People and Organisations

Interesting quote flagged up by Jonny here. It reminded me of a conversation/discussion that Roy (who has sadly killed his blog) were having over coffee yesterday about directing/steering/building plans for organisations . I hope I didn't burden you too much with my bablings yesterday Roy. I'm not sure if it helps us come to answers about what we were talking about but it definitely adds to the conversation.

I agree with the quote but for some reason it doesn't fit completely comfortably with me. With all the recent talk of entrepreneurs I have questions about the too many chiefs not enough Indians scenario.

A chance to visit

With the before mentioned vote taking place we took the opportunity to pop off south of the river to church.co.uk.

It was great to see their church and hear about there vision for the future. It was good to see my old pal Dave Steell and to hear Steve Chalke preach.

Steve was preaching the first in a new series called 'If good people do nothing.....'

Steve focussed on 'the breakdown of the family' and it was great to hear some teaching on a really down to earth and culturally relevant subject.

The series is based around the quote from Edmund Burke

"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing"

Quote

I came across this quote in my archives from when I first starting blogging in May 2004 whilst I was still looking for something else. I still like it. I guess for an over reflective person like me I sometimes forget about living it forwards.

"Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forward."

Søren Aaby Kierkegaard

Quote

A great quote that I found via Mark Berry. Here is probably my favourite Thomas Merton quote but this one is wonderful.

"The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation with violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys her own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful."

Quote

I received the quote below this morning in an email. The critique of being 'purpose driven' reminds me of a few things that Rob Bell said at Youthwork the Conference last year. I like this quote although I'm not sure about 'It is not the destruction of all that is evil.' I think it really summarises Christian hope in a very eloquent way. However surely part of our hope is the ultimate destruction of evil. Perhaps I'm just not getting it. Any thoughts on this quote?

"Christian hope is not based on which political party is in power. Nor is based on being purpose-driven, as some have written, or cajoling ourselves toward happiness, as some have preached. Our Christian hope is based on an Easter reading of the world. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ God overturns the world. God does a whole new thing. Easter is not the result of gradual progress. It does not signify a military victory. It is not the destruction of all that is evil. Rather, it is a breaking through to a whole new future. It is a letting go of what has been in order to grasp what is given in Jesus Christ." (Phil Edwards)

Youthwork the Conference (Day 2, part 1)

Wow it was windy this morning as i ambled along the sea front back towards the conference centre (video has been removed because it seems to start all the time even when its not the latest post and that is far too annoying. The video is here instead now). I love having that chance to walk first thing in the morning especially by the sea. I like my 15 min walk to the office each day, if only i could move the sea there.

Rob was straight into it this morning as we explored Sabbath, boundaries and various other classics that come up at these type of gatherings. The main thing today that has been taking up my headspace has been a nagging question.

What has God called me to? What is his/my vision?

There's a lot of stuff caught up in this for me, personally and theologically. I find it hard to nail down one thing but i have a sense that i need to work through again my calling and then re-focus ensuring that i don't spread myself too thinly.

This probably sounds more worrying and extreme than it is. I don't have doubts about my calling into Youth Ministry at this time, it's more about making sure that my time is spent in the right areas and perhaps that there are others who should be doing other things.

Well it's the end of the full timers mini conference and as i sit drinking my coffee i can see the swell of people arriving for the main event. I managed to fill 19 pages of my note pad and i only took notes in 2 and a half of Rob's sessions as there was quite a lot of Q&A

Part of this Q&A should appear in Youthwork Magazine next month.

Here are a couple of quotes from Rob Bell

whilst speaking about dealing with criticism 'Bloggers are the new Pharisees'

'It's not a good time for any american to be going around the world telling anyone how to do anything'

'If the bible was a movie, most Christians wouldn't watch it'

Quote

As the weekend approaches i think that this little offering is especially timely.

- "I've been thinking Hobbes --"
- "On a weekend?"
- "Well, it wasn't on purpose..."

Known Knowns

I was reminded of this piece of brilliance from Donald Rumsfeld after the political events in the USA yesterday. The Daily Mirror today published an 'i told you so' after their headline after the re-election of Bush. They are know claiming that America is coming around to their way and probably a fair few others way of thinking.

365

This is my 365 post, one for each day of the year. That is in 2 and a half years.

