written by Stephan Joubert
“We just need to pray more. Then it will go better with the country.” That’s what someone said the other day. Everyone agreed immediately. “How do you know that?” someone asked out of the blue. While everyone just sat there with the mouths full of crowned teeth, one answered: “The Bible says so.” “Yes,” the rest agreed. “Where in the Bible do you read that prayer’s primary function is to ensure safer life circumstances for everyone?” this person continued. Again there was silence. Someone said: “It’s written somewhere that you should ‘pray and you shall receive.’” “Yes, but does that mean that everything in our country will suddenly be better if we send larger volumes of prayer heavenwards?” the questioner wanted to know. “Do you really think that there’s a prayer-meter that measures how long each of us prays and how many people pray for a particular matter and then these matters get a higher priority from God?”
He carried on: “Prayer is not a quick fix. It is primarily about God and his glory. If there is someone who needs to be changed by prayer, then it is primarily the one who prays himself.” About then everyone started talking at the same time. Some agreed, some not. I walked away with some new perspectives on prayer.
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written by Stephan Joubert
King Hezekiah got a second chance. When the prophet Isaiah gave him the bad news that he would soon die (Isaiah 38), he fell down and begged with God for mercy. God heard his cry for help. Right there, the king got a handful of extra life at the end of his life — a full 15 years. Instead of allowing God’s mercy to make him humble, he later openly bragged about his riches and power to a foreign delegation. He even took this delegation on a sight-seeing tour, showing off his weapons and the riches of his palace to make them understand just how large and glorious his kingdom was.
Hezekiah’s arrogant behavior upset the Lord to the extent that He announced that his rule would come to an end, and that his sons would not rule in his place. Then followed Hezekiah’s shocking reaction: “As long as it doesn’t happen in my lifetime.” Talk about selfishness! When others are suffering, then it’s their problem, just as long as I can live in the sunshine! Please don’t be like Hezekiah. Make more than sufficient room for others, even for the generation that follows you. Don’t always want the best part for yourself. Don’t live arrogantly. Everything you have and everything you are is finally a gift of grace from the hand of the Living God. Give Him alone the honor for this, and live humbly.
written by Stephan Joubert
A recent study by a British television channel, Channel 4, about what the average Briton’s ‘life footpint’ looks like, pointed out that the average person in her lifetime: uses up 3.5 washing machines, drives 8 cars, uses up 15 computers, receives 628 Christmas presents, uses 135,960 liters of fuel, knows 1,700 people, produces 750 tons of CO2, reads 532 books, reads 2,455 papers (equivalent to 24 trees that needed to be felled), and cries 61 liters of tears!
What does your life footprint look like? What are you spending most of your time and energy on? What role does possessions play in your life? And that of your family and friends? Is your Sunday-language — that you love God — only restricted to Sundays? Do your footprints during the week ever leave a trail leading to those who are in need? Are the friends of Jesus — the poor, the outcasts, and the lost — your friends too? Does your faith cause your footprint to look any different than what it previously did?
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written by Stephan Joubert
You’re only as good as your last move on the chess board of life. Rugby players are assessed on Mondays based on their game the previous Saturday. Preachers are evaluated based on their last sermon. A writer’s most-recent book determines his success. Ditto for an actor’s performance in his latest movie. This is not the way things should be. We should give each other more chances than just the last thing we did. The latest controversial thing someone did should never overshadow all the good things that he or she has done, especially not between friends.
We can’t live with such short-term memories when it comes to the integrity of others. We shouldn’t dare write each other off or move each other aside based on something that didn’t impress us. The Lord’s love causes us to always start over and afresh with each other. We should believe and expect the best of each other as 1 Corinthians 13 teaches.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Followers of Jesus aren’t automatically the happiest people in the world. The same applies to those of other religions. The happiest people on earth are apparently those of Iceland, followed closely by Denmark — that is if you believe the research of the World Database of Happiness in any case. According to research among 144 of the world’s nations, the most unhappy people at present are those in Tanzania, followed by the citizens of Zimbabwe. The happiness of South Africans is ranked somewhere between number 61 and 65 on this happiness-list.
Happiness has to do with quality of life for most people. The problem with this area-based understanding of happiness is that the very happiness can disappear like an early-morning mist as soon as outer circumstances change. Just observe what happened in many first-world countries after the economic collapse that started in 2008. Many people’s happiness was blown away through the back door in an instant.
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written by Stephan Joubert
I once read an interview with the well-known South African boxing referee, Stanley Christodoulou. When asked what the greatest compliment was that he received as a referee, he referred to a world title fight that he handled in the USA. After the fight, he relaxed at the hotel’s restaurant. Someone with whom he struck up a conversation asked whether he watched the fight earlier that evening. For Stanley Christodoulou it was the best compliment imaginable that he as referee was so “invisible” in the ring that this spectator didn’t even recognize him.
I think as followers of Christ we must become just as invisible. People recognize us far too easily on the church foreground. Worse still, we sometimes stand in the way of others so that they can’t see the Lord. Our church infighting, theological debates that’s front page news daily, and our inability to love each other, are sight blockages. Let’s get out of the way.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Old English culture was built on the principle of duty. Everyone in society had certain duties that they had to fulfill — an army officer towards his troops, a husband towards his wife, citizens toward governments, members toward their churches, etc. This duty-thing also found its way into South African society. Many things were done purely out of a sense of duty… not necessarily from a deep inner conviction. Men did national service. People fulfilled their religious duty by attending church on Sundays, by making a small monthly contribution to the church, and so forth.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Did you know that more people die annually across the globe as a result of coconuts falling on their heads, than of shark attacks? Really! The shark-researcher, George Burgess, found that around 150 people die annually as a result of coconuts falling on their heads. That’s 15 times more than all the people who die annually due to shark attacks. People get anxiety attacks when watching movies like Jaws, and sit frozen in front of National Geographic’s shark programs, but no-one would take a movie like Killer Coconut Tree seriously.
It’s funny how faulty perceptions can be formed and how easily we drink them in like lemonade on a hot day. That’s why we should be careful not to be taken on tow by the media, text messages, emails, and even some religious folk. The Proverbs teach us to continuously think about life, and to be careful. We’re not allowed to storm blindly into any situation, or believe every new rumor that’s making the rounds. Listen again, don’t believe every carrier of damning news. Don’t lend your ears to people who say: “Have you heard what this or that church leader has done this time?” or similar stories.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Food is a concrete part of our faith. That’s why most feasts in the Bible had to do with food and eating. When the Israelites celebrated a feast in the presence of God, they ate. The get-togethers of the early Christians were also characterized by simple meals. Our communion is a faint representation of the early Church’s festive meals. Food, joy, and faith go hand in hand. That was well realized by the first Christians. That’s why they liked eating together despite the persecution and opposition that they encountered. They invited the risen Lord as a Guest of Honor to every meal.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Time is money. There’s never enough time to just sit around and do nothing. No wonder that we’re stuck with phrases like “time management”, “effective use of time”, and “time saving” in our vocabulary. To be true to these phrases, many of us are already on our way in thousands of directions early in 2010. It seems that we’re time-addicts and nothing’s going to change this year!
Many of us have the bad habit of chasing to every new destination at the speed of sound in the hope that we’ll save a minute or two somewhere. Just to then forget about the “saved time” as soon as we reach the next destination. Maybe we’re not really saving “time”. We’re just chasing up our heart rate and causing ourselves brand-new stress when we live at such a pace.
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