street. Yet it happened! The day after I personally experienced a riot for the first time, on our doorstep.
I never thought that I would be saddened by being the only person on the road, driving alone in the
street. Yet it happened! The day after I personally experienced a riot for the first time, on our doorstep.
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Yesterday I had the opportunity to celebrate Youth Day with my family. But this is not my blood family. These radical and unique individuals are the family I asked God for. A family of brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus whom share a like-minded thinking. I'm used to being told I'm weird or the odd one out. But God gave me a Mishpachah....
We all ask God to make us more like Him. But at times we give up when the heat is turned up and things become difficult. Well, God ALWAYS finishes what He started and the results are magnificent.
This past week the internet was flooded with stories of the beautiful gorilla, Harambe, who sadly had to be shot when a child fell into the animal enclosure he was kept in, at the Cincinnati Zoo in the USA. Opinions from readers and viewers of the video clip varied from people expressing relieve that the child was okay, to people livid at the child’s mother for not keeping a proper eye on the boy, to animal extremists who felt that the zoo wrongly killed the animal because he was only trying to protect the boy. Out of curiosity I patiently read through a lot of Facebook comments, and I watched as people shared various photos and articles relating to the incident. And I kept asking myself questions as people voiced their sentiments. Did the mother act irresponsible? Could she have prevented the accident? What if it was my child? What if the zoo refused to shoot the animal? What if the zoo keepers decided to rather tranquilize the animal and something worse happened? What would the reactions have been if something really bad actually happened to the child? How must the poor mother feel when she reads all the harsh judgements? What is the emotions of the staff at the zoo regarding this incident? Are they deeply hurt and pained by what happened? Do they blame themselves for the child falling into the enclosure, or do they also blame the mother? Accidents happen, and it happens fast! Seconds can change a life forever. “He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.” – Ecclesiastes 10:9
The year is 1996, and no one has heard of Charlize Theron before. The movie is 2 Days in the Valley. All of a sudden she is the hottest topic on everyone’s lips! The Hollywood gossip pages can’t get enough of this beautiful farm girl from Benoni. And the South African people all feel equally proud of their lovely local export to Hollywood. From there it is one great movie role after another. We can all remember the fairy-tale story of how she arrived in Los Angeles with a one-way ticket her mother bought her, and how she had an outburst in a bank because they wouldn’t cash her cheque for $500, and how all of that got the attention of an agent who gave her his business card. Charlize received an opportunity to fame and fortune! She had her moment of roaring thunder that changed her life forever!
Mark 19:17–22 “And as He was setting out on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.” And he said to Him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
I’m not a marriage counselor, neither an expert at the science of love. I’m just an ordinary woman who is also fascinated with the success stories of couples who celebrate their 50th wedding anniversaries and still kiss each other while holding hands! Many books have been written over the years to give relationship advise; but it seems that the more books are published, the more divorces go through court. So what exactly is the key to a happy marriage? And even more difficult - what is the purpose of marriage?
I often wonder what beauty means to God. (And if it means anything at all?) Sometimes I look at people and see the beauty they portray. If we look a bit deeper, what is the beauty you carry in your heart? God made beautiful people. He made us according to His image. But the image is not just the external as we perceive it. 1 Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Have you examined the beauty of your own heart lately?
Many Christians have given up their fight or rather battle to receive their healing, on living upright lives, some are struggling to stay faithful to their partners, and to follow God’s plan, and to obtain financial stability. Others find themselves giving up on situations where family members may be abusive, where they see no way out of a difficult situation, or even just pure peer pressure among the youth.
Smith Wigglesworth was born in 1859 to a very poor family. His father did manual labor, for very little pay. Smith himself went to work at the age of six to help with the family income. At six he was pulling turnips and at seven he was working in a woolen mill twelve hours a day. As a result of his circumstances he was unable to attend school, and ended up illiterate.
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