URBANarmy

When... pseudonyms become a reality. Marcus is a pseudonym as are most of the characters mentioned on URBANarmy. Almost indignantly I argued with Street Rescue this week about "of course them knowing Marcus" "No ... we've never known a Marcus...." With exasperation and a touch of sarcasm I remind them of the car? "Oh you mean Nigel...." (ok this is getting complicated a pseudonym of a pseudonym!!) "Oh yeah Nigel!!!" "sorry....!"

Emerging Mouse (full story here ) - emerged at last but remained pre-occupied with itself, nibbled at something it should't and now is on its way to a land fill site in Essex. Mice be careful how you emerge! --- Sorry to mouse lovers everywhere ...

You know when you are getting old when you get up at 4:30am because you can't sleep and go downstairs to make a cup of tea and read Frederick Coutts "A Call to Holiness"!! I hope I am younger tonight! --- Watch it Nick or you will be in the gutter - grrr! :o)

Life couldn't get much worse for Marcus than losing the keys for the car he bought for £10 to sleep in Marcus came in and I was pleased to see him - he was soberish. In one hand he had a piece of paper that he was enthusiatically waving at me. A 3pm appointement for access to a hostel. He was excited.We were pleased together. Life couldn't get much worse for Marcus than losing the keys for the car he bought for £10 to sleep in . Things were looking up. A foot was on the first rung. Then I saw the blue plastic bag in his other hand. "Marcus you're not going to be drinking that before you go are you...?" "Only enough to stop the rattles..!" I had a horrible feeling and I wanted to fight him for the bag. Instead I go an get a map to show him the way and tell him the bus to get. Later that afternoon, less than an hour before his appointment I regret a few things. I regret not fighting him for his blue plastic bag. I regret not putting him in the mini-bus des...

If we are not careful we cross the line of creative tension and spend more time trying to convince each other rather than convincing those who really need to be convinced! A recent e-mail conversation with a friend made me think about the dangers of being partisan in our approach to ministry and mission and how that the freedom of publishing that comes with blogging encourages it. At the risk of exacerbating any schisms ! I found Dan Kimball's " The Emerging Church Vintage Christianity for New Generations " a stimulating read a while back. He made reference to George Hunter, and his book The Celtic Way of Evangelism and his contrasts between the Roman model and the Celtic model for reaching people. Simplified it looks like this:- Roman model for reaching people: Present the Christian message; Invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; If they decide positively, welcome them into the church and its fellowship. Celtic model for reaching people: You ...

Richard Bradbury has started blogging from rural Zambia where he is the Manager/Hospital Administrator of Chikankata Health Services. I'd say his experiences are worth popping into - who knows you may even decide to raise some funds for his pig and chicken rearing project. charlie chikankata

Dave Walker of Cartoon Church always seems to provoke thoughts and a smile - I'm a regular visitor. This cartoon caught my eye. (It says on his site that he doesn't mind cartoons being used). I remember the buzz the first time someone linked to URBANarmy, the first time someone left a comment, the first time someone actually referenced some of my thoughts but have subsequently sought to remember why I blog. I wrote this ironically about a year ago:- "I try not to write in order to influence or to impress. I write because I want to be able to look over my shoulders and look at the footprints of my journey as I reflect on mission. I write to stretch myself through my reflections. I write because I don't want to lose the lessons I am learning. I write to get things off my chest, to vent my feelings. I write for me." I am sure that blogging for others would wear me out, grind me down and would steal the joy I have in keeping the lessons I learn alive. I try to hold t...

There is a new book, a new program or a new emphasis every year or so. It's all anyone can talk about; it's all the preacher preaches about - for a while. Then, as quickly as it came, it's gone. Todd Wilken writes. . . The dictionary defines a fad as "a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal." This could just as well be a description of congregational life of many Christian churches today. There is a new book, a new program or a new emphasis every year or so. It's all anyone can talk about; it's all the preacher preaches about - for a while. Then, as quickly as it came, it's gone. As eagerly as it was received, it's abandoned and forgotten. Welcome to the Fad Driven Church. For them, the long list of church fads represents their personal history as a Christian: Spiritual Gift inventories, Spiritual Warfare, Promise Keepers, Weigh Down Workshop, The Prayer of Jabez, the Left Behind Series, Becoming a Contagious Christ...

