Brett Fish, Author at 1Africa

How Games Are Becoming the Business

Culture

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November 19, 2015

Within the last ten years, there has been a dramatic shift in the way board and card games play out.

As games have moved from the one dimensional single purpose objective [seen in Monopoly, Risk, Cluedo, Trivial Pursuit etc] to a more multi-optioned strategy path [Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, 7 Wonders etc] so the playing of games has changed.

Thursday nights in the Stadium on Main mall in Cape Town has that interesting Matrix moment on a weekly basis, where hardcore clubbers from Tiger Tiger come face to face [or face to shop glass window at least] with a breed of gamer, sitting at a table inside Wizards Games and Book shop, who take it a lot more seriously than your casual family afternoon hobby. Neither side knows quite what to make of the other one.

Tuesday nights might find you heading to Fanaticus in Plattekloof whereas Saturday nights sees a bit more of an upscale venue as the gamers converge in the Vineyard hotel accompanied with a bag of different games to wage war with. In fact pretty much every night there is sure to be a venue or two where you can head out to learn a new game or try to win one that you have played before.

FROM NOVICE TO PRO

The card and board game community is a really welcoming one. So if you are a first timer who has never played before you will be enthusiastically welcomed and quickly given your first lesson in a game likely to blow your mind a little when the instructions are happening. But within a round or two you will likely have the gist of how to play and once you have one or two games under your belt, the ease of jumping into slightly more complicated ones will come naturally.

Then there are those who take it seriously. Somewhat more complicated games with names like Terra Mystic, Caverna and Tzolk’in will be eagerly learnt and then repeatedly played in a bid to master the subtle strategies needed to finish towards the top of the leaderboard.

A STRATEGY FOR THIS GAME THIS DAY

What is most attractive with this new level of gaming is the shifting strategies that occur depending on the nature of a particular game. So with Settlers of Catan the game board [consisting of a number of hexagon shaped pieces each representing different resources] is different every single time and you have to adjust your strategy accordingly. Puerto Rico is largely dependent on what strategies those around you choose as to what roles will be left to play each round. Games like Tzolk’in and Lords of Waterdeep give advantage to whoever plays first every round, but one of your moves might be to take over the starting position piece.

So gone are the days of having the way you play a game. With some of them it is possible to have a general strategy, but you will have to adapt it and think on your feet and change according to how the game plays out on that particular day. Which gives maximum replay value to a game and makes it take longer to feel tried and tested.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Wherever you are, there is likely to be a game-playing venue near you. People use Social Media to find local places and events and then stay connected on Whatsapp and Facebook groups to hear the latest news on who is playing what where.

Playing games on a regular basis also helps you to figure out which of the games you really want to but versus those you might want to try out and play every now and then. Once you have your own growing collection of games then game nights move to dining tables and living rooms as friends and family are quickly brought up to speed on the latest favourite.

This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but with more family friendly games like Dixit, Bohnaza, Quirkle and Sequence in the mix, there is something that almost everyone will enjoy. The question really is, What are YOU waiting for?

Invite your Child to Change the World

Brett Fish

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November 16, 2015

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“Children should be seen and not heard.”

That seemed to largely be the mantra when I was growing up. The idea that children were probably too young to understand anything and just needed to be out-of-the-way playing games and keeping quiet!

But all that has changed.

Especially in a technological and social media age when many of us older folks have to embarrassedly and quietly pull a child off to the side to show us how to do something on our latest phone or tablet.

Young people today grow up on technology and social media in ways we could never even dream when we were their age.

We can fight against that or try to control it. Or we can get creative and embrace the reality but help guide our young people to greatness.

BEING A PARENT IS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST JOBS

I don’t have to be a parent to know that. My wife and I lived with two couples in the last year who had children and it is a crazy complicated whirlwind of emotion at times. It is not easy. But it can be great.

For some parents, more often than not parenting can be more a matter of survival than thriving and any hope of finding creative ways to raise your little people into being the world changers you hope that will be one day is often replaced by just trying to make it to the end of the day without killing any of them.

CHOOSE TO BELIEVE

In the past year I heard some inspirational stories of different ways – some small and some much bigger – where some parents I know were engaging with their children to change the world.

Refusing to see their children as those who must be seen and not heard, they have rather invited curiosity and creativity and asked their children how they would like to go about making life better for someone they know who is sick or struggling, or even a poor person they pass on the street.

