TIMES TODAY TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
Honest Prayer
CONTENTS My Pulpit message notes: | Honest Prayer3-4 My Devotional: Moving forward | 6 Business: Food and Energy Price Shocks from Ukraine War Could Last for Years | 7 My Inspiration: Busyness does not equal productivity | 8 My Entrepreneur: 4 lessons on change from a leader in the middle of a crisis 10 - 11 My Kitchen: Feelgood flapjacks |12 My Sports: Kimathi and Patel finish in top 10 in Uganda rally | 13
My Pulpit Message - notes Honest Prayer My Pulpit Message Notes are extracted from the sermon preached at the Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC) Ngong Road on Sunday 8th May 2022. Preacher: Mrs. / Elder Caroline Krhoda. Topic: Honest Prayer (David) Scripture: Psalm 51 Many of us have difficulty in prayer. A large percentage of professing Christians spend little time in sustained prayer, especially private prayer. Why? Maybe due to doubt that anything will happen at all if we prayed. Maybe we have prayed about something for so long and have not seen any results. Or we have prayed something important and the opposite has happened e.g. a loved one who was ill, you prayed and they passed on, or a job that seemed perfect, you prayed and failed to secure it. Maybe you have had experience with prayer that led us to the conclusion that it is pointless. Very often when we settle into private prayer we lack that sense of nearness or realness with God. It seems unnatural to talk to a God that you can neither hear, nor see. There are circumstances in life that can drive us to prayer, but there are times when life just seems manageable and can lull us into some kind of sufficiency, adequacy, or it is a sin that we are entertaining that keeps us too guilty to pray. Psalm 51 titled; A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. This very well known Psalm, that is now public was once a cry of a man in private to his God. The events leading to this Psalm recorded in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. Summary David had stayed home when kings went to war. One random evening he spotted Bathsheba bathing as he walked on the roof of his palace. The Bible describes her as very beautiful. And that is why David inquired about her and was informed who she was including her parents and whose wife she was.
where I proceeded to lay on the carpet and prayed cried some more. And I told God, “This is not my portion. I have served You all my life. Look what I have to show for it.” And I cannot remember how long I had gone on and on when as clear as day I had an impression in my spirit about my prayerlessness in the days before. God saying to me, ‘Do you know, but for my mercy, It would have been worse.” “You are the man.” And instantly my prayer changed and I prayed to God, “Have mercy on me. and thank You that it wasn’t worse.” You see there are things about myself that I would never know, except God reveals them to me. Stains in my life that I would never see except, I held them up against God’s light. David understood and accepted his condition. Could part of the dishonesty in our lives be an impression like that of the church in Laodicea?Thinking they were rich and prospering and in need of nothing when in actual fact they were wrecked, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. One writer says, the result of being known by God and listening to God is that we are woken to the truth that we are in fact very low. For God speaks to us about our sin, our guilt, our weakness, our blindness, our folly and He compels us to judge ourselves hopeless and helpless and then to cry out, ‘Have mercy on me’. An accurate view of ourselves leads us to honest prayer. Jesus told the story of a Pharisee and a tax collector in Luke 18 to demonstrate the folly of those who are confident in their own righteousness. The Pharisee pontificating how he was not like other people, “I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all I have.” The tax collector meanwhile stowed at a distance and would not even look up to heaven, but he beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me a sinner’. And Jesus said, “I tell you that this man rather than the other went home justified before God.”
