LIKEMINDEDNESS: a tool for EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

This is the report of a study on leadership that the leadership of our Ministry here engaged in during our Mid Year Retreat. I have always been an ardent student of leadership and I have since discovered that the subject is very heavy on God's heart as the subject is the major undertone of the "Creation Mandate" given to Adam in Genesis 1:26 - it was a call to Adam to provide leadership i.e. taking responsibility for and effectively manage God's real estate called earth.

This concept is also central to the Great Commission given to the Church through the Apostles of Christ - to make disciples is to provide direction for learners. The Church therefore is supposed to be God's agency that is charged with the responsibility of providing leadership for the nations of the earth by producing leaders.

This is the reason why it has been generally agreed that the greatest problem facing the world today is that of effective leadership; this will continue to elude mankind until we go back to God's oroginal blueprint for leadership.

It is my prayer that this piece will be of tremendous blessing to you all as you read.

Many thanks to my Media Assistant, Ngozi N. Uffele, who put this article together.

Stay blessed.

LIKE-MINDEDNESS: A TOOL FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

The term leadership refers to the office or position of a leader and a leader is one who leads guides or takes initiative. In other words, a leader is more or less a commander who is charged with the responsibility of providing direction for his followers, formulating plans and motivating those, he leads. To be a leader means that one must have followers as leadership implies follower ship. Leadership is not all about occupying a position but much more than that leadership is about influence i.e. training people to become people of influence.

Leadership can be either a one-man structure or a team structure. A one-man leadership structure is one in which the person at the helm of affairs is solely responsible for the initiation, formulation and execution of all ideas that has to do with the vision. That is to say, all decisions, plan formulation and execution rest solely on one man. The danger inherent in this type of leadership structure is that it leaves no room for the training and equipping of followers to eventually take up the responsibility of assuming leadership position over others.

Again, due to the weight of responsibility that rests upon the leader and the various tasks he has to perform and oversee, he tires very easily and this has a direct impact on the work, in that the pace at which the work is executed is slowed down.

Furthermore, in a one-man leadership structure, the followers are not exposed to situations, circumstances and opportunities that will help them explore and develop their hidden potentials.
There is also no room for delegation of responsibilities in a one-man show, this in turn undermines the effectiveness of the followers who are also potential leaders, and ultimately the work is slowed down.

In Exodus 18:13-16, we find this one-man show displayed by Moses. He assumed the responsibility of judging the people and both great and small matters that ordinarily wouldn’t require his attention were brought to him to resolve and this he did all day long with the people lined up before him from morning to night. Moses was judging and teaching the people God’s laws and instructions, he did all of these by himself without any form of assistance from anyone. The resultant effect of this was expressed in the counsel of Jethro, his father in law that because the task was excessively much for one man to handle alone, he would only not only wear himself out but also the people because he failed to train people to whom he can delegate some of the task and thereby lessen the burden on him. It was too great a burden upon his shoulders, what his strength was not equal to; for though his internal abilities were exceeding great, and he had a good will to do the work, to serve God and his people, yet it was more, humanly speaking, than his bodily strength would admit of.
It was tiresome to the people also, who because of the multitude of cases, were obliged to wait a long time, some of them from morning to night, and yet could not get their suit to come and so were obliged to attend next day, and perhaps day after day.

On the other hand, the team leadership structure unlike the one-man structure, is one in which though the set-man is the altar-ego; he is surrounded by people to whom he has not only delegated some of the responsibilities but has also trained them to oversee smaller groups within the larger entity such that only difficult issues which cannot be resolved by the appointed leaders gets to him. This way the work is accomplished much faster and the set-man still has lots of energy to channel to other projects with respect to the vision. This much we saw in Exodus 18:24-26 when Moses heed his father-in-law’s advice and appointed leaders over groups of thousands, hundreds and fifties, the work became much easier and simpler for him to handle.

However, it should be pointed out here that the fact that leadership structure is patterned after the team concept does not make such a structure effective. Jethro did not advice Moses to appoint just anyone as leader over the groups, he rather advised that anyone chosen to be appointed must be someone who is competent, God fearing, have integrity and is incorruptible. The connecting rod here is that Moses and the men he has chosen must drink from the same source and this reflected in their level of effectiveness and efficiency.

Effective leadership is a leadership that is not only competent but also result oriented. It is a leadership that functions on a team concept/spirit. It is not unlikely to find a disconnection between the leader and the followers. The only effective way to bridge, this gap is for all the principal players to see themselves as being part of a team i.e. irrespective of their differences; they work towards one purpose. This team concept can be likened to a football team made up of the coaches (leaders) and the players (followers). It is not every time that the players will agree with the match strategies of the coach but once they are on the pitch, they forget their personal misgivings about the strategy and partner with the coach to achieve a common purpose, which is to win the match. The point being made here is that for the team leadership structure to be effective, all the parties involved must be of one mind and heart as was exhibited by Moses and his appointed leaders.

