Mansion

For those looking for a wedding poem, here's one for your reading pleasure. To the one who inspired a great chunk of it, you know yourself. I get nostalgic every time I read it.


Mansion

I did not have the words to start this piece. I didn't
I did not because you leave me speechless. And out of the abundance of the heart
The mouth speaks. So my lack of words is a sign of an empty heart
Empty because it is poured out to you and nothing’s left except a void
A void into which only you can pour
Pour your heart
This love condition requires an open heart surgery but we don’t need a theater
That’s for actors
Just realness, honesty, commitment, sacrifice and the heart expert…
Who can search its depths and fill it with love unconditional…
I know that what I feel for you has been divinely placed, not temporal
Not to change with age and time
Not to be dependent on looks or wealth
Not to be swayed by mood or weather
But to weather the storm, grow stronger, outlast time
That even if we lost everything, we’d still have love left. And love is everything

He who finds a wife finds a good thing but only God can put her in your path
Took me disappointments to realize this
Then I asked Him to fashion for me the one He’d
Cut according to my size
Then came you…
The precious garment that has covered the nakedness of my singlehood
The wife material in this material world
Tailor-made according to His will for me
My heart’s desires without fabrication,
The one who fits me, the one I’m fit for
With you, I’d gladly tie the knot
You are the chain stitch that has hemmed my running ends, I am no longer unfinished
You turned out to be the one suited for me
And as you walk down that aisle, like the runway
I know you are the next top model, beauty on all levels
Yes, on all levels

Your skin kissed by the sun
Two bright stars shine beneath your forehead
Your wink is the twinkle of an eye
Your smile like the crescent moon on a cloudless night sky
The sky that your shoes scrape when you’re at your lowest
You are my heaven on earth
And I pray that I have my mansion in you

…my mansion is for you

I am the man shown for you.

A Story of two lives, a Poem of one life

This is the story of two lives, a poem of one life.

The story of one man, a story of two men, this is two stories about one man

Or was he a god? A superhuman perhaps

Could he be the one that science theorized as two bodies in one?

Or was he the one that lived in two bodies?

Did anyone know who he really was?

He was either the strongest man that ever lived or the weakest man that could never fight

The best leader of his time or just one with the biggest crowd going in the same direction as he

He was either the most charming, silver-tongued gentleman with the words that could melt a rock,

Or was the most wickedly deceptive deceiver

He was either the most faithful Christian that would receive a crown on the last day and whose name would be in that book of life that believers endlessly talked about   

Or was the greatest hypocrite that ever appeared to believe.

He was many things yet juxtaposed to his ambitions he was nothing

A simple man yet when regarded through the lenses of his achievements was the most sophisticated, most successful.

He was a quiet man, a man of many words. A great listener yes, he was a great talker

A teller of infallible truths, he was the greatest liar that ever was

A proud man, peacocks had no chance, he was the meekest even lambs were humbled by his humility

Theories say he killed a pride of lions just to keep his own pride, he was the epitome of timidity, wouldn’t kill a fly even if it sucked all his blood

He was the oldest, men of age would seek his counsel, he would tell tales of days lost in the history he lived in, he was the youngest of them all with the mischief of youth churning in any of his brains

He is the one that survived to tell the tale, the one who died that the tale might be told

A hero in the people’s stories, he was the villain in his own story

He was either the greatest man that ever stood before men or

The wretched invalid that all men came to see, appearing to have an audience

This is the story of the one who none dared to talk about

The story that I dared to tell, the story that I have always told

It’s not Jesus that I speak of, you see, with a mask, you could appear to be anything

With a mask, Clark Kent becomes Superman, Diego de la Vega becomes Zorro, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman

The wolf appears like a sheep, the devil like a roaring lion seeking one he may devour 

…

But beneath this mask was a poor man wanting to make sense out of faith

A man in deep doubt wanting to see the nail scarred hands just so he would believe

Beneath this mask was a man who also cried, in deep sorrow in need of a super-hero, a savior

A man in need of a father, a brother, a friend, a hand to hold, ears that would listen…

But who would know who he was beneath the mask?

Would he reveal his visage, his true identity and suffer the shame but gain all the he truly needed

Or would he just…

Put on back the mask and continue to live the lie he was used to..? 

In Search Of The Truth

In search of the truth is what men are when they seek and find white lies in black magic;

Illogical.

When they spend their lives in thrifty and wanton living,

Like the prodigal.

When they link their family tree genealogies to Jesus and Mary Magdalene and call themselves the Jesus genes;

Outrageous.

