THIS IS WAR

THIS IS WAR!

Maybe I need to repeat this here. There is a kingdom called the kingdom of darkness and they are under the supreme command of satan. Among the many things they do is to take over every land space, all existing businesses and offices. They want to control every city and hold total sway in all offices. They want to control every realm of political power and that includes church organizations. They are fighting tirelessly to destroy every true servant of God and frustrate them out of the ministry. Even in a situation where a genuine Christian sets up a business, their intention is to either take over or kill the business. This is part of their efforts to control every activity on earth.

God’s response to this, is the raising up of believers in Jesus Christ. God will never come down on this earth to fight with satan and his demons. This is why He has raised servants of God to teach all believers as Apostle Paul makes plain here. The essence of this kind of teaching is to wake the believer up to his divine assignment. It is God that is talking to you now and you need to pay attention. Do not let anything hinder you from reading this to the end.

And to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord Eph 3:9-11NIV 

The unfortunate thing is that many believers in our Lord Jesus Christ do not recognize this responsibility and our duty to is to remind them. The stories I share here are true accounts and the reason I mentioned some specific names is to support my position.

Professor Kontein Trinya took me to see a beautiful lady who runs a private school in Port Harcourt city and she shared a weird account with us. For the space of more than one year she could not visit her own school premises. She said that each time she thought of coming to the school premises, she felt this fear that something could happen to her. This woman is a member of a living church and she did not know how to communicate this to her husband or anyone close to her. One day she suppressed the fear and drove into the school premises. To her shock, the school accountant asked her, “What are you doing here?”

I don’t know if you understand what I want to communicate. This woman built a private school on a land space that could be up to fifty plots of land, furnished and equipped the school. Then she employed some academic and administrative staff in her own school. That for the space of one year she had not walked into the premises of her school. That school was operational and making some money and someone was making money from the school she built with her money. Here she is, and a member of staff of her school was asking her why she had the audacity to come into her own school premises. It was then that it dawned on her that the accountant had hijacked the school from her through diabolic powers. Whether you believe it or not, there are women that left their marriages like this for a housemaid. There CEOs that left their business like this for a staff. Someone shared an account of how he transferred ownership of large company to total stranger to go and sleep at home.

When we are calling on people to pray, some think we are taking our Christian faith too serious.

Still with Professor Kontein Trinya; a man asked for private prayers during one of the Preacher Retreats. Professor Kontein asked that I should join to minister deliverance on the man. Pastor Blessing Unogwu and Pastor Prince Echem was there. The man said that he had narrowly escaped death more than three times at the work place. One time a large blade flew out of the machine and came for his head. He narrated two other instances and as a sensitive person he knew something was not okay. I made it clear to them that an altar was calling for his head unless he was willing to go and bow down to serve at the shrine. He said that he was not willing to go back to serve at satanic altars. When he carried out the prophetic process I instructed him, right there in our presence we watched the demons leave violently. Those demons had entered into the man to either force him to leave his job and move to the shrine or they will kill him.

Another PNUR partner, runs another private school in Port Harcourt. He bought brand mew school buses but these vehicles kept suffering breakdown. Every effort they made to salvage the vehicles resulted in more issues. They were struggling to pay staff and to keep the school afloat.  I was invited to pray in the school premises with all the staff and students. Two days after we finished the prayers, they found a large python in the school premises and killed it. The story of that school started getting better ever since.

Reverend Nnamara Emeka of Assemblies of God Church in Bamenda in Cameroon, told me how strange bees blocked the entrance to their church in the mission post. It was reported that churches are not permitted in that location but he insisted on having one there. It was by intense prayers that those bees were dislodged and the church is still standing.

If we are in the dark about the activities and powers of satan and his agent, it is because we refuse to open our eyes to read our bible. Yes, most people read their bible with their minds closed. They go into the bible with their minds made up on the kind of things they want to see. In this way, they are not able to see what God wants to show them.

May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan Job 3:8NIV

The book of Job mentioned a demonic principality called Leviathan. It said that this demonic high power would be quiet and some curse experts would provoke it as they initiate curses on the day. In this way they direct and instigate leviathan against their enemies. The targeted enemies will find themselves struggling with spiritual forces who are on assignment to undo them. If the targeted person or organization does not have his own spiritual power or covering, your guess is as good as mine. 

I have heard someone say something like, “Those shrines are nothing”. The bible agrees with you but read this;

Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 1 Cor 10:19-20NIV

Those material shrines are nothing but behind them are demonic spirits who have their satanic agenda to steal, kill and destroy. If the believer in our Lord Jesus Christ is not equipped for the conflict, he will become a prey. These form some of the reasons the Lord Jesus Christ said that we cannot face our Christian responsibilities effectively unless we have the power of the Holy Spirit. 

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come Eph 1:18-21NIV

Religion or sound theology are impotent without this power of the Holy Spirit. The bible did not conceal the fact that we are engaged in a present spiritual conflict.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph 6:12NIV

Besides the need to get good education and expertise in some fields, the bible said that we will be faced with spiritual conflicts in the paths to our success. Put in another way, it is not always the lack of money that is hindering your ministry and business. It is not always biological situations that are causing your sicknesses. It is not always youthful misconduct that is making your children misbehave. It is not always natural forces that is hindering your businesses. If you will go far in life, you must recognize the existence and activities of real spirit elements, and then learn how to deal with them. In confronting these evil spirit forces, we need to know the kind of weapons we should use, because not all weapons are effective in dealing with them.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ 2 Cor 10:3-5NIV

The mistake most Christians make today is that they think that they can just borrow any kind of weapons from anywhere. Some think that God will play along with them, no matter how they go about it. This is not correct.

The weapons of believers are different from the weapons of satan and the weapons of this world’s system. So, it will be to your own good to know the weapons that God has provided for those that trust in Him. I say this because, like I have repeated to you many times, satan’s kingdom is organised with a clear cut agenda. Some erroneously believe that satan will not bother them if they avoided him. 