God instructed Moses in Numbers eleven to appoint seventy elders and the He God will come and put the Spirit that is upon Moses i.e. the power that inspires and motivates Moses upon the seventy elders so that “they can stand with him” in the assignment.

The effectiveness of Elisha was traced by the sons of prophets to the operation of the spirit of Elijah in his life.

In the kingdom, the one tool that makes for an effective and efficient leadership is the tool called “like-mindedness”. It is critical for everyone on the team to share the spirit of the arrow head.

In order to fully appreciate and understand the concept of like-mindedness this article will focus on Paul’s letter to the Philippians as contained in Chapter 2 verses 1 to 11 of the book.
In Chapter 2 verses 1-2 Paul admonished them in the following words;
1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being
of one accord, of one mind.( King James Version)

The import of the above is that among the Philippians, there should be harmony and mutual affection taken from the consolation that is in Christ Jesus. They are also enjoined to express this harmony and mutual affection by having likeness of mind, sameness of love and unity of love.

WHAT DOES LIKE-MINDEDNESS MEAN?

To be like-minded simply means to be similarly disposed in opinion and taste, to give one’s heart consent to a declared intention.

The above is key because in the kingdom, the common purpose between leaders and the followers is the pursuit and realization of the vision, which though revealed only to the leader, requires the full co-operation of the followers to make it come through. In other words, both parties must not only be similarly disposed towards that vision but the followers especially must be seen to have voluntarily given their consent to the declared intention of the leader (which in this instance is the vision).

It is instructive at this point to note that for like-mindedness to be used as an instrument for effective leadership, all parties involved (i.e. the leadership and the followers) must be united in Christ, is in a community of the spirit and have a tender and compassionate heart towards each other. In other words, they must see themselves as one family.

Like-mindedness also means that we are not opinionated. Being like-minded does not take away our individual uniqueness and differences but rather it requires that as members of the same team once a conclusion has been reached it becomes unanimous having the same goal and objective in view. Like-mindedness works in diversity where not everyone is the same.

FACTORS FOR AND AGAINST LIKE-MINDEDNESS

The factors that work for and against like-mindedness can be gleaned from verses 2 -4 of Philippians Chapter 2. Some of the factors that work against it include selfishness, pride and eye-service, while those that promote it include love, mutual purpose, humility, care for one another, obedience, and selflessness.

Leadership will not be effective where you have leaders and followers alike who, rather than put all their energy together and pursue the common vision are overtly obsessed with getting their own advantage, sweet-talking their way to the top and pushing their way to the front without as much as sparing a split-second thought for the vision which ought to be the unifying factor. Imagine every player in a football team abandoning their primary roles in the pitch and struggling to be the one to score the goals so that he can be in the limelight!

Like-mindedness requires you putting yourself aside and helping others get ahead i.e. forgetting ourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Take genuine interest in others more than we do in ourselves. It also requires that as a leader, you influence or inspire your followers to make them function optimally. Trying to impress others has no place in teamwork.

JESUS OUR PERFECT EXAMPLE

From verses 5 to 11 of Philippians Chapter 2 we see how like-mindedness in the form of humility and obedience played out in the life of Jesus Christ. Though he had equal status with God, he did not think so much of himself to cling to the advantage of that status. Rather he set his rights and privileges aside to take the position of a slave. He never for once claimed any special privileges instead he lived a selfless, obedient life and even died the worst kind of death, which is death on the cross! He was willing to be humiliated and made himself of no repute because of the cause which He and His father have agreed upon.

The lesson here is that Christ was obedient and humbled himself in order that the goal to redeem man might be accomplished. Even when he had the opportunity at Gethsemane to call quits, he still allowed the common purpose to take precedence and lead him to the cross. He was willing to go to any length to obey. If leadership is not about position but influence, then Jesus is the ultimate leader as he is still influencing millions of people thousands of years after his death. We must know that when we humble ourselves, it takes the limit off obedience and like Christ; we must be willing to go to any length to see that the vision is accomplished.

If we are going to be effective leaders, we have no choice but to follow in his stead. Jesus Christ is the son of God and between them there was a vision, a common purpose and he did not allow his status as son to affect or hinder the fulfillment of that purpose. Indeed Jesus himself made the following pronouncements in the book of John Chapter 5 verses 19 and 30 to show the extent of his obedience and commitment to the cause;
19. So Jesus explained himself at length. "I'm telling you this straight.
The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father
doing. What the Father does, the Son does.
30."I can't do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You
can trust my decision because I'm not out to get my own way but
only to carry out orders.( The Message Bible)
There was no clash of interest or personality, he has completely sold out to the father’s vision and was by his actions determined to see it accomplished. Such is the power of like-Mindedness.

