Issue 6: The Soap Issue by illumin8

NOVEMBER 2008

ISSUE

"Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. Psalm 51:7-10 (The Message)

Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

CONTENTS The Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Note

Communic8

Spring Cleaning the Closet

Hayleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Comment

Fly Eagle Fly

Double Take

Fired Up about Global Warming

The Opposite of Ordinary

Creative Corner

I am a huge Friends fan. My fiancé has all ten seasons and I have watched them from beginning to end. More than once! More than twice in fact! At some point during such a long running and close relationship with Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Feebs and of course Joey, I have wondered who I resemble the most (as we all do!). The answer is undeniably Monica, although I hope without the obsessive streak. The reason I am more “Monica” than anyone else is simple – I love to clean! One of my favourite things in the world is to climb into a bed made with fresh sheets, knowing that my flat is clean, and that the ache in my arms has come from a few hours of hard scrubbing. I know that the feminists out there are hating me right now! But this is not about women's rights – it's about how I was brought up. When I look at my mom, my aunts, and the other female role models in my life, I see this same trait reflected. We are the vacuumers of the vacuum cleaners and we are proud of it! During my weekly cleaning sessions I tend to get pensive of thought. Most recently I have been thinking about how we humans are creatures of habit. Everything in our lives; our activities, our relationships, our faith, can become habitual if given long enough. The problem with habits though is that when something is the subject of a habit, we tend to take it for granted.

editor’s N TE

Take our world for example - the blue planet. It is the stage of all our habits. And yet, our habits are destroying it. Those routes we drive to work every day, those soaps we put in our washing machines, the forests we cut down to build our houses – all things we do habitually, and take for granted that we will always be able to do, are slowly destroying our home.However, we are starting to wake up, thanks to a few dedicated individuals who will not rest until they bring the plight of the planet to our attention. Paul Wilson is one of these people and in his article on page 10 he encourages us to make a change, go green, and do our bit to clean up what we can. Read it and act on it! This month I want to encourage you to take a long hard look at yourself and see what clutter and dirt is holding you back spiritually. Ask the Holy Spirit to help. Then clear out, clean up and don't let yourself be tied up by the past, or made indifferent in the present. And if it seems too daunting, remember: there is nothing so dirty that God cannot make clean again! Have a lemon scented month y'all!

Lucy Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

Dear Illumin8

I often receive these chain emails. I ask my friends not to do use the chain, but they are still sending them to me. So in the end I stop opening them and delete them instead. I am really glad you wrote this article as I now have something to send them. I will share this article at my deaf womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fellowship on Friday night. This article is highly recommended. Thank you. Belinda

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you said it...

communic8

I totally agreed with your article PLS BREAK THE CHAIN.

We also have a Facebook group you can join if you want to communicate with other readers or post comments. Look for illumin8!! DESIGNED BY:LEANNE BARNARD

When I was younger, I remember my mom getting into these spring cleaning moods. They usually occurred sometime at the beginning of a school holiday and I would get no peace until I had spent a few hours with her sorting out my cupboard. All my shelves would be upended on my bed and I would sort the clothes, throw out the stuff I didn't want anymore and fold the rest neatly. Meanwhile, my mom would wipe down the shelf, label it and then place my folded clothes in their new place. Like any teenager I always got annoyed with the nagging to clean my cupboard, because it always seemed like such a huge task and I would much rather have spent that time in more meaningful pursuits, such as mooching around the house and complaining of boredom! I never enjoyed the actual cleaning, but the end result always made it worthwhile. Every time I opened my cupboard and saw the neatly ordered shelves, I felt a sense of achievement. In addition, life was just easier because I knew where everything was! This closet cleaning practice is not unlike the process of sanctification that God has started in my heart in the last few years. The cupboard as a whole represents me, while each shelf represents a different area of my life: work, relationships, social activities, dreams and goals, etc. The items on the shelves: shirts and socks and things, represent different people, different jobs, things I like to do. After my salvation I felt all clean and ordered but as time passed, I find that mess has crept into my life again. What causes mess in our lives and creates chaos out of what God has neatened up? Quite simply â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the answer is us! We get lazy. We stop giving time to God. Our daily quiet time becomes weekly quiet time, then monthly quiet time and soon it doesn't feature at all. The end result of this is that daily maintenance doesn't take place in our lives and the system falls apart. Or we come up against an issue, and instead of facing it head on, we stuff it into the deepest corner, where we can't see it. This is certainly the easiest option in the short term. But what happens next is that we find that the items on that shelf don't fit like they used to. There doesn't seem to be as much space anymore, so we put things on different shelves and soon that one offending item has resulted in disorder throughout. Before we know it, we are so deeply entrenched in the mess again that we actually don't know where to begin the sorting out process. Fortunately, we aren't alone in this. Like some crazy English woman in a white overall, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, starts snooping around in all the nooks and crannies and shows us where all the dirt is. He then snaps on his Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

