Location: Mohlakeng, Randfontein. Gauteng ,South Africa
About Me
Years ago, I think the year was 1987, a church sort of happened around me. I was later to learn that this was called church planting! So I guess I planted a church by mistake. Here is how it happened:
I was working as a chief geochemist with a mining company, having done an Applied Maths and Chemistry degree. With my wife Khumo, we went about trying to figure out how to make a contribution in the country, which was then in the midst of political upheavals and a state of emergency. Both of us activists from our youth. (That’s how we actually met!).
With several friends who were rather subversive types, we decided we would discover how to be biblically faithful, while being politically involved in the diverse struggles of the mass democratic movement at the time. So we prayed, studied the bible, engaged in community struggles of diverse sorts. I realised my theological base was rather weak to sustain the challenge of holding together a community of committed Christians looking to make sense of their faith in a revolutionary context
I read theology, with UNISA and UKZN respectively. More people gathered around the prayers and the bible studies. To cut a long story short, while we were not looking, it became a church!
We decided we rather liked it, so we planted more churches. While doing local church work, mostly in my spare time, I served – and continue to serve - the evangelical movement in the nation through the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa, whose vision is to connect evangelicals ( including Pentecostal, Charismatic and reformed Christians) in fellowship, mission and advocacy.
In summary, my ministry entails planting churches, nurturing believers, building transformational local leaders as well as some national and international work through the World Evangelical Alliance and Association of Evangelicals in Africa.
Interests
• Music: Jazz, Classical, Choral and African folk music
• Reading: Biographies, Management literature, ministry tools.
• Play: chess, jogging, walking,
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DAY 1
The simplicity of our faith
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."(Mt 16:13-19)
What separates the disciples of Jesus from the rest is that they hold this truth as paramount: That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. They place their faith on Him as Savior and Lord, and live as though they thought so. Many stumble at this simple Truth, missing it completely, or despising it for its simplicity, imagining that the way of salvation ought to be more complicated than that. Somewhat like the army general Naaman suffering from leprosy who took counsel to visit a prophet of the Lord for healing. The prophet said: “Go wash seven times in the Jordan river and you will be healed”. The general baulked. He knew better and cleaner rivers in Damascus
No wonder Jesus said to be like children in order to enter the kingdom of God
We do grave injury to the gospel when we complicate it. Let us be simple, without being simplistic and childlike without being childish.
In a culture that worships science and reason, and demands that all must bow before the alter of reason; it is often the case that believers feel out of place and alienated, unable to fit in. Take courage, believing one, if you do not quite fit with the dominant ideology of the culture. Difference is okay, especially if the difference is the work of God in your life. For God has rewired you from within, and you are born again, from above. You are dancing to a different tune. Someday, when the flame of the gospel has reached the hearts of your adversaries, they too will understand why you could not dance to the tunes to which they felt irresistibly drawn. They will understand why you did not laugh at the same jokes, or engaged in the same mischief that they were engaged in.
Then you will be able to tell them: it is the Lord who makes all the difference in my life.
Prayer: Lord teach me the simplicity of faith, that I may serve you with a pure and innocent heart.
Day 6
The nobility of our faith
“But a noble person plans noble things; he stands up for noble causes” Is 32: 8
English literary giant William Shakespeare once said that: “Some people are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”. It can be said that what God does to ordinary people, even beggars and downright poor folk, is to make them truly great when they put their faith on Jesus, His only begotten Son, as their Saviour and Lord. It is this that ennobles Christians. It is nobility that does not come from being born in wealth or privilege, but comes from the fact that they have exchanged their tattered clothes, like the prodigal son, for clothes of royalty. They are adopted into the family of God. Scripture affirms that they are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession”, so that they may proclaim the praises of the One who called them. (1 Peter 2:9). It is nobility from within, without any merit on our part.
It would be sad though if this nobility ended as an inward reality of the heart, without outward manifestation. It is often the case that some imagine that to plan is to deny the place of the Spirit in Christian life and witness. Not so, the prophet tells us: “the noble person plans noble things”. Those who do not plan cannot hope to have a lasting impact in the work they do for God in the world. Instead their work will show every sign of being ad hoc, temporary and not expected to have any lasting impact. Those who leave a lasting legacy of hope in the world are those who have a long term vision of their work.
