Snow in Benoni

How awesome is this...last night it snowed in Benoni for the first time in 26 years...here are some pics (for more check out this link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4243&l=3244a&id=602648689)

Happy Birthday Tayla!

Today is my daughter's first birthday...happy birthday my girl.

Orthodoxy

On an email forum that Methodist Ministers in Southern Africa have there was a debate (argument) about orthodoxy. I responded by writing this post:

I was thinking about this orthodoxy stuff and I have been challenged many time in the past couple of years about “what is right” when it comes to our Theology (knowledge of God). In my devotions I use a little book called A guide to prayer for ministers and other servants and this week I came across a very intriguing quote from Anthony Bloom regarding the knowledge of God (I believe this informs us also about the knowledge of how God operates and how we respond in our religion). In the passage quoted in A guide to prayer he uses the illustration of the Buddhist Salt Doll who gradually gets to know the sea by being dissolved more and more into the sea (if you do not know the story…Google it). This was an excellent illustration, but what intrigued me more was what he said after using the quote. He said:


“The process of the gradual discovery of God leads us at every moment to stand with our past experience behind us and the mystery of God knowable and still unknown before us. The little we know of God makes it difficult for us to learn more, because the more cannot simply be added to the little, since every meeting brings such a change of perspective that what was known before becomes almost untrue in the light of what is known later (italics mine).”


We grow gradually into the knowledge of God throughout our lives until the end of our life and we will continue to know God into eternity. However we will never come to a point at which we will know all there is to know about God. When we realise this, we firstly stay in awe and wonder of this God and realise that perhaps we do not have the monopoly on knowledge of God. In recent times I have become painfully aware of how arrogant people can become about their religion and theology. People can become downright nasty when someone does not agree with their brand of God-knowledge. Truth be told, we all know God differently. Much of the time our knowledge of God will coincide, but often it won’t.

Much of the division in the church has come about because there are differing views on Scripture and Doctrine. In my observation I have only seen good things come from Christians (and other Religions devotees) when they were able to set aside their differences and work together in their similarities. Sadly we spend far too much energy trying to convince one another that the other is wrong and not enough time celebrating what we do have in common. I know that as long as we remain human we will always differ and always feel the need to convince others of our positions (we feel safe in numbers). I believe it to be good that we continue to debate our positions because it keeps us honest and continues to grow us. We can only learn from one another in this process…but only if we allow ourselves to learn.

Check out this blog for an interesting insight on orthodoxy:

http://stphransus.blogspot.com/2006/12/orthodoxy-paradox.html

I also liked this pic used in the above post:

On Holiday in Sedgefield

We are on Holiday in Sedgefield at the moment and I decided to go extreme...check it out

How much are you worth?

Apparently I am worth $1.96 million (about R13.72 million)...are there any takers. I wonder if you can get finance for this.




I am worth $1,959,330 on HumanForSale.com
How much are you worth?

Pics of Tayla

 

Delight in the Lord

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Now I'm not too concerned with the second part of the verse but in the delight in the Lord part. I have been painfully aware of my colleagues in my denomination and my delight in theology and the discussion there of. I wonder how many of us just simply Delight in the Lord and not so much in the debate as to whose write or wrong (I am refering to my own theological arrogance as well as the debates that ring in the cyber channels of our denomination). Here is a simple illustration of delight...my daughter in a "jolly jumper". I wonder when last any of us delighted in God like this.



Stay online for a picture update on Tayla

I hate being Christian!

When it comes to people like this I hate being Christian purely on the basis that I am lumped together with them...let me know your thoughts.

Spirituality, Technology and of course gadgets

I recently came across a wonderful online meditation labyrinth put together by the Methodist Church in the UK. I found it fascinating that, even in the hustle and bustle of cyberspace, you can stop and pray through meditation. For those of you that think Labyrinth's are a bit new age, allow yourself to realise that God is not limited only to our cultural constructs...be open minded and allow God to use this tool to bless you and the world. Here is the link:

http://www.lostinwonder.org.uk/

Oh and for all my gadgety friends out there, here is a link to iMates new, very cool, toys:

https://www.clubimate.com/ultimate/

I should be getting my new iMate at the end of March...it is only a KJam but still pretty cool (the HTC Tytn was R2000 extra for the upgrade). I intend to continue using my HP iPaq6515 as a stand alone GPS. I'm "gatvol" for carrying around a brick (a cool one at that though). Here is some info on the KJam:

http://www.imate.com/t-DETAILS_KJAM.aspx

Maybe one day I can get a "real phone" that won't keep hanging (hmph...Windows) and upgrade to Apple's iPhone. As it stands now though, it is too expensive, unavailable in SA and not as versatile as a Pocket PC...but wait I'm certain it will be. For those of you that haven't seen it here is a link to Apple's iPhone webpage:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Blessings

Christ and the Chocolaterie - Giving up: A prelude to change

At our Church we are running a Lenten series called Christ and the Chocolaterie based on the Movie Chocolat. I have decided that I would post my sermons that I preach on my blog like I did for our Advent series. Be blessed but please don't plagerise if you are a preacher and are doing the same series at your church.


