Small Things Are Great

We’re currently reading through the book of Romans in our fellowship, and this past Sunday, we landed on chapter 13. Let’s just say—we didn’t sing. We prayed, then dived straight into the deep end. It wasn’t planned, but everything from our hearts to our history books showed up. One kid showed up with an injury and so we started by nursing the wound and hearing how his Batman stunts backfired, then we went into maandamano and finally the Bible. Romans 13 talks about leadership and love . The chapter begins by saying that all authority comes from God, and that resisting authority is like resisting God. Paul calls government leaders “SERVANTS OF GOD”, and that line alone shook the room, especially considering the times we’re living in. Romans 13 (GNT) reads thus... Everyone must obey state authorities , because no authority exists without God's permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God . Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; an...

What do you do as a man when lightning strikes twice—and keeps on striking? Do you pray for the storm to end, ask God to reverse events, or just curse Him and die? I think that’s what happened to Job. He received a series of terrible news, one after another. It’s also what happens to many men. When lightning strikes at a distance, it’s a wow moment. " Did you see that ?" "That was huge!" People smile, point, and marvel. But when it strikes home—and all you’ve been building goes up in flames—that’s when you desperately hope to find someone who’s gone through the same storm and learn how they stood again. Unfortunately, most men coil back. We try to run the course solo and the world allows it. I relate deeply with Job. This being Mens Mental Health Month, I’ve been reflecting on my life—as a child, a boy, a man, and a minister. It's been fun, tough, and threaded with every shade of emotion. As the lastborn, I received the end and last bit of everything—from clothe...

There’s a blank page in most Bibles — right between Malachi and Matthew. No words. No lines. Just silence. But I’ve been wondering lately… what if that page isn’t just a divider of testaments — what if it’s a symbol? A reminder of what life becomes when God withdraws? Blank. In Malachi 2:16, God SAID something raw and direct: “ I hate divorce ,” says the Lord, the God of Israel. He’s talking about covenant-breaking, not just relational splits. And yet, right after that book — God goes quiet. For over 400 years, not a single prophet speaks. No visions. No burning bushes. No thunder from Sinai. Just… silence. To me, it feels like a separation. I think He actually divorced them. Israel had repeatedly walked away from Him — idols, injustice, lip service without life change. God had warned, pleaded, sent messengers. And then… He stopped speaking. He didn’t stop being God. He didn’t stop loving. But He stepped back. And I wonder… is that what divine separation(divorce from God) looks like? N...

I find it fascinating that when Jesus was laying the foundation for how His Church would grow and thrive, He only chose five titles to describe the roles of those who would serve and lead: * Apostles * Prophets * Evangelists * Pastors * Teachers Just five and yet, when Jesus arrived on the scene, there were already plenty of functioning religious titles: priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes. He could have used those. But He didn’t, and that makes me pause. Why Not Use the Old System? The old Jewish system had spiritual roles clearly laid out. Priests handled sacrifices and temple worship. Scribes knew the Law inside-out. Pharisees were law-keepers. Sadducees were the elite, skeptical about resurrection and angels. It was a fully staffed religious enterprise. So why didn’t Jesus just tweak it a bit? Why not update the job descriptions and keep the same framework? I think it because Jesus wasn’t interested in renovating religion. He came to rebuild humanity — to establish something rad...

When Paul told Timothy to pray for those in authority, he said: “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; for kings and all others in authority, so that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct. This is good and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth.” — 1 Timothy 2:1–4 (GNB) Now, not many of us think of this instruction from Paul as a soul-winning strategy . Most times, we take it as a governance prayer guide because of how verses are broken up. Verse 1 is read on its own, verse 2 separately, verse 3 and 4 independently—and we miss the flow and connection. As a result, when we’re told to pray for leaders, we pray for their performance, not their salvation. We view them as civil servants in need of common sense, not sinners in need of salvation (#Jesus, Yeshuah, The God who saves). But here’s the truth: common sense...

