You may not think that this is anything significant, but 5 years ago when I was still working in radio, selling 1 000 copies of an international artists music was quite a decent target. Michael W. Smith, for example, would only sell around 2500 CDs per album! So to have our [rather dodgy sounding] garage recording nearly do 1 000 units is rather significant, especially since this only came as a last minute idea, with a short announcement and absolutely no advertising whatsoever beyond our immediate circles.

Now imagine what will happen when we make the final product available – which apparently is sounding awesome?! It will be made available free of charge to download and distribute. We will talk about, feature it on all of our websites, play it on radio, tell our friends, burn a copy as a cheap birthday present and many thousands of other ways, and who knows, maybe just maybe it will land in Darlene Zschech or Chris Tomlin’s hands, and the rest as they say, will be history.

Q : How has the production been going ?

A : Currently, we're working at Mattias Heimlicher's studio in Switzerland. Matthys worked here a couple of times. We flew out 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' rhymes 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 this last weekend to meet up with Nick , and it was simply great for the four of us to hang out. We will finish up the CD at the end of this week. After that the next processes start kicking in to prepare for the launch of the album.

The Studio.

Q : How is it sounding, do you still have lots of work to do on it?

A : 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 it 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.

Gossip. Something that is 90% true about a person, is not true

Flattery. You are vulnerable to flattery to the degree you are insecure

Games. Don’t over-think communications before they happen. Naivety wins you God’s favor

Fatherliness. Even as you get older, treat younger men as fully fledged brothers.

Perspective. Practice treating people relative to God, not relative to yourself

Investment. Give your finest time to fruitful friendships, but be ready to smile at everyone.

Peace. You will violate and be violated in the path of friendship, but take heart – God has a real and abiding peace in Christ.

Anger. Be forthright with the brother who has offended you – better that than being forthright about him to others.

Patience. No-one knows your inner man straight away; very few even know themselves.

Vision. See potential, so you can help redirect things every now and then.

Rebuke. If you need to rebuke a brother, do it on the basis of his future, not his present.

Insight. Only pure love gives pure insight.

Validation. Most people use others to validate their own journey: be in the minority here.

Possessiveness. When you pretend to own something, you end up with pretend-friends too. A pastor who ‘owns’ his church objectivizes ‘his people’ and makes them strangers, not friends.

Separation. Friendships are ‘lost’ when they are based on work first.

Marriage. Your wife is a close friend, but not a partner in everything.

Leadership. If God gives you captaincy, never wear the armband.

Open-handedness. Always be willing to release an inheritance gained, and you will have an even greater inheritance in deep covenant friendships.

Generations. Our sons must and will go further than us. This requires recognition and releasing.

Sophistication. The more complex the systems, the more shallow the friendships.

The lowest seat. A man who can switch on humility is not humble. Humility is an attitude gained through failures, not an attribute deployed in success.

Suck-up. A sychophant only wants power, not service.

Moralism. Where morality poses as holiness, lust will abound.

Crusades. Causes align friendships to the cause, not to the love of God.

Outsiders. Church-mindedness robs us of the privilege of dining with prostitutes and tax collectors.

Trust. Those who share painful times will share private worlds.

Bullies. Headstrong men use friendliness as a lever for co-operation.

Two kingdoms. God will disciple you towards laying down your life for your friends. This is the end goal of the Christian trajectory.

Money. Friends are spontaneous givers and reluctant receivers.

Communiques. True friendship always includes one-to-one correspondence. Social networking alone loses the one amidst the many.

Snares. Never lay traps - you are guaranteed offence and loss of friendship.

Justice. You deserved justice but received mercy. So pass on to others what they don’t deserve too.

Infallibility. You are never as right as you think you are. And when you are dead right, you can still be dead wrong.

Silence. Saying nothing only makes you appear wise; it is not wisdom itself.

Risk. Being clumsy with our words is a great sign of love.

Death. To lay up treasures in heaven, we must see just how much God treasures others.

I assumed much less interest in ‘the beautiful game’ but have found myself gloriously wrong…

That is a good thing because we’ve been able to get into the World Cup soccer spirit all the way over here in balmy, sunny Alberta, well, at least it’s balmy, sunny at this exact moment, five minutes from now, I can’t guarantee the weather.

But what a view we have of you wild, raucous, happy South Africans!  You have caused quite a stir on the international stage and this is a moment you can be proud of.  Yes, and I know the games are not done; 150 horrid, bad things can still happen to ruin it all, but hey, I’m darn proud of you all anyway!

Watching your faces, of all colors, shapes and sizes smiling together, cheering together, blowing those infernal vuvuzelas together, only brightens our day and makes us homesick for the land that stole our hearts.  You are amazing people! Revel in and enjoy that to the absolute full!

All preconceived ideas about South Africa and South Africans are being soundly smashed by your joy, your unity, and your willingness to be kind to that ‘foreigner’ in the mall or at the game.  Make every nay-sayer a liar, by living out loud the people that you are.

You are making our hearts swell!  You are making us long for home, and as we check out our newspaper schedules for the next round of games, we gather and cheer for the best team to win. 

South Africa you have our hearts and I think you have gathered many more hearts and well-wishers to you over these past glorious days of 2010 World Cup Soccer.  You make us PROUD to say, ‘I may be Canadian but I am also South African!’

That’s just my view, from way over here….in Edmonton.

Cheering with you!

Lorie

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.

When we see the glory of God, it is us who are blessed!
All through the bible we read of how God guided situations that would cause that He would get all the glory. He hardened hearts and instigated unreasonable odds that it would be clear to all that it is Him alone that is worthy of the glory. This was not done out of a place of insecurity that He would need to be puffed up, but that we may be able to see Him rightly. As we see Him in all His glory it is us that are blessed.

Now looking forward to our next game against Uruguay at Loftus in our wonderful city on Wednesday the 16th June, herewith my expert opinion  :-) 2-0 to South Africa. Coach Perreira, if you are reading my blog, which you should be, then take my advice & play an attacking game against Uruguay. They are not the great Uruguay of the past & rely solely on Diego Forlan to make it happen for them. Play Steven Pienaar in Centre Midfield with Dikgacoi & play Bernard Parker up front with Mphela & we will win this game giving us a great opportunity to qualify for the 2nd round knock out phase. OOPS am I getting carried away now & even selecting the team? Sorry just loving this & am soooo behind our boys.

Till next time after we beat the usually, unbeatable Uruguay & then face the favoured, fancied France - GO BAFANA GO!!!!!!

Your amateur analyst

Athol :-)

 

While working through Heinz’s sermon from this past Sunday (23 May), I stumbled on something that really challenged me: The word ‘believer’ in New Testament Greek is the same word translated ‘trustworthy’ in other parts of the bible. This begs the question, am I trustworthy, or a little closer to home, does my being a Christian influence whether or not people want to do business with me?

The scripture was 1 Corinthians 4.1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

Not rocket science I know, but follow me with where this thought leads…

Christian = Trustworthy

The very word pistos [trustworthy] is also translated ‘believer’ in 67 verses across the New Testament! In other words, it is more than just a nice fruit we hope one day to exude as Christians, rather it is the very fabric of being children of God. Pistos pertains to belief that trusts [vertically] and therefore those who can be trusted [horizontally].

Acts 16.1  -  Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [PISTOS], but his father was a Greek.

1 Tim 1.15  -  The saying is trustworthy [PISTOS] and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

2 Cor 6.15  -  What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer [PISTOS] share with an unbeliever?

Titus 1.9  -  He must hold firm to the trustworthy [PISTOS] word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

1 Peter 1.20-21  -  He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21  who through him are believers [PISTOS] in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

How do I know if I am trustworthy?

A friend once said, a good way to judge whether your behaviour is Christlike or not is to ask yourself the following question: “At this point in the conversation/meeting/business deal/relationship would I feel confident to invite the person to church?” I must admit I am more likely not to use a company or service if I hear that they are Christian. But I have to ask myself, are others saying that of me?

3 days to go & the vuvuzelas will blow, yellow & green will become standard dress code & our new national diski dance will become almost as normal as walking.

In spite of a rocky road in preparing for this massive event & much negative publicity & opinion, it's all systems go on Friday afternoon when we will play Mexico in the opening game at the 94600 seater Soccer City Stadium. My prediction : 1-0 to South Africa. 

Last Saturday a group of us went to watch our Bafana Bafana play against Denmark at Atteridgeville Stadium & what an amazing experience it was. Not only has our team evolved into a world class outfit over a short period of time, but the unity between the spectators is nothing short of a miracle. Now many will say that God isn't in sport & maybe that's partly true but we are witnessing a diverse nation put aside their differences & troubles & unite in an almost effortless manner. I think God is in this in terms of using this event to answer the prayers of this nation. It happened in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, it happened in Soweto when the Blue Bulls got adopted by the locals as their team & it's happening again. God can use all things for the sake of His people & His Kingdom.

This will be the only time that our generation will experience hosting this event, so embrace it, feel it, enjoy it, IT IS HERE.

Herewith your World Cup Checklist : Match Tickets, Bafana Bafana shirt, cap & flag, a copy of the words of our National Anthem, a map to the closest "Park & Ride", face painted, camera & binoculars for the cheap seats, vuvuzela & a happy, joyful, loving disposition. You are now officially a Bafanian & are all set to go.

Athol  

During the week I had the privilege to a spectator at a church forum that discussed the issue of marriage vs. living together. They had speakers that came from very diverse backgrounds and everyone stated their own opinion with passion and conviction. Some of the speakers were:

• Pastors of local churches;
• A psychiatrist;
• A black lady who had a child out of wedlock;
• A single lady who stars in a popular TV soapy;
• A financial advisor;
• And a journalist to a local newspaper.

Looking at this list you know that it will make for some very interesting conversation. Well, I was not left disappointed, but still I left with great disappointment. Allow me to tell you why!

If we look at something so straightforward as the institution of marriage, or so I thought, you have to approach the Bible and find out what it says about the topic. I still have the opinion that marriage is a holy institution that originates from God, not from Dr. Phil or Oprah like some people think. Therefore marriage comes from God, I have no doubt that He will have something to say about it.

Two of the speakers communicated that with great vigor and it blessed me without end. The rest of the panel was trying to be quite sophisticated and accommodate the current cultural situation that we find ourselves in, or take actual cases and force fit it into the “truth.” Obviously you cannot fit the largeness of truth into your situation, so the next best thing is to skillfully prune the truth into your reality. That left me disappointed, very disappointed.

Os Guinness has the following to say about compromise:

Isaiah 66:2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit, AND TREMBLES AT MY WORD. You will either have a great view of God or on the other hand you will have a great view of man. They are mutually exclusive, they cannot dwell together. Marriage vs. living together is a reality in our day and age, what will you decide?

I want the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God!!   

What is your response to the grace message? Does it make you lazy? Does it make you more licentious? Does it make you legalistic, afraid that you might be too “loose” if you embrace this life changing teaching of the bible? Or, does a thankfulness well up in you about what God has done for you and you want to live your life with exuberant thanksgiving and praise as a response to Him?

One of the demands of God is holiness and we are required to be holy before God. And we cannot come before God without it.

1 Peter 1:14–16 (ESV)

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The law demanded that we be holy, which no one could attain. By the grace of God Christ came and we were given a holiness from Christ, yet now the next step is to exercise this holiness in which we aim at becoming like Jesus which is really the Holy Spirit making us on the outside what God has already made us on the inside (paraphrasing JC Ryle on holiness).

The difference between being under grace and being under the law is not only in the sense of ownership (read Romans 7), but the difference between “have to”, “what has been done” and  in light of that how we now can and “ought to” live.

The law was given to restrain evil until Christ came. The law told the Israelites how they have to live with the fear of punishment as a consequence for wrongdoing.

When Christ came and opened to us the anticipated “new way”, He taught us rather what the spirit (heart) of the law was in comparison to the letter (written) of the law that we were used to, and how He fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law so that we don't have to do anything anymore.

The application of this is like a husband who doesn't have to do anything more than the legal requirements of his marriage, yet when he goes beyond the law and the bare minimum required, it leads to his marriage becoming a touch of heaven on earth. Likewise our fellowship with God becomes so much sweeter if we are truly hungering and thirsting after Him!

When punishment is the main motivation then we do the bare minimum, whereas pure grace whereby we got our salvation, should cause us to go way beyond what is expected because of the law of love. For e.g. How far would the love sick man go to prove his love to his fiancee...

A wrong understanding is the cause of us slipping up, because we turn the bible into a set of principles or rules to live by, rather than a mirror showing me how I am doing compared to The  Truth. 

We can therefore never apply christian principles to unbelievers and expect christian conduct, for it is only the Holy Spirit inside of us who can change our thinking through the word which will consequently lead to us conducting ourselves in a different manner.

That is why I believe Jesus gave us the “Sermon on the Mount”, not to find new rules on how to live, but rather to measure ourselves on how we are doing? Previously everyone saw the 10 commandments as external rules and did the bare minimum to not get into trouble, not realizing like Paul that we are all caught out by the 10th Commandment!

However, through the operation of The Holy Spirit we realize how far we fall short. This leads us to God - to ask for His help, and He, in return change us from the inside out through the Holy Spirit renewing our minds as we apply the living Word in our lives.

The New Testament teaching is not telling us how to live, rather it is telling us who we are in the sight of God. This is why many of the great Epistles start with our position and who we are before God, which we refer to as the doctrinal sections (Be however careful, to not miss the many practical applications in these sections).

Once this is done, we come to the practical sections. These are not principles or new rules that I need to apply as a believer, but in the light of the aforementioned doctrine we can look into the mirror of the Word and see how we are really doing.

For e.g. Romans 12, Ephesians and The Sermon on the Mount which mainly deals with how we ought to conduct ourselves can easily be applied mechanically as a set of new morals or rules by which I should live, as opposed to looking into the mirror of these scriptures and seeing whether the way I live is anything like the description I see of a believer mentioned there.

These “mirrors” show us how Christ lived and how we will one day live, and chances are, you are probably not even close to that.

Now, the wrong response would be to only try and be a different person. Rather, we should go back to the doctrine portion and contemplate and meditate on those things. As I said earlier, the way to change our behaviour is to not do a few things differently, but rather to think differently which only the Holy Spirit through the living word can do for us.

It is therefore the application of the living Word by the Holy Spirit that truly changes our conduct, whereas morality is just trying to do a few things differently on the outside.

If we therefore live as we ought to, our lives will beckon a question and we will have chance after chance to give a reason for the hope that we have.

How much do we do through self effort and how much do we do in the Holy Spirit?

If God has given us children, then surely we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us raise them. Does this extend to every decision? What they are to wear as well as how to discipline? How unhelpful is the comment made by some (sadly, including me) that ‘God is your father, not your mother’. God has given us the Spirit and ‘it seems right to me and to the Spirit’ should echo all through our day.

Are we truly Spirit led or only claim this to be so? Is it that we want the glory and fail to acknowledge the working of the Holy Spirit? By nature, we want the credit for what we have done, rather than give the credit to someone else. Surely we should be acknowledging the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives more!

We want the Holy Spirit to help us in the ‘spiritual’ matters: If God has saved us then surely we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us witness. But the Holy Spirit is far more than that. If we live in the Spirit and are led by Him, then we cannot separate earthy life and spiritual life. One moment he is there, the next He is not! The result of this thinking is that we place too much reliance on ourselves and give too little place to Him. When God gives you something to do, He gives you whatever you need for the task, the wisdom, the gifting, the anointing. And if you are alive then surely the Holy Spirit is given for everyday living for that is what you are to do, until he takes you home.

We have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit. Let us rely on the Holy Spirit more.

Sunday the 23rd of May 2010 marks a significant day in the Christian calendar – the day the Holy Spirit was poured out. As we read Peter’s words that the “promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." (Acts 2:39). We should be asking for more of Him!

Acts 2:17-18 "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”

We can have more of the Holy Spirit. Let us ask for more of Him. For a baptism of power, a baptism of boldness, a baptism of assurance. Surely there is more! Ask for the more!

