Who wins??

I wonder if God also sighs when she thinks of the joy and the release, we humans could experience if we would just learn to go out of our comfort zones and out of our thought patterns and out of our experiences and out our belief. 

I wont lie the past 2 weeks I have been trying to sift through allot of muck. The homosexual workshop has been put of Dcamp. Not by me but by the Youth Pastors of the various churches that attend. What I have been trying to understand is how much of the situation is people that are homophobic and how much of it is narrow sightedness.

I think my most hurtful comment was when someone said that if I cause one of there youth to stumble into homosexuality  (which was not the point of the discussion to prove it right or wrong but to listen to one person experience of Christ and their sexuality) I would have a millstone tied to my neck and thrown into the sea. NICE and VERY CHRISTIAN approach I think. I can only imagine the plight of the homosexual. Oh and just cause people are pro homosexuality doesn't make what they have to say any less truthful. apparently as well talking about homosexuality to teenagers will make them turn to homosexuality???? Just like talking about drugs will make teenagers druggies

So anyway at least I see people who are supporting me and trust me enough. To those who did thank you.... 

May we learn Jesus you always listened before you spoke. John 3:17

Watch This Space

In December a whole lot of young people 200-300 will be going to Port Shepston on Dcamp. Leadership Training. 

I am running an IDT (In Depth Training). 5 days on poverty in South Africa. Watch this space to see young peoples responses.

Also I'll be running 3 workshops. 1. Jesus and Money 2. Jesus and Homosexuality 3. Evolution and the Bible.

For the Jesus and Homosexuality track I am hoping to bring in a Homosexual Clergy. This will be in the style of an interview and will be blogging on the whole thing

Watch this space as it will try and show you just how insightful young people are!!!

Hope In The Now

I find myself going through stages where depression flows from my soul and turns me into a crying and sad person. Vashti has been really good and has been supportive me through this....But it has left me in a place where I have been trying to find God. But not this footprints in the sand kinda God but a God who is in my struggles and is trying to walk next to me.

The more I realised this, I realised God is not in control of the world... If God was in control there would be no poor, no fraud, no separation, but God is not in control. But God is actively involved in his creation. So where is God in this situation?The more I've looked around I have come to see the denial of the truth by using Jesus as a cover up. Maybe if we actively searched God off our couches and salaries we would see that God is speaking to us in a far deeper and far more open voice than we ever thought possible. God is calling us to partner with God self in the world and be involved in bringing the kingdom on earth.

Just a note on this I have been offered the Youth Pastor position at Lyttelton Methodist Church and I have decided to take it.... WOOOO HOOO

Grace Beyond Our Expectations

So can you believe it.... I actually found a girl who like me back. This is an achievement :)
Anyway so its been a long time since my last post but I have been thinking allot. Is Jesus a God where we have to grovel at His feet? What the deal?? Do we have to sit and pray and pray and pray and pray to get anything? Why is it that we find ourselves almost begging God for anything. Where is the love? Where is the Grace? Truth be told I don't think I want a God like that. That in my suffering and pain, in a communities suffering and pain, in a countries suffering and pain, in a world suffering and pain, God is trying to teach me a lesson or I have to pray 70 times before Gods sectary Jesus lets God hear my prayer. Sorry if that is who Jesus is I think I am leaving the church.
However I came to a lecture the other day with this tension in side of me. The lecture spoke of the enlightenment. Now I understand the root of I generation. This is where the French Revolution started. It was a place that said what about my own good. I don't want to be a peasant I want to be something more. I am important and I........... I........... I............ I.............

Before this point, community was the most important aspect. The highest form of salvation was in the community. Jesus spoke into that... Salvation was a community exercise.

