PathsOfRighteousness

How to get financial increase in your life.

2008-07-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

God has moved my heart to get this message out to as many people as possible. I pray God's blessings on all who read this blog and display obedience to go.

Business Opportunity

2008-07-11T06:31:00.001-07:00

A great part time business opportunity

Money does fall from the sky

2008-07-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

I never believed that money falls from the sky, until I came to meet Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour.

Get more broadband for less

2008-07-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Webafrica is the ISP that rocks our world! They are the most cost effective that we have encountered and their service far outweighs any that we have encountered.

*They have attractive packages starting at R70 per month for one gig.

*Instant activation and set up via telephone.

*24/7 technical support via telephone or email.

*International service.

*Free affiliate programme this means you can earn income from around the world.

*No contacts!

*Your commission is deducted from your monthly fee so you earn right away.

*They have 3 commission structures you can earn from; their max commission is 15%.

We have found their support to far exceed any other ISP that we have ever used. Their staff are friendly and incredibly solution minded.

Webafrica rocks!

Win shopping vouchers worth R24 000

2008-07-04T03:23:00.000-07:00

Advertise with this and our sister sites and not only will you receive our current freebies on offer but you will also win a free 3 month subscription to the Star newspaper. You will also be in line to win R24 000 free groceries from Spar retail outlets. Order and pay within the next 48 hours and you could save your grocery bill for an entire year!

Science confirms Bible

2008-07-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

I found a great site that uses science to confirm the Bible:

http://www.sbea.mtu.edu/users/slstonge/scienceconfirm.html

Prayer Network

2008-06-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have a friend in Uganda, Pastor Godfrey Tinka who is a wonderful man of God.

Godfrey was blessed with the power of prayer.

Please visit his site at:

http://www.visionprayer.org/id/uganda/bio.html

Does God exist?

2008-06-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

INTERESTING CONVERSATION

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy speaks to his Class on the Problem Science has with GOD, The ALMIGHTY.

He asks one of his New Christian Students to stand and . . .

Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So you Believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD Good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor : Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him.

Most of us would attempt to Help Others who are ill.

But GOD didn't.

How is this GOD Good then ? Hmm ?

( Student is silent )

Professor : You can't answer, can you ?

Let's start again, Young Fella.

Is GOD Good ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Is Satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor : Where does Satan come from ?
Student : From . . . GOD . . .
Professor : That's right.

Tell me son, is there evil in this World ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Evil is everywhere, isn't it ?

And GOD did make Everything. Correct ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : So who created evil ?

( Student does not answer )

Professor : Is there Sickness ? Immorality ? Hatred ? Ugliness ?

All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they ?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, who Created them ?

(Student has no answer)

Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you.

Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD ?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD ?
Student : No , sir.
Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD ?

Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter ?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor : Yet you still Believe in HIM ?

Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist.

What do you say to that, son ?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor : Yes. Faith. And that is the Problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat ?
Professor : Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold ?
Professor : Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn't.

( The Lecture Theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events )

Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat,

a Little Heat or No Heat.

But we don't have anything called Cold.

We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that.

There is no such thing as Cold.

Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat.

We cannot Measure Cold.

Heat is Energy.

Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.

( There is Pin - Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre )

Student : What about Darkness, Professor ? Is there such a thing as Darkness ?
Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness ?
Student : You're wrong again, sir.

Darkness is the Absence of Something.

You can have Low Light, Normal Light , Bright Light, Flashing Light . . .

But if you have No Light Constantly, you have Nothing and it's called Darkness, isn't it ?

In reality, Darkness isn't.

If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you ?
Professor : So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is Flawed.
Professor : Flawed ? Can you explain how ?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality.

You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD.

You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure.

Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought.

It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.

To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that

Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing.

Death is Not the Opposite of Life : just the Absence of it.

Now tell me, Professor, do you Teach your Students that they Evolved from a Monkey ?
Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir ?

( The Professor shakes his head with a Smile, beginning to realize where the Argument is going )

Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and

cannot even prove that this Process is an On - Going Endeavor,

are you not Teaching your Opinion, sir ?

Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher ?

( The Class is in Uproar )

Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever Seen the Professor's Brain ?

( The Class breaks out into Laughter )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever Heard the Professor's Brain, Felt it, Touched or Smelt it ? . . .

No one appears to have done so.

So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have No Brain, sir.

With all due respect, sir, how do we then Trust your Lectures, sir ?

( The Room is Silent. The Professor stares at the Student, his face unfathomable )

Professor : I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir . . .

the Link between Man & GOD is FAITH.

That is all that Keeps Things Moving & Alive.

It turned out later the student was ALBERT EINSTEIN

Prayer Request

2008-06-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone

Today I want to ask you to please pray for a dear friend of mine.

Ria is a 26 year old lady who had a bad stroke 3 years ago which left her wheelchair bound and paralysed on her left side.

By the grace of God, she has recovered beautifully and is for the most part independent and out of the wheelchair. Her left foot and left hand however are still useless to her.