Brad Smith

This is an excerpt from Michael Eaton's remarkable essay entitled, "Expository Preaching", which features in Greg Haslam's "Preach the Word". This is a 623 page gem of essays by 20 well-known contemporary British preachers, and is a "must-have" for any preacher or preacher-to-be...
'"For anyone embarking upon Christian ministry, the first step is to ask, "What kind of ministry do I have?" and to structure his or her day accordingly. The preacher, having answered this first question, must then ask a second question: "What sort of preacher is God calling me to be?".

In order to answer this question, the individual must think very carefully about who he is as a person. Am I the kind of person who could happily sit at a desk for two or three hours a day, or does the thought fill me with horror? Or am I much more the type of person who loves being with people, pastoring and counselling them, and serving them in their day-to-day needs? We are all different with different God-given gifts. While we need to be careful that our gifts do not become our weaknesses (for every gift if used lopsidedly becomes a weakness), yet I believe we have to follow our gifts. I have never known two pastors that are alike. I have never known two men with an apostolic ministry that are alike. I have never known two people with any kind of prophetic ministry that are alike. Every single one of us is different, and we are each at our best when we are being ourselves.

I don't think every pastor has to be a great Bible expositor. Some people are not made for it. We each have to decide what sort of person we are, what our gifts are and what our desires are - since the Lord gives to us the desires of our heart. Our answers to these questions will help us decide how much time per day and per week we ought to be giving to preparation for preaching, and it will be different for each one of us. For myself there is scarcely ever a day when I don't preach and therefore I have given myself plenty of time to be involved in the Word of God.

We also need to consider what is a realistic level for us in our preaching. Not everyone is an original thinker who wants to spend hours delving into the Scriptures. Some people are content to rely on material that others have presented, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes when I visit a remote village in Kenya or Malaysia, for example, I find someone preaching one of my sermons. The preacher may feel a bit embarrassed and explain that he is drawing from material in one of my 'Preaching Through the Bible' series. But that is the very reason I wrote the series in the first place - I want to put material into people's hands. The first step for every preacher, then, is to consider his gifting and decide how much time he is going to spend in the Word each day".

A critical underlying issue here is GRACE - God will only grace you for that to which He has called you. When walking by the Spirit (inexactly!), we find that our desires and His calling marry nicely. N

Today we have so many different vehicles to help us define our relationships. Science, technology and the likes are rapidly advancing towards greater and greater heights. Adam and Eve had very little to keep them busy, maybe giving names to all the animals and the eating from the fruit of this tree and that tree, but very little else. Except for God that came and dwelt with them in the afternoon breeze, they had no one else to relate too, so maybe in that simplistic context one can maybe understand why God would consider calling their relationship method or vehicle a covenant.

Today with 6,5 billion people on this planet, not to mention all the high and lofty things that we keep ourselves busy with like career and fame and fortune. Clearly covenant is total overkill, maybe God did not consider our prowess and the intellectual and innovative capability of man when he cut covenant with our great, great, great grand parents.

 Let’s look at some of the modern day methods we make use of when we regulate our relationships:

• A friendship is an association or friendly relationship you have with someone. We all have many Facebook friends and feel good about the number of friendship we have, but how strong and healthy are those relationships? What are those friendships worth to us? One of the ways that we can measure worth is to determine what we are prepared to pay or sacrifice to have something. Ultimately friendships may be determined by what we are prepared to lose in order that we may keep them. So often after we counted the cost it is very easy for us to let a friendship go. After all it is all about myself, is it not?
• A partnership is an association between two persons joined in a common business venture. Partnerships will normally add up to a 100% and not more. This means if your partner contributes 50% to the wellbeing of the partnership you should likewise bring 50% to the table. Some people like partnerships because they cannot over commit. A common misconception from married people is that marriage is a partnership, I give 50% and my spouse gives 50%. Well it does not take a rocket scientist to see where that marriage will end up. 
• A contract is an agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified. A good contract would include certain terms and conditions and would clearly indicate if and when one of the parties is in breach of the agreement. This breach would normally end in the other party receiving compensation or in extreme situations the contract can be overturned and ended. So a contract would be conducive to keep a relationship between two parties going as long as things are mutually beneficial. But if one of the parties feel undone they can push to end the agreement, sometimes with and sometimes without costs.
• A covenant likewise is an agreement between two parties but with one major difference. Even if one of the parties does not own up to their part of the bargain, the other party has no recourse. How crazy is that! Does it mean that if my wife does not love me like she should, I must keep on giving a 100%? Jip! But that does not seem fair in our modern day society? Surely I have the right to be happy!!

O, how I thank God for covenant!! He does not treat us according to our performance. The mighty hand of God is ever present to hold onto our weak and puny little hands. He will not let you go, Jesus said that no one can snatch us from of the Father’s hand. Covenant promotes pleasing others and is devastating to self-preservation. Jesus understood covenant and joyfully endured the cross. He likened our relationships to a kernel of wheat.

John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

John Piper: “The reason there is so much misery in marriage is not that husbands and wives seek their own pleasure, but that they do not seek it in the pleasure of their spouses.”

I have to admit that God knows best when it comes to covenantal relationships. What this relationally disfunctional world needs more than ever is people that live and understand covenant. Like the words of the song goes; ''He ain't heavy, he's my brother.''

Legalism.

Having spent a few days in Islamic states I have a much firmer resolve to cling to the gospel of grace and run with all my might from even the smallest hint of legalism. To see legalism in full living colour was horrific and yet to know that I am so susceptible to hanging my robes of righteousness on the same hook is a fearful thing. Don’t be fooled; legalism is what will cause a father to drown his daughter for dishonouring the family name; legalism will have parents lock their child in a pitch black room being fed through a hole in a door until they eventually die; and legalism in any form or fashion has the same DNA of these horrific deeds no matter how small the dosage.

Compromise.

Compromise is killing Islam. The desperate desire to make money leads many radical Muslims to turn a blind eye and slowly but surely compromise is routing out conviction and watering down their faith. Their unwavering desire to be the biggest and the best means that they have had to accommodate different faiths and world views and compromise in previously unthinkable ways. Now those that have a superficial faith are being bombarded with faithless, lawless westerners and they wonder why the next generation is not embracing Islam the way they did. The very thing that they believe will make their name great is washing the sand away from under their feet. Are we as Christians any different?

Remnant.

The word ‘remnant’ used to have the stigma of a handful of people clinging on for dear life against all odds. However, having returned from the Middle East, the undisputed bastion of Islam, I have found The Remnant to be strong in faith, rich in vision, wild in passion and deeply in love with their Saviour, and it would seem that they look at us as being those that are clinging on against all odds!

At Christians most of us have an underlying deep trust in God. It is that Hope that comes with our salvation, like an anchor to the soul. We say, “Yes I know, eventually God will come through for me”. However, at the same time many of are faced with present challenges, or delays, which often leads to despair “How am I going to get through this?” I have often prayed, saying that I know God is going to help me one, but I wonder how I am going to survive until He helps me! I have a long term trust in God, but I sometimes wonder at His ability to carry me through the present issue.

In the face of delays there is a danger: we tend to take things into our own hands. We try to help God to fulfil His promise, like Abram reaching for Hagar to help God to give him a son. ‘Taking things into our own hands’ can have disastrous results:

• we may reach for the ‘hand of the flesh’ and become aggressive, even obsessive, to finish off the job, or achieve something specific
• we can get all ‘tied up in knots’ and become highly stressed up
• our family and friends may find it hard to relate to us
• you may affect your health by having too much stress and an unhealthy diet
• he who wants to get rich falls into a snare that plunges people into destruction. (1 Tim 6:9)

Make no mistake: I do believe in hard work. But there is a difference between hard work and taking things into our own hands. Laziness and indiscipline will lead to poverty. There’s no doubt about that. But aggressive, fleshly, desperate, obsessive action cuts us off from the peace of God, and the ability to hear Him and follow His guidance in the small, daily steps of our lives. This too will lead to ruin.

David learned how to ‘strengthen himself in the Lord’ (1 Sam    ). For me, this has become an essential key to staying fresh, and avoiding stress, and remaining in touch with the life-flow that come from His presence. Apart from God we can do nothing. Only what is achieved in Him and by Him will stand. This means that, instead of being obsessed or desperate to achieve success, and to provide for my family, I should be desperate to stay connected to my God and Saviour. My only hope is in Him.

• this is how long term trust is translated into a present faith
• this is where His life is infused into my daily activities
• this is how we can manage not to burn out and become a ‘yesterday’s man’
• when Abram learned that his best effort CANNOT fulfil the purposes of God by himself, his name was changed to Abraham (Abram and Elohim became one). That’s the day when Abraham became fruitful.
• This is when we begin to realise that it is not the achievement of success that gives us meaning and a sense of fulfilment in life, but the fact that we are ‘in Christ’. There is no better satisfaction to the human soul.

Slow down! Stay connected! Speak in tongues every free minute of the day, building up your most holy faith. God will come through for you in His time. Remember God is never in a hurry, but He is always on time. You don’t have to be in the desert until He gives you the victory. We can have and live in His victory even before He gives you the fulfilment of the promise.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:2-5 NIV)

Who of us have not asked the Father to help us grow far more fruit of the Spirit in our lives? How many of us have not wrestled with the notion of "abiding in the Vine" and "waiting for God"? Too often we spout the theory while it is only half-formed in us. Doctrines of life are not life. Ways are not the goal; only the means to the Goal.

God forgive us, and He does. But now, apprehend afresh the reality that the fruit comes by God creating the circumstances conducive to the growth of the fruit. Stop running from these things. if in the end our suffering produces life, peace and a rich eternity, learn to make it your friend.

How can I learn to grow patience unless through delays?

How can I be taught the gentleness of the Spirit unless through hard men?

How can I grow joy unless through lesser joys being stripped away?

How can I learn to abide in heavenly peace unless in war and times of strife?

How can I become loving with God-love unless I am hated and have enemies?

How can I be kind as Christ is kind, unless I am exposed to unkindness?

How can I find goodness abiding in my heart, unless I dwell amongst badness?

How can I be faithful, unless I face fickleness and difficulties that oblige me to walk by faith, not by sight?

How can I control myself by the Spirit’s power unless I face trials and temptations? Unless I see and take the way out God has promised always to provide?

So often we cry out to God for deliverance, when we should be asking Him for wisdom. This is what James tells us – when facing many and diverse trials and temptations, ask God for wisdom in those trials. And know that you are blessed when you face them, because “the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work so that “you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”!

Romans 5:3-4 tells us that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope”.

Jesus, forgive us for asking You to remove all the nasty things, which are the very things You are using to develop the fruit of the Spirit in us. And it is only this fruit that will grant to us eternal rewards forever and ever. Amen.

I’ve been reading a lot about shepherding a child’s heart and not merely changing behavior. The more I think about how important heart change is in preparing my children for their future, the more it turns my attention to the state of my own heart. If I am to seek heart change in my children (because they are born sinners) and not just changed behavior then surely that applies to me too. I think this is the essence of what it means to live in freedom and not under the law. I am able to gain changed behavior in my children now quite easily, but what happens a few years or even months down the line when the heart stayed the same? Rebellion, lifeless compliance, boredom with life???

My prayer is for my heart to change and the result to be changed behavior otherwise I find myself not too long drifting off into old patterns again.

While I’m writing this I remember times doing things without my heart being in it and later found that my heart changed, but this is done in faith and not simply plodding along and going with the flow.

It doesn’t say let your ‘actions’ hold fast to my words. Once the heart changes the actions follow. This is a call for me to be careful not to do the right thing – what is expected of me – but a call to ask God to change my heart as I do this or before I do it otherwise it won’t be lasting change/behavior.

Not quite plastic tough elastic

Makes me spastic this

Middle class brass bubble

That keeps me calm in

An ocean of trouble

Above pathetic but

Unsympathetic anaesthetic this

Middle class mask that doubles

My deceit as a priceless antique

In the rubble.

Oh Hollywood have a heart and fall silent

For one moment as I glimpse a

Flash of your dirty knickers.

I thought I saw the quite absurd –

It could have been a tweetie bird.

Something flickered.

I'm not sure any more because the

Bubble burst for only a brief moment.

What price!? What price!? What price

I pay for a lifelong stay in the

Semi-Penthouse suite. Sweet and sour.

Cometh the hour cometh the bubble man;

Here's trouble man,

It's double-or-nothing-man.

That's something, surely?

Oh so rich but so poorly this surly soul

Surrounded by such cool gadgets –

Gosh I'm posh-underspiced, overrated and

Extra-bored. Lord, get me outta here.

Gottagetouttahere. Gottagetouttahere!

Slow train comin' down the track, it's

Bare and burnt and a bad sight for

RayBan eyes. The seats are worn, torn, forlorn from

Years of being sat on and spat on by riders

Who longed for the liFe chained to Me.

How ironic, this sad sardonic

Double-edged sword signed 'Jealousy'..

Everyone is grasping upwards;

No-one knows contentment except in flash

Moments of secret ecstasy. Why me?

Why me Lord? Why not leave me to my

Unerring inertia of middle-class meaningless

Momentum? Why not leave me as a...

As a…silver-plated parody of perpetual momentum

On the desk of the gods?

It was not my lot. It was not even a little bit.

It was a nothing. Now that bare burnt

Train is going….somewhere, at least.

Could a different destiny

Rest in me Somehow?

Blessed are the poor in faith - but

Blessings are the faith of those terrified of Poverty.

No chance of a cuppa tea from enamel again?

My clumsy refrain in a Train.

Happy with nothing, for there I can possess..

Everything.

It's easier to sing but let it chug.

I have my mug of char and somewhere,

Somewhere far I know, somewhere

Under the rainbow (way out of sight)

I will find a place to grow out of my diminution –

Out of this awful middle-class

Morph-dwarf attrition that forced me

To view the world through

The big end of a telescope.

Hope. Hope. Hope again.

My refrain on a train.

Let me smell it, glimpse it, brush it briefly

As it's promise passes by my

Middle-Class Bubble

Stretched tight with my craning.

Without it, without it's touch,

I feel Life draining out.

I'm near the end of my rope.

With one touch I can go on in the hope of....

Significance

ND

Someone once said we are not successful in ministry if our family back home is falling apart. Our families are the ones who qualify us for ministry.

How many PK’s (a.k.a. pastors’ kids) don’t we know about who have gone completely off the rails? We cannot think that if we are busy with the work of God that everything will be ok with our children. No! Or in the words of Heinz, nay, nay, 3 times nay! He has given us this incredible privilege to be husbands to our wives and fathers (or mothers) to our children. We need to train them up in the ways of God. Here is a key - we cannot raise our kids in the ways of God if we don’t know God or His ways. Our ability and authority to do this effectively is directly linked to our knowledge of God’s Word.

We had dinner with a couple in our home group the other night. Our boys (Callen and Kean) were so excited as their teacher Gerdia was coming to their home. They were around us showing off their toys and their abilities, their drawing skills, asking questions – with so much excitement.

But what does Mr. Maan do? “Ok boys we are trying to talk! Boys go play! Boys go watch a DVD, Adelle please put a DVD on for them. Mr. Maan, as if so important, has got a more significant job to do” – sis! We need to involve our kiddies in what we are busy with, let them enjoy our friends and the people in church, the younger guys and ladies in home group and in church and allow people to enjoy them too. We should let our children see what our lives are about. We cannot shrug them off even if we are doing “the work of the Lord”. They cannot and should never be second best not even when we are doing “the work of the Lord”. Certain moments call for exclusions but I had to ask myself the question, do I allow them to be involved at a young age and share in the enjoyment of what we are busy with?

I know I want to get this thing called husbanding and parenting right, and I want to do that before I get it right to deacon, lead a home group, evangelize, lead a church or whatever we find our current calling to be. I believe that such a large part of our inheritance is locked up in our kids. I heard that a wise man builds with generations in mind. I sometimes find myself building not even thinking past myself at that tired moment never mind hours, days, weeks or even years ahead. Mark Driscoll mentioned that the best day of his life would be to sit in a church and hear his grandchildren preach. I ask myself - am I building in such a way to be confident that I will also see my grandchildren preach one day? When I ponder on that thought I get tears in my eyes. Imagine my boys (Callen, Kean, Jordan) and imagine Lucas, Noah, Warren, Kehan, Markus, JD, Ethan, the list goes on – the day they are fathers and their kiddies preach while we as grandfathers sit there crying our eyes out.

