God's still in the hot seat on UK buses

English blogger, Chris Goan, posted this yesterday on the current atheist advertising campaign on UK buses. I posted on this back in October last year, when the campaign was first announced.

Chris draws a couple of interesting conclusions at the end of his post, including pointing out the unfortunate way aspects of Britain's evangelical right seem to be dealing with it - adding fuel to the atheist's fire in the process. Chris also links to an interesting story on the BBC website about a Christian bus driver who refused to drive the buses featuring the atheist'
s bill boards.

I wonder how long it will be before the same campaign is run somewhere in Australia? How would you react if it did run in your home town? Should Christian's hold the monopoly on use of the media for evangelistic purposes?

Picture nicked from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7832647.stm

Doh

I've been running my little "tent making" business (doing basic software fix-ups and troubleshooting computers with problems) for around 3 weeks now. Generally it's been going well.

On average I've been getting about 2 or 3 jobs a week, which is about the level I had hoped for.

Today, though, I met my first hiccup. I was checking out a laptop computer that had been malfunctioning. I disabled the usual dozen or so nuisance start-up processes - all the software that runs unnecessarily when you first boot up your computer, slowing everything down- and did a re-start. That's where the trouble started.

The computer proceeded to log on to Windows, showing the desktop wallpaper and then, automatically, log itself off. I tried booting into Safe Mode, booting from a Windows boot disk and everything else I could think of, all to no avail.

So I fessed up. I told the customer what had happened and that I was unable to go any further with fixing the problem. As the problem I was now experiencing was similar to that experienced by the customer in the first place (the machine sporadically shutting itself down) I thought it could be related.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I now have one, extremely dissatisfied customer (fair enough too!) who has opted to take their computer elsewhere. I've spent the last two hours researching the problem on the net and think I have found an answer. I've also spent the last two hours ruminating over the fact that I think, I caused the problem in the first place!

In the end I called the customer back and told them what I thought had happened. At least that way they can pass this on to the new guy and he can, hopefully, go straight to the root of this most recent problem and rectify it. I also offered to cover whatever it costs to rectify this issue, if indeed it was I who caused it in the first place.

Sometimes I think I should have concentrated more on finding work marrying and burying people - much easier in the long term.

Leaving God on the bus

There was an interesting article in the West Australian this morning (you can read a similar one here) about moves by England's atheist brigade - the British Humanist Association - to run billboard advertisements on Londons buses claiming "God probably doesn't exist" and urging people to live their lives any way they want in response to this incredibly deep and profound claim.

The campaign has been funded by Britains leading evangelist for atheism, Richard Dawkins, who, according to the Age newspaper said; "This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think — and thinking is anathema to religion."

Apparently the atheists were sick of seeing advertisements on buses promoting Jesus and threatening people with "eternal damnation" and so thought they would run a campaign of their own in response.

The cost of the campaign is more than $27,000 (Australian).

While obviously dealing with slightly different motivations, this campaign reminds me a little bit of the Jesus all About Life campaign happening over here in Oz. The irony is the atheist campaign is a little more financially efficient. While $27,000 is still a lot of money, it isn't anywhere near as much as the sweet half million the JAAL crew are trying to raise for their Western Australian media campaign.

At the end of the day, while the atheists are obviously trying to get God off the bus (I'm sure He is actually more in favour of environmentally friendly means of transport such as walking anyway), it's interesting that in the process they are leaving him in his seat!

Whether the money is coming from atheists or Christians, I think these kinds of moves present a moral and ethical delima in that they waste a colosal amount of money on what is pretty much a dead end action that serves only to line the pockets of advertising agencies and the companies that sell the space on billboards, in newspapers and television. The upside to the atheist's campaign is that it actually may serve to get people talking about God in a meaningful way allowing Dawkin's anathema - thinking followers of Jesus - an opportunity to engage in meaningful, relational dialogue with those whose interest is piqued by the bus billboards in a way I don't think the JAAL, church centred, campaign will.

What do I have to do ...?

