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Post Pentecost

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-5

When I was young, my mum suffered some pretty serious chemical poisoning from a work accident. She was sick for a while there and it wasn’t a great outlook. She faced severe joint pain, partial paralysis and the prospect of cancer as we faced learning sign language with the likelihood of it causing her deafness. One day she walked into a healing meeting at our church and after receiving prayer fell to the ground with a whizzing warmth like lightning shooting through her body. She was healed. Our life as a family changed at that point. Before then, we’d had one foot in Gods door, but afterwards we dedicated our family life to discovering God. God with us. God real to us.

It’s almost impossible when God visits to walk away unchanged. When the Spirit was given to the Church in Acts they took God to the world in a whole new way. Being his voice. His hand. Acts records the disciples ‘agreeing’ with the Spirit and being led through dreams and visions. He was active in their lives relating God to every man and woman. Pentecost wasn’t just a fortunate event (for tonnes of reasons!), it was, it is, crucial for us the church!

Last Sunday was awesome. Through our body, Edge, it was like a fire, a deep warmth, and a change was blowing through us. It wasn’t hard to believe it when Greg shared he believes God is bringing us into a new Pentecost. A new life for a new time, and what a time it is!

I wonder what Edge will look like in 6 months, a year, 5 years? How will these days where God meets us change our community? What does God have in store for Edge Kingsland?

I’m looking forward to more Sundays like the last. More everydays like Sunday. More of God in our lives.

Pentecost Sunday.

Friday, May 21st, 2010

According to the Christian tradition, Pentecost is always seven weeks after Easter Sunday. It is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian Liturgical year and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles of Christ.

Its significance in the biblical story highlights the collaboration between God and man to redeem humanity. This transcendent encounter empowered them to communicate in ways that would amplify the voice of God in the earth.

Pentecost is our festival, our feast. The celebration of an ongoing conversation between God and man, embodied in a people who are becoming the talk of the town. The testimony of Jesus, the very spirit of prophecy.

This is a season to reflect, to open our hearts, and receive all that the Holy Spirit has for us.

The prayer of the Blessed John XXIII says it all..

“O Holy Spirit, Paraclete, perfect in us the work begun by Jesus: enable us to continue to pray fervently in the name of the whole world: hasten in everyone of us the growth of a profound interior life; give vigor to our apostolate so that it may reach all men and all peoples, all redeemed by the Blood of Christ and all belonging to him. Mortify in us our natural pride, and raise us to the realms of holy humility, of real fear of God, of generous courage. Let no earthly bond prevent us from honoring our vocation, no cowardly considerations disturb the claims of justice, no meanness confine the immensity of charity within the narrow bounds of petty selfishness. Let everything in us be on a grand scale: the search for truth and the devotion to it, and readiness for self-sacrifice, even to the cross and death; and may everything finally be according to the last prayer of the Son to his heavenly Father, and according to the pouring out of your Spirit, O Holy Spirit of love, whom the Father and the Son desired to be poured out over the Church and her institutions, over the souls of men and of nations.”

Fair Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Good.

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Fairtrade – What does it really mean?
FairtradeTM, fair trade, trading fairly, etc

What is a fair trade?
When we buy FairtradeTM, are we choosing products because we actually like them more than the unfairtrade alternative, or because we’re feel better about helping someone out by doing so?

Is that really a fair trade?

If I bought a cup of coffee that was made with FairtradeTM beans, but was shit, is that a fair trade…?

Meeting FairtradeTM stipulations imposed by the FLO (FairTrade licensing organization), can compromise the quality of the product.
There are stiff criteria that farmers must meet in order to belong to the FLO. e.g., they must belong to a co-op (as opposed to a family-owned estate for example); yearly fees are substantial.

There are coffee growers that cannot afford to belong to the FLO, and therefore do not, who enjoy far greater prices for their coffee. Why? Because they grow beautiful quality coffee, and are paid accordingly.
The COE (Cup Of Excellence) is an international online coffee trading scheme that rewards quality, and as a result, pays far more to the farmer that FLO min price. And it cuts out the middleman – the bureaucrats with well-stocked stationary cupboards and new iPads.

So – what really is a fair trade…???
What can I do here, today, in NZ?

Do I pay what I owe?
Do I owe someone something?
Have I kept my word?
Have I kept up my end of an agreement?
Do I trade fairly?

If I cross the street to buy FairtradeTM, in order to help someone I will probably never meet, and miss an opportunity to connect with my neighbor, what really is the point?
Is that a clanging gong I hear in the distance…?
How does FairtradeTM/fair trade/fairness fit into this ‘upside-down’ Kingdom of ours?

Is fairtrade wrong?
Hell no!
Is it all we can do?
Of course not.

Thanks Mum.

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Mums. Where would we be without them? Literally, where? They are a staple to our society. When I Googled mothers this morning the first result was, “MOTHERS: Polishes, Waxes and Cleaners”. It was the grand statement of a High Performance Car Care company, catering for the needs of desperate and lonely cars in hunger for some TLC. Brilliant. Someone out there was so enamored with the great job their mum did they could only think to name their next greatest passion (high performance car care) in their honour.

