Well, it’s Christmas eve already. Hopefully all the last-minute shopping is finished by now! As we reach the end of another year, I’d like to take the chance to thank you for being a part of the iChurch community. I hope this holiday time is both restful and joyful for you.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the site grow and improve in the new year. Please take a moment to leave a comment, even if it’s just to say hi. As always, feedback on how we can make things better around here is also welcome!

Thanks to Rich for your hard work, you’ve been a super contributing author. The way you’re able to capture your reflections and share them is a real gift.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2007 for all! May God bless and keep you, may His face shine on you, may He be gracious to you, and give you His peace.

Much love
Chris

The ChristianMusicToday site (part of the ChristianityToday family) is a goldmine of high-quality content. Their artist and album reviews are well-written and generally spot on, with extra features like artist interviews and news adding to the mix.

They’ve just launched an internet radio station, featuring some great new music from their recent “Best Christian Albums of 2006” list. I’ve only had a quick listen, but what I’ve heard so far has been good. Turn up the volume at www.christianmusictodayradio.com

‘It’s the season to be jolly’, or so the carol goes (Tra la la la la, la la, la la…). I’ve always wondered why this is the season to be joyful. Why can’t we be happy in June? I was born then. Surely that’s a good reason to celebrate?

But seriously, what makes this the season to be joyful? Maybe one of the obvious answers is because we get presents and have holidays and eat a lot. Those three things do, admittedly, make me happy. But then again it only lasts as long as the holiday or as long as the food is in my mouth. And since I don’t chew 21 times a mouthful and don’t have too much leave the season of happiness is over pretty quickly…

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News flash! Legendary rockers Tree63 have announced via their MySpace blog that they’ll be returning home in March 2007 to play a tour of Durban, Cape Town, P.E., Jo’burg, Pretoria, Potch and Bloem (whew!). I’m sure that, as always, these shows will be a great testimony to how God has been using the band while they’ve been living in Nashville.

Frontman John Ellis says: “We love and miss South Africa so much and can’t wait to come home and see our families, friends and fans. We’ve been dying to play in South Africa for ages - it’s going to be amazing.”

Yes, it sure will be. It’s fantastic that after huge success and acclaim in the States, Tree still have their roots firmly planted in African soil. Yay!

UPDATE: Tour dates have been released.

There’s an old saying that goes “You don’t really know what life is until you’ve tasted death”. It came up in the news today in the story of a brave cop who chased down thieves at 195 km/hr. I’m sure it may be true in the sense of living life on the edge, but I think in a spiritual sense it means a whole lot more…

Actually I think it’s exactly what Jesus meant when He said: “Truly, Truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24-25). He seems to be saying that you won’t have lived until you’ve learnt to die.

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I was first tipped off to this new film by Juan the Fridge Elf. And since then I’ve read more good things. Apparently it’s been made into a novel as well.

The movie will launch here in SA on Friday the 8th of December. Here’s the blurb from the Nu Metro site:

One Couple. One Journey. One Child…who would change the world…forever.

From humble beginnings, great things can come. “The Nativity Story” tells the extraordinary tale of two common people, Mary and Joseph, a miraculous pregnancy, an arduous journey, and the history-defining birth of Jesus. Brought to life with an unprecedented attention to detail and commitment to historical accuracy, The Nativity Story is the very human, very dramatic, and uniquely inspiring saga of a journey of faith.

I think it’s wonderful to have our focus drawn away for a while from the fir trees and presents, and back to the story of the birth of Jesus, our God and Saviour who became man to save us… the true Christmas spirit. Looking forward to this one!

Recently I’ve been feeling like my life is going through a bit of a rut. Actually ‘rut’ may not be the best word as ‘rut’ implies movement, of which I don’t seem to be experiencing any. I’d like to think that I’m always growing in my relationship with God and moving faster toward completing some impossible task he’s set before me, but in reality it’s not happening right now. Nothing’s happening actually. Not even a breeze. Now for someone like me who can’t sit still even for a minute, that pretty much amounts to torture. But what really frightens me about the whole situation is the realisation that the difference between a rut and a grave is only a couple of centimeters…
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If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, then you might not have heard about Paballo’s Night of 1000 Drawings. You can do your catching up here. The drawings are all in (yup, the target of a thousand has been reached) and everything’s set for this Thursday evening.

Bands bringin’ the unplugged vibes will be Harris Tweed and HEADspace. Supper will be provided in true Paballo style. In fact, the only critical thing left is for you to show up and buy some art. Mobile credit card facilities are kindly being sponsored by WAPPoint, so feel free to bring plastic money along as well as cash.

Here’s a quick recap of the details:

Venue: 95 Commisioner Street, Johannesburg (between Rissik and Harrison streets)
Time: 19:00, drawings on sale from 20:30
Price of drawings: R100 each

I’ll see you there!

Faith Like Potatoes is based on the true story of Angus Buchan, a Scottish farmer living in southern Africa. It portrays his dramatic conversion and newfound depth of faith in God, which leads him on to a succesful farming slash preaching career. The book, co-authored by Buchan himself, has been adapted for the screen by director Regardt van den Bergh and is currently showing on the South African film circuit.

As a Christian, watching the movie with a couple of Christian friends - a nice “safe” environment - I was touched and encouraged. Thinking about it retrospectively-objectively though, I don’t know if it’s exactly what the secular movie-going public needs. It got quite a scathing review from Theresa Smith (Tonight), and sadly I have a feeling that her imputations might be dead on:

While the message of Christian love and tolerance is a beautiful one, hitting the audience over the head with it because your film lacks subtlety and character progression just turns them away.

If you’ve had the chance to see it, I’d like to know your thoughts. Is this a movie by Christians for Christians? Is there a place for that kind of thing? Or do you think that taking a non-Christian friend to watch this movie might (despite its shortcomings) help cultivate some potato-like faith in their life?