The Goat Doctrine

People with no experience with shepherding wonder why all the fuss the Bible, even Jesus places on the need of His people being sheep. I want to shed some light on a few differences between sheep and goats so that you can appreciate the fact that there is no theological confusion or grey areas in the topic.

I have shepherded both and so am speaking from experience, though not very extensive as it was in my childhood.

The first difference is that sheep are normally dependent on the shepherd whereas goats are very independent and therefore break free from the shepherd whenever opportunity arises. The most risky place for the shepherd is next to someone’s farm as the goats will never settle until they run to those farms, however lush the pasture is.

That explains why it is very rare to see a fat goat. It is never content with available resources or even having a shepherd. The only place I found fat goats was the Turkana where there is almost no pasture. They thrive from feeding on anything, from feces to dry shrubs.

Sheep on the other hand are content with whatever the shepherd provides. It will never run off to a farm if the pastures are rich.

Goats are ungovernable. The only sense they follow is their own.

Goats are individualistic. It is next to impossible to find a herd of goats as each of them is fending for itself. We do not have a leading goat as we have a leading sheep. This of course means that we can never have a goat community.

Who are we to God?

Are we ‘foolish’ like sheep and totally dependent on God’s shepherding? Are we as ‘bright’ as goats and can fend for ourselves irrespective of whether we have a shepherd or not? Do we listen to our Shepherd or do we know enough to disregard whatever He has to say.

Sadly, many of our churches are made by goats for goats with no place in their hierarchy for God’s sheep. Most of the sermons we preach and enjoy listening to are meant to make goats comfortable as opposed to making sheep more sheep like.

We pamper the goat instinct instead of nurturing healthy sheep for the Shepherd. We run to the preachers who are more proficient on the urges of the goats instead of the voice of the shepherd.

But we have the last day coming soon when the Shepherd will separate the sheep (His sheep) from the goats.

My sheep hear My voice, I know them and they follow Me (John 10: 27)

Are you a sheep or a goat?

Successful versus Acceptable Worship

What is worship? Where do we direct that worship? What is the outcome of that worship?

I want us to briefly look at a few differences between successful and acceptable worship to be able to understand how we can make our worship acceptable to God.

The main difference is in the audience. Who is gauging that worship?

Successful worship draws in the wows. It receives accolades. It receives honoraria. It is given the high seat and high table. It is paid to perform.

Simply speaking, successful worship is aimed at the people, and the people respond in kind.

Acceptable worship on the other side is directed at a deity with no interest at all on having any audience. God’s ear is the only object of that worship. The audience may come in as simple witnesses of the encounter.

Let me give a Biblical example.

Ezra is in a crisis. Israel has polluted the marriage institution by marrying forbidden peoples. And it is painful as it seems as a slap on God’s face as they have just been delivered from captivity.

He then goes to the closet to plead for God’s forgiveness. He does not raise any intercessory team or start rebuking the offenders. He simply goes to God alone.

What then happens? The offenders are convicted and start on their own volition to come to him providing the solution.

Acceptable worship results in God stepping in. Remember the cloud descending several times in the wilderness when the right worship was exercised? Remember the same when the temple was inaugurated?

It is worth noting that even worship to other gods is accepted on the same terms. Many secular entertainers know that though they do not want the worshippers they lead to know it. Or haven’t you heard of women and girls removing their pants in such an event? You see the god lust is being worshipped and must inspire his worshippers to allow him to manifest his presence.

Worship that is acknowledged by men could very simply be worship directed at other gods, however loud we shout that it is directed at the true God. This is because though it may appear to inspire spirituality, such spirituality does not manifest the holiness that we know God possesses.

Daniel and his three friends were manifest examples of what I am saying here. Though in a heathen nation, their lives were so clear that the spirit of the holy gods were at play in their lives from the confessions of even their enemies.

Compare that with our present day worship leaders. Their level of pride and entitlement sometimes competes with the master of it all, Lucifer.

Let us go to our history. Revivals occur when a small team sees a need to seek God for their community on a consistent basis. Initially nobody outside their group knows what is happening.

Until God steps in. people start flocking to churches. Liquor dens and brothels close. Questionable business deals start closing. Crime dies a natural death and many other positive things happen.