Promotion! It's something I find really difficult. Even though I am so sure, and so confident that what I am promoting is good and valuable and worthwhile it is really difficult to get people to listen and get on board. Maybe I'm just not good at "selling the vision"? Maybe I'm not presenting the right information in the right way - so as to build confidence? Maybe I just don't come across as someone who is trustworthy and so my "cause" is overlooked?

I'm thinking of the work I am involved with through Day 4 - a community aid and development organisation I founded around 5 years ago which has a good track record of working accountably and successfully with communities in Central and East Africa to develop sustainable, locally driven projects which really do have a positive effect on the standard of living.

It's small scale stuff, but still valuable.

Yet I have found it really difficult to get Christian's, particularly emerging-missional types, involved and supporting this work - financially and also through word of mouth and online promotion and support.

I worked in commercial media for a number of years before getting into more people focussed ministry so I understand the pull of gloss and professionalism - and, especially when it comes to professionalism, I support every effort made to promote a professional image. But I think when we are faced (and I'm speaking for myself here as much as anyone else) with a choice between a glossy, professionally marketed cause and a much less glossy not so professionally marketed one we will tend towards the gloss.

So, I want to ask the question - its actually a question I'm going to be asking a few by email as well;

What is it that we at Day 4 need to do to get your support? How do we need to change in order to start to:

a) receive broad support and promotion from organisations (a number of organisations that I am involved with in one way or another will regularly promote "aid" type organisations or initiatives of "friends" but never seem to even look at Day 4) and;

b) receive wider support and promotion from individuals, online and in the real world?

It is really difficult to get your slice of the aid and development "pie" when you aren't able to grow your supporter base.

At the end of the day I have to say though, we don't have access to professional marketers, web and graphic designers or the print media. We don't have any celebrity poster-people or any big CHristian names endorsing us. So improving the way we present online and through our various promotional resources is going to be difficult for us.

At this point in time our supporter base and income isn't big enough to warrant spending hard earned funds on a marketing campain, especially when those same funds can be used to develop a sustainable project on the ground in Africa. So in this sense we are faced with a "catch 22" situation. And I know some of you will say "you have to spend money to make money".

Answers to these questions will really help me to understand what it is we need to do to be more appealing to the public and also perhaps to answer questions people maybe have going around their mind when they are confronted with our appeals or our organisation as a whole.

Hermeneutics Quiz

Rick Meigs posted on this neat little quiz designed by Scot McKnight.

I scored a 59 making me a moderate - kinda where I thought I would have fit.

The main sway in the questions seemed to be between a "fundamentalist" literal understanding of scripture, a contextualised approach that takes into account the historical setting of the original author and recipients and a "liberal" stand that assumes little relevance in the text for modern readers.

My answers swung between all three depending on the questions.

Here's what Scot had to say about the "moderate" score:

---

The moderate hermeneutic might be seen as the voice of reason and open-mindedness. Moderates generally score between 53 to 65. Many are conservative on some issues and progressive on others. It intrigues that conservatives tend to be progressive on the same issues, while progressives tend to be conservative on the same issues. Nonetheless, moderates have a flexible hermeneutic that gives them the freedom to pick and choose on which issues they will be progressive or conservative. For that reason, moderates are more open to the charge of inconsistency. What impresses me most about moderates are the struggles they endure to render judgments on hermeneutical issues.

---

What did you score?

Jesus the Warrior

I was thinking about some comments Glenn made on my last post (Hard Words for the Australian Church) - about the "taking the city" kind of terminology used often in certain Christian circles. Glenn made the point that it kinda reminded him of the terminology of the Crusades.

Jesus ministry and his rejection as the Messiah by the first century Jews ultimately related to his refusal to fullfil the role of the military-type Messiah. Someone who would finish the job of ridding Israel of the Romans once and for all and restoring the theocracy. Jesus simply didn't fit this bill and so people became disillusioned with him and, in the end - one week after they gave him a triumphal entry to Jerusalem - they oversaw his execution.