Which got me thinking on the lines of do I have to accept Jesus to know salvation?...To know grace?... Does Jesus's save me regardless of my verbal commitment? Is an individual commitment biblical?? or even Christian? Funny enough Jesus never has an alter call. Is what we have now in or churches a product of the enlightenment?My own conclusion is that, Grace is offered regardless, Heaven is available for all. That must be the greatest gift that Christ bestowed on us. Its not about growling at the feet of Jesus its about experiencing the Grace of God in the world. The opportunity to be saved, to repent, to have hope. This leaves humans with the task of not saving people.. We are not called to save people, we called to love and become like the master. Tend to the poor, Plead the case for the widow and the ultimate form of human tasks, to lay down ones life for the people we don't know.

I think we need a little more community in our lives

Prosperity Schools

I have lately been thinking about the prosperity gospel that seems to be touching the world of Christianity. It basically says that if you are poor it is against Gods will. The more you believe the richer you become. So some people have given their life savings to Jesus and have been left with nothing.However the main line churches are not innocent of this. They have these exclusive schools for the rich. The best of everything that the student needs at their finger tips. The catch you gotta pay R2000 minimum a month to belong to the school. How does this aid South Africa except aid the difference between rich and poor. The rich and poor should be separated because you are rich, you stay here and the poor are outside. You are better. That doesn't sound very Christ like to me. Seen's as the likely hood is that Christ could not read or write.
Is the gospel for the rich or for everyone? I heard of a school that put an underground sprinkler system in their rugby field. It cost R2 million. Sounds Christian to me?? (SARCASM)

Just A Quicky

I am on holiday.....and thought I would paste my marks..... Not bad for a guy who past Matric by 3%

Back To Freud

"Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock". FREUD

Are humans evil??? Are we bad??? That was the view that sparked the Renaissance and in the churches side started Martin Luther's movement into the Reformation..... The reawakening left people with hope, life and a new sense that God didn't want to fry people... How has do we see Ourselves now??? Freud in his wisdom and his experience of life became the father of Psychology and once you get past the part of all men wanting to sleep with their mothers, he was really quite good.... The sad part however is that he focused on the negative. The humans are bad and that psychology is extremely negative. I wonder if the world has adopted the same understanding??? Humans are bad. Further from that has the church fallen into the same mold?

Do we view people as bad?.

Some questions that have arisen in my mind lately....

Are we bad??

Does God want to burn us?

How do perceive our fellow human beings?

Are we living in the dark ages?

Why do we need to be saved?

What do we need to be saved from?

Who is Jesus in our context?

What is sin?

I am really just getting into the stage where I am realising God is love.... That means he doesn't wants to fry us..... People are good and beautiful and not just bad people. Yes we do bad things but deep down in us there is a beautiful piece of God trying to show itself to the world. God is love. We are so worried about saving people that we have forgotten that God is Love and he doesn't want to fry humanity.

I think that in some how we are fighting a battle in the church of the Mary's.

The church has had two Mary's..... And one has become predominant in Christian worship and the other has become part of a really lively discussion..... Which ever way you view them I think the church has taken the view of one. Mary Jesus's mother has the view of virgin, messenger, and almost perfection. I cant relate to that but the church has imposed this on people. This is who you must strive to be.....Perfection. But its left Mary Magdalene standing at the grave. She was a prostitute. Some scholars even claim that she was a high priest of a sexual religion around Jesus time. They get that from the way she cleans Jesus feet but yet she is the first one to see Jesus. She is the one that has been the worst off and yet is seen just recently to be one of Jesus disciples. A broken women finding hope and grace in Jesus. That I can relate to.

So often we accept people only if they belong to perfection... Jesus saw this that people are good. God is not out to fry us. Which leads me to my last question. If God is good is there even a hell??

The Church Vs. The Begger

I was sitting in my ethics class toady and I came across a thought and I thought that it was really some thing that could be taken a little further.

Church

• Relies on people to sustain it
• Beg for money
• Begs from a pulpit
• Sends food to the poor
• Talks about the poor
• Is Rich
• Teaches Jesus
• Lives in a house
• The world Passes By

Beggar

• Relies on people to sustain it
  Beg for money
  Begs from a traffic light
  Looks for food in where ever it can get
  Engages with the poor
  Is Poor
  Knows Jesus
  Lives on the street
• The world passes by

A minister said to me the other the day that

• When people look into the church what do they see?


