Some perspectives on why Jesus had to die on the cross

I found this very insightful article (on the blog Sound and Silence) on theological efforts to understand the true meaning and character of Christ's salvation work. Even if I do not totally agree personally with everything that is presented by Nic Paton, I think his effort stimulates discussion on the subject of atonement. I find it very positive that he tries to integrate the different viewpoints of why Jesus died on the cross in an inclusive argument. You can view the original post here.

REVISIONING ATONEMENT

A year ago, around Lent, a competition was announced on emergent village for people to rethink the meaning of the Cross of Jesus. Several new ideas emerged, together with some fresh reflection on the issue, and an interesting interview with Mark Baker and Tony Jones. I would like at this time of thinking about the Cross, to present a visualised framework, which might help us to come to terms with something much debated through the ages, the issue of Atonement.

Most accept the doctrines of their tradition without much deeper thought. Those who delve into the question of Atonement begin to discover that its not a simple issue, on a theological level. And many people are surprised to discover that there have been and are in fact many theories of Atonement over the centuries.

A basic definition

Atonement is about the means of Salvation, the mechanism of “becoming saved”, if you will, and the way in which sin is overcome. It is a word introduced by William Tyndale who could not find an appropriate English equivalent to the Hebrew כִּפּר (kapar- cover over, related to Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement). Essentially meaning the state of being “at one”, hence at-one-ment. According to Millard Erikson’s Christian Theology, it involves 4 elements

• Sacrifice: blood must be shed.
• Substitution: blood is shed on behalf of another.
• Propitiation: wrongdoing (or sin) is punished.
• Reconciliation, in that the separated parties are brought back together.

The theories in a nutshell

The following are the main historical theories in brief.

Ransom (R)
What	God pays a ransom to Satan who holds mankind captive through sin.
Who	Origen (2nd Century), Gregory of Nyssa
Notes	The earliest and so-called “classic” theory of the Christian era, most closely allied to the Old Testament sacrificial context. Texts: The Son of Man came … to give his life as a ransom for the many. [Mark 10:45]For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men [1 Tim 2:5]

Christus Victor (CV)
What	Jesus defeats Satan in the battle for the soul of mankind.
Who	Gustaf Aulén (1931)
Notes	A modern revisioning of the ransom theory with emphasis on Gods victory rather than on Satan, expressed in a military metaphor. Texts: And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. [Col 2:15], He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Cor 15:57]

Satisfaction (S)
What	Via Christ’s satisfying our debt, Gods honour is upheld/satisfied, and punishment avoided.
Who	Anselm 11C
Notes	From the age of chivalry, centred on maintaining honor.

Penal Substitution (PS)
What	The necessary legal punishment for sin is carried out on Christ instead of man.
Who	Aquinas 13C, Calvin 16C
Notes	A development of the satisfaction theory, with the emphasis on punishment. Texts: The wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23], Bearing the curse in the place of man.[ Gal. 3:13]

Governmental (G)
What	The Cross, in meeting the needs of justice, upholds the moral order in the universe.
Who	Hugo Grotius 17C
Notes	Developed in the context of modern legal systems of thought, and emphasizing God’s moral government, making punishment unnecessary.

Example (EG)
What	Rather than requiring substitutionary sacrifice, God in the Cross forgives absolutely, and this gives us a perfect example to follow.
Who	Socinus 16C
Notes	Text: To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. [1 Peter 2:21]

Moral Influence (MI)
What	The cross has power to influence our behaviour and attitudes.
Who	Abelard 11C, Rushdall (1915)
Notes	Emphasizes the healing of the souls of men over Gods demand for satisfaction for offence.

Expiation (X)
What	The cross transforms mankind to be more like God, rather than satisfying divine demands.
Who	The dominant view of Eastern Orthodoxy, also called theosis.
Notes	Athanasius said, “God became man so that man might become God.”

These are by no means the only theories of atonement. Others include the identificationary, sacramental, declaratory, guaranty , vicarious repentance , accident, and martyr theories.

A Framework, not a new theory.

Rather than being about the specifics of the various theories, this is a framework by which we can compare them in order to get a perspective that goes beyond our biases or traditions. It is assumed that an appropriate study would delve into the individual theories in far more depth.

To begin, let us identify 2 axes – a range of possible values – which represent the key factors in any discussion.

The first is the “focus” aspect. In this we ask “What is the focus of Atonement?” I suggest that on the one extreme we have a focus on a higher power, an authority, who must be satisfied. This mostly refers to God, but as we will see, may refer to Satan as well. This extreme I shall label “Satisfy power”.

On the other extreme, we have a focus on transforming the world. This transformation includes the salvation of humans, their ongoing sanctification, and also might include all of creation.

The second aspect is the “mode”. This is the means in which Atonement is achieved. At the one extreme we have “Law”. This means that atonement can be achieved by obedience to precepts, mostly those written down as in the Law of Moses. At the other extreme, we have freedom. This freedom includes grace, and the freedom to do good, but also must include the freedom to do ill, as in war. After all, “all is fair in love and war” (John Lyly’s ‘Euphues’, 1578). All forms of freedom represent a loss of power of the law.

The cross as a grid

When we bring these two aspects together, we aptly get a cross which gives a 2 dimensional grid:

This enables us to identify areas which fall in certain places, by viewing the grid as a “quadrilateral”, or a set of 4 squares. Also, we can give a name to each quadrant, representing a myth of atonement. These myths are the judge, the hero, the citizen, and the lover:

• The judge ensures that the law is upheld, via punishment if necessary.
• The hero is either valiant in battle or sacrificial in service.
• The citizen upholds the order in society.
• The lover transforms because of freely giving themselves for the beloved.

Applying the theories

The framework now provides the backdrop against which we can examine existing theories of Atonement. To do so we ask the questions “What is this theory’s focus: does it revolve around satisfying a higher power, or around transforming us or our world?”, and “What is the mode whereby this is achieved, is it legalistic and inflexible, or does it involve a degree of choice and freedom?” Then we can place it onto the grid according to how it measures up in terms of these various aspects.

This is where the real debate begins. If we agree on the terms of the framework, then we need to try to place each theory on the grid. This placement is but one example.

Penal Substitution (P) and Ransom (R) are in the quadrant of the judge, as they operate via law rather than grace, and have as their focus the appeasement of God’s Wrath and Justice (P), or a payment to Satan (R).

Christus Victor (CV) also holds God as the focus, but changes the mode to one of the freely offered heroic defeat of Satan. Likewise the Satisfaction (S) theory sees this sacrificial act as satisfying Gods honour.

