Areopagus #20: Rook on video

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n a debut for theRubicon we’re publishing our first video package on Areopagus… the audio (and now video!) part of this journal. Russell Rook, the director of Alove in the UK, fired-up attendees at the Night Rally in Melbourne, Australia at the ACC Reform event in September 2005. In this watershed talk, Rook announced he was no longer looking back to a perfect time in the Army before the fall but instead was concentrating on the messy - and periodically rewarding - task of creating the Army of now. He invited everyone with a love for the Army, and its mission, to join him. Don’t miss this compelling talk.

To view the video (runs 52:39) you need iTunes in your computer - this is free software available here. Then you need to visit the Areopagus podcast by clicking here or on the photo. The video can be viewed online (quite slow) or downloaded into your computer (it will automatically download if you have subscribed to the Areopagus podcast).

Since this is an Areopagus first, please let us know if you have technical troubles with this video - thanks… and enjoy!

Refugee Jesus & a new Salvation Army

Areopagus #19

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f you care about The Salvation Army; if deep down inside you know things have to change but feel inarticulate - as everyone does at the start of any revolution - and unable to say how or why… then take a “terrifying” half-an-hour to listen to Russell Rook from the 2004 Roots South event in Atlanta, USA. Rook, the director of ALOVE, finds a deep and transforming message for today’s Army in the ancient story of the holy family’s flight to Egypt after the word became flesh in Bethlehem. And just as that birth brought dramatic, gut-wrenching changes, so too is God bringing something new to birth in The Salvation Army. Don’t miss this 35:40 presentation - click on the arrow below to listen now or click here to go to our Areopagus podcast where this episode can be downloaded.

In the image of God

Areopagus #18

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his is a big week for Keri Shay. On Friday the 22-year-old Chicago-based Salvationist graduates from a four-year degree program in photography. Then she plans to work as a freelance photojournalist. As someone steeped in the Army’s predisposition toward the poor, Shay has a calling to use her photographic gifts to celebrate the dignity, the stories and the moments in time of people often forgotten and neglected. She is called to serve… but with her camera.

She also serves the body of Christ as a vocalist for The Singing Company, a contemporary ensemble that tours and performs throughout the US and elsewhere in the world.

In this Areopagus feature we bring you Shay’s photographs, a Singing Company song in which Shay is the soloist and portions of an interview with this young woman who seeks God’s glory in wisps of light. Click on the photo of Shay in India to view the presentation which runs 4:17.

Are you serious about God?

Areopagus #17

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f all we had to judge God on was sex… what does this tell us about Him… and why is a new gnostic heresy on the loose in the church…? Intruiged? So was everyone else at Missionfest Manitoba, an annual tradeshow of ministry opportunities for young people held earlier this year in Winnipeg, a city in the centre of Canada. Aaron Roberts is a fulltime student studying theology at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada. Before returning to university, Aaron was one of New Zealand’s busiest youth communicators, delivering around 200 presentations a year.

His Missionfest talk is funny, profound and challenging… don’t miss it. Click on the arrow below to listen (Runs: 27:47) or click here to get this episode from theRubicon’s iTunes podcast.

Areopagus #16: Strickland & Court

A closer look at the Trinity

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rom Roots South in Atlanta, USA, Captains Danielle Strickland & Stephen Court examine the personality, diversity and unity of the Trinity. In a high-energy tag-team speaking session this couple - at the time both stationed at Corps 614 in one of the roughest areas of Vancouver, Canada - bring a tough theological concept to a point most of us find easier to understand.

To listen, click on the arrow below (runs 41:40):

Or click here to download this Areopagus episode from theRubicon podcast section on iTunes.

Areopagus #15: artist profile

Phil Laeger speaks to Bramwell Ryan

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e’s like a young Billy Joel - a piano man who goes it alone with hard-wrought songs about love, faith, questions and actions. Phil Laeger, 29, is not only studying music in Boston, he’s making it and people throughout The Salvation Army and elsewhere are listening and paying attention. Bramwell Ryan, editor of theRubicon, recently interviewed Laeger about his music for this Areopagus episode. The focus is on three songs that best capture how Laeger is trying to shape the world through his craft. To listen to this mix of music and words, click on the arrow below. Or click here to download this episode from the Areopagus podcast section on iTunes. A pdf with the lyrics of the three profiled songs can be downloaded here. Runs: 12:15

A note about the audio quality - this interview was conducted using VOIP (i.e. over the internet). As is often the case, the technology didn’t work as well as it should and accordingly there is some line noise - sorry.

They crucified my Lord…

As a disciple, he saw it all - the miracles, the tears, the laughter, the fatigue, the shouts of praise and the screams of condemnation.

But who would have thought it
would come to this?

Matthew’s song… the eyewitness blues

I’m Your on the spot reporter telling the world the news.
I was a tax collector, now I’m happy followin’ You.

I saw You feed the five thousand, handin’ out fish and bread.
You healed the sick and sorry, even saw You raisin’ the dead.

CHORUS:

Cause I was there, and over here and over there, I was an eyewitness.
I was there when they hailed You, there when they nailed You,
I was there.

I saw you walkin’ on the water, across Lake Galilee.
You calmed the waves and weather, most amazin’ thing I’ve seen.
On the Easter Sunday evenin’ I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Death had been defeated, glory, glory what a surprise.

Click on Golgotha to hear the music and see images of Christ.

Music by Mark Radford, a salvo drummer who enjoys fiddling on the keyboard and putting the Christian experience into accessible lyrics and simple music/chords, attends Horsham Corps in Quantong, Victoria, Australia.

Urban Forum #4: Claiborne

Areopagus #14

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n this last episode from the 2nd international Urban Forum, Shane Claiborne takes us on an international peace-making tour full of stories and passion. From being bombed off the road in Iraq to inner city neighbourhood violence, Claiborne knows the pit-of-the-gut gnawing that scratches in frightening settings. But he also has a clear idea of how Christ would respond under such threats and thus he is convinced that the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is in safety, comfort and detached from suffering. Claiborne’s talk on Scandalous Grace lasts 52:29 and can be heard by clicking the arrow below or by clicking here to download this episode from the Areopagus podcast section on iTunes. Follow this link to read Claiborne’s bio.

Urban Forum #3: Aldred

Areopagus #13

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e have something to offer. We’re not just a mistake to be corrected or a problem to be solved… we’re life. Ray Aldred says things are changing for the first people of North America. The old faith model is flawed, is stumbling, and he sees the day when “we will impact the West as they see Christ incarnated in the Indian church.” This challenging talk, entitled Indian Incarnation, is from the second bi-annual Urban Forum in Atlanta and is the third of four lectures theRubicon is presenting from that conference. › Continue reading

Urban Forum #2: Claiborne

Areopagus #12

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et’s stop complaining about the church we’ve experienced and let’s become the church that we dream of. Shane Claiborne takes us from sit-ins to jail cells, from India to inner city hovels as he wonders how we can worship a homeless man on Sunday… and ignore one on Monday? From the second bi-annual Urban Forum in Atlanta, Claiborne calls us to rethink what it means to be Christian and to be set-apart.

› Continue reading