Smart phones

I really like my new HTC phone. It is a smart phone. I am typing this blog post on it.

Freedom

We used to listen to this country singer, Kris Kristofferson, when we were little. He has this one song called me and Bobby Mgee. In the song he sys 'freedom is just another word for nothing left to loose'. I've often wondered about this statement, especially before I got saved, because I think this is one thingI have always longed for. And I think it is one thing humanity longs for. The Bible says ' It is for freedom that Christ has set us free' showing that, well, that humanity is not in a state of freedom.

I think his phrase of nothing left to loose is a component of attaining freedom (the other being free from guilt). This is nearly impossible because it seems like there is always something to loose. Even if you have lost everything on this planet, there is still one thing to lose, your life.

It is no wonder then that God requires us to lay our lives down (die to ourselves) when we become a christian, because then we have nothing left to lose. And it is just a matter of giving things to God and trusting Him for the outcome. Somehow we always manage to taint things by holding on to them like desperate housewives. Anyway, so the impossible becomes possible with God. The most beautiful part is that we gain everything. I love it! It's such upside down logic... or maybe it's right side up and what we think is right is actually upside down... ask marina :)

Yay for freedom and for peace....

So, for those who have some extra time to read and who liked Walk the line and Johnny Cash, here is an interesting fact:

Kris Kristofferson wrote a song about Johnny Cash and some other artists, singing about their rise to fame and fall to drug addiction and everything else. The song is called The Pilgrim: Chapter 33.

Then later when Johnny Cash got saved and turned his life around, he would sing a song of Kris Kristofferson at most of his concerts called 'Sunday morning coming down' to remind him about where he was and managed to get out of...

THe Pilgrim: Chapter 33
See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans
Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile
Once he had a future full of money love and dreams
Which he spent like they was going out of style
And he keeps right on a changin' for the better or the worse
And searchin' for a shrine he's never found
Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse
Or if the going up is worth to coming down
He's a poet he's a picker he's a prophet he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned
He's a walkin' contradiction partly truth and partly fiction
Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home

He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars
And he's traded in tomorrow for today
Runnin' from the devils Lord and reachin' for the stars
And losin' all he loved along the way
But if this world keeps right on turnin' for the better or the worse
All he ever gets is older and around
From the rockin' of the cradle to the rollin' of the hearse
The going up was worth the coming down
He's a poet...

Here is the chorus of Sunday morning coming down:

On the Sunday morning sidewalks
wishing Lord that I was stoned
'cause there is something in a Sunday
that makes a body feel alone
and there's nothin' short of dyin'
half as lonesome as the sound
on the sleepin' city side walks
Sunday mornin' comin' down

My 10 favorite movies to watch

This is in response to Dine's Blog. They are in no particular order:

1 - Miss Congeniality
2 - The devil wears Prada
3 - Grosse Point Blanck
4 - Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
5 - Maveric
6 - 50 first dates
7 - Lost in translation
8 - Highschool music
9 - Pride and Prejudice
10 - Romy and Michelle's Highschool reunion.

I have probably watched each of these movies more than 10 times. Most of them are also my twinsister's favourite and we used to watch them together ALL the time and laugh like crazy.

I can just see all the media people in church cringing at this list. Deal with it!

I also like any musical. That is why highschool musical made it's way unto the list. It is flippen rediculous, but so much fun. I can't wait for the 3rd one to come out. Nico is preparing himself for the worst. Hehe.

Sick

I'm sick (please lots of sympathy my way) and I'm 100% sure it is flu, sore throat and aching body. On the upside I get to take a sick day tomorrow. But how is this for bad timing as I am writing a big exam on Saturday. It should be expected, though, seeing that I have pretty much gotten sick before every major exam in the last 8 years. Crazy! I'm not even going to tell my mother, because she has given me homeopathic medicine for this and always tells me I should take it, and I always don't. I don't want to disappoint her. AAAAHHH!!!!

But at least I have someone to look after me :) I would have been so miserable otherwise.

Inspiring Story about a christian in the workplace.

I'm auditing Today magazine at the moment. It is a christian magazine, and a company that forms part of the multinational Louis Group International. As you walk into the Louis Group offices at Louis Group in Century City, there is a Bible that is open at Joshua 1. It is amazing the atmosphere there. I have such a sense of God's presence there and the employees are all so friendly.

Here is an excerpt from the Louis Group News. One of the founders of Louis Group, Colia Louis and his wife just recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The excerpt is about Colia Louis. I find it so inspiring.

"When you first meet Colia Louis, the seventysix-year-old chairman of the Louis Group, you are touched by the man’s humility. A giant in the property field, his handshake is firm and friendly, and his smile and eye contact are both welcoming and engaging. He puts you at ease and you soon realise that you are in the company of someone whom you would like to be able to call your friend. One is accustomed to finding the chairpersons of multinational companies to be distant, aloof and inaccessible. Colia is the antithesis of this. A true people’s person, one believes him, when he explains: “Life is like a puzzle; there are a number of colourful, related pieces on the table that are initially unconnected. They have no real value in their unconnected state. Only through skill, application, dedication and the natural passing of time can one select the matching pieces and fit them together into a picture of beauty.” Colia is both a collector and connector of things and people; a finder, an assembler, a doer, a creator of things of beauty. It is this special gift of wisdom and the insight of putting things together or seeing potential that sets Colia Louis apart from the crowd. He has learned the value of fitting in together as part of the Body of Christ. He understands that the work of Christ is not done by individuals but by the Body and he passes this important learning on in his role as mentor.

Colia shares his wisdom with his five sons and the members of the extended Louis Group business family. He has now entrusted the day-to-day running of the Group to his sons and other handpicked people selected for a special skill, that unique part of the puzzle that they would bring to the Group and its stakeholders. Sharing God’s gifts is a key value to Colia and to the Louis Group. Every penny of investor money is backed and exceeded by matching funds from the Group. Colia explains: “The Group and I are not spectators watching from the grandstand. We are in the scrum together, hunting for the ball with our co-investors. The ‘ball’ is information, and we need that information to conclude the deal, to score the try. You don’t get the ball if you’re merely a spectator sitting in the grandstand. You have to be an active participant in the game.” Colia exercises this same philosophy with all staff members, from cleaner to chief executive officer. Every morning you will find him doing his rounds. He greets all the staff personally – he knows their names. He is empathetic, he listens and he hears. He believes that God has given us all an equal amount of that most precious commodity of all – time. The charitable can be distinguished from the non-charitable by how they choose to use that single, equal gift. Colia will use his to help others. He will always share his time with his staff, his investors, and his family.

When asked what he would like to leave behind, Colia answers: “A legacy, a foundation, to be remembered as a good husband, father, grandfather, friend and employer.”

Sir, you have done and are all of that. You are a true ambassador of the legacy left by Jesus Christ."

African Hip Hop Indaba

It was pretty cool! What a different crowd! I think people avoided me. HAHAHA. It was so cool though to see little kids giving their all dancing. Sho! I would love to be able to do that. Abandoned dancing! Saw my friends participating and they did well. Much respect!!