Lessons from golf... take 1

Golf is most definatly the sport I enjoy the most, but also the sport where I have come very close to breaking something. I've experienced amazing joy when I hit a hole-in-one when I was 16, but I've also experienced such intense frustration when I can't even hit a pitching wedge straight. During my years playing golf God has often given me a lesson of life... And it's these that I want to share with you. (this will also inspire to get on the golf course more often!)

- Take 1 -

Playing time here in Pretoria/Centurion has definately been few and far between. I dont have the playing freedom I am used to while I was living in Douglas. So, this means that the golf is VERY inconsistent so I try to spend time on the driving range as often as I can.

This story is about one of those times. It started out great. I hit the balls sweet, they went into the direction I was aiming in (well more or less) and I really felt good about my golf. For the first time in a while. Then... I lost my swing. I could'nt hit anything. Not even my favoirite club in the bag, the 7 iron.

Something was horribly wrong and I didnt have the faintest idea what.

I knew that my golf was better than what I was seeing (and unfortunately others as well) so I spoke to God. There had to be a lesson in this, there had to be a reason for me sucking that bad! How could I just lose my swing???

This is the response I got: That is exactly what a christian is like who has lost his faith. Like a golfer who has lost his swing.

And it hit me, this was a warning, not to lose faith. No matter what circumstances we are faced with, we cannot afford to lose faith. Otherwise we will be as effective as a golfer without a swing who cant even make the easy shots...

Cornwall Hill...... Expect big things!

I am so inspired by the activity happening in Centurion regarding schools and teenagers!
We have so many open doors and so many kids who are passionate about God and passionate about His Kingdom...

We are in the process of raising up a Centurion youth group and it is starting with a connect group.
We have a couple of youth from Cornwall Hill College who used to drive through to the Pretoria youth group every week, but now that we have a church in Centurion it makes sense to kickstart something amazing here.

We get together on Sunday evenings, getting into the word together and building relationships. Using SPECK to unlock the Bible and get the Truth into our lives. They have already started reaching out to their friends and invited them to "youth". It's amazing to see how hungry they are to obey God and when they speak I hear so much wisdom!

Other members from the church who also have a passion for youth are getting involved and are joining in on Sundays, sacrificing there time to help disciple the next generation.
Most of the kids who attend are in Cornwall Hill College and they are already in the process of starting a weekly prayer group where they pray for their school, their friends and lost people.

I am trusting God that He will stirr such a passion in their hearts for their friends and classmates who do not know Jesus, that they will take their scool (s) by storm for the Kingdom of God.
They say that one of the most dangerous things on earth is a teenager with passion and a purpose.
This is exactly what I am trusting God for, passion and purpose which will result in radically sold-out teenagers who will stop at nothing to reach the lost!

These photos are not the best quality, but they will be replaced soon =)

Standing in the _______ gap

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it...

Ezekiel 22:30

So we are called to be intercessors, but what does it really mean? What does it really mean to "build a wall" and "stand in the gap" as it is mentioned in Ezekiel?

The story about the Gentile woman in Matthew 15 really challenged me. The woman who is NOT a Jew approaches Jesus and believes that He is the Son of God and that HE CAN HEAL her daughter. The way Jesus responded, she could easily have taken offence, but she kept on persisting. Now, I am sure that this is exactly what the love of a mother for her daughter does. It keeps on believing, will not take no for an answer, will not take offence, because it has got a goal before eyes. The mother had a deep, self-sacrificing love and compassion for her daughter and this caused her to be able to STAND IN THE GAP for her daughter.

The challenge here for me is, how am I standing in the gap for "things" in my life. The campusses I am involved in, lost people I've met and family members and friends I'm really trusting God for. Have I got the same love and compassion for these things as the mother had for her daughter. Am I pressing IN, believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He IS able to bring healing, restoration, salvation etc.

God has strategically placed us in certain areas and among certain people for the very reason to "stand in the gap". Whether it be a family member, your workplace, the security guard who opens your gate every morning, the neighbour whom you just can't quite get or the homeless guy you pass at the robot every morning. We have a responsibility to stand in the gap. It's never been optional...

The Gentile woman didn't give up. She kept on believing. Jesus' response at the end was, "Great is your fatih woman, be it to you as you desire". Maybe the delays we are experiencing in our answers to prayer is not God not wanting to answer us, maybe He is just testing our faith. Is it really our hearts desire for OTHER people's needs to be met. Will we persist and press in and have faith for other people as we would for ourself?

The last part of Ezekiel 22:30 reads like this: "... but I found no one". The result of God finding no one is found in the very next verse. "So now (becuase I have found no one) I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"

May this not be true in our lives. May we rise to the call and stand in the gap. May our lives be filled with the same love and compassion of the Gentile woman causing us to persist and keep on believing for the people in our lives. And may this be God's response: "Great is your faith..."



Ministering at Hoërskool Uitsig

On the 1st of June I had the oppertunity to go to Hoërskool uitsig with Retief Burger and share my testimony along with another MAD year student. Retief was invited by the principal (one of his former teachers) to share the Word at an ascension day school meeting.

As the school is based in Centurion, I strategically went along for the possibility of starting discipleship in the school. It's just mindblowing to see the favour which God has given us in schools!

Retief really brought a powerfull word that challenged a religious culture. Afterwards many children (and some of the teachers) responded to an altar call and roughly 20 of the high school students came to talk to us. Sharing their lives and wanting to know more, how they can grow deeper. We sometimes overlook teenagers, but they are SO hungry for God. They are so hungry for people to walk with them and help them.

We got the contact details of all the students and now the follow-up process is in place. I have already had a great lunch with Dillon, a martic student who wants to study art next year. He was completely open about his life, sharing where he has been and how God has changed his life. We will now walk in a disciplehip relationship and I'm trusting God for great fruit in Dillon's life.

I am just again in awe of how God is working absolutely everywhere. There is no age restriction when it comes to God. He is just looking for people who are hungry for Him. Who are willing and available...

Please pray for the school and the students. That the follow-ups will be fruitful and that the students will be open to discipelship and catch God's heart for their school and their classmates!!!