The Governmental theory (G) is like Penal Substitution, interested in the upholding of law, but its focus is on man and the order of society, and thus appears in the citizen quadrant.

Expiation (X), Example (EG) and Moral Influence (MI) likewise focus on transforming man and the world. These theories do not see the Atonement as an objective end in itself, but having a direct bearing on the behaviour of man.

Aiming for balance

If any clarity is emerging, it will be each atonement theory emphasizes certain aspects of God, at the expense of others. A balanced view will need to embrace at least some of each aspect of atonement: judge, hero, citizen, lover.

In this framework, it is suggested that our vision of atonement contains aspects from each quadrant, that there is present the judge, hero, citizen and lover.

This balanced perspective is what Scot McKnight in “A community called Atonement”, tries to achieve in his golf-bag metaphor, in which he says that each theory is like a club, which can be used in particular situations – driving, roughing, putting. To play a balanced game of golf they are all necessary. Another metaphor sees them as flowers in a vase – the more flowers, the more beautiful the whole arrangement. And Phyllis Tickle uses a similar swirling “rose” motif in her visualisation of “The Great Emergence”.

But it must be noted, (and this is a matter of cultural and theological interpretation), there is one theory which has held sway over the last few centuries: Penal Substitution. As such, what we might do is add one more step in this process, and that is a counter bias, with the aim of regaining an “orthodoxy” in our thinking:

That is, to place more emphasis on freedom and grace, instead of law, and to side more with the lover of our souls than the judge, or even the hero or citizen. While not abandoning the requirements of Gods law, (and the various harsher aspects of atonement – sacrifice, substitution and propitiation), we need to view the goal of the cross as more about reconciliation, love and grace, than punishment.

To hold stubbornly onto a view of a God who needs to be appeased by emphasizing justice over mercy, we not only ignore the progressive revelation of God in Christ, but fall foul of the simple age old injunction, reiterated by Jesus himself, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.””

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IMPRESSIONS OF CASPER DE VRIES' LATEST SHOW

When thinking of stand-up comedians, South Africa's (especially the Afrikaans) pool is relatively small, compared to, say, the USA. We have one or two very well-known names, such as Casper de Vries (just know beforehand, his site - to which I linked and got the photo from - is only in Afrikaans).

We went to watch his latest one-person show, Broeders/Ancestry, over the weekend. Let me be frank: I cannot say I wasn't forwarned - some of my friends told me this guy comes over strong, and that's putting it lightly.

The show had two parts. In the first part Casper show-cased his characters ("Blertsie", Hanno", and "Oom Kalliemarie" amongst others) and their antics on the fictitious island Casparia. The second part featured Casper as himself and his discovery of how he was related to the Khoi-San woman, Krotoa, through ancestry.

As comedian Casper really is funny. He involves his audiences (literally) and he has a sharp mind for public commentary. The pun he twisted on the scandal surrounding Joost van der Westhuizen really was excellent, even if it was way across the boundary of being in any sort of taste. His ability for word-play deserves an accolade. And the message in the show's second part gets full marks from me. In this message, Casper tried to convey the reality that Afrikaans-speaking South Africans are part and parcel a piece of this country and the African continent as none of us can deny the fact that our ancestors married into indigenous African tribes and we all are from a mixed race background as a result of this. It is time that we as Afrikaners acknowledge the fact that we truelly are an "African tribe" and that we share not only the country with other African people, but also a blood line and common heritage. By the way, this is not a political or ideological remark.

What I cannot condone is the fact that every second word from Casper's mouth was a swear word, particularly the f-word. One can only think the use of this word is funny for so long. To build some of his characters' perfomances around this word, is really stretching it, however. To me it was remarkably conspicuous that the rest of the audience laughed at every other thing he does, whether he clears his throat or puncuates his sentence with yet another f***.

A lot of his jokes were way below the belt as well. I understand that the secular nature of this type of show or comedian will necessarily involve sexuality and the banality of it. It was, however, quite uncomfortable to sit through two hours of incessant sexual vulgarity and banality and keep on thinking it is supposed to be funny. Perhaps I became too isolated from secular culture because I am in ministry. I do know, however, that some of our friends who went along, and aren't remotely pious in their spirituality, were equally offended with Casper's over-use of sexual vulgarity.

Casper, depicting a retarded character humping a swing really is not funny, or acceptable. You need to rethink your portrayal and quick.

I won't be recommending the show to anyone. I would be too ashamed to do that. Even though I found some of his jokes funny, the overall impression is that he overstepped a boundary, that he crossed the threshold of decency and the feeling of discomfort I felt when I left the show cannot be overlooked as coming from a Christian. Even if the ultimate message that Casper de Vries presented was something I could associate with, his excessive swearing and sexual innuendos left this message overshadowed with a feeling of extreme bad taste.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

When one has read any of the Harry Potter books and then watched the movies, you are used to expect a concise version of the story. The first time I experienced this, was when watching the fourth movie, and the first to be made of JK Rowling's volumunous episodes of the story. Yet the sixth movie didn't disappoint at all. The depiction of teenage love, of Malfoy's heartache and the cave scene all accounted for a director trying to convey the book as realistically as possible.

There was a lot of humour. The graphics as usual are excellent. The actors were of a high standard. I really didn't recognise Harry Potter in the Felix Felicis scene, so out of character did he act. Not to mention Ron after eating the chocolates gifted to Harry.

This movie is not suitable for people with a logical grasp on reality. This is fantasy at its best. It borders on science fiction. So, if you watch the antics of James Bond with skepticism or get bored with Star Wars, HP 6 will frustrate you. Nothing in the made-up world of Hogwarts will be to your liking.

This movie is also not suitable for people who are afraid of anything demonic. As clear as it is that Harry Potter's world has absolutely nothing to do with what we see as demonic, so clear is it that people who believe the devil subversively uses places or images or tokens to hide in and then bind unsuspecting persons, will go completely gaga over HP 6: Voldemort's Death Eaters glid on black smoke through the air, appearing and disappearing at random. The cave scene will definitley remind them of hell. Not to mention the thing with the Horcrux.

Why am I not afraid of the devil in Harry Potter? Because I live through the deliverance of Christ. I am protected by His atonement. I am filled with the Holy Spirit. And I do not believe the Bible verses that people who practice spiritual warfare use to try and portray the devil's perceived hold on Buddha statues or African masks and the such. I read the same Bible and get the message the Evil One was convincingly conquered at the cross of Jesus. The only power he has today is to lie and make people believe God doesn't exist, to make believers believe their sins aren't forgiven and to make believers believe he is stronger than in actual fact (like making them believe he can curse and Christians through the sins of their forefathers and mothers). It is the same power he had at the beginning of creation.

