PUNKS AND NERDS...the beginning

The month of October had come upon us. Good Charlotte and Britney Spears were at the height of their popularity,Paul and Evie weren't married yet, wearing two shirts at all occasions were fast becoming a thing of the past and cell-groups each taking a night of youth had become the trend. After half-hearted attempts by all the others (Paul's cell "let's make youth like a TV programme" and the girl's cell trying out human foosball), the powerhouse homegroup lead by the effervescent Rich Gordon and ably backed up by Jen Collier, Ed Holden and Gabe Phillips came up with the ultimate youth event. Taking the concepts of tucked in shirts, calculators and braces and adding them to the combo look of allstar shoes and socks pulled up to the calf (the Brett Edy look)and mohawks, mixing them together to form the night of dreams that would be come to known simply as Punks and Nerds.

That famous first night featured a doughnut eating comp, kids (aka Kieran Bauristene, Nicole Van Besouw, Courtney Quirk, Ben Bailey etc) dancing in their underpants to retell the story of David's passionate worship of God plus a walk off between those dressed as Punks versus the Nerds...all anyone can remember from that was Brian Paul's outfit of a South African cricket shirt tucked into khaki shorts topped off with a beige, floppy hat. Totally bizarre.

And of course, the night will be most remembered by COGS Youth having the third greatest punk band to come out of Durban North in the last decade (behind Smash and Grab and Mr Smug of course), Not the Majority (or as they were known at the time, "No Tuck Money"). We skanked, we moshed, we dagged, we ran in circles endlessly...we even were introduced to the now famous "cockroach" move. Ah, what a great night!

Since that first magical night, the Punks and Nerds event has become such a hit that it has even grown into an International brand. You may wonder why Ashneel Ramkissoon has become quite scarce at COGS Youth recently, but it is because he has been helping translate Punks and Nerds into the Mumbai youth culture in India. It's name is of course in Hindi and with the various language barriers, the event is known there as "People dressed rebelliously and People dressed Smartly".
This Friday we get to see the Punks and Nerds night reinvented. A new crop of youthions get to experience the deep delight of this very special evening. Enjoy!

Food for thought...

Just a little excerpt from a book called "Run with the Horses" by Eugene Peterson...

"Nearly everyone believes in God and throws casual offhand remarks in his general direction from time to time. But prayer is something quite different. Suppose yourself at dinner with a person you very much want to be with - a friend, a lover, a person important to you The dinner is in a fine restaurant where everything is arranged to give you a sense of privacy. There is adequate illumination at your table with everything else in shadow. You are aware of other persons and other activity in the room, but they do not intrude on your intimacy. There is talking and listening. There are moments of silence, full of meaning. From time to time a waiter comes to your table. You ask questions of him; you ask to have your glass refilled; you send the broccoli back because it arrived cold; you thank him for his attentive service and leave a tip. You depart, still in companionship with the person with who you dined, but on the street conversation is less personal, more casual.

This is a picture of prayer. The person with whom we set aside time for intimacy, for this deepest and most personal conversation, is God. At such times the world is not banished, but it is in the shadows, on the periphery. Prayer is never complete and unrelieved solitude; it is, though, carefully protected and skillfully supported intimacy. Prayer is the desire to listen to God firsthand, to speak to God firsthand, and then setting time aside and making arrangements to do it. It issues from the conviction that the living God is immensely important to me and that what goes on between us demands my exclusive attention.

But there is a parody of prayer that we engage in all too often. The details are the same but with two differences: the person across the table is Self and the waiter is God. The waiter - God - is essential but peripheral. You can't have the dinner without Him, but He is not an intimate participant in it. He is someone to whom you give orders, make complaints, and maybe, at the end, give thanks. The person you are absorbed in is Self - your moods, your ideas, your interests, your satisfactions or lack of them. When you leave the restaurant you forget the waiter until the next time. If it is a place to which you go regularly, you might even remember His name."

Killball: a short, abridged history

Invented: 1998 (Messers.Jon Cilliers and Sven Axelrad)

1999: First outdoor game conducted…two on two match between Cilliers, Halgreen, Chang and (result=an epic fail…from then on the sport returned indoors)

2003: arrival of the young Gabriel Phillips. No one knew at this stage what a profound impact upon the sport he would have in later years

Mid 2004: Killball went into what seemed to be it’s final hour as founding father Jon Cilliers abandoned it’s calling to pursue the secret training of his own team…young warriors Zac, Ben and Nathan (rumour has it that Zac’s first word was “Killball”)

2004-2006: No matches were played…the ancient art of Killball was neglected and the passion grew cold

2007: a young, red headed warrior, filled with fire and the stories of past victories, began searching out men with the necessary skills as he began crafting together a side that would become known as the “unbeatables”.

2007-2008: strict weekly training regiment…slight alterations of the 1998 Battle Code was enforced as the old slow and at times cumbersome version of the sport gave way to a much more aggressive, quick and spectator friendly game.

