TRANSFORMED BY THE TRUTH

Topic: TRANSFORMED BY TRUTH.

Text: Acts 16:14; 20:32; Matt.4:4; Rom.12:2; 2Cor.3:18.

Introduction: THE TRUTH TRANSFORMS US.

Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth. Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them by the truth; thy word is truth." Jn.17:17. Sanctification requires revelation. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God. To become like Jesus, we must fill our lives with His Word. The Bible says, "Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the task God has for us." 2Tim.3:17. God's Word is unlike any other word. It is alive. Heb.4:12; Acts 7:38; 1Pet.1:23. Jesus said, "The Word that I have spoken to you are spirit and are live. Jn.6:63. When God speaks, things change. Everything around you - all of creation - exists because "God said it." He spoke it all into existence. Without God's Word you wouldn't even be alive. James points out, "God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made." Jas.1:18.

The Bible is far more than a doctrinal guidebook. God's Word generates life, creates faith, produce change, frightens the devil, causes miracles, heals hurts, builds character, transforms circumstances, imparts joy, overcomes adversity, defeats temptation, infuse hope, releases power, cleanse our minds, brings things into being, and guarantees our future forever! We cannot live without the Word of God! Never take it for granted. You should consider it as essential to your life as food. Job said, "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. Job.23:12. God's Word is the spiritual nourishment you must have to fulfil your purpose. The Bible is called our milk, bread, solid food, and sweet dessert. 1Pet.2:2; Matt.4:4; 1Cor.3:2; Ps.119:103. The four-course meal is the Spirit's menu for spiritual strength and growth. Peter advises us, "Crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." 1Pet.2:2.

ABIDING IN GOD'S WORD

There are more Bibles in print today than ever before, but a Bible on the shelf is worthless. Millions of believers are plagued with spiritual anorexia, starving to death from spiritual malnutrition. "To be a healthy disciple of Jesus, feeding on God's Word must be your first priority. Jesus called it "abiding." He said, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciple of Mine." Jn.8:31. In day to day living, abiding in God's Word includes three activities.

I must accept its authority. The Bible must become the authoritative standard for my life: the compass I rely on for direction, the counsel I listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark I use for evaluating everything. The Bible must always have the first and last word in my life.

Many of our troubles occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities: (everyone is doing it), tradition (we've always done it), reason (it seemed logical), or emotion (it just felt right). All four of these are flawed by the fall. What we need is a perfect standard that will never lead us in the wrong direction. Only God's Word meets that need. Solomon reminds us, "Every word of God is flawless. Pro.30:5; 2Tim.3:16.

The most important decision you can make today is to settle this issue of what will be the ultimate authority for your life. Decide that regardless of culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, you choose the as your final authority. Determine to first ask, "What does the Bible say?" when making decisions. Acts 24:14.

I must assimilate its truth. It is not enough just to believe the Bible; I must fill my mind with it so that Holy Spirit can transform me with the truth. There five ways to do this: You can receive it, read it, research it, remember it, and reflect on it. Luke 18:18; Jas.1:21; Deu.17:19; Jas.1:25; Ps.119:11, 49-50, 105; Col.3:16; 2Cor.3:18; Acts 13:22; Ps.119:97; Jn.15:7; Josh.1:8; Ps.1:2-3.

I must apply its principles. Receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word are all useless if we fail to put them into practice. We must become the "doer of the Word." Jas.1:22. This is the hardest step of all, because satan fights it so intensely. He doesn't mind you going to Bible studies as long as you don't do anything with what you learn. Without implementation, all our Bible studies are worthless. Matt.7:24. Blessing is only attached to doing the Word.

HIS NEEDS, HER NEEDS.

Topic: His Needs and Her Needs.

Text: 1Tim.5:8; Pro.14:1; Heb.13:4; Eph.5:21-33.

Introduction: The common needs of men and women and has given great insights on how to meet these needs, so you can avoid the daily frustration of unmet needs, and enjoy a happy marriage life.

