EmmDev 2023-10-06 [Five Keys to Discipleship] Mirror

Mirror

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it---not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it---they will be blessed in what they do. (James1:22-25)

The spiritual discipline of reading Scripture
My father had a very expressive face. He could say so much with his eves, or eyebrows, his smile lines and wrinkles, and mouth. I loved to watch him contort his face as he shaved.

Later, when he was at work and Mum was busy in the house, I would sit at the mirror and try to copy the expressions that I saw. I never quite mastered the face-pulling routine, but I practiced, and I learned how to do some of what I observed.

When James describes our reading scripture as looking intently into the mirror, this childhood memory comes to mind.

Learning to read
"Most children leave grade one without knowing the alphabet, while 82% of grade 4 children cannot read for meaning." This statement is part of the 2023 READING REPORT which tracks literacy in South Africa. This is indeed alarming!

I wonder though, if we were to survey Bible literacy in our congregations, our denomination, what the outcome would be?

Ask yourself and ask one another:

• Do we read or listen to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament daily or regularly?
• Can/do we read/listen for meaning?
  Or are we maybe just going through the motions?
• Is there any evidence that we are changed by what we read/hear?

Perhaps we need to be learning to read again?
Let's begin with the A, B, C

• Ask God to speak to us.
• Be intentional. This means making an "appointment" with God and keeping it.
  Having a particular place/space where we are not easily disturbed can help.
  A planned reading scheme, beginning with the Gospels, or psalms or a guided reading plan can help to establish our Bible-reading habit.
• Change. We may need to read the same passage several times; or to write it out, or to memorise it and discuss it together, to understand better and to remember more.

  Whatever we do, searching the scriptures and allowing God to search our hearts through what we read, should change us. Without any evidence of change we are in fact Biblically illiterate.

What to avoid!
A certain man hoped to hear from God.
Not knowing where to begin, he just opened his Bible and the first verse that his eyes rested on said: "And Judas went out and hanged himself."

He closed the Bible, and opened it a second time.
This time he read: "Go Thou, and do likewise!"
Fortunately he didn't!

True Biblical literacy is promoted when we ask:

• What is the CONTENT we have read?
• What is the CONTEXT both in the Bible and in our lives?
• What COMMITMENT is given to or required from us?
• What CHANGE comes from our reading?

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Shona van der Lingen ministers at St Columba's, Kokstad in the Presbytery of East Griqualand. Though she has a special affinity for Zimbabwe -- her two daughters were born in Harare - her name is of Scottish origin. Shona likes Zapiro cartoons and is inspired by her garden to be part of the "Growing for Growth" project in the UPCSA.

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EmmDev 2023-10-05 [Five Keys to Discipleship] Hope

Hope

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope. (Romans15:4)

Paul has spent a number of chapters explaining how the Jew and Gentile are both included in God's Kingdom. At this point in his letter he takes this brief detour to speak of what we know of as the Old Testament saying (paraphrased): "Everything written in the past is there to teach us... so that we may have hope."

And then he goes on to quote four Old Testament Scriptures to show how even in the Old Testament it testifies to the truth that all nations are included in God's great plan of salvation.

There is an idea that the Old Testament isn't as important as the New. Or that the God of the Old Testament was an angry, hateful God, who somehow magically transforms into the Jesus we see in the Gospels.

And yet nothing can be further from the truth. While the Bible is a progressive revelation of God, we find that the Scriptures are constantly pointing us to a God who creates out of love and who engages with people. We get story after story of men and women (just like you and me) who encounter this Divine Being and are forever changed.

Our passage for today speaks of how this Scripture is given to teach us.

Teach us what?
That those who followed faithfully, had endurance. The stories and writing we have from those who recorded Israel's history, or from the poetry and prophecy, show us people who sought God and were found by Him. Shows us people who listened for his voice and obeyed.

Why is this important?
It's a profound encouragement to us, that just like those who have gone before us, we too can seek after God, hear His voice, obey Him and be profoundly changed.