Yet we know the truth, that Jesus was celibate, bet He didn’t sell His soul,

No sin was found in Him, so we celebrate.

The live that He lived, the life that He gave.

Christ died and ROSE from the dead and you still wanna bring CARNATIONS to His grave?

Nah! He did not re-incarnate, He resurrected, empty tomb is proof.

Was seen with witnesses who saw Him rise to the skies as they stood aloof.

Our unbelief is the reason He bled and died,

Best believe that on the 3^rd day He did rise.

Yet some still write lies about Him, but they are pen-silly,

No wonder in that syllabus, they write on foolscaps.

In that silly bus they ride on fools’ scalps

and need to alight. A Light

We need a light in this dark world and He is the Sun, the Son, the center of our SOULar system

And I am only a satellite, orbiting around Him, reflecting His light.

History points to Him, the future points back at Him. The first born over all creation, He is before all things and in Him all things consist.

See, the Truth is NOT relative

The Truth is absolute. Was, is and will be.

CONSTANT.

No surges with its power. It is able to set free, so

If your ‘truth’ has you bound, then it’s false.

If it cannot stand the test of time, then it falls…

Short.

But only one thing, One person remains standing tall and He is the one you seek.

Jesus Christ.

And that’s The Truth.

The ONE Worship Experience, In Review

   I am still partially convinced that it was the year 2012, November the 23rd that the king Uzziah died, because on that day, I saw the LORD, high and exalted, seated on a throne and the train of His robe filled the temple.
It was such an awesome evening of worship at the ONE Worship Experience, hosted at the Nairobi Baptist Church, and if you missed it, you missed out...good thing is that God is infinite, He never runs out. He's no quitter, He never walks out. *that line will mos def be in my next piece.*

   The event scheduled to start at 6.30pm had folk trickling in way before time with the worship team up and ready; the instrumentalists on their instruments, the vocalists on their mics and the sound team ready with their cues/visual display.
I must say that the team was smartly dressed. Now, I am no fashion blogger or fabric enthusiast (though I am known to...*I bind you spirit of pride*...) but it was obvious that colour-blocking, (if it is the phenomenon where contrasting colours are worn at the same time, say yellow shirt and purple pants) was the theme, and it worked out perfectly, for the ladies of course. The men, save one or two who were really bold and brought out the colours well, shunned from the bright outfits. In not-a-fashionista's words, there was a lot of yellow, orange, green, red, blue, purple and other very bright colours on that stage and any two of these would be found on any one of the ONE Worship team members. The colourful sight was accentuated by the vivid lighting and decor of the room, which I am fairly sure missed the attention of many, not only because the whole team was composed of very beautiful ladies and handsome men *one would think that looks were a criteria for joining the team* but also because most eyes were and would be naturally closed during the intimate moments of worship.
On to the singing, which started on an upbeat with fast paced songs, commonly referred to as Praise songs. Then there was the throwback session that lead worshipers in some old praise jams that we (I am not young) did back in the day, jams such as "Nimetafuta milima mabonde na sikupata mwingine, Eeh!" and "Mimi siachi neno la bwana" among others of our time. The vocalists were on key, the instrumentalists knew for sure that their audience was God as one would tell there was unity amongst them with none trying to outshine the other. Time to time, a keen musician would notice the Keyboardist looking at the drummer and base guitarist as they did breaks together. The subtle violinist would play as if in her own world, yet united with the rest of the team in an unction that could only be divine. Same for the guitarists and the effects keyboard. I didn't see a tambourine guy though...
Each of the leaders (of the various songs that were building up to the theme, Holy holy holy is the Lord almighty) was immensely talented with vocal abilities that would only be described as angelic and the crowd would appreciate by interrupting their solos with whistles and "Eish!"-es.
The crowd did not disappoint as they gave in to dancing and singing along, freely worshiping God. Of course there never misses one or two who just stand unmoved yet reached by the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit. The tempo changed to the slow, otherwise known as worship songs and soon hands were lifted in worship. 
Then came the ethereal moment when the Revelation song was sang, the moment when He was clothed in rainbow of living colours, flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder...That moment, when the need for Oneness with God was truly felt as the house sang the Agnus Dei which was followed by a brief word broken by Pastor Pinto in pieces assimilable  for any worshiper, after which the singing continued.
The night was ended on a celebratory note with popular throwback songs such as "Yesu wee nakupenda" and "Nibebe, nibebe nibebe nibebe, nibembeleze nibebe...*Ghai!! Somebody stop me*..." And it was evident that folks didn't want to leave.
The experience, (on a personal level) was for me a foresight of the day I will become One with Christ when He presents us (the Church) to Himself, a glorious bride, without spot, wrinkle or blemish, Eph 5:27, and I cannot wait for that day. In typical high-school-composition-ending, it was the night I will never forget.