Hear me, child of God. Satan has already unleashed his armies of wickedness against you. Whether you know it or not, they are drawing closer every day and they are going to lay hands on you, your business and loved ones very soon, unless you stand up and put to use the weapons that God has made available to you. They are in your neighbourhood, in your office, on the internet, in your cities and in your village. Satan hates you because you look like God. Your success will mean the success of God’s purpose on earth. The easiest way to overcome is to stand up on your feet and put him where he belongs.

The way to put the devil where he belongs is by standing up to make specific prayers and prophetic actions in your life, families and offices. You will need to get up and decide to really pray and address matters in and around you. You cannot continue to wish that things will change one day. You need to tell yourself that it will take discipline to pray, fast and rearrange your life to get back your destiny from the oppressing powers of darkness. You will need to address your family members and team to understand that this war.

There are 4 things I want to recommend to you now.

1. I have written some special books for people who want to start up to deal with matters in their life and families. Prayers That Bring Results. Vol. 1 and 2. In God’s War College. These books are only for people who want to take responsibility for their spiritual life and put satan where he belongs.

2. Get some of my books. You Can’t Ignore Satan and His Demons, Confronting Witchcraft in Your Neighbourhood. Covenants: How They Affect People. You can choose from more 40 different titles to get more knowledge on deliverance and spiritual warfare.

3. Register for Deliverance School Online. Here you will be tutored through my close to 30 years of experience in this field

4. Come over to our centre in the month of March. I dedicated every Sunday in the Month of March to help people. Time is 4pm. 

Follow the contacts below for more information.

Door of Hope Christian Center Port Harcourt Nigeria.  Valley View Gardens Estate Atali 

0803 572 4526  +2349092862555

school4deliverance@gmail.com 

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

PRAYER RENDEZVOUS WITH GOD

Prayer Rendezvous with God

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before Dan 6:10NIV (Please read Daniel Chapter 6)

Thank You master Jesus Christ for another Thursday. People celebrate all kinds of things but we celebrate our appointment with God on PNUR Global Day of Fasting and Prayers. This is that day we have secured an appointment and our loving God knows that we will come and He is waiting.

Don’t forget that prayer is the opportunity that God has given to us to say something about all the arguments going on in the spirit and natural realms concerning us. If you fail to pray, you have placed yourself at the mercy of other people’s opinion.

We have received many testimonies and we know many more will come. My prayer for you is that today is your turn.

For the mature Christian, prayer is not just one of the things that happen in the church; prayer is a meeting place with God. It is like when you have secured a special appointment with a very important person. That is why mature Christians understand the things I want to share with you here.

Satan knows the powerful effect that prayer has on the affairs going on in the spirit and physical. Unfortunately, many professing Christians are not aware of this. So, it is easy for satan to distract them from praying. Satan knows that through the vehicle of prayer, we can change the tides; we can reverse his agenda, we can break his chains and dismantle all his evil forces. Prayer also enables us to take hold of our delayed blessings. The enemy knows this and so he is determined to keep us from praying. There are those that see prayer as what they resort to if all things fail. This should not be. We should keep prayer as the principal thing. If we are always in the atmosphere of prayer, we are better prepared for all the visible and invisible schemes of the devil and his agents.

Our main text today explains my point very well. Daniel did not know that some of his colleagues were jealous of him. How could he have known? Unlike some people, he committed himself to quality service to God and mankind. If he gave attention to the devil like some of us do, he would not have time to be so effective in his duty in such a way that distinguished him for the king’s promotion.

There are some who give much time in the place of prayer but put little or no time in their everyday activities at work. Prayer will break the heavens to release the anointing which you should employ for work. If you pray and don’t back it up with diligent labors, you may be rich in the spirit but you will be poor in your pocket. This goes also for those who work as pastors; I pray much but I also work hard in other endeavors. I pray but I also check on people.

Something else you will get from our main text is that, busyness of Daniel did not diminish the quality time he spent in the place of prayer. Take note that he had fixed time he went to his place of prayer. If you read further you will see that he carried his fasting to work. In some occasions he was weak in his body because he was fasting. That shows the place prayers had in his heart. The place of prayer was the meeting point for him and his God. He knew God will be there and he was not going to keep Him waiting. Unlike some people, prayer was not just a tool to solve his problems. For such people prayer time could be reduced if problems reduced. If more problems arise, then more prayers are added. If God graciously took away all his problems, then he will have no more time for prayer.

Take note that he had fixed time and fixed place for his prayer time. It is okay to pray from anywhere but it is important that we also have a particular place to meet with God. For Daniel, it was a room upstairs. The window served for more than ventilation; it was his spiritual telescope. Other people saw a window but for Daniel it reminded him of his focus.

Also take note that his enemies knew about this governing principle in his life. When the king came in the morning to check on him in the lion’s den, he made reference to this,

At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" Dan 6:19-20NIV

What do people know about you? Have your children stumbled into you while in the place of prayer before? Can someone testify and say of you, “Today is Thursday, Sister will not take breakfast, you know she is a member of PNUR Family.” Can someone count on you and say, “Brother K will send me the article for PNUR Global Day of Fasting and Prayers, even though I lost my phone?”

So, Daniel had a prayer time and place even though he worked hard in his office.

Take note that when his enemies targeted him, they focused on keeping him from doing his prayer assignment for just one month. They knew that if Daniel failed to pray fervently as was his custom for a whole month, he will lose his stamina to resist their attacks. They knew that just one month without prayers, sin will gain control of him and he will fall from his safe place. Just one month without prayers, he will not be able to stand up against temptation for corrupt practices. One month without prayer he will not be able to concentrate or function effectively. If they will achieve their aim to neutralize Daniel, that will be if they could keep him from his prayer rendezvous with God.

It is in that place that he developed his muscles for the battle of everyday. Take note that it was for him what a petrol filling station was to a vehicle; if he did not refill his tank then he will not complete his journey. He had so much to do every day that he had to go and refill his tank three times each day. The attacks were much, so he will need more fuel. There is too much expected of him to deliver, so he will need much fuel. He had an excellent Spirit and people expected excellent result, so he will need much fuel.

As I write now, I can now see why many believers are casualties in the affairs of this life. I can now see why many women have lost their marriages and their children. Okay, now I know why many men of God don’t have sufficient anointing to meet the need of those that cry out to them. Now I know why they are so overwhelmed that they want to quit or commit suicide.

