Instead of 'simple little stories' and a 'half hearted Gospel' why not preach a REAL sermon this Christmas - here are a few pointers from others.

I have been in the ministry for almost 16 years. In those 16 years I have wasted hours of very kind people's time lulling them into a sense of false security - sadly, I have to confess that very often my aim at Christmas is to preach a 'good' message. I aim to preach a message that will entertain my congregation. Because so many of them don't come to Church very often the last thing in the world I want to do is say or do anything that may cause anyone to feel uncomfortable (or God forbid, challenged to change!)

So, I tell little stories, I entertain the kids, and I make sure that we sing a healthy diet of well known Christmas hymns.

Sadly, the one who is most betrayed by my lack of courage is the One who came at Christmas - the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord.

So, this year I shall try to be a little more courageous. I will still do my best to be welcoming, hospitable, gracious in communicating, helping each and ever person to feel as welcome and accepted in Christ's Church as I can... But, this year I am to do my best to represent Christ in my Christmas message, not my own fears, and not the sensitivity of the Church...

In reality our members LONG for truth, and our visitors NEED it as much as we do! So, for me it will be 'the truth in love'....

Paul Duke, from First Baptist Church (Ann Arbor, Michigan), is one of the very best preachers I have ever heard! He crafts engaging and challenging thoughts together with skill and accuracy. His choice of images, words, and phrases touch my heart with the Gospel of Christ. I download every sermon that he preaches (in MP3) and listen to them while I drive.

Here's his message entitled : Into our world (reading Luke 2:1-20)

Here's an example of a gracious, yet honest and courageous, Christmas message...

If you come to the service tonight, you’ll hear and sing gorgeous music. Interspersed with this music you’ll hear some of the loveliest texts in Scripture, poetry and prose declaring the birth of the Christ Child. You’ll hear those texts in the old King James Version, not only because of its beautiful cadences, but because that’s the language we’re used to at Christmas, and as I learned some time ago, you just don’t mess with Christmas tradition.

The most famous text tonight will be the Christmas story told by Luke. In the stately old language we’ll hear that Mary was “espoused to Joseph, being great with child.” And the shepherds were “sore afraid” and said to one another, “Let us go now even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass.”

We’ve read the same text this morning, but the translation is form our own time. Mary and Joseph are not espoused, but engaged; she isn’t great with child, she’s expecting. The shepherds aren’t sore afraid, they’re terrified. Etcetera. The old language is very dear because it’s so magical; the newer language is essential because it’s more earthy and real.

Speaking of earthy, some earthy details always go unmentioned. This man and woman are poor people. She’s drenched in sweat, she screams in pain. There is blood. The baby squeezed out is smeared with blood. He trembles and cries; he’s traumatized. They put him in a feed-box. And surrounding all this is the smell of manure. Silent night? Of course not. It’s a bloody, writhing, howling, stinking night. We tell the story in heavenly language, but beneath it is the messy real world.

Luke has another way of making this clear. He names the current administration. This happened, he says, when the emperor was Augustus and the governor of Syria was Quirinius. It’s as if he is saying: the story I’m telling may have the flavor of a fairy tale, once upon a time in a misty dreamland; but I’ll give you names from the actual politics of that time – here are secular coordinates for this birth, which incidentally occurred in a town you can find on a map. It’s exactly like saying: When George W. Bush was president of the United States and Jennifer Granholm was governor of Michigan, Mary and Joe came to Ypsilanti .

Listen, I know, as you know, that to a great many people, for understandable reasons, parts of the Christmas story are mythical or simply nonsense– a virgin giving birth, angels singing in the sky. But do notice that the central proclamation of this account is that Mary’s baby is born into the actual world in a definite place in a particular economy, under a specific government, led by actual men in real positions of power. Into the stark real world, our world, the Christ Child emerges.

It’s what we celebrate at Christmas: God is in this Child, and God in a new way has entered the real world we live in.

It’s a messy world. “Happily ever after” isn’t true for anyone. Things fall apart. We make dreadful mistakes, and our institutions fail us, and the rulers of nations make disastrous choices. Random calamity threatens us all. Human anguish and suffering are too much to take in. Resources are too short for too many. Relationships are complicated; most grow painful and sad. And death is stalking us all. Sometimes it seems everything is confusion and struggle. It’s messy where we live.

And into that, exactly that, the Christ Child arrives. His hands will not be clean. His mind will reel with turbulence. His relationships will mostly fail. He’ll put himself at the center of sick religion, masses of misguided people, corrupt institutions, politics, cruelty, lethal violence. And God is in him taking hold of that world, our world.

