What is God Doing Now?

What is God Doing Now?

(Long Read Alert) 

These are tough times. Not just physically but emotionally and psychologically. They are even tough times socially and putting out opinions isn't anything easy. Writing this isn't easy on me and I hope I don't lose friends. It isn't for arguments but for solutions. 

But IF it's the truth, it will help those genuinely looking for solutions and answers and return to restore those things that cankerworms and caterpillars have eaten.

Growing up and being raised on the Bible, I had a very funny relationship with the Scriptures. There are parts I would read over and over, there are parts I won't touch with a long pole. This isn't because of unbelief really but because of fear. They make me rather uncomfortable.

My favorite was the book of Exodus and other early books of the Pentateuch, but not Leviticus I would enjoy the stories in Numbers, but not the numbering. I cherished the suffering of the children of Israel in Egypt and their deliverances, the wars, and their victories up to the stories of Joshua and the conquests.

Of course, I never pitched myself with the losing sides. I never saw myself as a little innocent Egyptian boy, enjoying the wealth and the slavery services of a conquered group of visitors, I never saw myself as the little boy suffering the plagues and seeing all the deaths or losing my father in the red sea as he and other soldiers pursued these runaway slaves.

Even the plagues that happened within the children of Israel didn't move me, I was on the side of Moses and not on the side of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. I wasn't on the side of the children of Jericho, of course I would have died with them, and I wasn't a member of the house of Achan. These stories were 'sweet' because of the side I was, I never considered the people on the other side.

In my relationship with my Bible, I won't read the book of Job, to me it was 'R' rated, that was horror and violence in one movie. I won't read the book of Revelations, full of scary things. And I won't read Galatians 5, and any such verses that tried to put the responsibility of living right on me, they judge me and why should I be judged? Of course, I was just maturing. 

It took maturing to break the habit of selective reading. And when I did, I began to see God differently. God is a good God, but He also demands responsibility, and He is a God of justice and judgment who is not to be taken for granted. He can actually be righteously terrible in judgment. 

Under the circumstances we are in right now, in finding solutions, we need to know where God is on this. If Job had fallen sick, probably letting his shield of faith down briefly and Satan's arrow hit him, he could quickly deal with it, putting the devil down through the provisions of redemption. Satan had come to steal, to kill and to destroy and the eternal life of God will deal with it by the authority in name of  the Life Himself, Jesus Christ, the Lord. 

But it is a different case when Job started losing all of his family members and all of his wealth and his life became something else. The question would have been, what happened to the edge God had put around Job and not why did Job let his shield of faith down? This is more than Job and his impeccable righteousness. God is involved in what's happening to Job. 

If I have a flat tire on the Third Mainland Bridge, (the longest and probably the busiest bridge in Africa on a workday), it MAY be Satan trying to hinder me like he did to Paul and the warfare would continue right there as I claim my victory. But if all the vehicles on the bridge on a Monday morning have flat tires, that's something more than the regular, wise men should ask questions and reflect. 

It means, we need to rate issues by its merits to know how to handle it. 

I don't believe a pandemic of the magnitude of covid19 would happen without God knowing about it. I know people are more comfortable with the expression of 'God permitted it' rather than 'God did it'. We believe there's no reason why a good God would do such a terrible thing. But to me, I don't see a difference in God permitting and in Him doing it. 

If you could stop it, even if you didn't plan it, but you didn't stop it, they you're not better than the one who planned it. It is aiding and abetting and every legal system frowns at it. But we know that God gauges the trials and the temptations that comes to us so that we would be able to handle them. He permits only what we can handle, and would even make a way of escape so we can bear them according to 1Corinthians 10:13 so that if we fail, it isn't because we had more than we can handle but because we didn't handle the temptation as we should. 

But why would God permit such a devastation? If we get the answer to that, I'm sure we can get a solution of how we can be saved. 

Ordinarily, I believe God has an edge of protection around the world. He has a program running that must run through. We are heading towards a new heaven and a new earth. So, in spite of man's tendencies of violence, the wickedness of Satan and the eventualities of nature, the world has remained protected by God beyond what man could do. 

Just a big enough asteroid hitting the earth will paralyse it completely. Scientists say it had happened before and it can happen again, the question is why hasn't any of that magnitude hit since the beginning of this era? There is an edge of God around the earth keeping it till His agenda is done. 

So, when something happens that seems to put the world on hold and suspends God's plan for the world, for nations, for territories, for cities, for families and for individuals then, we should ask Him who had put that edge around the world. 

