Let it ooze...

Last night at Grace Family Church, the incredibly awesome and talented Watoto Children's choir gave us a bit of a performance. When I say, a bit of a performance, I mean, they blew us away! If I were to make up a language, I would make the word ‘watoto’ mean ‘ENERGY’ because WOW these kids had a lot of it! The biggest smiling faces, the craziest dance moves and most energetic facial expressions I think I've ever seen. Did I mention this was their 5th performance in less than 24 hours? No matter, because when looking at the stage, all you see is JOY.

All of the children live at the Watoto Village in Uganda and each has lost one or both of their parents to violence in Uganda, AIDS or poverty. they were abandoned and alone, and seemingly had no hope in life. Each child has their own unique story of pain and hardships that they have lived - and I can tell you that there are no nice pretty childhood stories.

On Friday night when the choir arrived at our Church to relax and practice, I got to speak to a few of the boys from Watoto. I told them they were famous, and I wanted to be like them! they humbly disagreed and in said they were not at all famous and in fact I was famous. we laughed... In an attempt to continue the ‘famous’ topic of conversation, I asked a question. I said ‘who is the most famous person in the world to you? who is your favourite celebrity?’... I was expecting an answer like Chris Brown or some pop star that these kids might have heard. Instead 10-year-old  Ronald looked at me, and without any hesitation, in his beautiful accent he replies... ‘God’.

God is the only thing on these kids’ minds! He is really all that matters to them! Because through some incredible people at Watoto village, God has rescued them from their despair and given them life and hope. Now they are traveling the continent sharing their story. Boldly speaking to crowds and saying that Jesus is their saviour and their friend, singing worship songs to their God in front of large crowds. They don’t hang on to their past. they aren’t affected by their rough stories and don’t get interviewed on Carte Blanche. Why? They have found Jesus. They have hope! And despite their past, they know they are safe and loved.

I realised that the Joy that I saw in their faces was all Jesus. His love was ooozing out of them. and they sang to him with all they have.

It just made me realise what an impact that one person can have by merely living out God’s plan and calling. Not only are the kids lives changed, but they in turn make huge impact on the people that they get to sing to around the world (including me).

This gave a me a fresh reminder that we can each make an impact wherever we are. and I know that even though I’m going to Michigan to minister to a bunch of rich kids from a whole different world, I can still make an impact on their lives. because in actual fact, its not me making an impact. its the love of Jesus oozing out of me that can make the change.

“It is Jesus that has given me back my life... So I sing to Him”

Check out all that the watoto village is doing at www.watoto.com
If you’re in Durban, they have a partner village which is doing incredible things too! www.liv-village.com/home

Thank you to Watoto for coming to Durban and impacting us!

I don't understand...

I love knowing someones mind. to somehow get inside their head and figure out what they’re thinking- to be able to read their feeling and emotions. Especially the woman-kind... (but that’s a whole different blog!)

what about getting into God’s 'head'? I know we try! all the time! that’s why people write books and blogs and make nooma dvd’s and give hour-long sermons. We want to get to know God more, and we want to figure out what he’s about. in order to figure out what he’s about, we try to know what he’s thinking...

The greatest thing about God is... He isn’t an equation. He isn’t a section in a maths text book that I can just work out on a piece of paper and then understand! You can’t put him in a box. you can’t figure him out!

You see, if we could figure him out, then we would know everything he knows, and if we knew everything that he knows, that would make us equal to him- which would make US God and therefore we wouldn’t need God. But we do need God and we can’t be equal to him and we can’t understand him! Thats why HE is God and we aren't! Get it?

We can always get to know God more than we do right now, but we can never fully understand him.

Yes God tells us a lot about himself and his plans for us in the bible, but not everything. This is why I don’t like people who try to predict God. like the end times. I think God doesn’t give us a date for a reason! he wants us to realise that we can’t know everything because he is God and we’re not, and we have got to be ready, and trust that he has it under control and he has our best interest at heart.

The point where trying to figure out God becomes unhealthy, is the point at which we think we have figured him out!

I don’t know why God does things, and I love that! I don’t know whats coming next, and its exciting! The world could ‘end’ while you’re reading this, or in two thousand years time. I might have an awesome 2011 or the worst year of my life... but all I know is that I have a God who loves me, and he’s a God that I can trust!

If God had facebook, and then I failed...

Last Friday was a sad day for South African citizens. yes, our beloved national cricket team, the protea’s, bowed out of the Cricket World Cup. They failed. Even thought they promised us that this world cup would be different. They choked! again

Straight after cricket I went on facebook. yes, of course I did. We love posting our reactions to sport on facebook- most status's looked something like this:  “CHOKERS. YOU SUCK PROTEA’S”... “That is why I don’t support South African Cricket”... “worst captain ever! We can’t even win an easy game!”... Now I’m not getting into those reactions, because, we all know how I feel about what it means to ‘support’ your team. Something else interested me in all of this...

One of my friends wrote a similar status. I challenged her with it and she made an interesting comment:

“I didn't give up on them, I am saying they aren’t performing and it upsets me- like when i sin, even tho God loves and forgives me, it still upsets him!”

