London Urban Theology
Back in September I presented a paper to a thing called the London Urban Theology Project.
Steve (the convener/brains behind the outfit) has helpfully made the papers in to "journals" available at Lulu (here). At a bargain price there's certainly some good stuff to ponder on in the volumes for those doing mission and ministry in the Capital.

Guitar Hero
At the weekend we were in Rye catching up with friends. Nice to get time out to relax.
I also had my first experience of "Guitar Hero".
Man that's hard to get the hang of. But quite addictive.
I've been playing guitar for 23 years, but it didn't seem to help me much!

Did slightly better (I think!) at Buzz, a kind of game show quiz thing.

Social Networking
Not sure I get most of the social networking sites.
I've resisted the "F" word (Facebook). MySpace just looks like a mess to me.
I'm quite happy to be anti-social and stick to the blog.
Although many years ago I signed up to sms.ac. Which turned out to be a pain, as they kept texting me. Eventually I got them to stop.
Today out of curiosity I signed in to find it has morphed into "fanbox". I had 25 "fan requests", all from slightly random people who I've never met! Needless to say I don't want them as fans, and if I knew how I'd delete the account.
Fanbox - random!

Dangerous to be young in London?
All over London yesterday the Evening Standard's sellers were flanked with the headline "5 teens shot or stabbed every day". Certainly an attention grabbing headline! By the time I got the paper the lead story had changed, but inside there was a report of youth crime in the Capital. Online version here.
It reveals that:
"From 1 April to 30 November, a total of 1,273 victims under the age of 20 suffered injuries in gun and knife attacks. Many were victims of gang violence."
It is possible to dismiss the article as tabloid panic mongering but clearly there is a problem.

There is some great stuff being done to work with young people, and address these issues, at both street and strategic levels, with Christians involved at all levels. But more is clearly needed, and a fresh realisation from the middle classes that this is not just "somebody else's problem".
These are complex issues, without simple solutions.

Around the blogs
Few posts on other people's blogs that are interesting conversations:
Sport on Sundays at youthblog
Abolish Youth Ministry? No! at re-thinking youth ministry
Marko on stuff happening at Young Life in the USA

A welcome return
Glad to see Neighbours return to the TV today. Feels like back to routine at last.
Except this is the year it moves to Channel 5...

Scripture Memorisation

Scripture memorisation's probably not the most "hip" concept, but worthwhile.
Sometimes more than one verse or a longer passage can be helpful for context etc.
But this "Walking Bible" could be a useful (and also at times amusing) tool produced by some friends of mine (English version anyway), and I-tunes linkable too. It'll have you huming those ditties while learning those verses in no time...

+Happy New Year!
2008 has begun!

Can't really believe this blog began in 2004, is entering its 5th year!