I wonder if this use of militaristic language betrays a similar form of thinking within the modern church. A crusade kind of mentality that wants Jesus to be a military-type Messiah, demanding allegiance to his cause at the end of a sword (taking the city - by force) rather than the lay-down-your-life and transform-the-world in love (agape) kind of Messiah of the gospels?

Will the "failure" of Jesus to act in these ways lead to the same kind of disillusionement experienced by the first century Jews and if so what effect could this have on the church?

Am I "Anti Church"?

I had a rather frustrating conversation with a good friend earlier in the week. It arose because of assumptions this person seems to keep making about my opinions on the issues of "church" and "mission".

It's something that has kept cropping up over the past year or so and usually ends with me consistently trying to reassure this person that I think believers meeting together to learn, worship, pray and fellowship and that people travelling overseas for "mission" are really important. As someone both employed by a local church, involved in leading and teaching in a Sunday meeting and also heavily involved in overseas mission in Central Africa I've found the assumption that I am against both these things in some way or another to be incredibly frustrating.

It all came to a kind of head at the start of the week. Instead of dancing around the whole thing like we usually do, I came out and simply said "I don't know why you think I am against Sunday meetings and overseas mission. In fact I don't see how you could even think that I would be against these things given my involvement in both."

She responded by saying that I kept saying we needed to forget about these areas and focus more on other things so I obviously was anti both. The conversation ended at that point and I was left feeling bewildered.

I was talking about it with Alyssa later on when Alyssa hit on an important detail we had overlooked - something I regularly say when discussing these things is "we need to put Sunday church to the side and focus on the other days of the week" or "we need to put overseas mission to the side and focus on the missionfield at home for a bit".

What Alyssa pointed out was, what I mean when I say these things is, "we need to elevate the other 6 days of the week and things we do on those days to the same level of importance we give Sunday's" and "we need to give mission at home the same level of importance we give mission overseas".

But instead of hearing this, my friend - and quite possibly others also - was hearing, "I don't think Sunday meetings and overseas mission are important and we should just leave them to one side and concentrate on other things".

Another clear example of the confusion which can be caused by not communicating clearly. All I have to do now is work out how widespread these sentiments are so I can hopefully undo any damage I've done and reassure everyone I am not anti church!

Facebook

I signed up with Facebook tonight. Looks interesting. Not sure how the whole "networks" side of things works but would be interested in hooking up with some of the people who do drop by this blog and are also on Facebook.

If you're not familiar with Facebook you can check it out at www.facebook.com.

My username is my name.

:)

Tagged - Again!

I've been tagged again - this time by one of my favourite bloggers, John Smulo.

This one is a little different to the last one, and has a restriction on the length of the answers - which I think is a good thing, given the amount of space I wasted the last time I was tagged. So, here goes (and these are tough questions!).

• 1) What’s the most fun work you’ve ever done, and why? (two sentences max).

I've had heaps of jobs, but apart from my current work (which is really more challenging and rewarding than straight out fun) I would have to say the most fun work I've done was when I worked as director and production editor on a kids magazine style show. I got to work with a lot of famous people - film and TV stars and musicians - and go places you just normally don't get to go.

• 2) A. Name one thing you did in the past that you no longer do but wish you did? (one sentence max)

I used to rock climb and abseil (surfing would have been on this list but I took that up again last year) and would like to get back into this but am not sure my body (particularly in relation to rock climbing) is up to it anymore.

• 3) A. What two things would you most like to learn or be better at, and why? (two sentences max)

Where do I start?

1) Kinyarwanda - the local language of the Rwandan people. I know a little (a real little) but would love to get fluent as I am involved in a mission partnership there and would love to be able to speak to the people I work with in their own language. Imani'guhumugisha!

2) Blogging - I am better at repackaging news (aka other peoples ideas) - probably because of my background in TV news - than expressing new ideas or my own thoughts cogently.

• 3) B. If you could take a class/workshop/apprentice from anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and what would you hope to learn? (two more sentences, max)

Another hard one!

There are many people, but I think I would say the Apostle Paul. He was the master of missiology and I am so enthralled by the way he lived as a pretty ordinary kind of guy with a well above ordinary cross cultural ministry.

