It’s been a long time since I blogged -  a number of important things have taken place since the last post:

1) I turned 31

2) I completed the Llanelli 10K race - I took about an hour and came 601st out of a field of about 830… I was pleased.

3) I got temporarily obsessed by ebay, as I bought some dj kit and two cd’s with money I got for my birthday.

4) Some potentially massive steps forward with the organic cotton project have taken place - I will update as they become more or less concrete.

5) I had my hair cut.

6) I got told off by my daughter for driving to the swimming pool.  She was right.

7) I got paid for some work (forgot what that was like for a bit).

We set a date for moving - despite not having anywhere to move to: August 15th…

So on we go… I’ll write more soon I promise.

I’m going to run the Llanelli 10K on Sunday 22nd of June, well, I say run…

I’m going to try and run the Llanelli 10K, and if you want to encourage me to do so, please would you consider sponsoring me?

The funds will all go towards the Organic cotton project I have been working on in Cambodia. There is still a long way to go with this project, and a lot of funds needed, so any contributions will be welcome!

Anyway, to be honest, I reckon you’ve got a fair chance of keeping your money

Please email me if you want to sponsor me, much obliged!

really interested to read a series of posts by Mark Sayers, who writes thoughtfully about some of the reasons young adults are so fed up with church… starting here. (ht: hamo)

go here to read all about my brother’s forthcoming exhibition in the USA, wish I was clever like him

bibi van der see gives some helpful pointers about how to protest and survive!

archbishop of the weird hyper charismatics John Crowder answers some of his critics here…

and finally TSK had the legend that is David Pierce (from whom I first learned it was possible to be a Christian punk) on his site a while ago, well worth a read.  I love that guy - here’s my favourite quote from his interview: “…Can you imagine an anarchistic band ever saying, “We’re not an anarchistic band. We’re just a band of people who happen to be anarchists. We don’t want to push anarchy on people. We just want people to see anarchy in our lives”? If everyone else can speak clearly and give their ideas without restraint, how come Christians always feel like they have to keep silent, especially when there is so much authority in their message?”

Those kind people at Zondervan sent me a copy of Jesus for President to review, so here goes…

I regard this as one of the best, most challenging and thought provoking books around at the moment. Despite it’s American target audience (we don’t have a president here – yet) this makes great reading for any reader, as its themes are universal.

This is unlikely to look like any book you have ever read before, it’s got nearly as much in common with a graphic novel as it has with a standard text book. The best comparison I can give, and it is quite inappropriate really given the anti consumerist approach of the authors, is with a Howies clothing catalogue. It has that same earthy, lived in, thoughtful, artistic and engaging feel, but thankfully without the pictures of models wearing expensive clothes.

Put simply, this has got to be one of the most beautifully designed books on the market – working with the writing, the design emphasises the creative, radical spirit of the text, and the provocative joy of the authors. Quite rightly the designers, Holly and Ryan Sharp, are credited at the end of the book along with the writers. The colour is full throughout the book, with design elements interacting with the text throughout, which adds immensely to the value of the content. If you liked the look of ‘Irresistible Revolution’ then this is a quantum leap forward, like as if the publishers suddenly realised what this thing was all about…

In some ways it reminds me of an illuminated manuscript, from back in the day of monkishness, when religious texts were coloured and illustrated by devoted scholars. This fits with the fact that the authors are part of the new monastic movement – and perhaps this could be seen as the contemporary equivalent.

But aside from a fantastic design job – what does the latest offering from our dreadlocked brother actually contain? Well first point to make, there are very clearly two voices audible in this book. Claiborne and Haw have coinciding views, but different emphases, or perhaps just different experiences, which while bringing occasional difficulties to the academic niceties of the text, actually helps lend weight to this book. Actually – if you count the design, then add in one or two more voices as well.

Written throughout in easily digestible chunks, the book begins as a dissection of a theme of radical God politics which the authors show running through the bible. It sidetracks through stories of friends, writings of early Christians and reflections on current affairs.

