Thoughts on Red Ribbons

Tomorrow, the first of December is World AIDS day. What will I be thinking about when I wear my red ribbon tomorrow...?

...the 11% of Malawi's population who are HIV positive?

...the 90,000 HIV positive children?

...the 1 million orphans?

...or about Tisungane, Kelvin, Chisomo, Save, Mphatso, and the many more I have known who have died because of AIDS.

On Sunday in church we stood in silence to remember them. There were large red ribbons on the columns in St Micheal's in Blantyre that framed the stained glass image of Christ on the cross. We read the story of the Widow of Nain (Luke 7:7-17) and prayed "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"

So much has been done, so much more to be done...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbOD9fbRnX0&feature=related

Prosperity Ringtones

"You will be blessed in your body! You will be blessed in your finances!"

It's annoying when your registrar's phone goes off in the middle of clinic, but I was intrigued by his ringtone. It was a snippit of a sermon by Nigerian 'apostle', a well-known proponent of prosperity gospel theology. The basic idea is that if you come to Jesus, you will be blessed - materially as well as spiritually. God wants to bless you - you should expect wealth, happiness, health as part of the normal Christian experience. Of course, you should then share that wealth with the one who preached to you...

This sort of teaching is pervasive in Malawi; I've heard the 'You will be blessed' ringtone on lots of other people's phones! It creeps into the teaching of many denominations - Catholic, Pentecostal, Presbyterian.

Even a passing glance at the teaching of Jesus (Luke 9:22-24) or the lives of his followers (2 Cor 11: 24-29) reveals the lie within prosperity teaching. But in a poor country, it is very attractive. It promises an instant end to the drudgery of poverty.

But at it's heart is an evil lie that robs Christians of their assurance, confuses them when they experience suffering and leads many to give their scanty resources to charlatans. And worse, it leads people to worship the gifts, not the giver. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s

Pray for ministers and preachers in Malawi that they will not 'distort the word of God' but 'On the contrary set forth the truth plainly' (2 Cor 4:2)