Idah Peterside, the Nigerian ex international who is a soccer analyst on DSTV has added another feather to his cap.
The former Eagles goal keeper retired in South Africa and started a church there while also working for Multichoice, the owners of DSTV as a commentator on Supersport.
After the 2010 World Cup, he relinquished the job of a spokesman of the Super Eagles, saying that he needed time to concentrate more on his church, The Christ Ambassador Church in Johannesburg which he said was “touching many lives.”
Peterside informed yesterday that Christ Ambassador Church has established a cable television station named ATV. Said he:
“It is a Christian Television and it is on DSTV in South Africa. It is received in Australia, UK, parts of Europe like Spain and some Sub Sahara Africa. We do programmes on Gospel, lifestyle, Comedy and a few other things. We may add sports to it in a way soon.
Christ Ambassador Church is gowing and one of the biggest in South Africa. God has been faithful to us. When I look back to my humble background I can’t believe what is happening. God is awesome.''
Showing posts with label Worship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worship. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Deeper Life Bible Church: 40 years after
By Banji Ojewale
To be honest, I think we failed (William Folorunsho) Kumuyi when he was so serious about Bible Study---Primate Joseph Abiodun Adetilo-ye (1929-2012)
GOD planted Deeper Life Bible Church and asked William Folorunsho Kumuyi to tend it. Very much like the Edenic story: God organized a garden and put Adam in charge.
The young evangelist and Mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos insisted that God sent him to deliver nothing but the face value of the Bible he held as his authority. Few people took him seriously.
God broke the deadlock in August 1973 when Kumuyi, still teaching, started a Bible Study Group in his official Flat 2 residence at Unilag. The 15-member team met every Monday under the leadership of William Folorunsho Kumuyi. Here, he sowed the seed of what God has turned into a huge church straddling all of Nigeria and reaching outwards across Africa and to several dozens of nations all over Planet Earth.
What he taught principally on Day One – holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, consistent Christian living with moment-by-moment victory over temptation and sin, opposition to worldliness, absolute trust in God’s promises in the Bible no matter the spiritual or physical challenges, humility (inward and outward), the infallibility of the Bible – is still what Deeper Life Bible Church stands for four decades after it broke into existence.
Kumuyi stormed the scene at age 32 with a new distinctive and radical face of evangelism. He did this mainly through two approaches: First, in his preaching, he rejected the formalism he met on the ground. Secondly, he added a simplicity, humility and a practicality of the gospel. Those 15 who started with him perceived a fresh liberating breath and spread the news of the man in Flat 2.
Pastor Philip Oluwi, now among the pillars of DLBC, says: “I was anxious to have a deeper knowledge of God. All along I wasn’t satisfied with what I was receiving from the churches. A friend told me about the Deeper Life Bible Study…so in January 1975, we went together to Flat 2. After the Bible Study that night, I knew I had arrived at where I really wanted to be.”
That same year, membership of the Bible Study Group had jumped to over 1,500, emboldening Kumuyi to organize the first Deeper Life Retreat in December 1975. It was only a few months after the members had thanked God for the second anniversary of the “church”. It was held at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos. Free food along with accommodation was provided by members of the DLBC. Kumuyi wasn’t married so he pumped in a large chunk of his salary as a lecturer into the till of the Study Group. He encouraged the others to do likewise “so that nobody missed an opportunity of hearing the gospel because of financial hardship.”
In 1979, Kumuyi was invited to lead a crusade in Ghana. The trip gave birth to a Deeper Life Bible Study Fellowship in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city with about 30 members. Here in the church’s incipient years, Kumuyi sold his car to help the church in Ghana grow.
Following those spurts of internal and external expansion of DLBC, there arose a conflict between Kumuyi’s followers and the formal churches. After receiving their teaching at Flat 2 and other cells that had emerged, Deeper Life members would head back to their churches on Sunday since the Study Group did not have such Sunday worship. His own church ex-communicated him in 1977 because it did not accept the way his Study Group carried out personal evangelism. The same (or worse) fate was the lot of several others who attended the Study Group. In the case of a couple the pastor of their church slapped the husband after failing to convince them that Deeper Life “was not good and the (Kumuyi) people were fanatical.”
That was how in November 1982, the Study Group began the Sunday worship service.
DLBC has over the years brushed aside criticisms to emerge a focused church. Flat 2 has given way to sprawling worldwide headquarters at Gbagada, Lagos. It is costing some N3 billion.
The recent years have seen DLBC beckon on internet technology to support the spread of the gospel. Many have criticized Deeper Life for its use of the TV system and internet for transmitting its programs especially the Monday Bible Study, saying Kumuyi is back-pedaling on his alleged hostility to members watching TV or owning a TV set at home. I do not think Pastor Kumuyi ever sweepingly denounced the TV as evil on its own. But he has warned of the danger of watching its programmes indiscriminately. I still have in my possession the recording of a 1999 TV interview where he spoke of his position on the matter.
If Pastor Kumuyi has given so much to Deeper Life Bible Church, it would be inconceivable and a run against healthy relationships that his brothers and sisters in the church have not in return given him some treasurable heritage. They have offered him the dominant grey hair that is his trademark now.
For me, the white strands constitute an adumbration of the crown waiting for him hereafter by the Mercy of God.
Long before Nigeria arrived at the present impasse, DLBC had set forth a way of escape from the doom. Kumuyi declared: “When we started the Bible Study, for me it was strange---women wearing slacks and using jewelry and lipstick. So I would teach them that a born-again Christian sister does not dress that way. Being born-again affects everything that you do in life. Then you have seen the lifestyle in Nigeria: the bribery, corruption, unpunctuality, falsifying accounts (when you get to a place of work at 8.00 a.m., you write that you got there at 7:30 a.m.). Now the only way to correct all these things was to say; ‘If you say you are a Christian, indicate the exact time you get to the office…If you get there at 9.00, put 9.00. If you resume at 9.00 and you put 8.00, you are lying and a Christian should not lie’; that way the lives of the people became changed…if you were cheating your employers before you will restore…At the bus-stop or anywhere people in Nigeria normally wouldn’t queue but just push…But we w
ould teach our own members that if you say you are a Christian, take your place, do unto others as you want them do unto you. Somebody got there before you therefore queue up.”
This is the pith of the spiritual revolution DLBC brought.
The church has helped the people conquer evil habits like prostitution, gangsterism, drug abuse, alcoholism, corruption, spousal infidelity, embezzlement, juvenal delinquency, workplace misdemeanors etc.
The implacable atheist and social critic, late Dr. Tai Solarin, whose Mayflower School, Kumuyi attended, visited the evangelist and applauded him for his steadfast stand on morality and exemplary leadership as a pastor.