Chris ' SA blogring continues to grow - so if you want to add your site to sally bloggers just hit Sally Bloggers and get your code. It's been a good way to connect salvationists all over the world. I've just noticed that I have been ex-communicated which I think Chris has had designs on for a while ;o) - although I take comfort in that Andrew Clark is with me as we burn at the stake!

"Patrick gives me a knowing look with a face that says "at last someone understands...!" Patrick is making plans. For those responsible for moving us to the college he is planning a trip to space. For the dangerous A13 a flyover. I have a revelation "Patrick when you spend hours just shouting at the traffic is that part of your plan ... a protest?" Patrick gives me a knowing look with a face that says "at last someone understands...!" Patrick is known for hurling abuse at the hapless drivers on their way to Essex and the Blackwall Tunnel. He worries that people are going to get hurt - rumour has it that his mental health problems stem from head injuries incurred when involved in a nasty road traffic accident. So he shouts at the traffic - and now I know! He stops drinking his tea suddenly lucid he looks up and says "what is going to happen to me...?" He's getting worried that he is getting older and going to be farmed off to a home ...

The Gospel and our Culture are hosting this 'Christian Mission in a Pagan Culture' A day with Bishop Tom Wright Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham Saturday 17th June 2006 10am - 4pm £18 (unwaged £12) - bring your own lunch Details here I've sent off for my registration form.

A new resourceful site is up and running highlighting the inner city ethos of 614 - you can access the site here

Blog related comments and emails this week have taken too much of my blog allocation of time! So just time for a short quote from Steve Courts Be a Hero. Mercy and Justice are what move people. For too long we have been pushing a message devoid of the guts of the kingdom. For too long we've been giving them thoughts to get them saved, and then let them die. The world disdains the empty message. If we will only do the works of Jesus, we won't have to speak much. Court, S and Campbell, W. (2004) Be a Hero: The Battle for Mercy and Social Justice

Bethan was home from an evening being a guest of the local Brownie troop whatever you call them. Sat watching TV together I enquire how the evening went. "good time?..." "yep" "What'd you do? ..." "Played games..." "What'd you think?...." "Alright but I'm not sure it was right to ask me to play games and feed me chocolate if the real reason was to get me to go back next week!" "Why not? ..." "it just felt ... well ... a bit sucky" "so do you want to go back next week...?" "I don't think so..."

It kicked off in our area last week. I'd already called the police because we saw young people in the street with huge knives. It spilled over into a neighbouring secular youth club - two gangs head on. One casualty found refuge with us within our Youth Club. Blood pouring from two wounds on his head. Roz our youth worker patched him up and called for an ambulance. The night got worse as retribution was worked out and the evening finished with rumours of shots being fired. I walked home to the chorus of police sirens and blue lights as the police came to see if the rumours were true. Salt and light...

It seems to me that the 'Aggressive Christianity franchise' is growing in TSA - unless they are the ones with the propensity to blog! While collecting on Saturday for the annual appeal I thought I'd try it out in a conversation with a friend of mine who claims to be an atheist. "What would you say if I told you I was an aggressive Christian...?" "I'd tell you to p..s off!" You should try it - it really is encouraging! I probably need to get hold of the original Catherine Booth classic and also the contemporary version from Canada - if I am to get my head around this mindset. ---- Steve Court has something to say ... here

Eryn our youngest (6) seems to be taking Lent seriously this year. She announced to everyone at Church that she is giving up tea and newspapers for Lent. "... but Eryn you don't drink tea or read newspapers...!" "I know that's why I giving them up...." It did make me think about how often we do church but only as long as it is convenient to us.

