Why God: All Your Old Testament Killings and Decisions (Part 2)

Here is the second part of my commentary to the post that was entitled "Questions to God/Allah/ or whoever is in charge". See Part 1 here.

Question 3: According to the bible and many other books, You asked people to go kill others. Like when you asked Joshua to conquer Jericho remember? You had just given the 10 commandments where it clearly stipulates : Though shall not kill… Then you sent people to kill… Why not do it yourself? You could literally just snap a finger and have this whole earth gone in half of a millisecond. So if you Really needed that whole city gone you could have done it without having humans do that. So is there a reason they had to do that? Was it to prove to you that they were faithful? Was there no other way to test their faith?

In dealing with morality or the divine moral command issued to humanity, there is a principle that runs through out the Bible that could be framed as this, 'God does not contradict Himself'. In 2 Timothy 2:13, we read that "If we are faithless, He [God] remains faithful, for [God] cannot deny Himself." This lead us to the biblical text you mentioned which was spoken in mount Sinai by God to Moses stating in the book of Exodus 20:13, "Thou shalt not kill." Let me remark that the word used for "kill" literally means "murdering". The Greek version of the original text for the word 'kill' use the word "phoneuō" which means literally "to be a murderer". Many biblical versions of this verse keep that nuance such as this one from the Bible Basic English (BBE version), "Do not put anyone to death without cause." This defang the argument that those God ordered the execution or put to death in the Old Testament were about innocent killing. God never ordered a murder for it goes against the ethical construct He has advocated to the Israelite.

You raised two questions. Let me answer answer them by order:

a) Why order Killing

With this in mind, we are now capable of exploring the primordial example you raised about the killing that happened in Jericho as a mirror image of all the others. Historically, Jericho was not a citizen city but a military outpost. Those in the Jericho city were in modern language enemy combatant.  Moreover, Jericho was part of the Canaanite territorial land that God sent Israel to take over. Why then did God ordered the removal of the first inhabitants of the land while destroying their military forces? The answer for that is found four hundred years before the destruction of Jericho, for God informed Abraham that the land that his posterity will inherit was currently inhabited by a nation of Amorites which unfortunately were accruing their evilness and sins. It is clear from the text that God would only remove that nation from that land if  their evilness reaches a irredeemable peak and not anytime sooner than that. As Professor Paul Copan from Palm Beach Atlantic University put it and i quote, "God was willing to wait over 400 years because 'the sin of the Amorite was not yet filled up' (Genesis 15:16)".

From this historical perspective, God's command to remove the Canaanite including Jericho was based on a judgement and not on a capricious divine acts. The sins refereed above in Genesis of the Canaanites were as follow: Idolatry, Incest, Adultery, Child sacrifice, Homosexuality, Bestiality among other sexual deviations. An academic paper on it was written and can be read in full here. The punch-line here is that this was no innocent killing or murdering of the innocent, but rather a form of an old fashion capital punishment.

b) Why using Humans?

The subsequent question raised was why not do it Himself. Why use human being to serve moral judgement? The answer to this is not that God doesn't act to execute judgement Himself, He does sometimes. But in all culture and societies, God has always partnered with humans in order to bring law and order in any given society. We are reliably informed in the Bible that, "Let everyone put himself under the authority of the higher powers, because there is no power which is not of God, and all powers are ordered by God. For which reason everyone who puts himself against the authority puts himself against the order of God: and those who are against it will get punishment for themselves." - Rom 13:1-2

And this divine collaboration with humanity when it comes to executing judgement with the sword was forcefully expressed in this manner two thousand years ago:

 
"For rulers are not a cause of fear to the good work but to the evil. If you would have no fear of the authority, do good and you will have praise; For he is the servant of God to you for good. But if you do evil, have fear; for the sword is not in his hand for nothing: he is God's servant, making God's punishment come on the evil-doer"  - Romans 13:3-4 (BBE)

Question 4:While we are still on the Israelites, why did you leave them to be slave for so many years? Were they being punished? For what? And when you decided to save them , Why all that struggle? Like you knew the pharaoh wouldn’t believe the plagues you sent, You could have sent an angel to talk him, better yet, you could have talked to him you know, like you used to with Abraham. Annnd then when the Israelites were free, again you let them struggle to get to Canaan. You couldn’t have transported them , like in the Harry potter books, Poooof and reappear at the desired location?

a) How did Israel became slave?

Israel became slave for no fault of themselves. Actually, Israel as a nation grew and even prospered in Egypt under different Pharaohs because of the good memories of the service of a particular Israelite called Joseph offered to the kingdom of Egypt. But history being what it is, good deeds get forgotten with time and ignorance tends to precipitate unlearned leaders to take devastating decisions. This is exactly what happened in Egypt. Here is a brief account of it that might interest you in the Book of Exodus 1:8-11

"Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph. And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are: Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land. So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses." 

 b) Why did God took time before the rescue?

This is a difficult one since God's way of thinking is mind-boggling to us but when looked from the rear-view of history it all make sense, however without the benefit of hind-sight it just doesn't make much sense to us who makes our judgement mostly based with immediate information with no broader political, cultural, economical and geographical context.

