The Bread And Wine - Latest Blog Entries

The Unpopular Gospel Series: Freedom [Adrian Wright]

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:25:00 -0500

I sincerely doubt that Jesus Christ, the creator of heaven and earth - humbled Himself, emptied Himself of His godliness, came down to earth, pooped his nappies, endured puberty, struggled with adolescence, became acquainted with with sorrow and grief, knew what is was to be rejected, spent 33 years on this dusty rock called earth, was beaten, whipped, mocked, spat upon, and nailed to a cross, spent three days in hell, and overcame death – simply so that we can go to church three times on a Sunday.

Jesus did not come to earth to start a religion, but to set us free.

In Luke 4:18 we see Jesus quote the book of Isaiah saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”

Jesus came to show us the Way of freedom and to make it possible for us to walk in that Way. The Kingdom of God.

Every command in the Word of God is marker to the path of Freedom.

Every Church service should equip people to be free and help free others.

Every decision for holiness is a decision for freedom.

Freedom. Its what Jesus died for.

Siswe - face of hope [Sarah van der Merwe]

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:34:00 -0500

by Sarah van der Merwe

I don’t if you’ve ever had one of those moments where someone you see brings you to tears without them even knowing it? Those people that you are convinced came straight out of heaven?

Well, a few days ago I met such an angel. A friend and I were sitting in the Mugg and Bean on the Margate beachfront, looking out over the amphitheater and the beautiful beach, enjoying a warm cup of coffee. As I was staring at all the people walking by, fascinated by all the different types of people there are, I spotted a guy in a wheelchair. If you know Margate, you’ll know it’s not a flat straight area, but one big slope. But this guy was with the only one working foot he had, pushing himself backward up the hill.

Let me just interrupt myself for a moment to explain his capabilities. He could not use his arms; he can walk on his knees, but only really use one foot to push his wheelchair.

What got me first is that no-one offered to help. But at the same time the sheer persistence that this guy had. He was on a mission and nothing was stopping him. I lost sight of him of a while, but then saw his empty chair at the bottom of the stairs heading up to the Mugg and Bean. Nosy as I am, leaned forward and peeked over, to find that he was pulling himself up the stairs.

At this point, I could not take it any more. I excused myself from the table and met him halfway up the stairs. That is when I had the privilege of meeting Siswe, the 18 year old hero. I asked him where he was headed and if I could help him, he told me he was on his way to the café, to go and buy a pie and a cool drink. So I headed up to get him a chicken pie and a pineapple Fanta(as that was what he wanted). Getting back to him I opened his drink, put in the straw and he told me I can put the pie on the step, and he’ll be able to eat it. After I said goodbye and was heading up the stairs the store owner came down and set his table – a store basket upside down as the table, the pie, cut in pieces in his plate. And there Siswe sat, and enjoyed as I later learned, his daily pie and cool drink. Every now and then he’ll look up and I’d be looking, he’d smile as he was enjoying his meal.

After he finished eating his pie, he picked up his can with his mouth, and placed it in the plate, and then he wiped his mouth with the napkin he picked up with his mouth and used his knee as his hand.

But what struck me most about this remarkable young man was not his persistence, or his manners, but his amazing smile. Siswe just kept smiling the whole time. It’s as if nothing was too hard for him, and if everyday was a moment of joy.

I offered to help him back down to his chair, but he, with his beautiful smile, just said he was fine, and then he headed back down to his wheelchair.

I could not stop thinking about Siswe the rest of the day.

I saw him again today, and he greeted me with a smile as he headed down to the beach with a friend who helped take of his shoes and watched his wheelchair as he walked on his knees on the beach.

I saw God in this amazing 18 year old man. He has no mother, he has no father, he cannot walk, he cannot properly talk, he’s got every reason to curl up and give up, yet every day you’ll find Siswe at the Margate beachfront, pushing himself up the hills most of the times, enjoying his pineapple Fanta and pie and smiling at all those he meets.

Why do we find it so hard to find joy in life when we’ve got everything going for us?

If I never see Siswe again, his face is ingrained in my heart.

He is a light lit in a dark room. He is joy and beauty in this world.

I pray he knows what a treasure he is.

He is the face of hope…

Reason for hope [Mynhardt van Pletsen]

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:23:00 -0500

by Mynhardt van Pletsen

Our reason for hope lies not in the way things are now, in the present reality of our circumstances, but rather in the way things could be. Our hope is defined not by what is, but by the joy of a future that could potentially realise!