"...there is no freedom of God without the politics of justice and compassion, and there is no politics of justice and compassion without a religion of the freedom of God,..." I'm ever more convinced that a dualistic approach to mission is dishonourable to the whole concept of missio-dei. Here is what Brueggemann has to say on a dichotomy that is false... My impression is that we have split those two items much too easily but not without reason. The liberal tendency has been to care about the politics of justice and compassion but to be largely uninterested in the freedom of God. Indeed, it has been hard for liberals to imagine that theology mattered, for all of that seemed irrelevant. And it was thought that the question of God could be safely left to others who still worried about such matters. As a result, social radicalism has been like a cut flower without nourishment, without any sanctions deeper than human courage and good intentions. ... The point that prophetic i...

Never had one of those before. Matt has graciously entered dialogue regarding mission's false dichotomy - read it if you wish - here .

"So do you know every word in the bible?" I was in the music room working with 16-year old Ian, his question came out of the blue. I look up and Ian is looking at me through his smeared glasses hopefully! "NO - but I know some of them!" I came away wondering of all the words, what is it about Ian's life that had him pull those words out of the hat. Unperturbed Ian continues "So is 'forget' in the bible?" Thinking quickly ... I think of Isaiah and say "well there is a lovely picture in the bible where mothers whose sons had been taken from them tattooed the names on their hand so that they wouldn't forget - God tells us that in the same way God wont forget us..." Ian doesn't always do thoughtful but he seems to be thinking "Well...what about loneliness?" My mind races and we talk about Jesus in the desert, I guess I could've done better with that one, I could've gone to Gethsemane, never mind we talk about ...

Ann Morisy makes an interesting observation. "Bosch urges us to work for a closer interrelationship between social action and enabling people to embrace the Christian faith. Whilst intellectually we might assent to this it is more difficult to translate into action. Almost without exception our efforts to integrate work for justice with the recognition of Christ's unique saving power seems to drift into a sequential or consecutive process, with either social action or evangelism being treated as prior to the other" (2004:Pp12) Morisy, A.(2004) Journeying Out: A New Approach to Christian Mission So we get people being vocal about us not being evangelistic enough - I've learned to smile at the irony of these people who fail to see the beauty of the Kingdom in action Funny how we struggle with allowing mission to drift into a sequential or consecutive process. What we do has to have the evangelistic last word anything less is a cop out, a dilution. Never comfortable w...

In a time when frustration has grown fierce, we can no longer afford to limit love's expression. Yesterday I was in a conference where the speaker was telling us how she encourages critical analysis through getting her students to ask 'But...' more often. My mind raced back to the evening before where Roz our youth worker read "AND, AND, AND...A Motivational Story" as part of our reflections before Youth Club. Read the rest and find the citation here (to find it you need to scroll about half the page). Peeking out from the corner of my desk blotter is a note, slowly yellowing and bent from time. It is a card from my mother, containing only four sentences. In it, she praises my abilities as a writer without qualification. Each sentence is full with love, offering specific examples of what my pursuit has meant to her and my father. The word "but" never appears on the card, however the word "and" is there almost a half dozen times. Every tim...

I stood outside his front door wondering if I was doing the right thing. I knocked - no answer. I knocked again - again no answer. I open the letterbox and yell "....Pa-a-a-trick .....PATRICK!" I stood back smiled at the inquisitive neighbour as if that was a normal thing to do - and waited. We weren't his best buddies when he was stood across the road with a sharpened stick shouting "I am at war with you....!" Patrick didn't come for breakfast today. We not his best buddies since we asked him to leave on Tuesday for being extremely abusive to Kate. We're not his best buddies since two social workers turned up to speak with him. We weren't his best buddies when he was stood across the road with a sharpened stick shouting "I am at war with you....!" . We certainly were not his best buddies when he 'explained' to Bram that I had stabbed in the back. Maybe Patrick is sulking with us - who knows I am still worried for him. I waited...

The local press have picked up Victor's story here are some of the headlines... "OAP's attacker walks free..." "Random attack on pensioner..." "Man is spared jail for attack..." There's headlines - but only half the story. Nothing like a schizophrenic on the loose to sell papers.