The Nation Newspaper

Category: Worship

  • Aftermath of Trust Betrayal!

    Aftermath of Trust Betrayal!

    “Trust’, according to Stephen Covey, ‘is the glue of life”. What Covey said in essence is that trust holds relationships. Where there is no trust, there is no life. Few years ago, there was a woman who had an excellent marriage but never knew the true personality of her husband until he died. At the funeral service for the deceased, a woman walked inside the church and took her sit beside the widow, and positioned herself as the man’s second wife alongside two young men who were obvious carbon copies of the deceased – what a terrible act of trust betrayal! The widow was terribly shocked and disappointed that her deceased husband could do such to her. In same way was a couple whose economy was quite harsh and they lived managing the meagre resources of the man. It was after the woman passed on that the man discovered that his deceased wife had a house from where she was collecting monthly rents, had vehicles which she was using for commercial purposes and bank accounts that were loaded with huge sums of money – what a betrayal of trust!

    Judas Iscariot, from our text, was a man who betrayed divine trust and died like a fowl. Judas was the only disciple that Jesus entrusted with a department of trust in His hallowed earthly commission – he was the Treasurer of the ministry. Besides that, he was privileged to see Jesus raised the dead, he was in attendance when the storm was stilled and experienced great miracles through Jesus Christ. He was also a part of the commissioning to go and heal the sick and had a part in the testimonies that followed that great commission. Unfortunately for him, he started life very promisingly, he betrayed divine trust and had a disastrous end.

    What separated Judas from the other disciples was that firstly he was not only dishonest but was deceitful and had a penchant for stealing from the ministry’s purse (John 12:4-6). The other aspect of his life that eventually led to his dastardly end was that, for self-serving purposes, he “……went unto the Chief priests, And said unto them, What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him” (Matthew 26:14-16). Judas Iscariot collected money from the Chief priests and saw to it that Jesus Christ was handed over to them and killed (Luke 22:47-48) – he betrayed the Son of man with a kiss – a kiss! He cared not what will happen to the king of kings; and, for temporary pecuniary benefits, Judas Iscariot mortgaged his today and destroyed his glorious tomorrow – what a great pity!

    Judas Iscariot apparently didn’t learn from his forbearers like Gehazi who could have been one of the greatest prophets in history, if not for betrayal of trust – he ended what could have been a glorious ministry abruptly and inherited the leprosy of Naaman. What happened to both Gehazi and Judas Iscariot gives credence to God’s word in Jeremiah 17:11 that, “As the partridge sits on eggs, and hatchets them not; so is he that gets riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool”. Beloved in Christ, The Almighty God is a God of reward for whatever one does or is doing either overtly or covert, righteously or wickedly (Rev. 22:12; Eccl. 11:1, 12:13-14 cf Galatians 6:8). This is to say that no person will escape God’s judgment for whatever is done here, either good or bad, deceitfully or plainly, known to man or hidden from human eyes.

    God is therefore drawing your attention during this Passion week to the fact that nothing lasts forever. The trust which you are betraying today shall be revealed and compensated one day and need be added, it can be earlier than you imagine. As a political office holder, are you living selfishly for yourself and not the citizenry? As an employee, are you having honest dealings with your employers – remember Judas Iscariot! As a married person, does your spouse know you or will he/she discover you after death has come for you? – remember Judas Iscariot! As a friend, are you relating honestly with your friends or ready to sell them for pieces of silver? – remember Judas Iscariot – he betrayed Jesus with a kiss and died ignominiously. Kindly take note that every act of dishonesty, betrayal, backstabbing and deception will end in calamity!

    Beloved in Christ, you have an opportunity again today to reconsider your ways and change before it is too late. Jesus is enjoining you to amend your ways during this Passion week, make a firm commitment to begin to live honestly and righteously, and ensure that moving forward, you don’t live in treachery. You have a great opportunity to restart life today and begin to live honestly with all men (Hebrews 12:14; Romans 12:18). As children of God, you must also maintain your integrity and “…….. let your yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation” (James 5:12). It is only when you do this that you can enjoy the peace of God that passes human comprehension, that your glory can be risen, that you can be a candidate of the promised Divine Satisfaction and your life is exposed to an unfettered access to anything and everything from Him; and at the end of your sojourn here, you can receive your crown of glory in the name of Jesus Christ.

     

    Prayer: Lord, help me never to betray your trust because of things that shall expire in the name of Jesus

     

     

  • Tension as elders move against Baptist Convention President

    Tension as elders move against Baptist Convention President

    There is tension at the First Baptist Church Garki, Abuja over alleged refusal of the outgoing Senior Pastor, Rev Dr Israel Akanji, to follow due process in the emergence of his successor.