Early in the 19th century Methodists in South Africa built schools as part of their witness, at a time when the dominant ideology in the country did not support schooling for blacks in South Africa. It was from one of these schools that one of the noblest souls of the 20th century was to emerge: Nelson Mandela. He testifies that the Churches helped him to become who he is, by giving him a values based education at an early age. Such is the reward of Christian witness that plans for the long haul. Evangelical Christianity is often addicted to short term planning and instant results, building institutions that show the same weaknesses. It would be good to remember that we serve an eternal God, for whom a thousand years is like one day!
But planning is hardly enough, unless one is willing to implement, and stand up and be counted for a noble cause. Indeed other people’s plans remain just that – plans. They end up on paper, because they lack the risk taking courage and power of execution. Like faith, a plan without works is dead. For faith to be alive, it must have an implementable action plan. It is this `standing up’ that reveals the nobility of the planner; the courage and conviction to follow through.
The cause of Christian Mission is one of the noblest causes conceivable. The question is: are you willing to be counted among those who “stand up” for the noble cause of reaching the unreached, of proclaiming good to the poor, in word and deed?
Prayer: Lord thank you for making nobility out of a sinner like me! Make me a good steward of the years of my stay here on earth, that like a prospering farmer, I may plan my seed sowing, reaping and multiplying.
Day 2
The Spirit of our faith
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."(Mt 16:13-19)
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."(Mt 16:13-19)
One of the most charming things about the Christian faith is that the Spirit helps us along. Firstly to grasp the truths of the gospel takes the Spirit coming alongside us to reveal them. Jesus quizzes the disciples about what the people said about Him. “Who do the people say I am?” Turns out some reckoned He was John the Baptist because, like him, He tore away at the hypocrisy of the culture and pointed out its core sinfulness. Some thought he was Elijah, because like him, His prophetic ministry was undisputed. “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." To which the Lord replied: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
O what grace we have in Christ that the Spirit is continually at work in us, schooling us about His ways: revealing, teaching, comforting, strengthening, liberating and empowering us. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells us how the Spirit opens the eyes of the blind, breaks the chains that hold captives bound, releases the oppressed and opens the ears of the poor so they can hear the good news.
Indeed this is the power of the Christian faith, that the Spirit literally opens our eyes! Those whose eyes are opened can no longer go back to the ways and times of their blindness, when others held them by the hand to lead them, as dependents, wherever they wished to go. Now they can select their own path in the journey of life. Those, whose ears have heard the good news, can no longer settle for anything less! For who would settle for the decadence, brokenness and poverty of this world, when once they have heard of the abundant life that is in Christ? Those whose chains are broken will no longer return to the things that held them back, retarding their growth and progress. They will soar with the wings of the Spirit to experience life in its fullness.
May you determine this day to make the Spirit your Friend, so that He truly can become your Comforter? Paul invites us to live our lives in the Spirit, being led of Him and strengthened by Him in every way.
Prayer: Lord fill me afresh with your Spirit every day that I may have the strength to be all that you made me to be.
Day 3
The Power of our faith.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."( Mt 16:13-19)
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."( Mt 16:13-19)
The gates of hell will not prevail against (the Church). Other translations say: The powers of death shall not prevail against it. It is a solemn promise by the Lord of Lords, who overcame the world. The Lord paints a picture of a raging conflict between the powers of life and the powers of death, the powers of Truth and the powers of falsehood, the powers of sin and the powers of righteousness.
The powers of the enemy are many and varied. The objective of their deployment against the people of God is to destroy faith, truth and hope, so that when the Son of man comes, He should not ‘find faith on earth’. So that what He finds will be victims of sustained enemy bombardment, barely recognizable as the Church saved by the blood of the lamb. What the enemy seeks is destroy the one thing that would distinguish the church from the world: a living faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has tried persecution, and indeed continues to do so in countries such as Afghanistan
He has tried apartheid, by which he sought to condemn millions of people to race based poverty and indignity. As Ali Mazrui, scholar and African intellectual once said: “Africans may not have suffered more than any other race on the phase of the earth, but they certainly have been the most dehumanized” Many black people have wondered if the God of the bible is really their God. Archbishop Desmond Tutu once observed that the worst part of the tragedy of apartheid was that it led some black people to doubt whether they too were the children of God.
