http://www.amazon.com/Colossians-Remixed-Subverting-Brian-Walsh/dp/0830827382
I highly recommend this book by Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat.
This book is a great contextually driven understanding of the subversive nature of Christian thought for our contemporary society. The work the authors have done in setting the context of not only the Colossian society, but also the cultural context we live in really sets the stage for a powerful new ethic.
The most powerful point of influence for me comes from the ideas revolving around imagination. When we realize that the empire we are facing today is not nations, but the global economy and global consumerism, we can then begin to understand the Christian response to this empire. This response begins with our imagination. The empire of global consumerism seeks to control its subjects by snuffing out the alternative imaginations, by either overwhelming our imaginations with its own propaganda, or subverting our imaginations by directing them into new forms of the same consumerist ethic. When we can no longer imagine the kingdom of God come, then we are forced to accept the kingdoms that we are given. What is necessary is a new imagination, to once again become the creative people created in the image of a creative God, and dream of a new ethic, a new politic, a new practice.
I again hope you will read this book, and will join me in a commitiment to practice creativity, and exercise the imagination.
rev
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
My baby is a grown up
Well my eldest daughter turns 18 today. Its kinda weird. I know its not about me but I feel old.
Adriahna is an inspirational young lady. Her compassion, and care for others is quite amazing. She is a peacemaker, a joy bringer, and the life of a party. She consistently amazes me with her wisdom, which seems unfair for an 18 year old.
She is very much like me in some ways, (which she doesn't really like), but she is so much better. There is much less insecurity, or aggression in her manner. Adriahna is very strong willed, she can talk her way out of just about anything, and she doesn't mind centre stage. She is emotional, in a good and not so good way, something that looks much nicer on her than myself. She doesn't allow herself to be ruled by fear, which makes me very very proud.
When I look at the man I was at 18, I am doubly proud of my daughter. She is far far past me in every respect. She will make this world a better place, if only for being in it. I want all the world to know that I love her, I am proud of her, and I look forward to her future. Eighteen years ago God lent her to us, and is now starting the process of taking her back, I hope we have done well in the meantime, but she has shined either way.
rev
Adriahna is an inspirational young lady. Her compassion, and care for others is quite amazing. She is a peacemaker, a joy bringer, and the life of a party. She consistently amazes me with her wisdom, which seems unfair for an 18 year old.
She is very much like me in some ways, (which she doesn't really like), but she is so much better. There is much less insecurity, or aggression in her manner. Adriahna is very strong willed, she can talk her way out of just about anything, and she doesn't mind centre stage. She is emotional, in a good and not so good way, something that looks much nicer on her than myself. She doesn't allow herself to be ruled by fear, which makes me very very proud.
When I look at the man I was at 18, I am doubly proud of my daughter. She is far far past me in every respect. She will make this world a better place, if only for being in it. I want all the world to know that I love her, I am proud of her, and I look forward to her future. Eighteen years ago God lent her to us, and is now starting the process of taking her back, I hope we have done well in the meantime, but she has shined either way.
rev
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
martial arts instructionals
Well as many of you know I am a former professional fighter, and am a long time competitive grappler. I made these dvd's a number of years ago, they are available outside of Australia at http://islandmartialarts.com/index.cfm?ac=ShowProducts&CatID=92&SetCat=1
and in Australia at
blackbeltdigitalvideo.com
/Brazilian_Jiu_Jitsu-John_The_Rev_Jensen-videos-list.html
so if you wanna learn to break legs and necks for fun, do some purchasing :)
and yes I understand the irony of the anti capitalist pacifist selling martial arts videos, I am a complex individual, or I am a hypocrite, probably a bit of both
rev
and in Australia at
blackbeltdigitalvideo.com
/Brazilian_Jiu_Jitsu-John_The_Rev_Jensen-videos-list.html
so if you wanna learn to break legs and necks for fun, do some purchasing :)
and yes I understand the irony of the anti capitalist pacifist selling martial arts videos, I am a complex individual, or I am a hypocrite, probably a bit of both
rev
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Christi-anarchy "being the change you want to see"
Dave Andrews hosted the morning session on Saturday, and it was the best message on the Sermon on the mount that I have ever heard.
