Sunday, February 18, 2007

Conclusion......



So....

It was fun....I enjoyed it....now it's done....

I wanted to repeat what I consider to be some of the highlights of this debate as well as put up a conclusion....of course you can view the 40+ comments in the post 2 down from this one & make your own conclusion....:)

Here are some of the "well-said" pieces from the main contributors....

Anon said:

I'm here...lol..i never left!,im not a member of the family,but i am a born-again christian,and i enjoy reading all your family blogs.
Forgive me about being so negative about nigeria,there can be no doubt it is the worlds most corrupt country,whats saddens me is,the poor are piss poor in nigeria,yet theres more than enough oil money to go around.
Half the govt officals are christians,yet they rip the poor off,in 2 secs,and steal from everyone.!!
And you will see the same said govt officals at the church every sunday...2 faced bastards,this is what christianity is like for most people in nigeria.
Preach to the converted bryan,then that goodness may filter down to the poor!...christians thieving from the poor is a ******* tragedy.
That's where you can make a difference.
Talk about the muslims being peacefull! and honest...pull the other one bryan!!
Maybe your forgetting the thousands of christians they have killed in the name of there culture(notice i call it a culture) and not a religion,why?..coz surely religion dosent advocate killing?...ill reply to each one of you by a new post.
Best wishes. god bless..anon


Anj said:

Let's go point by point here:
For starters, Brian never said he doesn't "preach" to the Christians. As missionaries, we try to witness to everyone who crosses our paths, Moslems and Christians alike.
We're all agreed that it's a tragedy the Christian government is stealing from the poor. Nobody is debating that that's wrong. But it's not for you to say who someone should preach to. Remember Jesus said that His message was "for the Gentiles".
Please also note that The Family is doing their part to help those "piss-poor" Christian Nigerians by helping them in whatever way the Lord has shown them. But we can't do everything.
Jesus preached through His sample, not a sermon. The Family is doing what they can to reach both the rich and the poor in Nigeria. But the individuals have to make the choice whether or not to listen. That is something beyond our control.
Perhaps you could pray more for the corrupt government officials. Prayer does more than any preaching ever could. It can change peoples' hearts and help them make the choice to listen. Whereas the preaching might just fall on deaf ears.
Tell me, what are you doing to help the situation in Nigeria? You've got very strong opinions on what should be done and how it should be done... but what are you doing towards it? How much of your talk are you backing up with prayer?

PS: I won't even bother to reply to your comment about the US. It's a whole 'nother subject. Perhaps we can talk about it in a different forum.


Curly Cel said:

I've already said a wee bit, but in reply to anonymous' comment, corruption is, sad to say, a worldwide issue. - Not just limited to Nigeria, or the Christians there. I realize Nigeria might be #1, but that's what happens when greed comes into the picture.

Take the US for example, they're meant to be one of the most "Christian" nations of the world, but it's currently involved in more wars than any country worldwide. Religion has been a sad excuse for wars, but it doesn't matter if you're Jew, or Christian, or Muslim, or what have you, its just bad. - War is wrong, and evil doesn't fix evil! If the US was living the Christian sample as it was meant to they'd "love their enemies, do good to them that hate them, etc. etc. etc." - You can read it for yourself in Matthew 5.

I could go on and on, but what I'm trying to say is that just because the Christians are the ones that are, sad to say, responsible for such actions, it doesn't mean the entire nation is to be labeled and sent to Hell. - Which is why Brian brings out the positive.

Love the sinner, yet hate the sin.



Following is what I feel was the best contribution to this debate....& even if I only listen to the advice in this comment, the whole discussion was worth it.....I'm not sure if this is 'Anon' himself, or another anonymous, but someone said:

To brian and whacky...im sure you probably know who is writing this,and ill tell you why ive contributed to a debate on brians blog.
For many years ive observed the situation as regards the poor in africa,and the christians/muslims and pan-african corruption.
Nothing has changed,but i hope that others who read this blog,feel inspired to maybe go there,and help make that difference.
I tell it as i see it,i make no apoligies for that,ill stick my neck out for injustices being perpatrated in the name of jesus.