But you know, we would never ask for mercy from God if our God was merciless. It is the very fact of His mercy and grace that allows us to come. So Psalm 51:1b “According to your One would think that David, a man after God’s own heart would shut the matter down, unfailing love have mercy on me. According to your great compassion, blot out my transgresbut no, he arranged to sleep with her and resions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse turn her to her husband where things might me from my sin.” Other translations say, “achave stopped, except that she conceived. Dacording to your lovingkindness”, and “accordvid is now in a bit of a quandary, he is the We cannot remain the same when we pray an honest ing to the multitudes of your tender mercies.” king after all and now there is proof of what has happened. He tries every way to get Uri- prayer. A prayer that comes from a clear understanding of Because as great as the multitudes of our sin is, ah to come home to his wife, even getting even great is the multitudes of God’s grace and him drunk, but he fails. So in the end he has mercy. It is because he knew God to be mercihim killed and after the mourning period he our state, that, only God can show us. That taps into God’s ful that he dared to come. brings Bathsheba to his palace and she has the baby. Nine months at least between the inexhaustible resources as our Saviour, that prayer will David was arguably at his worst at this moevent and Nathan’s visit to him was no less ment, but he still appealed to God for mercy than nine months. The time from conception because he know God to be merciful. He knew lead to our sanctification, into our growth to to the birth of a child. God’s love to be unfailing. He knew God’s compassion to be great. He knew also that only Was David praying? Was the greatest wor- Christ-likeness. God could blot out his transgressions. Cancel shipper of all time worshipping? We read in it, deregister it. Only He could wash away all Psalm 38 what he would have been like if he the iniquity and cleanse him from sin. God was was. Guilty, angry, troubled, overwhelmed, the solution to his deficit. pierced, mourning, pained, his strength failing, light before his eyes, abandoned by friends, routed, even physically ill, like one cannot hear God, forsaken like God is far away. That is So have you ever wondered how David knew all these things about God so as to appeal to how David would have felt if he was maybe aware of that sin. Him? How can we really know that God is compassionate and kind and holy and sovereign and eternal, unchanging, merciful? Where did David get his theology from? While the sin was still fresh, maybe that is how he felt. However as you know you and I with time, when not dealt with, a conscience can be numbed, a sin can be suppressed, the voice of God, the Almighty Creator, the Lord of Hosts, the great God before Who the nations are but God silenced and we can get used to the distance. However, the thing that David had done a drop in the bucket, Who in fact holds that king’s heart in his heart in his hands and wields it displeased the LORD. this way and that, comes to man and talks to man, He opens His heart to him and He makes friends with Him, He enlists him onto His staff, makes him a partner, a fellow worker. God in And He sends Nathan with a story. There were two men, a rich one with many sheep and sending Nathan to David was speaking to him as He speaks to us in His word. cattle and a poor one with one little ewe lamb that he loved. The rich man to feed a traveller who came to visit him and instead of taking one of his own, took the poor man’s lamb, had Jeremiah says, ‘Let not the wise boast in their wisdom, or the strong boast in their strength, it prepared for his guest. And David’s anger was stirred, his spirit’s response was immediate. or the rich boast in their riches, but let the one who boasts, boast about this, that they have an “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die and he shall restore understanding to know Me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice, righteousthe lamb fourfold because he did this thing and he had no pity.” To which Nathan declared, ness on earth, for in these things I delight. And David lived by this mantra. David knew God. “You are the man”. You are the man who deserves to die. You are the man who shall restore the See him tap into God’s ability to rescue him from the jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear lamb fourfold. You are the man that had done this thing. You are the man that has had no pity. and kill them both. See him tap into the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom Goliath the Philistine had defied and gain victory over him with a sling and It is difficult to see a stain when there is no light. The closer we get to the light, the clearer we a stone. See him tap into God’s counsel and save Keilah. See him realise that Saul was God’s see the stains. It took the light of God for David to see himself. He had sinned in murder, in anointed and spare his life when he had a chance to kill him. David knew his God. adultery, in covering his sin and in hardness against repentance. And now shaken from this, he came in great honesty and brokenness before God. “Have mercy on me O God. God please In numerous Psalms we hear him cry out to God to teach him his statutes, to open his eyes do not treat me as this sin deserves. Do not punish me for the guilty verdict. Instead, please