He started talking about judging, and showed how we actually are to judge both ourselves and the actions of others, but doing so realizing we will be judged by the same measure. And then began to unpack the sermon on the mount Matthew 5-7 as an ethical framework for how we are to live in the kingdom of God.
The problem with so much of how we have interpreted this sermon, is based on an incorrect reading of the text. This incorrect reading has made Jesus' teaching here, seem impractical, and therefore must be talking about heaven, or some spiritual ideal. However Dave showed us very convincingly that a proper reading of the text will help us to understand how we are to live in a redemptive way.
In the incorrect reading we see Jesus contrast the old way, (the law and tradition), with the new way (Jesus' more complete teaching). But this is where we wind up in trouble as it seems impractical. ie you have heard it said do not murder (old way) but I say if you are angry with your brother, or call him names, you are still in danger of judgement (new way). So this seems completely impractical, how are we to not be angry or have disagreements with our brothers. Those of us who live in close community know exactly how impossible this seems.
But Dave shows us that this is not the way to understand this teaching, it is not the old way versus the new way, but is rather laid out this way: The old way
The repeating cycles that even adherence to the old way doesn't fix
directives for living in a redeemed world.
So we have the old way: Do not murder
But then Jesus points out: But even if you don't murder, you still have anger, and hatred and unredeemed relationships, so the root of the problem doesn't get dealt with.
so
Jesus instructions for how to live: If you are offering your religious duties and realize that you and your brother or sister are in conflict, forget your worship for now, go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then be reconciled with God.
Or
Do not commit adultery
but
burning with lust doesn't allow us to live a life transformed
so
remove yourself from temptation
Now this was a very quick para phrase of what Dave explained, so if I did damage to the integrity of the message, I welcome correction. And please feel free to join in some conversation over this. Dave also talked about how important the beatitudes are and suggested it might be the stimulus for a renewal movement in our own lives. You can learn more at wecan.be
rev
He started talking about judging, and showed how we actually are to judge both ourselves and the actions of others, but doing so realizing we will be judged by the same measure. And then began to unpack the sermon on the mount Matthew 5-7 as an ethical framework for how we are to live in the kingdom of God.
The problem with so much of how we have interpreted this sermon, is based on an incorrect reading of the text. This incorrect reading has made Jesus' teaching here, seem impractical, and therefore must be talking about heaven, or some spiritual ideal. However Dave showed us very convincingly that a proper reading of the text will help us to understand how we are to live in a redemptive way.
In the incorrect reading we see Jesus contrast the old way, (the law and tradition), with the new way (Jesus' more complete teaching). But this is where we wind up in trouble as it seems impractical. ie you have heard it said do not murder (old way) but I say if you are angry with your brother, or call him names, you are still in danger of judgement (new way). So this seems completely impractical, how are we to not be angry or have disagreements with our brothers. Those of us who live in close community know exactly how impossible this seems.
But Dave shows us that this is not the way to understand this teaching, it is not the old way versus the new way, but is rather laid out this way: The old way
The repeating cycles that even adherence to the old way doesn't fix
directives for living in a redeemed world.
So we have the old way: Do not murder
But then Jesus points out: But even if you don't murder, you still have anger, and hatred and unredeemed relationships, so the root of the problem doesn't get dealt with.
so
Jesus instructions for how to live: If you are offering your religious duties and realize that you and your brother or sister are in conflict, forget your worship for now, go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then be reconciled with God.
Or
Do not commit adultery
but
burning with lust doesn't allow us to live a life transformed
so
remove yourself from temptation
Now this was a very quick para phrase of what Dave explained, so if I did damage to the integrity of the message, I welcome correction. And please feel free to join in some conversation over this. Dave also talked about how important the beatitudes are and suggested it might be the stimulus for a renewal movement in our own lives. You can learn more at wecan.be
rev
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Road trip hell and Christian anarchy conference
When I heard about the South Pacific Christian Anarchist gathering I immediately wanted to go. Two primary reasons: the first, I am a Christian anarchist and I wanted to hang out with some others. the second, it was being held in Brisbane, hosted by the Waiters Union and Dave Andrews would be there, meaning I could spend some time with one of the people most inspirational to me, and my view of community and leadership. But there was also a desire for me to bring a number of people from my faith community. I thought it would be great for them to meet some others that are trying to do some of the things we are doing, and to hear some of the ideas that inspire the way we are trying to do community and church. But I also thought a long hard road trip might be just the thing to help us grow together as a community. Many hours trapped in a car with each other, on an adventure, might just be a great bonding experience. Or it might just destroy our community!
