Friday 25 December 2009

Imagine a world without Christmas

For many years we did not celebrate Christmas just to break the hold of the religious traditions on our lives: forced to give presents no one really appreciates, forced to buy a Christmas tree and decoration, with a star at the top or an angel dangling dangerously until its fall to the earth eventually when one of the grandchildren run into the tree; the endless Christmas Carols all sounding the same every year; the pageants in the church hall with actors cloted in pyjamas and bath robes and towels around their heads, the girls fighting about who should play Mary this year, the baby doll Jessu with the stark eyes staring into space; the cardboard donkeys and the wise men who do not understand a thing about astronomy; the shepherds who never know where to kneel and the angels on the staircase anouncing peace on earth and goodwill among men until we hear the news on TV again; the well wishing and the forced joyous celebration, tapping every ounce of religious experience out of every Christmas service; the endless choirs robed like angels, sweating in the African heat, the silent unspoken wish for a white Christmas in South Africa; the old folks that wear Santa Claus outfits in the summer heat; the bells of reindeer, the smells of the roast; the Jews and Muslims making a killing out of the Christian spending, coming up with novel Christmas gifts every year and the record producers who force their stars to make yet another Christmas Album for profits sake, Amen.
Enough already...the pagan practices of the tree and other decorations, mixed with the consumer magic of Father Christmas in the shopping centre, the Christian faith that Jesus was born from a virgin, the National Geographic and History channels on TV trying their utmost to disprove the fact with all their theories and scientific nonsense...
But after all said and done, imagine a world without Christmas...at least people thinki about Christ once a year. No, maybe twice. The other time would be at Easter.
So a baby Jesus and a suffering Saviour on the Cross is non-threatening to all the other religions of the world and even atheists and agnostics put up with it.
In a sense, Nola, my wife is right: Christmas and Easter are the final Christian outposts in a world gone crazy.
There is always a movie on TV about the Nazi's and the British not fighting in the trenches on Christmas day, but having a game of football and sharing their chocolate bars and cigarettes and hidden whiskey with each other...just for a day. Tomorrow we kill each other again!
Christmas being one of the last Christian bastions, we need to reform our thinking about it and at least compose a few fresh Christmas Carols of our own that would really be a joy to all the world. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas is after all not a hymn to sing in church!
So, we changed our approach and held our first ever Christmas service in our reformational church in Cape Town again in 2009.
It was wonderful - because of our long lay off we have shed all the unnecessary religious trappings of tradition and discovered uniquely fresh reasons to celebrate the miraculous birth of the Son of God.
As a friend of mine indicated: He left no tangilbe evidence behind once He left the earth, but He left us His Name. Joseoph and Mary's obedience to call Him Jesus like the Angel instructed them to do, ushered His name into the earth so that we who believe could use that Name in prayer - and not like Hollywood only in swearing and cursing because they try to discredit that wonderful name...
Christ was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, yes, 2000 years ago, and it is good to remember it, but when someone accepts Christ's sacrifice for their sins, and He becomes their Lord and Saviour, they are born again, or Christ is born in them and thus we celebrate the birth of Christ all over again!
Nola sang a new Christmas hymn in a prophetic way and we'll have to listen to the CD to learn it for next year! It was glorious and powerful and we soared in the spirit like eagles on the upwards drafts of heatwaves, lifting us higher and higher until we lost touch with earthly ways of celebrating Christmas. It was a whole new experience!
I preached about Paul's message to the Galatians: my little children for whom I labour again to see Christ formed in you...an apostolic take on the Christmas story!
(It should all be on our website soon: www.harvesterchurch.net)
And there was great joy in our dancing while we worshipped - and we celebrated the joy of knowing Jesus Christ and having fellowship with each other as children of the Living God. The peace we experienced passed our understanding because we were made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary! What a joyous Gospel! What a way to celebrate Christmas - His Name is our greatest gift that we can still share with each other today!
Merry Christmas to all who read this blog, then, and a happy New Year to you all - from a different perspective, I hope.
I really couldn't imagine a world without Christmas...when that happens, when they take away Christmas from the calender, it is time to leave the earth and look for the new heaven and the new earth Jesus promised to go and prepare for those who love Him and look for His return.

Friday 23 October 2009

Crown the Year

I preached a sermon from Psalm 65:11 about the Lord crowning the year with His goodness and making His paths full of abundance, literally drip fatness!
When the end of the year is in sight, we want to slow down, fade out and begin to bail out. But like a good athlete we have to learn to run through the tape and not to slow down before the finish line. Many athletes could have broken world records if they had not slowed down. Let us learn to finish what we started with gusto, with the same energy and enthusiasm as we began. Let us put in the extra effort when we feel we can almost give up. That is where it counts.

Paul the apostle once said to a young disciple called Timothy, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith and now there is a crown of righteousness awaiting me!

