THE UNITED HEART

THE UNITED HEART

 The heart is a vital part of the human body. A body without an active heart is dead! Without it, human life is reduced to vanity; because the heart is the source of issues of life. No heart; no issues of life. Issues of life are general concerns of life. This means that concerns of life depends on conditions of human hearts. Thus whether or not mankind enjoys the goodies of life is solely dependent of the heart of mankind. A united heart for instance produces love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law! It goes without saying that keeping the heart with all diligence is the key to enjoying a prosperous life. King Solomon of immeasurable riches and wisdom aptly advised, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” – Proverbs 4:23(NIV).

  Heart guidance is life guidance; and good life is a product of a guided heart. The heart is a small part of the human body yet it determines its actions and inactions. Although the tongue controls human life, without the heart the tongue is voiceless. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth (tongue) speaks.” A guided heart thus guarantees abundant life because it is able to unite all issues of life towards God. No wonder King David, the greatest king in history, in Psalm 86:11(KJV) prayed, “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name”.  No wonder he is credited with leading his subjects “according to the integrity of his heart (character) and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands”.

A person with a divided heart may be right in the head (knowledge) and hands (skills) but wrong in the heart (character).  It has been observed that there are many people in society who are very competent but do not have character; and  there are many people in the church with character but are not competent. For General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, a retired United States Army General, “To lead in the 21^st century…you will be required to have both character and competence”. He however confesses that, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy”. This means that character is superior to competence (strategy). Stephen Covey laments that “90% of leadership failures are character failures”.  Ken Blanchard’s useful guide is very instructive, “The journey of a leader starts with the heart, with motivation and intent. Then it must travel through the head, which is the leader’s belief system (values), to their habits (attributes) and finally to their skills (what they do). When your heart, head habits and skills are aligned, extraordinary levels of loyalty, trust and productivity will result. When these areas are out of alignment, frustration, mistrust and diminished long-term productivity will result”.

A united heart potently aligns a person’s heart with that person’s head and hands.                                                                                            This great feat takes a conscious effort. Charisma is truly a gift but one has to pay a price for character. Character building is costly; it is usually a long painful process. For instance, it calls for crucifying our past, pride, priorities, paradigms, pleasures, and our very persons. Therefore, left to oneself, character building will be unachievable. It takes something higher than self to build character. One needs Jesus Christ to achieve this great feat. Jesus freely gives the Holy Spirit to anyone who receives him as that person’s only Lord and Saviour. It is only through the help of the Holy Spirit that character building becomes a reality. Why don’t you invite Jesus into your life right now if you have not received him? On the other hand, if you have received Jesus but you are still struggling with character issues, it may mean that you have not totally yielded to the Holy Spirit. Repent now!

Richard Obeng Mensah, co-author of 37 Benefits of Reading. borncapy@yahoo.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com

CRITERIA FOR DERTERMINING A DEVELOPED NATION

CRITERIA FOR DERTERMINING A DEVELOPED NATION

We pride ourselves in the Western world on our scientific knowledge. Yet this knowledge is largely confined to the physical world…We know so very little about spiritual things-our spiritual acumen is quite low – J.P. Timmons.

It is great to be a developed nation. A developed nation is generally perceived as a nation which has overcome most of its developmental challenges. A challenge is said to be a call to confrontation. Thus a developed nation may be perceived as a nation which has successfully confronted most of its challenges.  Conversely, a nation which is still wrestling with most of its developmental challenges may be perceived as a developing nation or an underdeveloped nation, depending on the degree and extent of its challenges. However, a real developed nation is more than a perception! Real developed nations are nations that are mature in body (people), soul (mindset of her people), and spirit (love and unity among the people). Besides, whether or not a nation is developed must be determined in God’s perspective, never in humanistic perspective!

The planet Earth is the Lord’s; the people and all that is in it. The people on the earth comprise individuals, family units, communities, societies, nations and continents. The people in a particular community, nation or continent generally have a common body, soul and spirit. The body denotes their personality and idiosyncrasies; the soul is their mindset and paradigm; and the spirit connotes the degree and nature of their relationships. The relationship is two-fold: right relationship with their Owner (God), and among themselves. The supreme governing laws on earth emanates from God, the Manufacturer. The Manufacturer has a manual which details such laws. The manual is the Holy Bible; its precepts are timeless, universally applicable, unbiased and have determinable consequences!  For example, throwing real human moral principles to dogs is courting catastrophe and shipwreck. It is high time we took lessons from what caused the downfall of the erstwhile great nations like Babylon and Egypt. Today, many so-called developed nations are electrically crumpling and declining because they have exchanged real human moral principles with that of animals.

