Pushing on

New Years is on the way, the day when we make resolutions that doesn't even last, for me I dont make resolutions I just take the things that i'm passionate about and I push harder to make the dream come true.

I will start with a story that happened long before I was born and one that we all need to learn from. It tells of a man named Abraham Lincoln who whilst running for president and even as president saw something he hated and develeped a passion to abolish that thing which so happened to be slavery. The confederate states disliked this as it was upsetting their comfort zone and tried to fight for slavery to remain but Lincoln who must have been thinking "this is not good enough" managed after trails and hardships to get rid of slavery forever. He may have paid the price for it by being assasinated but he achieved something that many people today fail at.

This is where I go into where we fail at today, bad news happens amongst our passions and we look at these and think "oh well" or "Its a pity". I hate these words, they mean the very thing called "Settling for what society tells us" and we instead need to settle for nothing less. Where theres injustice then fight the system much like the closure of the UC Berkeley Gymnastics Program where someone has stepped up and refused the administrations request to pull the program completely and instead put up a fight to keep the program running and even went where administration should have gone by requesting funding to which I ask you guys to pray the the full funds will be met.

It takes having this attitude to be a history maker and to impact the world as we know it. If someone thinks its worthless pursuing a certain dream then make the pursuit even greater but also be prepared to put up a fight as along the way people will drag you down. Be extraordinary and live out your dream no matter what comes your way and don't give up.

The Encounter with Jesus - A Christmas Message

I guess without knowing it I have been going through another series called "A Christmas Message". Who would have though thought that a 16 year old would give birth to a baby boy who would save us all and yet was a virgin. None can fathom this mystery but it happened and who that baby boy turned out to become was one who encountered people of all backgrounds as he ministered to the people.

1. The Shepherds and the wise men - yes he was only a little baby then but that moment changed the hearts of those men as we know it
2.The scholars as a little boy - he did nothing except just sit in the temple to hear them teach
3. Ordinary people - This is the woman at the well, zacchius the tax collector, the 12 disciples. He had light encounters as well as heavy encounters with them but none of them were as harsh as the encounter group as I'm about to mention now!
4. The Pharisees - Shame we pick on them but you cant deny that they were the vilest of them all, said one thing and did another and yet criticised those who did wrong (yet they themselves had done those same things - Hypocrisy).
5. Us

I'm going to touch on point 5, the other day I kind of had one of those intense encounters with God after a split second return of a past issue in my life, and that evening as I sat down, I poured it all out to God and instead of an encounter of condemnation it was an encounter of what I can honestly say was fatherly love like never before. In that moment I was being real with God more then ever. I guess to just be real with ourselves and having a life thats an open book must be the greatest gift to Jesus but it must not just be kept a christmas thing but an everyday thing.

An Insight into the Jesus we never Knew - A Christmas message

Isa 9:6  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.


2 blogs in the same day, how interesting. We are smack bang in the middle of Christmas period and we are now being bombarded with images of Santa and dreary christmas music as we do our christmas shopping in our local malls (seems they always seem to find people who love Boney M to manage the malls). We are also bombarded with a sole focus on the baby Jesus but while this last bit is valid we tend to box Jesus this time of year as just a little baby (yes we all know about the miraculous virgin birth that can not be explained or understood).

Here's the facts: We were all just little babies at one stage in our lives, yet we grew up and developed talents, passions and interests of our own that God has blessed us with and with regards to Jesus it was no different, he spent some time as a little boy listening to what religious scholars had to say and then went on to do carpentry. Later he went on to really begin the work God set out for him and in this he confronts Evil, History, society, and  religion. He later after upsetting the pharisees so much suffered a crucifixion so intense but yet defeated evil as we know it by rising 3 days later and paid the price of our sins at the same time. Jesus is not just some smiley gentle person, he was ferocious and for eg. showed this by calling the pharisees "You Brood of vipers" and yet made amazing statements like the following:

Joh 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

What we see is a clear picture that Jesus is indeed God, yet people failed to see it and some still do fail to see it and they tend to be the ones bombarding us this time of year with images of Santa Clause, Boney M, Rudolph the reindeer and putting us to debt by persuading us that our family member needs that expensive gadget that they wont use in a years time. How about a challenge to claim christmas back to what it was and to use it as a celebration of the birth of a saviour, one who confronted every aspect of life and died for our sins.

To Be Active in today

To touch on what Bradley Jones says I'm going to include what I think it means to be active I'm going to begin with a saying "Gymnastics: Its not just a sport, its a lifestyle". Why do I say this. Its because as a gymnast we kind of sign the rest of our lives bound to a gymnastics club with training set up just about every day and anyone else involved in this sport will agree that its completely worth it because we dont just do it for the sake of it, we do because it brings about this need to be competitive in something we love. I have said countless of times Gymnastics means the world to me and it has for a very long time, so long in fact that it has meant so much longer to me then getting on a skateboard and yet it took me a while to be affiliated within a club and to see more of the story here is a link to a previous blog detailing how long there has been this passion. http://grahamboyd.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-life-as-gymnast-written-sep-21-2010.html

Now I may be living a healthy lifestyle what with being a gymnast and all (I have to watch what I do as my choices could affect my performance) but I'm going to shift gears into a concept of living a healthy lifestyle that does get overlooked and anyone living in Johannesburg will kind of agree. Christmas is around the corner (and I will touch on the true meaning of christmas as well as insight into who Jesus really was closer to Christmas day) and we are bombarded with images of pumping iron at the local gym or cutting down on certain foods which may kind of be valid but in Johannesburg things are kind of intense and in fact stressful most of the times so I reckon an overlooked way to spend a healthy lifestyle is pretty much just getting away out of the hustle and bustle of the city and just taking a simple vacation to a beachside community or listening to the sounds of birds and animals in the game reserve. Christmas time for anyone from the city is a chance to just get away from all the stresses of life and just allow themselves to just be content with no hassles or worries.

