God, please send Africa Mandela number 2

Finally, the curtains are drawn on the life of Africa's most legendary son, Nelson Mandela. Such an incredible icon, an outstanding character in every sense of the word.

First of all, I am not going to recount his history all over again, Google has already archived all that information. However, I will write about the most fundamental part of being named after Mandela, from my own perspective.

The world today has no shortage of leaders, we find them everywhere like at the most basic level, the Heads of State. However, the world is short of leaders who have been able to change the world. It is amazing how every important leader has a record in history books but so few have been written in the records of our hearts. Men will always go down in history as having done a thing or two for the human race, but  only a few will be passed on in our memories.

Mandela is one man who will certainly not be forgotten because of what he was able to communicate to the world. To be able to show the world that racial tolerance is possible after decades of intense hate is an amazing feat. Fighting for freedom is very important but to teach people that racial intolerance is slavery is an even greater liberation. The greatest freedom is the freedom from the jail of ignorance and hate. In fact mental freedom is more important than physical freedom or economic freedom.

Which brings me to the point that the greatest disease to plague the African continent today is not neo-colonialism but racism. We were liberated from colonialism 50 years ago but we are still colonized in our minds. Racism is simply a perception that a certain race is superior than another or in the African case, that Africans are inferior to the White Man. So we end up fighting the white man and the white man laughs at this stupid disease. We declare that the solution is to show that we are greater than the white man while in reality, we are all the same, none greater, none lesser. Even if we were to eradicate every white man from the continent, we would remain locked up in our mental cells with the keys in hand waiting for a Messiah to come. I guess that's the danger of low self esteem, the fruit being blaming and hating other people. 

Mandela did South Africa a great favour by fighting for political independence while yet advocating for racial interdependence.Maybe we need a second Mandela to liberate us Africans mentally. 

Changing Perspectives

I was recently asked to do album reviewson two hip hop albums and I am yet to  do them. Hopefully, i'll be done by the end of the month. However, before I do them, I would like to do a preface of sorts.

As believers, even for those secular artists, our attitude and approach towards music is majorly shaped  by our perspective towards God, or gods in whichever appropriate context. How we look at God shapes how we look at life generally, and music is supposed to b a testimony of our lives and so it trickles to that too. So our changing perspectives are continuously being reflected in our approach towards music.

The approach towards music in this case not being a case of preference for a certain genre of music but a preference for the message being conveyed in the music we listen to or compose. That is why the bible even commands that we sing a new song unto the Lord continuously because there are changing perspectives towards God on a seasonal basis.

Change in perspective towards God is not a matter of a radical shift in how we look at God always but a growth in depth in the knowledge of God. There are rare moments that our perspective towards God may change radically but not everyday or every now and then. Just as the bible is progressive from the book of Genesis to Revelation, so is the gradual change in our perspective towards God in most instances. So there is a case of progressive change and a  case of radical change. The problem however arises when there is a case of ever changing radical perspective about God for in such moments, there the danger of cultism and wrong perspective is birthed.

Currently in the hiphop community, there seems to be a change of sorts, somewhere between a radical and progressive change and as usual, change must come with a bit of shaking. Some artists seem to have caught the wave, others not so much but at this point we can't put a bar on that. But at the centre of this has emerged two outstanding pillars that I have been asked about:

1. Beautiful Eulogy from Humble Beast
2. Lecrae from 116.

Next time I'll start from there......
Adios Amigos

Our society's Red Gold

The book of Job

6 One day the angels[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

I love this passage. It illustrates the kind of relationship God and Satan have. Its not always war war war!!! The kind of thing that we are convinced it is. God is even fair enough to give the Devil his time of day because God is just in all His ways and that includes giving a fair hearing. Something unusual we aren't used to hearing.

For those who  are unaware, the Devil accuses the saints day and night before God and he does this because he understands that before God, all men  are made equal and His justice is unbiased. The only escape is the blood  of Christ that paid for our sins. So, for any accusation not covered for by Calvary means another penalty must be paid.