And this, in a world that is torn up and broken, in a world that appears abandoned by God, gives us HOPE! God can still encounter His people. God can still speak. God can still give us endurance and encouragement. These Scriptures are still written for us to point us to God and to give us hope that He is still engaging and still involved with our world today.
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Jackie Barker is the Minister at Strubensvalley United Church in the West of Joburg. She also runs Omphile House -- a foster home that gives a forever family to children who have been neglected and abused. She and her beloved husband Tim currently parent six children. When not working and parenting you will find her hiking and chasing sunsets!

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EmmDev 2023-10-04 [Five Keys to Discipleship] Treasure

Treasure

What do you value most?
Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. (Matt 6:21) Though stories of treasures found and fortunes lost aren't that uncommon, most of us experience neither of those extremes during the course of our lives. But we all face decisions about what we will value in life.

Where is your treasure? Where is your heart?
This is an important question, and especially so during the month of mission, when we consider our calling to spread the Gospel. Seeing that the church is not the buildings neither the structures, but the church is you and me, the responsibility for mission therefore falls onto you and me. And not merely onto some specific members of the church, like missionaries or the M&D committee.

It was unthinkable that a small, despised movement from a corner of Palestine could move out to become the dominant faith of the mighty Roman Empire. The spread of the Christian church in its earliest centuries is one of the most amazing phenomena in all of human history. It is however notable that it was not only the teaching by the clerics which attracted people, but rather the way ordinary Christians gave practical and physical expression to Christian love. The faith spread as neighbours saw the lives of the believers close-up on a daily basis.

Jesus said that: "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart .. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Luke 6:45)

Let us therefore turn to Psalm 119:9-16:

9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12 Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. 13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches (treasure). 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalms119:9-16)

Verse 11(a): "I have hidden your word in my heart"
The word of God is crucial and central to the Christian life. Studying and obeying it helps us not only to become spiritually strong and mature,but it also fills us with the valuable treasure of God's will for us and for the world around us. Without the Bible, our relationship to God is one way: we speak to him, but he does not speak to us.

We are in need of being filled by the treasure of the word of God -- God speaking to us. Then we will not be able to do otherwise than to share that treasure.
Not only through my mouth, but also through my actions, into the world around me.
It is when my heart is filled with the treasure of his word, that I can fulfil my own calling for mission, by being a witness to Christ in this world. (Acts 1:8)

My hope is that we would all seek to have a greater longing for the word of God.
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Rev. Frikkie Botha was raised in the Dutch Reformed Church and chose an IT career after school thinking he can avoid God's calling. Eventually he pursued ordained ministry in the UPCSA where he feels at home and able to live out his passion of connecting people to God and to one another. He served Premier Mine congregation in Cullinan for many years and is currently moderator of Tshwane Presbytery. He still finds Assembler programming rewarding.

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EmmDev 2023-10-03 [Five Keys to Discipleship] Foundation

Foundation

As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul & Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. (Acts17:10-12)

The very essence of mission is captured in this text: Paul and Silas are sent with a message that inspires faith in diverse people, both women & men, Jew and Greek. The message is God's living Word as revealed by Jesus. The faith is founded on solid study of the Bible to test the truth of what they've been told. This leads to belief.

Two of Jesus' parables touch on the Word of God as the foundation of unshakable faith: that of the prodigal sower (Lk 8:5-8) and that of the house built upon rock (Mt 7:24-27). In the first, the seed is God's Word (Lk 8:11). In the second, the rock is the solid foundation on which faith is built and depends on the strength of our relationship with God through the spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer and obedience.

I want to focus on the soil. Often we see it as inanimate, even static. We may even consider it mere dirt to be swept up and gathered in a dustpan. Yet it actually seethes with microscopic life which is crucial to its nutritional, life-giving value. And every particle reflects the rhythm of creation and cosmic community captured in Gn 1:12 - 2:2 with the atoms inter-relating in a perpetual dance of attraction and rejection. The soil is a living, moving entity.

