Issues facing Christians in Sudan and South Sudan today. Leadership section. In both Old and New Testaments the Bible shows us the type of people who are useful in God’s hands. The only worthwhile life is a life useful to God. Every other kind of life is meaningless, a sadly depressing waste of time. Hundreds of years ago when the ruined city of God was being rebuilt, Ezra was a leader God used. God could do this because, “Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel”, Ezra 7:10. Note the three ways God’s word impacted Ezra’s life: He learned what it said and what it meant. He lived it out personally in his own daily life. He shared it with others in ways they could understand and apply to themselves. In the early Christian church, when Timothy was several years into his ministry, probably still in Ephesus, 1 Timothy 1:3, and when he was about to have a large responsibility put on his shoulders because Paul’s death was very close, 2 Timothy 4:6, Paul urged him in a letter, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth”, 2 Timothy 2:15. To give approval means to recognise as genuine, to commend as a good thing; “to have a positive opinion about someone or something, to give official permission”. The Greek word is often used in the testing of metals to show which is real and which is counterfeit. As Christian workers today we are encouraged to look at ourselves, our lives and our ministries, and to ask: “What does God think about us?” When everything else is said and done, it is only what God thinks that is eternally important. Are we useful to God or are we a waste of time? When my son John was a small boy he occasionally played with my tools – a hammer, a screwdriver, a pair of pliers. His usually dirty and sticky hands left my tools unfit for me to use in real work! I had to clean them up before I could use them. Does God find our lives ready to be used in His service? Or does He have some cleaning up to do? At the corner dukkan where we bought our bread in Khartoum North, the shopkeeper sometimes stopped me from buying if the bread was old or damaged. If the bread did not have his approval he would not sell it to me. Does God look at our lives and say, “She is ready and fit to be used” or “I cannot use him to bless others”? Some workmen work very hard. I visited a S.P.E.C. school being built at Merzook, Thowra. In the hot sun there was a man shovelling mud and hand-moulding bricks. There were two women walking to and fro bringing water in plastic containers balanced on their heads. These people were visibly sweating as they toiled. A pastor, or any other Christian worker, who does not work harder than a labourer is a disgrace to his or her profession. We should work at least as hard as members of our congregations, and arguably much more so. Being a Christian worker is not an easy option for a job. We are accountable to God and must constantly look for His approval. Throughout 2 Timothy Paul explains how the young man can become more and more what God wants him to be. God-approved workers worship God The first key is in 2:24, the descriptive phrase: “The Lord’s servant”. It is vital that church workers see themselves the right way. How important do we think we are? When you hear sirens in Khartoum and then you see police motorbikes clearing the road, you know some important person is about to be driven by, probably in a flashy car with dark tinted windows. Is it right for the church to have such V.I.P.’s (very important people)? I remember being embarrassed when I visited churches around Sudan. I was given the best comfortable chair to sit on, while most sat on benches or the floor. I was given ice cold coca-cola to drink while the congregation had water. I deeply appreciate Sudanese hospitality. It is great that Sudanese people offer kindness in this way. But, it is wrong for me to expect it, or to demand it or even to require it! As a pastor I am merely, “the Lord’s servant”. My Master is much more important than me. My position, my status, is of no consequence. I am what I am, and I do what I do, because God told me to. There is nothing special about me. I do not deserve to be treated as royalty. I am a servant who lives to serve my Master – simply doing what I am told to do by Him. I have done it long enough (39 years) to know what my Lord and Master wants in most situations, but He still has some surprises He wants me to learn. Pride is a poison in the church! Humility is a sign of a life of worshipping God. A true Christian worker is concerned about God’s glory, not his or her own. God-approved workers walk away from fighting Verse 24 continues, “the Lord’s servant must not quarrel”. I have never seen a fight between one man. Have you? It is impossible! It takes two to fight. Our Lord Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”, Matthew 5:39. If only this was applied to all of the armed struggles in Sudan! If only this was put into practice during inter-tribal disputes. Sadly, we have to admit also, if only this was put into practice when churches split apart from one another, or even when one congregation divides. What a difference it would make. We say we believe the Bible, but what we do shows what we really believe. Too many Christians, even church leaders, believe in retaliation or revenge, or believe in striking first to avoid being hit. Sometimes we need to confess wrong attitudes before God, and even own up to fellow believers. Only then can God approve of our attitudes. Self-control is an evidence of Holy Spirit control. It is our responsibility not to angrily disagree and argue. In English the word “quarrel” has another meaning as well as this one. The second meaning describes an arrow having a sharp four-edged head fired from a crossbow. Paul would not have had this in his mind, but it may remind us of the damage done to innocent people by unrestrained words fired in anger! When guns are fired from a helicopter or mortar bombs lobbed into a village, often people other than the target are hit and hurt. A wise pastor walks away from quarrels and strife because of the damage they cause. My good friend, Pastor Alfred William of SIM Arabic Ministries, with whom I had many happy times in Sudan and England before his early death, told me that Sudanese regard turning away from an argument as a weakness. I told him that as I understand the Bible, it is teaching this as godliness and not weakness. When it comes to a choice, Christians must obey God rather than their own traditions. God-approved workers deserve the role and responsibilities they have 2 Timothy 2:24 continues by saying that the Lord’s servant must be “able to teach”. The right person for the right job will be able to do the job well. Why are we where we are, doing what we do? A workman pastor merits authority to be among the leaders of the congregation, because of his life and his teaching. Our lifestyles and what we say from our pulpits should commend our Christ and show our calling. People were amazed at Jesus’ authority. His interpretation of the Law (the Old Testament Torah) was reinforced by His life and His actions. People heard His message. And people saw His message. My objective in teaching Systematic Theology at Gideon Theological College when I was there, 2000-2004, was never simply to teach a class. I was aiming to influence the whole church in Sudan and the non-Christian population too! Putting the Bible’s principles into practice in everyday congregational life I knew my students would grasp how God works. The most important qualification any pastor or Christian worker has is not a Certificate, or a Diploma, or a Degree of any level. It is a totally open and honest heart, with a life that agrees with what he teaches the Bible says. The most important examination for the pastor is not written mid-term or at the end of the academic year. It is read by the congregation every day as they watch him living his life at home, at church, in relation to others in the wider world, and so on. Do we pass this test? When I served Khartoum International Church (K.I.C.) most American’s in the congregation called me “pastor”, while English and Europeans called me “Colin”. We must ask ourselves whether we deserve the titles pastor or elder? My answer would be, “No, I really don’t. But by God’s grace I am doing the best I can”. God-approved workers warn others in the proper way Verse 25, “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct”. When I lived in Khartoum North I would often go for an early morning walk across the Nile bridge to the Omdurman side and back again. The guards used to laugh at this “mad Englishman” in summer clothes while they were there wrapped up in coats and scarves sitting around a burning fire. In turn I marvelled at the fisherman I would see on the river, using their boats and nets to catch fish for a living. Have you ever wondered why Jesus called so many fishermen to follow him? Matthew 4:18-22; John 21:1-14. In England I once heard one say it was because fishermen were used to being disappointed, working all night for little or nothing. Christian workers and pastors are frequently let down. Then it is easy to respond the wrong way with anger and frustration. I know how many times my congregations would ignore the nine good things I had done and would notice only the one bad thing. How should we react to this? When a father is teaching his child to dig the ground, or a mother teaching her child to cook the food, those children will do several wrong things before their lessons are learned. Parents realise this and they accept their responsibility to keep on teaching through all the mistakes that are being made. The Church leader should do likewise. You may well have said, “If you do this, the bad result will be so and so”. They do it anyway. Now the worst has happened! Never say, “I told you so”. I am so glad my Lord Jesus gives me more than one chance. At K.I.C. our congregation came from many different denominational backgrounds. There were large cultural differences between us all. When I knew some people would hold opposite opinions to mine and we as a church were going to go in my direction, I would personally try to see the people I knew would be affected. I went out of my way to build friendships with them. I sought to respect them and help them respect me – even though we had our differences. The seeds sown bore fruit as personal respect brought us through many difficult situations. This gentle dealing with people is crucial. Gentleness is mild, soft and temperate. A gentle character is not like either the extreme searing heat of Sudan nor the cold snow that grips Canada in winter. Gentleness is even, controlled, gracious and moderate. God-approved workers watch and wait for God to work The reason instruction can be given gently comes from the understanding that it is God who does the real work of the church. The approved pastor or elder is looking for God to work in people’s lives and hearts. He does not do nothing while he waits! He works diligently and well. But he trusts his Master to change the situation. He works in partnership with God – and he knows God is the senior partner. The second church I pastored in England I could not get very far. My wife Brenda and I started an early morning breakfast group and taught them Christian discipleship in all of life. We all prayed together then had breakfast and went off to work. Fifteen years later I could look back and see how God had used the few who were willing to be taught to change the church. (And to change two other churches too). One member of the group backslid away from Christianity and another was called into glory. God did His work! He removed some obstacles. He enlightened other people. He built His church. “Jesus said, “I will build my church””, Matthew 16:18. Those who work with God know whose church it is. A fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience. I grew ground nuts (peanuts) in my garden in Khartoum. I was very tempted from time to time to dig them up and to see how they were growing. I resisted the temptation, because I knew digging them up to look for any progress would hinder – if not destroy completely – their growth. We must patiently wait for harvests. Think again of Ezra for a moment. He was ready for service when God’s time was right because he had studied the Scripture and put it into daily practice. Let’s check ourselves for readiness as we go through these lessons from 2 Timothy. We do not work for our salaries, our housing, or for promotion to being a bishop or moderator. Nor do we work for the praise of our people, or to impress fellow pastors, etc. At the end of every day, when we lie down to go to sleep, we should reflect on six very important words: “Is God pleased with me today?” A great deal of development is happening in Sudan. Road traffic accidents are getting worse as the roads get better and traffic moves faster. On every car, every truck, every bus and even every donkey cart there are ten, four or two rubber tyres. Every week I inspected the tyres on my car. Were the grooves deep enough to grip the road? Could I see any splits in the side walls that may burst? Had any sharp stone or nail dug into the tyre surface? When my tyres passed my test they stayed in my use. If ever they failed my test, they had to be repaired or replaced. What does God find as He regularly checks us over for His service? God-approved workers find good role models to copy Paul wrote to the younger pastor, “You know all about my teaching. my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings – what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra …” 2 Timothy 3:9-11; Acts 13:14-20. Since Paul had heard about Timothy from the disciples in Lystra, Acts 16:1, the two men had travelled and worked together. Timothy heard most of Paul’s public sermons. He saw miracles. He noted how Paul dealt with people. Together they faced many and varied situations. Timothy knew Paul spent many hours writing to Christians he was concerned over in other places. He prayed himself, kneeling alongside the more experienced saint. That kind of training, mentoring, learning from example, is arguably at least as valuable as anything offered by Bible College or Theological Institute, and possibly more so. The word “my” is repeated nine times in these verses: “my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings”. Elsewhere Paul wrote to others, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 11:1; “You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord”, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6. In 2 Timothy 2:20-21 Paul has written of useful and useless articles, good and bad church workers. In 3:1-9 he has warned about Christian workers who hold a form of godliness, “but deny its power”, verse 5. Timothy is faced with a choice. He can copy them or he can copy Paul. The apostle urges his young friend to copy a good model, not a poor one. We must not be influenced by those around us who will lead us astray. He says “ you have observed me”, 3:10, 14. Three times in this letter Timothy is told to be different from the worldly Christianity around him: 2:1; 3:10; 3:14. It is as if he is told, “This is happening among others …. but as for you, be different. Be approved by God”. Here is the challenge to us. It is always easier to go along with the crowd. When I lived in Khartoum, the traffic police used to change the direction of bridge traffic in to or out from the city between 8-10am and 12noon to 5pm. Traffic flowed more easily if everyone was going the same way! But, the God-approved workman is called to be different, to battle against the majority. We must be ready for the challenge. God-approved workers will face hard times “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”, 2 Timothy 3:12. When we want to love and serve God, and not to please ourselves, we will suffer for it. “The godly arouse the antagonism of the worldly”. Jesus Christ predicted it would be the same for His followers as for Himself, John 15:18-20; John 16:33. The godly Christian living among the godless will be persecuted. The godly Christian living among the godly will not – but neither will he influence the world. The godless Christian living among the worldly people will not be persecuted because they will not see him or her as any different from themselves. The spiritually qualified and skilled pastor or Christian worker will embrace the cross of Christ in the every day world. He or she will suffer for doing it. My Muslim neighbour helped me with the water company when we had a problem with the supply and the costs. He said to me while helping, “You could bribe and get this done a lot quicker, but I know that as a Christian you will not do that”! He had seen my different standards and he expected me to keep living by them even when it would be much easier not to. I accepted the costly and troublesome consequences of my Christian discipleship. Sadly, persecution often comes from “evil men and impostors”, 2 Timothy 3:13. An impostor is a fake, not the real thing. An apparently Christian minister or teacher, but in fact a false one. They may seem to be successful, perhaps more so than the true Christian teacher. People who are easily led astray like sheep may follow their claims of 100% health, 100% wealth, no suffering, constant victory. It appeals to fleshly desires. Paul reminds Timothy, “I suffered”, verse11. “Remember my thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; my bad eyesight, Galatians 4:15; 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; and the times Dr Luke told me I had to rest?, Acts 18:1-4; Colossians 4:14. Remember when I was beaten by the mob in Lystra?, Acts 14:19-20; Acts 16:1-3. It didn’t stop you joining my team. Don’t let hardship stop you now! Remember when we had nowhere to stay, no money for food, few friends in hostile towns?, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. I’m writing to you now from a cell in a Roman prison, expecting execution at any time. Timothy, prepare to face hard times. But as for you, be different from the average Christian leader. Be approved by God”. God-approved workers follow the track that is set down for them “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of”, 2 Timothy 3:14. Christian leaders should be like good solid railway engines and not like flashy smart