THE PERILS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PRAYERS

 THE PERILS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PRAYERS

Prayer is worship and one of the ways we communicate with God. Prayer is a very important element in worship. At a time Jesus disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. What prompted this? They had observed the disciples of John praying and they had also seen the Pharisees praying in the temple. Probably they had seen Jesus praying too. It was as if praying was associated to the religious leaders and prophets. The disciples did not imitate Jesus or John disciples but approached Jesus to teach them how to pray. Prayer is a spiritual exercise and it is dynamic. There is no one way to it. It takes the Spirit of God to pray effectively and get results. Prayer is not only limited to Christianity religion. They pray in Hindu, Islam, and other religions. Jesus did not give them a recitation or a set of words to cram. Instead Jesus gave them a model of prayer. This model prayer is a balance prayer pointing to God alone. It is not manipulative and there is no form of desperation or coercion there. It's simply a worship, honouring God and clamouring for his will, protection and provision. The pattern of Jesus's prayers shows that praise takes a high priority, there is no unnecessary repetitions but action words. A critical examination of Jesus's prayers reveal that his prayers were usually specific with the place of honor to God who have the sovereignty to do and undo.

      Prayers in twenty first century show lot of deviations from the biblical way of praying. There are a lot of prayers that we pray which are not necessary especially in the African countries. It is as if we are disturbing God with our prayers. There are things God will not do for you, you have to do it for yourself. There are amenities and facilities government should provide but here you are disturbing God to provide it instead of you to clamour for a better and working government. Understanding the will of God and what he require from us will save us from unnecessary prayers. Prayer is simply knowing the will of God and praying his will of God. The will of God is the mind of God. How can you know the mind of God without acquainting yourself with the scriptures. Any prayer that is not intimated or guided by the scriptures is simply psychological prayer. Psychological prayers are prayers that arise as a result of understanding the plight, nature, situation and environment of the people. Psychological prayers have filled the churches and gradually the church is turning from a place of worship to a merchandise. Prayers like if you want to buy a car before the year ends....is intimated from you knowing that there are people that want to drive cars but are limited by the economy of the country. Instead of you teaching them on biblical principles of success and bringing christian professionals to come and share innovation and ideas with them, you result into making prayers out of their situations. Prayers like shout like someone bitten by snake or shout like a wounded lion or someone in pains are unnecessary. Does it mean our God is deaf? You are in a place and you have quickly study that there are alot of young people there, you know deep inside of you that some may have issues maritally...then you see it as an opportunity to cajole them with psychological prayers...then you hear prayer point like there is someone here God is telling me that there are some people here you should have married but some power are at work when inside of you God have not said anything but just a way to arrest their attention. Instead of teaching them principles of choosing a godly life partner or invite married christians to lecture them on necessity of Christian homes.

       Psychological prayers come with a lot of dangers, the members will see their pastor like a herbalist who can cast away their problems.

      Psychological prayers shift attention from God to men. People begin to see their pastor like almighty who have power and begin to attach more honour to his name and called him all kind of names. 

          Psychological prayers is a way of extorting money from people in such a way that they will have no choice than to drop it. There are churches that will say come and drop offering of grace or come and drop offering of I will witness the celebration next year. Everyone will desire to witness the celebration next year invariably all will be out to give the offering. 

        Psychological prayers makes the pastor to be busy for nothing. They will be busy doing one prayer program or the other and all these prayers programs will end in giving out money.  

            Psychological prayers usually turn pastor to story tellers. You will begin to hear stories like when" I was in Abuja last week , 5 people were greatly blessed, God told me that they have spirit of delay working against them. One of them is now in Germany...I want you to pray that Spirit of Delay hindering me from moving forward..... " When people hear stories with results they will pray. 

           Psychological prayers produce lazy Christians. There used to be a woman who will always shut her shop to attend one prayer or the other at prayer mountain or prayer centers. At the end of the month she will be complaining of there is no money when she is not at a place where God will bless the work of her hands.

Psychological prayers usually produce people that are comfortable in their sins. No messages on salvation and consecration. Attention is on prayers on how to make it in life. 

Psychological prayers makes prayer to be a ritual which they can always pay for to get. 

