Q from 3Ci - How has the production been going ?

A from Heinz - Currently, we're working at Mattias Heimlicher's studio in Switzerland. Matthys worked here a couple of times. We flew our Sunday night before last with a hard drive Fuzz gave us with all the recorded material on it. ( I think it is unfortunate that 'fuzz' ryhms with 'buzz', given the fact that he's such a good recording engineer.) He had a massive task.

The production of the Doxology CD is really going well. The album is going to rock.....

Ivan and Matthys.

Since that monday morning its been mixing and fixing, editing and listening. We left Paris over ths last weekend to meet up with Nick , and it was simply great to hang out, the four of us. We will finish up at the end of this week, and then the next processes start kicking in to prepare for the launch of the album.

The Studio.

Q from 3Ci - How is it sounding, do you still have lots of work to do on it?

A from Heinz - I guess there is a lot of work left, and yet, the biggest task of getting it all out there lies ahead of us. Its sounding beeeeeeaaaaaaauuuuuutiful! I have to pinch myself. We did it. Together. 3Ci. One Church. In Pretoria. And its sounding like so much more. I feel like it's a sweet moment in our history and its documents a step in our journey together.

The Shakespear Book Co in Paris. Check out more about it by clikcing here

Now THATS what i call a bookshop!!

Anyway, let me greet you before I get carried away.

See you on Sunday!

Much love Heinz.

immutable |iˈmyoōtəbəl|
adjective
unchanging over time or unable to be changed : an immutable fact.

flux |fləks|
noun
1 the action or process of flowing or flowing out : the flux of men and women moving back and forth | a localized flux of calcium into the cell.
2 continuous change : the whole political system is in a state of flux.

I’ve been quiet in 2010 and, with this article, I’d like to tell you why. Over the last four years, more has happened in my life than the decade before. I’m sure you feel the same. I’d like to mention that God used death and difficulty to germinate seeds of life and overcoming.
It changed me. Most of this document is a repentance, or confession or a change of mind. It’s the stuff of a merciful God. I would like to write about four significant changes that followed a “return” to the person of God. I will structure it as five sequential points, since it reflects the process of what, I believe, happened when an unchanging God meets and changes people.

To be on the side of truth does not mean that truth is ever on our side. Truth invites us to walk away from hype and spin decisively, be found out regardlessly, embrace everything as it is, courageously, and be changed by truth, tiresomely. Truth has found me out. I am an exaggerator, a story teller and an assumptioner, but by the grace of God. By God’s cunning use of my various ignorances and irritations, overconfidence and conviction, He has led me to this wonderful place (called by different names); Sonship, Marriage, Fatherhood, Leader, Pretoria, Friendship, Thinking spot, Refinery, Valley, Home, 3ci… Take your pick.

It is here in Pretoria, in a measure of withdrawal and necessary isolation, that I have found space and thoughtfulness, to wait on the Holy Spirit and digest the word. It is a mere beginning, and yet, through friends and enemies, but mostly friends, through blessings and hardship, but mostly hardship, so much became clearer. I am very privileged to be surrounded by thinking believers and believing thinkers, by bold friends who stick closer than brothers and, in particular, by a blessed relationship with Nick Davis who went before me in many ways, pertaining to the things I want to write about here. Everyone has their thoughts and live according to them in broad daylight. We see it in one another’s tweets, programs, announcements, projects, unquestioned presuppositions, friends, sermon titles, jobs and households. And since life has meaning, and everything done while in the body will be judged, I feel obliged to come out of my suburban town and state some of our beliefs and markers we have found on our journey with God. (I sound like Chris Wienand there…) You may think “obliged” is too strong a word, but in light of the changes in our thinking, it would be better to make things plain and admit some of God’s boundary lines. Let me give two reasons for my sense of obligation. First, speaking follows belief. It is most natural and certainly theological. (2 Cor 4:13) Second, we owe it to our relationships, new and old. True relationships enjoy mutuality and know one another’s thoughts. It is a sad day when friendships are threatened by truth. So, here are some of our true thoughts, which I will write in first person, even though they came about through the insights of many others.

Wanting God for God himself.