DLBC has been unrelenting in its drive for building sound doctrine and a life of righteousness in its members despite a series of severe setbacks.
Pastor Kumuyi still preaches in his now familiar style of deliberately delivering a concatenation of alliterations. He is such a delight to listen to or watch that most times you are in quandary what to concentrate on: the alliteration or the message!
In his book, Discourse, Politics and the 1993 Presidential Election Campaigns in Nigeria, Dr. Tunde Opeibi submits that the use of alliteration is a powerful “stylistic device” of language.
It is impossible for such a pastor and his flock not to engender a web of myths as it is with all great men and institutions. A sister in the church said Pastor Kumuyi is Jesus Christ who has come back and that he is only pretending to be man! Another has surmised that Pastor Kumuyi was there when God was writing the Bible!
To bring Kumuyi closer to his brothers and sisters, DLBC has lately begun a programme (every third weekend of the month) where the pastor delivers multiple breakthrough sermons from Saturday evening through Sunday morning. It’s a menu of miracles. I believe this programme, combining at a go all what DLBC has stood for in 40 years---personal conviction of salvation, inward and outward holiness, revival, a heavenly focus, divine healing and provision---presages a future driven by the foundation of the past. What does this mean? Simply, it says that while Deeper Life may have undertaken some tactical concessions it has not and does not plan to yield strategic ground.
Pastor Kumuyi himself has considered the matter. He once told a Ghanaian journalist: “…In Deeper Life we do have a united voice…After I leave, the way Deeper Life is…it will stand. And even if I were not there, things would still go on. That’s the way the Lord has built us.”
To be honest, I think we failed (William Folorunsho) Kumuyi when he was so serious about Bible Study---Primate Joseph Abiodun Adetilo-ye (1929-2012)
GOD planted Deeper Life Bible Church and asked William Folorunsho Kumuyi to tend it. Very much like the Edenic story: God organized a garden and put Adam in charge.
The young evangelist and Mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos insisted that God sent him to deliver nothing but the face value of the Bible he held as his authority. Few people took him seriously.
God broke the deadlock in August 1973 when Kumuyi, still teaching, started a Bible Study Group in his official Flat 2 residence at Unilag. The 15-member team met every Monday under the leadership of William Folorunsho Kumuyi. Here, he sowed the seed of what God has turned into a huge church straddling all of Nigeria and reaching outwards across Africa and to several dozens of nations all over Planet Earth.
What he taught principally on Day One – holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, consistent Christian living with moment-by-moment victory over temptation and sin, opposition to worldliness, absolute trust in God’s promises in the Bible no matter the spiritual or physical challenges, humility (inward and outward), the infallibility of the Bible – is still what Deeper Life Bible Church stands for four decades after it broke into existence.
Kumuyi stormed the scene at age 32 with a new distinctive and radical face of evangelism. He did this mainly through two approaches: First, in his preaching, he rejected the formalism he met on the ground. Secondly, he added a simplicity, humility and a practicality of the gospel. Those 15 who started with him perceived a fresh liberating breath and spread the news of the man in Flat 2.
Pastor Philip Oluwi, now among the pillars of DLBC, says: “I was anxious to have a deeper knowledge of God. All along I wasn’t satisfied with what I was receiving from the churches. A friend told me about the Deeper Life Bible Study…so in January 1975, we went together to Flat 2. After the Bible Study that night, I knew I had arrived at where I really wanted to be.”
That same year, membership of the Bible Study Group had jumped to over 1,500, emboldening Kumuyi to organize the first Deeper Life Retreat in December 1975. It was only a few months after the members had thanked God for the second anniversary of the “church”. It was held at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos. Free food along with accommodation was provided by members of the DLBC. Kumuyi wasn’t married so he pumped in a large chunk of his salary as a lecturer into the till of the Study Group. He encouraged the others to do likewise “so that nobody missed an opportunity of hearing the gospel because of financial hardship.”
In 1979, Kumuyi was invited to lead a crusade in Ghana. The trip gave birth to a Deeper Life Bible Study Fellowship in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city with about 30 members. Here in the church’s incipient years, Kumuyi sold his car to help the church in Ghana grow.
Following those spurts of internal and external expansion of DLBC, there arose a conflict between Kumuyi’s followers and the formal churches. After receiving their teaching at Flat 2 and other cells that had emerged, Deeper Life members would head back to their churches on Sunday since the Study Group did not have such Sunday worship. His own church ex-communicated him in 1977 because it did not accept the way his Study Group carried out personal evangelism. The same (or worse) fate was the lot of several others who attended the Study Group. In the case of a couple the pastor of their church slapped the husband after failing to convince them that Deeper Life “was not good and the (Kumuyi) people were fanatical.”
That was how in November 1982, the Study Group began the Sunday worship service.
DLBC has over the years brushed aside criticisms to emerge a focused church. Flat 2 has given way to sprawling worldwide headquarters at Gbagada, Lagos. It is costing some N3 billion.
The recent years have seen DLBC beckon on internet technology to support the spread of the gospel. Many have criticized Deeper Life for its use of the TV system and internet for transmitting its programs especially the Monday Bible Study, saying Kumuyi is back-pedaling on his alleged hostility to members watching TV or owning a TV set at home. I do not think Pastor Kumuyi ever sweepingly denounced the TV as evil on its own. But he has warned of the danger of watching its programmes indiscriminately. I still have in my possession the recording of a 1999 TV interview where he spoke of his position on the matter.
If Pastor Kumuyi has given so much to Deeper Life Bible Church, it would be inconceivable and a run against healthy relationships that his brothers and sisters in the church have not in return given him some treasurable heritage. They have offered him the dominant grey hair that is his trademark now.
For me, the white strands constitute an adumbration of the crown waiting for him hereafter by the Mercy of God.
Long before Nigeria arrived at the present impasse, DLBC had set forth a way of escape from the doom. Kumuyi declared: “When we started the Bible Study, for me it was strange---women wearing slacks and using jewelry and lipstick. So I would teach them that a born-again Christian sister does not dress that way. Being born-again affects everything that you do in life. Then you have seen the lifestyle in Nigeria: the bribery, corruption, unpunctuality, falsifying accounts (when you get to a place of work at 8.00 a.m., you write that you got there at 7:30 a.m.). Now the only way to correct all these things was to say; ‘If you say you are a Christian, indicate the exact time you get to the office…If you get there at 9.00, put 9.00. If you resume at 9.00 and you put 8.00, you are lying and a Christian should not lie’; that way the lives of the people became changed…if you were cheating your employers before you will restore…At the bus-stop or anywhere people in Nigeria normally wouldn’t queue but just push…But we w
ould teach our own members that if you say you are a Christian, take your place, do unto others as you want them do unto you. Somebody got there before you therefore queue up.”
