Brad K, Author at 1Africa

This is Our Time – Planetshakers

Brad K

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December 18, 2014

When the Australian worship group, Planetshakers, brought us the album ONE in 2009, I thought that nothing could top it for pure unbridled fun in worshiping God; and those synth sounds! Oh, and then LIMITLESS came out and many thought this was it, but then came ENDLESS PRAISE! It would seem that they’ve taken things to the next level with the release of THIS IS OUR TIME, and people are talking. I heard a producer friend comment on the title track after sending it to him for a listen. His words were: “I think this is the best produced live song I’ve ever heard in my life!” and I know he’s heard a few live songs in his day! So, on the back of a solid foundation of musical integrity, and simply dripping with energetic praise, let’s take a closer look at THIS IS OUR TIME, and hear what worship leader and co-senior pastor, Sam Evans, and Joth Hunt, the band’s front man, have to say:

1Africa: Sam, your reach is remarkable, and your core mission as a church “to empower generations to win generations” is truly in full swing and it’s at the core of the work of the Planetshakers band. What has been one of your keys to fulfill that mission?

Sam Evans: Just as Jesus spoke the language of the day, we are compelled to deliver the message of Christ through the media of our day, musically and visually. The good news is that the message never changes. We love to use scriptures. We believe that it is what will bring Him the greatest pleasure and we believe there is power when you sing the Word of God. Our greatest desire is to usher people into the presence of God.

1A: What birthed the theme for the 2014 Awakening Conference that ultimately became this extraordinary CD/DVD?

SE: This is our moment to seize the opportunities that God gives us and to approach them with great passion and fervor. It’s our moment in history to make a difference for Jesus!

1A: “Joy” is the word that jumps out at you whenever you watch and listen to anything that Planetshakers produces. Is this just the overflow of who you are and what you do or is it intentional, you know, as a tool?

SE: Our sound is full of life, energy and and excitement. We have incorporated more electronic sounds and EDM (in the new album), not because it’s the “current thing” sound-wise, but because it brings great joy and fun to our praise. We pray that listeners will be inspired to release their own sounds of praise through this passionate sound of worship.

1A: The energy and passion in THIS IS OUR TIME really is infectious!

SE: Look at the track “My Heart is Alive” as an example. When you sing it, you feel so alive! It’s not just what Jesus has done that impacts me externally, but also the dynamic life that the Spirit living inside of me brings. The impact that Christ has on my soul and my heart enables me to live a continuously abundant life despite my circumstances. Nothing else in this world can do that other than Jesus!

1A: Joth, the song “Covered” that you co-wrote with Israel Houghton holds some special meaning for you, doesn’t it?

Joth Hunt: It’s a very empowering song. When we understand God’s grace, it helps us live out the call of God on our lives with great confidence and boldness. It gives people fresh hope that no matter what they’ve done or where they’ve been, they are covered by His grace. The song keeps me grounded knowing that it’s by the grace of God that I’m doing what I’m doing today.

1A: There are moments on the album where the pulsating drums and keys take a quiet turn, like with the track “You” and then you follow it right up with “Holy”. It all changes gear completely and also focus.

JH: Sam and I were planning the worship set (over the phone) and ways to follow up “You”, giving a moment for worshipers to just soak in the presence of God. The tag was one word, a word of proclamation and adoration fit only for the King of kings: “Holy”.

With “This is Our Time” we have another power album that is going to form a vital part of the Planetshakers’ arsenal. With their world-wide popularity, their incredible appeal and their raw, unbridled energy, joy can be released to do the work that it needs to do, to see people’s hearts turned to a loving, holy God.

All For You – A Christmas Story – Part 3

Culture

Brad K

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December 17, 2014

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All For You – A Christmas Story – Part 3

Richard just sat there, scratching his head. He fixed his eyes on the laces of his shoes, and had already decided he wasn’t going to look up for a while. He could feel his ears start to get really hot and he was overcome with the urge to swallow. Some sweat was starting to bead on his forehead. He swallowed again, and just kept scratching his head.

“Richard!” Said Dr Lewis; her voice sounding a bit too much like a frustrated school teacher. She had been treating this poor, confused man for long enough to know he needed a few minutes to deal with his embarrassment, but she was not feeling very generous today. Richard’s story frustrated her so much. “I get that you’re feeling some shame and some guilt but I’ve warned you for so long about this kind of behaviour.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking, actually. People seem so fake, so self-righteous; walking around like they are better than everyone, and if they are Christians, they are the worst!”