so that he would behold wondrous things out of God’s law. David’s supreme desire was to pardon me for it.” The prayer of a man who knew he had sinned and stopped all self justifica- know and enjoy God himself. To understand God’s truth so as to be transformed by it and tion. David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD”. No excuses. conformed to it. His cry that his ways would be directed to keep God’s Word. David sought to keep company with God and God who from the beginning has always wanted to keep Verse 3, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me, 4 Against you, you company with man obliged him. only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother con- To know God is to tap into His inexhaustible resources for our fallen state. We are so much ceived me.” the poorer for not searching, seeking, following hard after God, for not calling out like Paul, “Lord I want to know you.” God’s stands ready to reveal Himself to us. I have sinned. I deserve the judgment of death. The grace of God’s light pointing out to him that he was the man, brought him to the place of honest prayer. In the same way as God revealed Himself to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and to Joseph because they heard Him speak, they saw Him, they related with Him as He orchestrated I remember a point in my life when all was not going well at all. A loved had been unwell for events, as He weaved in and out of their lives, we too can form impressions of God from His a while despite constant and earnest prayer, our house had no tenant, I had no job and I was Son Jesus Christ. We can have an accurate view of God through His words and by His actions. generally, completely directionless and I was on Mombasa Road on my way to a shop to buy a toilet for my tenantless house and as I was thinking about my directionless life I got a phone If we open our eyes to see Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Lord help me to see You with call from my friend who embarked on telling me just how well things were going on in her the first breath I take each morning. Help me to see You in the trees and the flowers and the life. God had done things for her. beauty that is around me. Help me to see You in the family and friendships that I have, in the events of my life, but most of all in the passages of Scripture. Lord help me to see You. An And I rejoiced with her ‘praise the Lord, hallelujah, great’. As soon as I placed the phone accurate view of God leads to honest prayer. down, the taps were open, tears. I cried all the way to the shop, pressed pause when I reached, got the toilet and went back into the car and pressed play. Cried all the way to the house
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Pulpit Message - notes Can we know God? Certainly, but not entirely because God is infinite and can only be known to the extent that He chooses to reveal Himself. Certainly we can seek Him. We can yearn as David did to keep company with Him. We can take note of His words to us and His actions towards us in the events of our lives. David first came to a clear understanding of who he was, what his state was, then he appealed to God who was his Saviour. And this formed the basis for his prayer for transformation, for growth, for sanctification. “Blot out my transgression,” David prayed. The man who had remained for nine months, seemingly without an acute knowledge of his iniquity and sin now sensed his need to be cleansed, “Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb. You taught me wisdom in that secret place.” The ASV says, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.” Sinful from birth God has always wanted to accomplish in David faithfulness in the inward parts. Not just superficial reform. His sin may have been external, but it originated from a heart that was desperately wicked. It is James who says that ‘we are tempted when we are dragged away by our evil desires and enticed after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown it gives birth to death.’
from the inside would issue into actions on the outside. A correct understanding of our state, a look to the Saviour will lead to our sanctification and it would prepare us to serve. David says in Psalm 51:13-15 “Then I will teach transgressors your ways so that sinners will turn back to you.14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Saviour, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.” In the dark days of his sin before he confessed, there was no way David would have been able to teach transgressors his ways. This restoration was his way back to his ministry. God leads us in the paths of righteousness so as to enable us to fulfil his purposes. After he himself had been restored, then he could be an effective instrument in the transformation of others. After he himself had been delivered from the guilt of bloodshed, then he would be enabled to sing aloud again the praises of the Almighty. What’s the end of the matter? First with God’s help, see myself that I am weak, that I am sinful, that I am hopeless, that I am wretched and poor and blind and bankrupt in desperate need of a Saviour, of God. Then see God as a merciful, compassionate, faithful kind Father without Whom I can do nothing at all and yet with whom I have everything. The great Sovereign God the all sufficient God Who has inexhaustible resources to answer my great need. Then be sanctified, become like Christ, be changed and then serve.
