Church Marketing Sucks
How does this quote make you feel?
“Drinking fair trade coffee is a great starting point. But our commitment to justice must extend beyond sipping the right coffee. Sometimes in the west we tend to find ways to do what we’re already doing (i.e., drinking coffee or shopping) in a slightly more equitable way and call it charity when it can simply be a way to assuage our conscience without inconvenience.” - Drew Dyck, 04/18/2008 on Make That Coffee Fair Trade
If it sparks ideas/thoughts in your mind, comment about them, or read further:
Check out the four-part JUST Ideas Series. Starting with; http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2008/04/just_ideas_buyi.html
incarnation is..
“…incarnation is not about reinventing and compromising faith to fit into contemporary culture selling out, but is getting down and dirty: making the move to be amongst and one of whilst yet retaining purity and modelling holiness in the midst.” Ian Emery
Deliver me, O Jesus.
“Deliver me, O Jesus:
From the desire of being esteemed
From the desire of being loved
From the desire of being honored
From the desire of being praised
From the desire of being preferred to others
From the desire of being consulted
From the desire of being approved
From the desire of being popular.
Deliver me, O Jesus:
From the fear of being humiliated
From the fear of being despised
From the fear of being rebuked
From the fear of being slandered
From the fear of being forgotten
From the fear of being wronged
From the fear of being treated unfairly
From the fear of being suspected
And, Jesus, grant me the grace
To desire that others might be more loved than I
That others might be more esteemed than I
That in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I decrease
That others may be chosen and I set aside
That others may be preferred to me in everything
That others may become holier than I, provided that I, too, become as holy as I can.”
Salvation Army Doctrines
I made a visual presentation for the Salvation Army Doctrines years ago, but I wanted to share them with you again!
If you’d like to download the full powerpoint presentation, click here!
(And for my interest, can you let me know what you’re using it for? Ta.)
End Child Slavery Event - Australia Wide
On Friday 16 May 2008 (THIS FRIDAY!), join the movement as Australia stands up to end child slavery.
The Global Night Shift is one national event held simultaneously in six cities. In Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, thousands of young people will unite with the vision to end child slavery.
Come to PERTH CONCERT HALL, 7pm - 10pm, and hear passionate speakers, short films and great artists!
FEATURING fire dance troupe Fire ‘n’ Motion!
Tickets are $30 at www.bocsticketing.com.au and all profits go to the End Child Slavery campaign and The Oaktree Foundation’s work in India to build schools for children in poverty-stricken regions of India.
To find out more, you can email endchildslavery@theoaktree.org.
Watch: http://www.vimeo.com/752118
Visit: http://endchildslavery.theoaktree.org/
Buy Tickets: http://www.bocsticketing.com.au/get_events_info.asp?id=NIGH08
Read: Xander’s Blog and sign up for Freedom Friday’s
Fun in the Open Air
“Street Lives” is the new way of doing things in Osaka.
My mate Joel Crane has been in Osaka for the last six months or so (how many has it been Joel?) working with a bunch of Jesus freaks who are doing their bit to win the world for Him up there.
He just posted this blog about their recent attempts at “getting out and meeting new people”, mostly with the express purpose of introducing them to Jesus.
Great stories of being moved on with shouts of “DAME!” (Japanese for “You Can’t Do That!”)
Read it here: Osaka Tales
Maybe you’ll be inspired to explore the possibilities of an open air meeting in your own setting. I certainly have been. AND, I heard that it went off in Rockingham the other day!
Bring back the timbrels in the streets!
New Blog - Genesis
Hey, I just got an email from my mate Steve Friend who works at The Salvation Army’s Genesis Centre in Northbridge, WA.
Steve has started a blog telling of how the transformational power of God is working in the lives of people at the Centre - Staff, clients, students, everyone.
It’s pretty exciting stuff. Thanks Steve.
