Tall Skinny Kiwi

Mountains of North Africa

Wow! Nearly two weeks without blogging. We are fine. We have been part of a convoy of 18 people from all over Europe, traveling through the mountains of Africa with our possessions on donkeys led by Berbers. Stories and photos to come when i find a wifi signal. Until then, prace.

Africa

Ok - I feel a blogging break coming on. We are driving through Africa and wifi will be a little scarce, I presume. I will do my best to keep up. Anyway, appreciate prayers for us during our journeys. Ta!

Redeemer City to City and Missional Stuff

Redeemer City to City is the new name and new look for Redeemer's Church Planting Center. Check out the new web site. What you may not know is that one of the many wonderful people that have featured on my blog for the last . . . shoot . . almost a decade . . . is the incredible and hairless Sasa Flek from Prague, Czech Republic. Sasa, who was the "scribe in our basement" when we lived in Prague has now completed his Bible translation into Czech and is setting up an apostolic base [if i can call it that] in Prague. And more to the point, Sasa is now officially connected to Redeemers family of church planters. Lucky them!

Tim Keller (pictured) also lacking in hair, is the leader of Redeemer and one of the most liked Christian leaders in USA. He has some great thoughts on the concept of being "missional".

Speaking of the word "missional", there was some interesting discussion last week on the subject, kicked off by Brent Thomas, that I apparently missed during my exodus out of Europe and into Africa. Ed Stetzer has the skinny, as does Bill Kinnon. Love to hear your thoughts.

missional

Al Mohler Tops the Religion Blogs

Dr Albert Mohler is a big man on radio, behind the pulpit, in the classroom, in the biggest office of one of the biggest Seminaries in the world, and also on the blogosphere. In fact he has just topped the blogosphere with the leading religion blog according to Technorati rankings. I know this because I am running right behind him at number 2.

Al Mohler deserves to be on top. He writes good content and a lot of people read it. Christianity Today called Al Mohler the “reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S.” And of course a lot of people link to his content which is what Technorati notices - esp. since the changes last October in trying to reflect the dynamic nature of the blogosphere and how blogs are ranked. Since Technorati changed the way they rank blogs, all those years worth of permanent inbound links dont really count unless they were recently added. Or in other words, if you dont write compelling content that gets linked by websites and bloggers, and not the same bloggers all the time, your blog will not rise to the top.

But Al is more than a blogger and theologian. He is also a journalist and an apologist with knowledge of how to use media. Thats a unique ability. Al was recently appointed to the Francis Schaeffer Chair of Cultural Apologetics at the World Journalism Institute at The King’s College in New York City. Thats impressive!

I have never met Al Mohler face to face but I think i saw him speak at a Southern Baptist Annual Meeting some years ago. Back in 2006, Al and I both had articles on new atheism at the same time. Al's article outranked mine but both of our posts sat on the front page of the google search results for "new atheism" and I felt a little like we were in the same fight together. Which should not be surprising because we are both Southern Baptists - he on the more conservative, suit-and-tie-wearing, institutional side and me on the more experimental edge previously known as both "postmodern" and "emerging" but now probably best thought of as "missional."

Anyway, allow me to introduce you to Big Al, a better blogger than I. Blog on, Al Mohler!

al mohler

After Haiti: What to Say, Sing or Show in Church

Some of you are figuring out what to sing, show or speak about at church tomorrow, in light of the Haiti earthquake. Here are some resources.

VIDEO

Pray for Haiti is a video you can download and play at your church gathering on Sunday. Its free and they guy behind it is my old VJ friend Travis Reed. You might remember he and some friends started a fantastic resource company called Highway Video and then went on to do The Work of the People. He was the guy behind the video on "Please Dont Make Us Sing This Song" which a lot of churches used immediately after Hurricane Katrina. Check out this one called Pray for Haiti.

SONGS

TheWorshipCommunity.com ask the question "What songs should we sing in light of Haiti?". Good question for you worship leaders and some good discussion on their blog.

Songs picked from TheWorshipCommunity as appropriate for church tomorrow include Our God Reigns, The Solid Rock, Whole World In His Hands. God of This City. From the comments there are plenty more songs including "Yet I Will Praise" from Andy Park and "I've Got Questions" from Tim Hughes.

