There is no doubt about the fact that being a bus conductor in a big city like Dar es Salaam is one of the most challenging jobs. But today I met a man who took it all in his stride. He had the warmest smile which he wore throughout. And he even had time to engage his passengers with light talk as the bus cruised along.
Indeed, a man is only as big as his heart is.
Incidentally, he was also an incredibly handsome man. He was beautiful both inside and out. In my heart I wished him well.
I have an incredibly heartwarming story that I would like to share my readers.
A few days ago my wife and I went to visit a new member of our church. He lives in an area of town that I had never visited before. After we had done our visitation and as he was escorting us home, we passed by a big compound that had one of the biggest houses I had ever seen in Singida. The big compound and the house absorbed my full attention. It was clear that the man who lived here was very wealthy. I coudn’t help myself, and I pointed out the house to my brother .
My brother confirmed my thoughts. “Yes”, he said. “This man is very rich.”
But he also had an interesting story to tell me about this rich man. He said, “Recently, this man was ‘sending off’ his daughter who was getting married. I did not know about the occasion, of course, but I was surprised one morning to find this man standing at my front door, and when I opened it, he held out an invitation card to me and said, ‘Neighbor, I am inviting you to my daughter’s send-off party, you and your entire family.’
“At first, I thought it was just me because I live relatively close to him. But it was not so. The man had personally visited every household within a radius of a mile or so of his house, and for every family, he had some warm, personal words of invitation. Obviously, it was something that he had thought and planned pretty well.
“On the day of the celebrations, people flooded the entire compound and beyond, and there were tables and tables of food lined up to almost half a mile! And we all ate our fill.”
As the brother spoke about this rich man, I felt tears stinging my eyes. I turned and looked again at the house and I thought about this rich man. I recalled the many people doing these kinds of festivities every day, and who cannot even invite their closest neighbor. They invite only their kin and friends.
How about we who believe? Jesus had some choice words for the haughty, religious people of his day, people who made a difference out of people because of class or other prejudices. In Luke 14 we read of how Jesus was invited for a dinner in a particular home. The Bible states that the man who invited Jesus for this grand meal was “one of the chief Pharisees” (Lk. 14:1). Obviously, a man of high class.
Of course, the man had invited other people also. But when Jesus saw the kind of people that this rich Pharisee had invited to eat his free meal, He told him,
“12 When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” (Lk. 14:12-14)
Pure, prejudice-less love for his fellow man is the greatest virtue that a believer in Jesus Christ can have. Jesus said that a man or woman who has this virtue can look forward to a rich recompense at the resurrection of the just.
Have a lovely Sunday, all of you.
[A young girl prepares dinner for her siblings in an African village]
This blog is also dedicated to bringing cheer to all who peep inside.
[This is just so beautiful!]
23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Jer. 9:23-24
This is a big one…
But, before we start… We have to realize that every word written in the Bible is written to believers, not to unbelievers. The Bible is the believer’s handbook. The words above, therefore, written by the Prophet Jeremiah, were written to the church, not to unbelievers. And the way these words are written suggest that here, right in the church, in the Body of Jesus Christ, there are believers who are boasting in all kinds of things which God never thought that a child of His would boast in.
There are believers boasting in their wisdom. Have you ever heard of people called motivational speakers? In church, I mean. They talk all kinds of lofty things and they have all these grand ideas of how you can achieve practically anything you want to achieve and how you can basically become anything and anyone you want to become. You would think they work for The American Dream, Inc. But motivational speakers are just a small part of this large group of wise men and women.
There are believers boasting in their might. I heard one owner of a Christian denomination in a neighboring country tell his bishops, “Any bishop who does not respect my wife I will throw out of my church. This time I will show you my power.” These are powerful men. They have lawyers and all kinds of musclemen who will do their bidding at any cost.
In my country, there are preachers who have all kinds of titles on them, ranging from “Transformer” to “Caterpillar” (equated to the famed heavy earth-moving machinery), to “Chief”. A little further down south we have the Major, of course.
