Beyond the SEE

Oops!

2014-08-31T12:22:00.001+02:00

I have watched, listened and read a few of Joel Osteen's messages, and have not agreed with even one of them. Comparing the Osteen messages to what Jesus teaches is completely contradictory. Now, this was the final straw. I cannot be quiet anymore. I just watched a video clip of Joel Osteen's wife declaring, in a "worship" service, that worship is not for God but for ourselves. She completely dismisses the holiness and sovereignty of God in exchange for us to feel good. She says thats "ok"!? WHAT?! (See clip... http://youtu.be/00-6OyXVA0M )

So if stealing a car or murding the person who irritates me makes me happy, and i sit in church all happy, then God is happy too? WHAT?!

The Bible is clear that God is to be worshipped and placed 1st, above all else, in our lives. If you listen to the Osteen's "sermons" or read their books and compare them to God's words in the Bible, you will find their words contradict that which God requires of and from us.

Quite frankly, their messages are blasphemous and are not inline with what Jesus commands of us. (Read this article... http://christiannews.net/2014/08/28/do-good-for-your-own-self-osteen-says-obedience-worship-not-for-god-video/)

Just because they're popular and have clever marketing strategies to draw thousands, it does not make what they say right.

Most of our greatest theological minds, past and present, do not agree with the doctrine that is preached today by them and others like them (Prosperity Doctrine). Its a 'shallow-i-want-to-feel-good-but-not-be-like-Jesus-because-its-about-me' message that focuses on 'self' rather than on God.

Jesus did not come to make us happy, he came to make us Holy. Happiness doesn't get your into heaven, only Holiness, through Jesus, does. A byproduct of Holiness is "Complete Joy" (John 15).

FYI: Joy kicks happiness' butt any day of the week. Happiness is fickle and influenced by the smallest things; like weather or food. Joy, however, is manifested through obedience to Christ's sovereignty in our lives.

I.e. Me 1st = fickle happiness and a shallow sense of worth. God 1st = Complete Joy, holiness, and a deep sense of God's omnipotence and omnipresence.

Oh look... a bible verse, Jesus said, " seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33.

So who did Jesus say we must WORSHIP first? Could I be? He says it must be GOD 1ST!!! (Take that Joel and the like)

But here's where the problem lies (excuse the pun); those who don't know what the Word of God says will believe anything the world tells them.

Satan himself used scripture to try trick Jesus into turning away from God. (Read Matt 4). But get this... JESUS KNEW THE TEACHINGS OF GOD! He also used scripture to fight back ... and he won!

Me 1st vs Jesus 1st? Mmm....?
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Jesus put us 1st so that we may put Him 1st.

If you believe the prosperity stuff being taught today; You've been led astray and you're in BIG trouble. Best you stop and start figuring out what Jesus says for real.

Remember, Christianity is NOT about happiness, it's about HOLINESS.

You don't wanna die one day, stand before God and say, "Oops!"

Who you are and how to stay that way.

2014-06-13T09:09:00.001+02:00

Many of us are lost in knowing who we truly are; Who God has created us to be and how God sees us. The big problem is, we struggle to believe the simplicity of this gracious gift.

Start by reading this:

http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/who_we_really_are.php

Read the scripture readings in this article using your own bible and do the following:

Get a journal and allowed yourself to slow down each day to connect with God using SOAP method of study.

What is S.O.A.P.?

S.O.A.P. stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. It is a way of getting more out of your time in God's word. We did not invent it, we just decided to make a website to make it easier to do.

How does it work?

It's quite simple. When you sit for your daily quiet time read the bible as you normally would with one simple difference. Underline or make note of any verses that jump out at you with special significance. This is the basis for diving deeper and using S.O.A.P.

Now comes the cool part. Login and create a new SOAP entry. There are four fields to fill in and I bet you can guess what they are:

Scripture:
Type in the verse or verses that stuck out to you in your reading. You can show the verses and even have them read to you with the click of a button. No copying and pasting blocks of text.

Observation:
What did you observe about the scripture that struck you. This can be one sentence or a whole book.

Application:
How can you apply the observation so that it affects your life today.

Prayer:
Write out a prayer to God based on what you just learned and ask him to help you apply this truth in your life.

(www.soapstudy.com)

This will help. Continue to be courageous for Christ.

Kev.

“The Whites must leave the church”… ?

2014-02-26T10:37:00.001+02:00

At our annual ministers retreat, the four white ministers were subjected to a deep sense of “white extinction” from our fellow colleagues.

One of the ministers sparked this uneasy feeling, when we were talking about the new proposal of stationing ministers, when he suggested that The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MSCA) must learn from the government (ANC) and start focusing on the black ministers getting the better stations (traditionally where white ministers are invited too – given specific contexts) and if the white people don’t like it, they must leave and start their own churches.

First question: Why is the person who is called to be a minister degrading the gospel by telling us to learn from the ruling party?
Second question: Why is Christianity and calling about colour?

These words sparked an intense interest amongst some of the other ministers reiterating this sentiment (granted not all felt the same, however if they hadn't, their silence wasn't convincing).
One stated, “Yes, white people aren’t even coming into the ministry (of the MSCA specifically) anymore. It’s only black people who are going to seminary and we must recognise that.” (I would agree with that - both the pros and the cons of that statement).
Eventually the statement that shocked me to my core was uttered, “The Methodist Church has more black people and therefore we [sic] must focus on the black people. The whites can leave if they don’t like it.”
All the while, the white ministers did not say a thing. Not even a hand was raised or a defence made as we were made to feel extremely marginalised and unwanted in the church that is supposed to be for all people and nations.
Forgotten are the foundational words of John Wesley that formed Methodism where he said;

All need to be saved,
All can be saved,
All can know themselves to be saved,
All can be saved to the uttermost.

Now, call me an idiot, but to me the word ‘All’ probably means EVERYONE, not just a specific group of people. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Eventually the bishop stood up and asked the white ministers to respond to these comments. One-by-one we stood up to have our say. Things were said in defence of that onslaught. Then it was my turn. I stood up and said, “This colour stuff is BULLSHIT!” (To which is was asked not to use probationer language as I am now ordained.) We all laughed.
Then I continued, “As called people to be ministers of the Gospel, we are called to rise above our own cultures and become part of the Christ-culture in this world. We must be more like Christ promoting unity to all people. Not separate people by colour but unite people in Christ. That’s what being called means.
Also, what made me love the MCSA was the fact that the MCSA was the only church to stand up to the Apartheid regime. To the point whereby the government confiscated thousands of Methodist schools because they would not conform to the regimes demands. During that time, Methodist ministers - white and black - fought for equality. They fought against ‘learning from the government’, they fought to teach the government the way of God (That is the role of a Prophetic voice of the church.) Now I hear that white ministers must leave and start their own churches because there is no place for them anymore.
The problem isn’t how we should mould the church to suit the black people, or any one ethnic group; the problem now lies in us not trying to figure out how to attract all nations to Christ (using the MCSA) – Black, white, Indian, Asian, etc. creating equality. This church is supposed to be for everybody!”

I did not receive a standing ovation after that riveting comeback. Nor, did anyone else say, “You know, Kevin has a point.” Nor was the direction of the conversation altered. It simply hung in the air leaving me with several thoughts;

Is the MCSA focusing on one group only, advocating segregation in their silence of disunity?
Is this the end of the MCSA?
Is there still a place in this church for me as a white minister?
Do i still want to be in the MCSA and be part of an institution that does not follow God’s ways but wants to mimic the government’s ways?
Where is the salvation passion of creating unity and church growth?
Am I wasting my call here? I only have one life and one call – do I want to waste it in the MCSA?

Sadly, it’s not the individual churches who are the problem, they are innocent of this stuff (I hope), but it is the institution and those who are leading it with tainted outlooks and silence.
Here is the tough question… Is God shutting down the MCSA because it’s become too political, more segregated and less prophetic?
Allow me to entertain the thought of my brothers. Are they right;

Is there no place for white ministers anymore?
Has a time come for white people to leave the MCSA and start their own churches?

I cannot help but feel these questions rise within my heart the more I am exposed to meetings like this. And truth be told, I feel its getting worse each year from day 1 of my probation started.

I will be honest, it does not look positive from my point of view.

Also bear in mind that this is an isolated event from one part within the MCSA. This does not necessarily reflect what is happening within the wider MCSA Leadership or within the wider church's membership . I truly hope not.

RSA Citizen, YOU MUST watch: Gauteng eTolls Make No Sense

2013-10-09T13:04:00.001+02:00

What are you made of?

2013-10-01T10:32:00.000+02:00

I had a conversation with some people the other night when we started talking about the trial of the Apostle Paul (the book of Acts). We read how the authorities could not find a valid reason to convict Paul but they wanted him dead nevertheless.

So I asked the question, "Are you living your life in such a way that you are offending the authorities at the heart of their corruption and evil doings?"

This sparked a massive debate.

The group made excuses of how and why they cannot make a difference against government, certain institutions and/or even in their work places. The familiar excuse was heard 'I am only one person, how can I go up against them. Its just the way it is.'

REALLY?!

Needless to say, these defeatist attitudes got me all 'passioned-up.' I could not comprehend how people who claim to follow Jesus - the one who initiated a movement that started with life threatening persecutions by the Roman Empire, to ultimately ending in the Roman Empire declaring Christianity as its official religion. Never mind Jesus' ultimate victory over Satan himself.

Jesus' movement, on Earth, strategically took on the evils of institutions and empires. Injustices, corruption and evils of all kinds were not tolerated by Jesus, nor where they tolerated by those who genuinely followed Jesus.

Their goal was to develop goodness and holiness at any cost.

Today, too many pseudo Christians accept evils with the excuse 'but I am only one person. I cannot do anything' and fail to understand that Jesus called people like the disciple Peter - an uneducated reckless twit of a fisherman - to build and help establish God Church, and change the world for good.

Jesus still calls the ordinary excuse-filled 'but I am only one person' people today to do extraordinary things. You are one of them.

You cannot claim to be a Christian and accept the evils you are confronted with.

You cannot claim that you have given your life to Jesus if you don't address the issues Jesus would have addressed.

You cannot claim the Holy Spirit lives within you when you don't find the courage to take on these evils and put yourself into Faith-Mode, knowing you cannot fight without the Holy Spirit because you are scared to death.

You cannot claim to love Jesus when you allow evils to rob Jesus' people of happiness, joy, security, safety, etc. because you're afraid of the big bad institutions.

Those who have come before you, those who have fought for goodness and holiness for our generation have made large sacrifices. Many of whom lost their lives so that we may sit in church, listen to sermons, read blogs like this, in the safety of our convenient christian lives and have the freedom of dismissing the challenges.

Take a look at the sacrifices made for us but those who fought for goodness and holiness against the evils of this world:

1) Jesus, tortured to death, 30 AD.

2) Andrew,brother of Peter,was crucified in Edessa.

3) Bartholomew was beaten and then crucified in India.

4) James the Great,older brother of John,was beheaded in 44 A.D. in Judea.

According to the period writer Clemens Alexandrinus, as James the Great was lead to his death his accuser was so moved by his courage and faith that he fell at his feet, accepted Christ, and requested a pardon for James or else martyrdom for himself. Both were beheaded.

John,brother of James the Great,was the only apostle who did not suffer a violent death. An attempt was made, however. After he survived boiling in oil without injury, a divine miracle, he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos where the book of Revelation was written.

5) James the Less was beaten,stoned,and then clubbed to death at age 94 in Jerusalem.

6) Jude,brother of James,was crucified in 72 A.D. in Edessa.

7) Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece.

8) Mark was dragged to death in Alexandria.

9) Matthew was killed with a weapon that had a blade and spike in 60 A.D. in Nadabah.

10) Matthias was stoned and then beheaded in Jerusalem.

11) Paul was beheaded with a sword in Rome.

12) Peter was crucified head down by request as unworthy to die the same as Christ, in Rome.

13) Philip was scourged,imprisoned,and then crucified in 54 A.D. in Heliopolis, Phrygia.

14) Simon was crucified in 74 A.D. in Britain.

15) Stephen was stoned to death in 34 A.D. in Jerusalem.

16) Thomas was thrust through with a spear in India.

[ http://www.ultimateriddles.com/death-of-apostles-disciples.html]

... and the list goes on till today.

These people stood up and were counted.
If you claim to be a Christian, you need to understand that you are carrying within you the Spirit of God. The One who wants to rid the world of festering evil.

