If the Angelic Postman Never Knocks on My Door: Christian Commitment in a Confused World

By Greg Obong-Oshotse

Why are people confused about Christianity? Why do Christians themselves struggle with disappointment while society at large is so adverse to the teachings of the faith? If the Angelic Postman Never Knocks on My Door cuts through the dark clouds of confusion in the public square and suggests this confusion is largely because Christians themselves have lost their own message and, with it, their true identity.

A large chunk of the church, unfaithful and backslidden, is declining rapidly. Desperate to reverse the trend, it dabbles in heresy and apostasy as it seeks to accommodate a fallen, corrupt, and broken world that is at best indifferent but which too often responds with militant intolerance. The result is that the light of the church is fading while the surrounding world darkens.

Against this backdrop flows the free prose of this lucid monologue. Greg Obong-Oshotse’s collection is a first-person reflection on what Christian commitment looks like to a true disciple of Christ. It is unashamed of the gospel, unperturbed by political correctness, and relentlessly Biblical. Ask yourself: are you near to God or far away from Him? Are you a true or false disciple? This book will take your measurement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973644521

Greg Obong-Oshotse

Greg Obong-Oshotse, a former journalist, was a Marxist and an atheist before he came to faith in Jesus Christ and was called to preach the gospel. He trained for the Methodist ministry at Wesley House Cambridge and has degrees in theology from the universities of Cambridge and Wales. He and his wife live in the United Kingdom.

Book preview

First, a Word

On the evening of Tuesday, November 18, 2014, well before dinner, I sat at the dining table, where I often do some of my work. I began to meditate on the word vanity from my readings earlier in the day from the book of Ecclesiastes. Thoughts about the real worth of the things of this life began to form in my mind.

Earlier in the afternoon, I had spoken to a friend in North America, and similar thoughts had dominated our conversation. For nearly two years, his wife had been ill and had remained poorly after many prayers and much fasting. A leading minister, whose ministry is thought to have brought direct physical healing to more people than can be accommodated in a modern city, had also laid hands on her. Add to that the fact that my family and I had similarly been caught up in a difficult situation for more than six and a half years. These challenges were posing a critical challenge to our understanding of our Pentecostal faith and interpretation of the scriptures, and they were forcing a reevaluation of both.

As I meditated on both situations in the light of Ecclesiastes, I began to jot down the thoughts that came to my mind on my iPhone. After dinner, additional lines of thought continued to form in my mind, and I jotted them down as well. Before going to bed, I transferred them to my netbook. Then the next morning I reworked the entire draft into a little meditational poem and left it there as done. Or so I thought.

But the thoughts wouldn’t cease. Day after day, scriptures, history, tradition, society, and events in the world suggested new lines to my mind. I kept adding and revising the original material as new lines of thought occurred to me. This process went on over the following four weeks and suddenly ceased on December 18, 2014. What you now hold in your hands is the fruit of those four weeks. I pray that God will make it a blessing to you and yours as you read it.

Greg Obong-Oshotse

Winter 2018

1   Chasing the Dream

Does it really matter

if I never find the life of my dreams?

That well-laid-out,

beautifully manicured,

flowery garden of a life

that I planted in my heart long ago?

That garden

I have watered and nurtured ever since in my dreams,

pruning a twig of desire here

and a stem of ambition there?

The life that

I have worked and hoped and waited for?

The life for which

I burned the midnight oil

to obtain my many degrees and professional qualifications?

The life for which

I have slaved away at the office all these years?

And let’s be clear:

it’s a modest life I am talking about,

not a celebrity’s fare.

No, I am not yearning to become wealthy,

with plenty of cash in hand

and surplus in the bank,

so much that I am

counted with the likes of Croesus,

courted like an oil sheikh,

and lavished with every courtesy due royalty,

my every whim a command,

and my every suggestion an order,

all to be promptly and unquestioningly executed.

I am not yearning to acquire

tons of investment shares in lucrative businesses

that cover the world like many octopuses.

Nor am I seeking enough shares

to give me a plush seat

in every ornate boardroom

across the big-money capitals of the world.

No, I’m not seeking great things for myself.

All I am really seeking is just a very modest life,

with all my real needs met

and my heartfelt dreams fulfilled.

What I seek is the modesty of the wise man,

who asked not to be given too much

and risk forgetting God,

nor not enough

and risk bringing His name into disrepute.

Would it ever matter

if I never owned the house of my dreams,

that place I can call my castle?

Not a real castle with

its many columns and fireplaces

and receptions and rooms,

all covered in plush carpets and deep rugs,

and filled with sofas and accessories, the envy of royalty,

and walls decorated with expensive paintings

and sculptures and themed motifs.

I am not looking for a castle

with wardrobes filled with every item of designer clothing

and all the accessories to go with each

and stashes of perfumes and vaults of expensive jewelry.

No, not a real castle

but a modest place with all the comforts

of peace, security, quiet calm, and happiness.

I am not yearning

for fleets of luxury cars

and yachts and private jets

to get around

and travel the world in,

seeing exotic places,

enjoying all the magnificent varieties of pleasure

the world has to offer,

and holidaying sumptuously

on