Ordinary Radicals & not "re-inventing the radical wheel"

Jarrod McKenna — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:54:33 -0500

Something’s happening. As I speak to thousands of young people I hear the cry and rumblings for the healing of our world growing. Our mates living community like us in the US called The Simple Way are documenting some of the stuff they see happening in their country. Jamie’s new doco is called “The Ordinary Radicals” and is well worth checking out. And our mate Tom Sine has written a great article about what he has experienced with Speak in the UK, The Simple Way and Submergent network in the US and our Peace Tree Crew and EPYC in Australia.

Here in Australia a similar story. Diverse crew are feeling a stirring I can only put down to something the Spirit is doing with this generation (but not just this generation!!). And it’s GROWING!!! I’m continually amazed by the variety of people who are getting in contact with us; from the never-churched, to the over-church and leaders of large churches looking for a vision that is big enough to be good news to our hurting world. A longing for deeper life in a sea of market driven shallowness, more authentic community in cities of loneliness. A yearning to live on the land in ways that are good for the earth even amidst landscapes of environmental destruction and alienation. Hunger for real encounter with the Holy Spirit of-a-world-transformed! (Not simply a manufactured super-sized ‘McSpirituality’ of easy answers and smoke machines to distract us from the pain that would transform us.) There is an open ache for God’s presence of justice, peace and joy to flood into our world and a generation saying, “Let it start in me.” A movement of people praying “On earth as it is in heaven”!

Petrol blindness

Jarrod McKenna — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:09:10 -0500

5 cents off the price of petrol is like using coffee cups to bail water out of the Titanic. Let your politicians know we’re not that stupid and it’s time to invest in alternative sustainable fuels. Otherwise, the future is... expensive.

1st Aussie political prisoner: Nonviolent Peace activist, Scott Parkin

Jarrod McKenna — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:14:23 -0500

One of the scandals of recent Australian history is the detainment of American nonviolent peace activist Scott Parkin. Scott and I would have ran nonviolence training with our friends from Pt’chang in Melbourne if it were not for Scott being detained then evicted from Australia. His crime? Educating others about the methods of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. So get something to drink and sit back and learn of the shocking story of Australia’s first political prisoner, detained for teaching nonviolence in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi.

Radiohead and Righteous boots

Jarrod McKenna — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:55:05 -0500

My mate Trav (of involved fame) recently sent me Radiohead’s film clip for “all I need”.

Amazing!

Documenting the day of two different children on opposite sides of the world and the economic divide, and their connection through a pair of shoes.

EPYC will be adding this clip to our bag of tricks for opening up issues of our participation in injustice... so that we can imagine and live into the alternatives.

AAANZ mailing 15th May

Jarrod McKenna — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:54:27 -0500

“If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” - Moshe Dayan

A doubt and a promise
Sunday 18 May, Matthew 28:16-20
“When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.” Passages like this assure me there's a place for me and the people I serve. Unlike John's story of Thomas, Matthew didn't single out one disciple as the doubter. He says that "some doubted." While Thomas was clear about his doubt ("unless I see the print of the nails . . .") Matthew didn't say why they doubted--or what they doubted. Perhaps they weren't sure it was Jesus, or they doubted he had actually died. Maybe they had simply been through enough and weren't about to be fooled or hurt again.
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=247

Come on retreat with the Anabaptist Association - Half Day Silent Retreats for 2008
Retreats for Everyday Life:
Saturday 31^st May - Seasons of Life
Saturday 6^th September -Transforming our Struggles into Life
Saturday 18^th October - Trees of Life
Led by: Mary Hurst and Sally Longley / Time: 1-5 pm / Place: 71 Narrabeen Park Parade, Warriewood (on Warriewood Headland)
Cost $30.00 (includes refreshments) / Booking essential: limited places
Mary Hurst 9997 4632 - Email AAANZ@iprimus.com.au / Sally Longley 9913 7871
“Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you” - James 4:8

