Towards the Day of Good Governance Centered on the Heart of God

Message by: Rev. Amb. Gerald B. Coleman

Dean of the College of Engineering & Technology

William VS Tubman University

Harper , Maryland

Occasion: Key Note Speaker at Round Table Forum on Governance, uHuman H

Human Rights  & the Rule of Law in Maryland County

Sponsors: Action for Community & Human Development (ACOHD)

Location: J J Pratt High School, Harper, Maryland

To the organizers of this timely seminar

Government Officer here present

Chiefs, Elders and traditional leaders

Religious leaders & Elders

Leaders of NGOs, PVO both Local & International

Community Elders and Leaders

Fellow Citizens

Ladies & Gentlemen

I bring you greetings from the leadership of Tubman University, from my  church and from my family; who I represent always by virtue of my job, my love and my life.

I have been asked to serve as your key note speaker for this illustrious occasion and I am truly grateful.

Considering your topic of discussion: “Contributing to the advancement of Human Rights, Governance and the Rule of Law”…  

I have chosen to speak on the topic: “Towards the day of Good Governance centered on the Heart of God”

Overview of Liberia’s history from 1979 to 2012:

We have all recently lived through a very traumatic period in our nation’s history, from the rice riots in April of 1979, which led to the death of our 19^th President in April of 1980; to the indictment of our 21^st President in March /June of 2003, and his recent conviction in April of this year.

During these 33 years we witnessed as a nation three major civil conflicts in our beloved land of liberty. In 1980 our first civil conflict (CWI) ended with the death of William R. Tolbert. In 1990 our second civil conflict (CWII) ended with the death of Samuel K. Doe; while in 2000 we saw the flare of a third conflict (CWIII) leading to: 1. the death of our VP Dogolie, 2. the indictment of Charles Taylor in 2003 and  3. his recent rise to fame as Africa’s 1^st President ever to be indicted and convicted by an International Court of Justice.

News has it he was convicted of 5 crimes against humanity (murder, rape, sexual slavery, other inhumane acts and enslavement); five counts of war crimes (acts of terrorism, murder, outrage upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, pillage); and one count of other serious violation of international humanitarian law (enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces). All of these crimes reflect a character and heart in leadership far from the heart of God… yet he (like many others) was voted into power by the will of the people.

From 2004 to 2010, I served as a Commissioner on the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia. During that time I saw and heard things about my nation and my people, especially our leadership class that pained & shock me to my very soul. I have come to realize that our civil conflict was not just a civil war between brothers here in Liberia and Africa, but rather it was the repercussion of a greater battle on the worldwide level. I truly believe mankind was in the midst of a cosmic battle between the forces of GOOD & EVIL (Rev 12:7, 11:7; 19:11) or GOD and SATAN. This battle was for the sovereign control of Earth & Heaven. Each of us through our faith, actions, and thoughts played a part either on the side of GOD or on the side of SATAN.  

The Battle of Armageddon has passed:

The last phase of this global battle was fought between the 1980’s and 1990’s and it eventually led to the Fall of Communism, while here in West Africa saw the fall of Liberia 1^st Republic and the gradual disintegration of governance in the region. America’s 40^th President Mr. Ronald Reagan called the USSR/Russia “The Evil Empire”, they were the power behind Communism, a power that spread worldwide like a plague. They came to power on the legacy of corrupted monarchic governments dating as far back as the 16^th century of Europe.  God gave man dominion over this world through Adam, but we turned over this dominion to SATAN through our disobedience to the will of heaven. Now we all are paying the price.

This final global battle between Good & Evil has been coined “The Cold War” because a hot confrontation never took place. In 1960 it almost became hot when Nikita Khrushchev started experimenting with large atomic bombs. The USSR built the largest atomic bomb in history coined the “Tsars bomer”…… At a session of the UN, he threaten to bury America in 1960’s .

Many people do not realize that this war was what the bible referred to as “the Battle of Armageddon” (Rev 16:16). It was the third in a series of WORLD WARS to restore Heaven’s sovereignty on Earth:

WWI(1914-1918):between Allied powers of America, Great Britain, France and Russia  & Axis powers of Germany[Kaiser Wilhelm II[1]], Austria-Hungary and Turkey. The Allied nations were democratic nations who fought for the freedom and human rights of Christians who were being unjustly treated by Turkey, a Muslim nation at the time. In this battle goodness, symbolized by democracy (Human Rights (HR), Rule Of Law (ROL), Good Governance (GG)) won.

WWII (1939-1945): During WWII the Allied nations of America, Great Britain and France fought against the Axis nations of Germany [A. Hitler], Japan and Italy [Mussolini]). Here again the Allied nations where democratic nations while the Axis nations practice Fascism a type of Dictatorship. Goodness symbolized by Democracy won again.

WWIII/COLD WAR (1945 -1990’s): During this period the focus of confrontation was between the same Allied democratic nations but this time the Axis nation were Global Communism nations (who denied the existence of GOD). They saw religion as the opium of human society. The USSR was their champion. As we entered the 21^st century the clear winner of this final battle was again God’s side.   

