PROFITABLE Foolishness!

From the limited human perspective, it seems impossible that the Creator of the universe, a Mighty all abled, all knowing, all encompassing God would deliberately choose to become fully man, suffer in the hands of mere wicked men who’s lives are just but a breath at who’s command they wither… die on the rugged Cross, be buried in a borrowed tomb and Miraculously rise after three days and later ascend into heaven…

It seems even more impossible that salvation through Christ, would stand as the ONLY chance to spend eternity in heaven with God, being rescued from a seemingly “proverbial” eternal space called Hell… Further hard to believe that this chance —is entirely rooted in our belief and willingness to follow this man named Jesus, The Christ!  

Humanly speaking, how could the death of one man so long ago determine the destiny of every human being ever created?!?

Yes, God’s act of redemption and everything about the True God, the God of all creation is absolute senseless and an incredible timeless transgenerational joke to the natural mind. Pathetically true that the Human brains cannot comprehend the Cross and it’s implications…

Our minds may show us the problems of life, but fail to give us solutions. The root of our problems is sin, which humanity completely refuses to acknowledge. The unrepentant heart justifies and explains away sinful behavior, seeking to explore the ever vanishing hope of an alternative way to a happy, satisfied and ever lasting life without Christ…

We defiantly ask “who needs all this crap about the Cross when we are such credibly good people?”” However, human intellect cannot save us from eternity in hell, separated from the one who’s idea we all are… Because ““There’s a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it (so certainly) leads to death””(Proverbs 16:25).

People consider the Cross foolishness because admitting their sinfulness and the need for Christ’s redemption means they must also surrender to God. They must give up their own wisdom and glory for God’s. And most people are unwilling to admit that God’s way stands supreme!

““For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).”

As we lay the first brick course for the new year, I beseech you, earnestly, by the mercies of Christ Jesus, that you Consider the Cross and it’s implications….

I’d love to have you pray with me the following prayer if you’re convinced of your need for faith in the bloody cross of Christ!

Prayer: 

God, thank You for the Cross of Christ. I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of redemption. I denounce my former ways, and choose Jesus Christ Now. I ask that you’d come and save my soul, and be the Lord over my life from Today. By faith, am born again in the spirit, and my life’s been made new in You! Amen.

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21).

Get Off The Stage!

​Unlike true Biblical Worship, Church leaders in charge of Worship in our day are increasingly sliding down an extremely slippery road called Performance! There’s something terribly WRONG when we treat Congregations as our Audience, train and prepare our leaders, bands, and technical crews as Stage Teams responsible for delivering an electrifyingly Creative Public Performance! 

I need to Specifically address Worship Pastors, service managers and Music leaders Today: Step back, Take a deep breath and Think! I don’t stand to be corrected, the road that treats corporate worship as a “performance” will Certainly lead the Evangelical Worship towards a definite Crush!

We need to Back up, Recalibrate and determine to Serve our congregations, pointing people to Jesus and helping them sing along to rich biblical content with capacity to Convict, Transform  and Build their lives in readiness for Eternity with authentic simplicity! We must help people sing great music with confidence to a Single Audience, to God, each time we’re privileged to lead! 

Lets Get out of the way, for God’s sake! True Worship must be more than the disco lights, more than the led screen projections, more than trendy contemporary music and phenomenal dancing teams…. Great worship must have the capacity to paint a single image in the hearts and lives of the congregation, the portrait of God! We must allow men to encounter God in our worship services!

You’re not reading the ramblings of a curmudgeony young preacher complaining about the new-fangled things our generation of worship leaders subscribe to today.

You’re reading the heart-cry of a normal Christian worshipper, worried about the mini-gods we’ve turned our worship leaders into and the clueless congregants missing out on the benefits of True biblical worship to countless sessions of entertainment in the name of worship!

True Biblical worship is a costly engagement! We must create time to plan, think-through and pray forth great biblical themes, music and readings for corporate engagement!

We must endeavor to fill every Sunday afternoon car-conversations with the clearest reputation of the great God of all creation! Let people go home in awe, digesting the wonders of His grace, power, majesty, compassion and unceasing mercy and love! 

There’s something wrong if our performance, stage beauty and our musicianship become the centre of peoples thoughts on their way home. Please understand, am a great unparalleled advocate for excellence, and by no means should this post be mistaken as an endorsement for pulpit mediocrity!