In fact I started to collect some stories together on my blog to hopefully inspire other parents to borrow from the same ideas or come up with their own.

It began with my friend Sally, who started looking for one thing they could do every week to infect the world with Kindness. On cold days in winter that often looked like making some hot chocolate and some muffins and driving around the neighbourhood to look for homeless people to share it with. On others days it was scarves they had knitted and sandwiches. More than the particular WHAT was the fact that it was the intentional decision to create spaces for doing good deeds on a regular weekly basis.

SPREAD THE LOVE AROUND

As I went back to read over the story of Cayden, the one thing that struck me was the line that said, “I went to pick up Cayden from school and his friend Lucy.”

So once you have sat down with your children and come up with some creative ideas about how to change your part of the world, invite your friends. This is a great way to see the heart for being someone and doing something significant with your life that helps transform the world around you.

Imagine if we could teach our children from a young age that they can make a difference right now. Consider the impact that might have on the world.

THE PARENT, THE CHILD AND THE RESTAURANT BILL

My former boss and his wife Meeghan told us the story of when they went out for a meal with their young son, Justice. After the meal was done, they turned to Justice and said he could look around the restaurant and pick any family he wanted and they would pay for that family’s meal. So essentially they were the ones doing the good deed, but by inviting Justice to make the choice it suddenly started to feel like his good deed. So he picked a family and they went to the front and paid for their bill and the other family’s meal. Then the hardest part happened when they took Justice out without being able to watch the family receive the gift [a further lesson in terms of doing something good in secret].

‘There are a lot of times that people get to thank us or times we get to witness the impact of our sharing. This was a moment that it wasn’t necessary and perhaps more important for us not to need or receive.’ [Meeghan]

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

As a parent who is raising a young child, the hope is that you will give this a try [no matter how young your child is right now]. Find something that is age appropriate and more importantly let your child determine what the act of kindness is. Let it be their idea and you can help ensure that it is safe and practical and then work together at making it happen.

It can be a simple act yet it becomes profound because this will be a story that sticks with your child as it was their idea and they played an active role in it. This will be a story she can tell her class at school or that he can invite his friends to join him with.

As a parent, what creative life lesson have you been able to teach your child, or what practice do you do as a family that you think will help them grow up to think differently and be different from the herd, in a world-changing way?

We would love it if you gave this experiment a try and then came back here and shared how it went in the comments section below.

As we look at parents being creative with their children in seeing the world around them be changed, we can’t help but remember that God did the very same thing for us in sending Jesus. If you would like to hear more about how that went down or how you can get involved, click on the banner below.

How Twitter is Helping Shape the Revolution

Brett Fish

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November 12, 2015

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How Twitter is Helping Shape the Revolution

The Revolution will not be [accurately] televised!

If you turned on the news or picked up a newspaper in the past couple of weeks, you would have been fed a certain story in terms of what was going down with the University strikes and marches that quickly spread across South Africa.

Phrases like ‘out-of-control’ students and descriptors such as ‘animals’ or ‘hooligans’ were used to fire up emotions and when you add photographic and video evidence, it can quickly be made to seem like that is the case.

For the first two days of the #FeesMustFall events I was trapped in my house in Southfield with no car and so I just had to follow what was happening online and through the eyes and words of my friends.

But on the third day I was able to make my way up to the University of Cape Town to see what was happening first hand.

THE MEDIA TELLS A STORY

Unless, you’ve experienced the disparity between a real story and a reported one, it may be hard to believe this. I remember a family friend of ours years ago was involved in a fireworks accident and I heard the whole story of how things went down from his brother who was there. Then I read the newspaper account of what had happened and it literally felt like two completely different events were being spoken about. I have seen it since then in events I have been involved in.

And I saw it both at UCT and at UWC where I was fortunate to go with a small group of pastors to be a presence when things were getting a little volatile there. I had close trustworthy friends at the Union Buildings when the disruption and violence flared up there as well. I then saw some newspaper headlines and was at a friend’s house when the news came on. A one-sided biased story was presented that only focused on the smallest aspect of what had been caused by a few individuals and didn’t give nearly enough attention to the majority of peaceful students who were bravely fighting for a cause they believed in.

TWITTER GAVE A MORE BALANCED VIEW

Before I was able to get more personally involved I received a lot of my information via Social Media and for the first time I witnessed Twitter being used as what seemed to me like the most effective news sharing tool.