That’s because mums are awesome. My mum used to buy me marmite and chip sandwiches for lunch at Primary school, which to this day is still my strongest memory there (sad but true). She was at every game, competition, event and ceremony I can remember. She has always prayed for me when I’ve needed it and especially when I think I haven’t. She’s a super mum. She was Never too busy to trim my bowl cut (actually with a bowl by the way!) or read to me from the picture dictionary before bed. That’s commitment.

So, yeh, I agree that mums are definitely the high performance care products our society needs. But they’re so much more. They’re the engine that drove us for so many years, and its so fitting to be honoring them this Sunday for their love, care, and commitment.

Thanks mums.

What will I be remembered for?

Monday, April 26th, 2010

When we consider the contribution and the cost of those who have shaped society today, it is a reminder that we are the product of those who have gone before us. Their story provides the backdrop to the unfolding drama of life as we know it.

We love to celebrate achievement and we laud praise on those who have left a lasting impression on our lives. Even more so we long to follow in their footsteps and emulate their actions.

In Acts 10 the account of a Centurion from the Italian Regiment who lived a devout life and was generous to the poor caught the attention of God. He became an unlikely candidate for the writing of a new chapter in the gospel message. Angels and apostles visited his home to see first hand the one named Cornelius. His life was a memorial, a statement, a commemoration of all that is good in humanity. And now the Gentile world had an ambassador, the first of many who would to break into the elite world of Judaism.

Our lives matter to God. So do not underestimate the contribution you can make to the story of God.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Rom 12:1-2

Anzac Dawn Service

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Those who would like to meet at Edge at 5am to carpool to the Dawn Service.

Dawn Prayer Service

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

A poem on the occasion of the Dawn Prayer service, held at Meeting House, Waitangi treaty grounds, on Waitangi Day, 2010. The Prime Minister and other dignitaries attended, and Christian minister, John Komene took the service.

Underneath the black horizon
the Whare a beckon of majesty
and gathered the dignitaries,
and in dignity she lay.

Inside the meeting house,
the Maori Minister presided,
who I could not see,
but I imagined him,
Taiaha in one hand,
the Sword of the Spirit in the other.

Deep sonorous booms came forth,
the words of a man,
a man of his word,
a man of the Word,
like flames of gold,
pelting the night sky.

Restless warrior,
who attacked the village,
you crept up on them,
an ambush,
whilst they were asleep.

The red gold cirrus slowly emerges,
along the dreary horizon,
a fitting accompaniment,
the preacher man and rising sun.

Deep wells of inner resolve,
doing war in the trenches,
in the barracks of life,
breaking down walls and fences.

The citadel of my integrous
woven into the courage of your conviction.

Easter

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

The Season of Lent is drawing to a close.
We are coming to the end of the journey that culminates in Passion Week, following the days that Jesus walked
from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, his death on Good Friday and Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Many events surrounded that week.
Two of Jesus’ closest friends made radical choices, with huge consequences; Judas betraying Jesus,which led to his untimely death, and Peter who even though denying Jesus, made a choice to return to him in Hope.
Lent has been an opportunity for each of us to examine the way we have betrayed, or denied Jesus, as well as making a choice to continue walking and trusting him into the future.

So we remember, and we celebrate this great occasion in our Church History and Present.

Passover Meal (thursday night)
Jews and believers in Jesus embark on a personal journey from slavery to freedom & liberation in re-living the account of the passover story ( Haggadah), an opportunity to engage with this story & find common links within your own stories during the night. (still time to rsvp….call the office now!)

Good Friday is a pivotal day in our easter festival, so take some time to consider the crucifixion of Christ, and if you can, visit one of the many churches that will be holding meetings and events on this day, or rest with family and friends on this holiday.

And on Sunday at Edge we will continue this Easter Festival – easter eggs out in full force (for those breaking Lent!), a fish breakfast at 9am for the earlybirds, and two community gatherings at 10am & 6pm, where we will remember and celebrate this great time, together.

Happy Easter Edge.

zero to fives.

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

The other day my four year old daughter came home from The Hive treasuring in her hands a plastic cup covered in brightly coloured cellophane, which had a little candle inside. “Light this Mum when we go to bed and I will tell you what Jesus says”…it was a ‘stained glass’ prayer candle for remembering Bible verses taught in The Hive…

It constantly amazes me the kind of things that capture kid’s imaginations. Every night the candle has to be lit, and every night you can hear sheer delight in her voice as she gets to speak, and then blow out the candle in front of her captive audience.

What happens on Sundays in the children’s rooms significantly impacts kids lives, and those of their families and friends. And we urgently need your help as the children’s rooms are growing!

Volunteers in the 0-5 age group wanted.
See Sacha Donovan or email the Edge office and let us know you want to help.

Thanks. Sacha d.

Church Picnic- This Sunday

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Following our morning meeting, this Sunday, we are having a picnic together at Bellevue Park on Dominion Rd (which is not far from the Edge building). There will be games for the kids, cricket and food!

We will be taking along a bbq, but bring your lunch, or use any of the bakeries that are local to the park…

See you there!