This God We Serve

(Psalm 91)

By Maina Kiruri (with some firsthand report of Steve Kiruri)

 

A Scene from the aftermath of 1st August 1982                                                                                 The Shop Today

The day was 1^st August 1982. Everything started slowly, being a Sunday. My mother switched on the radio as was her custom every morning before she began preparing breakfast. Pancakes on Sunday were always special. The radio sounded different that day, not because the batteries were drained; but the music, the songs being played…..

Before we could start to guess, the voice of Leonard Mambo Mbotela then a renowned VOK (now KBC) announcer came into the air ‘Serikari sasa iko mikononi mwa wanajeshi wetu. Kila mtu akae mahali alipo. Polisi wakae kama raia’. (The government is now in the hands of our armed forces. Everybody should stay where they are. Police should be like civilians)

That was the beginning of a long and eventful day that would come with many life’s lessons (and change many people’s lives).

Exactly 4 years earlier in August 1978, a man with a very promising business that was doing relatively well accepted the call of God to go into ministry. He planted a church in Kerwa location of Kikuyu Constituency, Kiambu County. The church started with services being held at the home of a young couple who were the very first converts.

Getting into the ministry for the sole purpose of obeying God did not make much sense, more so in those days when being saved and becoming a pastor of a Pentecostal church was not fashionable but rather detested. In those days nobody wanted to be associated with you. Even your family ‘disowned’ you once you joined the ‘Wamathina’ (needy) Church. There was no financial gain to be made by pastoring a church and starting a Pentecostal church then was not easy. In fact it was unheard of in Kerwa for anyone to be a member of any but the mainstream churches then.

This is where God had sent Francis Kiruri Maina to farm this virgin land, to be jeered at and persecuted. But He promised this servant one thing, “I will take care of you and your family.” (Psalm 55:22) I remember him praying and God giving him a sign when the spot on our fore heads he had touched with anointing oil became swollen.

As the day (1^st Aug ’82) proceeded, Kenya Air Force Soldiers started going round the Estates of Nairobi atop Military Land Rovers and civilian vehicles they had commandeered. Shouts of ‘Power, power!’ rent the air as wananchi joined in.

In retrospect we were sent to the shops to buy maize meal for future use. It was then we encountered men carrying assorted high-class furniture and electronics; TVs, hi-fi’s, stereos, fridges. Others were carrying boxes of brand new clothes and wearing expensive suits and shoes.

We came back home with this news and my father became restless. This meant that looting had started in the city. My father could not wait much longer. Thinking of his shop, our only source of livelihood and a business with the accumulation of more than 20 years of hard work falling in the hands of looters was too much for him. He had to see it for himself.

Without any thought for his safety and taking his eldest son Steve (then 11 years old) with him, he walked out of the house and headed to the CBD.

As the father and son pair entered the outskirts of the CBD they started experiencing firsthand the devastation and destruction being done to shops. Civilians with the assistance of the soldiers were breaking into businesses at their pleasure. The soldier’s main interest was the cash box due to the nature of their work, leaving the civilians to take care of the rest.

(Steve) We made our way towards Eastleigh Section 3. We were going against human traffic, all from the looting spree; men and women, young and old. Going through Majengo slums, we could see people pushing large electrical items (fridges, TV’s) into their mud walled houses through doors that weren’t wide enough.

We finally got to Ngara Flats. There was a large expanse of land separating Ngara and the Central Business District then. Nairobi River passed in between with a foot bridge connecting the two.

A large crowd was looking towards the deserted shopping area. Gun fire was still reverberating. A determined Francis, with me firmly clutching his hand pushed through the crowd, and made his way into the CBD.

‘Mzee, unaenda wapi?’ (Old man, where are you going?), shouted someone. ‘Wewe mzee, unataka kufa?’ (Do you want to die?), echoed another.

