Emerging Culture

/thoughts summer 09

2009-07-06T18:44:00.010+01:00

120 boxes each with 230 copies of /thoughts magazines arrived this morning!

It's jam packed full of goodness, from interviews with Shane Claiborne and Jahaziel, to exclusive manga art by Siku, to articles by Helen Smith, Jon Tearne and more.

Have you got yours? If you're a regular subscriber then it's on its way over to you in the post as we speak. If you've not signed up yet, never fear, just go to www.emergingculture.co.uk/orderthoughts and we'll send you copies of /thoughts for yourself, your youth group or your CU, totally free! Dont say we never give you anything! ;)

We really hope you enjoy it. If you have a spare minute and could help us with our /thoughts survey, that would be awesome! You can find it at www.emergingculture.co.uk/thoughtssurvey

Thanks everyone! Happy reading!

Last weekend was Pentecost Festival!

2009-06-02T13:15:00.009+01:00

On Saturday Emerging Culture were hosting street teams of over a hundred people who were out on the streets of London chatting and praying with the public! Leicester Square was packed with people listening to live music on the open air stage and there were people in green and blue Pentecost Festival t-shirts EVERYWHERE! It was an amazing sight to see.

In the evening Emerging Culture went to Salsa! We had an awesome time learning some salsa moves and wiggling our bums to the live band!

We had some amazing testimonies from the day and some fabulous pictures. Take a look at www.emergingculture.co.uk/streetteams

If you would like a souvenir of the festival you can buy the official t-shirts for just £5! Email trisha@emergingculture.co.uk.

Make sure you keep 22nd May 2010 free in your diaries, so that you can join in the fun next year!

Yum Yum YUM!!!!!

2009-05-29T01:55:00.002+01:00

I've just read an article about child labour in Bangladesh and it saddens me a lot that families have to rely on their children working to be able to survive.
Children are only supplied free education between the ages of 6 and 10 and only half of the children attend school! Some leave early and have a full time job before their 10th birthday.
When I was 10 years old I didn't have a care in the world. I went to school, had my meals cooked for me and played with my friends, just like a child should be able to. But I've realised just how fortunate I am! Most children have responsibilities at a really young age and through lack of education don't have the ability to change their circumstances.
We are so lucky that God has put us in a place where we have such great potential, an ability to make a difference and to thrive. He's blessed us with everything we could possibly need, plus loads of luxuries. In our comfortable states we must remember how fortunate we are and remember that we are the minority.
I'm going to praise God every day for the great things he's given me!

yum yum yum... News in Bitesize Chunks!

2009-05-28T13:03:00.002+01:00

** BT to shed a further 15,000 jobs!
** Spanish Economy shrinks rapidly!
** US April retail sales fall 0.4%!
** Hitachi posts record annual loss!
** Sharp fall in exports from China!

These are some of the headlines under “Global recession”. The list goes on! We are always hearing about the credit crunch and the media is scaring us with all of their stories about businesses going bust, people losing their houses and lots of job losses.

I don’t know much about how the credit crunch happened or why. If I’m honest I wouldn’t really care about it if it weren’t for the news bombarding me with it!
Should we be scared by the recession? I don’t believe we should. God has his hand on every situation. The Bible says, "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." (Isaiah 58:11)
and "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt 7:9-11)
You might think that God supplying for peoples’ needs is only a thing that happened in the Bible. Manna falling from heaven doesn’t generally happen these days! But I believe that God’s promises are as real today as they were back then.

It seems as if we can get by without God’s help in these times because when we are short of money we can do overtime or sell some of our stuff on Ebay. But when we really, really need him he will step in and help us out.
My mum has told me a couple stories about how God put food on our table. One of those was when both my parents were unemployed, they had no money at all, not even enough to buy my brother and I something for dinner and the cupboards were empty! My mum broke down and cried out to God, saying “You say you’ll supply us with what we need, but how come I can’t even afford to feed my kids?!” Then the neighbour came knocking on the door to tell her that her freezer had broken, that she didn’t know what to do with the food and would we be able to make use of it?! How cool is that?!
God listens to our cries and he steps in when we ask him.I really believe that the credit crunch is an amazing opportunity for us to learn to rely on God, like he intended for us to do. So give your financial troubles and job worries up to God and trust in him.

