e-holiness

everything must change

wow, finally got to the end of that book that i promised to share with you about two weeks ago, it's not that i am a slow reader but i have had to process a lot of thoughts which came up in the book and i think i will have to reread a few chapters, if not the whole thing to get a real handle on all that was said....however the book was brian d mclarens 'everything must change'...and w hat a read it was, challenging not only our whole world outlook but the systems which 'currently' hold our world together.

i am afraid that i won't do the book justice by trying to expand or explain any of the deep thoughts that it has provoked in me, i am not that eloquent and besides i wouldn't know where to start, but there is enough to say that brian spent a lot of time talking with the poor and needy of our world to try to get an overview of the way they have been oppressed by the current system and to read a chapter about his trip to khayelitsha, meaning new home, a township in cape town....(it would be easy to say a township on the edge of cape town, but townships, especially ones of the size of khayelitsha are part of the towns and cities in south africa, so i say 'in')....where we at thembalitsha are working, was interesting to say the least.

i would urge all of you to read this wonderful book, many of brian's thoughts have been things that i have been working through for years, but to have them held together with such insight was very helpful, i just need to digest it and put these challenges into action....something that will come easier as we make our move to south africa in the autumn but some points should be dealt with right now here in my western lifestyle in england.

i was touched by a few short passages towards the end of the book as brian talked about the story of a south american family who went to help some indigenous people in argentina, the thoughts and deeds of this family certainly touched a cord in my heart, here are some extracts from that short chapter, which i hope won't be so out of context that you miss the point, but if they only speak to me again as i type them out then hey maybe its for me to hear and for you to read when you have read the other 32 chapters of the book!

"for followers to believe in him (Jesus) meant - and means - not only that we have faith 'in' Jesus, but also that we share the faith 'of' Jesus: that our world is on a suicidal trajectory, and that our lives can make a difference. whilst most of us won't be called to sacrifice our physical lives (but many may), having faith 'in' Jesus and sharing the faith 'of' Jesus will lead all of us to make what an early disciple called 'a living sacrifice'. we will give up the life we could have lived, the life we would have lived - pursuing pleasure, leisure, treasure, security, whatever. and instead, we live a life dedicated to replacing the suicide machine with a sacred ecosystem, a beautiful community, an insurgency of healing and peace, a creative global family, an unterror movement of faith, hope and love."

speaking of the family and their work with the people group they were called to brian writes..."their family were careful not to do what too many whites do: they didn't want to 'assist' the people in paternalizing ways that would only wound their dignity even further, fostering dependence and humiliation. so instead, they asked the people what their biggest problem was, and they offered to join them as helpers solving it"...amen (my amen).....further on he writes his question as to why the locals hadn't started to help themselves before the 'whites' had come to help, the reply from the small charity was "the people had no hope", "when people have no hope, all they think about is scraping by for one more day. there is no tomorrow, there is no creativity, there is no will to organise, people can't even think straight, because they have no hope"....and to conclude the charity worker finishes by saying "no, we were there because we genuinely loved them - no, not just that - we liked them.....it wasn't the resource we bought that made a difference. it was our presence. we were simply among them as people with hope, among them as people with love, and that made the difference. they caught our hope"

then speaking of Jesus brian brings this whole thinking and way of living together "he simply let the people know he liked them - and so did God, that he was interested in them, that they didn't have to be ashamed of who they were. he came close to them in their illness, wept with them at the graves of their loved ones, ate at their tables, drank their wine, listened to their words, let himself be injured by their pain - and, although it isn't recorded in any of the gospels, i imagine he laughed at some of their jokes too'.

i loved the whole book, but this chapter really spoke to me, this is what we want to do in the small town in south africa as we seek to serve that community, which is already being loved and cared for by the thembacare team, may we be Jesus to those people and help change their lives as we serve them.....

books and more books

i have just finished an amazing book by tim butcher called blood river, tim is a journalist with the daily telegraph and set out on a one man journey to follow in the footsteps of one of the most well known african explorers, a certain h.m. stanley, and someone who also wrote for that famous newspaper.

the book follows tim's experiences as he follows the congo westward towards the atlantic ocean and picks up on the history of this huge nation which sits in the middle of africa. stories of warring factions that are operating within the country as we speak are placed against a backdrop of colonial rule first by the portuguese and then the belgians. it's clear to see how such countries who have been raped and pillaged by 'the west' are now struggling to gain stability under their own rule, this could be said of rwanda, burundi and the current crisis in zimbabwe.

tomorrow i will post on another book that i have just started to read which looks at the current worries and conflicts in this world, as seen in the book blood river, against the rule of God's kingdom and what Jesus came to set in place through us......