Things started off pretty well, we left close to on time. We made good time. There were some issues of flatulence that needed to be addressed, but things were going reasonably well. We were getting to know each other even better, and I was happy. The toilet stops were kept short, the lunch break was reasonable. There were a few hold ups with the weather, but we arrived in Sydney at a decent hour. But then we ran into some whereis.com problems. I think they should change their name to howtogetgoodandlost.com, I was however not too upset, just went with the flow and called our host for some help getting to their house. Peter and Gillian are wonderful people, with very generous hearts. As if offering their home to house 10 people wasn't enough Peter drove to where we were and had us follow him home. Then served us a wonderful dinner, and made sure we were all sorted for the night.
The next morning we all woke up long before dawn and were on the road by 5:30 am. And this is where the problems started. We got completely lost leaving Sydney. Typical issues really, streets changing names every other suburb, streets ending for no apparent reason, forks in the road and the most frustrating of all, there are no street signs. Sure there are occasionally a tiny little unlit sign hidden back away from the street, but coming from SoCal where every intersection has a huge lit up sign telling you what street you are crossing, well they might as well not even be there. Now, I have anger issues, and I started to say words that were not polite, I yelled at my wife for no apparent reason, and basically started to insure that no one in my church would ever love me again. Now lest I seem the typical man, I will add that I will always stop for help or directions (infact I yelled at my wife for not stopping so I could get directions), so we stopped. I ran up to some men working on the street and asked for directions to the fwy to get to Brisbane, and these wonderful hospitable Sydney men gave me directions. Which were wrong. So we got lost again. And I asked someone else, who was wearing a bright flouro yellow vest so you know he can be trusted and he gave us proper directions, but then told us to turn left when we should have turned right. While taking the necessary u turns the other car almost got smashed by a rubbish truck. I was at this points so far from Jesus, the way of non violence, and any suggestion of civility, that I should have been excommunicated on the spot. But the good news is, I now knew what to teach for the next few weeks...
forgiveness.
There were so many road work sections where the speed limit dropped to 60 so we could carefully drive by witches hats and barriers that served only to show that at some time in the near future or past, there might be people actually doing something in the basic vicinity, but were obviously not there now. So we were falling way behind schedule. Now, before you get all cute and suggest that anarchists should not worry about speed limits, I will just point out that we are Christian anarchists, which means we prayed about whether we should break the laws or not. :) Unfortunately the overwhelming majority decided God wanted us to keep to the speed limits, with one dissenting opinion. :)
So understanding that we were now at the risk of missing dinner, which we were all by this point longing for, and suffering from the horrible disappointment regarding the giant banana (was not really that giant at all) we were not in the best head space for yet another version of whywouldyoueverlookupdirectionsonline.com fun. And yes my dear friends I cracked the shits again. Two turns that were obviously very important were not listed on the page, and after much driving around, two stops for directions, one mutiny, and three permanently damaged bladders we found ourselves on a right path. And we arrived at the conference. We knew it was the right place because of the blue van with the words "CHRISTIANS AGAINST ALL TERRORISM" painted on the back.
We cheered, broke into laughter, singing, and tears of joy immediately followed by a race to the toilets. We entered the hall where thankfully dinner was still being served, and fell into our seats with joy, and perhaps a bit of pent up bitterness towards me. The forgiveness sermons will have to be very very good I am thinking.
Over the next few days i will post more about the conference, and some of the great things we experienced there, but I will just say now that this was not in any way a gathering of angry, wacko lefties, but rather a wonderful group of people honestly trying to see what following Jesus means in their lives. We met two of the Pine Gap four, we met Ciaren O'Reilly, we met Dave Andrews and his family, and the most wonderful people from communities in Australia and New Zealand. There were many stories shared, and much inspiration gathered.
