End Days - Mathew 24:30 - Make Good Choices

It’s a joy to meet again. 

When we see each other, our eyes can give to us an opportunity to differentiate between different people.  Our eyes are important to testify what we have seen to make the right choice and see what others cannot see.  It is better to lose my arms than my eye sight.  I have friends that say better to lose everything but not my sight.

According to 2 Corinthians it is better to walk by faith than by sight.  Faith can see what eyes can’t see.  Faith can show you the right place to step where your eyes have no idea.  Faith can help myself and others prepare for Jesus.  This is today’s message.

We see people protesting all over the world because something is wrong somewhere.  People are protesting that black lives matter.  Black people feel that others think our lives don’t matter so they must protest.  When they talk about protest, they walk towards a destination.  Why don’t we also protest against satan?  Imagine if all Christians could stand against satan and sin, how strong would our church be?  We can protest for that man who died.  Maybe that was the path God had chosen for that man.

Some who are good swimmers die in the sea.  Some can die in a car crash or in their beds sleeping.  It is just a path that God uses to bring his people back to him.  No one protests against corona virus itself.  Why can’t we all say, “This sickness has been killing millions, we should protest”. 

I give these examples before I start because in life, we sometimes don’t always focus on what is important.  We make small things bigger and protest against them but I should learn to protest against sin.  When I see sin coming, I should pick up my banner and protest against sin.  I should not wait for others to join me.  A protest can start with one person.

When people are protesting, it is some peoples’ job to film.  Even when the man died, no one helped, they just filmed.  When we see others protesting sin, what do we do.  I saw a man drowning in water and screaming for help and a person just filmed it.  Lucky someone intervened.  The film maker thought it was just a joke.  Sometimes we think our sins are just a joke and not serious and sometimes we create a sin network.  If I want to gossip, I will have my network of people to gossip.

Ephesians 5:15-17, think about how you are living.  The time you are living is a serious time.  This is a time where everyone should be awakened.  Very soon Jesus is coming back. This is the time where satan himself doesn’t hide himself anymore and he tries to destroy as many souls as possible.  Sin can be seen in our eyes as normal.  People are not afraid anymore to do wrong in front of others.  Satan has removed shame and respect for the Kingdom of God.  What we couldn’t do 10 years ago, people do easily today and people clap their hands.

We are living in a dangerous time where we all must know that we have to be careful.  We must go into a confinement to protect yourself, family and children to protect ourselves from the influence of the world because Jesus is at the doorstep.  God insists, “Do not be foolish, you have the brain I have given you and you have the capacity to decide what is right or wrong”. 

Sometimes people will decide to put their dignity aside and act foolishly.  Yesterday I was at Oscars, as we were eating, Oscar left his plate because the phone rang.  On his plate was a nice piece of fish. Because Oscar was distracted, I took the nice fish and ate it and replaced it with a head of fish.  When Oscar came back he knew straight away that it wasn’t his fish.  He lost control denied the plate was his.

Don’t be shocked when you come back to your Bible after being distracted that things have changed.  You can be fervent in prayer and if you stop for 2 days, it will be hard to come back to praying.  It is the same with reading Bible.  If you are distracted, it will be hard to put aside by your distractions. 

Nadege likes to chat on the phone helping others to be on the right path but it means she is up until 4am.  The next day, she can sometimes still be in bed until 3pm.  Something has taken her in a different direction.

What is a blind spot of your life?  You are in your car and a good driver and have your licence and you know your roads around you very well.  Behind your wheel something happens and you didn’t see it.  Two seconds from your car hitting it, what will you do?  Scream, slam breaks, freeze.

A blind spot is a spot where you cannot see.  You can see but something blocks you from seeing what is coming.  It’s a threat not only to the driver but to other road users or those walking.  One time I was driving and the bus stopped so I went passed but then someone on other side of the road came on my side of the road and I screamed but thankfully we both stopped in time.

You have a rear-view mirror in your car but you are not able to see everything that is behind you.  What do you do when you are reversing your vehicle?  What do you do first?  You must check.  How often do you check your life when you decide to reverse spiritually, when you are regressing spiritually?  Have you done an exam or test of yourself?  If I pull out/reverse of my spiritual life, I can kill myself and others.  What happens if I decide to not to read my Bible every morning or pray every day.  What is your plan?

Everyone driving has a plan in their life.  When you reverse in your life, what is the next destination.  That is the problem of not seeing behind you what you may kill.  When we decide to reverse spiritually we kill some of those fruit of the spirit.

A child knows its bad to steal but decides to steal.  When asked, who did this.  They will lie.  They will destroy the truth to sin.  They will give justifications or accuse others.  It wasn’t me.  They don’t see where they are going.  If you sit in your vehicle with a reverse camera, you may stop and see what is behind you. 

What tools do you use when making your spiritual decisions?  Praying, church, Bible study, helping others, sharing gospel with others.  I made the decision that I will share the gospel once per week but I change that promise.  How many lives are lost because I am reversing my spiritual life?  Don’t be foolish and think that it doesn’t matter.  Why can’t I protest against the decisions that I don’t fulfil, my false promises and make a decision to be honest with myself and others.

Some people drive from lane to lane, left, right, left, right without indicating while driving at 100km/hr.  How often do we change our lanes?  God has given us the path to follow but we don’t remain in the faith and we move in the fruit of the flesh.  We are shifting from left to right and we become a stumbling block for others.  We are a danger to those next to us.

We just decide to change the lane because we believe we will reach where we go faster.  110km/hr is the max speed limit.  One time I saw a person driving 130km/hr and they overtook us.  20 mins later and we saw them again because the traffic had slowed them down.  You can drive fast but it doesn’t mean you will get their earlier.  If the police catch you, there will be a consequence.  Sometimes we break the rules believing we will get something but we will end up in the same place.

Do you know the rules of God?  That is the will of God for you.  What is the will of God for you?  John 3:16, He doesn’t want to see anyone perish, He wants all of us saved in his Kingdom but we choose not to by deciding to go in a direction where we will perish.  When you don’t follow the road code, you can have an accident.

After eating my brother’s fish, Oscar didn’t say much.  I was watching him.  He went back and took another piece of fish.  He ate.  I took back my fish head and put it on Hayley’s plate.  She didn’t touch it.

