Branded and worn.
Contact
If you wish to contact me then please use this form or the address details below. If you are looking for my latest where-abouts then this should be the first place that you come. Most of the time it will be accurate (unless I am moving a lot).
Current Address:
Juventúd con una Misión
Los Acacios 2200 (esq. Los Alamos)
Quintas del Mirador
Puerto Madryn, Chubut
Argentina
Telephone:
(+54 9) 2965 543-741 (Argentina)
(+57) 301 362-0921 (Colombia)
Contact Form:
Rocky
A Faith Revolution Is Redefining “Church”
It seems that more and more Christians are not going to church anymore. They still love and serve God but church seems to be irrelevant. I have been one of these, although I still go to church, I find it mostly a routine. There has been a buzz lately about some new research that has pointed to a lot of people feeling the same way as this. After going to the Barna Group website who were the researchers, I found the main story about it all, which will soon be published. The findings are interesting.
A Faith Revolution Is Redefining “Church,” According to New Study
October 10, 2005
(Ventura, CA) – For decades the primary way that Americans have experienced and expressed their faith has been through a local church. That reality is rapidly changing, according to researcher George Barna, whose new book on the transitioning nature of America’s spirituality, entitled Revolution, describes what he believes will be the most massive reshaping of the nation’s faith community in more than a century.
Growth of A New Church
Relying upon national research conducted over the past several years, Barna profiles a group of more than 20 million adults throughout the nation labeled “revolutionaries.” He noted that although measures of traditional church participation in activities such as worship attendance, Sunday school, prayer, and Bible reading have remained relatively unchanged during the past twenty years, the Revolutionary faith movement is growing rapidly.“These are people who are less interested in attending church than in being the church,” he explained. “We found that there is a significant distinction in the minds of many people between the local church – with a small ‘c’ – and the universal Church – with a capital ‘C’. Revolutionaries tend to be more focused on being the Church, capital C, whether they participate in a congregational church or not.”
“A common misconception about revolutionaries,” he continued, “is that they are disengaging from God when they leave a local church.
Continue reading “A Faith Revolution Is Redefining “Church””
Unexpected Glory
Travel the World To Get There
As I sort through all of my photos, I am reminded of the journey that I made to finally get where I am now. God called me to Argentina while I was still working in New Zealand, and from that time to when I arrived took a little over one year. There were many things that happened on that journey, but it is still something that I remember often. And to think that I was a person who did not believe in travel until then.
So this is how it went…
To head over to Argentina from New Zealand, I decided to travel around the world first. The issue was that it was almost the same price as travelling directly there, and I had already promised two people that I would visit them in the next couple of years. So it seemed wise to grab a round-the-world ticket and head off in that direction.
So in my journeys I travelled to over a dozen countries. My path did not follow exactly what I had planned, but then it was not completely off track either. My biggest error was in thinking that I could see all of Europe within three weeks or something. I allocated 22 December 2003 until 4 January 2004 for my time in Europe, and never once thought about the issues of travelling during such noteable holiday times.
As a result, I missed out on seeing some interesting things in Spain, encountered a lot of people and significant price rises throughout all of Italy, and missed the celebrations and musuems in Vienna. But in spite of all of this, my travels were a wonderful journey and gave me fantastic memories in so many different places.
Much of my journey was planned to travel between friends. Having worked in an international ministry for some time, I had developed some good friends who over the years had returned to their own countries. These friends provided me with the perfect place to stop when visiting a country. I was able to catch up on our friendship, experience the culture from a local’s perspective, and enjoy the company of somebody that until this journey seemed to be so far away.
The plan was to travel to more places in Europe, and stop in a couple of extra places in the United States, but it did not completely turn out according to plan. What did turn out was a trip something like this:
New Zealand, Australia (6mths to prepare for Argentina and purchase and plan my journey), Singapore, Hong Kong, China (36hrs only), South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Austria, Czeck Republic, Germany (overnight), Finland, England, Scotland, United States, Brazil, Chile, Argentina.
A three month whiz-bang tour of the world that renewed many friendships and made even more. It was a joy to travel, and when I finally arrived in Argentina the cultural shock was not anywhere near as significant because of all of my recent experiences. It was one more place on my way, except I would be staying here for a lot longer.
There are many stories that I have written about my adventures, and many more that are yet to come about the adventures as I continue to live in Argentina. The photos you can see at photos.samafas.com and the stories are almost all here on this blog (I am still working to get them all here).
It is a lot of fun to write about each one, and I trust that you enjoy reading them. Thanks for letting me share a little of my life with you.
Rob.
I Don’t Want to Be Like Them
While browsing around on the Internet, I came across a website called PostSecret where people can send in a secret that they have never told anyone via postcards. There is some sad stuff there, but this card was the one that impacted me the most. The sad thing is that in a lot of ways he is right.
It is really sad that there are so many people calling themselves Christian and yet do not seem to live in any way that is attractive to others. If Christ attracted multitudes with his life, and we are repelling them with our life there must be a massive discrepancy between the two. Perhaps we are not even Christians… after all, shouldn’t a Christ-ian be just that… a “little Christ”? So where is the similarity between the two???
Religious Parade in Corrientes
There was a religious parade in town the other day. The police and firebrigade were all involved, with sirens blazing. It was quite a show, with all of the cars and bicycles following along behind them all going at a slow pace. I don’t think that I have seen anything quite like this before.
The firebrigade carried the idol for everyone.
The parade with the police blaring their sirens infront so everyone would know (click for larger photo).
Focused
Overcrowded
Churchgoers attend from outside via the window. Corrientes, Argentina.