Her father is a Muslim and her mother a staunch Christian. Her father said that once she has the use of her left hand back, he will come to church.

Ria has applied for a job and would love a car on her birthday in December.

Please let us pray for the complete healing of her left side and the job and car. This lady believes that God has healed her and that He is going to supply her with all her heart's desires. Let's pray with her!

Old VS New (Part 2)

2008-06-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

Firstly, some scripture from Hebrews 9:

1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the bread; which is called the sanctuary.

3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. :mad:

11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; :wink:

12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. :razz:

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.

19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Also:

Romans 8 v 1 Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 v 39 Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We asked the following question on GotQ and this was their response:

Question 88261: I am having a debate with two atheists. They are so hell bent on disproving the existence of God. Their latest debate is that if Christians do not adhere to the laws of Moses then we are hypocrites, since we don`t offer cows as sacrifices. The also quote Jesus as saying that not one part of the OT should be changed. Any input?

Answer: Your friends are woefully ignorant of the subject they are debating. The key to understanding this issue is knowing that the Old Testament law was given to the nation of Israel, not to Christians. Some of the laws were to make the Israelites know how to obey and please God (the Ten Commandments for example), some of them were to show them how to worship God (the sacrificial system), some of them were to simply make the Israelites different from other nations (the food and clothing rules). None of the Old Testament law applies to us today as a requirement of our salvation. If we could obey the law, we would not need a Savior. When Jesus died on the cross, He put an end to the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25; Ephesians 2:15).

In place of the Old Testament law, we are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) which is to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). If we do these two things, we will be fulfilling all that Christ wants for us to do, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Technically, the Ten Commandments are not even applicable to Christians. However, 9 of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament (all except the command to observe the Sabbath day). Obviously, if we are loving God we won’t be worshiping other gods or worshiping idols. If we are loving our neighbors, we won’t be murdering them, lying to them, committing adultery against them, or coveting what belongs to them. So, we are not under any of the requirements of the Old Testament law. We are to love God and love our neighbors. If we do those two things faithfully, everything else will fall into place.

Old vs New Law

2008-06-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

A common debate is why we no longer follow the laws from the Old Testament. Here's a scripture which explains it nicely:

Hebrews 9:11

He came as High Priest of this BETTER SYSTEM which we now have. He went into that greater, perfect world and once for all took blood into that inner room, the Holy of Holies and sprinkled it on the mercy seat; but it was not the blood of goats and calves. No, He took His own blood and with it He, by Himself, made sure of our eternal salvation.

And if under the old system the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of young cows could cleanse men’s boies from sin, just think how much more surely the blood of Christ will transform our lives and hearts.

14 - READ THIS!

HIS SACRIFICE FREES US FROM THE WORRY OF HAVING TO OBEY THE OLD RULES AND MAKES US WANT TO SERVE THE LIVING GOD.

Atheists

2008-06-19T04:09:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to see how non-Christians think: http://trashmedia.co.za/2008/06/11/the-perfect-sin/#comment-28689

I recently admitted on a site that I am a Christian and that Jesus healed me; which opened the door for self-proclaimed atheists to attack me. They have called me dumb, moronic, accused me of having had a lobotomy and called me a liar.

I have learned not to fight Jesus’ cause for him as he does not need me to do that. I do not ram my beliefs down anyone’s throat, but stand fast by my beliefs. Now I would be lying if I did not admit that I was hurt by this onslaught and in fact I responded in an unchristian fashion. I am not happy about that but have resolved to not continue along that vein. In fact I have requested that the person concerned refrain from addressing me and insulting me, alas he continues to both insult me and address me.

I asked God why someone who does not know me, would treat me this way and Praise God as he answered me! I watched TBN last night and the subject of atheism came up and bottom line is that they are used by a satanic cult where the motto is “everything goes”. This cleared up a lot of confusion for me. Non-believers will try tactics such as character assassination, saying that you are stupid and how evil God is because of all the pain and suffering.

My take on atheists is that they were Christians and God did not come through for them quick enough and they are angry and resentful. The best way to deal with this is to tell everyone he does not exist. As someone who has backslidden in the past I feel for people like this and wish I could get through to them. I pray that God will come against satan in a mighty way and crush satan forevermore.

We as Christians need to stand united against the evil one. We need to remember to rebuke the spirit and not the person.

In the end - Our God Reigns, Our God is an Awesome God!!!

Measuring blessings

2008-06-19T02:44:00.001-07:00

People often measure up their blessings (or lack thereof) against other's.

Perhaps I don't have a lot of money and material belongings. Those are little things that the evil one uses to keep those who judge me away from God.

I am blessed in every other area of my life with health, amazing children, a wonderful husband, talents, creativity; those gifts are eternal.

Reading Proverbs tells us how to live our lives and I find it incredibly inspiring. It tells us how to handle money and judgment and how to live righteously.

I'd much rather have what I do than have an expensive lifestyle and lack the blessings that often accompanies it.

