Short Mission Break

Greetings

I want to inform you that from this weekend I will be traveling for a 1½ to 2 week mission in the Coast of Kenya (Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale)

I therefore may not be able to prepare any post in the next two weeks as I will be fully occupied by ministry.

I crave your prayers.

You can support as God leads

God bless you

Nka, Nka, Nkauga (I’ll, I’ll, I Will Say)

Long, long ago, before there were TVs, in fact even before there was any electricity to power the TVs, before any cars were on the roads, even before there were any roads, there lived a small family that lived a very simple life.

The couple had two sons, the elder was called Mutugi while the younger one Kaimenyi.

They lived some distance from their nearest neighbor at the edge of a large forest. Due to their nearness to the forest, they had to be very careful because wild animals were plentiful those days and they roamed the whole place. Yet they were also very fortunate to live so close to the forest because they sometimes could hunt almost from their door. While people who lived in the villages went far to get to their farms, they farmed just next to their homestead.

The only problem they had was when the parents needed to go out together. Of course it had to be very necessary for them to leave their two children alone in the compound. This was mainly when they went to a distant market to barter what they had from the forest with dainties from the plains.

When the children were small, they would simply carry them to their nearest neighbor; but not any more. They could not be able to carry the two heavy children with the luggage they would be required to carry either way. Walking them was also hard as it would slow their journey considerably especially as they would leave before dawn when the children would be too drowsy from sleep.

They would talk with the two sons the whole of the evening before they would go away. They would give instructions and warnings, instructions about what to do should they see this animal or that, instructions about how to differentiate a dangerous animal from a harmless one. They would give them warnings about how far to venture from their doorway, warnings about playing with fire and especially a severe warning against going beyond their bounds to an animal that their father had captured and caged.

For those of you who have never heard of those days, there were animals that had the capacity to speak. I wasn’t there then so don’t ask me how. That is what I was also told and I didn’t think to ask then.

Well, this animal could talk, and that was why the parents warned the children against going to it. Their father especially never even in his presence wanted the children to develop any communication with the animal until it was tame enough to be released from its cage. He could scold any of them who dared start a conversation with it or even look at it so as to draw its attention. At one time both were beaten thoroughly because they took advantage of their father skinning a large antelope to not only move near but even to speak to it.

But as it is said boys will continue being boys. And there is no temptation if there are no rules. The animal was a fascination to the boys, especially because they had not been allowed to converse with it. They wanted it wild because, as they thought, what fun will it be to converse with a tame animal?

So as usual they would take advantage of their parents’ journeys to sneak a quick one on the animal. But they were careful to restrict their time to a very short time as like most children know parents have an eye they leave at home when they are away. Otherwise how come they are able to see all the mischief they play when they return?

Interestingly, the father seemed to suspect that they made a move to the animal through his questioning but pretended not to notice. The boys therefore thought they had convinced him and felt very clever.

One time the parents left and the boys did not waste much time before going to converse briefly with the animal.

But the conversation refused to end. Mutugi was unable to stop the conversation however much Kaimenyi kept pulling him back. He was unable to stop even when the younger boy started to remind him about the father and his beatings. So the boy started crying but was unable to leave since he either enjoyed the conversation or probably feared walking alone.

Then the animal made a request.

Can you please let me go to see my family?

Noooo, shouted the younger brother.

Will you come back before my parents return? Mutugi asked.

Of course, I won’t betray your trust.

At that point the conversation had bonded the two conspirators that the shout of the younger brother did not register. The elder forgot everything he had been taught and opened the cage and released the animal which then leaped into the forest.

What have you done?

Relax, he is coming back.

I will tell baaba (dad)

Please do not.

But by dusk the animal had not come back and they couldn’t wait for darkness as the cage was some distance from their house. They therefore went back home, one crestfallen and the other secretly cheering with mischief.

As usual the parents arrived well after dark. The mother hurriedly prepared supper as the father asked about their day.

When the supper was being served, it was the best food they had had for a long time. One felt hungry by just smelling it cooking.

When they were served, the Kaimenyi asked his brother to add him food.  But you can’t have enough of that kind of food and so he refused.

Nka … (I’ll …)

The elder suddenly remembered and literally added him most of his food.

Why are you giving food to your brother?”, his father asked.

I do not have appetite, was his reply.

Like fathers do, he didn’t notice anything, or that is what the boys thought.

Incidentally, that became the habit. The younger boy would whisper his need for more food and ‘nka’ would be the magic word to kill the appetite of his elder.

Until the elder started feeling weak from hunger and energy and like most boys with as much energy thought he was going to die.

The third night he thought he had had enough. He preferred to die by his father’s hands than by the hunger as his younger brother was killing him with.

Baaba

Yes my son

I am sorry I released Ng’oriu

Tears started to come from his father’s eyes, something even his wife had never seen.

