The Neglected Narrow Road

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 2Co 11:1-4

The Apostle Paul was addressing the Church here. He tells us that it is possible to have another Jesus, another spirit and another gospel preached to us. in other words, not everything that comes under the name of Jesus is of God.

We live in an age of brazenly false doctrines.

There’s only one way to heaven. That is the way of the Cross, the narrow road that Jesus spoke about. It is a road where the flesh is dying daily. When people do not want to take that road they will look for another, simpler – a short-cut – to heaven. That means a ‘gospel’ will be preached, but it is not the true gospel. It is a gospel of the flesh.

That is what we see in today’s church. The flesh is not being confronted. On the contrary, it is being promoted. There are ‘other’ gospels being preached. Chief among these is the gospel of prosperity; prosperity in worldly, material terms. Every preacher makes as if he wants to take the road of the Cross; but then he suddenly takes a detour and makes sure to say he believes in ‘prosperity’! What a contradiction!

That is not the only false gospel being promoted today. Even a mundane topic like healing turns carnal all of a sudden. The ministry of healing has been turned into a billion-dollar business! In our country, if your church does not have the word ‘Miracle’, ‘Deliverance’ or ‘Healing’ appended to it, nobody is interested in such a church.

The Church must turn back and embrace the Cross. The Church must be willing to pay the price to become the true Bride of Jesus Christ.

I thank God so much for the ministry of CTMI, where the gospel of the revelation of the Cross of Christ is being preached. Here, one learns that they have only one option in their Christian life: to lose their lives. Hallelujah! That is tough – but has sweet fruits, which is the changing of our character to be more and more like Jesus.

Salute to CTMI!

As we begin the new year, my thoughts can only go back to the previous year, in an attempt to find whether anything of value has come out of my being around on this globe in the year 2012. If you are a normal human being like me, you must be envious of those guys who always seem to accomplish so much in their lives, while you appear to do so little in comparison.

I cannot claim to have achieved much. I feel I could have done much more than I did.

But it was not all gloom for me. There was much to rejoice about, although it came from an entirely different direction.

My joy in the last year came, not from anything that I accomplished, but rather in the joy that I witnessed in other people. Here in Dar es Salaam we publish teachings on the Cross by Brother Miki and other servants of God from CTMI in a weekly Swahili newspaper called Msemakweli (literally, ‘One Who Speaks The Truth’).  As the guy who coordinates media activities for CTMI within our region, it has been my pleasure to receive many responses  that have come  from readers from all over Tanzania.

Some sampling of the messages:

Michael from Dar es Salaam: “The publication you gave me (‘The Church Needs To Know’) carries all the spiritual truth. I want to hear more about the gospel of the Cross.”

Luvanda from Mbeya wrote: “The copies of the teachings that you sent me were hardly enough (‘The Church Needs to Know’ and ‘The 5-Fold Ministry’). All those who received them wish to thank you for remembering Mbeya people with the message of the Cross. We have been deeply touched by these teachings.”

Pastor Isaac from Iringa wrote: “May the Lord bless you for this wonderful ministry. Personally it has given me a deep  revelation of Christ’s work on the Cross. I would like to receive every teaching about the Cross.”

There are many other precious servants of God from nearly every region in Tanzania: Dodoma, Manyara, Arusha, Morogoro, Songea,Kigoma, Mwanza, Tanga and Mara.

When I look at these men, many of whom up to now are going strong for the gospel, I can only thank God for His grace and love in revealing this gospel to us. The true gospel of Jesus Christ is a revelation, and only Jesus can bring that revelation into a man’s heart, as Paul clearly states in Galatians 1:11-12. That is the only gospel that can truly change men and women.

Talking to these men constantly over the phone or even face to face has been a great blessing to me, thanks to CTMI. In a way, the real blessing for me has been to witness these men of God testifying of the change that the gospel has brought to their lives.

As the new year begins, it is my prayer that God will continue to reveal this gospel of the Cross of Jesus more and more in His people’s hearts so they may learn to deny self and live the fullness of the life of Christ here on earth.

I also pray for the men of God to whom God has revealed this gospel, that they may be encouraged to take this message even further afield for the benefit of many and to the glory of God. CTMI is spreading the true message of the Cross, and for this I salute them.

Personally, I want to begin the new year with the prayer that God will give me a new resolve to guard and allow that work of revelation in my heart, that I may bear fruit for Him more.

A Happy New Year to all!