Devil’s Advocate 2

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (2Chronicles 16: 9 – 10)

I want us to look at the possibility of us falling from our potency in spiritual things. But it is not so that we give up but to be warned, alert and on our defensive against that possibility.

Why is it that small churches for the most part are allergic to sin, any sin, however flimsy, and compromise yet the very large churches seem completely blind to sin? Why do we have barely dressed ladies only in big churches, many times sitting at the front pews?

How come people who are newly saved and/or called to ministry are so clear on what God wants of them though they may not have adequate scriptural knowledge and training yet when they get all the theology, Greek and Hebrew they become fuzzy about very basic and simple things concerning the faith?

Why is it that it is almost impossible to see a member of a small church (even a poor one) starving or going through deprivation yet in those very big and wealthy churches people starve even to death and are thrown out of their houses for lack of rent?

How come small churches raise their ministers yet the big ones outsource theirs?

Again we will look at a few Bible characters, hoping that we will place ourselves there to learn.

The background to the verses above is the king Asa. At one time in the past, an army of a million strong came to fight him. Of course he had no capacity to fight them and therefore turned to God for intervention. And God overcame that enemy. That is how deep his faith was.

Of course he grows rich and influential.

Then a smaller army brings war his way. By now he has an army and money and allies. He therefore does not see the need for prayer. He does not need to ask God for direction or intervention. He therefore takes money to one such ally and bribes him to break his league with this enemy so that he does not need to fight the battle.

That is when God confronts him. And he gets mad instead of repenting.

Asa had started living by this verse that everybody who does not read the Bible quotes, ‘God helps those who help themselves’. And that is how he fell.

And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. (2Kings 3:14)

Jehoshaphat is the king who sent the choir in front of the army to the battlefront. Yet do you realize that he died with the wicked?

Again we see God lifting him up and prospering him. Then he starts making alliances with his contemporaries and peers, some of who are on the wrong side of God like Ahab. Of course his faith gets watered down by those new friends.

Is it not interesting that even after God disowning Ahab in his presence, it was not enough to shock Jehoshaphat to reconsider that alliance that he had even to get a wife for his son from the same Ahab? This daughter from hell was to later almost clear David’s line to reign in their stead.

Company and logic are very strong persuasion agents.

What happens to Hezekiah after his famous prayer is answered? He backslides. No wonder the product of that season was the most wicked king Judah ever had, Manasseh.

What happened to Uzziah at the peak of his reign? He became more important than God’s word and like Saul sought to usurp the priests’ office.

Remember that Gideon put up an ephod that became a snare after being the undisputed leader? Remember Joshua was deceived by the Gibeonites when he was secure enough that he forgot he needed to know God’s take on the decision? Remember Noah became drunk after finishing his huge assignment?

None of us is immune to falling, especially after overcoming great odds. That is the point I want us to get. Because then we will be more careful with our devotional life and stop assuming that all is well just because the outward looks fine, especially when people are applauding our effort.

We can fall. In fact our makeup is that we will definitely fall. That is our default position.

We do not plan to fall. We do not scheme to fall. We are wired to fall as it is what the natural man does best.

The upward look is the fruit of God’s seed in us being nurtured. And that requires effort, consistent effort.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9: 23, 24)

It also requires constant self-examination.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2Corinthians 13:5)

And the extreme of discipline

but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected. (1Corinthians 9:27)  (WEB)

How experienced as a Christian and minister? Do you ever feel that you have enough experience and knowledge of the things of God to cruise along without needing a day by day, moment by moment promptings from God?

That is a clear danger signal. A cruising Christian is not the kind of worshipper God defines, and forget about those songs you call worship because they are doubtful as the leaders are also cruising in their worship.

But there is hope for us when we are willing to be on God’s side. There is great hope when we want to flow in the richness of God’s grace. And there is hope when we give God complete control of our lives, allowing Him to run it in accord to His purpose and revelation.

We will next be looking at people who crossed over from being God’s enemies to His friends.

Devil’s Advocate

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10: 26 – 31)

I want us to look at some reasons that make a sober minister become an entertainer or motivator as opposed to being a herald of releases from heaven. This is because we many times are very quick to pass judgment on people we deem to have abandoned the faith without caring to understand that it is very possible to fall in the pit they are in if we are not careful with our faith.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

We must understand why and how people sold out to God can all of a sudden seem to forget the God who meant everything to them not long before.

I want us to look at some of the causes for a believer to abandon the faith yet be convinced he is still a person of faith.

The first is promotion in earthly terms. Effective ministry attracts favor from many corners. Sadly, we do not determine the kind of favor we will receive or the kind of people we will receive it from. This means that we could slowly become elevated by that favor.

