BETWEEN POLITICS, TRADITION AND APPLICATION OF BRAINS

We are beginning to get to that place where we must transition from the reactive phase of Covid-19 into the more proactive stance. That means thinking about the "day after" or “the aftermath” of the initial shock and trauma that this entire Covid-19 episode has wrought upon the world and our country. What is clear is that this is a new Era, a new world and a new day. It is nothing like anywhere anyone existing alive has been to. This is the place where boys will be seperated from men, and queens from the local village belles ! it is the place of real brains and less politics and tradition. This is where we must put patriotism ahead of personal gain.

Some people can still not smell the coffee, going by the stories that keep coming up in the media portraying many that are operating in a "Business as Usual" mode. This new world has no place for the three types of  persons below.

1) The Reckless Selfish Politician

It never ceases to amaze how politicians still like to think of the rest of the world as stagnant and seeing themselves as the only ones making things work. (our own Uganda Parliament has demonstrated this abundantly in the last 3 weeks). It is time right now for some real patriotic and nationalistic thinking. We cannot afford the silos anymore, at least for now, and it will be a while before that changes.

Politicians have been so used to regurgitating old stuff from history to us (as though we have no brains), but this new age right now needs thinkers, not talkers; real good thinkers. People want solutions, functional solutions, and not stories; they will quickly pick out these types of incompetent leaders in this new dispensation. The nation right now requires forward thinkers, futurists that can stop and analyse where we are today and map out working ways forward. Those that can get to the root causes and apply or recommend solutions that work. 

The problem is that many of our politicians are talkers and not thinkers or doers. They have been so used to dividing us along all types of political lines and doing nothing else productive that they would not know how to move on in situations like these. Most of these politicians are going to be rendered obsolete in exchange for leaders that can "think solution", those that can clearly see the future. The thing is that the nation and world at large is going to need real leaders to get back onto a good footing, and many of these types are not your typical politician. So perhaps for a while we may need to “park” politicians for the more nimble real leaders that are solution oriented For those in this political space, you do well to remember that this is not a time to politic.

2) The irresponsible individuals

A lot has changed also about the world of work and business the way we knew it and most of it for good. When trauma happens, it always takes time and resolve to learning walking again. This is what it is going to take for everyone to stabilize as an individual. We must accept that finally the only constant, “change”, has happened on us. You will have to learn new ways of working, take on new skills and rebuild your business frameworks again. The new world abhors those that want to approach it using old methods and perspectives. You will have to be more creative as the world still has lots of space for such types. By the way, you are not alone; everyone is learning how to walk again. This new world is for those that learn fast and think on their feet.

I am a very strong advocate of white collar society adopting a hybrid “work from home” arrangement, where for 2 or 3 days a week a , specifically those whose jobs do not demands physical contact (and that is over 80% of us) can work from home. From my past experience there is more value added to both the individual and the company when this happens. There is also less stress on the individual as they get to avoid nuisances like traffic jams and heavy personal expenditures, for at least half the time.  They also get to spend their time enjoying the environments that they have created for themselves at home, and as well get to know their families a lot better. A happy employee is a more productive employee. Working from home, if done properly, delivers more value for the employer as well, albeit I hasten to add that it requires more ability to track deliverables and targets without compromise.

Businesses too has shifted to a more to a more relational, online perspective. Those that build better relationships stand to make more in this new world; geography in this new world will quickly yield to quality of product. So this new world is a world of quality products, else you are out of business soon and fast.

Have you taken time to review your options? have you taken time to figure out where your next footing in this new world will land? have you thought through your personal development strategy in your next 10 years?

3) The non Flexible Christian

It is a time to learn new things and new ways of working; hey! the cloud has moved so wake up and run fast ahead, catch up with the movers and put on a new thinking. Many pastors have taken a beating in this season of online broadcasts for finally jumping onto the band wagon they so loosely criticized in the past. Those that had not bothered about that part of life got a rude awakening when lock-down was executed. They had to make do with rag-tag measures, but I am sure once the world begins moving again that is a mistake not to be repeated.

This is a great time to reach out and evangelize the world like never before. It is a time for people to stop making excuses too. Many that have in the past made excuse for staying in bed on Sunday mornings have been dragged into seeking after God when the scare became so real, up-close and personal with Covid-19. Many have turned back to calling on God. The trick though is to keep the momentum when the dark clouds finally lift. Flexibility is also about ensuring that you accept the new life, by trading in the old. If your old lifestyle never made room for”things God”, you now need to ensure that you maintain that space, and keep servicing it. Am sure also that many that never appreciated the buildings of congregation will rush back into them with a new vigor when the lock-downs cease.

