Abba, Father, I …

Science is a wonderful thing.

No one can argue with some of the great advances in life we have attained, thanks to the application of scientific knowledge.

I am sure you are aware that the field of genetics and its applications is bound to continue changing people’s lives in ways no one can predict. But let us consider a few behaviors so far found to be genes related. Here are a few behaviors that we are informed the genes predisposes someone to:

• Alcohol addiction.
• Anger.
• Thrill seeking or T-Type ness.
• Kleptomania.

You do not need to be a gene scientist to realize that soon, we will all “know” that the following behaviors are genetically influenced:

• Tendency towards homosexuality
• Lying
• Promiscuity and adultery
• Theft and greed
• Hate and Murder

In other words, one can certainly find a gene that influences any given behavior a person involves themselves in.

Soon, it should be possible for genetize any sin.

Finding such a offending gene and connecting it to a behavior of interest is not as difficult as you might imagine. Ask anyone doing research in genetics.

Science does not lie

Science has given us so much. Look around you. See all the wonders?  Medicine. Technology. Engineering. Where would be we be without the help of science? Since science has been our eyes, helping us navigate the complex world of both the seen and the unseen, we have been trained to believe that as long as science says something is ( i.e. scientifically proven) then it is.

Science cannot lie, we are programmed to think.

Now the hard part. If science has been so faithful to us and it cannot lie, how do you reconcile the above claims with the claims of the Bible?

What does the Lord say about how we should behave in this life?

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” ( Genesis 4:6,7 NIV)

In other words, you may have a predisposition to sin, but you do not have to.

And, here is a list of a few other natural things you will be predisposed to:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5 19-21 NIV)

Should you then obey your impulses?
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The question of what to wear ( especially among Christian women ) is perhaps less important nowadays than it used to be.

But the issue will never really go away. It was a problem 2000 years ago. It is a problem in the 21st century. It will remain a problem as long as we live on terra firma. That is, until men are glorified and removed from the presence of sin, what a woman wears will remain an issue for a Christian.

Pea and them girls at yakuti asked me to respond to one girl asking a question about what she wears. And so i decided to make a short post on it here.

And they were naked

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Imagine this scenario:

You are a missionary. You are sent to preach in a distant tropical jungle. Or tropical paradise. When you arrive in this secluded place, lo and behold, you find the villagers going about their business naked.  No one has any piece of clothing whatsoever. After getting over the “shock”, you preach to them, and all the villagers gladly believe in Christ and are born again.

You ask them whether they have problem with sexual sins, and they laugh at the question. No, they tell you. People are so busy making a living no one has time to think about sex out of the context of the necessity of procreation.

Should you ask them to wear clothes? Why? You were sent to preach Christ, not introduce a new culture of clothes. Right? Right.

This is not as far fetched at you might imagine. I doubt the Turkana men have any problem with  their bare-chested women.

Jeans or no Jeans
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My son David turned five last December.

Now i know. Late four and early five is the period of immense complaints:

“Daddy, yesterday we prayed in Gracie’s room, why ..again today?

“Daddy i do not like this…”

“But daddy i do not want to go to bed now..”

“But daddy..”

It can wear you out. Today i had just had enough of it. But as i was busy getting annoyed, the Lord reminded me of my own baseless complaints to Him.

So this post is a reminder to myself whenever i am tempted to open my mouth and opine.

Why complaining is a no no

Why do we complain?

Basically, when things are not as we want them to be.

I will give you just three reasons why you should not make complaining a norm in your life.

1. The Lord knows what you need.

Even before you ask Him, He already knows your needs.

²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear. ( Isaiah 65:24)

And He has taken measures to meet those needs. In fact, it is most likely that He has already met those needs, or is working towards meeting them.

For the  pagans (other people-mine ) run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ( Matthew 6:32)

So if that is the case, from whence cometh the complaints?

Many times it so happens that His solution to our needs and our preferred solutions do not match. And if you happen to  know better than He does, you open your mouth and out comes complaints. I will give you one example.

A couple of years back i sought to work for a certain high flying energy company. After going through a couple of interviews that went well, i failed to land the job. I was distraught. I complained. Soon after, i took a job with a “less glorious” firm instead.

Two years later, the high flying firm went bust. Enron style. My employer is still going strong. The Lord knew the future, i did not. He set my feet on sure footing. Yet i foolishly opened my mouth to opine, craving that which was dying.

2. A sign that you distrust the Lord’s ability
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I know you are probably troubled by the misery that is Haiti after the recent earthquake.

Some people may have theories about “packs made with the devil” and all that. And some people may theorize on the effects of “voodoo”. I do not know.

I have not asked, and so i do not have an answer to your “why?” I am not a prophet.  But sad as it may be, there are two things i hope you get out of this terror.

(i) For possible explanations, read the post “If God is good, why did he let this to happen?”

(ii) Learn: this may be one of the end time signs

When asked about end times:

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ( Matthew 24: 3 NIV)

Jesus answers that:

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. ( Matthew 24:4-14 )

We are so used to stories of starvation in Somalia/Ethiopia, that we might forget that those daily news events could be end time signs for us. We quickly forgot the 1m or so people who are reportedly hungry in North Korea.  Just a couple of years ago, over 200,000 people died in a Tsunami in Asia. We have almost forgotten that. Haiti’s misery is another soon to be forgotten earthquake event.

But, if there is at least something to “get’ from this, it is this: This may be an end time sign. And if it is and this  knowledge helps someone, then those Haiti people may have just been sacrificed to save that someone.

This is the final post ( for now )  on the love trail. See the previous ones:

• a born again christian has no right to hate or dislike another person.
• the type of love shown by a born again Christian must be agape
• a born again Christian cannot hate gays and other “sinners”
• How do you love your fellow Christians?

In today’s post, we shall show some love to our pets.

Americans love their pets. Very very much.

And that is why i saw it fit to put in a word or two on a Christian’s love for pets.

The Trend

Listen to this:

• Commonly heard: “I  am a pet parent“
• The Pet industry is a $45 billion business ( 2009 estimates according to APPA )
• People will continue to spend above and beyond on their pets as the population ages and pets take the place of children at home; however, pet parents will continue to focus their dollars on quality necessities, such as food, leashes, and bedding,..
• It is now common to purchase gifts and diamond jewelry for dogs.

In summary, pets now compete with children and other humans for love and affection. More and more modern girls consider dogs adorable and children “messy” and “demanding”.

More people are choosing to love dogs far more and above humans.

How i love my dog!

How much love should my dog get from me?
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