Reformation Through Jesus Christ

The greatest reformation that ever comes to a man or nations comes through the power of Jesus Christ. When a man willingly surrenders his life to the Lord, he is reformed: the same is true for nations. Nothing changes a person like the blood of the risen saviour.

Ade came out a changed man after being to prison for the 5th time. This change did not come by the effort of the government or the prison warders; efforts had been made to change him in his previous periods of imprisonment to no avail.

Ade had become notorious in the state and had particularly terrorized his neighbourhood for years. This in turn took him to prison for five good times with the hope of rehabilitating him while there. Surprisingly, each time he went there, he came back more hardened than before.

He had formed his criminal gangs with which he unleashed terror on his neighbourhood: nobody dared challenge him. He trained some youths on how to smoke marijuana, cocaine, and even how to rob. Most of the boys that were caught in robbery and burglary eventually pointed their fingers back to their sponsor, Ade.

He became a regular inmate of the prison; he never showed any remorse for his criminal acts. Going to prison was like going to a tourist attraction; he seemed to enjoy every bit of his experience while there. He did nothing to change his ways. First time he was imprisoned for raping a girl of five. Just four months after his release, he was imprisoned again for burglary. And the story continued just like that – from one crime to another.

Each time he went to prison, instead of changing for good, he came back with a new criminal skill. At a time he became so deadly and violent that the conventional police were afraid to come and arrest him each time he committed a crime. So on such occasions, mobile policemen were drafted to arrest him. The government did everything to see that he got out of crime but nothing worked. They even offered him a lucrative job which he did for only six months and abandoned it for the jungle.

Then on his fifth time in prison, something remarkable happened to him. A pastor from one of the churches around went there as part of his prison outreach. He preached Jesus Christ to him; and for the first time in his life, Ade wept like a baby. His heart was broken: he accepted Jesus Christ into his life and then promised never to go back to his old ways. The pastor gave him a bible which he promised to read. He kept coming to see him to make sure he actually read his bible daily.

Within a few months it became visible to other inmates and the prison authority that something new had happened to Ade. He was released few months later and now lives peacefully with his neighbours; he no longer steals, do drugs or sponsor criminals. Some of the boys who had been part of his gang have also repented. What the power of the state could not achieve, Jesus Christ did it for him and brought a lasting peace to his neighbourhood. He is the only one that brings true reformation to any society or persons.

Tithe: Has It Been Cancelled By JesusChrist?

The issue of paying tithes has become a thing of confusion and debate by different Christian denominations. Some see it as mandatory while others see it as exploitative and unbiblical. Some even believe that when it is paid, it goes into the pastor’s pocket; so they would rather keep their moneys than enrich the pastors.

Tithe is the one-tenth of an individual’s income which he/she pays to God as a way of appreciating him for securing his business or job. It is instructed by God that it should be paid from our incomes (Malachi 3:10), and on our lands (Lev.27:30).

Our patriarchs Abraham and Jacob paid tithes (Gen.14:18-28, 28:22), and we are to follow their example by giving what belongs to God to him. God declared in Malachi 3:8-12 that we rob him if we do not pay our tithes; he also challenged us to pay up and see if he would not protect our establishments, and also release his divine blessings upon our lives.

What did Jesus say concerning tithe?
Jesus said “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matt.23:23) KJV.

Do you now see the portion “this ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone?” He did not in any way say he had abolished tithing; he only condemned the act of selective implementation. He condemned the act of doing one and neglecting the other; he made it clear that tithing and judgment, mercy and faith were all necessary, and that one should not be shoved aside because we want to observe the other.

We should therefore be careful when we preach the word of God and be sure we rightly interpret what is written therein. We should not seek to be heroes by deliberately omitting some portions of God’s word. When we are tempted to do so, we should remember what is written in Rev.22:18-19.

By the way, why do we have to pay tithes?
Tithes are paid so that there is abundance in the house of God (Mal.3:10), to honour God (Prov.3:9), and to make sure the house of God is well maintained and the church workers are taken care of.

It is not our duties to determine who eats the tithes; we pay it to God and receive our blessings for being obedient. God on the other hand chooses his pastors, priests or Levites as the case may be and gives them permission to eat from that which is paid to him (God). We should therefore remove our eyes and attention from that which is not ours so that we could receive God’s blessing. We lose our blessings when we pay our tithes grudgingly.

We also pay it as a way of providing spiritual insurance for our businesses, and rebuking the devourer from them. Disobeying God’s order has led many business men and workers into losing their businesses and jobs. A lot of people have lost their life investments to fraudsters because of their refusal to pay their tithe. So pay yours and ask God to use it as a contact point to bless you and your business.

Abortion; Is ItThe OnlyOption?

Abortion is the emptying of the pregnant uterus before the 28th week. It can be spontaneous (occurring on its own) or induced (intentional); when it is induced, it means it has been deliberately initiated by a person (qualified or otherwise) for reasons believed to be in the interest of the mother and family.

For the sake of clarity, we shall be concerned about induced abortion. It is intentionally getting rid of the foetus for medical or aesthetic reasons; a young lady gets pregnant and the doctor feels that she might not be able to deliver the baby either because her reproductive system is still immature or because it would endanger her life.

Induced abortion could either be legal, in which case the law permits that it should be carried out in order to save the life of the mother; or it could be criminal, in which case it is done for reasons other than those permitted by the law. There are risks involved in either case, but the advantage has to be weighed against the disadvantage before a legal abortion is contemplated.