Travel with me to the second part of this story.

Here is part of an interview between the Al jaazera and the Al Shabaab spokesman. You can read the full interview at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/09/2013923628350977.html

AJ: Kenya says it will go after the perpetrators of this attack and won't stop until they are defeated. What do you say to that?

SA: We are not perpetrators. We are only defending ourselves and defending our rights, the rights of the Somali people.

Today no one has a worse criminal record than the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. He's talking about tens of people killed at Westgate while he's responsible for the deaths of thousands of people killed when he was running for the presidency. If Kenyans want to hold someone accountable for crimes they should first start with him.

At this point, may I expressly state that I have not called our president a criminal, I have just quoted the words of the spokesman. However, as said in my previous post, a leader carries the aspirations of a community. So don't be quick to judge that guy. I guess he saw the president representing a certain goal and way of life of Kenyans.

So what happened after the Westgate incident in our city?

We Christians rushed to church and prayed for protection. We Kenyans tweeted and facebooked about #WeAreOne. We even went ahead to make declarations about the peace and prosperity of this country and even had a National Prayer Breakfast because we are concerned about our prosperity. We all want to pacify our security and image as a nation. That's all we cared about. 

Question is, will it happen again?

Let me now take you on a journey, a possible q&a session. Maybe then you might understand this somewhat incoherent writing.

*Scene One*

Judge: Hello prosecutor, what have you been upto?

Prosecutor: Just touring here and there like the kanjo do when looking for money. Guess what I found?

J: What?

P: I went to  your tenants' territory, the land your servants took from me

J: So what about it?  You know yo don't have any business there!!!

P:But I do. They took it but they haven't given me my red gold back. They  are still holding onto it since 2007 December. They need to pay for it if they are insisting on keeping it. So I have to go back for my pay until they give it up.

J: *Shakes His head*

P: Even if you shake your head, you do know the law. So I'll be on my way now Mr. Judge. Have a good day.

(Prosecutor walks out of courtroom)

*End of Scene*

At the National Prayer Breakfast a woman stood up and shouted, "Repent!!! My God has told you to repent." Shortly after which she was escorted out.

I am not a prophet of doom but I know some red gold somewhere needs to be given up. I also do not know how the rest of the scenes go. Maybe we will write the script or maybe we will leave it hanging and let it unfold. Only time will tell.

The heart of a nation demands for its leaders

Every time people blame their leaders, we are reminded that our leaders are our own products.

I have come to learn something of late as a leader, every leader that is voted in or buys his way into an office is a reflection of the aspirations of the people that chose him to lead them. This statement is very true since leaders lead a people towards a certain goal. The goal might be good or bad but its essentially what the voters have subscribed to. Technically this is how election and leadership works.

1. I see a goal I need to attain to and the path which I would like to take.

2. I  look around for people around me with a common goal and associate myself with them

3. From amongst ourselves, we choose the one with the clarity of the path to be taken.

4. The elected person becomes the leader and steers us towards this goal irrespective of our persistent opinions.

5. After a certain time, we grade their ability to lead us towards this goal by way of another election.

No leader is there without carrying the heart of the society since after a while of association with fellow members of the society, he understands the heart and mind of the  people around him. Every leader carries the aspirations of  his people, no matter how he got to that position.

We can never blame our leaders for corruption and impunity without first accepting that we ourselves as citizens are corrupt. In fact if the leader corruptly got into government, even the better because he is just behaving as the nature of the community requires him to. 

The reason why Africa has the kind of leaders it has is because the heart of the nation demands for such leaders. Before becoming a leader, you  must understand the heart otherwise the heart will always be in conflict with the leader. And not many leaders can bear that.

Don't blame leaders for poor leadership, remember you chose that path. The leader just takes the first step in the journey.

Open letter to workers in the Gospel industry

This is a summary of observations I have made in my short stint in ministry as I would call it. A few tips here and there and some experiences I have had within the past two or so years.