As you already know, the needs of men are quite different from that of women and that is a fascinating realisation, which of course makes life really interesting. The idea here is not to complain about your needs that are going unmet, but to take the initiative to meet the needs of your partner, it will amaze you how meeting his or her needs, suddenly awaken them to meeting your needs.

Below is a brief overview of what His needs are and what her needs are, according to the His Needs, Her Needs.

His Needs, Her Needs: Men's Needs

1. Sexual Fulfilment.

Sexual satisfaction for the man is on the same level as affection for the lady, and when these two are in place in the relationship, that is one problem solved.

2. Recreational Companionship.

Men place a lot of importance on having their wives as recreational companions, and when a wife considers the activities her husband is involved in uninteresting and tells him to go ahead with those activities without her participation, that can be dangerous to a marriage.

3. An Attractive Spouse.

A man needs a partner who personally looks good to him. On this subject, it's clear that in sexual relationships, most men find it nearly impossible to appreciate a woman for her inner qualities alone - there must be more, and that, a man's need for physical attractiveness in a mate is quite profound.

4. Domestic Support.

Man's need for peace and quiet. A man's need for domestic support from his sweetheart is so deep, that he fantasizes about how she will greet him lovingly and pleasantly at the door; about his well-behaved children who likewise act glad to see him and welcome him to the comfort of a well-maintained home.

The fantasy goes on as his wife encourages him to sit down and relax before taking part in a good-tasting dinner. Later on, that evening, the family goes out for a stroll, and he returns to put the children to bed without any struggle or hassle. And finally, he and his wife relax, talk together for a while, and possibly watch a little bit of television until they retire at an excellent time to love each other. Now, wives may chuckle at this scenario, but this vision is quite typical in the fantasy lives of many men. The man's need for his wife to "take care of things" - especially him, is widespread, persistent, and certainly deep.

5. Admiration.

Man need her to be proud of him. So, wives need to learn how to express the admiration they already feel for their husbands, instead of putting pressure on them for attaining greater achievements. Honest admiration is a great motivator for men. When a woman can tell her man she thinks he's wonderful, that inspires him to achieve more. He can now see himself capable of handling new responsibilities and perfecting skills that are far above his present level.

If any of a spouse's five basic needs go unmet, that person becomes vulnerable to the temptation of an affair. So therefore, the best way to prevent adultery is to meet the needs of your spouse and doing so, would make your marriage stronger.

His Needs, Her Needs: Women's Needs

1. Affection.

Affection, to most women, is the symbol of security, protection, comfort, and approval. When a man is affectionate towards his wife, he is sending the following messages: Number one: I'll take care of you and protect you; Number two: I am concerned about the problems that you face, and I need you to know that I am with you; Number three: I think you have done a good job, and I am so proud you.

Men need to understand how strongly women need this affirmation. It is typical that a wife can hardly have enough of them. Just a hug can communicate all of these affirmation mentioned above, but affection can be expressed in many ways, such as, kisses, cards, flowers, dinner out, opening the car doors, holding hands, walks after dinner, back rubs, phone calls, the list goes on. These are several ways to say, "I love you". From a wife's point of view, affection is the essential cement of her relationship with her man.

2. Conversation.

Wives need their husbands to talk to them, and also listen to them; they need a lot of two-way conversation. During their dating life before marriage, most couples spent a lot of time showing each other affection and talking. This is not expected to be dropped after the wedding, because, when two individuals get married, each partner has a right to expect the same loving care and attention that prevailed during courtship to continue after the wedding. The man who takes time to talk to his woman will have an inside track to her heart.

3. Honesty and Openness.

The total trust of a husband is one of a wife's needs. A sense of security is the common thread woven through all of a woman's five basic needs. If a husband fails to keep up an honest and open communication with his wife, he undermines her trust and eventually destroys her security. In order for a wife to feel secure, she must trust her husband to give her accurate information about his past, present, and the future. If she cannot trust the signals he sends, she has no basis on which to build a solid marriage relationship. Therefore, instead of adjusting to him, she always feels off balance; instead of growing toward him, she grows away from him.

