Brian McLaren is often seen as the public face of the Emerging Church (Movement). This is due (perhaps) to the fact that he has written so many books on the subject. Likewise, he is often outwardly attacked more often than any other leader of the emerging church (perhaps for the same reason).

In a recent post Brian has responded to his critics in a friendly yet firm manner. Now I have to admit that until lately I had not read or listened to much of Brian. I’m not sure why this is the case; but kinda felt uninspired and unmotivated. It’s interesting that while I was unwilling to read any of his works, I was not immune to the rumours that Brian was a “liberal,” “heretic,” “of the devil,” “Satanic,” and a “fundamentalist”. That many people are happy to form opinions on a subject (or person) without even engaging with the primary source is one of the issues Brian raises in his post (point 4), and Jordon Cooper continues and expands on (on behalf of Brian).

Anyway, recently (2-3 months ago) I heard a podcast on ‘Bleeding Purple’ where McLaren was being interviewed. As I listened to Brian speak I was taken back by his caring and pastoral heart. I heard in his voice, more than the words he spoke, a genuine love and concern for his listeners, his readers, his church, and his not-yet Christ following friends. Since then I have read his book ‘Generous Orthodoxy’ and again find a deep rooted love and concern for those who need to find Jesus. It is this same tone that I find in ‘A Friendly Note to My Critics’.

Brian may, or may not be many things – I don’t know. But I like and am drawn to that heart felt concern he has for those he encounters. It reminds me of a guy name Jesus who even when addressing his critics did it with love and compassion.

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Stephan Ridgeway was one of the interesting guys I met at the podcating and WIKI workshop I attended recently. Stephan bought in a heap of audio gear to help with recording our podcasts. He works as an eLearning Coordinator for Learning and Innovation in TAFE NSW (Sydney Institute) where pocasting, wikis and vblogging are utitilised.

He has two blogs that focus on podcating and web2.0 technology - ‘Casting the net podcasting’ and ‘Talking VTE Podcast’. Check them out. Both are a good resource if you want to start introducing podcasting, WIKIs and blogging to whatever you do.

Steve Addison writes;� � If you want to change something in your life, it’s common to try to stop the behaviors you don’t like. While this certainly seems logical, it seldom works. The reason is simple – it unintentionally creates a vacuum where the old behaviors used to be. And since nature hates a vacuum it will fill it with anything it can find – usually the very behaviors you’re trying to stop since they’re so familiar. Instead of stopping certain behaviors, try focusing on what you want to create – and the new behaviors you need to get there. Eventually, with practice, new behaviors will develop enough muscle to naturally replace the old ones.

� � Nature abhors a vacuum. François Rabelais (1494-1553)

Try This:

1. Notice any place in your life where you say you’ve got to stop doing something.
2. Shift your mind to think about what you need to start doing in that area.
3. Be specific. Write down the exact things you want to do.
4. Don’t admonish yourself for doing the old behaviors, rather stay focused on starting the new ones and the old ones will diminish on their own.