cars! Trains follow tracks. The tracks are their foundation. Tracks set their direction. They protect from error. Yes, it is true that they curb some of the engine’s freedom, but they also help get people to a safe destination – a lot more than ever can be taken in a car! The leaders approved by God see this theme in both of Timothy’s letters (the following italics are mine): “God’s solid foundation stands firm”, 2 Timothy 2:19. “What you heard from me keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us”, 1:13-14. “Guard what has been entrusted to your care”, 1 Timothy 6:20. “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them”, 4:16. “I give you this instruction … so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to the faith”, 1:18-19. A train driver who deliberately left the rails would be dismissed from his job! It would not matter if he thought he knew a quicker way, an easier and less demanding route, a more enjoyable trip, etc. His job is to keep on the tracks set down for him. God-approved workers fearlessly believe in God and His word “The holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”, 2 Timothy 3:15-16. Those last four “doing” words describe the job of the pastor teacher. Wisdom comes from the Word and the Holy Spirit. Certificates, diplomas and degrees are worldly recognition, not to be despised but not to be blindly relied on either. I have met godly Spirit-filled men who have Doctorates, Master’s degrees and Diplomas. I have also met worldly men who have the same qualifications. I have met godly, Spirit-filled men who do not have Doctorates, Master’s degrees and Diplomas. And I have also met worldly men who do not have them either. When selecting a man or a woman for Christian work with its responsibility, the key is not the certificate or piece of paper they possess. It is their evidence (or otherwise) of Christian maturity with spirituality. Supposing you had a geography lesson at school and you were learning about Australia. Who would you rather have teaching you? Someone who has read a lot of books about Australia or someone who has lived most of his life in Australia, a born Australian? As I read 2nd Timothy in the Bible I see it is the grasp and application of God’s word in the power of and the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes a man or woman equipped for Christian ministry. That, and nothing else. God-approved workers fully carry out their ministry Reading good books or magazines will not make anyone “thoroughly equipped for every good work”, 2 Timothy 3:17. The Holy Scripture in the presence and persuasion of the Holy Spirit makes you equipped. They make you ready to do everything God calls you to do. If there is “not enough time” in your life, then either God made a mistake in limiting a day to 24 hours, or you are trying to do something you did not ought to be doing. There is “good” work and there is “bad” work. Things that must be done, and other things. The teaching elder or pastor’s role is described in verse 16, and again in 2:15 as “a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth”. Dare we ask ourselves the question? Are we “approved” or should we be “ashamed”? In K.I.C. I had a job description – and so did other people. Apart from encouraging the youth leaders, the Sunday School teachers, the treasurer, the property stewards, those who gave and administered poverty relief or ministry grants, I used to let them do their own work. And I did my own work. I had almost nothing to do with the young people, the Sunday School, or the money side of the church, unless the people responsible asked me to become involved. That left me free to minister the word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, from the pulpit to some 200 people and across various meal tables one to one or two to two. I thank God for that privilege. Consider our hands. When they are empty we can use them to do what we want to do. If they are already full and we try to do more, we end up dropping things and we cause damage. To only do what God wants us to do means learning how to say “No”. The person God uses in His service is a person who has learned to say “No” to some things in order to say “Yes” to “every good work”, verse 17. Saying “No” is hard! I recall saying “No” in the same week to ministry in Renk with the P.C.O.S., speaking at a Spiritual Life conference in Nairobi with S.I.L., teaching a church conference in Blantyre, Malawi, and taking on more subjects to lecture at Gideon Theological College. My ego wanted to speak at them all. My God had other, and much better, ideas! We must learn to work for God and not for men. Paul calls the thoroughly equipped person in the ministry a “man of God”, verse 17. Tonight in our beds we should think, “Am I a man (or a woman) of God? Is God saying “Well done” to me?” Then we can ask God what to do tomorrow to make Him even more pleased. A Christian friend of mine for over 40 years was suddenly taken ill with liver cancer and died. He went into the presence of his Father in heaven while being nursed in the arms of his wife. We played soccer as boys. He served with the London City Mission and as a pastor in Cambridge, England. God called him home, and he went. Would I be ready if God called me today? 2 Timothy 4 was written and is read anywhere today “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus”, verse 1. God is everywhere present. He is with you at meal times. He is there when you talk and play with your children. He is with you when you are in bed with your wife or husband. He accompanies your visiting house to house. He kneels with you in your study. He stands by you in your preaching and leading events. It is good to remember that, like your shadow, God is always with you. Did you know that our shadows make us all equal? They are all black! As children we used to play a game of jumping on other people’s shadows. Our shadows are always with us – only sometimes we do not see them. Like a shadow God is always with us, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Unlike a shadow which changes, lengthening or shortening according to the angle of the sun, God does not change. Right now God knows we are listening to His word explained through this writing, published in Sudan. Christians from different places have made it possible for this to happen. We are the privileged receivers and God knows it. One day He will ask us to tell Him what we have done as a result of this privilege. God-approved workers look forward to eternity “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead”, verse 1. When a man does a good job of work it is right and proper that he looks forward to his payday. He will be pleased to spend what he has earned on food, family, or whatever. For a pastor and a Christian worker the real salary will come the day he stands before the Lord Jesus face to face. In Sudan I know there are debates over how and what a pastor should be paid. Is it the founding mission’s responsibility? Or the headquarters of the denomination in Sudan? Or the local congregation by themselves? My own experience is of 39 years of Christian ministry, with only 11 having any salary from a church. My wife and I have simply trusted God to provide for our needs through the giving of His people. In Khartoum my congregation paid my house rent and gave me about 40% of what it cost me to live day to day. I paid for my own travel, healthcare, further education etc. I thanked God for this and I trusted God for the balance needed. I also worked humbly, hard and honourably, so that Christians in the U.K. wanted to support Brenda and me, enabling our ministry. If I worked for money in this life I would not be a pastor. As a bank manager (the career I was first trained for) I could earn ten times as much. As a teacher (which people said I was a natural at) I could earn six times as much. As a secular writer I could earn three times as much (or even 20 times as much if just one book sold widely). But I served God as a pastor, and now as a writer for Sudan, with an eye on the rewards He will distribute on judgement day. I have to ask myself, have I been a good steward of my Bible College training (which I personally worked for over three years to save up and pay for)? Have I well used the study and prayer moments “full time” ministry provides? It is a longer time than sponsorship of a foreign scholarship! What costs me nothing but costs other people everything is not always good. When God calls me to account, will I be ashamed or approved? God-approved workers carefully listen to the job description “In view of (Christ’s) appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge”, 4:1. A charge is “a person or a thing committed to one’s care”. The word has 34 meanings in English ranging from “a price demanded for an article”, for example the cost of a water melon at the souk; through “to store electricity”, for example charging the battery when the flashlight goes out; to “make a sudden rush or attack upon a person or thing”. To be given charge of something means to be placed in responsibility. Paul is not saying, ”Timothy, you need to pay me this money for my advice – this is the fee I charge”! Neither is he saying, “Timothy, you need new batteries to make yourself work better. You are run down so throw the old ones away and replace them with new”. Neither is Paul saying, “Look out, Timothy, I am running so fast at you, I will knock you over!” From various Bible translations and commentaries I looked up I discovered that “charge” in this verse means, Greek diamartyromai, “solemnly to testify under oath, referring to the coming judge our Lord Jesus Christ”. It means “I testify earnestly”, “to command by requiring a solemn promise or an oath”. It means “to give a challenging responsibility”. A biblical example of the word and its meaning is in the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14 and 19. The Master “entrusted his property” to his servants and later, “settled accounts with them”. Imagine you ask your friend to walk your child along the road to school. You have given them responsibility for your child. You will want to know that they have done what you asked. 2 Timothy 2:14 could read, “Keep reminding reliable men of their awesome responsibilities”. These are among Paul’s last ever words. He was facing inevitable execution, “the time has come for my departure”, 4:6. The dying man gives his son in the faith the solemn responsibility to do something. Do we listen to what we are supposed to be doing? What does our Master want? Brenda may ask me to buy from the shop while I am out and bring things home. When I am in the shop I wonder, “What was I supposed to buy? Was it bananas, lemons, yoghurt and bread”? We must not be forgetful Christian leaders. Listen to God. Listen to the denomination. Listen to the congregation. And listen again to God. Do what He says. Know what you are supposed to do and do it. Do not be sidetracked into doing other things. Second best is never as good as the best. God-approved workers let God’s word loose among the people “Preach the Word”, 4:2. The chapter divisions were put into our Bibles in 1560A.D., the work of Robert Estienne, a French printer, for the Geneva Bible. Here they are not very helpful. There is a strong link between 3:14-17 and 4:2. “All Scripture is God-breathed” and “Preach the Word”. Approved workers preach and teach the biblical message of Jesus. The primary task of the elder pastor teacher is to plant the seeds of God’s word into the hearts of his or her congregation. We are to wash and cleanse our congregations by giving them a bath in God’s living water. We must show them by example how to wield the double-edged sword of the Spirit, both in defence and offence. When I pastored K.I.C. I worked out roughly how to cover the entire Bible in my pulpit ministry, if God granted me 8-10 years there from 1999.18 In 2001 we were doing the Life of Jesus in Mark’s gospel, then Genesis 1-11, followed by 1 and 2 Corinthians. In 2002 we planned the Bible character Joseph, the book of Acts, and 'meeting' all of the Minor Prophets. As it turned out God allowed severe sickness to bring me back to the U.K. and cut short my ministry, but this enabled the book writing and publishing for Sudan and South Sudan to develop. Someone may say, “I prefer to be Spirit-led week by week in my preaching”. I reply, “I believe I was Spirit-led in working out the plan in advance, and I am open to being led to change anything any week”. “Why do you only leave one way for God to lead you? Your way has one opportunity, mine has at least two”. Sadly, many preachers and pastors are not “approved workmen … who correctly handle the word of truth”, 2 Timothy 2:15. Some are lazy. They only scratch the surface of God’s word – if they use it at all – speaking their own opinions, denominational dogmas or what will please the influential members of their congregations. God approves only those who plant His seed week by week in the hearts of the people. A friend of mine was given a cupful of ground nuts. He could have eaten them, but he chose to plant them in the ground. After a while he harvested a sack full of ground nuts. He ate a few, but planted most in the ground. Over a few years he was able to harvest three, five, and ten sacks full of ground nuts. If he had taken the easy option he would have been satisfied for a short while. By choosing the hard work option, he is satisfied for life. He is an approved workman. God-approved workers accept all circumstances “Be prepared in season and out of season”, 2 Timothy 4:2. Some months are easy while others are tough, but we are not called to an easy work. We are called to work! Another friend of mine was pastoring a church in London and he had a difficult time. The congregation split amidst rebellion and accusations. (I was too young to know what was going on). The pastor had seen very little fruit in his ministry – although some later “fruit” was me, and several other young people eventually went into Christian work from that congregation. After a while my friend moved to another church as pastor, 200 miles away. This time it was a God-given harvest time. He was the same man, giving the same faithful service. In one time and place he was “out of season”. In the next he was “in season”. In both he served his God. Verse 5 says, ”keep your head in all situations”. Live a balanced life under the self-control of the Holy Spirit. It continues, “endure hardship”. There is no promise of ease or comfort. Timothy had watched Paul suffer. Paul was telling him to expect the same difficult ministry. All the time, “do the work of an evangelist”. Persuade people to trust themselves fully to Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. “Discharge all the duties of your ministry”. Not just the easy ones you like, but all of them! Problems that are not tackled have a habit of spreading like weeds. Almost every big problem in a church that I have ever come across could have been dealt with earlier, when it was smaller. When you see bindweed in your patch of ground do not think, “I’ll take it out tomorrow”. There is huge danger in putting things off. Difficult situations do not normally resolve themselves if left alone. Serve God when you feel like it and serve God when you don’t feel like it! Do God’s work when you do not want to do it, as well as when you do want to do it. God-approved workers live longing for Jesus Christ to return Verses 6-8 take us around in a full circle. When the going gets tough in ministry, think of the eternal crown in glory. Paul looked beyond his death to “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”, verse 8. That other man may have a car, but will he have a crown? That woman may study abroad and get a high degree, but will Jesus give her a crown? Another family may have a better home, better education and medical care because they are in the city and we are called to serve in the village at the exact centre of nowhere – but we can serve remembering that our Lord Jesus is measuring up a crown to fit snugly on our heads in eternity. Don’t waste your time working for this world’s goods. Don’t follow worldly patterns for success. Work for heaven’s reward. Follow Jesus Christ, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame”, Hebrews 12:2. Follow Paul who was ready to be “poured out like a drink offering, and the time had come for (his) departure. (He) had fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith”, 2 Timothy 4:6-7. Sudan and South Sudan need pastors, elders, other church leaders and Christian workers, who are ready, willing and fit for God to use them. What we must discover is, are we ready to be among them? Discussion guide Using this chapter and Scriptures quoted: 1. “The only worthwhile life is a life useful to God”. Share what qualities and characteristics you think make a person’s life useful to God. Consider Ezra 7 and Nehemiah 8. 2. Why do some people enter the Christian ministry when they are not called by God? What can be done to stop this? Think of how Paul called Timothy to be his helper, Acts 16:1-5; and how he was able to use him, 1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 16:10. 3. Share how the pastor can be a servant, and yet still be a leader. 2 Timothy 2:24; and compare 1& 2 Timothy 1:1 with Titus 1:1. 4. What is the most important qualification for a pastor? What is his toughest examination? Why are these more important than any academic work? Note: this does not despise academic work, but does keep it in proper perspective. 5. How does believing that “God does the real work of the church” affect the way a pastor can help his people? …when he is let down by some of them? …when he is facing opposition from some of them? …when he is planning what to do and what not to do? 6. Why is Timothy told to be different from some of the Christian people around him? See 2 Timothy 2:2; 3:10; 3:14. Explain how we know who we can emulate (copy) and who we should not. 7. Explain how 2 Timothy 3:12, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”, is a challenge to any Christian to embrace the cross of Jesus. Note: This chapter is adapted from three messages on 2nd Timothy preached at Gideon Theological College, Banat, 30th November to 2nd December 2000, for a conference where Study Book Sets were distributed to pastors and Christian workers.

