In this Issue...
1. Youth Development
On Saturday 20th and the 27th of March, 2004, a number of us attended a Youth Leadership Development Workshop that took place in the English Lutheran Fellowship church hall in Ferndale. Alroy Trout from Lutheran Hour Ministries spoke to the eager group of about 12 people.
We started off by looking at the makings of a leader. What qualities do good leaders have? (Jesus was a perfect example of a good leader!) We looked at the five simple steps to becoming a leader.
We went through a number of exercises that showed us we can't see everything all at once, how we miss things and how we interpret things differently. These exercises showed us common traps leaders fall into, they also showed us that help, input and support from others is only beneficial.
One of the most important things you need to have as a leader is vision; how can you lead if you don't know where you're going? Also, others won't follow you if you don't set an example. An encouraging thing we learnt was that we all have enormous amounts of potential inside us that is screaming to be released. So often, only through negative mindsets, this potential is locked up inside us – life-long!
Then we talked about levels of leadership and characteristics of effective leaders. How you need to work your way up and work even harder to stay up. We also looked at why people follow leaders, especially effective ones.
Lastly we spoke about levels of happiness and how you should use these levels to create a balanced youth program for a happy youth. We looked at the 40 Development Assets for youth – what it takes in a young person's life to build a positive character, in other words, what the youth leaders should build into the individuals in the youth group.
One thing I took home from this workshop was: Just do it, and do it again! Slacking off is easy, taking on the task may be hard, but it's worth the effort! The Youth is worth the effort. You have the potential and God will provide the strength!
Lena Pfitzinger
Johannesburg Lutheran Youth
2. LHM-SA Board of Directors
All Christians are called to serve the Body of Christ, to work in God’s Kingdom and to bless others with what we have been blessed with. There are many opportunities for everybody to become actively involved at LHM-SA. Volunteers are of crucial importance to our ministry. We especially appreciate the time, energy and expertise of the men and women who serve on the LHM-SA Board of Directors:
and...Dr Uli Bantz- FELSiSA, Mr Herbert Vilakazi- ELCSA, Rev Edwin Dedekind- ELKSA-NT, Dr Rixa Beutel- ELKSA-NT, Mr Bethuel Mdluli- LCSA, Rev Christopher Barends- ELCSA. There is currently one vacancy on the LHM-SA Board for a member of FELSiSA, which is to be filled on or before the next Board meeting on the 18th May.
3. Responses to Spotlight
LHM-SA receives numerous responses from the public, requesting various booklets as a result of the SPOTLIGHT programme produced and presented by Doc Fick and broadcast on Radio Pulpit on Wednesday mornings at 9am.
In March alone more than 300 booklets were requested and sent out!
It is a tremendous privilege to answer the calls, to take down the personal particulars, to stand in prayer with the callers, to have empathy with them and to dispatch the literature to them.
The need is very great and it amazes me to see how people are really searching for answers. The ‘phones rang off the hook, especially when the booklets “Why Do Bad Things Happen?” and the “Lenten Devotions for 2004” were offered.
When we experience pain, trials and tribulations and suffering, do we draw near to God, or do we become alienated from Him? Even in the midst of the storms of life we can experience the peace of God, as well as His sustaining power and guidance. This is where Christian character is developed.
I was very surprised to see how many people wanted to find the real meaning of Easter, and not just seek leisure in the holidays, which they have become so accustomed to.
Lastly, it is my prayer over the booklets that the Words in them will not return empty, but accomplish what the Lord desires, and achieve the purpose for which they were sent out, according to Isaiah 55:11.
By Leon Heyl
OTHER MINISTRY RESULTS:
Drama Ministry- 216 responses, Web site Ministry- 88 responses
Translation of the booklet “Jesus Christ – True God and True Man” into isiZulu
4. Movie Review : The Passion of Christ
Someone asked, “If there was a recording made by criminals of how they kidnapped and beat and murdered your husband or wife or someone you love, would you want to watch it ?”
We went as a group of 8 Bible Study members to watch the movie, not sure at all what to expect. The movie is mostly in Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles. Although some said it was difficult to follow the story because of the subtitles, the original languages gave to the historical emphasis of the movie, a sense of authenticity.
The overwhelming emphasis on brutality, violence and hatred is contrasted to the amazing love Jesus lived out. The movie is historically correct, but graphically accentuates the injustice, the corrupted indifference to human life to the point that there will be those who, because of pre-existing prejudices, do not want to “forgive them” , be it Roman or Jew, even if “they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34.
From a Biblical point the movie was reasonably accurate, there was much added to the Biblical version of Christ’s last 12 hours, and in some places also things left out. Most disturbing of these deviations was the presence of the devil, a bald woman who in one place carried around a hideous baby in her arms. It is not to say that the devil was not present in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed, or that the devil did not torment Judas or that he was not there when they condemned Jesus, but it is not referred to in the Bible, and so for those not expecting it, it was rather unnerving. I must say, it did make one stop and think about the devil’s role in the death of Jesus.
All this emphasis on the beating and the human suffering Jesus went through, with so little emphasis on the Spiritual burden that He carried, painted Jesus in a rather human light, and did not remind us of the more important emphasis on His death, that in His death He bore the sins of the world. The numerous flash backs to happier times brought across the loving and kind Jesus that we were all looking for. The long drawn out suffering scenes meant that there were scenes tacked on to the end, showing the devil suffering, showing the empty tomb and Christ the resurrected. The movie left us with a lot of Good Friday and not enough Easter, yet it also showed us the enormity of the Sacrifice.
In a nutshell all of our objections and complaints about the movie are coloured by our own expectations, perceptions and interpretations of the Biblical accounts.
It was a good movie especially in this Lenten season where so many of us have forgotten the reason for Lent and the great sacrifice that our Lord made for us when He chose in obedience to die upon the Cross. This was the pain of Christ, not the passionate Jesus many came looking for. The movie really is worth watching. If you’re sensitive, you might like to close your eyes in some place.
By Pastor Josef J Henning
5. The Triple Filter
In ancient Greece an acquaintance met the great philosopher, Socrates, and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test. Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Are you going to tell me something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "You want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
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