Christian Living: God, Why Don't You Come to My Aid?

Note: This is a re-posted blog from one Craig Gross, founder of www.xxxchurch.com. (Yes, that website is cool like that. And, by the way, if any of you is struggling with porn addiction or you know a friend who is, I highly recommend it for you). The post was originally titled "Recognize Your Rescue". You can read it here. 

Re-posted with permission.

*******

There's an old joke that old preachers like to use. It goes something like this:

Torrential rains cause a river to rise and a dam to break, flooding a valley. There is a small cabin in that valley, so the lone occupant heads for the roof and prays that God would miraculously rescue him. Moments later, as the waters have reached halfway up the house, a boat full of people comes by.

"Hey," they call out, "we have room for you! Come aboard!""No thanks," the man says, "I prayed and I know God's going to rescue me!"The boat floats on and the man waits some more while the waters continue to rise to the level of the roof.A helicopter flies into the valley and the pilot lowers a rope ladder. But the man waves it off."No thanks," he says again, "I prayed and I know God's going to rescue me!"So off flies the helicopter as the waters rise higher and higher. They engulf the man, who passes away and is immediately met at the Gates of Heaven by God."God!" the man says. "I prayed and prayed! Why didn't you rescue me?"God looks him in the eye and says, "I sent you a boat and a helicopter. What more do you want?"

I thought of this joke recently because I've noticed a lot of people in my world keep talking about "surrendering to God" or how "God is teaching them something in a difficult time."

I don't know... what does "surrendering to God" really mean other than just being super-Christian? 

What, practically, does surrender to God look like?

My wife has a friend who has some health problems and has put on a lot of excess weight. She's gone to every doctor and specialist and tried all kinds of medical means to drop the weight - medicine, procedures, all that - but nothing's working.

My wife has also had medical issues - different ones, but still the kinds of things that don't have an immediate solution. During the course of these, my wife saw a natural doctor who recommended a book that caused her to radically rethink her philosophy on food.

As Jeanette (my wife) read this book, she kept thinking about her friend, of all the ways her friend might benefit from this new philosophy of food, of all the reasons why her friend probably wouldn't subscribe to it. After all, this new method of thinking about food is hard. It's difficult, it's rigid, it's scheduled, it's time-consuming, it's expensive. You have to regulate what you eat, down to packing your own salad dressing when you go to a friend's house for dinner. But: it's totally changed and helped Jeanette.

I took it upon myself to email Jeanette's friend and suggest she check out this book. She wrote me back: "I'm sure God's just teaching me something through this and I have to surrender."

Why, as Christians, do we think that God wants us to struggle like this? Because I hear things like this so many times. But rather than think that God could provide us with a way out, we just chalk our struggles up to "teaching" and needing to "surrender."

Maybe God puts people in your life who actually have the opportunity to point you toward something great, who can teach you something. But for some reason, so many people think it sounds more spiritual to say "I'm going to suffer for Jesus" or "I'm going to surrender to God"?

And again, I ask: what does that look like?

When you say "Not my will but His will be done," do you think it's God's will for you to suffer? To battle against your desires your entire life?

This isn't just about my wife's friend. I also hear this all the time with porn, where people think it's their lifelong struggle or battle. But surrendering to your own desires is harder than surrendering to God.

In the case of my wife's friend, "surrender" apparently means that, rather than challenge her own assumptions or her actions, she's going to spiritualize the issue rather than give up her current practices. Saying, "I'm going to try this new philosophy behind eating, even though it goes against what I've done my whole life and even though I know it's going to be hard and will stretch me beyond anything I've ever done," is a much more difficult type of surrender than just saying, "I'm surrendering to God."

Now, I don't want to sound like Joel Osteen.
I don't believe God has promised us a life free of suffering.

I know there are things that bring suffering into just about everyone's life. Yet there are a lot of Christians who are content in the struggle, thinking that this is God's will for them so they can "learn" something. 

That's not me.

My nature is to fix things. If I'm in trouble, I want to find a way out. I don't want to just sit in the suffering. I want to find an answer so I'm not stuck in this place anymore. I understand that God can teach me something in the midst of my struggle, but I also know he can provide a way out. (1 Corinthians 10:13.)  It just might not be the obvious way or the easy way or the way that requires no work from me. Why don't we connect the dots on that?

