Our church our way. My church, my way.
We come together, we share things, we love each other, and we do things. We help those people with our kind hearts, hands, and deeds. Just make sure they are never disagreeable or else we’d have to tell them of their demon past! We are the Church, though fundamentally we might be divided and not agree, but not to worry, we all know the side that is always right!
Afterall, we are God’s originals, accommodating others. We know what God wants because it is what we want, and certainly what we desire. He watches us, glosses over our actions. He agrees with us as we do as we please because fundamentally, we are really working for Him and only the outcome matters anyway. It benefits our ideology, our ideology is His we think, oops we know!
So you see, with our work as the emblem, the Church is our idol and God, our witness. We are for Him, and He is for us. We can chant what we like, “clean up” a wicked slur, or “dress up” a racist comment since it is meant for good and yes, the dog whistles sometimes unite some of us. God is okay with us, we heard Him speak centuries ago, He is ours and our witness.
You want specifics? Okay then, here goes, we denounce murder when it is abortion, but uphold it to defend our politics. Before you go there, let’s be clear, it is not hypocritical. That murder you condemn well, to us it was self-defence. You see in our wisdom, we know that evil and bad behaviour should only be denounced when the perpetrator is an outsider, because such is a traitor anyway (shhhh, come closer and I can whisper to you the type). On the question of sin, we have much to say; in summary when it is one of us, it was a mistake, they did not mean it with any malice. We must apply forgiveness often, quickly, and collectively 70 x 7 times in one day alone. Forgiveness is always there for us by us because our ultimate intension is always good.
I told you we are not hypocrites. I swear, we are not! Afterall, the Church is our idol and God our witness!
Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, The Lord is One. Deuteronomy 6:4
The statement above is a declaration of truth with no wiggle room, no variant, no “confuuzion”
If The Lord is One, then His Church must be One. Oneness is not sameness, but it is of One heart, One Type of mind, One destiny. The Church must Reboot to close down all the “software” and quiet all the noise rattling its systems.
After that, because some of the “software” is infected and has run afoul of its intended, a reboot is not sufficient and so a reset must follow!
Reboot!
Reboot is akin to a power down, for example in computers it would mean that all software programmes that are running are shut down including videos and audios that are playing, open websites and documents being edited. When a computer starts to act “confused” with some programmes running slow, some halting, some running fast etc. We Reboot it to stop the chaos, we shut down every programme to allow each programme go back to the beginning and follow the steps again. When the problem is pervasive and uncontrollable, and the software deemed corrupt and no longer adequate for what we must accomplish. The Reboot process becomes only a first step.
Reset!
A Reset means to start again. In a computer system it is a wipe-and-reinstall or wipe-and-install process where the existing software is replaced by new software at the reinstall. This is the only way to fully recover or be robust enough to accommodate more.
The Reboot sets up for the Reset, where real change, and the upside reside.
A New way. An old mindset
In the first miracle for drinking water. God’s instruction to Moses was Strike the Rock and water comes out. In the second miracle for drinking water God’s instruction was Speak to the Rock and water comes out.
Exodus 17:6 – Strike the rock and water will come out of it for the people to drink
Numbers 20:8 Speak to that Rock before their eyes, and it will pour out its water
In the first instance, Moses obeys, in the second instance Moses decides, God’s instruction notwithstanding. Moses’ behaviour in this instance is illustrative of a characteristic attitude that could underscore the behaviour illustrated at the beginning of this piece.
Despite Moses’ disobedience water did come out. While the act cost Moses and the people the promised land, the Israelites had their immediate needs met. It would be easy for any of them to have concluded that the end (water) justified the means (the strike of disobedience). However, while the outcomes appeared the same, they were not equivalent, because though they quenched their thirst, they did not finish the journey for which the nourishing should have facilitated.
The Past is Not the Future
God is not in the past. He is doing a new thing. He leads Followers and does not follow Leaders. To follow Him, you must pay attention, be vigilant to obey His instructions or you will bag deception.
Deception flips the script and produces a pattern that can create an idol of the thing desired or gift ignoring The Giver! Hence the Church as the idol and God the witness. Deceived and delusional denouncing The very Way!
