Say NO to Euthanasia!

The Supreme Court of Appeal will hear arguments for the appeal of the Stransham-Ford euthanasia case on 4th November 2016. If you live in the Bloemfontein area, please go along to the Court to pray, protest and listen. As Christians we cannot condone Euthanasia. Does Scripture support Euthanasia? No, read more here. God is the creator, giver and taker of life. God is sovereign over all events of life. Nobody has the right to terminate the life God has given. That is murder. As Christians, we should endure with patience, endurance and much thanksgiving the suffering God allowed to come our way - for God's glory alone. Desmond Tutu is one of the big advocates of Euthanasia. Please read the below article re-posted with permission. The link to Euthanasia Exposed is below the article. Please forward this to all Christian friends and bloggers.

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‘Euthanasia Exposed’ is a network of South Africans exposing the deceptions and misleading arguments of the euthanasia and assisted suicide movement.

1. Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide: We oppose euthanasia (active or passive) and assisted suicide, but not the withdrawal of extra-ordinary medical care (such as life support machines) from terminally ill people or the euthanasia of animals. (See glossary of medical terms). This is also the position of all of South Africa’s medical authorities, our law and the law of almost all countries in the world, and almost all civil society organisations in South Africa.

2. Judicial activism: We oppose judicial activism – the attempt to misuse the judiciary to make radical changes in law not in the wording of the Bill of Rights or intended by the Constitutional Assembly, without following constitutional due process i.e. through elected representatives in the legislature. The South African Bill of Rights and the proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly contain no hint of an intention to legalise euthanasia, and any attempt to do so through the courts is manipulation and unlawful judicial attempt to usurp power. Any change of the existing law on euthanasia would Constitutionally have to go through the elected legislature, where it was dismissed in 2004 and is unlikely to have any success.

History: The euthanasia lobby have been trying to get euthanasia legalised since the early 1990s. First they asked the South African Law Reform Commission to investigate the possibility. Their 1999 consultation found the idea overwhelmingly rejected by almost every civil society organisation. No political party supported the cause and the Parliamentary Committee on Health confirmed the idea rejected in 2004. In 2014, a new group was formed, who realising they would not get support in parliament decided to try the courts. In April 2015, in an urgent one day trial, in a reckless abuse of authority, judge Fabricius authorised a euthanasia. The applicant, Stransham-Ford thankfully died peacefully the day of the trial. The State and the Health Professions Council are appealing the case to prevent it creating a precedent. We believe the euthanasia lobby will be defeated again.

PLEASE VISIT EUTHANASIA EXPOSED AND SHARE. AS A CHRISTIAN, MAKE YOUR VOICE KNOWN.

With them #iSTAND....

Our country is plagued with racism and violence in recent months. One of the movements which stands in the middle of this is the "FEESMUSTFALL movement. The movement is trying to get free education to help poor black students who cannot afford university fees. Black people has been disadvantaged through apartheid, which made it very difficult for many black children and students to enter tertiary institutions due to a lack of funds and circumstances. Equally, some tertiary institutions has remained inaccessible and unaffordable to many black students due to a lack of reform and cost. This has sparked the #FEESMUSTFALL movement. As a layperson it is difficult for me to analyse the real motives behind this movement in general because of the distance I find myself from the universities. However, I fully understand and support reforms of our tertiary institutions based on the facts I stated above. However, with this movement a lot of violence and racism has emerged. The most vile and hateful things are said. Two groups has emerged from the movement. Those who really struggle and plead for help, but no one is listening to them. The other group wants a revolution and war. Both fight under the same banner, but it appears that the second group wants more than just for fees to fall. There actions and speech is racially motivated. Slogans like, "I hate all whites," "Kill all whites" and "We want a revolution" is heard and seen among them. But the other group wants to peacefully make their grievances known. They cry for help and to be heard. Sadly they are not heard because the current government is busy enriching themselves and wasting so much money. I must also admit they do not get the ear of most of society because of the picture we see through the media. Justifiably, it must also be said that little is seen and heard from those who want to work for a better South Africa. It is high time that they distance themselves from those who hate and want a revolution.

