Archive for the ‘being Christ-like’ Category
#LangaSoupKitchen – the experience
Posted on: July 17, 2012
I know this post was supposed to go out last week, I apologize – things were happening and before I knew it time had passed and I had missed the chance to sit and write. It is actually Saturday right now, I meant to go the soup kitchen again, but I’m currently lying at home, sick as a dog.
Anyway, when I went to Langa, there were about 10 of us volunteers. We set up two stations – one near the taxi rank, and another in a park somewhere. The soup at the taxi rank went by rather quickly, as did the sandwiches. Ended up giving out plain bread, for which people were still grateful. The kids also got chips and sweets. And obviously were very keen on having their pics taken.
I found the whole experience very fulfilling. I am a big fan of bringing smiles to other people. And maybe once a week doesn’t seem like much to you and me, but it seemed like it meant a lot to the people on the receiving end.
I would highly recommend, if you’re in Cape Town, to volunteer one Saturday to help those less fortunate than yourself.
Langa Soup Kitchen
Posted on: July 6, 2012
I plan to do a post in the future – hopefully next week – about my experiences with the Soup Kitchen, but for now I just wanted to give out some information in case you guys want to get involved…and please do get involved – volunteer, donate money/foods, spread the word, etc. Help out in whatever way you can. And don’t hesitate to contact me if you need more info.
Some info from the organisers:
“The soup kitchen will run every Saturday from 12am – 2pm until the 1 Sep 2012 in Langa.
The purpose of the soup kitchen is to aid the less-fortunate during the winter season. The aid provided will be soup, bread, sandwiches, and from time to time clothing and blankets.
We have put together our own money and resources to start the project, however we would like to expand and make it bigger and more successful. Thus welcome any contributions in any manner possible.
You can participate by volunteering and /or by donating. If you like to volunteer please confirm by Wednesday of each week as we have a limit. Please note that donations are not compulsory but it would make a huge difference in running the soup kitchen. Please indicate which area(s) you will be donating in.
See below for duties and donation details and help spread the word to your friends
Volunteering
The Duties for each Station would be the following:
1. Pouring soup
2. Handing out bread
3. Handing out cups of soup
4. Walking and drawing people closer to ‘soup stations’
5. Handing out sandwiches
6. Collecting cups
Donations: Food
Please note: it is advisable to choose from the non perishable list
Non Perishable
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Polystyrene Cups
Black plastic bags
Barley
Salt/pepper
Lentils
Split peas
Canned Peas
Canned tomatoes & onions
Pasta
Soup – brown onion, beef and veggie
Butter
Stock cubes – chicken
Perishable
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Onions
Green, red, yellow pepper
Carrots
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Celery
Parsley
Soup bones
Bread
Polony
Donation: Clothes and blankets
As an additional component, the Langa Soup Kitchen will also collect and donate clothes and blankets to charity organizations etc.”
To make monetary contributions, please contact me for banking details.
Being Christ-like
Posted on: October 5, 2011
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like‑minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
I was here…
Posted on: July 5, 2011
I’m back…sort of. I’m still not fully in writing mode, but thought I should put something on here just to get back into it.
So I heard the song “I was here” by Beyonce written by Diane Warren and I’ve had it on repeat since I bought it. It’s a powerful track – even Ms Warren said she thought it was her best track to date…and that’s no small feat…google her, she has written amazing songs, which you know, even though you don’t know that you know them.
Anyway, this song is kinda my life anthem right now…it was my life anthem before i’d even heard it. it’s kinda my heart-cry right now. live to the max, live with no regrets, leave an imprint on people hearts, let the light you shine into others lives be the legacy you leave behind, leave the world a better place just by being yourself.
ok, here are the lyrics
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I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time
Know there was something that, yea something that I left behind
When I leave this world I’ll leave no regrets
Leave something to remember so they won’t forget
I was here…
I lived, I loved
I was here…
I did, I’ve done, everything that I wanted
And it was more than I thought it would be
I will leave my mark so everyone will know
I was here…
I want to say I lived each day until I died
To know that I meant something in somebody’s life
The hearts I have touched will be the proof that I leave
That I made a difference and this world will see
I was here…
I lived, I loved
I was here…
I did, I’ve done, everything that I wanted
And it was more than I thought it would be
I will leave my mark so everyone will know
I was here…
I just want them to know
That I gave my all, did my best
Brought someone some hapiness
Left this world a little better just because…
I was here…
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just read this post by b-fish this morning and this portion stood out for me
“i believe that everyone has to be doing something for the poor. not that everyone has to be doing everything for the poor or that everyone has to be doing something for all of the poor. but that every individual needs to be investing and engaging and reaching out to someone or ones who do not have as much as them…”
i try to do stuff…but is it enough? am i giving my all? am i doing my best? hopefully the little i do for sharon will be part of the legacy i leave behind.
