The Favour Of God....

Growth at Crossroads Community Church

Sunday morning service at Crossroads

It’s such an incredible feeling seeing people eagerly gather on a Sunday morning with such expectation…….waiting for the praise and worship to begin followed by Chronological Bible Storying.

But this is not all; we have held 3 celebration meetings at the Crossroads stand under a marquee which is situated right in the middle of the community. The church site is surrounded by beautiful mountains. Being in the heart of the community, the church has experienced growth in numbers which is incredible. We have about 170 children attending KIDZ ALIVE (The children’s ministry) and about 100 adults attending every Sunday morning.

Children praising God

God has been so gracious to us in bringing people who are willing and eager to get plugged into church life and serve in the different ministry teams.

The community is taking ownership of the church activities and really feeling part and parcel of Crossroads Community Church.

Sundays is a day we all look forward to – to being together, meeting friends, fellowshipping together and celebrating our living Saviour Jesus Christ. We just Thank God for His faithfulness and love towards us as well as His favour on Crossroads Community Church.

Stephen Manhanga – leader of Crossroads, worshipping God. Awsome sight!
Thank you Jesus.

“I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

Written by Molly Manhanga

The Car Industry......

Mazda, Benz, Toyota – Look Out! New inventions are in the making in the form of wire cars. No “brand” names have yet been given.

“Check out” my ride!

The children at Crossroads Community Church were invited to show off their creativity by making wire cars and “driving” them to the church for an “all-time new inventions car competition”. This kept the children busy for a month.

Wire cars parked at the front of the church

It was a beautiful and fun experience seeing the little boys and girls driving their cars on the dirt roads coming to the church. 27 of the children put in hard work and their creative genius paid off as the whole church applauded their efforts. They received prizes in the form of pencils, pencil colours, crayons, sharpeners, colouring books and affirmative stickers which were donated by a church in America.

Some of the prize winners

Look out Mazda, Benz and Toyota. The Crossroads KIDZ are ALIVE and on the way to making history!

By Molly Manhanga

Women in Kezi taking a stand

The ladies meeting held mid month was extraordinary. 78 women turned up to hear the word of God, to discuss various issues and enjoy being in God’s presence. As usual, the praise and worship was excellent as the women freely expressed themselves in song and dance.

The message I shared was entitled “Overcoming Intimidation” and the key scriptures were
1) 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Love, power and of a sound mind.”
2) Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”
3) Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”

Five points were highlighted:a) Intimidation: What is it? It is the act of continual harassment until your walls of resistance is broken down. You begin to see yourself as small, as not being able to do anything. It quenches the anointing and takes your joy away. Don’t be intimidated, manipulated or controlled. The works of the flesh will be made manifest. Know who you are in Christ. There is much freedom in Christ.
b) Provocation: When a message s being preached, people talk, crack jokes, whisper. They get up at an important point to use the bathroom? It’s distractive and disruptive. Let the Holy Spirit move and do things. NOTHING is as important as the word of God.
c) Criticism: This works hand in hand with intimidation. You get people who are critical of everything. They got to prove themselves and its performance based; “See if you can do better than me. See if you can measure up!” Critical people normally suffer from anger because nothing is “good enough”. Criticism breeds criticism as seen with Cain in Genesis 4. He passed these attitudes down to his children and grandchildren and they behaved in the same way. Criticism causes discouragement as it tears people down. Critical people are defensive. Their feelings become frozen and they put others under their performance standards. They sell themselves into the capacity to sin more. They cut God off. A negative person spreads it without saying anything. It makes people around them feel uncomfortable. God looks at the inside, not external appearances. Let’s be humble.
d) Accusation and condemnation: The church is founded on Apostolic Foundations and yet there are people who will make the minister or Elders feel like they are not doing anything or they are not doing enough. Questions arise like why are you doing this or why are you not doing that? The church can become a need –centered church and not Christ-centered. We ALL have a part to play, we all have strengths and weaknesses and NO-ONE can do it ALL on their own. We need each other but Christ needs to remain the focal point.
e) Fear: This operates where there is no faith. We had an opportunity to discuss fear as women because in the community at Kezi, fear is very real. At birth children are dedicated. But, to whom? What if one doesn’t dedicate the child at birth? What of syncretism? The issue of ones culture was high on the agenda. Fear of being ostracized or sent away from the community. What about Biblical culture? Where exactly does fear come from if the Bible specifically states that God does not give us a spirit of fear but of love, power and of a sound mind? How then can we apply Biblical truths to our lives?

