Costa Chibwe; a step towards sound doctrine

 

The descent of the Gospel into pop culture forced a downgrade of Gospel music with it. In the old days you could tell the difference between church music and worldly music. The prosperity Gospel is erroneously man-focused and so is the supporting music. Indeed it seems the so-called new church with its false message attracts the world with its great bands and great music. Thus it is the music that leads for obvious reasons and whatever message it sold is held as the theological foundation of the new supposed converts. A typical example is the likes of Hill Song and Jesus Culture and the churches behind them. More popular than most rock bands, they have been the main attractions—not Christ. Sadly, these “fast food” churches behind these bands also preach an unhealthy Gospel that is light years away from sound doctrine. When they sing about love and God, you would think it is about a sensual relationship. One song writer actually wrote that God’s love is reckless[1]. No amount of criticism has provoked any form of repentance from this blasphemous line that millions sing around the world on a daily basis in supposed worship. There is indeed an important place for theology in art concerning the faith.

In my country Ghana and indeed all of West Africa, Gospel music is now about what God will do to your enemies and how much money He will put into your pocket. It is also about how God will place you above your enemies. Worship is a show and many Gospel musicians from their own utterances do no differentiate between worship and inspiring people. The lifestyle of these Gospel musicians also leaves very little to be desired but that’s a different story for another day. It is an established principle of homiletics that the messenger is the message—most gospel musicians still have not received that memo.

Gospel Music must necessarily be about the GOSPEL; IE God, His mercy and the salvation it brings about. It is about Christ and His work on the cross; not people. It is on this framework that the love and mercy of God can be interpreted correctly. Repentance access the forgiveness that saves man from the claws of the enemy where eternal damnation is his lot. Repentance addresses the sin that is now in the DNA of man. This is the very essence of the Christian faith and the core of the message that must be reached to both the spiritually living so they can continue to thrive in Christ and the spiritually dead so they can be awakened in Christ. Sadly, it is also the message that has been drowned by the dross that we now call Gospel Music.

In the reform community however, this message is still loud and clear. At Kwabata Baptist Church in Lusaka where Rev. Conrad Mbewe (also known as the African Spurgeon; a champion of sound doctrine on the continent) is the presiding pastor, the Gospel is at its most pristine. It is among the ministering interns at Kwabata Baptist that we found Costa Chibwe who together with the fellow young ministers like Angel Francis has been serving with us for a while now at Hopeman Ministries.

Costa is not only a trained theologian being polished for sound doctrine at Kwabata Baptist under the Rev. Conrad Mbewe, He is also a recording Gospel Musician of the first order. Born and bred in Kabwe the Central Province of Zambia, Costa got saved in 2012 at River of Life Tabernacle Church after hearing the Gospel.  He went on to obtain a Bachelor’s of Art (BA) in Bible and theology from Central Africa Baptist University. He started singing and composing his music in 2006 and started recording in 2013.  He has released two singles to the glory of God; Twakumana and Lesa Mulelela which are currently available on YouTube. Costa is working on an album to be release in 2021.

 As we march towards a restoration of the Gospel in the hope driving out the darkness that has engulfed our continent, music and art of that matter is going to becoming increasingly important. It must spearhead the spreading the true Gospel that saves men and causes a transformation by the renewal of minds[2]. This is the reason that young theologically sound musicians like Costa are valuable to the cause. We asked some experts to share some thoughts on the quality of the music and it came out with an A+. Most importantly however, Costa walks with the champions of sound doctrine and is therefore as biblical as it gets. Our confidence is firmed that God is still building His Church[3] and that false doctrine is here only for a while. We have already seen the gates of hell crumbling with the expose of false prophets in Ghana and Nigeria in recent times. Zambia stands as the beacon of hope for Africa in this Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda agenda.