Did this catch Him unawares? I doubt, I believe He's up to something. Can the devil do this to Him and all by himself? I doubt too. I'm almost thinking that Satan himself is in awe right now... Most of his business centres are shut down. If anyone of either God or Satan was caught unawares, it would be Satan, he's the one suffering this more among the two. 

So, what's God doing now? He's receiving people to heaven's bliss, He's healing lots of people infected, He's helping the bereaved come to comfort, He's helping those at the front lines from getting sick or getting into weariness, He's helping nations do the right things to support their people. He is keeping people home with their families and making individuals think deeply about their lives and about God. He is bringing back to us what matters and showing us that we can actually do without those things we are killing ourselves and others over. He's helping scientists find a cure and a solution. 

But can God do this? Yes, He can. It's only because we never pitched ourselves with people like the Egyptians during the 10 plagues, they deserved it, we don't. We never thought about the children of Jericho, who didn't have a Rahab to throw out the scarlet scarf in support of God's people to save her family and friends, the other citizens of Jericho, who didn't make the decisions to shut the Israelites out deserved it, we don't. We never pitched ourselves with those who perished with the flood but with Noah and his family, even if our sins are more than of those who died in the flood, they deserved it, we don't. We never thought of being the family members of Annania and Sapphira who died even in the New Testament, they deserved it, we don't even if we are doing worse than them. We never asked how could God have done what He did to Herod, and we never wondered why He had to kill him in such a horrible manner because we assume he deserved it but we don't. And not pitching ourselves with those people didn't give us a balance perspective of who God is and it has helped to keep people away from the fear of God since they never saw a God who won't be on their side even when not doing well. Some even believe that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. Meanwhile, He did same things in the New Testament too if we read properly. Jesus wept bitterly on Jerusalem and other cities because of the evil coming upon them via the judgment of God, didn't He? Did those things happen or not? Yes, they did but we aren't those people, so we don't know that side of God. And we don't present that side and so people go on thinking their sins have no consequences, yet our message is to help people get saved. Do you get saved without any danger looming? Is there a rescue team without a danger to rescue people from? 

God is a God of judgment and we should be wary of His terrible judgment. It doesn't always happen, the Scriptures say because judgement against evil isn't promptly delivered, so men's heart are set in them to do evil. The Scriptures also said, God is slow to anger, but not that He doesn't have wrath, even if His anger is for a moment. That little moment can be devastating, it'll hurt people and even the 'innocent' and 'righteous' may not easily escape. Is God wicked? He's not, the judge of all the earth won't be unrighteous. A righteous and benevolent judge will still send people to jail or to death, not for wickedness but for justice and the innocent people connected to those so judged will still share it it, how I wish they won't. Besides, our rating of good and bad are always informed by our selfish comforts, if it doesn't pain, then it is good, even if we need the pain to be better! 

The world is apostate and we all know, every serious believer knows. But we don't feel it until we demand justice for a wrong we have suffered. But that justice we seek for ourselves will make some innocent people suffer, it will be painful but what can we do about it?

That's why the way out of the present situation is to ask God to fulfil His purpose quickly and to cut the days of His wrath short in mercy. And He will do so even if Pharaohs' hearts would remain hardened to their own personal destruction afterwards. 

Our jobs as the people of God is to help people see the severity of God and also His love, its not a time to do PR for God, its time to seek Him and to plead and pray for the world. 

I'm sure hearts will fear God again and return unto God. We may be seeing the onset of a spiritual revival and the church, which is the light of the world and the salt of the earth will have to shine this light for the world to see and for the world to run into that light and preserve what remains as the salt that she is. 

It's time we humble ourselves before God, even as the church and seek His face, it's time to repent of our own sins, and return unto God, He will abundantly pardon. 

He will send solutions, both scientific and spiritual and will stop the plague like He stopped them in Egypt and all through the history of plagues in the Bible. He will then restore all that has been lost and bring us back to health and to wealth. 

It's time to let the world see her sin unto repentance and sound the alarm of preparations for the end and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

For the individual believer who has faith in the knowledge of our redemption in Christ, the healing Scriptures and the redemptive promises in Christ haven't been suspended, we can be shielded like the children of Israel were distinguished but we have to shine our light for the world to see what must be done, we have to stand in the gap for the world at this time and intercede in fasting and in praying in humility, and to testify of Christ according to what He said we should do in times of famine, pestilences and persecutions. 

