Quantity vs Quality (A Message to My Peers)

I’ve noticed a trend that has been gaining momentum for a while now among a number young Christians that I happen to know or be acquainted with. Many are picking up the Bible to examine the teachings for themselves and study it on a deeper level than is typical for the average churchgoer. The zeal with which they are doing this is commendable, and with the nuggets that are being mined from this precious collection of writings that hold the power to transform lives, we may very well be on the verge of a great awakening. One which will see a mass turning of the hearts of people to their Creator; a revival, as we so often refer to it within the four walls of a lot of our churches. But that’s not what this is about.

Along with this increased study of the Bible, there seems to not just be a rise in knowledge but also in opinions, debates and criticism of religious bodies, practices and leaders. I get it; when you’re passionate about the faith you profess, it’s hard to ignore the shortcomings and malpractices of others who profess the same faith – especially when you believe they should know better and be held to a higher standard because they are in positions of leadership. I mean, even Jesus criticised the religious leaders of his day when He disagreed with their interpretations and religious practices. But mind you, that wasn’t what He was best known for.

Jesus’ criticism of religion was not the reason the crowds thronged Him. It wasn’t the reason why by the time He left the face of the earth at the age of 33, the world as the people of His day knew it was forever changed. Jesus was known and loved for His compassion, His wisdom, His acts of love and manner in which He went out of His way to meet the deep emotional, physical, spiritual and material needs of the people who encountered Him – oftentimes, through bold demonstrations of power. He was known for identifying with the rejected and for extending grace and forgiveness where others were prepared to throw stones. And of course, He left an indelible mark on all of us with His great sacrifice of His life for ours. Jesus, the model of our faith and the one we should be emulating, was best known for His impact on mankind and the world around Him.

So, while I applaud anyone who decides to take the faith that they profess seriously enough to study the writings on which it is based for themselves, I think there is a problem when the knowledge gained seems to only make them better equipped to quote Bible verses, and debate and criticise doctrines and other people’s actions. As the good book tells us in 1 Corinthians 4:20, the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. With the traps of spiritual pride and self-righteousness lurking around, those who think they are standing really should take heed lest they fall (à la 1 Corinthians 10:12).

Having said all of that, my hope for anyone travelling along this tangent, but with the humility of spirit to examine themselves and make course corrections where necessary, is that this would be the year when you become known not just for your knowledge and opinions, but for your faith and your works. The year when you give up your seat among the mockers, critics, accusers of the brethren and stone throwers and appreciate that God has always done His greatest works through flawed vessels and (if the stories in the Bible are anything to go by), He will continue to do so.

He left us an extensive mandate before He ascended to heaven and our aim ought to be to busy ourselves with it and try not to get caught up with distractions which seem good but in actual fact don’t do much for the Kingdom of God. Obedience to His instructions is His own litmus test of our love for Him (Yup, John 14:23!). And quite frankly, a lot of these things I’m seeing in place of the fruit that reading the Bible should be producing in us, He hasn’t asked us to do.

So in the words of Eric, please don’t just read the Bible to get theology. Read it so you can actually do it.

#iHaveBeenMindingMyself #ButEricHadToGoAndReadMyMind #lol ##IfYouFallIntoThisCategoryPleaseTryForYourselfThisYear #PleaseAndThanks

(Connect with me on Instagram @IbieneWarmann)

God Cares about His Reputation

Reading through the books of the prophets (Jeremiah, Ezekiel etc) recently, I was drawn to a phrase which was repeated so many times that it was impossible to ignore. Many of the writings in those books are the warning messages that God sent to Israel and the surroundings nations before He visited great judgement on them in the Old Testament. As God would narrate His plans for judgement to the prophets, every now and again He would throw in this phrase: "...Then they will know that I am the Lord"

After a while I started underlining this phrase whenever I came across it, pondering in my subconscious why God would say the same thing so many times. Then it hit me, GOD CARES ABOUT HIS REPUTATION!

Sometimes, it would seem like God isn't really bothered what people think about Him. I mean, if the number one question asked when people doubt He exists is really the "why is there so much suffering in the world if there is a God?" one, surely He should have put an end to that problem by now to defend Himself?

Then again why should He? - after all, He IS God; Whatever people think (or not) about Him does not subtract anything from who He is, right? The Bible says He is exalted above all nations... that He sits enthroned on high and stoops to look on the earth. The earth is His footstool and as the King of kings His rule is sovereign – basically whatever He says goes. So why would anyone entertain the thought that such a high God would concern Himself with something as subjective as reputation?

The Conclusion Of The Matter

“⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴ And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. ⁴⁵Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.”