One of the big distinctions is that you get immediate news from a much wider source of people. So not all the stories always line up. But if you are following a diverse enough group of people and checking a variety of different sources and stories, then it is easier to get a more likely and more honest version of events.

Was this the first time Social Media affected or helped speed up and enhance a revolution? Absolutely not – in fact the first International observance of this was likely the 2011 Uprisings in Egypt that spread like wildfire over social media. But it was the first time I had witnessed it happening so effectively at home.

And it was an incredible sight to watch.

LET TWITTER HOOK YOU UP

Beyond just receiving a more coherent and honest story of events, it was amazing to watch how the students utilised Twitter to supply the troops so to speak. Anything from donated food and airtime to the offer of legal and psychological assistance to those clashing with police, Twitter was used effectively to make sure that those with the resources could transfer them to those in need. Information, meeting times, connecting stories from University to University, simply adding a hashtag like #FeesMustFall and then more specifically #UWCShutdown was enough to help get everyone on a similar page.

Did Twitter start the Revolution? No, but it helped report it. Did it bring the people to the streets? No, but it kept them there and made sure that they were well resourced and looked after once they were there. And it sent out a message to the state-controlled media that “You will not control the narrative on these events.”

I look forward to seeing how this new social media savvy generation takes up this revolution both on and off the streets.

5 Helpful Ways To Be a Good Friend During Tragedy

Brett Fish

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November 9, 2015

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5 Helpful Ways To Be a Good Friend During Tragedy

Recently two good friends of mine were hit by tragedy.

One of them lost his mom. The other one is watching her husband struggle with a terrible disease.

As a friend to both of them, I have tried to figure out how to love them well in situations that seem completely overwhelming and stressful. I have learnt some things along the way that I want to share with you.

If you know someone who has suffered the loss of someone they love or is facing a terrible sickness, here are some ways that you can love them well and help others to:

[1] Deal with the Admin

When tragedy strikes, there is suddenly a lot of admin. Everyone wants the latest news of what is going on, there are a hundred decisions that need to be made, and eating is probably a good thing to continue to do.

One way you can be a champion friend at this time is to offer to take over some of that admin. Start up and manage a Whatsapp or Facebook group to let the general public know what the latest updates are while asking people not to contact your friend directly; initiate a meal roster that caring friends can sign up for and perhaps use a system like takethemameal.com to make it easier.

Look for things like this which the grieving or struggling person does not need to be busying their time with and suggest it to close friends and family or offer to do it yourself.

[2] Do what is helpful for THEM, not you.

We get it – you care and you want to know what’s going on, you want to visit, you want to be involved. But sometimes when fifty people want that same thing it can be too much. Preface every action and every word you make at this time with: Is this the best thing for them?

I asked one friend if I could give her a hug and she thanked me so much for asking as most other people had just assumed they could take one.

Sometimes, during tragedy, our presence and words can be a huge help – often they can make things worse. Be caring enough to keep the focus on the people closest to those involved and let this be about them.

[3] Think in terms of Ripples and Concentric Circles

This came via my friend, Stacey, and makes a lot of sense:

The person/people at the centre should be supported by those closest to them. Then these closest people need the next ring of community to support them (and not jump straight into the middle), and so on and on. Not only does this model protect the innermost from being overwhelmed, but it also insures that others in the situation get the support they so need, as they look after their loved ones. Sometimes you are helping the person at the middle most by caring for those most dear to them.

[4] Don’t say stupid things in the name of caring.

Often at times like this we don’t know what to say. It is important for the people involved to know we love them, are thinking about them and praying for them, but beyond that we need to think carefully.

Don’t throw meaningless clichés, out of context Bible verses, or positive sayings at them as these can often cause more hurt than comfort. Questions your words before you set them loose.

Also avoid making promises of what you would like to see happen, but might not actually be the case. Try and speak life and presence and hope into the situation while keeping it real and honest at the same time.

[5] Try to stay away from “I Know How You Feel”

When my mother-in-law was really sick, my sister-in-law had someone say that to her, but then relate it to the time their dog was really sick. No, people, no. STOP IT!

Even if the exact same type of tragedy happened to you and your family, this is a different occasion with different people and so you may have some idea of what it is likely to be like for them, but you don’t know. So try to refrain from using that line. There may be a way that you can show empathy with, “I remember when my mom passed that it was really difficult” or something which lets them know you have some kind of idea but without minimising their unique experience in the moment.

