I'm standing in the kitchen of the Raley family with the team that has just driven up to Pietersburg from the coast (Port Elizabeth). Enjoying a steaming cup of coffee on the chilly winter night, my pocket suddenly vibrates. I pull my phone from my coat pocket: ONE NEW MESSAGE. I press the view button. In bold type the SMS (txt mssg) says one word: BURGLARY. (The house I'd been watching sends an SMS to several people if the house alarm goes off). My mouth emits one sentence: "Gabriel's house has been broken into", and I made a speedy b-line for the door. My friend Nathan (who is also on the SMS system) yells, "you want me to come with?". Angrily thinking of my possessions sitting in the house several K's down the road being stolen, I reply "whatever!".
I hit nearly 140 Km/H on the way- down the freeway, down several dusty back roads, and finally down the long road in the veld (bush) to Gabriel and Nikki Pretoria's house. I pulled up to the outer gate- protected by a lock and 9000V of electricity pulsating through the wires attached to it. I could see the back gate to the house had been forced open. I speedily unlock the gate and run to the back entrance to the house. It's dark inside. I almost proceed inside, but then remember that an ambush could mean a quick death, a debilitating injury, or a mortal wound. I run around the side of the house and grab a wooden stick- my weapon of choice. I slowly peer around the corners as I enter the house. The alarm sounds. I start turning on lights. There's absolutely nothing missing. Praise God
By the time I get outside to find out where the would-be thieves cut into the wire, Nathan has arrived. We examine the fence and find where they cut in, and also the windows they broke checking to see if anyone was home. Several other arrive after a little time to start the repairs. We clean up the broken glass, replace a lock, and rewire the fence. After some time, they leave, and I'm left alone. It's late. I take a shower, drink some coke. I turn ON the lights, and go to bed. The dogs bark all night. Eish.
Excitement. In South Africa.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sermon Notes: Mchipisi Baptist Church, May 22nd 2011
PICTURES: The first is of Pastor Kenneth and his wife Emma. The 2nd is a map of Limpopo where the red is our location (or near it). It is the farthest north-eastern part of the country.
Sermon Notes: (NOTE: this is an exact copy of my hand-written manuscript)
Sermon, May 22nd, 2011
Romans 8:28
1st-testimony, Psalm 19:7, Romans 10:10
Review, Roman’s Purpose
“Paul’s Gospel Book”
Chapter 1- Paul identifies himself as a slave to Christ Jesus, specifically set apart for the gospel of Christ Jesus. He spends the 1st of ½ of chapter 1 exalting the glorious gospel of Christ Jesus, and the 1nd ½ he speaks of the terrible consequences of rejecting Christ Jesus. Chapter 2 and 3, Paul speaks of God’s righteous standard, and how no one has ever lived up to it, and being Jewish doesn’t even help! You must have Christ Jesus.
Continued… (Page two)
In chap. 4, Paul speaks of Moses and how he as well was justified by faith. Chapters 5 and 6, Paul speaks of what justification brings about. Some of these things are Peace with God, escaping the wrath of Almighty God, and being dead to sin and alive to God. Chapter 7 talks of something we are all familiar with. The conflict that we have when we belong to Christ Jesus. Our struggle is between our new nature which we receive when we are born again, and our fleshly body, that we are abound to until we leave this earth. He says “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death!” (Something I’ve oft thought after I’ve sinned)
Continued… (Page three)
Now we come to Chap. 8. Verse 1-4 (read)
The Gospel of Christ Jesus here is clearly presented once again. We cannot live up to God’s standard. Remember what Jesus said: (adultery, murder, you only have to think the thoughts) Paul speaks through the next few verses about the difference between setting the mind on the flesh , and setting the mind on the spirit, but God is able to give life in Christ to those in the flesh. It is the Spirit of God that testifies that we are “children of God!” (Personal testimony example: I don’t have a date for when I was saved, but this is my assurance) (Read verses 16-17). Suffering?! Wait a moment! No one told me anything about suffering! I thought I was going to get money, good health, and good things. What is this suffering?!
Continued… (Page four)
But there it is! But let’s think. What were Paul’s sufferings? He was beaten more than once, he was bitten by a snake on the island of Malta, and he was sought out by many to be killed. Jesus said in His sermon on the mountain “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness”. (move on) Verse 19 tells us Paul’s attitude toward suffering for Christ Jesus. (read verse 18) (exposit) In verses 19-28, Paul speaks of how not only us, but ALL of creation is anxious waiting for God’s restoration. We look forward to when we be rid of these earthy bodies! When no longer we will get sick or hurt. However, we do not know when these things will be, so we must hope.
Continued… (Page five)Verse 26 and 27 give us another great hope (read verse) (exposit)
Before we read verse 28, I’d like to look at a verse in the Hebrew Scriptures. Deuteronomy 29:29-(read) how often do we wonder “what is the will of God?” And here it is! Obey His law, practice His commandments. But there is something else here. Something that is a little scary. What are the “secret things?” We don’t know. But we find our comfort here in verse 28 of Romans 8. (read verse) This verse has been on my mind since yesterday (speak about Mozambique). This verse immediately came to my mind as we left Pafuri yesterday. I had to choose whether I was to believe God in what He says here, or to believe the lies of the deceiver.
Continued… (Page six)
Let’s go back to the verse: “and we know that God causes all things to work for good” Let’s stop there; Is this good God’s good, or our good? If we belong to Christ Jesus, then they are the same- but we may not always see it that way. The Greek word here is agathos- it means “benefit”. So we see that God works all things for our spiritual benefit. A question remains however: Who does God work things together for? We have 2 answers: 1. Those who love God. The Greek word here for love is agape- a love of sacrifice; one that will give up everything for Christ Jesus. Hallelujah (NOTE: This was a common interjection that is replied with “Amen”). Phillipians 3:8 (read) (exposit)
Continued… (Page seven)
As followers of Christ Jesus, we must be willing to give up anything for Him. (read Luke 9:23-25) (exposit) by this we know we love God! If we keep His commandments, and we will give our everything.
In Romans 8:28, we also see that those who love God are also those who are “called according to His purpose”. All throughout the scriptures we see God’s calling. In Galatians Paul speaks of God as Him who set him apart “before His birth” and called him by “His Grace”. The book of 1 Corinthians says that “god is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship of His Son Christ Jesus”, Halleluiah.
Continued… (Page eight)
These words can give us great comfort! That if we are called by God into Salvation through Christ Jesus His Son, then we will love Him, and He will work everything in our lives to our heavenly benefit. While it is a wonderful truth, it can still be hard to understand while we are experiencing trials. I would like to give one example from my own life (tell Danny’s story).
You see! Even when things seem to be terrible, God still uses them, no matter what they may be! Hallelujah! I praise God for His caring for His saints, no matter what!
-Mchipisi Baptist Church (David S. Harris), May 22nd, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Continuing Adventures of Kobus Viljoon
Hey! Hey! You guys! The roof is coming in! Come quick!
I hear the voice of 9 year old Michael Plodinec yelling across the house. It’s early April in Polokwane South Africa and a huge storm is blowing across Limpopo- perhaps one of the most intense I’ve seen. I run into the family room. Water pours down from the ceiling onto the family piano and all over the floor. Quickly the piano is moved and containers are placed to catch the dripping water. The three of us (Timothy, Daniel, and I) stand looking at the ceiling. Almost concurrently we come to a realization- when the rain is past; we won’t be able to see where the water is flowing into the roof. In an instant the three of us strip off our shirts and run outside into the storm. I run to the other side of the house and climb up on the garage to get on the roof. I’ve been outside about 10 seconds, and any previous dryness on my person has now long been saturated. I run across the roof carefully- making sure I have sure footing on each step. A flash of light and cracking sound burst almost concurrently. I instantly look for cover- there isn’t any up on a roof, so I continue on. I arrive to the place on the roof where the rain is leaking in.“I don’t see anything!” I yell above the cracking thunder and deafening sound of the pouring rain.
“It’s should be right there!” Timothy yells back.
I can’t find anything. I climb over to the lapa and slide down. I step inside the door- shivering. TIA (This Is Africa) I think.
As I write this I’ve been on this continent for 83 days-in 83 days you can figure out if you love or hate somewhere.
I love it.
Is it the people? The land? The activity? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s just the feeling one gets when walking down the road with the African sunset in the distance- and thinking (as a Yankee), “I live in AFRICA.” (It may just be the lower price of meat actually…).
