What is a Christian?

According to the World Methodist Council faith-sharing New Testament (sitting in a seminar):

A Christian is a person who believes that the living God is revealed in and through Jesus Christ, who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who lives in obedient communion with God through the Holy Spirit and who takes his or place in the community of Christ's church.

Discuss.

Childhood Things

I don't why I thought to think of one of my favourite childhood movies, The Fighting Prince of Donegal. Perhaps it was Rhys' excitement at watching Finding Nemo. But I loved this movie (a Disney movie) and back in those days (the 70's) you didn't rent movies - you waited patiently until the Sunday evening Disney show played it again. I saw it maybe 2 or 3 times but it played out many times in memory in the backyard. I was the fighting prince Hugh O'Donnell liberating the Irish from the oppression of the English.

It's movies like this that cultivated a sense of the romantic in me. I am not a big cry-er. In fact, hardly at all. But if there is something to bring a tear to my eye its moments of achievement against the odds - I will shed a tear watching Olympic medal ceremonies where Kiwis are flying high.

More than that, I sometimes wonder whether it was movies like this with grand themes of freedom, redemption and overcoming the odds that kept alive a spark of what passed for faith in those days. Not faith in anything particular, but faith in transcending the human condition - that there was something more than biological existence. The thought never entered my head because the thoughts in my head were profoundly atheistic. But I can't help but wonder at the sustaining effect of these sorts of dreams.

John 1 describes the world prior to the Word becoming flesh - Jesus:

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The passage goes on to say that the true light was coming into the world, but meantime there was this life that was the light of men. I think of it in these terms: just enough light to see that we need more light. In other words we're not left fumbling in the dark for the light switch. There's just enough light to see the difference true light could make.

I think of films like this and the grand themes they encompass as being part of that light for me.

My Secret Affair

Here she is...beautiful not hot...half the weight of my last one...slender, slim line skin...sensitive touch...mmmmmmmm

Southland Lift the Shield!

Gotta love the underdogs! Southland grind out a 9-3 win over the Cantabs. Not sure what this means for Auckland now in the wider run to the semifinals. Now we just gotta make sure the Red and Blacks don't win the title! Hawkes Bay to win the rematch?

Rhett's Rugby Rant

Alright, so a first for my blog, a request for a topic! From Rhett the blogless one. He's so dying to talk about Rugby online...so I will post...

First up Chris Rattue is a prize pillock. Today's article saying he will cheer the opposition in Wales on the AB tour is crazy and unpatriotic. There's a big difference between expressing a point of view about coaches and tactics and selections and turning your back on the national side. Go dropkick yourself Chris.

Moving to the most interesting part of the selection announcement, the coach reshuffle. This is how I see it:

• Its a demotion for Hansen - Henry, the only coach who has actually succeeded in his specialist area of defence, moves into the trouble area of the lineouts - already his media offensive has been highly effective - lets hope his coaching is as good;


• Its a demotion for Smith - he loses the backs and gets defence instead - now Smithie just work the old axiom "if it ain't broke don't fix it". The problem with Smith is he is full of great ideas but is a crap coach. Remember the flat backline anyone? I can see it now: "We are working on a new defensive strategy. Basically we are turning our backs on the opposition so that we are ready for pop kicks over the top and in a better position to chase opposition players who breach our first line of defence...we're calling it the back flatline....";


• The only curious piece in this is Hansen getting the backs. Now the first point in his favour is that he was a back, despite his porcine tendencies towards front row physique. And he was coach of a successful Crusaders unit back in the day, who were masters of the counterattack. Of course if it doesn't work we can all just flush the dunny and move on...

As for the players? Kind of predictable in most areas:

• Sad but expected move on Ross - lets hope he can still run when he comes out of the gym


• A pleasant surprise on Messam


• A shock on Delaney when everyone was picking the Manawatu lad, but the distinguishing features of age and a decent kicking game are revealing...


• A big surprise with De Malmanche omitted. I'm picking this is Henry's first foray into "owning" the forwards - if I'm going to coach the lineout you better believe I am not going to pick someone who can't throw the ball in...


• Ben Smith was the selectors way of making sure NO ONE got the full team right...lets hope its not another roll of the dice aka Wulf, Gear, Tuitavake etc


• Guildford is rewarded for solid form and he has in Kirtonese language - "gas" - there's a novelty in recent AB sides a winger with pace...

Thats all from me - have at it Mr Snell! Or we could meet for coffee and gasbag about it all :)

Oh and while I am now officially being solicted for blog posts would anyone like me to blog about the politicisation of the family unit and a critique of aspects of rights theory especially as applied to women?