It is so easy to run to the Father for His promises, to Jesus for His blood or to the Holy Spirit for His power, while the gospel is primarily about a grand reconciliation, us to God.
The benefits of God are enormous. He heals sickness. He gives nations as inheritance. He showers blessing. He grants wisdom. He forgives my sin. The list of benefits is endless and it is exactly because of these staggering benefits that we get distracted, like a lover who receives a diamond and becomes more infatuated with the diamond than the giver.
Christianity is personal. God is personable and easy to live with (Tozer). Although He is incomprehensible, He is knowable, because of His own self-disclosure. (The doctrine of God, Bavinck)
He is our very great reward. (Gen 15)
He is to be sought out, like the Shulamite woman in Song of Songs were looking for her lover.
The desperation of Psalm 27 is the standard Christian longing, not for nations, not for power, not for impact, but to be impacted, to behold God and gaze upon His beauty all the days of my life.
The cry of Paul the apostle was to know Him more, pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3) It is so person specific.
In Revelation 21, we read how we are the new Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God and how God dwells with His people. It is ultimate and intimate, and since it describes the consummation of all ages, it denounces all other priorities as means to this end, whether evangelism, reaching the poor, signs and wonders, biblical rightness or the obedience of faith. God is our end, just as He was our beginning. He is our satisfaction, not the streets of gold. He is our rest, not the absence of work. Someone said that he’d rather take hell with Jesus than a heaven without Him. God is who makes heaven heaven.

I am lovesick again.

My lovesickness has shaken up my priorities. Desiring God for God Himself set off a chain reaction of implications. I wanted to deal with everything that hindered my free access to God, and that of everyone I knew. This led to walking away from many structures and brokers.
Initially I thought that I hated structures and strategies in themselves, but I don’t. The only danger lies in the difficulty to really notice once they begin obscuring Christ. All structures start out as servants to a greater purpose, but time is not the friend of men’s inventions. Whether wineskins are old or new, they are only of value until they are empty. Their purpose of a wineskin is to be emptied, and there should be no shame in admitting to be spent. George Bernard Shaw said, “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die”. It should be glorious that a wineskin held its wine until it was offered at the appropriate time, but once it was poured out, the wineskin should be set aside. The greater problem with any of our wineskins, is that the wineskin assumes centrality over time, and then the model becomes the message. God is pushed out in the name of God, to the glory of God, with sincere intentions.
GK Chesterton once wrote that one should never take down a fence without understanding why it was put up in the first place. It is important to acknowledge what every vehicle was set up for, before dismantling it. If God was lost in the systems, it is not just walking away from the systems that brings Him back. It takes careful consideration to keep God front and center. Reactionism is just a new system. My hatred is not against systems altogether, but systems that assume to broker our direct access to God. My fury is not against strategies, but against those that persist beyond their expiry date, and so, takes away the desperation for the Holy Spirit’s immediate whisper. Any strategy can be of God, but all strategies and all vehicles have an expiry date that should be recognized.
In case I am sounding cryptic, let me say it this way. About two years ago, we untied ourselves from a structured movement, whose men are dear to us till this day. The aim was simple obedience to God, since we felt that He wanted us to wait on Him for our future strength and unfolding purpose. The movement allowed us to have this revelation and follow-through. However, other men and churches were just as obedient to stay and wait for their unfolding futures. God is the point, not system or anti-system. John Piper wrote that “life transcends form”. For me, that implies that we must act according to our deep convictions, so that we can pursue God with a clear conscience and a wild passion, whether we are inside “form” or outside “form”. God reigns, regardless. What remains for our glorious inheritance, is to allow Him to also rule our days and decisions, by placing Him first before all other things. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and wisdom is justified by her children (Luke 7:35). Are we closer to God than we were? Did we grow in maturity? Is love more evident? Is our faith more robust? May God’s mercy triumph, but by His grace we can say that it has been a profoundly joyful, Jesus-embodying trek. Spurgeon preached on “the great white throne”, and mentioned how no mutual encouragement or human congratulations will matter in that day, except for the great “well done” from the great white throne. Only one person’s commendation will matter in that moment. My guess is that lovers will outshine workers, and that is a note to self.
The freedom from upholding preexisting ideas turned my bible from a manual for life/ministry/church to the self-revelation of God. Now, I wanted to find God on His terms, rather than finding my arguments from scripture. To talk about God or gospel-centeredness, the poor or evangelism, is not enough. Preaching is not hitting the right topic, but encountering God. I believe it is possible to preach on the right topics and say the appropriate things, but still lack the direct confrontation with God. I am too desperate now. Preaching is not difficult, but impossible, and only in impossibility does it require faith. I understood God-centered preaching as preaching about God, but now see how sterile even that can become.

