jonnybaker

champions!!!!!!

chelsea!

champions for the first time in 50 years.... wahoooo!

being human is a mission

CMS have a magazine 'Yes' that is sent to interested and supporting churches and individuals. it's just had a revamp and is looking much better - i have actually given some copies to people which i confess i rarely did before. it comes out quarterly. if you are interested contact CMS. some of the articles are online to download as PDFs including the lead one heirs of abraham by richard

i have been invited to write a column for Yes. the working title was 'in our times' reflecting on cultural issues and mission asking the question from acts 17 'where are the altars to the unknown god?'

the first one is called being human is a mission and is on blahonline as a feature. there is also some discussion about theology and film kicking off on the boards there. i haven't blogged about blahonline for a while as it has been beset with teething problems but these are pretty much ironed out so we are ready to put some energy back into it again. it's a site set up to develop an online community to fuel peoples ongoing mission offering reflections, discussions, photo albums etc... if you are not a member sign up.

dave has added a photo album with some pics from our trip in winnipeg which i am sure he will be adding to...

authenticity

ali reviews a book on authenticity which identifies these markers pointing out they would make for a good church...

1. Real means ethical.
2. Real means natural.
3. Real means honest.
4. Real means simple.
5. Real means unspun.
6. Real means sustainable.
7. Real means beautiful.
8. Real means rooted.
9. Real means three dimensional.
10. Real means human.

mikli shades

at breakfast in the hotel the waiter was sporting an amazing retro pair of two tone sunglasses. we wondered if the specials were back in town.

turns out that these are actually the creation of designer alain mikli and the waiter had picked them up in a boutique in paris - impressive bit of subcutural capital in downtown winnipeg eh?!

arrived in winnipeg

arrived in winnipeg...  last week it was 26 degrees but today there was light snow which was a surprise.

this is bill millar, the man responsible for inviting us over. was fun meeting up and chatting about mission, culture, indigenous church and all that (another virtual meeting becomes meeting in person which seems to be a regular thing now - am looking forward to meeting jordon and wendy on sunday).

thanks mike for your comment that made me laugh a lot but no morph is not just a little brown plasticene man from Tony Hart's art programme :-)

losing my edge

last night went to see LCD sound system (i thought that in terms of other bands it was gang of four meets the fall meets pigbag!). one of their tracks makes me smile every time i hear it - i think it's the perfect song for those of us who have been on the scene a while especially in alt worship. my favourite line has to be I'm losing my edge to better looking people with better ideas and more talent, who are actually really really nice

Yeah I'm losing my edge, I'm losing my edge
The kids are coming up from behind
I'm losing my edge
I'm losing my edge to the kids from France and from London
But I was there
I was there in 1968
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne
I'm losing my edge
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1962 to 1978
I'm losing my edge
I'm losing my edge to all the kids in Tokyo and Berlin
To the art school Brooklynites in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered eighties
I'm losing my edge
I'm losing my edge
But I was there, I was there, I was there
I'm losing my edge, I'm losing my edge
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks
But I was there
I was there in 1974 at the first Suicide practices in the Loft in New York City
I was working on the organ sounds, with much patience
I was there when Captain Beefheart started up his first band
I told him "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there
I was the first guy playing Daft Punk to the rock kids
I played it at CBGBs
Everybody thought it was crazy
We all know I was there, I was there
I've never been wrong
I used to work at a record store
I heard everything before anyone
I was there at the Paradise Garage DJ booth with Larry Levan
I was there in Jamaica during the great soundclashes
I woke up naked on the beach at Ibiza in 1988
But I'm losing my edge to better looking people with better ideas and more talent, who are actually really really nice
I'm losing my edge
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody
Every great song by the Beach Boys, all the underground hits, all the Modern Lovers tracks
I heard you have a vinyl of every Neiva(?) record, on German import
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal Detroit techno hit from 1985, '86, '87
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good sixties cut and another box set from the seventies
I hear you are buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and throwing your computer out the window because you want to make something real
You want to make a Yaz record
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables
I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars
I hear that everbody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know
But I will see more ???
This Heat, Pere Ubu, The Outsiders, Nation of Ulysses, M/A/R/R/S, ???, the Black Knights, Todd Terry, The Germs, Section 25, Althea and Donna, Sexual ??, a-ha, Pere Ubu, ???, the ?? Allstars, the Bar-Kays
The Human League, The Normal, Lou Reed, Scott Walker, Monks, Niagra?
Joy Division, Lame 48?, Creation?, Scientists, Royal Trux, 10CC, Double T, Eric B & Rakim, Index, Basic Channel, Soulsonic Force, "just hit me"**, Juan Atkins, ???, David Acteron?, Electric Prunes, Gil Scott Heron!
The Slits, Faust, Mantronix, Pharoah Sanders, The Fire Engines
The Swans, the Soft Cell, The Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics
We all know what you really want (x 16)
What is that?

book dilemma

i have a huge pile of books on my desk (well a dozen) - i haven't asked for any of these books. they have been sent to me by publishers obviously hoping i will blog about the books. well i make no promises - but will probably get round to it at some point... is this a new publishers strategy? anyone else getting books?