Wow, suddenly a status about cricket has brought up an interesting debate about God’s grace ! Love it!
I thought about this long and hard, and what she said was true. We do mess up, and God is disappointed in our sin, because he loves us.

But lets just say God had a facebook account. His name is GOD. and he has something like 3 billion friends. He loves me and supports me. and I fail. what would he make his status?

Would he say, ‘JORDAN YOU SUCK!!’... ‘CHOKER!!!’... ‘so typical! one moment you promise me you wont mess up again, and the next moment you do! Ha! its pathetic really’.... ?

My opinion? ... Thats not what he would say. When people let us down, our initial reaction is anger. bitterness. and yes, disappointment too, but this disappointment turns in to anger anyway, we cant really escape it. because we’re human.

But the amazing thing about God is that his disappointment is out of love for us. He is saddened, but always loves us anyway, and doesn’t resent us for turning our back on him. He forgives us. and takes us back immediately, even though he knows we will fail again. and again. and again.

That is what makes God amazing.

Hebrews 8:12 says “And I will forgive their wickedness,
and I will never again remember their sins.”

As human beings, there is nothing more awesome than the fact that God won’t hold our ‘chokers tag’ against us.

this is the beauty of grace!


(Special thanks to Caryn for posting that comment, and encouraging me to blog about it . )

Hi, God...

The world is consumeristic. We are selfish beings. We want. we need. we want more. we need more. We always have more than we need... and then we get more. ‘I have something cool, but I want whats cooler.’ Our consumeristic nature has become a rash on our generation, and has entered the very fibre of our society. On top of this, I think we unknowingly and far too easily slip into this consumeristic mindset with God...

Lets be honest for a second. Everybody prays when they need/want something. Whether its help in a situation, or supernatural intervention. I totally understand this, because, I do it too! Its all too easy to pray when you’re desperate. Sometimes we see God as a lifeline. A genie in a bottle. A wish-granter that is there to make our lives more comfortable and easy. And then if God doesn’t answer prayers, we get angry at him. Pretty normal cycle for both Christ followers and people who don’t consider themselves ‘practicing Christians’.

Since Friday, when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, #PrayforJapan has been a trending topic on twitter. (If you’re not on twitter, you should be. get with it. its awesome) That means that a VERY large percentage of the Social Networking world (literally millions of people) are tweeting about praying for Japan. I’m sure you’ve seen it around: every celebrity, president, and commoner has said something about ‘our thoughts and prayers go to Japan’...

This got me thinking... something terrible happens and suddenly the world in interested in prayer? I sometimes wonder what God is thinking in all this. I actually have no idea. But if I was God, listening to the voices of a world that loves to beat me down and hate my people, I’d probably say something like, ‘oh. So now you want to speak to me???!’... Thankfully, I am not God.

We give God so little of our time, and yet we expect Him to answer our every plea and fulfill our every desire.

Instead of making myself feel guilty about being a consumerist and ‘not praying enough’, I've tried to counter my consumeristic-ness [yes, I just made that a word]. IDEA: Every time we feel the need to pray for something out of ‘God I need this’ or ‘God, please’ (whether its personal or for something like the people of Japan or New Zealand) try spend more time in prayer than just asking for things. I started to realize how much I ask of God, and how little time I actually give him.

Don’t misread this: My heart really does go out to those in Japan, and prayer is HUGE in this situation! All of us really should be in prayer for them as often as we think about it. God answers prayer, but he also loves spending time with us. (as weird as that sounds)

I believe that our relationship with God could be so much more if we gave him more time than the 30 seconds it takes to ask him for help!

'Coach, please can you tie my shoelace?'

Coaching grade 2’s how to play the very intricate game of cricket has its ups and downs. Realistically, as far as the cricket goes, the kids are pretty terrible. often in the 45 minute practices they just want me to throw the ball at them and see if they catch it... because catching is everyone grade 2’s favourite part of cricket (even though 80 percent of the balls land on the ground). However, There is more to this job than just teaching them how to play. The part that is most interesting and entertaining is listening to what they say and the way they see the world.

I’ll get back to that...

The days when I’m not with my legendary grade 2’s I coach a team of 14 year olds. Quite a difference! In fact, last week I coached 8 year olds, 11 year olds, 13 year olds as well as my 14-year old team. So I’ve had a pretty good stretch of ages. Each stage of their lives is so different, and they speak/act/think very differently. There is one thing though, one common thread that I see in all of them.

The little ones (grade 2’s) want to learn how to tie their shoelaces, get a real bat and play cricket with a hard ball. The 11 year olds want to get taller. the 13 year olds want to get stronger and have deeper voices, and the 14 year olds want to have a girlfriend... Can you find the common desire? They all want to be big(ger).

They all want to be in the next stage of life thats just beyond their reach, or is in their reach, but something that for some reason beyond their control, they can’t have.

The truth is, we all want something else. Something more then what we are right now. Something we could be. Or our dreams for the future. I personally wish I was famous. you know, a drummer- rocking out for packed stadiums of 80 thousand people, with people running after me and fight for my drum sticks and begging for my autograph... lets not get stuck on details, but you get the picture...