End of 2008: First player of the year (Mike Alexander) announced as Killball becomes a recognized COGS youth sport

2009: Captaincy handed over to Mike Alexander, and vice captain is Ryan Dinkele (a gifted defender, with the speed of a mongoose and the tenacity of a duiker…basically the vice captains role is to hide the ball after each week’s game from the Sunday school 5 year olds)

2010: Brad King takes over the chairmenship role of guarding the game’s foundational integrity and values

OLD SCHOOL!!!

From Left to right: Paul Edy, Ryan Masson (played wing for Northwood 2004 opposite famous COGS speedster Dumile!), Graeme Smith (Bushknife's oder brother),young Joshua Klynsmith (still aged 12), somone we don't know (I hope he doesn't read this blog), Jono "still freaking cool" Rich, and front and centre is Rich Gordon (pre-dreads, pre-libby, pre-checking things).

Thank goodness people grow up!

The man, the legacy and the dreads of Gherkin...

It is 10 days and counting until our good mate Richard Lawrence "Gherkin" Gordon escapes the faulty prophetic word of celibacy spoken over him and ties the knot with his beautiful bride-to-be, Libby "I CHECK things" Quinlan. Before Rich got engaged, I thought about him a mere 2 or 3 times a day. Now, that number has shot up into the triple figures...per hour! Rich is one of the most engaging and incredible men you will ever meet. It is completely impossible to box such a man...he plays the nerd ("I stayed at varsity all night working on my Masters"), the hardcore jock ("I beat up chicks and play rugby!"), the drama major (he played Jesus in the life-house skit), the emcee (We've all seen him in those red tights!) and the life of every party (No one has a party outfit like Captain Jack Sparrow!) with equal applomb!
But besides from all those numerous skills all rolled into one, Rich's greatest impact on the world is through his love for Jesus. No one else, in my books, comes close to his ministering with the Holy Spirit during meetings, and I have never found a better partner to run homegroups with, to do SCA's with, to make a fool out of myself with!
Besides him trying to steal the girl i liked from me in 2005 (just joking of course), that year was one of the best of my life as Rich, jen Collier and I lead our first homegroup together with a huge measure of success and even bigger loads of jol!I am not ashamed to say that Rich taught me all I know about leading homegroups! Even the dodgy stuff!
Other highlights in the Gordon-Dockers (thats what Ashneel called us) show up to now was the infamous co-hosting of the "Survivor" series in 2006, the naked incident on stage at Live the Life 2008, and everytime Rich phoned me in the middle of the night with a tearful voice telling me that he was sorry!

In 10 days time, the Jalaps and Gherkin story comes to a close as he acquires a new partner, a new best friend, a new spooning partner...and a much hotter one than me!
I love this man. I would take a bullet for this man (as long as it's not in the money maker). And I am without doubt that the Gordon-Quinlan team (that's MR and MRS Gordon to you!) will be a million times more successful than any of our combined ice-breakers were.

And as Paul once said to all the matrics leaving, "We salute you Gherks!"

Not by sight...

Just a thought...

When I was in Cape Town in June following the World Cup Gabe read me the following quote one night that has stuck in my mind and I've been thinking out since...

"Progress should mean we are continually changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision." GK Chesterton...

The thought then is this, what is the vision?

I can't get away from believing that our vision has to be the commission ( Matt 28:18-20 ). If it isn't then I think we missing the point! The words Jesus chose to leave us with were those, that in itself highlights their significance!

The vision needs to be the commission in its entirity, it is three fold!

DISCIPLE NATIONS - BAPTIZE - TEACH

It speaks of God's heart not only to see nations saved but to see them reach a maturity in God that is lasting! All three are vitally important when it comes to people maturing further in God. It speaks of God's heart for His church - His bride -and His desire to see us move on in our faith and raise up others into it continually until He comes back for us!

Anyway...that's just my thought!

big love..

bradlows

The Church

scottish soldier and pastor,Mr George McCloud(17 June 1895 – 27 June 1991) once said:

"I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the centre of the market place, as well as on the steeple of the church. I’m recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a Cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on a town garbage heap at a crossroads of politics so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek. And the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died and that is what He died about. And that is where Christ’s people ought to be and what church people ought to be about."

When we get stuck in "doing church" mode, planning for who will bring the food to cell this week, getting caught up with "what songs are working", saying we're doing well because we're at church 3 or 4 days a week...then we have missed the point...and we will soon get bored and infighting, critical attitudes and inevitably religion will set in! PJ Smythe of God First Church in johannesburg speaks of a "doing church" culture as, "...pastoral-driven (prioritizing caring for each other and creating a beautiful church culture) rather than mission-driven (prioritizing reaching the unchurched).

We invite people to church on Sundays, we take it to them during the week.

The experience within results in an expression without.

I live nearly 2000 kilometres away from Durban and yet I can almost feel the raw passion, excitement and fervour for Jesus Christ, his kingdom and his glory that has been aroused at COGS Youth camp 2010! 95 lives have been turned upside down for eternity...and the city of Durban waits in eager expectation for the effects to be lived out amongst her broken, dying populus!

And here's where my highly unoriginal thought lies.

The experience within results in an expression without.

Evangelism is not a program but an expression, of what is burning within the hearts of christians. As Charles Spurgeon said: "A burning heart will find for itself a flaming tongue".

