In our time

God is a God who has always been relevant, He always came to people in a manner that they could understand and relate with. That’s the reason why we follow Him, because of His track record & His consistency throughout the history of mankind.

When Jesus spoke to farmers & herdsmen, He spoke in a language of sheep; when He spoke to fishermen, they didn’t think there was anything fishy in His speech or language, that’s because He spoke a language they could understand & relate with. He got them hook, line & sinker in a netted boat that sometimes saw rocky roaring seas. But He was relevant to them nonetheless, that is why they followed Him even when at times things did not make sense.

Paul, in his life as Saul, lived to steer people away from what they believed & ridiculed those who followed the Christian faith, trying to show them that it was not the way to go; atleast that’s what he thought and believed. Maybe he would feel that I do him an injustice when I say he “tried” proving them stupid for what they believed- that’s because Saul was no negotiator. He didn’t sit people down around the table & reasoned with them about his beliefs & about how they should turn away from the “ridiculous” things they believed. I can just imagine that if he did, he would come to them asking if they would allow him the opportunity to do them a favour and set them free from their snare of foolishness. He would tell them that they were making a spectacle of themselves & that he had come to help them maintain the little of their dignity and integrity they still had left.

But like I said, Saul was no negotiator. So, when God came to meet with him, He did not negotiate His plan with Saul. He dealt with Saul in the way in which he would understand & relate with- He just stopped him in his tracks & killed him. In the same way that Saul believed there was not enough room in the world for his doctrine and that of Christ, God saw that there was not enough room for Saul & Paul to co-exist. Saul had to die so that Paul could live.

The time we live in is no different, the Lord still wants to speak to us not only through 5 loaves of bread & 2 small fish; but He wants us to come & reason together as He says in the book of Isaiah. He has given us gifts & talents, now He calls us up to come meet with Him in the secret place so that He can show us how we should use them for His glory.

Even in our time, God wants to know what is in our hand that He can use to deliver His people from the captivity that they are in. The Pharaoh was good to teach us what God could do, but it is now time that we let Moses rest. We have sung his praises & tried to be like him, but the work he had been called to do was finished long ago. 

 When God calls me & you, it won’t be through a burning bush, because the bush was burning to catch Moses’s attention. A burning bush said a lot to Moses as a herdsman, it could have meant a possibility of his livestock burning up or starving as a result of the burning bush, that’s why he was interested & drew near to investigate.

Sadly, there are boundaries we have set for ourselves as Christian, without basis. Maybe out of fear? There are territories that we have marked to be the devil’s turf, wrongly so. As a result we don’t explore the gifts and talents that God has given us, because we all want to walk on water & we fear being associated with what we have misguided people to believe is ungodly. It is not mine to walk on water, it is not mine to strike rocks & water springs forth from them. The water I am called to walk on is believing that God will give me wisdom & creative wit to write out scripts that will make it big, not for me, but for His Kingdom’s sake. The rocks I have to strike are the barriers that have been ear marked for the devil in the entertainment industry, & out of that, people will receive life giving water, in a way that makes sense to them & is relevant to them.  

The Arts do not belong to the devil, that is a sad lie, however, that believers have believed. The enemy is not creative in any way, God is the Creator, therefore all creatorial power rests in Him, & I am a co-creator with Him. The latter says then, that the creative arts belong to me as a child of God. All that the enemy can do is pervert what a child of God has created, so, it is time that we claim back the creative arts & make them to be about the Creator.

As creative people, it is up to us to go into the enemy’s camp IN OUR TIME & take back what rightfully belongs to us, to our Father. It is long overdue that we create an environment that our brothers & sisters find homely & a place that they too belong. The heart of God is that all may come to know the truth so that the truth can set them free. We can’t however, reach everyone from the pulpit, but God has given us what we need to be History makers, world changers. Let us step out & step on it as the young people & show the world that Music, Dance, Poetry, Spoken Word, Acting, Writing & Theatre can be used as tools to spread the Gospel.

I have now clad my feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace….now, anyone who wants to join me in making waves for the Kingdom of God…..READY, STEADY, WE GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

He’s a whimsical God

Have you ever had a deep longing to do something that made absolutely no sense? Something that you could not even explain to yourself, let alone to someone else?

