Mardibum

Mardibum is moving

2009-09-18T10:51:00.001+01:00

I have decided to move my blog over to wordpress http://mardibum63.wordpress.com/ I will keep this one going for a while then shut it down down

Richard Mayabi who was a slum pastor in Kibera, Nairobi

2009-09-13T15:18:00.002+01:00

Today we had Richard Mayabi from Kenya with us.He came to us along with Paul Ede who has visited his church in Nairobi and has been studying with him at ICC.
It was a great blessing to have him preach and to hear his passion for God,yes he comes from a different world but I felt challenged by his words.He reminded us of the power of Gods word to change things ,the power we have to speak that word not only to ourselves but to others.
I believe we have much to learn from our brothers and sister in Africa I think they can help us to believe again that with God all things are possible.So a big thank you to Richard and you never know I may take him up on his invitation to visit Nairobi next year along with Paul and a few others.

The nines leadership conference

2009-09-09T09:02:00.002+01:00

Found this on TSK thenines looks like it could be a great idea.An on line leadership conference with 9 minute messages from an amazing list of leaders .The event starts today and is free but you must register.You can dip in and out through the day and join in through twitter and a few other techno gizmos.

http://thenines.leadnet.org/

Scottish Government's draft legislative programme:

2009-09-04T08:58:00.002+01:00

Here we are in the middle of the worst recession in living memory and all our elected officials care for is more politics.Our country is bleeding jobs like never before and not a word,apprentices are being laid of, manufacturing is being strangled of cash by the banks who have taken our cash and kept it, and hip hip hurray we have more "finance jobs" (call centre workers).These jobs add nothing to our nation and are moved out asap because the skills are easy to teach and it takes no time to replace them in another part of the world.

And the governments answer .Lets talk about independence lets put a minimum price on alcohol to stop people drinking.Apparently alcohol is responsible for people missing to many days of work as well as all sorts of social evils .Well those with no jobs wont need to worry about missing work now will they!

It has not taken long for those in Edinburgh to become completely detached from reality .These are people who think its more important to talk about Independence than it is to keep food on our tables.I have said this before and I will say it again.I remember voting for devolution and having such high hopes for it.But this programme shows that what we have here is just a glorified more expensive version of local council.A parliament that either cannot or will not get involved in the reality of life in Scotland today.

Shame on those up in there big expensive house I want to vote but not on independence I want to vote to get rid of this useless lair of politics that serves no other purpose but the stroking of small nation ego's.

Al Megrahi's release

2009-08-20T14:49:00.003+01:00

Today the Scottish justice secretary announced that Al Megrahi' the man found guilty of the murders of 270 people in Lockerbie in 1988 would be released on compassionate grounds.

I have watched this develop over the last few weeks with great interest.Mr macAskill has come under great pressure during this process from those in the USA and some in the UK to keep Al Megrahi' in prison.This was a complicated legal matter but I want to mention the compassionate angle.

It seems to me that the need for compassion must be weighed with the need for justice.Justice is just as high on Gods agenda as compassion.This man was found guilty by a court and sentenced to life in prison.He is now dying from cancer and has asked for compassion to be shown.The Scottish minister has decided to show compassion based on medical advice the he has less than 3 months to live which i think is the usual grounds for this type of release.

During the announcement Mr MacAskill sought to lay blame for this mess at the door of the UK government which I thought was a cheap shot under the circumstances.He spoke of the victims families grief and he also laid on thick the christian reasoning behind his decision.Which some commentators said would be aimed at an American audience.

He also laid claim to speak on behalf of the Scottish people on this matter which I thought was a bit of a stretch.He spoke of our humanity and principles.There is no don't this was a very difficult decision and on balance one I think he got right.Compassion and mercy are the friends of God and it looks like the way of the kingdom has won the day here .This same compassion must be extended to the families left with the feeling of injustice they need to know that if there is a need for a new inquiry then it will be undertaken so that no stone is left unturned and the UK government should have gotten promises from the Libyan government before they went ahead with this .

Church in Scotland

2009-08-20T11:46:00.005+01:00

As we see the the slow lingering death of Christendom in Scotland what will we see take its place.?How will our nation be effected by this?and will it be a good thing for the church?

I guess Christendom was on its last legs as I entered this world 45 years ago what we have now is that slow lingering death brought about by the use of modern medicine .Drugs to kill the pain and life support machines to keep it going .But nothing can stave of the inevitable.Christendom has tried in vain to keep any hold it has on our society for years now .From trying to be trendy and hip with the young team .To getting all righteous about the evils of this world .The charismatics gave us Godly entertainment while to proddies just said yes to everything .The RC church stuck to its guns on most things like the fundamentals eg abortion ,marriage.And nobody but nobody could prevent the death that will surely come.

Sometimes we have to admit that death has won and rejoice and give thanks for what was good.What was good about Christendom in Scotland was the reform to our society that we gained from it .Reform to the way we treated the poor the reform that set free the slaves not only literal but the slaves in the mines and mills.Reform that demanded care or those in most need which led to a social care system and health care system.I know that not all of these things came about directly because of Christendom but it does take some credit.Christendom sent out mission people all over the world with the good news but on that one we have to take the good with the bad.

So where do we go now?I believe its a chance for new wine skins and when I say new I mean new .Not refurbished wine skins but brand new ones.Church can once again become church .A body a community that puts Jesus at its centre and mission as its goal.Church where the value of "one another" replaces the value of me.A community of people able to be honest about there victories as well as there defeats.A community that could not care less about church growth a community that is passionate about healing and the poor.A place where those crazy dreams and visions are welcomed and a community where power is exposed for what it is.

This is a place that will take great courage to be part of it.It s shape will be unknown its ways will be fluid and its people will need to be brave.This is the church the community of the post-modern world and its coming to Scotland like it or not.Gods new thing will I believe shock those of us familiar with the old but excite those who have no knowledge of it.And for me that's the generation that is now coming through.I don't mourn the passing of Christendom I rejoice in it.Being in bed with the enemy made us compromise to much lets stay free from that and see what God can do.This new community must have at its core the kingdom of god no other way will work for us.The modern world was not fluid enough for the kingdom it struggled with the great generosity that the kingdom demands.I believe the post-modern emergent world is much better placed to see what God has in store for us and to be willing to take the risks needed to make it happen.

Fly the flag

2009-08-17T15:06:00.002+01:00

So the football season started again on Saturday.It was good to be back in the old routine wake up late get some breakfast watch some footie on the box including the return of Soccer AM and then head of to the match with my dad and a new recruit for this year my mate John bought a season ticket on Friday .

The game was a 4-1 win for rangers against Falkirk who are a good team with some good football players.They pass the ball well but just lack the cutting edge to score more goals.Rangers were sluggish and having made no signing this season the place was a little flat.The punters want a few new faces but the accountants wont let Smith spend and money.Maybe if Celtic don't make the champions league groups the extra money we get will be spent on a few new faces.In typical Rangers supporters way there was some complaing about a 4-1 win some people are never happy.

Swine flu pays a visit

2009-08-05T12:07:00.002+01:00

Swine flu has finally arrived in our house.
My youngest boy (14) looks like he has swine flu.We cant say for sure because the doctors only diagnose over the phone but they have prescribed Tami flu for him.I feel unsure about giving him the Tami flu as it has some horrible side effects.Now we have to wait and see if anybody else catches it.
Its funny how these things always make you pray a bit different .I found myself walking around the house last night at 2 am praying that God would drive the fever out of my son and keep the rest of us healthy.So far so good he doesn't seem to serious and the rest of us are still standing.

Beyond our imagination

2009-07-28T08:56:00.004+01:00

They say patchy fog is the most dangerous kind for driving in.One minute you cant see in front of your nose the next its clear.In the clear air you will be tempted to speed up only to be confronted again by the thick pea soup that slows you right down again.
Over the last few weeks I have been living through that same type of fog,most of the time you cannot see a thing then suddenly you feel like everything is as clear as a bell.

Up until now this has been my experience of trying to take some time out from church leadership.Some of this is my own fault as I find it hard to sit still and wait.But some of it is also due to feeling like I had to get involved again because of the serious situation we were in.going along to out team meeting only thickened the fog and on the way home my prayer was simply one of HELP!!

I have no doubts about what God has called me to .So I suppose the doubts must be about where he has put me.And if after 20 odd years it might be time to move on.My problem with that is my loyalty to those around I find it almost impossible to think about walking away and leaving them.In fact this only serves to make the fog thicker.

So I have asked for a few more weeks and after a rare moment in the clear last night I have a lot more peace about the future whatever that might be.So in all of this I remain convinced that God is good and that he has plans for all of us that go beyond even our wildest imagination.

Clay pigeon shooting

2009-07-16T11:05:00.003+01:00

I meant to post this a few weeks back but got caught up with holidays and stuff.