Here is a little quote that has been influencing my thinking this week. Mentoring manages to continue to be something i am thinking through a lot. We are starting some new intergenerational mentoring relationships at church and i am also talking with Roy currently as we try and work out if there's scope to do something within schools.

The Weekend (nearly)

It's been one of those days so far. I lost a cash card the other day and then discovered that it hadn't been cancelled today as i had asked them to. Anyway i went into the branch and they assured me it was now done and it was. Unfortunately for me as i used my other card from the same bank that one was eaten by the machine because as i later discovered they managed to cancel both cards. Very frustrating as i have to wait 5 days for each to be replaced. Aghh

I'm currently taking a quick break from setting up for youth club tonight. We are launching a new format where we use more of the building with some new activties to give us a bigger capacity. It has been good to see some growth numerically in this group since september. I pray that this continues but that we also have volunteer levels to sustain this.

A little profound quote from Winston Churchill for the second week running.

Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Give Up

Quote

It's been a quiet week on my humble blog but here is a little quote for the weekend. I will be using this as i speak to the adults at church on Sunday. Hopefully it will be a good challenge to our church and to us individually.

"Now is not the time for ease and comfort, now is the time to dare and to endure."

Winston Churchill

Quote

It's that time again. Here is a little offerening that i love from Mike Yac's wonderful little book, Dangerous Wonder.

'A four year old girl was overheard whispering into her newborn baby brother's ear, "Baby," she whispers, "tell me what God sounds like. I am starting to forget."

The Weekend

I had one of those really nice and fairly relaxing weekends. With no commitments in terms of teaching/leading on Sunday it was nice just to be.

Saturday saw my first football match of the season. I must admit that I was looking forward to this with an equal mix of excitement and fear. That first game is always a bit of a killer as you wish you had eaten less food, drunk less beer and gone out for more runs over the summer. It was a pretty enjoyable game although I did struggle with my new found responsibility of moving from my usual right midfield role to become a box to box centre midfield player. We did manage to get back from 3-1 down to grab a 3-3 draw. My legs are currently telling me as usual that they don't appreciate being thrown around a field for 90 mins, much pain. As Jo had gone shopping with her mum it also meant that I was able to watch the football guilt free although it was rubbish, that was interspersed by a visit from my brother and his family.

Sunday was also a nice day and it saw the launch of our new form of evening service/discussion time. Using the first Nooma 'Rain' clip here we looked into the area of trials and tough times in our lives and where and why they come. It waas good to see a fairly decent turn out and the more informal environment (coffee and candles and people around tables and all that jazz) seemed to go down well with the people I was sitting with. I'm sure it will change and develop as the months go on but it was a good start. Again it was nice to see our church doing something that will be different and a challenge to some people. It's hardly radical in the grand scheme of things but for our little church family it may just be that. For me personally it was nice to look at something that I have used and taught with with other people. It is so rare that I am in our sunday services it was good for me to engage with issues such as this. I do struggle that often we shy away from difficult issues, I hope that these times will help me to start scratching some of those itchy subjects that often whirl around in my head. I hope that this group doesn't become a place of sharing the right answers but instead looks at the struggles we have and values that process of tackling and thinking them through.

It seems that my love for quotes in catching on as people send me or ask to borrow things that I post here. Andy sends a little offering which fits rather nicely with some stuff that was being articulated last night.

"To demand that others should provide you with textbook answers is like asking a strange woman to give birth to your baby. There are insights that can be born only of your own pain, and they are the most precious."

(Janusz Korczak)

If you have quotes that should be shared please send them to me or post them in the comments. Before someone points out yes the best piece of life advice is still

'Never eat yellow snow'

By the way Christmas lights have just been put up around the lamp posts here in Winchmore Hill (frightening). I'll try and get a pic some time.

Quotes

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.

Albert Einstein

Discipleship

I love this quote that from Vinscent Donovan that Ian flags up here.

Gutted

Feeling a bit gutted this afternoon after a funding application I put in was rejected. I was fairly confident about this one but hey it's not the end of the world. Other places to look yet.

I'm cheered by a phrase that a friend of mine tampered with during a church gathering. I'm not sure the original would have gone down so well.

