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.: BLOG ARCHIVES :.
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Thursday, March 27, 2003 |
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 I am in trouble and it is Bea's fault. Bea Marshall, the same Bea who had a birthday last night in 80's prom gear, the same Bea who painted butterflies on the Giant Peach windows last year, the same Bea pictured on the left with her red hair, the one and the same Bea of the now infamous Andy and Bea's World of Umbrellas, has got me into trouble.
A few days ago I put a link to a particular Chrisitan site using 3 x's and a word starting with "p". You can scroll back a few days and see it. The people behind this site have a ministry to people addicted to P.*O>R_N and go to sex-related conventions around the country to bring the freedom of Jesus over addiction to people in the industry and affected by it. But because I mentioned the name of their web site, many Christians with a certain FILTER can no longer come to my blog site.
Are you blocked out of my site right now? Are you having to access Tall Skinny Kiwi through a pagan's computer at work because it is blacklisted by Christian filtering systems? Are you having to disable your filter just to view my blog?
This is what to do.
1. Be patient. I will leave the guilty link in its present form today because I want everyone to see the effectiveness of these filtering programs that are so successfully blocking out people from viewing my site, all because of the use of one word and some X's.
2. Come back tomorrow and you will not see those words in their present form.
3. As for those who cannot access my blog site today, pray that they might strike up some redemptive relationships among those that lend their computers or the people they meet at the internet cafe's that do not have such peculiar software installed on their computers.
4. Put up with me for one day of silliness as I relieve some tension and go crazy here - hey - if i am blocked out of Ned Fanders household for one day and can say what i like without having the filtered households read my blog, then I might as well put the link to XXXChurch.com on my blog exactly as they name it, as the Number 1 CHRISTIAN ***** SITE, it all its XXX glory, for all those people addicted to PORN, yes, I said PORN, as in short for PORNOGRAPHY. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the link:
X X X c h u r c h . c o m.
Is that enough X's for you? Here are some more:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXD(ooops)XXXXX
Thats right, click on this HOT LINK and you will find yourself face to face with a Xhristian ministry that is reaching out to people addicted to the images of HOT BABES on the PORNO sites, and an invitation to CUM and see how Jesus has delivered people from life addicting habits and has set them free, washed them clean, forgiven their sins, made them feel like spiritual VIRGINS, and helps them walk down a road of victorious living.
 May I also say a big welcome to those of you chasing down some HOT images of NAKED BABES, and are initally disappointed because Google sent you here and all the people in my PICTURES have clothes on them and no one is NAKED [except for this picture of my friend Bryce, who actually only looks NAKED but is really has pants on] and you are now on the web log of a wierd Baptist missionary who appears to be out of control but actually is quite sane, well, mostly sane, sane enough, at least to tell you that you can be clean on the inside, released from your dark habits and set free to follow the One who made you and loves you, yes, still loves you, the One who created SEX to be good and fun and intimate and protected inside the sancturary of a beautiful marriage. And if you want to talk to some people that have been were you are and know how to get you out and into the light, then go to x x x c h u r c h . c o m and start your new way of living.
Thanks for visiting my blog. This blog posting will not be here very long because many of the people who come here, some of them daily, have filtering software that is keeping them out today and I need to respect them. But, for the moment, it was good to have you here. Come back again sometime.
UPDATE: I havent removed this yet. I kinda like it being here. Let me know if it offends you so that I can remove it. (2 or 3 of you)
Andrew Jones at 5:51 AM
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Wednesday, March 26, 2003 |
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 (image from Jen's back)wabiSABI is the event that we are all arriving for here in Austin Texas. Thanks to a generous gift from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the team is offering an incredible conference and experience to 150 artists and young ministry people who could not afford to attend most other conferences. And yes, some of them will be older, institutional Mentor-type people who we want involved in the conversation.
Here is the deal. wabiSABI are charging $35 for everyone to attend. We know that no one is getting paid to help or speak or, in my case, to be a pretty face. Artists have brought their own equipment to cut down costs - I can vouch for this, having to lug my video projector, camera and computer half-way across the world to be one of the video jockeys. (The other guy is Travis from Highway Video who I have not met yet, but if he is better than me then I will pull the plug on his computer during his set. [he he he]
But the question still lingers, what do I get for my $35?
