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Text of the page (random words):
key as a symbol of service humility suffering and peace it s claimed that most donkeys carry the sign of the cross on their shoulders i ve noticed this in my own encounters with donkeys over the years deep in my heart there s another reminder of the role of donkeys in more recent history i take you back to the revival outbreak in the western cape town of worcester 1860 1864 under the leadership of the renowned dr andrew murray for years a small group of intercessors had beaten a regular path to a nearby koppie small round hill overlooking the town one evening while dr murray was preaching in the main sanctuary a group of 60 young people were singing and praying in a nearby hall the youth heard the sound of a strong wind as at pentecost acts 2 suddenly everyone was on their knees praying and weeping totally unawares of an elder and mr murray himself loudly calling them to order the result 50 young people immediately volunteered to serve the lord wherever he should send them farming communities were transformed via prayers around the kitchen table dr murray began to mobilize missionaries to different parts of the world including malawi in central africa btw during the late 1980 s as a result of the rediscovery of the same dr murray s books and teachings there was an unforgettable prayer and missions awakening in my home city resulting in local churches including my home congregation sending career missionaries into africa and many parts of the world key figures in this renewal were david bliss a theological graduate from the usa who had been introduced to murray s books and david mniki a pastor and prayer warrior from the transkei i could write a book about my personal experiences during those momentous days dr murray started a seminary in nearby wellington training many drc pastors and missionaries for the missions cause here in port elizabeth one of those trained at the seminary ds giep louw now aged 93 lives in our retirement village frail care facility he loves to relate the story of how he and his fellow graduates of those days were nick named donkies i e donkeys by andrew murray as he urged his students to serve as donkeys for jesus humbly carrying the savior into a lost world oom giep tells of the students regular prayer meetings in wellington in a nearby poplar forest to stir up the fire in their hearts i believe oom giep could be one of the last donkies in south africa are we willing to surrender all and walk in the footsteps of these saints it will require our laying aside of self interest personal renown titles ministries if necessary in order to be christ to the nations here we could also refer to jn 13 20 recording jesus washing his disciples feet and bidding them do likewise looking at our leaders today one doesn t see much foot washing rather the contrary cf murray s classic the state of the church arising out of the significant world missionary conference in edinburgh scotland in 1911 written by leona f choy it speaks just as vividly to today s church and her spiritual needs a great book that i ve devoured lectured from and sought to live by in my lengthy ministry christian literature crusade publ 1983 then there s the story of the evangelist monk who walked everywhere to proclaim the gospel someone took pity on him and gave him a donkey to ride on his many journey s the donkey become part and parcel of his life and ministry so much so that he became constantly anxious about it s daily well being one day when preaching in a little village he just couldn t focus on his sermon for worry about the donkey tethered outside was it comfortable was it safe had someone not stolen it eventually in frustration he interrupted his message went outside loosened the donkey gave it a slap on the buttock with the words that s the last time i tie my soul to a donkey i take it he went back inside the chapel and finished his sermon cf 1 jn 2 15 17 s warning not to love the world which is passing away i remember another story about a monk and a donkey he traveled down into valleys and up mountain peaks often when nearing the mountain top he would ride his donkey looking back on the long trail along which they had come the reason for this strange behavior it s important from time to time to stand still and view all the way the lord has led us and provided for us cf 1 sam 7 12 and the prophet s stone memorial honoring god s faithfulness and help so with us whether currently in some dark valley or on the mountain top or somewhere in between next it appears animals can discern the prophetic when we often fail to i refer to the remarkable account of balaam and his donkey recorded in num 22ff balak king of moab fearful of the israelites summonses israel s prophet balaam to curse god s people lest they destroy the moabites balaam hesitates however god orders him to go to balak on condition he speaks only what the lord says on the way balaam s donkey sees the lord standing in the road but balaam doesn t with painful consequences for the prophet next god rebukes balaam s spiritual blindness fortunately balaam heeds god s rebuke and insists balak accept god s message of judgment the lesson let us recognize our utter dependence on god in order to exactly discern his will especially in these days when every dick tom and harry purports to be a prophet speaking in the name of god our call is for humility at all times as andrew murray once said water always flows to the lowest point and please let s not get hung up on whether donkeys can speak audibly to humans the point is to get what god is saying to us a living allegory of sorts the challenge for each one of us today is to becomes donkeys for jesus carrying him and his message of the cross and the empty tomb wherever we are go at the end of the day our lord demands of us nothing less than full surrender the key to an abundant life here on earth and in the one to come 14 comments faith it s meaning and mission posted on january 9 2026 by errollmulder under uncategorized one of the most misunderstood words in the dictionary all people exercise faith of some kind followers of world religions like hinduism and buddhism etc even atheists getting up in the morning and putting one foot before the other so also the created world in 2024 we had a dikkop stone curlew couple nesting in our front garden near our bird bath through adverse and pleasant weather the female guarded her little hollow among the pebbles the male nearby the outcome was that after many weeks of patient waiting the mother laid two eggs one producing a little chick the other infertile this year 2025 26 the same couple returned the female finding a little hollow under the birdbath enjoying some shadow during hot days the male close by the point being that no matter what the weather