WAS HE BAPTISED IN WATER?

 WAS HE BAPTISED IN WATER?

The condemned criminal that was on the cross with Jesus Christ; was he baptised in water? 

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."  Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:39-43NIV

The first question in the bible was asked by the devil and having witnessed how questions easily disorganize mankind, all through the ages he has continued to exploit it to confuse people. I don’t mean to say that asking questions is wrong but my point is that we ought to sound the spirit behind the question. Each time a movement will arise to attack the Church of Jesus Christ, they will start by raising doubt about the things we believe and they do this by raising questions. Unfortunately, these questions take the Church unprepared and while Christian leaders are scampering about in their confusion, the enemy has done the intended damage. Our congregants are already confused and attacking their leaders. Many souls have been lost because of this.

One of such questions that has been exploited is to condemn the practice of immersion baptism. The case of the condemned criminal who was crucified alongside the Lord Jesus Christ was used to question the justification of water baptism. The opponents of the Church doctrine of baptism argue that if immersion baptism were that important, why the Lord took the man directly to heaven without asking that he should be baptised first.

Let me first point out that The Lord reserves the sovereign will to take anyone to heaven without following the regular rules. Even in our country’s constitution, it is referred to as exceptions to the rule of law. Not long ago Joe Biden the president of America gave presidential pardon to some convicted criminals, which absorbed them from being punished for the said offences by any court in the USA. In the face of that there are still people serving jail terms for the same crimes. In the same way, the Lord could take anyone to heaven without immersion baptism or any other responsibility as required from Christians.

Having said that, we need to face the question, “Is it possible that the criminal in question was baptised in water?” Yes, if the Lord Himself demanded that believers should be baptised in water when they believed in Him, could it be that the man in question had been baptised? Mark16:15-16

On the surface, we could just say that it was not possible because the three men on the cross that day all died the same day. It was a capital punishment. However, let us allow the bible to answer this question.

The Tone of Familiarity.

There is what I refer to as a tone of familiarity in their discussion; that means that they all knew each other before they met on the cross of Calvary. If we consider the manner the two criminals addressed each other, there is no doubt that they knew each other before that day.

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.

It is obvious that they undertook the same criminal venture for which they were being punished and it is possible that they were together in that same crime when they caught. When the second man spoke, the first criminal became silent and it is safe to conclude that his conscience pricked him and we are not told if he was led to repentance.

Let us now concentrate on the second criminal who is our object of discussion. 

He said something that suggests that he knew much about God, Jesus Christ and the truth.

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," 

For the people of that age and especially among the Jews, this is a very strong word and not many religious people would use that phrase. If the Jewish leaders feared God, they would not have handed Jesus Christ over to be killed in exchange for Barabbas, who was a criminal. If they feared God they would not could up false charges against Him. The fear of God is beyond religion but a thing of purity of heart and devotion to God’s purpose.

Apostle had this to say about himself and his ministry team,

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 2 Cor 5:11NIV

As it is today, Apostle Paul pointed out that in those days the virtue of the fear of God was not common. Yet, the condemned criminal knew what it is to fear God.

His sense of judgment is another thing; unlike most men then and today, he had a sound sense of fair judgment. He never claimed innocence but accepted his sentence. Unlike the other criminal, he was not going to manipulate the Lord Jesus Christ to free him from his deserved punishment. If the Lord released the unrepentant criminal, he will yet return to crime. However, the good criminal said it was justice for him to die.

He knew Jesus Christ by name and respected His office as one who could save his soul eternally. Take note of the reverence in his tone;

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

He knew that Jesus Christ was innocent. He might not have known it as then that the Lord was hanging on that cross for his sin and that of the whole world. Someone said that it was not nails that held Jesus Christ on that cross but the love He had for people like that criminal.

He knew that Jesus Christ had a kingdom. Besides the demons and very few of His followers, that knowledge was not common. However, this man knew that Jesus Christ had a kingdom that was not of this earth and he believed in that kingdom and wanted to be part of the kingdom. He asked the Lord to remember when He returned in His kingdom.

He knew and believed that Jesus Christ had the power to take anyone to His kingdom and even a condemned criminal like himself. Therefore, he specifically asked that the Lord should remember him when He returned in His kingdom.

