'Spring Harvest' - Revival Meetings

'Spring Harvest' - Revival Meetings
Cape Town, South Africa   
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th September 2008
Cape Missions International
"Will You not Revive us again that Your People may rejoice in You" (Ps. 85.6)
South Africa is an open door for Spiritual Renewal
Partner with us by sending a gifted Preacher of God's Word with a small support team to join us in Cape Town for a week of Evangelistic / Revival meetings for our annual Spring Harvest Revival

We will partner you with a local church ‘sold out’ for Revival in our country that will fully support your team

The week will involve Children’s & Youth ministry, Mentoring church leadership, Pastors & Leaders Conference & preaching Gods Word
If you have a passion for Revival and Missions in Africa contact us
Attached is a promotional document for your church and details of the program

CONTACT:
Charmaine Baker - Cape Missions International, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: + 27 21 782 3361
Email: charmaine@capemissionsint.co.za 

Website: http://www.capemissionsint.co.za

Who wants to live forever?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a braai (barbeque) of a good friend of mine. He just turned 50. He has been in the ministry for nearly half that time. Serving the Lord and living by faith.

When I was younger, he took me under his wing and discipled me. Taught, disciplined me. He is regarded by many as a hard task master. Yet many love to hear him preach and share.

As we were talking I got to remember a project my son, Daniel, was doing for home school. He had to go though Genesis, and map out the life and age of many of the people who lived at that time. What amazed him, was the fact that early man lived to ages of 900 years and up. That meant that middle age was only around about 450 years.

As I spoke to Mike, we reminisced how we did things in the past. How we would go on beach missions. Play beach volleyball every day, preach in the afternoon and night. Jump run and all that. We looked at our selves and realised that we do not have the body to do all that any more.

We were in fact passed middle age. Our bodies were feeling the passage of time. 50 years to us seems a long time. Mike was just saying that he probably only has 20 more years left. As he was reminded that the Lord said that our lives will be "Three score and ten..", or 70 years.

What amazed me was that the likes of Adam, Abraham, Seth, Enoch, Noah, 50 years was really considered to be a toddler. Could you imagine still being fit and healthy at 450 years.

You see the Lord had created us with immortality in mind. We were meant to live much linger that 900 years. But because of our sin, we were cursed. We were in fact punished.

But we can regain that imortality, that everlasting life. The Lord gave us a choice. He sent His Son, that those who accept His death on the Cross, and His ressurection, would gain eternal life. Is that not what all men are seeking.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Look no further for the fountain of youth. For you have found it.
For those who have accepted Christ as their saviour. Enjoy Long Long Long years. See ya all in heaven, with a glorified body.

Who wants to live forever?

God Given Talents.

Eph4:11 And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

What is talent. Can it be learnt. Does practice make perfect. Can a construction worker become a musical maestro or a brain surgeon. Are you born with talent? Is it Inherited. Do you always have talent, or do you get different talent at stages? Where does it come from?

Many questions that many have asked. I believe that all we have comes from God. After all He is the Creator. He made us. SO whatever we have, what ever you might call it, God gave it to us. He did so for a reason. He gave you and I specific talents because he made us so that we could use those talents in the best possible way.

Now I do not have a talent for music. I am tone deaf, cannot sing. I have learned to play the guitar, but it is very hard. I cannot read music, I cannot play by ear.

Now my son, Daniel, who is only 11 years, has a keen interest in music. He seems to have some sort of natural talent.

He taught himself to play the keyboard and piano. He plays by ear at this moment. He has never had any piano lessons, and never played the piano before. Neither my wife or I taught him. Yet he is pretty good for his age, and for the limited teaching he has received.

Here is a short video of him play “Clocks” by Coldplay.

Where did he get this from? Well I believe that the Creator created him this way. It did not evolve, it did not happen per chance. God intended it to be so.

Yes, he does have to practice, and yes he does have to take lessons. But this I believe is just bringing to the surface the talent God has already given him.

