Growing Up

Precious Saints !!!

Was woken up one morning with this song by Chris Rice (thanks Helga on CCFM) and the first few lines just kinda stuck in my mind for a few days and evoked a ton of memories both good and bad.

What dreams did you have as a child as to what you wanted to be when you grew up and became an adult? Well I wanted to be a fireman, policeman, doctor, vet, soccer star, rock star and so on. As I grew older my ideas changed as to what I wanted to be. So by the time I was a teenager I wanted to be a rock star. Hey I really loved music but did I have any talent? Sad to say just about zero.

So we become all 'grown up' and stumble into a job and the 'real' world starts knocking our dreams to pieces. Sorry man, you can't do that, you're too short, too skinny, too white, too stoopid and so on. I remember going for job interview after job interview where they asked the same dumb questions. "Did you captain the 1st rugby team, 1st soccer team, 1st dis, 1st dat, I see you don't have a post matric qualification"....drone on and on. Hey can't a guy come second here? As a scrawny 20 something I just about used to wet my pants(or something worse) when I went for job interviews.

The other really intelligent question was, "I see you don't have any experience....." Well knock me down with a perfumed pink feather. I had just come out of the army where I was trained to meet interesting people and kill them!!! My young friends and I were giving up our lives to protect your sorry fat backside. How am I gonna get any experience if you don't want to hire me. Well that's what I felt like saying but I really did not have the guts to say it.

Anyways you eventually get a job, get married, get divorced, get married, get divorced and then get married again and hopefully stay employed throughout. And all this time you are kinda thinking to yourself there has just gotta be more to life then this. By the time I'd reached 40 I'd carefully patched up my heart, sealed it reasonably tight and would only let in people if they would be able to give me something in return. I would give love but you better give me some love back.

And then at that stage I had almost reached breaking point. Allie my lovely wife after giving birth to our only son had two nervous breakdowns in the space of three/four years. I mean what had I done to deserve this? I was really losing myself and finding it so difficult to really put others first. Then Allie started seeking for something bigger, higher then herself and she literally upset my whole wheelbarrow of manure. She actually started going to church! This kinda freaked me out initially I mean I was kinda steeling myself to push my wheelbarrow for the rest of my life and work out some kinda plan to make the manure smell better.

Well one thing led to another and one Saturday evening I met my saviour Jesus Christ. WOW!!! He gave me a tiny glimpse of his glory and my life was changed forever. Now I wanna do things 'cause I know that He loved me first, I'm learning more and more His purpose and plan for my life. And guess what I am really super duper special, I'm so precious that God himself came down and died for me. He purchased me with His own blood! Can you actually fathom the depth, the width the height of that love? Not likely this side of heaven. Now all this does not give me a big fat head but makes me feel truly grateful and humble and just wanting to serve Him with all that I have. Oh yeah, am I perfect? No ways, I'm full of holes and frayed at the edges but I'm really trying to love God back and the more I get that right the more I am able to give of His love back to the world.

God just blows me away constantly with His love. A youth pastor from Khayelitsha phoned me yesterday on my cell to tell me that He loves me as a brother in Christ. A woman the other evening introduced me to her sister and said that I'd saved her live. And it goes on and on. I'm not saying all this to get a Noddy badge or to tell you how great I am but to tell you how great God is. Love Him back more and more and you will see how He uses you. Go on I dare you!

Here's that song

The Power Of The Moment (by Chris Rice)

What am I gonna be when I grow up?
How am I gonna make my mark in history?
And what are they gonna write about me when I’m gone?
These are the questions that shape the way I think about what matters
But I have no guarantee of my next heartbeat
And my world’s too big to make a name for myself
And what if no one wants to read about me when I’m gone?
Seems to me that right now’s the only moment that matters

You know the number of my days
So come paint Your pictures on the canvas in my head
And come write Your wisdom on my heart
And teach me the power of a moment
The power of a moment, the power of a moment

In Your kingdom where the least is greatest
The weak are given strength and fools confound the wise
And forever brushes up against a moment’s time
Leaving impressions and drawing me into what really matters

You know the number of my days
So come paint Your pictures on the canvas in my head
And come write Your wisdom on my heart
And teach me the power of a moment
The power of a moment, the power of a moment

I get so distracted by my bigger schemes
Show me the importance of the simple things
Like a word, a seed, a thorn, a nail
And a cup of cold water

You know the number of my days
So come paint Your pictures on the canvas in my head
And come write Your wisdom on my heart
And teach me the power of a moment
The power of a moment, the power of a moment

Copyright Clumsy Fly Music (ASCAP)



LoCTY !!!!!!!


We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

Street Evangelism (4)

So another coupla months have gone by and we are still walking up and down Voortrekker Road whenever we can dishing out tracts about “Your Most Important Relationship.”
The devil is still whispering into my ear all the lies and doubts that he has at his disposal. “So do you really think these stupid pieces of paper are going to make any difference in people’s lives, hey who do you think you are to go and interfere without invitation in other people’s lives, it’s really cold tonight much more comfortable in front of the heater, something really good on TV tonight, do you know how dangerous Voortrekker road is at night?…..” and on and on. Just one thing if you are gonna do anything for God’s kingdom be prepared for the lies, the doubts, be prepared to do battle but remember this, that the devil has already been defeated (by Christ on the cross) and he only has as much power as you give him, also don’t go and be no Lone Ranger and do stuff on your own. You are part of the Body of Christ, always pray, always ask for help and if the only help that someone can give you is to pray for your protection then thankfully and gracefully accept it.
Lately God has blessed me with some new people who are as crazy for Christ as I am. So we have a bunch of ‘fruity’ Christians who go out together, normally on Friday evenings and really encourage each other and have wonderful fellowship at the same time.
When you ‘hit’ the street you really do not have any idea what to expect. We always pray for ‘divine appointments’ but I often feel that everyone we meet is a ‘divine appointment’. Just being there out on the street makes a huge statement for the Body of Christ.
We have recently added to our repertoire by going to visit the Goodwood police station after we have walked up to Vasco Boulevard. I remember the first time going in there (the cop shop) and the policeman behind the charge office counter asking me if he could help me. I answered that we would like to help them by praying for them and their families. By the look on his face you could see that this was not something that was covered in his training manual. Anyways God always comes through and the duty commander gave us his blessing and a policewoman joined us in prayer and we gave out a few Gospels of John and some tracts. I just want you to imagine if you can, standing in a passage at the police station on a Friday night praying out loud (and in tongues)to our Father in the name of Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit to protect and convict all those around you. Awesome stuff!!!!!
During another visit to the cop shop we met up with a woman whose 22 year old son had just been arrested. She was bringing him some McDonalds to eat as he was locked up in a cell. It reminded me so much of Allie and myself and what we went through with Adam at one stage. We invited her to join our prayer circle and afterwards we ministered to her and also prayed for her son. She just could not stop crying. My heart just ached for her. She seemed just so utterly forlorn and alone. Always remember though that Jesus is with you always and He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
So ja all I can say to you is that your faith is like a muscle. If you don’t exercise a muscle it does not get stronger. If you don’t test (do stuff for God) your faith then it isn’t gonna grow much stronger. So just do whatever God is calling you to do, use whatever God has given you for His glory and serve Him. If you are reading this and you reckon you got nothing to give, that’s a lie. Even if all you got is to clean toilets or wash dishes you can do it for the glory of God’s kingdom.
I just would like to thank all those of you walked with me this past year and also those who prayed for this ministry in anyway even if it was just for a second. I really appreciate your loving contributions.