Know that you are a beloved daughter of God

All women in God's kingdom ought to know this indestructible truth, namely that they are beloved daughters of Yahweh. To your heavenly Father, favoured one, you are forever a season of summer fruits and never a twig of dampened November. In his eyes you are a full grown flower, a delicate lilly, a colourful bright dress and a radiant star. It is him who puts his words in your mouth and covers you in the shadow of his hands declaring merrily and happily to all his hosts that 'you are his adorable heiress.'

Wake yourself O daughters of Yahweh, you who have drunk from the hands of a lack of self-worth and ugliness. You who have seized to lift your head because of shame, wake up from your slumber. Cease from your famine in understanding your own preciousness and prettiness. Awake, for your Father is at hand to console you, yea, to welcome you infinitely more readily than any man ever could.

Cease your weeping. I understand that your tears have their origins in the pain that runs through the fibres of your very being. You have been betrayed, the words were all lies. O how keenly you did try to reinvigorate your-self, but all to no avail. You are a broken vessel, a mere piece of scattered clay. This is what the world has done to you, man has left you on your blemished knees. O now remove your hands from your covered face, hide not like Eve but like a little girl, yes a little princess, crawl on your father's lap and weep your tears there. After a while, after a little time, sleep on his chest and begin to feel the enormity of his love for you.

When you have awakened after he has rested your soul, he has left on his table a refreshing cup of grace. He would have you drink it fully, leaving no traces left for there is more for tomorrow. Come now and drink, erase the miseries of your past, wipe out the guilt of your transgressions and have the Spirit that allows you to forgive those who have done you wrong do his reconciling work.

O pretty girl, if your Father has taken the time to clothe the flower of the fields, how will he not take more time to cloth you and ensure that your beauty surpasses that of the flowers? He is the only artist worthy enough to paint you accurately. I am not worthy for I am a man with my own sins, but his Christ, your older brother is the artist qualified to paint you. And now come into his room, he has painted you. Do you see your complexion, do you notice that he has blotted out all of your darkening lines, he has replaced them with the light of the morning. See, see the amazing love for you and shall you now scoff at it by rejecting such unfathomable love. O do not be a Jezebel. Be a Mary. Be the face of innocence and purity. Accept it on the grounds that He has decided, yea elected you to be such a fine specimen. It his him who beautifies you.

Remember how God spoke of Israel when he passed by her and saw her wallowing in her own blood. Before he cast upon her an eye of mercy, no eyes before pitied her. All launched stones at her and joined in with her cursed refrain of ugliness and worthlessness. But God came by her and bid her to live. He came by her and made her flourish like a plant of the field. He entered into a covenant with her and clothed her with embroidered cloth. In gentle love he wrapped her in fine linen. She was adorned and grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Israel became a queen and her renown went forth among the nations because of her beauty, for it was perfect through the splendour that God bestowed on her.

But Israel forgot her king and lingered on her own beauty defiling herself again. But with you daughters of the new covenant I have a better hope. A surer beauty that grows from grace to grace and perfected at once in Christ Jesus, your eternal husband. I have a better hope because of him who has promised. I would do you a great insult if I was to attribute your perseverance to your own feminine strength. That is a pressure you were not made to bear. All the strains is on Christ, yea your cross of deliverance and final perfections is all placed on the back of Christ. He carries it for you and of him we have no need to worry for he is the ultimate hero of God. It was him who slain that humanity hating beast and death. It was him who propelled all your sins into the abyss of eternal fire. He has won the victory and your perseverance is not a difficult task for him to perform as to make you and I worry. Nay, it is in his hands, therefore worry has no more hold. Now dear daughter, loved and cherished, enamored and adorned, fragranced with Christ sweet ever pleasing righteousness, lie and rest in his greener pasture. Know that you are a beloved daughter of Yahweh, the glorious King and majestic God of all the universe. 

K.Oni

I knew a sad boy

I once knew a sad boy who asked his father this question. "Is it right father for people to mourn the loss of a girl they loved even though she is still alive? Because in hearing that she is now married, I hardened my heart in order to keep back the tears. But every time I go by the harbor to sit at the mouth of the river, nature warms my soul breathing a softness to my character which makes me think favorably about her. When this feeling is upon me I harden myself and leave my spot of comfort and engage in some disinterested flirting. But I have come to realise through mother's words that I loved her more than I knew, and I must let my sadness come to the horizon, to spill through my eyes for a day or so and then I shall find my feelings over. But I fear father, that as you still mourn for the loss of Billy that I shall mourn forever concerning her."

K.Oni

Making Room for Atheism

Our church exists “to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” That is our mission. “All things” means business, industry, education, media, sports, arts, leisure, government, and all the details of our lives.

Ideally this means God should be recognized and trusted as supreme by every person he has made. But the Bible teaches plainly that there will never be a time before Jesus comes back when all people will honor him as supreme (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).

So how do we express a passion for God’s supremacy in a pluralistic world where most people do not recognize God as an important part of their lives, let alone an important part of government or education or business or industry or art or recreation or entertainment?