ROMANS 1–5: The Problem and the Promise Theme: We all fall short — but God offers us righteousness through faith in Jesus. Guiding Questions: 1. Who do you think Paul is writing to, and why is he so eager to talk about the gospel? (Romans 1:1-17) 2. What does Paul say about people who ignore God even though they can see His power in creation? (Romans 1:18-20) 3. Paul talks a lot about sin. What does he mean when he says, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory”? (Romans 3:23) 4. If we can’t become right with God by keeping the law, how can we become right with Him? (Romans 3:28; 5:1) 5. Why does Paul talk about Abraham’s faith? What lesson can we learn from that? (Romans 4:1-3) 6. Romans 5:8 says, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." What does this teach you about God’s love? ROMANS 6–10: The Change and the Challenge Theme: Grace doesn’t give us a license to sin — it gives us power to live differently. Guiding Questions: 1. Paul asks, "Shall we conti...

In our fellowship — by God’s help — we wrapped up Acts last week. We’ve now dived into Romans, aiming for 3–4 chapters a week with a group discussion during our Sunday meet-up. Now I must confess: this letter — sorry, book — isn’t my favourite. And honestly, I doubt it was a favourite to its original readers either. For starters, it’s long. I asked ChatGPT, and according to the NKJV, we’re dealing with 9,447 words. That’s a lot. Was Paul writing a letter or applying for a theological doctorate? I pity the scribe. Secondly, some scholars still argue about who actually wrote it. Many say it couldn't have been Paul because it doesn't fit in his Acts missionary trips. I hate arguments. The fact that our predecessors couldn’t agree unsettles me. Thirdly, let’s be honest — teaching through a long, debated document is a heavy responsibility. But, our leader didn’t consult me when choosing this next book, so my opinion didn’t count. And so, here we are again… studying Romans. Every tim...

"Mwana mkaidi hafaidi hadi siku ya Idi" was a popular proverb back in my high school days. Like many others, it had a rhythm to it that made it stick. We’d get so caught up in the rhyme that sometimes we’d completely miss the meaning! Remember sayings like: Cha mkufu huha, Mwenda tenzi na omo, Maskini akipata... They had a way of gluing us to the words. Which one was your favorite? Now, I opened with the Eid proverb because today we’re taking a break to mark Eid al-Adha. I say “we” not because everyone is celebrating, but because it’s a national public holiday. However — just like those catchy proverbs — many of us don’t actually know what this day is all about. You might hear the resurrection of the Akorinos joke “When will the Akorinos give us a public holiday?” 😅 But truly, most of us hear “Eid” and carry on without asking questions. So, What Is Eid al-Adha? I encourage you to make the internet your friend today. Look up what Eid al-Adha means. It's more than just a d...

The registration of church fellowships with the government has, in many ways, done us — the members — a great disservice. In this article, I explore how registration has led to: * Divisions  among believers, * A shift in domain and authority, and * A deep negative impact on discipleship . 1️⃣ Divisions Born from Denominations Let’s begin with a basic truth: The government does not register the Church — it registers denominations. The Church, the body of Christ, is not an organization but an organ — a living, spiritual organism. You can’t point at a building and say, “That’s The Church.” That may be a church building — but not The Church. Because the Church has no earthly CEO, the government engages what it can control — registered denominations. These have: * Names, * Physical addresses, * Board members, * And signatures. And that's where the trouble begins. We begin to mobilize people toward denominations instead of Christ. We think of ourselves as separate from other believers...

Do you have a favorite word in your life? A word that you maybe make use of daily without fail? Maybe it isn’t your favorite in that you chose to use it, but one that you always find yourself using. My personal favorite word is “hallelujah.” I love it for two reasons. One, the meaning behind it is “praise the Lord,” and secondly, it almost sounds like “hello” at the beginning. Most people who’ve ever called me know that I usually say hallelujah as a salutation instead of hello. It not only connects well with believers, but also tends to kickstart conversations on matters salvation with unbelievers. What’s your word? Recently I was reviewing the writings of Luke and I realized there’s a word he loved using. The word is “GREW.” Checking through his writings, I found that he uses the word 13 times, and 9 of those times, he uses it as a transitional word—from one thought to another, or from one part of the narrative to the next. It’s a word he uses to mark progression. In Luke, it’s about ...

