Change Public Holidays?

There are murmurs in South Africa  that the Christian public holidays should be dropped from the list of annual public holidays. The reasoning is that other religious groups have to take leave of absence from work in order to celebrate their religious holidays, yet the Christians do not. The South African constitution, ever vigilant to strive for absolute equality and to not show any partiality to any particular group (in the wake of the Apartheid era),  has to consider the validity of the argument. Of course, "Christians" get  very worked up about the idea.

However.....the thought does occur to me that such a move would shake the proverbial tree. Are we, as Christians, more concerned about our comforts in not having to sacrifice anything in order to observe our holy days than about the vast mass of people who, at present, utilize our Christian holidays as opportunities for drunken debauchery and general misbehavior? (Not to mention commercial abuse?)

How serious are Christians about holy days? We know that Christ was  not born on 25th December, but we're happy to accept the pagan change of seasons (the worship of the 'new sun' as the worship of the 'new Son') to celebrate his birth. (In the U.S.A. Christ seems to have been replaced by a fat man in a red suit - Santa Claus - as the central figure of the Christ Mass!). We seem quite happy to accept the symbols of pagan fertility rites at Easter - the bunnies and easter eggs - to upstage the Passover and Christ's incredibly glorious sacrifice for us.

I can't help wondering if any other religion is as unfaithful to its holy days than we Christians are? Regardless of the rather dubious origins of some of the days, the things we celebrate on those days are deadly serious. Have we allowed those days to be hijacked by all and sundry through our lack of sincerity?

Perhaps forcing Christians to have to sacrifice some working days in order to celebrate our holidays would shake the tree a little and separate the faithful from the abusers?

Jim's Testimony

The first testimony that I'd like to publish is one that is particularly close to my heart. Jim Kaplan is a cousin of mine, living in the U.K. (He is a great Harley fan and loves his biking!)

Here is his testimony (Thanks, Jim, for sharing this):

"To all my friends who don't know or haven't heard of what's been happening in my life recently, here's an update!
Most of you know that I enjoyed the occasional drink and partaking in recreational drugs - for the best part of 33 years! In actual fact my drinking and drug taking had been a major problem for most of this time and was ruling my life. Some of you also know that I suffer with manic depression (bi-polar disorder) - suicide was never far from my thoughts. Despite going into hospital several times for Detox and seeing psychologists for many years I don't think I really wanted to, or even had the courage to change my life. For the past 10 or 15 years the drug intake slowed to just an occasional spliff - alcohol became more prevalent albeit in a sort of binge format. In later years I would turn up at rallies, parties, special occasions, (any occasion!) laden with booze and a breathalyzer, get hammered for the duration  and ride back when I blew a zero! Was I happy? No, not really, there was a pain inside me something that the alcohol numbed.

Back in the early 80's a few of us travelled over to Europe to 'seek work picking fruit in the south'. I managed to convince a few that we would be better travelling north to Holland and finding work (having a 24/7 party!) in Amsterdam.

Out of the six that set off on the original 'fruit picking' journey, only two remained, myself and my good friend Jim Herring. It was the middle of winter and living in an old van with no heating or any other facilities was not that appealing. We tried to get into the local Hare Krishna temple but to no avail. (I had always believed in a higher power and became involved with the Hare Krishna movement in the late 70's). We ended up spending the odd night in a shelter for the homeless and when we got a bit of money from home checked into a hostel.

Getting nowhere we decided to drive back down to Paris, because of the lack of funds we had to abandon the van en-route and eventually got repatriated back to England.

When we got back my drink and drug intake went through the roof, I was injecting speed almost every day and drinking all I could.
During our time in Holland Jim  had seen something else, he had started a different journey. I would often see him diving in and out of pubs or at festivals with Bibles and pamphlets under his arm! I wasn't that interested at the time but even through my drink and drug-fueled haze I saw a complete change start to happen in him.

A few years had passed my life wasn't really going anywhere, yes, I managed to hold down a job - but only by the skin of my teeth and a very sympathetic manager.

Jim, now married, always kept in touch and was always encouraging me to go to church, he and his wife prayed over me on several occasions when I was in a really bad place with the booze. He had given me a Bible and encouraged me to read it although I must confess I found it difficult. I went to his church a few times and did enjoy it but never took it any further.

