On Justice & the Kind of Life God Wants.

I recently found this gem the other day and thought to share. While it's particularly important for Christians, I also think it's something everyone should consider. So it is from the book of Isaiah in the Bible. Basically, God told the prophet Isaiah to pass on a message to the Israelites. The Israelites always acted very pious, God said. They would go the Temple every day and even seem happy to learn about God. They carried themselves as though they would never abandon God and like they wanted to be near Him. And when there was silence from him, they would protest:
we have fasted!
we have been really hard on ourselves; denied ourselves of life's pleasures just to please you!
why are you NOT impressed, huh?!
why do you act like you don't notice?

Sounds familiar? I bet it does. You are fasting and praying. You serve in Church. You can quote the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. You can preach the devil back to hell. So what's up? Why does God not notice it?
Well that's because while you are fasting, you are exploiting and oppressing your workers. While you are fasting, you are fighting with the whole world, and keeping malice. So you do the rites, and fast for 150 of the 365 days in the year. But God is like, nah, that kind of fasting will get you nowhere. That kind of lifestyle really doesn't please him. What kind of fasting does he want, you ask.
"No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help." -  Isaiah 58: 6-7.
If you go on in that passage, it continues to say "THEN..." meaning after you do all of the above, will you experience true healing; will your godliness lead you forward; will the glory of God protect you. It is THEN that the Lord will quickly (it specifies) answer your call.  When you feed the hungry, and help those in trouble, your light will shine out.
In other words, less of you and more of others. We can see that justice, mercy, and compassion matter to God a lot. And again, we see that hypocrisy really irritates God. I'll give another instance; this time in the new testament. Jesus was dragging the Pharisees and calling them hypocrites and stuff. And then he mentioned how they do everything right, they were careful to tick all the boxes. They would even tithe the tiniest income they earned. BUT, they would ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. I'm not even kidding, Jesus called those the MORE IMPORTANT [THAN TITHE] aspects of the law. He then reiterated that while tithing was and would always be important, justice, mercy, and faith were more important.
Coincidentally, I was just joking with my dad and sister recently that while no one person can be angry about all injustices, it's important and dare I say, it's our responsibility to care about justice. There has to be something; one thing you care about. Pick that one thing and run with it, in whatever capacity you can. Is it giving the less privileged? Maybe this year instead of another useless birthday photo-shoot, you can instead ask your friends to give on your behalf? Someone on Twitter once suggested calling your local school (board) and asking to offset some lunch debt for kids. Maybe it's your time you can give: to your own family, your friends. Something...just remember God really cares about it.  Also remember you can't just consistently live for yourself and yourself alone.

The Dangers Ahead for Christianity.

William Booth, a Methodist preacher who started the Salvation Army in England in the middle 1800's was once asked what dangers he thought lay ahead for Christianity. He replied, "In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell".

Church Opens Doors to Muslim Worshippers so they can have a Place to Pray.

A Berlin church is hosting Muslims who are unable to fit into their mosque for Friday prayers because of social distancing guidelines. The Dar Assalam mosque in the Neukölln district normally welcomes hundreds of Muslims to its Friday services. But it can currently only accommodate 50 people at a time under Germany's coronavirus restrictions. 

During the holy fasting month of Ramadan, the nearby Martha Lutheran church stepped in to help, hosting Muslim prayers in Arabic and German.

"It is a great sign and it brings joy in Ramadan and joy amid this crisis," said Mohamed Taha Sabry, the mosque's imam, who led his congregation in prayer watched over by a stained-glass window depicting the Virgin Mary.

"This pandemic has made us a community. Crises bring people together."
Places of worship reopened in Germany on May 4 after being shut for weeks under a coronavirus lockdown, but worshippers must maintain a minimum distance from one another of 1.5 meters.
The church, a red-brick neo-renaissance building in Berlin's Kreuzberg district could hardly offer a sharper contrast to the cultural center in Neukoelln where the Muslim congregation is accustomed to gathering.
"It was a strange feeling because of the musical instruments, the pictures," said worshipper Samer Hamdoun. "But when you look, when you forget the small details, this is the House of God in the end..."

The Islamic Council, an umbrella group of 400 mosques, said in April that many face bankruptcy because the closures stretched into the holy fasting month of Ramadan, usually a vital period for donations.
The church's pastor, Monika Matthias, said she had felt moved by the Muslim call to prayer.
"I took part in the prayer," she said. "I gave a speech in German. And during prayer, I could only say yes, yes, yes, because we have the same concerns and we want to learn from you. And it is beautiful to feel that way about each other."
(Reporting by Reuters TV, writing by Katie Stephens and Thomas Escrit; Editing by Gareth Jones).

