TallSkinnyKiwi

iphone

Apple's iphone comes out tonight. Whoopdy Do! Its just a stupid phone and it costs too much money - $499 and $599. My motorola phone is 2 years old and if it died tomorrow i think i would resurrect my REALLY old Sony Ericsson 68i which i loved. If i want iTunes then i will buy an iPod. If i want a notebook i will write on paper with pen - which i still prefer. Yes it looks cool. Damn cool. But I just cant justify buying it or the service. In fact, AppleMatters calculates the iphone will cost you $3000 over two years. Maybe you cant afford it either. Is anyone buying this phone? Engadget has the skinny.

I remember the days when Apple was a company that helped people become productive rather than their current role as a vendor of cool products. I attended Mac Expo in 2000 in San Francisco and my life changed . . . radically changed. It was productivity rather than products. I think those days are gone.

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IJFM Missions articles online

HUGE amount of missions reading now available in PDF form. I'm talking about the past issues of International Journal of Frontier Missions.
HT: Scott Burness

Helen J Hicks and her new single

iTunes release of the single "Love's Not for Sale" by blues/jazz singer Helen J Hicks. Profits go towards fighting human trafficking. Last week I saw Helen perform a fantastic set at a London club where she released her excellent new album [buy it on Amazon] on her LoudMouthMusic label. I took some video of 'Love's Not for Sale'. Here it is.

Afterwards, Helen and James joined our group for dinner. Delightful couple. I told Helen she sounded a little like Nora Jones - hope that wasn't an insult.
Helen J Hicks, like every musician on the planet, is also on Myspace

Technorati Tags: blues, helen j hicks, human trafficking, jazz, music

Orphaned kids and missional families

Heres a good question [found on] StillHaventFound blog:

"America has nearly 115,000 orphaned kids in foster care waiting to be adopted. Some wonder how this is possible in a country with Christian families. Surely, there are 115,000 missional families in America, right? Missional families, for example, embrace the redemptive mission of God and practice “true religion” in their local communities (James 1:27). Missional Christians in America could eliminate the foster care system tomorrow if we would stop “shootin’ up” with the American Dream (heroine) in order to get high on a lame life lived for the sake of comfort and ease."

Doug and Shelley Pagitt of Emergent Village, adopted two young Mexican kids named Reuben and Chico. I cant remember if they were orphaned or not but I got to meet them in Minneapolis and i was REALLY impressed by that. Wonderful kids. Wonderful example of the Jesus life. If I didnt have 5 kids, and if people stopped prophesying another one, despite my wife's operation, I think we would be open to adopting.

At Glenwood Community Church (called Minnehaha back then) when i was on a pastoral team with Paul Jackson, a guy named Chuck Fox and his daughter went out to Romania to adopt an orphaned girl. They came back and showed some slides that were incredible moving. Chuck went back to Romania and helped to start a few orphanages and a mission. I suppose we dont all need to start orphanges and mission organizations but I bet a few of us have a spare room in our house [and our hearts].

Lausanne III, WEA and Geoff Tunnicliffe's doctorate

“Friends, this is your day and this is your chance. This life is the one life you have. So which it is going to be? Are you going develop the heart for the world? Are you going to make a difference for Jesus Christ? If you are, then you’ve got to come close. You’ve got to connect with people with real needs." - Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of World Evangelical Alliance, upon receiving his honorary doctorate last week in San Francisco. Geoff is an outstanding Canadian who I have met a few times at mission conferences. Congratulations, Doctor Tunnicliffe!

Related: There was a Lausanne meeting last week in Hungary where they discussed, among other things, mission in "a post-Christian, post-modern, pluralistic world". Lausanne had recently decided to partner with WEA towards Lausanne III, to be held in Cape Town, October 2010. If you are Baptist, you probably know that William Carey suggested an international missions roundtable in Cape Town for 1810 but it didnt happen. The 1910 International Missions Conference in Edinbugh happened a hundred years later and kicked off the modern ecumenical movement based around missions. It is not really known whether the organisers knew about Carey's plans a hundred years earlier or not.

I have been thinking about Edinburgh 2010 for 6 years. In 2001, I gave an emerging church presentation at the Great Commission Roundtable in Malaysia where the two groups, Lausanne and WEA, came together with AD2000. We talked about the 2010 conference in Edinburgh as a hundred year celebration of mission partnership, at the suggestion of Jacques Matthey from WCC. I will probably still be living in Scotland in 2010 so I will no doubt be involved in some mission events in Edinburgh. Let me know if you are also planning something or have any strong ideas on what should happen. Be great to see the emerging church globally bring in some worthy contributions to the celebrations. It would be a great way to bring together the fruit of our many international roundtables. And yes, I am familiar with the Edinburgh Towards 2010 website and events and hope that we can compliment what is already going to take place.

Technorati Tags: geoff tunnicliffe, lausanne, wea

Praying in London

I had a great time in prayer last week in London at Shannon Hopkins's apartment with Tamsin, Mark and Han Stoney, Amy, Kerstin and Shannon. And I also got to pray with crazy-firece-warrior-charasmaniac Cathryn Thomas after tapping into her LoveFiercely blog for a long time. Cathryn and the others prayed until a ridiculous time in the morning but I snuck out while I could. Thanks for blogging it, Cathryn. And thanks for the photo. . .. and the prayer bath! And Mark . . . thanks for being the other male.

Greg Valerio on Fair Trade Jewellery

Greg Valerio of Cred Foundation spoke to us last week about fairness and justice in the jewellery business, fairness to everyone from the mine to the shelf. Fair Trade is a first step, says Greg, but we still have a long way to go. He talked about his company Cred Jewellery and the challenge of mining gold and silver without using harmful chemicals. Quite a challenge. Next step is fair trade diamonds

Related: Counting the Cost of Gold (PDF)

Ian Coffey at Keswick

Keswick Convention will feature Ian Coffey speaking on 'Postcards from the Edge' (Week 3 - July 28-Aug 3). Ian will be replacing Alistair Begg who is recovering from surgery. This will be a great chance to hear this speaker and Church Next co-author with Eddie Gibbs (Emerging Churches) and at a great historical location.
HT: Adrian Warnock

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Chastity ring banned from school

In the news today is Lydia Playfoot and her chastity ring. Her school will not allow her to wear it since its a religious item. She takes the case to court today. Hey - if its a meaningful icon and she simply wants to remind herself and her male classmates that she will not have having any nooky until she gets married [highly recommended btw]then LET HER WEAR IT!

Interesting sideline about rings - I heard a business man named Greg talk about fair trade jewelry this week in London and the unethical practices, including the huge environmental impact of mining gold and silver - something he blames the church for in its push for everyone to buy wedding rings.

UPDATE:
- It was Greg Valerio of Cred Foundation who spoke to us last week about justice in the jewellery business.
- Related: Counting the Cost of Gold (PDF)

- Suggested article to get the skinny on the purity ring thing is Silver Bling Thing. HT: Dave in NZ

Technorati Tags: chastity ring, purity ring

Fire Destroys Simple Way Building

My friend Shane Claiborne could use some encouragement right now. A fire destroyed his home and the community center of his ministry Simple Way. No one hurt. Read more on Christianity Today blog. I have known Shane for nearly ten years and have a great respect for his new monastic journey and ministry to the poor. Thanks Gareth Higgins for the news. Donations here.