L’chaim – to life

We lift our glasses to celebrate community life. We raise our glasses around the simplest pot of stew to the toast we lift for the new bride and groom. The gesture is taken for granted and is something we often just do. As we clink glasses together we declare we will live this in concert, together, this experience - this cup of life.Life is scarce at times, the resources are few, but as we raise those glasses we toast to life and together we give it its due.

“Thus as we lift up our cup in a fearless gesture, proclaiming that we will support each other in our common journey, we create community.” Henri Nouwen “Can you drink the cup"

Why art work? I just like it.

No Longer Jew or Greek - Boomer or X

Yes, we are all one in Christ. Should that not reflect in our Worship on a Sunday? We have been 'called' out of a secular divided world to eat around the same table, mindful of our relationships one with another. I find it helpful to divide the generations into categories to understand their needs, issues and expectations. The Silent, Boomer, X, Millennial and all of that. However it can be another excuse to keep us separate and divided if it is not seen as a tool to keep us together because we understand each other. Are we really that different? And surely we have much to learn from other generations. A wasteful, spend thrift, globe burning Boomer generation need to learn from the Silent who know how to conserve, look after, and cherish their resources. We need each other.

Self Centred Worship in a Multi-Cultural Country

What kind of generation are we in? That is rather a broad question, but self centered ambition seems to rule in many areas including the Church and its Worship. Shoot me down if I am wrong but we are too quick to want 'my way' of doing things. We are too quick to assert our rights and our privileges and to blows with the rest who think differently, sing differently, pray differently as long as I get my own way. In South Africa our greatest threat is mistrust and segmented lifestyles that never mingle. Our Worship as the Church should be united in all possible ways to be the witnessing alternative community we ought to be. If music preference divides, then heaven help us when it comes to greater issues.

All together now... Intergenerational Worship Bliss!

We experienced our corporate worship as a whole family last Sunday. The congregation sacrificed their preferences to come together and find themselves in common unified worship. The tensions of music preference, worship patterns, young and old melted in the joy of being together again. The response from most parties was overwhelming. The lesson being learnt is that God’s way of life is more important than our songs. Our lives together in worship is more meaningful than whether we have the correct liturgy or the ‘authentic’ flow of worship. The sacrifice of Christ became central in our focus and we appreciated the heart of our worship that in the end had nothing to do with us, but everything to do with God in Christ through the Spirit.

Conflict resolution skills

Conflict can either rip us apart or bring healing in and towards greater expressions of Godly community. When leaders of the Church are at logger-heads we are aware that they are not seeing past the things they have idolized. The matters at hand have become the ends in themselves and not the means through which we establish the reign of God. I can foresee that the only true means of embracing conflict is to embrace a deeper prayer life that helps us transcend the finite. Let us neither forget the important work of conflict management studies that provide an excellent way of helping people see beyond themselves and the competitive environment we live in. I stumbled over this site on the internet yesterday, it could be of great help to anybody having to deal with conflict, there are some excellent free resources…. “Conflict Resolution Network.”

A burnt tongue

There is ‘wordplay’ (R.N.Donovan) on the word ‘tongues’ in the first part of the Pentecost story. I have not really taken notice of it before. They saw what seemed like ‘tongues’ of fire that rested on each of them. Then they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to ‘speak in other tongues’ as the Spirit enabled them. I like the expression ‘tongues of fire.’ It somehow powers up the image of what the early disciples began to do as they shared the ‘hot’ message of the Gospel. Peter’s tongue started waging straight away in the first Christian sermon that brought in thousands of people. This gift rested on all of them by the way. The Spirit filled each of them. It was not reserved for particular people. They all began to use this ‘tongue of fire’ and they spoke in different languages as the Spirit enabled them. The theme of tongues, languages, and translation are very dominant in Acts chapter 2. There are of course others dimensions and roles of the Spirit, but the focus here is on how movable this message of resurrection was outside of Jerusalem. Note, it was not the message of the Spirit’s filling that is the message of Peter’s sermon; the message is salvation through Christ. The Spirit’s filling comes with this ‘and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ The closest analogy I can find that describes the goings on here is the Unite Nations translation unit. I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, but the nations gather and as one person speaks his/her language the translators in the background convert the message into the languages of all seated there. Pentecost and the concept of a “United Nations” are very closely linked. The greater vision of Revelation speaks of the river flowing through the city of God, where on its banks grows the tree of life, and on which the leaves grow for the ‘healing of nations.” The Mission vision is reborn in that ‘hot’ room in Jerusalem. A vision of old, but a vision of the future, that would translate itself into all the nations of the world, and into all the languages of the world

The middle road

I am called to repay a curse with a blessing. The path of non-violence and not non-resistance. I am called not to be silent but to walk as Jesus walked. He chose the path of non-violence and suffering. Working this out in everyday life is the trick. It seems easier when there are clear cut evil boundaries like the sea meeting the land. The everyday dialogue is filled with so much grey, misinformation and smudged boundaries that to speak up and not be resistant to evil is difficult. It is possibly the moment my own heart is troubled by injustice, unfair criticism or is hurt that the alarm bells ought to ring for me to be cautious with my words and my actions. This and at the same time to be aware that it is possibly the time I need to gracefully resist the evil. The disciplines of my faith should be the building blocks of my hearts reaction to the subtle play of evil all around me. The easier route from violent reaction is the other evil, silent hatred. Both are as bad as the other. Help me find the middle road. The path that is bold enough to speak the truth with love. (My thoughts are provoked by 1 Peter 3:8-12 and “Daily bible Study – Adult bible Studies”)