Showing posts with label Youth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youth. Show all posts

Friday, 27 September 2013

The Church I See



I have responded to a call of God to minister to the people of God, to lead a generation of faith people. I have responded to a call to take back nations for Jesus, to build faith, inspire hope and spread the love of God to the nations.

We have looked strait into the eyes of failure, we have seen the beastly and notorious eyes of poverty. I have looked into the eyes of purposeless lives, my soul has longed to be the difference in turning sordid lifestyles into galvanized and harnessed lives, strengths, potentials. Myriads of people sit in the valley of hopelessness, and abject morass - spiritually, morally and in resources. Some people now think they are incapable of rising like a sphinx above their daily limitations. I have desired to be the wake up call to their lives. I have desired to be the siren that raises the sleeping giants. I have longed to see a nation awaken. I have desired to see young people caught up and raptured in a positive passion. I have desired to see ambition, passion and desire blazing hot on the eyes of young people of our land.

I have noted my weaknesses, my limitations. Like Paul writes, I have judged myself and accepted what I am and what I am not. Nevertheless, it would be sad in my life, if I lived all my life and did only the things that I can do. I believe I can do far above my abilities… I believe there is a grace to exceed natural confinements, life’s limitations, to go beyond the endowments of life. I have resigned my life to what Paul says, “Woe is me, if I preach not the gospel”. I set out now, not to be the greatest in anything, not to be the biggest in anything, not to be the most renowned whatever, I set out now, like a football player would to the pitch of play, full loaded enthusiasm, excitement and verve. I set out to the field of life, as a tourist to the hitherto unknown destination. I take my life with me, my family with me… I will answer questions when I am done. I will respond to gainsayers not in words but in action. I will create time for academic and theological discourses when I retire, when I have run the race, when I have finished the course, when I have fought the good fight, when I have lifted the crown. Then will we talk, then we have time! Then will we sit down together under the twilight rays of a setting sun of our lives to laugh at the bluffs and blunders of life and marvel at the victories along the way…

So long, let us extend the touch of heaven into the spiritually arid lands. Let us be the smile of heaven on earth. Let us be the soothing breeze of the love of God to the forgotten and dejected. Let us glow the light of heaven and lead many out of extinction, out of frivolous lives and let us help them redeem their time for the days are few and evil. Let us build monuments of faith. Let us build structures and systems to help the forgotten reach out for greatness.

Yeah who said there can’t be champions born in oblivion? Who said champions can’t emanate here, can’t rise from there! Whoever it is, whoever crosses our path, whoever listens to our ministry, let them be soothed with the love of heaven, let them hear the buzz of life, let them encounter heaven on earth, let them see the glimmer of light that so eluded their lives.

Let the rich hear and be thrilled with the drums of life; let them dance to the sound of victory, let the living espouse the opportunity of a much better life. Let the young see a place to grow at, let the old see a place to raise their families. Let the weak see a home of strength, the balm of Gilead, let the afflicted see the burden removing grace on the house. Let the whole see the place of preservation, place of family, place of joy. Let the afflicted see hope for tomorrow.

Faith City Church rises as a home, a hospital, a paradise of love, a hinterland of hope, and an oasis of faith. Faith for the weary revived, faith for the young buttressed, faith for the slow quickened, faith for the poor jogged, faith for life embraced!

I see faith taught in absolute clarity and simplicity. But more so I see it embraced. I see hope spread forth like sunrise beams stroking and caressing the face of the earth. I see young people growing and maturing in hope. I hear the language of the house firm up and change and affect the language of whole communities. Words of life, of hope; words beaming with joy and possibility! The language of opportunity swallowing up hopelessness, wrinkles of years of failure disappear in the smile of faith! I see streams of young people caught up in worship, swelling to rivers of hope, unstoppable oceans of love reversing and defining new cultures in the communities!

In this day church is the only parent some children would ever have. It is the only advanced school some will ever attend. It is the only friend for somebody; it is the only hope for the community. The church in my eyes is the only light coming from the other end of the tunnel that is not a train.Many of the ‘lights’ I have seen have called for someone to flee. While not perfect, it is the only way that has been pre-checked by a heavenly eye, it is the only road whose pot-holes are being mended daily, it is the only meal that has life giving nutrients, it is the only hope for this generation.