CONCLUSION

In concluding this article, there is need to know that what makes for effective leadership is not because one occupies a position as a leader but that the occupier of that position is a person of influence. In other words, he has been able to inspire his followers to be their best. In being your best as a follower, the critical factor of being like-minded i.e. working towards the same goals and objective with the leader comes into play.

Like-mindedness does not mean we all have the same opinion- but that none of us is opinionated. It does not mean we do not argue or struggle to get things done, but that once a conclusion is reached, it becomes unanimous. It does not mean we have or use the same strategy to get things done but that we all have the same objective and goal in view. It also does not mean that we flow with the process but disagree with the final purpose (vision).

In conclusion, like-mindedness is being united in spirit and purpose as exemplified by Christ who is our perfect example. We must all strive to be like-minded for only then can leadership be effective.

THE EMERGING DELIVERERS

There is something happening on the face of the earth; it is being nurtured in the Church, it is the emergence of deliverers or saviors as the King James Bible calls it in the book of Obadiah verse 21.

Ob 21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's NKJV

This message is therefore a wakeup call to everyone to check whether they are part of this company of deliverers that God is raising up within the rank and file of the Church.
What can be seen of the Church on the surface now might look like failure but as I always say that it is true that Church is failing but the Church cannot fail in the final analysis because built into the very nature of the Church is an indestructible force – whatever is born of God overcomes the world 1 Jn 5:4, also check Daniel 7:19-21.
There is the tendency to draw our conclusions based on the present outlook of the Church, but if we take a cue from the story of Israel in the Old Testament, we might be wrong because, at the very height of Israel’s subjugation in Egypt, there was something going in behind the scene which was the grooming of a man called Moses who became the deliverer of Israel from Egyptian servitude.

The same is happening in the Church today as we come to a point in our experience where the reproach is on all time high – notable ministers announcing divorce on national television & others hailing them for being “on top of their game”. The US senate is currently investigating some other “big” ministries for some questionable activities & the President/ Founder of TBN is calling the senator an agent of the devil, forgetting that Peter the apostle said that judgment must first begin in the house of God.

In the midst of all these happenings, there is a move behind the scene – a Moses generation is being raised by God.

There is the tendency for many to be deceived by these ugly occurrences and throw caution to the wind claiming that Christianity is fake – this is what the enemy wants to accomplish through these BUT God has greater plans which is to raise the level reproach to a level of groaning which is happening now & God is getting the attention of His Moses in the burning bush.
Which one are you seeing? Is the burning bush or the reproach of the Church?

The Divine intent for these emerging saviors is to fulfill the prophecy of Rev 11:15 – to deliver the kingdoms of this world to our God.

The Proceeding Word NOW is a call to all to see to it that all of our actions and activities must now be appraised on the basis of the extent to which they contribute to the coming of the kingdom of God in the earth.

We need to ask the question: What does it mean for the kingdom of God to come? What has to be in place before we can say that the kingdom of God has come? Is it when people fill the church; is it when souls are saved?

When can we claim that the kingdom of God is here?

It is when the church begins to experience the activities of saviors; when deliverers begin to arise from the church. Not those looking for salvation, but they themselves are saviors, not those looking for deliverance, but themselves are deliverers.

We can safely say the kingdom of God has come, when the values, powers, dominion and influence of God is in place in the life, first of all of an individual, then it spreads into the environment. People must be thinking God’s thoughts; people must be in absolute submission to His opinion.

The disciples had the experience of the Holy Ghost in the upper room and from there like wild fire, the effect of their experience entered into every home.
The kingdom of God has come when God is the primary beneficiary of whatever we do on earth, when the motivation for whatever we do on earth, is to make sure that the kingdom of God is in place, that is when He gets the glory. But it takes saviors to do it.

