Kevin Rush :: Friends blog

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheForgottenWays/~3/414499303/

I have to be honest and say that I have learned much of what I know about the basics of incarnational mission/ministry from those in the urban mission tribe. To reach the poor necessitates a deep identification with them, or else it risks being seen as overexploitation or welfare. A relatively new book to underscore this is by Scott Bessenecker, The New Friars. Its a good book that looks at how Protestant missional orders are beginning to form in order to reach the poor. Here is a quote from the book…

To undertake an incarnational approach to ministry is to be sent as Jesus was sent–to empty yourself of all that alienates you from a people and to become to a significant degree as they are. (62)

http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2008/10/megachurch-inter

Brady Cooper is the pastor of New Vision in Murfreesboro, TN. Brady and I recently met at The Standard, a restaurant in downtown Nashville and had a little too much fun.

But that was not the first time I had seen Brady. He was on the staff of my church before he went to New Vision. And, I first saw Brady speak during an unusual Sunday morning memorial service there at the church.

When Glenn Weakly died, Brady came back to speak at his memorial... and did a great job. You see, he is not just a former staff member, he is the former pastor's son-in-law. It made the memorial service even more meaningful to learn of their connection.

Brady asked me to speak at New Vision recently and though I could not pull it off-- but I hope to soon. Of course, I will now be a little intimidated becuase of his comment below about guest speakers.

Five years ago New Vision averaged 400 in attendance; today they average 2,500 people in four worship services. Last year the church grew by 700 people, or 37%, and was #52 on Fastest Growing List.

What's happening at New Vision? Simplification and evangelism.

LifeWay Research had a chance to talk with Brady about the growth of New Vision and what he believes was instrumental.

LifeWay Research: Is it true that for the last five years New Vision has experienced 40% annual growth?

Brady: Yes that is close. We were averaging about 400 in attendance five years ago and today we are at about 2500

LWR: What is the team at New Vision doing that has caused such growth?

Brady: There are a couple of things. First of all our location is good because the community surrounding us is growing. Secondly we have cut down on some of our programming so that we could perfect other areas of our ministry. For example, we have dropped our Sunday night worship and have focused on just one weekend worship service. We have really tried to be intentional by creating an environment where the members of New Vision are comfortable bringing their un-churched friends.

LWR: What expectations do you place on members of New Vision?

Brady: We want people to worship, to experience being a part of a group, and to give in ministry or to serve

LWR: If these are the expectations what are opportunities are being offered to members?

Brady: Our staff is constantly scheduling appointments and meeting with people to encourage and help them go to the next level. This could be helping them come to know the Lord or helping them become involved in the ministry. We do not have a great assimilation process other than our ministerial staff helping people get plugged into the ministry.

LWR: How is New Vision involved in the community?

Brady: Last year we had about 200 people become involved in short term mission trips. In the local community once a quarter we do a community outreach event where we take part in different service projects such as handing out rolls of quarters at the local dry cleaners or we will work with Habitat.

Usually each community event will have seven or eight different options in which people can become involved and the event takes place on a Saturday four times a year. We also have other ministries going on in the inner city. Some of the members of New Vision are African American. We have partnered with them in their community doing things such as an after school program. We are also involved in planting a church in the Dominican which has excited our members.

LWR: New Vision has a lot happening within the church walls and in the world around them. What number of people have you baptized this year?

Brady: From January to today we are right at 200 baptisms. In one day this summer we baptized 120 people which was a big push for us. Before this baptismal service all of our ministries with our youth, Bible school, and our week of prayer and fasting was coming to a close. We also see fruit from our evangelism strategy. We call our strategy the "as you go evangelism strategy."

The strategy encourages every member to have at least one person that they are praying for and developing a relationship which allows them to share Christ. Because of these things we baptized 120 people which was the highlight of our summer.

LWR: Brody what advice would you give to pastors in churches that were plateaued or declining on the subject of church growth?

Brady: I would probably look at taking some of the people that I had relationships with and that wanted to see the church grow and I would really begin to invest in these individuals. I would not bring the subject so much to the pulpit or try and butt heads with those that do not want to change but I would really try and invest in a sort grass roots level with those people that want to grow and allow them to carry the vision to the masses.