He then rushed to his son, who looked for an escape route but failed.

He then caught him and hugged him tight, very tight for a long time.

Ng’oriu is still in the cage.

And you have done the greatest thing for us.

Open the door and call him.

The son, dazed as he was went to the door dreamily and called and Ng’oriu was at the door in a flash, prodding him outside to at least rub his neck, which he did.

His father then told him to release him and Ng’oriu disappeared.

The boys were confused. Why does their father congratulate instead of killing the Mutugi? Where had Ng’oriu come from? Why was their father so emotional and content when his son had broken his rules?

The old man then started to talk.

Ng’oriu is a very special animal, and very rare. Of course you know it is very strong and intelligent.

Its strongest point, however, is that it can develop a relationship with people, but very rare people and once it develops it will be a protector to the person and all that is his as long as their bond remains.

I came to live by the forest to get a chance to capture the animal and I was fortunate. But I couldn’t develop any relationship with him as his captor.

I therefore hoped one of my sons could do it. That is why I made it very hard for you to talk with him. He had to know I was not the one leading you to him as he senses such things. It pained me to punish you for doing what I wanted with all my heart to see you do.

Once he was convinced you were independently developing a relationship with him, he had to give you the trust test.

Why didn’t he come back? The boys asked.

He came back just before we came back. And he went back to the open cage. He has been in the open cage all along though you were scared of breaking my rules to venture near it. You must now give him his freedom so that he can serve you completely.

Of course I have been watching your drama with your brother. If only he knew what this has made you as the only one in this generation having Ng’oriu as guardian! You have become the fare for folk tales as what you have done what was done so long ago even my great grandparents were only told as stories. In fact, my coming near the forest was part in wanting to prove that Ng’oriu was a fictional animal. Then I caught him. I suspect he may also have been looking for a person to bond with as it really is impossible to contain him.

My special son, please watch over us. You are the only one who can summon Ng’oriu from anywhere and he will protect you and whoever you choose. You can even summon him at war and he will rout your enemies.

In fact, our enemies’ seers have already realized what you have done and none can dare attack us due to your act. We finally have Ng’oriu on our side.

Ng’oriu is not one animal but a family of animals who are connected to your voice wherever you are.

Your brother should be kneeling in front of you to plead for forgiveness and beg for your mercy. Though I know your heart is big enough to pardon his folly. Otherwise Ng’oriu could not have connected with you.

Behind a Successful Man

Will you allow me to restate one of the most famous statements of our times?

Behind a successful man could probably be a nagging wife.

Have you ever considered that nagging could be a major contributor of success in men?

Otherwise explain to me why many men run off with concubines and have affairs when they become screamingly successful?

If you think you will satisfy me with the argument that man is by design promiscuous, explain to me why they were faithful before they hit it. Or why they will seek to conceal those extra ‘marriages’ from her, if at all they were there, before he succeeds.

However, I do not support adultery, whatever pretext or excuse anyone may bring. Sin is inexcusable in God’s eyes. Nor should it be in mine.

But the success people talk about when they make that quote is not according to God’s standards. It is a worldly type of success, one that looks at worldly accomplishments for qualification. And worldly standards will pursue a worldly fulfillment.

We will not take a Biblical worldview in judging the same though we have a Biblical assessment for the same.

… the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. (Proverbs 19:13b)

Nagging is like that continual dripping, making home the most uncomfortable place for the husband.

He will therefore look to spend as much time outside it as possible. And we know that a good man will spend all that energy on productivity. Meaning he will succeed beyond the normal success a man in a stable relationship with his wife will reach as he is always looking for a way out of that dripping. Of course others will get lost in vices like drunkenness.

But that success is not complete as its driver was the ‘hell’ on the home front. That is why he will willingly run to the home wrecker for solace.

Let us look at nagging. What is it?

At the very base a woman craves to control her husband. The pressure she applies and the manner she applies it will determine whether it is positive or not. It is the negative pressure applied with great and constant intensity that is known as nagging.

Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was the epitome of submission. That is what she used to have her husband marry another wife against God’s call and promise. A submissive wife rules her husband by suggesting. The pressure on the husband is to keep his wife content, and pleased with his efforts.

Nagging works differently.

In it a woman will actively and forcefully fight to gain control, many times by demeaning him or comparing him with ‘successful’ men.

It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. (Proverbs 25:24)

Man will naturally fight the hardest to prove her wrong. That is why after proving he is a man will run off to also prove to her that she is not the only attractive woman there is. The woman discovers too late that her nagging has run full circle. But it is worse on her because she does not realize that she not only was the cause of his success but also of his running away. She will then be left whining as she swims in the success she made him get.

I do not know whether you realize that most men who cling to power do so because their wife will have nothing to do with leaving power. Sadly, it is the same with pastors and bishops who refuse to even take their sabbatical, let alone retiring because ‘mama’ will not allow him to rest as their position could be ‘grabbed’ by somebody else.

