Blue Tumelo Masedi – I Don’t Fear Being Left By You

When you have a relationship with God it’s hard to ignore His voice when He speaks to you…

I woke up in the middle of the night one time and found myself reflecting on my life. My mind frustratingly wandered into all the parts that I felt most resentful of and intimidated by; my brother had gotten his contract extended, while my wife and brother in law had just received offers for new positions with my sister recently promoted on the other hand. As much as these are people I love, celebrate and share in all their successes but there was still this insistent self-doubt in me that childishly questioned if I had perhaps done something wrong since it felt like great things were happening all around me but to me. So I turned to God demanding answers… I actually ended up complaining about a lot of things that night, stuff I’d unknowingly bottled up. I could hear Him chuckle at my foolishness and finally say ‘Anginalo Uvalo Lokushiwa Nguwe’ (I Don’t Fear Being Left By You). I must admit I was annoyed at the response; it didn’t make sense to me at all. When all I wanted was an immediate provision for my needs there I was, awake at such a time of the night, honestly not able to figure out what my Father meant by His words. I wasn’t ready to go to my wife so I had to figure it out all on my own.

The words weighed heavily in my heart as they repeatedly kept creeping out demanding my attention and time. Then a few days later a scripture came to mind ‘When The Enemy Comes In Like A Flood, The Spirit Of The Lord Raises The Standard Against It’ I didn’t make the link to the words at first, in fact this only added more to my confusion. So I bluntly made it clear to him ‘I didn’t want a standard to be raised, I needed a job. I want a testimony of his goodness like others’ I could still hear him chuckling at my impatience and I was some part amused too and some part agitated because an even greater expectancy began growing inside of me.

‘You Are The Standard’ It instantly dawned on me that God was saying ‘I am the standard He raises against the enemy’ I immediately did research on the word ‘standard’ What the definitions uncovered excited me as everything suddenly started making sense. God was answering even the questions I didn’t know I had. My existence is planned; I am God’s declaration of war against the enemy. I realized that I’m a point of retreat, when those who are already in battle struggle to identify themselves and the enemy; I’m placed strategically to have their identities restored. I have become more cognizant of the fact that as a standard/war flag, God’s reputation and dignity are held in place through me. If the enemy was to snatch me then His dignity would be spoiled, I must say a lot of scriptures came flooding through my mind assisted me in fully perceiving this concept. How can God trust someone like me to not walk out on Him one day? Why didn’t He just say I should trust Him rather than telling me that I won’t leave Him? It was clearly an affirmation that any amount of time unemployed or drought of any kind cannot push me away from Him. I decided to make a thanksgiving prayer because God had not forgotten about me as I had wrongly believed. As much as I want to give a testimony I am actually the ultimate living testimony. Jesus proving to certainly be instilled in me for God to still continue to see purpose in me even when I was doubting and demanding. Today I live my life knowing that God hasn’t given up on me because He still finds unwavering hope when He searches into the depths of me and that is one of the greatest of feelings.
I believe that we are God’s standards and He raised us because the enemy is attacking, but most of all He hasn’t given up on this world because you and I are still alive. Ebumnandini nase bunzimeni ngiyazi ukhuthi Inhloso/injongo yami isaphephile, anginalo uvalo lokushiiwa nguwe. May God continue to see purpose in you, you are the reason He hasn’t given up, and Jesus has certainly instilled Himself in you for God to still have hope in you…

Sibusiso Zikalala – You Are More Than Just A Body

One of the primary presuppositions of humanism is that, all that there is to the universe is that which can be observed in the physical dimension. It is a notion repugnant to spirituality, which itself presupposes that there is more to the universe than meets the eye.

Spirituality anchors on the notion that, that which is physical comes from, and is a product of that which is spiritual. It is a concept based on the presumption of the universe being multi-dimensional, while on the other hand humanism is based on the presumption that the universe is a mono-dimensional phenomenon.

Spirituality is the assumption from which faith… any faith and any religion, is based. Humanism is, on the other hand, the idea on which atheism is based, for atheism says ‘because we cannot see God, nor can we measure His substance, He therefore does not exist’. Spirituality, in contrast, says: ‘Because we can see what we see, what we see is itself evidence of the existence of God because what we see cannot and could not have instituted its own existence. There is, therefore, a force, beyond what is visible and measurable and observable, which caused that which is visible and measurable and observable and that force is what we refer to as #GOD’.

