Have you ever wondered why Good Friday is called Good Friday? For me, every Friday is Good Friday. Judging by Facebook and Twitter on Friday mornings, for most people all Fridays are Good Friday. So why is this "Good"?
It is not clear why this day is called Good Friday. It is primarily in English speaking countries that this day is called Good Friday. Others call it Holy Friday, Great Friday, or Suffering Friday. There is no consensus why it is called Good Friday in the English language.
My view is that it should actually be called Good News Friday, or Gospel Friday. Gospel is an old archaic word, so I prefer Good. It is a Friday that kicks off the conclusion of the Gospel story, the Good News story. Gospel means Good News. But what is this good news?
Well the story goes like this....Thousands of years ago, God, who is Father Son and Spirit decided to create humans in his image. So, in the image of the Son, he created humans. His objective was to adopt humans into the triune life of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. This life between Father, Son and Spirit is characterized by love, sharing, glorifying one another and mutual sharing of all that they have. "Jesus said "what is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours"
After being created, humans were given a paradise to live in. A garden which was full of food. However, God wanted humans to be free moral agents. You see, love cannot be coerced. It cannot be demanded. So God did not want to tell humans to love him by force. So he placed the symbolic tree of knowledge of good and evil, which if eaten, is like a drug or a poison. It kills whoever eats it eventually. So the first two humans, a husband and wife, called Adam and Eve (not Steve) ate the forbidden fruit, and introduced death amongst humans. Death is absence of life. Life is found in God. His essence is life. Apart from him there is no life.
With humans having sinned and become corrupted, diseased, and started decaying, what was God to do? It would not be in his nature to simply say, "Well, I tried, let them perish." No, that would be unlike God, and God cannot be untrue to himself. He is also truth in his essence. What do you do when something that you made out of love and is highly prized gets damaged? Do you through it in the dustbin? Of course, not! You do everything in your power to fix it and return it to its original condition. That is what God did. For he loved the world so much, that he gave his only son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus in whose image humans were made became a human. So, in his becoming a son of man, he was making sons of man sons of God. He needed to become flesh and blood like us, in our death prone condition, so that he could heal us of death.
Jesus was then born of a Virgin Mary by the power of the Spirit. He lived and grew to be a man. He was arrested, tried for treason and blasphemy even though he was God. He was executed like a criminal with two other criminals. Good Friday is the day many Christians celebrate and remember that execution.
He was executed together with two criminals. One on his right, and one on his left. The two criminals represented two types of humans. One that believes that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and the other that does not believe he is the son of God. Which one are you? Do you believe, or don't you believe? This Good Friday you can join the one criminal who believed, and you too can join Christ in paradise.
Should Christians take medicine, or simply rely
on faith healing?
Many
Christians have died throughout the ages because they were waiting for their
faith healing. They refused to receive medical help. Recently, many have died,
and are indeed dying of HIV/AIDS because they were told that they must just
believe, and God will heal them of their HIV.
What do
you believe? Is it okay for Christians to receive medical help? Is it lack of
faith to take medication when you are sick? Is it lack of trust in God as our
healer?
Let me
start by saying that the idea that because we are children of God, God will
heal us, is a demonic idea! It is the devil's idea. It is the trick that the
devil has always used. When the son of God himself, Jesus Christ, was being
tempted by the devil, the devil used this very idea. He said to Jesus "If
you are the Son of God...." Many Christians are being sold the same old
devilish idea that "If you are the son of God, God will heal you of
whatever disease you have". Nothing can be further from the truth. To
decide not to take antiretrovirals (ARVs) because God will heal us is testing
God. Testing God is something that Jesus said we must not do.
“... ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:7 NIV)
We
should never be tempted to think we are righteous to the point that God owes us
healing, wealth, happiness or whatever it is we desire, or that we have enough
faith to receive all these things.
One of
the wisest men who ever lived, at least according to the Bible, was Solomon.
