Posts Tagged ‘youth’
This post is part of a weekly worship blog carnival, so do stop by the worship community for more setlists and sermon recaps from around the world…
Morning
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I actually went to my church’s morning service this week (woo hoo) but I was late so I missed the setlist (boo hoo). Anyway, one of the youth guys, Josh, was on the team leading worship this week…super cool. Anyway, finally got to go to youth – which was awesome! The group has really grown this year. Anyway, we watched Brian Welch’s “I am second” video and basically had a discussion on what came out of that…and then looked at some select passages from Ecclesiastes…looking forward to the rest of the series.
Evening
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Here is love (William Rees, Matt Redman version)
Facedown (Matt Redman)
Surrender (Kim Walker)
I have found (Kim Walker)
Sing to the king (Billy Foote)
Abi was leading today with Ronel assisting, and it was one of those stressful weeks. Two new songs and things just weren’t happening. Five minutes before the service was supposed to start we were just like we need to go pray cos this is not happening…and when we did finally play I have found, it sounded wow…and people said they liked it afterwards, which is super cool considering as the band we spend probably more than 3 hours just on that one song. Quite a big team today – 4 vocalists, 3 guitars, 1 bass, and drums.
For the next six weeks we will be going through the six pillars – or main values – enGAGE stands on. Today was the third one – “Serving Purposefully”.
Ephesians 4: 11- 13 -> God has given us gifts for the work of Christian service for the building up of His Church.
2 Timothy 2: 4 – 5 -> I am only one person, I cannot do everything, but the bit that I can do – God willing – I will do…and I will do it well. We have different giftings, figure out what yours is and do that well, cos if you try to do everything you are just going to wear yourself out.
Colossians 3: 24 – 25 -> whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of our Lord Jesus, with all your heart – as if working for God and not men – giving thanks to the Father through him.
Remember, God sees your motives. Don’t do it with the intention of being praised for it, for if you do, then you’ve already got your reward.
Afterwards we read the bit where Jesus washes the disciples feet and tells them to do likewise, and then we grabbed buckets of water and washed each other’s feet.
I don’t so much mind washing other people’s feet, but having my feet washed was weird and uncomfortable, but also really cool.
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!
Morning
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Open the eyes (Paul Baloche)
Days of Elijah (Robin Mark)
O praise him (David Crowder Band)
Adoration (Brenton Brown)
Beautiful (Phil Wickham)
Brett was not around in the morning so he asked one of the fathers of the youth to do the lesson today and he spoke on Ephesians 4: 15, 26 – Speak the truth in love and do not go to bed angry…basically, anger is not a sin, but you need to watch your reaction to that anger cos that can lead you into sin.
Evening
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Hallelujah (your love makes me sing) (Brian Doerkson/Brenton Brown)
I could sing of your love forever (Martin Smith)
Heart of worship (Matt Redman)
Eagle’s wings (Reuben Morgan)
Indescribable (Chris Tomlin)
Lord of lords (Brooke Fraser)
Ronel lead tonight, and it went really well I think. First time for me being back on worship in a month…from singing every weekend to taking a month off…anyway, was a good break…
The message tonight was entitled “live connected, live well”. If we stay connected to the vine by hearing/reading the word and putting it into practice, then we shall have abundant life. We cant produce the fruit on our own – our task is to remain in the vine, and as we remain in him, he will produce the fruit in our lives.
Visit FredMcKinnon.com for setlists and sermon recaps from around the world.
As always checkout what other worship teams and churches are doing around the world at FredMcKinnon.com…
Morning
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Glory (Rueben Morgan)
My redeemer lives (Darlene Zschech)
Enter this temple (Leeland)
Here I am to worship (Darlene Zschech)
Surrender (Marc James)
Adoration (Brenton Brown)
Brett did the preach in the morning service this week. Chris the pastor has been doing a series on the Holy Spirit and so this week Brett did a “so what” type deal. Ok, so the Spirit came and He dwells in us…what does that mean for me. The Spirit enables us to call the Father “Daddy” – with the Spirit in us we can go to God with confidence and sit on his lap and be his child. The Spirit in us means His divine power is in us, the same power that raised Christ from the dead…the same power that let Him walk on water…that same power gives us everything we need for life and godliness (Ephesians 1: 19 – 20, 2 Peter 1:3).
