Sacredise - a superb Christian resource site! Check it out for Christmas and Advent resources!

South Africa is blessed with many gifted and talented Christian leaders! This site is maintained by one of those gifted persons - John van de laar.

John is a gifted speaker, worship leader, and a creative and inspirational facilitator of change and renewal in many congregations. I have known John for many years and have been deeply challenged and blessed by his approach to spirituality and worship. I do believe that he is among the finest in the world, and certainly in South Africa.

He has just launched his new website: www.sacredise.com. This is a site you need to bookmark! It will come in handy!

The site is well designed, offering easy access to both resources and inspiration with just a click or two. Among other things you'll find downloadable music, worship resources, liturgies, creative and engaging sermons, and articles on various aspects of Christian life and ministry.

John's site was one of the very first pages that I added to my blogroll (see the right of my main page). I have found his ideas and resources useful and challenging in my own ministry and spiritual life - I've often dipped into his previous blog and site to get a few ideas, or a liturgy or poem to spice up a service!

In fact, we use his book 'Food for the road' as one of the recommended texts with our seminary students when we teach all about creative liturgy, communion, and new and engaging ways to bring people into worship. The link above will let you download the first chapter to get an idea of what you can learn and gain from it.

Below is a snapshot of the resources section of his site. You'll see that you can download prayers, poetry, liturgies, music, images, drama scripts, and a whole host of seasonal resources.

The Advent and Christmas season is already active with prayers and drama scripts to download! So click away and start preparing for Christmas!

If you're looking for creative, home grown, Christian resources to enliven and renew your worship this site is the place to go. Let me know if you have any feedback, comments, or further suggestions.

Technorati tags: Great Christmas resources, Advent, John van de Laar, sacredise

A magnificent resource for small group leaders - Scot Mcknight on 'the whole Gospel'

I regularly check by the 'emergent village' website. I also subscribe to their podcast (downloaded onto my ipod as soon as it is updated... like a real emergent 'mac' user!)

I was catching up on some podcasts at the hospital today when I came upon this fantastic podcast of a talk that Professor Scot Mcknight gave entitled 'the whole Gospel'. It was given to a group of small group leaders and it is amazing!

Amongst other things he charts how small groups (that exist quite apart from 'regular' churches) are springing up all over the world! In fact research suggests that there are 125 million people across the world who belong to a small group, but not to a Church! How incredible is that?

So, take a listen to this fantastic talk... I hope it offers some insights and challenge.

the whole Gospel - Scot Mcknight [MP3, 61 Minutes]
PS. as mentioned yesterday we hope to set something up with Scot when he is here in South Africa next year. So, keep your eyes and ears open (it is likely to be in the Pretoria area).

Oh, and also please keep in mind that Joerg Reiger from Southern Methodist University (a prophet second to none! Search my blog for his two magnificent books! They are a must read for any serious Christ follower) is going to be with us in Pretoria in January (probably in the week of the 21st of January). That is also something to look forward to!

PS. Liam is doing so much better this evening! We thank God for how he is recovering. The doctor upped the dosage of his medication and it is showing real results. He still has physio every day... You can imagine that he doesn't like that one bit! However, he is getting stronger each day.

Technorati tags: emergent, small group resources, Scot Mcknight, Christian, Podcast

Days like these... They're part of 'real' life...

Today has been a 'real' day... What does that mean? Well, when I was a young (er) man I put my hands (and mind) to many things. Among those things was a brief stint of experimentation with acid (LSD to some). I was wild, my friends were wild, and my parents were scared stiff and worried most of the time. You can imagine!

My friends and I would go camping and take 'cuts' of the little squares of blotting paper and then just walk around experiencing the altered reality created by the chemicals in our brains. Colours, sounds, smells, and sensations. They were vivid and engaging...

At the end of our acid trip we talked about our experiences and commonly spoke of them as being 'real' (of course they were the LEAST real experiences we were having, it would have been better to say that these times and experiences we UN-real). Reality is much more engaging...

Since finding Christ, and the love that Christ has for me and all of creation, I have come to discover a whole new reality. Life in Christ is REAL for me. It is the most vivid reality, since Christ helps me to face struggle, and not just to avoid it, or blot it out.

