Archive for the “Series” category
Modern Day Saints: 4 (St Dave Everitt of Cambodia)
by John Jensen on 7 August 2011 with
I was standing in the back of the church waiting to pray for people. As one of the elders (A rather silly designation for my 22 year old self) we would pray for anyone who had needs during the musical worship time. A man I had never seen before just happened to come to the front of the line as I had a vacancy. As you can see from the picture he has Rutger Hauer ice blue eyes and has a habit of looking directly into your eyes which can make you want to hide. As I was uncomfortably being looked at, or through, he shared about his need for prayer. He had been doing work in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Santa Ana California, among the Cambodian community. He was particularly successful in leading a group of Christian young people. But he had had a break through with some of the local Cambodian gang members, and they began to give their lives to Christ and come to the bible study he was leading. The problem was the Christian kids and their parents didn’t want the gangsters there. In my immaturity I tried to give him a little advice, but then prayed for him.
Modern Day Saints: 3 (Shirley Osbourne of Melbourne)
by John Jensen on 28 July 2011 with
Shirley Osbourne is one of my heroes. We met her in Melbourne while she was speaking at a FORGE intensive training session, on spirituality. We immediately realized we would be friends. She is everything I like about a missionary, loving, down to earth, grass roots, strong, courageous and above all… bat shit crazy. She now pastors a church in Melbourne that ministers to a number of needy people from the housing commission flats. She works alongside a number of aids organizations. And is tirelessly working to support her friends, the forgotten poor and marginalized of Melbourne’s inner city.
Shirley one day realized a number of homeless, disenfranchised kids that gathered on the steps of Melbourne’s Flinders Street train station. She did a most logical thing, being a young wife and mother, she started bringing them home to live with her. Starting a ministry called SOS, Steps Outreach Services has over the past 19 years provided shelter for over 300 young people often in her own family home.
Modern Day Saints: 1 (My wife Raquel)
by John Jensen on 24 July 2011 with
Since I seemed to have gotten a million more hits for being a jerk than I ever did being less of a jerk, I thought I might try even harder to be more positive. I am starting a series where I will write a brief description of people who I admire greatly. And there is nobody I would be more happy to start with, than my wife Raquel.
Why I don’t go to church much: Part 4
by Chris Lorensson on 3 July 2011 with
When I read the gospels and the accounts of Jesus’ life here in Earth, I find myself questioning our current model of church. This is taking things waaaay back, so bear with me. Think about it. Where in the gospels or the New Testament do you see church, as in our modern understanding of church? probably the closest thing I can think of in early in Acts, when you see the people communing together. But even that does not comes close to the way we do church nowadays. Pooling our money and resources? Nope. All being of like-mind under the Spirit? Nope. Today’s Christian church is a series of programmes and initiatives, with a Sunday morning tacked on that back for good measure.
Video introduction: The Framework for Mystery
by Chris Lorensson on 18 May 2011 with
The Framework for Mystery on
‘Organic’ Community- my experience
by Chris Lorensson on 1 May 2011 with
Let me talk a little bit about one of my other community experiences, which I will simply call the men’s bible study. I want to talk about why this experience made me lean toward ‘organic’ community models, as opposed to communities which have been thoughtfully created, or intentional community.
My men’s bible study, as I mentioned in a previous post, was completely un-planned. There was no goal, no vision, no strategy, no hierarchy. But there was a schedule. Saturday nights. A lot people who believe the same things as myself about community would think that even having a schedule would kill it, but in this case, it didn’t. Actually, it simplified things and made it a bit easier to thrive. Read the rest of this entry »
The Elusive Mystery
by Chris Lorensson on 9 April 2011 with
This post is a follow-up to The Dance of Mystery.
The Mystery is not something that can be created. It is something that already exists, yet can be nurtured. Indeed it must be nurtured in creating good art. Mystery is the secret ingredient to good art, but it cannot be sprinkled on from a jar like so much fairy dust.
The Framework
The framework is not superfluous, it is crucial. But even more crucial is its fidelity. How strong, how supportive, how prescriptive are the questions. These questions can only be addressed in the moment of creativity, there is no guide to follow, only intuition. One could say the possession of this intuition is something that separates good art from bad art, talented artists from the rest. Read the rest of this entry »
The Dance of Mystery in Art
by Chris Lorensson on 9 January 2011 with
This post is a follow-up to Lifestyle Minimalism
In a dance, there is a fine balance to be maintained in order to strike that perfect balance of strength and grace. If the male lead is too strong, he will overpower his female and thereby create an imbalance which destroys the beauty of the collaboration. If the female’s gracefulness steals the show, the dance is too weak and the balance is undermined. Only when the two work in harmony together can the perfect balance be struck, creating a beautiful ebb and flow like water flowing navigating through the obstacles in a stream. Read the rest of this entry »
Lifestyle minimalism
by Chris Lorensson on 3 January 2010 with
I realise that this topic is very much a Generation X topic, but I am resurrecting it because God has brought it back to my mind. Anyone, nowadays, who is between the ages of perhaps 22-35 should have no problem relating to this. I think even some baby-boomers may dawn a smile.
Here’s what I want to talk about; the problems of
- personal dissatisfaction in being a pawn of Western Democratic Consumerism
- the pressure of fashion, design and ‘stuff’
- and the mantra of modern minimalism
Being a designer, visionary and entrepreneur, I am one who is deeply steeped in consumerism. In fact, I’m a well-oiled cog in the consumer machine. The ‘verse’ that I heard many years ago which will not leave my head goes something like
A key to Happiness is learning to require less.