He knew that even though the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the same location with them, death had no power over Him. He was sure that even if the Lord died on that cross, He was going to rise again. This was not a common knowledge then and even today.

He knew and believed that even in death, his soul was safe in the hands of Jesus Christ and he did all he could to establish a transaction in that regard.

All these point to one thing, this man was a believer in Jesus Christ who fell away and back to his former sins. He was among those who at one time stopped following the Lord.

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:66NIV

If this man was among the early converts of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no reason to doubt that he was baptised.

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. John 4:1-2NIV

There was nothing like baptismal classes then and the bible was clear about that.

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day Acts 2:41NIV

Since he met all the requirements for baptism,

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Rom 10:9-10NIV

In conclusion, it is safer to follow bible evidence and doctrine than the opinion of men whose only interest is to destabilize the Body of Christ. Like I mentioned earlier, the Lord had the absolute power to take whomever He wished directly to heaven, but all the indicators from scripture show that, before their meeting on the cross of Calvary,  this brother was already a believer in Jesus Christ who fell away from faith. 

We have a similar instance in the case of Peter; before they met in Luke Chapter 5:1-5, they had met in John1:41.

To know more about the doctrine of baptism you can ask for my books, BAPTISM AS A TOOL FOR TOTAL DELIVERANCE,  and

DIVINE REVELATION AND POWER OF WATER BAPTISM 

They are available as soft copy PDF on PNUR Bookstore.  +2349092862555, +2348035724526

school4deliverance@gmail.com 

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

DISINFECT YOUR SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE WITH PRAYER

 Disinfect your spiritual atmosphere with prayer

They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off Ps 118:12NIV

As a small boy, I used to hear accounts of people who died because fish bone caught them in the throat while eating. I asked my wife, Joy, why we do not hear such stories anymore these days. Her response was straightforward, those people died by spiritual enchantment from witches and wizards. The natural person will think that it was the bone but it was through satanic attacks.

Then I wondered why do they not happen anymore these? The Lord answered me, “Prayers of believers floating in the atmosphere. When believers pray they disinfect the atmosphere, and agents of darkness and demons are restricted in their movements”. A woman in my neighborhood tried her best to force me out of the present location of Door of Hope Christian Centre. When her husband confronted her in my presence on why she was antagonizing me, she replied, “Every time prayer, prayer. They won’t allow someone to rest”. She tried many other things but by the mercies of God, she failed. She was later exposed to be a wicked person and her husband sent her away,

Witches, wizards and all the agents of satan hate prayers because prayed-over-atmospheres obstruct and inhibit their activities. Merely repeating, “The Blood Jesus Christ” several times is a great hindrance to their operations. Beware of any person who is always complaining about praying people. He maybe an agent of the devil.

While in Bamenda in Cameroon in 2016, in the midnight, I noticed some weird noise in the neighborhood I stayed. They sounded like a crowd of birds and made noise like swarming bees but I knew these were not birds or bees but witches and wizards conglomerating. Nobody in that neighborhood knew my true identity; even my landlord believed me when I told him that I was just another Igbo businessman. But that night I could not keep my identity secret anymore. I went into warfare prayers confronting those spiritual elements. I sent the Holy Ghost fire to scatter them. I bound the demons working with them and clipped their wings so they cannot fly away. My first intention was to punish them for venturing into that territory before I released them. By daybreak, my neighbors were coming around to take a closer look at my face. I learned from them that they had been under the oppression of those spiritual wicked forces. Till the day I left that place, those wicked spiritual invaders never returned again.

In the name of the Lord I cut them off.

2006 while yet new in Port Harcourt city, my family moved into a new house and we were very happy that our landlady was a believer who hosted House Fellowship for a popular deliverance ministry in her house. In our first night there we noticed movements in the atmosphere at about 1am in the night. Joy and I stood up in prayer to take charge of the spiritual traffic of that neighborhood. We declared a “No-Fly-Zone” over the area and we sent the Holy Ghost fire to torture all those spiritual elements. The next day my “prayer warrior landlady” went to enquire from the woman who brought me the manner of pastor that I was. The godly woman replied, “I told you that he is a pastor”.  I had to learn that my landlady was a witch operating under cover in that deliverance ministry. She returned the money I paid her and gave me time to leave. 

