day, when the church remembers, and affirms, as it says in the Apostles Creed:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord …
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Practically, today, I am glad that

God in Jesus is present through all time and space. The Jesus of the Gospels was bound in a Jewish body and timezone. After the resurrection we catch glimpses of a change of mode, for the Resurection body is a bit of a shape-shifter. Jesus can defy space by moving through walls and can defy time by moving quickly from place to place. The Ascension suggests this movement through time and space is now complete and that the Jesus we worship is now present at all times and in all space. He is both outside time, yet inside time. (This is speculative, but I wonder if this might be why many cultures narrate pre-Christian encounters with Jesus-type images and figures. Could it be that the resurrection body of Jesus appeared not just in Galilee and Judea, but also in pre-Christian New Zealand etc?)

A human body now live with God. Jesus, born as a baby, was God en-flesh, choosing to limit his divinity in order to endwell humanity. This gives dignity to our bodies, our armpits and our noses, our sweat glands and our bottoms. The Ascension of Jesus has no record of the human body of Jesus folding up like a sack of skin on the ground. Instead we have the nail scarred hands been taken to heaven. This means that human sweat glands and bottoms are seated with God, caught into a Trinity of love. God has embraced humanity. The celebration of human bodies is complete.

Faith without sight is now the normal way to follow Jesus. We are called to walk with no God in visible sight. We are called to believe in the guidance of God’s Spirit, to humbly seek discernment, to trust our intuition and seek wisdom through the body of God. Faith without sight, flying blind in some sort of fog, is our normal Christianity.

God’s people are the primary hermeneneutic of the Gospel. Into the gap left by the loss of Jesus, comes the infilling Spirit of God, who forms us as the new Body of God. All the gospels record Jesus commissioning his disciples (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:22-23. Why the church has chosen to prioiritise Matthew 28 is a matter for another post). We are now the hands and feet of Jesus. God has no body on earth but ours.

The end of the Matrix movie captures this best. Neo soars into heaven, leaving the message that the freedom he has won now needs to be completed. The church as the body of God, has transcended time and culture and countries in a way that no one human could ever do. On Ascension Day I renew my commitment to embody Jesus.

coming back to earth

Sorry the blog has been a bit quiet. I’ve been in Aussie for 8 days, so internet access was a bit hit and miss.

And I never know what to blog when I am away speaking. I like to connect and talk with people. But how much do I blog about what is actually said? How much of what belongs in the room, in that unique environment, should stay in the room? I often post the bare details prior because some people who read this blog like to pray for me (Although I still remember posting such details once and getting this really rude comment in response about how I was obviously a bit up myself. Arrggh the joy of lurkers:)!).

Anyhow, overall, I had a great time and felt very well hosted and appreciated. The feedback from various punters in Adelaide was most helpful in terms of helping my communication.

For those who came up asking for more information on various resources:
the soundtrack meditation of Saint Brendan comes from here – 7meg; Bodge plants a seed is here; the images of 40 are available here; Richard Pierce, Conversion in the New Testament; Alan Jamieson, A churchless faith.

Finally, here is my host being nice: “steve was great to work with and very selfless in his service to us. I said to the synod on the saturday that we appreciated hearing from someone with a southern hemisphere accent and someone who could ‘practice what they teach’. I thought it was great that steve was able to mess with people’s preconceptions of mission and church by not fitting any of the local categories for such things. his Opawa journey connected very well with what many folk here are facing. through his stories, metaphors, insights and analysis he was able to communicate at a whole range of levels. the evidence was that people from across the spectrum commented on how they had been encourage and challenged… thanks steve for your generosity of spirit and great leadership over the week.”

a missional church?

I arrived home at midnight Saturday, after 8 days speaking in Melbourne and Adelaide, looking forward to being with family. I was also looking forward to being with my Opawa church family, just sitting among them, enjoying others lead and preach.

Sunday was Mothers Day here in New Zealand. In today’s world of widely varied family shapes and experiences, it’s a service that needs to be handled with care. Part of the Sunday service included this wonderful prayer written by my partner, plus the giving of flowers to all the women in the congregation, as a way of acknowledging the fact that mothering is as much an action as a title, that we can all mother in a variety of ways.

Just before the sermon, 2 men walked down toward the front and grabbed the remaining flowers. It was so well co-ordinated that at first I thought it was a scheduled part of the service. But no. On the way back, past me, one of the men stopped.

“Are these flowers going to be used for anything else? If not, can we take them and give them out to the homes around us.”

And off they headed, to knock on doors, and give a flower to people in our local and surrounding community, in the name of the church. They returned with stories of welcome and of relationships that will be followed up.

After the service, the person who secured the flowers was ecstatic. She had felt really strongly that rather than get 100 flowers, this year she should get 150 flowers. “That’s the Spirit of God,” she exclaimed, as we told her what had happened.

I am honoured to be part of a community where worship flows so spontaneously and naturally into mission, where the future of the people of God is indeed among the people of God.

a most interesting adelaide day

The Adelaide part of my trip kicked off today. I was surprised, and enriched, by the diversity of people in the room. Resources that I (can remember) mentioning during the Leadership and the emerging church seminar in various conversations included:

– Richard Pierce, Conversion in the New Testament

– Alan Jamieson, A churchless faith

Really appreciating people’s hospitality and interest.

may in melbourne

I’m fried. Caught up with Mark Pierson on Friday nite, after teaching for 4.5 hours on Emerging Church blockcourse at Bible College of New Zealand. Staying with Phil and Dan McCredden, which is always fun, dodging dog slobber, dodging “the lodger” farts and Kiwi jokes.

Saturday, spoke 4 times at Unfreeze 3. Seemed to go OK; then caught up with Al and Deb Hirsch for Thai. Al spent the night looking cute and sweating his currie! Then spoke 3 times on Sunday at Doncaster Church of Christ.

The sweetest thing happened at Doncaster. They are using the Opawa Red Seat idea. I shared about this last time I spoke at Unfreeze two years ago and it is amazing to see an idea take root in another community, with another accent.

Off to see Andrew Menzies tomorrow then having lunch with Forge. Fried. Fried. Fried.

do they speak English also?

These are my Australian details. A lot of work over the last week, preparing materials and organising myself. I am really looking forward to it and to see what conversations emerge around what I do.

MELBOURNE
Saturday 5 May
Morning “Take no sandals (a missional leader); Unfreezing imagination (a missional church); Practices for the table (a missional spirituality); When the Kingdom of God is near, is that far? (a missional intentionality).” A conversation between life, mission and Scripture, all in grounded life among a 96-year old church.

Afternoon – On the couch: Panel on church and missional change

Afternoon – Spirituality2go. A workshop on resourcing Christ followers outside gathered church”

Sunday 6 May
9 am;5 pm – Finding our story in Elijah’s story. Preaching at Doncaster Church of Christ

ADELAIDE
Tuesday 8 May
10.00 am – 3.00 pm “Leadership in The Emerging Church” – seminar for ministers and lay leaders
7.00 – 9.30 pm “Alternative Worship” session at Parkin-Wesley

Wednesday 9 May
12.15 – 1.00 pm Chapel Service at Parkin-Wesley
2.15 – 3.30 pm Colloquium on “The Emerging Church” at Parkin-Wesley
7.30 – 9.30 pm “Alternative Worship” session at Parkin-Wesley (repeat of Tues. evening)

Thursday 10 May
6.30 – 9.00 pm [re]generate pub conversation about fostering new and fringe faith communities.

Saturday 12 May
9.00 am -12.45 pm Keynote Speaker at Presbytery meeting.