Bookworm

Jesus the Word - a word so pure, so powerful, so perfect, that to speak it would be as if every word ever written, every word ever spoken, every thought conceived was but a stillborn whisper. A word so far reaching that to utter it could change everything – the past, the present, the future. A word so true, so right, that to speak it would bring something out of nothing. Now imagine that word taking for its meaning a new definition – one phrased in human flesh. A medium at once limiting in its constraints but richly expressive in the nuances it could bring to its human readership.

The Super Pastor?

So a little back story - the Auckland metropolitan area is made up of a number of cities each with their own infrastructure - the plan is to combine them into a super city. Now a certain high profile pastor decided that the super city needed a super church so a bill board was made...

And now cessioncommunity's youth pastor has made this...

What the Hell?

Two interesting thoughts:

"Let me sum up my thoughts: Hell is a freely-chosen identity based on something else other than God that goes on forever. But even while you disintegrate, you refuse to admit what hell is. You think that it is God who cast you in hell, but it is a self-chosen identity. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in hell choose it. Without that self choice, it wouldn't be hell."

"...this reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for everybody. Paul insisted that when Jesus died on the cross, he was reconciling ‘all things, in heaven and on earth, to God.’ All things, everywhere. This reality then isn’t something that we make true about ourselves by doing something. It is already true. Our choice is to live in this new reality or cling to a reality of our own making."

I Am Feeling Olympic

So Rugby Sevens is an Olympic sport eh? But its not the first time Rugby has been played at the Olympics. Without googling it, who is the reigning Olympic Rugby Gold Medallist?

I'm not sure Netballs answer to Sevens and 20-20 Cricket will survive but glad we beat the Aussies!

Covenant

So we have this opportunity for people to identify with cessioncommunity as partners and as part of that we invite people to enter into a covenant with us. I recently received the following slightly reworded covenant from a new recruit - I'll leave you to work out which bits were added:

Partnership Covenant/Contract/Soul-selling

I,………………………… wish to covenant with the cult of cessioncommunity as together we reach for our vision of flying away on our purple spacecraft to greater glory and
life encountering truth as we reflect and offer Christ

I will align my efforts with the Mission of the cessioncommunity by seeking to become a growing follower of Christ who grows followers of Christ. To do this I will join the community in:

• Connecting our lives to God and drawing others into that connection
(Adoration)
- Through regular attendance of the worship gathering
- Spending quality relationship time with God
- Being a 'fool' for Christ

• Living life together in authentic community (commune)

(Belonging)
Through attending a cell group at the movies or pub
Committing to "open" relationships with people - sounds like my kind of church!

• Impacting our neighbours with love
(Caring)

Living out God’s command to love my neighbour
Being a part of our corporate community influence events
Phoning noise control wherever possible
Getting drunk and trying to get others to do likewise


• Reflecting and offering Jesus Christ to others
(Drawing)

Sharing Jesus with those I’m connected to - scratch that: I don't share
Being a part of what we do together to reach others and inviting friends and family where I can

• Pursuing and encouraging life transformation
(Equipping)

Taking time to learn and apply more of the bible* to my life
Bringing all that I am and have to God from time and talents to financial and other resources - do you have change for a button?

* The "Bible" being Fashion Quarterly

Well it made me laugh!

Wordsmithising

So someone sent me an email following Sunday's sermon. It was a gentle correction on something I had said:

"First, i wasn't going to say anything until i double checked, but i was pretty sure you were claiming to make up a word that i had heard...awhile back..."

Whoops! Busted!

But the truth of it was: I really had no idea the word existed...so my conclusion was:

"Wow! That’s so cool. Yes I did claim to make it up – actually I DID make it up – its just someone else made it up first – which makes me even cooler: I made up A REAL WORD! That makes me awesome, just a little late."

You can spin anything I guess :)

Letterman

So John Key was on Letterman...he was kinda lame, but he's our lame right? Good on ya John!

Post Post Bureaucratic Post

So back in June I posted on Post-Bureaucracy and the small problems I was having getting WOF's for vehicles. So today was interesting. I didn't (of course) fix the offending window. Why should I? I walked in (to a different place naturally) and got the WOF. No questions asked and before you ask whether it was one of THOSE places - it wasn't - it was one of the reputable places. Funny how the LTSA regs changed while I was away.

We also got Kristen's SRS light to go off. It was a little less than the $780 quoted. It turned out to be a loose wire. Not sure why the original garage couldn't have popped the steering wheel to confirm that before quoting. The garage was too embarrassed to charge so all it cost was the $50 for the computer scan.

$50 and 2 WOF's. Thats my kind of bureaucracy...

The Gospel For iGen

Scot McKnight makes a great case for "gospeling" in a recent CT article. The basic premise of the article is that a generation raised on a robust diet of self-esteem may be less predisposed to accept personal responsibility for sin.

