Juliet Odhiambo

Juliet Odhiambo

Thursday, 10 October 2013 08:35

Bwana Asi-finywe!

'Bwana Asifiwe!' (praise the Lord)

'Amen!'

'Praise the Lord!'

'Amen!'

Thursday, 03 October 2013 08:25

In this Kingdom: We learn to eat 'Omena'.

One of my not so favorite childhood memories is that of my mum pulling my ears and forcing me to eat omena.(an interesting delicacy of tiny little fish that is most enjoyed by those of us from the lakeside) Now, over the years of course I have come to appreciate it as a delicacy, the little things actually taste abit like pringles (said no one...ever) It always felt like I had eaten a mouthful of stinging bitter stuff and I just could not swallow. I kept imagining them alive and swimming around in my mouth.

My mum with hands akimbo and a terrifying look on her face and sometimes pulling my ear right out of its socket would say.

Wednesday, 02 October 2013 19:08

In this Kingdom: Its a Family affair

One of my not so favourite childhood memories is that of my mum pulling my ears and forcing me to eat omena(an interesting delicacy of tiny little fish that is most enjoyed by those of us from the lakeside) Now, over the years of course I have come to appreciate it as a delicacy- it can even taste like pringles (depending on how it’s cooked of course), but when I was young it always felt like I had eaten a mouthful of stinging bitter stuff and I just could not swallow. I kept imagining them alive and swimming around in my mouth.

My mum with hands akimbo and a terrifying look on her face would say.

’In this house, we always eat what HAS been cooked. Umesikia?’

Over the years I heard my mum repeat that sentence a gazillion times varying just slightly on the point she was trying to make.

If you want to live in this house, you must do your chores or you don’t eat. (Never mind that we were having omena for supper)

In this house we don’t fight with each other

In this house you do what I tell you to do... etc.

The thing about going through the book of Mathew is that you find that in many ways Jesus is speaking about how things ought to be done in the fellowship of believers. In Mathew (as with the entire gospels) we find many references to the Kingdom of God.

I am not even going to pretend to go into the theology of The Kingdom of God Vs Kingdom of Heaven, whether a particular scripture is referring to the past kingdom the present kingdom or the soon coming kingdom; because I am not sure I’ve fully grasped it personally. Pastor Calisto when speaking on the bliss of zero defined The Kingdom of God as:

...a place where the reign of God is experienced, its much bigger than just the church and it is here with us today. He further said that once you accept Christ, you become a member of the Kingdom.

Ever been somewhere new and struggled to find out how things operate? What to do and what not to do? Based on Pastor Calisto’s definition and the idea of living Counter culture we will attempt to explore what it means to part of this Kingdom. How we ought to live, how we ought not to live. What’s our belief system, our values, our privileges? What about the principles and attitudes? What kind of relationships should we have with each other, with unbelievers? Do we have rights and responsibilities, as members of this Kingdom?

All these q's I believe have been answered and will be answered as we go through the book of Mathew and I cannot wait to put down the things that God will teach us through The Saturday PM. So every once in a while in a post tagged In this Kingdom I will share what it means to be part of this Kingdom. Just the way my mum wanted things done is a certain way in our family, we will find out how this family runs. A family of diverse races and walks of life, diverse ages and backgrounds, diverse tribes and skin colour.

The difference between my mum and the King is that it always seemed that there a rule or other to be followed in the house but in this Kingdom, this family, it’s much much more than just a list of do’s and don’ts. Its about freedom, joy and evalsting life.

Dr Myles Munroe is one of those teachers of the word who exposes the Kingdom of God in such mind boggling (yet simple) ways that makes you wonder whether you really are part of this Everlasting Kingdom and how much you really know about it. I listened to

once and I have never looked at this teaching quite the same.

Let me know what you think.

For the Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace and joy in the holy ghost. Romans 14:17.

Friday, 27 September 2013 10:01

Americanah, Jesus and my new favorite phrase

Americanah; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:
This book was doing its rounds on social media for a while this year, creating quite a buzz that made me feel that I HAD to read; which I did. It’s a great book, I enjoyed reading it. I couldn’t put it down and stayed up late reading it because I just had to find out what happen next.

Monday, 23 September 2013 07:42

Confessions of an Intercessor.

Jane Doe walked me to our then youth pastors office and announced that I will be taking over her role as the head of the Intercessory ministry; I gasped , I didn’t think it was a done deal, we had talked about it but as far as I was concerned I was still ‘praying’ about it. She probably figured this was the best way to do it because if I continued to ‘pray’ about it I may never hear Gods’ voice. Therein lay one of my many struggles as an Intercessor.

Monday, 16 September 2013 21:47

A new normal

You have heard that it was said…But I say to you…

Jesus called us to go the other way; he gave us a different kind of normal. Exhorting us to go the direction that is contrary to what we feel/think is right, contrary to what is popular, contrary to how we were raised, contrary to what is socially acceptable.

Eye for eye tooth for tooth, is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose if someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you to court and sues for the shirt off your back, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit for tat stuff. Live generously. Mathew 5:38 (The Message)

Tuesday, 10 September 2013 17:20

RICH RICH RICH

It will be great when we are dead.

That's what people think the Christian faith is about. Especially those of us who have never really experienced God in their lives. They think that it's "Pie in the sky after you die".

People feel that to be a Christian is to miss out on all the fun and be tied down to a poor, boring life full of restrictions.

But that's not what our faith is like. See, your life is better when God is in it. In every single way, you will succeed more in your life if you follow Christ.

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