When we look at our broken, destructive selves, we lose any hope for a positive future. But looking towards the kind of people we can become, we once again regain that long lost, elusive sense of hope.

Isn't it ironic, how hope is so intrinsically bound to the times and places in our lives when things seemed to fall apart? It is almost as if hope reaches its full potential, just as we seem to come undone. As circumstances and relationships seem to go south, just so hope becomes more and more prevalent in our lives.

But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning... Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.
[from The Book Of Job]

God is dead [Pierre du Plessis]

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:43:00 -0500

by Pierre du Plessis

‘God is dead. God remains dead ... what are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchres of God?’ - Nietzsche

We often think (though mostly not consciously I hope) we dish out hope when we give good theological answers to or get people into programs when they ask questions like,

Am I going to be ok?

Is God in control?

Why did I get raped?

Why is it wrong to like other girls?

We are so good at providing answers and creating recovery programs and we get better at it day by day, we can even go and do courses on giving even better answers and go on workshops to design better programs but does this give people what they need?

Hope.

what everyone is truly looking for is hope not always answers. Just something to hold on to that makes life (even just a little) liveable. Hope is not a product of debate or a well formed argument and hope does not exist in fine rhetoric.

Hope is a person.

Think about this:

If God died, would you notice?

Do we still need God if we have our answers?

Haven’t we then become God?

Read: Simply Christian – Tom Wright

Give me hope... [Dries Cronje]

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:05:00 -0500

by Dries Cronje

Last month we had an overall theme of Faith. This month we will talk about Hope. Hebrews 11 starts out by giving us the relationship between the two:

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

So... to have faith, we need something to hope for. What do you hope for? Do you believe that Jesus will reward you when he comes back? Do you hope to gain eternal life? Do you hope that He will say: "Well done good and faithful servant."?

These are good things to hope for.

If we have the necessary faith, and hope for recognition from our Lord, our lives and our actions will look different. We will work hard to find out what exactly Jesus requires of us, and then go further to assure that we live accordingly.

Faith is necessary. But hope is necessary even for faith...

Why is that so many of us have lost all hope for this world? Crime, corruption, and poor leadership, to name but a few. Why can't we see that we live in an era where the opportunities for good, for love, is more bountiful than ever?

Next month we will be delving into love, but for the rest of this month... Why don't you try and reconnect to the Hope that is necessary for you to make a positive impact in this world?

Faith without hope is not worth much!

Relationships and conflict [Thor-Einar Krogh]

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:26:00 -0500

by Thor-Einar Krogh

Our generation has grown up and often learned from TV series and movies about relationships and how to deal with conflicts. We have watched Friends and learned about friendship and love, we have watched Batman and learned about loss and justice.

To handle relationships and manage conflict is one of the basic things in life, but still the area where we struggle to find a way.

Why is it so much conflict, in families, friendships and in work relations. ? The
reality is that conflict is a part of life, a part of growing up. The questions are not
if we are going to meet relational conflicts, but how we will handle it.

Conflicts is a result of colliding kingdoms, my will and your will, my feelings and
yours. God's goal is to teach us to submit our kingdom to his and to learn to love
each other.

It is mainly 3 human problems which brings us into conflict:

Communication problems
We struggle to understand, we have different ways of communicating
Harvard University had a research where they placed microphones in a
pre school playground to study communication. The girls communicated
almost 100% by words, the boys used 68% words, and the rest was sound
effects...

Maybe that tells us something about differences in communication styles.

Perception problems
We look differently at things based on our filter and background. Something is
not possible to understand without the same filters and background. It doesn't
help how hard we try to get others to understand...

Heart problems
All of us have heart problems. We come from imperfect families, backgrounds
and friendships. We have scars and wounds. Everyone has sinned and lack the
glory of God. Sin is mainly a relational issue, that we choose our way instead of
Gods way. We choose our kingdom over his.

One of the things I like about the Bible is that it tells us not the stories about
perfect heroes, but about people with heart issues.

These things bring us into conflict and misunderstandings.

God wants to show us how we shall fight for the relationship, not to win the
argument and discussion. Our relationship with him and with each other is the
main issue.

Fight for the relationship with grace and truth, and be willing to pray, "Let your
kingdom come"

Bumps in the road [Hanre Douglas]

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:20:00 -0500

by Hanre Douglas

Someone once told me that God is more concerned with our character than with what we can do for Him. Now, I don’t have any scriptures to support this statement (yet!), but somehow it sounds true to me.