Psychological prayer will make people to see an enemy behind everything that happen to them. A woman lost everything she had to inferno. She went to mountain and instead of praying for restoration all she was praying is that God who is that person behind the mysterious fire that burn my house. Why that thinking? She has been program to believe that anything that happen to her is from household enemies

Psychological prayers makes prayer mechanical. How? Anytime there is problem the next thing is to pray for 3 hours against enemies of your household. You begin to see prayer as the solution to everything even when you need to use your brain, you will still pray.

Psychological prayers lead to syncretism.In the bid of making it real, knowing fully well that people believe what they see, you will see them saying go to the room naked and pray into water, use the water to bath... Some will even say pray into sand , use that sand to bath...all these are elements of traditional worship that has been forcefully infuse to christainity.

Psychological prayers produce shallow christians. I once met a member of one of these churches that are specialist in Psychological prayers, he does not have a time of personal devotion to study the word of God. All the verses in his head are verses related to warfare prayers.

Psychological prayers ritualized the psalms. The psalms have been bastardized and has become a tool to pray dangerous and unnecessary prayers. Psalms are good for worship but should not become a tool of praying against witchcraft

Psychological prayers lead to eisegesis. The evangelist will make the scripture says his thoughts. How? One Evangelist while ministering said it was because Uriah was poor that was why David slept with his wife. He said if he really had money he could have covered the bathroom in such a way that it will be difficult for someone to peep through. He said pray against spirit of poverty. One may even say in the year King uzziah died, Isaiah saw the LORD, Pray that whoever needs to die for my glory to manifest die..... 

Psychological prayers are manipulative and full of schemes in such a way that you will have a kind of belief that your prayers have been answered.

So many churches and prayer mountains in Nigeria will shut down if there is a divine turn around in the economy situation of Nigeria. Why? Some of the prayers we pray are unnecessary and are as a result of what our government has failed to do. God hear all prayers but does not listen or respond to all prayers. If we have a repentant heart and pray according to the Spirit of God there would be a great change in the church and our country. psychological prayers in the church is gradually becoming a norm and pastors who are not subscribing to it are seen as ignorants The standard of God has not change, people may change but God will not lower his standards for anyone. If there will be a revival or reformation in the church, people of God need to repent from their ways and call upon God with a humble and contrite heart. Prayers rendered in Gods way accomplish great results.

Abolanle Oladipupo

11th November 2021

IF HE DID NOT SPARE JESUS...

 IF HE DID NOT SPARE JESUS.....

         Life is in phases and the phases have its own peculiar challenges. There is no problem free life. As our faces differs so is our challenges. Some people are of the school of thoughts that religion is a way to escape out of life problems but they are wrong. If you are thinking religion will give you a relief from life troubles you will be shocked when it fail you the moment you need it most. Many a times, we blame people for committing suicide but have we ever put ourselves in their shoes and see if we can do better. Suicide to them is a way to escape a temporal situations that they could have overcome if they had managed it well. 

           Religion is not the answer to human problems. Some are atheists today because at a time in their journey of life, religion failed them and they see no reason why they should believe in God. Christianity is a religion, it can also fail you but Jesus cannot fail you. Religion is good but do you know that religion cannot make you right with God. If religion can make us right, there is no need for God taken human flesh to deliver us and showed us a better way to live and please him. 

        Religion says if you believe in God you will be spared from the troubles of life.Religion says if you fast, pray, give alms, tithe God's blessings will be on you. Religion says you have to do something before God can favour or blesses you.  In reality today, we have so many religious people in churches who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. These are people that will say I will stop serving God because I lost my job. I will stop going to church because he could not stop the devil from killing my father and it goes on like that. These are religious Christians without encounter with God with his spirit dwelling in them fully. If they had known Jesus and walked with him, they could not have lost their faith in the midst of trials. Jesus was not spared from sickness, failure, persecution, poverty, lies and if Jesus was not spared from this then we should expect more. In the World we shall see tribulations but our joy is that Jesus have overcome the world. Dear brother still insist on not compromising your faith when you are faced with persecution. Hear this, that a Christian die in a air crash, due of terminal diseases, or in a fatal accident does not mean that they are terrible sinners. Even Jesus was not spared from a gruesome death. At a time he cried "God why have you forsaken me?" There are times you will not feel God's presence but still praise him. The just shall live by faith and not by sight. Whatever you are passing through now that seems hard in your sight is something that you can overcome. It is your size, God will not allow you to be in a situation that will end your life without providing a way of escape. He have said it in his word