As a young boy I was quite and athlete: I normally came first at school and at inter-school sprints. I came 3rd in the entire West Rand Primary School Area, which made me an easy choice for right wing in West Rand Primary School rugby team. It was easy to run away from the opponents who wanted to tackle me and dive over in the corner for a try!
My dad accepted a pastorate on the East Rand by the time I was at high school and I had my tonsils removed. I had also shot up and became somewhat clumsy (something I still haven't recovered from fully!)When I attempted to run durint the trials I came 5th. It was a schock to my system. I remember how I hated sitting on the grand stand watching all the other athletes compete. It felt like I didn't belong there. By Standard 9 I trained hard and became the leading 110 metres hurdler at the Cape School where I finished my matric. Because I skipped a year of school by completing two years in one, I was a bit young, 15 in matric competing against U/19's. But I won anyway.
In the final race the athlete in the lane next to me jabbed my foot with his spikes as we went over the second hurdle. He lost balance but kept on running; I hit the dirt nose first and felt like begging the earth to please swallow me up! But something inside of me urged me to get up and to finish the race. I hardly hit the ground or I was up and running. I caught up with the rest of the athletes and passed most of them. I came second - it was an amazing feeling. My nose, hands and knees were bleeding, but standing on the winner's podium was an amazing sense of achievement and personal satisfaction.
Sometimes we have to go through some things in a year that makes us stumble, fall, get hurt and panic; but the word today is to get up and go on: the race is not over. Run until you run through the finishing tape. Do not stay down. Do not be discouraged. Your year will be crowned with goodness. There is still hope, there is still a victor's crown awaiting you.
Put your faith in the Lord who will crown your year with goodness!

Friday 2 October 2009

David's Heroes

We all saw Kelly's Heroes in the late 60's that made movie stars out of Donald Sutherland and Kelly Savallas with their wacky portrayal of soldiers hunting gold rather than glory with the eventual shoot out between a youthful Clint Eastwood and a German Pantzer tank!
But there are a few heroes whose names are not even important that became David's greatest heroes in his army. He had men who killed giants just like he did when he slew Goliath and then he had men who fought until the sword cleaved to their hand, but the greatest three were of a special kind.
One day David simply sighed in remembrance of the water from the well of Bethlehem where he grew up as a boy. He longed for a drink from that well. But Bethelehem had fallen into the hands of the Philistines and there was no way that he could get hold of that water.
But three of his soldiers heard the expression of his desire and decided to risk their lives to fetch that water for their leader. They set off and fought their way through the garrison of the enemy and fetched a pale of water for David.
When they brought the water to him, David was astonished at their act of bravery.
'I can't drink this water1' he exclaimed and explained why he said that: 'this water is the blood of these men!' Then he poured the water he so much desired out on the ground as a drink offering before the Lord his God.
What a lesson of servanthood. This act of theirs got them promoted above all the other great warriors to be called the greates three of them all. What qualified them? They were not commanded to risk their lives, they were not even sent: they simply heard the heart of their leader and decided to fulfil his wish.
Reinhardt Bonnke the German Evangelist that has shaken Africa once said that Jesus's desire is souls and therefore he will go he does not need to be commanded to win souls for Jesus.
I am a sent one to other lands and I often go because I hear the desire of the Lord that said, Go into the all the world and preach the Gospel and make disciples.

About a month ago we had our monthly Band of Brothers meeting in our church and I simply mentioned: 'wouldn't it be great to have my life long friend Mike Wood and his wife Mary at our summit this year?' Nobody said anything. An hour after the meeting I got a phone call from one of the men that informed me that they had decided to bring Mike and Mary all the way from Australia and pay for their tickets!
It made my eyes shoot full of tears.

Mike had been one of my mentors throughout my life and I owe a lot to him. I am in no position to pay his air ticket, let alone his wife's. But the Band of Brothers clubbed together and raised the funds to purchase the air tickets.

We have just returned from the summit where many of my friends from other parts of the world attended; Graham from Birmingham, Jako from Houston, Duncan and Bev from Sowerby Bridge and Alaster and Simba from Zimbabwe, besides all my friends in church and from Johannesburg and Pretoria. What a glorious time we had in the presence of God - we even went on for an extra day! Words cannot describe what we experienced - and it was all because of a few guys who heard my heart's desire and acted on it on their own expense to bring it to pass! They are heroes of Harvester, this Band of borthers! God bless them.

Heroes are close enough to their leader to hear his heart and to know his desire. It means more to do what someone really wants than to server them with what you think they want!

Friday 18 September 2009

9/11

9/11 Remembered…
By Andre Pelser
(Based on some notes I made in my dairy taken from the Washington Trade Post)

Hundreds of small fires were burning everywhere…
Rescue workers were walking knee-deep in the ashes of the Hellscape…
The global prestige, the wealth towers crumbled to the ground and buried thousands of people near a fountain where the inscription read, ‘The Triumph of the Human Spirit’.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the world turned black. Human shock caused people to jump from the skyscrapers, desperate beyond comprehension, 100 storeys high. The voice of a little girl rang out among the cacophony of other sounds, ‘Look Mommy!’ as she pointed to the figures plunging downward.

The sky scrapers served as chimneys as the floors collapsed. They resembled smouldering cigarettes from the Long Island Express Way. Most of the highly compensated labourers in the world worked in those towers.

Jet-A standard aviation fuel produces 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. The explosion of the Jet Planes, at impact, caused the excessive heat to melt the metal, brick and glass…the heat was too unbearable for anyone to survive.

Dave Wilkerson prophesied it would happen…ten years ago. He said the bodies of people would evaporate…no one believed him and called him a false prophet of doom. He said the wickedness of drug addicted traders who play with the fortunes of others will be judged severely. He said New York will be shocked. He said the Trade Towers would be removed…

A mile away people sat idle in parks, drinking Salvation Army grape juice…
A few hundred yards away the children’s play ground stood untouched near the river terrace. Daisies grew tall in bright sunlight and the hippopotamus statues had no dust on them at all. Song birds chirped in the bushes.

