Archive for the ‘South Africa’ Category

Posted on April 3, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Dudes Should Want to Live in My City

AskMen.com ranked Cape Town at 27th out of the top 29 cities in the world for guys to live in. That’s pretty impressive for us little known ‘developing’ country to have our most cosmopolitan city in the top 29. Especially impressive in that we beat cities like Hamburg (28), Edinburgh (29) and other cities like Seattle, Singapore, Perth, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Munich which didn’t make the list. Beer must be too expensive in those places.

Posted on March 2, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

South Africans Representing at Mars Hill

This is encouraging news from Scott Thomas, the director of the Acts 29 Network, PJ Smyth, the pastor of GodFirst Church in Johannesburg (New Frontiers) will be speaking at the up coming boot camp at Mars Hill this month. Its cool to see South African speakers getting the chance to step up and speak at large scale international events like this one. Well done to PJ for representing us “saffa’s” globally. Praying that God will bless his ministry there.

Posted on February 6, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Lekota thinks Malema is a Threat

Mosiuoa Lekota thinks that Julius Malema is more of a problem than simply being a joke in the political arena of South Africa. I guess it’s easy to laugh a guy like Malema off without making a stand on the fact that the actions and speech of Malema are simply unacceptable in a country claiming to be democratic.

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 10, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Mark Driscoll in South Africa 2010

Apparently the Soccer World Cup is not the only thing coming to South Africa in 2010 – it seems that Mark Driscoll has tentatively penned in March 2010 for a visit to our shores. Out of interest: does anyone know who is bringing him out here?

Posted on December 1, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

World Aids Day

Life in South Africa has been lived somewhat under the shadow of HIV/AIDS for over a decade now. Conservative statistics put us as having 5.5 million people infected with the virus, which is about 16% of the amount of people infected world-wide. As a result of the pandemic we sit with an ever rising number of orphans, currently at about 1.4 million. And so today my blog post is a call to prayer. Won’t you stop for a second and direct some pray towards the following issues:

• The rate at which the virus is spreading: Pray that God will intervene here.
• The availability of medication: Less than a quarter of those infected in South Africa have adequate access to the right medication.
• Child-headed homes: As more and more parents succumb to the virus, more and more children are having to take over headship of households looking after even younger children
• Abstinence as a solution: Pray that people we see abstinence amongst the un-married as real solution and not something to be scoffed at.
• Faithfulness as a solution: Pray that married couples would be faithful to one another throughout their marriage.
• Discrimination: Pray against the terrible discrimination that some face after being diagnosed with the virus.
• The orphan crisis: Pray that God would raise up emergency parents, foster parents and even parents willing to adopt.
• Pray for our churches: Pray that the redemption they have received in Christ will flow out into acts of love and kindness towards those infected.

Pray for South Africa on World Aids Day. For more information about how to help with the orphan crisis here in Cape Town check out Arise: A ministry to vulnerable children.

Posted on November 7, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Politics Clouds the Issue of Abortion

In the midst of Obamamania I’ve been reflecting on the one area I differ most with the new president-elect: the issue of abortion. It’s quite clear to me that particularly in America, but here in South Africa too, mainly as the result of American politics abortion has become so entangled with conservative political ideals that Christians fail to really take in or adequately respond to the horror of the murder of unborn children. I think its a desperate tragedy that we’ve allowed politics to numb us toward this massive issue.

I think this is causing a lot of younger evangelicals who are far more liberal politically than a previous generation (like myself) to not take the issue of abortion seriously. A new emerging church in the west needs to correct the abuses and incorrect emphases of the past but it must never stop being the advocate of justice for the unborn. Throw your politics out the window and vest your energy into caring about the people because they are created in God’s image and are his.

Posted on November 5, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

What does Obama’s Victory Mean for Me?

Precious little at the moment to be honest. I woke up to quite a bit of euphoria this morning in the media over Obama’s victory. Tim Modise was raving about it on SAFM, my Kenyan friend was so overjoyed he blew his internet cap watching and re-watching Obama’s victory speech, and my Angolan friend has been carrying around this smirk on his face all day long because a black man occupies the most powerful position on the planet. So what does it mean for me? Well I’ve written before about the fact that I’m rather distressed by the man’s views on abortion and the murder of unborn children is rather a big issue for me, but let’s not be a party pooper.

I think his election has the potential to do wonders for race relations the world over and that excites me. I’m also quite keen to see how his foreign policy will play out – on paper it looks a whole lot more friendly than the previous regime – that’s a plus. At the end of the equation however I’m reminded that he is just a man and so just like any other man he is incapable of bringing about true lasting heart transformation which lies behind all of the issues and ills we see on the global landscape today. Will his victory be a positive one for me a white South African living hundreds of miles on the other side of the planet? I hope so. But as I wait to see how his term pans out I must consume myself with the victory that has made all the difference to this life and millions of others. I must consume myself with Christ and be an agent of blessing and transformation – that’s what means the most to me, and ultimately it will mean the most for all of us, Barack included. So to my Stateside readers – I hope this one works out for you – in the meantime keep living in light of the ultimate victory.

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:)

Posted on October 4, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Where we’re Planting

Some of you from the other side of the Atlantic have asked me where exactly we’re doing our church plant next year. Well here are some pics of the areas of Green Point and Sea Point which are the two suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa in which we’ll be starting the work. They’re both on the Atlantic seaboard of Cape Town, right next to the central business district – in fact Green Point kind of just fades into the CBD.

Here’s a shot of both suburbs – Sea Point is the larger suburb on the right and Green Point is central – the CBD is in the background around the corner of Signal Hill which is the middle of pic. Table Mountain is in the background and the new soccer staduim and the fields around it (which are presently being transformed into sports complexes and other things) is in the foreground, the Waterfront is bottom left:

Here’s a close up of Green Point where you can see the construction underway (they’re quite a bit further ahead now) and Signal Hill in the background – Lion’s Head is the little peak behind Signal Hill which is above Sea Point (far right). The CBD is just out of picture to the left:

Here’s a shot of Sea Point from somewhere up on Lion’s Head. Sea Point is the most densely populated suburb in Cape Town along with the Townships:

And of course there’s also the world famous V & A Waterfront, one of our top tourist destinations, that lies at the base of Green Point – you can see the edge of the CBD on the left:

So that’s where we’re planting – possibly the most cosmopolitan and diverse area in Cape Town and maybe even South Africa. We will have our work cut out for us. Pray for us, or maybe if you’re able to, join us.