Long before Israel came into existence, God predicted the outcome of the future enslavement of Israel to their founding father Abraham in a night vision.

"And [God] said to Abram, Truly, your seed will be living in a land which is not theirs, as servants to a people who will be cruel to them for four hundred years; But I will be the judge of that nation whose servants they are, and they will come out from among them with great wealth." - Genesis 15:13 

It would be preferable that Israel simply grew in power and wealth in Egypt until they were order to go to Canaan to possess it after the Canaanite sins had reached their paroxysm. However, God also predicted that their incubation process would not be painless as He correctly anticipated the advent of a new pharaoh who will not be kind to the Jews. Tactically, it probably would have made sense for God to do most of what you suggested but it would not have made sense from a strategic point of view. For when Israel left Egypt, they had learned so many lessons about wealth possession and dispossession, about being welcomed as a foreigners and what it means to be outcast as a foreigner, the value of having a land that you call your own and etc. All these lesson which could have never been seared in their national consciousness just through a good life. We can all relate to it as we know that most of the successful people tell us that it is through their hardship that they became who they are and that without that they would have never be nor accomplish a fraction of what they have. 

c) God's method works?

Finally, God's methods have more far reaching impact than the immediate feel good experience that we all crave but that have no redemptive value to our souls and future. Here is how God put it Himself about their walk in the desert instead of being pouff up like Harry Potter in Canaan. 

"And keep in mind the way by which the Lord your God has taken you through the waste land these forty years, so that He might make low your pride and put you to the test, to see what was in your heart and if you would keep his orders or not. And he made low your pride and let you be without food and gave you manna for your food, a thing new to you, which your fathers never saw; so that he might make it clear to you that bread is not man's only need, but his life is in every word which comes out of the mouth of the Lord. Through all these forty years your clothing did not get old or your feet become tired. Keep in mind this thought, that as a son is trained by his father, so you have been trained by the Lord your God. " - Deuteronomy 8:2-5

God is not in the magical business. He does miracles not magic tricks. God is interested in training us and only through diverse forms of experiences can He draw the best out of us and teach us meaningful lessons about life and His intended destiny for us. This logic is the same as the one used for humbling the hardened heart of Pharaoh through a series of miracles, and His prodigious miracles in Egypt is still spoken about up-to this day as a lesson on God's power and greatness. It also gave certainty to the witnesses that what was wrought wasn't just the results of sheer chance, or mere bad luck that had happened to Pharaoh or any other naturalistic explanation that could have crept in with time in the minds of the Israelite making them to doubt the existence of God's power.

"Has God ever before taken a nation for himself from out of another nation, by punishments and signs and wonders, by war and by a strong hand and a stretched-out arm and great acts of wonder and fear, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes?  All this he let you see, so that you might be certain that the Lord is God and there is no other." - Deuteronomy 4:3-35

 And Israel did also benefit of this divine reputation of what God did in Egypt later on as they were conquering their enemy combatant land. For all wars are waged both physically with material logistic as well as psychologically to weaken the enemy resolve. We have a testimonial of some of the Canaanite tribes who refused to fight against the Israelite and preferred to make an alliance with them so that they could live together. What do you think made that conquering easy? Hear the Canaanite from Hivites explain their reasons in their own words:

"And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, It may be that you are living among us; how then may we make an agreement with you? And they said to Joshua, We are your servants. Then Joshua said to them, Who are you and where do you come from? And they said to him, Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the name of the Lord your God: for the story of his great name, and of all he did in Egypt has come to our ears," - Joshua 9:7-9

We see through this that in the end that whatever God initiated in Egypt was working and made the conquest of the land easier, cost effective and less time consuming. God knows what He does even if at first glance it doesn't makes sense to our collective human brain. Allow me to end this with this quote:

"O how deep is the wealth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! no one is able to make discovery of his decisions, and his ways may not be searched out. Who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord? or who has taken part in his purposes? Or who has first given to him, and it will be given back to him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. So be it." - Romans11:33-36

or as this other version puts it: 

"Yes, God's riches are very great! His wisdom and knowledge have no end! No one can explain what God decides. No one can understand his ways. As the Scriptures say, "Who can know what is on the Lord's mind? Who is able to give him advice?" "Who has ever given God anything? God owes nothing to anyone." Yes, God made all things. And everything continues through him and for him. To God be the glory forever! Amen."

P.S: I think that the reading of books like this could assist for detail on Holy Wars in the Bible.

Why God: Adam & Eve (Part 1)

I was recently informed about a young lady who posted a series of questions addressed to God entitled "Questions to God/Allah/ or whoever is in charge". Since i am not God nor in charge of whatever she meant, I can't pretend speaking for God. However, she has open a caveat allowing anyone else to feel free to answer her series of questions addressed to God. Not shying away from this, i will try to help her understand the why of her questions as best as i can while keeping in mind that i am limited in print to explain my views. I will take her blog-post entry in piece meal. Today i answer two of her questions. She has posted a good 20 questions, that's gonna be fun, at least i think (grin).

Question 1: What are you (God) doing right now. Are you very busy?What does your day look like?