• When we look out of the church what do we see?

Here are some questions that I think that are important

• What can the church learn from the beggar?


• How are they similar?


• How do we engage in that Jesus?

Where is the love?

I was reading other peoples blogs when I came across this Link for a story that rocked me to my core!!!

Child phone thief ‘deserved it’
‘People in the country are sick and tired of crime and have become completely desensitised’ Website visitors applaud 12-year-old’s shooting While police are still in the dark about the identity of the driver who shot and killed a 12-year-old smash-and-grabber, it appears many South Africans have little sympathy for the young boy. Comments on The Times website seemed to weigh in favour of the unknown gunman who killed the boy in Boksburg on Friday, with some even suggesting the killing of the youngster rid the country of a future criminal. With comments such as “he won’t be committing any further crime” to “the victim [the shooter] has done South Africa a huge favour”, website visitors made it clear they are fed up with the current crime situation. The boy was shot after he apparently smashed the window of a white Citi Golf on Rondebult Road in Boksburg, East of Johannesburg, and stole a cellphone. A witness claimed the boy ran away, but was chased by the driver who shot him in the chest and then fled the scene in his car. One visitor, writing under the alias “Fluffybunny” wrote: “That little scumbag- in-training was not just shot for that particular crime, it put an end to the dozen crimes he’ll go on to commit every single day, eventually ending in him becoming a murderer and rapist just like the rest of them ... so good riddance to bad rubbish.” Dr Christiaan Bezuidenhout of the University of Pretoria’s social work and criminology department said these views reflect the sentiment of what he calls “a gatvol nation”. “People are sick and tired of crime and have become completely desensitised,” said Bezuidenhout. “All they read and hear about is how criminals rob, rape and torture people … we are already at the stage where ordinary people actually applaud those who take the law into their own hands.” Having dealt with numerous under-aged offenders, Bezuidenhout said the youth of today are misled by what is perceived to be important in life, such as having the best cellphone and clothing. “One has to ask, where was this boy’s parents and what role did they play in giving him guidance,” he said, adding: “But we all know parental guidance is sadly absent in our society.” Commenting further on some of the readers’ remarks on The Times website, Bezuidenhout, said: “This is how crime has affected the psyche of our nation. “It is not a racial issue, but rather a shift in our social patterns. “People think the shooter is a hero because he did something the police couldn’t do.” Captain Mack Mngomezulu said late yesterday that police have received no positive leads. “We are investigating, but so far we have had nothing to identify the driver,” Mngomezulu said.

Wow I challenge people to look at some of the comments at the bottom of the article. Is this the norm in SA? Should we agree with this? Is Jesus still relevant in a country where this is happening?

One of Gandhi main principles was non violent protests. Where he believed that you show the person their lack of humanity by not fighting back. That made Gandhi a feared man in the world. A man with no guns and no revenge agenda scared the corrupt governments. Sounds a little like Jesus.....

Martin Luther King Jnr applied the same approach when the African American Race found themselves in a deep conflict with the South. Many black americans were beaten and strangled killed and houses destroyed. Martin Luther King Jnr found himself part of that and yet he proclaimed a Non Violent protest. Even at its worst the man still followed a Non Violent option. He said that when you retaliate you bread a sense of violence post your liberation......

Apartheid is wrong and I am not trying to defend the course it took. However in light of the non violent approach I wonder how South Africa would look now. The story tells of two groups. Whites attack blacks, blacks retaliate, blacks attack whites and now look the cycle is turning to whites retaliating. What are are we gearing ourselves up for?? This is such a dangerous place we find ourselves in and what does the church do?? It prays for a Saviour and meanwhile tries to create a devision that is dangerous for the land.......

The killer in South Africa is not crime but rather a breading of Violence that stems when the Dutch landed on our shores with Guns..... The britished added to it and now we live in the repercussions of our great grandfathers. Who says there is no such thing a children being cursed by our ancestors. Maybe we are breading this culture in our great grandchildren?