    A group in the church alleged that Akanji, who was elected President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC) last year, opposed its Constitution to initiate the process of electing deacons for the church.

    They also said Akanji refused to leave office and allow the Pulpit Committee to take over the Church to spearhead the process of ‘recruiting’ his successor.

    Ambassador Akin Oyateru told The Nation on behalf of the other concerned elders, that instead of handling upon his appointment as NBC President, Akanji requested for a three-month extension from the Church-In-Conference to prepare a handover note, pray for the church and elect deacons and execute a transfer of service.

    “The Church-In-Conference acceded to the three months for him to prepare his handover notes but there was silence on the issues of transfer of service and election of deacons.

    “There is a Church Constitution and bye-laws and by normal judicial practice, an organ of an organisation cannot preach its own constitution.

    “That was what led eight of us to raise these observations and our objective to remind the church to ensure that those actions to be taken are in conformity with the Constitution of the church”.

    The elders said on June 14, 2021, a member convened a meeting with the pastor and took decisions after they had written the Church Secretary.

    Oyateru said one of the decisions at the meeting was for the Senior Pastor to publish the Constitution of the Church before leaving office but he never did:

    “Secondly, it was not proper for the Senior Pastor to be a signatory to the church account. That it was improper for him to select deacons for the incoming Senior Pastor.

    “Others are that it is not proper for him to hold two executive positions at the same time. He cannot transfer service to another pastor because the Constitution said when there is a vacancy, the Pulpit Committee takes over the running of the church and set up the Search Committee to get a new Pastor”.

    The elders said surprisingly: “The process for the election of deacons was instituted, the search committee was formed by the Senior Pastor and he refused to publish the Church Constitution.

    “Then after his 60th birthday, all we saw was that he anointed his successor by pouring anointing oil on his head. These are unusual and strange practices in the Baptist Church and he became Acting Senior Pastor which we felt was contrary to the Constitution”.

    The elders said Akanji cannot be signatory to the Church’s account, transfer service to another pastor, appoint new deacons because the serving ones have not rotated out and the First Baptist Church cannot continue to pay him a salary.

    When contacted, the Chairman Board of Trustees (BOT) of the church, Pastor Bamidele Solomon told The Nation: “There is a procedure for everything in the Baptist church and normally you, first of all, go through the Church Council and the final authority is the Church- In-Conference and that was where the decision was taken. I don’t know what it is again.

    “No system is perfect but people will always have their own feelings. We are all humans but then everything will be resolved by the grace of God”.

    Akanji told The Nation the issues raised were internal and should be handled internally.

    He said the church adopts congregational polity whereby the members take decisions as a congregation and the decisions are implemented.

    He said all the actions taken were based on the decisions of the congregation.

    According to him: “This is the issue of the body of Christ and it is not good for such issues to begin to gain public attention in such a time we are in as a nation.

    “Even if these people feel unhappy about anything, they should not make a public show of things that have to do with the church, they are internal matters that should be handled internally and they are no serious issues to be taken to the public.

    “I have my response to every single matter that was raised. I have been going to the church for programmes and it is not as if anything has happened.

    “Our denomination is strangely a congregational polity, decisions are made by members when they all gather. Everything we did in church was properly done by the approval of the congregation. It is just that some few individuals wanted something different and the congregation said no.

    “Our church government is called congregationalism and everything we did was done by the congregational decision.”

  • Humility – your gateway to Divine Satisfaction!

    Humility – your gateway to Divine Satisfaction!

    When people that are either ignorant of the doctrine of times and seasons or are mere product of questionable parental trainings cum jaundiced parental upbringing get to positions of influence, authority and relevance in the society, they most times, and very ignorantly, feel that they are above board and they consequently arrogate to themselves power and authority – they become haughty, uncontrollable, unapproachable and wicked. They are often very quick to look at the less fortunate than them in the society and declare that, “Do you know who I am?” They forget so easily that they are nothing but dust with definite life, time and term tenor.

    The truth of the matter is that God is the only Eternal Father and the Ancient of days (Daniel 7:9,13,22).  He said that, “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth” (Proverbs 8:15-16; cf 1Samuel 2:6-8).  He is the Almighty God (Gen. 17:1), He has all powers at His command (Psalm 62:11) and gives it to whosoever He wills (Romans 13:1). More importantly, He has power to install whosoever He wills as king; and, at His prerogative, He can remove installed kings.

    When the Israelites demanded for a king, He was the One that gave them Saul the son of Kish, but when Saul went against His command, He didn’t look at Samuel’s penitent outlook and repentant heart to give Saul another chance; He removed and replaced him in a jiffy (1Samuel 15). He is the Brightness of God’s glory, the Buckler to the upright, the Captain of our salvation, the Breastplate of our righteousness, the Chief Cornerstone and the Jehovah Elohim.

