MONEY AND MISSIONS - Sat 14 Feb

This was a great meeting. Pauline led us in worship and facilitated. She did a great job and came well prepared. Many interesting points were raised and discussed. I will touch briefly on a few of them. We once again came back to the Abrahamic covenant. God will bless us (like Abraham) so that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through us. Our western individualistic culture is such that we have been brought up to gather, store, save for a rain day etc, not to give it all away. The people of God were designed for each other and the kingdom of God advances through that. Missions is the very lifeblood of the church. As the physical body becomes weak without blood, so the church becomes weak without missions. Jean-Pierre challenged us to prove this. We must be able to back up what we preach. The more partners a missionary has, the more successful he will be. God designed this so that we can help each other and in so doing prepare His bride. Our power and authority comes from the Spirit of God, not from the world's financial system. The trading medium of the world is money and the trading medium of the kingdom is servanthood. We compiled a list of possible topics that we can discuss when Jean-Pierre and Rita are away. Contact Jenni should you be interested.

Evangelism, Missionisn, Budhism and Baptism....

Well, what started as a concerted effort to discuss a certain topic... evolved into a plethora of subjects.... including Baptism and Budhism! Some conclusions were reached on why Evangelism is used and what it is and also why Missions works the way that it does, being Evangelism is the selling of a Religion where Missions is living the example of a certain Godly Lifestyle... Maybe.
Once Missions is in full swing the need for Evangelism ceases! Mother Theresa did not Evangelise... did she?
What is the reason that so many people are turning to Budhism? Is it because our 'western religion' doesn't work anymore? Or is it because people see the beliefs being lived out? What kind of message are we giving out with our lifestyles and what are we saying to those who are searching... what do we have to offer them? Do we even believe it ourselves?
Really? Do we trust God... really?

An Intimate evening with only a small group of people

We shared with one another how God speaks to each of us and discussed the issue of hearing God's voice. The issue of tithing came under the spotlight again and Alison explained that Malachi 3 was actually written for the Levites. They apparently did not apply the rules for tithing as God intended. Maybe we should read it again ... We also looked at Deuteronomy where the tithe should have been enjoyed in the presence of God. Come and share your view with us next week.