What is Success

My Declaration of Allegiance

2011-06-21T13:05:00.002+03:00

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

2011-06-20T00:59:00.001+03:00

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

2011-06-05T20:10:00.000+03:00

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

2011-05-17T10:32:00.003+03:00

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

2011-04-29T18:53:00.003+03:00

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

2011-04-27T06:32:00.002+03:00

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

2011-02-04T22:10:00.000+03:00

Leadership Based on Biblical Principles - 10 Leadership Lessons from Nehemiah

Friend - Will you intervene?

2011-01-24T21:48:00.005+03:00

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

2011-01-06T18:51:00.003+03:00

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

Reflection on Truth

2010-12-31T09:24:00.004+03:00

Reflecting on what kept me going for the past few months, when at times even God Himself did not seem to make sense, I came to the conclusion that there exists an eternal God who created the universe ex nihilo. The universe is completely and absolutely contingent upon God for its beginning as well as its continued existence. He is among other thing, personal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, perfectly good, necessary and infinitely wise. It was not always easy to see His goodness. Neither did I understand His wisdom at all times. Through it all however, I came to be more convinced of His existence and perfection more than ever before.

I realized that God created me in His image and likeness. I am not merely a collection of physical parts. I am valuable to Him. Just as much as am of great value to Him, so are all the other human beings around me. Human life is sacred and ought to be protected. He has instilled in me the capacity to make moral choices. As a moral agent, I have the capacity to make decisions and judgments within the lager framework of family and government.

For me as a Christian and God’s agent in this world, marriage, government and church are not merely social constructions that can be shaped in any way consistent with some utopian vision of justice but rather are natural institutions in which and by which human being ought to learn what is good, true and beautiful. I seek and plan to get married soon not because all my friends are married. Not because my relatives want me to get married. Not because I feel am getting old. But because am convinced that God ordained marriage and has put in me a desire to get married, that I may establish another institution within which I can make moral choices. I honor and submit to the authority of the government and my Church not out of fear but out of respect for what God has established.

There were times when God revealed Himself to me in some special way apart from the revelation of Him that I found by reading the Bible and observing nature around me. For me to accept the truth in the bible, I had to accept the perfectness of God. If he is perfect as stated in Mk 10:18; Heb 6:18, then His word must be without error. I have to believe every bit of it. And that’s how my faith was built.

I got a chance to combine my faith with reason. I found every reason to believe in what I believe in. at some point, I held on to the fact that faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to. This is not what faith is all about. In our post modern society, I found a greater need to authenticate my faith. I purposed to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks me to give the reason for the hope that I have. But I seek to do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against my good behavior may be ashamed of their slander”. Yes, i have to explain what i mean when I say that my faith is true!

Talking of faith, my faith in Christ (Christianity) is more than something to give me peace of mind and purpose for life and happiness. It should to this but there is something more. True Christianity must be grounded in reality, it must make true claims about reality – who we are as human beings, who God is, and how we relate to God. The religion that cannot truthfully answer these questiuons is false, not because it fails to give one peace of mind, but because it makes false claims about the way things are. I therefiore go to church wevery Sunday not to feel good about myself, but to meet the real true God. I study His word not because I want to find some portion of scripture that will make me scream in happiness, but because it contains the real true truth.

And so my reflection and search for the True Truth continues

Treachery

2010-12-16T18:44:00.003+03:00

Thou art the beloved of the Lord, redeemed by blood, called by grace, preserved in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, on thy way to heaven, and yet, "thou hast dealt treacherously" with God, thy best friend; treacherously with Jesus, whose thou art; treacherously with the Holy Spirit, by whom thou hast been quickened unto life eternal!

How treacherous you have been in the matter of vows and promises. Do you remember the love of your espousals, that happy time--the springtide of your spiritual life? Oh, how closely did you cling to your Master then! saying, "He shall never charge me with indifference; my feet shall never grow slow in the way of His service; I will not suffer my heart to wander after other loves; in Him is every store of sweetness ineffable. I give all up for my Lord Jesus' sake."

Has it been so? Alas! if conscience speak, it will say, "He who promised so well has performed most ill. Prayer has oftentimes been slurred--it has been short, but not sweet; brief, but not fervent. Communion with Christ has been forgotten.

Instead of a heavenly mind, there have been carnal cares, worldly vanities and thoughts of evil. Instead of service, there has been disobedience; instead of fervency, lukewarmness; instead of patience, petulance; instead of faith, confidence in an arm of flesh; and as a soldier of the cross there has been cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, to a very shameful degree."

"Thou hast dealt treacherously." Treachery to Jesus! what words shall be used in denouncing it? Words little avail: let our penitent thoughts execrate the sin which is so surely in us. Treacherous to Thy wounds, O Jesus! Forgive us, and let us not sin again!

How shameful to be treacherous to Him who never forgets us, but who this day stands with our names engraven on His breastplate before the eternal throne.

They have dealt treacherously against the Lord : Hosea 5:7

Relations

2010-12-11T17:17:00.002+03:00

When we and our relations are parting, by death or otherwise, it is very comforting if we have both their testimony and the testimony of our own consciences for us that while we were together we carefully endeavored to do our duty in the relation. This will help to allay the bitterness of parting; and while we are together, we should labour so to conduct ourselves as that when we part we may not have cause to reflect with regret upon our miscarriages in the relation.

A homeless Stranger amongst us came To this land of death and mourning; He walked in a path of sorrow and shame, Through insult, and hate, and scorning. A Man of sorrows, of toil and tears, An outcast Man and a lonely; But He looked on me, and through endless years Him must I love--Him only. Then from this sad and sorrowful land, From this land of tears He departed; But the light of His eyes and the touch of His hand Had left me broken-hearted. And I clave to Him as He turned

My Life

2010-08-31T09:53:00.001+03:00

In whatever you do always remember that you are in charge of your feelings, beliefs, and actions. And you teach others how to behave toward you.

While you cannot change other people, you can influence them through your own behaviors and actions. By being a living role model of what you want to receive from others, you create more of what you want in your life.

It is with this idea in mind that I choose to do unto others what I expect them to do unto me. However we are all never perfect and are bound to fail in one way or another but since the finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling, it is my hope that we will treat ourselves and one another thus tenderly.

I will count myself to be successful only if I am able to laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children, to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived

RELEVANT AND PRACTICAL LIVING

2010-08-25T12:46:00.002+03:00

In today's technology-influenced, cynical, anything-goes-world, is Christianity practical? Is it realistic and useful, or just a 2,000 year-old fairy tale?

All you have to do is look around to see that modern society seems to condone just the opposite of Christian principles: Grab yours first. Don't worry about the other guy. Do whatever you have to to get to the top.

Money is the most important thing in life. Have sex with as many people as you want. Don't be concerned about other people's feelings. The poor are lazy, stupid people who don't want to work. There's no god, heaven or hell, so live it up and do whatever you please. That, unfortunately, is what millions of people believe.

Maybe that's a pessimistic assessment of how things are today. Yet that's exactly what we see on television and in movies.

Are Christians naive suckers who are being conned by feel-good preachers promising pie-in-the-sky? Is Christianity practical or is it a just a quaint relic from a simpler time?

A recent book on the missional church argues that we need to "reinvent the church" in "revolutionary" ways so that we can "incarnate the gospel within a specific cultural context."

I found one example of such a church on the Internet, a congregation in Florida whose very name is Relevant. Here is its description:

"Relevant is a casual, contemporary, Christian church meeting at the Italian Club in Ybor City, Florida. Our service is designed specifically for college students, urban professionals and young families. At Relevant, we feel that it's our responsibility to "clear the way" for you to come to church. We want you to be able to experience the great music, encouraging messages, friendly people and enjoyable atmosphere that are a part of Relevant."

People who shut out God go from one thing to another trying to get peace and fulfillment, but they never find it.

Materialism? A house full of junk brings no peace, just a hunger for morejunk.

Affairs? Sooner or later, the shallowness and futility of that life ends in the terrible toll of self-loathing.

Career? Companyloyalty is a joke. Have a bad month or a bad year and you're thrownaway like a piece of trash.

Jesus Christ is real. Jesus Christ matters. Jesus Christ is eminently practical and totally fulfilling, moreso in today's worldthan ever before.

Who knows better how to live than the God who created your life? Whocan teach you lasting values better than the God who has alwaysexisted? And who can heal your hurts better than the God who loves you so much he took alll your sins upon himself to save you?

Is Christianity practical? It is the only way practical in this world, and your only guarantee of neverending happiness in the next.

MEN / WOMEN

2010-08-24T19:25:00.001+03:00

MEN
===========
Men are too visually oriented and don't give themselves a chance to know a woman who doesn't meet their visual ideal. It seems to be a physiological fact that men respond to visual stimuli much more than women, and women respond to verbal stimuli more than men. That has given rise to the notion that a woman can be 'sweet-talked' into anything, and sometimes that's true. But it's also true that an over-emphasis on visual input has many dangers.

The qualities that make a relationship meaningful and durable are not how someone looks. Yet many single men simply refuse to associate with or get to know a woman at all unless she visually meets their standards. Let me tell you that you may pass up a terrific woman by refusing to get to know her simply because she's not exactly what you were dreaming of.

For some men, it's shape or size that is most important. For others it's hair or skin. But most men, if honest, would admit that they really place a high importance on some aspect of the physical appearance of a woman.

While I'm not proposing that men should miraculously change their physiological makeup and dismiss appearance as a non-essential, I am suggesting that this tendency can get out of hand easily, and a Christian man needs to check it out. 'Looks don't last, cookin' do,' the old adage goes, and there's something there to think about.

WOMEN
=========
If you're a single Christian woman, have you ever said, 'Where can I find a really sharp Christian man?' I admit it's not easy. Men think it's not easy to find just the woman they want either, but it's no secret that there are usually more women than men involved in church and Christian groups. That's true in every category-young, old, single or married. It's also true that there are more women than men in this world. So, there don't seem to be enough to go around.

Faced with this fact, we must learn to live with it and not allow ourselves to go nuts over any Christian man who comes along, nor allow ourselves to be plunged into despair. A couple of probing questions to ask yourself to keep from this is:

What is your first thought when you see or meet a new Christian man? Let me guess: Is he single? Or Is he taken? Now, I don't know if you'll ever be able to stop that first thought, but the secret here is to immediately abandon that line of thinking. Say to yourself, 'This is first of all a person. I will relate to him as I would to any new person I was meeting. I will not allow myself to look at him as a potential partner.'

Do you find you are feeling sorry for yourself or commiserating with other single women about the shortage of men? I frequently hear talk like this among single women. It's not a great topic for conversation, for you to simply keep reinforcing the idea that there's a big problem finding a Christian man, because that starts affecting your thinking. It causes depression and dreariness. I see it on the faces of single women so often-the look that says, 'Oh, poor me, I'm a good Christian woman, but where are the Christian men?'

It's one thing to recognize the shortage. It's another thing to let that reality control and depress you. I have discovered that often when I'm having difficulty accepting some situation, it goes back to my lack of trust in the sovereignty of God. When you really focus on believing that God is in control, it changes your outlook on the circumstances of your life. You have to trust him; nothing else makes sense.

