Bread of Life

A few years ago there was an advert on TV about a guy who was looking to get advice on how to invest his money.
In the advert, he spoke to his dentist, his running partner and his friends at the club. All of whom had little or no formal experience to give him, but were more than willing to give their opinions none the less.
The upshot of the thing was to speak to those who know, not those who think they know.


It's amazing, when you think about it, that we often go through life trying to satisfy our hunger for knowledge, assurance or purpose, by watching TV, speaking to our friends(who often know as much as we do) or simply going along with the most popular trend of the time.

Jesus (John 6: 25-29)offers us a way to receive the answer to all our questions.
The food that endures is to know and believe that He is the bread of life. A food that does not spoil but endures to eternal life.

Are you feeding on the bread of life?

Jesus is inviting you right now.

Feed on Him and your hunger will be satisfied.

If you want to know Jesus and to receive Him, go the Tell Me About Jesus link and pray with us.

The Cult of Personality

One of the criticisms that the ANC breakaway party has of the ANC is that it has become involved in a 'cult of personality'. In other words they believe that Jacob Zuma has become more important, as a personality, than the principles of the ANC. The African philosophy of Ubuntu says that people should be committed first to the community and that individuals should not take centre stage.

Bill Hybels and Greg Hawkins, pastors at Willowcreek Community Church in the USA, have been promoting a process that they carried out in their church. They wondered whether people were growing in Christ in their church. They wondered whether Jesus was at the centre of their church members' lives. They found that many people were willing to say that they followed Jesus, but had not reached a point of being able to say that he was central to their lives.

We can follow many things - people - like politicians or evangelists, ideals, or interests. But we can only have one centre to our lives and we need to choose that carefully.

Look at this picture:

Where would you say you are in the picture? Where would you like to be?

Mature Christians

Here's a question:

What does a mature Christian look like?


Think about it for a moment!


Perhaps you are saying someone like:

- A person who serves the Lord diligently
- A person with a teachable spirit
- Myself, or so and so

Hebrews 5:14 teaches that mature Christians are "those who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish between good and evil."

In other words, those who understand that God is good and His creation is good but there are forces that seek to destroy that which is good.
Sometimes it is Satan who instigates evil within people and sometimes it is the evil in people which causes them to sin.

Mature Christians are those then that are able to distinguish the difference.

If you are unsure about your understanding of good and evil, talk to a mature Christan or e-mail me john@johnbailie.co.za

Touching Lives

As North Rand grows, I'm more and more aware that God created his church to touch lives.

So here's the thing, the more we grow, the greater variety of ministries we need to have, in order to touch people's lives.

Obvious isn't it?

Yep, so the question then is, where does God want you to serve?

I believe He wants to use us, our stories and our generosity to change the world.

If you are thinking: Where or how can I be part of God's plan for His people?

Then I encourage you to find out:

- Pray
- Read you Bible
- Speak to other Christan's
- Find courses that can help you (check out NR Discipleship School on our website.)

Bless you in your efforts to serve our Lord.

Two Things

1. Saturday: the FATHERS group arranged a fishing trip to a trout farm.

We ended up with one fish, one tree and a few tufts of grass. More importantly we shared fellowship and a wonderful morning in God's creation.

2. Sunday: we looked back at God's will and work at NR in 2008 and the plans He has for us in 2009.


Awesome!

Thank you Lord for the privilege of being part of your family and work in the world!

The Withered Fig Tree

Here's a thing! (Mark 11:12-26)

Jesus is tired and hungry.
He approaches a fig tree hoping to get some fruit.
Being out of season, the tree has no fruit.
Irritated, He curses the tree.

The next day, the tree is dead!

The lesson:

- In Jesus mind, there is no excuse for us not to bear fruit.

- His faith is such that He knows that even a fruit tree can bear fruit out of season.

- He believes in miracles

How about you?

- Do you believe in miracles?

- Are you like the tree, who resists a supernatural miracle in your life?

- Are you an excuse maker?

Well, Jesus wants to do supernatural things in your life.
He wants you to put aside excuses and open your self to the endless possibilities of Him using you to change the world!

All you have to do is have faith that this is true!

Awesome!

Dry

Our family spent a few days at the Kruger National Park last week. As you can see from the photo, the park was very, very dry as there has not been much rain yet this season. One wonders how much nutritional value there is in the grass that the zebra is eating!

However, when we looked across the plains of the park, we saw lines of green - where there were leafy trees growing next to the rivers. And in these areas we, naturally, saw more game.

In Ezekiel 47 the Bible talks about streams of living water flowing from God's temple, bringing life to a dry and salty land. Where the river flowed, the living creatures gathered, fish swam and fruit trees flourished.

Sometimes our lives may seem dry and lifeless - like the veld before the spring rains - or like the Dead Sea which is too salty to support life. God wants to pour his living water into our lives - so that we can be saturated with him, know his healing, and so that we can be a source of life for others.

Jesus said, "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14).
He also says, "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17).

Are you feeling dry and thirsty? Talk to Jesus - he is ready to listen. If you need help, you can email us.