Lessons on Faith From London 2012 Olympics

London 2012 Olympics brought together countries from all over the globe. Many athletes competing could not speak one language. But that did not limit their participation.  As I was just reflecting on this thought, I realized how easy it is for the church to come to the unity of faith. You see, in any sport, the participants do not necessarily have to learn the same language, all they need to know is learn the language of the game. If it's handball, you have to know what makes it different from netball or volleyball. If it's triple jump, you need to know the drill and so with each game.

Once you understand the language of the game, whether in a global tongue like English, or in a local dialect like Kalenjin, you are good to go. And as you enter in the field to play, though speaking different tongues, all players are in essence speaking one language, the language of the game.

The Kingdom of God is bigger than our local realities, it is massive beyond the global sense. Beyond the galaxy, the seen and the unseen. And sometimes one can wonder if the maturity of the church according to Eph 4:13, will come when the church comes to the unity of faith, then will the end really come?

But following the above thinking, let us assume the journey of faith is indeed a game at the Olympics, the reality of maturity is like playing at the Olympics and the people of faith are the players. How then can we make the maturity of all saints a possible reality?

To qualify for the Olympics (maturity of faith), one has to practice, learn the language of the game and be good at it, having achieved the set standard. The language of the game in this context is the Knowledge of the Son. This means that you have to have a level of the Knowledge of the son that is substantial enough to make you qualify for maturity.

Did you realize as nations competed at the Olympic they did not send the whole country there? Everybody could not achieve the standard required to play at the Olympics! What does that mean? It means REPRESENTATION. Could it be as much as the quantum that qualifies one for maturity is unknown, the reality of representation could the secret? That as long as some people are able to achieve the set standard required, they can stand on behalf of the rest and their representation can be considered as an achievement for all? 

Back to the basic thought of this note. 

If each player, in their local reality, learnt the language of the game, and acquired the standard required to play at the Olympics, then the unity of faith we seek could become a reality. And so, the task is for me and you to strive to achieve the standard that will qualify us to play at the Olympics. To strive for the knowledge of the son that will bring us to MATURITY.

Maintaning A Spiritual High

It is very common to be a christian who experiences a spiritual high every Sunday and then dwindles down as the week goes. On Monday you are still energized by the Sunday's sermon, on Tuesday you are okay, on Wednesday you start forgetting what it means to walk with God daily and by Thursday you start getting drained and you can't wait for the weekend so that you take a break from the draining dragging week and then on Sunday you can go for a service, just like you take a car to the garage for service.

But is that how we are supposed to live?

It is very challenging to main a spiritual high throughout the week without being overly 'spiri'. Many Christians are struggling with this issue. But how do you maintain a spiritual high?

1. Stop compartmentalizing you life. There is only one life that you live. Don't look at yourself from the different aspects of your life. E.g. spiritual life, financial life, emotional life, work life and home life. It is one life. So focus on living a balanced whole life. When you look at your life as a whole block then it will be easy to work around all aspects and allow each element to create harmony and rhythm.
2. Don't focus on a formula, focus on a system. Look at what works for you and develop a structure and a system that will work for you to achieve the goals that you are focusing on.
3. Be deliberate. Understand that many things are fighting for your attention. Be deliberate on desiring to spend time in prayer, in the word and in worship. Create the time don't wait to have the time
4. Be creative. Break monotony and use creative ways of getting to connect with God. Reflect on your day some time, recite a psalm the other day, have a bible study the other day. listen to music the other, revise your notes, teach a friend a principle you learnt. ETC
5. Enjoy being in God and your salvation. Don't get familiar with prayer or with worship and stop it if you find you are just being casual about it. Enjoy the moments and make them personal and intense.

How else do you maintain a spiritual high? Share with us.

All They Know is Baby Jesus

Amazing how the world celebrates baby Jesus. The songs, the decor, the displays and the stories. It is all about the baby born at the manger. The magical story. The amazing couple, The sherperds and the wo la la.