How Far I've come

I may have had struggles in my life but I look back and my whole life has changed over the years, as I young kid if you ever thought that I would be this passionate gymnast (I was never exposed to the concept of gymnastics until I was 16 although I do kind of remember channel hopping and I clearly remember seeing Kerri Strugg do that monumental vault routine in Atlanta 1996 that earned her gold and whilst injured too), or become a youth leader for a strong church and mentoring countless numbers of kids. If you told me all this back then I would have said that you would be crazy but God is full of surprises and incredibly so as I wouldn't trade my time with the youth ministry on friday nights let alone the times I spend at gymnastics practice for the world. I have dealt with kids suffering from the most intense issues touching on the most intense horrific stuff and I have seen them rise to become men of God in the most incredible way. I have  learnt how to face issues like suicide and homosexuality from youth kids past but yet I still feel that need to continue to reach out to the kids that come along but Friday nights isn't only my mission field, its the skatepark ministry that I'm involved in, it's the gymnastics club where I just love to train week in and week out as I just be myself around my awesome teammates. I have joined a group called Gymnasts for Christ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=231487334271
This group is dedicated to christian gymnasts like myself whose aim is to make the most of the time at practice being ourselves and showing the love of Christ at the same time and just giving God the glory for blessing us with the ability to do such an awesome sport. This is who I am: A dedicated Church youth leader, A passionate dedicated gymnast and above all a child of God giving him all thanks for the things he has blessed me with.

A Gymnastics Update - Dream Big for 2011

They say life is sometimes Deju-Vu. At the beginning of the year after a successful year with EBC Youth 2 words came to mind "Aim Higher". Its time that I refer back to that mind frame but within my life as a gymnast, a while back I took down an old newspaper clipping with the following thought in mind and that of a new era in Gymnastics. 2 weeks ago having won the award that I did, now to some its just another award (Most Perseverance) but that moment meant the world to me as its just another way of saying Aim Higher, I have achieved so much over the past years with challenges but 2011 will bring about something special, I'm confident that it will be the year that I get past Eastern Gauteng and into nationals. Gymnastics means the world to me, I may have been skateboarding longer but dreams have already been more then achieved in skateboarding to the point that I help co-lead a group in Kempton Park but with Gymnastics I have dreams that I want to achieve more then anything and I continue to pray but I also trust God so much that 2011 will be the year that big things happen in my Gymnastics career. A question was brought to me by my coach at prizegiving "Why are you here" and  to that I answer "Because I want to go really far". As a closing statenent I would like to make the following quote "Gymnastics 2011: Aim Higher".

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 16

This is it the final chapter in this blog Series. Paul begins by rattling off a whole bunch of names of people that has helped him along the way and likewise we have those people in our lives whom we are to give thanks. These are people that will stand by us through the storms we face as well as the good times. These are people that will never let us fall but will catch us before we hit rock bottom and they will be by our side and help pick up the pieces. These are also people that have been strong positive role models and authority figures who we can look up to and be accountable to. We are in the midst of Christmas and its a time for family and friends to just gather over big meal and just be content and be thankful and grateful to those around you and for that one day of the year haven't you noticed that overwhelming sense of peace at the dinner table.

Paul then goes on to warn us. This peace, these bonds can easily be broken and its detailed in some scriptures.

Rom 16:17  I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
Rom 16:18  For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

This is already happening, very little understand the true meaning of christmas because the world has bombarded us with man created images of Santa Clause, dreary secular chrismas music in the malls, you name it, people are being deceived left and right with the sole purpose of drawing us away from God

and now to Pauls closing statement:

Rom 16:27  to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

This is his final plea to us that whatever our passions are, whatever our dreams are, our desires are we are to use them to the glory of God.

I hope you have been blessed by this series. There has been some hard stuff come up and some wondeful stuff come up but one thing that stands is that God is by our side through thick and thin.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 15

Rom 15:1  We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Rom 15:3  For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me."
Rom 15:4  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Rom 15:5  May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

We are to be an example to the weak, if the person has a drinking problem, then dont drink a glass of wine or beer in front of them. Paul asks us instead to build these people up in a positive way, to help them get back up when they stumble or are in deep pain. I'm sure you can think of someone you can call when you are struggling.



Rom 15:19  by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God--so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;
Rom 15:20  and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation,
Rom 15:21  but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."

We live in tough times where Prayer is not allowed in schools, where the gospel is not welcome among certain areas of community and instead has been replaced by the lies of evolution called darwinism, atheism,agnosticism etc. Due to this, people will not be exposed to the gospel but there is hope that somehow someway their eyes will be opened and they will also see the truth. We are fighting a battle of wills here to get people to experience salvation and one day we will win and we are asked to continously rejoice. Tomorrow is the last chapter in this Romans Series and I do hope you have been blessed so far.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 14

Rom 14:1  As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
Rom 14:2  One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
Rom 14:3  Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

We all have personal viewpoints and are on a totally unique journey compared to our neighbours, some are at high risk of stumbling while others are incrdibly strong in the faith. Paul in all this asks us to respect our neighbours by not exposing him/her to the very things that can easily make them stumble.


Rom 14:8  For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
Rom 14:9  For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Christ died so that we would be safe back in his presence with one main purpose, to worship him, some may not know it but its absolute truth. Truth these days gets so mixed up that no one anymore knows whats the truth and what not the truth and its a pity but one thing that has always stood just so happens to be Gods word.


Rom 14:11  for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."
Rom 14:12  So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

I ask a question, when you die can you confidently say that you will spend eternity with God or is there uncertainty, if you have been saved and serve God there should be no problem but if it has not been a decision you have made then I have to say you have business to do as one day he will come again and will thoroughly examine the persons heart and where its at and will either let you spend eternity with him or will welcome you to the firy pit of hell.

Rom 14:23  But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Doubt is like a disease, it eats at you until you cant face it no more. Whenever I feel unneccesary doubt I choose to go against it as I then know its the very place God needs me to be and by taking that step incredible things have happened.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 13

Rom 13:1  Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Who are the governing authorities in our lives well they are the follwing in stage order:
1. Country leaders: This can be the president of the country for example who lays down a nationwde law that we are always required to live by
2. Parents: this should be a constant. A Parent is supposed to be a guide, someone to watch over you and to look after you even in the moments of tough love.
3. Teachers: This really does apply to school students, as they give up their time to teach you the value of life.
4. Coach: Their job is to make sure we do our utmost best and even push us to achieve more then we could ever dream
5. Employers: We spend a majority of our lives working and we all at one stage land up with a boss that we are to respect and honour even if they seem to be harshest man or woman on earth as their main aim is to keep their company afloat and he/she has taken certain people in to help him/her along the way whilst making life easier.

Now the question that I'm sure you're dying to ask, is it ok to question a certain authorities actions and I say a very careful yes. Take Robert Mugabe, dictator of Zimbabwe he has no interest in serving his countrymen but rather chooses to selfishly serve himself and its this action that has brought what I'm sure was a beautiful country all around to city centres totally falling apart as well as an abismal economy. How do we tackle authority figures like these and the answer simply prayer because you just never know their eyes might well be opened and then suddenly what will happen is a changing of that nation with strong moral characteristics being put into place as well as positive ethics being utilised.