Awakening is bringing back to life those who are "asleep" in the Light. The lost are "dead in tresspasses and sins", in the dark. and need to be saved, not revived. Revival comes after life is given. (Ephesians)

In Acts 2:1 we read "When the day of Pentecost came....." if we could exchange the word "Pentecost", with the word "Revival", we could see a whole new perspective in the book of Acts, and New Testament Church. Revival within, Evangelism without.

John the Baptiser, changed a nation in 6 months; and did what the Pharisees could not do in 400 years of silence. Silence?!

Yet John did not raise the dead or heal anyone. But he aroused a nation.

Jn 1:23 "...I am the voice..." (NIV)The voice. A sound. A declaration. A Revivalist. An Evangelist and Revivalist.....


2000 kilometres away and I can feel the tide changing!

Jalaps

The Recci

So, Dave “Bush knife” Smith and I took a merry drive of just under 1 hr ½ inland to mid Illovo to check out our new campsite before we all head there together next weekend. You know, just to avoid any awkward surprises that would leave me without explanation and ready to run from the angry mob, that would be COGS YOUTH. Such surprises could possibly have included a unisex long drop, cold outdoor showers and maybe even (the horror) no cell phone signal. But you’d be pleased to know, there were no such surprises, don’t worry girls you don’t have to share your long drop with the boys, they’ve got their own squeaky clean toilets with first world plumbing. Just kidding. There are plenty 1st world bathrooms for all.

So we arrived and climbed out the car to meet Gail, the lady in charge (she’s cool so treat her like gold), and Chucky, her potentially intimidating dog. The two of them took us on an extensive tour of the camp.
The camps name has recently changed from Living Waters to Camp Manoah, possibly because it sounds like manure and on the way there you’ll drive through some pretty gut wrenching fertiliser fragrances. But once you’re there it’s this really serene, rustic, isolated place that kind of sends the message “oh no, here comes another group of noisy teens to be completely insensitive to their surroundings”.

The place is BIG with lots of open space, there’s way more space than we could possibly need which means we’ve have accommodation options, but don’t worry I took the initiative to choose where the boys and girls would be sleeping. I’d hate to put that kind of pressure on you.
We all know that for girls it’s comfort first, so girls you’re going to be in the nice, new 6 sleeper chalets
( I regret however, no ensuite bathrooms).
For the boys, it’s common knowledge that BIG JOLS always come first, so all the boys are going to be split between two big dorms which is going to make for some pretty out of hand shananigans, but as long as no one gets kicked in the head we can all laugh about it.

So what do they have?
They’ve got a dam where you can pretend to catch delicious bass, a really big swimming pool so bring your cozzies to cool off after we shibobo on their 2010 – FIFA World Cup – hosting - nation - rural settlement - style - soccer - field. They have a tennis court which would only be good for one thing, and that involves boys, no shirts, a plastic ball, a good arm and welts on backs. But that’s not all, apparently they have two pet goats and Gail said that if you can find them you can paint them. Jokes, she didn’t, that was me.

Anyway, so loads on offer at Camp Manoah, we’re gonna have SUCH a jol!


Just a few things to remember:
*Bring your own bedding (sleeping bag & pillow)
*Bring R30 for your driver for petrol
*The weather there was quite hot and midday but I think the nights could get pretty chillos

And now … a work of art:
COGS YOUTH CAMP
IT’S NOT GONNA BE CRAMPED
SO GET AMPED
DON’T LET YOUR SPIRIT BE DAMP
GET READY FOR A REVAMP
DON’T PACK A LAMP
BUT MAYBE SOME SHAMP – OO
(It rhymes better if you sing it)


Reverend Rhyme Master
Paul Edy

The FIRE that burns!

I was recently flicking through my notebook that I’ve been filling up with sermon notes, thoughts and scratchy lists of my fantasy world cricket 11, when I noticed something that I scribbled down in one of the margins. Here below is what I wrote plus minus a month ago and what follows it are a few of my additional thoughts that I added today.

Thursday 10th June 2010...
"Salvation is not just a one time legal transaction; it’s an ongoing, radical, all encompassing love affair, where I fall more and more in love with Him. It’s a romantic, extravagant chasing after my soul’s greatest desire! It’s giving up EVERYTHING for just even a moment with Him. It’s letting go of every earthly, fleshly desire and pouring out everything onto Him…This is it!
A love affair where I give every ounce of my energy, attention and want for a moment, a glance, a touch from Him! I am seeking Him! That was what I was born for. My very reason for existence...my very reason for breathing is to chase non-stop after Him."

The Lord is gathering an army and this people will be a people that strike dread into the heart of the enemy. Why? Because they are possessed by a spirit of burning, a passion for purity, a never ceasing desire for Jesus. Their lives will be utterly transparent before the Lord, and every impurity will be purged from their midst by the white hot flame of the Lord. They truly will be spotless. (Malachi.3:2-3)
God is making for himself worshippers in this hour whose lives are enflamed with holiness, who are unattached to the things of the world. They desire only their Lover!
We must move beyond acceptance of this cleansing fire. Let us even move beyond submission to the fire. Let us become the fire! Hebrews 1:7 says the Lord makes "His servants a flame of fire". This fire is synonymous with purging. It is synonymous with passion. It is burning desire!

