Volksrust Recorder - Column / Rubrieke 10 Recorder 24 July 2015 Change Your Story With Jacques de Villiers Spreek Here want U kneg hoor For further information: Jacques de Villiers [email protected] 082 906 3693 No Good Deed Goes Unpunished 1Sam. 3:10: Toe het die HERE gekom en gaan staan en geroep soos die vorige kere: Samuel, Samuel! En Samuel het geant- woord: Spreek, want u kneg hoor . Samuel se moeder Hanna kon nie kin- ders baar nie en het hom van die Here afgebid en vandaar die naam Samuel. Sy moeder het hom aan die Here opgedra en hy is as jong seun deur haar by Eli gelaat om die Here te dien. As jong man het die Here met Samuel gepraat en hy kon nie die stem van die Here identifiseer nie, totdat Eli vir hom leiding in die verband gegee het. Toe die Here vir ’n derde keer na Samuel roep het Samuel geantwoord; Spreek, want u kneg hoor. Heb. 1:1: Nadat God baiekeer en op baie maniere in die ou tyd gespreek het tot die vaders deur die profete, het Hy in hierdie laaste dae tot ons gespreek deur die Seun. Die Here praat met u en my deur die lewe van Jesus Christus, deur Sy kosbare Woord wat Hy vir ons gegee het en deur die werk van die Heilige Gees (Joh. 14:26). Joh. 1:1-4: In die begin was die Woord, en die Woord was by God, en die Woord was God. Hy was in die begin by God. Alle dinge het deur Hom ontstaan, en sonder Hom het nie een ding ont- staan wat ontstaan het nie. In Hom was lewe, en die lewe was die lig van die mense. Joh. 1:14: En die Woord het vlees geword en het onder ons gewoon—en ons het sy heerlikheid aanskou, ‘n heerlik- heid soos van die Eniggeborene wat van die Vader kom— vol van genade en waarheid. 2Tim. 3:16: Die hele Skrif is deur God ingegee en is nuttig tot lering, tot weerlegging, tot teregwysing, tot onderwysing in die geregtigheid. Terwyl die Here se Woord baie duidelik vir ons verseker dat God op verskeie ma- niere met ons praat moet ons ook vir ons- self afvra: Is my oor oop vir die stem van die Here?; As ek Sy stem hoor, doen ek wat Hy vir my sê?; Sê ek “spreek Heer, U dienskneg/diens- maagd luister en doen dan wat Hy sê? God het geen behae in mense wat nie ag- gee op Sy Woord nie. Ons mag Hom nie behandel asof Hy Iemand is wat NIE die moeite werd is om na te luister nie. Mense wat nie na Sy stem luister nie behandel Hom eintlik met minagting wat ge- weldige konsek- wensies inhou. Joh. 3:36: Hy wat in die Seun glo, het die ewige lewe; maar hy wat die Seun onge- hoorsaam is, sal die lewe nie sien nie, maar die toorn van God bly op hom. Jak. 1:23: Want as iemand ‘n hoorder van die woord is en nie ‘n dader nie, dié is soos ‘n man wat sy natuurlike gesig in ‘n spieël sien. Die Here praat met ons! Sal ons nie in hierdie moeilike dae Hom gelyk gee dat Hy die heel beste weet nie en dat ons nodig het dat Hy met ons praat en ons lei. Joh. 10:4: En wanneer hy sy eie skape uitgebring het, loop hy voor hulle uit; en die skape volg hom, omdat hulle sy stem ken. Het u al die Here Jesus aangeneem as Saligmaker en Ver- losser en is Hy nou u Herder, want anders sal u nie Sy stem herken nie. Joh. 10:27: My skape luister na my stem, en Ek ken hulle, en hulle volg My. Spreek Heer, u diens- kneg en diensmaagd luister. Groete in Sy Naam. Ds. Jan Keyser. “This is no time to make new enemies”. These were the last words of French writer and philosopher, Voltaire on his deathbed when asked to foreswear Satan. I, of course, have no problem making new enemies (and upsetting old enemies) on a regular basis. Yes, I know, being arrogant, self-absorbed, difficult, short-tempered and petulant - with a weird (if any) sense of humour doesn’t help my cause at all. Yet, if I were a genius like Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare and Mr. Spock, these character defects would be eccentric (and expected) to mere mortals. Being a mere mortal myself, my frailties aren’t cute and eccentric … they’re just bombastic and rude. Here a three ways I collect enemies. #1 - I’m a shocking listener. I’m that guy. You know the one. That irritating creature who antagonises people by finishing their sentences for them and interrupting them in mid-sentence. And, of course, listens not to understand, but to get my viewpoint across. I promise you … nobody likes a self- opinionated smarty-pants. #2 - If I haven’t got a real enemy, then I make one up. Like I don’t have enough on my plate