How to get ahead in Evangelism; find yourself a killer story…

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taming_the_tiger_book

 

…in this case, a kung-fu-killer-assassin story.

For those who have not heard of this book (like me) it tells the ‘true’ story of the life of Evangelist Tony Anthony, who claims to have been taken to China by his grandfather, a Kung-Fu grand master, at the age of fourm where he was trained in the martial arts and became Kung Fu world champion three times. He then moved to Cyprus, becoming an elite bodyguard to businessmen, gangsters and diplomats before being jailed in Nicosia Central Prison for a series of thefts from hotels. It was in prison that Tony Anthony says he became a Christian.

His book has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, and from the profits Tony set up Essex-based global evangelism charity Avanti Ministries. He traveled the world preaching, visiting prisons and telling his story.

Except it now looks like his story was not true. Check this out.

Finally the Evangelical Alliance and Avanti Ministries were forced to publish a statement;

In October 2012, the Evangelical Alliance received a detailed complaint about the validity of the testimony of an Avanti Ministries’ evangelist, Tony Anthony, and his book Taming the Tiger.

Following discussions between Evangelical Alliance and Avanti Ministries, Avanti agreed to set up an independent panel nominated by the Alliance to investigate in a confidential manner the allegations against Tony Anthony.

The independent inquiry panel was made up of three respected members of the UK council of the Evangelical Alliance: John Langlois (chair of panel), Keith Civval and Robert Amess.

The panel produced its report on 26 June 2013 and concluded, based on the evidence submitted to it, that large sections of the book Taming the Tiger, and associated materials, which claim to tell the true story of Tony Anthony’s life, do not do so.

Both the Evangelical Alliance and Avanti Ministries take serious note of the findings of the report and as a result Avanti has concluded that it is not appropriate to continue to support Taming the Tiger.

The board of Avanti Ministries are now considering the ramifications for Avanti Ministries’ future.

The Alliance and Avanti Ministries would like to thank the independent inquiry panel for their diligence in producing its report.

The Alliance and Avanti Ministries are deeply saddened by the findings of the panel. However, they recognise the good work that Avanti and Tony Anthony have done over the years around the world and the impact this will have on the charity, and specifically Tony and his family.

What is it that makes Evangelicalism vulnerable to con men and fantasists like Tony Anthony?

Or to put it slightly differently, what is it about Evangelicalism that makes all sorts of dodgy means justifiable because of the eternal end- that of saving souls?

I have been giving this some thought, as someone who has been in and around Evangelical churches for much of my adult life;

Firstly, Evangelicalism owes much of its methodology to salesmanship. There is this wonderful product (eternal life) and our job is to ensure market penetration, by any and all means possible.

Because the emphasis is on the sale, not the life long (earthly) warranty of the product, then the most important thing that our energies can be put to is the process of selling. All other things are secondary.

Some people are very good at selling- these people are given the respectful and elevated title ‘Evangelist’. But really they are just good salesmen. They have a slick method and a killer sales pitch. However, selling stuff is by its very nature a dark art. It involves manipulation, psychological game playing. It is divorced from real life, real community, real relationships. Most people who are good at this kind of stuff are not necessarily people who we really want to see in powerful leadership positions (even if that is exactly where they tend to be.)

Some salesmen might rightly be called by another title- sociopaths.

Finally, salesmen who are able to sell their evangelical product on the global media market- these people can not only feed the mansions of heaven, but they can also feed the Christian media machine.

Beware the salesman (or woman, although they tend to be men.) What they claim to be offering is often not what you end up buying.

Wilderness retreat, September, some places left…

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The Garvellachs, in the distance

We are planning another wilderness retreat Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd September, for a group of blokes from Garioch Church, Aberdeen. They are particularly interested in finding a way to explore what we might understand to be ‘male spirituality’.

We will be heading out to the Garvellachs again, weather permitting! The last time we tried to get there (in May) the rising swell meant that landing was too big a risk, and so we ended up on Scarba- which was brilliant too.

At present there are 6-7 of us, so room for a few more if anyone wants to join us? Expect costs to be around £50-60, depending on how many actually come (due to fixed costs of boat.)

If you want to come, let me know soon, as there are a few folk interested.