All these self-given titles talk of earthly (not spiritual) might.
There are believers boasting in their riches. Have you ever heard the gospel called the gospel of prosperity? God’s Word hits the nail on the head with this one. The people who subscribe to this gospel are many and they flaunt their wealth about “in the Name of Jesus”.
There are a million and one ways that God’s people use to show off their “godliness”, or how much they “know” God. In addition to the few we have mentioned above, there are all kinds of circuses (real ones) going on in church today. People vibrate, pole vault, and do all kinds of gymnastics in church, all geared towards making a statement about their “knowledge” of God. Some preachers are capable of roaring like lions, with devastating effect upon their blind, terror-filled followers.
As I said, man is capable of doing a million and one things to try and convince people – and God, hopefully – that God is on his side.
But God is not in any of these groups. God does none of those things. In fact, notice how humble – and simple – God is. He states simply that He exercises
“lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth”.
Just in case you are tempted to think that those are lofty, unattainable ideals, the answer is no. They are simple, everyday principles which every believer in Jesus Christ can practicably attain to.
In the Swahili Bible, the word “lovingkindness” is translated “goodness”. How so clean and simple! Goodness is the opposite of evil, or maliciousness. It means not doing evil to your fellow man, only good.
God is simply good. His goodness has no strings attached to it.
“Judgment” speaks of a lack of favoritism.
“Righteousness” talks of not sinning against God.
All these are the simplest things that a child of God can do. And the Bible says that these are the things that please God. Not those other things which we saw so forcefully put forward in church.
But we must realize that we can attain to doing the things that please God only when our flesh is crucified; when we are crucified with Christ, as the Apostle Paul says of himself in Galatians 2:20:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
[Goodness is doing no ill to your fellow man, only good]
Today, before I write anything… Enjoy. One of the best. (The dad’s expression at 3:05 is priceless.)
Have you ever wondered about God? I mean, have you ever wondered about the awesome-ness of God? To make it super clear, let me state that I am not talking about the cosmos and its amazing treasures. Actually, God does not boast so much in those things. He boasts in something far less spectacular.
Have you ever thought about how God exposes Himself? In the Bible, God has bared His entire heart. There is nothing about Him that He has hidden from us. He has made known to us all that He is. The reason for this is because God has nothing to hide. He is love.
It is we who hide. We love keeping ourselves private. If there is anything that we value above everything else, it is our privacy. Each one of us have their own private ‘chambers’ which we fiercely defend from being intruded into. Some we ‘protect’ using passwords, others (like our bedrooms) we use keys, etc. Why do we love all this secrecy and privacy?
We do all this on account of trying to become strong. We want to defend and maintain our identities. But what identities are we defending?
The Bible talks of
“the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:9)
Unbeknown to us, that is who we are maintaining in defending our rights, territories and identities. But the Bible says to put them off. Holding on to them is the complete opposite of whom God is. God says His ways are not our ways. What does that mean?
It means that God is absolutely different from us. If, therefore we say, “strong” God says “weak”. That is what it means to be different.
The heavenly life is lived differently from our own little selfish world down here. Two scriptures come to mind in this regard. The first one is that which describes the life of the Apostle Paul.
“9 Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me… for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
The second scripture talks of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the eath of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Phil. 2:5-9)
In his human form, our Lord Jesus Christ became weak. He did not seek to be strong.
I believe Jesus did not have any secret thing which He kept away from His disciples. He had nothing to hide.
The Apostle Paul followed suit. He writes to the Corinthians,
“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” (2 Cor.3:2)
There is nothing to hide with the gospel. If we have fallen short somewhere, all we need to do is to repent.
Weakness for the gospel’s sake is our strength. Let us learn to expose our lives, that they may be shredded apart to the end that
“those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Heb. 12:27)
God can afford to be free because He is love. What does that mean?
It means God does only good. When someone does only good, they are completely free. But when we are unable to do only good, we are not free.
God is love and love does only good. That is why the Bible says,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16)
Imagine that goodness!!
