“Bear fruit that befits repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father';…” Matt 3:8-9 RSV
In our previous post here, we shared that in Christianity, a professing Christian must be a practicing Christian. If we say we are born again, what fruit are we bearing to prove it? This is a serious matter because we will be judged by the fruits we bear.
Today, we are dealing with the second part of John the Baptist’s charge, “…do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘we have Abraham as our father’”. Matt.3:9
I want to say emphatically that as far as the New Covenant is concerned, God has no favorites. There are no privileged ones among God’s people. He is not a God that shows partiality or twists His standards because of anybody. It is a deception for anyone to think that he is a privileged one and therefore has license to live anyhow he wants. Never allow anybody to make you think that you are so special to God that He will not bring you to account on the last day when we stand before the Judgment of Seat of Christ. Salvation itself is a privilege and it is a privilege to be saved but there is nothing in Scripture that makes you more privileged than the other child of God that He has equally saved. Among God’s children, He has no favorites.
This will help us to humble ourselves, serve God and one another. It will help us to thread carefully, giving heed to Paul’s exhortation, “ Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor 10:12 RSV.
I have heard some church leaders talk as if they are special and privileged ones in the church. I have seen some pastors talk and relate to others in the church as if they are the privileged ones. In denominations where pastors have some special designations and titles like priests, reverends, bishops, you see them carry on as if these titles, positions, and class make them the privileged ones before God. Some of them do everything to strengthen the unbiblical separation between the clergy and laity. Their body language is as if they drink coffee with God everyday and there is a difference between their class and other of God’s children. For some of them, it is even very difficult to call you a brother and relate to you as members of the same family.
My problem is that I cannot see this kind of separation emphasized in the New Covenant. Once there is this presumption that “'We have Abraham as our father';…” – something that grants us special favour before God more than others , many things go wrong. It went wrong for the Pharisees and the Sadducees during the time of John the Baptist. It is still causing many things to go wrong for those who think they are the privileged ones today.
I have learnt over the years that gifting and leadership positions among God’s people grant us special privilege only among men but increases our weight of responsibility before God. Our position will not make God to judge us with a different scale. Our position will not give us express ticket to heaven. Given, it opens more doors of opportunities to serve God, but definitely does not make us more a child of God than others in the household of God.
God has no grand children!
Monday 26 September 2011
A professing Christian must be a practicing Christian.
“Bear fruit that befits repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father';…” Matt 3:8-9 RSV
Talk is cheap. Anybody can say anything, claim anything and profess anything. All without charge!
When it comes to real Christianity, a professing Christian should be a practicing Christian. What you claim matters. What you profess matters. However, what you practice matters most. That is what actually confirms what you claim and profess whether you are authentic or a liar and a hypocrite.
John the Baptist, in rebuking the Pharisees and the Sadducees, challenged them to prove that they have turned from sin by doing worthy deeds. It’s not enough to come to baptism to show the world that you have repented. It’s not enough to profess to be a Christian. You must bear fruits that show it. You must prove it.
A car sticker once came out with these words, “whether you like it or not, I am born again”. I want to say that this is not in keeping with what we see in the Scriptures. The attitude of I-do-not-care-what-they-say-or-think must be checked to make sure we are not being blinded by arrogance and self conceit.
We must always do self examination. What-they-say, especially if they are saying the truth about us, must give us concern. It must bother us when people around us are pointing to the fact that what we practice is different from what we profess.
If we say we are born again, we must bear fruits that show it. It is not enough to belong to the ‘lineage of Abraham’ or whatever that may mean to anybody. It is not enough to look religious or belong to a popular church or a holier-than-thou group. What we do shows what we believe regardless of what we say. In a world of crashing values and system, those that profess to belong to Christ must live above board and show that they are different. This is the challenge that the Bible poses to us. The world begs to see the difference!
Talk is cheap. Anybody can say anything, claim anything and profess anything. All without charge!
When it comes to real Christianity, a professing Christian should be a practicing Christian. What you claim matters. What you profess matters. However, what you practice matters most. That is what actually confirms what you claim and profess whether you are authentic or a liar and a hypocrite.
John the Baptist, in rebuking the Pharisees and the Sadducees, challenged them to prove that they have turned from sin by doing worthy deeds. It’s not enough to come to baptism to show the world that you have repented. It’s not enough to profess to be a Christian. You must bear fruits that show it. You must prove it.
A car sticker once came out with these words, “whether you like it or not, I am born again”. I want to say that this is not in keeping with what we see in the Scriptures. The attitude of I-do-not-care-what-they-say-or-think must be checked to make sure we are not being blinded by arrogance and self conceit.
We must always do self examination. What-they-say, especially if they are saying the truth about us, must give us concern. It must bother us when people around us are pointing to the fact that what we practice is different from what we profess.
If we say we are born again, we must bear fruits that show it. It is not enough to belong to the ‘lineage of Abraham’ or whatever that may mean to anybody. It is not enough to look religious or belong to a popular church or a holier-than-thou group. What we do shows what we believe regardless of what we say. In a world of crashing values and system, those that profess to belong to Christ must live above board and show that they are different. This is the challenge that the Bible poses to us. The world begs to see the difference!
Monday 5 September 2011
The Negotiators and Consultants in the Church.
According to the Webster Dictionary, a negotiator is one who confers with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter. He is someone who specializes in mediating agreements between two or more parties.
From the definition above, the negotiator is partly a peacemaker and a conciliator. He reaches an agreement that is mutually agreeable and satisfactory to both parties involved in the feud. For a good negotiator, his purpose is peace in the long term.
However, in the church, we have seen another set of negotiators. They pose as the intermediary between God and church members. They act as lords who are the link between God and the people. They cannot be offended because offending them means that God will no longer be happy with you or hear your prayers. They negotiate favor, prosperity, promotions and blessings for the church members and those who pay them homage and believe in them as God's mouth-piece. They expect members to consult them before they travel, marry, engage on business trips etc. They sit in their offices as consultants and expect members to come and tell them their problems so that they can connect to God and bring answers back to them. Oftentimes when they are done with the negotiation, they make the person feel obliged to share the benefits they obtained as a way to appreciate them for the services rendered.
The different between the dictionary definition of a negotiator and this kind of negotiation is the fact that the interest of God, who is supposedly the other party in these negotiations are not considered. The goal is not making peace or reconciling man back to God. The whole focus is on how to get what we want out of God and make the Christian happy and comfortable with all the good things of life. Whatever God is saying in His Word is immaterial.
These consultants do not visit church members because that will be bringing themselves down. They do not jeopardize their honor, respect and pride for anything. They cannot bring themselves down by relating to the poor church members with honor and dignity. Their class is a special one and those who are not 'consulting' with them are labelled as rebels and fought against. They do not have interest in developing the spiritual life of members nor do they encourage members to have personal relationship with God because this may affect their position as the 'negotiators and consultants'. Everything goes well when every member is a zombie and does not ask questions.
I do not think that this is the kind of ministry the Lord Jesus calls us into. As God's ministers and bond-slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to humble ourselves, lead the sheep under our care towards Him with sacrifice and commitment. When the Lord will appear,He will reward us as His faithful servants. May God bless you!
From the definition above, the negotiator is partly a peacemaker and a conciliator. He reaches an agreement that is mutually agreeable and satisfactory to both parties involved in the feud. For a good negotiator, his purpose is peace in the long term.
However, in the church, we have seen another set of negotiators. They pose as the intermediary between God and church members. They act as lords who are the link between God and the people. They cannot be offended because offending them means that God will no longer be happy with you or hear your prayers. They negotiate favor, prosperity, promotions and blessings for the church members and those who pay them homage and believe in them as God's mouth-piece. They expect members to consult them before they travel, marry, engage on business trips etc. They sit in their offices as consultants and expect members to come and tell them their problems so that they can connect to God and bring answers back to them. Oftentimes when they are done with the negotiation, they make the person feel obliged to share the benefits they obtained as a way to appreciate them for the services rendered.
