Ministerial Retirement 2

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. (1Samuel 18:4)

I know someone is asking for the specifics of the retirement I have written about.

And I will start by giving scriptural examples.

The first is the one from where the verse comes from; Jonathan, the crown prince of Saul’s kingdom.

It is very possible that he knew that his father and kingdom had been rejected due to Saul’s rebellion.

He therefore knew that though he was the king in waiting, his kingdom was in the spiritual realm past tense, however long it lasted.

Then here comes a young man, probably the age of his eldest son. (Incidentally, we are only told of Mephibosheth who was a toddler when Jonathan died).

In this teenager (probably preteenager) Jonathan saw the actual king from the spiritual way he dealt with things, from playing an instrument to chase demons and heal and especially in the way he tackled Goliath.

He was then faced with a choice all of us in ministry must face one way of the other.

Should I defend my kingdom or submit to the next king?

What between being a king in a past tense kingdom and a servant in a future kingdom is better? What between reigning in a rejected kingdom and serving in a promised kingdom is better?

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)

Whereas Saul saw David as a threat to his dying kingdom, Jonathan saw him as the actual king.

Though both father and son knew what David portended for their kingdom, the son chose the spiritual route while the father chose to fight a lost cause. Jonathan chose to defend and submit to the future king while Saul sought to extend his rejected kingdom.

It is worth noting that Jonathan was the one standing to lose most by the coming kingdom. Imagine being demoted from a king to a servant! But he knew and was willing to take the spiritual route, however damaging it was to his future.

Or do you not remember this

For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. (1Samuel 20:31a)

Over the ages we hear of people opting to die fighting for their kingdoms, preferring to die as kings instead of surrender under whatever terms.

Over my dead body is a statement we hear all too often.

Yet, what is better, watching and serving a king you helped ascend the throne or dying knowing that the king you resisted will completely wipe out your posterity?

Ministry has a time line and seasons. And seasons never go back or stretch longer than prescribed.

The wise person seeks to know his seasons and walk in them while the foolish, and I dare say selfish, seeks to stretch their seasons.

This is the purpose of this message; to get us out of Saul’s rut of continuing to fight for a season that has run its course.

Elevating David was the best thing Jonathan did, much better that he could have done fighting to inherit his father’s kingdom. Simply because God had already announced the end of that kingdom.

Do you know that God has already announced the end of your active ministry? Or you are like Saul who will choose to fight that reality to the death?

Why am I saying this so emphatically?

Matthew 28: 19, 20 and 2 Timothy 2: 15.

We do not raise children and continue feeding them. We raise them so that they can feed others. We raise them to reproduce after us in all ways. We raise them to multiply our impact. We raise them to outlive us.

But we must fade for them to thrive. Remember John 3:30?

We are the ones who have the capacity to release them into that ministry. And we must step aside to allow them the space to function in their calling.

We are the ones who have the ‘eyes’ to see their anointing even before they see it and launch them into their destiny.

The second person I want us to look at is Barnabas.

And his story starts very simply by saying that he sold land and gave the proceeds to the apostles.

This means that he transitioned from landowner to landless in that simple bold move. He must have been the one the Ananias’s were seeking to imitate before they died.

But it doesn’t stop there.

The chief persecutor joins the faith. But even the characters who had been with Jesus refused to believe it and so refused to accept him into their fellowship.

But Barnabas went for him and convinced the apostles that the conversion was genuine.

Did he have more information concerning him than the others had? Of course not.

But he had God’s eyes and saw potential when the others were seeing a threat.

We later see him going all the way to Tarsus to look for him.

But it doesn’t stop there. He continues to walk and disciple this young radical.

When they are called for the first missionary journey, God called for Barnabas and Saul. Meaning that Barnabas was leading the mission as per that call.

But we see him giving Saul increasing chances to shine until midway through the mission the order has completely changed to Paul and Barnabas.

It is also interesting to note that when they are going for the second mission journey, he picks another reject, Mark, and Paul, who had been allowed to be leader, would have none of it.

But Barnabas goes ahead to disciple this loser and we read the Gospel of Mark due to that. And we even see the same Paul requesting for the same Mark to be brought to him due to his usefulness in ministry.

We have only one kingdom to build. And that kingdom does not bear our name or identity.

Barnabas demonstrates that.

Effective ministry must start with an end in sight. And that end is our elevating others to shine in our place. And that is whether we allow or fight against it.

David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. (1Samuel 26:10)

Wouldn’t it be better then when you choose the path of your exit? Because somehow or the other you must someday be replaced.

That is the reality Jonathan lived in.

You also realise that David also exited the scene at one time.

You are not Jesus who lives forever. No ministry belongs to you, even the one you call by your name. And even what you call your name you must one day leave.

This is therefore a call to consciously prepare for our exit in the visible ministry God has called us to be able to guide others in the office of elder

We can’t guide when we are in the thick of things since we will be unable to see the arena clearly from the smoke, smog and dust our activity is raising. You cannot shout a command in the noise of all the ammunition exploding all around us since we might even be unable to hear our own voice.

We must get out of the action to be able to guide the action more effectively and accurately.

It saddens me to see ministers pushing and shoving for prominence, titles and positions with their grandchildren and great grandchildren, spiritual or otherwise, yet demand to be respected.

They are not elders. They are just very old toddlers dying for a sweet treat those positions offer.

And if you think I am insulting you, you are not wrong.

Behave your age and give the children their space to shine for Christ.

I pray that this will get to one person who has been fighting for relevance beyond God’s timeline.

I do this knowing that very many retirees have refused to give God the positions and pulpits He had given them even when every indicator showed that the time for it was long past.

Will you be a Saul or will you choose to be a Jonathan?

May God bless you as you choose the way of obedience.

Pastor

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? (Luke 15:4)

Allow me to wade into the ecclesiastical realm, if I may call it so.

How many sheep can a single shepherd handle?