I was taken shooting recently by a friend who is new to the church .I was telling him that I needed to find some new ways to relax and spend my down time.he invited me to go shooting with him in a little place in Ayrshire called Moscow.

I went down on a Friday afternoon and met up with Robert who introduced me to the owner of of Cowans Law Jay.We grabbed 100 shells and of we went.I could see that Robert knew what he was doing by the way he handled the gun .I was a bit nervous having never fired a gun before.After the first 10 -15 shells missed there target by a mile I hit my first clay.I didn't take long for me to get my eye in.I really enjoyed the time there and it didn't take that long to get through 100 shells.They have a great set up with fishing in the small loch as well as corporate stuff for the big boys.

So thanks Robert for a good day out .I think I might head back down again with my son at the weekend.

Bruce Springsteen dont bother

2009-07-15T15:15:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I left a tweet that I was going to see The Boss in Glasgow.I was looking forward to the gig and had high hopes.I must admit that I'm not the biggest fan in the world but surely that wouldn't matter.After all Ive been to many gigs where I didn't really know the band .

How wrong can you be.The worst gig I have ever had the misfortune to pay £50 for.We were quite a bit away from the stage but even taking that into account the sound was crap.Just not loud enough it was like sitting out in the garden with some music playing in the house.Now I'm not the youngest guy in the world anymore but when the folk next to me took out there sandwich and binoculars I knew we were in trouble.It was like being in some OAP club.I have been to gigs with my own father 69 and he has 10 times more life in him.So all thoughts of having a dance went right out the window.

Then came to music every song started like it would be great but after 2 hours every song sounded like one great big song.I heard 2 songs that raised the bar.Outlaw Pete and the River then we could not take it any longer and left.

My over all feeling is that for some reason it seems cool to say the boss is great but by the look on most peoples faces this is just an illusion.Sure there was great energy and the longest set I've ever heard but over all I could only give him a 2/10 and that's mainly for effort .its been 28 years since they last came to Glasgow I hope they don't hurry back.Now bring on Green day.

Mardibum the nurse

2009-07-14T09:02:00.002+01:00

Last night I rememberd my wedding vows "in sickness and in health".My wife has had some health concerns of late not least having surgery a week ago.So it been down to me and a few friends to look after her,she was in constant pain before the op and that pain will hopefully go when the stiches are taken out in a weeks time.

Not sure if im cut out for nursing but I have found myself doing things that I never thought I would be able to.In a moment last night I was reminded that I married this amazing woman and took a vow to be there in sickness and in health.God just has a way of gentley reminding of us of the things we have promised .It was also a time to give thanks because its very easy to take each other for granted and forget what a gift of love we have been giving.

So changing a few dressings and staying up all night (well almost) making endless cups of tea as well as doing the house work (I want to kill the man who invented the Iron) this is love .Thats all from nurse Ratchet>

Holidays

2009-07-07T09:31:00.003+01:00

I just got back from a week in Disney Paris with my Son my nephew and my sons friend.It felt a bit like being in the twilight zone and after few days I was craving adult conversation.I did though have a great time in the land of the mouse.

But holidays are strange time they say you should never make and big choices for your life while on holiday.I say why not .You feel different and see things differently you feel detached from that treadmill that drives you all year round and you have time to see the world and God in a different light.I reflected on the time I have spent trying to plant a church in the inner city and wondered if it is possible.Thinking back over the years and all the knocks we have taken and asking "will I still pay the price?"Increasingly the answer is no.

I don't want to give up on my faith or run away from God but I don't think I want to pay any more.Its time to think about my family and my own sanity its time to think about what they need instead of others.In fact its time to have some time.Time to seek God time to hear him time to spend with my hurting wife time to heal family relationships time to strengthen what I have and time for just being.

I have taken a month of church and it feels good.Normally I would miss it and be thinking about what was going on and what needed to be done.But now if I'm honest I really don't care whats going on.At the end of this month I will decide what the future holds for me and my family and I have to say for the first time in a long time I feel relaxed about it.

Tony Campolo's challenge

2009-06-19T10:42:00.000+01:00

On wednesday I went along to Findlay memorial church Glasgow to hear Tony Campolo speak on behalf of Singpost International http://www.signpost-international.org/main.php ,but truth be told he was speaking on behalf of the poor.His passion for what God is doing around the world touched me and challenged me.I always feel my spirit disturbed when I hear the kind of stories Tony shared.
And while I agree that the poor of the third world need all the help we can give my passion remains here in Glasgow .The challenge to bless the poor among us is perhaps the most difficult one.There is resentment about our own poor ,after all they are cared for by the state and they are not realy poor .This resentment can be felt accross the media and even in church cirlcles.
So we have to be creative in the way we reach our inner city urban poor .We need to try and change and challenge the dependency culture that has grown up in urban areas.As we now know we cannot solve the problems of the thrid worlds poorest by just giving them food in a crisis but we need long term commitment to there over all needs.The same principal applies to those in our cities who for generations have become dependent on goverment hand outs and petty crime to get by.
We need efforts like this http://www.tbnetwork.org/home/index.php and others to make an impact in our own nation so that another generation does not end up in the hand out booze crime drug circle that kills who God has made them and keeps them as prisoners in there own community .I have no magic answers but rather see the need to keep pluging away where God has put me and to keep looking for those creative ways the get involved in "doing it to the least of these"

open door update

2009-06-06T12:55:00.002+01:00

Open door continues to amaze me.For such a small project it is having a great impact on the life of local people.We continue to hear amazing stories of God at work in the life's of ordinary people and more and more people are passing through our Open door.
Fridays are now a drop in day for women to come and have a chat and get a free massage and some aromatherapy kindly given by one of the church members.People continue to say its a place where they feel they can relax and be themselves which is great because this is what we have above our door"Open door a place to be yourself"

We continue to wrestle with God on the way forward and how we finance the place but we all have the feeling that God just wants us to focus on him and he will do the rest.Over the last few weeks we have seen a £1000 come in from other church's and the promise of over £200 a month more in giving from some other individuals.

I believe God wants us to be there but more than that he wants to be there and to bless the lives of those around us who are hurting and in need of some loving support.Please continue to pray for us so that we can see his kingdom come and his will be done.

Emerging Scotland meet up

2009-05-29T09:26:00.002+01:00

I went along to the Starbucks coffee shop in Glasgow last night to meet some folk for the first time.This came about through the Emerging Scotland site and a desire to put some faces to the people who post there.
Firstly let me say Starbucks would be the last place I would ever go to meet with anybody in town just not my scene.SO I went along feeling a but stupid and nervous not knowing anybody.But I'm glad I went it was great to meet people who are on a journey that is open and honest .

After some general chat I found myself in full flow and relaxed .So a big thanks to those who listened to my chatter and to those who chatted back.

Rangers

2009-05-25T15:41:00.002+01:00

Picture says it all.

A new thing!!

2009-05-20T11:42:00.002+01:00

Trying to understand God is a bit like trying to catch the wind.

Over the last few years as a group we have been through many changes but our group remained about the same size.We gave up on the whole idea of church growth in fact we killed that golden calf .
But all of a sudden people have started to join with us.These people are not being asked to come along and spend time with us.They are asking if they can come and join with us on our journey.Some of them have been hurt in the past by religion some have been hurt by life and some are just hungry for God.
So as we thought about why now and what God was up to we came to the only conclusion we could which is that somehow or other people must be seeing some thing of Jesus in who we have become.So our job is not to try and figure it out but to respond to God and those around us and give them the courage they need to move closer to God .I feel blessed to be part of peoples journey and hopefully we can respond the way Jesus responded to those who came to him.Show them the kingdom and then walk with them whatever comes along.

Bankers and MP's

2009-05-15T08:56:00.002+01:00

So now its the turn of those honourable members of parliament.

Voted for by us paid for by us the tax payers.Watching them and reading about them this week has made me think about whether or not God might be involved in this whole thing behind the scenes.
Is it him who is now revealing to us the results of our culture of greed.Has he decided that enough is enough and opened the door so we can all see what our country has become.I don't stand in judgement of any MP or banker who have reached out and grabbed all they can .But I do want to see our country move away from this culture that rewards simple greed.

Our country has rejected the idea that being productive is a good thing and run headlong down a path that put all its energy into finding more and more elaborate ways to steal money instead of working for it.
The banking crisis and this (expenses crisis ) for MP's are rooted in the same basic problem.Everything was hidden in complicated ways that we the punter were never going to find out on our own.The banks were able to come up with ever more complicated ways to sell money.No one tried to stop them .MP's were able to come up with a system of expenses that nobody really knew what they could or could not claim for .And through time they just claimed for anything.They governed themselves and now God has brought it out into the open for all to see.This is our chance to make sure we have not only a good open and accountable system but to root our the worst abuses of our trust.