We live in a time when prophecies are been fulfilled in acceleration, what we read in scriptures are playing out, but because the volume of the troubles around us are louder than what God is doing, we seem not to know & the purpose of this message is to sensitize us to see and most importantly participate in what God is doing.
When we say saviors are coming from Zion and the kingdom will be the Lord’s, it is not something to begin to celebrate and rejoice about but our response should be to check our lives whether we qualify to be in the company of these saviors?
Whenever we hear such declarations, it must birth a desire to know how God fulfills prophecies. There is a way God fulfills prophecies.
Prophecies are given and fulfilled by a process called God human partnership.
God all by Himself will not fulfill what he says. Wherever God wants to say something he will look for a yielded vocal cord that will not be intimated by the faces of men; not be intimated by culture or tradition or experience; not allow himself to be deceived by what God is telling him has not happened before.
Many of us cannot speak for God, because we are intimidated by people, circumstances, positions, and experience. But those who wouldn’t be intimated are those known as prophets. And you don’t need to have spent so long knowing God to be a prophet; you just need to be yielded. When God wants to accomplish what he had said to a people or a person, he will also wait for the person to come in agreement with him.
God’s intention for us is not to be a people who look into the Bible for promises to claim, but a people who look into the Bible for prophecies that God wants to fulfill and partner with him; we must become people who will offer their lives to make sure that God realize his intention on the face of the earth. If Obadiah prophecies about saviors coming, I want to position myself to ask God what are the strategies and principles that will bring saviors to Zion, because the kingdom been yours is predicted on that.
Rev 11:15, Dan 7:19 – 21
Judgment is being made today in favor of the saints and they are being released to posses the kingdom, all these prophesies have one goal – the coming of the kingdom of God to influence the earth. Because it has been prophesied the kingdom must become the Lord’s, the saints must posses the kingdom, because if the world is not under the influence, the control and management of God’s saints, God doesn’t have access to it. So the saints possessing the kingdom, the kingdom is the Lord’s is the same thing.
Whatever we’re doing on this earth, God is doing it through us, and it must be primarily for his benefit. You can’t be fulfilled on earth except God is receiving pleasure; your fulfillment on earth is predicated on God’s pleasure.
It’s one thing to know what God wants done and accomplish, it’s another thing to know the process of accomplishment. We must go beyond knowing what, we must know the how.
In Obadiah we see the how saviors /deliverers emerge: a distinction, conflict & subsequent separation between the house of Jacob becoming fire & the house of Esau becoming stubble.
This is going to be the state of things, in these times; you will either be fire or stumble, because the Bible says every man’s work will be tested of fire to know what sort it is. Daniel spoke about the conflict between the saints and the four beasts; four is the number of the earth, horns talk of authority. This is talking about the powers of the earth warring against the saints of God and prevailing.
The temporary prevailing is what is deceiving a lot of people, they don’t know that it will last for a while, because there is an “until” there. Until the ancient of days will rise up and give judgment in favor of the saints. These are dangerous powers, for as many that will go into the marketplace, needs to know this; but we know that the end result of the battle, because it is impossible for darkness to defeat light, righteousness will win at the end. The temporary victory of the horns is deceiving many. Regardless of the state of the church now, it is wise to side with it, because the church might be failing, but the church wouldn’t fail.
How does God brings deliverance to nations? He does so by raising deliverers, Exodus 3: 4 – 11
When a nation cries to God, in their oppression for deliverance, the way that God response is to look for deliverers. Moses is a case in point of how God delivers nations. Israel cried to God because of their affliction of their taskmasters and this cry came to God and this is the way God responded, God responded by praying to a man. They wanted deliverance, God said this is the way I deliver I raise deliverers, so God wants to raise deliverers in Nigeria, are you going to be part of them?
Looking at the scripture, at the life of Moses, we see the reason for all the favors, the reason why God delivered him, while other Hebrew children were been killed, the reason for the miraculous protection, for been positioned in the palace, is to prepare. Every blessing you have received in your life, all the privileged people you have met, the place you’ve been privileged to visit, every exposure that you have been given in life, is to prepare you to be a deliverer. Moses been saved from death, is not for the parents to rejoice, it was God doing His thing, God needed a savior and He was protecting him.
Life is not all about you, your life is borrowed you must pay back.
The end point of whatever you become in life is to produce a deliverer in you, if it does not, you are a failure. The true must dawn on us, that God will deploy us as deliverers. The way God answers prayer for the restoration of a nation’s integrity and pride, is to raise deliverers.
Judges 3:9, 15
It is time to come to terms with this truth, that the nations cannot be transformed by political process; a nation can only be transformed and reformed through a spiritual restoration, not through political machinery. Any meaningful national restoration, begins when the people of God, begin to live by their convictions which are the values of the kingdom of God. And it begins with you, you beginning to live by your professed faith and are willing to die for it.
Isaiah 59: 14
God is looking for men that will stand in the gap between that nations and him. Who are these men? They are those with spine, to take a stand and challenge the present lawlessness; there is a lawlessness that is close to you, in your office, in your home and amongst your peers - it begins form there. These men are those that will listen to the message of the cross and see how it translates to national reformation, they are the ones that will put a social face to their salvation.
God is looking for churches who can add values.
Imagine if 65% of the church in Nigeria or in your country were to close down, what will your nation miss? Bringing it down what if you’re to move from your neighborhood what will they miss? If you move from your office, what will they miss?
God calls a person a man, only when he/she identifies with God’s values, and stands for truth and justice, because it is then that the kingdom of God comes. These are the kind of Christians, God is looking for today, cos it’s time to take action.
It is time to add works, to our preaching, this is because a deliverer doesn’t only gives answers, not just prefer solutions, he is the solution, he is solution personified. Only the church can engage in social works for the right reasons, because only the church has the juice to be right. That is why we must become messengers in our message that is when messages produce unprecedented results. So any time there is a national affliction, what moves God is not the cries, what he is looking for, his focus is the emergence of deliverers. So the accurate way to cry is to present you saying, I am ready to pay the price to being a deliverer.
There is a cry in Nigeria and in nations of the world today for things to be done right.
This was the state that Israel found them selves, and the way God responded then is the same way God wants to response in our times. When you no longer enjoy what you used to enjoy, when what used to give you satisfaction begins to lose it meaning, then that is when God raises deliverers. God loves Nigeria, he grieves over Nigeria, but the way he shows his grief is that he looks for deliverers, are you going to be available?
Deliverers are people, who just not pray, they become God’s answers to prayers. Deliverers are people who know how to take responsibility. Just like Nehemiah, Daniel, & Gideon. You can’t distance yourself from the problems in Nigeria, you can be a deliverer. Taking responsibility begins from that repentance, Lord we have missed it. When people pray for deliverance, God prays to a man, and He is praying too many of us today.
The importance of this message, the heart of the message is for us to know there are many out there heeding the call, there is a generation of deliverers out there, God has come so that he might include us.
Deliverers are people who know how to take responsibility, when God sees these kinds of people; it is to them he delivers his plans. But the moment God commits his plans to your hands; you must be ready for confrontations. Because there is no change without confrontations. It must begin with you, you must begin to confront those unpatriotic attitudes, then God can use you as a standard.
We can pray for the kingdom to come all we want, the kingdom will only come when deliverers arrive; those who will put a social face on their Christianity, those who will pursue being a relevant church. Do you want to be part of it?
…to be continued