God is always acting to bring his everlasting purpose to fulfillment. As Jesus succinctly put it in John5:17 (Bible)  "... Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I, too, am working." God is never idle. One specific activity He is involved in is about human eternal salvation and redemption: “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to repent.” – 2 Peter 3:9 (Bible)

Question 2: 

A. Remember that tree you put in the garden?  The one that had apples on, Why did you put it there? You made the tree in the first place right? Why?

You could have put an invisible charm on it, you could have put it on the sun. Somewhere unreachable you know… I mean our parents for example  hide certain things from us especially when they know they could be toxic. 

A story of trees:  

The tree under question was purposely put in the garden to allow humanity to make a choice. That is why it couldn't situated in unreacheable place like say, in the Sun.

The text referring to this is the Genesis book of the Bible. However what is less known is that God did not only put a tree to bring independent knowledge about goodness and evilness apart from God (Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil), He also did put another tree in the same garden that gave life. It was called the tree of life. As if He wanted to point to humanity its existence, He purposely put it right in the middle of garden so as that no one could miss it.

“The LORD God caused every tree that is both beautiful and suitable for food to spring up out of the ground. The tree of life was also in the middle of the garden, along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” - Genesis 2:9 

God was very explicit as of the consequence of choosing a life of independent morality apart from the divine; He warned men that this will lead to death.

“The LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden in order to have him work it and guard it.  The LORD God commanded the man: "You may freely eat from every tree of the garden, but you are not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because you will certainly die during the day that you eat from it." - Genesis 2:15-17.

Unlike the image of vulnerable toddlers and kids playing danger portrayed in the questions, Adam and Eve were no children. They were created adult and not as vulnerable as we are often led to believe. They were created mature, with the front-loaded knowledge about life experience. God expected them even to create a family and to work and steward the earth as the verse above shows. These are tasks given to and expected of responsible, adult person. So why the tree?

The text allows us to speculate within the parameters of revealed information. These trees, namely the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, represent two life principles by which humanity guide their destiny. 

The tree of life speaks about the divine life which requires the cooperation of humanity to submit to God’s will on their own accord (willingly). It is a life that is dependent of God. 

The second tree that God forbade and still forbid matter of fact, is the principle that humanity has the freewill to live a life apart from God and make their independent choice with regard to what is good and what is evil. God reject this one as an accepted way of life, but He is not willing to force His choice about what is good to man on us, He want man to take responsibility and choose willingly to follow Him or to reject Him. This is part of what Free-Will mean, and God gave man the perfect opportunity to make use of their freewill. Unfortunately Adam and Eve chose wrongly. The question now for you is to know how are you using your freewill? Do you choose God as the source of your life’s decision (Tree of Life) or do you choose to make your own choice about what you want to believe on earth independently of God (the Tree of knowledge of good and evil)? A wise king recognized that man estimation of good solely on the basis of his own volition doesn't serve him well most of the time, "There is a pathway that seems right to a man, but in the end it's a road to death." - Proverb 14:12  (Bible).

God has never stopped to challenge men to make best use of their freewill, and He always plead with men in each generation to choose Him for He is life and reject other path that seems attractive but only lead to death. 

"I call heaven and earth to testify against you today! I've set life and death before you today: both blessings and curses. Choose life, that it may be well with you—you and your children.” - Deuteronomy 30:19 (Bible)  

This is the lesson that Genesis teaches us about choice making, Life (God's path) or Death (human path).

B. Ohh and while we are still talking about the beginning, you know how you created Adam and Eve who then had 2 boys Cain and Abel; How did we get to 7 billion people? I never read any mention of them having a sister…

 

Matter of fact, the Bible speak of other children of Adam but it just doesn’t speak more on them. Here is an example, “Adam lived another 800 years, fathering other sons and daughters after he had fathered Seth.” - Genesis 5:4 

I will follow up with other questions later on.

A Dialogue With A Muslim, Part 1: Islam a Religion of Peace?

Hello A.H, it took me sometimes to check on your references and on the video you sent in addition to my loaded schedule, hence my late reply. I hope i'll be faster than that in the future. Here is my response with regards to the peace aspects you have tried to argue for. I move it away from Facebook due to technical issues that i encountered with my posting.



I. “yet every single Horrible act that a so called Muslim commit is associated to the Holy Qura'n”

You seem surprised that people associate horrible acts committed by Muslims to the Quran when Muslim themselves who have committed them are quoting the Quran in their defense. You shouldn’t be surprised by that. You may disagree with their interpretation but please don't look surprised. You and I know very well why, it is the case.

II. “let me help and give some Surat & ayats (chapters and verses) of the Qura'n that Goes against any act of terror.”

I really appreciate that you are sharing some Quranic passages that goes against any terror acts. But honesty also requires you to also recognize that the Quran doesn’t only have peaceful Surats & ayats, it also has surats and ayats that are favorable to acts of violence.