This is why gospel-centeredness is not enough, no matter how vogue or correct it sounds. The gospel makes sense against a backdrop of God’s all-ownership of all created things. It’s only if the original perfection, original intent and original beauty is seen, that the fall of man beckons the mega-question, “How can man be saved from this mess?” The gospel becomes urgent only in the life of an individual who relates to God intimately. Only once “the gospel” becomes “my gospel”, once it becomes tear-jerkingly personal and it arrests my actions, does it carry a ringing sound. The substance of the messenger’s life brings the content of the message to life.

Oh, for more God.

In one sense I had nothing to say, because words and concepts couldn’t capture what was happening inside. Also, none of it was for anyone else! Nick Davis speaks of “the spycam in the bedroom”, when referring to Christians flaunting their experiences. I hope all my tweeting and blogging will stay within its impersonal boundaries. Not too much should get out. Donald Trump believes in as much media exposure as possible, whether positive or negative. I don’t. Gentlemen still don’t kiss and tell.

Oh for more of you, God…

PART TWO will follow. My “return” to God had implications on preaching, on ministry, on understanding kingdom and church, on the vision for the future and many other things, which I’d like to write about… but not too much.

In this blog, I’m keen to hear some of your thoughts on one or any of these random questions… It might inspire more posts from my side.

What would happen to Obama if news broke of a love child?

Why are we so unwilling to address churchiness, truthiness or apathy? Is it because we only value truth if others value it too, which means we’re unconvinced ourselves?

If modelling is so great, why are they so incredibly sad? (I saw a bunch of models at the airport…geez, I wanted to cry. Be kind, think about it. Don’t just bash them because you’re ugly)

Regarding shortcomings, we usually empathize with someone else’s sin, if we suffer the same guilt. But!! We all hate pride while we’re all guilty of it! Why do we hate pride so specifically?

Regarding ice-cream. How many like it icy? How many like it creamy?

How do you know whether you are overconnected?

The Times Newpaper - "Zuma, Khoza 'already married"

The Times Newspaper - " Zuma family 'content' with polygamy Son"

The Sowetan - "Zuma is set for wife no.5 - wedding plans in place"

The Sowetan - " Zuma and Davos forum - each wife gets equal love"

The Sowetan - "Zuma must end pardons mess"

Pretoria News - "Hands off - Zuma's Son"

Len and I in front of "the bricklayer's arms"... Huge lunch!

Check out Forrestrown Church's new website. That is where we have been spending most of our time. We had an amazing time with the Foresttown bunch and we shared incredible moments with them this past week. God's doing delightful things in Foresttown Church!

We also had a wonderful afternoon with Ioannis and Dekas and have spent some quality time with the Davis family - what a privilage!

...and yesterday's snow. I was the only happy guy in all of London.

Right now however, we sitting at the airport because our flight has been delayed. We gonna be on our way to Holland to meet with our friends Gertjan and Lia.

At the airport..... waiting and waiting for our flight.....

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Please Note: This is a summary of the full blog. To read the full blig click here.

Forget the building fund! Remember Jesus
 
Is Jesus enough? Enough for you in your life as it is currently? Can Jesus really be enough?

I know your theoretical answer of course. You’d say “Yes!” in your sleep. But what about when you have to stake your life on it? Your legacy. Your credible reason for hope. Your cry when help runs dry. Your bedroom conversation where the guards are down. Those unexpected reality moments that accompany the pressure of others’ eyes on you. Do you, then still, bank it all on Jesus?

On Sunday night, through the preaching of Leonard (http://www.3ci.co.za/sermon/father-his-heart-purposes–life-sd/), I became acutely aware of the power of a personal encounter with the Living God. There are these moments where theory tears itself loose from the pages and becomes warm, bloody and pumping in your hand.

Leonard had an experience in 1974 of meeting with God in such a way that he has been consistently preaching the gospel for 30 years as a result, whether he was threatened to stop or leave, whether there was money or not, nothing else ultimately mattered. He lived in Tanzania and South Africa, had innumerable setbacks and difficulties, and right now, he is preparing to plant a church in Canada at age 51. He is either a little crazy or driven by something of infinite worth.

I can tell you of many others, but Sunday night I saw it again, case in point. If you’ve seen your own Jesus, you consider the price tag as pure joy. If you have your own revelation, obstacles take their rightful place. Seductions can be sidelined. Discouragements can be overcome. Doubts can be doubted. Money can be given away easily. Despair can be subdued.

Our desire at 3ci is for many more 1974’s. Sadly, too many people live without divine revelation. And way too many of us think the kingdom of God consists of self-righteousness, reasonableness and happiness.