“Richard, what you did was horrible! How could doing something like that actually benefit some weird, sick, agenda? I’ve never seen you like this! To be honest, I’ve not even seen the slightest inclination in all our session together that would suggest you could do something like this!”

What had started out as an act of principle, now seemed to have taken a rather dramatic turn. People were so fake; with their smiles, and their neat clothes, hiding what was really underneath. Add all the thoughts about Christmas, that all seemed so fake too, and all he could see around him was a giant theatrical show of fake people living fake lives, spending money they probably didn’t have to celebrate something that they can’t seem to fight against, and they were like sheep! He could feel the anger rise.

“What I did was expose the truth!” Richard’s voice was starting to get a bit too loud for the size of the room they were in. “I did them all a favour! Now they can see that people are all just walking lies, that spend time with other liars, living this life that is paid for with plastic cards to impress people they don’t even like!”

“Richard; so you thought inviting people to a Christmas party and presenting each one with a card containing the most intimate details of the other people at the table, was a clever idea? What exactly did you expect might happen? Oh my goodness, I’m shocked all over again!” Dr Lewis ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head almost violently from side to side. She forgot her hair was tied up and pulled a handful of her mousy brown hair loose from the hair clip. Now wasn’t the time to be concerned about how she looked. She stopped pacing and looked up. She was angry. Her hands were in fists now and she felt her nails pinching the skin in her palms. She knew how hard it was for people to deal with their ‘sins’; how guilty people can be and how long it can take to deal with something, or even to forget, and here, a man she thought was always very pleasant, was just so hurt himself that it seemed quite okay to hurt someone else. She actually felt ashamed of herself for having liked him.

Richard was now standing up straight, again believing in what he had done, despite the rebuke Dr Lewis was spewing at him from behind that now messy hair. He started to wonder if she saw truth in what he was saying but was too afraid to admit it!

“People have taken years to deal with some of those things you just threw back in their faces! Years of pain and regret; even struggling to forgive themselves and other people! Years!” Dr Lewis felt herself spit as she spoke but she didn’t care. “Why would you do this to them!” She could feel the tears start to well up in her eyes but she wasn’t going to make any effort to stop herself from crying.

Richard suddenly felt a strange emotion coming over him. His voice came out almost like a squeak. “I just wanted these people to know they’re not as perfect as they pretend”.

To be continued…

Where is Your Faith?

Brad K

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December 15, 2014

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When I talk, I tend to go on a bit. Blame nearly 2 decades of radio broadcasting and a family full of expert story tellers. I’ve learned over the years that keeping things short can help, but you lose such wonderful detail and opportunities to ignite the flames of the imaginations, so I say, take another minute or 2! I struggle with Twitter. I’ve always got too much to say but I’ve allowed this technology to shape the way I think so that I’ve become more succinct. This scares me a bit because now, instead of just thinking, for thinking’s sake, I’ve started to think for status updates’ sake! This makes me a bit sad, in retrospect.

I was reading the Bible the other day and came across a response that Jesus gave His disciples. You can read the story in Luke chapter 8. Jesus and His friends were tired and it was late. They’d been with Him all day while he was preaching and while they were ferrying Jesus across the lake, He fell asleep and a storm arose. This is what it says from verse 22:

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.

Jesus had an opportunity to teach the disciples a valuable lesson that day, to let them ask questions and to wrestle out their belief in Him and His preaching about the Kingdom and the miracles that He performed. To me, this would have been a fantastic opportunity to extrapolate and draw the lesson out and inspire his 12, petrified friends. They seemed to me to be in need of some encouragement and a chance to vent their fear and bewilderment and on that boat it seemed like the moment. But, of course, it didn’t happen. He simply asked that rhetorical question that gets me every time: “Where is your faith?” That’s it. It was a rebuke and it was loaded! Those 4 words carried the weight of the Sermon on the Mount, the widow’s son being raised from the dead, and the healing of the paralysed man. The question held in it the disciples’ very own witness of all the sunset miracles we can read about in Luke 4. It would imply: “You’ve seen who I am, and what I can do, and yet you still carry so much fear and concern? Everything is under my control; was made by me and for me and through me and you worry about a storm? The Son of God with you in flesh and you fear for your lives despite what you saw me do an hour ago?”

