Graham Stacey

During the summers of 2002-05 I was leading a team that established a summer event youth cafe in Hazlemere, High Wycombe: called Fresh Cafe.Some of the agenda for that first cafe was to have no evangelistic content, despite there being about 40% non-church-attending attendance. God had some slightly different agenda and out of going with what God was doing a theology of mission emerged that was quite different than what we had experienced and yet strangely familiar to our theological convictions.But before we get on to what emerged I need to explore where we were at the beginning, which brings me to my first question.Jason Clark bloged [back in September] about Salvation and Spiritual Formation in which he distinguished two approaches: Creation-Fall-Redmeption and Creation-Incarnation-Recreation.The first goes like thisCreation: God made the world; it was ‘perfect’ (perfection being a greek idea of static purity)Fall: humans fell, from this state of perfection.Redemption: and need salvation or redemption to a higher order of being (back to perfection).So my question is, if you know or use this framework, what are your influences? Where are your sources and how do you use them?I would be very grateful if you have a moment to comment.

MTh Applied Theology, writing

Of all the blogs I read my brother’s thoughts on all things real has more entries concerning his return to blogging than any other. I have certian sympathies with this seasonal attendance in blogsphere and I only mention it as a distraction so you might not notice my long absence from my blog.

I have been in a period of of deconstruction: God doing the deconstructing and now allowing a few reconstructive moments here and there. The deconstructive period sounds like and is painful as one squirms around grabbing at solid ground only to feel it crumble in one’s hands. Ending up in a place where there is not much at all and so one begins to invent things just to fill the space. It is after playing this inventive game for a while that God gently asks “What on earth are you doing?” To which I answer “That’s exactly what I need to ask you!”

Anyway, I am now back and will be so as the world as I know it comes more clearly into focus…

encounters, formation, personal