This is the pith of the spiritual revolution DLBC brought.
The church has helped the people conquer evil habits like prostitution, gangsterism, drug abuse, alcoholism, corruption, spousal infidelity, embezzlement, juvenal delinquency, workplace misdemeanors etc.
The implacable atheist and social critic, late Dr. Tai Solarin, whose Mayflower School, Kumuyi attended, visited the evangelist and applauded him for his steadfast stand on morality and exemplary leadership as a pastor.
DLBC has been unrelenting in its drive for building sound doctrine and a life of righteousness in its members despite a series of severe setbacks.
Pastor Kumuyi still preaches in his now familiar style of deliberately delivering a concatenation of alliterations. He is such a delight to listen to or watch that most times you are in quandary what to concentrate on: the alliteration or the message!
In his book, Discourse, Politics and the 1993 Presidential Election Campaigns in Nigeria, Dr. Tunde Opeibi submits that the use of alliteration is a powerful “stylistic device” of language.
It is impossible for such a pastor and his flock not to engender a web of myths as it is with all great men and institutions. A sister in the church said Pastor Kumuyi is Jesus Christ who has come back and that he is only pretending to be man! Another has surmised that Pastor Kumuyi was there when God was writing the Bible!
To bring Kumuyi closer to his brothers and sisters, DLBC has lately begun a programme (every third weekend of the month) where the pastor delivers multiple breakthrough sermons from Saturday evening through Sunday morning. It’s a menu of miracles. I believe this programme, combining at a go all what DLBC has stood for in 40 years---personal conviction of salvation, inward and outward holiness, revival, a heavenly focus, divine healing and provision---presages a future driven by the foundation of the past. What does this mean? Simply, it says that while Deeper Life may have undertaken some tactical concessions it has not and does not plan to yield strategic ground.
Pastor Kumuyi himself has considered the matter. He once told a Ghanaian journalist: “…In Deeper Life we do have a united voice…After I leave, the way Deeper Life is…it will stand. And even if I were not there, things would still go on. That’s the way the Lord has built us.”
New Methodist Church prelate emerges today
By SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA
INTENSE intercessory prayers, horse trading and highwire politicking which began some weeks ago will today dovetail into the election of a new prelate who will pilot the affairs of the Methodist Church Nigeria for the next five years.
The polls will take place at the Williams Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Ebute-Metta, Lagos Central Diocese of the church with the outgoing prelate, Most Rev. Sunday Ola-tunji Amos Makinde who was inaugurated on November 12, 2006 at Trinity Methodist Church, Tinubu, Lagos, presiding.
Sources close to the church told our reporter yesterday that there will be two services today; the first one starting at about 8.00 a.m. and the second which is the main event of the day, when the election is expected to hold, will be an exclusive affair with only invited guests in attendance.
The morning service which may drag till around midday will be headlined by the ordination of some persons as priests. Our source said 145 persons would be elected priests while eight members of the church will be elevated to the rank of deaconnesses. That service will be followed by a series of very crucial meetings before the conclave, otherwise known as the Electoral College, when all non-members are expected to vacate the auditorium.
Unlike the Catholic Church Conclave, there will not be smokes---black or white---to indicate successful election but none of the members of the Electoral College would leave the venue until a new prelate who will take the church to a new height emerges.
Feelers reaching our desk during the week suggest that a number of persons are gunning for the coveted post of prelate but the three front-liners who are above the age of 60 with intimidating credentials remain the candidates to beat.
They include the Archbishop of Umuahia, Most Rev. Sunday Ikechukwu Agwu. Born on December 1, 1952, he joined the church in 1974 and was commissioned in 1982.
The second is the Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev. Michael Kehinde Stephen who was born on April 8, 1949. He joined the church in 1971 and was commissioned in 1974. Our source says that Stephen served as Conference Secretary for about 10 years under the Prelate Emeritus Sunday Mbang.
The third front runner is the Archbishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Samuel C.K. Uche. Born on January 29, 1953, he joined the mission in 1976 and was commissioned in 1979.
Whoever emerges prelate at the 44th special conference of the church later this evening shall be installed on October 10 as the ecclesiastical, priestly, pastoral head of the church. He shall exercise pastoral and spiritual oversight over the whole church and to this end, he is expected to visit archdioceses and dioceses and such circuit in each diocese as time and opportunity allow.
Whoever emerges today will determine the choice of the next Secretary to the Conference in accordance with an unwritten zoning formula which says that the two most coveted positions in the church should be rotated between the South West and the South East where the church has firm root.
INTENSE intercessory prayers, horse trading and highwire politicking which began some weeks ago will today dovetail into the election of a new prelate who will pilot the affairs of the Methodist Church Nigeria for the next five years.
The polls will take place at the Williams Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Ebute-Metta, Lagos Central Diocese of the church with the outgoing prelate, Most Rev. Sunday Ola-tunji Amos Makinde who was inaugurated on November 12, 2006 at Trinity Methodist Church, Tinubu, Lagos, presiding.
Sources close to the church told our reporter yesterday that there will be two services today; the first one starting at about 8.00 a.m. and the second which is the main event of the day, when the election is expected to hold, will be an exclusive affair with only invited guests in attendance.
The morning service which may drag till around midday will be headlined by the ordination of some persons as priests. Our source said 145 persons would be elected priests while eight members of the church will be elevated to the rank of deaconnesses. That service will be followed by a series of very crucial meetings before the conclave, otherwise known as the Electoral College, when all non-members are expected to vacate the auditorium.
Unlike the Catholic Church Conclave, there will not be smokes---black or white---to indicate successful election but none of the members of the Electoral College would leave the venue until a new prelate who will take the church to a new height emerges.
Feelers reaching our desk during the week suggest that a number of persons are gunning for the coveted post of prelate but the three front-liners who are above the age of 60 with intimidating credentials remain the candidates to beat.
They include the Archbishop of Umuahia, Most Rev. Sunday Ikechukwu Agwu. Born on December 1, 1952, he joined the church in 1974 and was commissioned in 1982.
The second is the Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev. Michael Kehinde Stephen who was born on April 8, 1949. He joined the church in 1971 and was commissioned in 1974. Our source says that Stephen served as Conference Secretary for about 10 years under the Prelate Emeritus Sunday Mbang.
The third front runner is the Archbishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Samuel C.K. Uche. Born on January 29, 1953, he joined the mission in 1976 and was commissioned in 1979.
Whoever emerges prelate at the 44th special conference of the church later this evening shall be installed on October 10 as the ecclesiastical, priestly, pastoral head of the church. He shall exercise pastoral and spiritual oversight over the whole church and to this end, he is expected to visit archdioceses and dioceses and such circuit in each diocese as time and opportunity allow.