Paul then goes onto warn us and this is why I say question the authority figures very carefully (baring in mind that i'm talking about worldly authority figures)

Rom 13:2  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
Rom 13:4  for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

The authority figure has been given power to take someone elses problems into their hands and to deal with in a professional godly manner so we dont have to do it alone. Let me now bring in a constant authority figure and I will mention Jesus Christ. It is mainly under the authority of Jesus that we should be living under above the president of our residing country, our teachers, our coaches, our parents, our employers etc. The worldly authority figures are not God but they are sent by God into our lives to help shape us into becoming an exceptional history maker.


Rom 13:8  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9  For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

God does not ask us to be a doormat but only to really love the people that are higher up in authority by obeying what they command and if you think that that person in higher authority is commanding you to do dodgy things well then dont shoot your mouth off but sit back, ponder over a response and like Jesus did, deliver the facts with love guiding those words that has been given to you by God.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 12

Rom 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Some may interpret this passage as reason to view their personal opinions of tattoos and piercing and theres nothing wrong with that, some may interpret this passage as a reason of being physically active and while that is very valid I dont think its the point that Paul is trying to get across. Lets look at the word sacrifice, the oxford dictionary says that it giving up of a valued thing for the sake of something, loss entailed. Doesn't that change and turn around our interpretations 360 degrees. You may ask well what is Paul asking us to give up and he goes on to say it in the next passage of scripture

Rom 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Paul is asking us to give up on the worlds way of doing things and taking up Gods way, another word for this is repent which means in simple terms "turn away from the world completely and say that Jesus is Lord of all"

Paul then goes on to discuss gifts and talent and illustrates this in the following scriptures.


Rom 12:6  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
Rom 12:7  if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
Rom 12:8  the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

When we were born God gave us talents and gifts for the purpose of us to use, but when we hand over our lives to God thats when they really mean something special as God suddenly begins to use them to enlarge his kingdom. You may ask can a non-christian live a life completely helping people with generosity, service etc. and I say of course but it means nothing until a person comes into a relationship with Jesus Christ.


Rom 12:12  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Rom 12:13  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Rom 12:14  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rom 12:15  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Yes we may face tough times but if we carry the above characteristics, think of how incredible and easier things will be for us, especially when we face trauma in our lives that could easily turn our world upside down and I love what is says further down.

Rom 12:17  Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Rom 12:19  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

Rom 12:20  To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
Rom 12:21  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.


While there may be people out there who has hurt us or our family members, the key word on how to respond is love, yes Love. We have a built in instinct amongst our flesh to want to make people feel the hurt that they poured on us, it took a long time for me to really come to forgiveness over the person who robbed me of knowing my uncle who was by the way murdered by a disgruntled employee before I was born. I know that the person who murdered my uncle is as much a child of God as I am, we should not overlook that last part. Corrie Ten Boom is amazing example, her family was very generous in helpng save the persecuted jews during the time of the holocaust and refusing to let the nazi hurt those people that the family was saving, the nazis sent Corrie Ten Boom to a concentration camp where she was tortured beyond belief and years later when Corrie Ten Boom was talking at a church she saw a man approach hee and recognised him as the main commando who inflicted that pain on her and to her amazement that commando became born again and began to ask for Corrie's forgiveness to which she gracefully and mercifully forgave this commando. We are to learn from Corrie Ten Boom and next time instead of responding with revenge, respond with love.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 11

Rom 11:1  I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

Take in those words of Paul,We all have fallen, I have and Paul has and others have and God is waiting patiently for lost people to come into his presence and also experience the kingdom of God

Rom 11:4  But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

Baal was a man made God worshiped during the time that Paul was writing this and many people were bowing down to this carved out God but others however stood true to the word of God and were even persecuted for their courage in a tough time when orders were brought out that Baal was lord of lords by the emperors of ancient empires. Today we can call the carved God Baal consumerism, sport (but only when it comsumes and becomes number one in your life above everything else), alchohol, drugs etc.

Rom 11:6  But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

The problem with Baal was that people actually worshiped themselves and made a 10 step plan to eternal life and we see a lot of this these days but I can honestly thank Jesus for the gift of Grace as I know that I dont have to constantly prove myself before God but I can constantly come to him just as I am

Rom 11:8  as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day."

What we may see as the work of God other wont see and that is because they have been blinded to reality and our job is to make these people see what we see and experience what we experience.

Rom 11:16  If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

We the people are these branches and John 15 says it all


Joh 15:5  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

shocking reality, we need to be made right with God otherwise we will suffer and burn.

Rom 11:36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The glory at the end of the day must not go to things of today I call in this blog Baal but to God and Jesus Christ alone, what I'm saying is that in all our achievements and the things we do on earth needs to be handed back to God with thanksgiving. Too often you hear people say "look what I did" in all self glorification and it makes me sick to the bone.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 10

Todays chapter is one that comes up in missions a lot.


Rom 10:5  For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
Rom 10:6  But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)
Rom 10:7  or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
Rom 10:8  But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
Rom 10:9  because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The problem with religion is that if you obey a set of commandments you will be saved but with christianity (which by the way is not a religion although some perceive it to be) we are indeed saved by the grace of God and it is constant faith in God that he is there that we will inherit eternal life. I was listening to a secular song the other day and and the following words came up "If I dont believe in Jesus, How can I believe in hope" and then further "In a world that gives you nothing, we need something to believe in". That something should in fact be Jesus Christ.

Rom 10:12  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

The Gospel of God is a message for all, a song has just started in my itunes library and it carries the chorus "For Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city". There are people out there blinded to the Gospel and Paul is urging us to get the message out there as you will see further in the scriptures I'm about to use.


Rom 10:14  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Rom 10:15  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Our Job is to get out there with the message of the Gospel and not keep it hidden like its some sort of secret, there are conutries out there by law required to believe in a faith that is not christianity and the moment missionaries go in and start preaching the gospel in those countries that nations government is requested by law to persecute and kill christians so we have a tough job getting the gospel out there but its something that needs to be done and its our job to be the hands and to be the feet as we tell the world about a man named Jesus and what he did.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 9

Rom 9:15  For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
Rom 9:16  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

What does Mercy mean, well the Oxford dictionary says that its kindness shown to an offender or enemy, this is a very different picture to what the pharisees had shown, how often do we try to drag down those that hurt us, or hurt our family or hurt our friends but that is not what Jesus shows, as what Jesus shows is something called grace and forgiveness to those very people


Rom 9:25  As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"
Rom 9:26  "And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"

How encouraging that the very love that we don't deserve God offers us and even calls us to do his purpose take Paul who wrote this, this man was a murderer commiting the most horrible of acts and God meets him on the road to Damascus where he was originally going to kill a few christians but instead his eyes gets opened and  suddenly gets welcomed into Gods kingdom and goes out to to preach the gospel in different towns and even planting churches. Paul went from "You are not my people" to "Son of the living God" and made history by spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 8

This is a special chapter chapter to me. Paul goes further ftom chapter 7 to discus how we are saved from sin

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Yes that may mean like a said if we screw up, God wont judge us or depart from us but holds onto us with all his might.

