The PASSION Blog

Made the trip across to Mukinbudin last night as they had Peter Goosen speaking. Peter is a Zimbabween farmer who is making a huge difference in his country by his farming methods and by the “tentmaking” ministry he is involved with.

A few of things really struck me about Peter and what he shared…

1. He was an ordinary guy - sometimes I think from a distance we can get caught up thinking that the people who make a big impact in their countries are superman. Peter was a very humble man who just used his gifts to serve God.

2. He was just trying to help people - one of the things I liked was that he just wanted to relieve suffering and help people get out of the poverty cycle. They do this by teaching people to raise crops, cattle and give them the skills they need to live self sufficiently. It was the old saying old “give a man a fish and he will eat, but teach him how to fish and…” in action.

3. Multi-skilled Pastors - one of the key elements of what they do is multi-skilling the Pastors. A Pastor’s training includes baking bread, planting and raising crops and managing cattle/poultry. This way when a Pastor goes into a town, he is one of the key people in turning things around. The people learn his farming methods and then they are able to give spiritual input too.

4. The church is the centre of help - they are in the process of building a number of churches in their region. During the week the church functions as the school to provide education, but it is also a medical clinic too. People naturally come to the church building for help and support and the Pastor is always their to offer spiritual guidance. On Sunday the buidling operates as a church.

5. Farming God’s way - The program they run is farming God’s way. They work with the soil and the conditions to bring on the crops. Instead of turning the soil over each year, they simply aerate it and try to protect the micro-organisms and natural fertilisers contained within it. After they seed they put a layer of mulch in the form of grasses over it to keep the moisture in. This is something that is not done in Australia. If it worked it might go along way to helping the water shortage.

All in all, it was well worth the trip accross to “Muka”. I was inspired and encouraged at what God is doing in and through this “ordinary” man who is just committed to serving God to the best of his abilities.

The thought of being a multi-skilled Pastor made me think too. What skills do I already have that can engage the community and how can be part of the solution to the problem areas of our community?

When someone asks me to pray for healing, the first thing I try to do is to arm them with some Bible verses. I ask them to read them out aloud three or four times per day.

I also ask them to place them up in prominent places around the house. Places like their fridge and bathroom mirror. That way they are in a place and they are able to let them soak into their spirit over a few days.

I do this because it allows faith levels to rise and it allows faith and God’s Word to meet up. That’s when great things can happen.

Here are a few of my favourite verses I use when healing is needed. I call them the “Healing Scriptures”.

Romans 10:17 - Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Exodus 23:25 - Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.

Psalms 103:1-3 - Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits– who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.

Proverbs 4:20-22 - My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.

Isaiah 53:5 - But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Joel 3:10 - …Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”

Matthew 8:2 - When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured.

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The other day I was thinking of how when we pray for breakthrough and things come up against us. By this I mean the powers that Ephesians chapter six talks about (Click here to read on BibleGateway.com)

As I dwelt on this I started to think about the authority we have as Christians. I thought about how the Bible talks about Jesus having all authority on heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18) and how as Christians Christ lives in us. So in saying that we have Christ’s authority to take a stand.

As I was working through this I asked God to help me understand this more. He gave me a picture of me standing with all of heaven standing behind me. Jesus was next to me and legions upon legions of mighty Angels were standing behind me backing me up. This thought blew my mind. It was almost like if you want to mess with me, you have to take on these guys too!

Next time things come against you and try to derail your plans or the plans of your church. Just remember you have all of heaven standing in your corner. The powers are not just messing with you, they are messing with all of your “mates” as well.

Stand firm!

God Bless,

Dave

I was just over at the Ministry Today website and read an article about being too busy for God.

One of the things it found was that 6 out of 10 Christians surveyed said they were too busy in their daily lives to have time for God. They said they would like to spend more time with Him to develop their relationship, but work and life pressures crowd in.

The report even mentions many Pastors run from task to task and don’t have the time with God they would like. For me this is very sad.

My responsibility as a Pastor to my church is to grow in my relationship with God. If I am not spending time alone with God in prayer, worship and Bible reading, how can I continue to grow. And if I am not growing, how can I help others to grow themselves.

As Pastors and church leaders, our primary responsibility must be to walk closely with God and then help others to do the same. I know at times church and family pressures crowd in on us, but long term we need to be disciplined in blocking time out in our schedule for God and God alone.

Thank God for pot belly fires. Merredin is generally about 3 or 4 degrees colder than Perth. That is something I am still getting used to. The night before last we had minus 1 degree and I am not sure about last night yet. Pretty cold.

At least now we have learnt that if it is a clear night sky that we need to build the fire to keep us warm and heat the house up.