As previously mentioned, people are the same everywhere- they lie, cheat, steal, murder, etc, etc. More importantly, most of them stand condemned before a righteous, just, and holy God. However, as stated by some of the missionaries, there IS a difference between talking to a person in the states who considers themselves a “good” person, and talking to a Shangaan who may or may not have ever even heard the name of Christ Jesus. That is the purpose of missions. To make His name known among the nations- and not only to make His name known, but His Word as well through the discipleship of church leaders.
It’s been almost a month since my last update. Although I’ve been almost constantly busy the last few weeks, I’ve found an hour, so here goes:
I must begin by telling of a sin of mine.
The weekend after my second Mozambique trip went quickly- very quickly. Saturday was “Golf Day”- the annual fundraiser for Samaria Mission. I caddied for Gabriel Pretorias (officially my mentor while I’m here). He complained about the game (the game of golf in general). I laughed mostly. I found two lizards on the course and stuck them on top of my hat- one eventually fell off, but the other stayed on the whole day. At the end of day I gave them away to John Pretorias- a young Afrikaans boy. He promised to take good care of “dinosaur” as he named it.
Ok, now to my sin. Sunday went by quickly- I ended up at the Beaklys house that night. A Peace Corps worker who stays with the Beaklys on weekends was making plans that night to pick up her friend from the airport in Johannesburg the next day. She planned to do so utilizing taxis and busses and overnight backpackers. Evan Smith (a good friend of mine who lives with the Beaklys) and I came up with an idea. “Why don’t we just drive you down to Jo’burg, we’ll overnight with a family the Beaklys know, and come back on Tuesday?” Then we got another idea. What if we created Afrikaaner personas and introduced ourselves to our “friend’s friend” as such? We started to scheme.
The rest of the week was quite nice. Wednesday and Thursday I worked at the mission farm with both Joseph and William. Friday myself and several friends traveled east to Hanaertsburg and Debingeni falls. It was absolutely gorgeous. The water was cool and clear, and the scenery was spectacular (www.youtube.com/davidthebravid for a video).
The same day, William Vaughn called me at 8:30. “Listen David, the family and I are going out of town for a week; would you want to watch the place?” I instantly agreed. I had one full week as a “bachelor”. My own house, car, and dog. While it got a tad old at times, it was so nice to have some alone and quiet study/reading/meditating time. The car I was entrusted with was a Nissan from the early 90s… and the brakes stopped working midweek. I am now quite good at downshifting and using a parking brake to stop myself.On Sunday, Johan Pretorias greeted me at church. He asked if I remembered the lizard that I had given to his son. I affirmed. He then proceeded to tell me how he had looked into it's species- turned out it was an endangered species that kept a 22,000 rand fine for "removing from its environment". Thank goodness he had released it.
The past two weeks have been spent doing various maintenances at the Mission Farm- checking camping equipment and this week working on trucks.
I’ve learned much. I have yet much to learn.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Into the Bush Once More (An Update on the Past Several Weeks)
I have returned once again. First an update on the last few weeks.
In the days closer to my arrival here in South Africa, I was worried about the amount of activity and work here (that there was not a sufficient amount to keep myself busy with). My concern has been proven misplaced. The last several weeks I've been assigned to Sean Mullin and Gabriel Pretorias. They are two great Samaria missionaries who I've learned much from, and have been privileged to work with. We spent two weeks doing work on a drilling rig which we planned on taking 90 km into Mozambique to to drill a well. Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we could not get it ready in time as it still had much work that needed to be done (which we observed when we finally got if fired up). We had other duties to perform at Xchicambane, Mozambique, so we left on Monday morning with the others (Joseph, William, Mark, Kenneth, Derrick, Member). We needed to put in an electric pump, and deliver all the
orphan food to the various villages, while Joseph, Derrick, William, Mark, and Kenneth did the pastoral training (for pastors from the various villages along the Limpopo). I was picked up by Sean on Sunday at 3. We spent the afternoon loading up all the various gear we needed for the trip. At about 6 we were finished and retired to the house. I had heard much at about Aunt Gena's ginger beer, and was offered a glass finally. I readily accepted, though the container looked a bit inflated (see picture).
It had quite a bite to it, and I sat down on the couch and was watching television. A few minutes later I felt like I had put on about 100 kg. I asked for another glass. Aunt Gena said that I had to get off the couch and take a shower before I could have any more. I sat there for 2 & 1/2 hours (I tell this as an informative account of an American's attempt to immerse himself in South African culture). I finally did get off the couch and took a shower, and then went to bed.
At 5:10, there was a knock on the bedroom door. I quickly got dressed and went out to finish with the last minute packings, and had a cup of tea before hitting the road (I've become quite fond of South African tea). It was about three-four hours before getting the Punda Maria gate (Kruger National Park). Upon arising the weather was quite pleasant and we hoped for it to continue into Mozambique. Upon our arrival into Kruger, we knew it wasn't going to be. After about an hour and a half, we arrived at the Pafuri gate (Mozambique/SA border).
Sean remarked as we entered into Mozambique how it was one of the easiest borders to enter into (and as an former pilot who's flown all over Africa, he would know). We got out of our trucks. It was hot. Very hot. All of our shirts were drenched with sweat as we waited to be processed. It took about 20 minutes, and we were back on our way to Umbuzi. We arrived after about a half hour of driving, and left Mark, William, Member, and Derrick to set up for their stay. I stood by. Joseph looked at me and said: "You say you want to start driving here? Pull my bucky up to that tree." So I did. It was only a few meters, but I was happy to get behind the wheel of any vehicle, as I hadn't in almost 2 months.
Once again we were on our way again to Xchicambane (a good 60 km from Umbuzi). The trip was relatively uneventful. Because it hadn't rained in a long time, there were no epic puddles to cross through as there had been previously. Not having a working ipod attachment, Sean and I listened to his ipod using a headphone splitter (Journey, Foreigner, and ELO). Somewhere near Matselalie (a good 40 km from Umbuzi), a lizard ran across the road. I almost yelled "is that a dinosaur?!?!", but I was too speechless to say anything. It must have been half a foot high and a meter long!
We arrived at Xchicambane at around 5:30, and after setting up camp got to work on putting the electric pump in so we'd have water (Xchicambane was once a sort of "base" for Samaria, and has there a church, kitchen, storeroom, two showers, and two bathrooms). It took several hours, and we finished around 7:30. While standing at the pump, a number of locals came around us. One of them started to speak Afrikaans, but I didn't realize it (Afrikaans, Shangaan, it's all foreign to me). After dinner we put some finishing touches on the pump and turned it on, we were able to shower and collect water from underground. I took a nice cool shower, and drifted off to sleep.
Next morning, I woke up at about 7, and headed to the kitchen for morning tea and rusks (think hard sweet biscuits). Sean came in and started going through the kitchen action packer. He grumbled that the inventory wasn't correct. Joseph came up and asked: "Do any of your action packers have Vaughn on them?". "Of course not!", Sean replied. "Then we have the other guy's food", Joseph retorted. Thus began the long trip back to Umbuzi to deliver the other guy's food to them. I climbed in the landy. Sean said: "You better put that seat belt on". I did. The trip usually takes 2 to 3 hours (depending on road condition). It was 7:30, and it was our goal to get to Umbuzi by 9, which was tea time. I'm not sure if I've had a more exciting ride. Six Flags has nothing on blazing through the Mozambique countryside. At one point, about 9 baboons ran across the road. It looked like we ran over one, but he made it by a hair.
We arrived at Umbuzi at 9:10. They were very happy to see us.
We got back to Xchicambane at around noontime. We ate some pap and soya with the other leaders. I was feeling extraordinarily tired, and went into my tent to lay down. As I have previously mentioned, it was HOT. I woke up two hours later and my sleeping bag was drenched with sweat. The rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventful. I read some, chatted some. One of the villagers brought some nuts over (don't remember the name; they were like no nut I've ever tasted). I started to chow down when Joseph said: "You know, those are only for married guys."
I gave him a confused look.
"What?"
Joseph is married. He likes being married. A lot. He likes to give me a hard time. I didn't eat anymore nuts for a while (after some more questioning, he said that's what they say to make sure THEY get all the nuts). I laughed.
Kenneth is also married (everybody here is except me). He said (after we had been sitting for a few hours): "Well Mistah David, why don't we take a walk down to the river." We walked the 2 km down as the sun was setting. I told him about my Dutchess years, and how much I had hated them at first, but was planning on returning once more, and the ministry I was planning on being involved with. We didn't quite make it to the river because it was getting to dark.
Back at camp we had some curry and rice, perfectly complimented with cool cokes. We discussed theology for several hours before turning in. I mostly listened.