We didn’t have youth this morning…the youth went to help out with children’s church again this week. I will be leading youth next Sunday, plus since Brett is away at a Vineyard Leaders Conference this week I will also be leading youth cell on Wednesday night.
Evening
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[This was not the order but I really can't remember the order we did them in]
Doxology (Thomas Ken, Crowder arrangement)
Come now is the time to worship (Brian Doerkson)
Better than life (Marty Simpson)
Better is one day (Matt Redman)
Open the eyes (Paul Baloche)
I could sing of your love forever (Martin Smith)
Worship wise, Kevin led again tonight – just me and him on vocals, he on accoustic guitar and Matt on the djembe. Was very cool I think.
We had a guest preacher tonight cos Brett’s away – Hans…he’s Dutch or German or something…pretty cool…has a bit of an accent. Anyway, WOW!!! He talked about repenting…not repenting from your sins, but repenting towards the kingdom. He talked about how we place such emphasis on turning from sin, but not on what we are turning to. He also talked about the Holy Spirit and the renewing of your mind and changing world-views…or changing the way we view sin…the way we see the way of the world…oh my hat, I could go on and on…but God made my day!
KNOWN
Posted on: September 1, 2009
- In: likes | my life | thoughts
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As I said in my setlist post, this past weekend i went to a young women’s conference called KNOWN. It was so awesomtastic. From what I gathered from the talks and workshops and stuff, the conference theme was about knowing your true worth.
The conference was for girls aged 16 – 23. I went as a volunteer to help with serving during coffee breaks and stufff. Anyway, in between the serving we got to attend the sessions but I only went on one of the two days and I got there late on that day so I only attended 2 sessions.
The first one started out kinda bleh for me cos it was all on make-up tips and stuff – the lady who gave it is a make-up artist. Anyway, I don’t wear make-up so I was feeling kinda like it’s poitless to be there. Then after the make-up tips she played this song called “Save Yourself” by Sense Field…beautiful…awesome…wow. She then went on to talk about inner beauty, about self control and saving yourself, about how instead of relying on boyfriends we should be relying on God for our self-esteem/to tell us who we are, about how the only person who should define who we are is God, about how in our singleness instead of looking for Mr Right we should be working on being Mrs Right…wow again!
The second session I attended was by the main speaker of the conference. She started off by talking about the labels that get put on us and the labels we put on ourselves. for instance when you introduce yourself to someone you talk about stuff like your job, your marrital status, whether you are mother or not…stuff like that which don’t really say who you are…more what you do. And so we use these labels on ourselves and others and they end up defining who we are to the world. But the beauty of God is, he doesn’t label us and put us in boxes – because he knows who we really are…he created us…he loves us despite the labels we put on ourselves. She then used the story of the woman caught in adultery and showed how God shows grace first (“neither do i condemn you”) and then through that grace and love gives us direction (“go and sin no more”). She ended the talk by pointing out that change is a process. Learning to see yourself through God’s eyes is not something that’s gonna happen overnight. It takes time…it takes desire/passion…it’s a process…so don’t be discouraged if you don’t wake up feeling like a princess tomorrow. Believe that you are a princess, dare to live like one, and it will get easier as time passes to see yourself as one.
At the end of the talk this guy comes up and talks on behalf of guys – friends, boyfriends, ex’s, etc – and apologises for a whole lot of stuff. Then someone came up and apologised on behalf of chick friends – back stabbings, jealousy, etc. Then someone came and talked on behalf of mothers. Then someone came and talked on behalf of siblings. Then someone came and talked on behalf of fathers. Then gave us a blessing from The Father. At this point I was broken…sitting at the foot of the cross…being loved…and loving being known…loving being loved despite being known!