That of course doesn't mean that you can't have it all. When you fulfill your destiny of God's plan, you get all your desires in addition to the perks of being a King's Kid and I look forward to that. What God gives, no man can take away and God has sent Jesus for us to have life and life to the full. However nothing comes free - it takes work and I'm up for the challenge!

Why do atheists frequent Christian sites?

2008-06-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

This has been a question I have asked, ever since I became a Christian.

I have seen the most obscene blog posts one could imagine on Christian sites where we speak of God's miracles and then non-believers or God-haters enter to try detract from what we have to say.

Cars don't interest me, hence I stay away from car sites. Satanism sites offend me, hence I stay away from those. Could it be that the non-believers are actually looking for something to believe in that they can't stay away Christian sites?

Otherwise, based on the tripe they spew out and the attempted character assassination, it would seem they are trying to take Christians away from God. It would take a bit more than that to pull me away from God. Why would they do that, though? Could it be they feel threatened?

The Bible warns that Christians shall be prosecuted, so we expect it - roll with the punches and swat off the flies. After all we know that Isiah 54 says:

15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

and

17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

The mere fact that they feel the need to resort to character assassination is a sure sign of fear. Anger stems from fear and I sure would be fearful if I knew in my heart that my false sense of pride and ego would keep me from eternal life.

God lives and the atheists know it. See atheists love to say that Christians are brain-dead. The definition I have heard first was that "atheists hate God" and agnostics don't believe that God exists, however I don't want to put anyone in a category here, hence I went to do some research online. I failed to come up with a conclusive definition. Says one atheist / agnostic writer: "The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made — an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. Most good, complete dictionaries readily support this." In my experience, it would seem agnostics and atheists have many overlapping beliefs. Regarding the "good dictionaries" - that's much like saying that I like a Bible that tells me what I want to hear.

I'll just leave the readers with the question: How do you hate someone you don't believe in?

Music

2008-05-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

There's no music like music that glorifies our King!

I listen to Praise & Worship all day long and find it relaxing, uplifting and inspiring.

Get your favourite music here:

From tumour to contusion

2008-05-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

God is still in the miracle business.

God bless TBN

2008-04-19T00:35:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of controversy regarding TBN ( Trinity Broadcast Network)

Is this a cry for help or what?

2008-04-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am a born again Christian and feel that my ministry is to help backslidden Christians and atheists to get back on track. I felt that here was potentially my first test case.

Allowing God to do new things

2008-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Do we use waiting on the Lord to justify our laziness?

Why God allows natural disasters to happen.

2008-03-28T06:33:00.001-07:00

This is a question I am sure many Christians ask themselves and I know it's the argument of choice for skeptics. "If God is love then why are there natural disasters, why do people die before their time?" It is a question that I have kept away from for obvious reasons. I do not want to get myself in a place where I am open to satanic attack in the form of doubting God.

Last night I was watching TBN and this topic came up. They had a religious professor and a Rabbi on the show and the host of the show. I must confess that I do not remember their names; however that is not important, the conversation was.

Firstly all three agreed that God created a perfect world and that by Adam’s sin things went haywire. This makes sense to me given the wrath we see of God in the Old Testament. Secondly if God now starts stopping tsunamis and the like then he would be interfering with the natural laws of physics. Who knows what chaos would then prevail?

Although communicated in a different way both the Rabbi and the professor agreed that God’s evidence of love is how we react to these situations. Do we try to help people in situations? Do we show them love and compassion? That, by their reckoning is where we see evidence of God’s love. The Rabbi also said we should be vigilant as to how we can prevent tragedies; we need to take responsibility for this planet that God created for us.

This all made sense to me and has given me a little more peace of mind. We also know from the bible that should never question God.

God, energy and the universe.

2008-03-28T05:38:00.001-07:00

In search of excellence in every area of my life I have recently taken on the services of a business coach. His specialty is in assisting in the creation of abundance in peoples lives. I am a Christian and given that a lot of the business coaches are new age people I entered into this course with much caution. Whilst I respect all people, I do not respect all doctrines and theories about where we came from or who is the source of my supply. I am very clear that God almighty is my supply and that he is control of my life. Now my latest session provided me with much food for thought. The course was about increasing energy levels and energy vibrations. I was given a quick lesson on quantum physics and the bottom line is that according to Einstein everything on earth is an energy field. There is no such thing as solid mass; everything when you break it down to its smallest form is pure energy. Accepting this truth has led me to thinking a little more deeply about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and everything else in life as we know it.

I believe that when you are right with God you open yourself to more blessings, more anointing by virtue of the fact that the Holy Spirit (God) is inside of me. We also know that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not force himself on you. I know that when I lack a little faith or operate in the flesh the Holy Spirit is not with me. According to my coach people who are successful operate at a higher energy frequency, as Christians we say we are anointed. Now getting to what God appears like, we are told in the Bible that God said “Let us make man in our image” Us would be the trinity, our image would be what? Does God look like a man or a woman or both? Well if we believe what my coach said about higher frequencies, he also said that Jesus and Ghandi would have operated at a much higher frequency than the average human being. Is it then fair to assume that God being perfect as we all know he is, would be the perfect form of energy? He would be the ultimate purest form of energy on the planet, operating at the highest frequency imaginable. That would explain how he was able to create the world as we know it in six days. It explains why He is able to perform such incredible miracles. This coaching session has given me more insight as to how God operates and has given me clear direction as to how I should strive to achieve excellence in my life.

