Christ’s Ambassador

I became a member of the High Calling in 2007 and within weeks, I learnt two major lessons among others. They are:

1. God cares about our Daily Work and He is, as a matter of fact, the Ultimate Employer of labor no matter who signs the salary voucher. As one writer put it, we stand the risk of being spiritually undercapitalized if we continue to shy away from this fact.
2. The tortuous journey from where we are and our desired destination of joy is in every bit part of God-designed terrain for faith development.

The High Calling pages made a lot of resources available to me by e-mail. These include exhortations, reflections and testimonies of other believers from different lands and climes and from different denominational inclinations. I have read, studied and meditated on these resources as well as uploaded comments of other readers. Through all these, the Holy Spirit has been guiding me to deeper truths in the Bible. I have been seeing more clearly the footprints of Jesus Christ on the sands of time in our days as well as the olden days.

Daily Work

Point 1 above influenced me to have a change of attitude to work and work environment. Against the erstwhile attitude that God was not too involved in my employment problems,  or in daily work of any kind except the clergy, now I know that God cares about everything, even what we write in the time-book and how we utilize the time resource in the workplace when we think no one is watching.

Tortuous Journey of Life

Realization of Point 2 stirred me up from the slumber in which I thought my pains and tears are unnecessary distractions from my desired goal. Now I am convicted that God means everything for good at all times. I memorized Rom 8:28 before but now I know it to be true. They are different stages. The words of Dave Dravecky would be a good summary of my thoughts here: “Looking back,……I have learnt that the wilderness is part of the landscape of faith, and every bit as essential as the mountain top. On the mountain top we are overwhelmed by God’s presence. In the wilderness we are overwhelmed by His absence. Both places would bring us to our knees, the one, in utter awe, the other, in utter dependence.” God, in his wisdom and love, will do all it takes, for as long as it takes, to break us of our self-sufficiency so his power can be demonstrated in us. Or attitudes fasten or delay this process. 

Reading the resources on the HighCalling pages have helped improved my spiritual life and helped me to become more of a worshipper of God outside the church premises. Mondays to Saturdays I try to apply Bible principles to all I think, say and do and on Sundays, I try to make the worship more practical and down-to-earth.

May God continue to pour his anointing on the team.

A few of such resources are:

• Fear God: Honor your supervisor
• Pride in your work is no sin
• Learning the difference between work and service
• Why work is holy

Questions for Meditation

• Are you in the middle of a storm and thinking God is not caring?
• What might you change in your attitude to begin to see the pains as useful for your growth and expansion of the kingdom of God?
• Do you want to grow beyond the limits of Church denomination and sects?
• Are you zealous of being part of an empowered laity?
• Do you want to realize your full potentials as able minister of the new covenant?

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When God called Moses at the scene of the burning bush that was not consumed, it got to a point when God asked Moses what he held in his hand and Moses replay was “A staff” Ex 4:2 (NIV) Moses could as well have said “My staff” and he would be saying the truth.

Months after that day and after several encounters with God and the people, the “born again” Moses referred to that same rod as “Staff  of God” Hear him in Ex17:9 as he instructed Joshua to lead the battle against the Amalekites “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

Granted, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (Ps 24:1) How did the transformation take place in the mind of Moses? God had instructed Moses to perform several miracles using this staff. The staff had swallowed other staffs in the court of Pharaoh when it changed to snake. The same staff struck the Nile and changed to a river of blood and it was that same staff that struck the rock at Horeb and brought out water for the congregation of Israel to drink.

One thing is certain; the staff had been consecrated to God because the owner, Moses was also consecrated. The staff was no longer used for mundane things as much as Moses himself no longer lived for himself.

In the same manner, we all are called to submit the totality of our lives to God that he may use us. He needs our skills, education, possessions, family and time to expand his kingdom and bring his grand purpose to pass. When we willingly allow him do this, then even the most menial of tasks become the “work of God”. This is to say that if a copy typist consistently puts in all her best to her job and produce good documents for her boss, she is working for God ultimately. She used the Computer and Printer of God. God has no limitations. He could perform miracles with memos and documents as well as he could with the staff of Moses. We all could hold the staff of God in our hands all the time.