to contend with. I’ve conjured up an enemy. Let’s call him Jeb to save me the embarrassment of having to apologise to him later. The Lord knows that the log in my eye is far greater than the splinter in his. Jeb is a professional speaker. Whenever he presents a motivational talk or writes something, I just know it isn’t his own work. But, he claims it as his. It drives me insane. And, it drives me to a froth that his audiences love him and lap up every word he says. I don’t know if it is that they love him or that he makes more money than a small town and me (or a combination of both) that gets me so riled up. Of course, the irony is not lost on me that I might just be projecting my inadequacies onto him. I know I’ve pinched a quote or two or 50 from someone without acknowledging the source. But, here’s the thing, Jeb doesn’t even know that I have an issue. And, even if he did, he wouldn’t change nor care to change. So, Jeb is in effect besting me without even knowing it. The only one who is losing in this self- inflicted drama is I. #3 – Be helpful. That’s a sure fire way of making enemies. I get an A+ in this department. I have a ‘gift’ of being able to spot a grammatical error or spelling mistake with one eye closed, even if I’m in a drunken stupor. Naturally, this gift doesn’t extend to my own work which, more often than not, looks like the love-child of Tourette’s and ADHD. When I point out a mistake (with great humility and tact) I can see the shutters go down and ire rise. It has taken me years to realise that even if people ask for critique, nobody actually likes it. Most of us just want someone to agree with our viewpoint. Criticism hurts for the simple reason that it is probably true and the person being criticised has to come to terms with his or her frailty. So, I don’t critique anybody’s work now unless they ask me to (at least three times) because no good deed goes unpunished. Volksrust Seme Business Column Keeping silent about workplace safety concerns A recent US survey targeting opinions and knowledge about environment, health and safety amongst employees might surprise you. The survey has found a conflict between values and behaviors among employees. See no evil Two-thirds of workers say they value a safe, secure workplace, but more than half would not intervene if they saw an unsafe act. Two-thirds of the respondents value feeling personally safe and secure in the workplace, but nearly the same amount are unaware of the environment, health and safety (EHS) functions in their workplace, according to the new research released on June 24, 2015. The study surveyed 500 U.S.-based respondents working in organisations with more than 5,000 employees. According to the research, there is a disconnect between employees’ understanding of the role EHS plays and how it impacts satisfaction at work. Hear no evil Only half (55 percent) of employees feel comfortable pointing out potentially unsafe behavior to both their peers and superiors; however a majority (64 percent) would appreciate if they were told they were doing something potentially unsafe. Of particular concern, a large percentage (52 percent) likely would not feel obligated to intervene if they saw an unsafe act and a significant percentage (36 and 38 percent) would not appreciate or actually would be offended if they were told they were doing something potentially unsafe. Speak no evil These survey results point to the fact that if employees are not comfortable talking about safety and helping their col- leagues be safe in the workplace, it likely will limit the ef- fectiveness of many company safety programs, such as an incident reporting program, injury and illness prevention program and risk assessment program. Other findings reveal divisions among gender, age and demographic groups on the importance of feeling safe and secure in the work- place. These survey results point to the fact that if employees are not comfortable talking about safety and helping their colleagues be safe in the workplace, it likely will limit the effectiveness of many company safety programs. Across the board, findings show that women value attributes pertaining to EHS more highly than men. For example, women value feeling personally safe and secure in the workplace more so than men (84 percent women vs. 69 percent of men). To page 11