But the man who saw Jesus, and in seeing Jesus, saw his own sin, and then thrust himself upon the mercy seat of divine forgiveness, can never again “manage” his Christianity; Rather, he himself is managed by that revelation. It may sound like a worn-out cliche, but I’d rather see 12 men with a raging fire in their eyes, than the full development of our 21 acres of land into a little city.

So, we’ve released everyone from their debit-order commitments to our building fund. The thing is, those who truly want to give unto God, cannot be stopped anyway. Those who partner in radical generosity are saving up what will be credited to your own account in heaven. I love you for it! But may no man or woman in this church feel pressed to give according to an earthly ambition, with any sense of manipulation. I have no desire that we have a testimony of buildings without the greater testimony of gospel, of power, of changed lives, of “Word and Spirit” ministry, of New Testament church, of impacting our world, of loving sinners and of great, great joy!

READ THE FULL BLOG HERE

I’ll start with my end-point for this little ramble; We should not run after great men, but rather discover what they were running after. In Hebrews 13 we are told to remember our leaders who spoke to us the word of God, to consider the outcome of their way of life, and to imitate their faith. Their faith.

When I studied contemporary music, my saxophone lecturer used to say that the highest compliment anyone could pay you was to imitate you and “copy your licks”. Copycats are compliments, he said.

I find myself resisting formulas, and some have interpreted it as an irritation with the “big guns”. So, I’d like to clear something up. I really like Mark Driscoll. I also really like Timothy Keller and John Piper. (I’m mentioning these names because they are all coming to South Africa in 2010 for the first time and I’d love you to go and hear them) I think these men have added, and are continuing to add, much needed help and clarity, courage and examples with their lives.

As a matter of fact, I could do better than that. Let me thank them properly.

Dear John Piper, I’d like to write how we crossed paths, and what it meant to me. You’ll never read this, but that doesn’t matter. My good friend and leader Nick Davis lent me his copy of “The pleasures of God” for some April holiday reading in 2003. I remember our newborn baby boy. I remember the Mpumalanga province. Most of all, I remember the daily times I spent reading “pleasures”. My heart melted. I was taken deep into the greatness of a joyful God. It was like “an idea who’s time has come”. God’s Spirit ministered to me. I had waves of grace wash over me as I realized  my moralistic approach in my christian walk. By the time I got to the third last chapter, I started crying tears of joy while I was reading, right until the end. A paradigm was shifted. An introduction to the sovereign God of grace and pleasure set me on a journey of great discoveries in the true gospel of Jesus Christ and living in a high view of God.

In the middle of 2006, I came across Mark Driscoll on the internet on “desiringgod”, because I was doing a study on the effects of postmodernism on Christianity at the time, having read about 50+ books on the topic. Initially, I liked his common sense, his way to get things across, his irreligious approach and his commitment to the word, to Jesus and all of that, with a confidence that was refreshing. I thoroughly enjoyed his insight and honesty in “confessions of a reformission rev”. Then, I decided to attend New Frontier’s conference where Driscoll was going to be a guest speaker. I was deeply impacted by his gift of courage. After the thursday sessions of the conference, I went for a long walk on the not-so-pretty brighton seaside. Driscoll’s ministry shook my insides. I was so moved towards God, not by the details of what He preached about, but by the courage he did it with, which convinced me that he was not double-minded, but had committed himself to please God and God only. Mark Driscoll, you showed me something. Thank you. If you were a girl, I’d hug ya.

Oh, and shortly after I was introduced to Mark Driscoll, I found Tim Keller. And what a gift that was. Dear Tim, probably in my deepest moment of crying out for a meta-narrative for life and ministry, for the trump card of all meanings, I came across your first lectures on Christ-centeredness when I was missing in the seas of organizational expansionism. Everything came into focus. I bought your “counterfeit gods” yesterday, and will have to wait till Monday before I read it. Thank you. Maybe, I’ll get a chance to have a laugh with you in the afterlife. From the depths of my heart, I’m cheering you on in Manhattan, from my town, Pretoria.

I could do the same with many other heroes who played a huge part in my understanding of God; David Wells, Dudley Daniel, CS Lewis, R.T. Kendall, Michael Eaton, Charlie Spurgeon, Whitefield, Ravi, Oswald Chambers, Os Guinness, Motyer more recently, Schaeffer, Lloyd-Jones, Luther, Augustine, you know, the list continues…

Here is my point, or rather, here is RT Kendall’s point; If you try to reproduce other’s “anointings”, you will only end up with their eccentricities. And of the list of eccentricities there is no end; dress codes, pet topics, intonations, preaching styles, habits, copying websites, and even ministry ideas are all up for grabs.
And here is my greater point! I serve a creative Creator, who loves authenticity because He thought of it first. God is more glorified with our feeblest attempts than with a perfect imitation.
Think snowflakes. Think fingerprints. Think retinas.
Now think churches. Now think of your ministry.