The sad thing is we don’t know how to relate with a grown up Jesus. I mean, this baby Jesus grows to be commanding. He beats the crap out of guys in the temple, He even tell His mother how she doesn’t understand. He tell of those burying the dead, that only the dead should bury the dead. He calls his best friend satan. His friend is sick and goes to visit 3 days after he is dead. And when he is there, he doesn’t appreciate Martha’s effort of getting him something to eat. He commends Mary for sitting herself at his feet. This dude teaches his pals not to wash hands before eating. He talks in parables so that people may not understand. He talks harshly to the religious lot. He actualy calls them a brood of vipers. And when a multitude is waiting for him at the shore, He runs away from them and goes somewhere else. He goes to a pool with hundreds of sick people and heals only one and walks away. The guy tells his disciples to eat his body. I mean, this guy is something else!

Yeah the world likes Baby Jesus. He is easy to handle. We can sing to him, take gifts to him and all. But Jesus the adult.... He is a King we can’t easily please unless we deny ourselves and carry our cross everyday. He is so demanding that He gives us a narrow gate to his Kingdom. He wants you to be born again when you are already an adult. He want you to do only that which you see him do and all that He asks we do. Jesus the adult, He is just something the world can’t handle. 

Hurray! It is Christmas. But which Jesus are you embracing? Is it Baby Jesus or is Jesus the King of Kings? It’s you to decide.....

They Way I want to See Us

There is a reason why they say we should not judge a book by its cover. But I still can't help it. I judge a book by its cover and that includes the price tag. But once in a while especially if the book is not wrapped up, I peruse a few pages and check out of it's a worth read. If I am not convinced I check out online reviews just to get an opinion. Then I decide if I can afford the book. Which could either mean I start saving for it or just get cash and buy.



And I think that is the same process I use to decide who I should talk to, make friends with and keep as a friend. Not a bad strategy because we must make sure we have the right friends but again the same reason why I ignore books with dull covers always comes into play.



I have been having a desire to know how God sees people. How does He look at us?



There is no color, no skin type, no weight, no dress, no background info, no accent, no make up, no car, no house, no academic qualification, no ettiquette, no homour, no nothing that shapes the way he see us. He looks at us as His own and loves us that way.



And that is how I want to look at you, as a brother and as a sister, sharing one father and living in one amazing mansion called earth, where everything we have is our father's, we are just stewards. And that is the way I want to look at it that way. That is teh way I want to see us.

Hadithi Za Abunwasi

Now there is this debate that the world is ending on 21^st May 2011. And as I follow tweets, status updates and peeps conversations one thing is evidence; how casual people have become with God. There is no much fear of God in our generation. The word of God has just become hadithi za abunwasi.

The end will surely come; we just don’t know the timings. And that is not even the important thing. The important thing is what is Jesus coming for? That is what we should be focusing on becoming for him. In Acts 3:21 the bible says that Jesus must remain in heaven until the restoration of all things spoken by the holy prophets. This means, believers should focus on accomplishing the spoken word and thus becoming the bride Christ is coming for.

Just imagine on the wedding day, the bride gets prepared thoroughly. In details. And when Jesus says that he is building his church; that is what he is looking at doing, thoroughly preparing his bride (the church) for himself.

And so our focus should be to mature up in Christ, to attain his full measure and to fulfill the spoken word by actualizing it. The enemy’s strategy is to create little fires here and there that catch the attention of every believer and thus losing focus on what we ought to be doing. The enemy also seeks to make the finish (not the end), look like a myth or something impossible. And in so doing, people will forever wander in the wilderness and the powerful word of God will just be hadithi za abunwasi to those who are perishing.

Most Likely Religion Will Take You To Hell

When Jesus came to earth, he threatened the political class and the religious zealots. Herod actually killed all the boys below the age of two years targeting to kills Jesus while he was a baby. And the religious zealots managed to have him killed as an adult.

Why would the political class get threatened by the birth of a little boy? It’s because the Kingdom of God is concerned with how the affair of nations are run, since the systems in a country and the world at large affect the people of God. And with this I don’t mean Christians, I mean the people. And Jesus is concerned whether people are getting abundant life and justice in everyday life.

