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Guest Postby Herman GroenewaldSee the Birds in the AirI am sitting on our patio this morning watching some of the many birds in our garden. I occasionally feed them some bird seed, but they do not need me to feed them. They know when I have put out some food for them.When I looked up the word birds in the Bible I was astounded that there were 93 references in the NIV Bible about birds.I delight in watching the many kinds of birds and how many of them come two by two. How they find their own food in our garden without me having to give them some food.How wonderful is our heavenly Father  who provides for the living creatures who do not store up in barns. "Photo courtesy photos-public-domain.com" "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Scripture then asks the question: Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" (Matthew 6:36-37)I wonder how many people are anxious today about their provision. Who do they blame for the lack of it? Who have they turned to?Job had some friends who made a mockery of him when he lost his possessions. And see what happened to him when he replied to them."...I, who called to God and He answered me..." (Job:12-4)“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;" (Job 12-7)Later we are told that we are wiser than the birds of the air. 10 "But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,    who gives songs in the night,11 who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth    and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’" (Job 35:10-11)We then read in Ephesians 1:3-14 of God’s blessing in Christ Jesus and how he has chosen us even before the world was made. How awesome is that?Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the…

by Graham Mol"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"These words have been uttered countless times whenever someone has had a problem operating their phone/computer/printer/router or pretty  much any piece of technology. And there is a very good reason why that advice is given because 9 times out of 10 it works. The more technical term is "reset" and the reason why it often works is because it clears out any programs or instructions that are running on the device, flushing its memory, and starts over with the initial, "bootup" instructions. This means that any program or instruction that had stopped working properly, or was preventing another instruction to function, gets cleared and reset. In layman's terms: "The Wi-Fi has stopped working!" Reset. "Something's wrong with Whatsapp on my phone!" Restart the device. "My computer is frozen!" Reset.Sometimes, like our beloved devices, we too need a "reset" every now and again. This can also apply to our faith walk.  We can get so caught up in things, meanings of Scripture, Christian debates and issues, how well we are doing, "Are we doing enough?" We start to focus more on our service to God than on our relationship with Him. And like some of those computer programs stop responding or start causing issues in other programs functioning, we find ourselves confused, distracted and discouraged in our faith. Sometimes we just need a reset.These are Jesus' words to the Church in Ephesus in John's revelation:2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." (Revelation 2:2-5)The Ephesian Church were doing a great many things well, Jesus commends them for their works, their toil and patient endurance, their standing up for the truth, resisting evil. But they had lost sight of the most important thing, their relationship with the Lord. Jesus calls them to repent, to go back to the things they did at first in pursuing Christ in their hearts and lives. You could call it a reset.The Gospel is simple despite the depth of its significance and impact. At the end of the day, we must return to the basics of our relationship with Christ. A simple reset can fix a great deal of problems in our lives, "9 times out of 10". God BlessGraham

by Caryl MollI don’t know about you, but this has been a really long winter - one of the longest and hardest in my lifetime. Maybe I can blame it on COVID but also perhaps on my own underlying need to establish some sort of daily routine. I’ve been restless. I have also tried – desperately - to search for that “small, still voice of God” amidst all the sadness, despair and economic chaos around me. Admittedly I’ve struggled. I would bet you have too?Ironically, my own quiet-times have been more fervent during this period. They’ve been more creative too as I have embraced the time to polish up my God-given talents. Quiet times have also led me outside to take a breath of fresh air and observe the changes that our Creative God is making in my own garden.  The transition this year from Summer to Autumn… to Winter …and now to Spring have been quite visceral.  For me, the sounds, smells and temperatures have been far more pronounced than other years. I have literally felt God’s seasons in action. And it’s been such a joy.The other day, armed with my camera, I took a walk outside again. It’s still early, but the signs of the approaching Spring are evident. The tiny mulberry tree, in one of my pots, is sprouting its first precious leaves. The African Speckled pigeons have produced two gorgeous fluffy chicks in the nest below my neighbour’s roof. Birds are twittering and the clearer skies and warmer temperatures are heralding a brand, new season.As I walked around to the back of the house, I also noticed our old Fig Tree in the corner. To the human eye, it looks all but dead. It made me think of Jesus and how, during that Passover week, He also noticed a fig tree. I edged closer to its branches to get a better look.“Look carefully,” a little voice whispers.Unlike Jesus’s tree, mine seems to have big, strong buds. With my tree, there’s a sure sign that a revival is happening underneath its dark bark. There is definite life in its old branches even though they looked ugly and gnarled.Like a rose bush producing its first rose, my fig tree is quietly working its magic. In a few months, the fruit and beautiful emerald green leaves will appear. Its crop should be abundant, I have no doubt. This tree should produce a healthy crop.But what about us?Whether we are in business, other economic fields or at home, the fact remains:We are God’s fig trees!Yes, we are all custodians of our Lord’s Creation and His people. By our actions and words, we all bear some kind of fruit – good or bad. And we can, indeed, compare ourselves to the fig trees that God has planted. Are we wilting? Or are we flourishing? Will be produce a bountiful harvest? Or does a curse await us? Either way, the New Season will arrive and God’s careful plans will prevail. The question…

by Luke KincaidLast week my mom and I took Seth for an afternoon walk (which is usually more like us chasing after Seth as he goes for a run!) While out, I began a brief conversation with an elderly gentlemen as he was tidying up his verge. Everything was going well until he described the men who would often stand outside his property in the most derogatory way that exists in South Africa – using the disgusting “K” word. Now I am in no way a fan of racism and have often been quite vocal against it. But upon hearing this word for the first time in this conversation I was quite taken aback to say the least. While speaking to this man I was holding Seth in my arms and really wasn’t keen to have such language spoken around him. By the time he used this word for the second or third time I tried my best to make my exit. We said our goodbyes and left and while walking away my mom said, “Why did he have to use that word?” While thinking back on this interaction and everything I know about addressing racism in a one on one situation, I realized I had chickened out by not saying anything. If I did say something in regards to challenging the demeaning language used there is a possibility that the conversation would have become uncomfortable and may even have sparked an argument from his side. The sad fact is not only that I was too scared to confront sin in this moment but that I sinned myself in my lack of action. The following is a verse that is sobering to remember in those moments in life where we know we need to say or do something:17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it – James 4:17This is one of the key verses when it comes to discussing sins of omission. Compelling Truth defines this phrase for us in this way:“People sometimes speak of sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of commission are those sinful actions that are proactively done. Lying or stealing are examples of sins of commission. A sin of omission is a sin that takes place because of not doing something that is right. Examples could include not praying, not standing up for what is right, or not sharing Christ with others.”It’s hectic to think that we can sin by simply not acting in a particular situation. This was an important reminder for me since it is hypocritical for me to be so passionate about speaking out against racism, but not taking an opportunity to actively challenge someone who is revealing their racist tendencies through their words. I was grateful to be comforted by one of Graham’s blogs which he wrote on April 3rd and I would like to end today’s blog borrowing from part of his quote by C.S. Lewis which said:“After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try…