The world can sometimes destroy your comfort and step into your plate of life and make it look yuck.  If something leaves left-overs on your plate, you will change your plate.  Oscar didn’t change his plate, he kept eating the rest.  When someone disturbs you, do you blow up everything or do you ignore that bad pressure from the bad corner?  When someone steals from you, do you become angry?

The blind spot in your life is when you cannot control things.  When you lose control.  You forget the presence of Jesus and then you hit something.  Slam on your breaks which means to have self-control.  When someone hurts your feelings, you become angry but then you need to slam on your breaks.  Your heart will pound.  Close your eyes and block your ears.  If you open your eyes you will attack or if you open your ears, you will hear negative things.

Although a bus is stopping on your right side, don’t go by with high speed.  Slow down when its time to slow down.  Don’t rush.  Even if someone is telling you something huge, take your time and ask God to help you. 

Colossians 4:5, we must walk wisely towards strangers.  When you meet with people and they don’t know you and they don’t know if you are a Christian, do you behave as a wise person?  Wisdom comes from God and it’s a blessing to be children of God because He gives us wisdom.  When we see strangers and friends are not there, how do we act?  Do we do what they do or do we help them to understand that their lives do not please God?

One time I spoke to one of our boys.  I asked if he had tried to drink alcohol and he said, “Yes because my friends gave it to me and it wasn’t good”.  In my house, he will never do that but when he went outside the house with people that we don’t know, he was offered something.  Satan is our enemy and targets us when we are outside of those that we call Christians.  At work you will see someone talking against God’s ways or propose sins and you will participate because it seems normal.  God is asking us to walk wisely.

Wisdom is to decide what is right and what is wrong and to choose what is right.  One time I was given vegetables and meat and I was asked to choose which one I want to eat.  I’ll go for meat.  Why meat?  It tastes good.  After eating, the person said, “It was a good choice to please your mouth but vegetables are more important than meat”.  Very often we limit ourselves to our taste, this is fashion, this is how the world looks and if I don’t do like them I will be different. 

We are different because we don’t belong to this world.  Just because Shakira wears those clothes or dances like that, we should.  We will look foolish in God’s eyes.

Our older brother who passed away wanted to be buried about 70km from the capital city where his ancestors were buried.  He’s dead and his body won’t say no.  We can put it anywhere.  He believed that his spirit will help others who come to visit his grave.  I told Oscar to put that aside and we instructed them to put the body somewhere else.  We sent young persons to prepare the place.  The family found it was wrong place but it was too late to change the place so they accepted.

When our collegues or friends are wrong, we can help them.  Don’t be ashamed of our belief.  Use your eyes to see.  God helps us to see everyday situations.  God is coming back very soon before we are old, at any minute, Jesus can come back. Are we wise or not?  If not, He won’t take us.  Remember the story of the 10 virgins, if you are not among the wise ones, you will stay behind.  Please be wise. 

In your prayers, tell God every time, “I need wisdom”.  Once you have wisdom, you will have more.  

End Days - Mathew 24:29 - The Time of Darkness (Noah)

 

By Odon Bulamba

It’s a joy to be here again this morning.  We will carry on with Mathew 24:29

Last time I said the sun and moon will turn to darkness and the stars will follow.  When I was a child I was courageous but the only thing I was afraid of was darkness.  I could be naughty during the day but if my mother told me to get outside when it is dark, I will scream and ask for forgiveness. During the day, I will say, “I will do whatever I want,” but when I got back in the evening, I will be told to get out.

Darkness can teach you something.  It is a time where we have eyes and sight but we can’t see because of the lack of light.  When darkness appears, we will not say we are blind but the absence of light makes us see differently.

One time I was living in Uganda, we were supposed to go through a forest.  During the day we can’t cross, it must be night-time.  We were five people including my brother Oscar.  We saw a lion in the darkness.  We walked for 5/6km but it felt like we walked for 10 days due to the fear.  My body was shaking because I could see the danger of being killed.  However, some people are happy to see darkness so they can do bad things.  E.g. nightclubs and all other evil, prefer to operate when there is no light so people can do their acts in secret.

We are living today in a day that has no light.  Evil is now in action.  Danger now surrounds Christians.  How much temptation are you tempted by per day?  Have you tried to write down each time you are tempted?  My heart or body can ask for something wrong.

Yesterday, a witch lady rang me.  She is an extremely old woman of around 90-100 years old.  I see a picture of someone come up on my phone that I have never seen before.  She said, “I am a witch, a snake and I want to work with you so that you can become someone big in this world”.  My heart was beating.  Then my phone rang, the person said, “This person can help you to become extremely rich in 3 weeks only”.  I thought, my wealth is in heaven not on this earth.

My Father wealthier than what she thinks.  If my heart was not in a good position, I might think it was a good thing and I might easily take that position.  Looking at the lady herself, she can’t move or walk and she is ready to give me something that herself doesn’t have.

Satan will promise us something so we will become famous and get respect but never accept to work with satan.  The sun will be turned to darkness, many Christians who don’t see properly, they will accept satan’s offer because they think it is accepted in secret.  Once accepted, you compromise your faith and you become the slave of satan instead of Christ.

Suddenly I saw the rates from Hamilton City Council and bills kept coming in.  If I accept this deal, I won’t mind paying my bills but my soul is more important than my bills.  For that reason, Jesus said light won’t be there and then heavens will be shaken and suddenly the sun of man will appear in the sky and every eye will see Him.

Before the end of the time, God has told us that things will be exactly like the time of Noah where people are eating, drinking, and getting married.  Genesis 6, you will read and you will see even angels came down and found that the children of human beings were extremely beautiful and angels adored our beauty and the angels accepted to sin.  Today beauty has taken the highest level that the world can consider.

If someone appears on TV, they must spend 4 hours first to look beautiful.  If we are invited to a party, we want to appear beautiful.  Our beauty is higher than what God found beautiful.  God created me and I believe I am handsome the way He created me but when I look at myself in the mirror, I start to correct what God created, I’m bald, my nose is short.  I might give myself 2/10 because I compare myself to others.

God looks at us and thinks, who are you to correct me and believe that you know beauty more than me.  That vanity of wanting to look impressive and beautiful has led thousands in sin.  What is your purpose to look beautiful?  Is it so that others will appreciate you and for you to get glory while God wants all the glory?  We are now fighting for His glory so we can also be glorified and to be seen.

