By Tim Challies

The headline says it all: “The Dawn of the Designer Babies.” Scientists have developed a new technology meant to eliminate genetic abnormalities in newborns. They do this by combining the DNA of three people instead of only two. The procedure has been successfully tested in monkeys and now the FDA is considering whether the trial should expand to humans. At first the procedure would be available only to women who are likely to pass on debilitating genetic diseases to their children. After that? Well, we can only imagine……

According to the resulting child would inherit the mother’s nucleus DNA — which contains most inherited traits like eye colour and height — but the donor’s healthy mitochondrial DNA.”

Read More ……

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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.

The love of God

1 John 4:16 “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him.”

In the very early years of the 20th century there was a great Gospel singer named Charles Alexander. He was a singer who accompanied the great preachers Dr R A Torrey and Dr Wilbur Chapman on their evangelistic tours. Unknown as they are to us today they nevertheless were legends in their lifetime.

Charles married Helen Cadbury, daughter of the founder of the Cadbury Chocolate Empire. He was an educated American and she was an e3xtremely wealthy British aristocrat. But they were united in their love for Christ and Helen helped each night in the Gospel mission meetings speaking to enquirers and helping those seeking salvation.

One night at a meeting specially organised for the drunks, street people and down-and-outs Helen was in the counselling room when a woman with unkempt hair and tattered clothes came to the front. Miss Cadbury tried to explain something of the love of God to her but her eyes were dead and her ears were deaf. The only response she could make was “He loves you but he doesn’t love me.” Finally a glimmer of understanding came to her. Turning immediately to the aristocratic Helen Cadbury and looking straight into her eyes she said “Give me a kiss”. At once Mrs Alexander embraced and kissed her and the woman returned home. But she came back and Helen Alexander said she was glad to see at the meetings “clean and tidied up”.

Just a little token of the Father’s love and acceptance helped that poor woman understand God loved her in all her circumstances.

We ourselves need that assurance from time to time but do you not think if we were kinder, more affectionate and welcoming to people: more loving in word and deed, our words would carry much more weight?

Even small acts of kindness to those in spiritual need and who may be cynical about the message of Christ could go a long way in changing attitudes.

Perhaps there is someone in your circle who needs to know that God is love. “Whoever lives in love lives in God.” They need to see that and experience that. They need to feel that someone who says they love God is willing to put their arms around them dirty and smelly and unlovely as they are and pray for them and really care for them.

The same is true for everybody of every social class. The love of God must be spoken to them, but like Helen Cadbury’s actions, it sometimes needs to be seen too.

Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:40: “The King will reply: ”I tell you the truth that whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me”.

Let the love of God govern all your actions and ever shine through you to all you meet, especially those who are hard to love.

Prayer:

“O God, If you loved the world and sent your Son to save them, then surely we who have been saved should demonstrate that. Instead we have often dismissed people or treated them harshly. Please forgive us our cruelty to others. May your Holy Spirit live us in such a manner that God’s love will be seen in us at all times. Amen”

Follow Frank Retief’s daily blog on http://frankretief.co.za/

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Does the end of each month bring about financial pressure?  Are there bills to be paid?  Are there bills coming that will need to be paid?  Are there strained relationships with family and/or friends that add to your pressure points of life?  Is there physical illness in your life or someone close to you that adds to your pressures?  Is there emotional fear of some type?  Has your child walked away from the LORD?

Well, if we are honest, we all have at least one if not many or all of these pressure points!  And the church of Jesus Christ in the first century was in the same situation as well – they attempted to live out their faith in the midst of spiritual, physical, relational, and financial pressures.  There was persecution, trouble, conflict and trials that led some to be unstable and double-minded (James 1:1-8, English Standard Version Study Bible) which led to anxiety, fear, despair, and depression.

Yet, there was hope and a solution – and the same are available for believers living in the pressure cooker of our 21^st century world.  The book of James gives incredibly practical wisdom from the heart and mind of the LORD and not the wisdom of the world.  This New Testament letter teaches us how to endure and actually thrive and not just survive trouble, affliction, and pressure.

The following excerpt from Lifeway’s “Pressure Points” in their new series, Bible Studies for Life, stresses these realities as well:

“I got a call from a friend whose wife was told she has cancer. I have a friend who has been married less than a year and his wife just announced to him that she’s leaving. I talked to a young dad who is devastated that he is losing his job. Meanwhile, his wife is expecting a child in a couple of months.  The Bible is full of people who were dealt hard with incredible pressure, but through faith in God and through perseverance, they went from victims to victors. In James 1 we have a game plan for overcoming trials and finding joy, even amidst those terribly unfair trials.”

So, take heart and have courage.  In the midst of whatever pressure you are facing today, you too can go from victim to victor and thrive and not just survive.

John Blanchard’s Truth for Life: A Commentary on the Epistle of James echoes the same encouragement as “no part of the Bible is more dynamically relevant to today’s ethical culture and spiritual climate than the letter of James.  It tackles twenty-first century issues head on, ruthlessly exposing our pressures and problems and showing how they can be overcome by the indwelling grace of God.”  