4. Financial Commitment.

The financial commitment of a husband is yet another need of a wife. To live comfortably, she needs enough financial support. Regardless of how successful a career she might have, she usually desires her husband to earn enough money to allow her feel supported and cared for.

5. Family Commitment.

In discussing family commitment wife needs her husband to be a good father to their children and be committed to the family. Most women who get married have a remarkable instinct to create a home and have children. Above all, wives desire their husbands to take a leadership role in the family and commit themselves to the moral and educational development of their children.

How to Help Church Guests Understand What’s Happening.

How to Help Church Guests Understand What’s Happening.

One of the reasons people are hesitant to try attending a church for the first time is that they’re not sure what to expect. In fact, they probably expect it to be a little bit awkward and uncomfortable.
Over time, it’s important for your church to become known as a place where people will be able to understand what’s happening. That doesn’t mean changing the message, but it does mean clearly explaining what is going on during the worship service.
If you use words like “prelude” or “convocation” without explanation, you’ll send the message that the service is intended for insiders and those who already understand what’s happening.

Here are a few suggestions for how to make people more comfortable in a church worship service that might be brand new to them:

1. Use easy-to-understand terminology.
Instead of “Invocation,” call it an “Opening Prayer.” Or better yet, don’t call it anything. Just have the prayer. No one really needs to know that a “Prelude” will be happening. Just play the music.
If you have a traditional altar call, or even an invitation for people to go somewhere for prayer, be very clear and specific in how you invite people to respond.

2. Provide explanatory notes.
When you go to an opera or play that’s difficult to understand, they provide you with program notes. Tell people why you do what you’re doing in the service. If you hand guests a printed bulletin, it should include a simple explanation of the welcome / commitment card, the offering, the response time, etc.
Something like, Please fill out one of the welcome cards from the chair rack in front of you and drop it in one of the boxes located at the door where you exit after the service . . . or, the offering time is an opportunity for members and regular attenders to invest in the ministry and mission of the church. We don’t expect guests to give. Those kinds of notes can go a long way to putting people at ease.

3. Eliminate most announcements, and get creative with the few you make.
The best way to recruit people to volunteer, or attend an event, or support a cause, isn’t through an announcement from the stage. It’s best handled through relationships or personalized communication – email, social media, texts, etc.
The few announcements that are made should pertain to the whole body present, not a specific group within the church. And they can be delivered in creative ways.

4. Train members to be greeters and helpers.
Greeting people outside, in the parking lot, is a great start. But it’s also very important to have people inside the auditorium and classrooms to make people feel welcome once they walk in.
While some people may be part of your official greeting team, you can train all of your regular attenders to be mindful of those who seem new or unfamiliar with their surroundings. Talk about this in your membership class so that everyone who joins understands that they’re informally part of the greeting team.
It really boils down to being sensitive to the apprehension people might feel walking onto a church campus with which they’re unfamiliar, meeting people they don’t know, and participating in a service that might be a brand-new experience for them.

SPIRITUAL FUMIGATION BY PROPHET S.F. KORODE

We are embarking on spiritual fumigation- Korode, Fakeye’s successor.

Korode.
That morning as he walked to his office to honour the appointment with Church Times’ reporter; his simplicity strikes. No protocol, no ceremony. He did not come with a retinue of aides as characteristic of some top church leaders.  Few minutes after he settled down, he invited this reporter for the interview.

Welcome to the world of Special Apostle Sunday Funsho Korode, District Chairman and General Leader, Cherubim&Seraphim Movement Church, Surulere Sub-Headquarters. Ayo Ni O. He took over from the late Prophet Gabriel Fakeye.

Korode is one of the early graduates from the University of Lagos having graduate in 1965 with a B.Sc in Business Administration and later a Master of Science Degree in Business Management with emphasis in Organisational Behaviour.

He is a member of several professional bodies including the Nigeria Institute of Management, Society for Human Resources Management, USA and a host of others. He was one time CEO/Registrar of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management where he served for 11 years. He later joined the Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc as Group Director Human Resources and Administration. He left the IGI group to set up Grace Springs Academy.