It is a fabulous place to spend time being still…

Jonny and Paul, fire

Accidental beauty…

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Table

 

The small group I am part of – Aoradh– have spent years planning activities and events. Labyrinths, prayer rooms, worship spaces, stations, meditation walks through the forest and along the sea front, etc. At present we are taking something of a rest- there is a lot of pressure and busyness around with members of Aoradh, and so the ‘external’ side of what we do has taken a bit of a back seat. I really miss this- not just for the fact that an important dimension of who we are- the collective ‘mission’ outwards- is missing, but also because I miss the creativity.

Having said that, planning creative events is not always easy. Creative people can easily be caught up in their own ‘thing’, we do not easily listen to the other. My experience is that these planning events work best when visible enthusiasm is combined with patience, love and grace. When these are lacking it can be a tough place to be.

A friend posted something on Facebook the other day called ‘Say Yes‘,  written by an American Pastor called Jenny McDevitt. I really liked this;

A few years ago, on a friend’s recommendation, I read Tina Fey’s book Bossypants. Her writing is equal parts funny, crass, and brilliant (and if you can’t stomach all three, it’s probably best to leave this one on the shelf and ask me for a summary). More than a few pages dramatically changed the way I approach ministry, including her explanation of improvisation.

 

Improv, she says, depends upon four basic rules. First, say, “yes.” Agree with whatever your partner (or community, or congregation) has created. Second, say, “yes, and.” Agree, and then enter into the creative process yourself and start contributing. Third, make statements. This is a gentler way of saying, don’t be the person that only asks questions. That puts pressure on everyone else to come up with all the answers. Once again, contribute. Help create. And fourth, understand that there are no mistakes, only opportunities. Something didn’t go as planned? Look around and see what unexpected beauty has emerged accidentally. It’s almost always there.

 

Each one of these is worthy of your consideration. For me, it has been transformative to enter each conversation with a church member assuming I will do everything I can to say yes to whatever idea, scheme, or dream they bring with them. Obviously, I can’t say yes immediately to everything. Sometimes it takes conversation and creativity so we can both say yes to an adapted idea. Sometimes it takes questions to understand the spirit behind the idea, so we can find a different way forward that honors the original intent. (And yes, it’s true: there are times when I have to say no. That’s another post for another day.)

 

Saying yes has changed the way I approach ministry with others, but also the way I approach daily tasks myself. Shifting the evaluative question from “How could this go wrong?” to “How could we make this work?” invites open, positive dreaming and dialogue. It fosters an expectation of creativity. Frankly, it demands that I be more creative, constantly.

 

For the community, it communicates that we are all in this together. We’re on the same team, working toward the same goals. Saying yes is not blind acceptance; it is shared initiative and creativity. It honors what people bring to the table, and opens doors to possibilities I would have never imagined on my own.

 

Theologically, saying yes affirms the ministry of all God’s children and reminds us that creation itself is sacred. In the big picture, saying yes is to look at death, and offer life. It is to look at fear, and offer companionship. It is to look at the dark, and offer light. It is to look at hate, and offer love. In a world that is all too quick to say no, to say yes is to pry open the gates of the kingdom a little bit wider every time.

 

Poetry collection- still looking for submissions…

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typewriterletters

 

I am gathering poems for a collection of poetry to be published by Proost.

This collection came from the idea that poetry could and should be a valid expression of our spiritual journeys, our protests, our pain, our longing and our hopes. It also came from a conviction that many people write poems, and even the best of these often have no outlet- no way of connecting with other people.

I had no real way of knowing what people would send, but all I can say is that I already have some fantastic writing. I sat on the train coming back from London reading poems that made me cry- one of the best measures of a poem in my opinion!

However- if you are hovering and wondering whether or not to send something in- please do.

The best poems for this collection are not necessarily the ones written by ‘poets’- rather they are ones written by people who have been opened up by something deeper, and are suddenly able to express this on paper.

There are also some of you who I am waiting for content from. You know who you are – don’t make me come and fetch them!

Reading history through objects…

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Last year there was a cracking radio series entitled ‘The history of the world in 100 objects’, which concerned itself with objects chosen from the thousands in the British Museum. It was impossible not to be reminded of this as we walked around the museum last week.

What I loved about the series was the way that the presenter (Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum) was able to use each object as a time capsule, or some kind of window into where we came from.

Most people who read the Bible find an extra frisson of fascination around objects that have some connections to Bible history. Two of these objects had me thinking again about the way that we use history not just like a distorted telescope lens, but more like a kaleidoscope. The light we see at such distance is bent by all sorts of assumptions and overlaid constructions- never more so than when the Bible is involved.