The great revivalist John Wesley famously said,

"i set myself on fire and people came to watch me burn."

In fact, our God himself is a "consuming fire", and to become one with Him is to take on His fiery nature.

As the man after God's own heart in the bible often said, "When can i go and meet with my Lover?"

And as I repeatedly sung in the key of B flat;

"NOW IS THE TIME!"

Jalaps


(Look out for a book by John Crowder called "The New Mystics" and search for sermons by Nick Davis. Alternatively, just seek your Lover with everything you have)

How to listen to a preach

Yesterday I got to spend the greater part of the day waist deep in snow. Quite honestly, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life! I built snowmen (although they looked slightly deformed), I threw snowballs and I generally acted like a ritalin deprived 10 year old (whats new?). And as I stood on top of the world with white snow stretching in every direction and with not a sound in the air, I clearly heard the voice of God say, "I am COMPLETELY oveez!" And I believed him.
Besides all that, below is something I found useful. Hope you're having a great holiday my Ogs YouthCo mates! And as someone famous once said, "Big jols baby!"


How to Listen to a Sermon
by George Whitefield

Keys for getting the most out of what the preacher says

Jesus said, 'Therefore consider carefully how you listen' (Luke 8:18). Here are some cautions and directions, in order to help you hear sermons with profit and advantage.

1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty. To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unprofitable to ourselves.

2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God. If an earthly king were to issue a royal proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager would they be to hear what those conditions were! And shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers, when they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured?

3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister. That was the reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country; for they were offended at Him. Take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over you.

Consider that the clergy are men of like passions with yourselves. And though we should even hear a person teaching others to do what he has not learned himself, yet that is no reason for rejecting his doctrine. For ministers speak not in their own, but in Christ’s name. And we know who commanded the people to do whatever the scribes and Pharisees should say unto them, even though they did not do themselves what they said (see Matt. 23:1-3).

4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think. Preferring one teacher over another has often been of ill consequence to the church of God. It was a fault which the great Apostle of the Gentiles condemned in the Corinthians: 'For whereas one said, I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos: are you not carnal, says he? For who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but instruments in God’s hands by whom you believed?' (1 Cor. 1:12; 2:3-5).

Are not all ministers sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And are they not all therefore greatly to be esteemed for their work’s sake?

5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered. When our Savior was discoursing at the last supper with His beloved disciples and foretold that one of them should betray Him, each of them immediately applied it to his own heart and said, 'Lord, is it I?' (Matt. 26:22).

Oh, that persons, in like manner, when preachers are dissuading from any sin or persuading to any duty, instead of crying, 'This was intended for such and such a one!' instead would turn their thoughts inwardly, and say, 'Lord, is it I?' How far more beneficial should we find discourses to be than now they generally are!

6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put into practice what he shall show from the Book of God to be your duty.

No doubt it was this consideration that made St. Paul so earnestly entreat his beloved Ephesians to intercede with God for him: 'Praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and for me also, that I may open my mouth with boldness, to make known the mysteries of the gospel' (Eph. 6:19-20). And if so great an apostle as St. Paul needed the prayers of his people, much more do those ministers who have only the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If only all who hear me this day would seriously apply their hearts to practice what has now been told them! How ministers would see Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven, and people find the Word preached sharper than a two-edged sword and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the devil’s strongholds!

This excerpt is adapted from Sermon 28 from The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield. Published by E. and C. Dilly, 1771-1772, London. George Whitefield (1714-1770) was a British Methodist evangelist whose powerful sermons fanned the flames of the First Great Awakening in the American colonies.

A Blind date with Jesus

Picture the scene... You're sitting in a restaurant at the table in the corner waiting for your blind date to walk through the door and in walks Jesus. Your friends have told you all about this guy, they've told you what he's like, what he does, and why he's perfect for you and pretty much everything they know about him... It is because of everything your friends have told you that has caused you to agree to this blind date and now you are finally about to meet this guy for yourself, you have preconceived ideas but none based on your own experiences or interactions with him and so begins the date.

Christianity can be closely parralleled to a blind date... It's because of friends that we invite God into our hearts or allow ourselves to actually meet him. When we let him into our lives, we have no real idea of what he can do and who he is except what we've heard and from the moment we let him in, begins the journey of getting to know him, the friendly dinner time banter...

But how many of us agree to this blind date but then sit in silence the whole night?
Instead of chatting and finding out more about him, we'd rather look at the others around us or the menu or we just sit on the phone chatting to our friends about the man sitting opposite us. Instead of taking time to get to know Jesus ourselves, we rely on preaches and words of others to expand our knowledge of Him.

Jesus is there opposite us, yet we choose to ignore him.

We have been given full access to Jesus, He is sitting waiting for us to give him our attention. He doesn't just want this blind date to be the only experience we have of him. He wants that date to be the start of a whirlwind romance, he wants you to tell him all about you but he also wants to tell you and show you everything about himself. He's just waiting for you to start the conversation

So why not put down the menu, the phone, or what ever it is and just give Jesus some time to show you who he really is.
You won't be disappointed.

