Posts Tagged ‘passion’
Passion and such
Posted on: February 15, 2011
i’m too lazy to write…it happens…so instead here are some quotes i found while trolling the world wide web…
———-
may you be passionate, able to lead;
and may your ambition help you succeed.
may you be happy and playful and bright;
and may you grow healthy, bursting with life.
may you be wise, speaking only the truth;
and never lose your creative youth.
all of these blessings we wish you this day
and forever as you go on your way.
with love, we hold you as this new life you start;
wrapped in happiness close to our hearts
- Jewish Blessing, found on some Jewish website on a baby quilt
=========================================
There is some place where your specialness can shine. Somewhere that difference can be expressed. It’s up to you to find it, and you can.
~ David Viscott
=========================================
laugh much. dance wildly. write letters. drink wine. love fully. sing loudly. be brave. be daring. be extraordinary. grow, learn, listen, experience, explore. eat chocolate. watch movies. read books. show gratitude. be great, be humble. live fearlessly. make memories. make friends. take pictures.
- how to live, che kershaw of indieberries.blogspot.com
=========================================
But you can move on quickly if you want to
Forget about our history if you must
You could find a new guy if you’d like to
But I’m still hooked up on us
- Hooked up on us, Jay Jay Pistolet (also via indieberries)
=========================================
“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
— Charlie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
work, rest, play
Posted on: December 14, 2010
- In: my life | thoughts
- Leave a Comment
Were we really created to sleep away a 1/3 of our lives? If so, did God take into account that we’d be sitting in a cubicle behind a desk starring at a computer screen for another 1/3? And that the remaining 1/3 would be broken up into chunks of cooking, eating, bathroom breaks, showering, cleaning, laundry, driving, traffic, and a million other mundane tasks? Was this His idea of living an abundant life?
And if so, why did he make nature most beautiful and enjoyable either during the day when we are at work or at night when we are sleeping? Seriously, I’m usually asleep when the sun comes up so I miss the beauty of the sunrise. I’m usually at work indoors during the hottest part of the day when I should be at the beach.
So basically, I have to fit all the things I enjoy and am passionate about doing around the things I have to do…I have to make time to cram them in between the mundane stuff. Why even let me have those passions? Why even let me enjoy those things? Why make the outdoors prettier than the indoors where I spend the majority of my time?
To be honest, right now in this moment I’d rather be sitting in my beautiful garden playing my guitar. But I guess it is my work that allows me the luxury to be able to have those passions…so I guess I should get back to work now…
About me…I guess…
Posted on: July 21, 2010
- In: my life | thoughts
- 5 Comments
i should really update my about me page…it doesn’t really say much about me, does it? anyway…
so i work in the information technology sector. i am a computer programmer/software developer. i have a regular 9 – 5…well, it’s actually 8 – 5. i love programming…i love it when i write some code and it does what i want it to and i get to create new ways of doing things – guess it taps into my creative nature, which is awesome. i love love love the company i work for. i love the people i work with. i love the atmosphere of the place. i love that that company brought me to stellies, where i have grown leaps and bounds professionally and personally. i’m loving my life right now.
but once in a while i get totally bummed. i think about the fact that this was not where i intended to be when i was younger. i was never going to be one of those people who forgets their dreams and lives in a cubicle most of her life just to put food on the table. i get so depressed when i think about the fact that i’ll be doing this for the next 40 years…i think it’s the routine-ness of it that depresses me the most. you wake up at the same time everyday, go through your daily morning routine, go to work at the same time, sit in the same seat, see the same people, go to lunch at the same time – mostly at the same place – daily, go back home at the same time…it kinda becomes bland after a while.
so in order to chase the depression away, i dream.
i still dream of being a rock star – of writing songs and jamming on a guitar. i still dream of inspiring young people to chase their dreams and not let their past/current circumstances determine their future. i still dream of not feeling bored – of living life and enjoying it to the full. it helps keep the numbness away.
i love watching live music – all live music. however, if i have a choice, i usually go watch bands that look like they are having fun onstage – the ones that look like they are enjoying themselves and loving what they’re doing – more than a band that is super solid/tight but make playing look like work. i love watching people do what they love…what they’re passionate about.
when i grow up, i wanna be one of those people.
