From the Rectors Desk 21 Oct 2011

To the Beloved in Christ:
Now that I am over 40, I wait the wisdom that they say comes with age. Last year they told me that life begins at 40 and I must say that that that is not far from the truth. In fact life begins each day when we are prepared to face it,
accept the challenges and look for the good that God has install for us. Change and challenge never stop confronting us and it is my prayer that you will seek God’s will in every aspect of your life and with every challenge that comes your way. I am still very much a “work in progress” but my faith gives me hope that I am not alone and that God’s grace is sufficient for me.
Two exciting things have developed this week and I ask you to pray for the HABSR project in Kinross where we are rolling out the vegetable gardens as phase one, we have started teaching at Thistlegrove every Tuesday and Jackie Musuku and I will be doing education on food security, the methodology of the gardens, the environment and through this inspiring the young people and their parents to take education seriously and hopefully develop their life skills in a meaningful way.
In Evander we are in the early stages of setting up a new community based
organisation to address the needs of the Evander community.
At present at least as an interim measure I will need to take responsibility for the ISIBINDI sites at Kathorus and Standerton and ask you prayers and support ( I could really do with an admin assistant a few days a month to help me with this).
May you have a blessed week—Fr.

Evander -for Christ

I was enthused by a meeting in Evander this afternoon (16 Oct 2011) in which the issues of the social needs of Evander were discussed. God is calling his church to rise up and look after his people. When I see how people are comming up with the same ideas and priorities - them I know that God is speaking. Eco - Congregations are going to be a reality - communities of peopel caring for each other are going to be a reality - praise God.

I officiated at a wedding today with the Roman Catholic Priest and two Greek Orthodox priests - God be praised the church is coming together, image that - Roamn Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox around the same altar at the same sacrament - doing the work of God in beautiful harmony - it was an honour.

From the Rectors Desk 11 Oct 2011

To the Beloved in Christ:
I am being challenged at present by Eugene Petersons book “living the Resurrection!” A very Apt book to be reading as I start to think of the ministry of the church for 2012. He referred to Pope John Paul II who said something along the lines of “ Don’t look to western culture for models in development. They know how to make things, but they don’t know how to live with them. They have acquired mind boggling technology, but they have forgotten how to raise their children.”
Now isn’t that the truth. In my exam last week I had to write an essay on “an Authentic Spirituality for Modern South Africa.” In that essay I focused on the fact that we need to take responsibility for our own spirituality but live it out in the context of living with others. It is a central Christian principal that we are responsible to each other and for each other, but it begins with each individual taking responsibility for them selves and for making the world the place that we want to life in. I cannot stress it enough—we share in the task of creation, we have the ability to speak (act) good things into being or bad. The choice is ours will we be participators in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the work of salvation of the creation, or will we be destructive and rob the earth, our children and the society of life, through our actions. A spirituality that is applicable for our time is one that liberates us from complacency and inspires us to urgency. We need to be leaders in our time. We need to be leaders in our communities we need to be the change that we desire. And we need to desire change! We need to fight against injustice, poverty, environmental degradation, and we need to be the agents of moral regeneration. We need to take charge of our lives and seek out the goodness of God, the mystery of God the challenges of God!
We need to create a new culture in our community a culture of respect for each other, a culture that treasures its children, a culture that respects the earth. We need to study the exilic (Babylonian) period and find ways to be as transformative as they were, and bring the love of Christ into the world. This is our calling.

In last weeks Gospel (Matthew 21:33-43) I found a wonderful truth, in the story of the King who called the people off the street to share in the banquet—we are among them the unworthy called to the feast—the challenge is that we need to respect the banquet hall we need to respect the king...Are we?


I felt God reminding me that we are invited to hos banquest fo life. A life that we do not deserve but recieve by grace. But very often we are not clothed correctly ( as teh man who was not wearing a wedding robe). When we are not clothed in compassion, when we are not clothed in righteousness that comes through repentance, when we are not clothed with mercy - then we are like that man. Happy to be there to enjoy the banquet- feasting on the goodnes of teh KIng but not appreciating our supproundings. Not appreciating , not preapriung ourselves not doing what is worthy of one in a banquet hall.
So I urge you brothers and sisters, do not live as one who does not know the significance of your calling from death to life. Clothe yourselves in the righteousness of Christ and feast at his banquet table. And remeber that we all who feast at the table of the Lord the gift of life, are here by grace and grace alone.

