Isaac Boluwatise

Jesus set a little child in the midst of the disciples who had been arguing about who was the greatest among them, and taught them a lesson about being servants. I think what He told them is, “If you really want to be great, then put your arms around the next generation and serve them. My way is not self-fulfillment, but self-denial. My way is not independence, but interdependence.”

It took awhile for the disciples to realize the world would know them—not by how smart they were, not by how cutting-edge they were, not by what their generational and cultural preferences were—but by their love for one another.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, NKJV)

The New Testament never takes for granted that we know how to love. In Romans 12:9–21, a list of prescriptions is given to help us love one another—from entertaining strangers and showing hospitality to honoring one another and returning good for evil. The New Testament is very clear in outlining how we ought to love. So Christ reaches into us through our prayers, attitudes and actions to shape us and help us become loving people.

There are non-Christians who are very loving people. What makes Christian love different is that it does not flow out of emotion and feeling. It flows out of commitment. Christian love is known by its extent, by the degree to which it will go.

You may not be where you would like to be in your capacity to love and serve with love. But the fruit is developmental. It will take you where you are now and grow from there.

The post The Way of Love and Interdependence appeared first on Dr. George O. Wood.

Justine Welby: Parents and godparents no longer have to ‘repent sins’ and ‘reject the devil’ during christenings after the Church of England rewrote the solemn ceremony in a move backed by Justin Welby

NAIJA NEWSSWEEP – Parents and godparents no longer have to ‘repent sins’ and ‘reject the devil’ during christenings after the Church of England rewrote the solemn ceremony in a move backed by Justin Welby

*Parents and godparents no longer have to ‘repent sins’ and ‘reject devil’
*New wording is designed to be easier to understand – but critics stunned
*Redesigned to attract people who only attend for weddings and christenings

Parents and godparents no longer have to ‘repent sins’ and ‘reject the devil’ during christenings after the Church of England rewrote the solemn ceremony.

The new wording is designed to be easier to understand – but critics are stunned at such a fundamental change to a cornerstone of their faith, saying the new ‘dumbed-down’ version ‘strikes at the heart’ of what baptism means.

In the original version, the vicar asks: ‘Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?’
Prompting the reply: ‘I reject them.’ They then ask: ‘Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?’, with the answer: ‘I repent of them.’

But under the divisive reforms, backed by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and already being practised in 1,000 parishes, parents and godparents are asked to ‘reject evil, and all its many forms, and all its empty promises’ – with no mention of the devil or sin.

The new text, to be tested in a trial lasting until Easter, also drops the word ‘submit’ in the phrase ‘Do you submit to Christ as Lord?’ because it is thought to have become ‘problematical’, especially among women who object to the idea of submission.

The rewritten version – which came after reformers said they wanted to use the language of EastEnders rather than Shakespeare in services – is designed as an alternative to the wording in the Common Worship prayer book, rather than a replacement.

But insiders predict this draft will become the norm for the Church’s 150,000 christenings each year if, as expected, it is approved by the General Synod. It may discuss the issue as early as this summer.

But the idea has angered many senior members of the Church, who feel it breaks vital links with baptisms as described in the Bible.

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, former Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali said the reform should be scrapped before it further reduced Christianity to ‘easily swallowed soundbites’.

And one senior member of the General Synod, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘This is more like a benediction from the Good Fairy than any church service.

‘The trouble is that large parts of the Church of England don’t believe in hell, sin or repentance. They think you can just hold hands and smile and we will all go to Heaven. That is certainly not what Jesus thought.

‘There is so much left out that one wonders why do it at all? If you exclude original sin and repentance there is very little substance left.

‘It doesn’t just dumb the service down – it eviscerates it. It destroys the significance of the rite by watering down the concept of sin and repentance.

‘A humanist could say “I renounce evil.” If you take out repentance you immediately strike at the heart of the whole idea of needing to be baptised.

‘John the Baptist only baptised those who came and were repentant. This rite is saying to people you don’t need to be particularly repentant. Just come and join the club.’