Are we too content in the struggle? Have we already determined that this is how it will always be? That we'll always be fighting and battling so that God can "teach us" something? And is that keeping us from looking for a way out?

Maybe God's already tried to send you rescue out of your situation. What more do you want?

Short Stories and Relationships: Adios Teen, Part 1

Written by: Alice Ogutu

Alice tells of the story of a lady, Lia, after her High School and almost out of her teen age moving from her paternal home to live in the city with her sister, gain an education and meet her first love right in her naivety…

Short Stories and Relationships - Adios Teen

Her name is Lia.

She was so happy to know that she had been accepted to the Art School in the City, Sony School of Art. It was a prestigious art school. She had heard and seen good reviews about the school and that it provided a variety of great art courses.

She was so happy to go to the City and have a new experience. Also, all this furore about her going to the city escalated because her High School BFF, Tala (short for Talaty), had moved there a while back. Life in the city was always spoken of as something one would not want to skip yet with extremes, you know, things like; having to go to clubs, shopping and to the theatre/cinema.

It was both a wonderful surprise and a reunion between herself and Tala.

Although she had not informed Tala about her acceptance to the Art School, and her stay there as well, she was happy to see her. Tala promised to show her around the city. This excited her.

*******

A month later, as she strolled in the evening in the ambience of the setting sun, as was her routine, she met this cute guy. She had never seen him in the neighborhood before. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She didn’t say anything and neither did he – they simply exchanged glances and that was just about it.

She went on with her walk in the neighborhood for another fifteen minutes, all the while thinking of the cute guy she had just met. The thoughts completely overwhelmed her - in a good way. She couldn’t wait to tell her friend Tala. She knew Tala will be excited.

Later, after Tala came in from her mini-business from which she worked in the afternoons, she encouraged her to work on her feelings soon before the guy was taken by someone else. She had no clue of how to do this but thought, “Why not?” Obviously, she had seen many soap operas and read many romantic novels and was sure, right in that tiny head of hers, that she was up to the task at hand. She told herself that she would strive to do something about it.

For the few days that followed, she studied his movements, and learned that he stayed in the same block and same floor as she did. This was an advantage to her, or so she thought. After carefully knowing the where and what, she was ready.

*******

On this particular day, she waited to hear him leave and she left as well to catch up with him on the stairs down.

“Hello”, she greeted him.

“Hello”, he replied, and added, “So you live on this floor too, huh?!”

She nodded

The rest of the walk down the stairs was in silence.

It was a chilly morning, and the sun was yet to peep its head from the clouds in the sky. She was not wearing any warm clothes because she was rushing to pick something from the shop down the road where another friend also happened to work. (From time to time, she loiters around the friend’s place to chat with her on some girly stuff before heading back to the house.) She, in her determined mind, had decided to wait at the shop and chat the guy on their way back.

So far, her stalking had proved to be fruitful, and she had already known his name: Idris. But this kept her worried because she wondered what would be the best communication starter if she already knew his name. She left her friend at the shop after promising to fill her in with all the details later. She left before he reached the shop so that it would not seem as though she was waiting for him. She walked along slowly, her heart racing, her mind wondering on the possible conversation that was yet to follow.

As she neared the gate and was about to open it, she heard a voice from behind,

“Please allow me milady” he said.

She froze on the spot as he opened the gate and said, “After you…”

She walked in quietly and waited for him to catch up, so that they would climb up the steps together. Till now, she had not made her name known to him, and she didn’t want to seem in a hurry, so she let things unfold.

He walked up to her and struck a conversation,

“So which number is your apartment?”

“12”, she replied.  

"Hmm, that's just two doors from mine on the other side. How comes I have never seen you around?"

"Well that may be because I have classes in the morning and a job at the boutique in the afternoons. As for those days am free, I go to the gym with my friend from the shop down the block."

"I see. So where's this gym you guys go to?"

