Thoughts on Weddings

Read time: 11 minutes

I had the honour last week of attending the wedding of a good friend from my previous church. It took place in a neighbouring province, and so some friends and I made a three day trip to go bear witness and to celebrate that blessed occasion. On our way we reflected and discussed courting and marriage a bit. These have been frequent topics of late, as it is the season to get married: both literally and in our lives (one member of our group had attended seven weddings this year, with at least one more to come still). I am struck by how differently Christian and secular couples perceive weddings and marriage. Here are some of my thoughts on the topic. Read more …

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Jesus and Grace

Parable of the Hired Workers
Read time: 5 minutes

Recently we remembered Reformation Day: the day when Martin Luther sparked the protestant reformation by nailing his objections to the corruptions within the Roman Catholic Church to the church door in Wittenberg. Okay, it may not have been very recently, but time slips by rather quickly, and I am sure that you can still what you did on Halloween. Remembering Reformation Day, together with some questions which I have been hearing, got me thinking about the issue of grace. The issue of grace lies at the very heart of the reformation: that God's will (apart from anything that we do) is enough for our sins to be forgiven. This is possible because the punishment which was due to us for all our wrongs (past, present and future) have already been paid for by Jesus on the cross. Read more …

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Know Your Anthem

The South African flag
Read time: 4 minutes

South Africa has, as far as I am aware, the most unique national anthem in the world. What makes it so unique, is the fact that it is in fact two different songs appended to each other. The first is Nkosi Sikele' iAfrika, which was the party song of the African National Congress (ANC): once a group designated a terrorist group by the Apartheid government, and currently the ruling party in South Africa. The second is The Call of South Africa (Die Stem van Suid-Afrika), which was the previous national anthem of South Africa. These are sung in five different languages (of the eleven official languages which South Africa has): Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English. Read more …

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