KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
In “Dinning with Heroes” (October 21), I had spoken about the privilege my involvement with the men’s ministry affords me to join with “a crop of men, some young and starry-eyed; some burnt but wiser, to together work on our manhood.” I had also expressed joy that the process gives me the opportunity of meeting with and sometimes even dinning with truly great men. These truly great men, I described as “real men; men of integrity and character; men who strove in private and public life to be Christlike – and are of course still striving”
I identified Elder Felix Ohiwerei as one of such people, announced that he would be speaking at the then impending Christian Men’s Network Nigeria’s event and then gushed:
“…it will feature one of my heroes, Felix Ohiwerei, former Chairman and Chief Executive of Nigeria Breweries Plc. A man who ran an alcohol beverage company successfully and didn’t come out with a “beering” reputation; a man who has not been the darling of the soft sell magazines in spite of his fame and fortune; and whose preoccupation with service to God some have seen as zealous. That’s the man I and my brothers would be having lunch with…and it would be his pleasure and ours to have you join us!”
Of course, not many men accepted my open invitation and a sizeable percentage of those who even had direct invitation either came very late or could not make it at all, which is hardly surprising. It rained that day, you see; and being a Saturday, an environmental sanitation day when Lagosians are “gated” till 10am, the reasons are legion! But I shall come back to that later.
Elder Ohiwerei was billed to speak on “Wanted: Men of Character” and he began by acting the man of character that he is by arriving the Sparkles, Ikeja GRA venue of the event from his Ikoyi home a quarter hour before the schedule take-off time of 12noon. Of course that got everybody straightened out, as it were. And when he began to speak, you sought in vain for any airs; no posturing, no affectations; nothing but down-to-earth heart-talk from a father to those he saw as the hope of our nation. And what he had to say was so inspiring that on conclusion the fifty-something or so men, who had the priviledge of hearing him, gave a spontaneous prolonged standing ovation.
For space constraints and the nature of the forum, this is not the place to recount all he said, but let me attempt a snapshot of the highlights. He began by stating what looked like the obvious, but which is certainly fundamental to the understanding of the subject. You are a man, he said, “you think, you speak and you act. What you think influences what you say and do. Your thoughts, your words and your deeds determine what you project; so it all begins with the heart.” He therefore defined character as “the personality of a man as determined by his thought, his word and his deed.”
Standing as sprightly as ever at age 70, Elder Ohiwerei took his audience down the memory lane. He recalled those days when it was his practice to simply leave the doors of his house open for an expected visitor while he leaves for work…when the most heinous crime anyone ever committed to his knowledge was the removal of the four tyres of a car while the owner slept blissfully in it!
He posited that the Nigerian civil war was the turning point; when all values nosedived and character became the exception, leading to a leadership crisis. This of course was not a rationalization of the state of affairs, but a simple statement of cause. Nor was his speech just a litany of what had gone wrong; this was a ministration about what needs to be done. It was not a just a call for moral reawakening, but a call to return to God and his ways of doing things. So, inevitably notable examples were given from the Bible. From the Lord Jesus to Samuel to David to Joseph, the man of God who is a top member of Redeemed Christian Church of God made a number of prescriptions.
Among these is the need to pursue only things of eternal value. Understand, the fallacy that “everybody has a price” does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.
Elder Ohiwerei climaxed his ministration with the forthright declarations of Samuel when he handed over rulership of Israel to their first king, Saul. In this respect, he quoted the first few verses of Chapter 12 of the first book of Samuel: “ And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt (verses1-6).
How many of our leaders can boldly stand before the people after their stewardship and make such a declaration, he asked. How many can boldly declare that they have not stolen from the commonwealth; that they have oppressed no one; that they have met the needs of the people? About how many of our leaders can the people truthfully, honestly, without equivocation say as they did of Samuel: “Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.” The only charitable answer, you and I know, has to be “few, very few, indeed.”
The interactive session which followed afforded men in the audience the opportunity to ask questions and make observations. This proved really revealing. In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.
According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was for some reasons not available and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment.
Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history!
What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was I did not just talk the talk, I walked the walk. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done. One of the most important components of character therefore is courage; courage to stand for what you believe; courage to pursue your dream and vision.
And this incidentally brings me back to the “legion” of reasons I identified earlier as possibly responsible for the level of attendance at the Luncheon; the same courage is required to give whatever it takes to be at places we need to be on time, rain or not; environmental sanitation or not. But one has been around for a season on this beat and knows that the “legion” that keeps men away from events like this is similar to the one that had held bound that demon-possessed man set free by the Lord Jesus, as recorded in Mark 5: 1-18. I know because, time and time again, you can pack halls to overflowing with of men were the subject business or prosperity; but mention character, sex or purity, the “legion” bares its fangs! Men and brethren, these things not ought to be so.
Thanks Elder Ohiwerei for pointing the way.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
MADAM PHARAOH AS GODDESS ARTEMIS
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Anyway, I wasn’t playing Afghanistanism; I was not avoiding any issues, not least of all, the inelegantly tagged “Ettehgate”. No, I just wrote as I felt led. And that has to be the pattern for as long as this column shall last. So, please believe me; I seek to prove or disprove nothing by returning to the crisis at the lower house of the National Assembly today.
You see, I’ve been at great pains over the matter because I sincerely wanted Mrs Etteh to succeed as much as, if not much more than, our other sisters have done in the various assignments they have handled, particularly at the national level. Deep inside me, I believe that the continued success of the “Esthers” in our land would rouse the “Josephs” from sin and pride-induced slumber. But here we are, unfortunately, faced with the myth-shattering spectacle of a female Pharaoh!
If you are wondering what makes Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria, a kind of throw-back from the ancient biblical days of
Do you see any similarities? Madam Speaker has had several opportunities to demonstrate honour; to reflect her Christianity, if as her name would seem to suggest, she is one, by letting God fight her battles; to display exemplary leadership, but she let them all pass.
When the story first broke that she had authorized a whopping sum of N628 million for the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy, she was outside the country; granted. But what happened when she returned? She maintained what her handlers might have touted as “dignified silence” but which, with the benefit of hindsight must now be seen as contemptuous “I dey kampe” silence! When the House finally convened and the issue was tabled, she could have dignified her office by not presiding at the session to select members of the panel being established to probe the allegations. She chose differently. Then if she thought she could ride the tide and coast home unscathed, the resort to violence by her colleagues on the day she was billed to testify before the Idoko Panel should have wiped out all such illusions. It did not.
One might excuse that by positing that as a pretty woman, she was probably no stranger to knights in shinning armour fighting to become the exclusive apple of her eyes; particularly as that legislative “roforofo fight” did not left no broken limbs and no flying dentures; and so no hospitals or surgeries were required. But how do you explain what happened when thing went several notches up and we had a lifeless body, hospital and a grave? Someone with half a heart would have been so remorseful as to simply walk away from the tragic drama. But what do we have? This woman is sitting not-so-pretty on the Speaker’s seat. She sure must have a stone where God originally located a heart!
Those who in the name of installing the “first female Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives” foisted this woman upon an unsuspecting nation sure produced after their kind, didn’t they?
I can imagine one question racing through your mind: Pharaoh’s heart was said in the Bible to have been hardened by God; is it the same with Madam Speaker? No, I don’t know for sure, but I can guess that if God allowed, it is so that evil may not triumph. For, had she played honourable and decent earlier, she might have swayed opinions in her favour to the detriment of our nation.
Now what next, you ask. Again, I do not claim to have the answer, but this much I would say, not even a hurried, peremptory adjournment of House plenary for more than a week can save this woman’s job. But as I say that I know that she, and her handlers, still have a lot of fight in them. So I can see them not giving up even at this stage.
All of which reminds me of a drama involving some of the early evangelists, goddess Artemis and the people of
“A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, "Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here-- and you've seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we're doing by telling people that there's no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in
The “Demetriuses” amongst us who want to die or kill for this modern day Artemis had better take to heart the warnings of the Town Clerk as contained in the last two sentences but one of this long passage which strike me as uncannily applicable to the current situation. Please read those sentences again with the following suggested insertions. In the place of “our city” put, “our democracy”; in place of
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
NO MADAM SPEAKER, IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE
KPerspective October 6 2007
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
With REMI AKANO
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
The House of Representatives is on recess. The recess, according to House leadership, is to enable the Honourable members consult with their people and do committee assignments. This is as it should be and I sincerely hope they spend the two-week period for those two purposes, especially the first – consultation with their electors.
