THE LORD WHO SERVES US

But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave. For even I, the Son of Man, came here no to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many”… Matthew 20: 25-28 (NLT)

This is the last in a series I started a few weeks ago on the Lordship of Jesus. You can check out the first post here and the second one here. In light of the just concluded elections in America, I think we’ll find them instructive. My point of emphasis has been that Jesus is Lord. That statement is not just one of a deistic or dualistic God; i.e. Yes, Jesus is Lord in some spiritual way but he is not involved in the affairs of this world. No!! It is a statement that bears serious implications on all things. Whoever is president of your country, that country ultimately belongs to Jesus, he has a purpose for every nation and every person and he will see that purpose fulfilled without violating our wills. That is the beauty of Jesus.

So I just want to encourage you, whether or not you believe in the candidate that won; whether or not you believe in politics or politicians; whether or not you even care either way. Fix your eyes on Jesus; the owner of everything and recognize that he is Lord. We have a leader that cares about us deeply:

Jesus washing his disciples' feet

 All of scripture is about Him. But all of Him is about you. Who he is, is who you truly are. He told us that unlike the world where their Lords are despotic, in the Kingdom of God, the first shall be the last and he who wants to be greatest must be a servant. He demonstrates that to us by being the First born of all creation and through that medium, he serves us thoroughly (Ephesians 1: 20-22, Colossians 2:9-11). He is our Lord and he is no hypocrite. If he says that leaders must serve, then he is the greatest servant of all. He makes all of Him available to all of us. He perfects our imperfections, authors our faith, strengthens our faith and completes our faith. What a Lord, what a God. When I think on these things, I bow down and worship, giving reverent praise to the Lord, my servant.

Congratulations America for a peaceful and successful election process, you should cherish it. Many of you probably don’t know the value of a Peaceful election. I’ve seen otherwise and I think you should be grateful.

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ continually be showered upon you. Amen

"Ghetto" by Shank

If you know me personally, you'll know that I LOOOVE music; All kinds of music, rock music, Hip-Hop, Soul, Reggae, electronic, you name it. My only criteria is that they are well crafted, thoughtful and intelligently made. I don't even need it to be morose or solemn, it could be happy go lucky, but still be well crafted. Which is why I love this song. "Ghetto" by Shank. There is just something about the song that takes me back to days in the streets of Shogunle wondering if we would ever make it out of there. Yet the song is fast paced with a fast paced, great afrocentric beat by Sarz. I must confess that with this beat, Sarz reached new levels of Genius (especiay with the bridge, WHAT!!!!). Yet it is Shank's braggadocios verses and evocative crooning that he "comes from the ghetto"on this fast based beat that touches a part of your soul (especially if you are from the Ghetto). It is a match made in Heaven. The video to the song is below

And just in case you were wondering, I believe everyone who is truly gifted artistically is gifted by the Holy Spirit, they might not know it or even acknowledge him, but it is God that gives them both the songs and the gift. I think blindness to God, worldly influences and personalities that have been shaped by personal experiences only leads to improper interpretation of his influence on us sometimes. I absolutel DO NOT believe that the Devil created anything, that includes any genre of music. At any rate, I really love this song and I hope you do too

THE VICARIOUS HUMANITY OF JESUS

Below is a link to a great video by the good people at Grace Communion International. It is an interview with Dr. John Mckenna. I must say that GCI  has the most expansive material on the Theology of the Trinity that I know; Videos, Articles and other kinds of media. You can check them out at this link http://www.gci.org/.

The video below is a wonderful discussion on the representative nature of Jesus Christ for all humanity. The effect and implications of his being a man on the Cosmos. It is lovely. You can either download the video or audio or stream it

 Just click the link below and enjoy


The Vicarious Humanity of Christ

ROMANIA AND OTHER THINGS

Hey there!! If you have been following this blog you’d notice that there has been a silence for quite a while now. Well, it was not intentional. Certain things had to be done and it involved lots of preparation so I was temporarily unable to sit down and write.

One of the things that needed my attention was my trip to Romania. My lovely sister graduated from Medical School in Bucharest so we all went to celebrate with her. I spent two weeks with her over there. Incidentally, she has also planted a Church in Romania and another fellowship too. They decided that since it was a holiday period for the students, they would hold a one-day conference. It was tagged “Justified”. Well, it was a wonderful meeting in a beautiful hotel. I was invited to be the guest minister and the Lord really moved in the hearts of people. We also had the chance to answer peoples’ questions after the message, which is a really good thing. Afterwards there was music and partying and as is with students all around the world, the party didn’t stop until the deejay shut down. All in all it was nice. 

my lovely sister Rolly

I also got the opportunity to preach in another Church on a Sunday where I shared the Gospel from the perspective of the value of man; I so much wish we had recorded that meeting. In addition to this, I got to meet and make friends with people who are also growing in grace and it was nice to be around people of other cultures. For pictures of the conference please follow this link to their facebook page, Justified and please like their page

It’s so wonderful that our God would create us in such a way that in Jesus we are all one and yet we will never lose our uniqueness, our spark, that factor in our personality that makes us different from everybody else. Of course this is very much in keeping with the nature of God himself i.e. Trinity; our one God is three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Each one of these persons is not the other but each one is God. And within the Trinity is perfect love, perfect harmony, perfect joy and perfect unity. They are ONE, yet they do not lose themselves in one another. It is a mystery; a divine logic beyond the realms of logic. Yet, that is what we see in humanity too, in Christ, he has made humanity to mirror their life and their logic

Let me just say that I'm really proud of my sister; Not only is she a Medical Doctor, she has also set up the foundations for the Gospel of Grace to spread in her own world. That is commendable. I'm also proud of all those who have joined her in this work and most of all I'm happy to have made friends with them, beyond ministry you are my friends and I know we will have a swell time on this journey together.

