Champion Hearts

© 2013 by Thando Mgenge. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/17/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4772-4182-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-4183-7 (e)

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter One Concepts En-Passant

Chapter Two Seasonal Thermometer

Chapter Three Traded Dreams

Chapter Four Animal Kingdom

Chapter Five The Boomerang

Chapter Six The Lost Pride

Chapter Seven Ngikhathele / I Am Tired

Chapter Eight I Have Chosen

Chapter Nine I Wish You Love

DEDICATION

I am indebted to the heavenly Father for giving me the saving truth. Christ is my cornerstone and that truth keeps me going every day of my life. I would like to thank a few people without whom this book was not going to be birthed: Otshepeng Bogatsu, a friend whose presence kept me afloat when my faith was tested to the limits. Jabulani Manqele who believed that I can say something to the people through writing, thank you my ngabadi (homey). My mom whose love for me never changed even when financial success was far from me, told my heart that mother’s love is unconditional. Friends and acquaintances that encouraged me to write subsequent to short devotions I was disseminating via e-mail have been invaluable. Teachers who opened the page about the false preachers have helped me learn more scriptural knowledge in relation to reality, for that I am so thankful. Mandeni Methodist Church library served as the repository in the early stages of my writing, I deeply thank the believers who donated books. Lastly I say thank you to the champion hearts for standing firm in the truth regardless of conditions encircling them. Christ smiles each time He sees them. He knows what is in store for them. Heaven awaits them with eagerness.

INTRODUCTION

Inevitably humankind is forced to adapt or give in to the latest changes. Advances are mainly for the betterment of earthly species many would agree—at least planet earth citizens—life’s betterment makes nations dream, starting with an individual. Sometimes one’s dream becomes a trans-national success. Such success is met with applause. As a citizen of the same planet I learnt every change is driven by a dream. The houses we inhabit, cars we drive, clothing we wear, the dream spouse and a lot more are aimed at satisfying human desires. I was not aware when I first started dreaming but I recall my first memorable dream was to get married believing that life was about family. True it is that life is relations fulfilled or should have been fulfilled as it is composed of boons and troughs. One would say dreams can be grouped in two, namely 1) sacred—where obedience to God’s purpose takes precedence and 2) devilish—where greed, selfishness, self aggrandisement and utter moseying are major pillars. Topping it all is the truth that for every dream realised souls are chief beneficiaries if God is at the epicentre. The same dream yearns for maintenance from its source of existence. Failure to receive strength from the source of the dream is like having a sheep without a shepherd. A shepherd is a guide that takes the sheep to the destination. The shepherd knows better than the sheep. Sheep without a shepherd do as they please in their limited animalistic psyche thinking that their conception of the conditions is perfect for them. Sadly the sheep without a shepherd always suffer repercussions whether they understand that or not. With mankind, dreams should start with the Creator otherwise our dreams are derailment from the start. Brother and sister, who is at the helm of your dream is eternally important.

My sibling as I will refer to you throughout the book, the simple fact is you are a dreamer because you were born. Life that ever exists is for a purpose. Each soul that gets a chance to indwell the body has psychology force that thirsts to seeing its custom made dreams realised. Dreams that have no Creator at the centre do not bring satisfaction. A soul custom made dream that is rooted in God never grows old. That is the way we tap into indisputable cornerstone as individuals and we get to know why we are existing. Positive contribution to creation, abandoning selfish ambitions, can only be possible if we get to know the nature of God. You are an extension of creation by the Creator; the benefits of residing on planet earth make you a legitimate citizen by virtue of birth. Following the formula: creation by the Creator equals vision by the Creator calls for human species to ask if they can make do peaceably without the life author? Figuratively and literally Christianity remains the most bias religion. The Saviour is the one who moulds and monitors the dream. A dream without the Saviour is bound to bring misery in the life of a dreamer. Misery emerges in many forms—not limiting it to poverty as many people think—it mainly comes in the emotional baggage.