Lessons from my journey with JESUS. Please first read Hebrews 10:19-25. Living in Khartoum children (and a few adults) pointed at us and shouted, “khawaja”, meaning white person, foreigner. I did not mind at all and I cheerfully waved back smiling. The only time I did not like it was just after doing some business in a copy shop in Bahri. As I started to reverse my car a loud BANG BANG BANG BANG was heard. It was not gun shots as I first thought. Some young boys had put empty coke cans by my wheels so as I reversed so they ‘exploded’! I could see the boys hiding away and laughing. I pointed at them and laughed back, smiling, before driving quietly away. Followers of our Lord Jesus Christ are supposed to be visibly different from others we live amongst. The reading above is the author’s summary of his argument from Hebrews 4:14-16 up to this point. Notice the similarities in the two passages. Because of Jesus and His high priestly entry into the heaven of God’s presence we can be bold about our Christianity and our Saviour, even if persecution gets tough – which it did for the original readers of Hebrews. They were probably expelled from Rome, losing their status, their businesses, their property and their homes, see Acts 18:1-3. How would you and I react as Christians to that? As I write this, away in South Sudan the arrival of a rebel leader and his men is being greeted with cautious optimism.[1] By working together in a government of national unity it is hoped (and many of us pray for) a fair negotiated peace will replace the all-to-easy resort to the gun. May God grant this. It may seem a long way away from some of us as individuals, but I suggest that every Christian has a responsibility before God to play their own part. Each must show Christian living in everyday responses, sometimes proactively and other times by our reactions. I cannot write about specific issues because I do not know what will arise. I will try to point out the principles for the Christian life in a time of building peace and promoting reconciliation to enable a young nation to grow up into adulthood. 1. Principle one, “since” in Hebrews 10:19, is to remember that of all the blood that has been shed in futile violence, it is the blood of Jesus and its application that is most important, Hebrews 10:19-20. Where there is talk of revenge, the Christian must remember the blood of Christ forgives sinners – all sinners who repent before God, from whatever tribe or territory, and whatever bad deeds done, see Hebrews 1:3; 2:9; 9:27-28; 12:2; 13:20-21. 2. Principle two, “since” in Hebrews 10:21, reminds us that our Lord Jesus is “the Great (High) Priest over the house of God”, Hebrews 10:21. From the Old Testament picture this means that with the application of the appropriate sacrifices Jesus has already made, we – together with all others who are truly sorry for our sinfulness and fallen nature – are able to join as one in praise and worship to God Most High. Every tribe, tongue and nation, see Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 5:9-14; 7:9-10. 3. The third principle is introduced, as are the next five in the NIV, by “let us …” Hebrews 10:22, “let us draw near to God”. God looks at our hearts, not the externals of life but the motivation that drives from within us. Christians speak of ‘giving hearts to Jesus’. The Lord Jesus then directs every part of our lives. If we keep anything from Him, He is not our Lord even if we think He is. We are imposters not Christians. 4. Principle four “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess”, Hebrews 10:23. Jesus is faithful to us. Are we always and in all ways as faithful to Him? To swerve is to change direction in order to avoid something. A Christian dare not avoid the difficult choices that must be made to be positively different in following Christ. Peer pressure, history, mob mobility, the expectations of others, must not decide what we do. Individually the choice is made to follow the Lord Jesus. 5. Principle five “Let us consider how”, Hebrews 10:24. We are not alone. We should be helping one another as Christians. Poverty nor persecution are excuses for neglecting to help others. See 2 Corinthians 8:1-7. Jesus wants to use us and use all that we have and are, however small. In our church when the Sunday offering bags are passed along every row week by week I think to myself, “these bags are too small. I cannot put myself in, yet I want to give all of me to my Lord”. Are you ready to do what you can? 6. Principle six “Let us not give up meeting together”, Hebrews 10:25. The word is the same as “foraken/abandoned” that Jesus used on the cross, Matthew 27:46. Since Jesus is where two or three meet to honour His name, we must be there too! See Matthew 18:20. Not every meeting of the church but some real Christian fellowship regularly. This will help us make life-changing decisions as we are challenged by them. Together is better than alone. 7. Our final principle, number seven “Let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching”, Hebrews 10:25. Our Lord Jesus is going to come back one day, and it really could be very soon! We must always remember that this world and all that is in it is temporary. Christians do not need to struggle after possessions, positions, lands and recognition on this soon passing earth. The International Space Station and some individual countries may have plans to visit the planet Mars one day in 5/6 years time. It is interesting to see them on TV practising how to drive vehicles on Mars from Mission Control. But as a believing and trusting Christian the certainty of my hope and home in heaven are of more interest to me as they come closer day by day. Let us be different together. To God be praise and worship, in JESUS’ name. Let us keep a tight grip on heavenly things, but a light grip on this world’s toys. Please now read Hebrews 10:32-34. The last sentence of verse 34 gives the ‘how’ for our different reaction to some of life’s issues that we face because we are Christians. It reads (NIV) “because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions”. When I pastored Khartoum International church I learned the activities of many of our members – ways they were serving the Lord Jesus. Some were working for the United Nations and helping in the resettlement programmes for people going back to their original homes after being forced to flee from famine or from war. They told me how a family would arrive home only to discover another family living in their home, a family who legitimately bought the property, but from someone who did not correctly own it according to law! My friends were forever trying to sort out these different issues fairly and justly. The writer to Hebrews may have these or similar issues in mind when writing Hebrews 10:32-34. As young strong Christians his readers had been outstanding in testimony, always living to honour God, being seen to honour Jesus Christ. Many had suffered greatly while doing this. Verse 33 gives us our English phrase “to make a public spectacle of”. It means “to display in front of people in general, suggesting that someone or something is stupid or useless, is out of step with realities”. The determined Hebrew Christians lived for the honour of their Saviour, Jesus Christ. They did not live for the things of this world. But here comes a confrontation. If your people, your family, your tribe around you, wish to react in a particular way to something – and that way is not the Christian way, doing it will not honour Jesus Christ nor bring others to think positively of Him – what should you do? In Hebrews 10:33-34 the writer lists their experiences of: insults – offensive words, lack of respect persecution – being badly treated because of race, religion or political beliefs, etc. identification with and serving the needs of suffering prisoners property confiscation This last one gives a reason for positive response to a negative situation: “because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions”, vs34. We Christians must keep our heavenly perspective at all times. The family and friends we lose, the property we lose, the opportunities which are blocked to us, the money we cannot get, all are of this earth alone. A martyred missionary to the Auca Indians in South America once earlier said: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. All of our Saviour Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the mount, Matthew chapters 5,6,7, comes into action here. If you do not read all of it (which you should) do please read Matthew 6:38-48. “Turn the other cheek”, “give to the one who asks you”, “love your enemies”, “pray for those who persecute you”, “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. In other words, be different. “This manner in which (the believers in Rome) accepted the theft of their properties describes a spiritual condition by which one sees and celebrates greater realities than those immediately observable”.[2] Read Hebrews 11:13-16, especially vs16, for an expansion of this thought. There were people in the Christian congregations written to here, “many of whom have been Christians a long time and have paid a great price for that commitment, but (now) some are growing weary and abandoning the faith altogether”.[3] Hence a timely warning and encouragement to persevere, to endure, to keep on holding on, not to turn away from Christianity or Jesus. Verse 36, “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised”, (italics mine). I thought about giving this article the title, “Struggling to wait for the Lord’s coming”. I love the words in Hebrews 10:37, “He Who is coming will come”. There is no danger of God breaking His promise. Our Lord Jesus is coming back. It is then – then and not before – that all Christians will receive reward. We are not of this world any more, since we are born again, John 3:3-8. We must all be very careful to keep both God’s word and God the Holy Spirit as the primary controllers of our lives. “All human authorities must be considered in the light of (this) divine authority. We must hear and obey the Word of God as illumined by the Spirit of God”.[4] This means that normal family authority, ancient long-standing tribal custom, church denominational tradition, and even government edict, must not be allowed to relegate God’s word and Spirit to the last place to look for authority on any question. When this happens we find we are deciding everything humanly not Christianly. The author to Hebrews knows “that progress in the Christian life does not just happen; it is the product of an ongoing life of choices made in the light of God’s will”.[5] Once more I say, let us be different together. To God be praise and worship, in Jesus’ name. Let us keep a tight grip on heavenly things, but a light grip on this world’s toys. May our daily choices direct our lives to honour Him whatever the price we have to pay. Hebrews 11:1 reads, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. Proving the realities of our invisible God is how we should all be living. Let us stir up one another in this great task, leading by example in actions not only in words, Hebrews 10:24. “Different” means “not the same as; separate, but of the same type”.[6] Jesus will make us different if we will let Him. Originally written as BiMonthly Encouragement, 1st June 2016. Discussion guide 1. Explain why the blood shed by our Lord Jesus on the cross is more important than any other bloodshed. Please use Scripture where possible. 2. “Unswervingly”, Hebrews 10:23 (NIV). The word means ‘constantly’, ‘all of the time’, ‘holding firmly and without wavering’. What are the benefits of keeping our Christian hope central in all parts of life? Is there a cost? 3. ‘Jesus wants to use us and use all that we have and are’. Discuss how best we can practically surrender to Him. Again, use Scripture where you can. 4. Share ways of ‘keeping a heavenly perspective at all times’. Once more use your Bibles! Matthew 6:31-34 points towards what I call, ‘the Christian difference’. 5. How can Christians together help every Christian individual decide life’s values and influences in godly – not worldly – ways? Start your thinking from Hebrews 10:23-25. [1] May 2016. [2] George Guthrie Hebrews, NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan: Grand Rapids) 1998, page 359. [3] Ibid page 361. [4] George Guthrie Hebrews, NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan: Grand Rapids) 1998, 363. [5] Ibid page 364. [6] Macmillan School Dictionary (Oxford: Macmillan) 2004.

Leadership, Integrity and Nation building. - by Amoko Fodomula Laku These words were asked of the Lord Jesus Christ by John the Baptist from his prison cell: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”. There is no doubt that our Lord Jesus was the right kind of leader, but we may legitimately ask, ‘What about all the other leaders we know about today, including even ourselves?’. Susan Mwangi, in writing A Biography of Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said, “Nothing builds strong character like studying the lives of great Christians”.[1] She continues to say, “Great men and women of God are some of our most important mentors and worthy objects of study. Their race and their fight of faith is worth emulating and so at any age we can learn from their walk with God both its principled strengths and regretful failings, showing that they are men of flesh just as we are”. We will be reading and drawing lessons from John 10: 1-21. The chapter title comes from Matthew 11:1-3 and Luke 7:19-20, which give title to the topic as well. We will consider what people expect in the character of their leader. We will be asking and answering questions such as ‘Who is the leader?’ We will talk about the characteristics of the leader whom the nation and its people are expecting – the Good Shepherd, John 10:11,14. We will also talk about the characteristics of the hired leader(s), who in most cases were failing his or her people badly, John 10:12-13. These examples were given by Jesus Christ. We will dip into the Bible elsewhere too. Who is the leader? The future of every family, all nations, people groups, organisations including churches, depends upon the quality of their leadership. That is why Don Page said, “It is so important to develop the right kind of leadership for today’s complex and changing world”.[2] Because no one person can lead an organisation, it requires a team of diverse but like-minded people. Some years ago I asked an elder from one of the tribes, “Who do your people think the leader is?” Without any hesitation he gave me three points: The leader is: 1. The person who is always in the front of the battle and in all situations, who has inspiring, encouraging words and who is courageous not fearful. 2. The person whose house is open to people, a welcoming person. We have a saying, ‘The fire does not go off in his house’. 3. The person who is patient in every hard-given situation. I will add four more points: 4. The person who can teach the letters to Timothy and Titus from the Bible. Paul was strongly urging these young men to be sure that the leaders they were about to appoint could bear the responsibility in the local churches of teaching others. The right doctrine of the word of God is essential for right living. 5. The person with a spirit of servanthood. Servanthood is the essential concept of Christian leadership, which is centred in Christ’s work as a servant King and which is characterised by faith and obedience to the word of God as a follower of Jesus. A servant leader’s mark is humility. He/she is in front of the followers to show example through his life, not seeking special recognition or privileges for what he/she has done. It is serving others as Jesus did during His earthly ministry. 6. A person who is an example to all. Mwangi’s writing about Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, quoted above, highlighted this. The New Testament records, “Elijah was a human being like we are. He prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months”, James 5:17. 7. A person who can pastor others, a counsellor, an intercessor, a responsible person, with identity, with value of life, who is accountable, who can convince people through his word, who is a strategist, with authority and integrity. A leader who has inspirational power, speaking from first-hand knowledge in his/her personal walk with God. God looks for the right people Reading the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament, it becomes clear that leaders are all or mostly called and ordained by God. That is why the Bible tells us, “Work hard and become a leader. Be lazy and never succeed”, Proverbs 12:24 in the Living Bible. Psalm 75:6-7 says that God ordains men to serve as leaders, “No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings down one, He exalts another”. God is always searching for men whom He can count on as leaders. For example, in 1 Samuel 13:14, “But now your kingdom (Saul) will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him (David) ruler of His people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command”. In Jeremiah 4:1, 25, “If you, Israel, will return, then return to me”. “I looked and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away”. In Jeremiah 5:1-2, “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. I will pardon it. Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’, still they are swearing falsely”. In Ezekiel 22:30 God says, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one”. The above verses all show God’s strong plea for stable and effective servant leadership. The prophets were saying it. Jesus emphasised it in His teaching concept of leadership by saying, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many”, Mark 10:45. “For who is the greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one (leader) who serves”, Luke 22: 27. “A leader is a person who leads a group of people, especially the head of a country, an organisation and so on”.[3] Dangerous pitfalls for every leader from Timothy and Titus 1. Is he/she a spiritual person? Is their life different and strong because they are mature in the Christian faith? The answers to the questions will confirm what is said in 1 Timothy 3:6, “He (or she) must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgement as the devil”. Conflicts can come from leadership insensitivity, if the leader does not have a pastoral gift and fails to keep the team members on board with him. Maturity enables intervention to resolve issues. 2. Mutual role expectancy which may bring disappointment in among the team, perhaps out of inadequate communication. If the general statements of the purposes or the tasks are not clear, lists of specific duties are not well defined, lines of accountability are not clear, periods of operation are deemed wrong, and any mechanisms for review are not clear, then expect crisis and conflict which will need to be resolved by careful and prayerful leaders. 3. Ministry possessiveness, as the workers are so much attached to their jobs and become defensive about any changes. 4. Doctrinal mistrust. Spiritually or secularly this could be suspecting a hidden agenda by others (or even ourselves). Sometimes we do want to impose so that everybody in the team will eventually become like us. 5. Generational gaps. Since changes are occurring and teams are mixtures of older and younger generations of leaders with workers, everyone needs to be considered according to their own needs, perhaps through offering special studies or training. 6. Ethics and morality. 1 Timothy 3: 9 reads, “Keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience”. If the leader is not careful this will lead to a lack of confidence in him/her. One who lacks organisational skills, or deliberately assigns inequality of workload, or breaks personal confidences, or fails to grasp the reasons for a worker’s viewpoint, or shows insensitivity to a worker’s problem, or fails to express appreciation, or fails to give encouragement in times of stress, or adopts an autocratic attitude, becoming more ‘his work’ oriented than ‘his people’ oriented, and fails to implement decisions made within the fellowship, reveals a dangerous lack of ability to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of everybody. Such a leader’s insensitive conscience ends up causing low morale. Keep true to being true, always. 7. Clarity of thought and life with Christlikeness in thinking and living. Lead with wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Titus 1: 6-7, “An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain”. Any lack of understanding of the leader by his people affects relationships. The unspoken contract which exists between the leader and the led must be harmonious and well maintained. Dinnen said, “Each party has to pay for the benefit gained from the other party; this is often not realised and difficulties arise when one side makes demands on the other without seeing the need to make payment for what it hopes to receive”.[4] Who makes a good leader? from John 10:1-21 a. A person who enters leadership through the door, John 10:1-2. He/she takes responsibility from God by calling and from the people by proper selection and election. Not a person who comes into the post through crooked ways like bribing people to vote him in or seizing power by military or other manipulative forces. b. A born-again person, verses 3-4. A person known to the people in and out of the local community, 1 Timothy 3:7, with a good upright testimony to all, not only to his people group or tribe or church group. c. Someone who has experienced total freedom because others have nothing against him, 1 Timothy 3:10. People may have confidence in him/her because he/she is transparently trustworthy. d. A person whom people may confidently watch and listen to because they are able to teach what they also live, 1 Timothy 3:2. A welcoming person, loving people, open to ideas and suggestions from others in the organisation or the church. One who does not always force his ways upon people. He does not have to always be right. e. The one whose voice people can know and differentiate from others, John 10:3-5. This has to do with communication. Good communication plays a major role in effective leadership. It helps in preventing conflicts and misunderstanding as the leader’s feelings and thoughts are put into understandable words. f. A person who is a good listener. He/she is available to people who are under his/ her leadership so that they can communicate well. Best communication is always two-way. g. Someone who is considerate to all other people. Nagib taught that, “In an organisation all members should know what the others are doing in order to see how they complement one another”. He continues “Reports, written or verbal, are forms of communication. They play a vital role in keeping the big picture clear in the minds of the people concerned”.[5] It is known that a leader’s awareness of what keeps the workers loyal and happy is very important because, “consciously or unconsciously, every worker comes to the work place with certain expectations of a sense of fulfilment, achievement, belonging, responsibility, acceptance, participation, direction awareness, opportunity for growth and development, understanding, being cared for and freedom”.