Don’t be fooled by outward appearances.

Sometime in 1998, I was living in a suburban neighborhood and often noticed that witches and wizards were having free movement in that area. The Lord showed me that a woman and her daughter were witches and they moved in and out every night. My neighbors were complaining about all manner of witchcraft attacks raging from lacerations on their skins and other attacks. I marched around my neighborhood announcing loudly that I was going to lock the spiritual atmosphere and that I would not be responsible for any harm that befalls anyone who ventured out for witchcraft meetings, because the person will not be able to return. I noticed this woman making face at me, implying that I was talking nonsense. People around avoided her and her daughter because if you challenged them by day, they will punish you at night. About one week after, it was reported that her daughter had died in her sleep. They did not want me to know and they buried her quietly. Unfortunately, the mother did not show any sign of remorse and soon died too.

As a person of prayer, it is your responsibility to provide spiritual cover to your family and neighbors.

A church that is in a neighboring town to Owerri City, was interrupted in the middle of a hot prayer session by a loud sound on their roof. When they rushed out, they saw a half-naked man falling from the roof. He confessed that he was a wizard on a journey and he tried to fly over the church building against the advice of the others that were flying with him. When our bible believing churches begin to pray, we can take charge of the atmosphere.

Prayer is a spiritual disinfectant. Learn to disinfect your home and neighborhood with warfare prayers once in a while. If you notice that the emotional atmosphere in your home is inexplicably tense, for the benefit of doubt, bind demons that maybe floating in the atmosphere. If your child screams from her sleep, for the benefit of doubt, bind all witches and wizards oppressing your child. If there is inexplicable financial difficulty in your family or business, for the benefit of doubt, go into warfare prayers and release your finances from every satanic altar. If you notice that you are inexplicably depressed or sick, do the same. If you just begin to feel uncomfortable at the mention of fasting and prayers, bind the demons trying to separate you from the power of God.

Finally, if you have anyone around you that always talks against praying people or churches, the person is a suspect. Address him as an agent of the devil in your prayer until he proves otherwise.

You can download powerful prayer collections from our website. 

You can also buy some of my books;

 Confronting Witchcraft in the Neighborhood.

Origin of Complex Spiritual Problems. Prayers That Bring Results Vol. 1 and 2. 

We have a lot of spiritual resources that can help you develop your spiritual life on our website. 

You can also connect with me on WhatsApp +2348035724526

I will love to hear from you. 

Remain in the place of prayer 

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

DON'T DARE THE ANOINTING

 The Life and Ministry of Prophet Elisha 6

DON’T DARE THE ANOINTING

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 2 Kings 2:23-24NIV

Elisha was returning from a place of supernatural encounter. It is possible that these young people knew Elisha before now but the person walking past today is not the person they used to mess around. He was carrying the anointing; he was carrying the spirit that was upon Elijah and they ought not to treat him the same way anymore. Perhaps he was your son or younger brother; you ought to recognize the change. If he is your husband, you need to understand that this man is the Lord’s anointed. Some theologians are still wondering if the punishment on these youths was not to the extreme but they died all the same. We have another record how some soldiers had addressed Elijah irreverently and he called down fire from heaven to destroy them.

At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says, 'Come down at once!'" "If I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men. 2 Kings 1:11-12NIV

Another captain who had the same assignment, rank and authority had better manners than the first two and his life was spared.

So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. "Man of God," he begged, "please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!" 2 Kings 1:13-14NIV

You can debate all you want but those who died by the fire of judgment are gone and the best thing for us is to watch our behaviour when we are around or before anointed servants of God. 

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 2 Cor 2:15-16NIV

The same anointing that brings salvation, healing, deliverance and revelation can harm those who treat the anointed irreverently. It does not matter whether the anointed is poor or rich; the hand of God is upon him. It does not matter whether he is educated or ignorant, I advise you to be careful what you do with him. God did not consult you before He anointed him and it will be to your interest not to draw the anger of the Lord’s anointed. I warn my children never to lie to me while looking at my face. It does not matter if I am their father or not; I carry the anointing. Peter was so anointed that his shadow drove out demons and healed the sick, but some church folks felt they could still play around him.

