Author: Soulsunshine.

Titles should be earned. And for those that cannot be earned, then titles should be upheld, lived up to.

So what is your title? Are you that scholar who’s scaled the heights of your specialization to be called a professor? What is your title? Are you called princess, and I do not mean the sweet nothings lovers call each other nowadays or that you were named so by your mother, but that you were born in royalty… Or do you merely feed off the the titles of passerbys and ambitious conductors, you know, the likes of “madam” or “mrembo“.. Titles.

Now all of these are titles. Some come easy like birthrights and some are like those that it can be said, in the sweat of thy face, shalt thou earn this title. Some are but flattery while some have been hard earned. Either way, the good titles should be upheld.

With that being said, probably one of the most common titles is Christian. It holds the majority in the ranks of religious organizations, it is held by the small and big, tall and short, poor or rich. Sadly, it has fallen prey to the unspoken law of prevalence, where if something is too common or monotonous it loses its initial appealing magnitude or the ability to serve its purpose. People in the long run forget the initial and intended mission of something common and there is a mirage or rather lack of clarity of the whole substance of the thing. Consequently there arises a division since everyone is scavenging to find the right course, at least to them. This has caused impalpable turmoil in Christendom and widespread disintegration into small groups. I have no intention today to delve into who is right and who isn’t. I simply want to appeal to reason and understanding, has Christianity become merely a title?

So what comes with being called a Christian? I stand in my ground to believe no one is born a Christian nor an atheist. The reason is simple that an infant has no capacity to have beliefs…but of course, the environment they are born in plays a large role in them deciding what they choose to consent to. Therefore assuming you chose to be a Christian, did you understand the terms and conditions?

Alluding to the famous phrase based on Acts11, the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. But what led to the name, or title? Well, it is very basic and found in the very positioning of its syllables, Christ-ian…the same way that if you’re from Egypt, we will call you an Egypt-ian… So Christian is from the name Christ…in other words, if Jesus had a nation called Christ, then members of that nation would be called Christians… And basically they would comply to the laws of the nation, in this I mean, Christians are of Christ, thus they follow the way of Christ. I might have confused you, so let this inspired writer place it pointblank!..

To be a Christian is to be Christlike. CS 54.1

But how do you get this title in the first place? It is an arbitrary choice to believe in the One by whom you will be called. You choose to believe in Christ and in the Father who sent Him, for it is written the just shall live by faith. And faith comes by hearing the word of God.

But Christian has become just a title, flaunted in the halls of sin with the excuse of “grace”. From the very top leadership to the merest of congregant….we are the ones grabbing our neighbour’s land, we are the worst triflers of hearts, we are among the harshest of bosses, laziest of students and when the heathen see us and are puzzled, they are forced to conclude, ah Christianity is just a title!..

Now thus saith the Lord, My name is blasphemed among the unbelievers because of you. We are not Christlike anymore. Have we not heard the word of God? Is our faith so dead considering how it has not wrought good works?

Paul says, that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (I.e. justification, sanctification, glorification). I agree. I believe in the power of the gospel. The gospel should bring out the best in man. It should produce the noblest of men, the meekest of ladies, the chastised of youths, the competent of employees. It is in the church that we should find those husbands who would open car doors for their wives, those children that would be quiet in reverence to God during worship, ladies who only know to speak good of others and leaders who rebuke in love. It should be a communion of sinners not saved in their sin but from their sin. How then should our light shine forth before men?

In this journey, our path has been lighted by the flame of the burnt martyrs as we track the footprints of Christ. We have not like them been called to physically die for our faith,..yet.. Unfortunately, time is no longer on our side. A time is coming when you will not only have to prove by your works, but by your blood, of the faith you profess. I do not know if your faith will endure, beheading, being skinned alive, or being stoned. But this is the time to prove that you are worthy of the acclaimed title, Christian. It is not just a title, its a lifestyle.

In high school we read a certain set book called tumbo lisiloshiba and it was rather a combination of books. In it there was one that was enthralling by the name masharti ya kisasa… It is basically translated to the new order of things(the Swahili gurus you’ll forgive me for the inexact translation). Now a summary of the book would be that in the new order of things, gender based roles are retrogressive focusing on the domestic marriage setting. Aaah the nostalgia is overwhelming but in any case I’m sure you’re throbbing with curiosity, some even armed to teeth with responses to preconceived ideas provoked by today’s topic. Hold your horses, you may be in for a shock of the century at the turn of events but I shall try to feed your curiosity in the course or end of this read…. Our fundamental focus will be, Thus saith the Lord

So what does the Lord say about men and laundry? First in the context of our study, who are men? The Bible says:

Genesis 1
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.… Now we will assume the context of this verse for our study. Accordingly therefore we deduce man means, male and female… And yes, I have a couple of more verses but here’s one more..