"Near the mall. It is a great place – it gives us a great opportunity for window shopping and a health snack or two after workouts. You know the place, right? "

"Yea, I do, I go to the Potters Gym. It is also near the mall. "

"Oh my, this world should really be a small place, huh? The place you are mentioning is the same gym I've told you about, the one I go to. "

"Hmm, indeed it is."

By this time, she and Idris had already reached the 3^rd floor (on which they both happened to live). She realized that their apartments were really close to each other – the difference was that he lived on the other side of the same floor – two doors apart, though.

*******

On this day, her sister, June, an air hostess and with whom she lived, was out of town. She was actually mostly away due to the nature of her job, but was expected late that day.

Lia was taking classes in Spanish and Art. She loved drawing and painting, and June allowed her to stay with her as the Art School was near her apartment. As she parted ways with Idris, he gave her a wink and pleaded that it would be his pleasure to meet her again. She agreed and went into the apartment.

June arrived in a little after 8pm. She was tired and happy to be back home. After a bath, a meal and happy smiles from Lia’s side because of the gifts her sister had brought her, they sat down and June begun narrating her stories of the beauty and wonders of the places she gets to set her foot in.

June loved paintings and portraits. She loved to be painted, and at times she would give Lia a picture of a place far away and let her paint her in it. She would later boast to her friends about the awesome young artist sister she has, and occasionally, her friends would come and request to be painted too. This made her appreciate the gift of painting more, and the more she did it, the more she fell in love with it. It became her passion – something she always aspired to do in her free time.

*******

While having a drink the next day at Mardis Mall, she decided to tell June about Idris. June got curious and did not hesitate to give her her mind on men and relationships.

"Come on J, I know what you mean, you know me well enough, and also you know am not the drooling type, I'll be careful and won't go way over my head, okay, feel better?", she maintained.

"Yea, a little bit, you know mom will have my head if I don't watch over you."

"Okay, can we go back home. I have Rita's painting that I have to finish, you know how mad she can get when I don’t do as promised, and you invited her tomorrow in the afternoon..."

"Yea I do, I had totally forgotten."

On our way back, she stopped by at the Garden's Mini-mart, and picked up some stuff for Tala. “She now owes me one”, she thought.

*******

After a long weekend, with everything now calming down, as it always was whenever June left the place, she was waiting to meet Idris again.

She had known that he was not around over the weekend, and the thought of seeing him again made her smile.

Monday was a busy day, but it ended well. She managed to invite Tala for her usual Monday sleep over. When they got home, Tala noticed a letter slipped under her door.

"Strange. I thought June had a key, and anyway, she had already left; so who could have slipped the letter? Hmmm!", Lia wondered.

"I have no idea, open it first, then we will know”

"Okay."

She opened the letter and Lia looked straight on to see the sender first. It was from Idris. She smiled. She was so into the old school way of showing love and emotion, and therefore this meant the whole world to her. Tala was eagerly waiting to see what it was and who had sent it. She inquired to know what each word said. Lia handed her the letter, and she started reading it back aloud at her while mimicking and making fun of her with silly sounds.

Idris had written to show his interest in her, and had left his number that she may call him back. She decided to call him later.

After an hour or so, she called Idris, and was glad that he didn't answer the phone, so she left him a message. He called back after a while.

"Hello milady, I think I will have your voice on my answering machine so that I can always hear it...", he begun after calling back.

"Am flattered, thank you. Are you just getting in? "

"Nah, I was having a bath, wanted to finish with everything else so I can concentrate on talking to you alone."

"Right."

"So how was your day?"

"Hectic. Mondays are usually busy, with classes all day and the store later in the evening."

"It seems you just need to relax, should I let you, I would not like to tire you more..."

"No it's okay, I've had my share of rest, plus I have tomorrow morning to rest, my class will be later in the day."

"Okay, so what is your name? Am Idris."

(If he only knew that she already knew his name… Heh... But she was not ready to let this beautiful moment turn sour with questions that were not necessary, so she simply told him her name and kept things cool. Tala had gone to finish with her reports stuff and it was also a good way of giving her (Lia) some privacy, which she really appreciated.)

