How much do we pray b4 we make decisions?

12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16 Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

Mea Culpa

Hello, how are you all doing out there!
As my first entry of 2009, I wanted to apologise to you all for having abandoned you for the last while.
There is a good reason why I have not been in blog land. Excuses, excuses.

Lalie and I welcomed this little person into the world three months ago. Life has not been the same for us since.
Having a child is no child’s play, believe me. Since Ariella Mohau arrived I have had more sleepless nights than when I was writing my thesis. All this added to the pressure of work demands and a wife who was really in need of some TLC, I mean all the time. I never thought a baby would need so much attention. Yeah you read about it books etc, etc but nothing, and I mean nothing prepares you for the actual event.

Our lives are only going back to normality now, and we are getting used to the princess’ ways. We are so grateful to God for such a precious treasure. Yes raising a child is a BIG challenge but our hearts sing with joy every time we lay our eyes on her.

Outside of my home, well… a lot has happened in the world in the last number of months: COPE, Obama presidency, the financial crisis. I aim to look back at some of those issues, even though we are already into a new year.
I most definitely have a view or three on these matters.

I hope that the year has started well for all of you and that you are keeping those still “somewhat fresh” New Year’s resolutions.

I am back and here to stay. Later

Disappointment

I thought that I should give my two cents’ worth concerning the recent developments in our country. To put it bluntly: I am disappointed with the new ANC leadership.
On Saturday the National Executive Committee (NEC) took a decision to relieve the President of his duties. Well, they actually said that they are "re-calling him from his deployment". In layman’s terms that is like Donald Trump saying, "You Are Fired".
On Sunday, President Mbeki handed in his resignation to the Speaker of Parliament.
I, for one, do not have an issue with the resignation of Mr Mbeki as President of the Republic. Such things have been known to happen in democracies much older than our own. Just think about Britain where recently Tony Blair was a victim of such political moves or the musical chairs session that we see in Israel.

The recalling of the President is a huge victory for the ANC president. At last, he has full and complete power in this battle of the two ANC factions.
To be fair though; it was reported that JZ did not want Mbeki recalled, as he believed that Mbeki should complete his term of office.

So far, so good.
Now, the issue I have with all this is the manner in and speed with which everything was carried out. Some of us already suspected in December 07 that the “new” ANC would get rid of Mbeki. But such fears were allayed when the “new” ANC said that it would keep Mbeki as the Republic’s President until the next general election.

Despite the tense working relationship between the ANC and government, it looked like things were going as planned. That is until that juvenile delinquent aka Julius Malema started spewing his drivel. I am not being mean; that kid has not said a single kind or coherent word about anything.
Malema, has made a number of dangerous statements this year from "we will kill for Zuma" to "Mbeki must go". I do not wish to demean my article with repeat references to his other infamous statements.
When Julius made these pronouncements against the President no one in the ANC took a serious stand to say that the “new” ANC has allowed Mbeki to remain in power.

I guess what really stoked the fire was Judge Nicholson's judgment. The “new” ANC was so happy that they celebrated right there in Pietermaritzburg. I am sure the concert was organised and paid for by the "friend of JZ" or worse yet by the ANCYL. Malema literally asked for the President’s head on a platter and well the result is what we witnessed on Sunday evening.

I am not at all saying that Mbeki was a fair President or that he did not use state resources to settle scores with others.
My issue goes to how the current ANC leadership has portrayed itself. It desires to be seen as above common conflicts, and its mantra has been unity! Unity! But these very same leaders remained quiet when Malema said insulting things against Mbeki and the judiciary.

How could grown men send a little kid to go to war on their behalf? Was this the biblical narrative of David and Goliath playing out in SA politics? I somehow doubt it

I believe Malema was sent out as an attack dog. He was told to bark at everyone who dared walk past the JZ property. Frankly, the language he has used against the President, judges, and everyone else who questioned the “new” ANC’s motives has been quite despicable and insulting.
Even when Mr Motlanthe, vice president of the “new” ANC, tried to reprimand Malema for his stinging attacks, Motlhanthe was publicly attacked and told that he could no longer rebuke the ANCYL in public.
But, the YL could do all their chaos in PUBLIC.

The audacious response of the Secretary General of the “new” ANC, Gwede Mantashe, was that “we will now have "dynamic engagement" with the ANCYL” whenever they say something untoward. Sheesh, I really wonder what that means.
What the “new” ANC has really taught people is that if you want to aspire to greatness insult and insult those who are in authority. You can see this attitude in places like Khutsong and other townships where people have been burning and pillaging so that they can get their own way. Basically, these people intimidate their communities in order to get what they want.

What is most disappointing with the “new” ANC leadership is the way that it continues to say one thing and do another. I really hope that the ANC has Malema and his likes on some leash, because if it does not, it might just soon regret unleashing him. What happened to “he might turn on his owners and bite them”?