I spoke to a friend of mine this morning, and he shared with me why he absolutely felt miserable. And believe me, he had every right to feel miserable! So, as Christians tend to do, we started analyzing his situation in search for answers. “I must be the enemy!”, my friend exclaimed, “I’m under massive attack! The enemy is stealing my joy, my hope, my motivation…” And maybe that’s true.

But in my own life I’ve seen so many times that when I hit a bump in the road, I skid out of control, totally off course. Worse of all, I just don’t care!

There’s a scripture somewhere in which the Afrikaans translations says something like the following: As jy kwaad word, moenie sondig nie.

My direct translation: If you get angry, don’t sin.

Hanré’s translation: If you get emotional (frustrated, tired, discouraged etc.), don’t sin.

This is probably contextually and theologically very incorrect. But it is how I experience it. When I feel frustrated or tired or discouraged, I know I’m vulnerable, vulnerable to a degree that I just might make some horrific choices… and not care about it! I know, I’m a terrible person! BUT, I’m not telling you this to use it as an excuse the next time you sin. I share it because I know I’m far from perfect, a work in progress, wanting to please God with everything in me, but, unfortunately, I still fail many times.

Someone’s definition of integrity: To do what you say.

When everything’s running smooth, it’s kind of easy to do what you say, to stay on course. But when I encounter that first emotional bump in the road, man, then it is not so easy anymore! The easy way out is to blame the enemy.

Today however, I wonder if it’s not God trying to build my character, wanting to see if I would still do what I said? This is maybe more what I’m trying to say: God loves us so much that He invests in our characters, and I’m afraid that there’s been so many times when I missed these opportunities, when I was so indulged in my own self pity that I missed a chance to grow.

Hopefully, next time we encounter a bump in the road, we will stay on course, having grown in our character.

My stories of hope [Carmen de Carvalho]

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:16:00 -0500

by Carmen de Carvalho

When I asked God to teach me something about hope I never thought that He would use these following situations. It came rather unexpected, and when you’re at your lowest it is most certainly the place where God picks you up and teaches you something about Him.

These past two weeks I lost two amazing people that were so close to my heart.

They’re not related.

The one was a friend of mine (23 years old) that did Bible College with me last year. She was such an amazing role model in the way she lived her life, her attitude in certain situations inspired me so much and was her death a great shock for me. Well, for a lot of us that knew her. She was out there doing exactly what God intended her to do; living in His will.

While I was sitting at her funeral with all these emotions rushing through my heart, God was busy using this extremely bad thing for His greater good. Why do I say this? Just after the service I started chatting with some of the classmates and 90% of them told me that God used our friend’s death to call them back to Him and to His purpose for them. The testimonies were amazing and were testimonies of the ray of hope that God showed.

With her death God said just one thing to me: “Stop keeping yourself busy with useless things”. He called me back to the book of Ecclesiastes. That everything is vanity if you lose focus and is not doing what God intended you to do.

This week my fiancé’s grandmother died, and I found myself with the same rush of emotions but with a different story of hope. Yes, she was old and very sick but she was a very big influence in my life these past two years. She was a passionate courier woman in her day. She was a boundary breaker (one of the first female doctors in SA). When she set her mind on something she went for it, but the amazing thing about her story is her intimate relationship with her heavenly Father. She loved me as one of her grand children.

The ray of Hope is her life story. The way she lived it and the way God was a part of it. She never did anything without consulting Him first. And will the hope be that we will learn from her life and live as she did.

What is your story of hope? Will your life story be hope for others?

Something to think about…

“You are the inescapable result of your tragedy.” [Brandon Hofer]

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:04:00 -0500

by Brandon Hofer

After traveling 800 000 years into the future in search of the answer to his question, “why can I not change the past,” Alexander Hartdegen meets a new race of human, the Morlock, who informs him that the reason he cannot go into the past to rescue his fiancé from dying is because he never would have built the time machine if she had not died. He then tells Alexander that he is the inescapable result of his tragedy, meaning that there is nothing he can do to change his past and thus he is trapped.

When I had finished watching the movie “The Time Machine,” that line stuck with me. In the movie, Alexander refuses the hopelessness of being the “inescapable result” of his tragedy and instead chooses to ask the question “what if?” At one point he even says that he is going to change the future.