There is also the fact that a lot of quiet has been around us in the neighborhoods, especially in African Pentecostal faith, where noise was almost an indispensable part of us before. Flexibility means that you have discovered that God can still hear you anyway in the small fellowships, so making unreasonable loud noise in worship, or loud noise at unreasonable hours should also be left in the old order. I know, Pentecostal is never really quiet (I am one so I know), but I also know that loud noise, is beautiful noise when done at the right time. Non-flexible Christians will quickly learn that people quickly get used to calm, that disturbing that peace can have unfathomable repercussions.

There is also this key issue, the "little fox" of church fragmentation where the "us and them" view had pervaded Christendom. Now dearest Pastor, Reverend, Reverend Father, Bishop, and which ever the designation you hold, whilst you were absent from your flock during this lock down, who was speaking into their lives? who were they listening to? Who other than you kept their faith going and their light burning? Now that they are back, will you keep pushing that envelope of divisionism? I am not advocating for a place where we have a one world religion, but just like human beings are all different with differing temperaments, but yet live harmoniously together, I trust that the church will learn that though we are many and different, we are one body in Christ. I hope we shall be more flexible enough to see ourselves in the lenses of how similar we are to each other than how differently we come.

It is a new season, it is a new day, and it requires new tools, new thinking, fresh anointing and new people ! But do you copy ?

WHEN WE FAIL TO SEE THE CLOUD MOVE

How we quickly become irrelevant - when we fail to see the cloud move. 

Growing up, I was raised in an extended family, where being born-again was held in high esteem. I saw the generation of the "Tukutendereza" or "Bazukufu" and the ones that followed immediately after them. When my elder brother Ed joined kings college Buddo, he returned home after his first term a totally changed man; he came in with a new perspective to salvation, one that I could associate with, and yet it was not any less compelling on Holiness.

I took that “version” of gospel on, and on January 19^th 1986, at St. Francis Chapel at Makerere University, during an Anglican church Service I responded to the alter call, walked to the alter and gave my life to Jesus. Then I begun my journey of understanding our LORD and Savior Jesus.

Growing up:

In 1987, I joined Namilyango College and there I met my now long-time friend and brother Julius Wegoye. I attribute my significant spiritual growth and discipline to Julius mentor-ship. He impacted my life significantly and introduced me to a number of spiritual disciplines that to date have not left me. I remember we used to pray behind the pyramid, in the school sports field, at the school farm, behind the chemistry lab and in “Miracle Chambers” (Julius’ room) whenever we had opportunity to (electricity those days was not as stable as it is today); so we used all blackout times to pray. We fasted once a week as a team of about 5 prayer partners (including Adrian Braka and Samuel Kwiri, Baliddawa Hussein).

In 1992 I joined Makerere High school where I now met a bunch of passionate born again girls and boys. I was blessed to lead the fellowship during my last year there and I remember the growth being astronomical. One of the factors that triggered this growth was the miraculous salvation of a brother in the LORD, Frank Rusa, whose salvation became a big testimony. Frank not only got born again but was thrown straight into evangelism and ministering to others in miracles, signs and wonders. I remember in that one year we grew from a regular meeting of 30 people to one of over 200 people. I still remember how we did our first ever mission trip as a fellowship (the concept was not popular then); our fellowship mobilized to go for three days to Namutamba TTC beyond Mityana (The Roads were not that great then) to preach and lead people to the LORD! boy was the harvest big!!! We scaled the entire TTC, and surrounding villages preaching and leading many to the LORD. We crowned it off by preaching at the Anglican church in the area. I recall clearly that the presence of God was massive on this trip.

Shortly afterwards I joined Makerere University, and in came the Main C.U as we used to call the central fellowship of believers at the University, and the LUMBOX FELLOWSHIP. It is amazing how people that fellowshiped in different congregations and Christian faiths laid down their denominational crowns and enjoyed each other in the LORD's presence. To date I still cherish those relationships.

