Harmony of Grace

  I was recently caught in a devastating storm in Howick. I was driving home when all of a sudden, the branches from the trees nearby started falling all over the road. The gale-force winds and hail came so suddenly that I did not know what to do. I decided to pull over and wait it out. I could hear branches hitting the roof of the car and prayed that the more lethal ones would miss me. I was fully at the mercy of the elements. There was nothing I could do to intervene. A few weeks after the storm, I went to Midmar Dam. Everywhere I looked were signs of the storm that had passed through a few weeks earlier. It was clear that people had been hard at work cleaning up the debris, yet nothing could hide the lingering effects of the storm. There were dozens of trunks on their side, branches holding on for dear life and piles of mud and leaves everywhere the eyes could see. Even though it was clear to see the devastation that had torn this area apart a few weeks earlier, now in the peace...

  "God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers, and clouds and stars." - Martin Luther I have always been someone that connects with God through the beauty of God's creation. I regularly try to retreat into nature, but in recent years, these moments have been few and far between. No matter how busy we are and how much noise we fill our lives with, sometimes we are unexpectedly forced into situations where we will hear God's voice loudly and clearly as if spoken through a megaphone. Last Friday, I experienced one of these special occasions.  I was attending an art exhibition in Bethlehem with my wife and child. It was held in an airplane hangar at our local airport. While I am certainly not an art connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the exhibit, appreciating the beautiful paintings and the emotional responses that they brought up within me. Due to the late opening of the exhibition,...

I recently heard Jason Mraz's cheerful new song called  Look For The Good . Here are the words of the chorus: Look for the good in everything Look for the people who will set your soul free It always seems impossible until it's done Look for the good in everyone It reminded me of how often we are negative rather than positive; how we so often see the so-called bad parts of a person before we see the good things about them; how we focus on the dangers of a situation before we see the opportunities. There is a prevalent idea in many Christian circles of original sin. Basically, because of Adam's decision to sin against God in the Genesis creation story, all future generations have suffered the consequences. We are told that we are born into sin and there is no way that we can escape being sinful. Some Christians even claim that if a child dies before they are baptised, they will be condemned to an eternity in a fiery hell... Can you believe it?!  While the claim of original s...

Many Christians claim that they first met God in a church or while reading their bibles. My story is a bit different. "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars." - Martin Luther   I was introduced to metal music at a young age. I loved the husky screaming over grungy, melodic riffs on the electric guitar. When I rocked out to Avenged Sevenfold and Killswitch Engage, my soul felt refreshed and overjoyed. I starkly remember visiting one of my friend's youth events at a strict, fundamental church and being told by a leader there that rock music is from the devil and as Christians, we should only be filling our lives with good and pure things (which according to him was the multi-million dollar worship industry of the time). According to this youth leader, there was no holiness to be found in the rock-music scene and it was our duty as Christians to take Jesus to them! The problem was that, while I enjoyed some of the worship...

Genesis 9:12-17 The beautiful image of the rainbow may seem like a strange symbol to reflect on during the often solemn, penitent season of Lent. But there is a profound joy and hope that we can experience as we partake in the season of Lent. In the story of Noah, after the great flood ravaged the Earth, God provided a sign of hope for future generations of God's followers. The image of the rainbow is an important reminder that even during times of turmoil and despair, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is a sign of God's steadfast love which promises not destruction, but hope and reconstruction. The story of the flood and the rainbow also reminds us that God invites us to partner with God and be agents of transformation in our world. As we rejoice in the rainbow, perhaps we can also be reminded to paint our own rainbows in the world. Against all the evil you see in the world, against all the injustice and corruption you observe in our nation, dare to paint a rainbow...

A night sky full of stars is a beautiful sight to behold. These days, because of the light from cities, many people do not often get an opportunity to experience this beauty (although thanks to Eskom we might have more chances than we would like!) In order to truly experience the majesty of the night sky, you need to find the perfect spot and you need to be willing to gaze patiently for a good amount of time. You need to let your eyes adjust fully to what you are looking at. The true beauty of star-gazing comes to the forefront when you sit patiently in complete darkness, identifying the many constellations and spotting shooting stars and passing satellites.  Many Christians experience their faith in a similar way to star-gazing. They separate their spiritual and secular life. They will go to church on a Sunday, read their bibles and pray - all of which are seen as spiritual things, but then they will "readjust" their vision when they are at work, or school, or doing any o...