With these fellow South Africans #iSTAND. With the rest who speak hate and practice destruction, I distance myself. I do not want to know them. With these I will unite whoever they are. Why? Because the Bible teach me to practice righteousness and justice. To practice peace and love. "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). BECAUSE IT IS MURDER according to the LAW OF GOD to even say "idiot" to your neighbour (Matt. 5:21-22). Christians should promote and practice these things and condemn injustices, murder, hate, violence and unrest. The Bible further teach me to be a law abiding citizen and submit to the authorities. The least I can say of some of the things I saw and heard. There are real students like these who are honest and who has a real problem and my heart cry and bleeds for them. But others cannot function without hate and revolution. I have seen the most hateful and hurtful things said. Like, "I hate all whites. All whites must be killed." These words come out of some of the prominent leader's mouths. How any Christian can condone or side with this I do not know. God hates it therefore I reject it. Similarly does God hates apartheid, racism and discrimination, and therefore I reject it. Some of the things I saw and heard, I reject as utter lawlessness and rebellion, which is a gross sin in the eyes of God. I dare not or even consider to condone or understand it because God allow no one to behave like this. NEVER!! But the ones in this article wants to build a country.

WITH YOU I STAND. YOU I WILL SERVE!!

The government has failed them and with them we must #STAND for a better and equal South Africa. Apartheid has destroyed their lives and we must work together to give them the opportunities they missed. BUT..not everything today is all apartheid and white people's fault. There are many corporate companies who give to make a difference. My company invite black students to our building weekly and give and train them for free. We give bursaries and a lot of money for development of black children. There are many white South Africans who practice giving to black children. I myself make it my daily practice to love and respect black people. To help where I can. Lets be fair and condemn fairly. After 22 years so much crime and corruption has been committed by the black ANC government which affected black children that was born 22 years ago. So much money was wasted for personal gain which could have been spent on many areas to improve the lives of black children. To blame everything on white people is just not truthful and honest. We have come a long way up to this point. Let us look fairly at the situation. Always condemning one group in the most vile language is breaking God's laws and creates new hate.

You can read this article for more photo's and stories from those whom we must support and take a #iSTAND with. https://www.goodthingsguy.com/opinion/vigil-cape-peninsula-university-stand-together/

A brief summary of my recent experiences in dealing with racial tension between Christians

The way Jesus did things is so different than the way we do it. Why do Christians do it like the world? In our struggle to build relationships across racial boundaries, we accuse, we refuse to bend the knee and we refuse to walk the extra mile. We refuse to go to the one who are angry with us and we refuse to give in. We set standards and the other party must meet those standards before we will allow a friendship with them. We advocate conditional giving and not sacrificial giving. We advocate conditional love and not sacrificial love. Our relationships are build on "what can I get out of it."

This has been my experience in recent months in dealing with racial issues between Christians.

What did Jesus say?

"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, LEAVE your gift there before the altar and GO. FIRST be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. COME TO TERMS QUICKLY with your accuser" (Matt. 5:22-25).

Here is my conclusion.

White people are slow to go to their brothers and reconcile. Black people refuse to give in and harbor anger. Black people continue to accuse and white people does not walk the second mile. Black people does not forgive unconditionally and white people does not have compassion and understanding for the pain of their black brothers

In the end, both parties are guilty of breaking God's law and refuse to deny themselves and take up their cross to follow Christ daily (Luke 9:23). We cannot build our behavior and practices on the world and how they do things. If we confess to be Christians, we must follow the footsteps of Christ.