well here is my dilemma - there's a book i want to read but wonder if i might get sent it by the publisher - steve taylor's out of bounds church. will zondervan send it my way (they are one of the publishers who have sent me some books)? should i wait? i have read steve's phd which is really good and have no doubt the book will be brilliant - skinny raves about it anyway... either way i am looking forward to it.

morph 2005 in winnipeg

am off on weds with dave to morph 2005 in winnipeg. it's a conference of the united church of canada looking to imagine how it can engage in mission and worship with the emerging culture(s). i'll be doing one of the plenary sessions sharing from experiences in the uk and leading some alt worship. looking forward to it. i think there may be an informal get together of people involved in alt worship/emerging church on the sunday afternoon and evening if anyone is around (it was due to be monday but has had to be shifted due to flight times)

glass ceiling worries me too...

richard's comments on the glass ceiling worry me too... any wisdom on the subject welcome.

one event that got me thinking about this was when mark pierson was over last year teaching about alternative worship. but it wasn't billed as that - it was billed as art and spirituality and it drew more women than men.. whereas i figured that if it had been billed alternative worship that probably wouldn't have been the case.

join in the pentecost grid blog

if you are interested join in the pentecost grid blog.
tallskinny explains all
it's bob's idea

nearly there...

nearly there...

prep for india

been on an encounter training weekend getting ready for my visit to bangalore and kerala in june. really looking forward to it. there will be a team of seven of us going.

interview in the turning magazine

i am interviewed in the turning magazine on alternative worship...

probes

a few people have asked what i did at blah... in manchester and what the probes thing was all about.

the idea comes from marshall mcluhan who was an amazing thinker most famous for his phrases 'the medium is the massage' and 'the global village'. he wrote about technology, media, and cultural change. but rather than write in big theoretical essays he preferred to use probes - short provocative statements that get under the skin and make you think. the book of probes is a collection of some of mcluhans probes from various works of his combined with the design work of david carson. it really is a fabulous book.

i scanned a few pages and added some of my own. while they were scrolling round we discussed various probes of mcluhan's round tables. i have put them in a quicktime movie probes.mov if you are interested (about 1mb).

then to nudge the conversation on from just cultural change to mission and the emerging church i presented four probes for people to talk about.
1. church practices are accomodations to a society that no longer exists (thanks to ryan bolger for this thought)
2. cross cultural mission is a fund for our imagination as we go backwards into the future
3. being alternative is a poor strategy for change though it may help you feel better
4. artists and creatives will pave the way to the future evoking grief and amazement
(obviously i set them up in particular ways and talked about them which i haven't got the time to do here...)

it was great to hang out with ben and andy and then another ben and andy and helen after. hopefully this got blah... off to a good start in manchester. ben has added a few pics at sanctus.

Technorati Tags: probes, emerging church, marshall macluhan

worship trick 21 [second series] - sometimes

darryl shared this flash file he had put together with the youthmultimedia forum. it's about an 8mb flash file with U2 track Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own. i checked i could blog it and he said that was fine so go and downlaod it. it speaks for itself... thanks darryl!

i had a conversation with someone today asking about how you get this kind of file to download. i use firfox on mac - the easiest way for me is to click on the tools menu and select page info. there is then an option that says media and it lists all media on that page. highlight it and then there is an option to choose save as and voila - that alone is reason to switch to firefox if you haven't already :-)

Technorati Tags: u2, worship tricks, alternative worship

my bookshelf

my bookshelf

i got invited to do my bookshelf for church house publishing - short personal reviews of 5/6 books (i love the footnote definition of a blogger).

blah... manchester launch tomorrow night

am in manchester tomorrow night for the launch of blah... manchester. i am excited about this. ben edson and i have been dreaming it up for a few months. ben then pulled together a team to make it happen. it's co-sponsored by CMS and Church Army. it will be a space for reflection, conversation, making friends and dreaming about mission, worship, church, spirituality and all that as it relates to the emerging culture.

i have the honour of being the first speaker which i am a bit daunted by but have been working hard on my thoughts/presentation which is

Probes: Getting Under the Skin of the Emerging Church

the title is inspired by the book of the same name by marshall mcluhan. in fact we will be discussing some of his probes on culture, media, technology and making the world new. probes are short provocations designed to get under the skin, provoke thinking. click on the image for an example. i've got four probes of my own to encourage reflection and conversation on mission in the emerging culture.

i haven't blogged about it before because all the places went too quickly. but mail blah if you want to be added to the mailing list about future blah... manchester events. anyway details below...

Tuesday 19 April | 6:30-8:30pm | Drinks and refreshments provided | Admission free

Venue:  Church House, Fourth Floor, 90 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2GH

in case you were wondering when the next blah... london will be we are planning a couple for the summer june/july. watch this space.

what would jesus deconstruct

random thought

if you are like me once e-mails have been around a few days they slide down your in box and out of sight and get neglected for a while... this makes me realise that when i don't hear back from people after a few days that must have happened to e-mails that i send.

most people organise their in box in date order so why not set your computer date a month ahead of time, then any e-mails you send to people would stay at the top of their list for a month?!... just a random thought i had.

congrats

congrats to mark and anna:

Oscar John Poulson was born on Friday 15th April at 3.16am in the birthing pool at Ealing Hospital, Southall. He weighs 6 pounds and 13 ounces.