The women prayed and took a stand to believe and trust God more. Feedback given is that the Ladies meetings are so relevant to what the women are experiencing in their day to day lives. With God, CHANGE is possible. I see a community that genuinely love God and love one another.

By Molly Manhanga

Pearls of Wisdom.....pt 7

Andy and Alison Fry


“BE WISE AS A SERPENT AND GENTLE AS A DOVE”

We see that the enemy likes to overplay his hand BUT God turns all things round and uses it for his purposes.

We are looking at Philip today with our focus being Simon.

Acts 8: After the stoning of Stephen we see Philip going to Samaria and he preached Jesus Christ. Many signs and wonders were witnessed. He was a miracle worker and in verse 8, it says that there was great joy in the city. All the signs and wonders were a manifestation of the Kingdom of God – the power of the gospel.

Verse 9 says BUT, which means HOLD ON!

Verse 13 we see Simon who was a sorcerer being transformed and baptized. There is an amazing transformation with Simon and he “sticks” close to Philip. Simon wants everything Philip has. He is willing to be discipled as he is aspiring to be what Philip is.

The BUT in verse 9 says that there are lessons to be learnt from Simon, something to be warned about. His transformation does seem genuine and by him following Philip – that is what we look for in the natural realm. However gifted and anointed Philip was he wasn’t able to do all things on his own. He needed the input of other apostolic ministry. Peter and John came along and baptized people in the Holy Spirit. This is an aspect that Philip didn’t have. We need the Ephesians 4 gifts. It is there to equip the saints and build up people. To see the gospel spread through people’s lives.

Verse 18 gives the reason for the BUT. “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money.” Verse 19: “saying, give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” The secrets of Simon’s heart are revealed. Simon has a problem in his motives. Worldly culture shouldn’t take over Biblical culture but biblical culture should penetrate into the world. People can make all the right choices and say all the right things but the motives in the heart need to be dealt with. Character deficiency causes them to fall. We can miss Gods ultimate destiny for us as in the case of Moses, Saul or David.

GIFT DOES NOT GUARANTEE CHARACTER

Character! How much of Jesus do we have? How do we fair when we look at Jesus? Character is formed in the crucible of life. Tests and trials purify the metal. We have people who want to short circuit character – they want fame, the spectacular, status, title, control etc but God is in the business of revealing heart motives. With men it’s the famous 3 “F’s”: Fame, Finances and Females. What about for women? Males, Money and Material security.

Deception happens in the mind and heart. No one is immune against deception. Deception is the gradual persuasion to believe a lie. Error is usually some truth taken out of its proper boundaries. It affects those around you and people will believe a lie because they are complacent. We see the seeds of deception being sown where people want to be man-pleasers rather than God pleasers but God is faithful, just and will cleanse.

Verse 22 – 23 Simon had something deep-rooted that hadn’t been dealt with. The external looked good but the internal needed more of God.

The lessons we can learn from this series are:

1. Take responsibility
2. Don’t be a victim – blaming everyone for your problems and circumstances
3. Take it to the CROSS. This is where issues are sorted out.
4. God is interested in our character
5. Be patient

Thanks to Andy and Alison for their input. What a blessing!

Compiled by Molly Manhanga

"Battle For The Mind" by David Holden

Book Review“Battle For The Mind” by David Holden

“You are what you think” – your actions are determined by your thinking. The power of God can change your thinking and transform your life.

This is one of the books I’ve read time and again and have been enriched every-time as different things “leap” out as I self-evaluate and check my thought patterns.

“This book is full of practical and helpful application – not a quick fix solution.”
This time round chapter 6 “The Sword – Expose the Root” stood out for me. The word is so clear that we attack the enemy with the word of God. As David says in his book, “ the Word cuts straight through, no messing about.” According to Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is “ living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The word exposes the root and deals effectively with out motives. 4 root problems are identified –

1)Passivity: This is a heart attitude that can dominate the mind, making us lethargic and slow to respond, unable and unwilling to stir ourselves. As a result we constantly fail to hit targets and meet goals in our lives. We need to deliberately shrug off passivity and laziness.

2)Pride: This is a heart attitude which will really mess up your mind Peter says in 1 Peter 5:5 that we need to “clothe” ourselves “with humility towards one another” Teaching people who are proud is impossible because;

• Proud people come with preconceived ideas.
• Proud people are presumptuous
• Proud people don’t listen.