Whoever emerges today will determine the choice of the next Secretary to the Conference in accordance with an unwritten zoning formula which says that the two most coveted positions in the church should be rotated between the South West and the South East where the church has firm root.
Friday, 26 July 2013
Lean not on your own understanding
By Johnson Omomadia
We believe that God wants to move your life to a new realm that you have never experienced. As you read this message, please try not to reason it out or rationalize it. Just accept it and you will see God’s manifestation in your life as you begin to apply it.
Our main text will be taken from Prov. 3:5. “trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding”. The text started by saying that we should trust in the Lord. To trust means, to believe, to depend on, and to have absolute confidence in someone.
This means that the one you trust must be the one that cannot fail. The word Lord implies Master, meaning the one that is in absolute control of circumstances. From this little definition, we can see that, when the bible says that we should trust in the Lord, we are been told that God is trustworthy and that you can depend on Him. He always does what He promises (see I Kings 8:56).
The text also says we should trust God with all of our heart because, the heart of man is the spirit of man, and the spirit of man is the life of man. Therefore, it is expected of man to trust God with his whole heart and not part of his heart. God demands a 100% trust.
The God, who said you should trust Him, knows you better than you know yourself. He knows all that concerns you and knows your end. Remember that he created you and has a plan for your life. He said His plan for you is of peace and not of evil and to get you to an expected end (Jer. 29:11).
God has the solution for your every need and knows exactly what to do in every situation. Ps. 34:19, says “many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord, delivereth him out of them all”.
Who is it then that gives deliverance? The bible says it is the Lord. Unless the Lord builds the city, they that build, builds in vain. No matter how much you try to get delivered from those afflictions on your own, you will find out that the more you try on your own the more difficult it gets, for by strength shall no man prevail.
Has God instructed you to do something and it seems to make no sense? Listen, 1Cor. 1:27, says, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty”.
Know for a surety that God is the Alpha and Omega. He is the beginning and the end. Whether God’s word makes sense or not, it is only in your doing it that God’s word can become real. Stop depending on what you think or what your circumstances might be saying or suggesting. Your circumstances are temporary and subject to change while God’s word that is eternal is not subject to change for it is already settled in heaven.
In IIKings 5, the bible talks about a man by name Namaan, the Captain of the host of the king of Syria, who the Lord used to give deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. His maid recommended that he meets with God’s Prophet Elisha, who will be able to help him.
When he got to the place of God’s prophet, the prophet of God sent a messenger unto him, saying, go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee. But Namaan was wroth and went away and said behold I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper.
You can see from Namaan’s reaction that God’s instruction usually do not make sense. He wanted things done in a particular way. However, he was persuaded to obey God’s prophet and when he did he got the desired result. What would have happened if he had walked away leaning on his own understanding?
He would have remained a leper. Are you leaning on your own understanding right now? No matter what the challenge is, please surrender it to the will of God. God’s victory will manifest as you follow and obey His word. God bless you and bless our great nation Nigeria.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.
We believe that God wants to move your life to a new realm that you have never experienced. As you read this message, please try not to reason it out or rationalize it. Just accept it and you will see God’s manifestation in your life as you begin to apply it.
Our main text will be taken from Prov. 3:5. “trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding”. The text started by saying that we should trust in the Lord. To trust means, to believe, to depend on, and to have absolute confidence in someone.
This means that the one you trust must be the one that cannot fail. The word Lord implies Master, meaning the one that is in absolute control of circumstances. From this little definition, we can see that, when the bible says that we should trust in the Lord, we are been told that God is trustworthy and that you can depend on Him. He always does what He promises (see I Kings 8:56).
The text also says we should trust God with all of our heart because, the heart of man is the spirit of man, and the spirit of man is the life of man. Therefore, it is expected of man to trust God with his whole heart and not part of his heart. God demands a 100% trust.
The God, who said you should trust Him, knows you better than you know yourself. He knows all that concerns you and knows your end. Remember that he created you and has a plan for your life. He said His plan for you is of peace and not of evil and to get you to an expected end (Jer. 29:11).
God has the solution for your every need and knows exactly what to do in every situation. Ps. 34:19, says “many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord, delivereth him out of them all”.
Who is it then that gives deliverance? The bible says it is the Lord. Unless the Lord builds the city, they that build, builds in vain. No matter how much you try to get delivered from those afflictions on your own, you will find out that the more you try on your own the more difficult it gets, for by strength shall no man prevail.
Has God instructed you to do something and it seems to make no sense? Listen, 1Cor. 1:27, says, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty”.
Know for a surety that God is the Alpha and Omega. He is the beginning and the end. Whether God’s word makes sense or not, it is only in your doing it that God’s word can become real. Stop depending on what you think or what your circumstances might be saying or suggesting. Your circumstances are temporary and subject to change while God’s word that is eternal is not subject to change for it is already settled in heaven.
In IIKings 5, the bible talks about a man by name Namaan, the Captain of the host of the king of Syria, who the Lord used to give deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. His maid recommended that he meets with God’s Prophet Elisha, who will be able to help him.
When he got to the place of God’s prophet, the prophet of God sent a messenger unto him, saying, go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee. But Namaan was wroth and went away and said behold I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper.
You can see from Namaan’s reaction that God’s instruction usually do not make sense. He wanted things done in a particular way. However, he was persuaded to obey God’s prophet and when he did he got the desired result. What would have happened if he had walked away leaning on his own understanding?
He would have remained a leper. Are you leaning on your own understanding right now? No matter what the challenge is, please surrender it to the will of God. God’s victory will manifest as you follow and obey His word. God bless you and bless our great nation Nigeria.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.
Friday, 19 July 2013
Divine intervention
By Johnson Omomadia
No matter how bad your case may be, it can still be changed for good. Everything that has a beginning surely has an end.
The only thing that has no beginning and an end is God Himself. This is why He is called the unchangeable changer. I see Him intervening in your situation in the name of Jesus. You will laugh again. God is not through with you just yet. He is working things out for your good.
I declare to you that by the mighty power of God, all your enemies will be put to shame. With your eyes will you behold the reward of the wicked? Pharoah said who is the Lord that I should let the children of Israel go, so that they can worship Him (Exo. 5:2)? Pharaoh thought he had all power and that he was the all and all. He had no respect for God who created him. He forgot that the creature can never be greater than the Creator. He was so full of confidence that no one can free the isrealites from his domain. This year, your mockers and enemies will congratulate you in Jesus name.
