Sunrise Summer 2019 by Sunrise

SUMMER 2019

Â£2.50 Where Sold

The Magazine of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, United Kingdom

ACCELERATED PROMOTION

- Pastor E. A. Adeboye

MOR E T H A N CONQUERORS

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR THE NATION

- Pastor Agu Irukwu

THE SECRET OF UNENDING BREAKTHROUGHS GENERAL OVERSEER

FAITH

FAMILY

COMMUNITY

CONTENTS 4

ACCELERATED PROMOTION - PASTOR. E. A. ADEBOYE

FROM THE CENTRAL OFFICE

EDITORIAL NOTES

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR THIS NATION - PASTOR AGU

14 THINK ON THESE THINGS

ISSN NO:2042-6542 EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief: MODUPE AFOLABI Managing Editor: YINKA ODUWOLE Editor: ANDREA ONDUKU Photographer (RCCG Events): KUSH Designed by: IFE SAMUEL Published by: The Redeemed Christian Church of God(RCCG), Central Office, United Kingdom

16 lessons from the youth: real talk

facebook.com/rccguk twitter.com/rccguk youtube.com/rccguk instagram.com/rccguk

18 social media tips for leaders 22 communicating with millennials

All Correspondence to: Sunrise Magazine, RCCG Central Office, Redemption House, Gunnels Wood Park, Gunnels Wood Road Stevenage SG1 2TA

24 parenting 26 education 28 drama group competition

The views expressed by contributors to sunrise are not necessarily a reflection of the official doctrinal positions of RCCG.The publisher, editors, contributors and related parties are not

32 unlimited glory

responsible in any way for the actions or results taken by any person, organisation or parties on the basis of reading information, stories or contributions to be found in this publication.

36 community

facebook.com/sunrisemagazine twitter.com/sunrisemaguk instagram.com/sunrisemagazineuk

38 relationships 40 matters of the heart

Tel: +44 (0) 208 171 1030 | Email: info@sunrisemagazine.org Web: www.sunrisemagazine.org | www.issuu.com/sunriseuk

41 jb4 4

42 marriage 44 donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you dare settle!

ACCELERATED

48 you have a part to play

53 book you just must read 54 rccg events

18 47

71 church planting

ACCELERATED By Pastor E. A. Adeboye Promotion or progress tells us that a certain group There are some of us who can fall into seven basic of people decided to torture have so much hope at the the children of Israel. When beginning of each year but categories: 1. REGRESSION:

egression means that there are forces beyond you that are progressively pushing you backward. In Mark 5 v 25-34, the Bible tells us the story of the woman with the issue of blood. She went to many doctors and she spent all she had but instead of getting better, she grew worse. Forces beyond her control kept on pushing her backwards. Physically, she grew worse; financially her money depleted until there was nothing left.

2. REPRESSION:

epression means there are forces pushing you down and trying to hold you down, and anytime you try to come up, there is a force that is saying No! Go back down, In Judges 6 v 3-6 the Bible

the Israelites were planting, these enemies didn’t bother them, but as soon as the Israelites harvested their crops, their enemies moved in like locusts, gathered everything and then left, which meant that the Israelites had to start all over again and the cycle would repeat.

3. STAGNATION:

tagnation means that there is no progress at all, no forward movement; no upward movement, just stagnant like a pond. John 5 v 2 - 9 tells us about a man who was sick for thirty-eight years. He was always waiting for the stirring of the pool of Bethesda. When the angel will come down and stirred the water, the first person to jump in would be made whole. Despite his best efforts, he was never the first person into the water. Somebody else would always jump in and he would have to go back and wait for another year. 4

gradually January Has becomes December and they discover that they are still in the same place.

That is what is called stagnation. In the name of the One who made Heaven and earth, whatever force is holding you stagnant shall be destroyed in Jesus› name.

4. RETARDATION:

etardation means there is growth but it’s so slow that it becomes embarrassing. Another way of talking about retardation is to call it trapped destiny. In Genesis 49 v 1-4 the Bible tells us that when Jacob was about to die, he called his children together and began to make pronouncements concerning each one. He said concerning Reuben his first born: ‘even though you are my first born, even though you have energy, you have power, you have ev-

GENERAL OVERSEER

erything going for you, you will not excel, and from that day onward the destiny of Reuben was trapped. I am praying for everyone who is suffering from any form of retardation: that spirit of retardation is destroyed in your life in Jesus’ name.

5. NORMAL PROMOTION:

n other words, you are making progress, steady and regular. As you work hard, progress is coming and at least every month they increase your salary. Maybe once in five years, they remember you to promote you a little. The problem with normal promotion is that it is normal. For the child of God that is not the plan of God. In John 10 v 10, Jesus Christ said, ‘I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly’. I decree that from this moment onward, you will leave the group of ‘all others’ in Jesus’ name.

6. ACCELERATED PROMOTION:

his is a promotion that is completely unusual; you are at the bottom today but in the next moment you are at the top. A very good example is in 1 Samuel 16 v 11- 13 where it tells us the story of David who was in the bush looking after goats and sheep and then suddenly, a messenger came and said, ‘David you are wanted at home”. One moment, he was a shepherd boy and the next moment he was a king; that is what is called accelerated promotion. Your promotion is already settled in the name of Jesus. By the time your promotion is accelerated, all those who have been

mocking you will be bowing down before you. Accelerated promotion can be applied to many areas of our lives. For example: • Health In Mark 2 v 1-12, there was a man who was completely helpless and paralysed from the neck downwards. His friends had to bathe him, clothe him and feed him. One day they heard that Jesus was near and so they carried the man to where Jesus was. There was no room at the door or at the window but they were determined they wouldn’t go home; so they climbed the roof and lay the man at the feet of Jesus. They carried him in but he walked back home! What they used to bring him in, he carried it back home! There might be one or two people reading this, that doctors have told you there is nothing they can do for you; in the name that is above every other name, the doctors will get a surprise! Healings can be in categories, you can be getting gradually better, but God can heal in an instant.

I have good news for someone; it doesn’t matter how long the enemy had held you captive, simply because you are reading this now, receive your freedom in Jesus name. Material possession When you read 2 Kings 4 v 1 -7, it tells you the story of a woman who was so heavily in debt that creditors wanted to sell her sons to recover their money because there was nothing in the house that they could sell. She cried to the Man of God; the man of God prayed and gave instructions: ‘go home do this’ do this. By the time she returned, not only had her debt been cleared, she had enough money to last her for the rest of her life. I don’t know who this one is for, but in the name that is above every other name, God is going to accelerate you financially so mightily that poverty will become a stranger to you. 7. SPIRITUAL PROMOTION:

n 2 Kings 2 v 9-15, in the morning, Elisha was just a son of a farmer following a prophet around but by the evening he was the father of all sons of the prophets in the land.

The Almighty God will accelerate your healing in Jesus’ name.

Not only that, by the evening, he had doubled the power that Elijah ever had. Let somebody shout Hallelujah!!

• Freedom from bondage to forces of darkness.

In Mark 5 v 1 – 20, the Bible tells us about the Mad Man of Gadara. He didn’t go for ten weeks of deliverance services, he didn’t spend all night with a deliverance minister but within an hour, not only was he completely delivered, he became an evangelist for God! He switched over from under the power of the devil to the mountain top on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ.

www.eaadeboye.com @PastorEAAdeboye

FROM THE CENTRAL OFFICE

The Secret of Unending Breakthroughs

here are breakthroughs and there are breakthroughs. By this, I do not refer just to the scale or size of a particular breakthrough alone, but rather to the permanence of the particular progressive step being examined, whatever this may be. In other words, some breakthroughs, though remarkable, could end up being temporary, while others can be permanent. Let us take a look at a breakthrough that was not only significant, but eternal. The story of a young, immigrant woman who journeyed to the land of ancient Israel as a widow, in the company of her equally widowed, destitute and distressed mother-in-law holds several life-transforming lessons. Of course, this is the astonishing biblical tale of Ruth the Moabite and Naomi the sojourner from Bethlehem who had fallen on hard times in Moab where years earlier, her husband and sons had fled to escape a famine at home. Now, there is a temptation to think that Ruth’s eventual breakthrough marriage to Boaz, a relationship which eventually positioned her in the lineage of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, was due only to the discernment, wisdom, experience and tactful counsel of Naomi. Yet, that is only part of the story, although it is an important lesson about fulfilling destiny. What is often overlooked is that Ruth’s destiny was decided at a turning-point moment. “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” (Ruth 1:16-18) 6

In spite of the persistent pleas by the then indigent Naomi who, on the surface had nothing more to offer her daughter-in-law, Ruth chose to walk with the older woman, unlike Orpah, the widow of Naomi’s other son who wept bitterly, but kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. The clue about Orpah’s carnal choice is hidden in Naomi’s plea: “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” (Ruth 1:15) Not only did Orpah turn back from physically following Naomi at that juncture, she also turned away from serving Yahweh, the God of her deceased husband and mother-in-law. Worse, she went back to serve ‘her gods’ – the gods of Moab - as alluded to by Naomi. This, perhaps, more than anything, explains why Ruth got the intergenerational blessing. “Your people will be my people and your God my God”, declared Ruth at a critical moment. Do you really want to locate the secret to unending breakthroughs? It is to be found in an unwavering commitment to Jesus Christ, irrespective of the circumstances you may find yourself right now, or somewhere down the road of life. Our times are in His hands, the Psalmist points out to us in Psalm 31:15. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Every day of our lives have been written in His book, even before one of them came to be. • Pastor Modupe Afolabi is the Editor-in-Chief of Sunrise and Executive Administrator of RCCG Central Office. Twitter: @MoAfolabi

THE BRIGHTNESS OF

EDITORIAL NOTES

HIS GLORY

The brightness of God’s glory and the image of God’s being, the heir of richest majesty, the arm of regal might; creator of the universe all-knowing and all-seeing is Christ who brings forgiveness and the lifting of our night. 2 Far greater than the angels is the author of salvation, begotten of his Father’s love before all time began; our offering of righteousness, our refuge from temptation,

one hope in all our sufferings is Christ, the Son of Man.

3 How awesome is his perfect life unending and unbroken, how faultless are his judgements and how faithful is his word! Then hear, repent and worship him, obey, for God has spoken, receive his Holy Spirit and acknowledge Christ as Lord! After Hebrews 1, Michael Perry (1942 - 1996) © Mrs B Perry/Jubilate Hymns

Hebrews 1:1-3 says: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” In this passage, the writer of Hebrews calls Jesus ‘The Brightness of His Glory”. In summer, when I think of brightness, I think of the sun which has been so bright and beautiful lately causing lovely hot weather! The sun is a vast luminous mass. It is at a great distance from our earth but is made visible to us by the rays of light which stream incessantly from its surface. The rays by which the sun becomes visible are not the sun itself. The two things are distinct, but they cannot be separated from one another. You cannot have the sun without the rays, and you cannot have the rays without the sun. Apaugasma (G541) is the Greek word for brightness and is used only once in the KJV of the New Testament in this verse. It means “reflected brightness of Christ in that he perfectly reflects the majesty of God, shining forth, of a light coming from a luminous body.” This serves as a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world and we are called to shine forth His light in our environs. He shines forth the Glory of His Father and we must follow His example. I want to encourage you in this season to create opportunities to be a light in the midst of the darkness in your community, school and workplace. As usual there are many articles in this edition that will inspire you to do just that, to get stuck in and shine whether you are a young person, a spouse, a parent, a church leader, a sports person, computer games enthusiast, a social media mogul, minister or Pastor. 7

Andrea Onduku Editor

God has a Plan for this Nation PASTOR AGU IRUKWU

od has a plan for this nation. I believe that there is some sort of redemptive plan for the United Kingdom. God intends to use this nation as He has used it in the past. I believe this with every fibre of my being, that in God’s plans, this nation is a very special nation because the United Kingdom is the reason why I’m a Christian; it is probably the reason why you’re a Christian. Put simply, this nation paid a huge price to send missionaries to the far-flung parts of the world. There were young people who gave up their lives, went to Africa knowing they were probably never going to return, and the sole reason driving them was that they might take the light of the Gospel to a dark continent. We can’t ignore that fact because it is those people that give birth to the schools, the hospitals and the churches that completely affected our societies where we come from, and it’s because those people went, that’s why I’m not worshipping a tree or stone or some creation, or lightning or thunder. I’m not 8

worshiping these natural phenomena because they brought Jesus and my great grandmother met Jesus and joined the Methodist Church, and that’s why I’m a Christian today. They brought Jesus and we can’t ignore that, and we believe that the plan of God for this nation is not over, that this nation is going to be a springboard for another revival in the world. Yes, we believe that. We also believe that the chosen instrument for revival in this nation is the Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not just The Redeemed Christian Church of God on its own, but the entire Church in this land, including the Anglicans, the Catholics, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Salvation Army etc. I sit as one of the presidents of Churches Together in England (CTE), and so in that capacity, you see the breadth of the Church. We believe very strongly that the Church is God’s chosen instrument to bring this nation back to Him. He has no other plan; there is no plan B. It is either the Church does it or it doesn’t happen!