It’s still true, isn’t it? Emmanuel means God is in all these messes with us. He is present in the largest and ugliest of them. He stands among the millions crushed by poverty, among the millions dying of epidemic disease. He stands among the bombs and bullet and the thousands on thousands who are struck down. He is present in all that wreckage, and suffers it, and over it he achingly breathes possibilities for transformation. But Christ is not only in these huge devastations; he is in the smaller places of our messy lives. When we are in conflict with another, he stands there between us. When we are ruined and grieving what we’ve lost, he sits beside us. When we are paralyzed with confusion, he joins us. When we have done wrong, he takes his place with us.

Hear it again. Love came down at Christmas, all the way down. Into our world, the real one where we struggle to live, Christ is born to live among us, to bear what we bear, but more, to haunt us in it, meet us in it, calling us into life.

It should make a great deal of difference. If our world, all of it, is inhabited by Christ, then nothing is finally hopeless here. And this is our warrant to take hold of the world as he did and to join him in transforming it. Like him, with great passion, we must be worldly. To lift people out of poverty, to put an end to warring madness, to establish justice, to feed the hungry and heal the sick and embrace the excluded, to lead the hopeless into hope – Christ is born into all this pragmatic, earthy work, and meets us in it and strengthens us for it. So nothing is hopeless; anything can change.

We can change how we look at the world, how we look at ourselves and how we look at each other. Love has come so beautifully down, infusing all of our world, transforming everything and everyone, if only we open our eyes to it. There’s a poem I’ve recited here before; I don’t know who wrote it, but it belongs to any Christmas Eve.

Whether you share the poor man’s mite

Or taste the king’s own fare,

He whom you go to seek tonight

Will meet you everywhere.

For he is where the cattle wend

And where the planets shine.

Lo, he is in your eyes, my friend

Stand still and look in mine.

If Christmas is magical at all, this is it: to see the world around us and the people before us, suddenly luminous with the holy, the great Love looking from their eyes, and from yours.

All of us know that the meaning of any sentence will shift, depending on where the accent is placed. Maybe for you this year the accent doesn’t fall where I have placed it today, but I’ve heard it falling on what has come to where we actually are: “To us a child is born; to us a son is given.” “Don’t be afraid . . .to you is born a Savior.” “Peace on earth.” “Joy to the world” – your world and mine – “the Lord has come.”

Merry Christmas.

I found another amazing sermon called 'The project' (on the famous New Testament scholar, Ben Witherington's blog) - it is also a challenging and creative message (by Craig Hill, another Biblical scholar), it shows such incredible insight into the complexity of our human condition, what drives and motivates people, and encourages the hearer to adapt their 'life's project' without being condemnatory or moralistic.

On a final note, here are some exceptional tips for anyone who wants to approach the message of Christmas with intent and creativity.

Irene Village Mall - where spending meets art nouveau (take a look at the cow in the parking lot)... [Pic]

The 'green concern' has taken on new proportions at the Irene Village Mall in Pretoria. Yesterday I went to meet a new friend Aiden Choles from 'the narrative pulse'.

It was great to meet Aiden! He is a remarkable guy who is doing incredible work in his consultancy. In essence his consultancy helps companies (large, like Anglo American, and smaller companies) to recognise, diagnose, and deal with complex problems (whether these are corporate problems, or problems within that industry. Some even come from wider society and the market place).

We met half way between our places of work (he is from JHB and I'm from Pretoria). So we had coffee at the new (and IMPRESSIVE Irene Village Mall).

As I drove into the parking lot I knew this was going to be a different mall... Just in front of my car was a 2 storey tall Cow (yes, it was certainly a cow - it has udders), sitting in a pond!

In the main square there is another cow (with just its feet and udders) coming out of the ground!

The time spent with Aiden was fantastic - thanks for the thought provoking and inspirational conversation Aiden. I look forward to meeting him again. And, the Irene Country Mall is wonderful! I look forward to going there again!

Another one for Africa! Take a guess. What is the fastest growing city in the world?