 1st Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

            God is not wicked, he understands everything. Stop asking him " God! Why me?" Who should it be if not you. God is not your classmate that you will be asking questions. The best thing to do is to still thank him and see his hand working in your situation. Jesus felt the pains on the cross, hours before the crucifixion, he saw what he was about to go through, he prayed to the extent that his sweat was as thick as blood. At times is not because you do not pray that is making bad things to happen. No, you can pray and still bad things will still happen. Have seen people praying fervently before embarking on a trip and they still died on their way. We are not praying to avert evil, we are not praying to get things from God. That is simply transactional Christianity. You simply pray to worship God and reverence him. God is still God. You are not blessed because of your prayers. Jesus prayed too yet he was not spared from that gruesome death. At a time he felt like saying no to that gruesome death but eventually he said " let your will be done". The question should be why will God not spare me from that trouble or pain. God will not spare you because there is a glory ahead. Without cross there is no crown. No pain, no gain. If you are ready for glory, you must be ready to pass through pains.  Remember  this :

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Jesus was not spared because God's intention is to save the whole world through him. Salvation of Christ is a total package that include all good things. Whatever unpleasant situation that befall you remember that God have something bigger ahead of you which is beyond your comprehension. At times God will not take you out of that troubles but make you pass through it into glory. 

Abolanle Oladipupo

11th November,2021

A PANACEA TO THE PROBLEM OF PASTORS WITHOUT PLACE OF SERVICE IN THE NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION

  A  PANACEA TO THE PROBLEM OF PASTORS WITHOUT PLACE OF SERVICE IN THE NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION .

             God has been in the business of calling people for ages and he will keep calling people till the end of the world. It is not God's desire for his people who he have called and have submitted themselves for training to be not engaged after completion of their training. Our Baptist polity does not permit posting of pastors unlike other denominations who ensure that all their trained pastors are engaged after their training. It was not so in the beginning,in the 60,s 70,s 80,s and Early 90,s. Churches are waiting for the Baptist pastors to pastor but the problem crept in around late 90,s gradually till it become a problem. The theological Schools produce less than 5,000 graduates in a year and less than 10 percent get a placement after graduation. This call for serious thinking and there should be an urgent step taken to arrest this menace. The convention need to have a round table discussion and find a lasting solution to this before we start training pastors for other churches and denominations. This paperwork critically examine practical ways graduates of our theological institution can be engaged after graduation.

            GET A WORKING CHURCH PLANTING PLAN 

           God is working greatly among the Baptist denominations, There have been great development in our worship, discipleship, evangelism and membership. The Church is growing and she is spreading her tentacles beyond the nation to Africa and other continents. The growth and development of Baptist churches from 1914 to 2021 is commendable but the denomination did not prepare to maximize and contain this growth. How? As the Church membership is increasing and finances is increasing,we have more theological institution,more Baptist owned schools,hospitals,  and other investments yielding gain but little has been done in the area of missions and Church planting.  In 2020 a pentecostal church established in 1984 decided to plant 10,000 churches in that Year and it was a success. 10,000 pastors were engaged to pastor those churches immediately. The Church have a Plan to contain his growing membership. Majority of our local churches in the denomination are more concerned in building cathedrals and empires around them when they could have expanded and build more churches within the locality of their members. Few churches in Lagos and some major cities in the country are doing that and are expanding beyond their coast, they have plan and vision. These churches do not only plant churches but engage pastors there. Some of these churches also engage pastors in some churches that are not financially viable to call a pastor. We can still do better,many churches in the cities don't have outreach Churches otherwise known as daughter churches again. They hide under the umbrella that there is no money and economy is bad yet they are building schools, rented hall, cemetery and renovating their cathedral. Every viable Church should take it as a responsibility to plant at least one church in a year. A Church that is not engaging in missions and Church planting is dead. Church planting should be a burden of every church pastor. We have about 20,000 viable Baptist churches in Nigeria. If all these churches plant at least one church in a year, all of our graduates from theological institution will have a Church to pastor. In fact we will have more churches than the students graduating in our theological Schools. It is not good for the public image of our convention that graduated pastors are on the streets looking for jobs after leaving all to accept call, some have become commercial cyclist in order to feed their families. Church planting done in God's own way does not lack financial support. Let every church pastor have a working Church planting plan.

