sustain:if:able kiwi

Spirituality of humour

Most of us don’t laugh enough. Most churches don’t laugh enough. A spirituality of humour is in important part of being human.

For those near Auckland, Peter Majendie is one of the funniest people I know and a great storyteller. He is doing 2 shows at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.

A Deaf in the Family
Wed 19th, Fri 21st May, 7:15 pm

Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, THE EDGE.

One man stand-up storyteller with a reflective view of life as an 8 year old through the eyes of a 50 year old. Powered by his hearing-aid batteries, Pete’s stories of New Zealand life and culture are tinged by deafness and no small amount of cynicism. (With deaf sign interpreter Friday).“Brilliant … Certainly engaging” – The Christchurch Press.

bodies of god

I like the Body of God. I like the sense of diversity, of different parts each making a unique contribution.

Today I saw the Body of God mistreated. A friend, flamed. An email that played the man not the ball. An email that assumed that the Body should be uniform; and that the only worthwhile parts of the body were dressed in the same uniform. It failed to appreciate giftedness; that God made some to be sociologists and some to be researchers and some to stirrers. We don’t all have to be middle-class, male, practioners.

Later that day I saw the Body of God in action. I saw truth and love mixed. I saw a person, by being true to herself, bring life. I saw a personality, enthused by the Spirit, and so used.

i love the internet

i just got sent 78 spam emails in the space of 3 minutes. isn’t cyberspace a great place to be!

off-the-map

book manuscript sent to emergent. it has consumed a lot of my energy for the last 3 months. thanx to all the readers and editors and interested people who made the journey more human.

i woke up this morning and felt off the map. like i crossed a border. the book has had weekly deadlines and huge time pressures. 1 may has consumed me. it has now gone past 1 may. i’m off the map. places with no maps excite me. i like it. i am feeling very free.

slow blog postings; crammed head

sorry – slow blogging period
book mss due to emergentYS this weekend
preaching sunday
preaching monday at a seminary graduation
student marking to do

postmodern preaching

james from the place is phoning this morning. he is doing a research project on the placing of preaching in the emerging church. will post up any highlights of our conversation.

autumnal spirituality

passion(ate) letter to mel

My article on Mel Gibson and the passion, they one that caused so much trouble (see here and here) has been published and is now also published on the web.

Headings include;
My movie of disbelief
The framing
The framing of violence
Gender relationships
Over-hyped
Evangelism by art

Please, if you are a Kiwi and you read it, why not also go and buy a copy of the magazine, as they have kindly put this online a monthly earlier than normal, due to the circumstances surrounding it.

lest we forget

Sermon from Sunday; titled lest we forget, a reflection on Anzac Day (Remembrance Day: headings include
unity
spirituality
mission

[not to be reproduced in any form, including verbal, without permission. ie. creative commons does not apply to this post]
Today is Anzac Day. April 25.
All around New Zealand sleepy Kiwis will have dragged themselves out of their cosy nest of blankets for the dawn parade.

Anzac Day used to be old fashioned, a dying memorial for the dead.

Today it’s increasingly popular

(more…)

postcards on the emergent

I am in the process of placing my book draft – my take on the practices, theology and mission angles of the emergent church – before various respected practioners, listening to their feedback from where they sit.

Some of the comments are gratifying;
great project;
flattered that you want me to reflect on the precious nuggets you have dug from many earths;
spot on … an amazing resource…

leadership

community development + spiritual leadership + entreprenurial re:emergence =
the leadership task at opawa

it is a significant challenge that demands a wide skill set. i loved planting graceway, which equalled a similar blend. some initial differences include my observation that opawa requires community development across a wider age range, on a wider scale, in a more settled context. spiritual leadership demands more respect for historically formed spiritualities. entreprenurial re:emergence requires a need to lay foundations of missional and cultural understanding.

integrity in a diverse world

Met with Tim Barnett for coffee.

My current thinking on the Civil Unions Bill.

1. God applauds the seeking of justice and the end to discrimination.
2. In a pluralistic society, rights of those we disagree with must be respected. Thus Christians must respect gay-rights, while gay-rights must respect Christian rights.
3. So Christians need to respect the gay right to have their relationships treated with societal integrity. Equally the gay community must respect the sacred and historical understandings that underpin Christian ideals of marriage.

unsettling the crevices

In reponse to here and the question; “Now is the world any different?” This is not a question of flushing away attempts at defecation. This is not a dismissal of child play, the elegant caress of a goodnight kiss. This is not an assertion of superiority around gradients of success. This is not a rhetorical ruse to dismiss the ontotheologic of the magna carta, the butterfly flap of the opaque obscurity of a verbal email exchange, as an irrelevant game of words.

It is a simple reflection on justice and a personal reminder in the everdayness of my life, that, in the deconstructive words of Caputo; a “Settling into the crevices and interstices of the present … the provocation of what is to come … with bearing an ethico-political witness to justice.”

textures of worship

How much of our worship is flat walled and mono-coloured?
What would it mean to create textured worship, multiple layers, unexpected swirls, differently weaved and woven patterns.