III. Texts You Shared to defend peace in Islam:

1. <<Qura'n 6:151 says" .... And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden (prohibited from killing) except by legal(right)".>>

This text you mention is incomplete, and here is the full text:

“Say: Come, I will recite unto you that which your Lord hath made a sacred duty for you: That ye ascribe no thing as partner unto Him and that ye do good to parents, and that ye slay not your children because of penury - We provide for you and for them - and that ye draw not nigh to lewd things whether open or concealed. And that ye slay not the life which Allah hath made sacred, save in the course of justice. This He hath command you, in order that ye may discern.” - Quran 6:151

This verse 151 and the next 152 are about how Muslim parents should treat their children, since parenthood is presented as a sacred duty. They are asked not to slay or kill their children, for Allah made those children lives sacred. However there is, though, an exception when killing those lives is considered acceptable, slaying when it advance the course of justice. This is a bit disturbing since one obviously wonders when is it just (what is considered a course of justice that justify) to kill ones children as a parent? Can you clarify this Ayat for me?

2. <<Qura'n 5:32 says"...If anyone kills a person,it is as if he kills all mankind while if anyone saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind">>

This text you mention is also incomplete and here is the full text:

“Because of that, We decreed upon the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL that ‘whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely’. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.” - Quran 5:32

This portion of the text you quoted was referencing to what was taught not to Muslim but to Jews a.k.a Children of Israel. We now know which passage this Quranic Ayat was referring to. It was a rabbinic commentary found in the Jerusalem Talmud: 

“Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” - Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 4:1 (22a)”

I am glad that Muslims are learning from the Jewish rabbinic opinion on how to be peaceful. However, my concern is about the very next verse 33 of the same chapter (Surat) that is now directed to Muslims' behavior and which says,

“Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment” - Quran 5:33.

As Nabeel Quershi remarked about these two verses 32 and 33, “This verse is referring to the Muslims, not the Jews anymore, as we can tell in the shift from past tense to present tense. And here, the punishment for mischief is clearly prescribed: execution, crucifixion, mutilation, or at the least, exile. This is the command given to the Muslims.”

3. <<Qura'n 2:256 says, "there shall be no compulsion in(acceptance) of the religion.the right course has become clear from wrong...." plz note that this verse is a proof that Islam's Holy Book forbids coercing people into adopting any religion, they have to willingly choose it.>>

I appreciate the existence of Surat 2 Ayat 256. I really wish the whole Quran was consistent with it. But as you know very well, the Quran has conflicting messages when it comes to how to look at other religions. For example,

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and WHO DO NOT ADOPT THE RELIGION OF TRUTH from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.” - Quran 9:29

This doesn’t make sense to me that in one part the Quran, it is said, 'there is no compulsion in Religion', then in Surat 9, Muslims are commanded to fight those who do not have the religion of Muhammad (a.k.a by Muslims standard, the Religion of Truth). If you fight me for what I believe then you are compelling me not to practice my religion in fear that you will fight me. So the Muslim community need to decide which one of the two Surats are they willing to throw away and which one they need to keep. I hope and pray that they delete, erase Quran 9:29 and keep Quran 2:256, otherwise terrorists will continue to coerce civilians by forcing them to recite part of the Quran in order for them to feel safe like it happened in Kenya a year ago.

3. <<Qura'n 2:190 " Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you,but begin no hostilities.God loveth not aggressors...."we see again that killing of innocents is cowrdice not bravery as is seen by you and who ever does the opposite is waging a war against Allah hence my next point>>

This text, you are point out do indeed support a fight for the purpose of self-defense. But this could unfortunately be understood by terrorists as a supporting scripture that give them the legitimacy to fight against anyone they feel like identifying as an aggressor. With the Paris terror attack some wondered why the civilian population was attacked and someone remarked that for some terrorists, the civilian population is not considered innocent since they support with their taxes the armies that invade Muslim majority countries, hence they are regarded as people who supports the aggressors. If this logic is indeed a reflection of the terrorists view points, then every Law abiding civilian living in the West and who pay his/her taxes will be fair game to anyone like Sheik Bin Laden unfortunately. Hence, you need not to convince me that this text you quote means what you say it means, try to convince them for they are the problem.

4. <<Qura'n 5:33-34 says :Indeed,the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger (SAW) and strive upon earth to cause corruption is none but that they be killed...."34 says"except for those who return(repenting)before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is all forgiving and merciful" this still shows that any act of terrorism is forbidden in Islam>>

Unfortunately this verse that you are quoting doesn’t prove what you think it proves. It proves the opposite of your point. It encourages waging war ad infinitum, a vicious circles for many warriors waging vindictive wars against enemy combatants. This verse perpetrates the circle of violence that has proven itself at time to be non-efficacious in bringing justice in communities. If Martin Luther King Jr. did hit back each time they were hit by the White supremacists, then the Civil right movement would have been a failure just like Malcom X movement apparently was.

ThanksGiving 2014

Today marks again the memorable event of Thanksgiving Day. Some have preferred to call it Turkey Day probably because they assume everybody will have the means to afford a Turkey at their dining table for the family celebration but the financial crisis has redefined people culinary choice. Some are simply happy with a simple meal while keeping the meaning of the event. The word 'Turkey day' is pushed by others since it doesn't have a connotation to the Christian faith but this is a mistake since even a Turkey is still part of God's creation.