The religious zealots were also threatened by Jesus because he brought a higher order that required a change of heart posture and a shift in the prevailing mentality. Though the religious people sought God, they had become so engrossed in doing things for the wrong reasons and had missed the essence of faith in their generation. They catch a woman committing adultery and they are so fast to stone him and they wanted Jesus to be part of that. By the way who was the guy and where was he?? This picture among others shared in the gospel demonstrates what religion is capable of.

Jesus did not come to establish any religion, but rather a lifestyle that points people to his father (God). His miracles were not to enrich himself but to make the lives of other people better. His judgments were not to humiliate and embarrass people, but to expose the mentalities that hindered the people from accessing the Kingdom of God. It’s Jesus who was telling the religious people that thieves, prostitutes and tax collectors are entering the Kingdom before them. This demonstrates that the kingdom of God is beyond a religious structure.

The other day I was just thinking about faith and the question was what is the best faith? I believe the best faith is the one that brings you closest to God, makes you a better person, a more sensible person, a more loving person, a more humanitarian person, a more responsible person, a more ethical person. A person who lives in harmony with nature and that has the best desires for others.

Why do I say the best desires for others? Let us consider what Jesus demonstrated at the cross. When he was carrying the suffering of the whole world and two thieves were there receiving justice, he forgot all that and received the thief who requested for a place in his kingdom. Even at that moment, of the climax for his coming to earth, he still desired the best for a person whose life had produced nothing much but shame and disappointment.   

And that is my point. Religion will most likely take you to hell. Have you read Mathew 25 where Jesus says go away you evil doers, I didn’t know yo? The people who actually get chased away in this context are the religious loot. Because they start narrating how they did great wonders in the name of Jesus, and yet he tells them off.

I believe religion is manmade; it is not from God. It produces a people who are self centered, fearful and detached from the realities of life, who would rather scare people about hell than demonstrate the love of heaven. Who sneer at prostitutes and call homosexuals names instead of spreading the good news of the gospel.

 And as we talk about the good news, you should ask yourself if your faith produce good news to those in the dark; and not just news about a future event but good news about their life on earth. And when you go back to Mathew 25, those who join at the banquet are those that had good news to strangers, to the homeless, to the naked and such.

My point is, faith is done, lived and felt. And as we seek to find God, we should know that he has a greater agenda than ourselves that connects to all humanity. And so we are called to partner with him to reach out to those oppressed by different systems in the world and to point them to God. And if God is love, then to say we know God is to say we know how to love. And if Love conquers all, then our work is to spread love.

Something is Terribly Wrong…. Ha ha ha ha

Have you ever found yourself on the wrong and the only thing you do is laugh at yourself? I have, severally. I actually laugh at myself more than any other person does. It is because I appreciate my stupidity once in a while when I get on a stupid mode.

I think something is terribly wrong somewhere. If indeed the word of God is true and if I say that I believe in that word, why then am I stressed up chasing and looking for these things? Didn’t he say they will be added unto us?

Don’t get me wrong, we have to chase after our dreams, and I encourage everyone of us to do so. We have to do these things but not at the expense of the kingdom. The first question we need to ask ourselves is why we are chasing after our dreams.

We have basic needs but life cannot just be about these needs. Life is much more than this. The kingdom of God is not just about going to heaven, it is about the people. That they may have abundant life on earth and that there may be hope and joy.

So, if life is more than our needs and the Kingdom of God is more than going to heaven, we must then understand Mathew 6:33. Seek first the Kingdom of God and it’s righteousness and these things will be added to you. The thing is, when we focus on meeting the needs of other people, which should be the reason for every business or career, and then in essence we are seeking the kingdom. But our careers and our businesses have become just means to serve us and we do not care about people. We have become oppressors of those we say we are serving and that is what is terribly wrong. Does what we do bring hope to the world?

You might say your career does not allow you to oppress people. But look at how you do the things you do. Do you serve faithfully, ethically and in a manner to please God? What would those who work with you say about God as demonstrated by you? And do you get so engrossed in the job that you have no time for God; even to say thank You?