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?  Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Acts 5:3-5NIV

You may not like the way and manner Peter passed judgment on them but they were dead and buried. You may even argue that Peter was in the flesh when he passed the judgment, my advice is that you do not try what they did, or you may end up the same way. I am not saying this in defence of anointed servants of God but as a personal witness of how the anointing on a man can harm those who treat him with disrespect.

In my early days in the ministry, I organized a crusade in Avu Market Square. Avu is in Owerri West Local Government Area in Imo State, Nigeria; I think it was a four days crusade and it fell within the Christmas festive period. The young people in the community would not let me be. They kept disrupting my message with their fireworks, what we call “knock-Out”. They would throw it into the air and in the midst of people. They were disrupting my program. I did not like that and I believe God did not like it too. My plea with them to leave the venue of the crusade if they were not interested in the gospel fell on deaf ears. Then I said something like, “If the person throwing those things thinks that he is fearless let him try and throw that Knock-Out again”.

I heard some jeering sound that suggested that they meant that I couldn’t do anything. Afterward, there was a sharp scream and an accompanying reaction from the crowd, and everywhere became quiet. Since they were not close to me, I did not know what happened. I finished my crusade and went home. It was after a long time I learnt what actually caused the young men to leave the crusade venue. One of the young men still ventured to throw a “knock-out” into the air and in the view of those standing nearby, fire came down from heaven, following the direction of the “knock-out” and damaged his hand. He screamed home. Yes, you read me right; fire fell from heaven to punish the young man that was disrupting the crusade.

On my first assignment as an in-house evangelist, the president of the organization who was a medical doctor gave me an assignment. The organization had a hospital and a ministry centre. He told me to pray and loose an eighteen-seater bus in the ministry premises because he believed it was under witchcraft monitoring. He said that anytime they tried to put it out for business, it would breakdown and they ended up incurring more expenses to repair it.

After my personal prayer, the Lord told me that my president was not faithful to Him. He had asked God to give him a bus for the purpose of evangelism. When the vehicle came, he put it out as a commercial bus. The Lord sent another vehicle and he diverted it again as hospital ambulance. The Lord told me that, it was not witches that held the vehicle but He the giver had locked it up.

This response did not go down well with my president and one thing led to the other. I was young and crude with my approach to spiritual matters. I am sorry to say that, but I am among those that the anointing on them makes to appear arrogant. Once I am sure of my position with God, I cared little how others felt about my position. One day he told me that he will deal with me and I felt that was going too far. I immediately responded, “If you try it, my God will deal with you.”

He pointed to my face and said, “Look at the person calling God.”

I was mad. I said, “Did you point at my face and say that? How dare you?”

He was a witness when the dead came back to life when I prayed over them. He had profited from women whose womb the Lord unlocked when they could not deliver safely in his clinic. He was witness to the miracles that happened in his ministry through my ministration. How can he now say I was not qualified to mention God’s name. He could only say so if I betrayed a trust but I did not. I walked away. The next day, that ambulance had an accident and was damaged beyond repair and while he was talking about that, robbers went and stole his private vehicle that was parked in his garage. In the space of one week, my president saw his world going down. Someone heard him screaming, “Evangelist Emma Nwosu has finished me!”

If you are God’s anointed, do not let folks make you forget whom you are because of one circumstance or the other. I do not take that from anyone. They were calling Elisha bald-headed fellow; why must they? 

Under some unpleasant circumstances, my family was forced to move from where I lived at central Port Harcourt City that we call Main Town to an area called Rukpoku also within Port Harcourt metropolis. I had a church in both locations and had to preach first message at Rukpoku and then move over to the church in Town for the second message. They were about ten kilometres apart. It was not easy and I did not have a car and with very little available funds. The distance was such that I needed to take three to four different vehicles before I could walk to the location of our church in Town.

One of the Sundays, one of the taxis I took had a breakdown after I had paid him. He handed me over to another taxi since the distance was not much. When I alighted, the driver asked me for another payment and I tried to explain to him that I had paid the driver that handed me over to him. He insisted that I must at least give him extra money, to which I refused. This man took hold of my shirt in the view of many watchers. He grabbed me in the open there and time was running out on me. My church location was not far from that place and even my enemies bore witness to the great manifestation of the power of God in my ministry. I really pity preachers who are not carrying the anointing.