Fully Alive!
Posted on: May 10, 2011
- In: being Christ-like | my life | thoughts
- 2 Comments
In the subtle, in the party, in the noise, in the silence, in weird faces, and weird places, through stories, and ancient pages. Find Him. – @skillieskil (twitter)
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Read that on twitter a few days ago and really liked it. It’s a reminder that God is not found just in churches and buildings and in those who would deem themselves righteous, but God can be found in your everyday life. Everywhere you go, you can find the beauty, image and light of God. Find God in every face you see, and you will learn to love your neighbour as yourself.
On Sunday I went to His People City Bowl. The message was on being fully alive in God. Basically, the preacher-chick (who is married to the associate pastor) was saying how for years she struggled with the concept of being a mrs-pastor. she loved her husband and loved being married to him and believed in his calling and supported his ministry but she had the same idea of a mrs-pastor that i basically have – they have to be a certain way, talk a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way, etc. and it’s only recently that she’s come to accept that she may be married to a pastor but she’s not that mrs-pastor that she has in her head, and God is ok with that because he didn’t create her to be her own picture of a mrs-pastor, he created her to be his picture of herself.
i’ve often struggled with the same thing – not being a mrs-pastor obviously, cos I’m not – but the picture i have in my head of what a christian should be like/look like/act like/speak like/enjoy. I’ve struggled with this thing of loving live music, and thinking in my mind that real christians shouldn’t frequent the types of venues I do. And, to be honest, this has led to me feeling restrained, prisoned even, and so I rebelled against this system that actually didn’t exist outside my head…and in rebelling I end up doing things that have not only left me feeling ashamed, but have very muchly affected my relationship with Christ.
It’s only recently that I have come to terms with who I am, the things I enjoy, knowing that God is for me and actually wants me to enjoy this Christian walk. I have a cross to carry of course, but he says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He actually wants me to enjoy this walk with him. We wants to laugh with me and dance with me and sing at the top of my lungs with me. He’s not saying that I shouldn’t enjoy live music, he’s saying that I should enjoy it with him…in him.
So the message at church spoke very loudly to me. And just kinda confirmed the road I’ve been trying to walk in this year. And reminded that God is for me, not against me.
Anyway, the following is the notes I took during the service.
======================
Declare a war against anything that prevents you from being who you really are.
God is for you!
If you’re not free, you’re not living in God’s calling for you!
Being alive in God means being certain that he will lead, teach, correct and transfrom you. It means knowing that he is good and that he DOES satisfy your desires with good things. {This was when she was talking about how sometimes you’ll get a great opportunity to do something good or something you enjoy and the door is open but you hold back because you keep thinking that it’s wrong because you enjoy it or you are waiting for some sign from God or whatever…and she was saying that God is able to close that door if he chooses, and following God shouldn’t be a drag – we should enjoy him}
be FULLY ALIVE!
I wanna be great at being myself
If you can’t fully be yourself, you forfeit being yused by God the way he intended to use you. You forfeit the purpose you were created for!
The devil knows all your crap, he uses it against you all the time. Not knowing yourself fully – or trying to hide who you really are by pretending to be someone else – gives him ammunition; it gives him the upper hand. God knows everything about you, He loves you anyway. He loves you still. He loves you in your sin!
Grace enables us to be who we really are.
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Great reminders those…or at least for me.
And I’ll end with this: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
[in hind sight i feel like i should add a disclaimer: i'm not saying God is ok with your sin, he's definitely not. God is holy, he is anti sin. He calls you away from your sin and wants you to be holy as he is. But God is for you, your being, the person he created you to be. what i'm saying is, God doesn't want to turn you into that other christian that you have in your mind that represents the perfect christian, he wants you to be you. he created you to be you. Your definition of holy is not necessarily the same as that of God's.]
Cold Turkey…and other things…
Posted on: April 19, 2011
I’m learning about Christianity from a self-proclaimed non-Christian. I feel like he knows more about Jesus than I do. I feel like he knows more about living the Christian lifestyle than I do. I feel like he gets the message of the bible more than I do. The love thing.
Anyway, this is an excerpt from Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut.
———————————
I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: “Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” So I pass that on to you. Write it down, and put it in your computer, so you can forget it.
I have to say that’s a pretty good sound bite, almost as good as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” A lot of people think Jesus said that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, 500 years before there was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.
.
.
.
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.
.
.
.
When you stop to think about it, only a nut case would want to be a human being, if he or she had a choice. Such treacherous, untrustworthy, lying and greedy animals we are!
