ADIEU BRENNAN MANNING

A few days ago a stalwart of our faith passed on to the bosom of our Lord; a place where he was always most comfortable.

Brennan Manning was a great man who lived, ate and breathed the Grace of God. A fantastic writer who moved us with his words. A raggamuffin of a man who did not let the fact that he was flawed (like we all are) deter him from living in relationship with God and ministry. He did not try to conceal his faults, neither did he act like it was alright to have them, he recognised them as faults. However, he did not see it as cause to run away from God. He made us all realise that the Grace of God is bigger than our Sins. His love is absolute. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Towards the end of his Life, he suffered a great deal due to a debilitating disease that left him dependent on a caregiver, however through that circumstance he showed us that regardless of what we go through or where we are in life; All is Grace. Below are two quotes by Brennan that exemplify his writing and what he meant to us

“I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone. I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an awesome, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery.” 

“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” ― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

Goodbye, Brennan. Rest in the arms of our Divine Lover

THOUGHTS ON EASTER

Hello everyone!!! Happy Easter. Hope you had a splendid time. We had a public holiday from Good Friday till today so it was pretty awesome. Got to spend time with family and friends and eat really nice food, what more can I ask for.

The best part of it is that we get to reflect on the basis of our faith again; the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. this is a pivotal aspect of our faith. Too often, I think due to the grotesque nature of his death, we pay a lot of attention to the crucifixion than every other aspect of the atonement. This is dangerous, this overemphasis leads to almost idol worship of the cross. It is Jesus we serve and worship. Not the symbol of his death for our sins.

But the Bible paints a different picture. Paul the Apostle states it thus

^“12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.¹⁵ More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied”….  1 Corinthians 15:12-19

If Jesus had not risen, we have no assurance of our Justification, if he had not risen, we have no inroad into the eternal circle of relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And if he had not risen, it simply would have meant that sin was more powerful than Jesus and death had won. In short, “we are still in our sins”

But praise God that Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again. And he has ascended to the right hand of the Father and taken us right along with him.

I used to wonder, which is more important, the death, the resurrection or the birth of our Lord? I have come to the conclusion that they are all of equal importance. Each event plays a pivotal role in the being of Jesus. However, I strongly believe the resurrection is the event that requires our most rejoicing. It is the culmination of our Lords mission to planet earth. It represents the death of our old man that was condemned by Sin and our newness of life. A life where we can enjoy unbridled fellowship with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; free from guilt, condemnation and the constant need to perform at our very best. He loves us just as we are and the resurrection enables us to embrace that love. Therefore, let’s celebrate Easter everyday of our lives, knowing that God has raised Jesus from the dead and we are not in our sins.

May the Grace of our Lord be with you

SCANDALOUS GRACE

Sometime this week, the Council of State granted pardons to several Nigerians; some were pardoned post-humously, other people who were pardoned are alive and well. One of the people pardoned is the Former Governor of Bayelsa State who was convicted on corruption charges.

This has led to serious outcry from the populace; the most prevalent view being that a Government that says it is currently fighting corruption should not go around pardoning people who have been convicted of corruption.

While I don’t intend to delve too much into the propriety of the issue (whether or not I favour this particular pardon is something I’ll keep to myself. It is irrelevant. What is done is done and the Council of State was well within its rights to do so), I do intend to draw parallels with the nature of man to the extravagant nature of God’s grace.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is the following in Romans 5:8:

“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.”(Amp)

At first glance, this seems like a harmless sentence. But a closer investigation reveals a truth that is repulsive to our natural senses; God has forgiven the sins of every man, woman and child on planet earth. He didn’t just do this by sweeping it under the table or overlooking it. He did it by coming in the human flesh and taking the punishment for sins of the past, present and future upon himself and dying for it.

This means one simple thing; God is not punishing the sins of anybody. That is such good news to me. It frees me to be me and let God work in me to become the person he has made me to be. However, those who oppose this presentation of the Gospel oppose it on many grounds the two most prominent grounds are

1.      We are giving people a license to sin

This to me is ludicrous because nobody needs a license to sin in the first place. People sin because they want to. They don’t need anybody to tell them they can sin. At any rate, telling a person that God has forgiven all his past, present and future sins is not invariably telling them to just live anyhow. The motivation for living a Godly, Christ exalting life should not be the fear of punishment, it should be love. God is love and anything done without love is useless. God took out the fear aspect of Sin in order to insert his love into our hearts (Romans 5:5) now we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:18-19)