“

If you call it the new and the old completely understand it, recognise it and are comfortable with it, then there’s nothing new about it. It’s just refurbished

“

“God doesn’t become

old-fashioned. He doesn’t have to be modernised. He is the same yesterday, today and forever

“

We believe also that we have heard the sound of the abundance of rain. From all our praying and fasting, we believe that we have heard the sound of this rain coming. We might not have seen the deluge, but I’m sure you’ll agree with me that even in your own personal life, in your own church as you pray, you can perceive it coming. We have heard the sound! In the various prayer groups across the nation, everybody’s saying the same thing: ‘we have heard a sound’. And we also have seen stirrings and encouraging signs that cannot be ignored; you’re beginning to hear of stirrings of a move of the Spirit of God, and that’s encouraging. There are Biblical precedents for what we are believing God for. God is raising an Elijah generation who have the same traits that Elijah had. So we’re not asking God for anything He hasn’t done. In New Testament times we saw it in the Early Church. An abridged version of a message at the RCCG Pastors’ Assembly in January 2019.

to our MOTHER - IN - ISRAEL

......................................................................................

Pastor (Mrs)

Folu Adeboye @

Saturday 13th July 2019 Signed RCCG CENTRAL OFFICE On behalf of your Children in RCCG United Kingdom 13

Your Emotions Matter Too Who We Are Intellectual

Emotional

Spiritual

Social

Physical

opular thinking has it that (wo)man is a tripartite being, comprising spirit, soul and body. It’s always seemed easy, therefore, to describe (wo)man as a spirit, with a soul, and who happens to live in a body. It may indeed be a useful illustration of our essence as humans. Knowledge, however, is ever evolving, which partly accounts for why life remains exciting. Reading the hugely successful book authored by Peter Scazerro titled, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, turns out to be a major paradigm shift, as it has for many. Essentially, Pastor Scazerro argues in the book that it’s impossible to be spiritually mature, while remaining emotionally immature. It is not an oversimplistic statement. It is a revelation. Scazerro takes the view that Christian spirituality, “without an integration of emotional health, can be deadly – to yourself, your relationship with God, and the people around you.” This is what Scazerro refers to as “the problem of emotionally unhealthy spirituality.” Be mindful that the servant of God is not pointing to a problem with our spirituality; rather, he is taking issue with the health of our emotions. He should know. By his own admission, a lack of emotional health in the early years of his ministry almost cost him everything – marriage, family, work and his own well-being. The mercy of God, however, saved him. 14

THINK ON THESE THINGS

To illustrate his viewpoint, Scazerro shows that our full humanity, as people created by God in His own image according to Genesis 1:27, includes the physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual and social dimensions of our being. With a very helpful illustration using a pie chart of equal subdivisions, Scazerro helps us understand that as humans, we are emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual and social. In this piece, I take the liberty to reconfigure Scazerro’s pie chart illustration, and place spirituality at the centre of our lives.

The remedy? “The pathway to unleashing the transformative power of Jesus to heal our spiritual lives is found in the joining of emotional health and contemplative spirituality”, suggests Scazerro. It would be impossible to move away from Scazerro’s hopefully helpful insights without saying a word about his recommendations about practising two ancient disciplines - ‘the Daily Office’ and the ‘Sabbath.’ At the heart of both approaches is “stopping to surrender to God in trust.” The ‘Daily Office’, unlike our usual ‘quiet time’, helps us to reIrrespective of how one may prefer to visual- ally be with God. Like God, on Sabbaths, we simise the components of our humanity, one thing ply stop working and rest. stands out: emotional underdevelopment is not Of course, none of these are going to come easy always so obvious. More worrisome, as Scazerro in a contemporary culture that celebrates the notes, is that the spiritual-discipleship approaches of many churches and Christian ministries constant doing of something, even if this means underemphasise the emotional dimension of doing nothing of serious consequence. Think our lives. Making the link between emotional and about it. A Sabbath rest from your mobile phone? spiritual maturity thus becomes liberating. Your What if you missed out on the next big news stoemotions matter. So, what exactly are Scazerro’s ry breaking in some distant part of the world? We symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality? are probably the most mentally and physically exhausted generation in history. It is not the way • Using God to run from God of the Master. Jesus always found a way to stay • Ignoring anger, sadness and fear centred, maintaining emotionally healthy spiri• Dying to the wrong things tuality. So should you, whichever way works for • Denying the impact of the past on the present you. Make emotionally healthy spirituality a goal. • Dividing life into “secular” and “sacred” compartments

Dr Yinka Oduwole

• Doing for God instead of being with God

is the Managing Editor of Sunrise and Pastor of The Risen Christ, Knebworth.

• Spiritualizing away conflict • Covering over brokenness, weakness, and failure • Living without limits

Twitter: @YinkaOduwole

• Judging other people’s spiritual journey 15

Lessons from the Youth: Real Talk

he age of innocence has dropped with the increase in immorality and media thereby exposing our youths, “the next generation” to erroneous information and faulty foundations. As a youth pastor I am clearly bothered, as a public health analyst, I am deeply concerned about this public health epidemic that has raged through our generation as a result of this social behaviour. We have progressively become the most intellectual yet the most mis-informed generation. This realisation inspired me to start a series in church where I sat amongst the youths for the duration of this series and decided to learn from them as they learnt from me. We had an open yet safe forum where they could bare their minds and discuss their thoughts without reprimand and my oh my, did they have a lot to say! There were slangs, abbreviations and phrases that could make you blush yet could only be found in a modern urban dictionary. Then the truth hit home, this is how it’s supposed to be! Single seminars, youth forums and Church as an entity should be about creating spaces and places that encourage the young people in such groups to think, hear, learn and stand up to speak without fear so they can learn. Youth just don’t get enough time to talk about sex in any meaningful way, to ask honest questions, and to discuss it with each other without being judged by their friends, parents, pastors or teachers as they may think or say, “You must be doing it already,” What better place to talk about this, than in a youth group when you are safe and in your comfort zone! I’ve been doing this for the longest time not just as a youth pastor and public health practitioner, but also as a speaker at bridal showers, singles’ events, weddings and church seminars that I must say I’m very comfortable having these discussions. Youths are incredibly hungry for information and will go to any extent to get it. As a parent, a church, or a leader, if you are not comfortable with speaking to your youths about sex, you could invite external speakers initially and as you become more comfortable with the topic, you can do it yourself. The following are reflections from the youths about sex as extracted from our open discussions: 1. They receive the wrong kind of sex education from home, church and in schools.

SCHOOL The sex education curriculum in the UK teaches about sex from Year 7 (11-year-olds) and younger. As much as it sounds like a good idea to have sex education at this age, merely giving facts about sex in a “value neutral” way and implying that the only issue to be concerned about is whether you are using protection, having safe sex, having access to condoms and health care services is wrong. An awareness of STDs and homosexuality or the introduction of same sex 16

YOUTH relationships are very ineffective in helping young people especially Christian youths, make responsible decisions.

We gave practical tips on dealing with your sexual desires:

HOME

⁃ Change your environment (Run!)

Youths tell me that they prefer others especially parents or siblings being open and vulnerable with them, no matter how difficult and awkward it is.

“Youths feel let down by their educational system,the home front and the church framework, hence they turn to the only thing they know – media, internet and friends”

CHURCH We live in a world where youths are literally fully “developed” by the age of twelve but this status doesn’t make them a woman or a man! Some youths revealed that there is now a new breed of uncles, deacons and pastors (tutors and family friends too) ushers, protocol officers and youth leaders who ‘groom’ our youths and violate our girls or boys by making ungodly comments and doing the following: •“You are really developing into a woman” • “You are so grown now, wow” (whilst taking in all the juicy details with their eyes) • Hugging and touching teens endlessly • Asking how mummy is whilst touching them • Texting them at ungodly hours of the day or responding to their texts hence indulging them • Talking to them in corners and showing particular unusual attention to their bodies. If the person who is meant to protect you in church is awakening feelings you didn’t know existed in you since puberty, then the church is completely upside down! Youths feel let down by their educational system, the home front and the church framework, hence they turn to the only thing they know – media, internet and friends. 2. Singles and youths should be taught how to manage their feelings and get informed that their sense of responsibility lies with how they express and experience these feelings. We explored hunger as an urge and I asked the group “who would eat from a bin just to satisfy their hunger” or “drink their own urine to satisfy their thirst “ and everyone disagreed with that medium to satisfy an urge!

⁃ Take a walk

⁃ Feed your mind with the right stuff ⁃ Read the word of God ⁃ Be accountable (let there be someone you can call who can jolt you back to reality when you are about to make a total fool of yourself) ⁃ Guard your gates (what you see and what you hear - determine what you do) ⁃ Talk to God about it. 3. Missed learning opportunities at Church The young ladies said they turn up wearing next to nothing to church, their mums say nothing when they are leaving home, the adults in church say nothing when they turn up as well and so they have learnt that dressing like a sex symbol is acceptable. Parents, teachers, guardians, let’s speak up and save this generation. As a public health analyst and practitioner, I address sex education from a biological, psychological and sociological point of view before I make it a spiritual issue for a few reasons.

“Single seminars, youth forums and Church as an entity should be about creating spaces and places that encourage the young people in such groups to think, hear, learn and stand up to speak without fear so they can learn” In the 21st century, our youths are brought up in a world that gives them intellectual stimulation. They explore with their minds, are inquisitive, ask questions and are trained to critique information from a very young age. The problem is that the church doesn’t tell them ‘WHY’! They only say the ‘WHAT’. Afro - Caribbean homes don’t usually give a chance to address the ‘what’. Sex is not usually up for discussion and when it is, the girls are told, “Don’t Go Near A Boy Or You Will Get Pregnant” whilst the boys are told, “Don’t Bring A Pregnant Girl Back To This House!” And so misinformed and unprepared, the younger generation launch into a world of sex. It’s time to stop calling them a sex-crazed generation. Let’s rise up teachers, parents, aunties, uncles and the church, and teach them; But first, let’s understand them and be ready for their questions.

Oluwatoyin Ajala Youth Pastor, Poet, Writer, Co-founder Trustbridge Academy, Author of The Forbidden fruit - The Adam and Eve Phenomenon

In the same way, we likened it to a time and place where sexual satisfaction is to occur - “within the sanctity of marriage as clearly stated in scripture”. 17

SOCIAL MEDIA

TIPS FOR

LEADERS BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MINISTRY LEADERS 1. Empower People Empower them with wisdom, prayers, inspiration, encouragement and tools for life and evangelism but keep posts brief or people will not take time to read what you posted.

be interpreted by passive observers. If someone reacts to a post you will have a right of reply but what about all those who see it, make a judgment and say nothing to you. Always have a goal in mind concerning everything you post, like or comment on.

2. Express Humanity

If you would not:

It is difficult, if not impossible, for a pastor to know and be known by most of the people in his church. This is especially true as the church grows. Along the way, there can be a dehumanization of the leader so much that He seems far from the congregation He serves.