I was born a human being in 1922 A.D. What does “A.D.” signify? That commemorates an inmate of this lunatic asylum we call Earth who was nailed to a wooden cross by a bunch of other inmates. With him still conscious, they hammered spikes through his wrists and insteps, and into the wood. Then they set the cross upright, so he dangled up there where even the shortest person in the crowd could see him writhing this way and that.
Can you imagine people doing such a thing to a person?
No problem. That’s entertainment. Ask the devout Roman Catholic Mel Gibson, who, as an act of piety, has just made a fortune with a movie about how Jesus was tortured. Never mind what Jesus said.
———————————-
other things he wrote
———————————-
* If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC
* Everything was beautiful. Nothing hurt.
* And now I want to tell you about my late Uncle Alex. He was my father’s kid brother, a childless graduate of Harvard who was an honest life insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was well-read and wise. And his principal complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So when we were drinking lemonade under an apple tree in the summer, say, and talking lazily about this and that, almost buzzing like honeybees, Uncle Alex would suddenly interrupt the agreeable blather to exclaim, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is”. So I do the same now, and so do my kids and grandkids. And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is”.
*Requiem:
The crucified planet Earth,
should it find a voice
and a sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
“Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do.”
The irony would be
that we know what
we are doing.
When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.
…or thoughts inspired by arisefest…
i had a brilliant time at arisefest…seriously, too awesome. brett wrote a reflection piece on it here…which reminded me of a tweet i had seen a couple days after the fest.
the artist brett was talking about on his blog said something to the effect of “last year i got kicked off the stage, and this year the same thing happened again” when he was told that he was going over his time. someone in the audience then tweeted something like “i can’t believe their kicking [artist] off but they didn’t kick anyone else off” – like they were specifically targetting this artist…which was not true, cos i saw A LOT of bands being given the “5 minutes left, one last song” signal.
also, from the perspective of the organisers, it must be very frustrating to have someone go over their time allotment…and i’m sure it doesn’t feel good to have to be the one to tell someone to leave the stage. but you have other bands that are there to play, and you want to be fair to everyone – give everyone their space to play, cos i mean there’s a reason you asked them to play in the first place right…
but from the perspective of the audience, you always want your favorite artist to play longer, to play all your favorite songs. you don’t think about all the other people who are there to listen to their favorite artists who have yet to come on stage.
i guess it all comes down to selfishness in a way. and i know music festivals are about having fun and enjoying yourself, but it is a Christian music festival, and if you call yourself a christian, at all times you should be dying to yourself and thinking of others more highly than yourself, right?
in conclusion, i know i’ve been the screaming fan in the audience yelling for one more song, so i have to apologise. and at the next arise i promise to try and see things from other people’s [especially the a-team's, who did a fantastically amazingly brilliant job btw] perspective.
Blessed
Posted on: November 16, 2010
this past sunday at church we watched the Louie Giglio dvd on prayer (remix or something like that). anyway he was talking about how often when we pray it is so me (or us) focused – God bless me, God be with me, God forgive me, God keep me safe and watch over me…he used a trip to florida as an example: when we go somewhere we always pray that God will bless the trip and go with us and keep us safe and watch over us (and forgive us our many sins – maybe as a precurser to all that’s gonna happen in florida…ha ha…Louie is funny.)
anyway the dvd was about remix’ing prayer…so not praying in the same way we always do. instead of asking God for blessings, how about we bless God. “God, help me a blessing to you on this trip”…
Ephesians 1: 3 says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” and 2 Peter 1: 3 says “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” we’ve already recieved the blessing – he gave us everything we need to live a godly life – 2000 years ago. all those promises of blessing in the old testament, they were culminated in the person of Jesus. instead of running around asking God for more blessings, maybe it’s time we said thank you for the greatest blessing he could give. maybe it’s time we use the blessing he’s given us to bless him…
Praise the Lord, oh my soul! Praise the Lord!
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this post was written for the one word at a time blog carnival. this week’s theme is “gratitude”. Click here to read other posts from some awesome bloggers.
Multilingual like me
Posted on: September 7, 2010
- In: being Christ-like | blog carnival | likes | my life | thoughts
- 10 Comments
one of my hobbies is collecting translations of the word “hope”. why? cos that’s my name. it’s a pretty useless collection…i’d need to actually know other words in the language to need to use the word. also, my name is tsholofelo. i can’t go around introducing myself in other languages, it would be too confusing.
anyway, here’s what i’ve committed to memory so far
Hope – English
(south african languages)
Hoop – Afrikaans (also Dutch i believe)
Tsholofelo – Setswana
Tshepo – Sesotho
Themba – isiXhosa/isiZulu
fulufhelo – tshiVhenda
(other african languages)
Tumaini – Swahili
(european languages)
Esparanza – Spanish
Espoire – French
Speranza – Italian
Tikva – Hebrew
Von – Icelandic (thanks sigur ros)
Hoffnung – German
(asian languages)
Xi Wang – Mandarin
if you know of any more translations please let me know.