So David continues to pray, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within Honest prayer prepares us for service. me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit,” Psalm 51:16 is like a summary “You do not delight in sacrifice,” or David would have brought it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings” David would have David was calling to the only One who could do surgery to his inward parts, brought that too. “My sacrifice O God is a broken spirit. A broken spirit and a God Himself. This prayer would have been incomplete had it stopped at have contrite heart, You O God will not despise.” That, God will not despise. And all mercy on me. It had to move on to God’s goal for all of us which is transforma- the rest as they say will fall in line. tion in the inward parts. That is where sanctification happens. In the mind and in the heart. That’s the process by which God transforms us on the inside and If you are thinking all that sounds like some pretty lofty stuff, all I need right makes us more like Him. now is a job so that I can pay my rent, pay school fees, so I can live. All I need right now is this thing that is close to me for God to fix it. But God has a unique, Hyssop was used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb and was also used to tailor-made, bespoke, development plan for your life and mine. God has a sprinkle the priest purifying water. It was an instrument for purification. David unique plan for your life and mine that involves using and orchestrating the essentially understood that it would take God to apply the blood of the Passover ordinary events of our lives to show us our state. To show us His character. To lamb to purge him from his sin and sanctify him. Heart surgery can only be sanctify us and then to send us. done by God Himself in answer to honest prayer that emerges from a revelation by God of our true state and then an appeal to His inexhaustible resources. Do you remember? It was while I was going to pick a toilet for my house that it happened. It is the ordinary events when we are driven to our knees that He God speaking to the church in Laodicea, Rev. 3:17 “17 You say, ‘I am rich; I uses. Everything about our life right now is for the sole purpose of making you have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you and I like Jesus Christ. The best king is the one who is most like Christ. The best are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” You are the man, that is your true student is the one who is most like Christ. The best lawyer, doctor, business state. “18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can person, teacher, politician, stay-at-home mum, pastor, evangelist is the one who become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful na- most like Christ. kedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” So that you can truly become what you thought you were. So what prayer would I want us to pray? Search me O God and know my heart, see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of righteousness. Such is the power of the sanctifying work of God. It makes clean. It washes And if you have not even come to Christ as yet, that would be the place to start. whiter than snow. It causes bones that have been crashed to rejoice. It renews Just to realise that you need the Saviour. That you and I are sinners and we need a steadfast spirit, a right spirit within us on the inside. The end of the process the Saviour. If you feel a tagging in your heart, that is the Holy Spirit revealing would be a restoration of the close relationship he had with God. David had to you your state, revealing your need for Him. seen God take His spirit from Saul and he cried out, “Please don’t take Your Spirit from me. Then, God teach us Your way, teach us your statutes, help us to know You. Who to know is life eternal. Sanctify me and make me more like Christ and then I We cannot remain the same when we pray an honest prayer. A prayer that comes will be able to teach transgressors your ways, then I will be able to sing your from a clear understanding of our state, that, only God can show us. That taps praises. I want to be a seeker of Your heart. into God’s inexhaustible resources as our Saviour, that prayer will lead to our sanctification, into our growth to Christ-likeness. Honest prayer leads to transformation. You heard it said that prayer changes things. Before that, prayer changes us. Heart surgery. I recently removed Twitter App from my to insulate myself from politics and all the vitriol that is there. It has worked only to the extent that I stay away from the news. As soon as I watch the news, I am again triggered, because I made a behavioural change when what I really need is heart surgery. Not David. He asked for changes from the inside, but after God changes him
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Life How to get saved and spend eternity with God His Love “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NASB) My response that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
My prayer Lord God Almighty, thank You for Your love for me. Thank You that You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. Please forgive me for all the sins I have committed against You. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died on the cross and You raised Him from the dead on the third day. Please write my name in the Lamb’s book of life. Help me to live a life that is holy and pleasing unto You. In Jesus’ Name I pray and believe. Amen
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Devotional Moving Forward www.sportsspectrum.com |By Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia. | Image courtesy : www.theinclusion.me
“Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown bitterly” (Luke 22:60-62). me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” — Luke 22:61-62 Even though Peter flopped in that moment, God forgave. Failure was not final because the Father is faithful when Andrew and Simon were brothers but different in sev- we falter. When failure is not final, we can keep moving eral ways. Andrew and Simon worked with their father forward. The angel sent word three days later about Peas professional fishermen. Andrew was gentle and quiet, ter’s restoration because Christ redeems us for further while Simon was rough and hot-tempered. Since Jesus service. The angel gave the women at the tomb a message knows all about us, He saw the strengths and weakness- to deliver to the apostles. “‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. es of both men and knew He’d develop them into great ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was cruspiritual leaders in a few years, allowing them to keep cified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where moving forward. they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, Though Simon didn’t take a straight path to maturity, the just as he told you’” (Mark 16:6-7). Lord gradually changed Simon from an unstable person to a man who lived up to his new name of Peter, which In a short period of time, Peter learned to promote Christ meant he was rock solid. In a surprising way, Jesus al- rather than himself. Suddenly, people saw Christ in Pelowed Peter to express his overconfidence and fall flat on ter and thousands of new believers were born into God’s his face in order to teach Simon Peter to place his confi- spiritual family. Because failure is not final, Peter was dence in God’s wisdom and power, rather than his own able to keep moving forward and promote Christ rather faulty judgment and inconsistent abilities. than himself. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being As Jesus predicted, Peter denied Christ three times be- called to account today for an act of kindness shown to fore the rooster crowed. Surely, Jesus knew Peter better a man who was lame and are being asked how he was than he knew himself. “Peter replied, ‘Man I don’t know healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: what you’re talking about!’ Just as he was speaking, the It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had man stands before you healed’” (Acts 4:8-10). spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
Business Food and Energy Price Shocks from Ukraine War Could Last for Years www.worldbank.org
The war in Ukraine has dealt a major shock to commodity markets, altering global patterns of trade, production, and consumption in ways that will keep prices at historically high levels through the end of 2024, according to the World Bank’s latest Commodity Markets Outlook report. The increase in energy prices over the past two years has been the largest since the 1973 oil crisis. Price increases for food commodities—of which Russia and Ukraine are large producers—and fertilizers, which rely on natural gas as a production input, have been the largest since 2008. “Overall, this amounts to the largest commodity shock we’ve experienced since the 1970s. As was the case then, the shock is being aggravated by a surge in restrictions in trade of food, fuel and fertilizers,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions. “These developments have started to raise the specter of stagflation. Policymakers should take every opportunity to increase economic growth at home and avoid actions that will bring harm to the global economy.
are expected to be twice as high in 2022 as they were in 2021, while coal prices are expected to be 80 percent higher, with both prices at all-time highs.
First, there is less room now to substitute the most affected energy commodities for other fossil fuels—because price increases have been broad-based across all fuels. Second, the increase in prices of some commodities is also driving up prices of other commodities—high natural-gas prices have raised fertilizer prices, putting upward pressure on agricultural prices. In addition, policy responses so far have focused more on tax cuts and subsidies—which often exacerbate supply shortfalls and price pressures—than on long-term measures to reduce demand and encourage alternative sources of supply.
“Commodity markets are experiencing one of the largest supply shocks in decades because of the war in Ukraine,” said Ayhan Kose, Director of the World Bank’s Prospects Group, which produces the Outlook report. “The resulting increase in food and energy prices is taking a significant human and economic toll—and it will likely stall progress in reducing poverty. Higher commodity prices exacerbate already elevated inflationary pressures around the world.” The war is also leading to more costly patterns of trade that could result in longer-lastWheat prices are forecast to increase more ing inflation. It is expected to cause a major than 40 percent, reaching an all-time high in diversion of trade in energy. For example, nominal terms this year. That will put pres- some countries are now seeking coal supsure on developing economies that rely on plies from more remote locations. At the wheat imports, especially from Russia and same time, some major coal importers could Ukraine. Metal prices are projected to in- step up imports from Russia while reducing crease by 16 percent in 2022 before easing in demand from other large exporters. This di2023 but will remain at elevated levels. version will likely be more costly, the report notes, because it involves greater transpor“Commodity markets are under tremen- tation distances—and coal is bulky and exdous pressure, with some commodity prices pensive to transport. Similar diversions are reaching all-time highs in nominal terms,” occurring with natural gas and oil. said John Baffes, Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Prospects Group. “This will In the near-term, higher prices threaten to have lasting knock-on effects. The sharp rise disrupt or delay the transition to cleaner in input prices, such as energy and fertilizers, forms of energy. Several countries have ancould lead to a reduction in food production nounced plans to increase production of fosparticularly in developing economies. Lower sil fuels. High metal prices are also driving input use will weigh on food production and up the cost of renewable energy, which dequality, affecting food availability, rural in- pends on metals such as aluminum and batcomes, and the livelihoods of the poor.” tery-grade nickel.
