God Is Easy To Live With

SATAN'S FIRST ATTACK upon the human race was his sly effort to destroy Eve's confidence in the kindness of God. Unfortunately for her and for us, he succeeded too well. From that day, men have had a false conception of God, and it is exactly this that has cut out from under them the ground of righteousness and driven them to reckless and destructive living.

Nothing twists and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God. Certain sects, such as Pharisees, while they held that God was stern and austere, managed to maintain a fairly high level of external morality; but their righteousness was only outward. Inwardly they were "white sepulchres," as our Lord Himself told them. Their wrong conception of God resulted in a wrong idea of worship.

To a Pharisee, the service of God was a bondage which he did not love but from which he could not escape without a loss too great to bear. The God of the Pharisee was not an easy God to live with, so his religion became grim and hard and loveless. It had to be so, for our notion of God must always determine the quality of our religion.

Much Christianity since the days of Christ's flesh has also been grim and severe. And the cause has been the same - an unworthy or an inadequate view of God. Instinctively we try to be like our God, and if He is conceived to be stern and exacting, so will we ourselves be.

From a failure to properly understand God comes a world of unhappiness among good Christians even today. The Christian life is thought to be a glum, unrelieved cross-carrying under the eye of a stern Father who expects much and excuses nothing. He is austere, peevish, highly temperamental, and extremely hard to please. The kind of life which springs out of such libelous notions must of necessity be but a parody on the true life in Christ.

It is most important to our spiritual welfare that we hold in our minds always a right conception of God. If we think of Him as cold and exacting, we shall find it impossible to love Him, and our lives will be ridden with servile fear. If, again, we hold Him to be kind and understanding our whole inner life will mirror that idea.

The truth is that God is the most winsome of all beings and His service is one of unspeakable pleasure. He is all love, and those who trust Him need never know anything but that love. He is just, indeed, and He will not condone sin; but through the blood of the everlasting covenant He is able to act toward us exactly as if we had never sinned. Toward the trusting sons of men His mercy will always triumph over justice.

Fellowship with God is delightful beyond all telling. He communes with His redeemed ones in an easy, uninhibited fellowship that is restful and healing to the soul. He is not sensitive nor selfish nor temperamental. What He is today we shall find Him tomorrow and the next day and the next year. He is not hard to please, though He may be hard to satisfy. He expects of us only what He has Himself first supplied. He is quick to mark every simple effort to please Him, and just as quick to overlook imperfections when He knows we meant to do His will. He loves us for ourselves and values our love more than galaxies of newly created worlds.

Unfortunately, many Christians cannot get free from their perverted notions of God, and these notions poison their hearts and destroy their inward freedom. These friends serve God grimly, as the elder brother did, doing what is right without enthusiasm and without joy, and seem altogether unable to understand the buoyant, spirited celebration when the prodigal comes home. Their idea of God rules out the possibility of His being happy in His people, and they attribute the singing and shouting to sheer fanaticism. Unhappy souls, these, doomed to go heavily on their melancholy way, grimly determined to do right if the heavens fall and to be in the winning side in the day of judgment.

How good it would be if we could learn that God is easy to live with. He remembers our frame and knows that we are dust. He may sometimes chasten us, it is true, but even this He does with a smile, the proud, tender smile of a Father who is bursting with pleasure over an imperfect but promising son who is coming every day to look more and more like the One whose child he is.

Some of us are religiously jumpy and self-conscious because we know that God sees our every thought and is acquainted with all our ways. We need not be. God is the sum of all patience and the essence of kindly good will. We please Him most, not by frantically trying to make ourselves good, but by throwing ourselves into His arms with all our imperfections, and believing that He understands everything and loves us still.

By: A. W. Tozer

THE AFRICA THE WORLD NEVER KNEW OF

Normally, the entire image of Africa projected to the outside world through foreign media is that of despair and misery.  Violent civil wars, famine, drought, and poverty summarize the grim and gloomy picture that is constantly broadcast to the world as the real Africa.  No wonder people from America and other European lands after many years of biased indoctrination on the true state of Africa find it extremely hard to accept any other view of Africa apart from the one they have been made to believe.

Honestly, the depressing image of Africa projected by Western media is not inaccurate. Indeed, there have been and are still civil wars in Africa. Diseases that were snuffed out in advanced countries centuries ago still plague Africans. For example, malaria and cholera still take the lives of many Africans yearly. Famine and Drought are also rife in some parts of Africa.  For Poverty, the least said about it the better.  Many Africans south of the Sahara are still grappling with absolute poverty – many still cannot afford three square meals a day, not to mention a decent shelter.

