Superchristian away!

Hey reson8rs,

Michaela over at The Hourglass Blog has recently posted a great article on being a "Superchristian", after reading Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, which I think is just fantastic, and has the potential to be really freeing for us. Go Rob Bell, and go Michaela! Go and check it out.

Oh, and just for your entertainment, go and find out what superhero you are. I'm spiderman BTW - I'm intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Which superhero are you?

Numbering our days...

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom. -MKJV

As I was writing this post, I sat down just for a minute (which turned into and hour), and remembered exactly why I was writing this post in the first place.

A lot of the students at school are starting to get stressed as they prepare for exams (or at least think about it...). One of the main time management strategies they employ is to leave it until the last possible moment, then cram. Similarly, in the school holidays, often I sprint around, furiously trying to cram all the relaxation, coffee, and recreation into a two week space in order to make up for the rest of the term.

I've been thinking about the passage in Psalms which tells us to "number our days". Actually, I'm feeling pretty convicted about it (in the biblical sense of the word). I think about some of the biggest time wasters in my life. At the moment, these seem to be the net (surprise surprise), procrastinating in general (the I'll just have a break for five minutes moments), and indecision (What do I feel like doing? What do I want to do?). Also, there's some low importance, high priority tasks which seem to take up a lot of my time.

Who would I be if I was more organised?

What would God use me for?

Did God wire me this way for a reason?

I actually think that the excuse "I'm too busy" doesn't really apply when it comes to the really important things. Why does it seem sometimes that the important stuff always is put on the backburner in order to complete the everyday, menial tasks which we procrastinate over anyway? Lol, is it just me who has had the thought "I'm too busy to pray today?"

Don't get me wrong. As a society, we are probably busier than any that has come before. My argument though is that if it's self-induced, surely there's something we can do about it.

We're only here for a short time. I think it's time I start reclaiming some of the time in my day, and using it to glorify God.

If you're reading this and going "Ok, I'm with you Ray, but what do I do now?", the answer is "I'm not really sure." Sorry! But I think it's going to be something that God's going to journey me through in the coming months.

Any suggestions?

Anyways, here's a couple of links to get you started :)
How to have a 36 hour day
And on a lighter note (I love the instant shirt removal and egg peel most by the way...):
www.waitless.org
Waitless also has a time management calculator, to see where you are spending your time. It's shocking to think I can add weeks to my life, just by dressing more quickly...

Update from Peru: 2 Weeks to go!

Hey guys! Wow, I can hardly believe I only have just over 2 weeks left here in this city. I leave Abancay on August 9, to do touristy stuff like Macchu Picchu with my cuz Michelle who´s gona meet me in Cusco. (That is, if we can get into Maccu Picchu. Dont know if it made it to the news over there, but the same week it made it to 7 Wonders of the World, massive strikes and protests prevented anyone from getting into Macchu Picchu, and stranded thousands of people in Cusco for a week. And today schools have finally opened again after 3weeks of strikes. Welcome to life in Peru!!)

I wanna encourage you with a couple of testimonies. I´ve had such awesome God stuff happen these past few weeks. Ive been getting to know more of the young women in my barrio (neighbourhood), and God has blown me away with the doors He´s opened into their lives. The 16yr old girl next door has been coming to youth group every friday for 3 weeks now, and is (hopefully) gona start going to cell group this week... the woman down the road that I regularly pop in to see asked me to stop just ´calling past´ and instead come back to talk and explain the book of John to her... and a couple of young women down the road want to learn English from me - by singing worship songs! Its just so encouraging to see that the harvest really is ready.

I would love your prayers for the next 2 weeks, that these women would be challenged to make decisions, and that they would be followed up after I leave. And that I would finish well, and do my best for these girls, and not get distracted :)Pray also for me as my wee heart is just not getting used to saying goodbye - no matter how many times Ive had to do it!! Help me to leave well, and to settle back in when I get home.

Looking forward to seeing y´all, and hearing what´s been happening in your life these past 6 months. Im hanging out to get to a good cafe... so coffee catch ups will be a definite!!!!

Love, Lynda

Update from Byron Bay: Shane Overboard

Hi Ray,

How's it all going?

Slowly settling in over here, the weather has been great, most
mornings I'm down at he beach as where I'm staying is only 3 min's
walk and your on the white sands. Class has been fairly cruisey this
week as we only have a couple of hours every day but Thursday so the
rest of the time is free.

I have found a church to attend, its small and I feel that's where God
wants me to be. I have been asked to help
out on the worship team already which has blown me away but that's
cool. I have spent sometime with Pastor Sydney and his wife Narrida
last Sunday and this week the church is having a BBQ to celebrate all
the birthdays for this week (I'm lucky as I have had my birthday on
Monday). My class mate got wind of my birthday and decided it was a
good reason to have a party (this also blew me away as it was
something I didn't expect), it was a good night, only two of us
stayed sober LOL. Its quite an experience hanging out with those that
like doing drugs and drinking and I have had some good discussions
about being a Christian, hopefully it will have an impact on those
around me.

