4 Phrases that make you insignificant.

4. “I’m sorry…”

One of the first things any performer and public speaker must learn to do… Is to

Perform without apology

.

Qualification by disqualification makes us feel safe for some reason, and it can be traced throughout every culture, and part of it… From the ink on cardboard seen at street signs to the megapixels that form square, blurry, under-exposed images titled “I’m ugly”, but clearly hoping that someone would correct the purposeful lack of purpose, and provide identity.

Spoken word and rap artist Propaganda said it right when he remarked that “…sarcasm is really, the only time people tell the truth…”

We are unheard, because we don’t say what we mean.

3. “I’m open-minded”

This is teenager for “404 error-page not found” or “The number you have dialed does not exist” or “Loading…. Loading…. No connection.”

In English, it means “to oppose for the sake of opposing…” And “to accept for the sake of accepting…”

A lack of purpose and direction has become both purpose and direction… Like a snake eating it’s own tail…

The possibility of failure has hypnotized us and reduced us to a state of unwillingness to associate with others.

2. “I’m the only one.”

You’re not.

I’m not.

Let that sink in.

The fact that I am aware of this statement means that YOU are not the only one.

Lastly.

1. “I’m guilty.”

All of the above comes from guilt.

Guilt- the feeling that our bad outweighs our good.

That my silence outranks and outnumbers my words…

The feeling that I have been in the wrong since before my birth.

This feeling is inescapable since it is valid.

Let me explain:

Ever since our origin we have been weighed by ourselves and found wanting…

We need something greater than us…

Something that can exist.

Outside

Of

Us.

Deny it, if you will…

But only when we find ourselves found by someone greater than us… Will we ever be satisfied with us…

___________________________________

And that.

Is the crux of insignificance.

It’s a Wonderful Life… (Defining Moments)

If you look at the lives of people like Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Theresa, or any other great men or women in history. You’ll notice that their lives weren’t all that perfect.

They lived.

Made mistakes.

Made even more mistakes.

BUT! They ended up changing the world…. because:

 They did the right thing, even when everything around them went wrong.

This is what we would call, a “Defining Moment”.

And history is made.

A defining moment NEVER comes from a situation where there is no conflict. It stands out like neon on asphalt on a moonless night. They present themselves clearly and change their environment.

The sad thing is that most of us wait for a conflict-free moment…. which… surprise, surprise! Never comes….

Then we (and I’m using the pronoun “we” for a reason) conclude that it wasn’t meant to be, life is unfair, and we can do nothing about it.

None of the above are true, though.

We have no reason to condemn ourselves to self-pity. We were crafted for greatness, and the moment we realise that, we can stop pitying ourselves and lead wonderful lives filled with defining moments.

In Daniel (from the Bible)’s time, their entire NATION was captured. It was during this time when their captor’s asked them to sing one of their famous songs of joy and hope… but then the people responded “How can we sing in a foreign land?”

I did a little bit of research, and it turns out that the people who refused to sing in captivity didn’t even sing when they were free… in fact, they just complained!

If we are going to wait for good surroundings, it’s like saying you’ll take medication and treatment when you’re healthy.

There will always be negative situations in life… but we create defining moments by acting regardless.

Did you know that there were more deaths and disasters during the original Christmas season than any other holiday season. It got so bad that most (but not all, mind you) contemporary writers didn’t even mention small matters like mass murders or civil wars and uprisings… and yet God deemed it a time of Joy and Hope… talk about anti-climax.

 

Life is repulsive… if we relate to the dead and defeated…

but when we relate to Kings and Champions, then a giant is merely a stepping stone and not a stone wall…

So as we’re nearing 2012… May it be filled with defining moments… regardless of your current situation….

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year! 🙂

Piece One.

 

 

There’s has to be more.

And I don’t mean that negatively.

 

The only way we move forward, is when we stand on principles tested by time. When we live in community, rather than isolation, and when we change potential mistakes into victories, because we’ve been (t)here before.

 

We have tasted both victory and defeat, but when we press through our mistakes, mind-sets, and misfired attempts.

We hit the magnificent beyond.

Never disregarding the past; only using them as basements rather than ceilings.