So when you see an injustice, corruption, or evil of any kind, it is God whom revealed that to you because it is God who wants to destroy that evil. And God wants to strategically use you. Why else would you be affected by what you've experienced? It's God trying to tell you something is wrong and something needs to be done about it.

1 John 4:4 NIV "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

Don't, for one second, believe Satan's lie by buying into the idea of the 'but I am only one person' rubbish. Rather believe the all mighty God who lives within you who says, "attack that evil".

Philippians 4:13 NIV "I can do all this through him (Christ) who gives me strength."

You, Christian, are not called to be comfortable. You, Christian, are called to be obedient and filled with the power of the God who defeats evils.

You are a Child of the Most High God, and it's time you start acting like it. Don't accept evils any more. Call like minded people together to fight with you. Be strategic and help Jesus overcome evil to make our world a better place. Get off you arses and do something.

You say, "I can't." Jesus says, "YOU CAN."

Romans 12:21 NIV "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Ask yourself this question;
Do you really serve Jesus and do whatever is required of you? Or; Is Jesus your little man servant who cleans up after you once a week?

How do you get to Heaven?

2013-09-16T13:19:00.001+02:00

The other day I tweeted this: "Christians:How would u feel sittin in heaven knowin ur family on Earth will not join you because Christianity became extinct in ur lifetime?"

To which someone responded with this: "Don't you think that it's unfair to assume Christianity is the only right religion? Whether it be monotheistic or polytheistic deities that you call God, are you not judged by your actions? There are many good Buddhist, Jews and Muslims out there that will definitely be going to heaven. My dad was not a Christian but he was a good man, you really want to tell me he is not in heaven? I'm not being confrontational but try and have a look at the statement from my point of view. I believe faith is important but to assume that only one kind of faith right, is unfair. I firmly believe God created diversity for a reason, so he could be understood in many different ways, even scientifically!"

So my question to you; What do you think?

Its not a stuff up

2013-09-11T08:57:00.001+02:00

John 13:7 "Jesus replied, "you do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand". Jesus knew the disciples were naive most of the time, but Jesus also knew the bigger picture. Often, we look back and say "DUH!" when we finally understand. But until then, we see what seems to be a total stuff up; Jesus arrested, tortured, murdered; yet he's in the process of kicking Satan's ass and winning our Salvation. So, dispite what you see, just hold onto Jesus, trust him, because he knows what he's doing.

WHEN WILL IT END?

2013-08-07T08:55:00.001+02:00

All that goverment officials do is sit in their offices and 'CONDEMN' acts of violence. We actually dont give a shit about your useless condemnations. What we, South Africans, want is actual justice. We demand that you stop useless talking, 'condemning' violence and crime merely for popularity purposes, get off your couch and do something significant for the people who put you in office. Save our country. If not, then we should expect more communities to become advocates of justice. Share your thoughts?

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Premier-condemns-rape-of-toddler-20130807 Premier condemns rape of toddler (via @News24)

Sunday-school answers

2013-03-27T08:50:00.003+02:00

Yesterday, a good friend of mine lost his wife. A brother in Christ, who has dedicated his life to serving God in the feeding of street kids (everyday) and serves God with me in Kimberley, has had his life rocked in the most tragic way. His wife, who supported him in the most beautiful way, was very young and she leaves behind her husband and 4 kids. The oldest is about 10 and the youngest is not even 1 yet. Their second eldest was recently cured of a brain tumour, and the healing was accredited to the power of prayer and faith. So this family has already been through a lot. It is truly a tragic event that has impacted our whole community.

We spent a lot of time for her in prayer, but this time, the outcome was different. She never made it.

I cannot say that my friend is being tested, because this is far too cruel to be a test. This can only be the doing of a fallen and evil world. Even now as i write this, i have "Sunday-school" answers popping up in my head to hopefully give some explanation into this event.

I'm not for once saying that God is to blame here. i don't believe God wanted this for her, or for anyone of us, but due to the original sin (when Adam and Eve first sinned), we have been living in a broken world ruled by its consequence, resulting in our inevitable deaths.

Thank God (literally) that this is not the end. How more tragic would life be if we never had a hope beyond death? This sin thing is an ugly SOB that only destroys and hurts. But it, itself, has been destroyed by the power of God's resurrected Son, Jesus Christ.

If it weren't for God's intervention into combating sin, we would all be stuffed.

Sometimes, the most powerful reminders of this, are our "Sunday-school-text-book" answers. Especially, when our own "adult" wisdom wrestles with reality. They give us some hope.

I do not doubt that my friend will give up on his faith in God. But i do know, like us, when tragedy strikes, deep questions are asked. So, please, those who believe in the resurrected life, pray for our brother and his family. They need us now.

No wonder Christians are despised!

2013-02-27T09:12:00.001+02:00

Everybody is talking about Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp. A terrible tragedy! A murdered women, two shattered families, a rocked world, and the once inspirational hero to many, is now degraded as a fallen-hero.
History will tell us that many a hero has risen and just as many have fallen. Tis the nature of humanity I guess.

Be that as it may, my concern is not whether Oscar murdered Reeva or not. Let that be for God to know and for the courts to decide, and may truth prevail. However, My concern lies in the fabric of so-called-christians whom have appointed themselves as judge and persecutor. Every Christian whom has forwarded, told, or participated in an Oscar joke, has, by default, claimed this status.

I am deeply saddened at the intensity in which Christians have resorted to this behaviour. Do they not know that their call as a Christ follower is to love? Pray for those who have fallen and have lost loved ones? To Be like Jesus?

Every time a joke is sent, a judgment call is made, or a negative comment is uttered, we are, ourselves, persecuting the body of Christ to which we belong. Do people not realise that every time a joke is sent, we increase the brokenness of this event (like throwing petrol onto a fire)?

Our duty is not to destroy, but to build up. Love, not judge. Unite, not isolate.

We have all fallen at some point, in some way in our lives. So let me ask you this; if you made a horrible mistake (planned or accidentally), would you want people to draw close to you, help, love and guide you? Or would you prefer jokes being told at your expense, judgments made over you, gossip spread about you?

Then ask yourself; when any atrocity happens, How would Jesus respond to that situation? How would you want Jesus to respond to you? How would you want Christians to respond to you?

My prayers are with the broken Pistorius and Steenkamp families. May truth prevail and may justice be met. And may Christians start acting like Jesus.
Keep the SON in your eyes!

Rev. Kevin Zondagh
Minister at Beaconsfield Methodist Church.
Kimberley.
South Africa.
082 789 2143
053 842 0972
twitter: lamamonk

Crying out! Sometimes all we have is Facebook and twitter

2013-02-12T13:11:00.004+02:00

Ever seen those posts on Twitter or Facebook of people saying some really personal things, or leaving hints that something is wrong, or expressing an emotion that is sometimes uncalled for? I'm sure you've read them, or even posted some yourself.

Well, here's the deal... Sometimes social media is all we have to pour out our hearts.

Its sad to think that society has lost the art of listening, compassion, care, and support of others. Somehow, more people are experiencing isolation in a world that prides itself on being more connected than ever via social media. Ironic, don't you think? We have all these avenues of communication, yet we feel we don't have anyone to talk too.

In those moments, sometimes, all we have is social media. People cry out what's on their hearts as a way to puke out their pain, and/or cry out for help.

We need to understand why this happens...

Firstly, we don't feel like we can turn to anyone without being judged for what we are feeling or experiencing. Ironically, once we post something on the blog, we open ourselves up to judgement. Or, we feel like people will simply not understand.

Secondly, its a way of expressing ourselves right away when our emotions are at their rawest. Right there and then, is an outlet. Granted, its not always the wisest choice to splurge our emotions onto a public media form, but it happens.

Thirdly, it's a cry out for help or support without bluntly approaching someone, hoping someone will respond. Sort of like fishing. You throw in the bait and wait for a bite.

So my question is this:

Is the format of personal communication evolving into a new form of interaction, thus squeezing out the valuable art and gift of a personal non-social-media interaction (like the good ol days)?
Shouldn't this generation pursue to preservation of the proper way of listening, showing compassion, caring for, and supporting of others so that future generations may have this gift we can pass down?
Or must we simply accept that social media is all we have?

What are your thoughts?

NOTE: I have purposefully left our being able to have conversation with God in order for us to stay topical to our responsibilities to one another.

Follow me on twitter: @lamamonk (you can tell me how you're feeling).

Like my facebook page: www.facebook.com/KevinZondagh

Dad vs THE SON

2013-01-03T10:01:00.001+02:00

For the past ten years I have been praying for my dad's salvation. He is an intellectual man who is very knowledgeable. As an atheist, He has spent most of his life wrestling with the idea of Jesus being the Son of God, never mind that Jesus rose from the dead to save us.

These were two topics worthy of great debates between him and I. He would present his argument of whatever he had read that supposedly gave proof that everything was a hoax. And I would defend the gospel with whatever knowledge I had. These debates happened for 10 years. And to tell you the truth, I thoroughly enjoyed them, even though they were super frustrating at times, My dad's points always kept me on my toes and I was forced to stay sharp. So I am greatful for those growth points in my life.

My dad read anything and everything that would reject the Bible's claim of Jesus, Salvation, and eternal life. His mission was to expose this hoax. But what he didn't know was that he was searching. The only time people are passionate about something is because they have a deep sense of seeking the truth. And as long as the truth eludes them, the more they will be fired up in pursuit of it. It`s like when you're hungry, you will seek out food and you will eat anything. But if you eat the wrong kinds of foods, your body will know it and you will have an unhealthy reaction - like getting fat. But if you eat the right food when you're hungry, your body will know it and have what it needs to respond accordingly - like have enough energy, nutrients, etc. Resulting in a healthier body.

In other words:
eat junk = unhealthy and craving healthiness, or,
Eat healthy = healthiness (truth) and craving life.

Well, my dad ate (read) junk his whole life, trying to satisfy the craving of truth but never found it. Until recently, he started reading healthier 'truth foods' and started finding sustenance for his craving soul.

On the 26th of December 2012, at 6pm, my dad, the hoax hunter, was lying in the trauma unit in hospital when he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. This was, by no means a spur of the moment decision. If anything, my dad made an informed decision after a life long process in trying to uncover the 'Jesus conspiracy'.

He is now a child of God but is still in hospital waiting to see if he will be accepted as a liver transplant candidate. Please pray they God may sustain and feed his soul in this time of deep questioning and wrestling that he may have, so that he may have the strength to fend off Satan's lies.

He is also major pain right now. Please pray for the pain to stop.

For one to live, another must die!

2013-01-02T08:18:00.001+02:00

My dad is in hospital. He needs to have a liver transplant or else he will only have 6-12 months left to live (predicts the doctor).

So, here's the thought. In order for my dad to receive a new liver, someone needs to die. In case you haven't noticed, 'Livers-R-Us' hasn't sent up shop yet. So someone needs to die and their liver needs to be given to my dad.

Now here's the question... can I pray that my dad gets a new liver? Because invariably, I'll be asking God to, maybe, kill someone so that my dad may live. What do you do?

People tell me that they will pray for my dad to get a new liver. I don't think they have thought that statement through. Where do they think it will come from? If you pray that someone gets a liver, you are indirectly praying that someone else may die. Now that leaves a different family wrecked with the pain of losing a loved one.

What are your thoughts?

The Ultimate Event

2012-12-24T18:11:00.001+02:00

Have you ever been to a red carpet event? Or have anyone witnessed a red carpet event? I’m sure we all have.

We see celebrities and other important people in society arrive at this event. There a hundreds of people who have arrived there just to witness this.

We see loads of photographers at the ready to do battle with the other photographers to get the perfect shot.

We see glamorous outfits, expensive jewellery, fancy cars, elaborate lighting and audio, TV cameras, and not to forget the most important part of the event… the long red carpet that symbolises status and importance.

And all this for a very brief moment to see the people walk from their cars into the door of a building for a function.

But what we do not see is the person who has worked tirelessly with his or her staff for months in advance preparing that glamorous moment. Making it happen.

We don’t see the person who puts up the sound equipment, or the person who put of the light, or the person who cleaned everything up, or the person who rolled out the red carpet. That is what we do not see.

That is very similar to how God orchestrated and is orchestrating The Ultimate Event!

The Ultimate event that God has already orchestrated was Jesus’ birth.

And the second Ultimate Event that God is orchestrating is when Jesus comes again.

We are going to have a look at a small part of that majestic planning to try appreciate the work of the one who made it all happen.

I have combined two gospel texts for us this morning to get a better picture. One is about Mary, Jesus’ mom. And the other is about Jesus’ earthly dad, Joseph.