DARING TO BE A NEHEMIAH

I woke up this morning with a feeling I always dread having; my two lovely girls are packed up to go back to school after three months of vacation – I always don’t look forward to this day because I miss them so much. I just dropped them at the park and trying to focus my thoughts on my preaching schedule in this evening's mid week service.
I have a great burden for my girls and always seek God’s face for them to turn out good in life especially in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation of low waist line jeans trousers and belly button showing tops – these were the contemplations of my mind when I switched on my laptop to start putting materials together for the evening service and I happened on a youth ministry website www.threadsmedia.com and I read through a wonderful article on Nehemiah and he responded to God’s call to build the fallen walls of Jerusalem.
My eyes suddenly opened to see what I need to do about the burden that I carry for my two girls.
I have always loved to minister to youths of 18-34 years, infact most of my Church members are in this age bracket, I recently reorganized our youth ministry and brought them under my direct supervision, BUT it has ended there, I have not really done much to deliberately decided to impact these young boys and girls with the life that God has patterned for me.
It suddenly dawned on me that it is not enough to as good as it is to mourn, pray and plan as Nehemiah did and as I have been doing, it is most important to go ahead and execute the prayed plan as exemplified by Nehemiah.
God spoke to my heart thought this article this morning that in as much as I don’t have my two lovely girls with me, I have many of their likes under my direct influence always, I must begin to do something about their lives on a well intentional and deliberate basis.
God did something awesome through Nehemiah and his team in 52 days, the walls were built and honour, glory and praise went up to God.
The walls of the lives of many youths and young adults are broken down today, they are plagued by serious lack of fulfillment, and life is fast losing its appeal for this potentially gifted humans; for most the gifting are being misapplied – statistics on teenage pregnancy and youth school dropouts are helpful but will not proffer solutions to the problem.
This article came to me as the report of Hanani (he is the guy that brought the situation report to Nehemiah from Jerusalem, if you have never read the book of Nehemiah, please do, it is a page turner, it’s on page 335 of my Bible “lol”). The report has jolted me to pick up the pieces of my life and ministry and release to these boys and girls and young adults with what God has enabled to see and learn of life.
For starters, we are revisiting the BOOT CAMP( our youth program whose walls are broken down) – if you are reading my blog from the city of Jos and environs in Nigeria, please contact Ayo Chima our youth ministry leader on 08036097456 or email cyrusayo@thekingdomcitizens.org for details of this reloaded BOOT CAMP, or you may wish to call me directly on 08055232735 or email pastordot@thekingdomcitizens.org .
Thank you very much, Brother Jim, I will like to let you know that your article has rekindled a fresh fire in me and I am glad to know that the threads team are hanging in there with us as we rebuild the broken down lives of our youths and young adults.
Now! My heart is at peace as regards the truth that my two lovely girls are destined for greatness and are difference makers.
It’s back to the BOOT CAMP to adopt the Nehemiah model.
You may wish to read Jim’s article by visiting www.threadsmedia.com .
Thank you for being a part of my day, I miss my girls…

Shalom


Pastor Dot

The Relevant Church

The Relevant Church

This is the excerpt of a messaige i preached in our Church in February 2007, it has taken this long to publish it because my laptop was stolen by armed robbers shortly after it was preached.