You may not agree with this or with some parts of this, and I can understand, it does not make you my enemy but look sincerely into what I've said and listen to God in your heart for the truth and let's do as God has led us. 

Peace by all means! 

Photo Credit:Geralt/Pixabay 

Peace By All Means

Peace By All Means 

2Thessalonians 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

We've been studying the book of Galatians at The Bible Class, TBC every Wednesday night for a while now, you can always join us on Facebook live, last week we studied the fruit of the Spirit in chapter 5 verse 22, part of which was peace.

The elements in the universe are in constant random motion, so science told us, they aren't resting even in their most solid state and that's what creates the stability we enjoy. The more organised things are, the less stable they become. It is ever difficult to maintain order and orderliness without an external force.

That means the state of rest is unstable and if the state of rest isn't constant, then there will be collisions caused by the chaotic random movements of matter and that will be the norm. The cause of the troubles of the world. 

But we also don't need that state of random motion, if we are to make progress. Human development comes by the reorganisation of matter away from the random state it naturally exists in. Meaning, the development of the world is unstable, no wonder there is decay, destruction, deductions and devouring. Everything tends to go back to its natural state away from the unstable developed state humans tend to put it for their convenience and comfort.

This agree perfectly with what Jesus Christ said.

Matthew 6

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

He showed us that as we lay things up here on earth, they assume more unstable state and so would tend towards finding their stable levels through decadence, destruction, deductions and devouring on their ways back to their original states.

John 16

33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 

Here we know that the world is a perpetually troubled system and except a higher force is deployed to overcome and force it down it will serve its troubles in shipments to its inhabitants. The only stable state of the world is the state of unrest and trouble. 

This tells us that peace is a force that overcomes trouble. To be able to sustain and maintain the development we need, to be able to enjoy rest and health, we need the force of peace. To enjoy inner calmness by which we can access innovation and enlightenment, we need the overwhelming force of peace to calm the troubled soul. 

Meanwhile, peace can't be found in the world system, which constantly is being built up against the forces of stability, the peace the world gives comes from the balance of threats and from fake and unfaithful assurances. True peace comes from Christ and His love. In Him lay the forces of peace. 

The peace Christ gives is such that hardly makes sense. We are not to have any anxiety about anything, a thing we can only achieve through the workings of the Holy Spirit within our spirits. But by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we should make our requests known unto God and then we would have the peace of God that passes all understanding guard our hearts and minds. 

Phil 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The primary answer to prayer is peace, that true peace which is from Jesus Christ. The peace the world gives doesn't last because it must serve the selfish interests of those promising it.

I was told about a management phenomenon with the acronym VUCA last night. And it's so interesting to me. It spells out as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. They jointly describe the world's state of affairs, practically confirming what Jesus said.

Jesus Christ laid back sleeping on a pillow in the keel of a ship, while the ship was going through a terrible storm. That's peace that makes no sense!

Rising up, He went out to command that same peace upon the forces of the sea and transfered the calmness within Him to the raging sea and there was a marvelous calm...we can enjoy that same tranquility within us through Him. 

If we must be sane and live life to the fullest, we need peace. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit and an extension of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts at the new birth.

There's rest with Jesus Christ to those who are in any trouble. If God gives quietness, no one can make trouble. In the trouble that's in this world, the peace of Christ is what we need. He has overcome the world and we can rest in His victory irrespective of the tumult in the world.

Peace and fear don't go and in hand, where there's peace, there's no fear and there's no anxiety...

Would you consider Jesus Christ for your peace? He is the prince of peace and He will give you peace by all means to keep your heart and mind.

Job 34: 29 When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?

And when He hides His face, who then can see Him,

Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—

In all the uncertainties and troubles that are in the world... There's still peace in Christ Jesus... He has the forces that can arrest any trouble of any sort and shield any tribulation we may be in from touching us within.

He can give peace in the present troubles in the world... We can trust Him...to keep nothing from being broken or from missing out from their places.

Let Him speak to that storm... Peace! Be still! And there shall be a great calm!

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The Cared for, The Carefree, The Care Giver and The Careless

The Cared for, The Carefree, The Care Giver and the Careless

Photo Credit: RitaE/Pixabay 

As at today, the twentieth day of March in the year 2020, the world remains under a battering from the scourge of a coronavirus pandemic which would probably not leave the world the same way we'd always known it in our generation.