Something is terribly wrong, and I can’t help but laugh. But until we realize seeking the Kingdom is the reason why we exist, we shall be stuck in the rat race, chasing after these things. And let me tell you, when you get hold of these things, I hope they don’t swallow you as they tend to do, and I also hope that they bring more life to you, more hope and more joy. That is the essence of life.

Cowards

Does it scare you that cowards will not inherit the kingdom of God?

This means if you do everything else right; either being driven by fear and after all accomplishment still remain a coward, then you do not have a place in the Kingdom of God.

What is it that you are afraid of? Is it the fear to succeed? Is it the fear to fail? Is it the fear of making mistakes? Is it the fear to try out your idea? Is it the fear to love? Is it the fear to let go? 

Unless you learn to face your fears, you should know your fate by now. We have not been given the spirit of fear or timid, but the spirit of boldness and good courage.

Be strong and of good courage. Start doing that which you are afraid. There is nothing that beats fear than faith. Exercise your faith by taking the first step.

I was a Stranger

In the rural area it is very easy to entertain strangers. You can easily step into a homestead and ask for a mug of water, and you will be given. However, in the urban centers, we hardly even talk to our next door neighbor leave alone a stranger. But I can’t blame the urban folk, they have reasons to be careful.

I was considering Matthew 25:43 which says; I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, as a basis for judgment when Christ will be back and I was challenged. When Jesus talks about a stranger, we more often than not think of a stranded someone in the estate who cannot find house number Y17, or an old man in town who is looking for Chester house and when we offer help, in our mind we always know we have let in a stranger. And as much as that is true I also discovered something else.

When we talk of a stranger, it is someone who does not share your value system. A stranger is someone who you would seek to disassociate because of their beliefs, their behaviors and their habits. And we have enough strangers in the world. But as believers what are we doing about them? Do we extend our love to such folk? Or we just look at them from a far and pity them? Or maybe just pray? But how will they know if we don’t talk to them? How will they know if we don’t reach out to them in love.

Jesus demonstrated the kind of open heart we should, yet we must guard not to be swallowed since bad company corrupts good morals. But we cannot keep safe by keeping away. We need to develop a capacity to interact with the strangers and influence them positively. When I look at Jesus, he was able to converse with a Samaritan woman who was a manizer, and she was never the same again. He would interact with a tax collector and influence them for the kingdom. That is the capacity I am talking about.

There are people who are lost and in going through different issues in life. We have prostitutes, thieves, homosexuals, witches, drunks and even murders, and I have met some who would love to come and join the kingdom, but they don’t know where to start. They are strangers looking to be let in, but what do we do? We judge them, we throw them out, even those who have been converted, we see them from their past, not for what they could become. And they keep feeling as strangers. And within no time, they just find they cannot fit in.

What manner of love is this, that even when we were sinners, Jesus loved us and died for us? That is the kind of love we need to have. To love the sinners and open our homes (lives) for them. And though we would wish they converted and left their ways, it may take more time than we think. So, let’s just plant the right seeds and God, who makes rain fall to both the righteous and the sinners, will water the seeds and in due time, our efforts will not be in vain.

Which stranger are you not letting in? Let us not be the lot who will be saying on judgment day, ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Mat 25: 44-46  NIV

What is the meaning of life?

If there is one question I ask myself over and over is what is the meaning of life? Anyone with an answer? I would love to know. I have met people in their seventies who are still trying to figure out life and what to do with themselves. Yet I have met people in their twenties who seem to know what they want with their lives and are kinda set to go. They seem to have figured it.

Have you ever read the wisest counsel of Solomon? He is recorded as one of the wisest men in the history of the world. But honestly I don't like him. Not like I hate him, it's those feelings you can't figure out, you just no it's not love. How can he say everything is meaningless? Is that wisdom really? That's not the kind of thing you tell people. What's up with this dude? It's like the government telling the poor that they will always be poor unless they learn how to be self reliant. They can't do that, the poor would riot. Or why do you think every day on the news someone is saying.. naomba serikali?