I am not sure if you have ever seen the film "Idiocracy"? It has a pretty interesting story line. Without giving too much of the truly shallow plot away, here's what the movie is about:

• In evolutionary terms the fittest species survive, while the weaker species die out.
• Perhaps some of the things that we have come to value are not exactly what the 'evolutionary' universe values as 'fit'.... FOR EXAMPLE,
• In the movie the 'average' middle class American couple (with good jobs, a nice house with a mortgage, two cars etc.) are too busy with their lives, their careers, and their debts to have children - or they are so precise about planing when and how to have their children that they end up with NO kids, or if they are brave enough to throw caution to the wind they may have 1 child (because let's be honest, you can't afford to educate, clothe, and care for more than one child with only TWO salaries these days!)
• The 'Jerry Springer' crowd (what the Americans would call Trailer Trash, and the Brits, Chavs), however, procreate indiscriminately, or at least that's what the film suggests. Mothers will often have more than one child from more than one father, whilst fathers will often father more than one child with more than one mother... You get the picture. So, the average 'in discriminant breeder' will have say, 8 children in their lifetime.
• Now, if you do the Math you will see that the 'clever', cautious people, will eventually die out. If they are lucky and had a child, their one child, who is well educated, and has a good career, and wants to make sound financial choices, MAY have 1 child him or herself, but then again this person may choose not to have any children at all. However, the less clever, hell for leather, breeders will each have 8 children who in turn will have 8 children.... You get the picture.
• What is the long and the short of it? The breeders, not the thinkers, survive. And because the breeders are supposedly less clever (according to the movie) their children share in that same gene pool, which gets weaker with each successive generation.
• Watch the movie - what you end up with is... let's not say anymore.
  

So, our choices are, breed OR die... Here's the trailer for the movie:

Anyway, if that is the case then I think we are on a fairly good wicket here in Africa. You see (and here's the amazing jump) we have the world's FASTEST GROWING CITY! It is Lagos in Nigeria.

Now please hear me clearly I am NOT saying that Nigerians, or the citizens of Lagos, are NOT clever! In fact quite the opposite... I think it is great that we have a city in Africa that is growing.... Who knows, if the movie idiocracy is indeed true, we could find ourselves as the ONLY survivors on planet earth!?

Amazing!

Lagos is now considered the 'New York' city of Africa! If you don't believe me follow this link and watch the video report....

Technorati tags: idiocracy, evolution, Lagos Nigeria, fastest growing city in the world, extinct

I fear that God may judge me.... For having a Medical Aid scheme

Megan and I have been truly thankful for our medical aid scheme. We are members of one of the larger private medical health administration schemes in Southern Africa. They have offered us good care.

Sure, our benefits could be better... Sometimes we feel the pinch when we have to take one of our kids to a doctor, or if Liam has to see a specialist more than once in a month and we have to find R500 each time to pay up front.

However, we have good hospital care. This last stint that Liam spent in hospital (just under a week) will only cost us about R9 000 - which is the maximum we should ever have to pay for covered care. Sure, when our little guy was in ICU for a few months we ran out of cover and ended up taking a second bond on our home to pay that off. However, for all intents and purposes we probably only paid for about few weeks of ICU care, whereas the medical aid scheme paid for months!

We have nothing to complain about.

Yesterday the nurse who looks after Liam fell ill. She was truly not well! So, Megie and I took her to our local doctor (knowing that there was no way that she would get to see a doctor within a day, let alone on the same night, at a government clinic). She was bent over in pain. Our doctors gave her compassionate and expert care - unlike many other doctors in the country they are not overworked, under inordinate pressure, under equipped, or under staffed.

They are able to offer the care they can because they serve people like us, people who have money to pay.

Our nurse, however, is not one of those people. She has to rely on the overburdened public health system. In a nation where the death rate has exceeded the birth rate (because of HIV / AIDS) that is a SCARY thought! In truth, unless you are dying it is unlikely that you will get swift care... That is not an indictment on the women and men who do their best to offer the best possibel care for the most possible people, under less than ideal circumstances....

NO, it is an indictment upon me...

I am one of those persons who 'props' up the system of abuse that ensures that people who have money (not people who are most in need of treatment and care) receive the best, fasted, and friendliest care...

Something is wrong with this picture! Sadly, I don't have the courage to change it. I cannot bear the thought of giving up my medical aid - I fear for the life of my children. But, by the same token I cannot bear that my medical aid contributes to the widening gap of care that exists.

Lord, help me!

Surely there must be a better system where those who have give so that those who don't can also have?

I know that Megan and I can make a difference in the life of this one woman, but I long to change a nation. I long for us to change the world so that it reflects the Kingdom of God! I long for a world where everyone can have the best, fastest, friendliest, and necessary care - not because they have money, but simply because they are human. I need to pray, and think, and work - but in the meantime I need to repent. I have unwittingly contributed towards the suffering of others.

A system that turns the suffering of others into a commodity MUST be wrong, and if it is wrong, then I have a responsibility to change it.

