Areopagus #9: Campolo

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ake a walk on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho with Bart Campolo as he follows the Good Samaritan. But that road is a frightening place and Campolo’s a dangerous guy… because he’s sick of marketing compassion, he’s sick of selling people on love and he is brutally honest about calling believers to account. Click on the arrow to listen - runs: 59:42

Note: Since the relaunch of theRubicon last week we’ve encountered some troubles with the iTunes Areopagus section (the audio files won’t download). We’re working to fix that and will post this Areopagus episode on ITS once the technical issues are resolved. We’ll keep you informed of progress.

Where are God’s Minstrels?

Sergei Zhuravlyov asks why ‘our’ music is always catching-up

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lory be to God for those people who are able to see the hidden potential in imperfect souls, as the sculptor sees the complete sculptured figure that impacts his imagination while others see only a piece of rock. I thank God for my music teacher, Natalia Semenovna at Novosibirsk College of Music. I remember her almost twenty years later, because she was the one to discover in me the God-given capacity to write musical compositions.

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Sex changes and salvation?

Yuri Zelentsov hears from a new/old friend
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am not from the “computer” generation. However, I have to admit that this new-age “cancer” has significantly spread through my life. I read the Bible as a physical book, for example, only when traveling, because it is so much easier when all needed cross references, commentaries and all sorts of additional info is just a click away. Writing a letter? Oh, c’mon! Two clicks, and it’s gone to the other side of the world in a blink of an eye, even spellchecked! ICQ, MSN, SKYPE, etc… › Continue reading

Crossing another stream

The relaunch

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elcome to the redesigned Rubicon. To revisit the founding parable of this online journal, today we’ve splashed into another river and there’s no way back. The upstream dam that blocked and delayed the relaunch is now open and we are proud to present this complete overhaul.

Here are the highlights: › Continue reading

Poetry reading: The Missionary

Geoff Ryan reads one of his poems

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God that madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to receive thy saints? How long, O Lord, how long?”
George Bernard Shaw

“I do not promise you an easy life. You may have to sacrifice all that is dear to you. You are not to come to God merely to be happy or to gain peace, but in order to carry out his will.”
Kate Booth

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The New Conversation: Pondering Postmodernism

Larry Ashcraft deconstructs the emergent church

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ostmodernism is not a fad. It exists and lives in the church. The world as we knew it is vastly different in the way it operates, thinks and reacts. And what about the Emerging Church? I am not in agreement with those who would say this is the newest sect in Christianity.

I see it as a response of postmodern believers to a mindset of Christianity formed by modern culture. I believe that the emerging church identifies with Salvation Army ethos. The problem it might have is in the execution of that ethos. › Continue reading

Injustice Within

Lucy AitkenRead wonders if we daren’t reform, do we have a future?

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e have a natural instinct for what is fair, and unfair. Here in Australasia, the phrase is a “Fair Go.” When I was young I had an acute sense of what was fair and what was unfair. My sister and I would try to outdo each other with how many times a day we could wail, “Its not FAIR!!!” My “Fair Go” detector was possibly overly sensitive and bent toward my own feelings and perceived needs. Thankfully, my sense of injustice has expanded its boundaries and now I hope that I care rather less about being given a “Fair Go” myself, and more for others. › Continue reading

Areopagus #7: Phil Wall

If the kingdom of God means anything, it means there is a different script in town. And just like Jesus, who refused to read the script he was given, we’re called to extravagent love… especially at parties. To sort this out you need to listen to Phil Wall in this Areopagus episode. Phil is CEO of Signify where he provides leadership and coaching services to senior corporate executives in the UK and US. Phil previously worked as a London police officer and as a communicator/leadership trainer with The Salvation Army in the UK.

To listen click on the arrow:

Or click here to visit iTunes where this episode is available on the Areopagus podcast

Without a History Long

Musings of a missionary to Russia
by Geoff Ryan, 1997

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man without a history long
A past too soon past, both personal and ancestral,
Amid such creeping relics of the past,
And present yet to be.
What purpose have I here
And called?
Called by whose God?
For He is understood differently here.

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Sanctuary

God’s connecting points, by Greg Paul

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oug had heard that the beautiful park that serves as the front yard of a large downtown church had lately become a favourite late night hangout for drug dealers. So, naturally, that’s where we end up at about one in the morning after a couple of hours spent poking into some of the city’s other dark corners. Sitting at a steel picnic table, right in the middle of the park, that looks like it had been air-lifted straight out of downtown Baghdad. › Continue reading