Jesus Christ help us today! We need more fuel. We need to refill again and again!

We take the place of prayer lightly; we think that it is most expedient to pray when we have plenty troubles. We don’t see that our enemies don’t take a break. Just like Daniel’s enemies, they are always at work. They have launched and lost many attacks and they are researching on what method they would employ to get us down. Now they know that when you reduce your prayer devotion, you are most vulnerable, they can give you a promotion at work to keep you from prayer; they can give you an unbeliever spouse if that is what will keep you from prayer; they can send you a rich politician to get you out of the place of prayer. I know my friends that won American Visa Lottery to live in the Whiteman country and when I saw what they have become, it is clear that satan just got them out of the place of their strength.

Hmmm! What is God telling us today?

So the fight is not about money, love, fame or plenty of material possession. The enemy knows that whatever a believer has without the presence of the anointing power, will not last. The enemy knows that he will never get permanent victory over you if you continue to pray. So he is intensifying his efforts at whatever cost to keep you from honoring the appointment you have with God in the place of prayer.

I will come back to this later. You already got the message.

Don’t let anything hinder you from the fasting and prayer of this week.

If you don’t already have it, get a particular place that you retreat to on intervals for the purpose of prayers. You have a prayer rendezvous with God. It is a special appointment. Excuse yourself whenever you can, no matter what they will think of you. Life is precious and it is safer when protected in the place of prayer.

You already know that one proof that your prayers are working is because the devil is doing everything to keep you from praying. So, no matter the efforts of the devil and his agents, keep your prayer rendezvous with God.

Our website is up again, so, you can download Prayer Collections of your choice.

Remember to encourage others to join you.

Remember to pray for my team.

We are praying for you

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

TOO STRANGE TO BE TRUE

 *TOO STRANGE TO BE TRUE*

Perhaps you have read the following scripture before but I want you to turn on your spiritual eyes and mind, and read it again because it will guide our meditation now.

"Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. Ezek 4:1-3NIV

I want you to understand that the exercises that are explained in our main text is same as someone taking someone’s picture or properties and positioning them for witchcraft in the coven or evil altar. Yes, this is the kind of exercises that evil people carry out and you see pictures in a bottle or padlocks are bound with black threads.

Have you heard of someone suddenly going mad?

Have you heard of someone suffering from incurable diseases even after they have visited the best hospitals in the world?

Have you heard of a multimillion dollars business crumbling to nothing for no just cause?

Have you heard of a beautiful young woman not able to settle down in marriage?

Have you heard of someone who sold everything he had to go to Europe only to land in prison and in some cases they died?

Have you heard of a man of God committing suicide because of hardship in life and ministry?

I know that some things I write appear very unbelievable to some people. I would have found such things unbelievable too if they did not happen me. In fact, there was a time I did not believe that such things could happen to a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. One time a servant of God in Owerri, Imo state of Nigeria called Pastor Andy told me that I was under witchcraft programming and attack. I mentioned the name and city because I need to make it clear to you that I am not making up the story. It was Brother Emeka Nnacho that linked us up.

Pastor Andy told me that I needed a level of deliverance because of some things he observed in my life. I told him that it was not possible that I should be under such oppression, owing to the fact that I was born again. Years after, another man of God in Lagos State in Nigeria confronted me on my way to Togo Republic for a program. In fact, he handed me a bottle of olive oil and told me to rather return to my home town and carry out some warfare prayers on my family house. I obeyed this one because the fire was on me then.

When my family moved over to Port Harcourt in 2005, a woman from our family who lived in Port Harcourt told my wife that another woman, who happened to be my brother’s wife had confided in her that she had carried out some witchcraft acts against me that will make me amount to nothing. She advised my wife to abandon me and go away for her own good. Anyway, that was not the only time someone had told Joy my wife that kind of thing. That is why I believe I owe her my very life because she did not leave me.

One day the same woman in Port Harcourt put some cups of rice, a tube of yam and a sown sackcloth on a large tray. She sent it to my house through her house-help. She did not cover them and the girl carried those items through the streets of Port Harcourt coming to my house. When I saw them, I knew that was a satanic prophetic action of desolation. At that time, I have begun to see that my earlier belief was wrong. I now believe that a man can be born again, called by God, anointed and living according to the will of God, yet bound in the dungeon like Joseph.

One day I saw myself in the dream preaching the gospel confined in a small iron prison. I cannot narrate all that I have received as revelation here but I will tell you how they affect people’s lives.

a. Hardship – when I say hardship don’t misunderstand it to be the normal kind. 

b. Inexplicable Barrenness 

c. Disappointments – people rarely honour their words to you. One time I began to call and ask people why they did what they did but they had no reason

d. Attracting negative people. One of the most potent weapons of satan’s kind is to project ingrates and negative people into your life. A life under curses attract negative people. 

e. Frustration in ventures. Only Elder Yinka Sokan can explain to you the battles we faced while trying to produce my books. We will send in one information but receive another one from the typist. We kept fighting and having issues with printing presses in Port Harcourt. 

f. Hatred – people do not just hate me; they just wish I would drop down and die and you see it in their behaviours. Even very close family relations hate you in such a way only the devil should. 

g. Attempt on your life – three family members that I know went to join occult or whatever, and the request was that they should first kill.

h. Oppression – I don’t want to say much here but Pastors and fellow ministers can be funny. You see people seeing you as a slave material. Some people sent Joy and myself some clothes and I pray that God should forgive them.

 *Let me tell you what helped and kept me alive today.* 

1. I gave my life to Christ for real. The truth is that if I were not born again, I won’t be writing this today.

2. I dedicated my life to the service of Jehovah and I did not let anything to make me change my mind. If I ventured in the space of Satanism I won’t be writing this today.

3. I knew what I heard from God and I held to it. Once I discovered that any relationship was diverting me from pure worship of God, I quit at whatever cost and never to return.

4. I continued in the habit of prayer and fasting. Once again I thank God for the woman I married. If I married a worldly woman, she would not be with me today because the pressure was much.