Most single women don't believe that God can truly make them fulfilled and happy except through marriage. That attitude really limits God's ability to work in our lives. You know, we keep putting the cart before the horse. We don't find fulfillment by filling up our lives with things that we think will make us happy, such as a man. We find fulfillment when we stop looking for it and concentrate instead on knowing God.

Energy Saving

2009-03-25T07:34:00.000+03:00

As I was trying to buy a monitor for my computer, I met a salesman who gave me a great deal of information on the power saving features of the modern technological inventions in the LCD technology. However when I enquired about the power savings at the wall I was told, “We have no control over the inefficiencies of power supplied by KPLC”. With all those wonderful power saving parts at the component level, how many of them are completely eaten up by massively inefficient power supplies? The reality of the matter is this: People buying electrical appliances, be it notebook or desktop PCs or kitchen or entertainment equipment aren’t given enough information that would help them make energy smart choices. I believe it's well past time for something more.

For laptops, energy consumption is generally given by the battery life which unfortunately is typically measured by turning all the radios off (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), putting the system into an extreme low power mode, dimming the display to a level below an acceptable point for ambient lighting, and then taking a reading. This typically results in a promised battery life that runs about 2x the actual observed battery life (in fact, it's a good rule of thumb to take the battery life promised by a notebook maker and cut it in half).

According to Verdiem and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, better power management for every 10,000 computers can result in power savings of about 2 million KWH, which equates to the energy equivalent of 274 cars emitting greenhouse gases for one year.

I believe all Kenyans of goodwill wont hesitate to make a contribution to energy savings, particularly because energy is expensive, looking at how they have responded to the call for saving in order to help those in need for food, but right now we can't due to factors beyond our control. For laptops, this is more than just a budget issue. When buying a laptop with a DVD drive, for example, there is the idea that a consumer might actually use it for watching DVDs when it's not plugged-in to the wall socket. But most systems simply don't have enough battery life to watch a full-length DVD movie, let alone do much else.

We all have to live on this planet, and in this day and age that means making smarter energy decisions. It would be nice if somehow we could bring the necessary information to consumers so that the realities of shopping could actually live up to the ideals we aspire to.

Windows Task Manager is Disabled

2009-03-19T17:50:00.000+03:00

The most likely cause for disabled windows task manager and registry editing is because the computer has been infected by a virus. Most often, when you try to access the registry editor through the regedit command, you receive a message that “registry editing has been disabled by the computer administrator.”

The most common cause for this is a virus that commonly comes as SCVVHSOT.EXE. If you can access the task manager, you will see this as a process running. This should not be confused with the other genuine process called svchost.exe which is a genuine windows process.

SCVVHSOT.EXE can also use the following file names:

NEW FOLDER.EXE
DS4.EXE
BLASTCLNNN.EXE
94691636.EXE
DD2.EXE
DOC STAMPS COMPUTATION.EXE
XSCVVHSOT.EXE
DCIM.EXE
BABY_ANNE.EXE
MGA N LAWS 2 B.EXE
_PALBTN.EXE
08-30-07.EXE

The filename SCVVHSOT.EXE refers to multiple instances of an executable program.

The most common file size is 290,419 bytes. But the following file sizes have also been seen:

331,776 bytes
300,544 bytes
468,448 bytes
290,816 bytes

The unsafe files using this name are associated with the malware group WORM.IM.SOHANAD.L.

These files have no vendor, product or version information specified in the file header.

SCVVHSOT.EXE has been seen to perform the following behavior(s):

The Process is packed and/or encrypted using a software packing process
Executes a Process
Can communicate with other computer systems using HTTP protocols
This Process Deletes Other Processes From Disk
Adds a Registry Key (RUN) to auto start Programs on system start up
Disables Access to the Windows Registry Editor
Modifies Windows Security Policies to restrict/expand User Privileges on the machine
Disables Access to the Task Manager built into Windows
Enables the system to use a Communications Proxy Server
Registers a Dynamic Link Library File
The process hooks code into all running processes which could allow it to take control of the system or record keyboard input, mouse activity and screen contents
This Process Creates Other Processes On Disk
Disables the built in Windows File Protection System
Makes outbound connections to other computers using NETBIOSOUT protocols

Normally an updated antivirus such as MacAfee or Kaspersky will detect this virus. However, if your system is already infected with this virus, you could try to boot your machine in safe mode and try to delete it manually. This could be almost impossible since the virus duplicated itself in every folder on your hard disk/ removable disk.

You however could first disable it from the startup items so that it does not run when you on startup as you seek to update your antivirus.

Repair Windows XP

2009-03-16T18:05:00.002+03:00

Having problems with windows XP? Constantly receiving error messages about some start up files that could not be found or hardware? Chances are your operating system has been infected by malwares or ad ware.

If you install a good anti virus that is up to date, chances are the mal wares or ad ware will be removed. However, your system files will remain corrupt and you may continue having difficulty with your operating system. The best thing to do is to try to repair your windows installation.

A Repair Install will replace files altered by ad ware and mal ware, but will not fix an ad ware, malware problem. That is why you need first install and update your anti virus.

Before you start your repair installation, it's always a good idea to backup your important data first. However the following repair instructions will not change any of your data or installed software; if you follow these instructions your data will be perfectly safe.

Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD/DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer. When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.

You however need to configure your computer to boot from CD first. This is done in the BIOS Setup. To do this: from the first screen you see when you turn your computer on, press F2 or F10 or the delete button depending on your computer brand. (F2 for Toshiba F10 for HP or Compaq, Del for other brands) This should bring a blue screen titled BIOS SETUP UTILITY. Change the first boot device to CD-Rom. Alternatively, if you press F12, you should get another screen form where you can select the boot device (CD-rom)

After selecting CD as your boot device, a blue screen will appear and begin loading Windows XP Setup from the CD

When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below,

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer.

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. Do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R". This is because recovery console simply fixes disk errors and does little fixes on Windows XP.

Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8.

Next, Windows Setup will find existing Windows XP installations. You will be asked to repair an existing XP installation, or install a fresh copy of Windows XP. If you install a fresh copy, all data on that partition will be lost! So select the option for repairing the installed Windows XP.
Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

Just follow the prompts, and have your CD-KEY ready if needed. The windows CD key should be at the back of your computer where there is a serial number

Decentralized Energy Systems in Kenya

2009-02-20T11:28:00.000+03:00

When the oil prices escalated and electricity bills went up, everyone sought to give a solution to the energy crisis then. Apparently, things are now ok and nobody seems bothered by the possibility of a similar crisis in the near future. If we are to realize the objectives set out in the vision 2030 proposal, our current centralized electricity system that dominates the developed world needs an overhaul. This is mainly because it is the embodiment of technological inertia, performing little better today than it did in the 1970s.

Even when the government discuses issues to do with our future energy demands, there is little or no consideration to an issue that is key to our rising emissions – the huge wastage inherent in the centralized electricity system. Almost two thirds of the electricity generated from centralized large power plants far away from our urban centers is wasted – partly from the wires that transmit the electricity around the country, but mostly in the form of waste heat from the power stations themselves. In the face of climate change that is partly to blame for the food shortage in the country, such wastage is indefensible.

There is an urgent need to reform the current centralized energy system so as to put an end to this environmentally destructive wastage. There could be very significant reduction in electricity wastage and emissions by remodeling our electricity system around a decentralized pathway, where energy is produced close to where it is consumed.

In decentralize energy systems, buildings (both residential, office and industrial units) double up as power stations because they have within them one or more energy generating technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines or cogeneration units. This has a great local impact that can be enormously be enhanced on a cumulative scale.

There could also be local networks that distribute power produced by supplementary community-scale plants that generate close to the point of demand. This improves efficiency and thereby reducing the overall demand and increasing security of supply.

Decentralized energy system has several benefits

Decentralizing the Kenyan electricity system is the best way to avoid future problems of having to deal with huge environmentally harmful emissions as is the case in most developed nations. By establishing a efficient infrastructure and a good regulatory regime which encourages renewable and other low-emission technologies, a decentralized model could ensure minimal contribution of our electricity system to the environmental problems.

In the long run, a decentralized system may also prove cheaper, cutting the need for investment in hugely expensive high voltage transmission networks. This is through encouraging development of local transmission networks and also investment in renewable technologies.

By boosting the market for renewable generation and related technologies, it would also stimulate innovation. Home owners and students in schools and colleges could come up with custom-made solutions suitable to their needs. This is similar to the great innovative developments that have been realized through the integration of ICT knowledge in our education systems and homes.

It would deliver an electricity supply far less vulnerable to massive system failure as a result of sabotage or system failure as the one experienced last year. Furthermore, incase of system failure, it becomes easier to troubleshoot and fix the problem on the small scale that in the case of large centralized system.

Decentralizing energy would also democratize energy, providing real opportunities for local political leadership on climate change, and curbing the influence of the centralized industry’s powerful vested interests. By enabling local action and empowering individuals and communities as producers, decentralization has the potential to bring about a massive cultural change in our attitude to and use of energy.

A decentralized energy system could revolutionize the lives of many Kenyans who currently lack access to basic energy services. Decentralized energy is highly flexible, allowing solutions to be tailored to local conditions and be installed much faster than a centralized system.

The centralized system severely limits the way in which electricity is generated and delivered. This is characterized by the monopoly experienced by the Kenya power and lighting company. We do not have any choice but to but electricity from them. Decentralized energy, however, offers a genuine alternative but is largely excluded from the market place due to protectionism, short-sighted and inappropriate regulations and failures in cost and benefit allocation.

This raises questions on the government’s commitment, through the energy regulatory board to meet the targets set out in the vision 2030 objectives. The use of solar solutions in rural areas and in schools in North Eastern province illustrates the government’s fractured approach since these solutions are plastered over a fundamentally faulty system.

The energy Regulation Board together with Rural Electrification authority should take bold steps and be given an explicit obligation to deliver a fully sustainable energy system in line with realization of the vision 2030. This could be through reforms that promote meaningful competition and support and stimulate technological advances.

Investors in the major towns putting up new buildings could be required to incorporate decentralized energy technologies. This would steadily cut emissions from the building stock and enable the retirement of power stations, while also transforming the economics of decentralized energy by creating economies of scale and cutting installation costs.

Local governments could become key players in moving to sustainable energy systems. There should be area-based environmental conservation targets, along with a statutory requirement for all councils to develop an energy strategy.

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company could also be required to purchase surplus electricity from domestic power generators, at rates that will ensure the take-off of domestic generation. This can be adjusted in reference to the purchase price from KENGEN and other Independent Power Producers.

Dealing With the Raila Virus

2009-02-13T17:26:00.001+03:00

Here are the steps on how to deal with Raila virus

1. Create a new account with administrative rights (or just login as a

user with administrative rights.)

2. Go to c:/windows/system32/drivers

3. Show hidden files

4. You'll find a file smss 96kb File type is application (at times they

may be 2 or 3 file with a fun looking icon but 96kb.)