Both you guys give the worldwide internet surfer an insight into your missionary work.
Have you ever thought of the internet as a continuation of that work?
As whacky has said(on her blog),a lot of family blogs,are just pure rubbish,that dont merit more than a 5 min look,i think all family blogs should be used to explain to the world,your role in life serving jesus,as a missionary.
The family has recieved much bad publicity in the past,to put this right,you need to share what your doing for the lord,everything else is secondary.
A missionaries job is 24/7 and that includes blogs.
Many family blogs have links to other family blogs,you go from whackys blog,to another blog that dosent witness to anyone.
It didnt take a clever man to find your blogs either,a link to them is on ex-family.org
point is...please pass the word around to share more about what your missionary work is all about.

By doing that,others may come to know the lord,feel inspired to get involved,and the family 'KNOCKERS' will have nothing to talk about.
god bless the both of you,and the family...

My final thoughts were (during what turned about to be roughly 1 3rd thru the debate):

Ok, I'm gonna wrap up my thoughts on this & let others continue....I'm still hoping to hear from new debators on this topic & find out how everyone else feels about the orginal issue (WHETHER I'M RIGHT IN SHOWING THE SIDE OF NIGERIA THAT I DO OR NOT!!!--Why the debate originally started!)
After that I'm gonna close this debate, as we're now officially going in circles....

--I agree that NG is corrupt to the core & that I should preach honesty & fairness to whichever people in power I come in contact with.

--MEANWHILE...I'm gonna continue improving the lives of every individual I can, & see everyone & the situation around me through the eyes of LOVE (or Rose colored glasses, as Anon put it)...instead of waiting around for corruption to stop while doing a bunch of "preaching". To see how I do that, simply stay tuned to this blog...

--I copy a sample of Jesus as per how he lived His life when He was on earth as well as how he speaks to me personally every day in prophecy. He said (and I quote)

"LOVE YOUR ENEMIES"--Mat. 5:44

"FORGIVE (REPEATEDLY)"--Mat. 18:22

"PRAY FOR YOUR PERSECUTORS"--Mat. 5:44

(Also see Mat. 21:41 for how Jesus will personally deal with the wicked when He returns)

As far as high ideals & nation-wide/large-scale anti-corruption schemes/going to war with the entire Muslim world....I'll leave these things up to Anon, who, while he talks a lot, I'm not sure of all that he's practically doing in an everyday setting to win souls & spread the message(I'd be interested to know, Anon.....let us know....although, yes, you're doing it right here on these comments, so GBY for that).

--The orginal question as to how many people Jesus (or his first Apostles, or other famous missionaries, I'll add) killed, was never answered, Anon????

--Mr.(or Ms.) pro-America, pro-Jew/anti-Muslim.....I'll be posting some more things that you might find interesting!!! Stay tuned. If you give me an e-mail address, I'll send direct...



I'm gonna let my friend, Richard's comment act as the conclusion to this debate, as it about sums up what quite a few of us were saying. I also understand that Anon, agreed with several of these points below as well......so this will act as the general conclusion.

Richard, said:
I am a Missionary in the Family who Brian happens to be visiting here in Nigeria, I have been here for the past two and a half years and have spent about six years total in Africa. I have been to most countries in West Africa, and have seen both Christian and Moslem governments, religious leaders, etc...
The problem, Anon, has nothing to do with religious orientation, it has much more to do with cultural mindsets that have been passed down for the last thousand some odd years. Democracy is a recent development in Africa and like any country that has a major shift in government it takes a while for the kinks to be ironed out. What is called corruption in Africa is not really considered corruption by the people, at least not in the same sense that we see it as. We Americans or westerners who have the privilege of 2000+ years of experimenting in democracy often take for granted the struggles it took to get to where we are at today. Since we haven’t lived in any era except the one we are in now we don’t give much thought to the corruption that existed for centuries past only in the last 60 years or so has corruption become lessened, and, to be honest, I am sure corruption would still be rampant in all countries if there wasn’t the system of control and the proverbial "watch dogs" set in place by governments in the past.
You forget, Anon, that Nigeria has made strides in overcoming their problems with corruption; an example of which is the paying off of their foreign debt and building up their foreign reserve to about 38 billion dollars, pretty good when you compare with the US which has more then 3 trillion dollars in foreign debt... but that is a different subject and I wont get off on that.
The point I am trying to make is that Nigerians are still a people and culture that are inexperienced in the ethics that come with Christianity and Democracy, 100 years ago paying money to the chief when you committed a crime was considered normal, and to think that with only 7 years or so of real democracy they will have stamped out old cultural habits that they have had for thousands of years is just not realistic. Living here I would love to see corruption stamped out and money actually going where it is supposed to be but I know that I probably wont ever see it in my life time (except, of course, when the Lord returns). But I know I can try to plant a seed here or there.
There is a story in the Family that we have all sort of grown up on, it is about a young man who went on a walking tour of southern France during the early twenties right after world war 1; It was a very desolate place as during the war much landscape was destroyed and there wasn’t funding or time to properly care for the forests and fauna and what not. During his tour, however, he came across an old shepherd who he happened to stay with for a couple nights, and every night he noticed that the old shepherd would sort different nuts and seeds. Every day when he would take his flock of sheep out he would plant the various nuts and seeds. When the young man queried him on this, he told him he was planting trees......