Even in his day, there were men who destroyed themselves because they believed
this demonic lie. See what he says:
"Do not be
overrighteous, neither be overwise— why
destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time?It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears
God will avoid all extremes." (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 NIV)
There
are many who are dying before their time whilst they are waiting for their
healing. Take Dineo (not her real name). She was diagnosed with cancer. She
went to her doctor, and he decided to start her on chemotherapy treatment. She
was admitted into hospital. I went to visit her whilst she was in hospital. She
was doing well with the treatment. But a friend of hers came to visit her. She
told Dineo that she knows a place where they can pray for her and she will be
healed of her cancer.
Dineo
was now bed ridden. At this point, she would do anything to get healed. The
pain, the side effects of the chemotherapy, the fear of death, she wanted it
all to stop. So she decided she will try this prayer thing. She asked the
doctor to discharge her. Her mother went to the hospital and they signed the
papers that she be discharged even though it was against the doctor's advice.
They carried her into the car as she could not walk.
From the
hospital, her friend took them straight to the "Healing House". She
spent two weeks there. I don't know what they do in that two weeks. At the end
of the two weeks, it was time for healing. They prayed for her. And then the
"miracle" happened! She jumped up from her bed and ran around the
hall. She was "healed", or so they thought. From the "Healing
House"' they went straight to her sister to show her the miracle. It was
all joy. Dineo and her mother slept at her sister's place that day.
The
following morning Dineo was sick again. She asked her mother to take her to the
hospital. They washed her and put her in the car. She could not walk again. She
was admitted again into hospital. A day later she passed away from the cancer
that she was supposedly healed of. Her mother was devastated when I went to see
her. The healing pastor was not there at the funeral to bury her. Whatever
happened at the "Healing House" was not healing.
Dineo
did not need to die. I believe this confusion also comes from ignorance about
what medicine is. Let me explain. Naturally, when we eat food, our bodies
extract all the nutrients the body needs to be healthy, that is the vitamins,
proteins, iron, etc. However, because our bodies are no longer in the state
that God created them in, sometimes the body cannot absorb these nutrients.
After a while, the body becomes sick because it is not getting the nutrients.
Or the body gets infected with a virus, and the body cannot destroy the virus
because it does not have the vitamins it requires to kill the virus.
It is at
this point when the body can no longer naturally get its vitamins and proteins
from food that the medicine becomes necessary. Medicine is simply highly
concentrated nutrients which are extracted from plants. So when the sick person
takes a tablet for flu, they are actually supplementing their diet with what
the body needs at that time, in this case vitamin C. This is one of the reasons
the doctor will advise that you take your medication with meals. There are
other reasons. Therefore, medicine is nothing else but food with a high
concentration of a specific nutrient.
The same
way we eat food to stay healthy, we "eat" medication to stay healthy
or get healthy. We don't say, "Because I am the child of God, and I have
faith, I will not eat food because God will sustain me. After all, Jesus said
man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth
of God." That would be ludicrous. Those that believe christians should not
take medication are using the same erroneous logic. In some cases when you have
flu, and it is not so serious, the doctor may advise you to eat oranges because
they have vitamin C. In that case, the oranges are medication. The truth, though,
is that all food we eat IS medication. It is what makes us well and keep us
well.
When
Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, he said they must pray to
God to "Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11 NIV). Why? Because we need food
to stay healthy. "Bread" here means that which sustains us, whether
bread, rice, pap, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, etc. It is food. And in this
food, God has hidden all the nutrients your body needs.
Paul,
one of the greatest apostles of the church, the one whose shadow healed people
who touched it, did not pray for Timothy to be healed of his illnesses.
Instead, this is the advice he gave Timothy: "Stop drinking only water, and use a
little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." (1 Timothy 5:23 NIV) In another incident, he actually left his
friend sick without getting him healed with prayer. "Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila;
also, the family of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed behind in Corinth. I had to leave Trophimus sick in Miletus."(2 Timothy
4:19, 20 MSG). What?
Paul leaves somebody sick without praying for their healing? What is going on?
