C3 Encounters 2012: God is manifested in who you are

Easy on the ears

Later this week for three full days our church will have a conference bringing together members from all around Europe to Amsterdam.

One thing I like about our movement is its international youthful and vibrant approach to things of Christianity that explores how people can get to live their best life.

Our conferences do not have the razzmatazz titles of a James Bond film or the thriller of a science-fiction flick with all the suspense of other-worldliness that sometimes presents from the usual Pentecostal fare, they are easy of the senses and approachable by all – the mother church in Australia held Presence just over a month ago and here in Amsterdam where our church was planted just about 12 years ago we will have Encounters 2012.

Last Sunday and this Sunday we have had sermons preached by the resident pastor Steven Warren and the C3 Europe Director Simon McIntyre encouraging us to make the best of Encounters have a life-changing encounter with God that could do wonders for who we are and where we are.

Of personalities and relationships

Pastor Simon McIntyre gave a talk on encounters based on II Samuel 22:26-27 (NLT)

²⁶ “To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
    to those with integrity you show integrity.
²⁷ To the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.

In context, as we believe in a God that never changes the reality is God meets people at the point that they relate to him.

The first example he gave was of King David who wrote Psalm 23 which begins with “The Lord is My Shepherd.” He could well relate because David before he became king was a shepherd boy, he knew what it took to herd sheep, to corral them and protect them danger as well as the apparent dumbness of sheep which presents itself in their getting lost, falling into ravines or being prey to predators.

In the same vein, he could see God as his shepherd, protecting him from danger and even being forgiving if he had done really foolish and dumb things.

Besides, David was also a warrior and there are many Psalms that talk of war, of enemies, of defeat, of despair, of courage, of victory and of praise. The characteristics and character of David in his personality allowed him to relate to God in the context of what he knew and who he was.

Relationships by reason of who you are

Then came Moses whose defence of the Jews before he was called to lead them on the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, he was driven by a sense of justice and that sometimes drove him to task rash decisions in the pursuit of justice. He always argued his case before God many times sometimes persuading God from His wrath against the people of Israel and at other times having his arguments defeated.

The then became the law-giver and most of what represents the pursuit of justice today derives from Mosaic Law and its application to society.

With Joshua who succeeded Moses, his role was to lead the children of Israel to take the Promised Land and as the head of the army he stood to challenge anyone who came within to the camp.

He was fearless when he saw a man stood over him with his sword drawn that he asked if he was friend or foe and as the man answered that he was the captain of the hosts of the Lord, Joshua immediately the man of superior rank as he fell to his face and worship as should be expected of army hierarchies – that was how he could relate.

Connecting with the best of you

Then Pastor Simon talked about the lives of Pastor Phil Pringle the leader of the C3 movement and himself signifying that Pastor Phil came from a hippie culture where what he knew was about experience and atmosphere and his ministry has always reflected experience, presence, encounter, deliverance, relationships and leadership.

Pastor Simon is a different personality, more methodical, quite introspective, processing thoughts and ideas before he made decisions. Though, he took his time to fall in line in obedience, he was at the time that he did fully persuaded of the reasons why he made the decisions he made and that is what has been reflected in his ministry.

The essence of the message shared today was clear, we do not need to imitate other are attempt to copy the personalities of others in wanting to relate to God.

We should be ourselves and in being ourselves in the knowledge of who we are and what we know we find that our encounters with God are fulfilling and worthwhile because our being is fully connected with who made us who we are – warts and all.

God is by your makeup

To take the Message version of the text of the sermon today, this is what it boils down to.

^26-28 You stick by people who stick with you,
      you're straight with people who're straight with you,
   You're good to good people,
      you shrewdly work around the bad ones.
   You take the side of the down-and-out,
      but the stuck-up you take down a peg.

Whoever you are is what will become the conduit of your relationship with God, it good without saying that you want to express your best characteristics and virtues the more and make less of the uncomely parts of your personality that will represent God to you as hostile – not because He is hostile but because you have clogged up the conduit to God’s goodness with the wrong attitude, wickedness and lack of responsiveness to His great love.

The Encounters 2012 conference is on from Thursday the 17^th of May through the 19^th of May 2012, I am expectant and ready for a great experience, I will be a better person of me to get linked in with God’s purpose for me and this will be an encounter that will make a difference for me.