One time I was talking to two ladies from different corners of our country.  One looked at the feet of the other while the other looked at the other’s dress.  “Her shoes are not as good as mine” and the other one, “The dress she is wearing is not as good as mine”.  To buy a car, glasses, we want something greater and better than others so that wherever we go people can appreciate us.

My shoes maybe cost me $20 and when I see Leah’s shoes, I see fashion.  Every single young person will know Vans shoes but when I hear the name Van, I think of transport.  They are worth more than $100 for a pair of shoes and if mummy tells the kids, “Lets buy food instead of Vans,” they won’t accept it because they want to be seen by others as special in their Vans.

Our eyes most of the time focus not on the light but on physical things that we see.  Our light is Jesus but our focus is not there and we want to walk in darkness and appreciate what the world gives to us instead of appreciating what God has given us.  Every girl today can be a Miss World.  How many beauticians do we have in New Zealand?  Maybe thousands.  Our neighbour is a beautician and we see many cars arriving at her house per day. 

Physically she’s not that beautiful.  People want to look more beautiful than her.  People walk in and they come out looking more beautiful. They rush in so they can’t be seen and when they leave, they walk slowly, “Stop, look at me now”.  That appearance does not last.  After a few weeks, they go back again. 

If you are beautiful in the Lord, you will shine every day.  People will see the glory of Christ every day and you won’t need to take care of your body that much because you are preparing the body for the One above.

I eat like a pig and I know some people who have a diary of food.  Monday at 6pm, peanuts.  Monday at 8am, egg whites.  Some people have very good discipline even if they are dying hungry.  They don’t have a big tummy like I do, they are fit and healthy.  Imagine how healthy you would be in front of the eyes of the Lord if you ate spiritually healthy.  Sugar is bad for us.  Open your Bible, what is bad for your soul?  Although the sugar tastes good but it is bad.  What is bad for me? Sin, it can be tasty but it is bad for me.  I am on a diet and I must protect my soul.

Today, you will see all people fighting to eat healthier which is good.  One time in Paris, I looked at the menu and the meal was so small.  It was healthier so it was more expensive and portion size was much smaller.  Do you know that the Word of God is very expensive? Do you know that Word of God is well prepared by the best chef ever, Jesus who has been serving this to us day after day but we complain, we don’t want this, it doesn’t taste good, we prefer KFC. 

Our desire, our mind is only on the world.  People were eating in the time of Noah.  Everybody wants to get married.  Married to whom.  Not to Jesus or the Word of God or to God our father but to human beings which is normal but not for the purpose of forming a family that pleases God but one of sin.

It is better to marry a poor lady than a multi-millionaire.  Today, if you have a lot of money you can marry anyone.  Many will tell you that they love you but they only love what you possess. When you don’t possess what they expect you to offer, then that love will die.

Our father, Jesus, our Lord, our God has offered us life but we are not grateful for that, we want more.  We can be like those angels like the time of Noah where we start to envy other creatures and go astray.  The world has become crazy. 

It is as it is written in Romans 1:5 onwards where the Bible says clearly that man will go for man and women for women.  Pastors read it but because we are living the similar time as Noah, the pastor will still bless a same-sex marriage.  You call this house the house of the Lord and you say that you read the Bible but you don’t accept certain verses of the Bible and only consider where God says, “This is what you have”.  This is a serious problem of the church today and if we don’t open our eyes to see the light, we will live in darkness and when Jesus comes back, we won’t be aware. 

Today I came late on purpose to see what would happen.  I wondered how you would respond, “We have started the programme, who is going to preach?  Where is he, what happened?”  Maybe this created worry and doubt.  What will you do Tyrone if the preacher is not here?  Maybe there is no plan B.  When the time of Noah was there and he was building the ark, he was telling people to repent but they didn’t believe him and their minds were only on looking to marry beautiful people and a life of partying.

Finally, the Lord came and it was time for the rain and when God came down, He locked the door of the ark.  The people couldn’t find salvation anymore. God was the barrier.  Noah had neighbours and because they were late too come they could not enter the ark.  God said to collect the animals. The animals were so respectful and walked into the ark politely but human beings said no.

Once the door was shut, many would have shouted, “Open the door,” but he couldn’t open the door because God had shut it.  When you come late, people worry about you.  Aren’t you sometimes late to God’s plan?  When you give yourself the assignment to read the Word of God every morning at 6am, do you do it?  When you have an appointment to pray for someone, are you on time?

The first thing God taught us was time, He was creating things on time.  As the time is moving, the day is also moving forward and you can’t stop it.  If you say you will start church at 10am, if we are late, the time will keep moving forward and God will say you are late.  Once we are late, we can’t justify ourselves, just repent.

We are late today to give the gospel to others.  Since the time of your salvation, how many promises have you kept with God?  When was the last time you surrendered yourself in God’s hands?  Noah knew exactly what he was doing building the ark.  Have you built your ark?  Those measurements God gave you, “Start here, step one, step two,” how many steps have you done?

Lebon had a true a experience in his life at Lois’ place and how he was so scared of cows and even to touch a baby cow’s mouth.  It was a big experience to see a farm and he wanted to become a farmer and he had extreme joy.  If I go through my junk, I can find the DVD of Lebon being on a farm for his first time.  Even children can enjoy learning something new and we must teach them new things. 

What we are doing is important for Christ’s return.  If you focus only on eating, drinking, and parties, according to God that is a big distraction.  The main party we are waiting for is when Jesus comes back and then we can have a big feast.  Let us seize the opportunity to talk to others about Jesus.  Don’t go to parties to create envy in you.

End Days - Mathew 24:29 - The Stars will Fall from Heaven

 

By Odon Bulamba

Mathew 24:29, today we are going to talk about the stars.

It is written in the Bible that stars will fall from Heaven.  Imagine the stars falling.  What will happen on the earth if they fall?  We don’t know how big they are or the damage they will cause to the earth.  Normally stars are another type of Christian who don’t shine that much and don’t produce light to show us the path.  Those type of people are Christians are really far from God.  When you meet with them and you are told that this person is a believer, you are shocked because the way they live does not reflect God’s light, at all.

