THE WINNING DECISION – Deuteronomy 30:15-20

The all time winning decision is the right decision. A man that will win in life must be able to make the right decision. A man’s decision is a function of his choices in life. Whatever decision you make per time (good or bad) will show in your choice of things. You are a product of your choices. Whatever you do or didn’t do on earth, become in life or didn’t become in life is a matter of your decision: the decision to or not to. If you decide to make something work it will work and vice versa. Your distinction in life is a matter of your determination which is premised upon your decision. Five thoughts about life from the above scripture: All kinds of things happen in this world. You name it; good and bad together. One of the greatest rights of man in life is the right to choose. Our choices have effect: A very good choice would mean life and a bad choice would give birth to chaos. There is a way our choices affects others. In life changes occur: Things/Times change and so do people. Let’s consider the seven most important decisions that would shape your life forever: 1. The God You Choose to Serve (Joshua 24:15): This is the ultimate decision a man can make; the choice to serve God or something else. But if I will counsel you, I will tell you to decide today to follow through with God, as your decision to follow and stick to God would positively and meaningfully change your life forever. 2. The Man/Woman You Choose to Marry (1Kings 11:4): This is an area of your life that has the potential to shape your life. You are the way you are because of your choice of marriage. Your present pleasure or pressure in marriage is as a result of your past choice of whom to marry. If you are yet to make this decision I celebrate you because you still have a chance – A chance to look again and think twice. If your marriage is in pieces it is a matter of your choice. You must understand that a right choice or wrong choice of marriage would be a tool: A right choice of marriage would be a tool in the hand of God but a wrong choice of marriage would be a tool in the hand of the devil. 3. The Kind of Work You Settle for (Genesis 3:3-11): Your profession has a way of shaping your life. What you choose to do and how you go about it would greatly affect your life. Once you decide on what to do for a living you have directly or indirectly choosing a path that will positively or negatively change your life forever. Your profession could be the lead-way to your possession or obsession in life. 4. The Place You Decide to Reside (Gen. 13: 9-12, Ruth 1:1-5): The place you live has a way of shaping your way of life. Where you decide to live may mean that you lose all you’ve laboured for (think about Lot in Sodom and Naomi in Moab); it could also mean you gain more in life (think of Isaac in Rehoboth and Israel in Canaan-land.). I pray that the Lord will order your step and preserve you for the rest of your life. 5. The Association/Company You Decide to Keep (Psalm 1:1, 1Cor. 15:33): The circle you decide to join or keep will tell on your life. The basis of what forms your group is what will prosper or damage the group depending on what they live for. If you choose a gang your life is likely to hang. 6. The People You Decide to Bless (Gen. 12:2, Matt. 25:34-36): There are a handful of selfish irreverent people out there without recourse for human feelings. The reason God blessed you is for you to be a blessing to other people. Your life is not fulfilled by living for yourself alone; it is more enjoyable when you become a blessing to others. You can choose to be a blessing to the sick, the orphans & widows, those in prison and the poor in general. 7. The Decision on Change – deciding your next course of action: If things will change for the better you will have to change first. Decide to change, decide forward! The best decision you will ever make that can shape your life meaningfully and forever is to decide to change for the better. How do you change? Start with your way of thinking. “The world as we created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be Changed without changing our thinking” – Albert Einstein. Hang your anger! Bury your pride and ego. Nail your hates. Crucify the flesh!If you can change, the chain will break. It’s no news that there are people living their daily lives in chain – to poverty, addiction, inferiority complex, other people’s opinion (OPO), and many other unthinkable social vices. One ‘stroke’ of change can save one of many years of chains. For every cause you choose to live for there is a change you will have to make. You can change your ways today. If you can’t bear the curse anymore, change your course! Four ways to making a right decision: 1. Start with what matters to God (Matt. 6:33, 1Tim. 6:6): Whatever you want to do that does not matter to God is dangerous, don’t try it. In case you are now in a deep mess as a result of poor decisions in the past, God can sort you out. Run to Jesus and stay with him. The best way to make a good decision is to start with God and the sure way to unmake a poor decision is to run to God. 2. Search for peace (Ps. 34:14, 1 Peter 3:11): Stick with what will not hurt you. You can make good decisions by adopting what I’ll like to call ‘the harmless principle’ – Let nothing hurt you! Luke 10:19. As a lady or young man never settle for a partner that will harm you. I say never! 3. Seek the good of others (Matt. 22:39, Gal. 6:7). Life answers to seed principle. You’ll end up making better decisions in life when you look out for the good of your fellow brother. What you sow is what you reap – it is not a prayer, it is a principle. 4. Seek for right counsel (Prov. 11:14, 24:6): One way to make good decision is to seek good counsel. Counsel is the available option for a better or worse decision-making. A very good counsel would win a war; however, a poor counsel would damage even the best of plans. Seek good counsel! It will lessen your thinking burden and save you of possible error. Receive grace to make the right decision today. God bless you!