[6] So, it is the leader’s task to check and ensure that these expectations are being fulfilled and to take steps to remedy situations that militate against their fulfilment. h. The person who is feeding other people. This is going back to what my tribal friend told me concerning their culture, that a leader ‘is the person whose house is open to all’, as well as 1Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8. This can also mean giving appreciation, recognition, counsel, encouragement, guidance, security, pastoral care, help and fellowship to the people with him or her. Elmore gave seven ways for a leader to be relevant: 1. He started by saying, “Become a student of culture; without understanding the culture of our people we will not be able to influence their lives”. 2. “Learn to distinguish what is cultural and what is timeless. Children and adults may struggle with cultural issues from their own generation”.[7] 3. Like a missionary in a foreign land, decide what you can do to bridge the gap between cultures through honesty, positive attitudes, service to others, responsibility, gratitude and obedience. Look for redemptive analogies which are useful to people, whether negative or positive examples. 4. Create a ‘leadership gymnasium’ for exercising leadership as you mentor your followers. Find ways to translate good thoughts into practice, to accelerate their learning by asking hard questions. 5. Communicate from their world, teach them using what you have heard from them. Let them apply what they know by helping them practise what they learn. Transformation comes from application. 6. Never assume that what worked yesterday should work today, because changes happen so quickly in our modern world. People are growing and changing, and their world is growing and changing. Leaders must show creativity and communicate new ideas to mentor followers. 7. Measure success by connecting, not controlling. Be sure to measure the right stuff. A good leader’s goal is not to control the followers’ lives, but to connect with them so that he/she can give them all the tools they will need to reach their own potential. Pay attention to: how well you are relating to them how safe they feel to talk transparently with you how secure they are with themselves and with your love how much they feel you understand them how much they seem to understand you when you share. What people expect from their leaders (including children from their parents) 1. One whose life is an example to his/her followers. Being an example nurtures the leader in the followers’ lives, although the opportunities and challenges we face are awesome and intimidating. Dr Tim Elmore wrote, “You are well aware of the treasure you have in each of your children. And, for a few years, you get to influence your children. But it will cost you. To make them to be the best leaders they can be is the wisest investment anyone can make”.[8] 2. The one who is in the lead, at the head, at the front, and ready for longsuffering, as Jesus put it in His teaching: “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to become first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many”, Matthew 20:26-28. 3. The person other people can rightly imitate. He/she is a clean vessel who can be trusted for stewardship when people watch, and who can guard what has and will be entrusted to them by their employers or by the owners, knowing that they will be asked to give accounts in the end, Matthew 25:14-30, especially verse 19. 4. The one who offers himself/herself to the people. Their lives are not their own. A good leader lives for others (as a parent for their children). Jesus was a servant to His mission and His food was to accomplish the will of the One who sent Him. The disciples did not know about this, but they learned it from Him, John 4:32-34. 5. The person who offers his/her wealth for the sake of other people. Their wealth is not for themselves. Like Barnabas and the early disciples of Jesus who were selling their properties and sharing with the new believers, Acts 2:32-37. They were concerned to meet the needs of others in their communities. This is not like today when some of our leaders are for themselves and their family members only. 6. The one who gives his/her time for the sake of other people. Their time is not for themselves but for others. The dominant concept today seems to be that the leader is the boss so must be taken care of, respected, served and honoured by others being around him/her for long hours. This good leader is the one visiting, serving and honouring other people. One day I volunteered to help new students in my University by taking them around to show them what it looked like and where everything was, since they were joining for the first time. After the tour I asked them, “What can you say after all that you have seen in and around the University?”. One of the new students said, “Wow! If someone comes out graduating from here, he really needs to be respected”. It was clear to me that this kind of person was looking for promotion and respect from other people. Then I told them, “While you are here you need to be broken, melted, moulded into a new person, also humbled yourself into respecting and honouring all other people wherever you are going to be ministering in the future. This will be a positive change, enabling you to meet the spiritual, physical, mental, economic and social needs of your people”. This is a costly but invaluable process between God and His servants. 7. The person who leaves everything for the sake of others. Everything they have and are they do not hold for themselves, but for everybody else. He/she must be hospitable, meaning having love-in-action for strangers, showing hospitality to strangers not entertaining only friends. Because of the environment and responsibilities God has given to the leaders in our times of persecution, poverty, growing numbers of street children, beggars, homelessness, widowers, widows and many travellers who are tired on their ways for various reasons, obedient followers of Jesus, both church leaders and the church members, must fulfil these biblical acts of mercy by putting aside some of their own money for booking places in guesthouses or hotels for the strangers visiting their cities, or by providing rooms in their own homes for strangers. Tragically, most Christians in our churches are not ready to do so. They appear neither willing nor prepared to assist a stranger. They hope strangers will not come their way for fear of robbery, killing, rape or assault. The hired leader John 10:12-13 Beware of the person who leads by force, by pay, or by power; one who leads by the autocratic authority of his/her word. They are probably not the ones who came to leadership ‘through the door’, John 10:1. Or maybe they did, but their roles have subsequently corrupted them. They have hidden agenda. At any time they will disappear from the situation, leaving their people leaderless and very vulnerable. Some of their poor qualities are: Working for himself/herself. Jesus put it clearly. This person is a thief who only comes “to steal and kill and destroy”, John 10:10. He who is a hired person, who does not own the sheep (people) or the business, when he sees the enemy coming will leave his responsibility and flee away. He cares nothing for the sheep. He does not know them by their names, which is why there is no response between them. Using others only for his/her own benefit. The hired person is only working for his pay packet. His is a job, not a calling. He does not listen to the people’s needs, issues, concerns, pains, ups and downs. The lifestyle and teaching of John the Baptist touched my life as an evangelist while I was reading it. His preaching clearly shows that evangelism has social implications on sinners after responding to the message of the gospel for repentance and forgiveness. The change was, and is, to be manifested through transformation in life as the specific wrongs and the old ways are put right. Many people from all walks of life followed John to question him concerning their cases. “’What should we do then?’ the crowd asked”. “Even tax collectors asked, ‘What should we do?’” “Some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’”, Luke 3:7-15. Likewise, some of us today could be accused of some evils in our lives, careers and in our working places. We use corruption and bribery by giving or receiving. We accuse other people falsely for our own advantage. We abuse our position in small or large ways that dishonour God – and we think that nobody sees! Of course, God does. Ultimately, we cannot get away with anything. We must, “produce fruit in keeping with repentance”, verse 8. Failing in what he/she is supposed to do for their people. This all because of a lack of vision for the people, who then perish due to wasted time, poor energy, loss of resources and properties because of bad management, and corruption in and allowed elsewhere by weak and lazy leadership. People are scattered in their minds and directions since leaders are failing in what they are supposed to do to, and with, and for, their people. No (or poor) production is happening because of a lack of accountability, missing everyone’s dreams and with no team direction from the leadership. Being a person who may be easily bribed. The leader is putting his personal agenda first. Because of his/her example the followers are doing the same in the company, organisation or even in church and family circles. The ‘hired leader’ is not able to speak on behalf of the people, Proverbs 31:1-9. Such a person can be misled by any ideas or opportunities for gaining money that come his way. Sooner or later the followers will rebel against him. Can you pick the pitfalls and the plateaus for a good leader in this Proverb? “The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him. Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers! Do not spend your strength on women, your vigour on those who ruin kings. It is not for kings, Lemuel— it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy”, Proverbs 31:1-9. Examples abound about leaders who abused their power when they were given, or took for themselves, responsibilities in their regimes. Read a few in Luke 3:1-2, 19-20. Luke gave this list during the time of John the Baptist. Someone described them as a, “melancholy list of rulers who are remembered for the evils rather than the good they did”. The question for us here and now is, ‘How will our history be written?’, or ‘How can those who are coming after us, the leaders of tomorrow, remember us when we are gone?’ I wonder what kind of legacy we are leaving to our followers? Have we been the kind of leader people have every right to expect? Or will most people be very glad that we have gone? Discussion guide Using this chapter and Scriptures quoted 1. Does it matter “what people expect in the character of their leader”? Why? Why not? Name some of the issues that may arise from unmet expectations. 2. From Psalm 75:1-10 discover and share all you can about the final authority for leadership. Does this encourage you or not? Why? 3. Amoko draws seven “pitfalls for every leader” from Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus. Which are the most dangerous for leaders today? Why? Which are the most prevalent among leaders today? Using Timothy and Titus, how can they best be avoided? 4. Thinking about the seven things “people expect from their leaders (including children from their parents)”, can you find them all in the life and leadership of our Lord Jesus? Give New Testament references if you can. 5. Describe the difference between the “hired hand” and the “shepherd” in John 10:1-16. What is the ultimate difference between one and the other? Is there a lesson for us today? What? [1] Mwangi, Susan, Called to Serve – A Biography of Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi (Blossom Books: Nairobi, Kenya) 2009. [2] Don Page Effective Team Leadership – Leading Through Relationships (Evangel Publishing House, PAC University: Nairobi, Kenya) p.208. [3] A.S. Hornby Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Ninth Edition, (Oxford University Press UK) 2015. [4] Stewart Dinnen You can Learn to Lead, a Manual for People in Leadership (Christian Focus: Fearn, Scotland), 1997. [5] Colin Salter, editor My Life Alongside God’s Word, Biblical thinking for Sudanese and South Sudanese Christians Volume Three, (WeeFour Publications: Redruth, England) 2015, chapter 4. [6] Stewart Dinnen You Can Learn to Lead, a Manual for People in Leadership (Christian Focus: Fearn, Scotland), 1997. [7] Dr Tim Elmore, Nurturing the Leader Within Your Child: What Every Parent Needs to Know (Magna Publisher Co. Book Division: Mumbai, India) 2003. [8] Dr Tim Elmore, Ibid.

Acts 28vs11-31. Church Growing Pains. No-one could ever accuse Paul of being a quitter. Right at the very beginning of his Christian life he was shown by God the privilege and the price of his calling. God promised "Go, this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Acts 9vs15, 16. Paul did not need too much instruction and he knew what he himself had meted out to Christians during his own persecution excursions. He was aware too, that God had warned him of the difficulties. When he gave testimony to King Agrippa in Caesarea he recalled the Lord's words to him at his conversion: "I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me", Acts 26vs17 and 18. Paul knew that a person only needed rescuing if he was in deep trouble and he also knew that Satan would never let people go from his awful power without a struggle. Paul lists some of his own struggles and hardships in 2 Corinthians 11vs23-29. In the following chapter he makes an astounding claim. "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong", 2 Corinthians 12vs10. He knew that only God's power could bring anyone through severe trouble and, therefore, when he was in deep trouble, God's power would surge into and through the situation. In the Acts narrative Paul had many reasons to resign, many opportunities to opt out and many excuses for taking an easier lifestyle. He was to have a plot on his life in Damascus a few weeks after his conversion and he ended up being smuggled out of the city one night in a basket over the wall, Acts 9vs23-25. The disciples in Jerusalem initially closed their doors to him, Acts 9vs26. They took him to be an undercover agent. In Jerusalem he had another attempt to kill him, Acts 9vs29, but was whisked away to the safety of his home town. In Antioch in Pisidia the jealous Jews were abusive to Paul and they aroused persecution that led to his expulsion from the region, Acts 13vs45, 50. In Iconium the man of God again encountered venomous language and an attempt to cause him grievous bodily harm if it wasn't murder, Acts 14vs2 and 5. A different difficulty arose in Lystra when followers tried to deify Paul and Barnabas, Acts 14vs12. The enemy knows that if he cannot defeat us by knocking us down he may succeed by inflating our egos. This fickle crowd soon felt betrayed and were easily swayed by the trouble-makers who now followed Paul from place to place. In Lystra he was stoned and left for dead, Acts 14vs19, but God had not finished with him yet. In Acts 15vs1 and 2 Paul is confronted by accepted teachers undermining the true gospel with error. After he had gone to a town, they would visit it too adding to his teaching. I'm sure Paul must have said "What is the point in me doing what I'm doing?" By Acts 15vs39 it was the wrenching apart of his working partnership with Barnabas that would have dragged him down. When you intensely disagree with someone close to you, whom you respect and owe a great deal to, it also brings real doubts into your mind over whether you have strayed from God's will in your own life. In Philippi Paul was arrested and imprisoned simply because he rebuked an evil spirit who was, in fact, speaking the truth! The owners of the slave girl, who made their living from her fortune-telling, wrongfully accused him of "advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practise", Acts 16vs21. The undaunted spirits of Paul and Silas were still praising God at midnight, in the darkest cell with their feet in stocks in the Philippian lock-up. Even when exonerated and released they were asked to leave the city. In Thessalonica a mob of bad characters were attempting to find and lynch Paul, Acts 17vs5, and the team were similarly disrupted in ministry at Berea a few days later, Acts 17vs13. In Athens there was some positive response to his preaching while others called him a babbler and poured scorn on him and his message, Acts 17vs18, 32-34. The abusive opposition from some Jews in Corinth got to Paul while he was still feeling a bit low, Acts 18vs6. God graciously gave him a tonic just when he needed it. The ruler of the synagogue, Crispus, and his entire family became believers and, in addition, God gave a vision to Paul telling him six things which kept him going at this point in his life: 1. He had no real need to fear, even if there were apparent reasons. 2. He should keep preaching, teaching, debating, proving Jesus is the Christ. 3. He should not be silent, even if people said he should be. 4. God was with him, and nothing others could do would take Him away. 5. No attacks on him would succeed. 6. God was working in Corinth drawing many people into a saving relationship with Himself, Acts 18vs9, 10. Whenever we feel that the going is becoming too hard, the obstacles too big, the opposition too intense, the disappointments too painful, spend a night alone with God. He is always in control. He can and He will reconfirm your calling and give you the encouragement to keep on keeping on. A theological attack did come on Paul at Corinth. "This man", they charged, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law", Acts 18vs13, but it was soon dismissed. At Ephesus Paul's troubles began with the, by now, usual rejection at the synagogue, Acts 19vs9. The public maligning of the Way (the Christian movement) eventually led to public riots, Acts 19vs23, and Paul was once again the centre of attention. "And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all", Acts 19vs26. In Greece he had to alter a planned boat ride to Syria because of a plot by the Jews, Acts 20vs3, but God used that unexpected change of direction for visits to Philippi, Troas and Miletus during which the dead were raised and the apprehensive Ephesian elders encouraged. In Tyre well-meaning believers attempted to stop Paul going on to Jerusalem although he knew it was what he had to do, Acts 21vs4. He did not draw the same conclusion they did, nor from Agabus' prophecy in Caesarea, Acts 21vs11, 12. Because great difficulty, imprisonment and suffering was prophesied, Paul's friends (including Luke, Acts 21vs12 "we") tried to divert him from going on to Jerusalem. His reply to the assembly shows that stubborn obstinacy can sometimes be a gift from God! "Then Paul answered 'Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus'", Acts 21vs13. Once in Jerusalem it only took a week for the Jews to make false accusations about defiling the temple area and once again Paul was the subject of an angry mob's wrath. It was not an isolated pocket of trouble either! "While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar", Acts 21vs31. I sometimes smile when I read Paul telling the Thessalonians to make it their ambition to live a quiet life, 1 Thessalonians 4vs11. He may have aimed at it himself, but he certainly did not achieve it! I am sure that even many of his enemies gave him their respect however. Paul had beatings to his body, to his mind, to his dreams, to his friends, but he never gave up. On this occasion he ran the gauntlet of a murderous mob but God gave him the protection of the Roman guard! At the end of a permitted testimony to this mob from the steps of the barracks Paul suffered public and malicious threats to his life, Acts 22vs22. He spent the night under guard before going to appear before the Jewish ruling court, the Sanhedrin, the following day. There "the dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks, Acts 23vs10. Out of the frying pan into the fire. More than forty men vowed together to kill Paul before they would ever eat again, Acts 23vs12. They were going to ambush him on his way to the Sanhedrin next day, but Paul's nephew is used by God to bring protection. Four hundred and seventy Roman military men ensured his safe arrival in Caesarea! More charges were laid against him by the Jews before Governor Felix, Acts 24, Governor Festus, Acts 25, King Agrippa and Queen Bernice, Acts 25 and 26, and Paul is sped on his way to Rome as he had appealed to be tried before Caesar, Acts 25vs11. Even the journey to Rome was not without event. Paul was always able to recall the Lord's word to him in the Jerusalem barracks, Acts 23vs11, "The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, 'Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome'". He knew God would see him safely to the capital of the Empire. That helped him when dangerous decisions were made to sail on in bad weather, Acts 27vs11, to run the ship aground in a storm, Acts 27vs39 and to kill all the prisoners to prevent any escape, Acts 27vs42. A snake tangled with Paul when they were building a fire on Malta, Acts 28vs3, and although the islanders attributed his ongoing life to him being a god Paul knew that it was simply the Living God carrying out His word in order to keep His promises. So Paul arrived at his final destination. Two verses from Acts 28 epitomise the old warrior Paul battling on for the Lord even in his last days. Verse 23 describes him explaining, declaring and trying to convince any who would come to his house arrest that Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Saviour. He used every day with every person God sent to him, and every part of the day too. No-one was turned away, vs30. Verse 31 reads "Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ". A two year mission in the heart of the known world. Those words "without hindrance" speak to us. Paul had no control over the Roman authorities or the Jewish accusers and the ways they might hinder him. In fact, several of Caesar's household became believers as God used him there, Philippians 4vs22. But Paul did control his own feelings. Self-pity, "See what a mess I'm in", would be a hindrance, as would self-satisfaction, "I've done my part". Resentment towards his enemies would have simply put bitterness into his big heart, and he could tell anyway that God was using all these circumstances to work out His Divine plan. I would love to be able to write like Paul did about his own death and the value of his life's work. "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing", 2 Timothy 4vs6-8. Wherever you are now, whatever God is calling you to, will you remain faithful to Him to the end? Discussion questions "Problems develop character". Would Paul have developed so far as a Christian without the trials? What does this teach us? Paul said the church was destined to attain "to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ". How far have you and your fellowship reached?