Another problem with a vast majority of women is the fact that they are unable to adjust downward. What I mean is that it is very difficult, if not impossible for many women to adjust to a lowering of their standard of living. It explains why very few parents, if any, will advise their son to marry higher than their status.

It is the reason very few women will agree to stay with a man whose fortunes have plummeted while they had endured with him as he climbed that ladder.

While ‘love’ may have forced her to lower her status, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to adjust to the new normal.

That is the problem David had with Michal. She was always comparing him and his with her father’s kingdom to the point that she could not be restrained from showing scorn to him.

Yet it is in the spiritual when it is most destructive.

A woman at a higher spiritual level might appear most humble (even believe so) yet this will apply extreme pressure on the man on the spiritual front. Many times this is what will challenge the man to thrive in earthly pursuits to compensate for that deficiency.

I pity men who have their wives as their pastors. How does the head agree to be led by the body? Let me not go farther as you know what I am heading to. And it is the way it is even if I do not write it here.

You see, God starts with the spiritual before adding other dimensions.

A wife is expected to submit and obey her husband in everything according to scripture. That is why Sarah was commended as she even agreed to be taken to a harem to protect (of course in obedience to) her husband. She followed him when even Abraham had no clue about where they were heading apart from ‘to a land I will show you’.

That is why the spiritual weight is laid on the man. Do you know that God lays the sins of a woman on her husband? Numbers 30 clearly states that a wife’s vows are subject to her husband and any errors will make him liable. Tell me which wife was judged for something they did?

The only exception is Jezebel and even then Ahab took the whole judgment of her wickedness. Why was he judged for killing Naboth yet he did not know how the scheme was carried out?

A woman more spiritual than her husband is the epitome of nagging as she places him at a great disadvantage however well-meaning she could be. Though he is her spiritual head, he really has no leadership at home. That is what the Bible plainly teaches.

A case in point is Moses. His wife was the firstborn (does the Bible say that?) of a priest who does not appear to have sons. As such, she was the heir to that office. This of course meant that she was really connected in the spiritual, making Moses like these men who have their wives as pastors. That is why she is able to stop him from circumcising his son as apparently he had circumcised the firstborn without consulting her.

Do men have options?

Make a desperate connection with God, though they many times could even cost you the marriage like it did Moses.

You see, when Moses made the connection the wife simply walked back as I do not think she was ready to submit to him and his new status. She had to be brought to him by her father and we do not hear anything else about her. Could she have been the reason Moses was so focused and later married another wife? Just guessing.

Our number one defense against nagging is therefore not succeeding. It is establishing a solid relationship with God so that He can lead you away from her control. Then her nagging will be irrelevant as your focus and pursuit of God’s will be unshakeable. Her nagging will be the fuel we will use to climb the heights of spiritual revelation and obedience.

‘Because you listened to your wife’ is God’s reason that man fell. Hearing God’s voice and obeying it is therefore what every man should pursue.

Then your success will be according to God’s description of success.

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22)

But not all women are naggers, just like not all men who are nagged run off to other women after becoming successful.

We are simply looking at the normal progression of a normal fleshy man faced with a nagging wife or a woman with more spiritual authority or power than he has.

It simply means that the best insurance a man has against instability in marriage is immersing himself in the scriptures and not the preaching of men. Then he will know enough from God on how to live with his wife.

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. (1Peter 3:7)

Men need that knowledge because the most painful part of nagging is being compared with others and his effort being compared with the successes of others.

And it is not wisdom because a woman is like shifting sand due to her hormonal guided emotional imbalance, swaying between extreme devotion to extreme spite as her status dictates.

You therefore can’t use yesterday’s treatment to judge today’s outburst as they are unrelated.

The solution to nagging is therefore spiritual potency as being close to God will give you an up to date solution to her volatile nature. You will have the stability her instability looks for to rest upon.

A wise woman will tread carefully and communicate clearly especially when she can sense those swings because her husband would then know that it is her state and not something he has done. And do not run to other men, even men of God, to get leadership, however unconnected you think your husband is. Submit only to him. He is the one the Bible calls your head, meaning eyes, ears, nose, brain. Do not transfer those faculties to another man as it is infidelity though no sex is involved.

Yet even in those swings the man is ultimately accountable for what she does.

The Pastor as an Abortionist 2

Let me close this lesson by summarizing what I have been saying.

When a pastor is a title or job, the result is a malfunction in the church of Christ. In other words, the church starts serving the interests of the enemy of God, the antichrist.

What is the main purpose of homosexuality? It is to kill the possibility of conception and therefore procreation. In humanistic reason, you can sin and escape the consequences. That is the reason God calls it an abomination as it stands flush against nature and God’s purpose of creating man in the first place.