Michael Ramsden made the remark that some people feel empty because they do not express gratitude. He continued, 'It is not that people do not have a reason to be grateful for, but rather they have no one to be grateful to.' This is quite an insightful comment, and i hope that despite the difficulty and hardship this year may have brought to your life, you still have a good reason to be grateful for.

Despite the many limitation i have met in my life during this year and the many things I wished i could have had this year but i didn't have, I am nevertheless grateful to God for His many blessings among which are these ones that stands out:

1. I have been unfortunately working in what could simply be labeled as non-satisfactory jobs from as long as December 2009, but this year  i was able to make a successfully transition to an amazing Job. It has all the right culture and environment for a young professional, i couldn't wish better. This in itself would justify the validity of this whole post. But there is more.

2. Since last Thanksgiving Day, something special happened to me, I have changed my social status moving from being a single man to becoming a married man. I have a pleasant and a fun to live with type of wife. Even though her integrity and intellect attracted me more on the early days when we dated, it is her absolute devotion to God and her vibrant faith that rejoices me the more. Many of my recent testimonies can be traced back directly to her endeavors, her encouragement and her relentless prayers and acts of faith. I really love this woman.

This wedding event would have never happen without the thorough involvement of my whole Family (Those in Rwanda and those outside the country) and my friends - specially those from the Living Word Association (LWA) and the Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship International (FGBMFI). Thank you all from the depth of my heart i really have a grateful heart because of you.

3. Soon after I was able to afford my car, i was still wondering how am I going  to handle this since i didn't have a driving license. My wife drive for almost 10 years now but i didn't have as much chance as her. My Learner's driving license has always been elusive to my repeated effort to acquire it. Even though i tried it repeatedly since 2010, i have repeatedly failed to get it. I really got discouraged that i dropped the whole affair. I made peace with myself, saying that driving wasn't for me. Not so with my wife. She didn't accept this defeatist mentality of mine. She kept pushing me in many ways than i can tell, and this has often resulted into repeating tension between us. She didn't want to give up. Two time i missed to do my test this year.

The first time i was told that the registration was over for a week even though i had already paid. The second time i came earlier to the registration office this time and i was told that the registration was over just the day before. I started to feel like a conspiracy was really striving to keep me away from this Learner's driving licence test. The third time i successfully registered. But i had the wrong day for the test. However, on the day of the test, i felt in me that something was wrong. Reaching my office, i checked the internet but couldn't get a confirmation on the date. So i took the liberty to drop an email to the Rwandan police through their website asking about the exact date of the test. In less than an hour, i received a call from the Police informing me that that day was the day for the test and that the others were already at the stadium for test. I was asked to hurry. Needless to tell you what happened later. It was hilarious now that i look at it in retrospective. I got my boss to let me go, then jumped onto the first motorcyclist i was able to find on the street and went to the place of the collective test. Two weeks later, i was informed that i finally got this elusive learner's driving license. I thank God for his support even when i initially felt discouraged and didn't believe that i would get it. Matter of fact, after the test I went my way and paid and registered for the following learner's driving license test since i assumed that I naturally failed this one as it was my custom for the past 4 years. This still makes my wife chuckle, i can hear her say, 'Oh ye of little faith'.

4. I am grateful to God that I was finally able to continue my academic training. This later one seemed hermetically closed to me since 2008. I failed in my so many attempts to get a master degree in my field of interests from respected universities around the world. This year, i was finally able to get in and start my Master program.

5. With regards to books,

a) i was featured into an important book about Rwanda by Ms. Sonia Myers, 'The new Rwanda, Tome II' published by the University of Scraton. My contribution essay is entitled -'Success and Challenge'. Thank You Nicole K. for the networking opportunity.

 b) i got Dr. Stephan Meyer's book 'Darwin's Doubt' from a friend living in the U.S on New Year Eve. It was a fantastic gift, since i am a great fan of Stephen C. Meyer's work. Thank you Mireille I.

c) I was also offered by a good friend of mine living in South Africa the impressive book, 'The Resurrection of Jesus' by Dr. Mike Licona  based on his doctoral research at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. I have been looking for this book for so long and now I have it. Thank you Armel N.

So many things could be said but these ones will stand for the rest and it will show the extend of my my gratitude to God for the blessed year He has granted me in His Son Jesus the Christ.

Thank you to all my readers for keeping this blog alive. You have been visiting it from more than ten countries and many other Islands. All continents represented, with my biggest readership coming straight from the USA.

Happy Thanksgiving 2014 in Jesus' name.

Why I Still Enjoy Storytelling When I learn

A piece i wrote few years ago. I thought I would share it with some of my new audience.

..........

As I was walking to my place after the 'Living Word' event in the evening, i was still thinking about what made this book on Intelligent Design more appealing than the others i read in the same category - with the possible exception of 'Darwin Strikes back' by Dr. Thomas Woodward - and i came to the conclusion that it is because the book is somehow autobiographical and chronicles not only the author's pilgrim into Intelligent Design theory but also the way he introduce the readers to the history of science and scientific development that surrounded the research on the 'origin of life' project. Nothing beats story-telling when it comes to introducing someone into a new concept or a blurred notions/ theory.