Un-Lock Bridgeton

2009-04-28T14:22:00.002+01:00

Our un_lock course has know come to an end.But what a great journey it has been over these last 7 weeks .We finished up the course last night but will meet next week and have a curry together.

It was great to hear peoples stories of how God has been at work in there lives it was great to see and hear those stories un-locked .What was even better was how people began to have a realisation of just how much God is at work in there lives .I'm amazed at some of the stories I heard and encouraged that God is indeed at work in the lives of everyday people.Normal working class people who have encountered God and who are finding ways to express that and the confidence to share it with others.I feel both inspired and blessed to have been part of the journey.

A few of the folk on the course have now started to come along to our gatherings on a Sunday.What is so exciting about that is the fact that we never asked them to come they just came along to find out a bit more about us and they seem to like us.

One of the challenges that came out of the course was how people with low income are limited in the ways they can fulfill there dreams.the low income reduces there ability to make choices.A few folk expressed a desire to go along to college or even university so that they could follow the dreams they had when they were younger.This shows how the power of the empire is still at work in the lives of the working class.One grandmother simply wanted her grandson to be able to join a football club but could not afford to but the boots he needs.There is a great challenge to those of us in the kingdom to be creative in the way we help people fulfil there dreams and the dreams they have for there families.

A listening ear.

2009-04-15T09:44:00.003+01:00

Talking with a friend last night about the value of friends who listen.In the broken world we live in the effects on the life's of many people mean that they have very few people who they can count on to listen to.

This global world has had the effect of scattering and shattering families .During my childhood my whole family lived within a few miles of each other and in most cases a few hundred yards.This gave me real sense of security knowing that there was always somebody there to look after you and listen to you.In today's world families are split up for all different reasons ranging from social to economic.Families break up leaving single mums and dads,people move around looking for work and the result is that we have too many people suffering from loneliness.

I think that the church needs to create space to listen to people and there stories.To value who they are and not just what they do.It seems that when people know they are being listened to by others that can be trusted God arrives .The church needs to be part of the answer in redressing the balance between global and local.

If you are a single mum with a few kids and you family is scattered or broken who will you go to to talk with and be listened to?Who will value what you have to say?Who will listen?

Look at what happened when Jesus listened to the stories of those with no voice.

Can you feel the grace

2009-04-07T15:46:00.002+01:00

Not sure what happened last night except to say there was alot of grace around.Our wee gang that meet on a Monday night was opened up by Gods grace and the stories about God at work in ordinary peoples life's were just mental.
I felt like God just gave us the chance to share life in an extraordinary way.It was like we reached a new level with each other and I was blown away with some of the stories of Gods goodness .Stories of people responding to his promptings in there families .Of his provision for those who fall on him and of changed life's.

I left feeling like I had just spent a few hours with Jesus.I left feeling so encouraged that Jesus is among us the working class people of Glasgow.Go on Jesus!!!

The curse of religion

2009-04-01T15:15:00.002+01:00

Its been a while since I came across the religious spirit that can get me so angry I want to burst.I have tried to avoid it at all costs and avoid being around whenever it raises its voice.
But there are times when it cannot be avoided and this means confronting it .Confrontations are never easy but when its someone full of religion it is especially difficult in my experience.Our recent attempt to create a safe place by using the un lock material has come under fire from this religious attitude.Having small groups is never easy they can always be hijacked by someone with and agenda and that's what has happened to us.

So now its time to confront!!to challenge in love the voice that condemn and judges others .To challenge the voice that wants to tell everybody how to fix there problems.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water you find another shark swimming around waiting to strike fear and death.

Un-Lock Bridgeton

2009-03-17T08:53:00.002Z

Last week we had an open night just to spend a bit of time explaining the values of un-lock.We had our first night last night looking at the issues of family break ups and family problems using the film The Full Monty.
It went well with about 10 people which is a good size group and a great degree of openness.About half of those who were there have only a recent connection with church and a few have no connection.I do believe that the way un lock works make it much easier for us to use in and urban forum.
It was great to listen to peoples stories and hear how they had overcome and how much they were aware that God has been involved all along.I learned so much last night about others and about myself at last a small group I enjoy.

The Mission

2009-03-05T13:39:00.002Z

It is my contention that we Christians can be far to clever for our own good.There seems to be endless amounts of chat and debate as to what we should or should not be doing and along side that how we should be doing it.
Looking again at Jesus reading from in the synagogue challenged me on the simplicity of his agenda the agenda of the Kingdom.He could have read any piece of scripture about himself but choose this one "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, .It is clear the he wanted the people to know right away who it was that was at the heart of his plans.
How far away have we in the west moved from this position.Here in the UK the working class make up less than 5% of church .If you look at the so called underclass they don't even make a mark.
So my questions to missional tribe is "what is our mission?"and have we become to smart for our own good leaving behind those Jesus called us to?

Formation Generation

2009-03-03T08:57:00.002Z

My Old friend Bob Kurz has his first book out today .Its called formation generation and is all about valuing our unborn and how to pray for them.Bob was with YWAM for a number of years here in Scotland and he them moved back to the states.He is now in Idaho and happily married with his own family .
Without his help we would have struggled to survive and have any vision at all.Despite all our faults he was faithful to us and that make him special.

Have a look at his book http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Formation+Generation+bob+kurz&x=14&y=24

Mini-Glasgow

2009-02-25T08:54:00.002Z

Want to know what Glasgow looks like?Have a look here miniatureglasgow.com

You will see all the stats and figure reduced down to a population of 100 it makes for worrying reading.
20 adults would be unemployed or to ill to work 25 are income deprived and 15 don't have bank accounts just some of the stats!!!

One another

2009-02-24T08:56:00.003Z

I have had a bit of time over the last few weeks to be with my family which has been great and very relaxing(most of the time).This has made me think even more about the shape of our community.
Over the last few weeks Carol has shared on a Sunday morning .She is very creative and likes to be interactive which is important for us.Some people still find it difficult to be interactive in church because of there expectation to be preached at.But I think we have slowly but surely helped people get there head and hearts around this way of being church.
I believe the next part of our challenge is the way in which we worship(defined as a singing slot)this should in theory be the easiest part of our time together .But for some reason we have closed up on the idea of sharing our worship depending to much on the song.It may come down to trying to focus on making the other part of our time more inclusive that we have reverted back to what we know with the song singing.
All of this tells me that even with a group of folk like ours it can be a real challenge to bring about the changes that will allow us to have more of a "one another"time .It is my challenge to decrease and allow others to grow .

Emerging Scotland

2009-02-22T15:17:00.004Z

At last someone has got it together enough to give us Scots a place to talk all things emerging.Please sign up and give us your thoughts .

http://emergingscotland.ning.com/

No place like home

2009-02-12T09:01:00.003Z

Dorothy had one amazing journey in order to learn that theres "no place like home".Over these last few weeks I have had the same "no place like home "moments.Our little community has been through the wars over the last few years and at times I thought we would go under.But somehow the great OZ has kept us together and enabled us to see clearly that there really is no place like home.
Being in fellowship with and amazing group of people cannot be beaten.Knowing that there hearts are for you and that there deeds will back that up brings a joy that cannot be spoken.So I want to say a big thanks to my wife Lesley to John the plumber to Anne and Carol to my mother and to all those who have re-appeared over the last few months To Gordy for opening his heart and sharing again the story of seeing us like David killing the giant with the simple things like a few stones to big John for being willing to confess and move on.
The only problem with all of this is that I want home to get bigger and bigger so there is room for more.A place for all those misfits like scarecrows and cowardly lions and rusting men wow.

open door update

2009-02-04T12:19:00.004Z

The project has really started to take some shape now.A few weeks ago we met to try to help our worker (Anne) have a bit more direction.She told us that things were going well and that as a project we were starting to get some referral's from other projects in the east end of Glasgow.

After talking and sharing and some good questions we were able to begin to see a shape forming.We have always wanted to be involved with young people and there families.So we are now able to think more clearly about what it is we can offer them.As well as the current group work with young people Anne and Carol will start a Seasons for Growth group next week with some of the young people that have been referred to us .http://www.seasonsforgrowth.co.uk/

We will also look to get some training with Seasons for Growth for the adult classes.This will hopefully happen over the next few months.

We have also started to get some more volunteers to help out throughout the working week.It will take some time to train them and find what skills they have but this means Anne will have some other people around the place during the working day.

As a side to this we have seen a few workers from other projects that Anne has known start to come about the church itself.This is indeed a busy time for us all but a very exciting time as we can now start to see the possibilities for the Open Door project.