With that in mind. There has to be more….

 

It’s easy to look back at what we think we’ve accomplished.

(Whether true or false.)

Stop.

S

   T

       A

          R

              E.

but leave it there.

Never venturing forward.

Because technically…

 

If we haven’t done it yet, what makes us think it’ll work now?

This is where, I think, we have to redefine our goals.

Because surely there’s more to life than the end of it.

 

Let’s restore the colours!

Chase away the angry clouds!

We are not the:

-Lost

-Last

-Least

-Leaderless generation.

In the words of Kris Valloton:

 

“I might not know, where to go”

“But….”

“I know where I can’t stay.”

 

So now, I’m done….

Except for this last point…

I swear:

The next generation will be more blessed, because of me.

  The culture will never be the same, because of me.

  I will not live,

   as

          if

                  What I do will have no effect on those around me.

After me.

Because of me.

 

But enough about me.

Because I disappear when you switch off your screen…

With that in mind.

Let’s turn;

“ME”

into

“WE”

. . .

Blatant.

I feel as if, what I’ve written about so far, has just been the tip of the iceberg.

Like an unfinished puzzle, with two pieces left, and a handful missing.

By this, I don’t mean that I disregard the past pieces, but that I need to discover, or rediscover rather, the missing parts, and how they fit in…

 

With that said, Let me position the last two pieces, and who knows? Maybe it’ll simplify the situation.

Signing off.

Guilliam Nel

 

The Separation of Church and fate….

 

Welcome back, Mr Quarzmate! Even if I do say so myself. My academics were increasing drastically since my previous post, so I apologize for not posting any sooner.

FATE- noun

The development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.

Verb: Be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way: "it was fated to end badly".

I think we’ve all heard obituaries at some stage of our lives. They usually go along these lines:  If the person was kind, he/she would be treated in a heroic fashion, showing how this person’s lone efforts had built an empire of utter awesomeness.  On the other hand, if the deceased happened to have led an infamous life, we would hear either an appeal to God, hoping that a few kind (but practically undeserving) words would spare the dead human in question from hellfire and brimstone, or a cry of outrage (I mean, this person had an unfair life! How can God punish him/her for that?).

In these moments, where sorrow and grief comes  almost uncontrollably, we see more clear,  undiluted world-views about life, death, God, evil, and eternity than a thousand icebreakers ever could reveal.

Here are some common phrases expressed at funerals:

“It must have been God’s will for –insert name here- to die of –insert cause here-”

“Who are we to question God’s purpose, after all, He knows what he’s doing.”

 “I don’t understand why God took him/her away from us.”

And the ever popular…

“Well, God must have loved –insert name here- so much, that He wanted to be with him/her so quickly.”

This shows us a fractured fraction of the human mind-set.

===================

QUICK PAUSE!!!! (Don’t worry, this will make sense in a few moments)

===================

In the movie, Stranger than Fiction, a man hears a strange woman’s voice in his mind, narrating eloquently every detail of his personal life (For Example: The way he counts the number of times he brushes each individual tooth until he reaches seventy strokes).  In the beginning everyone he informs of this phenomenon thinks that he’s insane (which is quite understandable, you understand), and even he starts to think of himself as insane, but when the ‘narrator’ one day says, “Little did he know, that events would be set in motion, that would lead to his imminent death..” he becomes concerned on a number of levels.

 

Now I don’t want to spoil it for you, but the man finds out that he is the character in a tragic fiction novel that is in the process of being written, and with every typed word he comes closer to his death.

We see a popular and powerful implicit view in this movie, which is saying two things:

1. Enjoy life while it lasts, because:

2. Death is inevitable.

Which reminds me of another funeral statement: “If God can see the future, then surely He knows whether we’re going to heaven or hell. So if God knows where we end up, then why should we bother with trying to change?”

I think that we’ve all experience this feeling of meaninglessness at some point in our lives; where we feel like we’ve been stuck for so long in a habit that we can’t imagine surrendering our last breath without it standing at our bedsides. Then our heads start pounding with anxiety and we start thinking that, “Oh well, maybe I was just born this way.”