Christ and the Chocolaterie: Giving up – The prelude to change

Readings: Matthew 4:1-11, 18-22

Aim: To instil an attitude that sees giving up as a means to an end (transformation) and not an end in itself.

Introduction

We are approaching Lent – what is it?
· We are rapidly approaching the season of Lent which finds its equivalent in Advent with respect to Easter. It is basically a time recalling the 40 days of Jesus’ time in the desert as he fasted in preparation for his ministry. Lent is exercised by most of the Christian world in varying aspects and the premise is that someone is encouraged to give up something for Lent as a discipline and preparation for Easter (the time we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.)
Introduce the Series – Lent is about self-denial
· Our series is called Christ and the Chocolaterie and we will be following it over the next five weeks during this time of Lent as a different yet truly accurate approach to Lent. In the season of Lent, talk about self-denial, about giving things up, is very familiar language. Often we try to 'give something up' for Lent - our favourite food, fizzy drink, watching TV, pizza or … dum dum da chocolate. Thus the reason there is emphasis on the Chocolaterie and the movie Chocolat.
Cell Groups following movie – we will recap the movie every week
· The cell groups will be following the movie closely but I would encourage you, if you have not yet seen the movie, to watch it as we will make reference to various scenes. Don’t worry, we will also continue to paint the picture for those who have not seen it. To give you an idea of the plot of the movie, I will give you a summery.
Movie summery
· In the movie a woman and her daughter (who are seemingly nomadic chocolatiers) come to a small French community during Lent and open up, of all the self-indulgent things, a chocolate shop, to tempt all of the good Catholic townsfolk from their disciplined self-sacrificing ways, or at least this is the perception of the Mayor who is also the Count of the village. He makes it his business to keep this little community faithful to the Lenten discipline. He himself practices the utmost self-denial, eating hardly anything at all, and then only perhaps some bread. To him, denial seems to mean no joy, no fun, and no freedom. He is so overwhelmed and weighed down by his self-denial, that on Easter Eve, just before the end of Lent he breaks down, breaks into the chocolate shop, and ends up eating himself sick, to be found lying in a chocolate mess on Easter morning. In the end the townsfolk, including the Comte, celebrate the transformation that had happened in the town over Lent.
Idea of Giving up not an end but a means to an end
· Today, in following the theme, I would like to look at the idea of “Giving up”, not as an end in itself but as a means to an end…change and transformation.

1. What of giving up?

Bible makes reference to giving up
· So what of giving up, why do we do it during lent, why are encouraged to do it all the time? There are many references to giving up something in the bible. Jesus tells us that we should deny ourselves and follow him. The disciples give up their regular lives to follow Jesus and so on.
Movie has two extremes
· In the movie we are presented with two extremes during the time of Lent in this small French village. One the one hand there is extreme self-denial and on the other extreme self-indulgence.
Comte = Self-denial (show clip)
· The literary device of the first extreme is the Comte or Count who is the Mayor of the town. I want to show you a clip from the movie where he exercises this extreme self-denial (Show Movie Clip – at 7h00 allude to the clip).
Comte’s devotion misguided
· Here we have a situation where the Comte is very sincere about his faith and spiritual discipline. The problem arises, as we continue to watch the movie, that the devotion is misguided. He fasted during Lent for the sake of fasting. It was legalistically driven as so led him to a point of misery and guilt.
Other extreme is Vianne
· The other extreme is the chocolatier, Vianne, who encourages the villagers to indulge in the chocolate treats that she makes even though she knows that they are in the period of Lent.
Both have + and -
· In both cases one can recognise both positive and negative aspects. The Comte, in his desire to be devout with an end to freedom from sin, ends up feeling guilty. Vianne, in her desire to free the people’s minds to enjoy life, ends up feeding chocolate to a diabetic which eventually leads to her death.
The positives of the extemes
· Now this is not to say that there were not positives in either of these approaches. The Comte, in his sincerity of his devotion, brings honour to Christ in his life…he was not a bad person. Vianne, with her zeal to bring joy to people’s lives through her chocolate, brings about healing in people’s relationships and lives.
Self-denial and Self-Indulgence, in moderation, should lead to transformation
· I believe wholeheartedly that the lesson to be learnt here is that holism is the way to go. To understand that one needs to approach life in a holistic manner. Self-Denial as well as Self- Indulgence is neither good not bad, they are merely things that need to be done moderately and ultimately with a view to transformation.
We learn this from Jesus and disciples
· And this is what we learn from Jesus and his disciples - transformation.

