Following Hard After God: Discover how to make the pursuit
of God your lifetime affair, Chris Ekwedam, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, PNUR Revival
Press & Books, 2016, 157 pages.
The book, Following Hard After God: Discover how
to make the pursuit of God your lifetime affair, by Chris Ekwedam has
two-fold purposes, first, it is aimed at addressing complacent Christianity and
wrong notions that are prevalent in our churches today, and secondly, to stir
up God’s children to pursue a close and intimate “personal relationship with
God that is real and practical.” The second purpose dominates a greater part of
the discussions in the book. It is a book that will create hunger in the heart
of a younger Christian to seek God’s face in every situation, challenge an
older Christian to leave his place of conceit and comfort to deepen his
relationship with God, and the Christian leader to pay attention to his
personal relationship with God as he shepherds God’s people.
Chris Ekwedam is a seasoned servant of God, a sound Bible
teacher, who has actively been serving the Body of Christ for the past twenty
four (24) years in different capacities as a Christian leader. Following Hard After God is a follow-up
to his first work “The New Birth”. He is a practicing Project Management
Professional.
This book is divided into nine chapters, each chapter starts
with either a Bible quotation or an inspiring quote that supports the points
canvassed within the chapter. Men like Moses, Daniel and Apostle Paul are
presented as examples of men who continued to seek after God in spite of their
deep experiences with God. The author argues that in spite of the new birth
experience, Christians ought to continually hunger for God and His visitation. In
fact, he painted a current situation in our churches, “everywhere I look today,
I see people who are hungry for miracles; men who are hungry to see the acts of
God. But rarely do you see men who are hungry for God and His ways. We pursue
everything except God. We even chase after men who we think can give us ‘access’
to God and His blessings but we never seek after God Himself, the Giver of
blessings” Christians are encouraged in the book to hunger and thirst for God
like the Psalmist who said “as the deer pants for streams of water so my soul
pants for you O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go
and meet with God?” Ps.42:1-2.
Chris argues that man’s desire to be independent, rule and
take charge of himself makes him think and act as if he does not need God. He
creates several alternatives and options to use to sort himself out in the face
of troubles. In fact, even pastors and leaders in Christian organizations are
not left out. “when men’s’ power for ministry wane, instead of seeking the face
of God for times of refreshment, they relax because they have alternatives
around them.” He continued, “to avoid being accused of not serving God or of
being irreligious, we have created alternatives for ourselves and to show those
who are watching us that we are still spiritual and religious. We cover our
real selves and become very busy so as to portray commitment to God to those
around us, when actually our hearts are not committed to God” Page 131. The author
warns that “our alternatives are empty and temporary solutions like cisterns
that cannot hold water”. He said that because of all these, God often brings us
to a point of need from time to time to enable us seek Him. No one will stay
the way he is and walk with God at the same time. God often brings us to the
end of ourselves, with all our options exhausted, before we set our hearts to
really seek Him.
Chapter 8 is very interesting as it deals with the
Distractions and Deceptions that hinder us from seeking the Lord. Apart from
the alternatives we create; the author discusses the worries of this life as
another thing that distracts us. The deceitfulness of riches is presented as a killer
that makes us have a false sense of security and sufficiency that leads to lukewarm
lifestyle. “The Kingdom has lost a lot of believers in the palace of blessings
and prosperity as much as in the theater of suffering and adversity.” Who would have imagined that the riches that
we pursue and pray for can be a deception that hinders us from the God who gave
them to us?
Chapters 1, 3 and 7 presents the argument for seeking after God
and pursuing a loving relationship with Him while chapters 2, 4 – 6 and 8
present the factors we must pay attention to in order for our seeking to achieve
its desired goals. The factors include avoiding the creation of alternatives,
setting our hearts aright and having godly priorities, having a correct view of
God, and avoiding the distractions and deceptions that make us either to be
complacent or to seek in wrong ways. Chapter 9 is like a closing charge for a
Christian not to give up in his seeking. The book fulfills its purposes of addressing
some of the contemporary wrong mindsets and also stirring the hearts of
believers towards the pursuit of God and making it a lifetime affair. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" Jam.4:8.
Looking at the book critically, I think that there are other
things also that can distract us from seeking God which includes legitimate
ambitions and desires which are not covered in the book. The organization of
the book is poor as chapters 1, 3 and 7 would have been arranged together while chapters
2, 4 – 6 and 8 would have been organized together in a progressive manner so as
to make a good flow. Also the introduction is not properly arranged on page 1. A line seems to be cut off on page 29. It is our hope that the author and his
publisher will improve and take care of these minor errors during the revision edition.
Generally, the author made some categorical and
thought-provoking statements in the book that will send the reader into serious
thinking and reflection. For example, he said that “only seekers find God”, “slothful
men cannot follow God”, “salvation, as important and free as it is, is not
given to those who do not desire, long or ask for it”. Many of such statements
can ignite theological questions in the reader; but except for further studies, I
discovered that the book answered most of the questions it provoked.
I will summarize with the words of the Ven. Chris Iwuji, who
wrote the Forward “Chris Ekwedam has made a clarion call to all who care to
hear. It is apt and must be amplified for our generation to hear.” Though some
issues raised in the book are very unpopular, it is recommended to every
serious minded Christian.
Grab a copy of the book and you will not regret
you did. It was published last year 2016 and is already in several bookshops. Alternatively,
you can contact the author through chrisekwedam@gmail.com
08055614630.