His ears were deaf to the calls. He was determined to know the fate of his business. He raised his hands as a sign of surrender and asked me to do the same as we made our way past Grogan (now Kirinyaga Rd) up the steep Accra Rd hill.

We started seeing the destruction that had been meted on people’s property. Motivated and fueled by their hatred for the Indians who were the majority shop owners but without a thought for their fellow African shop owners, shop after shop had been looted. Shop doors were ajar with empty shop counters and shelves strewn all over. By the time we reached River Road, the devastation was total! We moved from shop to shop hiding as we made our way to River Road.

We moved stealthily, scanning the environment. We crept from shop to shop, being careful lest we run into an army officer or a rebel air force one. We reached the corner shop at the Duruma/ Kumasi Rd junction. As usual, we checked to see if there was any danger. Seeing that all was clear, we started our walk towards River Road.

As we made the turn, we found a Kenya Army soldier on one knee with his gun pointed at my father whose hands were already high up in surrender. In a harsh voice, the soldier demanded to know where we were coming from and where we were going. My father calmly responded that he was going to check if his business was still standing. The soldier let us go, but with a warning. If it weren’t for my father’s afro hair, he would have shot him. It was then that it dawned on my father that he was wearing a light blue shirt, the same color the rebel soldiers wore.

We hurriedly moved into River Rd and got into River Road Corner Hotel and Lodges. We got into one of the rooms and on the bed saw an orange T-shirt. He quickly removed the blue shirt and wore the tightly fitting T-shirt that could barely cover his belly button.

We got out and as before made our way towards the shop which was less than 100 metres from the hotel.

But wait ………….

It just can’t be true …… The shop was intact. Nothing had been taken. The shop was not broken into or looted. How was that? On reaching there, tears started flowing down my father’s cheeks.

What none of us knew at the time was that on the night before and for no apparent reason God had caused a cousin to Mr. Bernard Nyasinga who worked at the shop to come and spend the night with him since he resided at the shop complex. (Romans 8:28)

This cousin to Nyasinga, a Kenya Army officer, was standing fully armed and in full combat uniform dissuading the looters and Air Force officers from breaking into the shop.

All the other shops had been broken into except ours.

Having ascertained that all was well, we started on our way back home. We were tired, thirsty, and hungry. We stopped at Ziwani to have some tea at a roadside kiosk. It was while we were taking tea that the president made an address to the nation. A dusk to dawn curfew was announced. It was to take effect in about 15 minutes. We quickly left the tea and hurried home.

As we approached home at about 6:30 pm, we could see our family and neighbors huddled looking towards where they expected us to come from. It was a great re-union.

 The miracles of that day continued but let us leave that for another day.

Francis K Maina died still preaching and was the Presiding Bishop of Soul Saving Gospel Churches.

The shop still stands and apart from selling all kinds of clothes and accessories (Maina Clothing Store) it hosts several other businesses. The family is also involved in Tip Top Bikes Ltd which sells motor cycles and spares, servicing and repairing them (Tip Top Ventures) and Petty Errands Ltd, an errands and messenger services company. It is on the Junction of River Road and Price Road.

They are part of the Bible Club House, a team that aims at challenging as well as helping people appreciate and read the whole Bible by offering different reading programs (plans). They offer prizes to encourage retention of what one reads.

Email:                                  info@thebibleclubhouse.com                       Website:         www.thebibleclubhouse.com

Facebook:          The Bible Club House

Blog: biqil.blogspot.com                                                                   

 Tel: 0722 220 147

Do Encouragers Hurt?

Can support structures break? Do ministers need ministry? Do prophets also need a word? Do supporters need to be supported?

All this is a pointer to one great need we have among ministers, key among them being ministers whose ministry is vital yet mostly concealed from the public eye.

It is all very easy to remember the pastor in our prayers and support. It is not hard to forget the evangelist or missionary as we are getting regular updates from them. The prophet is very visible when he is delivering the latest ‘word’. What happens when he is waiting for another one?