This morning I awoke still feeling tired. We had left the hospital last night in tears! After Liam's lung collapsing, the physio, and just his generally poor condition we were exhausted. I got into bed knowing that I would wake up this morning and go into a meeting in which we would have to make some very tough choices about the lives of people just like me - they are people who have given their lives in service of Christ, they have children, a spouse, and the pressures of ministry. Yet, some of them do 'not have competent abillity to do our work' [that's a phrase that comes from the question asked of Methodist clergy at SYNOD each year, "Has Dion got competent abillity to do our work?" Because of this lack of ability, some of them would be facing the prospect of being released from ministry...

Decisions such as these always break me, they are real decisions, about real people, with real consequinces. There is a significant tension here. One feels empathy for the persons involved, but one also has to protect the integrity of the Church, and the members of Churches. For example if someone has to be released on moral grounds (e.g., the person who has stolen Church money, or has had an affair), one must do so to protect the Church and its members, but that means that a minister will face discipline and loose their ministry and income.

It is never an easy meeting... You can imagine! That's why the meeting has many wiser, and more experienced, members than I.

So, when I woke up I prayed that God would give me grace and wisdom, as well as a measure of courage to do what is right (both for Christ, the Church, and the individuals concerned). This is the reality of responsible Christian living...

In this age of hedonism, where pleasure is king, and the avoidance of pain and struggle is a preoccupation, very few people want to live REAL lives with real choices. But, God expects real living. Just read Micah 6:8... Listen to this:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

I think that there are many of us who like to walk humbly with God, but how many of us LOVE mercy (in an age of revenge?), and how many of us ACT justly (in a world of injustice - I mean just think about this simple little fact... I have 16 taps in my house! Between two bathrooms and the kitchen I have more taps in my house than some communities have in their whole area! I need to learn to love mercy and act justly in order to walk humbly with my God!)

So, the meeting went off as well as can be expected... Each decision was taken with great care, deliberation, and of course prayer. Some decisions will not be well received. But that is 'real' life, it is not UN-real life.

I don't want to go through life like those drug dulled weekends! I want to be truly alive! alive to God, alive to the reality of my own life, and the lives of others. I want to have the courage to do what is right, even if it is not popular.

I guess real living takes real faith. I pray for more of it in my life...

Another incredibly deep, and significant, prayer for the world...

This Sunday past I preached at the Calvary Methodist Church anniversary service (see the post below).

Once again Siphiwe Ndlovu was responsible for leading us through the prayers of intercession. His prayers are so inspiring, they truly make me feel connected with God, and with God's world! After he said Amen, I could have ended the service right there!

Here's a copy of his prayer.

Candle Prayers 2 December 2007

Loving Lord God we come to you this morning as we give you thanks for the year that we as a community have had; and on this day, the first of advent - the time of waiting and great expectations, we pray for your calming and focus on what is important. We confess that we wait not for you but for Santa Claus, we wait not for you but for gifts, we wait not for you but the messy busyness that we have allowed to take the place of real waiting for your son Jesus Christ. Have mercy on us. Oh Lord we confess that in our busyness, we forget about a world that hurts - afflicted by much that weighs it down. So this morning we pray for our healing first and foremost. Loving Lord God heal us from the disease of ignorance in the face of the many ills of the world; heal us from the disease of blindness in the face of poverty and disease; heal us from the disease of silence in the face of injustice; heal us from the disease of too much concern about ourselves in a world where there is so much to care about. Oh Loving and caring God teach us today to care about the things that you care about. This morning we pray for your hand, Gentle Healer, to touch our hands holding too tightly to the gifts you have given us, help us to open them in generous ways; touch our hearts hardened and limited in their caring, give us hearts that beat to your heartbeat, hearts that hurt with those that hurt.

