Posts Tagged ‘hope’
Romans
Posted on: September 14, 2011
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
Things I like [2]
Posted on: August 5, 2011
“Love is the movement, Hope is my hero” -> that’s been my status on whatsApp, skype and GTalk for forever…and it has also featured on BBM, Twitter, and Facebook.
“Love is the movement” is from TWLOHA, which i’ve written about on this site before.
“Hope is my hero” is from hopeismyhero.com, which was launched this week on Monday.
Their tag line -> More Love. More Music…two of my favorite things. How could I not love it right. And I’ve also written a post on the word HOPE, seeing as it’s not only my name, but it is probably my favorite word and the characteristic I most long to embody throughout my life – along with love. I mean, just check out the name of this blog.
Anyway, HIMH “is an alternative bilingual clothing brand that is grounded deep in the heart of the South African music scene”, according to their site. The label was started by JP Erusmas, drummer of Bright Blue City (you might recall me talking about his awesome tats if you read my music blog).
I dig their stuff. I also dig what the label is built upon. Check out what’s it’s about here.
So anyway, if you wanna be my best friend forever, please buy me the black “More Love More Music” t-shirt
-200x300.jpg "Black \"More Love More Music\" T")
Love, music...yes please!
and a wristband as well.
-200x300.jpg "\"More Love More Music\" writbands")
I want the black one...no the white one...ok, both.
Thanks.
And you’re welcome 
I call it hope…
Posted on: May 13, 2011
found at Letters I’ll Never Send
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This is it
The reason why you carry on.
Because even though you’ve had your heart broken so many times, over and over again, guy after guy or girl after girl, you find the strength to keep going.
It’s because when you find someone
At the supermarket
On the street
A friend of a friend
At your group of friends but you never noticed
On the bus, train, coffee shop, somewhere in the world
When you find someone and your eyes crush, and your heart beats and your hands sweat and you don’t know what to say or what to do and you pray week after week just to be able to see that person again, time after time ’till you find the right amount of courage to just say hi, and say hi again, maybe have a conversation or just smile…
And their smile gives you butterflies.
In that moment when you realise that your ex? The one that broke your heart? That being is nothing when compared to this new person that you don’t even know but want to. Because you feel so much more with just one look that you felt in 2, 3, 4 months or years of kissing and touching. You need to know this person. Who might just be the one.
When small things make you the happiest person alive. When in truth, nothing else or no one else matters.
It’s called love. We all look for it and we all try again, even if our heart lies in pieces. We know there’s someone out there that can glue it. To perfection.
Yes, we have to be careful. The one who fixes your heart can break it too. And this time it is possible that no one can fix it.
You know this is the reason why you carry on
When you know it can hurt
But you take a leap of faith.
And you don’t care
All you see… is the chance to fall in love
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.
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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.
Refreshed
Posted on: April 22, 2010
doubt chokes me
fills my every waking moment
are you there
do you hear
is it really just emotions
just chemical reactions in my brain
i think i know that you are there
i think i know you are real
i believe…or at least i want to
could you give me a sign
could you give me a touch
could you just let me know you are here
i don’t like being here
i don’t like doubting
i need your reasurrance
i need you
and just as i’m about to let go
you send me a reminder
you send me a word
you whisper in that still small voice
and suddenly i remember
and suddenly i’m refreshed
and suddenly i’m in awe
i’m restored
i believe
i have hope
i’m loved
thank you heavenly Father for your faithfulness
thank you that you never let go
thank you that you keep drawing me nearer
thank you for your restoring power
your love
your peace
thank you for your faithfulness
- In: my life | thoughts
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“hot cross buns. hot cross buns. one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns. if you have no daughters, give them to your sons. one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns” ♪♫♪
Yes kiddos, it’s easter time again. I will not be posting anything till monday – that’s already scheduled and ready to go.
Just thought I would leave you with a few things on my mind:
1. Been thinking about that first “Easter” weekend. One Friday you are riding into town being cheered on by multitudes, the next the multitude has you hanging on a cross. One Thursday you are chilling with your best friends, the next they are denying you and betraying you with a kiss. One Saturday you are going about your business doing your job, the next you are lying in a grave. One minute you are one with your Father, the next he can’t look at you because of my sin.
2. I’m turning 26 on Sunday. I feel old. No, scratch that. I am old, but I don’t feel old. I mean, I don’t feel any different than how I felt when I was 20. Yes, I’ve grown as a person, I’ve matured, I lost some of my innocence and naivety I think, but I don’t feel 26. Or at least I don’t feel like I thought I would.
So my birthday falls on Easter Sunday this year, or vice-versa – whatever. Anyway, I’m trying to concentrate on the cross and the resurrection instead of the getting old bit. I’m trying to not let my stupid mind and insecurities overshadow the hope that Easter brings. I don’t even know if I really know what I’m trying to say.
