NHCF Blog

by Caryl MollAs shadow settles the evening lightA blessing I pray, for you this night…..“Peace be with you; may sleep be a sighAn angel near you; a watchful eyeFor tomorrow as the sun will riseYour spirit shall rise and paint your skiesWith beautiful colours of truth and lovePaints specially provided by God above.A new day, a new leafA kindred spirit, however brief,To touch your heart with love this dayTemper your path and light your way.Rest well, dear soul, your day is done!Forget the world; "the race is won."Take care, dear friend and sleep thee wellTomorrow’s another day…for our hearts to swell.

by Calven Celliers “A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return.” (Jewish Proverb) Words are powerful, the things that we speak can produce seeds of abundance or destruction. It’s no wonder that James said “3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” (James 3: 3 – 12NIV)  Your tongue has the ability to transforms lives; because of the power that lies in its use, we are reminded by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Ephesus that we must “29 …not let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29NIV) When I read this verse of Scripture there are two points that immediately come to mind: Think before you speak or simply learn to shut up! Pardon my bluntness. Perhaps a more polite way of saying what I mean is to pray the prayer that King David prayed in Psalm 141, “3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3NIV) A great tool for helping to train yourself to think before you speak is to use the THINK acronym: This acronym is pretty self-explanatory, in as much as it speaks for itself. As you hopefully give this some more thought I want to ask you just one question: Are you a good steward of the spoken word? In other words when you speak, how often do you consider the effect – especially, the potentially lasting effect – your words might have before letting them out? Take some time to reflect, and then if necessary, confess the ways you have possibly abused the…

Guest PostThis week we are sharing some information on the Lausanne Movement "Praying for the World" initiative. This was shared with us by Herman, one of our guest contributors to the blog.More information on the prayer initiative can be found at https://www.lausanne.org/pray Praying for the worldWeek 1, January 1-5The WorldIf the world was a village of 100 people, 33 would claim to be Christians; 24 would be Muslims, 14 Hindus, 7 Buddhists, 6 would follow Chinese religions, 11 would be non-religious and there would be a handful of others.The proportion of the world that claims to be Christian has been much the same for a century or more. But many things have changed through that time:The Church has spread more widely. There are now groups of believers in every country.The Christian faith has grown much stronger in the Global South. Millions of Christians have been born across Africa and Asia. Many cultural Catholics in Latin America have met Christ in Pentecostal, charismatic and other evangelical churches.In its former heartlands, particularly in Europe, the Christian movement has declined.Pentecostals and charismatics have changed the composition of the Church. Almost zero in 1900, they now make up more than a third of all Christians.The Church has grown despite opposition and persecution in countries like China, India, Sudan, Vietnam, Iran, Algeria, Albania and Mongolia.Some of the fiercest persecution has been followed by the largest church growth. The Cultural Revolution in China was a deadly attack on all religions. Fifty years later, around100 million Chinese have joined the Church, the greatest turning to the Christian faith in history (so far).Thousands of people have turned to Christ in Muslim countries in the last 30 years. This has never happened before.Whatever this year brings, we can pray to King Jesus: ‘Your Kingdom come!’ The nationsThe Mission Heart of GodGod’s first word to Abraham at the dawn of recorded history was about blessing the nations (Genesis 12:3).The story that follows, of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, is like the slow ripening of seed-head, filled with God’s purposes for the world.After the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and the pouring out of the Spirit on the Church, this seed-head has burst upon the nations. We are part of this, as we live the gospel out in the world.This gospel comes to the nations like Christ came at first: in human weakness. The good news of Jesus spreads in the midst of our losses and struggles. The poor in spirit possess the Kingdom; the meek inherit the earth; those who hunger for justice are sustained in their fight. In our weakness, the power of Christ is made perfect.As we start a new year, whatever we face, we can look up and see Jesus, reigning as King, unfolding his purpose to bring divine blessing to all peoples. In our small acts of service and devotion, we are walking alongside him in a cause and a life that can take all our love, and that cannot fail.Let us…

by Graham Mol I'm sure you've heard Jesus' saying before: "But many who are first will be last, and the last first," (Mark 10:31) I can tell you its a firm favourite among Christian kids when they lose a race. "Ya but in the Bible it says the first will be last and the last first... so I win!" As with many well-known sayings from the Bible, it is well worth asking ourselves what does it really mean? So often we quote or recite these platitudes without truly understanding their full meaning. Therefore, let's take a brief dip into Mark 10:17-31 to see what Jesus really means when He says that the last will be first and the last, first. The passage where we find this saying from Jesus is one that deals with the Rich Young Man. This young man came running up to Jesus asking Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus brings up the commandments to which the man confidently claims that he has kept all of them from birth (which is to say the least, extremely unlikely!) Jesus, seeing right into the man's heart, challenges him to renounce his worldly wealth and come follow Him. What an opportunity! To be included in the group of Jesus' disciples. Yet the young man doesn't quite see it that way. Unable to give up his substantial possessions he sadly turns away from Christ. Jesus remarks on how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. This is not because they are rich, but rather because they struggle more with not trusting in their own possessions. When questioned by the disciples He does clarify that it is difficult, but not impossible with God working in a person's heart. The disciples then state that they have given up everything to follow Christ. Jesus affirms that no one who has sacrificed their comforts and securities to serve the Lord will not be rewarded, both in this life and the life to come. It is at this point that Jesus says: "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." We can be clear that Jesus is not speaking of a simple role reversal of the rich and poor in the Kingdom of Heaven. Rather, what Jesus is homing in on is that those who placed themselves first. Those who chose that which would benefit them and advance their own selves, those who "store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21), would ultimately find themselves coming in last. But those who put others first, thinking of their needs above one's own (Philippians 2:3), those who lay down their rights and privileges to serve the Lord and His people, those who are willing to lose their live's for Christ's sake, will instead in their humility find themselves lifted up. The last will indeed be first. *** I do realise that this is a blog post and not…