A Semon by Pastor Sam Olouch

 Hunger not and thirst not for bread and water but for the word of God Amos 8.

Amos, a prophet of God, previously a farmer from Judah, was sent to minister to the hostile Northern Kingdom of Israel which was seriously deteriorating in their godliness and obedience to ‘Yahweh’.

In this passage, God takes note of the many ways in which the Israelites had rebelled against Him clearly demonstrating the fact that God only promises to forget sins of repentant person, but for the unrepentant, he keeps record of their sins. Some of the sins He counts against the Northern Kingdom are:

1)      Oppressing the needy. In the book of James 2:1-7 and 5:1-6, God through the Apostle clearly condemns the attitude of the affluent in amassing wealth at the expense of the disadvantaged in the society. Man is the same. In Amos’ time, they would not only use scrupulous means of doing business to take advantage of the poor and make more money, they in fact sold the poor for much more money (Verses5-6). In Deuteronomy 15:7-11, God had clearly commanded the Israelites to be mindful of the poor amongst them. This was long forgotten through the Israelites’ mentality of every one for himself. A poor man would borrow quite a paltry sum whose security value would be as cheap as a pair of sandals. When he could not pay due to poverty, the lender took the advantage of his inability and sold him in to slavery! God was not happy with this and condemned it here.

2)      They hated God and His laws.  Their hatred for the people of God, the poor, goes to prove that when our relationship with God is not right, there is no way we can have our relationship with one another right. Hate God and you will hate His people. Command number four in the Ten Commandments clearly stated that the people of God were to cease work and dedicate that day to the Lord. In the Israelites, we meet business men who found a day in the house of the Lord equivalent to a fish finding itself on the dry land. Verse 5 portrays complaining people; instead of ‘calling Sabbath a delight’ it is a burden to them because their mind is consumed with crafty business opportunities. They ask ‘when will the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?’ In fact, market wheat not only from a skimped measure but with its sweepings!

Such carelessness led God to declare “I will never forget anything they have done” (Verse 7). Yes, God keeps records of un-repented wrong. Judgment is therefore declared in the remaining part of Amos 8. May I focus on verses 11-12 in which judgment of famine of hearing the word of God is declared?

Casual look at this kind of punishment may lead one to say that this is easy and a judgment not commensurate with the heinous sins committed not only against God but also against the poor in the land. To appreciate this verdict from God, one has to see it in the light of Jesus’ words in Matt. 4:4. “Man does not live on the bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’. The church is the salt of the earth and light to the world. Wherever the church does not exist expect serious moral break down. It is the same case when a church exists yes, but has compromised faithful preaching of the word of God.  Remove the word of God in a community and get set for worse scenario.

I therefore ask, as much as they mean well. What is the role of NGO’s in a society without Christ? What is the role of UN and AU with many of their programmes in the world without Christ? Poverty that UN wants to eradicate and the many evil that go on in the world, like wars, famine, HIV Aids name them, their solution can only be found in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ-declaring the word of God to the world that is hungering for it. The cure is in the word of God when declared and obeyed. The greatest curse to a community is the withdrawal of God’s word from them.

The entire world today needs Jesus Christ not only to sort out the evil in the land but to make them right with God. Christ declares that he has come to give us life and give it in abundance (John 10:10). He also declared to the Samaritan woman that He is the real water that the world thirsts for without knowing, he who drinks from him will never thirst again (John 4:13-14). And to His disciples “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry again.” (John 6:35). So, when God threatens the Israelites with punishment of famine of his word they better begin to listen to Him while He can still be found. Unrestrained chaos is knocking at their door. That is what one expects when God has been thrown out.

This rings a warning bell to the present world.

1)      We need to seek God through Christ while He still offers the Gospel message to us. There will come a time when men will long for it but it will be too late. Some will in fact be bending their knees to declare that Christ is Lord on their way to hell when all preacher men’s voices will be shut. This is demonstrated in the story of the rich man and Lazarus which Jesus told in (Luke 16:19-31). Do not forget the lull of four hundred years Israelites went through between the testaments. Its effect has not been recovered in Israel until today. Real judgment it was!

2)      We need to preserve and keep faithful ministers of God who genuinely declare the whole oracle of God. Lack of them in a land is a true curse and judgment. Our hope is in hearing the voice of God through these men.

Ye men of the world, look to God, hear Him and obey Him and be saved.

This is the final part (Part 3) of an article titled 'AFRICAN TRADITIONS Vs SCRIPTURES.' It is done by Pastor Sam Oluoch of Grace Baptist Church - Kisumu, Kenya.

Our faith attracts foes.

Christianity is not a faith for fearful soldiers. It calls for valiant men and women and Christ in none equivocal terms declares in Luke 12: 49-53 that what He came to bring to the earth, Christianity, is not for peace after all. Stand firm and expect division right to the core of family fabrics. The twelve Disciples of Christ knew this very well since the Teacher prepared them for it. In the passage above and Matthew 10:28, Christ sent them out to the harsh world in which their faith was going to be thoroughly tested to the point of death. Jesus instead encourages them not to fear but to trust in God. The Apostles caught this very well. When persecutions broke out on them because of their faith, many chose not to protect the tent (the body), but the soul, and many were martyred because of this. In the recent centuries this has always been the choice of many unmoved Christians when faced with enemies of this great profession. In the year 1555-1556 Kidley and Hugh Latimer were burnt at the stake for not compromising the laws of God. The same fate befell Thomas Cranmer. Closer home, David Koi a Kenyan (Giriama tribe) became the first Kenyan martyr for his faith in 1883 in the hands of Muslim Arabs. Also, consider Mr. Ole Sempele, a Masaai from Kenya who sacrificed all his herds of cattle to go and study the Bible for three years. For a Masaai to do this, given their love for cattle is like putting ones head on hang man’s noose- I mean it is a sacrifice equal to death for a Masaai to give up all his herds. This is the same for the Hereros of Namibia. What I mean to demonstrate here, my reader, is that Christianity is worth more than life, leave alone the properties we have on earth. Don’t we profess the same faith? Death, being the last straw that always lead faithful Christians to succumb to the dos and don’ts and worship of other gods is never there but even if it is there (for the sake of playing the devil’s advocate here) what does a Christian have to lose? Nothing! If anything, you go to a better place. My beloved, if you fear persecution, you have no business being a Christian for the word of God says: In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12; Cf Matt. 10:22-31; Acts 14:22; Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 4:12). Be assured of God’s care during such moments and do not fear. As I said before, the threats of death at its best are just but that, threats. Personally I have received this many times and my body is still intact, both my two daughters are still alive and my wife too and we are serving God – we thank God we are all believers in Christ.

