Frank Retief was pastor at St James Church Cape Town for 31 years, having planted the church in 1968 with his wife Beulah.  He became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa until he retired in 2010.  Frank remains active in ministry through preaching, teaching, pastoral work & writing, and has authored a number of books.

Lying

Ephesians 4:25 “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body.”

Amongst the people of God there should be no lying or untruthfulness. We belong to the One who said: “I am the Truth” and truth and transparency should categorize everything we do.

Many of us will know the hurt, chaos and conflict that has been brought about by people telling other people lies. Perhaps you yourself have been the victim of some sort of deceit. You then will know how hurtful and shocking it can be.

We know of course that we live in a world of lies. Not only do our politicians and public figures often lie to us but we can hardly escape the falsehoods and deceptions contained in the small print of many of the documents we have to sign just to live in this world. Our TV shows are full of all the things that break our society. Just think of the titles of some of the soapies as you read this. They all speak to you of lies, deceit and unfaithfulness.

Proverbs 19:5 says: “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape.” We all know that lies and half-truths all eventually get found out, but how sad to see the characters of young people often forged and formed by living in an environment where everyone lives by lying to each other.

Not so with us as Christians. We know by instinct that truthfulness should form and shape our lives. We know the truth of Proverbs 19:22 “…..it is better to be a poor man that a liar.” We remember the teaching of James chapter 3 about the power of the tongue and how it can set a great forest on fire with a small spark.

Let us avoid lying at all costs. We follow the Lord Jesus Christ in whose mouth no falsehood was found. Whatever others may do let’s always determine to tell the truth and people who are known to be trustworthy and dependable for Christ’s sake.

Prayer:

“Almighty God, How easily I fall into the sin of corrupt speech. Help me to rather emulate my Saviour and to remember that I am indwelt by the Spirit of truth. Please forgive my sinfulness and carelessness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

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Is all sin equal in God’s eyes? It is a common question, and the answer is of the variety that is always a little bit unsatisfying: It is one of those “yes and no” answers.

There is a sense in which all sin is the same. Every sin is an act of rebellion against God. Any sin, no matter whether it is an angry thought or outright murder, is a declaration of independence from God, a means of saying, “I am going to do this my way instead of your way. I choose my will rather than your will.” In that sense every sin is sufficient to justify an eternity of separation from God. Every sin grieves God and arouses his just wrath. God hates sin because his very nature is contrary to sin. This is not God being mean or arbitrary, but God simply giving us the wages due to our rebellion.

However, it is equally correct to express that some sins are more serious than others. Certain sins are more significant than others because the consequences are more significant.. online shopping cart,
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Candice is a busy wife to Matt and mom of Noah (5) and Tyler (3 going on 21). Candice also works part-time at our Rosebank Store of Christian Book Discounters. In her spare time Candice writes for her own blog and is a travel consultant. 

I have a dream …… wait, I do?!?

The other day, I watched Chicago, the movie. It’s one of my favorite movies and mostly, because of the music. I’m a sucker for musicals as it is – my kids have watched Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang since they could get them to sit still for longer than 5 minutes. Old classical musicals are quality.

Anyway, this all got me thinking about dreams and when last I’d actually thought about mine. Since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to be on Broadway. Theatre has always been my first love. Musical theatre – that’s my game. I was in musicals all through my school career and since I would talk, I’ve loved to sing. There’s an electricity you get from performing for a live audience. There’s a certain camaraderie between a cast on stage that’s you can’t describe. . It’s like an artistic chemistry that buzzes between people who share a common passion for the stage. Ok, I’m gushing.

So, since I’ve had my kiddies, I subconsciously gave up dreaming. Ok, I have dreams that are mommy-specific like “oh I dream of the day that I can sleep uninterrupted, longer than five hours at a time” or “oh I dream of the day that my living room doesn’t look like a toy factory that blew up and I can see the floor.” But I terms of MY DREAMS, the ones I had from when I was a baby and disappeared when I had my own babies? Those were packed so far away in the attics and basements of my mind, that I had all but forgotten them. Watching Chicago the other night, it was like a trip into the back roads of my mind.

