A Dying USB Flash Stick

A last note from a ‘Dying’ flash drive

My name is Vic, Vic Oldhart and I am a flash disk. I am writing this quick note for you from Dandora. I need you to read it quickly and hopefully get the message. When you do, please pass it on.

I am sure you are familiar with me because there are so many of us out there. You probably have one of my relatives with you right now. You see, even though there are too many of us, each of us is unique, our maker ensured that each of us is distinct, just like you are an individual each of us is also unique. So I have a special story.

I am sure you know that we are very handy to have around. When you need to print that document and your computer is not connected to a printer you run to us to help you transfer that file. After that you probably forget about us, throw us back to into the box, attach us to your keys or just pop us into your bag.  

But maybe there is a part of me that you probably don’t know and that is what I want to tell you about. I am now not in a nice bag like my friends, I am not in a special office transferring files from accounts to HR or carrying exciting games for kids. I am in the dumpsite. This place is really bad.  I am facing my final days in life and soon the compressor will lift us up, and throw me and the rest of the garbage into the pit and that will be it for me, so I decided as one last act of courage, to send you this little missive. 

I was made many years ago in a far, far away land. I was precious to my maker and I remember him stamping his uniqueness in me along the conveyor belt of that USB making factory. He knew we were needed all over the world, but to be useful we had to have good memory and good physical features and so he ensured all our parts were working well. We were then tested for quality and I emerged among the best. I was so happy about myself – who was like me, a new flashy flash disk with the highest capacity in the market. I was actually quite big at 64GB, there were not many like me as many people could only afford the smaller capacity drives. A few of my friends and I were very special – only the well-heeled could afford us. We were the ones meant to do special jobs in big offices and we looked forward to our assignments with eagerness. 

Finally, when we came out of production we were ready to be shipped all over the world. Our maker however gave us final instructions before we left. We were to remain obedient, to carry useful information and to know that there is an enemy out there against us. We never thought about those words well enough as we could not wait to get to our destinations.  I remember the long journey in the high seas in a shipping container with hardly any air. It was traumatising but we finally arrived in Mombasa. 

It took a while to be cleared at the port but finally the big crane lifted us up out of the ship and into a waiting truck. We were now headed to the city. It was my first time to be in Kenya and so everything looked new and exciting. I had heard so much about the Lions of Tsavo, the Elephants and Buffalos but the most the amazing thing I looked forward to were people of Kenya. I so badly wanted to be owned by a high profile sports personality like Collins Injeera or Julius ‘Javelin’ Yego.  The road journey was exciting, except for a few potholes here and there and the queues from Mlolongo but we finally arrived in the green city under the sun. I was moved to a shop in a place I came to learn was an electronics shop in Moi Avenue and after only a day on display a dashing young girl in school uniform actually bought me. 

Part of me was sad as I had not landed a celebrity or a senior politician as I had always dreamt. I was now owned by a regular person, a teenager actually, her name was Evelyn. But then the fun was just about to begin.  You see, people use us for all sorts of reason, for some it is to buy videos and games from that guy in the backstreet, others use us to carry nice smiling photos of their new-born babies but some others also use us to carry secret information, like data from a school exam management system or some government secret. I was ready to be useful to my new owner just as I had been instructed by our maker. Throughout my short life with Evelyn, I have done very exciting jobs for her and others. I have carried beautiful memories for people, saved huge school projects for students, travelled far and wide and brought many a smile to people. I never learnt to say to what Evelyn wanted, as long as I had capacity I carried it all.  This carried on for many years until she finished school and college. 

And then one day, Evelyn wanted to apply for the American Green Card. She saved all the important documents in me and then tucked me nicely in her clutch and off we went to the city centre in search of a good cyber café from where she could do her application. When we got there, she logged on as usual and opened the right pages for her application and then she was prompted to upload her documents and passport size photo. It was at that moment that she reached out for me from her clutch and slotted me into this old machine at the cyber café. As soon as I was plugged in, I could smell that the environment was not great. Too many USB’s had been here and this computer had been used to access all sorts of sites some very bad that I should advise you never to visit. But then I assumed something, that the owner of the place might have installed some form of protection for his machines. I was very wrong. 