rubber gloves, picks up his broom and starts cleaning! While we stand on the side lines saying, “But I love those bright pink legwarmers – we have a history!” the Holy Spirit gets busy throwing out the garbage and cleaning up what we need to keep. Sanctification is not an easy process. Sometimes you have to scrub really hard to get rid of a stain, and that hurts. More than that though, when we start lining our lives up with God's purpose, it impacts our relationships with others, especially those who don't share our faith. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” This verse really sums up the struggle of purity for me. When the Spirit convicted me about getting drunk, it was impossible to explain to my friends who weren't Christians. They saw me as becoming dull and boring and simply could not understand my decision. Drunkenness is just one of the things that the Bible warns us against and one of the lies that has many people of this world under deception is that God's rules restrict us. We live in a culture of instant gratification. This is going to please me now, so I will do it, no matter what the Bible says. One of the things that I have come to realize is that God does not want us to live boring lives but He has set guidelines for things which we need to follow. For example, God created sex and it is something we should enjoy, but only under the covenant of marriage. Having a physical relationship with someone of the opposite sex is not against God's plan for us, but is should be a physical relationship restricted to our husband or wife. The act of sex is not wrong, but the timing of it can be. Often purity requires self discipline from us. It requires us to wait and this goes against the instant gratification of our culture and so is not understood by those who do not

Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

have the Spirit of God living within them and helping them figure this stuff out. Taking part in impure activities damages us spiritually in ways that we cannot possibly begin to comprehend when we believe the lies. When we resist God's promptings and carry on sinning, we reject God. In doing so, we refuse to give God authority over that shelf in our lives. The flip side of this is that if God doesn't have the authority, it means Satan does. The enemy will use any area of you life he can to draw you away from God. By refusing to clean up the area God has shown you, you give Satan a foothold in that space and having one messy shelf very quickly spirals into complete chaos throughout the cupboard. To have a clean cupboard is to live a life of purity. To be pure is to be sinless, guiltless, moral, and ethical. Matthew 5:8 says, “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” When the Bible speaks of our hearts, it refers to who we are; the core of our being. It refers to everything we are: mind, body and spirit. Achieving purity in our lives is something we need to work on constantly. We need to enter into our own episodes of “How Clean is Your Closet” and ask the Holy Spirit for help. Further than that though, we need to spend time with Jesus daily in order to keep things in order. God will require you to take a stand for him, to reclaim holy ground in your relationships and to cultivate purity in your life, but He will not expect you to do it alone. When we are sitting amongst the mess we have created for ourselves, and running out of energy to finish the clean up, it is easy to get disheartened. What we need to do during those times is look up and see Jesus wiping down the shelves and putting things away. We need to keep going until we have the peace that comes from knowing God has called you to do something and that you have obeyed. The end result is a life lived according to God's purpose and a deeper and more meaningful understanding of who Jesus is. And even if you aren't a neat freak like me – this alone will bring you more joy than anything else in this world can!