We arose at 6 on Wednesday morning. Joseph and Kenneth returned to teaching, and Sean and I straightened out the orphan food and then broke camp. It was hot humid. Waiting for them to finish up the training, we sat under the large lapa outside. The children from the school had been invited to take part in lunch (more pap and soya). I showed them all the pictures on my ipod, then showed them Tetris, then played music for them. Sean had a greater. A camera. He took pictures and showed them themselves. It was time to pull out the artillery. I grabbed my videocamera and showed them video of themselves.
We left Xchicambane around 2 and headed back to Umbuzi, arriving around 4. Sean, Joseph, and I set up camp while Kenneth started a fire to brai with. Oh was it good. Close to the best brai I've had since arriving. Chicken, vors, and potatoes. Around 8 different villagers started to drift over to the church building (four wood poles and a 75% completed grass roof). I was walking in from the latrine when Joseph said something to me: "David, they are waiting for you to preach".
"Say what?"
"They are waiting for you to preach."
"What do they want me to preach on?" (my heart had found itself up to my throat)
"Usually salvation or how to live a proper Christian life."
*gulp* "Well, I could do one on Galatians 5."
Kenneth arose and went over. "You know they're going hand it over to you if you go over there." Joseph told him. "I know it."
Needless to say, I didn't preach that night, but Joseph said "Next time I'm going to get you ready to preach.", so as of now, next time we're at Umbuzi (May), I'm preaching!
We sat slightly outside of camp (Joseph and I) and discussed many things. Kenneth and Sean came over, and the conversation turned once again to matters of theology.
Sleep eluded me to a degree Wednesday night as I had a pounding headache that was waking me up, but at 6 the next morning we completed our morning duties and made our way back to Pietersburg (I arrived back at 12:30).
Once again I've made my way into the bush!
I've learned much since arriving, and every Moz. trip I learn even more (even if it's just how much I don't know).
Missions can be incredibly frustrating and discouraging. When you spend weeks working on something that ultimately doesn't pan out, it's only more so. However, it's those times when we realize if we ARE actually willing to step out in faith and be used by God, even if circumstances are difficult and/or discouraging.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.- Colossians 3:23
In the days closer to my arrival here in South Africa, I was worried about the amount of activity and work here (that there was not a sufficient amount to keep myself busy with). My concern has been proven misplaced. The last several weeks I've been assigned to Sean Mullin and Gabriel Pretorias. They are two great Samaria missionaries who I've learned much from, and have been privileged to work with. We spent two weeks doing work on a drilling rig which we planned on taking 90 km into Mozambique to to drill a well. Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we could not get it ready in time as it still had much work that needed to be done (which we observed when we finally got if fired up). We had other duties to perform at Xchicambane, Mozambique, so we left on Monday morning with the others (Joseph, William, Mark, Kenneth, Derrick, Member). We needed to put in an electric pump, and deliver all the
It had quite a bite to it, and I sat down on the couch and was watching television. A few minutes later I felt like I had put on about 100 kg. I asked for another glass. Aunt Gena said that I had to get off the couch and take a shower before I could have any more. I sat there for 2 & 1/2 hours (I tell this as an informative account of an American's attempt to immerse himself in South African culture). I finally did get off the couch and took a shower, and then went to bed.At 5:10, there was a knock on the bedroom door. I quickly got dressed and went out to finish with the last minute packings, and had a cup of tea before hitting the road (I've become quite fond of South African tea). It was about three-four hours before getting the Punda Maria gate (Kruger National Park). Upon arising the weather was quite pleasant and we hoped for it to continue into Mozambique. Upon our arrival into Kruger, we knew it wasn't going to be. After about an hour and a half, we arrived at the Pafuri gate (Mozambique/SA border).
Once again we were on our way again to Xchicambane (a good 60 km from Umbuzi). The trip was relatively uneventful. Because it hadn't rained in a long time, there were no epic puddles to cross through as there had been previously. Not having a working ipod attachment, Sean and I listened to his ipod using a headphone splitter (Journey, Foreigner, and ELO). Somewhere near Matselalie (a good 40 km from Umbuzi), a lizard ran across the road. I almost yelled "is that a dinosaur?!?!", but I was too speechless to say anything. It must have been half a foot high and a meter long!
We arrived at Xchicambane at around 5:30, and after setting up camp got to work on putting the electric pump in so we'd have water (Xchicambane was once a sort of "base" for Samaria, and has there a church, kitchen, storeroom, two showers, and two bathrooms). It took several hours, and we finished around 7:30. While standing at the pump, a number of locals came around us. One of them started to speak Afrikaans, but I didn't realize it (Afrikaans, Shangaan, it's all foreign to me). After dinner we put some finishing touches on the pump and turned it on, we were able to shower and collect water from underground. I took a nice cool shower, and drifted off to sleep.
We arrived at Umbuzi at 9:10. They were very happy to see us.
We got back to Xchicambane at around noontime. We ate some pap and soya with the other leaders. I was feeling extraordinarily tired, and went into my tent to lay down. As I have previously mentioned, it was HOT. I woke up two hours later and my sleeping bag was drenched with sweat. The rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventful. I read some, chatted some. One of the villagers brought some nuts over (don't remember the name; they were like no nut I've ever tasted). I started to chow down when Joseph said: "You know, those are only for married guys."
I gave him a confused look.
"What?"
Joseph is married. He likes being married. A lot. He likes to give me a hard time. I didn't eat anymore nuts for a while (after some more questioning, he said that's what they say to make sure THEY get all the nuts). I laughed.
Kenneth is also married (everybody here is except me). He said (after we had been sitting for a few hours): "Well Mistah David, why don't we take a walk down to the river." We walked the 2 km down as the sun was setting. I told him about my Dutchess years, and how much I had hated them at first, but was planning on returning once more, and the ministry I was planning on being involved with. We didn't quite make it to the river because it was getting to dark.
Back at camp we had some curry and rice, perfectly complimented with cool cokes. We discussed theology for several hours before turning in. I mostly listened.
We left Xchicambane around 2 and headed back to Umbuzi, arriving around 4. Sean, Joseph, and I set up camp while Kenneth started a fire to brai with. Oh was it good. Close to the best brai I've had since arriving. Chicken, vors, and potatoes. Around 8 different villagers started to drift over to the church building (four wood poles and a 75% completed grass roof). I was walking in from the latrine when Joseph said something to me: "David, they are waiting for you to preach".
"Say what?"
"They are waiting for you to preach."
"What do they want me to preach on?" (my heart had found itself up to my throat)
"Usually salvation or how to live a proper Christian life."
*gulp* "Well, I could do one on Galatians 5."
Kenneth arose and went over. "You know they're going hand it over to you if you go over there." Joseph told him. "I know it."
Needless to say, I didn't preach that night, but Joseph said "Next time I'm going to get you ready to preach.", so as of now, next time we're at Umbuzi (May), I'm preaching!
We sat slightly outside of camp (Joseph and I) and discussed many things. Kenneth and Sean came over, and the conversation turned once again to matters of theology.
Sleep eluded me to a degree Wednesday night as I had a pounding headache that was waking me up, but at 6 the next morning we completed our morning duties and made our way back to Pietersburg (I arrived back at 12:30).
Once again I've made my way into the bush!
Missions can be incredibly frustrating and discouraging. When you spend weeks working on something that ultimately doesn't pan out, it's only more so. However, it's those times when we realize if we ARE actually willing to step out in faith and be used by God, even if circumstances are difficult and/or discouraging.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.- Colossians 3:23
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Dark Continent
Africa has been labeled as the "Dark Continent". I'd like to make a suggestion. Howa'bout we just say "The Dark World."
It's true. Africa often experiences a greater depth of human tragedy when compared to other places on our planet, but at the heart of it, while living here is different, it's the similarities that are more startling.
People are the same. Everywhere. That's why the gospel needs simply to be proclaimed with the only difference being a change in language among cultures. The heart still is as black as death unless God does a work in it- the heart of a New Yorker or a South African.
I know, I know. Why go to South Africa when you can do ministry in NY?
While people are the same everywhere, being in the Dark Continent provides what being stateside does not.
Experience. Education. Perspective.
The opportunities are more than golden... they're like... silicon (there's a big silicon mine a few K's away).
Bottom line. The Dark Continent doesn't need "safe-sex" education. It doesn't need teams of immature teenagers in "Jesus" t-shirts taking pictures playing soccer with orphans.