Whoever remembers the pillars of a house when the house is standing, especially if the builder has carefully concealed them? Does anyone looking to buy or rent a storey house ask where the pillars are? You see at that point the plaster and paint are more important. He is not being petty; he just assumes the building was put up properly.

Ever seen a skyscraper being put up? The foundation takes some time. Then the building proper does not seem to take as much time. The finishing takes a lot more time, sometimes even than the building itself.

Does this also talk about ministry and ministers? You see the finish is the selling point of a building. A building may be as stable as Noah’s ark yet fail to get tenants if the finishing is shoddy. Most of these buildings falling on the tenants are great looking outwardly, yet contain rot in the structure itself.

What am I talking about? Some ministries are very lonely and easily forgotten just as the pillars in a building. Some, like the paint are always visible and at times more ministered to than minister. Some, like King Saul can be rejected by God yet continue to minister ‘effectively’ for generations after the rejection. To some even prayer is a simple publicity stunt.

Others must pray or they will perish. They simply do not have any cosmetic aspect to their ministry. They will have to listen to God or listen to God.

Do we realize that unless for Ahab who was looking for Elijah the prophet was completely forgotten in Israel for the 3 ½ years he was out of active ministry? And even the king was looking for him to kill him! No wonder he became depressed after it all!

Barnabas went to Europe to look for Paul when the church leadership had rejected him. He discipled him and mentored him into the apostolic ministry. Yet what happens when he seeks to do the same for John Mark? Paul simply drops him and he disappears from the picture. We of course see Paul later acknowledging his ministry in a veiled way.

Did Barnabas continue in ministry? The book of Mark is the evidence of such. And I am sure that he continued even after growing Mark to maturity. But the church does not know him because his ministry was down there where there was no fanfare. Many assume that he left Paul as a backslider because Paul continues in the limelight while he disappeared. But nothing can be farther from the truth.

Whoever thinks of prayer warriors unless they have a pressing prayer need? Whoever thinks of an encourager when they are in high spirits? Whoever thinks about intercessors when they are in no need of the intercession? Whoever thinks about counselors unless they are confused? Whoever feels the need for builders when they have nothing to build?

What happens to these ministers in their off season? Who prays for them when they are invisible? Who supports them when they are outside the limelight? Who deals with them in their down times? Who gives them focus when they are underground?

Elijah is a hero when he fells 850 false prophets. Then he simply disappears and is so low that he prays to die. One reason for that is that he had no other person to give him perspective and especially company. And no wonder God ordered him to bring Elisha into his team and we do not see any depression again. His high times were very fine as he mostly had crowds irrespective of whether they feted him or sought to slay him. They were company all the same. Between assignments not only are there no crowds, there is no company at all.

We see Jesus also struggling with the same at His greatest hour of need. Even His disciples are unable to keep awake with Him even for an hour. David had such seasons as we read in many psalms.

What is the point of all this? I am sure you are wondering.

First, it is important to realize that there are ministers out there whose ministry is so potent that they hold the society together. Elijah was told as such. There were 7000 invisible worshippers in Israel, among them one right in the palace. There were even prophets among them, only that that may not have been their season or their assignments were elsewhere.

Whole countries are sustained by a single intercessor who may be unknown even to their family and of course acknowledged by none but God who depends on their prayers to avert disaster. We may acknowledge the many titled prophets and other professional ministers who as per Matthew 7: 21 -23 may be paving their road to hell.

My mother is one such though I know I have several other similar partners. I don’t know about much else but I know she prays for her children and the results prove it. Raising 8 children single handedly in poverty and having all of them involved in ministry, most vocationally (some would say full time) is no small fete. And being the second last I know about her prayer effort. She never went to school but she touches God where it matters.

That is one invisible pillar to the Gituma you see and know, yet I also know that my ministry is mostly invisible.