and dating p u s d nee nd takes a r lives, s u i o m e , k s i de e th, l d attitu that w our fai n f f t a u a s t t h s t h f to houg ealised God ing ou n h old t a t i e I also r l habit. w c f d o e e t n r i u t e t o u ro us nto t clut need a lding o remind can ge o o s h d o t e e o r g, nd a d ph urts. W makin 51) an ason, a n e past h r o m i l s e a i s n c f de for o its (P . They g ound o ur spir lected l r g n o i o t l n i c i x w r e m e e n ren he ut s lutt it elp us rvive t ome o g-de-c h u c s n i n t l ade, be l d a n i e n c m k a w a c e e i l d v t s c ' n n t e a tio s, ring rs w can ncer tribula ivenes ery sp nt erro t at we up co g d v e a r h n r t e o a m a f k e g e o s d t g l n e , lo tria eiv t jud ers, duri choice 've rec y case er wha rrying, ld lett point e e t o m o t h a w t a w d n e s e i m c a e d â&#x20AC;&#x201C; on o re s or com at no u ma ss, stop t g path hat yo gazine There w us th t n u a o o y itterne o r h a m b y s w w , l t r r e o a e o o h g m t t n h n sc ,a e sa ir cu an r. sessio hatred d we c rough us in th s bad ha teryea n h h d s n a t a T a e n . y c y e e n a r g o t o aw pa ,s ve ny from thrown armers tos and stubs, can mo ow ma hotos o e w e h p e h b g w y g e t p n e h b i l e t m r u c do ose aze m th -wor can a few nd self es am itch th arn fro n a cringe o d e a t d L r n h i o . t le you t t i i e a e , h d m m e n t r s a d o n o i e u m e yo e xid dm fash , res e've go. Th t made ir, pero nd ha alousy akes w n a a e lave to a e t f j h e s s i h t i l s e o r g s i r b m a n g u b yo ave I'm rom thin air, d e ye lue to rs to h ve on f While at the ace an a l f bad h ver th a o v e p o o e l m i m s s g p o t d i o m r n p i t f e s ho E in at a add art can llow ime OSITIV ed at p e you t isn't hair th hat ap k l P t I've fo i a o d g h h t y i t o n n l years t w g i a I m g h d ) t s w d n o ! i e e a a f e d h s I t m g t a n sta in a any t so ve But mome some can pu that if her ha lso let e head! t l t a u i o a y a s o h r t y i , m w s d , l r t s d nd ve ou ine tha l di me! at all a r happ bowl o (we al '95, I w auty is t o e i a f d n i b f o g o m h to fra k n G i g c o y s c u a o r i r a o b o l t i n e p e es, ing od e som mem cut by od tim make sing fr us an no ill be go s o h a g w g t r n e r i t e r t a n h t u b ge me re t pict the em captu py mo ween, oday's t t p y l e a n b h o a n to of es i photo o seem rd tim d a s h m e albu h th y love, hroug m photo t l . l t s A x u e he n arries ap to t n who c s y p ne hap from o

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God can help us renew our spirits (Psalm 51)

Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

Hayls

d will always is a chicken an e ways of s hi T . nd ie fr y it has learnt th e you need m it's a a chicken and 'Take all the tim e lik it d fe ery other way ve ev ha I in t n. bu t ke ic gh be a ch gle by si is only an ea chickens. It chicken!' a be ill always w d an n ke ic ch would take farmer's friend farmer's e th re he w n e ning visits bega ars much to th And so the mor . This continued for two ye ten but also gave him ks e of the bird for wal eant he saw his friend mor futile his efforts were. m him how al. enjoyment. It ock him, telling ed much earlier than norm m to ity un rt po k. riv op al ar e w pl e nd th am frie on , the farmer's d the farmer to join them e th as st One morning ju te the top and invi d rd he bi e ac th re d d id he an d sa , ain ose He fetc nearby mount ards the sun an pped ountainside cl e w m th to e it d th d be ng ce im ki fa cl al d y t fla an , while w d it and as it go The as rising. He took the bird the skies!' At that, the bird ld of a farmer weho w e, nursed it, fe r n m in fo t su ho si nt it vi ea n ok m te to e A story is to of ld wer . H und an eaglet . A friend of the farmer's wou commented 'Fly Eagle fly; you took off, never to return. to his farm, fo d n, ns an ke ke ic ic gs ch in ch g w s in y hi ith look did its might e at we gl ea e th better, kept it w when he saw this strange at r and see wh ro marked th ir d re m an e t he gs an th e, in gl in am ur en ea k as ad the ev was an fe and see o ber of us loo li e other hand w m f th u ing told that it o n on to be r d r er a on ro s fte t rm ir A A en fa m w it. The on and look in the e and retreat the chickens. e g with the chicks that it was in n W ri c t. e o W n . re not belong with would be fine growing up a te as ointments gle tter off thinking s and disapp oons accepting our fa ver that the tiny ea ght the eaglet would be be re u il fa y! pp ha be ou coc whate say that he th d therefore live like one and iron sealed ccumb to the belief that to an n ke ic ch at says, u a fact that world th continued. dies'. We s

