Shattered Dream

I never knew it had happened to someone else until I heard the song.

Shattered dreams, shattered dreams
Nothing I planned had turned out right,
Shattered dreams, shattered dreams,
My life without Christ is shattered dreams

As I listened, my mind went down memory lane, years back. Very early in life, I had already laid out plans of what I wanted out of life. I saw my classmates failing exams; I was always coming out in flying colours. Some fell sick and had to drop in class; my ill-health cases were never severe. Some of my colleagues lost their parent that early. Others struggled to eat thrice a day; I always whistle with filled stomach. I could still remember my classmates that died.

It seemed I was untouchable. Life was treating me fine. My plans were working out. I thought it would continue, but I was wrong.

Like a fierce wind, coming first as a gentle breeze, life troubles came upon me. My health started failing me.  Before I could settle that, my academics careened down the slope. I saw my dream of a blissful love-life drifting away like the mist in the air. Things were falling apart. All efforts to fix back my life proved abortive.

Helpless, I watched my hope for living ticking away. My very existence was at stake. That was when I shouted for help from my Maker. Jesus came to the rescue. When He told me to surrender and follow Him, I willingly obeyed. And I was saved. Then I understood that all my plans without Christ were nothing but shattered dreams.

- okenna igbokwe

Creating Time

Yesterday, we had arranged to meet with a friend of mine to strike a certain deal. That was supposed to be at 3.00pm. I was also attending a church retreat from 11.00am. He called at 2.45pm to announce that he was already at the venue. Guess what? I was miles upon miles away from the place, still enjoying the aura of the retreat. I tried to guzzle the traffic jam and other road distractions but got to the venue forty minutes late. His greeting was, “I can see you are a typical African, you can’t keep to time”. I stood there sheepishly, trying to drown his last word with “er…er, I’m really sorry”. It felt awful because he is a Muslim and I am a Christian yet he had won the bragging rights. I had let distractions creep in and steal my time with him.

Time can never be created, so the saying goes. It is true. But wait. Have you ever tried to fit wool into a sack? You will be amazed how much space the sack affords each time you press the wool hard. You will discover that the sack can actually carry more wool than you ever imagined. You will eventually say that you created some space until all the wool fitted. In reality, you didn’t create any space. You just squeezed the wool into the already existing space. This is the same case with time. We can always squeeze all our tasks and afford some spare time if we learned basic truths about creating time…..or should I say saving time. We can save time if we:

·         Avoid time-wasters. Time wasters are things that eat into our time while we remain sub-conscious about them. These may be people, object, ideas and such other things. These include but are not limited to gossips, fantasies, day-dreaming, worries, disorganized desks and so on. These can be avoided if we choose to. Remember it’s about choice not about possibility. Certainly it is possible to avoid time-wasters but if a determined choice has not been made to do so, then it will never happen. If we avoid gossips, fantasizing, worrying and organize our desks and working environment, then we can save (I mean create time)

·         Prioritize. Some of the text messages we receive can be read when we are taking our lunch or even when we get home after the day’s work. This means we should peruse through and leave them alone for later attention. Some calls can also be drowned with a polite “can I call you later, probably in the evening?” Those emails, messages and other things which are urgent and important should be considered first. Then comes those that are urgent but not important, which we can delegate if we have a delegatee. If we don’t have one, we can go through them quickly since they are likely to be short in nature and requiring short response. Things which are important but not urgent can be done in phases, bearing in mind the deadline. Last comes things which are not urgent and not important which should be ignored till when we want to attend to them at our own pleasure rather than pressure.

(To be continued)

- johnstone katuku

Vacancy in Heaven

The church, a single but worldwide congregation of brethren whose sins had been washed by the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is looking for individuals.

Qualification

Simply ABC. They must:

A:        Acknowledge that they are sinners, thereby marked out for judgment in which they are unable to save themselves.

B:        Believe that there is no other who is able to save them from this coming doom, except the One sent from heaven, Jesus Christ, the saviour.