In this interview, Korode who has the unique privilege of being born into the C&S Church with an enduring long history of service in the church; gives an insight into the C&S church and the beauty of its seamless leadership transition. Below are excerpts:


It’s more than a year that the founder of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church Ayo Ni O died. You have stepped in as the substantive leader of the mission. This is the first succession. How did you manage to do this without much rancour in such a big organization?

God will not come down to do the transition for us. He will use human beings. I think what really helped a smooth transition in our case is that our former leader has been able to build a system of operation that has prepared many successors in the hierarchy. So it becomes easy for anybody within the church council to step into his shoes. We have always had the Leader-in-council. Baba Fakeye was the spiritual leader. Our former leader started the church. But its running has been on the shoulder of the leaders.

God gave him the instruction to start the church through a prophecy from another person. He was in the UK by that time. He then shared the vision with some of his other colleagues and came back to Nigeria to start the church. So the church is not an individual arrangement. It was born out of obedience to divine instruction. He was the arrow head.


So the late founder could not lay claim to be the founder of the church in the strict sense of the word?

He had never claimed to be the founder from the perspective with which we see the word. He had been a member of the larger body C&S movement. He was in Zaria and active in the church since 1957. He had this gift of prophecy and prayer before he travelled to UK from where he started a branch of the C&S in 1965 in the UK. He was in the UK and he came back to Nigeria with his other colleagues to start the Ayo Ni O! Church at the instance of God’s directive.

What distinguished him from other leaders is his sense of organization. He was a goal oriented person and he had a clear picture of what the Lord asked him to do.

Was he supposed to start anything different from the traditional C&S?
It’s still the same Cherubim and Seraphim. We are not laying claim to any special originality. But what we lay emphasis on are the things that can be well established in the Bible. But we had to extricate some of the things we felt were not Bible-based and hold unto the truth as established in the Bible. This was important for us because there had been infiltration and deviation from the original vision of the church. Even in the C&S group there are many others who are as focused and Bible oriented as we are. Baba Fakeye’s leadership was an inclusive form of leadership and not sole proprietorship. He never celebrated self.

Was his vision to go back to what Orimolade stood for?

I think he went beyond that. Baba Orimolade was constrained by education and by social connection. The nucleus of His personality was the Holy Spirit which was quite in order. But there were no expressions of other world views which cannot be captured now. By the time Baba Fakeye was coming; a new dispensation had to come in. In the real sense there is no new idea as it were. We are all building on what the Lord Jesus had already established. What Baba Fakeye did was to build on an existing foundation and take the church further; making it relevant to the contemporary age without distorting the original vision of the founder and also without veering away from the scriptures. But the truth is that no new foundation can be laid apart from what had been laid. There is nothing like being called a primate. For me it is vain glorious. What man has done at best is to recreate what had already been created.

By 1982 when the church had become actually big; it turned out to be the largest church in the country. It had occupied about 70 acres of land. It was between 1983 and 1984 that many of the Pentecostal churches started getting foothold. The most popular of them perhaps was being known in 1986.  By that time, Fakeye could have assumed a utopian status arrogating to himself some kind of unfounded title. But he did not do that. Till he died, he still honoured the current Baba Aladura of the church. He went on a lot of errands for the man and he did not take any offence. He was not out to showcase self. He had a regime of leadership that carried everybody along. He gave people their dues by plugging them into position irrespective of when they joined the church.
What then exactly is the structure of the C&S Ayo Ni O!
We have 24 elders and the overall leader is taken from the 24 elders. This is the first time somebody will succeed the first leader from the body of elders. When the issue of succession came; it was clear that anybody among the 24 elders could comfortably be the overall leader without rancour. The leadership does not have to be the person directly next to him in terms of hierarchy. For instance I was number 18 in the church hierarchy before my appointment; though I had been in the church since the beginning as a student of the University of Lagos.
I was not to become the leader of the church; though I was the general choirmaster of the church for 43 years. That arm of the church was pivotal because of the impact the group has made over the years. We have had close to 35 albums of evangelical songs which have been a blessing to people over the years.

