I have a confession to make

This month I have received the gift of an amazing new desk that really fits the printer, computer, books, and scrapbooking projects on it, as well as my slope board for reading. Amazing! Friends decided it was too big for them, and we think it is just the right size for us right now.


I have taken lots of photos of the view from our study.



I have observed Mum and Dad's amazing new glass house.

We have had Shellyanne and Phil Ninness for dinner.


We have sampled our bottled beetroot and discovered that it didn't need quite so much sugar!

I have finished my Developmental Psychology for Teachers final assignment.

I have also done lots of other things, like hosting Bruce Colman of Choices of Life for a week, and participating in his training to do pro-life school presentations.

But I haven't written my testimony or asked others to write theirs for my blog. I'm sorry for presumptuously saying that I would do this for my Great Commission week this month. I hope that it will happen another time, but I'm not going to make a deadline! Even though I haven't written about it yet, I'm still deeply grateful for God's saving work in my life. Lets keep praying that others will know this same joy.

One step closer to a Diploma

Last night I finished my final assignment for the Diploma of Education subject I studied this trimester. Now I only have three more subjects to go before I'm finished! It should be all done by the end of November. I am studying Primary teaching. For my major Developmental Psychology for Teachers assignment I made a PowerPoint presentation for parents of children entering Prep (first year of full time schooling). I also wrote a 2,500 word essay on the theory behind the presentation.

While putting together the presentation, I enjoyed using google image to search for pictures to compliment what I wrote. Here are some of the images I came up with . . .









I used this cartoon for a whole slide, to add a little humour to the presentation! It comes from www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au

60,000 men weep & sing together

Dave received an amazing article via email today. The news was featured in the Sunday Independent on 27 April, but is only accessible online to subscribers.

Here are some excerpts . . .

To draw more than 60 000 men to a non-sporting, Christian event is not just an achievement, it could be deemed a miracle.

From all parts of South Africa and various corners of the globe, they came to the Mighty Men's conference in the small KwaZulu-Natal town of Greytown last weekend.

In three Boeings from Cape Town, 17 buses from Nelspruit, with cars backed up for nearly 30km on the road from Pietermaritzburg to Greytown, men converged on the farm Shalom. There was even a contingent of 140 farmers from Queensland, Australia.

Lawyers, doctors, businessmen, farmers, an army general - from Ireland, America, England, Australia, Swaziland, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa - were there for one purpose: to hear farmer-turned-evangelist Angus Buchan, of Faith Like Potatoes fame, speak, and hopefully turn their lives around.

About 80 percent of those present were Afrikaner men - and many of these Mighty Men were soon weeping as they listened to the powerful message that they "should take back the family unit".

For Buchan, 60, what was particularly staggering was that men responded in such numbers.

While even a mixed gathering of such proportions, including women and children, would have been difficult to comprehend in a small rural town, for men to feel the call and make the pilgrimage was literally earth-shaking.

As businessman Myles Buxton of Durban put it: "They were shaking the ground with the power of their voices as they sang."

Buxton said many of the participants had not really been sure why they were there. "But we knew we were there for a reason, and boy, did it arrive. There were these big, strong men crying like little babies. So did I."

Clive McMurray of Kloof said he had been to several Mighty Men conferences and had watched the numbers grow each year. "Angus's messages don't change dramatically from year to year, but are always based on telling men they must get their act together."

McMurray said the emphasis was on committing and recommitting, on going back home and loving the people around you. The focus was also on repentance and praying for South Africa and on loving one another in the way Jesus had loved.

If people were harbouring prejudices against other races, they should get it out of their systems. "He [Buchan] cries 70 percent of the time on stage," said McMurray.

For Buchan, what brought all these men together is easily explained. "God gave me a directive to turn fathers back to sons and sons back to fathers, to take back the family unit," he explained, saying he was still pinching himself to see whether it had not all been a dream.

Although he has been asked why there was no conference for women, he said his directive had been to challenge men to stand up and be counted: "To be prophet, priest and king. They must be the breadwinners, protect their wives and discipline their children."

At the first Mighty Men gathering five years ago 240 men turned up; 600 the next; then 1 060. Last year the figure rose to 7 400. Then came this year's mind-blowing 60 000 to 65 000.