Don’t you find that when people phone (any time of the day) for counsel we are ready to give our time and seemingly good advice from scripture with hearts genuinely open to help them. However when we get home from a long or busy day we are too tired to invest into our kids - what is that? That is terrible! Maybe it’s because we get more recognition from man as opposed to being faithful in things that no one will notice until many years to come. I know there are exceptions but may it not be the norm.

I chatted to a friend about this very thing which we feel the same about and realized that so many of us get this wrong and it’s not ok! Are we not too focused on how to be a better leader in church or business more than desiring to be a better husband and father?

We probably all fall short of getting this right and it shouldn’t be a heavy, but rather a call to be mindful of this now. Making adjustments now is worth it as our children are our most important ministry as parents.

This cannot become a works-based goal.  If we draw closer to our heavenly Father we would be better at all of the above because it displays the heart of our Heavenly Dad. What I’m trying to say is that desiring to be a better father doesn’t start with trying to be a better father, but spending time with the Perfect Father. Yes, there are times when we specifically and practically build too but it starts in the prayer closet. 

From the beginning of this year, with our move to Canada imminently looming nearer, Leonard and I sat with pen and paper in hand one Monday morning…day-off stuff you know…to ‘plan, sort out’ get this moving thing to Canada organized properly.  We went through our list of what to sell, what to disconnect, who should collect which things when etc. etc.  you know…all the stuff moves are made of.

Standing at the end of this process, I can only stand in amazement at how God himself orchestrated every detail in our lives over the past couple of months.

Firstly Canadian friends from Zimbabwe that were moving to S. Africa contacted us early on, asking if they could purchase all our major appliances and bigger furniture items…good check that off the list…

Other people handed me or emailed me lists and asked if this or that item was available…which all seemed to be available for everyone asking!  Good, check that off the list.

Then, it’s funny how weird or odd things get left until the end, that loose carpet in the living room, that set of drawers in the store room, those last small kitchen appliances shoved in the back cupboard and that stove we have literally moved around the world with…each and every item, someone absolutely needed or asked for at the perfect time!

The people buying our last bed could wait to collect until the last day we needed to sleep on it…how amazing!  The same people buying our car, have said…use it until you leave…all such huge, specific details covered by God’s perfect plan for our lives.

Leonard was approached by a friend in church and told, ‘look, sell your motorbike now, ahead of time, and you can use mine until you leave’.  Wow, what generosity and also a huge blessing since the bike has been our second vehicle.

I guess the ‘funniest’ or most detailed evidence of God’s hand in all of this was when Matthew’s teacher from school, shyly wrote in his school diary, asking if just ‘by chance’, we would have a toaster, sandwich maker or microwave oven for sale.  She and her family had spent quite a few years in the USA and had come back but didn’t have any S. African voltage appliances.  Oh and by chance did we also just happen to have any transformers to sell, since they also had some appliances from America?

I read her note and laughed out loud actually, because I had just spoken to Leonard and said where on earth am I going to get rid of these last few things that I forget to ask people if they needed…namely, a toaster, a sandwich maker and the microwave oven???  I could only smile, knowing these were God’s fingerprints of love on our lives, taking care of the absolute minutest detail of our move to Edmonton.  What could I say but YES teacher, I do have all these items left, the very last things left and also just ‘happen’ to have not one but two transformers in perfect condition for her American appliances! 

Another chuckle we had in the process was our dear domestic worker Agnes, organized with a relative to come with a bakkie (pick-up truck) to collect a ladder, a folding table and a couple of bags of clothes I had given her.  They came and as they began carrying these things out, we kept finding more and more things for her load…blankets, a huge rocking chair, a few plastic garden chairs, etc. etc. until they had the ‘typical African’ load, hanging over the sides of the bakkie, tied on with ropes for dear life and oh yah, the ladder even made on top of the load!  Her husband laughed telling us, she told me we were just coming for a ladder, which he was thrilled with since he could use it for his job, but left, dragging slowly down the road with their heavy load. 

And all I have thought of lately, is I have to say thanks to the Lord for working out each and every one of these details, but how can you possibly say thanks for so much that he has done for us?  This is only one incident in a lifetime of ‘coincidences’ which I know are the specific hands of God working out so many intricate details in our lives.

So, I will say thanks, but with my entire life; with my strength, with my words, with giving all I have to love, pray, preach, raise kids, reach out to others, or cook meals.  May EVERY SINGLE small effort in my life, just be a way to say thank you Father….may I continually give you all the glory for your amazing love and care in my life!!

God loved the whole world that He sent His only Son on a Mission to rescue us all from our own sins. For many centuries, "mission" was a term aimed at God and his self-revelation to the world through Jesus Christ. It is His mission! He is the One Who so loves the world that He gave His only Son. It is true though that His church is missional. Since Christ's resurrection almost 2000 years ago, the church is "in-mission". We carry God's message of reconciliation in Jesus to the world. To remain here on earth means God still has good works for us. He still wants Jesus to shine through His church as light in the darkness that is over nations.

But the church is not the light, nor the fulness of the Kingdom of Jesus. She is, in the words of David Bosch,

Before moving to England, with all its mixed heritage and maladies, my definition of mission was too narrow. I spent some years in a missional organization which espoused "church planting" as the means by which the gospel was to be propagated amongst the nations. This was done in good faith. Nevertheless, as a result, I was tempted subconsciously to view the church and her leaders more as the custodians of mission than God Himself. In this area I fear I became a little humanistic in my orthopraxy (although never holding Arminianism as orthodox!).

This narrow view of mission leaned me oftentimes towards an emphasis on responsibility in my preaching, at the expense of God's virtues in Christ. That is an embarrassing confession actually. It tipped me in subtle ways towards seeking out leaders and missionaries, rather than preaching, prayer and pastoring all people. What should have happened accidently crept into the realm of the deliberate - what I mean is that leaders and missionaries (all ministries, for that matter) emerge "accidently" as we preach the Word of God deliberately...

Even though God is sovereign in all matters human looking backwards, to this day I carry regret in the many who were hastened through spiritual adolescence because their own zeal, ambitions and giftedness reacted chemically with my perceptions of a dying and needy world.

There are much more horrible consequences to "missionalism" in full flight though. Christopher Wright speaks of the faulty logic of "looking for a biblical basis for mission rather than seeing the missional heart of God in the Bible". Of course, in many ways narrowly-defined missionalism introduces both discontent and potential disqualification into the wider ranks of the saints - if 'normal' husbands and wives and office workers are not somehow "engaged in the dramatic", then they could well conclude that they had surrendered themselves to a "lesser life". How tragic this is, and all the more when you see the sweeping "mission-mandate" in the word of God is not geographic nor gift-orientated, but local, normal, mundane, day-to-day. The Word commends every saint to "remain in the situation he was in when God called him" (1 Cor 7:20). We also see that both Paul and Jesus commended various churches for faithfulness in the local house; for abiding with each other; for holding onto truth in testing that comes to their city; in assembling together; in being salt and light; in being ready to give reason for the hope they have; in washing their wives with the Word; in hard work; in.....abiding! And for a few men and women, filled with and directed by the Spirit, they are moved to move beyond. The non-geographic outworks geographically.

In 1978, Johannes Verkuyl identified 4 impure mission motives that have beset the Christian church in her zeal to "go"... "(a) the imperialist motive - turning natives into docile subjects of colonial authorities; (b) the cultural motive - mission as the transfer of the missionary's "superior" culture; (c) the romantic motive - the desire to go to far-away and exotic countries and people's; (d) the motive of ecclesiastical colonialism - the urge to export one's own confession and church order to other territories".

The genius David Bosch expanded this further in his book, Transforming Mission, to include more adequate but still incomplete motives for mission: "(a) the conversion motive - emphasizing personal decision and commitment, but narrowing down the reign of God to the sum total of saved souls; (b) the eschatalogical motive - the eagerness to see the return of Christ which ignores the realities of life and its living in the here and now; (c) the "plantatio ecclesiae" (church planting) motive - prioritizing the gathering of communities of the committed but identifying the church with the Kingdom of God (they are not the same thing); and (d) the philanthropic motive - challenging the church to seek justice in the world but equating God's reign with an improved society".

In the face of these impure and inadequate motives, the best definition I have ever come across in my life to date is that of Bartholomew and Goheen, in their book The Drama of Scripture: "God’s mission is this: to restore the creation. Israel’s mission flows from this: God chose a people to again embody God’s creational purposes for humanity and so be a light to the nations, and the Old Testament narrates the history of Israel’s response to their divine calling. Jesus' mission: When Jesus comes on the scene, He takes upon Himself the missionary vocation which had been Israel's. He embodies God's purpose for humanity and accomplishes the victory over sin, opening the way to a new world. When His earthly ministry is over, He leaves His Church with the mandate to continue in that same mission. And so the Church's mission: in our time, standing as we do between Pentecost and the return of Jesus, our central task as the people of God is to witness to the rule of Jesus Christ over all of life".

In His mission we find the meaningful life mandate for every single Christian. While it requires preachers, it is not all about preaching. While God moves through His church, it is not all about church planting. While he commends us assembling together, it cannot only be about meetings. While His rule can change society, it is not firstly about social justice. While Jesus is coming back soon, it is not merely about speeding His return.

It about nations being discipled into Christ, one person and family at a time. It is about incarnational belief - the Holy Spirit finding hearts to abide in, and in so doing, the salt becoming salty wherever it may fall. It is about healed marriages and healthy divorcees; it is about both blessings and tribulations suffered well; it is about both joy and perseverance; spiritual gifts and public politics; teaching and miracles; quiet times and shouting from the rooftops. It is God's mission where every saint has a place, and a profound one. We all so quickly look to this event or that outpouring, even though Christ warned us that "the Kingdom of God comes without our observation". One thing I do know, is that wherever mission truly brings in the Kingdom it is always a miracle of God - the unfathomable working of the Holy Ghost in impossible ways, deep within the people He inhabits. Possibly the two most haunting legacies of all from secularizing the Mission of God are the Holy Ghost becoming more a lever than the Lover; and the Word being more principles than the Person.

I trust this piece brings you peace. I trust you engage your mind on this matter. May God show you how small you are, and how much you matter to Him. May you find your place in obscurity; and in your success may God get the publicity. May we see churches arise where godly mums are championed as much as powerful evangelists; where Kingdom-minded businessmen are as much heroes as charity workers; where preachers are sacramental but not sacred cows; where every means of grace has meaning beyond its visible appearance and applause.

N

This makes us as a church believe in believing right and in doing right.
Our doctrinal belief can best be described as Triune God-besotted, yet Christ-centered in our gospel preaching, because Jesus is man’s only access into the Trinity.

We hold to a reformed-charismatic view and choose to uphold all restored truth, even though it forces us to walk with divine tensions. We want to assume neither the gospel nor the Holy Spirit’s work. We desire to truly honour both God’s word and His Spirit.

“more interested in the harvest than the barn”, in that we want to cross barriers from church to nonchurch, faith to nonfaith and see people reconciled and restored to God, to themselves, to others and the world, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. (Van Engen)

believing that the church holds the keys to the Kingdom, which is why we gather men and women into the church with a view to the transformation of the world as a sign of the coming kingdom of Jesus.

Our philosophy of ministry can be described as postmodern conservative, since we want to engage our time with the ancient ever-truth of scripture.

Our personality as a church in Pretoria is, or at least aims to be, loved and loving, lavishly creative, wildly generous, daringly innovative and pioneering, caringly concerned, delighted and urgent, loud and joyful, livers of kingdom life!

More than ever before in the history of mankind, we are bombarded with options and opinions. Everywhere you look someone or something tells us about this amazing product, or that great holiday destination, or this life-changing program, or ideology. We get so inundated with information that we suffer from the inflation of information,

Unfortunately this rampant consumerism has also crept into the modern day church. Surely there are limitless ways and options for you to come to Jesus. If only you do this, or say that prayer, buy this book and CD; you will surely see the other side of heaven. “Really?” like RT Kendall says. There is a portion of scripture in 1 Kings 18 that gripped my heart around this multiple option nonsense.

Elijah, the anointed prophet and “troubler of Israel”, was tormenting Ahab and Jezebel, the wicked king and queen of the nation of Israel. Jezebel was from a foreign nation and she brought all of their religious options and styles of worship into the royal palace. Jezebel was bent on killing all of God’s prophets, including Elijah. One of Ahab’s servant’s, Obadiah, hid a 100 of the prophets in two caves, sustaining them with bread and water. This speaks to me of the Word of God, that we should hide it away in the caves of our heart. The Bread of Life and the wellspring of Living Water should continuously feed us.

So the story goes that Elijah meets Ahab, Jezebel, her many Baal prophets and all of Israel on Mount Carmel, the place reckoning. Elijah is brilliant to put everyone before a choice, don’t linger between two opinions, if God is God then serve him, if Baal is God, then serve him. No insecurities in this statement, just solid belief in the One he knows personally. They take two bulls and prepare them for sacrifice; the only problem is that there were no firelighters. The god that answers with fire, He is God.

We all know how it turned out for the Baal dudes, lots of chanting, dancing, shouting, cutting themselves with swords and spears, but hey no fire. After many hours Elijah calls everyone together and prepares the sacrifice to God. He rebuilds the altar that was in ruins on Mount Carmel. If we want to serve the God that answers with fire, we should make sure that the altar of worship that is seated in our hearts, are in good condition and ready for use. He digs a trench around the altar and fills it with water. He pours so much water over the sacrifice that the trench is filled. No David Copperfield tricks here!

He prays that God would answer his prayer with fire, but more than that, that the nations hearts would be turned back to God. Immediately the fire of God fell on the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones of the altar, even licking up the water in the trench. When the people saw this they fell prostrate on their faces and cried out- The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God! Sounds like a scene from a Hollywood movie, just one big difference, IT REALLY HAPPENED. God has a very specific way that He wants to be worshipped, not with shouting, jumping, dancing and cutting but from the heart. He is jealous for the affection of His children that is why He will overpower and defeat all other idols that fight for our affection. Don’t get me wrong, God is not needy for your worship but He is a loving Father that wants to see us excel and mature, not stagnating and unfulfilled.  

So capture the false prophets with their opinions and lies and put them to death. Elijah and the Israelites did that with every single Baal prophet. They allowed God to turn their hearts back to Him, rebuilt the altars and killed the false prophets. Life is to short to dance between two opinions, call out to the God that answers with fire and He will ignite your life again.

We often seal food so we can use it later when needed.

One of the greatest problems with Christianity today is that we misunderstand what sealed mean:  the moment or day that you refer to when you got saved, is when you received and acknowledged your assurance of salvation. This event is what we refer to as sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is a guarantee from God of your final redemption....but this is only the beginning...

We often seal food in order to preserve its contents for later use. The point of sealing however is not so much to preserve as it is to USE the contents later. Likewise, we are given the Holy Spirit to enable us to bear good fruits  - to be eaten; enjoyed.

Sealed does not automatically result in fellowship, although it is a requirement for it. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, yes, but we still need to fellowship with Christ to be experience this fullness Paul is referring to. There is no point in sealing a jam jar without the fruity contents. The sealing should be because of the filling! And who buys empty jam bottles? No-one. Without fellowship with Christ there is little we as Christians can offer.

Many are content to be saved and to camp at the gates of salvation. Many live lukewarm lives. Many believers are just sitting on the shelf as fruit -sealed and canned- enduring this life...waiting for their redemption. Happy to be saved and not interested in anything more. Yet, there is so much more! 

So, why are christians happy to have the bare requirements? I believe, it has to do with the following well known scripture:

Sadly this verse has been used to refer to evangelism and unbelievers, which is a gross misunderstanding and neglect of one of the greatest experiences a Christian can have:

In context, this was written to the church at Laodicea who was lukewarm, and verse 20 gives us the remedy for their lukewarmness (shelf life as I call it)....fellowship with Jesus, which is why He is knocking. Somehow they were happy to be part of God's family, and not pursue anything else.

A marriage contract makes the relationship binding and acts as proof of the marriage but growing fellowship is what makes marriage sweet and heavenly. How much more should this not be the case when it comes to us being one with Christ! Don't just be a jar-head have jam packed times with Him.