When I was growing up in Kumasi, a city in Ghana, many of my friends were and some are still shocked to find out that kids in Western countries have their own rooms decorated with pieces of furniture and comfortable beds. They are shocked not because it is one of the taboos in Africa for children to have access to their own rooms, but mainly because it was totally and simply unaffordable due to poverty. Thus the average African family were all cramped in one single room, with the parents sleeping on cheap beds and the children lying on a mat on the floor. These were not only five year olds but children as old as eighteen, nineteen and twenty who were still dependent on their parents and could not seek shelter elsewhere. They had no choice but to share the same single room with their parents.

Even currently, Africans who are able to afford an apartment are considered well-to-do. Unsurprisingly, children look at their friends occupying apartment buildings with their parents with understandable envy.  Interestingly, those lucky children are few and one could easily make them out of many people in a given area or suburb.  For adults who have striven to build their own houses, they are treated with high respect.

I believe Westerners would find it humorous if not shocking to learn that rice and Chicken (one of the delicacies in Ghana and Africa) was eaten only during Christmas. Rice was expensive comparable to the traditional foods. Fowl too was costly and families who had one protected it with their souls to prevent it from being stolen. Some marked their fowl to differentiate them from others’. Others too bound a strip of cloth on one foot or smeared paint on their feathers for easy identification. Unfortunately, almost all fowl had one destiny, and that was to be slaughtered on Christmas day.

This was in the 1990s and the years prior to it. Looking back, I can say confidently that things have improved a little. Rice and Chicken is no longer eaten by the average family during the end of the year as a special food. The accommodation dilemma is gradually improving.

In spite of all the above inconveniences, the African world then and now, albeit disorderly, is more than exciting. Free from the technologically-induced fast-paced world and sheer individualism that characterize the developed world, Africans enjoy a very high sense of belongingness, togetherness, communal love and care, and emotional stability that no amount of the American dollar can buy. Despite the famine, drought, civil wars, poverty, political upheavals, and corrupt leadership, the typical African is generally at peace with himself. The extended family system, and the traditional sense of communal living, though gradually eroding, has in one way or the other blessed Africans with meaningful lives and kept them going joyfully amidst the numerous problems and challenges confronting them.

This is the Africa the world knows very little of. It is not about high-rise buildings because there are very few in Africa. It is not about the excellent road networks, super fast cars, scientific and technological breakthroughs or the simmering and eye-pleasing lights of Las Vegas or New York City. It is the pervading sense of contentment and unique emotional stability that Africans undoubtedly enjoy.

When we hear here in Africa about the sporadic but maddening mass shooting and the frequent, sudden and unnecessary flare ups at “anything” and constant complaints by people in highly developed lands, we cannot help but unwittingly ask the question Eddie Murphy posed in his very successful romantic-comedy movie “Coming to America” that “Why is it that almost everybody in America seems to have an emotional problem?”.

For Europeans or Americans who accidentally discover the natural beauty and the friendly disposition of the African people, they find it extremely hard to leave for their countries. Some eventually settle and never go back to their home country again. 

In fact, we might not be able to live meaningful and satisfying lives by completely abandoning the traditional values that bind us together in brotherly love and common humanity for the individualistic way of life.  There is a saying in Ghana which can be literally translated in English thus: “Human beings are sweet but their bodies are not eaten”.  Yes, human companionship, interaction and brotherliness give us so much comfort, joy and inner peace that the man-made materialistic world has deprived us of.

Whether black or white, Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, let us draw closer to one another and live together as one for we are all one and the same. We are all human beings.

"CHRISTMAS CHICKEN" - HO!HO!HO!

December 25^th is a joyful day for many people around the world who celebrate Christmas to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. As a day the savior who died to save them from their sins was said to be born, one would naturally expect that celebrants of this festival would be more merciful on this day not only to other people but also to animals. Yet, the celebration of Christmas ironically is the unofficial declaration of mass slaughter on goats, sheep, cow and especially fowl. For fowl, the commemoration of the birth of the savior of the world is indeed a sorrowful period marked by mass mourning.

Like many children, I looked forward to Christmas with great anticipation. Christmas was the time I would be lucky enough to enjoy my best meat – chicken. I believe that most children of today would find it humorous if not shocking to learn that a few years ago, chicken was enjoyed by most families only during Christmas.   Even though majority of poor and lower middle-income families living in the city enjoyed various kinds of dishes throughout the year, chicken meal was mostly reserved for the end of the year as a special meal plainly because it was costly.

