The Ministry of the Prodigal

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (Romans 11:29)

Many times we look at the prodigal as spiritually useless. But that is looking at God as one who is dependent on our commitment. The truth of the fact is that is that God is not limited to our compliance. He remains God irrespective of my response. Remember this?

And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:40)

If He can use stones, would it be inconceivable if He used rebels to further His purpose? Would it not be stretching our imagination to expect God to be at a loss if we decided to stop obeying Him?

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. (Revelation 17:17)

We see even the devil and his demonic alliances being aligned to God’s purposes and word even in their rebellion against Him.

We will look at a few instances where people walked in direct opposition to what God had revealed. We will then look at what that rebellion was able to accomplish in the purposes of God. We will see that many times God is able to reach a lot further than my rebellion.

But we will also see the collateral damage that many times will accompany the prodigal. Many times it is the one thing that will be the witness he offers. But even more important is to help us realize that we are the losers when we choose the prodigal route. Many times it is the prodigal who has the most to lose any time he goes against an order God gave him.

Jonah is sent but takes a ship in the opposite direction. Then God steps in to deal with His rebel. The sailors decide that they will not kill an ‘innocent’ person and so protect him. God releases His power on the hapless fellows until they decide that ‘killing’ was the only way out of their dilemma. But by then they had lost the purpose of their journey as they lost their luggage since they threw it aboard to lighten the ship to avoid having to ‘kill’ the prophet. Then the miracle happens. An unusual peace comes after they throw Jonah to the sea. This leads to their conversion. Now who was their witness? The prodigal of course.

So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. (Jonah 1:15, 16)

Jonah’s is a positive story because he repented and decided to obey his initial order. But he then looked rotten from the fish’s stomach acids due to the three days he was imprisoned there.

Elimelech decides to follow greener pastures when the house of bread (Bethlehem) suffers from a famine, contrary to God’s revelation. Why did he die? Chances are mostly due to that disobedience.

His sons, now rudderless, also decide to go even farther from God’s revelation by marrying beauties from Moab, a tribe that was excluded from Israel more or less forever. Probably that was the reason they also died, leaving three widows in a foreign land.

I think Naomi realized that the loss she was suffering was the product of that rebellion. That is the reason she wanted nothing more to remind her of Moab. Interestingly, their discordant lives had been able to impact the girls, one of them completely. Ruth had converted from the Moabite way of life, even religion. She left her culture, her people and her gods to align herself with the God of the prodigal family.

What happens to the family? They simply disappear. But Ruth gets grafted into Israel.

In short the prodigal nature of Elimelech was used of God to fish for an ardent follower of the God that family had disobeyed in their going to Moab. Who was the loser? Elimelech is, since he disappears from the annals of Israel and serves only as a reference point. God never loses a thing. He just changes His game plan, using whoever is available. But one thing was certain; there was pain all around.

Eli the priest and judge fails to take responsibility for the ministry of his sons. Does God panic? Of course not. He just starts something fresh.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. (1Samuel 2:35)

But He judges Eli and his family most severely. Read the previous verses to see the extent of that judgment.

So Solomon let Abiathar be priest no longer, so that he might make the word of the Lord come true which he said about the sons of Eli in Shiloh. (1Kings 2:27)

Eli’s family therefore loses the priesthood. We even see eighty five of them being killed at one time by the zeal of another prodigal, Saul. But God does not lose a priest. He is able to get even better. Samuel was a prophet, priest and judge. He is the person closest to Moses the man of God yet it was in a season God’s voice had almost disappeared from Israel. Again it is clear who the loser is.

Samson plays around with his anointing by breaking all the requirements of his nazirite calling. He touches corpses and even eats from them. He visits prostitutes but worst of it he seems unable to keep his feet from the enemy beauties, the clearest indication that he was not interested in the God he knew he was created to serve.

God still uses him somehow because that was the reason he formed him anyway. He goes overboard and abuses the anointing by exposing it to the enemy in the ‘bed of love’. Then God leaves him to his devices.