FIRST, DO NO WRONG

I speak from fresh and recent experience when I say it is so difficult when those you love and care about are so obviously going through hard times. You want to get involved, you want to help in the best way possible. And I really believe that begins with making sure as best as possible that you don’t do anything to make the situation worse.

Look for opportunities to serve and love and stand in the gap and head other people off at the pass and find safe ways to send messages of love and support that let them know you care and are around [crucial!] but help you stay out-of-the-way.

One of the most powerful verses in the Bible is to be found in Psalm 34 verse 18 which reads:

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; He saves those who are crushed in spirit.

If you are wanting to know a little more about that God who promises that even at the very worst times in our life, He will be present and strengthening us to be able to make it through, then simply click on the banner below.

Sharing Your Single Story

Brett Fish

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November 2, 2015

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I have been married for six years. The awkward ‘relationship status’ questions have long since been replaced with the equally-as-fun ‘baby’ questions and statements, particularly to a couple who has chosen not to have children.

So a different kind of “weird”, but I still get the vibe.

Which is why a number of years ago I invited a number of my incredible single friends to share a glimpse of their story on my blog. To my surprise, a number of them bravely agreed and you can catch up on some of those stories over here.

Both the relationship status and baby questions can be dangerous ones to inflict upon people as each situation is different. When someone has recently endured a difficult break-up or you are inquiring of a couple who have been struggling with infertility, your innocent question can actually unknowingly be a source of pain.

STOP PANICKING

I believe that we often go to those kinds of questions to fill empty space. Too many of us don’t know how to easily deal with that and we need to stop it. Get to know who people are and build deep relationships with them before rushing into places that can be quite intimate and personal.

What was both interesting and helpful to me when my friends started sharing their stories, was just how unique ad different each one was:

In the midst of the struggles and journey of being single, there is life. My life. And it is valuable, good and blessed. It has a purpose beyond marriage and children. A purpose that I’m constantly working at uncovering and developing and some days I “get” it and some days I don’t. And it’s still strangely hopeful. [Sam]

At times, I feel barren. Not only barren in my childbearing but barren as a lover as well. I don’t have children or a husband, and so I really have no immediate blood family. Please, please, be sensitive to this barrenness in me. Please don’t tell me that I have done something wrong in not letting go, and the result of that shortcoming is my barrenness. [Kate]

Song of Songs 7: 11 & 12 – “Come, my beloved, let us go forth to the field, let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards, let us see if the vine has budded, whether the grape blossoms are open, and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.” There is just something in that scripture that speaks so profoundly to me of freedom. Maybe it was, back then, the whispered hope that a shared adventure could actually be in the will of God for my life.[Cilnette]

I am gifted with singleness. Although it appears in Christian gifting questionnaires, it’s the one everyone hopes they won’t “get”. Everyone is much more enthusiastic about Genesis’s “It is not good for man to be alone” than Paul’s “I wish everyone could be as I am [i.e. single and celibate]”. But it’s true: singleness is a gift. In most ways that matter, and unlike many people I know, I’m good by myself. I like my own company, my life has more meaning and purpose than I can handle, and when it comes to my three lovely married siblings (two younger than me), I notice other people’s anticipation of my supposed comparative misery before said misery even appears on the horizon. Not to say that I don’t have dark moments when I rail at how life can be so hard when it’s “just you”. But I have no illusions that marriage would automatically be better. [Different Kate]

EVERY STORY IS DIFFERENT

As with a married couple you meet who may have just suffered a miscarriage or be struggling with infertility or simply chosen not to have children, each story is so completely different. Let’s try harder not to rush to assumptions.

One way we can connect better with single people we meet is perhaps by asking a question like, ‘How do you feel about Singleness?’ which doesn’t assume anything but gives invitation and space to share a bit of their story if they want to.

Another helpful question to ask your single friends is how you as a married couple can support, celebrate and include them? A weird dynamic often comes into effect when people get married between them and their single friends and it can be helpful to address that early on.

As single or married people, we need to be willing to take a step towards the other person or couple so that we can figure out this life thing together.

Navigating relationships and friendships can be tough. If you’d like to find out more about this, click on the banner below.

I Marched a March (and I liked it)

Lifestyle

Brett Fish

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October 26, 2015

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If you don’t know what the #FeesMustFall tag is all about then clearly you have been hiding in a bomb shelter for the last ten days or so feasting on those saved up cans of baked beans.