Ok, it’s late, and I have to be up in 3 1/2 hours – going camping this weekend. Excited. But need sleep.
I just realized that I actually capitalized my sentences today…maybe it’s cos I’m typing on the blog directly instead of on notepad – don’t know.
Anyway, happy Easter all. While the eggs may be delicious, and the bunnies cute, let us remember that this weekend is really about a cross 2000+ years ago and an empty grave 3 days later…and let us be thankful, and walk in hope.
2009 in review
Posted on: December 22, 2009
- In: my life | thoughts
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So I was trying to remember 2009 so that my last post of the year chould be a review of sorts…but I really couldn’t remember anything.
So then I went through my facebook photo albums and the ones that stand out the most are (in no particular order):
1. day in the park/beach – in Jan, Brett decided that for his birthday celebrations he was going to help out with a take-the-kids-from-an-orphanage-out-for-the-day-to-the-beach-and-love-them-day thing…and he invited people to go and help out, and i went, and it was awesomtastic. then in april and again in november some people from our church organised a take-the-kids-from-an-orphanage-out-for-the-day-to-the-park-and-love-them-day thing and once again i decided to join in. and again it was awesomtastic. i’m not the most kid-friendly person in the world…like, i would suck at being a kindergarten teacher, but i really do enjoy spending time with kids and just loving on them and making them feel wanted and loved and adored and listened to and whatever, even if it was for one day atleast they got to feel special.
2. vision k/youth/scripture union camp – as i said, i would suck at being a kindergarten teacher. and i would probably suck at being a middle/high school teacher as well, but if i had to choose, i would go for the middle/high school age group. so i’ve talked a bit about my exploits with vision k this year, and i may have mentioned the scripture union leadership camp as well – can’t remember, but yea, both of those and the youth group at my church have been highlights in my life this year. i truly do enjoy hanging out with youth and finding out where they are and if possible helping in their journey towards adulthood. i’ve been through the teenage years myself, and sometimes i still act like i’m going through them, and i remember how hard it was for me, so any help i can give someone else…
3. turning 25 – i liked turning 25. scary, yet…super cool. like i felt like i was finally an adult in a lot of ways. turning 26 is not scary, but it feels kinda sucky, don’t know if i’m going to enjoy it much.
4. namrock/baptism – so wrote a lot on namrock, and wrote about getting baptised. and definite highlights they were.
5. worship team – lots of memories. lots of laughs. lots of growing. thankfulness.
6. http://tsholo.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/worship-setlist-september-27-2009/ – i’ve been to PE quite a few times, and i always…well, i guess hate is a strong word but…well, it’s the right word. i always hated it. i was ok with like 2 days, but after that i was ready to leave. this year my dad moved to PE, then my sister also moved there. at the end of the year my lil bro is also moving there. so it will just be me and my mom in the western cape (sadness). but yea, the visit in september was so awesomtastic, i didn’t want to leave. and i’m looking forward to visiting again first week of next year…and throughout 2010. PE Love!
7. flatmating – had a super awesomtastic flatmate this year. i learned a lot from her and i totally appretiate the flatmate she was and all the talks and all the laughs and discovering “The OC” together and our late night dvd’ing and sms’ing each other from the other side of the wall and the sharing and all of it, it’s been great Lindz, will miss sharing a flat with you.
8. music and friends – the south african music scene is wow! and it’s even better when it’s live, and it’s shared with friends. new altum, flat stanley, just jinjer, aking, gravity wins again, straatligkinders, irvine, lua union, the lottery tickets, heldervue, black markets riots, 3rd world spectator, saint fearless, the rescue, tree63, the arrows, bed on bricks – just off the top of my head. memorable moments also include: being kidnapped and forced to go to the beach at 2 am when i was working the next morning, sneaking into the botanical gardens after it was closed and having a photo shoot after making a 20 minute video of us talking nonsense, TEAM AWESOMTASTIC, awesomtastic enGAGE dinners at Ginos and awesomtastic cricket watching at Ginos, SUPER inappropriate conversations and the birth of SOKs…and so much more…I really thank God for friends!
and then two more not in the photo albums, just to round it off
9. blogging – nablopomo(?) was really good for my blogging…blogging everyday for a month is not easy, totally respect those who do it year round. good and challenging. blogging has been so good for me though. it’s been a place for me to just spill what’s in my head onto something else and just get it out of my system so that it doesn’t take over. so thank you for reading.
