LEAD A QUIET LIFE 1 Thessalonians 4:11and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,1 Thessalonians 4:12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. An effective Christian life is not just in Bible study, prayer and church attendance. A...
DO NOT EXALT YOURSELF Proverbs 25:6Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,and do not claim a place among his great men; Solomon was a wiser man. He was not born wise, God made him wise. He didn’t go to school to be wise, God made him wise. King Solomon was so wise that the world marvelled at his wisdom. The Bible preserved some of his words of wisdom and shared with us through the...
TO BE EFFECTIVE AND RELEVANT BE SENSITIVE 1 Corinthians 10:32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 1 Corinthians 10:33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be sensitive enough to know that that statement hurts. Be sensitive enough to know the joke won’t go down well. Be sensitive...
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTROL THEIR ANGER (ABRIDGED) Amos 1:11This is what the LORD says:“For three sins of Edom,even for four, I will not relent.Because he pursued his brother with a swordand slaughtered the women of the land,because his anger raged continuallyand his fury flamed unchecked, Anger is an instant reaction to being wronged. We were designed to get angry. The anger in us was not...
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTROL THEIR ANGER (UNABRIDGED) Amos 1:11This is what the LORD says:“For three sins of Edom,even for four, I will not relent.Because he pursued his brother with a swordand slaughtered the women of the land,because his anger raged continuallyand his fury flamed unchecked, Anger is an instant reaction to being wronged. We were designed to get angry. The anger in us was not...
BELIEVERS WILL NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME Romans 10:11As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” When you believe in your team and it loses in the games, you are left ashamed. All the confidence you exuded haunts you back. When you believe in your child and you brag about it all over, then the child fails you, you are left ashamed. When you believe in a political party...
FIRST POINT WHEN DEALING WITH ANY PROBLEM Joshua 10:8The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” We live in a world where we spend all our time solving problems. Business is solving problems. We are employed to solve problems. We work hard to make money to solve problems. Education is being taught how to...
STOP SINNING OR SOMETHING WORSE MAY HAPPEN John 5:14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man had been sick for thirty eight years. The man had been at the healing pool of Bethesda, but every time the opportunity to get healed came, others went ahead of him, and for years he kept missing the healing...
KEEP ME FROM WILLFUL DELIBERATE INTENTIONAL SINS Psalms 19:13Keep your servant also from willful sins;may they not rule over me.Then I will be blameless,innocent of great transgression. This text has also been translated to mean, keep me from proud or arrogant people. The word translated as “wilful sins” or “presumptuous sins” can also be a reference to proud or arrogant...
CLOTHING CHANGES HOW YOU LOOK AND LOOK-LIKE Gal 3:26 — Gal 3:28So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Clothing has a very powerful effect on the person who dresses and...
I sit in church or religious class and I struggle to understand what is being taught and preached. I realise a few other people are struggling too. The meeting ends and we are satisfied with having appeared. Somehow in my mind I decide that only a few people can ever learn and understand certain things. But this is not right. I read scholars' articles on very serious issues, the vocabulary is deep, the language is way above the average member of the church. My mind wonders and struggles with, how can this be simplified for everybody? God's word cannot be a preserve of only a few people. So at some point in my life, I resolved that it is my mission to make things simpler that even the least educated and youngest child can understand the word of God. Apart from my love for grey colours, traveling and eating chapati, I have a passion for teaching, preaching and simplifying everything for those I address. My continuous worry, is always, was it simple enough for everybody?
Dr. Rei Towet Kesis is a Senior Lecturer of Applied Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. He has over ten years experience in teaching at the University and training pastors. He has also served the University as Dean of Men, Chaplain, Special Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor and currently as Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Student Affairs and Services.