Hi everyone,
For those who don't yet know, a few young people from the Knoxfield and Foothills Churches of Christ have gone to Bangkok to work with a community alongside Urban Neighbours Of Hope in the Klong Toey slum of Bangkok. The team led by Steve Barrington has just arrived in Bangkok. UNOH work with the Ta Rua church in the area assisting in all kinds of programs to empower and equip this community to have access to the simple things in life we take for granted. The team will be doing this through teaching conversational English.
they have a blogspot so you can follow the stories of their short 2 weeks in Bangkok. There's been a bit of confusion about the URL address for this blog, so in case you come to my blog looking for information on how to contact them here it is: www.foothillstarua05.blogspot.com
I've checked it and it works. If you are entering it into your browser note they are using the blog from last year so it's '05' in the link not '06'.
Be sure to post your comments so the guys can read your messages and be encouraged while they're so far from home. For some of them it's they're first time overseas.
Cheers
Mark
P.S. I'll put the link under my 'essential blogging' sidebar incase you lose it and want to come back to it.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
Standing for a cause
Last Sunday night we had around 160 – 170 people attend our ‘Stand Up’ Make Poverty History event. I thought that was pretty good for our little church. We heard from speakers Greg Hewson (TEAR Australia) and Federal MP for Aston Chris Pearce, on the Millennium Development Goals, Australia’s progress and what we can do to further our efforts. I interviewed Shobie Owen about her work with Urban Neighbours Of Hope and what they are doing to help make poverty history in the slums of Bangkok and the Burmese refugee camps on the Thai/Burma boarder. We had amazing musical acts from the Surrender 06 band, Vox Congo, Verity Skye and Shobie Owen.
At the end of the night we all stood together in solidarity with a cause to verbally commit with a ‘Stand Up pledge’. We then took up an offering to support the work of UNOH among people who live in the slums in Bangkok. This money was specifically for helping people start their own businesses. The offering combined with the BBQ money raised $1040.05.
I received an email during the week to inform me that the total number of people to ‘Stand Up’ around the world within a 24hr period was 23,542,614 people at over 11,000 different events. The total number in Australia was 19,987. The number set a phenomenal world record for the Guinness World Records, ‘The most amount of people to stand for a cause’. There was also a second record set! It was the largest single coordinated effort in the history of Guinness World Record’s. Well done people and thanks for participating.
However (There’s always a but from me isn’t there?), it’s not all about big events and world records. What we were able to do over the weekend was raise awareness about a cause. It is a cause that each speaker and musician believes passionately in, because they are passionately committed to the cause Jesus lived for, to do justice, love mercy, help the poor experience ‘good news’, stand with the marginalized and oppressed.
So while our verbal pledges and financial donations are great we are called to so much more. Greg Hewson made a point of this on Sunday night. We are called to action, there is so much that is within our capabilities to do. What we need to do is educate ourselves about the needs and how we can respond. It’s about taking a step out to the edge of our own comfort zones so we may meet those who aren’t so comfortable.
Two young people from the Knoxfield Church of Christ join others from various other Churches of Christ to step out and do something over the next two weeks. Adam Booth (20) and Jesse Van Der Ende (15) boarded a plane for Bangkok on Friday night to visit with UNOH workers in the Klong Toey slum and assist with teaching conversational English. Why? Because they are able and they know this can make a profound difference creating opportunities that liberate the poor in Bangkok. This is how far out to the edge these two are stepping, they’ve never been on a plane overseas before let alone visited another culture.
Jesus says come follow me. If we allow him to, he takes our verbal commitment seriously, takes us by the hand and leads us to the edge where we are called to the business of helping people experience the love, grace, freedom and liberation of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Shalom
Mark
At the end of the night we all stood together in solidarity with a cause to verbally commit with a ‘Stand Up pledge’. We then took up an offering to support the work of UNOH among people who live in the slums in Bangkok. This money was specifically for helping people start their own businesses. The offering combined with the BBQ money raised $1040.05.