In order to get things up and running I will start to publish these post on the Open Door blog as well as here .The ling can be found on the link bar at the top of this blog.
http://opendoorbridgeton.blogspot.com/

Scottish Network Churches Conference

2009-02-04T11:01:00.003Z

This years Scottish Network Churches Conference will take place on the 27th & 28th of March in Bishopobriggs community church.This years main speaker will be Wes Sutton .Wes is a worship leader as well as leading Church.co.uk which is part of Steve Chalkes Oasis more info here http://www.oasisuk.org/article.aspx?menuid=10450

As well as Wes there will also be input from some of the Network leaders.You can get info from the Network office network@bishopcc.org.uk

Jesus Obama and politics

2009-01-27T09:11:00.000Z

As I watched the new president take power I was struck by the way that the power is handed over from one man to another.There is great care taken to make sure that everything is done according to the law.So much so that the new pres thought he should take the oath again because of a few slip ups the first time around.
All of this is in stark contrast to Jesus who gave up all his power to humbled himself and serve .The kingdom of God is a very different place to the kingdoms of this world and in truth no matter the man and his intentions politics is about the taking of power.Now it is true that the power can be used for good and I hope the new pres is able to do that .But in the end it is Jesus we must look to and the coming of his kingdom to the people of the world that will make the world the place it was supposed to be.
We are still stuck in with the concept of top down.Where power is taken and then used to make things better .Jesus showed us the bottom up way.Where power is given up and those who have nothing become the most important people in the kingdom.I dont think any nation will ever look like that and maybe they never should, but the kingdom of God does and thats how we change nations .
So God bless the new pres but all hail the chief Jesus.

Book hungry

2009-01-09T09:19:00.005Z

Isn't life strange you don't read a book for months and then you cant stop I have found my hunger for books again and its all thanks to Christmas.Its so good when someone buys you a book it means they have taken some time to think about you and what you like .Or they have just grabbed from the bargain table !!Either way its been such a blessing.

So I just finished reading The Shack by W.Young http://theshackbook.com/ a great novel and very encouraging read.Need to think who to give it to next

And now I have just got my hands on Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove .Whats going on I'm about to read a book about prayer!!!!

The great commision

2009-01-08T09:04:00.004Z

This weekend our small part of the church in Glasgow will commission/pray for the Urban expression team who are living and working in Possillpark Glasgow.Paul & Esther Ede head the team and there are 3 other couples who have all no moved in to the area.I met Paul and Esther and a Network conference and I felt like God put something in my heart for them.Although I had always had connections with Possil.

So this week the whole team will be with us and we will ask Gods blessing on them as they move into mission ,what a privilegefor us .

Working class church

2009-01-05T21:42:00.003Z

I have posted on this topic on another Blog but I don't think I have mentioned it hear.I read these facts and it reminded me of why I feel so passionate about urban church's working together.
1. What is the largest single section of the British population?

Answer 1. What is traditionally known as "the working class": 65%

2. Which section of Britain's population is least represented in the Church?

Answer2. The working class: less than 1%
Source Urban harvest Roy Joslin.

So it really is time to try and put things right.But what can I do ?Well I can talk and share and help to facilitate a place for those in urban church's find a safe place to share there troubles.What we need to see are some strong working class people speak up and call the church to see the mission field before there eyes.
All of this must be done in love and humility but we must try and put our shoulders to the wheel.I would love to see some working class people in Glasgow rise up and take some ownership of the church's vision for the city because the figures above are to sad for words.

Happy new year

2009-01-03T18:35:00.003Z

The last two weeks have been great.I have been able to spend time with my friends and family and not give a thought to work or anything else for that matter.We had a great family Christmas and new year with a full house for both.
I spent most of my time sleeping or eating it would be great to find a way to be able to do both at the same time.

But sadly the holidays are almost over its back to work on Monday and back to church on Sunday after having last Sunday of.I'm looking forward to catching up with people and getting back to the work and calling of being Gods people in our community.

We are not sectarian part 3

2008-12-22T18:04:00.008Z

Who would like to go for a night out with these two what a laugh
So now we cant sing the hokey cokey.The latest in the stupid serious of attempts to control what people sing at football matches.
After being banned for singing bad songs some Rangers fans said we should all sing the hokey cokey but NO!! its anti catholic apparently.

This is the story in the red top Daily record

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/12/22/singing-the-hokey-cokey-could-land-football-fans-in-sectarian-bother-86908-20989183/

Tonight it will be on the BBC.

So what does this say about our country.We are small minded and stupid.Nobody has been offended because nobody has even sung the song .So now people are getting ready just in case they are offended.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic church in Scotland, said: "This song does have quite disturbing origins. It was devised as an attack on, and a parody of, the Mass. If there are moves to restore its more malevolent meaning then consideration should perhaps be given to its wider use."

SNP MSP Michael Matheson urged police to "take the appropriate action" against those using it to taunt Catholics.

Both these men are more stupid than I care to mention one is a press officer.Maybe he should re train so that he knows what a quite news day is and he can learn the phrase "no comment".The other is a MSP well I guess there only a few jobs he could get with that on his c.v.

I hope both of them are suitably offended if they ever read this .Which they might as I have emailed both of them to tell them how dumb they are.

I had no idea the hokey cokey was an anti catholic song until these two piped up.Oh okey hokey cokey come on boys join in.Or get a life.

Thank you

2008-12-21T18:20:00.004Z

I don't often mention my church here (Bridgeton community church) but after the last few weeks I wanted to say a big Thank You to everybody in the church and especially to the leadership team.
Its a great pleasure to be part of such a church a safe place a warm place and above all a place where we can find God together.Over the last few weeks we have been working our way through advent in no particular order and I found myself blessed by the faith of the people around me encouraged by there vision and uplifted by there response to what God had to say.It so good to be in such a warm loving place and I know that God has not finished with us yet, and as we thought about the hope of Christmas this morning we could all hear the quite whisper of God telling us again that with him all things are possible.

Urban church forum.

2008-12-12T15:16:00.003Z

I spoke about this in an earlier post.

It is my desire to try and have a forum for small urban church's that are struggling to keep going.Glasgow like many of our cities has largely been abandoned and we are having to deal with the fallout of that.
What i would like to do is to create a forum where those church's can come together in a safe place and talk through the issues that they face and to try and find better ways of partnering with bigger suburban church's.This is already being done in Manchester http://www.urbanpresence.org.uk/ and my hope is we can do something along the same lines for Glasgow and other cities.If you are interested or know a church that might be get in touch and I will keep you posted with the plans.

Coldplay

2008-12-10T19:14:00.003Z

I love gigs.I get a buzz from being with so many people waiting in anticipation to hear songs that we all have different memories of.
Going to see Coldplay I was a bit worried that they might not cut it.I like my music loud and bouncy.But from the first song all the way through they cut it.Songs like Yellow are such great sing alongs and some of the songs from there new album sounded so much better live.I may even listen to the album now.

My favourite song was 42 fantastic boys keep up the good work.

Brian Mclaren in Glasgow

2008-12-10T13:35:00.004Z

On Monday night Brian Mc spoke about his book a new kind of Christian.I have no problem with his challenge for us to find new ways to express the kingdom.Although I think he may have been stretching it a bit with one or two of his examples.

Whatever expression of the kingdom we come up with it must have Jesus at its centre.It is in him and through him we see and hear and feel what the kingdom is.Jesus used all that was around him at the time to explain the kingdom .And I feel that in order to communicate with this culture we must seek to do the same.As we long as we seek to make sure we are not diluting the kingdom Jesus gave us.
We also have to remember that the kingdom that Jesus gave us cannot be fully grasped and in some ways will always be a mystery to us.I like that about Jesus and his kingdom.

During the question time chaired by Kieth Short I felt we got a glimpse of the heart of the man again.He is not asking us to throw the baby out with the bath water.
New forms of Church are here and more are coming what we must do is look forward and not seek to be always looking back and blaming those behind us.After 2000 years its only to be expected that there is a bit of a mess.Our job is to pick our way through that and find the way forward holding all that was good dear to hearts and gently rejecting all that failed because the one thing that is certain is that we ourselves will make mistakes.

Brian Mclaren in Perth.

2008-12-07T16:25:00.005Z

Let me begin by saying my time in Perth was a real blessing as I was able to catch up with a few friends and try to make some new ones.Alistair and Pat Macindoe were a real blessing to me as always and it was great to spend some time with Dave Beck again.

Let me start by being honest.Since I have no background in theology much of what was being said was difficult for me to grasp.But it was good to be stretched and to think about my faith.

What challenged me the most was the talk of our narratives.Brian tried to explain where he stood on biblical narrative.I don't want to try and explain his stand point as he is in enough trouble without me adding to it.

But it made me think of how I look at the bible story.This is not the same as not believing the story but its about the lens through which we see it. One example of this is how in many ways we have removed the Hebrew story from our minds and filled it with the Greek world view.I don't believe we can grasp the fullness of the story if we forget that Jesus was being proclaimed the king of the Jews.