Let me hold it right there in order that I may highlight a bit of what happened in between my alter experience in 1986 and my entry into University. During the holidays I used to pray at an Anglican church in Mpererwe called St. Stephens church. We had some active Christian leaders at the helm; I recall among many a one Dr. Luboga, Mr. Mungherera, and many others like my former Headmaster at Makerere High school Mr. Godfrey Njagala (R.I.P); these men and women led us quite well together with the provost Reverend Wandera. One of the more active and charismatic bits of this congregation was the Youth ministry. We were allowed to lead some Church services during school holidays, be involved in taking readings, and plan unique presentations on high holidays like Christmas and Easter. I remember on this team Rebecca Namirembe, William the organist, Joyce Nakate, my siblings Sarah and Ruth among many other youths. This is where I learned to play guitar and hone my skills. We were blessed to minister to the congregation.

During this period my only growth came from this Anglican church fellowship of youths and significantly from the Namilyango fellowship under different leaders like Bro. Bujingo William, Bro. Magambo Emmanuel, Bro. Mujugira Andrew and many others. A lot of emphasis was made for personal spiritual growth, prayer, fasting and reading the Bible for oneself. We had to preach to our fellow students, carry out deliverance sessions for the oppressed,  do follow-up for new converts,  and challenge each other in righteous living. I also remember that we took on the responsibility to run the Anglican church services at the College working with ministers from Bishops theological college in Mukono.

Something else that a totally helped us to harden was the knack the school leadership had for closing down the fellowship and clamping down on our actions, apparently because too many kids were getting born again (confused as they called it) and leaving certain religious practices they had been brought up with. In fact, on many occasions fellowship was banned from college and we ended up having it, but underground in smaller cells or in the bushes around the school (We too came from the “Bush”). I am grateful for this early confrontation with hatred for the full gospel, because it taught me how important personal growth was and I grew into a relatively hardened Christian that was ready to die for the gospel. Those lock-downs made us! 

I started going to mainstream born again churches in my High school days at Makerere High school; my first church was Kampala Pentecostal church, now Watoto central.  Pastor Gary was and still is very solid on teaching; I learned lots from sitting under his teaching ministry. I learned a lot about order and excellence by just being a member of this congregation. All these learnings have defined me to date. 

So by the time I was walking into Makerere University main C.U, I was a relatively mature Christian that could not be blown around by any wind of doctrine. Here at Main C.U and LUMBOX FELLOWSHIP I became an active member, and served in many capacities: as a worship leader, as a faculty papa, as a Hall fellowship leader, etc. I served even as i grew. Here I was exposed to the mainstream born-again churches and did attend both Redeemed of the LORD Makerere and Miracle Centre Rubaga (at the older location and a bit of the new). 

It is here that I started realizing how blessed I was to be part of what God was doing in the world in my day. I got exposed to global preachers and teachers, and to worship movements of the likes of Hosanna Integrity Integrity music bringing to us leaders like Ron Kenoly, Alvin Slaughter and many others. I was exposed to contemporary gospel music (Steve Ochola and Joni Kasule, thanks to you).  My life grew into the things of God. It was then that I realized, that just as the pillar of cloud and fire to the children of Israel was,  God operated in seasons and that often times when He did something new He moved from the old, literally. I also realized, that having been part of such a great heritage of born again people and experiences, many of the people I could see in my past, people that passionately loved God and lived for him,  people whose walk with God I could not question, people that had been my role models, they had stalled when the pillar of God had moved, and as a result they were left behind and thus sadly missed the new move of God.

Often times listening to them,  they were full of judgment of the new workings of God, which to them often looked diabolical: "they clap their hands", " they drum in disrespect to God in their church services", "they play these guitars and pianos and they dance around and are not humble before God during prayers", "they shout on top of their voices as if God cannot hear", "they use over night prayers to commit immoral acts", etc. The accusations and criticisms went on and on. Meanwhile God worked in us, and He transformed us. We who were inside the movement were moving more and more into liberty and peace as the criticisms grew, and the chasm between “us and them” grew ever wider with each party claiming to know God more and better and claiming to speak for Him. During this time, it suddenly occurred to me that good intention was not good enough in following after God.

I started lifting up a personal prayer that to date I still pray, "...LORD do not ever leave me behind when you move; let me be humble enough, and eyes open enough to see your move and recognize it as such when you do; let me not be ‘too experienced’ to despise your move; let me never be too old to be sensitive to your move; let me never be left behind when the pillar moves..."  This was so because having observed the huge heritage of God loving people I had lived among, I realized that many of them had missed the Holy Spirit movement of our day. They rejected everything that came with this movement, the signs and wonders, the joy of salvation, the ministries of the prophetic and much more. Albeit, they still loved the LORD with a passion!

