Faith, Foolishness And Marriage
A young man wrote me the other day asking if he should marry someone he doesn’t love. My response was simple and immediate. I told him it was not advisable. You will suffer, I said. […]
Month: March 2019
Cogitation XVIII: I Met An Angel On The Subway
I have had a number of strange experiences in life, supernatural kind of stuff. Some are so bizarre my wife insists I cannot share them in public. Some people will be scared of me she says. Not that I had anything to do with those things. Things just happen. There are forces around us, personages unseen, as the Bible says. We’re not alone. But I see wisdom in her words. Not everything can be shared. To reveal some things will be criminal divulgence of information. Paul was exposed to state secrets he couldn’t share for instance. (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). He said it would be criminal to do so. There are confidences God expects of us. There are confidences God reposes in us that demand fiduciary maturity. There’s a breach of confidentiality that is criminal.
The Church And State
The year 2018 was annus horribilis for the Pentecostal movement. It was the year the image of the Pentecostal pastor sank so low many pastors dropped the honorific from their social media handles. The word “pastor’ became synonymous with greed, avarice and exploitation. It was the year of the concerted crusade against the payment of tithe. The income of many ministries dropped.
Marriage And Mercy
There are two knowledge dimensions to marriage: the dimension of the knowable and the dimension of the unknowable. For the dimension of the knowable you need wisdom. For the dimension of the unknowable you need God’s mercy. You cannot fully know someone. We always know in part. For the unknowable and unrevealed you need the mercy of God.
Romance, Sex and Marriage
Contrary to what the religious mind might think marriage is not a Christian thing, it’s a humanity thing. Marriage was not instituted after Jesus rose from the dead it was instituted in the Garden of Eden. Because marriage is a humanity thing God recognises marriages that are not conducted in church. The marriage ceremony is culture based. And that’s not saying don’t marry in church. If in your culture drinking a cup of cold water is how you get married, God will recognise it. And if it’s climbing a tree God will recognise it. The conjugal ceremony is culture based. The church ceremony is a cultural expression. All that wearing of white is cultural. Up till mid-19th century brides didn’t wear white. The first person to do so was Queen Victoria. That was on 10th February 1840,179 years ago. There are two clear implications from the foregoing:
a. A non-Christian couple can have a wonderful marriage.
b. A Christian couple can have a horrible marriage.