To hope is to ask “what if?” The moment we no longer believe that what we do has an influence on the future is the same moment that hope is lost. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future. I think we would all “agree” to that statement, but how many of us truly believe it?

Do I live my life wondering why the past cannot be different? Or do I live my life looking for what I can do that will change the future?

Hope is the result of believing that my actions matter in this world. If what I do does not matter, then the only thing left to do is wallow in despair.

You are not the inescapable result of your tragedy.

You are shaped by your past, whether it was tragic or joyful, and every new moment offers you a chance to change what is.

The audacity of hope [Mynhardt van Pletsen]

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:05:00 -0500

by Mynhardt van Pletsen

By now everybody is probably aware of the book of the same title by the American presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

Obama basically contends that hope is in its very nature audacious, in the sense that it doesn't really takes into account the reality of the situation. You could also say that hope is almost arrogant! Hope believes and stays positive contrary to and in spite of its current reality.

In short, hope doesn't get confused by the facts!

Its almost as if every person who hopes, needs to suffer from a mild case of dissociation from reality. Hope does not take into account the statistics, the news, the rumours or the realities.

Hope just hopes anyway.

Hope doesn't stay positive because of positive circumstances, hope owes its very existence to a positive attitude amidst negative circumstances! That's why our reason for hope is almost never connected to our current experiences.

We hope in spite of our circumstances.

If faith is defined by believing without seeing what has been promised, hope can be defined as having faith despite seeing what has been produced.

What do you hope for? In spite of what do you keep on hoping?

The Pilgrim [Andy Masters]

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:11:00 -0500

[Andy is writing a series of short stories for The Bread & Wine - this is the first...]

by Andy Masters

None but the Pilgrim would fully understand the events of the night before, though he was quite used to this feeling he longed for a future when there would be someone there to share in his story. Someone to see the battles and the wounds traded back and forth as he clumsily followed his invisible captain to war. The Pilgrim knew that although there may have been a small victory the war was far from over, if he could muster just enough strength to move one foot forward perhaps the other would follow. And so he ventured out again into the unknown, fears grasping at his heart, truth hard to find, and yet amid all the confusion he had a strange sense that he was heading in the right direction.

A red sun began to set behind the Pilgrim as he walked the familiar road home, he felt something in his face that caught him almost completely off guard…yes he was smiling. Question and confusion stilled and for that moment life was good, perspective had changed and the change brought peace and joy. Maybe this was how it was meant to be; maybe this was closer to real life than any of his dreams had ever been.

The dance between great heart ache and great joy was well underway and how this dance was to end none could tell. What the Pilgrim did know was that he was faced with a choice – he could fear the ending and miss out on the dance completely, or he could embrace it for what it was and dance with all of his might. Letting himself go to enjoy every step, even those that were on his partner's toes and known to others as mistakes. Tonight he knew he was in the right place and for the moment that was enough, tonight he would allow tomorrow to be self indulgent. And with that thought he herd sleep calling, he willing answered and rested.

Faith in yourself [Zander van der Westhuizen]

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:36:00 -0500

by Zander van der Westhuizen

The first time I listened to Rob Bell's explanation of Peter's experience on the sea, trying to walk towards Jesus, it really meant a lot to me. He said that we always think it is a narrative about not believing in Jesus. But maybe it is actually a narrative of not believing in yourself.

This has really been on my heart the past few weeks. I see so many young people that has the potential to do great things for the Kingdom. I see young people, who could change so many things in our country, if only they would believe in themselves. If only they could believe in their God-given passions and abilities. And the sad thing is that I think they can. But the system we all live in, with it's very specific requirements for the general idea of success in life, keeps us from believing in literally the impossible. The idea that you have to earn a lot of money, have a degree, have a certain kind of lifestyle etc. to be successful. You believe that there is no way of living your God-given calling and be okay in terms of finances, future and security.

So if God believes in you, what does He believe about you? Does He believe you could live His calling for you and not be successful? Does He believe you could change, renew and bring live without having the finances, future and security that would enable you to keep on living for Him? Or does He believe you could? You could be successful in ways you can't imagine?

May you have the same faith in yourself as God has in you!