Sometimes we want to be lied to. We at times enjoy lying to ourselves. Who wants pain? Apart from some numb freaks who feel nothing. But an ordinary human being seeks pleasure and avoids pain, yet the truth is said to hurt. And maybe that is why we have no idea what is the meaning of life. Because right down our hearts we are afraid to hurt when we figure out the truth.

Today morning I was reading a very interesting book and the writer was also asking the same question. What is the meaning of life? But I like his thinking. Having grown up in a war torn country, all he knew was hate and violence. He couldn't figure the meaning of life having seen the brutality of soldiers killing innocent people. But one day he picked a broken mirror from an accident scene. As a boy, he smooth-en-ed the edges into a small circle and he would play with it. He would use it to reflect the light in dark places as a game and he learnt the meaning of life. He still have the mirror in his pocket.

He learnt that we are not the source of light, but we are created to reflect light. God is the light and he created us to reflect his glory, his wisdom and his light to dark places. Ours is just to position ourselves right, to tap His light and in thus doing we shall bring forth hope and light to those around us. All we do in life is okay, is brilliant, is great, but it is meaningless if we cannot reflect the glory of God. Let everything you do, not just be a chase after the wind, but rather let it bring people to a place of light, a place of strength and a place of hope.

Arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Isaiah 60: 1-3 NIV

Letters from God

Experience is a bitter teacher, because you are the guinea pig in the experiment. However, example is the best teacher, because you are the scientist to interpret the experiment and you make decisions from the findings. Experiences are part of the package of life and in one way or another our lives are shaped by our experiences.

When I was growing up my mother used to tell me that people are letters from God. This was her thinking. That we can learn a lot of stuff by just studying and observing other people’s lives. She would give me stories of different people. There was this man who used to catch moles for the farmers in our village, and she would say he was once a very rich man, and he misused his treasures, his wife committed suicide, his daughters ran away from home to get married as teens and now I could see the kind of life he lived. She would allow me to observe people in the village and all her stories had a moral.

I agree with her to a larger extent. We can learn a lot about life and God from people. When we consider the bible, most of the stories we read are about people who lived on earth just like us. When we read these stories, we are able to extract principles that guide us in our daily life, even though these people lived long ago. This shows the power of example.

It doesn’t matter whether an example is good or bad, we are still able to learn from them. This is the case in the bible. What the children of Israel went through was both to set an example as well as warn us of the consequences of disobedience. Look at David, he was able to give a testimony when he said “I was young and now am old and I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for food”. That statement shows that David would observe the righteous and learn the ways of God.

This means we are letters from God, that people will read and in turn they learn the ways of God. It would be so sad if, because of your casualness with God, or because of your low standard of living, people run away from God. Many people have lost faith in God because the people who are called by his name have become bad letters.

The other day I was thinking about what our children are learning in school, just to be untaught on their way home. In schools, they are being taught of how to obey rules and to be honest and to be kind and to be orderly. But as they step out of the class on their way home, what do you think they learn from the tout who doesn’t care? Or the driver who overlaps? Or the young man who pushes them as he tries to find their way in the bus? And what do you think they are learning from our politicians? and from the news every day?

Of all the people who need to know God are our children. How do you demonstrate God’s faithfulness through your life? Can those who watch your life testify of God’s goodness and might? Do your words match your lifestyle?

People are desperately looking for God, for hope and for truth. Can they find it from your life? What this world needs is letters from God. And you are such a letter. Let the word of God come alive in your life.

Who lost their memory?

I don’t like Christians who don’t think. I just don’t like them. Some folk will laugh at the Muslims for removing their shoes before entering the mosque, yet many Christians leave their minds outside before they enter the church. Something is grievously wrong.

God is divine, sovereign and almighty, but in all His divine initiatives He uses men who cooperate with him. There is a place for human partnership in the advancing of the work of God. And so we must get our hands dirty to ensure the purposes of God come to pass.

Let’s go back to Christians who don’t think. If you have been to some church like I have, you wonder which kind of God they are serving. Like the songs people sing, you wonder whether they are listening to what they are saying. Like this song in Swahili that says.. kuna makofi, makofi, halleluyah, kuna makofi ya ajabu, halleluyah. What do you mean? And that is during praise and worship. Asi?

