Art exhibition

Artists including
John Jensen
will be exhibiting and
selling selected works.
redEMPTION
saturday
march 15th
2008
@ ‘red east'
878 whitehorse
road, box hill
open
5pm to 10pm
official reception
8pm

Wow, lots to talk about

Been a lot of water under the bridge in the last month or so. Will try and share a few stories with you all.

We tried a new thing for Christmas this year, a buy nothing CHristmas. The idea was we would make some stuff for people, but not buy anything from a store. It worked out pretty well, though we did spend a bit anyways.

We made Tamale's for some of our neighbors. This is a Mexican Christmas tradition, and we were missing getting all of those wonderful tamale's from friends back home, we thought we'd try to make our own, and share them. So I made some shredded beef, and some black bean and corn tamales. We had trouble getting the corn leaves so I wrapped them in banana leaves. Well, they turned out great, tasted the way they were supposed to and only took about four times as long to make as I expected and we wound up giving two or three to our friends. :(

But it really helped us to focus on Christmas as a way of sharing our hearts, and lifes and natural rhythm with our friends.

On Christmas day we joined some friend and hosted a lunch at the Cave for those who didn't have someplace else to go. There were about fifty people there. Fifty people that didn't have family to share the holiday with. Again, felt like the right way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

The radical man who crossed social barriers, ate with whomever he liked, confronted the traditions of the day, and located himself in the margins. It was a beautiful Christmas, and I am very very proud of the team at the Cave that continues to grow in love and care for those society has forgot.

rev

Mr. Wino, and friends

I was sitting in our community gathering this morning, having just finished a wonderful breakfast of toast, eggs, bacon and mushrooms, and as we do each Sunday we began to discuss things that may have had a spiritual impact on our lives the previous week. A young man began to relate to the group an encounter he had with a wino, and the security staff at a night club.

The wino is a well known homeless man in the Melbourne CBD. He has been fall down drunk for most of the time for the last ten or twenty years. He often smells bad, gets in fights, and is always very drunk. My friend from church know him from a few of the social services in town. My friend who we can call Norm, said hello, and a conversation began. One of the bouncers from the club they just happened to be standing in front of walked up, addressed the wino by name, and told him he wasn't allowed to drink around there anymore. Norm's friend began to protest and ask why and apparently mr. wino had caused some problems and tried to assault one of the security staff last week.

So Norm lead mr. wino down a few meters till they were not in front of the venue any longer, and along with his friend, and Norm's girlfriend, continued their conversation. The bouncer came over and started telling them to get the hell out of there, and Norm and his friend started to arch up. Things started to get heated, and it looked like there were going to be blows thrown. Norm's girlfriend, as girlfriends often do, cooled things down and got the boys to take mr. wino down the street.

As they were walking down the street the wino said, "Jesus used to party, we're just having a party just like Jesus" And apparently having been stood up for, cared for, and also being drunk, made mr. wino very emotional, and he asked the guys if they could pray. And so Norm, his girlfriend, another friend and mr wino stood praying in the street. The security and everyone else on the street witnessed three young, apparently normal people group hugging a smelly drunk who had shit his pants. Norm realized something about the kingdom of God there.

Jesus tells this story:

The Sheep and the Goats 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Now, I am not naive (unless you think all Christians are) I understand that this is a very complex issue. Here is a guy that is socially inappropriate, sometimes dangerous, and will scare off customers. The owner of the establishment can be very clearly concerned about this man's presence. He also basically caused his own state, he did not suffer some horrible tragedy, but drank himself into addiction, and homelessness. Many in Western society would call people like mr wino, the undeserving poor. Most Americans or Aussies actually have some compassion for people that have fallen through the cracks in the system and need some help, but guys like mr wino, deserve to be where they are, because they caused it. Believe me I understand these things, and thoughts.

Alain de Botton points out in status anxiety that we now live in what can be called a meritocracy. You have what you have, or don't have what you don't have because of your merit. For the most part if you are poor it is because you are too lazy, too stupid, or too busy blaming others to really take control of your life. Which makes being in these situations even more shameful than in the past.

But we must remember in Jesus time, and in His audiences culture, they had a similar idea. Only instead of a meritocracy, they had a moralocracy. They believe that you got what you deserved but based on your standing with God, and your righteousness. To this audience, the poor were not poor because they were lazy, they were poor because God did not love them as they were obviously sinners. At one point Jesus' own disciples ask him, why is this man blind, is it because he sinned or his parents sinned?

My point is simple, Jesus words were just as radical in his day as they would seem here. Jesus is saying that The Son of Man, the Messiah, is each one of these people. Is in fact mr. wino. Not the deserving poor, not the noble poor, not the romanticized movie version of the honest hard working poor that had just fallen on hard times, but the cursed of God, sinner, degenerate deserves his or her fate, poor, and imprisoned.