C:        Accept the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ and be willing to yield to His leading throughout their lifetime.

Job Description

Qualified candidates are expected to lay down their life to Master Jesus Christ, and use their talent, money, aspirations…for His work.

Candidates Background

The rich, the poor, the sick, the dejected…both small and big…young and old, who decides today to embrace the simple ABC qualifications listed above.

Remuneration

• Divine Nature
• More than Trillion years ownership of the street of GOLD
• Ambassadorial Portfolio to the Earth
• Hope in this life and in the one to come
• A life that makes work meaningful and pleasurable

 Announcer - okenna obi-igbokwe

Workaholics versus Sluggards – Part 2

2 Thess. 3:10-13 ‘For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies’.

Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

Here the Bible has a general rule: he who does not work shall not eat. It is therefore apparent that refusing to work is a form of disobeying God.  Paul himself used to work though he was a missionary and a propagator of the gospel. He knew he would set a bad example for others if he shunned work. Paul had a real right to depend on the church hence he says in 2 Corinthians 11:7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

Freely? What does this mean? It simply means that Paul had the right to charge the church at Corinth for the gospel he took to them. What charges are these? This is not gospel fees but support. Yet Paul worked for his own supply, that he may highlight the importance of working.

I have a colleague at work who told me it has been hard for him to surrender his life to Christ because of his elder born-again brother who has shunned work. He fears that "deep" Christianity may make him behave like his brother, who doesn’t look for a job though he graduated two years ago. He is just crisscrossing the country, attending conferences and Christian gatherings. Is there any wrong with such? No there isn’t and yes there is. No because putting God first is crucial to any person who is aiming to be successful in this age and the age to come. Yes because first he may set a bad example to his siblings as the first-born. Then there comes the question of provision to the family. The ageing parents expect him to help in educating the siblings. Does he? Definitely he doesn’t. Now he depends on his younger brother for provision of personal necessities including clothing. The younger brother explains “I have talked to my elder brother to join full-time ministry or look for a job but he does neither”. How can this chap convince his younger brother that Christ is sweet when he is already a burden to him? How? There’s no way. Consequently his brother fears that "deep faith" may cause him to become careless in life. If this elder brother began working, then his younger brother may consider handing his life over to Christ. The conclusion is that work is important, it is a way of obedience to God; it is a way of preaching the gospel of Christ.

- johnstone katuku

Workaholics versus sluggards –Part I

Extreme of everything is poisonous.  Extreme hunger causes starvation and malnutrition. Excess eating cause stomach upsets and pains. Excess rains causes flooding. Excess dearth causes death and devastation. Such is the case in the country I live in. Part of the Kenya is desert while other part borders Indian Ocean, another part is next to a major lake, another part still is highlands known as ‘White Highlands’. The highlands get evenly distributed rains and have become the granary of the country. The land bordering the ocean is lowland and is prone to occasional flooding due to sporadic convectional rains. Same applies to the lake region. In the desert region, things are more pathetic. The herdsmen had to battle with all mannerisms developed by their cattle namely licking droplets of water in dry taps. The image of a cow smelling and licking a dry tap caught the cameras of the cameramen in 2006. Too much rain in the lake and coastal regions has been causing damage. Too much drought in the desert region on the other hand has resulted to devastation.

For some people, Ecclesiastes Two Eleven is the guiding principle when it comes to toiling. “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun”.

Why do I work for no profit then? Those who follow this principle in extremism shun all work and decide to spend time either doing non-profitable things or doing nothing. The end results? I guess everyone knows.  An idle mind provides a platform for deceptions of the enemy. That’s what Eve and Adam experienced in the Garden of Eden. Theirs was to move around enjoying the creation. They didn’t look for food as food was there. They didn’t need clothes since they were covered by the glory of God, thus they were not naked. The serpent approached Eve and deceived her. Her wills were strong and her husband could not avoid being deceived too.  Humanity got a curse from their action. Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 Paul has a warning to the church at Thessalonica.