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Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

e in 'nobo that, We start to liv . s il fa , h is or saying told c th u g in we to o d t u have been think abo .' Some of usl our lives. We 'Don't even le p o e p t in o app thing al amount to no me anything. We are you'll just dis co eless and will

tched on the icken. It scra at this and ch a e lik nd ou ed n eagle ran ar icken. The farmer look ch because the The fully grow a en ... be as d w ha It he . t' od gh fo 'ri r w ho were no ground fo ast to his friend with the chickens and there inced. bo t bu lp he 't couldn like and not conv her hand was ing everything eagle was do iness. His friend on the ot t an eagle. To him this was bu pp ound. At this signs of unha that this was not a chicken d not on the gr n it be the g in an r st ai e th in ed He kept insi ng , how ca birds that belo g can't even fly nd would come in th s hi 'T the king of the , id hed and sa ent: His frie the farmer laug So they made an agreem and after some time they ' rd y? king of the sk alk with the bi and take a w ng ni or m y er ev the results. would assess

that we are us dreams or aspirations to be up to the sky and see no ns. We look icken, therefore have with the chicke r heads and say, 'I am a ch nd ou ar ng hi ou ng scratc ha e and in sham eagles flying .â&#x20AC;&#x2122; where I belong is ground level we can do all nquerors and co e ar e w od careful not G not of God. In We need to be t. And if is Not true! And, hrist who strengthens us. hr C gs through C things through ord 'all'. You can do all thin up and try again, or feel t ew to overlook th don't have the strength to ge u yo you feel that

h and are too sed up too muc es m e ve u' yo at ber the story of th eling th ing God, remem If you are still fe ch on oa lth pr ea ap t w ou s hi ink ab d squandering impure to even th leaving home an tattered clothes with pigs, he r te Af n. ed so ne al prodig sorting to living in e one of his slaves. But to God and thus hed living and re is no way back uc e ba er de th er to becom at th d s son...FULLY! In back to his fath been so ba go ve to ha . d u on de yo ci stored him as hi ad at re de re th , er ons th ns fa ke s ic hi , ch m g the ning hi e our own decisi inds. Your instead of shun gh to let us mak to scratch amon m ou r en ou us of s ve al lo w ed by the rene ink that the view from the same way, God always welcome us back. t be transform us m e w I like to th e and if we stray He will ys sa Paul ur thoughts. here others se yo W in e. ns art. No matter se gi e w be t n nt to wha holding t harden your he re n no si ffe transformatio do di of y, lly ns da ta ai to to st e son shame and guilt is voic and I is and how much re you see crim d forgiveness for you. When you hear H ne he heaven of you do W come ve l. u' ia yo nt t te es po ite grace will wel e where you are or wha fin n mercy an in tim ea is y m H er ith ch w ev hi t failure, God se w od s ye in, know that G s sees wound ofession and you back, Jesu on Peter, a fisherman by pr thing. In Biblical times, if, you're drowning d restore you as His child. no an im Look too at, S of him fishing he is catching studying and be a disciple you back home t n tio en ickens; you do no m ch is ' to continue s called e ith gh su er w th ou Je n nd en d he ou w oo gr o 'g e S e. weren't e meant for se the You do not belong on th ur father's trad like Peter, you g pigs. You wer He didn't choo in e, to continue yo ed d fe am s ha N u is he H yo ot , an rpose in cl bi th ther e world of a Rab long in tattered and He has a pu be od hickens' and ra s to change th 'c G le e ip in th e sc r di fo m ve ho ed el a ve the tw ead look ch. the skies; you ha ul men, but inst d build His chur most successf w a rock upon which He coul sa to take for your life. seeing failure, He may have s, Ye . re ilu fa see t you to u He does not hatever - to ge w yo r the skies. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; es s fo se t de s n ca a su ars. e de Je ye m s, 3 ar re ok ye When e to s, it w , th er ou weeks, mon think. For Pet le. Fly eagle fly y you aside for and heal peop than what you t e er or nv m e co , ar ch u prea e skies. and realise that yo he went on to were meant for th t to be Christ in an u is rm yo hr C e) he m w fis lo na s al ur es e yo Fly (enter From a usel we have if w mite potential That is the dyna es. through our liv

God loves us enough to let us go and when we've gone He looks out every day unto the horizon in the hope that we too might come to our senses and know that He shall always welcome us back. Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

By Leanne Barnard Everyone can remember how much fun blowing bubbles was as a kid. It seems however, that this joy is not just reserved for kids – I personally still can't resist filling a room if I can get hold of a bottle of the soapy liquid! As I blow out an array of those pretty, floating, delicate soap bubbles I have this somewhat mischievous desire to violently pop each one before they hit the ground. What a delight!