Mind Your Language in this Easter Season.

It's not Every Problem That Needs a Prayer.

It is a pity to see how some people self-sabotage themselves by seeking spiritual solutions to issues they can easily resolve by mere change in attitudes. When problems arise in a marriage, a career or in a business venture, the root of the problem most often lies in the inability of the affected person to look inward.

For instance, when a woman is having a marital problem, the first thing for her to do is to ask herself if she is ADEQUATELY performing her duties as a wife or mother. After that, she can go further to review her over-all attitude or manner. For example, is her attitude like that of a responsibly-married lady or is she lousy and reckless in her attitude? It is after clearing all these personal aspects that she can resort to prayers.

I once heard the story of a woman whose marriage could be described as almost perfect. Then, she became a deaconess in her church. As chairman of the church’s prayer warriors, the pastor observed that the woman was always submitting a prayer request for peace in her marriage. After one particular church program, the pastor asked her about the issue and she pleaded with the pastor not to let her husband know. According to her though, the man “changed” towards her since she became a deaconess. She complained that “Unlike the perfect gentleman that I married, Tunji has become something else. He is always complaining that I spend too much time in the church...and to make matters worse, he now goes to night clubs and  comes back home very late…” Looking disturbed, the pastor promised to keep praying for the couple. But one Sunday after church service, the pastor casually asked the woman’s husband why he had not been attending week days’ programs in the church. And without mincing words, the man rudely replied saying, “Don’t tell me that my wife that you took is not enough or you want to take me too?” When the pastor expressed shock at this statement, the man went further to say that since the pastor made his wife a deaconess, their marriage had not been the same. He went further to say, “We were a loving couple in a happy home until you made her a deaconess. Since then, all I hear is, ‘pastor this’ or ‘pastor that’. All of a sudden, no more sex…no more cuddling…in fact, we don’t even hug or kiss anymore all because my wife is a deaconess…”

The following Sunday evening, the pastor invited the couple for a dinner. It was there that he bluntly revealed his encounter with the woman’s husband. Staring straight at the woman, the pastor said angrily, “Deaconess, may God forgive you!” As the deaconess was beginning to get jittery over this angry reaction, the pastor stated further, “You’re one of those creating problems in the Christendom with your ignorance. The church made you a deaconess because you deserve it. Your anointing as a deaconess was supposed to manifest into more blessings upon your life…it is not meant to destroy your marriage.” The pastor’s wife joined her husband in educating the deaconess that unwittingly, the deaconess was actually committing sins against God by going against her marital vows. “In fact, you were just punishing yourself with all those constant fasting and prayers when all you needed was just a change in attitude….because being a deaconess or church worker is no excuse for you to abandon your duties as a wife. In fact, if you cannot keep your home intact with love and peace, how can you sincerely counsel any member of the church with matrimonial trouble in your capacity as a deaconess?” the pastor concluded.     

There is also the case of a man that was known to be a jolly good fellow ONLY outside his matrimonial home. Among friends, acquaintances and colleagues, he was a nice guy to be around. But at home, he was a terror to both his wife and their adult kids. If he was not beating his wife, he was yelling at his kids over the most mundane stuff. He was always coming home very late while blaming his family for making his life miserable. And most times, his wife and kids wished he would just stay away from home completely and never come back. Yet, the man was a Christian. He would go to church almost every day for one program or the other. Then, he was diagnosed with chronic depression and shortly after that, he was losing weight. Some members of the church were so worried that they expressed their concern to the pastor. After talking about the issue with the church members, the pastor also met with the man’s wife and children. Initially, the pastor was confused because while the members of the church said great things about the man, his wife and kids were of the contrary opinion. After meditating and praying about it, the pastor had a meeting with the man. And, as far as the pastor was concerned, “We shall keep you in our prayers. But beyond prayers, you too have a role to play. First of all, why are you a happy-go-lucky man outside among people and yet, you're always miserable within members of your family? And to answer this question, you need to henceforth let your charity begin at home.” When the man asked the pastor to explain, the man of God said; “Brother, you need to start doing at home, the same things you do outside that are making people say good things about you…” 

The same principles about attitudes apply to other aspects of life. When a man was having problems at work, he sought the spiritual intervention of his pastor. The man of God began the counselling by asking him to look inward. “I need you to start by asking yourself some questions…” the pastor stated. “Do you go to work regularly? How punctual are you at work on daily basis? Are you performing your duties as expected of you? It's after checking all of these stuffs that you can now resort to prayers.”

