change of heading

Hello friends,

I decided to change the title of the blog - not the address this time, to reflect what I feel this blog has become in its embryonic stages. That is a forum for people to have their say about different things, and I feel excited by that. Ranting is an important human act, it relieves stress and helps us express things that are often suppressed and controlled. So please keep on with the rants and join in the discussions with your fellow ranters!

Go meet John 'the Rev' Jensen

Hello folks,
My old mentor and friend John Jensen has begun blogging again. I encourage you to visit his blog: reverendjohn.blogspot.com. He has a fascinating story and is actively trying to share his faith as a Christian anarchist and emerging church planter. He is passionate and has a thorough and critical mind, so go and check out his blog and join in the festivities.

Hello my friends,

I have changed my address to my name. But as you are reading and have received my email you probably already know this. Its funny how our tastes change - especially in western culture. We tend to bore fairly easily, whether its with a blog address, favourite t shirt or even a partner, we like to look for something that is better then we already have. Dont know what the answer is as we are all victims of our dominant cultures default settings. I will post again soon to elaborate.

Day two

Well here I am again - faithful to the cause of blogging. I have had an experience at work in the past couple of days that has forced me to reflect on my future, which happens to me from time to time. I came to the conclusion that security and familiarity can often become tools which stop the vital work of change and growth in our lives. As humans we react so poorly to change, particuarly change that occurs after long periods of service or loyalty. Our reaction, which is perfectly normal, can be grief and fear. In my work with people with alcohol and drug issues this was always the last barrier to those ready to have a life without drug use. The complete change of life. It is a very daunting thing, yet those who have had the courage to walk that path have had incredible transformation experiences. There are times in life when we react to circumstances in an emotional way and change occurs due to this. This I think can be unhelpful in the long term, someone once told me that 'you should never get off a train when its going through a dark tunnel'. When we react emotionally to our situation we can make sweeping changes which cause regret. However if we wait till the train pulls up to the station and decide to get off, this will lead to new opportunites. I know that I need to keep in mind that change is good and when opportunity presents itself I hope I have the courage to take it.

Formal Introductions

Welcome to my blog! I dont know if anybody will read this as I am fairly illiterate in the ways of the blog and anything to do with the internet really. However I recognise the importance of a tool such as blogging and as such am determined to air my views. To start with I am a salvation army officer and as such many of my views reflect this. However I dont live in a silo and believe whole heartedly in interfaith dialogue and understanding. I love different forms of church and am excited when people try new things. In saying that I have a particular interest in the emerging church. I believe that The Salvation Army (TSA) is in a prime position to grasp the vision of the emerging church and create a new way to go forward. In saying this I feel that we must learn from the success and failures of others. TSA has a history of innovation but has become somewhat insula and taken on a wait and see approach in recent times. The emerging church can emerge and become a potent anarchist movement, pushing against the Empire (the ruling powers which do all they can to maintain their control and power) to instigate change. TSA with its privilaged position as the biggest charity in Australia and the reputation it has within the community can stand for the most impoverished of our global community in a fresh way. TSA was a prophetic movement and needs to re-capture that, and the medium could be the emerging church movement. I believe that currently the emerging church has too narrow a focus, aimed at meeting people in a third place context and in doing so has veered away from a foundational concept of mission. I believe as Christians our focus must be the most oppressed and marginalised, not just within our social network or local area but within a global context. I feel that the emerging church fails in this area and can sometimes be a meeting place for disenfranchised christians not motivated by much other than shared discouragement. I am not opposed to the emerging concept and consider such Australian emerging church giants such as Alan Hirsch and Mark Sayers and my old mentor John Jensen as friends and prophets. Yet I cannot escape the reality that people are dying all over the world from the most preventable and inexcuseable causes. Until the church has come up with an adequate response to this, I feel we are missing the point and becoming far too western centric. The main goal of the church united and all followers of Christ should be to help through various social justice acts those of the developing world. I believe that at the heart of social justice and mission must be the concerted effort to advocate, lobby and militantly oppose third world debt. Eradication of third world debt is the most important social action of Christians in this day and age and will one day be an indictment on our generation if we have not helped to provide a way forward. I am not an expert on economics, but I do know what I have discovered through my studies: the sins of the father are carried by his sons and daughters. Third world debt has created a situation where new generations are litterally paying the price of the mistakes of previous generations. Children are not being educated or getting adequate food and health care, because of the cumbersome debt racked up by their grandparents. This is the ultimate injustice. In the west we can file for bankruptcy when we are unable to pay our debts, yet these countries can not do the same thing, instead we have a situation where the poor are paying the wages of the rich. Rather then investing all our time in finding new ways to do church, we must as a church find new ways to change the balance of the empire. I'll finish my initial post with a quote that sits close to my heart:

"Poverty wields its destructive influence at every stage of human life, from the moment of conception to the grave. It conspires with teh most deadly and painful diseases to bring a wretched existence to all those who suffer from it" - World Health Organisation