"Lia... What a beautiful name you have. So Lia, what do say if I invite you over for breakfast, that way I can let you rest now, and... "

(She cut in before he had finished what he was saying…)

"Breakfast. That sounds great.”  Well, I should let you know that I prefer coffee, with no sugar.”

"That you'll get milady, now rest those eyes so they'll be looking beautiful tomorrow, okay?!"

"Okay, good night."

"Night, sweet dreams."

As soon as she put the phone down, Tala was standing right besides her,

"Gimme the juice gal, c'mon..."

She was so eager and couldn’t help giggling as she recounted their conversation to her…

(To be continued.)

*******

Till next time,

Alice Ogutu.

Live Blogs: Leadership Seminar, K.A.G. Kakamega

Hi guys,

I did write some live notes from the KAG National Youth Office visit to our district (Kakamega) on 28th and 29th October, 2015. Below is a summary of the stuff we learnt (it'll be long, but I guess it is worth it);

National Youth Office Visit
Kakamega District
28-29/10/2015

1st Meeting 

Leaders' Meeting
28/10/2015, Wednesday Night (8pm) 

Speaker: Bishop Alulu

Text: 1 Samuel 7:3
1 Samuel 7:3 (NIV) And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

Notes:
- Samuel tried to so much convince the Israelites that if God was in control, all was well. Him taking the central place in the nation was critical to its success.
- Returning unto God was necessary > committing themselves to the Lord fully and serving Him only; be determined to serve the Lord only.
- Satan cannot be defeated by might or power but by the grace and power of the Spirit of God.
Psalms 37:5, 1 Kings 8:61, 2 Chronicles 16:9.
- We cannot lead on our own to succeed. We need God.
- The best example of true commitment is seen in the sacrifices seen and made in marriage. 1 Peter 3:15-17.

2nd Meeting 

Thursday
29/10/2015
10.30am

PS: There were neither T-shirts nor pens for sale, people. The leaders said that we may be able to buy them during our District Convention. Let's wait and see.

Programmer: Pst Musyoki (Assistant National Youth Director)

Speaker: Pst. Musyoki 

Text »»» Psalms 57:1-3 (NIV)
[For the director of music. To the tune of"Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam. When he had fled from Saul into the cave.]
1. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed.
2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me.
3 He sends from Heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; [Selah] God sends His love and His faithfulness.

Sermon/teaching topic: "Grace"
- Undeserved favor
- We've all been given grace to do mighty things.
- Such a grace was bestowed upon David to be leader and king over Israel.
•
He insisted on the following :-
- Support both ministry and our leaders. Because our blessings are hidden in supporting and helping the leadership of those above us.
- Be fully dedicated to God's work.

Mike (National Youth Secretary)
He had the following announcements to put across;
- A good number of youth from Kakamega District attended the National Youth Conference. That was a great thing.
- Thanks for giving towards buying ministry vehicle (Toyota Caldina).
- Pst Sammy was elected as the Youth president for East and Central Africa; also as the deputy Secretary General of Africa Assemblies of God Alliance.
- Renovation of Youth Centre has been done to modern standards.
- We need two million KES to continue with renovation of Youth Centre for it to be able to accommodate more people and to be a training centre for leaders.
- Schools ministry.
- The Annual National Youth Conference will be in Kitale next year (2016). Registration: 1,000/=. Dates: 18-23/04/2015.

Pst Monica (National Youth Treasurer)
- Gave our district's full financial report
- The whole district pledged to give KES 20,000 towards renovation and building of the Youth Centre and pledged to have at least KES 100,000 from Youth Day deductions to be send to the National Youth Office next year.

Pst Sammy Kihu (National Youth Director)
- Are we faithful in the capacity and grace God gave us as a district? (In giving, in using our gifts and talents e.t.c.) We should make sure we are.
- Renovation of Youth Centre is intently to train youth workers in liaison with the Global Youth Network.
- Dates for training will be announced to us during the National Youth Conference. Trainings will last 2 days. The program will be spread throughout the year. (4 to 5 times throughout the year where one chooses which one to attend.).
We'll be allowed to testify after every lesson to tell what practical measures we've taken to put the lesson we learnt in action.
After this, there will be a training of trainees to pass the lessons to grassroots levels.
- Trainings seek to bring forth well nurtured youth workers that are well "packaged and empowered". Packaging of information for teachings to reach out to youth will be unique to enhance message reception.