If someone is getting a rough deal in a business venture, he/she first have to check themselves. Is he/she being truthful in the deal? Is he/she investing a mere 20 percent of money while expecting a 50-50 share of the profit margin? Is he/she being fair to the partner (s) in the deal? All of these questions need to be answered before praying for the success of the business venture. 

Praying is a good habit to cultivate especially when we have problems. But most times, it’s very important that we first look inward to check if the root of the problem is not deeply-etched in our negative attitude, ego or (and) stubbornness. Many times, we pray and fast in order to bind or cast out “demons” that do not exist...except in our imagination.

Struggling Mom Wins the Lottery & Donates $700,000 To Her Pastor. But He Sues Her For More Money.

Most of us have dreamed of winning the lottery one day, I know I’ve done it a couple of times. We all dream of the things we’d do with our winnings. Pay off the mortgage, get a dog, buy some nice clothes and a car. That sort of thing. Most of us wouldn’t consider giving our money away. 

But after winning the lottery, this struggling mom decided to donate some money to her local pastor. After years of living in poverty, Marie Holmes from North Carolina, luckily won the lottery. Marie, who is a mom of four, managed to win a lot of money on the Powerball lottery. It lifted a huge weight of her shoulders financially. This struggling mom was working several different jobs just to make ends meat, so when she won the lottery, she thought her money troubles would be finally over.

Little did she know that a Pastor named Kevin Matthews decided to sabotage her chances of escaping her financial worries. Marie couldn’t believe her luck when she won $188 million on the North Carolina Powerball lottery back in early 2015. She opted to take out her winnings as a $127 million lump sum, per Inquisitor.

However Miss Holmes was about to learn a valuable lesson; the more money you have, the more problems you also have. It wasn’t long before she was betrayed by her neighborhood pastor. This seemingly well-meaning and trustworthy pastor fought to take MILLIONS of dollars from Marie. Marie had gone to Kevin Matthews in the past for counselling sessions, which made Marie believe she could trust her pastor. After her life-changing win, it wasn’t long before the two came up with a plan to help him purchase a plot of land. 

The land would be used in order to build a new retreat center. But, even after Miss Holmes forked out $700,000 to purchase land, Pastor Kevin was hungry for more money from. He claimed that she had originally agreed to cough up more than twice as much, and he decided to sue her. In an interview, Pastor Kevin claimed: “The bottom line… I just want her to do what she said she was going to do. I want peace and to do what God told me to do. I want her to do what she said she was going to do. I really feel like a warrior for Christ and people need to be accountable.”

Kevin successfully sued Holmes for $10 million after she failed to pay him the $1.5 million he wanted, which was the deal they had originally ‘agreed’ to. Pastor Kevin claimed that the stress of the whole trail caused him to undergo an increase in his anti-depression medication.

“Because of the emotional distress and mental stress, they put me through, I had to start taking more medicine for anxiety and depression due to this situation.”

It would be an understatement to say that he received a lot of negative backlash following the court case. To further add to Miss Holmes’ worries, she recently had to fork out $21 million to bail her partner, Lamar McDow, out of jail. Lamar was arrested on suspicion of being a drug dealer. This is a claim they both strongly deny and claim it’s something which is fueled by “racism” from the neighbors on their new estate. Lamar said: “We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people do for each other. She has the money and she can do what she wants with it. If I had that money then I would do the same for her. People are just jealous because of how much she won and people want to see me locked in jail.”

Thankfully, Marie found herself a helping hand. Iyanla Vanzant, the host of the show, Fix My Life, heard about Marie’s struggles and decided to help her out. “It is my intention to show Marie that hers is not a problem of wealth. It is a problem of maturity, of self-respect and of dignity.”

Thankfully the mom of four is getting the help she desperately needed! After all her struggles, I hope that Marie and her family can start to enjoy her newfound wealth. She certainly deserves it!

A Nigerian Pastor and Wife Arrested In US After Starving Son To Death In 40-Day Fast.

In the above picture are the emaciated faces of Kehinde Omosebi (left), aged 49, and Titilayo Omosebi (right), aged 47. They are residents of the United States and both face up to 37 years in prison on a combined sentence as they have been charged with starving their 15-year-old son to death.