Energy prices are expected to rise more than 50 percent in 2022 before easing in 2023 and 2024. Non-energy prices, including agriculture and metals, are projected to increase almost 20 percent in 2022 and will also moderate in the following years. Nevertheless, commodity prices are expected to remain well above the most recent five-year average. In the event of a prolonged war, or additional sanctions on Russia, prices could be even higher and more volatile than currently pro- Special Focus: The Impact of the War The report urges policymakers to act promptjected. in Ukraine on Commodity Markets ly to minimize harm to their citizens—and to the global economy. It calls for targeted Because of war-related trade and production The report’s Special Focus section offers an safety-net programs such as cash transfers, disruptions, the price of Brent crude oil is in-depth exploration of the war’s impact on school feeding programs, and public work expected to average $100 a barrel in 2022, commodity markets. It also examines how programs—rather than food and fuel subsiits highest level since 2013 and an increase commodity markets responded to similar dies. A key priority should be to invest in enof more than 40 percent compared to 2021. shocks in the past. The analysis finds that the ergy efficiency, including weatherization of Prices are expected to moderate to $92 in war’s impact could be longer-lasting than buildings. It also calls on countries to accel2023—well above the five-year average of previous shocks for at least two reasons. erate the development of zero-carbon sourc$60 a barrel. Natural-gas prices (European) es of energy such as renewables.
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Inspiration Busyness does not equal productivity
By William King | Email: kingwilliam189@gmail.com | image courtesy: appreciationatwork.om
set up a system of godly men to help you.”
Most people think David was the only writer of the book of Psalms and are surprised to learn that Moses wrote He had to clear the clutter out and rearrange his life priPsalm 90. Remember that Moses was God’s man to lead orities. God wants to help us do the same. Too often we all the Israelites toward the allow the busyness of life Promised Land, perhaps If you’re going to see your dreams and desires come and all our responsibilities two million people. He was to pass, you can’t just let everything occupy your time to overwhelm and responsible to know how to and get you off course. Busyness does not equal pro- overtake us. I encourage ductivity. You don’t want to wear busyness as an im- you not to be busy, but to get to the right places. portant attribute in your life. be productive. It’s not a surprise then that one part of Moses’ prayer If you’re going to see your was: “Teach us to number our days, that we can gain a dreams and desires come to pass, you can’t just let heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Moses wanted to see everything occupy your time and get you off course. people’s dreams and desires come to pass. He wanted to Busyness does not equal productivity. You don’t want to move in the right direction. He didn’t want to waste his wear busyness as an important attribute in your life. time doing things that were not important. Perhaps you feel a little bit like Moses. Everybody’s Perhaps you can hear the cry of his heart, “God, teach asking you for things and you need to find answers to me and show me how to order and prioritize my days.” problems, to bring in the finances and care for others. The answer to Moses’ prayer came when his father-in- You need to pray Moses’ prayer: “God, give me a heart law Jethro, observed that Moses was wearing himself of wisdom. Teach me to put priority on the right things.” out, sitting among the people. Jethro said, “You need to TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
Every Good G S ift
ells
Entrepreneur 4 lessons on change from a leader in the middle of a crisis | www.biblicalleadership.com |Image courtesy: istock
If your church is not changing, it’s not growing. I heard someone once say, “Don’t be afraid of change. You might lose something good, but you’ll gain something better.” However, bringing change in a church is often difficult. One of the greatest leaders of all time, Nehemiah, effected change in the setting that surrounded 1:19). the building of the wall around Jerusalem. He modeled for leaders three essentials necessary to bring change. His hands: he did something.
mind…. In other words, he paused long enough to get a clear picture of things before he acted. James reminds of this. “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James
In Nehemiah 5, after Nehemiah faced opposition from without (criticism from his adversaries) and opposition from within (discouraged people), he faced a new crisis. Wealthy Jews were exploiting the poor by charging excessive interest rates. As a result, the poor faced hunger, crippling debt, and even slavery because some had to sell their children into slavery to pay off the debts.
Finally, he took action by taking these four steps. You can do the same:
His head: he carefully thought.
Nehemiah wisely managed change by using his heart, his head and his hands to affect that change.