Proverbs 2:2, 4:20, 5:1, 22:17 are versus in the Bible that say we need to have
a heart attitude of humility to be able to hear properly.

3)Lack of faith: The message the Israelites heard was of no value to them because they did not combine it with faith Hebrews 4:2 . We can listen to the Word, we can be intent on it, but it will remain just words to us if our heart attitude is not one of faith. Without faith in the Word, it will not be fruitful in us. We must mix what we hear with faith, otherwise it remains ineffective.

4)Lack of devotion: A lack of devotion forms a barrier to the presentation of the Word of God. When the word of God comes to you, it may break through passivity and pride, and it may break through your lack of faith. We need to give ourselves utterly to whatever God is highlighting to us. With this attitude, we will not be content to float and drift through life

It’s a very enlightening book and very practical. It comes highly recommended.

Compiled by Molly Manhanga
 

Crossroads Newsletter # 2

CROSSROADS COMMUNITY CHURCH
Kezi
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
“Mark 8:34”
Newsletter # 2

Dear family and friends

It’s so amazing what God has been doing at Crossroads Community Church and seeing the enthusiasm of the community as they become more and more involved in the church.
A look at what has been happening…..

Buildings
We have continued to clear the Crossraods stand. We have erected a marquee at the stand and will be holding our Sunday meetings there. How exciting to be right in the middle of the community. We now have the building plans which we will be taking to Mapisa District Council for approval. In the meantime, we have marked out a store room, outside kitchen and toilets. Our projected date to complete these buildings is at the end of April. Please do pray for us and we are still hoping to have the church building up by the end of the year.

Womens Meetings
We have held 2 womens meetings in the community and the turn out has been incredible. The women are very enthusiastic about the word of God and fellowshipping together. The messages shared with the ladies were, the Worth of being a Woman and Strengthened by Spiritual Growth. The atmosphere has been wonderful and we are looking forward to our next meeting on the 15th April.

Womens meeting

Men’s Meetings
The men have also had a meeting and 58 men from the community turned up. It was awsome seeing men gather, praise God, share breakfast and listen and enjoy the word of God. Tapiwa Chizana, an elder from River of Life Christian Church in Bulawayo shared the word and so did Stephen Manhanga, leader of Crossroads Community Church.

Men praising God

A Bridge of Hope – Ministering to people with HIV/AIDS
We also had a meeting with people interested in or involved in Home Based Care in the Kezi community. The session was wonderful as the ladies shared what has been happening in the community in terms of training, visiting the sick, helping orphans and so on. The also shared on how they would like to see the Church involved in ministering to the sick. It was a real privilege to listen and share heart. As Crossroads Community Church, we’ll definitely play our part in being A Bridge of Hope – ministering to people with HIV/AIDS.

Chronological Bible Storying
It’s so exciting as a church to move from conventional preaching on a Sunday morning to Chronological Bible Storying. Stories are wonderful and captivating and the congregation have an opportunity to discuss the stories in groupsfor deeper understanding and clarity. The participation has been excellent.

Chronological Bible Story Tellers at a camp in Harare, Zimbabwe

Food Distribution At Crossroads Community Church
Its awsome when New Frontier Churches from around the globe can gather resources and help the family of churches in Zimbabwe. Crossroads Community Church was one New Frontier church in Zimbabwe that was able to help the Kezi community by blessing families with maize grain and soya chunks. We helped approximately 450 people – children and adults. How privileged we are to be a Church in Action, being relevant to the community.

Food being distributed at Crossroads Community Church

Lots more in store as we continue to serve God and extend His Kingdom by impacting and transforming the Kezi community with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your love, support, encouragement and prayers. We appreciate it very much.

Prayer requests:
Raising up dynamic leaders
Raising up energised teams
Courage and steadfastness in the face of opposition
Buildings to go up with community participation

With much love
Stephen and Molly

Pearls of Wisdom.....pt 6

Andy and Alison Fry

We recapped James 1:2 – 4 again. “….Let patience have its perfect work…” The principle is learning to have patience. We looked at gift versus character and said the enemy will never attack the gift because it is given by God. But, the enemy will attack our character – our areas of weakness. God however, is very interested in our character.

This morning we are looking at the life of Joseph from Genesis 37: 5 – 10. Joseph was well-loved by his father. He had lots of brothers and he was a dreamer. He had fantastic dreams and when he told his brothers, they hated him even more. However much the brothers hated Joseph and however annoying or bad Joseph seemed to them, the dream is a gift from God. It’s only with patience and allowing God to open the doors that the dream will come to fruition. Like Mary, we need to ponder and treasure things in our hearts.

