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Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path. #Bible

Patrick Mabiletsa (@TheMabz) tweeted at 8:41 PM on Thu, Aug 22, 2013: God, my wife, my kids and my job #ThenMyWriting gift that I believe its going to blossom one day #JustOneBigBreak the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

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When you have tried everything, and nothing worked, try Jesus

Patrick Neo Mabiletsa

When the going gets tough, the tough get going - Patrick Neo Mabiletsa

"I might look week, meak and humble infront of them that do not know me, but before God there is a lot of work to be done, he sees and knows everything"

Patrick Neo Mabiletsa

Book Reviews - The Muse

Book Reviews Now I Understand Why It Had to Happen: How life would be if we were to give up. Author: Patrick Neo Mabiletsa (Dec 20, 2012) In his memoir “Now I Understand” Patrick sensitively explores the themes of love, loss, pain and relationship against the earthy backdrop of South Africa. He is exposed to the often harsh realities of life. These realities shape his personality and destination. He questions life and implements truths he has learnt to achieve his goals. One of his challenges is to understand what love is. His love for his mother grounds and shapes his awareness of love which serves him in the many choices Patrick makes. As a child, he lived in a time when South Africa was divided by the laws of Apartheid. Patrick searches for truth. Despite the injustice of Apartheid, Apartheid provides an opportunity for his growth as a forgiving and questioning person. His courage to battle adversity speaks of heroism. Patrick’s story is a story similar to the myth of Sisyphus, but Patrick breaks free. He sees his way past incessant blame and mental pain. Early in “Now I Understand” Patrick asks his mother “but, where is my father?” Patrick’s mother does not tell him. He suffers greatly in his loss—it was the not knowing. Even through this event, Patrick loves and trusts his mother. It is his initial love and trust in his mother that enables Patrick to love more widely, more fully and to grow in faith. Patrick goes beyond himself, and beyond the often dreariness of human existence, to discover the mystery of God and God’s love. This is an open, honest story of survival under difficult and heart breaking circumstances. Through his journey into fatherhood, adverse circumstances haunt Patrick in many ways. Today, while Patrick has found love and some peace, he still struggles, as we all do, to live a life of grace. His struggle is sensitively depicted; a poets voice. His triumph over tragedy makes Patrick the hero of his own story. Patrick’s unique voice came across in a way that drew me into his story. One would not want to change this. However, because the work could use a tidy up I have given four stars instead of five. Patrick knits his story together neatly. The difficulties he faces means there is plenty of conflict. Some moments of “Now I Understand” are: The best story my mother ever told was when she said that she used to be an athlete, she use to run in school and she used to win, I sometimes looked at my mother and laughed simply because when I looked at her she did not even look like someone who could run. It was funny listening to my mother talk, she would smile first, revealing the most white and fabulous teeth ever, … “My mother taught me that prayer is a communication between God and people and that if I ever feel like I am in trouble or I feel like something is worrying me a lot, I should use prayer and also use faith. She used to say;—”If ever you are in trouble, and mommy is not there, just say God help me” God will fight for you; she said. Patrick writes of his first wife: And that is how I knew, I loved her, because her sufferings were my sufferings, … She finally passed on after giving birth to our daughter Tlhogi, and since then the pain I endured was the worst I have ever felt, … Patrick’s story is a story of how to live when life hurts. It’s a story of hope and faith—a story of the heart.

- Sandra A Jobling

Its all in this hand and I have to change my attitude - What You have In your hand can prosper you or harm you

Patrick Neo Mabiletsa

WHAT IS THE TRUTH

OPINION PIECE 3 – WHAT IS THE TRUTH

I have often asked myself what the truth is in life; and one can argue with many reasons and it can sound convincing, depending on who says it and also depending on how sharp/intelligent they are. I have lied before in my life. And people have believed me because of the body language and the way I tell a lie.

I have always and still do believe that there is a big difference between a fact and the truth. You can be able to give facts to support a lie and it could still look like the real thing, especially if there are points given to support the lie.