For His glory, 
Benjamin Sulle.

In The Music

Quite frankly we don’t always listen to
Kirk Franklin and all the Holy Spirit inspired music in our privacy,
Because we are so radio-active and the secular music reduces our half life because
It leads us into sin and the wages of sin is death. Slow death like a cancer and radio-therapy is not the cure.
But while we are playing it in our heads, we no longer make melody in our hearts. Turning what used to be His tunes to iTunes, tuning in to frequencies that glory in the CLASSIC self and sex, calling in to bring issues we should channel to the cross but let’s face it...

There’s a song on radio for your every emotion and the devil 98.4% of the times CAPITALizes on this, when you are EASIly swayed by a KISS from your HOT, UPTOWN HOMEBOY, usually after you realize your GHETTO boy is not the ONE for you, making him your X when all the while you would have tuned in to the HOPE and TRUTH we have when Christ is the head of the FAMILY.

We need to FM…I mean, affirm our faith in Him. Didn’t His audience see Him rise to the skies when He ascended? He is on air, so you better listen to Him.
Our God is a musician and here’s proof. He makes the beats out of our hearts that gives us pulse, so His music is life. That is why you decompose when you die. But before you do, press pause and rewind back to the beginning then replay and listen. And if your music does not forward the message of Him who rose above the charts and billboards when He resurrected then you might as well stop and eject and ask Him to put a new song in your heart.

 Because the original record was broken when Adam ate the fruit, so sin is on repeat in our human nature, looped like a noose that’s why death is the climax.
But His rod and staff they comfort me. When I was still a sinner and a G, the rock of ages CLEFt for me. Coz like a discord I needed atonement so that I would be in tune with Him. So now my life is no longer a solo performance because He backs me up, walks with me so His presence is my accompaniment and His grace is abundant for me. My music is for Him only.
So now I implore you to go back to the basics of worship, Psalm 101, sing of His mercy and justice, pursuing clarity of mind and purity of heart. And when they ask you why you sing, tell them the reason why. Tell them the reason why. This is the reason why…
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. His eyes on the sparrow. That’s the reason why I sing.

The Work-Out Plan

I heard that change starts with the man in the mirror, but I am in God’s image so I desire to be like the one before the mirror, and the mirror is His word, so I reflect upon it just so I can know who I am

It wasn't long before I realized that who I was was not who He intended me to be.

I needed a makeover.

See I was overweight with sin from eating life with a big spoon

Lived on praise and pride and lies that were like calories 

I didn't sing or dance for Him, was too unfit to, but I moved my head back and forth to music manufactured in Satan’s kitchen, so that when the tune kept ringing in my mind I picked up the cholesterol that it left in my system.

I became so obese that I could no longer run the race nor keep the faith, my blood vessels so narrowed that His blood could no longer flow through me
And then I got a heart attack, forgot He is my best defense

It’s like we have a systemic problem but only treat parts where symptoms are exhibited.

Jesus is patient with us, but that doesn't mean He's sick coz He hails as healer.

But we the sick seek cure from quarks

Mix pure with works

Absent of faith so Satan’s heat melts us like wax,

And we still want to be the light of the world? That doesn't come by singing

“Jesus walks” but by walking the talk.

And that’s when I began to WORK OUT my salvation with fear and trembling
Fitness to run with endurance the race that has been set before us and X, I mean the cross marks the spot, so I run focusing on the finish line, I mean the finisher of our faith.

See, He gave Himself to death so that we could warm up to Him,
To guard our heart with all diligence for it is the well spring of life.

We need to get on a strict diet, watch what we eat, I mean feed our minds with lest we become overweight, I mean burdened with sin.

So every morning I jog my memory with verses, feeding on His word for it is the bread of life.

I do my PUSH ups, I mean I pray until something happens,

Not giving up the fellowship of brethren because it is my gym where we encourage one another even as the day of the finals, I mean the final day approaches.
You can only be crowned if you compete by the rules. This here is my work out plan.
If you see me looking fit, go tell everybody that I am like God’s secret because He has kept me.

Kept me on track and lifted me over the hurdles. This race is for the crown that does not perish.

Therefore I urge you to run, not with uncertainty, to fight, not as one who beats the air,

But to discipline your body and bring it into subjection, lest when you have preached to others, you yourselves become disqualified!