For God’s sake, let’s get off the Stage, let’s determine to become invisible led screens zealous and ready for Jesus to be displayed through us! 
With lots of love,

Pst. Cy! 🙂

Let it Go!

“Put your heart right… Reach out to God” (Job 11:13)

A good doctor never covers up an infected wound, it must be lanced, drained, cleansed and given time to heal. 

Did you have a child out of wedlock? Have you been fighting condemnation and pain from an abortion? Are you battling a nusty imprisonment to sin or nursing the wounds of a bitter divorce? Don’t throw in the towel, Jesus is not impressed by our virtues, He’s touched with ‘the feeling of our infirmities’ (Hebrews 4:15 KJV). He understands your struggle. ‘He Himself has…been through suffering and temptation, He knows what it is like…and…is wonderfully able to help us’ (Hebrews 2:18TLB).

Maybe you’re wondering if someone with your past and in your circumstances can be loved, accepted and used by God. Absolutely! The hymn by William Cowper puts it like this: ‘There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.’ The rewards of repentance are awesome! Zophar replies to Job: ‘Prepare your heart and lift up your hands to Him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you. Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear. You will forget your misery; it will be like water flowing away…Hope will give you unparalleled courage, protection and rest! You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help’ (Job 11:13-19 NLT).

Whether it’s guilt over something you’ve done, or the pain of something that was done to you – LET IT GO! Today, step into the unceasing streams of God’s mercy and grace… let Mercy set you free! Let it go!

Don’t Waste Your Life!

‘His mercies begin afresh each morning.’ Lamentations 3:23

Are you living with regret over the time you’ve wasted, the opportunities you’ve squandered, the sins you’ve committed and the relationships you’ve destroyed? Regret is a waste of time, unless it teaches you wisdom and fuels your resolve to do better next time. And as long as you’re breathing, there will be a ‘next time.’ The Bible describes God this way: ‘Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.’

So how should you handle regret? By doing three things: (1) Recall. Stop and consider the actions, thoughts and emotions that drove you to do what you did. Take an honest inventory of your mistakes. Own them! There’s no solution in excuses. When Adam was confronted with his sin, he hid in the bushes. When David was confronted with his, he said, ‘I’m guilty before God.’ Follow David’s example. (2) Repent. The Bible says, ‘Godly sorrow worketh repentance’ (2 Corinthians 7:10 KJV). When you’re caught in a cycle of repeated sin, a glib ‘Now I lay me down to sleep’ kind of prayer won’t help you. Sin hurts God, hurts you and hurts others. The idea behind repentance is to get you to where you loathe sin, and decide to renounce and forsake it. (3) Refocus. One of the Bible’s central themes is ‘resurrection.’ That means you can rise again. God said in His Word, ‘But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do!’ (Isaiah 43:17-18 TLB).

It’s a new day with a new opportunity to get your life together and move on to greater things. Don’t waste it looking back in regret!

Faith looks forward!

FAITH IS THE COURAGE to GO FOR THE BIG STUFF!

For many years i kept asking “Why would someone ask God for a mountain of all things pleasurable and good?!?

Scripture:
“…give me this mountain…”
Joshua 14:12 NJKV

But the pages of life in Christ have taught me that when you tackle something bigger than yourself:

(1) you grow;
(2) you learn to depend on God;
(3) you get to celebrate big victories.

Caleb said: ‘…here I am today, 85 years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified but, with the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said’ (Joshua 14:10-12 NIV).

Listen, Anybody can occupy the flat ground, but it takes faith in God to tackle a mountain. What’s more, that’s where the Anakites – the giants – lived! These guys were so big they caused ten of Moses’ spies to say, ‘…Next to them we felt like grasshoppers …’ (Numbers 13:33 NLT).

You’d think at 85 Caleb would have asked for a nice cottage in a good suburb! But no, he wanted another battle and another victory before he checked out.

Stop asking God for a problem-free life, otherwise you might die of boredom. It’s in working to solve problems and overcome challenges that you become the person God wants you to be. So ask Him for a task that will keep you learning, growing, uncomfortable and hungry for significance.

When you pray, ‘God, use me,’ be prepared to encounter four things:

1. adventure,
2. danger,
3. risk and
4. reward.

