THE VIPPERS IN THE HUNT: A POLITICAL PARABLE.

When I saw this video, several things came into my mind and as a lifelong student whose motto is to study until death, I isolated some lessons that I decided to share here. Several biblical scriptural examples came alive including the 23rd Psalm ..."Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...... The most clear Lesson I learned from this as I was talking to a friend this morning was that the video depicts what exactly has become of what we call Democracy.

Democracy postulates that the majority MUST have it all. This means that even if the majority is wrong, bigoted, unfair, evil or even corrupt, they should be given the throne. That is what happened when some people were dicriminated against because of their skin colour, religion,caste or gender.

The second clear lesson I learned while watching this video was that, Corruption has at its heart the craving of power and money that make those of us who are corrupt to chase and run after the national resources like the snakes in the video.

Every snake in this video to me represents Ethnic comunities and their political leaders in a nation like mine. They all run after the country's economical natural resources, overtaken by their monstrous hunger for money, lust for power, and craving for their selfish ambition, they form political coalitions that are selfish to the core, tribal in nature and on the election days, they scramble for the trophy, miss the trophy and end up entangled in squables of unending ethnic clashes.

The lizard on the other hand, represents opportunities. Generally, lizards are food to snakes and although it may look unfair to equate a life of an individual animal to a resource, I would like to point to a fact I have learned in the half a century I have lived on this earth.

Life comes from death. All the foods we eat must die before they are eaten. At every death of an organism, life springs. If the lizard were to be killed by ants, each ant would have a bite. But the case in the video is, if the lizzard were to caught and killed by one snake among the many, it would have ended in the stomach of but one sanke. ALL OF IT. If we Kenyans can remove the snake like appetite, hunger, strife, cravings, selfishness, ethnocentrism and attitude like the ants, our nation would be a great place to live in. We would not be where we are now.

Our opportunities for progress and development are in within us. The potential of eradicating poverty is in the young people we have left to go and work as house helps in the middle east. Most of these young people passed their exams, have degrees, and could make great engineers, nurses, doctors and educators.

The video is the closest analogy I have ever watched of what democracy has come to mean, and corruption has made us selfish savages who have resorted to quarelling over the escaped opportunities. We need to learn from four things on earth that are very little, yet they are extremely wise:

Ants are creatures of little strength—yet they store up their food in the summer;

Conies are creatures of little power—yet they make their home in the crags;

Locusts have no king—yet they advance together in ranks;

A spider can be caught with the hand—yet it is found in kings' palaces."

Proverbs 30:24-28

THE VIPPERS IN THE HUNT: A POLITICAL PARABLE.

When I saw this video, several things came into my mind and as a lifelong student whose motto is to study until death, I isolated some lessons that I decided to share here. Several biblical scriptural examples came alive including the 23rd Psalm ..."Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...... The most clear Lesson I learned from this as I was talking to a friend this morning was that the video depicts what exactly has become of what we call Democracy.

Democracy postulates that the majority MUST have it all. This means that even if the majority is wrong, bigoted, unfair, evil or even corrupt, they should be given the throne. That is what happened when some people were dicriminated against because of their skin colour, religion,caste or gender.

The second clear lesson I learned while watching this video was that, Corruption has at its heart the craving of power and money that make those of us who are corrupt to chase and run after the national resources like the snakes in the video.

Every snake in this video to me represents Ethnic comunities and their political leaders in a nation like mine. They all run after the country's economical natural resources, overtaken by their monstrous hunger for money, lust for power, and craving for their selfish ambition, they form political coalitions that are selfish to the core, tribal in nature and on the election days, they scramble for the trophy, miss the trophy and end up entangled in squables of unending ethnic clashes.

The lizard on the other hand, represents opportunities. Generally, lizards are food to snakes and although it may look unfair to equate a life of an individual animal to a resource, I would like to point to a fact I have learned in the half a century I have lived on this earth.

Life comes from death. All the foods we eat must die before they are eaten. At every death of an organism, life springs. If the lizard were to be killed by ants, each ant would have a bite. But the case in the video is, if the lizzard were to caught and killed by one snake among the many, it would have ended in the stomach of but one sanke. ALL OF IT. If we Kenyans can remove the snake like appetite, hunger, strife, cravings, selfishness, ethnocentrism and attitude like the ants, our nation would be a great place to live in. We would not be where we are now.

