Ако едно прекрасно време, въпреки че бяхме само няколко души. Изядохме къри и къри и ориз, а след това всички в чата отиде у дома си заради умора, една и съща тема за следващата седмица, тъй като щеше да е тази седмица!
And if you highltght the text, you will be able to translate it via bing or plain google translate....;-P
Wednesday
21 August 2010
What an evening! We had so much fun and laughter! Rita started us off with a very unique way of getting the whole group to their knees – she broke her beads bracelet. You can just imagine us crawling on the floor chasing after the rolling beads on the smoothly tiled floor!
Fortunately all of us have been on our knees the past few weeks and were expecting God to give us breakthrough on various areas/issues in our lives and it is with great thankfulness that we can praise the Lord for coming through for all of us in different ways. Even if God said No, we still know that it is His will.
JJ, Aldi and Ansie gave feedback on the Hindu evangelism course they attended. Interesting questions were raised eg. What is the “right way” to reach the nations? and What is God’s way to reach the nations?
We came to the conclusion that we need wisdom and we need to depend on God to give us guidance through the Holy Spirit. Becoming a belonger, contextualisation and continuous discipleship are still some of the best ways to reach the nations.
On another topic….
JJ also shared his new insight on the four personality types which Mark Gungor calls personality “countries”.
Interesting topic indeed …
Fortunately all of us have been on our knees the past few weeks and were expecting God to give us breakthrough on various areas/issues in our lives and it is with great thankfulness that we can praise the Lord for coming through for all of us in different ways. Even if God said No, we still know that it is His will.
JJ, Aldi and Ansie gave feedback on the Hindu evangelism course they attended. Interesting questions were raised eg. What is the “right way” to reach the nations? and What is God’s way to reach the nations?
We came to the conclusion that we need wisdom and we need to depend on God to give us guidance through the Holy Spirit. Becoming a belonger, contextualisation and continuous discipleship are still some of the best ways to reach the nations.
On another topic….
JJ also shared his new insight on the four personality types which Mark Gungor calls personality “countries”.
Interesting topic indeed …
Tuesday
Peace (And Prayer for South Africa)
Although this Saturday’s topic was “What do we understand about the meaning of the word “Peace” in the New Testament”, the discussion evolved into determining whether inner peace was a good indicator for accepting the status quo.
To introduce the main theme of the discussion it is pertinent to mention that God has laid on Jaco’s heart the desire and passion to stir up prayer by South Africans for South Africa.
The scripture God laid on his heart was 1Timothy 2:1-4. “First of all, then, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”
The issue however is that a stumbling block has presented itself in the form of an obstacle to this goal. Jaco is grappling with the concept of whether the obstacle is God’s way of letting him know that the timing is not right or whether it’s the devil sowing destruction and confusion. Either way how do we get peace from the situation?
After presenting the scenario and sharing his heart regarding the prayer quest, the following main points were agreed with:
- South Africa is ready to take the mission message forward.
- This can be achieved through the prayers of righteous men and woman (The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results James 5:16).
- Prayers seem to have the same heart but lack direction.
- Genuine love for others does not seem to be the motivation behind the prayer but rather seem to be egocentric and based upon fear (safety, crime, corruption, poverty, removal of prosperity …) and clearly lack the bottom line component of the covenant.
The questions raised were:
-What is the real motive for the prayer?
-Are the prayers Kingdom oriented?
-How do you know when you start to “hit the mark”?
Some answers were:
-Love should be the central motive for prayer.
-Bottom line would be the Kingdom response to the blessings we as a nation have received. So pray for the nations 1st – get the message out there. Gods economy is “if you are sick and need healing, pray for others that are sick; if you are in need of finances, sow where you see a need….” James 4:3 And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure.
-Prosperity does not bring true peace but inner peace comes with being aligned with the kingdom. This peace will probably be accompanied by trials and tribulation. So you know you’ve hit the mark when you have peace while all manner of tribulation is breaking around you.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 16:33 I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
1Peter 1:6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
The message is right – get South Africans praying, but is the model correct?
So isn’t the strategy to pray that the nation will turn towards God’s ways … 2Ch 7:14-15 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.