A prayer for climate change

God of light and life, we see you in the rising sun,
the wind blowing through the fields of maize,
and the feel of a life-giving shower of rain.
Help us to see your light reflected throughout creation.

God of compassion, you are there with those people
who are facing the effects of a changing climate,
and are affected by floods, droughts and famine.
Show us how to be there with them too.

God of truth and justice, you hear those people around the world,
who struggle to make their voices heard.
Open our ears and the ears of those in power
to hear the cries of those living in poverty.

God of hope, we see you in people who refuse to give up,
who will not lose faith and keep on fighting,
for your earth and for your people.
Lift us, so that we may never lose hope.

Amen

Adapted from Michaela McGuigan/CAFOD

From the Rectors Desk 09 October 2011

Grace and Truth from our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Southern Africa’s Anglicans are planning confidently for the future. This was the clear message from the Provincial Standing Committee of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA).”
“There was a willingness not only to ‘talk the talk, but also to walk the walk’ and to get involved in God's mission across all sectors, working in such areas as theological
education, health, environment, leadership and finance. “
“On climate change, delegates endorsed a call for the whole church to engage as fully as possible in promoting significant agreement at COP-17, and to promote care for the environment at every level from liturgy to the practical life of parishes and dioceses, to pressing government and business to engage as urgently as had been done for the HIV pandemic.”

I am very enthused by the work being done in the Anglican Church to address a wide spectrum of contemporary issues and encourage you to get involved in dialogue on issues that affect us. In the Parish I am looking for “champions” who will work with me in setting up work groups to implement the Provincial Vision at Parish Level. I’d like to see some new faces interacting on issues of Environment, Social upliftment, Theological Education, protection and nurturing of youth, and health. Drop me an email should you wish to get involved. I am also still looking to set up a political analysis group that monitors and holds Government accountable and the parish informed. God Bless—Fr Andrew.