Well, about 2 weeks back I had this deep urge to go to the beach, I tried to fight it for a while, but it just would not go away. Mind you, this was not over a weekend while I was taking time out at home; it was on a weekday, and I was at work. I thought that it would just go away, but it didn’t, it just took away my productivity.....I had to go.

So, like a child, I went and stood outside my boss’s office and “pre-pented” (the act of repenting before you commit a sin, hahaha).  Being the amazing person he is, maybe also because the favour of God is on those He has called,  my boss told me it was okay for me to come back late from lunch.

As I got into a taxi to go the beach, I had a lot of questions about my trip, but no answers, all I knew is that I had to go. When I got there, I walked around for a few minutes, hoping to find something that would capture my attention and raise curiosity like the burning bush did for Moses. Also kinda hoped that God would come and part the ocean or do something as whimsical as that....but none of that. Everything and everyone seemed normal, there was no homeless looking old man with a long grey beard to meet me with a board that directed my next step or with a note from heaven. Such a disappointment!!!

I then decided, because I was running out of time, I’d find a place to seat and maybe there I might find a message in a bottle or something as queer as that; I mean, who would not expect that after being practically pulled by the nose to go to a place you would otherwise not go, not willingly. As I found a rock to seat on- a very uncomfortable one I must add, I started beholding the ocean and following the king-fishers that were flying about, anticipating that  one of them would come  and perch on my shoulder and start talking to me....maybe not; but hey, something had to give, and it had to be extra ordinary, otherwise I would have wasted time going down to the beach and using a “favour” from my boss unnecessarily.

There was nothing happening, so I had to ask: “God, why did you bring me here?” As though He had been waiting forever for me to ask, He told me to look at the expanse of the sea, and as I did, He said “that’s how much I love you”. Ok, maybe you are thinking I might have been blown over by that...I’m sorry to say this, but I was very disappointed. I actually made my disappointment known and told God there was no revelation in that, that I already knew. As soon as I said those, I looked over my right shoulder, and there was a young lady taking a stroll. Then it happened.....God made His plans known for having brought me to that place. I can still hear the voice that beckoned me to step over the chicken line: ‘Tell HER that as vast as the ocean is, that’s how much I love her”. Whaaaat! I must do what?

Now was as good as any time for me to start bargaining with God, I tried to wangle my way out of this one. I explained to God that when I said “out of the norm” I didn’t mean that far out. Phew, I was beginning to sweat from fear of coming across as “weird” to this woman I didn’t even know. Okay, I know I’ve been accused of being “weird” and “random” a lot of times before...but this would take that to another level. I didn’t have much time to decide. While I was still trying to get over myself, it seems like the girl also heard something, because she came to sit right next to me. As she greeted, I couldn’t help but laugh, I’m sure she thought I was being rude. Until I told her what had happened just a few seconds before she joined me; she just looked at me and I could see her well up with tears, until she could no longer hold back the flood that had been waiting to be released. Now that is a good day in the Kingdom of God. We started talking and she told me of how she had been feeling that God had turned His back on her and how she was suicidal and saw no value in her life....but God had a plan. She told of how she had travelled for over an hour in a taxi that day, just to get to the beach to “clear her head”. We spoke for what seemed to be a minute, well, that’s because we were both awe-struck. Turns out that it was almost an hour that we were seating there and talking about the goodness of God....then I remembered, I had to go back to work. I had to cut this beautiful experience short, but its effect was by no means short, not for either of us.

Don’t you wish life was like this everyday? Well, it could be, it might not mean going to the beach everyday, the appointed place may be different for all of us. All that is required though is being yielded to the Spirit of God and allow Him to carry you where He pleases. Like me, you might not have the courage to step over the chicken line, but once you have taken the first step and say “yes I will go” even though it makes no logical sense, He will fit all else in its place. He is a whimsical God and He wants all of us to join in on the fun. This story blesses me whenever I hear it in my head, sometimes I also hear it from my heart.

I speak to the lady every now and again, and she always assures me that this day was a good day for her too. I am happy I was part of God showing up, I’ll be a link in His chain all day every day if that’s what is required of me.   There is so much fun in being with Him.