Week of 26 July: Kingdom Economics vs World Economics

Is God’s economics any different from the world’s economics? What is His currency? Is it Love, Peace, Faith, Servanthood or maybe the souls of people? If this is it, we need to apply servanthood because that is exactly what Jesus did. Consider asking yourself what your motivation or attitude is behind servanthood because the world always requires some kind of gain – interest earned, capital gains, etc. – while servanthood is more a “dying to self” kind of dynamic. Funny how this brought us back to last week’s topic which is summed up in Matthews 6:33 – “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the rest will be added unto you.”

Are you prepared to seek first the kingdom? Are you prepared to "go to point zero"? Are you prepared to go on with less and spend more on the kingdom? Are you ready (willing) to trust God? Are you preparing the ground for rain, so that God can provide the rest? Let’s journey …

… to get there JP emphasized the importance of the following:

1 A world Christian prayer life
2 Apply yourself to something
3 Become part of a group of people that are going in the same direction as you
4 Continually apply the telescope to find your calling.

Let’s face it, we are aliens in this world because the economics of our Heavenly Father is so different to that of the world. And we are so lucky because God is more interested in us than our money. Everything belongs to Him anyway and we are His children.

What's Up This Coming Saturday? (2 August)

Sharing a bit of our lives with each other and we are going to do the final planning for our "Pancake Outreach" to a white squatter camp.

Challenge yourself: Are you living a wasted life?

We were challenged by John Piper, author of “A wasted life," to live a life that counts. (The audio clip we listened to was awesome and can be downloaded from the internet). God’s economics needs Christians who are willing to invest in eternity. Are you investing in the Kingdom of God daily or are you living a wasted life?

it's Supe...r... no it's not

is it a bird???

Is it a plane....??

Could it be...?

NAH.....

It's just Llewellyn pulling faces!

Pffft!

Saturday came and Saturday went

Facilitated by our Sonja friend,
She led the pace, right to the end.
Rita led worship in a different way
We all praised Jesus this wonderful day

Matthew six thirty three then took the stage
All agreed it was the verse of the age
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
Nothing’s strange and nothing odd.

It’s something He told us all to do
And all things will follow; be added to you.
We spent some time pondering this word
We figured they were the best we had heard

Questions were asked and some answered too
JP and Rita even played with a few
Investing in the Kingdom, where’s good and where’s not?
An’ how do missionaries manage on what they’ve got?

Next time when we all get together again
Divine economics is the name of the game
Jean-Pierre will facilitate and Rita do venue
Ansie this time will do worship with YOU!

DISCUSSION POINT FOR NEXT WEEK (19th July)

When we invest time or money into the Kingdom, what criteria do we use as measurement to ensure that our investment is worthwhile?

WEEK 6 - 12 JULY 2008

The evening was attended by 12 adults and 4 children who huddled around a roaring fire. Llewellyn, the facilitator for the evening got the meeting going with a discussion around Isaiah 61: 1-4. A summary would be our role in bringing the Kingdom down to earth through the annointing of the Holy Spirit. It is an interesting verse for one to think about with regard to ones role in the Kingdom. The next item was a reportback from Mario, Ansie and Sonia regarding there visit to a white squatter camp. Unfortunately, the visit did not materialise due to a misunderstanding and so they had a meeting with Hans instead. This, however was a good thing as they learned a lot about the work that Hans is doing alongside 350 other organisations. He showed them a diagram listing all the different areas where one can get involved, e.g packing food, sorting clothing, prayer and social issues to name just a few. Hans refers to this diagram as a flat structure as he does not like the hierachical structures in the church as he feels that they only serve there own agendas. Another point that we discussed was that Hans is beginning to show signs of burnout due to the fact that he is fulfilling the position of both co-ordinator and goer. This is apparently a common problem amongst a lot of people when they start out in ministry. It was decided that Mario will make arrangements with Hans for a team of us to go and have a pancake and cards event at one of the squatter camps (possibly the 2nd week of August) so that we can interact with the community. The next point of discussion was Ansie's experience with OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship). She made enquiries about going to Asia to work with children for a period of six months. On receiving the forms from OMF she was shocked at the amount of information she was required to furnish them with. After a lengthy discussion on the topic and with input from Jean-Pierre we all learnt that it is extremely necessary for sodalities to request this information so that they do not have repercussions later on. They use them for screening purposes and to give them an idea of where the applicants niche would most likely be. Even though many people would find the questions daunting and even feel unqualified, we agreed that if it is God's will for that person then He would make a way. The last discussion of the evening was whether we should expose ourselves to other possible Skin Contact Two (local orphanages, squatter camps, poor, old age homes etc) places with a view to possible involvement or whether we should start acting on the ones we've already been exposed to. Jean-Pierre said that at this stage in our walk the more we are exposed to the better. In doing this we will gain experience and may even find our calling. "We will never know 'till we go'.

WEEK 4 - 5 JULY 2008

Ansie opened in prayer. Sonja led us in song. Amazingly the songs that she chose tied in with the talk of the evening. Our facilitator JJ or better known as Johan (to his dad Hannes) opened the discussion. A brief testimony was given about the work party at Ikholwa house by some us earlier that day.

Here is Mario's interpretation to it all....

JJ introduced his father, Hannes the speaker for the evening. He gave us a presentation on the white squatter camps that are popping up all over SA. In opening, Hannes mentioned that we should love our God with all our hearts. Equally we needed to love our neighbors as ourselves. In some of the photos we were reminded of who our neighbors are. In SA there are approximately 430 000 white squatters today. In Pretoria alone there are 65 of these camps. The photos also show the desperate needs of these people, clothes, food, and bedding. Then we are reminded once again that the giving of even the most basic of needs is not the answer for these people. They are in need of something more to get them out from where they are trapped. Again we are reminded that they need discipleship which will cost time and dedication. Another common point was that leaders were chosen from among themselves. This point highlighted by the fact that they were a microsphere, yes a small people group within SA. They look like us etc. but are a very unique culture of their own. In listening to Hannes you could hear how God had taught him about agape love and kingdom values etc. All the things we are learning in theory are being practiced here. Challenges that Hannes and the team face are:
A: Getting the kids to school and keeping them there.
B: Getting the older folks into a safer, better place in which to live.
C: Restoring these people to a place of self dignity and placing them on a better road.
When I consider the book of Revelation then I wonder what letter God would write to us.
Let him who has ears hear what the spirit of God says.

Discussion Point For 12 July

A team has been chosen to visit Hannes and some of the white squatter camps. The purpose of the journey is to gather information and to see how we can get involved. Understanding that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. This journey should leave us with much discussion material. If anyone would like to go with please contact Mario on 0828231359