or conditions sunshine or rain or howling wind the couples persevere in hope of offspring a lesson from rom 1 19 20 a parable from of heb 11 according to prof n t wright faith is not a general religious attitude to life it s not simply believing difficult and impossible things for the sake of it as though simple credulity was itself a virtue wright points us to heb 11 true and essential faith has an infinite and divine source and object the person of jesus of nazareth in this blog we re talking of christian faith sadly many christians see faith as something innate within themselves i e they have faith in faith faith undefined others see faith as something where you control the outcome e g the word of faith movement of e w kenyon and kenneth hagin and speaking things into being unfortunately it s often married to self interest and human control true christians grasp that faith has as its object none other than christ the son of god born crucified and resurrected e g as an old hymn puts it my faith looks up to thee thou lamb of calvary having considered what faith is not we turn to what it is i could reference many biblical sources but because i ve been exploring the letter to the hebrews for months now i ve chosen to focus on heb 11 1ff now faith is the assurance of things hope for the conviction of things not seen nrsv it s essential that we grasp that the faith of which we speak is christo centric rather than ego centric small wonder the letter opens with long ago god spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by a son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he also created the worlds he is the reflection of god s glory and the exact imprint of god s very being and he sustains all things by his powerful word when he had made purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high 1 1 3 looking at heb 11 1 specifically it emerges that faith is not only the assurance of unseen realities and the backbone of hope not only the belief that god exists and rewards those who seek him v 6 it s the very badge that marks people out as members of god s ecclesia who persevere in christ to the end that all may hear the good news the author of hebrews longed for his readers to think through the faith of their forbears faith amid the long purposes of god in the face of impossibilities many dangers and even death itself postmodern believers live by faith in a future world while society all around lives as though the present was is all there is heart breaking heb 11 lists our spiritual forebears faith in detail each person illustrating a personal story of faith and hope note especially abraham the father of faith blessed to bless all nations cf gen 12 1 4 heb 11 8 19 my own experience is that twenty years ago the lord clearly called our family to follow him on a road less traveled by robert frost i e outside of denominationalism institutionalism which i d served for 38 years on the 2nd of january 2006 cf oswald chambers my utmost for his highest will you go without knowing he called us to leave our safety net and follow him by faith not knowing where we were going in a tiny tiny way we were following in the footsteps of the great abraham 11 8 by faith abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance and he set out not knowing where he was going by faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised as in a foreign land living in tents as did isaac and jacob who were heirs with him of the same promise for he looked forward to the city that has foundations whose architect and builder is god so our family was cast fully on the lord himself for daily living and service meeting in our home and eventually in different homes as god added others wanting to disentangle from the church system birthed by emperor constantine in 300 ad together we chose to follow more closely the simple organic way of the body described in acts 2ff since then we and they have never lacked never been disappointed never wanting to return to organized church all this by sheer grace and infinite mercy the hebrews faith list continues from v 11 40 ceb with so many hero s and heroines of faith v 11 40 some paid with their lives others were stoned to death they were cut in two and they died by being murdered with swords they went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats needy oppressed and mistreated they wandered around in deserts mountains caves and holes in the ground conclusion 12 1 3 so then let s also run the race that is laid out in front of us amid the nitty gritty of life and fix our eyes on jesus faith s pioneer and perfecter he endured the cross ignoring the shame for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him and sat down at the right side of god s throne ceb do read up on some modern martyrs like dietrich bonhoeffer founder of the confessing church during ww2 hung at flossenburg concentration camp by the gestapo just two weeks before armistice aged 39 this godly man gave his life for his neighbour and fellow prisoners cf his classics the cost of discipleship and the life together for you and i daily death and resurrection continues according to mk 8 34 38 in all this our ultimate example is jesus himself 12 1 4 therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us looking to jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross disregarding its shame and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of god consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart ceb now we have to ask ourselves as believers whoever we are and whatever our circumstances how shall we live by faith in this coming week this new year shall we trust that god will give us the strength to live his way i e the kingdom way i e trusting god for our most essential needs as we seek first his kingdom and righteousness in this world cf mt 6 33 let s make sure that our ultimate mission as believers is the knowing of jesus who lives within us by faith and the proclamation of his person and kingdom to the ends of the earth cf mt 28 16 20 heb 11ff which sets out the practical consequences of a living faith do be aware that in so many churches around the globe the great commission has become the great omission it s a long journey to turn that ship around as i know from 38 years of denominational pastoring but it s gloriously possible under the mighty spirit of god emil brunner 1889 1966 had a profound grasp of the church as she ought to be cf his the misunderstanding of the church contrasting the virile spirit filled fellowships of the new testament and the institutions now called churches 12 comments post navigation older posts search recent posts from the house of fear to the house of love love and god let no one separate antichrists when who what to do really knowing the truth sweet 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