The different between the dictionary definition of a negotiator and this kind of negotiation is the fact that the interest of God, who is supposedly the other party in these negotiations are not considered. The goal is not making peace or reconciling man back to God. The whole focus is on how to get what we want out of God and make the Christian happy and comfortable with all the good things of life. Whatever God is saying in His Word is immaterial.
These consultants do not visit church members because that will be bringing themselves down. They do not jeopardize their honor, respect and pride for anything. They cannot bring themselves down by relating to the poor church members with honor and dignity. Their class is a special one and those who are not 'consulting' with them are labelled as rebels and fought against. They do not have interest in developing the spiritual life of members nor do they encourage members to have personal relationship with God because this may affect their position as the 'negotiators and consultants'. Everything goes well when every member is a zombie and does not ask questions.
I do not think that this is the kind of ministry the Lord Jesus calls us into. As God's ministers and bond-slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to humble ourselves, lead the sheep under our care towards Him with sacrifice and commitment. When the Lord will appear,He will reward us as His faithful servants. May God bless you!
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Purpose-driven Church or Poverty-driven People?
For the past 21 years, I’ve been actively involved in the Body of Christ serving in different capacities by God’s grace. However, a few things have kept me bothered especially some developments in the recent past. I read the books by Rick Warren “The Purpose-Driven Church” and “Purpose-Driven Life” and have kept asking myself: Is the Church purpose-driven or poverty-driven? Are the preachers Spirit-driven or driven by the fear of poverty?
When I see the nature of a lot of prayer points that we pray in churches today and others that are being distributed in Prayer Bulletins and Devotionals, I ask myself, are we being pursued by poverty so strongly that everything we do in church revolves around money and power? Almost all the prayer points are geared towards how Christians can ‘make it’, dominate other people and be on top. They all gear towards asking God to give us money, give us high income jobs, help us own our own houses and high-class cars, help us be promoted and crush our enemies. It is rare for you to attend a church service or prayer meetings and see people guided to pray for personal holiness, righteous living, asking for the in-filling of the Holy Spirit so as to live victoriously above sin and corruption and power for service. It is rare to hear people groaning and interceding for the salvation of the unsaved sinners. From the pulpit to the pews, nobody cares about what breaks God’s heart.
Not only are our prayers concentrating on how to collect materials and power from God to get what we want and live the way we want, the pulpits have been the driving force behind all these vain pursuits. Most pulpits have been turned into podiums for business seminars and self-consciousness motivational talks. Everywhere, people are taught principles of coming out of ‘poverty’ and we are stuck in a web where people take advantage of one another. Preachers tell the hearers that the key out of poverty is by bringing money to them while members mop up as much as they can from the society in order to live as ‘people whom God has blessed.’ Unfortunately, in all the cases, they are progressed at the expense of the poor in the society and nobody cares.
Nobody wants to be poor. Prosperity is good and where we see a deficiency in our members, we teach them principles that will help them; but not at the expense of eternal things. We should desire God, fear Him and pursue after righteousness and holiness. The fear of poverty should not drive our prayers and preaching. Our Father has promised to take care of us and we are safe in His hands. Let us trust Him and focus on World Evangelism and Building the Body of Christ unto maturity as we await the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I see the nature of a lot of prayer points that we pray in churches today and others that are being distributed in Prayer Bulletins and Devotionals, I ask myself, are we being pursued by poverty so strongly that everything we do in church revolves around money and power? Almost all the prayer points are geared towards how Christians can ‘make it’, dominate other people and be on top. They all gear towards asking God to give us money, give us high income jobs, help us own our own houses and high-class cars, help us be promoted and crush our enemies. It is rare for you to attend a church service or prayer meetings and see people guided to pray for personal holiness, righteous living, asking for the in-filling of the Holy Spirit so as to live victoriously above sin and corruption and power for service. It is rare to hear people groaning and interceding for the salvation of the unsaved sinners. From the pulpit to the pews, nobody cares about what breaks God’s heart.
Not only are our prayers concentrating on how to collect materials and power from God to get what we want and live the way we want, the pulpits have been the driving force behind all these vain pursuits. Most pulpits have been turned into podiums for business seminars and self-consciousness motivational talks. Everywhere, people are taught principles of coming out of ‘poverty’ and we are stuck in a web where people take advantage of one another. Preachers tell the hearers that the key out of poverty is by bringing money to them while members mop up as much as they can from the society in order to live as ‘people whom God has blessed.’ Unfortunately, in all the cases, they are progressed at the expense of the poor in the society and nobody cares.
Nobody wants to be poor. Prosperity is good and where we see a deficiency in our members, we teach them principles that will help them; but not at the expense of eternal things. We should desire God, fear Him and pursue after righteousness and holiness. The fear of poverty should not drive our prayers and preaching. Our Father has promised to take care of us and we are safe in His hands. Let us trust Him and focus on World Evangelism and Building the Body of Christ unto maturity as we await the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday 27 June 2011
Pray for the Christians in Sudan
"The Bishop of Kadugli is calling upon Christians worldwide to pray and fast ahead of South Sudan’s secession next month.
Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail has warned of a possible “genocide” in the Nuba Mountains region, where violence has broken out in recent weeks.
The region, home to many Christians, will remain under the control of Khartoum and the Muslim North when South Sudan gains its independence on July 9.
As Sudanese tanks and artillery move in, hundreds of thousands of Nuba are fleeing their homes and development agencies have withdrawn their staff.
UN officials and eyewitnesses escaping the bloodshed tell of elders being executed by the Sudanese Army and bombing campaigns that have destroyed churches and homes.
With Khartoum ordering the UN peacekeeping mission out, there are serious concerns that atrocities will spiral unchecked across the state of South Kordofan.
“Once again we are facing the nightmare of genocide of our people in a final attempt to erase our culture and society from the face of the earth,” said Bishop Elnail".
We have to change the kind of prayer points we concentrate on in our churches. Please pray for the Church in Sudan. They are passing through difficult times. May your voice be heard. If you are in a position to influence the prayer meetings in your church, please remember these brethren.
God bless you!
To read more go here!
Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail has warned of a possible “genocide” in the Nuba Mountains region, where violence has broken out in recent weeks.
The region, home to many Christians, will remain under the control of Khartoum and the Muslim North when South Sudan gains its independence on July 9.
As Sudanese tanks and artillery move in, hundreds of thousands of Nuba are fleeing their homes and development agencies have withdrawn their staff.
UN officials and eyewitnesses escaping the bloodshed tell of elders being executed by the Sudanese Army and bombing campaigns that have destroyed churches and homes.
With Khartoum ordering the UN peacekeeping mission out, there are serious concerns that atrocities will spiral unchecked across the state of South Kordofan.
“Once again we are facing the nightmare of genocide of our people in a final attempt to erase our culture and society from the face of the earth,” said Bishop Elnail".
We have to change the kind of prayer points we concentrate on in our churches. Please pray for the Church in Sudan. They are passing through difficult times. May your voice be heard. If you are in a position to influence the prayer meetings in your church, please remember these brethren.
God bless you!
To read more go here!
Sunday 26 June 2011
Egypt: Christian Girls Kidnapped and ‘Sold’
"The two girls, Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14) were on their way to church Sunday, June 12, when they were seized. Their abductors demanded $200,000 Egyptian pounds for their release. The people of the region quickly put their savings together and came up with the ransom money; but when they tried to give it to the kidnappers, they rejected it, saying they had already “sold” the girls off to another group which requires $12 million Egyptian pounds to return them.
Christine’s father, who has been harrying the police since the minute he discovered the girls were kidnapped—to little avail—says he and his family “have been in a living hell since Christine’s abduction.” Nancy’s father laments that “My daughter has not even outgrown childhood; she is only 14 years old, the youngest in the family, our baby….Since her disappearance my household has been living in continuous depression, misery, and weeping.”"