• 4) A. What three words might your best friends or family use to describe you?

1) Tall - I'm nearly 6'5".

2) Busy - my wife just said that cause I was struggling with this question and asked for her help!

3) And I just can't come up with a 3rd.

• 4) B. Now list two more words you wish described you…

1) Gentle - sometimes I think I come across as prickly.

2) Confident - not arrogant or self assured, but in God.

• 5) What are your top three passions? (can be current or past, work, hobbies, or causes– three sentences max)

1) My family.
2) Ministry (particularly experimental ministry) in my local community and in the communities I work with in Bunbury via Mission Australia.
3) Rwanda and my Rwandan "family"

• 6) Write–and answer–one more question that YOU would ask someone (with answer in three sentences max).

Q - What role has change played in your journey to now? (two sentences max)!

A - When I came to know Jesus Christ for who he really is (not some western, 18th/19th/20th century, white, middle class Jesus) my life changed for ever. All the bad stuff, my drug addiction etc. etc. that I had been trying to run away from and unsuccessfully deal with myself came into clear focus and through him and people who were genuinely committed to him and to change, I was able to change for the better. Of course this is a continuing process - people are like onions don't you know (apologies to Shrek - those who are also 'changing' will know what I mean!).

Phew ...

Last time I tagged only two of my victims blogging buddies actually responded, so hopefully I will have better results this time. I tag David at Church Blogger, Rodney at The Journey and Chris and Cindy at Tracking the Edge.

I'm It!

Jamie over at More Than Stone has 'tagged' me. I had read about this little game of tag going on over on John Smulo's blog. Not sure where it originated but is a beaut bit of fun!

So here's the deal - you get to know 5 things about me and then I get to tag 5 more people.

1) I was an alcoholic for around 14 years and managed to spend my life doing some pretty stupid things before I was rescued by Jesus Christ!

2) I am married to an amazing lady - Alyssa - who is the most beautiful, intelligent, loving, wonderful soul mate I guy could have. Alyssa is a scientist who has just started working for a mining company as a metallurgical clerk - and has won many academic awards for her studies in chemistry and metallurgy and mathematics.

3) I live about 300m from the Indian Ocean and wonder how I could ever have lived anywhere else - I love the ocean and swimming and surfing and just spending time on the beach in prayer, or watching the sun set or taking time to think and meditate.

4) I used to live in a town called Alice Springs which is just about as far from the coast as anywhere in the world can be. It's smack in the middle of Australia surrounded by thousands of kilometres of desert. I actually loved living there and count the desert as my second favourite place to be after the coast (what a contrast huh!).

5) I am running some astronomy nights in January (every Friday night) here in Binningup for my Fellowship (the Binningup Beach Christian Fellowship). I was heavily involved with the astronomy side of things as a ministry for a number of years and still enjoy spending time under the stars with a telescope, especially if it involves showing others the amazing beauty of the created heavens. The most commonly heard comment from people seeing Saturn and its rings or Jupiter and its moons or even just seeing our own cratered Moon for the first time is, "Oh my God!" Which then gives me an opportunity to say "Funny you should say that..." and to talk to them about Jesus.

So - in order to keep this tradition alive I am now going to tag, Hamo over at Backyard Missionary, my old mate Matt Perry at Matt Perry dot Com, Scott Vawser at No Guarantees, JR Woodward at Dream Awakener and last but not least, Helen Mildenhall at Conversation at the Edge.

Whew! Oh yeah, and - TAG!

Bursting Your Christmas Bubble

It's nearly Christmas and while the western world gets caught up in the consumerist whirl wind and buys up a storm, Christians are focusing their thoughts on the birth of their Saviour, Jesus Christ. But before you get too carried away celebrating the second most holy holiday on the Christian calender, you might want to stop and think about the historical accuracy of the Nativity story.

According to "the world's most respected biblical historian", Geza Vermes from Oxford University in the UK, the nativity is nothing more than a myth created by early Jewish followers of Jesus to legitimise their claims of his divinely appoint right to throne of David and title of Messiah.