Does that happen in our worship events? Does it happen even in the lives of the worship leaders?

Would I be wrong therefore if I said that this worship is not directed to the God of the Bible?

Where does the business of selling worship events and materials lie? Who qualifies to run that worship? What is the indicator that this worship has achieved anything? And do not talk about the wows.

I know I am speaking very rudely, even offensively to some.

But give me scriptures to defend what you stand for.

Fractional Obedience

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat (mosquito) but swallow a camel (Matthew 23: 24)

I want us to look at the times we choose the side of command we want to keep as opposed to the whole counsel of God. I will highlight three things though there are myriad other ways we behave in a similar manner.

The first is the tithe doctrine. And I will take the most quoted verse.

Bring all the tithe in the storehouse … and test me in this.

We avoid one key portion of that verse. And that is why we are not only outside the context but also guilty of misquoting such a clear verse.

Why are we to bring the tithe? What should happen when we bring that tithe?

That is what we avoid when we go the direction most spiritual brokers go.

The tithe is to help in the provision of services (food) for the believing community. It is therefore important to realize that if your tithe does not meet the felt needs of the church you are outside that command. Our obedience is therefore disobedience in the eyes of God’s law.

Is that what the tithe you give does? And I am not even talking of it being an Old Testament doctrine as I have stated elsewhere.

The next is the Sabbath. We choose to fight over the day and even forget to fight for the real day. The Sabbath is not on a Sunday. That is fine. But the Sabbath is also not on a Saturday also. Both are Roman days.

But we also forget the Sabbath year and Sabbath of Sabbath years which are what determines what the Sabbath is.

How do we use a Roman week to determine a Biblical Sabbath? How do we use a worldly system to push for spiritual doctrines?

Do you realize that part of the reason for the captivity was keeping the day Sabbath and neglecting the other Sabbaths?

The last one I will address is dietary.

We fight against some meats as we advocate for others. Yet do we realize that the fridge itself makes the healthiest of our meats unclean according to the dietary restrictions of the scriptures? Do we realize that going that way may make it impossible for us to eat anything as most of the agricultural practices go counter to some provisions of the Bible?

What am I aiming at?

Let us read the Bible without applying shades to help us understand. Let us pray that God will open our spiritual eyes to His whole counsel.

And lastly, Let us allow grace to do its part in our lives so that we will walk consistent with the leading of the Holy Spirit each moment of our life.

Christian Ministers and Politics

I long ago posted about Christian leaders and politics.

Today I want us to look at what it takes for a Christian to take God’s agenda into those positions. And I will specifically look at a Christian minister. We are therefore looking at God’s ambassador in parliament or other public office.

The first thing we need to note is that such an ambassador is first accountable to his sending authority. This means that the minister first and foremost responds primarily to God’s leading and direction.

Can I be answerable to an electorate and still owe supreme submission to God if I sought votes from them? Can I stop towing a party line if the party pushes for a policy that goes counter to God’s orders if the party sponsored me to that position?

Let me tell you what should happen to convince me that God sent His minister (or prophet) to those positions.

Joseph was in a dungeon minding God’s business. Egypt lifted him to the highest position on those terms. His submission to Pharaoh was therefore subject to his submission to God.

It is the same with Daniel and his three friends. One clear thing you will find with them is that everybody professed that the spirit of the holy gods was in them. That was clear that they played by different rules from those of the states they were serving. And the God they worshipped bailed them any time the orders they received went contrary to their faith however constitutional those orders were.

We also see the same with Mordecai and Esther. They were simply minding their business (faith) until God brought them to the limelight, ON HIS TERMS.

What would it take for a minister of the Gospel to convince me that God has called them into politics?

Very clear evidence that God is the only one that could put him in that position.

Let me give a hypothetical incident. I will assume that God has ordered a minister to join politics and so is the One behind this whole thing.

He must not join a political party as he will then be bound to their games. We have seen firebrands being quenched by that single thing when they join politics. He therefore will have to be independent.

The second thing I will expect is that they will contest far from where they are known, most preferably somewhere it is logically impossible for them to get a single vote. For the Kenya scenario I would think of someone from Nithi going to contest in Luo Nyanza or a Pokot contesting in Turkana. That way it must take the clear hand of God for you to get into parliament or any other position.

