Still a major key

I’m trying to forget the past

But it keeps coming back like a incubus in the night

Africa sitting on the table distributed like a piece of meat

The eaters ate and left the waste for the kids to build

Wanna live for peace but war comes to play

Knocking on my door I tried to tell him to go away

Gotta play by force or else hunger will take me far away

Witnessing my mother die by the hands of a regime’s kind

Now I’m scared to go to sleep my sister singing an unknown English lullaby

Couldn’t understand the interethnic obliteration

My land degraded through mineral exploration

Our wealth Siphoned out

Can’t seem to stop globalization’s greedy hand

An economic scheme, Africa has lost her self-esteem

Now I’m fully grown, I interrogate my own Soul

What is Africa to me? She is still a major key in the Orchestra’s piece.

K.Oni

What is Love

Love. Many use this four letter word emptily, they put upon her body a flesh which is destitute of bones, sinews, blood and heart. She is readily used without meaning - she serves not her true purpose but the purposes of man. But what is Love? what is her nature -  what kind is her likeness? Is she a warm feeling in the stomach of a teenager who has caught the sight of a beautiful over-dressed girl. Is this her, is this her dwelling place? Is she an attitude of acceptance, a despiser of one universal truth - is she the very earth, a Gaia, a memory unforgotten - What is love, where is she whom some poets have slept with in the satin of their beds preferring her to the wives of their youth? Philosophers have chased after her, they have not tarried for a century for they see her mist, they have noticed her trails but yet she transcends their reality - they cannot commit her full reality to thought. They reach the destination where nothing but silence is the only justifiable reception. Socrates could speak no more; Descartes has laid down his pen and the scientist, those prone to the repeatable experiments of the phenomenon have irreversibly euthanize their investigation. What is love, she who had suffered the death of a thousand definitions; she is taking captive by every nation and tribe. Some have imprisoned her, caged her and beaten her but it was not love which they imprisoned for in as much as they have misunderstood her they did not have her. She would not submit herself to such brutes, such beasts. Never will she let herself be caressed by such dogs, never will she let her lips be kissed by those whose breath is as worse as the grave-yard. Her origins are more golding, the diamonds of Africa bow to her majesty, the sun surrendered his chamber for her to use as her footstool. Those who have long held her to be a sentimental being, she slaps into reality. But what is love - who is this mystery who has dominated the pages of history - she has inscribed herself into the imaginations of those who desire the bed of romance. She has become the resentful enemy of the demons; since the beginning she has been a plague to the devil, she has reigned on his parade.

What is love? We cannot say that she is so transcendent therefore it is no good for us to recover her identity - we cannot easily forsake her in the realm of mystery - we cannot let her go as to signify that she is important and yet unimportant. Love, that pillar of majesty, that heaviness and lightness of eternity is to be the chase of a creatures’ soul. Where is she to be found, where is her abode- if one looks under every sundry rock in this unfitting earth will one find her? - is she hidden in the sea - has she gone to play with the squirrels.

I say now that all reason escapes me to define her - all languages born of man will not suffice to do her image justice. Only this I have come to accept will grant me a perfect representation of what love is and where she is to be found, namely, in her own self-revelation to seeking humanity. Where can I find such a revelation, where has she descend, where has she written as to present a surety for my intellect? It is here my friends, it is here. I have found her revelation, I have been given a definition and I have discerned her origins. The perfect revelation of her, it is written, is to be found in the Person of Jesus Christ, her definition had no beginning and possess no end, she is an attribute of an omnipotent being and altogether divine - she is of God and God is love. Love is not God but God is love - it is from him that she proceeds and have her definition. Love belongs to God, she is his possession, and in His own self-revelation, love is revealed as a man’s breath accompanies his speech.

Now suffering humanity you can take a rest from your degradation, you can ascend the hill once more to find love in the Person of Jesus Christ and in God who is love. You who say you have love, if you truly possess her, if you truly have her dwelling in your bosoms, then by this you shall know, namely, that you Love the Lord Jesus Christ and the God, his Father who is love and from whom love proceeds.