Back in time when I was a university fresher I had a total transformation of dreams. It was the time I began to understand who God was. I did not neglect my studies but the reason I was studying completely metamorphosed. The main reason for that change was that I met Jesus. I shall always be thankful to the disciple who heeded a call of making disciples of many nations. My chapel attendance came to life the night I received Christ. It was about 21h00 on Friday. I do not remember the month yet the day changed my entire outlook at life and the holistic purpose of creation. Dramatically my dreams evolved. New words with different meaning of life were grafted into my heart. Afterwards it dawned that dreams are never easy to sustain. With meddlers in various forms, falling for the closest comforter is a rule, whether the comforter is morally inclined or immoral do not matter the moment meddlers are distracting the focus one has decided to choose in the light of eternal mission. This is the way a lot of us happen to divert from the moral trail and end up leading mediocre spiritual values which—according to the distracted—keeps them on the normal Christian radar. Sadly God has only one Christian standard which does not care if you are normal or sanctified Christian. Meddlers are life cares, secular passions, poverty and many more real plagues that haunt humanity. For every sacred dream there is always a desert experience no matter the financial status or social ranking of a dreamer. The only source of strength during dessert experience is God Himself. He left us the all knowing spirit to guide us to the guided passions so His purpose is achieved through us. We are introduced to a new friend named Holy Spirit. Unless the Saviour is in control, every dream is likely to be attained somehow in a shabbily tactic. This I have discovered while doing research in business operations. Could it be entertainment, enterprise, or service business; moral tests come into the equation. A few heartily transformed people do a deep assessment of their dream acquisition, and if necessary, change the outlook or methods to achieving them. That process cannot be possible only through mental willpower. Only God initiates such change. God helps change the minds of people to only recognised sacred dreams. If the dream was never sacred initially He minds not to modify or annihilate it and He says, Boy dream again, show me your dream colour then I will carry you through. Do we allow him to do so? I am afraid to say many (including countless professed Christians) do not and the world suffers as in the present years. When I was a teenager I used to believe education was going to take care of my future. A concept of panacea was deeply ingrained inside my heart. My turn to join the work force was a short span but I also observed that education without God is the highway to damnation. In the circle (workforce) hearts are bruised, mine suffered severe bouts too. I thank the Saviour joy was sustained, no wonder we are conversing or sharing in this discovery. Believe you me; a heart with a sacrilegious guide gallivants only to die a loner with all pleasures experienced.

As a traveller on this planet, there is always a sideline host waiting for the reckless. Major decoy is the label success, which a few may resist. Success is a dream realised my reader would know by now I suppose. Fanfare host mesmerises the mind. It kidnaps rationality. It keeps no vigilance inventory. It tells the traveller: enjoy because you were born to poverty and it is unwise to miss the opportunity to celebrate. Fanfare host lists the achievers who relish every moment haphazardly. It wants you to forget the supreme purpose for your existence. It wants more of failures in sacred mission. The easiest opportunity it uses is state of confusion when dreams are seemingly impossible to realise without the unscrupulous measures. Success has no bad connotations when cleanly acquired. Success that has its root in morally decayed methods incarcerates the achiever. In the midst of it all a question why life is so unfair to the faithful servants who do not set their walk in a wrong footing is asked? My sibling I have no cut-dried answer. In the years I have stayed on planet earth—mostly within my heart in my life—every action I took encountered a particular merit or demerit. I hope you don’t become a fanfare host victim as life is full of trickery. Only the faith green survives.

Another writer said as long as we live, we are on Earth University and the university will continually teach us what we never knew. According to his observation you stop learning the day you are no more; provided the soul, mental faculties, and body are intact. His observation holds true since human race. As we are born we get to learn. We give into certain beliefs or religions. To some, faith convictions are modified in pursuit of the truth or comfort. There is a time when intellectual finding for anything is side tracked. There is no omitting the phase. Life’s purpose imposes itself against anything. Components toward achieving that purpose are serving, satisfaction, celebration and worshipping. The list is randomly outlined; there is no chronology or special order of the listing. One element of these components is a driving factor where majority normally yells: satisfaction! It is compelling and outstanding. Without it someone may feel a sojourner on earth. None under the sun can afford to forego satisfaction. Every person does anything for a purpose to be a satisfied or one may say fulfilled. The journey to satisfaction is uphill battle. In successful completion of the journey God gives price we have earned. In learning stages one gets to find out that passion remains a prerequisite toward reaching phase satisfaction. Paradox is: passionate hearts are a rare virtue but hedonists are in abundance. Realising that passion is a rare and hard to find gem makes many lead passionless lives. Then one writer said if you stand for nothing you fall for anything. Standing for something requires tenacity which is the passion’s best companion. Nowadays godly tenacity is a primitive act which requires special diagnosis, secular world thinks. Unfortunately the same view invades Christian community. Failure to abide by passion’s precepts takes many to dissatisfaction and passionless life. Passionless life is a numb life. How can a numb person influence lives on earth? Perhaps only the clan whom they give food to after a hard earned salary are influenced by the type of life. One may wonder if passion is feeding someone food without influence. Think of a parent who does not raise their children with strong moral values. Is it possible for that parent to have a positive impact on those children? I have seen many passionless folks falling for anything in pursuit of pleasure. This is breeding ground of moral decadence the world over. Here we talk modern career parents with little or no regard for moral values but materialistic ungodly passions. Realising that pleasure should be an offspring of godly passions always helps the soul hold a load-star that can never be snatched by troubles. Food is important but not at the expense of souls. Christianity is about soul saving Dr KP Yohannan espoused.