The Dark Continent needs the gospel of Christ Jesus-and not a one time deal that gives a "get out of a jail free card", but a faith that results in a worldview that completely and totally saturates every single life philosophy and decision. Faith only comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God.
It is the only way to bring light to the Dark Continent.
It is the only way to bring light to the World.
It's true. Africa often experiences a greater depth of human tragedy when compared to other places on our planet, but at the heart of it, while living here is different, it's the similarities that are more startling.
People are the same. Everywhere. That's why the gospel needs simply to be proclaimed with the only difference being a change in language among cultures. The heart still is as black as death unless God does a work in it- the heart of a New Yorker or a South African.
I know, I know. Why go to South Africa when you can do ministry in NY?
While people are the same everywhere, being in the Dark Continent provides what being stateside does not.
Experience. Education. Perspective.
The opportunities are more than golden... they're like... silicon (there's a big silicon mine a few K's away).
Bottom line. The Dark Continent doesn't need "safe-sex" education. It doesn't need teams of immature teenagers in "Jesus" t-shirts taking pictures playing soccer with orphans.The Dark Continent needs the gospel of Christ Jesus-and not a one time deal that gives a "get out of a jail free card", but a faith that results in a worldview that completely and totally saturates every single life philosophy and decision. Faith only comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God.
It is the only way to bring light to the Dark Continent.
It is the only way to bring light to the World.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sample Exposition
This is my second exposition for Expository Preaching 110 here at Christ Seminary, Polokwane South Africa. It's just to give you a taste of what I've been up to of late. (NOTE: T/A means: Talking about, U/Q means: Unasked Question)
Preparing for Temptation
1 Corinthians 10:13 Exposition David Harris February 17, 2011
How to deal with Temptation
A. Dominant Part: Temptation
T/A? Enduring Temptation.
U/Q? How to avoid falling into temptation.
B. Developing Part
How does the text answer the unasked question?
1. Prepare for the temptation by knowing that it is to be expected.
2. Look for the way of escape that God provides.
Proposition Statement: Three ways to Endure Temptation
Body:
Introduction
Oscar Wilde once said: “The easiest way to deal with temptation is to give into it”. This is quite a contrast from what we find in 1 Corinthians 10:13; “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Still yet, yielding to temptation is so often one of the most defining issue in the lives of Christians. It is obvious from this passage that God does not want us to yield into temptation (which would be sin), but wants us to instead to place our faith in Him to see us through the temptation. So what ways does God prescribe for us so that we may escape temptation?
Preparing for Temptation The first antidote given in this passage to keep the Christian from yielding to temptation is to expect it. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” This is an all encompassing statement. It leaves nothing out to its readers. The intent is to communicate that all temptations have been experienced by man, so like the preacher in Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun”. While second naturedly analyzing this statement, it may not occur as something all that monumental, but once in the throes of temptation it may be hard to believe that there is no area of temptation that hasn’t been previously experienced, overcome, or given into. It is important to remember that the same God who “does not cause anyone to be tempted” is also the God spoken about here who “provides the way of escape” (which we’ll look at later).
To know that temptation is to be expected is important to the Christian in the same way it is important for a general controlling an army to know and expect the enemy army to attack him and his army. The threat is the impending doom that a victory by the enemy army will bring imprisonment, tyranny, and death. In the same way, we see in James 1 this displayed in a parallel way: “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and when it is fully grown gives birth to death.” Temptation is the first in a chain reaction that leads to sin, and then eventually leads to death- just as the victory by the enemy army eventually results in death. We see thus that it is extremely critical in dealing with temptation to know that it is to be expected and we can prepare to face it when it comes.
Motivation to Resist
Thinking about Oscar Wilde’s statement, we see the perspective of one who is not in Christ. Without Christ, any motivations to resist yielding into temptation eventually all prove futile. The next sentence in verse 13 gives the motivation for the Christian to resist temptation. “God is faithful”; this motivation comes back to Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross, and His will for us to be sanctified (1 Peter 1:2). Within His faithfulness we find that He “will not allow you (us) to be tempted above your ability”. Knowing that God, in His faithfulness, will never allow any temptation to befall us that we cannot handle, we can also be more aptly prepared to deal with temptation on its arrival.
The Way of Escape
While the mid-section of this verse gives us our proper motivation for fighting off temptation, the final section gives us our other antidote to use when we encounter temptation. Just as the first section gave us“foreknowledge” to expect temptation, and therefore be ready for when it comes, the final section of the verse instructs us on what action we are to take once the temptation has come.
Throughout history, people in other in pagan worldviews have arrived at countless ways to combat temptation to sin (or what their worldview deems as sin). Some even have gone to constructing towers where they would reside “away” from earthly desires, and thus become more holy. However, the Christian worldview acknowledges that man in and of himself cannot achieve anything close to the holiness of God (“All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags before Him”, Jeremiah 64:4), and even if one only errs at one point of the law, he is still guilty of breaking the whole of the law (James 2:10). Also, we know from 1 John 1:8 that if “We say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”. Thus we see that a Christian will never totally be rid of sin in his earthy life. With this in mind, we do not need to sink into the “slough of despond” when we sin, but confess our sins because “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Since we are to live in expectation of temptation, and also that we will stumble, then we need a surefire plan of action once we are “looking in the eye” of temptation. We find the plan of action presented in 1 Corinthians 10:13 to be one of profound simplicity. “But with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” So far we see that according to His faithfulness, God will not allow any temptation to befall us that we cannot handle. Here we see that God also provides a way out of every temptation that comes upon us. So often Christians think of themselves as “super Christians” that can handle any temptation that comes and still not fall. However, here we see that it is God’s will that we not remain “in the same zip code” as the temptation, but escape it altogether. We see this principle in action in 1 Timothy 6:11: “But as for you man of God, flee these things (false doctrines, the love of money, etc.)” and 2 Timothy 2:22: “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” The only battle plan presented here is a retreat, because the man of God knows where he is most likely to be tempted, and most likely to fall. God wills not that we attempt to “tough out” temptation, but we escape the temptation without once looking back (as the wife of Lot did in Genesis 19).: Proverbs 1:10-17 is a father giving wisdom to his son concerning the temptation to sin with others: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.”(KJV) Notice there is no confrontation between the tempters and the tempted; instead the tempted is advised to simply “refrain thy foot from their path”. Consider Eve in the Garden of Eden who fell to the tempting of the Serpent. Instead of simply fleeing, she conversed with the Serpent until he convinced her that God had withheld some good from her husband and herself. She gave in, and then Adam, following in her footsteps, also gave into the temptation and neglected to flee. We now live with the consequences of the first human temptation to be given into. We should think of temptation as a deadly and terribly contagious disease that will bring almost instantaneous death if contracted.
Conclusion
Since we have so clear a battle plan for fighting temptation laid out for us in 1 Corinthians 10, we ought to use it! By utilizing the foreknowledge shown to us that temptation will come, and thus prepare for it, and by looking for the way of escape once the temptation is present. Whatever the temptation to sin may be, it is included in these verses- lust for money, sexual desire, temptation to steal, covet, murder, lie, or even bow down to false gods. To the tempted, it may be hard to believe that their temptation can even be overcome, but we see clearly in this text that God is faithful to those who trust in Him. I therefore challenge you to trust in your Savior and Redeemer by utilizing the tools he lays out for you in 1 Corinthians 10:13 by preparing for temptation, and fleeing away toward the way of escape as if your life depended on it, because it does.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Africa Update: Into the Bush
Today marks the end of my second week here in Africa. A week ago today, things took an interesting turn of events that I didn't foresee at all. I had been looking forward to going into Mozambique on Monday for the whole previous week- excitement, adventure, purpose! However, a week ago today, I went alone to the Savannah mall (about a kilo and a half away from where I stay), and decided to jog there- hadn't done any since I had arrived. I was having a lovely jog- beautiful day, perfect temp..., just lovely. When all of a sudden, it happened. I tripped over myself in a pothole. My foot practically when perpendicular to my leg, and a unbearable stinging, sharp pain filled my ankle for a few seconds, as I started to hobble, stumble, and trip along the road. Eish. I thought for a second. "This is NOT good". I made my way back to CBC (for "Burger Bash") and stumbled in to tune up my mandolin for the music practice. "This ISN'T good" I kept thinking. My biggest fear was not going into Mozambique on monday. The music and youth group went by, and I jammed with some others after it, and then Phil (a student) drove me back to the Plodinecs. I was trying to remain positive as I drifted off to sleep, hopeing and praying that everything would work out and I could still go. Then the morning came.