God is the creator and owner of the world; it goes without saying that the criteria for assessing whether or not any nation on earth is developed are His sole prerogative! In the beginning of time, God created Heaven and Earth. He evaluated His entire creation and concluded that they are good! However, sin corrupted God’s creation through the disobedience of mankind. God came down to this earth in the person of Jesus Christ and spiritually healed the earth. He however, left the physical healing in the hands of mankind. Thus mankind has been spiritually restored to its original glorious position which it lost at the beginning of time. It is now mandated to make the earth good by physically recreating this defiled world. The procedures and methods for mankind to complete this awesome task have been clearly and simply expressed in the Manufacturer’s manual-the Bible.

A developed nation is therefore a nation which has been able to recreate its part of the world in the way prescribed in the Bible. The main criterion is that its people must be reconnected to their Maker through Jesus Christ. Secondly, its people must be transformed by the renewal of their mind (mindset and paradigm) in order to be physically healed from the corrupt mindset of the defiled world, and also in order not to conform to its deceptive colourful and sugary appeals. Thirdly, its people must endeavour to live in love and unity.  

Is there any developed nation on earth? Definitely, the answer lies not in the mouth the UN, EU, AU, ECOWAS, or the West, but God! Fortunately for us, the answer is contained in the Bible. It is simply No! In case you have doubts, read the Bible for yourself.

Richard Obeng Mensah, author of Persecutions are Promotions. borncapy@yahoo.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com

POLITICS WITHOUT PRINCIPLES

POLITICS WITHOUT PRINCIPLES

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (Emphasis is mine) - John15:5(KJV).

Real politics is a vital branch of human life. It is pivotal to modern developmental agenda of real civilized societies. Besides, politics epitomizes the real essence of real leadership-influence. Real “leadership”, it is said, “is influence, nothing more; nothing less”. And politics is one of the vehicles to wheedle this influence. Indeed politics is a wheedler of persuasion which is central to influence. Therefore, politics is one of the primary traits of mankind. In essence, every real human being, including even pastors and preachers, is a politician! However, not all persons are partisan politicians. Real politics hinges on real leadership principles. Politics becomes dirty if it is devoid of such principles. And anything devoid of real leadership principles is both polluted and poisonous. God is never against real politics; He only detests toxic politics because it defiles His creation. Creation is defiled whenever there is politics without principles.

Politics without principles breeds toxics. This means that politics without principles is dirty and poisonous, or, you may say, pollution, for the sake of cheap civility! Dirty politics is therefore the product of toxic politics. Poisonous politicians are the architects and agents of toxic politics. Dirty propaganda is their key political strategy. Poisonous politicians are carnally cantankerous, critically incorrect, increasingly indecorous, deeply dishonest, highly hypocritical, pompously prideful, morally bankrupt, insignificantly productive, uncivilized, self-centred, and wicked!

However, Albert and Comfort Ocran rightly argue that a real political aspirant must pursue a partisan politics that is “characterized by a sense of diligence, conscience, character, strong moral fibre, an awareness of our humanity and an unwavering commitment to a set of (real) principles”. Truly, “The failure to inculcate this balanced perspective into our approach (of leadership) has contributed to the increasing spate of emerging leaders in fields like politics, (Christianity), religion, and business who are so much in a hurry to attain wealth and power but unwilling to endure the process, investment and diligent effort required to get there. They love the fruits but despise the gradual, systematic processes required to get it”. No wonder “a society that struggles to cope with crumbling values seeks to conveniently rewrite the rules and suggest that one’s character and moral failings do not matter as long as there is competence and technical ability”. This growing deception underpins why morality in so-called civilized societies is relegated to the background. Hollow and cheap civility can never replace real principles of life. Without them, society breaks! Dr. Stephen R. Covey, a leadership expert, said it best when he wrote, “Purely intellectual development without commensurate internal character development makes as much sense as putting a high-powered sports car in the hands of a teenager who is high in drugs”. Europe and the Western world are painfully learning the truth that without morality, their development gains are only a shadow and shaky! No godly morals; no real civility and life!

