THE CALLED-OUT-ONES, HOW CONSECRATED ARE THEY?
It is not a bogus claim to say that, a great percentage of professing Christians today are yet to experience the power of the gospel; in cases where they have, they are either carnal, lukewarm or backsliders, all because they fail to understand what this ‘Christianity thing’ is all about and also what the church represents.
The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ which is translated church simply means “the called-out-ones”-those who have had their sins forgiven because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ at Calvary. So, if the church is the called-out-ones, the question now is, where are we called out from? And to who are we called out to serve? We were called out of darkness (save from the penalty, power and future presence of sin) into His marvelous light (saved for God’s purpose and placed in His family-the church in which we express the likeness of His Son).
Believers are called unto consecration-unto God and unto holiness. By the way, consecration means to devote, separate, dedicate; give wholly over to God (Ex 28: 3, 4, 41; 29: 9, 33-35). So, how consecrated is the called-out-ones? Are we saved for nothing? Are we Christians by profession and not by character and practice? If Christianity is the life Christ in human person; I ask you, is Christ living in you? Enough of Churchianity and religiosity! If we have truly receive the life of Christ as we claim, then; where is holiness, where is purity, where is the righteousness of God that teachers us to say no to all form of ungodliness (Titus 2:11-15)?
Believers are the light of the world. Therefore, “let us live as children of light- for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Eph 5:8,9). Paul the Apostle in 2Cor 6:14-7:1, enjoined every believer in Christ not to be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Brethren the truth is that we cannot enjoy the two worlds at a time, no not at all- you will either stand for God or against Him. Let us therefore cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.
Finally beloved as you go through the month of November do not fail for whatsoever reason, “to present your bodies as a living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God.” This is the best service anyone can offer God- reason being that anything you do for God without holiness is frivolous and tantamount to nothing. Make up your mind even this month to do nothing else but to seek God out of a ‘pure heart’, because he who has called us is holy, we too must be holy for without holiness no eyes shall see God.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
ARE YOU INFORMED?
By Emeka Anyaogu
I was listening to a radio programme one day and I heard the presenter says: “He who is not informed is deformed”. My friends, have you heard? Are you informed? What is the percentage of your information gathering?
Information is life. The different between great men an ordinary people is the level of their information gathering. Study the life of great achievers; you will realize that they have one thing in common. They hunger and thirst for information. Take for example Bill Gates, the man who is said to be the richest man in the entire world for several years. He was a student of the prestigious Harvard University. While he was there he committed his allowance to buying computer books and magazines. Thanks to his investment in information! When he dropped out of Harvard he became a phenomenon in the world of computer software. What about Mark Zeckerberg, the creator of facebook? It was his zeal to create a platform where information could be exchange between fellows student at Harvard that made him a billionaire at 25. He had to drop out of Harvard to pursue his vision when he realized how well information could sell.
Have you seen how important information is? Are you now prepared to avail yourself the necessary information tools to change your course in life? Get informed! He who is not informed is deformed. Whatever you are today - be you a student, a business person, an employee, a brick layer or a writer, source for information. You can do this by reading newspapers, books, magazines, watching television and listening to radio programmes that will help broaden your mind on relevant issues, and above all take advantage of internet. The internet is the information super highway, the easiest and fastest way to source for information. Just a click will take you to information super market.
Thanks to the advent of GSM in our country. You don’t need to go to a cyber café before you can access the internet. If you have a wap enabled phone (most camera phones are wap enabled), you need to activate it with your network provider so that it will serve as your information gateway. With it you can google anything on the net, access your facebook account and get the latest happenings among your friends fold.
The Youth Ministries have created a group called Pinnacle Youth on facebook. That is where you can get the latest information about the activities of the youth ministries. If you are on facebook and have not joined that group, you are missing a lot. Better go and hook up, a lot of things are happening there! There are other groups from the church that you can also join, such as AG Connect, Youth Alive, Law of Success, etc. You will be doing yourself a whole lot of good if you join these groups because powerful stuffs are being posted there.
We in the Praise Family know the relevance of information in the present age that is why we are publishing this news letter. We want to be using it as a medium to pass information across to you. You can send us feed back anytime. Remain blessed.
Emeka Anyaogu is a member of Praise Family
To read more of his writings visit:
www.deyamman.blogspot.com
deyamman@yahoo.com
I was listening to a radio programme one day and I heard the presenter says: “He who is not informed is deformed”. My friends, have you heard? Are you informed? What is the percentage of your information gathering?
Information is life. The different between great men an ordinary people is the level of their information gathering. Study the life of great achievers; you will realize that they have one thing in common. They hunger and thirst for information. Take for example Bill Gates, the man who is said to be the richest man in the entire world for several years. He was a student of the prestigious Harvard University. While he was there he committed his allowance to buying computer books and magazines. Thanks to his investment in information! When he dropped out of Harvard he became a phenomenon in the world of computer software. What about Mark Zeckerberg, the creator of facebook? It was his zeal to create a platform where information could be exchange between fellows student at Harvard that made him a billionaire at 25. He had to drop out of Harvard to pursue his vision when he realized how well information could sell.