Matthew 4
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Once again this was meant to mean in its context(also in Deuteronomy 8:3) that a man and woman shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I’ll leave that at that as we move to, what do I mean by clothes.. Thus saith the Lord:

Isaiah 64
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Now righteousness is right doing or rather keeping the law, even as sin is the transgression of the law(1John3:4). The blessed Bible alludes any seemingly righteous deed of our own to filthy rags. We shall hence look at clothes as character or righteousness.

Isaiah has already drawn us to what our clothes/ righteousness is like. Filthy rags.. I know of no one who would enjoy to be adorned in rags. We would have them washed to remove their filth, right? But really even if that would be possible we would only be dressed in some clean rags. Thus it is also with our characters. The moment we want to try and make ourselves look right, if you even care about righteousness, we start to go wrong. And many have failed miserably others dismayed and discouraged because of this.

We have a laundry problem. We are trying so hard to wash our clothes. The general response of the Christian seems to be, since God has loved me so much, I need to try and please Him so that He accepts me into His kingdom. But what does the Lord say?;

Jeremiah 13
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

As surely as the Ethiopian cannot change his skin neither can we, accustomed to do evil do good. The answer is, men cannot wash their clothes, they should not. Yet Matthew 5:48 still resounds that be ye perfect, and Jesus still said that blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. How shall we be filled, how shall we get rid of filthy rags of self righteousness? Thus saith the Lord:

Zechariah 3
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

There is a new garment that all would obtain. We need not wash rags. The sweet command echoes, take away the filthy garments, I will clothe thee with new raiment. This raiment is Christ. He has become our righteousness!! Behold, thus saith the Lord:

Romans 13
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

John 15
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Dear reader, as I bring this to a close,I hope you realize the significance of this garment. There is a wedding feast and you are invited. Go ye unto a wedding with rags? no! There’s a light in the window, tables spread in splendor, all are invited, but few are chosen, only those who have the right garment. Put Christ on, only then shall you stand.

We were recently told we need to have a picture of ‘your person’. This was however quite unnecessary because I’m sure most of us if not all already do, especially ladies. We’ll be having an idea of even a wedding gown as early 10.(Effects of these Cinderella cartoons partly). But of course I’m not addressing myself to a toddler. So how is your checklist dear sister…some I’m sure are as outrageous as “he must have edges and a jawline.” Anyway, I don’t mean to rain on your parade but…let’s not be petty. We need to filter needs from wants and tiny compromises have to be made..if need be…

Now speaking of compromise, we must be careful…There is one that should not under any circumstance be overlooked. I don’t mean to impose on your preferences but this is the mere minimum, if I should put it that way, or rather it is the starting point. So let’s draw the bottom line, shall we?

He’s not the one, till He’s met the Man….some of y’all already know what I’m talking about, but, hey,let’s not make assumptions… I want to draw us first to the Man. There was a man who was willing to die in your place… A man who is proclaimed by God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints and feared by devils. He is the One through whom all things were made(John1:3)…He is the One that said, “it is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a help meet for him.” He is the first matchmaker, the first wingman…the whole idea of partnership was His. Our problem is we want the invention without the inventor, whom without the invention would never be..

Let’s take some time to look at His order..

Genesis 2
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.

He created Man, gave Him instructions then saw it fit to grant Him a helper. You see, God did not entrust Eve to a man who had not an experience with Him. The truth is we will always have contention with the submission mentioned in Ephesians 5:22, if we overlook this. The only way to submit to the man who wants to cleave to you, is if he himself has submitted to the Man Christ. How can we want claim the right given that, ” Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for it”, if the man does not know Christ. How can He love,a love that gives up even life, if they have not experienced the love of the cross? You see we ask to much of them if that’s the case…

Now with that being said some Christian ladies are about to stone me because some of them have been beaten with character development (if you know what I mean) by these men who profess to be followers of the man Christ. Now, profession amounts to nothing if the life has not been transformed. Take heed lest you find that they are as thorough in breaking hearts as they are on those pulpits…How then shall we know?..

