Too late?

I received a video on my phone depicting beds that had been discarded at a state hospital. Then at our cell meeting we spoke about credibility and one lady had looked up the word in the Hebrew and she said it said wrong speaking makes you lose your credibility. On the surface there’s nothing wrong with a hospital throwing out old beds and getting new ones. Why were they just standing around? Who knows? Maybe someone had tendered to buy them or maybe they were going to be recycled. What worried me about the video was what the man who made the video was saying. And he’s not alone in what he is doing. He seems to be following a tendency. He was telling whoever would be watching over and over that this is what the government is doing with taxpayers money, and that there are other hospitals which don’t have beds. He ended up saying that he is going to share this video as much as he could. Now I’m going to ask, how is sharing this video going to change anything? I do know that it is going to upset a whole lot of people on all sides of the political and economic spectrum. It is going to cause more talk about ‘us’ and ‘them’. It is going to use up a whole lot of data. It is not going to solve the problem of hospitals which don’t have beds! That’s the absolute last thing that’s going to happen. What if he took a video and went to his ward councillor, or the management of the hospital, or even the office of the premier of the province? People seem to think that social media can solve problems. I’m sorry to say that it can’t, never has been able to, never will be able to. The phrase, “share the hell out of this post,” is just nonsense.
Is it okay to share things like this video with the negative comments with the world? No it is not okay because it causes people to think negative thoughts.
Philippians 4:6-8 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This video does not bring peace to anyone and even though it is being shared by people who are Christians, I am quite sure they are not praying about it.
Verse 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Nothing about this video gives me cause to think or meditate on any of the good things mentioned in this verse.
Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
Ecclesiastes 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of the fool consume him.
Have we become a nation of people who think that sharing negative things of social media is taking action? Have we forgotten how to pray and have we forgotten the One to whom we pray? Do we think that by spreading this kind of gossip we are going to cause change in our country? This is nothing but gossip, just like a million other videos and stories just like it. They have no substance, no background and no facts. The message that they convey is negative and will only cause people who aren’t discerning to react even more negatively to the government, or to whoever the post is aimed at. What has happened to the nation who used to call on God and receive answers? What happened to people of integrity who could make a real difference by asking God what the best way is to handle a situation?
We have to get back to serving the living God before it’s too late. Too late for our country and too late for our souls.

Stand up for what you believe

Are Christians allowed to stand up against the government? 1 Timothy 2:1-4 says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the truth and knowledge of Him.” Here it says pray for the government and you will have a peaceful life. We are commanded to pray for the leaders and we should, but what if the laws are against what the bible teaches? What if there are rules that forbid us to worship God? What about abortion? May we protest about things that are biblically incorrect and which are taking away our freedom of religion? If the laws say that we aren’t allowed to meet for a church service, what then?

What did Daniel do when there was a decree that all petitions were to be made to the king and no God or man except him? Daniel continued to pray to God and made it even more evident by opening his windows. The result was that he got thrown into a den of lions. God protected him and he was unharmed. (Daniel Chapter 6)  Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were supposed to bow to a golden statue of KingNebuchadnezzer but they refused. This is what they said to the king in Daniel 3:17 – 18 “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be know to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will be worship your gods, not will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” They ended up in a furnace and also were totally unharmed.

Peter and John were told not to speak the name of Jesus, Acts 4:17, “But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” This is what Peter and John answered, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard,” In Acts 5 Peter and some of the other apostles were imprisoned because they continued to teach about Jesus and then rescued from the prison by and angel. After that they were severely beaten for preaching. Acts 5:42, “And daily in the temple, and in the house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

These people stood up against the rulers of their time. Therefore we can deduce that we can do the same. We just have to remember one thing, we have to be willing to face the consequences of our resistance honorably and joyfully. If there is a bad outcome to our protest, to our passive resistance, to whatever action we take, we have to have the conviction of our beliefs to be able to take it and take it standing. We cannot whine and complain because life isn’t fair. We have to know what we believe. We have to be convinced of what we believe. Don’t sign a petition if you aren’t willing to back up your signature with action. Don’t join a group which stands for something if you aren’t convinced that you are 100% aligned with their beliefs. Social media is a very effective way of drumming up support but don’t be caught in the trap of letting an emotional plea change your mind. Be sure you have built your beliefs on a firm foundation. Be bold by all means, but if you stand up for your Christian beliefs be warned that you must be willing to die for those beliefs.

Like and share

Sharing a post and forwarding a message has become the order of the day. On any given day you are likely to receive at least one request to either forward or share some information. Ranging from the ridiculous to some very serious and even potentially dangerous messages, some people just keep sharing without discerning the content. The message that Angus Buchan sent out for the prayer gathering in Bloemfontein was shared by thousands upon thousands of people and the meeting was extremely well attended. Social media is very powerful and is a wonderful tool to create awareness.

In April thousands of people prayed with ‘Oom Angus’ and he seems to have become a national treasure to the Afrikaans speaking sector, which I think is great. He is very English and to be accepted and respected by people in all walks of life from multiple cultures is no mean feat. People who attended the meeting came back saying that they believe prayer can change South Africa. The next serious call was Black Monday where everyone was asked to wear black in remembrance of the murdered farmers. It was also very well supported.

What’s bugging me though, is that the same people who said that prayer is the only way forward, are now sharing messaged asking for petitions to be signed so that President Donald Trump can do something to stop the farm murders. Seriously? He has that kind of power? And what happened to praying? Is President Trump more powerful than God now? Just wondering.