2.      We want people to get away with their wrongful actions

This really reflects most of the controversy trailing the recent pardon. Let’s be honest, we all have someone we think should go to hell. We all have someone that we think should not be forgiven due to the gravity of their actions. At least we can all agree that we don’t want Adolf Hitler in heaven. Yet, it seems to me that God is not concerned with all of that. He does not deal with us based on the enormity of our sin. He says though our sins be as red as scarlet, he would make us as white as snow. There is no sin too great for the blood of Jesus. There is no sin that he did not die for. No hurt that he did not redeem in order to give birth to the new creation. It is funny that most people are quick to pass judgement on others when it is not them or their friends and relatives that committed the crime, when it’s us, most of us will not hesitate to seek mercy. This is not to say that God does not appreciate the evil and destructiveness of sin. He is more aware of it than we can ever imagine; which is why he redeemed us in order to heal us

It is important to note that the Former Governor of Bayelsa State had already served his sentence. The pardon just gives him back his right to vote and be voted for and to serve in public office. In other words, it takes away all the disadvantages of being an ex-convict. The same can be said of us. The bible tells us that when Christ, all died (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). His death was our death and his resurrection our resurrection. Therefore when he took the fire of God’s judgement for our sin on our behalf, we were there with him being punished in him. He died because of our sins and rose because of our justification (Romans 4:25). Some will read this and immediately conclude that I'm saying all are saved and all will go to Heaven (so to speak). Well, I’m not. To quote Andre Rabe “romance anticipates a response”. Faith is our positive response to God’s act of love and it is faith that leads to eternal life.

God’s grace violates our sense of justice. Sometimes we can’t even accept it for ourselves. We want to receive some sort of torment for our acts in order to ease our conscience. In this season of lent, I think it is fitting for us to explore this topic of the atonement some more. May God help us to understand and bask in the indiscriminate, vulgar and extremely scandalous grace of God.

THE MESSAGE FOR THE UNCHURCHED

Have you ever been told by a Pastor who is trying to justify all the expensive lights and the excellence and professionalism of their Church workers that they are doing these things for the “unchurched”? They believe that the high level of professionalism and the fact that the place of worship looks similar, if not better, than the best night clubs and concerts is what brings in people who want to have nothing to do with Church.

First of all, let me just say that I agree totally that whatever we do as a body, we should do it well. We shouldn’t be seen as sloppy and mediocre. There is a Spirit of excellence that I believe should accompany a believer. When God created the world, he looked at his work and saw that it was good. He never did anything halfway good or a little corrupt (every element of corruption we see now is as a result of Adam’s fall). Therefore, I believe we should be diligent and efficient in all our fields of endeavor. I also believe that when we gather, people who have not been gifted in an area of ministry have no business in that ministry; especially in music, and I believe those that have the gift have a responsibility to get better at it. I also believe that mediocrity can be a big turn off to an unbeliever; where everything looks sloppy, the “unchurched” professional who is used to excellence might not be tempted to come back 

However, I don’t think attracting the unbeliever should be our motivation for excellence. Neither should it be excellence just for the sake of excellence (perfectionism) we are excellent because we do whatever we do as a means of worshipping our Lord. We are not peddlers or salesmen and we certainly are not a business organisation. We are a community saved by Grace and partaking of the Life in the Trinity through our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is that life that the unbeliever sees and wants to partake of. All the lights and stuff can bring in the “unchurched” but it cannot usher them into a relationship with Jesus, it cannot give them life. The unbelievers are not looking for a morally upright place that looks like a club, they’re looking for Life. They might not even know what they’re looking for. They might not be able to articulate the inner longing, but they know there is more to life than flashing lights and money (I know, because I have been an unbeliever before). That is what Jesus came to give us, the relationship with the Godhead that we were created for. This is the deepest and eternal purpose for our existence; to be embraced by God and to embrace him back. And we will not be satisfied until we are enlightened of this glorious truth of the Gospel; that God embraces us, accepts us and will never leave us.

   

This is why I joined the Church. I went to a wooden shack, where you had to take off your shoes and worship barefoot on a floor that wasn’t tiled and had no carpet. But I was accepted for who I was; no one expected me to change before they became friends with me and they gave me a sense of belonging. They loved me in spite of my imperfections and saw the good person in me that I did not even realize. That is the community that all humans long for. Even now, many years later after many of us don’t fellowship in that place any longer. There is a deeper bond and fellowship that defies distance between us. It was there that I began to see the real Jesus through the way I was treated and it was attractive, regardless of the fact that we were doing most things in a very mediocre and unscriptural way. This is what all people long for, and we are attracted and stay in such a place whether it is in an air conditioned room, in someone’s living room over dinner or in a wooden shack, with or without professional singers and ushers. Interestingly, most people that came and complained about the mode of worship or lack of professionalism were Christians (me included) who were comparing the Church to others. Most mega-churches are packed full of Christians cross carpeting from other Churches to a better looking place and unbelievers who just come to have a look at the place. 