The extended connotation of humanism is that: ‘There is nothing more to your existence than that which we can see or observe or measure’ that is, there is nothing more to you than what we see. You are the sum of your physicality and as soon as your body dies, you are dead.

Spirituality on the other hand presupposes that there is more to you than meets the eye. You are more than that which is observable or measurable or visible. In the strictest sense, you are not what we see, but what we see is merely evidence of you. Your true essence and the substance of your existence is that which transcends the physical and the visible. You are more than just your body and your brain. You are a spirit and your body and mind only exist to give function to your spirit. You did not begin to exist when you were born and you will not cease to exist when you die. You are spiritual being, which was allowed to transcend the spiritual dimension and permeate the physical to achieve a predetermined purpose in the physical and when that purpose is achieved and fulfilled, the one who institutes said purpose will terminate your physical existence and pull you back to the spiritual, where you belong.

I leave it to you to decide. What are you? Are you just a body?

Primus Nana Asare – Treatise (Faith, Hope & Love)

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love.

Jesus no doubt has inspired billions of people to live exemplary lives. Today people from all over the world recognize him as the Messiah and as the only begotten Son. He came in the form of flesh born in Bethlehem at a time when humanity needed him the most. In fact he came to bridge the gap that has been opened between the heavenly Father and his children. His blood sacrificed for the atonement of the very sins of mankind, hence the assurance of a better afterlife if only we adhere to His book and live by the principles espoused in the Bible. He closed the chapter on some of the ancient practices that are in the Old Testament by offering Himself as the last sacrifice. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Jesus projected three of the most important virtues which are: hope, faith and love, admitting out of these three, love is the very greatest. In this short treatise I will expound further on these three great virtues and how they affect our lives each and every day.

Now when our attention is turned to the virtues of hope and faith, we speak of one of the same thing, the woman with the issue of blood for decades who hears about Jesus and has faith is first to come to mind. With people from all walks of life surrounding the Messiah on that day, making access to Him nearly impossible, this woman unshakably believed even if she touches the tip of the helms of Jesus garment she will be healed. This is Faith in multiple proportions. True to her words and motivated by her insistent faith she meandered through the crowd and touched the garment of Jesus and this stops Jesus in His tracks as He feels a presence and proclaimed ‘Woman your faith has healed you’. That was the power of faith. Because faith is necessary for us to believe in the multidimensional power of Christ; our thoughts and actions should always be backed by our faith. The Holy Spirit did not leave us with fear but a sound mind, utilise that sound mind and leap with faith and God will certainly see you through.

Have you ever sat down and wondered why Jesus Christ will leave a comfortable life in heaven and descend on earth to die a painful death all for the benefit of mankind? What was his motivational virtue? Don’t guess for long because that virtue is simply ‘Love’. Jesus could have chosen to abandon his earthly mission but out of love He came to die for our sins and He edified it by saying, ‘it’s the greatest of all virtues’. Love conquers all things and when I talk of this love, one might think about the mundane libido love which exists between the opposite sexes but no this is far from that. This love I am specifying is different, this love is God’s love, untainted by conditions and limiting human standards that qualifies and disqualifies as it finds worthy.

Always let His Love lead…

Samantha Magwashu – Lost and Found

In my journey of being a Christian I face all sorts of pressures. Being a young person living for God in our time can sometimes really prove to be a huge challenge especially with peers constantly on my case about my lifestyle insisting that I need to live a little. They always make the mistake of thinking my life is not fun, that I’m not living my best life because of how limiting it looks to them on the outside. What they don’t realize is how completely fulfilling my life is with Christ giving meaning to it.

These pressures are the causes for the high rate of back sliding in most churches, leading many young people on unnecessary sinful paths. Many have been there; where you go astray from God and thought you were just being young and enjoying life but those experiments with the dark side actually turning out to be scarring yourself instead.