    King Nebuchadnezzar was a very powerful King over Babylon, a king who had God’s delegated powers and authorities “… over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). One day however, King Nebuchadnezzar became so self-conceited about all that God had blessed his life with and appropriated all the blessings to himself – he became so garrulous and egocentric like lots of leaders in our official spaces (Daniel 4:29-31). “…….But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him” (Daniel 5:19-29) King Nebuchadnezzar was chased out of the palace like an animal because of pride but when his sense was restored, he begged God for forgiveness and was restored after many years in the forest as an animal (Daniel 4:34-37).

    It was the same with King Herod when one day, he adorned himself in royal apparel, gave an oration that made the people answer him that, “…… It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost” (Acts 12:22-23). He died like a flower that was plucked in its bloom!

    Beloved, whatever you are, who you are, where you are and the position you occupy, they are all products of God’s grace, and surely not predicated on your works (Ephesians 2:8-9; cf 1 Corinthians 4:7). The only sustaining grace that is available to lift you up, keep you standing and never allow you go down in relevance, influence and power is humility. Jesus Christ was an example of humility. Despite being God, He humbled Himself to the gruesome end on the Cross of Calvary. On the third day, God raised Him from the dead and rewarded Him with a name that is above every other names and that at the mention of His name every knee shall surrender – Hallelujah! (Phil. 2:6-11). It is based on this backdrop that Paul the Apostle admonished in Philippians 2:5 of the indispensability of having the same mind of humility like Jesus Christ.

    Brethren, humility is one of the hallmarks of Christianity and if you don’t want the hand of God to be against you and beginning from today, kindly ascribe all glory and honour to whom it is due (God Almighty) and take off that toga of pride because it will only lead to shame (Proverbs 11:2), bring quarrels (Proverbs 13:-10), lead to destruction (Proverbs 16:18) and bring down from the lofty height like King Nebuchadnezzar (Proverbs 29:23).

    During this time of Lent brethren, take stock of areas where you have been exhibiting pride, appreciate God for bringing you this and thus far, ask Him to forgive your sins, pray for the spirit of humility, ask for grace to accommodate others and their weaknesses, extend your hand of love to all around you, live in love with everyone and pray for grace of lift up. As Jesus Christ lives, you shall be located with a testimony that will shock you and astound the world; instead of going down, you shall continue to be lifted in Jesus’ name

     

    • Prayers: Father, deliver me from pride and clothe me with the garment of humility all the days of my life, in Jesus’ name.

     

  • Live by God’s word, PFN chair tells Lagos Scripture Challenge participants

    Live by God’s word, PFN chair tells Lagos Scripture Challenge participants

    Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria(PFN) Apostle Eyinnaya Okwuonu has urged participants in the just-concluded Lagos Scripture Challenge 2.0 to live according to the word of God they have imbibed during the exercise.

    Okwuonu spoke at the closing ceremony of the event in Lagos recently.

    The event, which took place at the Agape Generation International Church, Mende-Maryland, Lagos attracted top church leaders people from across Lagos and a few non-Nigerians

    The Lagos Scripture Challenge 2.0 is a collaboration between the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA), and Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH).

    It is a spiritual renewal exercise designed to challenge Christians in Lagos to engage with the scriptures, in audio and video format, for forty-five days.

    Okwuonu, who was represented by Apostle George Anselm, Chairman, Ejigbo/Isolo Province of the PFN, said the word of God is important in day-to-day dealings.

    He said: “There cannot be revival without the word of God, there cannot be revival until the word of God takes root in the life of the people. Charisma cannot do that, personality cannot do that. Influences cannot do that. But when the word of God takes root in the life of a man, every other thing would change.”

    Okwuonu said he was grateful to God for the opportunity to witness the scripture challenge because of the opportunity of making the word of God come alive in the lives of people.

    “The scripture challenge 2.0 answers that question of taking the word of God to the people and awakening the consciousness of the word in the life of every believer. In fact, the Lagos Scriptural Challenge has really impacted me tremendously,” he said.

    He expressed the wish that the programme is given more prominence. “We probably did not have many churches on the challenge but in the next ten years, Christians in Lagos will be a misfit if he has not passed through the level of the Lagos Scriptural Challenge.

    ” I want every province to get on board. Alimosho is getting the upper hand now but watch it, Ejigbo/Isolo is coming,” he said.

    The challenge was divided into three phases. Phase one took place from February 2-16. The Bible was explored in Pidgin, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and English (KJV and ESV).

    About 380 WhatsApp groups were created for 380 trained facilitators during the challenge.

    Every day for 15 days, members listened to daily scriptures on the Nigerian Bible App in the language of their choice.

    The daily discussion was led by trained facilitators on WhatsApp groups.

    The second phase began on February 18 and ended on March 4.