K.Oni

Women of the Bible: Leah

There are two kinds of beauty. There is a beauty which God gives at birth, which withers as a flower and there is another kind of beauty, namely, the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. The first beauty is given by grace and so is the second beauty accomplished by God in the hearts of his redeemed. Leah was denied the first beauty as she is specifically reported that her eyes were weak to suggest that her eyes were lacking that lustre which always and everywhere is looked upon as a conspicuous part of female beauty. Compared to her sister Rachel, Leah's appearance had no beauty that we should desire her, or that humanity should boast about the excellences of her feminine frame.

Women who feel the lack of praise for their feminine physique should not feel the urgency to desire such earthly praise from the world, for was not the Lord Jesus himself depicted as a commoner, one who had no majesty in the likeness of Rachel or in the manner of the Hercules of this world that we should desire him. Christ had no Olympian figure, amidst a crowd his features were not to be lauded but yet it was in Him that the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell.

I fear for the women of this age that they have bought into the heresy of the time that beauty is all that matters. Outward appearance has become the crown and gold of the end of their desires. Many feeling themselves to be the Leah's of this world have idolized the Rachel's and thus sought with all of their envying energy to become like the Rachel’s and thus have commenced their own ruins. Leah in wanting her sister's husband conspired with her deceitful Father to engage in an act of great wickedness that she heavily veiled herself to hide her identity in order to gain Jacob in whom he had not worked for. Surely, she could have at any time told poor Jacob that she was not his beloved Rachel and having compassion and love to God she could have told the truth and spared herself the ache of polygamy.

But such is the conduct of omnipotent hands that Leah although entering into the marriage through a deceitful means was to be the most favoured and pitied for it was Leah that bore Jacob six children before beautiful Rachel was given the grace to conceive her Joseph.

God does not look at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart and although there was nothing in particular which distinguished Leah's heart from Rachel‘s, yet Sovereign grace according to God's free choice chose Leah to conceive Judah and in Judah, David and in David, Jesus. Leah it can be said was the mother of the Christ.

To the Leah's of this world, do not hate your sister Rachel but praise God for her beauty and thank God for yourselves that he created you in his own image and that which God has called beautiful, do not call ugly.

Awake and sleep with this passage, 1Peter 3:3-4 "Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

K.Oni

A woman's worth

Click to listen - A woman's worth

K.Oni

Women of the Bible: Lois - Timothy's Grandmother

Paul befriended Timothy for his journey whilst he was in Lystra, modern Turkey (Acts 16:1-3) and from then on grew in his love for this man. Paul calls Tim his “co-worker” (Romans 16:21), his “son whom [he loves]” as well as his “true son in the faith” (1 Corinthians 4:17 & 1 Timothy 1:2, respectively), his “brother” (2 Corinthians 1:1) and a “servant of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:1). Paul even displays 360° discipleship as he offers his dear one some apothecary advice out of concern for his health, telling him to take care of his stomach and frequent illnesses (1 Timothy 5:23). Most prominently Timothy is described to the church in Corinth as one who will remind them of Paul’s Christ-like ways. Timothy reflects Paul, who reflects Jesus. As Timothy is discipled by Paul, he imitates not only his earthly Rabbi but also his heavenly one. His life is an example of healthy discipleship, where leaders aren’t afraid for their followers to be like them, trusting that the leader is following the right person too.

But this is a series on women of the Bible. And although the phrase “behind every great man is a great woman” has become a slogan for feminist movements which people can sometimes get angst about, two women in Timothy’s life get a mention and it does seem that behind this great man, there are two great women.

In the opening of Paul’s second letter to Timothy he gives thanks to God, remembers Timothy’s tears, and longs to see his son again in order to be full of joy (v.4). He then refers to his friend’s “sincere faith”. Timothy’s faith was wholehearted, deep, genuine, and honest. But where did he get it from? “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice” (v.5).

