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Saturday, August 25, 2012
Consequences of murder... Yesterday morning, in South Africa, one of the people I went to school with,
an old classmate and friend, was murdered in his home. His wife was also home and was spared! Life,
gone! Unexpected! Violent!
Gone! One minute life is warm, comfortable and the future
is bright, then in the next moment, one chapter of life closes and eternity begins. Choice? There is no choice of how to select the time of our death! It comes suddenly for some,
with tormentous stealth and slowness for others. It’s easy to say that there is time to investigate
God and religion later on. But is there time? How can we know that within the next day, a car out
of control, and aneurism, a stroke, or another tool in the hands of death may not catch us unprepared, and facing the wrong
eternity? There is a fork in the road at death! Some
go one way..to hell, others go another...eternity with God. When do we
choose? Before we reach that fork in the road! The speed with
which it is approached, often leaves us no choice at the time we see it coming. God
is supreme, we are limited in our lifespan on this earth. Yet we do live for eternity, which is a longer than a very long
time. The correct life choice now makes all eternity a beautiful, challenging and rewarding experience. I
do pray for Iain’s family! May they be able to move through this horror and pain into the place where they can make
the right choices for their lives. Please God, help them in this time of strife. Help them
to not hate, as difficult as this will be! Give them a glimpse of your glory, and taste of heaven. I
do pray my old friend made the right decision before his life was snatched from him. More than
that, I pray that anyone reading this blog will realise the gift you, Father God, have provided. That they woul understand
the ease with which we can choose Jesus’ messages and life, and in so doing choose for you, Father God, and eternal
life before our time is up! May God bless us and keep us, and make
his face shine upon us! Have a great day
Friday, August 24, 2012
Avoiding the mighty seas...In the shade of some vegetation, right at the base of the Rest camp in the forested Tsitsikamma forest there is a plaque.
It is situated at the Storm river mouth where their is continual crashing waves and white water. Here the waves are huge and
the foam sprayes twenty or thirty feet into the air. 
The tides raise the sea high and the thundering surf line edges it even higher. One
cannot stand in that spot without considering how easily the waves can wash one away! This plaque says... Therefore
let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty
waters
will not reach them.
You are my hiding place;
you
will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. Isn't
it so true that when we get scared in life, we call out to God? Notice that this text indicates the faithful need to pray for others BEFORE they get overwhelmed
by the wave. We are to pray for those who are not part of the faithful before they are lost. Theis way we snatch them from
the evil one before he overwhelms them. God is our safety and hiding place when the winds and rain of life
rain down on us buffeting and pushing us around! FLets extend this protection to those around us wh do not have our
faith, that way we can may our world a bit better today! God bless you!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Having and not having, but which is important?
I am in Africa and one of the most difficult
things to deal with is the huge variations in the way people can care for themselves.
Western Christians have little exposure to the really poor of our world and the really poor of many developing
countries have little ability to understand there are places in our world where people do really try to ensure everyone in
the world has sufficient to eat, sufficient medical services to meet their needs , sufficient clothing and shelter.
I used to have a friend that said for a man to be happy, all he needed was the four S's, shelter, sustinence,
sex and sport (I know that's rather light and humorous but in some ways he was right). Personally I would add spirituality
as the fifth S.
The poor have access to the last three and little access to shelter and sustenance.
Exodus 23:5 said to be fair to the poor in their court cases. I often wonder how much this is applied in some
countries of this world.
Then in Leviticus 19:15 it says "Treat poor people and rich people
in the same way. Do not favor one person over another. Instead, judge everyone fairly."
I
always remember the following about Jesus when he was dealing with the rich young man "Jesus looked at him and loved
him. 'You are missing one thing,' he said. 'Go and sell everything's you have. Give the money to those who are poor. You will
have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.'"
Jesus seems to be suggesting we don't
hold onto riches over following himself, but equally that followers of himself would look towards supporting the poor. In
other places Jesus makes the statement that we "will always have the poor".
Just outside
Cape Town, South Africa, I saw a man at the roadside as we flew past in rushing traffic in an air conditioned vehicle. He
had only a loine cloth on and his skin was tightened by some disease process. He was not begging but walking in pain. He had
grey hair and beard, walking with bare feet on these arp stony dirt alongside the road.
He does
not know it, but I will be remembering him and praying for him for a long time. I wanted to stop and help him right then,
but life and traffic pushed us on past him. He was in deep need physically, and my heart reached out. I so wanted to help!
Yet, every day we see these people in deep need, and contrast this with others who live in huge houses, with
plenty of wealth , cars, and plenty enough food.
When I consider Canada where I live and other
first world countries that have laws protecting the poor and supplying services for them, I am thankful for the Christian
heritage that underlies this basis. Most of the humane laws in our world are derived from laws established at times when the
bible was the basis upon which decision making was being done.
We as Christians may not be able
to help everyone, but if the principles of love are in our heart, and if they work out through our actions we may be able
to impact the world.
I pray we do!
I pray we would have the ability
to become world changers, and not just at the spiritual level. I invented, patented and created an education system that was
equally usable by the privileged and the poor, but that when the privileged developed educational materials, the could be
duplicated and reused by poor in mud huts.
It worked! For a while it was a potential for educating
many people in Africa, but then the politicians stopped it because "they had a political agenda to follow" consigning
many people to stay poor.
That hurt me! It still does!
However, I believe
that we who are Christans should always hope, love pray and look for opportunities to make a difference. What do you believe
in this regard?
What will we be doing today to try to change and improve the world we live it?
Have a great day!
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