I refuse to measure our success with numbers, to be drawn to the numbers game as if we are rearing some kind of stock for sale. I refuse to be drawn to the financial figures either. I am satisfied to receive and to give, to sow and to reap. I am satisfied to see lives changed, communities converted, generations touched. I am satisfied to see young people burgeoning in the glory of the Lord. We will daily oblige the word of the Lord and we will do exactly as we are instructed of our heavenly instructor and commander in chief. 

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

The Under 20 Generation



Imagine being born and raised in a quarrelsome neighborhood. One where the people clearly and directly oppose God and stand up to leadership. They say men of God are fake and ultimately they reject Godly authority in their lives.

This must be the situation the young people of Israel found themselves in. Their elders wrangled with the Lord until the Lord had no option but to disinherit them. They were cast out of the blessing. It’s so cold outside the blessing; never go there, not even for a brief visit.

They went to wars, but they were routed and defeated – outside the blessing.
They created internal strife, and God sent a plague, in a moment in time, 14000 people were killed by the anger of God (Number 16)…

Now think of these under 20s, tagging along. Being fed the poison of propaganda. Imagine how much more their parents would be complaining and murmuring in their own homes, if the word says, after the plague, the people complained and said Moses had caused innocent people to die, how much more would they have spoken in the privacy of their homes (Numbers 16)…

God took a decision to immediately start a process of elimination, until they were all to be finished.

Now think about this Under 20 generation. As they grew up, all they knew was that God was unfaithful, God had failed his people, God had killed his people in the wilderness. Their parents would never openly admit that it was they who had failed God instead, never!

I believe the only profession and skill they learned besides complaining was being undertakers. Think of it, 3million people were to die in a space of 40 years. This means on average 206 people were to be buried everyday…

Who did the burying, the under 20 Generation!

Now you think you have had a difficult childhood or life! Look at these kids, they did nothing wrong but they were in wilderness, suffering. On the surface it would seem that these kids had nothing going for them…

Allow me to show you that although it looked like they had nothing good going their way, they infact had everything they needed; a prophetic word from the Lord and  3 Covenant promises from the Lord.

He said through Moses:

Say unto them, [As truly as] I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness…
But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. Numbers 14:28-31

The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye [are], and bless you, as he hath promised you! Deut 1:11

They had a word of promise from God and we know that God watches over his word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).
 

May I speak to the church now…

What is your background, what is your situation, what are the circumstances of your life? Do you sometimes feel like you are a home grown, unpaid undertaker yourself? Have you had to bury everyone that matters to you? God still has a destiny appointment for you and according to His word it is a good plan (Jer 29:11) .

You may have been born where there is absolutely no family, or no love, or no hope, or no whatever. On the surface it may look like there is nothing good that can come out of your life. Here is the great news God is here and His word is all you need. His word is a sure foundation (Heb 11:3). 

A few steps, which worked for the Under 20 Gen in Israel

  1. Take Heed
    1. Pay attention to the word of God
    2. Prepare to do the word at all times
    3. Disregard every other message from anywhere or anyone else

Remember the word says  Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1 and John 6:63

  1. Remember
This speaks about speaking to yourself and reminding yourself what the lord has done in your life but also what He has promised to do. … (See how Moses reminded them of the promise in Deut 31)

Malachai 3:16,17 & 1Cor 14:26 and Heb 10:25 Show why it’s important to attend church, so that you can be taught the word but also so that you can remind others and be reminded of the word.



  1. Internalize that you are great and you belong to greatness
Make the word a part of you!
Deut 4:7,8,9(a)
We are so great because we have a great God
We are so great because this great God is so near to us
We are so great because we have great statutes or life instructions. Our life has come with a manual…
Success is therefore guaranteed, failure is a choice.

Our greatness is not of our might and power but it is of The God we serve, therefore get to know His word and meditate upon it and do what it says.