Indeed many are the ruses of the enemy to destroy faith: Sometimes he has used wealth, media, African traditional religion, globalization of values inimical to the gospel, and indeed he continues to invent new strategies to damn faith. Yet the solemn promise of the Saviour of the world remains: “The powers of death shall not prevail against it”
As Christians we take comfort in knowing that, whether in our pursuit of Kingdom ends, as we take the battle into enemy territory, the powers cannot prevail against us. Or in defensive mode, when the enemy attacks us and seeks to overwhelm us like a flood, he will not prevail against us, because the Lord raises a standard against him.
Praise: Lord thank You that in the midst of 21st century challenges to biblical faithfulness, spiritual integrity and missional obedience, you have made me more than a conqueror!
Day 4
Taking strength in our faith
“You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus;” 2 Tim 2: 1
Paul writes to Timothy, as one writes to his/her own son, or as a mentor writes to his/her mentee. He addresses what must be common to most Christians, where our state of strength or weakness seems to be nothing of our own doing. We often imagine we are doing the best we can, and trusting that the Lord will do the rest.
Not so, Paul observes to his mentee. You choose how much strength you wish to have, as a car driver chooses how much fuel will be in the fuel tank. One could have the fuel gauge pointing to reserve, half full, or full to capacity. It all depends where you want to go. People, who are happy with reserve tank fuel, probably just wish to do a quick turn around the block. Those with half a tank are probably more serious and looking to take a couple of hours drive to the next town. Those who aim to go really far fill up their tank to capacity, and even have back plans for more fuel as they use it up. So it is with the grace of God available to us. We get to choose, depending on how far we wish to go with the Lord.
I often pray and walk along a park in my neighborhood. A stream runs through the park. I marvel at how, on a cold winter season, the further away from the stream I walk, the less green the trees are. I recall David the psalmist’s meditation that the trees that a planted near a river will be ever green and will bear fruit in due season, while those further away from the stream will be starved of the life giving source of water and nourishment.
Such is the Christian walk. The further away we wonder from the grace of the Spirit of God, the less of His power and grace we will know. We choose how much of God’s grace we experience by the distance we allow between ourselves and the Lord. He said `if you abide in me, and my word abides in you, you will bare much fruit.’
In this regard is important to consider how much fellowship you have with the Lord. We live in a fast paced generation that hardly has time. We even sulk if McDonalds fails to give us our order within 3 minutes flat. Yet years ago, cooking a meal, was a labor of love, starting with making the fire, before the actual cooking starts. If we are as impatient as that with physical food that keeps us physically alive, how much more with food that keeps us spiritually alive?
Prayer: Lord set me free from the rhythms and routines of this life, that rob me of the time of quality fellowship and communion with you”
Day 5
The disciplines of our faith
Worship, Working and Winning
One could divide the life of Jesus into three related themes: Worship, Work and Winning. In all three, Jesus shows us a better way to live. He is the Cornerstone that connects all three, and helps us live holistically and abundantly.
Firstly Jesus showed that worship should never be a boring, dry or tiring ritual to which boring people must commit till the end of their days on earth. Rather it is the wonder of ordinary folk caught up in a dance with a majestic God, enjoying His Presence, rejoicing in His Truth and witnessing His Glory. It is the human spirit soaring with the wings of the Spirit, like eagles. Choosing life, rather than death; Strength, rather than weakness; faith, rather than doubt and despair. It is saying: “No” to the flesh and “Yes” to the Spirit. “No” to the spirit of the world and “Yes” to the Spirit of God.