Rom 8:28  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Rom 8:31  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

This is what happens instead is God is more then pleased to fill show his desire by blessing us even though we dont deserve it, even though because of our past we should long ago already been cast into the flames, God rescued us and wants more then anything to see his purpose lived through us.


Rom 8:38  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
Rom 8:39  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is an encouraging end. Nothing we could ever do will ever seperate us from Gods presence and thats mindblowing.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 7

Todays chapter focusses on a battle we struggle with spirit and flesh, heck I have struggled with it and that the battle between spirit and flesh

Spirit: This is the law of God, doing whats right and obeying his commands for us
Flesh: These are the things of the world, things considered to be sin

Now as a christian myself, have I died to sin, of course but at times we all give in to temptation and deception and sin to which suddenly my cry out to God is "HELP ME" and Paul whom some of you thought was perfect come out with this cry:


Rom 7:19  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Rom 7:21  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

Rom 7:24  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

Rom 7:25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 

Its an inner struggle that is not going to go away, in fact it will only leave us when we pass on but what we can do now is to stand as firm in our faith as strong and as best we can so that things can be a little bit easier. Notice that Paul a hardcore theologian beats himself up about the flesh that eats at him but suddenly closes it by thanking Jesus for holding on to him. I have a song in my itunes library by Matt Redman called You Never Let Go and heres how the chorus goes

"Oh No, You Never Let Go, through the storm and through the fire, Oh No, You Never let go, every high and every low, Oh No, You never let go"

While we continue this battle I want you all to know that God is holding on to us and comforting us even in the moments when we think we have screwed up.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 6

If we are saved by grace how is it that some people ask or think "It's ok if I commit just that little bit of sin" to which Paul has some stern words

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

This is one question and viewpoint that people get confused about. We we get saved, we die to the worlds way of doing thing as well as the worlds viewpoint and become alive to Gods kingdom. If we go about with the mind set of its ok if I do just that little wrong act it should be fine because I'm forgiven but its a wrong thing to think as you are only just turning back into the world for answers and advice and that is where the whole thing of backsliding comes in and it even goes so far that all of a sudden you just turn your back to God and become a non-believer all over again.


Rom 6:10  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
Rom 6:11  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

It says elsewhere that when we come into the kingdom of God we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come, but coming into the presence of Jesus we are called to live like him, to carry on sinning will be a tragedy in itself because as it says in verse 10 we are dead to sin. Bottom line stop and think before you do anything "is this right and honouring God" because at the end of the day when we become christian we stop serving ourselves and we serve God.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 5

Where shall I begin, well I think the beginning of Romans 5 will be quite appropriate

Rom 5:1  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How often do we get irritated sitting in traffic every day or trying to avoid road rage from another driver who is just trying to push his buttons and have his/her own way, don't we need peace then and we get that peace through Jesus.


Rom 5:3  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Rom 5:4  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Rom 5:5  and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

This is when faith really does need to come into play, I have been through tough time and many others around have been through tough time and by submitting those troubles to God in our sufferings will we really flourish.



Rom 5:7  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--
Rom 5:8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

The things I mention in chapter 1, we are saved from that by the blood of Jesus, he didn't have to die on the cross but the fact that such a sacrifice was made means even more now due to the fact that judgement day is coming and if people don't put things right I'm sad to say that they wont enter the kingdom of heaven and will spend eternity in hell so the time now for people to be saved by the blood of Jesus and acknowledge it is of utmost importance. Chapter 6 will answer many questions I'm sure some of you have been dying to ask.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 4

Paul tells of the struggles and triumps of Abraham in Romans 4 and before going on to tell of how much incredible faith Abraham had this statement gets made


Rom 4:7  "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
Rom 4:8  blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

This sounds like a continuation of Romans 3 but then it takes a turn and describes how much patience and faith Abraham had.

The story goes Abraham so badly wanted a child with Sarah who was completely barron which meant she could not have any kids but God seeing Abrahams pain made a promise that she will be bear a child and that through this child Abraham will be a father of many nations. What happens next is Abraham did receive Gods Promise but the child only came when he was nearing the age of 100 (he was 99) a few good years older an during those years Abraham was growing more weary by the day until Sarah conceived and that sons name was Isaac. As I turn now to the book of Genesis to explain Abraham's faith in God take a look at this passage

Gen 18:14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."

and then further down in Genesis this happens


Gen 22:1  After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
Gen 22:2  He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

Now you can imagine for Abraham this must have been hard, but he obeyed anyway and getting to the mountain and preparing  for the sacrifice this happens


Gen 22:10  Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
Gen 22:11  But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
Gen 22:12  He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."


Gen 22:13  And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Gen 22:14  So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

Picture yourself in Abrahams situation in this day of age, we would not be responding the way Abraham did, we would not carry the intense faith and patience Abraham had and what Paul is ultimately getting across is that if we let go of our everyday lives and let God control it great things can and will happen we just have to faith.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 3

I guess by now, you must be feeling more guilty after Romans 2 but one thing about chapter 3 is that God brings back some good news.

Paul starts off with a continuation of the law and and how some perceived that the way to salvation was in fact by doing works but take the ten commandments and haven't we all broken at least one of them at some stage in our life so that means that we must all be screwed but then there is a way out that no other faith goes on to tell and its found in the following passages


Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Wow, now isn't that good news that even though we all mess up there is still a way to salvation and that is through the cross of Jesus and he accepts us for who we are. I love that the word redemption falls into play as what that means is that we are brought back into a relationship with God by having his son Jesus pay the cost for every single one of us on the cross, all our sins were in fact nailed to Jesus on the cross and it changes how we live and suddenly salvation comes about not by work but by faith that no matter how hard we try God still loves us and will never leave us and all we need to do is just trust him even in the hard times.

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 2

To summarise in Chapter 1 Paul first tells of the good news but shifts and even ends the chapter on the wrath of God, now this is the point when some people turn off and even thinks self righteous thoughts but there is a warning and it begins in this chapter.