Schools ministry.
• They are purposing to use tools like the "Reach for Life NIV Bible" to reach youth in both Primary schools and High schools. Biblica is giving these Bibles for free after they train you on how to use the Bibles to reach youth.
• Suggestion that each youth group in our local churches should adopt a school to minister to.
• Give contacts of interested people in this ministry to attend training probably early next year.

He taught on the following:-

The 360° Leader

Text: Genesis 1:27
Genesis 1:27 (NIV) "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

- We have a tendency to associate leadership with titles or positions.
- Leadership is influence. We lead best without title or position when we lead with influence.
- Do what you can, where you are at.
- A 360° leader is able to influence people he/she reports to, people at their level and people who report to them. They influence people at all levels of the organization.
- If we are able to prepare to lead in the next level of leadership, then we'll be in position to be efficient in leadership.
- The reality is that 99% of all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle of an organization. We should seek to unravel the various myths that cripple leadership in order to be effective and efficient.

Here are the various leadership myths;
1. I can't lead if I am not at the top.
2. When I get to the top, then I'll learn to lead.
3. If I were on top, then people would follow me.
4. When I get to the top, I'll be in control.
5. When I get to the top, I'll no longer be limited.
6. I can't reach my potential if I'm not the top leader. (When we begin to live out our potential, we attract positions.)
7. If I can't get to the top, then I won't try to lead.

Truth: Building relationships with others on a team to gain influence naturally has a greater impact than possessing a title.

The Five Levels of Leadership  (adapted from John Maxwell) 
1. Positional Leader
- Lead because they have been elected or appointed to the position of leadership.
- Influence is seen as a "right" and people follow because they have to.

2. Permission Leader
- Leadership is as a result of relationship.
- People follow willingly because they are being impacted.

3. Production Leader
- The leader starts producing visible results. - People follow because of what the leader has done.
- Success is visible.

4. People Development
- The leader is reproducing him/herself.
- People follow because of what you have done for them.
- Impact is felt beyond the current organization.

5. Personhood Leadership
- The highest level of leadership.
- Respect is at the utmost.
- You are followed because of what you represent.

»»» Key Question »»» At what level of leadership am I operating?

How To Lead Up.
(Influencing or adding value to the leaders above you)
1. Lead yourself exceptionally well because the first and the best victory is to conquer self. (Plato).
2. Lighten your leader's load by asking your leader: what can I do to help you?
3. Be willing to do what others won't. Go the extra mile. (Matthew 5:41)
4. Do more than just managing. Lead. Managers know what is to be done, leaders know why it is done.
5. Invest in relational chemistry. Be a friend with your leader.
6. Be prepared every time you take your leader's time. Research. Come to your leader with suggested solutions, not just problems.
7. Know when to push and when to back off. Remember you are a follower.
8. Become a go-to player. Be irreplaceable. Be loyal and hardworking e.t.c.
9. Be better tomorrow than you are today. Read books, go to school, learn from others, learn from your mistakes.

How To Lead Across.
(To lead those at the same level with you).
1. Complement your fellow leaders. Don't seek competition.
2. Be a friend. Make partners out of other leaders.
3. Avoid office politics.
4. Expand your circle of acquaintances. Know people. Learn from them.
5. Let the best idea win.
6. Don't pretend you're perfect. Know this and learn from others.

How To Lead Down.
(Influencing those under you.)
1. Visit those under you. Know where they live if possible. Call them. Pray with them.
2. See the good / the best in everyone.
3. Develop each team member as a person. Deal with each one individually.
4. Place people in their strength zones.
5. Lead by example by modelling the behavior you desire. (1 Peter 5:1ff)
6. Transfer and share the vision with those under you »» you'll then be headed in the same direction.
7. Reward results.

That's all.

Share this with as many leaders you get as possible.

Cheers.

Here are some photos taken during the sessions;

Bonface Morris.