A commodities trader that saw how the second jet struck Tower Two ran to his computer to buy gold shares. He watched the price shoot up to $280 an ounce! Minutes later the exchange shut down. Business and Trade had come to a sudden halt. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, erected in 1973 no longer existed….Babylon had fallen…businessmen cried because no one could do business there anymore.

In a movie theatre across the street from the World Trade Centre, the film ‘Ghost World’ was still being screened.

I turned 50 on that fateful day and cried most of the afternoon and evening…because
I was there in 1973 when these buildings were erected…I was there in New York, living in an apartment in 89th Street East, with my Puerto Rican friend, Victor Ferrer, who gave me his leather Bible cover for my Thomson’s Chain Reference Bible. His Mom thought she looked like Marilyn Monroe with her blond dyed hair.

I visited the United Nations building, the Twin Towers and the Statue of Liberty and have some pics to prove it! We climbed up and up in Lady Liberty’ s stairs right up to her crown from where we viewed New York from a completely different angle. We went up into the Empire State building. But the Twin Trade Towers were an enigma to us: why build such tall towers?

JFK said, ‘people ask why go to the moon? I say, why not!’

When I look at my faded photo’s in my album, I wonder about a lot of things. I also wonder why 9/11 happened on my 50th birth day. What is the significance for me? Eleventh of September will never again be the same for me. Every year they remember those who died in that cowardly act of those Muslim militant extremists who high-jacked the American planes and flew them into the Trade Towers and other targets.

The world will never be the same after that – I knew that much. Things have changed, for ever! I wonder what actually changed in me.

Monday 31 August 2009

Write, write, write

It is quiet in Llaregyb, just the bible black fishing boat bobbing sea...Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas, the poet extraordinaire, Irish by birth. Somehow those lines came back to me this morning as I sat at the desk, hoping for some fresh inspiration to write.
I remember George Bernard Shaw saying how he contributed to the Life Force by disciplining himself to write every day. Somehow I picked up on that and write something wherever I am, at the airport, in a hotel room, at home, in a train, in a restaurant, and I remember how I used to write from an early age, even in my room as a school boy.
When the teacher gave us five topics to write an essay I would write about all five and let her choose which one she wanted to mark. And then in Matric I wrote excercise books full for my friends to read - just because I wanted to write. I have never stopped writing.
My shelves and my metal trunks are full of notebooks from an early age. Whenever my granny told some of her unforgettable stories about the life of Afrikaners in Vrede, and in Brixton, I would go to my room and scribble them down. I intend to publish a book about Oum Jannie's stories and I want to turn it into a one-woman-drama with my daughter Yve who is expert at communicating with an audience as an actress.
Pilate made a statement that bears repitition: what I have written is written. Nothing can change that. What is not written is forgotten. There is so much in life that is forgotten because nobody wrote it down.
My stint as a journalist for the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld taught me to be accurate with words. I was a court journalist. If you do not give an accurate report you could be arrested. So every word counted. It disciplined my writing.
We have given out over 350 000 free Harvest Times newspapers over a period of two years just before the change of the century. I have written copiously, manuals, books and sermons as well as short booklets and tracts.
Somewhere someone will read something I have written and it will change a life it will sow a seed it will be a blessing it will meet a need.
Napoleon's statement the pen is mightier than the sword bears repitition and wherever I go if people tell me their stories I encourage them to write, write, write. And if they don't I keep notes in my little Moleskine notebooks of the outline of what they shared with me.
It passes the time to write and it is not a waste of time either, because it is preserved for posterity.
The man that encouraged me to keep a notebook was Camus, the nobel prize winning novelist from Algiers and France who was also a goal keeper for France in his hey day but died in a tragic car accident at the age of 40. He was an existentialist and some of his philosophies are not what I believe at all, but his lucid mind and his turn of phrase and keen observation inspired me for a life time to always keep a notebook handy. Because what you did not write down you forget.
If parents would remember to do this they would enjoy the treausre of their children's antics even more. Photographs do not do justice to any memory. It is a two dimensional reminder, whereas a written paragraph preserves the feelings on paper and gives perspective on multi-levels to preserve for ever.
Thanks to the Jews who preserved the writings of Moses and the Prophets for us and for the churches that preserved the writings of the Gospel writers and the epistles fo the apostles. Where would we be if it wasn't for them? We would be nowhere at all.
So in all my writing I comfort myself with the thought that someone somewhere woudl read what I have written and it would serve to improve their lives and benefit them far beyond my comprehension today.
There is much going on today on the Internet, Facebook, Twitter and all, but in the end writing is a key to preserving the present and to remind us of the past and help to predict the future.
What have you written today?

Monday 20 July 2009

And the Seal leaped!

After a long session on the paddle ski, he ditched it on the beach and took to the surf board. Within a jiffy he was behind the waves and waited for the perfect one – ala Kelly Slater! The waves broke right for him. All he had to do was to paddle hard enough to catch it!
Then it happened…the perfect wave came and his little arms flashed like windmills to get into the wave! He took it and rode and rode and rode almost for 40 seconds – like those magical rides at Jay Bay’s Point or Super Tubes!
When he bailed out of the wave he threw both his hands up in the air and let out an elated scream of utter joy! I could almost hear him say (like he normally does): ‘this was the best wave of my life! (Like Wing Nut and his friend in Endless Summer normal do).
Without hesitation he turned the nose of the board around and paddled back in. To our amazement the next wave was just as perfect and he caught it again and rode it all the way to the beach. Then another and another one!
The ocean then offered a time for him to catch his breath and a lull in the set of waves came for a while. He sat out there on his board – not a care in this world.
Then the moment came that I will never forget as long as I live: a seal took the next wave and surfed past Hilton, turned and stuck his head out of the water and looked at him on his board. He was close to him. And then the seal leaped! High into the air it went and dived back in, like Dolphins do, all around Hilton in a 270 degree circle!
The absolute joy of creation seemed tangible at that moment. The seal smiled and wiggled his moustache! The sheer exuberance of being alive in God’s creation exploded in our sight!
Nola and I were close to tears sitting under the umbrella in the shade, watching this spectacle of joy.
‘You can see God’s hand in creation!’ Nola quipped.