 

Now THIS…. is exactly what we should discuss, because somehow, we have come to a place where we have stopped thinking  about why we believe what we believe and just tried to accept why a so-called “good” God wants bad things to happen to good people.

So let’s dissect these statements one by one, just to see if there were any thoughts behind blaming God for pain.

 

1.  

Okay, where in the Bible do we read about God’s will for our lives?

Jeremiah 29:11

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.

Ok… So God doesn’t   want to kill us, go figure, but why do we think that God’s will for us is destruction? I think it’s probably because we  forget to put life in context. Here are three things we never should forget.

1# There’s a good God: We’re talking about an awesome God who was slaughtered like an animal for us, but still begged for our forgiveness and said, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Now personally, I think that’s huge… So if something good happens, it’s probably from God.

2# There’s an evil Satan: The Bible says that Satan is the one who steals, kills, and destroys. We’re talking about the one who actually got us into this mess (to some extent). So if something bad happens, it’s probably Satan.

3#There are humans involved:  We humans have this thing called ‘free will’, which means that our choices determine whether or not something happens or doesn’t happen. Now the previous two factors may have power, but we as humans are the only ones with authority now, and the only way something literally takes place is when people are involved. For example: people are tempted, or feel moved to do something, thus they do whatever they feel like doing, whether it’s good or evil.

If we drop even one of these points, we end up either:

1# Blaming God.

2# Intoxicated with the fear of evil.

3# Seeing ourselves as worms because we blame ourselves for everything.

 

2. 

This can be a lot to take in, and even harder to apply to our lives, I mean, after all, how can we figure out if God’s involved, Satan’s involved or we’re just acting out of our own choice?

Hebrews 4:12

 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

***May I direct your attention to the part that it says, “Dividing Soul and Spirit”.  Has ANYONE ever wondered why we would want to divide a Spirit from a Soul?

We humans are divided into 3 parts:

Spirit:  This is the part that goes to Heaven or Hell when we die. This part is determined by our “Bloodline” (which is a topic for another day). Our actions do not affect this identity, but our identity affects our actions.

Soul:  This is our emotions (which comes from the words ‘in motion’), characteristics, and mind-set. This is the part that feels and makes decisions.

Body:   Our “Earth-Suit”; it lives, ages, and we can’t survive on Earth without it (“See, I told you…. now put it back!!!”).

God’s word divides what we think or feel is true (funeral statements), from what is actually true (God doesn’t want to hurt us).

[Credit to Niel Hofmeyr]

 

Unfortunately, these things are usually ignored quite blatantly, because we feel as if we are destined to failure, which brings us to the final point. (Hello? Is anyone still there?)

3.

Fatalism: The idea or belief that life takes it’s course, even though we have free will and choices, life is pre-determined.

 

It’s interesting how we’ve accepted this view almost without thinking.  Why? because everyone has accepted the view.

There’s a story about a gorilla cage with ten gorillas inside. A test was done on them to see if they could develop a cultural mind-set.  A banana was suspended in the centre of the cage, and every time a gorilla stormed it greedily, all the gorillas would be soaked with ice-cold water from a fire-hose (if that’s what you call them).

All of them knew not to touch the banana. Then one day, they replaced one of the old gorillas with a new one.  The gorilla charged the banana as if it was made from gold, but the gorilla was crushed by the nine elders who feared the icy cold spray more than death.  Thus the monkey was inter-grated into the society, never looking back or questioning the beatings.

The scientists were slowly but surely replacing all the original apes, until all ten of them were new. They were never tempted to touch the bananas… even though no-one really understood why, they did it anyway, because it was Traditional.

Now through the years, we’ve been following our beliefs and mind-sets blindly ( Don’t get me wrong, this is very different from being faithful with something we’ve witnessed or experienced first-hand).

Just to conclude, I want to propose one last things to you:

1# Find out for yourself: even the truth can be misunderstood, but that doesn’t falsify the truth. So do yourself a favour, and ask, “Why do I believe what I believe?”.

This is the end…. of this blog.

Drop me a comment if you enjoyed it.

Until next time…..

(via quotes) Part 1

I know I haven’t posted blogs in quite a while, for no particular reasons. (other than laziness, and perhaps a stroke of perfectionism which seems to dictate silence over expression).

