"Unquestionable Men, Questionable God?"

The greatest man I know alive happens to be my dad, 'Folahan Faneye.
He raised his children to be inquisitive and always ask questions and he indulged us by answering as many questions as he could.
There were times he had no answers and he was never ashamed to say he had none.
It is important that we always ASK questions so as to get answers.

UNQUESTIONABLE GOD.
It seems we have allowed men to fill in the space that only God deserves so we have "UNQUESTIONABLE men" in our lives.

We need to get back on track and let God only be UNQUESTIONABLE and every man be QUESTIONABLE.

Why do we encourage our followers to be different but feel threatened when they are actually different?

Why do we not question our leaders but follow blindly even when they are wrong?

Why don't we ask those that have succeeded in endeavours that we pursue so we can get the desired help?

Why must we wait for man's validation when God has given us all the validation we need?

Why do we promote a culture of borrowing when we know that debts are burden and lead to the destruction of many?

Why do we claim to love God yet harbour so much hatred towards one another?

Why do we surround ourselves with people that tell us lies and speak differently behind us?#

Why do we push away the very few that are courageous enough to tell us the truth?

Why have we allowed God become questionable while our leaders have become unquestionable?

Why? Why?? Why???

The Truth on Tithes & Offerings Part 2.

TITHING BEFORE THE LAW: Abram and Melchizedek.
Genesis 14: 18-24
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

It is important to know that Abram did not give the tithe in order to be blessed by Melchizedek but it was rather in response to the blessing proferred on him by Melchizedek.
Abram also did not tithe from his income neither did he tithe from his wealth; he gave a tithe from the goods that was stolen from the king of sodom which he had recovered and he gave the remaining back to the king of sodom.

TITHING UNDER THE LAW.
Leveticus 27:30
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.

Deutoronomy 14:22-29
“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

NEW TESTAMENT TRUTH.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Man was separated from God after the fall of Adam and a lot was required for man to please God. Nothing was adequate until Jesus came to the world and died for man's sins and fulfilled the law.

The offerings was to be given to the priests under the law when man was separated from God. However, NOW, Jesus is our high priest and he has made us kings and priests.

The way to give to our high priest has been given to us in the new testament.

Matthew 25:31-40
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

TITHING TO THE LOCAL CHURCH.
Tithing to the local church shows your loyalty and commitment to the work of God that is being done by your pastor. Tithing can NEVER connect anyone to God's blessing. It is Jesus ONLY that can do that. Jesus broke the curse and reconnected man to The Blessing.

Ephesians 1:3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

We have been blessed with all spiritual blessing IN CHRIST. That includes the blessing of Abraham that was promised to Abraham and to his seed, Christ.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.

Every man should search scriptures for himself concerning every subject matter and not just limit his knowledge of God's word to what is being preached from the pulpit.

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.

There is a fresh wind blowing in the body of Christ.

Abundance: God's Financial Plan for Man.

God wants to do so much through us to the world. A lot of us have been blinded by our incomes and we are satisfied to have just enough to live comfortable or luxurious lives and have enough to support immediate family and friends. We find it difficult to comprehend that from an income of N150,000 (One hundred & fifty thousand naira), we can fund a project of helping the poor with N150,000,000 (One hundred & fifty million naira).
The average human mind assumes that even if he does not spend a dime out of his salary and keeps it all, he will have N1.8m in a year and it will take him over 83 working years (without spending on anything) to accumulate such funds so the possibility of a project that "little" is so big and seems impossible in his/her mind.

God's plan for man however is absolute abundance. God blessed man at creation and said to man, "be FRUITFUL, and MULTIPLY, and REPLENISH the earth, and SUBDUE it, and have DOMINION.............."

Often times, man gets stuck in the being FRUITFUL stage or doesn't even enter there at all.

I want us to expand our minds and see ourselves the way God sees us. God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ASK or even IMAGINE.

The very first step is to be FRUITFUL. You must begin with having an income. In this instance, I will use the N150k salary. Saving just 10% of that in 10 months will be N150k.
After saving aside N150k, next is to multiply. Even if you have a N50k income, you'll accumulate N150k if you set aside N5k monthly for 30 months.

Aim to double the N150k in a business cycle.