WORDS

Christianity Today asked what pastors were preaching on after Haiti. Not sure what you are going to say but take a look at some thoughts from the Bible as given by some Haitian Christians, in particular, this post on poverty and the gospel in Haiti and this post deals with the pact with the devil issue that came up and will probably come up again.

Any other suggestions or resources we should know about???????

Haiti: How can poverty and Christianty coexist?

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. I have visited it a few times and am always struck by the severe poverty.

QUESTION: How is it that a country which has so much Christianity also has so much poverty? How can the two coexist? I was asked similar questions last week. Heres an answer by a leading Haitian theologian, interviewed by Christianity Today.

"My view: the gospel that has been preached in Haiti has left a vacuum—has left the political landscape untouched. The church doesn’t see its business as being a prophetic witness to those in power. The result has been a political sector left to its own devices; this is why the common people were the first responders to the crisis, not the government. This is the result of the gospel being truncated, emasculated, instead of confronting the powers that be to do what God intends for them to do: protect and enhance life."

Dr Dieumeme Noelliste, president of the Caribbean Evangelical Theological Association, quoted here on CT  

haiti

5 Biggest Church Planting Mistakes

Biggest Church Planting Mistakes:

1. Rushing ahead

2. Underestimating the cost

3. Violating the Sabbath

4. Hanging on too long

5. Not having a coach

From "Most common mistakes church planters make" by Shawn Lovejoy and David Putnam, both of ChurchPlanters.com

HT: iGod, AndrewSD is a Vineyard pastor who blogs. The Vineyard UK are preparing for their National Leaders Conference next week. YEAH! Vineyard is still kicking and growing, despite what some people have said.

church planting, vineyard

Mark Driscoll goes to Haiti

My old friend Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church went to Haiti with James MacDonald. They recorded some footage that I look forward to seeing. Well done Mark! The first video is here on YouTube but I expect much more to come. He also got interviewed by USA Today where he speaks out against the sex-trade.

If you remember back 4 years ago, Chris Seay and Travis Reed put out a deeply moving video a few days after Hurricane Katrina called "Please Dont Make us Sing This Song" and it went viral, stirring up prayer and support around the world for that catastrophe. Hopefully, with all the media folk at Mark's church, they can do the same thing. Hurry up, dammit!

BTW - I dont think a lot of pastors should fly down to Haiti for a look-ee-loo. But some of them should and they should tell the story well when they come back. Otherwise, they are just taking up space and money.

Also - an email from Emily of International Medical Corps who are doing a great job in Haiti right now. They have a widget that lets you donate $10 really easily.

Tags: mark driscoll

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

2COR4:6, JN8:12 and other favorite Bible verses to engrave on machine gun sights

Nothing like looking down the barrel of a machine gun and reading 2COR4:6 on the sight. An ABC report "US Military Weapons inscribed with secret 'Jesus' Bible codes" says that "Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military."

2 Corinthians 4:6 is a verse from the Christian Bible that says "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." JN8:12 is where Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." While some will be arguing about the ethics of such a practise, others will argue about exactly what verse should be there.

Image courtesy of BoingBoing who also find it amusing at best.

Michael "Mikey" Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation claims "It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they're being shot by Jesus rifles". He said coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of "those who are calling this a Crusade." I think he has a point. What do you think?

Haiti Update

Over 200 million dollars has been raised for earthquake relief in Haiti by Americans, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Other countries are also donating. Getting cargo and supplies to Haiti is proving to be a challenge as Christianity Today reports.

Spain, Gibraltar and then Africa

We are days away from driving our truck to Africa. An anonymous donor just gave us GBP1000 which is enough to get our truck and team of 9 people on the ferry to Northern Africa. So off we go. We will be in Sevilla today, meeting up with Jonah Bailey of 24-7 Prayer. Then down to the ferry and across to Africa. We have enough funds to look after ourselves for a while but we still need to raise US$40,000 to resource social entrepreneurs and their projects in the countries we explore. This money will go directly to the people and it will also be part of a matching grant offer by another Foundation. Potential sponsors should send me an email for details of the organizations handling the funds. Please.

