e-holiness

what to buy?

i have just arrived back from a 10 day trip to south afrcia where i once again spent time with the team at thembalitsha and especially the precious guys at thembacare grabouw. things are moving on a pace in that town, where not only do thembalitsha provide the only overnight care for patients with hiv aids and or tb, but they have also acquired the adjoining building to that care centre where they will be providing testing and counselling for aids and tb....which is amazing. grabouw is also the town where thembalitsha uk have just purchased the 6 hectare farm where we will be setting up 'the village of hope' later on in the year.....i will share some further thoughts and experiences on my trip later but thought that this little ditty would be my starter for 10.

on tuesday afternoon i met up with the care-worker who we had built the extension onto her home in august, thankfully it's still standing but we have the testing winter weather to come so i hope that it will still be as watertight when i return in august (the wet season), anyway her four year old son wanted to visit the local corner shop, so i suggested that i take him as he wasn't sure of the way. off we wondered through one of the poorest settlements i have ever seen, (and i've seen some) to spend his two rand.....as we made our way to the shop we passed ladies washing their clothes in old plastic tubs, soapy bubbles reflecting in the late autumn sunlight as they scrubbed their precious garments against old pieces of wood (one cannot call them washboards as that would paint to cleaner picture), men having their hair cut out side a tin shack and other ladies with curlers in their hair stepping across a rickety bridge which saved them from the sewage water below....this was some adventure, not only for him but also for me as i waved hello to the folk going about their daily routines.

once at the 'tuck shop' the small boy handed over his money and with some surprise (to me) instead of a bar of chocolate or a bag or salty crisps coming through the iron grills from which the purchased goods were passed, i mean this wasn't your tesco express store, came two red ripe tomatoes....this long trip to the shop had been made by this cute little guy for a couple of pieces of fruit....on the way home he carefully held these tight to his chest and waited until he had reached his mum before he tucked into his bounty with great gusto....i was so humbled, yes by the trip to the shop, but also by this poor little child who wanted to by a couple of tomatoes for his treat.......i wonder what you have bought with your spare cash today, makes you think doesn't it?

off again

later today i fly back out to cape town to spend 10 days with the thembalitsha team in south africa, where one person in every six people in the world that are infected with HIV AIDS live, the figures are staggering!

as you will be aware, if you know me (or maz) or have read this blog for any amount of time, we have just been blessed by some amazing financial gifts, including one of £150K, which has enabled us to purchase 6 hectares of land in a small town called grabouw, approx 35 miles to the east of cape town. we will be using this land to set up what we are calling 'the village of hope', this project will provide homes and loving carers for the children and young people we currently work with who are either infected or affected by/with HIV AIDS.

south africa has over 1.5 million children orphaned by AIDS and what is worse for the children we work with is that many of them are also infected with this awful disease, the work that thembalitsha are doing is so amazing and i would encourage you to continue to pray for God's mighty and miraculous hand to be seen as we provide that love, care and hope that we all take for granted.

please pray for the trip, that there will be unity within the team, the vision and the community as we seek to show God's love in a practical way.....i hope that i will be able to provide a few updates either here on e-holiness or via my facebook so please watch out for any news. 

revival earth!

i am just listening to some great teaching from mark stibbe and john paul jackson with regards to the restoration of the earth and how God's kingdom is coming in miraculous ways around the world as people are praying over the land, such is the want of the earth to bring forth it's glories, whether in form of a great harvest or abundance of animal life.

romans 8 speaks of a life lived through the spirit and talks of the whole earth groaning in great anticipation for Christ to be revealed, now whether that is in the form of His second coming or through Christians praying over the land and seeking to set it free from the bondage that is holding it back is up for discussion but the stories of earth revival that we are hearing about from around the world seems point towards the second of these points.

now i have never and don't ever see myself as a micheal jackson fan but his 'earth song' and the video that goes with it seems to point to a time of restoration and of a great hope from all creation, have a watch,and listen if you can bear it, to this song and be encouraged to pray for the land as you walk this wonderful but needy earth.

God on the move

i was going to post about this on monday, then tuesday and thought better of it, but today i couldn't resist in encouraging you to watch God tv tonight at 9pm where you can see the amazing move of God, with miraculous healing's, that is happening in florida around todd bentley and his team.

all this fits in so well with some of the prophetic people we know in aylesbury, who we have been meeting with, who are claiming the revival is on it's way here too, praise God as we seek to take his message of love to the world, breaking out of the church doors into the lives of the lost and lonely in this nation and the world......acts 2 church indeed! signs and wonders following.

a recommended blog

we haven't linked in with too many blogs recently, but one that i recommend you have a look at is amos and paul, this blog's author is one joe williams whom i have known for many years, i originally got to know joe when he was about 10 and as his crusader 'leader' saw him grow in his knowledge of God and His word, have a look at this blog and see how joe links in politics and the his walk with God.

joe is a great guy, but has a couple of faults, these being his chosen football and cricket teams, they don't warrant a mention on this holy blog, second is his love of the british transport system, say no more. joe is looking to spend some time with us in south africa when we set up the village of hope later this year.....i'm looking forward to the conversations already!

sit back or take action

the bible calls us to fight for justice, one area which has been forgotten is the situation in darfur, please visit the globe for darfur site for further info and for those of you who can make it there is an event in london tomorrow highlighting the plight of these forgotten people.

themba

just found this wonderfully shot but harrowing set of photos with voice over of people living with HIV AIDS in south africa, one word i recognised as the people shared about their lives and how they were coping with this devastating disease was the xhosa word, themba, meaning hope....as we sit in our western homes this weekend please pray for these people who have little hope.......for more info on how you can get involved as we seek to make a difference, via the wonderful charity thembalitsha who work with many people like those in the presentation, please log into our facebook site and join the cause.

healing on the streets!....

for those of you who think God should remain inside 'His' church (i.e. the building in the middle of the town with the tall spire or bell tower) then think again as you watch this clip of todd bentley praying for the sick and seeing the 'power of God' move over people as he took God to the streets of new york.....Jesus says that we are the church, His body here on earth.....now some of you might not have seen todd before, or even understand that God moves today as he did at pentecost in the bible, but i can assure you that he does and todd is just a tool for God to use to display His love and care for those who would never step into that building with the tall spire that we call church!....extreme, maybe, but if the God who made the whole of the universe moves then people will start to fall and tremble at His power!

need a little help?

i am currently listening to a couple of great new albums, the first is the latest and much waited for from the greatest rock band in the world, REM, wow they must be good to get capital letters on e-holiness!, i have been a 'fan' of REM for years, seeing them twice, mk bowl and hyde park, and it's good to see that they have recaptured the 'old' sound on this new album called accelerate. as usual some of the mikes lyrics are quite a challenge and none more so on this album than the title track accelerate (i never like reading too much into the lyrics of a song just in case i am so far off the mark but this song certainly does smack of a guy searching for something).....here goes for those 'help me' words...

sinking fast, the weight chained to my feet
no time to argue with belief
i'm not alone, a thousand others dropping
faster than me
what put me here?
nothing to hold on to
nowhere to brake

where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
no time to question the choices i make
i've got to follow another direction (although fall down is much cooler)

the last thing i remember was climbing up the stairs
i threw the window open in challenge and despair
i don't know what i needed
i needed time
i needed to escape
i saw the future turn
upside-down and hesitate.

where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
no time to question the choices i make
i've got to follow another direction

accelerate.

the vista i see now is changing
uncertainty is suffocating
our hope has never felt so great and
lit up down
a pounding pulse
to make it go
make it slow down,
go.

where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
no time to question the choices i make
i've got to follow another direction.

the city's burning, it's like it's ready to explode
accelerate to make it slow
make it go
accelerate to make it slow
make it go
i'm incomplete
i'm incomplete
i'm incomplete.

there are other tracks on the album with that same feel, i wonder what's going on in his head when he writes these words.

it's taken 7 years for REM to release an album, the last i remember listening to in hospital when i was a little under the weather in 2001, a lot has changed since that wake up call i can tell you.

the second album, or should i say extended play, is from an artist that needs no introduction on e-holiness, he is the one and only joseph arthur, a guy who doesn't take so long to write songs, in fact his lastest 'could we survive' is one of four albums that he will be releasing between now and june!, wow this man can write and once again he has written some amazing and challenging lyrics....i would love to sit down for a chat with him about his beliefs...

there is hope.....

i have just started to read 'the hope factor'....'engaging the church in the HIV/AIDS crisis', thanks ross a truly inspired suggested read, i am already inspired by the stories of hope that make up this book but also the shocking figures and the limited action that our churches, whether here in the west or on the major front-lines in africa and asia, are making to this huge and devastating crisis.

as you know we are making a difference in south africa but the situation needs all christians to stand up to the plate to help the widows and the orphans infected or affected by HIV/AIDS....i would recommend obtaining a copy of this book to help you really engage in this world crisis and look to Jesus to see how he is calling you to get involved, be it on the ground or from afar.

the book was first published in 2003 so some of the statistics are well out of date, but i was encouraged by the story of gracia violeta ross which can be found in chapter three of this book, gracia (a pastors daughter in bolivia) is HIV+ and faced many challenges coming to terms with her situation, she has lived with AIDS since 2000 and when the book was published was living a 'normal' life. i was amazed as i searched the web to find that she is still alive and is a key shaker and mover in raising the profile of AIDS around the world, read more of her story here.

i don't want this to get too heavy as i know that i am as guilty as any as i pass the beaten and bruised by on the other side of the road, but lets continue to pray for those infected or affected by AIDS and the associated diseases, such as TB. we should look at this as an amazing harvest for us to walk into as we share God's love and grace with those people, who like us, are created in His image, instead of shying away from the problem thinking that these people are cursed or deserve their judgement for their sin.

remember a baby has no choice to whom it's born and the mother may have been infected outside her will too.....saying that the father/lover/rapist still falls under God's grace....as Jesus said when confronting those wishing to stone the woman caught in adultery 'let those who are without sin cast the first stone'....we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, how we deal with these outcasts will also be included in our judgement!!!....as neil from the bbc comedy the young ones would have said 'heavy man!'