Many times teachers come for one purpose, which is to imprint values or deliver knowledge that should carry us along life journey. Anything contrary to the values purposed either changes us or is discarded in the plane where ideals match reality. Obviously teachers are categorised in numerous disciplines. I would like to mention two main disciplines that make the world go round. They are 1) Spiritual discipline and 2) Academic discipline. Which of the two takes precedence determines the current affairs anytime. Even in spiritual discipline there are various faiths. My sibling I assume you and I are fundamentalists of the same faith. Whether I am correct on my assumption gives no way to argue that Christ be our centre stage spectacle upon whom we model our faith. In our faith, teaching is espoused using our book holy Bible, which is the word of God. There are times when we nearly forget the book and employ certain doctrines to fulfil particular missions within the body of Christ. You may suppose there is divisive approach in taking doctrine in place of the word. The young and/or hedonist Christian is lured into believing that the meaning of life is only happiness. Happiness above all philosophy breeds what one once called user-friendly preaching. I will quickly say I am neither savvy preacher nor top notch bible scholar but I learnt that no one will hatch another’s faith. Amid the journey to real faith is purpose. Who do I want to resemble in my life for the world to see? The core mandate is to please the creator. How do I please the creator means the only way to know about him is listening to His word. Relation with him comes after knowledge of his precepts, I mean healthy and real relation not natural. Natural mean the way mankind thinks and sees fit. Thank God your word is readily available for all to access. No doctrine or scholar will change the world but the word itself. I am grateful to tell you that I now know the sustaining knowledge towards eternity. I pray my sibling we learn from the likes of Abraham, imperfect recruits of God’s kingdom who made Kingdom reality through faith.

Shifting from normal Christianity demands a higher purpose implanted into our hearts. Otherwise we will never become great hearts. Great hearts contradict normal hearts. Normal hearts are always confused the moment they try to understand great hearts. Chasm between normal hearts and great hearts is so small that greatness should be inherited before noticing it. Normal hearts move with the trends that are not the aim a soul came into existence. God finished His master plan long time ago. How come He can give us new trends that are different from the people of two millennia ago when Christ died? The trends compromise the gospel because people evolve in church and try to amend the word of God. Moreover noticing the difference leads to undertaking tremendous measures one has to employ in doing amends against latest compromised gospel. It is people in church who reduce moral fibre not God. Reading His word and applying it will make you realise that nothing has changed except for the people who take gospel academically other than spiritually. Jesus wanted us to copy Him. In school my teacher used to tell us that taking word for word of someone’s work is plagiarism. This was detestable in the institution of learning solely because the personal individual insight about the subject was tested. Blunt plagiarism is only legitimate when one emulates Christ. I have come to know that plagiarism is the only way to access spiritual sight. Greatness of the heart is measured by the level of plagiarism one depicts to the world and God. It goes without saying that great hearts become what they model. They are captivated in plagiarism so much that they lose sight of who they are but who their hero is. The hero takes over, the mission changes. Mission change activates convictions’ change. How about revamping our spiritual front only for Christ to shine through us? It is an open secret that behaviour can be feigned. It is impossible to sustain feigned spiritual front. God is everlasting, so should be his presence in spiritual affairs. Someone said He is the God of the heart. He chooses to stay in the heart. Everything starts in the heart. Every lesson should start in it. The good and the bad news is that: the heart can be controlled and the heart is a deceiver, the bible tells us. Now I can say no person can lead a godly passionate life in the absence of God’s bewitching purpose. Innermost change takes place in varied paths in bewitching directives which at times seem extraneous. In the interim my sibling it is essential to tell you that every step counts. You nap you lose. Amends impinge pain higher than obedience. Costly is obedience than fame in the great hearts. Fame fades with time. Fame is left to the creator but first obedience is the prime factor if we are to be victorious accordingly.