Context:

Account of what happened before Jesus was born. We can see how God was planning The Ultimate Event.
In the text leading up to our reading this morning, we meet Zechariah (Priest) and Elizabeth (Mary’s mother of Jesus’ cousin). They are married and well into their years when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah to tell him that he will have a son, John – Jesus’s cousin.
Here’s the kicker… Elizabeth was old and barren.

Text 1: Luke 1:26-38

26. In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,

27. to a virgin pledged to be married (engagement) to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

29. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

30. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God.

31. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

Jesus’ name had a meaning - in the sense that God is telling us something. Jesus = Greek for “The Lord Saves” – which meant God was planning to initiate something that will save people.

32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,

Father David = From the Davidic line. David was Jesus’ great+ grandfather. So it doesn’t literally mean that Jesus’ father was David.
Like my surname is Zondagh, and I am from the Zondagh line.

33. and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

The house of Jacob = All who belong to the twelve tribes of Jacob which symbolised all people. So, Jesus would reign over all of God’s people.

34. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Contracted to Joseph but they were not yet together as a married couple. So she humbly enquires about the logistics of this plan.

35. The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

You may or may not remember but this same action that takes place here with the Holy Spirit, also took place right in the beginning of time when the world was created.
Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
So the Spirit who was at the time of creation, is the same spirit who is overshadowing Mary.
Whilst doing that he created the body that Jesus would have.
You often hear of minister talking about Jesus being fully human and fully God at the same time. Well, hopefully this will help you understand that right from the beginning, Jesus body wasn’t only created in a human’s womb but he was also created by the Holy Spirit.
Example: Clay - Like if you take two pieces of different coloured clay. One red and the other yellow. One is fully red and the other is fully yellow, but when you squash them together to will have one ball of clay that is fully red and fully yellow at the same time.
This didn’t happen in the case of John, Elizabeth’s son. He would be conceived naturally, although she miraculously conceived, John wasn’t created like Jesus was. Thus, simply by this contrast, we already determine that Jesus would be no ordinary person. He will be called the Son of God.
Also what we need to understand is that Jesus, although his physical body was created in this moment, was always there. Jesus himself wasn’t created here, he doesn’t have a beginning because he is God, only his earthly body had a beginning.
That’s how Jesus came into the world as a human but could remain fully God as well.

36. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.

If Mary had any doubt about the she was going to become pregnant, it would be extinguished when the Holy Spirit tells her that her old barren cousin is 6 months pregnant.

37. For no word from God will ever fail.”

38. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

Now, do you remember that Mary is pledged to be married to Joseph? What happens when he find out that his soon-to-be-virgin-wife is pregnant? This is what soap operas are made out of! Let’s see…

Our second text is about Joseph:

Text 2: Matthew 1: 18-25

18. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about : His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Before they came together = a women will stay in her father’s house and only after a certain time would she then go live with her husband. Only then could the consummate their marriage.
So, they were married but not yet living together and they had not yet made love.
What we don’t know is what kind of conversation took place between Mary and Joseph about this, but it is obvious that it wasn’t satisfactory to Joseph…

19. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Now this is integrity! He didn’t want to make a spectacle of Mary and blurt it out the she is pregnant without his baby. For if he did so, the law required that Mary be stoned to death. Hence, his idea of a quite divorce.

20. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22. All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:

23. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Ok, what’s happening here? Is his name Jesus or Immanuel? Well, both.
Remember earlier I said God was revealing what his plan was in the name of Jesus? Well, the same applies here. God is letting them in on a little secret. He is revealing that He is coming to save us and by doing so, He is going to be with us, as Jesus himself.
The Ultimate Event is approaching! God is coming to be with us and save us!

24. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Now only does his wife go home with him.

25. But he had no union (no consummation of their marriage yet) with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Ok, so I hope you have a bigger picture now of what happened. But allow me to bottom line it for us – time wise.

Already from the Old Testament times, there was talk about the coming of the messiah, Immanuel. But no one knew when until God made it happen.

So we have… different stages:

From the Old Testament time,
Fast forward to the conception of John the Baptist,
6 months later, the conception of Jesus,
To, when Joseph and Mary are married when Joseph discovers Mary’s pregnancy.

None of this happened all at once. Everything was planned for The Ultimate Event, the birth of Jesus – When God himself will dwell amongst us. (We will cover that part on Christmas day).

God planned everything. He was the one behind The Ultimate Event, the birth of Jesus. And he had his ‘staff’ = those called by him to help in this planning.

In the Old Testament, we have the prophets and some other people.

And in the beginning of the New Testament, we have Mary and Joseph, and Zechariah and Elizabeth. All called to be part of the planning and preparation of The Ultimate Event.

And we know that The Ultimate Event happened relatively smoothly and there were some wonderful things that happened, but there weren’t any photographers, camera crew, nice cars, thousands of people or even a red carpet.

It was only Mary, Joseph, a few animals and some shepherds and some wise men. Nothing to suggest This Ultimate Event was happening.

So what made it The Ultimate Event? It was the birth of the Son of God into the world, who would come to take away the sins of the world and win salvation for the sinners. It was God with us, for God to save us. It’s the Event where everything would change… forever.

But we need to ask ourselves. Would this event have taken place if Joseph ignored the word of God that came to him by saying, “No God! That woman is a liar and I am hurt by this rubbish. You can take Mary and this virgin birth thing and forget about me.”

Or; if Mary decided to skip town in fear of her own safety instead over obeying God’s plan for her.

Maybe, Maybe not?!

The key here is that because Joseph and Mary trusted the Ultimate Event coordinator, The Ultimate Event happened.

So what do we learn from this?

As we know, Jesus never only came for one time only. He said that He is coming again. This is another prophecy that we are living in right now that hasn’t happened yet.

But what we need to know is, God is still the Ultimate Event coordinator who is planning Jesus’ second coming. And while we wait, God is calling on people like Mary and Joseph, and Zechariah and Elizabeth, the prophets, the disciples, and all the saints - you and me - to do what he asks us to do so that when The Ultimate Event happens, thousands of people will benefit because we have done our parts.

Like Joseph, we cannot have an incorrect attitude when God has something planned.

Like Mary, we cannot head for the hills when God asks us to do something that scares us.

We, need trust and Obey God like they did.

God is busy preparing this world for the second coming. We have all just survived the 21^st of December when, according to the Mayan Calendar, the world was supposed to end. But if the world did end on the 21^st, would we have been prepared for the Ultimate Event where everything changes?

When Jesus comes again, the bible tells us it’s not going to be a peaceful or quiet event. It’ll be the opposite.

The lesson we need to learn from this talk is that God is still busy planning. God is calling us to be ones who carry the message of the Messiah to others.

Like Mary carried and delivered the Messiah into the world. We, too, must carry and deliver the Gospel into this world.

Like Joseph was asked to suck it up for God’s bigger plan. We, too, sometimes must suck it up for God’s bigger plan.

We aren’t the people who should be seeking a glimpse of what’s happening at The Ultimate Event. We are the people who are supposed to be part of it, getting things ready!

That’s what it means to be a child of God.

God is planning this for our ultimate salvation. For us! To spend eternity with him where this is no more pain or suffering or sadness. It’s for us! So, I believe we owe it to God to be part of the behind-the-scenes-crew to help him as much as possible.

So how do we prepare for the second Ultimate Event?

Ask yourself, “Am I doing what God wants me to do for Him?” if not, then what are you doing to find out. Ask God to show you, or simply get involved. Don’t just wait. Just Do!
If you are, then how can you do it better? Then do it.

If you claim to be a Christian and have asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Saviour, then you do not have a choice. You must serve God and do whatever is required of you.

What must you do?

Trust God’s plan for your life.
Do whatever you must for Him.
And remember, God is the Ultimate planner – in all things, especially in your life.
His timing is perfect for everything.

Our Ironic Country

2012-10-29T08:06:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I was stopped in Joburg for being "on my phone" whilst driving. Four Metro Policemen proceeded to tell me how I was talking on my phone despite me telling them I was not.

Then cop then showed me the amount allocated to a fine like that, R1000. I said "wow, that's a lot of money for not being on your phone." So he asked me, "if I were to write this fine, how much can you afford?". So I proceeded to open and show my empty wallet while saying, "I'm a Christian and I won't bribe you".

The very kind metro policeman, graciously smile and said, "next time". And told me I could go.

I smiled and thought, "its amazing how we employ criminals to enforce the law in this country." Oh the irony.

What are your thoughts or experiences of our 'Ironic Country'?

~ Kev

NOW!

2012-09-18T11:17:00.001+02:00

[i]

Have you ever heard of the killer whale by the name of Shamu? Shamu is a killer whale that lives in SeaWorld in San Diego, USA. You may also know Shamu by his stage name, Willy. He acted in the movie Free Willy.

The biggest whale jumping in this picture is Shamu. “Shamu is one of the world's largest killer whales living in a zoological park”[ii] and weighs about 8-tons. Have you ever wondered how one trains an 8-ton killing machine? Well, I can tell you this… they never used a rolled up newspaper to smack him on the nose if he was naughty. If they did, they would possibly lose a limb, or even worse.

To train an 8-ton killing machine is a very delicate procedure it takes finesse. They encourage the whale to do something, and when it does, they praise him for it.

For example: Training to jump over a pole:

When the whale swims under the pole, the trainers don’t pay a lot of attention to it. They almost ignore it. There is no encouragement.
When the whale swims over the pole, the trainers spend a lot of time praising the animal for doing something right. There is a lot of encouragement.

The next thing you know, the whale is leaping out of the water jumping over the pole, and enjoying it.

Well, the same principle applies to human beings.

Training us is also a very delicate procedure. We respond very well to encouragement and not so well to discouragement.

Today, we need to be encouraged more than ever. We are bombed with negativity (news, etc.). A psychologist put it this way; See if this describes you…

“Most adults are skilled at discouragement, having received more than their share. We have learned how to yell, threaten, nag, interrogate, criticize, reward, punish, and isolate when problems arise.”[iii]

Sadly, we fall into this definition. But the good news is, we don’t have to stay there. We can become encouragers.

Take movies for example: We LOVE movies where the underdog gets the ‘encouragement’ speech - it inspires us. Why? Because there is, something hardwired within us that causes us, and animals, to respond to encouragement. We want to be better; know we matter; know we are significant; We want to feel like we can do anything; We want to know we are not alone; We want to know that someone believes in us!

In short, like Shamu, we often need that outside voice of encouragement to boost us. And when we are encouraged, we can take on the world.

Today we are learning from the story of Esther and we’ll see what power there is in encouraging…

Context: Place: Palace of King Xerxes. These are the remains:

Geographic: Persian Capital City called Susa, Persian Empire - now known as Shush in SW Iran[iv].

Time: 486 BC

Queen Vashti – who was the 1st Queen.
Esther became queen in 480 BC.

Chapter 1:

One day the King was having a party (a banquette for the boys in the palace) when he sent a messenger to ask Queen Vashti (who was having a banquette for the girls) to join him with his guests. She said ‘no’. Her refusal was seen as blatant disobedience to the king’s command- this was a big ‘NO-NO’. This angered him and so she lost her title as queen.

After the King had calmed down, he was lonely and “queenless”. So His advisors advised Him to look for another queen. He liked the idea and they started their search all over the land for beautiful young virgins.

Chapter 2:

Now - This is where Esther comes into the story - A beautiful, young, Jewish girl, was one of the young girls chosen.

She was adopted and raised by her cousin, Mordecai, when her parents died.

In the king’s search for a new queen, Mordecai advised her not to mention she was a Jew. (So that all stays a secret for now.) Esther is chosen and as one of the potentials and is taken to the Palace. But before any girl was allow to see the King they had to have a beauty treatment.

Can anyone guess how long the treatment was? 12 months.

6 months = with oil and myrrh;
6 months = with perfumes and cosmetics.

So the day arrives for Esther to meet the King and he digs her - More than the other girls. So in Chapter 2, Esther becomes Queen.

One day, while Mordecai was sitting at the Kings gate, he overheard two guards planning to assassinate the king. Mordecai then tells Queen Esther who tells the King. After investigating, the king then hangs the two guards. This was recorded in the Palace journals.

Chapter 3:

Introduces a guy named Haman – 2nd command in Persia.

This guy was so full of himself that he made all people kneel down and pay respect to him as he walked past them. (Mr Vain song was his song). But Mordecai refused to do this. This infuriated Haman so much that he wanted to kill Mordecai and all the Jews in the Kingdom.

Can you remember who else is a Jew in this story? Yip, Queen Esther. (But this is still a secret.)