What began in one university has quickly spread across the country and the ripples have gone out to other African countries and resonated with universities across the world.

BUT HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED? I’M NOT AN ACTIVIST

There are so many ways to show support in this.

One such way would be to educate your friends who might have watched a heavily skewed media showing reports of ‘hooligans destroying university property’ by linking them to helpful articles and video clips that give a more accurate account of the largely peaceful demonstrations that have been happening.

I have compiled blog posts giving a helpful view of #FeesMustFall giving a helpful view of #FeesMustFall that collate a number of very helpful articles, posts and personal involvement stories to help us help our friends get a clearer picture of what is going on. There is so much being shared on Social Media. Choose what is helpful and share it and tag your friends in the posts.

If you are on the Twitterer, then click on the #FeesMustFall or #NationalShutDown tags and simply spend some time reading and following the various stories coming out of the different provinces about what is going down. That is also a good way to find out what is going down.

There are people collecting water and food and airtime and petrol money and more and it is quite easy to find out where the needs are and be part of that support.

PHYSICALLY SHOW UP

“But what about my exams?”

“I’ve got work to do”

“I’m a little busy.”

And so on. There are always reasons not to get involved, but this week in South Africa, right here and right now, this feels like something worth putting most things aside for.

History is being made.

During apartheid so many people were noticeable by their absence.

During the #RhodesMustFall movement it happened again.

This time the whole country is getting involved and i do not want to be on the wrong side of history again.

So yesterday, myself and my wife tbV [the beautiful Val] and some friends and staff from Christ Church Kenilworth decided to pitch up. I had been writing about #FeesMustFall on my blog and sharing articles and other peoples’ stories. But I realised early on that what was being shown in the media was not resonating with stories I was hearing from friends I knew who were there. I had to go and see for myself.

Yesterday’s UCT march and conversation with Max Price and some of the other Academics was completely peaceful [unlike some other moments] and I was there.

THE LEAST OF THESE

So there are a number of responses you can have to #FeesMustFall, and many of them are good and helpful, but it feels almost critical that we show up. Yes, many of us are busy and there are many things calling for our attention and so I’m not suggesting you drop everything and be at every part of this movement. But why not grab some friends and go and join a march, or sit in a discussion or host or join a prayer vigil. Dip your toes into this movement that the future of this country might be defined by.

As a follower of Jesus, He has called me to get my hands and feet dirty. He modelled this continually through mixing with the kinds of people a good rabbi like Himself was “not meant to be mixing with”.

#FeesMustFall is a movement where the spotlight has been put firmly on those considered “the least of these” in this country and we cannot miss out on being where we need to be.

Don’t let this opportunity to make a positive stand be missed because you felt that you had something better to do. Right now there is very little better to do.

For me personally, getting involved in #FeesMustFall felt like a natural extension of my faith in Jesus, which calls me to live out in action the things i believe. Have you responded to the call on your life?

Join Me On The Beach

Brett Fish

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October 19, 2015

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I drive up to the traffic lights. I make the obvious move of looking at my cellphone to keep me ‘distracted’ from the old lady carrying her young baby on her back, who is trying to get my attention.

At the supermarket, I have to keep my eyes up so that I don’t accidentally see the man with no legs and a cup who is reaching out his arm to me in desperation.

On the way to the airport I turn the music up load and make sure I engage in any form of conversation with my passenger, to ensure I don’t mistakenly let my gaze fall on the township that stretches out for miles to my right. I hate feeling bad.

BLESSED ARE THE POOR

There is a verse in the Bible where Jesus says to those around Him, ‘The poor will always be with you.’ Ironically it is the moment straight after a women has lavishly poured an expensive perfume over His feet. So perhaps a trickier one to figure out.

Except if we notice that he is quoting from Deuteronomy 15.11 where it says:

¹¹There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

That verse is in the context of a conversation on Jubilee which was a occasion that was meant to happen every seven years for Israel where all debts were to be forgiven and in the earlier passage it states this:

⁴However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, ⁵if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.

I have often wondered if Jesus saying, ‘The poor will always be with you’ was because He knew our hearts and our tendency towards greed above sharing and so the likelihood is that there really will always be poor around us, whereas the reality is that there doesn’t need to be.

TO THE BEACH

In the light of the overwhelming nature of the poverty surrounding us in Africa, let us eavesdrop on this scenario happening on the local beach.