Rom 2:1  Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 

now thats a reality shock, and I picture jesus in the temple with the woman who was caught in adultery when he spoke out to them and said "He who is without sin let him throw the first stone" and well everyone just gets up and leaves the temple. By now you're probably feeling guilty and check what is says further down in Romans 2

Rom 2:21  you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 

Rom 2:22  You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 

Rom 2:23  You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 

I'm sure majority of people reading this can say that they have done some of these things. The whole theme of Romans 2 is Gods law and how we have gone about breaking it but good news is coming as Chapter 3 which contrains some well known encouraging passage of scriptures will suddenly bring about a sense of gratitude and humility like never before. 

A Journey through Romans - Chapter 1

Where shall I start, the book of Romans is written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome. He starts off with a passage that stands out at me yet its one we tend to overlook

Rom 1:1  Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

Now try replace Paul with your name eg "Graham, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God" I think by now you get the drift. What this means is to be a  follower, a child of God adopted into his family and our job or chore in a sense is to go out there and spread God's word.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

This is the good news that we are called to spread to the nations and its for everybody, for the gospel to be kept a secret would be a tragedy as lives would continue to fall apart


Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Rom 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Rom 1:20  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Rom 1:22  Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Rom 1:24  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
Rom 1:25  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Rom 1:26  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
Rom 1:27  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Rom 1:28  And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Rom 1:29  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
Rom 1:30  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Rom 1:32  Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

What you see here is a massive 360 turn where Paul goes from the Good news of the Gospel to suddenly explain the shocking behaviours of the world in the most descriptive of ways ranging from Self Glorification  to homosexuality to gossip to slander and the list goes on but a warning to hypocrites out there before you judge take a deep read as I continue with chapter 2 next time as you will suddenly face a reality shock that will hopefully turn your perception upside down. Until next time

Some Videos I thought I'd share

I was going through my video files and found 2 videos that I'd though I'd share that depicts the love God has for us and a disclaimer is in call as one video (2nd one) is so hectic and intense it brings me to tears to think of the things we as as God children do to hurt God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtZUNf0Yt54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQhzpmPvWls

Now to shed some light on the footage, no matter how many times we may hurt God he still loves us more then we can ever imagine and in school I did art and I thoroughly enjoyed it the same way that I am passionate for gymnastics so you can imagine that I'm proud of my artworks that I did and this one kind of displays Gods love for us, its of a mountain pass with a road going up into the mountains and think of Matthew 5:14 as you see this piece of artwork I myself through God created

Mat 5:14  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

If you have an eye for art, I ask you to use your imagination and picture hows Jesus' love gets displayed in the painting and how the passage of scripture comes into play.

What is your fear

Let me begin with a real comical approach.

I hate spiders, they are creepy, hairy and freaky (I suffer from arachnophobia) so imagine my suprise late last night having to get rid of a massive spider because now one else was going to do it, so off I go very scared to grab the insect glass, a piece of paper and transporting it to the passage bathroom to flush it away, and then when I thought it was safe to pull the chain this thing jumps out at me causing me to scream my lungs out, needless to say after much trembling and yes I have never felt my heart beat so fast in its life, finally got rid of it.

Well we all have our fears, some are phobia like for me its spiders but then theres fear of  ourselves and pursuing our passions with the very thought "What will people think of me" and as a result you miss out completely on the gifts and talents God gives us and what happens is you completely miss the boat. I say to you get out there, fulfill your passion and stop caring what your peers and surrounding people will think of you because God has blessed you with those abilities to be used. Imagine someone gives you a gift ad you say no thanks or you just tuck it away in your cupboard with the purpose of not using it, now think of what that person must think and thats exactly how God feels when we dont pursue the gifts and talents he gives us.

The flaws among scientists

This is such a well argumented topic but I will touch on it as best I can without offending. A topical passion of mine is christian theology and apologetics.

I dont know if you saw the sun yesterday, I didn't but I did see pictures and what struck out was how short detailed the scientists were, they described it as nothing but just crystals forming around the sun but look beneath the surface and what they fail to mention is that resembles God's Eye watching over us. Scientists fail to mention God becuase they spend their entire day trying to disprove God's existence but yet when pushed can not even explain why things happen but ask a christian like myself and well the answers are as to why things happen are pretty clear because its detailed in the Bible also known as the word of God and if its in the bible then it must be true because I have seen these very things happen around me. Coincidence, I think not and so I will leave it at this last sentence and please ponder what I have just mentioned. Apologetics and Christian Theology is not something that you just say without thinking as it it requires lots of thought processes before getting the view across.

A sense of Hope in the community - An Edenvale Story

I have taken to watching the omnibus of Extreme Makeover Home edition (why is probably your question), well the focus of the show is to reach out to families who have nothing yet go out of the way doing selfless deeds for others. I guess you can call it giving back to those that help you when they are in need and I was touched by the one family this afternoon where they helped out a pastor and his family who purposely moved to a dodgy neighbourhood filled with gangs and drug dealers and set out to change and turn that community around by ministering to these very people whilst putting their lives at risk. I look at my neighbourhood and I see possiblities, through sports facilities (a Soccer Club, a Rugby Club, a gymnastics club that i didnt join up with because they dont offer artistic yet its 2 blocks away from me so I settled on a club that I'm happy with in the neighbouring community), Churches, schools, the list is endless and everybody knows everybody but yet if you drive up the main road of Edenvale you have clubs that are a drug haven, pool bars so people can get drunk and some say where is the hope for Edenvale. If you look in the surface what people dont see are schools, churches, sports clubs and selfless neighbours making a difference like this pastor guy that I mentioned earlier on to bring about and produce a community like no other. My challenge to you is look more in depth into your community and ask how can I make a difference and show the light of Jesus in the darkness that is evident in our surrounding areas. A ministry friend and his brother started an organisation called Inspired 2 Become focused on sport development among the youth and I thought what about bringing gymnastics awareness into that organisation, it will grow the development of the sport whilst keeping kids off the street by entering in a passion due to poor role models would not have been exposed to.

My Testimony

"Revised correction, i noticed some errors"

I have shared with you the very passions of my life but for those who are asking who is this Graham Boyd and how did he become the person that he is today.