Define reality by clearly defining the change you want to bring (the rich were exploiting the poor and that needed to stop). Bring the right people to the table(v. 7-12). He had to engage the right people to solve the problem. So, he confronted the guilty party and informed the rest of the people what he had In the midst of that crisis, Nehemiah engaged three essentials discovered. that resulted in the guilty party changing. The rich repented of their abuse and paid back the money they had taken from the Secure commitment (v. 12). He held the guilty accountable by poor. asking them to take an oath that they would give back what they had taken. He engaged these three parts of himself to bring that change. Set a good example (v. 14-16).Nehemiah didn’t simply expect His heart: he engaged his passion. others to change. He, too, took responsibility by setting a good example. He sacrificed by refusing the king’s food allotment In verse 6 he writes,When I heard their outcry and these charges, usually given to governors like himself. He committed to never I was very angry.In other words, this issue gripped his heart. It exploiting the people as former leaders had. He committed to stirred his passion and emotions that motivated him to action. being a different kind of leader.
Rather than reacting to the situation and letting his emotion override good judgment, verse 7 says, I pondered them in my
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Health Higher education may reduce risk of dementia
www.medicalnewstoday.com | Written by Annie Lennon on May 6, 2022 — Fact checked by Hilary Guite, FFPH, MRCGP
Researchers investigated how rates of dementia and frailty in Japan ical News Today: will change over time. “The simulation highlighted that […] drastic increases in dementia They found that educational attainment may predict dementia risk. need not be an inevitable byproduct of an aging population.” The researchers concluded that public health policy should address sex and educational disparities in comorbid dementia and frailty to “The simulation also highlighted deep inequities that must be adprepare for population aging. dressed to prepare for an aging population,” he added. Japan has the oldest population in the world. In 2021, around 29.2% The study was published in the Lancet. of its population, about 36 million people, were over 65, and an estimated 3.5 million have dementia. In 2012, 3 million were estimated to have frailty. Microsimulation By 2050, 16%of the global population will be over 65 years old, com- For the study, the researchers used a newly-developed microsimulapared to just 8% in 2010. As the population ages, researchers expect tion model to predict rates of frailty and dementia among the elderly corresponding increases in dementia and frailty. by 2043. Foreseeing how disease burden may increase alongside population They built their model from nationwide cross-sectional surveys, aging could help policymakers improve healthcare for the elderly. death records, and existing cohort studies. Recently, researchers created a microsimulation to predict how de- Their data included age, sex, educational attainment, and health inmentia, frailty, and life expectancy rates will change in Japan by 2043. dicators, including: Scott Kaiser, MD, Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, CA, not involved in the study, told Med-
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Health Preventing dementia Incidence of 11 chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer Incidence of depression Function in day-to-day life Self-reported health The researchers noted that life expectancy might increase from 23.7 years in 2016 to 24.9 years in 2043 after age 65 for women and 18.7 years to 19.9 years for men.
When asked how these results could inform other countries concerning dementia in an aging population, Dr. Kaiser told MNT that the findings highlight public health planning efforts to address modifiable risk factors across the lifespan.
“Experts believe that something on the order of 1 out of 3 cases of dementia could be prevented through addressing twelve “modifiable risk factors” for dementia (low education, hypertension, hearing impairment, smoking, midlife obesity, depression, physical inactivity, Over the same period, years spent with dementia are expected to diabetes, social isolation, excessive alcohol consumption, head injudecrease from 4.7 to 3.9 years in women and 2.2 to 1.4 years in men. ry, and air pollution),” he explained. This change, they say, may be explained as the model predicted mild “Likewise, along with population-level efforts to prevent dementia, cognitive impairment to begin later in life than at present. a focus on early detection for earlier intervention could significantly mitigate the impact and extend healthy years. One of the greatest However, they also found that rates of frailty will increase from 3.7 myths about Alzheimer’s disease (or other types of dementia) is that years to 4 years among women and 1.9 to 2.1 years for men across all there’s “nothing we can do. [But there’s] nothing could be further educational groups. from the truth,” he said. They also found that age, gender, and education affect rates of frailty “The wide range of modifiable risk factors noted, and even our relaand dementia. tionships or levels of loneliness, can be addressed as part of a multimodal strategy in people with early cognitive changes that may delay They found that by 2043 28.7% of women over 75 years old who do the onset or severity of dementia symptoms,” he added. not have a high school education will have both frailty and dementia and thus require complex care. The researchers concluded that public health policy should address sex and educational disparities in comorbid dementia and frailty to Meanwhile, only 6.5% of women aged 75 and above with a college prepare for population aging. education or higher are expected to have frailty. When asked about the study’s limitations, Dr. Hashimoto said that their model could not account for behavioral risk factors such as smoking, exercise, and dietary habits, which have a major impact on To understand why dementia rates may decrease over time in Japan, health and aging. MNT spoke with Dr. Hideki Hashimoto, DPH, a professor at the Department of Health and Social Behavior at the University of Tokyo, He added that their findings could not explain why and how educaand a co-author of the study. tion levels affect dementia prevalence.