Jesus seems to often explain that it is easy to love the lovable, but we need to love even our enemies. How can we love those that are so far from our natural love? Perhaps it is seeing the almost gone, slowly flickering image of humanity (the echo of God's image) deep in the heart of each and every person, and seeing in that almost quenched flame, the actual fullness of the divine. Norm, was experiencing God's kingdom come, and so was mr. wino! What will you experience over the next few weeks?

rev

Long time no Post (big news!!!)

Many of you already know this I am sure, but for those of you that don't:

We are moving back to the States in April.

I am going to tell you the longer version, in case you want to know what happened, or you can just stop reading now if you get bored easily.

About five months ago I had a dream that our stuff was packed and we were going home. It was very vivid and disturbed me a lot because I did not want to leave, I love it here, and feel things are going very well. This happened during a time when our community was having a few dreams that seemed meaningful for us. The next day my neighbor had the same exact dream, only he was the subject (I don't think he would have told me otherwise). That same day I was told be FORGE that I needed to have a new sponsor for my visa (which we had already talked about and it was a good thing, just weird timing). That same day I found out that we were ineligible to apply for a permanent resident visa. This was a hard day for me, and I cried a lot. The wife and I talked about what that would mean for our girls, and we were not happy. We talked to the girls about it, and they were a bit upset too. The next day some dear friends sat down with me and I shared everything with them. They said this a good question, when are you going home, just don't be in a rush to answer it, let God reveal it to you. I realized I was planning on being here much longer, and had stopped living with my bags packed.

Well we turned in our new application for visa and waited, and waited, and waited. In the meant time we figured out that Adriahna would not be able to go to uni here because we just can't afford over seas student fees. She began making plans to go back to the states and start Uni there, that made us feel a bit icky. We still have not got an answer from the visa office. This made us begin to be very stressed. My wife and a good friend both had the idea that we should not let the government make this decision for us, but should make that decision ourselves. We took a few weeks of holiday time, and on the first day of this time I remembered a scripture verse out of no where.

Genesis 40:32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

So we talked about it a lot, and ultimately decided that we were not really ready to live 6,000 miles away from our daughter, especially when we can't afford to fly there if needed. We also understand that our communities here are very capable, and will continue without us. We also see some opportunities for ministry back home, especially in light of the connections we have made recently. After trying on the decision and feeling it was right, and speaking with our community and some mentors and friends, we have made this our decision. We believe this is the right path, but as usual hold the reigns lightly.

We were also counseled by a good friend that it was time for us to take a sabbatical. After 22 years of ministry, we believe that was also good counsel, so when we arrive in America we will take four months to "sharpen the saw" I will most likely be doing some theological study, and maybe writing a book.

We will struggle deeply with this move, we love our communities here, and we absolutely love this city. We have made many wonderful friends and pray many of you will come visit us. Thanks for your prayers and support over this time.

john

World Car Free Day, please support

http://adbusters.org/blogs/World_Carfree_Day_2007.html

I will not drive, nor ride in an automobile this entire Saturday, but will walk or take the train. Please pass this around and support.

rev

Burma needs your support

Dear friends,

We need your help. Please sign the petition and forward the link to your friends.

Aye Min

http://www.ipetitio ns.com/petition/ CMPP/index. html

rev

Been a lot happening

Well hello friends, it has been a very busy month or so. Just thought I would give you a very brief synopsis:

Ciaron O'Reilly was great, I really enjoyed his time with us. I was quite impressed with his ability to make complex theories very simple, and his working class personality and ethic really was enjoyable. He said a few things that really challenged me, thought I would share them

1. The nature of war now days requires that we show our dissent in different ways. In the very recent past war took an entire nation, with the requirement of large numbers of troops, and therefore a huge base of support also needed back at home. Industry was rejigged, women knitted socks, the population went on rations ect. So if we simply refused to take part in the war, it was actually a very strong dissent. But the way war is waged now a days, the government doesn't need us to help, they just need us to keep living our lives and stay silent. If we just continue to spend and earn, our tax dollars will support the war that is waged with fewer and fewer people, and most horrifically effects a higher and higher percentage of non combatants.

2. The political ethics of the early church were pacifism and anarchy. These are both expressed negatively, one as refusal to use violence, and the other as refusal to oppress or have power over others. Since these are both negatives, rather than positives, they can only be understood practically as questions. In other words, "how do we live non violently, and how do we live without oppressing others?"

I really like that. What I loved the most about Ciaron was his humour and down to earth nature. He did not seem so caught up in the "issues" that he was not in touch with his humanity. We truly enjoyed hanging out, telling stories, and unfortunately mourning a friends passing. Was great to have him with us.

