Yizwa imithandazo yethu – Pastor to Pupils

From Pastor to Pupils

Presenting the National Anthem in a School environment

Crystal Park High School Assembly. Click image to enlarge.

When we say we want to see our country renewed, revived, renaissanced [sic], what do we mean? Well if our desire falls anywhere short of seeing our nation turning to the one, true God, faith in Jesus Christ His Son, a repentance, which is a turning away from sin and a turning to Him, we’ve missed the point of the Gospel. Social concerns need to be addressed, divisions of all kinds need to be confronted, but primarily people need the Lord. All else flows out of right relationship with Him.

Where to start? I don’t have a silver bullet, but we have established relationships with the schools in our areas. We provide various services to them (I go into the High School once a week and provide counselling, the Primary School once a week comes to the church and does drama, singing and other activities), but those activities are all rooted in the Word. I guess you could call it Gospel focused social concern.

In the following set of articles I briefly describe the devotionals that we’re currently presenting to the schools in our area. We work line by line through the national anthem of South Africa during the school assembly. The Gospel goes out each week, which is what the church wants, and the school benefits because currently nation building and the national anthem are in the spotlight.

Again, this is a work in progress and I’ll be most grateful if you gave me feedback.

Lesson 3

Listen also to our prayers – Yizwa imithandazo yethu

The third line, ‘Yizwa imithandazo yethu’, translates to ‘Listen also to our prayers’.

Listen to this text, Philippians 4:6 – 7,

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Three things about the text above (I’m a Baptist, we do everything in threes):

Number 1, what can we take to the Lord? EVERYTHING! How cold it was this morning, that we’re hungry, that our parents are cross with us, that our school work isn’t done, that we don’t understand something about the world, that we’re happy, that we’re sad, that we’re grateful, that we love Him, that we’re confused… EVERYTHING! God is our Father, He wants to hear our prayers. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything…”

Number 2, is very closely connected to number 1, and that’s how are we to approach God. The text says by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Speaking to God is a little like phoning your Gogo (granny) on a Sunday evening. You thank her for the presents she sent up last week, you tell her about your school day and how hard your exams are and how scary your teacher is and how horrible Temba on the playground is, and you tell her how much you’re looking forward to visiting her because she’s the best cook in the world, and, and, and… you communicate. Different things, maybe you ask for something, maybe you say thank you for something, maybe you tell her that you miss her. Prayer is the same. It’s not a robotic activity, it’s an open conversation. Our Father wants to hear from us.

Number 3, If you’re in grade three and you go to your father and you say, “Tata, ndifuna imotor” (“Dad, I want a car”), he’s going to say “?!” don’t be mad, you don’t even have a driver’s licence yet. Thing is not everything we ask our father’s for they give us. And often the reason they don’t is for our own good. Here’s the thing, if our earthy parents know enough not to pander to our every whim how much more so our heavenly Father? What then is the result of our prayers? “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace we have is that we’ve handed our problem over to God. He is big, He can handle anything.

God’s people present their needs, their desires, their hopes, their thankfulness, their adorations to their God.

The Gospel message is very appropriately expounded at this point, because the Gospel is appropriate for every point. God is Holy; this means that He is separated from sin. Man is sinful; he is separated from God. In actual fact, by default God is not our Father. Yet Jesus, the Son of God, died in our place that we might be called sons of God. By believing in Him, trusting Him completely, turning from our sin and turning to Him, receiving the free gift of salvation, we are reconciled to God. Then we might boldly approach the throne of grace, not in our own righteousness but in his Son Jesus’.

Here comes the rain (Part 1)

We have a weekly prayer meeting at Crystal Park Baptist Church. This week the total number of people in attendance was… one; me.

And don’t get me wrong I’m not ranting about any specific church because this problem seems to be endemic to most churches (I’ll post a few notable exceptions tomorrow, like Metropolitan Tabernacle… and yes, I know it was the 1st of January).

Why is it that corporate prayer (and by implication I’m guessing that individual prayer is also a mess) is so consistently under valued by God’s people? Why is the opportunity to commune with the creator and sustainer of the universe so frequently passed up in favour of whatever other fleeting present pleasures temporarily amuse?

Can’t help thinking of James 4:8,

“⁸ Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

Want to hear the verse in context? James 4 What is this about?