Anybody with an understanding of literary devices and an enjoyment of fantasy will know Harry Potter's magical world is no more evil or demonic than the world in which Alice in Wonderland fell through the mirror.

Parental Guidance with smaller children is advised, though. Just as scary movies where cars crash spectacularly or people get afraid of creatures lurking in the dark cause nightmares, the realistically depicted world in which the HP movies are set, will cause smaller children who cannot yet adequately distinguish between fantasy and fact, to become afraid in some of the scenes of the movie. It would be wise to brief them beforehand or wait till the movie is out on DVD and then sit with them while explaining what happens.

Cartoon: Do you have a problem?

Very funny cartoon, this one. It's a clear pun on the bloke's inability to see the actual apart from the illustratied by inferring into the equation his own understanding.

It also teaches me something about how we, in matters biblical, tend to read Biblical metaphors as scientific reality and go further to provide our own theology as the backstory to our subsequent understanding.

For example: If we don't underplay the resurrection as merely metaphorical ("the historical Jesus vs the proclaimed Jesus") because our modernistic understanding of reality refuses to accept supernatural acts such as rising from the grave, we overemphasise the historicity of the event as if the Bible recorded it at the time in the same way today's newspapers and camera crews report on current events.

This also happens when we read the Bible one-dimensionally from a legal perspective (it only contains God's commands) or personally (it has to speak to me through the Spirit).

VIDEO CLIP: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

Sometimes, we just need fun in our lives. Enjoy this clip. I have no idea who the compiler is, but s/he calls him/herself Jokesmoke. I found it on the internet somewhere.

Enjoy!

FOUND ON THE INTERNET: A TEENAGER'S REPORT ON MEDIA BEHAVIOUR BY TEENS

The original link to this report can be found here. What I would like to know is whether this research also reflects media behaviour of South African teenagers. So, if you're under 30 years of age in SA and you read this article, please leave a comment and tell us what you think of this young man's views.

How Teenagers Consume Media

This is the full copy of the research note written by Matthew Robson (aged 15 years and seven months), an intern at Morgan Stanley, which caused a stir after it was published by the bank

Radio

Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio. They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free, and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses.

Television

Most teenagers watch television, but usually there are points in the year where they watch more than average. This is due to programs coming on in seasons, so they will watch a particular show at a certain time for a number of weeks (as long as it lasts) but then they may watch no television for weeks after the program has ended.

Teenage boys (generally) watch more TV when it is the football season, often watching two games and related shows a week (totalling about 5 hours of viewing). A portion of teenagers watches programs that are regular (such as soap operas) at least five times a week for half an hour or so but this portion is shrinking, as it is hard to find the time each day.

Teenagers are also watching less television because of services such as BBC iPlayer, which allows them to watch shows when they want. Whilst watching TV, adverts come on quite regularly (18 minutes of every hour) and teenagers do not want to watch these, so they switch to another channel, or do something else whilst the adverts run.

The majority of teenagers I speak to have Virgin Media as their provider, citing lower costs but similar content of Sky. A fraction of teenagers have Freeview but these people are light users of TV (they watch about 1 ½ hours per week) so they do not require the hundreds of channels that other providers offer.

Newspapers

No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV.

The only newspapers that are read are tabloids and freesheets (Metro, London Lite…) mainly because of cost; teenagers are very reluctant to pay for a newspaper (hence the popularity of freesheets such as the Metro). Over the last few weeks, the Sun has decreased in cost to 20p, so I have seen more and more copies read by teenagers. Another reason why mainly tabloids are read is that their compact size allows them to be read easily, on a bus or train. This is especially true for The Metro, as it is distributed on buses and trains.

Gaming

Whilst the stereotypical view of gamers is teenage boys, the emergence of the Wii onto the market has created a plethora of girl gamers and younger (6+) gamers. The most common console is the Wii, then the Xbox 360 followed by the PS3. Most teenagers with a games console tend to game not in short bursts, but in long stints (upwards of an hour).

As consoles are now able to connect to the internet, voice chat is possible between users, which has had an impact on phone usage; one can speak for free over the console and so a teenager would be unwilling to pay to use a phone.

PC gaming has little or no place in the teenage market. This may be because usually games are released across all platforms, and whilst one can be sure a game will play on a console PC games require expensive set ups to ensure a game will play smoothly. In addition, PC games are relatively easy to pirate and download for free, so many teenagers would do this rather than buy a game. In contrast, it is near impossible to obtain a console game for free.

Internet

Every teenager has some access to the internet, be it at school or home. Home use is mainly used for fun (such as social

networking) whilst school (or library) use is for work. Most teenagers are heavily active on a combination of social networking sites. Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an internet connection registered and visiting >4 times a week. Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale. On the other hand, teenagers do not use twitter. Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they realise that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). In addition, they realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their 'tweets' are pointless.

Outside of social networking, the internet is used primarily as a source of information for a variety of topics. For searching the web, Google is the dominant figure, simply because it is well known and easy to use. Some teenagers make purchases on the internet (on sites like eBay) but this is only used by a small percentage, as a credit card is required and most teenagers do not have credit cards. Many teenagers use YouTube to watch videos (usually anime which cannot be watched anywhere else) and some use it as a music player by having a video with the music they want to listen to playing in the background.

Directories

Teenagers never use real directories (hard copy catalogues such as yellow pages). This is because real directories contain listings for builders and florists, which are services that teenagers do not require. They also do not use services such as 118 118 because it is quite expensive and they can get the information for free on the internet, simply by typing it into Google.

Viral/Outdoor Marketing

Most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing, as often it creates humorous and interesting content. Teenagers see adverts on websites (pop ups, banner ads) as extremely annoying and pointless, as they have never paid any attention to them and they are portrayed in such a negative light that no one follows them.

Outdoor advertising usually does not trigger a reaction in teenagers, but sometimes they will oppose it (the Benetton baby adverts). Most teenagers ignore conventional outside advertising (billboards etc) because they have seen outside adverts since they first stepped outside and usually it is not targeted at them (unless it's for a film). However, campaigns such as the GTA: IV characters painted on the side of buildings generate interest because they are different and cause people to stop and think about the advert, maybe leading to further research.

