Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback church in California!

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life..

The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for..

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease..

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72..

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Making Pancakes

Six year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor, which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked!

Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pyjamas white and sticky. And just then he saw Dad standing at the door.

Big tears welled up in Brandon 's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him. Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pyjamas white and sticky in the process!

That's how God deals with us.. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour. Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't think ofanything else to do.

That's when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. But just because we might mess up, we can't stop trying to "make pancakes" for God or for others. Sooner or later we'll get it right, and then they'll be glad we tried...

The Contact Lens

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.

"Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry." She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found.

Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him....I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

What is love?

When it comes to the question of what is love, children can answer it better than most adults. The answers they gave were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

• "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy- age 7
• "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
• "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
• "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
• "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7
• "Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8
• "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
• "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
• "Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7
• "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6
• "During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8
• "My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6
• "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5
• "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7
• "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4
• "I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4
  "When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image) Karen - age 7
• "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6
• "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer, "Father God, bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you. Amen."

"Tithes to the Lord" by Rick Joyner

Our perspective of the kingdom must be based on knowing the King. As I have contended that much of the biblical teachings on righteousness deal with stewardship, which is management, there is a sure biblical witness that the Lord cares deeply about this. It was this issue in the Parable of the Talents that determined which servants heard "Well done," and which heard "You wicked, lazy slave!"(see Matthew 25:21-26 NIV) That is how important being a good steward is. Whatever He has entrusted us with, we want to see it used to its maximum efficiency and fruitfulness.

This covers everything from spiritual gifts to other resources, including our money. Money is our least valuable resource, but it is an important one because the Lord said that until we learn to handle it correctly, we will not be trusted with the true riches of the kingdom. It would be great to have enough money to feed 5,000 poor people every day, but it would be even better to have the authority to multiply one hamburger to feed 5,000! That is the difference between the riches of this world and the riches of the kingdom.

Many Christians have been claiming the biblical prophecies which talk about the wealth of the wicked being given to the righteous. But we need to first consider who the "wicked" and "righteous" are (see Proverbs 13:22). As so much of the teaching on righteousness has to do with good stewardship, could the "righteousness" that enables one to be trusted with this be a devotion to and skills in good management?

Just as there are four kinds of grace in Scripture, one of which is "common grace" that the Lord gives to all whether they acknowledge Him or not, there is a righteousness which is not really related to our redemption or salvation, but simply doing things right. No amount of this could ever earn anyone the salvation of their soul, but in the area of "common grace," it does enable the Lord to trust them with more things in the natural realm.

Without question, we should esteem righteousness, which leads to salvation, far above just being good stewards of earthly things. However, we are coming to a time when those who are heirs of salvation will also learn to be good stewards in everything and be given authority commensurate with this. We should esteem cultivating and growing our faith above the material, but that does not mean we should not devote ourselves to being the best stewards possible of all that we have been entrusted with. In truth, these are linked. If we are truly growing in faith, we will become better stewards of everything, esteeming and honouring everything God entrusts to us enough to manage it well.

In this "common grace righteousness," as we have discussed, we would have to include Bill Gates and Warren Buffet as two great examples. Both made tens of billions of dollars and both determined to give away their fortunes. Warren Buffet did not have anyone else to give his to except Bill Gates, who he knew would manage it right, and would gain the maximum benefit from it. If the church were operating as it should, his first consideration of giving it to a place where it would be managed well would have been the church. Sadly, it was not, and for a good reason. However, the church will get there. When we come to maturity, we will be the best stewards of everything on the planet.

Again, this is not to imply that all of these billions given away by Gates and Buffet could buy one moment of eternal life, which the cross alone has paid for. All of the earth's riches would not measure as being worth even a penny of purchasing power in eternal matters. Money is simply a tool for our training.

In Matthew 6:24, the Lord declared, "You cannot serve God and mammon." This has been interpreted by many to think it is not spiritual to give attention to managing money, but I submit that this is not the way this should be taken. If we do not learn some basic issues of money management, we will spend our lives serving money instead of having it serve us and our purpose.

To be practical, get control over your finances or they will control you. Every Christian should be financially independent. This does not mean we should be wealthy, but that we should never have to make a major decision on whether we have enough money or not, but on whether it is the will of God or not. Financial independence must be our goal.