A man shouted at the driver, “Are you Ok? You are holding Pastor Emma’s cloth?” The man was adamant until someone gave him the money he requested. I hurried to my service. Three Sundays after a driver drove his car very fast, to where I was standing and asked me to enter. The same driver who molested me the other time. He was begging me to forgive him for the manner he behaved last time. He said he had suffered greatly since then and never made any extra money since then. He was out this Sunday morning pleading with God to make him to meet me. When he dropped me this time, he did not want money from me but just my prayers.

There could be some people reading this today who had corrupted their life because of the way they treated the Lord’s anointed. In some cases, the anointed could be wrong, just like Noah who got drunk and lay naked. You dare not treat him without respect. Learn a lesson from David,

Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives," he said, "the Lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. 1 Sam 26:9-11NIV

Avoid the temptation of mocking his weaknesses and daring to prove that he is not holy enough to serve God. This is the root cause of many troubles some are suffering from today. 

Having read thus far, if you think you once drew a curse into your life because of the way you treated a servant of God, I suggest you contact me for special prayers.

TO BE CONTINUED

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

The Mantle and the Responsibility

 _The Life and Ministry of Prophet Elisha 4_ 

 *The Mantle and the Responsibility.* 

The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him 2 Kings 2:15NIV

The mantle of Elijah falling into the hands of Elisha implied the power and authority of Elijah passed over to Elisha. That was what the sons of the prophets recognized and went to pay respect to Elisha. At this point, it is necessary that we correct an interpretation to a scripture that has often been presented out of context.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied 2 Kings 2:9NIV

This discussion does not mean that Elisha wanted to be twice as anointed as Elijah was. Instead, it meant that he was asking for the right of the firstborn among the sons of the prophet that were under Elijah.

He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him. Deut 21:17NIV

In the other of precedence among the other sons of the prophet, Elisha was not the first, hence Elijah said that he asked for a difficult thing as that decision made publicly could stir problem among his disciples.

Having cleared that, it is important we understand that assuming the place of leadership ought not to be about the material gains and privileges attached to the high office. Christian leaders should be concerned instead about how they can effectively help their followers to achieve the divine purpose for the organization. Unfortunately, most of the conflicts we see in our midst are driven by selfishness and not because of the desire to serve God. Most church break-ups are as the result of people who want to hold to or draw followers after themselves. 

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them Acts 20:29-30NIV

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Eph 4:14NIV

A lot of, so-called higher revelation teachings we hear today are driven by ungodly ambition of bible teachers to outdo other Christian leaders and that is why these teachings rather than build up the Body of Christ, are causing confusion among followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Believers often forget or neglect one of the reasons the Holy Spirit compiled the accounts of bible stories and characters for us,

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Cor 10:11-12NIV

Some believers are surprised when we mention what we consider some errors in the life of men like Elijah, Elisha. Paul and Peter. That is why the bible is the word of God. God wants to present us with good examples to imitate and warn us of the consequences of following bad examples. Also we are offered encouragement through the accounts of the tenacity of some of the bible characters.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Rom 15:4NIV

So, we are not having these meditations for the pleasure of it but we are yielding ourselves to the teachings of the Holy Spirit through the holy scriptures.

In our text scripture we find something that is vital in the matter of leadership succession in this holy faith; "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." Once we observe this anywhere, our opinion ceases to matter. We must do what those sons of the prophet did; “they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him”

There are other sides to this; the leader, who is handing over his leadership mantle or office, should be careful that he does not yield to sentiments or be prejudiced by emotions and then hand over the mantle to a person upon whom his spirit has not rested. We have this kind of thing when Moses had to handover to Joshua as his successor. 

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Deut 34:9NIV

We are not told but there could have been a temptation for Moses to follow the old pattern where he was the senior prophet, his brother Aaron was the chief priest and his sister was the prophetess. The children of Aaron succeeded him and the leadership mantle has always been within their family line, but now the Lord is asking him to transfer leadership to someone that was not even from his tribe. Many of the conflicts in our denominational circles has resulted because senior prophet Moses refused to do that. In some cases, as we have many in Nigeria, the leader died with instructions to transfer to Joshua, but members of his family gang together and subverted his instructions. We then have a man occupying an office for which the spirit that is behind that office does not support him.