I was at a rally in Chester a few years back and met up with some people from the CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association) who gave me a copy of their 'Biker Bible', I started reading some of the amazing testimonies of people who had lived lives similar to mine.

Jim continued to encourage me, whenever he phoned he asked me if I had found a church yet? How was I getting on with the Bible? He emailed me with interesting items and sent books for me to read. One Sunday in late August 2010, I walked into the New Life Church, I knew immediately that I liked the 'flavour' of the Church, it was lively and exciting!

I still thought church was a place where you go on Sunday and that was that, how wrong I was! Straight away folk from New Life started to chat to me, I felt very at home. I really enjoyed the first experience and thought I would come again. For the next few weeks I came and listened, not understanding it all at first. I received a lot of encouragement from the guys at New Life. I explained that I thought I was on the first rung of a very long ladder, ( maybe I wasn't ready for any sort of commitment).

I continued going to Church for the next few weeks - during this time I still drank and had no real plans to stop.

I was just an ordinary Sunday (or so I thought) on the 16th January 2011 and I went to Church; the guy talking asked that if anyone in the congregation wanted to learn more about, or have a closer relationship with Jesus to raise their hand and come for a chat after the service. Something inside of me stirred, the next thing I knew my hand was in the air!

After the service two of the guys prayed with me and I asked Jesus into my life! My life has now completely changed, the way I look at things, people, and situations have all changed.

I was baptized on the 3rd April 2011 and apart from one 'slip' with the drink in September that year haven't touched a drop since. The depression that had plagued me for so many years has hardly bothered me, in fact I have no serious bouts at all. I know that I am now on the right road and I praise God every day for that. I still have my bike and I enjoy riding whenever I can, I'm not ready to go back to the rallies and festivals as a sober man - yet! I'm sure the day will come when booze won't bother me anymore, but until then I know I have to be careful as to what situations I put myself in.

I'm still a very young Christian but I am determined to learn more, I thank all at New Life Church, the guys in my cell group and especially Jim Herring for all their encouragement and help. (It may have taken me 28years, Jim, but I got there in the end, thanks for never giving up on me, mate!)

For the first time since I was a kid I've started enjoying my life - looking forward to each day and getting over hurdles in a different way."

About This Site

The purpose of this site is to share thoughts and testimonies about walking the Christian walk in a world that seems to be set up to trip one up. Social norms, and even so many of the so-called 'role models' of this time, can be a far cry from the standards and values that God demands.

God does not request that we live to certain standards - He demands it. Pretty well all of us fall short of total compliance; but thankfully we are blessed to be able to live under Grace while we keep on trying and growing.

On the subject of Grace, one of the great Sunday morning church services that we have on television here in South Africa is Pastor Brian Houston from The Hillsong Church in Australia. Pastor Brian's messages are very focused on the blessing of living under grace, and about encouraging us to maximize our potential in the 'Grace Zone'. Understanding that we are under grace gives us the freedom and the motivation to live up to our potential without being plagued by doubts and self-imposed limitations. There's a permanent link to the Hillsong Church site in the right-hand margin.

Two of the other permanent links are to Shalom Ministries and  a site called GotQuestions.org .

Angus Buchan of Shalom Ministries also has an extremely successful Sunday morning television service in South Africa. Known for his wonderful ability to organize Revivals, this Greytown (Kwa-Zulu-Natal) farmer and evangelist of note, well known for his Mighty Men Conferences, is going from strength to strength both here and abroad. His easy, down-to-earth, grandfatherly approach makes his messages friendly and easy to understand, yet leaves no room for doubt as to what we need to do. Through the messages of Angus Buchan, many men have taken on their rightful roles and responsibilities as heads of their families in a God-centred environment.

I came across the website GotQuestions some months ago, and signed up for their weekly 'Question of the Week' newsletter. Every Friday they send an article to my email address, addressing a topical issue (along with links to suggested reading as well). I've found their articles to be simple, unambiguous, no-nonsense to the point, with ample scripture reference. I would strongly recommend their site for any questions you may have, including questions relevant to today's social issues.

I hope that this site will develop into an inter-active forum, with many people sharing their testimonies and suggesting interesting links to other like-minded sites and organizations.

God bless you in your Christian walk.