Life as we know it

We all know this slogan. The whole world over there are there are different items for sale, running shoes, shirts, shorts, track suites, etc. I could not find a country in the world where it is not available. Coincidence? Now, since we are busy talking about prayer, there are a few comparisons we can make: 1 - God is also omnipresent, meaning He is all over the earth, always 2 - We can, at any stage, plug into Him 3 - It just depends if we are committed to the brand Sometimes I have found that we (as christians) are to relaxed in what we are doing. We declare ourselves as believers and followers, but are selective. I know we are free in Him, free from the laws of the old testament, but we are not free to do just as we please... One of our biggest challenges as christians is to become more like Jesus. How do we do this? 1 - Pray every day. In your car, in the morning, at work, out loud, softly, anytime, just do it! 2 - Read from the Word. Push yourself. You can. If...

Yesterday I had to travel back from Johannesburg to Pretoria. I left Johannesburg, the famous Eloff street from Monopoly in the RSA, at 16:10. As soon as I got onto the highway I realised that something is not right... Suddenly, as I always expect from there, I did not move. I soon heard over the radio that a truck overturned on the M1 north and that delays were severe. Not the type of news you want after a day at the office! By 17:30 I passed this accident, which, by this time, was cleared up. Traffic moved faster, but only for a while when, again, there was an accident about 20 kilometres ahead. We were already standing still at this point. The perfect day, especially if you have an appointment at 7pm! I informed my wife meet me there as I was probably not going to be there on time, something we both have a pet hate for... By that time I decided to turn the radio of as everything on it I already knew. Rather, I started praying. Now praying is not as complex as we normally mak...

I do not know about all of you, but a lot of people I know at some time or the other had an encounter with "The Secret", a book written by Rhonda Byrne. In this she promotes the laws of attraction, saying that by thinking positive thoughts positive things will happen to you. You have to visualise what you want or need in life and you will get it. Or something like that. Now the last few months have not been the best of my entire life: 1 - Monday 21 May, can't speak 2 - Thursday 24 May, brain surgery 3 - Tuesday 28 August, a hole of a third the original size spotted on a MRI 4 - Thursday 20 September, numbness in my right arm and part of my face. All of this unsettled me a little bit, sometimes also left me thinking why and what the bigger picture is, as you might have seen in a few other blogs.  Now, not to rubbish "The Secret" completely, but I do not agree with the theory completely... There are some facts in it, but I am not comfortable wi...

Go and read Psalm 149. Google it if you have to ... 1 Praise the Lord Sing to the Lord a new song, H is praise in the assembly of his faithful people. 2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. 3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp. 4 For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. 5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. 6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, 9 to carry out the sentence written against them this is the glory of all his faithful people. Praise the Lord . Praise Him, every day, everywhere, in all you do

I do not know if it is only me, if it is all men or if everyone feels that way, but I get stuck into a routine very quickly. It bores me, tremendously and then I have to get out. For instance: I am not naturally a morning person. So, as time carries on with me in a bit of routine, I wake up later and later. Then, by going away for a weekend or by being involved on a different project, I get revived and change the routine for a while. My wife always tries her best to assist and then we do a lot of interesting things. This weekend is one of those weekend again. It is her high school get together after 10 years. Not very long, I know, and with facebook around we actually know most about a lot of people... After all, we were in school together and both our parents still stay in town. We go there a lot. Not quite the routine changing weekend as normally, but it is a change. Tomorrow, after work, we tackle the long road home. Bliss! It does not matter what happens this weekend, both of...

REM sings a song called the end of the world as we know it, but also conclude that they feel fine... Today, before 9am SA time, this happened: Eight South Africans died in a suicide bomb attack which killed 12 in Kabul in Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, the department of international relations and co-operation has confirmed. "Our mission in Islamabad in Pakistan, which is also accredited in Afghanistan, has informed us that eight South Africans were among the dead in the explosion which occurred in Kabul early this morning," a foreign affairs spokesperson told AFP. "They worked for a private aviation company," he added. The group were all believed to be men, he said. Our mission in Islamabad is working on the identity of the men and contacting their next of kin." Tuesday's attack by a woman suicide bomber was the deadliest single attack claimed to avenge a US film that has sparked a week of bloody protests across the Muslim world. More t...

