Arise Kenya Arise....

Arise Kenya Arise....

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fungua Chips

Kenya is a peculiar country with a peculiar people, and the man who said this - Michael Joseph, came from Britain to work here and has stayed for good. We are also creative people and we never seem to stop creating words to define who we really are. The new word is chips funga, this is slung for one night stand sex most likely with a stranger. It started with men seeking out women, now even women chips funga men.

This is evident in our morning shows on radio where to be listened to you must be as paverted as you can be. Casual sex is the in thing in the airwaves and internet social sites. I live in this world and I get tempted always and I know the environment is not supportive to decesions to abstain from sex before marriage. It is only God's grace which can make one stand in this area.

Nature abhors liabilities just as power abhors a vacuum. This is the very reason why dinosaurs are no longer walking on the face of the earth. God has created nature in such a way that it sorts out anomalies in its systems. I hereby call on real men and women to stand up and launch 'Operation Fungua Chips' or the systems of nature will rander you redundant.

It may look out of place but all over history it is the people who were courageous enough to look out of place who made history. There can never be change or invention if we all think and act in the same way. If David would have gone into pity party like the rest of Israel's army he would have remained a shepherd all his life. Joseph in Egypt, Boaz in Bethlehem and Apostle Paul are men who went against the grain in their times.

Fungua roho and say fungua chips; for a better life today and in the days ahead, wait until you are married to engage in sex.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

BEND OVER

“Cowardice asks the question is it safe, expedience asks the question is it politic, vanity asks is it popular, but conscience asks the question is it right?” – Martin Luther King Jr.

A friend of mine (name withheld) commented on a status on facebook that ‘mtaka cha mvunguni sharti a- bend over.’ The correct word instead of bend over is ainame, (Kiswahili for he must bend if combined with sharti) it hit me that a shift had happened to our psyche as a generation. We have even corrupted a Kiswahili proverb for handwork pays to mean that you can get what you want by offering your body up for sex. 

A few days later I watched a clip from the Swaggarific concert that took place in Nairobi in April and I was left with many unanswered questions. The public demonstration of sexual act in the name of a dancing style called ‘bend over’ shocked me so much that I could not stay still (if you know what I mean.)

I realized we have decided to bend over backwards and copy a lifestyle that does not add value to our lives. Sex is good, God created it simply for the good of mankind yet man has complicated it and made it a road to destruction. The laws of supply and demand when applied to sex today will definitely rate sex as a devalued commodity. The subtle seduction, unpredictability and mystery around sex is long gone, what we have is a dry weather beaten husk of a fruit that has been trampled down by safe sex, orgies and one night stands (chips funga in Nairobi.)

Is it only the media that is causing this decadence? I believe it is also a product of a combination of a stressful, ‘couch potato’ with junk food lifestyle. When such an inactive lifestyle is bombarded with sexual undertones from the liberal media around us, the feeling is to bend over backwards so as to bend over.

The whole of proverbs chapter five is dedicated to the effects of adultery, it concludes that lack of self control leads to death. Absalom slept with his father’s (King David) concubines on the palace roof in full view of people. He must have thought that was the coolest thing to do, he did not live long after that. 

How would you feel when you eat a sweet desert first thing in the morning? Sex and good sex has its place and time. The pressure is there all around us to ask if it is safe, popular or politically correct, bend over, kneel down and pray. Only God can give us a conscience to ask of it is right, and help us stand in the strong wave.

© Copyright 19th May 2011.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

You Must lose to Gain

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.                                                                                                       (Mathew 16:25)

I was a volatile university student in many ways. This was a result of a combination of Marxist ideologies and a desire to change the world. I did not know that to change the world I had to change myself first. One of my lecturers must have taken note of this but kept it to himself. One day while on a field excursion looking at rock formations in some remote part of Kenya, the lecturer went on a rabbit trail. This detour from the discussion was to take me to Mathew 16:26; what will I gain if I win the whole world and lose my life?

This is a biblical as well as a life principle, if you do not risk something you don’t get anything. To gain love you must lose part of you to your object of desire. To get a profit you must risk your money in an investment knowing very well it may go down the drain. It is a word in business that if you fear loses, you will never get profits. This comes out clearly in the book of Ruth in many ways. 

Elimelech risked by going to Moab and died their, his wife walked back home with a daughter in law only. Ruth let go of her life in Moab, and she found more in her life in Bethlehem. Boaz knew by marrying Ruth, a Moabite, he might lose as it was against the Jewish tradition and he later found it in abundance. Opah and the closer relative to Elimelech saved their lives and missed out on eternal blessings. 

Christ has promised us that if we lose our lives for his sake we will find it. I am convinced beyond words that this is the only way to greatness. As we keep on this ‘soap opera’ of Ruth in Bethlehem, it has great lessons on love and life. Let yourself loose in Christ and find your life with more value added not only here on earth, but heaven as well.

© Copyright 12th May 2011.

Monday, May 9, 2011

In the Fullness of Time; Ruth in Bethlehem (Part 3)

One of Africa's greatest football players is Ghanaian Abedi Ayew, famously known as Abedi Pele. He remains the most decorated African football player. Among other accolades he won the French league with Lille and Olympique Marseille, and  played in two UEFA Champions League finals. He was crowned African Footballer of the year 1991, 1992, and 1993 yet like his compatriot George Weah from Liberia, failed to take his country to the world cup finals. 

Then came the year 2010 when the world cup was hosted by South Africa and Abedi was on the stands. This time watching his two sons Ibrahim and Andre’ play for Ghana up to the quarter finals stage. He must have felt very proud and happy that his sons had accomplished what he could not. The two had just won the Under 20 World Cup a few months earlier in Egypt.

The same experience is what Naomi felt when he held Ruth’s son with Boaz in her arms. She had named herself ‘marah’ (bitterness) upon returning from Moab, as her name Naomi (pleasant) did not represent her stat then. The women told her that Ruth had done to her what seven sons could not do. Ruth may have been happy as a mother, but she may not have known just how much her son meant to her mother in law.

We have desires and ambitions in life, realistically we will not be able to achieve all of them. We may end up dejected and demoralized and even question God. Yet, in the fullness of time, our prayers will be answered in a different and more fulfilling way than we thought. Obed was David’s grandfather, a man who God loved and blessed his lineage simply because of his love for God. Be still and know that He is God.

© Copyright May 8th 2011