Christian theology in a Sudanese context. The essential nature and character of God. The True God Jesus Christ called His Father “… the only true God…” John 17:3. God is true because He is not misrepresented by, or made up by, anyone else. God is the real and the genuine God. God cannot be judged by anyone or anything outside Himself, because He is the only standard of being God. I cannot set standards for God! God Himself is fully all that He knows He should be! Only the infinitely perfect can possibly know what infinite perfection should be like. God alone meets those standards He sets for Himself. Our knowledge of the true God comes through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; 1 John 5:20-21). I am diabetic and I have to be very careful about drinking too many sugary drinks like colas. King Cola, Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola were all available to buy in the dukkans near where I lived. Some of my friends would drink only Pepsi, others only Coke. They all said that ‘no other cola was up to the standard of their preferred true cola’. Of course, that raises a question. Who sets the standard for what is a true cola and what is a false cola? According to the dictionary, ‘cola’ is “a sweet carbonated drink flavoured with cola nuts”. These nuts come from trees grown in tropical climates. They contain caffeine (a stimulating tonic) and theobromine (used for medically treating some heart diseases and headaches). By that definition, I expect all three are true ‘colas’ and the difference in taste has a lot to do with the amount of sugar added in manufacture. There is only one true God! (Jeremiah10:1-16). Any image or picture of God, however helpful it may appear, does not tell the whole truth about God. It probably hides more of the truth about God than it shows. This is why the Commandments so strongly prohibit idols (Exodus 20:2-6). God is beyond our powers of imagination. There will always be mystery, many things we cannot know about Him. He rises above every attempt we make to describe Him. God is much more than our explanations of Him can ever be (1 Timothy 6:15,16). So how can we think about Him? We must use the Bible, which is His revealed truth about Himself (Psalm 119:159-160; Proverbs30:5). One of my ministry colleagues used to say: “the Bible is true truth”! We should try to think carefully on everything the Bible says about God Himself. Fill your mind with the truth of God’s character, the truths He commands, and the way He wants us to live. Then, we should let those ‘God-thoughts’ shape our own viewpoint on all the events happening around us (Psalm 1:1-3). And we should always speak the truth too! Sadly there are some Christians who ‘preach the truth, yet speak lies in their daily conversation’. Christians should not tell lies to anyone. We should be becoming more and more like our God, Who is the truth and Who tells the truth. (Ephesians 4:21-25; Colossians 3:9,10). Thinking it through. (a). Why is it impossible to ‘measure God’ or ‘value God’ by anything else? (b). Jesus, speaking to His Father, used the phrase: “the only true God” (John 17:3). What does this mean for other religions? (c). What is the best way to know the truth about God, according to this prayer of Jesus?

Various Bible readings are throughout the chapter. My life (put) alongside God's word, volume 1. It is depressingly sad to read of tit for tat killings among the many armed groups around South Sudan and Sudan. Not only is it within the military. Herdsmen and agriculturalists return violent deeds on one another. Even family members hold things against others, waiting for the opportunity to take revenge.[1] People from all religious backgrounds perpetrate these atrocities, across the whole rainbow span of Sudanese ethnicity. Every deed is an atrocity. Against this current background, it is a complete contrast to notice that one of the earliest records we have in the Bible is of God forgiving a murderer. 1. Cain had killed his brother Abel Read Genesis 4:8. The root cause of this murder was jealousy. The jealousy was over which of the two brothers enjoyed the favour of God, and probably the favour of their parents as well, Genesis 4:1-16, Hebrews 11:4. God graciously challenged Cain about the anger he was keeping in his heart before it murderously burst out, Genesis 4:6-7. Regrettably Cain chose not to deal with a small sin while he could. We must all learn that if we do not develop mastery over sin in our own lives, it will very soon become the master of us, controlling our thoughts, our motives and our actions, Romans 6:12-14. This is how cycles of violence build up. 2. God held Cain to account and punished him, but He stopped short of any form of revenge killing. God positively shielded the murderer Cain, with His own protective mark, Genesis 4:15. The Bible does not say what this mark was. It did two things: 1. It was a lifelong reminder, to Cain himself and to others, of Cain’s shame 2. It gave him great protection for as long as he lived Today in South Sudan and Sudan we might say, “God inserted a United Nations peacekeeping force around Cain, to defend him”. But we must quickly add, “God is 100% effective in what He does, whereas the UN is at best made up of human beings, all of whom, just like us, make some mistakes”. 3. In Old Testament Law God tells His people to love Himself and to love their neighbours with self-giving, generous love, Leviticus 19:18, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Neighbours are people who live nearby to you, and include all who live there, whatever they have done to you in the near or distant past. They are not just some of the people you may choose because you like them. Also written in these extended Old Testament commands are ways and means of caring for the people most vulnerable in society – widows and orphans, the disabled, foreigners, the refugees and displaced, the very poor – all those who cannot help themselves. Christian love must embrace all of them. 4. Our Lord Jesus Christ emphasised this in His own teaching. Asked what was the most important commandment Jesus replied, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is, “Love your neighbour as yourself”, Mark 12:29-31, Luke 10:25-28. 5. When God is made the number one priority in a human heart, then the capacity to love all other people flows out of that life. Whatever shape, size, religion, colour, tribe, social or economic background, God’s true people can always express love in a genuine and a life-changing way. Christians learn how to turn away from those wanting to start a fight, Matthew 5:39, to keep a loose grip on material possessions v40, to excel in forced labour v41, and to share whatever we have with others v42. 6. Completely revolutionary is the command – and it is a command – to “love your enemies”, Matt. 5:43-47. This can apply to us individually, and it can apply to us as a family, a village, a tribe, and even a nation. Our Holy God requires perfection from us, who say we are His believing followers v48. 7. Breaking the cycle[2]of violence[3]is a challenge to everyone in it. In my desk dictionary there are 15 meanings of the word “break”! The key one here is number six, “to make something end”. It is illustrated twice, by “the bird’s song broke the silence”, and, “I found it hard to break the bad habit”. Notice there is both a risk and an effort involved in doing either of these two. The first person to break a silence puts him or herself in the line of everyone else’s fire. And, we probably all know, there is incredibly hard work involved in doing publicly, something that no one has tried before (at least within recent memory). Entrenched activities are never easily changed. Perhaps God is asking us to put our bodies on the line? Remember, Jesus did exactly that for us. “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will”, Romans 12:1-2. (Emphasis mine). Discussion questions: 1. What is the root cause of violence between people? Can you give examples of conflicts, in your own experience, where this is easily seen? 2. Galatians 5:19-21 includes jealousy as something our sinful nature does that will stop us entering the kingdom of God. How can we deal with jealousy in our own lives? Consider the phrase, “offer yourselves to God” in Romans 6:11-14. 3. What stops you from being the one who will take the risk, being the first to break the cycle? Why? 4. What will help you overcome this, and live in a more Christian way? See Galatians 5:22-26, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, 2 Corinthians 12:10. [1] Reading on line news, largely in Sudan Tribune and Sudan.net [2] a series of events that happen again and again in the same order or at the same times [3] using physical (or other) force to cause harm or damage

Issues facing Christians in Sudan and South Sudan today. Leadership section. Christ as Servant, as presented in Mark’s Gospel. Mark writes his gospel to show our Lord Jesus Christ bringing the Kingdom of God into human history, 1:15. To be involved in this kingdom human beings have to cooperate with God in two ways: We must “repent” – be turned inside out and downside up by crowning Jesus as our King, giving Him free rule in our lives. We must “believe the good news” – commit ourselves to living as God’s radical disciples, following Jesus whatever the cost to ourselves. We do this knowing He first served us by giving His life for us, 10:45. People have responded to Jesus ever since He lived on this earth. Some men and women deliberately live to serve under the sovereign rule of God. Others live by their own rules, and go their individually chosen way. The kingdom Jesus started is present throughout our world. Jesus’ kingdom is growing, although it has no physical place on earth of its own. It needs no earthly passports or border controls. Those inside Jesus’ kingdom live with recognised accountability to Jesus. This means we have accepted God-given parameters and values. God rules our hearts and minds. We show this by becoming more and more like Jesus Christ in our daily lives. Jesus is “the image of invisible God”, Colossians 1:15; 2:9-10. Because our minds are converted into what I will call kingdom minds, we always think to please our God who made us. We try to become all He intends us to be. Jesus calls and we follow Him, just as the disciples who lived with Jesus on earth, Mark 1:17-20. Jesus Himself lived to serve and to give, Mark 10:45. In Christ’s kingdom today’s Christian disciples continually surrender themselves to their Master. At first sight it seems rather strange that King Jesus should describe His own purpose as being in the role and position of a servant. Why not the role of a monarch, a ruler or a leader? Mark 10:45 is seen by many as the key verse in this gospel. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (N.I.V). As in all Bible study this verse must be understood in context with the surrounding verses and with the general thrust of the whole book. Only when we correctly understand it can we successfully apply it to our daily lives. First a definition. A servant is “a person employed to work for another, especially one who performs household duties”. A servant is “someone whose job is to cook, clean, or do other work in someone else’s home”. In Africa and elsewhere today examples of servants include houseboys, cleaning maids, gate guards, car drivers, gofers, etc. The words “servant” and “to serve” in Mark 10:43 and 45 come from the same Greek word that gives us church deacons. It means a person who ministers, who is an attendant, serving as a virtual slave. It means one who simply does what he or she is told to do. One who serves submissively before the acknowledged Master. Such servants are the real leaders of the Church. This is how Jesus described His own mission. Reading Mark we can learn several aspects about Jesus Christ as Servant. Since we claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus, these qualities should be evident in our own servant service. 1. Jesus chose a fixed course for His own life Jesus decided He would be a servant. He chose to be a servant. In fact, He is the servant of the Old Testament Isaiah prophecies, Isaiah 42:1-9; Matthew 12:17-21; Isaiah 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12; Mark 9:31-32. Immediately before saying the words of our text, Mark 10:45, Jesus had spoken for the third time about going to the cross, Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34. Our text says: He came “to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”, 10:45. Jesus knew where His life was heading. He knew what would keep on pleasing His Father, 1:10-11. He must keep on serving and keep on giving. Jesus did not live to please Himself. He lived – and was to die – to please His Father in heaven. The servant serves the Master one hundred percent. I used to go bird watching in Khartoum with a small group from our church. Two Sudanese boatmen would row us to Crocodile Island in the Blue Nile. The strong flow of the river dragged the boat down river, away from the island. Aware this would happen, the wise boatmen set a course which headed well up river on the island shore. Once we’d landed and disembarked, they carefully pulled the boat against the current up towards the top of the island. They were then ready for the journey back in three or four hours’ time. Setting the course of your life, factoring in the conditions you face, is a mark of good servanthood. 2. Jesus willingly paid the full cost of doing God’s will The word “ransom” in Mark 10:45 was regularly used in Jesus’ time for the money paid to free a slave or a prisoner. The tradition of family and friends having to collect together and pay “blood money” for the release of male or female prisoners from Kober or Omdurman prisons in Sudan, after they have served their full sentence, is similar. Jesus knew He was going to pay a high price to complete the Father’s will for His life. “Suffer”, “be rejected”, “be killed”, “be betrayed”, be mocked, be spat on, be flogged, are some of the anticipated payments Jesus warned the disciples He would be asked to make, Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34. Serving us cost Jesus. In Mark 8:34 Jesus told the disciples and the larger crowd: “… if anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me,” (italics mine). “Must” means it is compulsory. An obligation. This is necessary for all men and women who would properly serve the servant Jesus. In Gethsemane before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus thought about His cross. He was “deeply distressed”, “troubled”, and “overwhelmed with sorrow”, Mark 14:33,34. Yet the intensity of His determination to serve in whatever way was necessary overcame the temptation to opt out, verse 36. Jesus said to His Father, “Yet not what I will, but what You will”. The earthly end of Jesus provides a stiff challenge for any who would be disciples today. “Not only must He (Jesus) go the way of death, so too must anyone who would be a disciple of His”. Twenty-first century servants of God must choose the right way, not the easy way. 3. Jesus turned the traditionally accepted norms upside down “The servant Jesus is an example of how to walk with God in a world that rejects those sent by God”. John the Baptist and Jesus were both rejected by the influential leaders of their day. John served successfully in all God called him to do, but he was neither released from prison nor saved from execution, Mark 1:4-8; 6:16-29. One commentator calls John “the prototype of Jesus”. In the eyes of the world John may have failed, but in the eyes of his Master he did very well indeed. A Christian servant is ready to suffer as part of his or her calling t o follow Jesus. Jesus said fishing for men is sometimes more important than fishing for fish, Mark 1:17,18. Jesus’ servants do not live dominated by material things. Their priority is always to do the will of God. We may have less of this world’s material possessions, but we live for far more than that! In this life, a crown of thorns may prove to be of more value than a crown of gold! Everything we do should serve our ultimate purpose. Jesus did not seek maximum publicity or popularity from every good thing He did, Mark 1:34; 1:37,38; 1:44; 3:7; 3:12; 5:18-19; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26; 8:30; etc. He often required silence from people. He knew that merely responding to a miracle was an inadequate basis for servant discipleship. Jesus still looks for true faith today. Response to a miracle, response to religious upbringing, response to education, response to family background, or response to demonic testimony (even though true) does not guarantee servant discipleship. Recognising Who Jesus is, taking up the offered cross, and following Jesus’ way, is still His method. Jesus said the message of His kingdom was for bad people not good people, Mark 2:17. This verse is another purpose statement of Jesus. Think about it along with 10:45 and notice Jesus came to seek, to serve and to save sinners! Jesus said a Christian’s closest family are fellow-disciples, not necessarily blood relatives, Mark 3:33, 34. I see nepotism in James and John’s desire to sit beside Jesus in glory, 10:35-37. It is probably in the other disciples’ jealous response as well, 10:41. A servant disciple will always put obedience to Jesus before obedience to the demands of his own biological family. Jesus said that national traditions had taken the place of God’s word, and this was wrong, Mark 7:9-13. It is too easy to serve expected custom instead of serving Jesus. Appointment by a religious system does not automatically give real Christian authority. Outward words and works of worship don’t always signify correctness of heart attitude. Genuine authority is always recognisable in those who intimately follow Jesus. Jesus did what His Father expected of Him, not necessarily what other people expected. Servant service frequently speaks with an eloquent silence. Jesus said that to lose your life in gospel service is the best investment you can ever make, Mark 8:35. The entire world is of less value to you than your own soul, 8:36-37. Self-sacrificing service is the rule of thumb for the Christian. Good servants have their Master’s values – and they live by them! To be a servant disciple probably means being quite different from most other people around you. Jesus said that the best people in His kingdom were those who didn’t mind being last, not those who were always jostling to be first, Mark 9:35. This must have embarrassed the disciples because of their earlier arguments, verse 34. Those who would be true servants must also avoid elitism themselves, 9:38-40. It is so easy to be proud of your humble position! We are not the only servants of God! And finally, Jesus said that to lead is to serve, Mark 10:42-45. The same John who argued along the road behind Jesus, “who was the greatest?”, 9:34, and who asked if he “could sit at (Jesus’) right or left hand in glory?”, 10:37, was the one who later wrote: ”This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers”, 1 John 3:16 (italics mine). That disciple learned how to lead by serving. He did this as he watched Jesus arrested, executed, and later raised again by God. God taught him a life-changing lesson. A prayer to use: “God, I am truly sorry that even as a Christian I don’t always live as you would have me live. Help me simply to do what a kingdom servant should. May I be completely what you want me to be. Please can I give everything that you want me to give. Let it be obvious to everyone around me that I live only to serve the King of Kings. May I bring Jesus to people through my service today and for as long as I can be useful to you. For the glory of my Lord Jesus, I pray this in His name, Amen.” Discussion guide Using this chapter and Scriptures quoted: 1. Describe what it means for a person to live in the kingdom of God in Sudan today. Mark 1:15. What do you believe a “kingdom mind” is? 2. “Servants are the real leaders of the church”. Discuss how and why this is true. Consider Jesus’ Himself in Mark 10:45. Consider His words from Matthew 20:20-28. What were the people of God originally told? Deuteronomy 10:12-13. 3. When should a Christian “servant” stop serving? Give examples from Scripture, including from the life and death of Jesus. 4. Explain why “a crown of thorns may prove to be of more value than a crown of gold”. 5. If people show sinful attitudes etc. should we still serve them? Give reasons for your answer from Scripture and from life. 6. List some customs and traditions – in church and in society – that you think hinder Christians from being servants. What can be done to encourage Christian serving despite these circumstances? 7. Put into your own words the saying of Jesus, “whoever loses his life for Me and the gospel will save it”, Mark 8:34-38. Explain how do you think this brings out Jesus’ meaning.