5. Delete the file(s)

NOTE: If the sys does not allow you to delete it, Ctrl-Alt-Del, to stop

the process(es) first, then try to del it/them. Make sure you stop the

process(es) that has the same name, as the file.

6. Log back in as original user

7. Delete the file on desktop

A computer free from Raila virus can clean an infected flash disk or

diskette with the following conditions:

1. Do not open the flash disk/ diskette directly, EXPLORER it.

2. Then delete the Raila or those infected files.

Alternative Energy

2009-02-02T17:00:00.001+03:00

Electricity plays a very important role in providing the means for wealth creation. Just the same way information technology revolution has changed much of the wealth creation processes, granting greater rewards to those with privileged access to knowledge; it is the availability of reliable electricity that is much important in attaining greater development. It is the ease with which we can access electricity and telecommunication facilities in addition to clean water, education and primary health care that are great indication of our economic worth. This is what distinguishes between the haves and the have-nots in our society.

As much as the government may have interests in nuclear energy in line with meeting the targets of vision 2030, considering initial investment costs of nuclear energy and the politics involved, we realize that even if we are to have sound leadership and equality so that electricity is supplied to the rural poor with the same intensity and in the same way as it is being provided to the rich, we would need to burn excessive hydrocarbons which would probably result in environmentally catastrophic consequences for future generations. This is due to the fact that diesel generators are easier and cheaper to setup and commission as compared to solar or nuclear plants.

Access to electricity has become almost a basic human right as access to clean air, water and health care.
It is this need (for basic services unavailable in the rural villages) that has resulted in massive rural-urban migration. Rather than use the justification for high load densities and concentrated energy economic demand to concentrate on electrification of urban and peri-urban centers, we need to find ways to take electricity to where the poor people are.

The solution to this is in the change of tactic by considering small and medium-sized decentralized power generation and consumption instead of the large-scale centralized generation that requires transmission and distribution networks that are expensive to build. Distributed generation could result in great savings in transmission and distribution costs. What makes grid extension even more costlier is considering the cost of electricity theft, average individual losses and low-capacity utilization levels.

Talking of distributed generation brings in the idea of renewable energy sources. We need to learn from the efforts made in countries like Denmark, Holland, Britain and Germany in their policies for encouraging investment in renewable energy but at the same time do it in a way that accommodates conditions prevailing in our country rather than imitating approaches tailored for circumstances in Europe and USA.

Of course there is still need for large grid-connected wind farms or large solar arrays or other conventional generating plants and the need for expanding transmission and distribution grids if we are to meet the needs of expanding urban agglomerates and of large industrial and commercial users.

In seeking renewable energy solutions/resources for distributed generation, we need to be cautious to avoid false choices between stand alone power systems based on a single renewable resource like only solar or wind or biomass as opposed to hybrid systems which attempt to capture as much energy as may be available on a given site.

The advocacy for single renewable energy source is largely driven by public and private groups with vested interests which have colluded with some investors to create monopolies or duopolies such as in the production of solar panels and bilateral and multilateral development assistance agencies that have become captive to such interests.

This is a warped truth that is strongly propagated by manufacturers of solar panels through NGOs and aid agencies in pushing for solar home systems for individual households.
With the current scandals in the oil markets especially when the dealers are unwilling to lower prices locally after international prices fell, I believe it is time we thought of better solutions including electric cars.

Faith

2009-02-01T15:48:00.002+03:00

A little boy was crossing the ocean with his father, who was captain of the ship, when they ran into a storm. The waves tossed the ship about like cork and everyone was stricken with fear. But the boy sat still, with his directed toward a certain spot. He sat there quite unperturbed as the ship was being dashed about by the waves. Someone asked him if he were not afraid, and he answered, “I have my eye on that little window, and through that window I can see the bridge, and on that bridge is my father. My father is the captain of the ship, and he has taken it through many storms.”

Waiting Patiently by Faith

2009-01-27T20:58:00.001+03:00

Has he taken too long to respond?

It is because He is preparing a special sauce for you. At times we may feel that our miracle is taking long. Just like Hanna and many other barren women of the bible, we need to realize that that which is conceived from a moment of barrenness is special. What is so common between Samson, Samuel and Isaac? They were all conceived by women who dared wait on the Lord in their barren state.

When we ask God for something, God knows exactly what we need. You may ask for a husband who will love you and take good care you when God knows you need to be married to a president. He will therefore take time to prepare that person for you because you need someone special.

At those moments when we seem to be ridiculed by the people of the world who seem to get the best, we need to wait on the Lord. When everyone else seems to be getting answers to their prayers and yours seem to be taking long, then know that God is preparing something special for you. Just the same way you have to wait a little longer than everyone else in a restaurant whenever you make a special order, you need to realize that you have made a special order and it will be ready at God’s appointed time (the right time).

The eyes of the Lord are over the whole earth. His eyes are full of grace. He is compassionate and is concerned about our welfare. When the bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, it simply means that Noah sought God and found grace. Hebrews says he was saved by faith. Noah believed in the saving power of God’s grace.

God values each individual and wishes that we may all come to experience His saving grace. He loves each one of us and will meet our needs. He is processing our order and all we need to do is believe in His saving grace. When we fail to find this grace that Noah found, then we will go through life feeling “oh so and so is better than me”. If Noah an ordinary man believed in God’s saving grace and was saved, what should hinder us from finding this grace in God?

LIFE IN KENYA BY THE YEAR 2027

2009-01-19T17:54:00.002+03:00

Beaten fair and square, I trudged up the hill
This was the end of the road
Below lay a pitiful sight
The chiselling man powerfully sweating
Clutching his stomach, a den of roaring lions
Emancipated with hunger and pain

This was where they smiled with the teeth
Their ice-cold eyes searching behind each other’s shadow
Shaking hands without their hearts
Their left hands searching each others empty pockets
Then the overloaded plane landed
With their dirty hands, with nails clogged with dirt
They searched through its contents
Whose prices were, more fascinating than the values
The labels more valued that the labelled
Then they sat back and wined and dined.

As the sun whirled on the azure sky at sunset
Clattering into the horizon and clicking in the slot
It’s when I paused and pondered and stopped and wondered
Perhaps the sight held within it some gleaming pearl
Some future majesty
So I gained wisdom and waited.

That night passed with passions high and wild
The streets stained with new potraits being framed
The wheel changed hands and new plans were filed
The morning saw the light anew
Men started laughing with their hearts and eyes
Mechanical handshakes long gone, they shook hands with their hearts
Their hands were immaculately clean
No dirt clogged in their nails
The trees exchanged greetings in gentle whispers of dawn
Plane and contents flew back, who needed them?
The morning glory climbed above my head
Down in the withered grasses something stirred
As I went down the hill with a radiant smile
For a new dawn had come

Move to The Next Level

2009-01-13T17:15:00.000+03:00

You have dwelt on this mountain for too long. Now get up and take possession of the land that I am going to give you.

This can never be put in a better way. There are so many thing that we have dwelt on for so long. The children of Israel had dwelt on Mt. Sinai for forty years. God wanted them to move on and posses the land. Receiving Christ is the first step of the Christian faith. By believing in His death on the cross and His resurrection, we receive our salvation. Thereafter, God requires of us that we may move on to the next level by faith.

The children of Israel had seen God’s deliverance and provision for all those years yet they never got the faith to move into the Promised Land. We may have been saved for decades or months or just a few days, but the question is, what are you doing to posses that which God has in store for you? This may not only be in material possession, but they may include increasing your sphere of influence - drawing people to God’s kingdom.

When some of us were born again, we were zealous and willing to share our faith with so many around us. We hoped to save the whole world and wished our friends and family members knew this truth we had found. After some time of preaching to them and never seeing a difference, we resigned to fate and complied with the status quo. We felt incompetent. All along, we have been unwilling to take part in God’s work since we feel that God isn’t willing to use us. For such a long time we have dwelt on these feelings of incompetence and unworthiness that we have done nothing to expand God’s kingdom. It is time to move on to the next level. For how long will you dwell on your inabilities?

The spies that went out to Canaan came with some incredible truths about the land. They even carried the grapes to prove that the land was indeed good. But the people chose to believe the lies. It is true that they looked like grasshoppers but isn’t it an exaggeration when they say “and indeed we were”? It could be true that you and I are incompetent when compared to some professor somewhere, but does that make us useless or rather incompetent in all spheres of life. Looking like a grasshopper doesn’t make one a grasshopper, does it?

You and I need to have faith and confidence in God if we are to move to the next level. Faith in the idea he had when He created us. Faith in His choice for our families, nationalities and friends. Believing that His plan is the best. It is only faith that will enable us see the possibilities amidst all the impossibilities, helping us see our greatness when we look like grasshoppers.

It also requires that w fully obey His word. It is only when we live in total obedience to God’s word that we are able to achieve His purposes and accomplish much. Samuel told Saul that disobedience is worse than the sin of witchcraft. My understanding of witchcraft is that it is a form of idolatry. When we disobey God, we are simply not worshiping Him but pledging our allegiance to someone else. Obedience to God gives us confidence in that we are not afraid of the consequences of our actions for we know who our commander is. The consequences of our actions are bearable once we know that we are obeying God’s voice.

The other significant requirement is determination. We have to be determined to fallow through our actions in faith and obedience to God. Having put our confidence in God, we need to be determined in our hearts that nothing will stop us. Indeed there will be discouragements, but with a determined heart, we need to put off all those voices that speak lies. Determination silences every wind of false doctrine. We need to be determined to know God’s will and act upon His instruction. I believe that whoever earnest searches for truth without prejudice will find it. God promises to fill those who hunger and thirst for His righteousness. If we are ever to yearn for anything, let it be for God’s righteousness. Let us be determined to know Him better and move on to the next level.

And so I ask, what is this mountain in your life that you have dwelt on for this long? Is it financial security, career development or family? You may have all along said, “When I start earning a better salary, I will be able to give more”. Yet if we can’t learn to take care of the little we have then we can’t be trusted with much either. You need to move on now in your giving for you may have dwelt on this scarcity mentality for too long. You may say “when I get married or finish school, then I will be in a better position to serve God”. Well within the school setting or in your single hood, there are so many people who need to hear the good news of God’s salvation. They can only best be reached by those in their category. We all need to start creating influence within our spheres of operation. Let us all purpose to move on to the next level.

CHRISTMASES THAT WERE!

2008-12-26T00:33:00.000+03:00

This Christmas I did something I normally do not do on a Christmas day afternoon: make my resolutions. It is not that I was bored or plot-less, but because if the rest of my Christmases don’t get different I might have to simply faint on every Christmas morning.

Despite a few friends having sent me Christmassy messages such as… Christ to be born in my heart…I celebrate Christ and not the day…I get to look like baby Jesus…. I tried, I tried really much to even for a few minutes focus on God and what He would be speaking into my life on such a day as Christmas, but the hustle and bustle of the day took the better of me so I resolved to sit back and just thank God that Christmas exists.