This is how we may render acceptable service to God on weekdays when we are away from the church premises. It is one of the teachings we read on the www.highcalling.org . Paul summarized it this way in Romans 12:1, and I like to preach it in The Message Translation: “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. ………., fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Questions For Meditation

• Can your daily work be described as work of God?
• Can you describe yourself as a good steward of God’s resources?
• What changes might you begin to make to your attitude so that you may become a man after God’s heart?

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All Christians accept that the Bible is word of God and that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2Tim 3:16) Similarly, all Christian churches are expected to make use of the Bible in all or part of their activities and they should believe that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pet 1:20,21) But sadly, this is how far the unity goes among Christians. Denominational barriers have been erected with each group having practices and doctrines unique to them and not found in other groups. Yet, neither Jesus nor any of the Apostles started any denomination or sect. Christ is not divided. How did it start?

Purpose of the Bible

The Bible was written so that men may know the love in the mind of God and build up their faith in Him. From Genesis to Revelation, the theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ, the son of God who was sacrificed at the cross of Calvary for the sins of the World. He rose up on the third day after triumphing over the cause of sin and death and He is coming again to save those who have put their faith in Him. The Apostles operated on this doctrine without division and the whole world knew that they were Disciples of Christ and that God sent Jesus to the world to save sinners. This is in answer to Christ’s prayer as recorded by John; that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (Jn 17:21)

Men opposing the truth

But after the death of the last Apostle, the prophecy of Paul soon began to manifest fully that; There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of Godhaving a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truthmen of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (2Tim 3:1-9)

Because people began to have ulterior motives for going to church, divisions came into the church. They began to build different interpretations to the scripture to back up their ulterior motives. Church constitutions came in and different churches began to build up their own doctrines and teach same to their adherents. The pure worship of God became polluted as men continued teaching doctrines of men. This is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah which Jesus also quoted in Mark 7:6-8 that; Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men Replacing Bible with Church constitution.

The false teachers have neglected the key of ‘Calvary’ but now search the scriptures with different keys: the keys of denominational practices developed by men. Each group now read the Bible looking for their adopted practices and because the heart of man is wicked and deceptive, they always find their way to deceive more people. In most cases, the church constitution, the articles and memorandum of association get quoted to resolve issues while the Bible is relegated to a mere symbolic status. But as Paul said in 2Tim 3:9, they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men [Jannes and Jambres], their folly will be clear to everyone.

Spiritual unity in denominational diversity

Because of these reasons, the Bible for now is not seen to be unifying Christians. But one thing is certain, the church of Christ is not recognized by any denominational contrivance but is an assemblage of all genuine believers who do the will of God and God can pick them out. Just as Paul also wrote in 2 Tim 2:19; Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. The real body of Christ is Spiritual and each member is known to Christ Himself. They are Bible believeing and Bible practicing disciples. The Bible is still paying a unifying factor among them.

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Three months prior to my wedding date, I lost my job. One after the other, all the investments I have made hoping to use the profits to organize the wedding ceremony failed. The company where my wife worked was also caught up by the Federal Government’s Privatisation of Public Enterprises policy and staffs were not paid for upwards of six months. So many times, the thought of taking an exit route out of town crossed my mind for I dreaded having to invite all people and then disgrace them for what they might conceive as poor planning. However, the wedding still took place as scheduled on October 13, 2001.

It was held in the North Central city of Makurdi, the capital of Benue State where my in laws lived. I had to travel down from Kano in the North West. My mother and siblings together with a few friends joined up, having travelled from different corners of the country to Makurdi. It was a variegated mix of language and cultural display on the engagement day as I and my team from the Yoruba tribe of South Western Nigeria formally asked for the hand of a bride of Igala by tribe who lived in Makurdi town the home of the Tiv people. There was free display of cultural values like foods, dresses, songs and dance. We all drank from each others’ wealth of culture with tolerance and love.

