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rayer for my city and our country by so called apostles and prophets only to realize their shallow motives and essentially self centered desires one is conscious at the same time of the exploding paedophilia pandemic involving church leaders across the world e g a worship pastor recently in boon county usa or bethel church s cover up of paedophile shawn bolz and others guilty of sexual abuse over years here in my own country we ve had the case of prophet timothy omotoso repeatedly found guilty of sexual abuse and deported to his home country of nigeria only to continue his shameful practices there millenia ago the prophet jeremiah cried out as a thief is shamed when caught so the house of israel shall be shamed they their kings their officials their priests and their prophets who say to a tree you are my father and to a stone you gave me birth for they have turned their backs on me and not their faces but in the time of their trouble they say come and save us 2 26 27 cf footnote 1 my own city has no shortage of self appointed prophets and teachers whose credentials are highly questionable just a few weeks ago one of these prophets made an almost hysterical plea for prayer for our nation declaring loudly this that and the other all in the name of the lord we have yet to see any true and deep spiritual change in our metro in fact the army has been called in to assist the police in our gang ravaged northern suburbs we look at a few bible prophets and check out what they have to say on the issue of true worship 1 the prophet amos from rural tekoa bible in one hand and jerusalem times in the other confronts especially the northern kingdom of israel approx 760 750 bc during the reign of king jeroboam 2 he comes to the nation with a burning warning footnote 2 cf photo of modern tekoa amos is passionate about the worship and spiritual condition of god s people in the face of the coming day of the lord scholars like j b taylor oak hill college london declared that we can t be exactly sure how the concept of the day of the lord came to god s people in israel however we do know that it represented the special season when god s covenant promises to his own people would become a reality and righteousness would triumph in the nation israel expected to be vindicated and her enemies judged on that great day it certainly was to be a day of redemption a day to be looked forward to by god s people and dreaded by their foes but amos reversed all this righteousness would prevail but it was to be an ethical righteousness and not a religious righteousness of which israel fell far short amos declared it would be a black day for god s people with no escaping his final judgment 5 19ff amos goes on to speak disparagingly of all the empty rites and ceremonies of israel s religious life 5 21 23 taylor argues that ultimately amos must have known about the passover lamb and the altars of the patriarchs the early traditions of the tent of meeting and its rituals could not have completely passed him by what amos did see however was that the priority of the sinai covenant being obedience to god s laws and not the carrying out of their multiple empty rituals israel doubtless under canaanite influence had exchanged righteousness for ritual abandoning their sacred covenant obligations what the prophet witnessed going on at the shrines of bethel and gilgal was a far cry from israel s sinai responsibilities the nation had fallen into idolatry maintaining ritual above worship v 26 etc so god would judge the nation with exile v 27 and the day of the lord wouldn t bring them salvation but terrible darkness the prophet isaiah addressing the southern kingdom of judah approx 740 681 bc condemns their religious leaders calling them blind watchmen and dumb dogs unable to give even a warning bark 56 10 these prophets were such in name only for the essential function of a prophet is to herald forth in unmistakably clear tones v 1 the divine proclamation whether it be one of condemnation as here or blessing ot prof a e cundall it s also important to underline that for millennia unfortunately there s always been a superficial view that the prophets were concerned only with the future when in actual fact the bulk of their prophecies were concerned with the present isaiah s withering exposure of judah s wickedness and formal religion in is 1 10 17 should be be set alongside our savior s trenchant words in mt 23 13 26 where he totally exposes the false and hypocritical jewish scribes and pharisees of the day no doubt isaiah s message would have been highly unpopular since it stabbed hard at the consciences of men and women who resented their smug complacency being disturbed similarly in our generation the man or woman who dares to speak out for god must expect the snarls of a generation which has largely cast off restraint and abandoned god s standards at the same that man or woman of god knows the real blessedness satisfaction and spiritual prosperity which comes from god alone v 8 14 in isaiah 58 the prophet addresses the two practices of fasting v 2 7 and sabbath observance v 13 there is no suggestion that these were wrong in themselves but the way in which they were observed made them hollow shells of a hypocritical religion empty of real content they fasted as an outward form v 5 that they might be in credit with god v 3 but their actions were the very reverse of the humility symbolized in the outward forms v 3b 4a the true purpose of fasting v 4b was that prayer might be reinforced however such communion with god must inevitably result in compassion to one s fellows this was not to be expressed in that token involvement with the world s needs which masquerades under the word charity today but rather necessitating offering your food to the hungry and satisfying the needs of the afflicted v 10 nrsv such sacrifice is compensated abundantly by the blessings god has promised in his word i ve grown to love the prophet micah s 701 bc summary of what god requires of humankind in micah 6 8 he has told you o mortal what is good and what does the lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your god says it all footnotes 1 cf youtube we are thirsty duncan campbell during the hebrides revival faith ablaze also fake religion by dr martyn lloyd jones of westminster chapel 2 i will always remember while touring israel with a college buddy who had been prof of hebrew at unisa in sa while standing on herod s burial site and his pointing me south to tekoa home of the prophet amos during our college training we had thoroughly exegeted from the original hebrew amos s prophecy against god s people all those memories came alive for me again get the heart of the song below 8 comments ode to donkeys posted on january 30 2026 by errollmulder under uncategorized renowned english author and christian apologist 1874 1936 there are so many cherished donkey stories i ve come across in my life time i recall as young boys how my brother and i and some friends rode the donkeys in the village pound when the supervisor was missing naughty eventually someone gave us girley a decrepit looking female donkey that roamed the town commonage and eventually perished after falling into a cheese factory swamp grim at the outset let s never underestimate the role of animals in the kingdom of god a gen 1 2 and god s command to rule the created world for the good of all b is 65 17ff and the prophet s indication of a glorious new creation in which humans and animals will interact freely i believe i ll see lulu again my beloved miniature dachshund who was always at my side while completing my three years post graduate studies on line c rom 1 18ff reveals god s eternal power and divine nature manifested via his creation for all humankind to see d rev 21 22 and john s apocalyptic visions of a new heaven and earth and the river of life linking the ancient garden of eden to the new at christ s return in his latest book nt wright calls it god s homecoming of course we have to refer to the female foal of a donkey 2000 years ago a colt was often ridden by a new king in order to demonstrate a transfer of kingship recorded in mk 11 1 11 mt 21 1 11 lk 18 18 44 jn 12 12 19 this foal was chosen to carry jesus during his triumphal entry into jerusalem an event remembered annually on palm sunday it fulfilled the ot prophecy of zech 9 9 concerning the promised king messiah riding on a humble donkey a symbol of peace in contrast to a war horse displaying military might at the instruction of jesus at bethphage near the mt of olives his disciples found this colt placed their cloaks on it and jesus came riding it into jerusalem to the loud hosanna s of those who hailed him as their national messiah this action marked jesus final arrival in jerusalem for passover culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection essentially jesus rode a donkey 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 al...
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