More on the man with the 'beard of fury' (Gabe)

This week, I had the once – in - a - lifetime opportunity to catch up with our old friend Gabe “Strawberry jammy” Phillips. I thought I’d use the opportunity for the greater good so I asked him a few questions to try and pick some revelation out of his ginger head. His revelations were so weighty that he typed them in red just like Jesus did in the bible. And on that perfectly clear day of bright blue skies and a fresh light breeze in Durban and that icy cold, dark and unpleasant day in Cape Town, this is how the dialogue went:

So Gabe, why did you leave C.O.G.S? Was it because of offence, a broken heart or for attention?

Just kidding, tell us the real reason. Was it easy?

Leaving my family (both Sue and Ro as well as COGS) was the hardest thing I have ever done…and I’ve handled some really tough situations in my time(i.e living with red-hair, living with ben). But it was so hard not because of where I was going, but because of what I was leaving behind. I had made my tightest mates at COGS, got rebuked at COGS, found Jesus at COGS etc. A lot of who I am today is because of COGS and the people who have been a part of my life there, so in a sense I was leaving behind all that I had ever known…my safety blanket if you will. And that was some of the reason of why I left as well. I wanted to find out whether I could learn to lean on Jesus alone away from all the other things that had carried me for so long. That and also because God said so.

What have you boasted the most about in Cape Town?

Honestly, people have asked me to stop talking about “Paul” and “Richard”! But that wasn’t quite boasting…I have probably spoken about COGS Youth and all the incredible stories that we were a part of over the years about a million times! I am so proud of everything that God is doing in and amongst COGS youth that I have boasted about it from day one! I have shown many people David’s videos (Gavid productions), I have quoted Paul at every possible moment (“We really do need to get someone full-time for this”), I have spoken glowingly about Jono (most talented muso ever) Rich and his boys cell, and of course I’ve mentioned at every school I go to the amazing things that are happening at Danville school! I am so proud of COGS youth that I’ve even told people about Brad “slowest talker ever” King and Niki Rich’s unstoppable WITK team!

What are 3 of the most valuable lessons you learnt here at COGS youth?

Don’t overload trolleys with milk cartons and then try and wheel it down past Peets car

Listen to Paul and Rich when they tell you not to date someone

When you say you will finish the keys, do it!

But seriously,

Lead (be) like Paul and you can’t go wrong (seriously, that’s my real answer)

If you had to vote someone off of the youth leadership team who would it be?

Jenna-lee Collier

If you could be one piece of a drum kit which piece would you be?

Kick-drum (pretty standard really)

Please tell us the difference between passion and anger?

There’s a difference? A quote from ol’ Charlie Spurgeon that I hold dear says, “I have two emotions: angry and asleep”

If you came back to COGS youth now, what would you tell us to not take for granted?

The incredible youth leadership team and the cell groups…

Please tell us some of the most important lessons you’ve learned since you’ve been in Cape Town.

Lesson #1: Gay jokes don’t go down so well

Lesson #2: That the Gospel works! IT CHANGES EVERYTHING!

Is Roger Basil Haynes really the perfect man, even after you’ve seen him in his own home?

Absolutely and utterly flawless! He has no imperfections. Add him as a friend on facebook and check out his photo’s…you’ll see what I mean!

Tell us a little bit about your journey from the beginning of the year until now.

When I speak at COGS youth this Friday it will be officially 4 months since I left Durbs. In four months I feel I have been stretched and grown like never before. The youth here has literally been birthed out of nothing into something that is already having an impact in the community and schools around us. We have a youth around 40 people on a Friday night, two cell groups and 5 leaders you are desperate to see the city changed. The schools are erupting and God is opening doors like never before. I feel really clueless at times but I am so convinced that God is in absolute control.

Plus I’ve also grown an impressive red beard

Has anything caught you by surprise in regards to being in full time ministry?

I now understand the importance of Monday off! I have never been more tired in my life! Leading something on your own is very different than being just a part of the team. And I feel the pressure!

Would you rather have ginger hair, freckles and a red beard or be blind, deaf, mute with no motor skills?

I’d rather have dreadlocks, a funny face and have the nickname “Gherkin”

No seriously, you make it sound like a disease. I like to refer to my “condition” as having , “hair that shines like the sun, beauty spots handed down from the Gods, and a red beard of fury”.

Who is the real chief of Cape Town?

Roger has the title, but I have the capacity (or as Rich would say, “the capacity, capacity, capacity”)

Is there anyone in Cape Town who is OVEEZ on guitar?

I am COMPLETELY oveez! And I let everyone know it! (what is happening to me?!?! I think I’m becoming like Paul!!!!)

Who would you say is the “Brad Klynsmith” of Cape Town?

If by Brad Klynsmith you mean skinny, pale and a bit of a joke then the answer has to be me…but if you mean the desire of every Christian single lady then it has to be a guy from Common Ground named JP Le Riche. Handsome, flipping funny and controversial at the same time (he has a tattoo on his chest…I’ve seen it many times!)