– say something in a public meeting or to someone’s face

Those that are responsible for publishing content on social media on behalf of the church must strive to look for opportunities to show the human side of their Pastor. Capture that moment when he is playing Table Tennis with a church member or when he is laughing with one of the children. 3. Expand Influence One of the great things social media does is enables leaders to broaden their influence and impact. Most people don’t know what C.S. Lewis wrote because they have actually read his work. They can quote him because someone else read what they wrote and then shared it with others. SOCIAL MEDIA IS: • Personal yet in the public domain • Transient yet permanent • Interactive medium full of passive observers Always consider how your post will

– write something in a local newspaper or on headed notepaper

DO NOT put it online. Once something is online it is out of our control. Even if you later have second thoughts and delete a post or comment, do you know that someone may already have taken a screenshot of what you said? THINK BEFORE HITTING THE SHARE BUTTON In terms of sharing forwarded videos on WhatsApp, we need to be aware of some legal aspects about what is posted there. The police can seize someone’s phone and use social media posts as part of their case evidence if someone is accused of harassment for example. Even if you deleted something the police can still access it. If the video is explicit or violent and particularly if the person or people in the video are under 18s it is illegal to possess or share it. Sentences range from a Community order to 5 years in prison for possession or distribution. 18

REAL OR FAKE? It is also important to be sure that information or news that you share is factual and genuine. The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee have produced a report titled: ‘Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Interim Report: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2017–19’ They have made recommendations to the government about how the issue of fake news being distributed through Social Media can be dealt with. The report argues that ‘The term ‘fake news’ is bandied around with no clear idea of what it means or agreed definition. The term has taken on a variety of meanings, including a description of any statement that is not liked or agreed with by the reader’. They therefore recommend that: “the Government rejects the term ‘fake news’, and instead puts forward an agreed definition of the words ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’. This means that fake news is not just something that you personally believe not to be true. Fake news is news that has been created with the specific aim of misinforming people often for economic gains or mischievousness.

MEDIA They also recommend that “clear legal liability should be established for the tech companies to act against harmful and illegal content on their platforms”. They state that: “Facebook and other social media companies have a duty to publish and to follow transparent rules. The Defamation Act 2013 contains provisions stating that, if a user is defamed on social media, and the offending individual cannot be identified, the liability rests with the platform”. There are 52 recommendations that the report makes to the government. What this tells us is that it is time to realise that spreading ‘Fake News’ or ‘Misinformation’ will soon carry some heavy consequences. A BBC report by Yemisi Adegoke and BBC Africa Eye has the headline Like. Share. Kill. Nigerian police say false information on Facebook is killing people The report cites examples where sharing an act of violence causes reactionary violence. One example is listed below: “On 23 June 2018, a series of horrifying images began to circulate on Facebook. One showed a baby with open machete wounds across his head and jaw. Another – viewed more than 11,000 times – showed a man’s skull hacked open. There were pictures of homes burnt to the ground, bloodied corpses dumped in mass graves, and children murdered in their beds. However, these images had nothing to do with the violence in Gashish. The image of the baby had first appeared on Facebook months earlier. The video in which the man’s head was cut open did not even come from Nigeria, it was recorded in Congo-Brazzaville nearly a thousand miles away, in 2012”. At the centre of Facebook’s efforts is a scheme that it calls the “third-party fact-checking programme”. The programme is part of a worldwide approach that Facebook has already rolled out in 17 other countries.

In Nigeria, the programme launched in October. Their fact checkers will review stories that have been picked up by Facebook’s automated system for detecting false information. The system includes posts that have been flagged as false or misleading by other Facebook users. Once a fact checker rates a piece of content as false, we are able to reduce its future views by an average of 80%”

about what God is doing in our churches and communities. Take videos and photos of social action and community events that you do. Take testimonials and share them. Flood your social media with the truth that God is a God of love and share His power.

The statistic sounds reassuring but so far, Facebook’s third-party fact-checking partners, AFP and Africa Check, have committed just four people fulltime in Nigeria to analysing and debunking false news, on a platform that is used by 24 million Nigerians every month.

Aside from purposing to put the truth out there, how do we respond to Fake news directly?

Last summer, a House of Commons committee concluded that the volume of disinformation on the internet “was so vast that it was crowding out real news”. In January 2018, Pope Francis called disinformation “snake-tactics”, crediting the serpent in Eden as creating the first fake news. He likened disinformation to mimicry, “that sly and dangerous form of seduction that worms its way into the heart with false and alluring arguments”. All this is to make the point that there is a huge amount of information and news out there that cannot be trusted and should not be shared by us as responsible Christians and Leaders. WHAT CAN WE DO? In his book Reimagining Britain, the Archbishop of Canterbury calls on the UK to rediscover its Christian roots and “the power of the narrative that has shaped it for so long and set its values so deeply”. He sees the way forward as “recreating story through action.” The gospel is the ultimate truth. We need to flood the media with truth rather than hatred. When we see hatred online, it must push us to our knees not our devices. We don’t get enough stories out there 19

Do projects that will bring your community together and show that Christians love across ethnic and religious lines.

• We must look for good, responsible journalism. Have they verified their facts, are they transparent about where they got their information? • You can also check it out yourself. Check the statistics being quoted if they are accurate. If you see a news story, try to verify it from a number of respected sources before sharing. Don’t share a story in a knee jerk reaction. If you see a report that a Christian leader or celebrity has died for example, go to the person’s website or organisation. Has an official announcement been made? If not, then hold off sharing for now. If there is a message circulating on WhatsApp or Facebook about let’s say, their services will soon be charged for, check from the official source, most likely something that you are being asked to forward is fake and can even be malicious and spread computer viruses. • There is also a website that you can use to check if a rumour online is a hoax - https://www.hoax-slayer.com • We should also avoid strife on Social Media, we must reflect Jesus in His meekness. Overall, Social Media can be a great blessing that must be used with wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

Andrea Onduku Facebook: @Andrea Onduku www.mattersofheart.org/

COMMUNICATING WITH MILLENNIALS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

was recently asked a question at a conference about why there is so much noise on Millennials, Social Media and the church today. The answer is simple. The lifeblood of continuity is in creating systems that can be scaled up, measured for efficacy and responsively reproduced to ensure flourishing. Thus, any ministry that is serious about growing and developing the next generation should be actively participating in the lives of its millennials and this encompasses the use of social media. Quite frankly, we are the ‘always-pressing-phone’ generation. According to the Global Web Index’s research in 2018, the average millennial spends 2 hours and 39 minutes a day; communicating via social media platforms. How amazing would it be if your ministry could also be one of the channels engaging young people online every single day? While it can be universally agreed that social media is now here to stay and play a part in the way society, the workplace and the marketplace are being shaped today, it is important to seek out, vet and understand the reason you want to communicate via any media platform. Just like any other viable project, it is imperative that any ministry or any church defines the goal of their social media accounts: ⁃ Is it to provide your current members with information?

John Green, a celebrated American author and YouTube content creator, recently said “don’t lie to anyone, but particularly don’t lie to millennials. They just know. They can smell it. Be yourself”. While we don’t literally possess the ability to sniff out unauthenticity in our DNA, we have been exposed to a lot of information and content which makes it easy for a millennial to be able to suss out the originals from the not-so-originals. Therefore, before you start up a social media account for your ministry, you should decide on the kind of brand personality that your account should possess. If the goal is to communicate with young people, the brand can choose to take on a sincere personality or one that exudes excitement as opposed to a luxurious and sophisticated personality. After positioning your ministry on social media, the next stage is to craft your message. For millennials, exchange is valued a lot more than impartation. As technology advances, we are gradually moving from a place of merely receiving information to being able to interact with information on a real-time basis. For instance, we are no longer just listening to the television, we can go on twitter to see the news and discuss with people all around the globe as happenings come to light. An explanation for this can be found in Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper on the Theory of Human Motivation.

⁃ Is it to invite new people into your church? ⁃ Is it to reach a specific demographic? ⁃ Is it to provoke certain conversations? When you are sure of what you’re going to achieve, the next step is to create a persona. In marketing terms, a persona can be identified as a representation of your ideal target audience and this is informed by psychographics such as the behaviours, the demographics, and the needs of such people. In this case, the ideal personas would be young people between the ages of 18 and 34, living, studying or working in your target area. This can be done through case study interviews, individual profiling, observations, internet focus groups, online surveys and questionnaires as well as collecting existing information from secondary sources. When a ministry has correctly identified their target audience and what makes them buzz, it is then poised to communicate with them correctly; both in real life and online. There are so many social platforms today, so having a goal in mind will help the ministry pick the right ones to focus on. For instance, if you have identified your target audience as young professionals, you may then look to build Instagram and LinkedIn accounts as opposed to Facebook pages. 22

Figure: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (simplypsychology.org)

Maslow suggested that human beings have five categories of needs which can be arranged in order of importance from bottom to top as shown the diagram above. He posits that these five categories are related to each other and are arranged in a hierarchy of potency. When the most prepotent goal is realised, the next higher need emerges. In this generation, especially in the first-world, millennials generally take physiological and safety needs as a given and as such, we are mostly chasing after other needs such as love, belonging, validation, esteem and selfactualisation. Therefore, if the intent of a ministry is to

reach out to millennials, its message must be focused on purposeful and life-fulfilling content that is consistent with the needs of millennials. Contrary to common thought, I am fully persuaded that this is the best era to speak of God’s love; even on social media. Consequently, regardless of the social media channels you have decided to use reaching out to your millennials, it would be great to have dynamic information which is constant and consistently updated as well as relatable to them. Millennials are often described as the most spoilt generation there has ever been. While I do not agree with the notion, I understand its underlying sentiment and I believe it is down to the fact that we have both choice and quality at the tip of our fingers.

“

For millennials, exchange is valued a lot more than impartation. As technology advances, we are gradually moving from a place of merely receiving information to being able to interact with information on a real-time basis

“

With every new advancement in technology, the barrier to information is reduced and more choices are created. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it just means that the more options we have, the less attached we are to a specific idea or medium. That’s the reason a millennial can decide to be a DJ today and the next month, decide to be an author. That’s also why I can like your picture on Facebook but choose not to have you on my Instagram feed. Another key challenge that I have found to beset ministries is not in the creation of the account itself but running and sustaining quality content. To stay relevant on social

media, ministries must harness the power of quality touchpoints. Touchpoints can be described as any way that your audience can interact with your ministry: such as your social pages and your website. These must be updated with timely information with sweet, short and pleasantly eye-catching material To create quality content, it is helpful to have a strategy plan as well as a Brand Identity guide. A Strategy plan would consist of the posting times and frequencies while the Brand Identity guide would inform the type of typography, colour, symbols, pictures and images to be used in communication. Having these two systems in place are also particularly helpful when working with a team of creators because all content will have consistent elements, regardless of the designer. Thankfully, one does not necessarily require a lot of skills to achieve this quality. There are free and subscription-based template apps such as Canva, Mojo, Spark Video, Over and Fused which can help your ministry create sharp, quality and consistent content. The use of videos, stories, quizzes and challenges can also spur millennials to engage with your ministry online. With time, well-developed social media accounts build equity for the brand name. The stronger the positive brand equity, the more likely that your millennials will trust, share and recommend any communications from your ministry; resulting in a thriving social media-based evangelistic community. I encourage you to start connecting with your millennials the right way today; the harvest is plenty!