But Haman doesn’t know this – so he runs to the king saying telling the king, there are a breed of people in the kingdom that disobey the king’s laws. It is not the Kings interest to tolerate these people, so I’ll have them killed and give you 375 tons of silver for the royal treasury.

Because the king doesn’t know any better – he agrees to it. He signs up a document in all the languages of the provinces, stating that on a certain day, all the Jews will annihilated – young and old, woman and children and plunder their goods. Then they sat down and had a drink.

CHAPTER 4 Text: Esther 4

1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.

2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it.

3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate.

7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.

8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said.

10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai,

11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai,

13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.

14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Esther just found herself facing a crossroad (choice).

Her first response was to protect herself, giving Mordecai an excuse for not taking any responsibility. In her mind, she was safely tucked away in the palace whilst, what was about to happen to the people wasn’t her concern.
The second was to listen to her cousin, and do what was right – at the risk of her own life.

WOW! What a place to be.

Because Mordecai encouraged her, she was inspired to become something greater when the bar was raised (like the killer whales)… see what happens.

Chapter 5:

After those three days, she put on the royal robes and approached the King and he never killed her. (good sign) The king asked her what it is she wanted. She wants to throw a feast for the king and Haman. The king agrees and Haman gets all excited and brags to everyone that only He was invited along with the king.

At the feast, the king asks Esther, “What is it she wanted, I’ll even give you half my kingdom if you ask for it”. Esther replied, “if it pleases the king, I’d like you guys over for another feast tomorrow night again and then I will give you my answer”.

So the king and Haman leave. Haman gets home gets home and brags about the feast but is still irritated by Mordecai. So his wife tells him to build massive gallows to have Mordecai hanged. And so he does.

Chapter 6:

That same night the king cannot sleep so he reads the Palace journals. (Remember the journals) He reads how Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot. The king then asks his people, “What honour did Mordecai get?” The answer was, “nothing”.

The next day -Mr. Vain- Haman arrives and the king asks him, “What should he do for someone who must be honoured by the king?” Haman, the narcissist, thinks the king is talking about him – so he spins off this massive ceremony and parade.

The king agrees to this and tells Haman to do it for Mordecai. Can you imagine Haman’s face when the king said it was the guy who he hated the most.

Haman did what the king said and Mordecai was honoured.

Chapter 7: Is the second feast.

The king and Haman are with Esther and King asks Esther again what she wanted. Esther then tells the king that she is a Jew and that all the Jews are going to be killed by the person who even wants to kill the Honoured Mordecai.

The king gets irate and demands the name of this person. Esther says, “it is Haman”. So, The King has Haman hung on the gallows that were built for Mordecai.

The rest of the chapters tell of the Jews liberation and the process of freedom.

Everything changed because one person simply giving words of encouragement.

How important is it to encourage others? Extremely! It could change the world. We witness this in Esther. Encouragement is powerful!

What does the Bible say about encouragement?

1 Thessalonians 5:11) Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Encouragement Changes the world!

For example: We know that William Wilberforce had slavery abolished. But did you know that John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, wrote letters continuously encouraging William not to give up? Wesley kept encouraging him and he kept of fighting. Slavery lost!

Christians need to be encouragers in this discouraging world! Why? Because we serve an encouraging God!

Did you know that God is an encourager? As He encouraged Esther, He wants to encourage us… Check what the Bible says to us… to name a few…

Matthew 5:13-14

13) "You are the salt of the earth”
14) "You are the light of the world”

Romans 8:16-17

16) “We are children of God”
17) “Heirs of God”

1 Corinthian 6:19 “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”

This is written in the present tense! This is for you right now! So, that you may be encouraged. You have value, you matter, God believes in you so much that he chooses to place His Spirit within you!

Just like Esther had been placed in a specific time, specific place, specific context,… We have been placed right here, right NOW!

God wants to use us now to encourage people like he used Mordecai to encourage Esther.

HOW? Personal Exercise: Think about the people in your life. Family, Friends, acquaintances, strangers you meet along the way…

Picture who on that list who needs to be encouraged right NOW, today?
Think about what you need to do to encourage them…
Do it today! Now!

You need to start with that person you just thought of.

Your time is NOW! To encourage people, especially in the ways of the Lord.

Every day, look for ways to encourage people. Serving the Kingdom of God by encouraging people will not cost you a thing. I encourage you to become the Mordecais of the 21^st Century. Encourage at least one person a day. Start with your family.

Allow yourself to become an encourager like Jesus.

Remember: Encouragement Changes the World!

Works Cited

1-World Globes & Maps. (2012). www.worldmapsonline.com/persian_empire.htm. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from www.worldmapsonline.com: www.worldmapsonline.com/persian_empire.htm

Blanchard, K. (2002). Whale Done. New York: The Free Press.

Hodges, M. H. (2011). MESOPOTAMIAN ART. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from http://www.kingsacademy.com: http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/11_Western-Art/02_Mesopotamian/02_Mesopotamian.htm

Inter-Varsity Press. (1998). New Bible Commentary (21st edition ed.). Leicester, England: IVP.

[i] (1-World Globes & Maps, 2012)

[ii] (Blanchard, 2002)

[iii] http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0205-encouragement.html

[iv] (Inter-Varsity Press, 1998, p. 442)

Worry or Trust

2012-09-11T12:13:00.001+02:00

Story: Will’s experience at the airport:

After his return from Rome, Will couldn’t find his luggage in the airport baggage area. He went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that his bags hadn’t shown up on the carousel.

She smiled and told him not to worry because they were trained professionals and he was in good hands.

Then she asked Will, “Has your plane arrived yet?”

LOL! I believe that is great reason to start worrying, don’t you?

Allow me to start by asking you a question. What are you worrying about? What do you worry about? Think about it…

Its is said;

“Most of the things you worry about never happen.”

“Worry is as useless as a handle on a snowball.” ~ Mitzi Chandler

Why is it that we worry? What is in us that causes us to worry.

“Worry is thoughts, images and emotions of a negative nature in which mental attempts are made[vague] to avoid anticipated potential threats[i]. As an emotion it is experienced as anxiety or concern about a real or imagined issue, usually personal issues such as health or finances or broader ones such as environmental pollution and social or technological change.”[ii]

The truth is we all, at some point, worry. There are two kinds of worrying:

If we worry too much, it can kill us.
But sometimes worrying can be healthy. When managed correctly, it can be used to motivate us to do something about it.

Dr. Edward Hallowell, psychiatrist and author of Worry, argues that while "Worry serves a productive function", "anticipatory and dangerous" worrying—which he calls "toxic worry"--can be harmful for your mental and physical health. He claims that "Toxic worry is when the worry paralyzes you," whereas "Good worry leads to constructive action" such as taking steps to resolve the issue that is causing concern.[iii].

5 effects of toxic worry:

“It will damage your health.
Cause the object of your worry to consume your thoughts.
Disrupt your productivity.
Negatively affect the way you treat others.
Reduce your ability to trust in God.” (Life application Bible)

Proverbs 12:25) Worry can rob you of happiness, but kind words will cheer you up.

Now Jesus taught on worrying and he gives us words and a game plan to cheer us up.

In our text, Jesus was referring to the kind of worry that cause anxiety and stress, the kind that paralyzes you, not the subtle kind of worry that produces productivity.

Context: Matthew 6:25-34

Jesus starts teaching about ‘worry’ just after he teaches on ‘money’. It’s important to know that he ends his previous teaching with, “You cannot serve both God and Money” (vs24).

Jesus is making a point that our focus should not be on material things, which are temporary, but we need to have our minds reprogrammed to focus on eternal things - because that is what matters!
Then he moves into this teaching about “Worrying”. It’s not by accident that Jesus chooses to speak about worrying after the money topic, because money is probably one of the biggest causes of worry in our lives.

So Jesus is painting a very vivid picture of a show-down between two giant characters in the story of humanity; God and Money. Of which God is far more superior – Jesus tells us. He uses money to represent the ultimate stress, but it shadows in comparison to God.
And this is what Jesus has to say about it… specifically about worrying and how we are to deal with it.

Text: Matthew 6: 25 – 34

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin.

29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.

30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Is Jesus saying that we don’t have to do anything anymore, that all we have to do is believe in God’s provision for us? No, not at all. If we look at the illustration of the birds, we are told that God takes care of them, but he doesn’t say that they stayed in their nests and God miraculously appeared with worms to feed them. They still have to search for it! So, no, we still need to be responsible to also search for that provision that God has prepared for us. What is forbidden here is worry, not responsibility[iv].

Jesus is saying that whatever it is that is the biggest worry in our life is nothing compared to what God can do. God is far great than our worries. This is the point that Jesus wants us to grasp – No matter what we worry about, God is bigger! God is able to provide and God wants to provide! If God takes care of the birds, how much more does He want to take care of us? After all, Jesus refers to God as what? … “your heavenly Father” (v32). “The proper attitude then is to put God first (vs33) and to trust him for our practical needs.”[v]

So now we are faced with a decision: Worry or Trust God? We cannot do both.

So let’s have a look at how the Bible describes our Heavenly Father, so that it will help us to start trusting God completely: (we sung this before the sermon)… It’s packed with who God is and what He wants for us…

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd	= That's Relationship!
I shall not want	= That's Supply!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures	= That's Rest!
He leadeth me beside the still waters	= That's Refreshment!
He restoreth my soul	= That's Healing!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness	= That's Guidance!
For His name sake	= That's Purpose!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death	= That's Testing!
I will fear no evil	= That's Protection!
For Thou art with me	= That's Faithfulness!
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me	= That's Discipline!
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies	= That's Hope!
Thou anointeth my head with oil	= That's Consecration!
My cup runneth over	= That's Abundance!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life	= That's Blessing !
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord	= That's Security!
Forever	= That's Eternity!

If this is what Our Father in heaven is capable of providing for us, shouldn’t we be more motivated to trust him with everything, except choosing to worry? Surely so!

Jesus tells us, this is your heavenly Father and he wants to give you all these things. So why are you worrying?

Well, worry comes in when we forget this about God and when we forget to trust God; especially when we don’t practice our trusting in our Heavenly Father.

Philippians 4:6) Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.

This is the answer that forms the foundation on how to deal with worrying.

It says;

The first thing to do is Pray = “In ALL your prayers”, tell God what you need, then follow up those requests with thankfulness. For example: if you are worried about a certain situation, you must pray like this;

“My Heavenly Father” - (because Jesus said he is and we need to remind ourselves of that fact), “I am worried about (something)… but thank you Father that you are in control and know what is best for me. Thank you for caring for me and thank you that I can trust you. Amen”.

By praying like this, we are actually putting our trust in Our Father. We cannot worry and trust God completely. We need to trust God.

Pray, and let God worry. ~ Martin Luther

I'm going to ask you to pray in a second. I will give you a few moments to give it a shot…

Remember who God is and what he wants for you;
Tell him what’s on your heart;
Then thank Him for being bigger than your worries and that you can trust him because He is completely in control.

[Pray now… (2min).]

How different do you feel now by praying about your worry and putting your trust in God? Doesn’t it make your worries seem so small when you trust God?

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will act.”

Whatever you do, especially when you worry about something, take it to God straightaway in prayer and trust him. When you do, he says he will act.

Why carry the unsettling worry when we can rather be filled with peace? A peace in knowing that God is in control. When worry starts creeping up, pray and trust God as soon as possible!

Whenever you worry, remember: “Worry = bad, prayer = good!”

Jesus also instructs us what to do, in vs 33 - But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

In other words, don’t worry about stuff. Make sure you trust God and focus on what God wants, and everything will work out fine.

Story: Peter going to Court:

One of my best friends is a guy by the name of Peter. One day, Peter received a notice to appear in court for an unpaid speeding fine in Pretoria. When the court date arrived, Peter was so busy that day that he forgot to appear in court. He then received a summons to appear in court by the judge for another date.

This obviously made him worry and he started thinking about excuses that he could tell the judge on his court day.

After praying about it, Peter decided that he would tell the truth and simply trust God for whatever happens.

The court date arrived and Peter presented himself before the judge. The judged called him forward and told Peter to make his case. Peter said to the judge, “I'm sorry that I didn’t appear in court when was supposed to, but I forgot all about it.”

Peter said the judge was indignant when he asked him, “How can you forget about being summoned to court? Do you know I can have you arrested for this?”.

Peter replied, “Sir, I am a Christian. I came here to tell you the truth and not to conjure up a lie to try and get out of it. The truth is, I did forget. And I’d rather be truthful in the eyes of God and receive punishment, than to tell you a lie to get out of trouble and sin against God.”

