Obedience or Mere Excellence?

I've been reading "Everyman's Battle" by Arterburn & Stoeker, which is a great book that focuses on the battle that men go through to acheive and maintain sexual purity. I came across a passage that I found really profound. While this passage focuses on sexual purity, the principal can be applied in all areas of our Christian walk! Have a read:

Why do we find it so easy to mix our standards of sexual sin and so difficult to firmly commit to true purity?
Because we're used to it. We easily tolerate mixed standards of sexual purity because we tolerate mixed standards in most other areas of life.

Excellence or Obedience?

Question: What's your aim in life - excellence or obedience?
What's the difference? To aim for obedience is to aim for perfection, not for "excellence", which is actually something less.
"Wait a minute!" you reply. "I thought excellence and perfection were the same thing."
Sometimes they appear to be. But mere excellence allows room for a mixture. In most arenas, excellence is not a fixed standard at all. It's a mixed standard.
Let us show you what we mean. American businesses are in search of excellence. They could be in search of perfection - of course - perfect products, perfect service - but perfection is too costly and eats into profits. Rather than be perfect, businesses know it's enough to seem perfect to their customers. By stopping short of perfection, they find a profitable balance between quality and costs.
To find this balance, they often look to their peers to discover the "best practices" of their industry: How far can we go and still seem perfect? By how far can we stop short? Businesses find it profitable to stop short at the middle ground of excellence because perfection costs too much.
But is it profitable for Christians to stop short at the middle ground of excellence where costs are low, balanced somewhere between paganism and obedience? Not at all! While in business it's profitable to seem perfect, in the spritual realm it's merely comfortable to seem perfect. It is never profitable.
Clearly, excellence isn't the same as obedience or perfection. The search for excellence leaves us overwhelmingly vulnerable to snare after snare since it allows room for mixture. The search for obedience or perfection does not.
Excellence is a mixed standard, while obedience is a fixed standard. We want to shoot for the fixed standard.

Don't Fade, Faders!!!

As most of you who know me would know about the word that is loved by a few and hated by many.... Fade! I feel that this word is greatly misunderstood and it is my responsibility to take you back to school on this topic.

Fading is the verb, the noun is fader, and the adjective is fade. For example, "You are such a fader; your fading was done in true fade style".

Now, many people have different definitions of the word fade and I guess that is where the problem comes for those who are not well versed in the colloquial terms of the ebonic demographic.... So I'll help by giving you a general but not a totally exclusive definition of a fade. You have a fade when you have an expectation of a commitment and when that commitment is not fulfilled! The ambiguity arises in the definition of specific commitments as this is a very subjective parameter, as what maybe a commitment to one may not be a commitment to the next person but that person can is still qualified to be a fader. Fading is only judged by the person that used the word. For instance if someone calls you a fader because you have not fulfilled a commitment then you are a fader, whether or not you recognise that commitment or not!

While this may be a difficult concept for many to grasp once you get it you will hold on to it and use it any opportunity you have (LOL)... what is the moral of this random story? Just get with it and learn. People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer. All you haters out there, unfortunately this term is not going to fade. And since you can't beat us join us! (LOL!!!!)

Tales of a Blessed Man

Long time no see.... It has been a while since I've visited the land of blog!!! What can I say? Lots had been happening in my life since I last posted.... I had my computer die and come back from the grave all by itself, ran a 10 km race, went camping in the height of winter hiking 20 km through semi-raw wilderness, went ice skating for the first time, went salsa dancing, watched my first opera, saw a Motown show, had a return of a long lost friend, said goodbye to a few, struggled through a few things, laughed hard, had truck loads of revelations and found something really beautiful....

While I'd like to tell all those stories right now I think I'll savour them and slowly, relive some of these experiences again via my blog. All I can say is that I am truly alive and well! Enjoying life! Emersing myself in the blessing of living, of painting the portrait of my life and living it the way I want to remember it, continually on the search for something new! Seeing beauty in the mundane as well as the majestic.

The tales of a blessed man, coming soon....

Something SO Beautiful

Have you been on the top of a hill early in the morning and had the view obstructed by the fog? You know that somewhere through that cloudiness there is a beautiful view, something spectacular waiting to be seen. Often that fog doesn’t disappear all at once, it clears slowly as the sun rises until it is all, eventually, revealed! God has cleared the fog from my view! Now all I see is something Beautiful!