Our opportunities for progress and development are in within us. The potential of eradicating poverty is in the young people we have left to go and work as house helps in the middle east. Most of these young people passed their exams, have degrees, and could make great engineers, nurses, doctors and educators.

The video is the closest analogy I have ever watched of what democracy has come to mean, and corruption has made us selfish savages who have resorted to quarelling over the escaped opportunities. We need to learn from four things on earth that are very little, yet they are extremely wise:

Ants are creatures of little strength—yet they store up their food in the summer;

Conies are creatures of little power—yet they make their home in the crags;

Locusts have no king—yet they advance together in ranks;

A spider can be caught with the hand—yet it is found in kings' palaces."

Proverbs 30:24-28

Being doers of the word, not hearers only.

       As a young person I saw people do many things that when I look back and start thinking about their significance, I lose a heart beat. Most of these things we were taught as children included some that were superstitious. Like for example, when I had mumps, my sister I were taken to a Flame tree (Erythrina abyssinica)see picture below (in Luhya known as murembe)and we collected sticks, tied them into a bundle and put them on our heads. Then we went around the tree singing tsindendei kalukha khumurembe,tsindendei kalukha khumurembe.( mumps go back/return to the flame tree.....)

          Then we threw the sticks on the tree and fled homeward without looking back. We were warned, if you look back the Tsindendei would not go and we wouldn't be healed. So I remember after I threw my bundle of sticks, I ran so fast. Interestingly, this worked! I got healed and I cannot explain how this works or how it worked then. 

              The going round the tree and healing was curative and the healing power behind that tree and the actions, which do not involve any kind of worship or sacrifice,fascinates me until now. However, one practice that I have come to believe is folly and so stupid, is how I saw the bible being used. I saw some people putting the bible under their pillows so as not to have nightmares. Bibles were used literary fighting unseen spirits, placing the bible on coffins, being buried with the bible, and what happens even now in the law courts. That to show and prove that one is saying or will speak the truth and not lie, courts law require witnesses or litigants to swear by the bible. I wonder how many oceans can hold the disastrous deluge of lies that have been spewed out of millions and millions of mouths in the courts of law! 

            Some of us believe that by keeping our marriage certificates or important documents in the bible safeguards the marriage or the agreement. Some people look for names from the bible so that their children will follow the character of the biblical heroes-which to me is still superstitious and the exact transplantation of some African traditional beliefs where children are named after great people in the belief that the children will take up from the people they were named after. Some of these children grow up into rebellious children. Although some Christian friends believe there is more in a name, I am yet to be convinced. My belief in the proper and efficacious use of the Bible is reading it everyday, systematically, listening to audio bibles while driving along, memorizing portions of scripture and applying the lessons in my real life situations. One way of doing this, is by asking yourself, what would Jesus have done if He were in my situation now? What did the prophets of the old do when they faced by the same situations? What did the people of God in the Bible do when worshiping God? What did God do to the His people when they sinned against Him? What example should I follow? What should I learn to enable me attain such knowledge and stature?
           There is no single successful leader I know who never read the Bible and applied the truth therein. Mahatma Gandhi read and quoted the Bible. George Fox the founder of the Quaker faith read and knew the bible extremely well. 

There is a big difference between knowing and doing. This difference has to be removed by applying what we know to be taught in the Bible and this we should do by allowing God through His Holy Spirit to teach us all things so that we follow and accomplish what James 1:22 says: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves".

Being doers of the word, not hearers only.

       As a young person I saw people do many things that when I look back and start thinking about their significance, I lose a heart beat. Most of these things we were taught as children included some that were superstitious. Like for example, when I had mumps, my sister I were taken to a Flame tree (Erythrina abyssinica)see picture below (in Luhya known as murembe)and we collected sticks, tied them into a bundle and put them on our heads. Then we went around the tree singing tsindendei kalukha khumurembe,tsindendei kalukha khumurembe.( mumps go back/return to the flame tree.....)

