Die Kerk - Tempels of Teaters

DIE KERK 

Tempels of Teaters

Stes de Necker

In ’n vorige artikel het ek verwys na veranderinge en die kerk en daarin het ek gesê dat verandering en vernuwing binne die Gereformeerde Susters-kerke behoort 'n voortdurende proses te wees, maar dan moet dit altyd daarom gaan om 'n beter en heiliger Kerk vir Jesus te wees. Verandering behoort nooit gemeet te word aan die populariteit of die aandrang van mense daarvoor nie, maar aan die getrouheid en gebondenheid aan die Woord van God. Verandering moet altyd geanker wees in die onveranderlike boodskap van die Bybel en nie oorgelaat te word aan die voor- en afkeure van mense nie.

Enige verandering of vernuwing binne die Kerk van Jesus, moet altyd aan hierdie beginsel getoets word: Is die verandering (of vernuwing) vir God aanvaarbaar?  Nie vir die gemeente of die samelewing waarbinne ons leef nie, maar vir God.

Ongelukkig vind ons dat daar in baie van ons gereformeerde kerke vandag ’n neiging bestaan dat die kern boodskap van die Bybel oorheers word deur sosiale en maatskaplike maatstawwe van buite. Preke word dikwels verwoord tot spitsvondige opmerkings en onvanpaste grappe en wanneer die preek verder nog met ’n paar vloekwoorde en obskure uitlatings aangevul word, verander die erediens dikwels in ’n soort sosiale samekoms waarin die eerbied en respek vir die teenwoordigheid van God in die erediens maklik vergeet kan word.

Ons Here Jesus het self gesê: “Waar twee of drie in my Naam saam is, daar is Ek by hulle.” (Matt. 18:20) Ek het al so baie gewonder wat sou gebeur as ons die Here Jesus fisies, sigbaar, saam met ons in die erediens kon waarneem. Hoe sou ons reageer? Hoe sou die erediens verloop? Hoe sou die leraar en die kerkgangers optree? En tog is Jesus wel teenwoordig. God is self daar! By ons; in ons; óm ons. Ons kan Hom net nie fisies waarneem nie.

Deesdae maak baie van ons kerke gebruik van elektroniese hulpmiddels soos interaktiewe inligting skerms, gesofistikeerde klankstelsels, rekenaar monitors ens.  Op die gevaar af om as outyds en konserwatief bestempel te word, bly die vraag egter of al hierdie nuwe gebruike enigsins waarde tot die erediens toevoeg. Terwyl daar in wese niks verkeerd is met die aanwending van hierdie hulpmiddels nie, moet daar ernstig gewaak word dat die onoordeelkundige gebruik daarvan nie die unieke aard en wese van die preek reduseer tot ’n akademiese teologiese lesing of referaat waarin die Skrifuitleg met behulp van televisie monitors en oorhoofse projektors pragtig professioneel uiteengesit word, maar in werklikheid niks vir ons daaglikse geestelike behoeftes beteken nie. Dikwels word die spontaniteit en emosionele karakter van ’n preek oorwoeker deur grafiese voorstellings en uiteensettings wat harder spreek as die teks of kern boodskap van die preek.

Selfs die hedendaagse neiging om al meer gebruik te maak van orkeste tydens die erediens, vind by baie van die ouer kerk lidmate moeilik byval. Die vraag kan seker tereg gevra word hoekom die tradisionele kerkorrel nie meer voldoende is om die musikale begeleiding te doen nie. Sekerlik een van die mees indrukwekkendste instrumente wat ooit ontwerp is, moet vervang word met die rasperagtige klanke van die elektriese instrumente van ’n “rock” orkes. Om van die oorverdowende geraas nie eens te praat nie!

Maar weereens moet ek my haas om by te voeg dat die aanwending van hierdie middele nie noodwendig verkeerd is, of soos sommige dit wil hê, “van die duiwel” is nie. Dit gaan bloot oor die rol en plek wat hierdie middele binne ’n erediens vertolk. Met ander woorde, dra die gebruik hiervan enigsins by tot die gewyde karakter en atmosfeer van ʼn erediens, of word die erediens eerder daardeur tot ’n soort teater gerelegeer.  

Ek het in ’n vorige artikel gesê dat die Kerk van Jesus sedert sy ontstaan aan veranderinge blootgestel was. In die Nuwe Testament lees ons dikwels van die veranderinge wat daar, reeds sedert die eerste eeu na Christus, in die Kerk plaasgevind het. Desnieteenstaande al die veranderinge het die kerk, in sy wese, nog altyd kerk gebly.  