When Jesus was here on earth, the Pharisees and other religious leaders tried to prevent Him from doing good. They tried to prevent Him by using scriptures which they did not understand.
But Jesus was love and for this reason He was free to do whatever He wanted to because whatever He did He did only out of love.
So Jesus healed people on the Sabbath despite prostestations by the priests not to ‘work’ on the Sabbath. He sat with lepers, tax collectors and was ministered to by former harlots. Nothing could deter Jesus from doing good. He was free in His spirit, for He was love.
That is why we need the revelation of the cross in our hearts, so that we can deny ourselves and live lives that conform perfectly to the will of God. Conforming to the will of God means doing only good, something which our fleshly nature is simply incapable of. The fact is that the cross is the only power that can crucify the flesh and bring about God’s perfect will in our lives. The Bible says of the flesh:
“7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:7-8)
For this reason, therefore, the Apostle Paul had only one message:
“But we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Cor. 1:23)
Moreover, he tells the Corinthians,
“1 And I, brethren, when I came to you… 2 I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:1-2)
The cross sets us free from the power of the flesh. When we are free of the flesh, we can be as loving, and hence free, as Christ was.
[The cutest niece in the world!]
1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cencrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succorer of many, and of myself also. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. 7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. 10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household. 11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. 13 Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, and Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you…. 21 Timotheus, my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. 23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother. Rom. 16:1-23
Ah, the Apostle Paul! Paul’s life is a study in the working of the grace of God in every way.
Notice how close and personal Paul was to the people he ministered to. This was another grace that he had, apart from the grace to preach the gospel. Paul had the grace to live, interact with and know God’s people. He knew each one of them intimately. Of course, Paul did not Google their profiles. On the contrary, he paid the price to get to know them in as fine details as he did.
Notice also Paul’s salutation in his epistle to Philemon.
“1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearlly beloved, and fellowlabourer, 2 And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house…” (Phlm. 1:1-2)
How did Paul come to relate to God’s people in such an intimate way?
Paul lived with the people of God. One of the things that I love about the Apostle Paul was that he did not end up in 5-star hotels when he visited the churches. Rather, he lodged in brethren’s houses. Here he tells us who his host was. It was Gaius, a brother in the local church.
In that way, Paul got to know each one of God’s people individually.
You cannot get to know people intimately if you are a hotel-based preacher. Preachers always tell people how much they need to have that all-important privacy in order to be with the Lord, etc. My reckoning is that you should spend all the time you need to be with the Lord before you go to the conference or meeting. Once you join up with God’s people, you are their property and you should avail yourself to them fully. You are not, for example, to come to the service just in time to be welcomed to the pulpit with the reasoning that you could not have come earlier because you did not want your anointing to be tainted, etc. You couldn’t possibly be more anointed than the Apostle Paul was!
Some preachers, especially here in Africa, stay in their hotel rooms long after the services have began. Meanwhile, God’s people are forced to sing for hours just waiting for the man (or woman) of God to show up!
Again, if you, a preacher has any intention of relating to God’s people, you are not to be whisked away in air-conditioned cars – sometimes a whole procession of them – and treated with gloved hands as if you are the most important person in that meeting. The most important person in that meeting are the people God has sent you to minister to. As a matter of fact, you should make every effort to sacrifice as much of your time, energy, money, comfort and freedom as possible for the sake of God’s people.
If possible, walk with the people of God to their homes.
A true servant of God is he who will serve God’s people. He will spend time with God’s people, serving them in whatever way they need to be served. Above all, he will not desire, nor encourage red-carpet treatment for himself. He will desire to walk the narrow road in every sense of the word to the end that he may be an example of what the given Christian life ought to be. To this end he will be like our Lord Jesus Christ who had
“not where to lay his head.” (Lk. 9:58)
If anyone deserved to be lodged in a 5-star hotel, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. But He even did not have a place to lay his head.