Why Should There Be An Induced Abortion?
The medical team feels that allowing the pregnancy to continue would definitely endanger the mother’s life. This could be as a result of the fact that the woman has a medical challenge e.g. congestive cardiac failure, severe sickle cell crisis, chronic renal failure, etc, and if the pregnancy is not terminated she could die as a result of excessive stress.

It could also be contemplated if it is feared that the foetus is going to be born with severe deformity as a result of conditions like Rubella (German measles) of the pregnant mother; or in a situation where an ultra sound scan shows that the unborn baby has Amelia (absence of limbs), Anencephalous (without brain), etc. The medical team may decide to terminate such pregnancy to save the mother from mental stress.

Criminal abortion on the other hand involves terminating the pregnancy for other reasons not permitted by law e.g. when a lady feels that pregnancy would make her not look young and beautiful anymore; or when she feels she is not yet ready to have a baby, or when the family feels having a child outside of wedlock would tarnish the family name.

What Does The Bible Say?
“Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deut.5:17; Matt.5:21). God does not permit killing or murder for any reason especially when it has to do with satisfying your selfish interest. We should be aware that the foetus is a human life and has the right to live. We must not pretend by calling it another name or assume that it is too small to be considered a human being. Humans don’t carry the zygote of goats, dogs, horses, crocodiles, etc; they carry only human zygote. So, when the male and female gametes unite, the product is a human being (living), and within a short time all the human parts become obvious.

Why Should We Not Carry Out An Abortion?
1.It is against God’s desire and law
2.It leads to termination of human life
3.It destroys the lives of future leaders, scientists, teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, business men, soldiers, etc
4.It could become septic and endanger the life of the mother
5.It could become complicated, thereby making the woman unable to have children when she is ready
6.It brings guilt feelings to the person involved.

When you are contemplating an abortion, you must think of whom to obey; whether God, professional ethics, your personal beauty or family name. It may be justifiable to terminate a pregnancy because the baby is already dead or macerated; or because of the fact that the Ultra Sound Scan showed that it has anencephalus. For any other reason (maybe for the mother’s health, Rubella, etc), allow God to decide what happens next.

If you ever get pregnant accidentally, kindly carry the pregnancy to term; have the baby. If your family refuses to accept the baby, and you are not ready to take responsibility, you should give it to the motherless babies’ home where it could be nursed or where somebody would legally adopt the baby.

10 Reasons Why People Go To Church

There are several reasons why people go to church nowadays, some of which include in order to follow God’s directives, and to worship him in holiness. Others go there for selfish motives, just to please themselves; not minding what God thinks of them.

The reasons why people go to church therefore include the following:
1. To Seek God: there are genuine seekers of God, who come to the church because they feel that it is the right place to meet with God. They come with contrite hearts; they are ready to do whatever would bring them into a better fellowship with their maker. They listen to what the pastor says, compare it with the scripture, and allow it to impart their lives positively. Their primary reason for being there is because they need a change in their lives. These are the true followers/worshippers of God.

2. To seek for partners: there are those who believe that the best place to get a genuine life partner is the church. So they come there primarily to look for a wife or husband; and they may not have a place in their hearts for the word of God to dwell. Once they get what they want, they take their leave. These ones could easily be deceived by the devil, and by pretence from the persons they have chased into the church, and eventually most of them end up getting a counterfeit partner. Just as they came for the sole purpose of getting a partner, so also are there others who came for the same reason, and have no word of God in them. They eventually end up linking up with one another.

Unequal Yoke; What Does It Mean?

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2Cor.6:14). Christ expects his followers to maintain a close relationship with themselves, especially when it comes to spiritual things, and maintain a lesser one with unbelievers.

Unbelievers are those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, and as such, they are not a part of his fold. He demands that his sheep be separate from them so as not to be corrupt. True believers therefore should know their limit when it comes to relating with unbelievers. He is not saying that they should not relate at all with the unbelievers; rather he is asking that they should not become intimate with them.

Why should there be a separation?

1. Belief: two people cannot work together except there is an agreement. The believers in Christ and the unbelievers do not share the same belief; so it would be very difficult for them to work harmoniously since there is no basis for them to agree with one another. For instance, the believers accept that Jesus Christ is lord but the unbelievers don’t. Christ’s followers also accept the reality of heaven and hell fire: but those who are not his followers don’t share this reality. So it would be wise for believers to separate themselves from people who are capable of making them lose their belief.

2. No fear of God: anyone who has no Jesus Christ in his life has no fear for God: so it is potentially harmful for God’s children to associate with such persons. The reason why such people lie, fornicate, rebel against authority, etc. is because they do not have the fear of God in their lives. In order to guard his children, Jesus has therefore advised them not to mingle with such people.

3. Practice of evil: Unbelievers also indulge in ritual killings, idolatry, fetishism, etc, and God had on several occasions warned his children to have nothing to do with these kinds of practices. It is therefore necessary to separate themselves from anyone capable of influencing them into doing that which would offend God.

4. Polygamy / divorce: Monogamy is one of the hallmarks of Christianity, and God does not take it kindly with any Christian who goes into polygamy. Polygamy remains one of the hallmarks of the unbelievers; since they have contrasting ideologies, it would be wise to separate them.

Unequal yoke makes people with different opinions, ideologies and perceptions to be brought into a relationship that would not produce anything good. People of God should be aware of these differences, and seek to establish relationships with fellow believers that would help them grow in their spiritual lives and enhance their doctrinal beliefs.