Two Days in Boston

Boston, Massachusetts
The Bostonians refer to Boston as the cradle of liberty and the hub of the universe. It is in fact the birthplace of a nation. You can take a walk down Freedom Trial and visit the house of Paul Revere; you can smell the familiar fragrances of Bean Town and spot the designs of Newbury Street and eat roast duck in Back Bay; or slurp clam chowder in North End – yes this is the place of the great Boston Tea Party!
Harvard University has set the pace for education since its inception and great scholars have become great men in this great nation of America.
The public parks are neatly and exquisitely manicured and nothing is out of place: even the color schemes of the flowers are grouped in such a way to soothe the eye of the beholder.
But the park that stands out among them all is definitely Fenwick Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
The whole world listens to the Boston Pops orchestra and every art lover visits the Gallerie D’Orsay. It is not too far from the JF Kennedy library.
For the adventurers there is ample opportunity to go and ski in the mountains of Vermont or climb the Appalachian Mountains.
The theatre district has much to offer to theatre buffs and tourists and the latest shows and bands are on a list of what’s available at night time.
The great malls and tall buildings are impressive and yet not as intimidating as New York Central, and the people in Boston are friendly and have time to chat to a stranger when they are approached.
Mary Baker Eddy’s Christian Science Museum is in the heart of the city. This is where she wrote all her books.
There are many cathedrals and church in the city as well and they have exciting programs on offer each Sunday.
The flow of traffic is slow and orderly and you will never see so many expensive cars together in one place as you would in Boston.
The obvious opulence of the city is part of its attraction: yet there is no arrogance among the people.

Respect breeds respect

Something else that was most noticable in America was the upsurge of respect. People greet you and treat you with respect. When I asked an attendant at Atlanta International Airport at midnight where the public transport exit was, the old man pointed me in the right direction and added: 'You're welcome, Sir!'
Street vendors, restauranteurs, hotel receptionists, shop owners, taxi drivers and people that you meet everywhere seem to have a new sense of dignity and regard for other human beings that shows itself in respect.
Someone once said that respect is the best form of self defence. When you speak respectfully to someone who reviles you, it disarms them completely.
Because of my army training, I understood the respectful salutes very well and quickly fell into the rhythm of calling other men 'Sir' when addressing them. It gives you a sudden rush of well-being!
All of a sudden it is a pleasure to be alive. For a moment you feel like royalty, like someone who deserves a certain respect and it takes nothing from you to reciprocate.
Come to think of it, it takes the same breath and the same energy to speak respectfull to others as it does to be disrespectful. It is a matter of choice. Or perhaps it is a matter of breeding.
America has a way of infiltrating society with its own values whenever they want to. It seems that there is a new upsurgence of respect wherever I travelled in America. It was obvious. When you buy a train ticket at a railway station or on the tubes they thank you and add, 'Sir'. It is a pleasure to do business with Americans on the phone. The respect makes you want to do the deal!
Sarah in the bible had a way with Abraham, the father of our faith. She respected him and even called him, 'lord'. This is going a further step, climbing even higher on the step ladder of respect!
When women respect their husbands they inspire them to do great things and to accomplish great feets. When children respect their parents it brings great joy to the hearts of the paretns who give their best to raise them.
All of us can do with a bit of respect these days - the times are hard and nothing comes easy, but respect costs nothing at all. We can all give and receive a bit more respect that will enhance our society as a whole.
Finally, respect towards God and God's Word, the Bible, and the institutio of a church will cause a revival of a new nature: the fear of God brings wisdom and perhaps we all need more wisdom than we realise.
Well, perhaps it starts with a bit of respect towards ourselves. But that is another chapter.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

