Gerbrand van Schalkwyk

Yes. we can have a pure hart. I can not make my hart pure or keep it pure. I must ask God to purify my hart and to give me the strength to remain pure, to resist or avoid sin. I have to confess and repent my sin. Then i anve to avoid sin by being obedient. Asking for.God's will. Yet all the time I must k.ow it is not what I do but God's grace. God gives us a pure hart through forgiveness of sin and sanctiification

No. He went to great lengths to explain how bad his sin was. It would be meaningless to minimize it now. He is taking full responcibility. We must atmit our sin. Recocnize where we went wrong. Humble ourselves because of our sins and then turn away from it. Seek Gods will and always push to come closer to God. Because of His mercey He will forgive us and draw us closer

We receive faith from the Holy Spirit, from reading the Bible, from prayer - asking for more faith like the disciples dit, and through experience by being obedient - doing Gods will so that we can see His work inourives. Once you experience Him you will have much more faith since you now physically experienced Him

What aspects of Moses' prayer of intercession should we emulate in our own prayers? Respect, seeking to benefit the Kingdom of God, quoting God's promises. Upon what logical grounds does Moses offer this bold appeal to God? He believe that God will not go against His own words. Also He believes that although God is angry at Israel, God still loves Israel. What do you think it means to "pray the promises of God"? When we pray, we should quote scripture, just as the 1st curch did in Acts. How does knowing the Bible help you get your prayers answered? Then you can quote scripture, and know the promisses of God. How does this help our prayers be within God's will? If you know scripture you learn Who is God. And if you know god you can pray His will.

Why should we continually ask forgiveness? We keep doing wrong. Sometimes we miss the mark even when we try to do good. We ave to learn to recognize God's will but when we don't, we have to ask for forgiveness. We often don't even know when we go wrong. Some time ago i bought a farm for widdows to produce their own food. I bought seed, fertilizer, impliments and whatever i thought was needed. But i never asked for God's will, i asked for God's blessing, but wanted to be in control it was my will not God's will, and i messed it up. Often we go wrong even when we don't realize it. We must ask for forgiveness when we know we are wrong and when we just miss the mark not even knowing we are going wrong. How can unforgiveness on our part block God's blessing? How can unforgiveness block God's forgiveness? When i am outside God's will, God will not bless me and He will not forgive me. So when i don't forgive, i am outside His will, God can not give us blessings when we are disobedient. When we dont show others God's love He has to sanctify us, discipline us, help us to come closer to Him. That is not through blessings but through hard times, hard times that are just another type of blessing because it draw us closer to God. It is our choice whether we are going to allow the hard times to draw us closer to God or not

Why do we seek to be independent of asking anyone for help? We want our will, we depend on ourselves. We want to take care of ourselves. Pride overrides humbleness. Why do we seek to be independent of God? For all the above reasons Why should we ask God to "give" us daily bread so long as we can earn a living for ourselves? Without God we have no chance. Its only because of God's blessings that we have any ability to earn for ourselves. It is also part of seeking the kingdom of God, knowing where our ability to earn comes from. Further it makes us realize we must be obedient if we want to have our daily bread

In what sense are we asking that the Father's kingdom should come? Jesus taught this to His disciples at the beginning of His teaching. This was before He died for us and the Holy Spirit was cast out for us. This was before Jesus established the Kingdom on earth and the Holy Spirit remained to teach and guide us. Yet we can still ask for the Kingdom to come to us. God's Kingdom is now on earth in us through the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus taught, the Kingdom is near, because only a short while later Jesus established the kingdom on earth. We are now waiting for His return to expand the Kingdom to the whole earth. Why are we asking for the Father's will to be done here on earth? Our will is wrong and incomplete since we don't have enough knowledge or wisdom, so we ask for God's will so that a perfect solution will come. We are also putting God ahead our our will and humble ourselves before Him How should this prayer affect our living? We should be devoted to God, put Him 1st and seek His will in everything we do.