Why then is the group not known in the gospel music industry?
We have always been publicity shy. The real media presence we have had is all about our leader and his outreach ministry. He was perhaps one of the earliest persons on Radio to preach the gospel. We did not publicize much of the choir. As early as 1978 we had opportunity to talk about our album on TV. We have been releasing our albums but we left the promotion to our producers and we have been selling volumes. But we have never been involved in gospel artists competition because God did not allow us do such. May be that is why we have not been popular. Our records are played all over. It is Christ-centric.

How did you come about the church in the first place?
I was born into the C and S church. My father was founder of a branch of the C$S church in my town in Omu Aran, Kwara State.
The same town with Bishop Oyedepo?
Yes. We are quite related to the Oyedepos. As I was saying; I was a member of the church when I was a student at the University of Lagos. I attended the Sabo branch of the church.

You did not attend the Lagos Varsity Christian Union?
By the time I was in the university there no Christian body on campus. In those days we had to look for church outside the campus to worship. I left UNILAG in 1973. I was among the first set of youth corps members in the country. When Baba Fakeye returned from the UK in 1969 and later started the Ayo ni O I joined his group. He was initially worshiping in Olorunsogo branch of the C$S Movement. But he founded the Ayo Ni O Church in 1971. I was on campus when I joined them. In those days they had no permanent place of worship. We moved from place to place.  The first place of worship was the flat of one of the members; Prophet Jagun. That was where I joined. It was during a thanksgiving service that I noticed there was no choir in the church. I made inquiry and they told me everybody was a member of the choir. So I decided to be a one-man choir at 68, Nnobi Street, Ikate, Surulere. That was my real debut as a substantive member of the church. From there we moved to Reagan Memorial School in Iwaya and later we moved to the Bar Beach to worship in the open air. We later got a bigger classroom in Iwaya for worship and then to another place in Aguda. It was from Aguda that we got the current place of location. I was appointed the choir master in 1972.

What about your own personal encounter? The Bible talks about being born again. What do you say about this?

Many things are contemporary with many people and many people want to paint a picture of special experiences. I think this is good for biographies. But I can say I have always had encounter with God right from birth. I was born in the church and I can say that every other experience were not just experiences but contacts with what I needed to do in the ministry as I was growing. From day one, my soul, spirit and body were sold to Christ. It was during a Sunday Service that my mother gave birth to me. My first experience as a believer was at birth.
But were you conscious then?
When you talk about consciousness; I believe that your consciousness is more spiritual at the incorporeal level than what you have at the corporeal level.
Can you explain?
If you read Psalm 8, a verse there says from the mouth of suckling God ordained strength. You then ask yourself; suckling? Are they conscious? Christ now came to say later that the eyes of those children behold the angels of God. At that level they are even a lot more like it than when they interacted with the real world. The evolution of man from unconsciousness to consciousness begins the degradation of man and the degeneration of the substantive spirit to mundane expression. That is why I believe that the more conscious you become; the less God conscious you are. So when people come celebrate their new birth; I think that is just for celebration.

But there are children that were born into occult and ungodly environment. What do you have to say about that?

In such instance they can come and say they met Christ and are able to do away with occult background. That is clearly what I am trying to get at. There was the case of one our members who got married. After sometime we did not see them again in church. By the time I met them they told me they had become born again. When they said they had become born again I believed they had started a new life. I was excited about the experience they claim to have had. They talked about their experience and we prayed. But for no reason, husband and wife started quarreling for no serious issue right in my presence. And their voices were rising unnecessarily. I now said to them they must be truly born again! The brother looked at me and the wife too; and I said to them beyond sloganeering the reality is what you are. You are what comes from within you. Sometimes we vocalize what is not true. In elementary sociological thinking they say, who you are; who you think you; who you think others think you are; are a reflections of who you really are.

You have to titrate the acid against the base to get a true reflection of who you are.  Our identity stems from our character. The character, the conduct the contribution and the creed are all what defines the Christian. Your faith is in the continuum. The true identity of man comes from his thoughts, his word, to repeated action to character to habit.

Christ said; except you are born again you won’t enter the kingdom? How would you situate this in the context of your analysis?