So it is that our Lord spent hours, days and nights in worshipful communion with God, with never a boring moment. It is from here that He drew His strength, His crystal clear vision and purpose for His life and work. In doing so He showed us that the best favour we can do ourselves is to worship, for we were designed to relate with our Creator. To disconnect from Him is to die a slow death, having lost the key to unlocking the purpose of our life. Many have strayed from the worship of the true God and ended up worshipping lesser things, such as themselves, money, nature, work, sports, power or any other conceivable object of devotion and obsession, leading to untold misery, un-fulfilment and confusion.
Worship discloses to us what is ultimately important. As we worship, we invariably learn how to live – loving the things that God loves, and hating the things He hates.
Nor did Jesus’ life only centre on worship. His worship overflowed into His work, informing it and giving it character and meaning. He worked with passion to finish the work assigned to Him by the Father. Observers said: “He did all things well”.
In three short years of public ministry, He laid the foundation of a global moment that was to change the world, to change civilisations and continues to transform peoples and cultures across the globe 2000 years later.
The discipline of work is one that the Church today needs to cultivate. The task of preaching the gospel to all peoples everywhere, of transforming cultures, systems and empires that oppress, dehumanise and deceive people is one that requires hard work across a variety of disciplines. Hard work is not an option; it is a necessity for biblical Christianity.
As He worshiped and worked, Jesus demonstrated and validated the faith that all things are possible with God. He showed us how to worship, to work and to win. Winning is not always doing what you want, or what is in your own self interest. It is praying: “Not my will be done, but yours”. His victory appeared as defeat to the world, as he hung on the cross. Yet when the lights came on, the devastation to the enemy camp was shown to be total and catastrophic!
Worship without Jesus is terrible religiosity. Work that does not flow from worship is enslaving work holism. Winning without God is empty triumphalism.
Prayer:
Lord let my worship of the True God colour the way I work, that my victories may lead others to the worship of the True God.
Day 6
The nobility of our faith
“But a noble person plans noble things; he stands up for noble causes” Is 32: 8
English literary giant William Shakespeare once said that: “Some people are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”. It can be said that what God does to ordinary people, even beggars and downright poor folk, is to make them truly great when they put their faith on Jesus, His only begotten Son, as their Saviour and Lord. It is this that ennobles Christians. It is nobility that does not come from being born in wealth or privilege, but comes from the fact that they have exchanged their tattered clothes, like the prodigal son, for clothes of royalty. They are adopted into the family of God. Scripture affirms that they are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession”, so that they may proclaim the praises of the One who called them. (1 Peter 2:9). It is nobility from within, without any merit on our part.
It would be sad though if this nobility ended as an inward reality of the heart, without outward manifestation. It is often the case that some imagine that to plan is to deny the place of the Spirit in Christian life and witness. Not so, the prophet tells us: “the noble person plans noble things”. Those who do not plan cannot hope to have a lasting impact in the work they do for God in the world. Instead their work will show every sign of being ad hoc, temporary and not expected to have any lasting impact. Those who leave a lasting legacy of hope in the world are those who have a long term vision of their work.
Early in the 19th century Methodists in South Africa built schools as part of their witness, at a time when the dominant ideology in the country did not support schooling for blacks in South Africa. It was from one of these schools that one of the noblest souls of the 20th century was to emerge: Nelson Mandela. He testifies that the Churches helped him to become who he is, by giving him a values based education at an early age. Such is the reward of Christian witness that plans for the long haul. Evangelical Christianity is often addicted to short term planning and instant results, building institutions that show the same weaknesses. It would be good to remember that we serve an eternal God, for whom a thousand years is like one day!
But planning is hardly enough, unless one is willing to implement, and stand up and be counted for a noble cause. Indeed other people’s plans remain just that – plans. They end up on paper, because they lack the risk taking courage and power of execution. Like faith, a plan without works is dead. For faith to be alive, it must have an implementable action plan. It is this `standing up’ that reveals the nobility of the planner; the courage and conviction to follow through.
The cause of Christian Mission is one of the noblest causes conceivable. The question is: are you willing to be counted among those who “stand up” for the noble cause of reaching the unreached, of proclaiming good to the poor, in word and deed?
Prayer: Lord thank you for making nobility out of a sinner like me! Make me a good steward of the years of my stay here on earth, that like a prospering farmer, I may plan my seed sowing, reaping and multiplying.
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