When you become a mom, it’s almost as if God turns a switch on in your being and you automatically push everything related to you – your dreams, your needs and wants, your sleep! – onto the back burner and the funny thing is, you’re happy to do it! The very essence of being a mom, in my opinion, is ensuring your children are cared for – emotionally, physically, spiritually – and whether you have one child or five children, that means that you’re always at least second or third in the queue, and you’re totally happy and content with that.

Don’t get me wrong. I think that’s the way it’s meant to be. It’s a season of a mother’s life. But I think once your kids reach a certain age, while kids should always be a top priority, life starts to allow you space to dream for yourself again. Your kids will start to follow their own dreams and you’re bound to be an integral part of helping them reach their goals and aspirations. They start to spread their wings, which will gives you chance to spread yours.

C S Lewis said: “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.”  So……….

Hold on, Mommy and keep dreaming, for you. There will come a time when you can once again follow your dreams if you want to, and on the sidelines, you’ll see your babies (who aren’t so baby anymore), cheering you on, knowing how much you’ve given up to watch them chase theirs first.

Oh and keep your eye on Broadway. You might see me flying in on an umbrella, singing a cracking version of Spoonful of Sugar – hey, I’ve got the experience looking after kiddies, don’t I? 🙂 Mary Poppins, I’m coming for you. Give me ten years or so…… 

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Frank Retief was pastor at St James Church Cape Town for 31 years, having planted the church in 1968 with his wife Beulah.  He became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa until he retired in 2010.  Frank remains active in ministry through preaching, teaching, pastoral work & writing, and has authored a number of books.

Just Do It ……

Proverbs 3:27-28  Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” – when you now have it with you.

Here is a word in season for all of us. There is within our fallen nature a basic tendency toward stinginess in thought, word and deed. We often find it hard to rejoice when others prosper and sometimes are perversely satisfied when others fail. We also tend to criticise rather than build up and to think negatively about people rather than lovingly.

This proverb takes an opposite view. For believers in Israel’s God fairness and justice should pervade all of life. As indeed should generosity and compassion.

So when someone has done well and deserves a word of encouragement, why not pass in on? It costs us nothing and we never know what that “reward” may reproduce in their lives. Many a tale could be told of a young man or woman making a crucial decision at a vulnerable time in their lives, as the result of a word in season from a friend, and their lives then turning out to be a blessing to many others. And with the electronic tools available to us today it is so easy to say something positive, uplifting and encouraging to someone who is trying hard to do the right thing but is currently feeling discouraged.

So, too, with the giving of material help. With the huge needs around us at the present time it is not easy to know who to give to, or how we should do it. But this is not the problem in this proverb. Rather it is the inner spontaneity to want to help. Often we try to get out of giving money or goods – especially with the amount of begging and con artists we have in our society. Still, there are also, very often genuine needs brought before us, where we can help, be it ever so little. The bible says, in effect “Give now” – not tomorrow.

I had a missionary friend once, long ago, who was invited to a very needy area to present the Gospel. However he did not have the money to pay for the ferry to take him there. He prayed and waited, but nothing happened. As a result he could not go and the opportunity was lost. The next day he received a letter from a supporter with the exact amount of money in it that he needed for the fare. The supporter said: “I meant to get this to you yesterday. I felt a strong urge to do so, but I was distracted.” I hope you can use this gift for the Gospel.” It was good of him to give, but he delayed, and as a result a good opportunity to spread the good news was lost.

Compare the words of these Proverbs with James 2:14-17. Let’s determine to be open-hearted, encouraging and as generous as our circumstances allow so that we may imitate our Father in Heaven.

Prayer:

“Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to our world to save us. He is your only Son. Please forgive my tendency to selfishness and stinginess. Give me an open heart and make me a blessing to others who need encouragement. Amen”

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Psalm 40 vs 16:  But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!”

Do you ever feel you have hit “rock bottom?”  Well, take heart because you are not alone!  The Psalmist David experienced the same thoughts and wrote about them for us in Psalm 40.

