Methodist Church launches an iPhone app - now that's missional thinking!

The Methodist Church of Britain has just launched an iPhone app - the application is available for free from the iTunes store and works on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad (in fact the screen grab that you'll see in this post comes from my iPad - I have it expanded to double size to fill the iPad screen).

I think this is a marvelous, missional, idea!  In a context where persons are far more likely to want to structure their encounter with the Christian faith around their available time and location this is just another wonderful means of adding value to people's lives!  Don't get me wrong, I am still convinced that people need community and places of real connection (such as that offered by a local congregation).  But, we have to be honest - in Britain there are fewer persons who will want to make a faith connection through their local Church, than those who may be willing to receive a daily prayer and some reflection upon scripture on their phone (to read wherever they are).

The application is quite simple - it has a 'Spirit' section which has one part that offers prayers chosen from the Methodist prayer book and another section that offers thoughtful reflections upon sections of scripture.  The other part of the application offers news (naturally with a Christian, Methodist, and UK slant).

I think this is a great idea!  It even got some international news coverage!  We need more forward thinking like this in denominations across the world!

Tip of the hat to Thomas for sending me the link about this story at the BBC website.

Do you use a devotional application on your computer or phone?  Do you have any others to recomend?  Do you know of any other Churches or Christian groups that are offering similar outreach tools on creative technology platforms?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Scanning the brains of jazz musicians.

This research shows that Jazz musicians 'switch off' (or at least slow down) parts of their brains - I know a few first year students who have the capacity to do the same thing! Ha ha.

Seriously, this is quite interesting. Since Jazz requires the capacity to move outside of the confines of what is generally acceptable in the composition music (through the inclusion of 'blue notes', crossing octaves, combining irregular timing etc. in the composition). I'm sure that there are many other things that require a similar capacity (e.g., surgeons who deal with the gore of cutting up a human body, social workers who face the brutality of human frailty and economic subjugation in their clients, sex workers who have to perform unnatural acts for survival, ministers who are constantly faced with crises, deaths, and sorrow, oh and of course Justin Timberlake fans.... say no more).

I thought this was quite interesting.

According to new research, jazz musicians unconsciously switch off regions of the brain involved in self-censorship and firing up the area linked to self-expression. The scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders used fMRI to scan the brains of jazz musicians as they played a specially-designed piano keyboard. From a press release:

The scientists found that a region of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a broad portion of the front of the brain that extends to the sides, showed a slowdown in activity during improvisation. This area has been linked to planned actions and self-censoring, such as carefully deciding what words you might say at a job interview. Shutting down this area could lead to lowered inhibitions, Limb suggests.

The researchers also saw increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which sits in the center of the brain’s frontal lobe. This area has been linked with self-expression and activities that convey individuality, such as telling a story about yourself.

“Jazz is often described as being an extremely individualistic art form. You can figure out which jazz musician is playing because one person’s improvisation sounds only like him or her,” says (professor Charles) Limb. “What we think is happening is when you’re telling your own musical story, you’re shutting down impulses that might impede the flow of novel ideas.”

Link to press release, Link to scientific paper in Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE (via Michael Leddy's Orange Crate Art)

Technorati tags: neuroscience, the human brain, control

Right brain test... See how creative you are...

Many people that I know who have done a Masters or Doctoral research degree have told me that after completing their research project they went 'off' the topic for a little while.

This is true for me! My doctorate, and the years that lead up to its completion, were often taken upon by hours and hours of pouring through medical journals, books on the human brain, consciousness, and neuroscience. It was not exactly entertaining (the only entertaining bit about it is when people would ask me, as a minister, "so what is your doctorate about!?" They would usually expect some fairly regular response like, "Oh, I am studying .... in the New Testament...". Ha ha, when I said "I am studying the brain to see how we process identity, consciousness, and religious experience" they would get a sort of blank stare!)

Anyway, it has been over a year since completing that project - and I am pleased to say that I am already starting to develop a slight distaste for the subject of my next doctorate (I have been working on that for about a year now...)

However, I am starting to find the brain interesting again. So, when I saw this little test on the internet I thought I should post the link here! This is the little blurb before the test:

Being creative or artistic doesn’t mean you know how to draw or play an instrument. Being creative is a way of thinking, a way of viewing the world. Creative people use the RIGHT side of their brains more than the LEFT.