God deserves our best. He is so used to getting our worst sins, our confessions and our problems. We bring him all our cares and burdens, but we could also bring him our personalities and gifts, intentionality and ponderings. I know there is nothing new under the sun, but I’m sure God enjoys an original.

Driscoll, I salute your authentic faith. Go man, go! If you wanna see me, send me a DM on Twitter. I’d so love it. And I promise I won’t hug you.

Yesterday, I became aware of how easy it is to arrive at poor conclusions. I realized it while I was reading Isaiah. This is the verse that got me thinking along these lines in Isaiah 1v5. "Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint."

It occurred to me that the quality of my life is largely determined by my decisions and responses. But  decisions are preceded with conclusions. How I see God and the world, determines how I conclude any situation. Only then do I decide, and therefore, it is more important to know how to conclude than it is to decide. Once we know the true diagnosis of any disease, we could google the prognosis, but the trick lies in the proper conclusion. It marks the difference between my family doctor and WebMD.com. I've seen some people make bad decisions, only because of a poor agenda, an unresolved emotion, a bitterness or a loyalty. They did not lack in gifts of strategy or in decisiveness, but their ability to conclude well was compromised before they said a word.

This list is far from complete, but may we be a generation that "seeks justice" - better translated as "deciding authoritatively and finally, what is right". (v17)

The picture I include here is one of the first maps drawn of Southern Africa, and how wrong it was! Arriving at good conclusions is like using an updated map, correct and precise, informative to best support decisions of direction. May God bless your growth in arriving at good conclusions.

Coming into 2010, I realize that it’s been a while since I have been so excited! And we have so many reasons!

In 2010, we will be going to new, strategic places for the first time; Croatia, Bahrain and Pakistan. We are planting a church in Edmonton, Canada, by releasing two of our elders and a group of 35+ people, including the children. Not only are we sending them off, but we are thinking hard about the missional details, according to our reformed-charismatic theology. We are planning an outreach with the Midgleys in Madagascar into the city of Antananarivo. We will receive some friends for ministry into 3ci from far and wide. RT Kendall will be preaching through “James” in March over four days! We will get to see the Davis family again, go bigger on another Betrothed conference, since it turned out so well in ‘09, and we will also be recording a live worship event the first Friday evening after the word cup soccer, on DVD and CD. Our expository preaching on thursday evenings will kick off with Isaiah, and probably be done over the next two years as we look to the three great pictures of Christ; The Servant, The King and the Anointed Conqueror.

There is much more news coming, but for now, I can’t wait to see more faith, more prayer and power, greater missional impact on this little city and a colossal testimony of God’s love through more people.

See you all Sunday!

A second danger of living off borrowed truth, is that we appear wiser and further than we actually are. This is nice at first, but comes with a price tag on credit. It is nice because the success of second hand revelation seemed as good, but was pricey because it didn't last as long. It is nice because it was easier to get a hold of, but was pricey because it was also much harder to hold on to. It was nice because it was packaged and deliverable, but pricey because it became confined to very specific examples and situations.

It was nice because it brought respect and an edge, but pricey because the upkeep of one's anointing outstripped the given grace. It was nice because it was test-driven and came with less risk, but expensive because the lack of faith shows over time. It was nice because many doors opened, but expensive because every door that was entered, required more investment.

Only want what comes from God's hand. If that could be an order without me overstepping boundaries, I'd issue it. Without hearing God's voice, I have signed up for one too many ideas that burned my bum, budget or buddies. Without first-hand revelation, I have been too easily excited by new opportunities. I have hoped for influence beyond God's plan for me, and was left unsustained outside God's boundaries of my anointing. God will provide for his projects, but our problems come where we call our personal agendas God's mission. He has set boundaries to my impact, geography and friendships, and I choose to dwell within those bounds now.

How else? John 5v44 becomes us. Once 2hR grips us, our horizontal inputs magnify our horizontal admiration of others, and seamlessly grows into a desire for 'glory from one another' for ourselves. The person who lives to hear Him say "well done" has less appetite for the little "well dones"

Oh for competent ministers of the gospel, living in God's fullness, within the given spheres of effective ministry and free from the desire of men's praise! May I grow to be part of that number.

