R.I.P MYLES MUNROE

Yesterday 9th November, 2014 the world lost a true mentor, teacher and a great man. Dr Myles Munroe and his wife perished in a tragic air crash in his homeland Bahamas among 7 others. I woke up to an email from my CEO Julian Kyula informing us of the tragic death. The news of his death sent chills down my spine. I ransacked the internet to get more information of the crash as my mind could not process that the man I had seen a few weeks ago was no more. As I write this, I am still thinking this might be a bad dream but since yesterday, every news item has confirmed this. It has been an interesting year with deaths that have left us with tremendous sense of loss. I mourned my dad earlier this year, I was in shock to hear of Peter Kaberere's death, last week Bishop Bahati went to be with the lord and now Dr Myles has departed from us. What a year it has been! Each death mentioned has had a major impact on me as it has left me with more questions than answers. Years ago I read a book by Dr James Dobson titled, ' When God doesn't Make Sense'. I was pretty young then and had never experienced such emotions. As years have gone by, I have gone through stuff that left me wondering whether God does exist.

I can only imagine what the nation of Bahamas and the congregation of his church are going through. I will not even attempt to imagine what the son or daughter is feeling or his brothers and sisters. It is a loss of biblical proportions. A loss only explained in the book of Job. It is appointed for men to die once and after that face judgement. This is a scripture in the Bible. (Heb 9:27) It is shuddering to think that God has an appointment and we know that God will always keep his appointment. Paul in the book of Thessalonians encourages us not to mourn as those without hope knowing that we will see the saints again. So I rejoice knowing that I will see my parents, Dr Munroe, Kaberere again...in the meantime, I will pray for God's grace. 

I first heard of Myles in the late nineties through a man called Jabal. He was a teens' and youth leader at Nairobi Calvary Temple where I would attend church. The teens ministry was called Shalom. (That's a story for another day). Up to that point Christianity to me was confined to miracles and the teachings of the Holy Spirit through seasoned men like Benny Hinn and Evangelist Reinhardt Bonnke. I had never heard a teaching about the kingdom of God. After I got to know of Myles, I got hold of several VHS tapes and listened to him and it was mind blowing. His teaching seemed to center on the book of Genesis. I remember him saying that once you understand Genesis then you will understand the mind of God. Everything is in the book of Genesis. I heard him speak of the cemetery being the richest place on earth. He said this all the time. That is why I did not think much about it when I heard him say it in his last media interview on Jeff Koinange Live. Little did I know that this time, it was a premonition of sorts.

He was consistent and every time I listened to him, it was all about the kingdom of God. As years went by, his teachings became more refined and more relevant to the times. I bought his book on Prayer and it is amazing how he would teach about prayer like you have not heard it before. 3 weeks ago, he was in Kenya for his second visit. It is interesting that after all those years, it was only his second visit. Be that as it may, I was glad to see him in person at the 10th edition of AFLEWO at Winners' Chapel.

Teaching on 'Eden'

Dr Myles Munroe at Winners' Chapel-Oct 24-5th

He spoke of the garden of Eden in the book of Genesis in a way I had never heard it before. His communication skills and profound understanding of the scriptures was astounding. In a nutshell, he said that Eden was not a physical place but the presence of God. If you remove man from the presence of God he will surely die. That was a powerful revelation. It is now Dr Myles and his wife Ruth who are in the presence of God. Jesus said that if we believe in Him, even though we die, we shall live (John 11:25) hence Myles is alive in God. 

Every time I listened to Myles or read his books, he would leave me with a hunger for more. The other day Kenya was treated to the shenanigans of one 'Dr' Kanyari and for an entire week, he was a trending topic. I watched the exposé and was disgusted as every body else. What caught my attention though was Kanyari claiming that he was a form two drop out yet he called himself a doctor. He claimed his knowledge came from God. He said this with such pride and I remember telling my wife that there was nothing to be proud about when saying such things. It is sad that we have come to associate men of God with low levels of education and this has inhibited our influence as a church. The church cannot be taken seriously. Not Myles Munroe. Dr Myles I beg your pardon. He was an educated man and every time I listened to him, he had upgraded his level of education. Five doctorate degrees, authored numerous books, no wonder he would speak to presidents and world leaders and they would listen. You would listen to a man who would give you facts about your economy and correlate it with the kingdom of God. He really was inspiring. I have been inspired to reach the highest echelons of education because as one man of God said, the much you have is the much God will use. There are no wasted experiences and Dr Myles' transition encourages me to be all that I can be.

Dr Myles is gone but he is gone having lived a full life at the age of 60. The world would have loved to draw from his wisdom but as he said, he planned to die empty and this is what he did. He died empty. He had given everything he could. The baton has now been passed and I hope we can pick up from where he left. Let us be all that we can be. My greatest fear is not to miss heaven, my greatest fear is to reach heaven and discover that there was much more that I could have done on earth than what I did. I fear that I might not live out my full potential, I fear that I might not be the man God created me to be. Myles Munroe taught me that and showed me that it is possible to live a full life and die empty. 

I leave you with some of his words during #AFLEWO2014:

When God comes, things change. This is not to say that God changes, for He was God long before we were born, and He'll be God long after we die. He was God before anything was created, and He will be God after everything has passed away. God is God, even without us. Therefore, telling God that He is great, beautiful, and all-powerful does not make Him any of these things.

"PRAISE ACKNOWLEDGES THE REALITY OF WHO GOD ALREADY IS." - DR Myles Munroe

Rest in peace God's general. The Kingdom of God has advanced mightily because of your teachings. Until we meet again sir, rest in peace.