Finally, I am not bitter about a JZ led ANC; on the contrary, it is "democracy" at work. I am however wary, of leaders who use other people to do their dirty work while denying that they are doing anything wrong and claiming that they are a new breed of leadership. The big question is, were the ANC leaders so afraid to take responsibility and say to Mbeki "thank you sir for your service, but no thank you" ?

The “new” ANC accused Mbeki of using others (state and media) to attack and vilify his opponents. Seems to me that the new masters, are reading from the same old play book.
The more things change, the more they stay the same

Network

Are any of you guys experiencing cell phone trouble?

For example: you are on a call and all of a sudden you get cut off or there is this LOUD static sound.

At first I thought it was my phone, so I tried my other phone which is on a different network but got the same results.
A number of people I know are also experiencing this phenomenon.
Talk to me about it.
Do you think that the network operators are not giving us their best service?
Or that they have too many phones on their networks and not enough "juice" or bandwidth?
Should we boycott our cell phones cause it is really annoying to get cut when you are trying to land the next BEE deal.

Sad II

A number of you contacted me about last week's blog. You did not understand why this was a relevant story and why I asked you to answer the three questions.
I had thought that in this world of instant technology and 24/7 news a number of you might have followed the story.
So in order to assist those who struggled to connect the questions to the story. Here is the whole story.

The father of disgraced pastor Michael Guglielmucci has revealed his son has been addicted to pornography since the age of 12.

Danny Guglielmucci – whose high-profile preacher son last week week admitted his two-year battle with cancer was fake – said the "severe addiction to pornography" was part of a bizarre double life his son had been leading.

Mr Guglielmucci, who established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church in Adelaide, said Melbourne-based Michael had made a full confession to his family about his past, including revelations about the 16-year porn obsession and the lies over his supposed battle with terminal illness.

In an exclusive interview with Adelaide's Sunday Mail this week, Mr Guglielmucci also revealed:

HIS son has been suffering "mystery illnesses" since the age of 12.

DOCTORS gave his parents the option of admitting him to a psychiatric ward for assessment as a child over the ongoing "illnesses", but they refused.

THE family's "absolute shock" at discovering Michael was not terminally ill.

Mr Guglielmucci said he and wife Sharonne – who founded Edge Church International with him – were struggling to comprehend what their son had done.

They are expected to address the church's Adelaide congregation today to explain his actions.

"When (Michael) rang me last Tuesday, I was on my way to New Zealand," Mr Guglielmucci said.

"He said, 'Dad you've got to come and see me'.

"I said to my wife, 'Maybe the doctors have told him he's only got a few weeks to live'.

"So we cancelled everything and jumped on the plane and went to see him in Melbourne, and that's when he told us the story.

"We were just in absolute shock and we still are. We haven't had time to get our head around it. He said, 'I don't have cancer. I've had two lives that I've lived'.

"His wife (Amanda), who has been with him for seven years, found out the day before we did and she's had no idea.

"Michael has had a severe addiction to pornography. The addiction to pornography started when he was 12.

"It's horrendous because we don't have that sort of stuff around. He was raised in a Christian home; we've never brought that stuff into our home."

Michael Guglielmucci was one of Australia's highest-profile Christian preachers, inspiring hundreds of thousands around the world as he performed his hit song Healer with an oxygen tube in his nose.

He was a pastor with Planetshakers, a Christian youth movement that began in Adelaide and has grown into an international ministry.

But that all came crashing down this week when his deception became public.

Mr Guglielmucci said his son finally confessed after the guilt of his lies and addiction became overwhelming.

"He lived the two lives and he would get sick as a result of the guilt," he said.

"He was feeling like he was letting God down, letting his family down, his church, his friends.

"He's been living this for so long, feeling like he's had these two lives and now he's the one that's come out in the open. He confessed it, he didn't get caught.

"To deal with the guilt he would pour himself into doing good work. He's touched the lives of young people all over the world. Now they are all affected by this.

"He hasn't done this for any reasons that have been portrayed that he's a fraud.

"It was either keep pretending or come out with the truth and tell everything. He's come out with everything but now we've got the consequences of it all.

"We have to accept it. We're hoping to share with our congregation how it all started and how it got where it is.

"We understand people's anger, we understand their questioning.

"There's so many questions.

"An addiction like this is not going to be fixed overnight. You can't have a 16-year problem and fix it in a week."

Mr Guglielmucci said his son was undergoing psychiatric assessment with Adelaide doctors.

"They have said to me that he is very ill. They are assessing where reality stopped and fantasy kicked in and what's caused all this," he said.

"The doctor believes that at times Michael was totally convinced that he had this sickness."

Mr Guglielmucci said his son had a long history of "mystery illnesses", starting in childhood.

"When he was about 12 he did vomit all the time, he'd get really really sick," he said.

"He was in the Adelaide Children's Hospital for seven weeks at one stage; he didn't eat and we thought we were going to lose him.

"They took out his appendix, thinking that it might be that, but they realised that it wasn't.

"They gave us the option of putting him in a psychiatric ward to see if there was something psychological but we felt uncomfortable with that at the time.

"We signed him out from hospital and then he would go a few months and then he would get sick again.