Beloved, refuse to fret about that situation. The devil cannot defeat you forever. Something in you that they do not know that exist in you will spring forth this year. The God of heaven and earth will intervene on your behalf. The God who makes all things beautiful in His time will beautify your life. He is working in your favour and all the pharaohs working against your glorious destiny shall be disgraced. Sometimes God will wait until when the devil says there is no way of escape and then He (God) shows up to deliver you because He is the way. This God that said He will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the deserts will make a way for you. Fear not, God knows how to turn things around.
Imagine pharaoh saying who is God? Thank God that God revealed Himself to pharaoh. Everything in your life that is asking who is God shall experience the awesomeness of Jehovah God Almighty. Just as God disgraced pharaoh openly, so shall God deal with your enemies? Know that all power belongs to Him. Psalms 66:3, says, “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee”. There is no power that can contend with the power of the one who created the heavens and the earth.
Pharaoh thought there was no power greater than his power. Today we know better. This is why I say to you that anyone that has tied up your destiny will be destroyed by the power of the Almighty. You will have the last laugh those who told blind Bartimeaus to shut up were the same people that came to tell him be of good cheer. God will surprise you this year. God will supernaturally intervene for you. In your office, marriage, family, career etc where things are contrary to the will of God for you, the mercies of God will bring about a glorious change for you. Know for a surety that God will never forget nor forsake you. You are still in His plans and your end shall be glorious.
I want you to rejoice and again I say rejoice. In Luke chapter 5, Peter went to catch fish and caught nothing. At the close of business he met with Jesus who requested to use Peter’s boat. Peter obliged Him. When Jesus was through with the boat He intervened in Peter’s business and Peter experienced the kind of miracles that he has never experienced before. You see, when God intervenes in your life, the past shame, sorrow, pain, humiliation, etc will be nothing. Whatever you may have experienced last year is nothing compared to what God have in store for you this year. Yhere will be exceeding great joy in your life never experienced before. It will amaze mankind. Get ready, this God that turns around hopeless situations around is saying to you today that He will divinely intervene and your years of tears of pain will turn to tears of joy. Please know that this is but nothing to God.
Before we end today’s message, I would like to draw your attention to two (2) things. One (1), the children of Isreal cried (prayed)out to God for divine intervention. Stop being dignified and humble yourself before God and He will raise you up. Secondly, Peter gave Jesus his boat to use to minister to the people. What are you willing to give to God? Give Him ur house for house fellowship, sponsor a programme in the church, sow into the life of your pastor. Apply these principles and you will encounter God’s divine intervention. Know that God is not a respecter of persons. What He did yesterday, He can do today and much more.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.
No matter how bad your case may be, it can still be changed for good. Everything that has a beginning surely has an end.
The only thing that has no beginning and an end is God Himself. This is why He is called the unchangeable changer. I see Him intervening in your situation in the name of Jesus. You will laugh again. God is not through with you just yet. He is working things out for your good.
I declare to you that by the mighty power of God, all your enemies will be put to shame. With your eyes will you behold the reward of the wicked? Pharoah said who is the Lord that I should let the children of Israel go, so that they can worship Him (Exo. 5:2)? Pharaoh thought he had all power and that he was the all and all. He had no respect for God who created him. He forgot that the creature can never be greater than the Creator. He was so full of confidence that no one can free the isrealites from his domain. This year, your mockers and enemies will congratulate you in Jesus name.
Beloved, refuse to fret about that situation. The devil cannot defeat you forever. Something in you that they do not know that exist in you will spring forth this year. The God of heaven and earth will intervene on your behalf. The God who makes all things beautiful in His time will beautify your life. He is working in your favour and all the pharaohs working against your glorious destiny shall be disgraced. Sometimes God will wait until when the devil says there is no way of escape and then He (God) shows up to deliver you because He is the way. This God that said He will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the deserts will make a way for you. Fear not, God knows how to turn things around.
Imagine pharaoh saying who is God? Thank God that God revealed Himself to pharaoh. Everything in your life that is asking who is God shall experience the awesomeness of Jehovah God Almighty. Just as God disgraced pharaoh openly, so shall God deal with your enemies? Know that all power belongs to Him. Psalms 66:3, says, “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee”. There is no power that can contend with the power of the one who created the heavens and the earth.
Pharaoh thought there was no power greater than his power. Today we know better. This is why I say to you that anyone that has tied up your destiny will be destroyed by the power of the Almighty. You will have the last laugh those who told blind Bartimeaus to shut up were the same people that came to tell him be of good cheer. God will surprise you this year. God will supernaturally intervene for you. In your office, marriage, family, career etc where things are contrary to the will of God for you, the mercies of God will bring about a glorious change for you. Know for a surety that God will never forget nor forsake you. You are still in His plans and your end shall be glorious.
I want you to rejoice and again I say rejoice. In Luke chapter 5, Peter went to catch fish and caught nothing. At the close of business he met with Jesus who requested to use Peter’s boat. Peter obliged Him. When Jesus was through with the boat He intervened in Peter’s business and Peter experienced the kind of miracles that he has never experienced before. You see, when God intervenes in your life, the past shame, sorrow, pain, humiliation, etc will be nothing. Whatever you may have experienced last year is nothing compared to what God have in store for you this year. Yhere will be exceeding great joy in your life never experienced before. It will amaze mankind. Get ready, this God that turns around hopeless situations around is saying to you today that He will divinely intervene and your years of tears of pain will turn to tears of joy. Please know that this is but nothing to God.
Before we end today’s message, I would like to draw your attention to two (2) things. One (1), the children of Isreal cried (prayed)out to God for divine intervention. Stop being dignified and humble yourself before God and He will raise you up. Secondly, Peter gave Jesus his boat to use to minister to the people. What are you willing to give to God? Give Him ur house for house fellowship, sponsor a programme in the church, sow into the life of your pastor. Apply these principles and you will encounter God’s divine intervention. Know that God is not a respecter of persons. What He did yesterday, He can do today and much more.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Don condemns N335m budget for bishop's consecration
By Sam Eyoboka
A FEW days after the installation of a Catholic bishop for the university town of Nsukka in Enugu State, a senior lecturer with the University of Nigeria in the town, Dr. Tony Nwaezeigwe has expressed displeasure over the huge budget expended on the pro-ject, accusing the church lead-ership of insensitivity.
Dr. Nwaezeigwe, a Senior Research Fellow at UNN’s Institute of African Studies, wondered why the Catholic Church which often frowns at the high level corruption in the current government should budget a whooping N335 million for the installation of a new bishop for Nsukka Diocese.
[caption id="attachment_403129" align="alignnone" width="412"]
*Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah of Nsukka Diocese being crowned by His Eminence, John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan. PHOTO: HILL EZEUGWU[/caption]
In a statement made available to Vanguard, the lecturer wondered if the Church leadership is on the same page with “its teaming masses? Otherwise, why should the church budget a whooping N335 million to install a new bishop of Nsukka Diocese, as recently announced by Chief Nnia Nwodo?