It’s a book of stories, parables, and prophecy, it is not supposed to be a tome, or a text book, or a prize winning essay – this is a work of love, an object of discussion, a catalyst (for want of a less clichéd term) for renewed engagement with the themes, and an encouragement to live a different way.

Rather than taking an easy option, such as a single standpoint, of a Christian anarchy for example, or an anti war vote, Claiborne and Haw manage to turn the whole idea around, arguing for a radical Christian engagement with politics and society in a way that is at once submissive and subversive. American voters wanting to know who the writers say they should vote for, will find themselves left with the same choices, but hopefully looking at them through new, or perhaps ancient lenses. I suspect also that this will help many bring a new creativity to their decision making.

Pacifism and anti (or non) consumerism are key themes, but they each form only part of the overall principal argument, which is to see God’s people as a people set apart by God, called to live another way, and to follow only one leader. It critiques the philosophy that one can serve God, and walk in the way of the world.

This clarion call to a subversive and renewed people of God is a creative and stimulating read – it’s not without its problems, one cant help thinking that if Claiborne authors another book, he will have come close to being part of the system which he so clearly wants to work against, but at the same time, I like many others would be happy to read anything he writes. One might also question how the authors can happily work with others such as Jim Wallis who argue for a more conventional approach to politics… clearly McLaren is not the only one with a generous orthodoxy these days.

Some readers may find biblical references to apocryphal books troubling or confusing, I don’t, in fact I like it. Some factual discrepancies may exist within the text, (numbers of dead in Iraq, or etc) but these are minor when looked at in context, and can be put down to the issue of dual authorship.

It’s a beautiful, peaceful, challenging, affirming, prophetic, subversive and creative book, well worth reading, sharing, mulling over… likely to become a classic.

Links:

Example spreads…

jesus for president website
sharp seven design

What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 89% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 79% Neo orthodox 75% Roman Catholic 46% Modern Liberal 46% Classical Liberal 46% Charismatic/Pentecostal 36% Reformed Evangelical 32% Fundamentalist 14%

I took this entertaining quiz, what is your theological worldview?

Pretty funny stuff, as probably the two spheres I operate most in are the charismatic/pentecostal and the reformed evangelical… ho hum.

ht: hamo

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the happenings in Florida, Dudley, and closer to home for me, the meetings that have been held in Llanelli recently.

I’ve been around charismatic church for a fairly long time now, I’ve seen a few different waves come and go, all of which doesnt make me any better at discerning between the good stuff and the dross, in fact it may have made me worse, as I am definitely more cynical now than I was, but all in all I hope it has leant me some perspective which is useful.

So my natural reaction when I hear about new revivals or miraculous ministries, is to be catious.  The first time I saw Todd Bentley in action was in a video projected in a church meeting.  I had never heard of him, and was not particularly taken with his style, or what he had to say.  I was most disturbed though when the encouragement was given to: “look at this with the eyes of a child, dont let your brain get in the way” - I paraphrase, I wasnt carrying my notepad.

I think that all of these waves of spiritual renewal/revival etc need to be looked at from two perspectives simultaneously: 1) God can do anything, and frequently works in strange ways through strange people.  2) The bible warns, and experience shows that false prophets are all around, against whom we need to be on our guard.

Assuredly most of those false prophets are those who have so effectively encouraged and enabled us to  syncretise Jesus teachings with secular materialism, or empire worship.  But some of them are knocking around in the crazy charismatic scene too.

Get where I’m coming from on this, I am part of two different self styled charismatic churches.  I’m not anti Charismaticism, I dont think we should all just chant and meditate all the time, I beleive that there is a healthy mix, which involves corporate expression, holy spirit stuff, silence, lots of other stuff too.

I find the ‘post charismatic‘ approach rather sniffy, somewhat too close to looking down the nose at those in a more primitive state.  This is just as wrong as the approach that says ‘unless you’re getting slain in the spirit all the time, you arent in the right place’.

So back to Bentley, I have a few points that I dont like about this Florida stuff.