"when the proverbial unpleasantness hits the fan"

Jarvis

I bought a copy of NME today. I'm not as faithful as I was as a student in buying and keeping up to date with the music scene. I do however buy it every now or then. I decided to judge a book by its cover this week because Jarvis Cocker was on the front. In his really interesting view he shares his views on everything from not mixing cider and red wine (sound advice I think) to condemning career rock stars. I do love Jarvis as he is a bit of a mad genius and as someone who grew up through Pulp's glory days of brit pop it was nice to hear from him after a number of years out of the public eye. I guess that most of us will remember Jarvis for his impromptu and very camp stage invasion/walk around during Michael Jackson's Brit Awards performance of Earth Song.

Relive that moment here.

Anyway during the interview he says this about musicians:

"There is a personality type to pop stars - a defective personality, I think. You have the desire to receive adulation from people to make you feel alright about yourself. That's why often the best pop stars screw themselves up because the reality doesn't provide the thing they were looking for."

also this rings true in many ways of my recollection of the mid 90's:

"In my day, Topshop was just a place for townies to go - nobody else would be seen dead in there. You'd get your white shirt and your pleat top trousers, but now it's all things with bits of zips and chains hanging off - it's quite extreme. The obscure trendy things are now the mainsteam townie things."

on careerist musicians:

"I've always liked people who mess up. I don't like career people - it doesn't seem very appropriate when it comes to music which is about something emotional. Reading an interview with Razorlight is just like reading the Economist, saying, Yeah, well we're going to be really big in America and we think this albums going to follow up the next one."

Consumerism and the Church

It seems to be a difficult balance to get. Within youthwork how much time do we providing attractive looking programmes? It seems legitimate in some respects, but at the end of the day what keep young people engaged with the church?

My thinking around consumerism has been prodded and formed by different things over the past years. I remember reading and listening to Pete Ward talk about his book 'Liquid Church'. In fact i really like this book and his exploration of new forms of being church. However one of my former lecturers was fairly heavily critical of the approach to this book as he branded is as consumeristic as its premise was to create church to be what we enjoy. I can see both sides of the fence.

Whilst at our weekly n:flame team meeting yesterday we were thinking about consumerism within youthwork and spent some time thinking about Marko's excellent article in octobers Youthwork magazine.

I found this piece from some burger king advertising on Conrad Gempf's blog and some his thoughts around it.

"Have It Your Way
You have the right to have what you want, exactly when you want it. Because on the menu of life, you are "Today's Special." And tomorrow's. And the day after that. And... well, you get the drift. Yes, that's right. We may be the King, but you my friend, are the almighty ruler."

It does seem to perfectly sum upthe consumeristic nature of today. I wonder how prevelent this thinking is in church. How many people expect things to be put on for them as church becomes something that we attend rather than what we are?

Quote

yes it's that time again. Roy and me were sharing our diary quote for the week. Here was mine,

"I sometimes feel that more lousy dishes are presented under the banner of pate than any other." - Kingsley Amis

Mentoring

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple of months about mentoring. The idea has been at the back of my mind for some time as it is something that i was involved with a bit a SBC. Anyway i spent some time doing one to ones over the summer with a number of the young people, just sitting drinking coffee asking how things are going with God. The comments that came back from the young people were can't we do this more often, just talking informally about God and my journey. I had no plans to look at this this year but it seems to be something really exciting and organic. Below are a couple of quotes from young people in Contemplative Youth ministry that seem to highlight the importance of these cross generational relationships.

“The adults who make Christianity come alive are the adults who take an interest in me – the adults who show an interest in my life as well as a passion and interest in their own lives. Not only do they say, ‘Hey, how are things going with you? They’re also willing to sit down and say, ‘Let me tell you what’s going on with me.’ Those are the people I really enjoy. Those are the people who have kept me in church.”

Nathaniel, age 19


Adults have to show kids that they’re loved by God. They can tell you as much as they want, but they have to show you in some way. They have to show you that no matter what you do, even if you drop lasagne on the couch, it’ll be ok – like ‘We’ll get over it. The couch was ugly in the first place. One more stain won’t kill it. Life goes on.’ This is so much easier than if they just keep telling you like, ‘Hey you’re the beloved of God. Just believe it.’ It’s easier when they show it to you and you can do stupid stuff, and you can tell that they love you, no matter what.

Amanda – Age 15