Less dementia
Dr. Hashimoto said that increasing educational attainment might be Dr. Kaiser added that the model could not account for the possibility an important factor in explaining reduced dementia rates overall. He of continued innovation and efforts to prevent, treat or even cure noted that, by 2035, over 60% of men would be college graduates. dementia in the future. Meanwhile, in 2016, just 43% of men ages 55- 64 were college-educated. He added that an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Adult Skills Survey published in 2013 found that those with high school diplomas in Japan have more work-relevant skills than college graduates in Europe and the US. Dr. Hashimoto thus concludes that the ‘unique educational background change’ is likely a major contributor to his model’s results.
TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Kitchen
www.bbcgoodfood.com | By Cassie Best
Feelgood flapjacks
These healthier oat bars use bananas and apple to bind the mixture, so you can cut down on the fat and sugar.
Ingredients 50g butter, plus a little extra for greasing 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter 3 tbsp honey or maple syrup 2 ripe bananas, mashed 1 apple, peeled and grated 250g rolled oats 85g dried apricot, chopped 100g raisin 85g mixed seed (we used pumpkin and sunflower)
Method
a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. Heat the butter, peanut butter and honey or maple syrup in a small pan until melted. Add the mashed banana, apple and 100ml hot water, and mix to combine. STEP 2 Tip the oats, the dried fruit and the seeds into a large bowl. Pour in the combined banana and apple and stir until everything is coated by the wet mixture. Tip into the cake tin and level the surface. Bake for 55 mins until golden. Leave to cool in the tin. Cut into 12 pieces to serve or store in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for up to 3 days.
STEP 1 Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022
My Sports Kimathi and Patel finish in top 10 in Uganda rally www.standardmedia. co.ke By Ben Ahenda |
Karan Patel, navigated by Tauseef Khan, during the ARC Equator Rally Kenya qualifying stage in Naivasha, on April 3. [Courtesy]
Kenya National Rally Championships (KNRC) leader Karan Patel and Mcrae Kimathi are the highest ranked Kenyan Patel was among Kenyan drivers who suffered gremlins in drivers in the Uganda Pearl Rally that took place in the dis- treacherous conditions but rejoined the rally as per the ‘Sutricts of Mukono and Bukwe over the weekend. per Rally’ rule on Sunday morning to settle for ninth place. Patel, who was co-driven by long timer ally Tauseef Khan in The Super Rally rule allows drivers to rejoin the rally with a Ford Fiesta R5, finished ninth behind Kimathi, who fin- a penalty after retiring on the first day and after fixing their ished eighth while being co-driven by Mwangi Kioni. damages in time. Kimathi clocked two hours 12 min 17.00secs ahead of Patel, Patel, who is fighting for a maiden career FIA ARC title this who timed at 2 hours 19mins 41.73secs. year, salvaged a few points after a disappointing Day One experience that landed his Ford Fiesta into a ditch. Kimathi, who is Kenya’s WRC3 and Junior WRC contender, was the top placed Kenyan in an extremely muddy and slip- “It was a lesson for me. I need to drive a lot more on slippery pery rally. surfaces,” he said. While driving a Ford Fiesta Rally 3 and navigated by Kioni, Hamza Anwar crashed out in the second leg. Kimathi, who is seeking to defend the ARC Junior title he won during the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally 2022, was using the Pearl Rally to prepare for the upcoming WRC Rally Portugal. TT 151 | May 10th - May 16th| 2022 The Times Today is a publication of Elizabeth Omondi Consultancy. P.O. Box 833-00100 GPO Nairobi. Tel: 0722 927792. www.thetimestoday.wordpress.com