Church solemnization of marriage was at the Qua Iboe Church in Makurdi but the marriage reception was held at Benue Hotels PLC where the Police band displayed their talents on all genre of music ranging from the evergreens of the 60s to the Afro, Reggae and blues.

Despite all my fears, the wedding was a successful one by all standards. However, as we danced on the reception ground, news broke on TV that Kano was engulfed in another religious riot and the Islamic fundamentals were burning churches and Christian residences again.

 This meant two things to me immediately. One, we must not go back to Kano soon as we planned before. The honeymoon had to be done somewhere else. Two, we might not even have a place to go back to in Kano after the honey moon, except if we were fortunate to still have our rented apartment unscathed either by the raging inferno or by the looting urchins.

Well as I would not have such things ruin such an important day, I buried the thoughts and lived for the moment. I was helped by Paul’s admonition to the Philippians; “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4:6) I prayed in my heart all through the event. We had the first dinner at the Nigerian Air Force Officers’ mess at Makurdi, sponsored by my elder brother. My wife and I left the guests and family there and looked for a nest. It was such a wonderful period full of joy and expectations. It is true that; “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” (Prov 12:25) Maybe you are wondering if I later told my wife we might not be having a house to go back to in Kano? If you were in my shoes, would you choose your wedding night to break such news?

We went back to Kano after three weeks when we heaqr that the riot had been curtailed by the combined efforts of the Police and the Army. Our house and property were still intact. We learnt that the miscreants actually got to our neighbourhood, but God stirred the minds of the muslims who lived around us to scare them away. God actually made the ‘enemies’ of the Christian faith who lived around us to be at peace with us.

The lesson here is that you either trust God or you worry. You cannot do the two together. “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?” (Eccl 2:22) Worry kills but faith in God conquers.

Do you have some problems that are causing you some disquiet? Have you told it to Jesus? Have you sought the face of the Lord for understanding and patience? Speak to Jesus now, there is no friend like Him.

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It was Johann Pestalozzi who wrote that; “The best way for a child to learn about God is to know a real Christian. The best way for them to discover the power of prayer is to live with parents who pray.” I can attest to the veracity of this statement by the way children minister to us parents when we at times become too distracted with life’s worries to know what we must immediately do.

A few days ago, I was in the house with my two children, my son Tayo, 7 and a girl of 13, Joy, who lives with us. They were playing a game of ludo and I was worrying about my job that was being axed as Zain Nigeria outsourced its technical operations. My mind was polluted with the thoughts of how to get another job, how to pay the bills and so on. My wife was away to work on night shift. She works at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as Flight Announcer and for five years now, just like me, she has been a casual staff. Between the two of us we take home peanuts.

My phone rang. It was Yemisi my kid sister asking me for directions. She was on the road travelling to Abuja from Ibadan. The call came in at 7:30 p.m. in the night and yet she still had over 400Km of bandit infested road to cover. She still had two stops to make that night to get to the Airport village where we lived and it was also raining. My worries escalated. My children noticed this and tried talking me out of it but to no avail. They did not quite understand the complexity of my thoughts.

After a while, they ended the ludo game and began to play church. The boy was the instrumentalist, playing imaginary keyboards on a table and at the same time beating drums with his mouth. The girl was the vocalist and her special number was “What a friend we have in Jesus” a Christian hymn originally written by Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855. Joy had it written down in her singing practice exercise book and that afforded me the privilege of hearing all the stanzas. The words that the Lord used to call me back to back to my senses were; “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” I felt ashamed of myself. I stole a glance at them to know if they deliberately played church because of my sorrowful state, but they hardly noticed I was around again. They were in their own world singing with gusto. Oh how pure their joy was.