The earliest Christmas I can remember involves must-be-new –Christmas-clothes. (Santa never happened for me…I heard about him much later, on TV). Then came the Christmases I was responsible for house decorations, back then when I used to be daddy’s darling girl (that has since ceased, now he looks at me as if he suspects the hero in my life is another man, and treats me thus!). Thereafter came the Christmases I was in the kitchen up to mid afternoon making one dish after another and before we set the food on the table I would be too exhausted to enjoy the meal, and three quarters of Christmas day would be over.

Now I have with me Christmases when I go out with my family. This works out perfectly since doing Christmas decorations is surprisingly not in my list of hobbies, and staying in the kitchen halfway of Christmas day is not so up-to-date. The only bad thing with going out is that I am now so tired of it I cannot picture myself towing along anymore.

This sounds bizarre, I know, and would want to clarify that mum and dad and siblings are a rare blessing that not everyone gets to enjoy, celebrating Christmas together is unheard of in so many families, and even having the cash to lavishly spend on such a day is a privilege from God. I understand all that, and thank God.

However, the only thing I would want to retain about the Christmases that were is the bit of having to go to church. Otherwise, I would appreciate having Christmas with different people now (read person). Besides that, a time in my life has come that I do not enjoy looking up the dance stage to see kids dancing to funny -yucky music. This Christmas as I sipped my drink I watched my small brother dancing his bones dry over songs with lyrics such as “give it to me” and “the way you do me do me do me …” and felt all so fed up. Perhaps I never worried about it in the past because I never followed to the theme that the music in every other festivity site carries. Now I think of what young kids are shaking their bodies to and cant help hissing out a “Shindwo/Shindwe”.

Worse, I look at the parts of the body these kids concentrate on shaking and I wish I owned all the clubs and restaurants and gardens and villages…as in all the entertainment centers…and I would regulate if not dictate what goes on inside there! I look at the waiters who carry several soda bottles and a couple of beers for daddy and mummy and wonder how on this earth such parents will be able to tell their children not to drink alcohol in a few years time, and trust me that is a sermon they will need to preach. I try to figure out where else such families would be and I lack alternatives.

Whether we admit it or not, the culture of spending Christmas indoors is slowly facing out and more and more families are opting to go out for festivities. That is precisely where we are spoiling the festive season, since the places we go to do us more harm than good.
Now if we cannot keep our families indoors, then we better make the outdoors better. I picture myself very few years down the line with kids that I will need to take out. I picture them surrounded by “drinking “ families and I hate the sight. I imagine the blaring immoral music and instantly get bored. Let me not talk of seeing one of my own on the dancing floor shaking their small bodies to lyrics like “obsession…” because what I might do to them might make them develop permanent phobia for dance stages.

Every of my readers who is not a Christian might not so much like me after I ask this but I will ask it anyway: Why is it that almost all entertainment centers are owned by non-Christians (tell me one which is a Christian’s)? Do Christians concentrate on building prayer centers and imagine that that is where we will take our families for Christmas? Is it that we will have no alternative than to listen to “Nasinsinzia nikikuwaza…Chuki ndio nahisi….Am falling for a bad boy…” all the days that we shall want entertainment outside our homes? Is it that we do not realize we have a chance of exposing our children to stuff that builds them and glorifies Christ …Christ of Christmas?

Hey Christmas-celebrating-Christian, next time you are coming up with an idea, think of how we can make Christmas more Christian.Do not think of telling us to cuddle up in our houses and avoid the perversion outside, it is the perversion outside that we need to work on, each one of us in our small ways. Perhaps all I have is an idea. Perhaps all you have is a dream to build an entertainment center, make it Christian, this time round!

PICKY PICKY PONKIE

2008-12-24T12:18:00.000+03:00

You must have sang that nursery rhyme…it was meant to determine who amongst us was to do a task or get the first chance in playing a game or even participate in an “exclusives” thing. (Ok, it’s what you now refer to as Random Sampling). Surprisingly, Picky Picky Ponkie seems to be the sole determinant of what ladies in my generation choose to wear. How else do we explain away the unbelievable tights, ever increasing low-cuts and the unimaginable brevity of our skirts? It is as if we go out for shopping and since we cannot make up our minds, we decide upfront that we shall buy the fourth item that lands on our hands (read even fourteenth). As such, no thought on modesty ever crosses our minds when buying clothes, and men thus ask for too much when they expect modesty to come in at the point of choosing what to wear…this problem ought to be solved at the buying point.

I learnt this when I was leading some group and on a day we were to have a presentation for a varied audience, I requested the ladies to wear skirts since I knew trousers would arouse questions of “how tight is too tight?” As you can probably guess, a good number of them had no skirts so I requested them to make a careful choice of a modest trouser from their wardrobes. I asked for too much (just like men often do), because what I saw on the material date was a perfect mismatch of Picky Picky Ponkie results. As complaints of “this all I gat” came my way all so naturally, I realized the dress code problem is one we should solve at the buying points, not in our bedrooms.

I speak as a lady, and insist that ladies must dress sensibly in lieu of the current competition we seem to be waging with prostitutes. Aish! That sounds pretty harsh I know (we have tried requesting, urging, coercing and awarding to no avail) but let me go by it because most of our most loving men will not tell us that our wardrobe choice needs more attention. I gather from reliable sources that men feel afraid to ask women to cover themselves up; they’re scared we’ll think they’re judging us in self-righteousness. They’re scared we won’t like them anymore or that we’ll blame them and say that it’s their problem, not ours.

A Christian man is quoted saying
“It’s difficult for men to find a good way to say that they’re offended when women dress immodestly at church. It’s difficult because if he says it, he sounds like a member of Sexaholics Anonymous. There is no standard way in evangelical circles for Christian men politely to ask Christian women to be more modest.”

Ladies, for politeness sake, let us give more attention to the non-verbal messages that our dress codes scream out. Adopt a modest dressing style. I am not seeking to say that you never buy a trouser, for even in the stringiest Christian circles we well know that our God is not a God of skirts versus trousers. Neither do I imply that east or west skirts save the day (I can figure out a few skirts that should never again be in my wardrobe). Simply put, let us dress modestly.

And so what does it mean to dress modestly with decency and propriety? Whatever your cultural background or generation, modesty never is universal. Modesty may take different looks but it will always be modest, no matter what generation we are in or what the current fashion may be. Modest clothes do not exploit a woman’s body or features. They will not display body parts for the purpose of drawing attention to them. Not only does modesty require that certain body parts should be completely covered, but also that the shape of our bodies should not be unnecessarily and immodestly emphasized with tight fitting clothes.

Dressing with propriety means dressing appropriately. It means there is a difference in the way we dress for a sports activity, for a casual event, and for more structured, formal occasions, such as worship. But all occasions call for modesty in our dress, whether we’re on the beach or sitting in church. Modest dress will not say “sex” or “pride” or “money.” But it certainly can say “good taste,” “attractive,” and “pretty.” They should quietly say “modest,” “appropriate,” “carefully chosen.”

Next time you are buying an outfit, do not choose one at random. Buying clothes is not a game of chance. Especially if you are a Christian woman, do not embarrass us, remember our true beauty comes from the radiance within and seek to dress in a way that directs other lady friends on what a lady of integrity ought to look like. Trust me, even though they do not want to be preached at, they want to look as if they have as much integrity as we do! When you get married and have children, please begin when they are very young to teach them to dress modestly. Men, we hope you know that fathers can have a strong influence on how their daughters dress by taking an interest, complimenting them on appropriate clothes, and setting clear guidelines and boundaries.

If Apostle Paul had a Computer ....................

2008-11-15T23:06:00.003+03:00

The top 10 things the Apostle Paul would have done if he had a PC:

10. Download MP3s of the Righteous Brothers for entertainment while on those long and tedious missionary journeys.

9. Visit WebMD.com about that persistent pain in his flesh.

8. Include virus protection software in his list of spiritual armor.

7. Proclaim, "To live is Christ, to die is to have a 28K modem."

6. Book boat tickets using Priceline.com.

5. E-mail pictures of Peter eating pork to the gang back in Jerusalem.

4. Assign church officers: pastor, elder, deacon, system administrator.

3. Use decryption software to interpret tongues.

2. Describe conversion experience as the "Divine Reboot."

1. Add spam to list of cardinal sins.

The Truth

2008-11-13T18:55:00.000+03:00

The difference between Christianity and Religion:
Well today I choose to share some truths that have really revitalized my life and given meaning to my existence. These are in reference to my faith and believe in the idea that God had when He created me. More often than not, we are all encouraged to be open minded in the quest for political correctness. When it comes to religious faith, is it possible that all faiths are valid and lead to God. Absolutely no! Ironically the very people who claim to be ‘open minded’ are usually the most closed when it comes to accepting absolute truths and the most intolerant when it comes to tolerating those they claim to be intolerant.
I am not becoming a religious fundamentalist but am speaking nothing but the truth. Some of us deny the truth with the premise that truth exists only when we can see it. However, personal perception isn’t doesn’t change truth since truth doesn’t change because we don’t like it or understand what we see.
You see, Christianity is unique in the fact that it is the ONLY faith which is not a religion- as a 'religion'- by definition means "to be bound" by rules and regulations and rituals in order that one MAY attain salvation. (whatever their definition of salvation may be)
This is in stark contrast to the teachings of THE most anti-religious person there ever lived- Jesus the Christ.
Jesus taught that the truth would SET YOU FREE and that it would be faith ALONE in His sacrificial death and resurrection for our sins which would save us and NOT our good deeds.
"For it is by God's grace that you have been saved, through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's GIFT, so that no one can boast about it." (Ephesians 2: 8-9)
This means that (although good in themselves and recommended) it is NOT by attending 'church', being baptised or even believing in God! (Satan himself believes in the existence of God)
To put it plainly: We are saved by faith and DEMONSTRATED by good works- but it isn't the works themselves that actually save us.
"His choice is based on His grace, not on what they have done. For if God's choice was based on what people do, then His grace would not be real grace." (Romans 11:6)

You see, religion is humanity trying to reach God by their own efforts whilst Christianity is God paying the price Himself- in essence- reaching down to us it is a RELATIONSHIP with our creator.
Consider Isaiah 64:6: "ALL of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."
Did you note that it isn't just our sins that are filthy to God, but even our RIGHTOUSNESS? You see, Gods standard is HIMSELF, who is THE epitome of Holiness and purity.
"God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1John 1:5) So, to a pure a Holy and perfect God, ANY sin/darkness would naturally be alien and repugnant to Him so, humanly speaking, it IS impossible for us to be saved. THAT is why God demonstrated His love for us by coming down in human form as the Lord Jesus Christ.