    About 162 facilitators from 153 Churches across Lagos qualified for the phase and each received a free ‘proclaimer’ (Audion Bible device).

    In the third phase,which took place from March 6 to 20, the Bible was projected in video format.

    READ ALSO: God will show us our presidential candidate, says PFN

    Participants had the opportunity of having real-life experience of the scriptures in languages of their choice.

    About 130 facilitators from 123 Churches qualified for this category and each received a free ‘acclaimer’ (projector and tablet).

    At the end of the challenge, 124 facilitators from 115 churches qualified for the final.

    The national coordinator of FCBH, Nicholas Okereke said: “The 162 active WhatsApp groups contain a total population of 5657 participants. 77% of all the WhatsApp group participants were located in Lagos State and 14.8% in Ogun State.

    “A total of 22 States in Nigeria were represented in the WhatsApp groups with some participants from outside Nigeria. The Local Government Areas in Lagos with the highest representation were Alimosho (14.8%), Ifako-Ijaiye (11.3%), and Ikorodu (11%).

    He said about 19% of the “Proclaimer” listening groups were found outside Lagos (Ogun State). Alimosho, Ifako-Ijaiye, and Ikorodu were the Local Government Areas in Lagos that have the highest number of ‘Proclaimer’ Listening groups.

    Rev, Toyin Kehinde, the founder and Senior Pastor of Agape Generation International Church, whose church auditorium was used for the closing ceremony, told participants at the event to continually give themselves to the ministry of the word and prayer.

    The event witnessed the presence of some prominent church leaders.

  • Winning others to victory (1)

    Winning others to victory (1)

    Apostle Paul echoed it to the Romans from our text, that, having been won to victory, his greatest desire, his goal and his passion was for Israel to be saved –  that the people who were in the dark should come to the light of God. Kindly note beloved in Christ that the matter of Winning others to Christ is the heartbeat of Jesus Christ, and there is no time that this is very important than now. The principal reason why God created human beings when the world was created was to be fruitful. The first command He gave man after creation in Genesis 1:26,28 was to be fruitful; it therefore behoves us as Christians, if indeed we are serious with our life hereafter, to hold the matter of fruitfulness very seriously because when He returns, He would surely ask us questions about how many people we have won to victory, and need be added that the time of His coming is tinkling.

    With the prophesied end of the world happenstances that are now staring us in the face globally, it is evident that the much talked about last day is here (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Winning others to the knowledge of Christ is a task that all children of God must take on board, and very seriously too. All believers in Christ Jesus have an obligation to deliver others from the grips of the devil and hell; we are obligated to enlarge the kingdom of victorious people, we werecalled to influence others to the kingdom of God and to be actively involved in the ministry of fruitfulness and discipleship.

    All through the ministry of Jesus Christ, what was in His plate and on His lips were the urgent matter of winning others to victory (John 15:8,16). Beloved in Christ, kindly note this, and very deliberately too, that your Christian faith confers and imposes responsibilities on you – Christianity is not about the glamour of your title, it is rather about the responsibilities of your title. God is not looking at your church position, He is looking for the fruits from your position in the church. The essence of your existence as a child of God is to bear fruit; anything out of winning others to victory is a sheer waste of divine investment. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said you should go out and make disciples of all nations. This is suffice to say that you were called to the commission of winning others to victory of the Cross.

    In John 22, after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ,  Bro. Peter decided to return to his fishing business and six of the disciples of Jesus Christ went with him – they abandoned their heavenly commission of winning others to Victory for the service of tables. Jesus met them there and asked Brother Peter thrice: Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than food? That is, do you love me more than the pleasures of this temporal life and do you love me more than your work? On the three occasions, Peter answered Him and said Yes, I do. Jesus told him that if indeed he loved Him, he should feed His sheep.

    Dear beloved in Christ, you have a charge to be Christ’s ambassadors. God desires that you must be an example of Him wherever you are located and at your places of posting (2 Corinthians 5:20). Your faith must be established through your walk, your talk and your conduct. Your Christianity must not be by the hordes of stickers of I AM BORN AGAIN on your cars or the bigness of your Bible or your loud tongue-speaking, it must be through your character and your desire to expand His kingdom; you are called to illuminate the path of others in darkness to His marvellous light ( Matthew 5:14-15). You have a duty to shine the light of God and extinguish darkness. As the salt of the earth, you are also called to the ministry of healing and reconciliation, you are to bring sweetness, purification, healing and not disintegration and destruction among the elects of God (Matthew 5:13).