I received an email during the week to inform me that the total number of people to ‘Stand Up’ around the world within a 24hr period was 23,542,614 people at over 11,000 different events. The total number in Australia was 19,987. The number set a phenomenal world record for the Guinness World Records, ‘The most amount of people to stand for a cause’. There was also a second record set! It was the largest single coordinated effort in the history of Guinness World Record’s. Well done people and thanks for participating.
However (There’s always a but from me isn’t there?), it’s not all about big events and world records. What we were able to do over the weekend was raise awareness about a cause. It is a cause that each speaker and musician believes passionately in, because they are passionately committed to the cause Jesus lived for, to do justice, love mercy, help the poor experience ‘good news’, stand with the marginalized and oppressed.
So while our verbal pledges and financial donations are great we are called to so much more. Greg Hewson made a point of this on Sunday night. We are called to action, there is so much that is within our capabilities to do. What we need to do is educate ourselves about the needs and how we can respond. It’s about taking a step out to the edge of our own comfort zones so we may meet those who aren’t so comfortable.
Two young people from the Knoxfield Church of Christ join others from various other Churches of Christ to step out and do something over the next two weeks. Adam Booth (20) and Jesse Van Der Ende (15) boarded a plane for Bangkok on Friday night to visit with UNOH workers in the Klong Toey slum and assist with teaching conversational English. Why? Because they are able and they know this can make a profound difference creating opportunities that liberate the poor in Bangkok. This is how far out to the edge these two are stepping, they’ve never been on a plane overseas before let alone visited another culture.
Jesus says come follow me. If we allow him to, he takes our verbal commitment seriously, takes us by the hand and leads us to the edge where we are called to the business of helping people experience the love, grace, freedom and liberation of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Shalom
Mark
Friday, October 13, 2006
Community of grace
A week or 2 ago a good friend and colleague of mine had an article published in the Australian Christian. As has happened in the past, this is another article that has raised interesting conversation and controversy. The article is titled, ‘My daughter is a homosexual’.
The article speaks of the daughters’ experience of church as a Christian who is homosexual. More often than not she has experienced judgement over grace. The article celebrates the love and hospitality the whole family found in a community of grace at the Boronia Church of Christ.
As I reflected on it over the week and listened to the reactions of various people, I just could not leave this topic alone when it came to writing a reflection for this newsletter.
Whenever I hear stories of someone being excluded from a church because of their lifestyle or beliefs I shudder and my heart sinks. I am outraged and I find myself advocating for justice. It literally keeps me awake at night and I feel deeply for those people who experience God through these churches as a judgemental and angry God who will not accept them. Sadly, this is the often the last time that person steps near a church and it is a very long journey for them to one day allow a Christian to journey alongside them.
So who do we think we are? Who do we represent as a church? What does our God look like? These are` quintessential questions that shape us, our theology and in turn our ecclesiology.
So let’s explore that then – ecclesiology – from the Greek ‘’ecclesia’ meaning ‘the church’, the people of God.
Why is it that many Christians feel the need to judge others before loving others? This is a characteristic that shapes ecclesiology, who we are as a church. I have experienced many stories over this past month, like the one Ana writes about her daughter.
The church I am going into ministry with next year shared with me recently that a woman in the community wanted her child dedicated at a local church in the area. They turned her away because she wasn’t married. The current interim minister at Blackwood with the blessing of the church welcomed her in and preformed the dedication.
A young couple approached a couple of churches in Melbourne because they wanted to get married. They were turned away by all because they already had children and were living together. They came to me and I welcomed them in and they also experienced the blessing of our church as they were overwhelmed by the little touches you all offered to make their wedding day special.
A woman was brought before Jesus by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. She had been caught in adultery. They challenged Jesus to uphold the law and approve of stoning this woman. He simply responded with, ‘If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ As they left one by one, no one was left to condemn the woman and Jesus left her with these powerful words, ‘neither do I condemn you…go and leave your life of sin.’
This is the Good News of Jesus Christ. We the church, are bearers of Good News, let this be the agenda that shapes our ecclesiology. I celebrate the fact that in my experience of Knoxfield Church of Christ you have been bearers of good news through the love, grace and hospitality of Christ.