Within a moment, I noticed the files in my memory were corrupted. It was now total chaos, I tried to beep and signal my little red light to see if Evelyn could unplug me immediately but she did not notice. Every second counted and as she fumbled through the file explorer trying to access me, she got the message: Drive Inaccessible. 

On my end, I was under extreme pressure. I was being choked from every side by this new virus that was circulating on the internet. All my files were now corrupted and many copies of the virus were loaded onto me. Sadly, Evelyn did not know this was happening. After half an hour of trying to access her document, she decided to try another cyber café. She unplugged me and off we went, as we walked the crowded streets of Nairobi, I really wished humans could understand the flashdisk language so I could tell her that I was infected with a deadly virus and in urgent need of cleansing. And so we went to another machine. I feared for the worst, Not only could my files not be useful but I was now going to transmit this virus to another computer. 

As Evelyn shared her need with Chris, the guy who managed the new Cybercafe, he asked if he could see me. As a policy, he said he does not allow clients to plug in their own USB sticks before he checked them for viruses. He had this supersize server computer that run the entire Cyber cafe named ‘Crossforce’ under his desk and he immediately plugged me in – it was a dazzling moment of both shame and guilt on my part as the dangerous virus was detected by the strong anti-virus in Chris’ Machine, I was carrying a virus and did not say it, the virus had choked me and corrupted all my faculties. I was guilty that I was useful to Evelyn and let her down on a very crucial assignment. I had lost all her selfies, adventure photos, scanned school certificates, games and movies. I was #heartbroken. 

I could now see the disappointment on Evelyn’s face. I could only imagine the number of nkt’s on her Facebook post at that moment. I had been a let-down. But most surprisingly, Chris was not shocked. I had expected her to admonish Evelyn for having an infected flashdisk  and worse still for bringing it to his Cyber Cafe. But he calmly looked at her and reassured her that he had seen way too many people with the same problem. A panicky Evelyn asked if there was anything he could do to save her documents and he said he can try. He immediately engaged a new level of the antivirus software called ‘RestorationX’ and the process of file recovery begun. 

As this was going on, I could tell that my files were being rearranged into new sectors. After nearly three hours, Chris approached Evelyn who was seated in the Café alone, as everybody else had left for the day. Evelyn was really anxious to hear an update and Chris said sternly: ‘Crossforce has managed to rescue your files, folders and all documents but the disk is severely infected, you have to get a new one and I recommend NewHart, the latest from the same company that makes Crossforce. Do not use this USB anymore as it is still infected 

A mixture of joy and pain welled up in my heart. I was not useful to Evelyne anymore but at least her crucial documents were saved and they would a new home soon. Chris also helped her to make her Visa application as they chatted animatedly.

But even more surprising for me was when Chris said to Evelyne that she could not pay any money as she had suffered too much with me already. There was a sparkle in his eye and I could not help but notice a warm smile on Eveylyn as she took the compliment. As Chris and Evelyn walked out, I overheard him ask her ‘Would you like to have a coffee sometime?’

***

Soon after I was popped into Chris’ dustbin and Newhart was nicely put into Evelyn purse. I felt so jealous but my fate was now clear. Soon after I was carried out by some guys and into this huge dumpsite.  So here is my quick message to you and all your friends – Please get rid of all your Oldharts, run quickly to Chris who is offering restoration and cleansing and even replacement with Newhart. 

I was put off because of a virus infection and Newhart had now taken my place. Apparently, Newhart is virus free and has layers upon layers of protection patented by his cosmic manufacturer and certified by full Assurance.

The Book of Joshua: An Introduction.

I have been leading a small group Bible study in church as we worked our way through Joshua the group found the book too hot to handle. Sharp words were used to describe the books such as ‘too bloody’ ‘genocide’ ‘ethnic cleansing’ and others we don’t normally use to describe events in the Bible. I must confess that Joshua is not an easy read for the engaged reader but it has deep treasures for us today. 

The book opens with a very encouraging, if over-quoted chapter. Be strong and courageous, Joshua is told by God and maybe that is a strong hint of what lies ahead of the book. You are going to need to be bold and courageous because Joshua is more a military battle front report than encouraging poetry or a romantic narrative. From the spying in the second chapter to a retiring general’s address in chapter 24, the book is clearly a military notebook. What else should we expect other than gory images, devastation, desolation, victory chants and looting. 