OB(SERVE) 4 The Art of P.D.A. [Joby Harris]

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:14:00 -0500

by Joby Harris

A large prayer event was recently held in Los Angeles. A passionate British gentleman came to gather media industry people together to pray for what God was doing in and around media, especially in Los Angeles. However he was dismayed at the lack of support from Los Angeles churches; more internationals than Los Angelenos attended this humble event. I connected with and explained to him about the lack of unity between the churches in Los Angeles. There’s a sense of pride in the churches here with a side order of “We do church better than you.” People in Los Angeles want something specific in a church and when they don’t get it, or when they get hurt or disappointed, they leave and go to another church. Pretty soon you have people going to a new church, telling everyone about what’s wrong with their old church and why they left. People within that new church, who know nothing about the other church, begin to form opinions based on their new friend’s stories. Before you know it, you have rival gangs passive-aggressively battling about who REALLY, Biblically “gets church.”

I was that way until Romans 14 convicted me about not demeaning what other believers and churches hold sacred. Paul speaks clearly about this disunity within the church today: “So what if they hold this more sacred than you. So what if you hold this more sacred than them. We all follow the same God and want others to know Christ. So don’t force someone to do what they don’t hold sacred just because you hold it sacred. We’re all on the same team. Some focus on special teams, some on defense and some on offense” (that’s my 2 Opinions Chapter 1 summary of Romans 14). I think the line is drawn when we begin to hold sacred that which may steer people away from Jesus and His truth. The line should be drawn when we hold sacred things that only maintain the health of the well, but keep the sick ill.

I say all of this because I want to comment on the issue of worship music in our churches — something practically the entire Christian church holds sacred.

Recently I did some quick research. I looked at Billboard’s top 100 albums and took note of the top-selling artists and their songs to see what people, mostly people who don’t know God, were really connecting with. Besides the overall winner of “love,” the topics were very categorized:

Male hip hop lyrics seemed to focus on power, prestige and pride.
The hip hop, R&B females sang about independence, respect, and worth. Their message was basically: “I am beautiful and worth something and if you don’t think so, you can get lost!” That’s my clean version.
People also gravitated to country songs that spoke of identity and belonging, the power of community and hometown pride.
Heavy rock was the big one. Almost all of the songs dealt with: “I’m a victim. You hurt me. And I can’t move until you say you’re sorry or pay for what you’ve done.”

These are the subjects with which people in this world identify. Be they believers or non-believers, these are the people sitting in our churches on any given Sunday.

In 1 Corinthians 14:16-19 Paul says this:

If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

I think a lot of the songs we sing in church now would fall into the category of Tongues; our songs use only language that we believers understand and get edified by, leaving the non-believers scratching their heads. I don’t ever doubt the integrity of the writers or the genuine heart of the worship songs that are written today. I think a lot of songs are amazing and should be played and sung loudly — among believers.

Erwin McManus said it best when he observed that for some non-believers, watching Christians raise their hands and sing to a God they don’t know, using language that is foreign to them may be as comfortable as watching two people make out. “It may be a beautiful and intimate experience, but something tells you that you shouldn’t be there.” In 1 Corinthians 14:16-19, Paul seems to be saying that we should switch over to edifying the entire church body, including the inquirer who is sitting in the back of the church sanctuary, with his arms crossed. He seems to be encouraging us to sing intelligible words that not only truthfully praise God but also edify the unbeliever.

God doesn’t NEED our 20 minutes of worship music to be glorified or honored. Singing and playing music is simply one manner in which to worship. But ultimately we worship with our whole lives. Music is something God created and loves, but I feel we’ve made it a boxed-in, punch-in, punch-out time of honoring Him.

You know what this picture is? It’s a picture I took at a Christian School in Australia. You’d think these kids were sitting this way because a teacher was talking about biology and chemistry. No. This was the reaction of 85 percent of the kids to a worship band. While the band played and jumped around on stage the rest of the detached kids sat and waited for it to end. The horrible thing is, no one addressed the disconnect. The band didn’t. The people putting on the program didn’t. My friend Regi, an incredible motivational speaker and evangelist, especially with high school students, went up after the band (his time had been cut in half to make room for the band) and quickly made them laugh, think and feel loved through his humor and his incredible testimony. But I’ll never forget the question he asked them. “How many of you, even though you go to a Christian School, feel alone, hurt and unheard?” My heart broke as over half of those kids, many of whom were crying, raised their hands. We all had our eyes opened that day.

When we sing songs to praise God, are we being real with ourselves? Are we being real with God and using a realistic language that “inquirers” among us can also understand? Or are we singing in “tongues?”

