No, this isn’t about th iconic Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western. If that’s what you’re looking for, well read on anyway – you have nothing to lose…

I am a man with simple tastes, for a first-world boy. I just want hot and cold water, fire in the hearth when it’s cold and a fan when it’s hot, my dvd player not to refuse to play my favourite disc (even though I’ve played it so often it looks worn out to me), a good cup of tea (after all, I am English) and an income enough to meet these needs.

Basic first world stuff.

Unfortunately, I no longer live in the first-world. No matter what the TV coverage of the soccer world cup a couple of years ago may have suggested, South Africa is in no way a first world country.

I earn around $800 per month – depending on the exchange rate – with the possibility of a monthly incentive of up to $300 on top of that. Assuming I make average incentive every month, the financial laws here would allow me to pay a mortgage bond of around 30% of my salary. So if I assume my average monthly income to be $1000 I can pay a bond up to $300. Sounds ok, until you examine the other facts:

1. in the last 10 years house prices have almost tripled while incomes have not increased by half that. A house that cost around $40000 ten years ago is generally worth around $100000 now.
2. Interest rates are around 9% – 10%, so the average person looking at a $40000 house 10 years ago has to look at houses in line with their income – they can now only afford a house of $75000.
3. Electricity has increased dramatically as government forward planning didn’t account for the increase in demand. Ten years ago I spent around $15 a month on electricity. Now I spend $20 per week – after converting to cooking on gas.
4. Rateable value tax on property is based on the house’s current market value, not what you paid for it. The result? Many people fall behind in their rates and water bills because of the increase in charges being more than the increase in income.

In real financial terms, the majority of people have significantly less spending power than they did 10 years ago. 

That’s the bad.

So far probably wondering what this little rant has to do with God, given this is a God-driven blog. Keep with it.

Here’s the ugly…

In the last few months, vinyard workers in the Western Cape have gone on strike asking for a pay rise to $10 a day. Miners and others classified as “unskilled” workers were fired on by police officials. People died. In scenes straight out of the apartheid era they were gunned down by police. Deaths were inevitable.
At the same time, the nation’s president has been accused of using public funds to build a new homestead for his personal use – not an official residence which will be passed to the next incumbent. Costs into millins of dollars diverted into the project. Yet he claims to be “in touch” with the people.

Here’s the Good:

God’s power is moving in this land. People are being positioned strategically for a new outpouring of His Spirit. Dormant believers are being activated, latent gifts unused in years but gently ticking away are being turned up to maximum. New skills are being discovered and revealed to God’s children.The fight may be intense for some of us, but suddenly there are warriors with a fierce heart around us, on our side. The storm hits, but we are supported enough to get through it intact.

There are Truths to overcome the facts:

1. He will never let our circumstances dictate His outcome.
2. Our abilities are not the issue – Our trust in His Provision is what matters
3. Irrespective of the circumstances, God ALWAY has our best interest at heart
4. The rates, taxes and fuel prices, the “shopper’s basket” and the buying power of the consumer is irrelevant. If God has given it to us, all we are charged with is receiving.

 So maybe this title shoud be “The Bad, The Ugly and God’s Still Good”

What do you think?.

It’s been an interesting 2 weeks.  This entry has more of a “story” than most of my writing on this blog, but bear with me. There’s a point to it all…

My wife’s Grandmother, lovingly known to us all as Mamma, passed away and her funeral was held – in Windhoek. Having applied for leave from my employer – who out of “respect” I’ll not name here – offered me the Friday and Tuesday off to travel from Cape Town to Windhoek by road. 1000 miles approximately. Each way. I pointed out that it had to be Friday & Monday. Thankfully, the management understood, and granted me emergency leave to attend the funeral.

It’s a long drive – around 15 hours. I actually love the road. The first time I drove it I was captivated by the beauty of the landscape, and the emptiness of the land.

There are so few corners in the road that my first thoughts were of the old Roman Roads in England, but they are way shorter than this one. The entire country is shorter than this road. The road is hypnotic in its sameness. It just blends into itself during the drive, the only changes coming as we pass a limestone quarry or as the light changes during the drive.

I drove up with my wife and her brother. The drive was long – no breaks setting off at 11pm and driving until the middle of the afternoon the following day, only stopping for fuel. I can’t sleep in a car – not for lack of trying – so by the time we arrived on Friday I was exhausted and had been awake for 36 hours straight. I slept for a couple of hours then we had what for our Namibian family was the third memorial service in a week. I didn’t follow most of it as the talks were all in Afrikaans, however although limited in speaking, I did manage to glean some of what was spoken as the minister spoke from Romans 8:18-39. It was a deeply moving service, for all my lack of understanding the language, the spirit of the service was as clear as crystal.