This reminded me as i kept thinking that it was through biographical literature that i have embraced Christian charismatic notion to the point of non-return. I had my time in the past where I danced around the notion of supernatural and God willingness to act nowadays. I knew he could do them but i wasn't that sure that He was still doing that. Actually i was sure when things went well, meaning when i met charismatic preachers or Pentecostal testimonials. And i shifted ground into uncertainty when i read evangelicals with a special scent on cessationism. I have had my fair share of doubt when it comes to divine action. I never became a sceptic though but the uncertainty nevertheless lurked at the back of my mind.

What helped me to move slowly but surely away from the dead-end argument on this uncertainty are these books:

1. "Happiest People on Earth" by John& Elisabeth Sherill - the life of Demos Shakarian and the story of the Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship International

2. "Appointment in Jerusalem" by Derek Prince - the story of Derek prince first wife (before she died) Lydia Prince.

3. "Surprised by the Power of the Spirit" by Dr. Jack Deere - Its the story of a cessationist professor of Hebrew and old testament at the Dallas Theological Seminary who got sucked up into full Pentecostalism despite himself.

4. "Surprised by the Voice of God" by Dr. Jack Deere - Its an intentional semi-autobiographical sequel to the first one.

5. "Blessing or Curse: you can choose" by Derek Prince - a somehow autobiography of Derek Prince pilgrimage into the 'profondeur' of the supernatural.

6. "They speak with other tongues" by John Sherill - a journalist investigation about the phenomena of the speaking in tongues in modern day.

All these books are written with a specific idea and argument in mind of the authors but it is not done in separation with the life of the authors. That is what makes them really powerful. Its power comes from the impression that it gives to the readers to share the authors' struggles and search for answers to the hard questions that troubled them, allowing then to the reader to have the opportunity to jettison extreme scepticism and hostile mind predisposition along the way, making, hence, the argument easier to be understood. As Ravi Zacharias usually point out that at time "The heart cannot accept what the mind has rejected" and the reverse can also be true.

I guess this might be one of the reasons the Bible brings God's instructions through long stories as much as he does that through immediate teachings, and prescriptive laws.

If you can be brought to understand the story of something you may well be able to resolve some mysteries surrounding it.

Have a nice weekend in Jesus name.

MIND YOUR DOCTRINES, PLEASE!!!

The purpose of the Christian doctrines is not for the sheer pleasure of incessant reflections, but as the word 'doctrine' signify - 'instruction' - it is given so that those who have received the doctrine or let put it in another word, so that those who have been instructed should put into practice what they have been instructed to do.

In Hebrew 6:2 , we read about the "doctrine of baptisms" which could literally mean the "instruction of baptisms" from the Greek word, "didache" meaning "instruction".

Classic example, in good schools students are given series of instructions ("doctrines" so to speak) that they have to carry out in the laboratory or in the work-field. In christian life we are equally given series of doctrines - read "instructions" - so that we may understand and practice successfully our Christian life.

This is why biblical doctrines are highly emphasized by knowledgeable Christian leaders. They know very well that if the doctrines - read instructions - are incorrect, then the resulting belief and the practical Christian life of those who hold those incorrect doctrines - read incorrect instructions - will almost necessarily be wrong headed.

We also see St. Paul the apostle making an admonishing when it comes to the type of doctrines people hold onto and their rather long term or short term destructive consequences,

"Now the Spirit explicitly says, that in latter times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons," - 1 Timothy 4:1 KJV.

The sadness in this statement is that some people who had previously had faith will no longer have faith. They will lose their faith or to keep the biblical expression they will "fall away from the faith". In that very statement the stumbling block that will make them "fall away" are identified, and one of them is the type of doctrines they had received. It is important to mention that the word here translated as doctrine is the Greek word "didaskalia" which unsurprisingly means "teaching".

Doctrines seem to be inextricably linked to instruction and teaching, which give us the hint that there is a form of learning the hearer of doctrines is experiencing. If the learning is sound, the resulting belief will be sound, if the learning is unsound then the resulting belief will unfortunately also be unsound.

So the question for you will be, what kind of doctrines do you hear? Who is giving you your instruction? The Lord Jesus advised well,

"Think carefully about what you are hearing." The Gospel of St. Mark 4:24a (ERV)

Our burden should also go for people who get misled into false doctrines through teachings that ought not to be taught (Titus 1:11). And many young minds to my personal encounter have fallen victim of false doctrines. The tragedy with that is that they end up lacking their capacity to even think what they hear. So the problem is no longer how could they think carefully about what they continuously hear as Jesus requested, but rather the question is how can we even make them think in the first place.