Today I pray for all those people who did not sleep last night because they, or someone they love, is sick... They're sick and they know they cannot access the treatment they need... Today I pray for all doctors, nurses, care givers, and healers, who wish they could do more for those who 'live their lives in the dark', 'giving all that they can, wishing they could give more'...

Technorati tags: Medical Aid, God's judgement, The Kingdom of God, prayer for healing, change the world

Liam already love's my Mac! Good boy!

A great application for Mobile Blogging! Shozu, post photos directly from your cell phone to your blog.

I guess the title says it all!

I have been looking for an application that will allow me to post photos to my blog directly from my mobile phone - that is exactly what Shozu does!

I signed up for my Shozu account and can post photos take on my phone directly to Blogger, Facebook, and a host of other social networking services (like Flickr, Typepad etc.) Unfortunately you can't enter text in the body of your post (Shozu only allows you to post the photo together with a title - I may be missing something, so if someone knows how to post text for the body of the post please drop me a line!) However, all that I do is take the photo and then email it to the email address that Shozu gave me, and viola, within second the photo appears with my heading and the little Shozu icon you see above.

I am aware that you can also send photos via MMS (if your phone supports MMS).

I did try the blogger mobile posting service - but like many other similar services it only works in the USA.

So, expect to see a photos posted here in the weeks to come. I will be on holiday with my family in Knysna and Durban for two weeks, so I'll send a few photos through during that period.

Have a blessed day, and a blessed week. Remember to take time during advent to ponder the significance of God born among us!

Technorati tags: iphone blogger, Shozu, posting photos from your phone to your blog, facebook, flickr

My wonderful wife taking care of our little Liam.

A video of me taking my Vespa for a little ride in the country ;-) [Vid]

Yup, those lazy Sunday mornings... Nothing better to do than take my Vespa for a gentle spin the country.

Thankfully someone was on hand with a camera to catch the leisurely event!

PS. You'll notice that's not me (sure, my style is the same... But this is small frame Vespa - probably a 50cc, perphaps a 125cc!)

Technorati tags: Vespa Wheelie, Vespa, Vespa Video

The Church of Vespa! The Pretoria Vespa fun ride [Pics]

This morning I was not preaching, although I was engaged in a sacred activity. The Monks of the 13th century called it otium sanctum (that's Latin for 'Holy leisure').

This morning I met up with about 20 other Vespa riders at the Pretoria Vespa showroom in Duncan Street Pretoria (that is a place of great temptation for me! They have THE MOST incredible stuff for sale - caps, jackets, mugs, clocks, books, AND OF COURSE, all the latest Vespa models! I think the time may have come to sell my kidneys to buy the NEW GTS250ie!!!)

Anyway, Markus and Freddie were there to meet us, and within about 30 minutes 20 0r so new (and some slightly older) Vespa's had arrived (with their owners, and owners' spouses of course). It could be a scene from an alley way in Italy! The bikes were looking great, and so were their owners.

These folks were in for a morning of fun, relaxation, and enjoyment - they were here to enjoy God's good creation (and of course God's preferred mode of transportation, the Vespa!) I felt tempted to go on my 'beast' so that I could ride with them.... But I thought they may just smurk at a BMW among the stylish Vespas... So, instead I took my Orange Bomber (my 1967 Vespa Sprint 150cc - pictured here). You can see in the photo at the top that my old Girl is parked in the background, but just look at this incredible PX200 collectors item. This bike came standard with white wall tires, a brown leather seat and all the Chrome. It was one of the last 10 two-stroke Vespa's sold in South Africa!

I knew that I wouldn't be able to ride with them out to Cullinan / Bronkorspruit. The older Vespas (like mine) simply don't run at the speeds of these new models. Moreover, the orange bomber has been a little tempramental in the last few weeks... I didn't want to get caught somewhere far from home. Not to mention that I had work to do...

So, I met all the folks, had a chat with many likeminded people. We talked about favourite rides, longest rides, favourite responses to our cool bikes from friends, family and passers by... It was a sacred hour!

When they took off on their ride I started up the Orange bomber and headed home. My heart was glad. I was glad that I had taken the time to meet with these cool people, and share in our common joy!

You know, I think the Church will need to become much more like this... Going to people, not expecting people to come to us. I think that in a consumer driven culture we will need to find people and address their needs and desires directly. I suppose at the end of the day if the purpose of the Church is establish the Kingdom of God here on earth, then what I did this morning is truly the work of ministry!

Now, if only I could have taken a collection (a tithe!) I'm sure I would have been able to buy that brand new Vespa on the spot... Well, we pray!