A Call to Responsible Citizenship

My prayer is that you have benefitted from the season that we have just concluded in which the Lay Preachers taught on a variety of topics to broaden our thinking and theology and to inspire us in our service of God and in our lives in this place. Between now and Advent I am going to focus on the Season of Creation – a series of messages with a liturgy focusing on our environment.
I am passionate about building a society that takes responsibility for its existence – as God has called us to do.
The Church is called to lead society in this action of mobilization of human capital in addressing the issues of our day. Until we as the people, the everyday you and I begin to engage with the realities of life and live up to our God given potential and mandate to take dominion of the world and care for it, nurture it and rule it in righteousness ... we are not living up to the great commission which states that we are to go into all the world and baptise it – which means saturate it in the love of God and the righteousness of God and the grace of God and the will of God...
This is our calling as His people of his kingdom:
• Joseph saved the world from drought by storing the surplus in the good years;
• Moses led the people out of Egypt by performing signs and wonders in the name of God;
• Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem;
• The disciples took the Good News of the Resurrected Christ into all the World;
• Augustine, taught the faith;
• Luther and Tyndale brought the bible to the common man and women...
• Tutu... brought a nation to reconciliation...
What will we do?
What is our moment of Glory for God what is it that God requires of us to do and to be ? For we are not called to be spectators of life... we are called to have life and to live it as living sacrifices to the Glory of God.
It is said that with great power comes great responsibility, if we live in the power of the Holy Spirit then we have great power, will we take the responsibility that comes with being a Child of GOD?
Noah, built and ark and the creation was saved, Jonah preached to Nineveh and the whole city was saved, Christ hung on a tree and the world was saved!
What will you do to save the world? Do not think that you are not called to this task; it comes with the territory. The Good News of salvation is our mandate – saving the world is our legacy, it is the work of Christ and it is the work of His church.
I am convinced that as Church we are called to two areas of action in our generation, actually it is really one thing! “Responsible citizenship” and this involves two things:
One – we need to lead the way in being active members of Civil Society and taking our rightful place in this democratic nation and
Secondly we need to champion sustainable development and care of our environment for this basic activity has far reaching implications for civilization.
The destruction of the environment and global warming are symptoms of the failure of people to adhere to God’s will. It is greed and it is selfishness and it is unrighteousness and it is lack of care for others and it is worldliness that leads to unsustainable practice, environmental degradation, destruction of habitat and global warming and pollution of the ecological asset which makes life on this planet possible. There are two things that our planet has that others don’t that make life possible – water and breathable air; and we are destroying both.
We need to do something about it!!!
We have been blessed in this nation with the opportunity to lead the world in a new way of living, we have overcome many things in our history and we are a special people a unique people called by God to be his people in this generation and to turn this nation around into the nation that we are supposed to be.. We have experienced a great many miracles for all the world to see and right now we need a miracle if we are to continue to inhabit this planet.
Climate Change is not a rumour, it is not a merely a possibility, it is a reality and while the nations argue and jostle with political wrangling, the people of this world are dying.
We need action and we need it now!
The Global economic crisis is not a rumour, it is not something coming our way – it is here. The US Debt is so big that effectively ( I am Told) every child in the USA is born into a debt of in the region of $87,000. Crisis? What crisis???
But we, the Church, have the resource that will see us through, famine and pestilence and sword:
And that resource is HOPE and FAITH...and LOVE.
Faith that we are not alone, faith that we have a saviour, Faith that we will not be destroyed but will be restored! Hope that we will see the salvation of our God.
But our Faith our Hope calls us to action, to a life of being and doing and living out God’s will on earth.
Jonah summed up the whole story when he said “ I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
And so I appeal to you today to join me in preaching Jonah’s message that we need to repent, I love the Zulu term “Penduka “ (turn around). We need to change course and get off this collision course with destruction from misusing the gift of life. We need to take responsibility for our lives, we need to take responsibility for the earth, we need to mobilize ourselves and be the change that our society needs.
Stand up against corruption, hold government accountable, hold business accountable, hold each other accountable and be stewards of the earth!
This is not some pipe dream or wild idea: it is our calling it is our mandate it is our duty!
In South Africa we have some of the best legislation in the world, we have the most progressive and sound constitution on earth, what we lack is people who are passionate about making our democracy work. People who put others first and are not just out to get as much as they can as quickly as they can.
We need to be those people, fighting for the rights of people, being the voice of the voiceless, the champion of the weak and marginalised, the orphans and the widows and the victims of HIV/AID’s, TB and malaria; the victims of greed and unfair labour practice, the victims of inequitable policies that keep people impoverished, the victims of ignorance and deception that prevent people from seeing the truth.
I did a memorial service on Thursday for the miners who died at Harmony and was stuck again by how the political parties make funerals about them, they champion their cause showing that the life of an individual is seen as a pawn in their objectives – but God spoke to me through a communist at that service. He said that we had changed government but while we are still under a capitalist system freedom was not truly possible.
I tend to agree Capitalism is a problem but if it were applied fairly and equitably and if there was concern for more than just profits – it is workable.
You see as Christians what we are demanding is that people respect each other, is that companies pay all of their production costs and not externalise cost – pollution is nothing other than doing just that. By companies and (I add) municipalities not treating waste / sewerage adequately they do not incur the expense associated with waste management; but we pay – in disease, that affects our people, elevates our medical bills both private and state. We pay because our climate is being affected, the natural assets of the country are being affected.
Capitalism is not evil – it is just a financial system of free trade and it is profit driven which demands results; but there is no doubt that it too is being abused – worldwide. What we need to do is ensure that profits aren’t made by exploiting people as labourers, gaining business through corruption, gaining profits by externalising costs: The question begs asking: who does this – who monitors the capitalistic system? We seem to want to leave it to someone else – some world body or trade organisation or the State.
I have mentioned our legislation and it is there to provide you and me with the tools to address these issues. The state is the custodian of our resources but we are the stewards we are the ones who need to demand justice, sustainability we are the ones who must rally against corruption and misadministration.
That is what God put us here for – to remind everyone that it doesn’t have to be this way.
We need to speak truth we need to take action we need to be the people of God, ambassadors to this world; Preachers of righteousness!
Who will go and work to God’s praise and Glory?
Who will join the mission of taking the light of Christ into the world into the whole world and submerging the world in the Love of Christ?
I am following Christ and I believe that He is calling us to this mission in our time– and I invite you to join me on this pilgrimage.

A Day in the life of the Parish of Secunda 16/08/2011

Well it is cold again.. really cold!!!

This week sees us begin a series of teachings on various topics, and I commend them to you. At St Peter's Colin will teach on the Kingdom, at St Luke's Rachel will teach on theology through women's eyes, at St Beads Gerald will address some historical perspective from Roman times and Justin will teach on the world through God's eye's. Each preacher will "go on tour" as they take these messages around the parish. I commend them to you.