I say that because if they do, they are likely to discover that the people are so disenchanted that if they have their way the House should stay permanently on recess! I am not exaggerating.
Look at it this way: What has this House really been in about 150 days except on recess? The noblest things they have done is to mourn and bury the dead. The rest of the time has been spent scrambling for committee positions, particularly the so-called juicy ones and stage a legislative pugilist of the year show in defence of due process and anti-corruption. To the eternal ‘credit’ of this present House, the nation celebrated her 47th National Independence Anniversary with accusation of corruption against the Speaker as an ugly backdrop.
Were I to have the privilege of meeting my representative, I would have drawn her (or is it his?) attention to at least two reports that ought to serve as a wake-up call to our so called legislators.
The first is a “survey on best and worst performing countries in
Conducted by Professor Rotberg of Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the index gave Nigeria its best performance in security and safety with 62.8 score, followed by 49.5 in human development, 44.3 in rule of law, transparency and corruption and 44.2 in participation and human rights.
The survey, according to the professor used 58 indicators of governance, and evaluated each of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries according to five categories of analysis. The categories used were safety and security, rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunities and human development. He explained: that the premise for designing the categories “is that good governance is the delivery of essential political goods to the people.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s ranking in the survey, Rotberg was quoted as telling Voice of America: “It is quite clear in Nigeria’s case that you lose massive points for conflict; and Nigeria, as everyone knows, has been under turmoil and conflict. Secondly,
For reasons of comparison, I would have drawn the Honorable legislator’s attention to a part of the report which reads:” Mauritius was named the best performing government, while Somalia, which has not had a government for several years and is considered a ‘failed State,’ was rated the worst….Among the top best-performing countries in the survey are Seychelles, South Africa, Botswana and Cape Verde…”
The second report which would have put the issue in clearer perspective and hopefully show where the legislature comes into the picture glaringly was highlighted by Kayode Komolafe in his The Horizon column in ThisDay newspaper recently. I seek your indulgence to quote the first few paragraphs of the piece he titled, Compare N686m with N628m:
“Compare these two amounts of money: N686 million and N628 million. The first (about Euro 3.9 million) is the amount the European Union is reportedly making available for the provision of clean water and sanitation in 12 towns and communities of
“In arithmetical terms, the difference between N686 million and N628 might appear marginal, but there is a world of difference between the uses to which they are put in the Nigerian socio-economic and political system. It is this huge difference that clearly shows what hundreds of millions of naira could do in improving the quality of lives of hundreds of thousands of people even at current value of the currency…Three Local Government Areas would benefit from the scheme in each of the two states chosen for the implementation. They are Gumel, Tankarkar and Maigatari in Jigawa; and Nkanu East, Udenu and Igbo-Etiti in
I wonder whether these two reports would have meant anything to my representative or not, but, I certainly cannot see any signs that it would pull any string in Madam Speaker’s heart. And I make this statement very regrettably.
As I indicated in this column last week, I did not want to join in pointing fingers because the report of the Honourable Idoko-led investigation panel was being awaited. More importantly, I wanted most desperately for the right Honourable Patricia Olubunmi Etteh to survive and eventually succeed; to continue the great run of success by the “Esthers” at least pending the time that the “Josephs” of our nation will get our acts together.
Well, the report came and although it refrained from recommending sanctions partly because, its terms of reference had been so craftily worded to avoid that; and partly to prevent a kind of “hung jury”; it did identify wrongdoings. Responsibility for some of them lay squarely at the Speaker’s table; while the National Assembly bureaucracy could be fingered for others.
Predictably, reactions came, as the cliché goes, fast and thick. Calls for Madam Speaker’s resignation top the list. One of the most damning came from PUNCH columnist, Azubuike Ishiekwene who in a piece titled,” It’s time to go, Madam” noted among other things that “The Idoko Panel …has said, unanimously, that the process of the award of the contract was marred by serious procedural lapses. Contrary to the requirement of the Public Procurement Act, the contract was neither advertised, nor was a quorum constituted before it was awarded. The bill of quantities and the technical drawings that ought to have informed a rigorous and competitive process were not filed and some of the companies that got the contract were not even registered as required by the law. On top of this, the speaker’s personal aide, Iquo Minima, who gained notoriety in the last House for slapping a fellow legislator, Emmanuel Bwacha, won the N71m to provide the furnishings. The speaker had approved this sweet deal and other contracts for the renovation six days before she hastily constituted another meeting to ratify the decisions. Her defence that she was misguided is not unlikely, but is at best shallow and at worst irresponsible, given the fact that one of her personal aides benefited directly from the contract. The whole thing was a sham by any standards, which the speaker, in her sober moment, would find hard to explain, even if it had been a contract she personally awarded for the renovation of any of the hairdressing salons in her two houses in
But it is Madam Speaker’s reaction to the reactions to the panel report that I find most amazing. It is her reaction that gives me the impression that the speaker thinks this is all about politics, NOT people, NOT principles, NOT morals and certainly NOT about staying with the solemn pledge she made to the Nigerian people in her first few minutes of taking office.
A statement issued from her office disingenuously, not to say shamelessly, spoke about “emotional blackmail” and described calls for her resignation as “unfair, inaccurate and unfortunate". This according to her was because, “the Speaker set up that probe panel along with her colleagues. She was elected by her colleagues. Only her colleagues can decide what happens next”.
Hear Madam Speaker please: “Those championing this curious cause of ‘Etteh-must-resign’ are those aware of the facts of the case and their campaign is beginning to look like a haunt borne out of hatred. The probe panel’s report has been laid on the table and what it contains are conclusions, not recommendations for punishment. One wonders when non-members of the House of Representatives started deciding how 360-members of the lower chamber run their affairs... “If I get her drift, our representatives have a kind of divine right to shut us out of “their affairs”, once elected. Translation: it’s none of your business, noise makers. Apart from the “small matter” of the credibility of the process that brought many of these representatives into office, since when has the people’s sovereignty been annulled by elections?
She continues: "The House of Representatives is made up of people elected by Nigerians to represent them. Those who elected them trust them enough to do the right thing. The House has procedures and rules on every issue and only members can decide how the House is run…What the procedure says is that the report will be debated when the House reconvenes after its two-week recess…” Due process eh? The same that the panel said was not followed?
Next she said: “…It is therefore unfair and misleading for people to stay outside and tell 360 members of this honourable House what to do. It is like telling Nigerians that the people they elected cannot do the job…When non-members start instructing the House how to run their affairs, then there is cause for Nigerians to worry…” There is indeed cause for Nigerians to worry but not about any infringement of the divine right of self-serving legislators, many of whom were rigged into office in the first place. There is cause to worry when popular opinion of the vocal section of the hunger-silenced majority is being so arrogantly disdained in high places.
Then the clincher: “Nothing in the conclusions of the panel report showed that the Speaker in any way has been indicted…” Well, I agree; black is white and chalk is cheese! If Mrs Etteh sometimes reads her bible, she should please read Proverbs 12:19; 16:18 and see whether she doesn’t need a change of heart.
IS THE ERA OF ESTHERS ABOUT TO END?
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
With REMI AKANO
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Somebody please tell me that this is all a nightmare, a bad dream from which I shall soon shake awake! Somebody, please rouse me from this troubled sleep!! How is it that a nation that’s having the wonderful experience of the era of the “Esthers” is, all of a sudden, being told that it’s all over, before the “Josephs” are ready? How distressing.
Many years ago, the late and (according to me) great Dr Edwin Louis Cole, founder of the Christian Men’s Network, was visiting one of the countries of Southern Africa (cannot readily remember which, now). A group of people had been praying fervently, seeking the face of the Lord for change in their land. Finally, the word came. And it went something like this: “there have been the days of the “Esthers”; now is the era of the “Josephs”. Put very simply, even simplistically, there are those moments in the life of a people when deliverance comes through the womenfolk, but it does come to an end and the men take their place, once again at the head of the table.
