this psalm is like a shout out to the world - to those who are rich and those who are poor - with the major theme being the question of where you put your trust. the psalmist suggests that putting your truth in your wealth is not a sign of wisdom: 'Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me — those who trust in their wealth and boast of their [...]
so i arrive late at my waitering shift last nite and the restaurant seems to be in a bit of chaos. to make it worse i have not worked there for a long period of time and so things and not where i remember them to be. tables are already waiting for me so i grab my stuff and head to the first table, not looking all that presentable as i have literally thrown on [...]
i posted a Bonhoeffer quote the other day on the book of facings and the tier of twit that got an insanely hectic amount of likes on it, and despite it being a deliberately Christian statement, a fair amount of those likes were from people who would not label themselves as such: 'Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.' [Dietrich Bonhoeffer] clearly what Bonhoeffer says [...]
one of my favourite pics ever! some friends of mine ran a worship camp in the middle of a farm in Namibia and i was part of helping put the thing together - one of the best aspects was being out of cellphone contact and apart from some electricity for instruments it was amazing to be almost completely 'unplugged' for the four days of camping [knowing that hot water could be boiled on the fire [...]
Answering the ‘baby’ question The way I work through things is different to how many others do. I experience something, think and pray about it and when I feel that I’ve heard God about something, I write about it. Sharing what God has taught me in challenging situations is like the ‘acceptance’ phase of grief. This blog post has been several months in the making and tells the story of something that we have battled [...]
Wow, this is a great little psalm - just a delightful praise-filled mantra, but there were one or two lines which really jumped out at me: verse 9 reads, 'Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.' if you read the second half of the Bible carefully, you quickly find out that God's temple is us - the Holy Spirit of Jesus resides in us, guiding and nudging and pointing us back towards God... [...]
a short while ago two South Africans sparked an international discussion about racism, guilt and responsibility when they printed and distributed forty t-shirts with the slogan 'I benefited from apartheid' written on them: well-known political satirist Jonathan Shapiro [aka Zapiro] came up with this minimalistic but powerful cartoon which expressed his take on the matter: are they right? yes, for sure, i definitely [...]
In Mark 4 verse 1 to 20 Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seed that confuses His disciples so much that He has to sit with them later and explain it a little more clearly to them - and even today it seems we have different ideas of what He was saying or what He could be meaning so i guess it makes sense to wrestle with it and see what makes [...]
this last weekend i got to go away with my three best men - Regan Didloff, Rob Lloyd and Duncan Houston - to this great secluded cottage in Betty's Bay and i picked up this book called 'The Gospel according to Peanuts' by Robert L Short [where old people may know that 'Peanuts' refers to the life and adventures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy and friends] in it, he quoted this verse from psalm 137 [...]
i really like this picture of me and the reason i chose it for this particular challenge is the idea of casting a wider shadow. the past 18 months i spent as part of a non-profit organisation called the Simple Way which in some cases meant a broadening of shadow as i was given the potential to influence [to some extent] an organisation that is world-known and has an extended sphere of influence and audience... [...]