Another temptation is for Elisha to think that since Elijah was the pioneer of the work, things must go on exactly as he found them. In some cases, the sons of the prophets or, as in Moses’ case, the elders of Israel would bound together to insist that the new leader must continue in the order that he met things. Moses was prophet but Joshua was a warrior; Paul was an Apostle but Timothy was a Pastor whom Paul asked to add evangelistic flavour to his ministry. There is no way things could continue to follow the same order with these new leaders. The Spirit was the same but the manner He used them would be different.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men 1 Cor 12:4-6NIV

When the aged high priest Zechariah eventually had a son, the people felt that he should be named after his father, “Zechariah Junior”, but that was not God’s plan. Every instrument of God is unique.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."  Luke 1:59-60NIV

It appears to me that Elisha did not understand this. He seemed to want to continue to do things the way Elijah did. A time came the sons of the prophet urged him that there is need for improvement.

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live." And he said, "Go." Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied. 2 Kings 6:1-3NIV

What Elisha must not lose or alter are the charismatic signs in the ministry of Elijah, because these are the proof of the Spirit of the God of Elijah. Elisha raised the dead as Elijah did; Elisha pathed the river like Elijah did; he multiplied food and prophesied to kings and kingdoms; but if this ministry will move forward, Elisha must bring another dimension of leadership. He must bring in new effective methods to make the school of prophets work better.

 Successors must not do everything like their predecessors; children must not continue the family business in the same order. Some Christian organizations refused to embrace technology because their founder did not use it. Some organizations refused to embrace some operations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit because their church founders did not experience it. These has resulted in stifling the influence of the Holy Spirit in some Christian circles. Once we are sure that it is the Spirit of the God of the leader that is resting on his successor, it will be his responsibility to chart new paths for them to attain greater heights. This should not be done by resorting to secular methods, but he must necessarily seek God afresh through prayers and meditation, to find out how He would lead him.

I will love to have reactions here!

TO BE CONTINUED

pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

Emma, your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

POWERFUL PRAYER FROM PASTOR EMMA - IT IS YOUR RIGHT

https://youtu.be/jIQng8_Svsg?si=FmmP5ziLg3xmECyJ

WATER BAPTISM: WHO SHOULD OFFICIATE BAPTISM?

 Water Baptism: Who Should Officiate Baptism?

A moment of truth for the Church

It is time that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should stand up and speak the truth to one another. Not in the manner some people do today, in a manner that castigates and causes confusion among the people. Those are not speakers of truth but partners with the devil who is the accuser of the brethren. The truth that comes from the Spirit of God is spoken in love.

Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body Eph 4:25NIV

Truth spoken in love through the unction of the Holy Spirit brings liberation from demonic and mental bondage. If we judged ourselves, we can escape God’s judgment.

The Church of Jesus Christ in its present state needs the speaking forth of this kind of truth. One of such truth is that a powerless and impotent Church was never in the idea of our Lord Jesus Christ. A Church that is only sustained by ecclesiastical liturgy is very far from the agenda of Jesus Christ. That is why even after He had spent more than three years with His followers and invested more than forty days teaching them in the upper room, He still instructed them not to move out for the assignment until they are empowered through the coming and outpouring of the Holy Spirit

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Luke 24:48-49NIV

He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8NIV

Unfortunately, many Christian congregations lack this power and are only sustained through religious rituals. Of a truth, many minsters of the gospel today will lose their essence for existence if they take away activities like marriage and burial ceremonies from their schedules. The rest try to find relevance by teaching mysteries and eschatology of the end of the ages. These would not be wrong if they were not taking the place of the main thing, which is preaching the gospel in the power and saving knowledge from the Holy Spirit.

Consequently, one fallen generation have begotten another until we have come to the point where the true revelation sounds strange to us. 

