Tithing should be from the heart

(Letter published in Sunday Vision)

Thanks for the undercover double-series investigating whether born again pastors are fleecing God’s children. Malachi 3: 10 commands us to tithe or else heaven curses us as church robbers but where we tithe is the question. Muslims pay ‘zakat’ to beggars or in the mosque. Hindus and Bahai’is do something similar. Dr. Creflo Dollar mentioned tithing as a fundamental principle for getting rich when he came to Namboole. Every offering I made without being coerced while at a Catholic school in the late 90s came back to me tenfold within one week. My classmates who begged me to take their tithes to the school chapel returned after a few days to report incredible blessings.
Unfortunately during this decade, tithing in mushrooming born again churches produces mixed results. People begin to get weird dreams of creatures robbing or biting them. Is it because they lack enough faith to ‘sow big seeds’ or the pastors are just quack prophets? Does something block rewards along the way? The Bible warns that in the last days, there will be many, not few but many, false teachers. American Pastor John Hagee on LTV always preaches that “manipulating people to get what you want is witchcraft.”
One day I called a pastor’s hotline and the secretary who talked to me said that if I wanted to see the man of God alone in his office, I should come with 50,000 Shillings. Did Jesus ask for denariis or shekels to help burdened souls? Why are tithes from 10,000 and above blessed first during lunch-hour fellowships? Is God’s storehouse a witchcraft shrine or a place where people can honour God with all they have left, even if it’s just peanuts? Tithing should be from the heart not the pocket.




Edward Aikobua
Kampala

Arua Boys

OPEC is the acronym for an Arab Conglomerate (Consensus/Cartel) meaning Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The OPEC Boys lived in Arua and during the 1980s smuggled lots of petroleum which earned them lots of money.

With these sacks of money they came as far as Kampala and spent lavishly on booze and women. That’s when people coined the word “Arua Boys” meaning people or guys from Arua who had lots of money.

Most of these guys did not go far with books and were known by many people. Nowadays they don’t make that much money.

The Wrong Train to Heaven

SATURDAY 11th OCTOBER 2003, exactly twenty days before Hell-oween but today, it is like the horrifying holiday is brought forward. On the very last seat of a Uganda Railways Engine No.9 Extraterrestrial Train Express from Kasese to Mombasa sits three teenagers. The boys are supposedly travelling to an exquisite beach on the East African Coast called "Heaven on Earth". In the middle of the journey, they hear something moving towards the back from the front train carriages. (Adro) Onzi, a Predator Spirit (the god of Death) is mercilessly devouring the souls of passengers and sucking out their blood. The dude near the corridor tells his other two friends to put their heads down as the spirit gets closer. They pray silently until the massacre ends. All the passengers on board are killed except the three boys. They would live to narrate their gruesome experience to the rest of the world. When they raise their heads, they cannot believe their eyes. How have they been spared? 19 year old Ishmael whispers, “What was that?" "We better get out of here before it comes for us also!” Deno, his Classmate advises. “But how?” The frightened trio desperately want to escape from their carriage. So Eli, the Rastafarian, breaks the partly broken emergency exit window using a dead man's walking stick. The boys climb to the top of the train and run like a sandstorm. Reaching a bridge across the Nile River in Jinja at dusk, the lucky survivors jump down in fantastic unison and plunge into the moonlit water. Beautiful ripples of freedom form in the water as the doom train disappears from their view into a tunnel. "Forgive us our Sins, LORD!"

© 2005 AikoGraphics

Wenger, the Miracle Economist

Just because of the Worst Start in seven seasons, many Arsenal fans have become disgruntled with Arsene Wenger. But if they look back at those seven years more critically, they may discover that the club has achieved much more than what the original Dial Square/ Woolwich Arsenal might have dreamed of in 1886.

As an Economics graduate from Cambridge University, Wenger has worked many financial miracles, turning low price signings into the World’s Most Expensive Players for example Nicholas Anelka and before that the World’s Best like the first African to win the FIFA Award George Weah. This year (2005), Arsenal made profits but Wenger did not shop for big name players, something which will undo his popularity. Nonetheless, the lessons from the start of this season may alter his principles by the January 2006 transfer window.

