Lev's Blog

2010-08-18T22:24:00.003+01:00

Transition and Change

After over 6 years I think it’s time to wind up this old blog.

There’s not been much posting in recent months, because I’ve been in a time of transition.

When the blog started in 2004 the focus was youth ministry, emerging church, church, and random personal ramblings. Since then Twitter has become my place for the random stuff. And by the start of next month, after many years, younger generations will no longer be my main ministry focus.

My role at the London Baptist Association will come to and end, and from Sept 1^st I will take up a position as a local Baptist church minister in South London.

Some youth ministry people may see it as “selling out”. But for me the last few years have primarily been about church – helping churches be what they are called to be, which includes mission to and with the younger generations. And now its time to focus on a local church and see what God will open up, across the generations.

So that’s the story, and the end of this blog.

But when one blog dies another begins, so a new blog will come online, here:

http://peteleve.wordpress.com/

2010-07-19T20:12:00.004+01:00

Flying Ant 2010
Seems in West London, Dartford area and elsewhere to be flying ant day 2010.

Is about the right time, humidity etc.
Another annual summer marker!

Update
Flying ant day part 2 in West London: August 8th!

2010-05-05T17:27:00.006+01:00

Assembly Reflections
Lots of blog posts about the Baptist Assembly (listed here, so far!).
Fear I'm becoming an Assembly junkie as I've been every year for the last while (trying to count, might be as many as 10!). I like the vibe, catching up with people, having coffee etc.

The demographic of grey haired, ageing, mainly white population still concerns me (but maybe those who weren't were all at Prism, which I never made it to).

It would be easy to get into what I did and didn't like - fair to say we are a diverse Union. Many bloggers commented on enjoying the worship at one of the sessions that I struggled to relate to. In fact I overheard one punter near by say "if this was Songs of Praise I'd definitely turn off"!

I appreciated the emphasis on listening to God and one another. Always a good thing, and I think that was a positive move forward, to drag us back to an assembly from a conference.

I am concerned by some of the blog and conversation reactions to the event (and to church life) which seem to have an almost snobbish dislike of popular evangelicalism, and its connected styles of spirituality and worship. Of course it can be overly sentimental and triumphalist, lacking in theological depth etc. But it can also be a blessing! And sometimes people need something uplifting.
Rant over!

So Assembly 2010 has been and gone.
And it was good to be there.
And I shall continue to enjoy lurking on the blogs to see what others have to say!

2010-04-29T21:00:00.003+01:00

One World, One Mission
Thanks for the entrants to the competition (previous post), both of you!
Will be in contact with my sponsor to see if there will be a prize...

Meanwhile it's May bank holiday, which means 2 things:
Dodgy weather
And the Baptist Assembly, the annual UK gathering of Baptists.
This year it's Plymouth, with the theme "one world, one mission".
Will see what comes out of this years gathering...should be fun!
And if Twitter is your thing the hash tag to look for seems to be #baptassem

2010-04-19T21:45:00.005+01:00

Competition Time...
Back in 2004 I quoted a fellow blogger that "Scooby Doo matters deeply".
So true.
Maybe not that deeply, but important never the less!
And then I saw this from Mr Cloud's wonderful T-shirt emporium (check it out for some other gems):

Which got me thinking: what would Scooby do?
Must be competition time: Come up with a good answer to that question and you might win a prize (UK commentors only and keep it clean!)...
So what would Scooby do?

(competition will close at midnight, Sunday 25th April, 2010)

2010-04-14T14:48:00.003+01:00

Vote Baby Vote!
All the talk of General and local elections coming up has reminded me of the brilliant short track "Vote Baby Vote" by Deee Lite. A funky 30 seconds with a serious message...

I'm quite unsure where to put my cross this time, although will probably end up with my usual choice. I did a "who should you vote for" online test, but found it little help! One thing that does concern me is that with all the expenses scandal stuff still in people's mind that people will decide not to vote. I'm not sure that's a helpful way forward. For all its flaws this is how we do it, so I think I'm with Deee Lite in saying "Vote Baby Vote". And in case you're not sure if you're registered, try here...

And for Christians, this article is interesting "Jesus calls us to vote..."

2010-04-01T09:43:00.002+01:00

Pop charts and Bishops remarks
Nice post by Rob on Lord Carey's comments on UK Christians feeling squeezed and attempts to put a retired Christian band in the charts.
Couldn't have put it better myself!

2010-03-26T16:39:00.005Z

Andrew Jones on John Piper on Emerging Church
Just a link to this post by the itinerant Tall Skinny Kiwi, giving a wider perspective to Piper's interesting video piece.
Nice work!

UPDATE
Andrew has another post adding balance to his previous one. Again helpful thoughts!

Plus more storms for Piper for inviting Rick Warren to speak at a conference.See Scot Mcknight's thougts here

2010-03-24T17:01:00.004Z

New Church Forms
When I started this blog in 2004 part of exploration in thinking was around emerging church, new ways of church etc. Since then courses have developed (such as Cliff College's MA) to equip and resource people around the emerging church and contextualising church in a 21st century mission context (or before anyone else points it out, to think about how church flows from mission in this context).

And new experiments are happening.
And all this is definitely different in the UK than USA (even the language has different overtones).

But I was beginning to wonder what ever happened to this thing.Various people have commented how the "movement" has changed (see Andrew Jones post here).
And then I was encouraged at Baptist Union Council to hear a re-newed emphasis on church planting. Perhaps easier to encourage then resource? Never the less the intention seems to be there.

And "inherited" churches seem to be talking at least about being more intentionally missional.

Not sure where I'm going with this, other than I was struck by a post from an old mate Michael.
It's on an Anglican site and is undoubtedly Anglican-centred. But here's a quote that struck something, it kind of makes me go "Yes, but...":
"There is no doubt that new times call for new ways of being church. The new country stands before us, but the whole church must make the journey into it. For those whose understanding of the times gives them a sense that perhaps they can see a little further ahead, there is always the temptation to rush on alone or with a few others in tow. But what seems to be required at this point is patient endurance that is held in tension with prophetic creativity. If pioneers catch glimpses of the new country, then they must speak of it wisely."

2010-03-04T14:31:00.002Z

Genesis
Interesting clip of N.T.Wright talking about Genesis 2-3 and comment at Jesus Creed.
Originally from here.
I found Wright's comments helpful anyway!