Saturday saw the funeral itself. Six hours in Afrikaans in the church and at the graveside. Didn’t understand the words, but the spirit was again completely clear. It was a beautiful and moving experience for a very special lady.

We set off to drive home on the Sunday, arriving Monday evening. I drove the majority of the homeward leg. While driving through the night is a stressful experience in itself, having a large bird of prey eating carrion on the road as you come round a corner, take off and fly head first into the bonnet of the car. It certainly woke me up. Hitting something big enough to disable a car at 140kph is a disturbing experience. Stopping and looking at the damage and realising God was protecting us from the impact is humbling. Just 1cm either way and the car would be undriveable. Closer to the passenger side and it would have ripped into the headlight and wing, crushing the wing into the wheel and causing the car to spin out of control. Closer to the driver’s side would have destroyed the radiator which would cause the engine to seize in short order. The only impact point where there would be nothing but superficial damage was the exact point of the impact.

I went to work on Tuesday, but was wrecked by the end of the day. On Wednesday I apparently called my manager, although I don’t remember doing so, I woke up in the afternoon. Thursday I went in again, and only got through the day by my wife bringing me bioplus caffeine tablets. I made the decision at that point that I was not fit to work and made an appointment for the following day to see my GP.

As we were settling down to rest in the evening we got a call from my sister-in-law. My wife’s brother had been taken seriously ill. We went through to their home where she assessed him and made the arrangement that she would sort out hospitalisation the following morning.

Friday saw my brother-in-law admitted to hospital and my doctor sign me out of work until the following Wednesday – officially diagnosed with stress and burnout. I thank God for the support he has placed around me. That His Grace has proven sufficient in strength to carry me this far, and to allow me to give support to my wife and her mother at this time.

I went back on Wednesday as planned, and although tired at the end of the day I had peace about being back. Thursday was a normal day, and then Friday…

Friday was raining. I suited up – anyone who knows me knows I’m a biker. Have been for 20 years. The problem with being a biker is on a wet road you’re vulnerable. For the second time in 12 months the bike slid out from under me – fortunately this time it was a low-speed fall.

“For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11-12

My wife, understandably given the firestorm she’s been through in the last few weeks, is not thrilled at me riding any longer.

I see something different. I have bruises, not broken bones. I have mild headache, not concussion. My rainsuit is undamaged, and the bike runs as though nothing was wrong. The most damage is one slightly bent footrest, which doesn’t interfere with the running of the bike at all.

The point of the story for me?

God keeps His promises. He never promised we would not know heartache, loss and suffering. He promised He would hold us through them.

Or as Paul put it:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,<sup class="crossreference" value="(CD)”> nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God<sup class="crossreference" value="(CF)”> that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 38-39

Turnabout is a funny thing. It’s the essence of Christianity. The jargon tends to use “repent”, but the basic meaning is the same.

In the last 2 years our family life has undergone a turnabout. In a big way..

My wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I had to move from us earning in excess of R70000 per month to less than R10000, but with the same outgoings. Try it sometime – it cripples you financially. Our formerly reliable car has developed old age problems and started breaking down at inopportune moments. We have a family of 4 moved into our spare room in December who will be a family of 5 by the end of the week, and I get almost no downtime to decompress.

I’m a late-night person, technically, but it’s trying to balance that from the perspective of the chaos surrounding me that distresses me. I can’t find anything. My kitchen, which is filthy, is atrocious. I love the family, and they have accommodation from March, but a huge part of me wises they could stay. In the last 2 months they have grown immensely, and so have I. I’ve been a father to them (yikes) and a surrogate grandfather to their children. Their antics push back my time for myself, time to recharge. This weeked I’ll be travelling to Namibia to attend the funeral of a very dear lady, Mama, Rene’s grandmother. She’s doing ok under the circumstances, but our finances are totally skewed for February month end. I’m even cosidering dropping the level of medical cover I have to make it more affordable.

Our life got turned about.

In the last few days, Rene has sart saying if it can fall apart so easily, then we can see it turn around into God;s idea for our life.

