Yesterday was one of those magical days. Every now and then our daily comings-and-goings is dashed with a wonderful multicolor Brush. God did that yesterday. My day started with the praying of morning office, just me God and a candle swaying rhythmically to the cold Johannesburg air.

I visited over lunch with an old friend – God reminded me of him through a dream, I woke up early in the morning; my friend’s face painted on the fresh new canvass of my Sunday mind. We told stories and marveled at how good our God is.

After lunch I drove to one of my favorite study places in Johannesburg, it’s called Second Cup and I always have another one. As I drove to my city Engedi the clouds turned ominously black, very unusual for a winter in our region. The clouds attracted me and instead of driving away from it, I took a little detour so that I could be in the middle of the storm. Our God is so powerful and unpredictable. Rain pelted down.

I listened to a sermon of Rob Bell, and God started to work on me – not during the sermon but Rob’s congregation announcements. Rob told the people that he’ll be off for the summer and explained where he would be … One of the places, you guessed it, South Africa. My brain started planning on how I could attend, devising plans, thinking of ways …. And the He whispered into my ear …

You see I’ve been part of the whole church deconstruct and reconstruct conversation for almost three years and frankly I’m just tired … Don’t get me wrong it’s a good conversation to be part of, I just think it’s not always balanced with ‘the one thing essential.’

At Second Cup I scanned the people in the house. Behind me sat two older pastors reading from a book on the ‘latest’ evangelism methods. Phrases like “our church will really grow” reached my eavesdropping ears. To my left a man and women were huddled together, he was very frustrated with church and every now and then I just heard him say , “this is not what Church should be …”

I studied the text for the weekend, Proper 9(c) – Galatians 6, and the Whisper morphed into a Siren,

For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate.(Message)

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (NIV)

Early this morning I surfed Karen Neudorff’s site one house. This post reflected some of what I feel today. (I’ve added her to my blogroll and also Wes Roberts – a wise, wild,older man.)