Having said that, the book of Joshua is about God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises to His people. The means might be invasion, conquest and plunder but the end is the granting of the land to its rightful grantees. It reflects God’s sovereignty in ways we don’t think of it nowadays let alone condone. God will clearly demonstrate His love for His people even in very unusual ways like the Sun stopping (10: 13 -14)

The key to understanding the book therefore lies in seeing the covenant keeping God in action among and on behalf of His people. Joshua summarises that for us. 

‘Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it and they settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.’

Joshua 21: 43 - 45

We can divide up Joshua into 3 main sections and an introduction and summary on either end.

1: Introduction – The calling and commissioning of Joshua.

2 – 5: Crossing into the Promised Land

6 – 12: Conquest of the Land

13 – 21: Allotment of the Land

22 – 24: Epilogue

Although I have listed the last 3 chapters as an epilogue, they point to us the purpose of it all – God has kept His Word and calls His people to serve Him in response. It is very interesting that the call to covenant renewal and worship comes after all the conquest.  An important theological point emerges - God acts first in saving and then invites His people to serve Him – never the other way round. Joshua strongly reminds the people of God's faithfulness to the nation and then calls them to a personal decison. Will you serve Him? As for Joshua and His family (the other overly quoted bit) the choice was clear- we will serve the Lord.

There is a lot to draw from the book but I suggest the overarching message is God's faithfulness to His word. He promised to Abraham the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:7) and He has delivered on that promise. He has called Isreal a special people and a treasured possession and He has surely demonstrated it. From that we can safely deduce that the faithful God who called us in Christ will surely deliver on His promise of eternal life.

Although the message of Joshua may confuse the contemporary reader at first, it affirms a truly biblical theme – God loves his special, chosen people. This is clearly a counter-cultural idea but such is the message of the entire Bible – it always sits uncomfortably to human ears. While modern philosophy says God is for us all, the book of Joshua postulates a God who is for a special, favoured people. And that is Yahweh, the God of the Bible. No need to apologise for Him. 

Secondly, Joshua mirror in the face of present realities. The world is full of strife, wars, conquests, murder and even genocide. We can be slightly put off by the descriptions in Joshua but in reality it is the same as reading a newspaper today. This must call us to an important truth I have found in my limited study of the Bible: God is always sovereign and faithful to His word, mankind is fallen and desperately in need of a saviour. 

It is that saviour that mankind desperately needs that is foreshadowed in the book named like Him – Yeshua, Jesus the saviour. It is this Jesus who will win the land, security, status and identity of His special people through a bloody crucifixion on a Roman cross. In a sense therefore Joshua calls us to long for a lasting saviour who promises and delivers eternal rest for His chosen people.

Mungai Macharia.

 February 2016                                                                         

The Grace of Giving

Last Sunday I had the privilege of sharing God's word in our church. It was a late request so I was nervous about my own preparation. I remember Rhodah asking matter-of-factly on Saturday whether I was ready and I answering rather incoherently that I was 'kind of' ready and immediately realising that you never quite 'get there' in sermon prep. There is always a bit of uncertainty and self doubt that lingers on even after hours in study and prayer.

I was going to teach from 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 on the grace of giving - radical text that changes our traditional views on Christian giving that I knew it could potentially disturb many including me. This is especially because NT giving is different from the OT system of assorted sacrifices, tithes and offerings. The most radical statement is what Paul tells us in verse 5 of chapter 8 that the Macedonians had first given themselves to the Lord and then their gifts  followed. And that was striking for me.

We live in a world where gifts are an easy form of manipulation. People give in order to receive (the whole panda mbegu philosophy rides on that) and what they want to receive varies from a phone, passing an exam, getting a spouse to  forgiveness for their guilt-laden souls. When a gift precedes a relationship one might want to ask a few questions - is this genuine love or manipulation?  Is it an advance payment for a 'good or service' or is it a ransom, 'hush money' or  a 'placation'? Often times it is one of those.

Sadly, we bring these worldly views into our worship of God with our treasures.  We use tithes and offerings as 'check boxes' of our godliness or as means to another end rather than an overflow of our relationship with the Lord. When relationship (Grace) precedes giving then quantities and 'labels' [Tithe, offering, First fruit etc] do not matter as much as the quality of the relationship.  It gets to a point where the gift can be everything (Acts 4:32ff) or almost nothing (2 Cor 8: 2). It doesn't matter anymore if it is a tithe or a third, a freewill offering or first fruit. The object of affection means much more than the gift.