This make the story of salvation much greater than a short prayer we might ask people to say in order that they experience salvation.To the Jews salvation was much more than just going to heaven even if it was about that at all.It went much deeper than being forgiven for sin (although that is great).There saviour was going to do much more than that.For me that puts the kingdom of God back at the centre of the story.

Watching Brian worship and listening to him share I felt a man who loves God and his word a man who wants to encourage us to see the whole picture that God is giving to us and to avoid being to narrow in or approach.This does not mean he is right in everything he says and people much smarter that me challenged him all weekend.His response was not always perfect but always gracious.Making sure that we knew that he is not advocating we have to give up all we hold dear but that we should at least be brave enough to make a safe space to talk about the things that really matter.

I do not agree completely with his new narrative but he made sure we understood that at the centre of his narrative was Jesus and that makes him ok by me.

Wordle

2008-12-03T20:14:00.005Z

Hey just been shown this great toy .Go on give it a go.

http://www.wordle.net/

This is what my Wordle turned out like.

Dr Muhammad Yunus

2008-12-03T16:01:00.003Z

Some people look upon Dr Yunus as the King of Micro finance .It was great to see him in Glasgow and giving a lecture .It was even more encouraging to see him get some national TV coverage.As some of you may remember I have been trying to do my course on micro-finance through the http://www.chalmers.org/.So all of this stuff is fresh in my head.

Read the story here

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.2472452.0.Has_this_man_got_the_solution_to_the_worlds_financial_woes.php

Inner city church

2008-12-01T20:41:00.004Z

Inner city church.
We all know that the inner city has been largely abandoned by the church.The congregations are growing old and moving out this has been the case for many years.I have lived in Glasgow all my life and I can see it with my own eyes.
What we have left now is a situation where nearly all large,strong congregations are in the suburbs.These Church's are led (in my experience)mostly by middle class qualified pastors or ministers depending on there flavour.I cannot think of many working class people who lead large growing church's I hope you can prove me wrong.As a result of this more and more people bypass smaller church's to attend a church that meets there needs and thus the problem is increased.What we are left with is a smaller amount of church's (which may not be a bad thing) who have most of the resources.None of this is a criticism of people or church's.I have many great friends in church's all over Glasgow and Scotland.Rather this is just a statement of how it is.
So what should be done about this if anything?
I would like to see the small inner city church's get together and have a place to talk and pray about what there struggles are and to find a way to support each other in addressing these issues.This would not be a bashing club for big church's but rather a place where we can think about how and if we address these issues.It may be that people are just to busy surviving.
I know that large church's already do a great amount to bless the city but It would be good to try and look at ways that practical support could be offered to small struggling church's so that we don't have to reinvent the wheel in parts of our city.It would be great to be able to challenge the model of church that tells us we are there to be blessed and have our needs looked after and together to try and see the value of the body as a whole .It is my firm belief that the church in the inner city can and should grow and prosper.That local leaders can be raised up to inspire there peers and show the way forward for a new generation.If not then we will simply write of a whole generation of people who are our neighbours.
Paul wrote to church's based in cities and the Angels delivered letters to them.Jesus wept over his city and I think we should try and help each other to see Gods heart for the lost in ours.

I want to finish with a story form the other night.

I was at a meeting when I heard plans for a group which might be classed as para church but are definitely middle class.They spoke about there plan to raise £250k to buy a bus /trailer that would go around a certain developing country and minister in a holistic way to the people.There is nothing wrong with that plan.

Except we were next told that there sister group in the same country has way more resources than they do and in fact employ nearly 500 people and have a budget that it10 times the size.

I then realised that I was in the room with lots of people from small struggling inner city church's and I felt saddened that there was no plan that included them.

Poverty truth commision

2008-11-29T16:52:00.002Z

I met Paul the other night at a unlock event in Glasgow.Paul works for faith in the community and is planning a Poverty truth commission event to be held in Glasgow on the 21 March 2009 venue tba.

The commission is inspired by the Truth and reconciliation commission of south Africa and the truth commission of Union theological seminary in New York.
the commission will listen to testimony from those most effected by poverty ,that will be followed by conversations with those who testify and others from poor areas to talk about there struggles and ways of overcoming them.The commission will having conferred together speak about what they have learned and what action they will take in response.They will also challenge everyone to dedicate there time to overcoming poverty.
There will then be a follow up meeting on the 21 October 2009 to look at what has happened.

I hope to be able post Paul's contact email here soon.for now there is a postal address.

Faith In the community
759a Argyle st ,
Glasgow,
G3 8DS
http://www.faithincommunityscotland.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=462&Itemid=39

tweet tweet the Possil fleet are coming

2008-11-26T20:59:00.003Z

This Sunday we will be visited by a team who are looking to plant a church in Possilpark Glasgow.They were brought together by Urban Expression and are now supported by the Network church's Scotland.The team is headed up by Paul& Esther Ede and at the moment I think there are 8 in the team all of whom have moved into Possil.

This is very exciting for all concerned as some of us have been involved in various attempts to plant and sustain a church in that area for some years.I do believe that these guys will make it because of the level of commitment they have already shown and because I feel convinced God is in what they are doing.

I have know Paul & Esther and a few of the others for a while now and as we are in the same sort of communities it feels good to be able to support one another as much as we can.I don't know if coming to our gathering on Sunday will teach them much(perhaps how not to do church)but our hearts are for them and we want bless them with what we have.

Open door update 4

2008-11-23T17:06:00.003Z

Our worker Anne has been in post for about 6 weeks now and is working hard to develop the project in Bridgeton.We are trying to find out what other projects are in the area so we can network with them and also to try and make sure we don't stand on any toes.
At our development day we were encouraged to do what we were good at and so our focus has been on thinking about what we are good at and how we can give that away to the community.Things are getting clearer a little at a time and I do believe we have something to give to the families of the community.
Our work with the young people continues to grow and there is now a Sunday night group for girls working with two age groups 12-14 and 14 -16 .Anne has some funding and has two people working with her.We continue to run the drop in on a Thursday night for the 12-16 age group and I feel I'm making some progress with the young guys ,its hard work but we are building relationships that might enable us to do some group work with the guys.We could do with some more volunteers to help with the load.

On a practical front we need people for the board of directors and I would like that to be done before Christmas and then we need to get down to trying to secure future funding.So please pray for us and get in touch if you want to be involved.

Word on the street

2008-11-19T13:01:00.003Z

I have had contact from a Revd Alan Hamilton-Messer who is a baptist minister.He is starting a new church in Dennistoun Glasgow.From what he has told me it will be an emerging church in a cafe/book shop.They are opening this Saturday at 11 am and will meet on Sundays from 10.30.I think I will try to go along and see what they are all about and try to bless them in what seems like a new adventure.

Not quite sure if bookshop/cafe church will work in that area but hey what do I know.The address is 343 Cumbernauld Road Dennistoun Glasgow G31 3LP.Maybe see you there.

The photo is a typical Dennistoun street.

The healing of fellowship

2008-11-16T19:44:00.004Z

Just to say that being together today was amazing.Just having the opportunity to share in a safe place to be able to be honest and not be judged but loved and to find Gods word bringing new life to people was incredible.

We had a visit today from an old friend who said he had been going around different places looking for God,he had been reading books looking for God and talking to people looking for God.He came along today and listened to me tell everybody about my failures and how I felt I had lost God ,then how God finds us a gain.The good Shepherd doesn't give up on us.I read Ps 139 and I could feel the God bless people with it.I just wanted to be honest with people and with God ,I had nothing to give so that's what I gave but God is so wonderfully faithful to his creation.

We were asked to pray for our visitor at the end and I have a feeling we may be seeing a bit more of him for a while .He told us how blessed he was and that he had found Jesus among us today.He doesn't know it yet but just to hear someone say that, blessed all of us and reminded us not to take what we have for granted.

NETS

2008-11-15T17:53:00.003Z

I'm of to Perth on the 5th-6th December for the New Evangelical symposium with Alistair McIndoe form the Network church's and this years guest Brian Mclaren.I will be mixing it with the big boys of the Scottish church scene .I had to ask what a symposium was and was informed it was a Greek drinking party which helped swing it for me.If truth be told I don't really know why I'm going other than to spend some time with a few friends and to try and cause some trouble.
I think I may need to take my dictionary with me although Alistair is a great communicator of theology and makes it seem almost interesting and my life is always blessed when I spend time with him and his wife Pat.With Brian Mclaren being the guest there is bound to be some fireworks so I cant wait for that,I may throw a few of my own .Although these things can be very intimidating for the uneducated .

Can God can be found in the darkness

2008-11-12T18:36:00.006Z

Psalm139

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Sometimes its difficult to escape the darkness that surrounds us in times of trouble and the desire of our hearts can be to hide in that darkness but these words have always given me great comfort .The God of David is a God who looks for us and can see us at our best and at our worst this can be disturbing for us to know that God can see us warts and all but it also brings about the greatest of hope.The hope comes from knowing that we are KNOWN yet no abandoned or forsaken that God is not like us he will not give up on what he has created .God will not leave his creation to its own ways he will rescue us.

