60 minutes for Planet Earth

This evening, after a tiring day at work, I was looking forward to a night of vegging out in front of the TV with my tea. I’d put my dinner in the oven, some washing in the washing machine and was just catching up with Waterloo Road on iPlayer, when suddenly I was plunged into darkness.

Now the electrics in my flat leave a lot to be desired, so I found my way, cautiously, to the fuse box, grappling around for the torch that’s so easy to find until it pitch black. That’s odd, everything seemed to be ok; and then I realised. It wasn’t just my flat. I looked out of the window and the only lights I could see were car lights. Raynes Park was in utter darkness.

I suddenly realised it wasn’t just dark, but quiet too. The washing machine and internet and freezer and tv had all stopped. In the blink of an eye, everything was eerily peaceful.

As I looked out of my window, I could see the flicker of candle light begin to appear as families around my neighbourhood had managed to use muscle memory to rediscover the place they’d hidden the matches. In this moment of the unusual, something serenely beautiful was happening.

Some of the team based in our office have just got back from Hope for Planet Earth, a tour that looks at climate change from a Christian perspective and asks how we should respond. As the team have unpacked the subject, they have discovered more and more that while it is our actions in the richer nations that are the biggest cause of climate change, the people it affects the most are in the poorest places on earth. Places where droughts and flash flooding are now a reality, where crops haven’t yielded a harvest for several years, where families are forced to leave their homes due to rising water levels. Jesus calls us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves (Matt 22:37-39), but how are our actions demonstrating this love?

Now I’d consider myself as someone who tries to reduce my impact on the environment. I recycle as much as I can, holiday in the UK to save plane emissions, turn the tap off when I’m brushing my teeth, I’ve even given up meat for Lent; and yet, in these minutes when my home was in blackout, I suddenly realised how reliant I was on my computer, my oven and the lights around my flat.

It’s easy to become apathetic thinking that we cannot make a difference, and yet we can. We are called to strive for justice, to help our neighbours, and this Saturday, 28 March, at 8.30pm, millions of people around the globe are uniting together and taking a stand as Earth Hour draws people together. Earth Hour is an initiative designed to show world leaders and our neighbours that we are determined to find a solution to climate change. Across the world people, are turning out their lights for one hour. This problem can be solved, we don’t need to burn fossil fuels to power our homes when we could use renewable energy, but without pressure, companies and government can choose not to act. Will you be a part of Earth Hour? Will you stand shoulder to shoulder with those most affected by climate change? Will you stand up? Will you turn off the lights?

Acting small, impacting big: Brian's story

Do you ever have those days where everything seems to be an up-hill battle? Days where you keep sending emails and forgetting the attachments or make spelling mistakes in a document which completely change the message you're trying to convey?

Today, Dot has been trying to email our FRESH delegates in readiness for this weekend and we're now up to attempt three. The last one should have said, "Someone forgot their brain this morning" but instead said, "someone forgot their brian this morning." We're pretty sure she didn't mean to reveal that she usually brings some guy called Brian with her to work, and for sure we've never seen him!

While this probably seems like the most insignificant thing ever to those of you reading this, it's given us all a much needed laugh in the office. We've been pretty busy recently, what with Pentecost Festival programme deadlines, the approaching FRESH weekend and Influence all happening in the same week, so this has just given us a break from that.

I love the way the smallest incident can make the biggest difference to someone's day. While I'm not encouraging you to send ridiculous emails, I am encouraging you to look for the small things in your day-to-day that God wants to use to make other people's day.

I've recently been reading Ephesians, and last Sunday was preaching on Ephesians 2:1-10. How an working out God's grace through our actions? When was the last time you did something random (but good) for someone you'll probably never meet again?

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10)

Let's spread the randomness together!

Chuck it in the bucket

For this game you will need to get five clean buckets upside down on a table. Before the evening starts buy five different foods making sure that three are horrible to eat (cold baked beans, sushi, gherkins…) and two are nice to eat (donuts, sweets…) Before the group arrive place the five items of food under a bucket. Leave them there until you are ready to play this game (make sure that throughout the evening the young people don’t look under any of the buckets). When ready to play choose five young people to take the challenge of eating whatever is under the bucket. Have the young people choose a bucket, once chosen get the young person to lift the bucket off to reveal what is underneath. If the young person eats what is under the bucket they will be rewarded a prize (make sure you have also bought some extra prizes).

Warning: Make sure you have checked young people that may have allergies and also make sure you have a spare bucket for any young person who may decide to throw-up while eating the horrible food.

Twitter

So...what is our opinion of twitter?

Do we like it?

What's it really for?

Who reads it?

Emerging Culture have an all new twitter account, check it out on www.twitter.com/emergingculture

So far it has been really fun twittering about life in the office and our day to day activities. It's really god for communicating up-to-the -minute info on projects and funny stories.