2 Thess. 3:10-13  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

(Catch the action in this page next week)

-johnstone katuku

What are your kids saving for?

A certain father was always busy pursuing his career. So busy was he that he did not have time even for his growing son. One day his son decided to have a tête-à-tête with him. He began “father how much is each of your hour valued?” the father not aware of the trap responded magnanimously “50 dollars son, you want to help me with work or is it some bucks you want?” I’ll tell you someday dad. The son by all means gathered some coins till he got 200 dollars. Then he waited for his father with all joy. When the father came home, the son ran to him and said, “Dad I have got great news for you”. "What is it son?" asked the unsuspecting father. The son replied, “Father, can I buy four of your hours and spend time with you? I love you so much dad and I would like to have some close moment with you. The father, after some thought replied with tearful eyes, I’m sorry son I know I have acted irresponsibly. I should have set sometime of my busy schedule to be with you”. 

I hope right now your kids are not saving some bucks in order to have some of your time?

- johnstone katuku

Working for Christ

Scores of people in my country usually look forward to weekends so that they can relax from the arduous task of going to work for five consecutive days in a week. So relieved are many people that on Friday the mood is a weekend one. In government offices, workers leave their coats in their seats and disappear for their weekends. People coming to be served are informed that these workers have just gone out and will be back in a moment. But the truth of the matter is they are off for their weekends.

Codes of conduct and ethical principles have done little to eliminate this vice in public offices. The call for patriotism by our government spokesperson has done little either. The reason for this is that the implementers have turned to be the perpetrators of the practice. Some do not even appear on Friday. Slow pace is what marks most public offices in my country. A thing that would normally take hours to sort out may take months, or at least weeks. I once tried to follow up a refund of my overpaid fees in the university. It was about three thousand shillings. Well, eight weeks into it, the refund was within a striking distance. Then there was a strike in the university and so the process had to be halted. On resumption, I was told I had to restart the claim process. This time round I was taken through phases that I hadn’t gone through during the first time. I was fed up and I gave up the “fight” … and my money. That was not before I witnessed a real incident of systematic soldiering (slowing down everything). I was shell-shocked when a certain lady complained that it was her fifth time coming there to follow her results. And that’s not what shocked me. What fazed me was the response from the university attendant. All she could exclaim was…”this is your fifth time only? People have come here eleven times!’’

As Christians whatever we do should be done as unto Christ and not as unto men. Servants should give the best to their masters knowing that they derive their livelihood from them.

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him - Ephesians 6:5-9

Doing good work is a way of preaching out the gospel. When the masters are pleased, we provide an avenue for them to ask some soul-searching questions, may be leading to their conversion. Some masters are unscrupulous, always mistreating their servants but GOD is not a respecter of any persons and he will avenge our mistreatments (Romans 12:19). Finally let us overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21) by doing good works.

- johnstone katuku

Watch out!

These days life is full of exciting events and sites. For those who create time off work, there is a lot to enjoy. There are fun games, sun bathing, cliff-diving, swimming contests, hikes, beach walks and bush walks, visits to game parks, historical sights, museums, and monumental parks among many others. Still there is visit to homes for the destitute and the elderly, tree planting, visit to countryside and reflection retreats.  We have a real variety to choose from. All these events provide exciting and relaxing moments and off-work climate suitable for bodies that have passed through days or weeks of hassles and haggles.

We as Christians however need to be careful during these times because of several reasons. During some of these events, our bodies and minds are idling hence susceptible to evil thoughts engineered by Satan. It’s during personal reflections that some people find life worthless and may decide to commit suicide. It’s during fun games that jokes are taken too far and indeed lies are spoken. It’s during sun bathing that fleshly passions run high due to the nude bodies in beaches hence causing beachgoers to sin by way of lust.  Weekends have been marked by a lot of indulgence in drinking, anti-spiritual melodramatic movies and soap operas and unspeakable forms of immorality. Christians are not exempted from these evil waves. It’s when people have gone to tour museums and monumental sites that some buy some items which are idols and have evil deity connections which may be accursed in the sight of God. We will not go deeper than this. All I’m putting across is that off-work clouds may carry with themselves heavier drops than anticipated … in form of serious temptations.