Well, what is going on is that God has purposed that we eat our broccoli and
veggies. They keep us healthy. And if we fall sick, we must eat our veggies,
failing which we must take our medication, which is a concentrated form of
veggies.
Does it
mean God does not intervene in a supernatural, miraculous way to give healing?
No, it doesn't mean that. He does intervene supernaturally, but he prefers the
natural way. The natural way is also a miracle of God. For a heart to keep
pumping from the day the baby is still in the womb until 100 years later
non-stop is a miracle we cannot explain. I know sometimes good diet is not
enough. If your parents died of cancer, chances are high that you will have it
too, despite eating your veggies. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus
became a man like us, to take our body of flesh and blood, so that he could
heal it. When he returns, we will get a body like his, with no more pain and
sorrow, no more cancer, HIV, diabetes, or any other disease that afflicts us.
However, in this body we share in his suffering, even suffering that leads to
death.
In
expressing this hope of the future without disease, John gave this encouraging
imagery in the book of Revelation:
"Then the angel showed
me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of
God and of the Lamb.It flowed down the
center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life,
bearing twelve crops of fruit,with a
fresh crop each month. The leaves were
used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon
anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his
servants will worship him." (Revelation 22:1-3 NLT)
We look
forward to that day when"there will be no more death or
sorrow or crying or pain.”
(Revelation 21:4 NLT) Today
when we pray for food, we are praying for healing, when we pray for
forgiveness, we are praying for healing, when we pray for his kingdom to come,
we are praying for healing, when we pray for his will to be done on earth, we
are praying for healing, when we pray to be kept from temptation, we are
praying for healing.
Whatever
you may be sick of today, I pray that God the Father, by the grace of Jesus
Christ, in the power of the Spirit, may give you the healing, whether naturally
or supernaturally! Amen.
South Africa’s past is synonymous with Apartheid. However, a new tag may soon overtake the apartheid tag – Xenophobia, crudely defined as discrimination against foreigners.
My wife traveled to one of the African countries earlier this year (no, it was not Zimbabwe – not that I don’t like Zimbabwe. I love it, and was there for a week recently myself). Her host, who was driving her to the airport was stopped by a traffic policeman. The policeman spoke to the driver in a local language she could not understand. The policeman asked the driver where he was going. He mentioned that he was taking his South African passenger to the airport for a flight home. On hearing that she was South African, he remarked: “Oh, she is South African? Let her come out so that I can show her what Xenophobia is.” (Of course he was joking. He immediately released them so that she did not miss her flight.)
“Are you xenophobic?” I often ask my friends and acquaintances. Of course, their responses are not different to when you ask somebody: “Are you racist?” The answer is often: “Me? No. No way! I like Zimbabweans/Mozambicans/Blacks/etc.”
People have come up with all kinds of reasons why xenophobic attacks took place in South Africa recently. The most common reason given is that it is because of poor service delivery. Of course the government did not buy this explanation. They commissioned their own fact-finding team into the trouble spots to establish the causes of these attacks. Their conclusion was that this was a work of criminals and a “third force”, whoever that is.
As a South African, I had to engage with the issue as well. “Am I xenophobic?” I decided to unpack the whole concept, and not simply tell myself that I am not xenophobic. As usual, my starting point when it comes to the condition of our society and human behaviour in general, is to begin in the Christian Holy Bible. Although I am a Psychology graduate, I have since found that psychology; sociology; anthropology and other related social sciences have a big weakness in their theoretical make up.
My first quest was to understand why humans fight each other in the first place. I found out that James, a Jewish believer from the first century, gave an answer about the causes of fights and wars almost 2000 years ago:
“2What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” (James 4:1-2 NLT)
Of course this was not James’ wisdom. It was inspiration from the Triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christian Holy Scriptures are inspired by God: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.” (2 Tim. 3:16 NLT)
The root cause of human conflict is resources/opportunities. Those who live in war-torn DRC, or in Angola during the 1980s, or in Sudan, Palestine, Iraq or any other conflict-ridden country, will tell you that their oil, diamonds or gold has turned out to be their curse instead of a blessing. As you can see, those who said xenophobia was due to poor service delivery were partly correct. People were fighting over limited houses and jobs. The government was not completely wrong either. As it turned out, in most of these xenophobic attacks people looted the shacks of foreigners for their possessions, and even their small shops.