====================
on a maybe related note:this weekend i will be attending a conference with around 120 other people who are passionate about making a difference… people passionate to change the world for the better…maybe some of it will rub off on me. i might do a report back next week.
super amped!
Goodbye Phillip
Posted on: July 14, 2010
- In: my life | thoughts
- Leave a Comment
For a month, Phillip, you held the world captive. You got new fans, you lost some old fans, you raised hope in some countries, you broke some hearts – mine included. And now it’s time for you to leave. It’s been good Phil, it’s been great having you in my backyard. Farewell, dear Phillip.
highlights
================
1. South Africa, I adore you. Thank you for putting on the best world cup ever. So much pride and happiness right now. The way the whole country just came together, the unity, the gees, all of it. Thank you for putting on the smiles and being gracious hosts to the world – even the Uruguay team.
2. Bafana Bafana, it would be physically, psychologically, and emotionally impossible for me to be any prouder of you than I am right now. I must admit, I had 0 belief in you at the start of the world cup. I was willing to support you because I love you, but I thought hoping for a win would be just letting myself in for a disappointment…and how wrong I was. I’ve never been prouder to be a Bafana supporter. I’ve never been prouder to wear a South African supporter jersey. You may not have won the world cup, but you won my heart. You played with heart. You played with passion. You played with skill. You played like Africans! I thank you!!! My dad says you just maybe the best football (notice i said football not soccer – there’s a difference) team South Africa has ever produced. I might agree. Yes you didn’t score many goals, and yes there’s still a long way to go…but you showed passion and skill and played football.
3. Ghana – thanks for representing Africa in the top 16. I’m sure you made your country proud. But you also made a continent proud. I watched a bunch of South Africans screaming for you, chanting your name, dressed in your colours, and finally cry at the injustice at the end of your match. Bafana united a country. Ghana united a continent. Thank you.
lowlights
================
1. Fifa:
a. teach your referees and lines-men the rules of football. seriously, that was embarrassing. there were times when it seemed like i could have done a better job at refereeing. also, i’ve always defended the “referee has the final say” rule, but sometimes the referee’s calls (or lack thereof) were kinda idiotic, and i think some of those rules need to be looked at again.
b. i hate how you’ve taken the love of football out of the equation and replaced it with money. i hate that people no longer play in the world cup for the love of football and to represent their country, but rather to make money. i hate that people have decided that using your hand to ruin the entire freakin world cup (yes suarez i’m talking about you) is ok because they get more money if their country wins. how could you possibly be proud of winning the world cup if you win because of you blatantly cheated? i really don’t understand how you could rejoice because you just got kicked out of a match for cheating. is that how you represent your country? “Uruguay-ans will do anything to win, even cheat if their skills aren’t good enough” – is that what you want your country to be known for?
2. all those people who got on other people’s cases because they don’t get it. i’m so tired of hearing people critisizing other people’s passion for football – “it’s just a game. get over it”…well, it may be just a game for you, it means more to me, so back off. you have your thing, i have mine…you don’t have to like it – i can’t make you love football, i can’t make you get it (and i don’t think i’d want to) – but just because you don’t doesn’t give you a license to critisize and judge those who do. and all those christians going on about how other christians are worshipping soccer and not God also need to back off. my passion for soccer doesn’t take away from my relationship with God. your getting on my case about it however, might. i’m not worshipping the soccer. i’m not worshipping the players. i love love love the passion in the soccer players. i love love love when someone loves what they do so much that they spend their time practicing and honing their skills – seeking perfection – and then displaying it and sharing it with the world. it’s the same love i have for passionate musician, and passionate artists, and passionate programmers, and passionate accountants, and passionate car guards, and that one dude at kfc, etc. so please don’t judge me for loving football.
other thoughts:
================
1. so very bummed about Brazil. you have no idea just how much.
2. so very bummed about Maradona leaving his Argentina coaching job. i loved watching that man at the matches.