5. I kept trusting in God for every stage I find myself. This God is wonderful

6. I avoided fake prophets and backsliding preachers. Satan can use them more than he uses demons 

Now, hear me, these experiences birthed the information in all my books. I cannot say everything I experienced and the different battles I engaged in one piece. I can only encourage you to borrow the pattern I employed and the same God will help you.

Let me make 3 suggestions.

If you live within or around Port Harcourt, join me for special deliverance services on every weekend in March, at Door of Hope Christian Centre Port Harcourt.

If you stay far away, you can read my books on deliverance and spiritual warfare. There are about 50 different titles. You just pick the ones that suits your needs. They are available on Amazon Kindle Bookstore and PNUR Bookstore. You can also order directly from us.

You can also register for Deliverance School Online. Here you will get the required training for yourself and to help others.

Contacts

+2349092862555, +2348035724526

School4deliverance@gmail.com

I will like to hear from you.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

POSITIVE ENERGY OVERCOMES NEGATIVE ENERGY

 Positive Energy overcomes Negative Energy

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good Rom 12:21NIV

Every kind of battle has its own kind of weapons. Hence, the bible talks about the weapons of the world and the weapons of warfare for the saints. 

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Cor 10:3-4NIV

Even though, we often quote this scripture in relation to spiritual warfare, not many people understand the right application of the text. Hence, they keep fighting losing spiritual battles. 

A lady reached me with eyes red from weeping. She narrated to me the kind of words someone used at her. The aggressor called her husband a poor and worthless man; she called her children never-do-wells and concluded that our sister and her “wretched husband” do not have what it would take to raise children in this expensive generation. Our heartbroken sister told me to pray so that the yoke of poverty would be broken from their life. She also wanted me to pray that her husband will have wisdom enough to make money like other men. She asked for prayers for herself and as I listened, she even got lost in her own thoughts.

My response shocked her and I noticed that the tears dried up immediately from her eyes, “So, you agree with the things the aggressor said about you and your family? I mean, do you believe that her assessment of your entire family is correct?”

She replied, “But do I need to agree with her? They are obvious. We are poor. My husband can barely dress neatly and with the present cost of things, how are we supposed to train our children, unless we have better sources of income?”

My response, “Unless you throw away the image that woman has created for you about your family, no amount of prayers can deliver your family from the things you fear”.

The look on her face showed how surprised she was to hear that.

My Sister, you just got struck with some enemy weapons. Whether that lady knew it or not, those words came from what was inside of her. Those words came from the devil. The bible said, 

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him Matt 12:35NIV

Those negative words are stored up in her and she will release same on anyone else, not just you. Unless she cleanses herself from the evil stored up in her, she will use the same words at her husband and her children. The presence of such words will end up polluting her entire life. She will use the same kinds of words at business partners and colleagues in the office. They are stored up in her.

He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" Mark 7:20-23NIV

Another scripture has this to say,

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? James 4:1-2NIV

That woman that used such words at you is actually sick and needs deliverance from the negative energy in her life. Negative words and attitudes generate negative energy. The negative energy is operating from inside the person. This negative energy will not turn to positive when she meets her loved ones. Most people like that are oppressed with bad dreams which are the results of the evils stored up in them.

If you can read this and you are the kind of person that are loose at the kind of words you use at people; you are the kind of person that treat people like trash because you believe that you have come to the point where you will never have the need of someone else, I want you to give me your attention. Just take a careful look at your spouse and children. You will discover that you also treat them the same way that you treat outsiders. Even though you give them money that you would not give to outsiders, the spirit and mind-set of your giving is the same. If you don’t change your attitude, the acidic spirit in you will also burn them.  This acidic or caustic spirit is what I refer to as negative energy.

This negative energy will affect your children. Unless you cleanse yourself, you will later see all those negative things with which you cursed people in the life of your loved ones. I have heard people say something like, “You stupid and good for nothing child, after all the money I wasted on you, the children of that poor wretched woman is still better than you are”. I have been called to minister to the child of a very wealthy man who treats other people as trash. The boy is down with drugs addiction and the father is ashamed of letting outsiders know. His only daughter was not able to stay in a marriage and the rest of his children are just a reflection of the negative energy he threw at other people. This is because of the negative energy he released on his children. The sad thing is that he does not know that he was the cause of the children’s problem.

Back to our sister or whosoever is a victim of this kind of negative attitude; Like I said earlier, it is an attack and you need to know how to overcome or conquer the enemy who attacked you with such weapons. Our main text warns that we should be careful that we are not conquered or overcome by evil. Yes, that is the target of the devil and you need to be careful that they do not succeed.

We need to cast more light here. Within the context of our main text, to be overcome by evil means that, you begin to act like the negative person who molested you. When people are so treated they do one or more of the following;

They become depressed because they believe that they don’t deserve such treatment. This will mess up their day and affect other innocent people around them.

They hate the enemy back and return anger for anger. Whatever is the cause of the anger, anger is still anger. The bible says that it is only a fool that permits anger to linger in his heart. Eccl. 7:9

The anger in their spirit affect the wordings of their prayers; they are praying out of revenge and more often than not, they forget to mention their needs in prayers while calling down judgment on their enemies. Unfortunately, people believe that this is spiritual warfare.

They begin to pray for a time they too can become big and treat others the same way. I can tell you that God is not likely to grant their request. I have also seen people who began to treat people badly after God lifted them; it was not long and they fell back into poverty.

They begin to plan their life based on what they were told. So, if the aggressor said that they are poor, they begin to plan their life as poor people. If the aggressor said that their wife is ugly, they begin to call her in the same way. If the aggressor said that their children will never be great because they do not have the opportunities, they too begin to advise their children from that angle, resulting in their children living their life in defeat mentality.

In all of these ways, the poisonous arrows of the words of the enemy have achieved their end. Unless you change your attitude and understand that the devil’s opinion is not God’s opinion, your destiny will remain polluted, not because it is God’s will but because you agreed with your enemy.

This is what the bible said you should do,

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one Eph 6:16NIV

How do we get this shield of faith?

Concentrate on generating positive energy. Here is the way to do it;

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:14-21 NIV

This simply means that instead of permitting the negative energy to get control of you, start to generate a positive energy. It does not make you a weak person. Rather it makes you a purpose driven person. Many people spend their lifetime reacting and responding to external provocation, whether good or bad. By this, they neglect their own God given intuition. That means that they have never initiated anything by themselves. The enemy of their destiny capitalize on this by sending them distracting signals to confuse them further. You must resist this temptation henceforth.