There are only 2 grandmothers mentioned in the Bible, and Lois makes the cut for one of them. It is notable that unlike many of the other characters in the Bible who are listed in genealogies by their paternal tracks, Timothy is recounted maternally. For a man of such a high status in Paul’s heart, it is very encouraging to read that Timothy has his faith passed on predominantly by his grandmother. Not only did she do a fantastic job at passing it onto her daughter Eunice, but this faith also reached young Timothy. I wonder if in that household Lois would recite the Torah to the toddling Tim, if as a young boy Timothy could see Lois’ faith at work as she began to grow old and maintain her joy, if when she died Timothy was around to witness her peace. All things to speculate on but the nature of much biblical narration provides space for readers to dream up something of the bits in between and make the journey more lifelike.

The other grandmother mentioned is Maakah who had the privilege of being the grandma of Asa, a king of Judah of the house of David (1 Kings 15). At first she only gets a mention, and Asa reigned as a man who “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.” This was also a good grandmother, who surely must have had some role in raising Asa to follow God. It takes a village to raise a child, and Grandmothers are a key member of this village! Sadly, Asa had to remove Maakah from her office as queen mother after she makes a “repulsive image” and like all but one person in the Bible commits a sin in the midst of greatness. But, the point is that she is the only other grandmother in scripture and can surely take some responsibility for her grandson’s nature which was to follow God. Sure, she had a bad day (or two), but name one Granny who doesn’t!

My Grandma died when I was in year six, just two years before I asked Jesus to come into my life and I put my life in Him. As far as the fruit can tell, my dear Grandma Kath is the only Christian in my family and I can guarantee that as a strong, incredibly loving, and very child-friendly woman she would have prayed for me without ceasing. In the grand scheme of my life my Grandma may get a relatively small mention. I would probably celebrate my favourite memory of her as when I would be ill from school and get to spend a day with her and Granddad. Without fail she would make tuna sandwiches and homemade chips for lunch and we’d watch Neighbours. There would be no grandiose story of the two of us, just the memory of her loving support as I grazed my knee, cried after a hard time on the playground, or sought shelter from my horrid big brother.

Maybe Lois gets such a wee mention because often a Grandmother’s work is behind the scenes, all taking place with years of wisdom advising parenting, smiles, prayers and the obedient passing on of faith to those she loves.

I am encouraged to read the mention of Lois in Paul’s thankfulness to God of his dear friend Timothy, and am thankful myself to my own Grandma for passing the faith on to me in ways I will not fully see for a long time. What a joy for me to know she is in the cloud of witnesses, championing me on, and restored to life like she never knew whilst here on Earth.

To all the Grandmothers out there – keep being you, love with all your heart, and pass on the faith.

Kate Moreton

Holiness Beyond Words

Holiness starts with God. Discussions about holiness get off on the wrong foot when they begin with what we don’t do, rather than with who God is.

This is essential to keep in mind as we talk about sanctification — the process of our becoming holy. Before we get too far down the road with the derivative holiness of the creature, let’s tune into the original holiness of the Creator.

The holiness of God, says R.C. Sproul in his classic book, is “one of the most important ideas that a Christian can ever grapple with. It is basic to our whole understanding of God and of Christianity” (12).

Holiness Carries Us to the Brink

In trying to define the almost indefinable, John Piper draws in an illustration from the end of C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. There Reepicheep, the gallant mouse, sails to the end of the world in his little coracle. Says Piper, “The word ‘holy’ is the little boat in which we reach the world’s end in the ocean of language.”

The possibilities of language to carry the meaning of God eventually run out and spill over the edge of the world into a vast unknown. “Holiness” carries us to the brink, and from there on, the experience of God is beyond words.