Sharing the dreams prematurely got Joseph into trouble. His immaturity propels him into events that God uses to mature him. He is thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused and thrown into prison for 13 years. Joseph didn’t know what the outcome of his life would be. Through all the “mess”, God weaves through humanity his purposes. Through all of this something was happening to Joseph. Psalm 105:17 – 19, God was testing and proving Joseph. For Joseph to become a ruler, he had to become more than an immature dreamer. The issue was character, not gift. Through circumstances, God moved him and positioned him to a place of authority and responsibility. What the brothers intended for evil, God turned it around for good.

What brings eternal reward is patience and obedience – having an intimate relationship with God.

Deception is very subtle. The irony of it is that “if I knew I was being deceived, I wouldn’t want to be”. We have an intuition about people’s hearts and attitude and this intuition cuts across culture. We need people around us who will give us a reality check and touch base - People who know us and can be honest with us.

We are encouraged to be wise, to know Jesus. It’s more important than doing stuff. We shouldn’t confuse role and calling. Any church, team, organization etc can ask the vital question, “What is the reason for our existence?” We are all part of the body and we need each other. Christ is the head.

Andy and Alison with the 2nd years

Compiled by Molly Manhanga

Pearls of Wisdom.....pt 5

Andy Fry with Gerald Mangena at the Crossroads site

Premature action brings premature results and we can see this in the life of Moses.

Moses had a sense within himself of the call and protection of God in his life. He had an education in a privileged situation and he was raised in a “ fine” establishment. At the age of 40 he killed an Egyptian. He probably thought people would understand that he was the “deliverer” of the Israelites but they didn’t. Premature action brings premature results. When the King of Egypt found out, Moses ended up on the run to a place called Median to look after sheep for the next 40 years until he had an encounter with God – the burning bush experience which confirmed what he knew in his heart all along. Inside of him was the sense of God’s calling. The fervency and desire to see the dream fulfilled but if the timing is wrong, it causes premature results.

The lesson we learn from Moses again is PATIENCE. If the calling is in you, hold onto it.

Compiled by Molly Manhanga

Coming up is Pearls of Wisdom....pt 6 on the Life of Joseph

Pearls of Wisdom.....pt 4

The Fry’s with the 2nd year apprentices

We recapped James 1:2 – 4 and the major lesson from these sessions have been on patience.

Today we’ll look at the Life of Paul. He had incredible impact on Christianity and was significant in God’s plan. Paul was a prime persecutor of Christians, a vehement, fundamentalist who was prepared to kill and persecute for what he believes to be right. Then he had the magnificent Damascus experience where he encountered the Living God and his life took a 360 degree turn.

Given the norms we live in today and when we think of Paul, his story would go around the internet very quickly, books would be written, tapes and DVD’s would be on sale. He’d probably be on the God Channel and be the “must-have” speaker at conferences. Needless to say – his ever-growing fan club and so on. That’s often how things happen. People have an insatiable appetite for the spectacular.

This isn’t what happened to Paul. After his conversion, he disappears off the radar screen for 14 years. What was God doing with him? When his story is picked up in Galatians, we see God had been building in him revelation and character. He went to Jerusalem and began sharing what God had revealed to him.

Security
Paul wasn’t fazed or intimidated by anyone. He didn’t need to climb the ladder of importance or “hang” out with the inner circle of those considered important. Paul had a deep experience with God and was really secure of who he was in Christ. In Romans 12:1 he was able to say what he did about the mind being renewed because of his personal experience.

Insecurity
Insecurity is our greatest enemy to ourselves. We start to act double mindedly in order to “fit in”. We succumb to pressure from people both in the church and outside. Insecurity can cause us to do things that we shouldn’t just to please others. There is a drivenness in people that is destructive and it’s caused by deep seated insecurity. It is not Godly.

God took time to prepare Paul and the work takes longer than we realize. What do we do in the meantime? We need to be aware of who we are in God and the measure we have. Let’s not be lured by anything particularly the need to climb the ladder. God is in the business of working in us and changing us.

NB: Premature action will always get us into trouble. It brings premature results.

Compiled by Molly Manhanga

The Church In Action

A bridge of Hope to HIV/AIDS

For people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, true hope is found in Jesus Christ who loves and died for all. AIDS is real and it is in our Church. Often we are not keen to admit it. Often we think that the church should not become spoilt or dirtied by involving ourselves with those with AIDS.

A proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” Many people are dying without God and without hope.

With HIV/AIDS raging through communities, the Church is given a unique opportunity to minister Christ’s name, share God’s truth and demonstrate his love and grace.

What is happening in the Kezi community in terms of HIV/AIDS? I had a meeting with Home Based Care ladies from the Kezi community to find out what is happening with HIV/AIDS and the community involvement. It was very encouraging to hear the women are being pro-active in visiting households where there are sick people as well as helping orphans. They identified the need for Home Based Care volunteers to be compassionate, full of love and grace, encouraging and so on.

The Kezi community, like many other communities in Zimbabwe, has many infected people but stigma is not so much of a problem anymore. The Home Based Care volunteers said they would love it if the Church could help with regular trainings, speak holistically into HIV/AIDS, encourage the HBC volunteers and visit the sick as well. The need for basic medical kits is crucial particularly gloves.

As Crossroads Community Church, we will play our part in bringing hope to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS as well as ministering to the orphans in the community.

Prayer Pointers:
1) Volunteers passionate about helping the sick
2) Future trainings
3) Necessary tools/kits to help the community
4) The Church to be proactive in speaking into the whole area of HIV/AIDS

By Molly Manhanga

Pearls of Wisdom.....pt 3

Andy and Alison Fry

James 1: 2 – 4

When we meet trials, difficulties, misunderstandings – we need to count it all joy. Trials are not pleasant but our faith is being tested. The biggest tests come when we have done something right – when we make decisions for the Kingdom. Difficulties come that seem so insurmountable. We need to realize that we have stepped into the purposes of God and we will get tried and tested.

Mark 4: 1 – 20 Parable of the sower. Life itself has a habit of checking us out. God has NO doubts in his ability to work in us but we have self-doubt. God affirms us.

Hebrews 12:10 – 13 God our father loves us and his love is perfect and complete. When you love someone, you discipline them. God disciplines us for our own good. Afterwards, we experience a harvest of maturity and peace; we become more like Jesus which is our ultimate goal. Sometimes, we tend to have a “victim” mentality or a “pity-party” but we need to be secure in God’s love.

Hebrews 12. Andy told us to be careful on missing the grace of God lest a root of bitterness grows. E.g. Esau who gave up his birth right because of his appetite. Our appetite can also take over - to get our own back, to oppress and suppress others. We indulge these feeling and the consequences are devastating. Instant gratification can be destructive.

Andrew Murray says that he didn’t “mature but in adversity”. Difficulty and adversity is the pearl in the oyster. Man is perfected in trials.

Summary: We need to settle God’s character in our hearts. He is seeking to produce character in us and patience is the key in the door to produce character and maturity.

James 1:9 Impatience is a result of people wanting to climb the ladder and be recognized but all this is temporary.

Andy helping out at the collection station during the food distribution at Crossroads Community Church.

Real HEART issues are being tackled through the word of God. Join us as we continue with Andy and Alison Fry.

By Molly Manhanga

From the eyes of the Mlilo's

Farming God’s Way Champions Conference

George and Siphilisiwe Mlilo

M.M: What are your first impressions of River of Life Christian church Westgate?
G.M: On the whole a beautiful place, well built and refreshing particularly for us from out here; an opportunity to meet new people is always welcome.

M.M: What did you gain from the conference?
G.M: The chance of meeting Brian Oldreive in person was amazing. To hear him speak, sharing his life with us was beyond description, thus that experience and being taken through demonstrations: composting, mulching, planting, thinning, soil structure and so on.

M.M: If you had one word or phrase to describe Brian Oldreive, the Founder and Pioneer of farming God’s Way, what would it be?
G.M: His strength is his humble character.

M.M: What did you think of the crops grown at River of Life Westgate Christian Church?
G.M: Of note was the wagon wheel. The cropping there brings out the four principles of Farming God’s way which are on time (those crops were all planted following a strict planting schedule), to standard (all the work is of exceptional standard), without wastage (everything is of use, stocks from the previous crop were used as mulch) and with joy (The family at River of Life Westgate seemed motivated and happy).

M.M: Closer to home: how best would you implement Farming God’s Way at Ebenezer?
G.M: The best way to implement Farming God’s Way at Ebenezer would be to be strict with standards since the preaching is always being done. If the apprentices see that we know and believe in what we teach, they will obviously find it easy to catch the vision.