OVERHAULING THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS CURRICULUM 

            The present curriculum in our theological institution is not in reality with what is happening in the ministry. Many efforts have been put in by the leadership of theological institutions to ensure that the gospel training align with what is happening on the field. One of them is introduction of entrepreneural studies where student are thought practically on how to engage in poultry, painting, soap making and so on with the aim that they can be engaged doing that till call comes. Another welcome development is the introduction of multistaff into the curriculum. All these are good but it is not enough. An average Baptist church pastor does not want an associate Minister but want to be in charge of everything including things he does not have knowledge of. Definitely multistaff cannot be the solution to pastors not getting engagement. If it had been,we would not have many pastors roaming the streets without calls. The saddest thing is that since introduction of multi staff into curriculum many pastors have been more "churchless" than never before. The curriculum should be restructure in such a way that people do not have to resign from their secular jobs before they become students. Ministry is dynamic, you can't be doing ministry the way they are doing it in 18th century and expect results. It is obvious that so many churches in our denomination cannot afford to bankroll full time gospel Minister. Why encouraging full gospel ministries when there is no place for them to serve? Our polity does not support transfer of pastors hence we need to work on the curriculum of our theological Schools in such a way that it can accommodate full time student while they are still doing their daily job. There is provision for professionals in the curriculum through sandwich program but it would be better if the whole curriculum can be overhauled to permit all students to have means of income before becoming a student. The theological institution should not offer admission to a student without any profession or means of income. Jesus did not call lazy people. All his disciples had a job or means of income before calling them.This does not negate that God does not call people into full gospel ministry. Amos was a  farmer and yet he was into God's work fully. Paul was a tent maker and he was also into God's work fully.Luke was a medical Doctor and he was into God's work fully. If this is done, churches will be willing to engage as many pastors as possible because they are not taking full financial responsibilities on them. 

          KNOW YOUR MINISTRY 

             The theological training is in such a way that looks like everyone's will be a Church pastor. Not all are pastors even though our polity recognizes pastor and deacon as the only two offices in the Church. Know what God has called you to do and stick to it. If God has not called you to pastor a Church, you have no business in becoming Church pastor. Find out what God want you to do for him.

  CONCLUSION 

           The denomination belong to us and if it must work we all have a role to play as pastors,members and leaders at convention. The Church pastor have a key role to play if our churchless pastors must have a Church to pastor. Thanks to the association, conference, convention who have taken it upon themselves to plant churches and engaging pastors there but we can still do more by encouraging ourselves and members to take Church planting as a burden and prioritize it on their Church Budget.knowing fully well that it is only what is done for Christ that last and outlive us.

Abolanle Oladipupo( BSc OOU, BTh NBTS)

14th July,2021

       

ARE PASTORS CALLED TO BE RICH?

 ARE PASTORS CALLED TO BE RICH? 

                    Wealth is of GOD and the power to have it is from God. We are in an era that people honour wealthy people and attach success and prosperity to material wealth and riches. You are not successful until you have fleet of exotic cars in your garage and many mansions.success itself is beyond this. It is being doing what gives you joy and excelling in it. You can be successful and yet not have fleet of cars or multiple mansions. In the Christian ministry, some are of the idea that until you have mega church, fleet of cars and multiple houses  you are not a successful servant of God. We are in an era where pastor flaunt cars,aircraft and mansions as an evidence of successful ministry.

                 Prosperity is good but is God really happy about that? Acquiring riches and wealth when you have church members that find it difficult to eat a meal in a day. Have you catered for the poor, widows, and needy people around you? If you have not done that then God may be angry with you. The call into ministry is not a call to make money but a call to a life of discipline and life of simplicity. We never read of a disciple that lived a flamboyant life displaying wealth and riches. A rich man wanted to follow Christ, he told him to sell all, give it to the poor and follow him. Do you think Christ did not have opportunities to amass wealth and lived extravagantly? He knew his purpose on earth and stuck to it till the end of his life. Wealth and riches are good if they are used to spread the gospel and build lives. Amassing wealth when you have church members and the poor around you suffering attract God's rage.

