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Anyone know any puppeteers?
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1 July 2008 at 16:04
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| I'm helping organise a family fun day in Old Trafford on Saturday 12th July. Just wondered if anyone out there knows any puppeteers or puppets who might be able to come along & help us? |
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Redemptive Subvertising
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14 May 2008 at 21:00
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A quick introduction for those who don't know me: I'm Matt Clements, a member at Levenshulme Baptist, husband, father, teacher and latterly, a redemptive subvertiser.
Let me explain that last bit by copying some text from a blog entry I just wrote a couple of minutes ago at www.redemptivesubvertising.blogspot.com, all about some "creative interactions" I'm currently having with all those adverts on bus shelters for Grand Theft Auto IV:
"It just struck me this week, with violent acts taking place up and down the country, how uncomfortable I am with the large-scale and indiscriminate promotion of a game that gets people to practise in private the very things we're working to prevent in public.
If you want to join in with an equally widespread subversion of these images of violence, blu-tak a white paper ribbon or pop a bright flower down the barrel of a nonchalantly wielded gun, indeed anything that might redeem the images that, let's face it, are put in front of our eyes whether we want to see them or not."
If you've read Shane Claiborne's book "The Irresistible Revolution" or listened to Rob Bell's sermon a couple of weeks ago (www.marshill.org) when he mentioned the work of street artist Banksy, you'll have a glimpse into where I'm coming from. In a city with more than its fair share of gun and motor-related crime, don't adverts for violent films or games need to be engaged with in some way?
So, before the ads are taken down (to be replaced by ones for Persil, no doubt), who's up for a bit of redemptive subvertising? Email me with your photos (matt.j.clements@gmail.com) and I'll post them on the blog.
Cheers for your time
Matt |
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Justice or control?
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28 March 2008 at 01:11
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I've been doing some thinking about Christians working together with people of other faiths (or none) on issues that we hold in common such as injustice, poverty, crime.
We do a lot of singing, talking and praying about justice, but when it comes to taking opportunities to actually DO it (the verb used in Micah 6 v8... look it up) we seem to get selective. I have observed a reluctance to partner equally or join with others, and a preference to set up our own thing... where we're in charge. Particularly evangelicals - which is my background - and particularly bigger self-sufficient suburban churches (by which I mean where the members live, not necessarily where the building is located).
Why is this? Fear of compromise, or dilution? A need to be in control? It can mean some of the best opportunities to make a difference through many people pulling together on a shared concern are weakened, numerically and ideologically, because the churches are largely absent.
The question is... what do we want most - for justice to flow or to be in in control? |
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Who wants to take part in the Great Manchester Run?
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7 March 2008 at 16:12
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Why not kick start your day with the
BUPA Manchester 10K on Sunday 18 May 2008?
call: 01925 653160
email: events@christian-aid.org
www.christianaid.org.uk/events
You’re invited to join our running team. We have 75 running places up for grabs! Official entry has now closed but you can still get a place by running for Christian Aid.
Christian Aid works in nearly 50 countries, tackling poverty and its causes. From finding better ways of farming high up in the Bolivian plateau, to protecting women who’ve been raped and forced from their homes in Darfur. Christian Aid knows what is needed. We know how to deliver change. We don’t hug trees, we don’t wear sandals and only a few of us have beards. But we do make change happen. Your help enables us to deliver direct, practical benefits, and to campaign to challenge the causes of poverty.
All our runners receive a first class pre-race support service, helping them to raise a minimum of £150 each. You will be easy to spot in the crowd with our quality, free running vest, and all runners are invited to our post-event marquee to have a well earned massage and refreshments.
So why don’t you fit a 10K in before breakfast this year?
I look forward to welcoming you onboard!
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Best joke
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29 February 2008 at 23:20
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What's your favourite joke? Here's my current fave...
Knock, knock
Who's there?
Control Freak. Now you say 'Control Freak who?'
I told it to three church leaders a while ago and not one of them got it. Even after I'd explained it. Worrying. |
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Peace Week / Prince of Peace
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22 February 2008 at 14:16
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| It has been good to see some churches get involved in PeaceWeek this year, but they are still somewhat outnumbered by those who have not got involved (as far as we know). Let's see now... Peace Week. PEACE Week. Christians are followers of Someone known as the Prince of Peace. Isn't there a fairly obvious connection here? So why not more involvement from the churches? |
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Transforming the Rich
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6 December 2007 at 14:39
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Ann Morisy is coming to Manchester on January 17 (details) to explore themes from her book "Journeying Out: A New Approach To Mission". To get a bit of debate started here's a quote (my emphasis). Comments? Reactions?
"The radical, missionary activity of the Church cannot, like liberal, secular, social policy, aim at the transformation of the poor. In the new adaptive zone we have entered, the aim must be the transformation of the secure, the well-meaning and the well-endowed of this world. The processes that Jesus teaches and demonstrates invest potential in the most unlikely, not in the well resourced. Focusing on 'needs meeting' is at odds with the coaching and urging that we receive from Jesus to take seriously the reality of Gospel reversals. The ways of Jesus are not the ways of the world, but they are not a fairy story either. Gospel reversals are to be taken seriously. The challenge is to have the imagination, trust, expectation and capacity to facilitate situations where the upside-down nature of God's kingdom can prosper." |
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Anyone around?
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12 November 2007 at 20:01
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What Website is your Homepage?
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31 August 2007 at 09:55
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What website do you use as your Homepage (the first website that appears when you open your browser)?
Why do you use it as your Homepage?
What do you think it says about you?! |
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Is Web 2.0 promoting a 'New Narcissism'?
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31 July 2007 at 12:20
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Another fascinating article from Bryan Appleyard in The Sunday Times called 'Notorious Nobodies', the latest in what seems to be turning into a series examining the social implications of 'Web 2.0' - the name for the current phase of the internet of which ChurchMCR is an example. Bryan is not anti-Web 2.0 - he has his own site and blogs with the best of them - but he is monitoring the thought and writing being generated by and about Web 2.0 and summarises the latest of it here. One of the concerns raised is that sites like Facebook, Bebo, MySpace etc are full of people screaming "Look at me!", another manifestation of the powerful human need for recognition. Is this "New Narcissism", based on an overdose of baseless self-esteem, a potentially destructive illusion ("On the internet nobody knows you're a dog")? He quotes one commentator who reminds us "the one thing Web 2.0 can’t change is human nature". Christians know something about that. The basis of Web 2.0 - social networking, relationship building - is good, but as with all things human nature can spin it in other directions. Here is yet another opportunity for us to model what community should be as a trailer for the coming Kingdom, and at the same time demonstrate a right, positive, honest and healthy use of this technology.
Have a read of the article and share your thoughts, comments etc. |
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