Matthew 7
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?…This is pretty frank and clear..but what are the fruits?

Galatians 5
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Now as I end, let me highlight this… Sanctification is not rapture..We cannot place such a standard and expect all men should have had everything worked out. Simply look in the mirror too and judge if yourself have reached that level.. However any Christian is to have conversion as a daily process, and by beholding Christ we become changed from glory to glory… Otherwise we must learn to treat good men as fallible and bad men as redeemable… Disclaimer: Dear daughter of Eve, be careful lest you make these demands on any of our brothers while yourself have not met the Man. You must also have an experience with the Man and submit to Him first before any other..

For my sisters in the PCM mistries ( preach, convert, marry)..I simply suggest you be clear whether you want a relationship or a crusade. Otherwise I know of needy mission projects you could support. (Apologies for any violence detected).

Peace be with you.

And tonight once again the daylight fades
I used to love the darkness.. It brought calmness, peace and quiet.
I used to love the night sky, with the bright twinkles mid the blackness
But now I have phobias..and as the sunshine set again today, its no different… The darkness thrills no more
It wakes demons, it dims effort. Herein hides secrets, herein refuges silent tears.
Now the day replays, and battles lost molest, like firearms held over the head… And the warrior they saw, now crawls by the knees behind the scenes…

There’s a place I know, I’ve only heard of it though..
They say its free from sin, there there’ll be no more battles..
I have heard of it, a place with no parting..
So I hear there, are streets of gold and mansions fair..
But all I hear, whispering in my ear, is of the Saviour there
Who left that land of bliss, to die in misery
And even more my heart’s delight, is to know there’s no night..
For my Saviour who died, there He is all the light…
Now I hear tonight, sweet whispering hope.

On 27th May, 2015, researchers reported a robot invention that was able to learn to move in just two minutes after its limbs were damaged.. Now this professor had this to say…

“Robots will eventually provide tremendous benefits to society, especially if they can complete tasks too dangerous for humans to perform,” study author Jeff Clune of the University of Wyoming told The Post. Many roboticists hope their creations will end up digging for survivors in treacherous rubble and fighting deadly fires in man’s stead. “But robots won’t be effective in those situations if they can’t adapt and continue on after being damaged,” Clune said.

Robots of course have designers or their inventors. In this case, the designer foresaw the obvious that the invention would be prone to ‘wear and tear’ or damage and designed this robot to combat this fate…was the robot designed to break? In this case, most probably, because in order for them to test this new feature, they had to break its limbs… But is that the case too for human beings…

Firstly, if a robot has a designer, then a living, breathing, emotional not to mention the incomparable complex body organs which all function in harmony, should lack a designer? And the design cannot surely measure up to the designer, I mean creator is far far more superior to creature or created… This is not however my point of contention… Let’s get into our theme of the day..

I saved a certain quote, more than a year ago during a difficult time, and it somehow gave solace to me… Lately it has really been ringing in my head so maybe I should share it, and you may choose what to make of it. It says, “Maybe we are all designed to break to teach us how much we can take, maybe this is how the future survives the past.”

So is it so?… Did our Designer, design us for breakage?… Maybe this might have given me comfort for some reason, but now, now it beats my logic just how…. Because we are not robots.. We are actual, living, souls, with emotions.

When we go a step further to look at breaking in form of grief, the magnitude is variant on the event or even the type of affected person. Death might be the weightiest and the truth is, you never get used to it. In fact, the second or third blow might be worse than the first. Was this our Creator’s design? Did God design us thus?

We looked at this in a previous blog and saw that all He created was good. And it was sin, disobedience to His good order of things that bore all destruction that weighs us down. We were not made to break. Maybe that’s why even a small cut can be very painful. We were not created to die, maybe that’s why death is so painful.

This is why, I will still have contention with people claiming we can overcome with strength within. It cannot be so. That’s why we even need to draw from God the willingness to go to Him for help, let alone the help we need, Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And praise God, because He is willing and able to help us!

With that being said, my first antidote for grief will be to go to our Designer. He knows where to fix and how to fix it. He did it once and He more than able and willing to do it again. He has done it for so many, He has done it for me, and you are not an exception. In fact He is the only antidote, the rest are just means He uses to help you.

