An urban greening trend that is gaining momentum around the world for its environmental benefits is something called a Miyawaki pocket forest. The concept was developed in the 1970s by Japanese botanist, Dr Akira Miyawaki. Now Aghmad Gamieldien, founder of Mzanzi Organics, has created five of them in Cape Town. He joins Glynis Crook on this week’s …

The term “supernatural” simply means, higher than what is natural, above what is natural, beyond the natural. The supernatural is the work of God, fueled by the Presence and the character of God. Today, we will look at Acts chapter 2 and invite the Holy Spirit of God to awaken us to the supernatural in our lives...…

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Prof Peter Ryan, emeritus professor at UCT’s FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, who co-authored a study which found that colourful plastics degrade to form microplastics faster than those with plain colours.By Glynis Crook

When Dianna and I were chaplains onboard the Mercy Ship, I had a discipling relationship with a crew member onboard. He was a great guy – brilliant mind, fun personality, loved his wife and kids – loved and served the Lord faithfully! He had smoked his entire life, and he wanted to stop. And one day, he asked my advice...…

Electronic waste is the fastest-growing solid waste stream in the world. In 2022, a record 62 million tonnes were produced globally, up 82% from 2010. But less than one quarter of the year’s e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled. In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Keith Anderson, CEO o…

In Mark chapter 12, the opponents of Jesus set a trap before Him. And, honestly, it’s a brilliant trap. It should’ve worked. Here’s how it went – it says, “Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, 'Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others,…

A dear loved one has just received terrible news, experienced a sudden loss, a diagnosis, a betrayal – and they turn to you for help. How do you comfort a person in those first critical moments of a crisis? In the previous two episodes, we talked about leaning on your Experience and practicing Empathy to support and comfort your loved one in crisis…

In this week’s Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Pavs Pillay, behaviour change lead and WWF-SASSI manager, about the initiative’s new report, “The hidden costs of your seafood”, which focuses on the crucial role played by retailers and suppliers of seafood in ensuring responsible and sustainable fishing practices are implemented.…

What is this person feeling right now, and how can I comfort them in this difficult moment in their lives? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.By Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Cash

How do we help the people closest to us when a sudden crisis arises in their lives? What do you say? What do you do? How can you help a loved one during their first painful moments of a crisis in their lives? Your three main resources for supporting your loved ones in their moment of crisis are going to be your Experience, Empathy, and Equipment. T…

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook continues her discussion with Wild Survivors founder, Francesca Mahoney, about elephants in Tanzania, and how their fear of bees is being harnessed to protect farms and help communities along the animal’s migratory corridors. To find out more, go to: www.wildsurvivors.org…

I want you and me to understand that our status in eternity fundamentally changed when God adopted us into His family! Your identity changed, your name changed, your inheritance & future & rights all changed! Somehow, in some heavenly way, your spiritual birth certificate was updated to show Almighty God as your adopted Father! And in that moment, …

I want you to think about prayer with me in a different kind of way today: Prayer is disruptive. Prayer is how we bring Jesus into our world. In a way, it is an arrival of the Spirit of Christ into the moment in which the prayer is taking place. Prayer is disruptive, in the best kinds of ways!By Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Cash

In this week’s Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Francesca Mahoney, founder of Wild Survivors, an organisation that works to create a sustainable solution to the conflict between elephants and humans along the animal’s migratory corridors in northern Tanzania. To find out more, go to: www.wildsurvivors.org…

A study published recently by the British Antarctic Survey raised concerns about the record low levels of sea ice around Antarctica. Scientists found that in 2023 – compared to an average winter – the maximum extent of the Antarctic Sea covered by ice, shrank by over two million square kilometres. It found that these historically low levels were a …

Every mighty movement of God started with a call for His people to pray. Prayer revives the hearts of God’s people as it prepares our communities for God’s love, grace, and Word to be spread. Prayer-walking involves us personally taking our prayers to the very places where we desire to see God’s Presence manifested and our prayers answered.…