Pharisaic fetters:

One of the biggest fetters any one can ever break is the pharisaic fetter. It usually attacks mature Christians and those that have tarried long in salvation. My simple definition of a Pharisee is that he/she is one that is well tutored in certain doctrine(s) but is not willing to understand and accept that our God keeps doing new things, yes even unveiling new doctrine(s). It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so is the journey to becoming a Pharisee. Pharisees are often religious role models, passionate people, often almost zealots, and that is largely seen as a great attribute by most people that pursue God. All this begins as innocent passions for things God, then it grows into rules around them, and then it becomes a closed box where all other thinking and views out side the box is wrong and ungodly.

Pharisees, in their passion to please God and in their pursuit of righteous, never see this coming. The Pharisee is usually the last person to see themselves that way. They often are well tutored in Christendom doctrines and have massive experiences of the hand of God in their personal lives. They are typically people of integrity. Their lives will exude God Himself as it were. The sad and sudden departure is often around the thinking that our God has stopped doing things new. There is an assumption that all the truths have been unveiled, inspite of  a tenet that Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13 verses 9 to reading  "9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part....12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known". Thing to note there is that whilst God remains the same yesterday, today and forever, the way we know His workings today does not remain the same; it is ever changing forward to the benefit of the Church. He continuously is working His way into our limited knowledge of Him, by revealing Himself piece by piece, until that day that the church will know her master fully in glory.

As children of God we should not be caught in the business of criticizing those that have gone before us, thinking we are more noble than them.  I remember sitting in a meeting where Apostle John Mulinde was speaking. He mentioned that he was not the first to create a prayer mountain in Uganda, but that the former Arch bishop of the Anglican church of Uganda, Bishop Henry Luke Orombi was the first to do so in Nebbi; now that for me was shocking, but it was the truth. Everything that the current evangelical or prophetic movement is enjoying today, is seated on the foundations that the Martin Luther's, the John Calvin's and other Generals in the faith built. It's only that a bit more has been revealed to us, so we see more clearly than them on certain things.

It is not wisdom for us today to attack anything we do not understand simply because it looks strange and new to us. Let's provide due steer where we see obvious error but often times the mistakes are from the pains of child birth for new things God is doing.  More recently for me has been the grace movement, the rise in the prophetic and apostolic manifestations, the unveiling of the revelations of the love of God and many more to come with ever increasing speed. The mistake as well is the carriers of these new things and revelations have not known how to manage and introduce change in any community, so they have broken the older vessels. God has called us to maturity and balance and to examine doctrines before we reject them fully.

What we shall see more of is this as the young people that you led to the LORD are becoming vessels of God in these new movements, simply because they are more open to God to use for "New wine". God will not put new wine in old wine skins as it will break them. That is why God avoids the "experienced Christians" that have forgotten the place of Grace where we should all habitually fall to refresh our views and hearts. If God poured this new stuff into most of us we would go apostate and be destroyed. I have seen God use men and women I led to Him and mentored to growth, in ways I never even knew about.

May God help us to see the cloud when it moves, and to have the grace to get up and walk after it when we see it move inspite of our current comfort. May we not be so comfortable with the old wine, that we loose flexibility for the new wine that God is pouring out, or else, in His love for us we may be left out of the new move, and in our darkness, we may be caught in ever increasing battles fighting the work of God, battles we shall never win.

Throwing the Baby out with the bath water

I have not felt the unction to specifically pray about COVID-19 per say, but during this period I have felt a deeper pull to take in as much personal time with God as I can. 

Really ? !  I hear someone say back there. Well,  let me explain; when this year started out, I was feeling weary from lots of fasting in 2019. So I told the LORD that I would do a week a month at most through 2020. I did that for January and February. However mid February I felt a very strong and deep unction to fast and pray starting March 1^st 2020 for 3 weeks. I actually wanted to do a vegetable and fruit fast for the period. Because I never wanted to interrupt my exercise regimen I ended up fasting for 12 – 18 hours a day on fluids and leaving out about 2 days a week for my exercise. I however determined to do the vegetable and fruit fast with fluids for the last week. I put my gym trainer on notice that I would not show for that week. By the end of that fast, the Uganda lock down drama had started. What was I fasting for ? That I may draw closer to Him in my walk with Him. I determined at the beginning of the year that my prayer item would be that.

Now today, I do not have to drive through a traffic jam (3-4 hours daily saved). Then I do not have to make time to dress up. I can directly hit my work bench and deliver on my work related outputs with ease. by 5 pm I am able to align myself to do the family alter, have time for myself on other personal development, get to bed early, and then engage in midnight prayer watch. So for me the lock down is an opportunity for the church to sharpen up.