What Christ was always getting people to appreciate is that you are not anything apart from the continuum I have just described. And if you get to know Christ at the beginning of your life; you are already in Him and all you do thereafter is maintenance management to sustain your relationship with him.
You are not anything apart from having a connection with him.  Being in the spirit is reaching the level of atonement (at one with God) And that is what Jesus was trying to get us to appreciate. Jesus made it known to the Pharisees that they were dirty inside. Isaiah also said something like that. It is important to appreciate what Jesus told Nicodemus that for him to get to the kingdom of God he has to devalue his personal currency. He has to appreciate that you are not it until you become it. You can only be declared that you are in Christ by the spirit in you. It is not so much about sloganeering. It is looking at yourself from the inside in terms of character, conduct, conversation and contribution and your creed. Those are the things that will join you to the Lord at the point of atonement. That is what Ephesians 4 is trying to say. When it comes to the Day of Judgment we will appreciate that the real meaning of being born again is not in slogans. Coming to say you are born again does not convey any meaning but in the bearing of the fruit of salvation. At the point of knowing Christ the fat in your body should melt so that your true identity will eventually show. In I Pet 2v9 we are called peculiar and holy. These are virtues we are supposed to demonstrate. It is in the demonstration that we know that we are born or unborn.

Do you attain these things you are talking about by human efforts?

No. That is why Paul said by grace we are saved and not by works. You could be called into the grace and you could decide for the Lord at a particular stage of your life. In Psalm 71 David talked about early connection with God. Jeremiah was known from the womb by God. So at what point did he become born again?
St. Augustine talks about predestination of the believer. People should begin to appreciate God from the perspective of the Holy Spirit and not a socially constructed perspective and say because I met Pastor Korode who declared me holy then I am holy. No man can pronounce another man’s sainthood. There is a lot of defalcation in contemporary Christianity with people mixing up the ways of God along the ways of men.

Thanks for this explanation. But why has C&S been this stratified?

I think the issue of denominations or stratification has been on from the days of Martin Luther and the protestant movement. That was the beginning of the split of the church. Luther read the Bible and found out that there were discrepancies between what was preached and what was in the Bible. He made some of his positions known to the church. He refused to recount his position even when he was threatened with death.

In the church today, people have several reasons for moving away to start their own group. Some decide to move on if they will not have the opportunity to express themselves where they worship. Some also start another church because of selfish interest, greed and lust for position and power. Some are already entrenched in idolatry but because it is not normal to advertise such openly they move out of the church to start another group. The veering away gives them an opportunity to wear the garment of the angel of light.
The fact is that freedom of worship is guaranteed in the constitution. You can wear the garment and shout like a masquerade and nobody will query you. Some of the brand identity of the C$S are available in the market place. People have access to these things; they buy them and use them to start deceiving people.

But is it true that Moses Orimolade prophesied that the church will be stratified during his lifetime?

He did not. He was only talking to a situation that the way they (people in the church) were going they would not be able to stay together. He said if they were all operating the way they were operating they would not be one. He said they were not focusing on the kingdom of heaven. He said they were becoming terribly ethnic and conspiratorial. He was talking in the language of Joshua who charged the people to serve the Lord.

But did he really set out to start a church in the first place?
No. He did not. He was an itinerant evangelist. He was doing Bible teaching and preaching the word. He was with the Anglican in the beginning. He would join service in the morning but later in the evening people would go to his house for prayers and bible study. That is how he started. He started the Praying Band within the Anglican Church. Egbe Aladura.
When he started saying Thus says the Lord, they began to talk against his brand of faith. So that was the genesis of his exit from the Anglican Church. But he still did not leave the church. In the course of this he met Captain Abiodun Emmanuel who was a Catholic. On their Corpus Christi Day she went into trance and people felt she was sick and they tried all they could to revive her but she did not respond. They now invited baba Aladura to the scene. Baba Aladura was the Anglican Church in Ebute Meta. He decided to go with them to see the woman. There was no vehicle to take him to where the woman was. He was crippled. But they were surprised to meet him at the woman’s place ahead of them. He spoke in tongues with the woman who was in trance and the woman responded. He said the Lord said they should shout Halleluyah. Again he said the Lord said “we should sing a song”. Orimolade eventually prayed for the woman and she came out of trance.
That was the beginning of the relationship between Captain Abiodun and Moses Orimolade.  Abiodun was a young pretty adorable lady and was always in the company of Baba Aladura after the trance experience. She was more educated and socially exposed than Baba Aladura. So they both decided to start the church. When the church had started the elite among them began to see that Orimolade was not educated. There was division. That was  what led to the discordant voices that trailed the movement. But it is to the glory of God that Baba Fakeye made the move to unify the church when he was alive. In 1986, Captain Abiodun became the head of all the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. They came under one roof. All the factions in the C$S Movement now meet annually at a camp along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