As I follow, with amazement the tragi-comedy playing out at the Federal House of Representatives over the award of contracts for the official residence of Madam Speaker, the Honourable Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh and her deputy, I found myself musing: Is it all over; is the era of the Esthers over; so soon; so unceremoniously; so prematurely; and most unhappily of all, before the Josephs are ready?
Esther, for those who might need reminding, was the Jewish orphan girl in the Bible who, under the tutelage of Mordecai, her elderly cousin, became Queen at the imperial court of King Darius of
As I implied on this page last week,
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala shone like a million stars, managing the finances of this nation with a certain clarity of direction and an eye on international best practices. Were she anything but a lady of integrity, you can guess what her fate would have been when she finally fell out with the “king.” Instead of becoming
Obiageli Ezekwesili was, for the most part, the woman with all the difficult jobs. Madam Due Process, as she became popularly known, had to step on several, possibly hundreds of giant toes in her foray into the forbidden territory of price monitoring and ensuring value for each contract-Naira. Recall how she repackaged and branded a vibrant and attractive product out of a dull, drab and unproductive, but rich solid mineral sector of our national economy. Brand MSMD will hopefully never return to the bad old pre-Oby years. And even if she did dive into controversial waters at the Ministry of Education, none could doubt her zeal and passion for change; change for development.
Esther (yes one of them was really so named) Nenadi Usman held her own, first as Minister of State under Okonjo-Iweala and later as her own “man” at the Federal Ministry of Finance. Remember the courageous disclosures about increase in foreign exchange transfers as soon as governors received allocations from the federation account. How the governors sought to skin her alive!
Professor Dora Akunyili, easily the long distance runner is still around. Veteran of many battles and winner of all, she stands tall, an Amazon in the battle against one of the best organized crime syndicates in
Ifueko Omogui is also still holding sway at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), restructuring, re-orientating and also, building a brand. So is Irene Chigbue whose success has been relatively modest at the Bureau of Public Enterprises. And I dare mention the calmness and relative dignity with which Remi Oyo carried out her task as spokesperson for a boss unknown for civility! She stood out of a crowd of uncouth and acerbic mouthpieces, conveying Obasanjo’s views without denigrating the opposition unnecessarily and assaulting our sensibilities. It was indeed an era of the Esthers and even the men couldn’t but applaud and ask for more.
Clearly, it is to these women, rather than to her two hardly distinguished terms at the House of Representatives that Madam Speaker owes her election, some say selection as presiding officer of the lower house of the National Assembly and Nigeria’s Number Four citizen. And it is therefore in her ability to walk in the same integrity and character that her position’s tenability would generally be appraised.
But see what we have playing out (by the time you read this, it would most probably have played to a kind of dénouement). Madam Speaker, according to her accusers, approved a certain amount of money for the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy. They put the figure at N628million. The National Assembly bureaucracy says the project was an upgrade, not a renovation, and that the figure was N591million not N628million. Madam Speaker says the figure is far lower at just over N200 million and in any case she and her deputy would have spent that much on hotel expenses were she to be as profligate and unmindful of the ordinary man as her opponents are making her out to be.
Her opponents say the contract award did not follow due process. She says it did. In passing, perhaps Mrs Ezekwesili should be recalled from her desk at the World Bank to decide who’s right on this score. The Honourable Idoko-led panel established to investigate the issue has been inundated with tons of documents and plenty of sometimes sanctimonious or condemnatory; sometimes forthright or evasive verbiage from witnesses at its public sittings. The panel members have also had the privilege of ringside tickets to one of the most thrilling mixed-grill physical combats in recent times. It was a combination of boxing, kick-boxing and wrestling. Fela would have called it “roforofo fight”, I call it legislative madness. They say they have expunged it from their records and so it did not happen! Thank God, that even if they were to, commando-style, have the tapes seized from the various television stations, they cannot expunge it from our memories.
But, I digress. From the belated rebuttals coming from the speaker’s office, Mrs Patricia Etteh obviously thinks this is a fight for her political life and to some extent, it is. But I think it is much more than that. She needs to ask herself a number of soul-searching questions. Is she totally innocent of the crime she’s being accused of? I mean, was she advised by some brilliant do-gooder to save the nation over N200million Naira from hotel expenses and make a bit of it for herself in the process; thus making a name and a nest-egg? Did she make any promises to those who glowingly eulogized her at nomination, and once in office decide it wasn’t the correct thing to do? What bargains did she make to clinch the office?
These questions and many more go to the heart of some of the things I have been saying on this page. One, that every Christian in public office must live their Christianity to the full, not partially. That is to say the Christian must literally wear the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) wristlet, so that in every situation, in taking any decision, the question rings in his or her heart. What would Jesus have done? Yet if the Church leaves her members to be sponsored to office by people who do not share the values of true Christian living, it will come at a price, the price of compromise. And I have also said that the organized bodies of the Church have a pivotal role to play in this.
I shall refrain from making any pronouncements over Madam Speaker’s culpability or innocence, but there are those, like the writer of this joke, who have: “Epitaph: Here lies the remains of an e-speaker, digital hairdresser, analog friend of baba, 3-terms representative of her people and patriot of the next century who saved her country the ordeal of having to pay the statutorily allowed N2.09345794392million per day in a hotel but chose to renovate and upgrade her official residence for only N238,852, 192.90. She came, saw nothing, said nothing, did nothing. There will be two verdicts: the verdict of the House and the verdict of the people (CyberschuulNewsJoke).
Contrast that with this extract from Madam Speaker’s inaugural speeches: “…I solemnly pledge not to disappoint you. I promise, from the bottom of my heart, to serve with God‘s wisdom, the people of Nigeria and ensure a strong House…My vision is to provide leadership for a re-invigorated legislature that will be responsible and responsive to the yearnings of Nigerians… Let us fasten our seat belts as the flight of the sixth House of Representative of the
That’s why I am musing: Is the era of the Esthers unraveling so soon?
Friday, 21 September 2007
ARE YOU A MALE OR A MAN?
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
I can almost hear you counter the headline with a question of your own: what’s the difference? And that is precisely the problem with society today, particularly, the Nigerian nation. Most people do not realize that it takes much more than being male to be a man. Ben Kinchlow, former co-presenter (with Pat Robertson) of the popular 700 Club on Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) it was, who put that truth into a powerful aphorism. Popularized by the late Dr Edwin Louis Cole, it says: being a male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of choice. In other words, the fact that you were born with the ’Y’ chromosome simply makes you a male; but you have a choice whether to remain just a male or rise to be a man.
This is a truth that has eluded most men, including Christian men, over the ages. It is a truth which unless the men of any nation become acquainted with and eventually internalize, that nation can never really develop. At best it might experience stunted growth, but real development to the level ordained by God shall remain a mirage.
So what makes the difference between maleness and manhood, you ask. The answer is simply this: Christ-likeness. In fact the Holy Spirit caused a man of God to put it into the maxim: manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous. That man, Edwin Louis Cole went on to build an international men’s ministry around it and, through that ministry, pioneered what is today known as the international men’s movement.
This is also the truth that some men, including yours sincerely, have, these past few years, been propagating among Christian men in Lagos and some cities of Nigeria.
Operating under the umbrella of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria, this ministry is an affiliate of the Texas, United States-based ministry of Ed Cole, as he is more popularly known. Under the spiritual guidance and leadership of one of Nigeria’s foremost teachers of the word of faith, Rev Dr Chris Tunde Joda, the network has had a number of impressive activities which have sown seeds of critical self awareness in thousands of men in Lagos and across the nation.
CMN Nigeria, then known as Champions for Christ, had its first major outing, the Mighty Man of Valour Conference way back in June and July 2001 in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The conference featured, apart from Dr Joda, such great men of God as Rev Larry Titus from Ohio, United States of America who had been in ministry for 35 years. There was also Emmanuel Asiedu Appiah, then Executive Director, Leaders International, a body, which had identified Africa’s 21st Century Challenge as that of Developing Godly Leaders. An internationally acclaimed Ghanaian business consultant and CMN representative in his home country, he conducted a series of word-based workshops on leadership and management. Kunle Falola, a minister of songs, who used to be known as Dizzy K, also came in from his London base to minister in anointed and prophetic songs.