At Theological Board on Wednesday we will be discussing everything from the pastoral implications of same sex unions to the Adult rite of Baptism and Confirmation, to the nurturing and protection of youth. We also present our recommendations for a new Lay Preacher training programme and address the spiritual formation and education of the laiety. It should be a full meeting.I then meet with the HABSR Steering comittee to address soem of eth issues in implemtation resulting from reduced finances and staff. I will take these concerns to the BOARD on Thursday Night.

The Diocesan Finance Board sits on Wednesday Night to look at the Budget for next year. This will be tough as financial trends show a slow down in eth economy and the potential of a worldwide recession - increasing the churches needs and requiremenst for funding expecially ministry. (Theological Education and Social Responsibility being two major areas of concern).

On Thursday I meet with the HABSR BOARD to discuss the way forward and to address the challenges of our social responsibility ministry.

May God bless you all.

Can you see the Burning Bush?

The following Sermon was prepared for St Bede’s and St Luke’s for the 16th Sunday of Year A, 17 July 2011. Scriptures readings:
Exodus 3:1-12
Romans 8:18-25
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Can you see the burning bush?

In a great piece of Scripture today we meet Moses on the Mountain, in an encounter with God. I want to challenge us to learn from this passage that we need to open our eyes to what God is doing for this story is unfolding daily in our lives; but we too often miss it.
And so I ask you – Can you see the burning bush? If you can, humble yourself before God and listen because he is speaking to you. If you can’t; stick around and allow the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes to God’s truth.
On a lighter note : ”if you haven’t got shoes on your can’t run away especially across the hot sand of the dessert so maybe God is saying that we must be brave and stay close enough to listen.”
I want to turn to Romans 8:18 – as a starting point – where St Paul says – “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed”. I wonder if Moses would have agreed?
Moses had been out in the deserts of Midian for sometime tending sheep for his father in Law. This same Moses, who many years ago had been raised in Pharaohs household as a prince, part of the Egyptian royal family. Genesis 46: 34 b tells us that “all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians. The Greek word tôw˓êbâh is the word used to describe
a disgusting thing, abomination, 1A in ritual sense (of unclean food, idols, mixed marriages). 1B in ethical sense (of wickedness etc).
From prince of Egypt to an abomination – what a fall for the man.
And there in his misery he was trudging around the hills far from home.
Exodus 3: “Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
Of course he didn’t know then that it was the mountain of God. For him it was mount Horeb or kho•rabe from the root word khor•baw meaning wasteland.
I am sure he had been there before, and now in his wanderings he had returned to a place far from home and a wasteland, the last place that he expected anything good to happen.
Have you been there? Have you in your spiritual pursuits trudged through wastelands of prayerlessness and faithlessness feeling lost and alone and fallen...
Look out for there is a bush and it is burning!
Our text says: Genesis 3:2
2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
Have you seen a fire burning through the veld or a forest; it’s all flames and you have to watch it for a while before you see the leaves consumed, a casual glance will not show you what Moses saw.
God is light and he shines all around us, but we have to tarry, we have to stick around we have to look intently to notice him in the ordinary. Fires burning bushes is not extraordinary, People walking alongside us is not extraordinary, words of truth are to be heard in speech and song and sermon. But a fire that does not rely on the fuel of wood and leaf to burn – now that is something special, a kind word spoken with enough patience that you will hear, that is extraordinary, a persistent and caring loving voice that speaks into your heart at every opportunity and does not need to be gratified by your response, does not need its ego fed by your attention, that is extraordinary and that is the voice of God coming from the bush!
Genesis 3:2
3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”
Take the time this morning to investigate why God’s love for you is real, take the time to hear Him speaking to you in song and liturgy and word, take the time to turn aside from your thoughts and your activities and listen to God in the wilderness that is your life, in the ordinary that is not ordinary; if you look closer. In the love of a friend or a spouse, in the patience of a loved a one, in the caring of a stranger, in the prayers of a Christian – God is burning - in a flame of fire – will you stop and look for him today?
Genesis 3:4
4 When the LORD saw that he (Moses) had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
God has your name on His lips and he wants to call out he is waiting for you to turn aside – to consecrate yourself and listen to him.
Genesis 3:5 And he (Moses) said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he (God) said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
When God speaks it is not from a distance but it is into his presence that he calls us; into the very presence of the divine we can come and speak with God, but we need to make ourselves holy we need to put off our sinful self and enter God’s presence in humility, and penitence and devotion and thankfulness….
Can you see the burning bush – for God is calling to you out of it and saying draw near I will speak to you.
I love the way that God introduces himself to Moses- for he introduces himself in that which was known to Moses, Genesis 3:6 - 6, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
As a young boy Moses had learned of his ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This was not strange to him. Yet he had not expected to find God here… here far from his people, alone and feeling worthless – Moses encounters God and He says to Moses – remember who you are a child of the line of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
I don’t know what was going on in Moses head out there in Median but I am sure that he thought that he had lost any chance of being remembered as a child of Abraham…….
But God says remember who you are…
Today he says to us remember who you are:
A child of God most high purchased with the blood of Jesus… Today God says that he is the Father of Jesus Christ who gave his life for you and me so that we can be saved. Today God introduces himself to us as the God and Father of our saviour – and in stating who He is he reminds us who we are; he reminded Moses of who he was - I am the God of your father – you are a child of Abraham.
- 6 He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Moses must of thought - Wow here I am forgotten by my people and an abomination to the people that I call my family and here God appears and says “remember who you are” offspring of Abraham to whom the promises were made – offspring of Jacob to whom the promises were made – offspring of Isaac whose people reside in Goshen of Egypt – the people of Moses birth…the people who taught him of this God.
Do you remember in the Lion King that that was the turning point for Simba Mufasa’s words- “Remember who you are…”
Can you see the burning bush? – can you hear God’s voice? – for he is speaking to you, remember who you are.
“And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
In our sinfulness we hide ashamed for when we do not live as those called by Christ we hang our heads as those without much value…
But God looks past that!
Genesis 3:7
7 Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
God takes Moses straight back to his mission for life, remember back in Egypt
Exodus 2:11 “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?
That wasn’t the response he had expected – he thought that killing the Egyptian would bring him favour with his kinsfolk – he thought they would see him as their saviour –
But alas.. when we do things our way and not God’s way we will not succeed.
But God looks past that too..