But then he repents and rededicates his life to God to at least avenge his eyes. He is then able to kill more enemies than he had previously killed in the whole duration of his prodigal ministry. He is even able to kill most, probably all the leaders of the Philistines.

Again who loses? Samson does, as he dies in the process of his greatest triumph. Unlike other judges he does not leave any offspring as is usual with people who meddle long with sin.

Saul decided that he was too important even for God to overlook. He therefore does one act of disobedience after another, probably reasoning that the anointing he had received was too serious for God to overlook. Of course God rejects him as king and anoints another.

When God fails to move as powerfully as He did due to that rebellion and a small boy rescues his kingdom, he becomes very grateful. But this lad is connected to the God he had slighted and begins to be a living rebuke to his rebellion. Since he is not willing to change, he starts looking at this young soldier with envy, fearing that he could overthrow his kingdom as he enjoyed not only the favor of the people but was especially really connected to God.

The therefore starts looking for ways of dealing with this threat to his kingsdom. This causes David to flee his madness. And this is the pressure that God uses to mould David into the kind of king we admire to date.

Did God lose? Of course not. He just went to the drawing board and brought something even better than Saul could have accomplished. But He used Saul all the same, though not in the way He had planned originally.

But Saul lost dreadfully. Again he loses all his posterity due to his rebellion though he accomplishes God’s purposes all the same.

The Bible is replete with example after another of God’s servants who strayed from their callings in disobedience being the ultimate losers yet being used to further God’s purposes all the same.

I heard of this testimony of a man who backslid after getting to know God a little more than most and eventually got into drunkenness. What is interesting is that he would really preach when he was completely drunk to an extent that some drunkards got saved due to that fractured witness.

I have written elsewhere that at one time I was quarrelling God, asking whether He did not have standards. And why so? We were involved with an outreach and some of the most effective evangelists (if numbers were the gauge) were people who were a shame to the course of Christ. Some were living in open sin, and unashamedly. God responded with a verse.

Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12)

In effect God was saying that it is the proclamation of His word that brings His power around. The fact that His power is present does not indicate God’s favor in the least, a thing that confuses most people. Again remember this verse?

Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:15 – 18)

We serve a God who is not dependent on our aligning to His will to accomplish His purposes. We need to remember that He did not need anything to create everything we see. This in effect means that everything in existence is subject to His Lordship.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16, 17)

Our lack of obedience has no effect at all on His purpose for His creation. The only thing it can accomplish is cutting us from His purpose for us. It can be equated with stealing a few coins from a millionaire or government. Truth is they will never feel the impact of that theft yet you will waste in jail for the same apart from losing your reputation.

This post is therefore to let us know that God is never deflated by our disobedience. He will of course be grieved but nothing will be done on His purposes. In fact our disobedience may paint His purposes even clearer as people are able to see God in greater clarity as He deals with His disobedient servant.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7: 21 – 23)

These are prodigals who are accomplishing much for the kingdom that has rejected them. The fact that they are doing all this is no excuse for their disobedience. Being and doing all that does not indicate a positive relationship with the divine. Imagine God confessing that He never knew them, even people who appeared really connected to Him to the point of hearing His voice?

Where am I in all this mix? Where are you? Am I accomplishing God’s purposes in rebellion? Am I walking in the revelation that God has released to me or am I following the works that are following my preaching/ ministry? Am I following the support that I seem to attract to my ministry as opposed to the revelation that directs me to the precise thing/ activity God wants me to be involved in? Am I excited about the numbers that are sold out to my agenda as opposed to the singleness of purpose the clarity of my call engenders?

Would I like Elijah continue ministering even when I am the only one remaining and when all are interested in my death? Would I like John the Baptist minister even when I know it could result in my violent death? Would I like Amos and Elisha close shop to pursue a dangerous and unpromising commission? Would I like the Lord go to the cross willingly yet knowing all that it entails?

Blurred Confusion

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22:26)

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. (Ezekiel 44:23)

What is the difference between acceptance and compromise? What is the difference between accommodation and confusion?

