I spider with my little eye…
Just a few moments ago, crawling up my wall. And my initial instinct was not to grab a book and smoosh him. And to be honest, it hasn’t been that for a while. […]
WHAT IF… Christmas was not about me?
Okay, so WELCOME to my new ongoing series where i ask a WHAT IF question and invite you to respond, and possibly say a few things myself, or not. Today’s question and the first of the series is WHAT IF CHRISTMAS WAS NOT ALL ABOUT ME? […]
To Prosperity add Justice
This will be the last share of the chapter from Ron Sider’s super-challenging book, ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’ [do yourselves a favour and get hold of a copy and let it ruin you in the best of ways!] We ended the last post with: The threat of a curse always accompanied the promise of blessing […]
Saying “No” to good things.
i just emailed someone to excuse myself from a creative planning dreaming meeting on Wednesday. i imagine it is going to be an amazing meeting. i believe i would have gotten a lot out of it and also hopefully been able to put a lot into it. But i realised on the weekend, that i don’t have the capacity for that meeting […]
Prosperity as a Blessing from God
Continuing with a read through of this chapter from Ron Sider’s ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’ starting where we left off: Possessions are highly dangerous. They lead to a multitude of sins, including idolatry. Western Christians today desperately need to turn away from their covetous civilisation’s grasping materialism. = = = = = THE RING AND THE BELOVED Possessions are dangerous. But they are not innately evil. Biblical revelation begins with creation. And [...]
Tis the season to be Grinchy
Christmas is coming! For different people that means different things. i like to start referring to myself as ‘The Grinch’ as Christmas approaches, but it’s not entirely true. […]
Tossing the Greedy out of the Church
As we continue to seek out A Carefree Attitude Towards Possessions through the lens of Ron Sider’s challenging book, ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’ let me go back a paragraph to remind us where we are and then continue with words i hope you will wrestle with and share with your friends: = = = = = Matthew, Mark and Luke all recall the terrible warning: “How hard it is for those who [...]
Sell all of our possessions?
Continuing the passage i am sharing from the Ron Sider book, ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’, i’ll back up one paragraph just to remind us where we were: = = = = = If there are poor people who need assistance, Jesus’ carefree disciple will help – even if that means selling possessions. People are vastly more important than property. “Laying up treasure in heaven” means exactly the same thing. “In Jewish literature, [...]
I Write What I Like – Steve Biko: The External and Internal Forces
A while back i shared a number of passages from the Steve Biko book: I Write What I Want. Which are all well worth checking out, as is the whole book if you get the chance. i found one more i would like to share with you which is an example of Steve’s conduct while under hostile examination as well as his ‘perceptive understanding of the difference of black and white uses of language’. This comes [...]
How To Make Church Longer
Cos that is what everyone is thinking on a Sunday, right? How can i make this longer? Ha. i doubt it. This morning i will be preaching at my buddy Rob’s church, Mercy Vineyard, in Bergvliet. My biggest hope is that when i end the message, the message doesn’t end. […]