The judge thanked Peter for his integrity and dismissed him threw out the case.

Despite what Peter had to face, he chose to be obedient to God and God acted.

You see, like Peter, when we face something that could potentially not end well for us, we have the option to either trust God or worry about it.

But we mustn’t only trust God, we MUST become proactive and allow God to lead us to manage what is worrying us.

'Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet.'

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths. (we must move)

These are some very practical tips on how to deal with worry:

“The 5 steps:

1. Never worry alone
Don't get isolated and become the passive victim. When you're connected and brainstorming with someone else, you tend to come up with solutions.

2. Get the facts
"Toxic worry is usually based on either lack of information or wrong information," Hallowell said. Don't worry about what if, as Dr. Shapiro noted, worry about what is.

3. Make a plan
Once you have the facts, make a plan and take action. Don't worry about whether the plan works or not, Hallowell said that life is about revising plans. You're much better to be active, he said, noting that toxic worry loves a passive victim. Stay in the active mode.

4. Take care of your brain (and soul)
"If you're not in good shape brain-wise, you're going to be prone to getting rattled and worried," he said. "What do I mean by take care of your brain? Obvious steps. Get enough sleep. Physical exercise...one of the best anti-anxiety agents ever."

Also, maintain a proper diet. Don't self-medicate with a lot of carbs, junk food, alcohol, drugs, etc. He also mentioned that prayer and meditation.

And finally, regular doses of positive human contact. It's good to get a smile, a hug or a warm pat on the back.

5. Let it go
This is the hard one for toxic worriers.

"At least you can practice letting it go," Hallowell said. "Head in that direction. A lot of toxic worriers do just the opposite. They gather their worries unto them. They say ‘Where are my worries, come back,' almost as if they fell unsafe without them."

Hallowell said you shouldn't try to let your worries go until you've handled the first four steps, but once you have, it's definitely in your best interests.

"You don't want to carry the weight of the world," he said. "It slows you down at work, it slows you down in relationships, it's bad for your health physically.””[vi]

These skills, starting with proper prayer and putting our trust in God, will help you manage your worries correctly and you will find motivation to do something about them.

Here are “7 Reasons not to worry:

The same God who created life in you can be trusted with the details of your life. (25)
Worrying about the future hampers your efforts today. (26)
Worrying is more harmful than helpful. (27)
God does NOT ignore those who depend on him. (28-30)
Worry shows lack of faith in and understanding of God (31, 32)
There are real challenges God wants us to pursue, and worrying keeps us from them. (33)
Living one day at a time keeps us being consumed with worry. (34)”[vii]

By trusting God, you stop being the victim and start living in victory.

So whatever you are worrying about or will worry about. Take it to God, trust him, and everything will work out.

Don’t worry. Rather Trust! God know what’s best.

[i] Borkovec TD. (2002). Living in a state of worry can cause anxiety, and depression, as well as ruin the present. "Worry does take the pain out of tomorrow, it causes one to be prepared today." -Anonymous. Life in the future versus life in the present. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 9, 76–80.

[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worry#cite_note-Finding_Flow-1

[iii] 5 steps to control worry

[iv] (Inter-Varsity Press, 1998, p. 913)

[v] (Inter-Varsity Press, 1998, p. 913)

[vi] http://www.canadianliving.com/health/mind_and_spirit/5_steps_to_control_your_worry.php

[vii] (Tyndale and Zondervan, 1997, p. 1659)

Creating Connection Slots

2012-09-10T09:11:00.001+02:00

It is the common assumption that churchgoers are prayers. This is not true. Sure you get the select bunch of people who make a point of praying to God every day. But there is a huge group of people who don't and they are sitting in your church.
Praying for them is not as effective as them praying for themselves.
Preaching sermons in telling people to pray simply isn't enough. Being the minister, who says all the prayers, in all the allocated slots in the order of service, is definitely good and needed, but its not enough.
It is our duty as worship leaders to create connection slots within our corporate worship where the congregation confess their own sins (in silent, but if prayed aloud - stand by with the riot squad), intercede for those they know who need Jesus, pray for themselves, and give thanks.
Yes, it is my ministry to pray for the people who God brings to my church, but, within my service, it is my privilege to lead them into praying for themselves.
The Bible tells us (in several places) "when YOU pray". It doesn't say "when your minister prays for you".
We are living in the modern era where distraction and fast-paced life is now the norm. Gone are the days where there would be extra time in the day to pray. Sadly, fast-paced living breeds spiritual neglect.
These spiritually neglecting fast-paced people are sitting our churches every Sunday. They have committed 1 hour to sit still. It is in that hour, they need to pray, not only be prayed for.
What if that was the only opportunity in that week they could speak to God about what's on their hearts but we (as leaders) were too afraid to have times of silent pray because its not part of the fast-paced church norm? Those people will not connect with God that week. Resulting in a strong chance that they won't come back.
I have 4 (2 minute) slots in my services where I lead the people into praying for themselves. Like this (in no particular order):
• Confess your sins and ask God to forgive you (silent and private prayer).
• Thank God for what He is doing and has done in your life (invite people to pray aloud if the wish. Its good for others to hear this).
• Pray for those whom you know who need Jesus right now! (Also silent prayer).
• Pray for your concerns and requests. (Silent prayer).
In doing this, people are personally connecting with God again. THEY ARE TALKING TO GOD! And that's our role as church leaders. Get people to talk to God. Create connection slots.
I've had people tell me how they have started praying during the week because of how they were able to connect with God (for the first time or once again) in the service. There was even a man who became a Christian because he started talking to God. He said, "I didn't have anything else to do in those quiet moments, so I tried praying. It worked."
Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing... Creating praying disciples?
I have seen a tremendous spiritual rejuvenation and uplifting spring up within the congregation. My church is growing. Not because I have said anything but because they got to speak to God. Its a beautiful thing!
Create connection slots between people and God in your services. Let them feel how wonderful it is to speak to God for themselves and they will start slowing down their own fast-paced to speak to God more.

Righteousness #1: What are you wearing?

2012-08-08T11:35:00.001+02:00

We have all been invited to a wedding or a function. On the invitations, you are told what the dress code will be.

So… have you ever stood in front of your cupboard, before a wedding or function, and say, “Now, what am I going to wear?” For many people, this is a daunting task - as if it were a matter of life and death. Especially for ladies… the worst thing that could happen to a lady at a function, is for someone to be wearing the same dress as you! (Inge tells me, “not if you make it look better”). And yes, guys aren’t that much different, are we?

What are you wearing?

We all want to look the best and feel like we stand out – in a good way. We all subscribe to our own fashion style. It’s part of our identity.

I love watching people to see how they react to situations. Especially, when it comes to fashion sense.

This is what I mean, for example: when I walk in the mall I love looking at the faces of the people I walk past.

A classic for me; is when I watch two people walk past each other and both are scoping the other one out – up and down - at what the other one is wearing. And it’s all done in “secrecy”? Almost all the time, everyone is looking at what someone else is wearing.

Over time fashion changes. Some change with it, others don’t. However, one principle remains… what we wear says a lot about who we are.

Now you may be asking, "what on earth does what we wear have anything to do with Christianity." Well, let’s have a look and find out.

Text: Matthew 22:1 – 14.

Context: (commentaries info used).

Matthew is the writer of this Gospel - written for the Jews to prove to them that Jesus was the Messiah. That’s important to know because Jesus uses imagery and terms that the Jews will understand.
Jesus is in Jerusalem, days away from being arrested, teaching in the Temple Courts. The Herodians, Sadducees and Pharisees have gathered around Jesus and are questioning him. They’ve asked (chapter 21) “Who gave you the authority to teach?”
Jesus then answers them with three parables about the Kingdom of God, telling them who will enter the kingdom and who wouldn’t make it.
At the end of the second parable, we read… (to set the tone) – they were looking for ways to arrest Jesus.

WARNING: THIS PARABLE IS LOADED. YOU ARE GOING TO BE BOMBED WITH INFORMATION!

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

King is God.
Son is Jesus.
Wedding Banquet = celebrating a ceremony of unity. Two become one. A union is taking place. Between whom?

3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

In this culture, two invitations were expected. 1^st - to invite the guests, and; 2^nd - to tell them that everything was ready for them to attend.
Notice here how this King has invited the people three times. The terminology in the two accounts ‘had been’ and ‘have been’, indicates that they had already been invited. These two accounts are the follow up invitations.
The King is persistent in his inviting. This tells us that the Kings is serious about having people coming to the banquet – where EVERYTHING has been taken care of.
Jesus is telling the Jews that they were the first to be invited, as God’s chosen people, but they want nothing to do with it… check it out…

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.

6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

· JESUS’ PROPHECY came true 40 years after he told this parable. (& Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24)

“Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus was present in Jerusalem when the city was captured and the Temple was burnt. He described the event in this manner: “On the 10th of August, in A.D. 70 -- the 9th of Av -- in Jewish reckoning, the very day when the King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C., the Temple was burned again. Titus took the city and put it to the torch, burning the Temple.

The prediction of Jesus with regard to the city and the Temple were now fulfilled.” (http://www.templemount.org/destruct2.html)

This is a real life event that tells us that this parable is not just a simple story, but what Jesus is telling us is the truth and will come true.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’

10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Anyone = Gentiles: Good and Bad alike.
Were the Gentiles only invited because the Jews declined the invitations? NO! “It was a custom among the Jews, when a rich man had a feast, to go out and invite all destitute travellers.”[i]
Jesus says this to illustrate that the multitudes will comes together, good and bad alike, to form the visible Church of Christ.
So everyone is part of God’s salvation plan…
What are we all gathered for? Judgement day…

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests(Judgement day), he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Wait a minute! If the invitation is for everyone, then why is this king throwing this person out? Isn’t He contradiction himself? He invites everyone and then he throws someone out, because he is dressed differently?

Also weddings were held at night and The hall would be illuminated. So when being chucked out, you would have been thrown into the dark ad he was tied up to remove all power from him. Isn’t the king merciless, graceless and cruel now?

The answer is 'no'. It may seem like it but it’s not.

According to Jewish custom those days, when you arrived at a wedding, you were given a wedding cloak to wear. This would have been given to you at the door; you put it on and then you would enter. So everyone would be dresses the same. If a person did not wear the robe, it was seen as an insult to the host. Then that person would no longer be welcome at the wedding.

So what happened here was, that the person who wore something different was insulting the King and did NOT accept the Gift. That’s why he had to be removed. That’s why he had to be punished.

Remember, the imagery that Jesus is using is what the Jews are very familiar with. If we didn’t know that, this parable would not make sense to us.

Zephaniah 1:8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.”

You see, in order to be in the presence of God, you need to wear the wedding cloak. But, am I literally talking about our physical clothes? Nope.

What Jesus is talking about here is a spiritual cloak that we wear. It’s not something that we can acquire ourselves. As we have learnt from this parable, it has to be given to us, as a gift, and it’s only thing that can keep us in the banquet - And we have ALL been invited to the banquet.

It’s called the cloak of righteousness (sounds like something out of harry potter, doesn’t it?). It’s a figure of speech describes receiving and wearing the righteousness of God. No one can be in the presence of God in eternity unless they have the righteousness of God.

But there problem is, we are sinners.

Original sin: Adam and Eve were in union with God, but they sinned and were cast out of the presence of God. Then a huge dividing wall, called sin, was erected between us and God. God one side = Holy. Us on the other = unholy.

No matter what we do ourselves, we will never be righteous in the eyes of God. Righteous means; we must do everything right according to God’s standards all the time. We stick to God’s rules and follow God every second. Then we might be righteous. Is that possible? Nope, we are sinners.

The guy who was thrown out in the parable, refused to put on the cloak of righteousness. The gift would have been offered to him, but he did his own thing and wanted to wear his own brand of righteousness – not the righteousness of God.

And he must have been a really good guy on earth because he found himself in the banquet hall. He must have done all the right things, especially in obeying the law of God – just as the Pharisees were trying to do. But when the time came for the Lord to judge, no matter what he did in his lifetime would ever be good enough. Only the people who are wearing the cloak of righteousness are considered good enough to stay.

So then, if we are sinners, what do we do? What’s the solution?

The solution is in this parable:

You have been invited to the wedding banquet of the Son, Jesus Christ.
Whose wedding is it? It’s the union between God to humankind - Between God and you.
How is that union possible? Through a gift, God has given you! His Son, Jesus Christ who died for your sins.