OMG in USA

What struck me on my recent visit to the United States of America is the abbreviation of the use of the Name of the Lord in vain in the local newspapers! OMG represents the most commonly used phrase on American TV and in daily conversations instilled by Hollywood and the media: Oh My God!
The Bible clearly states that you shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain. There are clear indications of punishment awaiting those who use the name of the Lord in vain.
The old Jewish holy men did not even dare to mention the word 'GOD' nor would they dare to write it, but preferred the respectful version, 'G-D', in their manuscripts to honor the commnandment not to use the name of the Lord in vain.
But Hollywood and the American TV moguls have succeeded in teaching this generation to liberally use the word of the Lord in vain and they glamorized it as fashionable and common. They took something sacared and made it as common as a dirty rag.
The other thing they succeeded in was to use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the most common swear word in movies and TV. The actors never use the name of Buddha or Mohammed in vain. Nor do they swear by using the names of Darwin, Voltaire or Rousseau, or Karl Marx or Freud. It is always ' Jesus Christ - this' and ' Jesus Christ - that'.
Now the latest fad is to abbreviate it in the age of technological slogans based on abbreviations - the underlying implication being that if you do not know what the abbreviation stands for you are obviously not enlightened.
OMG appears in newspaper articles, magazines and soon the TV commentators will start using it and then it will be part and parcel of the movie and TV scripts and then in daily use by teenagers...
America, America, America when will you realise that God has blessed you and preserverd you until this day? When will you admit that it is His goodness and mercy that has made you what you are? When will you remember the warning that using his name in vain is punishable for generations to come? When will you admit your part in influencing the world to curse and use the name of the Lord in vain?
Isn't it time to repent and change your ways?
You call it old fashioned to believe in the bible. You talk about the post-Christian world as if it is gone and as if true believers are no longer part of the world. Yes, you want them to leave and will be glad when they do, for they still prick your conscience and stab your hearts with the Word of God. But you prefert to turn your back on God and follow your own stubborn ways.
I pray for you, I pray for you that you will realise your error before it is too late. Every other kingdom and realm that rejected God were rejected by God. Think of the great Empires throughout history: the Medes and Persians, The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the British Empire, the Communistic Empire, and now the American Empire...
My voice might be a lonely voice in the wilderness, but I have to raise it for the sake of the ones in your midst that still keep the godly standard according to the Word of God as it is recorded in the Bible.
By shortening the phrase, Oh My God, to OMG, does not reduce the punishment awaiting those who use the name of the Lord in vain.
Turn, turn, turn before it is too late, my friends.
I literally thank God on my knees for all the good America has done for the rest of the world and when I go to preach in that great land I see it as a small part of the debt the rest of the world owes to America, just to say thank you.
My heart bleeds for you America: hear the message I am trying to convey - in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

Monday 13 July 2009

We all need someon we can lean on

I felt I wanted to share this with you, I thought of putting it on the testimonies on the website, but couldnt find anything to select where I could write. Last week Sunday when you prayed for me, I cried, at first because of the emotions and the hurt, but afterwards it was something else, something I could not explain and didnt understand. God, being the loving God He is, later revealed it to me. For the very first time in my 38 years, I laid my head on my fathers shoulder, and sought refuge. Prophet Nola, and yourself, and my Godly parents. I have never had either a mother or a father figure in my life. God allowed me to lay my head on your shoulder, and know the love of a father, for the first time in my life. It is an experience I cannot describe. All I can say is that it was something I needed and will always be grateful for. We dont always realize what emptiness is in us, when we grow up without the love of a mother and father, and its sad that people who dont give their life to Jesus, will always unconsciously seek to fill that void with the wrong things. So I am glad that I am where I am, because here, in my church, my Harvester home, is where He fixes me bit by bit. And He fixed something in the picture I have of a father, in human form and in the form of God. Thank you Jesus for that experience.

Thank you for being a father.

This reminded me of the time in Australia when I was at my wits end as a missionary. I had no one to turn to and no one to ask for help. I was a stranger in a foreign land and I had a wife and two kids to take care of. I ddin't mind going without food or shelter, but I just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to provide for them. The offerings in Australia were so small wherever I preached that it hardly covered my petrol or hotel bill. Sometimes I drove 800 KM to a distant little town and then couldn't make it back on the offering. Sometimes I had no money left for food. It looked like the end of the road for me, a dead end.
I cried in frustration as I prayed to the Lord, telling him that missionary work was too hard and to unrewarding. In fact I took out all my frustrations in prayer. When I finished praying I thought God might desert me and never pay any attention to me ever again. Instead I clearly and distinctly heard a voice in me that said,'It's ok to cry on my shoulder. I have broad shoulders. The government of your life is on my shoulder. From now on many people will cry on your shoulder too.'

I never knew how many times this would repeat itself in my life. The above letter is simply an indication of many, many others that have said the same thing. I still need the Lord's shoulder to cry on sometimes...even after 27 years as a missionary. Nola and I have managed to raise three kids, one of them married with two kids of his own and also in the ministry with us. God is faithful. He is our Heavenly Father. But sometimes we all need someone we can lean on - down here!

Monday 6 July 2009

Go and express yourself

Bob Woolmer, that tragically died during the world cup in India, coached South Africa and Pakistan respectively in International cricket. He coached Boland Provincial side to success which made the selectors take note of him.
One of the players of Boland, John Commins, became captain of South African A side (which really is the 'B' side to the International Protea team)and also played a game for the Proteas. When he was asked about his rise to the top he had the following to say about the Bob Woolmer: 'He picked a side and then told us, do not worry about being dropped from the side. You are picked for the next 5 games. Go out there as a batsman and express yourself. I have confidence in you, that is why I picked you!'
That approach took away the pressure of fear of failure and suddenly the Boland team became a force to be reckoned with.
Fear of failure is self-talk that minimzes potential during performance. By reducing that inner resistance one can perform at higher levels to one's full potential.
An electric train can pull a greater load than a steam engine. It makes contact with the electric wires by the two pantographs located on top of the roof of the unit and then a small lever, about six inches long, is placed in the resistor and slowly drawn backwards to break the resistance which releases the power of the electric current to move the entire train forward.
That little lever is the most important piece of equipment the train driver possess. He carries it in his pocket and never leaves it lying around. Without it the train is stuck.
There is a little lever that all of us have, but do not always use. It is called faith. It is a gift from above. We tend to use our lever of doubt more often than the lever of faith. Faith overcomes the fear of failure.
Paul gives a piece of advice in Galatians where he tells us that faith works through love. John the beloved disciples gives us a further notice that perfect love casts out all fear. Those who fear are not made perfect in love, yet.
Paul advises us in Romans 10 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So in a nutshell, if we hear what the word of God (the Bible) tells us and we believe it is God speaking to us, we will receive faith because we know our heavenly Father loves us, and we will overcome the stumbling blocks of fear that spoil our potential.
The gift of faith is a special edition that is given by the Holy Spirit at the right time. First Corinthians 12 tells us about the gifts of the spirit. As we desire these gifts the Holy Spirit distributes them to us.
Through the gift of faith the heroes of the bible have accomplished great deeds for the sake of the people of God. David slew Goliath, Moses led Israel through the Red Sea, Noah built and ark that saved his family from the flood, Samson slew 1000 Philistines. Some intellectuals propose that all these stories are mere allegories and that none ever happened...what a surprise they have waiting for them when they one day actually meet those characters who will tell them how it actually happened!
When I told the story about Bob Woolmer's advice at our annual Men's Camp in Hermanus, one of our younger brothers, a prize winning wedding photographer added the following insight which is worth sharing with others: Bob Woolmer's advice is captured in the writing of Paul when he says, we are positioned in Christ Jesus, by faith, and there is no fear of being dropped from the team, as long as we believe it him, so we can go out there today and express ourselves to the best of our ability, knowing our position is secure!