I heeded the counsel. Without standing up lest I distract them, I simply closed my eyes where I was and talked to God. I thanked Him for making me a Christian when he saved me from my sins. I thanked Him for sending the needed Spiritual nourishment through the children at that hour. I appreciated Him for the grace He gave us to raise the children as Christians. Then I thanked Him for my sister’s journey and just asked Him to bring her to the house safely. Peace returned to my heart and I became strong again. “Daddy, will you play ludo?” asked my son. That was when I realized they had stopped playing church and were already arguing over some nonsense. “Yes sure, let’s all play together.” The three of us played and we were still on it when my phone rang again around 11pm. Yemisi was at the door. God had born her in His wings and brought her safely to the house in Bassa. How she scaled the hurdles on the road were just stories soon forgotten.

This is one of the blessings of being a Christian. “All your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:13) Have you given your life to Christ? It’d be sad to die unsaved when there is a Savior. Time is running out, do something about it today. Just confess your sins to Jesus where you are and tell Him to save you. HE is waiting.

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

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In my pre-Christian days, I would have defined strength in terms of the power to induce the taking of a course of action or the embracing of a point of view by means of argument or entreaty. I would also have dwelt on material, mental and physical resources deployed to withstand opposing forces or circumstances. However, now I am a new person and old things have passed away. Today, when I am weak then I am strong. I do not see strength in myself or any man, I look for it where it truly belongs for in my weakness the power of the Lord is made perfect. The Lord is my strength.

His Joy

The joy of the Lord is my strength and this happened when I became saved. The joy of the Lord is deeper than happiness and it is not circumstantial. It takes the Holy Spirit to develop and it takes faith and time to form. Joy of the Lord flows like a river, ever fresh and is environment affecting. Joy of the Lord is not reduced by my severe trials; rather it becomes increased as I “count it all joy when [I] fall into various trials knowing that the testing of [my] faith produces patience which, in turn, when perfected shall make [me] complete and perfect, lacking nothing. (Jas 1:2-4).

His Blood and Righteousness

My strength is in the blood and righteousness of Jesus and I dare not stand on any other ground for they are sinking sand. Without the cover of Jesus blood I am mince meat for Satan. “And they defeated the beast by the words of their testimony and the blood of the lamb” Rev (   ) As he nailed my sins to the cross of Calvary, his righteousness is imputed to my account and I can approach the throne of grace with confidence in this, knowing that God sees me in Jesus.

His name

My strength lies in the name that is higher than every other name, that at the name of Jesus of every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord, to the glory f God, the Father” Eph ( ) His Holy name is the strong tower which the righteous run to and are saved. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I know HE is with me. Since I have made him my refuge and since the Most High God is my habitation, I know, “no evil shall befall me and no scourge shall come near my tent. I have strength knowing he has detailed his angels as my escort to minister to me everywhere I go. I have strength because with my eyes shall I look and see the reward of the wicked.

His hands

How wonderful, how can it be? But he has inscribed me in the palms of his hand. The nail scars embossed my full names on his palm and so I am always in his thoughts. His thoughts are manifold towards me. I have strength knowing that His hand is not shortened that it cannot save me. I am save whatever may betide me in the hollow of his hands.

His word

I have the sword of the Spirit, it is my strength. The host of hell has never been able to withstand the faintest utterance of; “It is written.” His word is alive and active, sharper than any two edged sword.  This is my strength. His word is Yes and Amen. His word is Spirit and is Life. His word gives me more understanding than my teachers and makes me wiser than the aged. His word is a lamp to my feet.

His Praises

The Holy one of Israel inhabits my praises. I will praise Him forever more.  When I Praise Him the walls of my Jericho must fall. In His Praises a single Angel must crush all the troops encamped against me. When I sing His praises, a single stone from my sling of praises must knock down the Goliath facing me. As I praise Him Angels join in the praises, all His creatures join in; everything in me and in my house praise the Lord for His mercies endure forever.