Answer: We express a passion for the supremacy of God...

1) by maintaining a conviction at all times that God is ever-present and gives all things their most important meaning. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Governor of all things. We must keep in our minds the truth that all things exist to reveal something of God’s infinite perfections. The full meaning of everything, from shoestrings to space shuttles, is the way they relate to God.

2) by trusting God in every circumstance to use his creative, sustaining, governing wisdom and power to work all things together for the good of all who love him. This is faith in the future grace of all that God promises to be for us in Jesus.

3) by making life choices that reveal the supreme worth of God above what the world values supremely. “The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life” (Psalm 63:3). So we will choose to die rather than lose sweet fellowship with God. This will show his supremacy over all that life offers.

4) by speaking to people of God’s supreme worth in creative and persuasive ways, and by telling people how they can be reconciled to God through Christ, so that they can enjoy God’s supremacy as protection and help, rather than fear it as judgment.

5) by making clear that God himself is the foundation for our commitment to a pluralistic democratic order — not because pluralism is his ultimate ideal, but because in a fallen world, legal coercion will not produce the kingdom of God. Christians agree to make room for non-Christian faiths (including naturalistic, materialistic faiths), not because commitment to God’s supremacy is unimportant, but because it must be voluntary, or it is worthless. We have a God-centered ground for making room for atheism. “If my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight” (John 18:36). The fact that God establishes his kingdom through the supernatural miracle of faith, not firearms, means that Christians in this age will not endorse coercive governments — Christian or secular.

This is why we resist the coercive secularization implied in some laws that repress Christian activity in public places. It is not that we want to establish Christianity as the law of the land. That is intrinsically impossible, because of the spiritual nature of the kingdom. It is rather because repression of free exercise of religion and persuasion is as wrong against Christians as it is against secularists.

We believe this tolerance is rooted in the very nature of the gospel of Christ. In one sense, tolerance is pragmatic: freedom and democracy seem to be the best political order humans have conceived.

But for Christians it is not purely pragmatic: the spiritual, relational nature of God’s kingdom is the ground of our endorsement of pluralism, until Christ comes with rights and authority that we do not have.

By John Piper

Originally published in A Godward Life (Multnomah, 1997)

Book review: Getting your husband to talk to you

If you wish that your husband will talk to you – or talk to you more often- or talk to you on a deeper level then this book is for you. What it offers are principles and techniques that the authors claim has worked time and time again in getting husbands who typically don’t talk – or don’t talk much – to begin sharing their thoughts, feelings, and emotions with their wife.

In one of the stories told about a wife's complaint to Bob (one of the authors) that her husband won't talk, she challenged Bob to see if he could get her husband to talk and then remarked that “It won't do any good.” Bob decided to take her up on her dare to see if he could get the woman's husband to talk. Bob met up with the woman's husband and to his surprise the man began to talk and for the next thirty minutes Bob realised that he had said less than a dozen words. Wondering why the guy's wife had made such accusation that he wouldn't talk, Bob mused that perhaps maybe there aren't any men who cant talk. Maybe there are only some men who have never been listened to.

The book is full of these kind of stories, advice which the author have given and as a result bore real fruit.

The authors offer seven reasons why men won't talk to their wives and I'll list just a few. Buy the book when it comes out to read the rest and the reasons why the authors have chosen these seven reasons why men won't talk to their wives. The reasons below are not listed in numerical order as it is in the book:

1. Men don’t talk because they are afraid of their thoughts and ideas will be criticized and rejected.

2. men don’t talk because they do not believe they are as verbally skilled as their wives.

3. Men don’t talk because they don’t want to appear emotionally weak.

4. Men don’t talk because they don’t believe that they will be listened to.

This book emphasises the necessity for a wife to have a listening ear. A wife needs to take the advice James gave to his community when he wrote, “my dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Every one should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” This is because words are little pieces of a woman's soul and women would rather talk just to talk but men will talk if they are already doing something else. A wife who has a silent husband at home will need to understand this and perhaps join her husband in doing activities that he likes to do.

As well as listening, asking the right questions is instrumental in getting one's husband to talk. Always start with questions people are comfortable to talk about. A good practical advice I believe that is commendable for all situations.

The next quotation comes with an 18+ warning. 'Many wives have long desired for their husbands to understand the vital place of foreplay in preparing them to engage in sexual intimacy. One of the most common complaints wives have is, “he is so eager to reach the main event for him that he doesn't take the time to bring me along with him”. In a similar manner, your husband requires conversational foreplay in order to respond to your desire for a deeper discussion.'

Ask him questions that he is comfortable with. Do not be eager to 'reach the main event' of heart to heart conversation. Take the time to bring him along. This is an advice I personally will heed to when conversing with men in relation to discipleship and mentoring.

Bob and Cheryl Moeller suggest seven questions that can reach his heart. I will list a few. 1. What is the most fulfilling aspect of your job? 2. Who is the one person you admire most and why? 3. What’s the best compliment anyone ever paid you?