How can someone lie with a straight face, not thinking twice and not even a blink. It’s a technique one learns as you grow. It is something that can be naturally planted, inherited or even taught. First thing when a young man/lady grows up is to learn to lie and cheat even if it is not planned, we sit and device strategies on how to lie and we end up being the masterminds of lying till we die.

We lie from Primary school, we lie our way to secondary and even to college, we cheat ourselves, our friends, our parents and we don’t even realise its cheating at that time, we learn the skills of survival through lying and cheating our way out of situations. We tell lies sometimes to protect ourselves from the “Enemies”, and sometimes we do it to get ourselves noticed and even to try and avoid discipline.

I believe that lying is inherited, and learned. It is also taught through the generations, our parents lied and our great grandparents. I was lied to about my father; the lie is still active in my life. The lie that was told to Jacob (Josephs’ father) in the bible, even though his sons did not actually say it, they just showed him the “Dress” Joseph was wearing and let him draw his own conclusions.

I have seen people lie without saying a word; they lie and cheat to heal for a moment or for a season only to do long term harm. I have seen marriages wrecked because of a simple lie. I have someone or heard someone lie about being 5 minutes away even though they are 15 or 20 minutes away, Hell I have even done it myself.

I have seen people say to a person I love you, or you are so beautiful because they can gain something out that particular person. I have seen people tell other that they will be with them forever only to see them crushed in a long run.

The fact remains, everyone is a liar, everybody has lied and been lied to. But what is a point of all this lying? What is a point to trusting if we know that everybody lies. I personally thinks that people who lie end up hurting themselves in the end. I have tried to lie my way through situations only to get caught in the end, I have tried to cheat in order to be the best person only to leave with an unimaginable guilt. So why lie if lying hurts so much.

To gain respect, to give false hope, to hurt people and to change lives. Look at how Jacobs’ life was changed, he mourned for so many years and even stopped dreaming because of the sadness in his heart, because of the lie was told to him. Many years he suffered and carried pain because of the lie.

If we, as human beings stop lying, there would be so much joy in many people’s hearts; there would be so much trust in the lives of many people. Let’s stop lying to each other because it only hurts those we love.

How can we lie to the people we love? How can we cheat those that bring happiness to our own lives and claim to love them. It hurts when it happens to you, like a man who says “it’s not enough, its not enough” and when he turns a corner he is very proud of what he has been able to take out.

What is it about a human being that always wants to receive and not give out, why is it so easy to lie to someone but when it happens to us we are saddened and feel we cannot live anymore of feel its the end of the world.

I choose to stay clear of lies, from now on I tell the truth, and if you do not like the truth then I am not your friend, you are not my friend, I hate lies, I don’t want anything to do with them anymore. I chose to tell the truth to my family, I choose to tell the truth to my kids and teach them how to tell the truth, I choose to give them the truth no matter how much it hurts them.

And if you are my friend, or want to be my friend, I promise I will tell you the truth, If you smell funny or talk funny, or have funky looking hair-cut, or even have a funny looking shirt on, no matter what, I will tell you the truth. And if you want to be my friend, tell me the truth even if you think it will destroy me, because most of the time, what human beings thinks will destroy, always builds.

I am not a liar, because I choose not to let myself be dragged down that route of being a liar and a low life. Basically what I am saying is that all lies are selfish and If you are a liar, today I have a name for you.

LOW LIFE LIAR!!!!

