Loving The Church

How can I love the Church? 

Koki Oyuke’s words of inspiration and healing on her website and IG page. If you haven’t read her book – Chosen Not Cheated – why would you deny yourself such awesomeness? Girl’s got a book club too – Kizuri Books. Enough said. 

Finding creative healing in The David Oyuke podcast for the recovering creative and diving into the melodic rhymes of BlackSkillz. 

Mercy Mandela who mothers mothers on her blog, IG page and her new Youtube channel. 

Soila and Curtis IV dropping marriage nuggets as they pull pranks on one another. And yes, they’re really like that in real life. 🙂 

Innocent Rasugu fighting for the little guy/girl at his legal practice. 

Jamming to Robbie Omol’s Proposal album because who says Christians can’t have great love songs? 

E-Major dropping Prophecy bars in tongues.  

How can I love the Church?

Bishop Mulumbi, Bishop John Gobanga, Apostle Joshua Selman, Emmanuel Makandiwa… Fathers of the faith who do the deep work of not only revealing mysteries but journeying with individuals to walk in these truths. 

Richard Njau chronicling Kenya’s creative history on Cleaning The Airwaves.

Stive Masiyiwa and Pastor Julian Kyula modeling how we can straddle the divide that has existed between the church and the marketplace. 

Falling into the deep blackhole of Tanzanian worship music with the likes of Essence of Worship, Dr. Ipyana, Paul Clement and never finding my way out.

Spontaneous worship moments with ministers like TY Bello, Victoria Orenze, Dunsin Oyekan and Nathaniel Bassey.

We Will Worship, Pompi, Abel Chungu, Dr. Tumi and so many others representing the worship expression of the Southern African Church. 

How can I love the Church?

Beth Moore weaving beautiful threads of Biblical truths on Twitter.

Upper Room and Maverick City Music showing us what it means to truly tarry in His presence. 

The Mama Bear roar Rita Springer releases every time she sings.

Ed Silvoso’s marketplace truths and testimonies. 

Page CXVI’s contemporary take on timeless hymns. 

The numerous church leaders all over the world doing the faithful work of feeding His sheep.

The countless men, women and children living each day for His glory. 

How can I love the Church? 

How can I not? She doesn’t need to be perfect to earn my love. She doesn’t need to earn my love. I love her because she exists. This glorious Bride of Christ. Imperfect. Messy. Yet oh so glorious. 

She often drives me nuts. There are days when I’m not sure I want to be associated with her. But that’s the thing about a marriage. It’s a commitment to show up. In the good. The bad. And the ugly. To show up each and every day with rolled up sleeves ready to do the work to make it work. 

So I’m committing to love her. To be there for her. To find my place in her and do my part to build her. Because this Bride, isn’t some ethereal entity that I exist outside of. She is me. So everything I say of her and do to her, is directed right back to me. 

To love Jesus well is to love her well. To love me well. We are His chosen Bride after all. The Bride He loved so deeply He gave His life for her.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 John 4:16-21 NIV