The scripture give us many form of advises about how to go about it, and i would like to share with you one of them,

"[The Elders should be] holding fast to the faithful word as he was taught, that he may be able to exhort by sound doctrine, and to convince those who oppose it." - Titus 1:9 EMTV  

The biblical answer to the problem is:

a) for those who are in charge of the younger in the faith to first be acquainted with the trustworthy doctrines taught by the Biblical writers. My advise will be: read the scriptures and don't try to find excuses for your favorite preachers when they say something that you know is in opposition to what the scripture says. I know that our propensity is always to give a charitable hear to those we are fascinated with, this is what makes it very difficult to not find excuses for them when what they say are demonstrably wrong from a biblical perspective. However those born of the light should never sacrifice truth and integrity at the altar of falsehood for the sake of misguided charity. Remember the first Christians each time you find it heard to stay true to word, "What do you think is right? What would God want? Should we obey you or God?" Acts 4:19 ERV.

This trustworthy doctrines mentioned above is also called the "sound doctrine". Trust that doctrine above all your favorite teachers and preachers. Stop finding excuses for what is clearly not right and anti-biblical. If you start finding excuses, you will end up with even more excuses and the finality is that you will prohibit and inhibit your thinking ability to even function correctly let alone function at all. My experiences with people who hold firm to false beliefs is that they show an amazing capacity to make contradictory and self defeating statements without even blushing. Everybody around them may notice their incoherence save themselves. That is the sadness of a hardened heart.

b)  Then come the next step which many will feel reluctant to practice but which is important as an antidote to stop the hemorrhage, they need to go head on against the opposing view and convince them. The Greek word translated here into convince is "elegcho", which also mean to "rebuke" or "tell a fault". By the way, this is sound doctrines right here - you can safely practice it. I know i do!

Our youth are always in danger of embracing falsehood for many pertinent reasons, one of them is peer pressure. Peer pressure is when we let our peer think for us, instead of us thinking carefully about what we hear. The danger with peer pressure is that this leads to severe indoctrination which are hard to break.

But we can get comfort with this blessed promise that nothing is impossible for God and God is able to rescue the lost among us.

"For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37 KJV

The First Rwandan Drones - Built in Rwanda!

Well, well, well .. who would have thought that we could have drones in Rwanda? Certainly not me. But a certain young man, Eric Rutayisire, thought it could be a good idea, so he built some.

No kidding, this isn't a science fiction nostalgia that i have, he really did it! I met the guy! :)

These machines have struck fear in the heart of modern men due to its military uses by American military institutions. However, we learnt from Eric that drones could also be used for many other purposes than just war or targeted elimination.

Eric Rutayisire, a US educated Rwandan, just started a company in Kigali, Rwanda that design and build drones for Rwanda, and possibly for the region. He was interviewed recently by the Rwandan Television.

He presented his project with some pleasant demonstration as this can readily be seen on this Youtube video.

He asserts that his drones could be used not only for reinforcing surveillance, but also for agriculture purposes, architectures, landscaping and in many more other innovative ways.

This is just great!

Eric, this is the way to go man! Keep up the good work. We wish you all the best of luck as you try to commercialize this Rwandan innovation!

To all, please check the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpYaZMJxUQ0

Beware of Counterfeit Grace

A change of mindset has repetitively been occurring in the mind of those who were disabused by what they were taught at Churches. Unfortunately not all shift in mind-set has been for the better.

Throughout my Christian walk, I have repetitively met folks who pride themselves with innovative alteration of century long standing biblical doctrines. One that is more recent is the way different folks have abused the precious concept and truth about God's grace.

In 2005, I first got acquainted with what I easily identified as early abuse of the concept of grace when I read a book which I shall leave unnamed. The book presented grace as a mean to discount any moral responsibility to a sinner. Actually, it seemed to ask the sinner to rejoice of his sin because no moral accountability seemed necessary because of the Grace of God. If my memory serves me well, this was the first time i got a snippets about this erroneous views. Although the book argued quite interestingly about the immensity of God's favor also know as God's grace toward the sinners, the author unfortunately messed up what he tried to argue for along the way.

Two years ago in March 2012, I started writing a series of posts about Grace and the Law at the request of a friend. I was told that there was a kind of war waged against the doctrine of grace by those of a legalistic (from the Law) persuasion. So I wrote my first post and a second one which were supposed to launch my series of posts about the contrast between Grace and the Law from a biblical point of view.

However, I was never able to continue that series of posts. Shortly after my second post, i realized that the outcry against those who spoke about "Grace" were not made by legalistic folks as i was led to believe initially. The outcry came from those who believed themselves in the biblical doctrine of Grace but were just sickened by the way a group of teenagers and young-adults abused the biblical teaching of grace.

For more than 15 years I had been discussing and debating against legalism and preaching the message of grace. I knew that legalism could be used and was often used to control people ungracefully in some churches and even in some sermons hence breaking the spirit of the New Testament. But I never really thought or expected that a day will come when people will also start using the message of grace ungracefully and irresponsibly. As my Dad remarked to me once with this french saying: "Qui vivra vera"*. And indeed, as time still goes on, I am still astonished by all the novelty and craziness that keeps creeping out of some emerging churches and some para-churches ministries.

After that 2012 March post, i found myself debating on the internet (Facebook) the very people I first tried to defend. The weirdness kept flooding the social network, as my friends and I tried to keep it under control. Within few weeks, we realized that we were unwillingly in "full-time ministry" of debunking the false doctrines strongly advertised by those preachers of the counterfeit grace message. The situation was so bewildering that offline discussion had to follow.