Join us, if you can – click on the link above for details to attend the whole conference or just to visit a day session.

Thought Picnic: Sharing the joy of being reunited

Surprise and suspense

We read of these stories in the news, sometimes, it is played out on television and you might be lucky to have a box of tissues beside you to wipe the tears as you are caught up in the story of life.

Many years ago on British television we had the programme Surprise, Surprise hosted by Cilla Black where her producers found ways of reuniting long lost blood relatives, the stories were so well told you just felt at one in happiness and joy with the participants who were left to play out their surprise and tears to the nation – it was good programming.

Appeals work

On Sunday, I found myself in the audience of such an event in church, it was heart-warming and wonderful to behold.

The protagonist, a young man with amazing vocal talent that lifts the roof during praise and worship though today is a happily married man with a child had until recently not known his father who by reason of unfriendly immigration policies had to leave the Netherlands sometime around when he was born.

For over 20 years, he heard stories but had no inkling as to where his father was until he appeared on a Dutch programme that aims to highlight the plight of people seeking their relatives. That apparently was a seed sown because it led to him finding out about his father and his father was with us in church just last Sunday being welcomed first as a guest and then the story of the meeting of father and son was told to us.

We can realise hope

There is no doubt that this miracle of reunification is in biblical parlance the granting of the heartfelt desires of this young man who has not only regained his father but he also has the joy of presenting his wife and his son too along with the many tales, hugs, tears and even more meetings that will grow from this encounter.

As a witness to what Facebook has done to long lost and forgotten friendships and now to this real life event of the bringing together of long separated relations – it behoves one to say that we must never lose hope and when we part, even though we die a little, we will meet again, somewhere, someplace, sometime and hopefully, it would not be too long to see the face, to see the smile and to hug one another like we can never be prised apart again. 

Thought Picnic: An Ode to the Armpit Smoothener

Wax that chesty walk

I once suggested that those with a swagger of arrogance that involved pushing out their chests should have their chests waxed. My thinking being nothing will force that ribcage of the gibbon back to its intended structure faster than a good strip ripping the hairs violently off that chest – it should also make the man cry – serves him right.

It reminds of me of a classmate of mine in secondary school who from the first form walked around with an exuded chesty posture as if to make himself bigger than he really was, by the time we got to the fifth form, that chest had become the best part of what I would regretfully call a deformity, I do wonder if someone had to take a hammer to to the ribcage to set it back in place.

Death from the armpits shorn

In any case, I have never been waxed and I do not intend to suffer the indignity of beauty acquired through unbearable pain. However, depilatories are useful especially after someone saw me using a pair of scissors on the hairs of my armpit and came up with the weirdest superstitions I have ever heard ever – I risk the loss of a child if I trim my armpit hairs.

The correlation was completely beyond me apart from the fact that I could using my least adroit hand have the scissors do me some serious mischief in the cavity of my armpit and that would be more pain than I am willing to endure.

I then resorted to shaving, but shaving sticks do not adapt to the contours of the armpit and you are half a contortionist trying to pull the skin to allow for a flat surface to shave off the hair – it is hard work – honestly.

Creams and screams

So, depilatories it was, with the cautionary tale of timing and coarseness of hair between races and the particular about oneself. This is because, if you do not get it right, in removing all the hair, the standard advice is not to use the depilatory again for at least 36 hours.

I had also learnt to use latex gloves when applying the cream because years ago, having used my fingers, I forgot to wash off the cream properly and suffered severe burns which manifested on my first day of holiday – I could handle very little and was really uncomfortable.

The other discovery I made was until recently, I used branded depilatories that had to work on the hair for 5 to 7 minutes before it could be scraped off. Though I don’t use a scraper, I prefer to use a wet sponge in the shower, it is easier on my skin and I can readily wash it all off before I suffer any burns.

A third and a half

So, imagine my surprise when the shop had run out the branded product and I was left to choose the shop’s brand which was going for a third of the price and was effective in half the time. In most cases, the maximum time was 3 minutes whilst it was still quite easy on my skin.