The tide has washed up hundreds and thousands of starfish on to the shore and the baking sun is drying them out and killing them. A little boy stands at the edge of the ocean, picks up a starfish and tosses it into the waves. He does this again and continues for half an hour.

Eventually an old man who has been watching from a distance can’t take it anymore. He walks up to the boy and asks him what he is doing.

“I’m saving these starfish”, the boy replies.

The old man motions up and down the beach where there is an overwhelming number of starfish busy dying. “What difference are you making?”

The little boy bends down, picks up a starfish and looks at the man. “I’m making a difference to this one,” he says as he throws it into the ocean.

But we’re not done.

WHAT IF ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE MEANT TO BE ON THE BEACH WERE ON THE BEACH?

Maybe you can’t significantly help the lady with her baby at the traffic light and the legless man sitting outside the shop and the endless line of township shacks on the way to the airport. But maybe you can help the lady and the baby. Maybe someone else can help the man with no legs. Perhaps a whole community or church or province can walk alongside those living in the shacks.

What if all of the people who were meant to be on the beach were on the beach?

Instead of being overwhelmed by the huge amount of need around us, what if we start with one? What if, at the same time, in conversations and on social media we challenge those people we are connected to, to find their one. What if we ask the leaders at our church to preach about this stuff more and challenge the whole congregation to each find their one. A church of 300 people each committing to one person or family for a year? Imagine the possibilities.

⁴However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, ⁵if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.

There need be no poor people among you. We see that demonstrated in the early church in Acts 2 and what a testimony to the world it would be in 2015 if we saw this happening again in our street or neighbourhood, in our province or country.

The biggest question is, ‘How do we get all the people on to the beach?’

An Easy Way For You To Make Both Ends Meat

Lifestyle

Brett Fish

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October 12, 2015

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An Easy Way For You To Make Both Ends Meat

Before a recent one month trip to Americaland (as I call it) I asked a number of my vegetarian friends if they would share some of their stories with me. I have a section on my blog called ‘Taboo Topics’ which is filled with stories from people on a variety of topics we rarely speak about, and this felt like a good one.

Seven of my friends responded and wrote some very eye-opening posts, which you can read over here if you are interested. The stories really challenged both myself and my wife, the beautiful Val (a.k.a. tbV) to consider taking our food a little more seriously.

We were already making baby steps into better eating in terms of trying to buy free-range and source ethical coffee and meat, but this felt like a good next step of taking it another level.

NOT QUITE READY TO TOSS OUT THE BACON

Don’t get me wrong. We both really enjoy meat. And we are not quite ready to throw it all out and become vegetarian. In fact, the one area from my friend’s stories that spoke to us was the information on how much more it costs the planet to produce and grow a grain-fed cow than it does the equivalent amount of wheat (something like 7kg grain for 1kg beef plus greenhouse gases and a whole lot more).

So tbV and I decided to do a little experiment.

What if we went for a week without eating any meat?

I know. Not such a big deal, right? Although some of our friends and family almost had a nervous breakdown at the idea – What? A whole week meat-free?

That was fourteen weeks ago. We are coming to the end of our seventh meat-free week and we feel great. tbV was actually saying to me last night that she enjoyed the veg weeks more than the meat ones now.

THE SIGNIFICANT EFFECT

While going one week meat-free (every second week) is perhaps not the biggest of deals, what we have effectively done is reduced our meat consumption by half. And that feels like a bit of a bigger deal. Obviously if more people took part in this experiment, it would start to have a huger impact.

Could you go without meat for a week? Would your family/friends be up for it?

Therein lies the challenge. The idea is not to be super religious about it and so if we go for a meal with friends during a non-meat week and they didn’t know and cooked meat for us, then we will eat it. But if there is a way of being at a family gathering where we simply eat the non-meat dishes and that works out we will rather go for that.

How about it? You up to trying it for just one week and coming back here and commenting on how it went?

Think about it: If you eat meat for a week, and then follow that with a completely meat-free week, and then have another week where you eat meat, you may not have solved the whole world’s problems, but you will have learned the important lesson of making both ends meat. Looking forward to hearing about it.

The Worship that Counts

Brett Fish

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October 5, 2015

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He worshipped so well it cost him his life. Words we rarely hear today.