Darkness can be the a great place for growth ,for coming to new revelations of the height and depth of Gods love.Darkness can be character building.But we need people around us who can see that darkness and who can walk through it with us.To many times out of good intentions people try to drag us back into the light when we are not ready.David would never have seen the heart of God without these times of darkness.

Youth Czar

2008-11-10T15:56:00.003Z

Consult eight-year-olds on sex law, says youth czar

Is it just me or has the world gone mad.We now want to consult children as young as eight on our lawmaking.Read the article here.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article5114737.ece

These so called professionals have lost the plot and need to be held to account by those who employ them.Good law will not be made by asking eight year olds what they think.

Below is the link to the SCCYP web site,

http://www.sccyp.org.uk/webpages/about_sccyp.php

Weekend in Lochgoilhead

2008-11-10T13:54:00.004Z

Just got back today from a short break to Lochgoilhead .Myself and Lesley went away with some friends for a few days break to a log cabin.Lochgoilhead is the sort of place you have to set out to get there as you would never drive through it at the top of the rest and be thankful you take a left down a five mile single track road and then you come out into this small village and the hotel and lodges on the shores of the loch.

The weather was great,rain and snow and wind what more could you ask for.The lodge was really nice and warm with a great view over the loch.The hotel had everything you needed including swimming, sauna ,steam room,snooker, bowling and ice skating. We had a great few days just being lazy and relaxing in the lodge a few brisk walks and a good night out dancing in the hotel.On Sunday night we drove up to the Loch Fyne restaurant for some mussels and fish great food.

The view from our lodge.

No Peace

2008-11-07T12:27:00.003Z

Over the last few weeks I have slowly felt my peace get up and go.A part of that is down to me not looking for God and his peace in my life.This then leaves me open to all the old problems of anger and violence that I have never really escaped from.
My mother has been very sick with blood poising and I struggled to keep it together as it was touch and go for a few days.The doctors have since told us they thought they had lost her.I went between great fits of rage to breaking down in tears I let myself down and my family and the only part of God I felt I had left was my conscience which made me at least try to repent for the stupid ways I behaved.
I could feel the rage rush over my head and I lashed out at everyone and anyone.And then would break down in tears.Now I know what your thinking "this man leads a church"and you have a point.I felt like everybody wanted me to give something and the only thing I was giving was anger.Once again I need to try to learn that the only place I can get any peace is in the presence of God.
We are going away for a few days to a Loch side log cabin so I hope to come back in a better mood.

6 weeks no football

2008-10-31T11:02:00.003Z

Its been 6 weeks since I was at a match the last home game in the league was the game against Motherwell on the 21st of September.That's longer than a close season and far to long a gap .The SPL are a joke and cannot seem to figure out that teams can play ate home one week and away another simple instead we have to many home and away games one after another leading to long periods when you don't get to go to matches.

This does not matter to those who run the game because they are free loaders but for supporters who go to away games it is even more important having to go to a few away games on the bounce means spending more over a shorter period.

Anyway I will be glad to get back to having a normal Saturday afternoon .

Micro course

2008-10-25T15:38:00.003+01:00

It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that under all the study and reading a theme is coming out of this course.That theme is that whatever is done it must be with the ultimate aim of empowering people to make more choices.Emporing them to take more control over what goes on in there own lives and in the life of there community.

Giving people the power to think about what they want to achieve and not what can be done for them.Enabling people to have the capacity to make choices .Choices that can change there lives for ever.These choices are not about money alone but they are about how we relate to money .The ability to be part of what is going on instead of a spectator.
Recently a friend of mine went to Nepal where she lived in a community where there was a building programme going on.The community was to get a new community centre.All the materials were delivered and had to be carried by hand to where the building was to take place.The people of the community helped with this every day as well as doing there own jobs.

When the community centre in my community was being built if this was the plan nothing would have been built.The people Helped to drive the project forward and secure funding but there was still an expectation of everything being done for them.I think this is what must change.

45 Today

2008-10-25T14:28:00.003+01:00

45 today!!!

Its raining blowing a gale and cold outside.Another year older and finding it harder to get up in the mornings.What a great birthday.

Went out with some friends and family last night and had a great time got some beautufull gifts mostly clothing I think my kids might be trying to tell me someting.

Church land 2

2008-10-20T19:23:00.010+01:00

Maybe an explanation is needed for my previous post.I tend to rant a bit about subjects that are important to me.

The reasons for being passionate about "lay leaders"are not just because I have been one for nearly 20 years but because I believe the ordained leadership system we have now can be an obstacle in church life,not church growth but church life.

Church leaders are in a class of there own in the churchland world.They are the elite the upper class they hold the power .This is not to say that all church leaders want or desire this status although clearly a minority do.In order to be part of this elite it means having been educated to degree level in most cases which will be above that of the average church member especially in inner city areas.It also means taking spiritual responsibility for the church members ,again this is not always what is desired but it is nearly always the outcome.It means attending leadership gathering of which there are many ,these are almost always exclusively for leaders.It also means the delivering of the preach/sermon on a Sunday a time when the whole church will listen to one person give there interpretation of Jesus and scripture.None of the above activities are negative in themselves but together they lead to leaders being seen as elite.

When all of this is put together it can only result in one thing.Leaders are in a different class to the rest of us.

Now there are some advantages to having full time leaders and they include having someone available to do pastoral duties having time to spend with God being able to put 100% into new projects.But even these can end up with some negative results.

Church leadership is a very difficult job and I do not wish to criticise them as people but I do wish to challenge the system that makes the job so difficult.

I believe that there is a need for some people to be in full time positions within the church.But I think there work should be the work of church planting and encouraging new local leaders for those church's.This I believe is the NT model shown to us in the life of Paul and the some of the other apostles.The church in the west has stopped growing because it has largely been unable to see past its own door step and has adopted local church models instead of city or state models.Sectarianism has played a large part in this because it divides the church everywhere and what we have ended up with is a lot of small expressions of the body which want to look after there own needs.The church in general has lost the idea of mission to its own city or community and largely thinks of mission as a foreign affair.We have ended up being self serving and the best answer to that is to have a full time leader who can look after "our needs".

The biblical model is one of "the church" giving support to mission that leads to the planting of churches which leads to the raising up of new leaders a growth cycle that is natural and not programmed.If those in full time leadership were free to give there time and energy to this we might have a much healthier church where lay leaders did not have to leave a church to start there own.

Churchland

2008-10-19T17:30:00.007+01:00

I thought about the movie Copland where Sly Stallone plays a small town sheriff who is not to bright and deaf in one ear.His town is full of the big city cops all whom seem to be doing great but underneath the facade they are all corrupt in some way.

Sometime I feel a bit like Sly a small timer not to smart and mostly ignored by the real cops,he constantly feels like he is on the outside and has no power to challenge these city boys.In the movie he plays a great part of the guy who just takes whatever is given to him and tries not to rock the boat.He doesn't want to rock the boat because he feels what he thinks and what he believes doesnt really matter.

Churchland can be a bit like that hopefully not as cruel.But not being a "full time leader" not being "in the know"can leave you feeling like an outsider in your own town, can leave you feeling like you want to say something but it will only sound dumb.Churchland is a place where those big boys get to stay and the rest are left feeling less than useful.Churchland is a cruel town at times where even although you belong and you are part of the same community you are left feeling like an outsider.

In the end Sly takes on the big boys he decides its time to stand up for himself and show everybody who he really is.He is not slick he does not know everything but he knows what is right and what is wrong this proves to be much more valuable than anything the big boys have and there corruption is exposed.

Churchland can have the same effect on those not on the inside it can leave them feeling like they are not in the know that they are not smart or don't have what it takes.Those not in full time leadership are somehow not equal to those who are.The same value is not placed on them and they feel excluded.It may be that this is a bit of a crude comparison but watching the movie again left me thinking about these things.I bet those in the movie never thought it would be interpreted in this way

Open door update 3

2008-10-18T16:11:00.003+01:00

This week we will meet with those who may become part of our board of directors.It is very important that we get the right people on the board we need people who at this early stage are willing to put in some work to get the project established.
We will be looking for people who can help us with administration with funding and with setting the vision.At this stage its important that we think about where we place our project for funding .many funders will not allow us to introduce the gospel so we have to think about what the alternatives are .
We have great opportunities to bless the people in our community but we must make sure that we don't compromise just for the sake of money.On the other hand without money we will not last very long as we only have enough for about nine months at a push.So please pray for us that we find the right way ahead.

Parents night

2008-10-10T11:14:00.004+01:00

I visited my son Luke school this week to speak with his teachers about his school work.Luke is 14 and is now in 3rd year at high school.He attends the same school that I went to as a kid and as I went there I thought about my time at school.

