ST KIARAN'S

CHRONICLE

OCTOBER
2019T20192019
 Thanksgiving
Sunday 3 November 2019
At both services

This is a special,
St Kiaran's gives all the sacrificial offering over
monies received directly
and above your normal
towards the projects and
tithes and your regular
people listed below.
disciplined giving.

We propose R15,00.00 be raised for the projects and people we would

like to support from 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020

Missionary Support
Mark and Lorraine Liprini (MAF) 21 420,00 per annum
(R3570 bi-monthly)
Eugene and Tina Wessels (WOI) 15 420,00 “” “”
(R2570 bi-monthly) 36,840,00

Social Outreach Projects

Joyce Chevalier Centre 2 000,00
Happy Valley 2 000,00
Mission Sunday annyually at St Kiaran's 1500.00

42 340,00
LESS interest on R50000I nvestment
Paid monthly into Stk Std Bank a/c 3,863,00+/-
Sub total 38477.00

Less Donations from StK Congregation annually 3500+/-

Interest annually 2000+/-

LESS in fund @ 17/9/2019 34 506,53

after deductions due to Missionaries Sept/Oct 13780.00......20726.53

TOTAL NEEDED R12250,47

Give Prayerfully !!! Give Cheerfully !!! Give Generously !!!

Please use the envelope provided for your Thank Offering.

 Dear family and friends of St Kiaran’s

Lydia Belanger in an article titled “'I Feel

Like' Is the Newest Controversial Phrase
You Should Avoid” says the following:
Cogito ergo sum: I think;
therefore, I am. Four hundred
years after Descartes
philosophized about the
connection between thinking
and existing, society has shifted
away from declaring thoughts in
favour of vaguely expressing
feelings…
…Saying “I feel like” is a non-
assertive, fearful way to introduce an idea,… In protecting the
person who says it from being judged or offending anyone, it
also “halts argument,” because it suggests to others that they
cannot understand or challenge the speaker’s subjective
feelings and experiences1.

This is not a judgement on the use of the ‘prefacing phrase’ “I

feel like…,” but a concern about the amount of weight people give to
their feelings, as opposed to truth or facts. Feelings may be linked to
truth; but they may also be linked to perceptions. In both cases
feelings are fairly much a subjective emotion – and hardly a substitute
for truth.
It seems that for a good number of people (not all) who are of
the persuasion that “You have your truth, and I have mine,” little
consideration is shown for facts or any fixed frame of reference. In
today’s post-modern society, reality is what each individual makes of
it. The result is that feelings, not facts are the barometer for the
truthfulness of an issue.
In an interview on television programme “60 Minutes”, a young
Democratic Socialist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked about the
fact that the Washington Post had awarded her four “Pinocchios” for
mis-stating some statistics about Pentagon spending. To which she
replied that “…there's a lot of people more concerned about being
precisely, factually and semantically correct than about being morally
right.”2 But morality needs to be guided by truth or facts, not feelings
or falsehoods that generate emotional outrage or misconceptions.
Attempts to repackage or redefine truth, however, isn’t just a
1https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275017
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZXyIazQbk8
twenty-first century phenomenon; though it does seem to be more
pervasive. From the beginning of time, attempts to skew truth are
evident in the Bible (Gen.3). And that had disastrous consequences.
Throughout the Bible we see the problems associated with truth
being undermined, in particular, biblical truth. In the New Testament,
numerous letters to the Church contain warnings against the dangers
posed by false teachings.
As Christians, we place great value on the Bible as the source of
how all things in this life fit together. It guides our understanding of
God as creator and ruler of all things created; and Jesus Christ as
God’s provision to reconcile humankind to himself.
Eugene Peterson points out, “Our spiritual communities are as
susceptible to disease as our physical bodies. But it is easier to detect
whatever is wrong in our stomachs and lungs than in our worship and
witness. As much as we need physicians for our bodies, we have even
greater need for diagnosticians and healers of the spirit…” Meaning,
we need to be men and women who know God’s Word well and are
able to see through the falsehoods that pose as truths; so that we
may not be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by
every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful
schemes.” (Eph.4:14)
The Bible is our “rule for faith and life.” It guides our thinking,
our opinions, our lifestyles and our behaviour. Jesus stands before us
as the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).
May God help us to be solidly grounded in his Word as we sift
through a world of opinions, controversies and feelings to discern the
truth.