Western culture verses African traditions and culture.

Many times I have heard arguments that those advocating complete cessation from ancestral worship are merely interested in throttling our good traditions to propagate Western beliefs and culture. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The God we serve is God of culture. In fact, the diversity of many cultures makes us appreciate the beauty of God. Consider the roses; they appear in many colours, yet also different from carnations. Put these together and you will appreciate why flowers sell in Netherlands and other Western countries. They blend so beautifully that pockets cannot resist their money coming out. That is God expressed in diversity. However, as diverse as culture and traditions may be, they are all intended to be used to worship the One and Only God (Acts 17:25-28). So, whether the tradition is from the west or east is neither here nor there, what matters is whether the diversity and culture is being used properly to give glory to God and it is not a case of giving the glory of God to the created things. Moreover, it is only those people whose scope of knowledge is stifled that see these demands of Christian faith as Western ideas invading our culture. I say this because history (for those who care to read wider), demonstrates that cultural and traditional beliefs and observances have their roots from the former world powers like Persia, Greece and Romans some of which are condemned with equal strength by the Scriptures. So though Western yes, these beliefs cannot be held to be biblical and encouraged. Apostle Paul while disputing with the Athenians (in the Roman world) strongly condemned idolatry as unbiblical (Acts 17:22-30). In the old Testament, God not only warns the Israel of the time of Abraham against indulging in any form of worship strange to his new found faith (Gen. 12:1) but this warning runs through the Bible to even as late as the days of Nehemiah (Neh. 13:3-28; cf. 1Kings 11). All these warnings from God to His people are in the context of, not African culture but Western/Eastern culture yet they are roundly condemned by God. It therefore follows that any tradition, be it from the West, East or South when they conspire against the biblical rule and the call to worship the One and only God, together they face the condemnation of the very word of God. One can therefore see that this book is not out to refute African traditions replacing them with equally unbiblical Western traditions but to show that any cultural practise that comes against the laws of God must be abandoned at all cost. The argument that we are propagating Western tradition at the expense of African one cannot withstand the test of time leave alone the scrutiny of the Bible.

Teachings of the African sages.

In any given society, the teachings of the old wisemen of that society are worth their respect. From the long life of these sages they have acquired a lot of wisdom that cannot be neglected lest the society go to the dogs as we see today. In real African context, unlike the Western world, we still respect these men and women and allow them to take their seats of honour at the gates. The dilemma comes to an African Christian when these sages, respected in the community, stand up and say that we must all follow the traditions of our tribe in all its call. Failure to which curses are assured the defiant. This will obviously pit the dear Christian in a mini war with the wise of the land. A choice has to be made. First let me say that God is no respecter of persons. The age of man and his wisdom is nothing before God in light of his commands which must be kept. May we see something of this from Zechariah chapter one.

In the book of prophet  Zechariah, the people of God, the Israelites are just back from the Babylonian captivity after seventy years (the group led by Zerubbabel) where they were sent by God for defying his laws one of them being worship of other gods save ‘Yahweh’. God shows His love to these returnees to the Promised Land by beginning to explain to them the reason for their punishment. The punishment came on account of the errors of their forefathers. These old wise men taught the Israelites things contrary to demands of God from them (see Vs. 2), teaching them and advising them to indulge in things that God had forbidden. The result of the forefathers’ misconduct was early exit from life and chaos to the children of God (vs. 5-6). The forefathers are dead, in fact, dead under punishment from God. God therefore wants this generation of Zechariah to be wiser. They must reason out sensibly. In the event that they again see an old wiseman doing a wrong thing especially out of place with God’s statutes they better say no to it. ‘Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practises.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.’ (Vs. 4). With this example and case study above I hope to impress upon you that it is better to obey God than to obey man regardless of his age, office or status in the society in so far as his laws goes contrary to the laws of God.

After considering all the above facts, a committed Christian cannot help but sing with David. The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my saviour. (Ps. 18:46). In this Psalm, ‘the Lord lives is an affirmation’ a fact to be declared and which cannot be disputed. A declaration of fact that cannot be imputed to idols that are dead. All idols are just but dead images and so is the idolatry in traditions. The wisdom that one can demonstrate without any qualms and regret lies in the words of Joshua 24:14-15. Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. This is a sombre call yet terse. If it does not make sense to you, receive my sympathy. However, one thing is clear from the text: In worship there is no double dealing, no hanging in between, one must choose the one he will worship. I recommend the God Joshua chose. I pray that you may know this ONE and ONLY God that Christians over the ages have pledged their allegiance to with some choosing to shed their own blood and even face death but not compromise their beliefs. Believe in Him and serve Him alone.

AFRICAN TRADITION Vs SCRIPTURES Part 2

This is Part 2 of an article titled 'AFRICAN TRADITIONS Vs SCRIPTURES.' It is done by Pastor Sam Oluoch of Grace Baptist Church - Kisumu, Kenya.