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God, you and the work you do …….

WORK ….. for some people this word represents drudgery and the mundane.  Work can easily be a daily grind full of monotonous and thankless tasks.  For others, work is an idol to be served.  But sometimes the job is not the problem, we are – because we refuse to attach any significance to the work we are doing.  And so our work becomes dull and tedious because we allow it to be that way. We may not be thinking Christianly about that job we are doing, and our lack of joy in doing our work is a direct result of the lack of significance we attach to it.  Tim Challies writes a great article on our attitudes to work and how they can shape the work we do.  http://www.challies.com/christian-living/work-that-makes-a-difference

Consider these questions:-

• Can we glorify God by engaging in work and business?;
• Can we integrate our work and weekend life to live fruitfully for God?;
• Can we successfully connect our Sunday worship experience to Monday morning work?
• What does it mean to be a Christian business person in the workplace?
• How can I know what I am supposed to do with my life?

CBD has a selection of books covering the topic of our Christian vocation in all of our lives, not just on Sundays.  So weather you are teaching a class full of kids, fighting for justice in a court of law, welding a gate post or ironing your kids clothes, God is interested in the work you do.  He can transform it and use it for His Glory.

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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.

The liberation of “me” time …….

Last week, I was at home alone for just over an hour, before I went to the dentist. Ok, that’s a big deal for me. I think since my kids were born, I’ve been home alone maybe 5 or 6 times in four years! Look, it felt weird, and strange that the house was quiet but I decided it was time to let it all out.

I turned on some music, blasted it at full volume and danced around my house ~ and not dancing while I’m mopping, or dancing while I’m washing dishes ~ dancing like no-one was watching, dancing like it mattered, and JUST dancing, not doing anything else house or mommy related! (I hope no-one was watching that is because that would be slightly embarrassing) Let me tell you ~ IT WAS LIBERATING. It has been christened my Mommy Dance Jam.  For about an hour there, I was back to my twenty-something , carefree self and it was glorious.

I then drove to the dentist and BLASTED my music so loud, played air guitar, head banged and sang at the top of my lungs to Timbaland! Very entertaining for the traffic? Maybe, but seriously, it was the first time I’ve driven alone for maybe 6 months, without one of my little ninjas in the back.

Now before you all think I’m gone a little crazy…

I wrote a blog a little while ago for my friend Brett’s blog series about parenting small children and one of the things that I mentioned on there, was that in the middle of trying to survive without sleep in the beginning stages of your motherhood journey (and as you mature into motherhood), you can forget who you are.

I can tell you out right ~ for the last, going on now, 5 years, I’ve forgotten who I was before I had my babies. It is like when I had my first baby, I was automatically all-consumed as a mother and everything else was lost in the black hole of eternity of what had gone before and who I was before.

For example, I really love to dance. I’m not that good but ever since high school, my down time was to put on a tune (or seven) and groove around the house, and sing my heart out. I didn’t remember that until I did it for the first time, for a long time, the other day.  I dance with my kids all the time but they have preference on what the music choice is (right now, it’s one of three on repeat ~ The Lumineers, Maroon 5 or Bruno Mars.) Of course, there are times at home when my kids are napping that I could possibly put on a tune or two, but firstly, I don’t want to risk waking them up and secondly, the couch (ok, I’m lying, the ironing or the washing or the cleaning, but let’s pretend: couch) calls me and my time out is really not a time out at all.

Another thing I love to do is read. I NEVER get time during the day to sit with a big glass of Coca Cola and tuck into a great book. Again, down time isn’t really down time at all. Read when I get into bed, you say. Well, great idea except once I’m horizontal in bed, I can only manage to keep my eyelids open for about three paragraphs and then, I’m asleep. I remember reading well into the early hours of the morning, really getting stuck into good books. Now I’m awake in the early hours of the morning still, but there ain’t no reading happening besides trying to see the markings on an Avent bottle when measuring my daughter’s nightly drink.

Am I ok with who I’ve become and the responsibilities that comes with? Of course! I’m loving being a mommy ~ it’s an immense blessing. I understand it’s a life stage ~ I’m walking through, as a parent, some of the most intense (time-wise) ages in a child’s life right now and I’m game for that. I’m so proud and grateful to be a mommy. My little impromptu solo dancing session just made me think about my life and how it’s evolved. Who was I before I defined myself as a mommy and had my babies? What did I like doing before I had kids?

I’m encouraging you mommies out there to take time every once in a while, to return to and identify with who you were before motherhood ran away with you. Go and do something that you did before your life was being chief bottle washer, head of the laundry department, executive chef of all things pureed and keeper of hours of non-existent sleep. After all , the person you were before is part of the journey that made you the mommy you are today.

I don’t do it often enough and hey, I get that my kiddies are young and I might have more time as they head to school etc. BUT this little hour I had this past week to really check in with my pre-mommy self, was refreshing. Try it. If I see you in the traffic, jamming, believe me, I get it. I’ll hoot in support! The off duty mommy moments are rare … sometimes, a mommy has to turn back the clock and let it all out. I’m right there with you, sister….

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