APPLE'S STEVE JOBS

Hmmm... the world has lost a pioneer indeed. What a legacy a left behind? Just stumbled on Late Mr. Jobs commencement speech at Stanford university back in 2005 or thereabout. Not sure. But as listened to him speak, some of the things he said stood out for me: Living for something you love, doing something you love, listening to your heart and your intuition, Living each day like it's your last and weighing the consequences of your actions and the beauty of death. As I listened to him, he sounded to me like someone who had put his life in order, giving his best to his world, knowing that someday he was going to pass away. It really got me thinking and asking questions like: Am I really living each day like it's my last? Am I giving my best to that which I love to do? Have I even found that which I love to do? Am I caught up in trying to live another man's life or am I comfortable in my own skin? Finally, I hope this one stands out for you: "Stay hungry, stay foolish!"

You can go here to watch the video yourself. Farewell to one of our generation's greatest innovators.

IS THERE STILL HOPE?

She was only fifteen when she had her first child,
She couldn't even tell who the father was,
'Cause there were so many people involved, so many possible fathers,
She had to drop out of school, while her mates continued to college,
But she was once the brightest kid on the block, the first to answer the toughest questions in class,
She had a bright future, she wanted to be Lawyer, an Engineer, a doctor or the first female president,
But somewhere along the way, she was deceived, lied to and lured into a life of promiscuity,
So now she sits up on her bed every night, staring at her son while he sleeps,
And as tears roll down her cheeks, somewhere in the recess of her mind,
She could hear the question which begs so loudly to be answered,
Is there still hope for someone like me?

He was voted most likely to make it in life,
He was the son every mother wanted, the pride of his father,
As long as he was concerned, the top was where he was meant to be,
And he was ready to work hard to make it there,
Everyone thought he had his life all figured out; success can never possibly by pass him,
But somewhere along the line, he was deceived, lied to and lured into life on the fast lane,
Someone told him, "four years in college is a waste of time, when a job is not assured,
So forget school and chase that green, hustle your way through and make that cheddar,
You can even be a rapper, a gangsta rapper, like that brother named, "what you call him?" topping the charts,"
He listened, and today with a murder case, a drug case, and three women waiting for him to come be a father to their kids,
He sits behind the bars of the cold, mean prison rooms, weeping over his life, wondering how he got here,
And somewhere in the corners of his mind, he hears this question, so loud and clear,
Is there still hope for someone like me?

Well, as much as I know, the downfall of a man is not the end of his life,
Failure is not falling down, but refusing to rise up after falling down,
And in the midst of that broken life which you consider throwing to the winds,
I want you to know that there is still hope for you if only you can look up to Jesus, the hope of the hopeless,
First forgive yourself, put the past in its rightful place: behind you, look for some good in the bad of your life,
Trust God for a better and brighter future, try not to make the same mistakes again, go back to the shelves and revive those broken dreams, try living them and watch yourself sail to the top-where you belong.
Peace.

TO BE FREE

She wanted to come home when she pleased,
Go out with whomever she likes,
Get her groove on whenever she wanted,
She wanted to do whatever she wanted, without scruples,
As far as she was concerned that was what it meant to be free,

He wanted to be the ladies man,
The hustler, the party-rider, the "it" guy,
He wanted to smoke that and this and see what it felt like,
He wanted to drink that and this and know what it tasted like,
He wanted to be able to have someone different, every night, to keep him warm,
As long as he was concerned that was what it meant to be free,

Fast-forward, a couple of years later,
She can't get her life together; every man on the block knows the color of her sheets,
She is all over the place, her life is all over the place,
She now needs rehab to get out of that which she called "being free, living my life,"
Now he can no longer control his urges,
He is addicted to the bottle, inseparable from the pipes, acquainted with the grasses,
The therapist has become his very close friend,
But he was just living his life, being free,
So I ask, is this what being free means?
Is this what living my life really entails?
If the freedom of the world will lead me to a life which I struggle to get out off,
I rather be a slave to Jesus Christ, doing His will alone, 'cause therein lies true freedom,

I guess all I'm saying is, let us really examine what we call freedom.