Slowly I lifted myself out of bed and put my feet on the ground. I gradually rose to put weight on my left foot, praying that it would be better. Nope. The pain made me lose balance and fall back onto the bed. Eish. Mr. Plodinec drove me to a sports store to get a brace for my foot. That day we were supposed to clean up the yard area, but I sat in bed... and tried not to mope.
The pain was rather fierce that day, but Sunday I saw Doctor Mark-a doctor for the missionaries. He asked me: "Do you want to be a football (soccer) player?
"No, not really", I returned;
"OK, then go to Mozambique."
I got various warnings from others, but Monday morning, I was riding in a buggy to the Mozambique border (loaded up on pain meds). I talked most of the way with William Vaughn, the director of Samaria Mission. We arrived in Xicambane (after dropping off another team in Umbuzi). Xicambane is 90 kilos into Mozambique- a three hour drive with the condition of the roads. About 40 kilos from Xicambane, we made a quick stop in Matselali- the village I spent two weeks in back in 2009. I wondered if anyone would remecocnice member me.
We pulled up and saw chief Robert, a kindly middle aged man who was also the pastor of Matselali Baptist Church. Then we saw Daniel- and Uncle William said: "EY!!" (sorry, inside joke for those who there there in 2009)
Then I saw them. The NINOS. There were a group of about four or five who followed me around everywhere back in '09. They didn't remember me- but I sure remembered them. I had a Tsonga/English dictionary in my hands, and I was trying out different phrases and words on them- then I "guitarra"; Portaguesee for: guitar. Then I thought it, and the the word came out of my mouth: "banjo". I made a strumming motion with my hands. Suddenly, one of the kids (Ave, I remembered his name because it was easy, and he's the one on the left in the picture) rose to his feet; his eyes became large, and he shouted out: "DaVEED!" then several more chimed in, they remembered. I was beaming.
We arrived at Chicambane at a quarter of six- the electric well pump was broken, so we'd have to pump it ourselves manually- my job. We (myself and an Afrikaaner boy named Joel) about half full when it happend again. I was carrying a bucket of water to the drum, and I tripped yet again on my bad ankle. Pain shot through my foot and I grimaced, but kept on working. I wasn't too happy that night. The day had been good, but my thoughts were on the increasing pain in my ankle, and the possibility of malaria. Nevertheless, I slept well, and awoke the next morning to the sound of Afrikaans and Tsonga. It came upon me that for the first time in my life, I was among people of another continent- and I was the ONLY American. It was frustrating at times over the next few days because at certain points, all the whites would be speaking Afrikaans, and the blacks speaking Tsonga- and me... well, I know Spanish, and that's similar to Portaguesee- which the speak in Mozambique... so lost basically. Tuesday was an interesting day. I spent most all the day as an observer- studying and taking note of how everything worked. There were 7 of us; two translators, Joseph and Kenneth, Uncle William, and three Afrikaners who were along for the ride (oh, and me). Our purpose for being in Mozambique was to train pastors- specifically from the book of Acts. I sat in on the teaching; it was very hot in the church, and it was in Tsonga- so I didn't pickup much. We shared a traditional Mozambican meal with the deacons and pastors (pop with a curry sauce, eaten by hand), then there was more teaching, but I spent the next segment getting to know my Afrikaner companions (we discussed South Africa, America, theology, and Mandela mostly). My ankle was feeling surprisingly better that evening- so I decided to accompany some of the men on a 10 kilo walk (remember, 1 kilo is 2.2 miles). I was thinking as I walked away from camp: "eish, this probably isn't such a good idea". It was very nice. Mozambique is beautiful in the summertime, especially during sunset. We walked to the flooded Limpopo river, and then returned for some chow, took some very quick showers, and went off to bed.
Wednesday came. And an awkward situation with it. It turned out during the night, a man in the village had died... and now was being buried. The deacons/pastors said that they could no longer commit to the training session, and needed to to take the day off, which meant we could go home if we wanted to- but there was a problem: we were already outsiders coming in to "put" our own beliefs on them. How would it look if we simply took off and left after a death? Kenneth traveled to the burial sight to see if we could help with anything- he had already been buried. We packed up and left at about 1, hoping to make the border before 4 (when it closes down). We made it to Umbuzi where the other team was, but they hadn't packed up, so we had to make camp there and wait until morning to get back to SA. We had a great evening though- we braied (that's barbecue to my American friends) and swapped jokes and theological thoughts.
Thursday morning we all packed up and headed out back to SA. We experienced some minor car trouble, but it appeared to be only some mud caked around the tire that was causing undo friction upon the vehicle. We arrived back in Pietersburg at 2:30, and my ankle (as it is as I write this) was feeling miraculously better.
Several things I've learned:
1. I already knew this, but: "Man plans his way, God directs his steps"
2. If you ever need to kill time waiting for a burial, collecting over one hundred 4 inch crickets (or, demon bugs, because they bite) is a great way to do it.
3. Humanitarian work without the Gospel is in vain and useless.
4. Someone outside the culture of a particular group will always be an outsider- which is why godly men from WITHIN the culture are so important to have in this type of ministry.
5. You can overcome language barriers- you have to.
We head in again in 6 weeks, and I am excited to see what unforeseen plans God will have for us. I was bit by mosquitoes 7 or 8 times- I was taking some medication, but it only reduces the chances of getting malaria; I really hope I don't, one of the guys on our team has gotten it 4 times, and apparently it's not too nice.
Slowly I lifted myself out of bed and put my feet on the ground. I gradually rose to put weight on my left foot, praying that it would be better. Nope. The pain made me lose balance and fall back onto the bed. Eish. Mr. Plodinec drove me to a sports store to get a brace for my foot. That day we were supposed to clean up the yard area, but I sat in bed... and tried not to mope.
The pain was rather fierce that day, but Sunday I saw Doctor Mark-a doctor for the missionaries. He asked me: "Do you want to be a football (soccer) player?
"No, not really", I returned;
"OK, then go to Mozambique."
I got various warnings from others, but Monday morning, I was riding in a buggy to the Mozambique border (loaded up on pain meds). I talked most of the way with William Vaughn, the director of Samaria Mission. We arrived in Xicambane (after dropping off another team in Umbuzi). Xicambane is 90 kilos into Mozambique- a three hour drive with the condition of the roads. About 40 kilos from Xicambane, we made a quick stop in Matselali- the village I spent two weeks in back in 2009. I wondered if anyone would remecocnice member me.
We pulled up and saw chief Robert, a kindly middle aged man who was also the pastor of Matselali Baptist Church. Then we saw Daniel- and Uncle William said: "EY!!" (sorry, inside joke for those who there there in 2009)
Then I saw them. The NINOS. There were a group of about four or five who followed me around everywhere back in '09. They didn't remember me- but I sure remembered them. I had a Tsonga/English dictionary in my hands, and I was trying out different phrases and words on them- then I "guitarra"; Portaguesee for: guitar. Then I thought it, and the the word came out of my mouth: "banjo". I made a strumming motion with my hands. Suddenly, one of the kids (Ave, I remembered his name because it was easy, and he's the one on the left in the picture) rose to his feet; his eyes became large, and he shouted out: "DaVEED!" then several more chimed in, they remembered. I was beaming.We arrived at Chicambane at a quarter of six- the electric well pump was broken, so we'd have to pump it ourselves manually- my job. We (myself and an Afrikaaner boy named Joel) about half full when it happend again. I was carrying a bucket of water to the drum, and I tripped yet again on my bad ankle. Pain shot through my foot and I grimaced, but kept on working. I wasn't too happy that night. The day had been good, but my thoughts were on the increasing pain in my ankle, and the possibility of malaria. Nevertheless, I slept well, and awoke the next morning to the sound of Afrikaans and Tsonga. It came upon me that for the first time in my life, I was among people of another continent- and I was the ONLY American. It was frustrating at times over the next few days because at certain points, all the whites would be speaking Afrikaans, and the blacks speaking Tsonga- and me... well, I know Spanish, and that's similar to Portaguesee- which the speak in Mozambique... so lost basically. Tuesday was an interesting day. I spent most all the day as an observer- studying and taking note of how everything worked. There were 7 of us; two translators, Joseph and Kenneth, Uncle William, and three Afrikaners who were along for the ride (oh, and me). Our purpose for being in Mozambique was to train pastors- specifically from the book of Acts. I sat in on the teaching; it was very hot in the church, and it was in Tsonga- so I didn't pickup much. We shared a traditional Mozambican meal with the deacons and pastors (pop with a curry sauce, eaten by hand), then there was more teaching, but I spent the next segment getting to know my Afrikaner companions (we discussed South Africa, America, theology, and Mandela mostly). My ankle was feeling surprisingly better that evening- so I decided to accompany some of the men on a 10 kilo walk (remember, 1 kilo is 2.2 miles). I was thinking as I walked away from camp: "eish, this probably isn't such a good idea". It was very nice. Mozambique is beautiful in the summertime, especially during sunset. We walked to the flooded Limpopo river, and then returned for some chow, took some very quick showers, and went off to bed.