Alison Ruoff, a lay member of the General Synod from London, said the new version was ‘weak and woolly’ and lacked conviction.

She said: ‘By removing all mention of the devil and rebellion against God, we are left to our own vague understanding of what evil might or might not mean.’

The draft was drawn up by the Church’s Liturgy Commission to redress fears the current version was too off-putting for lay people who only go to church for baptisms, weddings or funerals.

The Bishop of Wakefield Stephen Platten, who chairs the commission, said repentance was implied in phrases urging people to ‘turn away from evil’, and defended the omission of the devil by saying it was ‘theologically problematic’.

He said: ‘We are certainly not dumbing down. Far from it. What we are concerned about is to make sure that people who are coming to baptism understand what is being said.’

As LIFE Theological Seminary churns out 240 graduates, church leaders emphasise the relevance of passion and love in the propagation of the gospel

By OLUSEGUN ADEOSUN

Emecheta Onyeka, a young devout Christian, was once a popular cart-pusher and a load-bearer at the ever-busy Onitsha Main market, Anambra State. But the income from that business could not meet the financial demands of his secondary school education, having struggled to pass through a community primary school in Nnewi, hence Onyeka took to meat selling and few other businesses in the same market. “I worked at the slaughter as a cow butcher, I had identity card of barrow pusher, load-carrier. I have done many things because I had nobody to support my education,” he said.

The ambitious Onyeka worked as a butcher for some years until he finally heeded the divine call to serve God in His vineyard after declining for some years. That was about four years ago, and today Onyeka is now a qualified pastor. On Saturday, November 9, Onyeka emerged one of the three best graduating students at a graduation exercise of LIFE Theological Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos, where he had undergone a pastoral programme. Onyeka was announced the best graduating student in Greek language.

Reacting to his success, Onyeka said, “I am happy God has made everything perfect. I never knew I could make it to this level. I am so excited.” Asked how he managed to scale through, Onyeka said he maximised every opportunity that came his way. “I was the least in my class when it comes to academics, but I had to put extra efforts into everything I did. I made sure I wrote and spoke Greek virtually every day.” Folukemi Daramola was the best student in Hebrew Language, while Peter Lawani emerged the overall best out of the total 240 graduating students.

Lawani, an education consultant, who also holds a doctorate degree in Mathematics from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU, Ogun State, said passing through LIFE theological seminary was demanding and very rigorous “because the academic standard is very high; there is no opportunity for you to cheat. So you have to really do the job and work hard.” Ifeagwu Elizabeth, a graduand of Masters in Theology, corroborated Lawani: “You just have to know what you are doing if you must graduate here. As a wife and mother, it was tough, but I give God the glory today.”

Cletus Orgu, provost of the seminary, said apart from meeting the academic requirements, a student of the school must be disciplined in character, spiritually and emotionally, “he must also be a church worker who is convinced about God’s plans for his life.” However, Lawani who surprisingly seemed unflustered by his covetable feat said his major achievement at the seminary is not coming out with the best grade, but helping people to be the best they can be in life. Lawani, who is also a proprietor of a secondary school, urged the newly admitted students to focus on God and be hard-working, “and help as many people as you can. You will meet people on your journey, help them and God will help you grow,” he counselled. For Onyeka, the new students should strive and go the extra mile. “It is the little extra that will make them extraordinary.”

Speaking on the subject, Proclaimers of the Kingdom Mysteries, theme of the event, Orgu said the word “mysteries” signifies what is hidden in past generations but has now been revealed to “us by the Spirit of God.” Having understood the mystery, the provost urged the ‘proclaimers’ to exert themselves like Apostle Paul and herald the message of hope to all nations. “They should also be worthy ambassadors of Christ, worthy ambassadors of the school and they should make impact in the society and help in transforming it for better,” he charged.

However, Felix Meduoye, general overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, believes that for a proclaimer to effectively propagate the mysteries of the Kingdom, he will need passion and power, adding that such person with passion would pray, evangelise shamelessly, and “will be ready to go anywhere, any time, because he has completely sold himself out to Christ.”