First of all, DANG!, you have to be really stingy to ask that question. But some of you are . . .so . . . You are basically getting a free conference, an all expense-paid training and networking encounter that is being given to you as a GIFT . . . because . . . there are some older and more institutional folk in Texas who love you and are deeply committed to see new expressions of God's church for the future. And they believe you ARE the future.
They also know that you are poor struggling artists, or that the churches you have started are more organic and do not give you a salary and that coming to Austin will take a big chunk out of your budget. In fact, some of you sold the farm to pay for your plane ticket and they want to honor you and bless you . . .
RUDE INTERRUPTION:
Shannon: Andrew, this is Grace, Robbie's fiance.
Grace: (Half-asleep but waking) Good morning (she crashed in Shannon's living room last night, next to another unidentified girl)
Me: Hi Grace. Did you come down from Cincinatti? Grace: Yes
Me: Cool!
(Robbie, who was at Emergent in Prague last year, lives in Cincinatti. Thats how I knew)
See, thats what I am talking about. Its not cheap for young people to fly around and we need to honor them. But the team also has to charge them some money. $35 to be exact. And where does that money go???????????????
Well, basically, the money goes to pay your 4 huge (TEXAS SIZED) meals:
Meal 1. Texas BBQ at the electronic worship event on Friday.
Meal 2. Breakfast and
Meal 3. lunch at the teaching conference on Saturday morning.
Meal 4. Gospel Brunch at Threadgills Club on Sunday.
The English Afternoon Tea on Saturday afternoon is free.
Do I hear any complaints?
Andrew Jones at 6:07 AM
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 Caught up with Derek and Amy Chapman and we all (including English blogger Jen Andrews of Odd Shaped House, and Jessica and Kathryn) went to San Antonio. Why San Antonio? Because it was here that I tried to end an 18 month administrative pilgrimage to get my replacement permanent resident card for USA. Unfortunately they had lost it and we started the process over again. I now have a temporary card and have to wait another year, but at least I have something to show when I go back to USA. My plans have me coming back to USA in early June (Colorado and maybe California) and early November (Dallas). It will be much easier now with my card replaced.
San Antonio rocked. We walked on the Riverwalk - a delightful, healing, quiet water canal that snakes throught the inner city.
Today we will put up the huge revival tent for Friday nights event.
Speaking of English, there are already 8 of them here and they will host an English Afternoon Tea on Saturday as part of the wabiSABI event. The Master of All Tea Ceremonies, Neil Lambert, emailed me this morning. Here it is:
"Dear Andrew I was at the gathering in Prague last year and am a big fan of your site.l really wish l could be with you all in Austin for wabi-sabi. l thought ld make some art works for the conference here in Cambridge uk instead.Beginning on friday at 12am (6pm your time) with a tea ceremony and prayer.One art work a day ending on sunday at3.30am with a closing tea and prayer.( 9.30am your time,I think) What you are doing and the way its being done is really important and gives hope to so many! me included. love and peace Neil Lambert. "
Hey Neil, send me images so we can track with you in real time. And send me any tea bags you use so that I can support God's missionaries around the world with a reminder that we are thinking of them. (Neil doesn't use tea bags, but you already know that).
Andrew Jones at 5:26 AM
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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 |
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Kiwi Steve Taylor, who was trying to fly to USA for the conference this week, regrets that he cannot come. But he has posted last weekends OUTDOOR PEACE SERVICE from his church in New Zealand. That "Peace On Earth" song from U2 has also been rattling and humming in my mind this week. Here are some prayers from that service:
 "God of all peace, who wills for every child, every person, wholeness and justice; in the midst of war and violence, we pray for peace.
Grant, O God, to those we name and those we cannot, an out pouring of your spirit of peace; and a new vision of your loving purpose for political and delegated authority.
Grant, O God, an outpouring of your spirit of courage; and a new vision of your loving purpose for our fragile world.