Till next time, may the Grace of our Lord be with you

THE LORD WHO LOVES US

“Have you noticed that even though you call me ‘Lord’ and ‘King’; I have never really acted in that capacity with you? I’ve never taken control of your choices or forced you to do anything, even when what you were about to do was destructive or hurtful to yourself and others”…

-Jesus in “The Shack” by WM. Paul Young

I am continuing on my thoughts on the Lordship of Jesus from my last post. I love Paul Young, he expresses in one Novel volumes of theological thinking in a way that is understandable and that hits the main point of the Gospel home i.e. God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit loves you. And in the passage from his book that I quoted above, he drove home one simple fact; Love does not force its way.

Like I said in my last post, Jesus is Lord over everything and everyone. That is the Gospel we proclaim; the arrival of a new Emperor who has all authority and power in his hands. The good news about it is that this Emperor is on our side. He loves us deeply and dearly and wants us to partake of everything he’s got! Unlike the emperors and Kingdoms of this world who go about imposing their will on their subjects and forcing everyone in their path to either bow or be beheaded, this King decides to pick ragtag men from unlikely places (The Apostles, lowly Gentiles) and sends them into the ends of the Earth with one message; Jesus is Lord and he wants you to reign with him.

For approximately Two Thousand and Twelve years he has watched his brothers shun him, denounce him, kill his emissaries and followers and make a mess of the World he created. Yet he does not act in force, he does not destroy nations, he does not punish them, neither does he engage in a great act of wonder to make himself known to the World and to force his will to be done on Earth. He does not turn us into robots that obey his every word without questioning it.

Why is he like that? Because he is Love, and Love is patient and it is not self serving. He does not force his way because Love does not operate that way. So even though he is Lord of all things (and whether we like it or not, that is who he is), he will never ‘Lord it over us’. He will speak his mind and give instructions but if you choose to disobey, He will always respect your choice and the consequence of your actions. When you repent of your choice and turn to him for deliverance, he will deliver you instantly because he is bigger than your mistakes and he loves you. He will never bring that mistake to remembrance between the two of you because Love keeps no records of wrongs. Even if you disobey again and start the cycle all over again, he will keep doing the same thing; advising, respecting and delivering until you are ready to move on and get healed.

This is why I believe in Hell, I don’t believe it is the place where Jesus punishes those that reject his Lordship and banishes them from his presence; I believe it is a place where people exile themselves in a futile bid to run away from his presence and rebel against him (in case you’re not aware, it is physically impossible for a place to exist where God is not present, everything is in God; specifically Jesus). Whether or not there will be any such people is left to be seen and I will not speculate on that issue by giving a general statement for or against it. I’d rather stay on the side of Christ and say whatever choice you make will be respected, whatever torment you suffer as a result of that choice is still your choice. But God will not stop loving you, chasing you and drawing you unto himself. He has made the way open for all men to engage in a relationship with him but a relationship is always a two way street, even for the Lord.

IT IS HIM WE PROCLAIM

I have no ambitions. Seriously, I don’t. It’s one of the things my wife keeps talking to me about. I believe the Lord orchestrated my life to be this way. Growing up I never was one of those folks that wanted to have a large, complex life. I’ve always preferred to live simply and enjoy myself and my family. I never dreamt of being a billionaire business magnate with my hands in so many pies that all I have time for is the business. I just wanted to always have enough to give my family the best and keep my children grounded; respectful and loving towards others (eat your heart prosperity preachers)

Of course this way of thinking has shifted slightly as an adult. I don’t mind being a billionaire any longer, if it will afford me the chance of living my simple life and taking care of others. Plus, there are so many things I could do with those resources now in ministry and personally. But my point is that I have never had grand dreams, visions and goals for any of my business ventures. I just do them because I either have the skill to do it or I love doing it. Sometimes I try to create some great goal for my Law Practice; what do I want to do? How big do I want it to be? More often than not I draw a big blank.