I do spend allot of time by myself but when I can I try
and connect with those in my new home church and at night attend the
prayer meetings. Tomorrow I'm hang out with Rebecca, I have no idea
of what we are going to do but I'm looking forward to being with
another Christian during the day just for the company. I miss home
heaps but I know God has me in the right place and he everything
under control.

Better go. Catch up with you later.
Say hi to everyone for me as I know Cherie won't be able to this week
as she is in Christchurch with some friends for the rugby, Go All
Blacks.

God Bless and have a fantastic week in Him
Shane

Newsboys - I am free...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9o-ncexbQo

I did finally watch this - brilliant!

The Grandfather, the Godfather, and the Sergeant...

Hey reson8rs,

Well, what a fantastic service tonight! Pastor Sharon Wright from Ulladulla (did I spell that right?) and Pastor Ian (no relation) just led an awesome time of working in the prophetic. Worship just seems to be going from strength to strength (the young 'uns rock btw). Just a little known fact which to me shows God's sense of humour. In the prophetic, we now have a grandfather (Pastor Ian has been talking about grandkids for a while now...), The Godfather, and the Sergeant (this was a phenomenal word for you by the way Grant). Surely there's a message in that somewhere for somebody?

Grandfather, Godfather, Sergeant. All are positions of authority. All are generational. All are positions of respect, and provide vision and direction for whoever operates under their authority. To me, that just carries a significance which is beyond the natural.

Anyway - I'm excited. Church just seems to be buzzing - worship is off the charts (anyone else loving I am Free?), and the sense of God's presence is real. I'm excited about what God's doing, and just to think of what he has in store for us and our city is mind blowing. Bless you guys, and watch this space.

Ray

BTW, has anyone else noticed that people are having babies and getting engaged all over the show? (not in that order, just in case you were wondering). If that's not a sign that we're in a season of growth, I'm not sure what is.

I am Free

Well guys this is my first blog and i am a high school dropout so ray no proofreading - it will only make you cry.
Well what a night last night was being the 20th? we had an awesome fire cracker of speaker by the name of Sharon Wright from Ulladalla and she brought an awsome presense of the holy spirit with her.
but in particular i wanna talk about the worship. I dont get much chances to join the youth band but man they go off. We had Sam worship leading doing a stellar job and backed by Cattie and Laura who by the way have all mangaed to find the art form of crumping lol (Grant must have showed them.)
The main highlight for me and i am sure for alot of the fallas and fallases who were there last nite was singing the song i am free, what a great song. it talks about through you (being Jesus) the dead will rise, the blind will see, all hearts will praise. because through jesus coming down to earth and dieing on the cross, maiking the ultimate sacrifice for us, we are free we are free to dance we are free to run we are free live for him. and thats the great thing you know that healing power that sees people healed and set free, God uses through you and I. So I wanna encourage you guys really take a hold of this song because we are free free to go to the ends of the earth for a greater cause than our selves. WE ARE FREE

Someone should do this for youth leaders...

http://Random.cellfish.com/multimedia/110451

Someone needs to do this for youth leaders. I've recently heard the statistic that the average ministry life for youth leaders and youth pastors is now around 7-9 months (crazy eh?). That must mean that Grant is an absolute legend. Tell him the next time you see him.

Grace!!

Hey guys!
Thought now that Im actually a guest blogger, that I should write/blog to yalls!!
So yeah, here I go!
One thing I have been thinking a fair bit about recently, is God's grace. Honestly, it seems like I've been surrounded by grace in name form (my full name Joanna, means grace, I have a friend Grace, and I know several people with the middle name Grace!). A part from that its just been a real thinking point, that its by God's grace that I can study in Dunedin, and by God's grace I'm in an awesome hall, and by God's grace that I have awesome friends........I could keep going on but Im sure you get the point. Our God is soooo gracious. He is God, and He does judge, but first He offers us grace, in all its fullness, to all who will take it and accept Him.
It's just so awesome it blows my mind.
Blessings!
Jo

: )

Get Smart, - The Insider's View

Hey Guys / Girls!

It was so awesome to see so many of you at Get Smart this year!!! It was so amazing seeing so many young people worshiping God, and dedicating themselves to his work in our nation! I was volunteering throughout the entire conference, so I thought I'd give you a bit of what I saw from the "inside".