And I was reasonably well behaved all the way home.
rev
Things started off pretty well, we left close to on time. We made good time. There were some issues of flatulence that needed to be addressed, but things were going reasonably well. We were getting to know each other even better, and I was happy. The toilet stops were kept short, the lunch break was reasonable. There were a few hold ups with the weather, but we arrived in Sydney at a decent hour. But then we ran into some whereis.com problems. I think they should change their name to howtogetgoodandlost.com, I was however not too upset, just went with the flow and called our host for some help getting to their house. Peter and Gillian are wonderful people, with very generous hearts. As if offering their home to house 10 people wasn't enough Peter drove to where we were and had us follow him home. Then served us a wonderful dinner, and made sure we were all sorted for the night.
The next morning we all woke up long before dawn and were on the road by 5:30 am. And this is where the problems started. We got completely lost leaving Sydney. Typical issues really, streets changing names every other suburb, streets ending for no apparent reason, forks in the road and the most frustrating of all, there are no street signs. Sure there are occasionally a tiny little unlit sign hidden back away from the street, but coming from SoCal where every intersection has a huge lit up sign telling you what street you are crossing, well they might as well not even be there. Now, I have anger issues, and I started to say words that were not polite, I yelled at my wife for no apparent reason, and basically started to insure that no one in my church would ever love me again. Now lest I seem the typical man, I will add that I will always stop for help or directions (infact I yelled at my wife for not stopping so I could get directions), so we stopped. I ran up to some men working on the street and asked for directions to the fwy to get to Brisbane, and these wonderful hospitable Sydney men gave me directions. Which were wrong. So we got lost again. And I asked someone else, who was wearing a bright flouro yellow vest so you know he can be trusted and he gave us proper directions, but then told us to turn left when we should have turned right. While taking the necessary u turns the other car almost got smashed by a rubbish truck. I was at this points so far from Jesus, the way of non violence, and any suggestion of civility, that I should have been excommunicated on the spot. But the good news is, I now knew what to teach for the next few weeks...
forgiveness.
There were so many road work sections where the speed limit dropped to 60 so we could carefully drive by witches hats and barriers that served only to show that at some time in the near future or past, there might be people actually doing something in the basic vicinity, but were obviously not there now. So we were falling way behind schedule. Now, before you get all cute and suggest that anarchists should not worry about speed limits, I will just point out that we are Christian anarchists, which means we prayed about whether we should break the laws or not. :) Unfortunately the overwhelming majority decided God wanted us to keep to the speed limits, with one dissenting opinion. :)
So understanding that we were now at the risk of missing dinner, which we were all by this point longing for, and suffering from the horrible disappointment regarding the giant banana (was not really that giant at all) we were not in the best head space for yet another version of whywouldyoueverlookupdirectionsonline.com fun. And yes my dear friends I cracked the shits again. Two turns that were obviously very important were not listed on the page, and after much driving around, two stops for directions, one mutiny, and three permanently damaged bladders we found ourselves on a right path. And we arrived at the conference. We knew it was the right place because of the blue van with the words "CHRISTIANS AGAINST ALL TERRORISM" painted on the back.
We cheered, broke into laughter, singing, and tears of joy immediately followed by a race to the toilets. We entered the hall where thankfully dinner was still being served, and fell into our seats with joy, and perhaps a bit of pent up bitterness towards me. The forgiveness sermons will have to be very very good I am thinking.
Over the next few days i will post more about the conference, and some of the great things we experienced there, but I will just say now that this was not in any way a gathering of angry, wacko lefties, but rather a wonderful group of people honestly trying to see what following Jesus means in their lives. We met two of the Pine Gap four, we met Ciaren O'Reilly, we met Dave Andrews and his family, and the most wonderful people from communities in Australia and New Zealand. There were many stories shared, and much inspiration gathered.
And I was reasonably well behaved all the way home.
rev
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The state youth games SYG
Well I had the honour of speaking at the State Youth Games this year. This gathering of 2,500 young people plus staff and chaperons, happens every year. In the evening they gather for some fun and some spiritual type stuff, but in the day they are locked in intense sporting competition.