Cry my Beloved Country: A plea for compassion and understanding

What I write here is really how I think currently and many might differ with me. However, I would ask that we think about it because it is definitely part of the package to better understand the complexities of South Africa. I was really thinking about our expectations. Do we really understand what the sacrifice mean to reform the way we use to live under apartheid. We are used to a system where you study, build experience, work hard, build a nest egg, pay taxes and then that entitle us to a good life in return. The majority of people in this country was purposefully excluded from this by us. They were deprived of the privilege to have a job, career, dreams, nest egg, etc. Do we really take responsibility for our actions. There is no quick fix to this. Do we expect to quickly and softly say we were wrong and then have life as it was? I don't think so. For us it is natural to expect of the government to deliver because we pay rates and taxes. That entitle us to roads, waste removal, running toilets, water, electricity, etc.

But do we realize that the majority of the people in this country still live in a shack without electricity and without a running toilet. They wake up at 4 in the morning to pay half of their small income for transport to travel more than two hours in some cases to get to work. Do we have compassion and understanding for this. From my privileged position I can hardly imagine their pain. Because we work and pay tax we kind of demand these things.

But our world has changed. Some of us came to the understanding that what we did was wrong and we could not carry on like that. We realized that we must include black people in society. But did we really deeply understand what it means. Did we think life will continue for us as is? Do we understand that 80% of the people in this country do not have what we had for a long time. Do we understand that we must share with them what we have. Do we think they will just be happy for us to give them a vote but remain where they are. Is that kind of thinking right from our side.

No, it means huge sacrifices from our side. We were established farmers with most of the land. You do not build a farm overnight. You do not become a commercial farmer instantly. Were we willing to sell land or invite people in and help them to become farmers. To share our land and experience. Because I grew up in the Free State I use to have a lot of farmer-friends. I know how they talk and still do. It is not nice.

To reform means we are going to be inconvenienced big time. It would mean that a lot of what we have must be shared with those who have not. The cake is only so big. It would mean that we must be willing to cope with a lot of bad behavior. What do you think will happen when you give people access to things they never knew. It would mean a lot of bad management and behavior as part of the package. Did we expect things will just be right overnight. Further to this, did we think we will just find work for 80% of the new work force that enter the market. I think we dreamed an unrealistic dream.

This unrealistic dream definitely apply to black and white. Black people equally must understand the sacrifice and pain of the process to rectify this. They must equally understand it will take time for them to be skilled and have experience to take up top management positions. But we must equally not use delay tactics but share our privileges and experiences. What we experience today was expected if you think realistically.

Furthermore, are we willing to accept the pains that we caused. These people were hurt and disrespected like animals by us for decades. Just imagine the hurt of a wife in an abusive marriage. She suffers and hates for the rest of her life. It takes a long time to come to terms with the hurt and pain. Can we just expect forgiveness and acceptance over night. We will only conquer this thing through long-suffering, patience, love and respect.

We are quick to respond with critique when we are not forgiven. Furthermore, we justified apartheid out of the Bible. We told these people God excludes them from our church, as if the church belongs to us. This was not long ago. This was just over twenty years ago. Now as Christians we turn around and we expect things will just be different over night. No, we will have to make huge sacrifices and take a lot of pain before things will change. My question to us is, are we willing to make the sacrifice? Do we really deeply understand what we did? Do we really deeply understand what it would mean to build a new society that will include those we oppressed.

Personally, I do not think we do. For example, I still hear a lot of people say we sold the country and that De Klerk is a traitor. If we really understand, we will not speak like that. Let us be honest in saying to ourselves that a big percentage of our own people do not accept the responsibility of our actions. Furthermore, from the life of David we see that he paid for his sins although he was forgiven. Do we expect not to pay something for our sins of the past. I think some of the things we see is a result of our sins of the past.

We claimed to be a God fearing people, but we committed murder in the name of God and we lived hypocritical lives. Many of us claimed to be Christian, but we lived like pagans. We went to church on Sundays and swear like pagans during the week. Today we expect a blessing from God because we quickly prayed a prayer of forgiveness. I think we are unrealistic. Part of our forgiveness and healing is a huge sacrifices.