2 Corinthians 5:21) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Only through Jesus can we become the righteousness of God.
We need the cloak of Righteousness. So how do we receive it?

Romans 3:22 “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

When we believe, through faith, we are given the Holy Spirit who helps us in righteous living. We put on the Cloak of righteousness.

HOW do you do this?

Accept the invitation = accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. God is inviting you to an eternal banquet.

God still invites today. He sent His servants out in Jesus’ day, and He sends His servants out today. I am one of them handing you an invitation. And if you are a Christian, then, you too, are a servant who has to go out to invite others to the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ. I hope you are doing it.

What we wear says a lot about who we are.

May you not wear your own brand of righteousness; May you accept the invitation to be wear glory of Jesus; And may you live as the righteousness of God.

God has taken care of everything!

[i] (Clarke, 1976 p. 812)

Keyboard Warrior!

2012-07-19T23:09:00.001+02:00

Today, a very good friend of mine was dumped by her boyfriend via email! The boyfriend was asked, by my friend, if he would be willing to chat over a cup of coffee to sort this out and have a respectful ending. This 28 year old joker (I prefer not to call him a man as I might offend real men) refused as it would be too complicated. WHAT A TOTAL COWARD!!! I bet he felt really strong and brave, like a real man, when he typed away on his keyboard, as he sat behind his computer, in his nice safe office! (Not exactly the image of a man Braveheart projected).

Sadly, this is nothing new. As a minister, i have noticed over the years that there is an ever growing trend amongst the (i hesitate to call them men) male species, where less of them are willing, or even able, to act like real men when facing conflict. Whatever the conflict is, there seems to be a perceived notion that when you write your words addressing that conflict in text message or email, you are still justified as a man.

No No! This is not a man, this is a ________________ (ladies, fill in the blank).

Gone are the days where men would leave home in their mid-teens to go fight in wars for their family and country. Gone are the days where men are true gentlemen. Come, have the days, where wannabe men fight, argue, break up, and flex there character ‘muscle’ behind a keyboard. Come, have the days, where being a gentlemen is about ticking off the “open the car door for her once” check block in a heightened pursuit to get into her pants. Followed by… yip, you guessed it, a typed message saying WHATEVER is necessary to avoid manning up and taking responsibility!

The idea of women looking for men who will protect them and stand up against danger is diminishing at a drastic rate. Women are moving into the roles of being protectors of families (And good for them). Why? Because men are few and far in-between. They are a dying breed.

If a man cannot own up to his mistakes and cannot communicate with someone in person, then he cannot call himself a man. He is nothing more than a spineless coward.

If you have ever called off a relationship with someone via email or text message, and had the means to rather do it face-to-face, then you are the coward is speak of and have no right entering into a relationship with someone who will inevitably be hurt by your spineless nature.

I challenge you men: Whomsoever you have wronged is this way, set up a meeting with them and do the right thing. Grow some balls and learn to be a man. If you don’t, rather cut them off because you are an embarrassment to real men!

To my friend, and the other ladies out there who have fallen victim to spineless wannabe men, I encourage you hang in there for the real man. To help you discern who that may be, grill them with the hard questions from the beginning. Forget about knowing what their favourite movie and colour is. Go straight to the heart of the matter. If they run, well, then you just met a keyboard warrior.

I also need to note that this disrespectful attitude towards others is not restricted to men only, as there is also a large percentage of woman who are also keyboard warriors, and therefore the opposite is true. Either way, my advice remains the same: When you’re getting to know someone, by all means, have the tough conversations. Forget about the fluff. You owe it to yourself to discern who the real-deals are, and who the keyboard warriors are.

Gideon #2: Transformed Through Obedience

2012-07-19T21:23:00.001+02:00

Last week we learned how God told the ‘scaredy-cat’, Gideon, “Go and fight the evil and injustice!” (summarised of course). And here’s the kicker, God promises to be with Him to get this done! (read blog entry: Gideon #1: Man/Woman Up!)

If you claim to be a Christian, you have been called to stand up! To Man UP! To Woman UP! … to do whatever it take to fulfil the will of God.

So, what do you think happens next after we left Gideon last week?

Gideon doesn’t have a moment where he supernaturally transforms into a super-warrior! He does something far less exciting and far less prestigious. He simply trusts God and obeys God’s will. And so it begins.

Gideon is Transformed through Obedience… (Once again, see how if you see a bit of yourself in Gideon’s story…)

Text: Judges 6: 25-40

25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”

The first part of Gideon’s call was to take on the evil in his own family. Why? To obey the first commandment , “You shall have no other gods except me’ (Ex. 20:3). God refuses to compete with other so-called-gods.
By asking for the second bull was, yet again, was an act of God’s grace by not demanding their prize bull. Their sins needed to be forgiven and it was right for God to demand the best offering, but God showed Grace instead.

27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

I love that the Bible tells us that he was afraid - This that helps us relate to Gideon.
When God asks us to do something, 10 to 1 we will also feel afraid, but will we allow that fear to control us or will we STEP UP, like Gideon, and be obedient to the call of God?

28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

29 They asked each other, “Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

30 The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”

32 So that day they gave Gideon the name Jerub-Baal, saying, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.

The reason why he was named Jerub-baal was to testify that this ‘god’, Baal, was powerless and couldn’t even defend his own altar, therefore proving he wasn’t a real god at all.

A quick recap:

Gideon was told to do something. He was afraid but he did it anyway.
People wanted to kill him but they never did.
Don’t think that when God calls you, everything will work out to your expectations…

It won’t. Christianity is tough. We sense it, we know it! That’s why we are reluctant to follow the will of God. But we need to ask ourselves: “Are we obedient to God; or Not? What’s more important: our self-preservation or the will of God?

Gideon chose to be obedient to the will of God, despite his fears and insecurities.

See what happens next…

33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.

35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

Here we see that two sets of armies start assembling, preparing for battle. And due to Gideon’s obedience, “He was taken over and energised by the Spirit of the Lord”[i]. This is when his transformation really takes place!
He was not a scaredy-cat, hiding in a winepress anymore… His transformation started, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and became a warrior! Ready to do the will of God!

Even though Gideon knows what he must do but, still, his faith dwindled and so he sought reassurance from God:

36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.”

38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.”

40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

This last bit, once again, is SO like us! When we are stressed about doing the right thing, no matter how much we prayed before that moment, we also have a faith-wobble and quickly check in with God again to REALLY make sure that this is what God wants. Our ‘No. 99’ prayers go something like this, “Lord, is this is really what you want me to do, then please show me.” Am I right?
Why? Because when the stakes are high… We need God! We need to know God is there. We need to be reassured that what we are doing the right thing. And when we do the right thing, God answers.

So, what does this mean for us?

Gideon was an average person, just like us, called by God to stand against evil and injustice in this world. He, too, was afraid at first. His faith also wavered and he needed reassurance. However, what made Gideon a cut above the rest was his willingness to obey God.

That transformed Him from a scared little man into becoming one of the greatest warriors in the Old Testament. He went from ordinary to extraordinary, because he obeyed God.

God wants us to be extraordinary!

Jesus asks us to obey Him, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). This means that there are instructions for us to follow. Obedience to those commands means that we must submit ourselves to His authority and do what He tells us to do.

There are so many areas where we are not obedient. We like our ways and want our ways. Unfortunately our ways hi-jack us from becoming the people God has destined us to be. We sabotage our own spiritual well-being through disobedience. It’s stupid!

We must be obedient to God’s instructions but if you do not read the word of God (the Bible),then how will you know what to obey? How will you know what Jesus commands if YOU don’t read the Bible! It is not optional if you are a Christian!

You might be living in disobedience right now and not even know it!

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

How will you be transformed if you are not reading the word of God that empowers you to know the will of God? If you don’t do that, the former is true… You will conform to the pattern of the world and be nothing more than a pleb.

Friends, most of us claim to be followers of Christ, but if we do not lead obedient lives, we cannot expect to be anointed by the Holy Spirit for God’s great works. And therefore, we stop ourselves from becoming who God wants us to be.

So we MUST identify, through the word of God, the areas in which we are not being obedient and do whatever it takes to become obedient.

Just like Gideon; we will feel afraid, we will doubt, but we must be obedient. When we are obedient to God, all the pieces of our lives will come together, and slowly we will be transformed by the Spirit of God to become extraordinary people.

WE are called to be extraordinary… just like Jesus! And it starts with day to day obedience.

Now Man/Woman Up, Be Obedient and Be Transformed. God is with you!

Gideon #3: Total Victory (Judges 7)

Whatever it takes, do the right thing!

[i] (Inter-Varsity Press, 1998 p. 272)

Sorted!

2012-07-17T13:18:00.000+02:00

I went to Rest Haven (a very poor retirement home) today to deliver food packages that Beaconsfield Methodist Church members bring in on Sundays to feed the poor.

They never knew I was coming. I had never been there before and I never even knew that this place existed, but God pointed it out via Christine (My Secretary), so I went there with the food.

So when I delivered the food and they manager (who happens to also be a Methodist in our sister church) said to me, "We were panicking this morning because we didn't know where the people's next meal will come from. We just didn't know."

Then they showed me an empty box with some rotting potatoes lying on the bottom of it that they were trying to salvage for today's meal.

That's when God arrived with food to answer their prayers (He was just wearing my body whilst doing it).

They were, simply put, blown away! Amen!

Then I received an sms with a Bible verse from a friend named Ockert; Luke 12:42 "The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?"

Ta-Daaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

If you are reading this, you need to know that God is in control. He has you in the palm of His hand and He will take care of His people.

So, remain faithful. God is!

Keep the SON in your eyes!
Beaconsfield Methodist Church
Kimberley
0538420972
beaconsfieldmc.com

Gideon #1: Man/Woman UP!

2012-07-09T09:15:00.001+02:00

Psalms 68:35) Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel--he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

Do you believe this verse to be true? In theory or in real life?

When a person faces danger, they will do one of three things: Fright, Flight or Fight.

Fright = You are scared stiff. You don’t move
Flight = that’s when you get a fright and you head for the hills! You are out of here.
Fight = this is when you stand your ground and take on anything that is the potential threat.

When you are confronted with a situation, which one describes you most?

I can tell you now that at least 90% of people live in the fright and flight category! If this congregation represented the world, then at least 90% of us are living cowards.

How do I know this? Just look around at the injustices and evil in our community. We have a brothel around the corner; We have substance abuse everywhere; We have wasted resources due to people not doing their jobs. (eg. Broken Water pipes, etc).

Where are the voices of the Christians fighting these injustices and evils in Kimberley? Nowhere! Why? We are too afraid to say anything. We’d rather run and hide. We become accustomed to live in the fright and flight mind-set.

Is that what it means to be a Christian? Is that what God has in mind for us? No ways!

We are called to stand up!

Men are called to Man UP!

Women are called to Woman UP!

There was a guy in the OT by the name of Gideon who was called to do that exact thing. He was called to MAN UP and fight the evil and injustice of his time. He had a very low opinion of himself and never considered himself to be of any worth. That was until God intervened…

Text: Judges 6

Context:

Israel was disobedient to God, so God has them punished for seven years under the oppression of the Midianites.
It was so bad that they had to hide away in clefts, caves, anywhere where they could have a stronghold – struggling to survive.
When the Midianites and other eastern countries invaded the Israelites they would camp in their land, steal and pillage, and ruin everything.

Vs.5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.

Israel was so impoverished that they eventually cried out to God for help, as usual.

Funny how nothing has changed in our attitudes today.
When all is well we turn away from God, we get punished, and when things get really bad, we cry out to God for help.
When, if we were obedient to God, there would be no for punishment.

7-10 = A prophet sent to rebuke Israel.

Gideon is in hiding in a winepress (out of sight), doing menial work to help provide for his family.
Midianites are encamped in their lands.
Gideon is in the Fright and Flight mind-set = Afraid, scared, questioning, unsure. – ‘bangbroek’ – with the attitude of, “it’s not for me to get involved”…

Let’s see what happens… see how much of yourself can you see in Gideon.

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

Despite what they angel referred to Gideon as, the more important words are, “the Lord is with you”.

13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Conveniently Gideon has forgotten that they were being punished for turning against God.

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Notice how the Lord doesn’t even entertain the petty questions Gideon poses. God has a mission and He is straight to the point.

15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Excuse: the attitude of, “it’s not for me to get involved”…

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.

18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.

21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

Because that was the general rule if you saw the Lord or His angels…

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace Jehovah-shalom). To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

We see in the beginning of Gideon’s call that God wants to move him from a ‘flight and fright’ – bangbroek – mind-set into a ‘fight’ mind-set. God wants Gideon to stand up against the evils and injustices of the Midianites and change everything.