Please list for us your world cricket team selection (players of the 90’s – so I know who you’re talking about)

1) Mark Taylor (Saeed Anwar)

2) Gary Kirsten

3) Brian Lara (David Boon for you)

4) Sachin Tendulkar

5) Steve Waugh (captain)

6) Inzaman Ul Haq

7) Ian healy(Daid Richardson)

8) Shane Warne

9) Curtly Ambrose

10) Allan Donald

11) Glen McGrath (Craig McDermot)

12) Jonty

…

Please give the members of COGS youth a charge.

Speak to God about men more than you speak to men about God

Make everything about Jesus

Eat as many Rave burgers as you can…they’re very very good

So that’s it folks!

Thank you Gabe for your time. And I know, I just know it, that the members of COGS youth have been counting down the days til Friday.

Well, you guessed it people, only 3 days left until you get to hear the revelation in red from the horses mouth and see the red beard of fury for yourselves.

Signing out

Pasta Coloss & Pasta Gin Gan

The Definition of Perfect is You!

The definition of perfect is you, yes you! You as in the one reading this blog right now! What? You don't believe me? You think I'm lying? I never lie...

Hebrews 10:14 "...because by one sacrifice He has made PERFECT forever those who are being made holy."

Ok, maybe I do tell the occasional lie - but the Word of God doesn't! Let the passage above sit with you a little while and think about the enormity of it, it's ridiculously overboard!

What Hebrews 10:14 is saying is that you are PERFECT! God sees you perfect and that's it! Everything you are, who you are and what you are is PERFECT in His eyes! Not because of anything other than one thing and that one thing Hebrews says was the "one perfect sacrifice" which is...JESUS!

When we accept Jesus into our lives we become PERFECT in the eyes of God as we become covered by the blood of Jesus and become new creations having received new life - everything we were, what we were, who we were etc is gone and the new has come ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 )!

It's one thing to know this but another to believe it and actually live in the new creation we have become! To live in it fully first starts with seeing ourselves as God sees us - PERFECT! Not as man sees, perceives or classifies us! As Christians we live according to the standards, promises and declarations of God and not according to man made orders that only bring bondage and defeat - simply because we were not designed or created to conform to them and will therefore never be able to! Being made perfect, how can we conform to a set of substandard and imperfect 'norms'?

Secondly Hebrews says we are still being made holy - this is called sanctification and will continue until we enter heaven! Perfection and sanctification are two different things. Sanctification is still occurring in our lives because we are not faultless, we do stuff up, we do give in to the flesh etc etc... but in all this God still says we are PERFECT! Our perfection is not because we are completely sanctified, nor is it dependent on how sanctified we are - our perfection in the eyes of God is because we have accepted the one sacrifice - Jesus and nothing else!

And so having accepted Jesus into your life you are PERFECT, you have received a perfection that is from and God alone, no man can change that or take it away! So live in that - it opens the doors into everything else but most importantly it opens the doors to the Father that self and man generated unworthiness closes!

bradlows...

Ten pin Bowling

There's nothing quite like when you run up to that alley, throw that ball down it and watch as all the pins go fying...

STRIKE!

That is a super cool feeling.

Now imagine you are that bowling ball, shooting towards the pins.

Hold your horses, you might say, bowling balls can't throw themselves!

Well friends, I have some great news for you! We don't just have anybody throwing us down that alley. We have the Son of God. We have Jesus!
Can I get a whoop whoop?!

Jesus will always get a strike. Why? Coz He's perfect. Duh.

Now I don't know about you, but I have never seen a bowling ball sprout legs and waltz down the alley by itself. If you have, get off the drugs, it's bad for you.

Bowling balls need the bowler, and the bowler needs bowling balls.

See that? That's what I like to call a relationship.

God can use you in the most radical and amazing ways! Ways that are thought to be impossible.
But how can He use you to strike when you refuse to let Him throw you, when you refuse to trust Him with your life?

Answer: He can't.

Do you want to be a 'gutterball' at the end of the day, a waste a perfect opportunity to get a strike?

Or do you want to be the ball that's always striking, causing raucous chaos for the Kingdom of God?

Friends, when you give your life to Jesus, you actually are GIVING YOUR LIFE. Not just parts that seem convenient. Parts of a bowling ball are useless. That isn't going to affect the pins at all. You WILL fail if you try to do it alone, walking your own path.
But if you put yourself in His hands, and allow Him to set you on the path He wants you to take down that alley way, we will start to see greater miracles than in the Bible!

Woah, sounds unbelievable right?

WRONG!

That old cliche springs to mind.
"Let go, and let God."

It's time to stop being gutterballs, and time to start being strikes!

(Thanks Andi!)

The mosaic of God's purposes

How long will you stand on the sidelines and spectate as though you did not belong in this display of God's splendor?

The mosaic of God's purposes is the most colourful, vibrant, emotive, beautiful and diverse of all the artworks of this planet. It is the reflection of His glory, His splendor, His character, His person. It tells us when He cries and when He laughs, it tells us when He's watching and waiting and it tells us when He's reaching in and restoring.

