Turning Impossibilities to Possibilities!

Preaching at the Fundraising dinner, Imani baptist church.

TURNING IMPOSIBILITIES INTO POSSIBILITIES. Part 2

“David the Dazzling Daring Dude slays Goliath, the Glaring Giant from Gath.”

Word gets to Saul that a volunteer has been found. When David stands b4 Saul he produces his resume. Notice one thing, he did not tell the other soldiers nor his brothers about his escapades with the Lion and the Bear, perhaps they wouldn’t have listened to him, rather at the right time, at the opportune moment b4 the right guy, he chose to tell Saul what he had accomplished.

When faced with a daunting task, you need to know when to shut up, when to talk and whom to talk to because you will hear strange voices that may discourage you.

When Saul heard all these he decided to give David his Armor, to equip him for the fight…Now that’s where you and I go wrong. God has given us a promise for some insurmountable task and we fear that somehow he may not come fully for us so we try to help God with our own way which is no way at all because God is not weak and He is jealous, he is particularly keen on getting ALL the glory!

We live in a fallen world with imperfect systems and as a result we will from time to time be confronted with tough situations, big challenges ahead of us. Some of you have been in this tough situation for a very long time, it has worn you out. Just like the Israelite nation, as u go to sleep its right there with you, when you wake up in the morning, it is staring at your face reminding you of your weaknesses, your inabilities, your inadequacies, your lack of ambition and you don’t know what to do. You feel terrified.

You may have reached at the end of the rope and you are feeling flustered, that is the best place to be because you have run out of options and you are at the brink of a precipice. It is important that you realize your limitations because that is where Saul was, he had to come to terms with the fact that he was scared, he went against his better judgment to allow David to face Goliath

TURNING IMPOSIBILITIES INTO POSSIBILITIES. Part 1

“David the Dazzling Daring Dude slays Goliath, the Glaring Giant from Gath.”

This is a story which evolves much like a movie.

The setting is in the valley of Elah. Goliath the philistine champion is on one side with his army and King Saul is on the other side.

For 40days everyday morning and evening with unyielding consistency, this humongous gigantic Hercules ,Goliath  about 9 .9” tall comes out and dares the Israelites to send him one man to fight him so as to determine the outcome and destiny of either side.

No one ,not one person not even Saul who apparently was the tallest in Israel and most impressive would dare stand up to this guy, They were terrified, they were scared stiff of this grizzly looking mean giant who was determined to make minced meat out of them. He was intimidating and he looked unbeatable…unbwogable.

The enters the scene a youth, a young handsome lad 17yrs of age, his current occupation, a shepherd &part time musician who occasionally plays the harp for king Saul. He has been sent to take food to his brothers and the moment he hears the insults of Goliath..unlike the rest of the crew, he is not dismayed, he asks

“What will be done to the guy who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace form Israel?” Remember he is not a trained warrior, he doesn’t have the papers nor the qualifications. As a matter of fact all the people with impeccable credentials were shaking in their boots, they shied away despite the fact that it had great perks.

• You will receive great wealth (not riches there is a huge difference )
• You get to marry the Kings daughter ( no tuning, no courtship ,no dowry) free
• You and your family gets tax exemption( just like our Kenyan MPs)
  
  
  
  
  
  

My ALL that!

Jesus is All that,
And he did ALL that!
He is before All that,
And in Him ALL that holds together.
Without Him, ALL that can never be,
With Him All that is..because He is ALL that.

I love you Jesus.

postmodernity

Postmodernism – world’s way of thinking
Why we should care

“Michael Jackson is dead. I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to.”
Kenyan teenager.

‘Postmodernism’ is a word which simply sums up the way much of the world thinks today. It includes these viewpoints:
There is no objective absolute truth. ‘Truth’ is what you believe it to be. Something can be “true for you, but not true for me”.
‘Choice’ is a big virtue in our consumer society. And choice extends to value systems, beliefs, and lifestyle choices. All are seen as equally valid. Choice of religious belief is by mix and match – whatever you feel comfortable with.
Postmodernist thinking therefore encourages choose-it-yourself beliefs within the New Age spectrum. The world today relates closely to the postmodern view – everyone is free to offer, or find, any viewpoint.