1. Case study of Colossian.

By the year A.D. 60 the church in Colossae was already established. Though it was progressing steadily in its Christian faith and doctrines, heresies began to drift into its ranks in all its kinds and forms. One top in the list was ascetism (life of self denial and punishment of the body) which came in the form of ‘do and not do’ (Col.2: 21-23). Buttressing this was also dependence on wisdom of man and traditions (2:4, 8). These things did not go well with the Apostle and they drove him to go to his study room to write the letter in question in order to combat these heresies. To this end he exalts the supremacy of Christ Jesus over all- the very image of God. Christ is exalted as head of the church (1:18) to be worshiped and obeyed at all cost. He alone is adequate to receive our worship and adoration. Chapter 2: 4, 8 and 21-23, is Paul’s telescope focussing to the world of the twenty first century as well addressing similar situation we find ourselves in today. Our elders’ fine sounding arguments and reasons for men to bow down to some of our traditions sound convincing and very scary at its best leaving no alternative but to bend the knee to these idols. One may ask: Is this right before God?

Imagine you standing before the Lord of glory on that great day of assize and you have to give reason for your idolatrous life in worshiping traditions and your reason goes something like this: ‘Oh, you know God, this old man Mr. Kamau (or my dad or mum or aunty or uncle) gave me such a fine sounding and convincing reason that I could not help but bend your laws to follow them in obeying the ungodly traditions.’ May be Mr. Kamau counted to you some deaths which have purportedly resulted from the disobedience (we will see more on death threats under the portion dealing with ‘fear’ in due time). Or he recites to you the names of some Christians who are older than you in faith and have succumbed to the traditions without any qualms. Here, listen to Paul speaking in Colossians 2:4-5. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. These might as well be the words of Christ to you and me when we are tempted by the fine sounding convincing arguments. Alternatively compare the wisdom of such men with that of Christ Jesus in Colossians 2:3, the one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. My beloved see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human traditions and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (2:8). These practices, whether done in the context of knowing God more (as Colossians purported) or as in traditional observances of ancestral beliefs are all summed up in one word, idolatry, and is not worship of the supreme God whose full image is present in Christ Jesus. See the break in Colossians 2:20-23. The Apostle sums this up in a wonderful way that I feel if I added my words to it I may blur the gist of it. He says: Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules? Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch”. These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. It is interesting to note that the Apostle attributes such rules as rules of the world. In other words, these are the very things that are propagated and observed by the unconverted mind that has not experienced any saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. If you do them, you tell the every one watching that you are not a believer in Christ. The fact that you profess it does not matter. Action carries the fact not words. You will be telling the world that Christ does not satisfy you, he is not the exact image of God and in fact not the only God you know of.

Pain in idolatry.

It has always been deduced from the Bible that Christianity is indeed a free religion yet it is not free to God the Father because it cost Him His dear beloved Son. God does not therefore expect us to in any way pay our way to salvation (not even by good works) save to trust in His Son Jesus Christ our sin bearer (Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). On the other hand, cults expect their followers to give for their ‘salvation’. Their god is a task master seeking to inflict pain in the followers’ bodies and souls. Some people even go the painful extra mile of sacrificing their loved ones to these gods. You may read this and say, ‘that is very strange and extreme’. Extreme it may be, but have you, as Paul says above, imagined the pains traditionalists go through? In my ethnic group, when one is widowed, in spite of the pain she goes through, she is expected to sleep in the cold (not in the warmth of her bedroom) supposedly with the spirit of her dead husband. Meanwhile she is not to sweep the house nor even take a bath. Not only this, a male inheritor at this time is ready for the kill. Add to this, the bereaved is expected to produce a bull to be slaughtered to appease the spirits. Such are the practises Paul calls in verse 23 regulations that indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self imposed worship, their false humility and their hash treatment of the body. Take Baal worship as an example also.  Priests of Baal at the contest in Mt. Carmel, on account of the fact that their prayers were not being answered resorted to inflicting pain to their bodies to receive favour from a sleeping none existent god (1Kings 18:28-29). These pains inflicted are as a result of self delusion, pity and seeking for sympathy from a none existing being. Idolatry is costly. God Almighty does not require this. Some Christians today have assumed such postures in praying to God by hoping that they will in a way arm-twist God to answer their prayers in accordance to their own prescription. Do not be misled; self infliction of pain if done for the purposes of seeking favour from God is synonyms with idolatry and ancestral worship. Christian, be warned, uphold no one else as God in your life save God the Father the son and the Holy Spirit who is humble, loving and caring. The worship of other forces in life is abhorred for they have no place in the adoration of the God Christians worship. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:20-22 as he warns the Corinthian church of idolatry (a discussion worth following from 1 Cor. Chap. 8-Chap. 10 when he under took to answer some questions on idolatry in the Corinthian church):  but sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the demons too; you cannot have apart in both the Lord’s Table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than He? The apostle’s argument here is that any Christian who sits to take the Lord’s Table with other believers shows by doing so that they agree together that Christ is their God and Lord worthy of worship-it is a family table. In the same way, any traditionalists (or a Christian who veers to join with them) in their sacrifices tell everyone that they actually belong to the people who worship these spirits. Such a person sits with them as a family member, identified together in the sacrifices they offer to demons!

2. There is more to it.

Several factors underline the desire to synchronise Christian faith and ancestral worship (or spiritism). In the following pages I will be looking at some of these factors as I seek to present suggestions on how to navigate our way through them as believers in Jesus Christ.

a)      Anxiety about tomorrow. Every normal human being is conditioned by the way God created us to have just one day at a time. This is how God knows us and He even promises to provide for us our daily need in that way (the Israelites depended on Manna from heaven daily and no one was allowed to store any for the next day). However, there is always this strange instinct in man that seems discontent until it somehow peers into events of tomorrow in spite of the inaccuracy that such peering brings to us. There comes a time in our lives when such necessary anxieties weigh us down bogging us to non productive, scared individuals. Take a situation where a young lady is widowed and left to fend for her children. Her needs will be more than just providing food for the children but also to provide a roof over her head and probably school fees. Questions like; who will inherit her with the two or more  children she is left with and take care of them as their late father would have. Who will be willing to bequeath his wealth to her and the foster children when his time on earth is over? Christians are not exempt from such cares; the object of their hope is where they differ with the world. Traditionalists purport to provide answers in these matters through the avenue of ancestral worship and observation of many traditional rites.

