i don't feel very strong right now. i feel wronged. badly done by. hurt. betrayed. disappointed. and yet again and again it comes back to me that the call is on me to forgive. pride. ego. self-righteousness. my idea of "justice". all these things rally against me, trying to convince me that i am in the right [maybe i am] and that the other should approach me [maybe they should] and seek peace and restoration. [...]
so as tbV and i are nearing the end of our time here at the Simple Way in Philadelphia, Americaland, we have had to focus a lot on looking forwards at the exciting times and opportunities that lie ahead, but i also want to be mindful of taking some time to look back - there is a lot to be grateful for... there is a saying that 'God owns the cattle on a thousand hills' [...]
so wot an amazing weekend then... i started watching Formula 1 Grand Prix racing about 26 years ago when one of my Portuguese friends from Hillcrest Primary school in Johannesburg, South Africa invited me to watch this race - i remember it clearly because Nelson Piquet and his teammate led from start to finish and at the end of the race Piquet's teammate was the only person he had not lapped and so from then [...]
Colossians 3 verse 13 reads, 'Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.' i am not convinced that 'forgive and forget' is a biblical concept altho many people quote it as if it is... for me the idea that God has forgiven my sin and then developed some kind of universal amnesia is a lot less exciting than the picture [...]
my wife and i love children! other peoples! we love the bit where we get to give them back afterwards. and then return to our childrenless lair. [okay, it's not quite a lair, more an intentional community house in the inner city area of kensington, philadelphia... but still, no children living with us in the house at this particular point in time] so kind of like a choose-your-own-[children]-adventure of sorts - we get to decide [...]
I am hardcore. I nearly broke my hip skateboarding. I eat burgers with my hands and not a knife and fork. Spiders don’t freak me out. I can jump-start a car. I love hardcore music too – the likes of Underoath, Blessthefall, The Devil Wears Prada, and Pierce the Veil, I could eat for breakfast. I drink beer. My electric guitar is black. I don’t lose my cool (if I do I chuck on my [...]
People. I love people. That is how I am wired. I want to be with people. I want to love people. I desire to be deeply immersed in living life with others in way that hands get dirty and hearts get broken. I don’t always get it right but do feel that God has enabled me to do these things: to love unconditionally, to embrace without judgement, to listen, to discern ways out or ways [...]
i have posted some different series recently on the topic of relationships, ranging from dating to marriage, which have been very popular and so i thort i would stick all the links on one page to make them all more easily accessible, so choose what is for you and feel free to share and pass around: 'i kissed dating' series looking at different aspects of dating but also where are all the good christian men/women? [...]
if you are a single person, then embrace that, completely. hope to be married if that is your dream, but be absolutely content with where you are and living in it, til the opportunity arises. don’t live where you’re not. if you are a married person, then embrace that, completely. be content with what you have, while always striving for more. if you are not constantly working at your marriage, then you may soon discover [...]
i said to my beautiful wife Valerie the other day something along the lines of 'what do people write statuses [stati?] about on Facebook if they are not entering into a relationship or having a baby? [or these days in americaland making some kind of staunchly pro this party or anti that one political statement] as it just seemed like the majority of statuses [stati?] i was reading were about one of those... and two [...]