Buchan believes that with this kind of support, South Africa can flourish; that it will not start with the politicians, but with people learning respect for each other. To this end, he has booked the 50 000-seater Loftus Versveld stadium for July 19 - and tickets are already sold out.

I've ended up including most of the article, because it is so amazing! Who knows what God will do across Africa, and even the world, as a result of this gathering.

Africa-as-everything-bad

In "Is black SA turning old friends into foes?" Nigerian Pius Adesarmi wrote of the perceptions Americans have of Africa, and the perceptions black South Africans have of non-SA blacks.

I needed the return to Africa badly. I had been away from the continent for an uncomfortable stretch, carrying out my scholarly labour in the minefield of North American academe, writing Africa "from a rift", as Achille Mbembe would put it. I also needed a reprieve from the oppression of the North American media image of Africa.

The African living here is in constant danger of accepting whatever image of Africa he or she is presented by the media as gospel truth.

In North America, I have been consistently assailed, assaulted, and oppressed with images of Africa traceable to the colonial library: Africa-as-Aids, Africa-as-hunger, Africa-as-civil war, Africa-as-corruption, Africa-as-the-antithesis-of-democracy, Africa-as-everything-we-are-glad-not-to-be.

You get tired of the ritual of explaining to charmingly ignorant interlocutors that there is a fundamental distinction between the Africa they see on CNN and the real Africa.

I am not "African", but I have a great interest in the continent since visiting last year and marrying a white South African eight months afterwards. I too grate against the images presented as Africa-as-everything-bad, and Africa-as-the-place-you-would-never-want-to-be.

We have to be realistic about the challenges South Africa and other countries in the continent face. Yet the caricatures are not realistic, and that is one of the problems.

The author goes on to describe his experiences in South Africa, and the racism he encountered there: of an unexpected sort.

Loving the church

Maybe like me you've struggled at times to love the church. People disappoint you. The preacher says things you disagree with, or even hate. The music is bad, or non-existent. The Bible studies seem pointless. Why should you bother?

Many people give their answer: I won't bother.

Maybe you have seen some of these people loose their love for the church. They recount stories of hypocrisy and confusion. They have grown bitter about slights and disappointments that happened years ago. They no longer care what the Bible says, and they live according to what "seems right".

Maybe you are one of those people.

Or maybe you have seen people who think they are too good for the church. They have a better way of "doing church", and until they find a group of like-minded people they are not going to go. They can see how the church will affect them, or their children, badly if they do go.

Maybe you are one of those people.

Perhaps you go to church, but you remain disengaged. You are afraid of being hurt or making mistakes. I've been there, and often I still am.

In our consumer orientated, fragmented society, it is hard to commit to a community of imperfect people. It is hard to open yourself up to deep relationships when you're used to superficiality. It is hard to stick with something when the dominant attitude is "If you don't like it go somewhere else" - or perhaps, don't go at all.

I'm so grateful that the Bible is not unclear when it comes to our responsibilities to love God's people. We are to love all people, but we have a particular responsiblity to commit to the church. As I've chosen to obey God's word, very imperfectly, I have been blessed through the teaching and relationships at my church.

To read more about loving the church, why not read Joshua Harris' book "Stop Dating the Church" . . .



You can read an interview with Josh about the book at Boundless Webzine. You can also read Tim Challies' review.

I'd also love to hear about your experiences of church, positive or negative, and how you are dealing with them. I'm always encouraged by Faith's positive comments about her church!

Two little old men on the porch

Idolatry is promoted on talk shows

Oprah Winfrey has become a guru to many. I even know some Christians who live nearby who receive her magazine, and I believe they have been influenced for the worse. Today I read a post titled Are You Attending the "Oprah Church"?. This post revealed the false religion that Oprah promotes. Those who are willing to listen to this false gospel deserve the same rebuke that Paul gave to the Corinthians . . .

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted - you may well put up with it! 2 Corinthians 11: 3 - 4.

Idolatry is alive and well in our culture. How can we respond? How can we avoid being like the Corinthinas? We can simply loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength, as the Great Commandment tells us to do.

Image from Bible Truth.