I have also met people who, against all odds that was against them, were able to defeat their past and all the devil’s schemes; today they are celebrating the victory they got by obeying the instructions from the Holy Bible.

Wait a minute.  Did you read where it said that you will be heaping hot coals on the heads of your enemies? That doesn’t mean you have any part to play in this.  You are preoccupied in generating positive energy but the reports coming out of your home and life makes them more miserable. Remember they boasted that you will amount to nothing. They are angrier than before because the negative energy they generate is working right in their own life.  As they intensify efforts to hate you,  you are shielded by the positive energy you generate, so it only bounces back on them.  The only way they can have peace is through repentance and making peace with you. 

This is God’s strategy for your battle with those who hate and attack you with negative energy. 

I will like to hear from you.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

DEAD CHURCH - LIVING CHURCH 2

 Dead Church – Living Church 2

When that life of God that is the presence of the Holy Spirit, is absent among believers, the people seek alternative sources of power. I don’t care where you are reading me from, the situation is the same all over the world. The leaders might not know it but the people need spiritual power to meet the challenges of everyday life. If the local church lacks this power, the people go to places to secure it.

That was the situation with the church in Ephesus before Apostle Paul visited.

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. [One day] the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Acts 19:13-16NIV

1. Faking the original anointing. The people listened to and hear what God is doing in other places in the power of the name of Jesus Christ. But these things did not happen in their own congregation. Some people who visited revival programs in other cities will now try to practice what they saw in those other places. The leadership are afraid to invite the vessels that God has raised for that purpose because they do not want to lose their members. Unfortunately, no one is available to teach the people and groom them to be worthy vessels for the anointed gospel, some of these people resort to occult and buying spiritual materials from mystic shops in their quest for something that they want but do not know how to acquire it. The bible said that besides the sons of Sceva, there were other people that were doing it. This became a ground for satan and false prophets to exploit the genuine seekers of God. I have seen this a lot as I travel from country to country. You see members of churches doing the same things that fake prophets do among their members. Owing to the fact that no one had the real thing and the leaders are alright with it because the false anointing was not taking the endangered people out of the dead churches, they are permitted to continue. It is important that we note that these young men were children of a religious leader. 

2. There are some errors that cannot be resolved through theological arguments. We need to understand this. Some Christian leaders think that if they point out the false prophets, their people will avoid them. We have learned by experience that they only end up doing free advertisement for the false prophets unless there is a genuine manifestation of the anointing in that local church. It was when the Lord Jesus Christ drew back from those who were exploiting the power in His name, and the demons had liberty to deal with those fake men, that people saw the difference between the genuine and the false.

We saw this kind of thing somewhere else.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw Acts 8:9-13NIV 

No one would have been able to convince Simon the sorcerer to quit what he was doing unless through this kind of manifestation. Take note that even the false prophet was looking for the real thing. When he found it, he also repented and got baptised. This is contrary to the way we see false prophets. We look at them like God is through with them. But the truth remains that God wants all men to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth. The right atmosphere and manifestation of the genuine anointing of the Holy Spirit is what is required to bring the transformation. 

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim 2:3-4NIV

Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Tim 2:25-26NIV

3. Genuine presence of the Holy Spirit will purge the church.

Before the coming of a man with the true anointing, there was all manner of hypocrisy and falsehood going on. That also means that people doubted that there was sufficient power in the name of Jesus Christ to support them. Today we have professing Christians who consult with witchdoctors and belong to the occult. There is no way we can convince them to separate themselves from those things unless we prove to them through the practical manifestation of kingdom power as Apostle Paul did, that there is sufficient power in the church. The first thing they saw was the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit.

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them Acts 19:11-12NIV

It is possible that these people saw this as part of the arts of magic. It was when they noticed that those who took the name of Jesus Christ for granted suffered the consequence instantly and physically that they opened up.

When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.  

This is something the present day church should learn. The open desecration of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by bloggers, comedians and Social Media content creators is having an effect on the move of the gospel in our world. It is time that we petition God through prayers so that people will suffer consequences for this act. 

There are 5 things that happened in this church that led to revival;

a. The Holy Spirit was introduced into their worship and activities.

b. The believers were now filled with the Holy Spirit

c. The power of God became active in their midst in signs, wonders and miracles

d. The false brethren and prophets were exposed and punished

e. The believers separated themselves from every other allegiance they had with satan through idolatry and occult practices. 

When these happened, the following was their testimony;

In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. Act19:20

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

DEAD CHURCH - LIVING CHURCH 1

 Dead Churches – Living Churches. 1

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied.  Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Acts 19:1-6NIV

It will be difficult for us to get all the message in our main text if we don’t take the background to the account.

Apollos and Paul were both church planters and apostles of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul planted the church in Corinth.

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."  So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God Acts 18:9-11NIV

Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 1 Cor 4:15NIV

You only need to read First Corinthians Chapter one and chapters 12-14 to see what a marvellous work Apostle Paul had done to raise and establish a spirit-filled church that was overflowing with all the gifts of the Spirit. In fact, he devoted three chapters of the letter to Corinthians in order to guide them on how to operate in and manage the abundant presence and grace of the Holy Spirit in their midst.

This was the church that Apollos now visited and began to teach them his version of the gospel. What we see here is like a change of pulpit. 

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. Act 19:1.

We will get back this matter later.

So Paul found himself in a gathering of believers that was planted by Apollos and he could not believe his eyes. These people were known as disciples of Jesus Christ but there was no physical manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit. They had all the outward show of religion but they lacked the power. Paul knew that there was only one reason this could be.

There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

It is not only that they had no power of the Holy Spirit in their midst but they have not even heard that there was a Holy Spirit. They have been taught about the Law of Moses, they were taught about good morals and they heard teachings about the coming messiah. They were taught discipleship and I believe they knew so much about God and his word.  In spite of all these, there was no life in them. The Holy Spirit is the life in the Body of Christ.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Eph 4:3-6NIV

 If they did not know the Holy Spirit and His power, that means that was a dead church. Some people get offended when they hear that their church is a dead church. Here we find in the bible a perfect example of a dead church.