As you may be aware I rarely join trending debates unless I feel that God will judge me if I kept quiet. If I can remember well probably the debates I have lent my voice in concerned Tusker Project Fame and the one with a topic going along thinking like billionaires. I leave much of the arguments to those who have a lot of time to ‘spend’, many times because very few of the arguments being put across add much value to the confusion the topic creates. I know there are some very sober and scriptural arguments even amidst that chaos and I commend those that patient to bring sense out of all that baggage. Very few ‘Christians’ really care to know what the Bible has to say about those topics.

I hope you won’t mind if I joined this hot topic being debated about this so called church that uses pornography to reach the youth as that is the language the youth understand.

Who tells you what those youth understand? Do I have to become a client of a prostitute to develop a language to reach her? Do I need to start drinking to create a rapport with the drunkards I want to reach with the gospel? Must I become a drug consumer or pusher to reach that segment of the society? Must I be corrupt to understand the language I need to reach the corrupt?

Whatever happened to revelation? Is God that quiet that we must go to porn sites to get our sermons? Is a headline more powerful than revelation? Or probably the question to ask is do we even entertain the fact of revelation, especially from God?

What was Jesus like? How trendy was He? How did He reach His world? How did He reach the unreachables and untouchables?

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)

I am writing this not just in response to that poster. It goes much deeper than that. It boils down to the levels we go to ‘attract’ people we want to ‘reach’ with the ‘gospel’. I think we are bending too low that we are ending up being the ones to be converted to worldliness.

You see the world can never be converted. The world has no capacity for transformation. In fact the world is in direct opposition to the Gospel we proclaim. Accommodating the world to reach the world is therefore not only an impossibility but folly and extreme rebellion. And God hates it.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15, 16)

Love and compromise are mutually exclusive. Love sets clear distinctions, not leaves things blurred. It is the clarity of the message we proclaim that leads people to understand how to relate with a holy God. Then they can know the expectation of this Holy God to their lives. Presenting a god who has more or less blurred expectations of the people who come to us for direction makes us teachers of rebellion, something I talked about in my book Perceptions.

Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. (Jeremiah 28:15 – 17)

And this is the problem I have with these so called seeker friendly approaches to church growth. We seek to make our churches comfortable to the seekers to the extent of sacrificing the fundamentals of our faith to make them comfortable. We seek to make the gospel leaven without knowing that sin is the only thing that the Bible describes as having the leaven effect. Righteousness never can be introduced in doses. It is either presented as a complete package or it is not the Gospel at all.

When I take secular music to attract disco addicts to the church it many times stumbles someone who has been rescued from them by the Gospel. One time we were listening to a gospel concert when a lady in our company almost shouted. She could not imagine the depravity that song reminded her of when she used to rave. Putting Christian lyrics on it will amplify the memories instead of dulling them. Worse is the fact that they might pull someone back to the lifestyle they had left. I one time walked with a friend who told me that he could never shop in a supermarket with the name Tusker because he knew what God had rescued him from and never wanted to associate with anything that reminded him of that past life.

Homosexuality is an abomination. At least that is what the Bible says very clearly. Why is it that very many pastors are scared of just quoting the Bible in that respect? Who tells us that welcoming them in our churches will challenge them to change? Does God clap for us when we have a homosexual who is comfortable with the gospel we preach? How can that be the Gospel of Christ?

Christ is love. But Christ has no compromise. The fact that among His followers were tax collectors and prostitutes never means that He accommodated such lifestyle. His love drew them to Him with the sole purpose of changing them.

‘Go and sin no more’ is one statement we see with Christ when He accepted the sinners. Simply saying He welcomed people to Him and His love challenged them to change. No sinner continued in the sin he was rescued from once he joined Christ’s team. Is it in order when we are advertising sin to draw people to Christ? Would we then be able to challenge them to change from the same sin we used to invite them to our church? Can we be that foolish?

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

Can we inspire people to righteousness using the lure of wickedness? Again can I challenge a prostitute to change by being her customer?