When we start to consider that we have the Word of God at our disposal, loaded with thousands of years worth of testimony, it’s a shame that we allow ourselves to become so undone by what we experience. God’s presence now is as real as in that boat that day. His Spirit is in us and around us, and our ‘storms’ are raging, yet while Jesus remains in such a place of peace, we come unravelled.

Jesus would ask us a similar question right now. It is loaded with the revelations we now have through His word and the confidence we can have in it and in our own testimonies of today and the past. We know who God is and what He has done; in His Word and in our lives, yet we stress, worry and come apart. Jesus has just one questionfor you, in the midst of your struggles; your darkest hour…

“Where is your faith?”

Weekend Sports Wrap – 15 Dec ’14

Brad K

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December 15, 2014

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We’ve had a top-notch sporting weekend, so let’s get into the details. All it takes is a click and a listen and you’ll have all the latest results:

From the injury to Australian cricketer, Michael Clarke, and who his replacement will be, to news on the winning ways of the South African Rugby Sevens team, that are soaring at the top of the rugby sevens world!

We’ve got all the details here for you on our Weekend Sports Wrap.

Weekly Roundup – 12 Dec ’14

Weekly Roundup

Brad K

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December 12, 2014

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We are creeping ever closer to Christmas, and here at 1Africa, we want to make sure that you have all the encouragement, entertainment and truth from around this time of year. Are you struggling to figure out what the best gift is, or what people really want? We’ll help you with that, as well as with how to truly relax over this holiday time, how to start a fire without matches, and don’t miss the grand finale of our 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children; it will challenge you; no doubt about it. Search www.1africa.tv for these and other stories and we’ll highlight a few right here on our Weekly Roundup.

Let us know what story has really ‘spoken’ to you this week, and leave a comment for us, in the space provided below.

Here’s to a great week that has passed, and an exciting few weeks to come, that will lead us into 2015!

Is Santa Claus Real?

Lifestyle

Brad K

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December 12, 2014

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So the big fat man with the red suit and the beard is ready to roll. It’s possible that your kids have sent him a letter to the North Pole, trying their best to convince him that they’ve been nice, and worthy of the long list of gift demands they’ve penciled down! We can safely assume that the reindeer have been groomed and re-hooved and are ready for their Christmas mission, with Rudolph’s nose as red and as bright and shiny as it’s ever been! Behind him will be the usual suspects, from Donna to Blitzen and that sleigh; packed to capacity with the toys that will bring Christmas cheer, come December 25th. Let’s not forget Santa and his big smile and his lists and his mission to get down the chimney to gobble the milk and cookies and deliver the radio controlled car or Barbie doll!

When your kids ask about Santa Claus, what do you tell them? Let me know in the comment section below; I’d love to hear what parents have to say or what your parents may have told you.

I believed in Santa, and my parents made sure to keep the story going as long as it made me a happy little guy. I was so thrilled to share my ‘sleigh spotting’ story with them and watch their expressions as I got lost in the details of my ‘lie’ leaving them looking like they were incredibly jealous and that every child on earth wished that they were me! Maybe you think it’s stupid for me to refer to this as a ‘lie’; after all, children have a fantastic imagination and this lets them have fun letting their little minds go. It’s not hurting anyone and with Father Christmas, you get a pleasant distraction that adds some fun to the holidays. I agree, it’s brilliant! I have a little problem with Father Christmas/Santa/Old Nick or whatever. I found a blog written by Sara Wallace around the topic of kids and Santa and her article spoke right to me. I’ll share one of her thoughts later and my 2 cents as well.

When it comes to my kids, I’ll TOTALLY tell them about Santa Claus. I can’t wait, and the reason I’ll tell them is because he’ll be everywhere! You’ll see him at the shopping center with kids on his lap having pictures taken. He’s on cards and wrapping paper and posters, and he’s all over the tv. To be honest; it’s impossible to avoid him, so I’ll definitely tell my little guys about him when they’re old enough to understand; you can’t hide someone that ‘big’ anyway, it’s not possible. What I will not do, though, is try to convince them that he’s real. This might be where we differ and I’m looking forward to the conversation that will ensue. My reason is simple. You see, I’m a Christian, a believer in Jesus. The desire of my heart is to see my children, one day, make their own decision to follow Him too, and that will thrill me no end; wow! The problem is that when they are so young and their imaginations are soaring and they are super impressionable, I don’t want them to blur the lines of fact and fantasy when I’m reading to them from the Bible. When we read about Jesus’ miracles or the parting of the Red Sea and the 10 plagues, and what Heaven might be like,; I don’t want them to catagorise ‘miracle’ in the ‘magic’ part of what they hear. Santa is very alluring. Jesus, born in a manger, in an old stable, can’t really top a jolly red man who is sparkly and wants to give you whatever toy you ask for.