The first object (or set of objects to be more accurate) is this one- the Lachish relief.

lachish relief

This relief is from a time of  around 3000 years ago- and this too was a time of war. (It is estimated that there were only around 50 Million people in the world then, but still there was an the urge to fight!) In this instance, the fighting recorded was the great siege of Lachish in Judea, 701 BC by King Senacherib.

Lachish is first mentioned in the Bible as one of the cities taken by force from its existing inhabitants by Joshua. In Joshua 10, it is recorded that the King of Lachish started out as an ally of the Israelites, fighting alongside them, before ‘God gave Lachish to Israel’, who ‘took it in two days and killed everyone’. Despite this, somehow Joshua remains our hero. He was establishing Gods promised holy nation…

Jump forward around 4 centuries or so, to around 1000 BC, the kingdom of Judah had more powerful neighbors in the form of the  Assyrian Empire, stretching Iran to Egypt, and maintained by the all powerful Assyrian war machine.

Good King Hezekiah, who seemed to get all the worship purity stuff right, made some rather bad political decisions and defied the Assyrian King Sennacherib.

In 2 Kings 20 there is a story of one of Sennacheribs men delivering insulting blasphemous words about the lack of power of the Jewish god when faced with the power of the sword. Here Hezekiah cleverly pays off the Assyrians, and eventially God kills first most of their army, then Sennacherib himself gets his comeuppance.

The story from the Assyrian records are rather different;

 “In my third campaign I marched against Hatti. Luli, king of Sidon…fled far overseas and perished…In the continuation of my campaign I besieged Beth-Dagon, Joppa, Banai-Barqa, Azuru, cities belonging to Sidqia who did not bow to my feet quickly (enough); I conquered (them) and carried their spoils away.  The officials, the patricians and the (common) people of Ekron –  who had thrown Padi, their king, into fetters (because he was) loyal to (his) solemn oath (sworn) by the god Ashur, and had handed him over to Hezekiah, the Jew (and ) he (Hezekiah) held him in prison, unlawfully, as if he (Padi) be an enemy-had become agraid and had called (for help) upon the kings of Egypt (and) the bowmen, the chariot(-corps) and the cavalry of the king of Ethiopia, an army beyond counting-and they (actually) had come to their assistance.  In the plain of Eltekeh, their battle lines were drawn up against me and they sharpened their weapons.  Upon a trust (-inspiring) oracle (given) by Ashur, my lord, I fought with them and inflicted a defeat upon them…I assaulted Ekron and killed the officials and patricians who had committed the crime and hung their bodies on poles surrounding the city…I made Padi, their king, come form Jerusalem and set him as their lord on the throne, imposing upon him the tribute (due) to me (as) overlord…As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities, walled forts and to the countless small villages in their vicinity, and conquered (them) by means of well-stamped (earth-)ramps, and battering-rams brought (thus) near (to the walls) (combined with) the attack by foot soldiers, (using) mines, breeches as well as sapper work.  I drove out (of them) 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, big and small cattle beyond counting, and considered (them) booty.  Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.  I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who were leaving his city’s gate.  His towns which I had plundered, I took away from his country and gave them (over) to Mitinti, king of Ashdod, Padi, king of Ekron, and Sillibel, king of Gaza.  Thus I reduced his country, but I still increased the tribute and the Katru-presents (due) to me (as his) overlord which I imposed (later) upon him beyond the former tribute, to be delivered annually.  Hezekiah himself, whom the terror-inspiring splendor of my lordship had overwhelmed  and whose irregular and elite troops which he had brought into Jerusalem, his royal residence, in order to strengthen (it), had deserted him, did send me, later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, antimony, large cuts of red stone, couches (inlaid) w3ith ivory, nimedu-chairs (inlaid) with ivory, elephant-hides, ebony-wood, box-wood (and) all kinds of valuable treasures, his (own) daughters, concubines, male and female musicians.  In order to deliver the tribute and to do obeisance as a slave he sent his (personal) messenger.”

Ancient Near Eastern Texts – Relating to the Old Testament edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 1950, quoted here.

The next scene in the relief is the aftermath of battle- people fleeing burning city. This is seen as the first ever depiction of that all-too-familiar modern phenomenon; mass refugees. Why did the Assyrians want to show this in their propaganda? Was it a warning to all those who would challenge the powers of the great king? Note however that the exiles were not all murdered, they travel with their livestock and belongings. The Assyrians showed a degree of humanity that Joshua seems to have lacked.