Jesus is the vine of human life, and real politics is one of its branches. Life without the vine is vain; a branch without a vine bleeds; and politics without Jesus is a dirty joke! A branch cannot bear fruits of itself; it must be connected to the vine, lest it withers. A branch needs constant nourishment from the vine to flourish. Therefore, politics without Jesus is fruitless! Thus without Jesus, a politician cannot be fruitful. This means that Jesus is the epitome of real leadership principles. Without him, politics withers and catches fire! This explains why unhealthy conflicts and wailing wars blaze in societies devoid of real politics. Such societies eventually become fruitless because dirty politics set their resources ablaze. To Mahatma Gandhi, there are “seven deadly sins” that would destroy the world. They are wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; commerce without morality; science without humanity; worship without sacrifice; and politics without principles”. True! Gandhi in essence hypothesizes that even in the most crucial areas of lives; there was no room to build anything without (real) principles and a sense of character. I therefore agree with Dr. Stephen R. Covey that “…At the root of societal declines are foolish practices that represent violations of correct principles”. Thus people and society experience real prosperity when they operate in harmony with real (correct) principles. Jesus is the core of real principles. He is the leader of leaders.

A real politician is a disciple of real principles. Such a politician follows procedures for achieving any result. There is a proper procedure for every matter. This means that there is a right way (to think or act) in every situation. Real principles are the right ways. They are absolute! It is a sad commentary that in today’s world many people would want us to believe that there are no absolutes in life. However, no matter your race, colour, creed or where on earth you find yourself there are always absolute (real) principles. Real principles are fundamental fixed laws, universal truths, timeless precepts, and are laws that have determinable consequences! They are not partial (have no favourites), values (preferences, societal, cultural and tribal norms), and practices (traditions). More importantly, real principles are fruitful if applied rightly.

     The fruit of real principles is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. This means that the effect of real principles is superior to the strength of humanistic laws. Without them, humanistic laws at best idolizes immorality, demonizes democracy, promotes lusts instead of love, manages and maintain crises instead of enhancing peace, and makes mockery of justice. For instances, most legal instruments and religious codes fruitlessly try to preach and promote peace and shadow justice instead of real justice. They thus place the cart before the horse. Certainly, it is ridiculous to pursue real peace outside real justice. It is worth noting that world peace is never God’s peace-real peace. While real peace transcends human understanding, world peace is based on human understanding. Real peace is the product of the godly balanced of justice and mercy anchored in the truth. It therefore goes without saying that it takes real love to achieve real justice, and subsequently real peace. Real peace thrives on the branches of love and unity.

A real politician is a politician who is deeply connected to Jesus and his real principles of life. Such a politician practices politics through the channels of real principles. He knows that without Jesus he is only a leader just in title and position. But leadership is not in titles but in towels, and positional leaders are insecure leaders. Insecure leaders rule by coercive power. “The flip side of this kind of exercise of power,” in the words of Albert and Comfort Ocran, “is that followers often resent the leader and quietly look for ways to subvert the system. Coercive power often breeds hypocritical followers whose loyalty is barely skin-deep. Relationships based on coercive power are transient and are characterized by suspicion, deception and dishonesty. When the leader’s controlling system is removed, everything disappears. (Nations) built on this basis are ultimately headed for disaster”. If you are a partisan politician, it is not too late to be a real politician. Get connected to Jesus!

Richard Obeng Mensah, author of If You Think of Your Opposition You Lose Your Position. The writer is an award-winning author of 7 books and over 250 articles. He is also a certified life and leadership coach, a lawyer, a legal academician and a blogger. Blog: richardobengmensah@gmail.com Email: www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com

THE GREATEST DECEPTION ON EARTH

THE GREATEST DECEPTION ON EARTH

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” – John 14:6(NIV).

Deception is the cheapest, commonest, and easiest way of depriving a person of anything. It is usually subtle, non-violent, and seemingly harmless. Besides, deception strongly appeals to logical thinking because it is predominantly carnal and sensual. Thus deception is the greatest tool for all kinds of thefts such as lying (dishonesty), robbery including soul-robbery, embezzlement, and corruption. Satan is the father and king of thieves.  Through deception, he won one-third of angels (now called demons) in Heaven to join his rebel team; Satan, 6,012 years ago, smartly robbed Adam and Eve of their eternal glory and destiny; he enticed Cain to murder his younger brother; he deceived Noah’s generation to avoid entry into the Ark of God; and Satan deceived residence of Sodom and Gomorrah, except Lot and his two daughters, to harden their heart to God only to be consumed by the raining fire! Today, he is still deceiving countless people to partake in his eternal damnation in the perpetual burning furnace. His deceptive strategy is two-fold. Firstly, he is making the church of God (Zion) ‘comfortable’ for its seekers. Secondly, he deceives people outside the church that it suffices to believe in God.