The first night we did a letterman style evening, we had some music, some crowd interaction, a top ten list, and some interviews. They interviewed me about some of the crazy stuff I have done, the bullfighting, and the cage fighting. They showed some video clips, and then I did a demonstration with digger at the end of which he challenged me to a wrestling match. I of course smashed him with ease, but in the process hurt his little toe, please pray for him. Over all it was a fun night, and it allowed me to skip the getting to know me part of my message the next evening.
On Sunday night, they did more of the same, but after a few worship songs I got up to give a message. I read from Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about the judgement of the sheep and the goats, I told a few stories about how I attempted to live this out in my own life. I challenged everyone to take a piece of newspaper (they had been given before the service) and wad it up, and then place it in their shoe. This would be an irritating reminder that they must go into their world, their neighborhoods, their schools, and be part of the kingdom of God, seeing Jesus in all people, but especially the unwanted, and unloved.
Afterwards I had many wonderful conversations with young people, and even a few oldies. We discussed just what this would mean for them, and how they could put it into practice.
I missed the closing ceremonies, as I was helping my friends from Urban Seed pack up the Sacred Space.
Thanks to all who came, and put on this incredible event, lots of work goes into these things, and I appreciate it all. Thanks to UNOH, who worked with me to develop the commitment response, and who have organized a myspace page for those that want to interact called go_stand and were there both nights to talk to people.
Anyone who wants to talk to me about what I said, or better yet, what you are going to do about it can email me at johnj at forge.org.au
rev
The first night we did a letterman style evening, we had some music, some crowd interaction, a top ten list, and some interviews. They interviewed me about some of the crazy stuff I have done, the bullfighting, and the cage fighting. They showed some video clips, and then I did a demonstration with digger at the end of which he challenged me to a wrestling match. I of course smashed him with ease, but in the process hurt his little toe, please pray for him. Over all it was a fun night, and it allowed me to skip the getting to know me part of my message the next evening.
On Sunday night, they did more of the same, but after a few worship songs I got up to give a message. I read from Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about the judgement of the sheep and the goats, I told a few stories about how I attempted to live this out in my own life. I challenged everyone to take a piece of newspaper (they had been given before the service) and wad it up, and then place it in their shoe. This would be an irritating reminder that they must go into their world, their neighborhoods, their schools, and be part of the kingdom of God, seeing Jesus in all people, but especially the unwanted, and unloved.
Afterwards I had many wonderful conversations with young people, and even a few oldies. We discussed just what this would mean for them, and how they could put it into practice.
I missed the closing ceremonies, as I was helping my friends from Urban Seed pack up the Sacred Space.
Thanks to all who came, and put on this incredible event, lots of work goes into these things, and I appreciate it all. Thanks to UNOH, who worked with me to develop the commitment response, and who have organized a myspace page for those that want to interact called go_stand and were there both nights to talk to people.
Anyone who wants to talk to me about what I said, or better yet, what you are going to do about it can email me at johnj at forge.org.au
rev
Thursday, June 07, 2007
The Mainstreaming of Punk and Christianity
PUNK AS W
Exploring the
main
streaming
of
punk and
C
H
R
I
S
T
I
A
N
I
T
Y
This will be a multimedia history of two revolutionary movements, and their domestication.
...with Jarrod McKenna
Wed June 13th 7pm at:
the Den
116 Little Burke St.
Chinatown Melbourne
Jarrod McKenna is a member of
Peace Tree Community he is an award
winning activist and non violence
trainer, and picks his nose when no one is looking. He is not cool enough to be a punk, but loves the culture.
Entrance fee is the commitment to give up something that hurts the environment for one week.