Initially I did not understand, but as soon as I tuned in, the instructions from God of how to use this time started coming in. Those that have gone before us desired to see this time but to no avail; my pastor friend called it "Sabbath" ! the LORD has called the entire earth to a global Sabbath. But Sabbaths were meant to draw Holy convocations. Sabbaths were meant to be times of rest, reflection and personal retreat in order to revive one’s spirit. The Reference in the book of Hebrews about sabbath talks about “Entering into His rest”; His shalom !

On another front however, there has been increasing prophetic direction for the church and the nation. Many of these words do not look good and can conjure up fear if one is not careful to perceive them correctly. This is the time also the aversion of a number of Christians to gift like prophesy has become very apparent. I have bumped into a number of professing Christians that will not hear of a prophetic word, or a word of knowledge as they call is all fake! Now, I understand the effect of the false prophets; what however I do not understand is why a child of God will totally reject a mode that YAHWEH Elohim has opted to use down through out the ages. Now, if we are all crying out to God, but will not accept Him to talk back to us, why do we cry out at all? Or have we fallen so far away that we now believe in a God that does not speak? Are we not the ones making the words of God of non effect? Jesus said in Mark 7:13 "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye." He was addressing the Pharisees who were now emphasizing tradition as if it were the oracles of God and as a result, they had grown insensitive to the workings of the Spirit.

Today we are quick to judge anyone that calls us to order or discipline as a "law" governed Christian, a “Pharisee of Pharisees”. We do not seem to appreciate that in pursuit of our pains and hurt, rather than the proper working of the gifts of God, we have now created our own version of god; it has a form of Godliness, but lacking the real power thereof (2 Tim 3:5). To this god, no one can hear from God, for direct instructions about life and Godliness; I have been told by some that those days ended in the book of Acts ! I have shared a number of prophetic words given during this recent pandemic that the entire world is working to wrestle down. I shared these mostly with the children of the House. I have received in some cases some really shocking reactions of straight rejection for the prophetic utterances !

So when God speaks back to us and we block our ears, how then shall we hear ? Another defense I have heard repeated on more than one occasion seems to form the theology of some today; some one asks "how can a loving God do this ?" " how can a loving God even say disaster is coming?"; they have said that their loving God will not give prior warnings about “negative” events to come. They do not realize that according to the tenets of the word of God, when men become evil and wicked, He (God) does not even need to punish them, but  rather allow for nature to revolt. The bible calls it "the land vomiting out its inhabitants" (Leviticus. 18:25 - For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants; Leviticus 18:28 That the land spew not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you.)

Nature has a voice; the blood of Abel spoke, the Fig tree the Jesus spoke to heard, and David the psalmists repeatedly refers to trees singing and clapping hands, and mountains jumping. Even Jesus in Mark 11:23 talks of speaking to the mountain, and it obeying the voice of our commands. The land too has feelings; nature has feelings and its only a matter of time before it reacts in repulsion and begins to vomit its inhabitants out of the land. God does not even have to be involved in this process. However, His involvement is in allowing nature to process with its course of action.

So "How can a loving God destroy His people?" He doesn’t! God in His love begins to warn us the day we first err (Isaiah 30:21 - Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.) Problem is that when He speaks to us, we like little spoilt brats will often tempt Him again, the same way your stubborn little son will want to defy your word. So we go off into the opposite direction or pretend we did not hear. So in progression he sends us our pastors, friends or family who site His oracles to us. We still turn the other way and soon our consciences begin to become seared. Progressively we no longer even listen.

Then he sends prophets; ah but remember that we do not believe in them. In that instant we become masters at discernment, and alas every prophet is false, simply because he does not repeat to us what our ears itch to hear (2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;) this is the point at which the child of God begins looking for their own "prophets". At this point now we are our own masters and nothing stands between us and destruction. Even satan at this point will abandon you because you are already in self destruct mode; he has "better use" for his time on more serious Christians. This is the point at which nature takes over, because then it has also had enough. Nonetheless, nature never comes at us without warning; but remember we already have a culture of not paying attention ! Then disaster strikes.

So we run off to pray, and God in His loving self same begins to tell us the very same things He had always wanted to draw our attention to, but then we quite have not yet gotten to the place of humility where we are open to listen to the instructions from the prophets. so we reject the word and the cycle of self destruction repeats itself. Unfortunately, at this point, often times we hold the abort key that enables us to return to sanity.

The question is, "Will you use that key this time round ?"