When I was growing up we had kerosene lamps to light the house but without the kerosene oil, the light starts to die.  Today, the number of Christians that are like stars are more than the true Christians.  You can visit churches all over the world and see a greater number of Christians whose light is failing compared to the true Christian that is shining the light of God.

Satan is called a star, God is called a star, we are called stars, and there are stars in nature.  Satan was a star but was kicked out of heaven because of pride, he wanted to be worshiped. In Genesis 15:4-5, you will see Abraham was visited by God and going through a serious problem of not having a child and God told him, “Come outside your tent,” and come out.  He looked towards the heaven, and God said, “Count the stars.  Then the number you have counted will be your descendants and your children”. 

Have you tried to count the stars?  You won’t have time to bother yourself because there so many that you can’t count them.  My mum used to ask me, “How many children will you have when you grow up?”  I wanted a small number but for Abraham God is asking him to count the stars to determine the number of descendants you want. 

How many stars will you count?  How many children do you want Rebekah?  Four.  Not 4 hundred?  We all believe we don’t need many children because the more children means the more trouble and challenges we will face.  All of us are Abraham’s descendants.  How many stars did he count?  Many.  Once you count a big number, you get lost. 

As we are born again and the light of the world, God asks us sometimes to come outside from our tent to start to count the number of believers that are not shining anymore.  He asks us to count the number of those that are counted as Christians but are no longer the light for God because their light is hidden.  Once counted, we will take the responsibility of becoming their parent, care for them, look after them, pray for them, fast for them, preach for them, come close to them and treat them like our own children.

Someone can be older than you physically but can be younger than you spiritually even if they met Jesus before you.  How much do you care for you children?  When you think about your children, how do you feel?  You may see hundreds of children at school but when it’s your child, you give them special attention.  You go to school because you have a child there and you prepare them to go to bed, feed them and be there 24/7 to protect your child.

Abraham was given this huge task of becoming a watchman.  Are you a watchman of those who are not shining anymore?  Those stars will fall.  When satan was thrown down, he was thrown to the earth.  Our bodies came from the earth and that is where physical life is, eating, drinking and sinning. 

Many of those who are not shining the light of Jesus, they continue to fall in sin, they are sinners.  Once they were saved but have decided to go away from the gospel and live like sinners, they are falling.  Now fallen, we don’t know who will pick them up again, this is the big responsibility we have.

Pray you will never be like a star.  Many people have created gods around the stars.  We have no choice than to come outside and help stars.  The message of Jesus was to make disciples.  We have these disciples who are lost and they need to come back. 

For example, Trish’s cat Cody got lost because Trish moved houses.  He kept going back to the old house.  Trish would do her best to bring him to the new house but he kept going back.  She tried her best and she loved Cody but Cody doesn’t care about Trish’s love and care.  Imagine how hard it was for Trish that her cat is back and she has happiness but after some time he disappears.  She keeps hoping he will come back to join the family.

When a child of God leaves His family, God sends someone to bring him home but even when they come back to church, they leave again.  Do we get tired?  Do we give up?  God has been encouraging us, don’t give up, don’t get tired.  If just one soul is saved, it is a big party in heaven.  Don’t feel like you have done enough, keep helping, their number is enormous and God wants these people to come back to Him again.

It’s a big task, a tough one.  You may go to that person and they may give you many verses to show you that you know nothing but your victory will be in your prayers.  Your words won’t change them unless God is in you to change those people. 

End Days - Mathew 24:29 - The Moon will not Give its Light

 

By Odon Bulamba

We are going to talk about the light again.  Last night I talked about the sun, today we will continue with Mathew 24:29 and talk about the moon.

We all know the moon and we see it at least once per month.  It will appear in the sky without asking for permission and it just appears and you see it.  The moon will be there for some days, maybe 7, and then it will vanish again.  The sun is unique because there is only one sun but there are many moons in our galaxy but only one that shines on the earth.  Then there are stars which are too many to count.  When we think about the big number of moons, more than 190, it is like a crowd. 

Mathew 24:29, apart from the sun, is related to Luke 14 and we will match those two verses and see. Luke 14:1-4, “It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away”. 

When I’m talking about the moon, I see a celebration.  Many people think the moon is good, soft, beautiful, kind and there are zero adjectives used to describe the moon as bad.  We have this category of Christians, wherever they go, they appear soft, kind, and good and all positive things that the world gives to them and for them that is beautiful but in front of God, they don’t shine all the time, they only appear for a few days and then vanish and become covered by darkness.

Sometimes we see the moon shining and you can see the path but other times the moon is not there and you can’t see what is in front of you.  We are living in the sabbath day, the last period of time before the return of Jesus and Jesus is now invited into a Pharisee’s house.

A Pharisee is human being who knows the gospel, reads the Bible and prays but lives like a hypocrite, he/she is not 100% committed to the Lord.  They know the Word of God but they don’t practice it.  Some people like the Pharisees invite Jesus to come for dinner to celebrate.  At this dinner you will see other people (moons) where they will listen to hear the Word of God.  They come to church on Sunday and shine but after the service they are different people.

Jesus knew he was being watched at the Pharisee’s house.  He went by himself, without the disciples.  He accepted to sit with those that are not true Christians.  We can be wrong but when we invite Jesus, He responds.  When someone tells you, I don’t have Jesus with me, it is possibly because you haven’t invited Jesus in your life.  How often do I invite Jesus in my life regardless of my hypocrisy?

Normally when we invite people to a party or dinner, we think about food but it is really about fellowshipping and talking and catching up and spending a good time with others.  If you come to a dinner only for food and forget about making a good climate with others, you won’t enjoy the dinner.  If people talk negatively about you, you will lose your appetite.  Sometimes, you will think, why did I come to this dinner because people are being rude.

When you invite Jesus to visit you, “Please Lord listen to me,” you must ask yourself, what have I prepared for Jesus?  What conversation are we going to talk about?  What seat will he sit on when he comes into my heart?  What will be my thoughts and my prayers when He comes? Did I prepare myself to welcome my guest?

Very often we don’t have time to contemplate about the moon, we very often sleep or rest during that time.  This category of Christians that try to impress a little bit to their friends and other believers, they will look at you for a bit but then go to sleep, “better to sleep than to listen to you”.  You have decided to be soft and extremely kind and afraid to offend by talking about the gospel.  You are afraid of others seeing you pray or holding your Bible and reading it at lunch time.  You want to be a Christian but living in hypocrisy so others can’t see who you are and who you work for.