Costa’s latest release which is currently available on YouTube is complete with English subtitles for those who do not understand Bemba[4]. We encourage you to listen to it and take few minutes to share it on your social media platform in order that many more will be reached with the message of God’s love and the forgiveness that awaits those who come to believe in Him. God bless you abundantly. Please follow this link https://youtu.be/Qb9rSGUL9Ss

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[1] Cory Asbury

[2] Romans 12:2

[3] Mathew 16:18

[4] Bemba is the most widely spoken language in Zambia

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Of dogs and vomit - The reformation at 503. Part 3

The objective was to return to TRUE biblical Christianity ie; restore the Church that Rome had succeeded in colonizing and contaminating with its paganism and its attendant “works doctrine”. It was a restoration of the church described by Justin Martyr and the one revealed in the book of Acts. The ideals of this movement are what became known as the Five Solas. They define the foundation of what has come to be known as Reform Theology. Collectively called Sola scriptura, a summary of it would read;

Salvation is by grace(Sola Gracia-1) through faith(Sola Fide- 2) in Christ alone(Sola Christus-3) , to the glory of God alone (Soli Deo O gloria-4). The Bible(scripture) is the only authoritative source for understanding this and all other aspects of the Christian faith (Sola Scriptura-5).

With these scripture-based principles, the church was freed from the iron claws of Rome. Luther translated the Bible into German and the timely arrival of the printing press would ensure that congregants finally had access to the Bible so they can read for themselves. They could now develop personal relationships with their God without the middleman-role of clergymen and dead saints whose preoccupation it seemed was to exploit them. After all; the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). Rome did not like this idea and had previously thwarted every attempt to make the Bible accessible to the masses through persecutions, executions, and ex-communications among other things.

 

Contrary to the generally held view that Protestantism or the Reformation is the break-away of a wayward Church that Rome had mothered; the reformation is in fact a return to the original church that Rome had covered. Sadly, the church had descended back into the same obscenity that plagued and still plague the Roman Catholic Church. Churches like the Anglican Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches with their inherited mass, relics, and ceremonies are guilty of Roman Catholic near-pagan practices. The contradiction is made vivid when juxtaposed (as pointed out) against the description found in the Justin Martyr description. Thus; the church that Christ created was not what Rome carried forward.

In the Charismatic movement, the sale of the gospel is at an all-time high as god-like pastors and who are little popes in their own rights, ride on the back of the masses and continue with the most outrageous extortions schemes that scream – Catholic!. There is also an alarming sale of experience over the “Word” and church services have been overloaded with rituals and practices borrowed from the works driven religions. Personal revelations and church tradition have also been elevated above scripture just it was with the Roman Catholic Church and its many sects and orders. It is this later point that gave meaning to Semper reformanda (Latin for always reforming) –an expression that became (albeit at a later time), the slogan of the reform movement. It simply means always reforming. 503 years on, it is more important than it has ever been.

From the Old Testament through the New to the early patristic period down to today, it is clear that God’s people in a matter of time forget who and whose they are and get carried away by “strange winds of doctrines”(Ephesians 4:14 ).

Moses only had to turn his back for barely a minute for the Israelites who had witnessed God’s presence and provisions; to start worshipping a golden calf (Exodus 32). Solomon simply used the wealth and wisdom God had entrusted him with to depart from the ways of his father and break God’s very first commandment(1 kings 11, Exodus 20:3) in rebellion. Such cases as the downgrade of 1887 is a reminder that semper reformanda is imperative.  It is this return to that which was rejected by the reformers that is captured metaphorically in the title of this project. For it is not uncharacteristic of a dog to eat back that which it had vomited.

Unless the church is continuously re-examining itself in the light of scripture, it, in a matter of time, after every overhaul, starts on a downward spiral. It is for this reason that the commemoration of the 503^rd year of the reformation is of extreme importance. It will take us back to the very foundation of the church, helps us understand the ideals of the reformation, and affords us an opportunity for that all-important self-examination. This is how we can be rid of the many bugs that have come to plague her. This is how we can return to worshiping our maker and savior in truth and in spirit.

On the 31^st of October, several ministries that subscribe to the ideals of the Reformation and as such stand for true biblical Christianity are getting together to commemorate the Reformation. The event will also introduce the newly born Ghana Reform Network. You are cordially invited to be part of this historic event to the glory of God. We hope that you come to understand your faith better and be more rooted than ever. Most importantly, you can ask questions and receive edifying answers that help build your relationship with God. Join fellow believers all over the world on Hopeman Ministries’ E.A.R (Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda) Roundtable Discussion via Zoom. 
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God bless and keep you. For a full teaching on Sola Scriptura, please follow the link below. Sola Scriptura (Video lecture from R.C. Sproul)

