UPDATE: This blog has been moved

This blog has moved. Come join me at journeys in between where I will be continuing to explore the alternative Christian perspectives and art that brought you here in the first place.

See you there.

Revival: should we pray for it?

My contemplations have recently turned towards the revival language that permeates evangelical-pentecostal-charistmatic subcultures.

• What exactly is to be 'revived'? Christendom? Would that be a good thing?


• Who exactly is to be 'revived'? Is this meaningful language for post-Christendom contexts?


• And what do we do when the revival preachers promise us fails to come again and again? Has the revival paradigm failed us?


• And how much of the revival paradigm still permeates the emerging church?

In The Gospel-Driven Church, Ian Stackhouse commented:

"One of the deleterous features of a revivalist mentality is that short of what might be terms a surprising manifestation of God there is very little else to be getting on with...commitment to spiritual formation, on the other hand, takes seriously the fact that there are indeed seasons in the Christian journey, both personal and corporate, and that intense fervour is not sustainable, nor even necessarily required, in order for Christian living to occur."

I find myself wondering to what extent revival fervour has been behind popular facinations with charismatic phenomena and deliverence ministry (as signs of revival), endtimes speculation (as a metanarrative framework for a sence of urgency), strategic level spiritual warfare, faddish programs and rapid prophetic preaching (as a means to revival), simplistic hermeneutics (lets not get distracted from revival), mega-venues (lets hype up revival using group dynamics) and the general emphasis on conversion over discipleship.

Of particular concern to me is revival-motivated over-emphasis on intercessory prayer. I do not deny the need for intercessory prayer but Ive been to too many small group meetings and church services where you could conclude that this was the only form of prayer. The spirituality of Jesus and his apostles was so much broader than this. If you study the prayers of Paul for instance you'll find a diversity of prayer, and even when he engages in intercessory prayer you'll find him more likely asking for the increase of faith, hope and love than the success of church programs or increase in numbers.

In this regard, Ian Stackhouse also said:

"...our concern is that prayer can feature in revival circles only as intercession, thus ignoring the cumulative range of prayer that might feature in other traditions. Apart from the shear exhaustion that such commitment to prayer can produce, it has important theological implications. The overemphasis on intercessory prayer has the tendancy, in some places, to posit a static God who will only yield up his reward to those who pray long enough and loud enough...but in the process God is often portrayed as the deux ex machina, who is not only bound by our prayers but is also defined by our prayers; thus ironically, the supernaturalism that is often associated with revivalism is replaced by a mechanistic faith."

I am not saying the isn't a place for revivalism, but I am questioning the dominance of revivalism in church growth circles, as Im far from convinced that this paradigm has traction in postmodern mission fields. I am also questioning the uncritical acceptance of revival music as the dominant form of worship in the contemporary church.

A Meditation by Anthony de Mello

The Master was never impressed by diplomas or degrees.
He scrutinized the person, not the certificate.

He was once heard to say,
"When you have ears to hear a bird in song,
you don't need to look at its credentials."

Healing the Sick

Healing the Sick, by Alphonso Doss - India

Webcast on Neo Pagan Spirituality in Australia

You just MUST read this outstanding post by Philip Johnson:
Neo-Pagan Paths Again

It features links to interviews of David Garland of PAN (Pagan Awareness Network), Rachel Kohn (presenter of ABC "Spirit of Things"), and Stacey Demarco (a businesswoman and committed witch) plus talk-back responses from many callers.

Why should you be interested? Quite simply, the rise of Neo-Paganism has been meteoric (it's by far the fastest growing religion in Australia - and the UK too I think) and its growing cultural influence extends way beyond its actual number of adherants. If you really want to understand the spiritual pulse of cultural creatives then you can't go past this.

David and Stacey are both people Ive met personally and I can vouch for their genuineness even though I obviously don't see eye to eye with all their beliefs. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Find A Pope animation

One of my mates at work put me onto the Find A Pope animation.

For the non-Aussies reading this - in case you don't get it the guy with the football is George Pell the Aussie cardinal.

To pre-empt any accusations of cross-denomination bashing:

• I grew up as a Catholic
  
• The guy who showed me this is an Italian Catholic
  
• I think we Protestants are just as screwy at times
  

So enjoy the frivolity

AmazType: Amazon.com as Art

I picked up a cool tip from Jesus Tribe.

A new experimental flash site called amaztype will take your search entries and make a collage of the work in your search from all the titles it can find on Amazon.com. Here's a sample:


Try it yourself

Pro and Anti: The Emerging Irrelevancy

Philip Johnson has posted some rather pointed criticisms of the pro vs anti emerging church debate:

"The world outside couldn't care less about pro and anti EC debates. The spiritual ethos of today's non-Christian seekers has moved them into consumer-driven habits of DIY religion. The questions they have are not appearing on the ecclesiastical radar screens of either the anti or pro EC debates..."

"In street-life reality hardly anyone has heard of Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard and Rorty. Academic pomo is irrelevant to the daily routines of most people..."

"...DIY spirituality, magick, folk religiosity-divination, Wicca, Neo-Paganism, New Spirituality (new age), commodified neo-Buddhism, Sufism, Bahai, and dozens of new religious movements. What do these spiritualities say back to the church?"

Philip is right on the money with this. The emerging chuch conversation is focussed way too much on engaging Derrida philosophy and not nearly enough on engaging Da Vinci Code spirituality.

To be blunt, in my experience the average emerging church leader is only slightly more engaged than establishment chuch leaders on the questions raised by New Spirituality. Yet these questions are where the rubber really hits the road with street level post-modernity. If the emerging church is truely to emerge then it needs to take its head out of the philosophy department sandpit.