Thoughts from my journey with JESUS. Bible reading Jeremiah 29:4-23. It has taken 10 years for us to reach this ‘No.59 Bimonthly Encouragement’.[1] During the two years before that we had 13 ‘Sudan Study Resources’, starting from July 2007. If you want to you can read all previous articles on my website.[2] They are written to encourage each one of us. So read for your own encouragement! We have all changed over 12 years. God has not. God has not changed one little bit. In Jeremiah 29:4-23 God used His prophet Jeremiah to write a letter to His people who may not have been expecting to live where they were living, vs1-2. God has also chosen to preserve the letter for us to learn from as we read it in our Bibles. These people were exiled from their homeland and were unsure whether this was temporary or permanent. Similar circumstances can make many choices very difficult for us. I have been challenged by losing my physical health and therefore my chosen places of living and ministering. You will have faced your own changing circumstances. Keep five thoughts high in your mind and heart during these times 1. God placed you where you are – it is no accident vs4,7. Compare carefully 29:1, “Nebuchadnezzar carried the people into exile”, with 29:4, “I (the Lord Almighty) carried into exile”. For His own purposes God used a man who “secular history records as a brutal, powerful, and ambitious king, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Bible, for the most part, agrees” with this awful assessment.[3] God is so awesomely great He still uses such people today. Who has God used in Sudan/South Sudan and surrounding countries in recent times? Who is He using right now to affect your life? Look and think to see what God is doing. God’s people are described here as ‘pilgrims, wanderers, aliens’, pointing towards a people whose true home is with the Lord. Meditate on this comment I recently read: “Exile is not the end of existence as God’s people, but the beginning of a new phase of relating to God. The people are not to rebel against the authority of Babylon because, in effect, it is the authority of God over them for a prescribed time”.[4] Always keep your God at the centre of your thoughts. He is in sovereign control of all. He is effectually working even through apparent disasters. We Christians must keep our spiritual eyes looking for the hidden ‘invisible’ activities of our heavenly Father God. Focus everything you see happening through the hidden lens of Almighty Creator God. 2. God has plans for you and your family now vs5-7. “God rejects both assimilation and tribalism for His people. He forbids both blending in with and withdrawal from” the people you now live and work among.[5] Both these ways are basically selfish. Christians are to be seen to be God’s people, not living just for ourselves as so many around us may do, but living for God first. New circumstances are to be seen as bridgeheads for God’s people to share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus with the people God has taken us to (or, perhaps, people God has brought to us). My country, England, has people from so many other nations living here that one older missionary controversially pointed out, ‘Brits no longer need to go to the mission field since God has brought the mission field here’. Is something similar true where you are? Are you doing what God wants you to do for and among such people? “This must come as an enormous shock. Some of the leaders of Babylon had hands stained with the blood of the Jews’ kindred. Yet God had the audacity to tell them to become deeply involved with the city, seeking its peace and prosperity, all the while not compromising on their beliefs or faithfulness to Him at all. Either withdrawal or assimilation is easier. Seeking the common good, yet without any compromise of faith and practice, is much more difficult. Yet that is God’s call to His people”.[6] Christians are resident aliens in this world wherever we are. Our real home is in heaven: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings”, James 1:1. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance”, 1 Peter 1:1-2. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ”, Philippians 3:20”. Yet we have an active part to play for God, wherever we are on earth, as we work, build, settle, plant, harvest, marry and start families. It is interesting to note that vs7 of our reading does not tell us to pray for prosperity for ourselves. We are to pray for prosperity for the place and people where we live, because God wants to bless with corporate conditions of success, growth, wealth and peace. 3. God purposes your positive influence for everybody around you vs7. The Hebrew word saleah means “to succeed, prosper”, generally expressing in 65 Old Testament texts “the idea of a successful venture, as contrasted with a failure”.[7] It means so very much more than the mere monetary riches mischievously and wrongly promised by the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’ teachers. Be God’s witness wherever you find yourself. Be a positive witness for God, not a negative one. If you say you are a Christian then you are a witness for Jesus. The key question is are you a good witness or a bad one? This is the secret of Christian discipleship. It is easy to keep on thinking you are only a victim of events in your ‘exile’, and so always see ‘the Babylonians’ as your ‘enemies’ and you avoid contact where and whenever possible. But God does not want us to be like this. As our Lord Jesus did, we true Christians are to become living flames, “lights to the wider world” not just ‘lights in our own houses’. Compare these words Jesus spoke: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life”, John 8:12. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”, Matthew 5:14-16. And remember, “… Godliness with contentment is great gain”, The following verses encourage us all to live sincerely pursuing godliness. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness”, 1 Timothy 6:6-11. To be godly is to be deeply religious, devoutly following piety of life. For us Christians it is seeking to be like our lovely Lord Jesus. Christians should chase ‘God-like-ness’ and not be caught up in everyone else’s chase for money and material possessions or position in this world. We are to be attractively different people while living among others who are not like us. In a New Testament paragraph entitled ‘Living godly lives in a pagan society’ the NIV reads: “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us”, 1 Peter 2:11-12. Peter encouraged his scattered Christian readers to do this four times during his second letter, see 2 Peter 1:3,6,7. Because when our Lord Jesus returns this world’s goods become meaningless: “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming”, 2 Peter 3:11-12. 4. God prepares you to discern His voice from all others Jeremiah 29:8,9,19,21, 23. False prophets, like temptations, use our own wills to entice us to believe what they say and then to do what is wrong. For example: “Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies”, Jeremiah 28:15. Even today God does not send every person who says they speak in His Name. Our Lord Jesus said: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves”, Matthew 7:15. “… and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people”… “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect”, Matthew 24:11,24. We carefully need to distinguish between what we need to hear from God (whether we like it or not) and what we want to hear from God (which is really to please ourselves). Being able to do this is one true mark of Christian maturity – perhaps the greatest one? Our Saviour Jesus sacrificially prayed to God the Father, “Not My will, but Yours be done”, Luke 22:39-46. We will be maturing when we learn to consistently do the same. At least three times in the book of his name Jeremiah is told by God not to pray for those following a false hope in God, Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11. But here in chapter 29 the prophet is to pray positively himself, and to encourage true followers of God to pray positively too, for the ‘enemies’ among whom they now live. God wants to use His people to bring the blessings of true prosperity on the whole community, on to His people and on to others, 29:7,11-13. Such praying shows that our real confidence is in God. I have sometimes been in local church prayer meetings where I have been unable to say a hearty ‘Amen’ at the end of someone’s prayer because God’s witness to my spirit is the opposite of what has been prayed for! I have learned to listen carefully to God the Holy Spirit. Shallow-rooted Christians do not survive the rigours of tough yet genuine Christian discipleship, but give in to the “deceitfulness of wealth”, as our Lord Jesus warned us: “The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful”, Matthew 13:20-22, (italics mine). For the last 12 years I have only been able to speak using an artificial voice. I am unable to speak for long. ‘Voicing’ as it is technically called makes phone calls very difficult. There is one advantage that I have found however. People do not mistake my ‘voice’ for anyone else. The sounds I make are almost unique to me. Similarly our Lord told people who wanted to follow Him as His disciples, “the sheep listen to” the Shepherd’s voice. “He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out”. “The sheep follow Him because they know His voice”. “They will never follow a stranger, … because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice”, John 10:2-5. I pray regularly for all my South Sudanese and Sudanese Christian brothers and sisters, that we will always pick our Saviour’s voice from the clamouring hubbub of voices all around us. Don’t only do it once. Keep on forever doing it. 5. God promises He is also in charge of your longer term future Jeremiah 29:10-14. The future for us as God’s people always rests on the good and gracious promise of our Almighty God, vs10-11. His plans and purposes for us cannot be thwarted in the end. He is always ‘our eternal God with time on His side’! Our responsibility is to “seek (God) with all our heart” vs13. Our God is the eternal God. In Moses’ final prayer and blessing on God’s people before he died he said, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms … Blessed are you, Israel! … (God) is your shield and helper and your glorious sword”, Deuteronomy 33:1; 34:27-29. Eternal God always has enough time to do everything He wants to do. The next two chapters in Jeremiah, 30-31, express what God’s future is for His people who follow Him wholeheartedly. Read those chapters through and note every time God says, “I will”. I found at least 32 occasions in my English NIV Bible. We Christians can be 100% certain that God will keep to His word. He is not like politicians or national leaders who may change according to expediency for themselves. God will always do what is morally right and never be tempted to change anything for what is personally convenient. In the new covenant promised in Jeremiah 31:31-35 God promises: “I will be their God and they will be My people. I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts … they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest”. We Christians live in this new covenant age. Make sure of your place in God’s plan’s as you reflect prayerfully on these Bible passages. Originally written as BiMonthly Encouragement, 10th April 2019. Discussion guide 1. What do you believe is the most important lesson to be taken from Jeremiah 29:4? “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon”. See question 2. 2. Compare vs4 with Jeremiah 29:1, especially asking the question, who carried the people into exile? Now apply this to your own life. Did the fighting, or the famine, or your family needs, or the fear (or anything else), bring you to where you are? Give reasons for your answer. 3. Please read Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’”. How do you react to God’s promise here? What does it encourage you to do? Think which harmful attitudes must you dismiss from your mind and heart? What others must you try and develop? 4. Does Jeremiah 29:7 challenge you in any ways? Share those you can. “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”. 5. a. “If something happens by accident, it happens completely by chance”.[8] b. “If something happens by intention, there is a determination to do a specified thing or act in a specified manner”.[9] Are there major or minor happenings in your life that you have thought are ‘accidental’ but, on reflection, they could possibly be ‘God’s intentional’ for you? How can you know? 6. Discernment over what is of God and what is not, is a mark of Christian maturity, see Ephesians 4:13-15. “… until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the Head, that is, Christ”. Our chapter ended with another of God’s promises, Jeremiah 31:31-35: “I will be their God and they will be My people. I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts … they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest”. In a practical way, share how does this help us discern God’s will and way for us? [1] Originally sent to 109 Christians in Sudan and South Sudan on 10th April 2019. [2] www.colinsalter.net . [3] https://www.gotquestions.org/Nebuchadnezzar.html [4] J. Andrew Dearman NIV Application Commentary Jeremiah (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan) 2002, page 262. [5] Timothy Keller The Prodigal Prophet (Hodder & Stoughton: London) 2018, page 191. [6] Timothy Keller The Prodigal Prophet (Hodder & Stoughton: London) 2018, page 192. [7] W.E.Vine Expository Dictionary of OT and NT words (Thomas Nelson: Nashville, Tennessee) 1996, page 191. [8] www.collinsdisctionary.com [9] Ibid.