I hope this is more than identifying problems. I guess what I am trying to say, is that once God has us, we seem to get the rest of our deepest desires and pleasures fulfilled legitimately. It's not about getting a thousand little things right, but about the personable God, and then everything else clicks into place.

In the next blog, i'd love to think about the dangers of 2hR in ministry.

And lastly, we will consider the implications of 2hR on our evangelistic effectiveness.

Since we are living in such an age of information, we have become familiar with revelational hand-me-downs, to the point where we are uncomfortable with authentic revelation. I fear the true prophets are in great danger, if not for their lives, then for the acceptance of their ministry. (You are not a guaranteed prophet if you agree too swiftly with this statement. You might just be a negative faultfinder too.)

So, In considering the dangers of 2hR; I will start by examining the effect of 2hR in the life of the minister, followed by the effect of 2hR in the life of a ministry and lastly take a look upon the damage to our evangelistic impact.

Because the Christian life is fundamentally relational, primarily personal and exactly about God the person.   Before we get to his agendas, plans, gospel, church, commands, commissions or ways, we get to be with Him! He is the end of all means. He fulfills our deepest need in himself before even opening His hand. He is our satisfaction and once we see His smile, we are strong, we sleep well, we know how to live and are settled in our beings. None will disagree with this in theory, but very few Christians live higher than their schedules, or their dreams, or higher than their daily rapid bursts of urgencies. Who wants faith when we get to have reputation, action, opportunity and dignity?

This is where the crisis comes in; when we lose God, we stop realizing we've lost Him, because our vertical yardstick has been exchanged for a horizontal one. Now most of "God's communication" happens through other men, and when they cheer me on, it must mean I am fine and what  I'm doing is good. Or when I read the things I agree with already, I feel vindicated and secure. Do not underestimate how quickly our minds embrace pre-existing biases.

With the lack of God, we have turned Christianity into missions or morality, witnessing into marketable courses, joy into dishonest happiness, church into meetings, spirit-power into escapism and relationships around cold goals. The stunning lack of God causes fatigue, ambition, behavioural codes and policing-by-frowning to maintain these codes. Just lacking the God of the gospel is enough to lack absolutely everything else. We can call ourselves rich (in ministry or Christian experience), but without personal, soul-captivating, daily, intimate, confident 'friendship with' and 'fear of' the Lord, the glorious means of God empty us out. We're not speaking of weary soldiers here -fresh off the battlefield with their wounds of glory- but rather of under-nourished toddlers with their tears and tantrums because they don't eat well. Maybe we don't even understand the cries of soldiers since so much of ministry consists of changing diapers and keeping peace and appearances.I think burnout is underrated. Such enormous strains are taken to escape burnout, that men have decided to shrink their way to greatness, as Nick Davis often says. Do we fear burnout more than judgment day? Even burnout is a gift of grace. It marks the defeat of self-sufficiency. At last, once we get to the end of all our wits, we quit, and become useful for the gospel. For some, its only upon burnout we hear God saying, "Are you undone now? Come to me, weary one and I will give you rest, so you can take up my yoke, the proper and true yoke. "

He allows us to run with His plans without him, only because, by sheer exhaustion, it is the quickest way to get us back to Himself.Those who wait upon The Lord will renew their strength. (Isa 40). In short, it is crazy to go without God, it is nuts to turn him into amechanical psychologist, a harsh commander, a distant scientist, avant garde artist or an aloof deconstructionist when He revealed Himself as a loving Father, a self-denying lover and an ever-present Spirit.

God sustains his own servants. He upholds his churches. He empowers true ministry in the gospel. He brings life after death and refreshes us by His Spirit, WHICH IS WHY mere information or 2hR is insufficient. All of Luther's instruction in the scriptures and in the structures of the church proved dismal to take away his agony of soul and awareness of sin, but oh, when the Holy Spirit made him see Romans 1v17 by revelation, realizing who's righteousness Paul was referring to, he saw it and he started seeing everything else by that revelation. The bible made sense, the gospel had it's true power, his ministry changed the world and his enjoyment of God was possible for the first time.

Church is about God.The gospel is the message to get people reconciled back unto God. Power in the Holy Spirit is to reveal God's nature and kingdom. Doctrine should tip into something intensely personal to have served it's true purpose.

God is Immanuel, God with us.To miss out on the closeness of God and distribute recycled goods in God's name is dangerous, misrepresenting and lifeless. If information about God was enough, there would be no need for The Holy Spirit.Ministers without God is not just possible, but highly likely and likeable.