I bought some new numbers for our house. The old number was stolen off the wall, apparently since the thieves can use the metal it is made from again. They either recycle it, or resell it to someone else. Sad, this state of affairs... People generalise often and say that they are just a number at work. While it might be true that almost everyone can be replaced in the workplace, it is not that simple in terms of relationships. A parent-child relationship or a husband-wife relationship cannot just be changed, number-swapped. If this is true, how can it be true that our relationship with God can just be ended. He does not just swap one number with the other. He wont allow for us to drift away, not from His side, that's all us. Ephesians 1:4 says that the Lord chose us before the creation of the earth. To me, that says a few things: 1 - He knew He was going to create me 2 - He had a plan for me 3 - I have to be blameless in His sight (as per the rest of the verse) ...

I was recently asked where I get the inspiration for every days blog from. At that instant I could not say, but after thinking about it for a while, the answer became quite obvious. Since I underwent the surgery and could really move around I decided to start writing. Somehow the blog idea came up and I pursued it. At the beginning I thought to write inspirational things, Word that I received and simple lessons. After a while it became a habit and I had to decide whether to continue to try and force topics, or to quit the blog. I decided to continue. Since that day, when I said that I will continue based on some reliance by some individuals, things changed considerably. Now you can tell me that you don't believe in the supernatural, or in devine intervention, but I can tell you this: Every time I start typing it is as if the words just come. I don't have to sit and think about a topic for hours on end.  I call it inspiration. My inspiration. Whether it comes from re...

Today I had the oppertunity to present a training course to 25 government delegates. Its a course that I presented 5 times before, but the last time was March 2012. Preparing to facilitate it this time around didn't take too long as the knowledge was already embedded. On the morning of training I normally feel a bit nervious. You don't know what to expect. Would the delegates warm to your style? Would you be effective in transferring the content? Would it be a smooth session where everything just runs smoothly?! Well, today was a bit different. All the above points were present, the nerves as well as wondering if all would be well. Today I learned a few lessons. They weren't hard lessons, maybe more like reminders. As I facilitated the session it was quite obvious that my background, my lifestyle and the example that I could use are miles apart. We were miles apart, but we are also the same. We are in the same line of work, but with complete different roles. Were So...

Today, as I drove to Rustenburg, you have to go through 3 toll gates. The last one, just before Rustenburg, is called Marikana tollgate. Strange thing driving through an area that was in the news almost daily for the past 4 or so weeks. As you drive there you only see open fields, farms, hills and man-made mountains. The worked out ore of the platinum mines that govern the area. The very same mines that ensure thousands have jobs and make certain ones very rich. When the tragedy took place people stood up and took notice. A name, Marikana, that we never heard about before, now has an infamous connotation. Its not a name you really want to be connected with. Politicians take easy shots in order to get cheap points. Media focus on people's comments with their own interests in mind. I do not agree with anything that happened there, but what I am worried about is that, after all the bloodshed, no-one cares about the lives that were lost. Its like it not happened, surreal. H...

Today I had an epiphany moment. Strangely enough it happened in church. You might ask why I say strange, so let me explain. From tradition the Church is a quiet place. Its a place where we go to sing a song or two, to listen to a sermon and to give some of our money. Most people grew up not to make a squeak, as this will disturb the holy atmosphere while we are in church we are very reserved. In modern times things have changed a bit. Churches are more relaxed and people act almost normal at church. Almost the way they are at home, well, not quite... You see, that is what struck me: The difference between the God of church and the God at home. Sometimes we forget that the HOLY God from church is only so present there cause we allow Him. When we go to work, home, school and everywhere else, He is still there. He can do more for you there, He can be more real, than at the actual church building. We are the church, no matter where we are. The relationship with God is actually very...

