The Christ Files -

Yet another controversy to stir the minds of both the curious and the sceptiks alike. It will probably validate the "bashers" and those who need an excuse, while throw the insecure into defence mode. Read more here

Meanwhile Chanel 7 will be airing what looks like a rare Christian documentary that investigates the validity of the Gospels etchings on Good Friday 2008....check your guide. See the preview at www.thechristfiles.com.au



Proof should have its evidence but perhaps we shouldn't limit ourselves to just the written facts....for fear of developing a religion that is at its core....a theory. My angle is this....there are many contributions or tools to discovering reality.....the modern age rests heavily on its books and proofs, its empirical data ......evidence of God and faith cannot be contained by these parameters alone....if so, belief in God would be either retricted to the either the intellectual or simpleton....Truth is more than our debated facts....

Truth is a reality we encounter.

The historical facts bring an important piece to the picture.....but they in themself are not the total story. So I watch these debates with casual interest.

The Chaser and silly Christian comment

Archbishop Peter Jensen has labelled The Chaser’s recent stunt ‘distressing’ and ‘disrespectful’ depicting Christian religious enthusiasts flocking to a public toilet to see an image of Jesus as a stain in a toilet bowl. I admit an initial cringe myself but the humour is directed as those who believe the rather unbiblical phenomenon of apparitions of Christ today. And why not have a laugh at the rather disturbing practice by painting it in the most extremely unbelievable form....toilet stains. Surely we take ourselves too seriously if we can't laugh at the absurdities that evolve within Christian culture....then we'll never question them.

Consider this quote,

It is a universal tendency in the Christian religion, as in many other religions, to give a theological interpretation to institutions which have developed gradually through a period of time for the sake of practical usefulness, and then read that interpretation back into the earliest periods and infancy of these institutions, attaching them to an age when in fact nobody imagined that they had such a meaning.

-Richard Hanson

So have The Chaser gone too far? I don't think so. Cultural Christianity has its predictable responses that show little thought process. It is insuted too quickly and has forgotten how to laugh and continues to isolate itself from society.

The article went on to quote the Rev Fred Nile, who said "the program could have endangered lives if the Muslim figurehead, Mohammed, had been the target". Well....they could have endangered lives if they drank and drove....but they didn't....why suggest something they didn't do and smear them with the suggestion? Manipulative ...hmmmm.

emergingBook?

I have had this thought in my mind for the last year or so that a blog could form the basis for a book. Why not?....there's plenty of text to begin with. A bit of editing, and expanding on other areas etc ....new thoughts....the narrative of an emergent journey re-written for a different audience. An audience that doesn't read blogs but buys books from Christian book shops....an audience that may still have little feel for doing or being church in a different way. Reaching back to my roots and bridging a gap.

I hear its difficult getting a manuscript through....but I would like to give it a go..just once. I'm taking 3 months off work soon with a new baby on the way.....maybe I'll start typing. I reckon it might be the first 'pilgrims' journal of life from an emergent culture. Sure, the theological thinkers are publishing....but what about the grass roots.....after all isn't that a characteristic of emergent mission?

cheers!

New web site

Hi again

Its been a while and I am happy just living a busy life. I am running another site that has just started up. Its our refugee resettlement groups site. I am happily busy with some new friends from the Congo via an Afircan refugee camp.

Check it out here

A lesson in humour?

I wonder if the central theme of this great joke has application for the church?

The Americans and the Japanese decided to engage in a competitive boat race. Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance.

On the big day they felt ready.

The Japanese won by a mile.

Afterward, the American team was discouraged by the loss. Morale sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and recommend corrective action. The consultant's finding: the Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the American team had one person rowing and eight people steering. After a year of study and millions spent analyzing the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many people were steering and not enough were rowing on the American team.

So as race day neared again the following year, the American team's management structure was completely reorganized. The new structure: four steering managers, three area steering managers and a new performance review system for the person rowing the boat to provide work incentive.

The next year, the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem.

The Church has left the building

The Age newspaper calls it "Refugees in faith" which seems rather appropriate for those of us who have left the building to experiment with new possibilities in expressing and living out the gospel.

I'm alive and kick'in

Its been a few months since I've posted. I haven't decided the future of emergingBlurb as yet but in case you were wondering, I am still alive and may post something at some stage. It was a big enough task remembering my password!