Click here to take the test. I would love to hear what you discovered! So, if you have the time please do come back and leave a comment.

PS. I just LOVE the domain name of this site 'wherecreativitygoestoschool.com'.

The Catholic Church is maneuvering to save the Soul of Italian footbal

I remember a song that used to irritate the heck out of me when I was younger - I think it was by Sir Cliff (Richard that is), which had a lyric "Why should the devil have all the good music?" Anybody remember that one? I simply didn't like it because it was Cliff Richard - however, the message is a good one! Why should we give over everything that is fun, enjoyable, and entertaining, to the corrupt, money making, ruthless elements of society? Surely God enjoys a good game of football, or a well choreographed concert, or a well written song or novel, as much as we do?

Well, here's another interesting story from the Mail & Guardian. The Catholic Bishops in a certain area of Italy have offered a €1,6-million a year sponsorship deal to a soccer league in order to encourage it to get 'good and wholesome' again. At first I thought, heck there are much better things to do with that much money! And of course there are!

But, if your members are no longer coming to your Cathedrals, why not find a way to add the value, blessing, joy, and love of the Gospel to their lives where they are! They'll be at the soccer match, where will the Church be - well the Catholic Church in Italy will be right there with them!

What do you think? I would LOVE to see my favourite team, Kaizer Chiefs from Soweto (not to be confused with Kaiser Chiefs ,from Leeds in England, - whom I also happen to love, especially the song "everything is average now days), get some good wholesome values out there as an example to the fans!

We have a young man in our denomination, Fikile Khumalo, who is passionate about using sport to reach people. I wonder what a difference the South African Church could make if we got organised around sharing the Gospel, and making a real difference in the lives of people, at the 2010 World Cup? I'm there with you Fikile!

Technorati tags:Church, soccer,football,World+Cup,2010,Kaiser Chiefs,Kaizer Chiefs

Looting, Eating, or Praying? What would you do if the world was going to end in an hour?

If a meteor was to destroy the earth in an hour's time, what would you do?

This was a question posed in a recent survey in Britain. I include the report (with results) from the Mail & Guardian newspaper below.

What I found interesting in the results of this survey is that only 3% of the population said they would pray, beating gluttony, and theft by looting, with just 1%! Amazingly sex did not feature all that high on the list (Hollywood must be wrong), although it dead beat prayer hand down!

That got me thinking about traditional forms of ministry. Perhaps the 'open doors' policy of the Church is no longer relevant - it certainly seems that it is not working in secular cultures such as that in Britain! What do I mean by 'open doors' ministry? Well, it is the kind of ministry that I'm sure many people of my generation and older are used to - it says "We'll be here every Sunday at 9.30 and 18.30. Our doors will be open, we'll be doing our thing. We know it is during your free time, but you should come to us, God is more important than anything else in life!" Of course God is more important than anything else in life... Except perhaps our sinful and selfish nature...

Perhaps we are needing to 'take it to the streets', so to speak? I am always encouraged when I read of new models of sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ! Here's a wonderful model that has begun to add value to communities in the UK - Street Pastors at Work in the UK.

"We're not here to preach heaven and hell at people, we're here just to help people with whatever help they might need," said pastor Paul Rush... They are trained to have skills in meeting and counseling people before starting work on the streets.

The eight-week course also tackles anger management and crowd control as well as health and safety, first aid and drug awareness.

Here's the report on the survey from the Mail & Guardian:

Quick! Hand me the fatty food, the world's about to end
London, United Kingdom

An asteroid is on a collision course with the earth and you have one hour left to live. What would you do in your last 60 minutes?

Not surprisingly, the majority of Britons questioned in a survey -- 54% -- said they would like to spend it either with or on the phone to their loved ones.

But the survey revealed a strong hedonistic streak -- 13% would sit back, accept the inevitable and reach for a glass of champagne.

Sex appealed to only 9% while just 3% would turn to prayer.

Two percent intriguingly said they would reach for some fatty food while another 2% decided, with just an hour's life to go, that it was time to start looting.

The survey was commissioned by Ziji Publishing to mark the release of Cloud Cuckoo Land by debut novelist Steven Sivell, who "uses the classic premise of an impending meteorite collision as a metaphor for threats to the human race". -- Reuters

Technorati tags: doomsday, hedonism,Church,survey, creative