Thursday 2 July 2009

Sometimes a little bit of chaos is necessary


When galaxies collide new space is formed. It looks chaotic and it is termed a black hole but that is how creation of the universe continues.
The chaos in our lives is sometimes a necessity to open up new creativity within us or lead us onto another dimension of living. All artists require a bit of chaos to be creative. Just as need is the mother of invention, so chaos is the basis of creation.
In Genesis we read that the earth was dark and void and chaos was on the deep...and then God spoke the words of creation...let there be light! And light has continued ever since, frustrating the scientific minds of generations and baffling the intellect of atheists who want to explain creation without a creator!
Hebrews 11:3 tells us by faith we understand that the worlds were created...which worlds? The astronomers inform us that there are many worlds out there in outer space and last year the French astronomers discovered at least three new earths! Jesus made a strange prediction to his disciples before he left the earth supernaturally: I go to create a new heaven and a new earth...our minds cannot conceive it all. We have to simply believe that it is true.
But there is an angle that made sense to me some time ago: when the writer of Hebrews (whom many believe to be Apostle Paul)says by faith we understand the worlds were created by God, then in terms of our human existence we could interpret it that my world, your world, Wayne's world, all the worlds of each individual, the worlds of every family, the private and collective worlds we live in have all been created for us...
The chaos we sometimes experience in our 'world' is a necessary 'evil' to get us to see higher heights and to plunge into deeper depths of understanding. God's creative power requires a bit of chaos in order to rearrange our worlds...
Think about it: if all the chaos in the universe where stars burn out and galaxies collide is necessary to keep the centrifugal force working to make human existence possible on planet earth, then maybe the bit of chaos you and I experience from time to time is a vital ingredient to our own personal development.
It does not make much sense otherwise. The best we can do is to believe that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works before the foundation of the world so that we might walk in it. It is after all God at work within us both to will and to work according to his good pleasure.
That is why we are all so entirely different, some want to scale mountain peaks, others plunge into the bottom of the ocean, some want to go to outer space and some discover lost tribes in dense jungles...some work in banks, some collect garbage, some want to sing and dance and others want to build skyscrapers...who put the collective genius in mankind? There must be a God who masterminded it all. Yet we are not mere puppets, but we choose to co-operate with our Creator in order to access his wisdom and his divine resources.
A little bit of chaos is sometimes a good sign that it is time to move on. When we keep our faith focussed on Christ Jesus, no matter how hard it may seem, a solution arises within our hearts, like the daystar announcing the morning light, and it grows brighter and brigher until the noon day when the sun is at its zenith.

Monday 1 June 2009

Reinhard Bonnke's Advice


Before we immigrated to Australia as missionaries, I went to see Reinhard Bonnke in his office in Witfield. I asked him for advice. How do I reach a nation? He has reached South Africa and Africa as a German missionary.
He got up from behind his desk and paced up and down with his hands behind his back - it reminded me somehow of the Fuhrer!
What shall I tell this young man? He murmered to himself.
Then he stuck his finger in the air and raised his voice and spoke to me:
' Have a fierce determination to succeed!' and then he repeated it. Then he looked at me attentively and said, 'And break the snail's shell in your thinking!'
Armed with those two words of advice, Nola, Aje and I set sail for Australia to Call a Nation!
I ended up holding 56 concert campaigns all over Australia in cities and small towns and saw thousands of souls saved. We helped to plant 4 churches and ministered in many other churches. We had two major concerts, one in Festival Hall, Brisbane and one in The Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne.
The bilboard outside the Festival Hall read, 'Wednesday Elton John, Saturday Andre Pelser!' Poor Elton he could only get the Wednesday slot! Almost 2000 people came to the concert. We let them in for free - all our concerts have always been free and all we relied on was an offering.
The Dallas Brooks hall saw over a thousand people attend. Some amazing things took place that night. Several people agreed that they saw a huge angel behind me. Wherever I moved it moved.
I went to small Outback towns and ministered in vacant shops in the afternoons. Sometimes we just found a dilapidated building and held the concnert in there. In Yulamambri the whole town came to the concert! It needs to be said that there were only 21 people living in the town. There were 22 in the audience. One from a neighbouring village!
We had much opposition from pastors and even experienced blackmail from spiritual leaders, but in spite of all the setbacks and rejection we kept soldiering on until we finished our mission in Aussie.
We met Reinhard Bonnke in the Melbourne Full Gospel Businessmen's World Conference and he invited Nola and I over to his breakfast table. He asked how things were going and when I shared it with him he threw his hands up into the air and said,'thank God he did not send me to Australia!'
I have kept diary of our time in Australia with all the details...some too hard to read out loud again...but Reinhard's advice stood the test of time. We are still following his advice today.