Now the second recommendation is maybe unpopular…but because the rest have been spoken of a lot, let me speak on this. The second, is “living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” or leading faithful lives to the Creator. How could this possibly make grief any lighter? Allow me to focus on grief caused by death of a loved one…look:

John 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Well Jesus is the One speaking these words (check your Bible), but how can we truly eat of Him? Well through scripture, for Jesus was the Word made flesh John 1:1-14..and in His temptation He said, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Looking to Him, daily obtaining strength from Him to obey Him, not because of what He gives but what He’s already done(died to set us free from sin) we shall not die! And this is the eternal death we’re talking about.

So imagine if each of our loved ones would just look to Jesus, that they live by every word, we would not have to lose them forever! We would only part for a while but assured to meet again never more to part. I don’t know about you, but this makes grief lighter. We would still cry but have hope of meeting. Tears of hope! May this buoy our spirits up, to lessen each other’s grief, and not work just for our salvation but for others’ too. That none should be lost, and not just for our sake but theirs too.

We sat at the edge of our seats, waiting for that bell to ring. Bittersweet feeling honestly….sometimes it would mean lunchtime, sometimes it meant time for that dreaded subject (probably kiswahili/social studies..ha!). But this time its home time! And at the moment it rang, oh how we would scramble for the door..then our eyes would caress the grey pavements to catch a glimpse of mostly, mum!

School days were the worst!…then… Barely knowing enough, we’d wake up to the dreaded morning shower, only to go to school with one umbrella to shelter three….sometimes I forgot to do my homework because all weekend we played football with the boy next door( and yes, it was weird football because we didn’t have to run around but it was still football!) And now the math teacher expected us to present the multiplication assignments off our heads. So my two friends wrote 4×4=16 at the back of my hand so I wouldn’t have to face the wrath of “Mr Blue”

Then there came the holidays… Sometimes we had to go to the suburbs…I mean to my grandma’s…and it was weird because we didn’t know the local dialect…you should have seen how the two parties stumbled over words, just to say good morning…and at first you would hear our murmurs on how there was no electricity and we couldn’t watch “The power puff girls“… And there were no dolls to play with…so we had to settle for long walk around the steep hills, and go fetch water at the river… But I loved it still, not the walks, but roasting maize till late at night… The spooky stories of cousins from the coast where allegedly animals talk(cats mostly)

But the years have gone by… Some friends changed schools, some moved, like us to those suburbs we so dreaded… We went to high school and most of us “grew up“(just went through puberty)… We met new people that we’ve lost again… We went to uni and it got worse… Now we have opinions, now we know religion, others have money others don’t.. Others fell in love and actually fell… Now we have walls that were once bridges… Others are broken where others succeeded… And some we only know they’re happy by checking their timeline… And we have loved and lost… We have cried and we have laughed… We have moved on when we thought we had given up…

Yesterday, I probably wrote a few resignation letters to God… Some that I still think I mean..I know maybe you’ve written some yourself too… But I took a walk down that memory lane.. And path has only gotten steeper… And ahead it won’t get any easier….. But I have seen light rekindled on the darkest of days.. I have seen strength renewed on the weariest of plains… I have seen ashes become beautiful… I have had old acquaintance renewed and believed only mountains don’t meet… And I still believe in beautiful things.. So I have made this faithful saying mine:…

In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.LS 196.2

And so with a smile so bold, may God bless the broken road!

Sitting right now, I realize the enormity of this word “depression”. You’ve probably heard it so many times, and probably even equally read countless articles on it. I probably fear monotony more than you, but this time, this time I feel like we can’t get enough of this subject. With its growing commonness, depression is slowly underrated…..well, until its your brother going through it, or your sister hanging under that rope…let’s talk about it once more shall we?

So what is depression? According to the American Oxford dictionary: [uncountable] a medical condition in which a person feels very sad and anxious and often has physical symptoms such as being unable to sleep, etc….. Then there is clinical depression:a mental illness that causes feelings of sadness and loss of hope, changes in sleeping and eating habits, loss of interest in your usual activities, and sometimes physical pains.