Sharon Olawepo is an experienced Visual

Branding

Designer,

Small

Business Consultant and the Minister-incharge of Young Adults at RCCG House of Faith Connections, UK. For further information,

please

contact

hello@

sharonolawepo.com or connect with her on Instagram:@sharonolawepo. 23

8 THINGS TO DO TOGETHER AS A FAMILY DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 24

PARENTING

chool holidays often seem to go past so quickly, missing out some vital things that you could do as a family to strengthen the family bond and create greater happiness and fulfilment for the entire family. Here are 8 things that you can do TOGETHER as a family. Connect TOGETHER For most families there’s just so much going on during term time that it can be challenging to spend quality time with our children regularly. Holidays are a good time to be intentional about spending quantity of quality time with our children. Ground rules: no negativity, no criticism or being judgmental. Just make it a time to connect with your child without distractions from technology etc. Great time for one to one bonding with each individual child. Have fun TOGETHER Plan to have fun with your children watch movies together, laugh together, play indoor games together, go out and have fun together and have fun family devotional times together. Use your creativity to come up with activities that will enable you to have fun together as a family. These are treasured moments that your children will take away with them when they leave home. Plan TOGETHER Children feel valued and become confident to share their ideas and opinions outside of the home environment when they have been used to being allowed to have their say in family decisions. It’s a fact that it’s impossible to implement every suggestion your child makes. In such situations, it is vital to explain to

them why it is better for the family to follow your idea instead of theirs on this occasion. Plan together with your children places and people. Do chores TOGETHER A lot of parents fail to get their children involved in doing house chores early enough only to find it challenging to get their children to do chores when they are a lot older. Chores give children a sense of responsibility and contribution to the family life as well as increase children’s resilience and self-esteem. Getting children to do chores prepares them to become adults who are not lacking in valuable life skills and are able to manage their own homes and families eventually. Doing chores together as a family is a good way to get even the most reluctant child involved in home chores. Review prior goals TOGETHER I am a big believer in introducing the success principle of goal setting to children as early as possible. Where academic, family goals or any other goals had been set at the start of the school term, it is a good idea to create the time to review goals. Set new goals TOGETHER This can be a time to refocus and have clarity on what each member of the family wants to achieve and also on collective family objectives. Engaging in goal setting as a family activity helps children to understand how goal setting works and that it is an equally important task for adults too. Learn something new TOGETHER There’s so much that children and even parents would love to do during term time but time fails them. With parents and children having some 25

time at home together, you could set a family challenge that requires each family member to learn something new. It could also just be about supporting your child to develop a new habit such as dressing up their bed without being reminded, develop a daily reading habit, doing the dishes after meals, developing new hobby etc. Learning together as a family is a powerful way to get even the most reluctant child to get involved in family endeavours and gets children to appreciate the fact that learning is a lifelong process. Plan to catch up on school work TOGETHER You would have received your child’s end of term report. Go through the report with your child, praise them for the progress made this term. Where gaps and areas needing improvement are identified, discuss with your child strategies to help them fill in the gaps in their learning during the holidays. There is nothing wrong with getting children to keep in touch with their school work during holidays. Holidays are a great time to support your child to learn complex topics they may not have had the time to grasp properly. It is unwise to let your child go into term two without having a good understanding of the topics covered in term one. Encourage your child to read ahead and read broadly to gain a broader understanding of subject areas they are interested in. Be blessed, Be inspired and Help your child to reach for the Stars.

Pauline Limen http://www.starreachers.co.uk

FINDING THE RIGHT SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD

ne critical decision you will make as a parent is the school you send your child to. This singular decision has a multi-faceted impact on your child, ranging from the core friendships they form, to the career path they choose and much more. It is therefore common for parents to feel anxious about getting this decision right, but with prayers, extensive research and expert advice, you will be well positioned to make an informed decision that will help shape many future outcomes for your child. Let me make one very important point clear though, there is no school that is a hundred percent perfect for your child, it is therefore practically impossible for any school to perfectly meet all your needs and preferences. The right school for your child is therefore one which come to terms with majority of your needs, especially those you consider most important and mandatory. As a parent, you carry the dominant responsibility of steering your child on the right path. Having said that, the school choice you make could either make your parenting journey harder, easier, more fun, less fun or simply average. Whether it is a nursery school decision you are trying to make, or a senior school you are trying to choose, I would advise that the following seven factors rank top on your list when considering the school that is right for your child.

1. Your child’s personality: This is the first and most important step to finding a school that is right for your child. It is important that you factor in your child’s temperament, emotional stability, interests, hobbies, strengths and weaknesses when choosing a school for him or her. Is your child musical or mathematical? Does your child need more attention to help with learning and behavioural management? Others call this ‘special needs’, I call them ‘promising children’. If your child has a disability, delay, or what the world calls a disorder, you want to find out how well the school supports children with additional needs. In a way, the real purpose of the schooling experience should expand beyond receiving quality education, but to ensure that your child grows into better versions of themselves and if possible, the best that they can be at any given time.

2. The Academic performance of the school: This is one that many African families in particular are particular about, but it is also one that may blind many from other important issues worth considering. By all means do find a school with a great academic reputation, but not at the expense of other factors that are pertinent to your child’s overall success. Having said that, you certainly want a school that is academically sound as this is at the core of the formal education experience. So do find out how past

EDUCATION students of the school have fared during national exams and quiz competitions, find out about their leaver destinations – where graduating students of the school move on to, read through their rating and ranking in recent years. Also look out for growth patterns, has the school improved in its academic results over the past few years?

3. Family Considerations: What values are important to your family? Are these same values upheld by the school or not? Would you rather have your child attend a co-ed or a same-sex school? There is no conclusive evidence to say whether a single-sex school is better than co-educational one, though there are pros and cons to each. What is more important is what is best for your child and family circumstances, amongst other factors such as the school’s quality of leadership, teaching quality and pastoral care. Can your family afford private education or would you be opting for the public provision of education? If your children are young, is private education something you would consider in the future? If yes, you may want to start financially planning towards this. You may also want to find out if there are bursary or scholarship options available for your child.

4. Proximity Parents often select a school due to its accessibility. Some families have changed locations because of this key decision of which school they send their child to. Are you able to drive your child to school or will you need to take a bus? What is the distance you are willing to cover to take your children to school? What are the options for transport to and from school? Do these options work well for your family? Are you willing to consider boarding for your child? What is the work-life pattern in your family like? It is important that as a parent, you are not too stressed out that you cannot give the best of yourself to your children. Is it important to you that all your children go to the same school? You may also want to think about having a strong support system around you. Having family and friends nearby or a guardian that can help you with your children goes a long way.

5. The Learning Environment Children need an environment that fosters learning and creativity, and this environment is as mental as it is physical. A good mental environment is an environment which has a positive learning culture and helps influence the ability of the child to focus and learn. The physical environment is the layout, cleanliness and orderliness of the school, as well as the facilities. What facilities does the school have to support your child’s learning – playgrounds, library, musical instruments and sporting facilities. For many parents, the school grounds and overall aesthetics of the school has a strong influence on their decisions. It

is also worth finding out what the class sizes are like in the school.

6. Extra-Curricular Activities A school with an intended aim of building and nurturing students with talents must take into account an active extra curriculum of activities. If you have a child that is talented in this regard, this is an especially important point to consider. Find out about the clubs in the schools and the extra-curricular activities being offered. Do they suit your child’s interests? What are the times and costs associated with these? If the school meets your other requirements but not this one, can you find alternative provision close by?

7. School culture or philosophy Schools have distinct cultures and teaching philosophies. For example, some have a strong sports ethic, some follow a religious affiliation, and others promote individuality, artistic pursuits, creative thinking and problem-solving. It is worth finding out about the culture and philosophy of the schools you are interested in. Are you looking for a school with a balanced sporting and academic approach? or one with strengths in artistic and musical areas, or in science and maths? An environment with a strong academic focus might be important to you, or perhaps one that teaches your child more about your religious views. Most schools talk about their philosophies and approach in their prospectus, handbook or charter. You may also be able to find this information on the school’s website. In conclusion, the school you consider ‘right’ for your child is a function of your satisfactory level with the factors examined above. Thus, the right school for your child is relative, which is why it is not advisable for parents to make comparisons with other families, every child and every family is different and distinct from the other. It is important that you actively seek God’s direction on this matter. Play your part as much as you can and let the Holy Spirit guide you and your family. To find answers to the questions raised in all the seven factors mentioned above, I suggest that you go online and do some research, visit the schools you are interested in, ask questions from people who have attended the school, and reach out to an educational consultant like myself to give you expert advice and insights on this important decision of finding a school that is right for your child. Dr. Mrs Alo Ohio-Omonkhomion Email: alo@brainsandbutter.com Facebook & Instagram: @brainsandbutter

The Holy Spirit:

OUR ADVANTAGE IN THE MARKET PLACE

often meet believers who relish in their ability to speak in tongues or ‘blast tongues’ like the social-media prone younger generation calls it. Truly, it is a fantastic gift and I must say that the gift of speaking in tongues is a superb experience. Speaking in tongues announces the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in a believer, however, this manifestation need not be the only ministry of the Holy Spirt in the lives of believers. There are many facets of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives including our day-today experiences in the market place. We need to activate some latent spiritual energy within us that can be converted to profitable exploits in the market place.

The market place can be defined as the platform in which an individual trades time, money, skill, talent or ability in exchange for value. In the broader sense, it generally implies work or school depending on your sociodemographic or economic characteristic. In a 24-hour period, an “average” person sleeps for 8 hours and works for 8 hours. The mathematical twist is that an average person spends 50% of his wakeful hours working. Many believers have not come to terms with the need to engage the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the market place. I am here to build my case as to indispensability of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer that wants to be outstanding in the market place. 30

The Bible records that “…things written aforetime, were for our learning so that we through the… Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4 KJV). In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit operated upon men as a guest to fulfil an assignment and when He was done, He left. However, when Jesus was leaving the earth for heaven, He promised us the indwelling and ever abiding presence and operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of some select Jews exemplifies this advantage we have in the market place. Just as the Jews were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament, the church is the ecclesia (called out or chosen ones) of God in the New Testament (1 Peter 2:9).

Here are a few examples of those ‘secular’ sectors where certain Bible Characters had an expression of the Holy Spirit to maximise their potential: 1. Creativity: One of the greatest skills required to be outstanding in the market place in the 21st century is adaptive intelligence, which is usually expressed through creativity. God filled Bazelel and Aholiab with “the Spirit of God…to design artistic work…filled them with all manner of skill to do all manner of work…” (Exodus 36:30-35 KJV). 2. Technology: The Spirit of God can empower a believer to create inventions that solve societal problems. Uzziah was a man that was inspired to make “devices in Jerusalem…to be on the towers and the corner, to shoot arrows and large stone” (2 Chronicles 26:25). 3. Trade and Commerce: Laban told Jacob that “I have learnt by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you” (Genesis 30:27 NIV). Being a carrier of the Abrahamic covenant and blessing, the presence of Jacob in Laban’s company prospered him. If believers can stay in their rightful place and exercise their authority either as intrapreneurs or entrepreneurs, their businesses can experience tremendous increase. 4. Economic Policy: By the inspiration of the Spirit of God, Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and proffered solutions that tackled global food insecurity, grew Egypt’s economy and made them earn forex from other countries. In fact, the words of Pharaoh in recognition to the unusual demonstration of insight, discretion and wisdom in Joseph was this: “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?” (Genesis 41:38 KJV). 5. Intellectual Superiority and Governance: The first six chapters of the book of Daniel vividly described the excellent spirit that distinguished Daniel and his three friends which made them ten times better than others. Daniel excelled in governance and leadership, outshone his competitors and outlived several kings. These are just a few of many examples of how God’s people have excelled in seemingly secular spheres of life.

ideas and instructions. “Whatever he says unto you, do it” (John 2:5). He gives us the ability to explain riddles and solve difficult problems (Daniel 5:12 NLT). This ability to do ‘easily’ what others find extremely difficult is the competitive advantage a believer has which will increase his value and uniqueness in the market place. Good communication and negotiating skills are needed in the market place. Right words need to be used at the right time to the right people in the right place. The Holy Spirit is a specialist in ensuring that believers find the right words to say. “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say” (Luke 12:12 KJV). At certain times, we need to answer extemporaneously or make compelling presentations to pitch ideas and we should not short change ourselves by leaving the Holy Spirit out of these tasks. The Holy Spirit can teach us things and remind us of things we have learnt (John 14:16, 1John 2:27). Lastly, in this world full of evil, fraud, complexity, uncertainty, lability and manipulations, believers must engage the Holy Spirit in the art and act of discernment. Most people casually call discernment ‘gut feelings’ but these ‘feelings’ are often subject to chance. Harnessing and mastering the gift of discernment can bring us to a level of top-notch accuracy in decision making. We need discernment to know what deals to seal, which investments to make or avoid and which associations to keep or jettison etc. How do we activate the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the market place? First, pray and thirst for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Second, “build up yourself on your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20) Pray in the Holy Spirit often. Make it a habit to have short intermittent periods of speaking in tongues when you are in the valley on indecision or juncture of decision. Third, do not ignore the nudging of the Spirit. Write down ideas and thoughts that come while praying in the Holy Ghost, mediate and act on them as soon as possible (1 Thessalonians 5:19,20). Fourth, practice fellowship with the Spirit and involve Him in everything. If you don’t start, you won’t master it. If you don’t master it, you won’t profit maximally from it. Remember that “solid food is for the mature, whose spiritual senses perceive heavenly matters. And they have been adequately trained by what they’ve experienced to emerge with understanding of the difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful”. (Hebrews 5:14 TPT).