Sara Wallace said this in her blog on a similar topic:

Some parents call the Santa myth a lie while others call it pretending. I’m going to call it a huge distraction. My five-year-old asks me questions about God all the time: What does it mean to be a spirit? If God doesn’t have a heart how can He love people? If there is only one God why do we call Jesus God? Whew! Talk about tough questions. If I told my son Santa was real I would get all the same kinds of questions. Hundreds of them. Do I really want to take the time to thoughtfully answer my son’s genuine curiosity with answers that aren’t even true? Do I want Santa to become the focal point of every conversation?

This topic is worthy of some good dialogue, and I look forward to it, but at the heart of this is just a dad, that I’m sure could be joined by many others, who wants the truth of God to resonate in his kids’ hearts. With so many distractions, and all the pressures out there, we’re all up against it from the word go, so we need to make a stand. God has promised to rescue us from what we’ve done wrong in our lives, without us having to do anything but say yes to His favour; it doesn’t matter if you’re naughty or nice. Will I ban Santa? Of course not! I just need to put him in the right compartment, and from there on out, enjoy the holiday time, rest well, laugh a lot, and tear open wrapping paper with enthusiasm, but all the while remembering where my true gifts come from, and who will be there for me, no matter the the date on the calendar.

How To Start a Fire Without Matches

Lifestyle

Brad K

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December 12, 2014

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Let me start off with a warning. Since it seems to be in our blood, as guys, to do things that appear to be hopelessly irresponsible, please advance with CAUTION. Ladies, you’re probably just shaking your heads. Help your man out if he’s about to get out of hand and do something really stupid!

When I think back to my days as a boy scout, I can say that I’m pleased to have learned about how to tie a reef knot and a round turn and two half hitches. As much as knots are useful, nothing rates as highly as the opportunity to set something on fire! I loved making a mini fire-stove using old tins and although it took forever to boil a cup of water, that smokey cup of tea, held in soot covered hands, tasted so good!

When you’re outside getting ready to start your Saturday evening barbeque, you’ll probably use matches and some firelighter that you bought in a box or packet. But what about when you’re out in the wilderness and you need a fire for warmth, or to signal for help, or to grill the fish you just caught with your manly bare hands, but you don’t have any matches? What then? Well, I’ve got a small list here that will hopefully help you, and it all depends on what you have in your pockets, bag, or what’s lying around you.

Starting a fire using a cell phone and some steel wool:

Here’s a case of Don’t Try This at Home! If I was marooned somewhere and I’d already used my cell phone to call for help, or my phone was damaged, I’d then use it to start my emergency fire. The chances of you having some foil or even shards of steel wool? Well that’s a different story. Bear Grills uses the blade of his knife.

A ‘Prison Lighter’

This one also requires some things you might have with you: An AA battery and some thin foil or a chewing gum wrapper:; something you might well have in your pockets.

The Hand or Bow Drill

This is the one you’d see in the caveman cartoons! You simply roll a stick in your hand, (or in a bow) and the spinning stick causes friction on the piece of wood placed below it and a small glowing ember that breaks off is added to your tinder and with that; fire! A lot of elbow grease is required!

…and lastly

Starting a fire using water

Well, this doesn’t quite work like it sounds. The water is placed in a clear bag or a transparent plastic water bottle and used as a magnifying glass. Not great for a cloudy day, but if those are the only things at hand and the summer sun is bright, it could just do the trick. I really want to try this one!

There you have it; you can get some roaring flames going without the trusty match, and this could be all you need if survival is your main priority.

Be safe out there!