          Then we threw the sticks on the tree and fled homeward without looking back. We were warned, if you look back the Tsindendei would not go and we wouldn't be healed. So I remember after I threw my bundle of sticks, I ran so fast. Interestingly, this worked! I got healed and I cannot explain how this works or how it worked then. 

              The going round the tree and healing was curative and the healing power behind that tree and the actions, which do not involve any kind of worship or sacrifice,fascinates me until now. However, one practice that I have come to believe is folly and so stupid, is how I saw the bible being used. I saw some people putting the bible under their pillows so as not to have nightmares. Bibles were used literary fighting unseen spirits, placing the bible on coffins, being buried with the bible, and what happens even now in the law courts. That to show and prove that one is saying or will speak the truth and not lie, courts law require witnesses or litigants to swear by the bible. I wonder how many oceans can hold the disastrous deluge of lies that have been spewed out of millions and millions of mouths in the courts of law! 

            Some of us believe that by keeping our marriage certificates or important documents in the bible safeguards the marriage or the agreement. Some people look for names from the bible so that their children will follow the character of the biblical heroes-which to me is still superstitious and the exact transplantation of some African traditional beliefs where children are named after great people in the belief that the children will take up from the people they were named after. Some of these children grow up into rebellious children. Although some Christian friends believe there is more in a name, I am yet to be convinced. My belief in the proper and efficacious use of the Bible is reading it everyday, systematically, listening to audio bibles while driving along, memorizing portions of scripture and applying the lessons in my real life situations. One way of doing this, is by asking yourself, what would Jesus have done if He were in my situation now? What did the prophets of the old do when they faced by the same situations? What did the people of God in the Bible do when worshiping God? What did God do to the His people when they sinned against Him? What example should I follow? What should I learn to enable me attain such knowledge and stature?
           There is no single successful leader I know who never read the Bible and applied the truth therein. Mahatma Gandhi read and quoted the Bible. George Fox the founder of the Quaker faith read and knew the bible extremely well. 

There is a big difference between knowing and doing. This difference has to be removed by applying what we know to be taught in the Bible and this we should do by allowing God through His Holy Spirit to teach us all things so that we follow and accomplish what James 1:22 says: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves".

Being doers of the word, not hearers only.

       As a young person I saw people do many things that when I look back and start thinking about their significance, I lose a heart beat. Most of these things we were taught as children included some that were superstitious. Like for example, when I had mumps, my sister I were taken to a Flame tree (Erythrina abyssinica)see picture below (in Luhya known as murembe)and we collected sticks, tied them into a bundle and put them on our heads. Then we went around the tree singing tsindendei kalukha khumurembe,tsindendei kalukha khumurembe.( mumps go back/return to the flame tree.....)

          Then we threw the sticks on the tree and fled homeward without looking back. We were warned, if you look back the Tsindendei would not go and we wouldn't be healed. So I remember after I threw my bundle of sticks, I ran so fast. Interestingly, this worked! I got healed and I cannot explain how this works or how it worked then. 

              The going round the tree and healing was curative and the healing power behind that tree and the actions, which do not involve any kind of worship or sacrifice,fascinates me until now. However, one practice that I have come to believe is folly and so stupid, is how I saw the bible being used. I saw some people putting the bible under their pillows so as not to have nightmares. Bibles were used literary fighting unseen spirits, placing the bible on coffins, being buried with the bible, and what happens even now in the law courts. That to show and prove that one is saying or will speak the truth and not lie, courts law require witnesses or litigants to swear by the bible. I wonder how many oceans can hold the disastrous deluge of lies that have been spewed out of millions and millions of mouths in the courts of law! 

            Some of us believe that by keeping our marriage certificates or important documents in the bible safeguards the marriage or the agreement. Some people look for names from the bible so that their children will follow the character of the biblical heroes-which to me is still superstitious and the exact transplantation of some African traditional beliefs where children are named after great people in the belief that the children will take up from the people they were named after. Some of these children grow up into rebellious children. Although some Christian friends believe there is more in a name, I am yet to be convinced. My belief in the proper and efficacious use of the Bible is reading it everyday, systematically, listening to audio bibles while driving along, memorizing portions of scripture and applying the lessons in my real life situations. One way of doing this, is by asking yourself, what would Jesus have done if He were in my situation now? What did the prophets of the old do when they faced by the same situations? What did the people of God in the Bible do when worshiping God? What did God do to the His people when they sinned against Him? What example should I follow? What should I learn to enable me attain such knowledge and stature?
           There is no single successful leader I know who never read the Bible and applied the truth therein. Mahatma Gandhi read and quoted the Bible. George Fox the founder of the Quaker faith read and knew the bible extremely well. 