You will not be a registered voter where you are contesting, or even tell any of your friends where or even whether you are contesting to avoid influencing even one vote from fleshy effort. You will simply present your papers as a contestant and leave for good and wait for God to do His work. And it will not be difficult as He is the one who requires you there anyway. He will therefore influence the elections in favor of His ambassador since he must be in that position.

Forget about campaigning. God is able to make people vote for you if He needs you there.

I am not talking about politicians. There is need for Christian politicians who will practice their politics with the Christian ethic. But don’t ever tell me that God called you to join politics when you leave your ministerial position to indulge in a purely fleshy endeavor.

(Reminder: The Thanksgiving Service is still on on 11^th Dec. at Soul Saving Gospel Church, Kerwa. I hope to have the map ready sometime next week. You are all welcome.

I am thinking of taking a break from posting until I either get a computer or my other one is fixed as I feel I am not offering quality in my posts since I do not get enough time to develop the messages God gives me.

Please pray that God sorts this quickest)

Thanksgiving

Last week I said that when I look back at the 13 years since I obeyed God to stay and minister in Nairobi city contrary to sense I am unable at all to see me in the equation. Only God is visible to me as He has done a good job of taking care of me.

On provision I have experienced miracles galore. One time we had been without food for three days. My first born was sick and his brother was suckling. God brought someone from 400 kms away who came as if under military orders from their urgency to want to meet me. Food and rent were then taken care of though they had no idea what I was going through.

God has used extremely stingy people to provide for us for a season. I have met people who were crying to meet me since none of us had the contact of the other. Then we bump on each other and my needs are sorted. There are innumerable other examples I can give of His provision outside of the logic and reason box.

On guidance I can confirm that He has held my hands even when it also did not make sense. I have posted elsewhere the first challenge since I agreed to stay in the city. I was called to pastor a church where they were offering a house. To date I do not know how I was able to hear God, yet I heard. God has not only watched over me, He has made sure that I am able to walk in a way consistent with His calling.

The ministry itself has flourished. At times when I am very low God points me to a person or two that He has transformed through my availability. Sometimes He causes someone to just call to thank me for what my ministry has done for them.

But there have been some hiccups. Many times when I am in pain of any type I have problems finding someone who understands. I have shared issues which are taken as illustrations or parables instead of real issues needing solutions or someone’s assistance or counsel. There are people who think that I cannot have problems, can never be discouraged, etc. There are people who do not believe I can be broke and get angry when they discover that I am unable to help them since they are unable to imagine Gituma without resources to sort them out.

My very radical posts are a product of that season where God’s orders are followed. The reality is that obedience is not obedience if it meets our convenience (if it is not radical). I have learnt this more clearly through these 13 years.

I have gone for missions with only a bus ticket and a phone number of someone I do not know in a different country because I have gotten God’s clearance. I remember one time I went to Uganda when I was very sick. I had not eaten for four days and could not even swallow water.

I went in that condition and God healed me before I started ministering. And it was so complete that it was as if I had never been sick as I had enough energy for a very rigorous mission.

That is the reason I am holding a Thanksgiving service.

I want to see Christ lifted up for who He is and what He has done for me.

I want to see people who have given up on their call for the hardships and risks involved to not only reconsider but also pick up their broken pieces and start their journey of obedience afresh. I want people who gave upon missions for the comfort of the congregational or denominational employ dusting themselves up and running to the mission they had abandoned.

But above all I want people to KNOW that God is still faithful and has never changed. What we read of Him in the scriptures is as valid today as it was when it was penned.

Once again I want to invite you for the Thanksgiving Service on 11^th December 2016 at Soul Saving Gospel Church, Kerwa from 2 to 5pm.

Kerwa is between Muguga and Rironi on Naivasha road. I will try to give more precise directions as we go along.

Please contact me if you have a testimony you will want to share to also lift Christ up. Or maybe a song or any other presentation that you feel may make our thanksgiving richer.

It is important that you thank God with me for all that He has done for and through me.

A Faithful God

I was called to Nairobi to set up a ministry in 2001. In a short while, the ministry was doing very well, changing lives through discipleship and all other ministry openings God was providing.

They had prepared some package for me and even documented it.