Sexual immorality always has the potent danger of conception when it involves a man and woman, a danger that makes many get scared of sinning, however enlightened they may think they are. ‘I am pregnant’ is always a shocker outside marriage.

You see, even abortion is a risky procedure however much it is marketed. And at times it fails. Even worse is the fact that the sinners might eventually decide against it, meaning that there are no guarantees that it will happen. How many have changed their minds on abortion just before climbing the killer’s bench for the ‘procedure’?

That is why homosexuality is the ultimate weapon the evil one has released to the world to kill the godly offspring by ensuring it is never there in the first place.

A normal church has a functional pastor and not a titled one.

What is the relationship of this with homosexuality? You may be asking.

A pastor is a father, or at least must have a father’s heart for that function to thrive.

As such, he nurtures his flock so that they become the best they can for his employer (the One who called him).

As a father, he gives, as opposed to looking for what he can get from those he leads.

Even potential (talents, spiritual gifts) are looked at in that light. He does not look to harness them for the benefit of ‘his’ church. Rather, he looks for the best way to maximize the same for God’s enterprise. He will therefore build the gifted instead of looking to access the gifts.

Look at it like a father who discovers that his ten year old is very musical.

A good father will not rush him to the recording studio or media house because he knows that doing so will most likely destroy his future as he is unable at that age to handle stardom. He will protect him and nurture him until he is mature enough and prepared enough to run with his gift.

An entrepreneurial or immature father will seek to maximize that gift for his own use however fluent his argument is for the betterment of the child could be. Chances are that this child may not reach his age of majority or if he does he will be in tatters.

As someone involved in discipleship I can affirm that a vast majority of the pastors we have are hirelings and not fathers.

I lost count of the times people I am discipling are snatched by a pastor just because a gift or stability has started showing as always happens with discipleship. Some have died as they were thrown into the deep end of ministry before they were mature enough to handle it. And destinies have been destroyed by such pastors. All because they do not have time to bear and grow their own children and so will snatch from the one doing it. And any disciple maker has enough such stories.

A clear indicator that we have the father’s heart missing in our pastors is the fact that churches look for pastors (and other key ministers) outside their congregation. In other words pastors not only hope that someone else is raising children, he waits for them with bated breath. He is therefore a spiritual eunuch or even a spiritual homosexual since he has no seed to spread abroad.

That is the key reason most pastors of today are scared of speaking against sin. You see, only a father has the authority to rebuke his children. How will he therefore be able to rebuke children who just dropped in his compound, especially since he is not even feeding them (properly)?

A father can use the rod on his children because they have ‘nowhere’ else to run to. An ‘uncle’ dare not be hard on the children because they will run off back to their father.

Pastors without the pastor’s heart are like that uncle. They are always pampering sin and sinners to maintain their congregation. He is an enabler of everything except righteousness and holiness as only the true pastor knows how to use the rod and staff on the flock.

Another Breakthrough

Please join me in thanking God that another language has been reached with the discipleship book, Fruit that Lasts.

We now have the Swahili translation after so long. It is now in print.

It is called ‘Tunda la Kudumu’, Uanafunzi wa Biblia.

Incidentally, like the Portuguese translation, ‘Frutas Que Dura’, I have included the Bible Reading Plan on the inside cover to help one interested in reading the Bible in an year get started and proceed as the whole purpose of the book is to help the disciple establish a regular time with God’s word as well as determine to make the Bible the final authority in their Christian life.

Now I have three languages in which ‘Fruit that Lasts’ is published in; English, Portuguese and Swahili.

We still need translators in other languages, especially those without discipleship materials.

You see, it does not add much value to have a language saturated with materials whereas another does not have any, some even lacking the Bible itself.

Another thing I am praying that we will be able to do soon is produce affordable Audio Bibles in languages without one especially as a majority of the populace in many of those places is not literate, meaning they really have no way of knowing the Bible for themselves without having someone else reading it for them. And that will depend on the willingness and/or integrity of the one reading. Some read their own things from the scriptures. How is that for proper absorption of God’s word?

Let us pray that God gives us a studio for anyone willing to read the Bible in whatever language to record as I believe it is possible; probably just the equipment to do so. Then we can record wherever we can.

But for today I just want us to thank God that ‘Fruit that Lasts’ discipleship Bile Study book has breached another language.

Let us also pray for the provision to make enough copies for the reach to cover whoever God wants to be ministered to by this tool. I have not made many copies and I know the need is still need.

I hasted because God had placed a very heavy burden on my heart about some churches in Kilifi in the Kenya Coast and so was unable to wait for the provision for a complete run. In fact I was forced to borrow as the burden had become so heavy on my heart and so will still need provision to deal with that debt. Printing them has given me release.

Please feel free to partner and/or support as God leads you. But first thank God with me.

God bless you