Women's Lib

It's true i am serious but I saw this and I thought there must be a place in the world for the woman's liberation movement

The Rich Gospel

I have been watching the Christian music scene in South Africa for some time and I think whilst they are doing a good job, I wonder if there is any place for the gospel in it. The strange thing that I find is that we have found a formula (Hillsongs, Passion.......) and we seem to be doing a windows shortcut on the whole experience. We copy and paste. Whilst that has its good news for musicians we have lost a context in our church. So we have lost the South African Jesus and replaced it with a Australian Jesus or even an American Jesus. Some might say look at Tree 63 whilst they may be South African they are an American based band and therefore have another context. Even South African worship leaders are constintly trying to repoduce the same experience that they say in other parts of the world here in SA. I wonder if Jesus had to ever walk into our churches would he ever say Is this not the vision I had for that church in Australia. The Side product of this is bad theology and meaningless songs enter our churches and we find ourselves selling our depth for a riff

The second thing that I have come to notice is that the average person in South Africa cant afford the price of a ticket to a concert. Even R40 is expensive when you have a family to feed or you have to go take your son to the Doctor. So the price of the Gospel is expensive? Should the gospel not be free. Surely it was given to us freely why then do we allow people to make a prophet off Jesus. The people who made the heart of the gospel pump are the ones we say are not allowed into our malls called churches.

Jesus has a great church growth plan..... Invite the poor

The Mind Of The Brave

What is it about the world that great minds are ostracised? Do we believe that the great minds should sit behind a desk and every now and then they should write a motivational book. God forbid that the great minds come out from behind their glasses and challenge our lifestyles. NO NO NO their job is to make my flat screen TV clearer and make my life easier.

I would start to say that I am pretty controversial. Some people call it heresy and others call satanic. I don't think that when I start thinking that I should come with the most controversial thought but I do think that its what makes me come to terms with the world I find myself in.

I have noticed though that when people do not agree with you then they say either two things. 1. That you are forcing your views on everyone but the truth is if you stayed inside what they thought was normal then you wouldn't be forceful. 2. That you are wrong and that there is something wrong with you.

I don't mind so much people disagreeing with me and rejecting me but rather my deepest hurt is when the people you hold close start to reject you. Your views become so different that it breaks the bonds that should be so strong. My family is Christian and we cannot discuss Christianity in my house cause of the fact that the bonds of family are broken when I open my mouth. Its sad that the one thing that should unify us is the one thing that breaks us apart. Sad!!!

I really feel that I have isolated myself with just the way I think. I cant discuss, engage or even just relax with the people I love. Its a lonely place but what's the alternative find love and deny your true belief? I wonder how Jesus responded to his family structure being destroyed by what He believed. Its a lonely place when you hang on the cross and your family is the one shouting CRUCIFY HIM!!

The Side Of God I Never Knew

As I sit in my lectures and see this God that I thought i knew. The few things I do know is that I know nothing. That God is far bigger than who I thought God was. Far bigger than the bible, far bigger than Jesus and far bigger than I could ever imagine.



I am definitely not one of those people who looks at the stars and goes wow!!! I cant fathom a God like that but i can get my head around a God of grace hope and love. That is the God that I never knew. A tangible open God who is challenging my thought and my soul (If I have one) but this God reaches across denomination across religion and across humanity.



Why??? What is this God up to??

Americans Change Faiths at Rising Rate, Report Finds

I subscribe to the New York Times Online edition.

This Popped into my inbox and I thought it was very interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/us/25cnd-religion.html?8au&emc=au

If We Refuse To Tell The Truth Is That A Lie??

When people look at the world they see certain imagery that makes their worlds become real. The hold on to the hope that what is Red is in fact Red and what makes their world come alive is in fact true and not something they perceive. Well at least that's what I think. Our world becomes this bubble. Once we look from the inside of the bubble our world has many shades and many dimensions that might not be a true reflection on reality but it could at best be our distorted view of reality.