One social networker on Twitter lamented the problem on Twitter: “…the brutality of an African on another baffles me. Colonialists and slave traders I can understand. But ourown kind?”
Once again, I find that the Christian Holy Scriptures are the best place to start. In the Genesis creation account, we read that God created creatures according to their own kind. However, there was another creature he created according to its own kind. This creature was called human. Human is translated from the Hebrew word adam, the name of the first human. Of all the creatures, God created humans one of a kind. He only created a male, and created the female out of the male. Therefore, there is no difference between male and female humans, except their genitalia. God even said the male and female humans will marry and become one, because they were originally one of a kind (but this is a topic for another day).
When we don’t see ourselves as humans, of one kind, we start inventing our own identities. When we see foreigners as of another kind, and not our own kind, we start discriminating against them, because they are not one of us. For example, I used to see myself as a Muvenda, but I don’t see myself that way anymore (if you are Muvenda, please read to the end before you stone me).
Humans are social creatures. They don’t like getting lost in the sea of other billions of humans. Therefore, they create new identities. Several hundred years ago, some humans developed a slang ( slang is jargon/words used by a group of humans to understand each other). This slang is now called Tshivenda language. Those that spoke and understood this slang called Tshivenda started calling themselves Vhavenda. All other language groups came about this way since the time of Babel (Genesis 11).
You see, Tshivenda and Vhavenda did not exist a thousand years ago. Neither did the English, the Afrikaners, the Zulus, the Basothos, and many other nationalities. It is the same with cultures. They are social inventions by humans, driven by location, time and circumstance.
When humans identify themselves by their language, culture or their GPS location on the earth, they misrepresent their own identity. Three years ago, I met one of Africa’s greatest minds in Oxford, England. His name is Eddie Obeng. By original location of his parents, he is originally from Ghana. As we were having tea, somebody asked him a question: “So, Eddie, where are you from?”
Eddie responded in a way that stayed with me since then. He said: “Do you mean where am I from this morning, last week, last year, ten years ago, thirty years ago, hundred years ago, a thousand years ago, or six thousand years ago?” Of course Eddie knew what the person who asked the question meant. He was just making a point. If he said he was from London, he did not know what we thought of Londoners. If he said he was from Africa, or Ghana, or Kumasi, or that he is Ashanti, he did not know what our attitudes are to those identities. We would put him in a box, and he did not like that.
If I call myself a Muvenda, I define my origins as being less than a thousand years old. If I define myself as a South African, my origins are less than five hundred years old. If I define myself as a Guatenger (somebody from the Gautengprovince of South Africa), I define my origins as less than ten years old. As you can see, my identity is what I see my origins to be.
As a converted xenophobic pastor, I had to redefine my origins. Now I see myself as a human, a descendant of Adam, the first human. I am not a Muvenda, but you may call me that if calling me human leaves you feeling short-changed.
When God started the Christian church two thousand years ago (church is simply a group of Christian believers), he started by breaking down the main human symbol of identity in human society, namely, language, because he wanted the church to be comprised of humans, and not Jews, not Greeks, not Romans, not males, not females, nor rich, nor the poor from the other side of the tracks. This is what happened on the Day of Pentecost, the day the church started in its current form.
“4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability… 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. 7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”(Acts 2: 4-11 NLT)
Paul having gotten the point of what the church was, changed his view of believers and people in general. He made this point repeatedly in his writings:
“26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus... 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26,28 NLT, see also Rom. 3:9; 3:30; 10:12; 1 Cor. 10:32; 12:13; Col. 3:11).