Your N150k in business cycles become:

1. N300k
2. N600k
3. N1.2m
4. N2.4m
5. N4.8m
6. N9.6m
7. N19.2m
8. N38.4m
9. N76.8m
10. N153.6m

You will exceed the N150m needed for the project in just 10 business cycles.

WARNING. Salary "ONLY" no fit do am ooo unless you are a part of the top management of a company collecting seven or eight digit wages.

It is when you provide goods and/or services that you're paid for by a number of people through a business that will get you there.

If your average annual income from a customer is N10,000, you need 15,000 customers to accumulate the N150m that you need.

If your average annual income is just N1,000, you need 150,000 customers. You can only achieve this kind of income through a business.

Keep in mind that the population of our country is well over 100 million. You don't need to be in competition with anyone, just start a business and MIND YOUR BUSINESS.

Start with the N150k that you have and all you need to double it to N300k is 15 or 150 customers as the case may be in the first business cycle. Repeat the process over the business cycles till you get to your destination. Continue till you get to N150billion and beyond.

You replenish the earth anytime God uses you as a channel of blessing so make up your mind to give and share as much as you decide to alomg the way.

Its possible and you dont have to quit your job to begin.

Start now and just start it as an experiment. You have absolutely nothing to lose.

That is the true essence of the sowing and reaping process.

THE HARVEST IS NOW.

Creation vs Form

We create with our words and form with our hands. The words of our mouth are very important to the things we create in our lives but those things will only take form by and through the work of our hands.

Let us look at the account of creation in the book of Genesis when God showed the difference between creation and form.

Genesis 1:11-13
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

On the third day, God created the grass, the seed yielding herb and the fruit tree.

Now let's look at what happened on the sixth day.

Genesis 1:27-31
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

On the sixth day, God created man in His own image, male and female He created them.

Its established that in creation God created the grass, herb and fruit tree on the third day and created man (male & female) on the sixth day.

Now let's see what happened thereafter in chapter two.

Genesis 2:1-7
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

God rested on the seventh day because he ended His work which He had done.

Let's look at Genesis 2 very carefully.

In verses 4 & 5, it talks about the history of the heavens and the earth when God created them before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown.

(WHY?)

FOR THE LORD GOD HAD NOT CAUSED IT TO RAIN ON THE EARTH, AND THERE WAS NO MAN TO TILL THE GROUND.

God simply showed us a process here. He had created the tree on the third day and man on the sixth day but before the tree can take form, the earth had to be watered and man had to till the ground.

In verses 6 & 7, a mist went up from the earth and watered the ground and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Now let's see what happened after God had formed man.

Genesis 2:8-25
8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

God put man in the garden and after that he made every tree grow.

Verse 18, And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.

God created them male and female but when He formed Adam from the ground, he was alone and God said it wasn't good for man to be alone hence the need to form woman out of man.

Verse 19, Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

Let's note that though the trees and animals were created before Adam, God formed them out of the ground and brought them to Adam after Adam had been formed.

The words of our mouth are very important just as well is the work of our hands. We must not neglect one at the expense of the other. If all we do is speak words without forming, we will just have loads of things created in our spirit and if all we do is work without first creating with our words, we'll find ourselves living a life of struggle.

The perfect balance is the example God showed us at creation. If we are created in the image and likeness of God, it means we look like God and function like God so we must create with our words and form with the works of our hands.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.

Can We Truly Say We Are Christians?

God created man in His image and likeness, male and female; and put man in charge of earth.

God is a Spirit and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Did the disciples call themselves christians? The disciples were first called christians in Antioch because of the way they lived, the character and behaviour they exuded. They lived so much like Christ and because of the similarity or "Christ-like" nature, they were called christians. Jesus went about doing good and healing those that were oppressed of the devil. He went about preaching, teaching and living the word of God. The disciples went about doing the very things Jesus did and living the very life Jesus lived. They lived like Christ so much  and that's why they were first called Christians in Antioch.

Are we exuding the very character and behaviour of Christ that made the people in Antioch call the disciples "Christians" or it has simply become a label of pride and arrogance for us to say, "I am a christian"?

Jesus told Nicodemus, "You have to be born-again to see the kingdom of God." The very first time the term "born-again" was used it was by Christ while he still lived on earth. It had to do with a spiritual rebirth and a change of attitude from evil ways to God's ways. Is that what we still mean to be "born-again" or it has also become a badge and label of pride and arrogance to say "I am born-again" or "I am a born-again christian."