See the 5th comment in the 'comments' section of this post for the rest of the Change the World story, as well as the rest of Richard's comment. Tx!

5 comments:

Nyx Martinez said...

Hi Brian,

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to thoroughly (is that how you spell it?) read through all of the many debate posts, although the one that DID stand out to me was the one which you mentioned to be the best contribution--about how our witness on the Internet should just be an extension and reflection of our missionary lives.

--Convicting, that one! It made me re-evaluate my own cyber-place on the web.

Besides that, just one verse came to mind when I first read your points: The one where Jesus sais that He, like a Physician, came for those who are sick.

Having lived and worked with you in familiar places, and knowing how much darkness abounds, yet so does Grace, it makes me admire you out there all the more.

It's tough to be a missionary and even a Christian today, in a world where "being a Christian" has lost its fire and even its initial risk.

And now, returning to my former country, where everyone professes to be Christians, it's even harder to keep the full conviction, or live the sacrifical Love that Christ taught us. Christianity has become like too much cream in a coffee.

...But that doesn't mean that we water down as well, right?

I know that many times you put me to shame with your convicting witness and goal of touching hearts and changing lives wherever you were, taking no thought for your self or "image".

Keep on doing that; keep on being the testimony that you are to so many.

The Lord needs more of us "bound in shoe leather"...or maybe even barefoot.

P.S. I hear they're trying to get you back in Uganda. Ahahahaha.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh round 2!...uganda..say hi to idi!..

Anonymous said...

Heres a classic for you brian!,wonders what this one is upto?...from uk sky news.


Gambia's Aids 'Miracle'
Updated: 06:05, Tuesday February 20, 2007

The United Nations has warned of dangerous consequences after the leader of a tiny West African country declared he can cure Aids.

The President of The Gambia says his herbal remedy can kill HIV in the blood of his patients.

Sky's Africa correspondent Emma Hurd went to meet him and has this exclusive report:

Dressed from head to toe in sparkling white robes, President Yahya Jammeh, leans over his latest patient and massages a herbal ointment into his chest.

The man is HIV positive, but after a few sessions of this treatment: a rub down with the cream, a splash on the face with another potion and a drink of a murky looking liquid, the President claims he'll be cured.

He's already treated dozens of his people with his traditional medicine, succeeding, he says, where modern medical science has failed.

Sceptics are not welcome.

"Who do I have to convince?" he demanded, jabbing his finger towards me.

"The World?" I suggested.

"I do not have to convince anybody. I can cure aids and I will not explain it to those who don't want to understand."



The only proof we were shown were photocopied laboratory results which appear to show that some of his patients now have "undetectable" levels of HIV in their blood.

No evidence was provided to show they were HIV positive before the treatment.

We asked for independent tests, which were refused along with a request to take samples of the secret herbal medicines.

"Not in a million years," the President told me.

We were at least permitted to speak to one of his patients, Ousman Sowe, a university lecturer.

"I believe I am cured," he said. "I believe that I am now HIV negative." He could offer no proof.

This 'cure' is sponsored by The Gambia's Department of Health.

The President's patients are kept on special wards in the nation's hospitals and the Health Minister selects suitable candidates for treatment.

Fatou Sanyang arrived with her two-year-old son.

The child, like her, is HIV positive, she told me, and she wants the President to heal them both.

The Minister, Dr Tamsir Mbowe, did not think that would be a problem.

"One hundred per cent the President can cure everyone. It is absolutely medically proven," he said.

Despite the lack of evidence, there are few in the Gambia who dare doubt this 'miracle'.

The President controls the media and the only message his people are hearing is that the treatment works, and patients are now queuing up outside his door.

President Jammeh cures Aids on Thursdays and Asthma on Saturdays, the rest of the time he runs the country he's ruled for 12 years.

