Coffee Break

•November 19, 2009 • Leave a Comment

This is my irregular posting of my “surfing” around the net. So grab a coffee, take a break and see what interests you.

Have you heard about the Sermon on the Train?  A great initiative in Jo’burg

The UN declares July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day.

This atheist does not respect people who don’t proselytize (HT: JT)



Samuel has a great post trying to explore writing about emersing yourself in another culture

I like the new AIDS campaign that is aimed at men

brothersforlife

I was especially surprised to discover my friends Colin and Nicky made an unexpected appearance at 46 seconds in this advert.

The South African national anthem has never sounded like this before…

…and hopefully never will!

The commentator at the end “This is a highly experienced South African team but not many of them will have experienced their anthem being sung like that.”

The History of the Missional Church

•November 18, 2009 • 1 Comment

Brad Brisco has a helpful history of the missional church (with a very North American flavour though) with some helpful markers of significant or helpful books as he goes along:

History of Missional Church – Part I – The Influence of Lesslie Newbigin

The shift to missional thinking in the words of David Bosch:

“Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It was thus put in the context of the doctrine on the missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit was expanded to include yet another “movement”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world. As far as missionary thinking was concerned, this linking with the doctrine of the Trinity constituted an important innovation. Willingen’s image of mission was mission as participating in the sending of God.”

History of Missional Church – Part II – A brief review of some of the major works of Lesslie Newbigin

“In Foolishness to the Greeks, Newbigin provides an excellent analysis of the central features of Western culture. He asks the question, What would be involved in a genuinely missionary encounter between the gospel and Western culture; especially a culture that has fragmented life into the artificial distinctions between facts and values, public and private lives, and particulars and absolutes. Newbigin places Christian truth claims in constant dialogue with modern issues. He interacts with the tensions between the truth of Scripture and science, politics, and the institutional church. In each case he asks, What must the church claim to know, do, and be in a post-Christian culture?”

History of Missional Church – Part III – The 12 indicators of a missional church by the Gospel and Our Culture Network.  Includes George Hunsberger, Craig van Gelder, Darrel L. Guder

History of Missional Church – Part IV – Discusses Alan Hirsch, Micheal Frost, Craig van Gelder, Reggie McNeal, Alan Roxburgh, Ed Stetzer among others.

Good News to Our City: Racial Reconciliation

•November 17, 2009 • 6 Comments

On Sunday night a group of us gathered to pray for VOX City Church, have some food and hang out together.

We spent some time praying for the city and for us as a community of Christ-followers who wish to love and serve the city with the gospel and as people of the gospel.

It got me thinking about something that Lesslie Newbigin used to say, we do not only have a message about good news but we are the good news.  If the gospel truly is a message of good news then it must be a message that “works”.  And if the gospel is at work in individuals and communities then we ought to see it transforming individuals, families, communities and cities.

The gospel at work in Christian communities ought to look like good news to the city.  So what would it look like if VOX is to become a church that looks like good news to the city.  There are 4 major issues that the gospel at work among God’s people would have to have significant impact on in Cape Town.

1. Racial Reconciliation – we live in a city that still 15 years into democracy is heavily divided along racial and economic lines.  In Cape Town those 2 issues are very closely connected.  Cape Town is gaining a reputation as the worst city in which to be black person in South Africa.  See this story for instance: Where do all the Black People work?

Part of the reason for this is that within South Africa Cape Town has a unique demographic profile.  Cape Town is the only city in South Africa where black people are not the majority ethnic group.  Mixed race (Cape Coloureds – you can read about how race was defined here) account for 48.13% of the population, Black Africans 31%, Whites 18.75% and Asians 1.43% according to the 2001 census.

As a result most of the Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment deals incorporating as they do all previously disadvantaged peoples benefit Coloured people to a much greater degree.  Most of the economic power and resource are, however, still in the hands of white businessmen.  Culturally, coloured and white people are closer together than black and white people.  For one, there is  a commonly shared language – a significant factor in good cross-cultural co-operation.  As a result a white businessman can fulfill Affirmative Action requirements, qualify for BEE deals and not appear racist but only have very few black people working in significant roles within his company.  When we bear in mind that nationally Black Africans constitute, according to 2006 estimates 79,5% of the population, Whites 9.2%, and Coloureds only 8.9%.

If we add to this traditional apartheid divisions, the slow dissolution of the group areas acts, the language and cultural barriers, the differences in methods of church gatherings, you will begin to get the picture of why Cape Town is such a divided city.