Be Warned, Run and Find a New……………..
The Church and its Society is illustrative about the place we are as a collective and as sectionals. As a collective, it sometimes depicts a vibrant microcosm of society, a role it was never defined to play versus leading from a place of higher standard, higher morals, higher expectations, higher good, a role it was birth to have!
So, when the standards can shift and the stories are different and the embedded programmes are running at different speeds out of synch, completely untethered, you should know that trouble has come and it is time to act.
If you see this in your church, be warned, run. Find a new church, where God Leads and you Follow!
If you see this in The Church, be warned, run. Seek a new Covering, where God Leads and The Church follows
If you see this pattern in your community, be warned, run. Find a new community where Hope, Love, Justice, Honesty and Equality lead and Character is formed to follow
If you see this in your network, be warned, run. Find a new network of good, decent people who regard others and genuine respect follows
This is the currency for authentic human rights! This is the place where standards are kept and outcomes justified by the methods used!
The Gravitational force of a Start-again framework needs R&R!
The pandemic of 2020, a year predicted as a “double-double” year of great possibilities, opportunities, and every shiny thing; was instead full of despair, confusion, sorrow, then eventually great innovation and new opportunities. To date 258m people have contracted COVID and 5.16m people have died. This is equivalent to having 60% of the population of NY city wiped out or all the residents of LA plus 50% of Chicago residents gone. Or all of Houston, Phoenix and Philadelphia residents gone. Or all of San Antonio, San Diego and Dallas, gone. Or 35% of Lagos or 19% of Shangai or 16% of Delhi or 60% of London gone. How about 50% of Sweden or 40% of Rwanda or check this out countries like Monaco with about 35,000 and Malta with about 526,000 would have ceased to exist many times over. And this devastation, all told happening between January 20 2020 to date, basically in less than 24 months!
The pandemic brought immense tragedy, and like every tragedy, broken pieces cast aside, strewn with abandon. At first glance everything appears ruined, gone, hopeless, yet invariably as the debris is excavated or evacuated, salvageable pieces of joy, faith, stools of hope and possibilities emerge. Things to retain, to repurpose, to reboot and reset!
Just like in this recovery phase, this next chapter is a new pathway with a new modality. What worked before will usually not work the way it did before. Yes, while gravitational pull still exists and the understanding of it seems set. The truth is that there are nuances that must be considered, specifics that must be adhered to, differences that must be noticed and new rules that must not be ignored. When gravity pulls slightly off centre, the process of navigation shifts, the process of engagement is different even when the outcome looks the same!
What is required is new thinking and a new obedience, a paying attention to the instructions, the acceptance of a new “software” a reboot and reset process. It means being open to new ideas, new ways, and options even when the goal has not fundamentally changed.
Any gain in the future must be captured with the tools, preparation, and mindsets of propulsion. The force of propulsion is often adjusted to the engagement of the future, requiring us to stay alert always!
To truly gain this there must be a Reboot to stop all the engines that served the existing or obsolete framework and a Reset to load on new software and establish the start-again or new framework. This is where new ideas and new ways, that usher in Purpose, and establishes wholesome, sustainable, commendable Outcomes come to dwell.
About Ngozi Bell
Inspiration, Hard Work, Innovation. These three foundational elements anchor Ngozi’s core belief that manifesting the extraordinary is always within reach. Inspired by her mother A.C.Obikwere, a scientist and author, she learned the privilege of living at the edge of important encounters and dedicating herself to robust and perpetual learning. Ngozi’s background is a combination of Physics, Engineering, Venture Capital/Private Equity, regulations, and business where she has managed over $1B in cumulative revenue. Ngozi is a speaker, storyteller, and writer on a diverse set of topics including AI, iDLT, ML, Signal Processing, iOT, women, entrepreneurship and more. She contributes regularly to VOA, has been a TEDx speaker and is published on tech and non-tech platforms. She is a champion of STEM, women, youth, art and the Africa we must engage. Ngozi is an adjunct professor of Physics and management with work
experience in Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and North America. She is a founder of a number of a number of enterprises and host of the podcast Stem, Stocks and Stews (https://anchor.fm/stemstocksstews-podcast).
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