There is something intoxicating about the one that sets his mind on something. Like my son who is saving up money to buy a drum kit. Like the actress in pursuit of fame. Or the entrepreneur who lost the concept of “enough”, always risking, always pushing for one more idea. We love it! Our mouths fall open for the dedicated person. We naturally respect it. We applaud when someone worked really hard to achieve something.

Because God respects it. God is single-minded. God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. And since God is like this, we are too. We salute the resolute person, because we are made in the image of God. Think about it. God resists the proud, and so do you. God loves humility and draws near to the humble. And so do you. In the same way, God loves whole-heartedness and He hates indifference. And so do you.
He says in Revelation 3 that He will spit the lukewarm, who is neither hot nor cold, out of His mouth. Even this statement is enthusiastic! It is clear that God hates listless apathy.

We see how much Jael, the wife of Heber, was honoured for driving a tent peg through the temple of Sisera’s head. Can you even imagine that scene in real life. “Here, Sisera, lay your weary head… Want some milkies and cookies?....Bam bam bam.”
We read of the countless examples in Hebrews 11, of men and women that made it clear that they were seeking a homeland, a better country, a heavenly one.
There are several references of the devotion of the New Testament believers, to God, not money (Luke 16), to prayer (Acts 1:14, 6:4), to the apostle’s teaching, the breaking of bread and fellowship (Acts 2), to the public reading of scripture (1 Tim 4) and to good works (Tit 3:14).
We see joy in suffering and even martyrdom, because of single-hearted devotion to Jesus in Acts 16.

As I meditate on the stories of single-minded men and women, I get excited. I heat up. I dream. Something is so very right about it. And yet, most mornings I wake up ready to mix and match my dualistic motives of self-preservation with kingdom-living. Don’t you wish we could die once and die well! But, as it has been famously said, “the problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar”. The same grace that allows our yesterdays to be over, gives us an opportunity to choose God afresh in the new day. Oh, faith, how sweet the sound!

Devotion, perseverance, follow-through, idol-slaughtering, all of these in greater measure. I am crying out for myself and for my generation; That we would die to live, wait to act, receive to give, trust to entrust, pray to know power. Even writing this, I am yearning to see it with my own eyes; a generation sold out to God, with no personal agendas, petty ambitions, pathetic excuses or self-pardoning theologies, but resolve and decisive resolution, tenacity and intent.
And I think it comes only by spending time with the most satisfied, glorified, focused person in all the universe, God Himself. Meditating on His person as revealed through the word, enjoyed in prayer, and some active steps of faith in response to God’s promptings.
God is worthy, forever and ever.

I have figured out why the movie “Braveheart” never had a sequel; It’s easier to GET free than it is to STAY free.

 Getting free comes with

Staying free requires

 Standing on a battlefield with brothers against enemies is easy. “Them bad. Us good”. Killing them = freedom. Being killed means they decide the fate of my wife and children. See? Easy!

Standing in the city, 2 years after victory, having to remain free from philosophical erosion, cultural peer-pressure, moral decay and children growing up - sick and tired of your war stories - is not as easy as the movie’s rollout credits suggest.

I am appalled how quickly we become domesticated and homogenized. This blog is dedicated to all those who have more blink in their eyes when they tell of their unsaved and/or newly-saved days than now. Let me dedicate this also to those who have testimonies from decades ago of God’s power, but are left with longings for more, here and now...

                            [I hate the “good old days”, just for the record.]

Here is my point; The fight for freedom never ends.

Over the next couple of blogs, I’d like to explore this reality.

Why do freedom fighters become decadent daydreamers so easily, so quickly?

 We have lost the courage to actually say something.

The terminology of “engaging with culture” has taken on a life of its own. Sound the alarms! It forms part of a new way of thinking, posing as intellectual, but lacking the needed bravery. Of course it is good to engage the culture if you have a genuine evangelistic heart for the lost, but what about the many that can simply sign up for a less embarrassing genetic modification that mutates Christianity into something sick? Why have we become so unwilling to confront culture? Because of the fundamentalist bible bashers? They were unloving, principle-centered and irrelevant; So what? Of course they missed it. Of course they were pharisaical. Of course it is easier to use them as our argument for passivity than it is to dare evangelize. Should we really swing all the way to the dark side of proving how suave and understanding we have become as the church?

Watch this clip on youtube, called “interview with an atheist”...