3. my heart broke when i heard about the dude who’d committed suicide after brazil’s loss. hectic. Lord, i’m so glad that my hope is in you. please remind me daily about what’s really important. and please be with the dude’s family.
I felt it, it is gone! (sadness)
Public passion vs Private devotion
Posted on: March 12, 2010
Here is an excerpt from something by Francis Chan. Read it earlier this week and thought it was worth a share.
==========================
It is hard to be rejected. I hated it in junior high, and I still hate it today. It didn’t take long to learn how to fit in, in order to avoid the pain of rejection. That ability has stayed with me and begs me to use it. I know how to keep people from rejecting me and leaving the church. I know what words to say and which actions to take to keep people around. But when I do that, I’m no longer leading. I’m being led by the right or wrong desires of the people.
God calls us to give people what they need. Based on His word, regardless of whether they stick around. Jesus led. Few followed, but He kept leading.
Last summer I came to a shocking realization that I had to share with my wife: If Jesus had a church in Simi Valley, mine would be bigger. People would leave His church to attend mine because I call for an easier commitment. I know better how to cater to people’s desires so they stick around. Jesus was never really good at that. He was the one who said, “He who loves father or mother … son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matt. 10:37 NIV) I’m much more popular than Jesus.
Having come to that conclusion, I came back to the church with resolve to call people to the same commitment Christ called them to. I knew that people would leave, and they have. I found comfort in that because, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26 NIV) Over time though, the conviction can fade, and it gets tiresome seeing people leave. There is a constant pull to try to keep people around rather than truly lead the faithful who remain. When my church was started, I used to tell my wife that I didn’t care if we only had ten people, as long as they really loved God and desired to worship Him with all of their hearts. Where is that conviction now?
==========================
Read the rest here
Worship Setlist – March 7th, 2010
Posted on: March 7, 2010
This post is part a weekly worship blog carnival, my first for 2010, so do stop by the worship community for more setlists and sermon recaps from around the world…
Morning:
==========
Glory (Reuben Morgan)
Siyakudumisa (Zulu) (Public Domain)
Great in power (Russel Fragar)
Jesus, all for Jesus (Robin Mark/Jennifer Atkinson)
Alles vir my (Afrikaans) (Retief Burger)
There is no one else like you (You deserve the glory) (Terry MacAlmon)
Today was the celebration service, where all the congregations that make up the Stellenbosch Vineyard Christian Fellowship come together and we have a time of sharing what God has done in the different congregations and celebrating together. The four congregations are from Vlottenburg, Jamestown, the VCF morning service, and enGAGE. Was such an awesome time. We then closed off the service by having communion together…Blessed.
Evening:
===========
Doxology (David Crowder*Band version)
Be lifted up (Paul Oakley)
As the deer (Martin Nystrom)
I surrender (Kim Walker)
You alone can rescue (Matt Redman)
Finally I surrender (Misty Edwards)
For the next six weeks we will be going through the six pillars – or main values – enGAGE stands on. Today was the fifth one – “Witness Unashamedly”. (one more to go)
Acts 1: 8 & Matthew 28: 17 – 20 -> we are all called to be witnesses, first where we are, then to the ends of the earth.
Luke 9: 24 – 26 -> If you are ashamed of Christ before men, he will be ashamed of you before the Father.
1 Peter 3: 15 -> Is Christ Lord in your life? Does your day to day life reflect that?
1 Peter 2: 12 -> Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words. Let your life be your witness.
Matthew 5: 13 – 16 -> Light does not have to fight darkness, darkness flees in the presence of light. Stop telling people what they should/shouldn’t do – it’s the Spirit’s job to convict – your job is to introduce people to Christ.