How many people can a single pastor effectively serve?

What is a person’s relationship quotient? What is a person’s relational capacity?

How many friends can you consistently maintain?

How many children can a parent effectively raise?

Just flip through your phone book (and all other contacts).

How many of those people can you accurately account for? How many can you say without doubt that they are doing as they tell you? How many can you say that they are your confidants or vice versa? How many run to you without a second thought when they have the slightest issue?

Why am I asking all those questions?

The pastoral ministry is a relational responsibility, akin to that of a parent. No wonder the Roman Catholics call theirs, father.

But the Bible calls them shepherds, which is the actual meaning of the word pastor.

There is nothing wholesale about the pastoral ministry. There is no copy and paste in the pastoral ministry.

Just like a parent with many children never does anything in a wholesale manner with his children, a pastor should also never do it with his flock.

A parent treats each child, even if he has twenty of them, individually, though they all come from him.

As I have written earlier, God took me to the farms to teach me ministry.

And even with animals you will find that in a flock each animal will be different from the rest in its own unique way. It is your close relationship that will enable you to maximise on your care and their output.

My goats have died when I got tired of that individual attention and resorted to the wholesale treatment and was thus unable to see the unique distress signals each gave. And it was because I became busy elsewhere and thought I was too tired to focus.

Do you think it is different with people? Is it not even more serious due to its eternal consequences?

A pastor is entrusted with a flock by God, the owner of that flock. He is therefore accountable to God for the way he handles that flock, being rewarded when his stewardship pleases God and eating sand when it doesn’t.

Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. (Proverbs 20:17)

I have intentionally chosen that verse because the said pastor or his flock might be using the wrong yardstick to measure his success.

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)

I am dealing here with the pastor who wants to receive the, ‘well done, good and faithful servant’, from his Master and not from his flock.

Pleasing people is not in any way pleasing God. In fact, the voice of the people is not the voice of God, otherwise God would not be holy.

What makes this pastor stand out? What drives him? How does he function?

Helping this pastor function and maximising his ministry is the purpose of this message.

Forget the hireling. Forget the paid shepherd. Forget the motivational shepherd.

Allow us to focus on the pastor who is unashamedly answerable to his calling authority, Jesus Christ.

He must be so tuned to God that any other voice is just a hum of interfering noise.

That pastor will be sacked by a church because the goats running the show can not handle God’s releases. And that because his love for his people is subject to his relationship with his calling authority.

He looks at the job description given by the church hiring him with the lens of Christ’s calling on him and so can comfortably opt for joblessness if that job description is not flexible enough for Christ to break through.

The thing that makes him stand out, however, is that he will never agree to be the prime pastor, or the only pastor. He will fight the urge to be the reference, the ultimate, the pinnacle of pastoral excellence, though he will be excellent through his submission and obedience to Christ.

He will seek to raise other pastors since I believe that is the prime responsibility of pastoral leadership.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (Ephesians 4: 11, 12)

We love those verses though very few have ever sought to follow up with the purpose of that five-fold ministry, which is preparing and raising another generation of ministers.

If truth be told, it is difficult to pastor ten normal families effectively. The demands would be crippling.

How then does one pastor handle hundreds?

The only way he can do it is by raising several under shepherds and equipping them to function effectively.

If Jesus walked with twelve, one of whom was lost from the beginning, is it possible to do the same with a hundred?

What I am trying to say is that the model we have for the pastor is not effective at all and accomplishes very little since a majority of the flock not only feel left out, but they are actually neglected, their usefulness being the monies they bring. Unless the pastor has a hundred-hour day and a fifty-day week.

This is the reason a conscientious pastor very easily sinks into depression, suicide, adultery, drugs and many other vices due to or to cope with the demands of the pastorate.

But it doesn’t have to end up like that.

The Bible has the clearest guidance for the pastoral office, if we are brave enough to agree with and follow it.

The first thing I will say is that he is first and foremost accountable to Christ, even before being answerable to the church board. That accountability to the church board is subject to what Christ is saying concerning his ministry and roles.

He will preach what Christ is saying and not what his employers are asking for because he is ultimately answerable to God whose call led to his invitation to pastor that flock, many who have goats at the top.

I have been kicked out of ministry when the demands of the bosses went directly opposite what God was ordering me to do. And it was OK. Because God continued and still continues using me.

Probably that is the main point I should be sharing because everything else must build on that single point.

Doing everything else perfectly and missing this point means that you will have lost the plot big time.

That does not absolve you from accountability to that church board. Only that they should know that their expectation should be tempered by what God is saying.

What that does is making that board prayerful to be able to accurately improve your performance since they will then be able to help you hear more clearly and perform better because they are the ones on the ground as we may say.

Moses heard from God. But he needed Jethro to handle his responsibilities more effectively.

A prayerful church board will enable you to maximise your effectiveness and impact because they will become part of what God has called you in that congregation.

The second thing an effective pastor will do is multiply himself.

And he does this by growing other ministers through discipleship.

I know many do not understand Biblical discipleship and so will just give a simple method of doing it.

Have a few young people around you and as much as possible let them accompany you wherever you are ministering (except of course those confidential meetings).

Let them see up close how you minister, how you live and who you are.

Then slowly by slowly give them opportunities to do what they have seen you do; lead a devotion, pray, comfort etc.

As you see them grow, have them to do some of those ministries as you watch, then send them to do them on their own.

In that time, you are growing with them as you spend time with them.

As they serve, you can be sure (and I am saying this out of experience) most of them will very clearly hear the call to join ministry.

Support them. Fight for them. Have the church sponsor them to equipping institutions.

Finally, have the church then enjoin them in her ministry.

Let that be a continuous process.

Or isn’t that how Christ did it? Isn’t this how his disciples did it?

Let me say what I started with. It is impossible to pastor fifty people effectively; however capable you may think you are.

Christ, who was with His 24/7 chose 12. Can you do better that Him? 

Ministerial Retirement

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)

I want us to look at the aspect of a minister stepping aside from active ministry and explain why it is so difficult. Why many ministers decide to come out of retirement to take back the positions they had willingly and legally surrendered. And why many change church constitutions to ensure they will serve until they die when they realise that even ever-shifting the retirement age always catches up with them.

Allow me to become vulnerable for the purpose of this message.

The other day I was looking at my ministry, and especially support since God ordered me to ‘retire’ from active ministry and settle away from the action.

Four years ago, I paid rent, bought all the food, paid fare every day and still was educating my children. And I did not have any debts.

I was producing and giving out my books, producing and giving Audio Bibles and doing a lot of other money intensive ministry. And as you may know I do not raise support.

Today, I do not pay any rent, I rarely travel, do not buy all my food (not all the time since my garden is small), and the family is small since many are now out in pursuit of education.

Yet I now have some debts and at times really strain to put food on the table.

I remember during the Covid fiasco I had three children in high school. Remember when they would be in school for two weeks and then go for midterm or holiday.

The fare alone that was required for that drama was huge since they all schooled far from home.

Yet God always provided, not only the fares, but the fees and other related expenses.

Last year, God ordered me to stop sending out any ministry reports since as we know they can be the prompts for people to continue ‘remembering’ me.

God still provides. But it is a trickle compared to the support I enjoyed when I was visible.

God still meets needs, but how He does it now is incomparable to how He did it when I was visible.

I am not complaining at all. I want to give the context to my message.

A minister not only has a message. He is many times the embodiment of that message.

That is the reason Christ became flesh and dwelt among us.

God is taking me through this to enable me help ministers who are struggling with letting go, especially to allow them to understand why they must let go for God to launch them into their new season.

And I have started with my favourite verses so that we can face the reality of our choices.

You see, those ministers go to hell probably because they continue doing when they were ordered to stop. They continue functioning in the field they had been ordered to leave.

That is what I want us to look at.

To most people, visibility is the only evidence for ministry. Sadly, it is true even for ministers.

Activity and visibility therefore take the position of growth and obedience.

For example, have you ever heard of someone looking for an intercessor to support? Yet we know that the intercessory ministry is a pillar in any successful ministry.

Simply because the intercessor will always be found in a closet, hidden from all except God.

Very few believers pray concerning their giving. They are always looking for visual clues concerning their giving, meaning that the more flowery the display the more convinced they will be to support.

It also explains why most foreign mission organisations and churches find it easier to support conmen who are adroit at making beautiful and visually enticing reports and appeals than a genuine minister in the gutters transforming society, one life after another.

Our faith never leaves the surface and so can never deal with real issues for the most part.

That is what this minister is faced with when considering retirement or when like God did with me is called to become a Biblical elder.

Since he knows the rules he has played by all his life, he is scared to death (probably beyond death) when he is faced with that kind of oblivion.

Since he used to completely forget the people before him who retired, he knows without doubt that he will be forgotten as soon as he leaves that office or pulpit.

A pulpiteer gets more than that salary (or whatever his structure calls it). There are loaded envelopes they get after praying or dedicating this or the other. There are those gifts, some huge, some not so huge, that a member is prompted (many times from the pulpit) to give. And those extras are many times more than the salary.

Now all those will disappear, simply because he had taught his congregation to give by sight.

I hope you are getting me this far.

Allow me to give another observation using public officers and politicians.

Ever realised how rare it is for a politician to bounce back after a defeat, only four or five years later?

You see, when one is in office, there are very many unofficial perks he will enjoy by virtue of that position.

He then learns to live in that new reality.

When he exits that position, not only do the official perks stop, the unofficial ones, which are many times more than the official ones, dry IMMEDIATELY.

Not only that. His position ensured that he was surrounded by friends and partners from morning to night. His phone never stopped ringing from all those people looking to benefit from his position.

Now nobody looks for him. In fact, even his closest friends start running away from him because he has become worthless in their mathematics. None of all those who were calling him at every pretext receive his calls or respond to his texts.

He has all of a sudden become worthless and invisible to everybody.

The saddest part is that in the drive to endear themselves to him, they had gradually alienated him from his real friends who loved him for who he was and so could tell him what he needed to hear.

He is therefore left all alone in the world.

There was this time I used to frequent this high-end hotel where the who is who frequented.

It was very sad seeing all these past political and civil service bigwigs looking so despondent and lonely, having their cup of tea all alone.

Though I am writing about a politician and senior civil servant, I know this is also about a senior pastor and bishop somewhere.

They have seen it and do not want to risk it since they know without doubt that this is what they have packaged for themselves. He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.

That is the reality about retirement from the worldly side.

But why will those who refuse to exit go to hell?

There is a position for strength and a position for wisdom.

Why was Eli unable to correct his sons? Why was Samuel unable to deal with his sons? Why couldn’t David deal with Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah? Why did he need to transfer the judgment of Joab and Shimei to Solomon?

Again, you will allow me to use me. And I do so because I have been in ministry since my teenage.

The way I used to deal with sin is completely different from the way I do it in my old age.

Have I softened my resistance? Of course not.

I am even more resistive because I have seen the consequences as I have been growing. I have seen the dangers of sin beyond the commandment.

But I have become softer in my approach. I am less antagonistic because I have learnt through experience that there are more effective methods of dealing with sin, one of them being testimonies.

And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? (1Samuel 2: 23 – 25a)

Eli had overstayed his position. He was therefore dealing with his sons like a counsellor instead of leader. Because that is what his age could do.

That is the direct danger of postponing your retirement for the perks. The sharp edges of authority become smoothed out to the point of ineffectiveness that we see with Eli.

I have written extensively about inter generational ministry transfer.

From the scriptures, a spiritual leader does not transfer leadership to his children, but to the generation between his and his children’s. This is the generation that will transfer the same to his children.

Let me explain.

A priest served from thirty to fifty years according to God’s order to Moses.

For this priest to hand over his position to his sons, he must have gotten married and started getting children in his teenage, even before getting into the priestly position. And that is a rarity.

This then means that he will retire and hand over to somebody not from his loins, though a Levite.

Another dynamic we must examine is the possibility of a father handing over to his son.

It is very difficult for a father to relate to his grown children with the authority he would have with an outsider. And we have enough examples in the scriptures, beginning with the few I have mentioned.

Stretch that beyond fifty and it becomes even more difficult.

We use the rod on our small children. But we will talk with our mature sons more or less as equals since our empire is legally theirs.

That it is close to an abomination for a pastor or bishop to hand over his church or ministry to his children because that is the clearest indication that the said institution was personal property since that is why it was inherited.

Unless the said son had grown elsewhere and had other spiritual heritage. In short, he had developed his spiritual stature elsewhere.

But a disciple is something else. This is someone you have developed and watched gaining spiritual stature. You have transferred your spirit to him as Elijah did with Elisha and so can be sure he will take the ministry even higher than you could have.

The fear of retirement is therefore tied to the failure of ministers of discipling anybody because they fear the disciple taking over from them since the disciple will be just like them.

Allow me to say this as an aside.

Our president is a miracle worker. And you will allow me to explain what I mean.

He was able to, in less than two years, transform the intense love people had for him to the opposite. People who were ready to lose everything to get him the position are now ready to lose everything to get him out of it.

I have said that I blame the spiritual leaders for that and have explained in some past posts.

Interesting enough, all these spiritual ‘fathers’ are past retirement, which is very instructive.

Old age does not confront. It uses other methods to correct. And that is why they are called elders and not leaders.

The error is that our spiritual elders took the role of spiritual leaders because they have refused to exit the scene, leading to the discontent and pain we are experiencing today.

I am convinced that it could have been completely different had we had young prophets in that season since they could not have been scared of speaking truth to power and populace concerning the choices being made.

Even looking at prophets will confirm this.

Jeremiah in his younger years was being sent to one place or the other. But in his later years we see him sending Baruch with his messages, sometimes having him write them down. Much later we see him being approached for prayer and guidance.

And we see the same with Elisha.

How does that align with your ministry?

You will see the same when you read Paul’s letters and can just by glancing through them know his age when he wrote them due to the way he was dealing with issues.

There is something I think is important for me to say.

The elder’s passion for what he has been called does not wane though it might appear so. It probably increases, only that earlier methods stop being employed.

Remember Samuel hacking Agag to pieces?

It is only that age has tempered that passion and narrowed its release.

Mzee, do not be deceived to continue holding on that position against what God is saying. Listen to the God who called you to that position and do what He says since the people advising you against leaving are selfish leeches keen on benefitting from your rebellion without caring what God is telling you.

And even the great reduction of support serves another purpose in God’s scheme of things as I am learning. Again, allow me to give an illustration.

Suppose someone left a sports car with you and told you that you could use it for the month he will be away?

How many will leave it sitting there in the garage because they have another car or are busy?

That is what happens with money.

In retirement, God is training us to slow down. And money is like that sports car.

It is hard to difficult to have plenty of money and not create avenues to use it.

God will therefore slow the provision to give us space to learn to listen more as we are slowing down.

I am sure that after learning the lessons, He will then release the provision to enable me to effectively function in my new position.

Distinctions

And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. (Malachi 3: 17, 18)

Many people assume that I have issues with motivation. And it is true that I have.

Only that it is not for the reasons they may think.

My main issue with them is the narrow and biased way they push their doctrine and interpret scripture

Though being positive is fine, being overly positive is deceptive.

That is why I am using a verse I have heard preached many times to explain how God sets His people apart.

A wholesale lifting up is not a distinction just like we can’t have any distinction when the whole class gets A’s or first-class honours.

Exodus is the clearest Biblical example of distinction; Egypt was weeping as they were burying their dead even as Israel was celebrating as they were leaving bondage. And it had started with the plagues.

It is therefore illogical to speak about distinctions when there are none. We can’t talk about distinctions when they apply to everybody.

But something is happening today that may demonstrate this.

I have not followed the LA fires but I have heard of some unexplainable occurrences that demonstrate what I am saying.

Despite all the devastation, some houses have been left standing, unscathed.

That for me is the clearest meaning of distinction.

And it is not because they were different, or had fire retarders, or even brick built.

I saw one such and the owner even had timber outside surrounded by the fire damage yet untouched by it.

You are teaching rebellion when you teach distinction instead of obedience that is the precursor to that distinction.

Stop deceiving your congregation by teaching distinction when you have a whole spectrum of characters, from the openly wicked to the holy.

If God lifts up that whole membership, He would not be the God of the Bible since He would then be a God without standards.

But there is something else that we should understand, which is also a distinction in itself

There is serving with distinction and God bringing about the distinction.

Joseph and Daniel served with distinction. God lifted them through their excellence.

Mordecai served faithfully and God lifted him up. He did not stand out like those others. He was content to serve and be indistinguishable from the woodwork as we would say.

We therefore should be careful to separate the two though for the servant of God the distinction will not come unless we serve with an excellent spirit, faithfully.

Obedience precedes God’s distinction for the simple reason that it will only point to God.

Even with the two young people I have mentioned, it was evident to all that a different spirit was running their lives. God was therefore glorified in their serving with distinction.

That is the whole purpose of distinction. It is a witness to God’s work in and through His servants.

I do not know whether the distinctions in the LA fires have pointed to God as the fires have pointed to God’s judgment of rebellion to many.

God does not set out distinctions for the simple purpose of proving the obedience and faithfulness of His people. He does it to use those people to point the world to Him.

You are praying for such a distinction in your life or the life of your ministry?

The question to ask is, what’s in it for God?

You see, He is the object of that distinction.

Any distinction that does not direct people to God is not from Him.

Even the enemy has his distinctions and an example is in order.

Ever heard or seen thieves eating grass? Or a person who ate a stolen chicken having it crowing from his stomach? What is the object?

It is to point at the devil and his servants, the witches.

It is not for the purposes of instilling fear as most assume. It is a powerful magnet to draw people to search protection from the enemy.

God’s servants do not procure fear but worship.

That is what I pray will be the product of those destructive fires and the distinctions it produces.

They should draw people towards the grace of God.

For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2Corinthians 7:10)

That is the prime difference between God’s distinctions and the devil’s.

Has God distinguished you? Is God distinguishing you?

What is the product of that distinction?

Are people fearing you or fearing God?

Are people flocking to you or are they flocking to the cross?

Where are you directing them to?

Because distinctions are always happening since it is God who promised them.

They must happen as we continue fighting the fight of faith. They must happen as we stand for what we believe and what is right. They must happen when we confront wickedness in the holy place.

They must happen because we are standing for a holy God since the term holy means distinct, completely different.

Another aspect of this topic is that it is not only in the rescues and elevations that distinctions occur.

A case in point Job.

Though Job was an ordinary wealthy man, God needed to brag about him. And what better way than by challenging the devil to finish him? Because He knew that doing that will set out the distinction even to us, myriads of generations later.

But in the immediate probably only those three friends dealt with that distinction after being told that their lives hung on Job’s forgiveness and prayer for them.

But if I must repeat myself again and again allow me to say this.

It is for the single purpose of pointing people to God that the distinctions will occur.

Or do you not remember Jonah’s case?

That is why our verse talks about the righteous and the wicked since that is dealing with values and motivations.

Then it talks about those who serve God and those who serve anybody else, meaning even those who serve God with different drives and motivations, however well they do that serving.

Do you understand now?

Yielding to What?

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. (Genesis 16:2)

I was thinking about the motivation behind Sarah’s request and interestingly had a dream, a very interesting one.

In it I saw the couple being visited by a prophetess who had come to help them to identify the source of their barrenness.

She then performed some tricks that from my vantage point I could clearly see were magic tricks.

And the tricks pointed at Abraham being the cause, twice.

You see, I had been imagining the reasons that made Sarah think of convincing her husband to take the servant girl.

I want to make it very clear before I continue that nothing of this is recorded in the scriptures. Treat them as my imagination, bearing no clear relationship with the scriptures for the purposes of our instruction.

Is it possible that Sarah suspected that her husband was the problem? Is it possible that she baited him with Hagar for the simple reason of proving that Abraham was impotent? Could it be that she suspected that Abraham’s spirituality was all a farce to cover up that simple fact?

You see, by the time they were finally responding to the call to leave, they had been waiting for the promise for fifty years. And after that they had waited for another ten years.

I have explained elsewhere how I come to that number fifty and so will not go back there. Just take it as that for the purpose of this message.

Apart from our lost generation, a child was expected, almost demanded, immediately after the marriage was consummated. That was why someone was given a year’s leave after getting married from everything in the scriptures.

You can’t explain the fact that Abraham could have waited so long, and be able to convince his people as much, that he did not need a plan B concerning children without using the argument that God had promised him a child through Sarah.

But a call is personal, clear only to the person who has received it.

Sarah was therefore not party to the conversations between her husband and God.

If it is so hard for some of us to explain our call to our families, some who are even in ministry, how easy do you think it was for Abraham to explain his call to heathens? How easy do you think it was for Sarah to understand a promise she was not privy to?

Again, in my surmisings, I suspect that she thought that the reason Abraham demanded she says she is his sister was for the purposes of allowing her to be impregnated by another, especially a king.

It is possible that she was convinced (or someone convinced her) that Abraham was the reason for her lack of children.

Hagar was therefore the trap she laid to confirm her suspicions.

I suspect that it was the argument she used to break his resolve to wait for God’s promise.

You are not a man. You only fire blanks. You are only hiding under a non-existent promise so that people do not know the truth of your impotence. You ran away from your people because you were unable to face that impotence.

Of course I am imagining things. But then, do you know what happened?

What we know is that Abraham finally yielded.

And that is why she became very bitter when her ruse backfired on her. And why Abraham threw it straight back at her.

You created the problem. Deal with it yourself.

Another reason that may have prompted Sarah to push Abraham to siring a child with Hagar was confirming Abraham’s calling.

As is the case with most people, that call is doubted by almost everybody. Or do you not remember that even Jesus was doubted by His earthly family?

How sure can I be that Abraham is not just covering up for my barrenness? She might have been thinking.

So Hagar was the confirmation that Abraham was okey and that he probably had heard what he was saying he had heard.

Prove to me that you are a man, may have been the final straw for Abraham.

But that proving was not right since we are reeling with the consequences of that single decision.

What is my point? I know someone is wondering after following my imagination this far.

The call is a personal experience, known and experienced only by the one who has been called.

You see, even Jesus’ disciples severally doubted Him though they experienced everything He was about.

Until Pentecost when they each had their own experience. Then nothing could stop them.

It is very important for each individual to come to a personal relationship with God.

I am of course not talking about the personal saviour error our generation proudly trumpets.

Just like we can’t have a personal father unless we are an only child, we should jealously guard against the error of personalising Jesus.

But I must relate with Him personally for the relationship to grow.

That is the way it is with families.

Though he is not my personal father or mother, he relates with me at the personal level.

I must fit in the grand plan in my personal relationship.

It is at the lordship when the personal relationship is most visible and where the lack of the same is most disastrous.

I cannot follow someone else’s command because by doing it I will have neglected my own.

Sarah’s error was in using community standards to judge her husband’s call and seek to align him with them. She sought to deal with the lack of a child using prevailing logic instead of seeking it from the One Abraham was proclaiming to be following.

Incidentally it happens in ministry all the time.

I have endured insults and a lot of mistreatments when God’s call for me went against the norms, especially in the ecclesiastical circles.

Many people do not understand my turning down an invitation to pastor a church just because God has not given me the go ahead. Many cannot understand my refusal to go for a fully funded mission because I do not have release from God. Many openly scoff at the fact that God has forbidden me from selling my books or the services involved in the books ministry He has given me. Many refuse to comprehend the reason I do not wear suits and ties as I minister like the rest.

But I must walk in my calling. And I must be focused on that to avoid being sidetracked as Abraham was even by very well-meaning friends and partners.

I will repeat. There is no wholesale call. There is no wholesale obedience.

You may remember that Moses was forbidden from crossing because he obeyed using a previous order that worked instead of the new one.

We will not be able to obey unless our relationship with God is always current. Meaning that we will be receiving fresh orders every time to avoid Moses’ error.

How current is your relationship with God?

How current are your orders?

How obedient are you to them?

God bless you

Prosperity

And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. (Genesis 39:2)

The Bible never seeks to amaze, many times by turning our long-held beliefs and supposations on their head.

How can a slave be prosperous? How is someone owned by somebody else called prosperous?

How does this all tie with what we call prosperity? And how correct are we to associate prosperity with materialism?

Joseph’s prosperity is the actual definition of prosperity because it comes from God’s word.

What is the first interpretation of that?

The first thing we notice is that prosperity in God’s eyes has nothing to do with what one has. Because Joseph had nothing. He did not even own himself.

Prosperity is a state of the heart. It is the product of a healthy relationship with God as we see when we continue reading Joseph’s story.

That is what Potiphar saw to make Joseph head of his household.

It is the same thing the jailor saw to make him overseer in prison because we also see him being called prosperous there.

What am I saying?

Things do not define prosperity, at least the prosperity God’s people should be talking about.

A prisoner has no capacity to be prosperous. Yet Joseph was called prosperous even in prison.

We see the same with Jacob.

And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. (Genesis 30:27)

This man came with a staff as he said. But we see his boss and father-in-law confessing that he owed his wealth to him yet he had things and Jacob had come with nothing.

That is why we see pharaoh coming for a blessing from this refugee; because he saw in him something that his kingdom did not have.

It is the same thing we see with Daniel a refugee eunuch.

In fact, any study of Bible characters will demonstrate that prosperity has very little to do with what someone has.

It is some fruit of prosperity that we confuse with prosperity

Joseph did not become prosperous when he was made prime minister. He was made prime minister because he was prosperous. And he was as prosperous even when he was a slave and prisoner.

It is that prosperity that people saw in him that left them no chance but hand over everything to him. Because bossing over him could have messed with it. Like motivational brokers say, he had an anointing bigger or higher than theirs.

And it was the same with Jacob.

How can someone running away from his brother be prosperous yet he had even left his father’s wealth.

But that is what Laban saw.

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. (Daniel 6:3)

I hope you understand what I mean.

That excellent spirit is the clearest indication of a prosperous heart, since that is where prosperity springs from.

Laban was scared of letting Jacob go because he was not sure he could manage or sustain the increase Jacob’s prosperous spirit had brought.

That is the same reason Daniel served in three different kingdoms. None of those kingdoms wanted to have him far from the centre of things.

How then should we pursue prosperity?

We simply pursue what these Biblical prosperous pursued; a healthy relationship with God.

Our growth in the spiritual realm is what attracts prosperity to our spirits.

And with Joseph, we see it very clearly when he is offered what most people call the offer of a lifetime, the bosom of his boss’s wife. And you can bet that she was attractive.

How can I sin against God?

He did not live by situational ethics since it is very possible that even Potiphar wouldn’t have minded having the seed of that prosperity in his posterity, only that he couldn’t have blatantly ordered the same. I am sure that is why he did not have him killed or taken to a normal jail.

To Joseph what God said was final, irrespective of the order or consequences.

And we see the same with Daniel.

I am sure there was nothing inherently defiling in the king’s food since most of his other brothers gladly ate it. But Daniel took no chances.

What if? was an enough deterrent for him.

What I am saying is that obedience is the source of prosperity.

And I have quoted a few Biblical examples. Though that is the running thread as we read the Bible.

Guilty Innocence (or is it Innocent Guilt?)

And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. (Genesis 35:4)

Allow me to give a background that you will find in the previous verses.

God instructs Jacob to create a worship event (make an altar), probably as a sign of what He had for him and also to remember where the whole affair started.

It is apparent that Bethel was the place Jacob had his first real encounter with the God of his fathers and so it was very important for his forebears to have that sign.

Jacob then orders his people to prepare for that by getting rid of any foreign gods amongst them since God does not share worship with others.

They of course do that.

But what I find interesting is that they also got rid of the earrings in their ears and both the idols and earrings were trashed.

The easiest question to ask is

What do earrings and idols have in common?

Why did they not bury the clothes yet they also changed them?

I am posing this to myself as I do it to you because the connection is not clear to me.

Incidentally, centuries later, Aaron was asked to make gods when Moses stayed too long on the mountain.

Remember what he requested for? Earrings.

Does the Bible have more to say about earrings and idols?

That is what I want to know.

Any answers out there?

Delayed Obedience, the Cost

Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. (Deuteronomy 1: 21, 22)

I want us to look at something we are wont to do so many times in our Christian lives, something we think is fine with God and especially beneficial to our lives.

Or it is only me who has that cautious response to God’s orders?

Is it only me who wants to first dip my foot into the water to know how cold or deep it is before diving in as per the commandment?

I am normally called radical in my responses to God’s orders and so know that I am many times more responsive to those orders than others yet I know that I am rarely quick to respond.

But let me get us to the message.

Do you know that Israel lost more than time when they decided to gauge the depth of the water before taking the plunge God had ordered.

Forty years was probably the least of the cost they paid for that delay.

Probably the greatest cost was in the loss of a whole generation, yet even that was not as monumental.

Do you realise that the book of Deuteronomy was written as a response to that delay? Do you also realise that the bulk of the book of Numbers was the product of that delay as was the book of Judges? Can you imagine the amount of drama that could have been avoided had Israel just plunged in as commanded?

What am I saying?

The dynamic of delay brings about much unwanted baggage to the persons involved. But it goes farther to affect many others who are in no way connected to that order.

The drama we see in the book of Numbers could never have occurred had Israel not delayed, whatever excuse they had used.

But it goes beyond that.

The consequences of that delay become devastating to more than the guilty parties.

That delay costed Moses the ticket to cross over. It costed whole families, like the families of the ones who were swallowed by the ground. And do not tell me that the fiery serpents bit only the rebellious. Or that only the guilty perished in the plague brought about by the superabundance of meat. Or the Baal Peor debacle.

Even brothers paid dearly for that delay.

Moab and Midian were condemned due to that delay.

Balaam the prophet morphed into a soothsayer as a result of that delay.

Delay in obedience is therefore not just any delay. It is actually akin to rebellion, probably worse than it because it feigns obedience.

It deceives itself that it is cautious because it is pursuing obedience.

But the truth is that it wants the obedience to suit them instead of the issuer of the order.

It is the clearest we see the reality of walking by sight as opposed to walking by faith that the ‘blind’ plunge indicates.

Yet that plunge can never be blind because it indicates faith in the person issuing the order or command.

Delayed obedience is disobedience because it wants to obey on our terms. It transfers God’s order to our order. It translates the order to fit our convenience.

And it does that by seeking to align all the beacons before setting off.

But what is faith?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true. (Hebrews 11:1 BBE)

I hope you are getting my drift.

Wanting to have the complete map before setting out on the journey God orders actually means that it is not God you are following. Because, why trust God when you have all things set up?

How can it be faith if I have all the requirements for the journey before starting it? How can it be obedience if the budget for obeying that order is fully supplied? How can it be faith if the task I am taking is fully insured?

Faith is trust; trust in God’s nature.

A child demonstrates faith clearest. Let me give a simple illustration.

A teacher orders a child to come with the parent to school.

The parent tells them to go back to school as he will soon be on his way.

The child does not question whether, when or how sure they are that the parent will come.

They just go. And no harassment from the teacher will be able to make the child doubt the parent’s word.

‘My father said he is coming so he is coming’, is his response whatever doubt is thrown his way.

But delayed obedience plays by different rules because it starts with doubt. It looks for a confirmation before launching into the command. It seeks assurance that the command is worth obeying.

That is what I want us to understand today.

Seek to know God through His word.

Then seek to establish the validity of the command.

Then dive, whether it is to a shallow well or a vast ocean.

Avoid looking for dipsticks to establish the depth of the waterbody you have been ordered to dive into.

The One who has issued the order knows how He will take care of the shallowness or otherwise of that basin.

It is like the military are supposed to be with their commanding officers.

When you are told to march, it is the command to halt that should make you stop, even if you are marching to a solid wall.

Or you have not seen how they fall on parades, especially in those passing out parades. They simply fall like a log because the order for attention has not been cancelled.

Yet we think it is caution when we treat the Lord of lords with less seriousness than that parade commander!

What am I saying?

We really have no option when we have received a command from Christ. It is not a suggestion.

Seeking to establish the logistics and provisions before launching out will cost you big.

The story of Israel could have been very different had they done as Caleb was saying.

Imagine crossing over with God speaking as He had been with Moses! Imagine the people who had witnessed the rescue from Egypt all crossing over! Imagine crossing over with no brother enemies like Edom, Moab and Midian!

The Gibeonites could not have played that ruse to Moses because Moses would always seek God’s take even on very obvious matters.

It is impossible to imagine Israel under Moses fearing to completely destroy the Canaanites for this or the other reason.

I am sure the story of redemption could have unfolded much earlier had Israel taken the plunge without delay.

Judges happened because all the elders died.

That means that the history of God’s dealings prior to Exodus died with them.

The elders remaining were children when the drama occurred, meaning that their memories were hazy for the most part. Their instruction was therefore more of folklore than witness history.

And that happens when we delay obedience all the time, only that it doesn’t always appear that bad, especially immediately.

Think of the times you delayed obedience; when you delayed sharing the Gospel with a neighbour or colleague, when you delayed going for that mission, when you delayed confronting that friend, when you delayed affirming a child, when you delayed calling or visiting someone.

I pray that we may seek God to see some of the consequences of those delays. I know some are evident almost immediately like when delaying the push to share the Gospel to someone then they have an accident shortly after.

Think beyond guilt to the consequences of that delay. Think of the cost of that delay.

Like I have always said, Manasseh could have been avoided had Hezekiah taken the plunge instead of delaying it through his tearful pleas.

Is God telling you something? Is God ordering you to do something, to say something, to run away or avoid something?

Then do not wait. Do it immediately the order becomes clear.

The cost of delay cuts across everything, disastrously.

Will you take the plunge when God commands?

Or must you still do that survey?

 

Scattered Moves of God

The other day I had a very interesting dream.

I was investigating a move of God in the eighties. And the investigation was so complete in the dream that on waking up I realised that some questions I had been having were fully answered.

It is interesting that I was not even thinking of what was disturbing me as a move of God. I had been wondering about two ministers whose commitment to the straight and narrow had waned over the years as their ‘success’ in ministry had soared.

I was able to trace the move beyond those two characters to a whole generation in a particular area of influence which could also be traced to a particular radical young minister from across the globe.

This radical influenced some young people who then crossed the seas to impact their agemates, probably not as radically, but radically all the same.

