les grands sont encore parmi nous
Aujourd’hui j’ai lu un blog qui m’a secouée, dans le bon sens. Je me suis dis que non, je ne suis pas rêveur, ce que je crois possible est effectivement possible; la noblesse d’esprit et la grandeur d’âme existent encore.
Perry Noble, un pasteur, ‘blogue’ sur sa visite à l’église de Ron Carpenter. Il dit ceci et je traduis :
“L’apôtre Ron a fait quelque chose qui m’a prit de court! (Gardez à l’esprit le fait que notre nouvelle église de Greenville se situera à peu près à deux kilomètres et demie de son église). Il a reconnu ma présence à son culte, a annoncé a son église que nous allions ouvrir une église satellite tout près de chez eux, qu’il était enthousiasmé par cela, et leur a demandé de célébrer avec moi. La salle s’est déchainée! J’aime cet homme… quelle mentalité du royaume! Honnêtement, ça m’a épaté. Il ne songeait nullement à la concurrence… Il ne pensait qu’au fait Read more
a flowery morning!
Wow! What a morning! We sang only four songs in over one hour of worship, two of the songs in ten minutes, and the rest of the time… what glory! God showed up.
And just as I was getting ready to preach, a lovely young woman who was visiting for the first time came forward and offered me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, talk about a surprise.
She was one of my divine encounters. I had met her when i took a friend back home and as we sat in the car in front of the building chatting, this young lady came out and said hello to my friend. She was going through some challenges and we offered to pray for her even though she was not a christian. We knew God wouldn’t mind, quite the contrary. So she sat in the back of the car and ministered to her. She was very open to the gospel and my friend was to see her regularly and continue ministering to her, which she did.
She expressed the desire to see me again and came to church and brought this beautiful bouquet. She very happily told me she felt much better and after the service took great interest in the move of the Spirit asking some very pertinent questions.
Anyway i was finally able to put my lovely bulgarian vase to use for the very first time. What a joy!
growing and blossoming
Last Sunday I was away from church. We had no visiting minister, Béatrice preached and Martine led worship. They did not miss me and I am delighted. I am extremely proud to see how far they have come in so little time. The gospel truly is life changing. When God touches a life, it undergoes radical transformation and begins to truly blossom.
Our heart is to raise leaders, men and women who will change their times. These two and the others know that it’s not always easy to work with me, but they know i have their backs. I am committed, i want to see them blossom, grow, become giants.
That truly is my passion, building lives, raising giants, developing potential and capacity building. My joy is to see them become all that Father God planned for them to be before the foundation of the world, strong, passionate lovers of God and faithful in His service. May we never be indispensable.
at your service
Every once in a while i speak to someone who wants to join the church and be a worker. I listen to what people say, every once in a while someone comes along who just wants to serve and is happy to do whatever we feel they ought to do. They have not come to do their ministry. That is music to my ears. They do not say i am the greatest woman of God this side of heaven, that they will be with me forever, they do not sing endless love, they just want to serve. There is something wrong when we need people to tell us how magnificent we are and how their lives are now inextricably tied to ours. Most of those who have said that to me are no longer with me. And i am not weeping.
Previously I would ask people what they expected from the church, now i tell them what the church expects from them; this is where we are going, if you want to be a part of it, this is what we expect from you. We value openess, flexibility, unoffendableness, commitment to spiritual growth, willingness to suffer, to love and forgive. Suffer, offense, that is often a surprise. But it is important we tell people that serving God is not cakes and coffee all the time. Commitment to God still raises hackles, even in church. The devil still finds it unpalatable and he will try to throw a spanner in the works. People will irritate you, annoy you, frustrate you, just keep going, and going with Read more
Il est impossible de flatter Jésus.
Charles Spurgeon
public squares and praise
I stood on the balcony of my hotel and looked out towards the square beneath with the passing cars and pedestrians making their way to work. A simple scene on an ordinary spring morning in a European city, yet something struck me differently. I looked and it occurred to me that God sees this all the time. I have taken a snapshot of a particular moment in time in a place I will soon leave, and lose sight of; yet God is aware of this all the time. I suddenly broke into song and into praise, deeply conscious of the vast superiority of God’s perception, vision and sight as compared to mine. I was humbled, as I recognised how partial my viewpoint is, how restricted my knowledge of things can be ; God in His omnipresence sees all, hears all, knows all. I am a short term observer of partial reality, but God….
AUTHOR
pastor bola olivia ogedengbe,
The Theophilus Company,
ABBA HOUSE, Paris,
see profile-