I did the sunday school thing at St Chads Anglican Edenvale and during those years I had a lot of questions in my mind and the main one was "Why does everyone talk about the cross" needless to say I never did ask that question in public and started doubting things and in the end departed from the church and 4 years later a seed was planted that would forever change and answer the very question and heres how, My brother was in Grahamstown with my parents checking in to Rhodes University and I went to stay with a best friend Leslie Miller whose parents belong to Honeyridge Baptist in Randpark Ridge, that Sunday I went along and the sermon was delivered by Leigh Robinson who was the senior pastor at the time. Little did I know that it would change my life, just over a year later I was invited by my brothers best friend to Friday night youth at Edenvale Baptist and so I went along (Just a week beforehand I was on my knees and finally coming home to God and handing my life over to him). That was the start of something big, I started out just going along to Friday Night Youth being run by the youth pastor at the time Mike Geldenhuys and then home cell and then Sunday night church after continous encouragements. What has happened afterwards and how far God has brought me is beyond my imagination. For me to list involvements would be boasting and instead as as leader (Youth and church welcoming team), gymnast for christ and skater for christ I continue to humble myself and at times particularly late this week laying down my agenda for others even though the thought of missing something you love does suck but our dreams dont just happen without a few challenges along the way. I am not perfect but I am at least thankful that I'm not the person I was.

What is your dream

What with this Sunday being Reformation day and amongst being in the midst of having saying goodbye to what I thought was a good youth pastor, these words of encouragement was shared by Werner and I refer to a passage of scripture in Acts 2:

"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

and then a question was asked that I will share with you:
What are your dreams?

Quite comforting words of departure. Yes we may face challenges to make our dreams a reality, I know I have but one thing I can say is that as long as we hold on to those dreams big things can and will happen and one of the ways to start is this Sunday many people celebrate an occult holiday called halloween why not instead celebrate the reformation instead. Martin Luther had a dream to focus peoples beliefs and views on the truth instead of believing that they had to work hard to inherit the kingdom of God (Matin Luther taught that we are sinners saved by the grace and blood of jesus). Martin Luther also face challenges to make this dream a reality but it happened and now we can all be grateful for what he did. My challenge for you is whatever your dream is be it big or small. make it a reality and what will happen is you will be a part of the many few who has changed the course of history as we know it.

A Missions Journey like no other

This past year has definately been an interesting one.

Roy Harley of Sonsurf has a way of describing Gods secret plan and when I started gymnastics I happened to befriend 2 brothers Gideon and Wehan Du Preez and when they left the club God made certain that I keep up in contact with them and last year after a series of events joint up with the one brother being Gideon (who also just happens to have a passion for skateboarding) and together we help run Pause Skateboarding, a christian skateboarding association put into place with reaching the Kempton Park community of skateboarders with the gospel. Interesting how God brought me from gymnastics into something so big and massive. I felt the calling into Pause Skateboarding last year about a year ago during the EBC Missions week of 2009 and one thing I remember is in April we had 1 day camp and being 2am in the morning and everyone just pretty much pulling an all nighter (even leaders) God provided me a chance to minister to a troubled teen (due to confidentiality I wont reveal the nature of his troubles) and since then I have become a mentor to this kid and I even went on to share some scripture I found during the easter Period.


Col 1:15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Col 1:16  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Col 1:19  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
Col 1:20  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Since then changes have happened Pause Skateboarding has gained 2 more leader bringing it up to 4 now:
Gideon Du Preez (Founder)
Graham Boyd (Myself)
Geo Smit
Kenny Kloppers

but also there is a loss in that the current youth Pastor of the church Pause is responsible for (Werner Teichert) announced 2 weeks ago that he is leaving the post of youth pastor for a better opportunity. I now join in with a church that is close to my heart Honeyridge Baptist by experiencing the transition period between pastors together and its a time when strength needs to prevail and God need to be in control (not that he isn't already because he always has been in control).

I look back and it amazes me that given my history and journey that God opened these doors in one of the most original ways, If I had never become involved with gymnastics none of the above would have happened because I would have never have known the 2 brothers that changed my course of skateboarding ministry forever.

Reformation Day - 31 October

When someone mentions October 31st what day is associated with it and most people will say Halloween. Did you know that Halloween is a religious holiday but not christian, its a holiday connected with the occult and I have a document in my possession that can prove it, for this reason I choose not to celebrate Halloween. Now that I have laid down my thoughts there is another connection with the 31st October and that Reformation Day and its a day when a man by the name of Martin Luther challenged the catholic church and their beliefs by posting a document on a church door in Wittenburg Germany in 1517 and its because of this day and man that we can be blessed with having to go into any bookstore and purchase a bible as well as profess our faith freely anywhere we wish. My challenge is for all who read this to not fall in with the whole halloween celebration but to celebrate reformation day next Sunday the 31st.

Prayer Update - Seth Campbell

I'm going to ask a question. Do we serve a God of Miracles? Yes or No

I'm going to answer with a yes. Seth is still in hospital recovering but emotions have turned from fear to thankfullness. Why you may ask, well I just saw pictures of the car damage and let me just say that its a miracle that Seth is still alive. With a condition the car is in, its clear that somebody could have easily died on the spot. Anyone who says God is not in the miracle business should re-evaluate their theory as once you see the car wreck and remind yourself that a person who was in that car is still alive and recovering very well in hospital is a clear sign that God has performed a miracle in itself. I continue to pray for Seth that he will recover fully and there is hope that he will be back to normal in no time.

Urgent Prayer Request - Seth campbell

Hello Everyone

There was a massive car accident the other day and an old friend Seth Campbell just happened to be caught up in it. Seth is at the moment in ICU and stable at the moment but anything could happen at this moment in time. Please lift up your prayers for Seth that God would heal him and get him through this tragedy. Seth is 2nd from the right in this picture.

Gymnastics Update 4 - A universal gymnastics crisis

You all know my gymnastics journey quite well but I'm going to shift gears and talk about a crisis that has pretty much rocked the gymnastics development in a negative way.

Majority of olympic gymnasts come from the university/college programs and somehow instead of programs spreading they are just being shut and shattering the dreams of thousands of fellow gymnasts and the latest is UC Berkeley with 4 other programs also being shut. A problem like this needs to be addressed and fought for (but also prayed about) because these guys have fought their whole lives to get to where they are and slowly their dreams are just coming to standstill that could have been prevented in the first place. I know because as a gymnast myself I have the same dreams as all these gymnasts have.

I ask anyone who reads this to pray for the college gymnastics program to be saved and even join the following groups on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55687526057

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125846664121255

Its a huge deal and even if you're not a gymnast I still ask you guys to pray about this whole crisis and that by Gods grace and glory that these programs will be saved and in even brought back in the institutions that have cut the programs. Give gymnasts a chance everywhere to grow in this awesome sport without having to deal with all the nonsense and tragic cuts thats happening before our very eyes. 

