to the ones who feel like they're constantly defending please won't you stop for a second and help me on this shine some clarity on the situation because i really don't understand what it is about this that makes you not want to listen please help me recognise what it is that keeps you from engaging in this conversation as if taking some time to lend me your ears will result in a group of [...]
If you, like me, are a bit sick and tired and heading towards overwhelmed by all the bad news stories we have to take in online [from mass killings in Nigeria to dead cartoonists to children in schools re-enacting dog fights to live cattle being attacked in a turned over truck] then we should do something about it. There is so much to be done, and it can overwhelm, but ONE THING that can start [...]
So a lot of people without tattoos ask the question, 'Just how painful is it?' The reason they don't know is that it is a very tough question to answer. But i will give it a shot. Also it is important to know that where you get your tattoo makes a difference - while inside of the arm has some degree of pain to it, i can quite imagine it is not as bad as [...]
Following on from the previous post asking if it is okay for a follower of Jesus to get a tattoo, i thought i would share the story behind my tattoo: THE PLACE For the longest time i thought it was going to be tennis ball sized and on my left shoulder. Then quite recently, when i started seriously thinking about it [has been on and off thought for at least five years] i realised that [...]
i have been asked this question a lot, from the Christ-following perspective of 'Is it okay for a Christian to get a tattoo or not?' And then yesterday i got my first one and so my opinion on the matter should be pretty easy to figure out. The one verse i am aware of that speaks of it directly, can be found in Leviticus 19.28 which i thought said, 'Do not cut your bodies for the dead,' [...]
This is my buddy Dunc, who is my best friend from school and who tbV and i are currently staying with while we try find a place to live [as well as his wife Megan and sons Connor and Ryan]. Three times a week he intentionally causes me a lot of pain... ...and it's great! Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. Well, to be more accurate he ensures that [...]
One of the ways i am trying to prepare myself to be a part of a better conversation in South Africa in terms of race, reconciliation and unity is by learning some of the country's history... ...from different voices than i grew up with. To that effect, after my weekend at Robben Island, i got hold of a copy of Benjamin Pogrund's book titled, 'Robert Sobukwe: How Can Man Die Better' and just finished reading [...]
Too often, it has been the arrival of the question that has instantly muted the conversation. As i have sought to write [and invite others to] about topics such as Race and Reconciliation, the Church, Relationships and more, it has been disappointing to me how often a term [White Privilege] or phrase [We aren't currently part of a local church congregation] or idea [No sex before marriage] has sent people scurrying off back to where people [...]
i do not know all the answers. Let's start there, shall we. This is not a post from the guy who knows all the answers, trying to make you feel bad because you don't. In fact, at the moment i'm really just working on trying to figure out the right questions. I'm not expecting you to have all the answers, and i'm not claiming that you do and that you're ignoring them or a really [...]
From Worst Christian Book covers of 2014 to how to respond to Trolls or other people online you disagree strongly with, to a whole bunch of really helpful, insightful and great articles on race-related things and some reflections on our time at Robben Island, this has been another crazy week of much to read, watch and ingest, and i would hate for you to miss any of it and so i have compiled this Don't-Miss-Out [...]