All This For A Piece of Paper

I am not one to go against the value of a good education but recently I had been thinking about what the point is of getting an education, and more specifically a university degree. It is weird how society puts such a high value on a piece of paper that you get after years of hard work and toil! As some of you might, or might not know, I graduated on the 17^th of April. And while I was very happy to be finally walking on stage to receive a piece of paper (that probably cost the university 20 cents to make) wearing ridiculous robes and a totally impractical hat, I couldn’t help but ask myself if this was worth the 20000 plus grand spent.

I really battled myself over this one… As most of you know, I’ve been now working in my first graduate job for about two months now and I have to say everyday I have been learning something new. The sad thing is I use very little of the knowledge I learnt from uni. So I have to wonder what the point is if I could have come straight from high school into my current position and just learnt on the job from there. Is there a need for people with degrees and does the fact that you have a degree make you a better option than someone without one?

Well… I have to admit that a degree is no way to judge someone in terms of ability and suitability, for some jobs. Meanwhile having a degree is a powerful tool. While the knowledge you gain from uni may or may not help you in your future career it is still invaluable. You see, the thing I learnt about university is that it is not so much about all the knowledge you acquire but, it is about how you think. Universities breed thinkers, people willing to challenge status quo. University is not there to fill your mind with other people’s options but rather teach you to develop your own. Not only through lectures and tutorials but through intellectual interaction with your peers.

This is what I valued about uni. All the different people I met from different culture, nations, religions and backgrounds. That is something many people who didn’t go to uni didn’t get the pleasure of experiencing because many get caught up in their small worlds and never venture out from there. University life is a world of its own where different worlds clash and seamlessly blend into one. Uni is more than assignments, tests, lectures, exams and holidays, it’s a learning and growing experience! I guess if you ask me now, in retrospect, whether I thought uni was worth it, I’d probably simply say, “It was the best time of my life!”

Drive on the Left, in Australia

I’ve had the pleasure of having my family over in Australia for the last 2 weeks, for my graduation. It was their first visit to Australia and I have to say, I had one of the best times of my life. While we didn’t do really exciting and adventurous things it was a really surreal and mind blowing experience. This trip I can say was an eye opener for me. I hadn’t seen my parents and brother for about a year and half so even though we had kept in contact for that time we still had a lot of catching up to do.

For the first time we were a complete family again staying under the same roof, under the wing of my father. While he was still the boss, he was in my territory. This really affected the family dynamic in a weird way because I was leading the family. I decided what we did and when and how! A total paradigm shift! At the end of it I guess my dad and I left with a new level of respect for each other. I respect him because I know how difficult and scary it is to run a family and he respects me because of the way I lead and the person I have become, who is so different to the person that they last saw! For me that was my biggest breakthrough I had over the short time we spent together. I thank God for that time!!!

Apart from that we all had a really good opportunity to let our hair down! I honestly felt I was on holiday with them. Totally got to see a different side to Melbourne, a side you don’t see when you are caught up in the day to day things of life. For instance, I actually leisurely enjoyed a tram ride! Yeah I did! How weird!?! Not having a timetable and a place to be felt so… uncomfortable, at first, but liberating at the end. We walked the streets and saw the beauty of it, laughed the whole way through doing groceries at Safeway and actually talked to each other while we were in elevators with other people! LOL!

It was an experience I would not trade for anything!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

This is a tribute to the greatest man in my life. I just want to say happy birthday to my dad. Chances are he will never read this post but that is not what matters. I just want to thank God that he placed me in the exact family that I’m in!!! The things I’ve learnt from my dad have definitely helped build me to the person I am today. He is more than just a provider, he is my spiritual leader, my counsellor and now (that I’m older) a friend! Dad I love you and I look forward to seeing our relationship grow as I grow and as your wisdom increases.

Always On Time

“Always there when I call, Always on Time…” These lyrics have been on my mind, on loop, for the few past weeks. While the rest of the lyrics of the song are utterly useless and should not be given the light of day, there is great wealth in those 8 words.

