Emerging Africa

“The paradox of being created in God’s image is that we are
free to put our will above God’s will.”

“Decisions. We make them, Then they turn around and make us.
And sometimes they break us.”

Have you ever dreamt about your life or wondered about your existence? Have you ever questioned the path you have taken or thought about its direction? Is there an art, a skill, a gift to this thing we call life, is it left to fate, to chance or as some would say, to destiny? Sometimes I look at my life and wonder about the choices I have made, the person I have become, the people I am friends with, the journey I have chosen. I wonder if my existence is meant to be meaningful, to have some kind of significance or is this it?

For the last 6 months my main focus has been "The Sout Project" a collection of emergent community songs. I plan to have it generally released in or around September 2009.

What I see as unique is how these songs have evolved from a faith journey in which my view of God has been radically revisioned. The cul-de-sacs of previous years have fallen away and new vision a the future, away from the Modern worldview, has come into being.

This awakening is marked by Inclusion, Incarnation, and Liturgy. An Inclusive God of Mercy who makes a tent in our midst, is worthy of a new way of worship, a project of liturgy fit for a new era in human life.

A couple of us have decided to fast on Sunday for Zimbabwe. We may continue in weeks to come. Would love for you to join us and encourage others to do the same.

As we fast, we pray Isaiah 58:5-12

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

Or AfrikaBurn: Why the church should be there...

The 2nd regional Burn (Burning Man event) will take place between the 16th and the 19th October near the Tankwa Karoo National Park, Northern Cape, South Africa. Theme: Power.

Last years event was genuinely life changing for several of us. I want to spell out why this was, and to give a few reasons why "the church" - or Christians who care about mission, community, creativity, and the sacred - should be there. See the "testimonies" here, as well as some serious evangelical scholarship on Burning Man.

We would like to find out if any one is doing anything in terms of charity work, hospitals, prisons, children, homeless, hungry etc etc.

Please, we are looking for practical things not discussion groups on whether we are post, pre, modern, past, modern, emerging, rediscovered, post toasties or whatever!!!!!

We would like to get involved but do not want to start anything new if it is already being done.

We are in Amanzimtoti so it must be down here (in paradise! :-)

Dunno if you can access my email so here it is:

popssfj [at] yahoo.co.uk

Cheers!

Pops

I can't help noticing that the previous 2 heartfelt postings, "What does it mean to truly love God?" by Annalisa and "Original Sin and The Sinful Nature : Sex, Sexuality and Homosexuality" by Stray have not attracted any comments. Also comments made in the past months have not engendered much response.

I wanted to say something, because I felt that both Annalisa and Stray really put their hearts out there, and I just wanted to thank them for doing so.

Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways, will visit South Africa in May 2008. Here is his schedule:

19th May 2008 Stellenbosch - 1 Day conference with Communitas - contact Frederick Marais: jfm [at] sun.ac.za
20th May 2008 Pretoria - Evening with Alan Hirsch - contact Marius Nel: marius-nel [at] lantic.net
22&23 May 200 Krugerdorp - 2 day retreat and workshop (max. 60 people) - contact Nelus Niemandt nelus [at] pixie.co.za

More details to follow.

I tune in here every few days. It's been quiet recently, apart from the cherubim "EXqCFpzPqHZp" and the seraphim "vqtQxmZcwABqspGz" but there are a few new names coming up and the curator in me can't help but wonder what's happening.

For all those who are trying to connect, looking for a new approach to spirituality, especially in South Africa, don't give up hope, just because a website appears stagnant. There IS a new thing happening, I am convinced of it. You may feel heretical, you may feel isolated, but lets use the tool given us - the internet - to connect "offline" (by which I mean "online", just so we are all equally confused) while we seek out community in our locales.

20 February 2008.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to be a christian with an emerging theology. Alot of things depend on church affiliation.

If you can, get hold of a book called "Chaos" by James Gleick. It's a history of the development of chaos theory, and reads like what the history of the emerging church will be.