Through the fall of Communism, Africa experienced a series of critical civil conflicts linked to the breakdown of Global Governance and the global cry for GOOD GOVERNANCE. As we crossed the 21^st century we saw the beginning of a new world order in Governance on the rise.

 The UN declared 2000AD as the international year of the culture of peace, while past decade was dedicated to this cause.

The standard of Governance is Goodness:

On the foundation of this historic background from 1979 to 2012, let me ask you: What do you think is the reason for such a final global struggle as we entered the 21^st century? What was the root of this historic struggle?

Let us look to the bible for a hint?

Rev 21:1-3:

       “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

II Peter 3:12-13:

 “ Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

From these two bible verses those who have “eyes to hear & eyes to see” should clearly realize that that this 21^st century has put us into the era of the biblical LAST DAYS.

The questions is what will be the standard of governance during this period and how will it be achieved?

I believe it is GOODNESS, absolute GOODNESS & It will require absolutely GOOD leaders not those between GOOD & EVIL.

Globally we see a mixture of good and evil in governance. Is such a mixture acceptable in our search for freedom, liberty and justice for all?

What is the origin and source of this mixture… is it the trees, the animals or man? It is man. We have an inborn evil, selfish nature and during this civil war it all came out and showed its true face. We saw SATAN waking freely in our mist.

The reason why we could not build a good government after 133 years of history… the reason why Liberian civil wars were fought is simple:

WE HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM EVIL!

Today modern Liberia still has to deal with witchcraft, idol & devil worshiping, polygamy. These things are negative cultural norms which we need to separate ourselves from to advance HR, good governance and ROL.

This is the exact reason why the TRC report required us not to allow those who partook in the war or even sponsored the war to be eligible to run for political power without going through a process of reconciliation[2].

The origin of our mixed cultural norms:

What is the root or origin of this mixed nature? Is it human nature… were we created with good & evil?

I SAY ABSOLUTELY NO…WE WERE MADE GOOD BY GOD (Genesis 1;“it is good”) but are broken or fallen now.

The bible calls it “The Fall of Man” (GEN 3). Today many believe Adam & Eve fell by eating a fruit, but the truth is they fell by an illicit sexual relationship with an Angel who we now call “DEVIL” (rev.12:9). This is why Lord Jesus told the faithless Israelites: “You are if your father the Devil” John 8:44

The global struggle in governance has been a struggle between cosmic forces of GOOD (GOD) & EVIL (SATAN). God has been working through religion to separate us from Satan’s blood lineage. This struggle has led to wars throughout history:

1.      Cain killed Abel

2.      Family, Clan, tribal, National and today World Wars

3.      Protestant revolution

4.      WW I,II,III

5.      Liberian CW I, II,II

These wars and struggles have allowed heaven to gradually restore our relationship with GOD:

1.      Pre-OTA (from birth of Adam to Abraham): We were Servant of the Servant (Satan)

2.      OTA (~2000BC to 0AD): We were servants of God (through religions like Islam, Judaism, etc)

3.      NTO (~0AD to 2000AD):We were raised to adopted child of God through the life & blood of Lord Jesus & the Holy Spirit

4.      CTA (~2000AD to ~3000AD): The final process to return to “True Children of God” in the flesh will take place during this time for all humankind!  (Rom8:16-23); Rev 21:1-3)

Earlier I called the Cold War the Battle of Armageddon. Now I would like to share with you the inner meaning of this word as revealed to me by Lord Jesus Christ: ARM-AGE-Dooms-Day-On-Now: The Cold War conflict was the final battle between nations representing GOODNESS (Democratic-Religious) & nations representing EVIL (Communism-Atheism). It was to possibly be a nuclear war meant to destroy ~1/3 of the world’s population.

For us in Liberia this final global battle released our final battle between GOOD governance and EVIL governance. It started with the death of Tolbert in 1980 and ended with the indictment of Charles G. Taylor in 2003.

CONCLUSION:

 As long as we have mixed governance the struggle will continue! Our struggle did not end 2003, neither has it ended with Taylor’s conviction. So we must continue to separate the good from the evil in ourselves, our clans, our tribes, our nations, our Regions and the World, if we are to truly advance human rights, governance and the rule of law in Maryland, Liberia, Africa and the World.

If I am invited to speak again I would like to share insights as to how we can separate finally from Satan’s blood lineage. It’s not enough to just have faith in Jesus or simply worship Allah and think you are separated from Satan’s blood lineage. St. Paul hinted towards the answer when he said in Rom 8: 16 to 23 (we wait for physical salvation).

Rom 8:16-23  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.   For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption (corrupted Governance)  into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit (Adopted Children of God…Spiritual salvation), even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body (Physical Salvation).

Amen!

May God bless our nation and nurture good leaders to guide us towards the His ideal of good governance on Earth (K of H on E) centered on His heart!

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[1] He launched the war

[2] The National Palaver Hut Forum was to serve this process.