I want to thank Donald Salami, our Head of Media Ministry who took time out to transcribe this message from the tapes andCDs. The Lord bless you richly.

God bless you as you read and I pray that you pursue relevance in your place of registered presence for this is God 's will for you.

Love

Pastor Dot

THE RELEVANT CHURCH
The picture of the kind of church that God desires in the 21st century is a church, where real issues, life applicable issues are being discussed and strategies are being fashioned out to take a position.

God is in a quest today, and if you are not in pursuit of what God is in pursuit of, then you are missing Him. God wants a physical, a literal manifestation of the five fold ministries, perfecting the saints in reality. God wants the diversity of these ministries. What the church needs today is instructions, because from instructions we can fashion out strategies.

Instructions will reveal where we are. There is a need for every individual who is identified with the church to come to a deep awareness, knowledge and clarity of mind as regards God’s intent for his church. It is in the gospel that we see the intent of God.

What is the gospel?

The gospel is from two words- God and spell, so you have the gospel preached to you when you have come to a place where you can put the skill and work in consistent submission to truth. We need to be a church, with the ability to build into people the “know how”, i.e. the way that human can allow the truth of God to reign in them. And this requires a life founded upon knowledge, understanding and the wisdom of God.

2 Tim 4:1-5
4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;

4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. NKJV

Paul expressed a basic challenge that the Church is facing today the world over - No sound teaching.

Sound teaching has more to do than being Biblically correct, the proof that you are Biblically correct is that you are contemporary, you are relevant i.e. the correctness of your Biblical doctrine is measured in the terms of your relevance. To what extent is your knowledge of scripture relevant or address contemporary issues of your society?

It takes a systematic and consistent teaching of the truth of God’s kingdom, for the intents of God to be revealed and to be accepted by men, and be received as truth, men need to come to a point where they say the word of God is right, both in heart word and attitude, that God’s commandment are right and righteous all together.

We need to understand where we are coming from, where we are, and where we need to be, before we can capture God’s intent. God has structure and principles. God wants his Church to be relevant and this is His intent for today.

God has put a structure in place, that the standard He is going to use to measure our lives, family and business is our relevance to all to the society where we are located.

He has put a structure in place that the church will succeed or fail to the extent the church handles her interaction with her environment. Because God does not intent for his Church to be separated or detached from the environment it is established. We today have a wrong notion of the church, that the church should be separate from society. But God is going to measure our success by how we handle our interaction with our environment.
Matt 10:16-20

16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.

18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;

20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you
NKJV

The main point of this scripture is that, when you become a Christian you are not supposed to be detached from society, you will have to live in this society. It is our interaction with our society that will determine whether this gospel is a failure or a success. Christianity is a way of dressing you up to function in a hostile environment. God will not measure your obedience on say, how you relate with authority, when the government in power is righteous, but how you will relate when the government is unrighteous.

The reason God could use David as pattern for accurate leadership, was because David was groomed under Saul. We need to learn to submit to truth, because truth will always come in uncomfortable circumstances. The greatest challenge we face as believers is how to function correctly in a generally incorrect world.

How we handle our interactions with our environment will determine whether we will be relevant. The ability to use heavenly resources to function here, in a place where there is wide spread perversion is what determines our relevance.

The Word Relevance means applicability to current issues or connection to real world issues or present day events, connection with current state of the society.

We are not saying we take a cue for what to say from what is going on in the society, but whatever we say if it is truly from God, it will have applicability to the environment.

Relevance has to do with having social, political and economic significance and importance, and that is the demand that God is making on his church today - that of relevance.

That is the church needs to be applicable to current issues, we need to be connected to real world issues. God has a pattern, principle, he has a structure, and all we need do is to understand it. The only means for this pattern and principle to be known, the only agency to communicate it is he church. So if the church is blind, the world will also be blind to it also.

So the world that ought to learn from the church, the church wants to detach herself from it, there will be problems.

We need to learn from David’s error when he carried the ark using the strategy of the Philistines see 1 Sam 6:7-8 and 1 Chron 13:6-7.

He carried God’s presence using the strategy of the world, he did not inquire of God of the due order.

The great commission says “Go ye into the world and make disciples”; by that very commission God puts the church in a position of leadership, because the one who makes disciples is the master. But the church does not know it. Instead it is copying the world.

God’s intent for the church is to provide that needed alternative for the world, so that when he judges, he can be just. For as long as the church continues to fail in their responsibilities, the world will continue in darkness, because we are the light.

What is Light? It is the son or offspring of divine command. A divine command is the word of God, so when the word of God finds a place in you, you will become light.