Side note: I just happened to be wearing my martoria (greek – witness) shirt today…wasn’t on purpose…anyway, I always thought it was a grammatic error that it said “martoria passion”…i thought it was meant to be witness passionately. Then someone pointed out today that maybe it’s not a mistake, maybe it’s meant to be “witness passion”…meaning I’m supposed to live a life that displays passion…and since my passion is my relationship with Christ, that should be evident to all who see me…makes one think…
who/what is enGAGE
=========================
a bunch of people who believe in and are aiming to be:
[1] Fully devoted Followers of Christ
[2] Growing in Community
[3] Giving Generously
[4] Witnessing Unashamedly
[5] Worshipping Passionately
[6] Serving Purposefully
The name enGAGE reminds us that church is not that meeting that takes place on a Sunday but it is a body of believers and the four focus points of enGAGE are to:
Engage with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Engage with the Bible – reading, knowing and doing
Engage with each other – the community of believers, building and living in authentic relationship with each other
Engage with society – people outside of the church, showing them God’s love and grace and pointing them to Him.
(from the enGAGE website)
why the capital GAGE in enGAGE?
——————————-
American spelling of gauge…as in to measure…so the name reminds us that “we are constantly needing to Gauge/measure where we are in life compared to where we should be and continually trying to narrow that gap”…we should constantly be measuring ourselves against Joshua Davidson, cos as his followers we are supposed to be trying to be more and more like him daily. “This is a journey we are on, together in community”.
(quotations from website).
========================
what sets us apart?
========================
the “broken, but beautiful bride”
Brett loves the saying “Jesus is coming back for his bride, not a harem”. There is no such thing as Churches, it’s all one Church. Anyway, he’s really passionate about bringing together the bride…and he’s somehow managed to rub off that passion on to our congregation. We are all about bringing together the whole church, not just our denomination. We love doing the stuff with other congregations in Stell/Cape Town/Somer Set West…like worship events and camps and stuff like that where we bring together the whole church and just celebrate and rejoice and be the bride together.
We have come across opposition of course, as Jon Acuff said, “only ordinary things ever get full consensus from people. Doing something extraordinary should never make complete sense to everyone in your life”, but we are slowly building bridges, maybe not as the congregation per se, but as individuals from our congregation who see the need to fellowship with other followers outside our little circle…the church is being A Church!
————————-
one of the dudes from our church once said that the thing that sets us apart is that we are the “earthy church”…meaning we are down-to-earth. Vineyard (the international denomination one) has a thing against titles…i mean we have pastors and leadership people but we don’t have titles for them like deacons and bishops etc…we are all members of the church and each member is called to take part and minister and lead and stuff.
for instance we encourage people to share verses or messages or whatever that they feel God is laying on their hearts during worship or whatever and as Brett often says, we are all part of the priesthood so therefore we should all be praying for each other, laying hands on each other, baptising each other, ministering to each other, etc.
In fact, during the preaches there’s often inside jokes and back-chatting and adding on and questionning and aswering each other…interesting services I tell you.
we are also very much about being real…like really real…like confess your sins to each other real…from the pulpit if you feel it’s necessary (and by pulpit I mean the stool that Brett sits on during the preach…hee hee). We hang out together a lot…like outside of church…so it goes without saying that we will turn to each other for accountability and prayer and holding-each-other-up-ness, so it’s very important that we are real with each other and talk to each other and share real stuff.
we believe Christ calls you as you are…not a fake, seemingly perfect version of you…but the raw, broken, failed you. Come to the cross broken – no dressing up, no band-aids – he can’t heal you if you pretend you don’t need healing.
=========================
why i love my church
=========================
we believe in prayer
————————————-
there’s been a couple of times where i’ve been in the car with friends and someone tells us of a need or prayer request or whatever and we just pull the car off to the side and pray for them and minister to them right there and then.
one of my youth peoples got stabbed this past week and he came through to church on sunday evening so at the end of the service a bunch of us gathered around him to pray for healing
we believe in living out the stuff
————————————
a friend was telling us of financial troubles and another friend said “well we’ll keep you in prayer, but in the meantime is there anything we can help with practically right now?”
we read a book in our cell about getting out of the pews and actually doing stuff which led to things like starting up “kinetic love” – an outreach group which also started up the 24-7 prayer room – and selling of hotdogs to the homeless…
we are a super funny bunch of crazies
————————————-
some of my favorite enGAGE quotes:
“i don’t want to be controlled by my scarves”
“shut up christian and go read your bible”
“every time i have a conversation with a girl i think she’s either going to laugh or fall in love with me”
=====================================
one last thing for those who live in Stellies
———————————————
wednesday nights 9:30 pm we meet in the prayer room (Neelsie, room T-29 i think, 4th floor in between the loos and TBT and across from the habitat for humanity Shack) and we have a time of prayer then we go out onto the streets and talk to/pray for/minister to people we meet. Great time of kingdom-come type stuff…please join us if you can/want to.
speaking of prayer room…for those who haven’t been there…it’s a room dedicated to 24-7 prayer…it’s open all the time and you can just pop in there and say a prayer if you wanted to.