I hated high school and used all of my creative powers to find ways not to attend.I spent so much time and energy avoiding being educated I should have been given an A grade for it.The funny thing is that before I went to high school I was always in the top 1-3 pupils in my primary school.So it was nothing to do with being stupid but everything to do with attitude and friendships.It feels like the education system can only think about academic studies and has no place for those who show no interest in them.When it comes time to leave school kids must be prepared for the real world schools did not take that into account and the system stopped teachers with the imagination to help people like me from doing so.

I'm happy to say that has changed somewhat but they could still "do better" a phrase often found on my reports.

Luke is a smart boy and his teachers feel he is doing well at school but could "do better".I find it difficult not to say anything to them when they use this phrase but I resist for my sons sake.I don't want to make his life any more difficult as teachers can become bullies as well as other kids.

Luke will be able to go to college or university if he is pushed my problem is I don't know if pushing him is what I should do as a parent encourage him yes but make him miserable by being pushy I don't think I can do that.I know many guys who left school at the same time as me and they have went on to make a good ,life despite the lack of academic qualifications.School does no teach you to be a money maker or provider for your family life gives you the chance and then you have to take them.These guys that have made it are a great inspiration to me and I think schools could do better than have some people like them as role models/mentors to show young people how to make the most of the opportunity's that came there way.If kids don't show an interest in academic study why not give them the opportunity to see how people start there own business and build it up from nothing and make something that looks after them and there family.No harm to teachers but I don't remember one of them who inspired me.Then again maybe I WAS DIFFICULT

Open door so it begins

2008-10-04T20:05:00.003+01:00

Its been more years than I car to think about since some of thought about having a place in the centre of the community a place we could use to bless people a place that would not be seen as church.Overt he last few years the place has been ours but we have taken a while to get to this stage where it can be open every day.

And now at last I feel like it has begun.As we prayed together the other night I could feel a great sense of excitement and a great challenge .I know God is going to use what we are doing to bless people and I know that people are going to get to see who he is and what he looks like.As we begin to work out our plan of action and think about how we will minister to the community its important we stay true to who God id calling us to be and what he wants us to look like its vital that with all that needs to be done we don't lose sight of Jesus.

There is a plan and its starting to take shape and I think that's good but I know its how we make people feel and how we engage with there story that will make the difference .I want them to get the sent of Jesus to be able to encounter him themselves and to see what church should look like a new model .Its about our ability to love and serve as Jesus did that's where the rubber hits the road.There are many details to be looked after but I know we will work our way through them but please pray for us to stay faithful to the dream God gave us but also that we would be able to adjust when he needs us too .

OPEN DOOR A PLACE TO BE YOURSELF.

Money our sick relationship,

2008-09-27T15:33:00.001+01:00

Over the last few months I have heard the term "credit crunch" more times than I care to think about.And every time I hear it it has "bad news" tagged alongside it.

Politicians,bankers ,economists and the media are trying to convince us that what is going on right now is indeed bad news.I have no reason to believe that this is bad news.The fact that all of these people are being found out as greedy incompetents is in fact good news if the rest of us can wake up and see what is going on.

Over the years many great industries have disappeared because they were not profitable or were inefficient.That seems to be the capitalist way just think about the miners or the shipbuilders those industries were allowed to go under and nobody could do anything to save them.Here we have banks and insurance companies buying and selling debt good and bad to each other packed up and sold on most of that debt has now turned bad(toxic) and they want you and me the taxpayer to take it over.In the UK this has happened with Northen rock the taxpayer has taken over .The bank of England continues along with others to pump cheap money into the system to keep it moving .All of this money belongs to those of us who earn it and we will never see it back.

So why is this good news?

If we can take hold of this opportunity to change the way in which we relate to money and to put the pressure on those in power who are supposed to represent us we could see lasting changes that will help us to have a better relationship with money.

1 Try something new,write to your MP and tell him you don't want your money used to bail out a failed system that you don't want your money to reward greed.Ask him to vote against any of these measures ask him to be accountable to you.

2 Get involved in a different system.Look for new opportunities to use your money to build a new system .A system that involves relationships and trust one that is small and can be trusted one that has a face and a name .Try your local Credit union for starters have a look online and begin to discover the other ways you can use your money instead of having it sit in a bank.

Try these sites for starters.

http://www.opportunity.org.uk/Page.php?id=1

http://www.worldvision.org.uk/

http://www.microfinanceclubuk.org/index.htm

http://www.careinternational.org.uk/6877/home/welcome-to-care-international-uk--defending-dignity-fighting-poverty.html

http://www.fivetalents.org.uk/page-mission-and-method.html

Now I may seem slightly Evangelical on this but its about bloody time we fought back against a system that is killing us all slowly but surely.

Micro coursce

2008-09-26T11:35:00.001+01:00

So I started to work on my course this week I felt a bit nervous about trying to study again and was worried that the course may be to academic for me.But the first week has gone well and I found the course challenging and encouraging there some good papers about real examples of MF working in communities.

My biggest challenge was about the assumptions I have made about how the poor handle there money .And this week the challenge was to see that the poor can and do save.Something I would never have believed.

The structure of the course on message boards should lead to some good interaction with the other folk doing the work and seems like a good way of learning . I will get some feedback from the lectures on Monday so I will let you nkow how it goes .

PS hope you like my photo snapped on my phone while out walking with Gazza

Open door update 2

2008-09-26T11:28:00.001+01:00

We had our development day last week which was well attended with about a dozen people there.The day was to help us to begin to put together a clearer plan for the project.The outcomes for the day have still to be written up and I will put them up here when they are finished.
I felt that we began to get some clearer direction for the project and the needs of the project came into focus a bit more.Things are going along well and its good to be building a foundation that will help us in the future.

She left me for Jesus

2008-09-22T18:58:00.001+01:00

A good friend told me about this song the other day and I though you might like to have a listen too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyxEO9dqi44

Thought I would add my own little country ditty by the Flaming lips called Plastic Jesus.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oZYAmmy4dlU

We are not sectarian part 2

2008-09-19T18:34:00.001+01:00

So the story grows.The stupid tit for tat my dads bigger than yours where will it all end.Now the DUP from Northern Ireland have got involved.There Mp and sports minister has written to John Reid the Celtic chair.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7626038.stm.

This will only serve to show the small mindedness of some people and to fan the flames .The two clubs should be left to get on with trying to stamp this out as they have been doing over the last few years instead of this over the top "I'm telling on you".

Now you should note that in order that I don't get reported to somebody bigger than me I have put a picture of Celtic on this page OHHHH!!!!

Although the one on the right of the page is my favourite.

Brian Mclaren in Scotland

2008-09-19T09:14:00.001+01:00

The network church's Scotland http://www.networkonline.org.uk/ which our church is part of, together with EA Scotland are bringing Brian Mclaren to Scotland he will be speaking in Perth,Edinburgh and Glasgow the dates are Dec 5-9 and details can be found here.http://www.eauk.org/scotland/brian-mclaren-in-scotland.cfm

We are not sectarian.

2008-09-16T15:33:00.001+01:00

So we have another chapter in the sectarian battle between Celtic and Rangers following a BBC report last night.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7617518.stm

This story for me highlights two things.The first is no revelation there are Rangers supporters who are sectarian the second is that this reporting of songs to the authorities is like a slow creeping death to peoples free speech.

This may seem like a contradiction .But in the context of football it makes sense.Go along to any football match and you will hear things shouted and songs that will be offencive.But that is the nature of the game its all in the banter.If we were to ban all songs and chants that offend then we would watch football in silence.If we were to ban everything from the airwaves and tv or movies then again we would live in silence(which might not be a bad thing).I go along to the games and like to think I can control myself and behave but football supporters are passionate about there team and so I like to sing and shout does that make me sectarian .If the people who know me told me I was sectarian I would listen to them but not to some pundit on the tv or radio.

It is impossible to go through life and not be offended it is even more impossible to go through life and not be the offender even when you are not trying to you can offend people.My wife has often said that my face offends people so what chance do I have.

Leave people alone and grow some thicker skin or just ban supporters all together.

Open Door Update

2008-09-16T13:28:00.001+01:00

This week we move to the next phase of our open door project.On Saturday we will hold our development day we have invited people from the church and from the community to help us think about the way forward and to see if we can form a board of directors for the ltd company.

This is a big day for us as we are now committed to taking the project forward and we want to do that in partnership as much as possible.At the moment we can finance the project for about 6 months from the church funds from then on we need to attract funding.I don't want our worker to have to spend all there time chasing this so we need a strong board who can take that forward.

Please pray for us as we meet on Saturday that the right people will step up to the plate and that the finance wills start to be released .Pray for Anne the worker that she continues to feel confidence in what we are doing and also hat we don't lose sight of what God is calling us too.