2 Samuel 11:2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

David was taking a roof walk relaxing because the Israel army had utterly destroyed the Ammonites. What followed before the end of the walk was a real bombshell. And things snowballed from lust to covetousness to adultery to conspiracy (duping Uriah into lying with his wife) and finally to murder! ‘An idle mind is a devil’s workshop’ so the saying goes. Let’s watch out! Even when we are having off-work events let us cling to Romans 12:1-2 ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ And let us also remember Colossians 3: 3 & 5, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

- johnstone katuku

A donkey in a pit!

Luke 14:5 Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"

The WordPower dictionary defines Sabbath as 'a day of rest and worship…'.I'll not go any deeper on Sabbath but two critical words in the definition are 'rest' and 'worship'. Let's settle on 'rest'. Weekends are resting days for most workers except some businessmen who may see this as their peak time to make money since people are in a relaxing, carnival and spendthrift mood.

For those employed, the contracts spell out everything: days and hours of work, and leave entitled. Anything that contradicts this may see the employer on a collision course with the employees. And it's right for them to get relief from work as per the contract terms. On some occasions however, the employer may be required to beg or sometimes demand the services of employees when they are supposed to be off. This may be mostly when a certain started project must end. A good example is the case of construction projects

-when deadlines must be met,

-when a mixture of building materials may crystallize and get spoiled if not used or

-when construction of a building must be done to a certain joint before halting.

Friction may sometimes flare up when the employer feels it critical for the employees to go on working. The inability of the employer to pay some astronomical overtime premiums may be a catalyst to the flare-up.

So, do employees in the above picturesque scenario leave the donkey lying in the pit?  The employees have the right to do so since they will be applying the contract terms to the letter. But in fairness of things, they should help out unless it has been proven that this is the habit of the employer. For if the donkey dies the employer may need to retrench some fellows due to reduced capacity. This is one reason why they should help. They should think the business as their own and this is true, they are in the business to earn. We saw in Ephesians 6:5-9 that whatever we do, we should do it as unto Christ. This is reason number two why the employees may need to help. All that is right may not always be righteous before the eyes of God. We may do things that are right according to contractual agreements but end up showing the face of someone else, not Christ. God is fair, just and full of goodness and would want us to do unto others what we would expect them to do to us!

- johnstone katuku

Just before you break down …

Gen 2:2, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made”.

An automatic electric kettle is a simple gadget with an interesting functionality. When the water or the liquid being heated boils, the heater automatically goes off. That is what human bodies are like. After a day, week, month and year of work, the body needs a rest. We may ignore the calls of the body and go on working industriously without heeding. Some people are motivated by overtime payments; others are workaholics while others still, chase after promotions to bigger titles. None of these is sin. However turning on the knob after it has automatically gone off could be disastrous. It’s like putting the power on when it automatically goes off due to low voltage. This could result in high resistance in the circuit and hence a burst up. Daily working hours, weekends, off-days, leave days, sabbatical leave, school holidays and vacations were all set to help give fatigued bodies ample rest. These are human guidelines on periodic respite. But God rested after a week of saying ‘let there be’ and ‘soiling his hands’ with mud to bring forth creation. His rest was symbolic. Since we are created in his image, we need to rest as He did. 