 

Another son, aged 11, was found alive but he was extremely emaciated. According to the Madison State Journal, Kehinde, the boys’ father, who claimed he is a pastor with Cornerstone Reformation Ministries, had ordered a religious fast that lasted as long as 40 days. All the boys had as nourishment during the fast, which began on July 17, was water. The deceased died on Friday in Reedsburg, while the couple was charged on Tuesday in Sauk County, Wisconsin, USA.

 

According to Reedsburg Police Chief Timothy Becker, policemen had to break through padlocked doors to reach the boys at a residence on Alexander Avenue on the west side of the city, on Sunday, after the father reported the death to the Police, two days it occurred. On the other hand, the 11-year-old boy had to be assisted to walk out of the residence. He held onto a Bible and an envelope, which, according to the Police, contained pamphlets about death, which were distributed to the officers when they arrived at the residence. In a letter signed by the 11-year-old, and addressed to ‘Lawyers of Sauk County Circuit Court’, he wrote: “The hunger is too much. Please help me now so I may eat. I can’t continue in such a life with no food and If I don’t get food now I’ll probably die of hunger.”

 

He has been taken to the American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, and placed in protective custody. Speaking on the state of the Omosebi’s residence, Becker said: “The residence had no phone, no power, no food. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s tragic.”

 

Sauk County Circuit Judge Wendy J.N. Klicko set bail at $5,000 for Kehinde Omosebi, and ordered him to have no contact with his surviving son. An initial court hearing for Titilayo was delayed. However, both parents are said to be eating again, according to Becker.  Kehinde told Police that it wasn’t the first time the family would be involved in a religious fast, noting, however, that this was the longest and they were awaiting “blessing from God”. He also told the Police that the fast was supposed to end on Friday, the day his son died. Furthermore, he said they were moving to Atlanta, because God had directed him to. Titilayo also told the Police that they needed God’s blessing before relocating, just as she claimed the fasting began on July 19, while the boy said it began on July 20.

Sowing a Seed of Gratitude.

Some years back, after a Sunday morning Mass in Abuja, a young and a good looking lady walked up to me. She was holding a fat brown envelope. She handed the envelope to me and said I should please pray for her. I asked her about the content of the envelope and what particular intention would I be praying for? She told me that she started working just a month ago and that she came to thank the Lord and to offer the first fruit of her work for God’s blessings. What was in the envelope was her salary for that month. Her first salary. The entire money! Everything!

In all honesty, I was speechless not for lack of words but for being unable to know where to begin. Inside me I was like: do people still entrust everything they have to God in a child-like simplicity like this? I was really moved. In my heart, I said a prayer for her, that type of prayer that is deep down, it was as though it was the Holy Spirit Himself that was praying through me. I was feeling the answers to the prayers even before I finished praying. Then she knelt down, I laid my hands upon her and blessed her and the money. After prayers, I asked her to tell me how much was in the envelope. She said Eighty Thousand Naira. 

Then I asked,   “how much covers your transport to your work daily?”

She said “approximately N1,000 naira to and fro, Father.”

That means for 27 work days, it would be N27,000.

Then I spoke up again, “Sorry o, I am asking you too many questions, how much do you feed daily when you go to work?”

She answered “It depends. If I want to eat so well, I spend 800 naira with drinks, but mainly I spend just N500, and sometimes I carry food from home.”

So, I made the calculation in my head. Let say she spends 500 naira daily, 27 work days would be 13,500 naira. I went ahead to enquire about her accommodation and I discovered that she stayed alone in an apartment she just rented. We made the calculation by dividing the annual rent by 12 months and we discovered that if she was to pay rent monthly, it would be N12,500. Her monthly electricity and water bill with other fees for house maintenance was put at N10,000. On phone calls and data, we approximated it to be N5000 monthly. Her monthly DSTV subscription was around N3,600 for DSTV family bouquet. When you put all the expenses together and subtract it from the N80,000, she would be left with N8,400 to buy food stuffs and other things in the house. These are the expenses that she was sure to spend every month. We had not even talked about other things like make up, doing her hair, clothes, gifts to family and even savings. This was a huge sacrifice, in my judgment. I intentionally asked her those questions so as to ascertain the depth of her sacrifice.