Wedding is a celebrated event in this part of the world. Many of us have argued that Christians here do two or three types of Marriage Ceremonies in the course of getting married: Traditional Marriage, Court Marriage and Church Wedding and in all of them, we spend extensively. Many of us save for years before we are able to get enough to carry out these activities. What a day of joy when it comes at last!
Unfortunately for these two Egyptian Christian Girls, the dream of a wedding and those ceremonies are gone, maybe for good. This is just one of the many other stories depicting what Christians are going through in Muslim dominated lands. When next you see a wedding ceremony going on, remember Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14). When next as a pastor, you are officiating in a wedding, remember Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14). When next you are conducting a prayer meeting and urging the people to pray as if material prosperity, positional promotion and marriage are the only reasons why the Lord Jesus kept us here on earth, remember Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14) and pray for other persecuted members of the body of Christ.
Read the whole story here!
Christine’s father, who has been harrying the police since the minute he discovered the girls were kidnapped—to little avail—says he and his family “have been in a living hell since Christine’s abduction.” Nancy’s father laments that “My daughter has not even outgrown childhood; she is only 14 years old, the youngest in the family, our baby….Since her disappearance my household has been living in continuous depression, misery, and weeping.”"
Wedding is a celebrated event in this part of the world. Many of us have argued that Christians here do two or three types of Marriage Ceremonies in the course of getting married: Traditional Marriage, Court Marriage and Church Wedding and in all of them, we spend extensively. Many of us save for years before we are able to get enough to carry out these activities. What a day of joy when it comes at last!
Unfortunately for these two Egyptian Christian Girls, the dream of a wedding and those ceremonies are gone, maybe for good. This is just one of the many other stories depicting what Christians are going through in Muslim dominated lands. When next you see a wedding ceremony going on, remember Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14). When next as a pastor, you are officiating in a wedding, remember Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14). When next you are conducting a prayer meeting and urging the people to pray as if material prosperity, positional promotion and marriage are the only reasons why the Lord Jesus kept us here on earth, remember Christine Azat (aged 16) and Nancy Magdi (aged 14) and pray for other persecuted members of the body of Christ.
Read the whole story here!
Thursday 2 June 2011
The Coming Fire
No nation on earth prays like Nigeria. We hold the twin record of the largest place of worship on earth as well as the largest Christian gathering. So, why isn’t the fire coming down?
As made clear in James 5: 16, it is not just prayer that brings down the fire from heaven; it is the “effectual prayer of the righteous man” that “availeth much”. Nigerians pray a lot, maybe we are not praying in righteousness. With all the number of Nigerians who attend church, there should be no talk of corruption in the country. Lo, not only is corruption galloping in the Nigerian society, it has also entered into the church. The scandals that rock the church should not be mentioned. They are awful.
Spirit-driven church or poverty-driven people?
True, there has been an explosion in church growth, but can we really say that Nigeria has experienced revival? A look at the history of revival in the world shows that every revival is accompanied by repentance, restitution, societal transformation, and genuine turning to God. The opposite is the case in Nigeria. We have experienced increase in church attendance, but in the true sense of the word, we are yet to experience revival.
According to Wesley Duewel, “revival days are not normal days in the church. They are super normal, supernatural. They are the great days of the church when God manifests His presence in overwhelming reality”.
The Nigerian church is filled with many “great men of God”, “fathers, daddies and mummies in the Lord”, prophets, deliverance ministers, evangelists, anointed men of God, and so on, but in recent years there has been no revivalist. There is yet to emerge a spiritual leader that will mobilize people in the power of the Holy Ghost to genuinely repent from sins, carnality, worldliness, evil and turn to God without expecting anything in return. Most of the “spiritual leaders” in the country today are “spiritual negotiators” and “motivational speakers” skilled in the art of getting material wealth from heaven for men, in exchange for payment of tithes and church attendance.
It is imperative that Nigeria must experience genuine revival if the nation is to escape the judgment of God. The Most High will not always tolerate the iniquities and transgression that have become the hallmark of the Nigerian church and the Nigerian society. Duewel puts it succinctly, “when God calls for repentance and people refuse to repent, how can He awaken them to their danger? He has no alternative but to send judgment. …when people who have had God’s light reject revival, judgment is inescapable”.
Revival or judgment?
Before the Nigerian society can be transformed, the church must experience revival. If the church resists the Spirit of revival, then “the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning” (Isa.4:4) shall visit the church. Before God will judge the politicians, the police, the judiciary, the military and the business class in Nigeria, He must first and foremost judge the charlatans, the conmen and the clowns masquerading as servants of Jesus Christ though they may be bishops, pastors, prophets, ‘daddies’, ‘mummies’ and ‘papas’. Thus saith the spirit of judgment, “…begin at my sanctuary”. Ezekiel 9:6.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: 1 Pet.4: 17. The clarion call in the church now must be the cry for revival. Every prayer meeting must cry for revival. Every heart must yearn for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God. “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” Psalm 85: 6. The Spirit of revival must move over this land if we are to avert the danger that is ahead. It is far better that we accept the correction of the Lord than wait for His chastisement.
Culled from OCCUPY Magazine 2011 Vol.30 No.1, a publication of Calvary Ministries (CAPRO). Pastor Bosun Emmanuel pastors the Truth Sanctuary, a missions church in Surulere, Lagos, and is the author of The 7 Signs of Spiritual Maturity. He can be reached at sunemmanuel@yahoo.com
As made clear in James 5: 16, it is not just prayer that brings down the fire from heaven; it is the “effectual prayer of the righteous man” that “availeth much”. Nigerians pray a lot, maybe we are not praying in righteousness. With all the number of Nigerians who attend church, there should be no talk of corruption in the country. Lo, not only is corruption galloping in the Nigerian society, it has also entered into the church. The scandals that rock the church should not be mentioned. They are awful.
Spirit-driven church or poverty-driven people?
True, there has been an explosion in church growth, but can we really say that Nigeria has experienced revival? A look at the history of revival in the world shows that every revival is accompanied by repentance, restitution, societal transformation, and genuine turning to God. The opposite is the case in Nigeria. We have experienced increase in church attendance, but in the true sense of the word, we are yet to experience revival.
According to Wesley Duewel, “revival days are not normal days in the church. They are super normal, supernatural. They are the great days of the church when God manifests His presence in overwhelming reality”.
The Nigerian church is filled with many “great men of God”, “fathers, daddies and mummies in the Lord”, prophets, deliverance ministers, evangelists, anointed men of God, and so on, but in recent years there has been no revivalist. There is yet to emerge a spiritual leader that will mobilize people in the power of the Holy Ghost to genuinely repent from sins, carnality, worldliness, evil and turn to God without expecting anything in return. Most of the “spiritual leaders” in the country today are “spiritual negotiators” and “motivational speakers” skilled in the art of getting material wealth from heaven for men, in exchange for payment of tithes and church attendance.
It is imperative that Nigeria must experience genuine revival if the nation is to escape the judgment of God. The Most High will not always tolerate the iniquities and transgression that have become the hallmark of the Nigerian church and the Nigerian society. Duewel puts it succinctly, “when God calls for repentance and people refuse to repent, how can He awaken them to their danger? He has no alternative but to send judgment. …when people who have had God’s light reject revival, judgment is inescapable”.
Revival or judgment?
Before the Nigerian society can be transformed, the church must experience revival. If the church resists the Spirit of revival, then “the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning” (Isa.4:4) shall visit the church. Before God will judge the politicians, the police, the judiciary, the military and the business class in Nigeria, He must first and foremost judge the charlatans, the conmen and the clowns masquerading as servants of Jesus Christ though they may be bishops, pastors, prophets, ‘daddies’, ‘mummies’ and ‘papas’. Thus saith the spirit of judgment, “…begin at my sanctuary”. Ezekiel 9:6.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: 1 Pet.4: 17. The clarion call in the church now must be the cry for revival. Every prayer meeting must cry for revival. Every heart must yearn for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God. “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” Psalm 85: 6. The Spirit of revival must move over this land if we are to avert the danger that is ahead. It is far better that we accept the correction of the Lord than wait for His chastisement.