Because these are real concerns in one’s life, Christians at this point need very close pastoral care, fellowship and support from other believers lest the bereaved is led to succumb. It is important also to let the word of God (the Bible) play in your mind. For example the Lord Jesus Christ who sympathises with our feeble nature exhorts His followers not to worry about tomorrow, about food, clothing and shelter for all this should be left to His care, not us who have no control at all of tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-34). The folly of worrying about tomorrow lies in the fact that we totally do not have any power over it. Even the richest men on earth, the Bill Gates of this world still have no control of tomorrow. They better leave it in the hands of He that created the heavens and the earth and controls it fully. By worrying one can neither change tomorrow’s lot for him whatever the matter. In fact, many times Christians assume that they can change God’s will for them by changing, through fervent prayers what has been predestined by God to suit their circumstances and will. Prayer in its self does not change God but prepares us, empowers us, and enables us to face the Lord’s will for us in life’s circumstances. That is the beauty of prayer. It changes the supplicant but not God. In situations when we are bent to be bogged in worrying about tomorrow, let us leave things in the hands of God and his peace that surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4: 6-7). Peter adds: ‘Cast ALL your cares on the Lord’ (1Pet. 5:6-7). It therefore resonates that when a Christian turns around and succumbs to traditionalists’ pressures due to the fear of tomorrow, he/she openly declares that the above Scriptures have no meaning and at best, presents God in his/her eyes as a liar.

b)      Fear

Fear is closely related to the anxiety discussed above but it has its own place in this subject. In the context of bowing to other gods fear has been brought to play in that stories which are often coined up and scary are used to outwit our defences. Things like: ‘Oh, your cousin (or grandfather) refused to do this thing we are asking you to do now see what has befallen his family.’ ‘Oh, you say you are a Christian? For your information, we have seen many Christians who have been at it longer than you and stronger than you joining us in these rituals, in fact, even pastor so and so has done this before. Do you think your case is so special’? Friends, if it is true that a so called Christian has succumbed and continues to, make it clear to your adversaries that it appears the god that that ‘Christian’ purports to worship is different from the one you worship and that is why you are standing firm in not bending the knee to other gods. Yours is a jealous God while his is an adulterous one who does not care sharing his bride with others. The ‘Christian’ should not therefore tell the ‘wazees’ that he is a believer in Christ who is the Lord God almighty but declare openly that he is polytheist after all. Be warned, primers to fear will come in many forms but remember Apostle Peter’s words: But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to every one who asks you to give reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’ (1 Pet 3: 15).

May I share a personal experience here. In the year 1992, my wife and I attended a funeral function at our rural home. I remember that we arrived on a Friday evening because the function was to be held the following day a Saturday and I had planned to travel back to my work station that same Saturday since I had church service to attend to. Things ended well on Saturday at 5pm leaving me ample time to get back to town which is 30 Km away. As we were innocently parking our bags to leave, hardly did we know that our action had attracted the attention of elders within home who were sitting by some shade tree. We were not aware of some rituals relating to the order of leaving the homestead. Apparently my elder brother was expected to leave first then the rest of us would be free to leave. An emissary was sent to call me to appear before this little ‘Sanhedrin’ to give reasons why I wanted to leave before my elder brother who was any way, planning to leave the following Monday. Their enquiry shocked me but all the same, after summoning all the respect due them, I explained my case. It became clear to me that the verdict had been long arrived at even before I appeared before them and they were not interested in my reasons for leaving, after all, they were, in their own eyes, protecting me from the calamities of curses that come with my intended action. The verdict was quickly given and I was ordered to take back my bag (which was on my back) to the house and cool my heels. It went something like this: ‘Sam, we have been informed that you and your wife are preparing to leave to town now. Is that true?’ ‘Yes’ I answered. ‘Take back your bag and wait until such a time that your elder brother Paul leaves this homestead and he is the one to first step out of that gate.’ Meanwhile, my dad who was also in the ‘Sanhedrin’ listened to the proceedings with his eyes glued to the ground between his knees, probably praying that I will listen to the elders or waiting to see if I will obey this one today. I gently refused this verdict giving my reasons as being a Christian who is not bound by their beliefs and secondly my involvement in the church the following day. As is expected they were determined to have their way. I was asked if I knew that I am not the first person to have ever professed faith in Christ in the village (by the way my parents claim to be Christians). Examples of the fate that befell some Christians who once refused to listen to traditions were paraded before me intended to scare me to submission. I also remember one ‘mzee’ asking if my God is different from theirs meaning to say that we serve the same God yet they also bend their knees to extra gods. In my heart I was convinced that their god is very different from the one I was standing for and almost blurted this to their face but God helped to keep my cool. I did an about turn (all this time I was standing like a culprit before them with my luggage on my back-an evidence that they were not judging from hear say) and walked from the ‘court’ straight to the gate, beckoned at my wife who was watching from a distance and off we left to town. On this day, my sister Jane whom I follow and truly love tried to dissuade us from our action all the way to the bus stop; she was convinced that we were not going to arrive safely.

These were days when mobile phones were real novelty and if I am not wrong non-existent in Kenya. The only way our family could confirm our safe arrival was to send someone to our house Monday morning which Jane did willingly only to find us alive and safe with our hearts intact and beating well to any cardiologists satisfaction. To prove to her that she was not seeing some ghosts we served her tea and chatted about the Saturday incident warmly. I am still alive today and this is proved by my writing about it twenty years later and my elder brother Paul and sister Jane (who literally cried when she saw us defy the elders to our own ‘death’) have unfortunately both left this world before my wife and I.