In the first parable, the farmer sows the seed regardless of the quality of the soil. His actions are prodigal and inclusive. The response is varied due to the range of conditions. The soil in God's vineyard is a living entity, just as it is in nature. Every particle contains the creative breath of life from God. We ourselves are shaped from it, as is all creation. When witnessing to God's living Word, we should remember that where there is life, there is possibility.

In the second parable, the rock provides more stable founding than the sand. Scientifically, this is due to the increased density of its internal atomic patterns as a living, relational entity. The stability of our faith is founded on the closeness of our relationship with God, which ultimately strengthens all others, including those with nature itself. Our actions are informed by our understanding of God's character & his calling to us as his followers.

Eco-justice lies at the heart of our faith. It rests in God's Word. It feeds off prayer. It results in obedience to God's calling & his purposes for all creation. It is the living soil in which we grow & thrive in community, recognizing our dependence upon God & interdependence with all life. It is part of our call to mission.
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Glynis Goyns, married to Alaster. A Minister Emeritus now living in the Western Cape. Currently serving as Convenor of the Church Office & HR Committee of General Assembly. Also a member of the eco-justice task team that feeds into the GA Church in Society Committee.

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Month of Mission - FIVE KEYS TO DISCIPLESHIP

WELCOME to our Month of Missions Devotions.

Every year in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, we set aside October as the "Month of Mission" and we choose a theme which guides us through the month. This theme is used by our ministers in their sermons on Sunday Mornings and on Monday to Friday we send out daily devotions by email and whatsapp. These devotions are written by ministers from all over Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and reflect the variety and vitality of our church.

The Month of Mission is not only about foreign missions i.e. mission "out there", but rather about being missional in our thinking and living. One of the aspects of this missionality is that Jesus commissioned us to "make disciples" (not "collect converts"). A disciple is someone who is a follower of Jesus. We believe there need to be five core habits in a disciple of Jesus: Scripture, Prayer, Fellowship, Witness and Obedience.

We will be covering these "Five Keys to Discipleship" this month and we kick off with a week of reflecting on the importance of reading, reflecting and applying God's Word.

We pray that you will be stretched, inspired and blessed by our Month of Mission.

God bless and Love,
Richard Mkandawire, Matshidiso Piroe, Brian Mazanhi, Stewart Gordon, Wayne van Heerden and Theo Groeneveld
(Your Mission and Discipleship Month of Mission Team)
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SCALPEL

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews4:12-13)

As we begin our mission month, it becomes important to point out that maintaining our flavour as salt and light of the world will rise and fall on our spiritual discipline of scripture reading. Kickstarting therefore our devotional series for this mission month with reflection on the word of God as scalpel is so significant.

The author describes the word of God as double-edged sword, living and active. This brings to mind the scalpel that the surgeons use in the theatre room's operating table. Depending on how it's utilised, the word of God, like an operating scalpel can either cause harm or be an instrument of healing. What becomes of the one lying on the operating table remains in the surgeon's skillful hands. Like the sharp-bladed scalpel, the word of God has power to penetrate and expose our inner thoughts, it has power to separate our thoughts and our motives even if they are closely linked as soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it uncovers the hidden secrets of human heart (vs.12).

God wants to heal and transform us through His Word, and not to harm us. Whenever we come to the Bible with our hearts and minds open to hear what the Lord has to say to us, it is like laying ourselves on the operating table, making ourselves vulnerable and ready for the Master Surgeon's expert blade. God alone knows where scalpel should go, His word zooms to the troubled parts to bring about healing and transformation.

The Word of God judges our thoughts and motives by cutting through to the bones, and penetrates deep into the recesses of our spiritual being. It stops at nothing until it brings our sin out into the open to be dealt with. Then, God our skillful and faithful Physician doesn't just leave us on the operating table, open and exposed. He cuts and removes the bad, and puts us back together again for complete healing -- the word of God will infuse us with life, thus making us whole again (restoration).