The Doings of the Holy Spirit (Part 6)

<— Click here for Part 5

Click here for Part 7 —>

My testimony is closely tied to a sermon preached about the stoning of Stephen. Rembrandt’s Stoning of Saint Stephen cuts me to the bone. The face right above Stephen could very well be Rembrandt’s first self-portrait. Click image to enlarge.

The post includes a little detail regarding the current working of the Holy Spirit; what He does. This list is not exhaustive but indicative and continues from where the previous posts left off.

Guiding

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Rom 8:14)

A parent lovingly guides a child, it’s a characteristic of sonship, and as God’s children we are led by the Spirit. Jesus promised the disciples, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth….” (Jn 16:13)

Assuring

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God….” (Rom 8:16)

“How do I know that I know that I’m saved?” Objectively the answer includes: A growing love for God (Lk 10:27 – 28), genuine repentance from sin (1 Jn 1:8 – 10) and consistently living in obedience to God’s Word (1 Jn 2:3 – 5). It is however the blessed assurance of the Holy Spirit’s testimony within our lives which lends eternal authority to our external profession.

Praying

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Rom 8:26)

Our ability to appropriately pray to God is blocked by our “infirmities”. To this end the Holy Spirit “helps” us, meaning that He “puts His hand to the work in cooperation with us.” (Parry 1912:120)

Want to hear the verse in context? Romans 8 What is this about?

<— Click here for Part 5

Click here for Part 7 —>

How to pray when you’ve got nothing to say

Let’s face it Martin Luther’s face wasn’t the most edifying to look upon and yet His legacy is far more beautiful than diamonds and pearls. Click to enlarge.

Like all the great reformers of that day Martin Luther would get his haircut. I say this tongue in cheek but sometimes we forget that these giants of the faith were normal people too. Anyway, Martin’s barber must have been a spiritual man because he requested in a letter that the reformer give him a few tips on how too pray. Martin, always the over achiever, wrote back a 40 page booklet making known a couple of his “inside secrets”.

My favorite tip boils down to this: Select a verse or passage from Scripture, realize first off that the text was given for instruction or teaching. Take that instruction to heart and internalize it. Then turn to God and adore Him for what He has revealed of Himself. After that spend some time confessing where you fall short of living this out in your daily life. Finally ask God by means of supplication (a prayer asking God for something) to grow you into what He’d have you be.

Teach, Adore, Confess and Supplicate. TACS.

In practice it looks like this. Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1 – 10 is a great place to go and look for ammo. Let’s look at verse 2,

² “There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.

Teaching: The Lord is Holy, which means He’s set apart from sin.
Adoration: Father God, truly you are holy and pure. You stand apart…
Confession: Lord God, how often I fall short of your holy standard…
Supplication: Please Father, by your Holy Spirit would you aid me to walk according to your will…

Another verse? I love Psalm 145, it’s another great psalm of praise and worship. Let’s consider verse 3,

³ Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.

Teaching: The Lord is great and worthy of praise.
Adoration: Our heavenly Father, your greatness is over all things…
Confession: Our Lord God, How often do I choose to follow other things…
Supplication: Dear Lord God, change my heart that I’d always seek to worship, to praise and to adore…

Get the picture?

How do you pray? I often use the acrostic ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. This was adopted from Chris Woolley’s teaching on prayer this Sunday. Our next gathering is on Wednesday from 18:30 – 22:30 where we will be peering and practicing Thanksgiving, Supplication, Intercession for our church and Intercession for missions and evangelism.

Meditation for Christians, what it is and how to do it

The Age in which we live is characterised by adoption. Adoption of ideas, adoption of experience and adoption of ritual. Christian meditation is at the cusp of this phenomenon.

The afternoon sun beat down onto my back through the western window where I sat slumped at the rear of the training room. It was warm and I was lazy. Three days of intense instruction had frayed my mind and now I needed rest. My heavy eyes drooped and my ears no longer tuned into the lecturer’s droning voice.

The subject was Leading and Managing People. The first day had been spent discussing leadership, the second management and the third day focused on us, the individuals, and how we needed to “know ourselves” with a “deeper awareness”. It was very flaky and I found myself drifting off often.