Lord God there are many in the world today who are in dire situations - We remember those in our world with less than sufficient, for those with no homes, food or love. We think of those who have come from across our borders and have no means to go back to have time with families. We remember and pray for those families in this world especially our country who have suffered bereavement, especially as a result of the scourge of HIV and AIDS. Our graveyards have become insatiable gaping holes, waiting in anticipation for the next victim. Wave after wave after wave of mourners come and go everyday to bury those who were once healthy and had a bright future ahead of them - now snatched from them by the disease of AIDS. We pray for those who lie sick in homes and hospitals, their lives ebbing slowly from them, helpless, dependent on others for everything. We pray for those whose tears have dried but continue to weep and bleed inside - you loving and caring God, whose vision is deeper, see those tears and answer those unsaid prayers. Protect the children from the harrowing effects of watching their parents die from AIDS and give those who have to nurse and feed their parents fortitude, courage and patience. Loving God we pray for a compassionate government that they may be resolute in their efforts to deal with this disease. We pray that their word shall match their deed, that they will go beyond ceremony and show, and commit resources to bring our world back to health.

Oh Lord we observe that even though this world needs so much more, there is so much to be thankful for. So for all caregivers, those who volunteer to walk with those who suffer from this disease, Lord we thank you and we pray that you shall continue to touch more hearts to walk with the sick; for all those who take care of orphans as a result of AIDS - neighbours, grandmothers, social workers, and homes where these children are cared for, we give you thanks, for each person who educates around issues of HIV and AIDS, for each person who visits and cares, for each person who gives food or washes a patient. In the face of this disease there are people who continue to stand witness for you kingdom. We thank you.
And Lord today we pray for those who are abused - some are here with us, they have to endure a life of emotional blackmail, some have to listen everyday to those who claim to love them demean them through disrespectful words and acts, some have to bear the actual brunt of physical abuse. Many of the abused have to carry the added burden of carrying the secret of their abuse with them – they have to maintain a public façade, pretend everything is alright and smile while they are in physical pain or are emotionally scarred. And loving God, we pray for the abusers - and we confess that we too use demeaning words against others, we ignore those we are supposed to love and care for, and sometimes we disrespect those who deserve our respect. Have mercy on us and heal this world.

Amen

Heck, I would love to have a whole book of these deep prayers! Come on Siphiwe! Let's do it!

A quote that has remained with me for days...

This quote (from Sivin's blog) has remained with me for a while now...

"What if the church is not about attracting people into a building but living as God's people in the public space of their own community and neighborhood?"

What do you think? Is the Church (whether it be a building, or a collection of like minded persons who gather in some way) still necessary? If so, what for?

I have a few suggestions... But, then again, there are also many reasons why it is NOT that helpful... What if the Church was not about the church?

The link between Apple Mac and the Emergent Church conversation / movement has been confirmed!

This is something to cheer me up!

This is cross posted from my second favorite blog (my first favourite is still Sivinkit.net, the blog of my friend Sivin in Kuala Lumpur)... My second favorite blog at the moment is the 'Emergent Village' blog... Just as an aside, Scot Mcknight contacted me about two weeks ago (via Sivin) to say that he will be in South Africa early next year. I will keep you posted - he is going to be in Pretoria and it will be great to set something up in the form of an open forum of some sort...

Anyway, as an emerging emergent, with a Mac, a hoodie, two tattoos, but no goatee, I found this quite amusing... It made me smile after a truly rough day.

One predominant stereotype of "the Emergents" is that we are all white, male, goatee-sporting Mac users. Well, hopefully you're making stuff today (and not shopping), but you might still be interested to know that the Emergent/Mac tie-in has now been confirmed by Science & Spirit magazine.

Writing in the November/December 2007 issue, David Gibson writes, “Apropos of those funky Apple commercials, Catholicism would seem to be the geeky, un-hip fellow whose stodgy old operating platform is slow to the point of freezing. His Mac counterpart is a cool dude who projects Protestantism’s so-called emerging church movement.”

Heh.

I thought it was GREAT! Here's one of my favourite Mac commercials in this series...

So, what do you think? Mac or PC? Catholic or emergent? Well, believe it or not a Church in the US has actually used this model to do a 'parody' of the Mac vs PC commercial entitled "I'm a Christ follower, I'm a Christian"

Here's part 1 of 4

You can find the rest of the parodies from here.

Technorati tags: Mav vs PC, Emergent, Emergent Christian Video, smile, Mac,Apple,

Tough times...

