The threat to LOVE

I stumbled on a book titled “The Cross and Crescent” written by Colin Chapman, a lecturer in a theological school in Beirut Lebanon. This book could not have come to me at a better time as it focuses on the accurate response to the the challenge of Islam especially as my city is just recovering from the worst ethno-religious crisis since it resurfaced in Jos in September 2001. The main challenge faced by Christians and indeed the whole church today is how to relate with Muslims. If what i hear and see around me is anything to go by, may Christians in the nation and even the world over seem to have forgotten the legacy left for us by our Lord that we should love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. Hatred will never be right for a believer in Christ as it will be contrary to our very nature which is love. Colin Chapman was asked by a Christian once how we should approach a Muslim, Colin’s answer was “Say Hello, How are you!

This simple truth is eluding many believers today especially in my city and we need to be reminded that  Muslims are first and foremost human beings before they are Muslims just as we are primarily humans before we are Christians. The Bible never said that God so loved the Church, rather it says “For God so loved the world (Muslims and all non Christians inclusive) . The Bible warned us ahead of time that LAWLESSNESS WILL ABOUND AND BECAUSE OF THIS THE LOVE OF MANY WILL GROW COLD. This prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes as many fear filled and hatred inspired prophecies come forth from many Christians and Churches.

I know that by this time many of my readers would be wondering if I am still a Christian or whether I am endorsing the violence unleashed on my beloved city by these religious hoodlums, on the contrary. Violence will never be right but it is not a valid enough reason for us to allow the love of God in our hearts to leak. You might also ask the question whether I am preaching pacifism, God forbid as that will make me a heretic preacher. But my point is that we should never allow happenings around us to make us wander from the path of understanding as this will be a violation of our true identity – GOD IS LOVE and those who know Him also ought to walk as He walked. We should rather than hate Muslims take responsibility as a Church for the wave of Islamic terrorism being unleashed on our city because God silenced Islam for decades in this country especially in this region, God opened doors for missionary funds and activities to flow into Jos and this region, but what did we do with do with it, we built Church buildings without building people and earned for ourselves the accolade of the most religious state in the federation.

what we need to do rather than walking in hatred and reactions is to repent and do the first works of empowering people who will take their rightful places.

It is not too late, God is still the God of Jonah…

man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.

in search of safety!

I sit here in my sisters apartment preparing for my flight back to Jos City, Nigeria (the city that my family and I have come to adopt as our home) inundated with boxes of items (we love boxes in Nigeria not bombs) I am taking back to my loved ones at home especially for Justice the new addition to the family. I am also inundated with situation back home in Jos with the recent ethno-religious crisis that rocked the city in my absence. Someone posted on my facebook page that I am not coming back to the Jos City which I left behind three weeks ago and that as a matter of fact many state governments especially from the south have sent buses to evacuate their citizens back “home”; I even read about the resolution passed by the Bauchi state assembly asking all Plateau state indigenes to leave with the state within a specified time frame. My concern and question in moments like this is where exactly can one find and be assured of safety. As I gave a deep thought to this, the Lord brought back to my mind a phrase that one of my associate pastors used many years ago while teaching on the subject of the will of God and the need for believers who desire to amount to anything in the hand of  to passionately pursue it regardless of the pressures and pains that this pursuit might bring. He went on during this discourse to impress on our hearts the wide scope of the will of God to the point that there is an aspect of the will of God which he referred to as the GEOGRAPHICAL WILL OF GOD which means that the will and call of God for a person’s life has a geographical content in the sense that this will can only carried out in a particular geographical location.

This truth is more relevant today as people all over the world are searching for safe zones, safe cities and safe countries and every nation on this planet seem to be more concerned about security of human lives in the face of Islamic terrorism. This is the time for believers to seek God for His “GEOGRAPHICAL WILL”that is – where exactly would God have us reside, where is He desiring to plant us so that we can do His will. We cannot afford at this time to judge by the sight of our natural eyes or make decisions based on newspaper reports and rumours.

It is my belief that God will sustain us where we are planted and nourish us as He did prophet Elijah who made a trip to Zarephath where everybody was deserting because of the famine, I guess a lot of State governments might have sent buses to rapture their citizens in those days too.

What is the geographical will of God for you?

Mine is Jos City & there I choose to stay

Blessings