              As a minister of God if wealth increases, your plans should not be building 100000 church capacity or buying personal Jet or helicopter. Your plans should be how can I help the poor and needy in your environment and how to fund missionaries on the field. Success in ministry is not having cars, houses, big auditorium but being faithful to God in the assignment that he has committed to your hands. God reward faithfulness and not titles. Your focus in ministry should not be on building auditorium. Good auditoriums are good but it ends here on earth but rather build lives and invest in anything that will bring souls to the kingdom of God. Let the kingdom of God matters to you and he will bless you with all you need. Seek the giver of gifts and not gifts. God knows all that you need to be a better work tool in his hands and he will definitely supply it in his own time.

Abolanle Oladipupo

27th February, 2021 

DEAR STUDENT! PLEASE READ THIS

 Dear Student! Please read this

        Studentship is a privilege and an opportunity to be maximised for Success in life. There is a time for everything. A time to study, and a time to learn. There is no short cut to learning than to sit down, study and learn. Never waste opportunity to learn because it may be hard for you to get such an opportunity again. Prioritise your learning process and do all possible to come out with good grades. Good success is whatever the outcome of your efforts after putting all your best without compromise. 

        Dear student, your lecturer is your teacher even if you are older than him give him all the respect and honour. He is your master, treat him with honour. No one look down or dishonour his master become great in life. Your lecturer is one of the people you must not offend in life if you want to be great in life. Do not speak ill of him and do not insult him. To insult your lecturer is to limit what you will become in life. Treat your lecturer with love, respect and honour and you will get the best from them.

Abolanle Oladipupo

18th January 2021 

DEAR LECTURER! PLEASE READ THIS

 Dear Lecturer! Please read this

                   Teaching is a noble call to be a blessing to one's generation. It is a double honour to be a teacher. A reward awaits you here and also in eternity. It is a job you can't afford to do anyhow because whatever you do there will come back to be a blessing to your generations or a curse to your generations.

              The joy of a teacher is to see his pupil or student excelling in exams and making progress in life. Examination is not a true test of knowledge but it is one of the tools to know whether knowledge has taken place or not. Some lecturers position themselves as Lords of their courses. Some will say say the A grades belong to me while others belong to you. Some take pride in failing students unknown to them that if their students failed they have invariably failed. Some teachers even say hurtful words like "you don't know anything", "You can't become anything", " I will fail you" About eleven years ago, a student complain about unfair treatment meted to him by his lecturer but the response was if you become a lecturer do likewise to my child. All these words sow seed of bitterness into the lives of the students and these bitterness are transfered from generations to generations.

                Dear lecturer never be a reason why a student fail because failure is like a sore each time the student see the scars his spirit will never be happy with you and this can hinder your success in life. A lecturer should be interested in the success of his student and care about their future. A lecturer should see his students as his own children and care for them in a way he will care for his own children. Whatever good or evil you do in the course of discharging your duties as a lecturer or children remember that your children will also benefit from it.

Abolanle Oladipupo

18th January, 2021

(BSc, Bth) 

IS DRINKING ALCOHOL A SIN

        IS DRINKING ALCOHOL  A SIN ?

               Alcohol are wines that are intoxicating and have ability to control people that drink it to do naturally what they could not have done. Imagine a drunk man overspeeding into a canal or sleeping in a gutter or having carnal knowledge of his daughter.

                 Certain scholars have submitted that the scripture was not against drinking alcohol but just excessive drinking. So many scriptures have been quoted out of context to suit their claims. The word of God is true and cannot be bend to suit your lifestyle. The scripture forbid alcohol for priests, Kings and Nazirite. Why? Alcohol is tempting and seductive. The best way to avoid it is total abstinence. 

Pro 23:31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! 