Even in ministry, when I realized that I was called and gifted to preach the Gospel and plant Churches. I adopted the dreams and visions of most people ahead of me. I adopted their ideas of success in ministry and had these grand dreams of creating my own vast empire. I later realized that this was not what I wanted; it was just my attempt at trying to fit in with the crowd and not be myself in the midst of all the bandwagon riding. After reaching that point in my life where I abandoned all ambitions, goals, and fantasies of building my own empire, the Lord began to show me HIS purpose, HIS goal and HIS ambition. It is to build a temple where he can dwell in through Christ, to raise us up to be the Bride fitting for Christ and to make us a perfectly functioning body of Christ(an extension of his physical body everywhere) and to be his Sons in Holy Spirit and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Subsequently, he began to show me that every minister should have no aspirations of his own, because we were not made ministers by ourselves. He chose us and sent us to play our part in the fulfillment of his grand purpose. I came to realize that it was not my job to build things or make it grow, but to plant and water the seeds that I have been given by God (1 Cor. 3:5-9). My part is to proclaim to the world that a new emperor has emerged; Jesus our Lord and God. He is the supreme super power and the one for whom, through whom and in whom everything exists and as many as accept that and make use of his Lordship in their lives are given the right to be Sons of God. To reject Jesus is to reject truth and ultimate reality. It is to confine oneself to Hell.

This is why all Kingdoms eventually fall, all empires eventually fail and all superpowers eventually crumble, but Jesus lives forever and he reigns forever. Because they are all lies and only Jesus is true

I am the way, the truth and the Life… (John 14:6)

Of course when I say ministers should have no aspirations I am in no way saying they can't imagine or want their ministry flourishing. If God calls you to be a minister in any capacity, or he gives you a dream or business idea. It can be as far reaching as possible within the zone of the Grace he has given you. Our God is a BIG God. My point is whatever dreams one has , it should be in line with God's grand purpose and the Lordship of Jesus

We will be exploring this fact in the next few posts on this blog. What are the implications of Jesus' Lordship and how does he exercise it? It's going to be fun!!! 

Peace be with you

WHEN WORDS STING

There are times in every relationship where words get spoken by the other party that sting or stick to the memory of the person being spoken to. Whether or not such words were meant to inflict the sting is immaterial, the fact is the deed has been done. The words have been spoken (sometimes foolishly).

I find such times to be very troubling; especially when it is my wife that has spoken such words. Sometimes men can just be oversensitive, we take certain things too far and regard every suggestion by our women as a bruise on our ego (Although i must admit women DO take words very seriously for the most part) anyway, people generally do not like being spoken to in a bad way. Words are very powerful and they have a way of affecting us very strongly, sometimes even more than physical assault. As a result, we find ourselves lashing out at the person; one way or another. Even when we say we won’t lash out and we repress it. The best solution is to talk to the person about it and let the cards fall where they may. The problem is that is easier said than done

In my case, I find it hard to say I’ve been hurt by words. I’m not a talkative person (which is why I know that it is only by the Grace of God that I preach) and I find myself repressing a lot of feelings. But repression will not stop us from ruminating on the words; turning them over; thinking of all the witty replies to the statement; all the flaws to the statement; all the reasons why what she said proves that she does not have my back…. This kind of thing can go on in my mind for the whole day!!! If unchecked, this kind of thinking can take root and become a very deep seated bitterness and resentment towards the person. You find yourself subconsciously seeking justice and unknowingly punishing the person for saying something they didn’t mean to be understood that way.

 If you are like me in this department, I have come to understand one simple fact- THE PERSON YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT IS COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS OF THE FACT THAT YOU’RE UPSET. They probably would have never in their wildest dreams imagined that those words would have had that effect on you. They most likely did not mean it that way. The other person is either lying next to you enjoying a good night sleep, or at work doing their own thing while you’re there philosophizing on a forgotten statement for hours. In addition, even if the words were made to hurt, the purpose has been accomplished by your allowing it to affect you that much. You have given the person the satisfaction of hurting you

We should also recognize that we are all broken in some way; even when we realize our identity and completeness in Christ, we have a lot of mind renewal to undergo. So we have two or three people who have issues of their own trying to live life together, surely stupid things will be said

The reason we hurt so much is because we have come to depend on this person for our happiness, so we don’t even love them because we love them anymore- we love them because we want them to love us back. However, to become dependent on a loved one makes it impossible for us to truly love that person. When we live our lives needing their approval, their respect and their love, we make it impossible to be honest with them and to be free to just love them.

The truth is, man was designed to be loved, approved and affirmed; we just weren’t designed to seek it from one another. God made us to live in His Love, His approval and His affirmation. Just like Jesus did. When he stepped out of the waters of baptism, he received the Holy Spirit and the words of his Father calling him “beloved” and the one in whom he was “well pleased”. On the strength of that statement, he went and conquered Satan. Beloved, God is saying the same to you too right now; He loves you, approves of you and sees you as pleasing. On the strength of that, we go out and love others. Like John said, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). That way, we can be honest with people around us and actually tell them when we were hurt and let the cards lie where they may. We will also be able to look beyond ourselves and see things from the other person’s point of view; most times the other party has a point. Then the healing can really begin

Now I am not undermining the pain of hurtful words, neither am i in anyway condoning abusive words in a relationship of any kind (if you're a victim of abuse please realize your freedom in God from the shackles of that abuser). This post is dealing mostly with just everyday stings of words and arguments that occur between two people who genuinely love each other and are working at having a healthy relationship 

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.