Emerging Africa

Hallo mense/hi folks,

So in true SA style this'll be a tweetalige blog entry - theme: 'Wat is Afrikaans vir Emergent?'

My twee sente hieroor:
- The most defining chracteristic of the so-called 'emergent chuch' is the acknowledgement by the individuals taking part in the conversation of its liminal nature/necessary open-endedness.
- Thus - almost to the same immeasurable extent by which we cannot come to a final definition/knowing of G-d we cannot come to a final drawing of inside/outside boundaries or law(less)-law creeds which we hold forth as 'die ware Kerk'.
- As a person (singular and society) we are ever 'becoming'/'emerging/'wordende' as we respond in the minutes of our being (as acting, as relating) to Him who calls us to life.

During the last month I've seen a couple of attacks on the "emerging church" by South African bloggers. I blogged about the specific attacks at The emerging menace in South Africa, so I won't repeat the specifics here.

I've read about or heard about attacks on "emerging church" in other places, and I've usually skipped them because they usually mention strings of names of people I've never heard of, or, if I have, whose views I'm not familiar with, so I have no way of knowing how accurate the criticisms are, and the critics rarely explain where they themselves are coming from.

Tomorrow is a bit of a crunch for me.

For almost two years now I've been sniffing around the fringes of this "emerging conversation", first trying to find out what it is, then trying to find out what it is about.

I've heard a couple of fundis on it -- Brian McLaren and Alan Hirsch -- speak on various aspects of it.

Bishop Atanasije of Belgrade, Serbia, will be visiting South Africa from 17-23 October, and will speak on “The forgotten ways — monasticism and the church fathers in the modern and postmodern world”.

This could be of interest to "emerging church" people, especially those who are interested in such things as new monasticism and the forgotten ways spoken about by people like Brian McLaren and Alan Hirsch.

He'll be speaking at St Thomas's Serbian Orthodox Church, 14 Tana Road, Sunninghill Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday 18 October 2008 at 5:00 pm.

For more information, see The forgotten ways on my Khanya blog.

THE PROMISE
Jer: 29:11 “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope ....”THE MISSION
We are starting a National 1 minute prayer meeting, EVERY DAY AT 12:00. We will all be doing a mutual prayer of thanksgiving to God because He is restoring our country to make it the place the whole world will soon look up to. If we say thanks in advance it proves to God that we believe in His word!
And remember God promises in Isaiah 49:23  “…those who hope in me will not be disappointed!”

This morning I had an opportunity to lead devotions in the staffroom. I wanted to do something very different. So I took ABBA's "Take a Chance on me", printed the text, added scriptural references to backup the sentimentso the song and then asked my colleagues to imagine Christ singing the song to them. I have attached the text to this entry in PDF format.

A synchroblog with the theme "maturity" is being planned for 17 September.

Anyone interested in participating should contact Phil Wyman at his blog Square no more before 16 September.

‘“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.