May we seek to support such pillars in whichever way God shows. May we appreciate the strength they have that we can lean on without their asking for affirmation or reward. May we seek to alleviate their pain as they do work so pivotal yet unappreciated and unacknowledged by most. May we stand for them when the ‘visible’ ministers aim innocent jibes at them for their lack of spirituality. May we appreciate them and pray for them so that they may remain focused on the ministry we may not understand.

I want us to acknowledge those invisible pillars in our lives and the lives of our fellowships. It will range from that gateman whose smile gives you the right attitude as you get in somewhere to that tea girl whose tea tastes heavenly. It may be that person sitting next to you in church who opens your Bible to the passage being read because you do not even know that the book is in the Bible. It may be the one who pesters you with questions about the Bible that drive you to want to know the Bible more to answer their questions. We should then start thanking God for them and realize that they may contribute more to our stability than that two hour high we get on the service and especially the thirty or so minutes of inspiration from the sermon.

Second, as ministers we need to prize the off season ministry as it is where we get our bearings. I thank God that He has taken me through various seasons of ministry and so am speaking from some sort of experience. There was a time that I got opportunities to preach anywhere I went. I remember times going places nobody knew me yet would be called from behind the church to preach, and that several times. Then God got me from the pulpit to small group then personal ministry and eventually the writing ministry. I am presently with a combination of all of them.

We should not think we are not ministering when we are in our ‘off’ seasons and so should not think we are not as useful. It is God’s purpose that we are fruitful, but not spilling fruit endlessly. We produce our fruit in season (Psalm 1: 3). There is the season to prepare the fruit, nurture the fruit and finally produce the fruit. Being perpetually on the final stage is living a delusion. Seeking to create a situation where I am continually pouring forth fruit is unsustainable. Worse still it will kill me.

I think it might explain how these senior ministers find themselves in hell (Matthew 7: 21 – 23). They may have forced fruitfulness beyond its season. This of course means they will be forcing fruit to be produced which in other words is operating in the flesh.

There are pastors whose leave is an opening for ministry in other places. Others treat a sabbatical as an abomination. Why? They can’t risk getting off their ‘productivity’ for anything. This may be because they are insecure as they know they stopped operating in the spirit a long time ago. They therefore fear that going off may give others more spiritual an opportunity to get into his position. Worse still the congregation may recognize the fleshy fruitfulness and refuse them back into the pastorate once they start feeding from fresh pastures.

Let us as ministers value time to refresh. Let us appreciate times when God withdraws us from public ministry. Let us enjoy the desert seasons as it is the place we may get to have the clearest glimpse of the King we serve.

I wrote this message ten years ago and thought to post it now. One reason is that it is as fresh as if I have just received it now. But second is that I am quite fatigued that I find myself not completing messages in time, probably because it is my off season in writing, or that other ministry is taking too much of my effort. But I need prayer for refreshing and support

Christ’s Love for the Church vs. Romantic Love

It is a saddening fact that most Christians look to the world to understand God. When this happens, we are sure to get a distorted view of reality because the world is in rebellion against its creator. When this happens, we can be sure of one result, confusion.

What is love? The world talks of love as a fluffy and spineless feeling that is looking for release in sex or other emotional and psychological high. It is a purely self-seeking engagement. Remove sex from the equation and the world is bewildered because that simply can’t be love. Replace feelings with decisions and you might be talking about something else altogether. Remove romantic endearments with discipline and you may as well be speaking about hate.

Yet the Bible talks about love in marriage like the love between Christ and the church. Is there sex involved? No. Does He love us because he ‘feels’ us? No. He made a decision to love us so that He can save us. Does he pamper us as He becomes all romantic? Nothing can be farther from the truth. He loves us to change us.

One reason Christian marriages are falling apart so frequently these days is, I believe, we are reading the wrong script as we enter into and seek to remain in marriage. And we know the world, being in enmity with God, is not interested in the success of the marriage institution. On the contrary, it is directly opposed to it since a good marriage clearly portrays God.