Jesus became a human, and died for humans, so that humans can become humans again, as God created them to be. He removed the wall that divided humans, namely, language, culture, location, gender and social status. “14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” (Eph. 2:14 NLT)
So, are you xenophobic? It is a matter of how you see or define yourself, or what your assumed identity is. If you are anything other than human, you will be surprised at what humans may become when an opportunity arises. Ask the Rwandans. Ask the South Africans. Ask the Germans. Ask the Americans and British slave owners. Ask the Zimbabweans.
You see, when there is only one peanut left, and somebody must have it, it most often will be Takalani Musekwa, and not Bizza Musekwa. Why? Because for some strange reason, Takalani has a right to the peanut, and not his brother.
Thank God he has saved me from the foolishness of my old identity. Our South African Constitution Fathers, had the foresight to state in the preamble of the South African Constitution: “We, the people of South Africa, Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.” You have heard my confession. Are you xenophobic?
Years ago when I was about 9 or 10, my mother used to send me to a shop about 5 km from home. For about 4 km to the shop we walked through a deserted road through the bush. One day as we were walking back from the shop with my cousin, we saw a donkey cart coming from behind us heading to our village, same direction as we were going. Donkey carts were the most common mode of transport for the "middle class" of the village. There was only two men in the whole village who had cars at that time.
My cousin and I got excited when we saw the donkey cart. It was common courtesy that those with donkey carts will give lifts to pedestrians like us when they find them on that stretch of road. As the donkey cart approached we raised our hands to hitch a lift. The man, who was probably in his late 20s or 30s, started hitting the donkeys harder for them to run faster as he approached us. We were devastated when he passed and did not stop.
After passing us, the man stopped hitting the donkeys, so they slowed down and started walking. When they were about 200 metres further down the road, the donkeys actually came to a standstill. The man started hitting them hard again, and the two donkeys would not move. When we about 100 metres from them, the one donkey bent his knees, and then lied on the ground. The other donkey followed suit as he was pulled down by the other one. The man got off the donkey cart and started hitting the donkeys even harder. There is a saying, "As stubborn as a mule", but after what I saw that day, I think the donkeys are more stubborn. As we got to where the man and his donkeys were, he was sweating and angry, and we dared not say anything to him.
As we were passing, he asked us to get on the donkey cart and hold the reins as he continues hitting the donkeys. My cousin and I jumped at the opportunity. As soon as we boarded the cart, the two donkeys got on their feet and started walking! The man jumped onto the donkey cart, and before he hit them again, they started jogging. He never had to hit them again, they jogged all the way to the village, with my cousin and I nicely seated next to the man. We said nothing to each other all the way, and he said nothing either.
When we got to the village he dropped us us next to my home and he proceed to his house further into the village. As we were walking home, we talked about the strange behaviour of the donkeys, and how kind they were to us. It was an incident incident I could not forget.
Years later I read a story in the bible about a man called Balaam and his donkey. When I read it, it sounded so familiar, that I knew why those donkeys behaved that way when I was 10 years old. Here is the story of Balaam and his donkey:
The story is found in the book of Numbers 22:21-33 "21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, 23 Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. 26 Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. 27 This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff. 28 Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam. 29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” 30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. 31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. 32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me.”
Recently, I came across another donkey story that reminded me of my donkey story. It goes like this:
A man once left home on a long journey. He took with him a donkey and a mule. He placed all his goods and luggage on the donkey’s back, and though he walked most of the time, he would occasionally ride the mule. The donkey carried his load easily. He was accustomed to bearing heavy burdens. But when the three travelers began to climb the side of a steep mountain, his load became too heavy to bear. The donkey, struggling under his load, turned to the mule and asked him to help carry some of the load, explaining that he would gladly take the full burden back again after they had climbed the mountain. But the mule refused to help even a little bit. Before long, the donkey slowed and collapsed beneath his load. Though the man beat him mercilessly, he was too weak to go any farther. Not knowing what else to do, the man began unloading the packs from the donkey’s back and placed the entire load on the mule. Then, leaving the donkey where he had fallen, the man and the mule continued the journey. The mule, groaning beneath his heavy burden, said to himself, “It serves you right. If I had only been willing to help the poor donkey, I would now be bearing half the load I carry, and would have a friend besides.”
