Category Archives: Zzzz … Old Stuff

Meet them where they’re at

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I thought it was time for a story. So I have nicked an extract from a friend’s recent preach, it is great and for all you Donovan fans out there (Vincent not Jason) this one’s for you. a 19-year-old American called Bruce Olsen who went to live among the Motilone Indians in Colombia, South America in order to tell them about Jesus. It took him four years before he was accepted into the tribe and learned their language and all the time he wanted to try and explain what he knew about God. His initial attempts were met with indifference – the Motilone Indians listened politely but they saw God as an idea that Bruce had brought with him from America – part of Bruce’s culture. Their attitude was – that’s fine if it works for you but what’s it got to do with us. They couldn’t see how God was relevant to them. So Bruce began to look for ways to explain what he believed about God that would connect with their culture. He discovered that there was a Motilone legend about a man who had become an ant. This man had been sitting on a trail after a hunt and noticed some ants trying to build a home. He wanted to help them to build a good home so he started digging in the dirt. But because he was so big and so unknown the ants had been afraid and had run away. Then quite miraculously he had become an ant. He thought like an ant, looked like an ant and spoke the language of an ant. He lived with the ants and they came to trust him. He told them one day that he was not really an ant but a Motilone and he had once tried to help them improve their home but he had scared them. The ants said their equivalent of ‘no kidding? that was you?’ And they laughed at him because he didn’t look like the huge and fearful thing that had moved the dirt before. But at that moment he was turned back into a Motilone and began to move the dirt into the shape of a Motilone home. This time the ants recognised him and let him do his work because they knew he wouldn’t harm them.

I have tried to upload the Meet them where’re at powerpoint that I use for detached work training. If anyone has problems then let me know, as this is the first one I have done.
Meet them where theyre at.ppt

Exploring dissatifaction

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Apologies for the lack of blogs, half term and not been around much. Been looking at John Walkers post on the 24th Oct some great comments and posting, all sorts of stuff about motivation and new. I am astounded by the constant push for new when we haven’t really got our heads around the opportunities for personal growth in the present, let alone the past. John’s post (please read and the comments by following the link) reminded me of an artist friend of mine who adapted a piece of art he heard about (don’t you love third hand stuff). Anyway my mate turned his shed into an artwork. He cut a square hole in the roof and framed around the inside. Put a reclining chair in the shed, so when you sat down and looked up you saw this patch of sky framed as a picture. So often there is so much out there we miss how amazing each part is, or become dissatisfied with our part and fail to realise the value it has. Whilst this may be vague I cant help but connect it with Johns story in the Indian take away, and how much depth there is still to be explored from where we are, if we take the time to frame the right questions, and meet with others who may help find the answers, or at least help with more questions.

New Site

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In case you haven’t noticed Sunday Papers is now on a website of its own although it is still a blog and looks the same. The aim is to be able to set up some different categories for links and have space to upload articles, ideas and presentations. At the moment I have four possible categories I am developing and hope to have on line in the next couple of weeks:

Links: Other blogs and sites

Articles– mainly stuff we have written but also with some links to other good related articles around

Youth Work Tacks – Ideas and resources for working with young people mainly when trying to do youth work INFRONT of church rather than OUT FROM church

Talks and Presentations: Self explanatory

Gallery – Images that may be of use to provoke discussion, and general photos.

If there is anything you would like to see let me know, I would value feedback. Please also bear with me as I work out how to upload the stuff and get to grips with the technology.

WWJB?

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Did a detached work training session Nigel yesterday in Richmond. Good bunch of people. Nigel (find his stuff on www.sdpfyt.org.uk )used Stutzmans demographic model that identifies a marginalized minority, a comfortable majority and a rich minority. (based on people in the west) We used the curve to ask the question “where would Jesus be?� The thought struck me I like WWJB much more than WWJD.

Pride hurts!

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I have found myself called back to areas and people recently that I have probably been sub-consciously avoiding. Going to these places and people filled me with dread, would I be accepted, criticised, could I cope. At Greenbelt I came across this quote from Bishop Fenelon (whoever he is) who said “The trying things which you fancy come between God and you, will prove means of unity with Him if you bear them humbly. Those things that overwhelm us and upset our pride, do us more good than all that which excites and inspires us�
I guess I was feeling very overwhelmed, but the Bish helped me identity how it much pride was a root of these feelings. I still feel like I am walking into a lions den but at least I am ready to stick my head around the corner to see what’s there.

The purity of hate?

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I was doing a lecture today on contextualisation, and got to thinking about all those books and comments that shape your thinking. There are those big things with well thought out reason, justification, rooted in practice. Then there is a throw away comment that gets under your skin. I recently heard someone say they hated arsenal with a pure hatred. It has been rattling around in my head and not sure if it possible to hate with a pure hatred, or actually you can some things, or even whether hate is the right word? Suffice it say no resolutions just more questions.

The Church of Mistakes

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It has been great to follow some discussion on Mission and alt worship on Steves blog at Smallritual (see new link posted)stirred by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. Their book “the shaping of things to come” has a lot of good stuff, but I find their view of church too narrow for the missional context we are in. (for an extract check out http://www.blahonline.net/features.php) I talk more about this in “Off the Beaten track” sorry about the shameless plug if you want to get a copy check out link to OFF THE BEATEN TRACK.

I love that Steve’s notion that alt worship is missional and about reconnecting church to people and he is honest in about the limitations of current stuff (often a bit too high brow culture for me anyway). In a chat with him at Greenbelt he was open about grace needing the time find their way in worship and now they are asking the questions about mission. However I cant help thinking this is church before mission and may hinder rather than help mission. I advocate Mission INFRONT of church, rather than mission outfrom church. Perhaps if we see church growing out of mission context we will answer some the issues Steve raises in the blog on fight club for introverts

I was pointed to a site the other day http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/ small actions to change the world. I wonder if we have disconnected church, mission, and action. Jonny Baker is asking on his blog What is mission? In Off the beaten track i talk about as church as BOTH the city on the hill AND the journey to the city on the hill. Questioning both concepts mission and church which are so fluid, dynamic, undefinable is great but maybe the answer can only come in the actions we do as we seek to define them. And actually the mistakes we will make along the way are probably more a part of the answer than the successes. So here’s to making mistakes.

Grace at the edge

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Great time over the weekend flying the kite in really strong winds at Saunton Sands. This new kite is excellent and with the stong winds I could manage to get the wing tip to touch the ground and keep the thing afloat by taking it right to the edge of wind. It was when the kite was right on the edge of the wind that it was at its most grace-full the rest of the time, towards the middle of the wind it was gusty and all over the shop.

Acknowlegements

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Acknowledgement is a strange thing. This summer I found myself at a festival suddenly reliasing how much I valued an indidviduals input into my early youth work. He had guided and supervised my first year of work when I really needed it. Saying thanks to him was very important, and incredably weird, but something far more important happened as the acknowledgement and thanks created a thin place. This weekend I have to give a toast to my sister and husband for their 25th wedding aniversary and part of that will include the acknowledgement and thanks for all they did for me, particularly putting me up when I was homeless as a teenager. I wonder if another thin place will open up or it is something to do with the hearer as well as the speaker.