Such Passion
Posted on: January 28, 2009
I watched the passion of the Christ again last night. And as I watched I kept thinking about how JD [Joshua Davidson] honestly didn’t need to go through any of that. Ok, he had to die in order to pay for our sins or be our propitiation (ooh, big word), but he didn’t need to die on the cross. He didn’t need to get beaten, and spit on, and…and…and…
He chose all that – but why?
Just before JD was arrested he had a meal with his disciples and he said to them “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first; if they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” [John 15: 18 - 20]. He bore pain in order that he might be able to empathize with us when we go through it…so that we know that when he says “love your enermies and pray for them”[Matthew 5:44] it’s not just some great fluffy cloud teaching, he went through it…he knows what he’s talking about.
From what I understand, in JD’s time, the cross was the worst form of death sentence you could get…it was reserved for the scum of the earth. He chose that! He chose to take on the shame of my death so that I wouldn’t have to. He stepped down from glory, felt the pain of separation from the father, and was crucified on a cross…the creator of the universe, the King of kings, the almighty ruler of all, was scorned, mocked, and hanged in a public display of shame so that I wouldn’t have to.
If that’s not the greatest love story, I don’t know what is.
“and being found in human likeness, he HUMBLED himself and became obedient to death – EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS” [Philippians 2: 8]
2 really powerful moments for me in the movie:
(a)at the beginning when JD’s in the garden in torment, praying, the whole “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”[Mark 14:38] moment. reminds me that yes he was human and that the cross wasn’t an easy thing for him to do. It was painful and it came at a great cost.
(b) the part where John is standing at the foot of the cross and he thinks back to the dinner the night before with the whole breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine and the meaning of it suddenly becomes super clear, i want that…everytime i take the communion bread/wafer and the wine/grape juice, i want to always remember that day. what it truly means. what it cost for me to be able to take communion.
There were other scenes in the movie I liked. There were others that I thought were totally unnecessary – the story of the Christ is powerful enough without have to spice it up. But it was a powerful movie, and it just made me appreciate all over again the story of the Cross.
Relationships
Posted on: August 13, 2008
Today is my other birthday. I don’t remember the date of the day I was “born-again” but a couple of years ago I decided to celebrate it on August 13th, so yay, “Happy Second Birthday to me”. I actually do celebrate it. Usually I buy myself a slice of cake and a packet of chips and coke and sit and me and God celebrate my birthday – yea, just the two of us cos my friends think I’m crazy for actually celebrating it. This year however I will be celebrating it with Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, and a hall full of people at the Passion World Tour Cape Town stop — I’ve caught a really bad case of excitementation.
The reason I chose to celebrate it on August 13th is because a couple of years ago, on August 13th, I decided to stop dating for a year…not that I’m a serial dater or anything, but I chose to intentionally not date for a year and focus on my relationship with Joshua Davidson. So August 13th kinda became our anniversary.
—————————–
I’m reading this awesome book called “The Shack”. Didn’t really want to read it at first cos it seemed very “book-of-the-moment” and everybody and their grandmother had their own opinion on it. I figured I’d just wait till the heat fizzles then I’d be able to read it without outside influences. But then my curiosity got the better of me, and plus my secondary book person (you know the person who recommends the most awesome books to read or whose book list you stalk cos you know that they are really good at picking out books that are not only good but also good for you) read it and loved it, so I ended up reading it earlier than I had originally planned…and I’m loving it.
