thanx~

It is not the kind of book I would normally read, because my perception of evangelists is that they are very charismatic individuals who are brilliant at convincing less charismatic people to follow their teachings. And as you know by now I like to make up my own mind about things, and I like to show others the same courtesy.

The title of the book comes from a belief that faith should be like potatoes – easily available, nutritious and versatile, so that you can apply it to many different situations.

This lovely man describes in language that comes from the heart how somebody he calls Jesus had called him to spread the word, and how he had done this first in his local community and eventually throughout South Africa and in a number of southern African countries.

He describes how he heard voices that called him to do specific things, often things that could be perceived as irrational, but that turned out to be beneficial to individuals and to entire communities.

On the farm that this man owns, there is an orphanage and living quarters for people that have fallen on hard times. If all this sound soppy and emotional, reading the book will also tell you that this man has good judgement based on years of experience working with people. He will not be fooled easily and will send people away if they simply want to use him and his mission for their own purposes. And that also does not mean that he wants everyone to agree with him and his mission. He sounds like a well-balanced, down to earth farmer.

Why did I read the book? Because there are people who judge me as being unchristian, but they support this evangelist, and I was curious about his views and practices.

I am clairvoyant (I see things), clairaudient (I hear things) and clairsentient (I feel things) and make no secret of it. I have a firm belief in a Higher Being that I choose to call God. I am not convinced that Jesus can absolve me from anything that I choose to do, or that Jesus will come from somewhere after two thousand years of absence and “salvage” me from this “bad” world. I believe in a loving, caring God that lives inside of all of us. I do not belong to any church, because organised religion makes no sense to me. And I believe in re-incarnation.

So does being unchristian, or rather not Christian, make me a bad person? You judge for yourself, if you are so inclined. I have no desire to defend myself.

The book did raise some questions for me. Probably the most important one was about the source of the voices or messages that this man received. He gives an example where he was leading a service in an auditorium with an audience of a few hundred people. The voice told him that there was a father and son in the audience that needed to be reconciled. He told this to the congregation and lo and behold, the father and son got up from different side of the room and embraced each other.

Cynics will tell you that the chances of him being spot-on in such a big and emotionally swept up crowd were very good. But what if he really heard this voice? He gives another example where the same voice told him to plant potatoes. The weather conditions and local opinion of other farmers indicated the opposite, but he followed the voice and had a bumper crop. And there are a number of other examples in the book for which there is no logical explanation, but there were witnesses.

My suspicion is that the voice he hears regularly and the voice I live with come from the same source. He calls it the voice of Jesus, and I call it the voice of God. Does it matter where it comes from?

It is important for this evangelist to recruit followers of Jesus, because he knows from experience that this changes people’s lives. Does that make his approach right or wrong?

It is important for me to respect the path of each individual and not recruit anyone to follow my beliefs, but rather to learn from everyone around me. Does that make my approach right or wrong?

Or are we both facets of the same diamond that is God’s creation?

As far as I am concerned, God loves us all, whether we are potato farmers, evangelists, spiritualists or prostitutes. God created everything in this earth, including the devil and sin. If you tell me I am wrong in believing that, does that mean you believe in a being that is as strong and as creative a God? If that is the case, I am sure God still loves you. I have no idea whether you are right or wrong, but does it matter?

God loves us all unconditionally. And when everything is taken away from us, love is all that remains. I can live with that.

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