More on the downgrade here: (https://jasonkallen.com/2015/12/spurgeon-and-the-downgrade-controversy/)

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Of dogs and vomit – The reformation at 503. Part 2

In part one of this series we saw some of the circumstances that lead to the reformation. Luther and his trouble with the indulgence mongering Tetzel was but the final blow that would lead to the actions that started the reformation. The Jan Hus’s story is important because it shows that the Roman Catholic Church was not free of disagreement with discerning minds.  Much like Jan Hus, John Wycliffe’s was excommunicated and his writings banned. His body was later exhumed and burnt for his translation of the Bible into English. Rome and its clergy then, held the Bible closely to their chest at the expense of the spiritual and intellectual development of the membership. Anyone who even thought about translating it knew that they were risking their lives.

The degree of restlessness in the church because of its corruption, debauch clergy and many crimes and false doctrines had reached a crescendo. And as always has been the case, the Lord acts when the cry of the people reaches Him. But not before He had warned us of what is coming. Luther’s contemporary, Desiderius Erasmus (credited for putting together the Textus Receptus) --  a man regarded as an intellectual colossus of his time had written several books including his highly acclaimed; “the praise of folly” criticizing Rome and the state of the church had made propositions for reforms. Albeit still remaining a prominent member of the clergy and therefore not suffering any persecution. There had been others; like Peter Waldo and his followers who suffered some persecution for similar concerns. It was clear that the church needed to change but your life was in danger if you even thought about it. Luther was walking a path that had been charted by many a martyr and therefore, his life was always on the line.

Luther’ was especially tired of the works doctrine by which Rome continued with its extortion. The idea of paying one’s way to salvation flies in the face of everything Christ represented. In fact, the Church that Rome adopted looked nothing like what they presented to the world. In a description of a typical church service in an apologetic by Justine Martyr (First Apology, 67), one could see a startling difference. There was no mass or anything that even begins to look like it. No statues, idols and shrines and there certainly was no veneration of saints. All prayers were to members of the Trinity alone; not one was said to Mary. It was obvious that Rome had colored Christianity with its pagan past and had literally turned it into the devils den. This is why Luther would later refer to the Papacy as the seat of the Anti-Christ. It seemed that in a context, the devil had succeeded in colonizing God’s kingdom. The father’s house of worship has again become “a den of thieves”. The church was now full of pagan rituals and the worship of other entities. It would take a study of the scriptures to understand what was wrong and no one had access to scripture except clergymen and Luther was one of them. It was a challenging trail dotted with the blood many. What was he to do especially when he himself had been tried and ex-communicated. 

Luther, on his part did not set out to start a new church or what later became known as the protestant movement. He merely wrote down 96 propositions that were to be considered. This would come to be known as the 96 theses. From an intellectual point of view, they were just propositions that were to be considered for possible change. Rome’s response would start a protracted conflict that would lead to the trial and excommunication of Luther and inevitably birth of the protestant movement. Again, Pharaoh’s heart had been hardened as god demanded the release of his people.

End of Part 2  | Go to Part 1 

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Of dogs and vomit – The reformation at 503. Part 1

The reformation is 503 years this October. Again we are reminded of its ideals and what they should mean for the Church today. Sadly the everyday believer knows very little about it and what it means. Most haven’t even heard the name Martin Luther and if they have, they have no idea what it represents. This is a sad state of affairs that must be reversed immediately given the fact that Martin Luther and the reformation is the reason why most of us are not Roman Catholics.

Until 503 years ago, Christianity meant Catholicism. The word “catholic” actually means universal and therefore the Catholic Church stood for all of Christendom. You were either (with a few exceptions of course) a Roman Catholic or you were not a Christian. That was the church Luther broke from; leading to the birth of Protestantism through reformation.

Prior to all of this, Rome with its papacy reigned supreme. After Emperor Constantine’s supposed conversion and adoption of Christianity, Rome expanded Christianity and changed its status from a small movement that started in Judea by a supposedly mysterious miracle-working figure, to the state religion of a mighty power that literally ruled the world. Church and state become one entity as the years rolled by. The Bishop of Rome became its head and eventually gained enough political power to control even politicians. After all, the Pope is the “representative of God” on earth and therefore had the final say on everything. But that is not exactly what upset Luther—at least not yet.

