If you were asked to use one word to describe the Christian life, which one would you choose? Many of us would pick faith because believing in Jesus is the foundation of Christianity. But did you know that the believer’s life should also be characterized by good works? While we aren’t saved by anything good we’ve done, genuine salvation always results in a changed life, complete with new thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. Every Christian should be a living, walking example of good deeds.

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he commended them for their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:3). Everything we do should be motivated by faith, hope, and love, which are rooted in our relationship with Christ.

So now the question is, What qualifies as good work in the Christian life? Scripture is filled with examples: caring for others, meeting needs, giving our time and treasure, and engaging in activities like worship, prayer, and Bible reading. These are the activities that should characterize us as God’s children and Christ’s representatives in this world.

As we consider the topic of good works, we must remember four important truths. Otherwise we may assume that we are the ones who define what’s good, what needs to be done, and how it should be accomplished.

First of all, God determines what He wants each of us to do. According to Ephesians 2:10, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Since we belong to Christ, who purchased us with His blood, He has full authority over our life. There are specific tasks we are appointed to accomplish as we walk according to His will. If we think believing in Christ means attending church on Sundays but living as we please all week long, we’re wasting our life. Christians are the people through whom the Holy Spirit is carrying out the work of Christ here on earth. He redeemed us from sin and purified us for Himself so we could be people zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:14).

Second, God equips us for whatever He calls us to do. He “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).  In every opportunity God gives and every act of service He calls us to perform, He has already provided whatever we need to accomplish the task before us.

Just consider the many resources the Lord uses to empower us for good works. His indwelling Spirit gives us direction and strength to obey, as well as spiritual gifts that enable us to serve Him. He uses the Scripture to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in righteousness so we’ll be adequately equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). And He uses our brothers and sisters in Christ to motivate us toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24). Even our wealth becomes a tool in His hands when we use it as He desires—“to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Tim. 6:18).

Third, our good works are to glorify God, and not ourselves. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus called His followers “the light of the world” and said they were to let their light shine so others would see their good works and glorify the Father (Matt. 5:14-16). But just one chapter later, He warned them: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them” (6:1).

The difference is motivation. Although we should never seek the approval and praise of other people for what we do, our life should stand out and be characterized by good deeds in the midst of a dark, self-centered world. If commendations come our way, we need to remember that apart from Christ, we are nothing. Then we can simply pass the praise on to Him in a silent prayer of recognition and gratitude.

Fourth, God will one day judge our good works. What we do in this life will have a tremendous impact on our eternity. As believers, we will be called before the judgment seat of Christ to account for our deeds (2 Cor. 5:10). Some of our works will be worthless and burned up like wood, hay, and straw in the judgment. But we will be rewarded for the good works done in obedience to God, according to His power, and for His glory (1 Cor. 3:10-15).

Although we don’t know exactly what these rewards will be, one thing is certain: They will signify a life of good deeds that glorified and pleased God. Nothing could be more valuable than receiving praise from our beloved Savior. So let’s each spend our life living for Him.

When it comes to good works, remember that these are not just religious activities. Christ takes into account whatever we do that flows from obedience to Him—at home, work, school, church, and beyond. Also, we must resist the temptation to compare our works with the achievements of others. We’re responsible only for the tasks God has prepared specifically for us.

FOREVER MOHD RAFI:

July 31st marks thirty seven years, since the passing of one of the Legendary Singer in India....Padmashree Mohamed Rafi, (July 31/80).

Rafi was born in a small village called Kotla Sultan Singh near Amritsar in December 1924.When his family moved to Lahore, he was still a baby.
It is said that a fakir used to come to their locality in Lahore every day and sing. The young Rafi was so fascinated by him that he used to follow him around. His elder brother Hamid was aware of Rafi's love for music and encouraged it. "In fact," says music director Naushad, "A lot of credit for Rafi's success must go to Hamid who knocked on several doors and tried everything to ensure that his brother got work.

The young Rafi was so engrossed with music and singing, he started taking music lessons from his the professional "Ustad Wahid Khan."