There can be several reasons for the awkward Christian silence. 

1. We might still be trying to come out of all this alive and dignified. (Matt 10:39) 

2. We might be conceptually trapped in all our traditions, institutions, mutual honouring and historical prowess; Unavailable to the demand of truth for our time, because we don’t want to face the frown of our fathers. (John 5:44)  

3. We might have become sterile messengers, due to a lack of intimacy with God or a collapse in private, first-hand experience. (John 3:11,12)  

4. We might base our decisions on consequences, not revealed truth. (Luke 12:22-31)  

5. We are unconvinced, out of touch, uncaring and not weeping like Jesus or the prophets. (Lam 1:16, 2:11,19, Matt 23:37-39)  

6. We might think ourselves too “young” to speak. (Jer 1:7,8)

How many more reasons could we give for stopping ourselves from sharing the gospel clearly?

...to be continued...

Don’t you just love queues? Or how about holding on the line, listening to a four-track recording of “chariots of fire” for 47 minutes and 23 seconds!!!? My guess is that your blood is boiling already from all those suppressed memories being triggered. This blog is about the godliness of patience and the sinfulness of impatience.

Point #1; We are impatient.
Period. Agreed? Yes, others are impatient, but how about you?

Point #2; You are impatient
You too are impatient. Agree again? Let’s move on… I’m not interested in getting you to confess impatience. Our whole dilemma lies in our ease to admit this.

Some evidence of epidemic impatience.
On-demand TV and remote controls, “Idol’s”, Credit Cards, 2-minute noodles, twitter, road rage all tell a story.) When I pick up my remote, I can move swiftly through channels, I wait for no one, I take no prisoners. The reality-show “Idols” made a way for someone to become famous in weeks. The Chinese found a way to make pasta in a minute, and road rage ultimately is not about someone else being rude in driving, but rude in stealing my 2 second advantage on the highway. Many people today choose against having children, claiming that they would never have time or patience for raising kids. Impatience is the modern way. It is our inalienable right.

What exactly is the sin of impatience?
We could easily dismiss impatience as a behavioural or personality trait, and laugh it off as a small sin. I hate to say it, but looking at my own life, I’ve realized the actual demon in impatience.

Impatience is distrusting God. Impatience is unbelief. Impatience is treason against God Almighty. Impatience is momentary agnosticism. Impatience is forsaking hope in God. Every single time I am impatient, I am acting out of unbelief. And that unbelief says
•    God cannot be trusted with my future
•    I have my own agenda and it contradicts with what God is doing
•    I will take matters into my own hands, since God has not met my expectations and deadlines
•    I am more sure of my good will than God’s good will

Why are we not ashamed?
We lost tomorrow. We are somewhat like Henry Nouwen’s “nuclear man”, who lives as wild as he can for now, because we don’t have a good eschatology. We are not sure about tomorrow, like previous generations, who saved and worked at one company for decades. We don’t want to pay now and inherit later. We want to get now and owe forever.
We lost a theology of suffering. The original word comes via Old French from Latin, meaning ‘not bearing, impatient,’ from in- ‘not’ + pati ‘suffer, bear’. We cannot bear to wait, or suffer, or be done in, or lose something. We have clearly lost touch with the true heritage of the church throughout centuries, who knew how to wait and bear and fight and stand.
We live in a man-centered morality. As a matter of fact, we have changed impatience into an admirable quality. Impatient men get things done, we say. Impatience is entrepreneurial and ambitious. If only getting things done was the point.
We’ve reduced impatience to personality definitions. So, some people are born slow and restful, while others are edgy and irritable, we think. However, not only does this take our sin away from hellfire and into psychology books, but it also helps us to resign and never fight impatience as an enemy of good.

How do we make our way back?
Let’s realize our true losses if we cling to our impatience. Impatience delays our inheritance, because we are taking matters into our own hands, while inheritance comes from the Father’s hands. Impatience keeps us far from our calling, because we choose to listen to our own thoughts and ignore the Caller.
Let us repent of our unbelief. God is worthy of our patience. We have a opportunity to live with patience and attract peace.
Let’s obey scripture. Psa 27:14 among many other scriptures, charges us to wait. Waiting is trusting. Patience is faith, and faith pleases God.
Believe that God is effective, proper and desirable. This is the definition of a believer. We only collapse into impatient sin because we doubt these.

May God give us grit to believe, to fight and to bite our lips, so we can grow in faith, trust and patience.
I’ll end this blog with the famous wit, “Lord, grant me patience, and grant it now.”