As I have always said from the observation of history, look at any society that has a distorted view of marriage and you will find a society that is confused about heaven. Take any society that trivializes marriage and you are sure to find a society wrestling with the reality of heaven. You see marriage is the closest picture we can get of heaven.

Any study of Christian marriage that does not seek to clearly understand the relationship between Christ and the church is actually a study that is doomed to fail even before it starts. Seeking to understand the relationship of a husband to his wife and vice versa without understanding the workings of the church of Christ is simply a waste of time, probably even worse because it gives the wrong targets to aim at.

Seeking to understand the workings of a female brain that does not connect to the different phases of Israel’s history may be psychologically sound but spiritually spurious.

I am convinced that the greatest error the church fell into was the teaching that there is equal partnership in marriage. That part of man’s responsibility is to enhance the wife, even to the point of sharing, even handing over his authority with her. Does Christ share his authority with the church as an equal opportunity partnership? Doesn’t each have their role to play? Is Christ’s authority open to question by the church?

God severally referred to His relationship to Israel as a marriage. That is why any leaning towards idolatry was addressed as adultery. In Ezekiel we see very graphic detail of Judah’s idolatry given as the strayings of an adulterous wife. Someone who has been fed with the modern counseling about marriage may wonder what is wrong with God. But is that where the problem really is?

Whose idea was it for the institution of marriage? Is it the social scientists’? Who are we to trust when there is a conflict between the designer and an observer? How wise would we be to take a Toyota car to a Chevrolet manufacturer for spares, even repairs?

I want us to look at several verses that address the marriage relationship in the scriptures and compare them with what social scientists talk about marriage.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (Ephesians 5: 22 - 24)

 That is a very controversial passage in our times. It is simply impractical to some, especially Christians. How can the wife be subject to her husband in everything? What about her democratic space? What about her enhancement and progression? Is the Bible not becoming openly chauvinistic? But I think the right question to ask is; how does Christ relate with the church? You see, since the marriage is a picture of heaven, it is imperative to get an accurate picture of the same. Remember what Moses was commanded, … look (make sure) that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount. (Exodus 25:40)

Any other pattern will be unreliable since marriage was God’s idea in the first place.

If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond … (Numbers 30:3)

… if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul; And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her (Numbers 30: 6 - 8)

A very strange verse for our times, times where it is the women who bind and loose their husbands. Times which have women as pastors holding sway over marriages. Yet what does the Bible say about this? Do you notice that a woman’s commitment to God is subject to the approval of her husband? And this is from God Himself. A woman is enhanced by her submission to her husband. She discovers herself as she submits to him.

Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church (1Corinthians 14: 34, 35)

What does this say about the spirituality of the man? Is it the reality on the ground? How possible is it for her to ask her husband if he is disconnected to the spiritual, thinking it is the domain of the woman? I am sure we know that many men think that prayer is the domain of the woman. Many will just let ‘mama’ lead family devotions. Is that the picture we get from the scriptures? Does Christ let the church determine the spiritual direction of the union? Is Christ subject to the church?

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

Whose prayers are being considered here? Do we have a woman’s prayers subject to such a caveat? What does this indicate if not that a man should be the one in the marriage known for his prayerfulness and spiritual leanings? Were there any women priests? Or do we think that God forgot that women can also become spiritual? Wasn’t He the one who created them? Is it then in order for us to delegate our responsibility to them when God did not give us that allowance?

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. (1Peter 3:1 - 6)

What evangelistic tool is being given to women over their unbelieving husbands? Is that what we see? Why then don’t we see it? Is such advice even considered in marital counseling? Have we heard of women who come to cast out demons from a husband they chose when they realize the mistake (I call it sin) they made by walking by sight? And I am talking mainly about the sight of his purse or family.

Let me continue this message that I wrote several years ago.