Do you know that some Christian believers think it strange that a woman should officiate baptism? I mean to say, they believe that only men can baptise people. This is because all their life, they have only seen men officiating baptism. In many Christian circles officiating baptism is the exclusive responsibility of the most senior pastor. One of my protégée narrated how he managed to bring an old woman to be baptised in the church baptistery but the district pastor refused to baptise her because, according to him, he has already stepped out of the water. The old woman who was also sick was asked to wait for the baptismal ceremony of the next year.

Many believers who would otherwise have been effective in the God’s kingdom business are hereby bound under religious servitude to men because they are not aware of the truth as expressed in the word of God.

Take a look at this;

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.  In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) Acts 1:14-15NIV

These number of believers, men and women, were the ones upon whom the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2:1-4NIV 

The Holy Spirit fell on and also filled all those women. Even the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ was in their number and that means that she was filled in the Holy Spirit and spoke in Tongues like everyone else. All these women joined in the first open air preaching on the Pentecost Day to that great crowd.

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Acts 2:11-12NIV

Apostle Peter and the rest of the Twelve would not have baptised three thousand new converts alone. If the Holy Spirit fell on and filled all of them, at what point did they separate men ministers from the their “lesser” women members?

When the Lord Jesus Christ addressed them about their assignment after Pentecost outpouring, there is no indication that He made discrimination between men and women believers, or clergy and laity.

 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18NIV

The instruction to go, was given to all genders of believers and the signs followed everyone who would believe, irrespective of their gender. 

Regarding officiating of baptism, even though we have the bible records of when believers scattered and preached in many places, there is no single record where the Twelve or another Christian leader in the bible was invited for the purpose of baptising people.

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord Acts 11:19-21NIV

The people were recorded as believers because they were baptised. Later the apostles sent Barnabas to them and there was no record that he officiated baptism. Rather, it was stated;

News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts Acts 11:22-23NIV

Barnabas was impressed with the work the church planters had done and encouraged them to continue in the faith. He did not talk about baptism because these believers were already baptised. Even though a lot of the new converts were Gentiles, there was no mention of the taking up of Christian names after they became Christian believers. 

This is a portion of the letter written to Gentile believers by the Apostles in Jerusalem;

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Acts 15:28-29NIV

So, at what point did officiating baptism become the exclusive responsibility of church leaders? At what point did it turn out that when a believer wins a soul he must wait for the church leader to baptise the convert? At what point was it said that women who won souls cannot baptise their converts?

This is the Promise of God to all believers, men and women;

"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Acts 2:17-18NIV

What then is the responsibility of the Christian leaders?

To prepare the church people to do the work of ministry like baptism, evangelism and discipleship of new comers.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ Eph 4:11-13NIV

Again, they are supposed to watch out that false teachers don’t infiltrate the church with their poisonous teachings. 

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away 1 Peter 5:1-4NIV

Then to minister healing and deliverance to the people of God.

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14NIV

To teach and build up the entire Body of Christ;

Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you 1 Tim 4:11-14NIV

A Body of Believers  who serves God in this manner will never lack the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit.  When we set our own standards we end up edging God out of our midst,  hence the powerlessness we experience today. 

I will love to get your reactions.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

THE DAY I DROWNED A POLICE OFFICER’S WIFE DURING BAPTISM EXERCISE

 THE DAY I DROWNED A POLICE OFFICER’S WIFE DURING BAPTISM EXERCISE

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Rom 6:4NIV

Yes, you read me right. I killed a senior police officer’s wife during baptism. And the man was a Muslim.

While my family lived in Borikiri area in Port Harcourt, a woman brought me a complaint about issues with her sister. Her sister would get pregnant, carry the pregnancy to term and successfully deliver her baby safe and strong. The problem was that if she takes in again, the living baby would die two days to the delivery of the new child. In this way she had lost four children. This woman was brought to me and, looking at her alone was sobering.

Before this occasion, I have handled this kind of case before while I lived in Onitsha. It was with a wife of a powerful witchdoctor. So, I know immediately this had to do with an inherited covenant. Either the father or mother of the woman had an existing covenant with a shine and the demons of the altars are trying to get her attention to come and service the covenant. In some cases, the demons want her to return to the shrine and serve as shrine priestess. Not many people would accept such conditions these days, especially when it was their parents that made the covenant on their behalf. These kind of cases are wrongly referred to as spirit spouse because they are not, and the terms of their covenants are different from spirit spouse. But just like spirit spouse, they hinder their victim from getting married, cause miscarriage, attack the human spouse of their victim and if these efforts fail to achieve their goal, they begin to create the kind of circumstances we are talking about now.