I also think pastors and staff should over think and really plan out the weekend service so that the people get the best offering we have. I also think that the weekend services should continue to flow. We try not to take any weeks off at New Vision. I was on vacation with my family this summer and we went to a church and they had brought a missionary speaker in to fill the pulpit. This was fine but I felt that the gentlemen was not a great communicator and he rambled on about forty-five minutes which as a guest did not appeal to me.

You have one chance to reach a visitor. I think excellence breeds excellence and growth.

LWR: What other issues do you feel are important to the church?

Brady: I think staffing is important. At New Vision we try to be slow to hire and quick to make changes. I would not use the word fire, but I think sometimes a lot of churches have staff members that are great guys or great gals but they just don't share the vision. They don't have a passion for growth and there isn't strong accountability sometimes on church staff. Keeping this in mind we have made a lot of in different ministry areas that just weren't growing and that has created a real different environment for our staff. Our staff knows what is expected. There is not a sense of fear but they realize that this is a high calling that requires time and energy. A church should not be afraid to make changes.

Often times I will take note of a pastor I think will grow in impact and influcence. I think Brady is one of those pastors.

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/10/hpv-vaccination.

We are a bit shaken up over the HPV Vaccination, sometimes called the HPV Jab. It supposedly immunises young women against sexually transmitted disease that can lead to genital warts and cervical cancer but is not yet proven. However, for a number of reasons, my wife and I "opted out" by checking the 'No' box on the consent form, and our 13 year old daughter also decided NOT to get the jab. We figured with both parents and daughter against the idea, the jabbing would pass us by. But then she went to school and some anonymous doctor jabbed her anyway.

We have no overt moral or spiritual issue with the immunization itself and, along with the FRC, we don't believe that the HPV immunisation necessarily leads to promiscuity. We do, however, have a problem with mandatory or coerced vaccination against the will of the child or the parents. But we were told we could "opt out" so we didn't give it much thought.

On the day, our 13 year old daughter, who by the way has Type-1 Diabetes, was taken aside from the other girls and told by the doctor that she was the only girl in her year who had handed in a consent form with a cross in the 'No' box. As they started to talk, and without being asked if she wanted it, the doctor jabbed her.

We have serious issues with this relatively untested and unproven drug Cervarix. Finding answers to basic questions like "How will it affect our Type-1 diabetic pre-adolescent daughter?" has proven impossible for us and I can only assume, unless the one of the 158 pre-adolescent [10-14 year] test candidates had Type-1 diabetes, that our daughter is now the gullible guinea pig who will test this product for the much larger international market.

On the internet we call that "beta testing", although we are talking about our daughter, not a new web application.

"Coerced vaccination is not justified because there is no public health emergency. Similarly, forcing an intervention over an adolescent's objections is not justified because it fails to respect the adolescent as a maturing individual." BMJ (British Medical Journal)

We shared our story with a social worker and he suggested reporting it to the police as a case of abuse. We went over to our school today to discuss it with them. The head teacher was shocked and apologetic and offered to talk to the NHS. Obviously the school is not to blame and has been kept in the dark.

The BMJ suggested that "the most controversial situation is when an adolescent seeks the vaccine without parental permission." But even more controversial is what happened to our child in Scotland, when the vaccination was given AGAINST the written permission of both the parents AND against the will of the adolescent, or in this case, the pre-adolescent.

Opting Out

The Government says that the vaccine will be offered to all girls in the selected age range but that parents will be given the opportunity to "opt out" if they do not want their child to receive the jabs. "It will be voluntary" the Telegraph reports, and yet the paragraph following states that "non-compliance" could undermine the project.

I guess we were "non-compliant"

but I like to think of it as "pro-choice".

I was thinking that maybe we could have prevented the abuse of our daughter by not sending in the consent form at all. But then we chatted with one of our kid's friends who also got jabbed, despite her not wanting it and despite her father refusing to sing the consent form. I guess we are not the only ones.