Check this out !!! - The story behind this two pictures is this... "I have three woman in my life, and all of them think I am a king, even though its hard to balance between giving all of them time, they all still love me" - TheMabz

Press Release - Now I Understand Why It Had To Happen

Contact: Neo Mabiletsa 011 799 3439 / 0798849032 [email protected] / [email protected]

Xlibris Author Patrick Neo Mabiletsa Shares his Life-changing Story as a Christian New book follows the journey of a young man whose admirable courage propels him to overcome the difficult storms in his life. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – His life is a one big, exciting roller coaster ride. He had been through ups and downs. There were too many obstacles on his path that threatened to bring him down. His was a difficult journey, but he never stopped until he reaches where he wants to be. Author Patrick Neo Mabiletsa shares his heart-warming story in an inspiring memoir, Now I Understand Why It Had to Happen. He let the readers see the difference had he given up. He was born on the Wednesday of June 10, and he was given him the name, Neo, which means “gift”. His mother believed he is a gift from God. Louisa, his mother, had to leave him and his older brother home in order to work, and she could only go home once a month. It was hard for them. Despite that, they live happily, thriving on the simple things and making do of what they got. As he grew up, he started to notice some things that are missing in his life. The most insistent question on his mind was the desire to know why he’s the only one among his friends who doesn’t have a father. His mother found it hard to answer, and since he knew how painful it was for her, he compromised to just let things be. He had dreams, and his top priority was to get his family out of poverty. For a moment, he seemed to have everything as planned. He enrolled in a university with the help of a pastor. It was short-lived, but the disappointment he felt that time led him to a different path. Indeed, God knows what’s best for each and everyone. At every turn, he had to make a choice, and every choice has a profound effect on his life. He came across too many points in which he loses hope; he lacks the will to fight. But he never gave up. He never let anything defeat him. He did not let go, instead, he held on. Every choice he made molded him to who and where he is right now. Truly motivating and inspiring, Now I Understand Why It Had to Happen is not simply a story that touches the heart. It is also a story that will teach every reader the importance of overcoming their shortcomings and pull up enough courage to triumph over their adversities. For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to www.XlibrisPublishing.co.uk . ABOUT THE AUTHOR Patrick Neo Mabiletsa is a consultant at one of South Africa's Major Consumer and corporate credit bureau, specializing in credit management, he's also an author, poet and singer, he plays the drums and likes to read non-fiction books, but most of all he is a believer in Christ Jesus and married with two kids. He gets his inspiration to write from his life experiences and monotonous past. Now I Understand Why It Had To Happen: by Patrick Neo Mabiletsa How Life Would Be If We Were To Give Up Publication Date: December 20, 2012 Trade Paperback; £9.99; 99 pages; 978-1-4568-7773-6 Trade Hardback; £19.99; 99 pages; 978-1-4568-7774-3 Ebook; £3.99; 978-1-4568-7775-0 Ebook; £3.99; 978-1-4568-7775-0 To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at +0800-644-6988. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at 44-203-006-8880 or call +0800-644-6988. Xlibris books can be purchased at Xlibris bookstore. For more information, contact Xlibris at +0800-644-6988 or on the web at www.XlibrisPublishing.co.uk / www.neomabiletsa1.wordpress.com / [email protected]

