He might be the only reason that I dont get into heaven!

Do you have one person in your life, that no matter how much you try you can't be nice to them? You make fun of them? Or they make you so angry you want to punch them?

I would consider myself a relatively nice guy, friendly, caring, however sometimes there is just that one person. I am left wondering how am I ever going to show the love of Jesus to this person if I cant even look at them.

I think the answer is simple, the same way Jesus showed his love to me, the same way Jesus forgave all the stupid lame things I have done and turned them into Grace!

SO BASICALLY JUST STOP IT! PLAY NICE AND SHOW GODS LOVE! TO EVERYONE!!!

Angry at nothing...

Have you ever been upset for nothing? Felt so much emotion based on nothing! When I say nothing I don't actually mean nothing, it's the same as when you ask someone what is wrong and they say "I don't know". If we are honest we know exactly what is wrong, we just don't want to admit it. We think if we ignore stuff it will go away. When we admit things, we need to deal with things, so let's rather ignore things! 

I was having a conversation the other day with a "friend", it seems we both tend to get angry sometimes at the thought of prayer. Not towards God or anything but just at prayer. On chatting about it, the reason we came up with was and on thinking about it a bit more, the reason we say, "I don't know",  is because we are ashamed to admit to our sins. Rather ignore than take responsibility and deal. I DON"T WANT TO GROW UP.

Sin being acted outside of the way we where created to live. Basically living selfishly. 

When we allow sin to grow in our lives and accept sin and justify it through saying stuff like "all have sinned" we allow it to consume us and to grow in us! 

I am not saying we will never sin and will be perfect! I am saying we need to grow up, get help, take responsibility for our actions, realize we are not as strong as we think we are and that we are created for community!!! 

JUST STOP IT!!!

Faithless Prayers

Phillip Yancey once wrote "If there is no room for doubt there is no room for faith"

I read verses like James 1: 7 saying I must not have doubts when I ask God things? obviously according to his will.

So the question then I suppose... is...

Do I need faith in my prayers if it is in line with what God wants for me?

My faith is in the person to whom the prayer is directed at! Not in my prayer at all...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

My first thoughts of Fatherhood

So my baby boy is almost 6 months. I would love to sit here and type and tell you I have it all figured out. That things have always been smooth sailing. But that would be a lie and according to Homer Simpson "Lies make baby Jesus cry".

However, a couple of tips...

1. Make sure you communicate with your wife, don't assume she understands you or that she knows what you want or are thinking.

2. Make sure you prayer together as a family, as children grow it will be good for them to see that it is God who gives us strength to be parents and husband and wife.

3. Love every moment, take loads of pictures cause they grow so fast.

4. One of the hardest things is to identify your emotions and triggers and where they are coming from before lashing out... most likely lack of sleep

5. Suck it up, you are a Parent Now, you have a job to do, to love and to care and to nurture them to the best of your ability and then some and them some more and then some...

Lastly a short story, before Seth was born I read up on baby stuff, asked questions and found out as much info as I could. To sum it all up this is what I came home to in my head with our first baby boy.

"Your baby cannot regulate its own body temperature so you have to do it, if he is too hot its bad, if he is too cold its bad" Basically you need to stay awake with a temperature gauge!

So basically good luck!

Is God Boring

If a man goes to church in the woods and there is no one else there is it still boring?

I struggle with the concept (while my son struggles to sleep) that God is boring, Fair enough he can come across a little arrogant, but if u made everything then by definition of being God you would just be God. Not a little arrogant!

Back to my thought though, Chesterton once said something along the lines of 'I pity the man that thinks himself God, that god can not even fix his own life, let alone the world" I think it is that man that in the church is boring!

The challenge is to get off Gods throne and let God be God! Chesterton again said that "Christianity has not been tried and left wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried"

My fear for so many of us is that we are too apathetic in our relationship with God, that we just sit and wallow in our own pity and lives instead of living in Jesus "life and life to the fullest"

I cannot sit idly by as Jesus calls us to action in love, no matter how comfortable my bed is.

JUST STOP IT

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

I littered today

For my own justification purposes, I hate littering. When I see a person litter from their car I promptly blow my hooter. I often pick up other peoples litter. I feel if we cannot take responsible for this world then who will?

Today I drew money and was putting the money away when a gust of wind came and blew the slip out of my hand, I gave a little waddle after it in the attempts I would be able to catch it. Perhaps if it was a R20 I would have made it a sprint. As I watched it blow away I truly felt bad. I could have caught it though but I was lazy. I could go on and blame my child for not sleeping very much last night, or the brandering for the ceiling I am putting in after work. Or my wife for not making enough coffee this morning.

Challenge is don't let your convictions fall to the way side because you are lazy...

JUST STOP IT...

Failed...

Have you ever had one of those moments where you know without a shadow of a doubt that God was prompting you to do something? The other day I was at the garage visiting friends that run the place! I ordered a cup of coffee and got two delicious muffins, (I know they where both delicious because I ate both instead of listening to GOD)

This great muffin coffee special is only R12 :) winner deal! So I was walking to the sitting area outside the garage deciding what muffin to eat first, Choc Chip or Caramel Chip. A very nice dilemma to have I might add.

SO continuing my work I noticed an individual that was not as fortunate as I to have two muffins and a warm cup of Coffee. Right away without question I knew I was meant to give my one muffin away! Sadly I quickly looked the other way, ducked out of sight in hopes my heart with follow my actions and hide.

I wish I could say I shared my muffins that day, but I didn't... why because I am selfish. I want the best for me and like to look out for me! I don't have a problem giving away my clothes or money or anything really, just not my chocolate and sweets!

The other day I did share my chocolate with a friend and I didn't feel good about it at all. I knew I was doing the right thing but it didnt feel right, do you ever have this feeling?

So my challenge to myself is to be more like Jesus in all aspects of my life. I always say if you are giving and its not costing you anything, then it does not count! I need to give over to God and his children that which is most precious to me... my chocolate...

My question for you then is this... what are you holding onto that you shouldn't...