Music

Teenagers listen to a lot of music, mostly whilst doing something else (like travelling or using a computer). This makes it hard to get an idea of the proportion of their time that is spent listening to music.

They are very reluctant to pay for it (most never having bought a CD) and a large majority (8/10) downloading it illegally from file sharing sites. Legal ways to get free music that teenagers use are to listen to the radio, watch music TV channels (not very popular, as these usually play music at certain times, which is not always when teenagers are watching) and use music streaming websites (as I mentioned previously).

Almost all teenagers like to have a 'hard copy' of the song (a file of the song that they can keep on their computer and use at will) so that they can transfer it to portable music players and share it with friends.

How teenagers play their music while on the go varies, and usually dependent on wealth –with teenagers from higher income families using iPods and those from lower income families using mobile phones. Some teenagers use both to listen to music, and there are always exceptions to the rule.

A number of people use the music service iTunes (usually in conjunction with iPods) to acquire their music (legally) but again this is unpopular with many teenagers because of the 'high price' (79p per song). Some teenagers use a combination of sources to obtain music, because sometimes the sound quality is better on streaming sites but they cannot use these sites whilst offline, so they would download a song then listen to it on music streaming sites (separate from the file).

Cinema

Teenagers visit the cinema quite often, regardless of what is on. Usually they will target a film first, and set out to see that, but sometimes they will just go and choose when they get there. This is because going to the cinema is not usually about the film, but the experience –and getting together with friends. Teenagers visit the cinema more often when they are in the lower end of teendom (13 and 14) but as they approach 15 they go to the cinema a lot less. This is due to the pricing; at 15 they have to pay the adult price, which is often double the child price. Also, it is possible to buy a pirated DVD of the film at the time of release, and these cost much less than a cinema ticket so teenagers often choose this instead of going to the cinema. Some teenagers choose to download the films off the internet, but this is not favourable as the films are usually bad quality, have to be watched on a small computer screen and there is a chance that they will be malicious files and install a virus.

Devices

Mobile Phones

99% of teenagers have a mobile phone and most are quite capable phones. The general view is that Sony Ericsson phones are superior, due to their long list of features, built in walkman capability and value (£100 will buy a mid-high range model). Teenagers due to the risk of it getting lost do not own mobile phones over the £200 mark. As a rule, teenagers have phones on pay as you go. This is because they cannot afford the monthly payments, and cannot commit to an 18-month contract. Usually, teenagers only use their phone for texting, calling.

Features such as video messaging or video calling are not used –because they are expensive, (you can get four regular texts for the price of one video message). Services such as instant messaging are used, but not by everyone. It usually depends whether the phone is Wi-Fi compatible, because otherwise it is very expensive to get internet off the phone network. As most teenagers' phones have Bluetooth support, and Bluetooth is free, they utilise this feature often. It is used to send songs and videos (even though it is illegal) and is another way teenagers gain songs for free. Teenagers never use the ringtone and picture selling services, which gained popularity in the early 00s. This is because of the negative press that these services have attracted (where the charge £20 a week with no easy way to cancel the service) and the fact that they can get pictures and music on a computer –then transfer it to their phones at no cost. Mobile email is not used as teenagers have no need; they do not need to be connected to their inbox all the time as they don't receive important emails. Teenagers do not use the internet features on their mobiles as it costs too much, and generally, if they waited an hour they could use their home internet and they are willing to wait as they don't usually have anything urgent to do.

Teenagers do not upgrade their phone very often, with most upgrading every two years. They usually upgrade on their birthday when their parents will buy them a new phone, as they do not normally have enough money to do it themselves.

Televisions

Most teenagers own a TV, with more and more upgrading to HD ready flat screens. However, many are not utilising this HD functionality, as HD channels are expensive extras which many families cannot justify the added expenditure. Many of them don't want to sign up to HD broadcasting services, as adverts are shown on standard definition broadcasts, so they can't see the difference. Most people have Virgin Media as a TV provider. Some have Sky and some have Freeview but very few only have the first five channels (BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five).

Computers

Every teenager has access to a basic computer with internet, but most teenagers computers are systems capable of only everyday tasks. Nearly all teenagers' computers have Microsoft office installed, as it allows them to do school work at home. Most (9/10) computers owned by teenagers are PCs, because they are much cheaper than Macs and school computers run Windows, so if a Mac is used at home compatibility issues arise.

Games Consoles

Close to a third of teenagers have a new (<2>

What is hot?

• Anything with a touch screen is desirable.

• Mobile phones with large capacities for music.

• Portable devices that can connect to the internet (iPhones)

• Really big tellies

What is not?

• Anything with wires

• Phones with black and white screens

• Clunky 'brick' phones

• Devices with less than ten-hour battery life

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER

Dear Father

When I go to meet with you today, with other members of our family, I am uncertain of what to expect.

I have a longing to have your presence evident and our love expressed.

My life is so inadequate, Lord, and only You can restore it.

AMEN

THOUGHTS ON TWITTER - BY GIELIEFUCIUS

ON PREDICTING THE FUTURE

I look towards the week. I see rain. I envision a room full of people and much talk. I am a prophet: I consult my diary


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Today is the day to blend with the curtain, to stay in the shadow. A day to be quiet and sweet. I am a prophet: I consult my diary


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My immediate future sees a conclusive event that influences actions involving advice from an important one. I am a prophet: I consult my diary


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It was revealed to me that on this day I will meet one who could enlighten me on a matter I'm praying about. I am a prophet: I consult my diary


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The prophet has left the room

A TALE OF A WOODEN BOWL

THANKS TO MARETHA STEYN FOR SENDING THIS VIA EMAIL.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.
The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and
Failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.
When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.
'We must do something about father,' said the son.
'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.
There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.
Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.
He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded,
'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.
' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.
For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason,
Neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Cartoons: Jackson in heaven

I discovered this British cartoonist through my other cartoonist friend, The Naked Pastor. He calls his site, The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus. I had to look the acronym up as it is something unique to the UK -ASBO = Anti-Social Behaviour Order. It's a restraining order against people disrupting the peace and quiet.

This cartoon's message made me think: We are way too quick to judge. Jesus taught us to leave the judging business to Him and be witnesses of His love and faithfulness. Actually, He said we should first take out the log in our own eyes before searching for stuff in someone else's eyes.