Therefore speak with the heavens today! Get tired of petting the flat common ground and Go For the mountain!

For prayers and counsel: please contact us at +254703514000 | +254710177100 or email me at kithele@live.com

Invading the Secular Space with the Gospel!

Invading the Secular Space with the Gospel!

MOVE!

They…limited the Holy One of Israel.’ Psalm 78:41 NKJV

Researchers conducted an experiment in which frogs were placed in separate glass jars covered with lids to prevent them from escaping. At first the frogs kept jumping, trying to escape, but each time they hit their heads on the lid. After thirty days of doing this, something amazing happened. When the lids were removed from the jars, the frogs never jumped out even though they could easily have done so. Why? Because they had formed a belief system that the top of the jar was as high as they could go – their limiting belief system kept them trapped in the jar! The Israelites did that too: ‘Again and again they… limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power…’ (Psalm 78:41-42 NKJV).

Are you holding on to limiting belief systems, even though they are no longer true and are sabotaging your future? ‘I’m too young, too old, I’m a woman, I’m the wrong nationality, I don’t have the education, I don’t have the talent, I don’t have the connections, I failed too badly, etc.’

Fear of success stems from: (1) Fear of not being worthy of success. (2) Fear of being unable to meet the expectations and fulfil the responsibilities that accompany success. (3) Fear of being rejected by those unhappy about your success. (4) Fear of losing control of normal, private life. (5) Fear of saying no to friends and family who feel entitled to control you. Get rid of your limiting belief systems! Not only will God give you success, He will give you the skill and strength to handle it.

Go forth, you’re well able!

Invading the Secular Space with the Gospel!

GET OUT OF THE BOX!

“He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me… Psalm 18:19”

Melody Beattie wrote this interesting piece of poetry:

‘First you crawled; then you learned to walk and the world grew bigger. Then you rode a bike…drove a car…bought a plane ticket. Suddenly the horizons were limitless. Then doubts crept in: I can’t! ….and your world shrinks a little. I shouldn’t take that trip…I’ll never find my way around…I’ve too many responsibilities. And it shrinks a little more…[until] you’re sitting in a little box with the lid tightly affixed. No experiences, no lessons, no life.

Boxes can be comfortable…but no matter how cosy you make it, it’s still a box. They come in all shapes and sizes. When we let unrealistic fears hold us back we can be fairly certain we’re climbing inside another box…and sooner or later we’ll run into the walls. Find one small “I can’t” in your life and take the lid off that box… try a minor impossibility… apply for that dream job… start pursuing your vision… Poke the top off your box! Stick your head out and look around. Find a fear and turn it into a ladder. Get out of the box of doubt and insecurity and into the freedom of courage and belief.’

If you allow it, fear will cause your imagination to run riot. But ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV). A sound mind restores your perspective and helps you see things from God’s viewpoint, where all things are possible.

Today He wants to give you the courage to climb out of the box and bring you ‘into a large place’, because He ‘delights’ in you.

Invading the Secular Space with the Gospel!

For the Chewed, Spit out by life, frustrated and hurting Among us!

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

— Revelation 22:17

Have you ever been weary, fatigued and still had a little bit of distance to cover, then suddenly, you notice a large advertisement, featuring a sunny, tropical beach with beautiful turquoise-blue water, white sand, an empty beach chair and your favorite ice cold bottle of soft drink beside?!? The picture becomes so alluring and so appealing because of where you are at that particular moment.

This photograph represents what all of us really want: rest, relaxation, and time off. Jesus has something to say to the person who is exhausted and worn out. He has something to say to people who have been chewed up and spit out by life — people who are frustrated, who are hurting. Here is His personal offer of rest to those who will respond: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT).

This passage gives us the Christian life in a nutshell. Here we see what it is to come to, to know, and to walk with Jesus Christ. This invitation stands today, but it won’t stay that way forever. What is the invitation? Jesus says,

“Come to Me.”

That’s it? Yes, that simple!

It’s so simple, yet so profound. And we see this same invitation echoed throughout Scripture. It all begins with coming to God . . . approaching Him . . . seeking Him . . . opening our hearts to Him. Never doubt it. He will respond.

So I persuade you to respond to the fathers invitation for Rest and Life! Today could be the day when Jesus returns in glory ~ you don’t wanna miss out!