2010-03-03T14:58:00.003Z

Children, Youth, Baptism
As a Baptist, baptism is important! I was reminded of this in the preaching at an event I was at on Sunday evening.
But a recent conversation with another minister re-ignited some thoughts about baptism and children and youth.

If baptism is on profession of faith, and not the sprinkling of children, is there an age or level of understanding needed before baptism? I've heard it argued that we need to find ways for children to publicly declare faith that are not baptism, so that baptism can be done when a young person is of an age to make a lifetime type of commitment to the way of Christ. In many ways that sits well with me. But I'm not 100% sure.

I'm sure we know of many younger people who have been baptised only to wander away, but then the same could be true for adults. I'm sure we do need to take preparation more seriously (catechises?).
But the question remains - if an 8 year old wants to be baptised and has an understanding of faith (all be it an 8 year old's understanding), should we go for it or not?
I think I'll need to reflect some more!

2010-02-24T16:20:00.001Z

Numbers
Realised that before today I had got stuck on post number 900.
But this will be 902.
Not sure why that matters, but it interested me!

2010-02-24T14:35:00.004Z

All you ever do is criticise...
Been meaning to re-start the blog after a deliberate break for a week or so now. Finally getting to it!
And only to link to a great post by Scot Mcknight on criticising (except he's American so it's got a "z") the church (here).
Gems such as this:
"if you want perfection, don't look to the church. If you want the ideal, don't look to the church. If you want a perfect fellowship, don't look to the church. If you want the utopian society, don't look to the church.

But if you want a gaggle of cracked Eikons, sinners and mistake-makers and sometimes goofed up and sometimes incredibly loving and joyous and devoted, then look to the church. You'll find that kind of group, but not the perfect group."
But check out the whole thing, as it's good stuff!

2009-12-25T22:11:00.000Z

* Happy Christmas
Christ is born today!

2009-12-16T15:38:00.003Z

Post-Christian Britain
So the media is reporting a new survey which tell us what we've known for ages: the church in Britain is in decline and according to the piece in The Telegraph:
"Researchers describe a large proportion of the country as the “fuzzy faithful” who have a vague belief in God but do not necessarily belong to a particular denomination or attend services".

The article ends with the C of E spokesperson trying to talk things up.
And there are some signs of life and resurrection.
But I think it's a continuing call for those of us within the church to continue the journey of faithfulness, reimagining and bold experimenting, and to work out what a marginalised post-christendom church looks like in 21st Century Britain.
And to think seriously about where connecting points for faith-sharing begin, without pre-supposing prior knowledge.

2009-11-26T13:11:00.003Z

Change, jobs and funding
Great post from Roy on redundancy and change, at a time when funding issues are affecting many.
I think the call for creativity and re-imagining how we do things is vital, but painful.
Part of the shift to post-Christendom for sure.
Andrew Jones (who has his own redundancy post) has some posted some stuff in the past about missions and the recession (start here).

My concerns for youth ministry echo Ian's thoughts that I referred to a month or so ago. For many youth stuff or anything experimental seems to be the first to face the chop. But if we are going to do anything about the hemorrhaging of the younger generations from the church, now is the time for more investment. It is certainly not the time to be moaning and asking to go back to the safety of Egypt!

2009-11-14T10:34:00.002Z

Baptist Ecclesiology
Interesting article on US Baptists and emerging church in the Baptist Standard (ht to Andrew for link).
Love this phrase from the final paragraph:
"Baptist history might offer an alternative explanation—ecclesiology is more defined by the practices of a Spirit-led community than by assent to the statements of a modern theological meta-narrative...the emerging church movement may provide hope for reformation to Baptists ignorant of the difference between modern truths and Truth incarnate"

2009-11-05T10:04:00.003Z

Evangelism
Some great thoughts on being on the receiving end of (inappropriate?) evangelism on the tube from Dave Gorman.
Thanks Dave. Those of us within the community of faith need to hear those reflections.
(ht to Lewis for the link)

2009-10-16T08:23:00.004+01:00

Blog Action Day 2009
It's Blog Action Day and this year's theme is climate change.
I'm sure if you click to the site you'll find a plethora of in depth and helpful blog posts (more substantial than this!).

Sometimes it seems hard to get your head round these massive global issues, and you end up feeling powerless and doing nothing. And while a great responsibility does lie with governments and large corporations, there is something about us doing our small bit that does make a difference.

As a Christian Colossians 1 speaking of all things being for Christ and in him everything being held together seems to me to be a reason for this to matter (as well as love for neighbour and stewardship of the earth).

For resources on this here a link to Tearfund's stuff, very helpful!

2009-10-15T08:42:00.004+01:00

Youth Ministry and Support in Credit Crunch
Great thoughts from Ian (and commenters) around engaging adolescents and supporting youth ministry in a time of financial restraint.
Quotes:
"I am very concerned that youth work seems to be an immediate target for cuts"
"Yes, I know I am biased BUT I passionately believe that any further steps back from the Churches engagment with adolescents is to fail the young people we should be serving AND to miss out on how much we can learn from them."
A hearty "amen" from me!

2009-10-01T10:44:00.002+01:00

Links
2 Posts from Jon to check out:
"Recommended resources for new youth ministers", check the comments too. I would add "The Godbearing Life" by Dean and Foster as a must read

Also "The future of statutory youth work" which raises some important questions

2009-09-23T11:02:00.002+01:00

Working Together
Great post from Chris looking at partnership in youth ministry.
Calling for more "joined up thinking" with partnerships within the church, between churches and with other agencies. Essential stuff.

Of course partnership is never easy.
In my experience it is easier to get youth leaders to work together than "clergy", because they often see the need and benefit of partnership on the ground and tend to be less bogged down with politics.
And I favour the language of partnership between churches over "ecumenism".

2009-09-11T22:34:00.002+01:00

That song (again)
This site/facebook page is so interesting: You're my healer
Seems Kari Jobe has recorded the song
Given the controversy of the worship song's origins, fake cancer etc. (story here), this is a brave and potentially controversial move.
Interesting!

2009-08-19T21:04:00.003+01:00

This great City...

Earlier in the week I went up to King Henry's Mound in Richmond Park. I wanted to look over London, and one side you can see St Paul's and the other the view West. Fantastic. Urban life one one side, suburbia on the other.
As God said to Jonah "should I not be concerned about that great city"

2009-08-12T08:22:00.002+01:00

Youth Ministarz
Song about youth ministers. Nice one. (ht to Brian)

Best line: "Youth ministers have beautiful wives...how do they do it?"