Though the mortality rate has been relatively low compared to some other diseases, the propensity of it being transmitted is higher and people can get infected as easily as possible if exposed to the virus. A high percentage of people too also recover, symptoms can be mild in many people and mortality is high among old people and people with underlying diseases in the more advanced nations where it's easier to have data.

The question is what should be  our response and how are we actually responding as believers to such a scourge at this time.

There are different possible mentalities we can have as people who believe in Christ Jesus and follow the Bible as the written word of God. We may have the Cared for mentality and attitude, we can have the Carefree attitude, we can have the Caregiver attitude, we can have the mentality of the Careless and we can combine two or more of these attitudes in response to the pandemic.

I will start from the Careless attitude. The scourge is already here in the world, people have been sick, recovered and many have died. Though we know so little about the virus that it was a big breakthrough to even discover how to test for it, and there are no vaccines yet to prevent it, the power against it in the physical is to prevent transmission. The truth is that the measures, if followed carefully and meticulously can prevent people from getting it. Social distancing and proper washing would work.

But the Careless attitude towards it may create a breach and freely release the virus to go haywire everywhere. The Careless mentality may remain in deliberate ignorance, such may take to some unfounded conspiracy theories that may lower one's guards, such may remain in denial, may refuse to obey public orders of taking precautions and the measures necessary to keep the virus at bay. The Careless attitude can be the most dangerous attitude.

It is possible for a believer to assume he or she is in faith whereas such is in presumptions or in foolishness. It isn't a time to be careless or lazy with one's faith. It is time to be meticulous with scriptural steps of faith and to be sure the physical measures are in place.

Proverbs 22

 3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,

            But the naive go on, and are punished for it's. 

Panic isn't an answer but not also carelessness.

Then we have the Carefree. The Carefree attitude isn't same with carelessness. It is the attitude of being secure in the truth not to have fear, anxiety or panic. The Carefree is that person who knows that anxiety would not add a cubit to one's height, who knows it is an exercise in futility to worry which may even compound the problem. 

We have people panic buying things to stack up, not knowing when the situation will assuage, people running helter skelter and even dying for the fear of the virus, we hear that some in some countries are panic buying guns. 

Peace of mind is crucial. 'Fear not' is the word for the believer. We may go through the valley of the shadow of death, yet we should not fear because God is with us... We won't be careless but we won't also be afraid, we would not fret over anything, we have peace, we won't fret, we won't worry. 

Philippians 4:5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Then we have the Caregiver attitude. The one who would go beyond self to see to other's well-being in times like this. Those at the front lines, giving their lives to save others. Helping people spiritually, psychologically and physically to be able to remain normal and to recover. Those who think of the sick and those who have lost their loved ones. Those who grieve with the grieving, who helps the sick and those who would do everything to see that the vulnerable are protected from the trouble. 

We can suddenly become selfish, wanting to save ourselves alone. We can suddenly become insensitive to other people's struggles in the situation but we are called to bear one another's burden. The lockdown will be tough for a lot of homes and the believer should step up at this time to help people. The believer should have words and actions of love to help and to show love to people at this time. The believer should spread hope and affirmations at this time. Give to those who may not have, and don't put unnecessary burden on those who are lending their hands. We should walk in love.

Romans 15:1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Galatians 6:2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Then we have the mentality of the Cared for. The believer ought to go about with the assurance of God's covering and care. The boldness of having God to cast all our cares upon because He cares for us. We should have the mentality of the word and not of the world without hope. God cares about our health and well-being. He is our healer, our Healthcare provider. He is our inheritance, in Him we have all that we need. He is our shepherd. He is our Father who actually fathers us. Even the hairs on our heads are all numbered, He recognises each of the cells in our bodies one by one. He knows every need. And He has all the pre-knowledge of all that's happening. He wasn't caught unawares by any scourge or by any situation. He knows the ending from the beginning. He knows why and He can be trusted.

1Peter 5

7 Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you.

We should rehears all of His promises of love. Think about His loving plans for you, think about His ability to bring those things to pass in spite of all the dangers around, think about the fact that He can never lie or be unfaithful. Let this be our mentality at this time to activate the power of God for times like this.

God bless and keep you in Jesus name. 

Making Life's Choices

Making Life's Choices

Joshua, at his valedictory state of the nation address, laid down the options for the children, death and life, but advised them to choose live so they would live. 

Life is all about choices. The life outcomes we desire are achieved by the choices we make. We all have a right to make our choices. No one should ride another roughshod into making choices. It is a fundamental right of individuals to choose what they want. Choose you this day who you would serve, is the call.