More embarrassing: “What is even more embarrassing is that Chief Nwodo stated that the said amount was meant to feed 50 bishops and about 1,000 priests at the occasion. This is without re-gard that the about 10-kilometer road linking Nsuk-ka, the seat of Diocese and Lejja, the hometown of the retiring bishop, Dr. Francis Okobo, which also hosts a Federal Girls Government College has defied all prayers, both political and spiritual to let it have a taste of modern macadamized thoroughfare since the coming of colonial masters,” he stated.
According to Dr. Nwae-zeigwe, the church could have used a considerable chunk of the amount to fix the Nsukka-Lejja road as a bequeathing legacy for His Lordship, Bishop Francis Okobo.
“This is not a question of government responsibility, because if town development unions and non-governmental agencies could partner with the government in providing social amenities for the people, then nothing stops the church from doing same.
“The installation of the new bishop for the Nsukka Catholic Diocese should have therefore been an occasion for the total reorientation of the church leadership in line with the circumstantial needs of the people, both in political and socio-economic terms.
"By doing this, the church not only becomes more focused as both a receiver and giver, but becomes better placed to properly understand the turn-ins and turn-outs of gover-nance,” he maintained.
Continuing, the don said it is obvious that nobody questions what a church earns or hands out to its clergy, but it is on record that Archbishop Emeri-tus, Anthony Cardinal Okogie had come out to reveal what was his remuneration as a Catholic cleric.
“It is here suggested that with the huge amount tax-free money that enters the church coffers, coupled with its team-ing army of unmarried clerics, the Catholic Church should, as in the tradition of the past partner with government in providing social amenities to the masses,” he pleaded.
Dr. Nwaezeigwe also frown-ed at the Catholic leadership’s undue focus on the so-called corruption in Jonathan’s adm-inistration than the raging insecurity which is more or less fundamentally targeted at Christianity in this nation. Even as a church, how far has it initiated anti-corruption campaign among its teaming faithful, he asked.
Global Jihad project
For the CBCN, he had a poser: “Under the present circumstance where the Fed-eral Government is battling the enemies of Christianity, which should have been better: the CAN joining the JNI to war against President Jonathan, or doing what the current CAN leadership is doing at present? This question calls for moral answers given the obvious pro-Sokoto Caliphate stance adop-ted by the Catholic Church leadership in recent times.
“CBCN should be reminded that the unending killings of Christians in the North are the result of Islam’s global jihad project and not about the so-called corruption under Jona-than’s administration,” he cautioned.
He argued that the church stood akimbo while Nigeria was drafted into Organisation of Islamic Conference, OIC, and D-Eight with nothing more than verbal resignation to fate.
“What is apparent today is that, while the Catholic Church claims to have returned to CAN, its spirit remains far removed from the ideological confines of the body. There is no gainsaying the fact that this seemingly negative ideological disposition of CBCN is a direct contrast to the ideals and practices set out by the charismatic Cardinal Okogie in defence of the over-all interest of Christians in Nigeria, both as CBCN and CAN president.
“It is on record that Okogie did not in any manner attempt to compromise the collective interest of Christians. His resolute stand against Niger-ia’s admission to the exclusive Muslim OIC forced Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, to put Nigeria’s presence in the organization in abeyance.
Symbol of resistance
“Under Okogie Christendom was one undivided body very conscious of its enemies. The then Rev. Father Matthew Hassan Kukah, now bishop, not only towered higher than most of his contemporaries but was a toast of every Nigerian Christian, home and abroad, as the symbol of resistance against the oppressed Middle Belt minorities.
“But under John Cardinal Onaiyekan’s CAN, President Umaru Yar’Adua, in 2008, re-opened Nigeria’s membership of OIC, and for the first time Nigeria was represented by his president. What is more re-markable about Onaiyekan's emergence is that, the once celebrated voice of the opp-ressed Middle Belt Christians, Father Kukah was conscripted as a cover-defender of the Sokoto Caliphate under the guise of being enthroned as a Catholic Bishop of a non-eccl-esiastically viable Sokoto Diocese, but which by sym-bolism is better described as the Catholic ambassador to the Caliphate,” he stated.
A FEW days after the installation of a Catholic bishop for the university town of Nsukka in Enugu State, a senior lecturer with the University of Nigeria in the town, Dr. Tony Nwaezeigwe has expressed displeasure over the huge budget expended on the pro-ject, accusing the church lead-ership of insensitivity.
Dr. Nwaezeigwe, a Senior Research Fellow at UNN’s Institute of African Studies, wondered why the Catholic Church which often frowns at the high level corruption in the current government should budget a whooping N335 million for the installation of a new bishop for Nsukka Diocese.
[caption id="attachment_403129" align="alignnone" width="412"]
*Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah of Nsukka Diocese being crowned by His Eminence, John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan. PHOTO: HILL EZEUGWU[/caption]In a statement made available to Vanguard, the lecturer wondered if the Church leadership is on the same page with “its teaming masses? Otherwise, why should the church budget a whooping N335 million to install a new bishop of Nsukka Diocese, as recently announced by Chief Nnia Nwodo?
More embarrassing: “What is even more embarrassing is that Chief Nwodo stated that the said amount was meant to feed 50 bishops and about 1,000 priests at the occasion. This is without re-gard that the about 10-kilometer road linking Nsuk-ka, the seat of Diocese and Lejja, the hometown of the retiring bishop, Dr. Francis Okobo, which also hosts a Federal Girls Government College has defied all prayers, both political and spiritual to let it have a taste of modern macadamized thoroughfare since the coming of colonial masters,” he stated.
According to Dr. Nwae-zeigwe, the church could have used a considerable chunk of the amount to fix the Nsukka-Lejja road as a bequeathing legacy for His Lordship, Bishop Francis Okobo.
“This is not a question of government responsibility, because if town development unions and non-governmental agencies could partner with the government in providing social amenities for the people, then nothing stops the church from doing same.
“The installation of the new bishop for the Nsukka Catholic Diocese should have therefore been an occasion for the total reorientation of the church leadership in line with the circumstantial needs of the people, both in political and socio-economic terms.
"By doing this, the church not only becomes more focused as both a receiver and giver, but becomes better placed to properly understand the turn-ins and turn-outs of gover-nance,” he maintained.
Continuing, the don said it is obvious that nobody questions what a church earns or hands out to its clergy, but it is on record that Archbishop Emeri-tus, Anthony Cardinal Okogie had come out to reveal what was his remuneration as a Catholic cleric.