You can listen to an interview with Vermes on the ABC's The Ark website, recorded last Sunday (17th December). CLICK HERE to chose your favourite audio option.

And for those who are questioning how someone who can make the completely unscholarly and ludicrous claims this man makes in this interview and still be called the "world's most respected biblical historian" - have a very merry and blessed Christmas and a safe and Christ-centred holiday season! Don't forget to remind as many people as possible that Jesus Christ didn't remain a baby in a manger - but rather grew to be the most influential revolutionary this planet has ever known.

Taking a Break

Well, it's nearly Christmas and I have holidays starting in around 2 weeks time (and I can hardly wait). But in the meantime I've got reports to write, am preparing our training program for endorsement by the Education Department and preparing for the new year with it's cafe afternoons, Friday evening gatherings and overseas travels.

I am also finding it difficult to blog in a meaningful way at the moment - I am struggling a bit with introspection - not sure what to do about it - and don't want these frustrations and feelings to be reflected in what I write here. I know that further on down the track I might live to regret it! :) So I'm taking a bit of a blogging break - while there might be an irregular post or two I'm not going to be bothering with the daily updates for while.

But I am pretty sure I'll be back, maybe once Christmas and the associated madness that seems to follow it has subsided and I've had a chance to think again about where we are heading as a family, where I'm heading in my church and ministry and life, and where this blog sits in all of that.

To those that regularly frequent Moved Mountains - thanks! And to everyone, have a great Christ-centred Christmas and safe and blessed holiday. See you on the other side.

It's not the Word but the Meaning that Matters?

Following on from yesterday's post on words and the way they are understood (or misunderstood) in different contexts, Shannon posted this comment:

While I think that many "Christian" terms can alienate people, I also believe that traditional Christian language must be, to some capacity, preserved. I think in any discussion with a non-believer when we use words like, saved, born-again and such it becomes our responsibility to teach them what these terms mean and represent.

I agree with Shannon - and obviously it is important, if we are to understand each other and are able to communicate with others in a meaningful way, we have to have our own vocabulary. Spiritual/theological words are important. But I think there is something even more important - and that is the meaning behind these words. And in many instances this is something on which even many Christians can't agree.

What is "salvation"? Is it something Jesus does for us on His own or is it something we have a hand in? Does "Spirit Filled" mean a life controlled and governed by the Holy Spirit or does it mean the ability to speak in tongues and exercise other charismatic gifts? And I could go on.

So is it really the words or phrases alone that hold all the importance, or is meaning (and taking it one step further) context also an important part of the deal? How do we get around the clear differences of opinion that exist within the church over the meaning of theological words? How can we communicate meaning to non-believers when we can't even agree on meaning ourselves?

I Know What I Mean, Why Don't You Know What I Mean?

Being able to communicate clearly is incredibly important, particularly in this day and age. I doubt there has ever been a time when the meanings of words have been as fluid and open to "interpretation" as they are now.

This is something we have to be incredibly aware of when trying to communicate the gospel. Not everyone understands the terms or phrases we use in the same way we do. Not everyone will even understand them at all.

Terms like, "born again", "salvation", or even "saved" have definite theological and biblical meanings but they are also jargon terms that people who have not been a part of Christian circles (and in particular evangelical Christianity) will understand very differently to those who have. Here in Australia that means a large slice of the community are not going to understand what we have to say in the way we want them to if we continue to use these terms when interacting with them.

Here's a little clip I found a while ago that highlights the issue well!



I also received the following in an email today - which is actually what got me thinking about this topic again. Great examples of simple messages being misunderstood because one person wasn't in on the jargon being used by the other.

• Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
  
  Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at K-Mart.

• A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
  
  Tech support: Are you running it under windows?

  Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."

• Tech support: "Okay Colin, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager."
  
  Customer: I don't have a "P".
  
  Tech support: On your keyboard, Colin.
  
  Customer: What do you mean?
  
  Tech support: "P".....on your keyboard, Colin.

  Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!!