Why God allows us to go through situations

2008-03-28T04:54:00.000-07:00

It is very easy to get into victim mode when your life appears messed up. We tend to lose confidence, get miserable and then spiral down into a place that you do not want to be in. This place is also very hard to get out of. I know I speak from personal experience. I was doing “well” in life a few years ago, had money, BMW and a nice house with a pool. For a variety of reason this all went pear shaped and I lost everything. The climb back has been tough; however I rejoice everyday as I have more now than I could ever have had, if God did not work in my life. My wife said to me a while ago “why are we going through this?” My reply was” Do you think we would have come to God if we were successful and cruising around the world? The answer to me was very clear. I would not have given God a second thought. So I would have been very rich on earth and been damned to eternal hell!

Now it took me longer than most to wrap my head around how God works. Fact is now I have eternal life and I am subject to his blessings, so I get the best of both worlds. So next time you are feeling like God has deserted you, remember that you have tap into Him, and allow Him to control every aspect of your life, submit to His will. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and everything shall be added unto you according to His riches and glory.

Free telephone and discounted air time

2008-03-28T01:23:00.001-07:00

How would you like to save 30% of your phone bill every month? This includes telkom and cell phones. We are running an advertising special at the moment, buy 24 months of advertising with us and we will give you free a phone worth R3000. We will also pay your first years subs worth R600 for you. If you make calls on this phone to other users your calls are FREE!

Conditions are that you must have a working ADSL line, must reside in South Africa and must buy our R3500 advertising packge. For more information go to: http://www.madgenius.co.za/content.asp?page=222

Full time pastors a no no!

2008-03-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

Speaking strictly about prosperity message Pastors, I feel they should be part time in the ministry. There has been so much publicity and criticism of this particular brand of pastors. There are different beliefs about the prosperity message. Some say that prosperity is not scriptural; some believe we have to suffer like Christ did in order to get into heaven. These are the people who have an issue with tele evangelism. Now please do not get me wrong, whilst I believe as the Bible also says, priests should get paid well to their jobs, I do not believe that the money that goes into Church coffers via tithing and offering should pay for the pastor to fly around in a helicopter. That said, I do not have an issue with a pastor who owns a helicopter or anything else for that matter, provided it is not against the law or the bible.

My feeling is that these pastors should be part time in the ministry; they should have an income stream and not get any money from the church. This way they will not be under public scrutiny and be beyond reproach. A lot of the tele evangelists make money buy selling books, DVD, CDs and audios. This is fine, it is their intellectual property and they are entitled to make money from that. I think the Churches can be run on a part time basis given that many elders are working people anyway. Why should it be any different for the pastor? They should preach prosperity to the congregation and where possible show and help the members to achieve prosperity. This suggestion only applies to pastors who preach prosperity, for those in other denominations the status quo should remain. It is interesting to note that in South Africa the figures bandied about for Pentecostal membership is well on its way to 10 million people. The question we have to ask ourselves is which belief is bringing more people to God? The carrot or the stick?

Faith and tithing

2008-03-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

I write this blog with much excitement and enthusiasm. Tithing is the one topic that creates a lot of debate and misunderstanding.

I remember when I read about this a few years ago, the topic troubled me quite a lot. In my heart I knew that it is right to give to others, however my self talk was how can I give if I do not have enough myself? I finally resolved to give once I had started to make enough. This never happened; in fact money just dwindled away from me.

Years later I started going to Church and felt obliged to give, so I did. When I read in the Bible God’s promises to those who tithe, particularly the one about”test me with your tithe and see if I won’t open the window of heaven and pour out a blessing that you cannot contain." I decided to test God. Sure as eggs whatever we gave we pretty much received 10 times that back!

My wife use to get nervous at my comments like “God’s bank is the best bank”. God knew however what I meant by this and other observations made by me on the subject of tithing. Fact is that we have never gone short of food and basic essentials despite years of financial hardship. We always eat three times per day; we have warm shelter and clothing and have never gone without. I remember one day offering my last R6.70 and a few hours later receiving R67!

Renowned business and life coach, Jim Rohn says you should give 10% of your income to a worthwhile cause. He suggests you start early as it is easier to give away 10% of $10 than 10 % of $1million. Develop the habit early. Suze Orman, financial expert says if you do not give your hands are never open to receive.

I can tell you of countless stories where we have given money to the church and received way more. End of January we tithed R98 and in February we received out of the blue (not income) R5000. We honestly cannot wait to tithe as we know our money will bless someone else and that God will reward us handsomely for our giving. My suggestion to people is to start tithing and keep a log of your tithes and blessings, then spread this message, the world will become a better place.

