This is probably of no interest to anyone other than myself, but having spent the best part of the last few days editing various aspects of the blog, I'm feeling quite pleased with myself and am very happy with the results.-
The Finnie family in Blighty, December 2021
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Dean and Paula pastor The Gathering together -
The Gathering -
Baptisms at The Gathering -
Preparing to serve at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen -
Soup Kitchen Welcome To 2022 lunch
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Serving hands - the heart of The Gatheirng -
Thankful Thursdays -
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HOPE Home Based Care Team -
Gathering Ground -
Staying fit as a family -
The Helderberg - The prettiest of the mountains we face
Last night was a slower kitchen due the the social grants (disability, child support & pensions) being paid over the last couple of days, so it made sense to use our smaller 50lt pot which was a good call.We served a delicious Cream of Chicken and it went down a storm with our regulars that were able to come.
And there it is, the High Court has ruled that Level 4 and Level 3 regulations of South Africa's lockdown are unconstitutional and has given the government 14 days to respond. The High Court acknowledges the legality of the initial lockdown (Level 5) but the rest of the verdict is quite damning in saying the regulations were "arbitrary and unlawful".Many of us have been expressing this view for a while and are sick of being patronised by corrupt politicians who suddenly feel they have the moral high ground when they really do not. State Capture anyone?
After a six week break thanks to a partially slipped disk in my lower back it was good to be back boxing again today.I'm far from fully healed, but the pain is manageable and I'm being careful with some specific stretches to ensure that I don't aggravate things any further, as well as avoiding certain exercises and stretches that aren't particularly good for the back.
I'm longing to regain my fitness and go for a run again but sadly I just don't know when it will be safe to do that.
Anyway, I'm back exercising at a lower intensity which is good and it felt good to be boxing again and it was great to be boxing with Joel. I really enjoyed that Zoom session with CEY.
It's just as well too, because I could feel my paunch trying to re-establish itself.
What a joke!Having spent most of last week preparing Joel to return to school today, we were told to expect an announcement from the Education Minister on Friday evening. This then got pushed back to Sunday evening and then pushed back again until 11am today.
We then learn via a local news website that schools are only reopening for pupils on the 8th whilst teachers are back from today. So quite why two teacher friends were called back to work last week is a mystery.
On Tuesday President Ramaphosa addressed the nation and gave churches and other faith groups the right to start meeting again in their buildings, though with strict conditions.At the same time, he called for a National Day Of Prayer for today, Sunday 31 May.
The Gathering has made the tough but right decision to remain in exile for a while longer, but as we Gather this morning on WhatsApp we are proud to be standing with the President & the nation and answer his call to prayer for South Africa.
Today our Gathering will be entirely given over to prayer for this nation and the situation we find ourselves in.
During lockdown I've written four posts so far about books, which would suggest books are quite important in our house. Three of those posts were on the theme of 10 Books I Have Loved and the other post was about Lockdown Reading, looking at the books I have read in the first few weeks of lockdown. I will post Part 2 of that soon.
It was very exciting to get the news from President Ramaphosa that the faithful may gather under strict guidelines. It was exciting to think about The Gathering getting together again from June 7th, but as pastors we also have a duty of care of our church members and we need to be leading by example in how we navigate our way out of the current crisis.For The Gathering it feels right that we remain in exile for just a little longer.
Well we didn't see that one coming but I for one went to bed a very happy man last night!Who'd have thunk it... the government giving in to lobbying and reversing a decision. Then again, it would have been a tad #awkward asking the various religious groups in the country to stand together for a day of prayer without allowing them to start to gather in their buildings again.
Last night President Ramaphosa addressed the nation and unlike the last time he did so, he actually had things to say, and was worth listening to. The big announcement was that the whole nation will move to Level 3 which means most economic activity can resume (though not restaurants, hair & Beauty salons, gyms or churches). We have to wait a few days for the govt to gazette the actual details of what we can and cannot do, but I'm excited.
Gathering on WhatsApp on Sundays & Wednesdays is a huge blessing in the life of The Gathering as we seek to stay connected and interactive in our faith together.It was pure joy to share Communion together this morning as part of our worship of King Jesus and those that were able took a selfie and shared it online.
It feels like The gathering is stronger for the lockdown which is a huge blessing and encouragement.
I want to post about all the wonderful blessings we're experiencing right now, and share about how life is great, but I can't do what I see some do and just pretend the sun is shining and life is great. In fact I have to be honest and say that I'm struggling to remain positive at present. I'm having to force myself to stay away from the news because it's worse than depressing and it makes my blood boil.
Following on from yesterday's post I felt the need to salute the generous heroes (locally & abroad) who quietly give to make it possible for The Gathering, My Father's House, the Night Shelter and countless others to be able to reach out to the most vulnerable and provide them with food parcels, soup kitchens, sandwiches, food vouchers etc.The generosity is real, as is the desire by many to help in whatever way they can to ensure that the most vulnerable are cared for, particularly in provision of the most basic human need of all.
"Our lockdown has revealed a very sad fault line in our society that reveals how grinding poverty, inequality and unemployment is tearing the fabric of our communities apart" - President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Talk about stating the obvious!
President Ramaphosa then goes on to share some very nice words but no clear action plan other than more talking shops. Meanwhile the media is full of headlines like this: "One in three adults in SA goes to bed hungry, according to latest research", which really comes as no surprise to those of us who have been working as hard as we can to ensure the neediest and most vulnerable enjoy a degree of food security.
Sadly, here we are 55 days in to our lockdown and still the most basic need of the most vulnerable is failing to be addressed by the government. But this is the disturbing reality out here and it's compounded by the ineptitude of a political system that just doesn't appear to care.
One of my passions in church and mission is working in partnership with other churches and NPOs, and one church we've known, loved and worked with for quite a while now is Father's House over in Simon's Town, led by our dear friend Shaddie.Before the lockdown they had stopped meeting as a church on Sundays in the regular sense and were reaching out to the homeless on Saturday afternoons. They truly are being the hands & feet of Jesus in the community. Once lockdown started the homeless were rounded up (that's a rant for another day!) so they refocused their efforts on the informal settlements in an area called Redhill in the mountains above the town.
They now have a separate NPO called My Father's House and together with some other local community groups are feeding almost 4000 children everyday.
Having written about ten fiction books I have loved and ten non-fiction books I have loved, I thought I would finish the series with ten Christian books I have loved. I thought about splitting this in to two parts between academic and non-academic but realised that one of those posts would just be way too boring. LOL!So here are ten Christian books I have loved all for very different reasons and at different stages of life.
Jim & Casper Go To Church was an eye opener and really helped to shape my idea of what church should or shouldn't be. Jim is a pastor who pays Casper, an atheist, to go to church with him. The point is not to get Casper saved, but to get an outsider's perspective on what we as Christians often think is OK for church. The most sobering moment in the book comes when Casper asks "Is this what Jesus told you to do?". For me, as a pastor I knew that I never wanted to be asked that question by anyone. If you're in church leadership, you really should read this gem.
I was inspired by a recent BBC News article in which they had asked people to send them their last 'normal' photo taken on their phones before their lockdown began. I really like this idea so I'm posting mine and Paula's #LastNormalPhoto from the day before our lockdown began on Friday 27 March (that feels like a long time ago!).
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