Author Archive: Nick
80 minutes of hope isn’t enough
Siya Kolisi and Makazole Mapimpi are exceptions. While we see them as examples of South Africans from disadvantaged backgrounds who can do anything with enough determination, the sad truth is that there are still millions of people in our country who will never have the opportunities these men had… even to have a job, let […]
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Why we cannot be united
Xenophobia. Racism. Nationalism. Culture wars. Our children are growing up in a country deeply divided, and we have come to the point of realizing that the politicians can’t save us. Which we should’ve known a long time ago… I’m surprised that anyone expected that they ever could. The truth is that the unity we want […]
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Why we baptise babies
Recently I’ve had a lot of questions around our denomination’s policy to baptise babies of believers. People ask why, if baptism is a commitment to a relationship with God, can we baptise babies who have not yet made any such public commitment? So I thought I’d write this article to clear up the matter. Firstly, […]
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How to detect the prosperity gospel
They’re everywhere, with their peroxided smiles and slick white suits. No, I’m not talking about cosmetic surgeons… rather, I’m talking about the spiritual equivalent: prosperity gospel preachers. While they’re not new, they are today more able than ever to spread their message, which both discredits the true Christian gospel with outsiders, and leads many […]
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Why we should be more like doubting Thomas
‘Doubting’ Thomas gets a bad rap over Easter. Each year, we dredge up his unfortunate nickname and criticize his skepticism in the resurrection. Problem is, when we criticize him, we miss the whole point of his story – and we fail to see how Thomas is in fact presented as an example we should all […]
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The Real Drought
As talk of the Cape Water Crisis and Day Zero escalates, and many are calling to prayer for God to intervene, we ask: why would God allow this drought in the first place? While we don’t know the mind of God, one reason may be to remind us (in our age of independent self-determination) what […]
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Why we love Star Wars
Star Wars frenzy has begun again with the release of the latest Star Wars film, Rogue One. While not part of the main saga, this movie is still sure to get people dusting off their Hasbro lightsabers and Darth Vader coffee mugs. But it also gives us an opportunity to ponder the question again: why […]
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6 ways you can know the bible is from God
Christianity stands or falls on the single claim that the bible is the word of God. I’m going to be honest – this is not easy to believe. When you consider how just plain weird some parts of the bible are, when you consider the ‘messiness’ of the bible’s presentation: containing (among other things) ancient […]
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Metamorphosis
There are certain things in the order of creation which the Creator never intended to stay the way they are. Take a caterpillar, for example. A caterpillar was never meant to stay a caterpillar. Through a process called metamorphosis (Greek meta (change) + morphe (shape)), the caterpillar is intended to change into something much greater. […]
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This video’s doing the rounds showing a Commander in the South African Navy apparently explaining that the purpose of South Africa operating submarines is as a deterrent for sharks. As you can imagine, this video has caused hysterics and feeds the ever-popular “unqualified and ignorant people-of-colour” narrative that people who want to believe this will naturally […]
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