At the close of that particular conference, believed to be first ever such gathering of Christian men in Nigeria, a very perceptive communiqué was issued which climaxed with the clarion: Nigerian Men, Arise!
Over the years there had been the quarterly Breakfast with the President events which held mainly at the CCIC Joy Centre Auditorium in Surulere. There was the Mighty Man of Valour Award special event held at a popular eatery in Surulere during which the president, Dr Joda received the network’s Mighty Man of Valour Award. Three of the network’s partners were also honoured with the Man of Valour award at the event which featured Rev Dr Jide Awosedo, Chairman/Chief Executive of Grant Properties Ltd as guest minister. The Ikeja Chapter ran an entrepreneur development seminar series titled Wealthy Place; while its chapters in Ojokoro, Victoria Island/Lekki, and Somolu were also very active.
But permit me to dwell a bit more on the “Luncheon with the President” held on Saturday June 24, last year at the International Conference Hall of Etiebet’s Place in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. I recall that meeting today because as I survey the horizon, it seems that many of CMNN President Joda’s words spoken under the Holy Spirit’s unction can bear repetition today as the network prepares for a series of activities for the last quarter of this year. I recall that some three hundred men drawn from across the kingdom, united in their love for God, hungry for a change in their nation and determined to be instruments of that change, came together. Together they praised and worshipped God; together they soaked in the anointed teaching of the man of God. Together they received impartation and the prophetic marching order to unite across all dividing lines, constantly sharpen one another and thus become God’s threshing instrument in His project of cleansing Nigeria for His end-time use.
The four-hour meeting lasted a bit longer due largely to logistic challenges connected with the venue. As a result the event took off behind schedule. But did that deter the men? No way. Those were men led of the Holy Spirit to abandon any personal agenda to operate with his own. They were men fully persuaded that being a man is a matter of choice and have made their choice irreversibly.
Dr Joda’s ministration was on the theme and topic “the Culture of Christian Manhood” and it was thought-provoking, challenging and “revelational”.
“Culture is the trait that identifies you, the instinct inbred in you”, he began. “People are identified by their culture. That is why the Nigerian, wherever he may be would rather eat with his fingers than with any man-made contrivance. That is why the Chinese cherishes his chopstick. Culture cannot be destroyed; it can only be developed. But a man’s real culture derives from his original heritage! Genesis 1:26 is clear about that! God made man in his image and after his likeness. So a man’s real culture derives from his heavenly heritage.”
But how does that translate to the way he lives during his earthly sojourn? Dr Joda likens that to the Phillip’s request in chapter 14 of the book of John. “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us (verse 8). To which the Lord answered “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (verse 9)”. So, if man derives his heritage and therefore his culture from God, he only has to look to Jesus whom the bible described as the express image of the Father (see Hebrews 1:30) as his model. That then is the rationale for the truth that manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous, which Christian Men’s Network International has proclaimed for over 25 years and the Nigerian chapter, for six.
Therefore the culture of Christian manhood takes its root, stem, leaves and fruits from the character of Christ Jesus. The interesting thing, continues Dr Joda, is that that Culture became inbred in every man when he meets Jesus. “When you meet Jesus, you acquire a new gene; a different DNA from what you had before you were saved”
Like Jesus, you are supposed to lose all fears; become courageous; able to resist temptation and reject compromise. Jesus was love personified; he was the epitome of humility; he radiated kindness; he was consistent and never did anything without seeking the counsel and direction of the Father through prayer. He was faithful to the very end. Those are the components of the Christian man’s culture; without which, though he remains a male, he will never become a man.
Dr Joda told his audience characteristically bluntly: “If we are going to change our nation, it will not be because we carry a bible, no matter its size. It will be because we have imbibed the culture of Christian manhood. The culture of the world is sub-standard; it is weak, cowardly. You must resist the temptation to conform to the culture of the world. It doesn’t matter who else is conforming, you must STAND FIRM…”
Those men left the venue rededicated to taking their place as God’s men. Many signed on to join this evolving men’s movement. What about you? My dear brother-in-the Lord, are you living your culture? All things considered the time for Nigerian Christian men to break denominational and other barriers, come together and sharpen one another to take their place is NOW – as our nation grapples with the aftermath of unprecedented electioneering brigandage. The time to stop being just males and stand up to be men is here. The time to learn the ways of Christian manhood is here.
Whether you are a man already or a male desirous of becoming a man, you can begin by finding your way today at 4:00pm to 76 Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja where the local Chapter of the network is holding a “Men at Worship” event. Also watch out for power-packed meetings with Dr Joda and such men of character, insight and experience as Mr Felix Ohiwerei, Dr Chris Kolade and many more in the coming months.
To my female readers, you have a critical role in this. Please encourage the males or men in your lives – husbands, fiancés, fathers, uncles, brothers, cousins, boyfriends, even bosses to be part of this new move of God. Your own lives would be positively affected by the change they’ll experience.
Think about it! Our families, our communities, our nation need real men, Christ-like men; men who know the truth and do the truth; men who go out courageously daily - doubting nothing, compromising nothing. It won’t be easy, but as we come together, iron sharpening iron, we will get there. And our families, our businesses, our communities and our nation will never be the same again.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
I can almost hear you counter the headline with a question of your own: what’s the difference? And that is precisely the problem with society today, particularly, the Nigerian nation. Most people do not realize that it takes much more than being male to be a man. Ben Kinchlow, former co-presenter (with Pat Robertson) of the popular 700 Club on Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) it was, who put that truth into a powerful aphorism. Popularized by the late Dr Edwin Louis Cole, it says: being a male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of choice. In other words, the fact that you were born with the ’Y’ chromosome simply makes you a male; but you have a choice whether to remain just a male or rise to be a man.
This is a truth that has eluded most men, including Christian men, over the ages. It is a truth which unless the men of any nation become acquainted with and eventually internalize, that nation can never really develop. At best it might experience stunted growth, but real development to the level ordained by God shall remain a mirage.
So what makes the difference between maleness and manhood, you ask. The answer is simply this: Christ-likeness. In fact the Holy Spirit caused a man of God to put it into the maxim: manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous. That man, Edwin Louis Cole went on to build an international men’s ministry around it and, through that ministry, pioneered what is today known as the international men’s movement.
This is also the truth that some men, including yours sincerely, have, these past few years, been propagating among Christian men in Lagos and some cities of Nigeria.
Operating under the umbrella of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria, this ministry is an affiliate of the Texas, United States-based ministry of Ed Cole, as he is more popularly known. Under the spiritual guidance and leadership of one of Nigeria’s foremost teachers of the word of faith, Rev Dr Chris Tunde Joda, the network has had a number of impressive activities which have sown seeds of critical self awareness in thousands of men in Lagos and across the nation.
CMN Nigeria, then known as Champions for Christ, had its first major outing, the Mighty Man of Valour Conference way back in June and July 2001 in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The conference featured, apart from Dr Joda, such great men of God as Rev Larry Titus from Ohio, United States of America who had been in ministry for 35 years. There was also Emmanuel Asiedu Appiah, then Executive Director, Leaders International, a body, which had identified Africa’s 21st Century Challenge as that of Developing Godly Leaders. An internationally acclaimed Ghanaian business consultant and CMN representative in his home country, he conducted a series of word-based workshops on leadership and management. Kunle Falola, a minister of songs, who used to be known as Dizzy K, also came in from his London base to minister in anointed and prophetic songs.
At the close of that particular conference, believed to be first ever such gathering of Christian men in Nigeria, a very perceptive communiqué was issued which climaxed with the clarion: Nigerian Men, Arise!
Over the years there had been the quarterly Breakfast with the President events which held mainly at the CCIC Joy Centre Auditorium in Surulere. There was the Mighty Man of Valour Award special event held at a popular eatery in Surulere during which the president, Dr Joda received the network’s Mighty Man of Valour Award. Three of the network’s partners were also honoured with the Man of Valour award at the event which featured Rev Dr Jide Awosedo, Chairman/Chief Executive of Grant Properties Ltd as guest minister. The Ikeja Chapter ran an entrepreneur development seminar series titled Wealthy Place; while its chapters in Ojokoro, Victoria Island/Lekki, and Somolu were also very active.