And pray, what will your reward be for living such a sacrificial life? There is the heavenly reward, of course. But apart from that God will reward you with the joy of knowing your brothers and sisters in greater intimacy, as we see Paul here. Here we see Paul’s joy as he connects with each brother and sister whom he has known in Rome. In verse 15 he even says,
“Salute… Nereus, and his sister…”
I am sure that if Paul knew of Nereus’ sister’s name, he would have addressed her by name. It could well be (conjecture on my part) that Nereus’ sister was not even a member of the church; but Paul got to know this family real close and he therefore includes her in his greetings.
The point is, Paul was a man who knew his people well. God’s people were not just numbers to him. He does not say, “I am glad to hear you have 200 members in the church in Rome”; as desirable as having a large number of church members is.
In sacrificing his life for the sake of God’s people in this way, Paul perfected his service to Christ.
[Paul lived with the people of God and he took the trouble to know every one of them individually]
15 Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Mat. 18:15-17
There are many stories of heroic rescue missions where the entire mission involved rescuing just one person. My pick for this post is the rescue of U.S. Air Force Captain Scott O’Grady. During the Bosnian war in 1995, against tremendous odds and against a formidable foe, the United States Army sent a team of servicemen to rescue Captain Scott O’Grady who had been shot down behind enemy lines. Although hunted down day and night by the enemy, O’Grady had managed to elude his pursuers for six days. Through unrelenting searching via radio, and operating just beyond the enemy’s reach, finally, the U.S. Army located their downed colleague.
But the enemy had also located O’Grady’s position, and they were waiting for the rescue team when it came.
But the team that went to rescue O’Grady was no ordinary team. The United States Army did not send a couple of guys over with the weak instructions to “Go see what you can do. See whether it is even possible to bring him out. If not, crawl safely back, we will just read his obituary.”
No, the Army did not do that. The Army intended to bring O’Grady back, alive. So what did they do? They sent in two navy helicopters carrying 43 Marines, together with two gunships, and four Harrier fighter jets. Forty heavily armed aircraft backed up the rescue team. All these were sent to rescue just one man. Yes, the United States commanders risked the lives of all these men, and their own positions, to rescue just one man. Fortunately, God was on the Army’s side and they overcame the enemy’s resistance and succeeded in bringing Captain Scott home – alive and well. The mission was a national success story.
So how does this story relate to our scripture above?
Far from it being a dead religious guideline on how to handle disputes in church, this scripture is talking of something entirely different, something far much grander. (At any rate, God is not religious in the myopic way we view religion. On the contrary, God is up close to each one of us, and unfathomably personal.)
This scripture is talking of the great worth that Christ attaches to every individual believer. We probably will never know while here on earth how much value, how much love God attaches to each one of His children.
Notice the progression of events here. If your brother trespasses against you, the first thing you are to do is to try and patch things up, just the two of you. If he hearkens to you, glory to God! you have gotten back your brother. Nothing more needs to be said and nobody else needs to know about what transpired.
If the brother does not hearken to you, still do not rush to the newspapers. Instead, the Bible says call one or two brethren and ask them to intervene. They must be spiritually sound, of course, otherwise things could turn out a whole lot differently. If the brother agrees to reconcile, it is a beautiful ending and you can both look forward to serving God better in the future.
If the man still does not relent, still, no problem. The Bible says to bring the matter up in church. The Bible does not tell us to bring the matter to the intelligent-looking or the moneyed, or our friends in church; no, it says simply the church. That is very important. The Bible, of course, assumes that the church is a spiritually mature and sound place where the Holy Spirit has full reign. Such a church has the power and authority to arbitrate between you and your brother. (The Bible categorically refuses us permission to take our cases to a worldly court of law. The church has the sole responsibility to arbitrate between Christian believers.)
If the brother refuses to listen to the church, then he has cut himself from the fellowship of the church, and from God. He in effect becomes a heathen, together with anyone who befriends him. There are always people in church who will try to show these kinds of people how much they have been wronged, etc. But God respects the church as much as He does His Son Jesus, and if someone will not respect the church, God has no choice but to leave or dump him.