Welcome

2008-03-19T04:48:00.001-07:00

We would like to welcome Adrian Chinery as an advertiser to our sites.

Adrian is a graphic designer whose business specializes in advertising, design and print for SMEs. He is a good negotiator and has a keen mind for business. He believes that small businesses should support each other where possible, a philosophy that we share. We wish huge success for Adrian.

For more information on your printing needs go to: http://www.themoon.co.za/cheap.asp

As a preferred customer Adrian will have our team ferverently promoting his company and will also receive R350 for all referrals that he sends to us. We trust this will be the start of a long and fruitful business relationship.

Persecution of Christians

2008-03-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

Watching TBN on TV last night really gave me food for thought. I love to watch the Christian channel as it edifies me and gives me the wisdom to grow spiritually. One of the programmes though was quite disturbing to me.

It was an interview of a person named Dean Jones, he was telling the audience about the persecution of Christians in Islamic countries, these Christians are jailed, beaten, tortured and even killed in the name of Jesus Christ. Now apart from this atrocity towards human beings for the religious
Beliefs in a world with more freedom than ever, I either believe or I don’t.
We believe in the gospel or we do not. I have often got into debates with non-Christians and the favorite argument that I get is there should be religious tolerance. Christians should not judge.

Well firstly we do not judge, Jesus will when he comes back.

How can people castigate me for my beliefs and comments when people of other religions are killing Christians for their beliefs?

Here are some recent headlines about Christian persecution that made the
News:

"Nigeria: A Christian policeman is dead and two teenagers are recovering from serious injuries after Muslim pupils devised a violent plot to force Christians out of their high school."

"Twenty-one pastors have been sent en masse to labour camps amid growing suspicion that China is trying to gag house churches before the Beijing Olympics."

"At least seven house churches have been closed down in recent months. And several believers have been formally charged under legislation that has lain dormant for two years. Newspapers have published false claims that churches 'pay' their members for converts."

"The past year has seen continuing violence against Christians as Pakistan struggled to contain Islamic extremism. The assassination of democracy campaigner Benazir Bhutto and the turmoil that has followed make it an even more dangerous place to be a Christian."

According to Release International, persecution is defined as such:
Persecution: A situation where people are repetitively, persistently and systematically inflicted with grave or serious suffering or harm and deprived of (or significantly threatened with deprival of) their basic human rights because of a difference (race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership in a particular social group) that the persecutor will not tolerate.

Photos of little Christian children in hospitals with lots of bandages and missing limbs are all over the internet. People have lost loved ones due to this. I have not heard of Christians kidnapping, mutilating and killing people in the name of religion.

Forty day fast!

2008-03-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

In the last 2 years, The Secret has taken the world by storm and people have become aware of their thoughts and how our thoughts control our lives.

I watched Gregory Dickow on TBN last night and what motivation! He is a really dynamic speaker and what he had to say made a whole lot of sense to me. The Bible tell us “As a man thinks so he is” Proverbs 23:7. So let's put away all those negative thoughts and start creating a positive life right now.

Here is something that Christian and non-Christians alike can participate in. It is a 40 day fast! Not to worry though it is not a food fast but a fast from wrong thinking!

I have just registered for the fast and it is awesome, it has archives so you can start today from day one and just follow the easy instructions and a daily thought to eliminate from your mind. For more information go to: http://thinkingfast.org/ .

Register for the fast and change your life in 40 days.

Cracking the code part two.

2008-03-13T06:13:00.001-07:00

As a single mother to a sickly child, my mom worked very hard. In my second year of school I was sent off to Durban to live with family as my mother could not look after me and provide for me. I used to sit in Church on Sunday mornings bored out of my skull and had no idea what was going on, nor did I much care.

I was born and raised as a Catholic. Life went on until age twelve, I was informed that I had never been confirmed as a Catholic and I would be going to Catechism classes. I enjoyed them; I was also an altar boy and a choir boy.

The priest was a cool guy and everyone enjoyed the classes. I did too until one day when the priest used the F*&$ word! I was shocked as this was not behaviour or language I expected from a man of God. I asked him why he swore, he explained to me that it was okay to swear as long as it was not at someone. In other words, it's okay to say "It's F..king hot today", but not if you say "F.. You!"... Didn't make much sense to me at the time and still doesn't.

Also when the altar boys or choir group had a braai, he would drink beer and smoke a cigarette. At the tender age of twelve this freaked me out, these guys were God’s right hand men, they should not be swearing, smoking and drinking. I eventually finished the classes; I think I was round about 14 or so at the time. I walked into my bedroom tossed the certificate on the bed and vowed never to go to church again!

As a young, easily influenced young man, this was in my opinion at the time my introduction into the wonderful world of hypocrisy and I was having no part of it.

Everyone sins don't they?

2008-03-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Feedback from our article “Religious tolerance is thee work of satan” has been tremendous!

The latest feedback was from someone who agreed with us and the writer hit the nail on the head when he said "...there is no middle ground with Jesus, either you believe or you don’t.”

