Where did yesterday go?
It was one of those days when I just couldn’t get motivated for anything at all. You ever have those when you have heaps to do, but just can’t seem to settle?
I spent a lot of time wandering around doing inconsequential things that achieved next to nothing…
Oh well – today is a new day.
Ok so I spat the dummy yesterday and couldn’t be bothered writing anything more after I deleted my post!
What I was writing about was my take on the surfing movie Step into Liquid which I went to see with my brother on Tuesday. It was grrrreat!
If you’re not a surfer then it might not grab you, but I loved it. I have often said to people that surf movies are like pornos – you don’t go for the story line and after 10 mins it all get a bit same same!
Not this one… Some highlights were:
* the guy who had surfed every single day of his life for the last 25 years – never missed a beat!
* the quadraplegic surfer whose mates got him back in the water after his accident
* surfing the wake of oil tankers – 2-3 mile rides!
* surfing Cortez bank – 100 miles out to sea
But my favourite was the clip of the Malloy brothers, 4 boys of Irish stock who now live in the US going back to Donegal to find some waves. Apart from seeing some great surf in my homeland of Ireland, I was inspired to see these guys using surfing as a way to help foster healthy relationships between Protestants and Catholics.
They ran a surf camp and invited young people from both sides of the divide to attend. They discovered that when you put them in the water and get them surfing, religious (or political) orientation soon doesn’t matter and we all become ‘just people’. I loved seeing the power of surfing to heal what politicians can’t – and probably never will.
The classic quote from the movie was by Gerry Lopez – long time Pipeline master who said “surfing is for life – the first 20 years are just to see if you are really interested!”
Its been 30 years for me now so I guess I qualify…
I do remember my first experience of surf though – the addictive adrenalin rush that I haven’t been able to shake – better than a 200 m drive on the 18th hole!
Above is a pic of me at one of my favourite breaks, a place called Rocky Point – that was a niiice day!
But as the Billabong add says ‘only a surfer knows the feeling’
Any other surfers agree?download batman gotham knight divx
Today I leave home very shortly and don’t return until… well pretty late I think…
I’m meeting Brian Harris the new Baptist Theological College principal to discuss how we (Forge) can partner with them, then there’s the new surfing movie Step into Liquid which I’ll be seeing with my brother – should be huge! And finally a small group of us are out to dinner in Leederville with Steve who is over here for the social justice experience/camp called AMUC (among the urban community).
In between that I’ll be finding time to pray, read and run!
See you another day…
A few people have asked me “so what is Forge
?” Below is a short spiel I wrote for some of our denominational newsletters trying to encapsulate the Forge vision in a few paragraphs.
It might give you the picture!
—————————
The last 20 years have been turbulent times for the Christian church here in Australia – in fact all over the western world. Well known author Stanley Hauerwas has actually described Australia as ‘the most secular land he has ever visited‘, a phrase that would ring true for many of us.
By and large Australian people are no longer coming to church on Sunday, in fact church attendance rarely figures in their weekly plans. There is no question that we are living in a missionary setting and that Australia is a pagan land where Christian faith is now simply one option among many – and because of so many distorted past images its not even an attractive option.
A missionary context requires missionary training and this year sees the commencement of the Forge Mission Training Network, a new form of training specifically designed to equip local Christians to be missionaries in their own backyards. Forge seeks to train up leaders who will experiment with new forms of mission and develop new kinds of churches to connect with those who currently seem to be beyond our reach.
Over the course of 2004 there will be three Forge Intensives packed with high quality training by leading practitioners. The first of these will be from Feb 12-15. For more details on the Forge programs feel free to call me on 0400044236 or email hamo@brightontown.com.au
Forge is pleased to be able to partner with the Baptist churches, Churches of Christ, The Vineyard and Scripture Union in this venture and look forward to seeing new expressions of mission and new forms of church emerge as we share this journey together
So… they started to tell me what they really thought!
The videos are ok… but way too long. Nicky is interesting but you have to get past the pommy accent and the cheesy smile… We’d rather you led the group and that we could focus on our questions…
It seemed that they preferred simple directed conversation rather than video input and then direction. The vids just didn’t work for these guys.
I have to say that for a bunch of upper crust English folk Nicky Gumble is probably just the thing – he looks like one of them, speaks like one of them and the building he meets in looks like a building they could identify with.
But for young Aussies?…
I am thinking of asking Mick Molloy to do an Aussie version of Alpha – I reckon it could be a real winner. At the end of the day we agreed to stop watching videos and begin exploring Christian faith just from the Bible and with our own conversation.
I am not convinced that Alpha is the way to go for non baby-boomers.