My mind was taken back to my high school days— not the fun kind TBT. I remembered my first week in Form One, fresh out of a two-month holiday, suddenly dropped onto the hills of Masaku. Our school was perched up high, between Machakos and Wote Town. The view? Beautiful. But I only discovered the best view while in Form Two—because that view was only visible from those classroom windows. From there you could see the night lights of Machakos, Athiriver and Nairobi City at a distance. It was mesmerizing. 😎 Enough of nostalgic moments. Let's rewind to Form One, shall we? That first week was pure brutality. Every teacher who walked into class had either a pile of books or a prefect carrying them—and of course, many came armed with a cane. (Not all, but enough to make an impression.) This is not sugarcane BTW, but a cane that hits your character before hitting your body. 😁 The routine was simple: * Introduce themselves. * Announce their subject. * Dive straight into the lesson. It was ...

God Doesn’t Leave Gaps – A Reflection from the Book of Acts. We just concluded reading through the book of Acts in our fellowship, and this time, one truth stood out for me louder than the rest: God doesn’t leave gaps, and so we shouldn’t either. Acts 1 and 2 open with two significant replacements— Jesus ascends, and the Holy Spirit descends. Judas departs, and Matthias is appointed. God fills the gap He left with the Holy Spirit, while the apostles feel the weight of Judas’ absence and act: they propose, pray, and poll. (That’s a sermon for another day.) From there, the book of Acts becomes a beautiful dance of divine substitutions. When a saint dies, a sinner is saved. When someone turns away, someone else steps up. In fact, Saul's conversion might’ve been God’s way of saying, “Since the ones I sent won't go, I’ll raise one who lives to go.” Saul— a lover of travel and starter of chaos—was turned into Paul, who traveled and caused holy chaos in hell’s camp. This humbled me ...

Today I was reminded of something that ties beautifully to an earlier write-up on parenting — more specifically, spiritual parenting, or discipling our children in the Lord. I called it: “Don’t Be Like Your Parents” and you can read it here https://mapstage.blogspot.com/2025/02/dont-be-like-your-parents.html This is a build up on that and the prompt came from a powerful moment in Joshua 1:16–17. Then they answered Joshua, “ Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. ” When I read that part — “Just as we fully obeyed Moses…” — I paused. My first thought was, " did they really fully obey Moses? ” I remembered how often Moses was frustrated by their rebellion. The Book of Numbers reads like a record of arguments, complaints, and outright disobedience. So how could they say this? Then it hit me. I was remembering the wrong generation and...

In one of my discipleship conversations this week, one lady mentioned she's currently reading the book of Kings—and naturally, Elijah came up. We had quite the exchange about this wild, fiery prophet of God. Now, Elijah is no ordinary figure in the biblical storyline. - For starters, his very name means "Yahweh is God" (El-iYah). - Secondly, his story strangely parallels key New Testament timelines—appearing during Jesus' transfiguration and being referenced by John the Baptist and others. People thought John was Elijah (John 1:21), and some even thought Jesus was Elijah returned (Matthew 16:14). - Thirdly, he never died —he was taken up in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), which means there's a future moment when he may return and finally taste death (Revelation 11:3–12, referring to the two witnesses). Despite all these unique traits and heavenly accolades, James drops a bombshell. Ati... "Elijah was a man just like us." James 5:17 (NIV) Wait, what!? You mea...