  1. Remember that there is always help
Deut 4:29-31
If you get into the Promised Land and sin, and depart from God, bad things will befall you, but if you repent and come back, he will accept you and change your story.

-          Its not God who took you down there! It’s either yourself or the devil. But it is God who will take you out, and you aint coming out empty handed…

Therefore keep in mind that there is always recourse. 1John 1:9 and Heb 4:16

Your God is merciful

There is thus hope, there is support in the kingdom! 

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Thursday, 25 July 2013

People with a “Different Spirit”

When the nation of Israel would not obey God, when they would not do his will or proceed to take up the land promised of God, the Lord had to disinherit them. But in that process he immediately prophesied to Moses a new nation:

Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they
MSG v12… But I will make you into a nation bigger and stronger than they ever were!

Similarly when the 10 spies brought an evil report, God condemned the 10 and said they won’t see the Promised Land. But he gives a special exception to Caleb and Joshua, saying, “But my servant Caleb—this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I’ll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it. (Numbers 14:24, MSG)

We thus see two kinds of people who qualify eventually to enter the Promised Land, that is, the children who were below 20 at the time of the rebellion and two gentlemen – Caleb and Joshua, because they dared believe in the midst of all unbelief in the camp.

For the under 20s children, the Lord allowed them into the Promised Land because they said nothing! Isn’t it funny! The older people shouted, yelled, complained and created strife in their hearts. This became totally incompatible with God’s nature. But when the little children said nothing, the word of God could still work in their lives. The promises of God which are yes and amen in Christ, which were already activated by the prophetic could proceed and obtain result for the little children. But not so for the elderly because they actively frustrated the word of God. But we will look more at this on our next blog. Lets look at the other group that entered the Promised Land.

Only two attributes seem to have qualified Caleb and Joshua:
i.                    They had a different spirit
ii.                  They followed God fully or passionately (MSG)

A lot of times success and prosperity are not products of many great things, but a positive and strong spirit… Where your current IQ can't take you, where your certificates can't take you, where your education, connections, physical strength can’t take you, the positive and strong spirit will. In fact the scripture calls it “confidence”! Faith is confidence nothing more or less! If you are confident in the Lord, in the ability of the word of the Lord, then you are in the faith that is of God. It is not confidence in your own self, but in God! The 10 spies wanted to rely on their own abilities and quickly realized the limits thereof and this hurt God. But Caleb and Joshua realized they had to primarily lean on God’s ability and hence it was easy for them to say, “let us go up at once and possess the land for we are well able"!’

Isn’t it amazing that the bible never refers to Joshua and Caleb as extra ordinarily gifted soldiers? It simply states that they believed. Sometimes we have over exaggerated the importance of our own abilities. The ability of God will place you much higher than your own abilities ever will. Let us rely on him. David says in Psalm 34:2 “my soul shall make her boast in the Lord.”

The second element is a passionate pursuit of God. The MSG version said Caleb followed God “Passionately”, while the KJV says “Fully”. I am not sure how many people do get to fulfill the plan of God 100%. I know that our God is a God of just, he judges people’s hearts rather than physical actions.

He approves David for his ‘perfect’ heart though he had faults in the natural. This verse does not demand perfection, it demands an excellent, passionate and surrendered heart! Because we are all not perfect. God is not demanding perfection all he seeks is a perfect heart. He is demanding a total yield to his spirit and his leadership. He has given you his spirit. He is our guide and counselor.

I believe that God is still looking for a generation that would rather be silent than offend God. A generation that would rather be innocent or novices in disbelief and mature in faith! The camp of Israel became so sensitive of their slavery and suffering that even when an opportunity to live life free from bondage in a land flowing with milk and honey, their negative experiences clouded their judgment.
  
My simple encouragement to you today is to stay in faith. Stay in scriptural confession. Guard your heart and endeavor to keep a positive and faithful heart. At all times, seek after the heart and purpose of God! The Bible says in Psalm 8:2, “out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength”. There is power in keeping your heart pure and clean. Don’t allow fears, failures and negative experiences of life to contaminate your heart and ability to trust God.