I was also quick to think of Michael Jackson as a child molesting type of pervert or something of the sort. And when he died, I thought about whether he's going to heaven or not, with the scales of my mind tipping to the negative. Then it struck me: I'm being judgmental to somebody who's life was so broken and disrupted by media perception that there is no way I can reach a clear judgment of his heart and relationship with Jesus Christ, especially as I do not know Jackson personally. I can only comment on the merits of what was reported on his life and shake my head on his antics. But I have no right to decide his eternity. That right belongs to God alone.

May the testimony of my own brokenness then rather serve as a witness to the grace of God and His love for me. And I'll pray for Jackson's children, that they get comforted in their time of sorrow and that they have role models in their lives showing them how to step into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

FOUND ON THE INTERNET: FUNDAMENTALISM'S FATAL FLAW

I found this insightful post on Nic Paton's blog, Sound and Silence. It really deserves a broader audience.

Fundamentalism’s fatal flaw

“The Earth is the Lords, and the flatness thereof.” [Ps 24, NFV]*

If it does not seem possible to dialog directly with fundamentalists, we can at least reflect on why this is so. While some refuse point blank to enter any debate regarding the/ir truth, other might see this fact as an opportunity to learn about compassion, difference, peacemaking and unity, and allow the potential “logs in their own eye” to be challenged as they identify the splinters in the eyes of their detractors.

Fundamentalism may have had a good purpose once, as a response to liberal modernism. But now, it is not just unnecessary, or outmoded. It is not only unpleasant and damaging. It does not just discredit the God of Compassion. No, its final flaw is more basic: from where I stand, fundamentalism is in fact impossible.

One of its chief features is its lateralization of language. To literalise is to flatten, removing all poetry or ambiguity – all Life – from ideas. A true fundamentalism outlaws all metaphor. But who does not use metaphor daily: “I’m just popping out” means I am leaving then returning, but true fundamentalist literalisation would be bound to ask “You mean your eye? Or are you leaving us via an explosion?” Yet they do not – they accept metaphor.

And did Jesus not abundantly describe his mission via simile – “The Kingdom is like a net…” Perhaps the fundamentalist requires a strict delineation between metaphor and simile, so that we are very explicit about abstract comparisons, by using the disclaimer “like”. If Jesus had said “The Kingdom is a net”, what would anti-metaphorical fundamentalists make of his words? “Not so Lord, it will never be a net”? No, Jesus assumes his message will be filtered via our imaginations, in order to fire them up and grow faith for the hearers.

And when Jesus says (rather curiously I have always thought) “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” is he not implying that it is impossible for this earth not to be good, so long as those who trust him remain true? It is a chemical fact that salt – Soduim Chloride – is extremely stable, and can virtually not lose its salty properties.

As Kabir says, “I laugh when I hear that the fish is thirsty.” Meaning, it is impossible for the fish to be thirsty, and that it is impossible for the earth not to be good: seasoned, purified, preserved and fertilized via the Grace of God and the Salt of Faith.

As I read the scriptures, and as I contemplate the world in which I live, I see abundant evidence of a Poetic God at play in his Universe of Marvels. My ultimate response to Life is one of awe. It is to perceive an endless mystery at every level of being.

If Life, God or the Cosmos are even in the slightest bit Poetic, then any attempt to do away with this poetry in the name of God, Life or the Cosmos, is impossible. It goes against the Truth, and this attempt at the impossible is therefore hypocrisy. And hypocrisy is sin.

From this reasoning, the sin of fundamentalism, and its fatal flaw, is the rejection of the Poetic God of Multifaceted Beauty and the embrace of the Reductionist Idol of Unifaceted Fact.

As we wrestle with truth, these are some of the questions we might ask:

• Is this created Universe reducible, as the Newtonian approach would have it, to an objective series of mere facts?
• Is this essentially Greek approach to truth “biblical” – does it line up with almost all other non-modern traditions, especially the Hebraic – of narrative truth as revealed through story?
• Are the words of Jesus and the biblical authors reducible to a set of codified truth propositions – in effect, laws?
• Is there a single meaning of the cross by which we determine a single, simple approach to Salvation?

To the extent you answered yes to these, you are a modern fundamentalist. Your worldview, whether you know it or not, is deeply influenced by the Enlightenment and Scientific rationalism. You probably see this as normal, and are unwilling to countenance another point of view. You partake in an “excess of confidence”.

If all of this remained merely a philosophical issue, then the sin of fundamentalism would not be that serious. It would fall into the category of abstract problems like any other “ism” might. But the fact is this: the actions and morality based on an impossible belief system, one at odds with Life and ultimately with God, is bound to be problematic. The fruits speak for themselves: a hypocritical belief framework leads inevitably to hypocritical deeds.

In my online skirmishes with fundamentalists I often find myself cast as the villain, the renegade and the rejecter of God. My attempts to effect reconciliation which as I see it are a foundational (fundamental in fact) part of the gospel of reconciliation, are met with scorn and worse. My desire to forge peace is mirrored back as an act of war. Any talk of truth is interpreted as deception on my part.

It is this same toxic thinking that makes people hate homosexuals, for instance. Or kill them. In the name of the Christian God.

We should not be surprised then at the vehemence with which certain people reject the emergent message. The postmodern tendencies of this message, which attempt to reclaim the mystery which rightfully belongs in the broad tradition of Christian spirituality, confound the Modern thought process. Any attempt to question or any hint of ambiguity in the written words of scripture is demonised and condemned as compromising truth by making it less clear and less one-dimensional.

To this, Peter Rollins can have the last word:

“… if we were to do the impossible and render the text into the ultimate fantasy of the fundamentalist (a text at one with itself) then the Word of God would not be clearer; rather, the Word of God would be systematically eradicated.” (The Fidelity of Betrayal, Peter Rollins, Paraclete 2008, p 57)

* The New Fundamentalist Version is not currently available (and will hopefully never become available).

Video Clip "OPGESTAAN" (Risen)

This video clip is of an Afrikaans gospel song, called (translated) "RISEN. It praises the resurrection of Jesus Christ and reflects on living in the reality of the power of the cross as Jesus is alive. It is sung by the Afrikaans worship group Vertikaal (Vertical) and is taken from their album Stil ("Silent").

Find more about them on their website, here. The site is only available in Afrikaans, though, if you are an international reader. You can click on the link musiek (music) to listen to more of their original gospel songs.

Heavy Metal Music is Satanic?

If you live in Morocco, that is. I found this interesting article on BBC's News site (see it here). It shows how the world is changing and by resisting these changes results in heartbreak. With this I don't imply we should start listening to Arabic Heavy Metal - or any heavy metal - or be sympathetic to the plight of other religions.