– Joshua 21 : 43 - 45

As I read this paragraph in my bible this morning, each sentence seemed to just hit me, and thoughts started to flood my mind. Feeling like I just had to share what I was experiencing, I sent it to a few friends. Even as I did so, I knew I could not replicate the revelations I’d caught in my spirit in theirs, and I’d have to trust God for tailor-made revelations for each person, but something in those verses kept resonating with me, causing me to attempt to write this piece – and yet knowing that it’s almost impossible for me to put in words what I’m trying to get across.

Everyone around me at the moment seems to be going through some sort of transition and for a lot of us, this has involved a stepping into unfamiliar territories, finding ourselves in peculiar circumstances and having to do some things that we’ve never done before. While the process has been lengthier for some than it’s been for others, the general sense is that everyone has been going through somewhat of a process of their own for a while... much like the Israelites.

A summary of the Israelites’ story (as most will be familiar with) is that for some unknown reason, one day, God chose a man named Abram (whose name was eventually changed to Abraham), and made him a promise; one which included a gift of a vast piece of land (which incidentally belonged to some other clans at the time), to him and his offspring. Two generations later, Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) was born and became the seed from whom the entire nation of Israel came forth.

Much time went by and at some point, the Israelites found themselves as slaves in Egypt. The promise of a land of their own must have felt like a remote dream to them at the time, but as God is faithful, He never forgot His promise and when He decided it was the right time, He brought them out of slavery with a strong hand and mighty displays of power.

Get Your Mind Right for 2011 / A Potent Approach to Trials

Happy New Year, everyone!


It feels like it's been 'centuries' since my last post and I hope it won't be 'decades' before the next one, but in the mean time, I'd like to share a recent piece with you. It's a little something I wrote for the new year edition of a magazine; Hope it blesses you.


Here goes...


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It’s that time of year again when hope is rife and many start to make plans for the days ahead. Regardless of how the last twelve months have been, the chance to see another year is proof that God has been faithful, and as the New Year rolls around, it tends to bring with it an aura of being at the starting point of a race; one that has God’s promises as the prizes at stake.

It’s not unusual to hear specific prophecies on what God is saying at the start of the year, but even if we don’t hear any new ones, there are apparently 8810 promises of God tucked away in the Bible. What’s interesting about God’s promises though, is that He puts them within our reach, not in our hands. His design is such that we are expected to co-labour with Him to bring them to pass in our lives, and by stretching to receive His promises, our faith muscles are developed and we mature as believers. The need to co-labour is demonstrated in the story of the Israelites, who were promised a land flowing with milk and honey when they came out of slavery in Egypt. God had promised them the land, but they still had to contend for it. They couldn’t take possession without going to battle and driving out the inhabitants of the land first. This is where many of us miss the mark; we don’t understand human involvement in the plans of God and the contention we might face along the way.

I used to think that everything God said would come to pass regardless of what I did, and that with God it would always be smooth-sailing. The reality is that He never promised that we wouldn’t face adversity, so I’m not sure why I ever thought otherwise. I think the dilemma for us as human beings is in trying to comprehend how someone who is all-powerful can say that He loves you, but yet allow you to go through some very difficult situations. We generally don’t associate love with any sort of pain.

Misplaced Loyalty

Bewildered, the man asked God, "But Father, why is it that these unbelievers are so prosperous and your own people are always struggling?!" God replied and said, "Unbelievers are very loyal. My people are not." "But God!” he said, "You don't know these unbelievers! Maybe it's because you're in Heaven. I’m on earth with them. They're not loyal at allll!" Then God broke it down to him; the average unbeliever may not be loyal to God, but he is certainly loyal to whatever he believes in. True story; I heard it from the horse's mouth...

This was the analogy he used: Give a group of unbelievers an equal amount of money to spend (say £100), and watch what they do with it. They’ll be very predictable. The alcoholic will go out and spend his money on drinks. The staunch Arsenal football fan will steer clear of the Chelsea merchandise store and head for the Arsenal one to get their latest kit or tickets to the next game. Similarly, the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fanatics will treat themselves to as many of the books and movies as they can afford, and the committed gambler will go to the bookies to place some bets, leaving the music lovers to splash out on the magazines, latest albums releases or concert tickets that they’ve had their eyes on for a while. Get the picture? Their commitment is such that some of those football fans are ready to die for the teams they support (I believe they’re also known as hooligans), and when push comes to shove for the gambler, the man is ready to sell his child!