    Please be informed dear brothers and sisters, thatyou were called majorly to bear fruits. You were not called out to yourself but God called you out for the world. You were called to better the world and not essentially to better your own lots (1 Peter 2:9-10). Beloved, let me remind you that when your time is up here, you shall stand before the judgment throne of God to give account of all that you did in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10), you shall give report of every idle word (Matt. 12:36) and you shall give statement for all the souls that were committed to you and all the people you encountered beginning from the neighbours who were placed around you for a purpose, to your housemaid to your driver, to your children, your family members and your colleagues at work. I pray that you will not miss heaven at the end in the name of Jesus Christ.

     

    Prayer: Father, help me in this Christian journey to redirect my thoughts and steps towards winning souls to your kingdom in the name of Jesus

     

  • Oyedepo charges youths on life-changing values

    Oyedepo charges youths on life-changing values

    The Pro – Chancellor’s Covenant University, Bishop David Oyedepo has advised youths to imbibe the values of integrity, possibility mentality, capacity building, diligence, and spirituality as they remain panacea to success in life.

    Oyedepo said this recently at the 20th matriculation ceremony of the Covenant University held at the Institution Chapel, Ota, Ogun State.

    Oyedepo said that for any life to be productive, meaningful, and impactful, the need to imbibe the core values of spirituality, integrity, possibility mentality, and moral rectitude was imperative.

    He noted that by covenant, every child of God is destined for an enviable future which is realizable when one chooses to apply these core values to his/ her life.

    “Being a highly customized institution, Covenant University presents a set of life-changing core values which help in training up to each student for a productive life,” he said.

    He admonished each and every one of them to embrace these unequivocal values for immediate benefit towards enhancing performance in their academic engagements.

     

  • There’ll be great revival, says Olujobi

    There’ll be great revival, says Olujobi

    The General Overseer of Wisdom Church International, Prophet Bisi Olujobi has advised Nigerian youths to continue to seek the face of God, work hard and shun desperate moves which have become the order of the day.

    According to the prophet, the Nigerian youths are very desperate because of what they have seen in the country particularly the get rich quick syndrome and those showing off ill-gotten wealth.

    Speaking about the 2023 elections, he said it would be peaceful: “God has a good plan concerning the 2023 elections and that everything is in the hands of God. It is going to be a peaceful election. The next president will solve some of the nation’s problems but he cannot finish them all.”

    Olujobi also admonished one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to move closer to God and pray towards his presidential ambition. “God has a plan for him but he needs to settle with God. He needs to pray more, come closer to God so that God can shake away evil and grant him long life. No evil would work against him. God knows where he is taking him to and the plan of God cannot change.”

    Women, he stressed, are already coming up in the political space and they would support and make things better.

    On the new opportunities in the political scene for young people, he said: “I see a number of young people coming up for future national assignments. The list includes Gov Yaya Bello and Gov Seyi Makinde. God is preparing Yaya Bello for the future. Makinde will rise, there will be a little problem but he will come back for a second term. Others include Bukola Saraki, Ambode, Hon Toafeek and Hon.  Babajimi Benson. God has a purpose for them”.

    Olujobi added that there would also be great revival amongst God’s prophets too. “Great revival would take place amongst the Ministers and prophets. There would be some changes amongst God’s prophets. Some of the people that God would use include Apostle Suleiman, but he must be careful because some people would try to derail him. I also saw Apostle Zusa of Omega Power Ministry, Jeremiah in Port Harcourt. God said he would use them and I pray the Lord would uphold them”.

    According to the General Overseer, the challenge the Lagos transport union is currently facing with the National body will be erased in the state. “I saw a moon come down and the whole land open. Their position will be taken away; God will erase and clear them off from the parks. The state would be transformed and unique.”

    He also informed that fervent prayers are needed to avoid terrible clashes by bandits and ethnic militias. “God revealed that some of them would come up, sponsor, and cause problems. I saw people running helter-skelter and we really need to pray against any kind of confusion. It will not happen in Jesus’ name.”

    On the current war between Russia and Ukraine, Olujobi informed that God is using the two countries as examples of what to expect in the future. “It is part of the last day revival and we would see that Russia would face terrible things in the future. God would break Putin and power is coming from Korea and China. They are silent but when they show up, America needs to be careful. There would be a great shakeup. I saw people from Asia, Korea coming up, and then peace would come but not yet.

    “Two other nations would also face themselves and that would be more terrible than what is happening now. As a prophet, we would continue to pray against this and for peace to reign. I also saw that Ghana would have a civil war that would collapse their economy, they need to pray more.”

     

  • How God raised dead girl through me -Babatunde

    How God raised dead girl through me -Babatunde

    Pastor Lekan Babatunde, the General Overseer, Jesus is King Ministry, Samonda, Ibadan,is a former senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan. The Abeokuta born pastor turns 70 years on Tuesday April 5. He reflects on his 30 years in the ministry and life as a lecturer in an interview with Southwest Bureau Chief Bisi Oladele

    Can you share your background with us?