In my last blog, I was in the unfortunate position of being one of the 4.5% in Australia who are unemployed. Well I’m glad to officially announce that this is no longer the case. In fact, I have been working for the past three weeks. In fact so great is my testimony that literally the day after that blog God started the sequence of events that would find my situation totally turned around in a matter of four days…

Wow… Where to begin? Well let’s try the beginning. On Monday I got a call asking me to come for an interview… I won’t lie I was shocked! It was gonna be my first interview (that I hadn’t turned down) for an actual 9 to 5. I was shaken and didn’t know what I was gonna do, after spending so long unemployed I had gotten comfortable and really wasn’t excited about the whole thing. But I had to get my mind right! Realise that the chilling life can never be forever. Anywhooo… Tuesday I went to the interview. Trust. I hadn’t prepared! I didn’t know a thing about the company, which for those planning to go for an interview, is really bad. When they asked me what I knew about the company I had to admit my folly. They were not impressed. Unfortunately that is not the only thing I messed up… The list is endless. To my knowledge the guys hated me. I left that interview laughing at myself and at my really poor performance. I was thankful though that I had at least gotten one interview and that things would be different in the next interview I went to.

This is where I have to say that God’s strength really is made perfect in weakness, because on Wednesday morning I get a call from the same company asking me for a second interview… LOL! I was so shocked but I realised that God had sent me this job! And as such I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. So I went to uni got my resume looked over, got interview tips, even watched some 30 minute video on interviews, then I went to the website and actually looked up the company. I was good to go!

Thursday comes and I’m at the second interview. It went so well. I opened up and let them see who I really was. I could feel the presence of God in my interview. I had no complaints the second time around. Went home afterwards changed and went the boys’ house (HQ). Three hours later they rang and let me know that I had the job and that I’d be starting on Monday with SunGard Australia.

Now when I say God is always on time, He is! I was so down from being unemployed and I was starting to fade! Then just before breaking point comes relief! God really answers prayer because I (along with Nyasha Mushambi items [thank you Nyash, Got mad love for you!]) had been praying for God to get me a job by the end of the month. I started work on the 26th of February, 2 days before the end of the month. On top of that all I needed was one interview! One shot, one kill! God didn’t send me through a string of interviews one after another. And wait there is more, I work 15 minutes from where I live! Wow! God didn’t hold back with the blessing! Not one bit!

Guys if you trust in the Lord, he will make your paths straight and Jesus says that He is the light! Your path may start all crooked and dark and you don’t know where you are going and can’t see two steps ahead of yourself, then He comes and straightens the item, clears the path where nothing can get into your way, suddenly the darkness is clear as day. Not even your own flaws or stupid actions, like not preparing for the interview can stop the plan once the ball is rolling! What I mighty God I serve! I word of encouragement. He’s ALWAYS there when you call and He is ALWAYS on time!

Unemployed

I’ve been currently unemployed for almost three months; while it has had its ups it has definitely has had its downs! This has been a very difficult time, as each day that passes and I haven’t gotten a call from any prospective employers the smaller the light at the end of the tunnel gets. This situation ties in with my previous post about waiting! I can’t believe how painful it is to wait, it’s like, every day that passes seems to chip away at my block of hope!

It has been a really trying time! But as usual, I know that God has me in the palm of His hand! It’s funny that when God has a message for you, that you will get it no matter what! During this season of my life, the message I kept getting was the one of Joseph! The dude had it rough! His brothers sold him into slavery, he got thrown into jail for a crime he didn’t commit, but he never let go of God! He never once gave up and decided he could do it on his own. For a while I was battling, wondering why I was going thru what I'm going thru and what God was try to tell me about this and how this Joseph gwan relates to me. I haven’t been thru nearly as much as young Joseph had but I was in a difficult place!

My revelation is dreams… Yeah dreams. God plants your dreams in your heart and it’s up to you to pursue it! And, if you are truly with God then he will guide your steps! God will direct you from where you are to where you need to be. So like Joseph he had to go thru some super tough times in order to reach his “promised land”. Wow! So as I’ve been discouraged lately I know that as long as I’m doing every thing in my power to change my situation then all that is left is for me to wait on the Lord! Wait in Him! I cannot see the big picture at the moment but I know that the cogs are turning in the machine that will bring my dreams, which God planted into my heart, to a reality! Break through, Coming Soon....