Your pastor and friend

Mike

      

William Tyndale (1494-1536)

English Bible scholar
William Tyndale was a Bible scholar who saw the beauty of God’s
word up close. And he just wanted to share it with everybody in their
own language.
 It’s hard to imagine a time when owning an English translation of
the Bible was a serious crime punishable by death. But it was,
because it threatened the power of those in control of the Church.
‘Seditious’ priests like Martin Luther had
already translated the Bible into German. And
like Luther, Tyndale, an early reformation
influencer, acted on his conscience.
Faced with opposition to any translation
in England, Tyndale travelled to Germany
where he was able to write freely. And it was
there he completed the first New Testament
translation in 1525. Copies were smuggled
and circulated around England provoking
outrage among royal and clerical circles.
But he resolutely continued with other English translations, all
printed and distributed by whatever means possible. Tyndale always
had to play a game of cat and mouse to evade capture. He was
constantly aware his life was in danger.

Betrayal
And finally in an act of betrayal by a companion, Tyndale was
captured and put on trial. The final charge was heresy and he was
later executed. But Tyndale sensed his place in history.
A few years after his death, Henry VIII, (now estranged from
Rome) allowed the first ‘Authorised’ translation of the Bible into
English. This Tyndale-based translation became the foundation for
later translations, including the famous King James Version.
What Tyndale started couldn’t be stopped. His conviction and
scholarship, against the odds, laid the foundation for English
Protestantism. The freeing of scriptures into the hands of people and
their mother tongue had begun.
And without this evangelicalism wouldn’t exist. Tyndale’s
scholarly devotion, his love of scripture and his nation meant English
culture would never be the same.

Tyndale’s life inspiration.

Tyndale’s life and service remind us of the power of God’s Word
and our call to share it, no matter the cost.
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-
edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12
 Church Family News
Congratulations are due to Tenielle Francis, daughter of
Craig and Shireen, who celebrated her 21st Birthday on
11th September. A wish for God's many rich blessings for
your future is sent your way.

On 5th October Wendy's daughter Erin Hudson

was married to James Shier. Erin is the grand-
daughter of Rev Glen and Jeanette Craig. A loving,
happy future for the special couple is our wish for
them as they start on this new journey of life.

10 ways to support your church:

1. Attend regularly
2. Give generously
3. Love radically
4. Bring others consistently
5. Volunteer joyfully
6. Share Jesus willingly
7. Fellowship purposely
8. Show up energetically
9. Pray fervently
10. Encourage others
In CONVERSATION With …...........

Nic Smit
I recently spent a very pleasant morning with Nic talking about
his life. He grew up in Melkbosstrand, the middle child of three. He
went to school there and later to Durbanville High School. At the end
of his school life he decided to join the South African Navy. His career
there was to last for 42 years until he retired in 1996.
Over the years he passed through all the ratings, until he
became – from 1969 to 1972 - O.C. of the HAERLEM, a Seaward
Defence boat engaged in surveying. In 1977 he became the Officer
Commanding the research vessel, the SAS PROTEA, and later, O.C. of
the SAS TAFELBERG, a replenishment/support ship, after which he
was the project officer for the detail developing and building the
DRAKENSBERG – a much larger support ship - built in RSA - and also
its first Officer Commanding. Among all his duties, as Captain of these
ships, he also conducted their worship services.
His life in the Navy meant travelling to many distant parts of the
world, on many different missions, both warlike and peaceful, and
also just “showing the flag”. In 1989 he was appointed Hydrographer
of the SA Navy.
At one time Nic, and his wife Bessie, lived in Chatham in Kent
whilst doing exchange service in the British Royal Navy in the
hydrographic branch. This was for mutual learning because there was
no formal training in this speciality in the world.
In 1993 he was appointed Director, Geographic Information for
the SANDF at Defence Headquarters.
During his time, in 1982, as captain of the TAFELBERG, a very
unfortunate incident occurred when, owing to a collision between his
ship and the frigate PRESIDENT KRUGER, during a major exercise
South of Cape Point, the latter was sunk and lives were lost. This led
to a lengthy enquiry after which no blame was attached to Nic's
conduct in the exercise. It was a very
trying time which God helped him
through.