Why did Jesus chase people from the temple yet what they were doing had the sanction of the scriptures? Was it just because they were buying or selling? Was it due to the noise of a market (though that has no fact in scripture so is an assumption)?

I believe that they had transformed a godly thing for their own purpose. And that is the reason Christ reminded them the chief purpose of that temple. These other activities were the accessories to the main purpose which were meant to make the main purpose as worshipful as possible. Changing the purpose to these accessories was therefore defilement of the whole temple as they diverted the reason for the existence of the temple.

Has God ordered us to do these things we are doing in our churches? Does He give us some of these sermons we preach? Does He release the information we share in these interviews we hold?

Whatever happened to the offense of the Gospel? How come the world is so comfortable in our churches without needing to change? How do worship leaders enjoy leading in worship yet openly living in sin? Why are we scared of addressing premarital sex and poor dressing in our sermons? Was Jesus like that at any time?

And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. (Galatians 5:11)

Where is the persecution that normally follows the accurate proclamation of the Gospel? Where is the transformation that accompanies that proclamation?

And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. (Acts 5:13)

How many sinners are scared of joining our churches unless they are willing to be changed by the Gospel we proclaim? Is our Gospel transformative anyway? How can a person walking in sin enjoy the preaching of a preacher with God’s anointing? How can a barely dressed temptress of a girl enjoy the preaching of a man of God year after year without seeing the need to change her dressing? How does a pastor preach year after year seeing bare breasted girls and women on the front pews without being affected by those Jezebels? Is it any wonder only the other day we had two prominent pastors displayed to the world after pursuing that cleavage to its conclusion?

Can a church using porn to advertise ministry really be the church of Christ? Would it not serve its members better if it converted to a club or something like that? Then I won’t waste my time bashing them like I am doing now because they are not crossing my path by using the name of the Lord I revere to pursue interests so different from the Spirit of the Christ I serve.

By the way I am using that ‘church’ because it really represents carnality in its most blatant in that advert. There are many others that are like it, even worse. I suggest they close their doors and seek to know the lord they are serving then reopen them with a clear agenda instead of blurred lines.

Am I judging? Yes. That is something the Bible tells me to do. Does the Bible not say do not judge? No it doesn’t. It just gives the guidelines to our judging that are consistent with scripture. Read the chapter with that verse you use to cover sin and wickedness and tell me what it says. I won’t quote it because you pretend to know it. I will just give you other verses.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1Corinthians 2:14, 15)

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1John 4:1)

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. (1Thessalonians 5:21, 22)

By the way an ‘innocent’ picture with a blurred message, however much we defended it has an appearance of evil. And the one being debated is far from innocent as even ‘sinners’ have a problem with it especially in its use for ‘spiritual’ advertising.

I do not mean we put a sign on our assemblies saying ‘no sinners allowed’ as some do. But those who know me know that I relate to the lowest in my ministry as a friend and minister. But I will be failing Christ if a person I am ministering to continues having a blurred sight concerning sin due to my love because then it would be compromise on my side. The holiness of God is one thing that a minister points to in their life and message. The presence of God will without fail challenge people to at least desire to change as they see the difference between God and their former lives.

And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:8)

Rahab was not preached to to leave prostitution. She just knew that the God of Israel would have none of that. The fact that she was accepted into Israel disqualified her former way of earning a livelihood. I am sure the same happened to her whole family.

This is as opposed to the mixed multitude who had left Egypt because the adventure of leaving their homeland was their motivation. That is the reason they were stress to Moses for forty years. Joining God on our terms is really not joining Him, it is just picking his name to profit by it, a thing I suspect these churches are doing.

Zacchaeus was not preached to. But Christ’s love and invitation left no options for Zacchaeus than change. Who told Isaiah that he was so sinful in Isaiah 6? Seeing God was conviction enough. And that is what we see all through the Bible. The first thing that happens when a person sees Christ is conviction of sin in the presence of a holy God. Watering down that expectation is definitely taking them to another god.