May you continue to be a community of grace.
Shalom
Mark
If you would like to read the article; ‘My Daughter is a Homosexual’ go to The Australian Christian Online Subscribe while you're there it's only $25 (there you go Craig some free advertising, my good deed to the AC)
The article speaks of the daughters’ experience of church as a Christian who is homosexual. More often than not she has experienced judgement over grace. The article celebrates the love and hospitality the whole family found in a community of grace at the Boronia Church of Christ.
As I reflected on it over the week and listened to the reactions of various people, I just could not leave this topic alone when it came to writing a reflection for this newsletter.
Whenever I hear stories of someone being excluded from a church because of their lifestyle or beliefs I shudder and my heart sinks. I am outraged and I find myself advocating for justice. It literally keeps me awake at night and I feel deeply for those people who experience God through these churches as a judgemental and angry God who will not accept them. Sadly, this is the often the last time that person steps near a church and it is a very long journey for them to one day allow a Christian to journey alongside them.
So who do we think we are? Who do we represent as a church? What does our God look like? These are` quintessential questions that shape us, our theology and in turn our ecclesiology.
So let’s explore that then – ecclesiology – from the Greek ‘’ecclesia’ meaning ‘the church’, the people of God.
Why is it that many Christians feel the need to judge others before loving others? This is a characteristic that shapes ecclesiology, who we are as a church. I have experienced many stories over this past month, like the one Ana writes about her daughter.
The church I am going into ministry with next year shared with me recently that a woman in the community wanted her child dedicated at a local church in the area. They turned her away because she wasn’t married. The current interim minister at Blackwood with the blessing of the church welcomed her in and preformed the dedication.
A young couple approached a couple of churches in Melbourne because they wanted to get married. They were turned away by all because they already had children and were living together. They came to me and I welcomed them in and they also experienced the blessing of our church as they were overwhelmed by the little touches you all offered to make their wedding day special.
A woman was brought before Jesus by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. She had been caught in adultery. They challenged Jesus to uphold the law and approve of stoning this woman. He simply responded with, ‘If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ As they left one by one, no one was left to condemn the woman and Jesus left her with these powerful words, ‘neither do I condemn you…go and leave your life of sin.’
This is the Good News of Jesus Christ. We the church, are bearers of Good News, let this be the agenda that shapes our ecclesiology. I celebrate the fact that in my experience of Knoxfield Church of Christ you have been bearers of good news through the love, grace and hospitality of Christ.
May you continue to be a community of grace.
Shalom
Mark
If you would like to read the article; ‘My Daughter is a Homosexual’ go to The Australian Christian Online Subscribe while you're there it's only $25 (there you go Craig some free advertising, my good deed to the AC)
Endangered spaces
These last 2 weeks have passed me by so quickly, I’ve paused slightly to reflect upon that fact that I can so easily get lost in the busyness of life. Whatever happened to those spaces we promise ourselves, those times where we sit back, relax and smell the roses; those sacred spaces; those spaces where God speaks into our lives in unique and awe inspiring ways?
Ever since I made the decision to be a Jesus follower, I also picked up on certain things from Christians around me, things that I thought I should do in order to be a true Christian, things like having ‘quiet times with God’. For years I tried this, prayer times, journaling, daily devotions, etc. You name it, I tried it, none of them worked, well it sort of did for a while, but the routine never stuck. I would get the guilt’s over this all the time, ‘was I a bad Christian?’
It is so hard to find regular spaces where we can just ponder life and the wonder of God in amongst it. They become endangered spaces, spaces in danger of extinction if we don’t stop and realise we may need to re-order our lives to allow the spaces to unfold.
I found that forcing myself to have spaces, because it was ‘expected of me’ or out of a sense of guilt, was just the wrong motivation for creating that God space. I gave up on that long ago. I now create those spaces out of a sense of necessity. It’s space to pause in the traffic, to clear the mind, to allow the Holy Spirit to ‘refill you’, to know and understand the presence of God.