Here in the barrenness of the wilderness in the extraordinary of the revelation of God through the ordinary that is not ordinary, God reminds Moses who he is, he reminds us who we are, he reminds Moses who God is and sends him straight back to work, forgiving him of his error and re-instating him for the purpose for which he was born.

In your brokenness and emptiness in your state of being consumed by your earthly woes – The God of the Heavens wants to reinstate you, he wants to put you back in the fray, he wants to send you back to set His people free.. for God has heard the cries of the world in their desperate labour to meet the requirements of this world, for which they toil in vain for purses with holes in and for things that moth and rust destroy – but God has heard their groaning and Christian he wants to send you to preach his message of Good news for the captives and those who are heavy burdened.
He said to Moses -
“ 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11
In Matthew 28:19 and 20 He says to us 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”d

Christian are you paying attention to the burning bush this morning.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Is that us – is that our response too….?
12 He (God) said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

And didn’t they do just that for it was on Mount Horeb that We know as Mount Sinai that God gave his ten commandments.
Hebrews Chapter 11 from vs 23 says: “ 23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By Faith When Moses had grown up he killed the Egyptian because he witnessed the humiliation of his people, 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered abuse suffered for the Christh to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.j
Will you by faith accept your Baptism,
Will you by faith stand up against what is wrong in this world?
Will you by faith participate in the Eucharist as the ongoing commemoration of the Passover, the commemoration of our salvation through Jesus Christ?
Will you in the words of Romans 8 22 – “ you who have the first fruits of the Sprit groan inwardly while we wait for adoption the redemption of our bodies – for in hope we are saved..”
Will you look hard enough to see the burning bush –?
Will you humble yourself and seek the Lord who speaks to us..?

In conclusion
This truth has been sowed into our lives, but as our Gospel for today stated – the devil has sown lies in among the truth...
In our lives he has confused us that the creation of God is here by chance, he has told us that bushes are just bushes and flames are just flames –
But the self help books and the magazines and the heroes of this world - they burn up– the worlds lies consume people – God truth speaks and heals it does not destroy – it is the devil that seeks to destroy – but God through Christ seeks to prosper us...
We need to know the difference between the lies and the truth – we need to strengthen ourselves to hear the truth and grow strong – for in the end God will consume the lies and the falsehood – but the bush – we the church we will endure. For we are the burning bush to the world, we are the place where God calls his people to be holy and hear him speak and to send them out to preach the Good News. We are his Church and we have a mission..
Can you see the burning bush?
Will you respond today to the love of God and live to his praise and Glory!
Will you be a burning bush for others as you share the love of God and his truth to the world?
Moses Did! And I pray that you will too. Amen.