The common theme of these donkey stories, two of which are real stories, including mine, is about kindness. I have no doubt that God had pity on me and my cousin that day, and decided to stop those donkeys so that we could get a lift. I don’t know whether that man ever got the message, but I got the message loud and clear. When you have an opportunity to be kind, don’t be like the man from my village, or even the mule. Show some kindness. In fact, you will find that when you are kind, you receive kindness in return. That’s how God’s triune life between Father, Son and Holy Spirit is. That’s the life God wants us to share in, today, tomorrow, and forever into eternity.
Kindness is good for you, not just the person you are being kind to. Patience is good for you, not just for the person you are being patient with. Love is good for you, not just for the person you are loving. “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35.
When Jesus walked the streets and hills of Galilee, he often met the religious leaders of the day. He often took the opportunity to correct some of their thinking and practices that he found to be in error. In reading about some of the things he said, you might think that Jesus despised the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day. Nothing can be further from the truth. Jesus loved the Pharisees, but he sought to correct their misguided thoughts and attitudes.
On one occasion, Jesus was invited for a meal by a Pharisee (the Pharisees loved Jesus as well, though their motives might not have been as honourable). On this occasion, which is recorded in Luke 11:37 – 53, Jesus’ host was surprised when he sat down for the meal without engaging in the ceremonial washing of hands as per Jewish custom. Knowing what his host was thinking, Jesus took the opportunity to set some matters straight.
A few years ago I got very angry when the government legalised abortion in South Africa. Many Christians were more vocal than I have been about the issue, although I was as disturbed as they were about it. They collected signatures to petition the government, they picketed in front of Parliament. I personally signed one petition circulated via e-mail.
Recently I have wondered about what Jesus’ opinion would be about such matters? I have tried to imagine what he might say if he walked the streets of Accra, Harare, Johannesburg, Kampala, Lagos, or Nairobi today. Looking at his approach to religious issues of his day, this is what I saw in my mind’s eye.
I saw Jesus coming across a large Christian demonstration in front of Parliament, where the legalization of abortion is being discussed. A Christian journalist rushes forward to get Jesus’ comments on both the demonstration and the immoral politicians inside parliament. “Lord, what do you say about the legalisation of abortion being discussed here today?” the journalist asks.
Turning around to face the crowds, Jesus starts to speak, and all the chanting of slogans stops. In his typical style, Jesus ignores the journalist’s question, and addresses the attitudes, thoughts and religious opinion behind the question.
“Woe to you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the mother who aborts her baby, yet you turn a blind eye to the plight of thousands of homeless, hungry, street children who roam your streets!”
“Woe to some of you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the young orphaned girls who prostitute themselves to survive, yet you won’t support the orphans and widows in your churches!”
“Woe to you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the corrupt politicians who pass immoral laws, instigate civil wars and plunder their countries, and you turn away the refugees who turn up at your borders.”
“Woe to you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the greedy company executives and directors who defraud their shareholders of millions of dollars, yet you yourselves defraud my Father of his offerings every month!”
When Jesus turned around to talk to the journalist, he found that he had run off down the street to take pictures of a pro-abortionist and Christian demonstrator who were exchanging some very unkind words.
“But Lord, aren’t prostitution, abortion, corruption, civil war, fraud and all these other things wrong?” asks one of the Christian leaders leading the demonstration.
“Oh my friend! It is not a question of whether these things are right or wrong. Indeed those things are wrong. However, it is about how you respond to these wrongs. Do you criticise and condemn, or do you show love and support to the victims of these wrongs? My Father "desires mercy and not sacrifice". As for the politicians inside this parliament, show them respect and pray for them.”