#themanz

Must a Christian Pay Lobola

In South Africa, and Africa in general, in the black African community - negotiated monetary payment for a bride, is still the norm even in so called Christian society. As Christians we have to turn to the Word of God to determine whether this practice is Biblical. What is Lobola? Nowhere in the Bible, and in particular the first five books, do we ever find mention of the Israelites being commanded by God to pay a bride price. There are only two instances in Scripture and they occur before the Law was given, and even within these instances they are never specifically stated to be a customary bride price. In Genesis 24 a nose ring and bracelets of gold and silver were given to Rebekah by Abraham’s servant so that Rebekah could become Isaac’s wife. Contextually, the giving of these gold and silver ornaments for Isaac’s wife was more along the lines of a diplomatic gift, rather than a bride price. Biblical examples In Genesis 29, Jacob had to work for Laban the father of Rachel for 14 years before he could marry her. Laban though, in the Biblical context seems a selfish and greedy man, whose conduct is not one to be followed, especially in his deceitful dealings with Jacob concerning his two daughters. These payments from Jacob at best, were to impress or appease man. In contrast, in Genesis 2, the first wife that man ever received was from God when the Lord formed Eve for Adam and brought her to him. The Lord did not demand payment for Eve but gave her to Adam freely. The conclusion we can draw from this is that the Lord gives freely and lovingly of His blessings but man is corrupt in his dealings with others. Compare Psalm 145 with Psalm 94. In South Africa, particularly in the black African Christian communities, negotiated bride prices are lengthy and tedious. In some cases these negotiations place great strain on the marriage couple. The essence of Lobola In most cases the interests of parties that have little bearing on the marriage couple are taken into account (such as those of remote uncles and aunts). Not to mention the interference of ancestral spirits where these practices are mixed with Christian doctrine in the traditional African churches. In some cases during the traditional lobola ceremonies for marriage, passwords and codes are given to the bridegroom’s negotiating party to gain access to the bride’s homestead. Often ancestral spirits are called on to bless the marriage and then a few days or weeks later the couple undergoes a ‘white Christian wedding’ with New Testament marriage vows in a church before God and the pastor. The primary reason for dowry or bride price as presented by the elders in African society is to ‘harmoniously’ join the two families but what if no-one in either the bride or groom’s family beside the marriage couple are Christian? What communion has the light of Christ with the darkness of the traditional African ancestral religions? Especially if they are bound together artificially by money and not by the love of Christ (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Nowhere in the New Testament is a bride price mentioned in connection with marriage. God is consistent in His Word and that under the New Testament Covenant there is even less support for a bride price than in the Old Testament. Do away with Lobola This bride price issue can often cause contention and division within a church, and therefore in an effort to maintain unity should be done away with among our brothers and sisters in the Christian community. The context and the covenant of the Christian marriage are vastly different from a worldly marriage. We need to determine if the whole system of Lobola undermines the Biblical principles of marriage. From the evidence above, it seems this is the case. Marriage blessed by God From personal experience, I give the following advice to our beloved Christian brothers and sisters who will be participating in a lobola ceremony prior to their marriage in church before God and their pastor: The lobola negotiations, ceremony and bride price is best avoided altogether but if this is not possible then I would advise to get married before God in a church first before any traditional ceremonies. This will ensure that your marriage is blessed by God before participating in any ceremony that may contain elements or procedures that are offensive to the Lord. If a traditional ceremony can’t be avoided then examine the procedure beforehand to determine whether there are any aspects of the ceremony that are unScriptural and remove these procedures from the ceremony. Some traditional African ceremonies can be really beautiful with bright traditional clothes, beautiful singing and dancing but all of this can be done at the church service in honour of God; only one church service and ceremony is required to please the Lord. This article is not intended to condemn our Christian brothers and sisters who have already been married through traditional ceremonies with lobola being paid. Instead, we encourage these couples to remember the difficulties they may have experienced and help other Christians to avoid marriage practices that are not commanded by the Lord.

Must a Christian pay "lobola" (brides price)?

According to the Bible it was not necessary for Adam to pay "lobola" for his wife Eve (Genesis 2:22-24). We can argue by saying: Yes but there were no families to agree on any lobola, and no responsibilities as regards the children, that made such a contract imperative. That is true. But in the first marriage on earth God brought two people together and gave the wife as a present and a helpmeet to the man. Love was to be the bond.

We read in the Bible that lobola was paid on different occasions. But the conditions applicable to modern "lobola", that is articles of agreement, were totally absent. For example: There were no stipulations declaring that the children are children of the man's family, or that if the woman proved to be barren the loss of lobola by the husband's family must be paid back in another way like the "seantlo" custom, where the wife's sister must bear children for her.

Another occasion worth mentioning is Genesis 34:12, where Shechem offered to pay lobola for Dinah the daughter of Jacob, whom he had raped. He paid for his sin by death. Another is where Saul demanded a dowry from David for his daughter Michal (1 Sam 18:25). But it must be stressed that none of those marriages proved to be really happy.