Jarrod is a wonderful guy, someone who legitimately loves people, and lives on the radical edge. I am looking forward to this night, and hope you will join us as well. If you need more info, please feel free to email me at johnj at forge.org.au
rev
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
The centrality of Jesus in scripture
Am reading a book by Athol Gil called the fringes of freedom, and this paragraph explained my personal beliefs better than I ever could:
In theological terms this raises the question of the canon within the canon- if the bible is the measuring stick, or canon, by which we may examine various contemporary theologies, what is the measuring stick y which we may examine the various theologies within the bible itself? As readers of this collection of studies will readily recognize, I have sought to use the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as the measuring stick for the rest of scripture. This is the theological centre of the bible as I read it, and from this centre I seek to draw a line backwards through the Psalms and the prophets to the revelation of God in the liberation of the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt. From the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus I seek to draw a line forwards through the writings of Paul, the gospels, I Peter and the book of Revelation. Jesus of Nazareth remains at the centre of theological reflection.
I have long argued that as followers of Jesus, it is Jesus that is our starting point, and from our understanding of who Jesus is, we are able to interpret the rest of scripture. He is our lens, and informs our view of scripture. We are not to take scripture and make Jesus fit into it, but rather the other way around. We can not do otherwise, it is Christ we follow.
I am really enjoying this book and will most likely be back with a few more insights.
rev
In theological terms this raises the question of the canon within the canon- if the bible is the measuring stick, or canon, by which we may examine various contemporary theologies, what is the measuring stick y which we may examine the various theologies within the bible itself? As readers of this collection of studies will readily recognize, I have sought to use the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as the measuring stick for the rest of scripture. This is the theological centre of the bible as I read it, and from this centre I seek to draw a line backwards through the Psalms and the prophets to the revelation of God in the liberation of the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt. From the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus I seek to draw a line forwards through the writings of Paul, the gospels, I Peter and the book of Revelation. Jesus of Nazareth remains at the centre of theological reflection.
I have long argued that as followers of Jesus, it is Jesus that is our starting point, and from our understanding of who Jesus is, we are able to interpret the rest of scripture. He is our lens, and informs our view of scripture. We are not to take scripture and make Jesus fit into it, but rather the other way around. We can not do otherwise, it is Christ we follow.
I am really enjoying this book and will most likely be back with a few more insights.
rev
Thursday, May 31, 2007
We need some help!!!
Any of you courageous souls that are up for some ministry opportunities, please let me know.
Our ministry at the Cave in Ascot Vale is growing, and the number of extra grace required people is sometimes daunting. If you have ever wanted to be in a church that is committed to small communities of care, working with the marginalized, and committed to empowering your dreams, not staffing programs perhaps you might consider joining our overworked band of radicals.
rev
Our ministry at the Cave in Ascot Vale is growing, and the number of extra grace required people is sometimes daunting. If you have ever wanted to be in a church that is committed to small communities of care, working with the marginalized, and committed to empowering your dreams, not staffing programs perhaps you might consider joining our overworked band of radicals.
rev
A dream
Had a dream that I was working construction again. That there was lots of different groups all trying to get their particular trade done, there were accidents, there were inspections. Everyone was a bit stressed and overworked. I was loving the energy of it all. I felt like I was actually missing the job site.
Now, there are some things I do miss. I miss the feeling of completion and accomplishment. When you finish hanging drywall (plasterboard) on an entire office, you can see what you did, and sense the accomplishment. And I do enjoy the sensual nature of hard physical labour. But four decades of hard work and stupid play have created chronic back pain, and other aches, which makes this longing a bit quick in passing.
What I realized is that our church (es) are actually much like the job site now. Many people, doing many tasks, and enjoying the relationships and difficulties involved in the task. What we are building is the kingdom of God, the problems mainly come from our lack of time spent with our superintendent, and lack of following His plans. But for the most part its an ever changing adventure, and I am enjoying the task.
rev
Now, there are some things I do miss. I miss the feeling of completion and accomplishment. When you finish hanging drywall (plasterboard) on an entire office, you can see what you did, and sense the accomplishment. And I do enjoy the sensual nature of hard physical labour. But four decades of hard work and stupid play have created chronic back pain, and other aches, which makes this longing a bit quick in passing.
What I realized is that our church (es) are actually much like the job site now. Many people, doing many tasks, and enjoying the relationships and difficulties involved in the task. What we are building is the kingdom of God, the problems mainly come from our lack of time spent with our superintendent, and lack of following His plans. But for the most part its an ever changing adventure, and I am enjoying the task.
rev
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