After reading “Faith Online” (Hoover, Stewart M, Lynn Schofield Clark, and Lee Rainie. “Faith Online.” Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2004.) Paul ponders the place of the internet in religious life.

See: Slashing through the Information Jungle: Religious internet usage in the USA.

The “Faith Online” (2004) report is available here: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/126/report_display.asp.
A earlier report (2001) “Cyber Faith” is available here: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/53/report_display.asp.

A couple of law lecturers in Australia have published a paper arguing that official torture may be justifiable in some circumstances. Understandably this has generated heated discussion. See the links below to follow these discussions.

The Age : Torture advocate faces outcry.
The Age : Torture : end does not justify the means.
The Age : Here? Victim stumped by academics views.
The Age : Torture is inhuman, illegal and futile.

From the NZ Herald a locally designed computer keyboard for use by “stroke victims, people with arthritis or just about anyone whose ability to physically cope with an ordinary keyboard was impaired.” See: The New Zealand Herald: Keyboard opens brave new world.

For your Mac or PC available from Afterglow: Home of Icon Designer & Illustrator Cian Walsh.

Greenstone and Tomato Sauce icons are great.

Preview here.

Pentecost will find me on the sideline of a soccer field yelling encouragement as one of my sons takes part in his first soccer tournament outside of regular weekly games. Like any sporting event it’ll be marked by passion, atmosphere, noise, sweat, confusion, pain and emotion. And that’s just for the spectators. Maybe not to the same level as an All Black test or the F.A. Cup final but you get the picture. Go Ranui!

(Eden Park, May 2005. Yes, I know it’s not a soccer game)

So too Pentecost. Bob’s suggestions for the grid blog included using different languages, capturing the invitation of the Spirit to all as the church began to emerge and be formed. Sport too is a language. You may not be able to speak the language of a far off place, but produce a ball (particularly a soccer ball) and words become irrelevant. A Danish friend of ours was talking recently of his time in Peru. His Spanish wasn’t too hot but that didn’t matter when he kicked a ball around with the kids in his neighbourhood. By playing the game he became one of them – part of the community.

So I have this image of Pentecost being like a cup final. The teams are playing, the crowd’s immersed in the experience and suddenly a woman runs out onto the pitch. Not only that but she intercepts the ball and starts playing – drawing some of the players and the crowd into her game. And then the game spills out into the street (like in the “Keep the Ball Alive” ad) and before you know it there are all sorts of people kicking and passing balls (even some picking it up and running with it!). The same basic game but with local variations. Anyone can play – no need to learn the language – just “have a go.”

Now of course over time people try to write rule books, dictate styles of play, develop intense rivalries and generally stifle the spirit of the game. But in all sorts of places you’ll find the Spirit and a ball, playing “the beautiful game”, and everyone’s invited to play.

From Jesus Creed: Emergent Reaction the second point leapt out at me.

Second, and because what we experience in England or Australia or Canada or the USA differs we need to be careful in generalizing, but still here it is: second, what they see in current Evangelical churches is too much Bible study without changed lives and churches, too much money spent on church buildings and not enough in missional work, too much apologetical articulation and not enough apologetical embodiment, too much old music and not enough edgy music, too much superficiality and not enough honest-to-goodness radical confession and admission of where we really are, too much “get me to heaven” gospel and not enough “Shalom is for the world too” gospel, and too much hierarchy and not enough spreading the gifts to the people. I could go on. For me, the irony of it is that many see too much “modern worldliness” in the current Evangelical Church and not enough “postmodern worldliness.” I wish I understood that statement better.

Teaching on Tuesday and trying to get more of a sense of praxis, mission, confession and “Shalom” into my notes on the image of God, penguins, ecology, anthropology, embodiment, technology, creation and xenotransplantation.

Tonight a time to ponder Pentecost in anticipation of Sunday.

• Reading Acts 2
• Watching some of Peter and Paul and the Christian Revolution
• Praying this
• Contemplating the Spirit and our walk with Christ

Well possibly. Telegraph | News | Reality TV in monastery changes five lives forever

Five men, ranging from an atheist in the pornography trade to a former Protestant paramilitary, have found their lives unexpectedly transformed in the latest incarnation of reality television – the monastery.

Via Andii.

Hurricanes 22 – Blues 10

As you can see from the picture we had great seats to see 2 of the Hurricanes 3 tries and a nice sweeping view of the third. Plus with the Blues hot on attack for the first 20 minutes we had the ball down our end then too.

Fitting result for Tana’s 100th game for the Hurricanes. Bring on the Crusaders next week.

Off to Eden Park tomorrow night with my two older boys to watch the Hurricanes take on the Blues. You would have to think that with the Blues injury problems and the Hurricanes form last week [image here] that it should be an good night to be a Hurricanes supporter. But we’ve never beaten the Blues in Super 12 (last year’s 26-26 draw was the closest we got).

Still last year’s Wellington NPC team beat Auckland so we may be in for a treat. A win would get us to the semi-finals, I think, with a week to go. Then we have to play the Crusaders – not as much problem as Auckland though.

Must have faith.

(One of my boys is a Blues supporter so I guess rugby will be the winner on the day – yeah, right!)