Mary Magdeline the second.
I didn’t go to TBV’s workshop, but from what I heard it was about judging others, and judging yourself – comparing yourself to others. Basically the whole labeling thing. If you get a certain label thrown at you a lot – sweet but quiet, shy but nice – that’s who you become. I know that one from personal experience. The more you are told you are shy, the more you become shy…because they all can’t be wrong right…Also, on the judging bit, we look at movie stars and celebrities and we classify them – she’s beautiful, he’s handsome, she’s clever, she’s successful – and we use them as standards, so because I’m not Angelina Jolie, I’m not beautiful; because I’m not Oprah, I’m not successful…etc. We do that with people around us as well, especially as girls. When really we should be looking at God to define that stuff for us. God uses me to bring himself glory – therefore I’m successful. God loves me, therefore I’m worthy of love. God calls me his and wants to be with me, therefore I’m desirable. God calls me beautiful, therefore I am beautiful.
I know this super awesome chick. I mean this chick is confident and smart and funny and wow. One of my favorite quotes ever is by her – “the guy that ends up with me is pretty damn blessed”…bam! Anyway, at the conference, after the last session she comes up and asks me to pray for her because she likes this guy and well, she’s friends with the guy and with the guy’s ex (they broke up on good terms so they are still friends). Anyway, the guy doesn’t feel the same way about her. So now everytime she’s around the guy’s ex she compares herself to her…like why her and not me…she’s prettier than me, that’s why…she’s smarter than me, that’s why…she’s this and i’m not…she’s that and i’m not…which sucks, cos as I said this chick is so awesome. And I know what she’s going through cos I’ve been there. I’ve lived there. Because I’m a girl…because we are girls, we do that…constantly compare ourselves to others and belittle ourselves. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
Anyway, dude, I was so blessed by this conference. I was so blessed by the stories that were shared. I was so blessed by the young women I met. I was so blessed by the way God just showed up and reminded me who I am and how much he loves me!
I am known! And I am blessed!
Worship Setlist – August 16, 2009
Posted on: August 16, 2009
- In: NaBloPoMo | thoughts | worship setlist
- 2 Comments
Week 4 of the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.Com…
Morning
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Come , Now is the time to worship (Brian Doerkson)
O Praise Him (David Crowder)
Hosanna (Brooke Fraser)
Receive our adoration (Brenton Brown)
Bautiful One (Tim Hughes)
Wow, David Crowder again…hmmm…other than that loved the set this morning…especially “Receive Our Adoration”. Was the first time we were doing it.
As for youth, one of our guys was mugged on Friday, the week before on Thursday I was mugged, and on the Wednesday one of the guys from youth was stabbed during a mugging…so Brett decided it was a good time to talk about forgiveness. Was really cool…lots of chatting and discussing…and I really think the message got through.
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Evening – enGAGE
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Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin)
Your love is amazing (Brian Doerkson)
Beautiful One (Tim Hughes)
Everything (Tim Hughes)
I love your Presence (Darrel Clarke/Jessie Lane)
During practice on Thursday there was talk of doing “O Praise Him” and I wholeheartedly objected…apparently there are only 2 people who feel that song is being over-done…but we discovered it was because the two people also attend the morning service, which clearly is where the overplaying occurs…we ended up not doing the song.
Really enjoyed worship tonight…especially after practice went so bad on Thursday. It was Stephen’s second time leading and I think he did a great job tonight.
The preach was on the Fruit of the Spirit and how if we are followers of Christ our fruit (deeds, words, etc) should show it…they will know we are Christians by the love we have one for another vibe. If the Spirit is in-dwelling us, our character should be one of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…and also as much as we are a new creation when we come to Christ, it’s still an everyday working out your salvation with fear and trembling and seeking more of the Spirit till kingdom come thing.