Those who have obeyed this will never have to worry about the mark of the beast, because they will have another Source and will not care if they have permission to buy, sell, or trade in the systems of this world or not. That can, and should be, an important goal, but our main purpose should be to be the best stewards that we can of all that the Lord entrusts to us. This is basic to truly honouring Him, which is basic to true worship. So, before proceeding, I would like to propose a simple budget for those who do not have one. Here it is:

FIRST YEAR
10% first fruits tithe to the Lord
5% to offerings and good works
5% to emergency reserves/savings for major purposes
5% to recreation/entertainment
5% for living expenses including mortgage, rent, taxes, transportation

SECOND YEAR
10% tithe
6% offerings
6% to reserves
5% recreation
73% living expenses

THIRD YEAR
10% tithe
7% offerings
7% to reserves
5% recreation
71% living expenses

FOURTH YEAR
10% tithe
8% offerings
8% to reserves
5% recreation
69% living expenses

FIFTH YEAR
10% tithe
10% offerings
10% to reserves
5% recreation
65% living expenses

With increasing income, resist increasing your standard of living, but rather increase your standard of giving. Resist free spending and invest the money that you would normally spend on things you do not really need. Things will change if you do this.

The Lord promises to those who are faithful to give Him the "whole tithe" that He will "rebuke the devourer" from their lives. Most people do not need more income to get by—they just need the devourer rebuked from their lives. Personally, I have never met anyone who is faithful to tithe to the Lord who has chronic financial problems. There may be some, for other reasons of disobedience, but I have not met them.

Most people are thrown into financial stress because of unexpected expenses, but they will not throw us into crisis if we maintain adequate reserves. Once the emergency reserves are adequately funded, we should turn what we were setting aside for them into investments. If you do this, and learn to control your spending, your investments will provide more income for you than your job. This too should be a goal.

This is a simple draft of a budget, which may need to be adjusted some for each individual, but the goal is to decrease the percentage of our income that we are spending on living expenses, while increasing what we give and what we invest. The Lord does tend to bless the faithful and diligent so that things can happen much faster. However, if He was to give most people enough to pay off all of their debts in one lump sum, they would be right back in debt in short order because they have not learned to correct their bad management practices. Develop a plan that is right for you, be faithful to it as unto the Lord, and things will happen faster. However, we must resolve to do what is right whether He rewards us quickly or not.

This is not some theory that I am laying out for you. It is sound biblical truth, and I have personally experienced what I am teaching here. I do not want to take the time to go over the details of my personal life, but I am sharing what I know to be the truth and what works. However, for biblical principles to work, we cannot think short-term, but long-term. Set your heart on faithfulness—forever, because it is the right thing to do, not just to get out of your mess. Remember, Satan is always in a hurry because he knows that he has but a short time. The Lord is never in a hurry because He knows that He has eternity. If we are abiding in Him, we will think long-term. DO NOT succumb to "the tyranny of the urgent," but give yourself to the eternal principles of the eternal kingdom. It takes both faith and patience to inherit the promises. Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and the way of the Spirit will always reflect patience.

Last week I promised a statement about global warming, and I will cover this in more detail later. I do believe there is some truth to global warming, though I feel there is also a lot of evidence that some "evidence" for this and its source, seems to be contrived and/or exaggerated. However, no one should be more concerned about preservation and conservation than Christians.

God entrusted the world to man to take care of. It is a gift of unfathomable beauty, glory, and value, and to not take care of it as we should is an affront to the Giver. For now, I just want to say that we should do the right thing by the environment regardless of global warming, and it is a God-given mandate to us. Christians are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, which means we should have the answers to every important question. I will have more to say on this later, but we have been made stewards of the earth, and we will be accountable.

The Lord even said in Revelation 11:18 that He will "destroy those who destroy the earth." We should be wondering why Christians lag so far behind in addressing the important issues that face our world when we are called to be far ahead and showing the way. I am praying for all who read this Word for the Week to hear on that great judgment day, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV)

Those who will are those who take what they believe to be the word from the Lord and apply it to their lives. They do not just hear the words of the Lord, but they obey them. Such are the ones who are building their houses, financial and otherwise, on the Rock that will endure any flood that comes. If you think the Lord is speaking to you about any of these things, do them.

Did God create everything that exists?

Does evil exist? Did God create evil? A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!""God created everything?" The professor asked. "Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil?"

The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth. Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The other students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"The professor responded, "Of course it does."The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light." The professor sat down. The young man's name -- Albert Einstein

Why don't dogs live as long as people?

From a child .... an answer to the question.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very much attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer.

I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned everyone. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?" The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply, Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

You've just got to love this guy

Several men are in the locker room of a golf club. A cell phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker-function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen.

MAN: "Hello"
WOMAN: "Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?"
MAN: "Yes"
WOMAN: "I am at the Mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only R1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?"
MAN: "Sure, go ahead, if you like it that much."
WOMAN: "I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2005 models. I saw one I really liked."
MAN: "How much?"
WOMAN: "R390,000"
MAN: "OK, but for that price I want it with all the options."
WOMAN: "Great! Oh, and one more thing .... The house I wanted last year is back on the market. They're asking R950,000."
MAN: "Well, then go ahead and give them an offer of R900,000. They will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra 50 thousand. If it's really a pretty good price."
WOMAN: "OK. I'll see you later! I love you so much!!"
MAN: "Bye! I love you, too."