I’m not saying these dreams for the future are wrong or impossible... maybe you will see me in an interview on E! channel, or writing a facebook status that gets fifteen thousand likes... but today- that is not me. When we allow ourselves to get sucked in to what we wish we had, or want one day, we miss the now. We miss whats happening around us.

Maybe you wish you were out of school. Maybe you wish you had a SWEET job at company that paid better. Maybe you wish your kids would grow up and move out, or  you wish you had that retirement home on the beach where the sound of the ocean drowns out the real world. We have to keep those dreams for the future, but not let them control our minds.

Whichever stage of life we’re in, we have got to enjoy it. and just live it! What I have learnt most from these little guys is simple:

When we are more worried about tying our shoelaces, getting bigger or having a girlfriend: we miss out on simply enjoying the grade 2 cricket happening around us.

Gap Life

the wonderful gap year. its a craze. I’m telling you. everyone's doing it!

I see my self as a relatively experienced gap-year-taker. My gap year actually turned out to be a gap 18 months. sweet huh? well. yes and no. So I decided to compile a short list of great gap year tips and things you should know when entering this endeavor. For those of you that already started your year, use this stuff. even if you’re studying but living at home... its a whole new world, and a new lifestyle.

1. connect to a local church- and stay there! this is huge. (and this applies to anyone who just started varsity too) leaving high school when everything is easy and spoon-fed by youth and youth leaders is one thing, but being on your own spiritually is a whole new one. Don’t let yourself get distracted and pull away from your church or your christian mates. Stay there! I promise you, being plugged into a church will make your year a lot easier, and will provide that accountability so that you don’t become a first year fader.

2. Get busy- Do something! I’m not talking just about your studies or job that you’ve got for your gap year, but do some new stuff. You’re going to have a lot of different spare time, and rather than sitting on facebook all day every day, do something interesting. Get a hobby. like, start a blog.(ha!) or learn a language. or get involved in something at church or in your community. Don’t just sit around. It’s the worst! You end a day or a week thinking , ‘well that was a waste!’

3a. Keep thinking about the next year. This is a big thing I learnt! Most of us take gap years because we aren’t exactly sure what we want to do or study. And that’s a great reason. However, while you’re in your gap year, you need to be thinking about the future. Try stuff and see where your passions are- look at your options for the year ahead. get little experiential jobs or things to do! be proactive . That way, you won’t get to December still having NO idea what's next...

3b. At the same time, live in the now. Don’t let the future stress you out. keep it on your mind, but just enjoy the time you have to have fun ! Stressing is for later ... 3a and 3b are a balance, but its possible to be both

4. Make the most of it . Do as much cool stuff as you can. be wise with money. save it, but also spend it on having fun. doing crazy stuff. make new friends. go places. It will just make your gap year that much more memorable at the end of it all.

5. Lastly, Be ready to grow. honestly I've seen more growing up in myself and my mates than ever. its fast and furious. And at the end of the year you'll look back and see how much you've changed.

Well, for those still in school and not sure about after-school life, I highly recommend the gap year (or 18 months... or gap life. whatever you want to call it.)
You will grow, be challenged and have exuberant amounts of fun! and at the end of it all, you will be ready to take on the school books again after a healthy 12-month rest.

light.

Just think how much of our world revolves around light . Ok yes, the earth literally does revolve around a light-source called the sun... But this is figuratively speaking.

Sunlight brings life. It makes things grow, and makes life happen. But not only is light something that we cannot live without, its something of great beauty and mystery. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy watching the sun set over the ocean or rise over the mountains. what about fire... I could stare at flames forever. The light of a huge bonfire or even a tiny candle is mesmerizing! What about those photographs with the perfect lighting that just creates a mood to the image that is simply unexplainable. The source that gives humans that bronze skin tone they desire. Sunny days make life more fun, and the light of a new day can even bring people hope.

The bible speaks a lot about light. Jesus is referred to as light in the darkness and the bible (the 'word') is referred to as a light to our path. In fact, the word ‘light’ is written over 300 times in most versions of the bible! Why? I almost feel like the analogy gets old after a while. We all understand that we can’t live in the dark? Yes, we know we need light to see, or we will trip, fall into a hole in Ballito, or walk into a pole or something. (none of which I personally have done before... obviously). But is this the only meaning of the analogy?

Here comes a thought I had the other morning while enjoying a Durban sunrise.

I wonder if walking in the light is more than just being able to see. What if we didn’t only think of Jesus, 'the light’ as something that helps us see in the dark, but rather something with beauty. something that can hold our attention for hours at a time. something that makes things grow and brightens my mood. the hope. the awe-some lighting in a photograph. all that stuff. maybe walking in the light is living life to the fullest. its taking all the greatness and awesomeness of Jesus and just living in it. loving it. letting it give us joy and fun! (what? Fun?... yes. God invented fun! just throwing that out there)

Psalms 18:28
Lord, you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness!

What if our relationship with Jesus was less like a tourch on a night when we have no electricity, and more about... light