It is said that Rafi used to sing for friends and small occasions and as fate would have it,
one day himself and his borther attended a show featuring the "Great" K.L. Saigal. At the time, there was a power failure, and KL refused to sing, as the microphone was not operative, Rafi's brother Hamid, went to the organisers and practically begged that Rafi be given a chance to sing.
He was thirteen at the time, and the performance he gave was so impressive that the music director, invited him to Bombay.

The music director gave him a break, the movie was Gul Baloch,
the song became a hit, but then later, he met another Great "Naushad" and from then on there were no stopping for Rafi, Naushad said "When I heard Rafi, I liked his voice and promised him work in future. I was already doing a film called Shahjehan with Saigal. Rafi, who was a fan of Saigal, came to me with a request: that it was his greatest desire to sing with Saigal. I gave him one line in the song Roohi roohi mere sapno ki rani," recalls Naushad. "The first full song he sang for me was in Anmol Ghadi -- it went like Tera khilona toota balak..." he adds. "Then again he sang for me in Dillagi: Is duniya mein aye dilwalon dil ka lagana khel nahin and Tere koonche main armanon ki duniya leke aaya hoon."

Then like a Godsend came Baiju Bawara features some of the greatest songs by Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mageshkar. The melodies are simply haunting. "O Duniya ke rakhwale", "Insaan Bano", "Mohe Bhool gaye sawariya" and "Tu Ganga ki Mouj me" are timeless classics of Hindi cinema.
Big names in this film: Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Naushad, Meena Kumari.

On his personal life..Rafi married Bilquis his wife, and had four sons and three daughters, it is said that Rafi was a teetotaller, a religious and extremely humble person. He was a devout Muslim. Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo once observed - "He always gave without thinking of the returns". Rafi was also famous for his various humanitarian efforts.

The date of his passing away was perhaps
divinely pre-ordained, for it is said that one who dies in the
holy month goes to heaven. There was no person more deserving of that status than the pious and God-fearing Rafi, who never touched a drop of alcohol, who never told a lie, who never had a harsh word for anyone, and who worshipped his work. A man whose songs wiped away many a sorrowful tear from the eyes of those who were struggling under the burden of life and brought tears of ecstatic joy to many more.

MOHAMED RAFI (1924 - 1980)

This is so sad what they are doing to the people of Kashmir.

India whoops South Africa.  Rohit Sharma superb batting. Have a day off and enjoyed the match, would have been better watching it live in England. 😀 Beautiful summer day.

Ok .. let’s do this!

deh deh deh.. or deh deh!

back to back

dress down

put on d light

skin yuh teeth

Yuh kill me dead dead

ah tru tru story da

belly wuk

last but not least …,yuh tek yuh ra$$ n pass me

A module being lifted onto the hull of a Guyana-bound FPSO.

Guyana’s offshore Stabroek Block developments have been outstanding performers when it comes to pace and efficiency. Hess Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Hess said the projects come on two to three times faster than any other global offshore development.

During his participation on Thursday at Bernstein’s 38th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in New York, Hess reminded that the Stabroek Block has been an apt representation of industry-leading capabilities backed by the efforts of its operator, ExxonMobil with 45% working interest, Hess with 30% and China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation with 25% percent.

Hess was pleased to inform attendees that in three years, the partners were able, from the time of investment decision, to add the Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the Stabroek Block that can add 220,000 to 250,000 barrels of oil per day in production capacity, while adding “our tie backs would be about 18 months.”

The CEO said, “In Guyana, we are getting these big FPSOs and as we define more oil that is very low cost, high margin and low carbon footprint oil which makes it needed 20 years from now and gives us an advantage over other companies, it takes about three years from when you make the investment.”

Hess commits US$2.3 billion to Yellowtail development | OilNOW

“We just got sanctioned on April 1, 2022, on Yellowtail which is our fourth development, and it will be 250,000 barrels a day ship with opportunity for upside and that oil will be on in 2025. So, for Guyana it is three years but for the Gulf of Mexico it is about five years,” he said.

