And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:23-25)

Seeking Soul, now that our eyes are getting opened and our hearts getting heavier with the burdens that burden God’s heart, our knees should bend in humble adoration as we CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, just like the tax collector who was deeply grieved by his sin that he could not look up to the holiness of God’s Prescence to demand anything. I call on us to “Beat our breast” in shame for divine intervention, understanding that it is not our compulsion that moves God to respond but rather His mercy over our deprived state. (Luke 18:9-14)

In Genesis 16, Mr. and Mrs. Abram intervene to help God fulfill the covenant promise he had made to Abraham. The result is the consequence of a son who would be an enemy and troublesome to his brothers. In Genesis 17, God not only renews His covenant with Abram by introducing circumcision, for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin, but He also changes their names. He demands of them a new wholistic commitment: “…walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). In their conversion, God “baptizes” Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. While Abram and Sarai both imply Father and Mother of “many,” God manifests His Omnipotence by expanding their influence beyond their immediate family to include “nations.” In the renewed covenant, Abraham and Sarah become the father and mother of “many nations.”

Dear Seeking Soul, God is determined to make it right through you. As you choose by faith to walk before God blameless, he transforms your perspectives from seeing local to seeing global. The apostle Paul prays the same for the Ephesian Church. Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (Ephesians 1:15-21). 

Seeking Soul, from the intercession prayer of Paul to the Ephesians, we learn some benefits of having a “global” perspective:

1. Attentiveness: Since I heard of your Faith – Soul, you can only know the plight of others, neighbors, and nations by getting involved and being engaged, and you will get what to pray for daily.
2. Gratefulness: Do not cease to give thanks – Soul, building relationships with others will fill you with gratitude for what God is doing among them.
3. Distinctiveness: Making mention of you – Soul, constant remembrance demands intentionality and takes a personal interest in others and what they are going through.
4. Godliness: God of our Lord – Soul, God is the source of all wisdom, knowledge, enlightenment, hope, glory, power, and dominion; you can approach God confidently with the assurance that He can take care of issues, no matter what.

Once the eyes of Abraham are opened, his interests become Global. In Genesis 16, his “local” vision sees an heir to be received through his servant; in Genesis 18, Abraham’s “global” eyes are opened to Intercede for the city of Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared from destruction for the sake of his nephew Lot. Notice how Abraham is so sensitive not to allow the “Lord to pass by. ” He appealed to the favor of God. Due to his generosity, Abraham and Sarah are promised by “The Lord” a child. When the Divine guests seek to move over to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy it due to “the outcry against the city,” Abraham cries for the City, appealing to God not to destroy the “righteous with the wicked.”

Dear Seeking Soul, shift your “local” lenses to “global” and see the outcry of the cities destined for judgment. Open your eyes to the  Seven Mountains of influence in every city attributed to Bill Bright, Loren Cunningham, and Francis Schaeffer. How are these areas influencing your city?

1. Religion: The Church (Religion) & Christian Laborers; Evangelism and Discipleship; Other Faiths and Belief Systems & Unreached Peoples. Identify and pray over the idols that are taking over the people’s hearts away from God.
2. Family: Family and Marriages; Parenting & The Vulnerable children; The Elderly & People with special needs; Poor and Displaced. Pray over the sustenance of the home institution that God founded.
3. Education: Teachers, professors; Youth and Senior High Schools; Colleges and Universities; Kindergarten and Elementary, Middle School and junior High. Pray against every mind that exalts itself above the purposes of God.
4. Business: The Economy, Health Care, Humanitarian Ministries, and NGOs. Pray for the marketplace economics against corruption and injustice that perpetuates slavery and poverty as a few benefits at the expense of many.
5. Government: Local and National Government; The Military & State, County Employees; Human Rights and Individual Freedoms; Crime and Violence; Justice and Integrity. Pray over every authority that God will use them to accomplish His purpose for the nations.
6. Media: Radio, TV, Print, Internet; Social Networking & News Media; Pornography Industry; Alternative lifestyles. Pray that the destructive forces of evil will be confused and that all media be used to proclaim the Gospel to hasten the coming of our Lord.
7. Arts and Entertainment: Arts and Movie Industry; Cultural Entertainment and Traditions; Addictions; Prayer of Salvation, Deliverance and Sanctification. Pray for deliverance from “hurts, habits, and hang-ups” that enslave people and nations to be unproductive.

Seeking Soul, what areas of influence in your city would you bring before God in Prayer?

…Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 4:26)

Seeking Soul, I am back to the “Restaurant” that has become my hiding space to seek the Lord. Today, amid the noises and chats from diverse people encroaching on this space and the sound of Middle Eastern Orient instrumental “Oud” music in the background, I am cast back to Eden. I can barely hear people’s conversations as I am lost in His Prescence filled in His word. God has impressed upon my heart to study the generations that grew outside the Eden sanctuary after Adam and Eve were cast out of the sacred Prescence of God as a result of disobedience. 