Light is the end result of the word of God, finding a place in the life of a man. If God’s intent is the church to provide that needed alternative, the devil’s intent is the destruction of standards and alternatives, so that nobody blames anybody for any thing. The enemy’s intention is for the whole world to be of the corrupt seed, while God’s intents for man by choice; decide to be of a pure seed or of a corrupt seed. God’s intention is not for the whole world to be of a pure seed, which will only be possible by choice. What will determine where you are, is how you have been able to use your interaction with your environment.

What will your interaction with the world produce in you - The corrupt seed or the pure seed?

God gives us every day of our lives opportunities to make the right choices. We see this from Adam to our present times. Everywhere you have light it is often surrounded by darkness.

We will never find ourselves in an environment, where it will be stress free to serve God and do his will. God has arranged life in a way that the wheat and tares will grow together. Our relevance depends on who we become by interaction with our environment, will the world corrupt you or not? This is the challenge that the church faces today.

The church has not failed, because she can’t fail, but she is failing. The world is succeeding to a great extent to shape the church as things stand today, we pursue the same things the world pursues, but God wants a church that grieves at what grieves him; rejoice at what he rejoices at.

The standard of the kingdom has been terribly lowered. The world is shaping the church, but the church cannot fail ultimately, but individuals within the church can fail in the final analysis.

The letters that Jesus Christ sent to the seven churches in Asia through John reveals God’s intent for his church in these times. From these churches we see the following principles:
1. There are seven churches – this reveals to us that when all is out together regardless of the weakness here and the strengths there, when all is put together, it reveals the perfect church.
2. It also reveals to us the progressive growth of the wills and intents of God in his church.
3. It also shows us different experience that a church will go through to attain this perfection.

One thing that is uniform in all these churches is that Jesus’ validation on success or failure was dependent on how they interacted with their environment.
Also whatever the state of any church, repentance was key to the commendation of Jesus. Regardless of the state we find ourselves repentance is just what stands between us and God’s perfect will.

There is only one thing God is looking for today, how much of the world do you have in you. The way these churches were able to dominate their environment or how their environment has dominated them, determined the church that Jesus Christ condemned or commended.

What we see today in the Church is the imprint of the world; the church is beginning to put the image of the world, but what God’s intention is for the world to put on the image of the church.

What we see in these letters is what every church will go through; it also shows in state of the church today.

The critical question is your interaction with your world, what is it producing in you? Are you becoming a product of your environment or are you producing your own environment? You will never be brought to a place, where you no longer interact with the world.

To be continued…
Please contact The Kingdom Citizens' Pavilion for the full length message on tape or CD


God bless you

CAN THESE BONES LIVE?

This article was written for the April edition of our in house Journal "The Pavilion Jot" at a time our nation was preparing for the General Elections. But because it is the Proceeding Word, it is still as relevant as it can be.

May you be blessed as you read and please pray for Nigeria.

Ezekiel 37:3, 9-10
3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." “10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. NKJV

Obadiah 21
21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the LORD's. NKJV


How time flies, it seem like yesterday when a group of young people stepped out of their comfort zones; where heads have reached the roof of spiritual growth and adventure, when there was a deep hunger for fresher, newer and powerful experiences with God; it is almost unbelievable that five years have gone by and it is as if we have not even started.

We thank God Almighty for keeping the Vision fresh and supplying strength to sustain momentum to keep going forward seeking fresher and more accurate positions in God.

Our fifth anniversary is coinciding with a momentous period in the history of our nation Nigeria and this is why I believe God is having me open this article with the prophecies of Ezekiel and Obadiah to show that there is still a long way of to the promised greatness but that we are no longer where we used to be as a nation, there is great hope because the process has begun.

The nation is in dire need of saviours today just as Israel needed a deliverer in the closing days and years of their Egyptian bondage. I also believe that Nigeria is the closing days and years of her political and spiritual bondage.

We are at a period of transition into our fifth republic and most importantly the nation is attempting to transit from a civilian to civilian administration for the first time; the nation is indeed teetering on threshold of a significant change which will without doubt determine the course of events that will either shape and establish this nation as great nation or further delay the greatness.

The greatness of this nation is guaranteed, there is nothing that can alter it, this nation cannot fragment; I believe that God has destined that the Emekas will forever be brothers the Oluseguns and the Aishas will forever be sisters to the Priyes. Nigeria will forever be ONE according God’s plan and intention.

Flesh and blood did not reveal it to General Yakubu Gowon when he made his foremost declaration in the early 70s that “To keep Nigeria ONE is a task that must be done”.

I believe that keeping Nigeria ONE is a divine intent, but it requires human cooperation as called for by General Gowon and this will definitely happen because it is needed to attain that level of greatness that we pursue, but the time and season of the fulfillment of this might be delayed for generations if there is no deliberate effort to provoke a social transformation that will upturn the present situation of things and establish a society where righteousness and justice reigns, where people do not hide behind politics and ethnic bias to cover for misdeeds.