The closest image I had to illustrate this is two lovers. When they are deeply in love with each other, even a straw of grass picked in their romantic walk and given to the gracious lady will be treasured dearly just as that huge bouquet of roses. It is no longer about the gift, it is now a matter of the heart. Things could however go bad very quickly if a young man thought they can buy their way to the heart of the lady through flashy gifts without truly loving her.  It is offensive, cheapening and rude to do that by/to any self-respecting person. It is comparable to trade and is a huge offense to relationships.  Sadly that is how we can be tempted to go about our relationship with God - sending our gifts before our hearts. It may look tactful like when Jacob sent gifts ahead of his meeting with his offended brother but it is clearly not the gospel of Grace.  The example of the Macedonion church teach us otherwise. For God so loved that He gave...

Perhaps we might want to evaluate our own service/desire to serve in light of this. Verse 9 is a helpful reason for all that Paul had said before...'For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ....' this really is the basis of all our stewardship. Dare I call it the 'acid test' of our giving/serving motives. If it is not done in light of the incarnation, then perhaps it is not worship but rather one of those worldly tools above. May we excel in this grace of giving. 

***

But what should we do with the obligatory requirement to tithe in our churches today? My answer is simple. If we are to teach tithing as a separate requirement for NT believers, then we must teach the entire mosaic law and implement it to the letter. But we can't do that as Christ alone fulfilled the law and all its requirements. There is freedom in Christ - freedom to commit ourselves to a regular discpline of tithing and freedom to give liberally as one is enabled and cheerful enough to do. To impose a requirement of tithes from Christians is manipulative and indeed repugnant to the gospel.So no, we are under no obligation in the new covenant to pay tithes. 

But tithing precedes the law. This is perhaps the worst argument I ever heard for tithing/against the OT. It goes like - tithing was first seen in the great father Abraham [who gave a tenth of his war spoils to a mythical king of Salem in Genesis 14] Hebrews tells us this was a Christophany and so Abraham gave a tithe to Christ. What this argument does is to teach an obligation from an example. But it is not consistent beacuse it does not teach animal sacrifices or circumcision which also pre-dated mosaic law. It is weak on its understanding of OT/the law and the prophets as foreshadowing of Christ and does a 'convinient-pick-and-mix-' of ideas from the OT and apply them to NT believers. 

So should we tithe? No and Yes. It is all a question of the heart [motives]. If we are tithing to fulfil a requiremet then No. Tithing is instituted and deeply rooted in the mosaic law and Christ has fulfillled it perfectly and hence no need to try and go back to fulfil it. You and I cant anyway - it is an affront to the Grace of God in Christ Jesus. And where would we take the tithes anyway? To the temple in Jerusalem where the 'house of the Lord' is?

And yet we can tithe. By adopting the principle and not the practice of tithing and running it through the prism of the cross[2 Cor 8 'in light of the incarnation']. The principle behind tithing is worshipping the Lord with the fruits of our hands/land and supporting those those who give all their time to the Lord's service as their daily work. Paul clearly points to that. But the NT uses the langauge of gifts rather than tithes hence my inclination towards a 'gift' rather than tithe. Tithes are defined and technically limited to a tenth or 10% exactly. Working out the right tithe has been a source of controversy and many a soul have been spiritually abused by their leaders on this. Gifts on the other hand are an overflow of generosity ranging from two copper coins to whole estates - all a matter of the heart. So even though a Christian chooses to exercise their liberty and commit to a regular discpline of tithing, that language is odd, a carryover from the law. Tithes were paid [notice the obligation, more like taxes] but gifts are given freely and without compulsion [1Cor 9]

I do not think I have the last word on this touchy subject that often rubs pastors and church treasurers like myself the wrong way. But I also know why we love the law in all spheres of life [obligations, policies and requirements]. We find it hard cope with grace, we would rather the law which we think is straightforward and easy but that is not the case otherwise Christ needed not to redeem us from the law and all its requirements - that is why grace is so amazing. 

