Keys to Extraordinary Giving

And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. (Exodus 36: 6, 7)

Can you imagine work being stopped because the gifts had overrun the workstation? Can you imagine people being forcefully stopped from giving?

Yet this is what we see in this passage.

Why was it?

But I also want to point us to another passage.

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 32: 2 – 4)

Imagine the amount of gold that was used to make the golden calf, considering it was one work of solid gold! Yet they possibly made that collection in one or two days.

Yet the gold came from earrings! How many people gave toward that calf?

And we know that it was a sizeable idol since with an altar it was visible to the entire congregation.

How could people give so much in so short a time?

Let me take us to something Christ said.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:34)

Our heart directs our hands (pockets).

Israel gave above the requirements because God had through Moses demonstrated who He was to them. He had displayed His power and love in rescuing them from slavery and providing for them in the wilderness.

Giving was therefore almost automatic, if not instinctive. God just needed to say the word.

Seeing God, and of course knowing Him opens us to giving to anything He values because it opens the door to closer fellowship with Him. Fellowship and giving can never be separated.

In the second story, people wanted to run their affairs apart from God. They wanted to create a god after their image, a god they could control (or so they thought). They wanted a soft god without restraints.

And they gave generously to that.

What does this tell us?

We give sacrificially to what we value without realizing the sacrifice involved.

And there are more examples in the scriptures.

Do you realize that Peter and John with their brothers left the greatest harvest (catch) and the resulting stock of their lives to follow Jesus?

The disciples held a thanksgiving service after being beaten by the leadership. Paul and Silas were able to sing in pain after the beating they received and being bound in the stocks (ultimate discomfort). Stephen was able to ask forgiveness for the people who were stoning him to death. And many other incidences scattered all through the scriptures.

Like the three Hebrews being ready to die in the blazing furnace. Or with Daniel choosing pulse (vegetables) and water instead of the king’s dainties.

Knowing God means giving of everything we have, even ourselves, to Him. There simply is no sacrifice too big for someone who has seen and/ or knows God.

Remember David refusing to take the willing offering of a field and sacrificial implements and beasts to do what God had ordered him?

What does this tell us as ministers?

When we show people God, they will have no problems giving to Him. And as His ministers who are in His service we will not lack because then God will direct them to minister to us and the ministry He has called us to.

How do we do it?

We should strive to preach the Gospel and teach the scriptures as they are. Then the people under us will be able to clearly know God and understand His ways. Remember the apostles refusing to be drawn to the administration of the giving? That is what we should be like.

On the other side, giving or telling people what they want is guaranteed to bring in abundant giving as we saw with Israel. And many ministers know that.

Preaching and teaching what people love and pleasing them with what they desire  is sure to bring enough gifts, even expensive gifts, and sacrificially too.

Entertainment draws crowds. That is why comedians and musicians are filling pulpits nowadays.

I will not forget motivational speaking since many a pastor has been swallowed by that god thinking self-improvement is like the pursuit of holiness. And prosperity preaching falls in that category.

But I think the reasoning is more subtle. There is greater acceptance of motivation than the Gospel. More people are coming and giving when they motivate than when they preach what addresses the human nature and its need for God.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2Timothy 4: 3, 4)

Like with the calf, they will handsomely reward those teachers telling them what they want to hear. These teachers will end up having everything a person would need.

This however does not mean that the ones preaching God’s counsel will be starving. It only means that they will be in God’s season, enjoying everything God is giving them, be it prison or martyrdom because they are surrendered to God’s will. But they will also be amply provided for from God’s bounty. Only that it will be as God pleases.

Giving cannot therefore be used as a sign of a healthy church. Probably the sign of a focused church, without defining the focus.

One is grounding people on earth whereas the other is uprooting them from it by pointing at a Kingdom out of this world.

But both will produce exceptional giving.

What will you preach?

That has a direct relationship with the eternal destination of you and the ones you are preaching to.

Being content with making people comfortable with earthly ambition and fulfilment, though it will bring immense resources to ministry will at the end be building a great palace using stubble. That imposing structure (ministry, church) will not last. Worse still, it will not take people to heaven.

Like I like saying, I would rather walk one person to heaven than fly millions to hell, however rewarding it is on this earth.

I will ask again, what will you preach?

Solo Worship

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18: 19, 20)

 I have been thinking about Christian songs over the decades.

Having been involved in choirs for a long time playing different roles, from instrumentalist to different voices to forming and leading choirs, I want to let us into some observations.

Have you realized that songs by choirs last longer than songs by solo artistes? Do you also realize that they touch and get deeper in the spirit (call it subjective) than those by solo artistes?

Now that is the general observation of many people.

Of course there are exceptions.

I want us to go to reasons for this, knowing that there are people who will throw me many stones for this observation and interpretation.

By choir what I mean is that there are people who are united in singing together. They therefore are uniting their voices together to make beautiful music. To them, the collective is always preferred to individual mastery.

It therefore means that they do not have a star singer behind whom the others unite. Even in songs with a soloist, it is the soloist that must fit in with the group. Nobody is more important than the other as they make one complete unit, together.

The first reason is that the need for the team creates a spirit of submission and interdependence in each member. It also creates the attitude of being useful but also ‘disposable’. What I mean by this is that one realizes that though no one can play your part, the choir will still function whether you are there or not.

Then of course the fact that to sing well, the whole choir must blend into one unit in all ways. Those with loud and sharp voices train to make them soft and smooth. Those with shrill voices round them and those with soft voices must hike them some. As such nobody in the choir practices alone. One can train alone but must practice with the choir. It is only under the most special circumstances that someone comes to sing (or record) with the choir after practicing elsewhere. And even then they must have some practice session before the actual performance.