2009-08-10T11:22:00.003+01:00

Support
Doing some reading & thinking (and hopefully some writing for a booklet for churches in the LBA) about support for youth workers, both paid and volunteer.
It's summer and quiet time for blogs, but just wondering if anyone had any good stories or ideas for supporting those engaged in youth ministry. Negative stories would be quite easy to collect, but I'd like to hear some good practice ideas...

(I was hoping for a cheesy pic to go with this post, but couldn't find anything naff enough!)

2009-08-04T13:15:00.004+01:00

Decline
Here's great thought provoking quote:
"The declining church always assumes that the solution to youth ministry is programmatic. If only they could get a good leader! If only they could find a great curriculum! If only they could renovate a room in the building for youth meetings! They fail to recognize that the solutions to youth ministry, like the solution to decline in general is systemic"
(Thomas Bandy in M. DeVries Sustainable Youth Ministry)

2009-07-27T12:40:00.004+01:00

Age and coming to faith
I've just read this:
"85% of all people who will ever come to Christ will do so before they reach their nineteenth birthday" (Tim Hawkins Leaders who will last. p12).

Many of us who are around youth ministry have heard and used sats like that before. I've seen it played out in
many churches when you ask people how old they were when they came to faith.
But what does it mean for churches?

I know it should (and does) inspire us to invest in youth and children's ministry.

But it also raises some other questions for me:
- If these stats are true is there a danger that we're exploiting young people? (See this post)
- Is this because we've invested heavily in youth (either for good motives or fear of the church dying out), but neglected other areas?
- Are we as churches just a bit rubbish at helping adults and older people come to faith?
- Is this a universal cultural phenomenon or just a Western thing?

Or is it just a God given opportunity that we should rejoice in?

2009-07-25T17:24:00.001+01:00

Flying Ant pt2
Seems to be "flying ant day" pt 2 today.
But so far the windows are staying open!

2009-07-17T10:21:00.002+01:00

Being a Youth Pastor
Check out this video on being a great youth pastor. Timless advice!
(ht to Simon)

2009-07-16T19:30:00.002+01:00

Flying Ant '09
Looks like "flying ant day" here today. Even had to shut the window to stop the blighters getting in!
It's about the right time of year, but not as humid as it often is for this landmark summer event!

2009-07-03T15:18:00.002+01:00

Bite the Bullet
Getting ready for tomorrow's Bite the Bullet event in Wood Green. Details here.
Day time includes input from Professor John Pitts, a panel discussion, plus seminars and more.
Evening is an urban music concert.
Last year's event was fantastic, and this years looks set to once again help churches and practitioners face some of the difficult questions around youth gangs and violence.

2009-07-02T12:11:00.003+01:00

Swine Flu?
Just wondering if anyone had a youth work policy re. swine flu?
I know a couple of youth ministries where they're thinking about/facing this, and be interested to see if anyone had a written policy.
I guess in part depends on advice from local health authorities and the government.

Personally I wonder about the need for a policy - we don't normally have anything for seasonal flu or any other outbreaks that come and go, but I guess the media hype around this perhaps demands a response.

Update
Just discovered this document from the government on flu pandemics and faith communities. Link here

2009-06-18T15:57:00.002+01:00

Meetings
Not sure if ministry means more meetings than other jobs, but you sure get to be part of lots of dreary sessions (and a few good too)! (I mean here businessy type planning meetings rather than "worship gatherings", although maybe part of the problem is separating the two).

Anyway simple stuff is always worth reminding ourselves of, so I appreciated this podcasted guide to "avoiding death by meeting". (You can get it via Itunes as well).
Like I say, nothing radical, but a reminder to keep focus, that we can learn a lot from!
And Baptist church members meetings often need some of these lessons too...

2009-06-10T16:25:00.003+01:00

Youth Evangelism
Tim linked to this fascinating post about is evangelism child abuse?
It raises some good questions about the ethics of our mission and work with children and young people.

He has followed up with some reflections of his own about evangelism among young people and schools work. These are key issues as we work out how to do youth ministry post-christendom. It strikes me that so much of what we do is built on assumptions of both the knowledge of those we are trying to "reach", and of our position. I wonder if even our language of "us" and "them" needs questioning, yet I am cautious of those who seem to end up with all journey and no destination!

This paper from the National Youth Agency is also helpful in terms of ethics in youth work.

2009-06-08T10:20:00.005+01:00

Valiant Men
Been reflecting on a 1 Samuel 10:26. Saul has been anointed king and it says in the NIV he went home "accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched".
I deliberately didn't put a picture with this post, because it would have set the tone (probably with a stereotype) about what a "man of valour" would look like.

Different translations render this phrase quite differently, from "young men" to "men" to "brave".
But I think the key is the 2nd part "whose hearts God had touched".

Anyway it got me reflecting personally about my heart. But also about all that "church is too feminine" stuff that you hear recycled around and (in my opinion) the awful "wild at heart" stuff (that I posted about back in 2005). How do we raise up "valiant men" without pandering to sexist, machismo type models?

2009-05-22T17:06:00.003+01:00

The challenge of ethnodoxology
Been thinking about worship in a multicultural city such as London, a bit this week. Partly prompted by stuff from my dissertation a couple of months back, partly by some colleagues and partly by some input from Muyiwa at our worship training day last week.

I think the answer may partly lie in encouraging home-grown worship, both in music and beyond.
To encourage communities to express worship in songs that are birthed from within the community rather than simply buy the latest "Now that's what I call worship" type CD. Or at least take existing songs and use them as tools rather than recreating the "album version" like a dodgy covers band.

Confession: I'm actually a big consumer of worship music, I own lots of albums (it helps to have a producer friend), and hunt for free stuff online. But I know at the same time I have gotten lazy and have not written any music for a long while. Pete Ward charts the rise and place of the worship music industry well in Selling Worship, which I shall add to my re-read list!

Rambling thoughts I fear, but helping people authentically express worship is a huge thing. I think music and singing do still (and always will) be a key part of that, if only we can be willing to move beyond our own narrow expectations.

2009-05-13T16:49:00.003+01:00

T Shirt Must Have
Found this great tshirt. Available here.
And fear not there is a UK shop...

And if you scroll down you see some "Baptist Chick" tshirts, which actually worry me more!