Give graciously for the Lord's work -  'What you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver' - 2Cor 9:7ff

Prayer Letters - Why Bother?

In an age of so much information at very fast speeds, it may appear as if writing prayer letters is a ritual or a motion one has to go through while in ministry. Self description is not the most natural thing for us to do, not least to the detail that a prayer letter deserves. The fear that nobody really cares or bothers to read our letters can also make us hesitant to write them and this can be evidenced by the far too few responses that we get. Multiplicity of communication tools, especially social media can also cast doubt on the relevance of prayer letters. The truth however is that prayer letters are of great benefit both to the sender and the receiver. I will try and give you 3 solid reasons to keep up this discipline.

1. Purpose. The main reason for your prayer letters is in the name – prayer letter. We to tell the story of your ministry, share our vision and connect your partners to that vision so that they can pray from an informed position. We write prayer letters in order to get buy-in for your desire and decision to serve in ministry. The only way others can come behind you in prayer, gifts and encouragement is if they know what you are doing. People are more driven by vision not needs, passion not person. How clearly you are able to communicate that vision determines how successful you will be in winning their support. A simple, clear and focused prayer letter is a great aid to that end. Whereas it is true that some people will support your work simply because of who you are and how they know you, sustained ministry support over the years will call for more than just familial relationships – A vision for the gospel transcends social ties and is much more sustainable. Your partners need clarity of vision and encouragement that your ministry is worth investing in. Learning to tell the story of what God is doing in your ministry will make them look forward to your letters and effectively participate in what God is doing in and through you.

Learning Point – Focus more on ‘ministry’ rather than ‘personal’ news. It is great to share some personal quips but that is not the main purpose of the prayer letter. Too much emphasis on personal news will elicit wrong feelings. People are supporting you to do the work of ministry not to merely live. Remember they have their lives too. However since ministry is a real life experience, do share personal news – but the weight/emphasis should clearly be on the ministry side of things.

2. Accountability: It is true that when we ‘go’ we don’t do it alone. There are others obeying the great commission as much as we do in different ways – Giving, Praying or supporting in other practical ways. We need to be accountable to them – are we using the resources given for the gospel for that very purpose. They deserve to know how we are doing, the challenges we are facing, the victories we are experiencing and what we might be looking forward to in the near future. The good thing about this is that it keeps you humble – aware of the need for others and your own need to report. Accountability keeps us from a worldly sense of independence [ I am self contained, I work with my own hands, I don’t need anybody] kind of thinking to a gospel-minded sense of inter-dependence [I can’t do it on my strength alone, I need others beside me, this is God’s work that he has called us to do as a community of believers] and it has massive character benefits. For this reason alone, even if nobody reads or replies to your prayer letters, keep writing them. Accountability is a discipline that won’t come naturally to all of us – it is learnt, it is cultivated and nurtured. Hence, the office might insist on so many prayer letters. But like all things discipline – it is not sweet at initial stages but when fully learnt, it has great benefits for the recipient.

Learning Point: Writing Prayer Letters is an important ministry discipline. Schedule a regular pattern of when to do them and even when you don’t feel like doing it – do it anyway. It is very humbling to look back prayer letters from years back and to see the Lord’s faithfulness over the years. Writing things down clarifies our thoughts and focuses our minds way better than a social media post.

Practical Partnership in Action. The last argument I will put in for prayer letters is that it is a practical necessity. This is by no means no less important than the other two but actually shows real value in doing regular prayer letters. Here I gather several reasons;

1)      My partners are encouraged to give – they may drop my support if I don’t send letters.

2)      My organisation requires me to do them. I am in trouble if I don’t.

3)      They help my readers to pray for my ministry, personal or family needs.

4)      They keep communication open as partners write back with encouragements.

5)      They offer a chance for my partners to give practical or technical advice on an issue.

6)      Other Christian workers may offer ministry advice when they read my letters.

7)      My letters could inspire others to join ministry or evangelize where they live.

8)      Regular writing lets me look back on events with new perspective.

9)      Writing openly and honestly keeps me accountable.

10)   Writing regularly causes me to evaluate my own spiritual progress.

11)   Prayer letters can inspire partners with interesting or humorous stories.

12)   They demonstrate God’s goodness, faithfulness and power.

Learning Point: Go ahead and do your prayer letters.