Nic and Bessie have two

daughters, one of whom, Joanita, now
lives with her family in Australia, and
the other, Karien, lives locally and is a
great help to them. In recent years,
following a number of heart attacks
about six years ago, Bessie has battled
with emphysema and its side-effects. Nic cares for her greatly in all
her daily needs.
Nic has been a believer since childhood. He joined St Kiaran's
last year and is a constant presence at our two Sunday services, as
well as Mike's morning Bible Studies and the evening group I lead. He
has a great grasp of Scripture and his particular interest is in the
Creation story.
For a period in his retirement Nic and Bessie traversed the
country twice a year during Autumn and Spring covering about 6-
8000 kilometres per two month stretch.
Mary Suter

Mary had a little lamb

Its fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
It followed her to school one day
T’was not against the rules
It made the children laugh and play
To have a lamb at school

But then the rules all changed one day

Illegal it became
To bring the Lamb of God to school
Or even speak His Name
Every day got worse and worse
And days turned into years
In place of hearing children laugh
Were gunshots, screams and tears
What must we do to stop the
Crime that's in our schools today
Let's let the Lamb of God come back
And teach the kids to pray

Submitted by Val Ruger

 A Salutary Lesson
It was a cold winter's day that Sunday. The parking lot to the
church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that
fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they
walked to the church.

As I got closer, I saw a man leaning up against the wall outside

the church. He was almost lying down as if he was asleep. He had on
a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his
head, pulled down so you couldn't see his face.

He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet.
With holes all over them, his toes stuck out. I assumed this man was
homeless and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the
Church.

We all enjoyed fellowship for a few minutes, and then someone

brought up the man who was lying outside. People snickered and
gossiped, but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me. A
few moments later, church began. We all waited for the preacher to
take his place and give us The Word when the doors to the church
opened. In came the homeless man, walking down the aisle with his
head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made
his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit. When he took off his
hat and coat, my heart sank. There stood our preacher. He was the
"homeless man". No one said a word. The room was silent and still.
The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand.

"Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I'm preaching about
today. Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" He
proceeded to preach a sermon about treating others with dignity and
kindness even if they seem to be the "least".
 ABOUT FREEDOM
Understanding the meaning of the words FREE and FREEDOM casts a
wonderful light on the words in the Bible.

FREE – not under the control of anyone else (their opinions and criticisms)
and ABLE to do what you want. (do good, enjoy God, spring clean, visit a
frail friend.)

John 8 – v-32 (Jesus' teaching)

“...you will know the truth
and the truth will set you free.

1 Peter 2-v-1
“Live as freemen but do not use your freedom
as a cover-up for evil. Live as servants of God.”

FREED – make free

Luke 13 – v – 12 (crippled woman)
“Woman, you have been freed of your infirmity.”

Revelations 1-v-5
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins
by his blood...to him be glory and power for ever
and ever.”

FREEDOM – the POWER to act, speak and think freely.

FREELY – without restriction or restraint.

God's kind of works, words and thoughts.

Matthew 22-v-20 (act)
“Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Zech 8-v-16 (speak)

“Speak truth with each other. ”

Philippians 4-v-8 (think) Read this passage for yourself.)

“Whatever is true...think of these things.”

FREEDOM continued
2 Corinthians 3-v-17
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom.”
Galatians 5-v-1
“ For freedom Christ has set us free.”

Contributed by a thoughtful member

 Thessalonians 5:18 18
In everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
 THE RED BUS: THAT’S US!