The Sound of Social Justice in Australia: 'From Little Things Big Things Grow'
"If you thought socially conscious music in the mainstream was a thing of the past, turn your ears to what Australia is listening to. A song about justice and reconciliation in Australia was the highest new entry in the charts two weeks ago - starting out at #2 on the Australian charts and #2 after Madonna on the digital track charts - and remains in the top 50. As The New York Times reported: A song about racial reconciliation with the Aboriginal minority has become the fourth-biggest-selling recording in Australia, even though it is available only as a download from the Web."
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2008/05/the-sound-of-social-justice-in.html

AAANZ mailing 5th May

Jarrod McKenna — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:31:10 -0500

"If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future, we will have to sow seeds of nonviolence, here and now, in the present." - Mairead Corrigan Maguire

Racism Makes Me Sick campaign launch
A national campaign calling on all Australians to take action against racism and tackle the Indigenous health crisis has been launched by ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) in collaboration with The Body Shop. The Body Shop stores nationally will promote the Racism Makes Me Sick campaign from 21 April 2008 - 12 May 2008 as part of their commitment to defending human rights and promoting Reconciliation in Australia. Racism, as a direct and negative influence on health, helps explain in part the Australian Indigenous health crisis. Appallingly, three out of four Indigenous Australians experience racism in their everyday lives. ANTaR is asking individual Australians to combat racism by: Getting the facts about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians / Challenging and speaking up to racist stereotypes and misinformed comments / Taking positive action in support of Indigenous people. All Australians are encouraged to sign a Personal Pledge to show their commitment, challenge their own assumptions, and speak up to racist or misinformed comments using hints and fact sheets available from:
www.ANTaR.org.au

Quotes to inspire awe & action: Douglass

Jarrod McKenna — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:41:41 -0500

A privilege and being asked to speak at things is journeying with people. Here is a great quote that my mate “SalvoKat” from a new generation of Salvation Army revolutionaries sent to me:

"Jesus resisted evil with an intensity which revealed the
read more »

ANZAC ploughshares!!!!

Jarrod McKenna — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:23:23 -0500

the mutards seeds spread!!! Today Peace Tree's Kiwi mates Manu and Sam have been causing some Christ-like trouble for the systems that are yet to submit to the reality of a nonviolent world that is ours in the resurrection. Here's the press and some photos. Keep them in ya prayers:

Peace protesters deflate NZ spy base dome

Punctured: The deflated dome at the Waihopai satellite monitoring facility (TVNZ)

AAANZ mailing april 28th

Jarrod McKenna — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:39:38 -0500

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln

Upcoming Conference: "Eden to Aotearoa: From Biblical Hope to Ecological Action"
May 30th to June 2nd 2008 - A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand's first national conference will be held in Raglan during the Queen's Birthday weekend, 2008.
The worsening environmental crisis has caused Christians throughout the world to rediscover ecological hope in the Bible. A Rocha has been acting on this hope since 1983 through conservation projects now in 18 countries. This conference is to inspire Kiwis to hope Biblically for our planet, and empower us with the practical skills we need to work out the A Rocha vision in Aotearoa NZ.
http://en.arocha.org/nz/index4.html

Interview with Tom Sine and Jarrod McKenna
Tom Sine joined me on my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM along with Jarrod McKenna from Peace Tree Community. While Tom’s book talks about the many ways that people are re-imagining church, Jarrod is part of a community that is living out faith in simple ways in the Perth suburb of Lockridge.
http://eliacin.com/?p=702

Tom Sine with New Conspirators

Jarrod McKenna — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:57:55 -0500

Veteran of the cutting edge, godfather figure and frontier man of future forms of church, Tom Sine, is bringing his seditious stories of new conspirators of the ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ to Western Australia. Tom will be crashing with us Peace Tree crew and doing a number of gigs thanks to EPYC, EA, TEAR, AAANZ and Vose Seminary. (Details below)

As that U.S. megaphone of amazing grace Shane Claiborne, has said of Tom: