One of my favourite passtimes is mountainbiking! Heck, I love spending a few hours riding my mountainbike in the mountains around my home - I am particulalry blessed that I live in Cape Town (Somerset West). About 800m from my home we have Lourensford farm - one of the stages of the ABSA Cape Epic. Then we have some magnificent trails in the Helderberg (about 2km from my front door). And, if I want something a little more adventurous my friends and I put our bikes on the racks and drive the 20 minutes to Elgin, Grabouw (Oak Valley or Lebanon) for another two of the Epic stages.
Hills, climbs, downhill, single-track and scenery!
It is a wonderful way to celebrate God's incredible creative power! I also find it to be a great way to connect with guys who would never darken the door of a Church! We can chat, offer one another support and find companionship and meaning for life's journey.
The monks of the 13th century spiritual communities called such activities that mixed praise, service to others, and personal relaxation "otium sanctum" [holy leisure].
This post contains a few picture from my ride on Lourensford this morning with my friends Graham Power (with whom I wrote my new book 'Transform your work life: Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling' see http://bit.ly/transformwork (Graham is the chairman of the Power Group of Companies see http://www.powergrp.co.za and the founder of the Global Day of Prayer http://www.globaldayofprayer.com for details), and Dawie Spangenberg a friend from Somerset West who runs Central Weighbridge Company.
This beautiful sunrise scene was what greeted me this morning as I left for a cycle. So beautiful! The Cape has incredible sunrise and sunset scenes at this time of the year!
In one of the early George Otis DVD's on Transformation (simply called Transformation) there is a challenging statement made by a pastor in one of the segments. The pastor says something along the lines of 'One day when I stand before God at my life's end God is not going to ask me how I pastored my Church. No, God is going to ask me how I pastored my community'.
Of course that is entirely true! Christians have responsibility not only for the Church and for other Christians, we are sent as salt and light into the world!
Our responsibility is to bring the love and blessing of Christ to bear on every situation, particularly those most difficult situations of all - bringing Jesus into your work place! I frequently hear Christians saying that they are afraid, embarrassed, or ill equipped to bring Jesus into their work life and their workplace in a creative and effective manner. This is not surprising! So much of what we model about ministry is pointed towards ministry in the Church or through the Church (and of course that has to do with the Church building, its structures and groups). However, one day when you stand before the Lord He will ask you how you loved, cared for and transformed the people and structures that you faced for most of your waking hours each day!
If you're looking for some fresh and creative ideas with which to carefully and sensitively engage difficult people, challenging situations, or uninterested colleauges then chapter 8 of our book 'Transform your work life: Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling' is just what you're looking for! In that chapter Graham and I share a practical, effective, means of reaching your colleagues, clients, and of course the company and structures of your work life for Christ and His Kingdom. The method that we share is simple enough for any person to apply (without needing to have an incredible knowledge of the Bible, Christian theology, or being able to counsel others!) We share a few testimonies about how people have applied this method to reach individuals and even a whole industry!
Copies of 'Transform your work life: Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling' are now available online at www.christianrepublic.co.za
Order you copy today and discover how you can transform your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling!
Once you've ordered your copy of 'Transform your work life' pleasevisit our facebook page and share your testimony of how God is using you in your work life. Your story could encourage others to discover the joy and blessing of being used by God in the 9-5 window! Also feel free to share any requests for prayer or help, or interact with the authors.
I am thankful for people like John van de Laar and his ministry 'Sacredise' that helps Churches and Christians to engage effectively in worship that doesn't get stuck 'fluff' and 'performance'.
Of course I appreciate well directed worship. I love contemporary music and have often encountered God in such settings. However, I have an equal affinity for liturgy, silence, and simple worship. I suppose the point is that it should be about God first, then an encounter between the community and God, and somewhere right towards the bottom of the list should be 'personal taste' in style and music.
This incredible PSA video (called 'New arrivals')was created by the team from Media Village. It is so powerful, and a perfect short video to show in your Church or ministry gathering to raise awareness about modern day slavery and human trafficking.
South Africans, in particular, should pay attention to this important issue - we have heard so many reports of children being kidnapped and sold into sex work in the lead up to the Soccer World Cup.
Well done Shane, Saskia, Graham and Di!
I'd love to hear your feedback, and if you show the video in your Church or Youth gathering please let us have some feedback!
Forgive me for one more post about my new book 'Transform your work life: Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling'.
I just wanted to share a little piece of personal excitement (and family fun) with you!
Before today I had not seen a copy of the book in print! Yup, that's the truth! Naturally I had seen the digital proofs, but I had not seen a 'hard cover' copy of the book before today.
I had a meeting with a friend with whom I do some coaching - after the meeting I was walking past Wordsworth bookshop in the Somerset Mall when I thought 'I wonder if they have copies of my book on the shelf'. So, I walked up to the sales assistant and asked her. She had a look in her catalogue and sure as you know it, they had a few copies that had arrived just this morning!
So, I picked one up. I was grinning from ear to ear as she rung up my purchase. I was looking over the cover, checking the print quality (which is very good by the way! The book has a hard cover with a gloss colour printed interior!) I handed her my credit card and her eye caught my name, she looked at the book's cover and then asked 'Do you know the author?' I just smiled and said, 'yup, I've met him before'! ha ha! It was very cool.
Well, this evening Megie, Courtney, Liam and I went out for a burger to celebrate the new book and so we stopped in at another book shop (Exclusive Books in the Somerset Mall). I walked over to the Christian Books section and there it was! 'Transform your work life' spotted in the wild! So I quickly asked Courtney and Liam to stand in front of the shelf and I snuck a photo with my iPhone. Another cool memory - take a look at the blue cover just above Courtney's head in the attached photo.
Lastly, I wanted to mention that if you order a copy of the book from Christian Republic you will receive a free leather bound journal! I'm not sure how long this promotion lasts, so don't miss out! The price is the same (R109.00, plus R20 counter to counter overnight shipping).
Copies of 'Transform your work life: Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling' are now available online at www.christianrepublic.co.za
Order you copy today and discover how you can transform your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling!
Once you've ordered your copy of 'Transform your work life' please visit our facebook page and share your testimony of how God is using you in your work life.
Your story could encourage others to discover the joy and blessing of being used by God in the 9-5 window!
Also feel free to share any requests for prayer or help, or interact with the authors.
I am blessed with many wonderful friends! I relate to many of them because we share at least one common interest. There are a few others with whom I feel a closer affinity because we share some deeper and more significant common values. Then there are those among whom I am privileged to be counted, because we share a common approach to our faith in Christ.
Since we first met in Malaysia in 2007 we have stayed in good contact. Here's what I wrote in reflection of our first meeting:
Yesterday I made a new friend, Rev. Sivin Kit, he is a theologian, and pastor, and to our amazement we found that we have so many things in common! Rev. Kit kindly collected me from Kuala Lumpur at the end of the MPC to bring me to the 'Seminari theoloji Malaysia'. He is a past graduate of the seminary, and now serves as a Lutheran pastor in KL.
As Sivin and I talked I was amazed to discover just how many things we have in common as persons (for one thing we're the same age, but for another we are both avid bloggers! Please take a look at Sivin's blog here: Sivin Kit's Garden. Sivin is also the co-ordinator for 'emergent Malaysia', a network of pastors and laity that are engaged in the conversations of the emergent Church movement. He knows so much more about both the theology, and the ideals, of this movement than I do! What is more, Sivin hosted Brian Mclaren on his visit to Malaysia (I even got to eat in the same restaurant as they ate!) Thanks Sivin for your hospitality, friendship, and patient engagement with me!
Sivin and I remain close. We have a common desire to follow the person and ways of Jesus.
Of course there are as many ways to following Jesus as there are people, since true discipleship of Christ is expressed and discovered in a loving relationship with Jesus as savior and Lord. For each of us this journey has meant that we've had to go beyond some of the boundaries of conventional expressions of the Christian faith. Of course the aims of these careful explorations in faith are pretty similar to those of conventional Christian communities, i.e., to forge loving obedience, to seek true transformation, and to encourage authentic and courageous living with Jesus and those who Jesus loves (in that last part of the sentence you can read 'Jesus loves everyone, not just Christians 'like you' or Christians 'like me'. Heck, Jesus has a special love for people who do not yet recognized His love!').
Many find such a radically inclusive Christian position offensive. Others feel unsettled at attempts to discover new depths in authentic Christian living. For some the thought of uncertainty that is brought about by change is simply too much to bear.
And so, there are times where we are misunderstood. There are other times where we face rejection for our approach to the Christian faith. I have come to expect this. As I've said elsewhere, I don't expect people to be able to understand my theology in its entirety - even I don't understand myself fully!