Why? GRACE: Even though the Israelites turned against God, he still heard their cries and prayers, had pity on them, and sent his angel as a sign he wants to help them, and then commissions Gideon to help them.

Bottom-line it:

There is a world of injustice and evil for God’s people.
God hears the cries of His people;
God wants to do something about it!

So He calls Gideon to MAN UP!

WWII - Evil and injustice of the Nazi movement:

My grandfather was man by the name of Wally Steward. He was a society steward here at BMC long before I even went into ministry. He was a MOTH - Volunteers who fought in world war 2. He was stationed in Bologna, Italy where he fought.

6 months before he died we got a phone call from the university of Bologna wondering if he was still alive. HE and the other 3 Kimberley reg. men are a heroes for fighting the Nazis and saving Bologna.

This story got me thinking…

My Grandfather stood his ground against the intimidating Nazis . He chose to fight. He had the choice to run because it wasn’t his war but he didn’t (Courage!). He faced the evil and helped overcome it. The Nazis failed and eventually lost the war.

But if my grandfather coward away from fighting injustice, Bologna could have been the doorway for evil to triumph, and this world could have become a very different place.

My Grandfather Manned up and became a hero –saving a town called Bologna.

You see, God didn’t only call the people in the Bible to Man Up and Woman up for his mission to help the world, He called my grandfather to Man up and play a role, and God still calls people today to step up to the plate to take on the evils and injustices of this world.

God is calling you today! Right now! To stop accepting evil getting its way, but to Man Up and Woman Up to fight back.

Gideon wasn’t a fearless leader who could take on the world when He was called, he was a pipsqueak hiding in a winepress.

But Gideon didn’t run away from the responsibility that God wanted to use him, he immediately worshipped God = that’s the Key to successful transformation!

The more Gideon trusted God, the more God transform him to became a mighty warrior who fought all kinds of wrongs.

Manning Up or Womanning UP requires us to worship God and accepting the call God has on your life!

Gideon wasn’t the only one who felt insignificant and worthless… He was just like Moses (and others):[i]

He received his call while in hiding.
God told him He was sending him on a mission.
Gideon protested like Moses that he was inadequate for the task.
He received the same promises Moses did from God, “I will be with you”.
Received a sign for his call.

· It was clear, Gideon was called.

We are the same as them…

We live in hiding – afraid of our own shadows.
God tells us in His word that He has missions for us.
We will protest just like them because we feel like we are inadequate for the task.
But We have also received the promise from God that He is always with us: Matthew 28:20 “…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Hebrews 13:5b, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Received the sign of God grace and mercy – JESUS ON THE CROSS! Just like God sent the angel to Gideon, God sent Jesus to us!

Just like God heard the prayers of the Israelites and sent people to help, so God hears the prayers of people today – God hears your prayers now and wants to come to your rescue.

But as we MUST learn here in Gideon, as followers of God, we are the ones God is calling to make the world a better place in the name of Jesus Christ!

1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of the faith.” (Fight (agōnizomai (ag-o-nid'-zom-ahee) to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize)) the good fight (agōn (ag-one') properly a place of assembly (as if led),) of the faith.)

Prize – Holiness
Led – By God

“Thou hast a contest to sustain in which thy honour, thy life, thy soul, are at stake. Live the Gospel, and defend the cause of God. Unmask hypocrites, expel the profligate (Recklessly wasteful), purge and build up the Church, live in the spirit of thy religion, and give thyself wholly to this work.” [ii]~ Adam Clarke Commentary

The same God who called Gideon to fight evil, is the same God who called Paul to fight who told timothy to fight.

This is the same God who is calling you to fight the good fight!

Now Man/Woman UP!

Like God intervened in Gideon’s life, Moses’s life, Paul’s life, Timothies life, my grandfather’s life, and my life, making us fighters for the Gospel… so God is intervening in your life NOW to transform you into a warrior.

Just like the Israelite cried out to God for help, and God commissioned Gideon to do the job in leading them, so God is calling you to lead in areas where He needs you to show his glory.

WHAT AN HONOUR!!!

Vs14. GO IN THE STRENGTH YOU HAVE!!! Not in the strength you don’t have or may have one day after you go to gym and become a kung-fu expert… but in the strength you have now!

Why? Because God is with you!!!

Whatever you are afraid or ashamed of, is NOTHING compared to God’s call on your life! God will help you to overcome and conquer anything that gets in the way, and transform you into the man or woman He has destined you to be.

Trust God! Earlier, You said that God gives his people strength and power. Now believe it and act on it!

Whatever it takes, do the right thing!

Now man up / Woman up, worship God and be transformed – God is with you!

Next Week - HOW: Gideon #2: Transformation through Obedience.

[i] (Inter-Varsity Press, 1998 p. 271)

[ii] (Clarke, 1976)

Foundation Series: BIBLE

2012-01-23T23:01:00.001+02:00

Series Base text: Matthew 7:24-27 - The Wise and Foolish Builders

24. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

25. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

27. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Foundation stones:

1. Prayer

2. Bible

3. Fasting

4. Tithing

5. Worship

6. Giving

One of my favourite kinds of books to read or programs to watch are autobiographies, especially Christians ones, or ones where the person has some kind of encounter with God. I like these because they are stories about real people who, through experiences, have learned something that they now share with me – who is reading the book. I then learn from these people and my life is richer for it.

Some examples:

· Ken Blanchard – Whale done: Leadership Lessons

· Always look up – Michael J Fox: Inspiration

· Next Generation Leader - Andy Stanley: Leadership Lessons

· Soul Obsession – Nicky Cruz: Inspiration

Each book hold gems of wisdom, through their life experiences, that have helped me in my life.

Now, today I want to about 66 other books that offer way more pearls of wisdom than today’s autobiographies and leadership books. All of these books have been collected and placed into one publication.

We know it as the Bible.

So what is so special about the Bible?

“It’s the most successful literary creation ever; more influential than Shakespeare or any of the other great texts. It’s completely international. Consider the translations of great literary works.

· Take the Greek philosopher Homer, for example. He has been translated into 40 languages.

· Shakespeare, the British playwright, has been translated into 60 languages

· The Harry Potter stories: 67 Languages

· The Bible has been translated into well over 2,233 languages! That’s ten times more than any other book. It’s every publisher’s dream. It’s the world’s bestseller — 44 million copies of the Bible sell every year.”

(Source: How and why should I read the Bible – The Alpha Course)

Quote: Ghandi said to the Christians of his day: ‘You look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisation to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle torn planet. But you treat it as though it were nothing more than a piece of literature.’

So lets compare what Ghandi said to you now:

· If you claim to be a Christian, do you read the Bible as the powerful word of God? Or do you simply read it now and then like an ordinary piece of literature?

I do not know how a person can grow as a Christian without reading the Bible. There is no other way. The only way to move from a beginner to a mature Christian is when you engage the Bible - when you read the Word of God.

What you are about to hear is probably one of the most important messages you will hear in your life. Why? Because you DO NOT have what it takes!

You do not have what it takes to be the kind of person you need to be or want to be. You have these aspirations to be the best father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, friend, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc. in your life, but you do not have what it takes to be the best.

Well, what is that makes you the best? Wisdom.

You do not naturally have the wisdom it takes to be the best friend, father, mother, etc… when you get started. We do not have wisdom as a default setting when we are born. No baby pops out of the womb and automatically councils the gynaecologist on the issues of life.

No, wisdom is a gift you acquire and grow as you experience life.

And for interest sake… God designed it like that.

How many of you would say you could use a little more wisdom?

Well, then how does a person get wisdom?

There are two ways:

1. Personal experience – Example: You run barefoot across the veld when you stand in a pile of devil-thorns. Ouch! You sit down to take them all out. You start thinking, maybe I should wear shoes next time when I run across a veld.

It took one painful incident to gain one lesson in wisdom.

The second way is a better way:

2. Other peoples experiences – Have you heard the saying, “Life is too short to make all the mistakes by yourself?” Well, life is too short to learn all the wisdom yourself.

Example: Your friend runs across the veld, he stands in thorns, his feet are bleeding as he sits there taking out the thorns. Then you ask his, “What did you learn?” Well, do not run into the veld barefoot.

If you’re smart, you then take that piece of wisdom that your friend gained and apply it to your own life.

Let me tell you why this is important:

You do not have enough feet to stand on all the thorny lessons of life to become wise. We have to learn from other peoples experiences. We do not have enough life in us to learn everything by our own experiences.

Now we are stuck with another question, “Where on earth are we going to do that?”

Well, let me show you. Raise your hand if you have ever gained a gem of wisdom from personal experience?

Now if I was to learn from all your gems of wisdom and apply them to my life… I would be a rich man!

I will have wisdom beyond my experience.

We hear Jesus saying the same thing in the base reading for this series;

24. “… everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”

What’s the difference between wise and foolish?

The application!

Both hear, but both do not put it into practice.

Also, how can you put words into practice if you don’t know them?

It’s best we get to know them.

What are his words?

They are not only literally his words that are written in red in some Bibles, but also the words used throughout the whole Bible that is inspired by God. Different Characters, different situations, different contexts, different lessons – all of which we can learn from. We need to learn from all of their experiences.

The way to do this, it to not only learn from Jesus, but also learn from the other characters in the Bible who had a first-hand experience of God.

The Bible has 66 books to learn from.

66 unedited accounts of men and women who made mistakes – that are not hidden - but shown to us so that we have 66 books giving us a wealth of wisdom to learn from.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (Read the underlined out loud with me)

“ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”

Do you know what Inspired means?

God is wants us to know that the same wisdom God gave all these great people in the Bible, is the same Wisdom He will give us! So that we will be fully qualified and equipped.

Think about it this way;

These 66 accounts are here to mentor us in this life so that we are able to become the best we can be.

Some of my great mentors have come from the Bible:

· Job – Gave me understanding in my two years of illness and how to be honest with God.

· Gideon – Allowed me to believe in myself and what God could do through me when others didn’t.

· Esther – giving me courage to do the right thing.

· Nehemiah – How to be a good leader.

God specifically designed the Bible to tutor you in this life. He knew you would need it.

But some might say, “Isn’t the Bible just a historical account of God?”

No no!

1 Corinthians 10:11

“1Co 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

Roman 15:4

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Do you get it? All this is for us to learn from.

Picture all the Bible characters alive at once.

Picture them all seated in a huge auditorium and every time you had a questions about something or needed advice, all you had to do was walk into that room and ask them your question. Imagine the answers you would get from all the collective wealth of wisdom from them… all for you! Can you imagine what your life would be like if you could do that?

Well that’s the point of the Bible! You can have an audience with them any time you like! The Bible is the powerful word of God, not a simple piece of literature.

King David got this, so he wrote this:

Psalms 119:98-100

98) Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

99) I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

100) I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

Do you get this?

You can get wisdom beyond your lifetime because of these people in the Bible who have learned from the throny issues of life, who now can impart their wisdom onto us.

And you know what else… ITS FREE!!!

I have often had many questions where I found answers in the Bible - From personal battles to direction in leading this church.

The Bible hold nothing back as it give freely to you, through these people who have gone before us.

I want to challenge you today, to begin to feed yourself on the word of God. Because everything you need to be the best father, mother, aunt, uncle, grandparent, business person, etc. is found in this book. But you’ve got to feed yourself!

Imagine this with me:

What would look like if you only ate once a month? You’d be scrawny and weak; you won’t have stamina and strength – it wouldn’t be long before you are dead.

Not because you had no food but because you just didn’t want to eat.

If you want to become stronger – you MUST eat!

Now imagine this same analogy for your spiritual life. If we do not feed it, we won’t have any stamina and strength. We’d become scrawny and weak and fade away. No wonder Satan has his way with us and makes our lives miserable. Without feeding on the word of God we won’t have the power to fight him.

We may have the knowledge, but not the strength.

If you want your soul to be strong and powerful – you MUST eat!

How many of you literally still get fed by your mothers? None of you!

Why? Because you know its up to you. The same goes for feeding our spirits.

We need to begin to feed ourselves!

Jesus lets us know this:

Mat 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

I want to challenge you to the most important thing you can do in this life – READ YOUR BIBLE!

You may say, “This is not for me because I have read the Bible from cover to cover, I know the stories, so I'm ok.” No, you’re not. You are missing the point.

You see, your daily devotion, as a Christian, is the foundation for your whole life.