Liam has not been well today. These are tough times...

Update on Liam - 3 December 2007

I went straight to the hospital from the airport this evening.

Megie and Courts spent the day with little Liam at the hospital today. I am pleased to say that he is doing much better this evening.

Although, the Doctor was not too happy with his lungs, so he will stay in for another day (we had hoped that he would come out of hospital tomorrow, but it looks like he will only get home on Wednesday). His voice is still a little rough, and his chest is still quite wheezy, but at least the fever has broken. AND, he can still 'projectile vomit' for the A-team (sorry kids, I didn't mean to scare you! But it's a fact of life when you have a baby!)

Here's a picture of Liam with Megie (please excuse the quality of the picture it was taken with my cell phone camera).

You'll notice that they had to put the drip into his little foot. He pulled it out of his hand and his arm (quite a feisty little fellow - just like his dad!) So, now it looks like he has a cast on his left foot.

The sisters in the ward say that he doesn't like it when he wakes up and we're not there... I can imagine... It breaks my heart to leave him at the hospital!!!

Thanks for all the prayers! They are clearly working!

Advice for teenagers - an informative poster [pic]

I'm sure there are one or two parents who may just give this poster to their delinquent teenage kids in the hope that they heed the advice...

It would make a nice Christmas present don't you think?

A hilarious announcement of US Presidential press Conference

John C Dvorak must be one of the most synical reporters out there... He is the host of a tech show called 'Cranky Geeks', and one of my favourite panelists on the TWIT (This Week in Tech podcast - I listen to him every week).

This 'announcement' is an entertaining take on George W Bush's next Presidential press conference.

- In case you want to set your DVR.

President George W. Bush will hold a news conference at 10:10 a.m. EST on Tuesday, the White House said.

The president will lie about the war in Iraq, he’ll try to snow people with Israeli lies about peace in Palestine, he’ll continue to lie about diplomatic relations with Iran, he’ll make-up dreams about the state of the U.S. economy and, finally, he’ll lie about his plans to veto any useful legislation to come from Congress - presuming the Democrats sprouted a backbone over the weekend.

The reporters allowed to attend will not ask any dangerous questions.

Cool T-Shirt design for the 'music snob' [pic]

I think this is such a clever T-Shirt design... Although, you had best be 6.8 and built like a pro wrestler to wear it - otherwise you're going to get a solid beating from all the people you'll offend!

Here is a fun Venn diagram t-shirt for hipster music snobs. Also related, a t-shirt that simply states, "Nothing is good if other people like it."
Link (Thanks, Jess Hemerly!)

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I'm leaving on a jet place - why flying isn't as fun as it used to be

It's just after 4am and I am on my
way to OR Tambo international airport
to catch a flight the Cape Town at
around 6am.

I used to enjoy these little trips to
the 'motherland'. Now however,
there are a few good reasons why I
no longer enjoy them.

1. I have a family... Traveling is not
such fun when you do it on your own,
and it is even less fun when you leave
people that you love behind.

Today I know that I'll be in Cape Town
while my little boy is in hospital in
Pretoria... Not so good.

2. The South African airline industry.
I travel a lot (at least one day a week).
Sadly, I have been able to see the slow
collapse of our airline industry over some
years now. The airports are not coping
with the number of travelers (Cape Town
least of all). It is routine for flights to be
delayed at least and hour - I was once
delayed by 5 hours because a toilet
burst on a kulula.com flight as it was landing.

On that note, I have given up flying on kulula.
They seem to be the worst of the budget
airlines when it comes to customer
service and time. Last week Friday
as I was flying to Cape Town, there
was a flight to George that had been
delayed twice because of ground staff
errors (over filling the plane with fuel!)

A woman on the flight missed her father's
funeral as a result...

They were supposed to leave JHB at
7am. When we took off just before 2pm
(we were supposed to leave at 12noon)
they were still on the ground.

Not so good...

But, let me say, a few hours in the traffic
to and from the airport. A few hours delay
at the airport, and the pithy and snide
comments of budget airline staff still beat
a 13 hour drive to Cape Town....

So, here I go. Lord give me grace, and love.

Oh, and please let my flights be on time
today! Thanks!