But there is no earthly institution or structure that can achieve this remarkable shift; just as there was no form of negotiation that could have freed Israel from Egypt; it will require an institution with links to powers and wisdom that is beyond this realm to effect such a change; it will take the power of belief to effect the much needed change in our society and in the nations of the world.

Corruption in Nigeria is no longer a practice or something to be seen as a mere national phenomenon, it has matured into a culture, a cause, a belief and an institution with passionate adherents, just as terrorism, homosexualism can no longer be regarded as a mere practice, it has become a belief, that is, a cause that the adherents are willing to give their lives for its perpetuation; it will therefore take a belief with superior powers to remove such beliefs from our society and the only institution on the face of the earth with such superior powers to make any meaningful impact on such institutions is the CHURCH.

In the words of Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister “we cannot only conquer the evil of terrorism not buy guns and bullets but by our beliefs”.

It has therefore become imperative for the Church in Nigeria to respond to God’s challenge for His agency on earth to rise up to her responsibilities and utter His voice.

We are being called in KCP as God is calling many other Churches who are willing to let His opinion reign in their affairs at this momentous period of our national history to assume our position as Prophets, Priests & Kings in the earth beginning from our sphere of influence in our region.

We act as Prophets to declare God’s counsel through as many means that he will give to us.

The Church is the conscience of the society and we must rise up to subject our nation to profound scrutiny. Because of our access to the word of God, the Church is the only institution that is in that unique position to articulate what is wrong and why it is wrong.

This involves the holding up of Biblical standards of justice and righteousness as against the merely expedient or conventional; we cannot afford to be partisan or be sympathetic with some political views; our objectivity must be kept sacrosanct.

The word of God cannot be held captive to any ideological system; it is both an affirmation and a critique of whatever social system is in place

We operate in the priestly office by bringing the need of the nation to God and the power of God to the nation in intercession because we are only qualified to criticize or comment on national issues when we have talked to God about the state of our nation.

It is in the pace of intercession that the Church truly becomes an alternative power centre, a place where social wounds can be healed and the disillusioning process of social transformation empowered by supernatural hope. It is naïve to think that we can confront beliefs supported by entrenched powers of evil with merely sophisticated techniques of political persuasion and ideological warfare. Without the critiquing and empowering presence of God in the heart of our reformation projects, we lose our relevance and purpose.

Prayer is not a pious instrument by which we get God to anoint our enterprises, it is entering the strength of Him who moves history and binds the powers that be.

The Church in Nigeria need to be delivered from this prevailing self oriented and sacrifice evading mode of Christianity and come to a place of utter belief where we are not just willing to live for God but die for His cause if need be.

Ultimate and genuine social transformation happens in the deepest of places where only God can go – in the hearts of men and it requires men and women who are willing to pay the price by setting aside personal needs for God’s need.

It requires a group of boys and girls who reject this “dance oriented” youth ministry and receive some responsibilities from God as youths like Daniel and Joseph did in Bible and released God to wrought a great transformation in their day.

We must complete the cycle by operating in our kingly office by managing our nation under God; there has been a lot of talk about the operation of the Church in the market place, but little has been done about the talk, BUT THE TIME IS NOW.

To reign as kings in the world does not mean that we hold political offices primarily, but it speaks of the our creative subjugation of the forces of the world; a situation where we take over by serving our nation by identifying areas of decay and coming in as SALT; seeing areas of darkness and coming in as LIGHT.

It is time for the Church in Nigeria to take more seriously the creative mandate to cultivate the earth and rule over recalcitrant forces that seek to destroy the nation through corruption and injustice which manifests in ecological crisis, epileptic power supply, lack of security of human lives, monstrous traffic situation in our major cities and confused educational policies.

God at this time is bringing us face to face with the state of our nation and He is asking us as He did Ezekiel “can these bones live”? Can this nation truly become great?

It is necessary for Our Vision to graduate into a Movement, a belief, it is then that we can effectively engage our society and make meaningful impact as we make manifest His manifold wisdom; it is then we can become saviors who will chart a new course for our nation.

The time has come for us to stand for all that we have heard and accepted to be truth.

Welcome to my Blog

This is to welcome you to my blog. My name is Dotun Reju, I pastor a Church in Jos City Nigeria.

This blog will be served every month and the focus will be on the Proceeding Word that I preach weekly in our Church "The Kingdom Citizens' Pavilion" here in Jos city Nigeria. It will also highlight excerpts from my personal journal especially as it concerns the state of the Church in Nigeria and the extent to which the Church is engaging in the social, economic, political and of course the spiritual realities of our nation.

My belief is that the purpose of the Church is not to meet on sundays and another day of the week for Bible study but to communicate God's opinion on all issues that affects mankind to the world in which the saints live.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God Matthew 4:4 .

Thank you for visiting my blog, I am looking forward to heari ng from you

Pastor Dot