TallSkinnyKiwi

47 On-Site Lausanne Bloggers

You want the skinny on which bloggers are with me at Lausanne World Congress here in Cape Town. OK. How about 40 of them?

You already know about the Official Lausanne Blog and of course you know about Notes on Lausanne [Outreach Magazine] by Andrew Jones [I can honestly and objectively recommend this one]. Did you know that the most significant conversations are happening outside the plenary sessions??? No, because that post and many others are only available at Notes on Lausanne and thats where the bulk of my posts will go.

But here is the list On-Site Lausanne Congress Bloggers that you have been looking for:

http://www.italker.org.uk  
http://misionglocal.blogspot.com/
http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/
http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org

http://wrecked.org 
http://wherehermadnessresides.blogspot.com/
http://www.jdpayne.org/
http://www.daintl.org/wordpress
http://www.brigada.org
http://Thinke.org
http://www.dionforster.com/
http://www.kouya.net  
http://krishk.wordpress.com
http://flirtingwithfaith.com
http://www.daveingland.com
http://jamesbcarroll.wordpress.com
http://ryansrandomremarks.blogspot.com/
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog
http://anglicandownunder.blogspot.com
http://www.pres-outlook.com/blog
http://chriskidd.co.uk/
http://stephenmurray.co.za
http://www.conversantlife.com/blogs
http://www.medema.nl
http://www.willmancini.com
http://lesliethinkingallowed.blogspot.com/
http://markpenrith.wordpress.com
http://www.boerenroem.nl

http://topchretien.jesus.net/topblog/ 
http://blog.jesus.net/
http://www.thebrooknetwork.org
http://xenos-theology.blogspot.com/
http://profrah.wordpress.com
http://lifeasmission.com/blog/
http://petersprogress.wordpress.com/
http://www.innovationinmission.com
http://www.missoeseadoracao.net
www.fabriciocunha.com.br
http://www.marydemuth.com

http://codylorance.blogspot.com

http://www.justinlong.org

http://new.shipoffools.com/lausanne/

http://danielcalle.blogspot.com

http://nickpark.wordpress.com/

http://blog.theseedcompany.org

http://www.thekindlings.ca

Are you physically in Cape Town at the Congress and yet not on this list? Add yourself and your blog URL to the comments. Lets go for 50.

Want me to take you off the list? No prob. email me tallskinnykiwi at gmail dot com

Thanks to the Lausanne Social Media team for most of the links. Yesterday they made me an honorary member and even gave me a special secret agent badge with special access. Thanks guys. Here's us.

How to Survive a Christian Bookstore: #2 FINDING YOUR HAPPY PLACE

So, you still want to buy a Bible from a Christian bookstore but don't want to drown in a sea of mozzarella? I get it. Welcome to Part 2 of my series "How to Survive a Christian Bookstore". 

You have read How to Survive a Christian Bookstore: #1 EMBRACING THE FEAR and so you already know what to expect at the front door and what grotesque ecclesiastic marketing monsters await you inside. You now have enough ammo to fearlessly step into the store without breaking into a sweat.



So far so good.

But there is a snag! The Bible you want to buy is located all the way at the back of the store and you will have to fend off attacks from a host of formidable foes before you conquer the store and claim your prize. Not to worry. We are going to get through this one together. You need a strategy that works. Stick with me now.

Your strategy is to . . . 

Find Your Happy Place!

Use your entry into the store to immediately locate possible happy places, ie, safe points along the way and so that you can reach the Bible section in stages. Here are some possible Happy Places. Pick the one that works for you.

Happy Place 1: Music Department
No matter how cheesy the book covers are, the music department is surprisingly cheddar-free and you might even find yourself browsing through the CD's. Dont feel ashamed about that. Its normal.

Happy Place 2: Second Hand Books
This area is actually my favorite part of the store. Here you will find classic old books for a good price and you will NOT experience the symptoms that accompany the viewing of more recent books. Not sure why that is.

Happy Place 3: Icons 
If it's a Catholic or Orthodox bookstore, your first Happy Place will be the icon department. Its where you see tiny statues of saints and posters of sad Jesus, which can be surprisingly funky, in a retro-50's-kitchy way, and much more palatable than the 80's-profoundly-inspirational-scenic-waterfall-with-relevant-but-forced-Bible-verse poster that your mother got for Christmas last year from Aunt Mavis who works at the Methodist bookstore.

Happy Place 4: Coffee Shop
Many of the larger Christian bookstores have a coffee shop area where you can sit down, calm down, wipe the perspiration from your brow, congratulate yourself for actually entering the store, and formulate a plan to get the rest of the way to the Bibles.

When you finally and successfully land in your Happy Place, remind yourself by saying out loud, "I'm in a Happy Place!" Repeat if necessary.

Once you have arrived in your Happy Place, you should be able to locate the Bible section, plan your route, and estimate how many steps. From there, its just a simple manner of holding your breath and walking directly over to the Bibles.

Don't get distracted! Don't respond to the nice lady smiling at you. She actually is not smiling at you  - its a permanent facial contortion that the faces of religious people aspire to and not, in fact, an invitation to chat. So just be rude, ignore her, and walk straight towards your target area.

HOME SAFE!

And that should land you right at the Bible section. From there, you can choose from a myriad of Bibles -  study Bibles, youth Bibles, Bibles with celebrity-pastor's names on them [avoid them], white Bibles [that means you are in a Catholic store], black Bibles [Presbyterian], burgundy Bibles [evangelical-suburban], Bibles in mean-spiky-metal covers [evangelical-urban], New Testament-only Bibles [Charismatic - nahhhhh - inside joke], Bibles with the words of Jesus in red [Baptist] or the words of Paul in read [Reformed . . . no not really], and Bibles of all shapes and sizes and bindings and price tags. Plenty to choose from.

What Bible do I like? I use The Net Bible which contains really good notes on why the translators [including my Cuz] translated it the way they did but you might want to start with a simple no-nonsense Bible that's easy to read. I think "paraphrased" Bibles are for morons so I try to avoid them. For a good translation, ask your respected Christian friend what they use. If they use a paraphrase, then don't tell them what I said.

So, grab the Bible you want, exhale, let your pulse return to normal and pat yourself on the back for making it so far. Now you have to make your way to the counter to purchase it and that's another journey that we probably need to talk about. I will tackle it soon in Part III but you don't have to wait for me if you want to buy a Bible. Just do it!

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?

Random stuff like Bibles, toilets and London

Bible and Toilets: The Poverty and Justice Bible has been released. It highlights 2000 verses on poverty and even talks about TOILETS. I have been offered a few copies for readers. So leave a comment below, AND send your full postal address to my email [tallskinnykiwi at gmail dot com] and the first five requests will get a free BIBLE, courtesy of American Bible Society.

Trip to London: Your $5 raffle ticket could win a trip for two to LONDON including accommodatio. And you will be suporting Shannon Hopkins the energetic missional entrepreneur behind Soul Cafe (Texas), Sweet Notions and the Truth isnt Sexy. The drawing is Dec 15, 2009. Email Cathers for details.