1. Yesterday was a beautiful, wet-eyes kind of day as I caught up with some disciples of our Lord. 2. The best part was realizing they’re still keeping on in the journey of faith—hearing God’s voice and walking in repentance. 3. In one of our discussions, I was reminded of something crucial: the need to read the Bible while IGNORING CHAPTERS AND VERSES . 4. Instead, we should look out for thoughts  —Where does a thought begin? Where does it end? 5. You see, it would be quite odd to receive a heartfelt letter or email with random numbers inserted mid-sentence to indicate lines or paragraphs. 6. Like I was just doing with this write-up. 7. I'll stop now, but that’s essentially what happened to the Bible. The original writers of Scripture didn’t put in chapters and verses. That was added much later—by two well-meaning brothers. While helpful for reference, it also became a great undoing for many. Take Matthew 6:33 for instance. It’s one of the most quoted verses—but often taken out o...

"Do suicide people go to hell, heaven or in between?" That's how a friend started a conversation earlier this week. Long story short, thoughts of committing suicide had crossed their mind several times. They went on to state that "...I am just tired... Drowning really fast... The feeling is stronger everyday..." as we continued with the chat. This someone is a Christian and this is not an isolated case. Suicide is real and is taking lives daily in our world. Depression has been cited by WHO as the major contributor to the causes of suicide and the trend appears to be going up. Depression is no respecter of age, gender, education, wealth or health, and has gone to the extent of been referred to as the "common cold of mental health problems." It is the single largest contributor to global disability. You would think that Christians would be spared considering they have Christ. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many believers could not in the past ...

Not everyone is trending. Some are hidden, healing, and hearing. Elijah's story might just set your heart at peace. This year, while reading 1 Kings 17, I noticed something wild. That chapter is literally 3 years long.   You see, last year, as I was rushing through the Bible, the Lord gently told me that I was reading too fast and ended up missing key moments. It’s easy to miss these golden bits when we’re trying to finish a program , prepare a sermon, or prove a point. 🤦 So this year, I’m repenting by slowing down my reading. Niombewe nifaulu kwa hii safari. Now, back to chapter 17:   It kicks off with Elijah delivering a bold message to Ahab — that it won’t rain until Elijah commands it. Where does he get that confidence? It's grounded in God’s earlier word to Israel in Deuteronomy 11. Then when chapter 18 begins, it says, " …the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year… " — meaning, between 17 and 18, a whole 3 years pass! I noticed a few crazy things:...

Someone once joked and said that “Marriage is the number one cause of divorce.” No marriage, no divorce, right?😀🤦 But seriously, we live in wild times. People are marrying same gender, animals, themselves—even inanimate objects. And guess what? Some of these are legal in certain societies. But what did marriage originally mean? Biblically, it started with KNOWING  😉 — yes, sex. Adam saw Eve, liked her, and knew her. No priest. No parents. No papers. That got me thinking: when does marriage actually start? I've asked around — “ When did you get married? ” The answers are all over the place. To share a few, some say, “Wedding day.” Others, “When we paid dowry.” while others say, “When we started living together.” Again, is it either of them or some of them combined? But those factors didn't exist in Eden. So I turned to God with the same question. His answer? “ WHEN YOU COMMIT TO HER. ” Not when you sleep with her. Not when you sign papers. Not even when your guardians approve...

God desires that our hearts align with His, not just act in ways that look godly. It's easy — and very common — for us to desire good things like prayer, giving, tithing, fasting, and say, 'I am pleasing God.' But the real question is: Is this what He actually desires from me at this time? Psalm 37:4 says, 'Delight yourself in the LORD, and HE WILL GIVE YOU the desires of your heart.' Notice — He doesn’t promise to fulfill whatever desires we bring. He first plants His desires inside us as we delight in Him — then He fulfills those. The thin line is this: Our will done God’s way : I want to give; I make it look spiritual; I follow religious habits and feel right because it matches Scripture. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? God’s will done God’s way : God stirs me; I hear His whisper; I obey, even if it looks different, even if it’s quieter or less glamorous than religious expectations. Check the testimony prior to Ananias story. We see this even in Scripture: Saul o...