Unfortunately, my position in the ministry became untenable as the big chaps in the ministry were disappointed that I was following Christ’s orders instead of being their PR or errand boy. Things came to a head when I told them that my obedience to Christ’s orders were not negotiable, however senior the ministry leaders were. Incidentally they confirmed that what I was doing was in agreement with what they had called me to do. But they were not willing for me to continue going in the direction Christ was showing.

Two years later they decided to terminate my ministry involvement. I insisted that at least they give me someone I had discipled to hand over the ministry to, or even someone of their choice and they refused. In the words one of them told me, ‘the ministry can run on its own’.

That closed it. I decided to leave the ministry that had been the joy of my heart, a ministry I had seen transforming lives and lifting others from the dumps, so to speak.

It still pains me to see the death of a ministry I had invested so much into. But I had no choice given the order I was given, especially the words.

I was not given anything for severance. I was just left in the wild.

With a small family in a big city, two children in school, I was left in a very bad place. Over ten years previously I had been working in Nairobi as a single person and things were bad enough. How was I to make of life without any source of sustenance?

The option was simple. Go back home. I had a house and a piece of arable land. And I could revive the workshop I had closed when I was called to start the ministry.

But on praying, God told me that He wanted me in Nairobi. He told me that He is the One who had called me to Nairobi, whoever else He had used. And He also told me that He would take care of me.

Of course it did not make sense. It was illogical. And this because I did not know where my support would come from and even when I had responded to His call to leave employment I had not envisioned looking for support. And He did not even tell me where my support would come from.

To say it was not painful would be a falsehood. When people you have highly esteemed for a long time for their depth of spiritual experience do something like that it is very painful, even bordering on depression. That believers can easily discount their own written commitments is painful, very painful, let alone the immediate reality of needs in my household resulting from that.

I thought of taking all those documents to court to fight for my rights, as I had an abundance of them but God told me not to go that direction. He told me that the fact that He wanted me in Nairobi was sufficient. Who He used and the manner of that call were inconsequential to Him. That closed that.

But I was in pain. My spirit was bleeding from the wounds inflicted by people I had trusted for so long.

Again I thought it impractical to continue in fellowship with them and their cohorts. I therefore sought to move from the fellowship.

God told me not to. What of the hurt? What of my bleeding spirit? I asked.

I will heal you. He told me. How will you know I have healed you if you run away from the scene of your injury?

And he healed me, so completely that people who know what had happened wonder how we can continue to be in fellowship with people who had treated me so.

Since the time I responded to God’s call about 31 years ago, I treat God’s voice as final, however illogical it appears. And there are enough examples I have shared in my writings.

It was initially a very difficult time. From days without food to real threats of eviction by landlords for delayed payment of rent.

But we have seen God in immense ways.

He has raised support for me from the strangest of places. From a landlord reducing rent to another providing food for my family even when I was in rent arrears to people being driven as if on gunpoint to bring me money and other support. God has provided support.

As I look back 13 years I have been walking this journey, I can confidently affirm that God has taken very good care of me and my family as I have continued to serve Him. From open doors that He forbade me to enter to others He opened beyond expectations.

He has supported. He has provided. He has enriched.

People ask me why I give my books away and some refuse to believe it is because of an order from Above because it does not appear to make sense. As if staying in Nairobi made any sense when God issued the order! They wonder how I can pour all that money into a book and not seek to recover the cost. As if I was the one who provided that money!

I have published over a dozen books and many other booklets. I have done probably a bigger number for new authors. And God provides.

I have gone for missions all over Kenya as well as a few other countries. Yet I do not beg or even ask for an offering because God provides. He is the one who speaks to those He wants to support me.

I have been involved in many empowerment drives; from refugees to orphans to persons with disabilities because God has not only provided but also enabled.

I will not even attempt to say everything God has done because it is simply impossible.

All I can say is that there is absolutely nothing in me that would predispose God to accomplish all this, and more, in and through me.

My heart is overflowing with gratitude when I look back on what He has been able to do. I do not have any words to express that gratitude.

That is why with my family we are inviting you to a Thanksgiving Service on 11^th December at Soul Saving Gospel Church, Kerwa from 2 to 5 pm.

Join us as we lift His name high for what He has done for us