I definitely believe the Holy Spirit moves and works in the hearts of people, and that God can work even if we don’t deliver in terms of words or music. But we do have a responsibility. All you have to do is read the book of Proverbs to know how important communication can be to either bring life or death to people. Our language matters.

So here’s our dilemma: Music in our churches, no matter how genuine, is most likely using language that is alienating people who don’t know God rather than helping them to experience and know Him in relation to humanity. So how can we worship God through music, and praise Him for who He is and what He’s done, and do it in a way of which a non-believer can be a part, so that s/he can walk away saying, “Surely God is here!”?

I was talking to my friend Greg Steir who runs a youth ministry called Dare 2 Share in Denver, Colorado. Every year he packs out sports arenas, encouraging and challenging kids to share their faith. He was telling me how when most of the time you tell teenagers “God loves you,” they don’t really receive it well. Telling them they’re loved means as much to them as telling them that they owe you five bucks since their current point of reference for love is that of a distant, passive father and a nagging, punishing mother. So Greg first has to set the stage by putting the teenagers within a bigger context and experience so they can know — in the grand scheme of things — “This is where the world is and this is where you are. This is how much you are loved and to what extent God went for you to eventually know your worth.” Only then does saying “God loves you” make true sense to them.

Why don’t we set that stage or create that experience in our art or in the worship songs we sing in church? What if we created worship EXPERIENCES, thanking God for how He steps into, and heals, the issues to which the rest of society flocks, issues like self- worth, unforgiveness, belonging? Can the worship music time at church be an experience where we not only praise God, but also give non-believers a glimpse of God’s real character? Can our worship music time show them how much God accepts us and loves us, despite our garbage, in a language that they can also understand?

God cares about people most. God is fervently passionate about people who are lost. He is speaking to them and having incredible conversations with them. These are people who shell out tons of money and sing aloud every lyric to a song about being victimized or being worth something. Some of these people are in your church, watching and listening. These are people just like us who have deep secrets in their hearts upon which God wants to shed light. When they’re in your midst, during your music time, will you observe and serve them in a meaningful and relevant way…or will you pucker up for a make-out session?

The Unpopular Gospel Series - Heart [Adrian Wright]

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:20:00 -0500

by Adrian Wright

Having said everything that I have about holiness and being holy in my last few posts, I would now like us to look at the source of holiness.

Firstly there are two kinds of holiness:

1. Positional holiness

2. Progressive holiness.

Positional holiness is a holiness that I have (and every true believer has) due to our position in relation to God (His blood-bought children). I am holy not because I have never stumbled or messed up, not because I’m perfect, not because I have done any great things, but because Jesus died to make me so.

Progressive holiness is that process that begins when Christ first comes into our lives and starts revealing Truth to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. A process whereby we learn to overcome sin and flesh, detaching ourselves from the dead things of this world in order to attach ourselves to things much more lovely in their spirituality.

You see the one leads to the other.

When we move into a relationship with Christ by His grace, we are instantly changed. Our dead hearts cannot possibly know such a Living God. And so the first thing we receive along with Christ is a new heart.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them“, Ezekiel 36:26 – 27.
“Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD”, Jeremiah 24:7

Holiness is not something that happens from the outside in, but from the inside out. Therefore we have no business preaching at sinners about holiness, their dead hearts cannot perceive of what we speak. The only way to awaken a dead heart is through love, for God is love. Paul even says this in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11,

“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with *sinful people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the *sinful people of this world, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is *sinful, not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges.”

As Christians however, we must seek holiness and not allow our hearts to grow cold, since we have received a new heart; one that is sensitive to the Holy Spirit, that fears God, that desires to do the will of the Lord. And it’s at this point that sin becomes the most disgusting thing imaginable.

This is the evidence of a new heart, and therefore the fruit will follow.

*Sinful – The scripture here literally says “sexually immoral, covetous, extortioners, idolaters, revilers, or drunkards” which I shortened to “sinful”

Change the [blank] [Mynhardt van Pletsen]

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:56:00 -0500

by Mynhardt van Pletsen

We're almost coming to the end of the month, and thus to the end of our focus on the phenomenon of faith. I already wrote on two very important components of the life lived by faith, answering the call and risking everything, so today I want to chat about a third one - changing the [blank].

In the hit TV show, Heroes, the common mantra motivating the heroes in the fight against evil went something like this: save the cheerleader, save the world! They knew that the future of the entire world depended on the survival of the character Claire Bennett - the cheerleader. Somehow she was the key to eradicate evil and ensure man's survival for good.

