sustain:if:able kiwi

with a long view

Had a great time at the Cambridge 125th anniversary celebrations. The sermon went well (a listener’s perspective is here). 1 Kings 19 was my grounding Biblical text: Elijah had seen the good old days of God’s power in 1 Kings 18. But in 1 Kings 19 he needed to move on: to learn to listen to God in new ways, to go to a new destination in a foreign country and to find new partners. It is a fascinating text as it places change within a Biblical narrative.

As part of the preparation (and as an example of listening to God in new – creative – ways), I’d asked an artist friend, Pete Majendie, to reflect on the text. He had produced 2 paintings. We caught an interview with him on DVD; themes of
– place (a map of Cambridge is on the background);
– depression and being honest about our human experience (the black paper is handmade and is torn, looking through the hands of red and blue);
– journey (railway tracks made in the shape of a cross);
– God’s presence (gold flecks, including the stars of the Southern Cross on the red handed art piece).
It was great to have his art and his voice as part of the sermon. I finished with “Racing Away” from 1 Giant Leapalbum.

I had pastored at Cambridge for 3 months in 1993/4. As I left on Sunday a woman said how much she’d appreciated my sermons during that period. And then quietly mentioned that she’d written and recorded some songs in response to those sermons. How humbling is that!

It was a reminder for me that ministry needs to come with a long view. We often may never know the impact, or otherwise, of our actions and our words.

enjoying

Remixes and Radio Cuts by Salmonella Dub. A great range of tracks (I used 2 in church on Sunday evening) that generates a more diverse sound than their earlier albums. A great example of DJing as many of their earlier songs are re-mixed. Stand out tracks include Conspiracy Dub, Mercy and Orbital.

scripture and rhythm

I have a problem with my Scriptural rhythm and I’m looking for a new method. For a number of years I have used a regular Scriptural rhythm based on the Revised Common Lectionary. It offers 4 readings – Psalm, Old Testament, Gospel, Epistle.

At the start of the year I suggested a pattern of shared Scripture readings to our church leadership team. I invited us to all read the same Scriptures, as this would give us a shared Biblical language. I also invited us to meet regularly for lectio divina around these texts we were dwelling in together. Different staff would led us. Nine months on, a real sense of communal collegiality has developed in which the Scriptures are literally forming our conversations and dreams.

In introducing this pattern, I was concerned that the Revised Common Lectionary might be too complex for a group of Baptists. Instead, I found a set of readings in Daily Prayer. This offered a Psalm and one other reading, swapping between Old Testament and New Testament. It could be photocopied as a simple booklet. It has caught on and quite a number of our church community at Opawa are now reading with us. I doubt they would have connected with the RCL.

But. A big but. The strength of Daily Prayer is it’s weakness. The daily progression does not integrate into a weekly rhythm. Thus we can’t integrate our daily readings into our weekly gatherings. I need something simple, that can also give us a progression weekly (and we gather as different congregations on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So we need like 3 different weekly rhythms!).

So the RCL is too complex. And Daily Prayer can’t be integrated into weekly patterns. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help – something simpler than RCL that can work both daily and weekly?

thanks for caring

It takes a fair bit of time and emotional energy to raise concern and voice dissent. I mean, most people don’t like conflict and don’t like to rock the boat.

So when they do, it will generally cost them something. And they wouldn’t pay that price unless they cared. Next time someone voices dissent, I wonder if we should be saying “thanks for caring” before we get all huffy and uptight.

Note: I think that this rule applies differently depending on the media. I suspect it is a lot easier to launch a drive by shooting on blog and forum, than on paper and in article. So I think the type of media used can say something about the level of caring.

admin stuff

1. This is a blog held together by a version of MT that no longer receives customer support. It is groaning under it’s own weight. Be assured that despite error messages your comments DO post. So please don’t try lots of times!

2. Gospel and post-Christian students, the tutorial reading for next Wednesday 23rd August is chapter 6 and 7 of A New Kind of Christian.