God longs to heal us through His Word, not harm us. If we do get hurt in the process, like the wounds we get during surgery it's for our own good and healing.  When we faithfully immerse ourselves on the word of God, we die to our self-interest, self-promotion, self-preservation, self-aggrandizement, and self-exaltation. Disciplined reading of the scripture is an acknowledgement of our need of God and our total dependence on Him. We grow spiritually and maintain our flavour of being salt and light of the world by continually consuming the word of God.
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Written by Zolani Makalima
Married to Vuyelwa, and father to Oscar, Unathi and Siseko, and grand father to Yololwam and Litha
- Seconded to the Bible Society of Southern Africa as Relationship Ambassador
- Interim Moderator at Centurion West Presbyterian Church
- Registered Ethics Officer
- Governance of Ethics Practitioner for Public and Private Sector Entities.

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EmmDev 2023-09-29 [Faithful Perseverance] Finish Well!

Finish Well!

[Apologies for the missed EmmDev yesterday...]

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2Timothy4:7-8)

We think this is the last letter Paul wrote before he was beheaded for his faith.

It's a beautiful passionate letter in which Paul urges his protege Timothy to be faithful in love for God and service for the church.

Paul has persevered much. We read of his exploits in 2Corinthians11: "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

I think we can rightly conclude that Paul faithfully persevered!
Paul summarises faithful perseverance in ways:
- I fought the fight - Endured opposition and stayed strong
- I finished the race - I kept going (it wasn't about winning but finishing)
- I kept the faith - I kept my eyes on Jesus - the Author and Perfecter of my faith (Heb12:1-3)

And He is excited - not so much about the crown he will receive - but about meeting Jesus who he has longed for.

It's my prayer that we will be like Paul - enduring opposition, keeping going, keeping the faith and that all of this will be motivated by the same longing we see in Paul: Longing to meet Jesus and hear Him say: "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
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On Monday we will start with our Denomination's "Month of Mission". This year the theme is "The Five Keys of Discipleship." Our devotions will be written by a variety of ministers from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. I hope you enjoy it!

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EmmDev 2023-09-27 [Faithful Perseverance] Perspective

Perspective

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2Corinthians4:16-18)

In our modern times Paul may well have been sent for sensitivity training!

Imagine pouring your heart out to a counsellor about the heartaches you are going through only to have them say, "Oh... don't worry, these light and momentary troubles are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all..."

"Light and momentary troubles?" [Sputter, gasp, gape in shock]
Facing cancer, a job loss, a broken relationship or something similar is anything but light and momentary. It's tough, challenging, heart-breaking, soul-draining and exhausting.

But before we are too quick to drag Paul off to those sensitivity and empathy classes, let's pay more careful attention to what he is actually saying.

Firstly, he starts with a "therefore". (What is it "there for"?) It's referring to the previous verses where Paul reminds us that we have treasure (The presence, love and power of God) in our clay pot lives to show that the power is from God and not from us and that we are: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2Cor4:8-9) And so Paul is operating from the premise that the love, power, grace and presence of God lives in us.

Secondly, he has adequately acknowledged the trouble: hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down and he acknowledges that this can cause us to lose heart. So Paul is not trivialising the pain or the danger of what pain can do to us.

In the third place, he acknowledges our frailty: we get sick, we grow old and we all will die. BUT he also acknowledges that God is at work in us day by day. John says the same thing in his first letter: "Greater is He who is within you than he who is in the world."

So what is Paul actually saying once we get past his seeming insensitivity?

1. Our troubles are temporary, God's grace is eternal.
2. Our troubles are light - the only other time this Greek word is used in the NT is when Jesus says: "My yoke easy and my burden is light." With His help we will get through.
3. God will work in our circumstances for our good.

When we take it all in, Paul, although coming across a bit blunt, is giving us some all-important truth and perspective:

• God is at work in us. We are not alone. Nothing is bigger than the love and grace of God.
• Trouble does come. It WILL pass. It is only too heavy if we are not relying on Him whose burden is light.
• If we don't lift our eyes beyond our circumstances we will drown in them.
  Paul reminds us to recognise that God is with us in the long haul and He will bring us HOME.