The writer refers to the comment where I state that I sin left, right and centre. The thing is whether we like it or not we are all sinners, even the saved. My point in that line is to tell everyone not to use me as a bench mark. I am human and fallible, we all are. There is not a living soul on earth that does not sin.

Jesus was the only person who came to Earth and lived sin free. Us as humans get angry, we lust, we covet, we lie - even the Christians. However through acceptance of Jesus Christ we are saved. Saved Christians fall under the grace of God and salvation exists for us. It's easier to let go of one's sinful ways when you fall under God's grace. The walk with God to seek his favour is as long and as short as you wish to make it, the sooner you submit to his will the better

I imagine that if we do not repent from sin and make an effort to sin no more then our judgment will be severe. God’s grace exists in many areas of our lives not just our salvation. My personal experience is that the more I strive to please God the better my life is, the more he blesses me. So in closing my point is that I do sin, I do seek forgiveness and attempt to repent, but I am human.

We do not want to offend anyone however we strongly believe in Jesus Christ and have first hand experience of how satan works. We just want to help as many people as possible. A last point for non-believers: don’t shoot the messenger; this is God’s word, not ours.

Your salvation is not my responsibility!

2008-03-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

There has been a bit of a furore over my last blog titled’ Religious tolerance is satan’s work ’. I have been accused of being a bigot, judgmental, knowing what God thinks and all kinds of nonsense. I was also accused of being self righteous and a war monger.

Now I am a simple person, no varsity degree or anything special like that, however I can read. I also have the ability to believe. If the bible tells me that only people who believe in Christ as the Saviour then that is what I believe.

I was asked do I know satan? Well here is the thing, he has been very present in my life, he has tried to derail me daily for eight years. He has robbed me of much in order for me to turn my back on God. So it makes sense to me that if he is doing that to me then he must be responsible for keeping other people away from God. Just as we Christians believe that God uses people on earth to bless us, the opposite must apply, satan uses people to derail us from God. God in turn waits for us to make the right choice in order to bless us. God blesses those who believe and trust in him.

Rebuke the spirit, not the person. We love all people. Do I judge or hate people? Absolutely not! I pray for many unsaved people that I know people who call me stupid, a bigot, judgemental. I have never insulted anyone, called them names or anything like that. I do however tell the truth as I know it. Remember Christians are not here to attack anyone, we are messengers for Christ. If you do not agree with my beliefs, fine, but remember to play the ball not the man.

Your salvation is not my problem, it is yours. That was the gist of my blog: Find your own path, don’t follow what I do. I will fail miserably everytime.

Another word of advice, if Christianity offends you then do not visit those websites. I am grossly offended by pornography and anything to do with satan, so I stay well away from those sites.

Not being right with God is like side effects from medication!

2008-03-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

Human beings will never be perfect. We are full of faults and follow our own heads. It's not easy to submit to anything or anyone entirely, let alone a God that we cannot see.

It took me years to get my head around submitting to God's will for the most part. I can't honestly say that I submit even 90% to this day, although I strive for this as I know that when I do that, my life will improve tremendously. When I first started submitting, things would start going really well for me and I'd get excited, but there's always that one little problem that persists or something else goes wrong. This is utterly frustrating!

I have wondered whether it's all just co-incidence as those who don't believe in God try to tell me, or is it something I did wrong?

In all my ponderings, I've come up with an analogy which makes a lot of sense for me.

Imagine you have a virus which is making you feel sick and you visit the doctor, who gives you anti-biotics to make you better. You want to be better, so you take the antibiotics. Thing is that anti-biotics often mess with one's stomach and one has to eat yoghurt to restore the natural balance in one's stomach.

When you don't follow God's will 100%, you unwittingly leave a little gap open for sin to enter (a little gossip here, a bit of dishonesty there). It often takes a while before you realised what you have done and by then the 'virus' has spread. This is when you are ready to go to God for an anti-dote. What you didn't realise is that for every gap that you realise that you have left open, there's at least one other gap you didn't realise was open and where the virus has festered.

The painful process of healing starts and that is when we are in spiritual 'fever', sweating out the 'free radicals'. Things you never anticipated may pop up to make you feel worse and the blessings might seem to be taking the slow-delivery route.

So what is the solution? Pray diligently, ask God to show you where you are leaving gaps open for sin to enter. God has given us everything we need in life and it's up to us to seek his will daily.

We cannot sit in one spot afraid to move in case we open a gap though. God is forgiving and merciful and he blesses our hands to do the work we need to do for the expansion of his kingdom as well as our survival here on earth. God blesses the hard worker. Although God has a plan for your life, you also have been given free will.

He will forgive you if you ask him to. He will protect you if you ask him to. In all you do, seek his will and ask for wisdom and guidance and he will give that and more to you.

Cracking the code part one.

