The Greatest Loss . . . The Greatest Gain

One of the most important things we must learn about our Christian life is that it is full of paradoxes. The first shall be last, turn the other cheek, give and you shall receive, and love those who hate you. The most profound of these paradoxes lies at the very foundation of our Christian experience. Paul says in Philippians 3:8, "More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." The goal of this journey as a Christian is to know Jesus more, to become like Him, to gain Christ! In today's world there is a plethora of teachings that are intended to help us reach this goal. However, according to Paul, the only way to come to a deeper knowledge of Jesus and to gain Him is to suffer the loss of all things. These are some of the hardest words one can hear. I am convinced that the reason more of us do not come to a deeper level of maturity in Christ and a deeper knowledge of the Lord is because we have not suffered the loss of all things. I am also convinced of the fact that most people in the church today do not want to hear this. The world is driven by a pervading spirit that says "Get, get, get." Sadly enough this same spirit is very active in the church as well. Whether it is prosperity, success, effective ministry, the victorious life, approval of man; if we are not careful these all find their origin in this same spirit. In a time when more and more people are trying to figure out how to possess, God is saying lose it all. The only thing worth gaining is Jesus, and we can only gain Him when we suffer the loss of all things. This includes our desire for success, our reputation before men, our plans for an effective ministry -- and the list goes on and on. What is the point? The point is that God wants us to give it all up. He knows that all these things, as good as they may seem, will ultimately stand in the way of His purposes in our lives. If we truly want Jesus and want Him to be in total control of our lives, we will have to suffer the loss of all these things.

One point of clarification is necessary at this point. This does not mean that God does not want to bless us in many ways. As in anything with God, He is concerned with our hearts. There may be times in our lives that God calls us to suffer the physical loss of something that has become too important to us and stands in the way of our relationship with Christ. However, many of the things God would have us to lose are the intangibles. Take a closer look in Philippians 3 at Paul's list. All the things he suffered the loss of where those things that he so easily found confidence in -- his family background, education, religious training, ministry experience, and peer approval. These are the things that are the hardest for us to let go of. So we don't need to get caught up in thinking that God wants us to buy into some warped asceticism. No, He wants our hearts, free from false securities and hidden idols. In order to gain Christ we will have to suffer the loss of these things. Once we have experienced this level of loss, we will begin to walk in more abundance in Him than we could ever imagine possible. Remember, the great paradox!

I believe that 2006 is going to be a year in which God calls us to lay things down. If we don't choose to lay things down we may have to suffer the loss of things that have become very dear to us. If we embrace God's design for us to count all things loss, we will have the greatest gain we could ever imagine -- Jesus. What we gain in Him is beyond comprehension. He will far exceed any expectations and will come to mean more to us than anything we could ever gain in this world. So may this be a year of great gain for us all as we count the cost for what it will take to gain Christ.

Ministry Update

New Year's greetings from the Canipes. We trust you all had a blessed Christmas and are preparing yourselves for a wonderful year in 2006. As we reflect on 2005 we can not help but be overwhelmed with thanksgiving for God's faithfulness to us as a family. We have seen His abundant hand of provision throughout the year. We have witnessed His supernatural work in our lives and in the lives of many around us. We have walked in the fulfillment of prophetic words over our lives in this past year. We have seen our children growing in their love and desire for Jesus. It has truly been a wonderful year. We approach 2006 with an expectancy that it will be even greater than 2005.

A highlight this month was our being able to get shoes for the street boys. We want to thank the kind generosity of some friends in Texarkana, Texas who gave money for us to purchase tennis shoes for the boys in our Street Children's Project. A few days before Christmas we had the joy of taking several of the boys shopping so they could try the shoes on to get the proper sizing, as well as give them the opportunity to shop and choose what style they preferred. Then we packed their shoes away and they received them as their christmas present on christmas morning. I was so proud of their good manners and thankful attitudes, as they asked us to thank Stephanie's parents for organizing the shoe project and all of the people who gave so they could have new "tekkies." Even after Christmas day, other boys who weren't available on the shopping day went to buy their new shoes. We were also able to buy shoes for the house parents who work with the boys who have come off the street and are living on the Kibbutz. Ivan Williams and his wife Sophia, and Eddie Swanepoel live and work with the boys full time. Their total monthly income is less than $200 a month.

We've been busy working with the Street Children's Project as we prepare for our summer camp January 7th -17th. Friends have already started arriving and we are meeting regularly to pray and organize the final details. We will be together as counselors to get to know each other and have some staff training from Tuesday, January 3rd. The boys coming as campers will start meeting at the Kibbutz on Wednesday the 4th. The boys who are still living on the streets need time to adjust and prepare themselves spiritually as well as have a few nights of normal sleep before they come to the camp on the 7th. Unfortunately, at the last minute the teams from Zimbabwe and Mozambique have said they cannot come, but we will still have approximately 60 people from Worcester, South Africa; Adelaide and Sidney, Australia; Denver, Colorado and Ft. Wayne, Indiana, USA. We have a lot of expectancy that the Lord is going to meet with us as we spend time in prayer, worship, teaching and fellowship as well as fun activities and games, crafts and sport. Please pray with us that God will change these boys' lives by the power of the Holy Spirit and bring emotional healing in their hearts as well as prepare and train them to be warriors in His Kingdom.

We have also recently completely updated our web site. Please take the time to visit the site at www.equipperssa.com and see what is new. In the next couple of weeks you will be able to listen to Cliff's teachings on a regular basis as well as get a complete review of all the ministries we are involved with. Hope you enjoy the site.

We pray for each of you that you will know God more through revelation of His Word, love and power and that you will have a wonderful fruitful year in 2006.

With love,
Cliff, Stephanie, Camille, Natalie and Wesley