Thankfully, we are not alone on this journey. There are millions of believers, all across the globe, who are not satisfied with 'mere Christianity'. There are many faithful servants of Christ who are serious about servanthood. Many believe that it truly is God's intention to transform the world, and not only to fill the Church. And so we stand together in a loose affiliation of discovery. We are bound less by a common set of truths than by a recognition that God's gracious love for the world is mystery of grace that requires a tangible response. We are frail and imperfect servants of a gracious and powerful God! Our contexts differ, and so do our responses - but our desire is largely the same; faithfulness to Christ and His Kingdom.
Here's a wonderful video of my friend Sivin Kit at the Transform conference (with Brian Mclaren). It gives a great overview of Sivin's ministry and context.
From this video you'll see that Sivin and I have one other thing in common... the ability to film while driving!
Please visit Sivin's blog here - you will find hours of wonderful reading. Many incredible resources, and enough challenging thoughts to sustain both your mind and your soul!
One of the best books I've read in the last year is Gretchen Rubin's book 'The Happiness Project'. It was filed with great facts, it was written in a wonderfully personal style, and left me feeling happy!
What more could you ask for!?
Today I saw from her facebook feed that she was interviewed on her book together with Dr Ian Smith (a medical doctor who wrote a book on the science of hapiness).
Watch the video below. It is a great introduction to the topic.
Have you ever wondered who the biggest twitter users are in South Africa? Who has the most followers, what city has the most twitters posts, and what subjects are most discussed by the South African twitterati!?
I was alerted to a fascinating piece of research by Fuseware yesterday - this would seem to be the first extensive research on the use of social media and twitter in South Africa.
And, you can follow me on twitter here @digitaldion
I'd love to hear how you use twitter - as you may know I have taught numerous classes on the uses of social media for ministry and twitter is a central part of that strategy - particularly if you're trying to communicate some ideas, build a movement, or create a strong community.
In the short video in this post I show how I use my Apple iPad in my work and ministry.
I got a 16 Gig iPad courtesy of the University of JHB who paid me to examine some Masters and PhD scripts - hard work, but well worth the effort!
I ordered my iPad from Amazon.com (since it is not for sale in South Africa yet). It was a quick and painless affair. FedEx delivered it within a few days.
This is a great piece of hardware, I am particularly impressed with the 10-12 hour battery life with full wifi, screen brightness and sound etc. Moreover at a price of less than R4000 I can see many people using the iPad as a primary computing device. R4000 is a lot of money! But, if you're in the market for a new computer and have been saving (or have some benefactor, as I did) then it is money well spent for an ultraportable, ultra-useful computer. The only problem I can foresee is printing... You will have to email your documents elsewhere to print them. I have it on good authority that the camera dongle (which has a standard USB connector) will let you pull files from an ordinary USB thumb drive.
Don't hold your breath for the 3G version in South Africa. Knowing ICASA and the cellular carriers it will be many months, maybe even a year, before they can work out a deal to allow it into the country. Plus, I believe the 3G uses the new microsim card which has not been adopted by any cellular providers in SA. Rather go for a wifi version (which is cheaper and works in SA) with either a MiFi or joikuspot on a Nokia phone (as you'll see me using in this video). With this solution I can use it in the car, anywhere in my office, in the airport... I'm not reliant on public or corporate wifi.
I use a number of applications specific to my work (Bibles in English and Greek, Keynote for Powerpoint presentations, Pages for Word docs and Numbers for spreadsheets). The device is small and light and works great with any bleutooth keyboard (I had an OLD foldable keyboard that I bought back in 2002 for a iPaq - amazingly it picks up the keyboard and works like a charm!) I keep various talks, sermons, powerpoint presentations and videos on the device. I also keep PDF copies of my books. So if ever I get asked to speak at an event I always have something on hand. The screen is the perfect size to replace paper, and the touch interface makes it a perfect device to read from and preach from.
As I mention above, I also use it for PDF's (I carry quite a few documents for various work and ministry related tasks. Not the least of which are our current GDOP Conference program, speakers lists, budgets, etc.) and it does a great job with my calendar and contacts.
Of course the email client is also great! I have 4 of my accounts running on it throughout the day. I also run twitter and facebook on the device for the work I do for Lausanne's social media and social networking team.