“It is here suggested that with the huge amount tax-free money that enters the church coffers, coupled with its team-ing army of unmarried clerics, the Catholic Church should, as in the tradition of the past partner with government in providing social amenities to the masses,” he pleaded.
Dr. Nwaezeigwe also frown-ed at the Catholic leadership’s undue focus on the so-called corruption in Jonathan’s adm-inistration than the raging insecurity which is more or less fundamentally targeted at Christianity in this nation. Even as a church, how far has it initiated anti-corruption campaign among its teaming faithful, he asked.
Global Jihad project
For the CBCN, he had a poser: “Under the present circumstance where the Fed-eral Government is battling the enemies of Christianity, which should have been better: the CAN joining the JNI to war against President Jonathan, or doing what the current CAN leadership is doing at present? This question calls for moral answers given the obvious pro-Sokoto Caliphate stance adop-ted by the Catholic Church leadership in recent times.
“CBCN should be reminded that the unending killings of Christians in the North are the result of Islam’s global jihad project and not about the so-called corruption under Jona-than’s administration,” he cautioned.
He argued that the church stood akimbo while Nigeria was drafted into Organisation of Islamic Conference, OIC, and D-Eight with nothing more than verbal resignation to fate.
“What is apparent today is that, while the Catholic Church claims to have returned to CAN, its spirit remains far removed from the ideological confines of the body. There is no gainsaying the fact that this seemingly negative ideological disposition of CBCN is a direct contrast to the ideals and practices set out by the charismatic Cardinal Okogie in defence of the over-all interest of Christians in Nigeria, both as CBCN and CAN president.
“It is on record that Okogie did not in any manner attempt to compromise the collective interest of Christians. His resolute stand against Niger-ia’s admission to the exclusive Muslim OIC forced Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, to put Nigeria’s presence in the organization in abeyance.
Symbol of resistance
“Under Okogie Christendom was one undivided body very conscious of its enemies. The then Rev. Father Matthew Hassan Kukah, now bishop, not only towered higher than most of his contemporaries but was a toast of every Nigerian Christian, home and abroad, as the symbol of resistance against the oppressed Middle Belt minorities.
“But under John Cardinal Onaiyekan’s CAN, President Umaru Yar’Adua, in 2008, re-opened Nigeria’s membership of OIC, and for the first time Nigeria was represented by his president. What is more re-markable about Onaiyekan's emergence is that, the once celebrated voice of the opp-ressed Middle Belt Christians, Father Kukah was conscripted as a cover-defender of the Sokoto Caliphate under the guise of being enthroned as a Catholic Bishop of a non-eccl-esiastically viable Sokoto Diocese, but which by sym-bolism is better described as the Catholic ambassador to the Caliphate,” he stated.
Friday, 5 July 2013
You can change your destiny
By Johnson Omomadia
Too many people are today being deceived that their future is hopeless and that nothing good can come out of it. They have been lied to by Satan that change is not possible.
Some believe this lie or their present situation because probably they have tried certain things for years and yet no positive change has occurred. Thus, they have concluded that their lives can never be better.
God has sent me to you today to let you know that His thought concerning you is of peace and not of evil and to give you an expected glorious end, a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). God did not create you with a destiny that is useless. God is a glorious God. Everything He does is wonderful. This is why I know that your life is planned with great wonders waiting to happen. Don’t believe the lie that your present status is your destiny. It is not true. It can be changed. You can change it.
Jabez in the Bible, was given the name by his mother. Jabez means sorrow, pain, displeasure etc. Jabez was not responsible for his mother’s condition at birth yet the mother gave him a name that for a season was controlling his life.
He saw himself as a hopeless person. Nothing seems to work for him. His brothers were celebrated everywhere they went while he was neglected. He was not recognized. He was despised by all. Everywhere he turned to, he could only see sorrow. His life was not only complicated but also messed up. To man there was no way out for him. He has no future and so he was not important.
One beautiful thing about this whole sitation was that his case seems unbearable. One would be wondering where is God? After all Jabez did not conceive himself, why should he be made to suffer unjustly. The truth is that before any man is formed God already knows. Remember Jer. 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations”. So you see the destiny of a man is not in the hands of any man. It is in your hands.
God never creates anyone useless. There is no uselessness in God. He is an excellent God. Thus you are an excellent person. You may not look like it right now but that is the truth. Shortly, all those that look down on you will regret it because your destiny will soon change for good. The best of God in your life will start to show forth. I perceive a stirring up in your Spirit. It is time to rise up.
Jabez accepted his situation until a day and time like this when he said to himself God is a good God and so my destiny cannot be hopeless but colourful. He rose and saw himself beyond been sorrowful. He saw that there is a God who changed the life of Jacob and made up his mind to call upon that same God that is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God who said call upon me and I will hear and answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not presently know.
Thus, in 1 Chron. 4:9-10, the Bible states, “And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested”.
From the text above, Jabez’s destiny as orchestrated by the devil through the mother was changed by him. Jabez had to rise to the reality that he was not created for pain, shame and sorrow. This applies to you today. You can change your destiny now. The God who did it for Jabez will also do it for you. First, do you really desire a change? How desperate are you? When you are truly desperate for a change, change will become inevitable.
Call on God now from the depth of your heart. Cry out like the Israelites did while in Egypt and God will hear you and change your destiny. Satan has denied you your glorious destiny for too long and it’s time to put an end to it now. Pray fervently about the change you desire and your destiny will begin to shine.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.
Your prayer request and praise reports will be welcomed.
Too many people are today being deceived that their future is hopeless and that nothing good can come out of it. They have been lied to by Satan that change is not possible.
Some believe this lie or their present situation because probably they have tried certain things for years and yet no positive change has occurred. Thus, they have concluded that their lives can never be better.
God has sent me to you today to let you know that His thought concerning you is of peace and not of evil and to give you an expected glorious end, a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). God did not create you with a destiny that is useless. God is a glorious God. Everything He does is wonderful. This is why I know that your life is planned with great wonders waiting to happen. Don’t believe the lie that your present status is your destiny. It is not true. It can be changed. You can change it.
Jabez in the Bible, was given the name by his mother. Jabez means sorrow, pain, displeasure etc. Jabez was not responsible for his mother’s condition at birth yet the mother gave him a name that for a season was controlling his life.
He saw himself as a hopeless person. Nothing seems to work for him. His brothers were celebrated everywhere they went while he was neglected. He was not recognized. He was despised by all. Everywhere he turned to, he could only see sorrow. His life was not only complicated but also messed up. To man there was no way out for him. He has no future and so he was not important.
One beautiful thing about this whole sitation was that his case seems unbearable. One would be wondering where is God? After all Jabez did not conceive himself, why should he be made to suffer unjustly. The truth is that before any man is formed God already knows. Remember Jer. 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations”. So you see the destiny of a man is not in the hands of any man. It is in your hands.