One of my favorite lines from the book is where God aka Papa says “All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exists within me”. This is in response to Mack, the main character, asking God why there’s a trinity…why there couldn’t just be one God, one Person, and God points to the fact that we are able to love and live in relationship because the Father, the Son, and the Spirit love and have relationship with each other. That is so awesome. Love and relationship…that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? That’s the whole gospel right there. Love and Relationship!
—————————–
I suck at relationships, and not just dating ones either. Family, friends, other people…the whole lot. I don’t tell people or show them that I love them nearly enough. I have this irrational fear of getting hurt and so I keep people at arms length cos if they get too close I become vulnerable and expose myself to hurt…and in so doing I think I’ve lost out on potentially awesome relationships.
Lately though, God has sent people in my life, like my crew in Cape Town and the awesomely-cool Isa Bella, who have worked on breaking down those walls…who’ve shown me the need for relationships…the need for letting people in. And as scary as that is, I’ve decided that it might be time to do so. So I’m gonna leave my heart in the hands of God. If it gets broken, then at least it’s in the hands of the one who can heal it.
—————————–
Back to the not-dating for a year: that really was an awesome year. I loved it so much that I actually decided to extend it, so it became a year and a half. And in that time God revealed a lot about the relationships I’d been in before that time and how for the most part he was not the center of those relationships and how they were not very glorifying to him. And so I made a pact not to date for the sake of dating and not to date someone unless I truly thought there was potential of marriage at the end and the relationship was not me-focused, but about building the other person up and glorifying God through it. The year and six months ended six months ago. So now I’m single, but not so much by choice. Mostly because apparently all the good guys are not available, or not interested.
So yea, relationships…you just have to love them.
the problem of being comfortable
Posted on: May 6, 2008
The problem with being comfortable is that you get lazy. You don’t change anything – you accept yourself as you are and accept your situations as well. You forget that there are other people outsite your comfort bubble.
In our cell group at church we are studying – more discussing really – the book “Starving Jesus” and last week we were talking about why as followers of Christ we don’t do those things that we’ve been saying followers of Christ should be doing and I think the majority of us came to the conclusion that we are lazy (I like the title the book gives – “born-again lazy”) and have grown comfortable and complacent. We’ve accepted that things are what they are. We want to see change but we don’t want to be the ones to bring about that change.
Stangely enough, the next day, a colleague from work posted a blog on our company blogsite about being comfortable and pretty much what we had said about being comfortable the day before but without the “Christian” context – just more in general life. But I thort that that was really cool or weird that this “comfortable-ness” seeps into so many aspects of our life. Anyway he also posted the portion of this poem by Kahlil Gibran that talks about comfort.
——————————————
My favorite Ghandhi quote is “be the change you want to see in the world” and my favorite Mother Theresa quote is “there are no great things to be done in this life, just small things done with great love”. I’m trying to incoparate these things into my daily life. If I want the world to change I need to change; however, being comfortable makes that a little harder. Being comfortable makes change scary. So what’s the solution? How do I “uncomfortabilize my comfortability” (a quote from an as-yet-to-be-famous friend)?
——————————————
I could quit my job – that would certaily make me uncomfortable. But is that what God wants. I could spend more time with random street people and show them love – that would also be out of my comfort zone and yes, I think God would want me to do that one. But after my stalker situation its more scary than uncomfortable. I blogged a little while back about moving to a township (on Kasi and community) – and that would be uncomfortable as well, but I’m not sure that’s where I’m being called. I don’t know though, these aren’t really small things are they? Well…actually the second one is.
Here’s the thing about me: I tend to jump on to other people’s passions or callings or whatever. This dude from church is moving to Kayamandi and so now I’m all into this moving to Kayamandi thing. I mean it would be cool in a way, and I would totally save a bundle on rent and stuff and the ministry opportunities are definitely there, but yea, that’s Brett’s thing not mine. And the whole “God of Justice” thing is Josh’s thing. I think I need to find my thing. It sucks that I don’t have a thing – well I do but I don’t know how to go about living it out. Okay, that was a little side track.
——————————————-
So here I stand not knowing where I fit, and yet ok with going with the flow. That’s really bad. I need to fix that.