You are in the prophetic ministry. What is the Lord saying concerning Nigeria?

You don’t need a prophet to say the obvious. Prophets have said things and played to the gallery. But I believe the prophetic ministry is not for show. Prophecy is not what you conjure. Contemporary prophetic utterance is just like repeating the obvious. A person who does not have prophetic gift can say what many of what the so called prophets say.
What the Bible says should be what a genuine prophet should say. The Bible says if my people who called by name are willing and obedient and turn from their wicked ways I will heal their land. (2 Chron 7v14). That is what the prophet should prophesy. God wants us to come to him in repentance. He will hear us and heal our land. Preachers should be preaching that people should come to the Lord. That is what prophets should be prophesying. I will never be a prophet of doom. The reason is that God is not interested in the destruction of his people. God said to, “Jonah go to Nineveh and preach to them”, he refused. God made sure he got their through the whale. When he got there he preached fire and brimstone and the people
repented.

But Jonah was not happy. He wanted his prophecy of doom to come to past. That is how many prophets are.  We have tendency of prophetic arrogance. We should refrain from that. We arrogate to ourselves the judgement of God without thinking about the goodness of God. Mercy goes beyond expression of how powerful God is in terms of destruction. All God wants us to do is to impress on the people on the need to have a change of heart. God has planted eternity in us and he wants us to change.

Nothing new is coming from the prophets of today. We tell people they will prosper. You don’t need people to prophesy the obvious. People come to me and tell me to prophesy. I tell them I don’t do that. I ask what your problem is and we can pray about it together. There are times I fast and pray and do not see anything. But there are times God speaks and shows us things. It is important as Christians for us to boundary-span our prophetic gifting.
Deuteronomy 29v29 says: The secret things belong to God and what he reveals he reveals. Daniel had encounter with the Lord where he was asking God certain questions and the Lord told him he should concern himself with what had been revealed to him.

What are your plans and vision for the church?
We are working on conceptualize a structure that will drive the vision of the church. We have a 15-ministry structure on ground driving activities. The kingdom of God is our focus. Our vision is to make heaven. Bible is our road map. We are Pentecostal in dispensation and evangelical in ministry. We want to cater for the people who are in charge of our spiritual lives. We are also concerned about wellbeing of our members. We have tried to give proper orientation to our people. We are also getting the people know that we are Christ-centric in our practice and that all forms of ritualistic expression and anti-Christ practices is not allowed in the church. A number of things people get into like the use of coconut. Candle and the burning of the strange incense are not allowed in the church. It is important to let our people know that we are de-emphasizing those things. We pray into water and pray with the oil just like many Pentecostals now do. We concentrate on what we can verify in the Bible. We are carrying what is called spiritual fumigation of our practices. Our vision is also to ensure advocacy at the political and social realms by moderating the excesses of our political leaders. We also want to involved in getting the body of Christ to be one and also be involved in inter-faith activities. These are things that have been put in place by our former leader. We are just building on them. We have help, education, women and a number of other ministries that have been established to address all the areas of concern in the church.

How to Keep Going in Ministry when You Reach Your Breaking Point.

How to Keep Going in Ministry when You Reach Your Breaking Point.