Can We Really Opt Out? The brochure given to the 12-13 year olds called "Arm Against Cervical Cancer" [download as PDF] promises that parents can "opt out". It reads:

"You may be given a consent form that your parents should sign giving permission for you to have the vaccination. It’s important that you return the signed form before your vaccination is due. If your parents are not sure that you should have the vaccination you should still return the form and speak to your nurse, doctor or other healthcare professional. Having the vaccination now will help protect you against the most common causes of cervical cancer for many years."

What does that mean, anyway? If your parents say 'No', then you should speak to the medical professionals to get a second opinion? Sounds like we were outranked by someone with a stethoscope around their neck!

But surely its illegal, even in this country, to ignore the parents consent when the 'young woman' involved has only just turned 13 years old?

So, from our experience with the first jab, this is how it looks to me:

- If your daughter refuses the vaccination, she is young and incapable of making the right decision so JAB HER ANYWAY. [So says Dr Frank on Yahoo Answers]

- If your parents refuse to permit the vaccination, they are old and too stupid to make the right decision so JAB HER ANYWAY.

- If both daughter and parents refuse the vaccination, JAB HER ANYWAY and hope that no one says anything.

Any way you look at it, our daughters are going to get jabbed unless they have the gumption to stand up for their right to choose for themselves. Or someone else stands up for them. Or we keep them out of school on the jabbing day.

Side Effects?

The brochure suggests the side effects are " quite mild – usually just stinging and soreness in the arm that soon wears off. Hundreds of thousands of young women in the USA and other countries have already had their vaccinations. Studies have shown that the vaccination is very safe." But what the brochure doesnt tell you about those young women in the USA is that over 20 died and thousands of others now have serious permanent injuries.

After the jab, our daughter and 2 friends had immediate side effects, including a hot and cold flashes and dizziness, but they was told it was in their minds. Headaches have continued almost daily since the jab and a few days ago she had a very serious seizure during the night. We were just glad she was sleeping in our bed. She slept in our bed last night also, just in case another seizure happened, and she will probably sleep in our bed again tonight. And we dont really know if the seizure or headaches are related to the jab or rather to her diabetes. But we are still worried and information is scarce.

My advice?

1. Do Your Own Research!

2. Find information websites that allow comments and stories of real people who are not paid to say only positive things about HPV vaccinations.

3. If you don't want your daughter jabbed, or if she doesnt want to get jabbed, don't send her to school on the day of jabbing because the permission form might not be worth the paper it is written on.

4. Make a copy of your consent form before your daughter hands it in and it disappears into space.

5. If your story is similar to ours, tell someone.

Read on to see some of the things I found about about this vaccination.

Technorati Tags: cancer jab, cervarix, cervical cancer, family research council, genital warts, hpv, human papillomavirus virus, immunisation, immunization, jab, nhs, std

More info

Having done a little research to see exactly what substance they shot into our daughter's arm, we are a little worried. And we have a feeling we are not the only ones. If you are looking for more information on the subject, this is what I have found so far:

The HPV immunization process rolled out a few weeks ago across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. They are starting with Scottish 12-13 year old girls, like our daughter, and then working upwards over the next few years. I heard the next jabbing where we live (Orkney Islands, Scotland) is October 31, 2008.

HPV stands for human papillomavirus which affects the skin and mucous membranes. There are about 130 types but about 30-40 HPV types are typically transmitted through sexual contact and some may cause genital warts. Persistent infection with "high-risk" HPV types may progress to lesions and cervical cancer. Wikipedia suggests the Cervarix vaccinations given in the UK protect against two types of HPV (16 and 18).

But there is no proven clinical evidence that it actually works and the side effects can be dangerous and even fatal.

It reminds me of the movie Idiocracy.

Attorney General: “Brawndo’s got what plants crave.”

Secretary of Energy: “Yeah, it’s got electrolytes.”

Joe: “What are electrolytes? Do you even know?”

Secretary of State: “It’s what they use to make Brawndo.”

Joe: “Yeah, but why do they use them to make Brawndo?”