But look! Notice how protective God is towards the erring brother. In every step of the way, great restraint is used. It is clear, right from the start, that God has no intention whatsoever of exposing one of his children’s faults. On the contrary, through the spiritual mechanism that He has set forth, God embraces the wronging brother! Because of the great love that God has for us, He has set up in church this mechanism to ensure that each of His children’s privacy is protected, so to speak. But God goes beyond there. Every step of this mechanism is geared towards bringing healing to the erring brother. How? By allowing him to reach the point where he can repent of his wrongdoing. Repentance is the sole bridge between God and man.
For a brother to get to the stage where he does not hearken to all these elements of the church, therefore, it means he is a son of Belial. Long before he gets there, God has given him chance after chance to repent and repair his ways.
What about us? What happens when we are not walking in the Spirit? We have no brakes. Even worldly nations have levels of everything, including terror levels. But what about us? When in the flesh, we will find ourselves jumping to the highest level of dealing with the erring brother. With no restraint whatsoever, we will want to first tell other people about what has happened. Sometimes we want to tell the whole world! Right away the brother who has wronged us becomes a mortal enemy! There are even brethren who write in newspapers about how they have been wronged. And some will even ‘prophesy’ in church. People will use any means to get back at the person who has wronged them.
But that ought not to be so in church. God is love. Through Jesus Christ we, too, have been moulded into the image of God, and His love and compassion ought to fill up our lives. We ought to love our brothers as God loves us. Trumpeting our brothers’ faults abroad is certainly not love, and such an approach scatters instead of gathering together. But if there is a chance that reconciliation can be reached just between the two of us, nothing more needs to be done. Or said.
But when we have crucified our flesh, we will do things just as God does them.
[The church is a place of love and acceptance]
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Rev. 4:2-4
These scriptures show the importance that God attaches to two groups of people. Twelve of the twenty four elders mentioned here represent the nation of Israel. These are the twelve fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Notice,
“I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
This means that the nation of Israel plays a major role in the Kingdom of God right to the end of time. There is much spoken in the Bible concerning the nation of Israel. Israel is and will remain central to the heart of God right to the end of time. For this reason, Israel deserves only awe and respect from the rest of the world. It does not do anyone any good to oppose Israel. For this reason also, Israel will always come out victorious against anyone who declares themselves their enemy.
The other twelve elders described above are the twelve apostles that we read of in the Bible. They had to remain twelve; that is why when Judas Iscariot died, the disciples of Jesus went into the trouble of casting lots to appoint another man to replace him (Acts 1:12-26). God’s proportions are incredibly strict. The apostles had to be twelve to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. And this shows, amongst other things, how much God respected our spiritual fathers, the men whom He not only chose, but who also walked according to His ways.
The nation of Israel, and the church. Notice also that these 24 elders
“had on their heads crowns of gold.”
These two groups of people represent everything that God has to do with. Anyone who is not in either of these groups is outside of the realm of God’s dealings.
For many in the church, showing respect and awe for the nation of Israel is easy enough. But it is with the church itself that many have problems. Many within the church do not realize the importance that God attaches to the church. They therefore have a worldly approach to the church. They have almost the same approach to the church that the world has.
But we need to realize that the church is the apple of God’s eye. We therefore need a very careful approach to the church. The church is God’s chosen people in the Spirit. Every member of the church is therefore extremely important to God. The church is represented in the face of God by twelve apostles.
The term “apostle” is first mentioned in the New Testament. So is “church”. These are entirely new names for a completely new dispensation. It is the Church, the Bride of Christ. That is why Jesus told Peter, “If you love me, feed my sheep”. At one stage He told him,
“Feed my lambs.” (Jn. 21:15)
In many cultures, people show affection for their loved ones by calling them by their initials or other affectionate abbreviations. And they use other tender names like “Babe”, etc.
It was so with Jesus. By calling His sheep “lambs” He was showing His extreme love and affection for His church.
The attitude that Jesus has for His church is the same attitude that we need to have towards one another in the church, the real life brothers and sisters that we rub shoulders with. In Colossians 3:12-14 it says:
“12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”
It is all about loving Christ’s church.
Cross of Christ 