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!'

howies/cape town....

just back from my trip to croatia and ireland and have just enough time to enjoy a wonderful home cooked dinner, hear stories of josh's first accident, pack some new undies and pick up the post, including the new howies catalogue, which this time features three bays, cardigan bay, san fransisco and cape town before i fly out to germany for 5 days tomorrow morning....

page 88/89 of the catalogue has some facts about the wonderful city of cape town, including how cheap the beer is, the total rainfall, how many people live there and it also states how many shacks there are (my friends who live in them call them home but who's going to split hairs). unfortunately it doesn't pick up on the fact that thousands of people are dying of hunger, many many children are living with aids, areas have the highest new rate of TB in the world and water borne diseases break out in the townships due to lack of clean water.....come on howies thanks for mentioning the shacks, not many people hear about those, but if your's gonna spill the beans lets have all of them!

some reading for lent

for those of you who are looking for something to focus on for this years lent, which starts this week, i could do no more than recommend that you spend sometime each day reading God's word...how easy is it for us to put off that important part of our 'Christian' lives in favour of doing something else instead, maybe it's breakfast tv in the morning, or the next episode of your favourite soap in the evening, it could be the amount of time you spend surfing the net or even reading that great novel, whatever is taking up your time i would suggest that you let go of that to focus on God's word, it's an amazing and life changing read.

when ever i encourage people to spend time in God's word my thoughts are directed to the story of God's people as they spent 40 year in the wilderness, during that time God provided food for them in the form of manna, this substance was collected each morning and was their staple diet. it tells us that each person collected as much or as little as they could but everyone who ate it was satisfied no matter how much they consumed....amazing, God's word is like that for us today, we can't do without it, if we are to grow and mature in our walk with Him, however for some they will eat (read) loads others will only eat a little but whatever we eat will be enough, the only thing we have to do is make time to collect it and make time to eat it......the bible also tells us that this manna didn't keep, by the next day it was mouldy, now i'm not saying that God's word is stale and become out of date, what i am saying is that we need to receive it new everyday, yesterdays word or thought can't sustain us forever.

...sorry for the lecture but this time of year is a good point to start making God's word a part of your daily diet.

many people say that they don't know where to start or what part to read, however as tom wright says in his book 'simply Christian' 'it's a big book, with big characters. they have big ideas (not least about themselves) and make big mistakes. it's about God, and greed, and grace, about life, lust, laughter and loneliness. it's about birth, beginnings and betrayal; about siblings, squabbles and sex; about power and prayer and prison and passion.....and that's only genesis'!

what more can i say that give it a go God has spoken to generations before and if you let Him He will today, it's you thats got to make that choice...

the rhythm of life

i am sure that i have posted about this simple little book before, but the e-holiness archives are getting so big that it's hard to find things, however it doesn't matter whether i have or not i just wanted to encourage all of you who are looking at this 'daily office'/'order'/'monastic' approach to your lives to buy this book 'the rhythm of life' by david adam which i have rediscovered over the last week or so, i followed the rhythm 'religiously' for a couple of years but then i think e-holiness took over that time in the morning and i never really got into the midday and night stuff once that was knocked out, however i have just started to read it again and i am really enjoying it.

the book is set out in a weekly cycle of thoughts about the following aspects of God and our lives, sunday, the first day of the week, starts with the resurrection, monday follows with creation, then incarnation, Holy Spirit, community, friday focuses on the cross and saturday ends looking at the saints. within each of these daily topics there are prayers, readings, psalms and responses set at morning, midday, evening and night...there is a real rhythm to this book and whilst it is very simple it has helped me focus at different times of the day.

chasing francis chasing God

i have placed 'punkmonk' on the back burner as i blast my way through what is a very challenging but easily written book called 'chasing francis', it's great to be reading a book about a character that i have found increasingly interested in over the last few years and to have visited some of the places in the book is great but more than that many of the questions the book has raised so far are ones that i have been pondering for years.

the book is a novel based on an american pastor who 'lost his faith' in a big way and about his road to finding God, i love the passage on page 54/55 of the book where the characters are discussing what the catholics do and don't believe, it ends with this paragraph which sums up my feelings about 'the Christian faith' at the moment...