Sin comes with a lot of self-judgment, regret and consequences with the permanency of all deeds reminding of life’s nonexistent delete button, leaving you feeling undeserving of God’s love. Your esteem taking the worst knock through all of this because you will be labelled and known by the sin you are struggling with. When I had gone astray and started dating, it was hard for me to go back to God whilst knowing I had committed sin by having pre-marital sex. The people in my life didn’t make it any easy because even after I had rededicated my life to God again, they still saw me as a sinner even though He had forgiven me.

In Luke 15: 12-32

We are taught about a father and his two sons, one demanded his portion of the inheritance even though their father was still alive. The elder son decided to stay with his father whereas the younger son decided to leave home and ‘enjoy’ his life. The story goes on to tell how his haste decision was later regretted when he foolishly spent it ending up homeless and dinning with pigs. He then decides to go back home because things did not seem to go as planned.

In verse 18 the son says ‘Father I have sinned against heaven and against you’

He is expecting his father to be holding a grudge against him or turn him away but his father isn’t concerned about any of that. He asks his servants to bring the best robe, ring, scandals for his son. The father wasn’t angry with his son instead he was happy that his son was back. He didn’t even ask where he’s been as he is just glad that his son was home again. When he put his arms around him, he was covering him from all the shame that he had brought onto himself and that’s exactly what God did to me when I had gone astray. He welcomed me back with love and the sin I had committed against him was forgiven.

Luke 15:24 says, ‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.’ God’s mercy was able to rewrite my life no matter how far away I was from him. In my brokenness I have learned that it is the perfect time to go back to God because he is forever willing and ready to put me back together again.

Sinawo Bukani – Are Families Who Pray Together Really Together?

I imagine the ideal family to be a place of abundant love and stability, a place where even though it consists of complete opposite personalities, they are always able to be understanding and patient with each other. Where forgiveness is given freely and sometimes not even required because ‘bad behaviour’ is not typical. The father leads and guides with wisdom. He is a God fearing man, whose only head is Jesus Christ. He always strives to do best by his family, loving his wife as Christ loves the church (His bride). The mom is drenched in Proverbs 31; the heart of the home. The parents model what love is to their children. The parent’s voice is listened to and respected in the home; their relationship as a married couple and with their children brings them closer to God and to each other. They pray together most days, the importance of living a holy life always emphasised and taught without judgement and mistakes are never used against the other. This family understands that they cannot be without fault and completely flawless but they strive for it anyway. They value time spent together and communication is used as a tool to foster growth and maturity in all aspects individually and as a Godly family.

But then again, I said ideal…

The word ideal gives us the idea that this is the way things should be, this should be the set standard for families to abide and live by. But the sad reality is that this is not the case. So the fact is; we do have families but they are so far from being ideal and are actually total opposites of everything God intended a family to be. The purpose of the family structure is not being fulfilled; where praying together doesn’t always guarantee staying together and living in the same home does not mean they are biblically together (warm fellowship or the state and quality of togetherness). With the first place counsellors and pastors detect brokenness is always the home; tracing the cracks that have shaped the dysfunction.

Are we kneeling together or just next to one another…

The purpose of prayer is to bring us closer to God. In prayer; sincere forgiveness, reflection, better judgement, discernment and self-awareness should be sought. It is a consistent desire that is only prioritized when one values becoming a better version for them self and especially for those they share their life with. Papa Adam and Mama Eve and their children are the first family we are introduced to. When they are thrown out of the Garden one is left to wonder about their prayer life after they had eaten from the Tree of Life. Were they ever able to be ‘one flesh’ again? Did Eve ever harbour any sense of resentment or betrayal at Adam for the way he had blamed her for their sin? Was their disobedience ever discussed at the dinner table? Were both parties ever able to forgive themselves and each other? Were any apologies ever uttered and the appropriate responsibility taken? I shudder to think that these issues were never brought up and resolved because they could have still prayed together even though not still together.

I imagine Cain and Abel being born into that kind of home, where mom doesn’t feel safe because dad never has her back. Cain is known for his infamous quote ‘I am not my brother’s keeper’. As a first born son; his first responsibility and most natural instinct is that of being a keeper and protector of his younger brother. Even though murdering his brother is a great stretch from his dad escaping responsibility and blaming his wife for their transgression but the home is the first place where behaviours and core values are taught so this had to be a character trait (flaw) that was learned or inherited; where each man was for himself in that family.