Stress is just a part of ministry. If you don’t have stress in your ministry, you’re probably not being very effective. You need a certain amount of stress in your life to accomplish anything. Stress is what gives you the energy, the effort, and the ability to actually accomplish what God has called you to do.
Take a violin, for example. You have to put stress on the violin strings to make music. If you add just the right amount of stress, it creates beautiful music. On the other hand, if you tighten it too tight, the strings snap.
Stress can be a problem for our ministry as well. When you get so stressed you feel like you’re ready to pop, that’s bad for your ministry.

The Bible gives us four things we need to do when we’re stressed to a breaking point:

1. Release your frustrations.
Stress creates all kinds of negative emotions – like anxiety, worry, fear, guilt, shame, and depression. And it can create frustration as well. What do we typically do with that frustration? Instead of taking it to God, we push it down deeper inside of us and pretend everything is okay. We’re the pastor. We can’t let anyone see that we’re vulnerable.
But is that really what God wants? Does he want you to be a phony? Of course not.
God wants you to be real. God understands your emotions. He created you and gave you the ability to feel what you do. He desires that you express those emotions.
The Bible says in Psalm 62:8, “Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge” (NLT). He wants us to lay it all out to him. Whatever it is that you’re feeling, just tell him. Don’t repress your feelings of frustration, let them out.

2.Resist becoming bitter.
Bitterness is often a by-product of finding yourself stressed to the breaking point. You start thinking, “This stress is unfair. It shouldn’t be happening to me.” You can’t prevent hurt from coming into your life.
Although you can’t control your circumstances, you can control your response to them. At some point in your life, you have to decide whether you’re going to be bitter or happy. The sooner you make that choice the better. You can’t be both.
After many years of ministry, I’ve learned something about contentment. There’s no connection between circumstances and happiness. Most people want you to believe that there is. They want you to believe that if you were serving at a bigger church, had more money, or a nicer home, you’d be happy. But it’s a lie.
We all know people who have it all and are unhappy. Obviously, it’s not a matter of circumstances. Happiness is a choice.
Hebrews 12:15b says, “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”
Bitterness never changes anything, but gratitude does. Gratitude is the antidote to bitterness. Studies have shown that gratitude is the healthiest emotion that you can possibly have. When you feel like bitterness is taking over, you need to find something that you can be thankful for. You can’t be grateful and bitter at the same time.

3. Receive help from others.
It’s tempting to isolate yourself when you’re stressed out. That’s the last thing you should do! When you are at your breaking point, you need people in your life. You need people who will give you support, strength, and perspective.
Pastor, that’s why you need a support system. You may find that kind of support within your church family. You may need to find some other pastors in your community who can support you through stressful times. Regardless, you need a support system.
It is also important that you set up a support system before a crisis hits. If you wait until a crisis hits to try to find people to walk through it with you, it’ll probably be too late. One day you’ll hit the wall. Count on it. In your life and in your ministry, you’ll hit the wall many times.When that happens, you need to have people you can count on already in place.

4. Refocus on Christ.
When you get stressed, your life gets out of focus. You start looking at your problem and stop looking at Christ. All you can see is your pain. That’s when you need to get your focus off of yourself and on Christ.
That sounds good, but how do you do it? You do these three things:
Read God’s Word. God’s Word is a great stress reliever. Go through your Bible and underline verses that mean a lot to you. I have a study Bible that I use during my quiet times, but I also have a stress Bible as well. Every time I get stressed, I open up that Bible and read through the verses I have underlined.
Remember God’s Goodness. Usually when we’re stressed, we’re focused on what’s wrong. And not only do we focus on the bad things in our life, but we exaggerate them. That’s exactly when we need to focus on the goodness of God. God is good. You need to remember that when you’re stressed out.
Rely on God’s Power. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” If God can raise a dead person, he can raise a dead marriage; he can raise a dead career; he can raise anything. He can turn things around that you think are hopeless. In times of stress, remember you’re in good hands with God.

Pastor, are you at a breaking point today? I don’t know what kind of pain you’re dealing with, but God does. He cares about you, and he cares about your ministry. Hang in there, release your frustration, resist becoming bitter, receive help from others, and refocus on Christ. Your most effective ministry may well be ahead of you.