The great king Sennacherib was assassinated by one of his sons however as described in the Bible- the cycle of war continued.

Cyrus cylinder

One of the other objects I wound myself staring at was this one- the Cyrus Cylinder.

This is one of several such cylinders that have been found in the walls and buildings of ancient Babylonian cities and palaces- it seems that the builders of these places wanted some kind of record to remain in the foundations of what they made.

The text on the Cylinder praises Cyrus, sets out his genealogy and portrays him as a king from a line of kings. The Babylonian king Nabonidus, who was defeated and deposed by Cyrus, is denounced as an impious oppressor of the people of Babylonia and his low-born origins are implicitly contrasted to Cyrus’s kingly heritage. The victorious Cyrus is portrayed as having been chosen by the chief Babylonian godMarduk to restore peace and order to the Babylonians. The text states that Cyrus was welcomed by the people of Babylon as their new ruler and entered the city in peace. It appeals to Marduk to protect and help Cyrus and his son Cambyses. It extols Cyrus as a benefactor of the citizens of Babylonia who improved their lives, repatriated displaced people and restored temples and cult sanctuaries acrossMesopotamia and elsewhere in the region. It concludes with a description of how Cyrus repaired the city wall of Babylon and found a similar inscription placed there by an earlier king.

Again, readers of the Bible will remember Cyrus-

His treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem is reported in theBible. The Jewish Bible’sKetuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to thePromised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple.

‘Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people – may Yahweh, his God, be with him – let him go there.’ (2 Chronicles 36:23)

This edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.

In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’ (Ezra 6:3–5)

As a result of Cyrus’s policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as Messiah, a divinely appointed leader, in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1–6). Isaiah 45:13: “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says Yahweh Almighty.” As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. Traditionally, the entire book of Isaiah is believed to pre-date the rule of Cyrus by about 120 years. These particular passages (Isaiah 40–55, often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah) are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile (ca. 536 BC).[90] Whereas Isaiah 1–39 (referred to as Proto-Isaiah) saw the destruction of Israel as imminent, and the restoration in the future, Deutero-Isaiah speaks of the destruction in the past (Isa 42:24–25), and the restoration as imminent (Isa 42:1–9). Notice, for example, the change in temporal perspective from (Isa 39:6–7), where the Babylonian Captivity is cast far in the future, to (Isa 43:14), where the Israelites are spoken of as already in Babylon.[91]

Here we have a king from outside the chosen people, appointed by God, showing the kind of tolerance, respect for human rights and concern for peace that had been a scarce commodity.

And this very object remains as a testimony to who he was.

Human history; the rise of power, or the journey towards love?

I am interested in understanding who we are, why we are, what we are becoming- in the light of the fact that we are more than flesh that just becomes dust- we are people who have been travelling for millenia towards a deeper encounter with God, however we understand this.

I look at all this through my own distorted set of lens- but I do so consciously. So rather than co-opting history to glorify our own slice of empire (which was the origin of the British Museum after all) perhaps we can understand history in the light of who Jesus was.

In this way, small thing, small people, voices from the margins- these things become important. Great powers less so- they come and go, empires rising and falling like epidemics.

In-groups are broken- we are set free from narrow religious/geographical/ethnic boundaries. Now we can look for the marks of grace and love wherever we find them.

And we can learn to value above all the fruits of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, justice, compassion.

Even when looking back.

Reading culture through art…

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DSCF7670

It is a statement of the obvious that art operates as a window onto culture. If some alien was trying to understand who we are, what motivates us, what we hold as important, they would only need to take a look at our creative output; our film/TV in particular. I love watching films made in other cultures- Chinese films for instance- all those heroic, stunningly shot epics of love, honour and discipline. They give me hope for mankind as China will surely hold the reigns of the coming Empire.

Our recent trip to the Tate Modern on the South Bank threw all this back into my mind. It was a riot of odd objects and ideas. The first challenge is always to find a way into the language that is being used- and this takes a lot of time for people who are unused to this kind of art.

Many pieces I walked past, bemused. Some seemed too heavy handed- empty canvasses with a slash down the middle, boxes of wood with a hole in each end and light inside. It was possible to ‘get’ what they were doing, but move on quickly. Often I failed to understand why THIS object was thought worthy of a national gallery (a pile of melted plastic, a ‘cage’ made out of what looked like turds threaded on wire) but I was more than happy to engage with them anyway.