I brought out the envelope, bless it for the second time and gave it to her. I looked at her countenance and I knew she was not too comfortable with my action. Then I took time to explain the Bible to her. That was when I discovered that so many people do not truly understand how God works. When God asks us for first fruit or for tithe or for any sacrifice, it is not so that He will eat it. No! He has no need of our money. When He asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, it was not because he liked seeing the blood of innocent children. When He asked Abel and Cain to make a sacrifice to Him, it was not because he ate fruit or even drank blood of rams. It is simply to test how committed we are, how willing are we to leave everything to Him. Do we, like Cain, select offerings that we no longer desire and give to Him or do we, like Abel, empty everything to Him?

This lady that brought the first fruit began to understand for the first time. Right from when she put the money in the envelope to bring to God, God had already accepted her offering. The minister must not spend the money. It is just that most of us ministers are unfortunately greedy. And we use God’s name to cover it up. We often see the part of scriptures that favor our stomach. Theologically, when you give to God, He transforms that gift and gives it back to you. The bread and wine people offer before mass are transformed to the body and blood of Christ and given back to the people to eat and drink. The son Isaac that Abraham gave to God, was transformed to be a channel that would bring forth the fulfillment of God’s promise and given back to Abraham. The offerings of bread and fish people brought were prayed upon and given back to them to eat and they were filled, still there was left over. The water they filled at the wedding in Cana is given back to them as wine. The Ugwu Kelvin that my parents offered to God, is given back to them as a priest. The money that the young lady brought to me as her first fruit is blessed and given back to her as pure gift from heaven.

-- By Rev.Fr.Ugwu Kelvin.

Thanking God for Jesus.

I woke up this morning thanking God for Jesus.

 

And why not? The whole world would have been a terrorized zone. Today, people with characteristics that were similar to those of the biblical Zachaeus, Mary Magdalen and others would have become outcasts, if not daily stoned to death on the orders of some "righteous" few. If not for Jesus, merry-making, all forms of drinks and the mere act of looking good would have been forbidden or totally decreed into nonexistence by the "holy" individuals among us.

 

Let's thank God for Jesus. He preached love and tolerance. He taught us to always "remove the logs of wood in our eyes before seeing the little specs in other people's eyes". He also  admonished "those of you who have 'never sinned' to cast the first stone" when sitting in judgement over other persons.

 

In essence, Jesus spent His lifetime preaching that we should let our individual consciences be our chambers of justice. He never wasted time or energy on outward appearances because His objective was to save our souls, not our bodies or adornments. And this is why the contents of our hearts are more important to Him than our bodies.

 

Yes, some Christians are into a life of miserable, dreadful and pathetic existence as proofs of their holiness...even though their hearts are filled with hatred, envy and all forms of negativity. But in all sincerity, Christianity doesn't have to be such a pain and neither does it have to be so suffocating. All thanks to Jesus.

On Staying Woke and Resisting Anxiety.



Everyone understands anxiety (well, many people do). And we even sometimes are able to conquer it, we know the signs...and as Christians we are well aware of what the Bible tells us about anxiety and worry. We know God is for us. We have read and read and read page after page in the Bible telling us who we are in Christ. In fact on some days we feel peaceful and free and content. And all of a sudden, the next minute or day, life happens. Anxiety creeps in and you have to start to adjust all over again.

Well, we have to continually guard against anxiety. To do this, we must renew our minds daily. In other words, we have to STAY WOKE. The truth is before we even set our feet on the ground each day, satan is going to try it. He will attempt to mess with our heads. Our minds. Our thoughts. Our feelings. Then enemy seeks to get us down. To destroy us. We are now aware of this. After all, in battle and in war, you must first understand the strategy of your opposition; of your enemy. Now that you do, what shall you do? 

RESIST. Learn to equip yourself with and arm yourself with the word of God. God has given us the authority to resist. Replace anxious thoughts with reassuring thoughts of God's words. We also have to get to the dwelling place with Jesus. Thereafter you will remain at peace despite what the day throws ahead of you. I didn't say that means you would have a completely easy day. It means you are clear headed, you are filled with peace, and most of all armed with wisdom to handle whatever happens. This is all tried and tested folks.

Part of that wisdom, for instance is picking your battles wisely. Don't let a bad five minutes destroy an entire day. Don't let an awful short conversation with an awful person affect your entire conversations for the rest of the day with decent people. Do whatever practical thing you need to do to protect your sanity. 