Somebody needs to take responsibility…

There are many snakes that crawl into our homes; threatening to break our togetherness, snakes that introduce disobedience and nakedness; snakes that cause confusion and steal our sanity. Our homes are challenged and shattered by addictions, unmet expectations, marital hardships, abuse and so much brokenness. Sometimes these are not so easy to detect meaning we pray together with undealt issues, deep rooted hurt, resentment and bitterness. Carefully thought out effort must be put in relationships, families who live together need to maintain togetherness with care and dignity outside their prayer life. When apologies are owed, they must be expressed.

Prayer is not for perfect people but it is for people who know how to be together before kneeling together. Time spent on our knees should not be seen as the magic wand that makes our ugliness disappear. Prayer changes everything that is without a doubt and should be utilised to heal and mend. But what is the purpose of prayer if it is not used to bring families closer to each other? There is more to prayer than something we do because we hope to stay together, more is required than just kneeling side by side in the same room, more must be deliberately done to keep the bond and unity of the family.

Prayer runs the risk of becoming just a senseless religious ritual with no power or results. This is very concerning for the children that are brought up in these homes because prayer will always be nothing more than just something done before bed, limiting God to just a protector and a forgiver of generalized sin, with no real introspection and relationship with God found in prayer. Resentment and rebellion can grow against family prayer time when the children feel forced to say words with no substance. This can change how they view prayer until something is done and more effort is put into building healthy relationships between family members outside their prayer life. Don’t just pray together but be together.

Moipone Mabale (MakaQhawe) – My Story (Living With Depression And Surviving Abuse)

One of the things I feel has been the most unfortunate about my upbringing has to be growing up without my mother properly nurturing, guiding and protecting me and because of this my siblings and I were always being looked after by relatives. She later got married but our stepfather was not very fond of us, making life hell on earth for us. We went through so much hardship because of him, he always abused our mother verbally and physically and on nights when their fights got too extreme, he would kick us out and we’d have to walk long distances well into the early hours of the morning to get transport to my aunt’s place. Little did I know back then that these were the small cracks that would open up the dark hole of depression and hatred into my life; a deep hatred towards anything called a MAN.

When I was ten years old I had to move back home because my mother fell very ill, I became a nurse to a bedridden parent and a mother to my three younger siblings. Things went from bad to worse when both my mom and stepdad got retrenched, going to bed many nights without food. Then at the age of eleven I gave my life to Jesus and soon after that I moved out to go live with my aunt. Over time the abuse became something I accepted as part of my life; the verbal abuse I also endured never leaving me, it preached to me all throughout my adolescent years, I didn’t know any other life but the one we had lived.

My broken family life produced a broken woman. I was emotionally unstable and that led to a lot of identity issues in me. I yearned for the dad I never knew and a safe place that I couldn’t find at home. Dating became my hobby with all my partners always being ten years older or more and married men never exempt from the list. Church life was always in and out of my life because I couldn’t let go completely of some things, with a firm grip still holding on to dating. Then the unexpected happened; in 2011 we had a robbery at work and that threw me into the deepest darkness, I went through severe post-traumatic stress and I was advised to seek professional help. I was conflicted at first with this decision but I was out of options, I gathered what little strength I could muster and booked myself into a psychiatric hospital for a month to deal with all my open unattended wounds. The time with my counsellor spewed out my broken past with all its resentment and pain. I had bottled up so much because I had not had the emotional intelligence to detect and define what had gone wrong and how it could be fixed, but it demanded my attention and that began my journey of self-awareness and healing. It wasn’t an easy road; self-discovery for me was not at all romantic. I didn’t like what I found but I still ventured into those untraveled dark parts of my story.

From the very onset it became clear that confronting my anger towards my mother was priority, we watched her cripple us with the decision of choosing to stay with a man who broke our spirit and esteem. She had failed to shield us from such a harsh upbringing that continued well into our adult lives. Next in line was my issues with men, this was a raw and gaping scar but with time it became easier for me to trust the men in my life. I even softened up a bit to the idea of marriage and having a family of my own. Slowly I was letting go of the life my mother had once chosen for me, I was finally free from the consequences of her bad decisions and they no longer had a hold over me. The scars of my past no longer defined who I was. I no longer listened to my past when it tried to keep me down insisting I wasn’t worth anything. It was a new life, it was mine and was waiting for me to fully grow into every inch of it and now I can proudly say I’m living a life worthy of my calling with a testimony I wear with pride. It is only by grace that I have made it through the worst of times in my life, I look back and I’m in awe, knowing it was never my own doing but God through me.