Note: I thought I must share this from the Africa Christian Action.
Your brain is the powerhouse of your body. We
all have one but we use it at different capacities. It is one of the most
valuable things we possess. Thankfully we have skulls to protect our brain, but
some people have done some pretty dumb things to put themselves at risk of
losing this precious gift!
Let me tell you about another risk to your
brain – a new drug. P*rnography is just as addictive as hard drugs
such as heroin or cocaine. You might be thinking, “But how is it like a drug?
You can’t sniff it or smoke it!”
P*rnography has been around for a long time but
scientists are just beginning to understand how exposure to pornography affects
you – how the effects of p*rnography on your brain are similar to
those of hard drugs. P*rnographic images go into your brain through your eyes
and trigger a release of chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. You
brain becomes overloaded with chemicals. If you keep viewing p*rn, you build up
a tolerance for it and you require harder core material to create the same rush.
Your brain then becomes dependent on the rush of chemicals and you begin to
believe that you can’t live without it.
The frontal lobes are the decision making
centre of your brain. Viewing p*rnography damages that part of the brain. Your
life begins to revolve around getting a fix. All you can think of is satisfying
your addiction. All this happens when you think you are still in control.
You may be thinking, I can view p*rn and stay
in control! But why risk it? After your first exposure, your brain rewires
itself. An ex hard drug addict and p*rn addict says his p*rn addiction was
harder to break than his drug addiction.
Nobody likes to talk about this topic. It’s
uncomfortable to talk about, but you need to understand just how pervasive this
new drug is and the threat that the p*rnography industry poses to you and your
family. With an increasing amount of children having access to the Internet on
their smartphones, it’s not a question of if you, or your
children, will be exposed to it, but when.
The largest group of Internet p*rnography users
are youth between the ages of 12 and 17.
The average age of exposure to p*rn is 11.
Every second, 30 000 people are viewing p*rn on the
Internet.
30% of p*rn addicts are women.
Stages
of addictionAnyone who considers p*rnography to
be a harmless ‘entertainment’, should consider the insidious ‘slippery slope’ of
the continued viewing of p*rnography. Dr Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist at the University of Utah,
USA, described the four-step process whereby a person becomes addicted to
p*rn:
Step 1:Addiction
to the material and repeated return to it for sexual
excitement. Cline says this addiction is so powerful that his severely affected
clients have to use medications such as DepoProver to try reduce the s*x drive and eliminate s*x fantasies
and may need to attend Sexaholics
Anonymous for up to four nights a week to achieve sobriety and break the
stranglehold of their addiction. Virtually no casual user/viewer of p*rn is
exempt from the addictive effect of exposure to it. The accessibility and
anonymity of p*rn on the Internet increases the danger.
Step
2:Escalation in the individual's need for more explicit, deviant and
sexually shocking material to achieve the same level of sexual
stimulation.
Step
3:Desensitisationtowards initially gross and shocking material so that, in time, this
material becomes acceptable and desirable to the viewer.
Step 4:Increased tendency to start ‘acting out’ sexual activities seen in
p*rn. Not everyone who views p*rn will rape, but the likelihood of committing
rape goes up.
Don’t you see how viewing p*rn can enslave you
and possibly lead you to harm others – even those you love?
The p*rn industry wants to get you hooked, so
that they can make more money out of you!
Watching p*rn is viewing abused, drugged
prostitutes Research indicates that about 60–80% of women,
who work in the s*x industry,
were sexually abused as children. It is very rare to find
‘p*rn stars’ who started out of a freely chosen desire. Along with poverty,
broken families and lack of education, childhood abuse is very common. Many
‘p*rn star’ actresses admit they experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and
neglect by parents. Some were raped by relatives and molested by neighbours.
Then some of them ended up as teenage runaways and were picked up by pimps. They
were taught at a young age that sex makes them valuable. They only escape one
circle of abuse by entering another; they can't run from the pain so they go
towards it. Fast forward a few years and they find themselves drunk and drugged
on a p*rn set, as they re-live the same
abuse they experienced growing up. Ex p*rn performer, Shelley Lubben, has documented how hundreds of ‘p*rn
performers’ that she knows of, committed suicide.