Are we spending time hating each other, speaking evil of each other and keeping malice with each other? Is that Christ-like?

Are we spending time hating our leaders and doing nothing to correct the wrongs in society? Is that Christ-like?

Jesus said to a crowd about to kill a woman, "he among you without sin, let him cast the first stone." He then said to the woman, "Go and sin no more." What an exemplary life. Have we joined the crowd that's stoning and killing those that have erred? Is that Christ-like?

Are we seeing things go wrong in society and in the church and turn a blind eye and do nothing to correct the wrongs? Is that Christ-like?

Let us be truly born-again and have that spiritual rebirth Jesus talked about to Nicodemus. Let us change our ways from evil to God's ways. Let us go about doing good and healing all that are oppressed of the devil. Let us go about preaching, teaching and living the word of God.

Let us love all men created by God (black, white, brown, jew, gentile, single, married, divorced, separated, heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, christian, muslim, buddhist, pagan, atheist etc). Let us respect each other's beliefs and not feel threatened by each other's beliefs. Let us choose to love and respect each other regardless of whether we have the same beliefs and orientation or not.


THEN AND THEN ONLY CAN WE TRULY SAY WE ARE BORN-AGAIN.

THEN AND THEN ONLY CAN WE TRULY BE CALLED CHRISTIANS.

God is Love.

LOVE ALWAYS WINS.

Faith Without Works Is Dead.

Mark 11: 22-24
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

If you believe the next person that knocks your door is bringing to you a very lucrative contract, you will jump up and run for the door the very minute you hear the door being knocked. Now that's faith. Faith works through corresponding action.

Some of us have taken this scripture to isolate and neglect the ACTION part of faith.

James 2:14-26
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Let us look at two miracles performed by jesus. The wedding in Cana where he turned water into wine and also where he fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. In each case, Jesus commanded them to do something. He asked for pots to be filled with water and for the water to be drawn and served at the wedding. He asked that the crowd be seated on the grass as he blessed the food and he gave the food to the disciples who gave the food to the crowd.

Imagine if the men at the wedding had refused to fill the pots with water or refused to serve it! Imagine if the multitude had refused to sit on the grass or the disciples had refused to give the food to the crowd!

You can read about the wedding in Cana & Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 in John 2:1-10  & Mathew 14:13-21.

Faith ALWAYS has a corresponding action. For God to bless the works of your hands, you had better be working in the first place.

Faith without works is dead. FAITH WORKS because there is a "works" part to faith.

Confessions work . . . Only with corresponding action. If you confess for 24 hours daily for 10 years without action, guess what your results will be . . . ZERO . . . NADA.

The Truth on Tithes & Offerings.

A lot of people tithe and give offerings so as not to be cursed or in other to be blessed by God or for both reasons. This should not be so because Jesus broke the curse of the law when he died on the cross and every blessing in Christ belongs to us as a result of us being in Christ.

God wants to bless lives through us and we should tithe (out of a free will and without compulsion IF WE CHOOSE TO) and give offerings as channels of God's blessings and not because we want Him to bless us or because we do not want to be under a curse. The blessings of Abraham was promised to Abraham and to his seed, Christ. That very same blessing remains in us.

Hebrews 10:9-14 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (KJV)

2Co 9:6-9 6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity:for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor:his righteousness remaineth for ever. (KJV)

We should give as we purpose in our heart and without grudge or of necessity.

If the church will receive tithes and offerings from the people, the least that can be done is to ensure the people learn how to earn before they give.

We need to also help each other to earn more than enough to fend for ourselves by teaching and showing each other how to even as we tithe and give our offerings. That I believe is a "WIN-WIN" situation.

Above all, we all should sit with the Word of God to find out what God says concerning tithes & offerings for ourselves.

Those Who Are Well Have No Need Of A Physician.

Mark 2:13-17  "Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Luke 5:29-32 "Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus is such a wonder. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. He reached out to sinners and brought them back to repentance even before he died on the cross. Such was his lifestyle on earth. Are we emulating this by reaching out to sinners and calling them to repentance or we have become the modern day Pharisees that do nothing but complain and find fault in what others are doing?

Yes, we are the righteousness of God in Christ but we shouldn't just sit back in the comfort of that reality and do nothing. We need to do as Jesus did while on earth by reaching out and calling sinners to repentance. At least we know Jesus did not come for the righteous but to call sinners to repentance.

