Today, I invite you into my world. I think it’s good to slow things down a bit and say something about the one behind the keyboard and why I drop in on you so often. 

I walked a long and different path to reach my calling. I experienced that God was calling me to study theology at Stellenbosch University. I was not a good student and crammed my first three-year degree into five years. I drove a bus for Inter Cape, had my own irrigation business, and worked evenings in the Spur. Fortunately, I had three friends who got me through the theology degree. 

When I finally finished, I didn’t have the calling to mount a pulpit somewhere in a congregation. I farmed for 12 years on two wonderful vineyards as a manager and then spent eight years in the corporate world with the big dogs.  

In 2011, Renata and I were called to enter the ministry full-time the next year and the Kruispad247 online ministry was born. Everything happening in an ordinary church happens at Kruispad247 on the internet, mobile phones and radio waves. 

I’m in heaven. I’m living my dream. It is such a great privilege for me to be able to teach other people. It’s wonderful to take the hands of people who’ve stepped in a hole or live with guilt and help them see the sun rise again. 

It’s a priviledge for me to let the text of 2 000 years ago take root in today’s life. To make it understandable for myself and then hand it over to others so that everyone can understand God’s will for them today, makes the energy flow.  

And this is where I open the door of my heart a little wider and am simply honest. Sometimes I wonder if I’m hearing the Word of God correctly and if I’m retelling it correctly. Sometimes I’m afraid I’m like Jesus talking about the Pharisees when He described them as blind people who lead others into the ditch. 

Sometimes I fall into a hole and then I wonder if I’m good enough. Do my words have any meaning? And yes, the Bible says that the ministers of the Word will stand in a different line at the gates, where the magnifying glass is thicker. 

Only human! 

Fortunately, our Father surrounded me with family and friends who pull and push and help me get out of the hole. Then I listen carefully to Peter’s words: 2Here’s my concern: that you care for God’s flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way. 

I grasp the assignment with both hands and cannot stop myself from supporting everyone the Lord has entrusted to me. I do it for sure because it’s my calling, and I want to make a difference with everything in me, and I want to mean something to you. 

Thank you for allowing me to drop in on you often and sometimes at inconvenient times. I believe God wants it that way too. And finally, please pray for us, because yes, we need it so much! 

Scripture
1 Peter 5:1-3 

Reflection
Who serves you with God’s Word?
Do you pray for them?
Do you pray enough? 

Prayer
Father, I pray now for the one who serves me. Amen.