Commemoration of St Benedict

Today as we have reflected on the life of St Benedict I have thought about our own journey in which we are quick to want to escape to a safe place where we can find and worship God as he did in seeking a life of solitude.
But are we willing as he was to allow other people into our safe space and into the life that we have chosen for ourselves, are we willing to allow our experience of God to help others and let them in to our deep sanctuary as he was.
If he had kept this for himself he would have been long forgotten – but he was open to be used by others in their search for a spiritual life with meaning. May we like him be prepared to journey with others and share our sacred space to the glory of God.
May God bless you as you seek Him with all your heart and soul and devote yourself to a life of prayer, and action, to the glory of God!

Being Christian in the Contemporary World

Holidays are the real test of who you really are!

It is wonderful to come to the end of a term after you have all worked so hard and written tests and won and lost in sport and grown in your friendships with each other – maybe even had some bad times in your friendships and have had to work them out all over again.
During the term you have developed disciplines as you have kept to timetables and worked with schedules. There is a bell to tell you when class begins and ends there is a whistle to tell you when you have done something wrong on the sports field, or when the ball is out of play.
Here at school you are guided about what to do and what to think and when to do it. But for a few weeks now you will be free – but with freedom comes responsibility – for your will have to decide for yourself what is right and wrong, you will have to decide for yourself when it’s time to start and time to stop. The real test is whether you are able to take what you have learned here and apply it in your own lives. Holidays are the real test of who you really are!! Are you ready for the challenge?
I am sure you are – so while you rest and jol and spend time with your friends and families, don’t lose sight of who you are...don’t forget that as scripture says in Proverbs chapter 13 (1) “Intelligent children listen to their parents; foolish children do their own thing” and (20) - Those who plan evil are in for a rude surprise, but those who work for good will find happiness.”

Enjoy you holidays and May God bless you.

Just a Thought

God is challenging me to think about myself and others in the way that He sees us and not in the way that we see ourselves.

On reflecting on the creation I was reminded that we live up to being created in the Image of God when we are open to change - when God created the heavens and the earth he now had something outside of himself to care for , nurture and tend. - We must be open to change.

Creating the earth had a risk associated with it and God was vulnerabel to the demands that it woudl bring - we must be prepare dto be vulnerable to teh creative risks that we take;

God enriched us through his creativity - we must be prepared to enrich ourselves and others throough our creativity - our lives.....

The Challenge of being Church

As we continue to strive to be all that God wants us to be, we continually evaluate what it means to be called to : preach the Good News, heal the sick, bind up the broken hearted, set the captives free and proclaim the day of the Lord's favour (Is61), in a world that regards religion with suspicion, conviction with disdian and faith with indifference. But we see people as created in God's image yet living with a fallen image of themselves. As Church we need to strive to help people to see themselves as wonderfuly and fearfully made, as beautiful and worthy. They can only see that in them when they see that Christ is in them making them beautiful. So let us strive to bring out the best in each other, to repent of our defeatest and neagtive attitudes and to see that when we see Christ in others then we will make a difference in the world.

Let is not tire of doing good but in all circumstances with joyful hearts and a desire to serve God commit ourselves to good works, of gratiutude for the life that we have recieved.

Yesterday we celebrated the Ascention of Christ - it has become an underrated day on our calander but is most important. It was on that day taht Jesus passed the baten to the church to continue His ministry on earth. We are mandated by Christ to recieve the Holy Spirit and be active in establishing the Kingdom on earth. Jesus is not silent at this time - he is busy, interceeding for us to the Father, preparing a place for us in heaven and at work in our hearts to establish the Kingdom in us. As Hebrews 4:14 and 16 says " Therefore since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith that we profess.
Let us then approach teh throne of grace with confidence (emphais mine) so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

We are God's chosen peopel - selected to live at this time and equipped with everything we need to fulfill his purposes. Just as Moses, Joshua and the prophets and Judges before us, were sent for a specific task at a specific time, we have been ordained to live in these times and to be apostles, teachers, prophets and witnesses to the work of God.

25 May 2011

Have just come off a communications course and am very excited about the challenge that I recieved to be a better communicator.
Am now on twitter at 2phil2, face book, skype, mixit and everythings so intend to really reach out to the world.