In Luke 14, this man was sick but when he went to dinner, he forgot about his sickness.  Maybe those that we invite, those we pray for to become Christians, they may have some disabilities, they may be sick but that should never make us to not invite them. Many people in my country and community don’t want to hear about Jesus but because I am organising a party and because I am like a moon, in my hypocrisy and weakness, I should also invite others.  Come so we can eat together.  The person you meet might meet Jesus through you.  Through your behaviour you may save others. 

When Jesus sat on the table, He looked around.  The man didn’t say he was sick but Jesus discovered by looking at him.  Jesus could tell he was suffering without being told.  Jesus gave him healing.  The person didn’t stay to eat or celebrate, after healing, Jesus said go away.  He came to eat but the Master, the Healer said, go away without eating.

Imagine you invite someone and then someone else tells your visitor to go away.  The dinner was like an opportunity to come closer to Jesus.  When we are invited, we prepare ourselves.  When someone invites you to dinner, you must prepare yourself.  According to your culture here, you first want to be on time and then ask what you should take with you.  You will also be clean.

For some people when they are at the dinner, they start to complain.  I wish I could be at that table.  We complain while it is a privilege to be invited, to be one of those that receive the invitation to be with the master.  How often do you complain about your time to pray, reading the Word of God, visiting those who are sick?  How often do you complain when Jesus has given you a space in the room but you don’t want that space in the room?

Some will say, “I have been praying for days but God doesn’t respond.  I am sick of it.  I am tired of asking God and not getting a positive answer”.  Jesus who created everything, He asked those people, is it lawful to heal someone who suffers?  God who created the laws asks us if it is lawful.  He is not talking about working on sabbath but healing. 

In your life when he comes to you, is it lawful for Jesus to heal your friend to do something in the life of someone you know?  What will your answer be?  You might say, we are here for dinner not for praying, we should remember our purpose here.  I have been in a situation where I am on my way going somewhere but then find myself in a different direction.

This man who was inviting Jesus to eat with him, now Jesus has turned everything to healing.  You must wait until I have healed this person before to eat.  Do you know anyone who is spiritually sick in your family/community or are you yourself sick spiritually who need healing?  Sins are sickness.  Maybe you need healing from hypocrisy, stealing, or other sin you have.

Are you ready to accept from Jesus that it is lawful to heal those sins in my life?  But in the house of the Pharisee, the Pharisee himself didn’t say heal me, he believed he was a prominent man in the community and did not believe he was sick spiritually.  No one else asked to be healed.  Like the more than 190 moons that do not shine, only one shines like the person who was sick and presented himself.  In the crowd, there was possibly others that were sick but they didn’t want to show themselves.

When you complain about a party, it might be about it starting late or the music was too loud.  When we complain, we sometimes hurt God’s feelings.  I’ve heard someone complain about their appearance, “I don’t like the way God created me”.  The creator who found He created you good, wonders why you are complaining.

Sometimes we complain about food and God who is the provider hears you complaining. Instead of being thankful for all that God has given us.  I’ve heard parents complain about their own children.  Some complain about their neighbours.  You can complain about the behaviour but not the person.  When you complain about others, you are trying to correct God.

The moon Christians will change to darkness.  How many days do we have in each month?  Around 28-31 days.  Those people will only shine for 7 days, the remaining 21 days they will live in darkness.  During your 24 hours each day, how many do you shine in the world?  How many hours will others see you passing and know that you bear all the fruit of the Holy Spirit?  How often do people look at you and think they are not happy to meet with you?

When you shine, do you sometimes look around and ask yourself if your light is helping others?  The sun will provide vitamin D.  What does the moon give to us nutritionally?  It doesn’t give us anything great for our lives.  We can’t put our clothes on the line for the moon to dry them.  When the moon comes, we take beautiful photos of the moon but that is all. 

Your presence in the world has a purpose.  If you are shining like the moon and it doesn’t help others, you still have the chance and grace to shine like the sun because you were chosen.  Tell Jesus that you want to shine like the sun so that others around you can benefit from you.  I don’t want to be darkness for more than 70% of my daily life, please make me shine for others.

When we are cold, that is when we think about the sun.  The presence of the sun warms our houses and lives but when your presence in other’s lives makes them to continue to live in coldness, it means that you must increase your potential.

At the end of time, the moon will be changed to darkness.  When darkness comes, we get lost and can’t see the path or the way.  Jesus is the path.  Those that live like moons will start to go astray and walk in a different direction because there is not enough light.  Come close to Jesus and let Him help you.  Come as you are, tell Him you are sick, “help me, I have a privilege because I am a moon that shines a little but I want to shine more to be beneficial for others”.

On the day of judgement our deeds will follow us and we will be asked, “What did you do with what I gave you?”  What will you answer?  You may say, “Yes people saw me once a while,” but God will tell you, “You should live for Me but you are living for money, joy, friends, parties”.  If you are not living for Jesus, start to ask Him, “How can I live for you?  What can I do for you in order to live for you?”  It doesn’t mean to quit your job or studies but wherever you are, be a Christian, talk about Jesus without fear or reserve, warn others.

Sometimes be tough.  I heard that the queen of England is very sick now and we are not sure she will make it.  Someone called me this morning and he said, “You know she is sick?”  “Yes, I heard.  Oh Lord, we want her to be alive”.  We can pray for her but it is a privilege to reach that age.  Let’s pray she gives her life to Jesus.  She’s an Anglican but it’s not about what church you go to but it is about repentance and being ready to meet with the Lord.

Sometimes we only want to pray for physical things.  If you pray for their spiritual life, they will tell you not to judge them.  We are in the end days.  Jesus is coming back soon.  It’s a good time to position ourselves.  Are we guests of this world just to eat, going to the movies, or are we here to find the true healing and walk God’s way?  Are we full of hypocrisy to just entertain others or are we here to be the light for others and telling them the truth before it is too late?

When Jesus says it’s time to go, there will be no chance to eat anymore.  Sometimes we think we are on this earth to celebrate but are we going to accept the healing and go away or will we continue to eat and be spiritually sick?

End Days - Mathew 24:29 - The Sun will be Darkened

  By Odon Bulamba

We are going to share the Word of God from Mathew 24:29, “Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken”.