We will not draw people to Christ by watering down our message and lowering down our expectation. We might increase our membership and giving but we will not lead those who come on such terms to heaven, unless it is another heaven we are building.

Young people are seeking. They are tired of that language and want nothing to do with it. Speaking it to attract them is therefore an insult to their searching hearts. Using the pictures that have driven them to hopeless depravity is insensitive to say the least.

I will close by giving the story of Peter during Christ’s trial. Peter was really close to Christ. In fact he was the only one brave enough to follow him to the court. But to warm himself he joined a hostile crowd that he could not leave probably because of the cold and lack of company outside. He must have joined in their conversations, conversations that were leaning in the side of the enemies of Christ as we know that they were the ones who had arrested Him. It was therefore inconceivable that he would confess any connection to the said Christ for obvious reasons. He simply would be laughed to scorn, apart from probably being ejected from the fireside and being treated as uncool. That is why he even went one further to curse as I suspect that was the kind of language they were using.

For this reason I make request to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is the worship it is right for you to give him. And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God. [Romans 12:1, 2(BBE)]

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1, 2)

The Jezebel Enablers

I know enough people have been really offended by my two recent posts. The reason they have not bashed me is because they do not have scriptural responses for the same. Many think I am a chauvinist, which I will not deny if the flow of the message God gives me points me as that. In any case who is a chauvinist? So we might have to start with definitions which do not fall under the messages God gives. I only want to relate the messages God gives me to the plain teaching of scripture as opposed to looking simply for verses that seem to agree with my position. That is the reason I sweep across the wide panorama of the Bible as I write

But today I want to bash us men. I believe the reason Jezebel is in charge of not only the homes but even the church is because men have been asleep. Remember this?

But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. (Matthew 13:25)

I believe that we have through laziness or complacency slowly yielded the reigns of the structures God expects us to lead to the woman whose greatest craving culminates in her taking charge of the man.

A man is expected to be a hard worker. Again look at what God decreed after the fall.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19)

A man is expected to provide for his family through the sweat of his brow. His leadership therefore proceeds from that. He can provide leadership because he takes care of his family. He can give orders because he is in charge.

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1Timothy 5:8)

But this is at the very basic level. That is the introduction of that authority. A man who stops at that level can be compared with someone who thinks he is ready to swim just because he has taken off his hat.

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. (1Corinthians 11:3)

Simply speaking, a man’s authority is not absolute. Nor does it proceed from his provision. He derives his authority from his submission to a higher authority. His authority is vested and not fought for. It is only as he submits to the authority that he gets that authority.

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. (Matthew 8:9)

This soldier understood authority. He starts with confessing that he was under authority. Because he was subject to that authority he was then vested with authority over others.

Autonomy does not produce authority. Only someone under authority can understand and exercise authority. Authority apart from submission produces chaos as opposed to the order that proceeds from a structure. That is the reason self-made men do not make good husbands and fathers as they have nothing to copy from. That is the reason people rebelling from the kind of upbringing they had produce unbalanced children. That is the reason people who start churches as a protest to the rottenness they see in the ones they formerly were under replicate the rottenness they ran from, only this time in another dimension.

It is from authority that we can learn authority. And there is only one authority that has all that we need to exercise our authority, God’s through Christ.

A man is the one who should be in closest contact with God. In fact he is the one who MUST have that relationship. You will see that plainly when you read the Bible.

It is a clear abomination when a man drives his family to church and either remains in the car or drives elsewhere to while the time until the service ends as he is the one who ought to have the drive to take his family to the direction God has.

Shout chauvinist but I want you to realize that that is the spiritual order of things. In the scriptures there were only a handful of situations where God spoke or dealt with the woman before speaking to her husband. Even then she had to bring her husband to verify the instruction as that is what we saw in the last post (Manoah, Elkanah, Joseph). Yet at no time do we see a man being asked to require the acceptance of his wife in the pursuit of an order. Many times it was the exact opposite. For example do you expect Abraham required the permission of Sarah before he went to offer Isaac as a sacrifice?

… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24: 15)

We do not see any democracy or negotiation there. Joshua simply takes his authority to dedicate his family to the service of God. Where are these kinds of men?

We see the same even in the New Testament. In acts 16 we see the jailor being baptized after midnight with his whole family. Cornelius also gets saved with not only his whole family but even his villagers.

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)

That is God’s order of things. It is the man who is responsible for the spiritual tenor of his family. Delegating that authority to his wife just because she is receptive of all that authority is abuse of office and irresponsibility of the highest order. Worse is the fact that God will never recognize that new authority you have delegated to. He will judge you for it.

Moses listened to Zipporah (or was unable to get past her resistance) and failed to circumcise his son. Yet we see he was the one who was being killed. Eli most likely feared fighting with his wife in the discipline of his sons yet we do not even see the mention of his wife when he was being judged, yet we see him trying to be diplomatically trying to convince his sons. David sleeps with willing Bathsheba who even prompts him to kill Uriah. Yet we do not see her or even her offspring being judged yet chances are very high that she actually set him up for that sin. We are not told Reuben raped his step mother yet only he is cursed.

The clearest is Ahab. We almost do not see the authority of the king yet the queen is all over. Yet it is Ahab who is judged.

There is therefore no excuse for delegating spiritual authority. There is no excuse for absconding that authority. The lack of a spine might appear cool for the woman and children who are appearing to enjoy all that authority you are scared to handle. They are really enjoying the autonomy you have given them. The woman may feel that you are the best man to have around especially as she really enjoys that new status.

But in time authority that is not yours will wear you done as you do not have the makeup and preparation for it. What initially looked like a blessing now evidently becomes a curse as it breeds so much frustration. The man who absconded that authority becomes an enemy though he was a hero when he slept on his job.

Eventually the woman starts hating this spineless man and many times will seek to get rid of him for all the pressure he has left her to handle. The complication is that he still is the provider and can’t be gotten rid of that easily. But it becomes another matter if he has some tangible security like investments or even insurance. Then he can be easily knocked off as the woman can then become the man of the house without the encumbrances of an effeminate man pretending to be the man of the house. She many times will arrange for an accident or a mugging so that she can ‘innocently’ become a widow.

I know there is a place around Nairobi infamous for that. You will see a whole swathe of residential properties all owned by young widows and the stories read a little like I have said. Do not crucify me as this is what I have heard though I do not have evidence. But I have lived in that area. In fact we have of late been hearing a lot about women killing their husbands. The one that made headlines was this woman who got an investigating policeman and mistook him for an assassin, giving him all the information, even a deposit to knock her husband off.

It is spiritual authority that makes a man secure to live with. Money and investments have no capacity to offer security. And that spiritual authority does not just happen. It must be nurtured by a living relationship with Christ. A man who spends enough time in the presence of God, reading His word and praying is the kind of man who has anything to offer to a woman.

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (Genesis 18:19)

The spiritual instruction of a family is vested in the man. It is therefore inexcusable for him to lack the craving for the spiritual. He is responsible for the spiritual direction his family takes before God. And that responsibility is not delegatable at all just like child bearing is not.

The effeminate man is therefore an abomination to God, especially because he then becomes the enabler for the Jezebel spirit to be nurtured and released in his wife. He then will become like Ahab, a king who whines before his wife when he can’t get what he wants.

Again that is the reason many girls, especially ‘spiritual’ girls can’t seem to get husbands. The simple reason is that no man has enough spiritual stature to have this girl submit spiritually to him. This is made worse if the said girl is well endowed in beauty and job. Those positive qualities become the things that disqualify her marriageability before men.

It is sad that such girls fall for the highest bidder without considering what impact that choice would have on her spirituality. Many times it becomes as bad and sometimes even worse than the unequal yoke we are warned against in 2 Corinthians 6: 14.

This happens because an unspiritual man is extremely insecure. He will therefore try his best to bring anyone who may appear aware of his insecurity as low as he can. This may include even physical abuse and any other kind of intimidation at his disposal. But these are the violent who must flout their weight around.