Do you know, believer, that Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart to come in and have fellowship. Not come and go every once in a while, but stay and commune with you daily, so that you may “....know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” - Eph 3:19. It is this fellowship that Paul is praying for that the church at Ephesus should have.

....like a balloon being blown full of air, and can have different levels of fullness, so is there no end to the fullness that the lover of our souls desire with us!

(The picture is of Arwen wearing Auntie Helen's hat at Plettenberg Bay.)

Sassy. Sexy. Sweet. Men have gone lyrical over women's little numbers.  It has been celebrated in songs and such. For example: lady in red; itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini; locally in songs such as rooi rok bokkie and so forth.

For some women it is the perfect prom dress from their nineteen seventies dance in matric. For another it is killer heels bought on Oxford street. Yet, for another, it is a hand me down beautiful pashmina from India. Thé little number isn't just any piece of clothing. It tells stories. Its filled with memories of the past, and more importantly, it is a link to the future- the must have item for that special occasion. Just in case. But somewhere in-between, there is the present. And so it hangs between an old raincoat and a party costume for that (rainy?) day when you will definitely need it. Definitely.

(yes, Christians can wear bikinis, and yes elders' wives do occasionally wear bikinis.) Hidden right at the back of my closet in some obscure corner for the day when i will fit into it again. It is not quite a polka dot bikini. And not quite itsy bitsy. But it is quite small. Too small. After a third baby I really can't squeeze into it any more. But I am determined to... some day.

In the meantime, my motto:  “avoid any public swimming” stands (except where it involves a wetsuit like with deep sea diving, DEEP sea diving). And so I sit staring at those splishing and splashing- sweating when I could've been swimming.  In my aiming for perfection, I was missing out on all the fun I could be having RIGHT NOW. Isn't that often how we as believers think and act? “I have a prophetic gifting, but I'll only use it once I can speak fluent in public.” “I'd love to make a meal and bless someone, but I just can't cook as well” “I'd love to contribute at home group, but what if everyone thinks what I say is so obvious. I'll rather wait until I have more profile.” And so we sit as spectators staring wishfully as others take the plunge.

Staying in Uitenhage this past few weeks has had a significant impact on my no-bathing creed: firstly, I didn't have my not quite itsy bitsy polka dot bikini to remind me of what was or what should be.  And secondly, Uitenhage is hellish hot. Not swimming when there is a pool is just short of insane! In this weather, watching by the wayside is not an option. There should be a law against people spectating: apart from dehydration, it could also lead to hazardous hallucinations, especially when water is scarce too! So, at the first opportunity, I got myself a one piece bathing suit. Black with pink stripes. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. In fact, my husband stared at me in disbelief when I bought this black little number. You see, he still thinks I can fit into my bikini (bless his soul).  “Are you sure you don't want to try on another costume, hon?” “No, this will be fine, thanks.” Besides, there wasn't any other.

By no means! I still aspire to, one day in the near future, wear my two-piece. But for now, even in imperfection, I am proudly wearing my stripes- knowing that I will be looking back at these times, treasuring the moments we as a family had at the community pool in Uitenhage; at the beach in Port Elizabeth; on vacation with friends. Instead of loathing these moments, I love 'em. Instead of spectating, I now participate. The more i dress in my new little (larger) black number, the less conscious I become of my shortcomings. And who cares! We are so afraid of living life now because of a couple of strangers who might see our imperfections. What the heck. They probably won't be there tomorrow. They most definitely won't care in a couple of months. But you will. You will remember that you gave it your all even if your everything wasn't quite that much. You will remember having lived. Without excuse. My new motto: 'Carpe Diem.' Seize the day! Take the plunge! And so, “I'm gonna get dressed for success, shaping me up for the big time baby!”

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"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom 15:5-6)

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. “May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:13-18)

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph 4:16)

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Col 3:12-14)

Every gift - not just the "5 fold" gifts - serves this purpose. Christ is coming back for one Bride. Think about this before you are too quick to dedicate your life energies to pursuing privatized goals. And as you do, forgive men; release debtors; love everyone with all your heart - not just the "likable" people. Practise the spiritual skill of overlooking offences. Act and speak as men and women who will themselves be judged by the law of Love. Sow towards righteousness. Bite your tongue. Pass the shocks and pains onto Jesus, the Great Yoke-Breaker.

the same Awesome Power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you. The reason all the New Testament authors could write instructions so plainly was because they knew that the church had been raised to a supernatural life. The Spirit given to us is powerful. He tends us towards holiness. These authors wrote not to the "old you", but the the new you - the Christ-life within.

Be a pot for noble purposes. When Paul wrote of this (2 Tim 2:20), he wrote specifically in the context of men who argued and chattered and slandered. God is saying here, that the man who does not increase spiritual unity across the body is a common man.
Don't be a commoner any more! Humility releases the power of God - so apply yourself in your new life to love; to peace; to meekness. For such a man is described as "great" in the eternal Kingdom.
Nick

I fully agree with Piet Lindeque's blog about grumbling. “Coincidentally” this is a topic we discussed in Home Group this week & I would love to add more food for thought.

So, we built stadiums & upgraded roads & airports & hotels & infrastructure in general & spent a lot of money doing it & to make matters worse, maybe there was irregularity in the awarding of some of these contracts. What if we aren’t ready in time, or the visitors get ripped off or mugged, or what if we have power failures etc. etc. etc. Surely all this money & effort could’ve been invested in vital projects like health, education, job creation etc. but the point is this –

On the 11th June 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, the greatest spectacle this continent & country has ever seen WILL occur. 94 700 people will watch Bafana Bafana play Mexico live in the opening game. "Oh, but our team has no chance", some might say & to this I reply, “Imagine 75 000 Vuvuzelas all being blown at once, lifting the spirit & courage of a team, but also the hopes & dreams of a nation.” I don’t want to be a Mexican on that day. All it takes is hope & hope is likened to faith, which is the substance of things hoped for. Oh yes, it’s also going to take a goal or two to win it :-)

About half a billion people worldwide will watch each game live on television, the Internet etc. & about half a million fanatical soccer fans from around the world will put their feet in our beautiful country in the months of June & July. What will they say about us when they go back? Imagine each one of them telling 10 people that South Africa is a must-visit place & only half of those 10 decide to visit, say, in the next 5 years – that would mean half a million extra tourists visiting South Africa per year over the next 5 years.

I have the privilege of travelling abroad & also hosting international visitors in a business context quite regularly & they ALL comment on the beauty of this country, but their biggest wonder is the amazing people that they find South Africans to be. What will they say after July? God uses all things for the believer's good according to Romans 8 & I truly believe that this World Cup event can be an avenue of great blessing for this nation. So my perspective & advice is this : Put a smile on your face & have a positive message about the World Cup, support our team, watch a game or two & who knows maybe, just maybe the unimaginable can happen – sport can once again unite us ALL as a people &  maybe, just maybe, we could even have a lot of fun & maybe, just maybe, we could even win this darn thing !!!            

Here some links on the subject for you to check out:

In today’s economic and political climate in SA, it is not hard to come across people complaining and grumbling about difficulties and hardships, both financially and personally. It even happens that some are complaining about the prospect, which is now a reality, of the Soccer World Cup coming to the rainbow nation! It is easy to forget the positive impact the Rugby World Cup of 1995 had on this country, politically and financially.

What is the issue is the way we react to our circumstances. Instead of seeing the opportunities, which will accompany the masses of foreigners coming to our country, we see and speak death over it, and you get the impression that people want to see it fail !

Just reading the history of the Israelites, and specifically in the book of Numbers, we see how God dealt with them as they complained and doubted His sovereign plan. They grumbled against Him, and as punishment they REMAINED in the desert. It is a story of great tragedy, but also of God’s enduring hope, in that His Great plan of redemption continued, in spite of their rebellion. The question is, do we want to remain in a desert by complaining when we should, as Christians direct our hope on our Saviour, who gave us life, light and hope? It does not mean that we should never have criticism against poor solutions and wicked actions, but never should we grumble against God and His ways and the processes He is busy with in our lives.

He was born in a stable and sought to be killed as a child. He was constantly persecuted when He started His ministry. He was nailed to a Cross, yet never did He complain. Let us turn to Him instead to remove our burdens and lead us on the way everlasting…

What is the use of having rights when you never exercise them? Can you imagine someone getting free access to an exclusive club or the best season tickets to a sports stadium- for life- and never use it? What about an employee getting free shares and being afraid to exercise it? Foolishness, we would all agree!

Through my wife giving birth (bless her!), my children have been given the right for us to be their parents. This allows them access to us, and comes with a confidence and assurance that they can be in our presence whenever they choose. They must however exercise this right, which they do without reserve. I always find it fascinating that my children would come running toward me when I come home, or always ask where I am when I am not there. They are forever climbing over me and wanting to be with me when I am around. They have no reluctance of sharing with me whatever is on their heart. They are exercising their right of being our children. And I love this!

How much more have we been given an even greater right and privilege through our adoption and new birth as children of God. And through putting our faith in His faithfulness, we have a confidence and assurance that we can be in His presence whenever we want to. Sadly, many believers don't exercise this right.  When it comes to God, believers will rather exercise their right to remain silent and prefer an attorney to speak on their behalf: as if they are presented before a judge or government representative. Many believers, as in the Old Testament, are happy for the “Moses” in their life to speak to God on their behalf- leaving the critical business of prayer and communion with the lover of their souls...to another.

We have the ultimate love story, of a King  becoming a servant, going to the ends of the earth, to restore a broken relationship and separation, which He had no part in causing. And because of God's plan of salvation in sending His Son to bring reconciliation and restitution for us, we can now boldly enter the throne room with grace. He did this for YOU.

The enemy's primary strategy is to get us to lose this confidence and assurance- the ease of entering into the throne room- through piling guilt and condemnation on us because of the life we are living or have lived! Someone once said: “don't believe the devil, even if he is right!” for the bible is very clear that once we accepted Christ as our Saviour, we are no longer slaves to sin and Satan but we are now sons of the Most High! We are no longer before a judge, but on the lap of a loving Father who delights in giving us His Kingdom!

My children see me as a loving father, and have a boldness and confidence to approach me about anything...(O Lord, may this never change!), whereas the person appearing before the judge has quite the opposite feeling, and have an uncertainty of what will happen when confronted and questioned. They are anxiously awaiting an uncertain outcome.

The reason we struggle with this is because we put way too much emphasis on ourselves in terms of salvation and neglect that this is “from God”. He saved us, in spite of ourselves. There is no reason why He chose us: our good lives did not impress God, our lineage means nothing. He chose us because of Him! Because of God's grace and mercy. Because He wanted to!

Friends, we have a ticket, stamped with the blood of Christ, to enter the presence of God 24/7/365.

In His presence all our fears melt away- we have peace with Him, our yokes and burdens become light and there is fullness of joy!

O, what you would give to have it again... like the Psalmist – one day in His courts would be exchanged for a lifetime of earthly pleasures.

Don't you know that it is for someone like yourself that He made Himself available? Why don't you enter in? Why not exercise your right? In the midst of what He has done for us, there is no excuse not to run to him and share our hearts before the King. He is in fact, our loving Father longing for us to come closer...

“Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” The king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.” (Esth 7:9-10 NIV)

Haman loved position, and hated anyone who did not honor his position. He was so furious with Mordecai the Jew, for not bowing and scraping to him, that he got the king to issue an edict of annihilation against all the Jews in all the provinces of Persia. He even built a high gallows by his home to hang Mordecai there. In the end, God turned it around on Haman, and he was hanged on this very gallows.

If we oppress others, He will defend them and resist us. How many times have we mulled over injury and nursed our wounded pride and then built a gallows in our own mental garden? The self-righteous person defines his or her grievance, finds a culprit and puts him on trial in the courtroom of their soul. The sentence is always harsh, such is the sinful nature. We cannot help but gloat over any downfall or setback the accused party experiences. We assume automatically and erroneously that God has sided with us; but God sides with no man or woman - He sides Himself with truth, humility and righteousness.

Even when we are walking in honorable ways, and are victimized for it, the Word grants us no license to start gallows construction. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”(Matt 5:44-45 ESV). “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:19-21 ESV).

God will deal with all evildoers as He sees fit. He is Judge of all. But mercy always triumphs over judgment. God blesses forgiveness. God is deaf to self-righteousness and the cries of the man who sees every splinter in other men’s eyes. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:36-38 NIV)

God looks at the heart. Even in our Christian immaturity, He makes no lien for the anger-judgment-murder triad. He calls that “sin” and says His power is unleashed in all who forgive. Forgiveness is not in its highest honor when it is only extended to the penitent. The Word calls us to forgive men and women the moment the offence is incurred - we are called to walk in forgiveness, if we desire to walk in the Spirit. This is not some mental chant, but transacting with Jesus in the power of the Spirit, to hand our offences over to God, to pray for our enemies and then to walk free of the burden of anger. This too is a very heavy burden – heavier than despair to be sure – which Jesus is eager to lift off our shoulders (Matt 11:28). The witness of the Spirit comes the moment we humble ourselves to release our tormentors; and this witness is also the seal of God’s favor – heaven’s endorsement of a Merciful God. Forgiveness is the work of the Cross: when you forgive, you are a co-worker with Christ.

Nick

I read Ps 92:14 the other day and sat by myself and wondered about ways to ensure I will ‘stay full of sap and green’. Here are a few thoughts that came into my mind:

• He is eternally the same
• He is sovereign and awesome and all mighty
• His plans for you are good
• Learn to enjoy God, in worship, in service, in creativity

• We’re not living for this earthly life only, there’s a glorious future in eternity waiting for us!

• It takes up quite a part of Scriptures, so it must be there for a reason
• We are all part of the bigger picture, so there are those who went before us, and those who will follow us
• Don’t think your generation is the end-all of everything!
• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• Enjoy the time and life God has given you (it’s the only one you’ll ever have on earth)
• Start early with a big family, and enjoy the young generation
• Ensure that your conversation and life remains interesting, even for the young ones
• If children and youth still laugh at your jokes, it’s a good sign

• Be willing to be stretched
• Be flexible
• Enjoy new challenges (look at problems as challenges, and great opportunities)
• Don’t be a loner
• Be happy
• Invest in good and honest friendships (not too many!)

• Be accountable
• Stay active, and exercise (a sport that you like – not a sweaty, sensual gym please)
• Read, and study, and learn – every day
• Follow a healthy life style
• Not so much TV – be very selective in what you take in (you will become what you behold)
• Not so much eating – you are what you eat!

No news is good news they say… knowing the news is better! So… Uitenhage is hot property and we are burning to tell you of our adventure so far:

It’s hot. I kid you not.

Water restrictions. 

Many thirsty for more

Trusting God to open the floodgates of heaven.

Cupcakes for homegroup at Blain and Stefanie.
(they are an incredible couple, on eldership here. Great friends. Will do anyone good!)

Afternoon swims at the community pool.

Local is lekker.

Hanging out with the locals. Great people. Bigger hearts.

Sundays at the venue- recently revamped.

George preaching up a storm.

Anointed worship.

Catching up chatter

Missing you all stax!

Loads of love, George and Liezl

Arwen, Warren, Dillan

Christian Prediction ought to be, "what IS God doing TOMORROW?". He is the great "I Am". He is building His church. He is the spirit of prophesy. He has the whole world in His hands. He created Time as a means through which He can interact with His creation.

Christian Peace ought to be: "Who are you, and what would you have me do today?". He has left us His peace. He has instructed us not to worry about tomorrow, today.

When we invert these things, we lose joy. When our prediction is based on our strengths, allies, resources and enemies, we are no longer prophetic people. And we fill our todays with worry, at the cost of peace. We are His children.

In Isaiah 7, King Ahaz is asked to trust God today for a future deliverance. He just needed to believe in the unseen. Instead he checked his troops and defences. In contrast, Elijah believed he was on God's mission - in rebuking Ahab and shutting up the rains. In 1 Kings 17, he sat by the Kerith brook until the day it dried up. He had peace in each day that God would provide water and ravens. He had peace for each day that God would guide him. No word from God meant he must just abide where he was. No striving, no besetting worry, no giving over to works of panic. “Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”” (1 Kings 17:7-9)

This surely is the difference between man-church and God's church. Our peace is that He will not leave us, nor leave us in unbearable situations. Our prediction is that He will deliver us, build His church and save the world.