Culled from OCCUPY Magazine 2011 Vol.30 No.1, a publication of Calvary Ministries (CAPRO). Pastor Bosun Emmanuel pastors the Truth Sanctuary, a missions church in Surulere, Lagos, and is the author of The 7 Signs of Spiritual Maturity. He can be reached at sunemmanuel@yahoo.com
Friday 27 May 2011
Trusting God in the midst of storms
I came across this read some years ago. I can't remember the Author but I hope it will be a blessing to you.
Are you sick and discouraged, weak and weary, facing trials and trouble that seem more than you can bear? Then remember these 5 glorious facts from Mal.3:3
“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness”. (KJV)
1. HE CARES – You are precious to Him “as silver and gold”
2. HE CLEANSES – The fire purifies and “purges them”
3. HE CONTROLS – Yes, the fire is under control. “He shall sit as a refiner”
4. HE COMFORTS – He’s with you in the fire. “And He shall sit” by the fire.
5. HE KNOWS – Be assured He knows when the work is done. He looks for His image. Climb upon the pinnacle of faith with Job and cry, “when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”
It’s easy to trust God when there is no trouble, but it is more needful when trouble comes.
When you take God’s cure (Prayer, praise & thanksgiving), there may be no change in the circumstances, but there will come a great change in your heart and mind.
It is not only the words we speak, but the circumstances under which we say them that reveal real character. “I believe God” is easy to say, but no one ever said it under more unbelievable circumstances than Paul. Acts 27
It pays to be on prayer terms with God when trouble comes.
It is easy to get up in prayer meeting and say, “I believe God”. It takes a real faith to say it when a storm is raging. It is easy to believe when the waters are smooth, but it takes real faith to trust when the storm comes.
Are you sick and discouraged, weak and weary, facing trials and trouble that seem more than you can bear? Then remember these 5 glorious facts from Mal.3:3
“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness”. (KJV)
1. HE CARES – You are precious to Him “as silver and gold”
2. HE CLEANSES – The fire purifies and “purges them”
3. HE CONTROLS – Yes, the fire is under control. “He shall sit as a refiner”
4. HE COMFORTS – He’s with you in the fire. “And He shall sit” by the fire.
5. HE KNOWS – Be assured He knows when the work is done. He looks for His image. Climb upon the pinnacle of faith with Job and cry, “when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”
It’s easy to trust God when there is no trouble, but it is more needful when trouble comes.
When you take God’s cure (Prayer, praise & thanksgiving), there may be no change in the circumstances, but there will come a great change in your heart and mind.
It is not only the words we speak, but the circumstances under which we say them that reveal real character. “I believe God” is easy to say, but no one ever said it under more unbelievable circumstances than Paul. Acts 27
It pays to be on prayer terms with God when trouble comes.
It is easy to get up in prayer meeting and say, “I believe God”. It takes a real faith to say it when a storm is raging. It is easy to believe when the waters are smooth, but it takes real faith to trust when the storm comes.
Tuesday 3 May 2011
The Church on the wheels (Part 2)
• A church committed to love and the welfare of the individual members: Being very conscious of the instruction of the Lord Jesus Christ to love one another, the early church practiced love. The Lord gave it as a commandment that the individual members of the church should love themselves the way God loves us. (See Jn.13:34,35; 15:17) 1 Jn.3:16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”. We must love to the extent of laying down our lives for the brethren.
It is with this kind of love alone that we can be united and build community. That is the only thing that can cause us to have burden when a brother/sister is in problem so that we pray for him/her. Just as the church prayed for Peter (Acts 12:5), and Jesus prayed for the church (Jn.17). Only this kind of love can make people to have genuine interest in the affairs of one another and pray for each other. Family altars will be filled with prayers for others who are in one need or the other; even without the individual knowing it. Instead of making the weakness of a person a subject for gossip, it is made a topic for prayers.
The early church practiced love and when people saw it in Antioch, they called them Christians – Christ-like (Acts 11:26). Jesus said that “by this shall all men know that Ye are my disciples” (Jn.13:35 KJV). Love is the criteria for the people of God to be seen by the world as Christ’s. We remember that the apostles knew how important mutual care is and appointed 7 deacons to handle the affairs of welfare. The love was genuine and they increased tremendously. (See Rom.12:9,11; 1 Jn.3:17-23). Love is the greatest. One of the challenges of the contemporary church is making sure that the church is not dominated by bureaucracy and organizational hierarchical politics that they forget to take good care of their members. It is a lie that if you take good care of your pastors and they live well, you have taken care of the church. Taking good care of the church institution with teeming members struggling with the basic provisions is an indictment to the so-called wealthy church. The life of the members, without any contradiction, is the life of the church.
• A church committed to holiness and right living: The apostles taught the members to abhor sin and live righteously as children of light. Because of the challenges and accusations from the Jews, especially, trying to find a loophole or an opportunity to discredit the gospel, the early church committed themselves to letting their light shine. The people saw their good works and glorified God.
The first day Peter preached, he asked them to “repent…for the remission of sins” and “save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:38a, 40b). Later at the Solomon’s Porch, Peter urged his listeners “repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 3:19) RSV. The church knew the real devastating nature of sin and were exhorted to avoid it. They lived for God. The teachings of the apostles emphasized the issues they majored on. Peter instructed the church, “as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct”. (1 Pet.1:15 RSV). The writer of the book of Hebrews also declared “strife for peace with all men and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb.12:14). Both leadership and the led all gave themselves to living up to what they claimed they believed. The life of the church was different from the life of the world and the border line was very clear. Peter even agreed that this kind of living can change a man without speaking to him. (1 Pet.3:1). Though persecuted, their righteous living was an indisputable challenge to their accusers. They prospered.
• A church obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit: Finally, we see that the church was filled with men and women who were willing to do the bidding of the Holy Spirit. They recognized that the Holy Spirit is the One in charge of His church and they listened to Him. He has to lead and teach His church. He was allowed to work unhindered. Peter broke his Jewish barrier and entered Caesarea in order to preach to Cornelius in obedience to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:17-20). They buried their sentiments and obeyed the Holy Ghost in their first Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15: 28-29) where they decided the fate of the Gentile Christians as concerns the Jewish dogmas. When the Holy Spirit asked them to separate Saul (Paul) and Barnabas in Acts 13, they obeyed. Paul on one occasion was forbidden to speak the word in Asia and in another occasion, he was stopped from going into Bithynia to preach the gospel (See Acts 16:6-10). He was asked to enter Macedonia. In all these circumstances Paul did not argue with God. He obeyed. Because they were obedient to the Lord of the harvest, they had abundant prosperity in the work. He showered His gifts on them and they were continually edified. They increased.
In conclusion, we have seen the 7 things the early church was committed to which made them successful. If we are to succeed in our generation and prosper as a church participating in God’s agenda, we must consider seriously these points. If we desire to get the kind of results the early church got, we ought to do what they did. It is left for us whether to be a church on the wheels or a sleeping church.
It is with this kind of love alone that we can be united and build community. That is the only thing that can cause us to have burden when a brother/sister is in problem so that we pray for him/her. Just as the church prayed for Peter (Acts 12:5), and Jesus prayed for the church (Jn.17). Only this kind of love can make people to have genuine interest in the affairs of one another and pray for each other. Family altars will be filled with prayers for others who are in one need or the other; even without the individual knowing it. Instead of making the weakness of a person a subject for gossip, it is made a topic for prayers.