Wednesday came. And an awkward situation with it. It turned out during the night, a man in the village had died... and now was being buried. The deacons/pastors said that they could no longer commit to the training session, and needed to to take the day off, which meant we could go home if we wanted to- but there was a problem: we were already outsiders coming in to "put" our own beliefs on them. How would it look if we simply took off and left after a death? Kenneth traveled to the burial sight to see if we could help with anything- he had already been buried. We packed up and left at about 1, hoping to make the border before 4 (when it closes down). We made it to Umbuzi where the other team was, but they hadn't packed up, so we had to make camp there and wait until morning to get back to SA. We had a great evening though- we braied (that's barbecue to my American friends) and swapped jokes and theological thoughts.Thursday morning we all packed up and headed out back to SA. We experienced some minor car trouble, but it appeared to be only some mud caked around the tire that was causing undo friction upon the vehicle. We arrived back in Pietersburg at 2:30, and my ankle (as it is as I write this) was feeling miraculously better.
Several things I've learned:
1. I already knew this, but: "Man plans his way, God directs his steps"
2. If you ever need to kill time waiting for a burial, collecting over one hundred 4 inch crickets (or, demon bugs, because they bite) is a great way to do it.
3. Humanitarian work without the Gospel is in vain and useless.
4. Someone outside the culture of a particular group will always be an outsider- which is why godly men from WITHIN the culture are so important to have in this type of ministry.
5. You can overcome language barriers- you have to.
We head in again in 6 weeks, and I am excited to see what unforeseen plans God will have for us. I was bit by mosquitoes 7 or 8 times- I was taking some medication, but it only reduces the chances of getting malaria; I really hope I don't, one of the guys on our team has gotten it 4 times, and apparently it's not too nice.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Africa Update
Friday, January 14, 2011
Flying
On our way, driving quite fast,Oh!-but how many cars we pass,
We've got to get there in the next hour-
But we know that things are out of our power
In an hour I need to be flying,
Or to home I will sit driving;
Not much time left, but I think we'll just make it
Don't drive to fast, or we may get a ticket;
"Wait!- but what's that way up ahead"
"it's a traffic jam", my brother said;
The red lights blink, and my heart sinks.
"You plan and you try, and you try and you plan, and then you hit a traffic jam."
- Last quote coined by Scott Harris on January the 13th, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Youth: Problems and Solutions
I had been working on this sermon for about 6 months, and finally got it together to preach on January 2nd, 2010.
I’ve chosen to speak on a topical issue this morning instead of exegeting a passage. I have done this for two reasons. For one, it is more of a challenge as if often requires a greater amount of scriptural locations to gain a full view of the topic. Two, and most important, it’s been something on my heart for quite some time. I’d like to speak on the topic of youth; and by the topic of youth I don’t mean what it means to be a youth, or the origin of the word (though I will cover those), but I’d like to speak on a grander scale on some frightening trends I’ve noticed among youth groups, peers, and the general spiritual state of young people. I’d like us to briefly look at a statistic. We’ll look at some more a little later, but this is just to introduce the type of problems the church is experiencing with its youth. 61% of today’s young adults who attended church during their teen years are now disengaged with the church, and uninvolved in the local body, praying, or even reading their Bibles (Barna). This means statistically speaking, the majority of teenagers in this sanctuary right now will not be attending church, praying, or reading the scriptures regularly when they leave home. Now I’m not saying this as a prophet of doom, I pray that this trend will be turned around, especially in this church, but I feel the need to at least cite this statistic as a warning of what is happening and what could come about in your own families.
Our Youth: Problems, Causes, and Solutions
David Harris, January 2nd, 2011
Grace Bible Church
Introduction:
Good morning. It is once again a great pleasure to be given the opportunity to speak to you all this morning. It’s a bittersweet day for me, as it is also my last Sunday here until the summer, as I leave for South Africa in 11 days. It is a great privilege to be able to speak here where I already know most everyone as opposed to where I will be shortly not having that close bond of fellowship that grows from years and years of knowing and serving with all of you here, so I count it a great privilege to be able to speak here on my last Sunday.
I’ve chosen to speak on a topical issue this morning instead of exegeting a passage. I have done this for two reasons. For one, it is more of a challenge as if often requires a greater amount of scriptural locations to gain a full view of the topic. Two, and most important, it’s been something on my heart for quite some time. I’d like to speak on the topic of youth; and by the topic of youth I don’t mean what it means to be a youth, or the origin of the word (though I will cover those), but I’d like to speak on a grander scale on some frightening trends I’ve noticed among youth groups, peers, and the general spiritual state of young people. I’d like us to briefly look at a statistic. We’ll look at some more a little later, but this is just to introduce the type of problems the church is experiencing with its youth. 61% of today’s young adults who attended church during their teen years are now disengaged with the church, and uninvolved in the local body, praying, or even reading their Bibles (Barna). This means statistically speaking, the majority of teenagers in this sanctuary right now will not be attending church, praying, or reading the scriptures regularly when they leave home. Now I’m not saying this as a prophet of doom, I pray that this trend will be turned around, especially in this church, but I feel the need to at least cite this statistic as a warning of what is happening and what could come about in your own families. Now before I proceed any farther, I’d like to define the word youth. I actually found several different definitions: The condition or quality of being young, an early period of development or existence, and the time of life between childhood and maturity. This third definition is the one that I am referring to this morning when I say the word “youth”. I’m referring to what our society defines as those transitioning between childhood and adulthood. The irony of this definition is that historically this defined age hasn’t existed. In most all pre-20th century cultures, there would be a rite of passage around the pre-teen years, then that child was considered and expected to be an adult. Unfortunately, we can think of far too many people today whom we may know that fit into this “in-between” stage although they might be in their 20s, 30s, or beyond. So not only junior high and high school would fit into this category, but also many college and post high school individuals as well.
Is There Anything New Under the Sun?
In light of that haunting statistic we just looked at, we would probably want to ask some questions as to why these things are occurring. Why are our youth leaving the church? Before we get there though we need to ask another question: is this a new problem, or is it just a manifestation of a problem that has always existed? Well, I would say yes and no, but mostly yes. While the “statistics” may have been more encouraging 100, 200 years ago, there has always been a problem that just manifests itself in different ways. The book of Ecclesiastes has a phrase threaded through its pages that says: “There is nothing new under the sun”. This is referring to the evil that the “preacher” experiences and hears of during his lifetime. So what is the root of the problem? Sinful man! Total depravity! Romans 5:12,19 says: “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned... by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners”. All humans in all history have been totally depraved and evil from birth: Psalm 51:5 says “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” There are no exceptions to this rule: Psalm 143:2 says: “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you”. We see here and so many other places in scripture that man is completely helpless and hopeless for choosing good in and of himself. It requires God to do a work in the heart of sinful man for that man to come to repentance and faith in Christ. All this to say is that the ultimate root of this problem and really any other problem like this one is the indwelling of sin within us. So let me just say now that although we will look at the failures of the church, parents, and society, according the Bible, ultimately the eternal responsibility rests on each person individually.
The Problems
So what exactly are these problems? We already looked at one statistic; let’s look at a few more: In 2002, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Family Life Council came to the conclusion that about 88% of youth are leaving the church. The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA found that 52% of college students reported frequent church attendance the year before they entered college but only 29% continued frequent church attendance by their junior year[i]. The Fuller Youth Institute's current data seems "to suggest that about 40-50% of students in youth groups struggle in their faith after graduation. "[ii] Another Barna statistic says “Although 2/3 of all teenagers say they know all the basic teachings... of the Christian faith, 2/3 reject the existence of Satan, 3/5 reject the existence of the Holy Spirit, and 1/2 believe that Jesus sinned....”[iii] There is no doubt that the way one believes affects how one acts, and in light of the previous statistics, these should be rather expected: The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the western world, where almost 1/3 of girls will become pregnant before the age of 20. 81% of these are to unmarried teens. While the number has decreased somewhat in recent years, almost 50% of highschoolers have reported to have been sexually active. The
2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance found that in 2005 16.9% of teens had seriously considered suicide that year. These are just a few of the rising trends in the US. We could also look at the spikes in school violence, drug use, alcohol use, pornography use, college dropouts, etc., but the facts are that we have a society that is swiftly drifting toward becoming like the one in Corinth. If this was Corinth- a godless city in the midst of a godless society, these would be totally understandable statistics. But this is a country in which just fewer than 80% consider themselves “Christian”, and over 50% consider themselves “Protestant”.
