Tradition

Years ago Harry Emerson Fosdick told about a church in Denmark where the worshipers bowed regularly before a certain spot on the wall. They had been doing that for three centuries--bowing at that one spot in the sanctuary. Nobody could remember why. One day in


renovating the church, they removed some of the whitewash on the walls. At the exact spot where the people bowed they found the image of the Madonna under the whitewash. People had become so accustomed to bowing before that image that even after it was covered up for three centuries, people still bowed.


Tradition is a powerful thing. The Pharisees had learned to substitute tradition, custom, habit for the presence of the living God. Traditionalism rears its head in many ways, in many times and in many places.

His Stumbling Block Was a Stepping Stone

An article in "Bits & Pieces" tells how Arturo Toscanini was one of those people who turned a handicap into a blessing. He was nearsighted and, at 19, was playing cello in a small European orchestra. He couldn't see the music on the stand in front of him, so he had to memorize it.

One day the orchestra leader became ill and young Toscanini was the only member of the orchestra who knew the score. That evening, he conducted the entire program without referring to the music. His performance was flawless. The audience applauded enthusiastically.

Other chances to conduct followed, and Toscanini was on his way. If he hadn't been nearsighted, he might have continued playing cello instead of becoming one of the finest conductors in the world.

Losing Track?

So many of our Gospel Videos are so VISUALLY entertaining that the spiritual message in them (If any) simply gets blotted out. Most viewers can remember the dazzling dance moves,the fashion show on display and the exotic scenes BUT NOT the words in the song/video.

Entertaining BUT NOT building AND the same spirit is found in most of our churches TODAY.

The Whisper

The young man had lost his job and didn't know which way to turn. So he went to see the old preacher. Pacing about the preacher's study, the young man ranted about his problem. Finally he clenched his fist and shouted, "I've begged God to say something to help me. Tell me, Preacher, why doesn't God answer?"

The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply -- something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across the room. "What did you say?" he asked.

The preacher repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher's chair.

"Sorry," he said. "I still didn't hear you."

With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. "God sometimes whispers," he said, "so we will move closer to hear Him."

This time the young man heard and he understood.
(Unknown Author)

Honor God & He Honors You

Some of the MOST EMPOWERING VERSES IN THE BIBLE, which many of us CONVENIENTLY PREFER TO IGNORE because they demand ACTION and SACRIFICE:

Malachi 3:10-12 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

Chapter 3:9-19 of the same Book says: Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

What does Exodus 20:3 tell us? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

And Deuteronomy 5:7? "Thou shalt have none other gods before me."

We only want to read and quote (which is not bad) popular verses like Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

And the highly popular second part of Heb 13:5, “……..for he hath said, I will not leave nor forsake you.” Yet we want to conveniently forget part B of that verse, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have………”

KNOW THIS FOR FREE, SERVING AND GETTING GOD'S BLESSINGS COMES WITH T&C, yes Terms &Conditions.

Selective application of Scripture will not get us anywhere. The Bible, the Word of God is to be consumed WHOLESOME, not BUFFET STYLE where we choose what we want to eat and skip what doesn’t please our palate.

You may declare 2017 to be the year of RESTORATION, OVERFLOW, REVIVAL, ABUNDANCE, etc., but until you fulfill your part of the T&C, all is in vain!

1 Samuel 2:30 "Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."

HONOR GOD and He shall honor & bless you

The 7-Ups of Life (Author Unknown)

1. Wake Up - Decide to have a good day. "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice & be glad in it." Psalms 118:24 

 2. Dress Up - The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." I Sam 16:7 


3. Shut Up - Say loving things & learn to listen. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3 "Gossip betrays confidence, avoid men who talk too much." Proverbs 20:19 "Listen to advice, accept instruction and in the end, you will be wise." Proverbs 19:20 


4. Stand Up - For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10 


5. Look Up - To the Lord. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 


6. Reach Up - For something higher. "...press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 


7. Lift Up - Your Prayers. "Do not worry about anything; instead pray about everything." Philippians 4:6

THINK ABOUT THE DEVIL--by Karolyne Kamau

Folks, I rarely speak about the devil, am more in my element speaking about God but please indulge me today. Today while studying I got thinking about him and his ways. Did you know that the devil is very legalistic?

Job 6-7One day when the angels came to report to God, Satan, who was the Designated Accuser, came along with them. Why did Satan come to this meeting? Could it because Angels were summoned and he considered himself to be one of them?

"What have you been up to?" the Lord asked him, interesting conversation this is. Satan answered God, "Going here and there, checking things out on earth."

Hehehe I would hate to be checked out by Satan. The conversation continued.
God said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil."

This is a fairly decent conversation as far as am concerned. Reminds me of someone who told me that its wisdom to respect Satan as you deal with him.

Satan retorted, "So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can't lose!

"But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what.

Interesting conversation this is turning out to be. Do you notice how Satan is looking for loopholes to use to justify Job's faithfulness? Do not be deceived this is the same way he treats you and me.

God replied, "We'll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don't hurt him." Then Satan left the presence of God.

Satan brought a legal argument before God and he got his day in court. I shudder to think of the legalese he uses to accuse you and I. God listened to him and gave him his day. I have never brought my small mind to grasp how that happened. This is one of the many questions I will ask in heaven may be over breakfast. This brings to mind another conversation this one with the son of God.

Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

Far too many conversations if you ask me. On this one still Satan got his way and truly Peter got his sifting.

My friend 2 Corinthians 2:11 comes to mind - lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. Satan has ways and devices to get to us. He is such a strategist and a legalist and to think any less of him puts us in trouble.