Imagine a
picture of a naked black man in a dog collar, on a leash, on all fours. The
image is appalling. It would be regarded as racist by most people. Yet this is a
very common way women are depicted in p*rn.
Free speech or
sex slavery? Former Senior Advisor on
Trafficking for the Office for
Democracy and Global Affairs US State Department, Laura J. Lederer, summarised the link between p*rn, prostitution
and trafficking in the following four points:
1.Some types of p*rnography actually use trafficked victims, some
of which were recruited via fake job advertisements.
2. Some traffickers film the acts that their victims are
forced to perform.
3. P*rnography is used
in sex trafficking and the sex industry to train women and children what to do.
4. P*rnography creates and provides
rationalisations for exploiters as to how
and why their sexually exploitive behaviors are acceptable.
If you view or buy p*rn, you are helping to perpetuate and
fund modern-day slavery (human trafficking)!
How to Block P*rn on the
InternetPlace a good filter on your computer that can prevent you,
or your children, accessing, or stumbling on porn websites. South Africa’s only
family friendly Internet Service Provider that uses the best filtering software
available is www.virtuenet.co.za. Virtuenet recommends www.k9webprotection.com as the best free
web filter. Internet accountability services (which track the websites visited
and send these to an accountability partner) can be downloaded fromwww.covenanteyes.com.
See the
www.purehopeblog.net for excellent short
articles on cultivating a pure lifestyle for and with your family.
How to Block P*rn on Your PhoneP*rn websites can be blocked from a Vodacom
phone by dialling*111*123# from
the cell phone you want to block and from an MTN phone by dialling *101# and
following the menu prompts. (Cell C and 8-ta do
not yet have porn website-blocking features). These only block websites
and not SMSs or MMSs.
Parents should not give their children
BlackBerry handsets using a BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) subscription. As
BlackBerry uses their own private network which encrypts the data, this will
render both Vodacom’s and MTN’s parental controls useless.
Visit www.cellphonesafety.co.za for useful
information on blocking porn websites on all types of cell phones, disabling
apps, cell phone addiction and more.
“Jesus said: ‘Then you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s
descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall
be set free?’ Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a
slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son
belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed.’” John
8:32-36
“Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” Philippians
4:8
Become a fighter!
Addicted? Need help? Call STOP: 083 463
4762 or Christians for Truth: 082 807 2831 for counselling.
For youth resources, including articles
and videos you can share on social media, visit http://frontline.my-mailer.com/link.php?M=2365&N=868&L=824&F=H.
Invite Africa Christian Action to give a Fight the New Drug presentation at your
school assembly or youth group.
Contact Christian Action for tips on
protecting your family and resources for fighting the p*rn
plague.
Christmas is a celebration that Jesus, who was God, became flesh like us. “In the beginning was the Word,… and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jn. 1:1,14
When He became flesh, he took all humans past and future in himself, just as all humans were in Adam when he was created. As the second Adam, all humans were objectively born again in Jesus when he was born of the virgin Mary. (Yes, a man can enter the womb and be born again-we all did when Jesus was in the virgin womb, and we were with him when he went into the virgin tomb.)
So, when Jesus was born, we were born with him, when he lived, we lived with him, when he died, we died with him, when he rose, we rose with him, when he ascended to the Father we ascended with him and are now seated in heavenly places. “Or are you ignorant that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” (Rom. 6:3,4)
“We being dead in trangression, He made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are being saved), and raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:5, 6) “For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
We share in the life of Jesus, his mission, his suffering, his glory, and his Triune life with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is what the angel announced when he said: “For, behold, I proclaim good news to you, a great joy, which will be to all people, because today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord was born…” (Lk. 2:10,11)
What good news! Share it! Tweet it! BBM it! MixIt!