We have also started meeting regularly on Wednesday mornings to network with other radicals in Footscray about ways we can help each other live out this kingdom of God stuff. We also put out a newsletter each week to let people know whats going on. This can be giving away food, organizing for political protest, or finding housing for homeless people. We have had studies on ethical shopping, bible studies on the book of acts and studies on activism and anarchy. This has been a huge source of encouragement for me, and it is great to see so many wonderful people in Footscray trying to live out a world redeemed, and doing it together.

I have been struggling with some health issues, and could use your prayers on that.

Hopefully I will post a bit more, and if any of these subjects particularly interest you, let me know.

rev

Plowshares Activist Ciaron O'Reilly at the Cave

“Ciaron O’Reilly is a devout Brisbane-born Christian pacifist. In a life dedicated to protest, he’s been jailed for disarming warplanes, dismantling uranium mining machinery and performing exorcisms of warships. To some he’s an inspiration, to others a criminal.”

(Andrew Denton: Enough Rope June 2006)

Please join us on the 25th of August for a special evening with activist Ciaron O'reilly. We will be serving a vegetarian dinner, providing some entertainment, and then Ciaron will give a talk about Christian anarchy, and activism, sharing some of his stories of 20 plus years of fighting for peace and justice. This will be a challenging night, hopefully giving us an imagination for a world transformed, and a sense of how to get there.

The cost of the evening is $0.00 but we will take an offering to pay for Ciarons flight and to help fund his future court battles :) If you have any more questions feel free to ask, or if you might like to have Ciaron speak at your group while he's here please email me at johnj at forge.org.au

rev

Art's place in subverting the empire

I have mentioned that I have been reading Colossians remixed, this incredible book has caused me to think more deeply on many subjects, but probably the most compelling has been the nature of art, and the creative impulse, when confronted with the empire of global consumerism.

The premise of the book is that in the time Paul wrote this letter, the control of the Roman Empire was very much complete. And the Roman myth, the pax romana, was all pervasive. Rome understood very correctly that if they were to continue to hold their influence, they must not only overcome their enemies with military might, but then seek to hold them by other means. In my opinion, the most important part of this plan was to destroy all alternative imaginations, and to profoundly preach the myth of pax Romana in every conceivable way. This was done by destroying, or subverting every other myth besides the pax romana. They enlisted the arts and symbols in this quest. They understood rightly that as long as their was an alternative imagination, they would never completely control the people. When people believe there might be an alternative to the existing empire, they can dream of a different way of life, the empire is never completely secure. So by plastering Caesar all over everything, including their money. By putting symbols of the pax romana on household items they insured the imaginations of the people would stay captive.

What we are now living under is the myth of progress, the myth of peace through violence, the myth of consumerism without restraint. And the empire we are held captive by is global consumerism. Our nation states are no longer the empires, but rather they are expending their resources for the purpose of propping up the global economy. The nation state is subservient to the global economy. And the myths of redemptive violence, and existential spending, are not only taken hold, but are almost unquestioned.

The stunning thing is; this captivity is so complete that even the voice of dissent is then stylized and marketed, and becomes just another subverted enemy of the empire, losing its voice. The Nike corporation bombing their own billboards and using the counter culture to market themselves.

It is my contention that the way we stand against this empire seeking to control our imagination, is by creatively engaging a new story, a subversive story, a story that says things not only can be different, but should be. This alternative imagination, must be practiced, and spoken of through the creative outlets of our art. When we do art, we are practicing the skills that are needed to stand against a culture that seeks to control even our creativity. When we make art not for profit, but for prophet, we engage the powers of the world. If we are going to be a people that are not caught up in the current of the empire, we must create, as in doing so we keep alive that in us that is good and noble, and we bear the image of our creator, the great artist.

We must not let our art, and creativity be subverted. Like adbusters we must stand against the oppression of a global market economy, and refuse to let our creativity be used to insure the empire, but rather to dream up a new way of living, a new way of being. We must embrace the creative that we are made in the image of, and truly seek to subvert the empire by our being what God made us.

Einstein, who was apparently a very smart guy, said something along the lines of, the solutions to our problems, are going to require a completely different kind of thinking than the sort that created those problems. Doing art, practices this different kind of thinking.

So write poetry, make collages, paint, draw, design, make furniture, clothing, organize prophetic places of creative dissent. Set your mind free, stand against the overwhelming tide of products, and symbols and trademarks and brands. Let us enter the new kingdom, and say goodbye to the control of the empire.

rev

19 years married to the same woman

And I consider myself a lucky man. Many people were worried when we got married, I was only 22 and my wife was 18. We had two children right away, and then were deep in ministry. It has been a rough ride at time, and at times filled with incredible beauty. Our theology has changed, our circumstances have changed, and our goals have changed, but what hasn't changed is our love and commitment to each other. We find ourselves at a new crossroads, where children are talking about leaving for university. And the things we are sure of is this:

God will go with us

We will go with each other

somehow, someway it will lead us deeper into God's kingdom

I am very thankful,

rev