Although they did not really understand why and how these two concepts were connected, they just constantly reminded themselves and others to "save the cheerleader, save the world."

Now, to say that we're going to save our world might not only sound arrogant, but also a little daunting to most - myself included. But we can't deny that our world is in desperate need of change in a myriad of areas. Even though we might never be the ones who actually end up changing the world in a literal sense, we might actually "save the cheerleader".

Let me explain...

What area of commerce, entertainment, art, community, technology, service, government or sport do you instinctively know plays a pivotal role in the way our world looks, feels and functions. Is there any of these areas where you are involved in, where you can leverage even the tiniest bit of influence to change that area for the better? Do you believe that even the slightest tweak, in either an influential or obscure area of life, can change the way the whole world works?

If so, what is your cheerleader, and how can you saving the cheerleader end up being you saving the world?

Change the education system, change the world.

Change the way people think about poverty, change the world.

Change the way people use technology, change the world.

Change the availability of information, change the world.

Change people's perspective on their personal finances, change the world.

Change yourself, change the world.

Change our recycling habits, change the world.

The list goes on - what's your cheerleader?

Collision course [Sarah van der Merwe]

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:19:00 -0500

by Sarah van der Merwe

What drives you to change? Does the power to change whole systems lie even in only one person? One person who has the right idea, the right hopes…not all the right answers, but the truth.

We live in this place where heaven and earth collide, and if you’re part of God’s kingdom, you’re smack in the middle of the tension between good and evil, pain and hope. Half way into the year, I’ve seen more about the pain and hurt that is caused by Aids, TB, extreme poverty, corruption and all such injustice. It hurts. Walking into these places I’ve also found God like never before. I’ve been seeing that with hope anything is possible. When we are able to hope in a God that is good, that cares and that loves, we are able to see impossibilities happen. But it can’t stop at just hoping…hope needs to find faith! Faith that moves us to action, faith that even moves mountains.

I love the passage in Isaiah 58 where he speaks about the true fast that God has chosen:

“Is this not the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free

and to break every yoke…

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless into your house,
When you see the naked, to cover him.
Restore dignity and not hide yourself from your own flesh.
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily.”

When we live this kind of reckless life, one where you put yourself on the line for the love of God, He is able to show up. He is able to tabernacle in your heart and bring his home to earth. Then we become the answer to Jesus’ prayer of allowing God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Then God breaks through the darkness and brings hope, and then hope of life fills a world stuck in the middle of war. We truly are in the battle for the heart of humanity, and when one person lives out hope in faith, we can win. Love wins. God is love.

One person, no matter who they are, is able to turn on the light in a dark room. And that might just be the start of a movement of hope. But it will take great faith…

Will you be one?

Believophobia [Warren le Grange]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:46:00 -0500

by Warren le Grange

I’ve heard of some ridiculous fears such as Peladophobia – fear of Bald people. Or Pteronophobia – the Fear of being Tickled by Feathers. Crazy right? And then of course there’s the common type of phobias - spiders, height, public speaking and so on.

Its insane how people react when encountering their fears or just become totally afraid.

My friend started praying like crazy after seeing what she thought was a demon standing in her bedroom and it turns out to be a shape formed by the moonlight pass her pillow.

These are examples of psychological and emotional fears. There is however another dimension of fear that we as Christians more often encounter.

Faith.

People are afraid of believing. Trusting the unseen. Not knowing what’s next.

This could easily qualify as a phobia and be found up there among the ‘top tens’ just based on the amount of people that suffer from this.

Lets call it: believophobia – the fear of faith.

If you have a slight discomfort with heights and you find yourself on a ledge, strapped and about to bunjee jump for the first time.

You freeze up. You pray. You reflect on life. Cause the thought of possibly losing your life now suddenly becomes a certain reality.

Have you ever experienced this with God? When you know He’s calling you to jump off the ledge and have faith.

Then we also freeze up. Cause we now suddenly might lose our very lives.

How do we overcome this fear of trusting and believing that God actually has our best interest at heart?

What if the diagnoses to treating believophobia is fear?

Just like a chemo treatment on a cancer patient. Chemo is a drug. A lethal chemical that is used to remove the cancer and heal people.

Sad to say it, but I have more often experienced my most intimate moments with God in times of uncertainty, confusion and fear.

And in my desperation for a way out my faith in God grew stronger. Its like I had no other choice but to believe.