2009-05-11T16:38:00.001+01:00

Worship Training Day
Unashamed plug if any London Baptists (or any other local Christians) stumble across here for our worship training day on Saturday. Booking from from here

2009-05-06T13:40:00.002+01:00

Retro Gold
The other highlight of the weekend in Bournemouth was finding in W.H. Smith's this classic "Roy of the Rovers" re-issue comic. Published by Egmont it's apparently a series of retro re-issues.
Brilliant stuff.

The only downside is that in the first story Melchester are wearing their Nike strip, and later a plain strip. No sign of the classic 1981 Gola outfit. Still you can't have it all...

2009-05-06T08:26:00.007+01:00

Bandwagon Jumping
I joined Twitter, will see if it lasts (my use of it rather than the site itself!).

Still I thought that about blogging, and I've been here for over 5 years (yes blogging's so 2004...)

2009-05-05T20:16:00.003+01:00

Assembly
The Baptist Assembly's over for another year, next year Plymouth (which doesn't begin with "B").
Plenty of blog comment (Andy has a bit of list of who has commented so far).
Overall it was a good time on Bournemouth, staying in a nice place (even if the staff struggled to do maths on more than one occasion when asked to split a bill), good weather (Tim has a great pic of the beach), and hanging out with good people.

In terms of the event itself, I always quite like these things. My boss, Pat Took did a great job speaking on the final morning on being "a Radical Community", and Kingsley Appiagyei spoke passionately about the need for renew and revival in the UK (seemed to me to be without some of the "revivalist" hype).

Could it be better? Probably. The average attender remains white and grey haired, but this is shifting for the better (and it is a strange way to spend May bank holiday!). But overall there seems to me to be a more positive "vibe" around the Union. I was glad to hear Kingsley's remarks about rejecting cynicism, a trap we can all fall into. And we need to take seriously the call to prayer. It's always going to be difficult to do an event for a diverse range of churches that make up the Union, but this is a good step in the right direction I think.

Some photos from this year and last are on Flickr (not mine!).

2009-04-30T15:49:00.002+01:00

Bank Holiday Baptists
Yes it's coming to May bank holiday, and the annual pilgrimage to the Baptist Assembly (tomorrow). This year it's Bournemouth, I think there is a preference for places beginning with "B" as in recent years we've had Brighton (twice), Blackpool, Birmingham.
Simon is suggesting "Baptist Assembly Buzzword Bingo". He has a good list, I'd add "brothers and sisters" (said in a pious tone), and "let's wait and clap them all at the end" (for the recognition of ministers).
Anyway should be fun!

2009-04-22T11:57:00.002+01:00

Wellbeing
Another report shows UK "ranked low on youth wellbeing", compared to the rest of Europe.

2009-04-20T18:03:00.005+01:00

Back to Work...
Back to work after a couple of weeks off.
Spent the first week down in Dorset, which was a good get away. Managed to include a trip to Wellworths, the management run Woolworths replacement (story here), which was obviously a highlight!

Then it was Suzie's birthday and our wedding anniversary weekend, followed by a week of chilling out around London.

Yesterday we were down leading worship in Brighton and Hove, and today back to meetings in London!

2009-04-12T19:41:00.001+01:00

Happy Easter!
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."

2009-04-01T10:05:00.001+01:00

I just learnt a new word...
Intinction - was new to me (as a word rather than as a way of doing communion).

2009-03-30T19:45:00.003+01:00

The "mini sabbatical" is over...
My 1 month (ish) sabbatical is over. My dissertaion is submitted. Now I just have to see if it was any good...will probably post more on my thinking/conclusions another time.
It was nice having some clear time to put into it.
Meanwhile back to work!

On Saturday we had a "forum" day related to "Bite the Bullet", to make space to listen to young people and try and get a "top 5" issues they face, especially with violent crime as the background noise. We ended up with a top 6 issues : Consumerism & money, peer pressure, identity, fear, respect & power, the double standards of the wider (adult) world. The standard "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" along with gang stuff seemed to the group to be symptoms of these underlying issues. Was an interesting day!

2009-03-23T18:49:00.005Z

Some updates are not improvements
Why do companies have to fiddle with perfectly good products?
I'm sure we can all think of examples where the "new" or "improved" version was worse than the previous (from Windows to food products).

Over the last year or so Tizer has re-entered my life as one of my favourite tipples. Made from fruit juice with no artificial stuff, it is high in sugar but tastes great.

That is until today, when the cans I bought had the label "now with added bite".Hmmm. Not good.
A new formula with artificial sweetener, and not such a great "original taste". Nope it's a let down. I'm sure it's market driven, but frankly I'd have been happier if they had left it well alone!

2009-03-16T22:31:00.002Z

Back in Derbyshire
Taking a break from dissertation writing for a day or so, hopefully will clear my head before the final push...but I can feel the dealine looming
I'm at Baptist Union Counci l again at the Hayes Centre.
Will probably take the chance to nip up to Cliff College for visit to the Library to check out some stuff while I'm up this way.

2009-03-03T10:59:00.003Z

Mind the Gap
I've very much appreciated Jason Gardner's Mend the Gap.
It's a book that has resonated very much with my heart for the church, in fact it's one those books where you think "I wish I had written that"!

There's so much in it about how youth work may not be the only answer for the church's reconnection with younger people, about how we can be church together, and about how we ended up here.

A couple of quotes:
"The answer the church has found [to the generation gap] is not to equip the older generation to relate better to the younger but to appoint someone else to do it on their behalf" (p149)

"If we see the role of youth workers in our churches as subordinate to the role of Senior Pastor, then it seems that we're guilty of viewing children and youth as 'becomings' and not 'beings' in their own right" (p155)

"what teenagers look for in a church is a tangible fervour for God" (p163)

This will definitely make it onto my list of books recommended for churches to read when thinking about youth stuff, especially as it's from a UK perspective. Which makes me think what else would be on that list? But that's for another post I think!

2009-02-23T16:19:00.003Z

Study, study, study
I'm currently fortunate enough to have a few weeks off regular duties, as a kind of mini-sabbatical.
My main job is to get my dissertation done! (just a small thing).

Anyway I just came across this quote from Bruce Milne's Dynamic Diversity that I though was worth posting:
"Christian worship needs to be sociologically inexplicable not sociologically conformist. It should reflect the new order of the kingdom of God, where relationships become possible that surrounding society can never achieve" (p110)

2009-02-13T19:45:00.002Z

Baptists together
This week we were away at High Leigh again with a small group of "district minsters" from the LBA. The Association is divided into 10 districts of 20-30 churches in each. Our conversation was around trans-local ministry (apostles anyone?), supporting pastors and other such stuff. Was a good time, and re-enforced the notion that we are to be "inter-dependent" despite our insistence on the autonomy of the local church.