               So many people believe that in as much they know their guage they are safed and not sinning against God. You are not wiser than the devil, Noah also knew his gauge but one day he got drunk and his nakedness was seen by his children. Lot also knew his gauge but one day he was drunk by his daughters and he slept with them all. Had Lot and Noah abstained from drinking it could have been difficult for them to fall into such traps. 

                 If you are addicted to drinking alcohol ask God to help you instead of using scriptures to support your drinking habits. Part of the scripture usually quoted by drunkards is Jesus turned water to wine. Go and read the scripture very well, he prayed on it, it was water that was served but the miracle happened when he tasted it and it tasted like wine in the master of ceremony's mouth and I want to believe such wine cannot intoxicate.why? The Greek word used for wine in John 2:3 is Oinos which is of Hebrew origin and if it is of Hebrew origin it is likely to be fruit juice. The Greek word used for wine where it was forbidden in I Timothy 3:3 is  paroinos which means alcohol, strong drinks that intoxicates. Also saying Paul told Timothy to take wine because of his ailments. Do you want sickness that will make you to depend on strong drinks for healing? On alcohol the scripture expressly say No to it and any teaching that says drinking alcohol is not a sin cannot be from God because he is not an author of confusion but rather from the pit of hell. 

                 The time is near, False teachers have been unleashed from the pit of hell, they are famous and influential and their aim is to draw Christians away from the kingdom by diluting the gospel truths and teaching them what they want to hear. Get serious with your God, the scripture said if possible the beloved will be sway away. Read the word of God, study it daily and pray that God should give you fresh insights into his word. If you do not abide in the word, the world will sweep you away from God. 

Abolanle Oladipupo (Bsc, BTh) 

16th January, 2021

DO WE STILL NEED TO TALK ABOUT TITHING?

 DO WE STILL NEED TO TALK ABOUT TITHING?

                   Church has been on several verbal attacks on the media for collection of tithes from church members. Some even said pastors are spending their tithes. Some pastors too have taken time to have been used to teach sound doctrines to talk about tithe. Tithing should not be a discourse among Children of God. It is an anomaly to be teaching a child of God to pay tithes. It should not be so. Doing so simply means the pastor does not understand his call and purpose. During the pandemic, some ridiculed the church that: "thank God the door of the church is locked no more tithes for Pastor". What an Ignorance? If the whole church refuse to pay tithes , the God that call the pastor will take good care of him. Pastors and other ministers of God are more prosperous in this pandemic than the previous years. This is to tell you that it is you that your tithes is working for and not your pastor. If you pay tithe it is for your own good and not for the good of your pastor.

                Dear Pastor teach your members the sound doctrine of the word, preach the word. The word is spirit and it is the word that gives life and salvation. Focus on the salvation of your members and their spiritual growth. If your members are really saved you will not need to be preaching long sermons on tithing before they give judiciously to the work of God. If they are watered spiritually they will bless you with their substance physically without you asking or preaching it on the pulpit. A growing church does not talk about tithing on the pulpit. As it is of habit of some churches to Psyche members with biblical verses before they can collect tithes from them. Some churches will even collect offering like ten times in a service of two hours. I attended one and I was hearing different kind of offerings that I have never heard before in the service. After paying for the tenth time I refused to drop again. After the service I asked the member how are you coping with these serial offerings. He responded that many of the church members were clever since they know they are paying offering ten to twelve times, they usually drop lower denomination like 10 naira and twenty naira into the offering basket. Religious churches will only produce religious Christians that are clever and smarter than their pastors. Dear Pastor, be interested in their souls, labour in your closets to give them undiluted word of God and they will give more than tithes and offerings.

Abolanle Oladipupo

8th January, 2021 

READ THIS BEFORE YOU RELOCATE

 READ THIS BEFORE YOU RELOCATE

                  Your location is very important to your fulfillment in life. Whatever you will become in life have something to do with where you are staying. Your location is where you will be blessed. So many people are struggling today because they are wrongly positioned. For every destined location there are destiny helpers waiting for you there. In moment of hardship, economic depression you do not need a prophet to tell you to relocate where  basic needs can be met without struggling if you can afford it but before you take that step you have to answer certain questions correctly.

             who is leading you?

Act 17:26 "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live". 

