My Declaration of Allegiance

Today I am stepping across the line. I’m tired of waffling, and I’m finished with wavering. I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable.

I’m going God’s way. There is no turning back. I will live the rest of my life serving God’s purposes with God’s people on God’s planet for God’s glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home waiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me”, character over comfort, service over status and people over possessions, position and pleasure. I know what matters most and I will give it all

I’ve got. I will do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today. I won’t be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I’ll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me. When times get tough and I get tired, I won’t back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I’ll just keep moving forward by God’s grace. I’m spirit-led, purpose-driven and mission-focused, so I can’t be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I’m a trophy of God’s amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day and generous with everything that God entrusts to me. I am a radical in the original sense of the word: rooted in Christ, rooted in love, and rooted in his Word.

I hereby declare my supreme allegiance to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I say however, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer is yes! I’m ready. Anytime. Anyway. Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way that on that final day I’ll hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful one. Come on in and let the eternal party begin!

Adopted from purpose driven devotional by Rick Warren

Masculine Success

Life was a little simpler for men a few years ago. At home, he was a family patriarch and a breadwinner. His word around the home was law.

However, in the modern society, men face a world in which macho is no longer enough. The new and improved model of male is expected to share in breadwinning and child-rearing and be both tender and tough. Where once independence and aloofness were desirable, now openness, sensitivity and intimacy are prized. With the changing times, most men, especially the fathers are confused. This confusion has resulted in two types of men, the emasculated male and the macho male.

Emasculated males are weak, indecisive men, lacking confidence and drive. They are lovely people and are not interested in harming the earth or starting wars or working for co operations. Many are not happy; there is not much energy in them. They are life preserving but not exactly life giving. The women in their lives keep on complaining of being the only ones in the relationship with direction and purpose.

These are men whose fathers failed to define maleness and model its appropriate expression. They are men who are incapable of breathing life and energy into those around them. Men who lack the mysterious ingredient that would free them to fully engage in the challenges of marriage building, child rearing and career advancement.

However, this doesn’t mean that men need not express their feelings. In many cases the sensitive man who reacts deeply to stimuli and exhibits emotional sensitivity is perfectly normal. However, there's something wrong with a society that shames males who do not act in a tough, aggressive, and emotionally repressed manner--especially when such a significant portion of the population simply isn't cut out for or comfortable with these behaviours. When sensitive males do not conform to stereotypical male behaviour and instead express compassion, gentleness, and vulnerability, they may be shamed, or when they express normal levels of fear, anxiety, and sadness others may treat them as abnormal. The behaviours that are associated with females (actions that demonstrate empathy, sensitivity, compassion, and so on) are also natural male traits--they are simply not recognized as such in many societies.

The macho men are every bit as confused as their softer counterparts, but they choose the opposite response. These frightened and insecure men try to convince the world that they’re flesh and blood examples of raw manhood. Terrified little boys in grown-up bodies, they seek to erase all doubt about their maleness. So they dress and drive, walk and talk, curse and chew, fight and fornicate – like “real men”.

These contemporary conquistadores flaunt their achievement, power, property, muscles and sexual prowess while doing their level best to conceal every trace of self doubt, fear or vulnerability. Their goal is to wipe out any vestige of suspicion regarding their identity as “real men”. Some men do bold, rash, even frightening things to flaunt their masculinity. Some take dangerous financial risks and get involved in investment schemes to prove their manhood. Others dominate and intimidate employees, co-workers, wives and children to prove that they are strong and in control.

The solution to true male identity is found in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. Men are exhorted to do everything in Love. As a man, don’t try to prove yourself by being macho. In all your relationships, learn to mix strength with sensitivity, toughness with tenderness, leadership with submission.

Genuine masculinity requires that individual men be man enough to admit their need for a vital relationship the true God. Males need to be contrite enough to admit their need for God (macho men), yet courageous enough to step out in faith (emasculated men). Admitting personal sin and seeking a saviour is a big step that goes against the grain of contemporary thought.

Secure, free authentic men leave a mark – on their colleagues, friends, wives and especially their children. Authentic masculinity is intensity, drive, determination and desire. Its tears, laughter, love and spirituality; it’s balance and completeness.

And that my friends is what it means to be successful as a man!

Towards Success and Happiness

One of the reasons why people never live happy and successful lives is that they have failed to define what success is. The first step to success is to know your purpose in life. You don’t become successful if you don’t know your purpose in life. In order to know when you have reached your destination, you need to understand what that destination is. Success for somebody set to go to Nairobi, Kenya is taking the right flight or road towards there and successfully reaching the place. Thus you haven’t succeeded if you haven’t defined what you want to achieve and have successfully used your resources to achieve this goal.