from the prophet Zephaniah and King Josiah, Zephaniah 3:5. God Rules, O.K.? We live in a time of ‘conflict resolution’. People of all sides want justice. But justice for one may not be justice for another. How can this be resolved? Read Zephaniah 3:5 “The Lord within her (Jerusalem) is righteous; He does no wrong. Morning by morning He dispenses justice, and every new day He does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.” This God spoke to Zephaniah – possibly the great, great, grandson of King Hezekiah – during the reign of King Josiah in Judah. Several commentators reckon it was Zephaniah’s prophecy that stirred King Josiah into leading a spiritual revival. Josiah’s story is in 2 Kings chapters 22/23 and 2 Chronicles chapters 34/35. He became king aged 8 years following the popular overthrow and assassination of his wicked father. At just 16 years old, 2 Kings 22, he: 1. Resolved to live God’s way. 2 Chronicles 34:2, 3. He was going to be God’s man in the midst of a godless time, and would positively influence those he could. 2. He repaired the place of God’s worship. 2 Kings 22:3. When he was 26 years old. Using skilled and trusted craftsmen. (vs7 makes an interesting challenge to all you Missions and NGOs who require accountability from national helpers!) (and to Sudanese: the need “to act faithfully” is also a challenge). 3. Josiah rediscovered God’s word, in the course of renovation work, vs8 “Hezekiah the high priest” (who was the prophet Jeremiah’s father, Jeremiah 1:1) had it read to Josiah. The message for so long neglected and ignored, still spoke. God used His word. 4. And Josiah repented at the waywardness of his people. “Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book.” 2 Kings 22:13. Probably with Zephaniah’s encouragement, King Josiah launches a programme of reform and revival. He rooted out sin and corruption, he respected goodness and righteousness. The Bible’s testimony is “Neither before or after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.” “Nevertheless the Lord did not turn away from the heat of His fierce anger which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke Him to anger. So the Lord said ‘I will remove Judah also from My presence, as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said ‘There shall My name be.’” God knows the truth. He sees behind the external activity. He acts on reality. And He is never wrong … even today!! Josiah resolved to live God’s way, (with Zephaniah’s encouragement), he repaired the place of worship, rediscovered and read God’s Law, repented of sin and brought reform. 2 Chronicles 34:33 says “As long as (Josiah) lived they did not fail to follow the Lord God of their fathers.” Josiah reached his death in battle aged 39 years. He died before God’s judgement came to the land. Jeremiah composed a lament for him “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. ‘Is that not what it means to know Me?’ declares the Lord” , Jeremiah 22:16. But the people were only following outwardly – there was no real change of heart. God knew. Through Jeremiah He said: “But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion,” Jeremiah 22:17. On Josiah’s death the people turned their backs on his reforms. And 12 years later Babylon invaded and destroyed Judah and Jerusalem – as God’s righteous judgement fell. Illustration: Any of us individuals here may hide their true state of heart in the KIC crowd – but God knows. He sees reality and He sees hypocrisy. He will reward genuine faith. He will bring devastating judgement on those who are false. And so to Zephaniah! Through His spokesperson God warns Judah of this judgement that was to come. Bad news for the 'Judah Bird-watching group' (we have one here at KIC) – God says “I will sweep away the birds of the air.”! Zephaniah 1:3. Complete and utter destruction from God’s hand! 1. God gives reasons for His judgement. He is against: (a) Alternative gods, 1:4. (b) Astrology, 1:5. (c) Abortion and the sacrifice of children, 1:5. (d) Apathy among God’s people, 1:6. (e) Aggression in God’s name, 1:9. How foolish!! As if you can force real religion on anyone! (f) Avarice – greed, 1:11-13. (g) Those who try and avoid God, 1:12. God’s longsuffering makes some believe that His non-intervention means He can or He will do nothing. Illustration: Weapons inspectors from UN going into Iraq. Application: We who are visitors in Sudan, in the largely Moslem north of Sudan, must be aware of the dangers of ‘enculturation’ (becoming too like the people around us). As well as learning local language, custom and tradition, we can be unconsciously influenced by the values of the Sudanese majority – which are not Christian values! Where individuals count for nothing. Where deceit is a sign of cleverness not of sin. Where bribery discriminates against the poor. Where ‘works’ bring salvation – earning by human effort, not relying of God’s loving provision of Jesus the Saviour. Beware! Others around us, from the south, mainly black, non-Arab Sudanese can influence us by their bitterness towards others, their revengeful hatred towards perceived oppressors, their resentful attitude towards their fate, their total lack of respect for government authority. Beware! Illustration: Cook a frog? Don’t place in boiling water. Place in the cold and heat the water up gently. 2. God describes the Day of (Judgement) the Lord. 1:14, 15. It will be bitter, full of wrath, distress, anguish, trouble, ruin, darkness, gloom, clouds and blackness. Illustration: Here in Khartoum the lowering sky, turning brown, darkening, rubbish flying in the squally wind: all signs of an approaching ‘haboob’ (dust storm). If you don’t shelter you’ll be in trouble! How much more trouble 2:2 “before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you.”? This “Day of the Lord” is an Old Testament Holy War concept. Israel and Judah expected God to put everything right by destroying their enemies. But Zephaniah (and the other prophets) say: God will also put everything right in you, His people! Wrongs will be righted. God is on the side of true truth! What can save you? 1:18 “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” Nothing! Your money may buy you out of trouble now – but it won’t in the Day of the Lord. 3. God makes an offer to everyone 2:3. (1) Seek the Lord – put the preeminent value on God Himself. (2) Seek righteousness – put the right value on the rightness of right! (3) Seek humility – put the right value on yourself. “Perhaps you will be sheltered in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Not 'I have a right to be saved'. Rather 'I rely totally on God’s mercy'! God is going to judge the surrounding nations as well as Judah, chapters 2 and 3. For example 2:11 “The Lord will be awesome to them when He destroys all the gods of the land. The nations on every shore will worship Him.” (a) God will defend His own. (b) God will destroy His opponents. (c) God will demand worship and respect. Application: Notice, no-one can speak against God’s people and escape God’s judgement. Encourage those who say they are abused and misused Southerners to look for God’s justice – not just for man’s! When people mock God’s people they mock God, and God will not be mocked. Man’s justice may disappoint. God’s will be just! “The Cushites” get a mention in Zephaniah 2:12. Not one of the verses quoted by those who claim ‘Cush’ promises for Sudan – a somewhat inconsistent exegesis! “You too Cushites, will be slain by my sword”, says God. It is a possible reference to Egypt, who were conquered by the Ethiopians in the 7th/8th century: may be Zephaniah is sarcastically calling the Egyptians ‘The Cushites’? 2:13-15 Jonah’s desired destruction of Nineveh is predicted. The city revival Jonah saw brought only superficial repentance. 4. Finally, chapter 3, God affirms He is right to do what He does. Even Jerusalem, God’s chosen city, is to be judged. Verse 2 her people are self-centred, self-righteous, self-sufficient and bent on self-destruction! There is civil corruption and religious hypocrisy. False prophets and priests arrogantly speak their own wishes – or those of their benefactors: Not God’s! Verse 5 contrast God “(Who) is righteous; He does no wrong. Morning by morning He dispenses justice and never fails any day.” At least 16 times in chapter 3 God declares what He has done or is doing. A time of universal judgement for the nations. But as God judges so His mercy flows like Cush’s rivers to the sea of the saved! His judgement is never only punitive: always aiming to bring blessing. Verse 12 “the meek … the humble … who trust in the name of the Lord” will be left. Verse 17 “the Lord is mighty to save.” God’s mercy, majesty and might are all revealed. Burdens are lifted. Oppressions released. Shame is removed. “Honour and praise” breaks out as, verse 17 “God takes great delight in (those who are really His). He rejoices with singing.” My challenge to you: Be like Zephaniah, speak for the Lord. Be like Josiah, live for the Lord. Be like God … and sing! God Rules, O.K.? Khartoum International Church 20th October 2002.

Leadership, Integrity and Nation building. – by Mama Brenda Salter ‘Integrity’ is one of those words that we come across and choose not to think about too much. We may equate it to the words ‘good living’. We may think that leaders need it, that visionaries need it - but what is ‘it’? The title of this book is “Leadership, Integrity and Nation-building”. I believe that integrity must underlie and support the other two nouns. Integrity must be the rock on which leaders base their leadership. Integrity must be the basis for building any nation. Integrity must be the foundation for each of our lives. What is integrity? My Chambers dictionary defines it as: 1. “The strict adherence to moral values and principles: uprightness” 2. “The quality or state of being whole and unimpaired” 3. Coming “from the Latin Integritas meaning wholeness”.[1] We sometimes hear the word integrity used in a scientific or engineering context. “The integrity of the container has been compromised”, meaning the wholeness of the container is damaged - it is no longer fit for the designed use. It is possibly allowing impurities in, or letting the contents out. The result of that lack of integrity could just be a small nuisance, but it could also be a huge disaster. The parallel in our lives and work is that, if we allow our strict adherence to our moral values to be compromised it could be a difficulty for us, or it could develop into a major problem for many, many others. The word integrity is used in the Bible.[2] So what does that add to our thinking? Solomon In 1 Kings 9:4-6 God said to Solomon, “As for you, if you walk before me with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel. … But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you … I will cut off Israel from the land”. Solomon was the king over Israel when it had the largest territory it has ever controlled before or since. He was known as wise. Yet God still said that He (God) demanded integrity in Solomon’s life. Hanani In Nehemiah 7:2 Nehemiah said, “I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do”. Nehemiah had been sent back from exile in Persia to superintend the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. When this was done and the city secured, he appointed men to positions of leadership to govern the city. He did not choose Hanani because he was a relative – although that may have helped Nehemiah to know Hanani’s life and work. He chose him because it could be seen that Hanani followed God in every area of his whole life. Job The book of Job is often ignored, but it shouldn’t be because it teaches us some big lessons. It teaches us that our God is the ultimate, the creator, the everlasting, the all-wise, that there are things going on in the heavenly realms that we know nothing about, that some of our philosophers speak at great length about without understanding, that Satan’s power is strictly limited by God. Job was very rich. His children and their families died in a catastrophe. In Job 2:3 God spoke of Job to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason”. Job becomes very ill. His wife disagrees with his thinking and asks in 2:9, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”. Calamity on calamity. But the Bible says, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said”, Job 2:10. His ‘friends’ visit and say Job must be wrong in his thinking and living. They speak at great length: see 4:1-5:27; 8:1-22; 11:1-20; 15:1-35; 18:1-21; 20:1-29; 22:1-30; 25:1-6; 32:1-37:24. Job also says many things, but in 27:3-6 he says “… as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not say anything wicked, my tongue will not utter lies. I will never admit you (the ‘friends’) are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. I will maintain my innocence, and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live”. Can you say that? Can I? God, in Isaiah In Isaiah we hear God speaking through the prophecies He gave to the prophet. In 56:1 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed’”. But in 59:1-4 the Lord says, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity”. What does Almighty God say now of His world as He looks at you and me, knowing all about our way of living? It does matter, you know. God is, and will be, our judge. Our Lord Jesus Moving into the New Testament, the same incident is recorded in both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, when the Pharisees came to ask Jesus a trick question. The Pharisees were opposed to Jesus but knew that many ordinary people had great respect for Him. They introduced their question in a way the listening crowd liked. Out of the mouths of evil-intentioned men came truth that the ordinary people recognised as truth! Matthew 22:16 reads, ““Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are”. The question was designed to make Jesus the enemy of either the Jewish authorities or the Roman authorities. Jesus’ answer, however, distinguished clearly between God and the divine claims of Caesar, yet did not produce the antagonism intended by the Pharisees. Check the answer out for yourself from Matthew 22:21 and Mark 12:17. Wisdom and integrity from our Saviour. You and me? What are the moral values and principles that govern your life? How are you defining integrity in your day to day living? Good sounding words are a start, but we need to put flesh on those bones. What do those words mean to us in our everyday situations? In what follows I tried writing these principles working out for me: I live with integrity when: I remember that every individual in this world is a unique creation of God, who has worth because God has brought him/her into existence. That influences me in my day to day contacts with people and in corporate world issues. I respect and show care for the older members of my family. I respect and deeply love my husband. I respect, love and support my daughter and her husband, my grandchildren, my son and daughter-in-love, my foster daughter and her husband. I care for my friends and my acquaintances. I show respect for all people I work with, those above me and those below me. I must be an unashamed workman. This means I am, or I have done, nothing that must be covered up or hidden away. I pray to God when I can for all these folks. My God is perfect, doing what is right, and He wants me to copy Him. I must always be honest, transparent, open to questions and inspection about all my actions and attitudes. This is obviously very personalised, and you may think, too feminine. If so I challenge you to write your own principles for living with integrity where you are, with whom you are, and in situations you must deal with. Two short thoughts to finish with 1. Plato and Aristotle, thinking and writing in the first century B.C., wrote about the need for doctors and leaders not to be self-seeking. They saw the danger of having a doctor who was practising only for the money, and of having a leader who could personally gain from his position. There have been many leaders through history, in east and west, north and south, who have been tempted by the powers and opportunities they have been given, to use them for personal gain rather than investing in their peoples and their countries. It is a big temptation. Giving in, even just a little, is life without integrity. 2. The prophet Micah wrote in Micah 6:8, “He (God) has showed you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. To act justly is to know what is just, fair, morally right, and to do it. Always. To love mercy. We enjoy the fact that God’s mercy to us is His free, unmerited favour towards us. If we, in turn, truly love mercy we will be practising it as strongly as God does, treating everybody we are responsible for in a kind and generous way. Or at least sincerely trying to!! To walk humbly with your God is to keep in step and at pace with God while being totally conscious that HE is GOD. You are not God. You are not better or more important before God than anybody else. You are merely God’s accountable servant. This I believe is life with integrity. May God grant it to us all. Discussion guide Using this chapter and Scriptures quoted “Integrity must be the rock on which leaders base their leadership … the basis for building any nation … the foundation for each of our lives”. Why? What is likely to happen without integrity in each of these three situations? What were the two alternatives God set out for Solomon? 1 Kings 9:1-9. Why did they depend on his “integrity of heart”? How important was this “integrity” to God? The Pharisees describe our Lord Jesus as “a man of integrity”, Matthew 22:16. From the text and its surrounding verses, describe what they meant. (I am aware they were trying to trip Him up by their question). Could your colleagues say the same of you? [1] Chambers 21st Century English Dictionary (Edinburgh, Scotland) 1996. [2] Holy Bible, New International Version (Hodder & Stoughton: London) 2011, British Biblica edition.

Christian theology in a Sudanese context. God's word written down and published. Reading this section, it is important to keep in mind these comparisons between Christianity and Islam: In Christianity, 1. God reveals Himself, in the Son, one with God from eternity. 2. The ultimate revelation is: Christ, the living Word of God, (Arabic – kalimat allah) a person. (John 1:1-5; John 1:14; Hebrews1:1-3). In Islam, 1. God reveals his will, in the ‘preserved tablet’ or ‘Mother of the Book’. 2. The ultimate revelation is: The Qur’an, the Speech of God, Arabic – kalam allah) a book (Qur’an 85:21-22; 42:52;43:4; 3:3-7; 27:91-92; 13:39) 21. God’s purpose for the Bible God the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the authors of the Bible. He prepared and moved them so that what they wrote, in their own words, was actually the word of God. The people did not realise they were writing the Bible! They wrote for the situation in which they lived. Yet God the Holy Spirit, in His wisdom, supervised the collection and protection of these authors’ works over the centuries. God very much wants us to have our Bible. He always has lots to say to us through them (2 Timothy 3:16.17). Of course, God shows Himself to people in nature. We all have a natural awareness of God. Everyone sees outside of themselves, with their human eyes, the evidence in creation that God exists. This evidence is supported by a capacity inside peoples’ minds and hearts to know God personally. J.M. Boice, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, U.S.A.,until his death in A.D. 2000, once wrote: “There is enough evidence of God in a flower to lead a child as well as a scientist to worship Him”. But many people simply refuse to recognise that this Creator God has any claim upon their lives. So they live as if there is no God. He still speaks clearly to such people, through the natural world and through their inward thoughts, but they inexcusably won’t listen! (Romans 1:18-23). The Bible takes God’s revelation of Himself one step further than nature or inward thought ever can. The Bible is God’s method for communicating the only way that humankind can become the ‘Christian’ men and women God Himself wants us all to be. The Bible is the selectively written history of God’s dealings with the human race. It does not contain all of history. It focuses on people being ‘saved’ simply through taking God at His word (Genesis 15:6; John 20:30,31). The Old Testament points forward to the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. It uses historical narrative, with illustrations from historical places and events, the poetry of peoples’ real life experiences, plus some picture-language and prophecy, all to introduce and to help readers recognise Jesus Christ as the Saviour sent from God (Hebrews 1:1-3). The Gospels record four accounts of the short life of Jesus on this earth.They all end with His crucifixion and resurrection (Luke 1:1-4). The rest of the New Testament includes some narrative and some prophecy, but mainly pastoral letters that include a little historical data. It records how people who met this Jesus were changed into men and women totally given over to honouring Him in every part of their lives. (Acts 11:19-24; 2 Corinthians 5:16-19). The breath of God is seen and felt on every page, in every person, and through every teaching of the Bible. Thinking it through. (a). According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, what are God’s purposes for the Bible? (b). How would you tell your friend what the central message of the Bible is? (2 Timothy3:15). (c). Where does the story of Jesus fit into the whole Bible?