 

When we lose sight of what we are and devalue and dilute our message, we find ourselves trying to be like the world in order to win the world over. The truth is that the world has won US over to them. In this scenario, the lights might draw them in but it can’t make them stay. In an attempt to stay “relevant” to the unbeliever, motivational speaking becomes the message of the Church. It becomes a place where you come to hear tips for success spruced with some Bible verses every Sunday and the only catch is you have to “give your life to Christ” for these tips to work. How laughable!! This is why there is almost no difference between believers and unbelievers nowadays. In fact, it seems like some unbelievers are more loving than believers. What do we expect? When we are being taught the world’s way of thinking and succeeding in the cutthroat economy, we end up like the world; ruthless and only concerned with being millionaires. Even our giving is in order to see it multiply a thousand times, so we only “sow” into “fertile soil”. We no longer give because we are generous; it is to satisfy a very self centered purpose.

Let me reiterate that I absolutely believe in doing whatever we are doing well. I have no beef with the lights and the great music and efficiency. But there is more to being a Church than just looking like a well run office. There is a Life we have and a loving fellowship we share- with God and with each other. That is what we offer to the unchurched and the backslidden and nothing should distract us from that.

 I pray the Lord opens your eyes to the reality and beauty of his Church and that his Grace be with you.

Back again and some words of encouragement

Okay, so I've been on a hiatus. And since I don't think I owe anybody explanations, I will not explain. Suffice it to say that I'm back and ready to roll. 

First of all, how has the New Year been? Hope we're all off to good start? Like a mentor of mine says "you can never recover from a good start". However, even if things seem unsure and very hazy for you right now, rest assured that God has still got your back. I recall Joseph telling his brothers that God turned all their evil deeds against him for the good of himself and many nations.

Think of Jesus, lied against, lashed severely and killed in the most horrible way. God turned that evil into his greatest triumph. He will do the same for you. Just don't throw in the towel yet. Trust him and he will never disappoint you. God has a way of making you forget your hard times when the good times come.

Bear in mind, God is not the one causing whatever bad things or disappointments in your life, he's the one turning it around for your good. He loves you and is not the maker of evil

May the grace of our Lord be with you

GOD IS NOT SANTA CLAUS

Hello everybody Christmas is upon us again!! How time flies, I remember writing my Christmas article last Christmas on having fun during Christmas. You can check it out here. I love Christmas, I love the festive mood, the reunion with friends and family and the general magic that comes along with the atmosphere. As a kid, part of that magic was Santa. All the movies and songs portrayed him as real and on his way. While most Nigerian kids didn't really believe in Santa (they were too many at different places at the same time, plus our parents didn't make a fuss about it like western parents did) we still kept the illusion going for the fun and magic of it.

However there is an aspect of Santa that has evolved from a twisted idea of God. Many believe God is vengeful and relates with people based on their behavior. This is the traditional view of any deity and this view was imposed upon us by the fall of Adam. This is the view that Jesus came to eradicate. He also came to give us a proper vision of God. It is a God we could never imagine existed. He is Love. Not that he chooses to Love or he has love, not even that he loves, but HE IS love. One of the attribute of Love is that he keeps no records of wrongs (1 Cor. 13)

Beloved, our God is not Santa. He does not have a naughty or nice list, giving the naughty nothing and giving the nice their wishes. He lets the Sun shine on both the good and the wicked, and he is kind to ungrateful and evil people (Matthew 5:43; Luke 6: 32-36). God is not a book keeper. The only book he keeps is the list of those who have chosen Life over Death; Jesus over Religion; The Finished Work over self effort. Any person who ends up in the lake of fire on the day of judgment ends up there because they have chosen to save themselves by their good deeds rather than accept that they have been saved by Grace ( Ephesians 2: 8-10)

The essence of Christmas is not about a God who gives good gifts to the good people but about a God who saw a perverse world heading for self destruction and instead of accepting that, he came and joined us in the person of Jesus. He took our destruction and evil on himself and conquered it in every form. In that way, he redeemed us from our own evil.