What some of the victims do is to approach the altars of the demons in charge and seek terms of peace. While I was in Adam-Palm Farm Settlement in Imo State, Nigeria, we had another case. The woman had settled for annual settlement of making sacrifices on the altar of the demons. The materials for the sacrifices often included expensive aprons, foot wears and costly perfumes. I don’t know how these spirits use these things. In fact, it is a common thing to see some of these items littering the roadsides. A time would always come when their victim will not be able to meet the demands and they either kill her or strike her with madness. The reason is that these demons are wicked spirits who will at the same time be attacking the sources of income of their victim and whoever is supporting him or her. This problem affects both males and females.

I warn people never to enter into an agreement with demons because satan will always fail on his own side.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies John 8:44NIV

In this case of Ada-Palm Farm Settlement, things became very hard for the woman’s family and they could not meet up with the demands, and the demons tried to kill the woman on one of the night we were having Deliverance week, so they hurried her to our centre. By the grace of God, she was delivered. We later baptised her and she has remained free ever since.

With these background of experiences, it was easy for me to understand what this woman was going through. However, we have a problem in this case; the woman that brought her was a Muslim and married to a senior police officer who was also a Muslim. In some Muslim circles in Nigeria, it is a taboo to even mention that you went to a pastor for prayers, not to mention that you need to convert to Christianity. I went ahead to announce to these women that I had no charms or talisman to give to them. I told them that it is only through the power in the name of Jesus Christ that I could help them, and they must need accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. I also told them that I will baptise them into the name of Jesus Christ and then terminate the evil covenant with demons by the power in the name of Jesus Christ. They asked me to allow them to think about it and discuss the matter with their husbands as well. They returned the next day and said that they were willing to surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. I instructed them briefly about baptism and asked to return again the next day for the exercise.

Till date, I do not still know why the police officer’s wife was showing interest of joining her sister in the exercise, because it was her sister that was facing the challenges. But the next day they both returned and they were prepared for the exercise. Yet, we met another challenge. The senior police officer’s wife had a bad dream.

In her dream, she saw me put her into a coffin, dragged the coffin into the river and pushed into the river and she drowned. After she told me the dream, I was surprised that this woman still wanted to go ahead and get baptised, even though, she was aware that I was going to baptise her in one of the big channels of the atlantic ocean in Kpokolo axis of Borikiri. That was when our main text was laid in my heart by the Holy spirit. I explained to her that the dream was actually the exact expression of what I wanted to do to both of them. I explained to them that I was going to kill the old person that they were through the process of that baptism; the result will be that the new person that will come out of that water will be too powerful for those demons of the evil altars to handle.

It was only the heart of a hard-core missionary that made me to go ahead with baptising them. Joy, my wife, was with me and I baptised them. Glory to God that they returned safe and better. We ministered deliverance on them and they left. The great testimony is that the woman has had four children after that exercise, and all of them are alive today.

There is mighty power in the name of Jesus Christ.

If you are reading this now and you are still undecided to surrender your life to Christ, I encourage you to do so now. If you are among those who are still servicing ancient inherited covenants and satan and his demons are messing your life up, I need to let you know that you do not have to continue with that. There is sufficient power in the name of Jesus Christ to set you free. Maybe, you have a slightly differently issue, I encourage you that it is still the same name and the power in that name. you can be delivered too.

Here is what the bible said;

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11NIV

for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Rom 10:13NIV

Just bow your head and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to do it again in your life. You can welcome him into your life and the miracle will start. If you need further assistance, contact me with information below. I have written a number of books and God can use them to help you too.

I recommend you read some of my books 

COVENANTS: HOW THEY AFFECT PEOPLE 

HOW TO OVERCOME SPIRIT HUSBAND AND WIFE PROBLEMS 

ORIGINS OF COMPLICATED SPIRITUAL PROBLEMS AND THE WAY 

+2348035724526

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com