This is just one of the incidents that have pitted me against traditionalists and elders of the land and I have always chosen consciously to side with my God. In Kikuyu land in Kenya I was once a best man to a dear friend. In this, it meant that I was to be his spokesman in the dowry negotiations. To my surprise, the last shot of demands from the bride’s side came in the form demanding us to do a ‘ngurario.’ This was hard. They made it clear that it was either ‘ngurario’ or if we are not interested their daughter goes nowhere. This is some blood spilling ceremony to ancestors by groom’s party by slaughtering a goat in the bride’s home. Being the spokesman I quickly said no giving reason as our Christian beliefs. Again the ‘wazees’ were not going to take this lying down. It was the mother of all negotiations that marked the day. Meanwhile I was receiving calls clandestinely from the bride who was hidden somewhere in her mum’s room (we were now in the era of cell phones) urging us not to give in and that she was praying for us. The Lord prevailed and today the couple still love the Lord and have been blessed with two lovely children. The threat was, no ‘ngurario’ no blessing of the marriage by ancestors and therefore no children in that marriage. What do we see today? A peaceful marriage with two lovely children!

Again remember Apostle’s words ‘stand firm let nothing move you.’ What I have proved over the years is that when we stand firm and not send double messages by sometimes succumbing then another time standing firm, the people will not understand the message clearly and they continue to bother you. When the message is constant and clear, it reaches a point when the ‘wazees’ and friends will not bother with you in these rites. Today I still join with both my family and clan members in funerals and other things but when it comes to these rites, I have self appointed advocates who just tell the instigators that, ‘you know, leave Sam out of this, he will not join you.’ Stand firm and the Lord will fight your battles.

May I invite you to journey with me a little while as I encourage you to stand firm and do not let fear ground you in to submitting your good faith to the whims of spiritism.

In as far as intimidation of fear is concerned, I invite you to rest in Jesus words in Matthew 10: 28. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. This exhortation was given in the context of persecution and the need to stand firm in the midst of such. With the same voice it exhorts us to stand with Christ in the choice of unbiblical traditions even when death is threatened. Many stories that are designed to be points of reference to make Christians cringe at the thought of not obeying traditions have their rider and pillar in the promise of death or any form of calamity in case they are violated. In Matthew, Christ in a way is saying that; even if for a moment we assume that such stories are true and our ancestors have truly descended on uncompromising Christians with death, you still have to make a choice. Which one is a better choice? To save your body by escaping their death threat and lose your precious soul in hell or to let that death come but stand with Christ who is able to keep your precious soul safe in eternity with a glorified body? Christian wisdom chooses the latter. See similar calls in Romans 8:15; Psalm 56:3-4, 10-11 and Hebrews 13:5-6 among others. If anything a believer in Christ who has his hopes in being with Christ in glory should always be praying ‘Lord take me home’ and with sincerity of love and not fear the means of going to that great paradise promised to triumphant saints. See Apostle Paul’s attitude to death which we should all have in Philippians 1:20-26. Here he declares that had it not been for his love for opportunity to press on with gospel work, he would rather die and go to heaven. How about you? Do you fear death? Do you fear going to heaven?

This article titled 'AFRICAN TRADITIONS Vs SCRIPTURES' is a series that will be done by Pastor Sam Oluoch of 'Grace Baptist Church-Kisumu- Kenya'. Be on the look out!

Introduction

The life we live in today has many competing interest, people are tossed up and down at the whims of life situation. Due to uncertainty in what the following day may bring, people generally live in fear, and in African context, this goes further to uncertainty of life after death. Because of this, many communities, in fear, have created stories and painted pictures or beliefs to hang on so long as this will satisfy their ego and personal security. Uncertainty is strongly built in many cultures that when one who has been brought up in such an environment get converted to believe in Jesus Christ as his Saviour he still feels the forces of the old beliefs drawing him or her to succumb to the old practises of idolatry. In a bid to synchronise his new belief with the old one (normally this is because of fear of promised death in violation of the traditions or any form of misfortune that comes with breaking such ancestral laws), some Christians are ready and glad to identify with Christ Jesus as Lord when the weather is fair but when under pressure, succumbs to traditional unchristian practises which the Scripture has no other description for other than idolatry.

I write this piece of work as a born again Christian who has been in faith for the last twenty one years and a believer in the authority of the Holy Bible. In this work, I intend to point out to my fellow Christians, beloved people of One and Only God, especially in Africa and other communities who are bound by traditions and ancestral homage, the joy and freedom we have forsaken in Christ when we still hold to fear and practice of traditional beliefs that go contrary to the Scriptures. We have a duty to stand firm in circumstances as this and defend our faith lest we confuse observers that Christianity is acceptably synchronistic. God hates double standards. Not only that, He hates rivalry, He will not share His glory with any other god. Like Joshua in Joshua 24:15 we must choose whom we will serve. If God be God serve Him and if Baal be god then serve Baal. No fence sitting in this matter. This work will therefore help the reader to make this important choice as I intend to throw the light of Scriptures at this matter. The pages you are about to read are intended to demonstrate why a professed Christian has no alternative in matters of worship but to fully dedicate his life to total worship of God, in life and in death. This is what pleases God.

1.       Life of Israelites before God called Abraham.

When God called Abraham in Genesis 12 he was to start a unique nation separate from any nation on earth at that time. This nation, Israel, was to be a community in which the glory of God was to be displayed to the world. Israel was expected to worship one and only God, Yahweh.

Casual look of Deuteronomy 7:1-6, God in no uncertain terms orders the chosen nation to do what appears to be a cruel act on inhabitants of Canaan at that time, a land that they were to conquer and live in. The instruction reads in part: ‘Destroy them totally, make no treaty with them and show them no mercy’ (vs. 2). One can ask, ‘what is God trying to protect by issuing such orders?’ He comes back in verse 4 and gives the reason for such a mass destruction of mankind: ‘For they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods.’ This instruction was to keep the people of God to Himself, that they be distinct and true worshipers of Yahweh without confusion as to their allegiance to God.