How does the Holy Spirit influence us to deliver results like these men in the Bible?

Dr. Victor Animashaun is the author of Bluefoot: Blueprint for a Successful Career, available on Amazon.co.uk

Job 32:8 (MSG) says “God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, …makes wise human insight possible.” Therefore, the Holy Spirit gives us insights, 31

UNLIMITED

Glory

“‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:9. This scripture informs us that God’s pattern is for glory to be increased. It would be an error for the glory upon your life to stay static at the same level. In fact, the glory upon your life can reach such a height, that it is unlimited. Hallelujah! How can we partake of Unlimited Glory? You must know these three things: 1. The Christian life is a life of responsibility. Know that wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it and right is right, even if no one is doing it. Keep doing the right thing. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” 2. Life will make sense when you are able to see beyond what is seen to the unseen, for it is the unseen that determines the outcome of the

seen. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 3. Your greatest wisdom will be learnt in your greatest pain. Nothing will make your life purpose clearer than what you have been through. Job 36:11 (NIV) says: “If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.” Your glory is in your story, your opportunities are in your mess and your purpose is in your pain. There are four phases of glory: 1. Unattained/Unachieved Glory - this is the phase of no Glory. Think of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:910 who was born into sorrow and shame. The name Jabez is Hebrew (yabetz) for «distress or pain»; his mother stated, «I gave birth to him in pain». However, Jabez prayed to God for blessing and God answered him. He became a well-respected man and an ancestor in the lineage of the kings of the tribe of Judah.

Another example is Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:2-2:21 who was mocked because she was barren. However, when she cried out to God, He delivered her from barrenness and she rejoiced. 2. Manifested Glory - this is glory revealed. This is Glory unashamed or glory unveiled. This is when a believer encounters the goodness of God. This is the phase like when the songwriter says: “When I think of the goodness of Jesus, and what he has done for me, my soul cries out, “Hallelujah!” Praise God for saving me.” Apostle Paul was once a murderer but after encountering God’s Glory on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:45), he was used mightily by God. God’s glory became manifested in his life and he said, “I am what I am by the grace of God” (1 Corinthians 15:10). 3. Unlimited Glory - This is when you see God in His entirety. To attain unlimited glory, there is a price to pay. Indeed, it may cost the recipient everything. In Genesis 12:1-3, and Genesis 15:5, God called Abraham and promised him glory unlimited. To attain this, he had to leave his family to an unknown land (Genesis 13:14-17) and he had to obey God by being willing

FEATURE

to sacrifice Isaac, his child of promise (Genesis 22:7). After the obedience of Abraham, God again promised Abraham unlimited glory.

self should become disqualified.”

Genesis 22:15-18 says “Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son - blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

“ Your glory is in your story, your opportunties are in your mess ”

Jesus who was born in a manger also manifested extraordinary glory, but first He had to die on the cross. Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV) says “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Apostle Paul said, “I die daily”. 1 Corinthians 15:31 (NIV) In 1 Corinthians 9:27, he said, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I my-

4. Unexplained Glory: This is a sudden unexplainable encounter.

An example of unexplainable glory is the Man that was born blind. John 9:1-7 says “Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Si33

loam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.” The situation of this blind man was pitiful. His name is not even mentioned, he was only known as the blind man. Jesus healed him and those around him could not believe or explain what had happened to him. His status had changed! The Jews began to attempt to explain the situation by arguing that perhaps he had not been blind at all (John 9:18). However, their arguments were silenced when his parents confirmed that the man had indeed been born blind. His parents said: “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself….” (John 9:20-21). It is my prayer that God will turn your shame around to Glory. He will give you a testimony that cannot be explained in the name of Jesus. Your glory shall be manifested and unlimited in the mighty name of Jesus!

Akpo Onduku

Bringing Unlimited Resources To Churches and Increasing New Members Through RSBA

Glass Mill Social Enterprise C.I.C is a consortium of social enterprises with a program called RSBA this means to: Respond, Sustain, Build, Achieve A four step pathway to success for people in need within communities. By joining we are able to feed, clothe, prevent homelessness, help reduce utilities bills leading to job outcome and financial independence. Thus creating sustainable futures and a smarter way of living. Together we have helped to feed over 6,000 people in South East London since October 2018 and have rolled out from Manchester to Leeds. We can open up where there is a need both in the UK and internationally and we currently have a 94% success rate of people achieving their desired outcome. With major retail stores on board we can match a branch to receive donated items to reach people in need within your local community with an instant response and instant impact service. We have been in touch with churches and community centres who either need to set up an outlet from scratch or we supply further essential goods. Looprun are able to provide free non perishable items, fruit, vegetables, bread and snacks on a weekly basis as well as access to our resource centre to increase supply to reach more people. Please go to the following webpage to register your interest. Please note we can set your organisation up in 7 days depending on location. Full support and online training is 34

provided to guide you through step by step. https://www.imobileone.com/assigning-outlets Increase service users Being part of an Outlet can also bring more service users to you as we will show on the RSBA App your location as a pick up Outlet. After initial registration you can access our resource centre to help top up your donations to ensure that you have stock in place. Give what you can and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all. Then within 14 days the resources become available. This includes help with marketing and volunteer resources. https://www.imobileone.com/resources-intro Thank you for opening your doors and stepping out to receive testimonies.

Â To register please email:

info@rccgdramaacademy.co.uk or call 07534823290 35

IMPACT GAMERS Changing Gamers to Makers

mpact Gamers C.I.C is a community interest company that exists to inspire young people away from just game playing to game making. They operate out of the basement of St Stephen’s Church in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

They reach young people in two ways through regular free after school groups teaching practical computer programming skills and providing opportunities for young people to develop their own programs, games and apps in a supportive and safe environment. Sunrise caught up with Founder Adam Syrop who was recently awarded the BAFTA for Young Games Designer Mentor from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to find out how it all started and how other community organisations and churches could do something similar to inspire children and young people in their community. Hi Adam, how did it all begin? I love making things, I’ve always loved making things. I remember being given a big load of Sellotape and scissors for my 10th birthday. I didn’t really want that, I would have preferred some action figures, but my reputation of being creative went ahead of me. For my 11th birthday I got something that would change the way I created forever, a computer program called “Klik ‘n’ Play - game making no programming required”. Fast-forward 25 years and I now run a community interest company called

Impact Gamers, inspiring children how to make their own games, using the latest version of “Klick ‘n’ Play” now called “Fusion”.

our heart to see young people from different backgrounds, schools and ethnic groups all laughing and playing together.

Adam, some would say that video games are a waste of young people’s time. Shouldn’t they be reading their books?

All afterschool clubs seemed to be sport or musically focused and we really saw a gap that Impact Gamers needed to fill.

I understand that you may be thinking “Making video games? Aren’t they just a bad influence?” Well yes, they can be, but so can art, books, films and even friendships. Let me explain.

POSITIVE: To help our groups have a positive influence on young people we follow some simple rules:

Impact Gamers wasn’t set up to just make computer gamers, though our aim is to invest into young people. You will be aware of the possible lows of computer gaming, young people isolating themselves in darkened rooms, playing violent games where they battle and shout at strangers, ever more becoming more reclusive, depressed and addicted; but this isn’t the whole picture and fails to show any of the potential in games we see. We run groups from our base to achieve the opposite of those pitfalls. To build young people up and equip them for their future. We hope to see 4 main benefits from our work. SOCIAL: There are very few things that are as social and inclusive as playing games in the same room. Play crosses boundaries of language, gender, ethnicity, physical ability and age. To help friendship form at our groups we have time for the young people play together before the games making workshops. It really works and warms

Games must have no real world violence (e.g. blood or real life guns) Use no copyrighted work (Use your own ideas) Have no racism, sexism, etc. Build the player up and reward them, not taunt them. The students soon learn you don’t need to lower the fun factor to make a game family friendly. With so many negative influences out there, we want to make sure Impact Gamers and the games we make don’t add to that. Our sessions also model positivity of speaking well to each other, and treating others the same way you’d want to be treated. CREATIVE: So many games that hit the media are the “destructive” ones. Steal this car, blow this up, kill these people. The bizarre thing is so much maths and creativity goes into games creation even these pseudo-realistic worlds of death. There is complex physics formula

COMMUNITY for the speed, impact and damage to objects, there’s even more formulas for reflection and refraction of light around the level and art design on many levels for buildings, plants and people. It’s worth saying not all games should not be tarred with the “destructive” brush. For every destructive game there will be 10s or 100s of “creative” ones. One of the most surprising popular games is “Farming Simulator” build, manage and farm… your farm. Minecraft, one of the biggest games ever is a construction game at heart. We find as soon as start to teach coding/programming to young people they start to see the gaming world differently. One child remarked, “When I was playing a game yesterday I thought ‘How did the programmers do that? What were the rules that set that up?’ and I started to understand how they did it.”. That ‘lightbulb’ moment that the child had crossed over from just a games player to a scientist, learning and unpacking other people’s work, understand the code from the computer’s point of view. A skill that will be highly useful in a growing world of automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. There may still be a handful jobs in the UK that don’t require competent computer use, but our personal lives don’t have the option of that choice, with digital processes being forced into our interaction with schools, Councils, travel and banking. MENTORING: This is where we see the real value of our work. In interacting and teach young people about game making we can have a great affect on their life. As a child how their day was as they come in from school and you will probably get a one word answer. If you ask a child while they are sat side by side to you, both look-

ing at the screen of their creation, the question naturally takes allows more space and you get a real insight into how they are actually feeling. Amazingly we were recognised for this input by BAFTA and won the Young Games Designer Mentor Award for 2018. That cemented our values to mean now we take the responsibility for being a role model very seriously. When the young people enter we will ask them how their day has been. While designing their games we try and use praise to build up their positive choices. We can offer advice but all the time being aware the child is the director of their own work We try and build a good relationship with the parents too, as we know, raising children isn’t easy and having others help is invaluable. I’m certain you have children or know children at your church or in your area that could do with a role model regarding positive game use, and maybe even game making. If you have a passion for something I really encourage you to set something up. Young people need as much support and encouragement as possible in today’s world. Thanks Adam, from everything you have said, there is a lot to be gained from this kind of youth group. Would you have any guidance for church / youth / community leaders who would like to start a games making group? Firstly, I would recommend that leaders speak to children and young people in the community to see if they would be interested. Next it would be necessary to get a venue that is available weekly and rent free, maybe your church, youth centre or school.

Of course equipment is needed which can be a little daunting but get creative. People normally have old laptops they are happy to give, or there might be a PC suite at your venue. Games making at this level does not need the latest equipment. It is necessary to have some knowledge to start such a group. Get prepared and learn a bit, there’s loads of tutorials online especially on YouTube. We use Clickteam Fusion (There’s a free version www.clickteam.com but Google have Game Builder for free, Construct 3 runs in a browser and its full educational licenses seems very cheap. It would be a bit of a challenge to do it alone, so I’d suggest that you get a team of volunteers together. We have volunteers from local colleges on Games Making courses that come to help as part of their course work experience. You can also set up a Facebook/Twitter feed to share your young people’s work and progress, this will in turn get you support. There are actually lots of pots of money for STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) projects and even more for working to build relationships among different ethnicities in your community. We want as many young people as possible to be able to benefit from a positive hobby that grows self-esteem, creativity, skills in computing and provides healthy boundaries in use. If you’d like more information, to support, or start up your own similar project we’d love to hear from you.

Adam Syrop Impact Gamers Founder

www.impactgamers.net

THE WORD

MUST PRODUCE

hen you go to the shop and buy a packet of seeds, you will expect those seeds to will always produce SOMETHING, whether it is flowers or fruit. Given the right conditions, what will happen to the seed? It will produce a flower. It has no option, it simply must. If the right conditions are not in place the seed will die without producing what it was meant to. Why are there so many seeds in the bag? Some of them might get eaten by insects or other animals or may be blown away by the wind and so on. Therefore, it’s not just about planting the seeds but keeping them planted for a long enough time for them to produce. The Bible says in Luke 8:11 that the Word of God is a seed. “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word”. If it is planted in the correct conditions, it must produce. We need to realise this truth. The word simply MUST produce something. I want you to have confidence that the Word you are reading, meditating on and speaking over your situation CANNOT produce nothing. It MUST accomplish what it has been sent to do. Time that you spend planting the truth of the Word of God in your life is not wasted.