As the four-hour event drew to a close, the 240 graduands marched to the rostrum to receive Diploma, Certificate, Degree and Masters of Theology certificates in various courses amidst intermittent ovation from the audience. The graduation ceremony also featured the dedication of the newly built two-storey female hostel and LIFE Music School.

The Lighthouse of International Foursquare Evangelism, LIFE, Theological Seminary, formerly known as LIFE Bible College, was founded in 1954 by late Reverend and Mrs. Harold Curtis, Foursquare missionaries serving in Lagos. The school has since inception graduated over 10,000 students including Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, senior pastor, Kingsway International Christian Centre, KICC, among other renowned ministers of God in Nigeria and other West African countries.

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Have you ever been so frustrated with your kids that you raised your voice in frustration? Have you ever yelled and screamed because you were just plain worn out after a hard day of work and fed up with the kids not submitting to your God-given authority?

Parenting experts say screaming at your kids is one of the worst parenting mistakes you can make for several reasons. First, when you resort to yelling, you’ve just demonstrated your lack of self-control—and you lose your power by losing control. Second, the kids usually tune you out when you yell. Third, children often grow more hostile toward you as you holler threats at them that you may or may not be willing or able to carry out.

Ultimately, when you scream at your kids, they lose a measure of respect for you because you’re not confident enough in your authority to handle an attack on that authority without fleshing out.

Now let’s translate that into spiritual warfare. Some spiritual warriors seem to equate volume with power. They scream at the devil as if he’s deaf, but the devil’s not deaf, and screaming doesn’t convince him to bow. When results elude them, some spiritual warriors grow louder and begin to moan and groan and make threats against the enemy they don’t have the authority to enforce.

Jesus Didn’t Scream at the Devil

I am not against fervent spiritual warfare prayer—or even getting loud. What I’m after here is the yelling that comes from frustration or just out of a wrong mindset that louder is more powerful. One of my mentors once said spiritual warfare skills aren’t taught, they are caught. There is some truth to that. I believe some spiritual warriors scream and holler and make threats against the devil because that’s what they have seen modeled. But that’s not what the Bible models. That’s now how Jesus did it.

I’ve searched diligently, but I can’t find any passage that shows Jesus losing His voice because He screamed and hollered at the devil for so long. When Satan confronted Jesus in the wilderness with all manner of temptation, Jesus simply wielded the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). The Bible indicates that “Jesus said, ‘It is written …’” (Matt. 4:4-10, emphasis added)—not that Jesus yelled, Jesus hollered, Jesus screamed or Jesus shouted in frustration. Jesus said God’s Word and let the Word cut through Satan’s lies.

Likewise, when Jesus cast out devils, He didn’t scream at them. It was the demons, rather, who were screaming. When Jesus cast out the demons from the two men in the Gadarenes, He simply said, “Go!” (Matt. 8:32). When Jesus cast out a demon in the synagogue, He calmly said, “Be quiet, and come out of Him!” (Luke 4:35). And when Jesus cast the demon out of the epileptic boy, He just rebuked the demon and it took off (Matt. 17:18).

We Don’t Need to Scream at the Devil

So, Jesus didn’t have to scream at the devil—and neither do we. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article entitled “You’re Resisting the Devil, So Why Won’t He Flee?” It’s easy enough to get frustrated with the enemy when it seems like you’ve done everything you know to do and he just keeps attacking. It’s tempting to scream at the devil and make idle threats, just like some parents do with their disobedient kids. But, my friends, I’ve tried it, and I can tell you the devil doesn’t respond to it any better than your kids do. He probably just laughs at us as we strain our vocal chords.

We don’t need to scream at the devil—and more volume doesn’t equal more power. We just need to stand in our authority in Christ. That means, first, understanding our authority in Christ. Remember when the 70 returned with joy and told Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (Luke 10:17)? Obviously, they just experienced victory in spiritual warfare. But I assure you we have the victory in spiritual warfare whether we see it with our physical eyes or not.