Letter to my 12 yrs old self…
Posted on: July 1, 2009
- In: my life | thoughts
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a friend’s facebook status read “if you could write a letter to yourself when you were 12 years old what would you say? and do you think you’d be happy with who you’ve become?”
and this is my reply
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the most important thing you can do is be real…seriously…they’ll love you anyway
you are gonna grow up…it’s not as scary as you think it is
you are gonna be tempted to settle…wait for the best
you are gonna fall madly in love with Christ…start getting to know him now
you are going to work in the corporate world…honestly, it is not as bad as you think it is
you are stronger than you think
you are worth more than you think
you are more able that you think
you are smarter than you think
you can do it
trust in yourself
believe them…they are so right about the potential within you
don’t wait too long to realise your true worth…
listen to others but don’t let them determine your true worth…
learn from your past but don’t let circumstances determine your true worth…
love…love…love…don’t be afraid to give your heart away – God is big enough to mend it if it breaks
your dad loves you…and it will all work out…don’t give up on him
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these are things i wish i’d heard when i was younger…maybe if i had started hearing them then…and started believing them then, i wouldn’t be questioning them now. maybe if i had known that i have the potential to be more, and had the freedom to…i don’t know what…i would have worked harder to reach that potential.
and yea, i think 12 yr old me would be proud of who i’ve become…it’s been a long winding road…made a whole lot of mistakes…and where i am is not exactly where i thought i’d be…but i love who i am and i love who i’m becoming…
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finishing off with a poem i’ve mentioned before
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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
Vukani – Wake up call
Posted on: January 14, 2009
Just came back from a weekend camp up on the Zuurberg mountains (just outside PE) in the Eastern Cape. Went to a little camping area across the “street” from the Zuurberg hotel. Beautiful place I must say; surrounded by mountains and hills and green-ness, minus the old burnt out patches…but I think even the burns add a litle character (there was a fire there at some point which burnt out the hotel, but for some reason the campground survived).
Anyway, left Stellenbosch at 4.30 am on Friday morning and got back 8.30 pm Monday night. Must say I wasn’t really looking forward to the drive to and from camp (about 12 hours each way) but it became a real bonding experience. It was really cool talking to some of the youth okes from my church really for the first time. Like, obviously I’ve talked to some of them during youth and stuff, but like some of them not as much as others, and some of them not at all…so was really cool getting to know them.
I should mention that the camp was for youth (first annual National Vineyard Youth Camp aka Vukani (awake/arise) – mostly high schoolers with a couple of varsity students, and I was definitely the oldest camper there; except nobody knew that cos everyone thinks I still look like I’m in high school or something. Anyway, it was really cool getting to know some of the youth from other vineyards across the country. Represented were Pinelands and Eerste Rivier – who rode up with us(Stellenbosch) – and Outshoorn (Western Cape) ; Mamelodi/Pretoria (Gauteng); Morning Side and Chatsworth (KwaZulu Natal); and Fountain – PE – (Eastern Cape). There were around 50 people at the camp (including the leaders) which was small but kinda cool cos you got the chance to meet and talk to everyone on the camp.
Most importantly I was awakened again to the voice of God and reminded that he has plans for my life. I was reminded that I need to live in His will for my life and not rush and try to run things my way, cos let’s face it – that’s not gonna get me anywhere. During the camp whenever someone came to pray for me they would say how they got the feeling that God was about to do/use me for something great (probably not great sizewise, but great as in His work) this year. Like in a few months time, not like a long time from now. Like, life as I know it is going to change. There was one night (I think it was night, it’s all kinda blurred in my mind right now) where I didn’t even ask for prayer…in fact, I was getting up to go pray for someone else and suddenly I had like 5 people around me praying for me. And they pretty much all confirmed or encouraging me regarding what others were saying. Then at some point, a chick named Nikki was praying for me and she said the same thing but she was so super excited about it and she said she got the feeling that whatever I was supposed to do was something exciting and more like an adventure than a toil, which left me with way less anxiety and fear and a whole lot more excitement.