What about our lives and words "hallows" the name of our Father? Are we seeking God's will in everything we do? Are we honouring God in everything we do. When people see us, do they long to share in my secret of happiness, or do i push them away from God's Kingdom through my actions. Do my words represent someone filled with God or with myself? What desecrates and besmirches it? Poor actions or speach. How should we "hallow" the Father when we begin to pray? I must seek the will of God, I must humble myself, I must come with respect to get guidence from my Almighty Father

Why do so many churches avoid exercising any church discipline? We want to be people pleasers, instead of searching the will of God Also many of us have a fixation on numbers and are scared if we discipline someone, they might not come again. Instead we scare many more off with the idea that people at church will always ask for money. What is the result of a thoughtful and appropriate application of church discipline? God discipline us all the time, we have to discipline sometimes as well. If we do it firmly but with love, we can help people to find God's will, help them to move closer to god, and become a servant and not a free loafer. What is the result of neglect of church discipline? No discipline, in any area of our spiritual life

If we were to follow Paul's rule, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat," wouldn't that allow people to starve? Maybe for a while, but if people realize that you are not going to bail them out all the time, they will be forced to obey God and earn a living When we meet people who are poor but who do nothing, we help them by creating an opportunity. Once the opportunity is there, it is their responsibility to keep it going and to expand it. They must pray for wisdom on how to keep it going, they must tithe and all else from the small bussiness. It sounds harsh. What are the positive results of this rule? People will oney God's Word. To whom in a Christian community would this rule apply. To everybody who can work To whom would it not apply? The very old, the sick, lame, blind and those who are not able to work

What kind of example did Paul set with regard to work when he was in Thessalonica? He worked to support himself. We see this often in Africa. Missionaries come to work among the locals to teach them new skills, unfortuanately, what often happens is that the people then sits back and lookwhile the missionaries do most of the work. We must work together, and learn together, not sit back and let others do all the work. As a Christian worker, did he have a right to support? For sure, and it was well understood by all to whom he brought the message. A priest was supposed to be supported by the comunity by tithing, feww will offerings and 1st fruit offerings. Why didn't he exercise that right? He was living an example for those he taught.

What does the Bible teach about sloth and idleness among those who can work but refuse to? The Bible teach all over, if we are able, we must work. We are supposed to follow the example of Jesus, and He said :"My Father works all the time, and so do I" What is our Christian duty? We must not only work to provide for ourselves and our families, we must also work to expand the kingdom of God and to glorify God.

Why is perseverance so important as we see wickedness increasing? We have to keep our focus on God, just as Peter had to keep his focus on Jesus when he walked on water. If we focus on the wickedness we might get discouraged or we might be tempted to join in as well, since so many other people are doing it. Through perseverance we proof to God that we are faithful, that we can be depended on for the work of His kingdom If we don't persevere what is there for us? Do we go back to our old life, and be part of the world again. But then we loose everything. If we loose our relationship with God, we are totally lost again What happens if we stop believing and being patient? If we stop believing we don't have faith anymore and are lost If we stop being patient we are trying to push God into what we want, this is rebellion and again, we are busy with our own religion. When we become impatient, we have to pray earnestly and plead from God to guide us and save us from ourselves. How can we help one another persevere? We should live an example, pray daily, and be with the other person as much as possible to be a support for that one. What part does faith and perseverance have in our salvation? Without it we are lost. See the parable of the sower, if we don't persevere we are lost. Without faith we have no hope at all. What part does God's redemption and grace have in our salvation? Just as much if not more than faith and perseverance. Without God we have nothing to have faith in.

What are the characteristics of the Antichrist that Paul gives in this passage? What does Revelation 13:5-8 add to our basic understanding? He will be lawless and rebellious. Thus he will be totally opposed to God He will also oppose other religions, although this does not concern us we are concerned when he opposes Christ's church. It is also an indication of what to expect before Christ's return. Since he is part of Satan's crowed he is arrogant.He exalts himself. Pride is why Satan fell and we must be careful that we don't fall as well Just as Satan did, he will try to replace God. He wants the focus of people on himself and not on God. And just as Satan did, he calls himself God. He will obviously have a strong spirit, thus we must be very careful and focus ourselves in God and in the Bible. We have to be very careful who we listen to and what we read. We must test everything against the Bible