What does it look like?
Objects of God's wrath being transformed into the objects of His mercy.
Babies who were destined to die on park benches and in rubbish bins, alone and abandoned, now being put into homes with parents who never bore them but chose them. Hungry families being fed.The sick being healed.The oppressed being freed. Those who have much giving to those who have nothing. These are some of the many pieces that make up this precious mosaic.

The mosaic is you and me. Everyone of us has a spot in this mosaic. We're a perfect fit, God has purposed that you would fill a specific gap in the mosaic.

But unfortunately, many feel like they don't fit, they are detached. They feel like a loose piece, fallen from their place. Disqualified to participate, a spectator.

How do we become the loose piece in the mosaic? How do we become the unsightly gap in this work of art?

Do we have a part to play?
Jeremiah 17: 4 - through your own fault, you will lose the inheritance I gave you.

This is what God says to the Israelites, a nation who had turned their back on the Creator and worshipped created things.

They took 40 years to enter into their inheritance when it should've taken them less than two weeks, because they followed other gods. Just the same, we will walk around and around in the desert and not enter into our inheritance if we continue to follow those things that are more important to us than God's will.
Our inheritance is to be a part of the mosaic of God's purposes, to find our place in the activity of His kingdom. You will never find that place if you follow created things. Follow the Creator and you will find yourself deeply embedded in His purposes.

Many feel unworthy

Jeremiah 18:3-4
So i went down to the potter's house and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Many feel marred in the hands of God. You feel like waste, like he's going to throw you in the bin because he can't use you. But, the beauty about God is that He never wastes, He never disposes of that which is in His hands. If it's in His hands, He'll use it.
When we place ourselves in the hands of God and allow Him to shape us as seems best to Him, He shapes us into someone He can use as a display of His splendor.

Repentance is when we lay ourselves at His mercy, and choose to submit to His will and His ways rather than follow our own. It's interesting that it says "shaping it as seemed best to him". So often we want to dictate to God what kind of pot we want to be and what we want to be used for. It's time to allow Him to be God.

Every one of us, at some time, were in rebellion to God. All of us were excluded from His purposes, not one of us had any place in His mosaic.

Jeremiah 18:12 - we all replied, "It's no use. We will continue with our own plans, each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart"

And therefore this is what God said to us,

Jeremiah 18: 17 - I will show them my back and not my face on the day of their disaster.

That's the justice of God, that's exactly what we all deserve.

But,

on the day of HIS disaster, as Jesus hung on the cross, his blood dripping down the length of his body, the agony of his deep wounds sapping his strength, he lifted his head towards His Father. He needed to look into his Father's face one last time to receive that last ounce of strength he'd need to see this through.
And as he strained his head upwards what did he see?

He saw his Father's back turned to him.

And he cried, "My God, My God why have you forsaken me?"

Me, the one who lived a sinless life of perfect righteousness, why me?!

And i believe the Father's response would've been,
"I turned my back on you, my son, so that I never have to turn my back them"
and as he said "them" He pointed to you and me.

The good news is that everyone of us were disqualified but now because of Jesus,

Colossians 1:12 - giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

It's only because of Jesus that any of us have a part in this inheritance of being in God's amazing mosaic, and it's because of Jesus that there's a gap waiting for you to fill it.

What is our response?

Romans 12:1 - therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.

Throw yourself into the hands of the potter and say
"shape me as seems best to you and do with me as you wish"

It's the mercy of God that releases us into his purposes.

Embrace His mercy today.

"Dirty" Theology

Dirty Theology

Here in cape Town I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to witness a few red-faced “zealots” standing on there soap boxes at various public junctions preaching to all and sundry. “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” one cried while another screamed “You are all doomed to hell!”. The first question that popped into my head was “Why do they always seem to have American accents and secondly, “Is anybody actually listening?”. As I stood open mouthed and watched for a while, I realized that everybody around this area began to either walk a lot faster, looked in the complete opposite direction or tried miserably to cover the embarrassment on their faces. As I have carried on my way past these men, my thoughts continued down the track that these guys have plucked up the courage, put themselves out there and then probably returned to their churches to share testimony of how they “shared the Gospel”! But there is no joy in my heart as I see this done. I believe they are doing a lot more harm than good!

I’ve recently come across the term of “dirty theology”. At first I thought it was a christian response to some heretical teachings but as I looked a little closer, I realized that it was something that I kinda liked. “Dirty theology” quite simply is just a colloquial term used to describe what we need to be living out a little more. The Jesus I read about in the bible never stood up and beat people with theological arguments!(except when it was in response to the pharisees). All I ever see him doing is touching the leper that no one else would. Jesus was most often with the despised, the rejected and the down-trodden. His weekly diary was filled with visits to the hated tax collector’s house, a drink with a woman from the other side of the tracks and feeding crowds of hungry people.

For me, we have for too long preached our “clean theology” AT people!