    I was born in Abeokuta to a textile trader. My mother was a textile trader and my father happened to be the oba of  Ilewo town, Ogun State.

    I am a full-time pastor now. I used to be a lecturer in the University of Ibadan.

    How long have you been in ministry?

    It’s been quite some time, because I left UI in 1989, and since then, I have been a full-time minister

    When you left for the work of ministry, were you in an existing ministry or you started from the scratch at that time?

    I started my own ministry, according to the instruction of the Lord, from the scratch but I had been involved with other churches, ministries as a Christian in earlier years.

    Which mission?

    Precisely, I was with the All Nation Disciples of Christ and I also worked with the late Prophet Obadare. As a matter of fact, I was very much involved in his WOSEM; I was the  financial secretary for Oyo State, while the late Colonel Makanjuola was the chairman at that time.

    I left to start my own ministry. In fact, it was a tug of war because I was really in love with my profession as a philosopher. I was in love with Philosophy and  only God could have taken me away from Philosophy. I loved it, I loved everything about teaching philosophy and about living philosophy. When God asked me to leave, I did not leave. I was still very much reluctant and it took His mighty hand to actually take me out because when He asked me to leave, I was still doing what He asked me to do on a  part-time basis. I knew I had to start a new ministry and so much evidence that He used to speak to me. So I started the ministry on a part-time basis. I would  go to places to minister, preach the gospel here and there.

    I will give you one or two examples.We were led by God to go to the Juvenile Remand Home at Polytechnic Road, Eleyele Road (Ibadan)  at one time.  We went there on this particular occasion, we preached and blessed the children and left. The team included myself, my wife and other brothers. We did not even offer  any prayer for healing or talk about miracle, we just went there, blessed them with the gospel, gave them gifts and left. We were just at the junction of the road when we saw people chasing us and we stopped. They said  Kayode has started speaking. I said ‘who is Kayode?’  They said Kayode was one of the children in the Remand Home. In the  Remand Home they also have a place for the handicapped. Kayode was one of the deaf and dumb. We did not know, we thought they were all just normal children; we were just talking and preaching. So, they called us that Kayode had started talking and hearing. We had to drive back.

    So, the language of God was clear to me and I knew God wanted me in His vineyard to do His work but I was reluctant. Eventually, we went there to see the boy, speaking fluently, hearing well. It was a miracle. These are some of the things that I had seen but I did not leave. God now began to show me some hard signs, I was almost losing all my children coupled with many other incidents. Then at a time I had to bow because the two girls I had at that time were very sick and I knew I was the cause because it was an unusual sickness, even doctors in the university clinic said it was unusual, that they had  not seen a case like that before. So, I was in the bathroom when the Lord said: ‘When will you give me total obedience?’ As I heard the voice, to cut it short, I said: “Right now Lord, I will give you total obedience.” I left the bathroom, I went to lay hand on the children, in fact, the voice was gone, they were not talking again, and if you put them on the bed, the skin would  be peeling. So we had to lay them on a mat. The moment I laid hands on them, the following day, you won’t believe what happened, it was immediate recovery.

    The following day, I went to UI, put in my resignation and it was not easy because my head of department was then working  on a virgin area, blending lesson and philosophy, medical ethics. My head of department did not like it, he did not want me to go. So, he quickly arranged for me to travel for something at a university in the US. So, in spite of all that, I just said I am quitting. So that was how I left University of Ibadan teaching job.

    Apart from your colleagues in the department who could not fathom why you resigned so suddenly and wanted to go and join the work of ministry, did you receive pressure from friends, associates and your wife?

    Yes! From my wife, there was no pressure because we were all together in it. She is a very understandable wife but my own senior brother, he went to my parents and told them that Lekan wanted to starve his children, that he has quit his job. And then of course, you know mothers, she had to travel down, to know what happened. I explained to her, still they thought I was sick because to be a lecturer in those days, was really something. So, there was pressure but I stood my ground.

    So 33 years after leaving your academic career for the ministry, how has it been?

    It has been great. The beginning was quite rough but the just shall live by faith. We had to believe God for our sustenance. I know things of God don’t just boom like that. We had a very small beginning and of course, I will tell you that it was not easy but the encouragement I had personally was seeing the tangibility of God’s power and presence throughout my life in those days.