His mercies

My strength lies in His mercies which are renewed every day and on account of which I am not consumed. I owe my whole being to His mercies. The Lord is good. His mercies brought the forgiveness of my sins. I who was erstwhile a nobody, am now a joint heir with His son, Jesus. Halleluiah.

His Spirit

I have strength in His Spirit, my comforter and teacher who leads me into all truth. The sap that makes me fruitful as a branch of the vine comes from His Spirit. Without Him I can do nothing. When I stray, HE searches for me and when He finds me, HE gently pleads with my soul and brings me back to the loving arms of the Good Shepherd.

His Spirit enables me to will and do His pleasure. How else could I as David see an opportunity to kill Saul my adversary but yet hear the still voice in my ear saying “Love your enemies as yourself”? and “Vengeance is mine says the Lord” What else could have given me the strength to say, like Jesus on the cross; “Lord forgive my enemies because they know not what they do”? Who could have helped me to pummel my flesh and bring it to the subjection of the Spirit of God?

My strength is in being filled with His Spirit and bearing the fruits of “Joy, love, faithfulness, kindness, longsuffering, peace, gentleness, goodness and self control.”

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The core aspect of the lifestyle of a good Christian is the knowledge that this world is not our home; we are just passing through according to the words of an old song by Albert E. Brumley. Our real home is in heaven. Jesus actually warned his disciples thus; “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6:19-20) Being modest helps the church to heed this counsel.

John the Apostle also wrote that “the world passes away and the lust in it” (1Jn2:17) Modesty, freedom from vanity and conceit is the bedrock of humility – a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As much as possible, Christians must be modest in all things at home, work and in the church, in thoughts, speech and words. The importance of modesty in the church environment shall be viewed under the following considerations: 

Role of the Church

The Church is the body of Christ, an organization Jesus left on earth to continue to spread his teachings. In the charge known as the great commission and recorded in Mt 28:19,20, Jesus said; “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Among other lessons, Jesus taught his disciples to be humble in all things and he also walked the talk. His family, birth, lifestyle, ministration and even death and burial were all wrapped in modesty. His focus throughout the thirty-three years He lived on earth was to do the work of God and complete it. Here is the calling of the church also, to follow in His footsteps and focus on showing the world the love of God. Paul says to the Ephesians “Be imitators of God” (Eph 5:1.)

God is love. Christ, the son of God is the head of the Church. For the church to imitate God whose body she is, she must also dwell in love and do all things in love. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul gave the flowing as major characteristics of love among others; “love  suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil” (1 Cor 13: 4,5)

Church building and décor

Today we have mega-churches with their world class architecture and tasty furnishings. Many times, the maintenance of these structures become a big job which consumes a lot of time and money. The maintenance becomes a major source of distraction from the ‘devotion to prayer and ministry of the word.’ Funds must be generated by all means to run this church turned real estate business and sadly, these are resources that should have been better utilized to cater for the poor and support the spread of the gospel just as the Apostles did in the first church.

Church organizational structure

Many churches are now run like big corporations with the General Overseers sitting as the CEOs. The organization is so vast and profit oriented that minds of the people have become distracted from the Scriptural values of abstinence, penitence, charity and modesty. District Pastors are given assessments at the beginning of the year and so they preach every possible kind of message that would coerce members to give money and other gifts. Well, their salaries and promotions are on the line. General Overseers now own airplanes in the same church where some members are not employed. The purchase cost and maintenance of these aircrafts is enough to establish cottage industries to give employment to members. Churches establish educational institutions and run it mainly on profits such that that the poor among them cannot afford to pay the fees.