Interesting: The Overland 12 expedition launched this month also. They will go from Italy down to South Africa and back by May 2010, using only Iveco trucks.

Whats interesting to me is that two of their trucks are actually Magirus Deutz overlanders - 330.30 ANW 6x6s - to be exact. See the videos. Iveco bought the Magirus Deutz company many years ago and removed their badge. Roland Sparling has the skinny on that. Our overlander is a 4x4 Iveco Magirus Deutz 150.16 and has less spotlights but thank God it doesnt have that ugly orange color!

And as we found out a few weeks ago, even with 4 wheel drive AND diff lock AND axel lock, these overlanders can still get bogged in mud if the driver is a moron. Yeah, that would be ME!

Blogging will be more sporadic again, since wifi will be harder to find, but please stay tuned. And remember that Jonesberries.com will have more info on our travels that I will be putting on this blog.

About that pact with the Debil in Haiti: Apparently we were DUPED!

Ahhhhh the internet! We seem to be so better informed than we were 20 years ago. Information is like soooo 5 seconds away. Us old farts who were alive and kicking in the 1980's feel like a bunch of stupid idiots. I found out recently that many of the stories i have been telling for 20 years were not actually true. That sucks. Examples:

1. Neither Jimi Hendrix nor Eric Clapton referred to Phil Keaggy as the best guitarist in the world. At least Phil Keaggy denies it and suggests it was just a crazy rumor. Shoot. I have carried that one around for two decades.

2. Stryper never ever ever never ever did a "Heaven and Hell Tour" with Motley Crue. The story sounded true when i heard it in the 80's but my teenage son, wiki-wonder-boy that he is, proved it wrong.

3. "God Gave Rock and Roll To You", performed so brilliantly by Petra was not originally a KISS song. Yes, KISS performed it, but it was actually written by a British band called Argent who recorded it in 1973. Another rumor that I have falsely spread and another bonus point to my son for his meticulous research skills. I feel like a bloody moron! Is nothing true anymore???

And now the big one that our dear friend Pat Robertson has brought to light this week.

4. There is no evidence that Haiti made a dark evil pact with the Debil. I visited Haiti a few times as a social-worker on a mission to Port-au-Prince and also to Cap Haitian where the alleged pact took place. I was in my early 20's and really didn't do much homework on the issue. The web was not around and where would i find a book on the subject?? The older mission folk briefed us on the state of the history of Haiti and gave us the well-told story of the sacrificed pig and voodoo and the deal with the devil etc. It all seemed reasonable and this was back in the 1980's when information was harder to find. So we believed it. And not only that, we have been passing that story on for 2 decades.

Until this week.

Bill Ross, a commenter on my blog post yesterday, pointed me to a well thought out and well researched article by a Christian Haitian man named Jean R. Gelin, Ph.D. His article is called God, Satan and Haiti and I wish he had been the one who oriented us poor green-horned missionaries when we came to Haiti and not some over-eager foreign missionaries who had probably not done their research.

Jean Gelin's conclusion?

"I have yet to find a good evidence of even the idea of Satan’s assistance in the Independence War, let alone a satanic pact." God, Satan and Haiti, 2005.

Right. So I am an egghead.

Anyway, speaking of the 1980's and Haiti. It was waaaaaaaay back in 1988 when i was a student at Multnomah School of the Flippin' Bible and I went to pick up Tony Campolo and his son Bart from PDX airport at Portland, Oregon. What a pair!!! My gosh!!! How embarrassing for me to even be in the same airport when those two get together!!!!!! But Bart and I hit it off and kept some email correspondence going over the next few years but we eventually lost contact. He started getting involved more and more with Haiti and was even there right before the earthquake. Bart Campolo, who has probably forgotten me by now, has set up a special earthquake fund to get money to where it is needed. If you dont know who to trust, Bart and his dad and have been involved with Haiti for a long time and have a proven track record.

Want to read more? Check out my friend James Denison's piece today.

bart campolo, haiti , pat robertson

Blogging Tip: Find your inner Luke and BLOG ON!

A few years ago I was asked to write a short thought for a book called The Blogging Church: Sharing the story of your church through blogs. I just noticed on Google Books that parts of the book are online, including my contribution. Here's a screenshot of my suggestions for blogging pastors.