Taking a glance at the Canaanite gods reveals a lot. We find their origin in one of Noah’s children, Ham who was cursed for lack of honour and respect to his father (Gen. 9:20-25; 10:6, 15-18). It is the linage of Ham that lived a very wicked life which did not please God hence attracting judgment upon them (Gen. 15:16; Deut. 9:5). Because of their idolatrous life, God rejected them and their land bequeathed to Israel through the plans of the Lord God almighty. The Hamites, in terms of objects of worship were seriously off target with God’s plan and design. They are described as a people who had ‘extensive pantheon’. Number one on the list of their many gods was Baal, then Dagon, Asherah and many more. Offerings to these gods included human sacrifices and other animals. Libation was a common practise in appeasing the angry gods. I have no time to cover Canaanites religion in to details in this book but what I have presented above gives a glimpse of what worship was during that time.

The Canaanites life here sounds like a forerunner to common practises we find in idolatrous nations today those in Africa included. In all this, God told His people, ‘do not join them’, for such an alliance pits one between choosing whom to worship, Yahweh or Baal. God calls this adultery and can divorce anyone who chooses the way of worship of other gods (Jer. 3:1-9). He clearly declares to Israel that He is a jealous God and will not share His ‘wife’ (Israel) with any other god (Exod. 20:4) and the divorce spoken of in Isaiah 50:1 and 54:4-6 came about because of the waywardness and idolatry of Israel. The wonder is that this same God in Malachi declares unequivocally that He hates divorce yet when it comes to sharing His people with other gods He is ready to divorce. This shows the seriousness of syncretism in the eyes of God. Mixing worship of God of the Bible and traditional worship of ancestors and ancestral beliefs is not acceptable to God almighty. When Israel insisted in going their own way in this matter, God eventually abandoned them to the degradation of captivity with the northern Kingdom going to Assyrians and southern Kingdom to Babylonians (2Kings 17:7ff). God draws pride in owning His own people and doing so alone. In Isaiah 44:6-11 he declares: ‘I am the first and I am the last, apart from me there is no God. Who then is like Me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before Me what has happened since I established My ancient people, and what is yet to come-yes, let him foretell what will come…All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant to their shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame, craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and infamy.’

Surely His glory He will not share with things crafted by the hands of men or in the minds of men. Neither will He share His glory with created things which have come from His very own hands. God’s glory is important and must be given to Him alone. The word “glory” itself has a connotation of many closely knit meanings. In our context it means opinion deserving respect, honour and credit. In this, one has a choice to make. He can decide to form his own opinion on a thing or a person and end up giving it or him all the glory. If it is traditional beliefs and ancestral worship that gives one some opinion that draws him to worship such as to, respect and honour them, it will be fine for him to do that. However, when it comes to the respect, honour and credit to God, He declares in no uncertain terms that ‘I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or praise to idols’ (Isa. 42:8). Again He says: For My own sake for My own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another (Isa. 48:11). Hence the call in 1 Chronicles 16: 28-29 ‘Ascribe to the Lord, oh families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.’

Consider a family situation where a responsible father buys gifts for his dear son, provides him with good education and does everything the son ever expects his responsible father to do to him. The father derives pride in his son and expects him to recognise him as the best father in the world. Imagine a situation where each time the man does good to his son, the hobgoblin son, instead of giving thanks to his dear beloved father, takes this glory to the father of his friend in the neighbourhood and praises him for the good gift. This would be ridiculous and the greatest height of ungratefulness. In the same way, God, who is the creator of all, giver of all and our protector, (and for Christians the Saviour) will obviously suffer our mischief when we turn to worship other gods.

As we further walk through the Old Testament, and in to the New Testament, we meet the same thread of call to honour none but God. This demonstrates that the same God of the Old Testament is in the New Testament and demands the same glory and honour as in the Old Testament. Beginning with Habakkuk 2:14, we read the prophetic declaration that: ‘The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’ Obviously this prophecy foresees salvation brought to the Gentiles on equal terms as it was provided to the Old Testament saints. We serve the same God and He is unchanging. Paul the Apostle in Galatians 6:16 gives his blessings to ‘all’ ‘even to the Israel of God.’ If this is read within the context the Apostle’s arguments in the entire letter, the ‘all’ here obviously includes you and me who are not of Israel by tribe but true children of the promise to Abraham, Christians (Gal. 3: 26-29). One can easily argue from these passages and many more that all believers in Christ Jesus at any time are the true Israelites. If this be the case, it follows that the glory due to God in the Old Testament stands today. There is to be no sharing of His glory even among the Gentile believers, not in any form. Be it in the worship of ancestors or even of a pastor of a church who behaves as if he is the total head of the church thus attracting all the glory to himself leaving the one whose glory he has robbed standing somewhere amongst the congregation! In urging Roman believers to run away from their depraved mind and community, Paul gives a clear imperative that they stop worshipping the created but worship the Creator. To stop transferring the glory of the Creator God to the created snakes and other things! In fact, the Apostle saw such a swap of glory as serious misdemeanour against God that will definitely meet with the wrath of God at the appointed time (Rom. 1: 18-32). Man remains the same all over the world and at any time in as far as rebellion from God is concerned. In my own country many communities are known to have given the worship due the one and only true God to gods like Sun god, mountain gods, spirits, trees and reptiles (the infamous ‘Omieri’ python). These are condemned on equal terms as we saw in the Old Testament and even here in New Testament. Christians (who are the true Israel) have a duty to fly the flag of Jesus Christ at all times, in season and out of season. To be precise, Apostle Paul brings to us this part of Scriptures to develop the argument on the righteousness of God which he has previously been discussing in Romans 1:16-17. Verses 17-32 is to help his readers to appreciate that all men under the sun have sinned and can only depend on the righteousness that comes from God through Christ Jesus for their salvation. According to Paul, to prove that they are already living in sin and need this mercy of God, they might as well look at their objects of worship. This is sin. Christians need not take God’s glory to any other thing save God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It does not matter whether it is an art of appeasing the ancestral spirits, bowing to a mountain or worshipping some reptile or traditions. If this is done we are not different from the mischievous boy in the hypothesis above who transfers the glory due to his own dad to his friend’s dad...TO BE CONTINUED.

