Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

Posted on October 8, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Blogging Embarrassment

So the blog has revived a bit with this trip to New York – I haven’t really written about much else lately. I do feel a little bit of reluctance in some ways to make this blog, as it stands, a priority. Not because I don’t think blogging is valuable and not because I’ve got too much other important work (and I do) but rather because I’m not sure I’d stand 100% behind everything I’ve ever written here in the past 3 years – I’m maybe even a little embarrassed by the odd post.

There are posts I wrote from which I think I’ve now shifted theologically, there are statements that I think I’ve shifted culturally away from and there are tones I took that I now think are inappropriate. So what do you do? Do I leave it up there as a kind of testimony to my journey as gospel minister? Do I strip down the blog so that I’m never incriminated for something I might not actually adhere to? Do I start over? Is this a significant question for future ministry? I’m not sure I know.

Posted on May 27, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Going, Going, Not Gone

No the blog is not dead, the light has not gone out and it is definitely not the end of the line.

Due to the recent inactivity on this blog I’ve received the odd email wondering if the proverbial phoenix will ever rise from the ashes. So this is just a short post (with a weird picture of a pretty macabre lamp) to say that the blog will go on. Right now I’m just really, really busy doing a church plant and all. So hold on just a bit longer and you’ll get your money’s worth (bearing in mind that you don’t pay a cent to read my drivel).

Posted on March 19, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Left of Center

My friend and fellow partner in crime (as we secretly try and subvert the universe), Kyle Johnston has started a blog. Kyle does great gospel ministry in some of the more alternative schools in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. Him and his wife Kirsty have been part of our new little gospel community and together with them we’ve been having some great discussions about what it means to be a community on mission. His most recent post, entitled ‘Being Left of Center’ mentions one of those discussions. Go check him out.

Posted on February 26, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Getting Traffic Back

Glancing at the stats it looks like it’s going to be hard work to get traffic to this new blog back up to speed as it was on the ‘ol one. I suppose I could shamelessly plug it everywhere I go and ask any of you who do link here to make a mention that there’s this guy who lives in Cape Town and is planting a church and on the odd occasion (okay – once in a blue moon) he sometimes writes a post that just might be worth reading. Otherwise I’ll try really hard not to resort to spam comments on some of the big guns’ blogs (be afraid Justin Taylor, Andrew Jones and Michael Spencer!!!)

Posted on February 22, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

…daylight’s New Home

Welcome to stephenmurray.co.za the new home of my blog, ‘…daylight’. As you can see by the categories at the top of the screen I’ve decided to focus my blogging a bit more and so I’m going to try and stick more closely to the categories at the top of the page as begin this new phase of blogging. As always my goal is to continue my journey of ministry in service of Jesus and to let you in on my thoughts, ideas, rants and a whole lot of other stuff as I try to figure out what it means to be a husband, church planter and pastor all for Christ’s glory. Join me

For all the regulars out there please note that the new feed is now here:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/stephenmurraycoza

Please also update your links accordingly.

Posted on January 19, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Nothing but the Blood

Now that you’ve gotten over the misleading post title it’s time for some blogging silliness and all will be made clear…

The rules:

Put your MP3 player on shuffle. If you don’t have one, pick random CDs and tracks from your collection!

For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS:

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?

How deep the Father’s love for us (Red Letter)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

Peace (Northern Conspiracy)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Babies Breath (Brave Saint Saturn)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?

All Creatures (Red Letter)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Recall (Brave Saint Saturn)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Author and Perfecter (Red Letter)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Softly and Tenderly (Team Strike Force)

WHAT IS 2+2?

Psalm 40 (E-Pop)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Dedication of St Patrick (Marshillbillies)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

What have we done? (Northern Conspiracy)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Give me a new heart (Team Strike Force)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

I’ll fly away (E-Pop)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

I fell away (Brave Saint Saturn)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

All along the road (Noise Ratchet)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Filthy Roman Cross (Northern Conspiracy)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

O praise him (David Crowder Band)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

No depression (The Marshillbillies)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Moons of Mars (Noise Ratchet)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

He speaks (Sons of Thunder)

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Disappear (Noise Ratchet)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

Sound of Atone (Team Strike Force)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Wonderful King (David Crowder Band)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

Till we have faces (Noise Ratchet)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

Only you (David Crowder Band)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

Manchuria (Pinback)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

A false sense of security (Rodeia)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

Thank you for hearing me (David Crowder Band)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

Tis so sweet (Marshillbillies)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Nothing but the blood (E-Pop)

Now do the same and copy and paste it as a comment or on your own blog…

(HT – Andy)

Posted on December 24, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Top 8 for 2008: Everything

Who was I kidding? There’s no way I’m going to find the time to write a series of ‘top 8 for 2008′ posts between now and the end of the year so instead I’ll simply cram them all into one post. So here you have it, my top 8 for 2008 of everything!