It not is enough to be in Zion (akin to the Ark of God in Noah’s era); for instance, being ‘comfortable’ (at ease) in Zion breeds curse. ‘Woe to those who are at ease in Zion’. Christianity is more than being saved, and just sitting down and starring in church. It calls for constant worship, fellowship, service, evangelism and discipleship. Jesus and for that matter God primarily seeks disciples, not necessarily church members. To a real disciple, worship is more than a song; it is about pleasing God, fellowship is more than an association or a denomination or membership; it is all about relationships, service is more than a voluntary work, job, or profession; it is surrendering totally to God’s purpose and plan for one’s life, evangelism is more than soul-winning; it is the starting point of discipleship, and discipleship is more than being a church-member; it is always a right relationship with God and one’s neighbours. Christianity is just a description of what some people thought some disciples of Christ were. It is thus wrong, even by logic, to see a non-disciple of Christ as a Christian simply because she is a member of a so-called recognized church. Christianity is more than church-membership; it is a total and constant lifestyle in real worship, evangelism, fellowship, service and discipleship-the five-fold general ministry of every humanbeing. Therefore, it is a deception to perceive oneself as a Christian without fulfilling the five-fold general ministry, plus that person’s God-given unique purpose. Unfortunately, many churches today only take pride in their membership and are building kingdoms with it. Besides, many so-called Christians are at best prisoners in churches.

Satan’s deception outside Zion is the greatest! For example, formal education teaches that there are many religions on earth and that Christianity is one of them. To many people, all religions believe in God hence real Christianity is never the ONLY way to God. Yet many more people believe that they can serve God outside Zion and still please Him. Sadly, it appears majority of humankind is deceived to reject the truth that Jesus Christ is God!

Firstly, real Christianity is never a religion; it is the good testimony of non-disciples of Christ about the real disciples of Christ. This means that Christianity is simply the good testimony of the world about a real disciple who is doing what Christ commands that person to do, and doing it the way Christ would have done it. That is why Christianity is nothing more than or less than right relationships - with God and one’s neighbours. The relationship is anchored in loving God with all of one’s might, soul and mind, and loving one’s neighbour as oneself. Christianity is therefore not a religion but a demonstration of real love to God and His creation by obeying His commandments-the two-fold love. Religion on the other hand is about peoples’ opinions, beliefs and conviction, and systems (gods) regulated by strict codes, mostly devoid of real love. That is why Satan is the god of this world and its ungodly systems. However, it is worth noting that Satan has neither control nor power over real disciples of Christ on earth.

Secondly, believing in God is never the same as loving God. Even Satan and demons believe in God! It is foolishness to even think that there is no God; even demons know this truth. The only way to love God is to believe His Word-Jesus. God’s Word (Jesus) is His physical body on earth. That is why we cannot separate God from Jesus. God created human beings in His own image. A human being is a spirit which has a soul and lives in a body. Therefore, God is a Spirit who has a Soul and lives in a Body (Jesus). Jesus is God living with human beings. It goes without saying that one can only relate to God through Jesus-God’s Word. The word of God is His physical body on earth. No wonder, a right relationship with this body is all that Christianity is about.

Jesus is never a religious leader. He is the visible image of God. Through Jesus, a humble person gets to know the truth, the way and the life of God. The truth of God is not an opinion; it is a command, the way of God is not dictated by ever-changing religious or legal codes; it is settled in Heaven, and the life of God is not only physical but also spiritual. Thus the word of God is Spirit and Life. That is why God is a Spirit. And real disciples worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Jesus (the word of God) is the total embodiment of the truth and the life of God. That is why Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life of God. Therefore, any person who does not have Jesus is spiritually dead! That person certainly cannot have a right relationship with God. Right relationship with God demands relating with God in body, soul, and spirit. However, saved souls and saved spirits with their bodies quickened by the Spirit of God can rightly relate with God. Christ is the savior of all souls, spirits, and bodies. Jesus Christ is therefore God’s Word who saves God’s creation from Satan’s deception of all forms.