On a separate (but maybe not totally unrelated) note, stumbled across this post from Nigel Coles, asking whether the Baptist Union should be more wikipedia than Oxford Concise. If you're a Baptist it's worth a read.

2009-02-06T11:09:00.003Z

Challenging Thought
"I still have the calling to minister to those on the margins even if it doesn't fit neatly into my gift mix or personality preferences" (David Anderson Gracsim, p99)

2009-02-05T08:51:00.003Z

Pastors in the snow
Monday - Wednesday was our annual "Pastors Consultation" at High Leigh. Like many things it was affected by the snow, with only about half the delegates making the first day, but a good number made it by Tuesday. I actually got there quicker than normal thanks to the quiet roads, although it did take me 20 minutes to pull out of the parking space outside my flat.
Anyway it was a good time, and the vending machine still has 5 Alive in a can!

Our theme was "living togther in love", a vital theme for churches in a diverse city such as London. Was great to hear some stories of churches working out how to do this, bringing groups together etc., as well as honest comment about the struggles and pains of church life.

Weather permitting I'm due back at High Leigh again next week...

2009-01-29T21:47:00.002Z

Back to college
Was back at Oasis College again yesterday. Back to the same group of 2nd year youth ministry students talking all-age worship.
It was based on a training I do for churches and groups, which seeks to raise questions as to why you'd even think about doing all age, as well as thinking about how we got split up in the first place!
It's amazing how much we assume that the way things are now is the way they have always been (or should be). Without fail everyone said their churches did the whole "kids in for the 1st part then out to groups" for their Sunday services, based on a kind of "educational model". And we forget our obsession with "generations" is a relatively new thing, largely driven by marketing.

Anyway it was a fun session, and in the 2nd part we spoke about some practical stuff, around if you are going to do "family services" how you can do them better.

2009-01-22T08:17:00.004Z

Teaching
I had a fun session yesterday afternoon at Oasis College, doing a session for 2nd year youth ministry students on "alternative and emerging worship". Was an interesting time. Always good to try to encourage people to see outside their pre-existing ways of working.

I think many of the stylistic elements pioneered by alt. worship over the years have become part of the landscape for many youth workers (tactile responses, candles, ambiance etc.), but maybe without much reflection on how or why, or how it fits with the wider worship life of the church. It was also good yesterday to try and put things in a missional framework, rather than a "worship that suits me" framework. Not sure if I succeeded, but the journey was good!

2009-01-18T15:47:00.002Z

Take Hart
Sad news to hear that Tony Hart has died. His shows are part of my childhood TV memories.
And randomly I preached a message called "Take Heart" this morning and made refrence to him and his shows (not forgetting Morph).

2009-01-16T16:50:00.002Z

Red Letter (again)
My issue with "words in red" Bibles has continued.
I found an edition that fits what I'm looking for but the Anglicized text (without the dreaded words in red) is literally twice the price of the US edition with the dreaded words in red (even from a UK seller). Bonkers!

I have also discovered Tony Campolo and others are using the title "Red Letter Christians" as a way of showing they want to take the teaching of Jesus seriously. An admirable thing, but Scot McKnight as always has some interesting things to say about "Red Letter Maestros" and how we read Scripture.

2009-01-09T15:59:00.005Z

Unintentional Divides?
Continuing to think about how church can be multi-cultural and multi-generational, inclusive community for my dissertation.
And in doing some reading came across this quote:
"Most of our current models of youth ministry work on assumptions about generational distinctives that are often aimed at specific sub-cultural groups within white society. In the process they reinforce generational and cultural divides and the full gospel is no longer presented to all young people". (Simon Bell)

I would subtract the word "young" from the last sentence, because the assumptions we base so much youth ministry on affects the demonstration of the gospel to all people and leaves the church as less than should be.
The quote is from this book "Happy in my Skin", which I'm appreciating more 2nd time around.

2009-01-08T12:18:00.003Z

All Age Services
"All age" worship has been something of a recurring theme for me.
I often get asked to lead the dreaded "family service" and have done a few trainings about them.
At the moment I'm just re-looking at some materials for a session with a local church next week and some teaching at Oasis College for youth ministry students later in the month.
There are many quotes about these services and how wrong people can get them,(often based on caricature) but this one seems to sum it up:
"It would, essentially, be a service focused on children and young people with a short sermon, plenty of action songs and confectionery would usually make an appearance somewhere!"
(Susie Mapledoram in Young People and Worship).

2008-12-31T20:26:00.001Z

+ Happy New Year
2008 draws to a close.
Here's looking to 2009...

2008-12-24T12:52:00.002Z

*Happy Christmas!
It's Christmas eve! Have a great Christmas.

I'm due to be doing the Christmas day service at my home church tomorrow.
Hopefully will be less full of cold by then...

2008-12-19T14:11:00.002Z

Seeing Red
Yesterday I went to a Christian bookstore to pick out a new Bible for Christmas. Just something nice in terms of binding, reasonable size to preach from, NIV as that's what most churches I go to seem to use.

There were plenty on offer, but why have we succumbed to the trend (I'm guessing from the USA) of "words of Jesus in red"? I don't get it. Visually it makes the text harder to read. Theologically it makes no sense to me, and if the point is an accurate translation surely this is a distraction? (and before anyone suggests the NIV is not accurate, I also have a small ESV, with you guessed, words in red).

I know this is a privileged Western English speaking problem. Many people are desperate for any scriptures in a language they understand, so I applaud the work of organisations such as Bible Society and Wycliffe.

But come on - how about we ditch the red print stuff and get on with focusing on what Jesus did, as much as what he said?

2008-12-09T21:22:00.003Z

One for musicians
It's over an hour long, but Bob Kauflin's "band on the run" seminar about arrangements for worship musicians is well worth a look. Great refreshment of the basics for bands playing together in worship.

2008-12-07T22:00:00.002Z

Worship Music Guitar Hero?
After Christianised dance mats comes guitar praise.
Available this side of the pond from Wesley Owen.
Maybe I'll be better at this than "normal" guitar hero?

2008-12-03T15:43:00.005Z

Blog Comments
John Smulo wants today to be "blog comment day". Nice idea, but I confess to not having commented anywhere yet (or receiving any comments).