The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room stare at him in astonishment, mouths agape ... He smiles and asks: "Anyone know who this phone belongs to?"

40 reasons to stay in SA

40 reasons to stay in SA
You may find these figures interesting-
40 South African Strengths: The World Competitiveness Report ranks

South Africa 2nd in the export market diversification and 14th for shareholder value.
South Africa's quality of air transportation 6th in the world.
South Africa's self-sufficiency in non-energy raw materials is ranked 3rd in the world.
South Africa has one of the highest levels of expenditure on education in the world, currently at 20% of GDP
South Africa's protection of patent and copyright is ranked 8th in the world.

South Africa has the 20th largest economy out of 230 countries in the world, according to gross domestic product measured in US dollars purchasing power parity.
South African government efficiency is rated as the 15th best in the world as rated by IMD International.
Our management of public finance is rated 3rd in the world and we are rated
1st in terms of effective personal income tax collection.

South Africa has the world's largest reserves of gold (35%), manganese (80%), Chromium (68%), platinum-group metals (56%), vanadium (45%) and alumino-silicates (37%), and is the leading producer of these and many other metals.
South Africa is the world's largest platinum producer,producing 73% of the world's platinum output.
South African tap water is now piped into 76% of the country's households,
compared to only 23% in 1994.
South Africa has the lowest cost of electricity in the world and the lowest
cost of living compared to the world's major cities.

South Africa has produced in the form of the King II Report, what is widely considered to be one of the most comprehensive and most advanced reports on corporate governance in the world, emphasizing the South African business community's determination to adhere to good and ethical business practices.
South Africa is the world's leading producer of gold, generating 17% of the
world's annual output.
South Africa has been identified by US department of commerce as one of the world's top 10 Big Emerging Markets based on the enormous potential that exists in South Africa for US business.
The Institute of International Finance has praised South Africa as being
"among the best performers in terms of corporate governance in emerging
markets".
South Africa has the 5th most productive labour force in the world, measured in dollar terms.
The Johannesburg Securities Exchange is one of the 15th largest stock exchanges in the world, in terms of market capitalization.
Our banking sector is rated one of the top 10 in the world and our data security is ranked 8th
Following almost 10 years of capital outflows, South Africa has experienced
capital inflows averaging 6% of GDP per annum since 1996.
South Africa ranks 23rd in telecommunications development in the world and is ranked 5th in terms of investments in the industry. In addition, 99.8% of our telecommunications network is digital.
South African vehicle exports by BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen and Ford increased from 20000 units to 140000 units between 1995 and 2002. With annual revenue standing at R15billion in 2002, the industry is now the 3rd largest export earner after mining.

Sasol Mining was voted as the Coal Company of the Year in 2002 by the Platts/BusinessWeek Global Energy Awards.
South Africa straddles important shipping routes between Europe, Asia and South America, and the country's five major ports handle 13000 freight vessels annually, carrying 500 million tons of cargo.

Over six million people have found homes in the 1.5 million houses that have been constructed since 1996. The housing program has R50billion budgeted for the historically marginalized people and 22000 emerging contractors have been established.

BMW's plant in South Africa won the European Gold Plant quality award, which ranked it best in the world in terms of quality of production. Over 70% of the leather that is needed for the global production of all BMW cars is sourced from South Africa.

Our gross domestic product is the 26th highest in the world, totaling US$126 billion.

Eskom, the national power utility, supplies over 50% of the African Continent's electricity needs and, in 2001, was voted as the Power Company of the Year by the Financial Times Global Energy Awards.
Daimler Chrysler's plant in East London is the sole exporter of right-hand drive Mercedes-Benz C-class vehicles for the Japanese, Australian, and United Kingdom markets.
Of course we all know that South Africa is the best country in the world to
live in but it is interesting to see our world wide rankings in other
things as well. http://www.sa-entrepreneur.co.za/

THE BIBLE (Beloved I Bring Live Eternal)

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealers showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his fatherhad purchased the car.
Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his fathercalled him into his private study.
His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.
Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the youngman opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the youngman's name embossed in gold.Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said,
"With all your money you give me a Bible?"
and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. Hehad a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was veryold and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen Him since that graduation day. But before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.
He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.
With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.

His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father
which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealers name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words ... PAID IN FULL.!!!

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? If this touched your heart, please pass it on. Too blessed to be stressed!