Andrew Jones, from The Blogging Church

NakedPastor's 10 Suggestions for Blogging Pastors

Naked Pastor has 10 excellent suggestions for blogging pastors. Apparently I owe him a beer for reposting it here.

--------------------------------------

1. Anonymity: I don’t favor it except in extreme cases. If you are going to put yourself out there, then do it. Unless it’s extreme. The purpose of blogging, IMO, is to make formerly obscure information available to everyone. Obscurity defeats this purpose. Again, unless your situation is extreme, dangerous, sensitive or unusual.

2. Originality: There are tons of blogs out there all saying the same things, quoting the same scriptures, repeating the same clichés. Although you may wish to remain rooted in your tradition, be original and creative in your thoughts and your articulation of them.

3. Privacy: Do not disclose sensitive issues about your congregation or people in it, your friends or family… unless you have their expressed permission for certain stories. You might gain some readers, but you will definitely risk the alienation of your people. Avoid sensationalism for its own sake. Respect others always.

4. Employment: You may run the risk of losing your job as a pastor if you upset too many or the right people. You will be expected to be conventional and orthodox and to fall within the bounds of normality and acceptability. Don’t let the blog rob you of time. I spend at the most one hour on my blog per day, and that includes drawing the cartoon and writing the post. The weekends I keep very light. Perspective and priorities!

5. Care: Some of the readers you gather may become an online community that you might have opportunities to care for as a pastor. This includes moderation, which I find very difficult sometimes. I like diversity so I’m a very relaxed moderator. Once in a while I try to remind the nakedpastor community that we can challenge ideas, but not insult the person. Difficult to remember and do!

6. Blogging: One of the things I had to realize is that blogging every day prevents you from writing perfected and completed thoughts. But I see this as completely valid: you are allowing people to observe you process your theology and praxis and person. Books are concrete. Blogs are concrete before it hardens. So your ideas and writing will be imperfect and sometimes outright wrong. Get used to it.

7. Monetizing: If you are hoping to make big bucks from a religious blog, good luck! I tried and pennies trickled in. After a few years though, I have been approached by a few businesses offering bigger bucks. But it won’t make me a living. Yet. I talked with Problogger about this a couple of years ago and he agrees: religious sites will have difficulty making money.

8. Networking: If you want to build a readership, it is important to engage with other bloggers, especially those who seem to be on the same page as you. I have made wonderful friends online and value them in my life. Plus, I just think there is value in online relationships. I feel that my life is enriched by these real people in far away places.

9. Support: I have found it crucial to have some local moral support for what you are doing. I didn’t at first because I didn’t think nakedpastor would turn into anything. But it did, and now I couldn’t continue as easily without my support network locally and virtually. I might mention here the important task of critiquing the church. One of the church’s slogans, “Reformed and always reforming” means that, unlike a business who’s chief end is profit, the church is concerned with change and reform. So critique in helpful ways rather than sounding like you’re just trashing the church. This is one area where my supporters are especially helpful.

10. Honesty: You can be as honest as you feel you can. But remember that there are others who will be affected. Some people can handle only so much. You’ll need to decide how far you are willing to go. You don’t want to become divided: one person online and another in person. Fortunately, I pastor a congregation that is, for the most part, tolerant or even supportive of nakedpastor. However, it is a tricky path that must be negotiated wisely.

-----------------------------

Fantastic. If I could add one suggestion to Naked Pastor's list, it would be this:

11. Code. Buy a book on xml or xhtml or basic code so you can tweak your posts correctly and not end up with, as most blogging pastors tend to do, an image with text aligned properly on the side. Master it or at least become conversational enough not to get pushed around by your blogging platform.

1. 
   

Google and China

"My fear—for Google and for us—is that the reason they know it's the Chinese government behind these attacks is because Google gave them the key." —Douglas Rushkoff, in the Daily Beast. HT: BoingBoing.

As Google considers pulling out of China, BBC has a timeline of key events in the checkered history of China's censorship on politics and religion.

social media, social web

How To Survive a Christian Bookstore: #1 EMBRACING THE FEAR

You need to buy a better Bible but you dont want to enter a Christian Bookstore to buy one. OK. I get that.