His trouble started when a certain Johannes Tetzel showed up in the parish where Luther was leading an assembly, to sell a piece of paper that would save one or their relatives from the blazing hot fires of hell. It was called indulgences. Luther rebelled against the idea. Rome had sold these indulgencies all over the place. It was one of the ways in which it raised money and the famous St. Paul's Cathedral is known to be one of the projects accomplished with the sale of indulgences. Prior to this indulgence saga, Luther had visited Rome in high hopes only to walk into an unfathomable degree of corruption at the papacy. Clergymen had descended to the lowest of all debauchery as the pope committed simony among other immoral behaviors in the midst of the elitism that had become its very essence. Luther was disillusioned and disturbed at what he saw and begun to detect discrepancies between what he read in the Bible and what he saw in the Church. Salvation is by grace alone and cannot be purchased with money.

 

Luther however, was not the first to be concerned with the state of the affairs.

Before him Jan Hus had been burnt to death for challenging the theological base of Roman Catholic church and its doctrines.  End of part 1

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What you think is true

Communication theory has taught us a lot in our time. Yet what they reveal is in fact, human behavior that has gone on since the beginning of time. There is something about man that makes him want to project himself as “good” even when he knows very well that he is nowhere near anything that is beginning to even look like good. Tell him he is fallen and totally depraved and he will have your head for dinner. It is perhaps the Imago Dei that must necessarily seek to value good even when one has no standard definition of what it is.

For those of us who believe, this is a simple matter. But the unbelieving are laboring pointless to produce all kinds of theories to validate the place of good. You only have to juxtapose the theory of evolution and its natural outworking against the many attempts by the likes of Richard Dawkins to find an anchor for morality. I digress!

Imagine that in 1000 years from now; when our civilization has collapsed (I promise you it will), a new generation digs up the information we are producing today. It will include government, corporate and mainstream media propaganda, false claims that go unchallenged, falsified accounting, the half-truths of academic autocracy and of course your lies and fake news on social media. They would think it all true and go on to reconstruct what they will think represent our lives today. Let that guide your understanding of how we think about today as ancient text.

We are learning now that a lot of what we see on the walls of Egypt (for example) and other civilizations are not necessarily accurate representations of what was. They tell stories from their own perspectives. They carved perfect statues of people when in real life; they were pot-bellied deformed lunatics. It wasn't until the Ahkenaten revolution that we got some more accurate representations of the appearance of the rich and powerful. I believe it has something significant to do with his famous theophany (I shall tell that story another day). It was not pretty. Well, when you pay someone to paint a picture of you, you want it to look good. Especially when you want others to think you are a god or the son of one, you will ask the artist to throw in a halo around your head. I get it. Today, you are even photo-shopping your photographs so they look better than you really look. In this era of “image is everything”, we must have very little confidence in autobiographies and narratives crafted to influence us in some direction that favors some and demonizes others.

The Bible stands out in this regard. It is God's story and it is presented exactly as it is/was. David's dirt is presented along with his humility and godliness. Abraham' half-truth about his wife/sister is there with his faithfulness. Jesus and his table-kicking adventure in the temple are there along with his amazing love and salvation. The supposed genocide in Canaan is there for you to criticize and challenge a God you should have known is sovereign.

It is disturbing that we don’t seem to realize that when we say truth, it does not simply mean good things. As we have seen, the non-believing has little trouble falsifying information to satisfy their prideful self –centeredness. This can be said to be a product of his fallen-ess and its attendant lack of a moral anchor only found in Christ. He says;

 

“I am the way, the Truth and the life” - John 14:6

It might be troubling for some to accept that Truth begins with Christ. When we work our way from Him as a starting point, a completely different world begin to unfold. It is the true one. It is a key that solves all of the ancient puzzles with almost no effort. It has taken thousands of years of attempt for some to begin to realize that the answers already exist.

The next time you quote some ancient text to prove something, think again. You don’t know truth until you know Christ. He is the light that brightens all that is true and illuminates and reveals falsity. Start from Christ. See what happens.

K3 osumoo anukwale eh , osane y3h morbor ooo!