My advise to any emergent leaders reading this: stop viewing post-modernism so myopically through Derrida and youf culture and visit a New Spirituality festival or pick up a Yoga magazine from your newsagent.

Bullet With Butterfly Wings

Today I was exploring the wisdom of Ecclesiastes to the soundtrack of Smashing Pumpkins.

There's a curious resonance you know.

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-18

The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
And what do I get, for my pain
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
Even though I know-I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold-like old Job

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal
But can you fake it, for just one more show
And what do you want, I want to change
And what have you got
When you feel the same
Even though I know-I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold-like old Job

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

Tell me I'm the only one
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was the only son
Tell me I'm the chosen one
Jesus was the only son for you

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
And I still believe that I cannot be saved

Bullet With Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins

Both speak of the meanless of work, of striving, of the futility of life, if there is no transcendent dimension to it, if we have no hope of anything beyond the horizon of our lived experience. I have spent not a small amount of time reflecting on this given my recent work experiences. And it makes it real. We need this sort of perspective in life.

It doesn't gel with formulaic church programs. But programs can't show you that you're not a rat on a treadmill. It doesn't offer easy answers. But we're jaded by easy answers anyway.

This is where the cynical wisdom of Ecclesiates can be a breath of fresh air. Drawing on irony and angst it just can't be shoe hormed into a happy-clappy box. But neither could Jesus.

The Next Pope?

Mr Bean meets the Vatican

Red Pill Section

I have also decided to take the risk of adding a red pill section to my links as a reference source for emergent Christians.

If you really want to get a grip on what post-modern web-savy religious movements look like then I invite you to take a look at whats out there beyond the cultural bubble we call church.

These communities and commercial enterprises are all located in or around my home city of Sydney. Some are located within a few minutes drive of my home.

I am not advocating any of the views expressed on these sites. But I am advocating that you listen to them and maybe just learn something from them, even if its only the fact that there's much more to post-modern spirituality than podcasting.

I post these links trusting that you will not abuse, flame or fail to treat these communities with Christ-like respect. We live in a pluralistic society. These are our conversation partners.

Online Labyrinth

Ive just added an online labyrith to my links.
From Jonny Baker of Grace, London.

The military-entertainment complex

Is war entertaining? Why do we romanticise it the way we do? A few months ago I saw a program called Soundtrack to War which featured all these soldiers trancing out on thrash metal as they blasted their way around Baghdad. It looked positively psychopathic. Apocalypse Now for digital dayz. NeoCons like to characterise this as a battle between forces of darkness and light but somehow it seems a lot messier than that to me. More than that, even if this simplistic interpretation were true, who do we really choose: Jesus or Barabbas?

Icons from the Australian Outback

Wirramanu Desert Art
The following artwork was sourced from Christ in the Desert.

This website is no longer online, so unfortunately I can no longer refer you to the original writers and artists. But I hope you find the creativity of our Koori brothers and sisters as inspiring as I have:

"What has come to be known as Aboriginal art was originally characterized by distinctive graphic elements grounded in the religious rites and tribal ceremonies of a nomadic people. It was primarily represented by the sacred drawings and ritualistic designs left behind by hunters and gatherers in the caves. These mysterious images evoked stories and legends about the ancient "hero" characters of the "dreamtime" who walked the lands when the world was created."

"These [Aboriginal Christian] works incorporate traditional Western iconography connected with the Crucifixion, including spears, whips, and the crown of thorns. However, the paintings also include stylized footprints, occasionally used in other Aboriginal works, and crescent-shaped forms, which designate people sitting. These elements lead the eye through the story of Christ's Passion and death in a very natural and uncomplicated way."

"In these and other works that depict scriptural events, such as Palm Sunday and Pentecost, artists tell stories in simple pictorial language that would be clear to Aborigines in that it is drawn from everyday experience."



Pentecost and teaching scenes


Communion scene


Nativity scenes


Easter scene depicting last supper and crucifixion

As the spiritual art of an originally nomadic people, the emphasis in Aboriginal icons is quite different from Western art. The most noticable distinction is the emphasis on footprints and tracks in the shifting sands. Aboriginal art was functional, it spoke to tribes of their journeys across the storied landscape and of the landmarks to look for on the way. I am wondering if we digital nomads can lean from them...

Icons from Africa

The following Jesus images are from various African nations including Senegal and Kenya. Does it seem strange to you to see Jesus portrayed as an African? Before judging, think: are Anglo images any more historical? What matters more, the features of the figure or the significance of the scenes?



For more see: Through Nomadic Eyes
Stations of the Cross in Lodwar Cathederal, Kenya



For more see: Jesus Mafa

Beer, Pizza and Bible Wisdom

The Anything Goes gathering was quite small last night.

Only three of us for most of the evening as the rest of our little circle was away for various reasons (however Jenny dropped in later to show off the new man). Anyway we took the opportunity to have some blokey time with a few tinnies and I quite enjoyed the laid back atmosphere given my recent business.

We were looking at the question of "Is diversity divisive?" since a few issues along those lines have come up in the wider church of late. We had some interesting down-to-earth conservations and I was really encourage by some of what came out.

We finished off the evening with some apophatic (silent) prayer and the obligatory coffee. I expect that may be the last one I can lead for a few weeks given the baby is due in two weeks. Yikes! It's getting close now.

Sony patents matrix

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Japanese entertainment giant Sony has patented an idea for transmitting data directly into the brain, with the goal of enabling a person to see movies and play video games in which they smell, taste and perhaps even feel things. The shape of things to come?

Wouldn't televangelists love to get their hands on something like this? You could over-stimulate the temporal lobes to create faux-religious experiences and link their minds direct to a net-base credit card account.

Actually maybe Church of Fools could take up the gaming aspect and introduce some angels and demons into the crypt.