Saturday 16 May 2009

Jonny Wilkenson's lesson


That famous drop kick that helped England win the World Cup in Rugby in 2004 will remain a sporting high light forever. The Cup is named after Web Ellis, the schoolboy in the little town of Rugby in England that so desperately wanted his team to win the soccer football match, that he picked the ball up and ran through the defenders to place the ball in the back of the net! Little did he know that he had just invented a new game that would be played all over the world for a long time to come!
Back to Jonny Wilkenson. Jonny was an extrememly dedicated and committed player from an early age. He was the first out on the field to practice and the last one to leave. He would kick a thousand balls before a test match just to perfect his art of kicking with both legs. By the way the famous drop kick was done with this 'wrong' leg: he booted it with his right leg and not his usual left foot with which he broke all the records for points scoring in his era.
His mother was so nervous when he played that she used to go grocery shopping while the game was being televised. When he won the cup for England she was in the shopping mall when someone told her: your son has just kicked the winning drop kick for England!
In his book, Playing Rugby My Way, he gives some of the most expertise coaching tips to young boys (and girls) who want to improve their game. He exposes his techniques of kicking, drop-kicking, grubber-kicking and line kicking; he tells how he draws an imaginary line from a specific point on the ball through the posts to a lady sitting in the stand behind the posts and aims to put the ball in her lap!
He reveals the secret of tackling an apponent by aiming to hit him with your shoulder on a spot on his shorts or on his leg; he instructs you how to side step an attacker and how to guide the ball when you pass it to a team member, either to the left or the right. Jonny even encourages young players to eat their vegetables and fresh fruit!
He admits that he was a fanatic, a spartan as far as practicing was concerned. He never allowed himself to rest at all and tried to reach perfection in his skill. He never allowed himself the simple pleasure of wallowing in his success at any time.
But when he turned 30, after multiple serious injuries, he realized that he had not enjoyed his life at all.
Then he wrote another book to tell the young sportsmen to learn how to take time out to go to the beach or play the piano without feeling guility about not practicing...it was a bit late for Jonny whom we all admired as one of the best fly halves the world has ever seen! But it is not too late for our youngsters to take a tip from someone who has been out there and designed the T-shirt for success in sport and worn it for a long time!
The most amazing aspect of his famous drop kick is the fact that he booted it with his wrong foot! He normally kicks left footed, but when the moment came he turned to the other side and slotted it over with his right foot! He obviously practiced this for many years until the moment came to use that acquired skill.
Obviously his opponents did not expect him to kick off the wrong foot so they were compeletely taken by surprise.
There comes a moment when all the hard work and practice pays off - as in rugby, so in life.

Surfing's the key to good batting!


The Indian Professional League (IPL)T/20 competition is currently being held in South Africa due to the unrest and danger in the subcontinent since the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Pakistan by militants. International cricketers no longer felt safe in open stadiums in India and therefore the competition shifted to South Africa where it is drawing full stadiumns. As the competition enters the final few weeks the top run scorer is Matthew Hayden. He has notched up at least 100 more runs than his nearest competitor.
In an interview to ascertain the secret about his top form he mentioned two major aspects: number one: he has retired from the International Test Match scene and has no concerns about being picked or left out of the Australian test squad. Number two: he says he spends more time in the Atlantic ocean than on the cricket field during the competition.
Matthew is a surfer and his present form in surfing has overflowed into his batting. He says he is very relaxed at the crease and simply expresses himself in every innings.
In a long outdrawn series such as the IPL one can think and play cricket all the time, but one needs to have a balance, according to Hayden. Surfing takes his mind of the strenuous demands that top level cricket can make on any batsman. He also has no stress regarding his selection and therefore he can bring all his energy, his experience and his skill to bear on the IPL competition and above all enjoy what he is doing!
It is absolutely a pleasure to watch him cart the ball from all the world's top bowlers to all corners of the field (well, a cricket field is an oval, but the simile would bear up under the present circumstances!).
All of us need to find a way to balance things in our lives: we need to know when it is necessary to take some time out. It has to do with the Sabbath. Unless one has a Sabbath's rest on a regular basis you pay the price in some other way: either through stress or sickness or some other form of repayment for not resting.
Mat Hayden gives us some good advice here and his present form as a batsman is enough proof in the pudding! (Once again a strange simile but it would do the job I think).