Samantha Magwashu – At The Very Heart Of Your Forgiveness

There comes a time in our lives where the closest people whom we trust will hurt us the most, when our trust is brutally betrayed, hurtful things said and done that put us through so much pain in our lives. For a moment we are made to question the sincerity of all relationships, when those that promised to love and protect come very short on their promises. We are bitterly left with unasked questions, bleeding hearts demanding explanations with every broken piece needing mending. Then you find yourself burdened with negative emotions feeling like less of a Christian because it does become a huge challenge to not hate that person or want to avenge yourself. And sometimes apologies are never uttered and responsibility never taken even when you’ve screamed and cried your heart out.

But I’ve had to make peace with the truth that the people I share my life with are human just like me and they are bound to make mistakes with forgiveness demanded even when that action was deliberate and deceitful. The Lord’s Prayer says it all ‘forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’ this makes me realize that I expect God to forgive me for my sins whilst I can’t forgive when someone else who has sinned against me.

I have spent time meditating on God’s Word asking Him to give me the character of Jesus so that I may also say those words to the people who sin against me. I have otherwise observed that sometimes when a loved one has been hurtful to me unintentionally, they don’t always fully understand or even realize the pain they are putting me through. I have also experienced that when you don’t forgive someone not only are you being disobedient to God but you are also letting that person have control over your life. You become a prisoner of your own un-forgiveness when the offender is living a full and beautiful life with their transgression against you long forgotten. I now know that if you are truly longing to have a fulfilling relationship with God and you want happiness in your life then forgiving and letting go is always best.

Kholofelo Masedi – The Unknown

I have been pondering a little on the concept ‘the unknown’.

The word unknown simply refers to something unfamiliar or strange. It could also mean something new.

Now there are two ways of approaching something new or unknown, which is fear or faith.

Let’s look at one of my favorite scriptures before we continue. Isaiah 43:19 ‘Look I am doing a new thing, why do you not perceive it?’

Let’s pause with that verse for a second and go back to the two ways as mentioned above. If a person gives you an unlabeled bottle with an unknown liquid and says drink, it is good for you. What would you do? Well there are two approaches to the unknown object before you. You can either reject it because you are afraid of IT and what IT may do to you or you can trust the person who gave it to you (the source) and drink it.

Now the fear path is object focused while the faith path is source focused. In other words I know this is unknown to me but because I have a relationship with the source, I trust that whatever is given to me will not cause me any harm.

Let’s try and qualify this with scripture.

The quoted verse says ‘Look or see, I am doing a new thing’. I thought to myself what a wonderful sentence construction. God invites the audience to look and see. But I’m interested in the words that follow this invitation. He then says ‘I’, which means look and see me. Then He says ‘I am doing’, in other words as you look at me you need to acknowledge that I am able and finally He says ‘a new thing’.

Then He asks ‘why can’t you perceive it?’ Well because the approach is wrong. You are focused on the new thing and not the source of the new thing.

Let me try and qualify this strange concept. In Jeremiah 33 v 3 He says call unto me and I will show you… When Jesus invited Peter to join him in the new thing of walking on water it required Peter to look at Jesus to walk on water, the minute his focus deviated, he started to sink.

What I’m hoping to instill in us is that; the fear of the unknown should not define our focus but rather it should be our faith in the God of the unknown that we are always focused on…

Onke Msuthu – When Local Is Not So Lekker

I mostly buy or get a song which I think is good and portrays a dose of talent across all genres and I listen to it respectively.

I know when a rock song is crazy-good, when a hip hop or rap track is wack, when a jazz song has no rhythm or when a gospel song lacks passion or should I say “bless me enough”.

I have a lot of critique that I can spit out for some of the genres which I have mentioned here but my focus for now is gospel music.

In South Africa it is said that gospel is at the top when it comes to selling records. That might sound a little bit ironic because most people groove and jam to other songs which are not gospel.