2008-12-02T21:33:00.004Z

Away (again)
So I'm away again.
Last week having got back from Youthwork the Conference, I had a couple of days away at Hothorpe Hall. This was for a process called the "Residential Selection Conference", basically a couple of intensive days of interviews. Wayne describes the experience well here. This is a route in to "accredited" Baptist ministry in the UK for those who didn't study an accredited course at a Baptist college. I did some stuff at Spurgeons, but currently coming to the end (hopefully!) of an MA at Cliff College. Anyway it was a successful process for me, so in January I will be reocmmneded to be enrolled on the list of accredited Baptist Ministers...

At the moment I'm at High Leigh, for a "regional and national teams" thing. It's the senior management of the Baptist Union plus the Regional Teams (of which I am part of the London Regional Ministry Team). This is an annual gathering and is a good chance to compare notes, pray and look ahead as a Baptist family without the pressured agenda of BU Council and other bodies.

But the best thing about being here is that they still have Five Alive in a can! Something I have seen nowhere else.

2008-11-28T08:39:00.006Z

Youthwork Conference
A week since trekking down to Eastbourne for Youthwork the Conference, with the Mrs and 2 other youth leaders from my home church. And I think it was better than expected!
My main aim was to catch up with people, which I did, but the sessions I went to were also helpful.
I appreciated the space given to worship, which hopefully was not just because this year's theme was "soul", because I know many go to these things worn out and in need of that space (and my fears that having fallen behind on the latest songs would leave me feeling left out were unfounded).
I appreciated Chris Curtis' take on the oft-preached David and Bathsheba passage and the "dark side". Gerard Kelly also said some thoughtful things in his "soul session", although I confess to skipping out before yet another look at Acts 10 and 17 around engaging culture!
Couple of quotes to ponder:
"The purpose of every culture is to receive the Holy Spirit"
"The story of the Son is the hermeneutic key to every human culture"

Those I spoke to and went with appreciated the conference too, which is good, so it helped volunteers as well as being worthwhile for an old-timer like me.
And to top it all we won the quiz at the cheesy Saturday night disco. Magic.

2008-11-27T17:04:00.003Z

Woolies
Will probably post some reflections on the youthwork conference and other stuff going on before too long.
But the state of Woolworths is a sad thing.
It was about the only shop of any fun in my home town growing up, and being the kind of nostalgic retro-loving person I am, it's kind of sad to to be hearing about it's demise.
Seems the Prime Minister has waded in to help stores stay open until after Christmas (see here), which makes me determined to go and shop there!
I remember a friend telling me "Woolworths is for losers" when I was a teen, but I have happy memories of cheap albums on tape, toys, and countless "pick n mix" sweet experiences.
Long live Woolies - that's what I say!

(pic from freefoto.com)

2008-11-21T10:02:00.001Z

Another Conference
Off to Youthwork the Conference in Eastbourne later today.
Should be fun!

2008-11-11T23:34:00.003Z

Derbyshire (again)
Am back in Derbyshire at the moment for a couple of things.
Currently hauled up at The Hayes in Swanwick for Baptist Union Counci l. A few Baptist bloggers here but not much comment as yet, probably due the nature of the agenda which varies from session to session. Interesting session on the European Baptist Federation this evening, which covers a huge geographical area. Some inspiring and challenging stories of churches and pastors risking for the gospel.

Tomorrow off to a dissertation day at Cliff College. I've done my 4 modules, so just the dissertation to crack if I want to get my MA! I see I'm missing Andrew Jones by 1 day, as he's a guest lecturer on the emerging church course on Thursday, at the invitation of Ron Willoughby, with whom a previous set of emerging church module students (myself included) shared a few fun conversations in the local watering hole a year or so back.

2008-11-03T16:54:00.002Z

Christian Youthwork
I'm a bit behind on these things, but I downloaded the report, call to action and resource ideas that came out of last years FYT led "The Future of Christian Youthwork. Definitely worth a look!
The Call to Action suggests :
1) That 2009 be a year when young people are invested in, celebrated and empowered in
churches, Christian organisations and the wider community.
2) That churches and Christian organisations commit to spending at least 25% of their
income on working with young people - especially marginalized young people.
3) That Government commit to long-term funding of Christian faith-based youth work.

Quite a challenge!
Not sure about number 3 - of course I see value in it, but not sure in post-christendom we can really expect the government to fund anything but their own agendas (even though a lot of Christian youth work meets their agendas and criteria).
Points 1 and 2 are things that I will ponder on. Number 1 should go without saying, but I'm not naive enough to believe it either is happening or will happen, so welcome the call for a special effort, especially as 2009 is "Year of the Child".

2008-10-27T16:58:00.003Z

Church for Everyone?
On Saturday I went over to East London for the "Church for Everyone" conference. Dr Bruce Milne was teaching some stuff, based mainly on his book Dynamic Diversity. The book draws heavily on Ephesians, arguing that in Christ we are no longer divided, we are a "new humanity" , therefore churches should be "new humanity churches" and reflect this, bridging all cultures, generations, socio-economic divides etc.
I find his arguments quiet convincing, and a helpful counter to the "Homogeneous Unit Principle" (for discussion on that see here).

I guess for me the key question is about what we need to do all together and what can be done in separate groups. Can we really hold diverse cultures, generations etc. together in one worship service? Is such an approach missionally viable? How does specific-group mission relate to gathering as church?
Of course these arguments have been rehearsed many times before, but "on the ground" how do we work it out? Is "niche" church the way forward, or perhaps this idea from Steve Collins (which I've probably mentioned before).

Probably more posts on this in time, as it's the backbone of my dissertation...

2008-10-19T21:37:00.003+01:00

Conference
Yesterday it was a privilege to speak at the first "Korean London Teenage Mission Conference", running as a new stream at the 5th Korean London Mission Conference.
It was fun to experience bi-lingual worship with a verse or 2 of most songs in English and then in Korean, led by a great youth band. And a strange feeling to speak off the back of a video I didn't understand a word of.
I did 2 sessions, one on "who am I?" looking at at our identity in Christ, and the second on "why am I here?", picking up on how who we are relates to being called to "do good works"(Ephesians 2:10).
And everyone got Big Mac and fries for lunch!
Was great to be there and talk mission to young people from a nation with such a heritage for sending out in world missions. And the blessing one another with a song at the end was quite moving, as was seeing a group of young people dedicate themselves to live for God's purposes.