The turnabout nature is exactly what God wants for us. Turning away from Satan and his wiles, submitting to God and seeing him flee from us like James describes. Capturing every thought and allowing God to have free reign in our lives allows us to live Free.

Living by God’s rules, making that turnabout into His Church family gives us freedom beyond our imagination. Allowing the Holy Spirit to set up His home in our heart allows the fruit of the spirit to grow. It allows us to move in ways impossible without. We can literally see the sick healed, the deaf hear, the blind see and the dead rise.

Freedom from death, freedom from debt, freedom from sickness. Restored relationship with God. There’s no guarantees on this issue though. I love my wife dearly, but that has opened me up to attack through her and the other people I care about. My best friend at work, an invaluable warrior in the Spirit has had her own battles to fight, some of the most vicious coming after she became my best friend, standing by me and supporting me. It’s the way Satan operates. His attacks on them break me down, try to force me to capitulate and sing his tune in place of the Glorious Worship God places in my heart.

Its not pretty befriending someone on the front line. In the first world war, there was a cameraderie between the soldiers which was cautious in many cases because they didn’t know if tomorrow they were going to be dead. In the great stories there is always a core group around the central character. Frodo has the Fellowship, Bilbo has the company of Thorin and his companions, Maximus is supported by the other Gladiators, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy fall into Narnia and Aslan has prepared an army for them. Even in TV shows you’d not expect it, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel surround themselves with a circle of friends who fight and are ready to die for the cause. Jack O’Neill has SG1 and Jack Bauer has CTU. It’s a hard life for the central character, they have their story and the result turns their lives around on an episode by episode basis, just as a reflection of what happens in the real world.

Turnaround, repentance, whatever you want to call it is essential to our walk. We must remember that we are part of the inner circle that walks with Jesus, and it’s an awesome existence. If we don’t meet resistance from Satan and his forces, it generally means we’re moving in the same direction!

Turn around, trust Christ and let Him give you True Freedom.

I was challenged recently by a close friend of my wife. I posted a comment on my facebook page I had believed to be quoted from Bill Cosby, and found I agreed with the majority of what was said, so I re-posted it.

I have discovered since that it was actually a quote from a US Senator in a 2009 blog (http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2009/02/robert.html)

The current version of the post talks of people who deliberately leech from Western society, taking advantage of the average tax-payer by deliberately changing their appearances to prevent them being offered employment, and an array of social issues, but also it speaks of Islam.

Now I’m not someone who generally sets out to offend people, although the meaning of “tact” and “subtle” are alien concepts to me. I speak my mind, and feel free to disagree with me as much as you wish – I have my opinions, I believe in Biblical principles, and if you don’t then it doesn’t mean we can’t be friends in the worldly sense, but you’re unlikely to be in my innermost circle.

I’m hardcore. I believe the Bible literally – in the original language meanings, not necessarily the English translations as they are only as accurate as the individual translator when a word has a plethora of uses or meanings. English is not the rich language it once was, and as a consequence some nuances from the original get lost in translation. My favourite example is when a friend who’d studied geology told me we were living in the seventh major geological era. I thought about it, and suddenly Genesis makes sense. Exchange the word “day” for the word “Era” and suddenly we have a very different picture of creation. An era can be thousands of years, some even more. But the seventh is still a work in progress – like us.

Back to literal. The quote offending my wife’s best friend objects to the liberal Western society putting up with watering down their societies by allowing Islamic places of worship and schools to be built, whilst the countries many of these people have fled from refuse to allow Christian places of Worship or educational facilities to be privately funded. Indeed a group in one country,  was prosecuted under a local Islamic “blasphemy” law ruling the use of “Allah” may only refer to Islam, no other deity. Fine with me, as I pray in the name of Jesus, but the local churches had printed a Bible in local colloquial language to teach the Gospel and had used “Allah” where in English “God” would have been used.

I’m not right-wing in most of my views, but I’m learning the value of principles. The Bible says we should let our Yes mean YES, and our no mean NO! Easy to say, but hard to do. Especially in a customer-service environment. Harder in a multi-cultured society like South Africa where individual beliefs are taken by many as sacrosanct.

I’m a firm believer that Jesus Christ is the Way, Truth and Life. I know nobody comes to God the Father unless they accept His sacrifice. My wife’s friend knows I believe this, so we generally don’t speak of our religions to maintain the peace for the sake of her friendship with my wife.

This time was different. I believe CS Lewis said something to the effect that the Truth of the Christian Message will always provoke a reaction one way or the other. In this case, it was opposition. Strong opposition.