This book does not shy away from addressing heart issues like sin. A women is not always to be blamed for her husband's silence and likewise a wife needs to examine her own heart so that she is not harboring bitterness towards her husband due to his emotional neglect of her communicative needs. Bitterness writes the married couple 'is a settled decision not to forgive, and it builds enormous walls in relationships.' If your husband senses that you still hold things against him and won't forgive him of his past mistakes then he is going to keep silent or not want to talk to you. 'Bitter roots produce bitter fruits in a marriage.'

On a more lighter note, 'make food and men will arrive. We have often jokingly (actually not so jokingly) tell single women interested in attracting a man that one of the most effective strategies involves just one word: food. “make it and they will come.”

At the end of each chapter there are discussion questions to talk through which indicates that this book is available for small-group use.

I am not a husband and not a wife so what did I gain from reading this book and why did I continue to read it? First of all this book is beneficial to both genders in two ways. 1. Most of the advice offered are suitable for both genders and it is rooted in scripture and experience. 2. One day if the Lord wills, I too will become a husband unless my portion is that of Christ and Paul of which I am content with. O to be like Christ in every way and of that apostle who was born at an untimely hour. As a husband I will understand the necessity of opening my heart to my dear sweet Christ saturated wife and of the greatness my conversation nourishes her feminine want for dialogue. I will spot quickly the faults in me of why I am neglecting her and spot the lame faults in her which have created a barrier in me. Also in addition, I can offer advice to husbands in keeping them accountable whether they are neglecting this vital duty of communication with their God ordained wives.

If you have a silent husband or if you are single and want to understand issues in marriage to do with communication, I beseech you to buy this book when it comes out. It offers godly advice and does not shy away in dealing with sin. It offers the gospel.

Pre-order book at: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Your-Husband-Talk-You/dp/0736952012

K.Oni

Hope is the anchor of the soul

Hope is the anchor of the soul

How is hope the anchor of the soul?

I shall tell you by way of a story.

Hope by definition is believing things that are yet unseen, things which are promised, rooted on unshakable grounds but are yet to come. By way of story I shall use Jesus Christ as an example.

Jesus Christ was soon to die for that was the reason why he came. At one time, towards the end of his ministry he set his face like a flint towards Jerusalem. He was resolved, knowing that he was condemned to die by his loving Father and his treacherous enemies. When the night came, yea, that awful black night, Judas approached that garden filled with the tears of the Son of God. Judas saw Jesus, and having Satan as the king of his wretched life, he drew near to the stable Christ and kissed him with his disingenuous lips. He kissed him and thus effectively crucified him. Christ, knowing Judas to be a devil from the start yet called him a friend. What a love! This is heavenly love for day after day Christ had fellowship with Judas and no days were contaminated with bitterness for Christ knew no sin. Finally they took Christ away, they scourged him, walloped him and at last crucified him. But our dear bruised Christ had a hope, he had a hope in God his pater (father) that he was able to deliver what was promised to him. It is said that for the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of God. As it is written in proverbs 10:8 'the hope of the righteous brings joy.' Christ hope brought him much joy and it was I say the reason why he was able to endure. 

Hope anchored his soul to stay on that cursed cross. Love sustained him. Dear saint do you have this hope in your soul? Do you have contained within you that hope of the righteous? Can you endure whatever flame may blow your way because you possess hope? If you have not then turn your eyes to heaven and pray until you receive from him who gives good gifts, the hope of Christ. Ask and ask away. Knock until the door is open. Say to him that will he let you perish without this hope, if so then how can my life be to his praise and glory. Tell him that you will to dance in his salvation and without this hope my faith will only look like Job in all of his miseries. 

I pray for you to have this heavenly hope. For it is this hope which is Christ himself who has entered the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. There your Christ dwells. 

K.Oni

No pleasure for Christ for those who are out of Christ

It is true that there is no pleasure in music for those who cannot 

hear and there is no awe of the grand canyon for those who cannot 

see; likewise there is no love, joy, gladness for Christ for those who

have no knowledge of the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus 

Christ in their hearts. 

K.ONI

A prayer for my soul - Let these dead bones live

Can these dead bones live? O God, in the church there are many dead bones - I wish it were not true but it is. Can they live, can they live - yes they can for you God is able to make them live. So we prophesy over them Sovereign Lord, we prophesy over them to come alive, that there be an awakening in your church which then spreads to the streets, to the community, to the nations that people all across Bristol will flood into churches that are yours, singing praises to you God and thanking you for the cross. I can pray this prayer for Christ said to one of the seven churches, that 'you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains', he said. I thank you for those awakened, who are engaged in spreading the renown of Christ in the land, doing good works which gives glory to you God our Father. O cause many more to follow in that Calvary footstep, dying to our wills, dying to self and bearing fruit. Let us not seek the applause of the world, we desire a better noble affirmation and word of Christ when he shall say, ‘well done my faithful servant, enter into my everlasting joy’. 

K.Oni