If the gospel is at work among his people in the city of Cape Town we ought to see the gospel (in part and yet in signficant ways) overcoming these issues.  We ought to see churches bringing people of different races, cultures and nationalities together in the gospel.  The Bible is clear in books such as Galatians and passages such as Acts 13:1-4; Acts 15; Ephesians 2; Revelation 7:9-10 (etc) that the gospel is a message that brings people together.

When talking about relationships between the Jews and Gentiles in Ephesians 2 Paul writes:

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…  His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (v14-16, 19-22 edited)

N.T. Wright writes this about the Antioch incident between Peter and Paul in Galatians (a heavily divided church): “The question at issue in the church in Antioch… is not how people came to a relationship with God but who one is allowed to eat with.”

“Justification in Galatians is the doctrine which insists that all who share faith in Christ belong at the same table, no matter what their racial differences, as together they wait for the final new creation.”

(I disagree with Wright that this is justification but I do agree that this is the key issue in Galatians – you can read more on my thoughts here:  Rethinking Romans and Galatians for SA Today)

I imagine the rationale of Romans and Galatians to go something like this: If  the message you preach divides rather than unites then you have not understood  the gospel message.  In South Africa today, with all our cultural division and church division (the very fact that we can talk about “black churches” or “white churches) we need to hear again and hear afresh the message of Romans and Galatians.

Some Practical Considerations:

But we must never make the mistake of imagining that bringing people together simply means, hanging out under the same roof or in the same space, interspersed with some pleasantries.  To be a church that truly is good news to Cape Town, that brings people together in a manner that can be described as “one new man”, will involve more than people of different cultures gathering in the same building once or twice a week.  Even the unbelievers do that regularly in restaurants, workplaces, sports events, malls, coffee shops, etc. (Matthew 6:46-47)

It will require something of us – a laying down of our lives, our cultural idols, preferences, ways of doing things, in order to truly understand, love and serve our brothers and sisters.  It will require us to eat together, spend time together, be in each others homes, with each others families, to pray together, study the Word together, engage on mission together.  To learn to celebrate and enjoy the things which the other enjoys or celebrates.  We will have to learn grace, mercy, self-sacrifice and open, honest-talking if this is to happen.  We cannot simply expect it to happen we must be intentional about it.

I am convinced that key to this happening is

a) Our hearts must want it, work for it, pursue it.  In  many ways the external actions are incidental to a changed heart that  desperately wants to see the gospel reality that the divided walls have been destroyed embodied in the community of God’s people.  Discussions of the externals in this forum become irrelevant then, all that counts is that we love your neighbour as ourselves – and follow wherever that takes us.

b) Perseverance: We cannot give up easily – this task is not for the faint-hearted, we will hurt, offend and misunderstand one another, together we must seek grace and forgiveness

c) Time: We must not be fooled into thinking that a couple of meetings in a week and suddenly we are having community, we must be prepared to “waste time” just hanging out with each other, laughing with each other, telling our stories and being together. In order for real community to be fostered, for us to really begin talking to one another we have to be spending time with one another.  Somehow out of the melting pot of hours and days and quick coffees and lazy braais and long walks there begins to emerge a “oneness”, an understanding of one another that is built on relationship.  So that when we hit the hard cultural and racial issues we are dealing with these in the context of relationship.  That is very different to trying to work that out with people who are functional strangers.

d) Space: The context in which this reconciliation must happen must be mutual – we must both enter each others worlds and experience, question and learn, know where we live, grew up, what we eat.  Too much of this kind of community has happened on “white turf” we must move it into the townships, cape flats, rural areas etc as well if we are to truly be “one new humanity”

e) Prayer: Only God can do this – left to our own this will fail.  But we must pray for this with the passion and perseverance of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-5).  Lord we will not stop until you work in and among us and make us these people together!

Parting Thought:

Many black Christians in Cape Town today feel like white Christians are only prepared to let this community/reconciliation happen on their turf and on their terms.  My experience it that even though few white Christians would say it that bluntly this is largely the message that is delivered through our actions.

Part 2: Economic Inequality

Some e-books worth checking out

•November 16, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Thought I would make you aware of a few free e-books I found on the web recently. Although they look interested I must confess I have not read any of them yet. But check them out for yourself – let me know what you think.

