Emerging Africa

‘“If you had one wish, what would it be?” Surrounded by the devastation of civil war and poverty, the woman looked down at the ground and then back up. She stared at me from my television screen and said, “I want my children to live in a different world. I long for a world I have never known.” I have never forgotten her words or the way she said them. She was dreaming of a new community.’

Today a group of 50 bloggers are blogging about the term "missional". A few South Africans are participating, and my contribution (with links to the others) may be found here.

In calling for a missional synchroblog Rick Meigs says:

I've been watching Todd Bentley from the USA with some interest in the last few days. For those of you who don't know him, you can see his website : www.freshfire.ca

Todd has, of course, caused some stir amongst Christian circles with the usual rumblings : he's a heretic this, and a heretic that; OR, he's the best thing to come since Christ Jesus.

Alan Hirsch, well known (South African born!) author of The Forgotten Ways is visisting South Africa. Please book with the contact persons if you want to attend.
Alan's program in the Gauteng area:
Tues 20 May at Doornpoort Dutch Reformed Church from 19h00-21h00. Contact Dr Marius Nel marius-nel@lantic.net or 0839731428.
Wed 21 May. from 09h00 - 15h00 Workshop on Missional Church at NG Weltevreden (see www.ngweltevreden.co.za for directions). Contact Linda admin@ngweltevreden.co.za and tel 0114755510 or Phone Nelus 0824511670
Thur 22 May Retraite (Theme Emerging Missional Church) at Achterberg from 09h00-21h00. Contact Dominica at 0114033049 (O) or administrasie@ngkhoeveld.co.za
There is still limited places avialable.

How many people will be blogging for human rights on Thursday (15 May 2008)?

If you haven't heard about this before, there's more info on my Khanya blog.

Congratulations to all involved who just made The Bible and Myth post the most commented upon one on the site, ever. I would've read all of the comments, except I don't have 5 free hours - but they all looked good, in a mini-essay-type way. Wow! We could write our own book!

This shows me that there is a need for people to flex their mental muscles and engage in some high level (sometimes difficult to follow) dialogue, which is positive because sometimes there's little space for that in the church (who can prefer to "dumb down" intellectual conversations), and it's great we can do that here. I look forward to tracking the next conversation - whatever that may be!

I'd be interested in seeing the post-modernists view in justifying social justice within the post-modern type of philosophy.

"Post-Modern" is a pretty broad definition, I know. By (very) basic definition, it would be defined as 'relative' in terms of truth. Although, I know this may not do it justice, when someone calls themselves 'post-modern' in thinking, they basically are saying this. We can discuss if this definition does it any justice.

But, with that in mind, can a true post-modern thinker (ie, someone who lives according to post-modern thought or relativity) justify social justice at all? My own thinking tells me that it is rather ridiculous to assert social justice must happen, when justice itself as a concept has no absolutes.

“Love is ...
Love is handing your heart to someone and taking the risk that they will hand it back because they don't want it. That's why it's such a crushing ache on the inside. We gave away a part of ourselves and it wasn't wanted.
Love is a giving away of power. When we love, we give the other person the power in the relationship. They can do what they choose. They can do what they like with our love. They can reject it, they can accept it, they can step toward us in gratitude and appreciation.

Love is a giving away. When we love, we put ourselves out there, we expose ourselves, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable.

When I complained about the cheapening of Christmas in a recent newsletter, I was rebuked by a lay-person who suggested that the Gospel is not limited by its present commercial context. The thought stuck. Does the genius of the Gospel lie in its seasonal penetration of secular mores and, if so, what is the extent of this penetration?

Hey guys,

I sometimes wonder if we shouldn't take a closer look to which sides our personal philosophy and theology scale tips?