You'll notice on the Emerging Culture website, www.emergingculture.co.uk that we have now got Emerging Culture Chatter. Loads of ways to network, to keep up-to-date and ways to share and get involved. Why not join the adventure...

Wow! Amazing lightbulb moment!

Well, after ages and ages of thinking and preparing and praying, God really answered prayer, in a big way!

Emerging Culture went to speak at an event on Saturday and God took over, He took our prayers and prep and made it into something that brought Him glory. He is so good!

We spoke about the gospel and it's impact and relevance...8 people responded to Jesus' voice!

God is awesome!

Hmmm...

Have you ever sat down to write a talk, or prepare a Bible study, and your head went completley blank? Not helpful is it. That's me right now. I'm sat listening to music, with my Bible open, praying the God would tell me what He wants me to say, and my head is totally empty.

What do you do next? Go for a walk? Spend some time praying and hoping that God gives you a really good idea?

I'm stumped.

I'm in that place where I have loads of different ideas, but no coherant train of thought...how annoying!

This talk has been going round and round in my head for so long, that i need to just pick one of the ideas, and run with it. Whether that's to choose a theme and go with it until it works, or to choose a passage and preach from there.

I'll let you know how it goes. I'm hoping for a lightbulb moment.

/thoughts Spring 09

/thoughts Spring 09 is here! This is one of the best Christian magazines for teens, twenties and students.

This issue has an interview with Ben Cantelon, arty goodness from Ibi Oruwari, articles by Simon Guillebaud, Dot Tyler, Krish Kandiah and more.


To make sure you dont miss out, go to www.emergingculture.co.uk/thoughts
to order your free copies. Why not get a few and take them to your CU / youth group / church etc.

Christian

Well here is this week’s top tip resource from Emerging Culture! 'Christian' is an awesome DVD for any youth worker trying to find a way to explain Gospel to young people. The 'Christian' DVD is a symbolic retelling of the greatest story ever told in a tough British secondary school. An edgy collision of the King of the Jews and the Lord of the Flies, the film examines issues of religion, intolerance and bullying through the dark prism of playground politics. It is designed to serve as a discussion starter for teenagers in church youth groups or RE lessons.

Resource link: http://www.standrewsbookshop.co.uk/5028981029488

Blue sky thinking, mind showers, and touching bases.

It's one of those days in the office where everyone is staring (sometimes intensely, sometimes blankly) at their computer screens and franking machines (more on that later) and getting on with their own business and projects. To the casual observer you may think these are the dull days in the office, with no big team meetings and spider diagrams being drawn, but this is when the real stuff gets done. I of course am not sure exactly what they're doing, but will give my thoughts on what I can see is going on in the office:

Trevor is at the franking machine making, if you ask me, far too much noise! What a trooper though, as he's stuffing envelopes full of /thoughts magazines soon to be delivered to your front door! The noise of the franking machine is awful though. Think of the football chant "Who are you? Who are you?" as performed by a machine, and you've just about got the idea of what we're putting up with.

Dot has changed seats in a further attempt to climb up the SJI hierarchy. All the excitement of being closer to the top spot has got a little too much for her though, as I am yet to see her do any sort of work. I think she may have given up working for lent...

Speaking of not working, Darren stepped into the office this afternoon with his sideburns even longer than last week. We are not sure if we want them to continue and join in the middle, or if he should cut them down to normal people sized burns. What do you think? Answers on a postcard, which will be drawn out of a box and the winning postcard will win a prize*

Artists impression of Darren in two weeks time.

*This prize will then be donated to Alasdair, Pentecost Festival Communications co-ordinator.

Joshua was very quiet today, working for release:potential. He had a ridiculous bobble hat on which, to be honest, we were all a bit jealous of. Apparently there's going to be more snow next week...oh Joy..

Josh poses for us in the hat.

...Joy is not working today.

Huw and Ibi are very busy next door piecing together the Pentecost Festival programme. Huw also brought sweets for the office! He was always my favourite...

Speaking of Pentecost Festival, the Pentecost Festival team are probably the hardest working in the office. Linn, the amazing Festival Feel co-ordinator, has hardly spoken this afternoon, which is either because she is a dedicated worker, or because her drumstick bar has glued her teeth together. Whatever the reason, it's very peaceful over on that table.

Alasdair, as well as writing HILLARIOUS blog entries, is busy with the Pentecost Festival website, updating it with news and programme information. Check it out and book your tickets!

Mark, who is a proper grown up in the office, and who does proper work, is tidying up his desk. He reliably informs me that he is about to start writing interactive content for something or other, and asked me to blog it. I now expect the message boards to be going wild in anticipation!

Finally, Ellie and David look incredibly busy, although I keep hearing songs from High School Musical coming out of their computer's speakers. David has apparently been up since 5:30 this morning, after having a recurring dream about being sports presenter on BBC Breakfast.

David and the BBC Breakfast team manage to combine friendly informality with award winning news coverage.