The early church practiced love and when people saw it in Antioch, they called them Christians – Christ-like (Acts 11:26). Jesus said that “by this shall all men know that Ye are my disciples” (Jn.13:35 KJV). Love is the criteria for the people of God to be seen by the world as Christ’s. We remember that the apostles knew how important mutual care is and appointed 7 deacons to handle the affairs of welfare. The love was genuine and they increased tremendously. (See Rom.12:9,11; 1 Jn.3:17-23). Love is the greatest. One of the challenges of the contemporary church is making sure that the church is not dominated by bureaucracy and organizational hierarchical politics that they forget to take good care of their members. It is a lie that if you take good care of your pastors and they live well, you have taken care of the church. Taking good care of the church institution with teeming members struggling with the basic provisions is an indictment to the so-called wealthy church. The life of the members, without any contradiction, is the life of the church.
• A church committed to holiness and right living: The apostles taught the members to abhor sin and live righteously as children of light. Because of the challenges and accusations from the Jews, especially, trying to find a loophole or an opportunity to discredit the gospel, the early church committed themselves to letting their light shine. The people saw their good works and glorified God.
The first day Peter preached, he asked them to “repent…for the remission of sins” and “save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:38a, 40b). Later at the Solomon’s Porch, Peter urged his listeners “repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 3:19) RSV. The church knew the real devastating nature of sin and were exhorted to avoid it. They lived for God. The teachings of the apostles emphasized the issues they majored on. Peter instructed the church, “as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct”. (1 Pet.1:15 RSV). The writer of the book of Hebrews also declared “strife for peace with all men and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb.12:14). Both leadership and the led all gave themselves to living up to what they claimed they believed. The life of the church was different from the life of the world and the border line was very clear. Peter even agreed that this kind of living can change a man without speaking to him. (1 Pet.3:1). Though persecuted, their righteous living was an indisputable challenge to their accusers. They prospered.
• A church obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit: Finally, we see that the church was filled with men and women who were willing to do the bidding of the Holy Spirit. They recognized that the Holy Spirit is the One in charge of His church and they listened to Him. He has to lead and teach His church. He was allowed to work unhindered. Peter broke his Jewish barrier and entered Caesarea in order to preach to Cornelius in obedience to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:17-20). They buried their sentiments and obeyed the Holy Ghost in their first Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15: 28-29) where they decided the fate of the Gentile Christians as concerns the Jewish dogmas. When the Holy Spirit asked them to separate Saul (Paul) and Barnabas in Acts 13, they obeyed. Paul on one occasion was forbidden to speak the word in Asia and in another occasion, he was stopped from going into Bithynia to preach the gospel (See Acts 16:6-10). He was asked to enter Macedonia. In all these circumstances Paul did not argue with God. He obeyed. Because they were obedient to the Lord of the harvest, they had abundant prosperity in the work. He showered His gifts on them and they were continually edified. They increased.
In conclusion, we have seen the 7 things the early church was committed to which made them successful. If we are to succeed in our generation and prosper as a church participating in God’s agenda, we must consider seriously these points. If we desire to get the kind of results the early church got, we ought to do what they did. It is left for us whether to be a church on the wheels or a sleeping church.
Tuesday 26 April 2011
The Church on the wheels (Part 1)
A good study of the first century church shows a lot of progress that the apostles made. In spite of the fact that they were introducing an entirely new system over an already existing old one, it is evident that they prospered. 3000 men gave their lives to the Lord the first day Peter preached. Later 5000 believed in Christ and the Lord continued to add to their number day by day those who were being saved. Both Jews and Gentiles were obedient to the faith. The church blossomed.
It was not a stagnant church. It was not a lukewarm church. It was a vibrant and dynamic church - always on the wheels. They were able to withstand, by the power of God, the challenges of their days and had something they kept for the subsequent generations.
Now, why and how did they succeed? What made them so prosperous? What did the apostles do that made them record such tremendous results? In trying to answer these questions, we shall consider the 7 things the apostolic church committed themselves to. For us to have similar results, we are expected to do what the apostles did.
• A church committed to God: The first thing we discover is that the members of the church were not just committed to the church religious practices. They were committed to God and His glory. They had vibrant personal relationships with the Lord, thus they were able to co-exist in love in their fellowships. Individual members having a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, through repentance to God and faith in Jesus Christ, is the only basis or foundation for a church having a cooperate relationship with the Lord. Organizational structures are useless, no matter how religious, if the members do not know God and pursue His glory. Our horizontal relationship with our fellow humans cannot be good when our vertical relationship with God has problems and vice versa. If a church is filled with people who do not know the Lord personally, it is going to be very difficult for it to pursue the glory of God. We find that in the early church, the people were totally sold out to God Himself. When they were imprisoned and beaten, they rejoiced and counted it as a privilege to suffer for the Lord. They were even ready to die if that was God’s will for them. It was a church made up of people that knew their God. No wonder they did exploits.
• A church committed to the Great Commission: Also the early church was committed to the preaching and spreading of the gospel. Having received the charge from the Lord to preach the Good News in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and the Gentile Nations of the world, they were all out to obey their Master. (See Mat.28:19 Mark 16:15). Peter was a married fisherman but he was involved. Barnabas was a rich man and yet he obeyed the commission. Luke was a Medical Doctor but became a missionary physician. Philemon and Onesiphorous were wealthy people and yet were committed to missions. Timothy was a young man and yet preached the gospel. Priscilla and Aquila was a couple that supported missions and gave out their house for fellowship. Throughout the Book of Acts, we see the early church on fire for the Lord. Men from different walks of life were committed to the preaching of the gospel. One thing is clear, whenever a church is distracted and is not committed to the vision of preaching the gospel and the expansion of the Kingdom, the devil will commit her with trivial issues, quarrels, division and politics.
Furthermore, the gospel was not just preached to fulfill all righteousness, it was preached with power and demonstration of the Spirit. (See 1 Thess.1:5; 1 Cor.1:24; Col.1:27 etc). It is a sin for a church to lack the power of God or to preach the gospel of God as if it has no power.
• A Church Committed to prayer: We equally notice that the church was a praying church. Jesus once threw away the money-changers out of the temple telling them that the temple was supposed to be a house of prayer. (Lk.19:45,46). The church is not a place where emphasis on money and earthly success should take upper hand. It must be made up of a people who have both private and cooperate altars – people that pray as individuals and together as a church. The apostles once decided on issues of priority saying “it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables…we will devote ourselves to prayer” (Acts 6:2, 4a. Also see Acts 12:5,12; 3:1; 16:13 etc). Paul gave testimonies of what his prayer life and that of those who worked with him was like. (See 2 Thess.1:11,12; 1 Thess.1:2,3; Col.4:12; 1:3,4; Eph.1:16-23 etc). In line with the Lord’s admonition in Luke 18:1, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint”, Paul urged the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”. (1 Thess.5:16). The early church was a praying church and members were involved. No wonder they experienced the power of prayer.
• A church committed to the Word of God: In Acts 6:2-4 as we noted above, another issue of priority the apostles decided was the Word of God. They said, “we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of God’s Word”. Christians were not lazy to study doctrines (See Acts 2:42). They were committed to both teaching and exhorting each other in their homes, house fellowships and in the temple. Many of the people following the apostles were determined to confirm what they were being taught by themselves like the Boreans (Acts 17:10-12). Members of the church were not slothful as we see today in most of our churches. They were not swallowing hook line and sinker what the preachers tell them. They were both individually and as a church committed to the study and obedience to the Word of God. Paul instructed Timothy, “Till I come, attend to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching, to teaching”. (1 Tim.4:13). There are plausible words of wisdom, the so-called ‘prosperity’ gospel, and peddlers of God’s word (2 Cor.2:17). Unfortunately, none of these can save a man from hell nor change his eternal destiny. The apostles majored on the things that matter. 1 Cor.2:12; 1:23-25. They preached the full gospel. If the Bible is not the sole guide for faith and practice for a church and its members, man-made traditions and vested interests will dominate and they will not be able to accomplish anything tangible for God.
To be continued...