My motto for the remainder of 2017 is that Goodness and Mercy WILL follow me ALL the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord. In fact, I feel like my theme for the rest of the year is DWELL.  I will dwell and thrive in Christ. Look, the year might be close to being over, but it doesn't stop you from setting new themes and goals and resolutions. It shouldn't stop you from living as full as you can. Four months is a LONG time.  

"Those who dwell in the shelter of the most high will find REST in the shadow of the almighty." -Psalm 91:1. 

So yes, I will mostly be minding my business and dwelling for the rest of the year by God's grace. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses: "for I bear the mark of Christ, let NO ONE trouble me." As you can see, I plan on maintaining my peace while dwelling in God for the rest of this year and for the rest of my life even.  

Therefore as you go back to school, work, living fabulous, or whatever else rocks your boat, remember this: You will be okay. 

I sincerely hope I remember it as well. 

Courtesy of Ifeoluwa Olawole @ www.fivecoveredcolonnades.blogspot.com

The Myth of Christian Persecution.

Christians of all denominations maintain that the Early Church was widely persecuted. They state that in the first few centuries after the death of the Messiah, Christians were hunted, tortured and killed just for following Christ. This persecution is believed to have begun with the deaths of Stephen, the Apostles, and then the Christians persecuted under a long succession of cruel and vindictive Roman emperors.  

This history of early Christianity establishes Christianity as a religion of innocent sufferers; as a church beleaguered and under attack. In periods of crisis or perceived crisis Christians of all stripes have returned to this stereotype of the early church in order to find themselves and understand their experiences. This is true even today: during the debate over the HHS mandate last year, a Catholic Bishop said that President Obama was attacking Christians just like the Roman emperors, Hitler and Stalin had. In August 2011 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum publicly complained that the “gay community ... had gone out on a jihad” against him. In the course of the last election, similar statements were made by Mitt Romney, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly, to name but a few. 

This is not just a case of election-day banter or political nastiness. Just recently, Fox News host Todd Starnes accused NBC of persecuting Christians because of a skit that aired on Saturday Night Live. The accusation may appear flimsy, but the advertising boycott of NBC that resulted was not. The rhetorical power of persecution language is very real.

These evaluations of modern society and Christianity’s place in it trace themselves back to the early Church. Christianity is responsible for changing the way that we think about persecution. Were it not for the belief that early Christians were persecuted, Christian identity would not be so intimately linked to the experience of persecution. It is precisely for this reason that understanding the history is so important. 

 Intriguingly, when we look at the ancient evidence for the treatment of early Christians a very different picture emerges. The vast majority of our ancient sources for persecution in the first century were written in the second century and beyond. The stories about the deaths of the apostles, for instance, were written as late as a hundred years later and modeled on the fanciful genre of ancient romance novels.  

Even the earliest, most ostensibly trustworthy martyrdom stories have been edited and reworked. The authors of these accounts borrowed from ancient mythology, changed the details of events to make the martyrs appear more like Jesus, and made the Roman antagonists increasingly venomous. The motivations of these later authors and editors, who have gone unheralded by history but who shaped our understanding of the world, are arguably more fascinating than the martyrdom stories themselves. No doubt there are kernels of truth at the heart of some of some of the stories, but we do not have evidence of persecution. 

The Roman evidence is also ambiguous. If Nero did target Christians after the great fire of Rome in 64 C.E. — and the are good reasons for thinking he did not — his treatment of them stemmed less from a desire to harm Christians than it did from his need to deflect blame from himself. Ancient Romans who spread the story about Nero saw his actions as contemptible and unjust.

Archeological evidence reveals that on those occasions when Christians did die en masse it was the result of general legislation intended to defend and fortify the empire. Christians were not named directly in imperial legislation until the second half of the third century, and it was only from 303-305 C.E., in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, that we see anything resembling the brutal persecution of popular imagination. Christians did die. And Christians were occasionally persecuted, but should two years of persecution under Diocletian lead to nearly 2,000 years of Christian persecution complex?  

The idea that Christianity is persecuted and needs to defend itself from external and internal attack comes from the victorious Church of the fourth and fifth centuries and beyond. It is a story that has brought comfort to the suffering, sick and oppressed, but it is a story that was used — expanded, exaggerated and even invented — to exclude heretics, that legitimized great violence and that continues to disrupt civil discourse. And it precisely this — the effect that this inflated myth of persecution has had on modern politics and discourse — that makes it imperative that we get our facts straight. 