But we have a problem in our fast paced culture. ‘Being’ and pondering is considered a waste of time unless it’s in front of a TV screen or something of the like where we are being entertained. We fill the spaces with everything but the pondering of the presence of God. So, is being still and doing nothing really a waste of time? Have you ever tried it, just for an hour a week? You’d be amazed at what you discover about yourself and God. Maybe that’s the thing, there’s some things we’d rather not discover so we fill the spaces with ‘stuff’.
In Vanuatu they have a saying, ‘stap nomo’. It purely means, ‘stop and that’s it’ or ‘I’m just being’. It’s a phrase I appreciate and have to continue to revisit and integrate into my vocabulary and being.
Jesus, as busy as he was with his ministry, still found time for the spaces. We read of Jesus being swamped with people, the needs so great, countless healings and casting out of demons. The mission to bring about the Kingdom of God was so huge, yet Jesus found time to duck away to a solitary place and find some space. Sometimes he even took his disciples with him, to encounter the space, to learn what it means to be renewed and replenished for the amazing task of ministry they had all being called to.
Our spaces are sacred and they have become so desperately endangered. Reclaim the spaces in your life, rediscover who you are as a child of God. It will be the most enriching use of your time you’ll ever experience. Don’t be afraid to claim a space.
Shalom
Mark
Ever since I made the decision to be a Jesus follower, I also picked up on certain things from Christians around me, things that I thought I should do in order to be a true Christian, things like having ‘quiet times with God’. For years I tried this, prayer times, journaling, daily devotions, etc. You name it, I tried it, none of them worked, well it sort of did for a while, but the routine never stuck. I would get the guilt’s over this all the time, ‘was I a bad Christian?’
It is so hard to find regular spaces where we can just ponder life and the wonder of God in amongst it. They become endangered spaces, spaces in danger of extinction if we don’t stop and realise we may need to re-order our lives to allow the spaces to unfold.
I found that forcing myself to have spaces, because it was ‘expected of me’ or out of a sense of guilt, was just the wrong motivation for creating that God space. I gave up on that long ago. I now create those spaces out of a sense of necessity. It’s space to pause in the traffic, to clear the mind, to allow the Holy Spirit to ‘refill you’, to know and understand the presence of God.
But we have a problem in our fast paced culture. ‘Being’ and pondering is considered a waste of time unless it’s in front of a TV screen or something of the like where we are being entertained. We fill the spaces with everything but the pondering of the presence of God. So, is being still and doing nothing really a waste of time? Have you ever tried it, just for an hour a week? You’d be amazed at what you discover about yourself and God. Maybe that’s the thing, there’s some things we’d rather not discover so we fill the spaces with ‘stuff’.
In Vanuatu they have a saying, ‘stap nomo’. It purely means, ‘stop and that’s it’ or ‘I’m just being’. It’s a phrase I appreciate and have to continue to revisit and integrate into my vocabulary and being.
Jesus, as busy as he was with his ministry, still found time for the spaces. We read of Jesus being swamped with people, the needs so great, countless healings and casting out of demons. The mission to bring about the Kingdom of God was so huge, yet Jesus found time to duck away to a solitary place and find some space. Sometimes he even took his disciples with him, to encounter the space, to learn what it means to be renewed and replenished for the amazing task of ministry they had all being called to.
Our spaces are sacred and they have become so desperately endangered. Reclaim the spaces in your life, rediscover who you are as a child of God. It will be the most enriching use of your time you’ll ever experience. Don’t be afraid to claim a space.
Shalom
Mark
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Aerosol "Graff" Workshops at Knox
Over the last 4 - 5 weeks a 17 year old artist at Knox, Justin Booth, has been watching a dream unfold. Thanks to the assistance of Careworks Vic/Tas and the Knoxfield Church of Christ, Justin has been able to fascilitate aerosol art workshops at the church. the purpose of the workshop is to build relationships with young people in the community, provide a space to hang out and educate young people about the art of graffiti. Check out some of the art works on Justins blog, www.melburners.blogspot.com
Cheers
Mark
Cheers
Mark
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)