My agreeing with the statement did not alter when I found out it wasn’t Bill Cosby who’d made it. My understanding of the statement stands, and I will not try to water down the message. I acknowledge that the teachings of Islam have been twisted into a weapon to attack the West, just as 1000 years ago the teachings of Christianity were twisted to justify the Crusades (Genghis Khan school of Evangelism). A fundamentally peaceful teaching used to break spirits and wills and force that religion down people’s throats.

Christianity is about absolutes. Jesus’ message wasn’t “be good and we’ll accept you, regardless of who you believe in”, it was clear: Believe in Jesus and accept His sacrifice made in your stead, or die. Through the entire Bible we see God say this, but follow it instantly with the instruction to choose life because He loves us.

I love and respect my wife’s friends who are not Christians. They are entitled to their opinion, and to make their own choices. But I refuse to compromise my faith to accommodate theirs. If we go to their home for a meal I am not offered a pork chop, but halal beef or chicken. No wine with the meal. Don’t get me wrong, the food is delicious, and they are wonderful hosts – I enjoy her family’s company enormously, but they will not eat at our home. I don’t have Halal cookware. My pots and pans and crockery have ham, bacon or pork on it or prepared in it once a week on average, in fact I have ham sandwiches most days for work. I did, at one point, have 2 braai/barbeque griddles, one for Halal meat (with paper plates) and one for non-halal foods. I don’t any more. It was a waste of space. If you enter my home and eat my food, it will most likely not be Halal.

I don’t expect our muslim friends to provide non-halal food to us. I disagree with the faith, but it’s an individual’s right to choose.

There’s no space for grey in God’s world. Grey isn’t one thing or the other. And it never can be anything but grey once the world gets hold of it. The Power of Words results in misunderstanding & miscommunication when they are taken out of context.

I, along with millions of Christians around the world, believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to relationship with God. It’s not rocket science. Biblical scripture declares it to be so, and I have an ongoing relationship with God through Jesus that sustains me. I make mistakes, but they will not result in me being cast out into Hell because I accept the Salvation of the sacrifice of Christ on my behalf. Anyone can.

But there’s no half measures in Christianity. Either you’re Christian or you’re not. Black or white.

There’s no room for grey.

In the office next to mine they have a poster up that says “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”

I’ve seen it every day, more or less, for the last 18 months. Today a deeper question struck me as I was walking through the office.

I started asking myself “What if I took Jesus’ Words literally?”

What if I did? How would it change my way of living in this world?

The more I think about it, the more I realise how little I actually grasp of what Jesus said, and what the promises of God for our lives actually mean. Health, prosperity, the entire life of eternity in our hearts right now.

Imagine for a moment fulfilling the promises of God. Doing what Jesus did. Speaking His words. Thinking His thoughts. Living His life for us.

What if the Bible is true? What if chasing the trappings of this world is a distraction? What if the promotion, the car and the house are not permanent?

What if the only thing you can count on is this one book of stories written over thousands of years?

 I’m a Christian, anyone reading this blog can hardly not see that from my topics and writing (I hope)

What if I’m right? What if this world isn’t all there is? What if Allah is a false god? Or Shiva? Or Buddah?

What if Jesus is the only way to God?

What do you lose by believing in Christ and accepting His Love?

Think for a moment: What do you lose if I’m right?

Life is a free gift from God. More than that, it’s His desire for us.

In Deuteronomy 30:19 God has just outlined through Moses the lists of the Blessings for obeying His Law, and the Curses for breaking it. Then comes the clincher – “I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live”

The statement is stunning – it’s our choice.

Heaven or hell is our choice.

Forgiveness or bitterness – our choice.

Ours.

All power in Heaven and Earth is in His hands. He can wipe us from existence and start over. Satan’s biggest gamble paid off. He gambled God wouldn’t wipe out creation because of His Love for us. He gambled God would choose to give us a choice.

Choose Life.

It’s free, but it costs everything. To truly choose Life means to turn away from everything this world offers. Revenge, unrighteous anger, lust. Doesn’t sound so difficult really, except for one thing – we make that system. We build that kingdom one brick at a time through our lives until we open ourselves to Christ and choose Life.

Choose Life

We can’t just forget the old way of thinking. Even Paul wasn’t immune to it. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15) It’s programmed into us by the curse. We battle our old nature daily in every choice we make. Every decision requires us to rebel against the old man. To choose Life requires us to declare war on Satan.