"We'd always take him to hospital; we'd always do the proper thing but they couldn't get to the bottom of it until now."

Mr Guglielmucci said he and his wife were in "absolute shock" to discover their son was not terminally ill.

"We have watched our son go through what we thought was cancer," he said.

"My wife and I, over the past two years, have watched him vomit in buckets, having nosebleeds, and even his hair fell out in clumps at one stage.

"Every time we saw him, we saw symptoms. He stayed with us for a while where we had to put a special air-conditioner in one of the rooms because he would heat up so much in the middle of winter.

"He had this cold air-conditioner blowing on him to try to keep the heat down. As a professional minister I've stood in front of my congregation and cried and said to pray for my son.

"I've travelled the world asking people to pray for him. Can you imagine what a horrible thing it would be if I was playing a game?

"To be honest, I ask myself as a father, 'What did I miss, what did I not do? What could I have done better?' "

Mr Guglielmucci said Michael's wife was "getting really good counselling".

"She's not made any decision at this point," he said.

"It's happened so quickly. There's so many questions."

In light of that news article:
How do we humble ourselves so that we can be open to others?
How do we guard our hearts against deception?
How do we “really” look out for our friends?

Sad

This week got off to a brilliant start a) we are having some beautiful weather here in Jo’burg b) just a number of days before spring but all too soon it turned into a sad one.
Read this.

He preached to thousands about his terminal illness and tugged at hearts with a hit song.

The problem is the pastor wasn't dying at all
Michael Guglielmucci, who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his terminal cancer "battle", has been exposed as a fraud.
Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O'Halloran Hill in Adelaide's southern suburbs, now is seeking professional help.
Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song, Healer , which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong's latest album.
The song debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.
It since has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.
In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose.
It appears Mr Guglielmucci, who was a pastor with one of Australia's biggest youth churches, Planetshakers, may even have deceived his own family.
"This news has come as a great shock to everyone including, it seems, his own wife and family," Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian said in an email to his congregation yesterday.
"Michael has confirmed that he is not suffering with a terminal illness and is seeking professional help in Adelaide with the support of his family. We are asking our church to pray for the Guglielmucci family during this difficult time."
The Advertiser was told last night Mr Guglielmucci may release a statement on the situation.
The Australian Christian Church said Mr Guglielmucci's credentials immediately were suspended once he told the national executive that his cancer claims were "untrue".
"The national executive is taking this matter very seriously and is awaiting the results of medical tests before determining the full extent of the discipline that will be imposed upon him," vice president Alun Davies said.
"We are very concerned for the many people who have been or will be hurt by Michael's actions.
"We encourage all of our churches to pray for all those affected."

It is not my intention to pass judgement on anyone nor make fun of the mistakes that people make.
What makes me sad is that I was one of the people who were at a conference where his father, Danny, was telling us about Michael’s sickness and how God is going to heal him. We were all touched and yeah there were a number of teary eyes in the audience. What touched me most was the young man’s courage; he refused to go gently into the night. We prayed for Michael and stood in solidarity with the whole Guglielmucci family.

With this in mind what are your thoughts
The questions are: How do we humble ourselves so that we can be open to others?
How do we guard our hearts against deception?
How do we “really” look out for our friends?
So that they are not just people we hang out with or play Wii/PS3 with?

Let me hear from you.

Obamarama

I thought that I should weigh in on what is happening in the United States of America.
As many of you know Barack Obama just sealed the nomination for the Democrats as the presidential nominee.
It is truly a historic time in the world and could be one of the most amazing stories of our lifetime.
I for one am happy for him as I’m sure are millions of others in the world. He did not win because he is black, as some in the US assume.

Obama won because of his message of change and hope. The world has been looking for a leader with a new tune. Our generation has been looking for a leader that we can identify with. A leader who is able to look beyond the age of our parents into this "new" century. Obama is offering America and the world just that. Hope and change for a new world, a world that we can shape into our own. I really hope that America is ready not just for a black president but for a leader who preaches a "new" message.

Let's bring things closer to home now. Some on our continent have called this century the "African Century" but eight years later here we are with no "African Century" in sight. I believe that it is because our African leaders are part of the older generation that has continued to do things in the same old way. Therefore it has been hard for them to bring about change and give hope because their methods worked for a different generation.
Africa needs its own Obama type leaders. Young people, yes at 46 Obama is still young, who will stand for change and hope. People who will stand and "call out" the things that are wrong in society, things that our elders have been wrong about.

Yes there is so much wrong in our own country, Mzansi. So much wrong in Zimbabwe and in many African countries. It also seems as if our people are without the will to change their circumstances. They have allowed themselves to be a "hopeless" people.

It is certainly unfortunate that many of our future leaders do not preach "hope and change". Rather they have studied the old ways and somehow believe that those are good enough to use into this century.
However there is hope, I believe that in the midst of all that is wrong and ugly, there is a generation of people who believe in a better future for all the inhabitants of Africa. Let us have the will power to spread that message of "hope and change".