When you read your Bible, it’s more than reading, it’s a time when you sit at the feet of God let Him teach you.

When you read the Bible, you’re not studying the Bible, you are allowing the Bible to studying you. Its great to have the knowledge of the stories but it’s a different story when you are opening up your heart to the word of God. You are saying “Lord search me and take out those things that shouldn’t be there.”

One of the cool things about the Bible is that it’ll search you. It’ll help you find things in your life that shouldn’t be there that will potentially wreck you. It’ll start pointing those things out so you can start dealing with them.

Let me ask you something… Do you think the Holy Spirit will know what you are going to face next week? Next Month? Next year? Of course! But you don’t!

God knows what will trip you up in the future and he WANTS to give you the wisdom to not trip. He knows you are going to need the wisdom you learn today, tomorrow. He wants to equip you but if you don’t take the time to feed yourself and allow God to pour wisdom into your heart, you won’t have it.

You may think, well the Bible takes time to read! No No! By having the wisdom you need for your future challenge, you will save time. Because the Holy Spirit knows exactly what we need before you do. So it’ll save you from digging out of the pit.

I want to learn to play guitar. Imagine if I signed up with a guitar teacher for 1 one hour session a week. I would play ok in a years time.

But how different would my playing be if a master like Jimmy Hendriks or Eric Clapton came up to me and told me they would personally mentor me one hour a day for a year. I would play BRILLIANTLY!

You would be able to tell I had been taught by the master.

That’s what the Bible does for you on a daily basis.

You are learning from the Master about your marriage, your addictions, your soul, your future, your problems, etc. as the Master pours His wisdom into your heart every day.

And it wont be long before someone will recognise that you have been spending time with the master, by the way you will naturally live your life.

That’s the kind of wisdom people need to see in the Church of the Living God.

Where do I begin?

Develop a habit: Last week we spoke about prayer.

I said; “When you pray, give God the best time of your day when you will talk to Him.”

So, begin there. Use the best part of your day to pray and read the Word of God.

You want to give the Holy Spirit your best, so that when these mentors walk through your life, you will not miss a thing.

Earlier this year, I told the church my God Goal was to read the Bible in Chronological order (Read it as it happens). I set time aside each morning and read a few chapters. In the beginning it was difficult because my old habit was to sleep later. But now that I have been doing this for a few week, I find myself excited to read my Bible. I can’t wait. I am LOVING IT! I am learning SO much.

I have developed a good habit of feeding my spirit with the word of God.

Bring 5 things to bring to your devotions:

1. Bible (Devotions are great but bring the BIBLE) – learn how to use the Bible. There is only one book in the universe God promises to inspire. And that’s the Bible.

2. PEN! Underline pieces of scripture. Make notes! The book isn’t holy – ink on paper. What’s Holy is what God teaches you that you place in your heart. Highlight what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. Its not a magical book that will chase the devil out your house. It becomes alive when you engage with it.

3. Reading plan! Else you’ll only read what you know. Do you know who the loneliest people in the Bible are? The Minor Prophets. They are always neglected. I have placed a reading plan on our website for you that you can access to help you. It’s the one I'm busy with.

4. Journal – Write what God is telling you. Remember the wisdom he is giving you. By writing it down, you can always go back and read it. Its like having a cheat sheet for your life. The Bible saves you time.

5. SOAP (acrostic)

· S – Scripture

· O - Observation

· A - Application

· P - Prayer

God almighty has made sure that every word we read is there for a reason.

He has protected the Bible for 2000 years so that YOU can read it today.

So will you?

Friends, read you Bible – Feed your Soul!

*sermon adapted from ‘Read’ – Wayne Cardero

Foundation Series: PRAY

2012-01-23T22:53:00.001+02:00

Series Base Verse: Matthew 7:24-27 The Wise and Foolish Builders
24. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Foundation stones:
1. Prayer
2. Bible
3. Fasting
4. Worship
5. Tithing
6. Giving
Story:
There is a story about two guys who were the only two survivors of a shipwreck. These two men were marooned on an island. Not being a very big Island with limited resources, these two men decided to split island and half. One guy went one way and the other guy went the other way. The deal was that under no circumstances were there to cross the dividing line of the island as the survival depended on it.

Months and months passed by, and on the one side of the island, the one man was flourishing. He had built a hut, he had a gushing stream pouring out freshwater, and all the free trees had more than enough fruit.

The other man was experiencing the opposite. He lived in a hollowed out tree, he had no fruit, and is water had dried up. He lived like that, until he passed away.

Shortly after that a ship was sailing by and noticed the survivors signal fire. The ship rescued the man and he lived out his days back in civilisation.

At a ripe old age, this man passed away, and he found himself standing before God. He said to God, "wow God, thank you for keeping me alive on the island. Without you, I would have died like the other man. You answered all my prayers. But tell me God, why did you not answer the prayers of the other man like you answered mine?" God answered, "I did. When you prayed for food, I gave you food. When you pray for water, I gave you water. When you pray for a shelter, I gave you a shelter. And when you pray for rescue, I rescued you. You prayed many prayers, and I answered. But your friend only prayed one prayer, and that was for me to answer all your prayers."
Today we're talking about one of the most important foundation stones in our Christian lives. And that is the gift of prayer.
Many of us take pray for granted. We only pray when we find ourselves in trouble. We don't use prayer as a time to communicate with God, to learn from God, to gain wisdom, to find peace, or to simply just talk to God. Prayer is treated like a get out of jail free card.
Especially in this crazy busy world where time is a rare commodity - that we do not manage well - when it comes to a relationship with God. God is given what time is left at the end of the day, and maybe not even that much.
Life is busy, noisy, invasive, and relentless. When do you speak to God? Do we speak to God?
And then we ask the question, "where is God? Why can I not hear him? Does God still speak today?"
There was a guy in the old Testament by the name of Elijah, who will help us answer that question. Maybe you remember him, or at least remember one of his stories; HE had a show down with 850 false prophets (1 Kings 18:19) to see whose God is real. They made two altars and prayed to their Gods. Elijah beat them with the power of God. Then He killed them all.
After that, he was on the run and found himself in a cave…
1 Kings 19:
9. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10. He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11. The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
13. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Did you notice something very profound in this reading?
God was not in the hustle bustle, and craziness of that story. He was not in the powerful acts of the world. He wasn't in the earthquake, the wind, or the fire. He was in a gentle whisper.
To look for God in only big things like rallies, churches, conferences, highly visible leaders, will often cause us to miss him. God is most often found gently whispering in the quietness of a humble heart. Are you listening for God?
There was another person who knew how to pray very well. His name is Jesus. This time in the new Testament, and in the life of his ministry, we often find Jesus, leaving the people behind to escape to a mountainside where he would quietly spend time with God. Because he knew that he would find God, and be able to hear God's voice, in created moments of quiet. Jesus himself did this. We also read that he would get up early in the morning, just so that he could spend time with God, before the world got crazy.
Now it might be safe to say, that our world is a lot more crazy than the world that Jesus lived in. We have loads of distractions that pull us in every direction. But the principle remains the same; if Jesus made time for quiet prayer, then so should we.
Jesus was faithful in this prayer life, so much so, that the disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. And this is what he answered them;
Matthew 6
5. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
6. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9. “This, then, is how you should pray:
(vs9-13)
Pray specifically. – If we look at the Lord's prayer, we will notice how specific he teaches us to pray:
· our father – God is your father (thought Jesus).
· Who art in heaven – God is sovereign above all, and is able to do anything.
· hallowed be thy name – praise God when you pray to him.
· Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven – submit your will to God's will. (Job, body, money, etc).
· Give us this day our daily bread – layout all your concerns with a big or small. If you need a miracle, ask for it without shrinking back.
· Forgive us our trespassers, as we forgive those who trespass against us – make sure there is no obstacle between you and God. Confess your sins, receive forgiveness and live.
· Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil – pray for your protection against evil and victory over temptation.
· For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever – end your prayer with worshipping God. Acknowledge that everything belongs to God and that he is in control.
· Amen – let it be so.
What lessons to be take from this?
1. Get away from distractions. – In the beginning of answering the question, Jesus told his disciples to Get Away from distractions, “Go into your room.” If you are like me, you find distractions deadly in making your connection with God. The secret I have found is this: don't bother fighting distractions, you will lose. Avoid them completely. Find a quiet place, where you can pray without interruption.
John Wesley's mother, was a mother of 19 children. The ways she would get away from distractions was to sit in the kitchen put her apron over her head and pray to God. All the children knew that when mom had the apron over her head , she was not to be disturbed.
Creating a place will become for you what the garden of Gethsemane became for Jesus – a holy place, the place with God meets with you.
2. Create a special atmosphere. – Many of us have a favourite holiday destination, or restaurant, or some kind of place they would like to be. The reason being is because it has the kind of atmosphere we like.
The atmosphere I create for myself happens in the morning is this: I wake up, I make coffee and breakfast and then I go sit on my favourite chair and spend time with God. This is the best part of the day for me. – Give God the BEST part of your day!
3. Mean what you say. – Not only did Jesus tell his disciples to pray secretly; but he told them to pray sincerely. Don't keep on babbling and be careful of cliches. Don't fall into the habit of using meaningless repetition. Speak from your heart.
4. Pray from the heart. – Psalm 62:8 says, "pour out your hearts to him." Talk to God. Telling how you feel. Say "Lord, this is how I feel today. I've been thinking about this recently. I'm worried about this. I'm depressed about that. I'm happy about this." Talk from your heart. That's what God wants.
5. Reflect on your time with God. – The reason why many Christians don't grow is because they don't evaluate the lives. In this busy world, it is important to force yourself to slow down. When it comes to my prayer life, I reflect on my time with God by journalling in a prayer journal. When Journalling my prayers slow down in my head and I actually think about what I'm saying. The advantage is, I can always go back and reflect on my life.
6. Above all, pray! – Jesus said, “WHEN you pray” x3. Do what ever it takes. (Under the ever tree; on the beach; in my room with earplugs (find peace in chaos); in a quiet room).
If we want to develop in any other area like – piano, fitness, any sport – we practice regularly. People who are serious about something always make room in the schedules. The more you do this, the better you will become.
Why is it important to pray? As selfish people we can even ask the question, "what do I get out of praying?"
The answer is this, and it is simple:
when we work, we work;
but when we pray, God works.
God, loves to hear your voice. After all, he invented prayer so we could chat. He wants to know about your life, he wants to know about your troubles and your victories, and you wants to make things workout for you.
God wants to bless you, but you have to cooperate. Cooperate? In what areas?
2 ways:
1. Obedience:
In following God's teachings:
· Lev 26:3 "If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,
· Lev 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Obeying God when he speaks:
· Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Have you noticed what happens if you are obedient to God? You get rewarded, your prayers will be answered! I'm not talking about praying for a 100 bedroom house, but all your needs WILL be met.
But how do we hear God's voice? Now we're making a full circle…
By creating spaces of quiet to speak to God and listen.
Yes, God does love hearing your voice, but he also wants you to you his voice. God wants to speak to us. One way is through reading the Bible. (Next weekly talking about the Bible).
2. Stillness.
· Psa 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…”
· Psa 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
In my Christian existence God has always strengthened me in my times of quiet. I have found wisdom and power in those moments. And I know many of you have too. So why then do we starve ourselves of this power and wisdom and strength, everyday? And why do we starve ourselves of the intimate communication, we can have with God for free, everyday? It doesn't seem right, does it?
Prayer is a place where we hear God's voice.
Rev. Ian Francis Quote, “Prayer is the life-line of the Soul like oxygen is the life-line to living.”
Lauren Scholtz once likened prayer to a telephone conversation. It takes two people. Each one gets a turn to speak and to listen.
If you're new to prayer... There is a simple method that can help you start:
Start your prayer with "You are…" - This is we worship God.
Followed by "I am…" – This is where you unpack your heart to God.
Ending with "Please…" – This is where you ask God to help you.
Then, before you say ‘Amen’ keep quiet for 5 to 10 min and just listen. Maybe you want to write down what you hear.
Note: It takes time to get it right! Hang in there!
For the first two weeks, I never heard a thing. I was thinking about all kinds of different things – like laundry.
Get a focus point. I use a small cross that when I get side tracked I open my eyes and look at the cross for a few seconds and that helps me to refocus.
Life is Busy and we need to connect with God. We need to talk to God. God wants to talk to us. So, Step back – MAKE TIME - from the noise and activity of your busy life and listen humbly and quietly for God’s guidance. It may come when you least expect it.

*Prayer points from book "Too Busy Not to Pray" - Bill Hybels