Yesterday was the last day of the soccer season for two of my boys. A couple of convincing victories and an end of season party to round it off. Boots put away, soccer strip washed and shin pads retired.

This afternoon the cricket gear came out. The pitch was a little moist (as in very wet and muddy) but for a while the afternoon was frequently interspersed with balls hitting the roof of the house. Bowling in gumboots slows the bowlers approach run apparently and the ball “sticks” to the pitch meaning bouncers are about knee high.

Still with the Black Caps to be playing soon (XTRAMSN: Sport: Cricket: Black Caps ICC Trophy Squad Named) it was only a matter of time before cricket was back on the menu. (Unless you live in the snow-bound south).

Looks interesting.

Once you get into the flow of things, you’re always haunted by the way that things could have turned out. This outcome, that conclusion. You get my drift. The uncertainty is what holds the story together, and that’s what I’m going to talk about.

Rhythm Science – The MIT Press by Paul D. Millar (aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid).

The sessions on “Real World Theology” (Stream F) I’m team-teaching with Steve Taylor at the Auckland incarnation of Kingdom Builders 04 are rapidly approaching.

Title in the programme: Theology & Real Life – Applying Jesus to the environment, the foreshore and the information superhighway.

For me it’s both an opportunity and a challenge to take themes like creation, the Trinity and eschatology (Christian hope and end times thought) that I work with in my research and academic teaching and connect them with everyday issues. (Not that I don’t do that in my research and teaching but the emphases are tailored for a different environment).

The challenge here for me is not just to make theology relevant to everyday believers but to encourage them to reflect upon their faith and how it interacts with the real world. To go away looking at the world with altered (and hopefully more Christ-like) vision.

I’m also enjoying learning about collaboration at a distance on a project – something that will become more common for me in the years ahead I think. Nice to work with Steve in particular on a project and learn stuff from him as well.

Anyway, Steve and I do our thing here in Auckland on Sept 9, 10 & 11 (and Steve’s doing a stream on “Future Church” at Christchurch KB04 earlier that week with Kevin Ward).

And yes, I know “information superhighway” is so very nineties. Maybe I should have chosen “blogging” instead.

Some editorial comment on the “Enough is Enough!” march from Dave over at Big News. I’d missed the coverage so the links through to different sites and photos were useful.

Still processing all the different thoughts the images and comments have thrown up.

AKMA runs into problems accessing his library’s free WiFi connection from outside the building. Apparently some think that’s a Fedaral felony. See: AKMA’s Random Thoughts: So Weirdly Wrong

Nice to see “freedom” at work.

More here too: AKMA’s Random Thoughts: For Clarity’s Sake

RAILhead Design: APOD Grabber is a cool, little Mac OS X app that gives you the ability to quickly and easily view, browse, and download images from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day web site. It also grabs information about the picture and allows you to set the Desktop background too.

Found this excellent image of the night-time Earth today using it. See Earth at Night. You can grab the images as various resolutions but this would make an excellent poster or background.

A while back I blogged about contemporary Rites of Passage and the lack thereof perceived by some.

Now in the latest AA Directions magazine (AA as in Automobile Association) they give their list of modern Kiwi rituals including The Fishing Trip, The Car Rally, The Wedding, The Singalong, The Tattoo, The Hangi, The Match, and The Eco Rescue.

See Natural Habits – What makes us special? A look at modern kiwi rituals

Wired News: Cell Phone Users Are Finding God

Once merely a useful tool for keeping in touch on the go, the mobile phone is fast finding a new niche as an instrument of spiritual enlightenment.

Link found via: TallSkinnyKiwi: (WIRED) Cell Phone Users Are Finding God

An email today from one of the librarians I am continually indebted to pointed me to this small area of cyberspace that I have never visited before.

Subtitled “Tired of the usual liberal perspectives on the issues of the day? Then you have come to the right place…” Peter Glover’s web site www.word21.com has a couple of articles on “cyberchurch.” In particular,

The Church in Cyberspace – Going where no church has gone before? (PDF)

The Cyberchurch, The Megachurch and the Myth of New Ways of Doing Church. (PDF)

Now Glover writes polemically and at times stridently, so if you’re looking for material to support your cyberchurch/blogging venture you’re going to be disappointed (or even considered apostate). However as I tell all my students to read and talk to people with a variety of views and then form their own opinions and positions I’m posting the links here.

They’re opinion pieces from someone who is deeply concerned about the nature of the church and its relationship to cyberspace. As with any sort of empassioned piece the rhetoric and polemicism get in the way of some of the constructive questions.

Questions to do with the nature of the church and its relationship with cyberspace are relevant questions and need to be discussed with a variety of views being aired.

Updating the previous entry reminded me that the latest issue of Stimulus is out now: August 2004 – IT, culture & the Church.

Tim Bulkeley, the coordinator of “Virtual Theology”, edited this issue and it has articles in it by him, Steve Taylor, Tim Bednar and yours truly.

Some stuff appears to be online (like Nicola Hoggard-Creegan’s article) but you may need to contact them if you want to get hold of a copy outside of NZ.