It’s the end of an era

2009-05-28T12:18:00.002+01:00

After a five-figure number of gigs in front of a six-figure number of fans, Delirious are putting plans together for one final tour. Taking in six dates in the UK and further gigs across mainland Europe, the band who have helped redefine the very fabric of modern worship will make these dates their last.

These are not just the final gigs of one band or even the close of a remarkable chapter. It’s the end of an era. Delirious crafted for themselves a unique place in so many people’s hearts, much of the time built on the impact of their live gigs. As a fusion of open-mouthed spectacle and head-bowed wonder, any Delirious gig has always held the potential to capture and captivate, encouraging everyone in the room towards a closer connection with God.

And so these final gigs will be something special, but not just because of the nostalgia factor. Without any support act at all, Delirious will take the stage for an unforgettable evening, tracing the arc from the early days up to the latest releases. Not so much a Best Of…, the tour will be the Ultimate Delirious Experience: going deeper, flying higher and running faster than ever before.

A great trip for any youth group, CU or Church to attend!

www.delirious.co.uk

CRE

2009-05-14T15:27:00.007+01:00

Well its been a great week here at Emerging Culture and SJI office. We've all been down at CRE (The Christian Resource Exhibition) where we have been pushing Thought's magizine, telling people about Fresh and networking with loads of Church leaders. Over 11,000 people and 350 exhibitors attend CRE which makes it a great place for Emerging Culture to be and network. Visitors come every year because they know they will find the latest resources, catch up with friends and be inspired.

The week has been fantasic and theres still one more day to go! So if you are around tomorrow do check us out in the Pivillon, we're next to Wellesly Owen bookshop.

CRE is a great place to find any Christian resource to help you in your Church. From book's and music to courses and art, CRE will provide just what your looking for.

Yum Yum... News in bitesize chunks!

2009-05-11T12:55:00.003+01:00

*** One in 5 people who use sunbeds will be using them more this year because they can't afford to go abroad on holiday. Even though using a sunbed once a month or more can increase the risk of skin cancer by more than half, it seems that this is a price people are willing to pay to have an all over tan.

*** A man who weighs 40 stone has been warned that if he doesn't lose weight he will die. He struggles to walk and breathe and could have heart problems.

These two stories are both about the way that we treat our bodies. We have a choice whether or not to take care of them. Whether it is choosing to put beauty before our health or eating unhealthily, the decisions we make will affect our health in the long run.

The Bible says that the number of hairs on our head are numbered. God made us to look the way we do, we are perfect in his eyes, one of a kind, we were planned before we were even conceived. We shouldn't strive to be better looking or more skinny, we need to be learn to be comfortable in our own skin. By reading magazines and comparing ourselves to the beautiful celebrities, we are setting ourselves unreachable standards! Celebrities look as average as us without the expensive make up, hair dye and fake contacts. Paris Hilton, the blonde with blue eyes, for example, naturally has Dark blonde hair and brown eyes!
Please realise that you are naturally beautiful. Be confident in yourself and don't compare yourself with others.

Our bodies are a temple of the holy spirit. We should respect them, care for them and maintain them.

T-Shirts

2009-05-08T11:59:00.010+01:00

We've got T-shirts!

This has been a super exciting week, not only were there badges (see post below), but now we also have T-shirts. Christmas has come early!

These are the Street Team T-shirts for at Pentecost Festival, if you're booked in, yours is on it's way! If you're not booked in, then you need to get a wriggle on, otherwise you'll miss out.