I am sorry to offend you, but if there is no material manifestation of the Holy Spirit in your local church assembly, that church is dead. In one of PNUR conferences, we used a Pentecostal church auditorium and the members made much noise in prayers. That denomination is very popular and spread out all over the world. But we noticed that many of their members are not filled with the Holy Spirit. I took time to teach on the Holy Spirit. Many of their members came to thank me because that was the first time they heard some of the things I taught them.

They were taught spiritual warfare, loyalty to the church leadership, faithfulness in tithing and offering, but no one had taught them about the Holy Spirit. If ever someone mentioned the Holy Spirit and His power, it was mentioned in the passing. It is not possible to have church without the presence of the Holy Spirit. I am not saying that people cannot gather; of course there are so many gatherings today that the Holy Spirit is not in their midst. These are social gatherings and I need to warn you that you are missing a vital factor in your midst.

When he observed the activities of that assembly, Paul immediately knew that the foundation of that church was faulty. So, he asked further,

 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied.  Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance.

Paul had to relay the foundation of that congregation by rebaptising them into the name of the Lord Jesus. We can see that we can relay the spiritual foundation of a local church if we find that the people who planted the church did not do a good job. We also see that there is a place for baptising people a second time, if the first baptism was not done properly.

Then Paul proceeded to lay hands on them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

There are some who claim that once we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are baptised, we do not need anything else because we are filled with the Spirit. This is not correct. We can take another example from the bible.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:14-17NIV

Philip was a powerful man of God with evidences of miracles and deliverance in his ministry,

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city Acts 8:5-8NIV

 Yet the people were not Spirit filled while He ministered. He had to invite some other brethren who had the Apostolic grace. We can learn from here that ministers may need the support of outside servants of God to fill in some ministry duties in their congregation. 

We can see that the people were sincere and willing to accept everything God has for them, but the preacher that took care of them lacked the spiritual resources. Many congregations are in this situation today. The pastors are deficient of the Holy Spirit and His power. Unfortunately, they lacked the sincerity and courage to seek God for the genuine experience. They now see the congregation as their source of livelihood, so they are more concerned that the people do not hear other ministers than about the spiritual wellbeing of the congregation. The people are malnourished and suffering. Some denominations have even built a theology around their poverty of the Spirit and His power. They claim that God does not intend that all congregations should manifest the power of the Holy Spirit. They claim that God has called them only to teach the people empty theology and in some cases, they spread lies about the believers who manifest genuine anointing power.

Hear me again; no Holy Spirit, no church.

If the church congregation does not have the evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit, that church is a dead church. Like I said before, the Holy Spirit is the life of the church. The reason He is not at work in the church is because He has not been invited. It is not true that once people gather somewhere and call the place church, the Holy Spirit will start working there. We must learn to invite Him. We must also make room for Him to express Himself among God’s people.

When Paul invited Him and prayed for the people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, things changed for them. We read later about the marvellous things that God did through the power of the Holy Spirit in the same church.

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. Acts 19:11-12NIV

So in the same place where they were called a dead church, we read of this great manifestation of divine power, and that is because someone invited the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, instead of humbly inviting the Holy Spirit, some people will begin to fake the evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit. They shout like they are under the anointing, sing like they were in the Spirit and do all manner of things to create an impression for outsiders to believe that they too had the power of the Holy Spirit. Most times they succeed and in this way they only fool themselves. 

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Rev 3:1-2

This could be a congregation that had known the power of the Holy Spirit but now they are more concerned about materialism and politics. They now grieve and quench the Holy Spirit (Eph4:30, 1 Thes. 5:19). They have lost it. Instead of bowing down in repentance, they decided to fake it.

Is your church dead or alive?

I will love to hear from you.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

THE DANGEROUS SIDE OF A LOVING GOD

*The dangerous side of a loving God* .

Casualties of revival; that is what we call them. Unfortunate ones in the midst of the glorious move of God. 

Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. It happened as the man of God had said to the king: "About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." 2 Kings 7:17-18NIV

God is almighty and when He decides to do awesome things, He does not need our vote or strength to achieve it. God can do anything, whether we have faith or not. Let me put it this way; the reason He is asking us to have faith is so that we can draw-in His energy and grace in order to do the things He does. He loves us and is willing to share everything He has with us. Since the day He gave His only son to redeem us from our sin and from the power of satan, it has become clear that there is nothing he cannot give to us.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Rom 8:32NIV

Our text also shows that no one is indispensable where God is concerned. The king and his leaders doubted and quarreled with His word of prophecy, so God employed the services of the lepers to declare as truth that which the nobles have doubted. They called them rejected but God does not seek human consent to make His choice. The rejected stone can once again became the cornerstone. That should encourage anyone who thinks that he does not fit into what God will be doing in this New Year. God can use you.

You can repeat that to yourself ten times; “GOD CAN USE ME!”

Imagine the atmosphere that morning. Imagine how hope returned to the dejected nation and how those living in the fearful darkness received the light of life and everyone was lively again. Picture yourself in that city that day and imagine once silent voices clattering with live again. God has brought back hope to the dead nation. This is entirely the doing of the Lord and no one can take credit for it. God has risen to answer to the cry of the people.

This brings us to a very important thing. When God begins to move and joy begins to flow like a river, it is still important that we look inwards and make peace with our past by reconciling truly with God through genuine repentance. The presence of the miraculous work of God should immediately draw us to do inward search because, as He said to Moses and Joshua, we stand on holy ground.

 Yes, when we see revival again; when we see the power of miracles again and we see dying plants springing up and budding for fresh fruits; we know it is God. If we know that it is God, then we should search ourselves to see if there are things incompatible with God.

I think this requires further emphasis. God can still work and perform miracles in spite our sins and shortcomings, we should not think that He has forgotten His word. The bodyguard of the king had issues with the God that was moving in the midst of the people. Instead of to humble himself when he observed that the word of God from the prophet has come true, he moved on as if nothing serious happened. He paid fatally for this careless disposition. Sad to say that he was not the first and last in this kind of circumstances. 

The sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu (Lev.10) also paid fatally when they took God’s instruction for granted. God had taken pain to light the altars with His own presence and their only responsibility was to support God’s holy fire with firewood every evening. They failed in this duty. Instead of coming in repentance before the Lord, they dared to bring fire from outside God. I want you to note of that very well, they brought in another kind of fire into the God’s own kind of fire. As I talk now, there are some who go to mystic shops and others visit witchdoctors for the purpose to receive a fake kind of “fire” so they can deceive God’s people that they have God’s fire. The Lord consumed them with His own fire. 

David was zealous for the Lord but it was the duty of the priest’s family to bear the ark of God on their shoulders. The music was high and the crowd was large. It is at such moments that we conclude that God must be too excited to remember His own primary commands. Yet, the Lord broke out against Uzah. It was his duty to tell the David what to do. He failed in that duty and paid fatally for it. (2Sam6). This talks of rich folks who do not fear God and has assumed that if they can build structures and buy musical equipment, they can simply hire the services of some men that God has called into the ministry. In their thinking, God must be impressed with the outward things they are doing and not bother that the instruments with the true anointing are not given their rightful place in the things of God. Uzah was a fool. Nothing should cower the Lord’s anointed not to stand out and declare the true principles of our God.

Ananias and Sapphira thought that the size of their offering will cover the eyes of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to be truthful in our measurement. They paid fatally for it (Act5).

All these happened in the time of great move of God in the midst of His people. It was God and not satan. It was God’s power and all they witnessed were from the only true God but the judgment also came from Him. That is because His people were taking Him for granted. 

Back to our main text; it was the joy of the Lord that filled the heart of the people and what they were celebrating was God’s intervention. As they rushed out of that city that day and moved to the gates of the enemies, it was God that motivated them. Is it not strange that every human step that trampled on the king’s bodyguard until his death, were given strength by the moving of the power of God?

Forgive me if I scared you but it is important that I warn you so that you don’t become a casualty of the move of God. That is God using you as an example to warn His congregation lest they follow your bad examples.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."   We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did — and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did — and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did — and were killed by the destroying angel. 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! 1Cor10:6-12NIV

I believe it is right for me to close my case here. By God’s special grace I have brought you to the point I started with you. I have brought you to Calvary again. The first time it was in hopelessness. Now it is hope restored. I want you to ask yourself now, “Are there things I need to put right? Are there issues in my life I need to correct? Are there matters in my heart I have left unresolved?”