And of course further there are stages, degrees and causes of depression.. And all these are important, but my focus today is solutions… However, first of course, if any of the above definitions describe anything you might be feeling seek for help! Tell a trusted friend, tell your mother, your father, tell a doctor or psychiatrist… There is abundant help… We start to go wrong the moment we are in denial or underestimate this terrible menace…the moment we entertain the thought that “it can’t happen to me“

So then to my object of discussion… Should Christians be going through depression? First allow me to draw the baseline that should be quite obvious… That there are 2 waring sides..there is a battle raging, for good and for evil… And of course even a 3year old will tell you good is for God and bad is for Satan… Now is depression a good thing or bad thing? Yes, you’re right…of course anything that threatens our mortality, that makes us sad is not good… To be bolder, I’m trying to say, depression is not of God..remember the verse:

James 1
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Previously we saw in Egypt a certain percentage of people are atheists because they don’t believe God would have created us to suffer. Now I completely agree with this fold, not in their belief of no God but in the belief that we were not created to suffer… You see, God’s very exclamation after each day of creation was that “It was good” and when it came to man, “It was very good!” But the moment sin came in, there was fear, anxiety and eventually death as well!

So back on track, down to history we look at the various patriarchs and men of God to answer our question. Did they face depressing times? Behold, Abraham climbing the mountain to sacrifice his son, turn your eye on the famous Job who lost everything, not to mention Elijah desolate in the wilderness and of course the man of sorrows, the word made flesh, at Gethsemane shedding sweat as blood drops among others… These are considered among the strongest in the faith, but behold their situations.. The holy writings themselves say in John16:33 “In this world ye shall have tribulation“. Thus far I believe it is clear, that as the sun shines to both the righteous and the wicked, tribulation/times of deep distress assail all alike. Thus an inspired writer nakedly puts it: Into the experience of all there come times of keen disappointment and utter discouragement—days when sorrow is the portion, and it is hard to believe that God is still the kind benefactor of His earthborn children; days when troubles harass the soul, till death seems preferable to life. {PK 162}

But is there no line to be drawn between the believer and the nonbeliever? And if there be no difference then of what benefit is being called a Christian? It is clear that non is immune to hard times, but dear sister, dear brother, is there no balm in Gilead? Listen to the beautiful words:

Hebrews 4
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

So then oh soul are you weary and troubled, the sweet words come resounding, “Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will you give rest.” Are you not strong enough to walk to him? Well he says then,” Behold, I stand at the door and knock.. “All you need to do is open your heart to Him, to take your requests to Him.. Have you no more faith, behold the man who said ” help thou my unbelief” and make it your prayer…He sends no one away… Have you been here awhile and seen no change, well tonight go pray again, go kneel again, and He says “Test Me“. And do you want to hear Him speak? Pray and listen to that still small voice, read His word and test Him in this! You don’t have to fight alone!

#let’s fight depression! Not just with words this time! May peace and sanity daily find you, and may you be able to maintain!!

With a heart pained, and a pen constrained, we shall not dilly dally, but hit the nail on the head. Shall we?

Has a friend ever betrayed you? And I mean a deliberate betrayal.. But millennialism will lead us to call them *fake friends*. Why are we afraid to call them enemies? But peace! Forgive and walk from that. Let me bring a point home… There is One who does not regard lukewarmness…. There is One who does not have *fake friends*. It is either one or the other(friendship or enmity)

But we have all alike beheld the trampling upon His name,the trifling upon His law and bold jest to His very existence. For whether He exists or not is not a question for me, but for the sake of completely eradicating ignorance, it will be a topic for another day. But in regard to this, the heartrending part is that all this mockery is done by those who claim to bear His name. Look at the causes for atheism (study done in Egypt)

Atheism causes :The previous question asked the non-believers asking them for their biggestreason/event that made them not believe in god. 85.7% of them said that it`s their own thoughts.21.4% had a life shock that made them hate religion, 3.6% were due to family, 25% were due toreligious people and their thoughts and 3.6% said that they don`t believe the idea that god createsus to suffer. This answer indicates that the biggest two reasons for atheism in Egypt are reading,overthinking, religious people and life shocks.

Interesting right? But today, we shall focus on the second largest reason for atheism… As the statistics show, a whooping 25% does not believe in a Deity or God because of religious people.

Honestly, no one is born a believer or nonbeliever.. But once you choose to become a believer, surely, are you believing in God or men? Of course it should be God… So whether or not the claimed believers resonate with the expected lifestyle standard, you should really be focusing on you and God, and whether you are living the faith… So to an extent if someone due to their shortcomings makes you fall, you will still give an account… were you beholding the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, or fallible men equally in need of grace?