But today, with the new year in our laps, begging to be nurtured and appreciated, I feel as if I must write something hopeful, and a few words of appreciation. So here are some of my favorite qoutes, from my friends, family and personal heroes. so here they come, in no particular order…

Moabi’s quote (via Facebook):

Being in charge of an airplane, for me, is a lot like having your life at your very finger tips, whatever u want to make happen happens, Your fuel depletes whether you like it or not, time runs out and the idea is to press all the right buttons at the right time and still enjoy the flight, this is how I want to live my life, and if I make the wrong call, I remember that I’m actually just the copilot, and my King is The Captain.

 Moabi is one of those people that you can always count on to say something insightful when your feeling down. On this particular occasion, I was feeling discontent and disappointed about the way I managed my time, but his words reminded me that I’m just the co-pilot and that even if I mess up today, God still keeps my life afloat tomorrow; ready for “take-two”….

 

James Pearce’s quote (at Mt. Carmel ‘10):

 

It doesn’t matter if I fail or succeed today; I know I’m born to do this…. And I will be excellent.

This is what he told me before he had to give a speech at our annual pastor’s retreat. I’m not sure if he even remembers it, but I wrote it in my journal that night and made it a personal motto. It was not just the words that moved me, but the way he said it; not angrily or arrogantly, but with a sort of motivation one usually see in a gold medalist split-seconds before they tear the old record to shreds.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am a perfectionist. I feel like I don’t want to hit publish, unless I am DEAD sure, that what I’ve said is relevant up to the most miniscule of details. It makes me shudder at the imaginary consequences of my incomplete fragments and disorganized thoughts put on the web for all eternity (call it “blog-fright”). But I am defeating this fear, one post at a time. No matter how awkward I may feel, I’ll keep going until I come out on top…. So mark my words; whether I make it today or not, I will be excellent!

Gene Edwards (in his book “Tale of Three Kings”:

Better he kill me, than I learn his ways. Better he kill me, than I become as he is. I shall not practice the ways that cause kings to go mad. I will not throw spears, nor will I allow hatred to grow in my heart. I will not avenge. Not now. Not ever!

A couple of books, no matter how old, never leave my company. This book has taught me that responding to evil with evil is more harmful to me than virtually anything else, because it trains me to be like them. So rather turn away and hold your peace.

I don’t always get it right, but I know that God will finish the work he started in me…

 

And Finally (for now…) I leave you with one last ‘quote’… See you soon

‘Background’ by Lecrae Ft. C-lite

Making a Difference: Cathedral Thinking

I remember attending a business seminar, there was a man on the podium, very tall and strongly built . He spoke of a concept called “cathedral thinking”, which explains how cathedrals were built (surprise, surprise!). If a king hired an architect, he not only hired the man in question, he hired the man’s son and grandson; because it took three whole generations to build a cathedral! Let me break it down into three steps:

1# The first man clears a field, draws up the plans, excavates boulders (for walls) and plants trees in another field.

2# Second man uses boulders to construct walls and structure in the clear field. He also takes care of the trees planted by his father.

3# Now junior here, gets to cut down grand pappy’s trees, because he needs them for the interior of the cathedral…

And THEN we have a cathedral!!!!

Now, Mr.1# never saw his Cathedral built, all he did was set up so that the next generation could build, and his grandson could design the interior. Not only that, but we can see these cathedrals nine-hundred years later. Why, because some guy decided to make a difference, wasn’t ashamed of it, and thought of the next generation(s).

Now It’s easy to say that our choices don’t influence our followers, (yes, we have followers.) but whether we like it or not, our children and grandchildren might grow up either admiring us or reclining on a psychologist’s lounge complaining about us.

And maybe you grew up without someone to walk ahead of you and plant the trees or quarry for stone, which left you at a major disadvantage, but it’s up to us if we want to make sure that our children never have that disadvantage.

So go on living, knowing that your ceiling will serve as a foundation for the next generation as they head off to the skies, and onto their journeys….