Top 8 things I did or experienced in 2008:

1. Got married! (October)
2. Got engaged! (March)
3. Started planning and implementing a church plant (All year – but especially last three months)
4. Heard Piper, Driscoll, Chandler and Mahaney at the Resurgence Conference at Mars Hill in Seattle, spent time at the Journey Church in St Louis and met a whole lot of great peeps from Acts 29, and others, in the States (February)
5. Was taught Deuteronomy by Gary Millar – the best Old Testament teacher I’ve been taught by to date (September)
6. Road up Sani Pass – my first real 4×4 experience behind the wheel (October)
7. Decided to stay in Cape Town long term – gotta love this city (March)
8. Had my thinking about the gospel deepened and enriched ten times over by Tim Keller through numerous mp3s, articles and the odd blog comment (throughout the year)

Top 8 Blogs I followed in 2008 (See my 2007 list here):

1. Church Planting Novice – Jonathan Dodson. A newcomer to the list, this blog has been perfect for where I’m at in my thinking at the moment. So much wisdom and insight from a guy on the ground.
2. Between Two Worlds – Justin Taylor. Last year’s number 1 drops down one place – but still a great blog.
3. Tim Chester. Up from last year’s number 7 spot. Tim’s writing never stops enlightening, challenging and encouraging all at the same time.
4. John Scheepers. Give it up for the Saffa bloggers! John is a friend of mine who writes a great blog and brings a welcome voice to the South African Christian blogsphere.
5. Drew Goodmanson. Down from #2 – sorry Drew. Drew doesn’t post very often, but when he does its almost always worthwhile.
6. Justin Moffat. Another newcomer to the list. Justin writes an informative and challenging blog with an Anglican slant – I’ve enjoyed it a lot this year.
7. Michael Jensen. Michael drops down from last years 3rd but still turns out great post after great post. Plus he sent me a copy of his new book which I’ll be reviewing here shortly.
8. Jason Allen. Jason was one of the first people I became ‘blog friends’ with when I started blogging. I’ve always enjoyed his blog and the sanity he brings to some current trends that rage through the church blogging world.

Top 8 Books for 2008 (books I read this year – most of them are older than 2008 – please note that the books are a little one-sided topically because most of my reading this year revolved around my dissertation):

1. Total Church – Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. Ok so I first read it in 2007 but I’ve read it several times this year because of my dissertation and I still think its the most important book I’ve ever read on ecclesiology.
2. The Reason for God – Tim Keller. The first apologetics book that I feel comfortable giving to my friends.
3. Planting Missional Churches – Ed Stetzer. Great book with practical insight. Really helpful for where I’m at.
4. The Forgotten Ways – Alan Hirsch. Really good yet at times frustrating. I’m on the same page as Hirsch with a number of things – I guess I’m just a bit more conservative on one or two others.
5. Breaking the Missional Code – Ed Stetzer and David Putman. Another great help on all things missional.
6. On the Incarnation – Athanasius. I delved into a bit of church history this year and thoroughly enjoyed this one.
7. The King of God’s Kingdom – David Seccombe. Dr Seccombe (Doc) was my New Testament lecturer this year and so I got a chance to have a crack at his book. It’s a great overview of Christ in the gospels.
8. Jesus and the Victory of God – NT Wright. Vintage Wright – I don’t agree with him at every point but this is an important book.

Top 8 places I visited in 2008

1. Seattle, Washington, USA
2. St Louis, Missouri, USA
3. Castleburn, Drakensburg, KZN
4. Sani Pass, Lesotho
5. Lost City, Sun City, North West Province
6. Franschoek, Western Cape
7. Betty’s Bay, Western Cape
8. Durban, KZN (my old stomping ground)

That’s my year in a nutshell. It’s been the year with the biggest changes in my life to date. Not only did I get married but we decided to stay in Cape Town and plant churches here rather than in Durban. Things have come a long way in the last 12 months – here’s to an equally exciting 2009.

Merry Christmas all – have a great one!

Posted on December 23, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Contender for Post of the Year

It’s late in 2008 and so people are busy preparing their top 10 lists on blogs, books, posts, movies, songs etc. Now depending upon how much I blog between now and the end of the year you may see one or two of those lists appear here. But just to get your taste buds going here’s a really late entry and, in my book,  contender for post of the year: Jonathan Dodson – The 50/50 Gospel – Part II

Posted on November 23, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Page 56

Time for a little blog/book game (for people with nothing worth posting on their blog at the present moment, like yours truly):

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions in a note to your Facebook wall/blog post
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

“Societies that have rid themselves of all religion have been just as oppressive as those steeped in it.” Timothy Keller, ‘The Reason for God‘

(HT – Gordon)

Posted on November 4, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Am I an Emerging Threat?

Well there’s a new blog doing the rounds in South Africa entitled, “The Emerging Threat of the ‘Emerging Church’ in South Africa“. Wow that’s quite a name. The stated purpose of the blog is the following:

‘This blog exposes the problems with the ‘Emerging Church’ Movement – an attempt to merge Christianity with the philosophy of Post-modernism: particularly in South Africa, but is also relevant to the rest of the world.’

Then I glanced down the sidebar and low and behold I found links to posts I’ve recently written under the heading of ‘Blogs on the Emerging Church in South Africa’- now does that make me an emerging threat or is it just because I’ve written about the EC on occasion (both positively and negatively). Not sure. Although the author does seem to be taking quite a number of pot shots at some of the EC guys I’ve interacted with here in South Africa. I’m not sure if his efforts are all that helpful – I’m also not sure all of the people he’s having a go at actually see themselves as part of the EC. Besides that I just think peeps like Roger Saner and Graeme Codrington need a break, they must be a bit tired of opening their inbox every morning to find out that some new blog or Facebook group has been created having a go at them for being heretics. I’ve met Roger and I’ve interacted with Graeme a bit online and I’m just not that sure that they really are heretics – but then maybe I’m an emerging threat too so my two-cents wouldn’t mean to much.

It’s quite strange that there seems to be a little bit of an upsurge of interest in the EC here in South Africa – even google is taking note. I guess that makes sense because South Africa has always tended to be half a pace behind the rest of the western world when it comes to church trends and most other things. I’m also guessing that the fairly large churchy culture that still exists here in South Africa is quite fertile ground for post-everythings to emerge out of. So its not really that much of a surprise. It will be interesting to see what tangible difference actually emerges in the church landscape over the next few years as a result. Till then be on your guard for those threats:)