Mr and Mrs Adam lost both of their children, the second-born Abel, murdered by his brother, and the first-born Cain, cursed to damnation and mental deprivation by God as a result of his atrocities. Through Cain, true worship was exterminated when he killed his brother Abel, whose sacrifice God had accepted. Cain is jealous and masterminds the first murder recorded in human history. God intervened and warned Cain, “…Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6) 

The demise of worship comes with Cain being banished from the Prescence of God. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden (Genesis 6:16). The generations that followed Cain are intertwined in this curse of violence and deprivation. Lamech Cain’s grandson deviates from God’s order of marital fidelity and takes on two wives. Sadly, Lamech continues the generational curse committed by his grandfather Cain when he confesses to his wives: “…I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.”

Dear Seeking Soul, as we plunge deeper into prayer, our eyes in His Prescence begin to open to the diverse wickedness that bedevils our souls, families, communities, and nation. Is it not true what the scriptures say about those who choose to forsake God; “…The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. (Deuteronomy 28:20) But does God reveal this so that we can join in judging the world? Seeking Soul, would you participate in responding to God’s dilemma; “…I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. (Ezekiel 22:30)

In my study, I am listening to the Oriental dirge music of the “Oud,” reminding me of the pain of the children, mothers, and fathers in the Middle East, ravaged by war that knows no boundaries. Those who sleep and rise with the wails of sirens and the tearing sounds of explosions. The trauma of death, bloodshed, and maiming leave unforgettable scars that only God can heal. The deep-seated vengeance that has become a malignant infection eating into the human soul. I hear the sacred warning from God demanding action. When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. (Ezekiel 3:18,19)

Seeking Soul ALL IS NOT LOST! Despite the decadence and state of spiritual derailment during the Adams era, a new season dawns. The Bible says, …And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Genesis 4:25,26). Abel is replaced in the person of “Seth,” who bears a son called “Enosh”. When all was thought lost, God, in His mercies, remembered Adam and gave him a seed that would restore once more the Prescence of God. With the Birth of Lamech, the grandson of Cain, evil was perpetuated, BUT In the birth of Enosh, the grandson of Lamech, Worship is restored. Hallelujah! And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then, men began to call on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 4:26)

Dear Soul, God is initiating a restoration. As your inner eyes are open, you begin to see gaps that can only be filled with divine intervention, healings that only God causes, restoration of broken relationships, and deep-flowing forgiveness. YES! When you take your space and intercede and bring these issues before God. Do not fall into the trap of fixing the problems and seeking man-made solutions. BEGIN TO CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD. Call the name of the Lord over:

• Every barren circumstance
• Every prevailing evil that binds into captivity
• Every broken relationship
• Every destructive hurt, habit, and hang-ups

CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD!

Oh, Soul, may God now open your eyes to the truth; Cain, in his “possessions,” failed to worship God in Spirit and Truth and is cursed to wander, while Abel, his victim, was all poured out in total surrender just like “breath” as his name suggests. Yet through Adam, a third son, “Seth” as a “Compensation” for his first loss, through whom the prophecy of a seed to crush the serpent’s head would be born. And through Seth, “Enosh,” whose name refers to “Mankind,” is born. God begins all over again to restore a relationship with humanity with the coming of “Enosh.” Enosh also gets Enoch, who walked with God till he was “no more,” and Noah, by whom God begins a whole new lineage of Mankind.

Thus says the Lord, When I shut up heaven, and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2Chronicles 7:13,14) Seeking Soul, take your Bible and notebook; as you read through the story of  Genesis 4, ask God to open your eyes to the things that break the heart of GOD. What are the things the Holy Spirit is raising to you that you can begin CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD about?

Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife… (Genesis 16:3)

Seeking Soul, did you realize sometimes God needs help? That is what Sarai (Mrs. Abram) figured out. On this seventh day of prayer and fasting, you are highly expectant of beginning to receive answers to prayer. You feel you have just accomplished the perfection season of God. Today, God did a miracle by directing me to meet a stranger I barely knew, to intervene in the needs of our church in a significant way. God answers prayer!

Sarai may have heard the conversation between God and Abram and wondered how that could be. God had promised Abram in Genesis 15:4 “…“This one (Eliezer) the servant, shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Realizing she was aging and without the biological viability to become pregnant, she crafted a plan that would help her realize God’s promise.