We must present (package) the Gospel differently in a postmodern situation. People may not initially be interested in our version of truth, especially if it is presented dogmatically and without humor. However, they may well be interested in solutions which meet the problems they face in life. How? Discuss this………


Why it matters
It is important that we should help Christians (our generation) to understand the way postmodernism affects the world, the Church, and communication. Surveys suggest that a frighteningly large percentage of apparently professing Christians now claim not to believe in a range of absolutes at all. Do you believe in absolutes? Discuss and name a few?

Alabaster Moment.!

Three times we meet this woman in the gospels and
three times we see her at Jesus' feet,
her attitude, her posture
was one of worship.
In Mark 14. We meet her at the house of Simon, the Pharisee,
she entered a house full of people ,
not caring what people would think or say ,
even though they knew her,
they had her Cv but she was bold enough to go to Jesus.

Armed with her alabaster jar,
she placed it beside and began kissing his feet...
his dusty maybe smelly feet
which hadn't been washed...
she kissed them...she showed Jesus affection ,
she didn't care about the germs or anything...
she just kissed his feet some more and then she wept....

These were not just one or two tear drops
she wept ...she poured out her heart
a pool or if you would a flood of tears enough to wash the masters feet....
what sincerity....what genuineness
Then she took her hair,
the bible describes the hair of a woman as her glory.....
we really value our hair,
she could have used a towel
or a rug or her dress
but she used her hair to wipe His feet....
The masters feet,
The feet of Jesus.

Does the Bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepancies?

A question that I keep encountering many times. I will try to tackle it as best as i can.

If we read the Bible at face value, without a preconceived bias for finding errors, we will find it to be a coherent, consistent, and relatively easy-to-understand book. Yes, there are difficult passages. Yes, there are verses that appear to contradict each other.

We must remember that the Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors over a period of around 1500 years. Each writer wrote with a different style, from a different perspective, to a different audience, for a different purpose. We should expect some "minor differences." However, a difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered.

CAT

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. C.A.T.

1. Define hermeneutics……………………………………………………………………
2. De fine biblical hermeneutics …………………………………………………………. ……..………………………………………………………………….............................
3. Define exegesis ………………………………………………………………………..
4. Give 3 purposes of biblical hermeneutics:
• …………………………………………………………………………………
• …………………………………………………………………………………
• …………………………………………………………………………………

5. What is the most important law of biblical hermeneutics? ……………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
6. Biblical hermeneutics points us to the ……………………………and application of scripture.
7. Define
• Revelation ……………………………………………………………………….
• Inspiration………………………………………………………………………..
• Illumination………………………………………………………………………

8. The literal meaning is ………………….. ……… to any symbolic or allegorical meaning.
9. The golden rule of interpretation states that , “When …………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
10. The O.T is the N.T………………………and the N.T is the O.T …………………….
11. The bible was written in 3 languages:
• …………………………………..
• …………………………………..
• …………………………………..

12. In the accommodation principle, God the ……………..is communicating with man the …………………………..
13.”No part of the bible may be interpreted so as to contradict any other part of the bible”, what is this principle called? .................................................................................
14. Define this statement, “Allowing the implicit to explain the explicit.” ……………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
15. What is the Original meaning of the Greek word, “Kolasis”? ………………………
16. What is the 1st century meaning of the word “Kolasis”? ……………………………..
17. Give me one of the 6 principles that you have already learnt (been taught) which are not in your pamphlet .eg Words have meaning etc. ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………

Biblical hermeneutics

Biblical hermeneutics could be summarized best by 2 Timothy 2:15,

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Biblical hermeneutics is the science of knowing how to properly interpret the various types of literature found in the Bible. eg, a psalm should often be interpreted differently than a prophecy. A proverb should be understood and applied differently from a law. This is the purpose of biblical hermeneutics - to help us to know how to interpret, understand, and apply the Bible.


The most important law of biblical hermeneutics is that the Bible should be interpreted literally. This means you understand the Bible in its normal/plain meaning. The Bible says what it means and means what it says. Many make the mistake of trying to read between the lines and come up with meanings for Scriptures that are not truly in the text. Yes, of course, there are some spiritual truths behind the plain meanings of Scripture. That does not mean that every Scripture has a hidden spiritual truth, or that it should be our goal to find all such spiritual truths. Biblical hermeneutics keeps us faithful to the intended meaning of Scripture and away from allegorizing and symbolizing Bible verses and passages that should be understood literally.