Call me greedy but I hardly pray before eating food. I believe gratitude is an attitude. There is nothing wrong with praying for a meal before eating, but the kind of prayers people make, I am left wondering. If for some reason God whispers to you after the prayer, don’t eat, would you hear? No, cause we really never engage in such a prayer. It’s more often than not just a ritual. That is not the worse part, the part that irritates me most is when we pray; God, remember those who don’t have something to eat. You mean God lost His memory? Of all the people, would God really forget His children in hunger?

And while we are on the praying part, most folks we just remind God of His work. God, remember those who are in various needs, and sort them, oh God remember the widows and the orphan, oh God remember those in prison. I get it. God has so much work to do, He sometimes forgets what He needs to do and we need to constantly remind Him. Get serious!

Who has lost his memory? Christians, we don’t have to tell God to remember the hungry, we need to share with the needy. That is what we call human initiative. How can you say you love God and you can never share with the needy, the hungry, the naked, the prisoners, the lost and the mourning? 

There is a part for praying, I agree. But there is also your part to do. James 2:14-26 says that faith without deeds is dead. And in James 1: 27 says religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is looking at orphans and widows in their distress and keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.

And finally, I will leave you with a quote from a catholic activist Ammon Hennacy; “Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But one who has love, courage, and wisdom moves the world”.

Casts of Character

Of late I have been thinking and wondering if the bible was being written now or in my lifetime, would I appear as a character? I may not have the answer to that question but I have learnt to do the best with my life. I am human and I have enough flaws. But again, who of the heroes of faith didn’t have?

Abraham is the father of faith, but he once failed the test of faith when he took a short cut to getting a son. David, a man after God owns heart, committed murder, adultery and such stuff. And Peter, the disciple of Jesus had his own dumb issues. What am I saying?

God has never worked with perfect people. He works with normal human being. But one of the common denominator in all of these characters is their pressing on towards a mark of higher calling. Even after falling short, they rose and pursued God. Another common attribute was faith. Faith is evident in most of these characters by defying their present conditions.

If I were Joseph and my brothers did all they did to him, I wonder how that story would have turned out. But this character Joseph, foolishly believed in God and that faith in his God, kept him all through the trying moments and sustained him in his glorious days. Do I know God?

Look at Joseph the father of Jesus. Your virgin fiancé is all of a sudden pregnant. You know how you have ‘chilled’. And her story is not so convincing. Yet, when the angel of the Lord came through a dream to Joseph that he should not divorce the girl silently, he had faith in God. He didn’t have all the details, but he knew his God. He had faith in Him. That is what I need.

Noah builds the ark for 120 years. People laughed at him until he entered it. Then, it dawned on them. Damn, this old man was all along true. In my generation, I have laughed at my aunt who dresses our little pretty cousins in a turban and long dresses, I laughed at Ras on TV trying to explain his way of life, I have loved at girls saving themselves for marriage, I have laughed at a preacher during our high school CU service. I have laughed at the foolishness of faith.

Though we fall short of the expectation, God is looking at the internal posture. How we view Him. How we perceive him. And so I have learnt to guard my heart, that even when I don’t figure out things, I cannot lose faith in God. After all, we can never please God without faith. That is the secret.

And now that I know, I want to be a character in God’s word for my generation. For whether you like it or not, God uses everyone. He can either use you as an example or a warning.

It's a Person

Always remember, when you interact with someone else, that someone is a person. The recipient of your email, or the voice on the phone, or the individual waiting behind you in line, is a person.

Each person you encounter has hopes, dreams, joys, pains, problems, abilities, interests, things to do and opinions. Though you may or may not agree with or like that person, it serves you well to be respectful and understanding.

The people in your world add great richness to your life. Take the time and care to treat them not as numbers, not as transactions, not as one-dimensional objects, but as real, living people.

Treasure your interactions, and give your full attention to them. Nurture your relationships, and continually build them with love.

Take notice of, acknowledge, appreciate and accommodate not only the people you know, but also those people you don't know who cross your path.

Sincerely value those around you, and you'll add great value to your life.