Daddy, you don’t have to say yes to everything

I was due to speak at Greenbelt, UK, later this month. My seminar was titled:

Spiritual takeways – Christianity Lite or Discipleship Extreme? We live in a 24/7 world, yet so often our community is public in worship 1 hour per week. This seminar will explore the relationship between contemporary spirituality and the emerging church, with a particular focus on what it means to be a visible presence in a transient community. It will explore practices such a spirituality postcards, tactile takeways and spirituality of life resourcing.

But I am tired of airtravel. And I needed a few more speaking gigs to make it worthwhile and things were not really clicking. So over the weekend I wondered aloud about the wisdom of going and my 9 year old set me straight; “Daddy, you don’t have to say yes to everything.” Sorry Ben and sorry Greenbelt. Maybe next year.

living the (fuller) text in a contemporary context

I fly back across the Pacific Ocean today for a week lecturing at Fuller Theological Seminary; teaching a course I’ve designed from scratch called Living the text in a postmodern context. I’ve taught it twice in New Zealand and am really looking forward to seeing how it plays in a different cultural context.

The course is being run as a 5 day paper for credit, a 2 day conference for pastors. It is also being videod for potential use as an on-line resource. I am lecturing 7 hours a day for 5 days, so appreciate any stray prayers for stamina, and that my nights of sleep here
will be deep and renewing. And that technology would go well (my bag is stuffed with videos and loops and CD’s, all essential to the experience of the course).

It’s so easy to get complacent, to waste great chunks of life just drifting along being resentful, tired, overworked, angry, or the wrong kind of lazy… Life needs to be savoured. You don’t get it twice. If time is to be wasted, it needs to be wasted properly. If there’s stuff to be angry about, do it thoroughly, then get it over with and move on. If you’re tired, get some decent rest, good food, rehydrate, and get in shape to live a bit more. Don’t waste it. Don’t waste it.

A needed reminder. Thanks Maggi.

wasted by a jet plane

Travel effects me in three ways-
: disrupted sleep, which leaves me feeling quite spaced for day 1 and 2.
: disrupted body clock, which leaves me feeling quite drained for day 3 and 4
: disrupted rhythm, which leaves me struggling to get back into the groove of place and people. This is often worst in day 5 and 6. It is not helped by the piles of marking that sit on my desk at BCNZ (Update: 20 exam scripts + 20 reading reports + 6 personal preaching reflections + odds and ends).

flightless kiwi: yeah right

For those who doubt that a Kiwi can fly; this is the lesson …

and this is the real deal …

homeward bound

The long trek home is about to start; 3 hour drive to airport; 2 hour flight to San Francisco; 13 hour flight to Auckland; 2 hour flight to Christchurch. (And no, I am not expecting to do any take-offs!) The flight is usually followed by 2 or 3 days of disconnection and struggle to adjust to new time zones.

Who knows when blogging – serious or otherwise – will resume.

i know this is work but …

I got to fly a plane today. “Oh you can take off,” I was told as I belted myself in for what I thought was an early morning joyride around the lake.

That sense of power, so finely and gently balanced in the controls in my hands, as the plane, a little 4 seater, roared down the runway.

Unforgettable. I think more experiences like this would definitely energise and balance my life. I can’t wait to discuss this new hobby with my wife and family.

the context of my story today

Today I blog from this porch. (Photo shamelessly stolen from this blog). The weather is warm. The company is rich. The accents are foreign. It is hard enough understanding people in my own culture, yet alone understanding and seeking to be understood in another’s culture.

I’ve sat in 4 days of Ministry to a Postmodern Context. My official role was to provide some visual content to initiate interaction around experiences of postmodernity; to listen and reflect; and to share some of my faith communities story.

On Sunday I drive up to McCall, Idaho, for a Thinktank on Mission to Western Culture. There are about 25 participants; from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, UK, USA. It is a fascinating mix of missiologists and grounded practioners in church congregations. I am looking forward to listening and talking. But first I will enjoy the warmth of this front porch.

flightless kiwi

I am travelling; Idaho for a week as part of a Ministry to the Postmodern Context with Allelon, then to a week of Thinktank on Missional Church. So I could be offline, jetlagged and struggling with cross-cultural communication.