We had our first spring rain today. Normally the first rain is quite gentle and doesn't last long, but today it was different. It only really started raining as I drove home from work. Before that you could sense that something big is on the way as it was dark outside with lightning around. On my way home the rain started falling very hard. Visibility was an issue and on the radio it was said that a hailstorm was on its way. My wife also phoned to say that hail was coming down at our house. In the meanwhile I parked undercover at a nearby mall to ensure my car is safe as I purchased some groceries and waited for it to calm down. It never did, but at least the hail passed by. I went home with the storm bucketing down, lightning flashing and the wind blowing! True Southern African weather. As I reached home I could see the effects of the first rains. My swimming pool was filled to the max, the water in it was dark brown, almost black, this after I spent last week cleaning it prop...

Somehow there is this mystery to red wine. A few things we have to know about it:  - There's a saying that the older it gets, the better it is  - It takes on the taste of the storage it is in, for instance wood.  - Some experts can even taste the flavour of chocolate, berries, etc in wine. In Luke Jesus tells us a story about wine. He says that if you have new wine, you cannot pour it into old leather bags. The reason is that the wine will adopt the flavour of it. Also, the leather will be hard by then. What is the significance of all this? If we give our lives to Him and commit to Him, we have are like fresh, new wine. We have to change to the new leather and, in Him, adopt our new flavour. We have to get more and more like Him

There was a time in most of our lives when a simple thing like eating out was a big effort. We had to save up until we had enough money and then only go to places we can afford. To some of us this may have changed. So much so that my wife and I can dine out at least once a week. In many other areas we also do not lack anything. We are blessed and can enjoy life, although we do not consider ourselves as rich. What happens as we grow older is that we gather up more and more stuff. Our furniture increases and becomes more expensive. Our cars are bigger, as is our houses. We get so spoiled with the comfort and luxuries we enjoy that we blind to others needs. We are compassionate and show sympathy, but have lost touch with hurt and pain. The introduction might have been all about money and wealth, but there is more to giving than that. We give our money as we see fit, but is that all? What about our time? What about some effort? Jesus himself said that it is more difficult fo...

Tonight we had pizza for dinner. We went to an authentic Italian restaurant not too far from our house. On Mondays it has a half price special, so you leave there with a doggy bag for the next day as well. Not bad at all! Pizza isn't the healthiest food on the planet... All that cheese, melted, saturated fats! Not good at all. But its so much fun. You can add toppings, remove others, share it, ask for 6 or for 8 slices, and play with your food. Magic! Its a lot like real life, actually. You know that verse that mentions we are in the world, but not from the world? To me it seems a bit like a pizza. Its mix-and-match, a bit of everything. We are free in Christ, but we cannot do just as we want to. We are the chosen ones, hand-picked, but everything doesn't always go our way. After all of this one thing is sure: No matter what, Jesus paid the price for us. We cannot take on the colours of the world, but we can shine while living here. Play your part. Have fun!

My wife and I had a stunning weekend with my gran in Vaalwater. She told a lot of stories from when she grew up, about my dad, his brothers and sister, as well about us growing up. I had a lot of fun listening to some stories that I have never heard before. By the way, it is her birthday today. My Gran, Ria, after blowinng out her candles   The town, Vaalwater, was supposed to have a lot of water. Although Spring only started now, it was still very dry. The grass was brown, trees grey and gravel roads dusty. The dust actually hangs in the air as you walk around. It is quite obvious the the area is in desperate need of rain!  A fair amount of rain would ensure that the grass, trees and other plants can continue living. The animals, both wild and on farms, would have food to eat. The dust would settle. What a pretty sight that would be: Its been like that before... In much the same way water also changes the life of humans. Some experts reckon we need to drink ...