So when we exercise our Christ-given authority, we should immediately rejoice whether we see the devil flee or not. In other words, when we engage in spiritual warfare, we should act as if we believe we have the victory rather than screaming louder because nothing appears to have changed. When we continue screaming, hollering and yelling at the devil, it merely demonstrates our lack of faith in our authority. We’re putting our faith in our ability to shout loud enough to intimidate the devil. The devil is not intimated by us, but he will bow to the name of Jesus.

So as you engage in spiritual warfare, don’t resort to yelling. Don’t get frustrated and abandon the fruit of self-control. Don’t start acting like the devil! Remember what Jesus said and rejoice: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19). Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including jennifer.leclaire or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Many good marriages slip into crisis because we don’t or won’t believe how much work it takes to keep relationships humming at optimal levels. Another reason is a simple failure in imagination.

But—if successful courting requires commitment, hard work and imagination to pull off … then why does it surprise us when neglect hurts relationships after we walk down the aisle? She wouldn’t have married you if you took her for granted—why risk everything now?

There are many good strategies if we want to restore a problematic—or “under the weather”—marriage. All Pro Dad suggests the following 10 for men who want to get the ball rolling:

1. Pray for your spouse. Chances are you launched your marriage with both promises and prayers. Pray for your spouse, and ask for guidance as you pledge to make the kind of effort that simply won’t float without turning to God every day.

2. Surround yourselves with people in healthy relationships. Some of those negative patterns involved friends. Hook up with a faith community where marriage is valued and there’s widespread support for making yours work.

3. Choose to love. Love may have come easy when it was brand new. But love over the long haul is as much a choice as it is an emotion. Choice is an act of maturity and it has a much better track record than emotion left to make its way on its own.

4. Act as if your spouse’s happiness is more important than your own. Putting our spouse first nurtures trust, gratitude, generosity and affection. It can also lead to kissing!

5. Put the relationship ahead of everything, including your children. It’s unfortunate, but time has a way of eating away at our priorities. “You’re the most important thing in my life” gives way to “My work … the family business … the children … my aging parents … even golf, football or drinking …” Marriages don’t work well when our partner plays second fiddle to anything – even the children. It’s a fact – the happiest kids are those with parents who love one-another best.

6. Start over from scratch. Ask her out. Make sure you remember why you did the first time and build from there. When did you last talk for hours, hold hands at a movie, or smooch behind a plant in the mall? Get silly about one-another. If you don’t feel like it, do it anyway- then you’ll remember why.

7. Stop taking one-another for granted. Say “thank you” for that cup of coffee. Celebrate obscure anniversaries. Tell her how much it means to you that she cooks a great meal—or vice versa. Notice the haircut. Ask her out. Clean her car. Pay attention to the little things and act like someone who values the relationship.

8. Get counseling. You say you can’t afford it? Believe us, it’s cheaper than divorce! Most counseling simply involves a few sessions to get the communication flowing again. For guys, a willingness to talk in that context sends a huge positive message to your spouse.

9. Follow the counseling with an action plan. Just like a personal fitness program, counseling comes with homework and an action plan over time. Draw up the plan, ask friends you trust to help hold you accountable, then follow through. When both spouses take responsibility, anything is possible.

10. Change the patterns. Do you always come home angry? Then stop the car a block away and pray about it first. Does she always nag you when you leave dirty clothes on the floor? Try getting changed in a different room and initiate a new reflex. Do you always fight about discipline? Try agreeing with her decisions and supporting her 100 percent—you may find the kids act better because you’re not fighting. You’ve heard the old joke:

– Patient: “Doctor, it hurts when I do that …”

– Doctor: “Well, don’t do that anymore!

All Pro Dad is Family First’s innovative and unique program for every father. Their aim is to interlock the hearts of the fathers with their children and, as a byproduct, the hearts of the children with their dads. At AllProDad.com, dads in any stage of fatherhood can find helpful resources to aid in their parenting. Resources include daily emails, blogs, Top 10 lists, articles, printable tools, videos and eBooks. From AllProDad.com, fathers can join the highly engaged All Pro Dad social media communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.