That means, even God, who created the heavens and the earth could only offer Himself as an option for our choosing. Yes, He had chosen us, but until we choose Him, His choosing us can't override ours. We have a right to disobey and to refuse Him. He forces Himself on no one.

One thing about our choices is that they are to be ours and not another's. Within the options and the opportunities available, the responsibility is ours to use the right we have to make our choices. Freedom is dependent on the ability to make independent decisions and make the choices we feel is best for us even if we have world class advisors. Our freedom is infringed upon, when we can't make those choices that we feel are best to us by ourselves.

We help people not to make mistakes by trying to help their choice and decision making competencies. However, they must be the ones to make their final decisions, not us.

Choices have consequences. If we have the right to make our choices, we shouldn't be afraid to face the consequences of our decisions. It is called being responsible. It is true that to err is human, yet, the erring should not pass the buck of the results of his errors to another who made his right decisions and is enjoying the results.

Jesus Christ when putting forth the requirements to be His disciple told the people to count the cost before starting the journey. Being a disciple of Christ for instance is a choice that will cost you. You may have to forsake all you have materially and socially inclusive of every ambition with the very readiness to losing your very life. Jesus Christ didn't hide that from us. It is a choice that may be very difficult but not being a disciple of Christ is the option, but what's the consequence of not being a disciple of Christ? To make that choice, you must first sit down to count the cost.

Choices can be reconsidered based on changes in situations and opportunities. Though there are cases where choices can be almost permanent. But it's better to deal with every choice to be made as permanent. That helps us to process and to consider the parameters deeply before arriving at our final choices. We shouldn't take life's choices lightly, it can mean life or death.

The elasticity of choices is another thing about choices. Consequences extend beyond the person making the choices. People within the circle of influence will definitely take part in those fruits. Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit they shouldn't eat, the brought sin into the world, Jesus Christ chose to pay the debt by living righteously and dying, and so brought salvation to the world. 

We may choose to eat the positive consequences alone but it'll be difficult shielding those within our circles of influence from being hit by the results of our misjudgement but it's something each of us must do however.

We respect other people's choices. It's so so important that we do this. Of course, looking at end results and those who may suffer, we would try to help people make positive decisions but when they don't yield, we ought to have respect for their personal life's decisions. Though that may also give us the chance of making our own personal decisions based on there's, but we should let them be free with their decisions.

I may feel fruits and vegetables are best for you, you may feel otherwise, I should respect that. But I may decide also to avoid eating when I come to your house because of your unhealthy diets, you should respect that also. I know people sometimes find such respect difficult to give which tends towards control.

Some, however, wants you to bear the consequences of their bad choices. That's very wrong. I have made certain difficult and sacrificial choices in life, which seem limiting ordinarily, it will be very wrong of me to shift the burden of the sacrifices to others who don't see value in my choices or to blame them for not understanding them.

It will take a John, the beloved to take over the responsibility of taking care of Mary, the mother of Jesus, after his friend chose to die for the sins of the world. Any other, probably even His own brothers won't understand His concern for the world to the extent of dying for the world, when He had the whole world to conquer, being so gifted with such large a following.

Don't ever expect others to bear the burden of the choices you make. That's the height of irresponsibility. Those who may choose to do so are only operating on the frequency of mercy and undeserved grace. Anyone who chooses not to bear the consequences of your choices hasn't done wickedly, we must learn not to fall into that trap.

Think well before making that choice, it may mean life or death, it may mean poverty or riches, it may mean heaven or hell, it may mean health or illnesses.

Conviction is key in making choices because, every choice will be tested no matter how noble and valuable. And make sure the conviction is based on truth and high quality information that can stand the test of time.

We also should know that we can make the wrong choices. Even when we have the best of intentions, we may not have good knowledge of the possible outcomes to choose right. Whenever we discover, so long we still have life, we can still repent and take the right turn...

Review the choices and take a different route to our desired end. Life gives us the opportunity of second chance and they come every day we wake up. 

Being able to make timely choices is also important. Indecisiveness is as bad as making bad choices. Choices must be made, and be made as at when necessary. We don't have to be hasty in decision making, but what's not being hasty in waiting till an opportunity passes without making a decision? 

Again, things will happen that will bring us back to the drawing board, maybe a word, an experience, an observation or whatever, we shouldn't be too weak to return and be saved. As we learn daily, we have the opportunity to either consolidate on the choices we have made or to revised them in making new choices.