Accompaniments to faith are suited to individual’s providence. Central to everything is providence Christ only God guides. This centre holds and attracts every personality to virtuous deed: love. Desires should be born of love. I hope there is something we can all learn as regards to love and desire from the book God in All Things by Gerard W Hughes when he quotes, Desire can only be controlled by a stronger desire. It cannot be controlled by some extraneous force—whether we call that force ‘will power’ or ‘the will of God’. Although God is not desire, God is in desire—the God who is constantly drawing all people and all things to an at-one-ness through the power love: the love that moves the sun and the stars (Dante, Paradiso, xxxiii)’. Ultimately we are forced to retrospect in the walk of life. When my time is done how do I rectify the punitive walk of negligence? Humankind nowadays is privileged to have god in their cabinets. God in the form of word compacted in bible tells us we will be rewarded fully for our deeds. Contrary to the rewards is the truth that His mercies abound. His mercies abound within a timeframe attached to one’s existence on planet earth. He placed us on earth for a time being. Our desires are time driven if I may say. His promises are timeless when focusing on eternity. The journey begins with the time focus or time panic. Definitely in humanitarian projects, corporate products, our stay on earth etc; happenings are time bound. The question to ask is: am I willing to vanish with time? If the answer is no I suggest you read the forthcoming epic my sibling. You may call it chapters if you please. Workplace is the midlife crisis hub. Young men and women join the workforce with high expectations. I was no exception. Dreams are born; they are also shattered in the early stages of entering corporate world. Desires change more than weather seasons in a year’s time. Time breeds desires’ change. Time has helped me relate human effort with timeless god’s purpose. In time I have seen the elderly cry about their acts in a time race. In time I have seen people contribute to the defilement of human species, in race against time. I served in the corporate world. My tenure was interspersed with question marks. Tenure is not appropriate for the designation of intern I was given. What happened I regard as an eye opener thus I say ‘my tenure’. Though I had no political power in the organisation to change any irregularities, I had spiritual power to talk against it. I had authority through Christ to say: this is not my portion. My friend, allow me to share with you the inside story of the corporate world and success. My sibling, take my hand as I walk you through the familiar path of infidelity travelled by many and acknowledged by few. Get into someone’s shoes. Understand the source of their desires. Perhaps we can look at the world through the eyes of our Saviour. Heart of Christ is tender, loving and forgiving. He takes no delight in half cooked yardsticks. We cannot achieve perfection here and now. We can hope to get better as we abide more. Conscience is ever awake and blunt. What it has experienced keeps an indelible mark in our hearts until sound resolve is employed. The moment our resolve touches no base, the same pangs we would wish to do away with resurface repeatedly. Is there peace in such state of the heart? Discipline—if heeded—is for the better. Better Christians we become. As you retrospect with pride, pray that many taste the sweet victory only truth grants. One sweetly said I talk too much and science was a wrong career choice for me. They couldn’t be more apt especially when I am inviting you to observe, cry, pray, dance and eventually retrospect with pride. Pride that through him I have won the race, the race of faith. I take no pride in haughty eyes because haughtiness comes before fall, the bible tells. Only pride in hoisting God’s splendour is permissible. Be His monument in this world of mere submission. I am sure if we treasure truth, our dreams and desires are invariably virtuous. I enjoy chatting. Welcome to my observations!

You can skip chapter one if you have taken your time to observe the common things that befall men. Chapter one is just an overview of the overlapping, usually ignored observations, which accumulate to the death of a dream and the pain conjured thereafter.

CHAPTER ONE

Concepts En-Passant

Students from various disciplines were streaming into the class, which was in the early hours of the morning. Precisely the lecture was at seven thirty in the morning. Lecturer encouraged participation during discussion minutes, usually in the afternoon periods. Though I was a lazy student then, I would look forward to the lecture hall enthused each time Environmental Law was scheduled. A lot was said about the class mainly to entice the indifferent. I won’t forget one of my then classmates, who later became a friend. This panicky young man met me in front of the university library entrance. Confused as he was, I started paying attention to his predicament. Fortunately I was more understanding because I was in final year of my studies. I started explaining what was needed for the assignment. In essence we had to write the same assignment. Later