Make some time for Coffee (A take on a message by Roy Harley)

As I sit here on a Saturday morning enjoying a really good cup of Coffee, I thought since I share my gymnastics journey with you and how some elements in my life relate to the gospel, I've never done it with the heavenly drink called Coffee. I remember about 4 years ago the head of Sonsurf Roy Harley talking about what it means to too take the time out and spend time with someone close to you or a youth kid you're mentoring and I'm goin to touch on that. 

How often do we get to spend and just relax with that person that means so much to us. Like me I guess there are those people in our lives that we haven't seen in a long time and here's an encouragement and one I like to do. Thats make a friendly phone call with the words "Do you want to do coffee together" something like this can go a long way as it shows how much you value the person and what they represent and do in your life. If not coffee then how about to a sporting event eg. in less then an hour I'm going to watch the SA Gymnastics team in action, invite someone, Rugby - Go along to a rugby game at Loftus for example with someone. I remember in feb going off to Roodeplaat to watch the National Rowing Championships and whilst I may not do rowing being in company with friends just made my day and made things special and whoever read this could take on a the same challenge. When you take time out for someone you make them feel valuable and you yourself feels valuable. 

God Never Lets Go

Dedicated to Brantley Pacheco, you will want to read this and I encourage you to lay your hands on the DVD.

I do not know how Louie Giglio the american preacher does it. I was watching his DVD How Great is Our God. I said in a previous blog that we are in fact little ants and he even went to illustrate by comparing earth to a Golf Ball and if you can hold a golf ball and try to find yourself you will in fact struggle because we are in fact little ants living on a pale blue dot the size of a golf ball in the galaxy. Now that you feel so small you may ask why does such a massive God care about us, our dreams and passions and its because he made every single part of us. As an aspiring gymnast going through a tough time and i'm sure you have read about my journey and even the updates, even though I'm a tiny little ant he still cares for me and those who are reading this having a tough time and doesn't let go but holds us together and helps us through trials, tribulation and storms and sets out to help us through those times in our lives. I'm going to show you something spectacular and its a main protein Molecule called Laminin

Incredible isn't it. The very protein molecule holding us together is in fact in the shape of the cross of Jesus and thats why somehow during all this tough emotional time of having put my shot of provincials and nationals on hold gives me hope that I will fight this moment in my life and fight for next year knowing that I wont settle for anything less. Louie Giglio quotes this scripture from colossians 1:

Col 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0-NPPIeeRk

Finding whats Lost

Have you ever lost something that was so valuable only to find it later, about a year ago I had this experience where upon taking my camera out of my pocket at a skate session at the Edenvale Post Office my car keys fell out and as a result when it was time to go and by then I was by the old mutual building realised that I didn't have my car keys, with my gut feel telling me to go back to the post office there they were lying on the paving in plain sight. Now why this story and how does it relate to the gospel message. Well anyone in that time frame could have picked up the car keys and possibly took off in my car but by Gods grace every single person walking past had no desire and just left the keys on the ground, had I had waited an hour I would have had a scenario where my car keys possibly would have vanished. There's a story in the bible that relates and its the parrable of the lost sheep where Jesus tells of a farmer who loses one of his sheep, sets out to find it and when he does, rejoices. We are like those lost sheep or that set of car keys that go missing in that sometimes we distant ourselves from God and like the story of Adam and Eve God is wandering around saying where are you. God wants to find us and use us to bring about a 100% rate of followers who are completely devoted to his word and all we need to do is tell them about a man who lived over 2000 years ago named Jesus and the price he paid for them.

My Life as a Gymnast (Written Sep 21 2010)

I'm going to do something different and just tell of emotions that have come about and I dedicate this note to the following people

1. Brantley Pacheco - We both are undergoing difficult times in our gymnastics career and have made a promise that will stand

2. Kerneels Bezuidenhout - one of the Middleburg guys that pays a visit to my club now and then and I have really become close friends with him

3. Mike Geldenhuys - The first youth pastor that I worked under and learnt from and who is like a father to me, and yes we are overdue for a cup of coffe

4. Richard Van Lieshout - The current youth Pastor and another close friend

5. Ivan Senekal - An awesome teammate and close friend

6. Tyrone Morris - Top SA gymnast and confidant

7. Henri De Backer - A good friend and gymnast

My passion for gymnastics really started from a young age of about 15, when my school introduced a gymnastics program, however I didnt like the program that was set out so I didn't join up (Up until then I really hadn't been exposed to the sport) and for a short years there has been this desire and I guess one day I just took that plunge and got involved in the sport and I knew instantly that I was where I was meant to be. Amongst all this there has been this dream to compete and with barriers getting in the way this year I was given that shot but it all came crashing down 2 days before provincial qualifiers when my coach felt I wasn't ready pull out, There has been emotions that I have been hiding (being a male its a natural thing) and was extremely hard on me emotionally seeing my temmates get their provincial coulours and not me. The dream is still alive and I'm am pushing for next year like you cant believe because one thing I can honestly say is "I refuse to settle for anything less". Nationals is next week and the emotions have just come flooding back as I wont be competing and I wanted to so badly. Next year is going to be the year and I'm not going to give up and I'm going to fight for this dream like you can't believe because Gymnastics is something that I am passionate about. Whats incredible and humbling is the support even from those who aren't gymnasts. I guess God has been there to lay this passion on me even by forging a friendship with a former trampolining gymnast named Donovan Wright. Its as if God was talking to me and bringing me into an environment and passion he wanted for me. I can with great desire say that Gymnastics is a huge part of my life and I'm in it to be the next best gymnast around and I have this feeling that God is going to pull something incredible out the hat and do great things with me within the sport and lifestyle of Gymnastics.

To Fall or Not to Fall (Written Sep 10 2010)

I was just remebering a message that was spoken by an american preacher at a summer camp last year named Adam Cramer and I remember because large elements focus on a sport that I am very passionate about (Gymnastics). He started off describing how much loves to watch the olympics especially Womens Gymnastics (baring in mind that this guy has no background in Gymnastics) . To illustrate further he showed a whole bunch of Gymnastics bloopers, then came the core of the talk the Balance Beam scenario to which I will explain.

Take the balance as our daily life, you casually walk across it and sometimes like is just good (staying on the beam whilst maintaing good balance) but sometimes trials and tribulations come our way and something different happens in that we fall off the beam. What do you do after that, well you can either give up which is when situations like Suicide, depression, drugs alchohol abuse come into the mix or you can get back up on the beam and try again with optimism and hope that things will get better.

