written by Stephan Joubert
In The Orthodox Heretic, Peter Rollins tells the imaginary tale of someone who heard Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus taught that they should walk a second mile for the enemies, he started doing that. Instead of carrying the weapons of a Roman soldier only one mile, he once offered to carry it two miles. Later this person again encountered Jesus and told Him that he practically applied this new law. Jesus answered him: “Wait, you misunderstood me. It’s actually three miles!” The point is that Jesus didn’t teach a bunch of new laws that we need to obey slavishly. For Him it’s about relationships that is love-driven. Ones that no longer keep book of good or evil.
written by Dries Lombaard
We’ve just passed Valentine’s Day. Me and my wife never really take notice of Valentine’s Day. This year, we actually thought about going away for the day, but in the end just being home and having a quiet Sunday won hands down.
A couple of days later, my eldest — about to turn thirteen — out of the blue asked us when we sat together before dinner: “Are you guys still in love?”
True to her female side, my wife immediately replied: “Of course yes!”
True to my male side, I replied: “Of course not.”
Oops. The stares burned holes through my being.
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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
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
“Be kind to your enemies. It’s you who made them.” I read that the other day. It’s true words, but not easy to live out. Our enemies are our enemies exactly because we don’t get along with them. Otherwise, they would have been our friends. We all know people we don’t get along with. The mistake we need to be careful of is thinking that we first need to like these people before we can do good toward them. When the bible teaches we should love our enemies, it means we should act correctly toward them even when we don’t feel like it. No need to wait until our feelings toward them change. Followers of Jesus are the first to show kindness toward those who don’t show kindness to them. Be the first to walk that second mile, even if you don’t feel like it.
written by Stephan Joubert
Did you know only about $20 billion is needed to substantially help the poorest of the poor throughout Africa and to stimulate sustainable economic growth? Is it really that difficult for the world to extend grace to their neighbors in a not too distant continent? While people in the US spend about $72 billion annually on diet foods, half of the world population has to survive on less than $2 per day. About $17 billion is spent on pet food annually in the United States, $50 billion on tobacco products in Europe and a chilling $105 billion on alcohol by European countries.
For crying out loud, people even spend more on ice cream in the United States every year than the meager $20 billion needed to gracefully alleviate Africa’s most basic needs. Anup Shah (3 July 2007, http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty.asp) writes the following:
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written by Stephan Joubert
“And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.” That was Jesus’ words about that remarkable woman who poured a bottle of very expensive perfume over his head at a dinner in Bethany (Mark 14). It was more than a year’s income for the average person in Palestine that she “wasted” on Jesus. But it was exactly the right kind of wasting! It was the right kind of thing to do since Jesus was the Recipient thereof.
To pour out your life on the Lord, by giving your money, talents, time and energy to Him in an overly generous way, might seem like a useless waste in the eyes of those around you. However, that’s not the case when the Lord is the Recipient. In this festive season, learn from this woman where unnecessary wasting of earthly things is in order. Learn from the Lord’s contemporary heroes who are wasting to perfection in the proper way. Go and practice the art of over-the-top wastefulness in such a way that heaven and earth will start noticing.
written by Stephan Joubert
A friend of mine from Cape Town told me he heard by chance that one of his laborers had no place to stay. When he followed up on the story, he found that this laborer has been living in an old car-wreck for a long time. The situation left my friend really upset. He immediately circulated a questionnaire to his other workers. He wanted know how many people lived in houses. He found that in some cases up to eight people occupied one house. The result was that he immediately started to add more rooms to the houses of the laborers. He also isolated the houses against the wind and weather. Why? He said he couldn’t turn a blind eye when distress turned up at his doorstep. His faith in Jesus wouldn’t let him!
written by Stephan Joubert
People who follow their life’s quest have faced their fears. They’ve conquered many of them. But, even in spite of persistent fears, they still run the good race. They continue to climb the highest mountains. They can’t stop chasing the brightest stars. If necessary, they’ll even flop their way to the top. Like Dick Fosbury, they challenge conventional ways of doing things, even if it means not doing the high jump the conventional way. In 1968 at the Mexico Olympics, Fosbury chose not to cross the bar with his body parallel to it, but to bring his legs up and flip over the bar backwards. The result of this ‘Fosbury Flop’? Well, he set a new world record for high jump at 7 ft 4 inches.
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written by Stephan Joubert
For most people promotion means only one thing — MORE! MORE salary, MORE tangible benefits, MORE houses, MORE cars, MORE vacations, MORE status… For followers of Jesus, the word “promotion” should mean something completely different. It can’t equate to more tangible things. Promotion is to grab every opportunity that the Lord offers you to sacrifice more of your valuable time and energy in his service.
The right type of promotion is to cast the construction plans for your little earthly kingdom into the dustbin, and to exchange that for the privilege to be a daily blessing to other people. True promotion is to be part of the adventure of building God’s kingdom, full-time. That produces dividends that have eternal value. Such promotion happens when you spend MORE time at the Lord’s feet; when you have MORE time for the poor and the lonely; when you do MORE for others, and worry LESS about yourself and your own needs. In short, promotion leads to a more authentic relationship with God and more valuable relationships with other people.