Technorati tags: Vespa, Church of Vespa, Pretoria, otium sanctum

Why the Shepherds are central to the story of the birth of Jesus - an emergent perspective

Our God is intentional – there is not a single detail in all of creation that is not filled with purpose, meaning, and God’s loving intention.

I must admit that I have become so accustomed to the Christmas story, and to the characters of this narrative, that I no longer notice the subtler details. When I think of the characters of Christmas I often tend to wander towards what they have become, rather than the truth of who they were. What they have become for me are those cute kids who play Mary, Joseph, the Angels, the Shepherds, the wise men, and of course the 'Baby born' doll (or light bulb) that plays Baby Jesus in the school nativity play!

Yet, I think that sometimes we forget that the very reason why there is a record of the lives of particular people is because God desires to communicate something particular and important to us. God encounters people with a purpose. These characters are no different. Today we shall encounter some very interesting characters - the shepherds that we read about Luke 2:8-20, and we shall see what lessons we can learn about them, about ourselves, and about the God who deliberately wishes to encounter us this Christmas.

I want to encourage you to put the 'school play nativity' scenes out of your mind for the next few minutes. I want to encourage you to ask God to speak to you about the REAL shepherds that were encountered in that field outside of Bethlehem that night. Ask God to speak to you about your REAL life as God speaks to you about their real lives!

I am weary of all the cliched messages in Advent that try to get people to stop shopping and get them out of the malls and into Church... I have wasted many hours preaching sermons like those... We cannot stop people from doing these things with a 30 minute sermon on a Sunday. Rather, we should be encouraging people to find Christ, and the miracle of the Christ of Christmas, in their everyday lives. The Lord has really been telling me that we need something more substantial than the conflict between the economy of Christmas and the Gospel. Thankfully this week's scripture reading has a wealth of meaty stuff to consider!

This message will look at the principles of God's Kingdom that come to the fore in the encounter with the shepherds at Bethlehem. Some social history of the time tells us that these shepherds would have been poor, possibly among the poorest in their community. They were certainly unskilled, and were often people who had a criminal record or were outcasts in society (hence the choice to work at night). Bethlehem, as we know, was not the centre of the Universe! In fact it was a bit like the 'Piet Retief' of it's day... far from everywhere, no great political, economic and social prestige.... Yet, the Christ goes there to be born, and God sends angels to a field outside of this little town to announce the miracle of his birth! So this encounter is about people who don't really matter, from a place that doesn't truly count. Yet somehow they make it into the most popular book in history, and they get a focus one Sunday a year for the past thousand and some years! There must be something significant here.

In this message we shall see what lessons we can learn from these people and their role in the Christmas narrative.

Here we'll look at 5 lessons we can learn from the shepherds as we prepare ourselves to understand anew the miracle of the birth of God, in Christ, at Christmas [to read the rest click here to download the MS Word file....]

For another truly exception sermon the Shepherds please click here.

Technorati tags: Christian, emergent, advent, sermon, Shepherds

All your questions about the internets answered by LEGENDS 'Gabe and Max', internetxperts! [Vid]

These guys crack me up! Why bother Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or even that weird Steve Wozniak!? No, rather ask Max and Gabe all your questions about the interanets!

BoingBoing tv posted the following very cool Video!

Gabe and Max, who have taught so many of us how to achieve the dream lives of our dreams using the internet, answer questions from the Bing Bong audience. Then, aliens discover Mark Frauenfelder's book, "Rule the Web."

Link to video and full post with comments, on Boing Boing TV.

Don't confuse me with this guy - we're identical (it's amazing!) except for a few SMALL differences...

There is a notion, in popular mythology, that each of us has an identical twin somewhere in the world.... Well, in my case it seems to be true... How WEIRD is that!?

My friend Pete Grassow alerted me to this guy from America. We're, like [to coin a popular phrase], identical twins!

Oh, sure there are a few small differences:

- His surname is Foster, mine is FoRster (note the 'R')
- He's an American, and I'm a South African
- He's black, I'm white
- He runs an anti Gay website, and I believe that God loves and accepts gay people

Here's what we have in common (that makes us, like, identical twins):

- His name is Rev DL Foster
- My name is Rev DA Forster

The likeness is uncanny! So, there are a few small (hardly noticeable) differences... other than those we're like exactly the same!

Amazing isn't it!?

Ha ha, I wonder if one of his friends has even contacted him to say "Rev Foster, did you know that there is a Rev Forster in South Africa who could be your twin in every way (except for a few small points)! Do you think people will be able to tell the difference between the two of you!?"

I see that he's an 'Executive director' - sounds important!

Fun times!