But let me first show you something I also saw very recently as I read the Bible.

Mary the mother of Jesus was called by very big titles when the angel visited her. The same was repeated when she visited Elizabeth. Yet have you realized that once Joseph came into the picture we have no mention of God speaking or sending an angel to speak to her? God only spoke to Joseph, even concerning Mary, the well favored one.

Take the child and His mother, go back to Israel, settle in Nazareth, etc.

Why do you think God overlooked the carrier of the Promise even in things concerning her?

Do you realize that God’s communication with a husband did not need any understanding or concurrence of the wife? Yet when an angel appeared to Samson’s mother, her husband’s request was honored (Judges 13).

On the same plane, when a couple sinned, it was the man who was held responsible (Eli, David, Solomon, etc)

In fact the only time we see a woman being held responsible was in Ahab’s case, and even then Ahab is the one who was judged for that rebellion.

Remember Solomon also. His wives led him astray yet were not held responsible for that rebellion.

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife… (Genesis 3:17)

The woman was formed to complement the man, not to control him. A man’s ears are to have the first responsibility to hear from God and no one or nothing else. Considering a wife’s voice when responding to God’s order will make you fall into all these men’s traps.

Like we have seen with Joseph, God primarily speaks to the man in a marriage situation. It is the reason even a wife’s commitment to God is subject to her husband. And that is the reason he is sorely responsible for the spiritual direction his family takes, not the wife, however spiritual she may think she is.

Why is that so? A woman is very conscious of the present. Present circumstances offer very powerful persuasion whatever decision she makes. No wonder in worldly things that instinct is very useful as the here and now constitute her makeup. That is why the noble woman is known for he entrepreneurial success.

But that instinct is a very poor guide in the spiritual realm.

Curse God and die is what Job’s wife told him as she saw the suffering he was going. Her love for him overshot her reality of the God her husband stood for all the time she had known him.

Get me a child by proxy is what Sarah told Abraham as her age made the promise inconceivable. Her circumstances made her forget the promise that had kept her husband focused, even refusing to marry another wife for that child due to God’s promise that drove him.

Let us get children with our father is what Lot’s daughters decided as they could not see a way out of the dilemma the destruction of Sodom had got them into.

Why do you dance like a lunatic? That’s what David’s favorite wife asked when she saw him dancing for God.

That is why a man must have a very clear connection to God to be able to handle all that pull into the present from his wife.

I know of men who were persuaded to leave a course of ministry God had led them or even spoken to them about because their wives could not imagine handling the challenges it would bring about.

I am not saying that we do not listen to our wives. I am simply saying that comparing her voice and opinion with God’s is abominable to God. And it is you and not her who will be judged for it. Considering her opinion when God has spoken is rebellion of a very high order.

A man’s primary responsibility is worship. That is where his leadership proceeds from. He subdues nature because he is subdued before God. He leads because he is led. He loses that for anything or anyone and he becomes a mess on all fronts. And elevating his voice above God’s brings about chaos. It is no wonder that many romantic marriages break as they have lost their centre which is a spiritual leaning man. Incidentally even marriages where the woman is more spiritual result in instability.

What kind of man are you? Whose voice guides your decisions? Where s God in those decisions?

What kind of man do you have as a husband? Is he leading you toward God or to the present that you understand much better than he does? Do you challenge him toward the spiritual or are you content to swim in the abundance the present offers?

Reminds me of something I heard from the Lord yesterday as I read His word.

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6: 5, 6)

Do you realize that gain equals godliness is the leading doctrine of our time? Yet it is so far from the Gospel we should be preaching because it is all focused on the here and now. It has no place for holiness as it does not deal with sin. But I may have to build that message more completely later. Suffice it when I say that the present so focused makes us lose focus of the eternal, which is the spiritual.

Let me close with one last verse to show that a man has the responsibility of leading his wife spiritually.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:25)