Some people will say, how can words on a page, written so many years ago, actually achieve anything new?

ꞏ Some hear /read the word only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts to prevent them from believing.

Isaiah 55: 8-11 says:

• Then there are those who are happy to receive the Word but they only believe for a while until temptation comes

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 IT IS THE SAME WITH MY WORD. I SEND IT OUT, AND IT ALWAYS PRODUCES FRUIT. IT WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL I WANT IT TO, AND IT WILL PROSPER EVERYWHERE I SEND IT”. I want to encourage you to prayerfully and led by The Holy Spirit seek out scriptures that will produce what you want to see in your situation. Are you experiencing issues in your relationships? You need to sow the Word of God into your situation. Read it, speak it, live it! The Seed MUST Produce!

• Others hear the Word but they don’t meditate and stay on it because they are distracted by the pleasures of the world and riches etc. THOSE PEOPLE WHO SEE THE HARVEST PRODUCED BY THE WORD ARE THOSE WHO HEAR IT, CLING TO IT AND ARE PATIENT. The central theme here is faith. Various things can affect our ability to believe and have faith in the Word. Without your faith, that Word cannot produce. Unbelief, temptation, troubles and world distractions can all prevent the seed of the Word of God producing a harvest. Have you ever seen a video of a rodeo rider? You will see how the rider holds on despite all the efforts of the bull to throw off the rider? That is the way we need to determine to hold on to the Word of God, no matter what comes to try and throw us off.

Now we said at the beginning that given the right conditions, all seed MUST produce.

• Another important thing we can do with the Word is to give it our whole-hearted attention.

What are the conditions?

Prov. 4:20-21 says: “My son, give attention to my words; incline your

If we read Luke 8:12-15, we see that: 38

ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.”

The strength of our praying shows how much or how little the word of God dwells, abides, remains in us.

If we keep our eyes on the word it will crowd doubt out of our minds.

The Word will produce growth in your wisdom and discernment.

• We should keep God’s words and treasure them within us.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. (Colossians 3:16)

Prov. 7:1 “My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you.” • To build our faith we should speak the Word with our mouth (Joshua 1:8 – “This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth”. • Most importantly, we should obey the Word. Simply put, we should do what it says. True faith leads to obedience “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” said Jesus (Luke 11:28). “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22). Now what sorts of things can the Word produce? The Word is alive, and it can produce what you need it to as long as it is in line with the will of God. You can’t be twisting scripture!! That is why you need to be Spirit led and prayerful when reading the Word. The same scripture will produce different things at different times and in different people depending on the situation and the revelation you have about what God is saying through that scripture in that moment. What else can the Word produce? The Word will produce growth in your strength against temptation 1 John 2:14 NLT “God’s word lives in your hearts and you have won your battle with the evil one”. The Word will produce growth in your effectiveness in prayer. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7) Notice how effectiveness in prayer arises from the Word abiding in your soul: “If… my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.”

A rich and regular diet of the word of God will increase your wisdom. The Bible is the Word of God. It comes from the mind of God. Thinking God’s thoughts after him is the best

“ Are you experiencing issues in your relationships? You need to sow the Word of God into your situation. Read it, speak it,live it! The Seed MUST Produce ” way to grow in wisdom for every area of your life. The Word will produce growth in your joy and thanksgiving. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16) A rich diet of the Word of Christ always produces more joy and thanksgiving in the lives of God’s people than if you drift through life with your Bible closed.

RELATIONSHIPS “Your Word has given me life” (Psalm 119:50). The Word produces hope Romans 15:4 “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled”. The Word Produces Freedom “It gives us truth. And that truth, if we really know it, will make us free (John 8:31-32). Through the Word, we can cleanse our way and keep sin out of our lives”. The Word Produces love in us 1 Timothy 1:5 “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith”. The Word Produces Healing If we need physical healing, we should apply God’s Words and promises. Proverbs 4:22). “For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” The Word Produces Prosperity Joshua 1:8 “meditate on the Word night and day, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Everything that is really important for the man of God in his ministry can be obtained through the Word. The Word is given, “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:17).

The Word will produce growth in your faith. You can build your faith by paying attention to the preached Word. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17). The Word gives a new spiritual life when received. 39

Andrea Onduku www.mattersofheart.org

MATTERS OF THE ndrea Dear A

Does love have an expiry date?

HEART

your relationship and it will remind you of the foundation of love from which you can rebuild a solid relationship. Simply acknowledging the good in your marriage will rocket your connection. Stop and remember when your relationship was awesome. Find pictures of you and your spouse having fun and remember the good times you’ve experienced together.

Q. I have been married for 10 years and I feel ashamed to say that I feel like I no longer love my spouse. I don’t want to feel this way and I have tried to live with these feelings for some time now, but I am very unhappy. Some friends have told me that it is idealistic to believe that love lasts forever or that it is possible to love only one person in life. Other friends have said we just need to take time to reconnect, but I don’t see how this is possible. We have 4 children, hectic jobs and no time. Honestly, I stay busy with work and the gym because at least then I don’t have to think about my marriage. I am really worried about how I am feeling, what can I do to bring back the spark we once had?

The busyness and noise of life often drowns out communication in marriage. It’s not that your communication is so terrible; it’s the noisy distractions that cause your communication attempts to fail. Create some space for communication, you can’t afford not to if you don’t want your marriage to fail.

Are Displays of Affection Needed?

A. Thank you for your question. This is an issue that many couples face so you are not alone with this dilemma. I would encourage you to take the advice of those who have suggested that you take time to reconnect to your spouse. Think for a moment about your friendships? Have you lost friendships or are your friendships still as strong as they were before you got so busy? What has made some of your friendships to thrive? It is likely that the friendships that have survived are the ones that you have taken time to invest into. Relationships do not just rumble along on their own, they take hard work and of course they feel stale if we don’t keep them active.

Q. I’m not a touchy feely person, how do I overcome this to show affection to my family? A. I would want to first ask you, why you think you are not ‘touchy feely’. Is it that you don’t like giving affection or you don’t like receiving affection? Is it about a violation of your personal space? Is this something that perhaps you grew up seeing in your family? It would be good for you to trace back where you picked up positive and negative views and feelings about displays of affection. This will help you to get to the root of any uncomfortable feelings or incorrect thoughts or perceptions about displaying affection so that you could correct them. You do not need to be stuck, perhaps you have never been ‘touchy feeling’ before but that doesn’t mean you have to stay that way forever. You can change if you are willing to make the change.

What makes your marriage different to your friendships? It would be beneficial for you to get back the friendship factor in your marriage. Think back to the days when you and your spouse were dating and then engaged — the long talks, romantic picnics, casual walks, endless adventures and the fun you shared together. Then somewhere in the busyness of married life you lost sight of that friendship. And unfortunately, the flames of romance are no longer raging in your marriage without a solid friendship. The National Bureau of Economic Research notes that researchers found that individuals who consider their spouse to be their best friend get about twice as much life satisfaction from marriage as do other married people.

Secondly, I would want to suggest that love requires us to be selfless which means that it is more about what your family needs. Therefore, even though displaying affection does not come natural to your personality, you need to make the effort to show affection to your family if that is what they need. It is important that you understand the love languages of your family. If your spouse or children’s primary love language is affection, then it would be very detrimental to your relationship not to give it to them. However, there may be other ways of showing your love that they would appreciate. Take time to talk to them so that you will know how best to meet their needs.

Be spontaneous, take time to laugh together, get involved in one another’s interests. When you do this, you will find that your feelings that have been hiding will resurface as you remember why you fell in love with your spouse in the first place. Yes, your life is very busy but a little time here and there to invest in your marriage will make all the diference.

Andrea Onduku Send your problems or questions, which will be treated in the strictest confidence, to

Conflict and tension can make you feel like your entire relationship is terrible. Identify the best parts of

info@matterofheart.org 40

IT’S UP

TO YOU

he extent to which a user enjoys a product depends largely on the user’s willingness to painstakingly go through the manufacturer’s manual. After using a particular mobile phone for about 10 months, we realised while skipping through (not reading) the manual that it has a particular function which made life much easier. Many (if not most) of us have mobile phones, appliances and products which we are only enjoying just the basic functions, not because we enjoy mediocrity or are satisfied with just the minimal, it’s just that we couldn’t be bothered (or more dignifying, “had no time”) to read the manu-

facturers’ manuals. That same attitude seems to be carried into every aspect of our lives, including love relationships; such that, instead of having a blissful and enjoyable love life as the Manufacturer intended, many are just religiously coping or agonisingly enduring. Friends, we discovered from the “Love Manual” that our love life is to be enjoyed not endured, however, it’s entirely up to each marriage partner to make a choice. We will like to say it again that, “no marriage is destined to fail, and no marriage is immune from failing”; each partner only need to be conversant with the Manual, to enjoy love life as intended. John Hagee said: “Your marriage can be a better marriage, or it can be a bitter marriage. The choice is entirely up to you”. Since 42

the manual of a product plays a very significant role in enjoying the product, it follows that, for any spouse to enjoy the product called “marriage/love relationship” to the maximum, such must make time to go through the “Love Manual” - Holy Bible. It is the manual for enjoyable living and not just for adherent of a particular faith. Let’s consider few tips contained in this “Love Manual”:

Husbands A key enjoyment tip for the husband goes thus: “And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her” (Ephesians 5:25). For an enjoyable union, every husband will do well to search through the Manual to study how Jesus loves the Church.

MARRIAGE

Jesus declared that His love was an unfailing/unfading love despite the failings, inadequacies and short comings of the lover. (Read Romans 5:8.) It would appear that His statement, “Father forgive them” while being tortured was an expression of His unfailing love. No wonder, the Manual states that the Lord Jesus greatly loved His own and continuously loves them with His perfect love to the end (John 13:1b AMP). We have heard statements like: “I actually used to love her until she started putting up these attitudes….” Excuse me, I thought He said love should follow His pattern?

Wife The “Love Manual” says that the wife should fulfil her role of being the pillar she is purposed to be. She is expected to demonstrate that by ensuring that she actively participates, supports and submits to ideas and plans in progressing the love relationship. Proverbs 31:10-12 (TLB) says she is worth more than precious gems and that she richly satisfies her husband needs, and helps but not hinders him. The wife is to understand that as the “suitable helper” or “help meet” (not “help mate” as some erroneously say), she is not in any way inferior by being the wife, for without the neck the head becomes just skull. She is to accept her role with gratitude just as the Lord Jesus says, He is One with the Father, yet it was

His joy to play the role assigned game according to the Manuto Him. Read John 10:30 and facturer’s Manual or following Philippians 2:6. “tradition” and/or “redefinition”?

Not “Cause and Effect” It is important to note that the love relationship tips discussed above were not in any way “cause-and-effect”, that is, if ‘A’ happens then ‘B’ should be the next step. In other words, it is not written in the “Love Manual” that “a man should love/honour/cherish his wife if she…..” In the same vein, it is not stated that “a wife should enhance/support/submit to her husband if he…..” We have heard things like “he has to merit it” or “since she does not treat me as her head, I won’t.…” Such ideas, popular as they may be, nullify the word of God for the sake of traditions of men. (Read Matthew 15:6 NIV).

Friends, we are able to testify to the glory of God that we belong to the group of people who are enjoying their lives by following the “Love Manual”. We invite you to be determined to make your (marriage) an enjoyable one too by allowing the Lord Jesus Christ into your love life and following the principles enumerated in His word; for without Him, life cannot be enjoyed (John 15:6). However, we are not ignorant of the fact that “ye are gods”, you may decide to continue to do it your own way and keep enduring instead of enjoying. But, remember, “Your marriage can be a better marriage, or it can be a bitter marriage. The choice is entirely up to you”.