In what way were the Thessalonians confused? A letter went around saying that Paul said Christ has already returned. They couldn't understand this and thought they were left behind What is the order of Christ's coming in relation to the revealing of the Antichrist? The Antichrist have to come 1st, and be revealed by the 2nd coming of Christ

In what ways do persecution, pressure, and stress help us grow strong in Christ? These are ways we prove our faith, as well as ways that we are being sanctified. When we go through hard times, we learn to trust more on God, and less on ourselves. Our character grows and becomes better as we leave the bad behind and move forward in Christ What would we be like without the testing of our faith? We will expect to receive without producing as well. We will not experience God, because as i am being tested i also learn to call out to God to help me through my trying period

What happens to people who seek revenge on those who hurt them? If all of us take revenge for a wrong or an imagined wrong, we will be at war with one another all the time. We will repay each other's revenge with more revenge. Rather love one another and forgive one another, before we all wipe each outher out What happens when they neglect to forgive those who have wronged them? When we dont forgive we become a prisoner of hatred, and we will never be happy but always be angry. When we dont forgive, our sins can aso not be forgiven. What happens in a congregation that has an unloving, superior attitude towards outsiders? One, we wi never attract new comers into the Kingdom. Further we will never show other people God's love. 3rd, Jesus said we must be humble, this is just the opposite. God cant opperate in such a congregation because the members are focussed on themselves instead of seeking God's will How do these attitudes reflect on Christ? It doesnt, Christ is the opposite How can people or congregations get healthy after have been vengeful, proud, or unforgiving? Prayer, changing their focus on God and seeking the Kingdom of God. Admitting they were wrong and after prayer, allowing God to sanctify them.

What happens in a congregation when people don't show respect for their leaders? Very soon God's love is not experienced in the church anymore. People become judgementa instead of working together. The church breaks into fractions and God's Power cant flow and support the congregation anymore. What happens when the disrespectful spread their disrespect? The problem grows. People will side either with the leaders or with the rebels. The church will become a collection of groups of people's wills instead of the Body of Christ. Will getting rid of the leader fix the problem, or is there something deeper going on here? If you get rid of the leader you will just pass the probem to another church, and most likely the virus is already in your church. We have to teach our congregations to respect the authority installed by God. we have to teach people when you disrespect your leaders, you are showing disrespect to God. We have to correct with love, we must not judge and use anger or fall back to worldly ways to take care of the situation. We will have to pray day and night for wisdom and God's guidence

What is the value of visits of special speakers to a congregation? What can they impart that your regular pastor can't? We all have different revelations from the bible. Special speakers often are very strong in certain areas and might impart wisdon that our paster never saw. Also, these days we have thousands of demoninations. Each are just a little bit different from the other. By exposing ourselves to different ideas we can ensure that we stay true to the Word. That we don't get hooked on a personal idea, but that we stay focussed on God. Why is a ministry of itinerant preaching so difficult -- and important? We cant settle down when we keep moving around. It is difficult to build relationships, build trust and build a strong support base if you are not in the same area all the time We have to keep the Word of God vibrant, we have to spread His Word to new areas, to new countries, to new people. Somebody must plant the seed so that the Kingdom can reach the new grounds. It also develop us personally. It expose us to new people, ideas, situations and experiences. We learn how to handle different situations

In what ways does persecution discourage Christians from active, open service? In a number of ways. It can confuse us, when we receive heavy resistance in some work, we might think that we were not in God's will, instead of understanding that we are under attack, or that we are being tested. 2nd, nobody likes persecution, many of us will be discourage when we meet strong opposition. Further the resistance can be so strong, that we have to leave the area, as was the case with Paul. In what ways does it mature them?They now have to continue without Paul, they have to study the scriptures without Paul and seek the will of God without guidence. They have to mature in Christ very fast. In what ways does it reveal our underlying motives? We have to leave mature Christians whenever we bring somebody new to Christ by the time we move on. Why do you think God allows the tempter the ability to tempt us? It build us, makes us stronger, it builds our flock, it brings us closer to Him since we seek His will, it test us in our faithfulness, it proves our responsibility, it brings out our true character and show how strong we are working with the Holy Spirit and much more. Why hasn't he done away with Satan already? He as other plans, for now He is using Satan to test, teach and develop us. We will never mature if we dont have opposition