Bedienings style, kleredrag, sang, musikale begeleiding, die gebruik van tegnologiese hulpmiddele in die erediens en selfs aanpassings in die liturgie, (verloop van die erediens) moet altyd aanpas by die onveranderlike waardes en kern-begrippe van die Bybel. Die resultaat van verandering en vernuwing binne die Kerk moet nooit gemeet word in terme van bywoning getalle van lidmate of die uitslae van mensgemaakte opnames of sosiologiese navorsing nie. Die resultaat van suksesvolle verandering moet in die eerste instansie gemeet word aan elke lidmaat se opregtheid van geloof en sy/haar gebondenheid en getrouheid aan die Woord van God.

Die Kerk is in die eerste instansie 'n “geloofsinstelling” waar medegelowiges met mekaar en met God verbind word deur die soen verdienste van ons Here Jesus Christus. Medegelowiges wat saamkom om na die Woord van God te luister en om, as gemeentes, God te dien en te aanbid rondom die suiwere bediening van die Woord.

Die kerk is nie ’n teater wat ’n bepaalde aanbieding of produksie steil, bloot ter wille van populariteit, hoef na te streef nie. Te dikwels sien ons gemeentes wat maar te gretig is om bloot ter wille van bywoning-getalle, die tradisionele liturgie voortdurend te wysig net om by die populêre lewensbeskouinge van die oomblik aan te pas.

Ons glo en bely dat God self Sy kerk onderhou. Hy het alles aan Jesus Christus onderwerp, Hom bo alles verhef en Hom aangestel het as hoof van die kerk. (Efe. 1:22) en verder in Matt. 16:18 staan daar: “En Ek sê vir jou: Jy is Petrus, en op hierdie rots sal Ek my kerk bou, en die magte van die doderyk sal dit nie oorweldig nie.” 

Die kerk, wat ook as die mees behoudende instellings binne n bepaalde samelewing gesien moet word, hoef nie elke keer as die gemeente vra vir verandering, te spring om aan die gemeente se versoek te voldoen nie. God is in beheer. Jesus self is hoof van die kerk. Niks sal gebeur wat nie die goedkeuring van Jesus dra nie, 

Verandering en vernuwing binne die Gereformeerde Kerke is nodig, maar dan moet dit altyd daar omgaan om 'n beter en heiliger Kerk, geanker in die onveranderlike boodskap van die Bybel, te wees, eerder as om van die kerk een of ander vermaaklikheid teater te probeer maak.

Daar is op die oomblik weer n nasionale debat oor die rol en plek van die kerk in die hedendaagse samelewing, aan die gang. Vrae soos:  "Is die kerk nog relevant in vandag se samelewing? Het die kerk nog n rol te speel in vandag se lewe?" ens. is aan die orde van die dag, en vra jy die debatteerders wat nou eintlik veroorsaak het dat almal eensklaps so bekommerd oor die kerk se rol en relevansie geraak het, dan  hoor jy vinnig dat: "Die bywoning getalle van gemeentes is dan besig is om te daal!"

Kwantitatiewe norme het belangriker as kwalitatiewe norme geword. Die kerk se relevansie word bloot aan bywoning getalle gemeet.

Liewe vriend en vriendin, God meet nie die kerk se sukses aan sy lidmaat-getalle nie. God meet die kerk aan die getal opregte gelowiges wat rondom die Bybel bymekaar kom om God te loof en te aanbid.

n Kerk met n honderd opregte gelowige lidmate, is voor God honderd maal meer Kerk van God, as die een met tien duisend vermaaklikheid soekers daarin.

Bywoning getalle tel nie punte op God se "scoreboard" nie! 
  

Complaints addressed to the Town Council.

Excerpts from letters of complaints addressed to the Town Council

Stes de Necker

1. My bush is really overgrown round the front and my back passage has fungus growing in it.

2. He's got this huge tool that vibrates the whole house and I just can't take it anymore.

3. It's all the dog mess that I find hard to swallow.

4. I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off.

5. I wish to complain that my father hurt his ankle, very badly, when he put his foot in the hole in his back passage.

6. And their 18 year old son is continually banging his balls against my fence.

7. I wish to report that tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was bad wind the other night that blew them off.

8. My lavatory seat is cracked, where do I stand?

9. I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall.

10. Will you please send someone to mend the garden path? My wife tripped and fell on it yesterday and now she is pregnant.

11. I request permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen.

12. 50% of the walls are damp, 50% have crumbling plaster and 50% are just plain filthy.

13. I am still having problems with smoke in my new drawers.

14. The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is cleared.

15. Will you please send a man to look at my water; it is a funny colour and not fit to drink.

16. Our lavatory seat is broken in half and is now in three pieces.

17. I want to complain about the farmer across the road; every morning at 6am his cock wakes me up and it's now getting too much for me.