But permit me to dwell a bit more on the “Luncheon with the President” held on Saturday June 24, last year at the International Conference Hall of Etiebet’s Place in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. I recall that meeting today because as I survey the horizon, it seems that many of CMNN President Joda’s words spoken under the Holy Spirit’s unction can bear repetition today as the network prepares for a series of activities for the last quarter of this year. I recall that some three hundred men drawn from across the kingdom, united in their love for God, hungry for a change in their nation and determined to be instruments of that change, came together. Together they praised and worshipped God; together they soaked in the anointed teaching of the man of God. Together they received impartation and the prophetic marching order to unite across all dividing lines, constantly sharpen one another and thus become God’s threshing instrument in His project of cleansing Nigeria for His end-time use.
The four-hour meeting lasted a bit longer due largely to logistic challenges connected with the venue. As a result the event took off behind schedule. But did that deter the men? No way. Those were men led of the Holy Spirit to abandon any personal agenda to operate with his own. They were men fully persuaded that being a man is a matter of choice and have made their choice irreversibly.
Dr Joda’s ministration was on the theme and topic “the Culture of Christian Manhood” and it was thought-provoking, challenging and “revelational”.
“Culture is the trait that identifies you, the instinct inbred in you”, he began. “People are identified by their culture. That is why the Nigerian, wherever he may be would rather eat with his fingers than with any man-made contrivance. That is why the Chinese cherishes his chopstick. Culture cannot be destroyed; it can only be developed. But a man’s real culture derives from his original heritage! Genesis 1:26 is clear about that! God made man in his image and after his likeness. So a man’s real culture derives from his heavenly heritage.”
But how does that translate to the way he lives during his earthly sojourn? Dr Joda likens that to the Phillip’s request in chapter 14 of the book of John. “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us (verse 8). To which the Lord answered “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (verse 9)”. So, if man derives his heritage and therefore his culture from God, he only has to look to Jesus whom the bible described as the express image of the Father (see Hebrews 1:30) as his model. That then is the rationale for the truth that manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous, which Christian Men’s Network International has proclaimed for over 25 years and the Nigerian chapter, for six.
Therefore the culture of Christian manhood takes its root, stem, leaves and fruits from the character of Christ Jesus. The interesting thing, continues Dr Joda, is that that Culture became inbred in every man when he meets Jesus. “When you meet Jesus, you acquire a new gene; a different DNA from what you had before you were saved”
Like Jesus, you are supposed to lose all fears; become courageous; able to resist temptation and reject compromise. Jesus was love personified; he was the epitome of humility; he radiated kindness; he was consistent and never did anything without seeking the counsel and direction of the Father through prayer. He was faithful to the very end. Those are the components of the Christian man’s culture; without which, though he remains a male, he will never become a man.
Dr Joda told his audience characteristically bluntly: “If we are going to change our nation, it will not be because we carry a bible, no matter its size. It will be because we have imbibed the culture of Christian manhood. The culture of the world is sub-standard; it is weak, cowardly. You must resist the temptation to conform to the culture of the world. It doesn’t matter who else is conforming, you must STAND FIRM…”
Those men left the venue rededicated to taking their place as God’s men. Many signed on to join this evolving men’s movement. What about you? My dear brother-in-the Lord, are you living your culture? All things considered the time for Nigerian Christian men to break denominational and other barriers, come together and sharpen one another to take their place is NOW – as our nation grapples with the aftermath of unprecedented electioneering brigandage. The time to stop being just males and stand up to be men is here. The time to learn the ways of Christian manhood is here.
Whether you are a man already or a male desirous of becoming a man, you can begin by finding your way today at 4:00pm to 76 Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja where the local Chapter of the network is holding a “Men at Worship” event. Also watch out for power-packed meetings with Dr Joda and such men of character, insight and experience as Mr Felix Ohiwerei, Dr Chris Kolade and many more in the coming months.
To my female readers, you have a critical role in this. Please encourage the males or men in your lives – husbands, fiancés, fathers, uncles, brothers, cousins, boyfriends, even bosses to be part of this new move of God. Your own lives would be positively affected by the change they’ll experience.
Think about it! Our families, our communities, our nation need real men, Christ-like men; men who know the truth and do the truth; men who go out courageously daily - doubting nothing, compromising nothing. It won’t be easy, but as we come together, iron sharpening iron, we will get there. And our families, our businesses, our communities and our nation will never be the same again.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
THE UNITY QUESTION (3)
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
In concluding paragraph of my piece on Church Unity last week, I had pressed into action a wonderful man of God, Pastor Kenneth Copeland by quoting one of his many exhortations on the issue. In it this widely traveled veteran, who runs one of the most efficient ministry machines in the world, pointed out that, standing alone, we would continue to under-perform for God. He showed from the word that the very best of us can only have a measure of faith which though adequate to meet our individual needs is grossly insufficient for the assignment the Lord Jesus gave the church, the Great Commission.
He had then asserted that joining together was the solution. According to him: “ Ephesians 4:13 says that when we all come together in the unity of the faith, we'll have "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. In other words, when the Body of Christ comes together and begins to function as one, we'll have the Holy Spirit without measure--just like Jesus did! We'll begin to see ministries functioning in the fullness of their callings. We'll begin to see manifestations of the Holy Spirit in full measure. We'll see Jesus in fullness as we've never seen Him before…” I had then urged that we should fix this “disunity thing” before it “destroys everything we profess”. I was quite content to leave the matter like that and move on to other issues. Then I received a book. Lent to me by one of the many wonderful members of my church family, Rev Moses ‘Segun Oyebola, a man with an uncanny ability to select the best, I found myself poring over the 178-page volume over and over again in the last few days. The book, I Dare to Call Him Father, is not new having been first published in 1978; I had heard bits and pieces of the story of the woman whose story it told, but somehow, I never got round to reading the book. Permit me to paraphrase the story of Bilquis Sheikh, the author and character of the book as briefly as possible. She was wealthy, aristocratic and therefore powerful. Wealth and happiness do not necessarily always co-habit. So by the time we meet her in this book, she was already a 46 year-old recluse, hiding away from the larger society in her Pakistani village of Wah. Still smarting from a very bitter divorce from her husband, a Pakistani Army general, with whom she had three children, she spent her time nursing her vast garden and harassing her retinue of servants. Then things started happening. An evil presence in her garden, a mystery illness affecting her four- year-old grandson and a visit by a muezzin to help out the Islamic way led Bilquis into a search for something or someone beyond her. For someone from a family which had some 700 years of Moslem heritage, she naturally began from the Koran. Eventually disillusioned, she started, with the seemingly ”harmless” curiosity of a child began to “meddle” with the Bible. Then she began to dream dreams and have visions of the Christian kind! In one of such dreams she had dinner with the Lord Jesus. It didn’t have much meaning to her at the time, but she found herself pressing on in the direction of finding out more about the Christian God. Then someone suggested to her to see, call and try to relate to God as a father. Though, at first staggered by the whole idea of seeing the creator of heaven and earth as a mere father, much against the belief of her erstwhile faith, she tried it or rather “dared to call him father” and she had a most thrilling experience of his presence in her bedroom.Next, she encountered Jesus. Not long after she was baptised in the Holy Spirit and later still, went for water baptism. For this writer, the core of the Bilquis story was her wonderful continuous experience of the Holy Spirit in her life right through the persecution that followed; her first trip to Singapore; her relocation to the United States of America and her extensive ministry in that country and beyond; through to her subsequent death in 1997 (not covered in this edition of the book). One little step out of the line of good Christian living and she would feel the divine presence leaving her and as she retraced herself she would sense the presence had returned! In case you are, by now, already telling yourself, “what an intriguing story, but what has it got to do with the subject matter of unity in the church, please come with me to this passage in the book’s foreword written by Catherine Marshall: “…The intensity of Madame Sheikh’s passion to witness for her Lord has fulfilled God’s primary condition for bestowing His special gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts, with the unction and authority that come with them are very apparent to all who hear her speak across the country (USA). Yet the fact that she fits no established pattern puzzles many who are more comfortable when any given leader can be tagged. “One Christian leader demanded in a letter that she state whether or not she was Charismatic. She sat at her desk thinking about that question and how even a single word can divide those who love Christ. Playfully, on impulse she picked up a quarter from her purse and said, ‘Well Father, You decide.’ “She flipped the quarter into the air saying, ‘Heads, I’m Charismatic; tails, I’m not. The silver coin spun blithely in the air, then dropped to her carpet. She could hardly believe what she saw. Kneeling down to make certain, she chuckled. What better proof could she have of the Lord’s sense of humor? The quarter had landed on its edge in the thick folds ad was standing straight up.” This is certainly not a usual way to resolve your doubts in things of the Spirit and I certainly do not recommend it what Bilquis was quoted as saying after this tiny episode in her walk with God struck me as key to our understanding what Christians should unite behind… what in contemporary lingo is the “koko”. Continues Marshall in the foreword: “The lesson Bilquis says, is that the important thing is not how we worship or what words we use or what tags we tie on, but do we love our neighbors? Are we guided by His Holy Spirit? Do we obey him implicitly? Do we weep for those who do not know Christ? Do we long to share our knowledge of Him?” Dear reader and respected Church leaders, how do you answer those questions? Those really are the basics of Christianity which qualifies anyone to be our brothers and sisters. But if Bilquis’ method of determining her tag or lack of it blinds you to the truth of her words, perhaps you won’t find Kenneth Copeland’s voice too strident, as I quote an even more recent exhortation of his on Church Unity.