Why is Timothy's role to be a strengthener and encourager so important? Two reasons, one is that he is keeping the church faithful and pure in doctrine. He is teaching them how to help end encourage one another. He can also help build their faith and explain the Word of God in more detail for them. 2nd, he is a young man. This is wonderful development work for him He will learn and develop himself as he is helping them as well. He is the future of the church, the next generation, it is important to expose him while he is still under Paul's helping hand. In what ways was this a sensitive role. This is a very new church, and Paul had to leave before he was satisfied that the seed he has planted has been properly developped. Paul is clearly concerned about their development, thus he sends the best man he has available to do what he could not do. How did it help Timothy to be sent on this assignment? He is taking responsibility, is taught how to spread the Word of God, develop his missionary strengths and many more How does delegating ministry help the overall enterprise of the Kingdom? More and more people can spread the Word of God. More and more people move closer to God as they take up the responsibility of teaching others God's Word. It also opens up time for the church leader to pay attention to other areas of the church. Also, the more hands the easier the work gets done.

How can we justify a desire for rewards for our labor in light of God's free gift of salvation and our love for him? It is a promise from God. Why should we justify anything our Heavenly Father has promissed us? We also do it out of love, I dont have to justify anything I do for God because of love. Also, we are shoing responsibility, We are not going to stop working when we are going to heaven, so on earth we are showing that we can be trusted for what is to come, and we can desire to please God and receive rewards for the work we have done up to now - see the parrible of tallents. What does Christ reward? Obedience, responsibility, searching His will, His Kingdom, bringing others to His Kingdom, spreading the Words of God, building our brothers and sisters in Christ and many more. What doesn't he reward? When i do stuff outside the will of God. A few years back we bought a farm to help a very poor comunity close to our home town. We did this to please God but we never asked God whether this was His will. It was one problem followed by another until we gave the farm away to a missionary group. Suddenly God opened doors that were closed for a long time. Although we wanted to do what was good, we were outside God's will. We told God, this is what we are going to do for you, instead of asking, God, I have this plan, is it in your will? Or better yet, justplain, God, what is your will. Why should showing accountability to our Master bring us pleasure? We want to please our heavenly Father, because of the Love we receive from Him and because of our love for Him How does it motivate us? We always wants to stay in His will, thus we search His will all the time, and due to the wonderful blessings for being in His will we are motivated to continue

What is the role of the Word of God in molding disciples' lives? 1st the Word tells us Who we are serving. We will never know God if we don't know how He acts and how much He can do. The Word also teaches us how we have to live, how to serve God. How we are to receive Christ and the Holy Spirit. As disciples it also teaches us how to convey the message to others and what to teach those we are leading to Christ. Does it have a power of its own? Yes. Christ is the Word as well. The Word is God inspired. How does that seem to operate? God communicated to us through the Word. He teaches us throught the Word. The Word was with God right from the beginning. Since it is God inspirered the Word gives us all the Wisdom and knowlage we need What are the implications for disciplers of this powerful action of the Word? We are not bringing people to a religion, but to God. And God gave us tools to do it with. The most important tools are the Word of God, experiance of living with God, God's Spirit that guides and teaches us and the church where we receive teachings, support and upliftment

Why are "fatherly" roles so important to making disciples? A father will help you on the right way with far more determination than a woman, fathers will correct with strong guidence. A good father is somebody that children wants to follow and who children respects. this is what we have to stive to be for everybody we lead to Christ. How effectively do you think women can adopt these traits? Just as easily as men with mothers, we can do all things through Christ, we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit to do God's work

Why are "motherly" nurturing qualities so important to growing disciples? We have to care for those we lead to God. We have to share God's love with all we come in contact with. We have to be especially gentle with new Christians, Paul say they are spiritual babies, we have to help them grow up. We must be exited about each step they make towards Christ and be there for them they fall. How effectively can male disciplers adopt some of these traits? Easy, we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything we need will be supplied to us by the Holy Spirit