It was not a stagnant church. It was not a lukewarm church. It was a vibrant and dynamic church - always on the wheels. They were able to withstand, by the power of God, the challenges of their days and had something they kept for the subsequent generations.
Now, why and how did they succeed? What made them so prosperous? What did the apostles do that made them record such tremendous results? In trying to answer these questions, we shall consider the 7 things the apostolic church committed themselves to. For us to have similar results, we are expected to do what the apostles did.
• A church committed to God: The first thing we discover is that the members of the church were not just committed to the church religious practices. They were committed to God and His glory. They had vibrant personal relationships with the Lord, thus they were able to co-exist in love in their fellowships. Individual members having a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, through repentance to God and faith in Jesus Christ, is the only basis or foundation for a church having a cooperate relationship with the Lord. Organizational structures are useless, no matter how religious, if the members do not know God and pursue His glory. Our horizontal relationship with our fellow humans cannot be good when our vertical relationship with God has problems and vice versa. If a church is filled with people who do not know the Lord personally, it is going to be very difficult for it to pursue the glory of God. We find that in the early church, the people were totally sold out to God Himself. When they were imprisoned and beaten, they rejoiced and counted it as a privilege to suffer for the Lord. They were even ready to die if that was God’s will for them. It was a church made up of people that knew their God. No wonder they did exploits.
• A church committed to the Great Commission: Also the early church was committed to the preaching and spreading of the gospel. Having received the charge from the Lord to preach the Good News in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and the Gentile Nations of the world, they were all out to obey their Master. (See Mat.28:19 Mark 16:15). Peter was a married fisherman but he was involved. Barnabas was a rich man and yet he obeyed the commission. Luke was a Medical Doctor but became a missionary physician. Philemon and Onesiphorous were wealthy people and yet were committed to missions. Timothy was a young man and yet preached the gospel. Priscilla and Aquila was a couple that supported missions and gave out their house for fellowship. Throughout the Book of Acts, we see the early church on fire for the Lord. Men from different walks of life were committed to the preaching of the gospel. One thing is clear, whenever a church is distracted and is not committed to the vision of preaching the gospel and the expansion of the Kingdom, the devil will commit her with trivial issues, quarrels, division and politics.
Furthermore, the gospel was not just preached to fulfill all righteousness, it was preached with power and demonstration of the Spirit. (See 1 Thess.1:5; 1 Cor.1:24; Col.1:27 etc). It is a sin for a church to lack the power of God or to preach the gospel of God as if it has no power.
• A Church Committed to prayer: We equally notice that the church was a praying church. Jesus once threw away the money-changers out of the temple telling them that the temple was supposed to be a house of prayer. (Lk.19:45,46). The church is not a place where emphasis on money and earthly success should take upper hand. It must be made up of a people who have both private and cooperate altars – people that pray as individuals and together as a church. The apostles once decided on issues of priority saying “it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables…we will devote ourselves to prayer” (Acts 6:2, 4a. Also see Acts 12:5,12; 3:1; 16:13 etc). Paul gave testimonies of what his prayer life and that of those who worked with him was like. (See 2 Thess.1:11,12; 1 Thess.1:2,3; Col.4:12; 1:3,4; Eph.1:16-23 etc). In line with the Lord’s admonition in Luke 18:1, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint”, Paul urged the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”. (1 Thess.5:16). The early church was a praying church and members were involved. No wonder they experienced the power of prayer.
• A church committed to the Word of God: In Acts 6:2-4 as we noted above, another issue of priority the apostles decided was the Word of God. They said, “we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of God’s Word”. Christians were not lazy to study doctrines (See Acts 2:42). They were committed to both teaching and exhorting each other in their homes, house fellowships and in the temple. Many of the people following the apostles were determined to confirm what they were being taught by themselves like the Boreans (Acts 17:10-12). Members of the church were not slothful as we see today in most of our churches. They were not swallowing hook line and sinker what the preachers tell them. They were both individually and as a church committed to the study and obedience to the Word of God. Paul instructed Timothy, “Till I come, attend to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching, to teaching”. (1 Tim.4:13). There are plausible words of wisdom, the so-called ‘prosperity’ gospel, and peddlers of God’s word (2 Cor.2:17). Unfortunately, none of these can save a man from hell nor change his eternal destiny. The apostles majored on the things that matter. 1 Cor.2:12; 1:23-25. They preached the full gospel. If the Bible is not the sole guide for faith and practice for a church and its members, man-made traditions and vested interests will dominate and they will not be able to accomplish anything tangible for God.
To be continued...
Friday 22 April 2011
'New Birth' without Repentance?
“19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19 (KJV)
There are many things that keep me scared in the church today. As I listen to several preachers and teachers around us both from the pulpit and other media outlets, and then reading the preaching and teachings of the Apostles and several church fathers, I see a world of difference. One wonders why we are having different results from what they experienced. We live in a generation where sin is rarely mentioned and everybody is taught how to appropriate the blessings of God and live comfortable here on earth but no emphasis is made on how to live a life of victory over sin and self, which determines one’s eternal future. Nobody is saying that a Christian should not work hard and live comfortable here on earth as much as God allows him, but comfort should not be pursued at the expense of eternity. An ungodly life with all the wealth and comfort that this world can offer is wasted and doomed as long as the Kingdom of God is concerned. A life that is lived for pleasure and self has no hope and cannot end up in the bossom of the Lord no matter the positions and power it commanded on earth. Just being religious cannot make a soul experience "a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord".
The Apostles did not frequently use the word ‘born again’. Reading through the epistles, I have not seen anywhere where someone was asked “Are you born again?” But were people getting born again? Sure! Were people’s lives being changed? Sure! Were Christians living in victory over sin and self? Absolutely yes! Now, what is the difference between their preaching and ours today? What was the content of their message that we have abandoned today? I want to share just one of them.
The Apostles vigorously preached against sin and asked people to repent and be converted. As I just opened the Concordance and typed in the word ‘repent’, it came out to be a word that is widely spread through both the Old Testament and the New Testament. (See Acts 2: 38; 3:19; 8:2; 17:30; 26:20). I have asked myself several times, “Is it possible to get born again without repentance?” The answer is NO! But unfortunately, the kind of gospel we preach today seems to tell people that it’s possible to be ‘born again’, experience all the blessings of God without repentance. We invite people to give their lives to Jesus we have not told them Who He is or what He has done to save them. We only present Him as if He is a tool to be used to achieve our dreams. So after preaching about ‘reigning in life’, ‘how to dominate over others’ and ‘how to destroy all our enemies and win in the war over poverty etc’, we then tell them that they cannot experience the blessings except they get ‘born again’. They would walk the aisle and ‘give’ their lives to the Jesus they do not know. They only know Him as the One to help them achieve all the things mentioned to them. Hence you find Christians who confess being ‘born again’ doing all kinds of terrible things in their workplaces so as to make money. You meet Christians who are as hardened as a rock in the Churches who the Word of God does not shake. They speak the language, do the activities and pray all the prayers but their lives are not different from their average countrymen.
As if that is not enough, some pastors make them feel that all they care for is their money and some are even given positions of authority. By doing this, their hearts are deceived that all is well. They are puffed up and they close every door to humbling themselves in repentance to God. Some of them resort to doing everything possible to just make sure they defend and please the pastors thinking that doing so ultimately grants them favour before God. What a great deception! The pastors allow it so because it feeds their relevance and pays their bills.
Indeed, we are in deep trouble and I’m deeply scared! Sin is still sending many to Hell and nobody seems to be shouting on top of his voice for people to hear, “repent and be converted”.
For more information on the New Birth, download my book here free of charge. Or write me: chrisekwedam@gmail.com.
HAPPY EASTER!