“No marriage is destined to fail, and no marriage is immune from failing”

The foregoing should not be misconstrued as a tacit support or approval of any form of abuse, (as a matter of fact, it’s our considered opinion that domestic abuse in any form is Godlessness), we are just highlighting that the “Love Manual” expect each spouse to be humble enough to take responsibility for making their marriage relationship enjoyable. Each spouse should look inwards and ask if s/he is playing the 43

Bayo and Funmi Eesuola are Pastors @ RCCG Love Assembly in London; they also run ‘HELPS Counsellors’ (a Christian charitable organisation).

I Don’t you dare settle!

have discovered that even where seemingly all the ingredients necessary for wealth creation and success are in existence, people can still live a life of poverty and unfulfilled dreams. One of the reasons for this is because we settle. Who is a settler and what are the dangers of settling in a believer’s life?

most people are even unaware of Terah’s existence. We should take note. History doesn’t remember the names of people who settle!

A ‘settler’ by my definition is someone who simply lives a life less than the one he is capable of living. A settler is in effect a sellout. Someone who has the capacity to go a 100 miles and goes 20. Such people live a life of compromise and their story usually ends with: ‘If only’ and ‘I wish I had….’

Terah then took his remaining sons and their families and set out to go to Canaan (vs 31). But soon after, we see something very strange enter the text. In the very same verse, we are told that ‘they came into Haran and dwelt there’

Characteristics of settlers  Settlers are generally lazy people.  Settlers always make excuses for why something can’t be done  Settlers find a difficulty in every opportunity and a problem where others see opportunities  Even when they eventually embark upon a project, they find it difficult to give all of themselves to it and often end up abandoning it along the way. In other words they lack tenacity. One of the best biblical examples of a settler is a man called Terah that the Bible introduces us to in Genesis 11.

Terah had three children: Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran unfortunately died a premature death in UR which is where they were from.

Let’s take a closer look at that verse: And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the Son of Haran his son’s son and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from UR of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran and they dwelt there. (Gen 12:31) When Terah and his family left UR, the aim was to go to Canaan; a land that we are later introduced to as a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’. (Exodus 3:8). In other words, a fertile land of great abundance, provision and richness. A land that God himself described to Moses as ‘good’. The word ‘good’ in this context means, pleasant, beautiful, and fruitful with economic benefits. Indeed such was the fruitfulness of Canaan, that when the spies are sent out in Numbers 13, to spy the land, as evidence of the abundance of Canaan, the spies return with a cluster of grapes that takes 2 men to carry it on a stick between them!

Those who are familiar with the story of Abraham, are often surprised to learn that the God given vision to go to Canaan was not originally given to him, but Clearly, God’s plan was to to his father Terah. Indeed bless Terah and his family 44

financially, beyond their wildest Here we are told: imagination, all Terah had to do  Where Abram departed was go there. Yet, we are told from that for some reason, Terah got  Who he left with to Haran and settled there.  Which direction he went This is one of the most tragtowards ic stories I have ever read, but  His financial status at sadly one that I see played out the time. over and over. Genesis 11:32 is conspicuous Oft times it is not the lack of in its lack of detail and with God’s will or indeed lack of good reason provision or existence of abundance that keeps the people of And the days of Terah were two God poor, more often it is be- hundred and five years; and Tercause, they get to Haran and ah died in Haran. they settle there. I am convinced that if Terah We are not told why Terah set- had done anything with his life tled in Haran. Perhaps Canaan worthy of note after he landed was too far, or the route was in Haran, the Bible would have too dangerous. Perhaps he was recorded it! If he had taken tired of travelling. Perhaps like more wives, had more children, many of us, his dreams were too had any spiritual encounters small and he just didn’t believe with God, started a business, that a place ‘flowing with milk increased his financial state, and honey’ really even existed whatever, the Bible would have and he didn’t want to be disap- told us. Then the most tragic pointed. Besides most lands words ever; were already occupied, so if he even got to Canaan, he would still have to fight to drive out the ...and Terah died in Haran present inhabitants to occupy the land and he just didn’t have I believe that like so many peothe strength for yet another bat- ple, death had come to Tertle. Also, sometimes when you ah long before his eventual don’t have a clear destination in physical one. Many of us are mind, anywhere you end up will still breathing and still walking seem like a good one…. Whatev- around, but we have abdicated er the reason, Terah did what so from the race of life. We have many of us do in the pursuit of stopped dreaming, stopped destiny and financial freedom: reaching, stopped believing and stopped obeying what we are He gave up the great for the instructed to do in Mathew 7:7 good. ‘Ask, and it shall be given unto Such decisions may appease you; Seek and you shall find; our flesh at the time, but verse Knock and it shall be opened 32 reveals the danger of such unto you’ decision making; Yes, but for how long? Let me And the days of Terah were two answer that by sharing my own hundred and five years; and Ter- personal experience. ah died in Haran. Casting down imaginations The Bible is a book that specialises in relevant details. In Gene- For some reason I believed that if I had not become financially sis 13:vs 1 we are told: free by the age of 40, it was just And Abram went up out of Egypt, not going to happen and I had he and his wife and all that he to accept that. That belief behad and Lot with him, into the came a stronghold in my mind. South. And Abram was very rich As I approached 40 (and it in cattle, silver and in gold. clearly hadn’t happened), out45

wardly I looked and acted the same, but inwardly I could feel myself begin to shrink. I was more reluctant to ask (if life hadn’t given it to me by now, it wasn’t about to start), dragged my feet to seek (what was the point?), why bother to knock (nobody was going to open the door anyway). In other words, ‘death’ had begun to settle in. It wasn’t until I got into the word and began to seek what GOD says about my finances (and indeed my future), that I was able to correct this wrong thinking that had begun to hold me hostage and would have deprived me of what is an increasingly exciting and fulfilling life and a financially viable future. Last year I was paid £10,000 for a one day speaking engagement. I shudder to think what would have happened if God in his mercy had not taught me; For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itelf against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ: 2nd Corinthians vs 4 and5 So to answer your question, ‘How long’? I refer to the words of Jesus in In Luke 19: 13 where he instructs us to ‘Occupy until I come’ (or until they drop you in that grave)! Life is a long, tiring journey, so rest if you need to, but as soon as you can, get right back up and keep moving and whatever you do, don’t you dare settle! Bebe Clement is a speaker and author of ‘How to go from employee to entrepreneur’ which is available on Amazon’. To contact her for speaking engagements, emai: bebe@bebeclement.com

The Purpose in each Opportunity Is Unique Opportunity is defined as a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

ost of the time we think that an opportunity must be attractive but that is not always the case. There are two types of opportunities:

1. Attractive Opportunity: This is an opportunity that is offered to you by an individual or group. This attractive opportunity is energetic and ambitious. It will make you to feel excited, dynamic and alert. It will ignite your heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire and make you to dream of success which will in turn influence your performance. For example, an opportunity was presented to Esther that King Asuerus was looking for a bride to become his queen. This was a golden and attractive opportunity that every family would love their daughter to be part of.

2. Unattractive Opportunity: This is an opportunity that you choose to offer to yourself to see the positive side of an unpleasant experience. This kind of opportunity is challenging, not easily spotted and sometimes terrifying. For example, Goliath, a challenging and terrifying General of the Philistine challenged the Israelites to produce an opponent and champion to fight with. The Israelites were terrified, they did not spot an opportunity, only David was prepared to 46

take on the challenge. Purpose is defined as the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. Purpose is the consequence of an opportunity as it takes its shape in accordance to the content and surrounding of the opportunity. Therefore, the purpose of each opportunity is unique. The content of the opportunity and its surrounding factors play an important role in influencing the shaping of a purpose.

1. Content of opportunity: This is all that comes with and is found within the opportunity. There are two categories of contents in every opportunity: â&#x20AC;˘ Seen contents: These are all the pieces of the puzzle that you can easily link up with the opportunity. They are the benefits or outcomes that you can see from the opportunity. All the seen contents carry a significant message that influences the reason why the opportunity came in the first place. Therefore, misunderstanding and misusing the seen contents corrupts the main purpose of the opportunity. This will result in a missed opportunity, with no option but to wait for the next one to make an appearance. For example, Esther was

given a lot of help to compete with the other girls to become Queen (Esther 2:8-9). She received skin care products and servants to help her. These were ‘seen contents’, they were benefits that were within the • Unseen contents: These are all inspirational ideas that are birthed in you from the opportunity which influences your decisions and actions. It leads you progressively to the understanding of the purpose that the opportunity came for. You should therefore focus on the unseen contents to perceive the purpose. For example, the idea that David had to stand out for Israel and fight Goliath the uncircumcised (1 Samuel 17:26). There was no visible benefit, he had to look deeper.

2. The surrounding: This is the package/wrapping and the environment around the opportunity. The surrounding is useful as well as the contents to unveil the purpose of an opportunity. The surrounding operates in two categories:

• Package/Wrapping: These are ways that an opportunity reaches you, whether by news online, tv, word of mouth or a surprise gift or selection. All this packaging/wrapping has a great impact upon the purpose of an opportunity. For example, the news from the palace to the people regarding the search of contestants for Queen and the surprise of Esther, a foreigner to be enrolled by her cousin (Esther 2:2-7,10-11). • Environment: This refers to the atmosphere and circumstances in which the opportunity is introduced to you. Opportunities come in all sorts of shapes and sizes even from sad, fearful or shameful situations which often produce mixed feelings. However this demonstrates that all circumstances have the potential to produce at least one or more opportunities. For example, the challenge of Goliath to Israel came to David’s attention in a fearful atmosphere as a shameful feeling which made him angry to the extent of describing Goliath as an uncircumcised man (1 Samuel 17:22-26). The purpose of Esther becoming 47

a queen was to save her people. Therefore, missing an opportunity could have affected the security of a nation. She may have still found a husband but surely not a king and would she have perished with her people? (Esther 4:13-14)

The purpose of David fighting Goliath was to display the divine appointment to win the heart of the people. Therefore, missing the opportunity could have disappointed God and delayed the process of him becoming king (1 Samuel 17:54-58, 18:6-7). In conclusion: Opportunities cannot be exhausted, yet there is a unique purpose in each opportunity that does not come back once the opportunity is missed.

David Chambo Pastor, Lecturer, Counsellor, Public & Motivational Speaker, Writer and Singer, Peace Ambassador. Find one of his books “Life Without Agenda Is Uncertain” on Amazon or Google books.

he phrase “there is no intervention from Heaven without a movement on Earth” is one that is eyeopening and thought provoking. We see numerous instances in scripture of how actions taken on Earth have led to an intervention from Heaven. Unfortunately, many Christians have become complacent, passive and lukewarm. Many know scripture but don’t put it to practice. Many have faith but don’t play their part to bring what is hoped for yet still unseen into actualization. Additionally, when praying we focus majorly on the promises. For example, we can pray for open heavens and the overflowing blessing of Malachi 3:10 but unless we are obedient to pay tithes, these promises remain unlocked. According to Matthew 6:15, if we are not obedient to forgive others who have wronged us, God will not forgive our sins, again we have a part to play. As Children of God we cannot afford to adopt the attitude that “whatever happens, happens” No! We cannot afford to fold our arms.