There's no place for regret, though we are often tempted to. Midlife crisis often pressure us to regret those choices we made when we had little experiences of life as young people. But instead of regrets, we can repent and change. Repentance and regret mean almost the same thing in old English but they aren't same... Repentance isn't regret, repentance is that I discovered my error of choices and I make a change, however, regret is just an emotional thing that may not motivate a change of past bad choices.

What choice are you making today in words being spoken, habits being cultivated, course of study, additional studies, career, marriage, number of children, where to settle, businesses to go into, friends to flow with, relationships, lifestyle, behaviour, spiritual disciplines and so on...Remember, you have the right to your choices but think well now before making that choice, make sure you are convinced and be ready to bear the consequences, make sure you reduce the impact of your choices on those in your circle of influence who are in danger of your bad choices and don't blame those who won't share in the burden of your error.

Think about this today, we can make that choice or change our choices to make a difference in our lives. Have a wonderful week! 

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Celebrating International Women's Day: A Christian View of Gender Equality

Celebrating International Women's Day: A Christian View of Gender Equality

 Photo Credit: Geralt/Pixabay 

I was part of the Voices for Change Nigeria, V4C, and advocacy for positive gender perspectives, not for any reason other than my passion to see certain mindsets and worldviews about women change.

Losing my father close to my tenth birthday and watching my mum struggle to continue where my father stopped in raising us, a woman not empowered and with limited education, made me determined early to see to changes in the way women are treated and regarded.

Not because my maternal grandparents or even my dad didn't believe in education, after all, my uncles were the first set of graduates in the village and my dad and mum were in the UK to study, the problem was that it seemed they didn't see reasons why a girl should be too educated. My mum had to stop her studies in the UK just because her husband was returning to Nigeria after his own studies with the promise that there wasn't anything she would ever need that my dad won't be able to provide. He died unexpectedly about ten years after and that inability to complete her course back in Belfast would not just limit her but also her children.

God created man and woman equal even if different. Equality isn't sameness. Some people think when we speak of gender equality that we speak of sameness, of course they aren't the same. Equality means that though we are not same, the differences we have should be complementary for completion and not for competition which makes the winner to take all.

Equality means everyone has a right to be exposed to every opportunity available to anyone. Equality means no one should be treated as a second class based on his or her sex. Equality means whatever each of us can do should be what he or she should do and should be judged by.

God created Adam and Eve equal. It is arguable that Adam and Eve equal Adam before Eve was taken out of him. If God was to make another person, He could have made that independent of Adam, but instead He put Adam to sleep, removed "a rib" from his side and from there made the woman. I believe Adam was carrying Eve around in him before that operation. Man was originally made male and female, the female wasn't an afterthought. According to the record of Genesis 1.

And it shows in the sameness of the number of chromosomes both in our somatic cells and in our reproductive cells. The somatic cells carry the diploid number while the reproductive cells have the haploid number, it takes an equal contribution from both a man and a woman to have another human being through the regular sexual reproduction pathway. So, outside the differences we have sexually, the man and the woman are equal. It's possible to have hormonal influences that affect things but essentially, intelligence and productivity aren't subdued in anyone because of his or her sex.

It's possible to say that the stress of pregnancy, breastfeeding and early childhood parenting take its toll on women, yet these do not reduce her productivity, intelligence or her ability to impact her world and proffer life developing solutions to the issues of life. Yet, God created the reproductive cycle of women to be temporary, stopping at menopause to show us that women were not created to bear and raise children all their lives, to show that its just a temporary and not a primary lifelong purpose.

So, if we see less of women with opportunities or in position to make a difference, it isn't because of God or of nature, it is the warped mentality of the world, not just of men but of the world as a whole that has deprived the world of their impacts.

When Jesus Christ said 'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life', He destroyed with that one sentence every limitation religion placed on the woman to enjoying the fullness of God. The highest anyone can have is eternal life, the very life of the God species of existence. The kind of life that makes mankind children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. The word 'whosoever' destroyed the gender mentality that made women second class in things pertaining to God. It was the same word that brought the non Jews into reckoning in the things of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and made Him the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, otherwise we would have been seen as unclean still according to the laws of Moses.

Some had asked why Jesus Christ didn't have women as part of the 12, but He didn't also have anyone outside Galilee...does that then mean no one outside the Galileans are qualified to be His disciple?