1. Collaborations in ministry do not start at the place of skill, but at the place of honour.

Trying to do a collaboration or a project with people has been one of the hardest things ever in Nairobi. And this is not because that we lack resources or people, but because we are unable to discern and honour one another.
Honour does not start by honouring another person's  ministry but honouring an individual's life because ministry essentially should be an overflow of one person's relationship since at the end of the day anyway, its our sacrifice back to God. most artists I have met rarely do have time to interact with the person of Christ vested in an individual and are quick too run after a person's gifts talents and abilities rather than the character of a person or the heart of a person.

2. Big/established names or reputations.

Reputation is a good thing because it generally means that the ability to attract a crowd is easier, even though the reputable person or establishment is full of nonsense. Unfortunately for many, growth of repute compared to humility is indirectly proportional. People are moreso concerned about getting to the next level in the industry instead of the next level in devotion to Christ. And we judge this not by the depth of the songs sung or fire of the ministry but in how people relate to one another. Christ said, how will they know you are my disciples unless you love one another? And this trend is seen especially when relating to nobodies  in the market. We always want to be the next big thing and maybe Christ has called us to be the next small thing with the quantification of the effectiveness of our ministry being indirectly proportionate to our size.

3. Loyal friendship

For a while, i lost interest in working with people based on the fact that artists befriend other artists on what may be described as on  contractual basis. After doing a project or show together, so is the friendship. I HATED and still do hate this insincerity where no person wants to really know one another, they just want to get what you can offer then run away. More like a one night stand instead of a marriage. Finding sincere friends in artists who want to know a person beyond political expediency is a rare thing nowadays and I an glad for the few sincere friends I have.
Sincere friends do work with friends even when there is no profit of any sort involved in the ministry. (Profit may include not only money but also repute and connections and any other thing that is deemed as essential towards the expansion of a person's ministry).

4. There will be no ministry in heaven, just worship and fellowship with God.

This revelation did change my perspective towards ministry. Realizing that the ultimate purpose of God is to untie us all in Christ (Ephesians 1:10) changed everything. Heaven is enjoyable for those who know what fellowship with God and man is, not for those who've been working themselves off to impress God. I mean, what can we do to impress God with that is so wow???? If someone can convince me using scripture that man can impress God or do something to add value to God and i'll take down this whole blog.

5. Fame.

Fame and reputation in the world equates power and the church has taken up this doctrine so we keep on chasing fame in the hope of becoming powerful ministers. God says he uses the FOOLISH things of this world to SHAME THE WISE. No one wants to be foolish nowadays but unfortunately, if we really want to follow God, we must be ready to appear as foolish. Christianity is not just about partaking in the joys of Christ but also in the SUFFERINGS of Christ. (I know I touched something right there). To be a christian, you must be ready to embrace embarrassment. Even Christ was hung completely naked, not with undergarments as photos would like us to believe and for men, we do know that that is the ultimate shame of a man.

6. Love

What can I say, artists know 1 Corinthians 13 with their lips and not with their hearts.

Conclusion.

During the Move Tour 2011, my friend made an observation and said, "you cannot fake unity". The reach record artists were not united because they were in sync, they were in sync IN THE SPIRIT because they were united.

Passion conference: Happens every year in the states and started by Louie Giglio when he was nobody and when nobody artists like Chris Tomlin and David Crowder offered themselves to help push the initiative. In this year's conference, they attracted 55,000 students in one dome. All because of commitment with no profit.

Gaither Vocal Band: These guys started singing way before I was born and what has kept them together till today is loyal friendship. They are friends and they are family to one another. That is why their songs, old as they may be, were not just a written record, but a unity of spirits all with one aim and that is to worship God.

The day Kenyan artists will look beyond themselves and selfish expediency is the day real effective ministry will be seen. Nowadays our ministry is just sweet to the ears but with no effect in the spiritual realm.

Fame and reputation in the world translates to power. Unfortunately, we've married the church to this FALSE DOCTRINE. Fame in the physical is irrelevant in the spirit. To be effective in the physical, you must be effective in the spirit and not the other way round.