Then there were all the Turners, Picassos, Hepworths and the like. These tended to be crowded about by a kind of repellant hushed awe. I found myself moving swiftly on, propelled by a combination of my own sense of inadequate knowledge and a discomfort with celebrity-art.

What stood out for me were pieces that used language/symbolism that I already understood- they used cultural references that were familiar to me, but seeing them in a large gallery changed them, opened them up a little.

There were these slices of timber for instance- beautiful already, then sliced and diced and patterned by industrial saws so that each one held a difference set of cuts. Somehow they held my imagination- I wanted to touch them. The combination of polished wood and industrial process was suddenly very meaningful;

sculpture, tate modern

Then there were little things like Bruce Nauman’s ‘Violence, violins, silence’;

violence, violins

Perhaps my favourite piece however was one called Active Poetry, by Polish conceptual artist Ewa Partum, back in the 1970’s.

eva partum, active poetry

This was a dark room, with projected old 8mm film and a tumble of letters. Partum took parts of famous literary texts, cut them up into letters and scattered them in natural settings. She used typefaces of the kind often used for propaganda. In doing so she asks little questions about literature, history, nature, creativity.

It is this kind of art that has become such a useful tool in making ‘alternative worship’ installations. Here is the film;

London…

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flags, horse guards parade, buckingham palace

Emily, Will and I are just back from a few days in London- the first time I have been there since around 1987. We all had a great time.

We were staying with Malcolm and Alison, who looked after us brilliantly. Thanks to both of you! Alison officiated (if that is the right word) at her first communion service (she is an ordained Anglican minister) whist we were there and it was great to share this with her. Malcolm was Emily’s guide for three full days work experience in a big city hospital- she was able to be in the operating theatre for brain surgery, the removal of tumours from tiny babies and all sorts of extreme events.

William and I became tourists. We rode impossibly crowded underground trains, walked miles and miles and miles, gawped at the houses of parliament, Buckingham Palace and all sorts of other landmarks.

We went in loads of wonderful free museums- the British, the Natural History, the Science.

We watched a play (The Tempest) at the Globe theatre.

We tried to watch a 20/20 cricket match at the Oval, but it was abandoned because of rain after only two balls being bowled.

We spent an hour or two wandering the wonderful wackyness of the Tate Modern (more on this later.)

We all missed Michaela, who has had other things on up in Dunoon (including entertaining the Princess Royal!) and it is good to be home…

But it has been a great time, thanks to the generosity of friends. May they be blessed.

The Duckworth Lewis Method…

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I am a recent convert to the music of The Duckworth Lewis Method.

Made up of Irishman Neil Hannon (he of The Divine Comedy fame) and Thomas Walsh, they make melodic, strangely addictive pop music themed around- cricket! I had more or less left them alone previously as I have never really enjoyed comic songs- the music I like is usually introspective (some would say miserable.)

Tomorrow we are heading down to London for a few days, thanks to the hospitality of Alison and Malcolm. Emily is spending some time with Malcolm in his work as an Anesthetist at Kings Hospital, and William and I are going to visit some museums. He has never been to London, and the last time I was there was some time around 1987.

Will and I also have tickets to go to watch cricket at The Oval- so I thought I would share a little DLM music with you…

Some of you might need a little background to fully appreciate the song; it concerns a moment in the history of crickets greatest rivalry, between Australia and England, who play regular series of Test Matches for a tiny urn called ‘The Ashes.’ England are in the ascendancy at the moment, but for decades we always came second best in a two horse race. Much of this was down to a bleached blonde cocky Aussie called Shane Warne, whose ability to impart spin on a cricket ball mesmerised the hapless English batsman time and time again. He burst onto the scene in 1993, bowling what came to be called ‘The Ball of the Century.’ This was the first ball he ever bowled in England, to the rotund senior pro Mike Gatting. Gatting represented the old way- and Warne made him look like a dinosaur.

For the years before Warne, spin bowling was a junior cousin to fast bowling- all those tall West Indians who hurled the ball down at terrifying pace. Warne took what was a sedate largely toothless skill and turned it into something sexy, dangerous and full of spit and venom.

There is a beautifully written account of the impact of the ball here.

Or you could just watch it yourself;

Or  just set all that aside and chuckle to the DLM version of the story;