Have you seen how important information is? Are you now prepared to avail yourself the necessary information tools to change your course in life? Get informed! He who is not informed is deformed. Whatever you are today - be you a student, a business person, an employee, a brick layer or a writer, source for information. You can do this by reading newspapers, books, magazines, watching television and listening to radio programmes that will help broaden your mind on relevant issues, and above all take advantage of internet. The internet is the information super highway, the easiest and fastest way to source for information. Just a click will take you to information super market.
Thanks to the advent of GSM in our country. You don’t need to go to a cyber café before you can access the internet. If you have a wap enabled phone (most camera phones are wap enabled), you need to activate it with your network provider so that it will serve as your information gateway. With it you can google anything on the net, access your facebook account and get the latest happenings among your friends fold.
The Youth Ministries have created a group called Pinnacle Youth on facebook. That is where you can get the latest information about the activities of the youth ministries. If you are on facebook and have not joined that group, you are missing a lot. Better go and hook up, a lot of things are happening there! There are other groups from the church that you can also join, such as AG Connect, Youth Alive, Law of Success, etc. You will be doing yourself a whole lot of good if you join these groups because powerful stuffs are being posted there.
We in the Praise Family know the relevance of information in the present age that is why we are publishing this news letter. We want to be using it as a medium to pass information across to you. You can send us feed back anytime. Remain blessed.
Emeka Anyaogu is a member of Praise Family
To read more of his writings visit:
www.deyamman.blogspot.com
deyamman@yahoo.com
PRAISE NEWS REPORT
By Anyaogu Emeka
Praise Family day has come and gone but the memory will not be forgotten in a hurry. This is because the day was full of life challenging and imparting features. The opening prayer was prompt and direct to the point as Bro. Benjamin Anwana led the session and asked the Holy Spirit to take control of the service. The Holy Spirit indeed took control right from the time Bro. Sam Akhigbe lead the congregation in praise and worship,which was followed by special rendition by Bro. Nnamdi Bonny and Sis. Favor Ezuma which set the floor for the guest minister to mount the podium.
At exactly 7:25pm the Praise Family leader, Bro.Okechi-Gospel Okereke invited the guest speaker, Evangelist Nkem Chima to the podium to do justice to the topic, “Today Christians and the Age of Moral Decadence”. It was a challenging message that prompted a number of questions from the audience. There won’t not be enough space to highlight all the points in this publication, but one of the issues raised was that today Christians are warring against a “Trinity of Enemy” that is, the devil, the world and the flesh. To win this battle therefore, the speaker stressed the need for the Church to raise an army that will fight against moral decadence, both in the church and the society at large. Meanwhile the message is still available on audio CDs for purchase (See Praise Family Excos).
Other activities that added spices to the day include the sharing of Praise Focus, (a monthly publication of Praise Family), a pen and a sheet of paper each for participants to jot down points during the teaching. To crown it all, after the spiritual food there was physical food to nourish the physical body. Personally, I was fed both spiritually and physically. Indeed, it was a memorable day. Thanks to the Almighty God, and to all members Praise Family.
Praise Family day has come and gone but the memory will not be forgotten in a hurry. This is because the day was full of life challenging and imparting features. The opening prayer was prompt and direct to the point as Bro. Benjamin Anwana led the session and asked the Holy Spirit to take control of the service. The Holy Spirit indeed took control right from the time Bro. Sam Akhigbe lead the congregation in praise and worship,which was followed by special rendition by Bro. Nnamdi Bonny and Sis. Favor Ezuma which set the floor for the guest minister to mount the podium.
At exactly 7:25pm the Praise Family leader, Bro.Okechi-Gospel Okereke invited the guest speaker, Evangelist Nkem Chima to the podium to do justice to the topic, “Today Christians and the Age of Moral Decadence”. It was a challenging message that prompted a number of questions from the audience. There won’t not be enough space to highlight all the points in this publication, but one of the issues raised was that today Christians are warring against a “Trinity of Enemy” that is, the devil, the world and the flesh. To win this battle therefore, the speaker stressed the need for the Church to raise an army that will fight against moral decadence, both in the church and the society at large. Meanwhile the message is still available on audio CDs for purchase (See Praise Family Excos).
Other activities that added spices to the day include the sharing of Praise Focus, (a monthly publication of Praise Family), a pen and a sheet of paper each for participants to jot down points during the teaching. To crown it all, after the spiritual food there was physical food to nourish the physical body. Personally, I was fed both spiritually and physically. Indeed, it was a memorable day. Thanks to the Almighty God, and to all members Praise Family.
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