One of the biggest impacts for me during Get Smart didn't actually come from the speakers, it came from the volunteers willing to serve God and further his kingdom, there were people who had been there from day one, and lots of noobs (aka me) there, from a HUGE variety of churches across Christchurch, and we came an unified under one banner with one goal. Many of us worked 14+ hour days every day of conference, but the faithful servant attitude never faltered. This team were inspirational to me as they served, so much so that even when I came into the building feeling absolutely whacked, I fed off the enthusiasm to serve that everyone else had to the point where some nights after getting home, I couldn't sleep for at least an hour! The team was committed to serving with all they had, and despite our weariness on Friday night, the smiles were so much broader knowing that just pointing someone in the right direction, answering questions where needed, and just smiling had no doubt made someone's day, and brought them a little closer to Christ.

I can't begin to try an explain how compelled, and blessed I felt while serving at Get Smart, or how I feel at any church event or service I help out in. I've quite often been in a place where I can't give financially, but I can always give of myself to the lord, and when I do so, I give my all. God blesses me so much for that.

I want to encourage you all to pursue a servant heart before the lord, even just doing the dishes in the cafe after church, or smiling at someone when they come in the door on a Friday or Sunday can make a huge impact in the kingdom. You don't have to be in the spotlight to be available, do what you are good at, to the best of your ability, and the blessing will come, I guarantee it.

Bless you guys so much!

Dave out.

Four gifts as Christians we should be able to give...

Hey guys,

Sorry for the infrequency of posts, but I'm currently rocking it out at Get Smart: Worship 07 in Christchurch. It's one of the largest youth conferences in New Zealand, and definitely one of the most challenging.

It's just been a phenomenal time so far, with some of the greatest Christian communicators in the world, including Pastor Phil Pringle from C3 Church in Australia, and Jurgen Matthesius, currently hailing from San Diego.

Here is a hastily scrawled summary from Andrew Kubala, one of the speakers, and founder of the Get Smart conferences.

Andrew Kubala - Four gifts as Christians we should be able to give...

Andy as always was passionate in his presentation, and he presented four gifts that as Christians we should be able and willing to give.

Matthew 17:24

We can only give what we have to give away...

1. Resource
- See Mark 12:41
- It doesn't really matter the amount in which we give, but rather the attitude with which we bring our resources.
- Worship is also a resource to give. In order to honour God, worship is simply encountering God and giving our best.

2. Gift of the Holy Spirit
- See Acts 1:8
- The Holy Spirit gives us the power to be useful to God
- It can be seriously under-utilised.
- We need to make sure we are involving God in our decisions. By doing so, we are asking him to get involved.
- We can spend our whole lives doing life without the right tools (Andy used the example of using a knife to tighten a screw, all to save 30 seconds to go and get a screwdriver).

3. Gift of Time
- Psalm 90:12
- What we spend our time doing shows what we value.
- Eternal things need to be lifted up, and before worldly things.
- We have an opportunity to serve and use our time mightily for God.

4. Gift of Salvation
- John 3:16
- So often as Christians, we actually deny people the opportunity to recieve this gift.

In all of these, we are only able to give as we have recieved.

----------------------------------------------------------
So, yeah, there has been some really useful and challenging messages. I'll add some more with some of my own thoughts once I've processed it.

If there's something there you don't agree with or have a different opinion about, then great! Let's start a dialogue. Otherwise, eat the meat and spit out the bones :).

I love challenging messages, and I think the preachers I've always got the most out of are the ones I completely disagreed with. It meant that I was able to test the boundaries of my own beliefs and opinions. I look forward to hearing what you think.

Reson8rs Podcast: Christianity as a Counterculture

Hey,

As promised, here is a podcast of the Christianity as a Counterculture message which I preached @ a youth service late last month. It's a little raw, but hopefully you get the overall idea. Any feedback greatly appreciated (how else am I going to get better?). Anyhow, here it is...


powered by ODEO

Subscribe to the semi-regular, mildly worthwhile, Reson8rs podcast :)

Become a Christian Ninja...

I don't think there are enough Christian ninjas in the world. Have you seen any lately? Head over to this helpful website and rectify this situation...

Christian ninjas unite!

Ray

BTW, if you are still in need of a laugh, go join the million other people and check out askaninja on youtube or the askaninja website. Perhaps not completely appropriate, but undeniably funny (lol, IT IS WRITTEN everything is acceptable, but not everything is good for you in some book or another... you can decide for yourself).

Ways to minister online in just five minutes

Just a wee bloglet...

Mark at faithable.com

Hey, just come across this guy's ideas for ministering online in just five minutes, and thought it was actually a pretty cool spin on making yourself available for the internet community. It included specific prayer websites, being available as an online question answerer, and even counselling. If you've got some spare time (tertiary guys, you know I'm looking at you... :) ... yes this is coming from the English teacher on holiday...), then go and check it out.

Ray

Response to Christianity as a Counterculture.

Hey guys,

Here's just a couple of comments from a couple of other Christian blogs in response to the Christianity as a Counterculture post. I thought they made some valid points so reproduced here.

written by alban-acim

Exactly, nothing could be more alien to this world than the teaching of Jesus Christ. Who wants to forgive and love his enemy? I think, for example, the majority of people still favors death penalty and wants their offenders being killed only to continue the conflict and its resulting misery.