1) I feel like its too close to being a personality cult.  There’s a lot of talk about Todd Bentley, I would prefer if there were lots of talk about Jesus, and everyone else involved was of little importance.  I know that this is the way it goes of course, Evan Roberts was the big name in the Welsh Revival, but I dont get the impression he was the same kind of character as mr Bentley.  From the stuff I’ve heard and read about Todd, he seems an anointed individual, and a damaged individual.  Some of the things he writes and says, such as the well referenced trip to heaven where Paul tells him how Abraham gave him the material for the book of Galatians seems out and out nonsense.  However, people are getting healed, and apparently even raised from the dead… (If I was wikipedia, I’d say citation needed).  (On one video a guy ministering with Todd declares: ‘The moslems have a spirit of infirmity because of inbreeding…’ huh?

2) There is an unhealthy approach to money.  This seems to be a major problem in America, and I cant quite get to grips with it.  You’ve got people like Joyce Meyer living in vast mansions, complaining about taxes etc, while all over the world people dwell and die in abject poverty… that’s just weird and wrong.  On Todd’s website I read that there are three ways of giving to the ministry, if you go for the top level ($500 per month, or a one off payment of $5000) you get special access to Todd, including special ministry sessions and stuff.  Euurgh.  That is just disgusting.  Not what I see as fruit of a truly Jesus devoted life.

3) I have a problem with this kind of phenomena which is that it proves exciting for a while, but then people get disillusioned, and when they find the only place they’re getting the experience is in Todd’s meetings… and perhaps even that’s not what it was… guess what?  They pack it in, Christianity is another thing to write off.  Hmmm.  This is a big problem.

4) It has sparked another gold rush of Christians jumping in planes to get over to Florida in order to be able to catch the spirit and bring it back home.  This just makes me uncomfortable… maybe I’m wrong, but I just dont see God working like this.  If anything, then what happened at Pentecost, and the 1904 revival, was that people went out from the outpouring to pour out their lives into other places, and that is how the thing travelled.  But instead, people who are in the midst, seem just to stay there, desperate for another hit… its a kind of consumerist holy ghost experience, get as much as you can while stocks last.

5) And lastly I’m yet to see any fruit from all of this - and that is surely the biggest proof of what value something has.  If we see radical shifts in church, people selling their goods and giving the money to the poor (or Todd B???) then that will be a good sign.  That’s the kind of thing we see afterwards, so a bit of hindsight will be helpful on this one.

Here in Llanelli, Antioch Church has recently hosted an event called ’slosh fest’ - subtitle ‘head in the barrel’.

With the help of Emerge Wales, and assorted bods from the charismatic world, they held a few days of meetings where the holy spirit stuff was really emphasised.  I have to admit, I didnt go, although I often go to Antioch’s sunday services.  I dont like the idea of a ’slosh fest’ - but I’ve been interested to look at the aftermath.

Without a doubt (in my mind) there was some bonkers stuff going on.  I’m not convinced that the prophecy of streets full of people in spiritual trances is right (I heard that one from the train station platform!) And I am sorry, but I’m pretty sure some people were just there for an experiential spiritual hit - which I think is a crap reason to go to a meeting.

But here’s the reason I respect Antioch - they are fully and holisitically engaged in their community, which is a rough one. And the outworking of the slosh fest thing is that this engagement has increased.  They’re doing more work out on the street, they are not just sloshing up all the time.  This is a clear example of fruit - and it suggests to me that there is something genuinely happening here.

I may not like the type of meeting, I dont fall down or twitch, or make funny noises like a lot of the Antioch folk do, but if God is doing something in them with the twitching and what not, which means they will have a greater impact on the poor and downtrodden around them, I’m happy about that.

A few of the Antioch leaders went to Florida, they seem to have been impacted by it - I cant say that it seems to have particularly impacted the rest of the folk there.  (On a side note, one lady (not an Antioch regular) came up to me and said she had been to Florida, she told me when she was there, God told her to put her hands on people and make a ‘wooshing’ noise.  She wanted to know if I minded… I said ‘no, please go ahead’.  Guess what, nothing happened, but at least she didnt try to push me over )

So here’s my opinion in a nutshell (after 1300 odd words) Todd Bentley: anointed but flawed, handle with care.  Florida revival: probably not a revival, let’s wait and see.  New Charismatics: don’t give them a hard time, they might be nutty, but the ones I know have hearts devoted to Jesus, and are living out their faith in a very real way.  They are mental though ;)  Post charismatics: smacks a little of spiritual snobbery, lets accept our differences and all get along.

sorry for not writing much recently, been doing lots of work, and by the time I get round to thinking about blogging, my eyelids are drooping.