Even so, we shall not ignore the part played by others(believers) in the faith of the least of these(new believers). How can we, when according to the above study, its the second biggest reason why people are atheists?… Notably, you will find ample and ample supply of the reason for this cause. Some time back, I watched quite a common figure who apparently had the cause for her not going to church because she had been raped twice, by church members(in leadership positions) at different time frames, meaning at different churches!… Well this broke my heart to tears. God did not feel to her like a good Father. What does He even teach His people in church?!…

Otherwise you will hear so many cases of pastors and church leaders who are crowding the market to thieves, murders etc…

But the goodness of God is really an independent variable to the behaviour of His professed followers. He is not good because His followers are good. But still , it remains that His followers have a standard, well-known to even the heathen. Yet I will say, profession cannot be placed on the balance to weigh Christianity. Actions can. And if they fail the criteria of faith with no actions is dead, of to the law and to the testimony, there is no *fake friends* scenario. For by this we have tarnished the name of genuine believers. Be it known that it is only friendship or enmity. But stay off the judgement seat. It is not yours, neither is it mine… But should these camouflaged individuals go unpunished? As I conclude, this writer puts it best…

There are only two classes in the world today, and only two classes will be recognized in the Judgment,–those who violate God’s law, and those who keep His law. Two great opposing powers are revealed in the last great battle. On one side stands the Creator of heaven and earth. All on His side bear His signet. They are obedient to His commands. On the other side stands the Prince of darkness, with those who have chosen apostasy and rebellion.  {RH, May 7, 1901 par. 10}

Only judge where you stand and stay true to your side. But to side with truth is noble.

Story of my life all through boarding school reached its climax at the moment you had to go home. And not just go but of course with the result transcript. Without further exposing myself, of course I’m sure for most if not all, the joy of going home you would not have if the figures on that transcript were not promising. Especially….. If you have strict parents.. And yes, I know of people who would not go home for such reasons! Imagine!

Its sad, isn’t it? Maybe parents should really look into this…or aspiring parents. Its good to establish a standard for kids, especially based on a previous consistent, performance record.. You will gage their ability and any drop should meet the necessary and appropriate method to redeem the child. Out of ignorance of where you schooled, I presume that majority of us would love to go home after a term/semester of school. I mean, why would I substitute the narrow metallic bunkbed for my conveniently wide and cosy bed..and the dreaded morning porridge with my homemade matoke for breakfast????

You can come home anyway… Oh how sweetly these words resound in my ear.. Despite that result slip, come home anyway… After all, it was never the gate pass to come home, was it? I mean, you were born to this homestead even without your consent… None of your merits earn you a place at the table… Isn’t that how homes work?… Or has it not become their ,( your parents) , obligation to take care of you??

I think all this is simple logic… Yet we all have one time or the other, missed to see. No? But have you never stumbled or fell? And maybe His statutes rebelled… Well I have seen those children, and myself numbered amongst them… Yes I have seen the bar and the standard unshaken… And we have missed the mark. Dost our Father lower the bar? No..not even a jot nor an iota… Out of tyranny or indifference?.. No…But out of an infinite knowledge of what we can do if we take hold of His hand, if we come the dust and wounds of the fall to wipe away, if we come home anyway..

Dear reader, did you stumble again? Did the devil’s whisper not be in vain? Did you hacken to his fluttering again? No, the standard is still the same.. The command still resounds,” Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Yes the retribution still stands, ” The wages of sin is death.” But not to condemnation do I send you today, for I am no better than you, maybe I am the chief of the prodigals.. But I hear our Father’s voice. Allow me to amplify it, for thus it says, ” YOU CAN COME HOME ANYWAY! “… Is it too good to be true?

It is no lie, that the one to whom much was given, much will be required.. But we often forget the Enabler. We flutter ourselves in the standard measure, and the positions we have acquired because men’s eyes perceived that we have there reached. So then, amen to the stumbling and falls that remind us of our inability to stand on our own. Standing ovation to the sins that easily entangle, to bring us to our knees when we forget. And I pray it brings you on knees of prayers and not defeat.

Let not the marred transcript prevent you from coming. Let it remind you that even when the record was clean, it was never the gate pass to His feet. And now the old hymn resounds again..

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come

Come home anyway, because He is the One that bidst you, come home anyway, with the bold “excuse” that that stain of sin is the reason He shed His blood. Come home anyway, for He has made Your sin His obligation to wipe, Your tears, His duty to dry and your care, in His mercy, away to drive!

Say no more to porridge!..

We can go home anyway!