What an insanity.

reply

Send comment

HTML is disabled

Also, here was another eloquent post.

written by TitusOneOne

You're right, sirgawayne. According to Jesus, we are the salt and light in this dying world. He has called us to be different from this world and different from those who don't believe.

When people who are not believers look at us they should see Christ in us! Sure they may see us physically and see the personalities that God gave us, but beyond these they should see Jesus in us.

But is the average Christian today really that different from the culture they live in? I ask this because I see people who say they're Christians whose lives just don't match up. In fact, statistics tell us that divorce rates among Christians are just as high as non-Christians and pre-marital sex among Christians is growing higher every year. You are right, we have a wonderful opportunity to stand apart, to be the living counterculture, but are we letting that opportunity pass us by?

We need to make the choice to pickup our cross and follow Jesus. Come on believers! We've all made mistakes and messed up big, myself included. But 1 John 1:9 says we have a God that will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness when we confess our sins to Him. So if there's anything between you and God, repent of it. Ask for forgiveness. And then make the choice to be that salt and light, that counterculture to a dying world.

We are the body of Christ. Let's live that way!

Joe

http://titusoneone.com

Promoting and encouraging Biblical faith in God's people.

If you'd like to continue the discussion you can either leave a comment after the Counterculture post, or in the blogs4god discussion thread. I think these Christian bloggers have identified some extremely relevant examples and it would be a shame to let the discussion stop there.

Ray

blogs4god is awesome!

Hey reson8rs,

The recent Christianity as a counterculture post has just been listed as a popular post on the blogs4god website. In their own words they are:

a semi-definitive aggregation of of Christians who blog. This 'democritized' user-based ranking system differs from a 'Yahoo-like' hierarchical system in that submitted posts are then voted on by other blogs4God registrants. It is the hope that this free, 'digg-like' service will provide the Christian blogging community with a showcase of the best content that can be heard above the white noise generated by the blogosphere on the whole.

It's exciting because it means that some of the stuff here may actually be worth reading and sharing :). Anyway, if you're looking for quality Christian content, and a useful networking tool, go and check blogs4god out, and join. While you are there, add me as a friend, and if you dig what's being written, then vote so we can keep gaining exposure.

Reson8rs @ the ends of the earth, changing the world around them...

Christianity as a counterculture?

Hey guys,
So just doing something different... here's a copy of the notes I used for a talk I did at church recently.

It may be useful for life groups, school groups, youth groups, or just to have a bit of a yarn with anyone you want... If nothing else, maybe it may make you think about what you believe.

Will podcast the mp3 when it becomes available, and hopefully you'll get a better idea of where I was going.



Counterculture

2 minutes – Brainstorm - What is Normal Teenage culture?

What defines us as a culture?

What influences us?

From Wikipedia:

In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms are at odds with those of the social mainstream, the cultural equivalent of political opposition.

Today, counterculture is used to describe moving in a theological or material direction that is not the accepted norm in society; this is most easily seen in its manifestation in the media. However, it can be strange to see the co-option of counterculture movements as they quickly become the spearhead of commercial pop campaigns; once taboo ideas (men wearing a woman's color - pink, for example) can become popular trends.

Examples of counterculture:
Hippies
Rock n' Roll
Punk
Alternative
Emo!
and many others...

In all these movements, the counterculture became so popular it directly affected mainstream culture.

We sometimes think of Christians as the “square” mainstream people. If you think about it, this is NOT THE CASE.

Christianity directly opposes many of today’s cultural values and beliefs.
Examples of this?

Jesus was not a mainstream leader. He spent his entire ministry shaking the current mainstream beliefs of the Pharisees and society.
e.g. performed miracles on the Sabbath. Called the spiritual leaders of the time a pit of vipers and so on…

AS Christians, we are NOT mainstream.
What does this mean to you?
We live to different standards. What is acceptable in the world may not be acceptable in our eyes. In many ways we, shouldn’t fit in…

We need to add some new phrases to our vocabulary.
Why?
I don’t agree with this because…
I believe that…

We need to start standing up for what we believe in…

We shouldn’t be afraid to be different. God has already marked us so. We do not need to conform. In fact, in order to be going for God, we have a completely different mindset:

2 Corinthians 5:17 If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!– What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun.

This means we are called to be in the world, acting as Christ, not of the world.

We have an opportunity to stand apart.
We have an opportunity to create a positive counterculture which opposes the things in mainstream culture which may be morally or spiritually wrong.

Challenge: Think about how as a Christian, you are different to mainstream culture. What ways are you able to be an example of Christianity as a counterculture?

...
Hope this is useful to someone. If so, great! Let me know...

Ray