2008-03-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

“Mom, tell them to stop praying for me!". Those were the words that broke my mother's heart a few years ago when I was going through a tough time in my life, in business and personally. My late mother used to tell me to pray and tried to help me find solace in the fact that her sister-in-law and her best friend prayed for me daily. My mother was not particularly religious; she did however fear God and was worried about Him taking his wrath out on me. I didn't believe in God though.

Finally I decided that if these two lovely ladies were praying for me, the least I could do is pray too. I used to run for at least 45 minutes a day and figured I could pray at that time, killing two birds with one stone. The more I prayed the worse things got. It is a long time ago and memory is hazy, but the more I prayed for God’s blessings the less I received and the more I lost. My whole life went to pot; I was losing about R30 000-R40 000 per month and had two people’s lives in my hands.

I became very, very angry with God. I had no fear of him. I often tempted him to smite me down, which he never did. I still didn't believe that he existed.

I am writing about my walk with God so in the hope that my story will inspire anyone who is struggling spiritually, anyone who is truly seeking and cannot find the way, cannot crack the code so to speak. Next time we chat I will go back in time and give a bit of a history of myself. In the meantime as Creflo Dollar says” In all your getting get understanding”

Are you pessimistic or optimistic

2008-03-05T05:55:00.000-08:00

No two people have the same walk with Jesus Christ. However the Bible applies to us all. How we read and interpret the Bible can make or break our faith in God. There are many different Christians out there, the kind that concern me are those that believe that we have to suffer like Jesus did. This really defeats the purpose of Christ coming to earth. He died for our sins, so that we can have eternal life and have it in abundance. God gives us all a good measure of faith, how that faith is developed is up to us. How we use the word of God in our lives is up to us. Most of us have heard the saying by Henry Ford “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right on both occasions.” I like this saying and have tried to live by that credo. Whilst we as humans are not worthy of God’s grace, the fact is that those of us that are saved fall under His grace and His blessings. The New Testament is mostly about the love of Jesus and his teachings. This is why I guess someone recommended that I read the New Testament first.

Typical unteachable me, I read the Old Testament first. When I saw the wrath of God, I wanted to quit there and then, eventually after wading through some very tough books, I succumbed and started with the New Testament. Then I got to understand about Christianity. I have read the New Testament at least four times before venturing back to the Old Testament. Now I can handle it and I am able to find God’s promise of blessings in the Old Testament. I have used the word in the Old Testament to pray into existence certain needs and desires into my life. My secret to this is to understand that I am saved and to look for the blessings in the bible. Jesus said as a man speaketh so he is. If you believe that God is wrathful and cannot wait to send you to hell then that will become your reality. You will eventually start to not be so nuts about God, (as I became) and could actually talk or think yourself out of salvation. When reading the word of God, leave your pessimistic hat at the front door, seek wisdom, seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all else shall be added according to His riches and glory.

Religious tolerance is the work of satan!

2008-02-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

A business and social networking site of which I am a member recently had a debate about whether religion should be kept out of school or not. Most of the participants (bulk of the participants are not Christian) felt that Christianity should be kept out of schools.

What surprised me though was that some of the Christians felt it should be kept out on the basis of not forcing religion down people’s throats and religious tolerance. I am a born again Christian who has many faults - I sin left right and centre and do my best to repent from these sins. The thing that concerns me is what Jesus said in the Bible. He said: "...Those that deny me on earth shall be denied by me before my Father in heaven." The Bible also says”every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess" the name of Jesus.

There are two issues I wish to raise in this article.

Respecting people’s right to religion and tolerance of these beliefs is the work of satan. In the interests of being nice and not offending people we as Christians are slowly falling into satan’s trap by accepting this behaviour. We make comments like, well *John ( an new age person) is so close to the truth all he has to do is accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour and everything will be fine. That is rubbish, *John is so far from the truth it is frightening! John is probably a nicer person than I am, however he is not born again.

The fundamental difference between Christians and non-Christians is the belief in Jesus Christ. It is not about being nice or doing good deeds. It is about accepting Christ and telling people about it. We do not get to heaven on good works; we get there by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ. We as Christians need to guard our minds against this, it is difficult but my suggestion is not to practice religious tolerance that is what satan wants! All you are doing is helping *John and every other non believer accelerate their way to hell!

When venting my feelings to a fellow Christian she quite rightly told me that we need to be an example as Christians to our fellow man. Where I struggle with this is the following: Yes we do need to be an example and live righteously, however we are human and are likely to fail. Why would any non-believer risk their own salvation by how I behave? The reality is that the whole human race is messed up, why pick on the Christians? If humanity is evil then you may as well hop the perch!

Just like our parents taught us as kids, don’t be influenced by your friends. My advice is to non-believers that are seeking the truth; don’t let my behaviour rob you of salvation and God’s blessings. Come to Jesus for yourself, not for me. I will face God’s judgment on judgment day.

Why do bad things happen?

2007-12-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

I always stayed away from religious discussions before I was born again.

However since I became born again, I have been more open to listening to the questions of those that are searching.