Dressing and material possession

The prosperity teaching has made people to believe wrongly that show of affluence is a measure of spiritual attainment. The church environment has now turned to a place for fashion parade and exotic automobile display. This causes segregation among members and promotes deference to the rich and affluent. Herein is the truth in Solomon’s words recorded in Eccl 4:4 “Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.” There is envy, hatred and stealing in church today because everyone wants to be seen as success in the ways of the world. The poor are neglected, widows are not taken care of, and orphans are not given any considerations. The core business of Jesus, which is evangelism is not a burning issue but pursuit of money and comfort. People can spend all their lives pursuing wealth without having time for the Spiritual matters but so long as their tithe and freewill offering records are showing good figures, they are blessed by the leaders of the church. The more you can grab, the more recognition you get from church leaders whose ostentatious lifestyle teach that godliness is a means to get financial profit. Love of money rules the church now and Spirituality has disappeared simply because the environment reeks of immodesty.

Manner of speech and attitude

Out of the abundance of the mind the mouth speaks. The manner of speech and attitudes of leaders and congregants cannot promote modesty when the strings that bind them together are fashioned from conceit and vanity. If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do? Because the set of values have changed from the Apostles’ doctrines that promote holiness, love, penitence, compassion and charity, it is not uncommon today to hear fabulous testimonies of miracles. But if such claims are properly investigated one might find out that the supposed blessings of God were manipulated to give an air of Spiritual success and to further deceive more people to fall in.

Effect of Immodesty in the church

Paul warned the Galatians in Gal 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that he will also reap.” The effect of conceit and vanity in churches today is that the Spirit of God has departed from them. This is why churches are lukewarm and cannot record genuine revivals and conversion of souls. Churches now grow inwards rather than expanding like the growth recorded in the Acts of Apostles. When you see new members in churches today, they are already Christians who have come to visit their friends or relations, or workers on transfer to that location. If the church would return to the doctrines of the Apostles, we will also witness superb miracles like it happened in the days of the Apostles. Jesus is still working miracles but in environments conducive for him to do so.

 Threat to salvation

There awaits shocks in heaven. Immodesty might be threatening the salvation of many people. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers” This is Jesus warning to the churches in Mt 7:21-23

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Fear is an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger. It is usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight but at times fear can make the sufferer to remain idle. According to surveys, some of the most commonly feared objects are spiders, snakes, heights, water, enclosed spaces, tunnels and bridges, social rejection, failure, public speaking and death. However, the fear I want to write on here is the fear of the unseen or unknown and how God used a baby to teach me that most times, the fear of the unseen is baseless.

At the time this thing happened, my son Tayo was only two years and was yet crawling on all fours. We occupied a two bedroom flat. Tayo loved to follow his mummy about as she went through her house chores but he always had problems whenever the mother moved from the sitting room to the other sections of the house. There was a doorway which had a curtain but no door, linking the sitting room to the other parts. Tayo did not understand that the curtain was no barrier to him. Once he got there he would start crying and looking for help without trying anything. Many times, I had to help him lift the very light curtain before he could pass. But one day he was very excited and ran wildly on all fours past this same curtain. It was too late when he realized that he was not supposed to be able to make it after all but he had made it. He sat back, with the lower end of the curtain in his grasp laughing. He showed his pleasant surprise the best way a 2-year old could and his mother was no longer able to keep him in the sitting room again.

As I laughed with him that day my mind was busy reviewing Tayo’s initial dilemma and his current success. Tayo’s erstwhile fear of that curtain had been unfounded. It has kept him away from all the places he wanted to explore in the house, denying him good adventure and most importantly to him, keeping him from continually enjoying the company of his sweet mother.  But all he did to conquer this fear was just to try, albeit unplanned.  The lessons God used this episode to teach me are better captured in the wise sayings of the following notable people:

Marilyn Fergusson: “Ultimately we know deeply that on the other side of every fear is a freedom”

Jane Adams: “Our fears are traitors and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt”

Eleanor Roosevelt: “You must do the things you think you cannot do”

Marie Curie: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood”

Dorothy Simpson: “There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings”

How many times in my life had I nursed such fears as this toddler did? How many prospective good relationships have I lost uncultivated because of fear of rejection? How many good friends have I lost because I feared they would not forgive my sins if I asked them? How many times have I lost good opportunities to help others because I feared they might reject the offer? And how many helping hands have I ignored when all I could have done was to ask?