We decided to celebrate the T-shirts and take some photos of them, for the whole world to see. We tried being nonchelant, but that didn't work, we're just too funny! Josh and Joy enjoyed some of Dot's best jokes, for example..."Why did the toilet roll, roll down the hill? To get to the bottom!" haha!

Dont forget, join a Street Team, get a T-shirt and you too can enjoy Dot's jokes!

Emerging Culture Badges!

2009-05-05T16:23:00.003+01:00

Oh yes, you read it, we have Emerging Culture badges!

Our wonderful friends at Share Creative have designed some awesome badges for us, they look amazing! We had a really fun afternoon making them and nearly piercing our thumbs trying to hook the clips in.

Emerging Culture will be seen all over the UK this summer, armed with badge makers, designs and fun stuff for you to get involved in. Dont miss out. Go to http://www.emergingculture.co.uk/ to find out mroe about what we'll be upto over the summer.

Not only do we have Emerging Culture badges, but we also have FRESH badges (yes, we went a littel bit badge crazy!)

Bookings are open for FRESH 2009-10, make sure you get your application filled out and sent in. To book online go to www.emergingculture.co.uk/fresh, or email dot@emergingculture.co.uk to grab a paper copy of it.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Would you rather...?

2009-04-24T17:17:00.003+01:00

Well over the last few weeks the office has been ask the question "Would you rather...?", followed by some silly situation. It’s a game that has kept us amused for many lunch times with some answers having us laughing for hours.

Would you rather...? Is a great game to play as an ice breaker with your youth or cell group. It’s sometimes hard to think of questions but you can also get it as a game in the shops. Even if you just buy the game for the question it is totally worth it...

Follow the link to see the game: www.zobmondo.com/48_0.html

Unworldly Eyes

2009-04-16T22:40:00.015+01:00

I don't know if you've seen it, but I've just been watching Susan Boyle's performance from last Saturday's Britian's Got Talent again on Youtube. I think this is a bit of a parable of our time.

She is a singer of enormous talent, who cared for her widowed mother until she died two years ago. Susan's is a combination of ability and virtue that deserves congratulation. So how come she was treated as a laughing stock when she walked on stage for the opening heat of Britain's Got Talent 2009 on Saturday night? The moment the reality show's audience and judging panel saw the small, shy, middle-aged woman, they started to smirk. When she said she wanted a professional singing career to equal that of Elaine Paige, the camera showed audience members rolling their eyes in disbelief. Susan Boyle from Blackburn, West Lothian, was presumed to be a buffoon.

But why? Britain's Got Talent isn't a beauty pageant. It isn't a youth opportunity scheme. It is surely about discovering untapped and unrecognised raw talent from all sections of society. And Susan Boyle has buckets of talent. If, like Susan (and like millions more), you feel that you don't fit the world's mould, maybe you're not in the best physical condition or too poor or too unworldly to follow fashion or have a good hairdresser, then I'm sure you'll share that rosy glow I felt when watching this clip.

This brave, excentric lady took her dignity in her hands to pitch at her one hope of having her singing talent recognised, and was greeted with a communal sneer. Courage could so easily have failed her. Yet why shouldn't she sound wonderful? Not every great singer looks like Lilly Allen or Lady GaGa. And yet, just because of her looks, she is a veteran of abuse. From looking through various blogs, a trip to Wikipedia and some clips on the BBC site, you can easily find out that she was starved of oxygen at birth and has learning difficulties as a result. At school she was slow and had frizzy hair. She was bullied, mostly verbally. She told one newspaper that her classmates' torrent of bullying left behind the kind of scars that don't heal. She's never had a boyfriend or been snogged and she lived with her parents in a four-bedroom council house and, when her father died a decade ago, she cared for her mother and sang in the church choir. A modest lady, but then she isn't the glamorous type. Carers don't often get invited to sparkling dinner parties or glitzy receptions, so smart clothes rarely make it off the hanger.