My friend don't just jump up and down binding and loosing Satan without a plan and a strategy. Many times it ends up being just empty noise while he continues having his way with you. Picture a scenario where an enemy is going to war, a lot of planning and strategy is done even before the actual battle. This is no different. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you! Think about this as I finish, even the archangel knew when not to accuse the enemy and instead asked the Lord to rebuke him on his behalf.

Treat the devil wisely and you will be better for it.

Have a victorious day.

9 THINGS I WISH WORSHIP LEADERS DIDN’T SAY (By Joshua Reich)

We’ve all been in that worship service—the one that got really awkward, really fast when the worship leader said the wrong thing.He didn’t mean to. He was trying. But it happened. He said something, and the feeling got sucked out of the room. The pastor covered his mouth because of the heresy coming out of the worship leader’s mouth.

It happened.

So what did he say?

Here are nine things I wish worship leaders didn’t say (or said less):

1. Turn to your neighbor and ________. I’m an introvert, so I hate any time that I have to turn and say anything to anyone. I do this sometimes in a sermon, but rarely if ever. Maybe two times in eight years. If you’re a guest at a church, you don’t want to turn to your neighbor and do anything, unless it’s your wife, and then you certainly don’t want to be in church for what you have in mind. Don’t tell them to turn to their neighbor and say something. I was at one church where they put on the screen during the welcome time, “Hug 18 people.” Nope. Time to sit down and check out.

2. Let me tell you what I just heard in the sermon. A pastor spends anywhere from 5-20 hours on a sermon. You just heard it for the first time with everyone else. Please don’t re-preach the sermon. Now if you’re prepared and thought through it, great. But almost every time a worship leader says something off the cuff or prays something off the cuff, heresy follows. Not bad heresy, just things that sound slightly off.

Worship leaders, if you are going to talk or pray, write it out ahead of time. Be prepared. You teach your church about God every time you open your mouth. Make sure what comes out is correct.

3. Who’s excited and ready to sing today?! Almost no one. It’s early and we had a fight on the way to church and our kids were difficult and I stayed up too late on Saturday night.

Also, almost everyone hates to sing in public, especially men. You just need to be aware of that.

We also don’t like to clap and sing at the same time because almost no one can do that. It’s not bad, we just aren’t very good at it. We also can’t sing as high as you can, so when you sing really high, and we know you are awesome and have an incredible range, we stop singing.

4. Father God, dear Father God, holy Father God. This one drives me nuts. It is almost like the worship leader forgot God’s name or needs to remind God of His name or remind the church who they are praying to. I don’t get this.

5. Wispy breath prayer. This goes right along with the Father God prayer, this wispy, romantic, Barry White prayer voice. I remember taking a friend to church. He wasn’t a Christian, and when the worship leader broke out the Barry White prayer voice, my friend leaned over and said, “Is he trying to seduce us?” I kid you not. Just be yourself. Use your voice. It’s good enough to sing on stage, it’s good enough to talk to us. Don’t use a British accent if you’re from America. Be you.

6. I can’t hear you. Yes, cause we aren’t singing. We don’t know the songs, so we aren’t singing. The lights and fog are too flashy, so we feel like we’re at a show and don’t need to participate.

7. Let’s give God a hand. This is often a plea for applause for you. If people want to give God a hand or you a hand, they will.

8. Let’s sing this from our heart. What does that even mean? I have no idea what that means. I went to Bible college, seminary and I’m 80 percent done with a theological doctorate degree, and I have no idea what this means. Someone please tell me how you sing from your heart instead of your mouth or your gut.

9. Be here now, Jesus. This is one of the worst things a worship leader can say. Is Jesus not there before you say this? Was the Holy Spirit not on the move before you asked Him to be on the move? Or, “God, we just want more of You.” You have all of God you need. That’s not the problem. The problem is we don’t see God, we don’t have the eyes and ears for God, not that He isn’t here.

Worship leader, remember, what you say and do on stage teaches us how to connect to God and worship. It also helps us respond to a sermon we just heard or prepares our hearts to hear God’s Word. You have an enormous task. Many of you take it seriously, for which I and your churches are grateful.

(Joshua Reich is the Lead Pastor at Revolution Church in Tucson, AZ.)

Thought for Today......

Soren Kierkegard, the 19th century Danish religious philosopher, told a story about a town where only ducks live. 

Every Sunday the ducks would waddle out of their houses and waddle down Main Street to their church.


They waddle into the sanctuary and squat in their proper pews. The duck choir waddles in and takes its place, then the duck minister comes forward and opens the duck Bible. 


He reads to them "Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles. No walls can confine you! No fence can hold you! You have wings. God has given you wings and you can fly like birds." 


All the ducks shouted "AMEN!"...and they all waddled home.

Feeding and Nourishing Corruption In Kenya

Corruption mentality doesn't begin when you start working at NYS or when you are posted to Afya House.

It starts when you start bribing your baby with a sweet/biscuit so that he can stop crying. When you give your son 5 Shillings so that he can go to the shop and buy a kilo of sugar which he will also use!

When you bribe so that your child can join the Police Force, what do you expect once he gets there AND he knows he should not be there in the first place?

If you didn't know that is many a time the genesis of believing that you have to get "paid" do what you are supposed to do, or that you are entitled to "something" for doing something.

Then our youngsters watch in admiration as glorified THIEVES drive around in big cars and stay to the West of Nairobi.

"Working" smarter takes a whole new dimension.

CRY MY BELOVED COUNTRY!