2008-10-15T10:41:00.003+01:00

Blog Action Day

It's blog action day and this years theme is poverty.
What a complex issue! Especially as the UK news is dominated by economics at the moment - talk of recession and credit crunch, bank bail outs etc. But little thought of the poorest and truly economically disadvantaged in the world.
This passage is always a challenge to do rather than just believe, because I think we know this stuff, but doing it is harder:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)

2008-10-14T15:19:00.003+01:00

Contemporary Dilemmas
Here's a moral dilemma, that I really don't know the "right" answer to, but it happens often, and happened today:
You pull in to a pay and display car park in a town centre in a suburb of London. Someone appears to offer you their ticket - it's got 1 1/2 hours left on it, it's not one of those new "put your registration in" places, and you only plan on being 30mins maximum.
Is it right to take and use the ticket, thereby saving a couple of £'s or is it wrong as tickets are "not transferable"? What is the right course of action for the Christian (especially youthworker/minister) faced with this tricky moral dilemma?

2008-10-01T14:40:00.003+01:00

Successful Church
I've posted before around the issue of what success looks like in youth ministry and church life (e.g here and here). But the models that are still prevalent are those based on number crunching and surface effect.
Here's a quick quote:
"But we are not far from thinking that the church leader with the biggest congregation and the flashiest Sunday meetings is the most successful" (Chester & Timmis, Total Church, p188).

On the other hand is there a danger that we lose any desire for growth in these ways because of the fear of being accused of being "attractional" rather than "missional"? How can we be realistic in looking for growth that is deep and Christ-centred?

2008-09-24T16:59:00.003+01:00

Church Trends
Two questions in my mind today, which I have blogged about in passing before:
i) Has the trend for churches employing paid youth workers/ministers plateaued and is now declining?
ii) Has the trend for"youth church" and planting church in youth culture and among teenagers largely dwindled too (being replaced by "emerging church" and other emphasis)?

Both seem to be happening from a "gut feel", chatting to people perspective, but I've no empirical evidence. 5 years ago both things were definately on the agenda, I'm just not sure they are now...

2008-09-19T12:59:00.006+01:00

Essential Shopping?
Just found this site with some fantastic "I am a Baptist" merchandise: tshirts, hoodies and more.
What more could you want?
Even this Baptist Bear!!!!
Maybe this year my colleagues at the London Baptist Association will get a Christmas present...

2008-09-16T08:15:00.003+01:00

Leadership and Control
Not processed much or posted much around leadership for a while.
But have seen a few things where leadership ends up looking like power and control, rather than leadership. Always a danger for us I think, and for me I see that in the Baptist context it can sometimes result in one person having a lot of power/responsibility, so much so that it becomes their identity (and it is often not the minister).

Len is helpful as ever, in a recent post on leadership and listening.
Quick quote:
'“leadership” itself has become almost useless as a word, carrying the awkward baggage of modernity and hierarchy, managerial measures and technocratic traffic; at its worst “command and control"'.

He goes on to talk about leadership as a process, not a "heroic individual", which is very helpful.

2008-09-13T21:28:00.002+01:00

All Age?
Good day down in Balham today looking at All Age: Family Services and Beyond.
As well as theory and some practical ideas and experiences shared, this afternoon we did a service as a kind of "worked example" and then debriefed. I think it worked and my fear that it would be some kind of strange role play rather than a real expression of worship was misplaced as people entered into it.
I think that some inclusive act of worship that brings all ages together can be done and be powerful, it's just that when it's done badly and becomes "stunt at the front" it puts people off.

And it was nice to dust off the guitar - realise I haven't played it for a while!

2008-09-04T15:37:00.002+01:00

Poster
This graphic amused me.
I'll reserve making comment at this stage...
I found it at Way of the Master

2008-09-03T10:46:00.004+01:00

More random links
A few links worth looking at:
Dave Gilpin: "Holy Crapola" Some great thoughts on faith, miracles etc.from a "contemporary church" type pastor (hope that's not an insult to the man!) especially in the light of the summer's events down in Florida. Here's a quote:
"It’s time to say no to nonsense and silliness and create a faith life that’s filled with the real deal of how God actually operates and wants to operate in the twenty first century"

Andy Goodliff on "10 Books every Baptist Minister should read". I'll confess now I haven't read many on his list, but it did get me wondering what would be on my list, and maybe one day I'll get round to posting that...

And finally a less serious one - showing my age. Here's a video link to an ad. for a long lost chocolate biscuit. Plus if you're a biscuit fan this site is essential

2008-09-02T13:24:00.003+01:00

5 fold?
I've not read too much by Frank Viola, but I know he's quite popular with some in thinking about organic church etc.
Just read his thoughts on "5 fold ministry" and apostles - it's a helpful article (here), especially the first bit describing the history of the notion of "restoring the gifts".
Not sure I buy into his "organic vs organisation" type contrast, although I should probably read more before judging (but it did remind me a bit of some of the stuff by Gene Edwards).

2008-08-26T21:48:00.002+01:00

Fringe Benefits
Back at work today, getting into stuff again...
Spent a week or so up in Edinburgh, partly for festival, partly to visit friends and family and mainly to chill out!
Was a good time.
As well as the chaos of the Royal Mile with street performers and everyone plugging their shows (and a gazillion flyers), we went to some fun stuff.
Pippa Evans, a friend of ours from Ealing was v.funny, and nominated best newcomer for the IF awards.
Tim Vine also proved amusing, and clean!
We also caught some jazz and some BMXing/skating/free running, which was cool.

A good time (except the stomach bug, but we can overlook that!).

2008-08-08T16:59:00.004+01:00

Maybe its because I'm a Londoner...
Just read this:
"Every Christian denomination should be on the alert for London; it is the first duty of Londoners themselves, but believers in the country are also concerned in the right condition of the metropolis. London is in some respects the very heart of the world; it influences every land, its vice is a plague to the whole human race, and its religion may be a balm to the remotest lands. London must be the Lord's; we long to see it set as a gem in the diadem of Jesus, as the Kohinoor among his crown jewels."

Amen! These are Spurgeon's words from 1875.
But how we need that to be our prayer today...