But I think the strongest reason is that in a choir it is very difficult to develop pride outside the choir. You can be proud of the choir as a unit but not your part in it since you can’t single out your contribution.

Another strong point for choirs is that a choir takes in everybody willing to sing as opposed to groups (called worship teams nowadays) who will look for what you are bringing to the unit.

Many groups will hold auditions to get the best members according to their strengths. There is so much frustration on many who were refused the opportunity to sing for the Lord when they sought to join a group they admired because according to the group they did not have what it takes.

But a choir will simply take a willing heart and build it to produce praise to God.

It means that one joins a choir in humility and surrender whereas they join a singing group as a pro since they are good in something. One offered and the other qualified.

That is why a singer will insist on being paid for singing. You see he is worth something, something that must be appreciated. But a worshipper will be grasping at the opportunity that opens for them to serve God as they praise Him. Again there are exceptions.

Now take that to the spiritual realm.

One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. (Isaiah 30:17)

The choir amplifies the power of agreement.

But it does more.

Have you ever realized that a choir has its distinct style whoever in the team composes the song?

Let me get us to the Bible.

We know that David is the composer of very many psalms.

Yet have you realized that many other psalmists were involved and that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the king and Asaph and Jeduthun and Korah without looking at the title? And you would not even know whose son of whom composed which song.

David built a worship institution in Israel? And it was a unit composed of very many families, not just people. And their songs were similar in most ways because they were growing together, from the singers to instrumentalists.

Is it any wonder that their songs continue ministering to us millennia later?

That is the power of a choir.

And as someone who has also been involved in small group discipleship I can confirm from another front that growing together amplifies the focus and impact of each member.

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)

No wonder there is very little heresy in choral songs even when Bibles were few.

Yet a songster easily releases songs of dubious scriptural and theological content, especially when they become famous as they then fly off accountability and rebuke.

We need to return to collective growth in our singing, from congregational to groups. We need to return to church choral music and move from the star driven singing.

But we must listen to God to know what it is He requires of each of us. Then together we will grow in impact as together we serve our King.

Corona and God’s Season

I want us to look at God’s ways versus the enemy’s schemes.

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1Corinthians 2: 7, 8)

I have been thinking about God’s doing over the ages and becoming more convinced that the harassment the corona narrative has been causing on the people of faith could be the greatest catalyst for the greatest awakening and revival in history.

Why do I say so?

All other persecutions and trials were for the most part localized. All past revivals were prominent in particular places.

As an example, the ‘Tukutendereza’ revival, of which I am a ‘descendant’, came to Kenya through Uganda. That is why one of the most thrilling moments in my life came as I heard the song being sang in a Kampala church by the Buganda. It was an experience though it was almost two generations later.

That is why each revival movement brought its own traditions depending on the source.

But look at this so called pandemic.

The church is the clear target, whether of the virus or the narrative. The church is the only institution that is continuously called the super spreader. Of course it is global.

It is interesting that people can be clamped in a pressurized canister called an airplane for hours yet cannot be trusted to congregate in a church with enough ventilation for an hour or so. It is surprising that markets are crowded yet have never been targeted yet a church that meets once a week must be closed to contain the virus.

What has the enemy seen?

I am sure he has seen some movement in heaven indicating a great move of God is imminent and is thus trying his best to stop it like he has been doing over the ages.

That is what he was fighting when he tried to kill all the boys in Egypt and Bethlehem.

But did he win?

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. (Psalm 2: 4, 5)

God takes the devil’s intervention in consideration when He orchestrates things.

That is how Moses went to the palace and Jesus to Egypt.

What am I saying?

God is about to do something great with His people. He is about to break out in probably the greatest way in history.

But we will be surprised because as usual it will break out from the ‘wrong’ places.

You see, God has His surprise in store for the enemy and everybody aligned with him.

Like was with Herod, the devil is looking for the spiritual hierarchy for the great revival when it will break out in the fields and hovels of the broken world.

That is why he has bankrolled and blackmailed many in the clergy into chanting the corona chorus. They are more activist than the powers that are driving the narrative. Many have given it more prominence than the Gospel. He thinks that by doing that he has succeeded in stopping the move of God.

That is why those of us who long to see Christ having a say in the affairs of men are not afraid of poking holes on the nonsensical narrative, however irritating we appear. We know that there is a bigger picture in both camps but that Christ’s camp has the conclusion. And that whether they do away with us like they have done with those who coherently question their narrative.

Corona is a clear call for revival because it has from the start challenged faith.

For example, why do we not have bishops calling for a day to pray for God to conclusively deal with this virus as the Bible instructs? Why has their main job become reminding us to comply with the narrative as if heaven stopped acting in the affairs of men? Why do we demean someone who chooses to trust God for healing instead of punishing his people with impractical restrictions to the point of gloating over his death that is conveniently attributed to the virus?

The virus has for many believers nullified the power of God. We are almost ashamed of calling God our healer, especially walking in line with that confession.

That is why revival must break out. We can never go on like this and still confess the Lordship of Christ.

We can’t be run by a virus and continue calling ourselves the people of faith.

The Nazareths and Bethlehems of the globe are about to produce the end time revival so that by the time the powers that have continued using the virus to block it know what is happening they will become ashamed, nay overwhelmed and swept aside  and crushed. Many could like Herod be eaten by ‘worms’ as they are standing, shouting their narrative.

Where will you be?

Where are you now?

Are both together or does one need to move toward the other?

God bless you