For the word of God is
quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
As I was sharing my last message with a minister friend, he
made me remember a young man (many years my senior) who got saved from ‘down
there’. Then God transformed him in ways that even the skeptics had no argument
about his conversion. Though when he had cleared primary school without knowing
to read and write, he was able to read when he got saved. In fact he could read
the Kimeru Bible, one that few people even today can read well. Everybody knew
that God had done a major thing in this young man. The evidence was
indisputable.
God gave him a wife and children. God gave him favor. He
became a minister. Everything was going for him.
I don’t know what happened but he backslid.
Everything fell apart from there. He went back to the world
and the world responded with a vengeance.
I prayed for years to have some time with him and God granted
me. When I asked him what God had done to cause him go back he just blubbered.
Incidentally he died not long after our meeting.
My friend also told me of his brother. He was these people
who are unashamedly cowardly, one who would rather cry than face a bully, even
for my friend who was his younger brother.
Then he also got saved.
He became so bold that he would go preaching alone in the
market almost daily.
Again it was evident to all that something had happened and
it gave credence to the message he preached. Incidentally this is what sowed
the seed of the Gospel in my friend.
Again, this young man lost it and is still wandering to
date.
Reminds me of last Sunday after I taught the word. Somebody
almost disrupted the rest of the service claiming I had been preaching about
them and wanted it addressed immediately.
How do I preach about somebody I barely know?
God’s word is sharp. God’s word addresses some very deep
stuff when it is preached aright.
Incidentally this is not the first time I have encountered
this as I have preached, especially in places I know nobody. I have been asked
who had told me about someone since they were sure I had never met them before
I preached in their church. Several times someone has personalized a blog post
or book I have written saying that it was their message at a personal level.
That is how God’s word works. It is so sharp that sometimes
I have almost felt a slap as I was reading when God was addressing my issues.
That edge is the difference between standing and falling.
Being consistent in the word hurts, sometimes very deeply,
as it addresses us. It touches on every part of our lives if we allow it. And
that explains why many people look for excuses not to read it.
As it cuts, it also offers healing and transformation.
You will realize that the people who have remained are for
the most part those who purposed to remain in the word however deeply it cut
through their lives. It made them sober enough to remain steadfast in their
faith.
Have you realized that the Christian groupings in school and
campus have produced more pastors than churches? What I mean is that most of the pastors we
have are more products of their zeal during their studies than through the
church programs.
Do you also realize that a majority of Pentecostal and
charismatic pastors come from mainstream churches? And that is whether they are
defectors or came for greener pastures and any other reason.
Why?
Mainstream churches may be ‘dry’. But their every event is
scriptural though very few know it as such.
Just pick a hymnal and missal (not the Catholic one, I have
never read it).
Do you realize that they are packed with scripture?
Like I said the other day, missionaries of yore translated
hymns before translating the Bible. And since those hymns are scriptural, the
new converts would receive enough dose of proper doctrine even before knowing
how to read. I can say this with confidence because I have been in many
unreached communities with a missionary presence. And I have such a background.
When the Pentecostal movement rejected the hymns and order
of service (what I have earlier called missal), they for the most part rejected
doctrinal instruction, thus choosing spiritual illiteracy.
Is it any wonder then that what they produce as Gospel music
has no semblance to scripture? Do you realize that past songs from those ‘dry’
churches were simply scripture? They took scripture and added instruments and
choral arrangement to make songs. Contrast that to the trash being called
Gospel today! Someone gets a track as they do not even know to play an
instrument and then look for exciting words to fit in.
Sadly, I am talking about the bulk of what is called Gospel
music as good and wholesome music is the very rare exception. Remember I was a composer
and musician too until God changed orders.
And it is not much different in preachers as they also do
not spend much time in the scriptures, picking a verse here or there and making
a sermon out of it.
That is why sin is a common feature in these ministers. That
explains pride and entitlement thrive with them. That explains the arrogance
when they ‘make’ it, whatever that means.
The Bible aligns someone with God by transferring what is of
God to them.
Or have you ever heard a proud or arrogant person called
godly?
God’s word aligns God’s people to Him in all ways; from
resisting temptation to relating with the weak and vulnerable.
Can you be aligned through a Bible you barely read? Can you
be aligned through a Bible you only browse to look for or avoid arguments? Can
you be aligned by a Bible you only read to get your sermons?
How aligned are you to God? How much of His word has become
part of you?
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