According to him, anyone who knows, “how to listen to the voice of God can hear Him calling throughout the Body of Christ today. He is calling for unity. He is calling us to lay down our disagreements and come together in preparation for Jesus' return.” He admits that even the thought of uniting “scares some believers” and he could hear them saying: ‘How can I unify with someone from another denomination?’ ‘I'm not going to give up my doctrines and agree with theirs just for unity's sake!’ What they don't realize, continues Copeland, is that “scriptural unity isn't based on doctrine. Winds of doctrine, according to Ephesians 4:14, are childish. Winds of doctrine don't unify. They divide and blow people in every direction. The Word doesn't say anything about us coming into the unity of our doctrines. It says we'll come into the unity of the faith”. “In the past”, he said “we've failed to understand that and tried to demand doctrinal unity from each other anyway. ‘If you don't agree with me on the issue of tongues,’ we've said, ‘or on the timing of the rapture...or on the proper depth for baptismal waters, I won't accept you as a brother in the Lord. I'll break fellowship with you”. Brother Copeland decries that attitude as unrepresentative of “God’s way of doing things”. God, he says “doesn't have a long list of doctrinal demands for us to meet. His requirements are simple. First John 3:23 tells us what they are: to believe on the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another.” Copeland recommends that “you and I come to a place where we keep those requirements and quit worrying about the rest” so that, “we'll be able to forget our denominational squabbles and come together in the unity of faith” And as we do ”we'll grow so strong together that the winds of doctrine won't be able to drive us apart. When that happens, the devil's going to panic because the unity of the faith of God's people is a staggering thing. It's the most unlimited, powerful thing on earth.” In concluding this series on church unity, I end with these words of Kenneth Copeland: “Right now all over the world, the Spirit is calling the Church of the living God to unite. Hear Him and obey, and you can be a part of one of the most magnificent moves of God this world has ever seen”. May I add that Nigeria is destined to be in the vanguard of that move.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
In concluding paragraph of my piece on Church Unity last week, I had pressed into action a wonderful man of God, Pastor Kenneth Copeland by quoting one of his many exhortations on the issue. In it this widely traveled veteran, who runs one of the most efficient ministry machines in the world, pointed out that, standing alone, we would continue to under-perform for God. He showed from the word that the very best of us can only have a measure of faith which though adequate to meet our individual needs is grossly insufficient for the assignment the Lord Jesus gave the church, the Great Commission.
He had then asserted that joining together was the solution. According to him: “ Ephesians 4:13 says that when we all come together in the unity of the faith, we'll have "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. In other words, when the Body of Christ comes together and begins to function as one, we'll have the Holy Spirit without measure--just like Jesus did! We'll begin to see ministries functioning in the fullness of their callings. We'll begin to see manifestations of the Holy Spirit in full measure. We'll see Jesus in fullness as we've never seen Him before…” I had then urged that we should fix this “disunity thing” before it “destroys everything we profess”. I was quite content to leave the matter like that and move on to other issues. Then I received a book. Lent to me by one of the many wonderful members of my church family, Rev Moses ‘Segun Oyebola, a man with an uncanny ability to select the best, I found myself poring over the 178-page volume over and over again in the last few days. The book, I Dare to Call Him Father, is not new having been first published in 1978; I had heard bits and pieces of the story of the woman whose story it told, but somehow, I never got round to reading the book. Permit me to paraphrase the story of Bilquis Sheikh, the author and character of the book as briefly as possible. She was wealthy, aristocratic and therefore powerful. Wealth and happiness do not necessarily always co-habit. So by the time we meet her in this book, she was already a 46 year-old recluse, hiding away from the larger society in her Pakistani village of Wah. Still smarting from a very bitter divorce from her husband, a Pakistani Army general, with whom she had three children, she spent her time nursing her vast garden and harassing her retinue of servants. Then things started happening. An evil presence in her garden, a mystery illness affecting her four- year-old grandson and a visit by a muezzin to help out the Islamic way led Bilquis into a search for something or someone beyond her. For someone from a family which had some 700 years of Moslem heritage, she naturally began from the Koran. Eventually disillusioned, she started, with the seemingly ”harmless” curiosity of a child began to “meddle” with the Bible. Then she began to dream dreams and have visions of the Christian kind! In one of such dreams she had dinner with the Lord Jesus. It didn’t have much meaning to her at the time, but she found herself pressing on in the direction of finding out more about the Christian God. Then someone suggested to her to see, call and try to relate to God as a father. Though, at first staggered by the whole idea of seeing the creator of heaven and earth as a mere father, much against the belief of her erstwhile faith, she tried it or rather “dared to call him father” and she had a most thrilling experience of his presence in her bedroom.Next, she encountered Jesus. Not long after she was baptised in the Holy Spirit and later still, went for water baptism. For this writer, the core of the Bilquis story was her wonderful continuous experience of the Holy Spirit in her life right through the persecution that followed; her first trip to Singapore; her relocation to the United States of America and her extensive ministry in that country and beyond; through to her subsequent death in 1997 (not covered in this edition of the book). One little step out of the line of good Christian living and she would feel the divine presence leaving her and as she retraced herself she would sense the presence had returned! In case you are, by now, already telling yourself, “what an intriguing story, but what has it got to do with the subject matter of unity in the church, please come with me to this passage in the book’s foreword written by Catherine Marshall: “…The intensity of Madame Sheikh’s passion to witness for her Lord has fulfilled God’s primary condition for bestowing His special gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts, with the unction and authority that come with them are very apparent to all who hear her speak across the country (USA). Yet the fact that she fits no established pattern puzzles many who are more comfortable when any given leader can be tagged. “One Christian leader demanded in a letter that she state whether or not she was Charismatic. She sat at her desk thinking about that question and how even a single word can divide those who love Christ. Playfully, on impulse she picked up a quarter from her purse and said, ‘Well Father, You decide.’ “She flipped the quarter into the air saying, ‘Heads, I’m Charismatic; tails, I’m not. The silver coin spun blithely in the air, then dropped to her carpet. She could hardly believe what she saw. Kneeling down to make certain, she chuckled. What better proof could she have of the Lord’s sense of humor? The quarter had landed on its edge in the thick folds ad was standing straight up.” This is certainly not a usual way to resolve your doubts in things of the Spirit and I certainly do not recommend it what Bilquis was quoted as saying after this tiny episode in her walk with God struck me as key to our understanding what Christians should unite behind… what in contemporary lingo is the “koko”. Continues Marshall in the foreword: “The lesson Bilquis says, is that the important thing is not how we worship or what words we use or what tags we tie on, but do we love our neighbors? Are we guided by His Holy Spirit? Do we obey him implicitly? Do we weep for those who do not know Christ? Do we long to share our knowledge of Him?” Dear reader and respected Church leaders, how do you answer those questions? Those really are the basics of Christianity which qualifies anyone to be our brothers and sisters. But if Bilquis’ method of determining her tag or lack of it blinds you to the truth of her words, perhaps you won’t find Kenneth Copeland’s voice too strident, as I quote an even more recent exhortation of his on Church Unity.
