More Michael Jr
That they may be one
One of our enduring values in Abba House is unity. We are in good company, in the high priestly prayer of Jesus He repeatedly prays ‘that they may be one’, and then He goes on to say that our oneness has an impact on the way people perceive Him, on whether or not people believe that He came from the Father. This is enough to stop us dead in our tracks and think about the ravages the disunity in the church is causing to the gospel of Christ. The apostle Paul echoes the same sentiment in his letter to that awesome church of Philippi, the first European church when he expresses his desire that they be of one heart, one mind and one purpose. If this matters so much to God perhaps it should matter a bit more to us.
Unity of course is not uniformity; it is not perfect agreement on all points of doctrine or all points relating to church life, management, et al. Rather, it is :
- unity around the Person of Christ, the unity of faith;
- sharing a common purpose, that of making Christ famous
- working for the good of the body and not for a personal agenda,
- having a cooperative rather than a contrarian spirit;
- flowing with the vision rather than creating personal estuaries
- the commitment to love, to serve and to put others first, making sacrifices to accommodate others, loving as Jesus loved.
You and I could do with a personal gauge of what impact our thoughts, words and actions are having on the church, dividing or uniting? Are we of those who show up and who complain about everything, criticize everyone; who will not pray, will not fast, will not share the gospel; who dislike the music, dislike the greeters, dislike the greeted; who are quick to take offence and slow to forgive; who split hairs about the shape of the offering plate, wage war over sermon and seating; and are consequently a stumbling block to people coming to faith in Christ?
Or are we part of the answer to the prayer of Jesus – THAT THEY MAY BE ONE?
The faith gene.
‘The man believed what Jesus told him and left’; once in a while i read a Scripture and think how much i would like it to be in my epitaph. This is one of those. A desperate father comes to implore Jesus to come home with him and heal his dying son. He has ostensibly done a day’s journey from Capernaum to Cana for that purpose. Jesus, rather than go with him simply says to him ‘Go, your son will live’. And the man believes Jesus and goes back home, and it was so. John 4.50. Astounding!; not that the child was healed, that i do not marvel at, rather that this distraught father was able to take Jesus’s words at face value, believe his son was healed; and proceeded to return home. Am a capable of such faith? It has been said that we live in an age of unbelief but is that really so? Has man’s essence fundamentally changed?
I think not. When i was a young, new, inexperienced and somewhat incompetent driver, i would marvel at how much blind faith pedestrians had in me. Indeed i became an extremely careful pedestrian after i started driving; i realised i had placed excessive trust in perfect strangers behind a wheel who could be drunk, incompetent, or daredevils; and many often are. People are wired for faith. They believe, despite the thousands of accidents a year, that the government only puts competent people on the road, that drivers maintain their driving skills, that they are generally sane, and so cross the road expecting to make it to the other side unhurt.
I am wired for faith. Read more
Christian leaders and the Sisyphus complex – let’s make it real
Ah the man Moses, I spoke of Moses this Sunday. Moses, by his own admission, granted written under divine inspiration, was the meekest man on the face of the earth. I totally love Moses, I see him as a model pastor, a model of patience and forbearance. Yet, on at least one occasion, his patience snapped, he totally lost it. After his flock had again ungratefully groaned, grumbled and griped about their circumstances while painting a rosy picture of their previously miserable existence in slavery, Moses had had it. He bitterly complained to God about the unfair treatment God had meted out to him by asking him to take care of these people, after all he said ‘Did I conceive all these people!. Did I give birth to them?’ (God’s Word translation : ‘Am I their mother?’) Why must I be saddled with them? That is making it real.
Pastors and leaders pour their lives out for people, listen to their stuff, pray for them, teach them the word, carry them through hard times; and often have to bear the brunt of their discontent. Many, like Sisyphus interminably rolling his boulder up the hill, consider it their lot to grin and bear the same foolishness over and over; see the same people stubbornly repeating the same stupid things, and yet never a word of rebuke, it’s smiles galore. Now that is either extreme holiness, or extreme foolishness and hypocrisy.
Pastors, let’s keep it real. We all know that people are often lovely, generally delightful, mostly beautiful, but also sometimes difficult, annoying and exasperating. Put it down to the fallen human condition if you will, but let’s not pretend otherwise. Too many pastors become discouraged or leave the ministry because they cannot cope with the pressure from dealing with so many impossible people while feeling obliged to pretend it’s ok. If people are being a pain, they need to be told. Punching bag, in principle, is not in your job description.
Oh yes, truth be told: there are those times when, like Moses, you think, give me a break, ‘I am not your mama!’ I Read more
Book review: I do it again; Love as a way of life; For couples only (1 giveaway copy of each)
Publisher info :
I DO IT AGAIN
With their professional success and adorable twin daughters, Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs looked like the perfect couple. But their polished facade concealed a widening chasm between two people unable to connect on an intimate, soul-deep level.
After years of frustration, Cheryl’s desire for emotional fulfillment led to an affair and, finally, divorce. Yet, incredibly, seven years later, Jeff and Cheryl once again stood at the altar, promising to “love, honor, and cherish” one another. A new and vibrant love had risen out of the ashes of this family’s pain.
I Do Again details the fascinating real-life story of a couple whose relationship seemed shattered beyond all hope until a spiritual awakening led them to reconsider their definitions of “happily ever after.” A riveting account of the power of prayer and redemption, this remarkable book offers renewed hope for even the most troubled marriages—and reveals why the rewards of restoration are well worth the wait.
Author Bio:
Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs are the founders of Hope Matters Marriage Ministries, and for the past several years they have shared their incredible story of a marriage restored with audiences across the nation. Jeff is an account manager with OshKosh B’Gosh, and Cheryl has served as director of the Frisco, Texas, office of the Center for Christian Counseling. They live in Dallas, Texas with their two college-age daughters.
To purchase :: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400074452
the log and the speck – my foibles, your failings
Reading the gospels is a delightful exercise, well, until you begin to near the end; the end is where they crucified Jesus and there it is decidedly less pleasant as you watch Jesus go through the agony of His redemptive sacrifice, but, He comes out of the grave, and then it’s okay again. But before you get to the end you have occasion to hear Jesus say some amazing things, pretty radical really in the way He addressed people and broke down real life situations. Take for instance the case of the log and the speck.
Now that will be a great title for a book, the log and the speck. Jesus said in Luke 6:41-42 ‘why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and don’t notice the log in your own eye?’, first you take the log out of your own eye then you will see clearly and be able to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Heeding this one injunction will save us massive heartache, divisions and every form of strife in our lives. This is most interesting. Jesus recognises that the other person is not quite there, they have a speck in their eyes, and on that we heartily agree; after all we are most apt to see every form of speck in the eye of our neighbour, and even commit the shape to memory.
The challenging thing here is that the Lord holds out the possibility that even though they are not quite there, we may indeed be worse characters than the people we purport to criticise. Not only that, He proposes a diet of self assessment and self correction before looking to set the other person straight. Tough words indeed, tough words because we are so apt to denigrate, find fault with and complain about others secure in the knowledge of our own great virtue. As a pastor i have found in my fellow humans an astounding proclivity to do precision diagnosis of the microscopic failings of others while steadfastly ignoring our own gargantuan shortcomings. Read more
AUTHOR
pastor bola olivia ogedengbe,
The Theophilus Company,
ABBA HOUSE, Paris,
see profile-