Our time on earth is but for a while; let's spend it wisely.

Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

LET US THINK AND ACT ON THESE WORDS.

God, have mercy on us.

Luke 18: 9-14 "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Despise no one! Despise no one!! Despise no one!!!

Jesus is our perfect example and teacher. Jesus is God Himself. A man is and will always be "MAN." Man is subject to error but God is perfect as Jesus is Perfect.

We can learn lessons for a life-time from the parables of Jesus.

Yes, we are the righteousness of God in Christ but that does not and will never give us the right to despise or condemn others.

John 3:16-21 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

A lot of times, we cross the lines between despising/condemning sin and despising/condemning the sinner. We must LOVE the sinner even as we despise and condemn sin in its entirety. It is that love we have for sinners that makes us reach out to them even as we help them and help ourselves to overcome sin and reject darkness. That is God's nature and we are God's creation in His image and likeness so we dare not hate the sinner and we dare not love sin.

However, the lines need to be clearly defined so we don't find ourselves like the Pharisee that trusted in his righteousness and despised others.

Overcoming sin: Let love lead the way.

Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path."

Acts 20:32 "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

I believe with all of my heart that the Word of God is the solution to every problem. The Word gives us direction and builds us up, giving us an inheritance among the saints.

Looking at the problems and issues around us today, in and out of the church, can we say we have made God's Word the standard for our lives or have we deviated from His Word in any way?

2 Corinthians 3:18 "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."

I say its time we embrace the Word and see it as priority; its time we sit with the Word of God till we get answers and solutions to lives problems and issues.

Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge."

Revelations 21:7-8 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

I understand that a whole lot of these issues are not addressed from the pulpit but nevertheless, we need to be conscious of what God's word says about them. These issues were existent in the church in the days of Paul and were addressed. I think we need to address them in the present day church also in other for us to have solutions. Christ is coming back to a blameless church; I'm not sure if we're exactly there yet but I believe we're progressively moving towards it.

We have heard of some of us involved with all sorts of sin from sexual harassment to murder etc . . . are we going to turn a blind eye to these issues and pretend they aren't there or are we going to face them and nip them in the bud?

Are we going to sit down and do nothing until the world pushes us to act? Are we going to keep on waiting till governments sign bills to justify or condemn sin?

There's a  Yoruba adage that says "Even when our eyes are full of tears, let us not lose our sight."

Let us embrace the Word of God. Every thing we'll ever need in our lives is wrapped up in the Word of God.

I encourage us to talk about issues, address them and help each other in love to overcome weaknesses.

God's Word is love.

LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY.

Seed time & Harvest

Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, Seed time and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

We've been taught for so long that the way to sow seeds is to give money in church and give big. That's correct only to an extent.
To sow means to plant and whenever a farmer sows or plants seeds on his farm, he knows he will have a harvest and therefore will expect the harvest. A farmer cultivates and tills his farm and works hard to ensure he plants quality seeds and gets a quality harvest.

God administers seed to the sower and bread for food. Whenever you earn your salary or profits as the case may be, God has administered to you seed to sow and bread for food. Our thoughts and experiences on seed to sow is often limited to giving inside and outside our local assemblies. A whole lot of time after giving, we're waiting on God and men to give back to us whereas God is waiting on us to multiply what he's given us.

A farmer after getting a harvest first puts aside seeds to sow for the next planting season. After putting the seeds aside does he start eating from the remaining harvest, sells some and gives some away. He knows his harvest will come only from the seeds he's put aside for the next planting season. We also should put aside a part of our income/profits also to be multiplied; this part is what produces a multiplied harvest for us and not the part we spend or give away. It is a good and noble thing to give, in fact every covenant child of God "is" a giver and I encourage us all to do so as much as we can but we'd not be helping ourselves to think that's how to multiply what we have. WRONG - We multiply our savings by investing it to get a multiplied return.

If you're a tither, I would recommend you save up at least an equivalent of your tithe to be multiplied. That way, you'd be making yourself richer even as you're helping your local assembly become richer.

We've been told that the tithe belongs to God.
WRONG AGAIN - 100% belongs to God. We're only custodians of God's wealth and he that is faithful in little is faithful in much. When we are faithful with the wealth God has given us, we multiply it and make it grow while we give in partnership with God and allow ourselves to be God's channels of blessing.