This title may not sound grammatical but it’s a description of an

outing that St K’s FRIENDSHIP GROUP went on recently. This “open
plan” double decker bus is a regular tourist feature in Cape Town. It
has a number of routes and runs a “HOP ON/ HOP OFF” schedule.
There were six of us in the party (led by Sandy Crews) and we
shared lifts to Kirstenbosch, a regular stopping place for the Red Bus.
(A fresh bus arrives every 20 minutes so if one ‘misses the bus’ there
is not long to wait for the next one.) We clambered aboard to the top
deck to get a panoramic view. The first rows are roofed but the rest of
the top deck is open.
First stop:Hout Bay Harbour and as we drove up to Constantia
Nek we felt we were skimming along the tree tops, sitting comfortably
while we flew from branch to branch. Yes, we arrived in Hout Bay but
we didn’t go down to the harbour as there was a Protest going
on......Never mind we turned right and soon had panoramic views of
Llandudno and the coast-line to Camps Bay.
Common consensus in our Group: IT’S COFFEE TIME. So off we
hopped and walked past various restaurants and coffee shops until we
saw one that took our fancy. Most of us had coffee but I noticed that
Wilma’s choice was an ice-cream on a stick....
Next stop Sea Point where we walked along the promenade,
enjoying the views. After 2.7 kilometres the general opinion was
STOP! IT’S LUNCH-TIME! We found a coffee shop opposite the Mouille
Point Lighthouse and ordered our choice of food and drink. To our
delight we saw a Red Bus bus-stop nearby and were soon on our way
to the Waterfront, where we decided to stay on the bus and return to
Kirstenbosch, well satisfied with our outing and looking forward to our
next “Adventure”. Lucy Centlivres
Pictures by Michael King and Katie Marais
 AIDAN MULLER UPDATE

It is over a year since Aidan left to

join the pupils at Putnam Science
Academy in Connecticut, USA. The
school was looking for players to start
a high performance international
soccer team and Aidan was fortunate
enough to be chosen. Aidan’s team
mates are from all around the world
including Brazil, Spain, Dominican
Republic and SA. The team had a very
successful first year with only one loss
the entire season.
Putnam is a small town in
Connecticut about one hour’s drive
from Boston. It is a pretty area with lots of trees and a river flowing
through the town. Aidan is loving it there and has made new friends
from different countries, whilst still maintaining his friendships back
home.
Aidan came home for the summer vacation at the end of May
and we were able to celebrate his 17th birthday with him in June. His
friends here all miss him so he spent a lot of time with them. He
returned to the USA a bit earlier as he was invited to attend a college
ID camp held at South Kent attended by twelve different collage
coaches. After that he travelled with his team to Bermuda – a three-
hour flight from New York – for a soccer tournament with two other
teams. The highlight was his Putnam team beating the Bermuda U20
National team by four goals to nil. Aidan scored one of the goals.
School has now reopened and so it is back to studying and
soccer. Aidan is enjoying school there and is getting really good marks
for all his subjects, some of which are rather different to the ones he
studied here in SA, for example robotics and psychology. He is in
grade 11 this year. The school is on the outskirts of the town so at
weekends he and his friends can easily walk there if they wish. The
school has a leisure room with games and computers to use in their
leisure time. Putnam Science Academy has also recently purchased a
large property alongside to the school. This resulted in the boys
moving to another dorm and Aidan now has his own room. His team
is currently ranked #3 nationally.
We thank God for this wonderful opportunity he has been given,
and, although we all miss him very much, we are grateful that there is
technology that enables us to keep in touch daily.
 Dear Lord,
Thank You for fearfully and
wonderfully creating each of us.
Thank You for giving us worth in Your
eyes.
Help us live as the one You uniquely
intended us to be.
Help us abide instead of strive, living
peacefully and joyfully as heirs to Your
Kingdom and co-heirs with Christ.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
St Kiaran's Presbyterian Church
Cnr. Central Circle and Recreation Road
P.O.Box 22146, Fish Hoek, 7974
Phone: 021 782 6118

Minister: Rev. Mike Muller

All are welcome at our

Regular Sunday Services
Sunday Worship Services at 9.30a.m. & 6p.m.
Holy Communion is served on the
st
1 Sunday of the month at both services

CHURCH PRAYER MEETINGS

• Tuesdays: 11.45 a.m. in the Craig

Room, or as advised.
• Prayer is offered after services for
healing or other needs, by members of
our Prayer Ministry
• Pray for our young people