Ro 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Ro 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
1Co 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I would not have you ignorant.
1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:28 And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1Co 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
1Co 12:31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I to you a more excellent way.

Do Miracles still happen?

My wife, Beverley, has had a history of back problems. When she worked for ABSA, they made her carry, and pick up boxes in some store room. Since then she has had stiffness and slight pain in her back.

This had over the years, gotten progressively worse. Beverley had resigned herself to her back problem because she probably felt that it was her lot in life seeing that her father also has back problems.

One day, outside, Beverley twisted, and made her back worse. Now she could not walk for very long, but it was bearable. Beverley fell pregnant after many years of praying. This would not help her back problem.

The birth was very difficult. Lots of pressure. Beverley started Bleeding after the birth and nearly died. Just thanks to  the Lord and the many that prayed for her that she is alive today.

This made her back even worse. We went to the a orthopaedic doctor, who wanted to remove a disc and fuse the vertebra. He was very abrupt and seemed un-professional. We did not like this, so sought another opinion.

We found a neurosurgeon, who suggested a few options to us. Something that the other doctor never did. One was drastic, surgery. The other, was that if Beverley could withstand the pain she should change her lifestyle. No bending, no picking up heavy objects, taking it easy. That sort of thing.

Well she did this for a couple of months hoping that the situation would reverse itself. But it didn’t. Although it did not get any worse.  So Beverley was quite happy to take this route, as she was still breastfeeding and did not want to give that up in order to go to hospital and spend days  on her back.

Then the unthinkable happened. Beverley slipped in the bath and pulled her back out. She was bed ridden for six weeks, could hardly walk, had no feeling in her legs. Could not stand for longer than a minute. This was really serious. Surgery seemed now to be the only option. But there was anxiety, as many people who had back surgery have not been happy, and some are even worse off now. Beverley’s father for example.

We had numerous x-rays and scans. Only to find that Beverley had done some severe damage to her lower back. Her disc were protruding over 1cm and trapping the main nerve down to her leg. This was dangerous, as any wrong movement could cause her to be paralysed. This scan shows it in great detail.

Notice the last three discs, the dark lines in between the vertebra. Notice the middle one, the one with the great big bulge compressing the nerves. What great technology we have today.

So there was no doubt. Beverley had to have surgery. She had to have a lumbar micro-discectomy. Basically they were going to go in and cut off the bulge.

Well we though that this was going to be a long time in hospital, long time in bed, long recovery period. But the doctor said 2-3 days tops, in hospital, walking 1-2 days after the surgery. I had to see this.

After the surgery, Beverley never had any antibiotics. The nursing staff suggested that the doctor in question does such a great job, that antibiotics are not needed.

The doctor said that the broken piece of disc was very large but he removed it. The cut had 18 staples put in to keep it nice and neat and closed.  The staples were removed 2 weeks later with no discomfort.

Well the miracle is that now, that just over two weeks since the surgery. Beverley is walking without pain. She is over the moon, and cannot believe the mobility that she now has. Her feeling in her leg is coming back. She still cannot pick up heavy objects but just being able to walk and stand without pain is fantastic.

Praise the Lord! He is the great physician.

Luke 9:11  And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

Today we are taking another step. We are going shopping. Yes a bad dream for me, but a miracle for Beverley. She now believes that she can walk around the shopping mall without pain (Something she hasn’t been able to do for over a year).  Thanks to the Lord.

I am reminded of an old hymn - “Count your blessing name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has Done”

De 28:2  And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

Have you experienced a miracle from God today? Let us know about it.

How has God Blessed You Today?

To many non-Christians, belief in God is superstitious, un-scientific, non-realistic. To some it might just be a crutch, to others just another belief system among thousands. To many, there is no proof of God.