We've been told that if we don't tithe, we'll be cursed and that God blesses us when we tithe. WRONG AGAIN. - God blessed man at creation. God blessed Abraham and his seed Christ and that seed remains in you if you're Abraham's Seed. We tithe because God has blessed us and not because we want God to bless us. We tithe and give in covenant and in appreciation of all God has done for us and is still doing and not because we want to blackmail God into showering financial blessings on us.

When next you're paid your salary or you make a profit, make up your mind to put aside a part to be multiplied. That's the Seed that'll give you a harvest. You can give away all that remains if you wish but you'll be doing a great injustice to yourself if you put nothing aside for your self to multiply.

Start immediately and if you've already started, continue and stay with it.

God bless you.

Bootstrapping

"Bootstrapping or booting refers to a group of metaphors that share a common meaning, a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help." "Bootstrapping in business is to start a business without external help/capital. Startups that bootstrap their business fund development of their company through internal cash flow and are cautious with their expenses." -- (wikipedia)  

When God created man, he started with one man Adam and gave them a command to be fruitful and to multiply. The world as we see it today with billions of people started with just one man, Adam; so tell me who is the king of bootstrapping?  

If you want to start a business and you require let's say N10m(Ten Million Naira) and the cash you have is N10,000(Ten Thousand Naira), I dare say that is all you need. Why? Just follow me and the picture will get clearer. "He that is faithful in little is faithful in much" the scripture does not say he that is faithful in little will be faithful but God makes us understand that the man faithful in little is already, present tense, faithful in much.  

When God blessed Abraham, he spoke Words to him. When He blessed Solomon, Words were spoken. God still blesses people very much in the same way today by Words. 

It doesn't matter where you are, whether you are an employee or you are already a well seasoned business owner, God wants to see you at the very top of your game. If you are an employee, you can bootstrap your way to the top of your organization. Work when at work, start before everyone else and stay later than everyone else, when every other employee is complaining, keep quiet and if you'd talk choose to emphasize the bright side, go the extra mile; this is also bootstrapping. If you can do all these now tell me, when it's time for your boss to give an opportunity to rise in the company's leadership who will be called upon, the complaining employee or the bootstrapping employee?  

Start today from where you are and you'll get to where you want to be; bootstrap your way to your destination. Don't be afraid of making mistakes or failing. If you do make a mistake or fail along the way, WHAT THE HELL? Get up and do it again. If you fail again, keep doing it again until you get it right. It doesn't matter how many times you tried or how many times you failed at it, what matters is THE ONE TIME YOU GET IT RIGHT! 

I believe in you. We Are The Present -- We Are The Future.

A New Year Message to Christians.

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. - Acts 10:38
We need to refocus our hearts and our minds on the things of God in the present day church, have an understanding that church is not mainly about us but about God. When we gather as a local assembly, our main reason should be to worship God and give him praise and thanks. The local assembly used to be regarded as "a place of worship". Now it seems our reasons for gathering have become selfish and about us; the message being preached and by whom its being preached has taken more importance than worshipping God with all of our hearts.
Let us all embrace God's love which is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost and express this love towards other Christians and non-Christians alike. How else can we win a non-Christian to Christ when what we seem to do presently is to express our preferences for one man of God to another? Let us let go of every form of bitterness, hatred, malice and gossip.
How I long for the day when Christians can gather and attend any local assembly for the
main reason to worship God.
The main work to be done for God is not in or with the local assemblies but in the fields. Jesus said to his disciples, "the harvest truly is  plenteous but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labourers into His harvest." Matthew 9:37-38.
It is good to gather together and listen to the teachings and take part in the activities but it is simply not enough.  We need to make ourselves available to God for His harvest. We have a mandate as christians which is also called the great commission.
Mark 16:15-18. "And Jesus said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall  lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."
My prayer for us all is that in 2014, the grace of our Lord Jesus to fulfill this mandate on earth, the Love of God shared in our hearts that leaves
no room for neither bitterness nor envy, and the communion of the Holy Ghost rest and abide with us & in us in Jesus name.
We are God's instruments and God wants to express so much good in this world through us.
May the hand of God rest mightily upon us this new year as we do great exploits for Him.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

With love from 'Yomi & 'Lola Faneye.