Making a difference: Don’t be shy…

 In “The Oxford Guide to Public Speaking” (Written by their Board of Directors), the authors make it very clear that you shouldn’t feel shy about your goal, and don’t be ashamed of saying it in public. Because when we speak, write or work towards our goals, we tend to feel inadequate and clumsy. (After all, who cares about what we think?!?) But many of the world’s greatest men and woman experienced the same things we do, and they overcame it (just like the first step of making a difference).

Our dreams are like potted plants, the more time and effort we put in pruning and watering them, the better they grow. But if we were to ignore them because they might not look quite as appealing as our neighbors’ potted plant or dreams, they would die. But chances are that your neighbor is either:

1# Equally jealous of your plant.

OR

2# His plant is made of plastic.

 

One insecurity we tend to face is we feel like this poor lad; performing our hearts out, while the audience wants to literally take our hearts out! (Don’t act so shocked, you know what I mean!)

In a nutshell, we don’t know if we will be appreciated when we do what we feel called to do. After all, aren’t there thousands of other musicians\ actors\ directors\ bloggers\ authors who are going to out-perform us?

Now hear this: You are not a nuisance, you are a SOLUTION!

We cannot focus on our emotions, because emotions are based on circumstance, not on results. Instead, realize that the end will justify the pain it took to get there. (That’s a paraphrased ‘Relient K’ quote from a song “let it all out”)

ImPoRtanT!!!!!

Now, you don’t have to read on if you don’t want to, I’m done, but for those techno junkies with a little extra time on their hands, This is a music video by KJ-52, a Christian rapper with an awesome message. (I put the lyrics in a text box below the video to make it easier for you in case he raps “too fast”)

I’m signing off now.

Till next time: One Love, One God, One way…

“Dear Slim I never wrote you or been callin
My name ain’t Stan son, nah we’ve never met and
My name’s KJ let me begin by introducing now
Myself to you and these very reasons I’ll be writin
Why I took the time, the who what where and why and
The purpose of my verse, the reasons I’m reciting
What I hope your learnin from the truth I pray your finding
And every word I’m writin down upon the dotted lines and
See I heard ya first album, was called Infinite
I shook my head cause nowadays you soundin different
What drove ya take your whole persona and be flippin it now
What makes a man totally change see I ain’t getting it
See was you sick of getting booed when you was rippin it
And sick of never havin dough and you your wanted to put an end to it
What good’s all kinds of dough
Plus all kinds of flowTo gain a world of fans but suffer the loss of soul

CHORUS
La la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la
To whom it may concern x4

Dear Slim I never wrote you or been calling
This is my 2nd letter cause see son I gots a real problem
It’s that to you that I’m always catching these comparisons
And after shows I got these people coming up to me sayin
You sound like Slim Shady son you sound like Eminem
And I be like now really man, do I gots to go through this again

See I used to get mad and sick of people saying that
Till at this one show this one day I met this one cat
He told me how he used to listen to you but now he listens to me
Had your LP but threw it out and bought my CD
I’m like for real he’s like yeah he said my music made a difference
It got him away from all your words and images
I gotta mention this, now what about the effects you have on kids

You ever stop to think about the millions you influence
Or is it just irrelevent is it true life you telling it
Or just the way for some record companies sellin it
The only thing we got in common is our melanin
Or lack of it but anyway now this is what I’m sayin

It’s for you that I’m on my knees now daily prayin
Prayin that God opens your eyes now to what I’m relayin
Now I’m praying that it’s your heart that will soon be changing
Prayin one day that you’ll be calling upon His name and
But anyway I’m signin off now don’t keep me waitin
This is KJ another cat just trying to make it

CHORUS

Dear Slim I heard about the stuff you’s going through
See I could relate to you cause son I’m about as old as you
See we both know what it’s like just to be growing up to be in a neighborhood
When you’s the only one and only kid that’s white
Or to get booed when you on the mic just because your skin is light
It ain’t right but sometimes you know that’s life
But really tell me what you do
You just push on with hopes on that someday you’ll put on your crew
I hope you understand that I ain’t even dissin you
And even though its a song you’ll probably never listen to

See what I send to you is this
Is that a life without Christ is just a life that is never fixed
Hope you remember this now a few sentences
About a living God who loves you and plus forgives
And I’ll be praying for your ex-wife and plus your kid
It’s hard to live in a world as crazy as this one is

And even though now it really might sound redundant
God’s got mad love for you up in a mad abundance
You’ll sell a couple mill(ion) I’ll probably sell a couple hundred
There’s more to life then selling records and just getting blunted
But anyway that’s really all I gots to say
Just another word from an emcee now around the way
Maybe some day we meet each other in some way
Till then one love one God one way”

 

Stories from my black journal….