Plastic waste is poorly managed along coastal zones in West Africa, and Tanzania is no exception. But as the public becomes more aware of the problem, there are an increasing number of initiatives to deal with the problem, and opportunities to recycle. In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Alexis Cronin, co-founder of Dunia,…

More than 75 percent of individuals who come to know Christ have experienced salvation as a result of a direct relationship. Oikos is a Greek word that is found many times in the New Testament that can provide tremendous insight and revelation to our prayers and evangelism. Oikos defines an individual’s primary base of relationships and their relat…

The powerful El Nino weather phenomenon, a big contributor to last year’s record-breaking global temperatures, has faded. Its opposite, La Nina, is expected to emerge in the next few months. In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook asks Dr Christopher Jack, deputy director of UCT’s Climate System Analysis Group, what impact it is likely …

Resurrection is God’s specialty – He brings dead things to life. It's who He is. It's what He does! The Resurrection of Jesus changed everything. It represents THE pivot point of history – everything swivels – everything swings into a new direction when the Living Jesus stands up and walks out of the grave, victorious over death...…

Wood vinegar, a by-product of charcoal production, has been used in agriculture for over two thousand years, both as a growth booster for plants and a natural pesticide. In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Ralf Dedig, the owner of Namibian company, Makarra Wood Vinegar, about the benefits of the product.…

We often talk about Jesus in the past tense – maybe because we read about His mortal life on earth in the history of the Bible. But because of the Resurrection, Jesus lives today. Have you ever considered what that really, logistically means? Jesus is a current, living person. Jesus is a present reality – in the world, and in our lives. Jesus was –…

Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on earth, and products made from this grass are highly eco-friendly. Among its many benefits to the environment is the fact that it absorbs twice as much carbon dioxide as trees and generates an impressive amount of oxygen. Glynis Crook caught up with Go Bamboo, a company that imports bamboo toilet paper, kitchen…

Do you remember the use of the word "non-essential" from covid times? Many people in 2020 were informed – by email, or phone, or in-person – that they were considered “non-essential.” Friends, you and I are not what we do. Our worth is not rooted in our jobs. Our value lies in Something far deeper and more eternal than our occupations...…

If God has called you to something in the past – whether it was to faith in Him, or to a particular task, or to a person, or a place, or a direction – and you responded with a "no" to Him... If God was leading you to forgive someone, or to trust again, or to let go of something, or to pick up something else – but you said "no"... If God was telling…

Two bird conservation organisations, BirdLife South Africa and Sanccob, are taking the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment to court over what they see as a flawed plan to protect the endangered African Penguin. In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook asks Sanccob’s head of conservation, Nicky Stander, what motivated the…

A friend recently asked me a piercing question that I want to share with you. He asked me right after I had shared about a multi-year journey of breaking free from an addiction earlier in my life. As we talked, I shared with him that the tide-turners that God used in my life to set me free were: #1-telling others, and #2-Scripture memory...…

“Listening prayer” is pursuing the purposes of God by meditating on the Word of God & words of God. Praying to God is great! He wants us to share all our thoughts and feelings with Him – all our needs and desires with Him. But we should also allow Him the opportunity to speak to us. It’s important to create space in our lives to listen to God – tim…

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Nileta Knoetzen, co-founder of Malmesbury-based company, Growing Paper, which not only hand-manufactures paper from paper waste, but also infuses it with seeds so you can “plant” it after use.By Glynis Crook

The hope of the resurrection changes everything! Lisa Williams joins us today to share on the topic of the resurrection, and how it can impact our everyday lives as followers of Jesus.By Lisa Williams

We’ve all felt it. A dilemma with no good solution. A situation that has you perplexed, stumped. You’ve tried everything you can think of, and you’re stuck... What if you could separate yourself from the thick of the issue for a moment and evaluate it objectively, in the third person? What if I told you... you can! Here's how:…

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to World Travel Market Africa sales manager, Penny Fraser, and marketing manager, Olivia Gradridge, about how seriously the tourism industry is taking the negative impact it makes on the environment.By Glynis Crook