We saw that the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is the mark of the New Testament and the empowerment for service in Christ is for both male and female of any social order or age.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter, under the influence of the Holy Spirit referred to the prophecy of prophet Joel concerning the day...
Acts 2
17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,

‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit

even on my servants—men and women alike—

and they will prophesy.

And we remember that it was the power they were to be endued with for them to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

So, we see that in the New creation, gender issues don't come in and also in serving as witnesses, prophesying and seeing visions, gender considerations don't come in.
Galatians 3 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus

What about in marriage? Leadership issues in Christ are clear. The hierarchy puts God and Christ at the top, followed in the local church by the pastoral leadership and then the people. In a Christian corporate system, businesses and enterprises, God and Christ at the top, followed by the leaders and then the employees. In the Christian home, God and Christ are tops, followed by the husband and then the wife and then the children. 1Corinthians 11:3

Why is it so? To care for those who are most vulnerable. The one called the head is subordinate to the overall head and must lead after the order of his or her own head. You are only followed just as you follow Christ. If you aren't following Christ, you have no right to demand anyone in the church either as a pastor, a CEO in business or as a husband to follow you. Ephesians 6:9, 1Corinthians 11:1.

Submission which a lot have issues with starts from the husband towards God and Christ and then to everyone, and it is then, that submission can come from the wife. Ephesians 5:21. Submission primarily is to God and Christ and then to one another for one to be qualified to be submitted to Ephesians 5:21-22. The head of the home is Christ and to Him everyone submits. That's the kingdom system. Any husband not in submission to Christ as the head of the system isn't running a Christian home and notice that submission is to Christ, it is conditional.

Now, that doesn't remove the fact that in the home, the leader sees to the fulfillment of everyone's destiny including that of the wife. He is a servant, just like Christ sent to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many, Matthew 20:24-28

Even at that, the husband as head of his wife should see her as equal heirs of God's life.

1Peter 3
7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, GIVING HONOUR UNTO THE WIFE, as unto the weaker vessel, and AS BEING HEIRS TOGETHER OF THE GRACE OF LIFE ; that your prayers be not hindered.

Notice that husbands are commanded to give honour to their wives otherwise there will be spiritual consequences.

To think that Christianity supports the oppression and the subjugation of the female sex is not to have a good grasp of the doctrine of Christ. These things have been embedded in Scriptures long before the advent of social advocacy for women's rights. Of course, a lot of insincere and selfish people have twisted Scriptures to support all sorts of evil, others too who hate Christianity and would always want to spite it, not acknowledging anything good in it, have taken the wrong perspectives of what the Bible says in this regard.

God created and equipped us to deliver certain purposes in the earth, equality will mean giving everyone the opportunity and the chance to maximize their potentials, to produce purpose and to enjoy the produce of their efforts.

If she can, she should be allowed. If she can't, don't burden her with it. Roles should be shared in society, in church and in the home by potentials and by abilities to deliver and not by cultural perspectives and biases. Why deprive the person who can from doing while burdening the one who can't just because they are males or females?

Finally, women should support other women. This is crucial in the advocacy for equality. Either in leadership and decision making, in fight against violence against women, girls and vulnerable people, education and workplace inequalities, and in other such issues, women should support qualified women and stand against the oppression of people based on their sex. We know the reorientation needed would need all hands to be on deck including that of the men, but women must not turn their backs on other women when they need to have what's due them for whatever reason, and they should do that sincerely and not to selfishly launder their own selfish image for selfish purposes.

I celebrate all the women in my life, my grandmothers, mum, aunts, my sisters, my wife, my daughters and my friends... Happy world women's day! 

Getting Church Right

Getting Church Right

To be sincere, I don't know what to title the thoughts I'm about putting down here. It's a burden in my heart which I think believers should consider again.

The local church can be the most important aspect of our evangelism if we get it right but it can also be the greatest hindrance to the work of God on the earth and a major frustration to the believer enjoying the fullness of God.

We can't fully grasp the usefulness of the local church without first understanding that the mandate we have from Christ isn't to go plant churches but to go make disciples who will be like Christ and for us to also understand that the mandate is to every single disciple and not just to church leaders only. 

We understand however that having a local church helps to raise platforms for discipleship with the goal of turning people to disciple-making followers of Christ. Without this important aspect of the purpose of the local church, it becomes irrelevant. 

Jesus Christ envisaged the emergence of communities of believers after His departure, Matthew chapter 18 is clear about that, and He gave certain instructions about the power and the authority of a united group of believers before God and in the lives of each believer, even if they aren't more than two or three.