According to him, anyone who knows, “how to listen to the voice of God can hear Him calling throughout the Body of Christ today. He is calling for unity. He is calling us to lay down our disagreements and come together in preparation for Jesus' return.” He admits that even the thought of uniting “scares some believers” and he could hear them saying: ‘How can I unify with someone from another denomination?’ ‘I'm not going to give up my doctrines and agree with theirs just for unity's sake!’ What they don't realize, continues Copeland, is that “scriptural unity isn't based on doctrine. Winds of doctrine, according to Ephesians 4:14, are childish. Winds of doctrine don't unify. They divide and blow people in every direction. The Word doesn't say anything about us coming into the unity of our doctrines. It says we'll come into the unity of the faith”. “In the past”, he said “we've failed to understand that and tried to demand doctrinal unity from each other anyway. ‘If you don't agree with me on the issue of tongues,’ we've said, ‘or on the timing of the rapture...or on the proper depth for baptismal waters, I won't accept you as a brother in the Lord. I'll break fellowship with you”. Brother Copeland decries that attitude as unrepresentative of “God’s way of doing things”. God, he says “doesn't have a long list of doctrinal demands for us to meet. His requirements are simple. First John 3:23 tells us what they are: to believe on the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another.” Copeland recommends that “you and I come to a place where we keep those requirements and quit worrying about the rest” so that, “we'll be able to forget our denominational squabbles and come together in the unity of faith” And as we do ”we'll grow so strong together that the winds of doctrine won't be able to drive us apart. When that happens, the devil's going to panic because the unity of the faith of God's people is a staggering thing. It's the most unlimited, powerful thing on earth.” In concluding this series on church unity, I end with these words of Kenneth Copeland: “Right now all over the world, the Spirit is calling the Church of the living God to unite. Hear Him and obey, and you can be a part of one of the most magnificent moves of God this world has ever seen”. May I add that Nigeria is destined to be in the vanguard of that move.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
THE UNITY QUESTION.
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano; e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
We were saying that disunity is at the root of the Nigerian Church’s total lack of influence in the social, economic and especially political affairs of our nation. What influence, if any, is hardly commensurate with our size, moral authority or spiritual mandate.
We also identified something that Rev Ladi Thompson, Pastor of Living Waters Unlimited Ministries once described as “Pentecostal arrogance.” This, I might explain is that “I am the real deal” attitude of the average Pentecostal which manifests in condemnation from many pulpits of all non-pentecostal churches as “dead.” By the way, Thompson should know! He is as proudly Pentecostal as anyone could be; but his activities at Macedonian Initiative, a ministry deeply active in relief and rehabilitation works among victims of religious riots in Northern Nigeria, in particular, has, by his own admission, opened his eyes to the zeal of non-pentecostal Christians in that part of our nation.
Anyone who has ever been in certain parts of Northern Nigeria during such crisis – and I have been - would find it easy to concur. The dagger-wielding Moslem fanatic does not ask if you belonged to the Anglican, ECWA or RCCG churches before he strikes! You either denounce Jesus or be cut down. You either shout “Allah Akhbar” or begin to commit your soul to the Lord. It is truly humbling to know that most of these people do not flinch in the face of death. And you wonder how many of us, so-called “spirit-filled, tongue-talking and devil-chasing” Pentecostals can truly stare down a blood-stained machete-brandishing opponent and proclaim Jesus as Lord!
We also spoke about denominational holier-than-thou. Well, you probably have an idea or two about how this manifests. If the music is loud, the songs, I mean hymns, do not conform to certain patterns, then it cannot be of God. If the man of God has not studied theology and acquired degrees in divinity and be at home with homiletics and exegesis; if he dresses in a certain manner or spots a type of hairstyle, then he cannot be a true shepherd and cannot be accepted as a brother. Form equals substance.
Then there is the strange trinity that many of our church leaders worship; “me, myself and I” which translates to “me, my congregation and my church.” That was beautifully illustrated by the late Rev Selwyn Hughes of “Everyday With Jesus” fame in one of his daily devotional messages quoted in the book, “One Church” by this writer. He recalled the true story of the pastor of a small church somewhere in the United States of America who declared: “When I say Christian, I mean Baptist. And when I say Baptist, I mean Bible-believing Baptist. When I say Bible-believing Baptist, I mean born again by the Spirit. And by that I mean to have the Spirit indwelling. And the only place I know you can find people like that is right here in this church” That typifies the average Church leader today. It is ONLY in his church or parish that salvation can be found!
Yet, Jesus set out to build one church, not many churches. That is implicit in his declaration: “…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). If he wanted to build many churches, he would have said so. And as we noted last week the church is characterized as the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:27). It is really amazing therefore that some parts of the same body seem to mutually despise each other so deeply!
Two issues in contemporary Nigerian history demonstrated clearly that weakness is a fruit of disunity. The first is the completion of what used to be known as the National Ecumenical Centre. Those who planned the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja provided for a national place of worship for each of the two major faith groups in the nation, Christianity and Islam. Within a short time, the National mosque was built and completed. Its dome soon became an unmistakable part of the Abuja skyline. In fact I daresay that virtually every aerial film footage of Nigeria’s political capital has the gleaming golden dome almost as a mark of identification.
But what happened to the Christian worship centre? It dragged and dragged until former President Olusegun Obasanjo came along and decided to champion a fund-raiser for its completion. Of course, he had to balance that by holding a similar event for the rehabilitation of the National Mosque, lest he be accused of partisanship! The National Christian Centre, as it is now more correctly called stands today, thanks, not to the Church, but to Obasanjo’s effort.
The other issue that I have never been able to take off my mind, in this respect, is the church’s failure to unite behind the executive anti-gay marriages bill which languished at the National Assembly for more than a year and in the end just managed to get a public hearing at the Senate. Now if it ever gets any look in at the National Assembly, it would have to begin again.
But the failure on this subject began much earlier. Let me explain that assertion. When, more than four years ago, a confirmed homosexual priest, Gene Robinson was ordained as Episcopal (the American arm of the Anglican Church) Bishop of New Hampshire in the United States of America, the Anglican Church’s Primate of all Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola spearheaded a crusade against the seeming ascendancy of the gay movement in the church. It had been a bruising battle, one in which the enemy, using the international gay movement had fought and continues to fight really dirty. But Akinola had held out firmly, yielding no ground - virtually alone; a lone-ranger of sorts in the thick of battle. The rest of the Church in Nigeria simply looked on unconcerned. Everybody else seemed to have seen it is an Anglican problem.
Then something happened. A certain group suddenly emerged in Nigeria parodied the acronym, CAN (for Christian Association of Nigeria, then also led by Akinola) by calling itself Changing Attitudes in Nigeria and proclaimed itself as a body Christian gays. The group held a kind of gathering in Abuja and got considerable media attention. The strategy was clear. Akinola’s place in the vanguard of the anti-homosexuality campaign was hurting the movement and the enemy decided to open a battlefront here in Nigeria; expanding the theatre of war to the general’s home in a bid to take the his home turf, thereby removing his moral high ground thus destablising him. This was the situation that the Obasanjo government reacted to through the anti-gay marriages bill.
In the widely expressed opinion of this columnist, an early word of support from the rest of the church in Nigeria would not only have strengthened Akinola, it would have sent a strong signal that homosexuality would not be allowed as much as a toe-hold in the Church of God in Nigeria; and we might have been spared the Changing Attitudes in Nigeria nonsense.
