Soweto Gospel Choir in Perth

June 17, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

sgc.jpgMany people consider South Africa’s Soweto Gospel Choir to be the most exciting group to emerge in world music in recent years. That claim is backed up by the fact they’ve won two Grammies.

The Choir’s repertoire reflects their faith and spiritual journey. Their latest show, African Spirit, is sung in six different languages.

Since the choir’s first international performances in Australia in 2003, Soweto Gospel Choir has become a worldwide phenomenon, performing sell-out concerts across the world and singing alongside superstars including Bono, Queen, Annie Lennox, Diana Ross, Jimmy Cliff and Celine Dion, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and others.

They’re in Perth for four concerts. Pauline and I were privileged to be in the audience for the first of those concerts last night at His Majesty’s Theatre.

It was a real pleasure to welcome a number of representatives from the choir to the studio this morning during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM. I had opportunity to talk to a couple of members and enjoy a live performance in the studio.

You can hear the interview by clicking on the play button of the audio player at the bottom of this post.

It was fantastic to hear them talk about their faith and the opportunities they have to talk about spirituality to such diverse audiences.



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Christian Carnival Coming Soon

June 17, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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I’m having some friends drop in tomorrow. They’ll be visiting from all over the world and you’re invited to join us. This week’s Christian Carnival is being hosted here at RodneyOlsen.net.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts from the previous week. The topic of the post doesn’t necessarily have to focus on Christianity but it must reflect a Christian worldview, and the writer must be Christian to qualify. You may wish to consider that the readership of the Christian Carnival will be more varied than your usual readership, and you might do better contributing a post with broad appeal.

I’ve taken part in the carnival many times over the years but this is the first time I’ve hosted the carnival. I’ve already received a number of contributions and I’m looking forward to offering readers of this blog some great links when the carnival is published.

If you’re a Christian and you’ve never contributed before, or if it’s been a while since you have, how about having a look through your posts for the past week and choosing something to contribute. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday evening at midnight, Eastern (US) Standard Time. (EST is GMT minus five hours.) That means it’s midday Wednesday here in Perth, Western Australia.



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Be Prepared

June 17, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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Do you ever wonder if people are taking things a little too far?

I always carry spares when I’m cycling. I have a spare tube along with some patches and glue under my seat and a pump fitted to the down tube. I also carry a tool with a number of screwdrivers and allen keys and a pocket knife.

I don’t need all those bits and pieces very often but it’s great to have the confidence that if I do have any problems, I can get myself back on the road fairly quickly.

I saw someone taking the whole spare thing to the next level while I was riding to work yesterday. I rode past a cyclist who was pedaling along quite happily – with an entire bike over his shoulder. If he had any problems he would have been able to stop – change bikes – and just continue on his way.

I’m sure it would be very convenient in the case of emergency but somehow I just can’t see it catching on.



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