His extremely painful soul may have been caused by loneliness, a rebellious son, family members who had rejected him, or maybe even a combination of these.  But in the midst of “rock bottom” circumstances, David reminds us to:

•  wait for the LORD who hears our cries (verse 1)
•  remember that God will lift us out of the slimy pit and set our feet on a firm place to stand (verse 2)

God also “puts a new song in our mouth, a hymn of praise to our God (verse 3a).”  I experienced this first hand and share this to encourage you. While driving along the coast, I was listening to 3rd Day and was so moved as I saw at the same time His creation of a crystal clear blue Atlantic Ocean, sun shining brightly, and mountain upon mountain.  Tears of joy flowed as I considered the words of the song that:

• the Lord of all creation is our God who takes us out of rock bottom situations
• the universe declares His majesty, love, and holiness

David frequently used music to encourage his soul.   So find some dvd’s with worship music on them and put up the volume ….  Enjoy and worship our creator for who He is in your life, and trust Him that your rock bottom circumstances are known about by the Lord of all creation!

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We all know that the 10 Commandments are the very building blocks of our Christian Faith.  As Children we were taught the 10 commandments, and over the years we have heard many sermons based on these commandments and seen movies of the same.  Sometimes it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing God’s law as a list of do and don’ts instead of viewing them in a positive light.

Author & Pastor, David Murray, has (cleverly) re-framed the 10 Commandments as list of God’s laws for us to enjoy and take pleasure in:-

1. Enjoy the pleasure of knowing, worshipping and serving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Enjoy the pleasure of worshipping God in ways that He approves, loves, rewards, and responds to.
3. Enjoy the pleasure of speaking and singing about God’s beautiful persons, names, attributes, and acts.
4. Enjoy the pleasure of six days working in God’s calling for you and then enjoy the freedom of one full day off work to worship God and rest.
5. Enjoy the pleasure of loving and following the leaders God has placed in your life for your temporal and eternal good.
6. Enjoy the pleasure of healthy attitudes and activities that will improve the quality and length of your life.
7. Enjoy every physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual pleasure with the wife/husband God has given you.
8. Enjoy the pleasure of growing wealth in order to provide for your family and to bless others with loving generosity.
9. Enjoy the pleasure of praising others and of promoting all that is true, beautiful, and good.
10. Enjoy the pleasure of being thankful and content with all that God has given you.

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Frank Retief was pastor at St James Church Cape Town for 31 years, having planted the church in 1968 with his wife Beulah.  He became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa until he retired in 2010.  Frank remains active in ministry through preaching, teaching, pastoral work & writing, and has authored a number of books.

 Control your Anger

Proverbs 14:29  “He who is slow to anger has great understanding. But he who is quick tempered exalts folly.”

We probably all know the name of the famous Reformer of the 16^th century John Calvin. He was a great and godly man whose influence has stretched over the centuries. But perhaps few of us know that on one occasion over the wording of a certain document Calvin lost his temper completely and uttered the most scathing and bitter words to those present. Calvin blamed himself severely for his conduct and soon repented of it. The event occurred when he was a young man and not as well-known as he was to become in later years. This tendency to anger was a lifelong struggle for John Calvin.

Like him we all have our faults and anger is probably one of them. Who of us does not know the embarrassment of losing our temper and saying things which we can never take back and for which we are truly sorry?  It is true of course that not all anger is sinful anger. Sometimes anger is the right response to some sin and injustice. But not the anger that so consumes us that we lose total control of ourselves and the result is that several people may be hurt as a result of our inability to govern ourselves.

Knowing our sinful tendency to anger the Apostle Paul wrote: “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:26.

He was telling us to control ourselves when things occurred that stirred up anger. All disputes should be settled that very same day. Otherwise it is possible that brooding on the injustice that occurred may lead to increased anger and before you know it the devil has gained a foothold and great conflict and drama has unsettled all relationships.

Sometimes people’s words or actions can cause great hurt and we may feel justly angered. But it is far better to take time to reflect before we speak. We should all seek to preserve relationships and not break them.