Speaking to the desire and approach to have such record-breaking operations, Hess said it involves spending enough time doing the exploration and appraisal work to define for example, a 600-million-barrel resource to a billion-barrel resource to underpin a ship. The CEO said the partners are queued up now for the fifth ship which will hopefully get sanctioned by the end of this year and the sixth by the end of next year.

Exxon’s 5th project could produce up to 275,000 bpd, with first oil as early as 2026 | OilNOW

Hess said, “When we were fortunate enough to have our first discovery in 2015, I remember talking to Rex Tillerson [Exxon’s former CEO] about this and he said, ‘John we want to go as fast as we can with this, but we don’t want any leakage.’ And what was he saying? We must be capital efficient and operating expense efficient. Doing one ship a year is a huge task for project management, for execution, for yards to handle it and Exxon is probably the best in the business at doing this.”

Hess said ExxonMobil’s philosophy of “design one and build many,” which will result in one FPSO coming on board every year is industry-leading. He said too that his company has a page in its investor pack which actually shows how its development of oil production in Guyana is “two to three times faster than any other global offshore development.”

FPSO contracts surge; Guyana contributing to global total this year – Rystad Energy

The CEO concluded, “So we are going fast but we are bringing value forward.”

Hess and its co-venture partners currently have four sanctioned developments in the Stabroek Block.

The Liza Phase 1 development, which began production in December 2019 utilizing the Liza Destiny FPSO with a production capacity of approximately 120,000 gross barrels of oil per day, recently completed production optimisation work that expanded its production capacity to 140,000 gross barrels of oil per day.

The Liza Phase 2 development, utilising the Liza Unity FPSO, began production in February 2022 and is expected to reach its production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day by the third quarter.

The third development at Payara is ahead of schedule and is now expected to come online in late 2023 utilising the Prosperity FPSO with a production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day.

The fourth development, Yellowtail, is expected to come online in 2025, utilising the ONE GUYANA FPSO with a production capacity of approximately 250,000 gross barrels of oil per day.

SBM Offshore confirms contract awards for ‘One Guyana’ Yellowtail FPSO

At least six FPSOs with a total production capacity of more than 1 million gross barrels of oil per day are expected to be online on the Stabroek Block by 2027, with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs to develop gross discovered recoverable resources.

Dutch floater specialist, SBM Offshore, has won contracts to build and operate the FPSOs for all the projects approved so far at the Stabroek Block.

PATENTIA  - WBD

The other page was getting long. Lets continue from here guys.

I get updated videos from Newsroom.

Newsroom

We are topical in international circles given our potential oil benefaction. Imagine someone coming here to find out who we are and the board is full of homophobic themes, and with a prodigious out pouring of " stick in the butt" kind of phrases form our apparently mean spirited cadre of village louts as the face of our nation. It takes but a little policing. Raymond was supposed to do that. He is too busy chasing the green. He needs help.  Please nominate someone to raise the class profile of our people on the world stage. We have been in the gutter for too long and cannot get out if these fellows who should know better continues to generate these vile memes that distort who we are. 

New thread

I notice here that some people use words (I have been keeping a list since I been on this site) like poke, chum chum, punani, sumutoo, nara, aloo, baigan, choka, dharu, roti, karaila, loli, paglee, prappa, etc

My observation is that they are primarily used by Indos (I think). I notice too that some people (non-Indos) simply don’t use them. Ronan, Iguana, etc don’t seem to use any of them. Some of them are not in a dictionary, so they are not necessarily English words. So here are my questions:

Are these words part of the Afro or Indo language they brought from Africa or India?

Are they based on the original Hindi language?

Are they “creole” words that develop over the years of mixing with Afro and Indo words?

Why does it look like one set of Guyanese use them?

What is the cause? Anger is a control mechanism and since violence stems from anger, are most Guyanese men control freaks?

What can the govt or NGOs do to alleviate this epidemic of violence against women? Would an education campaign help? How about an education campaign targeting parents to teach their children not to abuse women? As we all know, charity starts at home.

Any thoughts, ideas?