There are many things that keep me scared in the church today. As I listen to several preachers and teachers around us both from the pulpit and other media outlets, and then reading the preaching and teachings of the Apostles and several church fathers, I see a world of difference. One wonders why we are having different results from what they experienced. We live in a generation where sin is rarely mentioned and everybody is taught how to appropriate the blessings of God and live comfortable here on earth but no emphasis is made on how to live a life of victory over sin and self, which determines one’s eternal future. Nobody is saying that a Christian should not work hard and live comfortable here on earth as much as God allows him, but comfort should not be pursued at the expense of eternity. An ungodly life with all the wealth and comfort that this world can offer is wasted and doomed as long as the Kingdom of God is concerned. A life that is lived for pleasure and self has no hope and cannot end up in the bossom of the Lord no matter the positions and power it commanded on earth. Just being religious cannot make a soul experience "a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord".
The Apostles did not frequently use the word ‘born again’. Reading through the epistles, I have not seen anywhere where someone was asked “Are you born again?” But were people getting born again? Sure! Were people’s lives being changed? Sure! Were Christians living in victory over sin and self? Absolutely yes! Now, what is the difference between their preaching and ours today? What was the content of their message that we have abandoned today? I want to share just one of them.
The Apostles vigorously preached against sin and asked people to repent and be converted. As I just opened the Concordance and typed in the word ‘repent’, it came out to be a word that is widely spread through both the Old Testament and the New Testament. (See Acts 2: 38; 3:19; 8:2; 17:30; 26:20). I have asked myself several times, “Is it possible to get born again without repentance?” The answer is NO! But unfortunately, the kind of gospel we preach today seems to tell people that it’s possible to be ‘born again’, experience all the blessings of God without repentance. We invite people to give their lives to Jesus we have not told them Who He is or what He has done to save them. We only present Him as if He is a tool to be used to achieve our dreams. So after preaching about ‘reigning in life’, ‘how to dominate over others’ and ‘how to destroy all our enemies and win in the war over poverty etc’, we then tell them that they cannot experience the blessings except they get ‘born again’. They would walk the aisle and ‘give’ their lives to the Jesus they do not know. They only know Him as the One to help them achieve all the things mentioned to them. Hence you find Christians who confess being ‘born again’ doing all kinds of terrible things in their workplaces so as to make money. You meet Christians who are as hardened as a rock in the Churches who the Word of God does not shake. They speak the language, do the activities and pray all the prayers but their lives are not different from their average countrymen.
As if that is not enough, some pastors make them feel that all they care for is their money and some are even given positions of authority. By doing this, their hearts are deceived that all is well. They are puffed up and they close every door to humbling themselves in repentance to God. Some of them resort to doing everything possible to just make sure they defend and please the pastors thinking that doing so ultimately grants them favour before God. What a great deception! The pastors allow it so because it feeds their relevance and pays their bills.
Indeed, we are in deep trouble and I’m deeply scared! Sin is still sending many to Hell and nobody seems to be shouting on top of his voice for people to hear, “repent and be converted”.
For more information on the New Birth, download my book here free of charge. Or write me: chrisekwedam@gmail.com.
HAPPY EASTER!
Tuesday 19 April 2011
The Last Supper date??
I scanned thru this writeup last week but didn't really read it. However, I've taken my time to read it now.
“Professor Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, believes it is all due to a calendar mix-up -- and asserts his findings strengthen the case for finally introducing a fixed date for Easter.
Humphreys uses a combination of biblical, historical and astronomical research to try to pinpoint the precise nature and timing of Jesus's final meal with his disciples before his death.
Researchers have long been puzzled by an apparent inconsistency in the Bible.
While Matthew, Mark and Luke all say the Last Supper coincided with the start of the Jewish festival of Passover, John claims it took place before Passover”.
From here
For me, I do not have any problem with those who are doing research on these topics and their inferences. The Jewish Bible that we are using today as the OT has endured centuries of harsh criticisms but has come out strong as a historical compilation one can trust. And if the records therein are true as have been proved, then one can hang his/her life, both here and hereafter, on the God of Israel.
The records in the NT are fundamentally correct. A lot of other historical accounts confirm that. Hence, if the issues are fundamentally right and follows up the OT, in a progressive manner, then they can both be trusted.
As concerns the dates for Easter and Good Friday, I cannot argue with any man. That is why I do not want to be a theologian. I want to just do Biblical Studies if God gives me the opportunity to do it in an official form. There are a lot of garbages people debate over in Theological Studies, but in Biblical Studies, you study doctrines and teachings of the Bible. If you handle the Bible in a balanced manner, comparing Scripture with Scripture, all seeming controversies are sorted out. The Bible has not contradicted itself in any way. Yet, even difference in some interpretations has brought about a lot of denominations. But the beauty of our diversity is that we all agree and believe the fundamental teachings. I know that there have been enormous attempts to discredit the Bible but all archeological evidences continue to strengthen the Biblical records.
In conclusion, whether Jesus was arrested on Wed or Thurs does not bother me so much. They are among what we call the non-essentials. It has nothing to do to my salvation. The essential thing is that He died and rose again. He is alive. I can hang my life and future on Him.
“Professor Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, believes it is all due to a calendar mix-up -- and asserts his findings strengthen the case for finally introducing a fixed date for Easter.
Humphreys uses a combination of biblical, historical and astronomical research to try to pinpoint the precise nature and timing of Jesus's final meal with his disciples before his death.
Researchers have long been puzzled by an apparent inconsistency in the Bible.
While Matthew, Mark and Luke all say the Last Supper coincided with the start of the Jewish festival of Passover, John claims it took place before Passover”.
From here
For me, I do not have any problem with those who are doing research on these topics and their inferences. The Jewish Bible that we are using today as the OT has endured centuries of harsh criticisms but has come out strong as a historical compilation one can trust. And if the records therein are true as have been proved, then one can hang his/her life, both here and hereafter, on the God of Israel.
The records in the NT are fundamentally correct. A lot of other historical accounts confirm that. Hence, if the issues are fundamentally right and follows up the OT, in a progressive manner, then they can both be trusted.
As concerns the dates for Easter and Good Friday, I cannot argue with any man. That is why I do not want to be a theologian. I want to just do Biblical Studies if God gives me the opportunity to do it in an official form. There are a lot of garbages people debate over in Theological Studies, but in Biblical Studies, you study doctrines and teachings of the Bible. If you handle the Bible in a balanced manner, comparing Scripture with Scripture, all seeming controversies are sorted out. The Bible has not contradicted itself in any way. Yet, even difference in some interpretations has brought about a lot of denominations. But the beauty of our diversity is that we all agree and believe the fundamental teachings. I know that there have been enormous attempts to discredit the Bible but all archeological evidences continue to strengthen the Biblical records.
In conclusion, whether Jesus was arrested on Wed or Thurs does not bother me so much. They are among what we call the non-essentials. It has nothing to do to my salvation. The essential thing is that He died and rose again. He is alive. I can hang my life and future on Him.
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Modern-Day Idolatery in the Church – Human Worship
“At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev 19:10 NIV
“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" Rev 22:8-9 NIV
I have wondered what would make a man like Brother John to feel like bowing down to worship the Angel that was talking to him, revealing to him the mysteries of God and the things that would happen thereafter. Perhaps, like Mathew Henry puts it, he had “his thoughts at the present overpowered by the vehemency of his affections”. From Chapter 19 to Chapter 22, God began to reveal to him the coming glory – the Alleluia Choruses, the Millennial Rule, the judgement and final defeat of Satan and the New Heaven and New Earth. In a great contrast, in the previous chapters we saw the battles, the powerful manifestation of the Anti-Christ and his false prophets and the part the fallen church would play. Maybe, they informed “the involuntary impulse of adoring joy at so blessed a prospect”.