The Gospel According to the Legendary Z-Boys (Written Sep 7 2010)

Time again for words of Widom from Graham Boyd. One of my favourite movies and I guess it comes from the skateboarder side of thing (as I havent seen any Gymnastics films to this level lately but I would love to) is Lords of Dogtown. It follows the lives of three nobody's who rose up out of the ashes to join the list of top historic skateboarders who made history. They are Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta who all originally after being kicked out of their surf spot embrace the world of Skateboarding in Venice, CA. They join the Zephyr Skateboard team and through hardships they overcome they stay massively strong and instead of being stuck in the present they grow enormously even forging their own path amongst the skateboarding industry.

Now that I have given you a summary to the film, where this ties in with the Gospel is the following: We can either stay stuck in today within our comfort zone or we can like the Z-Boys step out of our comfort zones and take a chance for the kingdom of God. Their is a special passage in the Gospel of Matthew that details this and I will share it with you. It was told the first ever youth evening that I attended at EBC being 17 and having just become a christian and it has been spoken constantly over time.

Mat 14:24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. Mat 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. Mat 14:26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. Mat 14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." Mat 14:28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Mat 14:29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. Mat 14:30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Mat 14:31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Richard Leonard one of the Sonsurf guys and originally Westville Baptist on a home visit preached a sermon that I downloaded called What do you see and He speaks about getting out of our comfort zone but uses these words "Let go of the paddle" and that is my challenge, As a dedicated Christian Gymnast and dedicated Christian Skateboarder when I'm at Gymnastics practice or at the skatepark I look around and I see the harvest and once seeing the harvest and those that are troubled then it would be a tragedy if I did not at least make some form of the Gospel known.

Influencing the Nation (Wrtiten Aug 29 2010)

As I was sitting in church tonight and listening to Pastor Richard's (The Youth Pastor) sermon talking about making an impact in the messed up world we live in I was inspired, he used three areas in our lives where we should rise up and build up the kingdom of God.

1. Kings - These are the everyday leaders, be it Youth Leader, Businessmen etc.

2. Prophets - The famous prophets of the bible studied for hours a day on end the word of God and were clued in they were.

3. Priests - These are the heads of the churches around us (Senior Pastor, Minster, Rector (I used to be Anglican) etc. and the sole key is to provide compassion

The key point to the sermon was to say we as fellow believers carry all three and without those three although one might be more then the other we cannot reach this nation.

One of my favourite artists of all time is a secular band called the Offspring and in 1998 they wrote a song after meeting up with old friends from their childhood neighbourhood of Garden Grove, CA and as you read the words you can imagine quite easily the similarities between Garden Grove and your neighbourhood be it Randburg/Kempton Park/Edenvale or wherever you base your community and the word themselves should be a challenge to get out there with the Gospel and change the course of history for days to come. We live in a society where Suicide has rocked every community, homosexuality is so common that it almost becomes the norm to some people, People choose to go out on weekends and get drunk and high on drugs. We should be that llight in those dark areas and play a role in bringing these people back home to God

The Kids Aren't Alright

When we were young the future was so bright The old neighborhood was so alive And every kid on the whole damn street Was gonna make it big and not be beat Now the neighborhood‘s cracked and torn The kids are grown up but their lives are worn How can one little street Swallow so many lives Chances thrown Nothing‘s free Longing for what used to be Still it‘s hard Hard to see Fragile lives, shattered dreams Jamie had a chance, well she really did Instead she dropped out and had a couple of kids Mark still lives at home cause he‘s got no job He just plays guitar and smokes a lot of pot Jay committed suicide Brandon OD‘d and died What the hell is going on The cruelest dream, reality

Brotherhood (Written Aug 27 2010)

What is Brotherhood you may say, well I think its guys sticking up for each other even beyond the tough times.

1. Brotherhood of Gymnasts: I love Gymnastics and one thing I can say is although some people have put up a certain stereotype about the sport, I found that my fellow gymnasts have become pretty much family, yes at times we will tune each other at times but we stick up for each other when things go wrong.

2. Brotherhood of Skateboarders: This is an interesting one because like the Gymnastics scenario we all stick up for each other, Skateboarding also has received stereotypes and its one of "With Skaters come Alchohol and Drugs" which isnt true. In fact I remember years ago at New Life Church Skatepark with Marcus Maschwitz, Bradley Jones, Chase and a few of the Sonsk8 Edenvale crew and this guy who supposedly takes the money kept on incorporating his own rules instead of the pastors and one day tried to make a non skater Pay (rules were if you dont skate you dont pay) to which I responded in defense to that person and after receiving a bit of lip from the guy before I could jump in and comment there goes Marcus giving the guy hell and then a few others jumped in.

Yes with Skateboarding the brotherhood is more evident because its out in the open whereas Gymnastics is more within the gym but its all the same.

Now where does this fit in with the Gospel well we as christians are in a brotherhood with other christians and in Christ and when something is done wrong against our fellow believers we are called to stand up for that person. Take Polycarp, he was a christian martyr who lived in the roman empire and at that time if you said Jesus is Lord you would be burned at the stake because to the Romans Ceaser was Lord and Polycarp got caught out and was asked to denounce Christ in front of millions and he made this quote before being burned that changed the course of Hisrory and brought about a whole new brotherhood of christians " For 86 Years I have served him and he has done me no harm, how then can I abandon my king".

The Awesome Majesty of our God (Written June 27 2010)

I was watching my Louie Giglio DVD Indescribable yesterday and got to thinking. We spend most our time time chasing our dreams in life be it becoming the next big artist or national sportsman, even hosting the world cup which has been a huge blessing but I ask you when the world cup is over and we face judgement day or in the process of of chasing our dreams it gets taken away from us or we pass on tragically where your significance and loyalty lies. All of the achievements in life be it personal or national become insignificant because at the end of the day there is a God who is extremely righteous and powerful to the point that all the stars and galaxies in the sky were made by him and I know that he could if he wanted to to take me out if he wanted to without having to ask permision because he is God. We are all designed for one purpose in the end and that is to worship him in our passions and lifestyles no matter where we come from. Attached are 2 picture that just showcase his glory 1. Sombrero Galaxy located 28 million light years away (1 Light year equals 5.88 Trillion miles) and 2. The X Structure found in the middle of the whirlpool Galaxy found 31 Million light years away) You just have to look at these to say How great is our God and I encourage you to watch the DVD

Sombrero Galaxy

X Structure