God never creates anyone useless. There is no uselessness in God. He is an excellent God. Thus you are an excellent person. You may not look like it right now but that is the truth. Shortly, all those that look down on you will regret it because your destiny will soon change for good. The best of God in your life will start to show forth. I perceive a stirring up in your Spirit. It is time to rise up.
Jabez accepted his situation until a day and time like this when he said to himself God is a good God and so my destiny cannot be hopeless but colourful. He rose and saw himself beyond been sorrowful. He saw that there is a God who changed the life of Jacob and made up his mind to call upon that same God that is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God who said call upon me and I will hear and answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not presently know.
Thus, in 1 Chron. 4:9-10, the Bible states, “And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested”.
From the text above, Jabez’s destiny as orchestrated by the devil through the mother was changed by him. Jabez had to rise to the reality that he was not created for pain, shame and sorrow. This applies to you today. You can change your destiny now. The God who did it for Jabez will also do it for you. First, do you really desire a change? How desperate are you? When you are truly desperate for a change, change will become inevitable.
Call on God now from the depth of your heart. Cry out like the Israelites did while in Egypt and God will hear you and change your destiny. Satan has denied you your glorious destiny for too long and it’s time to put an end to it now. Pray fervently about the change you desire and your destiny will begin to shine.
Have you given your life to Jesus? If not, please pray this prayer. Father, I come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into my life to be my personal Lord and Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the blood of Jesus and empower me with the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Father for saving my soul and making me your child.
Your prayer request and praise reports will be welcomed.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Gay Right bill: Group urges Jonathan not to delay
By CALEB AYANSINA
ABUJA – THE Nigerian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to assent to the bill prohibiting same sex marriage in the country without any further delay. The Gay Right Bill recently passed by the National Assembly stipulates 14 years jail term for any body found guilty of the offence.
The national director of NIFES, Mr. Bala Usman, who made the call at a press conference on the NIFES Witness 2013 Mission Conference tagged; ‘The Ambassador’, in Abuja noted that, it is high time society stood against gayism, because of its ravaging effect on youths.
He described homosexuality as “the zenith of immorality and immoral impunity which should not and never be allowed in our nation.
“NIFES has strongly campaigned and stood against gayism and lesbianism which seek to ravage our youth and their future. We commend the National Assembly for prohibiting homosexualism and lesbianism through the passage of the bill, in spite of external pressure. We therefore, call on the president not to delay his assent to the bill”.
Usman maintained that Nigeria had the potential to lead the world, but its people were lacking in character to transform the society, stressing the need for youths to be repositioned, to adequately take the responsibility of leadership.
“Our nation no doubt faces grave challenges today; ranging from national insecurity, lack of trust for one another, moral decadence, corruption, lack of fear of God, disunity, warped social value and un-patriotism.
“We are lacking in character that can build and transform our nation to greatness. We believe that these problems are foundational and a nation without a strong foundation will face grave problem of survival to talk of competitiveness in the comity of nations,” he said.
Usman explained that Witness 2013 was designed “to enhance a greater understanding of the multi-dimensional perspectives for global mission’s involvement and kingdom work with God, while bettering the cause of nationhood.
ABUJA – THE Nigerian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to assent to the bill prohibiting same sex marriage in the country without any further delay. The Gay Right Bill recently passed by the National Assembly stipulates 14 years jail term for any body found guilty of the offence.
The national director of NIFES, Mr. Bala Usman, who made the call at a press conference on the NIFES Witness 2013 Mission Conference tagged; ‘The Ambassador’, in Abuja noted that, it is high time society stood against gayism, because of its ravaging effect on youths.
He described homosexuality as “the zenith of immorality and immoral impunity which should not and never be allowed in our nation.
“NIFES has strongly campaigned and stood against gayism and lesbianism which seek to ravage our youth and their future. We commend the National Assembly for prohibiting homosexualism and lesbianism through the passage of the bill, in spite of external pressure. We therefore, call on the president not to delay his assent to the bill”.
Usman maintained that Nigeria had the potential to lead the world, but its people were lacking in character to transform the society, stressing the need for youths to be repositioned, to adequately take the responsibility of leadership.
“Our nation no doubt faces grave challenges today; ranging from national insecurity, lack of trust for one another, moral decadence, corruption, lack of fear of God, disunity, warped social value and un-patriotism.
“We are lacking in character that can build and transform our nation to greatness. We believe that these problems are foundational and a nation without a strong foundation will face grave problem of survival to talk of competitiveness in the comity of nations,” he said.
Usman explained that Witness 2013 was designed “to enhance a greater understanding of the multi-dimensional perspectives for global mission’s involvement and kingdom work with God, while bettering the cause of nationhood.
Adeboye, others ask God to revive Nigeria’s educational system
FOLLOWING poor performances of young persons in terminal public examinations and the decay that has enveloped the nation’s education sector and the need to restore the lost glory of Nigerian educational system, The Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG, has declared a one-day special 
prayer/thanksgiving service for the sector, reports Olayinka Latona.
The event with a theme, “Excellent Spirit” is scheduled for Sunday, July 7, at the church headquarters in Ebute Meta, Lagos and will feature the church’s General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
Briefing newsmen at the church's national headquarters, Pastor Adeboye, who was represented by the Assistant Pastor-in-Charge (Social Responsibility), Pastor Goke Aniyeloye, said the programme will serve as a platform to ask God to revive Nigeria’s educational system and bring back its lost glory.
In his words: “I believe that when lecturers, vice chancellors, rectors, executive vice chancellors, bursars, registrars and provosts of all higher institutions including universities, colleges of education, polytechnics attend this programme and the Lord impart the excellent spirit in them, like Daniel, they can restore the lost glory of the nation. "In the programme, they will be empowered because God is the custodian of excellent spirit,” he explained.
prayer/thanksgiving service for the sector, reports Olayinka Latona.The event with a theme, “Excellent Spirit” is scheduled for Sunday, July 7, at the church headquarters in Ebute Meta, Lagos and will feature the church’s General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
Briefing newsmen at the church's national headquarters, Pastor Adeboye, who was represented by the Assistant Pastor-in-Charge (Social Responsibility), Pastor Goke Aniyeloye, said the programme will serve as a platform to ask God to revive Nigeria’s educational system and bring back its lost glory.
In his words: “I believe that when lecturers, vice chancellors, rectors, executive vice chancellors, bursars, registrars and provosts of all higher institutions including universities, colleges of education, polytechnics attend this programme and the Lord impart the excellent spirit in them, like Daniel, they can restore the lost glory of the nation. "In the programme, they will be empowered because God is the custodian of excellent spirit,” he explained.
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