The fact that He gave one of the disciples the job to feed and to care for the flock established the place of the pastor to lead a group of believers. But that doesn't approve divisions within the church universal. The local church isn't a means of division within the body of Christ, it only serves for administrative convenience for effective pursuit of purpose. It isn't also a mandate to make the flock the belonging of the pastor, to control and to dominate the lives of the people outside the desire of the chief shepherd and outside the mode of the Holy Spirit. 

The local church isn't a cul de sac, a dead end or a walling-in of believers from the body of Christ, preventing those who came in from fellowship or working with other brethren outside the local church. When it becomes like that, it cuts off the particular local church from the body. No local church is the sole body of Christ and it can't be, except it isn't part of the body any more, cut off to be another church on its own outside of Christ, 

and that is quite instructive.

This is why our doctrines about church membership must be well thought about. I know we want to identify who is who in a local church, and we have to be careful WHY we want to know. If it is to be able to present every man perfect in the day of Christ or to be able to give accounts of each person on that day, then pursuing a standing membership in the local church would be necessary. But if it is to have a sense of ownership of people as a sign of success, to command people's allegiance and loyalty to self in service or in financial extraction, then the essence of the local church is lost and defeated. This is what defines the difference between building an organisation using the parameters of the church setting and being a vital part of an organism called the body of Christ.

Denominationalism is a slippery slope for Christian leaders. It takes a lot of spiritual strength and courageous deadness to self to lead a group of people into denominationalism and still remain part of the body of Christ. Paul asked the Corinthians, is Christ divided? Christ must never be divided on the basis of administrative conveniences that don't permit all of us to worship under same roof. Not worshipping under same roof must never become a reason why those under one roof cannot go under another roof except they are seen as being excommunicated and rebels. Any two or more members of the body of Christ should be able to have uncensored fellowship with one another without another one feeling threatened, to such a fellowship we have been called. We have not being called to an assembly but to the assembling with one another. 

Denominationalism becomes division when people no longer recognise the body of Christ but their little groups. It becomes a problem when people in a group become exclusively for the group and can't go in and out to find pasture. It becomes a menace when the leadership becomes the overall decision making system without the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit of God can't speak or lead except through the leaders even with a Spirit filled congregation. Why should the Spirit of God take permission from a member of the body of Christ before leading another, are we greater than Him? Rather, we are to keep whatever is kept in our charge by the Holy Spirit and not without Him. 

A genuine local church will be one where every member of the body of Christ can be part of, even without membership and each of them can fellowship with any other believer from any other local church under the Spirit of God.

But a situation where believers are only members of a local church and their membership of the body of Christ can only be defined by their membership of only one local church or denomination isn't godly.

That's why some pastors become so agitated when people leave their churches and they feel God should be so paranoid along with them, even when those who left their churches haven't left the body of Christ. Are we more bothered about believers' loyalty and allegiance to our pet projects than to Christ? We have to be careful not to make ourselves rivals to Christ over those who He has purchased with His own blood. 

We know denominations that won't permit marriage outside their borders. We know those who don't recognise your salvation except you accept salvation their way. We know those who won't recognise your water baptism except it is done by them and you will have to do it again for them to be sure and for your name to enter into their book of membership even if it had been written in the Lamb's book of Life a long time ago. We have those denominations that believe they are the only ones approved of God, the only ones on the way to heaven. We have those that send forth people leaving them with curses, making enemies of those who left, and we also have those who left, making enemies of those who remained. How can any of these stand the test of Christ in eternity? 

We have to get what we are doing straight. Are we building for Christ or for ourselves? We have to be able to separate our own personal preferences and pleasures from that of Christ, if truly we are building for Him, otherwise when the work is tested by His fire, we may lose everything.

I have many things on my mind on this matter, but let me stop here for now and let's think about this.

Leave your thoughts, do you think we are perfectly following the Spirit of Christ the way we are handling the separation of local churches? Do you think we are actually pursuing purpose by our membership drive that undermines the membership of the body of Christ? Let me have your thoughts, do well to quickly go through the Scriptures listed that underline my thoughts here for references... God's blessings in Jesus name!

Matthew 28:18-20

Mathew 18:10-20

John 21:15-20

1Corinthians 1:9-13

Luke 12:45-48

1Corinthians 12:14-27

2Timothy 1:14

Hebrews 10:25

Acts 20:28

1Corinthians 3:13-15

1Peter 5:1-4

3John 1:9-12

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