Who we are

This blog is hosted by elders/pastors of three churches: Grace Baptist Church-Kisumu, Bethesda Baptist church (Nairobi) and Grace Baptist Church-Eldoret. Out of the five Reformed Baptist churches in Kenya that are in urban setting these three came together last year to form an association that will help indigenous Kenyans to see their role in propagating the doctrines of grace in this beloved nation.

Who we are:

‘Reformation Carried Forward by Kenyans’ (‘ReCFoK’) is an association of Reformed Baptist churches in Kenya of like minded people and same  profession of faith (1689 Baptist Confession of Faith) that believe in sensitizing and empowering local believers to run the show of Reformed work in line with biblical mission.

Vision:     

As befits our Lord; to have self propagating Reformed churches in major towns in Kenya.

Mission:

-          Raise partners in this vision both locally and abroad.

-          Train and post men in cities of Kenya to plant biblical churches.

-          Support and encourage churches in the association.

-          Run conferences and fraternal for members of the association.

In the providence of God, Reformed work was introduced to our land in the early seventies with its base in Nairobi. Much of its extension work has been concentrated in the rural parts of Kenya, mostly in the Western and Eastern. These churches are yet to achieve and experience independence. This scenario can be explained by the fact that it is relatively easier for an urban church plant work to be self sustaining and independent of the parent church than a rural church plant work. Also, it is easier for the urban church to influence the rural work with the gospel by releasing men to church plant in the rural than the rural church influencing urban in the same way. As they say, ‘rivers only flow downstream and not up stream.’

The Reformed church work in Kenya has experienced many and unique challenges. While Pentecostal charismatic churches come and righty target urban centres hence influencing major towns and larger part of the nation, Reformed work has exerted its energy in the rural with minimal influence to the urban folks hence we have remained insignificant and unnoticed in the Christian arena in this country. It is unfortunate that at a time when an increasing number of people are looking for places of serious biblical ministry, what are readily available are centres of Christian mediocrity. We in the ‘ReCFoK’ believe that unless the work of Reformation in Kenya is well thought through, with clear planning, and having the right strategy it will not make the desired impact. We are therefore convinced that it is time for a paradigm shift. We are committed to the following which we believe hold the future of the Reformed work in Kenya:

1)      Conscious planning and strategy to plant churches in urban areas. Kenya has over forty million people with about 42 ethnic groups. We have eight administrative provinces. Current statistics show that the provincial head quarters (towns) host a total of close to 10 million people. Nairobi alone has close to four million people yet we are only aware of not more than four Reformed churches (where the Doctrines of Grace are faithfully preached) with total Sunday attendance not more than three hundred. (Compare this with Lusaka Zambia which is much smaller but has over ten Reformed churches on the move!). If this statistic is transposed to over 150 urban centres in Kenya, it follows that the greater population of Kenya are practically urban dwellers; this has been caused by the rural urban drift.

Good sense will direct mission work to urban centres. This explains why Apostle Paul was more interested in cities like Corinth, Ephesus, Colossae and Thessalonica. This large population that was very mobile would carry the word of God to many other unreached areas.  

2)      Training men for ministry. There is need to train men to fulfil the vision of ‘ReCFoK.’ The trained men will be sent to do the church plant work in these many cities. Already a Bible School has been started in Kisumu (third largest city) which was inaugurated in March this year (2012) with eight students ready to go all the way to earn their degrees in theology after four years of training. We are partnering in this with our Zambian brethren who have been quite helpful to us in many ways.

3)      Conferences. It is our desire to hold family conferences every year during the month of December in which we invite people from all walks of life to be taught the word of God. Last year we held the very first conference and the response was encouraging as reported elsewhere in this blog.

4)      Partnership. We believe that the task before us is so enormous, just as enormous as the family of Christ worldwide is. We therefore wish to co-labour and partner with the people of God from every part of the globe. ‘ReCFoK’ is therefore not exclusive so long as we work with people of like mind and vision. This has been demonstrated by our co-labouring with the Zambians who are fully involved in our conference and running of the college mentioned above, ‘The Kisumu Reformed School of Theology’ (KReST). ‘HeartCry’ missionary society from the USA has been our great partner in this as well including friends from the UK and the USA. We pray that together we will change the Reformation landscape of our great nation Kenya and influence many with biblical ministry of the Doctrines of Grace.

2011 - Reformed Family Conference Report

Dear friends,

Biblical Reformation in Kenya has a long history. Our gratitude will forever be to God and to the missionaries whom He has used thirty plus years to introduce and propel the Reformed Faith this far; this is no small or mean chapter.

December 6^th to 8^th 2011 will remain engraved in our hearts and minds as yet the beginning of another chapter. This will be so for a number of reasons. In February this year, pastors of three churches with their wives met to pray and begin to plan the way forward in seeking to see how Biblical Reformation may be carried forward in Kenya and beyond its borders to its neighbouring regions with the locals leading from the front; thus a vision was set. Four subsequent meetings for prayer and planning were held with countless consultations in between. One of the aspects of our mission is something that has not been done before within the Reformed circles in Kenya. There have been profitable Pastors’, Men’s, Women’s and even Youth Conferences over the years but it was our first time to hold a Family Conference. During the preparation, there were moments when the reality of holding the conference became seriously doubtful as we faced numerous challenges. These challenges drove us back to God in prayer and He graciously and mercifully answered and energized us to move on. The official registered number of participants stood at 85. These men (including many pastors), women, boys, girls and babies came from different parts of the country and from various church back grounds.