    Another example apart from the previous one, was a day I was going to the Chemical Pathology Unit at the University College Hospital (UCH) to see someone. As I got to the secretariat roundabout, I looked to my right, I saw on Queen Elizabeth Road one man called Lateef Adewusi, he was  crippled, walking on his buttocks, coming towards the roundabout. I just heard the Holy Spirit telling me to go and help him. And of course, I understood the language. You know secretariat is an open place. On a Monday morning for that matter when people were moving here and there, going to offices, and now God is saying I should go and pray for somebody in that open place. It was not a crusade, it was not any service. So, my reaction was ‘God, if I go to him and pray and nothing happens, that will be an open embarrassment.’ The whole world will see me here at the secretariat, so I did not do it. I went straight to UCH. But you know God when He wants to achieve something. I did not have any peace of mind until I came back. The moment people saw me going to someone that looked like a mad man, because he was half naked and he was walking with his buttocks, they all shifted their attention toward me. But you know God will always be God, if I had known that was what would  happen, I would have done it the first time I heard the voice. I went to the man, I asked for his name and he said my name is Lateef Adewusi, I said: “Are you a Christian or a Muslim?’ He said he was a Muslim. I said: “If Jesus were to help your condition and raise you up from where you are now, will you serve Him? He said: “Yes, I will serve Him.” I summoned courage like in Acts 3. To my surprise, Lateef Adewusi got up and walked. At that time, we had  not started Sunday service, I was  attending CAC Oke Ife. The church was at Agbowo. When he stood up and walked, he walked back home and brought all his family members to come and do thanksgiving in that church. I will never forget that day.

    So, it was quite clear that I had no business in the university teaching, I was just being stubborn.

    I can tell you a thousand and more but I will just give you one more. Though the road was rough initially, His mighty hand has kept me on.

    One day, I was sleeping in my rented apartment at Kongi, Bodija. A kind of noise woke me up, I thought there was a fight between our neighbors but when I got to the gate, I discovered a young girl died and the vehicle that was to  take her to the  mortuary had arrived. People were wailing. Then my daughter that followed me there just told me: “Daddy, something told me that this girl will rise.” I will never forget that statement. So, we went inside. When I was still jittery because it caught me unawares, I think she saw the anxiety on  my face and said again: “Daddy, something told me this girl will rise.” So, I summoned courage and laid hands on her. As I laid my hand on her, she came back to life.

    The mother was virtually living in my house after that incident, only to go and sleep in their house. The husband later joined the church.

    So, I have seen Him like never before and even though, there have been great challenges.

     

    If you see a young man, who has received a call to go into ministry today, what advice would you give him?

    I will ask him if he really received the call because if you are really not called, it’s a kind of work that if you enter, you will run back and those people today that are doing all kinds of things, it is because, somehow, somewhere, maybe they did not really get the call because if you don’t really have an encounter with God, those things that will send one back are many. And if you don’t go back, you will compromise. You run into rituals, you run into other things. Today, I can say to you that I am not a millionaire, am not a rich person but I have my needs met and supplied. Because we are old timers, we don’t do all these kinds of bad things.

     

     

  • Satisfaction in Christ Alone (4)

    Satisfaction in Christ Alone (4)

    The Samaritan woman in the passage of our text was a person who lived a life that was engrossed in marital, spiritual and career dissatisfaction. When she had an encounter with Jesus Christ however, her eyes of understanding were enlightened, she dropped her water pot, went into town proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and consequently won many souls to the kingdom – she became a great Evangelist! This is why I believe that what God cannot do does not exist, and that there is no hopeless case with, and in Christ Jesus.

    The Psalmist while highlighting the goodness of God in Psalm 107:8,9 spoke very eloquently about God’s works of wonders to human creation and that He must be hallowed for His mission of satisfaction and His commission to give the grace to live lives to the fullest to as many that came to Him (John 4:37). The Psalmist said that, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness”. From this passage, the Psalmist said that the celebration of His goodness is not predicated only on the fact that He satisfied the longing soul but that He satisfies. This is sufficient to state that His willingness and capacity to satisfy is same as He did yesterday, still doing today and shall do forever (Heb. 13:8). It also confirms the fact that all powers belong to Him (Psalm 62:11) and that, He can qualify the unqualified and He can make a way where there was none.

    Beloved, you need to surrender your life, family, ministry and assignments to Jesus Christ today. When you surrender to Him, He would satisfy you with His mercy. In Psalms 90:14, the Psalmist said that, “O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days”. It is instructive to note that happiness is a mirage without His mercy. When God intervenes for you with His mercy, He cancels whatever judgment that had been placed on your life, known or unknown to you, and replaces it with eternal happiness (James 2:13). This is suffice to say that when God satisfies you, He cancels every evil judgment, curse, pronouncement and embargo placed on your family line and His power shall take you to the zenith of your commission.

    Besides that, whenever Jesus Christ steps in, He would satisfy you with His favour. Deuteronomy 33:23 says that, “And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south”. When you are satisfied with favour dear beloved in Christ, your capacity for lift up shall be increased, laws and rules shall be suspended for your lift up, your level of operation and testimonies shall be expanded and you shall be elevated beyond your level of competence. When God satisfies with His favour, he turns a stammerer to a deliverer, as He did with Moses; He lifts up an unexposed lady to be the wife of the most powerful nation in the world, as He did with Esther; he turns a stammerer to a deliverer, as He did with Moses and he moves a prisoner to become the Prime Minister in a strange land, as he did with Joseph.