 

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Ghana's crumbling illusory walls

 The current house cleaning taking place in the Church through the efforts of NET2 TV and Kennedy Agyepong is but one phase of a series of events in a chain that has been growing since 2018. The events are all offshoots of seeds sowed by voices that have in been crying out to the lord concerning the plight of the vulnerable who are the true victims of the nefarious activities of charlatans who are slowly destroying not only the image of the church but also our beloved nation in the process. Those who have been paying attention would remember two significant songs by KODA(ns3m pii) and the more recent offering from Kofi Kinaata(things fall apart). Anybody with a basic understanding of the Bible would see clearly that there is something significantly different about what the Bible teaches and what the “church” has become.

For the 6 years that I was an active part of the charismatic community in Ghana, my struggled has always been with the need to reconcile three things; what was happening around me, the Christianity I knew as a child and the Christ I found in the Bible. I could not find answers to simple question as I work myself towards the expected conformity that my whole system rejected. Can there be a Church 2.0 based on the same Bible that birthed Church 1.0? What does the expression; revelation is progressive really mean? Is it possible that the early Church missed something that the supposed new church has found? I learned as much as I could and observed rather keenly without engaging in the behaviors that I was suspicious of.  

In Beijing, I explored the church to see what I could learn. I was seized by the urge to start talking about the need for change as the church I saw in Beijing was significantly different from the one I knew back home. It dawned on me that the problems I had been harboring were in fact, real. The Church in Beijing was nowhere near perfect. Yet, it showed itself closer to scripture than what I was used to. It appeared as if we read the Bible for our own purposes; never for what God really is saying.

I had written a few books prior to my arrival in Beijing and part of my mission was to print them before I left. Out of nowhere, I was led to write what will later become the first 10 theses of the Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda. It started off as a series of Facebook posts. After weeks of posting I was still having sleepless nights about it. I knew then, that I need to put my thoughts into full writing or I would have no peace. By November 2019, I had completed several drafts. Typical of me it was full of errors as it was raw and unedited. I threw it on amazon and made only two sales. I was sure the Lord had led me to write this little book. Consequently I had to put it at the top of my to-do list.

The Covid-19 pandemic that supposedly originated from Wuhan changed China and a great deal and forced residents into the world's first lock-down of our time. This afforded me the time to dig deeper into my concerns and put the material together, find a printer and have it all printed ready to be shipped to Ghana my motherland without leaving my flat. There was some push-backs and applause in equal measure as I passed the PDF around to fellow ministers for their views. I accepted suggestions and took out some names that some thought might bring me unnecessary hatred from the Charismatic community and end up with no friends at all. Well…I did not have any to start with. I had no idea what was about to happen.

By the time the books arrived in Ghana, the whole nation was alight with the Kennedy Agyepong fire. On Net2 TV, supposed fake pastors have been confessing their abuse of God's people and exposing the people responsible for the abuses that everyone is aware of and seems not to care about. It became clear to me then that, the assignment that God had placed on my heart was a necessary piece in His house-cleaning agenda. The Bible teaches clearly that the cries of the vulnerable reaches God at some point and when it gets too loud, His wrath must locate the perpetrators of evil. The events preceding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Nohaic deluge (Exodus 3:9, Genesis 18:20-21, Genesis 6:11-12) are great examples.

It is important to remember first of all that, the corrupt church did not start with these supposed fake pastors. They are but products of a corrupt church led by those pastors who appear to be beyond criticism. Having influenced the nation for the past 30 years, they have become the shoulders on which the new generations of abusers stand. The reason people fall prey to fake pastors begins with their understanding of the faith and the lack of it. Yet, it is the one thing they have not received from the most trusted voices in the land who in a more covert manner, have exploited the vulnerable more. Consequently, we have believers who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14) wrapped in the name of Jesus and perpetrated by fake-miracle peddlers. This is why any solution to this multi-dimensional conundrum begun with the so-called fathers of the land and their churches from which these false prophets and the confused believers have been produced.

The burden on my heart that led to the writing of Volume 1 of the Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda which comprises of ten propositions that must be considered towards a reformation of God's true Church (a safe haven for the vulnerable and an incubator for informed believers who by default cannot be captivated by false doctrines and the peddling of fake miracles). The timing of all the mentioned events and a few others that I have noticed is a demonstration of the hand of God at work and I am more confident now than ever about what the Lord wants to do about the Church in Africa. The voice of the weak has reached the Lord and His wrath has been provoked. The illusory walls are crumbling.