There is a big difference between knowing and doing. This difference has to be removed by applying what we know to be taught in the Bible and this we should do by allowing God through His Holy Spirit to teach us all things so that we follow and accomplish what James 1:22 says: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves".

WHAT IS THE SIN THAT EASILY ENTANGLES ?

A few days ago I wrote on my face book page about The Race of Faith and I asked readers to write what their understanding of "the sin that easily entangle" means. I only got two answers from 4 people who had looked/read the post. Why did I just get 4 people? Does it mean the post was boring? May be it was. May be I should have WRITTEN something like: post this on your time line in the next ..... minutes or else you will ....... or if you are a christian post this to ten people and you will get doors opening for you......your prayer requests shall be answered. 
         Back to our main issue; the two responses I got here were , ANGER AND LYING: Anger is defined as a strong feeling of being upset or annoyed because of something wrong or bad : the feeling that makes someone want to hurt other people, to shout, etc. : the feeling of being angry. All of us can identify with this feeling. Is it sin? Do you get angry? Sure, we all do. Do we sin when we get angry? I do not think so. Anger becomes sin if it leads us to committing sin. The Bible in Ephesians 4:26-27 admonishes us thus: “Be angry, and do not sin”:[a] do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. Anger can lead to sin. THIS CAN BE SEEN IN WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR COUNTRY, schools are in flames because the learners are angry with one thing or the other and since they are learning from us adults, when they us doing exactly that on the streets in the name of protesting and picketing. The constitution allows us to peacefully demonstrate but if we go beyond what is peaceful we sin. Does this easily entangle us? 
           Next is LYING. Lying is defined as a present participle of the verb lie which means: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive and 2: to create a false or misleading impression. I remember one day we were having a luncheon at a hotel in Eldoret and the then Secretary General of Scripture Union Rev. Gichungwa was speaking to the pastors who had gathered there. He was talking about the significance of reading and he asked the pastors who had gathered there that day: How many of you read your bibles today in the morning? But before anybody answered, he quipped, I do not want to make you sin. So please do not answer that question nor raise up your hands because I know most of us will surely raise up their hands for fear of being seen as non-readers. This illustrates how many of us leaders want to live a lie and even tell our friends how we are praying for them when the opposite is the reality. 
            Lying is a terrible sin in itself because it presents itself in very sweet colours and avails itself in the hour of dire need, hunger, distress, hopelessness, imminent danger, survival, lucrative job opportunity, an illicit sexual encounter,fear of tomorrow, fear or losing face, fear of failing an examination or interview, prospects of going overseas and pursuing one's dreams and the list goes on and on. Do you posses a fake document that helped you get something? Have you eve obtained or falsified receipts or information so that you can claim reimbursement? Ever testified against anybody falsely? To me, some people might find problems agreeing with this- Using dye to make your white hair black is lying especially if you are trying to hide your age. I confess that most of the times I have found myself on the wrong side of this law. I falsified my date of birth to indicate that I was 18 when I was 16 so as to be employed in the Kenya ARMY. I went for the recruitment but could not make it. This lie affected and subjected me to more lies and more lies until I confessed and it was corrected. 
            A lie requires another horrible lie and the person lying goes through unprecedented intense psychological torture as he/she is subjected to cover up the existing lie. This is what the Bible calls the sin that easily entangles. Being entangled in sin is like what is depicted in this picture below where each lie forms a strand on top of the other and before one realizes, he/she is deep into the mire. 