Then, when a special occasion comes along, the only option is to go for the outfit bought for a family wedding. But it is often evidence of a life lived selflessly; of a person so focused on the needs of another that they have lost sight of themselves. Is that a cause for being mocked or a reason for congratulation? Would her time have been better spent slimming and exercising, plucking and waxing, bleaching and botoxing? Would that have made her voice any sweeter?

Susan Boyle's mother encouraged her to sing. She wanted her to enter Britain's Got Talent. But the shy Susan hasn't been able to sing at all since her mother's death two years ago. She wasn't sure how her voice would emerge after so long a silence. And yet, here was a voice that gave Piers Morgan 'the biggest surprise he's had over the three years of the show.'

So why is it that I find myself, and those around me, judging the preverbial book by its cover, giving the most attention to the colleague who shouts the loudest, engaging with people who don't challenge my prejudices. I know God looks at our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7), and yet why am I not looking past the exterior? If people judged me on my looks, it would definately suck for me.

I challenge you to see people through God's eyes, refuse to judge others and be Jesus to the people that He loves. If it wasn't for the opportunity to allow us past the first impression, Susan Boyle would still be a name that no-one knew.

The Best Soul Survivor Worship Album...Ever!

2009-04-16T14:42:00.005+01:00

Always finding it hard to get someone to lead worship for your youth group? Never remember old songs of the past? Well look no futher ‘The Best Soul Survivor Worship Album...Ever!‘ is here...

‘The Best Soul Survivor Worship Album...Ever!’ is the sixth in the ‘Best Worship Songs’ series from Survivor Records. Over 3 1/2 hours of live worship from the ‘Soul Survivor’ conferences. Each summer thousands of young people gather together at Soul Survivor events, pouring out their passion for God in praise and worship.

The songs on this recording capture the heart of that worship, providing the definitive collection of recent Soul Survivor songs, spanning the intimate and the anthemic. Whether you’re looking to get a taste of Soul Survivor or deepen your relationship with God through worship, this album will take you on an inspiring and uplifting journey.

Featuring worship leaders Ben Cantelon, Tim Hughes, Andreana Arganda, Sam Parker, Lex Buckley, Matt Redman, onehundredhours, Martyn Layzell, Vicky Beeching, David Gate, Phatfish, Hillsong United, The 29th Chapter, Mark Beswick, Heat and Paul Oakley.

www.standrewsbookshop.co.uk

Summer 2009

2009-04-07T16:21:00.003+01:00

I dont know what you guys get up to in your summer breaks, whether you go abroad / bum about / do christian camps or festivals.

This will be my first summer without a massive 6 - 12 week holiday and I tell you what; I am going to really miss it!

I used to spend the holidays doing a bit of everything, chilling out(aka. doing nothing!), going abroad and doing missions. While you have your long holidays, please, please take advantage of it and make use of every week. I remember people used to say this to me, but honestly I thought they were just being overly dramatic.

Guys I cant stress it enough, you only get really long holidays for a few years.

Why not come along to one of Emerging Culture's summer missions - Leeds or Wimbledon. If you're going to Soul Survivor, come and see us at our stand.

Enjoy your summer guys, and let's pray that the weather looks like this..!

My Fish Bites

2009-04-06T10:56:00.003+01:00

If you’re a youth worker who is always looking for a good idea or game to use within your youth work, then My Fish Bites is the place to be. It’s a resource site that is full of loads of different things used in every day youth work.

The site offers youth works an amazing chance to be inspired of helped out in times of pressure and brain block. Whether its assemblies, RE lessons, games or talks, My Fish Bites is a resource that no youth worker can be without!

www.myfishbites.com

60 minutes for Planet Earth

2009-03-26T20:58:00.011Z

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

2009-03-24T15:29:00.003Z

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

2009-03-19T20:45:00.005Z

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

2009-03-18T14:14:00.005Z

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!

2009-03-16T12:50:00.005Z

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...