Beloved child of God, God has already thrown the doors of enlargement open before us. The siege has been broken and joy has returned to our souls. We should not be as foolish as that bodyguard. We should bow our heads now and pray in a humble submission.

 ```You can borrow from my prayers if you are yet to find words of your own:``` 👇

“Lord, I thank you today. I am very grateful that you have done these great things for me this year without considering my shortcomings and sin. 

Now Lord, I want to make peace anew with you. Please forgive my sins of ……

Forgive my arrogance and forgive all negative words I have spoken in the past.

I still stand by the grace in the blood of Jesus Christ and I don’t take your grace for granted.

Holy Spirit of our living God; take totally control from now, in Jesus name. Amen.”

(Excerpt from my book,  OH LORD,  AMPLIFY LITTLE ME. Available  as soft copy PDF on Amazon Kindle Bookstore and PNUR Bookstore)

I will love to hear from you if you uttered this short prayers.

Remain under the anointing in Jesus name

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

A TEST FOR GENUINE LOVE

 *Just a sober reflection for you* 

 _A test for genuineness_ 

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep John 10:11-13NIV

At a point in my preaching this Sunday morning tears gathered in my eyes and I could not control it until it went down my cheeks. The atmosphere suddenly assumed this sacred calmness that could only have been the result of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a special way. I was trying to explain to my audience the relationship between the Pastor and his congregants through the story of John Fawcett (1739/40-1836) the author of the hymn “Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love”  

Baptist Pastors and members will be able to relate with this story better because it has a background to some practices in their circles. In the Baptist Church, the contract is between the Pastor and the local assembly. The local church negotiates with the Pastor on how much they are able to pay. It is the responsibility of the Pastor to decide to stay or move to a church that can pay better.

A bigger and richer London based congregation had come to hire John Fawcett from a poor rural congregation. The local church loved him but they did not have the financial muscle to contend with the city church in London of all places. They resorted to pleading and prayer but their Pastor felt that he had to move on. After all efforts failed they came out on the day he was to leave to bid him farewell.

 The richer church brought in their truck and loaded his belongings. Those poor people stood by and watched. I have been in this kind of congregation; children with poorly fitting gowns and mucus running down their noses; mothers with hand-me-over gowns and head-ties; men with worn out hats smiling sheepishly with unkempt beards and hairs.

Reverend John Fawcett had this pull in his heart; “What sin has these people committed against me? In what way have these people wronged me? Why am I leaving these people that love me so dearly?”

The simple honest answer, “They are poor. They are not rich. They love me and I love them. My presence is a blessing to them and they are doing their best”.

He had now to choose between the call to duty and the call of his selfish interest. Rev John Fawcett could not leave in the midst of the tears.

That was the background of the hymn he wrote. He asked the rich people to put down his belongings because he was going to stay with his own family. Yes, they were his family but the rich church were his employers. He was not a hireling but a true shepherd. He chose genuine love and obedience to Christ against self-interest and money.

Years back I was in Cameroon to organize a conference and one of our PNUR partners led me to his local church pastor. Our intention was to use the church auditorium for the conference. I had not as much as said why I came to see this pastor before he poured out his frustration with his parishioners. According to him, they were not doing enough to take care of him as a man of God. He complained about everything and threatened that he will leave that church. I politely told him that I was not impressed that he could raise such subject before me a total stranger that he was meeting for the first time. He literally insulted me and asked me to leave his office. He was very angry.

The man that took me to see him was the church treasurer and I asked him what this Pastor’s monthly allowance was. You will be shocked as I was, Five Hundred Thousand CFA (500,000 CFA. Today more than N500,000) per month. Now as then, this is not a mean take home allowance. He lived in church built accommodation and they provided money for his phone and data. 

If this pastor found himself in the place of John Fawcett he would have left and jeered at the people as he will be celebrating his new catch

It is not only about Pastors. Some Christian believers change church because they don’t have fine building and they don’t have many car owners. Men have abandoned women because they are yet to have babies and yet, I have seen ladies who say, “Please, I can’t marry suffer-head man like him”.

Few people think of what their leaving will mean to the other person but only what they will gain if they left. Christian love is not about what we can gain but about what we can contribute to other people’s life in keeping with God’s purpose.

In this new week, let the lesson in this song guide your hearts.

 Happy New Week 

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

1. Blest be the tie that binds

our hearts in Christian love;

the fellowship of kindred minds

is like to that above.

2. Before our Father's throne

we pour our ardent prayers;

our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,

our comforts and our cares.

3. We share each other's woes,

our mutual burdens bear;

and often for each other flows

the sympathizing tear

YOU CAN HAVE YOUR OWN PENTECOST

 *You can have your own Pentecost* 

I am saying this out of experience; anybody can have Pentecost if they choose. If a Gentile soldier who did not have a bible nor did he know the name of Jesus Christ, could have his own Pentecost, so can you.  

I want to highlight some points here and hope that you can borrow something from them to prepare for your own Pentecost. 

1.  Set your heart to it. It is important you understand what you are searching  for and set your heart to it. There will be efforts by satan and men to try to divert your attention. Right from the first day I yielded my heart to be a minister of the gospel, I resolved to carry my own Pentecost. I did not want to be a minster who is so called because he earns a salary or because of some kind of dressing. I had many options and temptations to change my focus, some “old prophets” tried to get in my way but I remained focused. Today, I don’t have the material wealth others have but the world over I am known as an agent of Pentecost. Let me tell you, you will not find any person in this league who followed a different approach 

2.  Understand what you are looking for. You are not out to compete with anyone, you are not looking for a big or small church, you are not out to be like anybody; your focus is to be so connected to the Lord that He can trust you with His power. Once something moves to come in between you and the Lord, that thing must be let go. I learned this lesson from Rev. Stanley Awuzie; the Bishop at his time tried everything to bring him to the level of all other Anglican priests but he resisted it with his last blood. He was eventually transferred to an interior place with the hope he will come  begging but he rather turned that place to pilgrimage center as people went looking for him in that place. He once told me never to go cap in hand to beg my senior minister for money but I should trust God for everything. I followed this principle and it has sustained me. There was a misunderstanding at Total-Care Ministries where I did my first ministry assignment and Dr. B C Mbata served me query and asked me to report all the tithe and offering in the ministry. Well, I told him that I have nothing to reply because I had never seen where they were counting the money. He asked the cashier and he was told I spoke the truth. Yet, I never lacked anything. 

3.  Prayer discipline. There is no alternative route to kingdom power; prayer is  the route and like I said earlier, your prayer life must go beyond the  ordinary. All the people who are manifesting the Pentecost have this in common. They fasted more than everyone else, they prayed more than everyone else and they gave time to the word of God more than everyone else. 

4.  Books but nor every book. You should not waste your time reading books of 

those who write from common sense. Some writers are operating from the  flesh level and so their ideas come from the flesh level. Some will warn you of praying too much and advice you to eat your breakfast regularly, drink plenty of water and take a good sleep every night, so that you will not die before your time. Give a careful look at the person who tells you this, and you will see why you should not follow his advice. Read and follow only men and women who carry this Pentecost because they are the only ones that can help you. Once I get into a conference and the speaker begins to talk from his brain, I am through with him. The bible is the manual for you; give careful attention to men of God in the bible and you will get to this power 

5.  Sin will neutralize you. Delilah said to Samson, “What can I do to you so  that you become like every other man?” and this remains the research of devil and his agents. When you begin to feel like having sex, understand that it is potent channel for the devil to send demons into your life and ruin your ministry. When some negative habits like drinking, socializing and such things begin to pull you, understand that the devil is waiting for you outside. Matrimonial violence, stealing in any guise, anger and all manner of ungodly  ambition will paralyze your spiritual power. Once sin creeps in, prayer power flies out and so does power 

6.  Evil company can ruin you. Once you observe that the person you are  relating with is compromised, don’t stay back to try to change him, run! Bible said that it is easier for him to corrupt you than for you to change him. Beloved, you will begin to feel lonely because of your new lifestyle and people will begin to say that you are acting strange. Keep walking! You don’t have to be in every gathering of ministers of the gospel. Choose one and be committed to it and dedicate the rest of your time to your ministry. 

7.  Sanctify your home, church and environment. If you are expecting the 

governor of your state, how would you prepare your house? Do the same as you prepare to host the almighty Holy Spirit. Don’t allow people to use your chairs anyhow and I mean using your chairs for social events where they take alcohol or cast jokes. Have a mindset that this place is reserved for a special guest and that guest is holy. 

8.  Midnight prayers. I don’t know why, but I noticed that all of the Lord’s 

mighty men I know are people of the night. I have never met a man operating in the anointing who does not wake up to pray in the night. The Lord Jesus Christ kept midnight prayers, Rev. Awuzie did quite often and I do; in fact, I feel very uncomfortable to sleep soundly in the night without getting out of bed for some long minutes. My wife and I see it as sign of bad things if we don’t get out of bed in the midnight hours. Yours cannot be different. Don’t lie on your bed to pray, you will sleep off; discipline yourself to move about while praying in the night. 

9.  Trust God to give you a team. Keeping the above points of discipline will be  easier if you have likeminded people working with you in the same  direction. This is very important because two are better than one. There are times you will need to go to a retreat place together and the presence of teammates will help your concentration 

10.  Prepare for a long wait. Remember the foolish virgins, they were not ready  to wait for long. Set your heart that the above discipline will be your lifestyle until and even after the Pentecost has come. Pray in Tongues often and do prayer walking. By prayer walking I mean strolling around and muttering prayers and meditating in the word of God. Learn to seclude yourself when you can afford it.

(Excerpts from HOW TO TURN YOUR CHURCH INTO POWER STATION

Available on Amazon Kindle Bookstore and PNUR Bookstore)

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com