This requires one to take responsibility for all the events in their lives. There is a great relationship between the amount of responsibility you take for the events in your life and the amount of control you feel you have about the events in your life. This will in effect affect the level of happiness and satisfaction in your life. It will motivate you to commit all your energies to achieving that which you have set your heart to achieve.

Having taken responsibility of your life, you need to create a vision of what you want to achieve. In setting a vision for your life, it is important to understand that you vision and mission must be written in such a way that it shows how your life will benefit other people. It is very important to understand that man’s success is a journey, not a destination. You can feel successful all the way along the journey not just after the destination. Success is living your life for others. Consider the fact that no tree “eats” its own fruits. It produces fruits for the benefit of others. It therefore follows that your God given gift is for the benefit of other people around you.

Can it be said of you, “after he/she had served his/her purposes in his/her generation, he/she rested”?

Perfection

There are two kinds of perfection which the Christian needs--the perfection of justification in the person of Jesus, and the perfection of sanctification wrought in him by the Holy Spirit.

Within us are still lusts and evil imaginations. But I rejoice to know that the day is coming when God shall finish the work which He has begun; and He shall present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but perfect through the Spirit, without spot or blemish, or any such thing.

Can it be true that this poor sinful heart of mine is to become holy even as God is holy? Can it be that this spirit, which often cries, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this sin and death?" shall get rid of sin and death--that I shall have no evil things to vex my ears, and no unholy thoughts to disturb my peace?

Oh, happy hour! may it be hastened! When I cross the Jordan, the work of sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I even claim perfection in myself.

I therefore seek to imitate Christ in my daily life. This would facilitate my happiness and joy in communing with Christ. I know there is nothing which can so assist me to walk towards heaven with good speed, as wearing the image of Jesus on my heart. It is when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I am enabled to walk with Jesus in His very footsteps, that I am most happy, and most known to be the son of God.

I also seek to imitate Christ because religion, has not been sorely shot at by cruel foes, but it has been wounded one-half so dangerously by its friends. There is no weapon half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent professors injure the gospel more than the sneering critic or the infidel.

Would you choose to be more Christlike today?

April 2011

This is what I'd say out of my April 2011 Experiences; the month that I've experienced the most physical and emotional pain in my life.

I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions for tomorrow, there's been times I didn't know right from wrong. I've been to lots of places, I've seen a lot of faces, there's been times I felt so all alone. But in my lonely hours, yes, those Precious lonely hours, Jesus let me know that I was His own.

Life is easy when you're up on the mountain and you've got peace of mind like you've never known.

But then things change and you're down in the valley. Don't lose faith for you're never alone.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley. When things go wrong, He'll make it right.

And the God of the good times is still God in the bad times. The God of the day is still God in the night.

I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through. For if I'd never had a problem, I wouldn't know God could solve them, I'd never know what Faith in God could do.

Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to depend upon His Word.

A tribute to my Grandfather

To my family, relatives and friends who knew Mr.Wilson Bukachi Eshikuta, my dear beloved grandfather, may the grace and peace of Almighty God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit be with you all. I would like to share a few words about my grandfather, whom I loved very dearly and respected highly.

I think grandchildren have a special vantage point. By the time we meet our grandparents, they’ve probably made most of their mistakes and learned most of their lessons. Their secret journey, unobserved by others, has imperceptibly carved itself into their faces.

I also think that there are lives that are so whole that when they end, you realize they’ve told the story of all of our lives. Wlson Bukachi Eshikuta, my grandfather, had that kind of life.

My grandfather was a man of hard work, honesty and integrity. He never did a shoddy work, never cut corners to get quick money even when he would have nor did he swindle anybody of their money. He trained me to be a hard worker and commit myself to highest levels of excellence and integrity. Whatever Grandpa was involved in, he made sure that it was done the right way. He never cut corners, and always made sure others were happy.

His highest level of education was class 1 yet he could read, speak and understand English very well. He was a quick learner having learnt the skills of masonry without ever attending any formal classroom training. He worked hard to provide for our needs and for all the years I stayed with my grandfather, I never went to bed on an empty stomach even when there was great scarcity.

Were it not for my grandfather, I personally would not be alive today. Neither would my siters and brother be what they are today. I’ve stayed with my grandfather since my childhood and he willingly took in my younger siblings when we lost our parents. He accepted me as his own son and loved me unconditionally.