So now here I am.
Hoping.
Waiting in expectation.
Knowing He’s capable of way more than I could think or imagine…
And super excited about it.
“Faith is trusting in the outcome, and leaving the means to God” – Ronel.
Let’s get random
Posted on: September 16, 2008
- In: being Christ-like | likes | my life | thoughts
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writing
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I’ve been writing a lot lately, which is really good. Not blogging-writing but like songs, poetry, etc…I don’t put any of that stuff on here cos it’s quite personal and not good enough to be read by the general public. But I enjoy it so… I was telling my friend Isa the other day how I’ve been writing songs in my dreams lately…really cool…so she suggested that I keep paper and a pen by my bed so that I could write them down in the morning while they are still fresh in my mind…so I did…but I haven’t dreamed up new songs since then…oh well
reading
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I haven’t done much of that lately…I need to get back into it. And I dont’ know why I haven’t been reading…i’m just lazy to open a book.
faith and hope
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We’ve been talking about faith and hope the last few weeks in youth (i’m one of the youth leaders in my church which is super cool…but will get into that in a few minutes). Anyway, last week we were talking about hope and how we can place our hopes and dreams in God’s hands because he really does care. We can fully have faith in him because of his unable-to-lie-ness.
I was reading Amos last night and realised that although most of the book is about how God is going to destroy Israel and surrounds, He ends it on this beautiful note of hope – to restore Israel…which just reminded me that He is our hope. You place your hope in anything else and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen…you place your hope in him and in his word and you can’t go wrong
he really does care about us and he really does want the best for us…
ministry
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So as i’ve said before, I always wanted to work with youth, especially young, fatherless females and help them discover their worth and to help them learn to love themselves. I am working with youth at the moment, but not in the way I thought I would.
Firstly there’s vision k, which i have loved working with since the beginning of this year and still look forward to the meetings with anticipation every tuesday. That’s what gets me through my work every tuesday, knowing that at the end of the day vision k awaits. And I suppose the chicks from vision k are the people i wanted to work with as most of them are living the whole fatherless-generation situation.
I recently became part of the team that leads youth at my church…we only have 2 chicks though, and they both seem like they come from proper families where they know who their father is and have a relationship with their father and all’s well so not what I was going for but God has a way of changing our plans to be more in-line with his and to make them…better…so I have faith that he knows what he’s doing and I’m just going to follow as he leads
Must say though, truly enjoying both of these youth groups…the youth, the leaders, the work God’s doing…awesomeness!
music
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Just came across this band called Gravity Wins Again, and if you haven’t already, I’d recommend you check them out. They are really good and I’m sure they are going to take South Africa by storm
And I’m also loving the song Prodigal by One Republic…has me written all over it.
Love
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And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love
In closing, I serve a really big God
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[Feeling too small for God by Jon Acuff - Stuff Christians Like]
The world is pretty big. There are a lot of countries, with millions and millions of square miles of people and land and ocean. The universe is even bigger than that. I’ve never been but from the photos I’ve seen it’s massive. Pathways of stars, belts of black holes and galaxies and planets. It’s just endless, and somewhere up there, God knows your boyfriend broke up with you.
Maybe He doesn’t. I mean, maybe He’s up there and He’s working on really big stuff. He’s healing famines and trying to bring peace to war torn lands. The greatness of His issues makes your little issues look ordinary and simple and maybe even boring.
But every now and then I come across a verse that shakes my deep belief that I am beneath God’s radar. One that I love is Psalm 56:8. Here, in what hopefully makes me look pretty smart, is the King James Version:
“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”
But maybe you’re not old school, so here’s what the New Living Translation says:
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”
I think that’s beautiful. Can you imagine that? Can you picture God doing that? Taking His giant hands and tenderly picking up every single one of your tears? Knowing why they came, understanding what they mean, placing them in His bottle, so that He can comfort you.
That’s how God spends his days.
That’s how small this big universe is.