————-
i really like the word hope – and not just because it’s my name.
i feel like hope is that thing that keeps us holding on when everything about us is crumbling. my hope rests in christ and in his work on the cross and in his love. when all about me is falling and it feels like i’m falling with it, i remember that the father loved me enough to send his son to the cross and i am comforted. that’s not to say i think that everything will work out as i want it to, but i know that it will work together for my good – when things don’t go the way i want them to, i remember that he is in control. and that’s how i face life’s trials and tribulations. i keep looking to him, and trusting that he knows best.
my very first blogpost reads:
“I always wanted to go into full-time ministry (i.e. work for the church) and I thought that if I ever did i would call my ministry “hope in love”. Why? 3 reasons:
1. We find hope in His love for us
2. Because of His love for me and my love for Him, i bring hope to others
3. I, Hope (my name translated into English), am in love with Joshua Davidson
And for those wondering who Joshua Davidson is: Joshua or Yeshua is Jesus in Hebrew, and Davidson is the son of David – or a male born in the lineage of David.
So yea, I’ve decided to use this space to document my growth (or lack thereof) – spiritually (and maybe maturity-wise if that ever happens) and I figure by putting that on the web I’m inviting billions of people around the world to keep me accountable, and to call me out on it if I become hypocritical – which I tend to do. And because the people who will be reading this are most probably all total strangers, I have no need for masks therefore I can be totally 100% honest. Scary thought. And so here begins my ministry – not what I imagined it to be all those years ago but hey, anything short of sin, right.
I’m not a professional blogger nor do I consider myself a writer, but if any Christian reads anything I’ve written here and thinks, I want my walk with Christ to be better or if any non-Christian reads anything I’ve written here and thinks, maybe this Jesus Christ guy isn’t so bad – I’d like to get to know more about him, then this exercise is all worthwhile.
Keith Green put it perfectly when he said “I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into Godly jealousy or to sell out more completely to Jesus!”
So let the journey begin…”
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this post was written for the one word at a time blog carnival. this week’s theme is “hope”. Click here to read other posts from some awesome bloggers.
30 bloggers, 30 days
Posted on: September 1, 2010
i live in africa.
i live in south africa, which is a thrid world/developing country. [not really sure what that means to be honest with you]
i live in stellenbosch, a quiant little student town – beautiful scenery, beautiful wine farms. i live in a nice, comfortable flat with indoor plumbing – shower, bath, flushable loo, bathroom sinks, kitchen sinks, etc. i have water available to me 24/7. i can walk out my flat and down the stairs and at the bottom is a little corner shop where i can buy bottled water. i usually prefer coke, or coffee, or tea – but when i’m feeling dehydrated, i’ll have a bottle of “vitamin water”.
i grew up in a township. there was no indoor plumbing. however there is water on the premises. there is a tap in the backyard where you can always get water. though water was not as accessible, it wasn’t really that bad. waking up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse was not great – especially in winter – but clean drinkable water was always accessible so it wasn’t all that bad.
my mom grew up in “the rural areas” – way outside of town in the middle of nowhere. there was no indoor plumbing, there was no outdoor plumbing. to get water, you had to walk out of the little village to the dam just outside the village boundaries. i remember visiting there during the holidays when i was a kid. it was actually kinda fun for me cos it was something different. my cousins who lived there didn’t think it was fun so much…that was their lives! they had to make the daily trek to go fetch water for survival.
but, at least there was water…clean, drinkable water. not everyone is as fortunate as that.
A bunch of bloggers i follow have joined together with other bloggers in a campaign called 30 Bloggers, 30 Days, $30,000. The goal is to raise $30,000 in 30 days.
The best part about this campaign is that all money donated will reach a specific group of needy people.
Here’s where this money will go:
- Our goal is $30,000. This provides clean water to 1,500 people (300 families, 6 entire communities).
- 100% of the money donated goes towards water projects. Private donors take care of all the overhead.
- $20 provides 1 person clean water for 20 years.
- Our money will go towards building water projects in Central African Republic.
- If you give, charity: water will keep you up-to-date with the status of your project, provide you with GPS coordinates of exactly where the well you contributed to is being built, and take pictures and video along the way.
So, how can you help?
- GIVE. $20 provides clean water for one person for 20 years! Go to the 30 Bloggers, 30 Days, $30,000 site and make a donation.
- SHARE about it on Facebook and Twitter. Follow @charitywater here.
- Blog about it.30 bloggers is simply a starting point. We would love to have more people join in and help spread the word!
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some of those bloggers are:
Bryan Allain
Matt Appling
Jason Boyett
Billy Coffey
Tripp Crosby
Wes Molebash
Katdish
Tyler Stanton