For a start McKnight exposes a constant myth:

Sometimes I think we forget that no where in the pages of the New Testament do we find what many of us heard when we were gospeled: God loves us, we are sinners, God still loves us and sent us his Son to die for our sins, and if we receive God's plan we will spend eternity with him and be empowered by grace for a new life now. I believe every line in that gospel to be true, but no one said it quite that way in the New Testament.

Just ask Jesus into your heart - it's true but its not true. Instead he points iGens to Jesus.

First with the vision of the Kingdom:

Nothing in my experience mesmerizes iGens like the kingdom vision of Jesus. One approach I use is to move through the Gospel of Luke. I begin with the preliminary expectations of Mary, Zechariah, and John the Baptist. I then focus on what Jesus wanted to bring about on earth (Luke 4:16-30; 6:20-26, and 7:18-23). Then I observe that Jesus knew the cross was the way to that kingdom (9:18-27). We move from there into the cross and resurrection, and then emerge on the other side of Easter with Pentecost and the apostolic church community (Acts 2:42-47).

He then vividly descibes the process by which community can draw someone to Christ (a far cry from the lampooning attempts of the anti-community brigade and it has to be said the "community is all" set):

Anyone who vividly sketches a community marked by justice, love, peace, and holiness has a message iGens want to hear. The self hidden behind the castle wall is now interested. And I have found that the self-in-a-castle feels shame about systemic sin, and their sensitivity to things like AIDS, poverty, and racism leads inevitably to recognizing the sin in each person. At some point in this movement to the castle door, the iGen will realize that systemic sin is linked to personal sin. Suddenly he or she feels accountable to God.

Perhaps its the inverse of the self-help guru approach that appeals to the iGen, but McKnight also sees discipleship as an attractive force with iGens:

Along with Jesus' kingdom vision, some iGens are awakened to faith by the discipleship demands of Jesus. I usually focus on the Sermon on the Mount, and not just because I'm an Anabaptist. This message of Jesus was the church's favorite and it remains a powerful sketch of a moral life that both creates a world of possibilities and—at the very core—unmasks pretence and sinfulness. Through the Sermon on the Mount, I find the self-in-a-castle lured to the castle door. In fact, rather than turning off iGens, the demand of Jesus for a life that matters and a morality that exceeds what they have experienced, is radically attractive. It challenges them to their core.

He concludes with an encouragement:

Like many young people in her generation, what finally led this student to embrace the gospel was being brought into the story of Jesus. Our task in gospeling iGens is following the example of Peter and Paul and helping them find their place—and themselves—in that remarkable story.

What I enjoyed about this article was cKnight putting some framework around some things I have observed in ministry, while still leaving room for a wide variety of responses and experiences. Not everyone is iGen in their makeup but for those who are McKnight offers some clues on reaching them. It resonates with what I see of God's grace drawing people in different ways to the point of commitment to Christ.

What was your experience? What drew you to Christ?

End of Year Tour

While there is one more test to go (and therefore now is not the time to sharpen coaching knives) it IS time to begin thinking through the 30 for the end of year tour. So I've picked my team, not the one they will pick. Comment away if you've done little else but think about this and find yourself blogless...

My method is this:

• Take out the injured ones
• Work how who needs a rest and leave them at home
• Give the performers this year a chance
• Retire those who seem past it now and give some new blood a shot

In that last category? So'oialo, Thorn, Donald, Rokococo. In the 2nd category Mils.

Fullbacks - Corey Jane and Israel Dagg (lets see who comes through as the top contender)
Wings - Sivivatu, Masaga, Gear (Jane, Slade etc can fill in)
Centres - Toeava, Robert Fruean (HUGE potential) - Assumption: Smith and Kahui are not available
2nd Five - Nonu, Jayden Hayward (the most talented 2nd V on display in the Air NZ Cup) - Assumption: McAllister is injured
1st Five - Carter, Cruden, Slade (Slade has utility value as well)
Halfback - Cowan, Leonard (it would be good to have a third, but not enough space and who?)
No.8 - Read, Messum (must be given a chance to develop his huge potential)
Blindside - Kaino, Thompson (can cover 7 as well)
Open Side - McCaw, Whitelock
Locks - Ross, Boric, Eaton, Jack (to see if he's ready and to pass on experience
Props - Woodward, McIntosh, Franks, Afoa (they'll take Crockett instead of McIntosh)
Hookers - Hore, De Malmanche, Hika Elliot (got to get another go)
Alright so thats 32 :) 2 to be omitted...take out a lock, a hooker or a first five...maybe they'll prefer Slade as a fullback to Dagg which would be a shame...

I reserve the right to think some more :)