Signs of a Good Message

Talk is cheap. And isn’t it uncouth that every Tom, Dick and Harry think they know the Bible? Isn’t it? Today I want to help you see the underlining embodiment of a very good message, so that if you hear one, you can easily tell; this is a good message. There are five credible signs to look for in a good message, these are what I call: The Five Ingredients of a Good Message. 1. A Good Message Carries Life/It Is Spirit-Filled: A message in this context is God’s word spoken or delivered to you by His messenger. And one major component of that message is life. The messages of God are intended to give us life. Jesus said “…The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life” – John 6:63. The word of God isn’t an ordinary letter it is a Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6.) However, most people only read the letter but never decipher the Spirit. Of such the Bible says: they are always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7.) The fact that you learn or read the letter of the word doesn’t mean you know the truth of the word. The message you hear, does it carry life? 2. A Good Message is a Template for a Doctrine (2 Tim. 3:16): A doctrine is a guiding principle for living. It is that good thing you think about and act upon (Phil. 4:8). Now, a doctrine is more profitable when it is based on the word of God. So, a good message should be what you can make a doctrine; a profitable doctrine. A profitable doctrine is message/word made, while an unprofitable doctrine is man/world made. The message you hear, can you make it a doctrine (a way of life?) If someone says after all king David a man after the heart of God was an adulterer, so why should we not fornicate – you should know that is madness and not a message. Or like ‘they’ always say, Jesus turned water to wine (John 2), so we can drink ourselves to stupor – you should know that is foolishness (an unregenerate mind.) Can these two ways of thinking be a way of life for a Christian? Certainly not – it’s a bad message, a bad news, and a very bad way of life. Such groups of people know nothing, and they are thorns in the body of Christ. I’ll deal with this better in how to interpret the bible. 3. A Good Message Reproofs: To reproof is to rebuke someone for wrongdoing. If you do wrong, and all you hear is carry on, it is not easy you know – you’re in trouble. Because that’s not a message from above; maybe it’s from abroad (an imported, American-modeled message.) The word from God should reprimand you: open your eyes to see your nakedness (how divinely impoverished you’re); and then give you a clear cut clue to what you should do. 4. A Good Message Corrects: A good message should correct you and put your life on the right track. Any message that makes you think or act silly is silly. A divinely inspired message has in it the ingredient of correction. A good message has the capacity to make your life right, proper and acceptable – that’s if you’re fortunate to hear one and also receive it. Because it is one thing to hear a good message, and it is an entirely different thing to receive a good message. How do you receive a good message? Simple, believe what it says and do it. How do you believe? Change what you do, and start doing what God says. 5. A Good Message Instructs: To instruct is to teach, train and educate someone. Meaning instruction is education. As a result, a good message should educate you – deliver you from ‘divine illiteracy.’ A good message does not just give you life nor form the basis of a doctrine, it doesn’t just reproofs and corrects; it also instructs – teaching and telling you exactly what to do about your life and with your life in other to please God. The ultimate thing about a Christian message is that it is sourced from the word of God, and the word of God is God himself (John 1:1.) And the aim of every message no matter what we tag it; holiness message, prosperity message, faith message and the likes is to turn people to God. That’s the real gospel (turning many to righteousness); against such there is no good news. Once that is not the case, then our generation is in more trouble than the others. The message you hear will either make you or mare you. You have a choice!