The most common question which is with-holding people from putting their hearts at the cross, is "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

This is generally in reference to the violence in South Africa and worldwide. The general consensus is that if God is almighty and powerful, He should be able to stop the baddies in their tracks. If He loves us so much, why does He not listen to our prayers?

These are some of the mis perceptions that cause an unbelief amongst those that are yet to be born again.

I have spent a lot of time praying and looking for the answers and finally the Holy Spirit has answered my questions and I want to relay them to you in my own humble way.

God wants to prosper and not to harm us.

As a born again individual, we have the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Protector whenever we may need Him. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and only comes into our hearts when we invite Him in. When He is present no harm will come our way.

Unfortunately we don't always walk with the Holy Spirit inside us and we allow satan to steal from and rob us and destroy what is ours, which is his way of causing distrust and boy, is he good at it!

It's very much like a parent/child relationship where your kids make you angry but you still love them.

Imagine your teenagers going to wild parties where you are not invited to and can't protect them and then they get wild drunk and do things that they shouldn't which cause them harm. It's exactly the same in our Father/child relationship with God.

Think about it: we do stuff that chases the Spirit out, we don't repent and then expect God to protect us when we are in a place we shouldn't be? (be that a physical / emotional / spiritual place).

The only thing you can do is to be sure to walk with the Spirit at all times (takes practice!), ask, believe and receive and be thankful.

By Lizette

Forgiveness

2007-12-05T03:05:00.000-08:00

The art of being able to forgive

When someone said to me that I should forgive everyone who has ever hurt me - I told them that they were nuts!

I was told that you don’t forgive for others, you forgive
for yourself. It took me a long time to get a better understanding of
this. I always thought that forgiveness meant that what they did was
okay and that I was wrong to feel the way I did about what they did.

I then heard someone else say that was not the case - you
need to be clear that you still believe that what they did was wrong,
but you will no longer be consumed by those actions.

Forgiveness is when you can think about the trauma
without being hurt, angry or upset or feel hatred towards the person
who induced the hurt.

I also know that you can only forgive when you are
ready... It took me 10 years. I don’t want it to take you 10 years
because it caused me a lot of anguish. During times when I should’ve
been happy - I couldn’t be. I over-reacted to small things. I was not
able to live life to the full.

You need to do a spring-cleaning of your heart, clear the
blockages and realise that you are really a great person with lots to
give, else you would not have been targetted by an insecure, envious
bully.

Forgive as soon as you can - it’s really the most amazing
feeling to feel secure, fulfilled, loving and kind with no anger in
your heart.

Disclaimer: I know it's easier said than done and even when you master the art, you may still relapse at times.

10 Steps to a more positive life

2007-12-05T03:03:00.000-08:00

What can you do to live a happier life and make people experience you as a person they want to be around?

1.Find something you believe in – be it your inner child, your higher me or God, you need someone you can rely on to be there for you in times of need or something to be happy about every day. Make time twice a day or how ever often you need to get in touch with your beliefs to soothe your soul.
2.Smile – a smile is contagious. As is a negative demeanour. If everything around you is crumbling, then look inside yourself. Is your attitude causing you to experience things negatively? For things to change you have to change.
3.Be of value – to your family, your friends and people that you don’t know. Do something for someone – it may not take away from you, but it will give them a lot of joy. Instead of giving money to a charity and feeling great that you have done your bit – rather give time. Show someone you care about them in deed.
4.Don’t hold grudges – learn to forgive. An unforgiving soul is a dead soul. When someone makes you angry they own your emotions and have the power to make you unhappy. Nobody should have that power. Things done to you may seem huge in your eyes – the person responsible may not even know that you were offended and therefore they don’t dwell on it like you do.
5.Rid yourself of toxic relationships – any relationships that cause you hurt, anger, resentment, guilt or anxiety are toxic and you should remove them out of your life. Spend time with people that mean a lot to you. Open up your heart and learn to live a little!
6. Exercise – a healthy body is home to a healthy heart. Get your muscles moving, your heart pumping and blood flowing. You’ll feel more relaxed, energised and your body will look toned and healthy.
7. Work on your relationship with your significant other – sure you’re a very special person, but so are they. Show them how much they mean to you and remember that magic relationships do exist and you too can have one. See www.createrelationshipmagic.blogspot.com
8. Be kind – stop criticising people. Remember that you see in others what you can’t accept about yourself. Rather find the good in everyone. If you don’t share the same core beliefs, just don’t discuss them. Focus on something you do have in common. Don’t steamroller people to make things go your way. They are people in their own right and are entitled to their opinions.
9. Pamper yourself – as often as you need it. Have some me time when you can do something that makes you happy without any interruptions. At the same time, think about things that make you happy and affirm your dreams and goals. Focus on things that you love about your life and things you want to achieve.

10. Stop dwelling on the past and focus on the future that is in your hands. Don’t punish the people currently in your life for the mistakes of other people. No two people are the same and nobody should carry the blame for another’s mistakes.

A positive attitude will stand you in good stead throughout your life. Good experiences will become better and with time, negative experiences will diminish and eventually disappear.