A few weeks ago, I discovered an old, black journal I used to write stories and poetry in when I was about twelve or thirteen years old. It also contained scribbles and drawings, but it drew a long, sad smear of events that influenced me in negative ways. Although I’m not (and never was) “emo” or “gothic”, And I don’t like writing sob-stories or anything depressing for that matter. I feel that there’s an important lesson to be learnt from this less than colourful portrayal.

I flipped through the pages and found all sorts of coded writing. It took me a while to remember the logic behind my paranoid ravings, but I eventually solved the riddles and discovered a goldmine of entries and even a poem that I’ve been working on. I remembered finishing it and writing it on the last page with a pen that left grooves in the seemingly blank, black page; And This is how it went…

MIRROR

Jagged Mirrors, Watch the Edges! For the scars they leave will stay forever.

Faded Mirrors, Clouded with hate. And unlike emotions, they won’t dissipate.

Shrieking mirrors, Silence their call! Or they might silence you, Once and for all.

All of these mirrors, are streaked with My blood. They won’t haunt you again, their deeds are undone.

All of these mirrors, now cower in shame. For when they were streaked, it removed all your blame.

I stand in their place. Tell me, what do you see? Instead of defeat, there is……….

  That was all I could make out, but I remember feeling discouraged and turning to the back of the book and holding it at such an angle that the light glinted off the edges of the engraved characters.

Back then, I knew I’d get through the emotions of adolescence, but I didn’t know how long it would take, but what I did know was that the end would justify the pain it took to get me there.

Now you might or might not have a black or brown journal you used to keep as a teenager, under your bed or in plain sight. But even the bravest among us experience insecurity (some people just hide it better…) . But make sure your mirror reflects the eternal, because a jagged mirror hurts the bearer, a faded mirror distorts reality, and there is no such thing as a shrieking mirror; these critics dwell only in our minds.

The eternal provides eternal security, love, and affection….

I conclude in the words of KJ-52 (from his song “picture”)                           

“And you can exchange your old pictures right now for Him
and you can trade it all in for what he’s down to give
I put the pictures in her hands see it comes down to this
which ones you holding on to, yours or His…”

Making a difference: Just do it!

 We’ve all heard heroic tales of people and nations. Willing to break the moulds and stagnant shackles of mediocrity. Not only did they notice the needs and lack around them, but they made it their mission to find a solution.

My mother used to tell me that even a blind penguin could “see” a problem, but only a handful of people ever try to find a solution, and then, fewer still follow through with their plans.

God has placed extravagant potential into each of our lives, but we need to engage it. (Whether it means telling a friend about it or writing out your goals) But the way we begin determines how we end.

None of us feel drawn to live in fourth place all our lives, something inside of us beckons toward success, prosperity and happiness. And if we give in to the pressures of fear, then we are to be drilled deeply into the dusty little fox-holes where they put dead people. I assure you that no-one will ever look to us for inspiring quotations or messages of hope if we never say anything risky or unique. Therefore we should be willing take the plunge and pursue our goals and dreams, even if failure is breathing heavily down our necks.

G.K. Chesterton put it this way…

“Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel.”

In other words, it’s more honorable to fail than to avoid starting. And who knows… Maybe we won’t fail. Maybe, just maybe, we were destined to do more than dream emptily on monday mornings, and push pencils…

I’m not just saying all this because I’ve found a safe subject, it’s because this subject is close to home for me. I’m nowhere near perfect when it comes to accomplishing my goals, this is all a work in progress. And even though I haven’t finished yet, I’m sure that the end will justify the drama, pain and effort that it took to get me there.

I’m going to write a few more blogs about making a difference later this week, so stay tuned!!

Blessings,

Signed,

God’s Beloved