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