The Rgrow-image-genericesurgence has posted Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship by Winfield Bevans

Here is their blurb:

“Many churches have a linear discipleship program where they try to funnel everyone through the same process. Sadly, many times churches simply use the latest program or book in hopes that what works for a large church across the country in a different context will work for them. Organic discipleship is the opposite. Organic discipleship is an organic understanding of the spiritual formation that begins and ends with the gospel. Just as the physical body has to have an organic structure to hold it together while allowing it to grow and develop, likewise the body of Christ must have an organic structure that can do the same. Organic discipleship is not a program or curriculum; rather it is about learning the natural rhythms of discipleship within your church context.”6a00d8341c5bb353ef0120a6a7d9eb970c

Tall Skinny Kiwi has linked to The Starfish Manifesto by Wolfgang Simson

“Probably the largest reformation of all times in Church history is in full swing. It is the combination of a threefold current initiative of God: moving from church to Kingdom as our legal base; moving from pastoral, teacher-based & evangelistic to apostolic and prophetic foundations; and departing from a market-shaped behaviour to a kingdom-shaped economy.”

Tim Challies has also made an e-book of his recent blog series Sexual Detox: A Guide for the Single Guy

detox-pdf

In line with the above e-book, you could also check out Mark Driscoll’s Porn Again Christian


Church Planting in Cape Town – the video clip

•November 12, 2009 • 1 Comment

Here is a video clip that I added to the “Partner with Us” page a few days ago;

This is produced by some guys I will planting with next year and narrated by that former uber-blogger Stephen Murray

Partner with us in 2010?

•November 10, 2009 • Leave a Comment

If you are particularly keen-eyed you may have noticed a new page has appeared in my side bar, entitled “Partner with Us”.

One of the reasons for this is that 2010 is set to bring my family a brand new set of adventures.  As with all adventures they bring both excitement, and fear – normally in the same event.  So what are we doing?

Starting January 2010, we will be joining with VOX City Church as a part of their leadership team.  2010 will see VOX plant a new expression of church within central Cape Town.

VOXwebheader

” We seek to be a church that proclaims the Gospel, experiences the transforming power of the Gospel demonstrates the Gospel in our city through practical expressions of mercy, justice, compassion, and restoration.”

We will continue in our present ministry with the Student YMCA, although there will be some changes (most notably being a move to being part-time on campus as opposed to full-time).

But significantly, we will be embracing a bigger vision for the city. Within that vision the strategic nature of the CPUT campus is unquestionable.

Our role at VOX will be 3-fold:

1. As a part of the leadership team we will have appropriate leadership responsibilities for the church plant.

2. In April we will, God willing, move into the area of Woodstock with the aim to establish a missional community there.

3. We will continue at the Student YMCA, 2-3 days a week as “missionaries” sent by VOX CITY CHURCH to work on the campus.  This is completely in line with the vision of VOX to be a church in the city and for the city.

Partnering with us:

Our income is derived solely from the generosity of those who connect with our vision for Cape Town, student ministry and church planting, rather than any fixed income:

We are facing a number of financial challenges in 2010:

a) We will be losing a number of our current financial partners.

b) Our move to the city centre will significantly increase our living expenses.

c) Our dream is to buy a house in the Woodstock area in order that we can create a home built around hospitality (eating together), community (sharing life together) and mission (praying together, sharing together, studying the Bible together).  This will require a significant financial commitment that at present is beyond us.

There are a number of ways in which you may consider giving:

a) Regular monthly giving of a pledged amount.

b) A once off gift to see us through this transition period.

c) A number of irregular gifts throughout the year which make up a yearly pledged amount.

d) If you cannot commit to regular giving perhaps you would like to consider giving “over and above” gifts when you are able to.

You can download our complete Support 2010 Document here.

And check out the VOX City Church website.

Coffee Break

•November 10, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Painting a Picture

•November 9, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Recently Jo and I have been reminded through a number of very different experiences that people seem to find our home a safe place in which to question, to doubt, to be broken, to celebrate and to be themselves.  People naturally seem to sense that it is ok to kick off their shoes in our home.  Everyone seems to do it and I can’t actually remember anyone asking.

The great thing is that this is how we have always dreamed of our home being.  And which we hope it will become more and more – with intentionality.

