Dear Cape Town church, i have an exciting opportunity for you. Knowing full well as someone who grew up in and about the church, that you tend to be busy with your things, whatever those things are. Your programs, and events, and services, and plans. And so the idea of stopping for another one will likely not appeal. But what if i told you that this is FREE firstly [always a bonus] and promises [...]
Have you taken a moment away from church, christianity, and religion to simply focus for a moment on Jesus? Pandemic time, and i would probably add American election time, has been a hard one for christians. How do you continue to follow God when the world is on fire? When church leaders around the world are being exposed for secret, often devastating sins? When churches fight tooth and nail to keep Sunday meetings happening [...]
How are things looking with regards to church diversity in South Africa? Meet Ben Ker, who has some thoughts around the church and their approach to unity in diversity. i am letting him use my space today to share some of those with you and he would love some engagement around them so please consider sharing some feedback: The Context In recent decades there has been a strong reaction against apartheid ideology in white [...]
This has been a week of observing leaders fighting it out in the US elections. All eyes were on America to see if the people would choose Unity over Divisiveness and Humanity over Malignant and Destructive Narcissism [SPOILER ALERT: Over 70 million people still voted for Donald Trump!] while lamenting the fact that in a country of more than 3 hundred million people the choice came down to one of these two flawed individuals. [...]
They don't like swearing in the church! Well, not in a lot of churches in i know. And i'm not talking about the 'F' word either. i am talking about the 'S' word. Saying that can get you into a LOT of trouble. That's right, while 'Fund-raising' is a perfectly acceptable - some might say 'Holy' - term, and can happen through a variety of methods such as tithes and offerings or even a [...]
Blessed are the rich... for they shall be spared sermons! Rene August [preaching at St Johns Anglican church yesterday] didn't quite say those words, but she might as well have. And they feel largely true. One thing Rene did say was this: 'The church has so many programs to help alleviate poverty. The church has no programs to help people alleviate greed.' [which i think was a quote of Bishop Zac Niringiye] Two other [...]
Do you love Jesus? Are you trying to follow Him? i recently compiled a list of 40 tips on some different ways you can be a better disciple. This list is a summary of those tips with a brief explanation of each one, but if you click on each tip it will take you to longer version so you can read a little more deeply. Would love to hear which of these you found [...]
The final five tips in our #4oTipsForChristFollowers series and there are some really good ones here: #36 Do something for the least of these. In Matthew 25 Jesus gives us this beautiful and terrifying parable of a time of judgement to come where the King stands before two distinct groups of people, categorised in the story as sheep and goats. 'Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are [...]
#21 Trust God without a backup plan. Sho, this is a tricky one, because it might seem to contradict Tip #4 which was about reconnecting your brain [Love God with all your mind!] and all i can say is that sometimes we have to hold seemingly contradictory ideas in tension. The best example of this has to be in 2 Kings 4 where Elisha is confronted by the death of a child [whose birth [...]
#16 Stop putting people on pedestals. The reason i prefer to call myself a Jesus follower than a christian is because it reminds me that i need to be following Jesus. [the title really doesn't matter, but how we live our lives completely does!] i have been inspired by many other Christ followers [with Keith Green and his story in the book 'No Compromise' one of the most influential, but more recently people like [...]