All For You – A Christmas Story – Part 2

Culture

Brad K

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December 9, 2014

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All For You – A Christmas Story – Part 2

All the thinking about Christmas was making Richard hungry. He just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk rubbing his stomach. He hadn’t even realised he’d stopped walking. Bacon. That’s what he wanted, bacon, and he didn’t care too much what else went with it. Funny how bacon never really makes it into any real holiday fare. Thanksgiving is all about turkey and pumpkin pie and Easter is about chocolate eggs and fish and there’s all this talk about Christmas gammon but bacon, it only seems to be paired with breakfast eggs. That’s ridiculous. Bacon should have it’s own day, as far as Richard was concerned. Probably not good for you, but that’s never been a priority. Perhaps it was time for a change. Life is too short. Richard couldn’t remember at what point he had become so philosophical. All this thinking, and wondering. It was tiring. And for what? He was convinced now, more that he’d ever been, that human beings love to do the strangest things for reason they probably couldn’t recite. He was sure that if he asked someone why they were having a turkey for Christmas they wouldn’t know. They’d say something like ‘That’s just what you do!’ The traditions were now so cemented into everyone’s reality that they do things without thinking and don’t even question it. It was like they had lost the ability to think for themselves and heaven forbid someone comes to rock their little boat of tradition and habit. Richard visited a church a few months back to witness a nephew’s baptism. He asked the parents a few questions about religion and they said the same thing: ‘We’re not quite sure why we’re doing this, it’s just what you do!’ There it was again. People forgot to think about things, they just did it because that’s what you do. What if you didn’t do some of these things; the ones your’e not so sure of? What then? Richards stomach let out a very audible growl. He looked around and no one seemed to hear it. Bacon; hmmm.

Richard sat back in the old red creaking chair as he wiped the grease off his chin with the scratchy paper napkin. He burped silently into his fisted hand and then breathed a huge sigh. Satisfaction. He smiled to himself as he smacked his lips together again, tasting the final bite of the hamburger again. He found himself staring out of the window at a flashing neon Santa Clause on the street light across the road from the diner. He was waving and in the last light of the day he could clearly see the 2 hand positions in the neon tubing. Santa’s wave seemed so fake. Left right, left right, went the red neon arm. It seemed to sum up Richards true feeling about Christmas. He stood up, noisily shoving the chair backwards as he did. He had an idea.

It was the beginning of December and the wind was picking up; typical of this time of year. The leaves started to swirl next to the wall of the public library and quickly sucked in even more dried leaves from the gutter. Richard put his hands deep into his pockets and started to lengthen his strides. He needed to get the shop before it closed.

Dr Lewis was wearing her hair up for the first time in all the months that Richard had been visiting her practice. It made her look younger, but that was about it.

“So you invited a whole lot of people to a ‘Christmas’ dinner? And you asked them to do WHAT?”

“Yip! You probably want to know all the details?” Richard seemed very impressed with himself.

Dr Lewis did that thing with her mouth and eyebrow that saved her the need to use words.

“I am just convinced that people don’t really know why they do some things. We get caught up in what we are told to do; how to act, and what to say. Most people don’t know what Christmas is really all about, or Easter, or confirmation, or first communion or Pentecost for that matter. Religion seems to be something that most people follow blindly without question and I thought I’d challenge some people. They live from week to week, and year to year, without thinking for themselves, and they believe whatever they are told, and I think it’s cheapening their experience of life. I’m convinced of this, more than ever before! I chose religion because it’s a sensitive topic in almost everyone’s experience and this challenge was sure to get people thinking…”

“Or upset them!”

“That was NEVER my intention! I just want people to THINK!”

“I’m not so sure that you were thinking!”

To be continued….

Weekend Sports Wrap – 8 Dec ’14

Brad K

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December 8, 2014

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Welcome to a new week 1Africa sports fans! In this Monday’s Weekend Sports Wrap; news on Chad Le Clous’ history -making FINA Championship in Doha, and the SA Team’s win in the Dubai Sevens rugby tournament. Sean Abbot is bravely heading back onto the cricket field, and we have all the weekend’s Premier League football results, so click away, and get up to date!

Weekly Roundup – 5 Dec ’14

Weekly Roundup

Brad K

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December 5, 2014

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We’ve been working feverishly this past week to ensure we have the hottest content for you to enjoy on 1Africa.tv and we feature it right here on our Weekly Roundup.

This week has been a big week as we continue to look very closely at the 16 Days of Activism of no violence against women and children. If this speaks into your life, we trust you’ll find some worthwhile guidance and inspiration.

Make sure to sign up to our newsletter, and to share what you have read with someone that could benefit from our input.

Here’s to a great week!

Brad K

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