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit", says the Lord. "Unless the Lord builds the house, the workmen labour in vain."

Bless you, Nick

Old king Julius was one big lie... a legend... a myth. Naw, ask anyone who has heard about Julius Caesar, whether he really existed and they will without any doubt affirm that he was not legend nor  a lie but a real flesh and blood human being who once ruled the greatest empire in the ancient world. Do they ever doubt that he was once alive? Never.  Yet there is very little evidence to prove his existence.

For example: The earliest manuscript referring to Julius Caesar's “Gallic Wars”, which was the account of him conquering France as we know it today, is dated about 900 years after it took place. Yet scholars, historians and archeologists believe the account according to this manuscript to be true.

Ever played the game “broken telephone” ? It's a game where children sit in a circle and whisper a sentence or phrase, having to transmit the same phrase to the person next to them. Some of those outcomes... hilarious. Similarly, I would be a little concerned with a 900 year pause- that means the message was verbally passed on for roughly nine generations before written down.

Why has no one dedicated their lives to proving that the story about our dear old friend Julius is perhaps false and some figment of a someone's imagination? Why has no-one questioned the reliability of a 900- year- later manuscript?

Yet, many question the Word of God. “Can it be trusted?” “How accurate is the Word really?” Many Caesarites (my word for believers of secular history such as the life of Julius Caesar yet denying the authenticity of the Bible) will violently oppose the Word of God.

But with the bible (specially the New Testament), there are 1000's of manuscripts dating as far back as the end of the first century...only decades after the originals, such as Paul's letters to the churches. What makes it even more fascinating is that some of the original authors were still alive when the letters were copied from the original manuscripts.

You don't have to be a statistician to realize the odds in both instances in terms of accuracy.

Julius Caesar could be fiction... God's Word is fact!

Today I had this thought (Yes I do think sometimes J ), as I was saying I had a thought that it would be wonderful to try & capture something of the moving & ministry of the Holy Spirit that happens in our meetings as a testimony, so here goes………….

On Sunday morning, lead by the Spirit, we found ourselves on our knees & faces before our King as we worshipped Him. The prophetic word came that whether this was in awe, reverence or even shame, that it was the correct place & posture to be in because it was from that posture that God wanted to stretch out His hand & lift people to their feet, wipe tears away & lift their heads so that ultimately they can see Him who is above circumstances and who wants to & is able to do more than our “tiny faith” permits us to believe.

It was a wonderful moment but the best was yet to come. People were asked to respond to the stirrings in their heart & come forward for prayer. An elderly gentleman came forward & just found himself stuck in law & condemnation. I won’t go into detail here as I have not asked permission to use this story. Besides, I think this is just the beginning of Piet’s (pseudonym) story anyhow and would love to hear him tell the full story someday.

After Collin (real name J) & I shared something of the Gospel of Grace & prayed with Piet, the end result was that amidst many tears & hugs, Piet declared his own freedom & realized that his son ship is a sure thing & what incredible peace & joy that man left that meeting with on Sunday. Maybe a small testimony to those who are living in grace, but a life-changing revelation to those who are not.

To me this is such a testimony of the Word, Spirit & Priesthood partnering in bringing glory to the King of the Kingdom that He is establishing. I am grateful that there is evidence of the presence & purpose of the Holy Spirit all around us & deem it a joy to honour Him as part of the Trinity.

Athol

I've been amazed at how far my new Nokia p90 camera can zoom in and 

suprisingly take recognizable pictures! Love at first test drive! Man, 

I haven't even begun to explore all the many great functions on this 

nifty little camera! As I was drawn deeper and deeper into taking 

pictures of ostriches, zebras, guinea fowls and ducks I realized how 

my initial amazement  shifted from the wonder of my surroundings to 

the mechanical abilities of my new camera.

Isn't it true how easily we shift our focus on the object of our 

worship? Remember that day you tasted His goodness for the first time? 

The colours of the leaves, the stream of the morning sun through the 

window, the happy chirping of birds in the trees...all of it seemed to 

bear more purpose and shout of God's overpowering beauty. You were 

love sick, totally enamoured by Him, and nothing else mattered! 

Remember your first bible and all the rich discoveries emphatically 

underlined and noted in the margins of the gospels? What about all 

those geniune and sincere questions you had because you could not get 

enough of this Creator God? And then you joined a church with other 

lovers of God, who were better at it than you. You were suddenly 

overwhelmed by the imperfections in your own life. "How will I ever be 

holy?" you asked yourself.

This is the year to reclaim the wonder, to boast in the simplicity of 

the gospel again. This is the time to recapture the romance in our 

marriages, where it seems every sunset has been carved out just for 

the two of us. I plan to spend a little less energy on mowing the lawn 

on Saturdays and more on discovering the goggas in the grass with my 

boys. I want to laugh and play and explore the small miracles that God 

took the time to dream up.

Let's hold to Christ fiercely and cling lightly to our egos this year. 

We have nothing to lose but that which we never had to gain.

Luther

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.....

Follow Heinz on:

One of my favorite worship songs coins the phrase: “You are worthy, You are worthy!” Worth is a very subjective concept it seems to me. Worth is like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. I did some reading on the subject and this is what the father of economics, Adam Smith came up with in 1776 in the book “The wealth of the Nations”:

“The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What everything is really worth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it or exchange it for something else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself, and which it can impose upon other people...”

Not shedding any new light on the subject of worth is it? But the concept holds true for us living in the 21st century. Ultimately we mortgage houses for 20 to 30 years, depending on how much toil and trouble is needed to cover the capital and the interest. We pay of cars in 5 years because it gives immense pleasure to look to your left at the traffic light and say to the motorist: “Jip, she’s mine!”

But what caused me much thinking and contemplation was the magnificent portion of scripture in Revelations 4, written by John the beloved disciple, trying his utmost to describe the vision of the throne in heaven. He describes the open door of heaven, with a throne and someone seated on the throne. The one who was seated on the throne had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

Around this big throne were 24 other thrones with elders on them. Around this throne of God were the four living creatures, one like a lion, one like an ox, one like an eagle in flight and one with the face of a man. Day and night the four living creatures continuously say: ”Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Now comes the part that intrigues me, when they proclaim the Excellencies of the one on the throne, the 24 elders would stand up from their thrones, fall down and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say:

If we look at scripture we will see that crowns are a symbol of inheritance and rewards. The elders did not lift a finger to get into the open door of heaven, but they sure did good works of service to receive the crowns that used to be on their heads. Now I had the privilege to go and see the crown jewels in the Tower of London. What do you think it is worth? According to Adam Smith it came at great toil and trouble to many other nations in the Common Wealth to bestow the British Monarchy with such splendor and grandeur.

I know the Crown Jewels’ worth cannot be measured in this life, but compared to the golden crowns of the elders seated in heaven, it must be tuck shop money. God rightly rewarding them for their faith, their sacrificial living, their courage, and ultimately losing their lives, and yet they do not quibble for a second to take those crowns and cast them before the feet of the Worthy One. The only conclusion I could come to:  

So I spent my whole morning doing a recovery. I got this caravan stuck down a dune. Didn't take photo's , actually didn't think about it at the time . But just as well , the Landy chirps would have been like a flood . Truste this car is fantastic , but a 2 tonne caravan up a dune ... No brainer . Oh and the other little matter , already buckled one rim on these potholes ... SA roads are great ... Stop complaining

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"

I believe God is presently restoring credibility to the church. Christianity, as it was always intended to be, is becoming real and relevant to a world searching for answers. Heinz touched on this on Sunday. Although we may consider this a 'new thing' God is doing, it's actually an expression of the ancient paths He is restoring to us. As we grow into deeper faith and prayerfulness, and as we love as He loved us, God will build up ancient ruins, raise up former devastations, repair ruined cities and devastations of many generations.

Athol Van Noorden

He is the perfect Father, who sought me out while I was His mortal enemy, deep in sin. If I am saved by grace alone, then “it is no longer by works” (Romans 11:6). He put the seed of the gospel in my conscience, gave me over to conviction of sin, and led me to the Cross of Christ. I confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart....and the word says “I will be saved” (Romans 10:9). My sins were washed “white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18); I have confidence in today to “come boldly unto the throne of grace”” (Hebrews 4:16); the Spirit is given to me as a promise, as a “seal of ownership” (2 Corinthians 1:22) and as confirmation of my enduring “sonship” (Romans 8:15). The Son ever lives to intercede for me before a willing Father, “Who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. (John 3:16).

All I need to do I glance at Him in faith, inasmuch as the Israelites were healed of the deadly vipers’ poison with one glance at the bronze snake lifted up in Sinai (Numbers 21:8-9). He adorns me with grace gifts and convicts me in my conscience – from the inside out – of a life that pleases the Father. From hereon, all God’s dealings in my life are His fatherly dealings. Even the tough things are His discipline in me, “that I might share in His holiness" (Heb 12:10). God picked His fight with Jesus on the Cross, and now He has picked me as a son in Christ. The Lord does not change His mind. He has sworn on oath that I am His.

My salvation is a flawless, eternal work of the Trinity, into which I have been swept up. Just as no baby chooses of itself to be born, when to be born, and to whom to be born....so I was born into sin and darkness, but by the eternal foreknowledge of the Father, I was “born from above” into the Kingdom of light!

If Nicodemus struggled to understand how he could “enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born” (John 3:4), how could I believe I could enter heaven’s womb a second time again to be born again....again? I am born from above, once for all time; the Cross has slain me and raised up the new Christ-life within...I am born again of imperishable seed….

I am a son. Even a worldly father would not disown his son for his sins – would he tear up his birth certificate or disavow his title? God is the perfect Father! And now, I have the new Spirit, genetic, name, family and Father, so I may grow up “by the Spirit” over the course of my lifetime. Having begun by the Spirit, I need to continue by the Spirit. But my status as a son remains unchanged. If any natural child started to believe they had lost their father’s favor - that they were on a long and painful road towards being rejected forever as a child - it would produce all manner of bad psychologies and behavior. The child would work to gain favor and approval incessantly. He would strive to show he was a “worthy son”. It would be a sad time for the parents, watching their son driven ever more by insecurities multiplying from such a core fear of rejection.

I am a son – I have not worked to gain my sonship. No servant can become a son through serving. The fact that a son chooses to serve with his Father does not add to his sonship – it adds to the quality and depth of his knowledge of the Father, and the quality of his life....but it does not define his status as son."

The room was drab, with a musty smell. Yuk. The bedding stuck to your sweat drenched body like a toffee between your teeth. Yet the view... was worth it. The beach... made the house bearable.

I'm sure you've had a similar experience: online last minute shopping for that ultimate holiday destination that's value for money, arriving to be utterly disappointed. True trick photography. But you've paid the bucks and gotta make the best of possibly the most nightmarish holiday accommodation ever. You "chin up" and smile warmly at your kids, the its- gonna- be- an- adventure expression. But secretly you've started numbering the days.

Looking back however, you agree it wasn't all that bad- Uncomfortable at (most) times, yes; adventure of (all) sorts, yes... but you made it fun. You HAD to. And it was.


In the same manner we as Christians are pilgrims. Passersby. Visitors. This is not our final destination. We KNOW our final destination. This place is just like that nightmarish holiday accommodation before getting to our home designed by the best and world renowned Architect, Jesus... but we can have fun right here, right now! Somehow it doesn't inspire much confidence in unbelievers if Christians seem like the walking dead. Depressed. Having our own pity party.

Yes, life sometimes deals you the worst, but we can live beyond our circumstance... if only out of thankfulness that we are royalty on the roll. Chosen not out of own merit, but by the King. Chosen personally by the Landlord of a palace (truly out of this world) not as worker or washer but as co-heir!

We should be overjoyed, enjoyable; joyous! We should enthuse others- the good news: we are on our way to a destination that makes the 7star whatsitsname hotel in Dubai look like a broken down version of the Alcatraz prison. This calls for a now celebration. WOW!

We try hard to change things, so hard that if they change we take the credit. We just don't see the evidence of Grace when we live in prayerless perfectionism. It is at the same time egotistical and exhausting. God is perfect but not a perfectionist. We see this in scripture, in the frail lives of those who wanted to believe. God opened Sarah’s womb in spite of Abraham fathering Ishmael. God sent Moses to Egypt in spite of his reluctance and Israel’s grumbling, and God delivered them in spite of their fears. God raised up heirs for Jacob in spite of his deviousness. God crowned David with favor in spite of his bloodied hands. God sent prophets to Judah in spite of her stubbornness. God sent His Son to the world in spite of its hatred. So now, in Whose hands is the deliverance of your life and your church? If my life is my hands, I am destroyed. If the church is in my hands, all is lost. Living under grace, is expecting favor in spite of our weakness, in spite of our past sins. Yes, it is about responding to God, but no-one gets it bang on.

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

Forget the building fund! Remember Jesus <http://heinzschrader.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/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

How free are you to follow Christ? How light are you traveling? Are you like a Pilgrim here on earth or have you made this your final home? How weighed down are you by your job, investments and family and so forth, to answer the call of God for your life?

We find many instances where Jesus tells us which people are not fit for the kingdom and how many make excuses when the salvation call comes, but what about those who reckon themselves to be saved and still make the same excuses? We know that our salvation is secure once we are in Christ, but what will the outcome be of our excuses when it comes to the kingdom?

I was so struck when I read through the book of Matthew and noticed two accounts....the call of  Matthew and the call of the rich young ruler: from Matthew 9 there is the account where Jesus calls Matthew (This was his Greek name and Levi was his Hebrew name as he was referred to in the other gospels) the tax collector, who eventually became one of the apostles (Matt 10); in Matthew 19, Jesus talks to the rich young ruler who declined the invitation to follow Him.

So, what was the difference between these two men? And, why did the one respond to the call and the other decline, when Jesus said: “Follow me”?

Jesus told both to follow Him....yet the tax collector was the one who responded, and the rich young ruler did not; for it said that he was very wealthy and wasn't willing to sell everything -sell all his possessions and give it to the poor- as Christ suggested he do when asked what else than keeping the law does he lack. This clearly doesn't mean that we must sell everything to prove we are fit for the kingdom or that having wealth is bad, in case you thought this is what I meant.... in fact, Matthew was also a wealthy man (see the last section on tax collectors for an explanation).

As far as being a religious and “good person”, the rich young ruler kept all the commandments and the tax collector probably didn't care too much for them. The rich young ruler was probably schooled in diplomacy. The tax collector was probably schooled in the best and easiest way to get cooperation- often in a not so diplomatic way. Yet it was Matthew who left everything behind like the other Apostles and started following Jesus.

Just as the rich young ruler, many of us say we want to follow Christ and do great things for Him - as long as it is on our terms. We are proud of our lives and external regulations that we keep, not realizing that it is the inward things that gets God's attention....let alone the fact that we cannot save ourselves by our good work or keeping the law as this rich young man thought!

We want to give more...yet not all. We want to share in the privileges but not pay the price.

This is the spirit of the world that even believers need to fight tooth and nail: the desire to rather live for this world, than the next. To settle rather than strive toward the goal set before us.

What is hindering you from a greater devotion to Christ and His cause?

Is it your job, investments, family or someone or something else?

Can Jesus tell you tomorrow to leave everything behind like Abraham and go where He is leading you....or do you start rebuking the devil when those thoughts come up?

JC Ryle rightly mentions that there are three main issues a believer continually (daily, hourly, always!) need God's help with: pride, worldliness and unbelief... of which unbelief is the greatest. Not attending to these are probably the main cause for unbelievers not entering the kingdom and believers to stay camped at the gates of salvation.

Somehow we think that once we have dealt with these three issues, it is behind us, yet  pride, worldliness and unbelief is always crouching at the door waiting to come in: to lure us into becoming partners of this earthly facade of a “palace”.

Excuses aside, we cannot say “no” and Lord in the same sentence.

Let us learn to travel light and hold on to this life lightly which is here today and gone tomorrow and rather focus our devotion and efforts on our King and His kingdom which will last forever, Amen!

