Archive for June, 2009
» posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 12:45 am by admin
Me
Do not go where the path may lead but go out there and leave a trail so that others may follow.
Born on October 7th, 1980, I am the third born in a family of five children. I grew up in small farm where my father taught in the local Primary School. I attended Church regularly and was an active member of the Sunday school class. I joined high School in 1995 and was a member of the Christian union where I regularly attended serviced and participated in various activities until 1996 when I realized that Christ had not called me to nominal Christianity. Thus in July 1996, I attended a Weekend Challenge meeting where I got convicted of my sins before God (1 John 1:8-9) and the hitherto consequences of eternal damnation (Romans 3:23). I thenceforth gave my life to the Lord Jesus and began a new life aptly guided by 2 Corinthians 5:17.
This information would be incomplete if I fail to add that I temporarily rejected this new found faith between November 1996 and mid 2000. During the same time, I perfectly fit in the description of a heathen, if not a pagan. The only thing that I did regularly was attend Church on Sunday (upon compulsion by my dear and most beautiful mother) and drink like a fish. Luckily, for me, I kept my sexual purity even at the hours when I was most drunk – something I pride in todate – even with the struggles and temptations that beckon me. This stupor did not last for long as the LORD’s promise is true that He will build his Church and no one would snatch it away from Him. Like the Simon Peter after his denial of Jesus, I too came to the realization that my life was worthless and dirty apart from Jesus. The more reason why I believe in predestination. Be ye it known also that I subscribe to the reformed tradition – a Calvinist of Calvinists – almost 7- Point, but i’ll leave it at five.
It was at this point that I sought mentorship and guidance and found this in my then digital Youth Pastor – Victor Owuor. We did not spend time together but I watched his steps keenly. This deliberate observation helped me to see wider scope of a Christian’s calling – that the Christocentric imperative does not spare but rather permeates all spheres of life. Since then it has been duly emphasized that I cannot live a rather compartmentalized life where Christ is conveniently kept in a briefcase and is only made handy during Sunday worship services and other emergency circumstances like sickness and death. Instead my greater ethic is that the Lordship of Christ is not negotiable irrespective of whatever circumstances I face in life. Thus I live a life of faith trusting him day by day that he will be faithful to the end as we wait for his return.
This love for Christ as well as trust in his imminent return propels me to celebrate the totality of life as I allow Christ to shape my faith in him. I am a proponent of radical Christianity and believe that either Christ is Lord or not at all – there is no partial Lordship at all. Martin Luther (the reformer) is my inspiration and I stand by his words: “Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”
My opinion on any issue must first be shaped by Scripture before further analysis for I know that in God’s revealed word lies the eternal truth. I have also endeavoured, by the help of God, to faithfully respond to Paul’s call to submit myself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God… Here I stand seeking nothing else but to glorify God in everything that I do. Thus in defining my career objectives and goals, I have always determined to explore avenues of authentic Christian Scholasticism if only to be able to exert viable influence to the society through the educational sector. This has been the guiding factor as I pursue my academic and professional goals, believing that as an authentic Christian I may be the only Bible that society around me may be able to read. I do this with all zeal and zest if only I may save a soul.
So what is my calling (life-purpose or life-task)? What burning passion has God placed on my heart to do for him in this life? What is the desire of my soul with respect to serving God now and in the future?
A life without a purpose is not worth living: our purpose is so much greater than our life fulfillment. It’s far greater than our own happiness or even our own peace of mind. I subscribe to the Westminster confession: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]” ([a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11, [b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4). My purpose is to know Christ and grow in his love as I serve him daily through constant investment in the lives of others. Consequently, I have the mandate to teach so that I can influence the society towards genuine transformation. As a guardian of morality in the society I live to ensure justice is executed equally to all humanity as deserved.
Towards the chief end of man I believe there is really only one standard by which our lives will ultimately be judged and that is whether we were pleasing to God. One is driven to the conclusion that it must be what we are and not what we do that really counts with the Lord. Thus, loving the Lord or enjoying the Lord or obeying the Lord or even accepting the Lord’s salvation in the first place—all these are means serving the chief end, which is to please Him. It was entirely of His own pleasure that we have been adopted into the blameless family of God (Eph. 1:5).
I might say that the other activities I engage in are only but subsidiary purposes that lead to the greater ultimate purpose; which is my chief end. Thus my call to faithful Christian discipleship, policy development and influence as well as teaching and writing, among other things I believe the Lord has called me to do, must be seen as just that: subsidiary purposes. It should appear that I should have fulfilled my mission in life when have been accomplished. Yet if; to complete this mission, I should become increasingly impatient of interruptions, neglectful of common household duties, indifferent to the needs of those around me, and unwilling to assume any of my responsibilities as a citizen, then the completion of this life’s work might have some significance as an end in itself; but if this life work is merely a means appointed of the Lord in order that I myself might in the doing of it become pleasing to Him, one would have to assess it as a failure. Thus, while there is a sense in which I may have a goal in this life and which I may come to look upon as that which all else must be made to serve, it is not really the true end. All our doings—casual tasks or life work—must be a means, never ultimately the end. In everything we do, the object must always be simply to please God. So, for the true assessment of a man’s life, one must clearly distinguish between the means and the end. If his life work is viewed as an end in itself; we may look upon it as a success. But if we look upon it as a means to a higher end, our evaluation of it might not be the same at all. What a man has done may be highly successful, but what the “doing” did to the man himself may be a very different thing.
I have concluded that the accumulation of wealth, even if I could achieve it, is an insufficient reason for living. When I reach the end of my days, a moment or two from now, I must look backward on something more meaningful than the pursuit of houses and lands and machines and stocks and bonds. Nor is fame of any lasting benefit. I will consider my earthly existence to have been wasted unless I can recall a loving family, consistent involvement in the lives of people and an earnest attempt to serve the God who made me. Nothing else makes much sense
post a comment | filed under Uncategorized