It is very cognitive and relies heavily on an apologetic approach to evangelism assuming that information will produce conviction. That’s a bit of an over-simplification but you get the idea.
Is there a place for Alpha?
Of course!
It is a valuable tool in the church’s mission toolkit, but like so many things it became the answer to the church’s evangelistic woes. “if they just come to Alpha…”
I just woouldn’t recommend it for anyone under 40ish…
“The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas. It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to wrong than to be always right and have no ideas at all.”
Edward De-bonodownload rocknrolla movie
Did you give your 10% this weekend?
As a team we have done a little bit of thinking on how we approach the question of finance and giving and what we will do with the money once we get it.
We arrived at the point of saying that right now we will not take an offering as such, but we will simply give to people / projects / needs as God leads us. We will not have any central fund or any structure beyond our own budgeting.
The intent is to free ourselves from feeling like we have to ‘tithe’ (I do not believe the tithe is an NT concept) but also to try and ‘live generously’ rather than feeling like we have ‘done our bit’ when the money’s in the bag.
Its a big decision – and one that could actually backfire. We could finish up less generous than previously – we could never regain our footing with giving… But its part of the re-imagining process.
For me non-tithing is a decision that flows out of a fairly significant theological re-think I had a few years back. Most influential in that process was English Baptist theologian and church planter, Stuart Murray’s book Beyond Tithing. (out of print)
That said I am all too aware of the danger of greed and the ease with which I can become self focused. So we (Danelle and I) have decided that what we will do is budget an amount to set aside each week which will be our primary giving funds as well as being free to give spontaneously.
Why set aside a regular amount? Because I have a very strong hunch that if we don’t we will actually finish up less generous. It seems there is always something to spend money on and I am concerned that will never be ‘enough’ money in the bank to give away.
We are committed to growing in generosity and stretching ourselves in the ara of giving so that is the plan for this year.
I’d be interested to hear what other do in this regard.watch trippin in divx
Recently Darren decided to have some fun and kick off “blogger idol”! As a person who loves writing, I thought I’d have a go at blogging to a set theme. This is no. 1.
I won’t guarantee I’ll still be there at the end of it all – or that I will post on every topic – but here goes anyway…
This is the year I turn 40.
It feels kinda like I’m at ‘half time’ in life.
I reckon ‘the 80’s’ could be getting close to the end of the road for me so I thought I’d use this post to reflect on some of my dreams for when I hit the 80’s.
I dream that I will”
• Still be married to Danelle and that our love will be stronger and deeper for 50 years of marriage. It seems that love changes over time – I feel different love today than I did when we were on our honeymoon – but I dream that the 80’s love will be something special and profound and richer and more fun than it is today. I reckon it’s possible to stay together for 50 years and have nothing more than an appreciation of each other and a healthy housekeeping relationship. No thanks! (I also dream I will still have a sex life”)
• Have left my kids a legacy that encourages them to live life to the full and to find that fullness in connection with God. I dream that they will have seen a passion for Jesus in their old man that inspires them and draws them to him, rather than a dreary religious ethic that leaves them cold and indifferent. I dream that at 80 we will be able to talk openly and regularly about how good God is and the way he keeps transforming our lives.
• On that thought, I dream that in the 80’s I will still be learning and changing and becoming more like Jesus. I dream that I will hear God more clearly and often and that I will trust him more as he leads me. I am so inspired by the 80 year olds I have known who are on the growing edge, who haven’t lost the willingness to change – but I am dismayed by cynical, hardened older people who live out of self centredness and indifference.
• Be the old guy in church who is always encouraging the young ones to have a go at new things! I dream that I will be an advocate for the young 50 year old pastor who can’t seem to ‘move the church’ because people won’t change. I’ve been inspired by those older folks who don’t understand what I’m on about but who can feel my heart and support anyway. I dream I will never morph into a grumpy old bugger who wants things done the way I like them. Ecch!
• That I will have a fertile mind and an adventurous spirit. I don’t want to settle down, play it safe, learn lawn bowls, buy a caravan and trip around Australia. Now there’s nothing wrong with a good holiday and a bit of sport (if you can call lawn bowls sport!), but I dread the idea of retiring from life when (if) I retire. In my 80’s I dream that my capacity for risk taking and faith stretching will have increased rather than shrunk. I dream that God will still trust me with his thoughts and ideas and that I will be looking for the next challenge – not the comfortable chair in the corner away from the action.
As I write this short spiel I sense there is much more that I dream – more than I could or should write here, but perhaps its is best summed up in the quote from Helen Keller that is on the signature of all my emails
“Life is a daring adventure or nothing”