These people didn't work for the state, but for themselves. They were businessmen. They purchased one or more taxes in a specific region at an auction, which is where the state tax were auctioned off to these collectors for a certain period and region or village. They made their money by collecting more than the sum required by the state (had to be within certain boundaries) and kept the difference to themselves. They were often accused of extracting more tax from people than they should and hence we see when they got saved, Jesus said to them:

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.

Kind words are rarely clever;

clever talk is seldom kind, still

he builds the little platforms for

the windmills of his mind.

Those mills use up some yardage

in a yard with little space,

as he crowds his own dominion

with things that hide his face.

Such things are not organic -

those organs of success

that play their faulty music

inside his hollow chest.

“The sides must be protected!” -

at the centre all is quiet.

So truth is most neglected

except where he can buy it.

[Exception is the norm now

except for once or twice

when through the mental storms now

he glimpsed a Great Suffice]

He started planting seedlings,

that seedless, saltless sage,

who traded Kind for Clever and

sold Wisdom for a wage.

The wise man he is fruitful

and fruitfulness is peace;

he knows his yard needs yardage

for bushes, plants and trees.

He breaks up all that’s fallow;

he chops up all that’s “good”

which doesn’t pass inspection

by the Inspector of Good Food.

So inspect your own dominion,

examine all that’s there

and ask yourself this question,

“Is it foul or is it fair?”

Do not protect your shadow

where the old branch is so bare.

Do not pretend to Plenty

with plastic pineapples and pears.

Change your life direction,

reject the Clever for the Kind;

don’t live on in your dissection,

In your chants of “Hey, I’m fine”

There is a plough and ripper

There are more seeds to find

To help replace the Failure

Of the windmills of your mind

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.

 Last night Heinz began his ‘Isaiahthon’ - a 66 week long expository look at the book of Isaiah – and within the first 10 minutes I was left troubled.

 By verse 3 of the first chapter of Isaiah I was stopped cold by a fresh understanding of God’s view of rebellion. Whereas I would consider the judgments prophesied over Israel as worthy of those who have murdered, stolen, cheated on their taxes or tried to carry a bomb onto a plane, God says His judgment is upon those who have rebelled against Him and He describes this rebellion as simply not knowing Him. The Hebrew word used for knowing Him is ‘Yada’ which means to know Him intimately. This is what so troubled me, because I can say that I know much about God, but do I Yada Him?

 The Old King James version of the bible puts it rather plainly! When describing how we are to know [Yada] our God, He refers to the stupid ox and the dull donkey to remind us that an intimate relationship with the King of Kings is not reserved for theologians or rocket scientists, but even the most simple of us can step into the chambers of the Most High God – but the question is do we?

 I can’t put it better than Paul: I count everything as loss because of the surpassing [Huperecho – superior, higher, supreme, excellent, matchless] worth of knowing [Gnosis – the ACT of knowing] Christ Jesus my Lord.

I am guilty as charged. Quick to study and learn but oh so slow to know [Yada] Him, to push into His presence, to be washed with His love, to grab a hold of His garment and not let go.

My life is a castle and the castle’s cast down:

The walls all collapsed and the turrets half-crumbled;

The singing well silent; the mighty all humbled.

This castle in ruins, with stones all around.

Nehemiah’s weeping, His tears full of pain:

He’s heard of my plight, He’s heard of my pillage,

He’s seen visions of my destroyed little village.

Nehemiah’s tears will me whole once again.

Nehemiah’s coming and coming with zeal:

He’s coming to build up, to raise and reverse -

His envy flows over, and so does His purse.

Nehemiah’s promise is an oath with a seal.

Nehemiah’s circling this city of smoke:

This shell of a husk of a skin of a town

Where Black was the colour and Dark wore the crown.

Nehemiah’s angry, His passion’s provoked.

Nehemiah’s entered this city of shame:

He’s working and building and surveying it all;

His eye’s on this hamlet He’s raising up tall.

Nehemiah’s grounded and founded his Fame.

Nehemiah’s temple is cleared of its ash:

His songs and His Scribe are both well installed -

My heart, mind and soul are as priests now enthralled.

Nehemiah smiles, His flaming eyes flash!

Nehemiah’s come at the Father’s command;

Nehemiah’s invaded this town and its lands

NRD

 
These two verses – each a favorite of mine for a long time – speak of waiting for the Lord. Just waiting. This means not running ahead or walking behind but keeping in step with his leadership (Eph.5:18). If I were to mention one of my greatest failings it is that of running ahead of the Lord. Not unlike Joseph and Mary who proceeded a day’s journey without Jesus while assuming he was in their company (Luke 2:41-51), I have too often run ahead of the Lord over the past 55 years of ministry. As the late Carl F. H. Henry once put it to me, we sometimes forget that only God can turn the water into wine. Although all things work together for good (Rom.8:28), the fact that something works together for good doesn’t mean that what one did was necessarily right at the time.
 
At my age (I will be 75 in July 2010) one does not want to make many mistakes. I not only want to end well, I want to proceed – as much as God will grant – with the clear knowledge I am led by the Holy Spirit.
 
And yet the promise of renewed strength by waiting for the Lord is assuring as one gets older, whether it means physical strength (which I hope) or spiritual energy (which is certainly true). I ask for the prayers of those who follow my ministry for continuing good health and mobility for Louise and me, clear guidance when to say Yes and when to say No and for ever-increasing insight as I continue to write books. I have so much to be thankful for. Few people at my age preach all over the world and have many books to write. As for Louise, who recently had her 70th birthday, she looks like she is in her 50s!
 
I wrote an article this year urging Christians to pray for President Obama. Many readers were upset. I even urged a major Christian leader to pray for President Obama – publicly. He said he couldn’t. At almost this same time Louise showed me a letter C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend in which he admitted how hard it sometimes was to do this sort of thing – but he did! Whatever our political views, we have a biblical mandate to pray for our president (1 Tim.2:1-3; 1 Pet.2:13-17).
 
If I have got it right eschatologically, you can count on conditions in the world getting worse and worse but the spirituality of the church, speaking generally, getting better and better. As for those who believe Christians will be ushered out of the Great Tribulation, they are wrong. We are entering it now and some places in the world have been in it for years. But I equally believe that there will be a major renewal of the Holy Spirit among God’s people throughout the world that will bring the church much like it was described in the book of Acts. I only pray I will see it while I am alive. I think  I will.
 
2009 was the year Louise and I became grandparents. Welcome Toby – the most beautiful baby since Jesus of Nazareth  was born 2000 years ago! Our son T. R., Annette and Toby live in Lake Mary, Florida and our daughter Melissa has moved to be near us here in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The staff of R T Kendall Ministries, Inc. includes a total of two people: TR and me. Christa Yandell has recently graciously volunteered to help us with menial tasks. I thank God for her.
 
I have some books, including The Lord’s Prayer, emerging from the press on both sides of the Atlantic in 2010. I am currently working on the second volume of Sermon on the Mount; both volumes will come out in 2011. Our 2010 schedule will take us to England several times, Israel, Australia, South Africa (twice) and all over America. Once we find a suitable Muslim to join us, Rabbi David Rosen and I will produce a book to be called Jerusalem – who is entitled to it?, giving various points of view. Pray for the success of this venture, it could have far-reaching consequences.
 
Thank you for your prayers. I don’t have ‘supporters’ (that I know of), I chose (rightly or wrongly) not to have a mailing list. But thank you for reading this letter.
 
God bless you and your loved ones and friends. May the blessing of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be upon you in ever-increasing measure in 2010.
 

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!

Zechariah and Elizabeth were a couple longing for a child for years.  The Bible tells us that they had walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord, but they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.

But suddenly, unexpectedly, Zechariah is visited by the angel Gabriel while on his temple duty.  Poor Zechariah couldn’t believe his ears or his eyes and because of his unbelief at what the angel was telling him about Elizabeth becoming pregnant, he was struck dumb until John’s birth. 

Even as Zechariah lost his ability to speak, God’s message to him was that his words would not fall to the ground but WOULD, beyond a shadow of a doubt be fulfilled.

And of course as the facts go, John the Baptist was born and the promise was fulfilled.

But the point I want to make is that we often face a lifetime of longings and seemingly unfulfilled promises.  And so it was with Zechariah, Elizabeth and John.

Zechariah prophesies amazing things at the birth of John, about his future…”And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins…,”  Again, we see another prophecy in the lives of this family.

But again followed by the words, “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”

Even though John was born and the promise fulfilled, there would be another waiting period, as John himself lived ‘in the wilderness’, no doubt wondering if the things spoken over his life would come to pass. 

Perhaps you feel like you’ve been through one wilderness after another and it’s too much to bear.  My friend, take heart, you are following great footsteps of the fathers of the faith that have walked this ‘way of waiting’ long before you.  Keep the faith, fight the good fight and believe the words of the angel in Luke that say, his words will be fulfilled in their time.  Not our time, not too quickly or too late, but in God’s perfect timing for what he wants to accomplish in your life, the life of your church or even a nation.

Prepare to wait, pray for the things you long for and then believe the words of the angel that said God’s words WILL be fulfilled! 

I have been mulling over in my mind, the topic of serving for a few months now. But it has been a struggle to articulate all I felt about it.  How do we do it; how do we serve well? What if we stray towards works of the flesh and drivenness?  All these thoughts have run through my mind over the last months, weighing on my heart, especially as from time to time I hear the complaining voices of the ‘saints’ which disturbs my heart.  How can we complain when such a great debt of love has been paid for us?  How can I grow weary when I am living in abundant grace since receiving Christ’s love into my heart?

It all became crystal clear to me as I was reading this morning in Song of Solomon!  The light came on but I feel it is more of a prophetic word on serving than an essay.

We read of the Shulammite bride, longing for, desiring her husband.  She is deeply in love with her kingly groom; there is no doubt about that.  She anticipates his arrival at her door, she longs for his love, and she welcomes him with open arms to her garden of love. When he goes missing she searches for her beloved husband.

Suddenly the idea of ‘serving’ became very clear to me.  When you are deeply in love with your groom, there is no price too high to do what PLEASES HIM!!  Because this loving bride was so deeply enthralled with her husband, any task, chore or duty connected to him or his desires was only pure pleasure for her!  She was not a servant, but a lover of her husband.  Nothing was too difficult, nothing out of reach, nothing a burden because of her captivated heart for her King.  He was her first love and so any duty whether small or great required of her, was only a pleasure for her.  She didn’t HAVE to serve him; she had the PRIVILEGE of serving him!

My mind then wandered to the old movies we have all watched where there is a ‘wench’ in the household of some great king or nobleman.  She also is serving but with a very different heart attitude.  She is there against her will mostly, hair bedraggled, on her knees, scrubbing the kitchen floor or whatever other ugly task is at hand.  There is no lightness in her spirit, no joy in service, nothing….just drudgery and duty waiting for her day in and day out.  None of us wants to be the ‘wench’ in the castle!

But how are some of us living our lives?  How are we living out this love affair with our groom?  Do we anticipate each fresh day with him, sitting and feasting with him and then carrying out his wishes with joy and a sense of privilege to be his ‘wife’? 

I know life can be demanding.  Men often have a boss on their backs, weighing them down with heavy demands for more. Or perhaps you are a man running a business with the heavy weight of other lives on your mind, paying their salaries, meeting deadlines and carrying budget constraints.  Wives have the duties of home and family and often of work outside the home, tearing at their hearts and minds.  Single people carry burdens alone that none of us are even aware of.  We all have reasons to be the ‘wench in the kitchen’, just doing our duties but with no sense of joy or privilege or anticipation for the next task.

I think we have to be honest and say, “Lord, have I lost my love affair with you?”  “Have I fallen ‘out of love’ with the lover of my soul?”

Does my life and service to Christ attract people to him, or just turn people off so much that they take one look and say, ‘that looks painful, I’m glad I’m not under those rules and religion’.  Or do we have such a burning passion and love which flows into acts of love and kindness that the ‘others’ in our lives say as the others said in Song of Solomon 6:1,

I pray to God that what people see in my life will have them asking, ‘how may I seek him with you’?  A life of service lived with the heart of thankfulness and love for our Master will only attract the others in our lives to him.  But I fear that what they see is often something very different…the word ‘wench’ comes to mind….

The deep affection expressed in the Song of Solomon is reciprocal.  The lover and his beloved are both equally enamored and taken with each other.

What a beautiful picture of the combination of love and service.  Our lover showers us with blessings, love, eternal life, protection, and personal and church family; there are just too many acts of kindness to mention!  And we in return have the privilege of loving him back, spending time with him in prayer, seeking his face and giving our whole lives in joyful service to him!  When we look at all he’s given to us, how can we not give EVERYTHING to him.  How can we not do all we can to express our love for him?  Even if it is things we don’t like to do, how can we not do what he asks after the love he has so graciously showered on us?

I think a key element to remaining joyful and glad in Christ’s service is remaining in love and close to the Lover of our Souls.  But following closely on the heels of that is thankfulness for his love to us.

We must choose to be glad, choose to be thankful and then reap the benefits of a joyful life of service to Christ.

We must deny our ‘rights’ which leads us down a path that is a dead end street.  Live for Christ, live for others and you will find you have a natural side product of joy and fulfillment in your own life.

Remember your first love, remember when Jesus first embraced your heart and saved you from sin and self-destruction.  Meditate on his goodness to you; come into his presence with singing!  Allow him to re-capture your heart.

And the natural outflow will be you, walking in the joy and privilege of serving and living for your heavenly husband!

If we live life this way, the ‘others’ in our lives will say, “how may we seek him with you?”  Now that will bring more joy to you, than you can imagine!! 

Renew your first love and it WILL naturally and easily be a privilege and a joy to serve our beloved King.

With much love,

Lorie

We again come to the time of the year where most in this country prepare themselves for the go-slow mode of the fast approaching December holidays. We as Christians in general can also be guilty of going on a “spiritual break”, doing our own thing and delaying things to next year. Witnessing the sorrow of a grieving family, you cannot but stand still and consider the preciousness of time regardless of how we feel. When we look at the life of Jesus, it was clear that He wasted no time. He spent every minute doing the will of His Father. On His way to raising Lazarus from the dead, His disciples try to persuade Him not to go due to dangers. Jesus replies by asking them if they were aware that there are 12 hours to the day, encouraging them to do today what is needed.

• If we don’t do something about our souls today, which we know of and spare it for another day, we boast in tomorrow.
• If we delay doing good to someone today, even though being able and capable today, we boast in tomorrow.
• If there is a broken relationship we hope to restore one day, we boast in tomorrow.
• If we envy someone’s riches and allow it to be important to us, we boast in tomorrow, as we somehow hope that we can also have the same some day…. if we do not envy, we will have the attitude of Jesus in Matt 5:40.
• If we are lazy in our work and trust to delay till tomorrow, we boast in tomorrow.
• If we cannot enjoy our lives without the attractions this world offers, we depend on another day when we will have them.
• If we are too much sunk by loss of temporal enjoyment, it means we are dependent on them tomorrow, and therefore live for that day.
• We will not be puffed up by how we look and what we own unless we depend on having it tomorrow
• If we rest today in something we know we will need deliverance from before we die, we depend on another day
• If we stand under the gospel, which teaches us to enter by the narrow gate, and still has neither passion nor striving, indicates we live for another day. So anything taught by the gospel, neglected, proofs we live for another day, i.e.:
  • Forgiving someone
  • Paying an old debt
  • Making restitution for something.
  • If we do today, which we know must be undone some other day like cheating our neighbour or falling for our lusts, which must be repented of tomorrow, we depend on another day.

Let us therefore live like those expecting their master to return at any time, making our calling and election sure every day, being grounded in the truth with a firm foundation. – EVEN OVER THE HOLIDAY SEASON!! A good watchman cannot assume that the enemy will only arrive tomorrow. Let us have no expectation of tomorrow in our dealings, our families, bringing up children, and walking the narrow way like Jesus did....

The modern church is not known for suffering. Many believers get very nervous when they experience any form of suffering and hardship. They rebuke the enemy and start to meticulously scrutinise their lives and past behavior. Surely Jesus did it all on the cross, He suffered so that we can live in fullness and prosperity. Every time I switch on the television the preaching is on the topics of headship, fullness, health and wealth. I cannot recall when last someone preached on cost, hardship, trials and tribulation.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.  5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Maybe Paul had a hard day when he wrote the 5th chapter of Romans or maybe he had a revelation of the fullness and extent of the true gospel. Paul had such a fear and reverence for who God is that he did not dare misrepresent Him in any way. We don’t need to make God nicer than He is.