Today I’m only going to talk about the sun being darkened.  Have you thought about waking up one morning and there is no morning?  Without sun, it’s night-time.  When the sun appears, we call it morning time.  When the sun arrives in the morning, you are forced to start a new day regardless of whether you are tired, sick, or stressed, the sun doesn’t care, light is there and you have to wake up.

Everything we do during the day is based on the sun.  From the sun we decide it is 7am, 8am, 9am.  We decide to start work at a certain time based on the sun.  The sun is special in our spiritual lives.  In the beginning God created light, the first thing.  How important is light in your life?  How important is light in my life? For some people, they prefer to live in darkness and prefer to be where light doesn’t exist but you can’t be there for a long time.

I visited a corner of the world where the sun comes up for 6 months and then disappears for 6 months.  For the time that they don’t have sun, it feels like death.  Life is not there but once the sun appears, everyone is out and are happy to see the sun.  No one can control the sun and we don’t pay a cent for the sun but God has decided to give it us freely.

This light from the sun is very big and it is a mystery.  It shines in New Zealand at 10:30am but in Africa it is night-time.  When one side of the world sees the sun, the other side is in darkness.  The absence of light is darkness.

What is the importance of sun in our lives?  It gives us light, power that gives life to plant, and vitamin D.  I can function because the sun is there and my eyes can see because of the light from the sun and sometimes when I don’t feel the sun on my skin, I will feel cold and I go outside to sit in the sun to warm up my body.  In different places, people can spend hours lying in the sun.

Jesus says to us, you are the light of this world.  The first light that was created is the sun which gives light to every person, good or bad and doesn’t choose who you are but is there to shine and help you to see.  If we are the light of the world, what is our role?  Do you also provide vitamin D to people, do we give life, do we shine so that those who don’t have a clear view can see, do we wake others up?  What is our role on this earth?

A big gift and title that God has given to us is to be the light of the world.  It is now up to us to act.  Do we warm people up or make them cold with our actions and words?  Do we cheer people up and make them comfortable?  Being next to Hayley, do I feel good?  Or are you the kind of sun like the desert where people don’t want to be around because it is too hot and you can’t open your eyes and you feel annoyed with the sun.  Are you the type of sun that dries plants or burns the ground so people can’t walk on it without burning feet?  Do you provide life or death?

How much power the sun gives out depends on whether it gives life or death.  Some days it is nice and other days it is too hot.  Are you the kind of person where people feel secure and benefit from you and your actions and your advice because of your kindness?  How often do you become angry (e.g. the sun gets too hot and punishes people).  How often do you punish others?  When you punish others, you are light but your purpose is not what God wants you to be.  

In New Zealand we are lucky and blessed because we don’t have a strong sun.  Even in summer you can walk around without a hat and it is ok but in other countries you can’t because the sun is harsh.  Aren’t you a harsh Christian?  What testimony do you have as the light of this world?  Do you only shine for those that you love and like but become darkness for those you don’t love or like?  In your life do you have people that you want to be with and prove you are a good person but on the other side you leave others in darkness and prove you don’t love them.

What should we do in order to be good to everybody?  What effort have you done in order to respond to the needs of others, good or bad?  Jesus came down to die for those who were sinners.  If we are sinners, we should understand also those that are sinners and how hard is their lives and be there to help them.  I can remember what I used to be like years ago and my life has changed now.  All of us are weak but we are fighting and running towards the goal, to please God.  that is the only visa to get to heaven.  You are the only person who can fill out the visa for you, no one can do it for you.

The sun will be darkened.  It was good when God created it, He said, “This is good”.  Now God is telling us that the sun will be changed to dark.  You can have eyes but without light you can’t see.  Without the sun you won’t warm up.  Plants will not grow without the sun and animals will not survive.  It will be a big shame if you will be one of the lights that will be darkened.

If a branch does not produce fruit, it will be cut off.  Although you are a branch of that tree, they will cut it off and throw you away into fire so you can burn and disappear completely.  My mum when she used to cook, she would use tree branches to start a fire.  The more the branch is consumed, it disappears into ash.  The branch that is cut off will also be put into fire and disappear completely.  After being consumed, the ashes are dead and can’t be put to fire again.

Don’t beat your chest and say I am the light of the world if you don’t produce your own light, you can become darkened.  If I am not producing fruit, I will be detached from the branch and put in fire and consumed.

What is darkness to you?  You can’t see but for others it can be when you will enjoy things or you are free and no one can see you.  For God, it means when you are entering the kingdom of sin.  You are going astray and you forget that you are walking away from God and into the kingdom of darkness where sin reigns.

Darkness is when you know what God wants but you refuse to put it into practise.  Everybody knows the law but if you don’t obey it, you will still be punished by it.  The judge will judge you whether you know the law or not.  The judge will punish you regardless.  It is your responsibility to learn the law and discover what is right and wrong.  Sometimes we learn tough things about the Bible but it is the law.  

If you see a snake here, what will you do?  Run away.  In my country, the first thing is to kill the snake.  In other countries, they will pick the snake up nicely and put it back in the wild, the snake has the right to live.  For us in my country, when a danger comes, you must attack to protect yourself because it will hurt someone else tomorrow.

Many people will go into the kingdom of darkness and sin because they are discouraged and give up walking with God.  I’d rather watch my tv than read my Bible.  Levi will come to me and ask me to pray now so he can go to bed but I have to pause the tv series and maybe sometimes I quickly put him to bed and pray quickly because I don’t want to lose that program.  One time he said, “That was a quick prayer, we didn’t pray for x y and z,” and I felt guilty.

How can I sacrifice this desire of Levi to pray to God to cut it short because I have my own personal plan?  If God asked me now, what are you doing, what will my response be?  

Another time, I was sitting in front of tv and someone else turned the tv on in another room and used the Netflix subscription and I couldn’t keep watching.  What are you going to do?  Do I stop that person or wait?  In my house, you are watching tv and someone will connect the tv you are watching to youtube using another remote control so they can then log into Netflix.  Sometimes we are taken away from the reality of life, we want to enjoy what we want instead of sharing our time with God and others.

At our house, our neighbours can change the channels on our tv using their remote control.  You can feel annoyed by that.  It was another way for me to think, if you are the light of this world and you are watching tv and someone disturbs you, it’s a good time to pray, “God I was distracted but now I want to come close to you”.