When disagreement and dissent are conflated with persecution, dialogue, collaboration and even compassion become impossible. You cannot reason with your persecutors, you have to fight them. If persecution becomes a badge of honor and a sign of moral superiority then what reason is there to try and persuade others of one’s arguments? Framed by the myth that we are persecuted, dialogue is not only impossible; it is undesirable. Moreover, it overshadows actual persecution. Christians around the world endure violence and oppression today. But those experiences are overshadowed by complaints that conflate disputes over lawmaking with persecution. If persecution language is not reserved for situations of actual persecution, then unspeakable violence becomes indescribable. Disagreement becomes martyrdom and martyrdom becomes disagreement.

Courtesy: Candida Moss (Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame and the author of ‘The Myth of Persecution’).

On Justice and the Kind of Life God Wants.

I recently found this gem the other day and thought to share. While it's particularly important for Christians, I also think it's something everyone should consider. So it is from the book of Isaiah in the Bible. Basically, God told the prophet Isaiah to pass on a message to the Israelites. The Israelites always acted very pious, God said. They would go the Temple every day and even seem happy to learn about God. They carried themselves as though they would never abandon God and like they wanted to be near Him. And when there was silence from him, they would protest: 

we have fasted! 

we have been really hard on ourselves; denied ourselves of life's pleasures just to please you! 

why are you NOT impressed, huh? 

why do you act like you don't notice? 

Sounds familiar? I bet it does. You are fasting and praying. You serve in Church. You can quote the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. You can preach the devil back to hell. So what's up? Why does God not notice it?  

Well that's because while you are fasting, you are exploiting and oppressing your workers. While you are fasting, you are fighting with the whole world, and keeping malice. So you do the rites, and fast for 150 of the 365 days in the year. But God is like, nah, that kind of fasting will get you nowhere. That kind of lifestyle really doesn't please him. What kind of fasting does he want, you ask. 

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help." -  Isaiah 58: 6-7. 

If you go on in that passage, it continues to say "THEN..." meaning after you do all of the above, will you experience true healing;

will your godliness lead you forward;

will the glory of God protect you. It is THEN that the Lord will quickly (it specifies) answer your call. 

When you feed the hungry, and help those in trouble, your light will shine out. 

In other words, less of you and more of others. We can see that justice, mercy, and compassion matter to God a lot. And again, we see that hypocrisy really irritates God. I'll give another instance; this time in the new testament. Jesus was dragging the Pharisees and calling them hypocrites and stuff. And then he mentioned how they do everything right, they were careful to tick all the boxes. They would even tithe the tiniest income they earned. BUT, they would ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. I'm not even kidding, Jesus called those the MORE IMPORTANT [THAN TITHE] aspects of the law. He then reiterated that while tithing was and would always be important, justice, mercy, and faith were more important. 

Coincidentally, I was just joking with my dad and sister recently that while no one person can be angry about all injustices, it's important and dare I say, it's our responsibility to care about justice. There has to be something; one thing you care about. Pick that one thing and run with it, in whatever capacity you can.

Is it giving the less privileged? Maybe this year instead of another useless birthday photo-shoot, you can instead ask your friends to give on your behalf?

Someone on Twitter once suggested calling your local school (board) and asking to offset some lunch debt for kids.

Maybe it's your time you can give: to your own family, your friends. Something...just remember God really cares about it.  Also remember you can't just consistently live for yourself and yourself alone. 

Courtesy: Ifeoluwa Olawole.

The Best Sermons are the Ones Left Unspoken.

A member of the church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. 

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. 

The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up the rightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent. 

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time  to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.'

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

An Incurable Stupidity Among Christians.

Beware of the Fake Preachers.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” – 2 Timothy 4 (3-4).

Tithing and Today’s Christendom.

I’m a Christian. I accept that tithing is encouraged by both the Old Testament and the New Testament in the Bible. And I believe in tithing. I however don’t believe in the interpretations given to tithing in today’s Christendom. It’s not written anywhere that tithing must be performed before God can answer prayers. And neither is it written anywhere that the only way to enter the kingdom of God is through tithing. It is an expression of gratitude to God but definitely not the only way to thank God for His blessings, protection and grace. Therefore, there is no reason for pastors to turn it into a decree that must be obeyed by their congregations. God actually prefers and indeed, encourages us to give whatever we can afford and, in a cheerful manner too. These days however, many of the so-called new generation pastors have turned tithing into a compulsion. They make it look like God has a bank account that must be filled with money at every turn. The fact however remains that the pastors are more interested in piling a lot of cash into their churches’ coffers for their own personal purposes.  