God as a loving Father comes and reveals Himself to us in and through our walk with Him. There are seasons when He is so close and intimate with us, we daily experience His love, favor and blessing. Everything we ask for are granted by His loving hand and we are carried by the currents of the Spirit to higher and sweeter places and experiences. Lets call that SUMMER.

Likewise we can also experience times of dryness and toil. Sometimes it feels like God is far away, the heavens seems to turn to brass. How can such a big God hide himself? Can I call this a season of WINTER.

Now if God in his sovereignty decided that it is WINTER in your life, you can go out of your house with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, empowered by the authority of the Word and rebuke this foul weather. I have a very good idea of what will happen-you will freeze to death! Why? Because God’s kingdom is not divided. So what do we do when we encounter some hostile weather, we put on a jacket, we adapt to the season and the elements.

Never take opposition personally, God is very specific in what He allows to cross our paths. While you are enduring hardship and difficulty we spend too much energy looking for a reason without finding it. From personal experience I learnt that reason normally comes afterwards, not during. Trust God in the midst of it, years later you can look back and see the reasons why you had to endure it. Normally other people will come to you and tell you how different you are, how much you changed.

• God is glorified in and during our suffering. Romans 8:17-18
• Suffering increases our prayer life and teaches us obedience. Hebrews 5:7-8
• God’s discipline authenticates us as legitimate sons.  Hebrews 12:7-10
• Suffering tests the genuineness of our faith. 1 Peter 1:6-7
• To make us steadfast and lead us to perfection. James 1:2-4
• God prunes our lives to increase fruitfulness. (The meaning of “prune” in the Greek language is to cleanse from all filth)  John 15:2
• Suffering reveals our weaknesses and magnifies God’s strength. 2 Corinthians 12:10
• When we personally experience hard times it helps us to comfort others when they go through it. 2 Corinthians 1:4

I am sure there are many other reasons why God allows his children to endure hardship and suffering, but the fact remains that He is more interested in our holiness than our happiness. As disciples of the Master we endure with Him, a servant is not better than his Master. If the world hated Him, they will hate us. Sometimes He beckons us to come outside the camp and bear the reproach with Him.

I am sure that if you ask someone these days what the word faith means, you will get so many different ideas and views. The one I like the most is the truthfulness of God or a reliance upon Christ for salvation.

In the book of James he deals with this subject and relates faith and works and basically describes 2 types of justifications (this is where God makes a legal declaration over us, that because of the work of Christ, those who are in Him are declared righteous and justified as if they have never sinned; like Christ).

The one form of justification is by faith and the other is by works. Now, this has probably been one of the most controversial portions of scripture. Some will say that you need works and the other says that you only need faith and James challenges that true christianity entails both.

What James is trying to tell us here is that as far as salvation is concerned, faith is just an instrument which God gives, and we exercise, in the salvation process.

As the Westminster confession teaches us, it is the chief end of man to glorify God and also that we should bear much fruit. It is NOT glorious to camp at the gates of salvation which is what happens when we stop at Justification by faith.

Now, imagine someone is invited to a black tie event and pitches up with a Tuxedo jacket and a speedo. It is just not befitting and the person will stand out for all the wrong reasons. Yet many believers just don't look the part by making works a new law as opposed to living out the privilege as response to this justification by faith.

For the christian today faith has become something so personal and undercover that I wonder if God knows whether some are christians (just teasing in case some of the purists think I am serious).

What we believe is meant to penetrate our whole being and lives and the evidence of Christ in conjunction with the fruits of His kingdom should be overwhelmingly clear in and through our lives. Our deeds verify our faith, not in a way to please God (our position is secure because of the work of Christ), but as the evidence of a changed life through the Spirit

How do I recognize a farmer...or a fisherman? Surely it is by what they do! Similarly a christian should be recognized by what they do...not in a moralistic way, but as an outward expression of what has happened on the inside.

When we were children growing up on our family farm, we would often have to move hay bales to feed the cattle.  Many times we would stumble across a nest of mice in what looked like an ordinary bale of hay.  When we saw something move that shouldn’t move or when we kicked the hay, we would see something that should not be there; if something shocked us and moved, we would kick it again!  We would have hours of fun destroying these nests of mice before they could ruin our hard-worked-for hay!
 
Strongholds in our lives are like that.  They are just like a nest of vipers that move in, perhaps small at first, but if not checked, will ruin the entire place.  When we are hit with circumstances, hardships or truth, and get a reaction that is not what you expect, something is not right. So you kick again!  Sure enough you find a whole nest of vipers, a stronghold that should not be there.  When a stronghold is found it must be rooted out completely.  You cannot make a  truce or sign a treaty with strongholds for they know only one way; to proliferate and take over.
 
Like a cancer, it must be cut out completely.  Strongholds in our hearts and minds must likewise be dealt with completely.
 
What are you seeing in your life that you don’t like or should not be there?  Thank God that he is allowing it to be seen before it can do real damage.  Ask God to show you how to deal with this stronghold. Seek help from Christian friends and family who can be objective and offer real help.
 
Nests of cute, little baby mice turn into infestations of fleas and disease ridden hordes of mice before you know what has happened!  Shake the ‘bales’ of your life before those ‘little mice’ take a hold and destroy the good crop of your life.

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.

Since we have been on the topic of family lately, dealing with mothering, fathering, and marriage and I thought it would be a good idea to look at the issue of honoring our parents.
 
We all love to jump on this band wagon as PARENTS, quoting scripture and doing our best to instruct our children to obey us, follow God’s ways etc., which are all good things to do.
 
We firmly believe in the scripture that teaches, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and you may live long in the land.”  As parents we do our best, loving, teaching, guiding and disciplining our children when necessary to bring them to a deep and loving relationship with Jesus Christ.  I believe this is also a preparation for us, that one day, as we age and may need assistance and care, that we have raised our children in such a way that they are willing and able to look after us.  We often do get what we prepare for, so preparing your children well now; will reap benefits of relationship into your future.
 
But thinking further down the road, I couldn’t help but ask myself, now that I am grown, with children of my own, am I STILL a good child?  Do I still honor and respect my parent or parents (and in-laws)?  It’s somehow easier to assure our children respect us but do we still have a deep love and affection for our parents as they age?
 
In our own intelligence of the modern age it is so easy to slip into a slight ‘despising’ of our parents wisdom or way or doing things.  “I’ll never turn out like my parents”, “I’ll never raise my kids like I was raised”, are all quotes we’ve either made or heard others say.  I have to ask myself, is this honoring my parents or in a little way, dishonoring or putting them down in a way that is not honoring to God?
 
I think of my mother far away in Canada, living on her own and know what a phone call means to her.  I can honor her so easily by getting on skype and just spending an hour chatting to her for such a little cost. It means so much to her to hear how we are doing and in a way, I believe, honors her.
 
I know of others with children overseas that regularly do a little ‘granny and grandpa email’ with pictures of the grandchildren and updates in their lives, just to include them in things that they can’t be a part of, I believe that is honoring.  It may take a few minutes of our time, but can mean so very much to them, to include them in our lives.
 
Your parents may have not been the best parents but that doesn’t negate the fact that we have a responsibility to love and honor them, no matter how they treated us.  
 
And I also understand that there are over-bearing parents out there, unable to almost function without daily contact and control over your life.  This too, needs work, boundaries put into place by you, as an adult so that you can to the best of your ability ‘live at peace with all men.’  Don’t throw up your hands in despair and say it’s impossible; pray for wisdom, ‘buy truth, and do not sell it.’
 
We can bring so much joy to our parents with often just a bit of effort on our part.
 
Scripture puts it so beautifully, ‘Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.”
 
 

If you are familiar with the animated ‘Toby’ short story DVDs, then you’ll be excited to know that the new 30min movie ‘The Adventures of Toby’ is coming out at the end of the month.

If you don’t know Toby at all, you will still be excited to know that - for a limited time only - ‘The Adventures of Toby’ will be screening for free at Menlyn’s Nu Metro. Thanks to Nu Metros unusual, but highly appreciated ‘Inspires’ series, just simply follow the details below and we’ll see you at the movies! 

NB, please print out this picture and take it along, it will help clear up confusion with those at the tills who dont know about it yet!

It is His life, His death and His resurrection.  It is His power.  It is Him finding us, saving us and empowering us.  He is enough!  He saves us from the wrath of God.  He saves us from sin and a wasted existence.  He saves us into eternal life, now and for eternity with Him.

The Gospel is us receiving His gift of salvation; us becoming like Him.  The Gospel is us repenting of our sins, turning from our wicked ways, and bearing the fruit of His Holy Spirit in and through our lives.  We become like Him.  
 
The Gospel is us serving Him with a life of purpose and adventure.  He is our King, our Lord, our Father and our Savior.  He is God and man at the same time.  He redeemed us and He owns us.  We are his slaves by choice.  We are not volunteers; that assumes the privilege of choice.   We are bond slaves owing only a debt of love and gratitude.  We can go nowhere else.  No one else has the words of life but Jesus.  We are captivated by Him and His love.  
 
All of history is divided by His coming.  His cross divides all time.  All of history was preparing for His coming, His coming the first time to be born and live among us, and His second coming when He returns to rule and reign.
 
No one has imagined or dreamed of what God has prepared for us through His Son, Jesus.  We have our eyes fixed on Him.  We are waiting to see Him again.  As we wait we can’t help but share the good news with everyone.  This is the Gospel.

The truth and confrontation of scripture is stronger than anything we can imagine at times!  Will I really bring rottenness to my husband’s bones??  Lord, help me to be upright and be delivered from myself!  Lord please allow my house to stand and bring you glory.

I think at times we take our job as Moms a little too lightly, but scripture obviously does not, so with these thoughts in mind, we thought it would be good to respond to some emails I received from my last blog from Mommies wanting more details and insight on how to order their lives in a way that would give them more time with their husbands and less chaos on the home front.  It seems sometimes the high ideals of scripture turn into very practical truths on how we can order our lives, so that our homes will stand and we truly can be a crown for our husbands!

Set a routine for your day; even write it down in the beginning.  Don't just let your day happen to you haphazardly, you take time with the Lord, you choose wake up time, sleep times, play times, cleaning house time etc.  Just like any job, this is your job and you are the boss, so if you 'just let it happen' it will always be chaos.  You set the structure, tone and pace of your day.  Cut back on activities or play dates so you have more time for housework or preparing meals, a man coming into a chaotic home doesn't find rest, so it's important to have peace in the home and you CAN change that.

If you’re a Mom with a new little one, you will need to plan sleep training for baby.  It feels ruthless in the beginning but she needs to be fed, bathed, loved and told even now, it's time to SLEEP, and then put her down.  If a night--light helps or a favourite teddy, fine, but then don't go back in when the screaming starts...this is very hard...but it trains her to calm herself and just jolly well sleep!! You can't cave in either, but in the end, she'll realize all that crying isn't getting her anywhere, will actually wear herself out and sleep like a baby as they say!  Remember, you have to train yourself as much as baby, you naturally want to help or intervene, but in the long run, when you are exhausted from lack of sleep, you will not be able to function properly in any sphere of your life.  Happy training.... :)

Plan date times for you and your man.  Work with other friends to swop baby-sitting so you can all have turns to go out for a movie or meal or whatever.  Just time away for both of you gives new perspective and you actually like those kiddies when you come home again!

Plan fun times together for all of you.  Might just be a walk around the block, a trip to the park, a picnic somewhere, but start building fun and memories into your children’s lives now.  It will build on the fact that in the end life SHOULD BE FUN, not just drudgery and confusion!

And the biggest one, PRAY for wisdom and God will show you the way forward.  They are his children, also his husband that he gave you, so he knows what's best for them, even better than you do.

Also, you must read the book ‘Fascinating Womanhood’ by Helen Andelin, that book is like a textbook for a good marriage.  I'm reading it now and you can't believe how it's helping me, even after 29 yrs!!

You can do it and bring glory to God through following his wisdom for your life.  Don’t just let life ‘happen’ to you; don’t be like the wicked in Proverbs and be overthrown; when you see those overwhelming waves coming for you, jump on and ride them to victory rather than letting them drown you!!

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.

George Mueller was born on September 27, 1805 and lived almost the entire nineteenth century. He died March 10, 1898 at the age of 92. He saw the great awakening of 1859 which he said “led to the conversion of hundreds of thousands. He did follow up work for D. L. Moody, preached for Charles Spurgeon, and inspired the missionary faith of Hudson Taylor.

He spent most of his life in Bristol, England and pastored the same church there for over sixty-six years. In 1834 (when he was 28) he founded The Scripture Knowledge Institute. He also built five large orphanages and cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. When he started in 1834 there were accommodations for 3,600 orphans in all of England and twice that many children under eight were in prison. One of the great effects of Mueller's ministry was to inspire others so that “fifty years after Mr. Mueller began his work, at least one hundred thousand orphans were cared for in England alone.” He had simply prayed for the Orphans and never asked anyone directly for money. He never took a salary in the last 68 years of his ministry, but trusted God to put in people's hearts to send him what he needed. He never took out a loan or went into debt.

He did all this while he was preaching three times a week from 1830 to 1898, at least 10,000 times. And when he turned 70 he fulfilled a life-long dream of missionary work for the next 17 years until he was 87. He traveled to 42 countries, preaching every day and addressing some three million people.

From the end of his travels in 1892 (when he was 87) until his death in 1898 he preached in his church and worked for the Scripture Knowledge Institute. At age 92, he led a prayer meeting at his church on the evening of Wednesday, March 9, 1898. The next day a cup of tea was taken to him at seven in the morning but no answer came to the knock on the door. He was found dead on the floor beside his bed.

The funeral was held the following Monday in Bristol, where he had served for sixty-six years. “Tens of thousands of people reverently stood along the route of the simple procession; men left their workshops and offices, women left their elegant homes or humble kitchens, all seeking to pay a last token of respect. But even George Mueller’s days were numbered, just like yours.

Every evening before she went to bed, Mrs O Neil said Goodnite to that announcer on her small TV, because she was 80 and very much alone.
And when she died, he never even went to her funeral.

Are you dreaming of a life that Paul urges us to live in Ephesians 4.1 – that is worthy of the calling to which we have been called. Are you dreaming of this? STOP. Stop dreaming and start living it, lest, in the blink of an eye 10 years have passed and you are still just dreaming.

Somewhere along the line these desires of our hearts, these fires in our souls, these stirrings deep within to live lives that scream that God is real and that Jesus is alive, somewhere these dreams need to find feet in the now.

A preacher once mentioned the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea – same river, but only one has an outlet. One is teaming with life, while the other is, well, Dead!

Michael Eaton on the church: ‘What I discovered in preparing to preach on the doctrine of church is that this is the ONLY thing that Jesus is busy with, but strangely it’s the last thing His people are busy with.”

Live a life that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is real, God changes lives, God is trustworthy and God answers prayer. If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.

– the most important thing to remember is that living large starts with the details of your heart. The trick is not to become fascinated with impact, BUT -  When I survey the wonderous Cross on which the Prince of glory died…Love so amazing so divine, demands my SOUL, my LIFE my ALL.

More than a ‘blog’ today, I feel I have a word from the Lord for perhaps one specific lady, though I hope many will take time to ponder on, what I feel in my heart.

It is a definite problem in many homes, the fact that the children’s lives, activities and needs take priority over the husband’s.  When the children want something new, mother assumes it will just have to happen somehow, regardless of budget constraints.  When there is a small cry in the night, mother jumps out of bed in an instant and is gone to assist.  Father is barely greeted at the door, as mother rushes out to the children’s activities that are booked, paid for and cannot be missed!!  

He is the one that always has to ‘understand’ because after all, he is an adult and able to handle being put on the back burner.  He has to understand that it is his responsibility to foot the bill for a myriad of activities, from his one income.  He has to realize that our dear children NEED these things to fit into the society we live in; we don’t want our children to have any disadvantage whatsoever.  Daddy must wait because Mommy is so pre-occupied and taken with her role as ‘the mother’.