....'but no tradition has a corner on the faith market. sharing the wisdom each of our traditions brings to the table will create more well-rounded Christians. francis was a catholic, an evangelical street preacher, a radical social activist, a contemplative who devoted hours to prayer, a mystic who had direct encounters with God and someone who worshipped with all the enthusiasm and spontaneity of a pentecostal. he was a wonderful integration of all the theological streams we have today'....

great, amen and amen to that.....

understanding man?

with our involvement in south africa i have surrounded myself with books telling stories from that amazing country and i am trying to grasp a little understanding the events some of the people that we are working with in the western cape have gone through.

as you know i really like photography and whilst i am really a 'point a shoot man' rather than a genuine 'artist' i have found my interest in this art form growing and was somewhat led to my most recent read 'the bang bang club' (stories from hidden war) .....the story of four photographers in south africa who literally risked life and limb to bring us some of the most harrowing photos from the post apartheid era, a time when the country was trying to come to terms with a political upheaval many of us have never seen.

i am finding the stories in the book somewhat hard to take and trying to understand how one man, whether black, white, coloured or yellow could inflict such pain and suffering on their fellow man, i am well aware that as we sit here today there are many many people suffering injustice at the hands of man and my heart goes out to those in that situation today.

the book contains some of the most disturbing photos ever published in the world press, one of which wasn't shot in south africa, but caused kevin carter so much anguish that he took his life soon after winning the pulitzer prize for the photo which shows a staving child in sudan being watched by a vulture (be aware that this link takes you to the bang bang club photo section which does contain some distressing photos, but some that i think we need to see to understand the suffering man can inflict on man).   

my prayer is that we would (as Christians) rise up and fully embrace and understand how God views this world as in matthew 5 1-10 and fully live out Jesus call on our lives as we seek to bring justice through His kingdom coming in our lives and in our world today.

reaching the world

i have just finished reading a little book called 'unafraid of the sacred forest', which i got for my birthday, thanks ed, which tells the story of white missionaries going into an african village in northern ghana, and the birth of a church in that region. the book doesn't tell the story of a bye-gone era but is set in the 1990's and whilst the tribe, transfixed by witchdoctors and the like, had an name of a good god who had created everything they hadn't been told about him and his son and the healing power of the holy spirit. it's well worth a read as you see hear about God revelaing himself to those who don't even God's word written in bibles.    

one part which touched me was the core values that were set down by the new church, i am sure that there are somethings on this list that we need to highlight in our church structures as we look to share God's word with others!

1. as the community of the redeemed, the church was bought to birth by God and belongs to God.

2. the church is not an alienating society: those who have been redeemed by Christ and breathe the gospel wherever they are, are still men, women, parents, children, farmers and fishermen.

3. the church is not a community in isolation: we are called to be holy in the world and not apart from it.!!!

4.  the church is a community without borders and is therefore missionary.

5. the life of the church, accompanied by the Word, is a great witness to the lost world. it is necessary that we preach a gospel that makes sense to both within and outside the church building.

6. the major mission of the church is to glorify the name of God

7. the life and thinking of the church should be centred in the Word of God. The Word never contradicts itself not the action of God in the church.

there are a few to think about.

botswana time

i have just finished reading a wonderful little book by will randall called 'botswana time', the book, not a christian read, follows the adventures of mr mango, an englishman, who finds himself teaching in a small school in botswana. i could hardly put the book down, so easy was it to read, as we followed the school children's adventures of trips into namiba to play football matches against neighbouring schools and heard the affects of aids in their small lives, it was good to hear some familiar language so common to us as many of the people mr mango came across were from south africa.

i also had a wonderful time on saturday, not only did i play in my third consecutive football match, we ground out a 0-0 draw, but in the evening as maz (my wife) had planned a surprise 40th birthday party, my third one, having celebrated twice in south africa in august, it was great to see so many friends and family who helped celebrate with me.....it was a great evening....apart from the awful 'pop quizz' set up by my pastor brother in law.! (thanks for your best efforts mark)