We must declare war on what put us where we are. Kick away the ladder we are standing on. Saw off the tree limb where we are sitting.

The difference is the outcome. By trusting God, the Truth is revealed. The ladder is shown to be an illusion, the tree falls and the branch remains steady.

The cost of Life is persecution. The reward is relationship with God on an intimate level. The world hates God and His People because the Light exposes the darkness in them. As John writes: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5) Another translation reads “has not overcome it”. 

Persecution comes in many forms. It can be blatant oppression in some places – threatening of life and limb. In Western societies it is more subtle – loss of status, preference given to people who will compromise their beliefs and many other subtle attacks that undermine our faith or expression of it. The insidious nature of of the persecution means we are often blindsided by the attack until we have been totally disabled by it. We compromise in the name of convenience and a desire to not “rock the boat”, when what we should do is hold fast to our confession, capsizing the boat if necessary.

Choose Life. Live. Resist the persecution and the temptation to compromise

Choose Life that you and your family may live. Let the cost be what it may, the cost is worth the Price Jesus paid.

Choose Life.

In the weeks since the tragedy in Newtown I’ve read many things about the “solution” to preventing repeats. Most of it is remarkably similar to what was said after Columbine. Gun control, improved security in schools, better escape access. Now I read someone has even suggested training teachers in the use of firearms.

Terrifyingly stupid.

The Governor of Connecticut said “Evil visited this community today” on the day of the tragedy. That statement has been lost in the following media clamour.

Tighter gun laws won’t prevent another tragedy. If restricting access to firearms alone were the answer then it would be an easy fix. The real problem is not access to guns – although assault rifles have no place in civilian society – rather it is people.

The cry for “freedom” by people outstrips the obvious. The “right” to bear arms in the US constitution was written at a time when a flintlock musket and a sword were the weapons of the day. It was beyond the conception of the Founding Fathers that a man would devise the weapons of today, never mind the crimes that are committed with them.

There was a reason for that. One that is slowly being eroded from Western society today. The men who wrote the Constitution were largely men of Faith. The document cites Biblical laws as it’s foundation. Public Schools had the Bible placed firmly in their midst to provide a moral compass – one missing in those same schools for many years now.

Today’s instant gratification society is outstripped only by the desire for acclaim – the “15 minutes” of fame theory. Morgan Freeman succinctly summed it up after the shooting by pointing out that most people know the names of the perpetrators of these crimes while being oblivious of the names of the victims.

Guns don’t cause the problems. I live in South Africa, a country damaged by decades of violence, where I hear gunfire almost every night as I lie in my home. Guns are easy to come by and gang wars regularly spill onto the streets. But school massacres? In Kindergartens?

A child was killed by a jealous lover a few years ago in Cape Town, and the horror expressed from the gangs was tangible. Guns are not the problem any more than a collapsing house causes an earthquake or a moving tree causes the hurricane.

The issue of Sin and Mankind’s fallen state is never addressed as the cause of tragedies like Newtown. The media hypes up the event and compares previous tragedies to the current one. Our society feeds the fire of a Fallen world with no regard for the consequence, then seeks to blame something else when the monster it created turns on it.

We need collectively to resist this impetus. Take back what the Enemy of our Hearts has taken. We must resist in Christ’s name. The media and society will blame an inanimate object before it takes responsibility for the disaster it has caused.

Newtown was horrific, but ultimately why are we surprised? If it hadn’t been guns, perhaps it would have been knives. Then there would doubtless be calls for knife controls.

Don Francisco’s Facebook Status today came as a reminder to me – quite a stark one – that our outcome is our choice.
 
God told the Children of Israel to choose life or death ” I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Joshua invites the people to choose which god they will serve ” “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24: 14-15).

Jesus invites us to choose him and life. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:20-21)

Choice is key in God’s Kingdom. God never wanted to be a dictator – not even a benevolent one. He longs for us to come to Him as children, because He loves us, not forces us.

Jesus chose to save us.  He chose the nails. He chose the Cross. He decided to give up Heaven and die on a Cross for us so we could have a relationship with the Father through His sacrifice.

We need to choose for 2013, and every day in it and beyond, to give ourselves over to God. If we do, He will establish His Covenant in our lives. Bad events may still happen to us – probably will in fact. Possibly more.

So choose.

Choose Life in Christ.

What’s the definition of “church”?