Even the original Saint Nicholas (from whom we get Santa Claus) was a man who went about giving gifts to destitute children. I don't think he was keeping a naughty or nice list, and i'm absolutely certain that all those children weren't nice kids. Let us keep the spirit and intent of Christmas going; the birth of Jesus, giving and being with family

I believe in Christmas and that kids should enjoy all the magic and fantasy that accompanies. I don't even think we should make a big deal about Santa. I mean saying "Santa is Satan" is very uncool and ridiculous  come on !! However, I believe we should be conscious of the idea of God we portray to our children and if Santa is going to conflict with that idea, we should make sure they get the distinction; God is real, Santa is fiction and God is not Santa Claus.

Have a Merry Christmas everybody

BEING HUMAN

“By this you know the Spirit of God; Every Spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God and this is the spirit of Anti-Christ….” 1 John 4:2-3

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist…”2 John 1:7

One afternoon, after getting bored with writing arguments and drafting Affidavits, I decided to delight myself with a round of my PC game: “Chinese mahjong”. Expectedly, one round turned into two and then three and then….. you know how it goes. After a while I got stuck in a level and I found myself going over it again and again without completing it. Somewhat frustrated, I suddenly thought to myself “why not ask the Holy Spirit to help you out with this game?” so I did. I said “Holy Spirit, help me finish. Jesus, join me in playing, so we can win.” Just as I had finished saying these words, I got a nudge in my spirit; I could sense Jesus telling me “I was already playing the game with you and as for exercising some sort of divine insight to win, what would be the fun of that?” Wow!!! Good news folks; Jesus loves being human.

There is something about us that makes us want to live superhuman lives; we wish we could fly; we fantasize about having x-ray vision, telepathy, pyrokinetics and so on. We therefore celebrate anyone who looks like they possess these qualities, even if it’s a work of fiction; hence our devotion to characters like Superman, Spiderman, Tony Starks, Edward Cullen and so on.

But we see Jesus and we see a regular guy. He did not possess any supernatural qualities in and of himself. As Jesus, God became totally and irrevocably like us in our fallen state (which is what is meant by God, THE Word becoming ‘Flesh’). Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus never performed any of his miraculous deeds as a result of some “special power” inherent in his DNA. He did all he did in fellowship with the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was born as a baby, and he grew up as a regular child; obedient to his parents and learning new things every day (Luke 2:51-52). He probably had to learn the family business of craftsmanship like everyone else, with many mistakes and missteps. He wasn’t pretending to be Human, he was and is Human. He spent the first thirty years of his life building things and doing nothing extra-ordinary. Now I'm sure he was a very good man and he was sinless, I'm sure people would have regarded his values as a little weird, though good natured but I seriously doubt that he gave life to a dead bird or he healed any of his brothers when they were sick.

Beloved, Jesus did not start being God when he was baptized in the river Jordan and the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. He was God right from when he was born; all through his formative years and the period wherein he was a carpenter. Jesus is the express image of the invisible God; he came to make our God known, to express him and to explain him. And what did this image do? He lived a normal human life for thirty straight years. It doesn't mean that God was imitating humans; rather he was showing us that humans are living out Divine life by being human. He also showed the type of total trust and fellowship with the Father that a normal Human was designed to have. We were not created to try and conjure up spiritual power or strengthen ourselves, we were made to draw from His strength and let God be God in our lives.

When we realize that God is not only with us in our human activities, but that we are participating in his life while engaging in human activities, it gives our lives a whole new meaning. Just knowing that God, in the person of Jesus is with me; expressing his life through me when I chat with friends, do my job and even watch a movie tends to magnify the pleasure from those things a million times more. It also makes me realize the importance of what I do and how I live my life. I realize that my humanity is not to be discarded, but to be embraced and enjoyed; because God enjoys it. Hence, we are told to do whatever we are doing in Christ.

There is nothing wrong with being human, we were made by God and he doesn’t make mistakes. If there was a mistake, Jesus would not have remained human in his resurrection. He could have shed his skin and become another entity. That would have meant that our salvation included a transformation into something else, like a being of light; that is a form of heresy called Gnosticism and as we have read in the quotations above, any denial of Jesus’ humanity is a plunge into heresy and anyone who teaches such things is an Anti-Christ.

Please note that I absolutely believe in the supernatural. I also believe the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and will do wondrous things through us. I just don't believe we should look down on our humanity and expect to be transformed into some other type of being, and I believe Jesus has a lot of fun with being human

So enjoy your life, relish the legitimate pleasures of humanity and may the Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you forever