The sin that easily entangles according to me, is LYING because it is through lying that death came to the world Romans 5:12-21 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 
            The devil, through the serpent, lied to Eve. The original sin came through a lie told to Eve, Story is in Genesis 3: 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves [b]loin coverings. From the day that our mother Eve was lied to, she was easily entangled in the lie, and we all are entangled in that lie until Jesus Christ comes to give us victory through His death on the cross. And as we live day by day, we are warned to walk circumspectly and flee from the sin that easily entangles. Since we now know the sin that easily entangles we should put on the full Armour, and walk in truth like Paul who said Philippians 3:14 "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

WHAT IS THE SIN THAT EASILY ENTANGLES ?

A few days ago I wrote on my face book page about The Race of Faith and I asked readers to write what their understanding of "the sin that easily entangle" means. I only got two answers from 4 people who had looked/read the post. Why did I just get 4 people? Does it mean the post was boring? May be it was. May be I should have WRITTEN something like: post this on your time line in the next ..... minutes or else you will ....... or if you are a christian post this to ten people and you will get doors opening for you......your prayer requests shall be answered. 
         Back to our main issue; the two responses I got here were , ANGER AND LYING: Anger is defined as a strong feeling of being upset or annoyed because of something wrong or bad : the feeling that makes someone want to hurt other people, to shout, etc. : the feeling of being angry. All of us can identify with this feeling. Is it sin? Do you get angry? Sure, we all do. Do we sin when we get angry? I do not think so. Anger becomes sin if it leads us to committing sin. The Bible in Ephesians 4:26-27 admonishes us thus: “Be angry, and do not sin”:[a] do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. Anger can lead to sin. THIS CAN BE SEEN IN WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR COUNTRY, schools are in flames because the learners are angry with one thing or the other and since they are learning from us adults, when they us doing exactly that on the streets in the name of protesting and picketing. The constitution allows us to peacefully demonstrate but if we go beyond what is peaceful we sin. Does this easily entangle us? 
           Next is LYING. Lying is defined as a present participle of the verb lie which means: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive and 2: to create a false or misleading impression. I remember one day we were having a luncheon at a hotel in Eldoret and the then Secretary General of Scripture Union Rev. Gichungwa was speaking to the pastors who had gathered there. He was talking about the significance of reading and he asked the pastors who had gathered there that day: How many of you read your bibles today in the morning? But before anybody answered, he quipped, I do not want to make you sin. So please do not answer that question nor raise up your hands because I know most of us will surely raise up their hands for fear of being seen as non-readers. This illustrates how many of us leaders want to live a lie and even tell our friends how we are praying for them when the opposite is the reality. 
            Lying is a terrible sin in itself because it presents itself in very sweet colours and avails itself in the hour of dire need, hunger, distress, hopelessness, imminent danger, survival, lucrative job opportunity, an illicit sexual encounter,fear of tomorrow, fear or losing face, fear of failing an examination or interview, prospects of going overseas and pursuing one's dreams and the list goes on and on. Do you posses a fake document that helped you get something? Have you eve obtained or falsified receipts or information so that you can claim reimbursement? Ever testified against anybody falsely? To me, some people might find problems agreeing with this- Using dye to make your white hair black is lying especially if you are trying to hide your age. I confess that most of the times I have found myself on the wrong side of this law. I falsified my date of birth to indicate that I was 18 when I was 16 so as to be employed in the Kenya ARMY. I went for the recruitment but could not make it. This lie affected and subjected me to more lies and more lies until I confessed and it was corrected. 
            A lie requires another horrible lie and the person lying goes through unprecedented intense psychological torture as he/she is subjected to cover up the existing lie. This is what the Bible calls the sin that easily entangles. Being entangled in sin is like what is depicted in this picture below where each lie forms a strand on top of the other and before one realizes, he/she is deep into the mire. 

The sin that easily entangles according to me, is LYING because it is through lying that death came to the world Romans 5:12-21 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 
            The devil, through the serpent, lied to Eve. The original sin came through a lie told to Eve, Story is in Genesis 3: 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves [b]loin coverings. From the day that our mother Eve was lied to, she was easily entangled in the lie, and we all are entangled in that lie until Jesus Christ comes to give us victory through His death on the cross. And as we live day by day, we are warned to walk circumspectly and flee from the sin that easily entangles. Since we now know the sin that easily entangles we should put on the full Armour, and walk in truth like Paul who said Philippians 3:14 "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.