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.

SPEAKING BOLDY ABOUTJESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD

Presently, many a Christian are trying to impress the world so as to become "accommodating" of others. We hardly talk about Jesus Christ the son of God as much as we used to when we first believed. We are now conforming to the "modern" world which shuns things that sound spiritual.

I one day received a call from the Kenya Embassy in Bangkok that there was an organisation that was looking for a person stationed in Bangkok who could help in translating children eBook that could be used in helping children in Africa to learn intricate subjects like Mathematics and science. I was so excited and went in for the interview. At first the lady who spoke polished English was happy and told me that I was qualified for the job and within minutes she was talking me into deciding to work full time with this organisation based in Tanzania. She asked me how much I needed and encouraged me to meet her daughter who was actually the main person in this Edutainment Project.

She observed how my educational background was good and fit for the job and she asked me to apply for the job in Tanzania adding that she would talk and recommend me to her daughter. So there were two openings; one in Bangkok, which I could take as part-time as I kept my job in Chombueng and the second in Tanzania which would require me to relocate.

The lady asked me to send her daughter any of my wring work and a sample of a translation I had done. So I gladly gave her a link to my Blog. She went in there straight away and her face changed. She asked me, if I was a Christian. I answered to the affirmative and emphatically said that I am convinced Christian. Very passionate about my faith. I saw her countenance give way. She looked at me and told me that she and her family are atheist and they do not like religion. To her religion and matters of God are not true and had no meaning. So she quipped that her daughter wouldn't like to work with me if I was so much inclined to my faith. As our time together lapsed, a big chasm was slowly but surely building between our two worlds. As I walked out of that compound I was mesmerized by the beautiful house and the neatly manicured front yard. I walked through the gate with 2000 baht in new banknotes in my pocket as payment for a few hours work.The lady saw me out of the very strong black gate and that was the last time I heard from her. Although I wrote to her asking her what might have happened, it was very clear to me that the job had just slipped between my fingers like water as soon as I went out.

Should I have kept mum about my faith? Should we keep quiet about our faith because talking about it offends other people? Is shutting up about Jesus Christ the King of Kings the best way to keep friends and jobs? Has this situation ever presented itself to you at anytime and you refused speaking about your faith? Do people tell you to shut up and keep your religion to yourself? Do you think talking about Jesus Christ creates enmity or animosity? I have come to learn that WHEN JESUS SAVES YOU HE GIVES YOU THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO INDWELLS YOU AND EMPOWERS YOU TO SPEAK WHEN YOU ARE ASKED ABOUT WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN. If you find that you cannot confidently talk about Jesus, ask yourself if really you are keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. After Peter received the Baptism of the Holy spirit at Pentecost, there was much hostility against Jesus Christ and those who walked with Him. After His death, His disciples even hid behind doors for fear of being outed. But listen to the spirit filled Peter speak here: let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:10,12 

I want to be like Peter to speak boldly about Jesus Christ the Son of God

Lost, Trapped and Blinded by our Fears, Egos and Pride.

We all are like animals lost, trapped and blinded by our fears, egos and pride. We pride in the sinful human nature we call "my culture". When God beckons us to draw near to Him, humble ourselves and be saved, we continue giving our old "reasons" and human philosophies based on our own limited understanding. The lesson I draw from this Video below, is that more than often we get ourselves into sinful situations that easily entangle us and as we indulge in the scum of sin, we get stuck and cannot save ourselves. We try to free ourselves using our resources, power, knowledge and experience, but all come to naught. The bible in 2 Timothy 1:9  points us to a God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 

Because God is OMNIPRESENT, OMNISCIENT AND OMNIPOTENT, He sees us in the quandary and imbroglio that we drive ourselves into in high speed as we relentlessly pursue the lure of vanity. The entrapment in the quagmire is brought to us by our own lust of the eye, the pride of life and the desire for sin. This "human nature" that we use as excuse for sinning, made God come down Himself and walked on this earth like a man. The paradox here is that just like the goat in the video, we argued and sought to stone Jesus. We hated what he taught us; "turn the other cheek" we replaced it with hit back, love your enemies, we replaced it with self defense,-"deny yourselves, take up your cross and follow me"-we replaced it with "indulge in whatever your heart desires so long us it makes you happy" We EVENTUALLY CRUCIFIED JESUS CHRIST on the Cross. It is through this death that God, out of His immense love that surpasses all understanding brings us Help from on high. When HELP comes our way, we put a real violent reaction to "protect" ourselves and we even try to fight that HELP. I see God's Character of patience in this man here. The man does not give up on his mission and objective of disentangling the goat. God NEVER gives up on us. Let us pray that God will open our eyes today, to see and know when HE EXTENDS HIS SAVING HAND. God bless you.