2009-03-12T15:31:00.005Z

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

2009-03-10T11:13:00.006Z

/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

2009-03-09T01:05:00.005Z

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.

2009-03-02T14:17:00.005Z

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.

Message to the Masses!

2009-02-28T11:02:00.007Z

Its refreshing to any Church, youth group or CU to know where to find guest speakers of passion and encouragement. That is why Emerging Culture offers you a resource of speakers and preachers. We love coming and supporting anyone who is putting on an event that aims to take the message to the masses!

Emerging Culture would love to support your event, service or mission through our speaking team, Dot and Darren. They would love to come and visit you and are available to speak at your event whenever needed.

To find out more about them, or to check their diaries, visit

www.emergingculture.co.uk/speaking

Do you need a laugh?

2009-02-27T17:40:00.001Z

This video made my day! It's so funny! I'm currently running a poll on which bit is the funniest, make sure you enter and share your funniest bit!

Thirst for Life

2009-02-25T11:46:00.006Z

Every wednesday in the office, we read the newspapers. We have a look at the main issues in society and pray about them.

Today, I was reading an article about binge drinking and it just really reminded me that alchohol can have such a massive hold on people's lives. We can get into a cycle where we aren't even noticing how much we're drinking.

The newspaper had some scary stats in it, which came as quite a shock to me. It challenged me that as Christians, we have the opportunity to be so counter-cultural in this aspect. We can be people who are holy (set apart), who strive to live life in fullness, because we know Jesus, not because we've had a few drinks.

Thirst for life is a project that encourages people to give up alchohol for lent. 40 days with no alchohol. There have been so many awesome stories of people who have done this and their lives have been changed. They have realised that they dont need a drink or two, to have a good night.

Why not try it? If you've not thought of something to give up for lent, try this, and see what happens!

For more info check out http://www.thirstforlife.org/

Emerging Culture's Grand Day Out!

2009-02-24T10:24:00.009Z

Emerging Culture went on an office trip yesterday!

We went to see /thoughts magazine printed.
We walked into their factory and the first thing we saw was a huge (genuinely enormous) printing machine, printing 10,000 sheets of /thoughts per hour!

We had a tour round their factory and saw the whole process, from when we send them /thoughts as a pdf, to stapling them and putting them in boxes.

You know when you were little and everything was exciting...it was just like that! I could have been auditioning for the kids part in a Disneyland advert.
"Oooo", "Amazing", "Wow" and so on.

Check out half of the next /thoughts magazine, they print onto massive sheets like these:

The picture below shows a quarter of the printing for /thoughts, the stack of paper was genuinely about 4 foot tall!

So all in all, a grand day out!

If you want to make sure you get a copy of the next /thoughts, go to www.emergingculture.co.uk/thoughts
and order them straight to your door.

Emerging Culture Fun and Games

2009-02-20T11:33:00.012Z

Most of the team turned up to work battered and bruised this week... after sunday afternoon's touch rugby game. Dot showed she is no push over against the boys, but did end up falling head over heals as she attempted to kick the ball, covering her back in mud! Definately, a sight not to have missed.

Natalie showed off her southern hempisphere skills (Nat is from New Zealand), while Josh just seemed content to get as muddy as possible. However when it came to driving home he realised that this had not been such a good idea, and in turn made everyone take off any muddy clothing before entering his car. Josh ended up wearing nothing but shorts on a very cold day!

The Emerging Culture team has been working hard on... organising street teams for the Pentecost festival, and arranging the Salsa Night, which we will be hosting at the festival in May. Even I (who has no dancing ability what-so-ever) am very tempted to go along and join in withwhat looks to be a proper good night.

Darren (Big D) has had his nose in his books this week as he tries to study for his degree, while also working hard on the man-made project. Man-made is a soon to be released youth resource encouraging young guys to take up the responsibilities that manhood brings!