In this video you'll also see how I connect it to the Internet via Vodacom 3G in South Africa. Also, because the wifi in our office is locked down to run via a proxy server I set my iPad up to run via my Macbook as a base station with internet sharing (just as a hint, my friend Cois uses a PPoE connection at his office, which the iPad doesn't do via wifi. So, you can use the same internet sharing method to connect via PPoE. If you're not sure how to do this drop me a line).
By the way, this post was created using the squarespace application on the iPad. There is no native squarespace app for the iPad, I am still using the iPhone application. However, I do have the wordpress app for some of my 'other' blogs. (all iPhone apps run on the iPad by the way).
How do you think you could use an iPad in your work or ministry? Is there any use case where it could be a better tool than a laptop or desktop computer for you?
A friend contacted me to find out if he should spend the money to get an iPad (he is also a minister). Here's part of the email that I sent him. It may help some others in South Africa who are considering this point.
Hi X,
I have the 16gig wifi - if I had the money I would have bought at 32gb, but since mine was paid for with income I got from marking some PhD's and M's for UJ I had to stick to my budget.
I paid the same price [as you quoted], but got it a bit cheaper (the Rand was sitting at R7.32 to the US$ when I bought mine). However, I did pay close to R1000 in shipping and import duties to be sure to have it in the country legally.
Personally, I think it is worth every cent! It is my 'go to' device for most tasks (web browsing, email, calendar, book reader, word, powerpoint, logos bible software, my blog apps etc.) You will need to spend a few rand extra to buy the VGA dongle if you want to use it for presentations (I don't have one yet, I use the iPod RCA connector to plug it into my data projector via RCA).
The wifi version is completely useable in SA (see my post http://www.dionforster.com/blog/2010/4/29/using-my-apple-ipad-for-ministry-in-south-africa.html for details on how I connect it to the internet when out of the office). I have since done away with the Joikuspot E51 option - my 3G contract with MTN expired on the 26th of April so I cancelled it and opened a 3G contract with Nashua and got the mifi as the dongle (it can connect to a PC via USB, or it can be used as a stand alone wifi hotspot). It is perfect. I leave it in the same little carry case I have for my iPad and have always on internet.
They keyboard is fantastic (I also have an OLD foldable Bluetooth keyboard that I got with my Compaq iPaq almost 10 years ago! It works like a charm - in fact any bleutooth keyboard works), but real deal clincher is the battery life. They advertise 10 hours, but I most often get up to 12 hours of constant use with the wifi enabled. It just goes on and on and on.
It is a great device to 'preach' from (I bring my documents in via word into 'pages', or via PDF into dropbox or goodreader). I use skype (of course only voice is possible since there is no camera). I also use it with the Kindle app and iBooks (I'm currently reading Malcolm Gladwell's new book What the dog saw and Brian Mclaren's A new kind of Christianity)- then of course it is a fantastic iPod and the Video on it is amazing! I often use it in coaching sessions to show short videos to the persons I'm sitting with, somehow it is less intimidating than a notebook for that. if you look on my blog you'll see the video 'how to start a movement' which is one I often show when I'm trying to help leaders to care for their staff.
NOW, that being said, I have wondered over the last little while whether it may not in fact be better to buy a great little netbook that has USB ports, a dedicated keyboard, a camera for skype and Windows with all the apps one already owns... For a Windows user that may be an option. I am quite committed to Mac so the iPad suites my habits and patterns nicely.
What don't I like about it. First, it draws too much attention. As a minister (even one like me in the corporate environment) that feels uneasy! You'll know what I mean! I constantly find myself justifying to people that it only cost 'R3500'... Second, I miss being able to get media on and off via USB. The only way to get stuff on and off is via iTunes sync, or wifi and dropbox. Also, it is a pain that it doesn't do true multitasking. For exmaple, if you're on a skype call you can't go out to check something in your diary or check a contact, if you exit skype it cuts the call. Small problems, but still not great.
Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 10:04AM 
One of my favourite passtimes is mountainbiking! Heck, I love spending a few hours riding my mountainbike in the mountains around my home - I am particulalry blessed that I live in Cape Town (Somerset West). About 800m from my home we have Lourensford farm - one of the stages of the ABSA Cape Epic. Then we have some magnificent trails in the Helderberg (about 2km from my front door). And, if I want something a little more adventurous my friends and I put our bikes on the racks and drive the 20 minutes to Elgin, Grabouw (Oak Valley or Lebanon) for another two of the Epic stages.