Unfortunately, when we look around us today, we see the same fallen nature manifesting among Christians today. John was lucky to have an Angel around him who rebuked him. But today, there is nobody to rebuke the other. One of the things the reformists condemned was the papists’ practice of the worship of the elements of bread and wine, angels and the invocation of saints. Regrettably, while they were invoking the dead saints to pray for them, today what we see are people invoking both the living and dead church leaders to pray for them and bless them. The same way John turned to the Angel who was revealing to him the mysteries of God to worship him, today people turn to church leaders that reveal God’s mysteries to them and demonstrate God’s power to worship them. We worship those who are in authority and fear them more than we fear God Almighty and they accept it so because it feeds the fallen nature. The caution the Angels exhibited is thrown to the winds. In so doing, we both destroy ourselves and destroy our leaders. The leaders also help in destroying themselves.
Now how do some leaders help in destroying themselves? When they arrogate powers to themselves and exercise them with impunity because nobody will dare ask them any questions. When they present themselves as the Messiah of their Church members and the ones that have the powers to both bless and curse. When in the same way that God exercises His sovereignty and does whatsoever pleases Him, they also do whatever pleases them because of the position they occupy. The major task of Spiritual leaders is to point men to Christ through their lives, as examples, and the teaching of the Word of God. But these ones point men to themselves. Why they deserve pity is that they are surrounded by sycophants who cannot tell them the truth, which they do not even want to hear anyway. Hence they will continue to be a distraction to God’s people and continue on this slippery road of deception.
There are leaders that we kill as followers. We elevate them to the place of a mini god and ascribe powers that only God can exercise to them and they are not vigilant enough to correct the followers at the onset. There are leaders in the Church we have made to believe that they are infallible and their words are laws. And because it feeds the flesh and makes it feel good, their heart are deceived that eternity will accord them the same privilege the day they will stand before God. A young man told me last week, “your prosperity lies in the hands of your pastor”. All my attempts to let him know that what he was saying and the mind-set he was carrying have no place in the New Covenant, proved abortive because that is a lie he has been taught to believe and he preaches it with great zeal.
I was at the Imo State Airport sometime ago to carry my director and incidentally, aboard the same flight with him was the wife of one of the General Overseers of one of the leading denominations in this country. A lot of her members came from Port Harcourt to welcome her there too. Suddenly, as she left the Arrival Lounge coming out, many of the members rushed to her and knelt down before her and she was touching them. They came with an entourage and still met us on our way back. They were running against the traffic, harassing other road users and demonstrating all kinds of impunity.
When we do all these things, there is a deception that works in our minds that makes us think that we deserve and should look forward to all of these. The same deception has made some Church leaders adopt lifestyles that are not different from what our politicians have and we feed these deceptions. Those who are in high places pursue and amass wealth, oftentimes at the expense of those under them while the junior ones dream of when they will have promotion and enter those privileged positions.
The major problem I have with this behaviour is that it does not add up when we look at the teachings of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels and the teachings of the Apostles in the Epistles. We use all kinds of modern reasons and languages to slide back to the exact things the Reformers fought against in the Dark Ages of the Church. We use, “Man of God”, “Servant of God”, “God’s General” “Lord Bishop” etc as if there are champions and privileged ones that are above God’s judgement. Some say it is giving respect to whom it is due, but the truth is that they worship the god they can see. Even some have gone to the extent of telling me that their ‘bishop’ is the god they see.
In the Scriptures we have above, the first Angel told John, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev 19:10 NIV and the second Angel equally told him, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" Rev 22:9 NIV
The principle should be, “I will not engage in this subtle human worship and no man will worship me”. May God help us to overcome the temptation of human worship. May we not boldly thread where angels are afraid to step on. May we not eat the food that angels were afraid and refused to eat. God bless you!
“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" Rev 22:8-9 NIV
I have wondered what would make a man like Brother John to feel like bowing down to worship the Angel that was talking to him, revealing to him the mysteries of God and the things that would happen thereafter. Perhaps, like Mathew Henry puts it, he had “his thoughts at the present overpowered by the vehemency of his affections”. From Chapter 19 to Chapter 22, God began to reveal to him the coming glory – the Alleluia Choruses, the Millennial Rule, the judgement and final defeat of Satan and the New Heaven and New Earth. In a great contrast, in the previous chapters we saw the battles, the powerful manifestation of the Anti-Christ and his false prophets and the part the fallen church would play. Maybe, they informed “the involuntary impulse of adoring joy at so blessed a prospect”.
Unfortunately, when we look around us today, we see the same fallen nature manifesting among Christians today. John was lucky to have an Angel around him who rebuked him. But today, there is nobody to rebuke the other. One of the things the reformists condemned was the papists’ practice of the worship of the elements of bread and wine, angels and the invocation of saints. Regrettably, while they were invoking the dead saints to pray for them, today what we see are people invoking both the living and dead church leaders to pray for them and bless them. The same way John turned to the Angel who was revealing to him the mysteries of God to worship him, today people turn to church leaders that reveal God’s mysteries to them and demonstrate God’s power to worship them. We worship those who are in authority and fear them more than we fear God Almighty and they accept it so because it feeds the fallen nature. The caution the Angels exhibited is thrown to the winds. In so doing, we both destroy ourselves and destroy our leaders. The leaders also help in destroying themselves.
Now how do some leaders help in destroying themselves? When they arrogate powers to themselves and exercise them with impunity because nobody will dare ask them any questions. When they present themselves as the Messiah of their Church members and the ones that have the powers to both bless and curse. When in the same way that God exercises His sovereignty and does whatsoever pleases Him, they also do whatever pleases them because of the position they occupy. The major task of Spiritual leaders is to point men to Christ through their lives, as examples, and the teaching of the Word of God. But these ones point men to themselves. Why they deserve pity is that they are surrounded by sycophants who cannot tell them the truth, which they do not even want to hear anyway. Hence they will continue to be a distraction to God’s people and continue on this slippery road of deception.
There are leaders that we kill as followers. We elevate them to the place of a mini god and ascribe powers that only God can exercise to them and they are not vigilant enough to correct the followers at the onset. There are leaders in the Church we have made to believe that they are infallible and their words are laws. And because it feeds the flesh and makes it feel good, their heart are deceived that eternity will accord them the same privilege the day they will stand before God. A young man told me last week, “your prosperity lies in the hands of your pastor”. All my attempts to let him know that what he was saying and the mind-set he was carrying have no place in the New Covenant, proved abortive because that is a lie he has been taught to believe and he preaches it with great zeal.
I was at the Imo State Airport sometime ago to carry my director and incidentally, aboard the same flight with him was the wife of one of the General Overseers of one of the leading denominations in this country. A lot of her members came from Port Harcourt to welcome her there too. Suddenly, as she left the Arrival Lounge coming out, many of the members rushed to her and knelt down before her and she was touching them. They came with an entourage and still met us on our way back. They were running against the traffic, harassing other road users and demonstrating all kinds of impunity.
When we do all these things, there is a deception that works in our minds that makes us think that we deserve and should look forward to all of these. The same deception has made some Church leaders adopt lifestyles that are not different from what our politicians have and we feed these deceptions. Those who are in high places pursue and amass wealth, oftentimes at the expense of those under them while the junior ones dream of when they will have promotion and enter those privileged positions.
The major problem I have with this behaviour is that it does not add up when we look at the teachings of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels and the teachings of the Apostles in the Epistles. We use all kinds of modern reasons and languages to slide back to the exact things the Reformers fought against in the Dark Ages of the Church. We use, “Man of God”, “Servant of God”, “God’s General” “Lord Bishop” etc as if there are champions and privileged ones that are above God’s judgement. Some say it is giving respect to whom it is due, but the truth is that they worship the god they can see. Even some have gone to the extent of telling me that their ‘bishop’ is the god they see.
In the Scriptures we have above, the first Angel told John, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev 19:10 NIV and the second Angel equally told him, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" Rev 22:9 NIV
The principle should be, “I will not engage in this subtle human worship and no man will worship me”. May God help us to overcome the temptation of human worship. May we not boldly thread where angels are afraid to step on. May we not eat the food that angels were afraid and refused to eat. God bless you!
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