I will listen to every prayer made in this place…
and then to prayer for the nations and learn to love other cultures the way God loves them.
Remember God doesn’t want us to fix the problem. He will fix it but using us to do so.
To introduce the main theme of the discussion it is pertinent to mention that God has laid on Jaco’s heart the desire and passion to stir up prayer by South Africans for South Africa.
The scripture God laid on his heart was 1Timothy 2:1-4. “First of all, then, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”
The issue however is that a stumbling block has presented itself in the form of an obstacle to this goal. Jaco is grappling with the concept of whether the obstacle is God’s way of letting him know that the timing is not right or whether it’s the devil sowing destruction and confusion. Either way how do we get peace from the situation?
After presenting the scenario and sharing his heart regarding the prayer quest, the following main points were agreed with:
- South Africa is ready to take the mission message forward.
- This can be achieved through the prayers of righteous men and woman (The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results James 5:16).
- Prayers seem to have the same heart but lack direction.
- Genuine love for others does not seem to be the motivation behind the prayer but rather seem to be egocentric and based upon fear (safety, crime, corruption, poverty, removal of prosperity …) and clearly lack the bottom line component of the covenant.
The questions raised were:
-What is the real motive for the prayer?
-Are the prayers Kingdom oriented?
-How do you know when you start to “hit the mark”?
Some answers were:
-Love should be the central motive for prayer.
-Bottom line would be the Kingdom response to the blessings we as a nation have received. So pray for the nations 1st – get the message out there. Gods economy is “if you are sick and need healing, pray for others that are sick; if you are in need of finances, sow where you see a need….” James 4:3 And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure.
-Prosperity does not bring true peace but inner peace comes with being aligned with the kingdom. This peace will probably be accompanied by trials and tribulation. So you know you’ve hit the mark when you have peace while all manner of tribulation is breaking around you.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 16:33 I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
1Peter 1:6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
The message is right – get South Africans praying, but is the model correct?
So isn’t the strategy to pray that the nation will turn towards God’s ways … 2Ch 7:14-15 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.
I will listen to every prayer made in this place…
and then to prayer for the nations and learn to love other cultures the way God loves them.
Remember God doesn’t want us to fix the problem. He will fix it but using us to do so.
Wednesday
Sermon on the Tugela River
Have you ever considered visiting the Zulu people on the Tugela River? Beautiful fishing, treacherous snakes, unpredictable weather, indigenous people, secluded and dangerous. Your preparation would include a heavy backpack with all a stranger to that area would need to survive walking that 40 – 90 km hike and a willingness to survive off a zebra carcass if need be... Or should one risk all and take nothing but yourself and go just as you are? If you are interested in joining Jaco le Roux on a scouting trip, please contact the writer to put you in contact with him.
Sunday
Twelve there were and twelve were we
Twelve strong we were on saturday - there to talk about being disciplers. Yes we understand there is no such word in the oxford dictionary , but know full well it is what we are all called to be. Paulien outdid herself with what she prepared on the topic, some interesting and valids points that were shared:
---Servanthood is high on the list of the curricculum of all disciplERS/Leaders.
---As in mountaineering expeditions and rock climbing endeavors, we are all connected... when one falls we all need to stop to regain our momentum. Picking up the one who has fallen, or simply giving them the time to reestablish themselves within the body.
---We should all be prepared to confront and correct one another(Adequate maturity gets tested here) and we should be able to accept the correction.
---Without denying ourselves, we cannot be His disciples - a tough but real wake up call for us all.
---Be prepared to take some knocks for the Kingdom
---Servanthood is high on the list of the curricculum of all disciplERS/Leaders.
---As in mountaineering expeditions and rock climbing endeavors, we are all connected... when one falls we all need to stop to regain our momentum. Picking up the one who has fallen, or simply giving them the time to reestablish themselves within the body.
---We should all be prepared to confront and correct one another(Adequate maturity gets tested here) and we should be able to accept the correction.
---Without denying ourselves, we cannot be His disciples - a tough but real wake up call for us all.
---Be prepared to take some knocks for the Kingdom
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