I have managed to get where I am today because my grandfather worked hard to ensure that I was in school. He paid my fees and provided for my daily needs. He denied himself so much that I may achieve my goals in life. I am what I am today because my grandfather believed in me even when everyone else didn’t. I dropped out of school due to lack of school fees but he encouraged me to be patient and when opportunity came, he took me back to school.

The greatest treasure he gave to me was leading me to my faith in Christ. I am Christian today because I saw a Christian in my grandfather. Were it not for this great faith, I don’t think I would have mastered the strength to handle this loss. He taught me how to put my trust and confidence in the ever present and faithful God.

If you’d let me, I could write several pages of stories and details of what my grandfather meant to me.

He was a father, a mentor, a friend and a role model. His commitment to excellence, honesty, responsibility and accountability and hard work are the qualities I’d wish to be remembered for. He motivated me to fulfil God’s purposes in my generation.

In conclusion, Grandpa will be missed dearly. I hope to someday become half the man he was. People like my Grandfather are one in a million. Anyone who was around Grandpa knew of his generosity, work ethic, humility, integrity and selflessness.

Albert Einstein once said, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.” So let us celebrate Grandpa’s life and continue his legacy.

Thank you Grandpa. I love you, and will miss you.

Leadership Based on Biblical Principles - 10 Leadership Lessons from Nehemiah

Leadership Based on Biblical Principles - 10 Leadership Lessons from Nehemiah

Friend - Will you intervene?

Friendship is crucial to emotional and personal development. We learn to become fully human persons in part through our relational history. Friendship is good not only for our personal development but also for our moral development. One reason is that friendship offers a second self with whom we share feelings, thoughts, moral judgments and criticism. Paul Wadell notes, “One reason we have friends is that there is a good we share with them, but the reason friendships grow and become such a delight is that we cannot be good without them, indeed, we cannot be good at all”

Our mordern society is organized in such a way that long and deep friendships are exceedingly difficult. In “God’s week has 7 days”, Wally Kroeker tells of how he was aghast to read in the paper that his friend Russell had been charged with embezzlement. Later that day they met over coffee. For five years, Russell rose rapidly in his profession and adjusted his life style to support his image. Then in a cash-flow pinch, he "borrowed" someone else's assets, dipped into another account to pay back the first, and so on.

As he described his plight it dawned on him that he hadn't been a good friend to Russell. He should have mentioned something when he noticed him becoming consumed by his work, when he stopped coming to some of the church events they used to attend together.He might have confronted him on his increasingly overheated lifestyle and upscale tastes.

Someone needs to tell us, as Jethro told his son-in-law Moses [in Exodus 18:17-18], "What you are doing is not good." That kind of intervention may be seen as a threat to privacy. But isn't that an essential part of Christian mutual support?

The active promotion of the concept of friendship might lead us to the conclusion that it is widely experienced. We have friendly churches, user-friendly machines and friendship evangelism. Yet behind the rhetoric is a deep craving for what is seldom experienced-intimate, lifelong relationships in which persons are enjoyed simply for who they are and not what they can do for us.

Ironically, people who boast of “my friends” may be among the most lonely as they are encircled by acquaintances, business colleagues or others linked by obligations and benefits through an unwritten contract of the mutual meeting of needs. Friendship, in contrast, is not for anything except the friend, and therefore as a nonutilitarian relationship, friendship takes us to the center of Christian living. The history of a person’s spiritual pilgrimage can usually be traced from the history of that person’s friendships.

We are called to care about one another – and to show it. The answer to the one of the oldest questions “am I my brother’s keeper?” is yes. Being a brother’s keeper may at times mean intervening with tough love when it would be easier to let thing slide. A true friend however steps in. Paul did this (Galatians 2:11); Jethro did it (Exodus 18:13-26).

May we seek to be true friends to one another, speaking up even if it might at first cause a little pain to both parties involved.

My Hope is in You

Comfort is something that everyone wants to have in life. To have peace of mind, to be relieved from misery, to possess contentment and inner calm -- certainly everyone desires that!

But comfort is something few people possess. For some, comfort is when things go well in life, when I have all that I want, good health and few problems. Others would say that comfort is the ability to brush away the bad, to have a strong will, to take the bitter with the sweet. Still others say that comfort is to escape the realities of life, whether that be done by vacations, pills, or liquor.