Now while we could talk about how to deal with these problems on a grand scale, I’d like to just focus on problems within the evangelical church. Many of these I’ve realized just based on personal experience and observance. The first I’d like to talk about is the disrespect for authority. This is something I think that we are all aware of very much as an increasing problem. I can see just in my short lifetime a recognizable shift in the behavior of youth in this area. While this might be understandable in the world, the same thing has happened in the church. We can think of many youths we know or know of who demonstrate this disrespectful and rebellious attitude the majority of the time. I know the parents here know what I’m talking about… I know mine do; they’ve had to deal with me! Proverbs 30:11 addresses this directly: “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.” Here we see yet again how these are age old problems.
Another problem is the increasing worldly cares of youth today. I’m thinking mostly of America, but churches in other parts of the world, including where I’ll be flying to next week are experiencing the same things. Here in America we live some of the most convenient and secure lives in the world- but we aren’t happy, and youth are demonstrating this dramatically. This is form CBS news: “A new study has found that five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues than youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era.”[iv] Why so much anxiety in depression in a time where all our needs are met and desires fulfilled? What are the concerns of youth today, even in the church? I can tell you what they are, they go something like this: Do I have everything I need? Do I have everything I want? Do I fit in with my peers? Am I unattractive? Am I abnormal? Am I healthy? Am I SURE that I’m healthy? Do I have what I need to be able to fit in with my peers? Do I have a girlfriend? Do I have a boyfriend? If not, then what’s wrong with me? Do people like me? Are my clothes hip enough? Do I stick out to much? Do I stick out to little? Is my family making me look weird? Am I smart enough? Am I tall enough? Am I short enough? Am I too fat? Am I too thin? Am I athletic enough? Am I happy? Am I satisfied? What do all those have in common? They’re all about one person. ME. Contrast that with the story of the two 19-year old Moravian missionaries who sold themselves into slavery so that they might reach the people on the island of St. Thomas. As they left and sailed away with their families crying, one of them said these words: “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!” I don’t think they were thinking too much of themselves as they sailed away, giving up their entire lives for the cause of Christ. These were two youth! Now I’m not saying that all brave young men need to do something like that, but it’s definitely a far cry from the selfishness of today. The Bible is certainly not silent on worldly cares: 1 Timothy 6:8 says: “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” That’s all we need! With nothing more than food and clothes, we can be totally content.
Possibly the greatest manifestation of these worldly cares is an increasing amount of worldliness. I’ve oft been shocked at the things that the youth in the church will watch; listen too, or read (myself included). Now I love movies. I love watching them, analyzing them, and making my own. I love music. I love listening to it, writing it, and playing it. I love books; reading them, talking about them. All of these things can be used in marvelous ways to encourage, exhort, evangelize, and edify, but so many of my peers seem to be totally unaware that these things can also be used as a trap. Our entertainment becomes our pleasure, and our pleasure becomes a quest for ourselves rather than for God. This isn’t just restricted to books, music, and films, but everything done for self-gratification. One of my favorite books is “Thoughts for Young Men” by J.C. Ryle. He wrote this work before the invention of ipods, dvds, or television, but his words nevertheless apply: “Youth is the time when our passions are strongest--and like unruly children, cry most loudly for indulgence. Youth is the time when we have generally our most health and strength: death seems far away, and to enjoy ourselves in this life seems to be everything. Youth is the time when most people have few earthly cares or anxieties to take up their attention. And all these things help to make young men think of nothing except pleasure. "I serve lusts and pleasures:" that is the true answer many a young man should give, if asked, "Who’s Servant are you?” Young men, time would not permit me to tell you all the fruits this love of pleasure produces, and all the ways in which it may do you harm. Why should I speak of carousing, partying, drinking, gambling, movie-going, dancing, and the like? There are few to be found who don't know something of these things by bitter experience. And these are only instances. All things that give a feeling of excitement for the time--all things that drown thought, and keep the mind in a constant whirl--all things that please the senses and delight the flesh--these are the sort of things that have mighty power at your time of life, and they owe their power to the love of pleasure. Be on your guard. Do not be like those of whom Paul speaks, "Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:4).” (Unquote)
This not only applies to young men. Notice he says “Youth is the time when most people have few earthly cares or anxieties to take up their attention.” But now anxiety and depression are at an all time high among youth here in the US. Could it be the wages of living for self-pleasure instead of the pleasure of God? He goes on after several biblical warnings: “Go and take your fill of earthly pleasures if you will--you will never find your heart satisfied with them. There will always be a voice within, crying, like the leech in Proverbs 30:15, "Give! Give!" There is an empty place there, which nothing but God can fill. You will find, as Solomon did by experience, that earthly pleasures are but a meaningless show--promising contentment but bringing a dissatisfaction of spirit--gold plated caskets, exquisite to look at on the outside, but full of ashes and corruption within. Be wise in your youth. Write the word "poison" on all earthly pleasures.” We find the haunting words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes who had given himself over to pleasure only to find it betrayed him in the end. All he was left to say was “Remember your creator in the days of your YOUTH”.
We could go over other problems, but I’d like now to look at the root of the problems. Of course we know what is the overall root problem, but there are several areas that are very critical to understand if we are to come up with any solutions to these problems.
The first root I’d like us to consider is that of false conversions. Being one of the most fundamental teachings of Christianity, it’s often hard to believe we struggle so much with this. What is a Christian? Is it someone who attends church? Someone who prays? Someone who reads the Bible? Of course not! Those are things that Christians do, but they are not what define a Christian. Unfortunately, many parents and churches make the mistake of assuming that they are dealing with youth who are actually Christians. Sometimes this is just because as a small child they “asked Jesus to come into their heart”, and after all their child still goes to church, may read the Bible, and may even pray. If they are true Christians, then why are 61% of them leaving the church, neglecting prayer, and neglecting the scripture? I would suggest that it may because that they were never saved to begin with. How does one become a Christian? Romans 10 says: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” 2 Peter says: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Throughout the Bible we find the two essentials for salvation: repentance and faith. Faith without repentance is useless because it makes no demonstration of a changed heart and mind. Repentance without faith is useless because there is no change in the heart. If either of these is missing, the conversion is false. I’ve personally seen many of my peers obtain false conversions-many times at youth outreaches. While there may be a profession, a prayer said, a habit changed; there is either no change in direction or no change in heart. Christ said in the book of Luke: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” A true Christian will have a changed life along with his/her changed heart. They must go hand in hand.
The second root problem I’d like to consider is unbiblical theology. As I said earlier, while ultimate responsibility rests on the individual, the operation of the church and family greatly effects the formation of the youth’s worldview. So the question is: Is the modern evangelical church being faithful in the accurate declaration of God’s word? Galatians 1:8 says: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” The problem of false conversions can be traced to unbiblical theology- here being a contrary gospel. 2 Peter talks all about this- it talks about false prophets and doctrines that will come and blind the church and her people. Sometimes these false doctrines are very subtle and easily missed.
The avenue that false doctrine takes is usually within the church, just as 2 Peter and 1 Timothy warn us. But has the church as a whole really been all that faithful in its responsibility to the youth in recent times? The place to start would be to ask “what is the church’s responsibility to its youth?” Well, what is the church’s responsibility period? This is a question that often popped up in my mind growing up. I would be sitting listening to the sermon or singing a hymn and I’d think to myself: “What’s the point of this to begin with? I mean, can’t we be Christians without a church?” This comes back to the fundamental purpose of the church. Much of what we know about the purpose of the church comes from the example of the early church. It was started after Jesus’ ascension as a body of believers committed to prayer, worship, encouragement, and accountability. There are many principles for this in the New Testament: Acts 2:42- “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Romans 12:10- “be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 15:14- “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” Here we find that instruction is part of the practice of the church. 1 Thessalonians 5:11- “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” These all come from letters written to different churches across Europe and Asia Minor to individual bodies of believers- churches. So has the modern evangelical church been faithful to fulfill what scriptures commands here? There is a very large trend in modern Christian churches today that is focused on bringing the “seeker” or the unsaved into the church. This is done by bringing gimmicks, shows, and taboo subjects into the church to be talked about. The exact same is going on in youth groups- the only difference is in the youth groups they use pizza and video games more. One of the greatest consequences of this is that most all of the teaching in the church ends up being evangelistic- though there’s nothing wrong with teaching being evangelistic (in fact since the whole Bible is pointing to Christ it all is anyway), the problem that comes in is that there is no spiritual growth in the church. Being one who has just come out of the youth group age, I can tell you that whether they know it or not, youth, even in this church, are starving for spiritual growth and discipleship as put forth in Philippians 1:9-10: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ”. If someone is truly a child of God and a follower of Christ he/she will have a desire to grow in their knowledge of God and his precepts. The church that does not help fulfill these fundamental necessities for believers, especially when they are in their youth, is in error.