I believe that God will sometimes diagnose us with the most unfair, cruel or unsafe circumstances, as if to force us to be afraid, unsure, and desperate to find new faith in Him. Especially when we’ve reached a place of knowing more than believing.

Creativity from community (or further thoughts on collaboration) [Russel Murphy]

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:46:00 -0500

by Russel Murphy

Collaboration forces us to engage and humbly learn from people who are not like us, and may not even share our values. It opens up doors for relationship, but not always in a tidy fashion. Relationships are always messy and so engaging a creative process that is relational opens doors for mess. However, my most creative projects always seem to create mess; in fact as a kid, I used to delight in making mess. There’s deep pleasure that comes with making a mess if it’s connected to the birth of something beautiful. In fact, isn’t that why we love creativity so much, because for all the mess, the end result is something that reaches into our soul and slaps us around a little?

Moves us.

Inspires us.

Consumes us.

I love this quote…“Alone, one can run fast…together, two can run far.”

We can run wherever we want on our own; but with others we can go places that are inaccessible on our own. They push us, draw out deep things within us we can’t reach on our own. They call us out when we check out or try to quit. So it seems we get to choose.

Clean

Alone

Prideful

Boring

Or…

Messy

Collaborative

Engaging

Electrifying

I know which one I want…

Part of this process seems to be the ability to not just exercise talent in a specialized field, as crucial as that may be. It’s also learning to think a new way; developing a creative sensibility that harnesses the best of you in a manner that brings out the best in others. As an old rugby coach used to say to me, it’s thinking “not just about the patch of grass in front of you”, but considering the whole field, and how you’re piece is connected to it.

Sometimes the worst thing we can do is to give someone a blank space and say create; artistic types may thrive in that setting, but many of us will shut down, drowning in the sink or swim setting. Creativity is not just about making something out of nothing; it’s about having a generative spirit. In the same way that solar panels and wind stations draw power from things that already exist, so collaboration between humans enables us to draw out amazing ideas and experiences from that which is already swirling around us. The best songs are inspired by moments lived or dreamed of. The best paintings are always a representation of something the artist has already encountered in another form, either in the imagination or in the real world.

Faith [Pierre du Plessis

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:01:00 -0500

by Pierre du Plessis

When I think of faith, I think of those cheesy trust exercises they make you do at team building events. You know the ones, falling backwards trusting you boss or colleague will catch you before you hit your head on the pavement (I have seen more than one person dropped, even at church camps...)However, that for me is sort of what faith is, falling backwards. Acting in a way that if what you have faith and trust in is not really there you will feel it.

It is to decide that the story in the Bible is true, despite Hawkins and company.

It is to choose to believe that, the story of God’s new world arriving in his son is more than a political manipulation.

It is to laugh and dance in the midst of suffering and destruction.

Simply put it is choosing to live the life of that Kingdom even though you cannot yet fully see it. To live and act as though heaven and earth has collided, because it happened in you.

Why do I believe? [Lukie de Beer]

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:32:00 -0500

by Lukie de Beer

Faced with tremendous personal challenges recently, I was once again confronted with the issue of faith – or more specifically, having faith.

I know all the slick phrases like ‘just believe and you will see’, or ‘if you can’t be tested you can’t be trusted’. Heck, I’m usually the first one to dish them out when I don’t know what to tell someone who is going through a tough time. “Just believe man! – hang in there dude!”

But when you’re on the other end of those phrases, the receiving end, they can take on whole new meanings. Suddenly, words are weighed. Motives are probed. Hearts are assessed. My own, as well as those of others.

Having faith – it’s a lonesome place to be.

People around you, encouraging you to give it up and just let go. “Accept what is happening” they say. “There’s nothing that you can do about it” they advise.

So I am alone. Left with God. Face to face. Refusing to accept defeat.

Why not just give in? Move on?

I don’t know. This crazy thought keeps darting through my heart that God is able to do something. It’s too simple to just give up. Is it just wishful thinking? I don’t think so. Personal experienced has proven otherwise. Yet, every time faith is tested, the challenges to keep on trusting seem new and fresh.

Is having faith a way to persuade God to help me out? A way to draw His attention to my little problem?

I doubt it.

To me, faith is the acknowledgement of being weak.

I am weak. But He is strong.

It’s not a question of “Can God do it?” – the real question is in fact “Does God want to…?”

So I find myself trusting Him to give me the strength to believe that He wants to do it.

I am weak. But He is strong.