Text & Context with Piper & Friends

Today I watched some good conversation between some favourite church leaders from the States making waves through the Acts 29 leadership network and The Resurgence. For some deep insights from the likes of theologian and pastor John Piper and his younger Acts 29 cohorts Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler, check out the Q&A session from the Text & Context conference on The Resurgence

Skateboarding in Stereo

Co-captains Jason Lee and Chris Pastras at Stereo Skateboards have finally seen the light and re-released a couple of the best skateboarding films ever made as a 2-pack on DVD. Tincan Folklore and A Visual Sound are packed with good skating, arty clips and stills and random shenanigans, accompanied by smooth jazz and slick guitar licks from the likes of legendary skateboarder Tommy Guerrero. They are without a doubt two of the most groundbreaking boardriding flicks from the 90s and definitely worth adding to the collection.

They may not climb quite as high the up the Top 10 list as Jason's other dvd releases such as "My Name is Earl", but it's good to see he hasn't forgotten his roots amidst all the prime time favour and fame. Go get a piece of the good stuff at www.stereosoundagency.com

Martin Smith's Compassionate Art

Delirious' Martin Smith has managed to assembly somewhat of a Gospel/Worship dream team for a project called CompassionArt, which has been launched with a cd and accompanying book with material that came out of a retreat earlier this year where the artists came together for a week of prayer and songwriting in the Scottish highlands.

Mr. Smith has managed to convince each of the heavyweights to give away the rights and royalty money from each of the songs written for the project to charity, in an attempt to combine art with compassion and generate money for causes like Stop the Traffik and Hand of Hope. Word has it that even Coldplay's Viva la Vida release was put back by a week to accommodate the Abbey Rd. studio time needed to complete the project. Next thing we know Ringo and Paul will be contributing to the project!

To find out more, go to www.compassionart.tv

All Neue Quarterly

Yesterday my subscription to the all new ministry resource from Neue kicked in and manifested itself in the mailbox in the form of a brand-spanking first edition of the Neue Quarterly. Conveniently, it found it's way to my porch the afternoon before my day off work, so today, I'm reading Neue...

To check out the accompanying site, or even better, to order your own copy and start supporting these guys, go to www.neueministry.com

Brad Meets Brighton

Yesterday morning began way too early for my liking with a 4am rise and 5am departure (large coffee in hand) for the south coast of England and a session at Youthwork the Conference in Eastborne. The snow didn't help the journey much, but 28 chapters worth of Acts on the iPod, some good company and a successful workshop had me feeling good about the day again.

Once northbound again the road signs got me thinking that a fish n' chips stop at the famous Brighton Pier up the road might help make the 3 hour journey home feel a little less tedious and give me the pleasure of crossing off yet another city on my neverending list, so right about lunchtime we rolled in to the seaside town to find they'd even turned the sun back on for our arrival. Impressed by the arty vibe and surprised by the chic, we wandered on to find the not-so-bad-after-all pier and the seaside painters and studios adding their charm. A vinegar-saturated parcel and a Starbucks freshly brewed later we made a fews stops in some pretty fine sneaker stores and walked back to the car negotiating and navigating our way through the narrow alleys and the nooks and crannys of the bright Brighton lanes.

Generally impressed but disappointed at not bumping into Mr. Cave (who subsequently had a gig at a local venue later in the evening) we got back in the car for a few more hours of driving (and traffic jams) before joining another Australian and his buddies at the Dominion Theatre for some premium London worship Sydney style and a surprise dose of Ed Young. All in all a pretty nice day, I'd recommend anyone to stop by Brighton next time you're down that way.

The Peasant Princess

Mark Driscoll's latest series on love, lust, marriage and sex is making waves in the blogosphere and helping people all over the world come to terms with this ever-relevant topic. To check out the video podcasts, view the site and play a game of Whac-a-Fox, go to www.peasantprincess.com

Pics from One 08 London

Here's a few pics from the One 08 London event late last month.

The Uprising Is Here

Skateboarding legends Jay Alabamy Haizlip, Christian Hosoi and Brian Sumner's reality tv show The Uprising is now broadcasting at SteelRoots. With 4 episodes online so far the series is in full swing, and I must say I'm impressed with the quality of the production, the editing, the skateboarding and even the ultimate fighting....not to mention loads of inspiring clips showing the boys engage with skaters, bums and random teens, sharing their faith and praying with many. The Uprising is definitely a first when it comes to combining good skating and good times with some spiritual content and purpose. Check it out at www.steelroots.com