This just illustrates that all religious systems are faced with the same challenges of cultural change in the midst of traditional theologies; whether it is Moroccan youth singing hevay metal for Allah, or Christian theologians investigating traditional teachings through new study approaches to the Bible.

But, don't shoot the messenger! Personally, I'm not a fan of heavy metal music or change for the sake of change. Life as we know it is changing, and we will do good to start thinking about alternatives to communicate the good news about Jesus' redemptive misison to this changing culture we live in ...

If the video clip doesn't work properly, please click on the link to the original posting and view it there.

Putting the rock into Morocco

By James Copnall BBC News, Rabat

Heavy metal is known as rebel music - and that is particularly true in Morocco.

"Metalheads" have been accused of being devil-worshippers, and even locked up because of their passion.

But Youssef Benseddik, a student who heads the heavy metal group Atmosphere does not seem particularly rebellious.

"Our Moroccan culture is based on Islam, on music that is not noisy, on lyrics that talk about the prophets and Allah," he says.

As Muslims, as Moroccans, as an Arabic society, we have certain limits Youssef's father Hassan Benseddik

"If Moroccans listen to metal music, and the screaming of the singer - 'Aaargh' - they think it is not good."

Youssef and his band stress they are good Muslims - they do not take drugs or drink alcohol, and break off rehearsals to pray.

Their songs evoke what they see as terrible injustices all around them - poverty and corruption in Morocco and Africa, and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Youssef's parents are supportive - up to a point.

His mother, Rahma Benseddik, says she does not really understand the music, but she does have one of his songs stored on her mobile phone.

As any proud mother would, she likes to play it to her friends.

Jailed for Satanism

But Youssef's father has concerns about his son's music.

As a way of life, many Moroccans still find heavy metal challenging

"Of course it's a way to express their personality, but we have to know what they want to do," says Hassan Benseddik, a friendly man with salt and pepper hair and a glint in his eye.

"If it's just to express a freedom, OK.

"But as Muslims, as Moroccans, as an Arabic society, we have certain limits."

Those limits were apparently breached in 2003 when 14 heavy metal fans were accused of Satanism, and imprisoned.

Human rights groups and performers took to the streets, saying the rockers were guilty only of wearing black clothes and singing provocative songs.

Shortly afterwards the 14 were released.

Fears of libertarianism

The incident underlined a common theme in Morocco - different parts of society have widely different ideas about what is culturally acceptable.

Even today some people believe untraditional music and the youth culture it encourages is warping Moroccan values in a dangerous way.

The last 10 years it has been getting more tolerant Musician Michy Mano

Morocco's moderate Islamist party, the PJD, has criticised music festivals, saying they encourage young people to take drugs and engage in immoral behaviour like sex before marriage.

PJD member Mustapha el-Khalfi says there is also a risk that heavy metal could introduce Satanic behaviour to Morocco.

"Not only Satanism as a 'religion'," he argues.

"But also as a way to give some arguments for young people to be libertarian, to do what they want to do, even if these activities or practices or behaviour are immoral."

Despite the criticism, music festivals are very popular among young people.

Michy Mano, a well-known figure on the Casablanca music scene, says young musicians of all kinds are winning new freedoms for everyone.

"The system has changed a bit, people can speak out a bit louder than they did before," he says.

"There were always people who did that, but there was repression if people spoke about political things.

"But the last 10 years it has been getting more tolerant."

'Positive energy'

All the same, Youssef says he has had to tone down the clothes he wears.

If he puts on all black outfits and pentagram jewellery - as many metalheads throughout the world do - he faces hostility.

But he has no intention of giving up the music he loves.

"We find heavy metal has a positive energy," he explains.

"Even if it is loud and noise we find it very relaxing."

Morocco is an increasingly open society.

But Youssef and other young people are still trying to work out how to be themselves, while staying true to Moroccan values.

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER

Lord,

I am stumbling through life.

Why is it that other Christians I speak to, only experience your goodness and grace in the midst of their suffering?

It is as if their smiles and the way they pray their demands are the keys to opening up your goodness.

I also smile, pray, have faith, and hold fast onto you!

Are my words not powerful enough?

I am stumbling through life, Lord.

I don't think I'm powerful at all.

AMEN

CELEBRATING CALVIN

John Calvin
Johannes Calvyn/Calvijn
Jean Cauvin

10 July 1509 -
27 May 1564

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Scot McKnight

This is one of the best remarks I heard someone make in quite a while ...

"Some of the public debaters have the habit of calling anyone who moves in a different direction a liberal and at times have the other habit of showing that those who differ with the traditional view are on a slippery slope into theological liberalism. Beside the fact that most slippery slopes aren't very slippery and neither are they slopes cascading into liberalism, the facts are against this announcement. Many who do disagree with the traditional view are not in fact liberals. I could give you a list of them. Most of them are card-carrying evangelicals. I am one of them."

THE BLUE PARAKEET - Scot McKnight, p 146.

I agree with you Scot, even if in South Africa us evangelicals don't carry cards to show ourallegiance to evangelicalism.

Cartoon: Please, don't snap!

Thanks to WeeJee at Life is a Cheese Curl, we have the joy of seeing how it would look if someone known to be one of the more innocent creatures got fed-up. You go, Pac!

Is Twitter the news outlet for the 21st century?

I found this interesting article on the website Independent Online. The original placement can be found here.

Los Angeles: Cassy Hayes and Jasmine Coleman were among the first fans to arrive outside the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles where Michael Jackson was brought and later pronounced dead.

How had Hayes, 25, and Coleman, 21, heard the news so quickly?

Twitter.

The two young women had learnt about Jackson's health like so many who get their news nowadays: by reading the ever-flowing feed of real-time information on the microblogging service.

Jackson's unexpected death at age 50 was just the latest major news event where Twitter played a central role. But just as quickly as Twitter has emerged as a news source, so, too, has its susceptibility to false rumours become abundantly apparent.

The extraordinary amount of news coverage the mainstream media have recently devoted to Twitter has led some to think the press is in love with the three-year-old microblogging service.

But it's a jealous love.

Twitter's constantly updating record of up-to-the-minute reaction has in some instances threatened to usurp media coverage of breaking news. It has also helped many celebrities, athletes and politicians bypass the media to get their message directly to their audience.

Make no mistake about it, Twitter has in many ways been a boon to the media.

It's one more way a story might go viral and it's arguably the best way for a news outlet to get closer to its readership. Most outlets now have a presence on Twitter, with a feed directing readers to their respective sites.