 In fact, the special Christmas food meant more to us than the religious and spiritual significance of the day the Christ was purported to be born. For us, we never ever wanted Christmas to pass once it came. And immediately it sadly passes, we quickly start counting to the next Christmas. When June is wasted entirely to pave way for July, we intensify our countdown and our eager expectation makes Christmas closer in our minds than it is in reality.

I remember vividly how as children we relished and savored the chicken we only enjoyed in Christmas. We ate slowly and never wanted the food to finish. Our chicken would be intact unless all the food is totally consumed. We certainly reserve the best- the chicken- for the last. That is when we slowly chewed away the meat with our bare hands. After the meaty part is gone, the bones were not spared. We made sure we “dealt” and “fought” ferociously with the hard bones until it finally and submissively yielded to the fierce and mean biting skills we have specially developed and honed from the beginning of the year for that much anticipated “chicken day”.

 

The best part of the whole episode was when we partially washed our hands, dashed to our friends’ houses or the playground, and skillfully but briefly covered any of our friends’ nose to enable them smell the lingering aroma of the chicken we have just “crucified”. Initially they would not believe it, thus necessitating a repeat of the experiment. After two or three “smelling exercises” and realizing that it is the aroma of a chicken soup or stew, they could not help but stare and sneer at us with jealousy and envy especially if their families could not afford a chicken that year. 

This was during the 1990s and the years prior to it. Now things have improved. Chicken is no longer eaten by the average family at the end of the year as a special food. But the “injustices” and revelries that characterize almost every Christmas has not changed. Still, the innocent goat, sheep, and fowl are slaughtered unmercifully for sins they have not committed. Amazingly, when we sinned against God, he did not take delight in slaughtering us. He sent his dear and only-begotten son to come and die for our sins so that we can live and continue to enjoy life. Can we likewise respect the precious lives of these animals and generously spare them in the spirit of Christmas and Christ-like forgiveness?

Well, I take this opportunity to appeal to all and sundry who have tied and prepared any animal for eventual slaughtering to reconsider their decision. I know you can.

Excuse me; my hen is trying to escape. Permit me to go and properly re-tie it for Tomorrow’s fufu and chicken soup before it escapes into somebody’s waiting arms. See ya in 2013.

Creating Perfect Relationships?

A PERSON visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested “I am looking for a spouse. Please help me find a suitable one.”

The SDU officer said, “Your requirements, please”.

“Oh, good looking, polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing, willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don’t go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest.”

The officer listened carefully and replied, “I understand you need television”.

There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband, because the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of the wife.

Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of a perpetual, perfect relationship.

Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses. The nightmare begins.

By: Ebo Whyte

AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF DEMOCRACY….

Is there any ideological hope for mankind after the fall of Democracy? Democracy as a form of government has been touted as the best and humane system of rule to provide the best quality of life to man. Recognition of inalienable rights, equality before the law, and freedom of the press, checks and balances, separation of powers are admittedly pro-citizen core tenets of Democracy enshrined in the constitutions of countries practicing Democracy to ensure that its citizens live freely with dignity in a civilized society.

It is therefore no wonder that the call to adopt Democracy as the universal form of government by the advanced democratic states of the world is heralded by the common masses that form the majority of the world’s population to the annoyance of leaders in non-democratic states who are clearly not protégés of Democracy. Democracy indeed resonates well with the masses as it demonstrably empowers them with the freedom and liberty to live meaningful lives per the rights and protection they are granted by the constitution.

But is Democracy the answer to world problems? It would be a lucid acknowledgement that Democracy is not the perfect form of government. Even the champions of Democracy like the United States and the Great Britain are not free from the intractable social and economic problems any more than their counterparts in the far East who are openly suspicious of the potency and efficacy of Democracy as the most-advanced and indispensable remedy to the challenges of both an overbearing state and a faltering economy.

What then is the hope of mankind in the light of the increasing exposure of the downsides of Democracy which ironically stalls development and progress Democracy is much-advertised to promote? The embedded and institutional corruption, excessive bureaucracy that unnecessarily delays the discharge of administrative duties, lack of continuity resulting from frequent change of governments, are but few of the woes of  democratic governments. However, it is apparent that the gains of Democracy far outweigh the problems associated with it. In this light, it is pretty understandable when pro-Democratic states constantly champion it as the best form of government which must be immediately adopted completely by countries seeking progress and improvement in the social, political and economic lives of its citizens.

Should Democracy then be accepted wholly as the best and last form of political ideology? It could be. In that way, we should be forever prepared not to enjoy the positive side of this highly regarded system of rule but also submissively live with and endure its numerous challenges.