We can therefore say: it is not necessary for a Christian who marries a Christian, to pay lobola. Two Christians who want to marry because they love each other, should not be hindered by asking "lobola". "Lobola" can cause people who cannot afford it, to live together in sin - this is against the will of God.

#themanz #@TheMabz

"When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man!"

John Wesley

All that I am right now, and how I look its because of God and his love, and also because God has given me a beautiful family, I am proudly a family man, my book is about my family, my life is about them, and when I am at work, working hard, they are on my mind, and without them...*God, My Wife and my two beautiful daughters*, I am nothing.

The Moment Of Love and Marriage

IF YOU BELIEVE, SHE BELIEVES

I have often wondered what life had or has for me, and I have sometimes asked myself too many questions. Whether I am man enough or even whether I can take care of my wife and whether she does not have to work. Can I be able to provide for her and make her feel the warmth and the love she needs.

I sometimes scream on my own when there are things that I cannot give to her, and I wonder what she is feeling inside about me or what she thinks of me as a man. I put all these pressure on myself, I stress to a point where I get sick. With all these question breaking me down and making me feel useless and make me feel I just want to quit my job.

But let’s face it, a woman in Love does not really care what the husband has or does not have, a woman in love will say I can stand by my husband anytime and anyday when he needs me. A man has to work and be a provider, but if the needs are too much for him, he stresses and get depressed even, because he feels inadequate. He feels that when his wife is not smiling it’s because of him; he feels that when there is no food in the house it’s because of him, he feels the need to even take his own life to end his partners’ misery.

A man starts comparing himself with other men who look like they are doing well providing for their families, a man starts feeling jealous of what other man are doing in their families and what they have achieved. That frustration grows and is planted and engraved onto his mind. He starts to withdraw from many things, and he starts to get frustrated with himself. It takes a strong man to stand up and get up from that situation, it also requires wisdom to handle.

I am saying it requires wisdom because I have seen few man look for jobs far away from home in order to be able to get out of financial difficulties, they eventually manage to and even afford to give their families everything they need, except, it takes them or cost them to spend more time with their families and be close to their children.

So, is it really worth it? When you say I will do anything for my wife, do you mean, try to make it work and fight to get things better while you are with your family or move away to get a job far away where you only see your family once a month?

I have since realised that all the time man spend stressing, if they had given themselves time to see or listen to what their wives are going through, they would’ve solved the problem long time ago, the more a man gets stressed the less chance he gets to think of a solution. But asking the wife what she is thinking instead of assuming she is thinking bad thoughts would actually help.

A man felt small and useless for a very long time and the wife was always pushing him away and always sad and always crying alone in the corner, and he thought it was him, he thought for sure my wife does not love me anymore because I am not a real provider therefore not a real man, only in the end to find out that the wife is desperately praying for him to come back to her and not push her away, she longed for him to stop worrying and just hold her and tell her things will be okay, she wanted to tell him things will workout and that even though she can see he is facing a difficult time, she respects him for what he does.

This is for both man and woman, lets stop having guessing what the other is thinking, its better to ask than to assume “she” or “he” hates me. Whatever you think of yourself, you start believing and it stops you from experiencing the power that is within you, because I personally know that if you have the ability, but do not know, then you are definitely useless. Pick yourself up man and stop stressing, time waits for no man, while you sit and cry, your wife is loosing the faith and giving up, you don’t want that, get into a battle field and show your wife what you can do, because she is staying with you because she knows you can take her out of any situation and protect her.

To the wife, keep praying for him and support him, because if you believe he is Superman, he will show you that he can fly off the building, and if you show him that no matter what, you still love him and care about him, he will definitely rise up to the occasion.

I know, I am a man, I have felt all these emotions before, my wife got me out by believing I can do it. She called me Tarzan and I jumped up and moved trees infront of us. Today we can see the light.

My Book Is Published and can be purchased on all online-bookstores including amazon.com and kalahari.com

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