But even in an internet world that has for years eroded the distance between media and consumer, Twitter is a jolt of democratisation to journalism.

To date, the most salient, powerful example of Twitter's influence has been Iranian protesters using the service (among many other methods) to assemble marches against what they feel has been an unjust election.

Early in the protests, the US State Department even urged Twitter to put off maintenance that would have temporarily cut off service. Twitter is difficult for governments to block because tweets - 140 characters or less - can be uploaded from cellphones like a text message. (The Iranian government has nevertheless often succeeded in blocking Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.)

Further, many Americans were upset at what they considered CNN's thin early coverage of the revolution in Iran and voiced their complaints (where else?) on Twitter. Some said they preferred news on Twitter to the cable news network.

Twitter also produced eyewitness accounts of the Mumbai terrorist attacks last year. And when the US Airways jetliner crashed into New York's Hudson River, Twitter was among the first places photos of the landing were linked.

Many users have become accustomed to clicking on Twitter when news breaks. There, they can find a sea of reaction, commentary and links to actual articles.

The popular technology blog TechCrunch recently questioned whether Twitter was "the CNN of the new media generation".

"Twitter absolutely changes the media landscape," said Ross Dawson, author and communications strategy analyst. "I like to refer to Marshall McLuhan's description of media as 'an extension of our senses'. Now, Twitter is extending our senses to tens of millions of people who are often right on the scene where things are happening."

Ashton Kutcher, one of Twitter's most popular users, in an earlier web video evoked the rhetoric of a revolutionary: "We can and will create our media." Kutcher, who declined an interview request, sees Twitter as putting media power in the hands of regular people and, presumably, regular movie stars.

But comedian Michael Ian Black, a popular figure on Twitter, notes that while Twitter allows someone to "communicate very directly with people", it also allows you to keep them "totally at arm's length".

There are no follow-up questions on Twitter if the user chooses not to hear them. When tweets replace an interview or a press conference, something is lost.

Twitter - where brevity can neatly do away with messy details - can thus be used to control one's message and one's image.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong, for example, has caused some news organisations to question how they approach Twitter. Armstrong, who's in the midst of a comeback bid, often treats Twitter as his primary news outlet.

In May during the Tour of Italy, Armstrong's avoidance of the media caused some news organisations to boycott his tweets.

VeloNews.com, the website for a competitive cycling magazine, avoids using Twitter to establish facts without independent sourcing. "It's one-sided," said VeloNews. com editor Steve Frothingham, a former AP reporter.

"It's us just sitting there taking what he's giving. We can't just not ask follow-up questions, we can't ask any questions."

Frothingham also notes the awkwardness of distribution.

Armstrong's followers (more than 1.1 million) outnumber the readership of VeloNews.com.

When Armstrong announced the birth of a son in early June on Twitter, he also, in effect, scooped cycling and tabloid outlets.

But truthfulness remains the biggest problem: those direct, near-instantaneous dispatches are far less reliable than old-fashioned journalism.

News that circulates on Twitter, retweeted from person to person, can spread quickly - often too quickly for it to be verified. False rumours spread daily on Twitter.

In the days following Jackson's death, fake reports frequently had to be knocked down by news organisations that did the fact checking.

Dawson notes that established media channels still have a virtual monopoly on credibility.

Erroneous declarations of celebrity deaths have been one trend.

Patrick Swayze, who is battling pancreatic cancer, recently had to defend that he is indeed still alive, after thousands of Twitter users spread the news that he was dead.

While involvement in the protests in Iran might be Twitter's most meaningful achievement thus far, some have noted that many inaccuracies were circulated.

That has raised the concern that some people or governments may use Twitter to spread disinformation even more dangerous than suggesting Jeff Goldblum is dead.

Andrew Keen, the author of The Cult of the Amateur, believes Twitter - and whatever real-time web services follow in its wake - represents the future of both the internet and media. - Sapa-AP

WHAT DID YOU DO DURING YOUR VACATION?

Thanks to Tim Walburg at TOONFEVER.

A new take on rationalisation!

THOUGHTS ON TWITTER - BY GIELIEFUCIUS

There's a cookie in the cupboard who yells my name. Says he found a home right down the middle of my tummy next to my other fat – Gieliefucius

* * *

Eating a cookie while on a diet is like standing with your face to a strong wind, trying to smell your own fart - Gieliefucius

* * *

Eating a cookie while on a diet is like playing golf on a Sunday morning with no-one around to see your hole-in-one - Gieliefucius

* * *

Eating a cookie while on a diet is like getting drunk from secretly drinking spiked mineral water in the little boys' room -Gieliefucius

* * *

DAMN! The cookie won -Gieliefucius

VIDEO CLIP: EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL

The beauty of this clip is such that I have no words.

It can be found on Youtube, here. The words are from Katherine Center's novel, Everyone is Beautiful. She has a website.

Enjoy!

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER

Good evening, Lord

I didn't speak to you today ...
I was too busy enjoying my vacation.

AMEN

A CHURCH DECIDES TO EXCLUDE WOMEN FROM LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

It's with some trepidation that I finally decided to share my thoughts on the recent decision of the Reformed Church of South Africa (locally known as the "Doppers") to not allow women as elders or pastors. I am not a member of this denomination, and therefore I am not privy to its internal culture or ethos. As an outside observer, though, I see a very traditionalist church with a fundamentalistic approach to Scripture and the reformed tradition.

My initial feeling after reading about the decision was to proclaim, "we're not all like that!" We, meaning the church in general and men in particular. It is of great theological consequence that their intepretation of Scripture got stuck in a legalistic, prescriptive mode by looking for Scripture demands to be met, rather than asking what exactly is the testimony of the texts about God's work in that context and how one should stay faithful to its message in another context.

Also, the modernistic mindset of looking for never-changing general principles clearly permeated the decision's drive. The decision implies that this church will struggle for decades to come to get it reversed - as it will be stuck in reformed church polity procedures governing the reversal of decisions and internal politicking by members.

Finally, this church lost an opportunity to re-align itself as a missional movement geared towards reaching late-modern people in a secular society for Christ. Even if one's interpretation of Scripture dictates women from being excluded as leaders, the openness should've existed to create new structures that would respect this intepretation while searching for ways to allow women to be reached authentically for Christ.

Personally I do not think the Bible writers intended to prescribe never-changing principles to churches for all ages. The instructions were given to specific contexts to enable churches to stay faithfull witnesses for Christ in their communities. In other early-church communities there clearly were women in leadership and ministry positions.