Earlier this month, I attended a minister's retreat in Modderpoort near Ladybrand. We stayed at a beautiful old Anglican Monastery. Most of the days were filled with meetings, but one afternoon we were given a few hours of free time to do as we pleased. I decided to go and explore the surrounding mountains after receiving a tip from another minister about some ancient cave paintings that could apparently be found nearby. Unfortunately, after the recent rains that the area had been experiencing, the path up the mountain was overgrown and not easy to navigate. I spent way longer than necessary traversing up the side of the mountain, often veering off the path and needing to track back to a previous point. I walked for close to an hour with no sign of getting closer to my desired destination. I was about to turn around and make the treacherous trek back down the mountain when I walked through a clearing and was faced with intriguing caves and the most stunning rock paintings ...

Image Source:  Markus Spiske When I was younger, I was only aware of common colours: red, blue, green, yellow, etc. But as I grew up, I encountered a much larger variety of colours that I had no idea even existed: cyan, magenta, turquoise, azure, fuchsia, etc. It is only once we learn about these new colours that our appreciation for the full spectrum of colour really grows. I have noticed how most post-apocalyptic stories (that aim to portray life after everything has fallen apart) are full of bland colours... The landscape is a dusty brown, the clothes are washed-out greys and the lighting is dull. In contrast, stories that describe paradise are often filled with lush green fields, clear blue oceans, yellow sandy beaches and bright sunny days. All we have to do to observe this phenomenon is to look at the impact of a rainbow. Often during rainy, overcast days, the mood of those around us matches the dreary colours of the day. But when the skies clear and the multicolou...

Image Source:  Microsoft, Inc  (Shared by Jennifer Lieberum) First, a disclaimer... This is not a post about whether God would use Microsoft, Android or Apple products. For this kind of quality analysis, you will need to find an evangelical thought leader more wise and risqué than myself. Instead, this is a reflection on the mediums that God can use to reveal God's grace to us. Last week I encountered a Facebook post from one of my friends, Jennifer Lieberum. She had shared an image that was familiar to me - one of the generic windows 10 login screen backgrounds (shown above). She shared the image alongside a post reminding us that Jesus' Church is meant to be a lighthouse so that lost people can find Christ and the Church can teach them what it means to follow Jesus. While I have seen this image pop up on my PC screen many times (usually after I have been waiting impatiently for Windows to boot up), I have never considered this particular connection. This was a s...

Image Source:  Bryan Minear Today I listened to an episode of the Writing Excuses  podcast. The topic of discussion was how to generate new ideas for stories. The authors encouraged listeners to start with ideas that already exist. Listen to stories. Watch TV. Read widely. Look at things that are already in existence and then use your imagination to invent new ideas or expand on previous ideas in new exciting ways. Many new aspiring authors believe that new stories need to be fresh ideas that have never been thought of before. But some of the best stories are just imaginative takes on already-existing stories. For example, the reason that stories like Shrek have done so well is that it has taken well-known fairytales and created exciting, new stories using the original stories as their inspiration. I believe that we have a similar ability to see God's grace in the ordinary and comfortable. What we seek, we shall find. If we go about our lives not exp...

Image Source:  Jennifer Pallian I am not very good at baking cakes, but I am quite skilled at eating them. While most cakes are extremely delicious, not all of the individual ingredients that go into baking a cake are all that tasty by themselves. If I walk into the kitchen and my wife is in the early stages of making a chocolate cake, I would happily stick my fingers into the pot of melted chocolate, but you wouldn't see me going near the flour or raw eggs in any kind of rush. But something amazing happens when all of the not-so-tasty ingredients are put together in just the right order and quantity. After mixing all of the ingredients together and exposing them to extreme heat, they fulfil their purpose and form a wonderful new creation. Our lives are also made up of a large number of ingredients, not all of them tasty, that come together to make us who we are. Not all of life's experiences are enjoyable. Often we encounter difficulties or struggles. As we experie...

Those of you who know me personally, know that I am a gigantic Harry Potter fan. On our recent trip to the UK, we were in the midst of Harry Potter country. Not only were we in the area where the movies were filmed, we also got to visit the places where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration to write these wonderful tales. We made sure to use every opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Harry Potter fandom in the UK. We visited Kings Cross station, the Warner Brothers Studios, Tom Riddle's grave, the coffee shop where JK Rowling used to write her books (The Elephant Room), many of the castles that Hogwarts was modeled after and we even got to ride on the Hogwarts Express steam train! Needless to say, I was in my element. At the Warner Bros Studio Tour we saw how the film makers used amazing special effects to make brooms fly, dragons come to life and magic real. In one of the rooms (Shown in the picture above) they have a massive replica of Hogwarts castle that they use...