The 10 commandments and other laws were designed to show us that we are sinners there is NO way any human could keep all of them-
For example: How many things do you have to steal (regardless of value) in order to be a thief?
-Just one.
How many lies do you have to tell (no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ it is) to be a liar?
- Just one.
So how many sins does it take for us to be a sinner?
-Just one.
These were just two of the Ten Commandments and every one of us has broken them all!
Furthermore "For whoever shall keep the whole law and stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)
Therefore, if you are trying to live by the law and fail just once you shall die by it- for it is humanly impossible to keep. That is the very reason the Jews had to continuously offer sacrifices as substitution for their own lives. But the blood of bulls and goats weren’t sufficient to take sin away entirely.
Since every single person is a sinner, that is, we have all rebelled against God's wishes, so, every single person is doomed to an eternity in hell- separated from light and love- forever.
It doesn't have to be this way though- God loves us so much that He supplied a solution.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23)
Men die because they sin. If one was perfect they would not then die. The very fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead (this is a historical fact) proves that all our sins were paid for. Romans 4:25 tells us that if just one sin wasn’t taken care of, Christ would still be in the grave for all to see.
Jesus, being God AND man, was the ONLY one who could be perfect and keep the commandments- and since He did- He satisfied The Law and then on the cross He bore the punishment of our sins- ALL OF THEM, past, present and future, died and then rose again to show that He had conquered death for us and as a promise to all those who trust in His sacrifice for our sins- that they too will rise from the dead and into eternity with God. This is the gospel truthl.

Truth is true, even if no one knows it.(It existed even before the missionaries came to tell us about it
Truth is true, even if no one admits it.
Truth is true, even if no one believes it.
Truth is true, even if no one follows it.
Truth is true, even if it isn't popular. (Don’t follow the masses
Truth is true, even when others attempt to distort it.(False preachers and the antichrist
Truth is true, even if no one but God understands it fully. (But he reveals it to us if we could only listen
In life you have to be ready to stand up for what you believe in. truth and morality cannot be relative. If one believes that 'truth is relative' then to them it is a truth- and in being so, would have to be relative. Therefore, in being relative, it can't always be true that 'truth is relative.'
So, if some truths are not relative then they must be ABSOLUTE.
..Therefore the mind-set "truth is relative" is false because it is self-contradictory. Q.E.D. similarly as concerns morality;
1. If morality is relative to culture, then there is no independent basis for criticizing action.
2. If there is no independent basis for criticizing action, then we must be tolerant.
3. Morality is in fact relative to culture the relativist will say.
4. Therefore, we must be tolerant.
5. To say that we must be tolerant is a moral stipulation.
6. Therefore, #3 cannot be true.
So logically, if truth and morals can only be absolute, then there are no real grey areas in life (except for the lukewarm undecided people who would rather be politically correct and avoid offending anyone by making a factually correct choice. As Revelation 3: 15-22 says “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”).So there IS only good or bad- right and wrong- truth or lie...
Jesus Christ said in John 14:6; "I am the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE, NO man comes to the Father but through ME.*" As truth cannot be relative, Jesus was either lying, or He was telling the truth- that decision is YOURS to make- but make it on the evidence, and not on what your friends and associates think. Perhaps you feel God calling to you now as you read this so please do not ignore Him- for your own sake make the decision while you are able...
In the search for truth, you also need to beware of any organization which make the claim of being "the truth" or the "one true church"- these kind of monopolistic statements make Christ a liar or at the very least incapable to save any INDIVIDUALS who come to Him for their salvation!
The need to mak the decision now can only be best expressed in the following words, "When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else--something it never entered your head to conceive -- comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it."
-C.S. Lewis 'Mere Christianity'
To be saved, you need to make a genuine confession to God Himself. No priests or any other 'holy men' are needed.(you may be guided by someone but the confession has to be from within you after your realization of your sinful nature and revelation of God’s saving grace You must confess that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself and that you believe that Jesus did in fact die for your sins then came to life again. Then ask Jesus into your heart to change you into the sort of person God wants you to be.
You need to be TRULY repentant, that is, genuinely willing to turn completely away from the life you used to live and allow yourself to be led by Jesus instead.
If you have done this, you are what the Bible describes as being "born-again" (John 3:3) you ARE saved. You MAY not feel any different, but that doesn't matter- you have Gods promise now that you are saved.
The road won’t be smooth and easy all the way. You will still stumble on your path but God says "If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
You are now a child of God! So do not forget who you are now, and act like one. Read the Bible as often and as thoughtfully as you can- if you cannot understand something ask the Holy Spirit (whom now dwells in you) to reveal it. It is recommended that you are baptized by immersion and attend a Bible believing church for fellowship and learning, but always compare what is being said with what the Bible says- for when it comes down to it- it is the Bible which is the final authority.
Don't forget to talk to God, use your own words as though you are talking to a friend sitting right next to you- because you are

FORGIVEN

2008-11-12T23:26:00.003+03:00

ACCEPTING FORGIVENESS

Have you ever done something wrong and felt guilty and miserable about it afterwards? A feeling of guilt can lead to all sorts of interesting situations. For instance, when a certain wife asked her husband, "John, do you know what day this is?" he did not, but to play it safe, on the way home from the office he bought her a dozen of roses. His wife said with surprise, "Why dear, you shouldn't have. But this will be the best Groundhog DayI've ever had!"

That is exactly what a guilty conscience do to a person. It causes us to see and believe in things that are not even there. I say this from experience because I have been a victim.

Guilty consciences cause people to do destructive things. It leads to depression and a feeling of hopelessness. You may feel useless. One can only wonder how many people became helpless alcoholics, or tried to fix themselves with drugs, simply because they did not know what to do with a guilty conscience. Guilt takes a toll on mind and body. It causes us to imagine problems that we may not even have. It shatters our sense of self-esteem. Those in its grip live in the service of a cruel, sadistic master. It makes us feel that we deserve the pain we are going through. That it is because of our evil that we failed that exam or we were ‘dumped’. Have you ever experienced the agony that guilt can cause? How do we rid ourselves of this monster?

To be forgiven and to forgive are basic teachings of the Christian faith. One cannot pretend to be a follower of Jesus Christ without facing and dealing with the realities of the brokenness of so many human relationships in our own lives. One cannot avoid the reality of the brokenness of our own personal relationship with God. The Lord’s Prayer defines God’s terms in this regard. You, yourself has some sincere forgiving to do before you can truly expect forgiveness and the restoration of your relationship with God.

The author of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament puts it this way: “And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins.” "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more,"

Forgiveness begins at the foot of the cross of Jesus! In Christ, we believe that this is the one place where complete forgiveness takes place. This is the address where we go for atonement. When we have the assurance of forgiveness, we also want people whom we might have wronged to forgive us. Wonderful healing and restoration of precious relationships can take place if we are only willing to reach out to others in the spirit of Christ.

But what about those situations where it is impossible to seek out the victims of our wrongdoing? What if other people will be hurt if we confess to our wrong behavior? What then? Then we have a challenge. Tranquilizers will not help! Many people on tranquilizers are there because of a guilty conscience. Positive thinking is not the answer. The brain knows when the nose is leading it. Not all the good thoughts in the world will take away the stain of guilt from the human soul. Forgiveness and restoration take place at the foot of the cross. There is something about the cross of Jesus that forever changed the relationship between God and humankind. The power of the forces of darkness to wreck our lives was destroyed when the Lord of Life died on a cross, long ago. Since the tremendous beginnings of the Christian faith theologians and students have tried to explain how the Jewish Carpenter of Nazareth, so long ago, in such a backward land, changed our experience and understanding of guilt forever. It happened on Calvary. In Jesus God established a link with you and me! An early Christian said, "I am not afraid of the cross. I know that men used to come there to die, but since Jesus died, they come there to live. "

True forgiveness is rooted in the grace of God. I cherish the illustration about an accident between two cars. The young woman driver of one of the cars was in tears. She admitted that it was all her fault. Besides, she was driving a brand new car, less than two days from the showroom. How was she ever going to face her husband? The other driver was sympathetic but explained that they must note each other's license number and automobile registration. The woman reached into the glove compartment of her car to retrieve the documents in an envelope. On the first paper, she found, in her husband’s handwriting, “In case of accident, remember, darling, it's you I love, not the car!"

Those could be God's words to us. “It is you I love; I want you to be free of guilt.”

Because God loves us, Because God knows how miserable we are about our guilt; God showed us the way to get rid of guilt forever!

A man owned a Rolls Royce. While traveling on vacation, there was a mechanical failure. The man called the company from which he had bought the car, and they flew in a mechanic from England to repair it. After waiting a number of weeks for a bill for the repair job, the man wrote to the company in England and asked for a bill. He received a telex. It read, "We have no record of a Rolls Royce with a mechanical failure."

The Apostle John writes, "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God would rightly tell us, "I don't have any record of your ever having done wrong."

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God has taken away your sin forever?

You can rid yourself of it through the power and the grace that only God can give. You can experience that forgiveness today! Call unto him today in true repentance and experience true forgiveness and freedom. God is calling unto us to lay our burdens at the cross, accept His forgiveness and live in freedom joy and happiness. The words of the following hymn put this message in the best perspective.

There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work is in vain,

But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.

Do not ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend, who,

If you ask [forgiveness] for knowledge, will never fail to lend.

There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

Hacked by Stout

2008-11-02T23:36:00.001+03:00

The stout virus removal process

You can manually remove the stout/sasha virus in three major steps. The process will also work for any other variant of this virus (Script) e.g. hacked by Sam, Man etc

STEP I (disabling sasha from running as a process during system startup)

Click start – run then type Msconfig
Choose the startup tab to display programs that run during system startup
Un-tick the check box for sasha so that it does not run during the next system startup.
Click apply
Restart the computer

STEP II (Deleting sasha.vbs script and autorun.inf files from system drives)

beware not to double click any drive otherwise the autorun file will run sasha so during this process always right -click and chose explore to open drive C or any other drives.
Show hidden files by
Clicking tools-folder options-view
Choose show hidden files option
Un-tick hide extensions for known file types and hide protected operating system files options.
Click apply
Right click C drive choose explore
Locate sasha.vbs and autorun.inf files and delete them
Open c:\windows folder and delete only sasha.vbs (this is the file that runs at system startup). If you are not able to delete this file then it means that sasha is still running as a process therefore repeat step I
Search for sasha.vbs and autorun.inf in flash disks and any other drives (D,e etc) even in the system recovery drives for those using the current hp computers . Empty the recycle bin.
Remember to restore folder option defaults to hide hidden files and operating system files you exposed above.

NB: ensure you delete the autorun.inf file that executes the sasha.vbs .

Be careful not to delete a genuine file for other programs.

Ascertain that it's the right file by right-clicking the autorun file then open in notepad.

The content of the file should read shellexecute ......=sasha.vbs.

STEP III (editing the system registry)

Click start-run and type regedit to open the registry
Expand the following keys
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/software/Microsoft/Internet explorer/main.
While in this key delete the window title key (sasha has edited it to read
Hacked by stout lord kingz)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/software/Microsoft/Internet explorer/TypedUrls
Delete all the keys registered in this hive and leave only (ab) default

You can further restrict editing of the two keys above (Main and typeUrls) by changing permissions for all the users and system to read (i.e. remove full control option from all the users). This step prevents any further editing of this explorer option by any variant of this virus (Script) however this step is optional.