What do I mean? It will become normal for people to sacrifice things they do not have for us to have them. A person who cannot afford a TV will mobilize friends to get you one. People who can never afford meat will pay a butcher to deliver a kilo a week to you. People who do not have a vehicle in their wildest dreams will gladly sacrifice to buy you one. And those who live in the slums or shacks will pay dearly to have you live with the decency a minister requires. All this so that your ministry continues being vibrant and relevant.

What follows is that you acquire a new status from those sacrifices they have made for you. But this status brings in new friends, friends who are consistent with it. The only problem is that these friends connect with you purely on the neighborhood or hangout joints as opposed to ministry. This means you will rarely have any substantial spiritual fellowship in your new status.

But it becomes worse because your new location becomes inaccessible to those who have funded your move there. In their desire to elevate you, they have locked themselves out of your life. They may even have done that on purpose, to make sure you do not waste much time on people to get quality time to develop yourself for them.

Without a spiritually sound fellowship and accountability, anything you do will be right. Those around you have no spiritual capacity to help you spiritually and those spiritual enough are too far to be of any good.

And it gets worse. Soon you start thinking in terms of your new status. Your neighbors emasculate any little spirituality you have by their worldliness. Mark you I am not talking about sin. You become so withdrawn from your congregation to the point that you become a complete stranger to them outside the pulpit or ministry point.

You slowly start isolating yourself from the poverty you came from. You disconnect with people without vehicles as there is very little you have in common. Their offerings start being too little for your new status especially because people in your new status start giving toward your new status – so that you become their pastor at the expense of the masses that lifted you.

That is when a pastor starts operating like an executive, seeing people only on appointment, an appointment that can be cancelled at no notice because a more worthy person has arrived. I remember a person who had waited for three months to see a pastor having the appointment cancelled as he was waiting for it at the reception. It is impossible to describe the pain he went through. Yet someone with a big car will cut through that waiting crowd and see that pastor without requiring an appointment. So the argument of the pastor being busy holds no water.

Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! (Numbers 23: 10b)

This is Balaam responding to the call to curse Israel.

Is it surprising that he died the death he had confessed he hated?

And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. (Numbers 31: 8)

How did he die the death of the wicked contrary to his desire in his prophecy?

The pull of the favors from a king was irresistible. He was unable to be sober in the presence of such favor and promise. As I said in my blog post ‘Balaam and Politically Correct Answers’, leaving the presence of a king, especially when your prophecies have rubbed him the wrong way can be a very dangerous proposition.

It was thus easier to lower his standards, especially because lowering those standards was being rewarded very handsomely.

That is how come he was not able to know when his death was coming, especially as he had prophesied about it.

Another example is Lot. How did his wife become a pillar of salt yet she had lived in close proximity with the father of faith for enough time? How did he find comfort in Sodom yet he had followed his uncle on his own volition? How did his daughters rape him yet they had seen kings being rebuked for having ideas about Sarah?

He had simply chosen a great land. The Bible says that it was like the garden of God. Its appeal was therefore irresistible. The rest was a matter of course. The decision simply activated the course of events.

And that is what many times happens to many a minister, however anointed they may be or think they are.

The saddest part is that God may never indicate that He has disqualified you from His team. Like Balaam you may continue prophesying. Like Saul you may continue reigning. Like Judas you may continue handling His money. Like Diotrephes you may continue exercising the bishopric.

One verse that scares me is Romans 11: 29

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

God will continue using you even when you leave His team.

Does that speak to you?

Burundi Mission Report (9th – 16th April 2017)

The dates were changed at a very short notice.

Apparently, the church had overlooked (probably assumed) the opening dates for schools and colleges when they planned the mission and communicated the dates. And it was by God’s design that I normally post on my blog on Wednesdays. That day I decided to do it very early in the morning. That was when I saw the change of dates, meaning that we were to leave by Friday as I was expected to preach on Sunday.

I notified the young men I was to travel with, Chris and Moses (my adopted son), about the changes.

Moses was unable to adjust his schedule to join us. Chris then told me of a girl in Super Kids who had been pleading to be included in the team. I therefore decided to see whether she would be available in the short time after Moses confirmed he would be unavailable. And she was. She just left her legal studies and looked for whatever was could be got, a clear indication of missions’ preparedness.

I also needed books as discipleship was a key topic I would be teaching. God was also ahead of me as I found the printer not busy. I bought the materials with the money I had and they printed the books for me to pay them after the mission. And they had enough books for me to travel with. I had also printed the Bible reading plans not long before so had enough to carry.

The rush was extreme. From getting everything required to all the documents.

But we finally were able to depart from Nairobi on Friday at 1 pm. The bus was slow and so we got to Kigali later than we had anticipated. We were unable to get a direct vehicle to the border we were to be picked from as the last vehicle had left. But they did not tell us so. We only got to know when we got to the terminus and they gave us change yet we had paid the actual fare.

It was then approaching six and there were no vehicles going to the border. We had to get a taxi. Then we got to learn that the border closes at 6. And the taxi driver flew. But we were beaten in that race. We arrived a few minutes after six and as you know Rwanda is very strict on everything. No pleading could convince them to allow us through.

We had to get lodging next to the border to spend the night and our host had to drive all the way back to Bujumbura.

Next morning (Sunday), we went to the border and discovered that one of us (Lydia) could not cross as her document was valid only till Rwanda. Again we pleaded unsuccessfully. The Burundi side was willing to assist but the Rwanda side was adamant. Had she wings she could have over flown that border post.

I used all the money to ensure that she gets to Kigali and back if the Kenya embassy is able to get the documents to allow her cross over to Burundi. Incidentally, even MPesa refused to work so I was unable to buy airtime to communicate as the one I had (which was much) got depleted by just one call to Burundi.

But I was able to contact some friends in Kigali to receive her and help where they could as this was her first time out of Kenya. They (the Bongos) later looked for ministry opportunities for her when the embassy said they couldn’t help.

We crossed over and Desire took us to Bujumbura. Worth noting is that Burundi drivers are very fast in those winding roads of theirs.

We arrived in church and found that they were waiting for us. I just sat for a few minutes before I was called to preach.

The seminars were well attended and the youth were very eager to learn. Our interactions with them were positive. It was enjoyable teaching people with a lot of questions even with the language barrier. But we are also grateful that God gave us very able translators. Incidentally I am not very fond of translators as with my interactions with them in the course of ministry I have encountered some who strangled the flow of the spirit in the teaching. But this time I really enjoyed seeing that not only the message, but also the spirit was translated well.

God told me to build my messages and training on the Lordship of Christ, from discipleship to evangelism to music.

Chris was able to even start a Super Kids prayer group in Burundi. He was able to teach Sunday School teachers and even run two children’s programs in church. He also met the children in the neighborhood we were staying in. A few times they would be waiting for Chris on the road as we got home in the evening.

Some highlights of our time in Burundi.

We taught evangelism and later used the EvangeCube as the tool. When we released the young people, it was initially like pushing wheelbarrows as they were very reluctant. But we went with them to get them off into sharing the Gospel.

Then they came back. They were so fired up about it from their experiences that they insisted that they must be given another day to share the Gospel. That first time they were able to reach 60 people and 25 gave their lives to Christ. We therefore had to reorganize the next day to include evangelism. But we were not able to get reports because many enjoyed the evangelism that they came very late.

There was an overnight prayer meeting on Friday that was better attended than the training, or even the services. We were able to share there also.

We went to the beach for a meeting with the departmental leaders of the church on Saturday afternoon and we had a good fellowship.

Their worship is also quite different. Whereas in Kenya people start fast then slow down to pray, the opposite happens there. They start normal then increase the pace until they just end up praying. And they really dance.

Another very positive thing I noticed is that their worship team is very big there is always ‘spare’ of everything, from singers to instrumentalists. As they sing, there is a team behind the ones on the microphones who will take up the mike once one gets tired. And it was the same with the instruments.

This is so important for me as it eliminates the star dynamic that leads many to pride and even sin as they are irreplaceable.

The church itself is young and very progressive. There are very many young people and I enjoyed seeing the passion for ministry that goes with youth.

(I am sorry it has taken me long to send this report, and it is not well put. My computer crashed twice since I came and had to be formatted, losing the report I had been preparing. I am also not one to take notes and so I lose more than the flow when I have to start afresh as I normally release everything as I am typing. It is therefore very difficult to recollect what I had written as I had finished with it. Please bear with me. But thank God with me that you can get a few thanksgiving and prayer points)

Idolatry Repackaged 3

And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. (1Samuel 15:24)

We will look at Biblical characters to get this very clear because that is the example we cannot argue about.

Idolatry ends in wickedness, and we are talking about a gift from God being the idol. We looked at music as the gift in the last post. But any gift can be idolized as we will see with the Bible characters we will be looking at.

Do you realize that Judas was gifted in accounts for him to be made Christ’s accountant? Yet what happened? That gift opened a door for the creation of a greed that could not even be satisfied with pilfering the offerings. He had to sell his Master. It was a gift alright, but it led to his death when he sought to use it for his benefit.

That is the defining point of whatever gift we receive. Focusing it on self automatically leads us to sin.

Let us look at Saul the king. We are never shown, even by implication, that he was very ambitious prior to his anointing. Then he is made the king.

You see his faith and gentleness as he deals with those who initially challenged his kingship when God confirms it.

But then it gets into him. He is the king, the first and only king Israel ever had. Then as king he starts thinking beyond him to his children. He starts looking for the one who will take over from him so that his dynasty can be established.

He realizes that a king without subjects is not a king. So he devises ways to keep his subjects happy by basically doing what they want. Of course he builds an army to keep and expand his kingdom.

Things happen that threaten his kingdom. God issues and order, wait. But the army starts becoming restless, even scattering. Does he wait for God (faith, obedience) or DO SOMETHING (situational ethics)? He decides that he needs his army around him and would rather have it than God since things were becoming desperate. That was how he sinned the first time.

He has a ready explanation when confronted. And that will always happen when idolatry comes around. You will find yourself arguing over small things to explain your rebellion. Have you never heard a believer explaining how they were dragged to a lodging when they were caught having illicit sex?

God then issues another order, very precise this time. Again he takes his army and they do the first part of the assignment. Then the army decides the order is illogical and unreasonable beyond a certain point and tells the king thus. They probably threaten him in soft ways.

How can we destroy all this succulent meat yet we can eat it as sacrifice to God? We can party in the name of God with these animals. And the king again obliges to keep his army solid. That is where this verse comes from.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1Samuel 15:23)

His defense of his army is defined by God in very strong words, witchcraft, iniquity and idolatry. All from an attempt to keep the army under wraps!

And we are talking about idolatry.

Shifting our focus from God to the gift is what opens doors to sin and evil. Defending that diversion of orders is what rules us out of order in God’s kingdom.

But it always starts with a soft detour. Like Saul, an hour becomes too long to wait, especially for the king. How many ministers will never feel guilty for keeping people waiting for them for hours yet have no qualms leaving someone stuck in traffic for five minutes? His gift is too important to wait for anyone.

When I start taking as normal special treatment because of my gift, I have started the downward slope to irrelevance in the things of God. Though no one may notice, the gift has become more important than its source. And on the earthly plane it is more rewarding that way.

But God trashes you, though you or those feeding on the gift may never notice. Remember Saul was more concerned with being honored before his men than being right with God? Or you think I am exaggerating?

Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. (1Samuel 15:30)

Imagine this response after he is told that God had rejected him!

That he continued as king for twenty years after his rejection is testament to this reality. He opted to be rejected by God than by his people. The relevance of his gift (kingship) was more important than being right with God.

Does this happen in the twenty first century?

How many pastors stop reading their Bibles when they become deep in theological and long Latin and Greek name topics? How many will all but forget those simple and clear sermons when they obtain a wealth of Hebrew and Greek root words? How many forget the clear Gospel and get swallowed up in the hermeneutical muddle? How many forget the cross as they study the doctrine of sin? How many forget Christ even as they seek to explain eschatology?

One statement I have heard too many times since childhood is that Seminaries are many times the cemeteries of spiritual depth and commitment. Most will go there burning with their love for Christ and leave there as complete cynics. One thing I will remind you is that most of the universities with the most antichristian soil were initially Bible Schools meant to prepare ministers.

Not very long ago I was talking with a university student who confessed that the college that was famed for its Christian potency is today more secular than the secular ones. The level of permissiveness and open sin is way out, yet it is still called a Christian university.

What happened? Excellence overtook commitment to Christ. Accolades became more important than God’s well done, faithful servant.

How many musicians completely forget to read the Bible once their calendar gets filled up with events? How many are more frequent in gyms than prayer closets? How many treat voice training as more important than scripture intake? How many have no qualms bribing a producer/ announcer to have their music on air? How many have no problem dating an unbeliever especially if they are in a position to increase their visibility or returns?

And it is not any different with books. How many treat an invitation to preach or teach as sales instead of ministry opportunity? How many refuse to preach conclusively so that people can complete hearing their sermons as they read the book they must buy?

What will make these people sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit?

When you are explaining away your lie after you gave empty promises just because you are a star, be sure that God is not the one you worship. And I know many pastors and Christian musicians who lie at will and do not see it as a weakness, leave alone the sin it really is.

The problem is that sin grows. As we advance in the sinning, we will slowly start killing guilt conscience until any sin will go.

That is how ministers get sunk in drugs, immorality, even pornography. They conclude that nobody is interested in their character as the only thing that matters is their gift. That is why I call it their god.

The God we worship has very lofty standards. No gift will ever allow God to cut anyone a slack concerning His standards. Moses was disqualified for a very small infringement considering the amount of work he had accomplished.

Why do ministers think that their huge ministry presence will compensate for any sin they may be living with? Why do they imagine that their past genuine ministry will cover their many sins?

It is because they have shifted their worship to another god; their gifts, skills, talents, money, etc.

And this new god has very low, if any standards concerning righteousness and holiness. He really does not mind what you do provided you recognize him as the one who runs your life.