In Luke 5 we see Jesus preaching when he notices two boats on the shore. He gets in one of them, pushes out a little distance and then continues to preach to the people on the shoreline. Next, he tells Simon (the guy who owned the boat) to cast his net on the other side. Simon responds by saying that he has been fishing all night and caught nothing, but because Jesus says so,he will do it. What follows is a miraculous hauling in of incredible numbers of fish that the nets start to break. Seeing this, Simon throws himself at Jesus' feet and cries "I am a sinful man!". This is the famous juncture that Jesus says "From now on you will become fisher's of men".
Dirty theology in action.
Jesus preaches from WITHIN their culture (in their boats) and not AT their culture. Simon realises his sinful state not because Jesus highlights it to him but because Jesus shows him his goodness! I am fast realising that the Gospel makes much of Jesus and of the fact that he is good!Our realisation of sin is not because their is a hell, but because there is a God that is good! After all, it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance!


Just a few thoughts...


Now I'm going to get myself "dirty"...


Jalaps

The way to inheritance

Exodus 15: 17 - You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance--the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established.

If you read in the book of exodus there was a nation called the Israelites. They were living as slaves to the Egyptions. Everything the egyptions commanded they had to do, and when they disobeyed they were whipped, beaten and abused. But the Israelites were God’s chosen people, and so God did set the free. So one day the Israelites packed their things and headed out into the desert. When they left God promised to take them into Canaan, the promised land, the land of milk and honey. This was their inheritance...

So now what is our inheritance? Our inheritance is huge, we’ve heard so much lately of the authority, anointing and power that we hold as Christians. We can raise dead, cast out demons and see the lost saved. This is all part of our inheritance. But there’s more... our schools, varsities, families and this city are our inheritance! We are where we are today for a reason. God says he will make the nations our inheritance if we just ask. Our inheritance is nothing ordinary!!!

So i hear you asking, "but David, how do we get there?" and i'm glad you brought that up, Below are 4 f bombs to help you walk into your inheritance...

1) Family

In order to claim an inheritance from God, we need to be part of His family. When we become Christians, we are adopted into the family of God and become heirs to the kingdom.

How do we be saved? Accept Jesus died for us.

John 14: 6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

We are born seperated from God, But God made a way, he sent His son Jesus to die on the cross. So if we accept Jesus then we become a son or daughter of God. He took our sin away and gave us robes of righteousness.

So the first step to this inheritance is have you given your life to Jesus? Are you no longer living with the egyptions?

2) Freedom

Are we free?

2 Corinthians 5: 17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Now we part of the family, we are free, BUT ARE WE LIVING FREE? Jesus says it is for freedom that I have set you free. Are we living in the freedom we have been given?

Further on in the story, we read of how the egyptions start complaing and talking of how they wish they were back in Egypt. They got hungry or thirsty and so they complained and wanted to go back to Egypt. They were not walking in the complete freedom that had been given to them when they escaped Egypt. Are we still living slightly captive?

Are we still walking in some of they ways we did when we were not saved?

Getting drunk... not of God and will cost you your inheritance,
sex out of marriage, pornography... You may think that these things are small but I’ll tell you from personal experience, that as small and harmless as masturbation or pornography may seem to you, it will absolutely rip your life to shreds! Other things like lieing, stealing, etc etc will also cut down your inheritance.

WE NEED TO PUT THESE THINGS TO DEATH NOW!! Our inheritance is not for 10 years time or when you older, our inheritance is for now and the longer we are dabbling in sin, the longer we put off walking in our inheritance. The Israelites took 40 years in the desert, 40 YEARS!!! The longer we take to get rid of our sinful habits, firstly the harder it comes for us to break them and secondly, we slowly missing out on our inheritance.

Think of it like this:
Our salvation is like the lease to a house and the house is our inheritance. We may walk into the first part, we get the gate open and move into the garden. But if we then start moving back into our old ways, we’ll just stay camped in the garden, going around and around the house, every now and then you may get a glimpse through a window of the beauty inside... (big screen tv, aircon, pool table, food, etc.) and I believe that’s just God egging us to come back to His ways to push on for the better and the greater. There’s also if we stall our walking into our inheritance we may only come in through the back door, through the laundry room. The front entrance hall is always grander and more awesome than a boring laundry room and you may need to sort the stuff out in the laundry room before you can procede into the next room.

3) Faith

This journey in our inheritance and as we travel deeper into it isn’t always going to be easy. God may not take us the way we want to go, but we need to learn to trust in Him no matter where he takes us and what comes our way. The isralites had to travel through a desert. And even the God didn’t take them the way they expected.

Exodus 13: 17 - When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt."

God can’t just throw us into the depth of our inheritance because we won’t handle it. It’s a journey, and as we overcome the small obstacles in the way our capacity to handle more is increased and so we start to walk in more. It may be tough but it’s worth it. God’s always going to be there. He wants to see us owning that house, not just peering through the gate or windows, but living in luxury upstairs and throughout the whole house.

Exodus 15: 13 - "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

4) Father

It needs to always be about the Father. We need to spending time with God and seeking His face. For without Him we will never be able to achieve anything other than normal. God wants to hang out with us and love us and lead us. If we seek Him, he will be found.

So on this journey to inheritance, it's not about the inheritance, it's about the Father, and the inheritance will come :)

So thats it... The four F's to inheritance.

much love
David

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