Actually, I have a phobia of Christian bookstores myself. Last year I managed to avoid them completely, except for one quick appearance to buy a Bible for one of my daughters. And that was not easy - I tell you! I had to psych myself into it . . . deep breaths and everything. But I did it and so can you! And if you want to buy a decent Bible then eventually you are going to have to make the leap. Here's some guidelines on surviving a Christian bookstore.

Step #1 is to EMBRACE THE FEAR

For me, it's more than an aversion - its a phobia - a nightmarish dream, a dreadful paralyzing fear that i will be sucked into the very bowels of a Christian book store, kicking and screaming, beyond my control, dragged passed the Joel Osteen books in the front and all the way over to the Dreaded Footprints Poster on the far wall.

And then it hits me that I am actually INSIDE A FREAKIN' CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE and I start to perspire and cheese starts oozing from all of my orifices and forms a river and its caught me in its cheesy current and its sweeping me along and little precious moment figurines are jumping on me, biting my legs,

and little old ladies are running at me to put Rob Bell dark-rimmed glasses on my face and saying, “Isn’t he a lovely man?” ...

and then i am drowning, fighting for breath, going under and the last image in my mind before I pass into eternity is the gleaming smile from a hundred Joel Osteen book covers. I fight for breath but its no use.

And then Joel’s penetrating evil smile gets bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter and WHITER AND WHITER and then everything is FADE TO WHITE and i am suddenly in eternity . . . but I have entered through the wrong kind of pearly gates!

You know what I'm talkin' about???

Your fear of Christian bookstores might be different than mine - perhaps a phobia of 80s retro burgundy leather Bibles or maybe, like mine, its some footprints in the sand that chase you down the beach, appearing and disappearing in a way that would freak anyone out. But whatever your fear is, you need to embrace it, suck it in, and get over it. Because we are going to get through this thing together and get you into a Christian Bookstore where you can buy a Bible.

Next step: #2 ACTUALLY WALKING IN

Previously on TSK: The Prayer of Jael

Haiti's earthquake and Pat Robertson's theology

Pat Robertson has made the news again this time being accused of blaming Haiti's earthquake on the pact the country made with the devil". Christianity Today covered it well but Salon claims the "televangelist believes momentous earthquake is epic revenge."

The skinny is, IMHO, that people are linking Pat Roberston's comments with his unfortunate 9/11 statements and have come up with something more controversial than it should be. CBN released a press statement making it clear that "Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath." as well as adding some more historical footage: "His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French."

When I was in Haiti, I heard the same story and also saw a lot of voodoo and heard drums at night, etc. But that doesn't mean the earthquake is their fault. Earthquakes happen everywhere, even in places where people have made a pact with God and not the devil.

I have also been in Dominican Republic many times and yes, its the nicer half of the island but in no way is it "prosperous", unless you only see the tourist resorts. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Haiti cut down all their trees and fished out their oceans while Dominican Republic had a better ecological strategy.

Is the earthquake anyone's fault? I dont think so. "God . . . sends rain on the just and the unjust" Matthew 5:45

Previously: Help Towards the Haiti Earthquake

Related and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Haiti and that Pact with the Debil

earthquake , haiti, pat robertson

What to call those new fandanged churches?

New churches are popping up everywhere and have been ever since the church planting movement began to take shape two decades ago. If you are looking for a good phrase that describes then, sorry, you are out of luck. Stuart Murray Williams gives a little historical perspective of these new fandangled churches and lists 8 phrases we have used to describe them:

- Missionary congregations
- Church planting
- Missional church
- New ways of being church
- Emerging church
- Emergent church
- Mission-shaped church
- Fresh Expressions

Help Towards the Haiti Earthquake

Just reading about the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti yesterday. Awful blow to the country and we pray for the families involved. Its the largest earthquake there since 1770. Possibly thousands killed and the presidential palace flattened. I remember that palace from my last visit there. This is how I remember it, before it collapsed yesterday.