M.M: What values would you teach the apprentices form your experience at the Farming God’s Way Champions Conference?
G.M: One value that I think would be critical to teach is being “faithful with little.” Our apprentices need to understand that it is not about making the staff happy but it is about being faithful to God to sees the intentions on the heart. Other values worth noting are obviously AID or TRADE, what do we need in Africa? Etc.

M.M: Brilliant George. Do you have any last comments?
G.M: The Champs conference is a very informative forum such that I recommend all Ebenezer staff members to attend. If it was at all possible, have individual facilitators coming to Ebenezer to reinforce conference content.

Thanks so much Goerge and I’m thrilled that you were blessed at the Farming God’s Way Champions Conference. Be encouraged as you instill Biblical foundations into the apprentices.

By Molly Manhanga

Pearls of Wisdom.....pt 2

We recapped the 2 foundational scriptures:

Romans 12:9 – 19
James 3:16 – 18

Where there is conflict and misunderstanding, our attitude should be that we want to see things resolved, have clarity and resolution to come. In the context we are working, issues are inevitable. We all have strengths and weaknesses and insecurities. When the weaknesses and insecurities come into play, they cause us to feel things, do things and say things. “Perception is reality.” People can perceive things that are not real and the truth is that reality is often different and we have to seek to resolve our perceptions of reality.

Andy and Alison Fry with the Ebenezer Team

Today’s session was just as excellent as yesterday’s. Andy continued by saying that we should try not to assume how people think and feel. There is a reason why people think and fee the way they do and these reasons need to be explored. This boils down to being able to LISTEN. Part of loving is listening.

In the western culture, people are not good at listening. They only hear what they want to hear – selective hearing. They already have a perception or framework about a person and feed into that. LISTENING is an act of LOVE - That is to really listen, and this requires patience. The pressures of life, schedules, appointments, programmes etc don’t allow us to listen. The natural reaction is to dismiss people. Not listening is not loving. It can be tantamount to controlling and has a tendency of being obnoxious. We need a heart that prefers others and to LISTEN with our mind, heart and spirit. Listen to the other person’s perception. James refers to that.

Looking deeper at our heart and motives….
Ephesians 4 speaks about ministry and leadership. The principle of ministry and leadership is about equipping people. Ministry is about service and not about a job or climbing the ladder of seniority.
The Kingdom of God advances when individual people’s hearts are changed and it requires people to do this, not organizations. It can creep in very subtly when you end up serving the organization which can be very demanding. The example of Frankenstein was used. He was a mixed up person who was trying to overcome death and created a monster. His motives were good but the monster came alive and killed him. We were encouraged to be careful – to keep focused and keep the vision statement clear. We are people who like momentum and to see thing moving but it’s as crucial to STOP and say what is happening here? What is going on?

Our growth and development as people
Hebrews 13:7. We observe something in a leader that we want to follow but sometimes, in reality, there are leaders who we don’t want to follow. Jesus Christ is an excellent example of a leader who we definitely want to follow and learn practically from him.
Luke 3:23
Jesus was 30 when he began his ministry. We are living in and age where gifts and talents are placed ahead of character. History has proved time and time again that if you rely on gifts and talents alone and not on character, something will blow. God is interested in our character and growth. The enemy will not attack your gift but your character. Gifts don’t prove anything about a person. It’s God-given and without repentance. The enemy can attack you and destroy you in many other ways, at a place of weakness so that he can make you null and void. People fall LONG before it becomes public knowledge and this is because the gift is still in operation. But, God is not mocked.

Jesus was 30 years when his ministry started. God held him back for 30 years to prepare him. Jesus was God incarnate – fully human and fully divine. Jesus had a whole experience of humanity.
Luke 2:52 Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man. God took Jesus through the process of development – growth, preparation and maturity. Many people want to short cut the process, want to get on and do stuff. Identity is then found in what they do rather than who they are as a person. DOING is on gift and ability but it doesn’t prove character. It’s who you are that has the greatest impact in the Kingdom of God.

A lesson to be learnt is PATIENCE and again we are not living in a patient age. We want things to happen and we want it to happen NOW. But, God is very patient. To God, a day is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years like a day. Some things don’t come quickly but with time, growth and maturity. God works in us through the trials in our lives. Trials, delays, misunderstandings, disappointments in our lives are used to build character. If we rely on gifts, we will cause many people heartache because we want things done our way.

We are a broken people that God is redeeming.

Stay tuned for Pearls of Wisdom….pt 3

By Molly Manhanga