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EmmDev 2023-09-26 [Faithful Perseverance] Strong, Firm and Steadfast

Strong, Firm and Steadfast

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1Peter5:10)

This verse has become very significant to me...
Let's go through it phrase by phrase...

• The God of all grace: The God who sent His one and only Son when I definitely did not deserve it, the God whose mercies are new every morning.
• Calls me (yes me) to Eternal Glory in Christ. This Eternal Glory is not only Eternal Life but relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. (John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.")
• after you have suffered for a little while: Suffering will not last forever. Sometimes it feels that way, but suffering won't last. Death is a defeated bully, frailty is the playground tormentor that will meet its match and suffering is the pretentious antagoniser that will be unmasked. Hope is stronger than despair, love is stronger than hate, Christ is stronger than the grave. God has set the expiry date for all our bullies!
• This God, the God of Grace, the God who calls us to Eternal Relationship with Him and the God who has set the expiry dates on death, mourning, crying and pain (See Rev21:4) will be with us here and now making us strong, firm and steadfast.

Strong, Firm and Steadfast...
Spend the rest of the day reflecting on the meaning of these three gifts...

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EmmDev 2023-09-22 [Faithful Perseverance] NOTHING!

NOTHING!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans8:35-39)

When trouble comes we often ask ourselves "What does this trouble say about my belief in a loving God?" But this is the wrong question. It gives trouble too much authority. There's a better question: "What does my belief in a loving God say about my trouble?"

And Paul is ready with an answer:

1. The Love of God is tougher than any trouble that may come our way. Look at the escalation: trouble - persecution - famine - nakedness - danger - sword. Even when our lives are made cheap and it seems like no-one else seems to care and we are like sheep in the abattoir, God continues to love us and His love remains real for us.

   The Christians Paul was writing to in Rome experienced this. They were taken to the Colosseum to face the lions and gladiators, they would be covered in tar and set on fire in Nero's gardens, they would hide out in the catacombs fearing persecution. Yet the church grew and the gospel spread.
   

2. With God's love undergirding us we can overcome our troubles and circumstances. We can "keep the faith", we can remain Christ-like, we can forgive, we can get up and keep going, we can point the way for others.
3. The problem is that we think our circumstances are an indicator of God's love for us, but this is not the case. If things are going well for someone else but badly for me, it does not mean that God loves them more than me.

   This world is broken and we are the ones who broke it. In this broken world trouble is a reality. God's love is bigger than my trouble and with His help and comforted by His love I will get through.

Remember this:
At the very centre of all the heartache and trouble in the world there is a cross.
On that cross Jesus gave Himself, embracing all our pain so that we will NEVER be alone.
(Now read Paul's awesome promise again...)

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EmmDev 2023-09-21 [Faithful Perseverance] Trouble comes...

Trouble comes...

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James1:2-4)

James is convinced about one thing: Trouble will come.
He doesn't say "Consider it pure joy IF you face trials..."
He says "Consider it pure joy WHEN you face trials..."

That's the thing about a broken world: - It's broken.
And in a broken world, broken things happen.
And so trouble comes and trouble is a trial.
Trouble tests our faith, it stretches our endurance and challenges our faithfulness.

But James doesn't leave the news at this depressing point...
Although trials and trouble can and should be expected, God is at work.
If we face our trials, He will help us to become stronger.

Specifically, trials faced and endured develop perseverance.
And the ability to persevere is the sign of someone who is mature and complete in their faith.

Over the years I have been fascinated at some of the "super spiritual" people I have met who absolutely fall apart when a bit of trouble comes their way while I observe some of the "quiet saints" who don't flash their spirituality around but remain calm, gracious, loving and faithful even when they are going through serious trouble.

While God is not the author of trouble and heartache, He is at work in our pain and struggle if we let Him.

And so James invites us to rejoice when trouble comes.
We're not being masochistic, we're not rejoicing in the suffering, we're rejoicing in the fact that God can and will hold us in our suffering and we'll learn to persevere, becoming mature and complete.

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