The burning ones

Just sitting behind the sound desk at Life Changers, with my foot tapping and my heart singing along with the first band of a marathon worship session today. It's the 12 hour Burn Worship Event that has swung into town (or at least into Tableview). The whole concept of these days are to create space where we gather around the simplicity and at the same time profound nature of worship and "burn" together. Running with the concept that was birthed from an idea from friends of ours in America, they describe these moments as something like this:

The world around us is crying out to know and feel the presence of God. We
are a grassroots movement that plants furnaces of vertical worship and prayer
around the world. We are creating a dwelling place for God's Presence

The crazy thing is that last night, I lead worship at Cape Town United, our combined youth event that stretches across the city. We had somewhere between 800 and 1000 teenagers going absolutely crazy...the screaming voices, the crowd surfing bodies, the dancing feet were just the outward expression of what God is doing in our city. The tide of extravagant worship is rising!

Whether it is the quieter "soaking" times like today at the Burn is, or if it's at 100 miles an hour moments such as last night, the sound of worship over the Mother City is becoming louder and stronger than ever. Old and young alike, rich and poor, black and wide, the atmosphere is changing!

Add your voice to the sound.

Truth or Dare Conference (Zimbabwe)

Back from Zimbabwe and here are5 photo's of our time there with the Dae2Serve team and conference. Check ot this link for more photo's...
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150357387840786&id=684965785&ref=notif&notif_t=feed_comment#!/media/set/?set=oa.10150273116413565&type=1&closeTheater=1

A haitian parable

An old parable told by a Haitian pastor.

"A certain man wanted to sell his house for two thousand dollars. Another man wanted to buy it very badly, but he was a poor man and didn't have the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house to the man for one thousand dollars. But the reduced price came with a stipulation. The owner would sell the house, but he would keep ownership of a large nail protruding from over the front door.
Several years later, the original owner decided he wanted to buy the house back. Understandably, the new owner was unwilling to sell. As a result, the origial owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog in the street, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell to the owner of the nail".

The Haitian pastor concluded the story: "If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it".

Everyday, every moment, is spiritual (guest blog by Malcolm Herbert)

Luke 17:20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, Luke 17:21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

This verse shows that there is no separation between the secular and sacred. The Kingdom of God is within me, 247. The invisible Kingdom in us, makes the Kingdom visible to the world.

When we keep the secular and the sacred separate, like in a religious system, the result is we are able to live a double life.

Jesus did not separate the 2, and He lived and displayed utter freedom, and yet everything he did fitted perfectly into His Father’s will. In His freedom and perceived rebellion against the religious system of the day, He never sinned or disobeyed His Father. Get rid of the religious Spirit in our lives, live free.

Jesus changes our hearts, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence. So, every day, God walks this earth wherever we go. God’s presence moves around the earth with His people. So, going to church is a ludicrous notion. We are, permanently, and always, the church, wherever we are.

And we are all still growing into maturity. Every time that I think I have peeled off a layer of religion in my own heart, I just find more. Which is why this message has been burning on my heart.

(Malcolm Herbert)