LIVING BETWEEN THE PAGES OF THE Oldest book in the hands of Men

The greatest verse about biblical inspiration is also a great verse about biblical application. Second Timothy 3:16-17 not only tells us who gave us the Bible but also why it was given. God breathed out His Word for our benefit. Every part of it is profitable. Waiting in its pages is a wealth of blessings ready to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in righteousness.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:16-17

We call the Bible “God’s Word” because it contains what He wants to say. He speaks into our lives through it. Each verse and every word accomplishes at least one of the purposes listed in today’s passage. No matter what our need, God has provided a response in His Word.

The Bible teaches us. The word used here has often been translated doctrine—meaning core teaching. Whatever we find in Scripture is truth that’s worth being taught. Every time we read it we should be asking, What is God teaching me in this passage?

God’s Word reproves us. It is the precision instrument of the Holy Spirit, often stopping us in our tracks through the conviction of sin. When the Lord says “Don’t” in Scripture, He always means, “Don’t hurt yourself.” He graciously reprimands us.

God’s Word also corrects us. It not only points out the wrong, it also provides the right response. The Bible straightens out our lives like nothing else. On our own we steer in wrong directions, but God consistently directs us in the way we should go.

Scripture trains us in righteousness. It is an unerring guide for the lifelong process of discipleship God wants to bring about. We will never outgrow our need for His guidance.

Truth, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness are all ways God brings light to our lives by His Word. When we need to see where we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going, we have a trustworthy source of guidance in the book God wrote. This is the picture described in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

But there’s a catch in this great promise about the benefits found in Scripture. Note the last phrase in the verse: “. . . that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” All that God has for you in His Word may come to you if you dig into it. But if your Bible remains closed, though the benefits are all there, you have not accessed them.

Amazing things can happen when you open your Bible. Get familiar with it. Figure out how to find your way around. Ask for help. The spiritual maturity you long for will never be a reality until you practice regular, careful study of Scripture.

Becoming a competent disciple of Jesus—one who is equipped to carry out the tasks He places before you—will always involve His Word. When you are reading His inspired thoughts, the Lord is breathing into you His truth, loving reproofs, gracious correction, and the guidance you need.

——————————————————————————–

Journal

What parts of Scripture do you gravitate to most often? Which ones do you tend to avoid?

Since it’s all profitable, how do you think you could benefit by taking time to familiarize yourself with books and chapters of in the Bible you have rarely visited?

Pray

Lord, thank You for breathing out Your Word and using faithful servants to record it for the rest of us. Thank You that I can hold it in my hands, open it at will, and anticipate that the words my eyes fall on are for my benefit, to teach, rebuke, correct, and train me. I long to have desire and delight be my primary response every time I engage with the book You wrote. I thank You today, for the precious gift of Your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen

THE BARRIER IS IN YOUR MIND!

Jesus said that He came to bring freedom to those held captive by destructive habits, to give sight to those who are spiritually blind, to lift up those who’ve been put down, and to announce that the time of God’s favour toward us has come.

‘…He has sent me to proclaim freedom…recovery…release…favour.’ Luke 4:18-19 NIV

If you look closely at ancient maritime maps you will see places which are marked with pictures of dragons. Sailors who explored the world wouldn’t go there. Were the dragons real? No, but they were real in the minds of the sailors. Picture a barracuda in a big tank at Sea World in Florida. A glass barrier divides one half from the other. Each time the barracuda tries to swim from one end of the tank to the other, he bumps into it. And here’s an interesting thing: even when the barrier is taken away, the barracuda still won’t swim beyond that point. Why? Because the barrier is in his mind! Satan will place barriers in your mind and say you can’t go beyond a certain point in life; you can’t dream beyond it, or reach beyond it. Don’t believe him! Jesus said Satan is a liar and the father of lies. But a lie is as effective as the truth if you believe it and act on it.

With God there are no limits, just unlimited power. The Bible is filled with stories of little people, limited people, lacklustre people, and, in some cases, low-life people who penetrated the barriers beyond which they thought they couldn’t go, and God used them to do amazing things. And He can do that for you too.

I dare you to believe God beyond the barrier that’s stands on your way.

Faith is disregarding the barriers and moving forward!

Have a Faith filled day today.

Much Love