Perhaps the problem that causes the most grief in families of youth is that of parental neglect. By neglect I am speaking of neglecting the God-charged duties of raising children in the respect and admonition of the Lord. On this subject God’s word is certainly not silent! After giving the law to the Israelites, Moses gave this command: “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.” Proverbs 13:27 says: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” Furthermore in Proverbs 23: “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.” In these several verses we find some important duties that parents are responsible to God and their children: the first being teaching the commands and precepts of the Lord, and the second being discipline. Notice even the type of punishment is identified: a rod. Whoever withholds this discipline HATES his son. In Ephesians 6:4 there’s a command of not WHAT to do but what NOT to do. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Discipline is required, but discipline is also supposed to be with reason- not provoking or without purpose. There are several things are missing today in this area. For one, it’s hard to find parents even in the church that still obey the scriptures here. Hebrews 12:11 says: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Discipline is an absolute necessity for the moral development of children. Training them in righteousness is also an absolute necessity. When either of these is missing, it should be no surprise that a child will grow into to a carnal, fleshly, worldly individual.
One other thing I’d like to consider is the example of parents. What you value will become your children’s values. I’ve seen this over and over again. One example of this is the value of church in the life of the parents. Now I could have been worried about offending those who choose to put other activities above assembling of the saints, but then I realized: “oh yeah, they probably won’t be here anyway!” Now I’d like to give a disclaimer: The New Testament does not require worship on Sunday. Galatians speaks of how one “esteems one day over another” as their “Sunday” if you will. Messianic Jews worship on Friday night, Seventh Day Adventists worship on Saturday, perhaps some first responders can only make it to a Wednesday night service. With that in mind, if you go to Grace Bible Church, we have other opportunities in mid-week Bible studies, but our primary day congregational worship is Sunday. For most of the churches (at least theologically sound ones) that is your one choice as well. If the fellowshipping/worshiping/encouraging/teaching of the church doesn’t take first priority in your own life, then why would you ever expect it to take priority in the lives of your children? If anything else takes first place, you demonstrate to your children that while the church is something important, church isn’t really an absolute necessity, since it can take second place to a football game, track meet, or business. When I was 11 I was a decent soccer player (oh, and I bet you I still would be assuming I play against 11 year olds). I got several offers to play for travel teams. The only problem was the teams played on Sunday. I really wanted to be on the teams, and even held somewhat of a grudge toward my parents for not allowing me to play. It was right around that time that in Sunday school we were making a study of the life of Eric Liddell. Eric Liddell was an Olympic runner during the 1920s. He was raised as a missionary kid in China, where he later returned (he died in a Japanese death camp during World War Two). During the 1924 Olympics, he was faced with a great dilemma: The race he was scheduled to be held on a Sunday. Being a man of strong conviction, he knew immediately that it would be against his conscience to race on a Sunday. His stand caused a great controversy among the press, public, and those in charge of the games. If you’d like to learn more about him, then I would highly recommend renting the film Chariots of Fire, or reading his biography. Liddell’s testimony greatly helped in my acceptance of NOT playing on Sunday- he knew that going against his conscience would be sinful, so he preached during the race instead. All that to say is: parenting requires example; if you don’t value it, chances are your offspring won’t.
One final problem I’d like to look at is low expectations. While the other problems that we’ve talked about have been focused more on the individual, church, or parents, this last problem is societal, but it leaks into the other three categories. What does society expect from youth today? To be holy? To be interested in the things of God? To be examples of following Christ? No. Not at all. There’s a reason all those statistics we looked at in the beginning exist. You may have heard of experiments where two classrooms are formed. While both classrooms are filled with average students, one teacher is told he is teaching below average students, while the other is told he is teaching a classroom full of prodigies. Which classroom does better? The one with the higher expectations. Now I could go on and on about various examples of young men and women who greatly excelled modern-day society’s expectations of what youth should do, but I’d like to just look at one verse from Paul to Timothy: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” There you go. Everything we need to know about being a Christian youth is right there.
The Solutions
Well. We’ve spent a while looking at the problems; let’s look at some solutions! These solutions are really very quite simple. I’d like to start with the church.
Well. We’ve spent a while looking at the problems; let’s look at some solutions! These solutions are really very quite simple. I’d like to start with the church.
The key to understanding what the church is responsible for to youth is just as simple as understanding what the church’s responsibility to the rest of her believers. If the youth group is an extension of the church for youth, then it should be no different- it should include the things scripture commands for the church: worship, prayer, edification, biblical teaching. Not a “chill” rock band, not drinking soda through a dirty sock (and yes, there are churches that have used that as a gimmick to get youth interested in attending the youth group), not seeking to make it comfortable for non-Christian youth so they might attend and perhaps become interested in our faith, not playing X-box or PS3. This may mean that we don’t have the “numbers” that other churches have. This may mean that some youth in this church won’t attend because it “isn’t fun or hip enough”. So what? Who do we live to please? God or man? If our youth group is to succeed biblically, then it must not be world-centered, but CROSS-centered. The youth group should not be a place where we simply try to get non-believers in, but we equip our youth to reach their peers themselves. In growing the youth in their faith, God-willing we could see a drop in those statistics we looked at the beginning, because we will be dealing with youth who are actually Christians.
Another solution comes not from the church, but from the home. Cross-centered parenting. I’ve heard before of parents who have become angry at the youth leaders or pastor of their church when their children go astray. Parents: The responsibility of raising your children is not up to the church, it’s up to YOU. If you aren’t an example of godliness in your own home, how can you expect your children to be examples of godliness like 1 Timothy commands? The church exists to edify your children, but you exist to train them. 1 Timothy chapter 3 speaks of the qualifications of an overseer. Among many others is keeping his children submissive. This isn’t the job of the church, but the job of an overseer within the church. As we saw earlier, this comes from discipline and training in righteousness. The qualifications for an elder can be found in the book of Titus. Their children must be faithful, and not accused of dissipation or rebellion.
The last solution I’d like to look at applies only individually: this is that of personal repentance. I don’t know the spiritual state of all the youth here this morning, but I think you could be grouped in three categories, and I’d like to address each specifically before I close. The first group are those who truly know Christ and are growing every day more in sanctification. To you the Bible says: press on! Paul says in Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The more you grow in your walk with Christ the more you will realize just how much farther you will need to walk, but keep walking! Don’t forsake your youth! Use this time! Youth is usually the time of greatest health and physical ability (we could argue about mental ability). Get out there do some hard things! Not for yourself, but for God! You can have your own rebellion- that against the low expectations put upon you.
The second group are the nominal Christian youth. You may have said a prayer when you were younger, but either you are unsure of your salvation or you’re almost to the point of not caring. If God has done a true work of salvation, then there is some good news for you: Philippians 1:6 says: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” No matter what, you will be conformed to the image of Christ. In the realm of theology this is called irresistible grace. You may have to experience God’s chastening, but He will not let you go. If you aren’t truly saved, then you technically belong in the third category:
These are those who have not come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. To you I give a warning: 1 John 2 speaks of anti-Christs coming in the last days: “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life.” It’s entirely possible that some here even today will eventually depart and fit into the category of anti-Christs. However, if perhaps you just haven’t come to the point where you’ve trusted in Christ and turned from your sins, I exhort you not to leave today without the confidence of forgiven sins and an eternal life spent with Christ in heaven. Please! Don’t leave! Talk to me! I have a lot of packing to do today, but I will joyfully give that time up to talk to you whether you don’t know Christ at all, or are simply unsure about it. 2 Peter says: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, it’s a great hope to know that ultimately the results of surveys, studies, and numbers of youth group attendance have no bearing on our eternal destinies. We are simply called to be faithful in season and out of season. It’s a new year. What changes can you make today to be all the more faithful to God, your family, and the youth of this church? Let’s pray. (Closing prayer).
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