It goes without saying that all forms of governments have their pros and cons. Totalitarianism, Dictatorship, Authoritarianism, Monarchy and chiefly Democracy all have their positives and negatives. Certainly, some forms of governments are better than others in terms of the realization of human rights, individual freedoms and equal opportunity.
However, the complete realization of the common good has been a complicated and difficult puzzle to man who seems to be a minute component in a mammoth and complex web of uncertainties and mysteries. The problems of the world has proven to be as elusive to address exactly as the deadly HIV virus that constantly mutates to resist any antidote that is developed and administered to arrest its destructive activities in the body.

No one can predict accurately the dramatic event that will happen in the near future to distort the normal course of affairs and frustrate governmental plans, policies and programs. That is why one particular form of government has appeared deficient to properly and wholly tackle the virus-like problems of this world. Different situations demand different ideas, measures and actions. Thus until governments could mutate swiftly to react aggressively to both expected and unexpected economic, social, political, and natural hazards, the human race could never be free from torments and woes.

Democracy is sometimes disturbingly slow and grossly inefficient in certain circumstances, whilst Totalitarianism, and Authoritarianism can be very detrimental to the collective welfare of the people.In fact, there should be an implicit trust in and an unflinching support for a ruler who can lead a government to alternate amongst and capitalize on the efficiency and efficacy of all the other forms of governments, especially Benevolent Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism and Democracy, to tackle local and/or world problems.

Sadly, no mortal human being could boast of the power and the ability to lead such a government. Hence, desperate humans in need of solution turn to the only solution most scholars, scientists, atheists, agnostics, politicians, evolutionists, religious skeptics and cynics would prefer to die than admit – “The Man from the Sky”. The thought of an immortal, powerful, wise, and all-knowing leader to descend from the invisible realm to heal the world is as ridiculous much as it is repugnant to world elites. Fortunately or unfortunately, that seems to be the most likely solution in the face of well-acknowledged human imperfections, weaknesses and limitations.

Theocracy seems to be the only government that can transform into any governmental form to address particular problems. It can be Authoritarian to address problems that require Authoritarian measures. Similarly, it can be Democratic to very mild issues, and solicit the suggestions and input of the common people in cases that does not require urgent attention. Where decisive actions need to be taken for the common good, it is swiftly taken devoid of any corrupting influences with remarkable foresight. Such is the kind of government mankind needs – an incorruptible, perfect, visionary, powerful, proactive government that lump all the benefits of all other forms of government into one.

Apparently, in this new-age era where even the existence of God is a much debated topic, human beings are just not ready for any divine rule. If Theocracy is to be the next political ideology destined to pulverize and eclipse the much-adored Democracy, then it has to capture the world power violently amidst much blood-shed. And it surely would for Democracy, as we know it now, too was ushered in and virtually universally established by demonstrations, revolutions and wars that typically resulted in the sacrifice of countless human lives, gory killings and much blood shed. 

What Is Truth?

What is Truth? Those familiar with the christian scriptures might have no difficulty remembering these words as spoken cynically by Pilate in response to Jesus Christ's assertion that he came to bear witness to the truth. This can be found at John 18:38.

What is Truth, indeed? There are a considerable number of questions that it seems the human race may never find accurate and satisfying answers to unless God breaks his deafening silence. One of such is paradoxically finding the Truth. In the world as it is now, no one is allowed to claim ownership of Truth, especially in the sphere of Religion.

People are gradually beginning to accept that there are many versions of Truth - your version, my version and the Truth. So which one is the Truth, my version, or your version? However, in the midst of the thick darkness of uncertainty that humanity finds itself, it is pretty encouraging and inspiring that there is a flickering flame of hope of eventually discovering the truth buried under a mounting heap of ignorance, superstition, speculation and half-truths.

There is an iota of Truth in every religion that is unevenly hammered and drummed into the conscience of adherents to the point of defending their belief, if necessary, with their lives. That partially explains why there are so many religious beliefs each claiming to have the possession of nothing but the whole truth. However, an impartial and impassioned inquiry by a neutral observer into any Religion would generate acres of revealing material about the sheer inconsistencies, ridiculous manipulations and twisted interpretations of enormous proportions enough to blindfold any adherent into total submission to that faith. With such a barrage of one-sided information that is constantly poured on adherents as the truth, it becomes extremely difficult for people to see through any inconsistency and manipulation. The obvious conclusion they can form, pride themselves in, and even champion amidst all sorts of opposition and persecution is that, they have found the truth.