Carina (Ms Throgmorton) and Dot (or Dorothy, which she hates) who are both self confessed shop-aholics returned from their weekend outing with no less than 8 bags each and have been giving us a catwalk show of their new purchses ever since. Most noteable to the new collection is Ms Throgmorton's new bright pink coat which she bought to match her umbrella?!haha. I for one always thought you would buy an umbrella to match your coat, and not the other way around, but hey what do I know?! However none of their items compared to Josh's new trainers which are black, pink, yellow and white. Despite the ridicule he still loves them!

A major project that seems to have taken up the time of most team members is the Hope for Planet Earth Tour, which is about to kick off around the country. The tour focuses on looking at climate change from a Christian perspective aiming to equip us all to take action. Are you coming? It's going to be a great tour, so make sure you catch them when they're near you. Go to http://www.hopeforplanetearth.co.uk/

With lots more work (and fun) to come we thank God for allowing us to be involved in so many projects and blessing the office so heavily in all that we do.

New Intern

2009-02-19T17:32:00.005Z

Emerging
Culture
Internship
Avaliable
Now!

Internships with Emerging Culture provide you with an opportunity to develop and refine your skills, whether they are in administration, project management, mission, encouragement.

Being an intern would include...
~Helping you develop your skills
~Exploring a vocation in your selected area
~Loads of experience on a variety of projects and missions
~Training and personal development, specific to your strengths and gifts
~Work in an office based role for 22 hours per week
~Hands on experience of community projects
~Free Pent House accommodation in the heart of Wimbledon
~The opportunity to see dreams become a reality

We are currently recruiting for...

MISSION ASSISTANT
As a mission assistant, you will be helping spearhead some of the Emerging Culture missions, from urban mission in Leeds, University missions around the country,beach missions inPolzeath, to mission training. You will be co-ordinating delegates on teams, working on admin and pioneering new and exciting mission trips.
Start date: Immediate Contract period: 2-9 months

EMERGING CULTURE INTERN
As the Emerging Culture intern, you will have the opportunity to see every side of Emerging Culture. From working on FRESH, to working on new projects, potential tours, /thoughts magazine, co-ordinating missions and more. You will also be involved in dreaming the dreams and facilitating people's visions for future projects.
Start date: Immediate Contract period: 2-9 months

For more info, check out the website www.emergingculture.co.uk/intern
or call Dot on 020 8781 1734

Visions becoming Reality

2009-02-13T10:09:00.013Z

We love vision, we love seeing what God calls people to pioneer and pursue.

At Emerging Culture we are passionate about releasing people for the visions that God gives us.Sometimes it's really hard to see what God's vision for us is, and other times it's really hard to see why we have been given a vision, and nothing is happening. I was reminded of a section of Oswald Chambers' 'My Utmost for His Highest'. It's a brilliant daily devotional book, that is really helpful for giving a godly perspective on every day.

He says this..."God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry."

This really challenged me to have a new perspective on vision and on time. How often I forget to trust that God's timing is perfect! I am always convinced that I know better.Not only that, but the idea that God gives me a vision, and it's not just the vision that I need to refine and work out the details of, it's my life as well.

God is so committed to my character. When He gives me something, whether thats a vision for a specific project, whether thats a heart for justice, whether thats the gift of service...God is using these to change my character and then to change the world and my community as a result.

God help me to trust you, help me to surrender my plans to you.

God build and refine my character, use me to change the world.

To read more of the extract from Oswald Chambers, check out www.myutmost.org/

Emerging Culture Blog

2009-02-12T15:20:00.008Z

Hey guys!

As you can see, Emerging Culture has a new blog.

Here you will find out what it's like working for Emerging Culture, what we're involved in, what we're looking forward to, what we're thinking about and what God is up to.

We will also be providing various resources via the afterthoughts page of the website. This is an interactive way to engage with the team and to share your ideas and thoughts. We are always eager to hear what you're up to and how we can support you and encourage you.

Keep checking out the blog for up-to-date info on all our projects. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Chat soon!