The realisation that life is just gangsta! (MY Pursuit of Happiness)

Everyone, I have just realised that life is just not fair! Yeah, I know what you are all thinking! Why did it take me so long to realise that! Why does life have you wait…. Wait for everything!!! I know that good things come to those who wait and that you appreciate everything that you wait for but…. Please, the wait is just so long and so painful! The worst part is when you wait when the returns of your wait are very uncertain!

Eish… Anticipation is one of the worst feelings in the world! It leads you to do things before the time is right which in turn spoils the surprise and you miss out on what would have been the best present in the world! It is human nature to want to know what the surprise is but then be disappointed once the present has been opened ahead of time. You feel like you have been waiting in vain and that the present wasn’t that great after all or you realise how special the present is and wish you has waited.

What does it take to be happy? To try open the present before its time and be disappointed or to wait for the right time and be disappointed then, or lastly, to find happiness after the wait? Those are the only possible outcomes! As much as the dilemma seems unbearable there only happens to be one option! Wait! Rather wait trusting that the present was worth the wait than open the present ahead of time and end up spoiling the surprise!

See Ya Champ!

This happens to be the season for people coming and going. Now it's time to (temporarily) say goodbye to Fungai. Wow it's weird to think that he is gonna be gone for six months. One topic of conversation before he left was about change and how things would have changed when he returns. Well, its sad and exciting for change to happen when you are away. It's sad because you are not directly involved in the change but it's excitng because it's good to return and see how people have grown and changed. Well, Fungai bra, many things might change when you are away but the love will always remain!

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say I wish you all the best in South Africa! I know you will do yourself and us, all your friends and family, proud! In God We Trust!!!

Aami Classic

This past weekend I did something that I've never done before... I watched tennis. Not only did I watch tennis. I watched it live. It was truly an awesome experience coz I also got the opportunity to see the best of the best.

Nicole blessed us; Keira, Simba, Fungai, Mufaro and I with free tickets. Her dad works at the club where the tournament was held. But not only were we blessed with free tickets but we has excellent seats. I think they are called court side seats. We watched two matches because it was the finals, the first one was Safin against Murray. Murray won that one, then we watched Federer battle Roddick! Wow! For someone who knows nothing about tennis I was totally rapped up in the game! Unfortunately Federer lost after I got a tip from a friend that he was the horse to bet on!

It was one of the best days I've had in a while! Thank you Nicole!

Thank You, 2006

Thank You Lord Jesus for 2006! It was truly Your year! You revealed yourself to me in such a powerful way that has left me changed forever! I praise You Lord for forgiving me for my rebellion and believing I can live life my way with You on the passenger side and not the driver. Thank you for your love and grace that I've felt totally surround me this past year! Thank You for providing for all my needs and always coming through when I most needed it, not only physically but emotinally and spiritually too! Thank You for all the advise You have given me, mostly through Your Word that is living!

Thank You for my family and friends that I have made in 2006, knowing that You are a relational God and that you are the one who has blessed me with these relationships, in order to fulfill Your plan. I appreciate them and value the influence that they had and will have in my life. Thank You for growth that has taken place in 2006 where now in 2007 I can look back and say that I really don't know that person that I used to be. Thank You for my body Lord, knowing that without you I would not have had the strength to lose 20 kilos and get closer to the totally perfect life You want for me! Thank You for the degree that You have blessed me with. It was a long road and i know that without You on my side and continuously quoting Jeremiah 33:3, things could have easily ended differently. You desearve all the praise because You are faithful to all Your servants!

Thank You Lord for all the things you have done for me behind the scenes. All the things that You have done without me even knowing! I know Your ways are mysterious and I thank You for having every single detail completlely coverved even the things I consider mundane.

Jesus thank You for 2007. I believe that this year will be bigger and better! I know that You will continue to do the thing you do that always sees Your plan come through! I pray that You may continue to guide me and bless me. I pray that Your wisdom and love will be my light! I pray that You may always be the centre of my life and that I may never go back to doing things in my own strength. Bless me with humility especially with all the great things that will happen this year. I will continue to praise Your name for who You are!!!
Amen.