The urge to tithe needs to come from the heart of the giver, and not by coercion or some subtle emotional blackmail as is being practiced by many pastors in the modern-day Christendom. As if he already knew what those “Pentecostal” pastors would do after he must have departed the sinful earth, Jesus Christ is known to have denounced the Pharisees not really for tithing but for not observing and practicing the principle of justice, fairness and mercy while tithing. Jesus admonished them thus: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 (ESV). 

These days, the scribes and Pharisees of old have been replaced by scam artists, corrupt politicians, drug dealers, thieves and sundry criminals whose sources of wealth are filled with dirt. And unlike Jesus, today’s “new generation” pastor is only interested in having his church’s bank account filled with money so that his personal desires can be taken care of with such money. They don’t care about the behaviors or the givers’ sources of money. The so-called men of God are always being presented with cash, expensive gifts of cars and air planes while turning a blind eye to the atrocities of the givers. And, in turn, the pastors pay and bless their benefactors unashamedly while completely ignoring the poor people who sincerely give their “widow’s mite”. Fortunately, it’s God that decides who gets blessed, not some mere mortals that parade themselves as “men of God”.

Let's Thank God for Jesus.

Let's thank God for Jesus. He preached love and tolerance. He taught us to always "remove the logs of wood in our eyes before seeing the little specs in other people's eyes". He also  admonished "those of you who have 'never sinned' to cast the first stone" when sitting in judgment over other persons.  

In essence, Jesus spent His lifetime preaching that we should let our individual consciences be our chambers of justice. He never wasted time or energy on outward appearances because His objective was to save our souls, not our bodies or adornments. And this is why the contents of our hearts are more important to Him than our bodies.

Yes, some Christians are into a life of miserable, dreadful and pathetic existence as proofs of their holiness...even though their hearts are filled with hatred, envy and all forms of negativity. But in all sincerity, Christianity doesn't have to be such a pain and neither does it have to be so suffocating.

All thanks to Jesus.



Religious Posturing.

"Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father" (Matthew 7:21). 

We’re Seeing Things That Even Sodom and Gomorrah Didn’t See.

"So here’s what it means," he said.  "In the same day when you see culture falling away from the ways of God, you’re going to see departure from the state of being: Man departing from the state of manhood, women departing from the state of womanhood, marriage departing from the state of marriage, family from the state of family -- all these things we are watching." - Rabbi Cahn.

 

Commenting on the decadence of Western civilization and the political turmoil in the Middle East, Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn said "we're in end times" and this is clear because there has never been "a falling away" from faith and morality "to this degree." He added, "we're seeing things that even Sodom and Gomorrah didn't see." 

"We're seeing things that are unprecedented," said Cahn, a New York Times best-selling author, who stressed that the "falling away" does not just mean a turning away from God but a situation where man turns away from his own being and pursues that which is unnatural and contrary to reason and order. 

“Apostasia, in Greek, doesn’t just mean a falling away from faith," said Cahn on the Sept. 29 edition of The Blaze, hosted by Glenn Beck.  "It literally means a departure from the state of being."

"So here’s what it means," he said.  "In the same day when you see culture falling away from the ways of God, you’re going to see departure from the state of being: Man departing from the state of manhood, women departing from the state of womanhood, marriage departing from the state of marriage, family from the state of family -- all these things we are watching." 

"You want to know the reason why we're hearing all these things, why the news, the blending of gender, and all of these things?" said Cahn.  "It goes right to the word that was hidden 2,000 years ago." 

Host Glenn Beck then interjected, “People have been looking for – because you believe we’re heading towards the literal apocalypse? – what do you say to people who say, ‘John, there’s been a falling away a million times’?"

Cahn first said, "we're in end times, yes," and then continued, "We’ve never seen a falling away to this degree. We’re seeing things that even Sodom and Gomorrah didn’t see. We’re seeing things that are unprecedented." 

"On top of that, the key sign that was given that you’ll know, is that when you see Israel come back into the world – that’s it, never happened before – and for 2,000 years the church said, ‘not going to happen!’" remarked Cahn. But God said it would happen. Jesus said, I’m not coming until it does happen." 

"So, 1948, back in the world," said the Messianic rabbi. "Then it says Jerusalem – 1967?  It says the world will focus on Israel, there will be a controversy. We’re watching it.”

Courtesy: Michael W. Chapman and cnsnews.com