Secretary of Defense: “‘Cause Brawndo’s got electrolytes.”

[Script] [MP3]

I agree with Alan Johnson of the Department of Health who said "prevention is always better than cure" but the vaccination is not the only way and it is not even the best way to prevent infection. The Cancer Society has said that "the vaccines don't prevent infection with all types of HPV" and the best form of prevention is either abstinence from sexual activity and/or a monogamous relationship with an uninfected individual. Why cant the medical authorities offer the possibility of abstinence or fidelity as a reasonable alternative to the vaccination? Why cant they even mention it in their publications? Its that "non-compliance"?



Some quotes

"Twenty girls died within a few days of receiving Gardasil, which has a similar make-up to Cervarix, although the deaths were dismissed as coincidence by the manufacturer, Merck." Why I won't let my girls have these cancer jabs

“This big push is making people crazy — thinking they’re bad moms if they don’t get their kids vaccinated,” Dr. Abby Lippman, McGill University, BlogDial: Sticking it to the kids

The Department of Health refused to reveal the cost of the vaccine, which it said was "commercially confidential" Telegraph

Some answers

In the USA, HPV immunization is required of immigrants seeking a green card but not of citizens. But there are some public schools pushing for mandatory vaccination for their students. Gardasil is the drug of choice. The Family Research Council has an excellent resource page on HPV with a page of questions and answers. These three questions seemed most appropriate.

Q: How is genital HPV infection associated with cervical cancer?

A: Sexually transmitted HPV has been shown to be present in virtually all cases of cervical cancer and is the leading cause of cervical cancer. High risk HPV types 16 and 18 cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. [Human Papillomavirus: HPV Information for Clinicians, PDF, page 1]

Q: How can a person be best protected from acquiring genital HPV?

A: Limiting sexual activity to the context of one faithful and monogamous long-term relationship with an uninfected individual is the single most effective method of preventing HPV infection.

Q: Does FRC support mandatory HPV vaccination?

A: No. We feel that a mandate infringes on the right of parents to make decisions regarding their children's medical care. Since genital HPV is not spread by casual contact, but rather is a sexually transmitted infection, there is not sufficient public health justification to require vaccination for school attendance. It may also lead them to believe that the vaccine is the only available way to reduce the risk of cervical cancer, which is untrue.

Some links worth checking out

Pharmalot reports: A Catholic school banned the immunisation on its premises

Serious Health Concerns about the cervical cancer jab, Mail Online

Parents Refuse "Cervarix" cervical Cancer Jab, Trusted, MD

BBC article shows that Cervarix won over Gardasil in the UK.

The Times has a good article.

Vaccination of schoolgirls for HPV using Cervarix ® should be stopped. NOW

Video: Number One Google Search Result today is Gardasil HPV Vaccine Hoax Exposed

Is HPV Vaccine Safe? [Gardasil side effects)

HPV Jab side effects

I have some questions:

Why are they jabbing our kids in the schools by anonymous medical teams when our family doctor, who we know and trust, could adminster or at least oversee the vaccinations?

Why use the schools when the school authorities are completely powerless and cant even tell us when the next jabbing will occur?

Why sign and submit a permission slip when the doctor is going to jab them anyway?

Why is the government and the NHS so insistent that everyone get jabbed with a relatively new and untested vaccine?

Has the vaccine ever been tested on young girls with Type-1 diabetes like my daughter and what were the results?

And most importantly, Are there any other parents out there who chose to "opt out", crossed the "No" box on their consent form, and yet watched their daughter come home from school rubbing her arm?

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheForgottenWays/~3/413623884/

“No man is satisfied in a swimming bath; he knocks his knees and elbows against its sides; he wants the sea. So with man’s soul, he hungers and thirsts for the ocean, for God; God infinite and Other, different to man, yet working in man…” - Baron F. Von Hugel

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/10/10-commandments.

HT: Clerical Whispers shares the story behind the 10 commandments of blogging loosely developed at the Godblogs event in England which was hosted by the Evangelical Alliance. The commandments were given in a "tongue-in-cheek" manner, a bit like my "Blogger's Prayer" back in 2002, but they are pretty good nonetheless.