Again, the most vibe seems to come from genres like house, dance and hip hop but gospel spites them all by selling. The large numbers of album sales have also attracted a lot of people to sing this genre. Whether it’s locally or internationally, there are a lot of gospel artists out there. My problem and main cry has always been the dishes that some of our beloved gospel artists feed us. Based on the target market, most music lovers of this genre are youngsters still dependent on their parent’s payroll or simply older but still limited by a small income, you only buy when you really believe you won’t be wasting your coins. That will usually happen after months of saving and budgeting until you buy that album. When you decide to make that transaction, you do more than just purchase but you label that artist as someone worth spending money on and add a dose of support for what they do.

But when you attend or hear from people who attended a show that 90% of the album is made up of just traditional, day to day church choruses and hymns you think twice about attending their show/s again. I ask myself a lot of questions when it comes to paying for what I believe isn’t good enough.

This is a sad reality because this happens mostly to our local artists (same town or province you reside in). It’s people you know or have met a couple of times or go to the same denomination with. They just don’t dedicate any time to composing new and original material for their albums.

If a kwaito singer spends close to three months or more recording and producing an album which is comprised of newly composed songs that we have never heard before, why not the same for gospel singers?

I understand that the dynamics are not the same but hey at least 50% of that should be brand new to show us that you mean business. To prove to anyone who has never heard about you that you are really what you say you are on the posters and media interviews. To prove to us that you spend a lot of hours after your day job working or sometimes not even having a job in order to pursue this passion of yours.

I don’t know what causes this but I believe record producers can be at the forefront in making sure that we get value for our money. Artists themselves can set up a standard that will soon turn to a norm or culture of what quality standards an album should adhere too. One thing I always say is that this genre moves away from entertaining and giving people a good time. This genre ministers, heals, motivates, uplifts, enlightens and blesses anyone who lends an ear to it.

Xolane Funde – Full Life After Death

We live in a time where it’s becoming tougher to survive the challenges of life; people are not only dying the death of going to the graveyard but there is also an escalating inward and spiritual death. Many are just going to church for the sake of going, with no new expectation or revelation encountered simply because everyone is deep inside their own “tomb”.

We are repeatedly attacked in the form of deadly diseases, unemployment, studies, debts and spiritual warfare’s and forgetting that Jesus Christ the Son of God is the only one who’s willing and able to take us out of any situation. It is terrible times such as these that we need to allow Jesus Christ to take control of our lives, for He’s the only one who’s able to get us out of the tombs we sometimes find ourselves in. As God continues fighting our battles, we need to continuously remember that in Christ we are more than conquerors, consistently having faith in Him and realizing that we are loved deeply and passionately, allowing Him to be the center of our lives.

When I hear a saint say “I’m a born again Christian but my situation has gone from bad to worse” I’m reminded of the bible scriptures that speak of Job and all the trials he had to undergo, the most severe pain ever recorded in the bible. He could not believe what was going on until after the storm was over. In this story we are taught that sometimes God will choose to display His power to the world through His beloved ones and this story is there to teach us more about God’s power and undying love.

There are those times in life where we feel too overwhelmed to face the battles that seem to break us down but still we conquer making it through yet another day and finding ourselves breathing fine under water, a constant reminder that our strength only comes from the One who is in us, with his immeasurable strength going against anything that tries to bring us down. God continuously digging his treasures (us) out of filthy pits and self-dug graves and making them (us) shine bright. As long as we’re still breathing, we’re still worth more than can ever be imagined, where no amount of silver or gold can be able to purchase us. God had to make His one and only begotten Son a ransom in our place. The greatest transaction of the entire universe was made on the cross simply because of how much we are loved by our Father in heaven.

Just like Lazarus, we find ourselves dying sick and eventually dead in our different graves but the best news is that these deaths are a testimony of life after death and only form part of the journey because our Master has declared that our sicknesses will not end in death. God’s word is able to raise us in any grave.

May we as children of God bring the heart of the Father to our hopelessness, our sicknesses and our heart wrenching turmoil that live us lifeless and in these temporary death graves. His heart is not condemning but is full of grace, love and compassion and that Love is visible in Christ Jesus and as His followers we are also obligated to carry the Good News, to tell people about the undying love of our God.