“Close your eyes,” said the lecturer to the class (finally something I wanted to do), “and picture another you far away in the middle of the universe…”

“This isn’t right?” I thought to myself after a while as I straightened in my chair and opened my eyes to observe the other 60 learners being guided through a 25 minute self actualization ritual.

Later, over coffee, I asked a guy who goes to a good church up the road what he thought of the show.

“Wow, good to great!” came an enthusiastic response.

My brow furrowed as I pushed, “You didn’t think it all a bit… New Age?”

“No, not at all. It reminded me of contemplative prayer and meditation. You know, that deep spiritual stuff.”

I’ve been thinking about what meditation is to a Christian this evening. The first time that we come across the word is in Genesis. The text says that Isaac,

…went out to meditate in the field at the eventide…

Want to hear the verse in context? Genesis 24 – 30 What is this about?

In the Psalms David uses a word translated as meditate a dozen or so times. My favourite Psalm describes a righteous man as someone who’s,

…delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Want to hear the verse in context? Psalms 1 – 13 What is this about?

And in the New Testament, Paul, writing a letter which deals largely with doctrine and the accurate handling of Scripture, exhorts Timothy to,

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Want to hear the verse in context? 1 Timothy 4 What is this about?

“What is meditation,” you may ask, “How is it Biblically defined?”

Biblically speaking meditation (in the Old Testament) carries with it a sense of talking, muttering or conversation. It’s a form of prayer to be sure. It is not incorrect to also add to that a sense of musing, pondering or contemplation. We might say, “chew on this” or, “think on these things” to convey the idea.

Almost all 18 references to meditation or meditate that are found in the Old Testament have a very tight relationship to Scripture. For example the Children of Israel are told that the, “…book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night…” Psalm 19, which deals largely with Scripture and the beauty of it, ends with this prayer, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” This certainly is an appropriate way to approach God and His Word.

Nowhere in Scripture is there any indication that meditation involves visualising, repetition or the use of mantras or any other Eastern Religious influenced rituals or rights.

“So, how can I, as a Christian, meditate?”

Well grab a Bible. Find a praise Psalm (Psalm 145 would be a great place to start). Read it, mull over it, study it, think on it, understand it, chew on it and pray to God all the while. That’s it, that’s meditation.

For more go and check out

• http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-meditation.html
• http://www.gotquestions.org/contemplative-spirituality.html

I read a quote on Facebook this evening which struck me, although I do not know who to attribute it to, “Discernment isn’t spotting the difference between right and wrong, it’s spotting the difference between right and almost right”

Barbie dolls, dogs and ice-cream

My youngest is Kathryn, she’s now three and full of beans.

Joshua, the spiritual giant, once said, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” In my house we practice this in a number of ways. One example is that we give thanks for the food before each meal.

About a year ago, when I called the kids and Liezl to close their eyes, the youngest, all of three years then, spontaniously burst into praise. Ever since and with each meal she thanks God for everything from her mommy and daddy to all the birds in the sky and once even for ice-cream in general.

Her prayers aren’t always theologically correct, they follow no form or dogma and neither Liezl nor I have any indication that she understands salvation in any meaningful way yet we allow her to continue, unhindered, unrestrained, before every meal. And this is why: I get to offer thanks straight after her. I thank God for His provision, acknowledge Him as our creator and sustainer and ask Him for His mercy and grace as we live out our lives to His purpose and glory. Every night for a year I’ve patterned prayer before her, her older sister and Liezl. And guess what? It’s working. She really is growing in her understanding of who God is and how we correctly and appropriately relate to Him.

Last night something happened out of the ordinary. After Kathryn had rattled off her thanks for dogs and her Barbie’s and all manner of other things and said, “Amen”, Kaitlyn, her older sister, now six, took up the prayer. It’s the first time that she’s spontaniously prayed and my heart soared, I mean it really soared, it almost jumped out my chest. As our children grow before my eyes my prayer for them is that God would do a work in their heart, convict them of their sin and convince them of their need for a savior, that they’d put their faith and trust in Jesus for salvation and that we’d be united for eternity together with Him.

I’ve been reading through Ephesians 5 and 6 this week. Ephesians 6:4 patterns Christian parenting and is relevant to this post:

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

How do you pattern Christian living to your kids? Is this important to you? What other useful ideas do you have? What other useful verses spring to mind for you? If you found value in this article go and check out Science and Religion. It’s the first post I ever made and I love it.