Restart the computer for the last time

Your computer is now clean

Energy Efficiency

2008-11-02T22:58:00.002+03:00

I have been following the discussions on elctricity with a keen interest. As the discussions on energy availability, cost and the vision 2030 progress, energy focus has mainly been on supply. However, with the high electricity bills we have been receiving we realize that people don’t want barrels of oil or kilowatt-hours of electricity per se; they want the services that energy ultimately provides, such as hot showers, cold beer(na soda pia), comfortable buildings, light, torque and mobility at affordable cost. Focusing on these desired services, delivered by the end-use application of energy, allows consideration of a broader range of options than simply the energy supplied by the national grid. Considered from the demand as well as the supply side of the equation, what is the cheapest, cleanest way to deliver each of these services?

With the emergence of smatter technologies, we need to find better, more cost-effective way of achieving this and thus using less energy more productively. Efficient end-use can thus compete with new supply as an energy resource.

Kenya needs to harness market forces and use widely demonstrated synergistic design, technology and management techniques to deliver the high quality of life available in Western economies at much lower financial and environmental cost. We need to shift focus from the idea of selling bulk electricity as a cheap commodity. Electricity generating companies (Independent Power Producers) together with KPLC should find ways of cutting customers’ bills rather than ways of selling them more energy. In this way, we will be able to gain from competitive generation in a way that does not sacrifice the lager benefits of efficient end use. Power producers need to compete based on how best they help customers gain more from each kilowatt-hour.

I believe with current technological advancements we can find applicable efficiency improvements that will cost even less than the cost of operating a thermal power station, even of its construction. Efficient use becomes even more powerful when synergistically combined with decentralized, modular electricity production at a scale of kilowatts and megawatts, renewable resources in particular, and local energy storage.

Apart from energy saving and reduced comodity cost, enduse effeciency could result in very quality service delivery. For instance, a good percentage of labor productivity gains in efficient buildings—due to their superior visual, acoustic and thermal comfort—are typically worth much more than the energy savings themselves. It is from this understanding that I have a feeling that the reduction in taxes might not be the perfect solution to High Electricity bills.

What do you think??

The Joy of Finishing School

2008-11-02T21:47:00.005+03:00

They Went to say Goodbye to JKML

This is man Kebeya who couldnt hide his joy!

Silas couldnt believe in Himself

After writting all they knew

2008-10-26T23:38:00.005+03:00

With the current arguments about the various commissions being constituted to find out the causes of evils in our society am sure many of my fellow Kenya citizens are disgusted with lapses in leadership integrity. Are you finding it hard to trust many of today's high profile leaders? To help us decide how leaders should behave and how to judge them, we need a clear understanding of what we should expect of them.

Senior business, religious and political leaders must be people of integrity because we grant them so much power over our social and economic well being. We feel let down by integrity lapses in leaders because we expect so much of them: we want them to improve the fundamental quality of our lives.

The people we allow to lead us must be competent enough if we are to trust them and not just honest. To be a credible candidate for any job, a person needs the skills and personal qualities to be effective in the role. Integrity is also broader than honesty. In addition to being honest, leaders with integrity must behave ethically. A criminal could be honest while breaking the law. Leaders with integrity must have an unwavering commitment to culturally accepted values and be willing to defend them. This requires them to do the right thing even if it is not in their personal interest. Leaders with integrity are responsible and consistent.

As the bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, I can say with certainty that virtually no one is completely honest. Who has not, for example, failed to stop at traffic lights, cheated on exams, lied in the loan application form or exaggerated achievements to look good in a job interview? Many of us have what we might call "convenient values." We live up to them only when they don't prevent us from doing what we want.

There are varied reasons why we are dishonest but they include the feelings of being entitled to something and being able to get away with it. People in high places feel that their power makes them untouchable. Also, because there is so much more to gain by bending the rules in high places, the temptation must be enormous. Because high profile leaders are so driven to stay in power, only the rarest of leaders can put principles ahead of personal interest when they are threatened with losing their exalted status.

When we notice these failures in our leaders we more often get are angry and disappointed, but, because we also envy people in high places, we are secretly pleased to see that they are only human after all. These reaction is also related to the strength of our expectations. When we expect little of people, their failures don't surprise or matter much to us. When we feel hugely let down at the news of a flawed leader, therefore, we should ask ourselves why we expected so much of this person in the first place. In any case, our reaction to moral lapses in leaders is without doubt partly determined by our own attitudes, values and current mental state.

We can improve the integrity in high places through the education system and by implementing more transparent monitoring processes, but our culture must also reward it as much as it does the pursuit of selfish interests. We need to depend less on leaders to meet so many of our needs and, because they are only human, expect less of them.

Below is a video you will enjoy and get challenged.

A Little Humor

2008-10-25T19:05:00.001+03:00

Are computers Male or Female? Decide for yourself!

Reasons to believe computers are Female:		Reasons to believe computers are Male:
1. No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.		1. They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.		2. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.
3. The message "Bad command or file name" is about as informative as, "If you don't know why I'm mad at you, then I'm certainly not going to tell you".		3. As soon as you commit to one you realize that, if you had waited a little longer, you could have obtained a better model.
4. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.		4. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
5. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.		5. Big power surges knock them out for the rest of the night.

Computer Help

2008-10-23T18:18:00.001+03:00

Basic Computer Maintenance

IT support can be quite expensive to some people. I have however found that a lot of the "problems" people encounter are common place and could be avoided. To save yourself from spending a lot of money on computer repairs (that could with time exceed the actual cost of your assembled computer), here are a few basic guidelines required to help keep your PC out of the shop:

Always use a surge protector! Power surges, spikes, lightning and blackouts are all things that can literally burn up your computer & its peripherals. Save yourself lots of money in repairs by buying a decent surge protector (AKA power strip) for your computer and use it. A good UPS (uninterruptible power supply), though slightly more expensive, is even better. Also, realize that these power strips can only take so much. Once they get hit with a large spike of voltage, they can lose their protective capabilities.
Always use up-to-date virus protection! Everyone should know about this by now, but we often see computers with either no virus protection at all, or anti-virus software that's badly out-of-date. Nothing can wreck your computer faster than a virus (except for maybe electricity, like I mentioned above), but with a small investment in good anti-virus software and making sure you set it to update itself daily or incase you don't have internet connection, ensure you download its updates weekly, you can easily protect your computer and your critical data from being trashed. Norton, Kerspersky & McAfee are the most popular brands, but there are others. Some are even free for personal use. Here are some links you can visit for more information:

McAfee Anti-virus - http://us.mcafee.com/

Norton Anti-virus - http://www.symantec.com/nav/nav_9xnt/

AVG Free Anti-Virus(for home users only
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/40/lng/ww
Be careful what you install on your computer! This is another thing many people overlook. A good rule of thumb is "if you don't need, don't install it". This is especially true when you surf the web. You will likely get bombarded with pop-up ads trying to get you to install all kinds of free utilities they claim your computer can't live without. Most of these are spy ware, ad ware and junk. These little programs can slow down your system, collect personal information without your permission and sometimes even cause your computer to crash. Rather than pay a technician to clean up your computer when it's a mess, it's a better idea to keep it clean from the start.

Important Stuff:

Always plug your computer into a surge suppresser, or better yet, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
Always have virus protection software installed, and make sure it stays up-to-date.
Always have a firewall in place between your computer and the Internet, especially if you have a high-speed connection.

Regularly Scheduled Maintenance:

Daily

-Run a virus scan on the memory and hard drive
-Back up the important files on your hard drive

Weekly

- Update your virus protection software's virus definitions
- Check the Microsoft web site for updates and service releases for your operating system

Monthly

-Run Scandisk/Check Disk on your hard drive
-Clean out unnecessary -Clean out unnecessary & temp files on your hard drive
-Run Disk Defragmenter on your hard drive
-Dust -Dust & clean: case, keyboard, mouse, monitor & printer

Yearly

Upgrade your system BIOS.
Spray out the inside of your computer (blowing out the dust).
Consider possible upgrades: more RAM, a larger hard drive, a newer version of the Windows operating system, etc.

Here are some tips and tricks everyone needs when they get started helping end users.

Many of the service calls I get end up being training sessions rather than repair jobs. That's because beginners often have problems because of their inexperience and immediately jump to the conclusion that the computer is "broken."

Here are a few of the most common ones, which we generally handle over the phone during the initial consultation rather than making a trip out to the site:

"The taskbar is gone." The user has accidentally resized the taskbar so small that it's just a thin bar across the bottom of the screen. We explain how to resize it.
"My program is gone." The user has deleted a shortcut from the desktop, and doesn't realize that he can start the program using the Start menu. Alternatively, the user has accidentally deleted the program's shortcut from the Start menu.
"My documents are gone." The user is in an application program, such as Word, and has always stored his files in the Documents folder. Someone has changed the file location that appears in the Open dialog box, and the user doesn't know how to change folders. We give the user a quick tutorial on file and folder locations.
"I can't find the files I unzipped." The user has used WinZip or some other unzip utility to extract files from an archive, but didn't pay attention to the folder name where the files would be extracted. We either have them unzip again and this type note the location, or use the Search (or Find) command to locate the files if their names are known.

If a Device Doesn't Work, Try Updating Its Driver

When installing a new device and it doesn't work, don't automatically assume that the device is defective. The problem is more likely to be a driver issue, especially if you are running a different Windows version than the driver was specifically written for.

Visit the device manufacturer's Web site and download any updated drivers or patches and install them. Only after you have installed the most recent driver and software versions should you seriously suspect a physical problem with the hardware.

Try Safe Mode and step-by-step Confirmation to Troubleshoot Windows Start-up Issues

Suppose you get video, and can get into the BIOS, but Windows won't start.

If it doesn't even attempt to start -- for example, if a hard disk error crops up before you see the Windows splash screen -- then you're probably looking at a hard disk problem.
But if the Windows start-up process begins and then aborts, a faulty or conflicting device driver is probably the cause. This can occur because of a FAT error, or after upgrading to a new Windows version, after installing a new driver for an existing device, or after installing an entirely new device.
If Windows locks up during start-up, the next time you start it, a Windows Start-up menu appears offering to allow you to start in Safe Mode.

(You can also call up this Windows Start-up menu by pressing F8 when you see the message "Starting Windows.") Safe Mode loads only a minimal set of drivers, so it will probably exclude the driver that is causing you problems and allows Windows to load. If you can get into Windows through Safe Mode but not through a normal boot, it means that the problem is software-related -- more specifically, that it's related to a driver or program that is loading at start-up.

The most common driver to cause problems is the video driver.

If Windows locks up at the point where the chosen video mode kicks in (that is, after the splash screen but before you see the mouse pointer), an invalid video mode has probably been chosen. Start in Safe Mode and change the video to a relatively conservative setting, such as 256-color 800x600 with Adapter Default for the refresh rate. In a situation like the one described above -- where Windows boots in Safe Mode but not in normal mode -- the obvious solution is to find the item that's causing the problem and eliminate it. This is often easier said than done, however.

