Crazy Confectionary

I am trying to come up with a tenuous worship idea where I can direct you to this crazy site.  They will print a photo onto your M&M’s.  I was really happy to find out that they will also sell you a bag of each individual colour.  I think that it could really help roadies out in an emergency.

Advertisement

A Generous Orthodoxy

Following the weighty tomes I had to read for my dissertation, I have decided to read something for my own pleasure.  To that end, I have finished with Brian McLarens manifesto on Christian unity, A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am A Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed – Yet Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished Christian.  I have to say it has been an inspirational book.  I have always been hopeful for Christian unity within a church that is more often seen to be ripping itself apart.  I always find that this can become a primary focus for Christians that detracts from what we are actually supposed to be called to. 

It has been necessary for McLaren to focus solely on the positives of each tradtion within Christianity and see the distinctive nature of each denomination or movement as adding something constructive and creative to the body of Christ.  This means that he does not give the criticisms that we have come to expect as the focus for many.

McLaren has a great humility within his writing style and this is a refreshing change.  He argues to move post-division.  His aim is post-protestant convergence through a real dialogue that is post-liberal and post-conservative.  A ‘generous orthodoxy’ sees a real movement forward for the church through fostering a love for one another and a missional outlook.  But don’t listen to what I have to say about it, go and read it for yourself!

How many Emerging Church Bloggers Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?

1 To change the bulb and post about it

315 To lurk around and make no comment

2 To propose that a flashing coloured bulb would be more in keeping with the culture of the day

16 To complain he should have have put it in a different category

4 To flag up a conference on nu-media emerging bulb ministries “The LED Shines in the 80% Greyscale-ness” in Ukraine.

19 To point out that if the poster had bought an iBulb then he wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

4 To point out that it’s ‘Lightbulb’, not ‘Light Bulb’

7 To have go at those 4 for being so pathetic.

2 To come back and say they’ve had to pull out of the Ukraine conference, and the other 2 to post some blurred photos of a bunch of guys drinking beer in a dark room, Apple logos just visible in the shadows. Plus an inaudible podcast of the session they did.

5 To complain that the poster’s definition of ‘broken’ was just liberal nonsense in the first place, and if they had only stuck to the One True Light, which is perfectly clearly explained in the Gospels then all talk of change would be irrelevant.

34 To retort that all talk of ‘light’ and ‘dark’ is just relative, and purely down to the culture, context and personal experience.

15 Fundies to rock in suggesting that the bulb was never broken, but rather the power had been switched off as punishment for their straying from the one true source.

2 Aging alt.worshippers to suggest they used tea-lights instead.

6 Members of the prayer book society who suggest that any talk of alternative bulbs is the work of the devil.

18 To weigh in with quotes from Derrida, Baumann and McLuhan and discuss the essential duality of light.

1 To raise the point that Jesus didn’t need ‘artificial light’ and then go on to refute all physics suggesting light displays dualistic properties.

3 To complain of the lack of ethnic women changing light bulbs these days.

5 To raise the issue of ‘wireless bulbs’ that need no power source and can be used in Scooter Cafe.

2 To reflect on this as a model for mission, taking our wireless bulbs out into the dark world.

4 To continue this theme, but argue that the bulbs aren’t really wireless, but part of a complex, distributed network of light sources of many different sorts, which interact in loose communal ways and that’s what we call church now.

18 To claim that the original bulb was divinely inspired during the manufacture process in the 80’s and gives the only divinely inspired modern light source.  Any new bulb is a travesty and anyone using the new bulb is jeopardising their salvation.  It is irrelevant that people have been using the new bulb as part of their ongoing faith journey.

1 To write a huge long, rambling diatribe about the issue of light, how they suffered light deprivation as a child and are now trying to work this out in a small group in Andover, and completely kill the discussion, just leaving…

15 Online pharmacies, porn sites and penny-share stock companies to leave Trackbacks.

Looking after Creation

Here is an interesting idea for social action.  A methodist church is giving energy monitors to each member of their congregation.  The monitor gives an ongoing price rating of how much electricity it being used per minute.  An interesting way of encouraging faith to be lived out.

Mission Shaped Church for Older People?

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will perhaps have noticed that I get a little irate when people say that emerging churches are “aimed” at “younger people”.  Even the phrase “emerging generations” becomes a little exclusive for my liking.  There is an interesting article about a new publication about this phenomenon at emergingchurch.info.

One of the key points it makes is that people in their sixties are the movers and shakers of the 60’s.  What sort of church would Mick Jagger come to?

The Rock Church

I stumbled across The Rock Church and it made me smile.  The way they have set out their mission statement at the begining is classic!!  And they are called the ROCK church 😆 .  Rock on!!

Sounds

Some people have been asking to hear what we sound like.  There is now a live recording on our myspace page, check it out.

Euro 2008 // Have Faith

It would seem that there is a bit more faith in the glorious game than I previously described.  It would seem that the Swiss have hopes of a little divine intervention.

Child Poverty

There is a lot in the news lately about child poverty in the UK.  Child poverty is a terrible thing!!  However, I can’t get my head around the measures that people are using to make claims about the current levels of poverty.  Here is what I mean.

The responses from the professionals in the room all seem to be based upon these words phrases:

“I can’t affoard a holiday this year either”

and

“What??!!??”

Rufus is Dead

RIP

Party on Dude!!

“De Nomolos, my old gym teacher”