Oops! How Old is God

In order for something new to come, there must be an old one. How old is old? Last night, I did not spend time counting down to 2009 as most of you did but chose to sleep and wake up in the New Year. I did it and it worked. I slept for one year!

Sleeping it off, however, did not solve the problems that I did not address last year. Neither did your counting down to 2009. Last year challenges are still with us and we have to pray for proper wisdom to address them. Our God never grows old and for that reason, we have come with him into this New Year. Only if we are ready to pray to him day and night.

Speaking about prayer, I overhead a discussion between a five year old boy and his father. The boy was concerned about God and why we only go to Church on Sunday. So he walked to his father and asked, "Daddy, why do we worship a dead God?" Being a great theologian, his father responded that God is not dead but alive. The boy did not allow the theological training of his father intimidate him, so he asked, "But why is it that we cannot see him. We cannot see dead people therefore God is dead." His father told him that he will meet God when he grows up and know that God is alive and real. I am sure that was the best answer to give to a child but I promise you, I would not have done better.

The question of the dead God who cannot be seen has troubled theologians for so many years. I will not spend time telling you about what theologians enjoy doing; arguing about God.

What I can say, however, is that the boy's question was based on his experience of God. He goes to Church and hears people talk about God but when they leave the Church, God has no place in their lives. The God who is only visited in the Church on Sunday and locked in the sanctuary for the following Sunday is a dead God. Maybe the boy was right. We cannot claim to worship a living God on Sundays only, and Monday through Saturday we lock God in the Church. A living God should become part of our daily lives and must be able to direct our lives. A living God should live among us as Emmanuel and be experienced through our daily communion with each other and with God. Therefore, among this year's resolutions, let us not forget to be with God daily.

Merry Christmas to you

I just want to say Merry Christmas to you all. You know the joy of Christmas is not in receiving gifts but in joining God in giving. We all have so much to give. We can give love to those who need it. Please remember to give love to everybody around you this Christmas. Remember God loved us so much that he gave us his Son. Let us join God in giving. Merry Christmas

We all make poor choices

I am not sure how you are feeling right now. Life challenges force us into making poor choices, especially when things are not going well with us.

It is not that making choices is wrong. After all, God gave us free will to make choices! Making choices, however, is not always easy. Life would have been better if all choices were made for us. Yet life without choices is likely to be too boring!

We are afraid to make choices because when we make choices, we are saying that we are responsible for their outcome. In other words, responsibility brings with it many life challenges. We all know that teenagers are known for making such choices! Imagine a poor girl who left her parents home for drugs! Maybe it is that poor boy who went shooting people or a teen who recently got pregnant. Poor judgment is not the crime of teenagers only. We all make poor choices from time to time!

Next time before we make any choice, remember to ask yourself how that choice will build your relationship with others and God. Next time you are about to make a decision, pause and pray! Prayerfully consider how your actions are going to make you become a better person. After all, the greatest duty that we all have is the duty to worship God.

Why we Celebrate Christmas

Christmas is one of those times of the year when we spend so much time buying presents for those we love. Speaking about presents, I am concerned that Christmas has been commericalized. Christmas dress, cups, music, ring-tone, books; name it and all you have to do is to add Christmas to it! Christmas sale, cake, shopping, shipping and many more. But let us stop and pose for a moment.

Why do we celebrate Christmas? Most of us look to Christmas for the presents! But is this the reason we call him Immanuel: God among us? "O come, O come Immanuel! Why invite God to be with us in the world of pain?

Maybe that is the reason why we should. We need God to influence how we live our lives. After all, he came into this world after one of us accepted to be the instrument of God's love. Least we forget, Jesus was born through Mary; an indication that God acts through us. We are the people God has chosen to actualize his presence in the world. Like Mary, all we need to say is "Let it be to me according to your will."
This Christmas, God wants to give himself to world full of lonely, unloved and uncared for. God wants to reach the children and mothers of the poor world but God is also looking for somebody to use as an instruments of his love and that instrument is you. Please give a gift of life to those who need it this Christmas. Let them understand the meaning if Christmas: God with us!

The powers of injustice

Are among those who are fascinated with the powers of injustice and evil in this world? Why is that evil person seem to be more powerful and receive all divine blessings? I have always wondered why God allows people like Mugabe in Zimbabwe Saddam Husein in Iraq to continue oppressing God's people. But have we forgotten about the Nazis? Well, injustice does not win no matter how long it might take. Remember that God is on the side of the oppressed and will fight for them. He will bring the powers of injustice to justice in his own time.