The import of all of these is simple: The Nigerian Church is shooting itself on the foot by remaining disunited. It is robbing the nation of the great impact for good that it could have in the socio-economic and political development of our nation. Much more importantly we are robbing the Lord Jesus Christ the opportunity to, through us, “go about doing good” (see Acts 10:38), which was his life’s work which he handed over to us. If you think that is a journalist’s exaggeration, permit me to quote one of my favourite exhortations on Church Unity by one of the world’s best-known leaders of the word of faith movement, Kenneth Copeland. He said in of his ministrations on the subject:
“We are (Christ’s) His Body. Each of us has been given the measure of faith according to Romans 12:1-3. That measure is enough to take care of our own personal needs. However, there is more involved here than just our own personal lives. We have a world to win! We are the end-time generation. We need all the help we can get. But, thank God, we can get all the help we need! How? By joining together. Ephesians 4:13 says that when we all come together in the unity of the faith, we'll have "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. In other words, when the Body of Christ comes together and begins to function as one, we'll have the Holy Spirit without measure--just like Jesus did! We'll begin to see ministries functioning in the fullness of their callings. We'll begin to see manifestations of the Holy Spirit in full measure. We'll see Jesus in fullness as we've never seen Him before. Then the world will know the Father sent Him...” If you read that with an open mind, you’ll probably see that much more than our role in the Nigerian nation is at stake in this matter of unity; our ability to pursue the Great Commission is vitiated by this disunity thing. Let’s fix it, before it destroys everything we profess.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano; e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
We were saying that disunity is at the root of the Nigerian Church’s total lack of influence in the social, economic and especially political affairs of our nation. What influence, if any, is hardly commensurate with our size, moral authority or spiritual mandate.
We also identified something that Rev Ladi Thompson, Pastor of Living Waters Unlimited Ministries once described as “Pentecostal arrogance.” This, I might explain is that “I am the real deal” attitude of the average Pentecostal which manifests in condemnation from many pulpits of all non-pentecostal churches as “dead.” By the way, Thompson should know! He is as proudly Pentecostal as anyone could be; but his activities at Macedonian Initiative, a ministry deeply active in relief and rehabilitation works among victims of religious riots in Northern Nigeria, in particular, has, by his own admission, opened his eyes to the zeal of non-pentecostal Christians in that part of our nation.
Anyone who has ever been in certain parts of Northern Nigeria during such crisis – and I have been - would find it easy to concur. The dagger-wielding Moslem fanatic does not ask if you belonged to the Anglican, ECWA or RCCG churches before he strikes! You either denounce Jesus or be cut down. You either shout “Allah Akhbar” or begin to commit your soul to the Lord. It is truly humbling to know that most of these people do not flinch in the face of death. And you wonder how many of us, so-called “spirit-filled, tongue-talking and devil-chasing” Pentecostals can truly stare down a blood-stained machete-brandishing opponent and proclaim Jesus as Lord!
We also spoke about denominational holier-than-thou. Well, you probably have an idea or two about how this manifests. If the music is loud, the songs, I mean hymns, do not conform to certain patterns, then it cannot be of God. If the man of God has not studied theology and acquired degrees in divinity and be at home with homiletics and exegesis; if he dresses in a certain manner or spots a type of hairstyle, then he cannot be a true shepherd and cannot be accepted as a brother. Form equals substance.
Then there is the strange trinity that many of our church leaders worship; “me, myself and I” which translates to “me, my congregation and my church.” That was beautifully illustrated by the late Rev Selwyn Hughes of “Everyday With Jesus” fame in one of his daily devotional messages quoted in the book, “One Church” by this writer. He recalled the true story of the pastor of a small church somewhere in the United States of America who declared: “When I say Christian, I mean Baptist. And when I say Baptist, I mean Bible-believing Baptist. When I say Bible-believing Baptist, I mean born again by the Spirit. And by that I mean to have the Spirit indwelling. And the only place I know you can find people like that is right here in this church” That typifies the average Church leader today. It is ONLY in his church or parish that salvation can be found!
Yet, Jesus set out to build one church, not many churches. That is implicit in his declaration: “…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). If he wanted to build many churches, he would have said so. And as we noted last week the church is characterized as the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:27). It is really amazing therefore that some parts of the same body seem to mutually despise each other so deeply!
Two issues in contemporary Nigerian history demonstrated clearly that weakness is a fruit of disunity. The first is the completion of what used to be known as the National Ecumenical Centre. Those who planned the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja provided for a national place of worship for each of the two major faith groups in the nation, Christianity and Islam. Within a short time, the National mosque was built and completed. Its dome soon became an unmistakable part of the Abuja skyline. In fact I daresay that virtually every aerial film footage of Nigeria’s political capital has the gleaming golden dome almost as a mark of identification.
But what happened to the Christian worship centre? It dragged and dragged until former President Olusegun Obasanjo came along and decided to champion a fund-raiser for its completion. Of course, he had to balance that by holding a similar event for the rehabilitation of the National Mosque, lest he be accused of partisanship! The National Christian Centre, as it is now more correctly called stands today, thanks, not to the Church, but to Obasanjo’s effort.
The other issue that I have never been able to take off my mind, in this respect, is the church’s failure to unite behind the executive anti-gay marriages bill which languished at the National Assembly for more than a year and in the end just managed to get a public hearing at the Senate. Now if it ever gets any look in at the National Assembly, it would have to begin again.
But the failure on this subject began much earlier. Let me explain that assertion. When, more than four years ago, a confirmed homosexual priest, Gene Robinson was ordained as Episcopal (the American arm of the Anglican Church) Bishop of New Hampshire in the United States of America, the Anglican Church’s Primate of all Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola spearheaded a crusade against the seeming ascendancy of the gay movement in the church. It had been a bruising battle, one in which the enemy, using the international gay movement had fought and continues to fight really dirty. But Akinola had held out firmly, yielding no ground - virtually alone; a lone-ranger of sorts in the thick of battle. The rest of the Church in Nigeria simply looked on unconcerned. Everybody else seemed to have seen it is an Anglican problem.
Then something happened. A certain group suddenly emerged in Nigeria parodied the acronym, CAN (for Christian Association of Nigeria, then also led by Akinola) by calling itself Changing Attitudes in Nigeria and proclaimed itself as a body Christian gays. The group held a kind of gathering in Abuja and got considerable media attention. The strategy was clear. Akinola’s place in the vanguard of the anti-homosexuality campaign was hurting the movement and the enemy decided to open a battlefront here in Nigeria; expanding the theatre of war to the general’s home in a bid to take the his home turf, thereby removing his moral high ground thus destablising him. This was the situation that the Obasanjo government reacted to through the anti-gay marriages bill.
In the widely expressed opinion of this columnist, an early word of support from the rest of the church in Nigeria would not only have strengthened Akinola, it would have sent a strong signal that homosexuality would not be allowed as much as a toe-hold in the Church of God in Nigeria; and we might have been spared the Changing Attitudes in Nigeria nonsense.
The import of all of these is simple: The Nigerian Church is shooting itself on the foot by remaining disunited. It is robbing the nation of the great impact for good that it could have in the socio-economic and political development of our nation. Much more importantly we are robbing the Lord Jesus Christ the opportunity to, through us, “go about doing good” (see Acts 10:38), which was his life’s work which he handed over to us. If you think that is a journalist’s exaggeration, permit me to quote one of my favourite exhortations on Church Unity by one of the world’s best-known leaders of the word of faith movement, Kenneth Copeland. He said in of his ministrations on the subject:
“We are (Christ’s) His Body. Each of us has been given the measure of faith according to Romans 12:1-3. That measure is enough to take care of our own personal needs. However, there is more involved here than just our own personal lives. We have a world to win! We are the end-time generation. We need all the help we can get. But, thank God, we can get all the help we need! How? By joining together. Ephesians 4:13 says that when we all come together in the unity of the faith, we'll have "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. In other words, when the Body of Christ comes together and begins to function as one, we'll have the Holy Spirit without measure--just like Jesus did! We'll begin to see ministries functioning in the fullness of their callings. We'll begin to see manifestations of the Holy Spirit in full measure. We'll see Jesus in fullness as we've never seen Him before. Then the world will know the Father sent Him...” If you read that with an open mind, you’ll probably see that much more than our role in the Nigerian nation is at stake in this matter of unity; our ability to pursue the Great Commission is vitiated by this disunity thing. Let’s fix it, before it destroys everything we profess.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
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