What happens when our bubble pops. Do we look at the world and say this is not my bubble or do we embrace the new colours??? Do we embrace the bubble we find ourselves in?? The world is so much bigger, The colours are far brighter and the dimensions are far beyond what I can fathom in my little bubble.

Anyway so with this in mined......I have some questions!!!

Is God the bubble blower or is God the world and we blow the bubbles? Not sure if God gives us the perspectives of God or do we natural put it in to perspective?

Will I always see the gospel according to Justin and preach the gospel according to Justin.... My short answer is Yes but it leads to a Therefore........ I need to ask what is my perspective and what are the limitations of that?

How much of the truth and knowledge do we share about the bible with ppl??? Is the bible a bubble in itself? The bible is seen as this sacred object of God. In some ways it is seen as god and God is not seen as god.

And if we Refuse To Tell The Truth Is That A Lie?? If people ask us questions do we tell them what we know or do we shhhhh??

I don't know where I stand here...... I think the journey has begun

The Attack Of The Heart

My blog is my diary more than it is my platform to speak and share from. So I wont shy away from writing what I feel on it even if people I know read it.

I preached last weak Sunday and I really enjoyed the platform. I never talk for God but i talk about my experiences of a God who encounters me in love. Some people say that I am extreme and out of Gods will and scripture. My first response is always thanks Jesus and secondly I really think that they are so challenged by my point of views that rejection and attack is the first response.

With that in mind I gave my talk. I speak on what I believe. I spoke about the calling of Joshua and Jesus's calling to us from his basis of love. So I said how God calls male and female and that its not Christian to say leaders are men and then I said my pic of God is black and female.

Then I said when we look at anything Old Testament we have to draw it along side Jesus. Jesus's example was that He didn't come to die for us but rather he came to love us and the consequence was the cross. We should therefore love no matter what.I ended off praying female. So Mother God.....

Anyway lets just say people are quick to burn people on the stake. I have been nailed in so many aspects. One of my hardest things to face is to face unbalance. When people are upset with me and actually hate me. It throws my balance out.
On a lighter note Trevor Hudson has agreed to be my mentor for this year so I am very lucky.
Oh and this is a warning watch out for this man. He can speak many languages and teaches Hebrew. He challenges me not in scripture but to get my work ethic up. Plus I just wanted to show him that he can make it onto my blog if I chose.

Hebrew is Tav Chirek He Samach

Anyway so I started varsity, amd my brain is on a little edge. I have never worked this hard and i dont think twelve years of studying has prepared me. Granted in this month I have studied more than in school but regardless.

Anyway I am sitting in the lap of my calling and am just finding myself experiencing God in a new and profound way. I have never been a person where the bible has come alive but as I study its not the fact that i am reading it that is making it jump but rather the fact that I am struggling and finding it such challenging experience.

Here are some photos.

Enjoy

JT

Eskom " I wish I was the light of the world"

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. ~Chinese Proverb

Eskom the electricity supplier to South Africa recently released a statement that blackouts would be part of South African lifestyles for the next six year. This has major impact on the economy and the lifestyle that we as South Africans live.

Numerous probes are being launched to see who is to blame. Thabo Mbeki said government was to blame for not listening to Eskom and wanting to build houses rather than power stations. Some people honestly believe Eskom and its management are to blame. I wonder if people have ever made mistakes that have affected other people?

But the the truth of the matter is as South Africans blackouts will be part of our daily lives. But with that comes great hope and great opportunity for our country. We could become the world pioneers in how to save electricity. The world is crying for a nation to lead it in reduction of emissions and decrease its carbon footprint on the world. We could be forerunners. This is forcing us to look at our lives and say the more I use the more it affects my neighbour. We could raise a generation of electricity conscience people or we could raise a group of people who have a complaining conscience built into them. I like option A!!

Even in my own house I had a look at the number of lit rooms that no one was in. I can make a deference in the electricity consummation in my own home.

We are a country that has the opportunity to experiment and play with this technology (solar powered traffic light) and maybe just maybe God saw we were faithful in little by reconciling the wounds of apartheid and now is calling us to save her planet??