Thursday 14 May 2009

Outside my Comfort Zone


Steve Waugh's autobiography 'Out of my Comfort Zone' has wonderful insights into the life principles of a man that really made it to the top in International Sport and managed to stay there for a very long time.
The writer of Hebrews in the Bible tells us to imitate those who through faith in patience inherit the promises. Both Steve and his brother Mark showed promise as young cricketers and kept on working hard at their game to become one of the few pairs of brothers to play on the International scene at the same time. Steve easily acknowledges that Mark is the better cricketer and he does not hesitate to say he never thought of himself as better than all the other players. He admitted that there were many other better cricketers than him - but there were definite reasons why he not only played for Australia but also captained the national team for so long.
Many guys do not travel well. They always complain about the conditions in the sub-continent when they have to go and play against India or Pakistan or Sri Lanka. They get sick from the food or the water, the hotels are not up to standard and the cricket facilities are not what they are used to. Others miss their wife or family too much. Some just make it misreble for all the team members and they have a negative influence on the team. With the result that they never get picked again...
Steve learned to travel well and his secret was simple: learn to live outside your comfort zone.
As a youngster Steve had bad skin and he was bashful. In school he sat at the back of the class and combed his hair over his forehead to hide his acne. He had not technique with the ladies and admired his brother who had the knack he lacked.
As a batsman he had no great shots but he was willing to take a bouncer on his body instead of trying to hook the ball and be caught at fine leg. He gutsted it out with many painful blows to his body. He had a lot of problems with his physique and often had to take tablets just to stay on the field.
But he learned to play as if he would be the man of the match giving it everything he had all the time - even when he didn't feel up to it. It earned him the respect of his team mates and eventually the captaincy.
He had to overcome his own defiencies in every area of life just by staying out of his comfort zone and in the end that is where he spent most of his life. He married a lovely girl and they have 2 daughters and a son.
When asked what his greatest moment in life was everyone expected him to refer to some specail moment on the cricket field, but instead he said, it was when his first girl was born!
Both brothers hardly ever saw their family for almost 11 years because of the demands of International cricket which kept them busy for almost 11 months per year. This was a great sacrifice - out of their comfort zone.
There is a price to pay for any achievement in life, that is why Jesus said you have to consider the cost of something before you embark on it.
I have spent a lot of my time travelling to other lands and have had to be a man alone most of the time - it was a sacrifice for both Nola and my family as well as a hard thing for me to do: but I can safely say that I have reached over 50 nations now with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! And I am still batting...out of my comfort zone.
Most people just want things the way they like it all the time and never venture outside of their comfort zone. They never taste the adventure that life has to offer. it is all out there - outside your comfort zone.
Think about it!

Friday 2 January 2009

Steve Waugh's advice


One of the best pieces of advice to any batsman is something Steve Waugh wrote in his autobiography, 'Out of my Comfort Zone': he says the best thing a batsman can do is to watch the next ball! This sounds uninspiring and matter of factly, but any batsman who has been at the crease for a long time will know that sometimes you play and miss, or you attempt to play the wrong stroke and then your mind playes games with you and the opponents will chirp you with all sorts of taunting messages to intimidate you! The best thing you can possibly do at that stage is to forget about the previous ball and about what you did wrong and concentrate on the next ball!

As we step into the New Year, we all know we are going to face new challenges, and as last year proved, we did not do everything perfectly right every time! But we have to learn to forget what is past and to concentrate on the next ball!

Sometimes it is hard for us to forget, because others remind us of our failures and mistakes all the time! Someone once brought up something which happened nine years ago and threw it in my face! I was flabberghasted! That person kept something in their heart for 9 years to use it as a weapon at the right time! Can people be so mischievous? Oh, yes! We need to check our own hearts too! What do we harbour deep within against others that we might not be aware of right now?

When Jesus taught His disicples about faith and prayer, He said they should also learn to forgive as they pray, so that the Heavenly Father can forgive them as well. We sometimes hear people say, 'I'll forgive but not forget!' If God had to do that with us, we'd have no chance at all! Luckily God is not a man and He can forgive and forget: when we confess our sins He forgive us and casts them into the deepest part of the sea of God's forgetfulness and never thinks of them again! he removes it from us as far as the East is from the West! Can't we learn to practice the same kind of forgiveness? Paul says we should become imitators of God who forgave us for Christ's sake. There's the key! We forgive for Christ's sake! We don't forgive because they deserve it; we don't forgive because we feel like it: we forgive because Jesus Christ died for them and their sins as well! It is a step of faith to forgive someone what they did against you.

Children forgive easily. And they forget. That is why Jesus said, we need to become like children again. Kids can cry and then forgive and carry on playing!

We need to forget the previous ball and concentrate on the next one! This helped Steve Waugh in his long test match career. He said that he was often out of his comfort zone as a batsman or a bowler and even as captain: but he learned to concentrate on the next ball and not to allow his mind to mess with him!

Paul encourages us in his epistles to imitate him. He had learned the secret to forget what is past and to concentrate on what lies ahead: the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame in order to finish what He came to do: to give His life as a ransom for many!

This would be the frist message I needed to hear at the beginning of the New Year, forget what is past and stretch yourself out to that which lies ahead! We have to face the next ball by faith, because we don't know what the bowler is going to bowl at us! We don't know what life is going to dish up, but if we can forget what is behind and concentrate of what lies ahead, we give ourselves the best chance to succeed!

The joy of a batsman is the fact that he is still batting out there in the middle, even though he played a bat shot, or even though he was dropped by one of the fielders! The joy we have is that we are still here, we are still alive, we still have a chance to do something and all that is required of us is to give it our best shot!

Bat on! Concentrate on the next ball! Focus on what lies ahead!

Jesus promised believers that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into all things and show us things to come! That is like knowing which shot to play when the next ball is delivered! Once a batsman plays and middles the ball, it breeds confidence to keep on batting!

Life is more important than food or clothing and even more important than failure or success! We have a wonderful opportunity to do some new things in the New Year - let's concentrate on the next ball!