The 10 Commandments of Blogging:

You shall not put your blog before your integrity.

You shall not make an idol of your blog.

You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin.

Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog.

Honour your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes.

You shall not murder someone else’s honour, reputation or feelings.

You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind.

You shall not steal another person’s content.

You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-blogger.

You shall not covet your neighbour's blog ranking. Be content with your own content.

Like the image of Moses? Me too! In fact, I found myself COVETING it! I IDOLIZED it! I would have KILLED for it! And eventually, I decided to dishonor my parents by stealing it and then reselling it on the Sabbath. Nahhh . . just kidding . . God knows my witness is false. Actually, the image is from Times Online.

UPDATE: Richard Hall points to news articles on the Times and Telegraph as well as some other blogger's comments. Running commentary by Phil at ThinkHammer. Even better, Ben at Faith and Theology comes up with his own ten commandments. Where the heck was I when all this was going on? Oh yeah - I was in USA having just participated in GodblogCon, another Christian blogging conference on the other side of the pond.

RELATED: The Spirituality of Blogging

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging

http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2008/10/warren-birds-meg

Last week I mentioned Warren Bird's dissertation on megachurches, and today on the blog you can download the whole thing. Those interested in what's really happening inside megachurches will benefit from his dissertation which explores the stereotype of whether most people are only spectators at really big churches. This is particularly helpful as it explores "free rider theory."

Free rider, a term coined in 1965 by Mancur Olson, is used for those who do not contribute in the provision of a public good, but enjoy these goods anyway. In churches, these are the individuals who come and benefit, but do not yet commit. So even if they do make substantial financial contributions, the average level of commitment in the church is lowered and the whole becomes less effective. In other words, if any organization has too many "free riders," churches included, the organization will fail.

Bird analyzed national surveys for churches of all sizes for group involvement -- as a way of sorting between "spectating" and "involvement." Bird explains,

The question of whether megachurches encourage spectator religion can be addressed from many perspectives. The approach of this dissertation will be: first, the proposal of an answer (namely that the data do not support the view of megachurches as spectator religion); secondly, the presentation of social theory that might support that answer; and third, the testing of the social theory presented through quantitative analysis supported by qualitative interviews. The outcome, if the hypotheses are well constructed, if they are reliably and validly tested, and then if the findings are cogently presented, might contribute to the increase of knowledge and ultimately to the sway of public opinion.
(pg. 56)

Bird concludes that people's involvement is the same or better in larger churches than in smaller churches. These findings were later cited and expanded upon in the book Beyond Megachurch Myths (2007) by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis, and also validated in the megachurch chapter of What Americans Really Believe (2008) by Rodney Stark.

The rapid growth of megachurches, in both size and number, has surfaced several

issues of interest to sociologists. "Megachurches have exploded," Drucker says, "because

they asked, 'What is value?' to a nonchurchgoer and came up with answers the older

churches had neglected" (Drucker 1998:169-170). What value are megachurches supplying that other churches are not? "The greatest value to the thousands who now throng the megachurches--both weekdays and Sundays--is a spiritual experience rather

than a ritual."

Perhaps the most interesting sections are chapter 1, which gives a history of the development of megachurches, and the appendix, which gives photos and commentary on many U.S. megachurches. You can download Warren's dissertation below.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheForgottenWays/~3/412399056/

“The reward of the search is to go on searching. The soul’s desire is fulfilled by the very fact of its remaining unsatisfied; for really to see God is never to have had one’s fill of desiring Him” - Gregory of Nyassa

We really are explorers. Its part of what it means to be human. To taste God is to be driven to an eternal quest to know him more. It always amazes me when people think they have arrived at the knowledge of God. When people come to that point, all they believe is an idol.

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/10/remembering-blo.

In Saudi Arabia, blogger "Rania" was burned alive for her new faith in Jesus Christ a few days after her blog post. HT: Open Doors magazine Frontline, Oct 2008.

Technorati Tags: martyr, saudi arabia