All religions claim to have the Truth. However, all religions have different beliefs. Even different sects of the same Religion have different versions of what they claim as the Truth. Yet, there is supposed to be only one Truth. Can the Truth really be found?
It could be.  If men had successfully shelved their own prejudices, arrogance, pride, selfishness, and self-seeking glory, then the path to the Truth would have been smooth, short and easy. A case in point is Christianity; after the dark ages of oppressive Catholic domination,protestant truth-seekers could have solved the mystery of truth if they had buried their own egos. Instead of working in concert and making important concessions when necessary, truth-seekers chose to part ways with one another to seek their own path to the truth when minor doctrinal disagreements arose. Hence, many different sects appeared, all in search of one Truth. Pride and Independence has done more harm than good to even the noblest and well-intentioned minds!

However, it could also be fairly argued that the time for the revelation of the Truth was not and is not yet up. Understandably, no human can possibly unlock what God has concealed. Consequently, it would be an exercise in futility by men to decipher the code to divine knowledge without taking into account the time decreed for the unraveling of that mystery. And this is where men ought to meekly discern the times along with diligently searching carefully into the divinely inspired scriptures for clues to the divine plan of the ages. For men will know only as much truth as God himself will choose to reveal. Their mortal strength and wisdom can add woefully nothing to it.

However, as mentioned earlier, almost all religions claim the title “The True Religion” and boldly apply it to themselves. From there, they make the next insidious claim that the Almighty is on their side – only their side.Various religions are quick to invoke the backing of God to put the fear of God into their adherents and cow them into morbid submission..Once the name of the almighty God is purposely invoked, the fear of displeasing God and the unhealthy thought of incurring His eternal wrath compels not only the faint-hearted but also the sincere dissident to yield to the ridiculous dictates of the so-called representatives of God.It is either you remain loyally submitted to them or risk eternal damnation in a mystical, subterranean inferno. Thus most religious leaders rudely dethrone the magnanimous God from His merciful Judgment seat and arrogantly take the payment of retribution into their own errant hands. With such orchestrated fear rammed into the mentality of people, coupled with people's desire for unending life and the persistent portrayal of all other religions as false by their trusted leaders, it is no wonder that maddening loyalty to even the most weird religious institutions is the unfortunate order of the day.

So long as we continue to hold on to our prideful folly and obstinacy, humanity in general will never find the whole truth. Logically, few humble ones will be lucky to chance upon it. Since the Truth is mostly rare and sometimes seemingly strange and preposterous, the logical excitement of the finder could best be harshly diagnosed by people bereft of the truth as total insanity.

The good news is that, the truth has always been with us albeit unrecognizable and difficult to find. During the time of Jesus, He was amazingly the truth amidst the multiplicity of religions and sects the world over at the time that interestingly claimed bona fide ownership of the truth. Many people of his day including the Jewish religious leaders could not identify it. No wonder Pontius Pilate could ridiculously retort “What is Truth” just in the plain face of “The Truth”. Indeed, the Truth is the greatest treasure to be found on earth. However majority of the world’s population and ironically many elites of the world who have gone to unimaginable extents to seek a special set of knowledge will find nothing until they are hit hard in the face by the fact that what they presumptuously ignored, despised and derided was the Truth.

What is more, what can be called the truth can also be described as generational. This means what can be called truth in a previous generation might still not hold under the same label in a different generation in the face of illuminating light of knowledge. This does not mean a pre-existed truth was false. It simply means that it has served its purpose as a precursor of the increasing light of true knowledge at that particular phase. During the epoch of the Law, Judaism proved to be the true way to the true God. However, it has ceased to be in the Gospel age where Christ has taken up that mediator role. Clearly, both periods of truth overlapped seamlessly.

The truth stands. Let your quest for the truth be guided by that mantra. When all other institutions, organizations, doctrines, creeds, dogmas, philosophies and ideologies have unsurprisingly collapsed, the truth will stand. The truth is in the heart of the affairs of men. It is what men have long been yearning for. It is what many men have died and continue to die for. It is what men have sacrificed so much for. Yet, it is what the minds of many men have been blinded to. Those who realize it owe it all to God who has seen it fit to open their minds to it.

The truth is all what the chequered and tumultuous history of mankind has revolved. The truth is the path to freedom, liberty, equality and prosperity. The Truth is Pure Theocracy, a kingdom established by God that would eventually eliminate all the evils of the world and elevate mankind to glorious perfection The need for a divine government in this generation cannot be any greater in the shameful face of consistent failure of human governments to address the needs of man and solve the ever-evasive problems of the world.