One effective way of doing it is to use the Step-by-step Confirmation option on the Windows Start-up menu. Press F8 as the PC is booting to display it; if you see the splash screen, you've missed the F8 opportunity; reboot and try again. From that Start-up menu, choose Step-by-step Conformation. Then press the Y key to step through each line of the start-up. When the line executes that is causing the problem, the PC will lock up, and all you have to do is look at the last text that appeared on the screen to see which driver or program did it. This doesn't always work because sometimes an item that's causing a problem will not have its own separate step in Step-by-step Confirmation. However, it can catch many driver-related errors.

Use MSCONFIG To Turn Off Drivers and Applications that Load at Start-up

If you are able to identify the driver or application that's causing a start-up problem, the obvious solution is to remove it or turn it off.
Unfortunately, it is not always obvious how to do that. Programs that load at start-up can be called from Win.ini, from the Start-up program group, or directly from the Registry itself; drivers that load are called from the device's properties in the Registry, and it's not easy or safe for a beginner to edit the Registry directly.
For example, suppose a user had a scanner with a driver that loaded at start-up, but then he removed the scanner and its software.
However, for some reason the Registry never got the message and still tries to load the scanner driver at start-up. You could look in the Start-up folder on the Start menu, and if a utility for the scanner appears there, remove it.
You could also look in Add/Remove Programs to see whether the driver can be uninstalled that way. But failing those two, the only thing left to do is edit the Registry to get rid of it. Most versions of Windows come with a utility called the System Configuration Utility, also known by the name of the executable that starts it: MSCONFIG.
This is a handy, safer way of editing the start-up options in the Registry; you can turn individual items on or off freely, trying various combinations until you narrow down the problem.
To run it use Start/Run and type MSCONFIG. You can access this utility from Safe Mode, so you can use it to troubleshoot problems that prevent Windows from starting normally as well.
Each of the tabs enables you to deselect individual lines in the start-up routine. For example, the Start-up tab lists all the programs and utilities that are set to automatically load at start-up. You can deselect a line and then try restarting Windows again to see whether that line was the root of the problem. If it wasn't, come back to MSCONFIG, re-select it, and try deselecting something else.

Random Lockups Are Often Caused by FAT Problems or Overheating

One of the most frustrating problems to troubleshoot is a random one, one that doesn't seem to have one specific cause. The key to troubleshooting such problems is to remember that the symptom is not always directly indicative of the cause. The program or utility that it locks up on is not necessarily the issue.

Suppose Windows starts normally, but then starts crashing, freezing or giving serious error messages shortly afterward. Many times running Scandisk (or Check Disk in Windows 2000/XP) will solve the problem. That's because such problems are often caused by errors in the FAT or NTFS file system and this utility will fix them.

In Windows 9x/Me, choose Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Scandisk.
In Windows 2000/XP open My Computer, right-click the drive and choose Properties, and click the Check Now button on the Tools tab.

If checking the disk for errors turns up nothing, overheating may be the culprit.

Check the following:
Make sure the CPU fan is installed correctly and functioning.

Check for missing back plates behind expansion slots.

You would think that having more air in the case would not be an overheating cause, but it often is. That's because the case is designed to pull air in from the power supply fan and force it through the case in a certain path. If the case is open, or there are extra air holes like missing back plates, the air doesn't flow as designed.

After the PC locks up, turn it off and then touch the larger chips on the motherboard and the video card to find any that are especially hot. If you find one, try blowing compressed air on it to cool it off; if this cause the system to work again, that chip is probably the problem.

Memory Problems Usually Aren't Really Memory Problems

If you get a blue-screen error reporting a problem with a specific memory address, and it's the same every time, use a diagnostic program to check the RAM for errors.

Bad memory could cause Windows problems. However, actual physical memory programs are fairly rare. In the majority of cases, an error that references a particular memory address does not mean that there is anything wrong with the memory itself, but rather with the program or driver that happens to be loaded in that memory address at the moment.

So don't go on a wild goose chase to find a physical problem with the memory that doesn't exist; treat the situation as a problem with Windows itself.

Viruses Can Cause All Sorts of Screwy Errors

A PC that was previously healthy that starts suddenly exhibiting all kinds of serious problems such as lockups, out-of-memory errors, and refusal to install new programs has probably been infected by a virus. Some of the most recent ones, such as W32.klez.gen@mm and its variants, can actually prevent an antivirus program from being installed or run; they require a special removal tool.

If you can install and run a full antivirus program such as Norton Antivirus, do so, and keep the virus definitions updated. If an antivirus program won't install, go to a Web site for an antivirus program (such as www.symantec.com for Norton Antivirus) and download a Klez removal program. Place its icon on the desktop, and then boot into Safe Mode and run it. By the time you read this, some new virulent virus may be circulating and causing other problems; for the latest virus reports keep the Web sites for Norton Antivirus and/or McAfee Virus scan bookmarked in your browser.

Reinstalling Windows Can Save Time in the Long Run

If you're running into a brick wall troubleshooting a Windows installation, often it is more time-effective to completely reinstall Windows than to fuss for hours trying this-and-that.
The quickest way is to reinstall over the top of the existing copy; that way you don't have to reinstall any applications. However, this also keeps some of the problems, so it might not solve the problem. You can try it first if you like, but keep in mind that you will have wasted half an hour on it if it doesn't work.
A more satisfactory solution is to install Windows into a different folder, but this requires you to reinstall all applications afterwards, so it turns into a multi-hour project. For a Windows 9x/Me system, I usually boot from a start-up floppy and rename the old Windows folder to something like Winback, so I can continue to use the name Windows for the folder containing the OS files. I also try to delete everything in the root folder before installing to a new folder.

This is easier in some OS versions than others; you'll probably need to boot from a start-up disk and use the ATTRIB command to remove the read-only and hidden attributes from some of the files there.) With Windows 2000 and XP, you can't boot from a start-up floppy, but you can boot from the Windows CD-ROM, and then use the Repair Windows Installation option or reinstall completely.

A Problem with an Application Is Not Always that Application's Fault

If a problem occurs only when starting or using a specific program, it's easy to assume that the program is to blame. But the real problem might be that the application is conflicting with another application, or with a device driver. Here are some things to try, in roughly the order that I would try them:

I have run into situations before where a program that loaded at start-up would stop responding shortly after start-up but not show any evidence of it until it caused a seemingly unrelated program to crash when launched.

Disable as many of the programs that load at start-up as possible, and then restart the computer. Then try running the application again.

If that doesn't help, try running the application in Safe Mode. If it works, you at least know that the program itself is okay and that a conflict with something loading at start-up is causing the problem. If the program doesn't work in Safe Mode, try uninstalling and reinstalling it. Before you do, however, make sure you have a full set of installation disks for it and that if you have an upgrade version you also have a full previous version.

"Lost" Word Files Usually Aren't Really Lost

One of the most common application problems end-users experience is the loss of data when Microsoft Word crashes.

The other problem with Word occurs less frequently, but is just as frustrating. The user tries to open a document, only to be told that it is not a valid Word document or the file is not found.

The file does exist, of course -- you can see it in Windows Explorer. But Word won't open it. When this happens, try opening the file in WordPad, and then using Copy and Paste to copy the content into a brand-new Word file.

Balancing Attitude and Reality

2008-10-18T21:29:00.002+03:00

Maintaining a positive attitude in life.

Every event in our lives can leave us with great joy or hopelessness. The events may or may not be directly related to us. At the moment everyone is predicting how there are bad financial times ahead due to the financial crisis in America. All we hear is there are tuff times ahead. These sentiments, as much as they may be true have the power to make us live in great negativity. As the analysts go through the reports, they never give us a chance to look at the brighter side of the whole bad event. It is unfortunate that there are more negative thoughts/people around us than there are positive and the few positive do not seem to exert their authority anymore.

To help us in our daily projections it is relevant if we consider the biblical verse that encourages us not to worry about tomorrow for today has enough troubles. This implies that each morning, God gives us a limited amount of energy to spend in that given day. He gave children of Israel manna enough for each day only. If we spend too much on unwarranted needs, we begin to run on stress and that's when bad things happen. Therefore, we need to keep our supply of emotional, mental and physical energy at appropriate levels. It is our duty to get enough sleep, exercise, and right food so that we replenish our bodies. And we need to laugh often, take breaks, get away, not try to be super people, understand we can't please everyone, watch out for our perfectionist tendencies–all those things are important to keeping the bank account of energy re-supplied.

On a typical day you leave home/hostel in a good mood, assuming you woke up at the right time and so had enough time to prepare well, but before you get to town where you have an appointment, there's a traffic problem or the driver in front of you is very slow or the matatu takes too long to be full or something just happens along the way. So, the blood pressure starts rising and you're spending emotional energy. You are worried that you will be late. As you get to your destination, the phone is ringing and you have to deal with an angry or desperate caller or are reminded of an assignment you haven't finished that is due that morning. You spend some more emotional energy. About mid-morning may be the computer you are using in a cyber café or workplace or in campus computer lab goes down, then you realize that work/assignment you haven't completed and you're already behind schedule, a co-worker/roommate/relative irritates you and causes you problems, you get a headache at noon, and the day goes downhill from there. You're emotionally broke by noon; the account is empty because you've spent all your emotional money on those little things. You feel as though everyone is out to get you into trouble.

This illustration points out how significant it is for us to consider how we spend our emotional energy. Consider the difference your decision or emotions are going to make in the next 24 hours. Throughout your day make yourself more aware of how you're spending that emotional energy, and keep asking, "Is it worth it?" And by God's grace with his wisdom, you will learn to be much more frugal in the way you spend your energy. We should refrain from allowing short term events determine the decisions that will affect our long term future.

I also wish to suggest that you respond to the negatives with a positive. If you have people who gripe about the job, you could point out to them, "Well, I guess there are some unemployed people out there who'd love to have our job." Say it nicely, quietly, but don't be afraid to be positive with those negative people. We allow them to intimidate us too easily. They may not like your positive response, but as long as you do it in a nice way, please don't let that stop you. You must protect your mind from their negativism, or they'll poison your thinking.

Now that we realize that there are so many negative events around us daily how then can we stay positive in this negative world? We all choose the attitude we maintain in any situation. No matter how difficult it may be to stay positive on a given day, it's still easier than being negative. When you and I choose to be negative, we are choosing the hard way. Being positive is the easy way out. Some of us choose to be negative saying that if the bad thing we fear comes true, then we won't be greatly disappointed. As such when things don't seem to work, they will say that it has always been this way for them.

I want to encourage you to really get serious about developing and maintaining a positive attitude. God created us in His image and likeness, and we have every reason to be optimistic having understood who He is and the plans He has for us. And we should demonstrate that to our worlds by maintaining a positive attitude, regardless of our circumstances. I hope you'll be willing to start that process today, and continue it for the rest of your life.

Having said this, I need also caution you against careless optimism. You may have been told that "attitude is everything". While there's no doubt about the power of a positive outlook, as I have illustrated above, attitude alone won't make you achieve your goals. By itself, attitude is unable to resurrect a doomed business plan or make up for a deficiency of knowledge. Attitude can't alter reality or reverse a dire financial or physical situation.