Here’s the link - http://tsagenesis.blogspot.com
Peace out 
Global Monitoring Report 2008
From World Bank PovertyNet Newsletter #113, April 2008:
A new World Bank-IMF report warns that most countries will fall short on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight globally agreed development goals with a due date of 2015. Though much of the world is set to cut extreme poverty in half by then, prospects are gravest for the goals of reducing child and maternal mortality, with serious shortfalls also likely in primary school completion, nutrition, and sanitation goals.
“In this Year of Action on the MDGs, I am particularly concerned about the risks of failing to meet the goal of reducing hunger and malnutrition, the ‘forgotten MDG’,” said Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank. “As the report shows, reducing malnutrition has a ‘multiplier’ effect, contributing to success in other MDGs including maternal health, infant mortality, and education.”
The Global Monitoring Report: MDGs and the Environment—Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development stresses the link between environment and development and calls for urgent action on climate change. The report warns that developing countries stand to suffer the most from climate change and the degradation of natural resources. To build on hard-won gains, developing countries need support to address the links between growth, development and environmental sustainability.
“Developing countries need more foreign aid and domestic resources to reach the MDGs. High economic growth and a stable macroeconomic environment remain essential for reducing poverty and increasing investment in health and education.” said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director.
Progress toward the MDGs differs dramatically across countries, regions, and income groups, the report says. Sub-Saharan Africa lags on all counts, including the goal for poverty reduction, though many countries in the region are now experiencing improved growth performance. At the country level, most countries are off track to meet most MDGs, with those in fragile situations falling behind most seriously.
With stronger efforts by the countries themselves and their development partners, most MDGs remain achievable for most countries, the report says. With this in mind, the report lays out an integrated six-point agenda, with strong, inclusive growth at the top. The agenda also calls for more effective aid; a successful outcome to the Doha round of trade talks; more emphasis on strengthening programs in health, education and nutrition; and financing and technology transfers to support climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Go here for the report: http://www.worldbank.org/gmr2008
Quotes to Inspire Awe & Action
I read at ArmyBarmy Blog a quote from James W. Douglass, referred by Aaron White (Friday, May 02, 2008).
It made me think about my friend Jarrod McKenna who is a revolutionary peace activist, based in Perth (but whose influence is world-shaking..)
I emailed it to him, and he made me famous! (His blog is much more widely read than mine…)
The joy of being connected. Thanks Jarrod!
The quote goes something like this:
“Jesus resisted evil with an intensity which revealed the uselessness and irrelevance of violence, and this resistance of love constitutes the Christian revolution.”
- James W. Douglass
Peace out.
Poverty, Accountability & Desire.
The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can’t Help the Poor
I think I’d like to get my hands on a copy of this book. Has anyone read it or seen it anywhere? It looks like this guy is thinking outside the square.
In this important book the author asserts that conventional explanations of poverty are mistaken, and that the anti-poverty policies built upon them are doomed to fail. Using science, history, fables, philosophical analysis, and common observation, Charles Karelis engages us and takes us to a deeper grasp of the link between consumption and satisfaction-and from there to a new and persuasive explanation of what keeps poor people poor. Above all, he shows how this fresh perspective can reinspire the long-stalled campaign against poverty.
Charles Karelis is Research Professor of Philosophy at The George Washington University. Formerly professor of philosophy at Williams College, director of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, and president of Colgate University, he lives in Washington, D.C.
In other news, I’ve been reading a lot about Professionalism lately. It seems that soldiers and officers are well on their way to professional status (not that we necessarily are seeking it.. that’s not my point). My point is that I feel like the criteria that we are falling behind in is accountability, performance measures and commitment to competence. I may be speaking out of line, but I feel that some behavior I’ve witnessed in officers (occasionally) is neither competent, nor accountable to anyone. I’d like to think that as an officer (and soldier for that matter) that I would actually be kept accountable to some kind of performance measure. Is that too much to ask? If I was an employee, I surely would be.
Also, I’m sure you’ve noticed every now and again that God doesn’t give you what you are seeking because he knows that it is not what you need. Have you ever noticed though, that sometimes God gives us the things that we ask for, even though he knows they are bad for us? (1 Samuel 8 -“Give us a king to lead us!”)
Read these:
