e-holiness

body armor

as you will be more than aware i am off to south africa today with a team of builders from our church in aylesbury, i have been so looking forward to this 18 day trip which will enable us to not only convert some of the buildings on the farm in grabouw into accommodation areas for volunteers and the children we wish to provide homes to, but will also be a chance for us to see God at move in the communities where thembalitsha are already working.

the town of grabouw has one of the highest rates of AIDS and new TB infections in the world and we are really expectant for God to show his mighty hand as we seek to love, serve and pray for those not only affected by these diseases but also hit by the high rates of poverty and housing need.

i was struck by a news report on the bbc web site, which tells of a range of fashion items that have been designed for the south african market, what's different about these clothes you may ask, well these are bullet proof versions to protect people from gun shots and stabbings..see story here.

south africa has one of the highest rates of crime in the world and the areas where we are working will be full of desperate people who will literally kill for food and drugs, however, and i don't say this flippantly, we go with God's full protection, our armour, as seen in ephesians 6 10-18, is not designed to protect us against the gun or flesh but will protect us from the unseen evil powers that all Christians are fighting against...for some of you this will see pie in the sky stuff, but as we go to south africa today we are all putting on God's armour which will not only protect us from but wage war against the schemes which are set to destroy this world (such as the gun crime caused by injustice and man's lack of love for his fellow man as seen in south africa) and claim the spiritual lives of our young people and vulnerable families.

i will try to keep e-holiness updated whilst i am away but if you hear no news then don't worry, it's only because we are so busy with the work that God has set before us, to care for the widows and orphans, seeking justice and showing compassion to all men.

inspiration

since hearing shane claiborne at greenbelt a few years ago i have loved his 'simple way', for those who haven't heard or seen shane then please follow this link to this youtube sermon that is well worth a listen....man if you aren't touched by the video clip towards the end of the sermon then i don't know what will move us to take Jesus into the world!

...shane is part of a community in philadelphia and has written an amazing book called irresistible revolution which is a must read.....

i know for some this will be old news, books etc, but we must continue to remember that we are called out to help those less fortunate than us, so have a listen and get inspired by this guy.

china thoughts

i don't often get chance to listen to bbc radio 4's thought for today but this morning as i was driving i heard catherine pepinster's thoughts on the Olympics which was very good, have read here as she makes the comparison of pauls call for us to run the race and also eric liddells call to china after his athletic career.

however as we celebrate all the human sporting endeavour let us also remember those christians being persecuted in china and other countries in the world for their faith in Jesus.

rhythm and rule

over the last few years i have been looking into the 'monastic' way of life, not shut away in a monastery with a load of other blokes but as a way of life that fits in/around/compliments my life in 'the world'...this has taken me to look at the books of david adam and the northumberland community, also other expressions of simplistic living within a wider community, but as we set out on our journey in south africa we have a real chance of creating a community, a rule, of believers that are looking to God and to each other at certain times of the day, knowing that others are doing the same.

this community or rule will be flexible and look to embrace everyone who lives, whether full time, like myself and maz, the careworkers and the children we are caring for, or part time, other workers who come up to work day by day or volunteers who will make themselves available for a period of time whether part or full time....i would love for the prayers, scriptures and times to fit with the community that we are serving:  prayers for those with AIDS and people who live in dire poverty, scriptures that speak of hope and God's love for all men especially the widows and orphans and times that suit our lives, maybe not to get the children up for 6am prayers, but then again maybe they will be the only ones awake then!

this rhythm and rule doesn't need to be too ridged and will take sometime to develop, but i would love for us to work as a community that are focused on God and each other without the need to become to religious about the whole thing.

i have found a great web site, called the order of mission, or TOM for short, this site also embraces some of the mike breen teachings that we loved at new wine all those years ago....this is something that we could join, but if anyone else has any ideas or sites/communities that could share ideas then i would love to hear from you.

some wedding photos...

some people have been asking to see the photos i took at chris' wedding over the weekend, so i thought that the easiest thing to do would be to drop a link into e-holinesss to my flickr account, so please visit this link to see some of the photos. lovely weather, amazing food and a good time had by all.

prayer for china

well we had a wonderful weekend at the marriage of my eldest son, more of which i should imagine will follow over the next few posts, however today i wanted to encourage you to visit the 808 china blessing web site. i met a guy at the weekend who does a lot of christian sports outreach and he told me of this prayer site which is looking to engage christians from all round the world to pray for china during the time that the Olympics are on and with less than a week till they start we need to get involved today.