We pray for the people of Iraq, the United States and its allies; that children may be valued, that the oppressed may be freed, that the voiceless will be heard.
Grant, O God, an outpouring of your spirit of love, a new vision of your loving purpose for every human life.
We offer our prayer in great hope that peace with justice will be achieved because it is your will. In doing so, (leaving self behind and taking up our cross), we make our decision to love others better than ourselves, to give others life and hope whatever the cost.
All: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done"
Andrew Jones at 5:08 AM
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Sunday, March 23, 2003 |
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Books I am reading on the plane to Austin:
- The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver - a must read for any Post-colonial missionary or minister in a cross-cultural setting.
- From the Renaissance to Romanitcism: Trends in style in art, literature and music, 1300-1830, by Frederick Artz (published 1962). I have been absolutely hooked on this book and have been reading it on every bus trip around Prague. There are so many similarities between the world of today and other eras. Early postmodernity is similar to the Age of Mannerism (extremism, edges, remixing old - no wonder that MTV has been referred to as neo-mannerist), and our present age bears striking similarities to the early Renassaince (experimentation based on re-estimation of Roman architechure) Anyway, I wont bore you with details. Not yet, anyway.
Andrew Jones at 8:40 PM
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 DAWN News of Global Christian Trends (2003 #7)
30. Each year,180 million Bibles and New Testaments are wasted - lost, destroyed or disintegrated - due to incompetence, hostility, bad planning, or inadequate manufacture.
31. Each year, 600,000 full-time ordained workers (clergy, ministers, missionaries) reach retiring age; 150,000 then discover that their employers provide no old-age pensions.
32. Some 250 of the 300 largest international Christian organizations regularly mislead the Christian public by publishing demonstrably incorrect or falsified progress statistics.
33. Despite predictions of the collapse of religion, long-term trends indicate that Christians and members of other religions are likely to number over 87% of the world's population in AD 2200. . . . Read the others
Andrew Jones at 9:41 PM
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The Blogger's Prayer 1.1 by Andrew Jones (June, 2002)
Our Father
who lives above and beyond the dimension of the internet
Give us this day a life worth blogging,
The access to words and images that express our journey with passion and integrity,
And a secure connection to publish your daily mercies.
Your Kingdom come into new spaces today,
As we make known your mysteries,
Posting by posting,
Blog by blog.
Give this day,
The same ability to those less privileged,
Whose lives speak louder than ours,
Whose sacrifice is greater,
Whose stories will last longer.
Forgive us our sins,
For blog-rolling strangers and pretending they are friends,
For counting unique visitors but not noticing unique people,
For delighting in the thousands of hits but ignoring the ONE who returns,
For luring viewers but sending them away empty handed,
For updating daily but repenting weekly.
As we forgive those who trespass on our sites to appropriate our thoughts without reference,
Our images without approval,
Our ideas without linking back to us.
Lead us not into the temptation to sell out our congregation,
To see people as links and not as lives,
To make our blogs look better than our actual story.
But deliver us from the evil of pimping ourselves instead of pointing to you,
From turning our guests into consumers of someone else's products,
From infatuation over the toys of technology,
From idolatry over techology
From fame before our time has come.
For Yours is the power to guide the destinies behind the web logs,
To bring hurting people into the sanctuaries of our sites,
To give us the stickiness to follow you, no matter who is watching or reading.
Yours is the glory that makes people second look our sites and our lives,
Yours is the heavy ambience,
For ever and ever,
Amen
Andrew Jones at 7:25 AM
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As the final event of wabiSABI, Drew Rice was ordained, as requested by the Harley riding congregation that adopted him as their spiritual leader. I met Drew on the streets of Austin 5 years ago. He is a good man of character. Image from 
For the teaching on Saturday morning, Brad Sargent, Mark Thames and I had a two hour intensive. I will post my notes here soon.
Arrived in Austin and picked up by Shannon Hopkins (can you see by her picture that she is really pleased to see me again!) and Jessica my PA (Prodigal Assistant) who now has to repent face to face for being away from Prague so long and leaving me to administrate my messy life.
My PA and part family member, 