THREE KINDS OF CHURCHES: …sequel to ministry today…

Looking through the church today, though born a Baptist and having observed and attended quite a number of other denominational settings; Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian and Pentecostal among others; I realize they all have something in common. This common ground is what defines the type of church we found, belong or attend – the three kinds of churches. 1. The Church that Leads Through: This is the Master’s church. And the most acceptable form of church setting. This kind of church thinks of leading men to God first through Christ. As a matter of fact, this was the kind of church Christ himself instituted and promoted. He said in John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me: and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast away.” And in John 14:6 He also said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” This can also be termed the balanced church – they are driven by the great commission: His mission, His message, and His members/body. Their mission is to turn many to righteousness. Their message is that of hope in Christ Jesus that doesn’t make ashamed. And they are sold out to seeing their members become true disciples of Jesus. What a church! Lord, give us churches that points men to You. 2. The Church that Locks In: This is a mixed church. They think numbers first: our size, our reach and popularity. They also keep members at all cost whether they are growing or not. This is a kind of church instituted and promoted by the Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus said: Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make a proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves (Matthew 23:15). 3. The Church that Casts Out: This is another form of a mixed church. They think of doctrine most: our name, our image, and our tradition. Their rule is: kick them out if they refuse to learn or abide by our doctrine. John 9:34 reads: They answered and said unto him, you were altogether born in sins, and do you now teach us? And they cast him out. You will understand this kind of church setting better if you can take time to read John 8: 1-11 and the whole of John 9. This same type of church setting will not even mind ‘casting out’ Jesus all in the name of doctrine (Luke 4:18-29.) Don’t forget that it was this type of setting that prevented the move of the Holy Spirit particularly in the Orthodox Church in time past; to the effect that you dare not speak in new tongues. This could also be termed the ‘careless church.’ Where whether you come to church or not (you are lost or found), nobody really cares. Once the size of the church is still massive and the pastor is cool; you’re just on your own. They may not literarily cast you out – but once you’re out, you’re out. We need a revival! While it is not impossible to find a church in the first category, the second and third category is the order of the day. But shockingly, most churches are a mixture of these three and that’s where the danger lies. They want to lead us to God, but they don’t want to know when their work is done; and most times they throw us out for fallen short of church rules and regulations all in the name of doctrine. What doctrine! Is it their doctrine that was crucified on the cross for our sins? Mr. church founder you have no right to throw people out of church for whatever reasons. Just lead them to God – that’s your job. If it means fasting and praying yourself out to achieve that – go ahead! After all Jesus died for this same people. If you can’t give ministry what it takes, then don’t take it. The Balance: There is nothing wrong with ‘sound doctrine.’ But it shouldn’t be to the detriment of the life of the people that Jesus died for. It is important to curb the excesses of men. However, there is vast difference between the doctrine of discipline/correction and the doctrine of damnation. The church is to save the lost and not to tell them to get lost. What matters most is to lead as many souls as possible through to God, no matter what. And as for you wayward church member, I have a word for you in the next subject – the three types of members. Wait a minute. Your church, what kind is it; the Master’s church or the mixed/careless church?

 MINISTRY TODAY: Where Do We Go From Here?

Today the concept of fivefold ministry is not in any way a hidden idea. At least an average believer who attends church services and reads the Bible once and again should be able to recoup that. These are: apostolic ministry, prophetic ministry, evangelistic ministry, pastoral and teaching ministry as recorded in Ephesians 4:11. Although each of these fold have distinct form of operation they however, have the same set goals to achieve (vv. 12-13.) These set goals by extension are: i. To perfect the saints ii. To equip more men/women to do ministry (fulfill the work of God) iii. To get believers to a level of uniformity of faith through edification; iv. To gain more knowledge of the Son of God, and v. To become more like Jesus (i.e. to develop into His full stature.) Let’s call the above the 5 by 5 agenda of God – Fivefold ministry to carry out and achieve five set goals. But what do we have today? i. Denomination. ii. ‘Numeration.’ iii. Disunity. iv. Monetization, and v. Re-crucifixion of Christ; by the same set of people who are expected to be more like Him. Let’s call this the 5 by 5 agenda of man – fivefold ministry toiling with fire. Today ministry has taken another shape. A digression from what God commanded to what man recommended. And permit me to say that the aftermath of a digression of this magnitude being witnessed in the body of Christ today is retrogression. This explains why churches are doing so much today with little to show for it. No doubt, frowardness leads to backwardness. I feel so sorry for my generation. What on earth should ministry look like today? This is what I intend to lay bare as I consider two types of ministry i.e. Type A and Type B Ministry. Type A Ministry (the ministry of grace): This is ministry according to divine design/pattern; the ministry borne and established by grace. Jesus brought into this world no any other gospel but the gospel of grace; and that was the basis of his ministry here on earth (John 1:16). Type B Ministry (man-made ministry): This is ministry according to human design (a digression from pattern.) This is of three categories: a. Ministry of Class: this is a type of ministry that places human feelings above divine promptings. It is built around logical reasoning as against spiritual sensitivity. A case where an individual or a group believes their ministry is superior to others. But what does that has to do with our becoming like Jesus and eventually making heaven? b. Ministry of Clash: this is a type of ministry that manifests in distorted followership. It is an aftermath of the ministry of class. A case where you hear something like I’m of Paul you are of Apollos (1 Corinthians 3:1-5) or I attend Jesus is Lord Ministry, but you attend Jesus is Coming Ministry. They major on what is not and lose focus of what is. c. Ministry of Cash: this is a type of ministry fashioned after making money. Say Balaam Ministry Int’l a.k.a. Judas Iscariot Church. It lays emphases on gold (money) more than God; or better still it is a kind of ministry that uses the name of God to get gold. My Submission: I submit that ministry today should be a work of grace where Paul sees himself as one that plants (not as superior) and Apollos as one that waters; but God gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6.) Or an instance where one is a sower and the other a reaper: both rejoicing – John 4:36-38. It’s all about fulfilling the great commission. No room for comparison, rivalry, competition, or superiority complex. Your ministry, what type is it? We must return to what God intended ministry to be like. That’s the only way we can make our generation ready for the coming of the Lord. Yes, He will come again. Come O Lord. Jesus is Lord!

BLOG UNDER CONSTRUCTION >>>

Enter: January 1, 2012 by the Grace of the Almighty God.

MATTHEW 11:12