At times I fail to make sense of Jesus' words, "pray for your enemies and for those who persecute you." Does this mean that I should pray for them to continue persecuting me? Not at all. I pray for their change of heart. I pray that they may change and turn away from evil. I prayed for Mugabe just as I pray for George Bush. I pray for Osama just as I prayed for Saddam Hussein. Not that they may continue with their violent ways but that they might come to realize that life is sacred and it must must be protected at all costs. By the way, even the prophet Jeremiah struggled with this question. In case you do not know:

Jeremiah was a prophet

Who questioned why the unjust prosper

The question asked by millions

Who have suffered injustices?

Those words can hardly tell.

Some died, others are on death rows

In hopeless they ask

And nobody is there to give them a hearing

For the unjust are so powerful

And every word they say

Is believed throughout the world.

The unjust world trusts unjust words

For that is the only word the world knows

Which comes with power of injustice

And knows no boundaries.

But the just God knows it all

Wait until you see their injustice fails

and the powers of injustice are brought to justice

For God's justice is the end of injuctice.

Using our Talents: A Kid Theologian's View

Today was family Sunday at Christ Church, Hyde Park.

I had a chance to learn something new from my kid theologians. This times it was about the parable of talents. My question was about knowing what happens if you do not use your talent. But before I asked this question, I wanted to know if children knew about their God given talents. One boy told me his talent was playing drums. Another told me, it was drawing and so went the tale.

In case you missed, the highlight came when I asked whether they knew of their parents talents. "My father does not give up," one said. "My father's talent is working hard!" Another one said. But that is not the highlight I promised you. This time it came from another girl sitting next to her mom. "My mother's talent is shouting at us!" My daughter could have shouted Amen to that! Since she didn't say that, I hope and pray that this courageous girl is not under house arrest for that honest answer. I ask you to pray for her because she is a very good girl.

Speaking about girls, (I am sure you should be thinking I am sexist) another girl made our day. It was about what happens if we do not use our talents! Her answer was very theological and scholarly. "If you do not use your talent, you are not going to be a creative person or a full human being." If you follow my blog, this is the same girl who resolved my question about the gender of God. But wait, who can dispute the wisdom of this little girl?

I am not going to dig out what scholars say about this parable. I know that Jesus did not tell us the meaning so I will put in the wider context of what the Kingdom of God is like. Talents are given for the building of the Kingdom. What we do with talents or what Paul calls Spiritual Gifts is solely up to us.

Most of us have God given talents but have chosen to hid them or simply bury them in the ground. Even when we choose to use them, maybe it is to build the kingdom of this world. We have our beautiful voices, communication skills, managerial skills, caring hearts and many other talents but we are not prepared to use them for the building of the Kingdom. Using these Talents in line with what God wants us to be will help us develop our creativity as well as form us in the likeness of Christ. In case we forget, talents were given because God has seen how much they are needed in the Kingdom. Remember that God does not give us something we cannot carry. Neither will God force us into working for the building the Kingdom. This is our choice! It is my prayer that we are going to use our talents to build God's kingdom in the world today.

Is the election of Obama the end of Racism?

I am one of those who waited with great anxiety for the election results. My friends asked me to bet on the winner, and I thought Obama would win by a big margin. But my white friend told me that he still thought that white people would not vote for a black guy. I reminded him that those who would not do so have already indicated so by voting for McCain. Yet as the day progressed, I became more convinced that my friend was right.

Well, then came the unexpected, Obama is the President elect of the United States. The scene itself and the emotions that came with it provoked a question of race relations in this country. America has moved in such a short time to seeing people as they are. Yet what if we did not have the economic crisis? What if McCain did not pick Governor Palin? What if...?

The world is celebrating that a black person is elected president. It is history and guess what, I waited for it. But then I asked myself a question, does this mean racism is over? Knowing that my daughters are black, it is a relevant question. Obama might have been elected president but we should not forget many people did not vote for him simply because he is black.

In fact,when we are speaking about racism, we are not speaking about all Americans. Many white people have accepted non-whites as equals. This does not mean that racism is no longer an issue in America. Rather than burying the issue of racism, the election of Obama should be used to educate those who view people of color as second class.

I am happy that I lived to see the night the world was waiting for and I would love to encourage everybody to treasure it. But I would also want to remind everybody that race relations will always be part of our community, unless we work to uphold the dignity of every human person.