The reason I say this is that every effort to define the holiness of God ultimately winds up by saying: God is holy means God is God. . . . The very god-ness of God means that he is separate from all that is not God. There is an infinite qualitative difference between Creator and creature. God is one of a kind. Sui generis. In a class by himself. In that sense he is utterly holy. But then you have said no more than that he is God.

. . . God is the absolute reality beyond which is only more of God. When asked for his name in Exodus 3:14, he said, “I am who I am.” His being and his character are utterly undetermined by anything outside himself. He is not holy because he keeps the rules. He wrote the rules! God is not holy because he keeps the law. The law is holy because it reveals God. God is absolute. Everything else is derivative.

God’s Utterly Unique Divine Essence

Having set the table, Piper then asks, What is the holiness of God? Before venturing a definition, he bids us listen to three texts.

1 Samuel 2:2: “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you”

Isaiah 40:25: “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.”

Hosea 11:9: “I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst.”

He draws it together with this explanation:

In the end, God is holy in that he is God and not man. . . . He is incomparable. His holiness is his utterly unique divine essence. It determines all that he is and does and is determined by no one.

His holiness is what he is as God which no one else is or ever will be. Call it his majesty, his divinity, his greatness, his value as the pearl of great price.

In the end, language runs out. In the word “holy,” we have sailed to the world's end in the utter silence of reverence and wonder and awe. There may yet be more to know of God, but that will be beyond words.

Once we’ve stood in utter silence, captured by his god-ness, speechless with wonder and awe, filled with reverence and unmatched admiration for our Creator and Redeemer, then we’re ready to talk about holiness in the created and redeemed. And only then.

How mind-numbing is it that this holy God not only stoops to pardon our sin, but also empowers us to share in his holiness? True to the word holy, it’s a reality that carries us beyond words.

by David Mathis -  http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/holiness-beyond-words

Pray for a teachable heart

Naturally men are the most unteachable creatures in the world. The prophet Isaiah was sent to preach to a people who keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Perhaps you can relate to Isaiah’s hopeless errand of presenting the gospel of Christ to a people who keep on hearing the truth of Christ but do not understand. Sadly, your message makes their hearts dull and their ears heavy and you hear the refrain once again ‘I just don’t understand how you can believe what you believe,’ and also ‘I’m happy you believe that but it is not for me.’

How will you teach one that can neither see, nor hear, nor understand?

The bible tells us that this is the case of every natural man, that is, every man who doesn’t have the Spirit of God inside them or to put it in old fashion Christian terminology, born again.

1.   Every natural man is blind and cannot see spiritual truths. 2Co 4:4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

2.   Every natural man is deaf and cannot hear spiritual truths. Psa 58:3-4  The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear.

3.    Every natural man is foolish, and cannot understand spiritual truths. Romans 3:11, There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, there is not even one.

Also the natural man cannot accept the things of God and the message of the cross is folly to him.  1Co 2:14  The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 

Matthew Mead writes “a teachable frame of mind is a special mercy of God, it is one of the greatest blessings of the new covenant. "They shall all be taught of God!" John 6:45. "They shall all know Me—from the least to the greatest," Jer. 31:34.”

Mead continues:

“An unteachable heart is a great judgment from God. This was Pharaoh's judgment; no counsel, no message, no reproof, no warning, no plague could soften him! When the Lord designs to bring judgment upon a soul, then he gives it up to an unteachable heart! "Tell my people this: 'You will hear my Words, but you will not understand. You will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. Harden the hearts of these people. Close their ears, and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn to me for healing!' Then I said, 'Lord, how long must I do this?' And he replied, 'Until their cities are destroyed, with no one left in them. Until their houses are deserted and the whole country is an utter wasteland!'" Isaiah 6:9-11.”

A teachable spirit is a great mercy of God and it is one that we ought to pray for when conversing with those who do not yet believe in the truth of the gospel. With a teachable spirit comes a softened heart, and with a softened heart comes an accepting heart ready to accept God’s truth and thus be saved.

K.Oni