Be careful who you give your money to. There is a lot of corruption in Haiti. I was shocked at all the huge mansions I saw on the hillsides, especially when they told me that many of them were owned by charity workers. If you give money to help Haiti, give to the larger groups with good accountability. World Vision is a good one and Haitian hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean has his own organization called Yele Haiti. In fact, you might have noticed @wyclef on Twitter this morning where it seems that thousands of twitterers are sending $5 donations to Haiti by textingYELE to 501 501

In case you are interested, as I am, Wyclef Jean is the son of a Nazarene pastor and briefly attended Eastern Nazarene College. Does anyone have some good stories or experiences about Yele that you could tell me about?

Related and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Haiti and that Pact with the Debil

earthquake, haiti, Wyclef Jean

Gospel billboards that fail the test

Here's another Christian billboard that really fails the test. Not only is "EXAULTETH" spelt wrong, but the placement was poorly thought out. HT: Interactive Sermon

Some ideas for next time:

Coptic Orthodox Shooting: 7 Dead

The funeral for the six Coptic Orthodox Christians who were shot last week was attended by 5000 people. The shooting happened in a Coptic Orthodox church in Egypt on Jan 6 which is Christmas Eve according to their calender. A Muslim security guard also died in the shooting. We grieve for the senseless loss of both Christians and Muslims in this tragedy and pray peace on Egypt.

UPDATE: Demonstrations in USA

The Egyptian (Coptic means Egyptian) Orthodox Church is one of the oldest streams of Christianity in the world and the church in Egypt represents the largest Christian community in the Middle East. Between 10% and 20% of Egypt's 80 million people are Christians, the vast majority (95%) belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. I met with some Coptic Orthodox believers last year at Freakstock Festival, including Bishop Damien who explained the Coptic cross to my daughters. Lovely people, the Copts.

DID U KNOW? Many Copts have their cross tattooed on the inside of their right arm. And no, I didn't ask Bishop Damien to roll up his sleeve.

RELATED: China's underground Bishop Leon Yao Liang died on Dec 30, 2009, in at the age of 87. He spent 28 years in prison. Story at Christianity Today and the Cardinal Kung Foundation.

Memorize Ephesians With Me

Last year I challenged you to read through the Bible, using the One Year Bible Blog. Some of you emailed me to say it was really helpful. Cool! If you have never done it before, I highly recommend it. And its not too late to start.

2010 will be a sporadic year for me with internet access. I think I will be on 5 continents this year and there will be many days when I will be without WIFI and unable to get the daily download. So I was thinking something different. Instead, I offer you a new challenge - memorize Paul's letter to the Ephesians with me and my team.

Its a great exercise to memorize a book of the Bible because it gives you a chance to mediate on it as you memorize it and you also see the wider flow of the book rather than some isolated verses. Besides that, part of the CapeTown 2010 event that I will be taking part in later this year, includes a focus on Ephesians. You can download the Ephesians study plan here.

So, how about it? What's the matter? ARE YOU CHICKEN?

Best Religion Blog 2009: Father John Kicks our Butts

Father John Zuhlsdorf not only won the Bloggers Choice 'Best Religion Blog' for 2009 but he also raced passed us all on Technorati's Top Religion Blogs. In fact, he is miles higher than us and it might be impossible to catch him. Well done Father John! His blog, called What Does The Prayer Really Say?, gets updated many times a day and is quite holistic in its outlook - really good posts on almost everything - which is what I think blogs should be about anyway. Check it out.

How To Spot a Church Movement

Good conversation at Neil Cole's blog on whether the organic church movement is actually a movement or not, and what some of the secrets of igniting a movement might be. Lets be honest - most of us wouldn't recognize a a spiritual movement if it turned into a giant marshmellow and fell on our head! And its even harder to spot one when it is going on around you.

So what does a spiritual movement look like?

Dr Paul Pierson, my missions history prof at Fuller, and a pastor at Hollywood Presbyterian Church, compiled a very helpful list of characterstics of renewal movements. I used his ideas to research the Toronto Vineyard movement when it was only 6 months old. Thanks Ryan for asking him to write them down so that others might use them.