Had I been blogging I would probably have droned on about Jesus for president, (so good!!) which I am currently reading when I get the chance, the whole thing of post charismatics, todd bentley, and christians who wear bling, I really must get round to writing about the birkman test which was much better than I thought it would be, I’m having a love affair with Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’ - again, I might even tell you what an impact the slow worm in my garden has had on the slugs, how much better the lettuces I planted up with home made compost grow than ones in shop bought compost, lots of talk about sunshine and beaches (another reason I’ve not been blogging) - and all about the salmon and a brand new dance - killer track from last year - which I’m gonna leave you with.

I’ll be back!  But till then…

“No matter how dangerous the medieval pilgrimage might be, and it frequently was, pilgrims always hoped to return even if they set their affairs in order lest death met them on the way. The Celts set out with no thought of return.”

Rediscovering the Celts, page155, Robinson, 2000. Published by Fount.

Not being brought up in the Church of England and all that, I dont know really very much about liturgy, and proper liturgical ways, but I notice Mark Berry has just posted up his meditation material for tomorrow which is the feast day of St Julian don’t y’know.

He’s got a nifty thing going on with hazelnuts, which looks cool, and is doubtless destined to be deemed a ‘worship trick’ by Jonny B.

In the meantime, and back on the subject of liturgy etc, I’ve just written some stuff for tomorrow too, for the meditational/devotional beginning to our prayer morning. In case you are interested - here it is.

Begin with a welcoming, a corporate chant, and a silent meditation on Bible passage. Then:

The Affirming. (Read this out loud together).

Oh Lord

Our God

We submit again to you today.

Still our hearts

Calm our heads

As you calmed the storm.

Creator, redeemer, companion

Father, prince, friend

Almighty, unstinting, constant.

You who always were

Forever are

Ever more shall be

We who breathe in,

And breathe out,

Know your goodness

*Take some moments to silently resubmit to God – confessing your sins and asking that he takes you forward with him today.

The Asking. (Read this out loud together).

We ask today Lord:

That we would not judge

That we would see beauty in all others.

That we would come before you in humility.

That we would set aside our wants, for the sake of others.

We ask today Father:

That you would provide for your people.

That you would lead us away from temptations.

That we would see the world through your eyes.

That you would raise up more to work alongside us.

We ask today Spirit:

That you would comfort those who mourn.

That you would inspire those whose hearts begin to falter.

That you would remind us of our commitments.

That you would strengthen weary limbs.

*Take some moments to silently ask God for his word for your life today.
The calling. (Read this out loud together).

We call on each other to rise up.

We call on our hearts to stay firm.

We call on our hands to grip.

We call on the Lord – for he is our source, our inspiration, our light.

We call on each other to live today.

We call on our minds to choose life.

We call on our legs to stay strong beneath us.

We call on the Lord – for he is our redeemer, our strength, our all in all.

*Take some moments to silently ask God to be your strength today.
The blessing. (Read this out loud together).

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul.

May this day bring peace to the troubled,

Comfort to the downcast

Clarity to the confused

Joy amidst tears

Laughter amidst pain

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul.

* take some moments to pray for those who are suffering or oppressed. If none come to mind, pray for justice to flow like a river over the war zones of the world.

Closing prayer:

Oh High King of heaven, we worship you.

Have mercy on your children.

Fill us afresh today with your holy spirit.

Revive in us passion for the lost and the least.

That your kingdom may come,

On earth as in heaven,

In Jesus mighty name,

Amen.

Gillian Cross, author of the demon headmaster books (Kel was a big fan), who is a very nice lady.