Today we discuss the second of three questions we can ask our Father God, which can help us discern His will and pursue continued growth in Him as His children. If you want to grow in some life-role or virtue in your life, ask God in prayer and listen for His answer: "What would someone who is better at this life-role or virtue than me be doing?"…

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Heather Wares of the Two Oceans Aquarium about the incredible work done by its foundation in the field of ocean research and conservation and the beach clean-up it is holding at Surfers’ Corner, Muizenburg, on Saturday morning. Time: 9h-12h. Bring along gloves and a bucket to collect the…

I'd like to offer you three questions to take to God in your prayers, which if you will ask them of God regularly, and allow Him time to respond, they will produce spiritual growth in your life. The first question is this: “Father, what do You think/feel about…"By Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Cash

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Honest Chocolate co-owner, Anthony Gird, about their efforts to make their products sustainable and environmentally friendly and how climate change is impacting cocoa bean production. To find out more about their chocolate and workshops, visit their website: honestchocolate.co.za…

Last time, we introduced the term "lament" as a Biblical expression of our grief directed to God. Today, our guest speaker Lisa Williams will show us the four elements of a lament: Turn, Lament, Ask, and Trust. Psalm 13 will be our example to help us understand how to lament according to the Bible.By Lisa Williams

Our guest on today's episode of The Practical Faith Podcast is Lisa Williams! Today, Lisa shares with us on the Biblical language of lament, what it means, and why it matters.By Lisa Williams

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Greenpop’s Zoe Gauld-Angelucci about the organisation’s incredible urban greening and forest restoration projects and the Reforest Fest is it holding in the Overberg on the Easter weekend.By Glynis Crook

As people of faith, we can sometimes feel like we have to check this bias at the door. As if faith and reason were incompatible, mutually-exclusive worldviews. But they are not! Today, I’d like to appeal directly to this bias of logic, reason, and science, particularly as it pertains to the historical reliability of the Bible.…

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to Victor Sterling, co-owner of Delheim Wine Estate, about the importance of soil quality and the farm’s practice of planting cover crops between the vine rows.By Glynis Crook

Reminder to not waste water as dam levels drop below two-thirds About a week ago, the Western Cape Department of Water and Sanitation reminded residents of the need to be cautious about the amount of water they use. This as dam levels in the region collectively stood at 65.8 per cent. In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to climate scienti…

Let’s consider something for a moment: why did God choose to relate to us as Father? His creativity is unlimited. e literally could have chosen any kind of relationship that He could think of to relate to those rescued & redeemed by Christ, and He chose that of Father & children. This is not a metaphor or a figure-of-speech. This is literal – this …

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Shani Judes, director of the Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival which takes place from 1-14 March. It features a host of events focusing on ocean conservation, including a beach clean-up, documentaries, and a charity auction of surfboards painted by South African artists. Find out more on…

Christ shares His own eternal inheritance with those He has saved – and the inheritance He shares with us is so much more than physical properties and possessions. It is amazing to realize all that we inherit from God through Christ Jesus...By Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Cash

Today, I want to invite you into the lawyer’s office. But don’t worry! You’re not in trouble – in fact, quite the opposite! This is the office of a lawyer who determines the rightful heirs to an estate. This lawyer’s job is to follow the mandates of a written will, and to distribute the rightful inheritance of the estate to the legal heirs named in…

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Christiaan Gildenhuys, a postgraduate student in Stellenbosch University’s Department of Botany and Zoology, who has co-written a paper about the 400-year-old history of oaks in the Cape, and why they are now becoming a problem.By Glynis Crook

Most of the Bible was written to be understood literally, describing historical events that actually happened. There are some parts of the Bible, though, that were written in figurative language; they are poetic or didactic in nature, describing an indescribable God using the limited words we have, and using allegory to teach us about ultimate real…

A major United Nations report on the world’s migratory species, published earlier this week, has found that nearly half of them are in decline and are increasingly in danger of being wiped out. Of the over 1,189 species assessed, researchers found that more than one in five of the already threatened species now face extinction. In this week’s editi…

Did you know that the truest things about you are the things God’s Spirit says about you? And if I could condense those things down into one, single word, it would be this one: BELOVED.By Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Cash