On that note I'm sure you've heard the term “living in a bubble”. Although the idea of living in an actual bubble sounds like fun, in reality, this description doesn't share the same positive connotations. This phrase is often used to describe someone who is somewhat out of touch with reality. This person revels in the illusion of safety that the bubble holds. They don't enjoy any new or unknown element that interferes with the comfort zone so beautifully contained by the soapy exterior. When issues that need attention are floating around the atmosphere in a bubble, they are often overlooked. However, when this bubble hits something hard or something knocks it wanting to get in - this person experiences a sudden 'POP!'

Soapbubble Christian Meaning: Christians who isolate themselves from the world and needs of the world by only associating themselves within their safe Christian comfort zones.

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By Leanne Barnard

Take two

As Christians we are called to be IN the world but not OF the world. Very often we misinterpret this as not having anything to do with the world. Being humans, we tend to lean towards comfort, certainty and predictability. These natural tendencies are what push us into a lifestyle in which we slowly but surely only read Christian books, listen to Christian music, do business with Christian organisations, attend places considered savoury by the eyes of the church and ultimately only surround ourselves with Christian friends. This is soap-bubble mentality. It happens so easily (I admit I'm guilty as charged) and we embrace it because it is far easier being righteous if we never face the challenges or temptations the world brings. Another danger with living like this is that it becomes easy to judge everything outside the bubble and after years in the bubble, we relate less and less to our unsaved friends and neighbours.

We are called to reflect the light of Jesus within us and take it to the darkest places of this world. If we look at His example, He wasn't afraid to reach out to the people who needed him most. When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about spending time with questionable company He responded by saying "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting outsiders, not insidersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out" (Luke 5:31-32 The Message). So do not be afraid to leave your bubble (comfort zone). You can have your support, enjoy all the wonderful things that build you up spiritually but do not isolate yourself from the people who need the love of God more than anything. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty as you risk following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

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BY PAUL WILSON

The first thing that I would ask if I read the above statement is “Why?” Why should we worry about Global Warming when there are so many other problems like poverty, AIDS, corruption, disease and war that require urgent attention? With all these problems around us, taking up our time, is worrying about Global Warming necessary? As the Sound of Music advises, let's start at the very beginning. Genesis 1:1 says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I often think we ignore just how amazing that first line in the Bible is. The creation of the whole universe, condensed into a simple sentence. Take a moment to think about that before continuing. If you read Genesis 1:26-28 and 31 you will see how God gave us the responsibility of ruling over the Earth and everything in it. It was our very first directive. Our very first commandment if you will. But what does this mean exactly? Genesis 2:15 says: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Part of the responsibility of ruling is to take care of that which you are ruling over, otherwise in the end you will end up without anything to rule over. You will become a king or queen of nothing. Thus, in the very beginning God created man to rule over all the Earth and everything in it, making us responsible for its care and continuation. This leads to where we are now; the 21st century and the importance of Global Warming to Christians. I think most people know what Global Warming is, or have at least heard the term, but I'm not sure everyone knows the truth of it, or what the consequences of it can be. The Earth goes through cycles of cold and warmth naturally. Everyone has heard the term 'Ice Age', which is what happens when the Earth is in a cooling phase. The ice sheets from the poles expand and grow, covering a greater portion of the Earth than normal. The last of these were 20 000 years ago. In between, there are also natural hot phases, where the Earth is significantly warmer. It has been discovered that temperature rises and falls in relatively even cycles. These cycles also closely follows the CO² cycle (amount of CO² in the atmosphere). So it is completely normal to have periods of high and low temperatures. You may be thinking then that this just a natural high temperature phase. The answer is that, unfortunately, it isn't.

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Humans have become the first species on Earth able to affect the whole earth. The data collected is alarming as it clearly illustrates the effect humans have had on the level of CO² in the atmosphere. The last 50 years have shown levels higher than any seen in the earth's history. Now, why would CO² have such an effect on global warming? CO² is a gas that enables heat to remain in the Earth's atmosphere making it habitable. The gases that do this are generally referred to as Greenhouse gases. It can be observed that as the CO² in the atmosphere continues to rise, so does the temperature. So as humans continue to contribute to the rising levels of CO² the temperature of the planet is directly affected. To substantiate this claim, the temperatures over the last 150 years since the development of industrialization are indicated below:

The most recent period from 1950 just shows a steady increase in global average temperatures, which is only going to continue.

and the Earth. We only have one planet, which God gifted to us and gave us responsibility for. There isn't another one that we can all just jump across to. If we do not act to rectify the effects we have caused already, then billions of people could be affected. As Christians, it is our responsibility and duty to lead the way and do that which God has asked of us, and take care of this planet and everything that lives in it. It is not too late. So how can you make a difference? Firstly you could start by being more informed. There are many articles on the Internet that explain in much greater detail the causes, effects and risks of global warming. I also encourage everyone to watch the movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore – it has been well researched and is an eye-opener regarding the severity of the situation. I also encourage you all to speak to friends and family about this and ask them if they know what the effects of global warming are. The only way that we can do something to change this is to be the change and to do it together as Christians and as a group. The more people are informed, the greater the potential for action and ultimately positive change. Through ignorance and greed we have reached a point where we are only now starting to realize the effect we have had on the Earth which we live in. The time has come where we can no longer claim ignorance. So let's step up to the plate and face the problem, come up with a solution and take action to fix it.

Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” It is our responsibility to keep it that way.

You may still be thinking, “So what?” Well, Global Warming can directly affect your life and well being. The most visible and obvious one is the melting of the ice caps and subsequent increase in sea levels. If this melting continues at the current increasing rate, the sea levels will rise even faster and billions of people, other organisms and plants will be affected. Other devastating effects also include the following: Increases in the amount of flooding and drought. Increases in deadly diseases, such as Malaria and other tropical diseases. Species extinction up to 38% of all current animal species (E.g. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.) Increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events (like hurricanes e.g. Katrina). What everyone needs to understand is that we stand at a crossroads, and our generation has the chance to make the difference. It is up to us whether it will be a good or bad impact. The negative impacts of global warming could lead to the eventual destruction of the human race Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

SOURCES: NASA [O] Available: http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov/ (NASA) Accessed: October 2008 National Geographic - Global Warming [O] Available: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-overview.html Accessed: October 2008

begin to get glimpse of what the Holiness of God is all about and how we need to strive to be Holy too in how we live. If this is what the Holiness of God is all about, I am definitely excited about striving to be Holy too, being made squeaky clean from the inside out. It can only be a good thing! I could not possibly begin to explain everything about God and His Holiness (I'm not fully there myself!) but I can encourage you to ask Him yourself to give you a revelation of who HE is.

You will find that the Truth about our Saviour's character is surprisingly opened up to an understanding of what it actually means to serve a HOLY God and to “be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16).

Holiness. The word scares me. Images of people floating through lofty cathedrals in long white flowing robes with their hands clasped and their heads bowed flicker through my mind. Angelic choral music plays in the background of my overactive imagination making for a somewhat sombre setting when I think of the word “Holy”. My heart beats nervously all the while thinking “Is this what it means for me to have a Holy God?” When I went to Youth With A Mission (YWAM) last year to complete a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and outreach in Muizenberg, CapeTown, South Africa (www.ywammuisenberg.org), one of the things that we had to complete every week was a journal. Another exercise we were asked to carry out each week was to choose an attribute of God to study. We were given guidelines and an outline as to how to go about it. Perhaps you can use this same outline to conduct your own study on an attribute of God and send it to illumin8? During one of those weeks in Cape Town, I decided to focus on the Holiness of God. My eyes were

Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

freeing! In my case I discovered that it was not at all confined to the lofty view that I had originally fixated my thoughts upon and a whole world of possibility now lies ahead of me.

Replacing the sombre thoughts with ones of awe and admiration, I was reminded that a Holy God is a God who is set apart from anything that is evil and opposite to everything that is profane, common and ordinary! A Holy God is a God who has not one speck of sin in Him. He won't mutter nasty words behind your back when you are not looking, He won't EVER think the worst of you, He is always full of goodness, justice, peace and love that is unrelenting toward you. We are called to be Holy as He is Holy. Wow, that's a tall order. I have just started reading a book called “The Shack” by William P Young and his way of explaining the Holiness of God –the trinity- is so refreshing (I recommend you read the book!). The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have relationships with each other and they relate to each other with such beauty, graciousness and simplicity that it almost seems too good to be true. Think of a

really great relationship that you have with someone, now take out anything deliberately negative or discouraging that has happened and you might only DESIGNED BY: KATY BREYTENBACH

Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008

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Illumin8 - Edition 6 - November 2008