It's a place which attracts 80,000 British tourists every year, and was until recently considered progressive in its approach to Aids.

Organisations which run orthodox programmes to combat the spread of the virus now fear all of their work is being undone.

Fadzai Gwarazimba, the co-ordinator for the UN in The Gambia, told me: "If people start to believe there is a cure then they will start to engage in risky behaviour and that could mean even more of a problem with Aids in this continent."

Africa is crying out for leaders who will take Aids seriously, but President Jammeh seems to have joined those who believe it's a conspiracy cooked up by the drugs companies of the West.

We watched as he finished treating a young woman, who lay passively on a bed while she was covered in ointment until her black skin shone.

In a few weeks she, along with the latest batch of 29 patients, will finish her treatment.

What is chilling is that they will all, most likely, still be HIV positive - but they will be convinced they can live life as if they are cured.

Guess what brian,the pres is a muslim!,and he thinks AIDS is sent from western devils!...only in africa.!!!!

Anonymous said...

I smell a con here somewhere!,bit like the miracle babies?...

Anonymous said...

....Now the young man was a bit of a cynic and somewhat condescendingly told the old shepherd that he was an old man and he shouldn’t be wasting his time planting trees as he would probably die and never see changes, if changes ever even came. The old shepherd just smiled and told him that one day someone would and that was enough for him. So the young man went on his way and forgot pretty much about the old shepherd.
However, fifteen years or so later he returned to find the whole area transformed. The forest had started to re grow and animals and birds were returning, he looked for the old shepherd again and found him in his hut still sorting nuts and seeds and still planting them. They talked and the gentlemen was impressed by one thing in it all, he realized that you cannot change the whole world by yourself but you can change a little something of your own, you can change your immediate world just by doing something small every day just by planting one or two seeds every day in the proverbial ground of peoples hearts and in doing that you can change much more then you think.
The point of that little anecdote is that we are changing things here even if it is going to take my entire life time then we will continue to change things here slowly but surely. If I can reach one person and he in turn can change another then we can start a chain reaction and one day we can change the whole world. But what we need is patience to see it through. Adoniram Judson who was a missionary to Burma laboured eight years before he had one convert.
One last thing about the Family is that our primary calling from the Lord as missionaries is that of training people to be missionaries, my personal goal this year is to have 300 students that we will be training on how to be missionaries and to reach others. We have a whole ministry that we use to reach the rich and upper class of people. We have politicians over to our house for dinner on a regular basis and most of the people we minister to are people who are in a position to change this country because they are the most important people you can reach. We do minister to the poor as well though, because that is part of being a Christian and a missionary.
There! Having said all that now I wanted to touch on the subject of the US and Iraq and this whole mess the world is in. First, about the Jews, whether they are still God's only people is a subject of a much broader theological debate, Paul throughout the New Testament argued that only Christians are God's chosen people whether they are of a Jewish ethnic origin or not. Jews did demand the crucifixion of Jesus saying that his blood should be upon them and upon their children... which should end the debate. Why Christians defend the Jews as God's people when they spit upon the Name of Jesus and call him the false messiah and are probably the most adamantly opposed people to the spread of the gospel, goes a bit beyond me.
About the US and Iraq now everyone can argue about who is right forever and they will never reach any sort of agreement because at the end of the day they are both wrong. We Americans are wrong because we have a moral responsibility to not use stopping terrorists as an excuse to be securing oil for our future generations to come, and Saddam Hussein was wrong because, well, he was a mass murderer, who did all sorts of terrible things to his people, (although that didn’t stop the US from supporting him during the Iraq/Iran war). Saying the US is in Iraq with pure and good intentions is seeing things with "rosy/America-does-no-wrong glasses". If that were true the US would be in China fighting to oust their government which supports killing babies at birth, who are born to parents who have one child already, who have killed millions of Christians, and continues to be the one country that is against any and all religious freedom, instead of creating a huge trade deficit with them and selling out our own people to them in favour of their cheaper goods.
Anyway, I am trying to answer every question in one post but I will try to continue with answering questions after the weekend is up. And one last question for you Anon is what is your point really, I am a little hazy on what you are trying to say is it that Nigeria is bad because the leaders are bad, then in answer to that "welcome to reality" this happens every where. If your question is why are we not reaching the leaders of the country, well we do, and we are trying. It just takes time and planting seeds.
About Iraq/US/Israel; well that is something else entirely.....

P.S. My name is Richard, btw.