Short of calling this sin, I will call it foolish on the part of mother!  Who is the one who loved her and gave her these dear children?  Who is it that married her and said he firstly wanted to care for her, as his wife?  When one day, the darlings that have occupied your every waking moment have left the nest, who will be left to help you walk through that empty nest syndrome??  Probably dear ol’ Dad, you know that guy that was left on the back burner, playing second fiddle all those years!

Think of the years of joy-building you are missing by not giving your man the priority, love and attention he deserves!  Running in circles after whining children will only perpetuate selfishness and self-centeredness in adulthood. Please ladies, use wisdom in what and how much you do for your children, we really can create monsters in our ‘need to be needed’!!!

Tip of the day:  From a young age, put the plastic cereal bowls at child-height, cereal, spoons, and milk in smaller containers if necessary, so they can start feeding themselves, especially on Saturday mornings!!  Let them take up small responsibilities, which show that Daddy and Mommy having a longer rest together on a Saturday morning is a GOOD thing!

SHOW THEM, that that are not the center of your universe or anyone else’s by showing them that Daddy has first priority in your heart. (Don’t allow them to interrupt your conversation at the dinner table, they must wait their turn until Daddy and Mommy have finished talking.) There is actually MORE security in that for them.  When Dad and Mom’s marriage is strong, they feel that security and love and are more at peace, even if they have to tend to themselves a bit more.  It doesn’t hurt them; it’s actually good for them.

“An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels.  The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.”

Let your husband have full confidence in your love for him, and when ‘he has no lack of gain’, neither will you or your children!!

What is faith:  believing in something that you don’t see.  We have faith for something as simple as sitting on a chair, we sit down, believing that the chair will hold us up!

This is the great chapter of faith in the Bible, speaking of people who stood for what they believed, not knowing if they would ever see those promises made to them, in their lifetime.

An example of great faith is Noah; he was warned of things not yet seen, the flood, and moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household.  He prepared it for many more, but they refused to get into the ark and be saved.  He is a man of faith.

We need to diligently seek him, the Creator of the universe, who wants a relationship with us!  It’s not impossible, but it’s for those who care enough and are diligent and persistent enough to seek him.

Now that we understand a bit more about faith, what are some keys to passing on faith to our children, or raising children that have faith?

I am convinced that we are way too serious in this life!  We need to have fun and friendship in our families and with our children, so that they can see that our faith in God is real.  It’s not a duty, or a chore to serve God, but a privilege.  We have a favourite saying in our house, after hearing our kids ask, “Do we havveee to go to church?” Our answer would be, “ NO, you get to go to church!!”  “Do we haveee to clean our room?”  “NO, you get to clean your room because you’re fortunate enough to have a room!!”  
But everything we do as families has to be seasoned, with fun, laughter and joy in the lives God has given us to live.  Be friends with your kids, no matter what the circumstances, without your love and support, life is going to very harsh and meaningless for them.  

Material possessions, money or memories?  We live in a world that values only what they can see and hold and having more of those things, makes you more valuable….wrong!!  What are you spending your life on?  Is it only to buy the next new car, the bigger house, the designer furniture, more renovations, and more money to do it all, or do you see value in building memories, fun times, and a wealth of faith into your children’s lives? Schooling can only do so much, what our children accumulate into their lives goes to school with them and into all of their life.  What do we show them is important to us?  Do we have time to pray together, read the Bible together, laugh together, give to others together?  The world tells us just to look after ourselves; that is an empty, shallow way to live your life!  One of the best things we ever did was live in Tanzania with our children.  Despite people warning us of the dangers of ‘Africa’, they learned what real life is all about, saw poverty, experienced joys with friends from another culture and were even sometimes in dangerous situations where they saw God answer prayer that actually spared us our lives.  We could have deprived them of those experiences by playing it safe and doing the ‘sensible’ thing and never leaving Canada.  What a loss in their lives that would have been!

Our children learn what they see us live in front of them.  Saying one thing and living another, doesn’t work with kids, they can see right through us.  I remember Leonard telling the story of how his youngest sister decided that the hotel they were staying in one time was happy to give out towels and glasses from the room to their patrons.  So she packed them into the suitcases unknown to Leonard’s mother.  Needless to say his mother was mortified when she discovered all the towels and glasses in their luggage on opening up the suitcases at home!  But Florence wouldn’t let it ‘slide’, she wrapped everything up and mailed everything back to the hotel.  All her children learned a lesson in integrity and honesty through that experience. The principle of tithing is the same, our children see us do it and they want to do it.  What about the principle of generosity, are we generous, with our time, home, hospitality??  We can fool everyone else, but we can’t fool our kids.

We need to spend time with our children, to be able to pass on the things we value to them.  In our instant world, of everything done quickly to suit us, we have lost the value of spending time together.  As I get older I value time much more. Spend time with your kids; not only teaching or telling them something, but just BEING together.  We are human beings, not human doings!!  Just spend time with your kids and you will reap the reward.  

Our children will value what we value.  We have a right to guide and direct what goes into our children’s minds and hearts; not only a right, but a God-given responsibility.  Kids don’t just grow up, they need to be raised up.  Just like a plant, watered, nurtured, tended well, our children need the same kind of care.  What do I value?  I need to make sure my children know what that is and pass that on to them.  We value God and we value people in our home. How we allow our children to talk to us and to each other, shows them if we value or don’t value people outside of our home as well.  When these values aren’t lived out, there needs to be correction and discipline.  Discipline is different for every child, but necessary for every child, to grow into the beautiful person God has intended for them to be.

We can pass on our faith to our children, we have the God-given privilege of doing that. Let’s do it with fun and friendship, teaching our children integrity, taking time to nurture them and instill in them healthy values that will carry them through life.

We don’t live our lives just for now, but we pass on who we are to the next and actually future generations.  Let’s not take our purpose in life lightly.

To lose either money, health, trust or loved ones is a great loss, but the greatest tragedy is to lose faith.  Don’t give up!!  Ask God for his grace so that you CAN pass on your faith to the next generation that lives right in your home.

Lorie Rutten

As Jesus reminded the Pharisees that it is not what goes in that is important, but rather what comes out....of the heart of course
One of the exhortations we find probably the most in the Word of God is for us to grow and to mature in our faith, and like any infant, our diet (what we yield ourselves to) determines our growth.

I recently read some expository sermons delivered by the late Martyn Lloyd  Jones around this area and realized that my picture of an infant in the faith and a mature believer needs some adjustment. In order to avoid giving comments to each point I decided to just give them as they come and trust you to put on the proverbial shoe that fits. Need I remind you of Cinderella's sisters desperately trying to put on her shoes...so, don't use this as a new scorecard for someone else. You try on your own shoes for size.

What are the characteristics of a child in Christ?

◦    This describes someone who is always becoming panicky about everything

◦    Always the first victim of the latest cult – any sort of refinement, any doctrine, any new theory. Just present any of these and they will immediately jump to accept it

◦    Too much interest in self, too ready to talk about self, too ready too call attention to self
◦    Too focused on being noticed and to impress

◦    Always interested in experiences, and will rush to hear anyone sharing an experience
◦    It is all about the hype
 

◦    like the Corinthians saying that Paul writes powerful letters, but is not much to look at or listen to in person
◦    far too concerned about the appearance of the preacher as opposed to the truth (message that he brings)

◦    This is a clear sign of spiritual babyhood – doing things because it is my group, my denomination, my organization, rather than because it is the truth of God committed to us which drives and constrains us to do them

◦    Wanting the experience of God above the relationship with God

◦    The child is interested in the flashy, spectacular gifts; the one who is grown up is interested more in the graces of the Christian life
◦    The child is more interested in particular sins than to be delivered from sin

So, how did you do?
Like the psychologists will tell you...admission is the first step to healing, and what can be more wonderful than honesty linked with action.

In the words of the song....    read your bible
                pray every day,
                and you will grow, grow, grow

When you are raised in a family of eight children like I was, in the morning you are handed a lunch bag and told “dinner is at 5:30, you’re here, you eat.”  When your mother slaves over a meal and your say, “I don’t like it,” your brother beside you says “great” and takes it!
 
Macarthur’s thesis is that small families in a materialistic society breed selfish, self-indulgent children.  In one or two children families, the systems tend to bend to the child.  You end up with child-centered parenting.  
 
You end up with children ruling the home.  Children do not and must not rule the home.  The real world does not bend to us.  We all fit into a society and a world that consists of all kinds of people and situations.  We need to learn about the real world starting in our homes.  You can end up with people not wanting to invite your over because your children will trash their house. You can end up with children never wanting to leave home because they don’t want to grow up and face the reality that they are not the centre of the world.  Nobody at works says “ how would you like your office?”  The best way to ruin your son is to give him everything he wants.
 
Having lived in a large family; as well as having raised children in poorer areas of Africa, I see God’s wonderful way of balancing out our lives.  When we have very little we are grateful for what we have.  The food tastes better, there seems to be more joy in simpler and less things.  Generosity can be expressed by the poorest and the richest.  Relationships can be enjoyed by anyone and it seems more so by those whose lives are uncluttered.
 
We somehow have to show the world how to live a different life as we follow Christ.  The answer cannot only be going and living in poor countries or having eight children!  We must learn to live with a Godly contentment and in simplifying our lives here and now.  We need to train our children by example and by discipline how to grow up loving God and people more than things and themselves. I starts with not letting our children rule our homes.  It starts with gratitude, right now, for each day.
 
Leonard and Lorie Rutten

Ah, but you are quick to cry out: “Not true!” Surely there are many joys and pleasures in the world. How did you feel when the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup, or when Usain Bolt ran the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. What about the day you got married, or when you stood next to your wife at the birth of your children. What about listening to good music, sipping on a good glass of red wine next to a fireplace? How do you explain the thrills you experienced when you signed off on that multi million Rand deal and everyone at the office looked at you with envy?

All these pleasures are valid and real but they tend to fade away in a fleeting moment. Paul mentions to the Philippians that he has an eager expectation and hope that he will not be ashamed in any way, but with full courage Christ will be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death. For Paul to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Phil 1:20-21)

Paul makes it very clear that the purpose of his life on earth is to magnify, to make great, to honor, to celebrate Jesus in his living and dying. He did not waste futile hours in trying to persuade himself to put to death even some of the worldly things so that he could lay hold of more of Christ. Why would this be? Either Paul was on something, or he knew something!

Like many others in the Bible, Paul tasted the goodness of the Lord. He experienced the fullness of joy in God’s presence and He encountered the pleasures at His right hand. In God’s house we can feast on His abundance and drink from the river of His delights. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!!

In the words of John Piper: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Paul was prepared to die to temporary pleasures so that he could lay hold of the mother load, the ultimate pleasure. God is your chosen portion and your cup. He is the culmination of your inheritance both in this life and the life to come. Jesus is before all things and in Him all things hold together, he is preeminent in everything. So the Rolling Stones are dead wrong, I can be satisfied, but only from heaven.  

 

When I was in school I dreamt of one day owning an Uno. It didn’t even have to be a five door, even the three door would be fine. I had even convinced myself that, should I ever have the privilege of owning an Uno, I would be totally satisfied and surely never need anything else. Well, the Uno came and went and now I am sure I will be completely satisfied with a Gumbert Apollo.

1Tim. 6:8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Just like me and my Uno, the tribe of Dan seemed to struggle with being content with their lot in life. You may even sympathise with them! They always had to travel at the back of the pack, being the very last to pack up and leave when the cloud of God’s presence moved, and the last to set up camp once they arrived, having to pitch their tents and make their beds while everyone else was drinking manna shakes while lazing in the sun. To make it worse, along with their knack for all things ‘last’ they were also the last tribe to get their inheritance when the promised land was apportioned to the different tribes. Oh and did I mention that their inheritance was uncomfortably small?! About half the size of the Jones’ inheritance!! And finally, to add fuel to the fire, the tribe of Dan seemed to be brimming with capable, big capacity men of war!

Having endured the ‘short-straw’ portion for so long, it seemed that it all eventually came to a head and the tribe of Dan figured that enough was enough. The territory of Dan was small, but extremely fertile. Unfortunately for their liking Dan was recorded in history as being ‘squeezed into the narrow strip between the mountains and the sea, its energies were great beyond its numbers’. So Dan made a plan! They plundered the towns north of their inheritance because, like Lot, they saw that it was ‘a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth’ – Judges 18.10. Unfortunately, also just like Lot, they sank into material meaninglessness!

‘The mounds of ruins that mark the site of the city show that it covered a considerable extent of ground. However, there remains no record of any noble deed achieved by the degenerating tribe. Their name disappears from the roll-book of the natural and the spiritual‘ – Manning’s Those Holy Fields.

Eccl. 4:4   Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

In our culture of achievement, contentment is shunned like a Western Province supporter in rugby season, and yet God esteems it highly. Are we content with our portion, our calling, our giftings? It’s a tnesion I have wrestled with – knowing where hungering for more turns to selfish pursuits. You might despise being a mom because you don’t get the time to invest in ‘your ministry’. You may despise being a musician because what you really want to do is preach. You may despise being an administrator or serving coffee or cleaning up after the service when even your spouse knows that you were called to be a leader of leaders?! However, I have had to ask myself recently if it isn’t possible that my portion allotted to me by my Creator is not significant according to man’s standards, and never will be. I have had to think more soberly, as Paul would say, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned to me. Ahh but my problem is that I should simply claim a bigger inheritance – by faith – and just take hold of it! But that’s what the tribe of Dan did, and look at where it got them. Perhaps the greatest achievement I can make is to be satisfied with bringing up the rear, either being faithful in little will allow me to be faithful with much, or I may discover that the glory of the Lord is found at the rear guard! – Is 58.8.

I am not insinuating that we should settle for the lowest common denominator, or not be faithful stewards or not expect the God of the impossible to act according to His nature. However, we might find that our journey with the Lord is far more enjoyable, far more exhilarating when we lay hold of Him, come what may, and let Him be our portion and our cup, not our grandiose desires to make our own names great.

How then do we hold the tension between kicking into neutral and living an uninspiring life and reaching for more? God is the God who does exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or imagine. He will always give us more than we expect, that is just the nature of the God that we serve. But right there is where the answer lies. It is His to give, in His time, according to His portion. We need to be sure that on one hand we don’t sacrifice our today by being fixated on our tomorrow, and at the same time learn to dream bigger, pray wilder, expect greater because it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, yet it is through faith and patience that we will inherit the promises.

Let’s put some prayer and intentionality in being satisfied saints, while we press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  

Phil 3.13-14 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

To my shock I realize why all commandments are summed up in one...Love.

This picture of christians loving each other and transforming their workplaces and the world with this love, is a far cry from the perception of what a christian embodies today.

You see, the word christian is supposed to mean “little Christ” or “someone of like nature of Christ” and sadly, this is so not how the world would describe us.

In fact, we have become the most judgmental people which are the self appointed custodians of do's and dont's, that is certainly not an accurate representation of our Man in heaven, Jesus Christ.

He was a man who made people feel comfortable around Him, and that they could come to Him, no matter who they were, because they could see the love in His eyes and actions. We love to use cliches like “hate the sin and love the sinner”, when in fact we hate the sinner and love the sin. Isn't this what Jesus kept His best rebukes for....”you white washed tombs” come to mind.

So what is it that He had, that so many of us are lacking? Love!

Love can be defined as a great interest and pleasure in something or someone...does this describe our attitude towards those who do not know Christ, let alone our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you are honest, most will have to answer, “negative” to this question.

This to me is just an outworking of losing the awe and wonder of the Word and Spirit, which transformed our lives when we came to Christ, which has been God's transformational agents throughout history.

We have made it our responsibility to teach people how to live “the perfect christian life”, which we in our ignorance are so far from....did someone shout Pharisee?

Ok, ok, guilty as charged....

Anyway our love for each other and others is the greatest evangelism tool at our disposal. When used correctly will draw people like a  magnet into the church. Then through the foolishness of preaching and the conviction and leading of the Holy Spirit a truly converted person will begin to change over time and become everything God has made them to be. Even some of us will become truly saved!

Let it never be said of the church again that people already feel so bad about themselves, and are resisting going to church, to just have people make them feel even worse.

Let us be those who will do at least the one thing that we can do....love like Christ.