Now, give the same £100 to a group of believers and watch them. What do they do with it? The SAME things the unbelievers did...! I generalise, but isn’t it funny how true this is in the lives of most professed believers? We have the entire back catalogue of an artiste like Jay-Z or Michael Jackson (I’ll be the first to put my hand up on this one and say I’ve been there), but we don't own a single album of Israel Houghton or Donnie McClurkin. We've devoured the autobiographies of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, but we haven't got a clue about Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Our personal libraries are filled with books by the likes of Jackie Collins and Jeffrey Archer, but we own zero Christian literature. We sacrifice punctuality to accommodate the second half of a football match and spend money on alcohol every weekend when we go out, but if a church event clashes with anything else, the church event must give way - and were yet to be seen smiling when the offering basket comes round during the Sunday service (let’s not even go into the subject of tithes here). A good proportion of our time is spent with TVs blaring through our homes and we know the channels for CNN, MTV and ITV by heart, but we can't even hazard a guess as to what channel God TV is on - and we certainly couldn’t tell you what series they have aired this year. We’re amazing at cramming all sorts of events into our very tight schedules; parties, weddings, cinema & theatre trips, concerts...you name it... But ask us about the last kingdom event we’ve been at apart from church on a Sunday and we'll draw a blank – I’m talking no bible study, no conferences, no worship events...nothing!

The Clarion Call

“One day we’re going to have to question some of the things we have allowed in the body of Christ”, I heard him say. “Like some of the words we have allowed ourselves to use... The word ‘Denomination’, for instance...” Ohhh boy, it wasn’t about to be a fun session up in that Pentecostal church! No hollering and hooping to be heard. “The meaning of that word, by its very nature is divisive...” he continued. He could have very well stopped there, but he didn’t and by the time he was done, I was close to tears. All I could think was, "How could we have missed it so badly?!!!"

I’m reasonably proud of the ministry that I’m a part of. I’ve seen God move in unprecedented ways there and grown leaps and bounds spiritually just sitting under the teachings of many of the preachers we have. As believers, I think most of us would allude to some sense of pride in whatever ministry we’ve chosen to be a part of and my aim is not so much to detract from that, as it is to get us to consider ‘the big picture’ and maybe start to think a little differently. Bear with me on this one. Whenever I’m challenged by anything, I can’t help but offer up the challenge to someone else.

Apparently, people who take the time to study these things have found that every great revival in history has been preceded by a coming together of the church (read as ‘all of Christianity’ or ‘the body of Christ’, not just a building as the word is often used). If that’s really the case, I can’t say I’m too encouraged by the current state of affairs. In fact, we might as well forget all about it! Has the church ever been more divided than it is in the 21^st century? Is it even legit to call ourselves the body of Christ at this point? In my opinion, it’s only a dysfunctional body that can have the left leg trying to go somewhere completely from the right leg, coupled with a head that’s really just laying down on a pillow - all at the same time!

Body parts are not designed to be completely independent of every other part of the body. So why do we find some of the Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, Baptists, Methodists and all the others on the endless list of denominations, comfortably operating in isolation and completely detached from everybody else? Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying that each one isn’t walking in some degree of divine revelation, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that any single denomination has all the pieces of the puzzle. That’s simply not how God works. He’s the master strategist when it comes to making sure that no man is an island. Everybody needs something from somebody else.

The SALT and LIGHT challenge

“Our Christian habit is to bewail the world's deteriorating standards with an air of rather self-righteous dismay. We criticize its violence, dishonesty, immorality, disregard for human life, and materialistic greed. "The world is going down the drain," we say with a shrug. But whose fault is it? Who is to blame?

Let me put it like this. If the house is dark when nightfall comes, there's no sense in blaming the house; this is what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is "where is the light?" Similarly, if the meat goes bad, there's no sense in blaming the meat; that's what happens when bacteria are left alone to breed. The question to ask is "where's the salt?"

Just so, if society deteriorates and its standards decline until it becomes like a dark night or a stinking fish, there is no sense in blaming society; that's what happens when fallen men and women are left to themselves, and human selfishness is unchecked. The question to ask is "where is the church?" Why are the salt and light of Jesus Christ not permeating and changing our society? It is sheer hypocrisy on our part to raise our eyebrows, shrug our shoulders, or wring our hands.

The Lord Jesus told us to be the world's salt and light. If therefore darkness and rottenness abound, it is largely our fault and we must accept the blame. “

- John Stott

If you’re at all interested in what my reaction was to that quote, it was, “Wow. Food for thought!” While we can debate on whether or not he’s laying blame in the right places and probably draw the conclusion that there’s a lot more to the picture he paints, it remains true that followers of Christ have a role to play as the salt & light that Jesus said we were (in Matthew 5:13 & 14).

The quote speaks volumes and probably has enough clout to be an article all on its own, but it challenged me so much that I couldn’t resist expounding on it.