MY IDENTITY

That I rock Gucci,
Wear Prada, and show up in Loui Vuitton,
That I rock Ralph Lauren,
Wear Versace, and show up in Steve Madden,
That I roll in Bentleys, cruise in Porsches,
And pull up in Rose Royces and push Lamborghinis,
That I eat specially made foods, dine and wine with A-listers,
The ballers, the pros, the big boys, those that matter from the world's perspective,
Does not mean I'm the clothes I wear, the cars I drive, the food I eat, the wine I drink,
Neither am I defined by the cash in my flash, or by those I roll with,
So who am I and what's my identity? 

My identity cannot be found in vanity,
My sense of who and what I'm worth cannot be seen in artificiality,
But who I am, if I'm anything, what I am, if I'm anything is found in Jesus Christ,
For I am nothing but a wretched, hopeless sinner who was saved by divine mercy and grace,
Scooped out of the dust by He who gave up His life and took my place,
So I live to glorify He who saved me by by His blood, I live to seek His face,
I don't let the standard of this world; the figures, the stats, and the charts,
Define my sense of who I'm worth, my only true worth and identity is found in Christ alone,
For if my satisfaction and identity comes from Gucci, Prada, Lui Vuitton and the designers series,
Then I am lost,
If my joy is based on that which is earthly and material,
Then I have missed my true purpose,
So though I like to look good, I realize that my image and beauty can only come from Jesus Christ.
He is my identity.

IDOLS IN OUR HEART II

He(she) is the biggest star on the planet,
He(she) has a huge bank account, he rolls in money,
The flash, the cash, the endorsements, the fame. the fortune, he(she) has it all; lives life on a fast lane,
And he(she) looks good too; but problem is, he doesn't care about me, who I am or whether I live or die,
He(she) only cares if I listen to his(her) music, if I'm a fan, he(she) is all about his(her) money, the increase of his(her) fame and fortune,
Yet he(she) is the one I adore, the one I listen to, even when I know he's(she's) on a wrong path and his(her) views are twisted,
So I have exalted him(her) above everything else-
Idols in my heart,


Such is the generation we live in,
Where we have exalted idols in our heart above,
The God who cares for us and gave His only begotten in love,
We chase after the lies, the fallacies, the vanities, the emptiness,
The fashion, the fame, the pop culture, the" in- vogues", and all that is of negligible significance,
We run from the truth, the word; that which tells us to quit evil and unrighteousness,
To love God and hate sin, has suddenly become that which ticks and pricks our ears, making us uncomfortable,
So we call Christians conservatives, uptight folks and the likes, we say things like "I'm not really into God and religion",
Not that we don't know the truth, but we have chosen to ignore it and believe the lie,
Idols in our heart,
May God help us change our ways, may the scales fall off our eyes that we see clearly the deception that we now live and accept as the truth. 

IDOLS IN OUR HEART

They are the stars we adore,
The celebrities we scream for,
The cars we desire,
The flash and cash we crave,
The vanities and the emptiness we chase after,
They are the things we exalt above the one who has created all,
Idols in our heart,

We live in a generation filled with so many teachers,
In a world saturated with so many different ways,
Our society is constantly jostled by varying opinions of what is right or wrong,
So we turn to the T.V set, turn on the radio, pop in the latest album everyone is talking about,
And we listen with rapt attention, with desire, with adoration of the artists, of the actors, of their songs, and of their lifestyles,
So my generation have suddenly become clones, lacking a mind of their own,
If my favorite star says it's right, then I accept it without thinking about it,
Well, how do you expect me to have a mind of my own when I don't even know what I believe or don't believe or what philosophies I live by,
I don't have any standards at all, no values, so I go with everything that comes, I believe and accept everything,
Idols in my heart...
TO BE CONTINUED...