If we had to paint a picture for you of our dream home – it would probably look something like this:

A large house filled with people of different races, cultures, nationalities, ages,

eating together, laughing together, sharing life together, carrying each others burdens together….

a place of creativity, singing, painting, joy, expression, movie nights and card games

a place of good food, large fires, lazy glasses of wine and early morning coffee brewing

a place where lost, lonely, hurting people can feel at home

a place where people can experience the love of Christ embodied in the Christian community

a place where people can talk late into the light

or gather early for prayer and breakfast

a place where we can meet each other around His word,

a place to wrestle and meditate on meaty theology

a place where questions, doubts and skeptics are welcome

the house where the neighbourhood children gather

a place where church is not so much what we do but who we are

a community whose life is defined not by what we have but by who we are

where people matter more than programmes

and mission more than materialism.

May God make it so!

The Prosperity Gospel in Africa

•November 4, 2009 • 2 Comments

Christianity Today International, Out of Ur’s publisher, and The Lausanne Movement, a worldwide movement of evangelical Christian leaders, present The Global Conversation: a year-long series of essays, short films, and photo essays about issues facing the church worldwide. These videos highlight topics to be addressed at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization being held in Cape Town, South Africa, in October 2010.

In November the Global Conversation focuses on the prosperity gospel—the teaching that true Christian faith results in material wealth and physical well-being. While it has its roots in America, it has found fertile soil on other continents as well. To accompany the lead article in Christianity Today by Ghanaian scholar Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, director Nathan Clarke went to Ghana to explore the forms the prosperity gospel takes in that West African nation.

 

Confession: the Prosperity Gospel makes me angry.  As I talk with student after student who have been turned off Christianity by the abuses they see from prosperity preachers in rural Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.  This video is both balanced, fair and yet disturbing.

 

Everyday Life with Gospel Intentionality

•October 29, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Jonathan Dodson has posted some similar thoughts before, but they are just so helpful I thought I would should once again post his latest offering; Equipping for Mission

Don’t Eat Alone. Last time I checked we all eat at least three meals a day. Most Christians eat them alone or with other Christians. What would it look like for you to intentionally share meals with non-Christians. To get to know them over food? 21 meals a week, just start with one meal a week. I challenge you, 1 out of 21. Share it with non-Christians and be intentional. Don’t hide your faith but don’t force it either. Live with gospel intentionality in your meal eating.

Be a Regular. One family in our church are regulars at a coffeeshop where they have gotten to know the staff. As they got to know them, they invited the staff over for pizza and got to connect outside of work. This has continued. This couple hangs out with some of the staff regularly now. One girl drops by their house and just hangs out. Apparently she’s pretty down on the Church, but she’s willing to hang out with a family that shares, shows, and embodies the gospel. They even have spiritual conversations sometimes. Now, this would have never happened if they weren’t regulars. It wouldn’t have happened if they were normal regulars, treating the staff as workers, people who exist to serve the customer. Instead, they treat them as people who have worth outside of work, people who have fears and dreams that only the gospel can sufficiently address. They loved them; not just used them. It’s not just being a regular but a redemptive regular who bring grace into everyday life.

Hobby with the City. Ever notice how churches tend to create their own Christian version of hobbies in their city? If they like to cycle, then instead of joining one of the countless Austin cycling clubs, they create at Christian cycling club! Instead of joining a Run-Tex club, they form a Christian running club. Church League sports. It’s pathetic. Instead of joining a city league, churches create their own leagues so they can play one another! One guy in our church cycles regularly with city club. He participates with the city, shares a common hobby. He hasn’t joined a Christian cycling club; he just hopped into one that already exists. Over the miles they cycle together the talk about life. He gets to share, show, and embody the gospel with them. He’s had some of his cycling buddies over for dinner. Another example. There’s a group of women in our church who hobby with the city by throwing girly parties–Crafts, Bunko, Baby showers. It’s not a Christian party; it’s a good party. All the women bring food, hang out, play games, and share life, stay late. Lots of good conversations and social connections. These women are hobbying with the city.

Be a Good Neighbor. Another person in our church has been very deliberate about getting out of their house. They walk the neighborhood. Walk to the mailbox instead of drive over. Play with their kids in front yard instead of the back, and engage their neighbors in conversation. Over time, the neighbors have warmed to hearing the gospel because they were loved and accepted first. One guy, a committed postmodern, theist, homosexual recently had a crisis. Partner left, his health is in decline, some pretty big issues. Who did he call? That neighbor. Why? Because that neighbor consistently loved him and listened to him. He got to show, share, and embody the gospel over and over again. This neighbor hangs with his family and has come to the Parish. Why? Because he had a good neighbor. Be a good neighbor.

Just one question: please would someone explain this whole driving over to the mailbox phenomenon?

Read the whole thing here