steve

mosaic

i love this church and their feel. Erwin McManus has written some really interesting books.. here

The quality of graphic design in the images just pulls you into the space. Click on this image as an example.

Excellent graphics pull you into community... discuss

I had an incredible week

Tonnes of input given, i'm completely exhausted but in a nice way; seminars, speaking , 6 times with prep.. And I feel God's refreshing , next week is admin catch up... Slow pace with people and family time, Jesus time, thinking time, life seems to be in rhythms.. advance & retreat.

Interesting church ?

Church of the Apostles is an emerging church in Seattle, Washington. They describe themselves as "an organic missional community, affiliated with god, through jesus christ, in the power of the spirit. We share a spiritual kinship with all those who affirm the most ancient christian confession "jesus is lord." Within the larger christian village, we are part of the anglican and lutheran tribes." Check out the Apostles website to learn about their cafe, theology pub, supper club, band, drum circles, film nights, and more ways they are engaging the culture.

It seems like these sort of expressions of church are popping up all over the western world... more Lord

Blogging back

Well i've got pda back from menders, it got wet and greatly reduced my blogging capacity . Big weekend ahead - some folks from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford coming. g'night

Todays thoughts

There's been some stillness today.. I really needed it, so much is happening around me - God and His World are just too big for me to cope with, why can't You be small and boxable ? Have you ever tried this, walk down a busy street and look at as many people as possible, then stand in awe as you think what their Creator is doing in the complexity of that person's life. Take the orchestral and wonderful chaos that is your life and multiply it by how many people you see on that street. Isn't the created order, the cosmos so indescribably incredible ?

And yet I need to be still, to slow, to realise in paradox that this complex God is also a simple God, a friend who wants to love and relate.

May your day be full of paradoxical rythms of slow and fast, complex and simple, chaos and order.

Peace

I love writing and so did Jonnyboy

Do you ever feel like you're going to pop if you don't express what's inside, I feel like that sometimes. With the regular release valve of spiritual tension ( preaching every Sunday ) not happening, what does the creative soul do ? Sit and fester ? Or get publishing, all over the place, in fact wherever anyone will have me ...

I keep thinking about my Methodist background founder, John Wesley, he published hundreds of sermons, booklets, articles, he wrote letters all the time...can you imagine him with a laptop, home wi-fi network and www.horserider.blogspot.com ?? Imagine it ! The influence , the amount of stuff he would have got through, can you imagine what he could have done on a Virgin Train with Laptop plug instead of riding 200,000 fruit-less miles on horse around this Island ? What opportunity there is for us meek souls to pioneer in these new media and publishing technologies... John would be there with us for sure.

I lived in Charles Wesley's house you know - I don't tell many people that. He  composed all those hymns in my loft bedroom. It's my only claim to fame,apart from the fact that Price Charles stood on my father-in-law's head.

Exeter are going beat Man Utd next week after drawing with them on Saturday

accepted on accreditted coach course

I'm going to be engaged in a year's course to become an accreditted coach... distance learning, life-coaching, church leader and planter coaching, etc...I'll publish my work here on the blog. I guess coaching is so near to the jesus-style of leadership and I really want to pick up some cross-discilplinary skills as well as skills for life and ministry generally.

wifi tester - blogging from the bog

I've just fitted the wifi network to my house so I am testing that I can blog from the bog on my laptop... and....... yes I can ! The wonders of technology

from Tom Sines site on remixed Monastic orders

Seed Sight: TOM
A Rule of Life is a list of practices we intentionally undertake to maintain and deepen our relationship with God.  It encourages us to set goals for our spiritual growth and to create a pattern for our lives that opens us to God's presence.  Different Rules have been a part of monastic life since the early days of the church. 

One example Rule of Life is from The Order of Mission (TOM), based out of St Thomas Church, Sheffield, England.  The Order of Mission is a global missionary Order, jointly established by the Church of England and Baptist Union UK. 

The traditional monastic concepts of poverty, chastity and obedience are reinterpreted in the Rule of TOM as devotion to a life of simplicity, purity and accountability. The Rule also requires a balanced Christian lifestyle known as UP, IN and OUT whereby members undertake to live a common life (INwards to each other), sustained by a discipline of common worship and prayer (UPwards to God), and issuing in works that are primarily of a public nature (OUTwards to the world).  You can read more about The Order of Mission and their rule of life here.

Seed Sprout: order of mustard seed
Another Rule of Life comes from The Order of the Mustard Seed.  The Order of the Mustard Seed was a society founded in the 18th century by Count Zinzendorf.  Members of 24-7 Prayer are catalyzing and nurturing this contemporary Order of the Mustard Seed.  The members of this order vow three things:
To be true to Christ;
To be kind to people;
To take the gospel to the nations.

In The Vision and the Vow, Pete Greig, of 24-7 Prayer, explores this ancient Rule of Life and calls us to consider entering into a similar covenant with God and friends to pursue these three dimensions of discipleship for the rest of our lives.
"Just imagine," says Pete, "what might happen if cells of the Order of the Mustard Seed were planted in thousands of churches and in every Christian tradition bringing faith and renewal. We could start a contagion of kindness and grace, modeling authentic, balanced, and Christ-centered lifestyles of discipleship. We could catalyze a fresh movement of mission and justice in every sphere of society where Christ is not known.  The vow can be marked outwardly by a ring and perhaps a tattoo as well, if your conscience permits.
You can read more about The Order of the Mustard Seed and their rule of life here.