Dear Seeking Soul, does that sound familiar? You need a  relationship; you search for it. You need money; you work for it. Have you not heard the common phrase that “God helps those who help themselves?” You bribe to get your way and thank God for giving you money to realize your desire. Soul, are we not the proverbial hyena who finds a bone on the road and instructs the bone that “if you don’t move from my way, I will have no choice but to eat you?”

In chapter sixteen of Genesis, Sarai relates her bareness to God, who has “restrained her from bearing children.” She is generous enough to offer her maidservant to the husband to bear a son for her as a surrogate mother of sought. That was a common customary habit of wealthy people who would get children through their “slave” laborers.

Seeking Soul, the Bible clearly indicates that “…Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.” What? Oh yes, even after the elaborate argument with God and sealing the covenant with blood, Abram never thought it prudent to consult with God before implementing his wife’s “emergency intervention plan” (emip). Please hold on before casting the first stone on Sarai. Don’t you think that is who we are?

Seeking Soul, do you feel as though you have waited too long for the answer to your prayer? You know you have done it right by praying, fasting, meditating on the word, and waiting upon the Lord. You suddenly remember that maybe I need to take the initiative by making this one call; what is wrong with spending one night to demonstrate my love? It looks like we will get married anyway! Soon, you realize you have made compromises and must bear the consequences of the drastic steps taken without consulting God.

It is not long before Sarai and Abraham are faced with a domestic quarrel. The slave girl despises Sarai now that she has gotten pregnant, Sarai blaming Abram for the jealousy fit and Abram lashing back at Sarai to deal with the girl according to her desire.  Sarai renders Hagar the slave to become homeless, and if it were not for God’s intervention, a pregnant woman would have starved to death in the wilderness. Seeking Soul, what lessons do we learn from this love scandal episode?

1. Divine Plan: There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12) Does your plan have the approval of God? Count the cost of the ultimate consequences.
2. Ultimate Purpose: Sarai intended to get a child through her husband; she never cared about the means. God was particular and had already stated that Abram was to get an heir, not just a child. Besides, this heir was not to come through the slave path. God never needed help from Sarai to make that happen.  Thus says the Lord, ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession (Psalm 2:8)
3. Sure Posterity: Through Abram’s son, a nation would be formed, a righteous nation after God to displace all the idol-worshiping nations that existed in the land. Abram’s heir would become a solution to the “evil” that prevailed. Unfortunately, with the coming of “Ishmael,” a lasting “restlessness” would coexist among the brothers. The Bible says, “Ishmael, shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” (Genesis 16:12)

Seeking Soul, how have you found yourself attempting to help, instead of waiting on God?

Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” (1 Samuel 1:13,14)

Let me usher you to the beginning…She was a desperate woman who wept day and night from the ridicule of her cowife because she could not get pregnant; the Bible says that “…her rival also provoked her severely to make her miserable.” The narrator goes further to describe the depth of the desperation “…that the Lord had shut her womb,” what can get worse than that? Even God was involved in her anguish.

In her desperation, she was blind to the overflowing love of her husband, who lavished her more to compensate for her childlessness; nothing could satisfy her. One time, her husband was so pained by her desperation that he lashed back at her …Why do you keep weeping? and why don’t you eat? and why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons? 

Don’t you feel the same, seeking Soul? Sometimes, you are so wounded that you don’t realize you hurt those around you. You lash back at what you don’t know, and it’s even worse if you feel like God has a part to play. That’s when Hannah resolves to go and settle her matter with God, who had shut her womb. It’s a long journey, so she prepares for it. She travels to Shiloh, which is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) east of Ramah, an exhausting 5-hour walk.

Once in the temple, Hannah does not go to the priest but immediately begins to pour her soul to God. The priest Eli, a man of God, is watching from a distance and concludes that the woman is drunk! Yes… typical of the men of God, Eli, the priest, gives his judgment without empathy. “…“How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” Oh No, not the man of God too… The man of God who had not heard from God for so long was short of discernment. His focus was on the wrong place! Instead of focusing on her heart, the narrator says, “…Eli watched her mouth.”

Hannah had faced a complete cycle of “Mistaken Identity”:

1. To Peninnah, her co-wife, she was Barren.
2. To Elkanah, the Husband, she was Winning.
3. To Eli, the High Priest, she was Drunk.

Seeking Soul, I hear you say, “That is unfair.” This morning, I am seated in the “Restaurant” that has become my “safe space.” Gazing at all the families, young people, and spiritual leaders walking in and out. Some are seated in isolated corners, others chartering in groups in “Arabic.” I don’t know the depth of their conversations, but I may not be wrong to say, that someone here is saying … “That is unfair.”

Seeking Soul, are you surrounded with “Peninnah’s”? Beautiful “Pearls,” as her name suggests, are those who have everything working out for them. They live with you; some are your colleagues at work, and others are your fellow members of the church. Every time you look at them, you judge yourself. Compared to them, You have failed, they are perfect, you don’t seem to be productive, you are “barren.” Are you there?