IN SANCTIFICATION Many Christians are under the impression that once we are saved that’s it, the rest of the work is for God to do. We fail to go through sanctification. For example, when a smoker joins a smoking cessa-

“More than half of British adults, 53%, do not belong to any faith… These facts and figures are alarming, as Christians we cannot afford to adopt an ignorant or passive attitude towards these events and the devil’s devices… It’s time for us to wake up from slumber and play our part in the revival of this nation” tion service, he doesn’t stop being a smoker overnight! Similarly, as bornagain children of God we don’t become Christ-like overnight. Failure to go through sanctification could lead to instances where people return to their old ways. This is because the roots of the old man haven’t been uprooted so that seeds of the new man, through the Spirit and 48

the word of God can be planted in their place. The word ‘sanctification’ is derived from the Greek word ‘hagiasmos’ it means to be set apart or separated from sin and consecrated unto God. A vessel used for a purpose is washed and cleansed before it is used for another purpose. We see from 2 Thessalonians 2:13 that we are first chosen, then saved, then sanctified by the Holy Spirit and through belief of the truth found in God’s word. We can see from this passage that being chosen is not enough and additionally being saved doesn’t make the process complete until we are sanctified. According to 2 Timothy 2:21, sanctification is essential because it’s a pre-requisite to being suitable for God’s use. Sanctification prepares you and sadly this is not the state of a lot of Christians today. God will not use an unprepared vessel. It’s my belief that sanctification is a continuous process for a child of God because we live in a world where we are consistently faced with unclean and unholy elements from the media, the environment, non- believers and other external factors. According to Romans 12:1, we are to be a living sacrifice, we must purge ourselves daily so that

You have a part to

P lay

we can continue to be a vessel unto honour, suitable for God’s use. Self-Assessment:

In what area of your life do you need God to sanctify you? What steps do you need to take? For example, do you need to separate from certain associations? Prayerfully take such steps. IN OBEDIENCE Throughout scripture, we see that whenever God speaks or when He wants to carry out an exploit in a life, group or nation, He reveals them to His servant or a Prophet and additionally, He also sets out conditions. There is nothing wrong with desiring a promise, but the problem is when we ask for the promise and overlook the conditions. A lot of the time we wonder why we aren’t receiving the promises meanwhile God is waiting for us to fulfill the conditions. Pondering over the story of Naaman, Captain of the Syrian army in 2 Kings 5, we learn that in order for him to be healed from leprosy he was given a specific instruction. However, by his utterance we realise that he had different expectations. There are a few things to learn from this story. Firstly, sometimes the part to play is to just follow instructions from God’s word or his Servant. Secondly when God expects obedience on our part, it may not be convenient, it’ll be contrary to popular opinion and seem irrational. His ways are not our ways, it’s natural to begin to question God because of our logical mindset however God doesn’t operate according to logic. This is where faith and trust in God comes in when nothing makes sense. We cannot study obedience without reflecting on the story of Abraham and how God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, his long-awaited heir (Gene-

sis 22). We learn from the passage that the level of sacrifice is proportional to the size of the promise. God will test to see if we would withhold what we hold so dear from Him. Therefore, we need to die to the flesh daily and live by the leading of the Spirit. To play our part through obedience is not an easy task! 1 Samuel 5:2 reminds us not just to present offerings or sacrifices but that God prefers if we obey His voice because we would if we truly loved Him (John 14:15). Self-Assessment: Reflect and repent of past disobedience. What instruction has God given you now or what are the conditions to be fulfilled on the word you’re standing on? Prayerfully take action. IN REVIVAL

At present we are seeing a collapse of Christianity in a country that was well known fundamentally as a Christian country. The state of Europe and the UK at present is that Christianity is no longer the standard religion. Figures show that 70% of young people in the UK are not religious and only about 22% identify as Christian (2014-2016). More than half of British adults, 53%, do not belong to any faith (2017). The number of Church goers have reduced significantly, and future projections suggest that Christianity is on its way to becoming a minority faith. These facts and figures are alarming, as Christians we cannot afford to adopt an ignorant or passive attitude towards these events and the devil’s devices. If the devil is constantly working while we’re in slumber- that’s an equation for disaster. It’s time for us to wake up from slumber and play our part in the revival of this nation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 teaches that there are specific methods to adopt in 49

bringing about revival. “if my people…called by my name” suggests that we are to be intercessors because the revival of the nation starts inwardly. It is first a personal experience before it is a collective one. “… then...” is probably the most significant keyword in this verse because it suggests that results can and will only be unlocked after the preceding criteria has been met. God is showing us from this passage that there is a process. There is no intervention from Heaven without a movement on Earth. Part of the work needed to bring about revival is to reach out and show those in the community the love of Christ. How will the nation experience the supernatural through the power of the Holy Spirit if we keep it within the four walls of the Church building. When we reach out to them as stated in Isaiah 58: 6-8, God accepts this as fasting because in doing so, we act in a selfless manner forsaking our own pleasure or interests and therefore putting the needs of others before our own. Self-Assessment: We need to ask ourselves: Why the Church is becoming worldly? Why are there no signs and wonders like Jesus said? Why is nothing happening? What about the greater works Jesus said we would do in John 14:12? Why is the Church not growing? Why are people not being converted from the community? Why have we forgotten our first love? God is waiting on us. Let’s play our part.

Omolara Makanjuola @molarablessed

*Sources: Ons.co.uk; NatCen; Independent; The Guardian

Kingdom & Wisdom of Records, Books and Accountability

ur kingdom, God’s kingdom is the kingdom of books and records. We ought therefore to be people of records and books. I have had many life-defining encounters with this incredible revelation. I will share a few. Life-significant encounter with records in the Holy Land Some years ago, my wife and I were blessed to go on pilgrimage to Israel for the first time. That was a life-defining encounter which I strongly recommend to all. From day to day, we, as did all the groups, would go to various sites of spiritual and historical interest. At each site, we would hear from our wonderful tour guide, a lady named Debra who is a messianic-Jew, share revelation and application for life and then pray all manners of prayers. At one of the sites, Debra asked our group why the Bible took time to record the numbers of fishes caught, etc. Then we got a number of revelatory explanations. Firstly, the numbers are given because the Jewish and Biblical tradition is a tradition of detailed record-keeping; secondly, the Jewish tradition emphasises accountability and accuracy of records; thirdly, the record of fishes caught was to be used practically. The first practical use is that as the Jewish culture is accountability-minded, the fishing boat business partners would have needed to carefully divide and share the profits from the catch. For that purpose, records were needed. The second practical use is for the calculation of tithes that the fishing business partners would pay as the Jews are careful about paying the right tithe. You may recall that Jesus commended the Pharisees and Sadducees for incredible exactitude of calculation to make sure they paid right tithe, but he rebuked them for then ignoring weighty matters of righteousness, justice and mercy. The third application is that

the fishing partners would have to pay taxes to the authorities from their profit and therefore exact numbering records would be needed for meeting their tax obligations to governmental authorities. Life-defining encounter with records of the old Holborn Central Parish Our local assembly was so blessed when in 2007/2008, the Lord gave us the great miracle of taking over the magnificent tabernacle in Aberdeen City Centre now called the City of God, which used to be home to the Holborn Central Parish (HCP) Church of Scotland. That was a life and spiritual city-defining experience. When we took over the buildings, we were overwhelmed when we were handed detailed and incredible records of the church from its establishment in 1836. The records were incredibly uplifting, illuminating, inspiring and fearful at the same time. From the records (written, oral, wall memorial, stained glass inscriptions), we discovered for example, that much like we do in RCCG, ten men who were mandated to lead the building of the original 1836 church did it so well and in such record time, that the ten named men were greatly honoured, blessed and commended to God. We also learnt about the numerous missions across the nations in the 18th and 19th century that the original HCP Church sponsored and supported. It was interesting as we saw plaques naming places in their then names: Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Ceylon (now Sri-Lanka) for example. We also learnt from the handed-over records, that the church was the home church for the Aberdeen-based Gordon Highlanders Army Regiment and on occasions, the military would march to church in an impressive and God-glorifying spectacle. We also learnt that in relation to attendance, that local assembly at its zenith numbered three to four thousand on Sundays; and based on its attendance rate, it

was ranked the third/fourth largest church amongst the local churches in the Church of Scotland. In addition we learnt about their most remarkable leader, the famous Rev. Dr McClymont under whose reverend-ship, the church grew to its zenith and who himself became the moderator of the entire Church of Scotland for some season. Furthermore, the 100th anniversary of the church in 1936 was marked by the construction of a second building named the McClymont Hall which is today situated a short distance away from the original Church building; and how the widow of Rev Dr McClymont gave the most significant named donation towards the McClymont Building. Much of the records both inspired and frightened us (in a good way). As a church-plant, we started as Jesus House Aberdeen and we registered as such. We took the name of our sending church – RCCG Jesus House Port Harcourt. We saw as a young church plant, that a great number of church buildings in the centre of our home city Aberdeen had been converted to ungodly purposes. We also came to understand that our city Aberdeen was once described as the most ungodly city in the United Kingdom because of the incredible proportion of former church buildings turned into night clubs, bars and other ungodly uses. Hearing that, we yearned for the Lord for enable us take over one disused church building so that we can put “one gate” against that trend. We then declared by the grace of God that we shall call the new location whenever God made that possible, the ‘City of God’ as a prophetic declaration over the city of Aberdeen and prophetic rejection of its appellation by some as the most ungodly city. Miraculously, the Lord made room for us and used us to redeem the former church building and consistent with the prophetic and covenantal name, we re-named the church building “The City of God”. Then we moved in and fearfully discovered that on the stained glass on the upper windows were inscribed

amongst others: Joshua 6.16b: And Joshua told the people, shout for God has given you the city. That became a fearful and wonderful confirmation of the new name “City of God.” The stained glass was originally installed for the Gordon Highlanders Regiment. THE NECESSITIES, JOYS, BENEFITS AND TYPES OF KINGDOM RECORDS AND BOOKS-KEEPING The Lord is interested in the acts of the saints, the stewardship of his ministers, both spiritual and governmental. For which purpose, we must all give an account of our stewardship - Hebrews 13:17. We must all give account, consequently we must all keep good and excellent records. 1. The Bible is a God inspired record of His-story. The Bible’s 66 books are the best records of history and by them, we can put all human history in true perspective; civilisations, great kingdoms and empires and so forth. The Bible is the perfect record and history of God’s dealings with mankind. Through the eyes of the Bible, we understand that history is not just a collection and succession of random sagas and records of civilisations, but of God’s eternal plan woven through the fabric of history. 2. Testimony Records of God’s marvellous works in and through His People. A great number of people irrespective of what status in society would want to know what is happening with us in God’s House. So diligent records of what great things God is doing ought to kept and carefully broadcast (2 Kings 8:4). 3. Financial records and accounting of our stewardship and service. Everyone entrusted with resources and office will be required to account for their service and stewardship. We will all have to provide an account to our Heavenly Father of our stewardship here on earth. Careful record-keeping

is necessary to be able to discharge these responsibilities (Luke 16:2). 4. Records of births and other milestones of life. For many centuries, the local churches in Europe were vital record-keepers for cities, towns and communities. The early churches kept the records of births, baptisms, marriage and deaths and that continued until local and town councils became the custodian for such vital information. We ought to keep such records (Psalm 87.6 ERV) 5. Records of progress, projects, missions and operations. Nehemiah describes and records the names, manners and division of labour and all those families and clans who volunteered for the Nehemiah-led project to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem. There we find an excellent register of those who helped the Lord and Nehemiah to build and those who did not help in rebuilding the broken walls of Jerusalem. We ought to keep such records (Nehemiah 3:3-5) 6. Records of salvation and repentance. The Malachi generation was rather estranged from God’s ways and the Lord was Himself careful to detail their ungodly ways and asked them to repent. A careful record was taken of all those who feared the Lord, repented and determined to walk rightly before the Lord. We ought to keep such records of salvation, re-dedication, baptisms and so forth (Malachi 3:16-18). 7. Personal and organisational records, wills and life-lessons. It is great wisdom and a great blessing to settle your affairs while still alive (2 Kings 2:2021). Some never have the

opportunity. Some have the opportunity but do not take it up. You now have both the blessedness and the opportunity. Settle your future affairs by writing your will, it will be a great blessing to your family and remove many griefs in the years to come. King David was old, weak and bed-ridden. Then one day, his son Adonijah decided to declare himself as the next king. He had a great coronation party. Nathan who was King David’s pastor was surprised because he had not heard David say that Adonijah will succeed him as king. So he went to David and asked him. The incident and the intervention of Nathan compelled and gave David the opportunity to settle his affairs properly. He appointed Solomon as king. See 1 Kings Chapters 1 & 2. Apart from will-writing, consider documenting life-walk and life-lessons so that those coming behind can learn and do better than those before them. Go beyond biography and write a life analysis. Organisations ought also to write careful records of their journeys thus far; motivations, achievements, challenges and failures and crucially dreams for the future. 8. Book of Life in Heaven. Heaven keeps an incredibly detailed record of those who are for God and His Christ. The names of all who have accepted Christ and lived for God, are carefully kept and recorded in the Book of LifeIs your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If not, please hasten right now, go down on your knees and invite Jesus into your life (Revelation 3.5; 13.8; 17.8; 20.12; 20;15 and 21.27).

By Pastor Mark Igiehon *Sources: Ons.co.uk; NatCen; Independent; The Guardian

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