    Not only that, He said in Job 38:25-27 that, God satisfies the desolate and waste ground and causes the bud of the tender herb to spring forth. In other words, when God satisfies you, He releases greatness on you and the position you never imagined or dreamt about shall be vacated for you. The Prophet Samuels of this world shall be sent to look for you. They will disqualify others to qualify you and shall refuse to sit down until your arrival for anointing.

    In addition to divine favour, God also satisfies with goodness (Jeremiah 31:14). When you are satisfied with His goodness, everything that is good shall locate and follow you all the days of your life and wherever you turn to (Psalm 23:6 cf Deut. 28:6). By His grace and divine intervention, you shall get a decent job, even in a season of economic recessions, such that when people are chorusing a cast down, you will have a testimony of lifting up (Job 22:29). God will bless you with a good husband, He will decorate your life with a good wife, build you a house of your own, give you good cars for easy movement and enlarge your family with very good children etc

    Beloved, it doesn’t matter what is going on in the world, if you decide to obey divine instruction, God will position your Joseph at His Goshen (Gen. 47:27) and your Isaac shall be domiciled at His Gerar (Gen. 26:1-13). In Isaiah 58:11, God had promised that, “I shall satisfy your soul in time of famine and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”. The Psalmist said in Psalms 37:19 that, “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” Joel 2:26 says that, “you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied”.

    Beloved, please return to God today, surrender your life to Him during this Lenten season, ask Him to take full charge of your life henceforth and drop your water pot of sin and carnality. Allow Him take over the driving seat of your life while you sit beside Him. As He lives, your life will not be the same ever again and you shall continue to live in the satisfaction that is only available in Him alone, in the name of Jesus

     

    • Prayer: Lord, take the water pot of sin and flesh from me. Please take me from where I am to where you had destined for me in the name of Jesus.

     

  • WBF repositions, appoints Emokpae chairman

    WBF repositions, appoints Emokpae chairman

    Corporate strategist, theologian and development economist, Dr. Osaren Emokpae has been appointed chairman of the Wilson Badejo Foundation (WBF).

    The appointment followed the transition of the founding chairman, Rev. (Dr.) Wilson Badejo and vice-chairman, Rev. (Mrs.) Yinka Badejo.

    The appointment of the new chairman was unanimously adopted by the board at a meeting chaired by Elder Segun Olusanya.

    Emokpae, founder of EDJOHN School of Management, is also chairman of several organisations including LAPO NGO, Havilah Group, Mindshare Group and Concorde Security.

    He is a fellow of the Institute of Marketing, Fellow of APCON, Fellow of Management Consultants and has two doctoral degrees in Philosophy and Organisational Resilience.

    An Alumnus of Oxford University, Cranfied University, Hertfordshire University and University of Lagos, he is both a corporate strategist and theologian, anchoring two highly watched programmes on Foursquare TV-titled THE ANCHOR and THE WEALTHY PLACE.

    He was the Founding Chairman of Foursquare Leadership Institute, former chairman-Foursquare International Conference Centre Idimu, founding president MIPAN, a founding member of Mcpherson University Board of Trustees, BOT and Founding Pastor of Lakeview Foursquare church.

    He is bringing his wealth of experience, expertise, goodwill and social equity to lead the new Board of WBF. Also elected are Mr. Femi Badejo as Vice Chairman of WBF and Miss Oreoluwa Badejo as Director, WBF

    In his first address to the board of WBF, Emokpae stated that to immortalise the visioner/former chairman Rev (Dr.) Badejo and and vice chairman Rev (Mrs) Badejo, the foundation is to be totally restructured-with institutions and processes to enhance robust corporate governance in fulfilling its mandate to make significant contribution in reducing poverty in Nigeria.

    He further stated the board’s committees would be developed as instruments of effective administration and governance structure of the Foundation and that a performance evaluation framework will be installed to appraise all directors in exercising their functions.

    He also announced that the next WBF lecture will be hold in the Institute of International Affairs with erudite scholar and Director General of the Institute of International Affairs, Professor Eghosa Osagie as guest speaker.

    The occasion will have the General Overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria – Rev Sam Aboyeji as chairman; and Mr Femi Adesina – Special Adviser to the President on Media as Very Special Guest of honor.

    Among eminent personalities already invited include Pastor Tunde Bakare, Dr and Mrs Godwin Ehigiamusoe -founder, LAPO Microfinance Bank and Dr Iyi Uwadiae -immediate past Registrar of West African Examinations Council (WAEC).