Thoughts from my journey with JESUS. The Arrows of the Almighty Bible reading: Psalm 38:1-22 (all). The subject of this chapter is not an easy one to write about nor, I suspect, to read. My reader may be tempted to skip on to the next chapter rather than face the uncomfortable truths in this one . However, it is truth clearly taught in the Bible, even if often buried, misapplied or otherwise avoided. In Moses’ song of Deuteronomy 32, recited to all Israel just before he died, he spoke about God ‘expending His arrows against’ His own people, that is those who had rebelled against His loving leadership and had chosen to go the easier way of simply following their own ideas, vs23. Moses speaking the words of God describes disobedient Israel as “a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them”, vs28. Trying to get the people to focus on Almighty God Moses continues God’s words: “See now that I Myself am He! There is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand”, vs39. In ultimate judgement God says, “I will make my arrows drunk with blood”, vs42, (italics mine). In Job 6:4 there is an altogether different usage of the same picture. Replying to his friend called Eliphaz, Job has been accused of covering up his own sinfulness, which Eliphaz thinks must have brought the terrible suffering into Job’s life, work, home and family (see Job chapters 1-5). Counsellor Eliphaz’s view can be summed up in 5:17-18, “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal”. What Eliphaz says is of course true. But it is not true of Job in this instance. We know from Job chapters 1 and 2 that God’s own testimony of Job was, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil”, 1:8. The same words are added to in 2:3, “… And he still maintains his integrity, though you (Satan) incited Me to ruin him without any reason”. Job had no need of correction before God. God Himself held up Job as the greatest example of a human being in all of God’s earthly creation at that time. When Job thinks about all of his suffering he finds no reason for it except, “The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshalled against me”, Job 6:4, (italics mine). God is not disciplining or correcting Job. He is using Job as a visual aid of godliness in a man, to teach Satan a lesson. Job did not bring trouble from God onto himself. Quite the opposite. So we have a similar phrase in the two Scriptures, “the arrows” of God, but it reveals two quite different issues. Jeremiah also speaks of God, “He pierced my heart with arrows from His quiver”, Lamentations 3:13. A third similar phrase. If you read through verses 1-20 there are at least sixteen times when the prophet says in effect, ‘God has opposed me and hurt me’. Verse 1 names it as “the rod of the Lord’s wrath”. Yet Jeremiah’s daily hope is still in “the Lord’s great love”, vs21-24. Jeremiah and his people experienced what God through Moses had warned about in Deuteronomy (see above). Yet we must never assume because someone, or a people, is suffering badly in this life, it is definitely because of some really bad personal or family sins. Jesus’ disciples made this common mistake as they slipped away from the temple one day. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2. Our Lord’s reply is still full of insight for us today. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”. Jesus went on to heal the man’s blindness using His word, spittle, dirt and some ceremonial washing. We have seen that God warned His people through Moses that He would fire “arrows of suffering” into the lives of those who were careless in following Him, ignoring His given ways for life. And we have seen in Jeremiah’s Lamentations how this worked out in Israel’s history. We also discovered that the innocent Job suffered at the full maturity of himself, his family and his business, when God allowed Satan to test him. God was confident that Job could withstand the test. Job was an upright man, but he suffered. Neither was there any direct link between sin and the blind man who suffered from birth. Our Lord Jesus pointed out the man’s inability to see was in order that God would be glorified when Jesus met him and healed him. These latter two are undeserved but God-given “arrows of suffering”. Now let’s return to Psalm 38 to examine the main subject of this chapter, what happens when we think in our hearts and minds, or behave in ways, which invite God to bring His chastisement and disciplines of suffering into our lives. “Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath. Your arrows have pierced me, and Your hand has come down on me. Because of Your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden to heavy to bear” Psalm 38:1-4, (italics mine). Notice the contrasting in these verses of: “me” 5 times, “my” 2 times, and “Your” 5 times. David prays to his God the prayer of a broken man. He has done wrong. He knows it and recognises he only deserves God’s righteous anger, vs1. Nothing else and nothing but. Yet David still feels able to come to his “Lord” and Saviour, “Jehovah Who saves”, vs1, 15, 22. In vs15 he goes further, “Lord, I wait for You; You will answer, Lord my God”. His use of the personal pronoun for his sin – see vs18, “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin”, does not stop him being able to call “God”, “my God”, vs15, 21, 22, (italics mine). I’m sure preachers of the New Testament will use 1 John 1:9 in their preaching of the Gospel. You may be able to quote it to me without looking it up? We preach the Gospel (Good News) of our Lord “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”, 1 John 2:1-2. Our Gospel is good news because every person ever born is born a sinner in the sight of our Holy Creator God. No one can help themselves out of this situation. It is beyond all human endeavour, either individually or together. The good news is that 1 John 1:9 reads, “If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. None of us has loved God with all heart, soul, mind and strength, nor loved and served our neighbours as much as we love and please ourselves. These are the summarised “greatest commandments” according to our Lord Jesus.[1] Since we have failed on these two we need a Saviour from our sin. And – Hallelujah! – God has provided One. But notice carefully the verses either side of 1 John 1:9: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” 1 John 1:8. “If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him (Jesus) out to be a liar and His word is not in us”, 1 John 1:10. No one can be saved without first truly recognising they are sinful. My experience tells me that the longer I live as a disciple of my Lord Jesus, the more and more sinful I seem to become. This has been likened to the dawning of a new day. In the darkness of the night everything one can dimly see looks basically OK in the blackness. But as the golden rays spear into the sky ahead of the sunrise one can gradually see more and more. The increasing light starts to show things as they really are and one can begin to discern bad from good among them. One may try to remove the bad. After six hours or so the sun rises up to its midday brilliance. At that time nothing is hidden from its glare. Every bad thing is revealed, unless perhaps it is deliberately kept in the shadows. The closer we get to the radiant noon sunshine the more the smallest pieces of dirt in our world are unable to hide. Now think about that in relation to the sin that invades the life of every Christian as every day goes by. We know that David, the writer of Psalm 38, sinned, and at times very badly, by human standards anyway. I personally believe God’s grading of sin is not the same as ours. In His summary Jesus implied that not loving God 100% was worse than murder etc. didn’t He? We also know David experienced the conviction of God in His life, for example when Nathan confronted him with voyeurism, lust, murder and subsequent adultery involving Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11 and 12. His repentance following conviction can be read in Psalm 51. With deliberate and unconfessed sin in his life David knew arrows from God in his life such as disquiet, disease, depression, discipline, disaster and even after his confession, the death of his baby. It is possible that Psalm 38:7 could read, “My loins (NRSV/LB) are filled with searing pain”, indicating a sexually transmitted disease, and verse 11 “wounds” could possibly indicate leprosy.[2] Have you noticed how often the Bible mirrors our own lives? Over 48 years of Christian ministry I have unfortunately witnessed the downfall of not a few ministry colleagues or acquaintances. They have fallen into private and public sin. Some of them I have had to personally confront as a neighbouring pastor. Others are people I knew of or who were well known ‘in the public eye’ of ministry. I have also endured the demanding experiences of hurtful investigations when serious accusations were made against lay people within congregations I was pastoring. Every one of these challenges has been costly to me, to colleagues, and to the people who were allowing sin to become their master. Paul warns all Christians, leaders and laypeople, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body”.[3] God fires His arrows of suffering into the lives and bodies of those who do let sin rule their lives. Beware. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace”, Romans 6:11-14. I know the temptations I have had to face in a 48 year lifetime of Christian service. I am far, far from sinless and nowhere near a perfect Christian. I have fallen into sinful thoughts and actions, and I confess I sometimes still do. Other people may put a Christian minister on a pedestal and admire him because of his role in the church. I would not. Nor do I dream of standing on a pedestal for others to think wrongly about me. I would rather have no status than be a statue! I am not going to share with you the particular battles I have had to fight, which are known largely just by my wife Brenda and me. But the fact I have faced and do still face so many, makes me think that you may well do so too. I’m sure the colleagues referred to above never intended to abuse their positions of ministries and trust. Somehow the opportunity just crept up to them. I suspect the five general steps James outlines in his Bible letter applied to them: “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters”. James 1:14-16. 1. Step one – allowing strong inner thoughts, wishes and wants to stay in your mind 2. Step two – watching for alluring and attractive opportunities to do what you know to be wrong 3. Step three – imagining activity, perhaps even planning it and then starting some 4. Step four – living actions and behaviours all of which break God’s will for Christians 5. Step five – experiencing the gradual ending of life with your God as your close Friend. Some of my suggested and specific warnings are as follows: Be very careful of time spent with the opposite sex Be very careful of your thoughts when alone Be very careful on the internet Never abuse your wife or children Be very careful when away from your family Be very careful when handling any money, including your own Be very careful when using the church’s/ mission’s/ work’s/ community’s etc. money Be very careful when counselling or close advising individually and privately Be very careful when comforting in times of need Examine your motives and actions for signs of pride Look for idols in your own life. One may even be your God-given Christian ministry! Examine your motives and actions for any jealousy Examine your motives and actions for any greed Examine your attitudes to other tribes and ethnicities Examine your attitudes to people less fortunate Examine your attitudes to people less able Examine your attitudes to all the people you lead Examine your attitudes to younger or upcoming ministers/ pastors/ colleagues, who perhaps should soon take your place in work and church When we go wrong on these and many other issues of life we invite God to fire His arrows of suffering and troubles at us because we are going our own way, and not His. We are being disobedient, even if no one knows it except us, and of course God. We may end up with people praying for us who are praying to God for His relief of our suffering, when it is in fact God Who is sending that suffering to us as a discipline. We must learn to discern and to deal with the arrows of the Almighty. I have said before that since 2006 I have only an artificial voicing system. I cannot speak properly. My gracious Creator God and Father took back the voice-box He had lent to me for 57 years. He gave permission for an aggressive cancer to infest it. In the 13 years since then I have had further battles with more cancer in my neck, and in the last few years in my bladder and prostate. I have often asked the question: ‘Are these arrows from the Almighty fired because of my sin?’ Let me tell you, it is a tough question to face. As I said above I do not claim to be sinlessly perfect. Many times I have prayed prayers like those of Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”, and Psalm 26:2-3: “Test me, Lord and try me, examine my heart and mind; for I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness”. I have listened to God with both His word and my mind open for Him to lead me into more true Christlikeness, which is my heart’s desire. In 13 years He has made me aware of many things that should not be in my life. I am grateful to God for His Son my Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’ blood washes my sin away as I first see it and second confess it to Him and thirdly resolve not to go that way again. But I do get dirty again! Quite quickly too! I am fully aware that God knows, “all my longings”, Psalm 38:9. I would be back in Sudan tomorrow if my health (and my God) would allow, but now that is most unlikely to ever happen due to some permanent physical changes in my body. I do, “wait for the Lord my God to answer”, v15. I am not good on patience, so I am often frustrated. “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin”, vs18. But over time God has helped me to gradually see His view of events. Instead of me preaching to one congregation at Khartoum International Church, with occasional visits to other congregations around the Three Cities, and teaching at three Bible Colleges, Gideon Theological, Gereif Bible School and Faith Institute, God has enabled me to reach many more people, in Sudan and in South Sudan, with the help of some very good friends I made when Brenda and I did live in Bahri. The books He has graciously allowed and enabled us to publish from Juba, some with chapters written by others as well as by me, have spread widely. I am confined to my study desk here in England while you are reading this, wherever you are. Our God is a great God. Having waited a bit I can begin to see His plan. I admit it is far better than mine ever was. For me my confinement has been a time of spiritual growth whenever I can let go of my ideas and instead focus on God’s. A fellow Englishman named C.S. Lewis wrote about eighty years ago: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”[4] I believe this applies to the Lord’s people today, whether the arrows fired by our loving God are because of our secret (to others) sinful actions, or because we are so busy doing our own things we do not listen to what our God actually wants for us to do. I also believe Lewis’ words apply to the wider world and our suffering countries as well. God’s purposes for individuals, countries and the world are exceedingly the best. But as long as we cling on to our miserable sins God will not bless us with the full generosity that He wants to. Through nature and other created things He shows He does not withdraw His blessing fully. But when droughts, famines, floods, earthquakes, plague-like diseases and so on occur, far too many people blame God (for example: “Where is God now?”) rather than humbly confessing our individual and corporate sin in God’s solemn presence, and begging for His mercy, forgiveness and restitution. If you are a Christian brother or sister who has fallen into sinful patterns of life, or if you are as close to God as you can be but may be being used by God as an example to help others glorify God, why not join me in praying the following prayer? “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. … Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Saviour … Lord I wait for You; You will answer, Lord my God”, Psalm 38:18, 21-22, 15. “I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High”, Psalm 7:17. And always remember God’s uplifting words through Moses: “See now that I Myself am He! There is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand”, Deuteronomy 32:39 (italics mine). Note: You may want to compare other Psalms which have a similar theme. See Psalms 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, 143.[5] Discussion guide 1. Discuss the warning of Deuteronomy 32:23. In that speech Moses has proclaimed the greatness and perfection of God, 32:3-4. He has warned in 31:29 about the consequences of turning away from God. He foresees it happening in 32:5-6. From 32:19 Moses describes the awful rejection of His people by God, and our “arrows” phrase is in the middle of it. The Lord says, “I will heap calamities on them and expend My arrows against them”, vs23. How can a great and perfect God do this? 2. Have Lamentations chapter 3 open in front of you. In verses 12-13 Jeremiah laments “He (the Lord vs1) drew His bow and made me the target for His arrows. He pierced my heart with arrows from His quiver”. Almost all the verses from 1-20 depress God’s chosen prophet. Then suddenly – a dramatic change! From verse 21 onwards something happens. What? Put into your own words the apparent ‘two sides’ of God we read about here. What is our best way of thinking about God? 3. Think about Psalm 38:1-22. Why has God pierced King David with His arrows, vs2, vs18? Do you believe God may treat you similarly? Why? / Why not? Give Scripture to support your answer. 4. What is the significance of the repeated “me” and “my” in verses 15, 18, 21-22? Can God remain “my God” even when I sin against Him? Why do you think David finishes the Psalm with “my Lord and my Saviour”? 5. From my bulleted list of 18 “specific warnings” about modern day temptations, which ones are most common in your personal life or from your experience as seen in those around you? How ought they to be dealt with? Where you can use your Bible for this last point. 6. “Jesus’ blood washes my sin away as I first see it and second confess it to Him and thirdly resolve not to go that way again. But I do get dirty again!” If this is true for you: Why not leave the group to spend some time alone, quietly but in God’s company, letting His Holy Spirit examine you? God says: “I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand”, Deuteronomy 32:39 (italics mine). [1] Matthew 22:34-40. [2] Cyril Okorcha (Nigeria) Africa Bible Commentary – Psalms (Word Alive: Nairobi) 2006, page 644. [3] Romans 6:12. [4] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (HarperCollins: New York) 1940/1996), page 91. [5] Cyril Okorcha (Nigeria) Africa Bible Commentary – Psalms (Word Alive: Nairobi) 2006, page 644.