RECONSTRUCTION

2008-09-13T18:34:00.000+01:00

Though I would put these links up .They are from the Scottishnetwork church conference this year.The are very helpful in thinking about the place of the church in

this post modern world.The first is by Alistair Macindoe from the Rock church in Dumbarton and the second is by Stuart Murray Williams of UE

http://www.networkonline.org.uk/downloads/reconstruction.pdf

http://www.networkonline.org.uk/downloads/postchristendom.mp3

Overcoming

2008-09-12T09:21:00.001+01:00

This week there was a great football story involving big Kirk Broadfoot.He played for St Mirren before Rangers signed him last year and everybody said Kirk Who.Coming to a bigger club like Rangers is sometimes to much to take for young players and they quickly disappear.But the big man has stuck at his job and despite being on the wrong end of some abuse from his own fans played far more games for Rangers than he thought he would.

So many people at Ibrox gave him stick but I couldn't bring myself to do it to the big man,I could see an honest player giving his all and that's always enough for me.So this week he gets picked for the Scotland squad what a boost!! until the manager decides to tell the world that the big man has "limited ability" what and idiot.That's going to boost your confidence and make you want to play for the manager "not".

So how does the big man respond?Well first thing is he gets picked to play gets booked in the first 10 minutes then scores a goal that sends Scotland on the way to victory.He must have been tempted to run over to the manager and ask him if that was good enough for someone with limited ability.I would.

Its just a great story of a guy who has been given the chance and has risen to the challenge unlike some others with more ability but a shit attitude.Go on the big farmer!!!!

Pics

2008-09-10T21:38:00.001+01:00

Top down.

Luke and Gazzza the dog

Craig

Stephanie the Queen of karaoke

mardibum

2008-09-10T21:27:00.000+01:00

The spelling is differnt but I couldnt get that name for my blog.So here you go the words to the song and the link to you tube.

Well now then Mardy Bum I've seen your frown And it's like looking down the barrel of a gun And it goes off And out come all these words Oh there's a very pleasant side to you A side I much prefer It's one that laughs and jokes around Remember cuddles in the kitchen Yeah, to get things off the ground And it was up, up and away Oh, but it's right hard to remember That on a day like today when you're all argumentative And you've got the face on Well now then Mardy Bum Oh I'm in trouble again, aren't I I thought as much Cause you turned over there Pulling that silent disappointment face The one that I can't bear Can't we, laugh and joke around Remember cuddles in the kitchen Yeah, to get things off the ground And it was up, up and away Oh, but it's right hard to remember That on a day like today when you're all argumentative And you've got the face on And yeah I'm sorry I was late well I missed the train And then the traffic was a state And I can't be arsed to carry on in this debate That reoccurs, oh when you say I don't care but of course I do, yeah I clearly do! So laugh and joke around Remember cuddles in the kitchen Yeah, to get things off the ground And it was up, up and away Still, but it's right hard to remember That on a day like today when you're all argumentative And you've got the face on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcI5-nOEsYM

Enjoy

Microfinance and Microenterprise Development

2008-09-10T18:28:00.001+01:00

Ok here we go.Its study time and I feel the fear and excitment all at once.For while now I have thought about how to encourage to think about running there own small buisness.Along with a few friends we came up with the idea of having some buisness mentors and some finance that would enable people to have go.

Along with Neil Young and Paul Ede I have got some people and some money(small amounts) to try and start a local project.While doing this I got the opportunity to do a distance course on Microfinance and Microenterprise Development .This course is running by the Chalmers institute.It will take me 6 months at 8 hours a week.Its over 20 years since ive had to study like that .I hope that my study will better place me tomake a vision a reality

I have some vision and heart to see it happen so Im hoping that will carry me through.I do believe it would be a great blessing to the inner city area I work in if they had more examples from among there peers of people who have took the risk and went out on there own.I believe God wants us to have the confidence to achieve everything we can in life,I also believe this is a real missing to the inner cities where people struggle to look beyond the life there parents or grandparents had.

My own father has been and continue to be my inspiration .He took the risk 25 years ago and is now handing all his hard work over to me and my son.

http://www.chalmers.org/site/cedi/tre2_new.php

Emerging in Scotland.

2008-09-06T18:48:00.001+01:00

I only recently found out that I was emerging.By that I mean that I knew I was going through some ch ages in the way I thought about God/Jesus and the church.But had no understanding of what those changes meant or how to manage those changes.

I understand that to emerge means to come forth to come out of to arise and all of those things were going on in me at the same time.I was emerging from a way of life that had more to do with church and everything surrounding church than it had to do with the message of Jesus.I was emerging from the disappointment of failed revival and messages of coming revival.

I was seeking something that would give some meaning to the message of the kingdom of God that Jesus left us something that would go beyond converts and church growth in fact church was leaving me depressed.I had some frustrating conversations with good friends and leaders they were frustrating because my language was one of condemnation for the church and frustration with what we were doing.

I have been able to find my way because of those close friends willingness to stick with me and walk with me on that journey.I have been able to come to some understanding of whats going on because together we have tried to stay faithful to God and the relationships that he put us in.

There is very little opportunity in Scotland to work this out in a safe place and trying to find some people that can help is difficult.But yet I find myself encouraged that God is taking us to a new place of blessing and challenge with him.There seems to be so much more grace about from others that makes it possible to get to where we are going.

I have found that its me who lacks the grace needed to stay in fellowship with those who are part of the church that I find it difficult to relate to .It is of great concern to me that this emerging journey makes me face up to some of the hurts of the past.And recently I have failed to be able to do that.
If we are to emerge and have the impact God wants from us it must be with grace for those who are happy and blessed to remain part of the church that sees no need to emerge or who even see it as a danger there needs to be amazing grace shown by all so that the fellowship of the saints remains secure.

I believe in reformation I believe that the emerging church is part of that reformation and I hope Scotland can see that change brings about the arrival of the kingdom of god in new and exciting ways .

Faith&Football.

2008-08-31T16:58:00.002+01:00

Today was a day for these two things to go together.Its a real pain that football is not played on a Saturday afternoon anymore but that comes with taking the tv money.So when your team is playing its biggest rival on Sunday morning I have to combine the two.
Going to church as a leader can sometimes be difficult there are certain expectations on you to produce much like footballers going in to big games.This morning I felt exhausted but still willing to share some thoughts that maybe God had given to me.Part way through our service I felt God prompting me to say something I had not expected.With my heart racing I shared with the folk about the love of God being all that will remain.Everything else we have will fade but his love will prevail for us.
We also had the hearting story of someone giving away £20 prompted by God to bless someone who had just lost a child.this may not seem a big deal but when its done in love it has a great effect.The woman tracked down the person who gave the £20 and told her that she had used it to buy some flowers for her child's grave.These small stories of peoples faith in action are what keep you going.

I gave my last £20 to the same girl and she agreed to invest it so that God could multiply it I wait with anticipation to see what happens.

As for my team they played well and won 4-2 which made my and my cousin very happy but I have to say not as happy as the story of the £20.

Retro-Fest.

2008-08-30T16:55:00.001+01:00

Theres a song out at the moment with a line that say "it was acceptable in the eighties".
Not for me.So today Im all on my own as my wife and friends have gone of to a music festival called retro-fest.Its full of old eighties bands like the bangles and culture club have alook here.http://www.retrofest.co.uk/
Its not that I dont like music I love it but just not the eighties and not culture club.The bangles maybe!!

So its good to have some time to just kick back and be lazy on a Saturday although thats what I do most weeks.

Some pics

2008-08-30T14:13:00.001+01:00

Boys & Toys

2008-08-28T15:43:00.000+01:00

Its not as if I'm a boy but age has nothing to do with the way guys react to new gadgets.
I got a new phone this week and between me and the boys we have spend hours looking at it and flicking through all the cool things it can do.I was most impressed by the way it can play my music in my car through an FM transmitter .How good is that.
The phone is now full of Batman and Joker themes from my youngest.The oldest doesn't want to admit that his dad has a better phone than him .Its great for winding him up.
Take any man into a gadget store and watch him start to drool all over the place it really is embarrassing.I know I was that man.

Hello

2008-08-28T15:04:00.000+01:00

I thought that after years of messing about on line and posting comments here and there that I should join the blogger world.Not that what I have to say is anymore interesting than most other people but I just like to talk.

I hope I will be able to keep it up as one of my faults is not seeing things through.I always start full of energy then fade away,But I do spend a bit of time online so that should make it easier.

What will you find on my blog?

Well you might find some everyday stuff.I may rant and rave from time to time.I will talk about football and faith.These may seem an odd combination but not for me.

I may talk about my new studies into christian micro-enterprise or the new project we are starting in Glasgow called open door.

Maybe nobody will ever read it but hey who cares .