It begins in Genesis 4. The story of Cain and Abel. Two offerings to God are made. Abel giving of his best while Cain seemingly tossing God his leftovers.

We see this in the descriptions: ‘Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil’ and ‘Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock‘.

The result was that ‘God looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour.’ (verse 4-5)

We know how that story ends. Abel’s honest worship leads to a jealous betrayal and murder at his brother’s hands.

WORSHIP THAT COSTS

It happens in 2 Samuel from verse 18. King David – the man after God’s own heart has sinned by calling for a census and God sends punishment on Israel in the form of a deadly plague.

He ends up on the threshing-floor of a man called Araunah who was a Jebusite and asks him if he can use the land to build an altar to God, so that the plague may be stopped.

Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing-sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

David makes the offering and God stops the plague. I really love this story and return to it often – “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

WHAT IS MY WORSHIP WORTH?

When Jesus is asked what the greatest command is, He responds, in Matthew 22, with the words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The description Jesus gave of worship was the commitment of the surrender of everything.

Later on when He is talking to His disciples, He puts it another way, “If anyone would follow Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9.23)

There is a cost to worship. It is not simply a half-hearted singing of a song in a church service or a tossing in of some leftover coins into the offering plate. Not the weekly ritual of attending a meeting or flipping through a few pages of your Bible every now and then.

The cost of worship is a giving of yourself and everything you have and are to God, every single day. Committing yourself once again each morning to love God and love people in every area of your life.

In refusing to let your worship of God cost you nothing.

Let’s really worship God, together.

Love God, but Grow a Brain.

Brett Fish

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September 28, 2015

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I remember the time on Baptist Summer camp that two young and “very much in love” young people (she was a camper, he was a leader) came to me to ask me to pray for their relationship. He was from Cape Town, she was from Joburg and “God had told them that they needed to be together.” He was particularly convinced that she was “The One”.

I was immediately suspicious. Having been on those kinds of camps and seeing people “fall in love” after being together for a couple of days combined with the practicalities of them living on other sides of the country I was not convinced. I told them the best I could do was pray that God’s will would be done in the situation.

It barely lasted a few months and then suddenly there was a new “The One.”

BUT GOD HAS PLANS FOR ME

I cringe when I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 which says:

“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

It sounds so great which is why so many people quote it to each other and why it appears on greeting cards and bumper stickers. And it has a very me-centric feel to it which is why we love it today (despite the fact that if we read the Bible honestly, we soon find that it has a very God-centric approach).

The reason I cringe is that this is taken horribly out of context. It was written specifically to a people who were currently in exile. And also it is followed two verses later by this one:

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart.”

I have never heard anyone quote that part with the first part. Because it feels too much like work. Or effort. Or accountability. I’m happier with God having a plan for me and giving me hopes and futures. Let’s focus on that.

THE PEAR OF JABEZ

It happened when the book ‘The Prayer of Jabez’ came out – another prayer from a specific person in a specific situation where God answered a specific way that was not intended as a teaching for all followers of God. It became a mantra for comfort and material hungry christians to hold aloft and wait for “the blessing to fall”.

The book of Job contains whole chapters of prayers with lines such as “May the day of my birth perish” and “”Does it please You to oppress me?” but no-one has tried to push ‘The Prayer of Job’ on us, because it clearly won’t sell.

IT’S OKAY FOR CHRISTIANS TO USE THEIR BRAINS

There has been an ongoing battle between Christianity and Science with many people suggesting they are at loggerheads as if Science is all about thinking and Christianity is all about feeling. Or something like that.

But did it ever cross your mind that perhaps science is the man-made study of the things that God created and put into being? Could it be possible that both can stand alongside each other and maybe even confirm and back up the other one?

When an argument happens on Facebook or some other social media and a Christian jumps on with the words “the Bible says so” but doesn’t in any way back it up as to how or where or why the Bible says so, is it strange at all that people think we’re ridiculous?

Imagine how those who don’t believe what we believe might respond if we started putting together more solid answers than “Just because” or “I read it somewhere” or a badly out of context quoted verse.

What if when Jesus said the most important command was:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” [Matthew 22.37]

He was giving us permission to use our minds, even encouraging it?

Being a person of faith does not mean retiring your brain. Rather it means we engage more deeply by connecting our understanding and experience with our faith and the knowledge we find in scripture. And then engage more authentically with those around us and show them we really know what we’re talking about.

Are you ready to grow a brain?

Brett Fish

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