This might be true in a simple scientific way. One cannot prove God in a test tube. But then many things in science people believe but cannot be proven as scientific fact. Take "Black Holes" for instance. These are an astronomical phenomenon that are expressed in many Sci-Fi movies. Yet scientist believe that they exist. Have they seen a "Black Hole"? The answer is NO. So then how do they believe or prove that one might exist. Well what they do is look at external factors, look at things that might be a cause or an effect of a "Black Hole". Things like, gravitational discrepancies, light discrepancies, etc. Just like wind. We cannot see it, but we can measure its effect on us and our surroundings.

This is not unlike how we can know that God exists. Can we prove God in a laboratory? No. But we can measure His effects on us and our surrounding. This is an acceptable scientific method of proof.

A few months ago, I was travelling on the highway, behind a delivery truck. Next thing, a loud bang. I got such a fright. A block of wood, had come loose on the truck, flew through the air and hit my windscreen. Fortunately it did not come through the windscreen.

Anyway, after I got the drivers particular, I phoned the company involved, who said it was not a problem. I was glad seeing that I had recently cancelled my car insurance. After a few day nothing happened. I then phoned the company involved, and they directed me to their insurance company. This insurance company then refused to pay for my windscreen, stating that their driver gave a different version of events. After lengthy discussions and e-mail, the insurance company said that if I wanted the windscreen paid for I was to take them to court.

Well needless to say, I was not able to tale them to court. So my windscreen remained smashed for weeks. I had to drive the vehicle like that as I never had any other vehicle to use. Being very nervous as I had a feeling that I would be pulled over one day by the traffic police and be fined.

Well that day finally happened. I started out this week Tuesday going to a meeting to secure some websites for my website development and hosting business I just started. The lord was good as I managed to secure two new websites. I was really trusting the Lord, as I figure that I need about 80 websites to make ends meet, and so far I have 8. So the day was good. On my way home, I got pulled over by a traffic policewomen. I kept reminding myself to be kind and polite as perhaps I will get a smaller fine. She asked me for the usual, drivers licence. we exchanged pleasantries. She then went over and had a long look at the smashed windscreen. Oh boy, here it comes, I thought. She then started to explain to me that this was illegal, and that I was going to get into trouble with the police, and that the fine was hefty, bla bla bla. She then asked me how the windscreen was smashed. I relayed to her the whole story.

Surprise, surprise she turned to me and said, "If it wasn't me, you would be in big trouble, but I will let you off this time. But you need to get the windscreen fixed or drive another vehicle". I thought to myself, I had better phone my sister, who owns a windscreen fitment company, and get the thing fitted. Where I will get the money, the Lord only knows. But I was thankful for little mercies, as I did not get a fine, that was a blessing in itself.

Upon arriving home, as I entered the front door, not even having time to relay the story of the current day to my wife, my cell phone rings. I answer. On the other side is my brother-in-law. He asks me where I am at the moment. I tell him, I am at home. He then says something that brings cold chills down my spine, and fills me with heaps of excitement. He says, "Bring you car in, I have a windscreen for you that I can fi right now, My guys are waiting for you."

I rushed to his fitment shop. The windscreen was fitted for free.

You say, that's just coincidential. Maybe. Your brother-in-law knew about the windscreen. Yes He did. But what he did not know, or could not know, is the events of that day. The traffic police, the fine etc. Also I never once asked for a new windscreen or even mentioned it to him.

My point is this. You ask for proof of a black hole, I give you the effects of a black hole. You ask for proof that God exists, I give you the effects God has on His children. God demonstrates Himself to us on a daily basis.

Today in church I preached on Romans 5:8-11. Speaking of God demonstrating His love toward us.
Ro.5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."

God demonstrates His love towards us on a daily basis. First off by Christ dying for us. Next by His grace every day, and then by His mercy, and then also by His sustenance and protection.

Is God real? Yes He is. How do I know that? I feel the effect of His love blowing on my life on a daily basis.

How has God blessed you today? Why not let me and others know. Drop me a comment.