Religion

New direction

As we navigate the ups and downs in this wretched world, sometimes it becomes necessary to take a new direction. But change is a hard pill to swallow for some of us. So, many of us who are short-sighted and the narrow-minded put up barriers and resist every notion of change.

Then, one day a spiritual awakening happened, and suddenly you morphed into a completely different person. And for the first time you realised that you were wrong all along. It now becomes clear that the path you had chosen leads to a dead-end street.

Still, you have to decide whether to stay stuck in your old ways or reset and embark on a new direction. Thankfully, like apostle Paul, some of us choose to explore a new direction.

Today one of the most famous religious institutions–the Catholic Church, finds itself between a rock and a hard place. The head of the Church wants to take the institution in a new direction, but members of the ruling bodies vehemently oppose. Still yet, this hardened opposition is not base on Biblical principles. If anything, it is base on Church traditions sprinkled with some moral principles.

Therefore, it is not blasphemous to say the Catholic Church got stuck in tradition, in the same way, the Pharisees was when Jesus called them whitewashed sepulchres. For it appears that majority of its members both in the ruling bodies and the pews are more concerned about public opinion than winning souls for the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus was on earth, He ran into similar opposition. Luke 5:30-32 documents one of His encounters with the religious class. The Bible says Levi put on a great feast for Jesus, and there was a great company of tax collectors and sinners among them.”But the scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
31 And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are well needed, not a physician; but they that are sick.
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

New day, New beginning

Happy New Year everybody!

024“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was at the beginning with God. All things have been made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).

I would like to take a little time to thank all of you for your continued support of this blog. You guys have been simply awesome–beyond measure.

Even though we may not always agree on every point; we treat each other with respect. I wish the greater society on the whole would take a page out of our books.

I pray that the God of Abraham will continue to inspire you to inspire and lead others to Christ.

Can you handle the responsibilities of a role model?

In 1993 former basketball star, Charles Barkley declared to the world in an Ad that he was not a role model. Charles was at the peak of his career, and even though he hadn’t won a Championship kids everywhere looked up to him. They thought he was somebody they could emulate. He was their role model. But he could handle the responsibilities or the pressures of the squeaky clean role model. So, he ran an Ad on TV titled ‘I am not a role model.’

So, I took another look at the Charles Barkley ‘I am not a role model’ Ad, and it occurred to me that every Christian is a role model. It is part of our responsibilities as followers of Jesus Christ.. When Jesus says, “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16); He is really asking us to become the light that leads others to Him.

Make no mistake, the world will never find Jesus on its own, and even though it will never admit it, It is morally bankrupt and in desperate need of your help. It needs mentors and role models like you that it can emulate. And since we are Jesus’ representatives here on earth, we must step up and be the role models and mentors the world needs to help steer it back from the precipice. But this is no easy task. Therefore, as committed servants of Jesus Christ, it is of paramount importance that we lead lives that are worthy of the calling we have received. Not only when the spotlights are shinning on us, but also when no one is looking.

Further, as Christians and role models and mentors we must stand out among the crowd wherever we go, and we must never be afraid to embrace who we are and who we represent. The Apostle Paul emphasized this in Romans 12:2 ” Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Do you have a credibility problem?

Do you have a credibility problem?
Most people I know would answer no to the above question, but that’s because they have creditability issues, and they think no one notices. Look, we can’t help being disingenuous sometimes. It is part of the legacy we have received from Adam and Eve. If we humans did not have credibility issues, then there would be no need for the cross.

Of course, credibility is a bigger problem for some of us than others. Many of us have managed to disguise the problem from human attention, but Jesus sees and knows everything you do.

In Matthew 23, Jesus called out the Religious leaders and teachers of the day. He referred to them as ‘hypocrites’ which I am sure was a surprise to the people. It seemed the religious leaders of the day had blinded the people with their facade. Here are some of what Jesus had to say, according to Matthew 23:1-7:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms, they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and be called ‘Rabbi.’ by others

Why do you worship God?

Victoria Osteen, wife of mega church pastor, Joel , may have redefined the purpose and reason Christians worship God. In one of their recent weekly broadcast, Victoria raised eyebrows in the Christian community when she said the following:

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it—we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy… So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy,” she continued. “When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00-6OyXVA0M