Finally, Arsenal fans should acknowledge Wenger’s tact in soliciting for funds to build the new dream stadium one mile away from Highbury. How many managers came before him since 1913 and embarked on a similar project? It’s the Frenchman who has used money wisely to win 4 Charity Shields, 3 Premierships and 4 F.A. Cups including 2 Doubles in 7 years let alone leading Arsenal as far as the Quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time (and also to the finals later on that season in 2006). The best is yet to come.

Edward Aikobua,
Mukono

(Published in the Daily Monitor in 2005)

Arua Pioneer Decorators

(Original APD Logo designed by Aiko)

Established in June 2002 by my mum Liz, eldest sister Gladys, Aunties Kevin and Grace plus Beatrice, Jackie and Ayikoru (though the latter quit), this Group of Women has been planning and organizing weddings in West Nile’s capital and surrounding regions including Sudan. If you attended any fizzling wedding in the last half-dozen years while in Arua, it might have been their work of wonder. To make weddings memorable, they always invite their clients to choose the colours they fancy plus other specific preferences before doing the rest of the work.
Contacts: Box 1085 Arua, West Nile (Uganda) East Africa… Mobile: (0772) 574 989 and (0772) 950 346

Now on organizing the Best Parties in the Whole World, someone once said that:

“You do all the work
And when the night (or day) comes
Everything is organic and natural
Make sure everybody’s having a good time
Sit with a friend and enjoy yourself…”

Life is a Movie!

“Everything you watch in the cinema has happened to someone somewhere or is about to happen,” that’s what Daniel Kyazze, a Campus classmate and movie buff once told me. At first I did not believe him because of movies with paranormal and supernatural occurrences. However, when I sat down and started watching thrillers more critically, I noticed a convincingly magical resemblance to real spiritual life. What happens in that invisible realm may actually be what we see in horrors or psychological dramas that don’t look natural in our physical world. Today, I strongly believe that “Life is a movie, and music is the soundtrack to life…” The music bit is borrowed from a comment by rapper Jay-Z.

The Beauty of Editing

The Beauty of Editing is that you love to see people read flawless material with enjoyment. Have you ever read a book that had so many grammatical errors and spelling mistakes? It must have been a very annoying experience. Come to think of it, there is nothing better than a good book. Words are powerful; they can make you crack with laughter even when you are troubled. Sinners change their lives and gain hope of going to heaven when they hear GOD’s Word. The reason why I did Mass Communication at UCU was not that I was dying to become a celebrated journalist…absolutely not. All I wanted was an easy way out through education, not having to do a retake on campus and things like that. The course was easy on me but the other major reason why I chose it is that words are powerful. I had witnessed their influence in people’s lives before. A paralyzed mother in China got healed instantly when her son read the Gospel of Jesus to her. A girl you fancy can fall in love with you miraculously for example when someone close to her mentions some favourable lies about you or even truth for that matter. Good stories lift up your spirit. No wonder the Book of Proverbs teaches that good news is like cold water on a hot day, very refreshing indeed…

Intravenas

GOD is Within Us...He is closer to you than the blood in your veins...

Jesus once declared, "The Kingdom of GOD is within you." The person who is persistent and continues to explore the depths and heights of his own soul, there is great wealth awaiting him. Dreams are like agusher of oil from our inner depths. Dreams can result into the reawakening of somebody's spiritual life. The wealth within us is locked and wants to be found. It tries to reach our consciousness through the medium of the dream. Learning to work with our dreams however will require from us time, strong hearted committment and study. "Dreams, " said the Red Indian Chief Seattle, "are given men in the solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit. The soul wanders in darkness unless it receives a guiding light. Man has a lower nature which inclines to ignorance, cruelty and apathy. " Dreaming is essential for health. Energy is a flow, it is not static, it must flow to and from the consciousness to the unconscious. Noone ever won life's great treasures without risking himself in a hero struggle with life's dark and dangerous side.

(Borrowed from "Dreams and Healing: A Succinct and Lively Interpretation of Dreams" by John A. Sanford)