18. The man next door has a large erection in the back garden, which is unsightly and dangerous.

19. Our kitchen floor is damp. We have two children and would like a third, so please send someone round to do something about it.

20. I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man on top of me every night.

21. Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job and satisfy my wife.

22. I have had the clerk of works down on the floor six times, but I still have no satisfaction.

Change the way you look at things.

Change the way you look at things -

And the things you look at change

Stes de Necker

• Spending all day in a rocking chair will keep you moving but take you nowhere.

• The Holy Spirit is that quiet voice in your heart that constantly have to shout to be heard.

• If you only behave normally these days, you're already mad enough.

• It is not how much you earn that makes you rich. It is how much you give.

• The only legal theft is to steal someone's heart.

• Use the stones life throws at you to strengthen your foundations.

• The University of Life is the most expensive of them all.

• Africa is running upwards on the downwards Escalator.

• In the Olympiad of life there is only one opponent you need to win, and that is yourself.

• Do not judge what you do not understand.

• The only thing new in life is the history you haven’t learned yet.

• Wisdom is paid with pain.

• In the painting of your life, God has chosen a special colour for every one who has come into your life.

• We could learn so much from our children if only they were there before us.

• An Law must be interpreted strictly legally, but it must be applied with great compassion and understanding.

• The paradox of faith:

God must give you the belief that you need to believe in him.

God must give you the confidence (hope) that you need to trust him with.

God must give you the love that you need to love him with.

• Bowls is the only sport you can play until you cant lift your balls any more.

• In the coldest place on earth, love will always stay warm.

• I had a lot of worries in my life, most of all about things which never happened.

• The prettiest smiles hide the greatest sadness

• The prettiest eyes have cried buckets of tears

• The warmest hearts have felt the most pain

• The quietest people have the deepest secrets

• The best place to be is in someone's heart

• The best doctors are mothers

• The deepest wrinkles tell the most beautiful stories

• The greatest gift is the gift of life

• The most impossible things are possible if we believe

• The greatest guarantee in life we find in the Word of God

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Why people differ of opinion.

A practical example why people’s opinions differ  according to their age and gender.

Stes de Necker

Analysis of the above picture can tell us a lot about how
people think.  

 
For young men, it's a picture of a lady with a nice ass, but
only the most observant will notice that she is crossing a street.
 
The really observant will notice that she is wearing a thong.
 
For older men, she appears to be a respectable woman  -
with a nice ass - on her way to work.
 
The perverts among them will imagine her naked.
 
Wiser men will ponder the presence of mind of the
photographer to take the shot in the face of such
beauty and be grateful that they shared it with humanity.
 
For half of the women, this is an ordinary woman
who should not have left home dressed that way.
 
The other half will think she is a slut but wonder
where she bought that  blouse.
 
Older women will imagine all the misery that the
woman's ass will cause by the time she reaches 50.
 
However.....
only children, the extremely intelligent, and the celibate, will notice  

that the taxi is being driven by a dog!

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Refugees - The Worldwide Phenomena

Refugees – The Worldwide Phenomena 

 Stes de Necker

With the emphasis currently focussed on the crises situations in Jordan, Somalia, Chad etc. one tends te forget that the refugee crises is not only limited to these countries, but that it is in fact a worldwide crises.

Under international law, a refugee is a person who, being outside his country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.

The 1951 Refugee Convention defines refugees as people who have left their place of habitual residence, "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”

Originally confined to refugees from war-torn Europe, the Refugee Convention was extended by a 1967 Protocol. Now refugees from any country are entitled to protection in one of the 147 countries which have signed the Convention. People who are awaiting confirmation of their refugee status are termed "asylum seekers".

However, assessing claims for asylum has become more problematic. Social and economic globalisation often blurs the distinction between forced and voluntary migration. The most telling current example is the situation in South Africa which may be host to almost one million undocumented Zimbabweans. It is very difficult for the authorities to differentiate between those Zimbabweans who fled in fear of political thuggery and those simply desperate for jobs.

Refugee status is greatly valued for the rights that it bestows under international law. A refugee is entitled to reside, at least temporarily, in the host country and is protected by the principle of non-refoulement. This prohibits the deportation of refugees to places where their lives or freedoms could be in danger.

 Host states are also obliged to offer civil and economic rights, in particular the right to work. Refugees enjoy access to social services and protection of national laws, whereas migrant workers have no recourse to international law to enforce their rights.

The nature of the movement of refugees is that they tend to cross borders at short notice, with few possessions and in distress. In such circumstances the ideals of international law prove impractical so that immediate protection often takes the form of refugee camps.