What is your fear? Is it fear of death? Are you afraid to sleep at night because of terrible nightmares? Are you afraid of enemies who have threatened to kill you? Are you in dread of unseen evil powers? Whatever be the object of your fear, here now what the Lord says as recorded by Prophet Isaiah in Isa 41:9-11;

“I took you from the ends of the earth; from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced;   those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.”

How could one qualify for this and other promises of God? It’s simply by becoming His child. If you are not yet a child of God, become one now by simply talking to Jesus and invite him to take over your heart. He hears you, just speak.

I wish to invite you to Helium where you ‘Learn what you need, share what you know‘

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Though I am going to write from an African’s perspective, yet I would like to start from the story of the very first woman, the mother of all. Eve was seen and accepted by Adam as “the bones of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. This gave ascent to God’s purpose of creating woman in the first instance, that is, to make a helpful partner for the man. It was to be that women would be submissive to their husbands and men would love their wives as their own bodies, and this is the height of chivalry, for God is love. Had man and woman remained in this purpose and intent of God, chivalry would not have become an effigy of itself today.

Since this time when man lost the glory of God, women have also lost their position of honor by man’s side and have become relegated under him. All the efforts of women to regain the lost status have been based on man’s devices but man is innately bad. The heart of man is desperately wicked (Jer 17:9).

The dearth of courtesy towards women has been a gradual thing through the ages. In the olden days here in Africa, our culture knitted a lot of courtesy into the fabric of society to protect women. For example, tying of nuptial knot was conducted between the two families with great respect and honor for the woman. In the first instance, the groom would dare not take the audacity to go toast his prospective bride. It would be regarded as height of discourtesy. Instead, he would get an intermediary to start the talk.

It is also part of the courteous treatment of women that the man would never think of having a carnal knowledge of her till their wedding night, after which if she was found chaste, there would be a lot of celebration in the bride’s family because their daughter has made them proud. In the groom’s house again, the woman would garner a lot of respect for being virtuous. Until a man gets married, almost everything about the ways of the opposite sex is a promising adventure, a vision he holds dear while he looks forward to the day it will be unraveled to him with ecstasy. Even after marriage certain things are still regarded as women affairs which he knows next to nothing about. These, among others build up the courtesy ascribed to women wherever man sees them.

In the family, children are taught a lot of good rhymes that are instructive of the honor to be given to mothers and women in general. For example, mothers are described as jewel of inestimable value for the sacrificial love shown children, carrying them in the womb for nine months and on the back for 3 years. In those days, there was no cradle. Babies were strapped on the back of their mothers. This helped to develop bonding and great respect for mothers, and by inference, women. In gatherings where both genders were present, women were given a lot of honors. Even today, have you noticed how a group of male folks would keep silent, and be of good behaviors, if only to impress, as soon as a lady shows up?

Women were found mostly in trades and crafts that allowed them to fully maintain their roles as wives, mothers, and housekeepers. These roles in turn fetch for them great respect and admiration from their men and children. But the foregoing were mere samples of what obtained before the rot set in.

Perhaps one of the earliest enemies of chivalry was polygamy. What courtesy could a man claim to have for a woman he sees as mere vessel for bearing children or to satisfy his sexual urges? But these two factors among many have been the major motivations for men to marry more than one wife. In a polygamous setting, a woman loses her voice and right to talk. She doesn’t have an exclusive right to her husband’s body.  Even the girls among the children are raised with the feeling that they are inferior to the boys because they all live in a male chauvinistic environment promoted by polygamy.

Economic crisis, civilization and advancement in technology have contributed their quotas. Now,  women compete seriously with  men in all fields of endeavor, which is  a good thing, but is at the same time robbing them of their natural position as revered mothers, dutiful housewives, and doting partners that are always present to offer support and even shoulders for the men to cry on. Women are fast losing their softness. Now they are hardly at home to teach the boys how to show courtesy and to teach the girls what to do to receive courtesy. The foundation blocks of chivalry become weak right from the homes where they are being molded.

