Its a set up!

Have you ever been set up for something unexpected? 

Generally when we think about being set up, we think of it in the negative sense! I've been set up by people, organisations, all sorts of things in the past. Some comedy program's are all about setting someone up for a fall, and often we get a laugh out of them, don't we?
So, being set up is something that's hard to see as anything other than a bad thing. But actually, it depends on whose doing the setting up doesn't it?

What if God is setting us up for something?

Now I know you'll probably chuck something like, "no evil comes from God" or something like that; and I totally agree, but sometimes God does set us up, not for a fall, but for our growth and for the continued unfolding of His redemptive plan.

Think about the blind man in John 9, Verses 2 & 3:

2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Wasn't the blind man in a way, set up? Set up, so that the works of God might be displayed in Him?

Let me give you an example from my own life:

Things went bad for me at work in a former job; I actually thought I might lose my job because of my former use of drugs. When actually, all the heartache of the moment led me to seek after Jesus; His mighty works we're seen in me, when He set me free from an addiction to drugs!

Could the whole episode have been God setting me up for my salvation, and for a the cure for my drugs problem?

I truly don't believe that God brings about evil in any form; that always comes from evil, or is at least is influenced by evil. But God is able to use anything that is out there, as He sets up circumstances, circumstances that will result in His perfect will being done!

So yes, God sets people up!

I'm currently going through one of the hardest periods of my whole life. I'm in the UK, separated from my wife, my church and pretty much everything that I know as my life. Events led me to get caught up in the negative side of South Africa's new immigration laws.

Has God brought about these things?
No, but He is using these events to set me up; and not only me. God is using these events to set up my wife and my church (The Vine).
As we go through this tough period, people in my fellowship are stepping into roles that they may never have considered, at least not at this point in their lives. New people are preaching, leading men's groups, leading prayer meetings and all kinds of exciting activities. Personally, I'm spending so much time with God, so much time listening to Him, growing in my relationship with Him.

God is setting us up! 

He is using a desperate situation and bringing good out of it!

So what is He setting us up for?

Well, I believe it's for the ministry that He has for us in the town of Humansdorp; I believe He is setting us up for, among many other things, growth in our men's ministry.
At some point I will be returning home - church life will not look the same upon my return, and the changes are going to open up all kinds of new opportunities. Opportunities to serve the people of Humansdorp, opportunities to extend God's Kingdom in that place. But it doesn't end there; coupled with all this will be our growth in faith and effectiveness; it's safe to say, that we're all exercising our faith muscles at this time!

So yes, God is setting us up - and it's all good!

I say it's all good, and it is - but at the same time it's often hard to push through the tough moments?

What is God looking for from us in such moments? How is He proving faithful in them?

Well to start, He wants us to hold on to Him.
He also wants us to search the scriptures for wisdom and encouragement.
He wants us to grow in our relationship with Him, grow in our trust and dependence upon Him.
He wants our fellowship, one to another, to deepen and be expressed in new and exciting ways.

For me, stood here in the UK, I'm hearing about how all these things are happening. And I can't tell you how encouraging and exciting such news is.
Great things are happening at home, but great things are also happening here, in my own life.

God is able to turn all things around and bring good out of them - I can testify to that!

So back to my main point on being set up!

Is God setting you up for something? Is He using circumstance in your life to bring about His amazing plan?

Don't waist a moment of it; turn to our great God and ask Him what His plans are; ask Him what He is looking for.
And then run with it!

The future He has for us all, is for our good, and for the continuance of His awesome redemptive plan for all creation.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV)

Doing the laundry!!

So, a couple of days ago I was stood in my garden hanging washing on my clothes line. I looked across the empty plot next to my property and caught sight of my neighbour who was also there, hanging out his families washing! Two men with wet washing pegging out the family clothing!
It felt quite humorous actually!

There was a time when a man wouldn't be seen dead doing such a thing!

I come from the UK and guess that for many, the line between what is considered a male task and a female task has been somewhat blurred. However, I live in South Africa now; that imaginary line for many is still very much in place.

All of this gave me a moment where I felt God speak to me.

We live in a world where a lot of women are out doing full or part time work. The days when most wives stayed at home and took care of the home and children, for many households, is well and truly over.
So yeah, there was my neighbour and I pegging out the washing - in doing this I was helping my household run smoothly; I'm not going to just sit back and let my wife take care of such tasks!
It's good for men to take a more active role within the running of their households. It might feel weird, even look unusual, but it's something that we shouldn't shirk away from.
Think about it from these terms.


Instructions for Christian Households

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.  Ephesians 5:21–33 (NIV)

There is so much good teaching in these verses eh?

What I want to really highlight is verse 25:

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ...

How did Jesus love the church?

• Well, He gave up His majesty and humbled Himself, in order to become a man!
• He went against cultural norms and reached out in love to others, even if doing so meant He was looked down upon by some!
• And biggest of all, He gave up His life for His church.

Jesus, the manliest man that has ever lived, set us modern day men an example to live by. The adoption of such a humble way of living needs to play itself out in every area of our lives, including working with our wives so that our households run smoothly.

Real MEN hang out the washing!

God bless, keep and lead you!

P.S - I did all the washing and didn't mix the colours!

Reaching men for Jesus isn’t only a dream of mine…

Reaching women is equally important! However, we must work with what we’ve been given, and God has given me a burning passion to, a) see men saved, b) see these men walking consistently with the Lord and being the husband, father, brother and friend that God designed them to be.

Tall order… nah, not if you know that God is anointing you for the task!

So let me begin; those of you who know me, know that I’m not your stereo-typical pastor, I don’t fit the mould that some have of pastors. I’m a bit down to earth and a bit like a hard boiled fruit sweet; hard on the outside but with a sweet, soft centre! It’s a combination that I believe makes me very useful to God as He seeks to grow His Kingdom through reaching men and, in turn, their families.

When I arrived in South Africa, I felt a growing passion to reach men but the early days weren’t the time that the Lord wanted to release me for such a pursuit – it was a time to build me. Now I find myself at the Jordan River with God, about to enter the Promised Land.

Last year (November) God made a way for me to visit the UK and meet up with a guy called Carl Beech, the international director of a group called CVM (Christian Vision for Men), http://www.cvm.org.uk/index.php

CVM are having a massive impact in the UK and now around the world; they are seeing men reached with the gospel message. Lives are being changed globally. How exciting is that?!

When I met with Carl we discussed my dream of being used by God to impact guys in South Africa with the gospel message. Carl, like me, was very excited about this possibility. Since then God has been leading us to embark upon launching CVM SA. The main aim of this group will be to take new ground for the Kingdom of God in South Africa with respect to men. There is a lot of work to be done in setting up such an active group, and I trust the Lord to provide all the wisdom, resources, and finances to make it happen.

My next step is to look at setting up the organisation, share the vision with others around the country, and get on with the task of resourcing local churches to reach men for God.

I’ve been invited to go back to the UK in late June 2012, to spend time with Carl and the team, to learn from them and to be further equipped to make this exciting ministry a success here in South Africa.

God is the enabler, the anointer and the provider. If you would like more information about CVM SA or feel that you would like to support this ministry to men in South Africa, both financially and through prayer, or with your own time and skills, please make contact with me. You can do so through facebook or you can email me directly at mlk307@gmail.com

Please share this post with family and friends.

God bless you and thank you for your time.

Mark Knight