About 30% of global refugees are accommodated in camps. Conceived as short-term emergency solutions, many refugee camps quickly become overwhelmed with numbers, prone to disease and violence, with no options available for relocating the occupants. The largest camp in the world is the Dadaab camp in north-eastern Kenya which accommodated over 460,000 refugees at the end of 2011, mostly from Somalia.

Almost three quarters of all non-Palestinian refugees – 7.2 million people - have been trapped in temporary arrangements for over five years. Quite apart from the costs, the limited opportunities for refugees to work and inadequate education for their children create difficult psychological environments.

There are three broad options for permanent solutions to the refugee problem. The first is local integration. This grants refugees a permanent right to stay in the host country. 

The second option is resettlement in third-party countries. There is a global quota scheme, in which participating countries agree to take a certain number of refugees each year. However, few countries apart from the US offer meaningful quotas and only 99,000 refugees were resettled in 2010, a fraction of the demand.

The third option - currently the most popular with support agencies and with the refugees themselves - is voluntary repatriation to the country of origin. About nine million refugees have been repatriated in the last ten years, making this the most successful of the durable solutions. However, the rate of these returns has now slowed considerably with only 197,000 in 2010, the lowest figure for 20 years. The main constraint is the protracted nature of conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The withdrawal of US troops from Iraq does not yet equate with a secure environment. This is especially relevant to Iraqi refugees in Syria, trapped with the additional quandary of political turmoil in their host country.

The protracted plight of millions of refugees has raised questions about the resilience of the 60-year old Refugee Convention. Furthermore, the modern world increasingly provokes displacement scenarios that expose its limitations. Schedule 1 gives a comprehensive statistical overview of the worldwide occurrence of the refugee problem. Both the influx totals as well as the effusion (outflux) totals by country are indicated.

The cost of accommodating refugees will obviously differ for each country, but calculated at a nominal cost of $20 per refugee, per day, the total annual cost of hosting the world’s refugees currently amount to a staggering $77 bil. per year.

In recent years a new refugee phenomena has appeared, and that is the predicament of the “environmental” or “climate change” refugee. In a Security Council debate during 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “environmental refugees are reshaping the human geography of the planet.” He was referring not only to the impact of extreme weather events but also to slow onset disasters such as salinisation and desertification of fertile land.

 In 2008, a Greenpeace report contemplates a mass migration of 125 million people from coastal and low-lying regions of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. More cautious estimates suggest a global cross-border total of 200-250 million by 2050.

No provision in international law exists to respond to environmental migration. Climate-related displacement will furthermore be irreversible, thereby ruling out the most popular solution of repatriation adopted for conventional refugees. The threat of climate change will inevitably require a new international convention for displaced persons whose circumstances are not captured by the existing definitions.

 Source: One World – Inside the global divide. 4 March 2013. UNHCR News

Taking into consideration the limited success that could be achieved by applying conventional methods to curb the refugee problem worldwide, the only other option remaining may be to hold the countries of origin financially responsible for the cost of their citizens who live as refugees in other countries.

This strategy can be pursued by transferring the cost of the financial benefits and social services, to which asylum seekers and refugees are entitled, to their country of origin. Jordan is a case in point for how different groups of refugees can have strong political and economic implications, both domestically and regionally.

Jordan is a relative recent creation, having been established in 1921 within borders drawn by European colonial powers. It soon became the first host of Palestinian refugees who arrived in several waves since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, forming a very large and integral part of Jordan’s population.

Because of the unresolved issue of Palestinian statehood, this migration has constantly posed a challenge to the Jordanian regime. At the same time, it has been an asset to the country's economic development. In particular, it has allowed Jordan to receive large amounts of development assistance from the international community to help resettle and integrate the refugees. Remittances, together with foreign aid, have contributed to developing sectors of the Jordanian economy by providing start-up money for Jordanian businesses and for large state-sponsored projects.

The Jordanian government has always welcomed resettlement projects undertaken by international organizations or US development agencies within the broader framework of development which have generally boosted the whole Jordanian economy. The problem however is, that the countries of origen of the refugees have contributed very little, if anything, to this development funding.

 Jordan has the highest ratio of refugees to indigenous population of any country. (14:1). Of the current almost 500,000 refugees in Jordan, almost 80% are Palestinians. Jordan can not afford to absorb new migrants into their country without endangering its social balance.

 Source:  Géraldine Chatelard Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo), Amman.

According to the latest statistics publiched by UNHCR, the current total worldwide refugee population  amounts to an estimated 10mill.people. As I have mentioned before, at a nominal cost of $20 per day per person, these refugees are costing the world a staggering $76 bill. per annum. South Africa for example, are currently hosting approximately 58,000 refugees, eminating mainly from Zimbabwe.At the same nominal cost of $20 per person per day, these relative few refugees are costing the South African taxpayers no less than $423 mill. per year. (R3,8 bill.) 

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