                 God knows where you will live and you will prosper. Have you sought God about it? What is God saying? Is he committed to lead you on. It is the duty of man to reach out to God and ask him where he will prosper in life. Truly the country is hard, the system is not working and there is no leadership. Things are getting harder by the day but did you know that if God is saying that you should stay here in Nigeria, he will definitely take care of you in a way that is beyond your imagination. You are not alone in this, Isaac was once in such a difficult situation, there was famine in Cannan just like the days of Abraham. He wanted to go back to Egypt where there was abundance of food but God told him to stay. In that same year Isaac planted and reaped greatly in the midst of famine. Our God is a wonderful God, in the midst of pandemic people are changing jobs, buying houses, building houses and buying brand new cars yet there is economic hardship. Do not make your decision based on emotions and common sense. Emotion, common sense and economy reality of the country may fail you. Elimelech made a mistake, he relocated to Moab out of emotions and common sense when Bethlehem the house of food became a house of famine.we did not read that he sought God before making the decision. He got to Moab with his wife and two sons. Everything seems to be rossy until tragedy struck. Elimelech lost his life and his two children. Some will say I am traveling out because of my children so that they can have a better future. Probably Elimelech thought like that too but the two children's lives were lost there. Immediately after the tragedy, Naomi remembered home and by that time there was already surplus in Bethlehem. She knew something was wrong, all she could think of was going back to where she started from. She went with family but came back empty handed if not for Ruth who comforted and stayed with her she could have died of shock. 

                     Not everyone in foreign land that prosper, some are also struggling while things were difficult for some people over there than it was for them at where they were coming from. Some cannot even come back to Nigeria again because their story have not changed. If God is leading you, he will go before you, prosper the work of your hands there and make you great. Before you relocate, seek God's face and do not take a step until he speaks to you about it. God have plans for your life and he is aware of your situation. He is always ready to hear you out and give you instruction on where to stay. 

Abolanle Oladipupo 

7th January 2021 

IS FIRST FRUIT OFFERING REALLY NECESSARY

 IS FIRST FRUITS OFFERING REALLY NECESSARY ?

                There are so many teachings about first fruit offering which is rooted in the old Testaments belief and instructions. It was an agrarian society and Moses commanded that the first fruit offering should be offered to God. It was offered once while the following years they offered tithes only. (Leviticus 23:9-14, Deuteronomy 26:2-4). The instruction was specifically given to them to honour God with what they have and more especially their first toil on the land must be given to the Lord while they receive blessings and continue to tithe the rest. The offerings become necessary so that the priests, poor and widows can be taken care of adequately. 

              In the church of 21st century, so many things have been preached, taught and said about the first fruit offering. Some Pastors and church leaders have exploited church members with the so called fruit offering by working on their pysche and brain washing them with baseless and unfounded scriptures which God is not happy about. Do you need money for a project? Or is there a basic need in the church? God himself knows how to do it without you helping him by raising call for fruit offering and seed offering. I recalled as a corper serving, In Nigeria Christian corpers fellowship, we were taught then that first fruit offering will open ways for you, give you great jobs after service if you can pay it. It was simply a cajole and psychological tactic to defraud and swindle the children of God. Many of us paid it then and we dropped our first allowance to God religiously waiting for God to give us big jobs in big places after graduation. Truly after graduation I can't remember anyone among us then that paid first fruit and got big jobs. It is January again, Pastors are already preaching and psyching members why they should drop their first salary this year for God. Even in the old testament where the first fruit offering was practiced it was only once. Collecting first fruit offering every year is not biblical. Some homes will suffered in February as a result of giving out their first salary to the church. God will honour the word of his servant by blessing them but he is not happy. God is blessing them not because of the first fruit offering they paid but because they honour him with their substance. 

                Pastor find time to teach your members the sound doctrine of the word of God if you do they will give more than first fruit offering. The early Church did not raise fruit offering but they concentrated on the ministry of the word and prayer yet they were greatly blessed physically, spiritually and financially. Be interested in their souls not in their money. Offerings are free will donations, people should not be forced, coax or brain wash to pay first fruit offering. Doing that is evil. Be focused on the ministry of the word and prayer and see how God will bless your ministry beyond your imagination.

Abolanle Oladipupo

8th January, 2021