10. God – lots of up and downs, lots of screaming and shouting, lots of late night pop-corn and cookies and ice-cream (He loves those), lots of laughing, lots of reminders, lots of fulfilled promises, lots of pouring on of LOVE, lots of us time, too much ingnoring from my side, lots of forgiveness, lots of convictions, lots of happiness and joy, more love and more reminders, lots of blessings, lots of breathe, lots of guidance, lots of mercy and grace, more love, lots of comforting, lots of more reminders for/to hope, lots of everything. Everything and LOVE!
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and one more that had nothing to do with me but stands out this year was the wedding of the fish and TBV…read about it here.
“When I am gone, you will all have this to ponder and maybe realize why I did what I did. A little push in front of other kids is a very big deal, particularly when you know it’s gonna happen to you every single day, every single day, every single day, you are almost relieved when it actually happens. You are always waiting, waiting for the next attack. They don’t just hurt kids, they make you hurt yourself. I cant take two more years of this, and the more they call me the mad bomber, the more they are scaring themselves. They dont know what am capable of, they dont know what I can do, and then there’s the sanctuary of home sweet home. So, the play, yes Mr. do-gooder, why does he even bother? Doesn’t he know its already too late? Sometimes I see the way things could’ve been, I just wish I could be the person she thinks I am. Kids can be the most ruthless people in the world. They can just be supernaturally cruel. You’ve got to be a man! Be a man! BE A MAN! Sometimes you just wanna cry. Sometimes hate is the only real thing in the world. You can stop loving someone, but hate seems to go on forever. People respect hate. It speaks, it vibrates. Some people don’t even need a gun to hurt you. They use words or laughter. They enjoy watching you bleed to death. They get off watching you fighting back the tears, getting a lump in your throat, blushing, wanting to cry, and they give you a name: Trashcan, pizzaface, loser, faggot, loser, weirdo, spaz, retard. You know the name does something to you. It changes who you are, it alters your molecules and one day you wake up and you look in the mirror and you don’t recognize yourself anymore, because you believe them. They win you lose. You wanna cry, please leave me alone, but nobody listens, because nobody cares, because you don’t have a name anymore because they took it away, and then one day they say that name and you hear something go snap. You realize what you gotta do, you gotta take back your name and you’ve gotta do it in front of the whole school because that’s where they took your name away from you. You gotta do it so every kid will remember. This is about justice and after a while you can only think of one way: Jonesboro, Springfield, Paducah, Columbine, a gun, a bomb, instant justice, Ba-bang! But what a rush when they roll out that yellow tape, miles and miles of yellow tape. They won’t have enough when I’m finished. So when these hallways are flooded with rivers of blood, when these hallways are choked with their corpses in body bags you all say oh what a tragedy, oh what a tragedy, but possibly after viewing my tapes, you wont be so quick to judge. Maybe that’s why I was put in this earth. So consider this my last will and testament.”
from the movie “Bang Bang You’re Dead”
So yes, this is super dark…I’m not feeling dark right now. I just thought of that movie and decided to look up the quotes. Quite scary…
My life goal is to share the solution…the remedy…with those who feel this way…and that solution is Hope…Hope found in a saviour, in a God who loves you beyond your feelings and your hurts and your thoughts…and who can heal you if you let him! Jesus Christ!
Commemorating World Aids Day…
Posted on: December 2, 2009
this was written on World Aids Day last year – December 1, 2008 – but was never published…
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So every year we “celebrate” world aids day on December 1st. We take the time out of our busy schedules to think about those who fought against the pandemic, those who lost, and those who are still at war. But at the end of the day, what does it really accomplish. I was trying to write a list of people that I know that have died from or are living with HIV/Aids…and I can’t. Now I can write a list of people I know have died from Aids (4 people) but their surviving relatives would never confirm it. People are still afraid to disclose that they have the disease.
Why is it so “closeted”? Well, I guess it’s a matter of shame. Other diseases you catch…you are infected. Cancer just creeps up on you, you don’t go seeking for it…just like heart-problems, or diabetes, or the like – yes you can take measures to lower the risks, but if you have the gene, then there’s not really much you can do. However, with Aids, except in the case of being raped, or blood transfusion, or any accidental fluid exchanged, you can prevent it. You can keep yourself from getting Aids. You have the choice. People just tend to look at the short-term pleasure over the long-term results…at least until it’s too late.
This celebrating or commemorating on World Aids Day, is it helping anyone. Is anyone looking at it and thinking, “wow, aids really kills and I should take precausionary measures to make sure next year they wont be commemorating my death” or do they think “yay, another reason to go watch Mzekezeke (or whoever the new hot musician/band is currently) live”? I wonder if the message is getting to anyone. I wonder if people are listening? I wonder if anyone cares.
I hope so!
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someone said in yesterday’s blog carnival that “grief leads to hope, and hope points to God”…I choose to hold on to that today…