Koda's nsem pii : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR3JaXIcpW4

Kofi Kinata's things fall apart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTAFC8aAQ5g

Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda is now available in bookshops in Accra. It is also available on amazon https://www.amazon.com/1st-theses-Ecclesia-Africanus-Reformada-ebook/dp/B083J5L66F/ref=sr_1_2dchild=1&keywords=katey+aklie&qid=1592784151&sr=8-2

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All things have passed

Ruins of Ephesus , Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/9sDvmpB39WAPA2de60

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” - Matthew 24:35

Today, I was captivated by a documentary about Ephesus. Remember the book of Ephesians? It was written as a letter to the Church in Ephesus to address issues born out of the diverse backgrounds of its members. Ephesus was also one of the seven churches of Asia to which Christ wrote a letter through the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation. It is believed that the Gospel of John may have been written here too. The city was the site of two ecumenical Christian Councils

Once a magnificent city under Roman control, it is located in modern day Turkey-- previously the heart of the Byzantine Empire. It may have started as an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia. It gained prominence as a major port city with a respectable status and was the home of the famous temple of Artemis (goddess of fertility) one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Temple attracted pilgrims from all over the world. It was also home to many 14 other gods and their temples including Emperor Ceaser, the impressive Library of Celsus and a 25,000 amphitheater.

Once home to temples that housed the statues of Emperors; Domitian ( Titus Flavius Domitianus 81 to 96) and Augustus(Gaius Octavius Thurinus - 27 BC – 19 August AD), Ephesus one among the important cities of the Empire. It was attacked and nearly destroyed by Goths in 263 and begun to decline. An AD 614 earthquake nearly completely destroyed it. Today it is nothing more than a tourist site.

While scanning through the material about the ancient city, what stood out to me are the industry, prosperity and the moral decadence of its dominant pagan culture. What I found most impressive however, is the public places of convenience.  Truly impressive! I couldn’t help but wonder how such a magnificent city could have been brought to ruins. Why could it not flourish forever? The words of Jesus quickly came to mind:

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” - Matthew 24:35

The statement seemed to have come out of nowhere and appears out of place as Jesus was dealing with a different matter. None of His words will go to waste. I couldn’t help but be reminded of magnificent civilizations such as Greece, Rome,  Egypt, Babylon, Sumeria all of which were ruled by kings who thought themselves gods. They have all fallen and today, their magnificent temples are nothing more than tourist sites. Their god’s now just stones in the ruins.

Persecuted and run under, the Christian faith that was nothing more than a tiny spark in a dark pagan world, have grown and reached the ends of the earth. There are things we take for granted as believers but God continues to show his power over all throughout the ages. Augustus and Domitian were among those who persecuted the church the most. Little did they know that they were watering the tiny seed planted by Christ with the blood of those they martyred. And true to His word, all have passed away while the light of his word has now grown to illuminate the world to its very ends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpJ-IWw5_Mc&t=359s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus

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The trouble with self-improvement

“We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. -1 Corinthians 8:1  

The things that supposedly make us better tend to make us seem superior in comparison to others. Superior and inferior cannot exist without each other. A healthier body due to a well-planned diet and the discipline for exercising supposedly makes us look and feel better than the obese.

The more of something we acquire, the more confident we get and the more likely we are to look down on those who do not have it in an equal measure. Education, money and others are just like muscles. As they say; knowledge is power so the more you have the better- ie the more superior. Money is power in the same manner. The PhD holder is intellectually taller/stronger/more capable in comparison to the high school graduate in the same manner the billionaire is financially stronger than the pauper.

For these haves, what they have acquired tends to be the source of their security. They will feel weak without it and because of that they fight hard to hold onto it. Even if they don’t flaunt, they show their muscles when it becomes necessary. At that moment, everyone caves in a give way.

The Bible teaches that knowledge puffs up. It makes a person proud with a sense of superiority. Shockingly this puffing knowledge also includes knowledge about God. Power they say is nothing without control. So that the power we acquire is useful only to the extent to which it is subjected to love. Paul’s point was in reference to food for idols of course; but what can be deduced is the underlying idea of pride that power breeds. Those who acquire must therefore realize that love is their only safety and love is of God. One must be more dependent on God than his personal strength.

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