Friday, August 17, 2007

Church in the future...

Church in the Future...

What is church going to look like in the future? I stumbled across an article saying that there is an Anglican minister who is currently being ordained in order to serve at a parish in Second Life. Crazy! I always thought that it would be something that us raging pentecostals would be responsible for...

The link is Let us pray in online world

Update!
Oh, ok, I did just find a couple of quite interesting churches already represented. Check out the following...

Religion in second life
ALM Cyberchurch
Living Sounds

To be honest, I'm not ready to go there just yet (as in have a completely online ministry experience), but it may just be a matter of time. In the meantime, blogging and social networking are my tools of choice for online ministry.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Leader Focus: Lyle Penisula

I thought it would be a great idea to look at some of the Christian leaders in our nation. Lyle and Debbie Penisula are the Senior Ministers @ Hawkes Bay Equipper's Church in NZ. Lyle is a passionate communicator and a gifted artist (the painting to the right should leave you in no doubt). He has a heart for seeing revival in NZ, and firmly believes that it will start with our generation's youth. Anyway, here's a self-introduction, and a post from Lyle's Bebo which illustrates his vision for revival.

Ray

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FYI: I AM a husband (Debbie's man), a father (4 boys & 1 girl), a son, a brother (2 Sisters), an uncle. And I abolutely love my aiga (family) to bits... we serve Jesus and His cause.

I AM an Artist... inspired, influenced, motivated, and gifted by the greatest artist of all the one and only Creator of the Universe, God Himself... by the way God and I are friends.

I AM a preacher called by God commissioned by Jesus and endorsed by the Holy Spirit... Yeah, I AM blessed.

I AM Samoan, I AM Palagi (Scottish) I AM a son of Aoteroa, New Zealand... However my citizenship is not of this world. I AM a child of God an ambassador of Jesus Christ... I AM on a mission from God!!!...

How about you? have you found your purpose in life? True purpose can only be found in the great I AM Jesus Christ! Common I dare you to ask Him right NOW to reveal Himself to you. What have you got to lose?

Youth Revival

The vision? The vision is JESUS ? obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus. The vision is an army of young people. You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism. They laugh at 9-5 little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And the army is disciplined. Young people who beat their bodies into submission. Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them?

And the generation prays like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter! Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside. On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.) Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.

Don't you hear them coming? Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon. How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God.

My/Your prayer of faith invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself - the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Christian Ninjas Unite Part Deux

Christian Ninjas

I've been playing with a cool comic creation tool at stripgenerator.com, and have come up with something which I believe is mildly funny :), and hopefully a little inspirational. Let me know what you think.

If anyone thinks they can do better (oh ye of little faith...), then have a crack, and I'd be happy to post it here. It does need to be Christian in content (or at least appropriate... ok semi-appropriate), and have some kind of positive message, or just be really funny. On that note, I know a great pirate joke... mind you everyone knows pirates and ninjas don't go together well. Maybe another time.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Note to self: Who do I pray to?



Missions Focus: Andrew Buxton

Hey reson8rs,

I just recieved an update from a really great friend of mine named Andrew Buxton. He's been completing missionary work in Ethiopia, and I personally find his story inspirational. I first met Andrew when he was a youth leader in Tapanui (a small town of less than 1000 people in the south of New Zealand), and we attended more than one Easter Camp together at Camp Columba. He's one of the most humble and servant hearted guys I've ever met, bar none, and I'm just blown away by the mighty way God has been able to use him simply by being available and ready to serve. Anyway, here's a copy of the email I recieved.


Hi Friends

Just wanted to let you know the change of direction that my life is taking. Near the end of the time I spent in Ethiopia this year I got talking with the people that are beginning to reestablish the work of SIM in Southern Sudan (SIM is an interdenominational Christian missions organisation, see www.sim.org for more info) and was tentatively offered me a position on the team. I have pursued this and yesterday was officially accepted as a full member of SIM and so will now be heading to the Southern Sudan as soon as I have raised the support I need.

The project is called "Rebuilding Southern Sudan: Church & Nation". A peace accord was signed for Southern Sudan in 2005 which has brought relative peace to most of the region and refugees are starting to return to their homes. SIM is working in some of the camps where the refugees are/have been staying and have been asked to come back to Sudan and help support the Sudanese people rebuild their communities. The main thrust of the work that SIM will be doing is related to health and education being done in partnership with local communities and church. A good overview of this project can be seen at http://www.sim.org/country.asp?fun=11&sid=78&slide=0&cid=62&mid=&pgid= (copy this web address and paste it into the address line in your web browser if the link doesn't work).

There are a few missionaries already in Sudan (from neigbouring African countries as well as the western world) but currently the work is being coordinated and supported from Nairobi, Kenya. SIM wants to have a base in Southern Sudan from which to do this and this is where I fit in. Myself and another guy will go into a city called Malakal to establish the facilities and relationships needed for SIM to make this a reality. This will initially involve renovating 2 houses on a compound that the church SIM partners with has. These houses will be used in the short term while we facilitate and supervise the contruction of a facility for this purpose. At the same time as the renovation and building work I will be learning Sudanese Arabic and have involvement with other ministry opportunities that I can realistically fit into my day.

Hopefully the building work in Malakal will be completed by the end of 2009. I plan on still being part of the work in Sudan after this, in what role that will be determined nearer the time. To do this I need a team of supporters that can support me through prayer, finances and friendship. If this is something that you would like to be a part of or would like to learn more about the Rebuilding Southern Sudan: Church & Nation project please contact me.

Thank you and God bless
Andrew Buxton

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Mission Accomplished?

Hey guys,

Well, I dont know if my mission is ´accomplished´ but its over anyway, which is a fully unreal thought... What a week... Ive packed up, said my goodbyes, and today left Abancay on a bus to begin my 3week journey home.

I'm in Cusco, and as of today I am no longer a missionary, but just a lowly tourist for the next few weeks. My eyes hurt from crying like a baby, and Im just in a funny sorta headspace, closing that chapter of my life. I feel like I need to sit down (for like a year) and think through everything thats happened! I really need your prayers over the next few weeks, with all the travel, and Im already exhausted before I even begin..!

This is such an amazing country, with beautiful people, and is a hard place to leave. Praise God that here I am, 6 months later, still alive and well. He has been my strength and my shield and I give Him the glory.

Will keep in touch on my travels, and look forward to seeing you all oh sooo sooon!
love Lynda xoxo