I wonder if there is something to deal with nose hair, not that I am turning into a mammoth but I have seen many a homo-sapiens-mammoth with hairs sprouting out of their noses and ears like some other-world pre-evolution creature – I have to say my prayers, the words are spoken already.

Thought Picnic: A Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne Showers

Showers in a closet

Sometimes, the things that fascinate me are quite silly to others but we are all eccentric in our own little ways.

As I stood under the shower this morning adjusting the temperature of the water to just about bearable heat to offer a somewhat sensational feel as I cooked my flesh to medium-rare edibility, I noticed that the shower head had some labels.

Set to pour

I found that normally, I stood under the rain setting and once when I had a wet shave, I adjusted the shower head to the jet setting without thinking anything to it – the higher pressure current allowing for my shaving stick to be cleaned easily.

The massage setting was easy on the body but I did wonder what the champagne setting meant – not that I expected to be soaked in Dom Pérignon but it was worth checking.

So, I twisted the shower head to the champagne setting and the depressurised flow was as if the water was aerated, much easier on the skin; lazy, languid and effortless – there are times when a shower should be soothing with the rich texture of good champagne.

NB: A Nebuchadnezzar in wine measures is the equivalent of 15 litres or 20 standard wine bottles.

Nigeria: Those Odious Protests

Protest for the right

In any thriving democracy, the right to assemble and the right to protest should be inalienable and protected by the constitution and the law.

However, there has been a rather worrisome development amongst Nigerians in the exercise of these rights that it is odious, repugnant, reprehensible and beneath contempt.

Some recent events do call for a discussion on why people gather to protest in support of manifestly corrupt, evil, deplorable, heinous and shameful situations or people.

As they gathered

Last year, within the clamour with regards to the nasty gang-rape of a lady at Abia State University, we had the governor, the university and even the police suggested no such criminal activity happened and to compound the matter, certain students and members of the public rallied in support of the government line that the report of the was to besmirch the good name of the state instigated by detractors.

In London, a few months ago when James Ibori the kleptomaniac ex-governor of Delta State entered a plea of guilty to charges of money laundering, people trooped out as supporters and well-wishers suggesting he had suffered an injustice despite the fact that their champion had conceded his guilt.

At his sentencing a few weeks ago, more even came out to support him, praise him and had the effrontery to ask the President to consider a total pardon for his crimes.

Protesting for the wrong

Just a few weeks ago, at the trial of a prominent traditional ruler for the rape of young lady, his counsel led the most egregious cross-examination that at best outraged public decency and in my view demanded serious censure when he asked the rape victim to expose in open court the bruising she might have suffered as a result of her alleged rape.

The trial was adjourned and on its assumption recently, some people came out to protest in support of the alleged rapist accusing the government of bias intimidation and thereby conflating the separation of powers that ensures the independence of the judiciary even if the prosecutor in the name of the people is in the pay of the state.

An angle worth exploring

The government of Osun State has decided to act to pursue and prosecute the protesters on the premise that they engaged children who were supposed to be in school into an enterprise that was a bad example in general and by conscripting them to carrying placards on a matter sub-judice, they had contemned the course of justice.

Obviously, everyone has a right to protest according to their consciences or in relation to how they have been persuaded either by sentiment or corrupt inducement, where they crossed the line was when they dragged minors into their cause – this might well be innocently or to make up the numbers – either way, the government can make a strong case from the angle of the Child Rights Act which they intend to invoke in pursuing the adults involved in the protest.

Walk, stand and sit right

However, we all know that the reason for this intended prosecution is to deal with the odium of protesting in support of wrongful causes that are not promotion of rights, truth, justice, fairness, good, humanity and honesty.

While it is a stretch, we need to begin to realise that there is consequence and retribution for what the Book of Psalms 1:1 says quite completely for walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of the sinners or sitting in the seat of the scornful.

There is just cause and that cause must be seen to the end, our reaction to the celebration of the unseemly will determine where we have reached in progress and civility as a people.

Thought Picnic: To see a bicycle with unequal wheels

Bolts amiss with much damage

I returned to Amsterdam this afternoon to pick up my bicycle. It needed a basic repair job of attaching the back carriage to the body of the bicycle with two nuts and bolts.