The good thing is that this radicalisation was in the discipleship context and so was very solid as it changed the whole person.

These young missionaries were connected to a church, which meant that most of those discipled settled in that church. Even the ones who did not move to the church never disconnected from it.

In that church, there were two distinct youth groups; the discipled and the undiscipled, though the age difference was minimal.

And the difference was evident even to a casual observer.

These radicals were mature and responsible and sold out to ministry. The other was all fun and games.

It goes without say that these radicals were given responsibilities and positions in church without reservations. Some were made elders in their twenties, even before becoming husbands.

The church thrived due to that discipleship and passion for ministry.

As the church was blossoming, other churches in the city of course noticed.

They then came for those radicals, one by one, and made them pastors without requiring them to even go to Bible school. And they were all up to task. Some were called to lead Christian NGOs and ministries. Some became pastors outside the country.

The ones who remained were the ones who had already been offered solid positions in the church, some very senior.

What then happened?

The group dispersed.

The ones remaining were less than a handful but they held very senior positions in the church.

They could not disciple much in those big offices since managing the structure became more urgent.

Though the structure is now a mammoth, it has lost its connection to what made it what it is; discipleship and passion for missions and ministry.

Looking at that structure today with that hindsight is painful because it now kills everything that made it what it is.

Where did the rain start beating it?

It scattered its core. It destroyed its nucleus.

In its search to transform the city through sending pastors to many churches, it forgot to maintain a solid base from which other leaders could be produced.

Yet look at what made the first church thrive.

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1)

Whatever happened, the core remained untouched and unmoved.

They were then able to manage the growth.

When a revival breaks out in Samaria, they are able to send Peter and John to verify and validate it.

But not only that.

Many such centres cropped up as the church grew.

Antioch was one such for the outreach to the nations.

They in turn send out Barnabas and Saul who report back after a successful mission.

These are autonomous centres, but not independent ones.

When the gentile church has a conflict with some Jewish leaders, the Antioch centre sends some of their leaders to the source of the whole movement for consultation with the view of establishing some consensus.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: (Titus 1:5)

It is impossible to manage growth without elders.

And I think God has waited this long to give me this message because he has launched me into the office of the elder as I have written elsewhere.

Elders are the insurance God has provided for any spiritual structure, be it a church or anything else with spiritual roots.

As I was writing this, I remembered something that has disturbed me for long, something I had gotten a completely different diagnoses for even in my writing.

I have written about these radical young men who must have contributed to my passion for missions in my childhood (the seventies).

They had a ministry targeting the unreached frontiers and produced a magazine that I avidly read.

I loved those young people and though I had never seen them in person, I knew them through their articles better than I knew our circuit minister (of the methodist church)

Then I came to Nairobi and was shocked when I started seeing them in person so that my desire to get close to them vanished.

Why?

They had all become pastors and bishops and there was nothing smelling of the unreached in them.

What happened to their passion for the unreached?

I think the same dynamic took over.

Churches love passion, especially young passion.

They were slowly invited to pastor churches due to their commitment to the mission of the same.

And because these young radicals saw this as an opportunity to expand their vision by bringing in organisational strength to their vision, they accepted the challenge.

But the organisation has its own dynamic, inertia and mass.

This means that the passion of an individual does not have the capacity to move the structure in the direction he desires.

He is therefore drawn back instead of pushing the structure in the direction they had probably called him to take them.

So these young radicals get scattered by being absorbed in churches that they could not take with them to the unreached, probably receiving a token of a missions office or something similar so that they remain.

Their nucleus of course was destroyed due to that scattering.

The team will then die because each now has his own pastorate, a pastorate they will not be able to guide to missions in a hundred years because of its inertia.

What then could have been the solution?

Forming a board of elders would for me have been the solution; elders who were not open for taking any positions anywhere else so that the vision is entrusted to them.

These elders could have been the ones in charge of ensuring that the vision is pursued wherever these radicals went.

These elders could have been holding those radicals accountable for pursuing the call they had pledged themselves to.

Those elders could have ensured that the radicals continue having regular meetings to ensure that they were still in pursuit of the passion that had united them.

And with those elders in place, it would have been possible for those radicals to know when they had drifted too far from their vision to consider running away from distractions.

Why am I writing this now yet we are told to stop crying over spilt milk?

The first reason is that God has told me to.

But even more important is that God has not stopped raising radicals for His purpose of reconciling the world to Himself.

I have only written about only two moves of God. But I know you can see this everywhere you look.

It is therefore instructive for us to pursue God’s solution.

Remember the first church and replicate it.

And the qualifications for the elders are clearly spelt out in the scriptures.

Allow me to add something I know some are wondering about.

Who are those elders? How does one go about getting them?

I am convinced that the elder does not have to be passionate about what the radical is passionate about. But he must be passionate about God and His call in whoever He calls.

This elder must be consistent in his relationship with God, sold out to serving God wherever he is.

He could be a businessman. He could be a civil servant. He could be farmer.

But he must be someone who has been a believer for long and whose walk of faith is admirable all over.

He is someone who is secure in his relationship with God so that he can accurately guide these radicals to a solid pursuit of their vision.

Jethro was not superior to Moses in spiritual stature. But he knew God enough to show Moses the way to effective leadership.

That is what I mean.

The elder is the sandpit to dip into when I am burning to stop me from burning up before accomplishing my assignment. He is the heat sink to regulate my temperature to manageable levels.

He is the person who is not scared to tell me to my face that I have changed the trajectory of my ministry.

He is the person I can listen to because I know he loves God enough to want to walk with me though he might not understand my passion. And this because he also has a passion for God’s work.

An elder is never a yes person. But he will love you enough to guide you to polish and sharpen your vision.

He does not need to be a financier of supporter in the material realm. But he is a giant in the spiritual realm.

He will pray with you and hold you accountable to your commitments because he is not awed by your accomplishments since he has enough of his own through his long walk with God.