It was great to see Mark & Rach Farrin – very dear friends from the UK,  a few weeks ago down here after so long, and it got me thinking about the old gang. “Church” for me wasn’t (and isn’t) an event once a week in a set location, it’s having deep fellowship with a few individuals who challenge, love and respect you enough to say to your face “You’re wrong” as much as they’ll say “You’re right”.

Sitting in a building once a week won’t make e a Christian any more than sitting in a garage will make me a car. I get daily fellowship with a few people who speak into my life and I speak into theirs – it’s real, and not always comfortable. That’s Church to me.

Intimate. Personal. Often uncomfortable, but with an unmistakeable undercurrent of Love behind it.

I’ve been to big churches. Went regularly for several weeks, into months. Then I stopped without telling anyone. After a year nobody had called. My absence was unnoticed.

I’ve been in small churches. One week I was half an hour late and someone stepped out of the service to phone me and ask if I was ok.

The relationships were different. The small group I was in in Totnes was called TQ9, based on the area code for the town. There were about 25 – 30 in total, and we had clicques like any group. Within the group there were people I was very close to and others not so much. But we spoke into each others lives. We knew one another’s stories. We could see by looking at someone if they were troubled.

That was fellowship. That was Church. We met together in each other’s homes. We prayed, rejoiced, grieved, laughed and played together. Fellowship. We sharpened one another. Made each other strong.

Now I have only intermittent contact with most of them. A fleeting facebook message that tells me nothing. Once these people were my closest confidantes. They knew when I got engaged. They helped me through the break up. I walked away when my dad was dying – I didn’t want their pity and my pride got in the way. I blamed them, but it was me who distanced myself. I stopped taking their calls. My fellowship crumbled because I didn’t maintain it.

I went into a dark place, deep depression and 4 suicide attempts later God placed a new fellowship around me that would lift me up and set my feet back on the Rock. They dogged me and hassled me into loving them. Most of them had known me over a year before they heard me laugh or saw me smile. But they Loved me anyway.

Again, it was a faithful few who chose to love me God’s way. I am alive today because of their Faithfulness. Dave, Tina, Mark, Rachel, Martin, Louise. Ok, Mark and Rach knew me, but the others just happened. And God Blessed me.

Now in a dark place again there is one person I’ll not name here but she knows who she is who, more than anyone else here outside the family has become a strong member of my fellowship. Not because she had to, but because she chose to. We speak into one another’s lives regularly, sharing what God is doing.

The Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony. And slowly we are both seeing the enemy beaten back in our lives by simply worshipping God by doing nothing more than sharing what His love is doing for us and our families. Giving Him the Glory that is His and being humble enough to use the gifts He gives us to speak out to one another.

My church is not where I sit on a Sunday. It’s where I have fellowship and feeding. The two are not mutually exclusive, but they are not one and the same either.

Just a thought.

It’s that time of year again. Tinsel and ridiculous images everywhere portraying the most remarkable event of all time: the incarnation of God Himself.

I get angry at this time of year.

Very angry.

In South Africa we get all the signs: Eid Mubarak! Blessed Diwali! Happy Hannukah! Holiday Greetings!

Wait a minute… “Holiday Greetings!”? What about Christmas?

Shops will use any euphamism they can to avoid the word Christmas.

This year hasn’t been an easy one. My friends and family that I care about most have suffered loss and heartache, which makes the Cross behind the Manger more important.

The Christmas story isn’t a cute fuzzy tale to warm the heart. It’s the beginning of the most violent act of Love God ever did for His children. He took on the form of the ones He came to save. He reached out to us on our level.

Hands that had created the Heavens and Earth had to be taught to feed himself. His nappy had to be changed. He became utterly human, tempted as we are tempted. He would experience stress, hunger, grief, joy. Just like us.

He was persecuted from the day of His birth. The mission starts with genocide. Joseph and his family have to flee to Egypt to escape the slaughter of children Herod orders.

The stable-cave of Bethlehem is replaced with a life on the run. By 12 he is back in Jerusalem, understanding and talking with the leaders of the synagogues and Temple. Amazing them with his insights. Sowing the seeds of Hope into their hearts only to heav Satan sow envy and hatred alongside. How many of the younger leaders He spoke to then called for His murder 20 years later?

The purpose of the manger is the Cross and the Empty Tomb.

Not presents.

Not a cute story.

Victory over Death. Salvation from Hell. Restoration of Relationship with the Creator Incarnate.