Not being known as shying away from debate, I was happy to receive an invitation from the Living Word Association (LWA) to join their task-force in debating some of those main and outspoken prominent figures of the counterfeit grace message of that time. With no hesitation I gave my consent. We held two formal debates so to speak. The first one was held at a place of their choosing and the second debate was held at a place of our choosing (LWA). The debate was spirited but done in good faith. Although we severely disagreed on main issues all the way through. We remained nevertheless courteous.

However the aggressiveness in our exchanges kept increasing as the months went on. By the end of the month December 2012, some had dropped out of the public discussion and went into seclusion and hiding. They kept the indoctrination for themselves. Nevertheless some among them throughout the year had shown sufficient intellectual honesty and a honest conscience to reform their former views and stopped talking foolish things as they used too at the early stage of the debates. That was really God's grace in action to save them from false doctrines. But not all were this gracious to the truth. They became unfortunately and willingly insubordinate to the biblical truth to the point to deny the plain meaning of many biblical passages without blinking or bad conscious. We sadly witnessed it during the subsequent year of 2013.

This leads me now to the content of the numerous debates held (online or offline). What did we debate on anyway? I have discussed those issues indirectly and directly on this blog as this can been seen on my posts titles such as, The New bible Deniers ; Should a Christian ask for Forgiveness ; Did Jesus freed us from all Burdens? and more on this blog.

 Here are a few points our debates revolved around:

1. This is what started it all. They initially disputed the existence of sins. We on the other side affirmed the biblical reality of the sadness of sins (Roman 3:23; 1 John 2:1-2; etc.).

2. They firmly rejected the fact that Christian should repent from their sins and deeds. We on the other hand affirmed along with the teaching of the new testament that when someone sins - being it a Christian or a non-christian - the path of restoration is through repentance of deed (Revelation 2:21-22; Revelation 3:19; etc.).

3. They discouraged any practice of fasting and praying (this last one I encountered for the first time in a private debate with someone holding an anomalous twist of this counterfeit grace message. However not all of the false teaching of grace movement embrace this virulent view). We affirmed contrary to them that the New Testament encourage us to pray and fast (Mathew 6: 6,16; Acts 13:2-3; etc.).

4. They denied the reality of free-will (the capacity to choose). We affirmed that people have the capacity to make choices (Luke 10:42; etc.).

5. They think that any action done for spiritual or other reasons is by definition a Work which is contrary to their concept of grace. Since for them grace excludes all action a priori. We expressed on the other hand that the New Testament distinguishes among different actions. The New Testament shows that there is a difference between action made by faith and action made legalistically (motivated by the Mosaic law). - Ephesians 2: 8-10; etc.

6. They rejected the usefulness of the Law in all its forms (unconsciously encouraging anarchy). We on the other hands reinforce the distinction between the Mosaic Law (in the Old testament) and Law of Christ (in the New Testament). 1 Corinthians 9:21 and Galatians 6:2; etc..

7. They considered Christians who asked for forgiveness as immature and untaught Christians. We on the contrary affirmed that it is an act of honesty, true repentance and a normal thing to do when a Christian ask for forgiveness when/if s/he had sinned (1 John 1:9 ; 1 John 2:1-2; etc.).

8. They substituted the clear writings of the scripture (Bible) with what they called "the revelation". We on the contrary believe that the Bible itself contains the revelation of the Lord to the Church, and that all so called "revelations" had to meet biblical standard and not substitute itself to the clear and plain wording of the scriptures (2 timothy 3:16).

"All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," - 2 Timothy 3:16  

 "And all these things happened to them as examples; and it is written for our warning on whom the ends of the world have come." - 1 Corinthians 10:11 

I have just quoted 8 points where we differ on, but I can assure the readers that there are many more miscellaneous topics of disagreement such as "Is there any difference between a human spirit and the Holy Spirit?" Just imagine which of the two groups confuse the human spirit to the Holy Spirit? Now you know why I call it a counterfeit grace message. These false messenger of Grace claims that because God has shown us His Grace, hence these eight issues they claim among others are and should therefore be normal modus operandi in any churches. I guess the scornful way they used to present their point of views provoked me to take very drastic measure on my rebuttal styles during the debates. It is always choking to see young people who pretentiously show up and declare everybody is wrong except their little untamed group. This stroke a nerve in me that made me go all Nija on them. Thank God for His Amazing Grace, some of them recanted their former views as per personal conversation I had with some youth over the past two years.

The war for truth is not yet over, but we stand strong and ready to defend the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:14-15).

I would like to encourage new Christians who might not know much about the scriptures that they are wolf teachers out there, teaching what should not be taught. Hence be careful!

There are false teachings (doctrines),

"But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons" - 1 Timothy 4:1   

but there are also true teachings (doctrines),

"Hold on to yourself and to the doctrine; continue in them, for doing this you shall both save yourself and those who hear you." - 1 Timothy 4:16 

.........................................
* "The One who shall live shall witness things."