What a tragedy

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Mumbai attacks

We were there only a couple of weeks ago. this railway station is just like the one we used in Kolkata. Its such a tragedy that a country so beautiful, with so much potential should threaten to implode. I fear that the 'spirit' of Gandhi is losing its influence over this nation. We need to pray 1 billion peoples lives are at stake. Pray for my friend Shahid, his family and all their co-workers. They are making significant inpact in their area for the gospel. it is truly amazing what God is doing over there. As ever the only real hope for the people of india is Jesus. violence an bloodshed surrendered at the foot of the cross. Gandhi famously said that we should be to others what we would have them turn into. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed indeed.

'postmodern' songs?

Pete W has lent me 'Colossians Remixed' by Walsh and Keesmaat. intro is about postmodern world view interesting stuff. explains a lot about why people cannot get 'into' following jesus as an 'all-out' 'all-in' way. in this way of thinking everything people tell you you ought to believe is treated with suspicion, and no-one can claim to have found 'the' truth. Everyone might have a but of a truth and you can choose which bits of which truths to believe in.
to illustrate their point about suspicion of all the 'imposed ideologies' of the past they quote form 2 songs, leonard cohen ' the future' and smashing pumpkins ' bullet with butterfly wings. both worth a listen.

cohen links st. paul with 'stalin and the berlin wall' ! later he includes Hiroshima and Christ in the list. For cohen all these things are totally debunked.

the pumpkins ask 'what do I get, for my pain? answer: 'Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game' ie you cant believe in anything- it only leads to pain

interestingly both songs mention jesus - seems he is no more trustworthy than the rest of them!

so what's the implication? a) when we talk to people about the Jesus we believe in, many people will have these thoughts in their head - they are predisposed to disbelieve. b) we probably have a bit of this way of thinking ourselves!
leonard cohen - the future
YouTube - The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings

lyrics to pumpkins song

lyrics to cohen song

What happened next?

Buttermere.oct08.on_top_of_high_crags.,
originally uploaded by treforW1.

myself and 2 other guys took 3 hours to get from this point to the bottom of the mountain!
lots to learn from this little escapade, like being sure of not only where you are going but also the best way to get there; like having agreement in the team as to what we are doing; like discussing with the leader what he has in mind for you to do; like making decisions based on the best way to achieve your goal, which is not necessarily the most direct route; like not making decisions based on base human instincts - like hunger, or the pressure from parameter set by others with no knowledge of your situation; like making sure all of your team is up for the given task; like making proper assessments of situations before embarking on a downward journey.
anyway, we all got home safe an sound, and alls well that ends well and all that, and the nice people from the mountain rescue team who were willing to risk life and limb on our behalf got to go to bed early and not wast time and energy on a bunch of unprepared unmanaged townies who thought they didnt have to take too much notice of the mountain!

the new friars : The Forgotten Ways

the new friars : The Forgotten Ways

interesting article (and book, might be worth a read) for those of us 'doing' stuff like storehouse, homeless projects or even Tim @ grabauw.

It's been raining. A lot. Again.

It's been raining. A lot. Again.,
originally uploaded by jon bassindale.

this photo captures what Saturday was like in the Lake district. the power of the elements was awesome!

Hoodies RythmRools?

OK - heres some thoughts on how a bunch of mates can help each other live more effectively, more authentically as followers of Jesus.


i've arranged them (the thoughts) under 4 posts - Relationship, Discipline, Behaviour (values) and Inclusion. Arranged as 'Concepts' and 'Actions'. There is posibly a 5th heading 'Action' but i'm not sure if thats a little bit futher down the line.

they are only 'starters for 10' designed to get everyone thinking - i recognise that they are my thougths, none of which are original, gleaned form books blogs talks the bible and good old 'gut feelings' and as such incomplete and wholy inadequate. the whole point of this kind of thing is that its a shared expression

please respond and add your thougths to the comments on the blog. If you have some key texts, biblical, theological, fictional or illogical, add them too. If you add recommended reading, it helps to give some sort of quote.

Hopefully, by the time we meet up again, we'll have something to talk about.



oh, and everything presupposes that we are serious about seeking God and want to know more of him in our lives and live truer to Him, each other and our calling.



Apologies in advance for annoying or bad language - it always gets in the way. As someone once said ... if necesary use words.

Inclusion

Concept:


most people don't get it


they don't get what we believe


they don't get what we do (they think: go to church, pray and read the bible)


even when they 'invite jesus into their lives' -they mostly still don't get it


How about inviting others to 'walk with us' - joining our chosen 'rythm', accepting to live our 'rule'? even if only for a while.

Behaviour / Values

Concept
Agreeing what we stand for and how we wnat to live & holding each other to account
Can't really beat the monastic orders on this one - Poverty chastity and obedience.
This all comes out of what we really believe in

Suggestions
Purity - all the usual stuff
Simplicity - against the tide of 'me first' consumerism
Obedience - taking jesus at his word (eg st Francis)
humility

Discipline

Concepts
Imposed structure in unstructured lives - we would never get around to the important things

Like we need weekly 'church', small group, daily 'quiet time'

" i suppose it acts as a good fitness programme... not simply doing 10 press ups, but offering a framework to build healthy habits and lives" (Lings - encounters on the edge no 29. p20)

communal discipline - everyone doing the same thing (eg daily office) everyone singing from the same Tim hughes sheet/scriptues/devotional thoughts/books etc.
Gives a sense of 'together'. also learning 'together' hearing from God 'together' . worshiping 'together' (in the full sense of the word, not the 'singing songs to jesus'

(possible) Actions

• Meet at set, regular intervals for prayer worship....
• Find a way of doing communal acts on whilst being apart eg: use a version of the office (invite Ricky gervais) to pray at agreed times in the day
• use the same bible reading plan
• read the same books
• go to gatherings together
• taking action together (eg disciples in acts)
  

Relationship

Concept
Passages like John 17 seem to make it pretty clear that we are supposed to do this following jesus in strong relationship groups.
Stronger Together.
i am my brothers keeper (nothing to do with Promise keepers!)
share one anothers burdens
confess your sins one to another
if you see a brother sin and haul him back...
knowing someone else knows
knowing someone else understands
spurring one another on

Action
praying for each other
meeting together
looking out for one another
asking the 'hard' question