To be the light of the world is a huge mission.  How can I light up the whole world?  Through my actions, words, prayer, I can be the light for others.  Be kind, love is kind.  Be good to people, to yourself, be kind to yourself.  Ask yourself am I kind?  As the sun rises every morning, is the sun good and kind to you?  Yes, even when I am grumpy.  If someone in your family is grumpy, that shouldn’t stop you from being kind to them.

Don’t treat yourself harshly.  Some people might think, I wish I had hair like Leah.  That is not life.  Look at God and appreciate what God has given to you and how you appear in front of God, others, and yourself.

A man came to me one time when I was overseas and asked for shoes (he was a refugee).  I was once a refugee so I know how hard it is.  I took off my shoes and gave them to him.  I was walking in my socks.  He wanted money instead to buy shoes.  Another man had no legs and he said, “you are rejecting shoes, I wish I had legs like you without shoes”.  You must be grateful for what you are and as you are.  God doesn’t see me ugly or short or that I don’t speak English.  In front of God it is different and I must be proud of who I am.

Well done Odon, I woke up today and prayed.  Encourage yourself.  When was the last time you encouraged yourself to come close to God?  Do you encourage yourself to be the sun to shine in this world?  Do you encourage others but not yourself?  God is telling us, be like the sun, rise every morning and shine and make everyone you see, happy.  

Sin doesn’t hide itself.  It will talk to you but tell that feeling, “I need something else instead, I need the sun and to shine and not to let darkness come out of me”.

II Kings 4:1-3 - Be empty vessels filled with God's Holy Spirit

By Odon Bulamba

It’s a great day to be here and I thank God because to see another day, a new day like today is a privilege.

Open our Bibles to II Kings 4:1-3

The wife of a prophet cried to Elisha, “My husband is dead, his creditor is coming to take my two sons as slaves”.  Elisha replied, “How can I help you? What do you have in your house?”  She said, “Nothing but a bit of oil”.  Elisha said, “Go around and ask your neighbours for empty jars and don’t ask for just a few”.

How often have you come across trouble or problems or challenges of losing something special in your life?  This lady was married to a man and this man was not a simple man but a servant of God, one of the students who used to go to the school of prophets.  He had his family, his wife and two sons.  He was a provider of his family day after and day and worked hard to feed and look after his family.  His children were calling him dad and his wife calling him husband.  They were happy but then suddenly death came and took him from the family.

In your life, you may have come across something like your job, friends, peace, or happiness and maybe something takes it from you without your permission or warning or without consultation.  This lady didn’t know what to do.  As a result, she went to see Elisha and as she presented herself in front of the man of God, she cried out to him, “Your servant my husband is dead and you know that he served the Lord”.

Regardless of who you are, a servant of God or not, death doesn’t care.  You may have plans to say that next year I will go somewhere with my family but death doesn’t care about your plans.  You might think this is what I will achieve when I reach 70 years but death doesn’t care about your projections.  Death doesn’t care whether you are beautiful, short or tall or your age group.  When death comes, it will take you.

Here the story isn’t about death but those that were left behind, his wife and children who are now in trouble.  The creditor came and said, “Your husband owes me something”.  Regardless of being a Christian or a friend or that passed away, I lent him something and I am asking for this back, what is owed to me.  At a time when she is mourning, the creditor asks for it back and then he said he will take the two boys as slaves.

Who is that mother who will accept to give away two children as slaves?  Who is that mother after living in joy with her husband and then suddenly after her husband is taken will be happy to also have her two children taken from her?  This is pain upon pain.  She was forced to bring this to Elisha.  My problem is bigger than me, do something.  Imagine if you were that lady, how will you react?  I’ve seen people going to the hospital for mental help because the problems of life is too much.

Elisha  knew also what it was like because Elijah was taken from him.  He asked, “How can I help you?”  Elisha didn’t replace the man that was taken away but asked, how can I help you?  If Jesus asked you know, how can I help you, what will be your answer?  Some might say money, joy, Kingdom of God.  Different answers because we have different needs.

Elisha asked what do you have in your house? The husband had been taken away, maybe there was nothing in the house, maybe the house was empty with only her two sons and then someone is after her children.  Possibly, everything was already sold to pay the creditors. Maybe she already lost everything.  We must remember that very often God doesn’t care about what we have lost but He care about what we have, what remains in our life.  E.g. Moses, what do you have? A staff. I’ll use that.  A child with two fish and bread, what do you have? Jesus feed thousands of people.  What you have regardless of quantity, God may use it for a miracle.  The small breath that you take each morning which is free, God can use that. 

My mum once asked me what is the most important thing in your life to become? I said a bank manager.  I thought was the best.  “My son, I’m sorry, you have missed the point.  Why do you love banks more than life?”  I tried to justify myself because with banks I can have money.  Without life, will you enjoy your bank?  Life is the most important thing.

Even if you lose your feet, praise God if you are alive.  Lose your sight, if you are alive, praise God.  if you look around you and you see someone has done something bad in your life, then you will miss the point.  The most important thing is life.

On the first day of creation, the entire world was formless and void (empty).  Is emptiness important?  Yes, very important because then God can fill it up.  If you tell God you are fill and have no space to add into my life, then you will miss out.  God looked at the world and it was empty and He started to add a few things here and there.  When you feel empty in your life, that is the time that God wants to fill you up, get ready.

In this story in the Bible, she said, I just have a bit of oil.  He told her to ask neighbours for empty jars.  God is asking for empty vessels.  Not half or ¼ filled but completely empty vessels that is what you need to borrow.  This lady has lost everything and creditors are coming to collect something from her and she doesn’t have it and she is supposed to give away her children and Elisha is telling her to ask her neighbours to borrow for empty jars.

In New Zealand we talk about bad credit.  If you borrow money and you can’t afford to pay, you know that no one will lend more to you.  Elisha told her to borrow vessels from her neighbours.  I am sure the entire village knew that she had no means to pay back what she is going to borrow.  They will think twice, will she give it back, she has nothing.  Poor lady, she was in front of a broken bridge where she is being told to jump.

In my country, we say, if your feet are in the river, don’t mock the crocodile because at any second he will catch you even if you are clever like a monkey.  One time the monkey wanted to cross the river.  On top of the tree, he couldn’t see how he could cross because he was not a good swimmer.  The crocodile was coming and his wife was sick.  The witch doctor said the only remedy for your wife is the heart of a monkey.