Women have even lunched a war against their God endowed womanly shapes. God gave them that dignifying shape with sufficient flesh in the right places, to bring poise, beauty, softness and sexuality, while at the same time affording them the ease to carry and nurse babies conveniently. Nowadays, majority of them want to appear straight and dry like men because some advertisers have said that’s the good shape to be in. They starve themselves in the name of dieting and undergo dangerous surgeries to reverse nature.

One of the worst factors is the skimpy dresses that women folk have now held dear. It is almost bothering on madness. Provocative dressing has become a big threat to the little remaining respect and honor given to the women folk. When a woman exposes her alluring body parts she is advertising herself as a sex object and the natural result of that is the current increase in rape and assault incidences. It is also one of the fuel driving prostitution and women trafficking trade. The media are also culpable. Almost every product advertisement on the tube and in print has one degrading photograph of women or the other and this goes a long way to indoctrinate the society in the wrong direction, most especially the youths.

An average youth today can only define chivalry in terms of standing up for the ladies to sit in class or in a crowded bus, opening the car door for their girlfriends on their first date and to call ladies first before the men in a social gathering as in “Ladies and gentlemen”. But chivalry is more than these outward shows. It is an etiquette which, sadly to say, is now comatose.

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Jephthah’s call was not something you’d call supernatural when compared to Gideon’s, Barak’s and Samson’s but it was nonetheless supernatural. The people had gone apostate again and God sold them into the hands of the Philistines whose gods Israel had started worshipping. They cried to God and he heard them. “And the elders of Gilead said to one another, “who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead” Judg 10:18. This is how God made Jephthah a Judge in Israel. Read the full story in Judges Chapter 11.

I am concerned with Jepthah’s vow here: And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.“. (Judg 11:30,31 KJV). Why did the Lord’s anointed make a vow which caused him and his family sorrow afterwards? Surely, the resultant bitterness of heart was not in the plan of God whose blessing “makes one rich and he does not add sorrow to it” Prov 10:22. Here are a few suggestions as to why a typical Jephthah among us today might make such vows:

·        To show we are very religious

·        Trying to induce God to do our request

·        To try to earn/buy  God’s grace

·        Desperation

·        Bending to undue influence of others

These reasons and many more like them are elicited unbelief and ignorance of who God is. Vow is voluntary token or service pledged to God in anticipation of an answered prayer. It might also be a promise to abstain from something. It is preparation to receive, and never the reason for God’s blessings. In making a vow, we should plan carefully lest we become distraught at pay time.

Many Preachers presents a situation that looks like God is broke and in need of a bailout. Paul wrote this about them: “…their god is their stomach….” Phil 3:19. They readily quote Hannah’s vow in 1Sam 1:11. One fact they are missing is that Hannah’s prayer life had matured from the selfish to the selfless and, in her sufferings, her need and God’s became convergent.

At a typical Harvest thanksgiving or building fund-raising services for example, a lot of drama is enacted. After a gripping pulpit homily on giving, these tricksters might say something like “God just told me He wants to give embarrassing blessings to someone here. He needs people who could give one million naira to this building fund. Be on your feet if you are the one God is about to bless” Then, applause as ‘able’ brethren rise. “Eight hundred thousand!” the announcement goes again. This subtle pressure might go down steadily even to “one thousand naira!” Many who are pressured to pledge this way often lament like Jephthah at pay time “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me!….” Judg 11:35.

Jephthah accused his daughter wrongly. But in your own case, you would be at fault as much as the false teacher because you have not studied the word of God yourself to know the truth. In the kingdom of God, for tangible offerings and services, the principles of giving are:

1.   “Give and it will be given to you…… the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” Lk 6:38,  

2.   “He who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully, so let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” 2Cor 9:6,7

3.   “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?” Eccl 5:4,5

Why befoul your garments of righteousness with careless vows like Jephthah’s?

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