The other type is like Ahab. They simply allow ‘mama’ run the show, simply becoming her accessory. He will do anything to keep mama happy. It is sad he can’t carry her pregnancy for her! Money or worldly authority does not mean much as long as mama is happy. Again they follow Ahab’s footsteps.

The sad part is children in such marriages become confused as they can’t distinguish between the woman and the man. They do not know what to aspire for as they grow up as the gender roles in the family are not defined. But worse is the fact that they will normally flow to the more forceful character in the union who happens to be the woman. But there is more confusion than order for them. But it is even more detrimental to their marriages should they get married.

Research after research has shown that almost without exception men who behave feminine (plait hair, wear makeup etc) come from either a single mother or a family with a domineering mother and subservient father. A study of homosexuality has also proven the same.

The lack of a spiritually authoritative husband and father raises children with gender confusion. No wonder they argue that the abomination is in their genes as they do not know any better. They have grown up in that confusion. Probably that is the reason God excludes bastards from His presence or congregation forever (Deuteronomy 23:2). They simply do not know themselves and therefore have no capacity to minister in His presence or to His people.

The man’s key responsibility is spiritual connection. He is the one who ought to hear clearly from God and direct his family, wife included in the direction he hears. All other responsibilities are secondary to that.

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (Ephesians 5:23)

What does a head contain? Eyes, ears, nose and mouth; 80% of the guiding senses. The rest of the body has feeling. Does that tell us a bit about the responsibilities placed on a husband? I am sure so.

The head guides as the body performs.

Again we see something else that is consistent with nature. The woman, like the body is all feeling. She has high emotional sensitivity, high receptivity to spiritual things – though as I have said not necessarily from one spirit, high responsiveness to the hurts of others, etc. that is her nature. And of course she is multitasked.

The man can really focus and is able to handle much pressure without falling apart. He can be insensitive to the hurts of others and must make the effort to understand that.

This ties with what I have been saying. God created us that way. An emotional man is a woman as soberness and emotionalism are mutually exclusive. There are preachers who have been teaching men to elevate their emotionalism and there are even movies and seminars for the same. That is acting against nature. It is telling a man to become a woman so that a woman can then become the man. It is an abomination.

A man SHOULD be taught to connect with God. The only instruction for a man should be to elevate his spiritual stature. Our churches should concentrate on teaching men to know God, hear God and follow God. Anything else might simply be demonic as it will nurture the Jezebelic spirit in the home.

Young men, know God before you think of looking for a girl to marry. Be connected to your authority before seeking a girl to lead. Nurture your spiritual stature before looking for people to oversee.

Once a man’s spiritual connection has been established, it then becomes easy for him to hear precise and specific orders for his life and family. Like Jacob he might be required to move from existing structures to clearly hear from God. Like David he might need to be overlooked to nurture that connection. Like Elijah and John the Baptist he might have to be a rugged man of the deserts to really gain the impact God has set out for him.

In summary I want to repeat that the Jezebel spirit is nurtured by the man who lacks virility in the spiritual realm. He therefore has nothing like God giving him any orders.

That independence opens him to the control of a woman who craves it. and since he does not hear God for himself he will not know what is right or wrong, only what is convenient, many times a false peace that originates from his running away from responsibility to avoid run ins with his wife.

Therefore I will stop by saying that a man MUST, and I highlight MUST be in constant fellowship with God to be the kind of man God requires.

A man cannot be fed enough from the pulpit, however rich that pulpit is. And that is the reason few men fit in churches, especially churches that promise to meet all their spiritual needs. And this is many times because the pulpit does not challenge the man to grow beyond it. The man therefore will feel empty as he is built to handle deeper stuff. Another reason is that a man is built for action and will gravitate to churches that offer enriching spiritual responsibilities. That is also why you see that almost all the men in church have responsibilities to be counted on.

A man was created to interact closely with God and use that relationship to lead his family.

I guess I will complete this message later