The monkey greeted the crocodile.  The monkey asked to cross the river.  The crocodile said, jump on my back.  At the middle of the river, he said, your heart is needed for my wife.  The monkey told the crocodile, you should tell me earlier before we left because I always hang my heart in the tree.  You should tell me so I could collect it before we start our journey.  You made a mistake, take me back there and I’ll give you my heart.  The crocodile took him back.  The monkey jumped on the tree and said, you are stupid, have you seen an animal leave their heart on the tree.  The crocodile waited until the monkey had to go back to the river for water.

We use this example in our country, sometimes humans try to avoid God, avoid the truth by giving justifications and we try to follow others because they are our friends and we put aside the will of our God.  Here Elisha is like a protector, the last person who can intervene in this person’s life.  “Go and borrow empty vessels”. 

Are you empty yourself for God to act in your life?  God made the body of Adam and it was empty until he touched it, breathed into and then it was filled up and then Adam could move.  If you have something empty in your life, ask God to fill you with His spirit and breathe in you so you can start a new life.  It’s not too late.  Do you have God in your life?  The little oil that you have, is faith and it can make jars and jars to be filled up. 

This poor girl sent her children to the neighbours.  With faith she accepted regardless of challenges and what people will say to go and ask for jars.  Maybe the sons said, “Mummy sent me to borrow two of your jars”.  “What for?”  “I don’t know”.  “Can you tell her they are fill”.  “She asked me to give her empty ones” “When will she give them back?”  “I don’t know”.  I wouldn’t have given the jars. 

Sometimes you can go to your neighbours for a solutions but people have to question you first, even in the church, before to pray for you, “Tell me your problems”.  Pastor, you are not supposed to know everybody’s problems before to pray, God knows the family, God bless them.

In Africa, in Ghana this man will give you the power of healing and miracles.  If you need $20,000, this man will get it for you.  The man will suck your blood and tell you to take your casket home, take off all your clothes, pick up the casket and put on your head and walk around your street and come back home.  Once home put it down, go to sleep, the next morning it will be filled with money.  Hundreds of people, pastors, apostles will come to this evil man to have this power to perform miracles.

Have you ever walked into a church and your body starts to shake without reason, you feel a strange power penetrating your skin and you see people falling like trees without roots.  I’ve seen that man step into a church and everyone started crying without saying a word.  There people were giving everything, even their houses to that man. That man will ask people, how can I help you?  Are you the one going to help or our Lord?  Many servants of God today have become like small Jesus’.  They put themselves at that standard of acting like God which is a mistake

This lady collected several vessels.  Elisha said, that small oil you have pour into those vessels. You need faith for that.  Imagine you have 10 mls of oil and you have 20 vessels of 2L each.  You will think it is impossible, I can’t do this.  You need sometimes to put your faith in fire, to accept what is impossible to get what God is giving to you. Nothing is impossible for God. You are only a vessel that God is using.

Once you follow the rules and steps that God is giving you, you will save not only yourself but your children too.  Have you been in a situation where your child is between death and life and you are the only person who can save their life?  It is not easy when you see that your child going astray, and you feel pain in your heart.  I once jumped in water and I didn’t know how to swim to save a child of mine.  I must do this, if I don’t do this, no one will do it for me.

I was in a refugee camp where we had a river in a desert.  Once a year it will rain and water with pressure will go through that river.  Nadege was only 1 and suddenly erosion took the land with my daughter in the water.  I had no time to think or shout for help.  Water was taking her.  I started to run across the and she going up and down in water and I jumped in.  Miraculously I saved my daughter.

Your behaviour can kill your children.  Your neighbour or pastor, or friend can kill the life of others.  We must stand up and say, “God, I have faith in you, save my people”.

God sent his son to die for us.  Have you sent your mind, body and spirit to save others?  Nothing is more precious than children in your life.  We have seen women in the Bible crying because they need children.  They are precious.  My mum is old now but when she sees me, she feels happy.  She is proud of having a child.

When your children are in trouble, please don’t say I won’t do anything, protect them first.  At the age of 7, I had a chicken.  One time I tried to pick up the chick from the mother and mother who knew me well didn’t allow me to pick it up.  She was running after me, she was scratching me, screaming at me for more than 4 minutes and then my mum came out to intervene.

How tough are you in order to protect your own children?  Would you accept to fight?  You should.  That fight is not only physical but on your knees, pray for them.  Take time to read the Word of God with them.  Go out with them, enjoy being with them. 

Sometimes I sit in my home and I look at Nadege, she used to be very close to me but now with technology, she has no time for me at all.  We live in the same house and we can spend all day without seeing her.  I can go to her room, go away, I’m busy. She can stay sometimes up until 3 or 4am talking to people.  I go back to my room and ask God why he allows this, she has no time for me.

I will try to organise something special for you, I have a gift for you, “not now”.  Now she is telling me I must go to America.  What for?  That’s where I want to go.  What about us?  She says, “God will look after you”.  You want to be with her to spend at least 5 minutes with her, but she will say, “I have no time”.  When they are young and they are listening to you, use that opportunity because it will reach a time when they will say, “bye bye our time with you is over”.  You will feel that love dying inside your heart.

Lebon will come home only when he needs something, “I’m hungry, anything to eat,” and after eating, he will vanish.  No time to ask how you are.  He was well educated and knew the Bible but now that’s him.  God gives to us things and we must use them during the right time, if you wait too much you won’t achieve anything.  My job today is to pray for my children from God to bring them back to me and God. 

They love God but they don’t know how to live in a good relationship with their parents.  They assume that we are old fashioned but when it’s time for money, they are good friends.  It’s painful.  Like our creditors, they are coming just to take something from us in order to make us empty and that is the best time to tell God fill me now.

When God created Adam, He said, “We will create something that looks like us,” and that was a man.  It’s time to ask God, am I really an image of you God?  God himself did not come from the dust but when he breathed into this body, He said we were something similar to God.  Our prayer must be, “Let my image be like you Jesus, let my family reflect Jesus”.  Things that look alike gather together.  Those that look like God will enter the Kingdom of God.  If you don’t reflect Jesus, then you won’t enter God’s Kingdom.