2008-07-28T21:21:00.003+01:00

Living clean in a polluted world...
At the weekend I was involved in a great project called "Urban Mission" (I discovered there are loads of projects called that!), subtitled as "living clean in a polluted world".
It was a joint thing with 3 youth workers from Baptist churches in SW London, Ascension Trust and the London Baptist Association.
On Saturday we gathered for food and worship (led by young people who were fab) and teaching. We then did social action - visiting an old folks home and a homeless project. I went with a group to a dementia wing, which was eye opening for the group I think. We then did a bar-b-q and de-briefed. We gathered on Sunday to think about how we carry this forward - both as a project but also in our lives. The young people then led the service at the host church on Sunday.
Not a terribly original model or concept, but great to see urban young people passionate about Jesus, willing to get involved, and break the stereotypes.
And some great grass roots youth work being done by the youth leaders who were part of it.
Fun!

2008-07-22T16:23:00.003+01:00

Flying Ant 2008
It's most definately flying ant day here in Ealing. Tons of the blighters about!

2008-07-17T12:25:00.005+01:00

An Honourable Tradition
Working from home, and without much amiable meeting space (without incurring room hiring costs) in the LBA offices, I have sometimes felt guilty of spending too much time in cafes and coffee shops.
So I was pleased to see that I'm part of an honourable tradition, as Roger Hayden notes:
"The joint meetings of London and provincial Baptists in the early 1690's soon ceased, as London Baptist ministers preferred to meet in London Coffee Houses...".
I'm sure it wasn't Costa or Starbucks, but I'm pleased to be following such a great heritage!

2008-07-12T21:59:00.003+01:00

For such a time as this...
Great stuff at the Bite the Bullet Conference today.
Unprecedented media coverage for a Christian event. All the major UK TV channels sent crews and reports made both local and nation news. Wow.
Lets pray for an end to the ongoing violent youth crime

2008-07-10T09:11:00.002+01:00

The Bible says..
I stumbled across this site a couple of days ago which suggests that "The Bible Says" has been "the mantra of Baptists throughout their history". (Amusing that a conservative site would suggest that Baptists have a mantra!).
So it was even more apt to find Sean commenting on that very phrase on his blog today. Check out his post and the post from Doug Chaplin he links to for an alternative view of that loaded phrase...

2008-07-08T16:41:00.004+01:00

Reading Scripture as a whole
Recently my home church has been doing a series on “Listening to God” and looking at various genres of Biblical literatures. It gave me an excuse to use an old school Bible Bookcase image!
The pastor is on sabbatical so I got to do 3 of these on Old Testament themes: history, wisdom and prophecy.

With that fresh in my mind and listening to some stuff (not least some of the revivalist stuff around Lakeland) I was struck by how Christians either ignore the OT or get really into it. It’s not an original thought (I may even have been taught it at Spurgeons) but it is amazing how much “leftfield” teaching and biblical justification for stuff is based on the OT, and often without reference to (or interperting in light of) Jesus and the NT.

You can see that in everything from prosperity teaching to liberation theology. And it seems to me a lot of “anointing”, “glory”, “presence”, "impartation" stuff that is popular in the revivalist circles is very OT, without acknowledging the difference the coming of Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost makes. Seems to me the Epistles place little emphasis on this stuff (and yes I know it is there a bit e.g. 2 Tim 1:6), and more on faithfulness to Christ and the church living out the gospel.

2008-07-04T09:16:00.004+01:00

The mad world of news media
I was wondering today why the BBC news on both TV and radio led with a story about badger culling? I know I could be accused of being a city focused "townie", but how is that even a news story? And why is a higher priority than other stuff that is still happening in the world? War, famine, crime, even stories of people doing good stuff?
Seems bonkers to me - and I'm not naive about these things (I did media studies at uni...)

Meanwhile happy July 4th to anyone who stops by from the USA (Although as a Brit should I really be cheering for that?)

2008-06-25T23:12:00.004+01:00

Youth Crime
Seems everyone is talking about youth crime and violence again.
BBC London did a debate a couple of weeks back and had a day of programmes about teenage life in London today (which in fairness covered more than that issue).
Channel 4 has a series Disarming Britain next week.

In a couple of weeks time the Baptist Union, along with Street Pastors and others has an event called Bite the Bullet.
Happening at Brixton Baptist on 12th July there are some good, experienced people coming to speak (including Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis). The plan is it'll be more than a one off event, and hopefully make a positive impact.

2008-06-18T20:59:00.005+01:00

Language & Baptists
Confession time: in a room full of Baptist leaders today I used the word "arse"!
Not sure why, but it was part of passionate plea against negativity and passivity.
Nobody seemed too bothered (or if they did they've not yet told me), but I did feel a bit guilty on the way home.
So should I be bothered? Is it offensive?
Reminded me of this post from Andrew Jones about a year back now, which is helpful.

On a separate note - anyone seen this movie? Or read the book?
"Baptists at our Barbecue" - looks amusing, but I've not come across it until now.

2008-06-16T17:15:00.002+01:00

Art and the Gola Store
I posted a couple of years ago about my love of Gola trainers (here, here).
Hunting for Gola's in old naff shoe shops and TK Maxx is part of the fun (and I can usually get 2 pairs for the price of your new fangled Nikes or other trainers), but now the hunt is over. Not the cheapest place to get them from, but on Saturday we went to the new Gola store in Carnaby Street. Amazing - wall to wall Golas, with T-shirts and other stuff too. Such temptation!

Apart from the Gola store we also checked out the exhibitions (degree shows) at Central St Martins. A mate of Suzie's had a couple of pieces (one of which was a noose - interesting!) on show, and another friend some knitware. A mix of stuff really, some interesting and thought provoking, some random and pretentious!

2008-06-13T09:32:00.002+01:00

Durable Faith?
Interesting article from Relevant about 20 somethings faith struggles, post youth group.
Obviously massive differences in US context to UK but some challenges facing youth ministry to find ways to help young people develop what a friend used to call "durable faith", that lasts into adulthood.

2008-06-08T19:00:00.004+01:00

More on Florida and all that
Following up a previous post on Lakeland, Florida, Todd Bentley etc.
Still lots of conversations and blog talk about this.
I guess having 24-7 God TV coverage, You Tube clips, makes this a media event and different even to the Toronto stuff.
Dan has added some helpful thoughts.

Related or unrelated to this stuff, I do hear of things "stirring" in churches, coming to life, the Spirit moving etc.
What does/will/could revival look like in post-Christendom?
Or do we need a new word?

2008-06-05T15:40:00.001+01:00

Getting ready for...
The LBA's London Event on Saturday.
Hope to see a good turn out of London's Baptists...