2. Jesus and the Disciples – a view to transformation

Jesus and Satan in the desert
· In our readings today we are introduced to two incidences where someone gave something up…something important. Jesus enters the desert for 40 days. The desert is described as a place of loneliness and desolation. It is a place of discomfort and was certain no walk in the park for Jesus, as we are told. Here, we are told he is tempted by Satan to give up all this nonsense of self-denial and satisfy his immediate needs and desire. He refuses and continues to “prepare himself for his ministry”. From then on he would never be the same again, he would never do the same things again…he would never return to be a Carpenter.
Disciples following Christ
· The same applies to the disciples; they gave up their livelihoods to follow Jesus...why? It was a view to change, to transformation. They knew their lives would never be the same again; they would never go back to fishing.
Changed Lives lead to world transformation
· In both instances the process of giving something up led to a major life change in which they would effectively live out lives that caused transformation in other…in the world. They did not give up anything for the sake of it and neither of the things they gave up was easy to give up.

Conclusion

Give up lent for lent if it isn’t leading to transformation
· In this time of Lent, we are encouraged to deny ourselves of something. If that something is going to be too easy or if that something is going to be given up for the sake of it, then this is my encouragement…Give up Lent for Lent because there would be no point to giving it up.
Give up some that is difficult
· If however you are truly in search of transformation in your life and you believe that your transformation will also lead to the transformation of others, then search for something hard to give up. Let that fasting from that thing be focussed on transformation. Don’t brag about what you’re giving up; merely say that you are on a journey of transformation.
Let Christ be the focus
· Most of all, let Christ be the reason you do it, allow him to do the transformation in your life. Every time you desire that thing…ask for your life to be transformed.
Parting shot
· I want to leave us then with this thought in our minds…”What is the point of giving up something for Lent if the goal is not transformation?”

Amen

Well, I feel so bad for not updating my blog…I would even be surprised if anybody will read it anymore. I hope to keep up my blog over the next while.

There are a couple of things to write about…Tayla, what’s ahead for the year and next year’s exciting new venture.

As far as Tayla is concerned she has changed sooo much. I can hardly believe that she is 8 months old now. There are so many things that she is doing now that I can hardly remember that she was ever unable to lift her head or make co-ordinated movements. I told someone the other day that she was moving around but not yet crawling. One moment she is laying on her donut the next she busy gnawing on the table leg. She sits up quite nicely and the most incredible thing now is that she is saying Mama (even sometimes calling out to Ash when she is upset.) She is also eating very nicely. We took a view that she should eat only fresh Fruit and Veg. The only type of cooking of the Veg is steaming them. Here are some pictures to see what she looks like now:

Me and my DAD

My Family

Playing Silly Buggers

Me and My friends, Tinyiko and Keryn (at Keryn's 1st birthday party)

Fun in the sun

This year is an exciting one for me since it is my Ordination year. I will be ordained in September in the Beautiful town of Stellenbosch in the Cape. I have asked the Rev. Neill Robinson and the Rev. Dr. Dion Foster (better known as digitaldion) to be my Presbyters. They both have had an incredible influence on my ministry and I believe that I will be blessed to have them being part of this special day. Of course, with Ordination, comes the privilege of being able to accept an invitation to labour at a Church. This brings me to my next point.

In January I received some sad news and that was that I would not be able to continue my ministry at Benoni Central due to financial constraints. This was the beginning of somewhat of an anxious couple of weeks. To cut a long story short, when I put myself out there I received an overwhelming interest form various churches. In the end after much deliberation and prayer we decided that accepting an invitation to the Church Street Society in the Wynberg Circuit in Cape Town was the way to go. We are very sad to leave Benoni since we both grew up there but also love the Church we’re in. We are very excited about moving to Cape Town since we have wanted to move there for some time now. It is the most beautiful place in the country. We are looking forward the lifestyle that is waiting for us in Cape Town.

Well there we have it, I broke the 2007 seal for blogging. I hope that I keep it up.