Blood ...

Dedication
To Sade - I would have given anything and everything . . .

I grew up with my Aunt and Uncle; my parents having passed on about the time I was just gnawing on my fist homemade cookie. The earliest recollection I have is going with my aunt to the Church of the Christian's Cross (CCC). My Uncle was an "inactive" Christian in his own words. I guess that meant non-practicing to the rest of humanity.

The CCC believed in only one thing - asking God to let his kingdom come as soon as possible. It was almost sacrilegious to ask for any other thing. It is their believe that God knows "we" need all those physical things and he will provide them in due course. I guess it has some biblical basis (backing), but it got kind of boring and repetitive listening to the same topic every Sunday. The only intermission was when someone dies or a member gives birth to a new born baby. By the way can there be any other type of new baby? Unless, its adopted of course. Otherwise, a new baby can only "arrive" by being born)

So I have never asked God for anything - other than to let His kingdom come ASAP; not until recently at least. Well, that is not true strictly speaking. Between me and you, late one night just before my eleventh birthday, after saying my "let thy kingdom come" prayers, I took a peak through the doorway and seeing that both my Aunt and Uncle were snoring in front of the TV, I quickly tacked a request for a bike for my birthday to my prayers. By the next day, I had forgotten about it, but a couple of days later, there was a knock on our door and their stood my cousin Ricky with his bike and his folks (in that order). I knew they were relocating to the U.K., but couldn't for the life of me figure out why he had his bike with him given that they lived at least 20km away across town. To my delight, he had decided to leave me his bike! We had had some nice times on that bike at his house. he said he couldn't think of anybody else who had appreciate it better than me. That was a great honour because I knew what that bike meant to him. thinking back now, if they had allowed him, he would have tried to sneak it unto the plane as hand luggage! That would have been a sight to behold! Well, I guess God doesn't mind the odd request now and then, does he?

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If you ask me, one of my most vivid memories of childhood was of an event that happened shortly after my thirteenth birthday. Uncle Daniel (another uncle) came to visit. I guess he was about 25years at the time but to me he was more like Methuselah, all grownup and world wise.  One day when both my aunt and uncle were out, he gave permission for me and a couple of boys from the neighbourhood to go visit the bazaar holding in the local Catholic church grounds. After wandering round and losing the few coins we had at some throw-a-dart-and-try-your-luck game, we decided to heard back home. Luckily (or unluckily), I found a pack of cigarette on the floor. I picked it up and pretended I had won it (whoever heard of a 13-year old boy winning a pack of cigarette at a Christian bazaar?). Back at home, I handed it over to my Uncle Daniel - a non-smoker. He  promptly opened the pack, lighted one up, took two puffs and then handed the pack and the burning stick of cigarette back to me with instructions to dispose of it by throwing it over the fence into the vacant lot at the back of our house (talk of the devil finding work for idle hands!) I am not exactly sure of who made the dare, but one thing led to another, and I found myself taking two puffs of the lighted cigarette before disposing of it. It must have been about a week or two later, on a Saturday morning while my aunt was making breakfast that she brought up the subject of the cigarette escapade. I couldn't believe my ears! At first I thought God must have told on me, but soon realised that one of my so-called friends must have let her in on the matter. While threatening me with cancer now, hail and brimstone in the hereafter, I was busy praying to God that she ends her "lecture" before my uncle came down for his breakfast. While my aunt may think twice about killing a fly in her kitchen, my uncle had never been known to spare the rod. I guess he must have studied certain portions of the  good book after all. Luckily, as my knees were about giving way, and with my uncle's footsteps sounding on the stairs, she stopped suddenly - just as she had started. Phew! Guess that makes two unsanctioned requests to god after all!

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I am a grown man of 24 now. I have had my share of troubles but luckily no run-ins with the  law. Even though I haven't asked God for a thing in the last seven or so years (since I took a degree course in Information Technology at the local University), I guess He has been good to me all the same. Like I said, I haven't had any major troubles, and what I count as major is anything that would take me to the neighbourhood police station or was still land me in the slammer! I can even count the number of dustups I have been involved in on the fingers of my hands. I remember clearly a brief encounter with a friend during my secondary school days. I "won" that one. By the time we were in our final year some four years later, the guy had become a stocky lad with plenty of experience in the duelling direction. In the meantime I had become a lean (but not mean) young lad. One day, with nothing to do, he had tried to goad me into a "rematch" which I had carefully avoided, knowing what the outcome would be. 
So I could say I have led a more or less uneventful life, until recently that is.

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I often wonder if I would work at all if I did not need money to live. I was told that unless you have a degree in a "hot" field, getting a lucrative job has an element of luck associated with it. But it seems it can be tricky getting reasonably well-paid I.T. job - even though the field can be described as being "hot" at the moment. 

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Our text today is taking from the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9, verse 11. I read.  "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."
Should we thus conclude that we have no control over what happens in our lives? Or that God does not alter circumstances by answering prayers? Should we excuse a delinquent child by taking into account this verse of the bible? Should we set a thief or murderer free because he has had a "bad" childhood which turned him into the undesirable element that he has become? Should we stop striving to be the best we can be, because whatever we do, ultimately life will determine the outcome?
I say nay to all these questions.
If we consider the last 5 words of the verse we have just read, we see here that the verse says "happeneth to them all." Solomon did not say to "chance happeneth to us all", what he said is "to them", that means he did not include himself. The same goes for us as children of the living God. If we believe in God, then we must believe that God is ultimately in control of what happens to us. We must believe that we are not victims of chance. That God knows about everything that happens to us; that we are able to influence the course our lives take by faith and action.
I tell you that we are not part of "the them", we are a peculiar people; a chosen generation; a royal people called to shine and shine brightly. To show the world that it is possible to be godly in this present darkness that covers the world. Can I have an alleluia somebody!

If I am to believe that God talks to people via sermons delivered at the pulpit, then it seems I may have a chance afterall. It seems like a long shot, but could it be possible? Can I alter something so unchanging that is is almost written in stone? Can I disbelieve all my believes?
Which is easier: turning stone to bread or making bread without wheat nor oven?
Is it easier to make a miracle that ensures children born by two parents both AS are AA
or is it easier to get God to change the blood running in a person's vein? Even if this
where possible, would the person remain the same? Can a person with a totally different
blood still be the same person? Yes, his outward appearance is still the same; his fingerprint is still the same; but is he truly the same person? Can he be held by DNA evidence for a crime he committed before his blood changed (check this out - is DNA independent of blood type?)

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(Proverbs 13: 24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.)
"Honey dear, you know how you have been wanting us to change the rug for some time now."
"Yes dear."
"I think we are about to do so very soon."
"Huh?"
"Better start clearing the ground floor of any water-unfriendly stuff, because this house is about to get flooded!" 
"That's unlikely, it's just drizzling outside and the drains were recently cleared so we shouldn't have any problems."
"There is no time to explain at the moment, but we need to move fast."
"Are you sure dear?"
"I will explain everything later but right now we need to get cracking!"

 

11:10pm (01-August-2004) to 12:35am (02-August-2004)

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