The main conference speaker was Pastor Victor Kanyense of Mt. Makulu Baptist Church, Chilanga, Lusaka, Zambia. We are sincerely grateful for the brethren who facilitated Victor’s trip. The conference theme was ‘Your Family God’s Way’ from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This is a very urgent issue since the Christian family is under serious attack. Victor began by first laying the very necessary foundation by demonstrating God’s work of salvation for us (chapter one), then God’s work of salvation in us (chapter two) and finally God’s work of salvation through us (chapter three). He then moved to the final three practical chapters of Ephesians and with specific attention to chapter 5 verse 22 through to chapter 6 verse 4, he very faithfully and ably expounded and applied God’s word to our hearts. He addressed wives from the passage but from hitherto a new perspective. He stated that what makes submission difficult for a woman is experiences before marriage. He then demonstrated that a woman before marriage lives a life of independence but upon marriage, she begins a different life with a new reference point. The preacher concluded that ‘willingness to prefer another will over my will’ is the key which is only possible in a marriage context. He then spoke to the husbands and laid responsibility squarely at their feet showing that ‘Husbands, love your wives’ is Biblically the heaviest responsibility with Christ being the yardstick. Finally he addressed fathers and children showing from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ what is and how obedience works.  There were six main sessions and all these were seasoned with plenty of relevant life illustrations.

The key note address was delivered by Pastor Michael Otieno of Bethesda Baptist Church Nairobi. He spoke of ‘The foundation for a godly living’ from Paul’s letter to Titus chapter 2 verses 11 to 15. He called our attention to four points: 1) manifestation of God’s grace, 2) training of God’s grace, 3) expectation of Christ’s return and 4) reason of Christ’s return.

There were three workshop groups: Adults were divided into two groups. One group was led by Pastor Sam Oluoch of Grace Baptist Church – Kisumu handling the topic on ‘How to succeed as a Christian.’ The aim was to dissuade our people from the unbiblical view which charismatics have propagated that success is in worldly measure. The group began by looking at the life of Jesus Christ from his birth, ministry and death to see if there was any sign of material wealth/success, which of course there is none. They then looked at the life of Apostle Paul crowning it with a study of Psalms 73. By the end of it, Sam laboured to press upon the people that success in our life is ONLY in the pursuit of the Gospel purity so that by the end of our life we can say with Paul, 'I have fought the fight, and finished the race'. This really is what we should all be concerned about to succeed. However, the group also saw that God promises material success for His faithful people in this life (Psalm 1). Nevertheless, that should not be our primary focus but the Gospel success in our lives. The point was driven home that if a family lives in the fear of God, there will be ‘success’ in this world. Our focus must be to seek to live not for our own but for God's glory alone.’

The second group was led by Pastor Naphtally Ogallo of Grace Baptist Church – Eldoret on the topic ‘Living godly in a sinful world.’ Temptation to compromise our Christian faith is a daily reality. So often Christians give in to sin and later wonder why they couldn’t stand. The group learned that it is only by constant practice of saying ‘NO!’ to ‘little temptations’ that we will dare to defiantly stand against greater temptations. The Old Testament book of Daniel chapter 6 provided the basis of the discussion. Stuart Olyott’s book ‘Dare to Stand Alone’ was of great help in preparation.

The third group was led by Brother Lawrence Muiruri of Injili Bible Church – Kawangware, Nairobi. It was specially designed for our young people (up to College level) in attendance and dealt with a very relevant issue of ‘How to choose your celebrity.’ Lawrence is exceptionally good with the issues affecting the youth. The group defined a celebrity is ‘a famous person who is known widely and whose fame lasts only for a while.’ They then identified their celebrities. Not surprisingly secular musicians made the bulk of their celebrities! Others were drawn from different spheres of life including politics, entertainment and sports. The discussion was guided by the instruction in Proverbs chapter 4 verses 25 to 27. To make choices one needs to find their purpose/end goal; determine the available options and settle for the best option informed by the goal. Celebrities occupy every aspect of life; they have a significant influence (+ve or –ve), and command large following. The distinction is not always clear for many young Christians as was evident from the celebrities they identified. Many of the celebrities share similarity with the description in Psalm 73 which was also discussed. But the eye opener in verse 15 makes clear the only option. Finally, the group shifted focus on the hall of fame in Hebrews 11 as the exemplary celebrities of all time yet even these were not equal to Christ whom to know is life. Christ was thus commended as the ultimate celebrity. The younger children in attendance were also given special attention by a group of very able ladies.

In terms of the logistics, the unity and dedication of the Conference Organizing Team ensured that the conference did not just run but ran brilliantly well. Food was not just enough but excellent. The Conference was held at Grace Baptist Church – Kisumu. Sleeping accommodation was a few kilometres away from the conference venue so there were hired matatus (public vehicles) at hand

to ferry participants to and fro.

All who commented spoke of how delighted they were to have been present and how much God’s word was shown to be relevant to their family life. However, their only regret was that the Conference days were very few!

It is our sincere prayer that though these are the days of little things, the Lord may be pleased to open windows of heaven and to shower us with many more blessings. It is fitting in closing this report to loosely quote from the ‘father of modern missions’ William Carey: ‘we will attempt great things for God for we expect great things from God.’ So as the Lord enables us, we hope to make Reformed Family Conference an annual reality.

Finally, brethren, many of you have and continue to be sacrificially involved in the spread of Biblical Reformation in our needy country; we beseech you by the mercies of God to rejoice with us at what God has done and to stand with us in this vision and mission. To all who made this Conference a success, we thank you so much. Please pray on. 

Written and sent out on behalf of ReCFoK by Naphtally Ogallo

 NB: photos will be uploaded in due time!