The "attitude is everything" doctrine becomes particularly dangerous when a person lives on hope rather than paying his or her dues for success. The mindset, "All things work together for the good," substitutes for planning and effort. As a friend once commented to me, most of us fail to achieve our potential because of poor planning in the name of having faith in God's plan for our lives. Attitude has undeniable benefit, but it's not a magic ticket that compensates for failure to perform. You cannot disconnect attitude from reality and expect to be successful. As we maintain this positive attitude we need also to face reality and take appropriate actions to avert disaster. The same God who requires our total dependence on Him has also given us the ability to plan for the events around us by giving us knowledge wisdom and power to have dominion over everything He created.

Let us not avoid developing our skills and talent and focus on attitude. You need to learn to be competent in your duties even as you maintain that positive attitude. If you maintain a positive attitude at the job interview, you definitely might get hired but before long, if you are not competent for the job, you soon will be fired. Maintain a positive attitude but seek out to improve yourself.

At the same time you need to realize that it will take time and diverse experiences for us to get to the top. In our youthful ambitions, things seem to be too slow. We seek to create impact, to be recognized. When we fail we are encouraged to remain hopeful never being reminded that they are those mishaps that will help us attain our potential. Maintain a positive attitude but allow the experiences to mould you character.

As John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." They may be painful to accept, but they cannot be ignored. Attitude alone cannot reverse financial numbers showing a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The reality for many companies involves difficult decisions like outsourcing or layoffs to cut costs.

By itself, attitude cannot stem the tide of an evolving industry. For instance, newspapers must adjust their advertising strategies to confront the fact that consumers are flocking online for news. Without a fundamental shift in their business models, traditional newspapers face extinction-regardless of the attitudes permeating their company cultures.

Attitude fills us with hope that we might reach our dreams. However, hope divorced from action proves false. In the words of musician, Bruce Springsteen, "A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be." Never stop dreaming, but also never cease growing if you expect your dreams to come true.

In conclusion, the truth is that a positive attitude will make great difference in our lives. It the expectations we have of ourselves or the expectations we allow others to impose on us that greatly determine our performance in academic, professional or social lives. If you expect to win or succeed in whatever you are doing, you must be able to visualize the expected success. Maintaining a positive attitude will greatly help us relate well others. It will help us face challenges with optimism and courage.

We however need to be cautious and be real with ourselves as we remain positive at all times.

Who am I

2008-10-18T11:32:00.001+03:00

As we live here on earth, we all seek to identify who we are. Most of the time we identify ourselves by what our friends say of us or by what we have achieved academically or socially. We may chose an identity that is most appropriate for a specific occasion and change once we are in another scenario. All in all we all can define who we are irrespective of whether that is true of ourselves or it only what we dream of becoming.

In this relation there are so many things in the society that happen and we all frown at the sight of them. We get angry when we see some people "misbehave" in public. One thing I've noted however is none of us ever looks within ourselves for those moments when others would have reacted in a similar manner to our actions. We wonder who they are.

I believe that we are all unique in our own ways. God created each one of us with special abilities. In the same way, he has allowed some weaknesses to be manifest in us. The bible says that His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. This does not mean that God condones mediocrity, but it simply should help us accept who we are despite the "flaws" in our attributes. At times what we feel ashamed of in ourselves turns out to be what someone else longs to have. Allow me to use this example about ladies. I have met several ladies here in Nairobi whom when I asked what they didn't like about themselves were frank enough to say they did not like their big breasts. They did everything to make them seem small. Then I met a Japanese friend who told me that in her country women struggled to have large breasts. They even go for surgery for breast enlargement. This is also true for our skin color. Most white people suffer sunburns whenever they visit our game parks yet there are so many of us using skin lighteners so that they can look "beautiful".

I would strongly encourage you to be happy with what you have for God who placed you in Kenya knew that whatever he has endowed in you will be very useful in Kenya. As someone once commented, God didn't put you in Kenya so that you can pray to win a green card to go to the USA. He however expects you to go all over the world and impact people's lives for His kingdom and that is why He will enable you get a study visa or work permit to China to be a missionary there. As much as the understanding of who we truly are will help us live in greater freedom and happiness, it also helps us live at peace with our enemies and friends.

However, there is at times the temptation to use these weaknesses to live in mediocrity. Accepting our weaknesses does not mean we ignore opportunities for self improvement. If there is anything you can do to change some aspect of your personality, you should do it immediately. For instance, it is true that there are some people who are very temperamental. These people get angry so quickly over anything that they do not approve of. However, the bible clearly instructs us that we should be slow to anger and abiding in grace and love. And so if you noticed that you are easily angered by anything and everything, then you should take the time to seek God's help in applying His word to your life so that you honor him in your life.

One basic truth is that we are not perfect. We however should work towards perfection. This does not mean despising all the "negative" aspects of our lives. My understanding of seeking perfection is focusing on what God has bestowed in me and seeking to make the best use of it. It is seeking training that will enable you apply your skills in a Godly manner for the betterment of the society. If you truly know that you were created in God's image and likeness, then we should look out who God is.

A lot of the struggles we go through about our personalities are as a result of a limited or lack of understanding of who God is. We seek truth but in the wrong places. We listen to descriptions of who we are or should be but from the wrong people. We read the wrong books. We associate with the wrong people.

As someone once commented, if you want to understand how any equipment works or how to operate it, then you go to the manufacturers' manual. If you follow the advice in the manual but the equipment still does work as expected, or in the course of use, it develops a fault, then you call their technical support for more instructions and troubleshooting and solution to the problem. And so if God is our manufacturer, why do we seek to solve the problems in our live or seek to understand ourselves by reading a different manual. God has provided His manual to us but we often refuse to read it. He has a technical support that is standby throughout and is accessible at no cost.

Things may not be working as you would wish in your life. You may have read a lot of truths about yourself in the Bible but it does not seem to apply to you. I would encourage you to seek the truth. This truth is only found in the word of God. Daily meditate on this truth and ask Him to reveal to you more truths. Ask Him to help you understand His word. He definitely will if you seek Him out of a clean and sincere heart.

There are so many "truths" being spread around us. With the emergent of many fm radio stations, people have qualified themselves to be authorities in different matters of our society. These people seek to advice us on how to make our marriages work, how to live healthy lives, how to make more money. One thing most of us never pose to ask ourselves is; what is the source of this information they are shoving to us? Who is their inspiration? What is their motivation? What are they advocating for?

If Jesus is their hero, they rely on the bible for instruction, they are motivated by the desire to glorify God and serve Him and advocate for His supremacy and reign in our lives, then they are worth listening to. One guiding principle that has really helped me to moderate my decisions is this; I believe that if you are going to believe everything you read or hear, then better not read or listen. This I have found helpful even in the church. As the Bereans in the book of Acts were commented for searching the scripture to find out the truths, I have always sought to confirm God's truth spoken on the pulpit by carefully going through whatever is preached.

Friends, we need to ask God for wisdom in living out for what He created us. Our lives will be more fulfilling when we understand the greatness of our God and the idea He had in creating us. We will be more able to appreciate the faults in others without condemning them. We will be able to accept our weaknesses without feeling inferior but rather allowing His strength to be made manifest.

And so next time you see a rather irritating behavior from someone or notice a 'flaw' in your personality or appearance, ask yourself; what was God's purpose in making them/me this way?

Associating Well With Others

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Effective Decision-Making Behaviors

Every moment we are awake, we are constantly faced with moments when we need to make decisions. A lot of what we are is as a result of the decisions and choices we make every minute. To make any decision process work, individuals or group members need to behave themselves in certain specific ways. These behaviours can be shared with the group or generated as norms in advance of any decision-making session but best of all will be really valuable if they are infused is us and act as the guiding principles in our daily lives. More significantly, a careful understanding of these behaviours will improve our relationship with other people around us.

Behaviours That Help

Behaviours That Hinder

Listening to other ideas politely, even when you don't agree

Interrupting people in mid-statement

Paraphrasing the main points made by another person, especially if you are about to contradict their ideas

Not acknowledging the ideas that others have put on the table

Praising others ideas

Criticising others ideas, as opposed to giving them useful feedback

Building on other's ideas

Pushing your ideas while ignoring other's input

Asking others to critique your ideas, and accepting the feedback

Getting defensive when your ideas are analyzed

Being open to be able to accepting alternative courses of action

Sticking only to your ideas and blocking suggestions for alternatives.

Dealing with facts

Basing arguments on feelings

Staying calm and friendly towards colleagues

Getting overly emotional; showing hostility in the face of any disagreement

This is my condensed updated resume

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Benson Eshikuta Kusina

Résumé

Objective

To work in a challenging environment exercising the skills I have acquired through training and experience and translate these skills into their fields of application especially in Engineering, Information Technology, Telecommunication and Research and disseminate the information learnt effectively. To perfect these skills and also work as a team player in an institution that values professional integrity.

Education

B. Sc. Electrical and Electronic Engineering

University of Nairobi.

Experience

Technical Support Assistant, Procom Computer Technologies from September 2008

Computer Administrator, Main Campus Christian Union, University of Nairobi from 2006 to 2008.

Developed and maintained content database management system for the Christian Union.
Offered technical advice and basic training on computer use to other Christian Union members.
Designed, developed and updated the Christian union website. (http://mccu.uonbi.ac.ke/ )
Gained practical experience and knowledge in Database Management Systems, Website development and user support.

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company
August 2005 – October 2005 and July 2006 – October. Attachment at KPLC Nairobi Area.

Assisted in preparation of Tender documents and supervision of work at the Projects department.
Maintained distribution lines in Eastland along Jogoo Road.
Response to emergencies and restoration of power to KPLC customers. Designed distribution lines for some areas under the area design and construction.

Volunteer,
Africa Shumpei Kambe Fellowship
January 2002 – August 2003

Participated in the street children rehabilitation program at Pumwani Social Hall
Offered livestock health instructions and assisted in livestock treatment in Maji Moto near Massai Mara.

Others, University of Nairobi

July – October 2007

Workshop Technology at the university of Nairobi workshops where I gained great knowledge on operations of common electrical and communication equipment.
Kenya Bureau of standards standardization seminar (university of nairobi)
Polling Clerk, Electoral Commission of Kenya in December 2008

Skills

Computer hardware installation, Microsoft Office Applications, Web Based Applications, Visual Studio Programming, Macromedia Dreamweaver (web design), Php and Mysql, SQL Server 2000/2005, User support and network management

Activities

Chairman of Science Club and Debating Club (Kilingili Sec School.)

Organized and took part in the high school Science congress competition up to provincial levels.
Campus Representative, Emuhaya Constituency Students Organization.
Active member of The Main Campus Christian Union

REFEREES

1. Justus Njoroge Kamau

P.O Box 62096 - 00200,

Nairobi

Tel +254728600233

kamaujustus@gmail.com

Dr. G.S.O Odhiambo,
Senior Lecturer,

Department of Electrical Engineering. (UoN)

P.O BOX 16262 – 00100 GPO,

Nairobi

Tel: 020-318262 Ext 28327

020 – 800823

+254722788331

Email: dept-elec@uonbi.ac.ke

3. Dr. Paul Malalu Kisia

P.O Box 21
Kabarnet

Tel: +254721648861
Email: malalu_p@yahoo.com