Seeking Soul could be you are surrounded by “Elkanah’s. These people identify with us in every need but don’t know how to meet our needs. They are the “Purchased of God” acquired just for us, as “Elkanah” means. But they reach a point of desperation where they get so frustrated, not knowing what to do to help us. At that point, without expecting, they lash out: Can’t you see, I am here for you. “…Why do you keep weeping?” But they have no idea that the depth of our needs is beyond their human intervention.

Seeking Soul, maybe you are a victim of the “Eli” syndrome, the lofty ones, the sanctified, set apart, holy folk who seem next to God. These elevated spiritual giants look at you from a distance and immediately diagnose your suffering. Sometimes, they even claim to have been sent by God, they saw a dream, they have a new revelation about you, but they get it all wrong. They accuse you of what you are not; you expect them to be different from the rest, But they turn out to be the worst of all.

Stand up, oh seeking Soul, as Hannah did; she cannot bear these “mistaken identities” anymore; she gathers all the courage left and, for the first time, speaks out her position. What lessons do we learn from Hannah?

1. Face your criticisms with humility: “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. 
2. Reject the false accusations: I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, 
3. Identify the genuine need: but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 
4. Stand Blameless in your actions: Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, 
5. State your case truthfully: for out of the abundance of my complaints and grief, I have spoken until now.”

At this point, the man of God comes to his senses and says “…“Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” Then Hannah makes the one prayer of the person she really is “…“Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” The narrator closes this confrontation at the temple with this memorable statement, “…So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.”

Seeking Soul, today as you seek God in prayer and fasting, follow the footsteps of “Hannah.” She appealed to God’s favor, just as her name suggests. Yes, in the depth of your anguish and seeking, appeal to the “Grace of God.” Seeking Soul Thus says The Lord, Only by Grace can you enter.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Seeking Soul, Take your Bible Now, and read the whole of First Samuel Chapter One, and meditate on verses thirteen and fourteen. What “mistaken identity” will you confront in your prayer today?

Reflecting on the interplay between theology, education and community, one can conclude that “Theology” is the content upon which the means of education addresses the community context. Humanity is informed by acquisition of knowledge designed to help the believer engage their world with understanding. John Wesley challenged his hearers to engage in practical theology that addresses issues of life of the daily ordinary folk in their day-to-day business.[1] John Wesley’s intentionally developed a spiritual ecosystem in his era. In most contemporary practices, spiritual growth gets designated to the Sunday worship hour. The result has distorted the spiritual growth “ecosystem” where general, extraordinary, prudential, and instituted means of grace should get experienced. 

Rev. Dr. Tammie Grimm (Wesley Seminary) response to stunted spiritual maturity is to “grow in Christian fellowship.” She reiterated that, Christian formation first task is to inquire as to what is going on in the five areas of ministry praxis, which are prayer (lirtugia), service (diakonia), fellowship (Koinonia), teaching (Didache) and preaching (kerygma). Learning from the Le Chambon believers that an intentional community can influence and foster their faith among its members by:

1. The practice of long-lived traditions.”[2]
2. The development of structure and intentional activities. [3]
3. The continuous reenactment of the life of Christ among the people.[4]

Knowing that theology lays the foundational “content” for practical outreach, and that education is the “means” to access that knowledge, ministry “context” must be carried out with intentionality, consistency and competently. The next steps in engaging the knowledge acquired in ministry would entail:

1. CONTEXT ANALYSIS: Analysis of the present implicit and explicit ministry context
2. GAP ANALYSIS: Identifying the discovered gaps in the implicit and ministry context areas.
3. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: Developing appropriate curriculum content to address the gaps identified.
4. EQUIPPING PERSONEL: Equipping the local church and ministry leaders through practical broad and precise proficiency to address the identified gaps.
5. SKILL IMPLEMENTATION: Implementation of trained skills to mitigate the discovered gaps.
6. ACCOUNTABLE FEEDBACK: Reporting of the results to measure if the gaps are being addressed and where appropriate adjustments must be undertaken.

^[1] Maddox, Randy L.. Responsible Grace (Kingswood Series) (p. 17). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

^[2] “A Requiem for My Church” by T. Grimm, Firebrand article published Sept 28, 2021(new site)

^[3] Blevins, Dean; Maddix, Mark. Discovering Discipleship: Dynamics of Christian Education . Beacon Hill Press. Kindle Edition.Loc 3483

^[4] Blevins, Dean; Maddix, Mark. Discovering Discipleship: Dynamics of Christian Education . Beacon Hill Press. Kindle Edition.Loc 3529-3622