If the Doppers want to be serious about their fundamentalistic commitment to Scripture, all women should start wearing hats to church, all young people who are sexually active should be forced to marry or censured, all divorcees should be cast into hell as adulterers and church meetings should be closed for all but the initiated few.

Ah, but I forgot, this is the church who threatened to split over the use of the communion cup and the singing of songs other than psalms ...

Found on the Web: Paradigm Shifts doing Christian ministry in a pagan environment

This little article was posted on Don Miller's website and can be found here.

Thirteen Paradigm Shifts we encountered doing Christian ministry in a pagan environment…

1. Other People Exist: Simply coming to the understanding that the world does not revolve around “me” but that everybody is having an experience, created by God, loved by God, and that we needed to repent of showing partiality…

2. Nobody will listen to you unless they know you like them: We began to understand that people, subconsciously, merit a religious or philosophical idea not on logical conclusions, but on whether or not the idea creates a “good person”…the definition of a good person being whether or not a person is kind to them, tolerant and understanding, able to listen without arguing and so on.

3. Nobody will listen to God unless they know God loves them: We came to believe there was usually a hidden pain behind hostility, that many people have been hurt by the church, or people or perspectives they believed to represent God. Many times its as simple as an interview they saw on CNN, but an apology and kindness went a long way in helping people understand God was loving.

4. Other people have morality and values: We came to understand that Christians do not own morality, that everybody lives by a moral code, not always informed by an ancient text, and yet it is there. Calling people or even thinking of them as immoral was, then, inappropriate. In fact, we often found that people who did not know Christ lived a morality close to his heart in many areas we had ignored, ie; community, tolerance, social justice, fairness and equality, freedom, beauty and so on and so on.

5. Find common ground: Often the morality of others overlapped Christian morality, and we came to understand that in these cases, we would focus on the overlapping issues. We came to see this as kindness, just as though we were on a date or making friends, we did not focus on what we didn’t have in common, but rather on mutual feelings about life. We would not say or do anything to combat people unless they knew we loved them, and this takes a great deal of time.

6. Define terms in their language: We were careful about Christian sayings and phrases that might be offensive: Crusade, sin, immorality….we came to understand that concepts were more sacred than terms…

7. Telling somebody about the gospel is about them, not us: We were careful not to try to “build our organization” and respected peoples freedom and space. Sharing the gospel became an exercise in friendship, rather than an attempt to grow a machine. Often, people feel used if they feel they are being recruited. The gospel, we learned, is really about them, their feelings about God and truth, about sin, about life

8. Don’t let spreading the gospel feel any different than telling somebody about a love in your life, about your children or a great memory: We realized that in telling somebody about Jesus, we were telling them about somebody we have come to love and need, and about something that had happened to us, an encounter. This keeps us from sounding preachy, and allows us to share part of ourselves in a friendship.

9. Include lost People in Your Community: Our organization was not exclusive. We invited non-believers into the community if they wanted to be invited. We were careful not to not be ourselves with them, but they were certainly invited and enjoyed being a part of the group. We explained terms that we used, what we believed, but other than that, continued as normal.

10. Apologize for what you represent: We discovered that many people have been offended or hurt by what they perceive Christianity to be. We allowed ourselves to stand in the place of “Christianity” and apologize whenever necessary.

11. Be authentic: We discovered the need to be as honest about our lives as possible. We did not feel the need to sale Jesus, as much as share what He has done in our broken lives. We had no problem sharing our doubts and fears about faith, along with our commitment and appreciation for what God had done.

12. Pray for the Salvation of others: We discovered the need to pray for others. This would insure God was working in peoples lives, as we asked Him to. We discovered the work of evangelism is something God lets us watch, but very little of it is what we manipulate. We repented of not believing evangelism was a spiritual exchange between a lost person and God, rather than believing it was a series of ideas we were supposed to convince others of.

13. Ask people if they would like to know Christ: We decided to initiate, whenever the relationship called for it. We were not afraid to ask people if they would like to know God.

CAN A CHRISTIAN LEARN SOMETHING FROM AN ATHEIST?

The following is an article published in the daily Afrikaans newspaper, Beeld. Unfortunately, the website doesn’t say who wrote it. You can read it in Afrikaans on Beeld’s website, here.

Let us learn something from atheists

Atheists are people that believe there is no God. Agnostics believe a person cannot know if there is a God. It was especially the first group who reacted sharply to religious pronouncements in recent times.

The making known of their viewpoints, that was previously unheard of, is good for us. Many religious advisors suggest that we should have unbelievers for friends to aid our growth in credibility ...

· We learn from conversations with unbelievers how loveless and arrogant religious persons act towards them. perhaps it helps us remember that the earliest Christians, who rejected the religioons of their time, were branded as atheists and were discriminated against.

· We learn that we cannot represent our faith with cheap emotion. According to Hans Küng faith isn't based on rational proof or irrational emotions. Faith is "reasonable trust"; that is why healthy faith should remain open to critical investigation and discussion.

· We learn from such conversations that relgion has a diverse effect on the world. There is a tendency by religious leadersto ignore their age's core issues or only philosophize about it. There are few indications of real guts to alleviate the need of society, but many where the powers in control were legtimized.

· We learn that certain similarities exist between atheism and the movement of Christ. Klaus Nürnberger showed that both want to free people from religious and social enslavement.

· We learn that our stubborn ignoring of scientific discoveries and our desperate holding on to ancient presentations create stumbling blocks. It prevents the mesaage about God from reaching atheists in a contemporary way.

INFLUENTIAL CHRISTIAN BLOGGERS & WRITERS OF SOUTH AFRICA

Some guy on Twitter gave me this idea - he made a list of the top ten pastors in America who's twitter thoughts you should follow. That got me thinking on the influential Christian leaders of my own country: If I would have to propose blogsites and Tweeters to someone asking me, who would I suggest?

Let's see ...

* Braam Hanekom
* Andries Louw
* Dries Cronje
* Reggie Nel
* Tom Smith
* Cobus van Wyngaard
* Roger Saner
* Dries Lombaard
* Jan van der Watt
* Stephan Joubert
* Hennie Stander
* Theo Geyser
* Francois Mulder
* Frederick Marais

Cartoon: LAISSEZ-FAIRE

Experts call it the Laissez-faire style of discipline. Put this way, by WeeJee of Life is a Cheese Curl, I think you'll agree it could also be called stupid.