"Dear Andrew; Ryan asked me to send this to you. The list of factors observed in revival and renewal movements throughout history is flexible and some of these can be combined, but here is a list.
- They always begin on the periphery of the institutional church
- They are motivated by a transforming experience (grace) of God by an individual or group.
- The result is the desire for a more authentic Christian life that often leads to concern for the church and world.
- Face to face groups for prayer, Bible study, mutual encouragement are important.
- New methods of selecting and training leaders become important. These are less institutional, more grass roots and lay oriented.
- There are theological breakthroughs, that is, rediscovery of aspects of the Biblical message that have been forgotten or overlooked by the Church, usually they involve a focus on the gifts of every believer.
- There is a leveling effect, distance decreases between clergy and laity, social classes, races, men and women, and denominations.
- The movement is countercultural in some ways, often because it reaches out to those who have not been valued by their society. - Consequently there will be opposition by many in the dominant culture and church. - There will often be manifestations of spiritual warfare. such movements sense the reality of evil and the need to recognize the vistory of Christ in the cross and resurrection.
- At times there will be unusual manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit; healings, visions, glossalalia, miracles. etc.
- More flexible structures of church and mission will be needed and often emerge, different from traditional structures.
- The movement will be led to significant recontextualization of the Christian message, which will be communicated more widely by lay persons to those outside the church.
- New music is often a characteristic.
- Biblical concepts ignored by the traditional church but relevant to the hearers are often discovered.
- There will be a growing concern for the marginalized, often expressed in ministries of compassion.
- At a later stage this often leads to concern for broader social transformation.
- As the movement matures there will be concern for the renewal of the broader church.
- As the movement continues to mature many will see themselves not only as part of the particular movement but as citizens of the Kingdom of God, transcending their own movement.
- Finally, every movement is less than perfect and often messy at the edges and sometimes, at the center. This is inevitable as long as sinful humans are involved.

I hope this is helpful. Cordially, Paul Pierson

"Dear Andrew; Ryan asked me to send this to you. The list of factors observed in revival and renewal movements throughout history is flexible and some of these can be combined, but here is a list.
- They always begin on the periphery of the institutional church
- They are motivated by a transforming experience (grace) of God by an individual or group.
- The result is the desire for a more authentic Christian life that often leads to concern for the church and world.
- Face to face groups for prayer, Bible study, mutual encouragement are important.
- New methods of selecting and training leaders become important. These are less institutional, more grass roots and lay oriented.
- There are theological breakthroughs, that is, rediscovery of aspects of the Biblical message that have been forgotten or overlooked by the Church, usually they involve a focus on the gifts of every believer.
- There is a leveling effect, distance decreases between clergy and laity, social classes, races, men and women, and denominations.
- The movement is countercultural in some ways, often because it reaches out to those who have not been valued by their society. - Consequently there will be opposition by many in the dominant culture and church. - There will often be manifestations of spiritual warfare. such movements sense the reality of evil and the need to recognize the vistory of Christ in the cross and resurrection.
- At times there will be unusual manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit; healings, visions, glossalalia, miracles. etc.
- More flexible structures of church and mission will be needed and often emerge, different from traditional structures.
- The movement will be led to significant recontextualization of the Christian message, which will be communicated more widely by lay persons to those outside the church.
- New music is often a characteristic.
- Biblical concepts ignored by the traditional church but relevant to the hearers are often discovered.
- There will be a growing concern for the marginalized, often expressed in ministries of compassion.
- At a later stage this often leads to concern for broader social transformation.
- As the movement matures there will be concern for the renewal of the broader church.
- As the movement continues to mature many will see themselves not only as part of the particular movement but as citizens of the Kingdom of God, transcending their own movement.
- Finally, every movement is less than perfect and often messy at the edges and sometimes, at the center. This is inevitable as long as sinful humans are involved.

I hope this is helpful. Cordially, Paul Pierson

Winkie Pratney's Communication Secret

Winkie Pratney just suffered an aneurysm last week and "apparently is not doing very well." His speech is slurred and he might have some memory loss. Quite a shock for a guy who speaks to half a million youth each year. I heard Winkie speak in Portugal last May - a wonderful, dynamic warm-hearted speaker, although a little obsessed with stories of his medical tragedies. I am sure this one will become a story also.

One of his communication secrets, he told us, was to win the trust of his audience through personal stories. Most of the time in his presentations is devoted to stories of his life and his actual challenges are very short, but memorable and life-changing.

And Winkie wants everyone to know that, despite his unusual name, he is NOT a gay teletubbie!