THE CHURCH IN A CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY (6)

 TAKING CASE AGAINST CHRISTIAN BRETHREN 


Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm. Proverbs 3.30.


Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4. 11-12


This is a very dangerous period in the history of man and humanity. Satan is doing everything to denigrate the faith of Christ and destroy the unity of Christian brethren. The sin of fornication, adultery seems to have been mastered and conquered by majority of heaven minded  Christian. But unfortunately, devil being a deceiver and father of all lies has designed a subtle way that Christians' love and unity among each other is done with suspicion and relative understanding and love. 


Devil's technique is to create irreverent envy and distaste among Christians. When this happen, a brother believes every evil report from others against his own brother even when such report is coming from the devil. He believes hook, line and sinker everything he heard about another without a recourse to careful investigation. Remember, it all begins with irreverent envy. 


Satan's focus at this point is to create disunity such that Christians lack confidence and moral courage to congregate and pray together in one undivided voice. 


The devil cunningly succeeded in making Christians fight each others with the sword that is originally meant to be used against devil and his agents. Oswald Smith says: "God gave us a sickle, but not to use on our brethren". 


A distraction at this time gives devil a foothold. And at this point, he is able to deal with individual Christians because he knew that they only managed to congregate physically but their hearts are far from each others and by implications, Christ isn't in their midst. 


Brethren is at lost at this time, because we would lack the courage to share our burdens with one another. And we wandered in the wilderness without experiencing Canaan's rest. 


The counsel by Apostle Paul is sublime and profound: "Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another". Romans 12:9-10. 


And again: Titus 2:3-4: "In the same way instruct the older women to behave as women should who live a holy life. They must not be slanderers or slaves to wine. They must teach what is good,  in order to train the younger women to love their husbands and children"


Love is what we must teach and learn from each others. We must constantly teach others to love one another in spite of our perceived differences and natural/spiritual dispositions. 


We must be disciplined and spiritually alert that the devil may not find way in our midst. 


Rise up, O men of God!

The kingdom tarries long.

Bring in the day of brotherhood

And end the night of wrong.


Rise up, O men of God!

The church for you doth wait,

Her strength unequal to her task;

Rise up and make her great!


Peter Abdul-Razaq, OLAYINKA 

Living Grace Christian Missions, Ilara.

WhatsApp (+229)94139130

Mobile no. +2348066540987, +2347084504532

peterrazaq@yahoo.com

Twitter & Instagram: @peterrazaq

Linkedin: Revd. Peter OLAYINKA


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A DOSE OF COUNSEL FOR ORO AND EGUNGUN FOLLOWERS

Image
I woke up this morning reading a lot of social media posts about the selected dates and days for the ORO festival in the part of the country where I live. ORO is a secluded cultic 'religious' activity. Traditionally, it involves mature males and initiated participants. Women are forever banned from witnessing it, except for hearing it from inside (ETI L'OBIRIN FI NGBO OHUN ORO). Nobody reveals the activities in public. You keep what you see and know to yourself. Nobody exchanges pleasantries about what happened the day before in public. During this time, men do all they can, including appearing like the first Adam in the garden. The absence of women grants men the freedom to engage in reckless behavior. A few days ago, I was shown a TikTok live coverage of an ORO festival in a certain part of the country. Oh! What a sacrilege. An abomination, you would say. It is anti-tradition and a taboo. But that's the world we live in. Nothing seems to be hidden anymore. Smartwatche...
Read more

RE: IS THE STORY OF ALHAJI WASIU AYINDE BARRISTER'S CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY REALLY TRUE?

Image
  "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." - Romans 2:29 Since my previous write-up on the above subject, I have received several mixed feedbacks, especially from Christians. Some were ecstatic, praising God for doing such a wondrous thing. However, others opined that such an acclaimed conversion is nothing but a business tactic. They argued that his affiliation with the Celestial Church indicates that he is merely religious and pretentious about his faith in Christ. This group believes that the Celestial Church is not a place to find a true Christian. (Please, wait before you start casting aspersions on anyone.) Meanwhile, as fate would have it, I have been drawn to several of Wasiu Ayinde's songs on TikTok. I am still wondering why I consistently stumble upon his songs even though I do not follow his handle. I can only hope I will not be tempted to start...
Read more

TAKE YOUR MOUNTAINS. NEVER GIVE EXCUSES.

Image
 The children of Israel came into the Land of Promise as a conglomerate of twelve tribes. They needed unity to reach that point. But once they arrived in Canaan, each tribe had to take possession of its own inheritance. What you take is what you get. At this stage, collective effort would not suffice—each tribe needed to claim and secure its portion for future generations. God had already given clear instructions regarding what must be possessed: “For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off... I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.” — Exodus 23:23, 27 The command was simple and decisive: to cut them off—to destroy all the people. Only on this basis could Israel take full possession of the land and be free from intimidation. The b...
Read more