This said, there is much more to life than working. Besides, work is only a subset or a segment of life. The other side of the coin is rest, retreat, devotional bible study, prayer and many others. Balancing these requires a little bit of wisdom which will come when we have allowed God’s will in our lives. When we ignore the will of God, our life may be haphazard. Psalms 37:23 says ‘the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the LORD...’ Life is about steps. If these are not ordered of God, we will work more and relax less, pray more and work less, relax and work not, do devotional study and relax not and many more imbalanced matrices. Extremes of either side will affect our mechanical, spiritual, and mental output. So what do we conclude? If we work smarter we will have daily rest and weekend outs. If we have leave or off-days let the money not deceive us to rove on. If our young kids, brothers and sisters in schools have vacations, taking them for vacation tutoring may achieve little, if anything.

-johnstone katuku.

Clash: work vs life

I am borne of a Dad who believes in work 24-7. When I was growing up he would wake us up before dawn……even when no work was being done in the farm. He just wanted us to start doing something as early as five in the morning. I am not a proponent of working on and on and as such my life would be really unpleasant when the clock hit five in the morning. My brother copied him in this and he would make us work in the farm from six in the morning to six in the evening, the only break being a thirty-minute spell of swallowing food (not eating) nicknamed ‘lunch break’. It reached a point where our brother would allot the farm area to be worked on to each one of us, albeit some of us being younger and energetically challenged. At the end of my first day, my hands had developed blisters and my shoulders were stinging with aches. From the second day onwards, my palms developed hard gravel-textured protrusions such that whenever I shook other people’s hands, they would exclaim….oh your hands are so rough! My shoulders and back developed incessant pains. In the evening, we would apply pain balm on our bodies. It seemed like slavery. Absolutely! It was like the case of the Israelites at the hands of the odious Egyptians. My father managed to push some values into our lives…..though via hairsplitting methods. I thank him anyhow.

Then, my pastor came up with a sermon about those who do not work. Based on the scriptures, these should not eat at all. That affirmed my belief that life was about three things: Work, Work and Work. What my pastor didn’t say is that hard work does not mean roving throughout, like the earth which rotates nonstop.

But as time went on, I reached a point in life when my body stopped functioning like a thermometer, measuring the intensity of the fatigue, and instead started working like a thermostat, as a regulatory device that would make sure the body goes off whenever exhausted. I would experience serious thundering pulses on my head. That was when I was in my third year in campus and exams littered my life. I hopped from campus exams to professional exams ad infinitum. The results? Engine-knocks as it were. Serious headaches faced me. I went to the campus clinic and the doctor told me that I had symptoms of a person who had continuously engaged his mind without a rest. I have always labeled doctors as pure guessers, especially those with limited experience and professional qualifications like him. But this time around, I admittedly nodded….. “That’s right; I have been reading without a rest for the last eighteen months (on the lower side)”.

‘All work without play makes Jack a dull boy’ is not just ancient English saying. In deed it has become as practical as never before, as witnessed by inventions such as retreats, fun days, crazy Olympics, holidaying and indoor working that have marked the 21^st century. Mankind has realized that there needs a balance between work and life.

The question of how to spend time wisely is an age-old riddle which can only be solved by applying the scriptures. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 sums up everything……there is time for everything. And Genesis 2:2 reads: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Are you wondering how you would strike a balance between work and life? Is the seesaw in your life tilting in one direction, threatening to throw you off-balance? Is your life clogged by a nerve-racking job? Or is your boss angry with you for your hands-off attitude to your work? The answers to both these diametric questions are hidden in the many pages of the Holy Book, the Bible. We will present some of them to you here. Stay with us.

- johnstone katuku

Do you have a life?

A recent survey that was conducted in the country where I live revealed that most people die about two to five years after they stop working (retire). One of the reasons for this is because over the years, they have only been dedicated to their work. In other words, their life has been centred on their work, so when there was no work to do, there was no life to live.

Do you currently have a job; business or something good you do that puts money in your purse? If your answer is positive, I will like you to imagine you stopped doing all such things today. What other events would you have left in your life? If they are very negligible, then you may be heading the way of most of the retirees in my country.

Don’t get too scared yet because this webpage is dedicated to give you useful tips on how to live a ‘balanced life’.

- tope aladenusi