I had planned to ride down to the repair shop where I bought it a few years ago with the intention of even doing the repairs myself if they had no time to see to it immediately.

As a walked up to the apartment block where I once lived, I was somewhat emotionless about it, it had become part of my past and it was necessary to be detached and move on swiftly.

When I saw the bicycle, some vandal had bent the back carriage out of shape such that the lower part near the hub of the wheel having lost a nut jutted into the spokes of the wheel – why anyone will find pleasure in doing that escapes me.

A quick work of it

Precarious as it was, I was able to do a temporary fix to ride the bicycle to the repair shop. The man recognised that I bought the bicycle from years before and I later reminded him that the second-hand bike I had before that once belonged to his mother who was quite a careful owner.

For years, I had used second-hand bikes that seemed to be what most people have though more are now getting new bicycles.

I was able to persuade them to do the job today and I was told to return in 30 minutes as I tacked on a few more adjustments like a new front lamp, air in the types, removing the annoying dynamo and just a basic service if time allows it.

Within 25 minutes they called to say it was ready, they had done everything and even sorted out the faulty switch on the rear lighting, the bicycle felt as good as mended as we had a light banter about other things.

Penny-farthing, plenty to point out

The repairman then said there was one bicycle he would really like to see me ride since I looked dressed for it – hat and all, except for the fact that I should have worn a bow-tie and not a day cravat.

As he showed me the bicycle, I realised I had only ever seen a penny-farthing in books and never in real life – that was really funny, if only I had the presence of mind to take a picture of it then.

Besides, I had to sure I could take my bicycle on the trains – apparently, we are not allowed to carry big bicycles on board during the rush hour and on my way into Amsterdam, I found that the trains had spaces allocated for bicycles with priority sticks to boot – so I made allowances for other to walk round my bicycle to use the fold-up seats but I did not have to be inconvenienced as to why my bicycle was on that coach.

I always have many times had the unique opportunity to point to signs on the train in terms of priority, noise, seating and much else – when I lost my way, my phone came to the rescue, I keyed in my destination and got vocal directions to help me get home.

Thought Picnic: It's Goodbye to Oostelijke Handelskade 1121

Those many losses

I cannot say which loss has affected me the most; the loss of my job, the loss of my health, or the loss of my home, each compounding the other in order and yet, I am still standing.

It has not been easy at all, and today, exactly 10 and a half years after I took the keys to my apartment, I handed the keys not to the agent but directly to the young couple who have now come into possession of it, just like the couple who sold the place to me did in 2001.

I took them on a tour, showed them a few essential things, and gave some advice about the upkeep, the need for good neighbourliness, and something about what made my home a wonderful place to live in all those years.

Not a boring moment

Of all the losses I have suffered, my health took the greatest battering and it is the one that has now made a most remarkable and miraculous recovery.

For everything else, where there is life and good health, there is hope and with hope, you can find a new job and maybe get to own a home again.

If anything, when I look back over the 46 years of my life, there has never been a boring moment, it has been an amazing unfolding drama of living, for richer and for poorer, in little and in plenty, in sickness and in health, in blessing and in misfortune, in miracles and in catastrophe [It is like life’s marriage vows of a single man] but one thing remains – I have had God on my side, good in my life and goodness from so many people that I have very little time to grumble when it is positively occupied with being thankful.

My safety and thankfulness

As I closed the door to my apartment yesterday on the last full day of my living there, I thanked God for giving me such a beautiful place, everyone who visited always commented about the view which looked unto two harbours from the seventh floor – it was a refuge, a fortress, a castle with the formidable crenellations, I felt really safe there when it seemed the whole world was against me.

I remember a few years ago when the side-effects of a particular medication created feelings of acute claustrophobia that every room seemed too small, as I stepped into my living room, I meditated on Jesus being all the space I needed knowing that if I stepped out of my home I may never return and though my consultant could not allude to why the side-effects took hold, soon I was fine and safe where I always was.

To recover with interest

As the search for a new place to call my own commences, I have through the grace of wonderful people found a place for my independence from where I hope to recuperate, rejuvenate, reaffirm and recover the many things I have lost with interest.

I had to write this because it was goodbye to my wonderful home on Oostelijke Handelskade in Amsterdam.

I am still standing and I intend to win.