This calls for good grace and self-control. But is this not how the Lord’s people should behave under all circumstances? We read of Jesus being angry in the New Testament but on each occasion it was because of the hard-heartedness of his listeners to God or sometimes even to the less fortunate.

If there is an apology to be made; or a relationship to heal, a bridge to cross with someone, why not do it right now, before this day ends?

Prayer:

“Almighty God, You had every reason to be angry with all of us because of our rebelliousness against you, yet still you loved us and sent your only Son to save us. Forgive us for the times I have not reflected that graciousness and allowed myself to be led into anger and insult. Help me to put it right and give me grace to change. Amen.”

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Candice is a busy wife to Matt and mom of Noah (5) and Tyler (3 going on 21). Candice also works part-time at our Rosebank Store of Christian Book Discounters. In her spare time Candice writes for her own blog and is a travel consultant. 

I know about the girlhood dreams. I know about the white dress, the first dance and the baited breath as a bride enters a church at the top of the aisle. Confetti, speeches, cake. I dreamed all of that. But none of it happened for me.

I didn’t have a wedding, as we know it today. Twelve people, our super cool pastor pal and we were married on 23 May 2009. I wore a grey dress, I didn’t want to walk down the aisle and I had no bridesmaids. I was eight months pregnant when I got married. I didn’t want to be centre of attention. I didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself ~ I was walking through the darkest valley of my life (Read my “Power of Vulnerability” blog post – you’ll see why.)

I didn’t feel worthy enough ~ worthy enough to be given any of that.

Hey look, this is no pity party. I’m not looking for sympathy. Just laying it out, how it was. Choices lead to consequence which leads to circumstance. I made a choice, I was dealing with the consequence and part of my expression of my inner struggle was that I denied myself the right to be a bride ~ in the traditional, white-dress-princess-tiara, kinda way.  In denying myself that, I realised in hindsight, I denied my dad the opportunity of walking his only daughter down the aisle. I denied my best friend the chance of being my maid of honour. In denying myself, I denied those closest to me of things only I could give them.

I’m coming up on five years of marriage this May and this has been running through my mind over and over again. People have always asked me “Do you regret not having a wedding, in the traditional sense of the word? Don’t you wish you had it?” and it’s honestly, sincerely always been “No, I loved my version of a wedding. Where I was in my life right then, it was the best way I can think of doing it.”

My grey-dress-baby-bump-flat-shoes-no-tiara wedding was an inspiration to me. Once we’d said our vows, everyone in that chapel, including our parents and our best friends came around us, we all held hands and everyone prayed for us. It’s the only wedding I’ve ever been to that that has happened at. It was just like God was the thirteenth guest there. I could sense Him. And that’s all I really needed right then.

I didn’t need the dress. I didn’t need the walk down the aisle and have everyone gasping at how angelic I looked ~ cos I knew I really wasn’t. What I needed right then, was to know that God still loved me and for those few minutes, He came and reminded me He had never forsaken me. He’d never cast me out. He’d never believed I was not worthy of His grace, even though I told myself that.

You see, marriages aren’t about weddings. I think loads of girls get this wrong. Marriages last WAY longer than that one day that you’re in the spotlight. Well they should, anyway. The white dress gets packed away, the photos get hung on the wall and the video gets played when you’re feeling particularly nostalgic. The essence of marriage is commitment. Marriages are about loving without reservation, putting yourself second for your spouse, and about bringing God into every day and every situation, working together to bring glory to Him. That takes inexhaustible, daily, personal commitment to get that right.

I can say without a doubt, my marriage day (we’ll take the wedding out for my case) had everything that was important. A man who loved me, still loves me today and loved me even when I never loved myself (that still happens some days) ~ a man whose heart for me is one of the most beautiful features about him and a God who took the time to let my heart know that it was ok to return to Him. The man God intended for me, and the God who never left me were both there that day and both of them made it clear to my inner-hating-covered-in-guilt-shame-ridden self that they loved me, exactly where I was. In this life, no matter where it took me, they’d never abandon me.