Christ is the head of the church of God. This means that Jesus is the King of Zion. Therefore, it is very deceptive to think that a person can relate with God without being a citizen of Zion. Certainly, one cannot love the head (Christ) and hate the body (church). Zion is more than a physical church; it is a kingdom. Zion is God’s holy city. Zion is not Heaven; it is a part of Heaven. Thus real disciples enter real Heaven through Zion. The only way to enter Zion is through Jesus. God’s word is the constitution of Zion. And only real disciples of Christ qualify to be citizens of Zion. Citizens of Zion are both righteous and holy. That is why Christianity is righteousness (right relationship with God) plus holiness (right relationship with mankind, among others). And without them, no one can relate with God! Are you a Christian (real disciple)?

Richard Obeng Mensah, co-author of 37 Benefits of Reading. borncapy@yahoo.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com

WHEN DOES CONFIDENCE BECOME PRIDE?

WHEN DOES CONFIDENCE BECOME PRIDE?

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded – Hebrews 10:35(NIV)

Confidence is a great virtue; it has countless rewards. Real confidence is the master key to enjoying real success. It is, for example, among the 10 top leadership qualities. A person devoid of real confidence should never dream of being a real leader.  Why? Real leaders think and act differently from the crowd. Thus they live unusual lives, and it takes real confidence to maintain such lifestyles. Albert and Comfort Ocran said it best when they wrote, ‘Leaders are authentic and original. They are not afraid to be different. Indeed, they actually celebrate their sense of uniqueness through their words and actions. Jesus was often emphatic about who He was and who He was not. Even though He often ended up offending the religious establishment of His time, He was still emphatic that He was not just another rabbi but “the Son of God” and “The Way, The Truth and The Life”’.  However, confidence if not checked can translate into pride, the bad one! Confidence becomes pride if it remains at the first level of confidence-self-confidence.

There are two levels of confidence: self-confidence and God-confidence. Apostle Paul captured the two levels of confidence when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” – Philippians 4:13(KJV). The clauses “I can do all things”, and “through Christ which strengthens me” respectively refers to self-confidence, and God-confidence. The language of the self-confident is “I can!” For TD Jakes, “Self-confidence is all about self-perception”. Thus it is about the thinking pattern, positive or negative, of a person. And one becomes who she thinks.  Lester Sumrall once said, “Those who say I can! Can; and those who say I cannot! Cannot. The power is in both words”. I therefore agree with Dr. Fines Moono that “the sky is not the limit. Your mind is the limit. What you limit in your mind cannot be achieved”. Truly, it is less debilitating to be physically crippled than to be crippled in your self-perception. Thus it is vital for a person to have faith in herself.  People who do not have faith in themselves are usually emotionally invalids, dysfunctional and miserable. Besides, they do not see themselves as resources but constantly search for someone to draw from. However, self-confidence as important as it is is not enough. It must be complimented by God-confidence.

God-confidence is one’s inner-confidence. For Bishop David Oyedepo, “It is your inner-confidence that guarantees your outer-confidence”. This means that outer-confidence (self-confidence) without inner-confidence has no foundation. And anything without a foundation is just a package of deception and short-lived. Such a faith can never be trusted. Strength, wealth, popularity, knowledge, hope and faith fail. That is why it is sheer foolishness to put one’s confidence in worldly things or people. Thus it is very important for any self-confident person to also have faith in God. It is only through God that we find greatness. There is no greatness outside God. Besides, God is the only strength of life in all situations. TD Jakes wrote, “There are some obstacles that will confront you and require more than positive attitudes. These challenges require a resolute, unshakable faith in God”. Without God, confidence is confusion!

Self-confidence that is not founded on God-confidence is pride! Yes, it is pride to try to achieve greatness in life without depending on God through Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul is one of the greatest men in history; his secret was his balanced and potent combination of self and God confidence. For him, “To live is Christ…” Consequently, nothing was impossible to him. He was marvelously knowledgeable, and supremely influential. He was also a prolific writer. Apostle Paul for instance authored 13 out of the 27 New Testament books. Is your confidence balanced?

Richard Obeng Mensah, co-author of 37 Benefits of Reading. richardobengmensah@gmail.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com