For instance, in a funeral home. What words of comfort would you speak there? Some say that comfort is looking at all the good the person did in his life. Others might say that death is natural, and what matters is only that we enjoy life and use it while we have it. And still others, weighed down with sorrow, would frankly admit to you that there is no comfort to be found in this life, no place where men do not weep. What consolation would you give to someone who said that?

In opposition to all worldly ideas of comfort and man's attempts of consoling a person in grief, the Christian, no matter what his life may be, has the only comfort in both life and death. Our comfort as Christians rests upon the Bible, the Word of God. One could even say that the Bible is God's word of comfort to His people. Isaiah the prophet is commanded to proclaim God's word in Isaiah 40:1 and 2, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins."

There the comforting word is that Jerusalem's iniquity is pardoned, her warfare is over, for she has received from God the forgiveness of her sins. Isaiah voices that same soothing word in chapter 52:9, "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem." There, again, the Scripture identifies comfort with redemption, that is, with the forgiveness of sins by the grace of God. The apostle Paul in 2Corinthian 1:3, 4 gives us the same message of comfort, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." There God is identified as the "God of all comfort," that is, all comfort proceeds from Him and is to be found only in fellowship with Him. He is the one able to comfort us in all our tribulation. And the purpose for which God comforts us is that we might be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.

If we were to summarize what the Bible teaches about comfort, we could give the following definition: Comfort is knowing that I am not my own but belong in body and soul to Jesus Christ, Who has purchased me with His blood so that my sins are forgiven and I am given eternal life.

That is comfort! How wonderful! That I, in life or in death, belong to Jesus, or as Romans 14:8 puts it, "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live, therefore, or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

That comfort which proceeds from God consists of two parts. First, Christian comfort is the knowledge that I am not my own. I am neither independent nor self-reliant. Paul writes in I Corinthians 6:19, "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost that is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" That means that the child of God does not rely upon himself or any product of man's wisdom for his comfort. This is, of course, contrary to what we would like to think. In pride we can think at times that our own mind or strength will be able to see us through our troubles. But Christian comfort is the confession, "I am not my own." For you see, if I were my own, then I would be personally responsible for an enormous debt of sin which I could never wipe out but only increase daily.

Secondly, true comfort is the knowledge that I do belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. This is true because Jesus purchased me with His blood shed on Calvary where He redeemed me from my sins and made me His possession. I Peter 1:18, 19 says this so beautifully: "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Because Jesus by grace purchased me with His blood upon the cross, I belong to Him.

What does it mean to belong to Jesus?

Belonging to Christ means that I am united inseparably to Him by faith. It means that I am His property, that He owns me and is also accountable for me, both body and soul, in life and in death, in time and eternity. It implies that He is responsible for every part of me, and He must keep me and lead me to the eternal glory of His kingdom. More, it means that He rules me by His Spirit and grace, and as my Lord He gives me all that I need for body and soul. I may, therefore, rely upon Him, casting all my cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for me (I Pet. 5:7).

Belonging to Jesus means that I may say with the inspired Paul in Galatians 2:20, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." All things are now controlled by Christ Who is at God's right hand, and all the events of my life are used by Christ for my good and spiritual profit. All the problems and pains of this present life cannot crush me or sever the blessed union that Christ by grace has established with me. It was in the full consciousness of belonging to Jesus Christ that caused Paul to utter the beautiful words in Romans 8, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Notice two things in conclusion. First of all, this is an exclusive comfort. There is nothing else in the whole world that can comfort you. It is not the highest comfort, or the best comfort, or the chief comfort. But it is the only comfort. Comfort is not that I belong to Jesus and that I am healthy, wealthy, or strong. Comfort is not that I belong to Jesus and have a good insurance policy. To have anything along side this exclusive comfort is to forfeit this comfort. The only comfort is to belong completely to Jesus in life and in death.

In the second place, this is also an all-sufficient comfort. It is sufficient for every circumstance of life and for all the horrors we go through. No matter what evil may enter my life, belonging to Jesus means that He comforts me and sends it for my profit. Comfort is knowing that I am never out of the hands of Jesus and that all things serve, in one way or another, my good. No, we don't always know how that is, nor can we always explain how the evil is for our good. Comfort is to believe it! When evil things befall us, comfort is knowing that God sent it for our good, and, in Christ, also gives us grace to bear it in thanksgiving. This is what the Holy Spirit means in Romans 8:28. "For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."

Is your only comfort found in this, that you belong not to yourself but to the faithful Savior Jesus Christ? Then sincerely live unto Him in thanksgiving all the days of your life! That is my prayer for you at this difficult moment. May God comfort you and give you strength to serve Him diligently