So white dress, bridal party photos, toasts and speeches aside ~ my wedding day was everything I dreamed it would be. I don’t think in the normal rushing, loud music, always smiling, saying-hello-to-family-you’ve-seen-once-since-you-were-seven wedding, I would’ve heard this. But in the quiet of our ceremony, with everyone holding hands in prayer, it was as if God wrapped me up in His arms and said “Welcome home, sweet girl. I’m proud to call you Mine. No matter what.”

Hey, maybe one day, Matt and I will have a re-run and do it like everyone traditionally does weddings ~ I’ve actually always wanted to bust out Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance with my posse of cousins and my brother, in a wedding dress ~  but until then, I’m happy to say that there’s nothing I’d change about 23 May 2009.

The man I adore and the God we both love both showed up, and that’s all I needed.

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It is not just Sabbatarians who need Sabbath :By Tim Challies

I grew up in a Christian tradition that emphasized the continuity between the Old Testament and the New. These Christians held, among other things, that the Old Testament Sabbath commands—given to observe the fourth commandment—carry into the New Testament Lord’s Day. This meant that the whole day was consecrated to the Lord. A whole twenty-four hours out of every week was to be protected from interference from life’s workaday responsibilities.

Though I continue to have a great deal of respect for those churches and that tradition, my views have changed a little bit. I no longer believe that observing the fourth commandment requires refraining from all work on Sunday. But I haven’t abandoned sabbath altogether. Life as a Baptist has forced me to see this: It’s not just sabbatarians who need sabbath. It’s not just sabbatarians who need a day set apart.

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Frank Retief was pastor at St James Church Cape Town for 31 years, having planted the church in 1968 with his wife Beulah.  He became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa until he retired in 2010.  Frank remains active in ministry through preaching, teaching , pastoral work & writing, and has authored a number of books.

Strengthening your Spiritual Core

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves”

If you are into gym exercise you will know that you are repeatedly told to strengthen your core muscles i.e. back, side, hips, abdominal muscles and so on.

According to Harvard Medical School there are all sorts of advantages to your body, health and sense of well-being.

I think the same is true for us as Christians. We continually need to go back to basic spiritual truths so that we can remain strong, assured and growing spiritually. Hence Paul advises his friends in Corinth to examine themselves. We should do the same. But how do we examine ourselves?

We all know what it means to keep a check on ourselves in other areas of life. Diets are a great example. We usually start off with great enthusiasm, then we begin to cheat a little; then we begin to cheat a lot. Eventually we abandon our diet, but it’s not as if we did not know we were doing so.

So with our spiritual lives. We need to keep examining ourselves and the examination should probe our inner lives. We know very well when we begin cheating spiritually. We should ask ourselves certain questions. Do we still believe what we said we believed when we became Christians? Are we still unashamed of Christ? Do we still maintain our devotion to Him? Are we faithful to Him when the going gets hard?

Paul says “test yourselves”. If Christ is in you, you cannot help being a Christian and doing the right thing even though it is sometimes very hard. Is your spiritual core strong?

It would help us immensely if we kept up a regular bible reading programme accompanied by times of meditation on what we read. And of course we should be in church regularly with other believers to worship God.

These and a whole host of things which are really simply common sense can help us to examine ourselves and our devotion to Christ. In this way we assure that our spiritual core remains strong.

Prayer:

“Almighty God, I feel I have been losing my grip on you lately. I need to keep examining myself. Please help me. Thank you for knowing and loving me in spite of my weaknesses. Please give me grace to strengthen my inner self to love you, serve you and glorify you each day”.

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by Tim Challies

Marriage is under attack. Marriage has always been under attack. The world, the flesh and the devil are all adamantly opposed to marriage, and especially to marriages that are distinctly Christian. Marriage, after all, is given by God to strengthen his people and to glorify himself; little wonder, then, that it is constantly a great battleground.

I have been thinking recently about some of the foremost foes of Christian marriage and, really, the foremost foes I see creeping up to assault my own marriage. Here are 6 deadly enemies of marriage, and Christian marriage in particular.

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